Update 5/29

It's been a while since you've heard from us. We have lots to tell you. Ready to listen?

Nick Schweip has finished rotoscoping for the film noir, Chalk Outlines. The finished product will be online soon, but until then check out the trailer above. If you really want to be caught up with the film's production then watch Repentance, a precursor to Chalk Outlines.

We should also mention that we can breathe now. Our recording booth finally got proper ventilation which means no more coughing, headaches, and dead employees from the poisonous air. Next week we plan on starting the setup of our vocal booth. Our little recording studio is growing up so fast...

Film noirs, breathing, what could be next? How about film festivals! With the help of singer-songwriter Tom Knight and a website called Withoutabox we are now ready to send out The Elephant's Lullaby to film festivals across the country. We're very excited at the opportunity for audiences to watch the music video on a big screen. We're also excited to win first prize at every festival. You know that's what's going to happen.

Hopefully that was enough info to satisfy all appetites? It wasn't? Well, check back with us soon for more updates.

Update 3/16

Oh boo it's Monday...

Wrong! I mean, it's still Monday, but there's nothing to "boo" about because there's a new release out from Moving Box, and boy do you wanna watch it!

By now you've seen Tom Knight's "The Elephant's Lullaby," and you know that it's one of the cuter things online, up there with that sneezing baby panda. Now you can get a behind-the-scenes look at how the animation was created, by watching...

The Making of "The Elephant's Lullaby"!

This featurette includes commentary from the team behind the animated video. With interesting and insightful words from Nutmeg Doherty (Executive Producer), Chris Davidson (Producer/Director), Wright Rickman (Production Designer/Lead Animator), Liz McLelland (Art Director), and Tom Knight (the Singer/Songwriter himself!), you'll probably want to go back and watch the original animation with all of your newly-acquired appreciation. 

In other news, Ithaca Tape to Disc is up and running. Check it out if you need your old video tapes converted to high-quality digital video.

Purgatory Pizza is in heavy production this week. Check back here soon for further details!

Update 2/11

Whatever the weather's like outside, you can be sure that inside Moving Box Studios, everything's coming up roses. (forgive me, please)

The Making of The Elephant's Lullaby has reached it's second cut, and the final cut is expected by the end of the month. Wanna see how the cutest animation you ever saw was put together? This'll be the one to watch.

Don't forget about Java! The pilot has gotten a sound-lock and the picture-lock will be finished next week. Plus, we've gotten some awesome additional art by Emily Benning (see the image above). Java will be out this Spring!

We have a full inventory of everything we need to complete Days of Our Lamps 2 - General Popsicle. We just had a shoot at a local hospital and have a new action sequence planned - it's gonna be epic! Don't let the sequel status fool you...this Summer blockbuster is gonna make you think in a whole new way about lamps and popsicles.

We're working on a cut for a highlight reel of completed Moving Box productions. It'll be featured on our website when it's done, so keep a lookout for that!

Moving Box Studios is launching a new service called Ithaca Tape to Disc. If you have any old home video tapes, you probably know by now that they wear down, and this service is the perfect solution - we'll convert your tapes to digital format! More details to follow.

Update 1/20

Happy New Year! Long time no update, but the weekly updates are starting again, and we here at Moving Box have got a lot of exciting stuff coming your way.

Our studio is in its last week of construction and we're excited to show it off! We'll be having an awesome opening event, and will post a date for that soon.

We've entered production for The Making of The Elephant's Lullaby, which is (as you've already guessed) a behind-the-scenes look at The Elephant's Lullaby. We expect to release "The Making" next month.

Dave Livingston has finished recording with Mike Brindisi and the New York Rock. Their new album, Counting Pennies, has entered the mixing stage with Alex Perialas of Pyramid Sound Studios. Counting Pennies is slated for release this March!

Joe Zohar's film noir, Chalk Outlines, is nearing completion! Haven Cousins from Nonfx has come aboard as visual effects supervisor, and Joe feels that this collaboration takes the film to a much higher level. Just check out that still from the film at the top.

Also working with Joe is Dillon McCarthy, a talented, on-the-rise student at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Dillon is working on the effects for one of the most visually challenging scenes in the film. Keep an eye out for this incredibly dedicated artist in the future.

Joe is delighted to have Eric Spangler, AKA DJ Dubble8 as composer for the film's score. Eric has worked with Joe and Moving Box Studios before, and Joe couldn't be happier to be working with him again on this project.

Ryan Mauk of Digital One is head of sound design for Chalk Outlines. Like Eric, Ryan's worked with Moving Box before, as sound designer both for the Chalk Outlines trailer and for Olympus Burger!

Chalk Outlines has been in production for a number of years now, and now with all of these talented people, Joe feels that he's found exactly the right team and is pleased to see everything coming together just right. He estimates completion in 2-3 months, and we're seriously pumped. We'll be having screenings here in the studio and elsewhere - check back here for updates!

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.

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.

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.

Cute Hungry Baby Elephant

This was too cute not to post.

Elephant's Lullaby image

Elephant's Lullaby Background

By Liz McLelland

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.

Elephant's Production Still

Ellie and Marika (not yet shaded)

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