Coming Oh-So Soon: Purgatory Pizza

The flash version of Purgatory Pizza is coming soon!
Creator Christian Taranto, AKA MC Death Bear, took a twelve-hour bus ride from Virginia up to our studio last Friday, and he’s been working non-stop since he arrived.

Talk about dedication! But what would you expect from a guy who’s almost finished with a concept he started in ninth grade? That’s right, Purgatory Pizza was first conceptualized when Christian was a freshman in high school. Back then, it was a comic strip. It’s gone through many revision since then. At the beginning, it was known as “Outcasts,” and there wasn’t even a pizza place! But over the years, he’s worked at several pizza places, so he eventually decided to put his work experience to good use (or bad, who knows? It’s Purgatory).

Now at 22, Christian’s thrilled to see his teenage doodles come to life in magnificent moving media magic, not to mention that he’s at the helm of it all. But Christian isn’t the only one working. Chris Davidson’s been leading the animation, and he and Jeff Hellman have been hard at work on the sound design.

In fact, it was because of Chris Davidson that Purgatory Pizza got started on the road to cartoon-dom. Back in December 2007, Christian had an art show at Pixel Lounge. During the show, he mentioned how he had an idea for a cartoon and wanted to make it, and he was referred to Moving Box Studios by local DJ Chris Capulet. Christian had always be interested in animation, but he never got the chance until he and Chris teamed up.

Just like The Elephant’s Lullaby, Moving Box will be putting together a “making of” video for Purgatory Pizza. It’ll include commentary from those already mentioned, plus Christian’s cousin Law Tarello, the co-writer of the cartoon. Law will be arriving at the studio this Saturday to share his thoughts.

We're in the final pruduction stage of the final cut, but if you need something to do before Purgatory Pizza is released, head to SickDamage.com where Christian is a staff writer. No kidding, Christian isn’t just an artist and budding animator; he’s a talented writer as well.

Need something else? Get a Purgatory Pizza refresher – watch the teaser for the cartoon on Newgrounds.

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.

Pushing Flash Animation (Escape from Nevara)

Check out Escape from Nevara by Zeurel over at Newgrounds. It's an animated continuation of a his online comic book on deviantART. Awesome art direction, animation and sound, this is definitely one to look out for.

Escape from Nevara: Episode 1 on Newgrounds.com

-Chris

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.

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!

Just a taste...

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

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

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.

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.