Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Elephant's Lullaby

It’s refreshing to see a bit of childhood in the midst of adult life.

Tom Knight’s children’s music video The Elephant’s Lullaby has culminated its production with Moving Box and can be seen on Newgrounds and Youtube.

The animation was featured on the Newgrounds homepage this weekend. The Elephant’s Lullaby is a children's ballad about a small elephant that won’t go to sleep.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Purgatory Pizza Premier!


Hey Everybody! Christian Taranto aka MC DEATH BEAR is back in town and we're going to be finishing the Purgatory Pizza Pilot! Some of you may have seen the rough cut of Part 1 on Newgrounds. The premier will be the first showing of the full first episode, so be there!

The Premier is at 9:00PM, a Pixel Lounge in Collegetown! If you plan to attend, let us know on Facebook!

The Internet release of the full Purgatory Pizza is scheduled for later this month, so SEE IT FIRST AT THE PREMIER THIS TUESDAY! We're looking forward to seeing all of you there!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Just a taste...















It's going to happen... but don't hold your breath.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Update 12/2


Winter has brought us festivities, happiness, camaraderie, and snow. Clearly this is a big change for Matt Lenz and Joe Zohar after returning from the tropical paradise of Costa Rica.

Matt and Joe have been gone for just over a week filming the pilot episode of Eco-Spots, a Co-Production of Moving Box Studios and GA.GA Productions. This show about environmental awareness; it includes shots of breath-taking deserted beaches of the Pacific Ocean, completely self-sustaining eco-lodges, national marine parks, and the mountains of Costa Rica. After a week of filming, the team walked away with great footage and production stills. The pilot episode is scheduled for completion this week and it will air in March in LifeStyle TV.

Joe has recently started using Photoshop’s animation timeline sequence for Chalk Outlines. It has allowed the artists to work more effective with each other. Nicoli Schwiep and Liz McLelland have just breached the halfway point with rotoscoping for the film. It’s looking as if a first fine cut will be complete for December 15th, and will be followed by a first trailer. Liz will produce promotional material using graphic design.

Nicoli's Robobots is coming to fruition. He is currently putting the final touches on the first draft script of the origin story of the gigantic killer Robobots. The character designs are also on lock and some images will be posted on the blog soon.

The Java promo is also almost completely done, but a release date has not yet been set.

The principal photography of Tom Knight’s Elephants Lullaby is complete. All that’s remaining in production is the shading of the characters, which will be finished soon by Liz.

Olympus Burger HD is more than halfway converted, with 8 of the 15 scenes in HD. According to Joe and Chris, the fight scene is almost completely converted to HD and is looking awesome.

Looking towards the future, Days of Our Lamps 2 is going back into production THIS WEEK and is looking at a tentative release date of early 2009.

Stay Tuned.

Days of our lamps Promo

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Update 11/11

C
A hard beginning makes for a good ending, especially when you’re looking at Moving Box Studio’s new digs.

With only a few touches left, construction is soon coming to a close. All that remains is paint touchups and trim on the doors, and what a time to start finishing up, with all of our projects traveling towards their conclusions.

Chris Davidson has just brought Ryan Mauk back on board to work on sound design for Olympus Burger HD. Dave Livingston is composing new music for the show and Joe Zohar is re-animating the epic fight scene of the pilot episode. Everything we have learned in the last three years will be put into this pilot, proving what we are capable of.

Our very own Matt Lenz and Joe Zohar are flying to Costa Rica tomorrow as the production team of a new pilot produced by Lifestyle TV. The off the charts tourism show called Eco-Spots takes the viewer to secluded places in popular areas and teaches them how to not leave their environmental footprint.

Tom Knight’s Elephant’s Lullaby is nearing completion, with 99% of the main cartoon done. Tom’s rotoscoped intro is now being colored and synced, and the main characters are being shaded by Liz McLelland.

As for Java, Danielle Chillemi has just green-lit a short promo for the show. Megan Corsen has already completed the art, now it’s Chris’ turn to composite it. Matt has been working on the syncing for the pilot, but the promo will be released first.

In addition to working hard at the construction of the studio, Dave has been recording Mike Brindisi and the New York Rock. He is almost finished with the lead guitar and the vocals are the next step.

Chalk Outlines is getting close to having a full cut to watch all the way through after Joe added a few more shots last week. Nicoli and Liz has been working extremely hard with the rotoscoping of the film so it can be finished as soon as possible, and the 3D components are almost complete, thanks to Evera Lovelace.

In addition to all of this, Chris has just finished the introduction credits for the ICTV program, The Quasi Late Program with Joe Para. Click here to take a look.

Stay Tuned.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Update 10/28


This year, Halloween is anything but scary for us here at Moving Box. Between Olympus Burger, Chalk Outlines, Java, and Mike Brindisi, the studio is more exciting than ever before.

Mike Lazzo of Comedy Central’s Adult Swim wants to see the pilot for Olympus Burger, so we’re putting together a press kit for him. Chris is returning to all of the source files of Olympus Burger, fixing any problem he ever came across. He is adding new music composed by our very own Dave Livingston, including Joe Zohar’s smash hit, Dewey Dewey. The most exciting part is that Chris is reanimating the pilot to a true widescreen 1920 X 1080 HD video.

The first trailer of Joe’s Chalk Outlines is coming soon. All but one or two shots are complete, and the film is in for sound design touchups with Ryan Mauk. Joe is working hard with Nicoli Schwiep and Liz McLelland to finish the Rotoscoping for the film.

Matt Lenz is finishing up the lip-syncing for Java. The front shots are complete and the only thing left in this fun for anyone film is a few profile shots.

In addition to all of this, Dave is working hard with Mike Brindisi and the New York Rock. The group has been in and out of the studio for a few weeks now. There are only a few songs left to record guitar on and the album is pushing ahead.

Possibly the coolest thing going on at the moment is the show reel being compiled for the Olympus Burger press kit. A show reel is roughly 20 seconds of each project Moving Box has completed, chronicling the last year of our progress. The show reel will be released online and will include Java, Chalk Outlines, Olympus Burger, Repentance, Bacon Samurai, Purgatory Pizza, Girls will be Girls, and a selection of documentaries.

Stay Tuned.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

HD Olympus Burger


LINKS: Short Trailer, Full Pilot (15m).

We just got off the phone with Mike Lazzo at Adult Swim!! He wants to see our pilot, so we're getting a press kit together. I'm going to be counting all the hits and ratings The Pilot has received over all the video sites. NOWS THE TIME TO SHOW YOUR FRIENDS! Head over the new OlympusBurger.com or watch it on NG!

So to the point of this post, I'm back in the murky depths of the Olympus Burger source files, resetting camera angles to true 853 X 480 widescreen for our Press Kit DVD. My Question: Should I upload this new version to newgrounds, or just the HD Video Sites (Crackle, Veoh, Blip.tv)?

I've weighed the PROs and CONs here,




PROs
Edited Shorter, aprox. 11 minutes (Currently 14:45)
Widescreen sexiness (853X480, will fit HD-TV)
Better composed shots (I can now brave the madness)
Animation enhancement (naturally, with Enzyte)
No copyrighted music

CONs
Yet another "Olympus Burger" release but no new episode (Soon! Purgatory Pizza too!)
No copyrighted music

So what do you think? Tell me with your words. They are like vitamins to me! buahahaha!

-Chris
Cronker of Olyomper Bomper

P.S. Another big thanks to our focus group members! Couldn't have done it without you.

New Olympus Burger Trailer

Moving Box Studios is really moving.

A meeting is coming between Mike Lazzo, an Executive Producer of Comedy Central’s Adult Swim, and the staff of Moving Box Studios regarding the flagship animation, Olympus Burger.

Olympus Burger is Moving Box’s longest animation; an award winning full length pilot. Recently, lead animator Chris Davidson released a new trailer with the help of Dave Livingston and Alex Belzer. Dave and Chris also completely re-designed the MySpace page.

The music for the new trailer was done by Dave in Moving Box’s state-of-the-art audio production studio and the first cut of the trailer was completed by Alex. The new trailer contains green screen composite silhouettes of Chris, filmed in Moving Box's Green-Screen liveroom.

“It’s a good taste for the series,” said Chris. “And the MySpace features some of the characters that are not in the pilot.” The trailer can be viewed on the MySpace page, as well as newgrounds.com.

All of us at Moving Box are extremely excited. Check out the MySpace, add us as a friend, and leave us a comment with your thoughts.

Stay Tuned.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Java Flash Promo

Can you tell what project I've been working on?



Sunday, October 5, 2008

Friday, October 3, 2008

Charm City Remix



Charm City Remix is part of a series of site-specific narratives created by Kianga Ford that offer a portable audio soundtrack that guides listeners on a walk through a city, neighborhood, or location. The Story of this Place: Charm City Remix is a fictional narrative informed by the stories shared with Ford by people in Baltimore during her residency at the Contemporary Museum over the past year. Fords Baltimore narrative features a new musical score by Baltimore-based Erik Spangler and Brian Sacawa and is influenced by the areas rich history, architecture, geography, social climate, and diverse demographics.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Featuring Java!


The last day of September is upon us and we’re working hard on Java. We finished recording the voiceovers this weekend and now we’ve moved on to sound design and mixing. This is very exciting for all of us here at the Box because Java was our first commissioned project, the baby of Danielle Chillemi.

Danielle, a former classmate of Chris, contacted him in the summer of 2007 and asked him about an idea she had. She had been thinking about her pets when she came up with the brilliant concept for Java, an animated TV sitcom based on the life of three playful dogs.

After the planning process was complete and artists and animators were selected, production began. Crafting the personalities of the three dogs Java, Heidi and Maddie was a challenge, but the animators of Moving Box surpassed expectations.

Java, the main character of the series, proves his charm with each loveable phrase he barks. Not only is he a working model, but also a performer at a nightclub on weekends. He is living every man’s nightmare/dream of having a love interest as a roommate.

Maddie is a crazy Golden Retriever pup who loves to cook. She is haunted by a Rastafarian Duck who steals her baked goods, and is such a frantic pup that she can never sit still. Maddie, without thinking about it, provides much of the comic relief for her roommates.

Heidi is a cute mutt, but often is annoyed by her two roommates antics. With Java always trying to dance with her and Maddie always making messes, she plays the role of the homemaker, balancing out the trio. With those two in play, Heidi is a necessity. The three pooches together is a recipe for fun.

A 30 second promo is coming soon, and the first episode is to follow, so be ready. These characters are too much fun for you to miss.

Stay Tuned.

Elephant's Lullaby Background



By Liz McLelland

Sunday, September 21, 2008

What's going on at the Box


As wedding season comes to an end, festival season begins. With that said, Moving Box Studios is ready to show what we've got, and we've got a lot.

M.9. is a major project of the video department at Moving Box. They have entered their final stages of sound recording and music this week. Dave is alternating days between the two until they are complete, which should be sometime in September.

Chalk Outlines, is in the hands of Nick and Liz, who are making the first test images look great. The whole team here at Moving Box is really excited about the project, a contemporary take on the classic film noir genre.

Joe has taken the lead in pursuing festivals for the coming year to show off all the projects we've been working on this past year. The festival Fundraising Party is still in the works.

[Charm City Remix] is an interactive walkthrough of Baltimore told through stories, and was produced by Matt and Joe. The film shot entirely in Baltimore with a mix of musical composition and a conversational tone, leaves the viewer with the state of mind of having actually taken the tour. The video can be seen anytime in the next two months at the Contemporary Museum of Baltimore.

[Java], an animated pilot produced by Chris Davidson, will begin voiceovers on the 27th of September, and is projected to be released sometime in October. This is big news for all of us here at Moving Box, because [Java] was our first commissioned project and it is nearing completion, causing a lot of excitement at the studio.

[Purgatory Pizza], created by [MC Deathbear], is flying through production. The script has been edited and scene one is completely animated. Scene two is in the process of being synced, but what really shines in this animation is the character development. The piece is scheduled to be released in volumes, one of which should be available for viewing sometime next week.





All of the backgrounds have been completed for [Elephants Lullaby] and the shooting has begun for the upcoming video, The Making of Elephants Lullaby. We're ahead of schedule for this one and really excited about it.

We have just finished a commercial for The House of Zohar that came out great and are looking to make more. We also do wedding videos, all in HD.

our studio has been in motion for months now, with construction and work all at once, but an end is in sight with the final touches being completed.

Stay Tuned.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Ayurveda - Universal Mind

Check out Ayurveda's music video for Universal Mind, by Joe Zohar. For more info on Ayurveda, check out www.AyurvedaMusic.com

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Girls Will Be Girls

I'm posting a video a day (or so) with the cool Revver player. Send to your friends or embed it in your blog!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Olympus Burger Pilot (send to your friends!)



We've decided to go to Revver for embedding videos. Send this to your friends! New content coming soon, I promise.

Elephant's Production Still

Friday, September 12, 2008

Ellie and Marika (not yet shaded)






Here's a screen grab from the upcoming "Elephant's Lullaby"

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Update 9/9


Hey everyone, September is here! Most people associate September with the start of school, the start of fall, the start of a new year. Well, along with all that, Moving Box Studios has a few new projects we’ve been working on.

[Olympus Burger] is the flagship project of the Animation department here. The pilot episode has been on the web for over a year now, but if you haven't seen it yet [Watch it Now]. Everyone has been working hard and the trailer for the new episode is almost complete. The editing is all set and we’re working on sound design and music.

Chalk Outlines, the thesis project of Joe Zohar while at Ithaca College, is humming according to Joe. The work is being completed quickly and Joe will be placing some of his screenshots online, asking the viewers what they would like to see. Joe is really driven to get this project complete and release a trailer.

We are also planning a Festival Fundraising Party! Word will come soon as to the location and day of this event.

Nikolai has created Robobots. He is currently refining character designs and working on a backstory in order to put together a really solid foundation. We have a writers meeting set for this week to discuss script ideas.

M.9., a short experimental film directed by Joe Zohar, is almost complete. Sound production is scheduled to begin this coming Monday, September 15th.

[Java], an animated pilot produced by Chris Davidson, has voiceovers scheduled for later this month. All art and animation blocking is complete. It is projected to be released in October.

[Purgatory Pizza], created by [MC Deathbear], is coming along splendidly. The pilot episode is projected to be complete in September-October and a trailer can be seen at the website.

We here at Moving Box Studios have our work cut out for us, with seven projects currently in production. However, things are moving faster than ever with the renovations nearly complete. A studio warming party is also planned, but no dates available.

Stay tuned.

Purgatory Pizza Promo

Serving soon.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Saturday Night and Java promo


So instead of going to a keg party at a lakehouse, I stayed in and drank redbull. Tween and I are at the studio, working on stuff (she's mostly working on meowing). New backgrounds by Nick featured here, and I'm loving that wallpaper texture. 

Friday, August 29, 2008

OB Commerical



Chris here, late at night on friday morning, working on the FOURTH version of the Olympus Burger backstory for the official trailer. Now it's a commerical format that I think is more loyal to the show. I just finished a rough cut, so here's a screeeenshot

Sunday, August 24, 2008

The Papper from the Court



Sometimes the internet makes people so angry they can't even take the time to spellcheck. I hope we never have to see their "papper from the court". Don't like me none papper.

Monday, August 18, 2008

This is how we do it

Check out some of the stuff we've been up to the past months.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Building a Box


We've been making some serious progress with the studio renovations, things are really starting to take shape. The ETA for functional renovations is August 15th, with a tentative release party date of September 1st. I believe it so much I posted it publicly, just like we posted the first opening date of December 1st, 2007. Whoops. Just in case this bothers anyone, I'm not going to sign it.

xoxo
Your Honeybunn

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Purgatory Pizza Teaser




Watch (and comment!) on this video on your favorite video site! Newgrounds, YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, Metacafe, Google, AOL Video, DailyMotion, Blip.tv, Veoh, Crackle and Stupid Videos

Pilot episode in production.
PurgatoryPizza.net

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Epsilon - Killer game by Armor Games

Woah, I just played through Epsilon on Newgrounds, and I am impressed. Challenging but not overly hard, this is a simple portal game with high production value. Great sound, visuals and gameplay, Epsilon is worth checking out. Just another example of how developers are raising the bar on Flash games. xBox Arcade, anyone?

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Java: Featuing the art of Megan Crosen

Chris here, with a look at what's coming up from the box.






Created by Danielle Chillemi
Coming soon from Moving Box Studios

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Paid Intership - Web Design

Moving Box Studios is currently offering paid internships for web design.

http://ithaca.craigslist.org/web/712540760.html

Friday, May 30, 2008

AuditionHQ needs your help!

AuditionHQ needs your help! We're in the process of a total website overhaul, from an optimized back-end to a new user-friendly interface, and we're looking for donors to help fund this revolutionary project.

AuditionHQ is a free online network for independent filmmakers, graphic artists, actors, animators, sound designers, editors, and production crew. Nationwide, regional or global, AuditionHQ hosts public auditions for a diverse range of projects, both creative and technical. Anybody can host auditions quickly and easily, and talented people can find work in their field.


To donate, Click Here
Any donation would be indispensable.

If you're interested in learning more about AuditionHQ, visit www.AuditionHQ.com.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Moving Graffiti

This is probably one of the coolest things I have seen in a while.

It's a short film called MUTO by Blu. Every frame of the animation is painted onto a public wall to create moving graffiti. The camera is a little to jerky for my tastes, but you can't beat the concept.

Enjoy it.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

FlashDen


Hey there, Chris here, just wanted to tell you about the sweet new site FlashDen.net. It hosted a plethora of user-created flash components, actionscript code, effects, and plug-ins. And they're cheap! Some files are as low as a dollar, and considering the time saved, FlashDen can really help on projects.
The MP3 player on AyurvedaMusic.com came from a coder on FlashDen, I'm really loving it. All files come with full source code to modify. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I think it's so cool.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

The Story of Khale 2

Kevin Okulolo, a 19 year old animator out of UC Davis has released the second episode of The Story of Khale. The first one was the closest thing I've seen to the work of Adam Phillips, the guy who is probably the best Flash animator out there. So check it out. Kevin has a bright future in animation ahead of him.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Practicing The Elevator Pitch

Tim Ferriss, author of the bestselling book, The 4-Hour Workweek, has just posted this on his blog. Its three tips on how to give a good elevator pitch. Being able to pitch a TV show in under a minute is a useful skill in the entertainment industry (or any industry for that matter) and should be practiced. There isn't much instruction on the blog, but his tips are a really good starting point.

The first video is Mr. Ferriss giving his elevator pitch. The second is only useful if you speak German.

Enjoy.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Venture Bros. Season 3 Trailer

We here at Moving Box love Adult Swim and The Venture Bros. is probably our favorite show on it, so when we saw a link to a new trailer for season 3 on adultswim.com we almost soiled ourselves.

There are a few, let's say, weird moments, but we're pretty excited.

Watch it here.

Magazines & Cruel Jokes

The May issue of Video Maker Magazine, where our cartoon, Bacon Samurai, won animation of the year has hit news stands everywhere. Wright's name was left out as the creator by mistake, so we'll give him a shout out here while we wait for the correction in an upcoming issue.

We also found this a little while ago. Its called Spider by Blue-Tongue Films, a small group of film-makers based in Australia. Enjoy it, as well as all their other work.

Friday, April 25, 2008

The new Flash vCam has Awesome Features

Bryan Heisey has released a friggin' sweet new Flash vCam based on the original created by Sham Bhangal and Dave Dixon. It is compatable with CS3 (the old one wasn't) and has some really awesome new features, including blur and tint. Also looks like it's compatable with different blend modes. I love Flash.

V cam and CS3 - BryanHeisey.com

Be sure to watch the two demo movies, it's quite powerful.

-Chris

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Cornell University

Chris has just completed a pro-bono job for the Dean of Students at Cornell University as a creative consultant.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Olympus Burger - Best of Week at NG


Thought I'd post this screenshot, both parts of OB in the top 10 of the week!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Olympus Burger #5 of All Time!


It's since changed, but for a day Olympus Burger was #5 of ALL TIME on newgrounds. They cycled Part 2 to the homepage, which brought the scores down (some people saw part 2 before part 1) but I figured I would post this screenshot because it's awesome.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

OB kills it on NG!

Olympus Burger is doing very well on NewGrounds this week! Part 1 has been featured on the homepage since Friday, and Part 2 has won WEEKLY USERS CHOICE and REVIEW CREW PICK for this week! It's also ranked #5 of all time for score, with a 4.41/5.00 ! (it peaked last night at a 4.44). Apollo's Webcast is getting less attention, but it hanging steadily atound a 3.5.

If you've got a minute, head over to Newgrounds and VOTE to support us! You can vote once a day and you don't even need an account!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Olympus Burger on NewGrounds.com

Olympus Burger and Apollo's webcast have been released in an ALL-FLASH version on NewGrounds.com! Show your support by voting on the pages below. It only takes a second and you don't even need an account!

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/428909
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/428928
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/429456

Thursday, March 6, 2008

March Update!

The dust has settled here at Moving Box Studios; we’ve almost finished with renovations and are awaiting inspection. Assuming all goes as planned, we will be having a grand opening gala in early April! Yay for progress! Despite the sawdust in our laptops, we’ve managed to keep the ball rolling on our current projects. A meeting is being scheduled with Adult Swim to discuss Olympus Burger.

In addition, Joe has brought the long awaited Chalk Outlines to its final stages of post production! He has also finished M.9 and, after consulting with our sound designer Dave, will be submitting it to film festivals. All preliminary interviews with the staff at Ithaca Health Alliance have been completed and we hope to finish the documentary within the next 6 weeks.

After an impromptu photo shoot at Cayuga Medical Center, Wright and Chris have gotten the second episode of Days of our Lamps under way. Entitled ‘General Popsicle,’ its release date is expected to be in late spring or early summer. Finally, next week we’ll be getting two Sony EX1 HD cameras! Check back with us soon for final release dates and information about our Grand Opening Gala.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Bacon Samurai wins at Video Maker Magazine

BACON SAMURAI created by Wright Rickman and produced by Chris Davidson has won Video Maker Magazine's 20th annual video content for BEST ANIMATION.

More info as we know more. Our friends over at OurStage.com entered Bacon Samurai for us.

Credit bump for ICTV

Check out the opening titles I just finished for Joe Pera's 1950's episode.

http://www.movingboxstudios.com/chris/joepera/JoePeraCredits.swf

-Chris

Saturday, February 9, 2008

The Making of Wright Talks About Yams

New Animation! A special Behind-The-Scenes look at the making of Wright Talks About Yams.

Check it out on newgrounds, and please VOTE FIVE!
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/425040

Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Last Time We Built a Studio


Here are some photos of Moving Box Studio #1. Hope this will serve as fuel for the fire that is Moving Box Studio #2 in the CSMA. If you have any photos, you can log in with the Google account and add them to the album.

Click Here to view the history.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Wright Talks About Yams



It's been a while, but we have a new cartoon, "Wright Talks About Yams!"


Wright, the guy behind Bacon Samurai, teaches you the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.

It only took us three days (and the webcam was not turned off once for the entire duration, we have 3,122 pictures) and we managed to put a fight scene in a non-fiction film. Awesome.


Watch it over and over at Newgrounds!

- Wright

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Coming Tomorrow


The creator of Bacon Samurai is fixin' to learn you sum'tin. Includes behind the scenes bonus features.

"It's the most genius thing ever." - Laura Zdan, Intern