Saturday, April 30, 2016

Rotoscopers Roundup 3


It's time for another roundup! I haven't done one of these since the beginning of the year! I have a lot to catch up on!

Announcement that Alex Hirsch is working on a new animated series.

Review of The Muppets: Going, Going, Gonzo.

Announcement of new details about the second half of The Muppets first season.

Review of Star Wars Rebels: Brothers of the Broken Horn.

Promo for the Adventure Time: Stakes! Miniseries on DVD.

Review of The Muppets: Single All the Way.

Review of Star Wars Rebels: Wings of the Master.

Review of Gravity Falls: Weirdmageddon 2: Escape from Reality.

Review of The Muppets: Swine Song.

Review of The Muppets: A Tail of Two Piggies.

Review of Star Wars Rebels: Blood Sisters.

Review of The Muppets: Got Silk.

Review of the Oscar nominated short, World of Tomorrow.

Review of Star Wars Rebels: Stealth Strike.

Review of The Muppets: Little Green Lie.

Announcement that Wander Over Yonder is to end with season two finale.

Review of Star Wars Rebels: The Future of the Force.

Review of The Muppets: Generally Inhospitable.

Review of The Muppets: Because... Love.

Review of Star Wars Rebels: Legacy.

Announcement that Steven Universe had been renewed early for seasons 4 & 5.

Review of the second half of Star Wars Rebels season 2.

Review of Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale, Twilight of the Apprentice.

Announcement of Steven Universe's return date.

Review of the DVD set, Season 1 Part 1 of Wabbit. A Looney Tunes Production.

That's 25 new articles since the end of 2015!

Also, because I've completely forgot to include them in previous posts, I have also been involved in many of the Rotoscoper's Roundtable discussions on the site. These cover one topic per article, and then any writer on the site who wants to be involved can write a section for the article. If you're interested, here are the ones that I've worked on.

What’s Your Favorite Animated Movie?

What Did You Think of Inside Out?

What Animated Movie Would You Like to Make?

How Did You Become an Animation Addict?

Does ‘Minions’ Deserve Its Success?

What Animated Moments Terrified You?

Monday, April 25, 2016

TIIA 15 (The Internet is Awesome)

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I'll start this out with an April Fools joke from the beginning of the month. I have to admit that I am usually annoyed when big companies try to do an April Fools prank, because they are almost always the epitome of cheese. You can always tell that they are trying way too hard to be relevant. Not so with this one. Quilted Northern's April Fools joke was painfully genius.



This next video is also a commercial, but it's real, (though made by a YouTuber, not the company) and very strange. It was originally a commercial at the end of an Anna Akana video, but it was so good on its own that she separated it off into its own video. I only wish it were longer. It's so weird, I love it. :p



I'll be honest, I don't actually know who Bruno Mars is, I've heard some of these songs, but I can't say I'm a fan, other than to say that I like what I've heard, just not enough to follow up any further. :p However, this Bruno Mars Medley by Peter Hollens and Swedish YouTuber Roomie, is amazing.



All I can say about this is the Muppets are amazing. This song is amazing, this video is amazing. Oh the feels. It's just like something that would have been on the old Muppet Show.



This is a version of the Star Wars themes that I can honestly say I would have never imagined in a million years. I never knew how much I needed this! It is amazing!



Julian Smith has recently gotten back into the song/skit business, and this particular song is one of my favorite things he's done in a very, very long time. I bought both versions immediately and they were on repeat for weeks after that. :p



Zootopia was an amazing movie, and it had an amazing theme song. I bought it right after I saw the film, and it's been on repeat ever since.



Here's another song that was on repeat for weeks after. The Gregory Brothers songifyed this interview with a woman whose building had just burnt down. And no they were not just profiting from her misfortune, they donated all the profits from the song to her.



Walk Off the Earth always puts the most unique spins on everything they do! This is their take on Adel's Hello.



We'll end this with another Studio C skit. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite YouTube channels these days. They've had so many hilarious skits!

Thursday, April 21, 2016

The Old Woman in a Shoe (Redux)

Last year in my writing class, our last big assignment was to do straight fiction. We'd already done creative autobiographical stories, as well as poetry, both of which could, and in my case did, have fictional elements, but we had not yet completely made up a story from scratch.

When I was deciding on what I wanted to submit, I decided to submit one story that I'd already written, just to get some feedback on it. I wanted to know what people other that my family and friends thought about it. I decided to go with one of my "Real" fairy tales, and I submitted the first one I'd ever written, The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

Everyone seemed to love the story, but the feedback from my teachers made me want to revisit it before I turned in a final portfolio at the end. The most helpful bit of feedback I got was that I should rewrite the whole thing to be in Martha's (Old Mother Hubbard's) voice. I had started it out as an omniscient narrator, and then switched from following Gladys to following Martha, and then back to Gladys. Two different teachers independently told me that the story would be much stronger if I focused on just one character, and they both thought that that character should be Martha.

So, while this is technically the same story that you may have already read, (and if you're curious you can read the old version HERE) the story I am sharing now has been completely reworked, with more details, more jokes, and told completely from Martha's perspective.


The Old Woman Who lived in a Shoe
"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread,
Then whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed."
Does this sound like a stable parent? I don’t really think so. But Gladys Foote was not always the insane old lady portrayed as an unstable, abusive mother-figure in this nursery rhyme. I should know, I am her best friend after all. Hi, they call me Old Mother Hubbard, but you can call me Martha. Or Sgt. Hubbard. Maybe you’ve heard of me. I was kind of a big deal back in the day. Anyway, Gladys is my best friend and I am here to set the record straight. Six months ago Gladys was a great mother. Six months ago, before she moved into the secondhand, lace-up, knee-high boot that she’d found at Goodwill.
With 27 children, Gladys couldn’t afford to shop anywhere “Fancy,” like Walmart or Payless. With the children getting older, some of them needed their own rooms, and the midsize sneaker they were living in just wasn’t cutting it anymore. The octuplets, Schuyler, Skylar, Skyler, Skyla, Skye, Sky, Sky2 and Skylark, were at that age where they just needed their own rooms, and they were tired of having to share their beds with 19 younger siblings, who were total bed hogs, including 8 year-old Beans, who had three pet Bed-Hogs. When the front of the shoe split open sending 8 children falling out into the garden, Gladys really had no other options left, so Goodwill it was. She was looking for the biggest, cheapest shoe she could afford. She did find one, a huge boot that would easily hold the entire family.
One evening I came to visit. I hadn’t been there in awhile, so I brought 14 dozen cookies for the family. When I got there, Gladys was lining up all of her children and whacking them all over the head with a limp beanstalk for no reason whatsoever. This was so unlike her! I’d known Gladys for years, and I’d never once seen her lay a finger on any of her children. Even when Julesgard had tied 7 of his sisters into the shoelaces of the house and thrown figgy pudding at them, she had just sent him to his room with no dessert. Of course, no one else had gotten any dessert either, since it was all over Margret, Marjory, Marmalade, Mariska, Marzipan, Marcella, and Clyde. 
I ran down the road toward Gladys and grabbed the beanstalk from her. “What are you doing?” I exclaimed. She gave me this crazed look and grabbed the basket of cookies and began to wildly cram as many as she could into her mouth. She cackled wildly, flinging cookie crumbs everywhere and ran up the nearest tree singing Katy Perry’s Dark Horse. Now it was me who didn’t know what to do. I thought about calling Fairyland Child Protection Services, but they were well known for doing pretty much nothing at all, in even the most severe cases. I’d called them dozens of times about the VonSchneider family but nothing was ever done. Then one day poor little Hansel and Gretel were just gone, and no one has seen them since. Besides, up until now, Gladys had been a perfectly good mother. Something had to be wrong and I was determined to get to the bottom of it. Falling back on my police skills, I started interrogating the kids.
“Mamma’s been like this for weeks.” said Farnsworth. “She started making soup for supper out of rutabagas, grapes, and Marigold’s Teddy bears. And I HATE rutabagas! And then she whacks everyone with a beanstalk before bed.” 
“It all started after we got this shoe,” Romantha told me. “Mother was never like this before. I think this shoe is haunted.” “Yeah!” yelled Tromas. “I hear her talking to the ghosts, every night! Her room is right under mine!”
“Let’s go have a look in her room,” I suggested, leaving Gladys to belt out Juicy J’s Dark Horse rap solo. When we stepped into Gladys’ bedroom, I was overwhelmed by the smell of glue and I knew exactly what the problem was. Years ago, I was one of the top Drug Recognition Experts in Fairyland, and I had discovered a gang that had been repurposing BootShoe Glue, and selling it to teenagers for “Sniffing” purposes. Ultimately I was able to get that particular brand of hallucinogenic glue outlawed. Evidently this boot was so old it had been made before that ban had gone into effect. The seam by Gladys’ bed had split, filling her room with psychedelic fumes. Immediately I evacuated the boot and called the head of my former department as well as Fairyland Rehab.
Two months later Gladys was released with a clean bill of health, but now faced a new problem. She needed a new home. The Fairyland Department of Health had deemed her home to be a hazard and had ordered it be burned down. With winter coming on, she needed to find a new home and fast. But she didn’t need to worry long. I’d taken in all 27 kids while she was in rehab, and I’d set up an Indiegogo campaign to help pay for a new home. It brought in so much money that Gladys was able to buy a brand new pair of Uggs! That winter they were warmer than they had been in their entire lives. And they lived happily ever after.
~

This was not the only piece of fiction I submitted for this class, I also wrote a brand new story completely from scratch. It was literally the weirdest thing I've ever written. I'll share that one soon. :)

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Joel+Alex

Yesterday was the wedding of my brother Joel, and Alex French. My brothers and I were all groomsmen, and Alex's sisters and friend Rachel were bridesmaids. I don't have any pictures of the wedding itself, as I was in it, but I have plenty of the events surrounding the wedding.

The night before, we had the rehearsal. I didn't get any pictures while we rehearsed, but I got a bunch of the reception hall as the finishing touches were being put up.


Before the lights were lit.




After.


The centerpieces would be lit the next day.


The guestbook station.


They had set up a photobooth with props for the guests to use.


The fake trees were made out of carpet tubes.








After the rehearsal Rachel wanted me to take some pictures of her, Alayna, Amanda, and April.



Then I was playing some music and April began to perform an interpretive dance.


She really got into it. :)


It was beautiful. :p



Then she realized Alayna was filming her and stopped. :p



Jenny was so excited that everything turned out so well, (and to be done) that she also did a dance. :p
And this time I was filming. :p

The Next Day:


I normally don't take selfies, but for today, I figured it was okay.
Plus bowties are cool. :p


My grandma, meeting Alex's grandma for the first time since they were school age! Apparently they went to the same school many, many years ago, and now their grandchildren are getting married. I'm sure that's something that never even crossed their minds back then.


We took wedding pictures all morning.


The French Family


The grandmothers


Joel with both our grandmothers.



The cake


Sarah helped out in the kitchen all day.


Sasha had a secret mission. :)


Shaina did the hair for some of the bridesmaids.


Rachel's kids, Ariana and Judah, were the flower girl and ring bearer.


Alex wanted some pictures with them, so Jared stepped in.



Waiting to begin.



It's almost time!


We decided to take more selfies while we waited. :p




They're almost married!


It's almost time to walk!

30 - 45 minutes later:


Mrs. Alex North signs the marriage certificate!


Followed by Mr. Joel North.


Also Jacob and Amanda, but I got distracted and missed Amanda's signing.




Waiting to go out to the reception.


Another selfie with my now-sister! Just like the other one, but totally different!


Sasha's secret mission!


She told me she was up almost all night blowing up these balloons.
It took her 5 hours!



Joel had a great time popping them all with his knife.


I was taking a picture of Joel but it turned out I was taking a selfie.


I don't think he got them all.


They're off to California!





Shaina, Sasha, Brittany, and I got in the photo booth together.


Cousins!


Rachel and my entrance to the reception was a lightsaber duel. We didn't get any pictures, so we recreated it before the day was over. :)





And that's the end! I have a new sister!


I can't believe I finished a post in a timely manner! I haven't done that in ages! Years? I still have a lot to catch up on though, so after this it'll be back to older photos. :)