M dot Strange's blog

As another year comes to an end... I would like to thank you all for your continued support and patience with this guy in this room full of computers whose new film is taking FUCKING FOREVER to be released 0_o You are the only people who support what I do... no film organizations... no arts organizations....no agency... no management... no studio... nothing and no one except you, my few friends and lil family.... all so I'd like to say thanks to you for sticking around from the bottom of my paper mache heart fer realS... Now before the year is over what do you want me to make for you for Xmas? I WOULD LOVE to have it be HSM but I've done all the work I can on it my friends... it's in Endika's hands now... there's nothing more I can do... So what do you want me to do before Xmas? Another episode of Badassery?  Video tutorials? Draw people Xmas cards again? Some other kinda random animation er somethin? Let me know and I'll do my best to make it happen!

I just finished the storyboards for my next animated feature after HSM... It has like 1,200 shots... HSM had like 1,600...WATS had like 700 I know you haven't seen HSM yet so yer like YEH WHATEVER... but its like done we just have to figure out how/when to release it so we make enough moneyS to make another film... but I have to keep it moving... I can't get caught being static while HSM is being released and all that... I need to keep working... I need to keep making films however I can... This next film will be in a world similar to HSM with dolls... and things made of wood... and yeh a more organic vibe.... NOW I'm really nuts because I just finished the outline for the film after the next ^_^ And I'm starting on that screenplay now and I will finish it in the next 2 weeks... Its a VERY DARK film...it will be like my cyber punk epic ^ ^ On a random note... you peeps that are into my stuff... ever had any "UFO" or "alien abduction" expe

I was listening to a ton of Penderecki... his epic CRAZY stuff... also his Opera is awesome... if you can find the whole thing check it out... here's a snippet.. I was also listening to a ton of IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES... actually my very first "serious" short film I ever made used the ISN track ANGEL MEAT way back in like 1995 haha... A year or two I emailed the man from ISN Jouni and sent him a link to my short film FACE... it made me happy that the prince of darkness himself enjoyed it ^ ^ Watching the finished film now... its SUPER DARK AND MOODY... if Endika didn't get involved to bring in some other feelings besides PAIN, SUFFERING, ALIENATION, REGRET, TORMENT, SELF HATRED and DOOM this film probably would have been really depressing?! but luckily there's a little hope in it as well... JUST a little bit but it's there... All the "happy ending" "everything is great in the end" films and the like rub me the wrong way... with so m

I just finished the last of the foley and sound fx work for the film... so no more puppeteering wooden mannequins... no more twisting flashlight tops for head turning sounds... and no more wrestling with bicycle tubes for monster sounds... no more WHOOSH and no more foot steps... It was fun to do the sound stuff... and since I did it.... I know that the world of HSM will sound like how I envisioned it... DARK, SCARY, desolate and fantastical... On the sound design/sound fx tip I think I'm more influenced by the sounds of games like Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 4 than I am by films or animation... Resident Evil 4 has to be my favorite game of all time... the sound design for the monster cinematics is AWESOME... they sound so HUGE and TERRIFYING...so thats what I went for with my monsters ^_^ I probably overdid it with the sound fx as it sounds fuckinG CrazY 0_0...... when I'm doing that work I mute all the other audio... I mute the dialog and music... I build up with

I work hard to create the things that I do... and I know not many people like or "get" it NOW... So I've always been making things for the FUTURE... I know that yeah.... maybe 20 people see this thing I've created today but it will exist on the internet and whatever the internet becomes....and it will be here FOREVER... it is all eternal... Want to be eternal yourself? Well then put your HEART and SOUL into your creations! If they are a reflection of YOU and what you stand for and believe in... if they are a reflection of YOU then you will be eternal... So in one way or another my creations... or I myself in essence.... will always be here waiting to be discovered by someone new... waiting to say something to those who will listen... A lot of people make attaining currency their ultimate goal in life... when you DIE your currency will simply be transferred to someone else... and it has no bearing on who "you" were... or what you did... it is meaningle

Here is a list of some common and not so common Samurai films that inspired my new film Heart String Marionette SWORD OF DOOM - When I saw this for the first time I instantly loved it and watched it over and over and also fell in love with the lead actor Tatsuya Nakadai and the director Kihachi Okamoto... to me it was a great hero story haha seeing that I love anti-heroes... Its so dark and brooding its awesome! Also the ending has to be one the best endings ever... this film is easy to find.... this film is based on a popular story and several other films were made that continue where this one left off... if you want to see what happens I recommend the SATANS SWORD TRILOGY starring Raizo Ichikawa... the end of the last one is particularly awesome ^ ^ The SLEEPY EYES OF DEATH series or NEMURI KYOSHIRO - There's twelve of these and they vary in quality but if yer hardcore you'll want to see them all... They all star the AWESOME Raizo Ichikawa who next to Tatsuya Nakadai

So for the hardcore M dot Strange peeps out there... I offer you the first piece of Heart String Marionette memorabilia history ^_^ It's a 12 x 20 print and only 20 were made! They are autographed, dated and numbered by me like this... Here's what they look like in real life... that's my homie Jesse who got print #1 OMG?! ^_^ There's only 19 available as there will never be another first edition 11_11_11 print like this made. I will sell them sequentially so first person to order gets #2 and the last will get #20. I'm posting this on my blog first as you peeps are teh hardcore ^_^ They are $50usd + $5usd for shipping and I'll ship them anywhere. You can buy below through paypal. If you want to pay by check or some other way please email me at Mdotstrange@gmail To those of you that want this print but this version is too expensive I will be offering a mass printed version in the coming months for $25usd but it won't be limited ed

So the end of Heart String Marionette is SO intense visually and musically as I was watching it I was picturing people vomiting and/or running out of the theater screaming and crying... of course the sicK fuX amongst you will enjoy it ^ ^ I'm not typing this to like pump up the film or anything as I was pretty shocked myself... I was like THIS IS FUCKING CRAZY?! The end of the film takes place in "hell" and it feels like going to "hell" as its SO DARK AND HEAVY .... It's like no joke... its not like "this is a movie lets scare people a little when we go to "hell"... no lets literally take them to hell! It certainly isn't for everyone as its so emotionally and psychologically intense... I know imma sound crazy but I will dare to say that HSM is a spiritual experience! Think about how most major religions gained theY power.... through art and music... without the art and music what have you? Some weird d00d in a robe talking about sh

Way back when... when I first started playing with this whole animation thing I used to design characters from the outside in... I was so caught up into what they looked like as if that was going to dictate that they were like internally... NOW how many characters have you seen that look all fresH and shinY but are just plain and boring as fawK when they speak or act? So yeh a characters look IS important but nowadays I do it the other way around... When I'm writing I try to figure out where the character is emotionally and mentally and I let that guide theY actions and eventually theY look... I don't give much thought into what they look like until all the pre-production work is done... We all LOOK a certain way and we all have a certain ENERGY about us... if the only thing that makes us interesting is how we look... well then we're not a very interesting character ^_^ We might do well in still frames but animate us and make us talk and its LamevILLE... So now before

To be an Uberector you gotta love... EVERYTHING about the animated filmmaking process... You have to LOVE coming up with ideas... outlining, writing, storyboarding, doing concept art...making animatics...modeling...texturing..rigging...animating...lighting...rendering... compositing...editing... You've to LOVE it all or you won't make it... I myself LOVE every part of the process...well maybe not the whole marketing and distribution part 0_o BUT when it comes to actually MAKING it and not SELLING it.... I love it... I could do it all day every day...actually I do it all day every day ^ ^ When I'm animating and the shot is going good I get up and dance... no joke! It makes me feel so happy and I'm usually listening to somethin good like UBER GRIMY dubstep these days ^ ^ So I do a lot of dancing while animating... I know its just me in a room sitting in front of a computer alone BUT it brings much joy! Ya see there was NOTHING else in life that I found that gave

Now as we all know making this new film has taken WAAAAAY too long to complete... as We Are The Strange premiered in January of 2007 0_o Why has it taken so long? The short is answer is like because... it took a long time ^ ^ The long answer is... because I didn't get to work on it all the time in those five years... In 2007 and 2008 I was still flying all over the world to show the film or speak at film related events... they were places I'd never been before so I took advantage of the free flights/hotels and travelled around after the events... so I was happy that I got to see some places/things... but now I've seen them haha so expect more work and less travel from me this time around... So for 2007 and 2008 I was still caught up in a bunch of stuff related to WATS... mostly travel related... I took my script/storyboard/laptop with me to try and do work on the road but that wasn't very productive... I didn't start serious work on HSM until 2009 really... as