Today's going to be about two inevitable things: Audio and Taxes. I was going to make a character for the prequel movie, but last night I finally got my last 1099, so I really want to get my taxes mailed in and out of my hair for another year. In addition, I got the aforementioned assets to create the sequel. Seems sort of silly to worry about the third movie when I've just barely started on the second one.
I'm going to try to do something that I'm liable to regret, push the envelope on The Movies yet again. God willing it won't be any longer than the original, but I'm going to use Garage Band to compose my own score for the movie. Most of its probably going to suck, but by god... one scene will knock your socks off!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Do animated libertarians dream of e-gold?
I know a lot of you haven't seen the bulk of my movies, but I've been asked a lot "does X character appear in any other movies"? Here's a comprehensive list, through movie 8, of who appears in what.
Stephan Kinsella: 1, 3, 4, 5, *, 6, 7, 8
Karen deCoster: 2, 5, 7
Walter Block: 3, 4, 5
Tom Palmer: 3, 5, 7
Lew Rockwell: 7, 8
Anthony Gregory: 5, *, 7
Hans Hoppe: 3, 8
Charles Koch: 7
Ron Paul: *
* - denotes the trailer for Open Issue, as seen at the end of Movie 5.
No decision yet on who all is going to be in the Koch Hit sequel and prequel, I do have one character I'm working on now though, and I'll show him to you tomorrow if he's done.
Stephan Kinsella: 1, 3, 4, 5, *, 6, 7, 8
Karen deCoster: 2, 5, 7
Walter Block: 3, 4, 5
Tom Palmer: 3, 5, 7
Lew Rockwell: 7, 8
Anthony Gregory: 5, *, 7
Hans Hoppe: 3, 8
Charles Koch: 7
Ron Paul: *
* - denotes the trailer for Open Issue, as seen at the end of Movie 5.
No decision yet on who all is going to be in the Koch Hit sequel and prequel, I do have one character I'm working on now though, and I'll show him to you tomorrow if he's done.
Monday, January 28, 2008
A do nothing weekend
After releasing so many movies in a row, sometimes its good to just take a weekend and not do anything.
Actually I didn't do entirely nothing, I bought a copy of "Anime Studio Pro", which seems like a really promising animation program, and did some tutorials for it. I'm sure its going to take awhile before I'm comfortable enough with that program to release anything using it, but it should eventually open up a whole new world of possibilities.
Not that I'm abandoning the old format just yet... there's still work being done on those Koch trilogy films, I'm waiting on some external content that's going to be integrated into the sequel. No firm release dates yet, so stay tuned.
Actually I didn't do entirely nothing, I bought a copy of "Anime Studio Pro", which seems like a really promising animation program, and did some tutorials for it. I'm sure its going to take awhile before I'm comfortable enough with that program to release anything using it, but it should eventually open up a whole new world of possibilities.
Not that I'm abandoning the old format just yet... there's still work being done on those Koch trilogy films, I'm waiting on some external content that's going to be integrated into the sequel. No firm release dates yet, so stay tuned.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Should Be Done By Friday
Just putting the finishing touches on Movie 8. Should be up sometime tomorrow (no promises for it being in the morning like the last one). Looks like it'll be somewhere in the 4-5 minute range.
Sorry about the lack of post yesterday, I got sort of caught up making a decision on a new animation program (more on that over the weekend).
Sorry about the lack of post yesterday, I got sort of caught up making a decision on a new animation program (more on that over the weekend).
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Koch Trilogy?
Movie 8, tentatively set for a Friday release, will not be a continuation of the "Koch Hit" storyline that I know a lot of people are hoping for. Rather, its a short self-contained story more in the spirit of our earlier works.
That doesn't mean the Koch Hit story arc dies here. Instead we'll be turning it into a trilogy. Details are still sketchy, but we're leaning towards putting the original story in the middle, making a sequel, then following that up with a prequel.
That doesn't mean the Koch Hit story arc dies here. Instead we'll be turning it into a trilogy. Details are still sketchy, but we're leaning towards putting the original story in the middle, making a sequel, then following that up with a prequel.
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Best T-Shirt Ever, Ever...
I had nothing to do with this T-Shirt... no, seriously...This was just sitting on Amazon.com, waiting for unsuspecting people to come along.
It did get me thinking about some merch of my own though... how about a "Anthony Gregory was double-crossed!" t-shirt?
That's probably putting the cart before the horse, but maybe at some point I'll look into getting some vanity soda company to release some Rothbard Cola with their trademark slogan from Movie 4. Though I'd personally rather have some Mises Ginger Ale.
Update: While that T-Shirt up there is pretty silly, I guess I can sort of see it. Maybe you're really into Brawny Paper Towels or Lycra Spandex or something. But these guys have another T-Shirt, no picture this time, and its just completely batshit insane. Seriously, unless Mr. Koch is the Wilt Chamberlain of the libertarian movement, how could there possibly be a big enough market to warrant putting this on Amazon.com?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Hitting the big time
OK, so getting that mention in the Liberty & Power Blog was pretty cool.
But as Karen DeCoster points out, the new movie is getting attention in other circles, more than I'd have figured certainly.
I mean, you certainly wouldn't expect to see a link to my movie smack dab in the middle of serious coverage of the Republican primaries. But there it is.
He seems to have gotten it from Reason Magazine's Julian Sanchez, where it is probably a welcome diversion from all the bickering over the Ron Paul Newsletters.
Sort of a busy day at work, so I have no commentary beyond pointing that out. I'm hoping to have a release of some form by the end of the week, now that it seems like I've got an audience. I'm not sure what yet... it'll come to me though.
But as Karen DeCoster points out, the new movie is getting attention in other circles, more than I'd have figured certainly.
I mean, you certainly wouldn't expect to see a link to my movie smack dab in the middle of serious coverage of the Republican primaries. But there it is.
He seems to have gotten it from Reason Magazine's Julian Sanchez, where it is probably a welcome diversion from all the bickering over the Ron Paul Newsletters.
Sort of a busy day at work, so I have no commentary beyond pointing that out. I'm hoping to have a release of some form by the end of the week, now that it seems like I've got an audience. I'm not sure what yet... it'll come to me though.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Whence Anonymity
I've been asked this a few times: why keep my identity a secret (and a poorly guarded one at that, as yesterday's debauchle showed)? Am I someone of serious political or philosophical import who doesn't want to associate this with my more serious work? Am I deeply ashamed of what I have done (and if you've seen the production values in my first two movies, you know I have every reason to be) and fear repercussions?
Nothing of the sort. The real reason I keep up the facade of anonymity is for you, and by you I refer to the 5 or so people who've come across my work, actually wondered about who made it, and unlike Lew Rockwell, weren't able to discover my identity within a couple hours of presumably none-too-vigorous searching.
Not knowing in this case is much more interesting than knowing, trust me. If you don't already know that I made these films, its highly unlikely the answer is going to mean anything to you.
My identity was never a secret, it really wasn't. I put these movies out under my own name the only place I actually put them, and for a long time Google Video actually identified me as the uploader. Somewhere along the line, that changed, google removed the names of people who put up unlisted movies, and somewhere after that, Dr. Long stumbled upon my third movie and blogged about it, with no idea who actually made it.
That struck me as sort of funny, so I thought I'd play it up a bit, as though my identity was closely guarded from prying eyes. It seems like the sort of thing I'd find really interesting, not knowing who did something. If someone ever told Dr. Long who did it, and they may well have by now for all I know, the answer probably didn't mean anything to him. The question though, that probably was worth at least a couple minutes of interesting speculation.
I thought it might be even more fun when movie 7 came out, with new characters and all. Someone forwarded the video the Lew without the identity of who did it. Less than 3 hours later, I get an IM from work saying Lew had inquired about who I was. Less than 3 hours. That's resourceful. I mean, thank God he liked the movie and wasn't offended or something, that would've been kinda awkward.
Of course, the answer probably wasn't terribly interesting to him. Lew had no idea who I was, though a quick google search led him to where I work. That might've been vaguely interesting. What I'm hoping was even more interesting though, was the wondering, and the search.
Nothing of the sort. The real reason I keep up the facade of anonymity is for you, and by you I refer to the 5 or so people who've come across my work, actually wondered about who made it, and unlike Lew Rockwell, weren't able to discover my identity within a couple hours of presumably none-too-vigorous searching.
Not knowing in this case is much more interesting than knowing, trust me. If you don't already know that I made these films, its highly unlikely the answer is going to mean anything to you.
My identity was never a secret, it really wasn't. I put these movies out under my own name the only place I actually put them, and for a long time Google Video actually identified me as the uploader. Somewhere along the line, that changed, google removed the names of people who put up unlisted movies, and somewhere after that, Dr. Long stumbled upon my third movie and blogged about it, with no idea who actually made it.
That struck me as sort of funny, so I thought I'd play it up a bit, as though my identity was closely guarded from prying eyes. It seems like the sort of thing I'd find really interesting, not knowing who did something. If someone ever told Dr. Long who did it, and they may well have by now for all I know, the answer probably didn't mean anything to him. The question though, that probably was worth at least a couple minutes of interesting speculation.
I thought it might be even more fun when movie 7 came out, with new characters and all. Someone forwarded the video the Lew without the identity of who did it. Less than 3 hours later, I get an IM from work saying Lew had inquired about who I was. Less than 3 hours. That's resourceful. I mean, thank God he liked the movie and wasn't offended or something, that would've been kinda awkward.
Of course, the answer probably wasn't terribly interesting to him. Lew had no idea who I was, though a quick google search led him to where I work. That might've been vaguely interesting. What I'm hoping was even more interesting though, was the wondering, and the search.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Up and Running
The early reviews are in, and movie 7 is it hit. So maybe its not fine art, but it gets asses in the seats.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Too Damned Long
In the end, we decided anything over 10 minutes was too damned long.
With a little judicious cutting, we've gotten the film to a crisp nine and a half minutes. We may eventually release a "Richard Donner Cut" with all the extra crap in it that weighs in at 14 minutes or so if there's interest... not any time soon though, this episode is henceforth part of established canon.
And its uploaded: just waiting for Google to process it, stay tuned.
With a little judicious cutting, we've gotten the film to a crisp nine and a half minutes. We may eventually release a "Richard Donner Cut" with all the extra crap in it that weighs in at 14 minutes or so if there's interest... not any time soon though, this episode is henceforth part of established canon.
And its uploaded: just waiting for Google to process it, stay tuned.
Running Long
Yes, tomorrow's the big day, the movie will be finished either late tonight or early tomorrow, with a release some time tomorrow afternoon.
We did, however, underestimate the length of the film by quite a bit... we're probably looking at well over 10 minutes now.
We did, however, underestimate the length of the film by quite a bit... we're probably looking at well over 10 minutes now.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Still on Target for Friday
God willing and the creek don't rise, Friday will be the release of Movie Seven. Not much more to be said, but it looks like its going to weigh in at about 9 minutes, which will make it our longer single production ever.
But the real question is: 2D or not 2D... our present films are created as 3D machinema and as we mentioned before we're looking to make a change in platform. Replacing this with a robust 3D rendering system looks not only expensive, but complicated. Maybe that's something we're looking into someday, but we're not Pixar or anything. Anyhow, there's something really appealing about tradition 2D animation, and for the time being we're going to be looking into options for this.
But the real question is: 2D or not 2D... our present films are created as 3D machinema and as we mentioned before we're looking to make a change in platform. Replacing this with a robust 3D rendering system looks not only expensive, but complicated. Maybe that's something we're looking into someday, but we're not Pixar or anything. Anyhow, there's something really appealing about tradition 2D animation, and for the time being we're going to be looking into options for this.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Pushing the Envelope
Its no secret that Anarcho-Pacifist Films has been using the custom scriptwriter option in The Movies to create our work. That's been getting increasingly limiting... and since the 4th movie we've been going post-production in iMovie HD to create deeper, longer films. But even then, its not hard to see we're hitting a wall. That's going to become even more apparent when our seventh movie is released, tentatively this Friday.
Lovingly crafted Lew Rockwell avatars and off-beat scripts are good for a laugh, but with the same couple of dozen generic sets and ready-made scripted actions, its almost impossible to avoid repeating ourselves. 10 minute films are no small achievement when one is using the built-in machinema option tacked on to the video game, and as each of our first five movies was markedly longer and more complex than the last, and movie six was a marked pullback because frankly, trying to shoehorn complexity onto this model gets tiresome. Movie 7 will be approximately as complex as Movie 5, maybe slightly more... it is not, as some have suspected, the eagerly anticipated "Open Issue" movie that we promised before, that's temporarily shelved until the expansion pack enables some of the more complex stunts we need. But its rapidly becoming time for a change.
I'm not saying we're gone with The Movies, because its still a nice application for simple films, and there will no doubt arise occasions when its a perfect medium. These characters are popular, and took a long time to create, we're not ready to retire them just yet. Simply put though, its not enough by itself anymore.
In the upcoming days, we'll be making some decisions regarding what direction to go with future projects, and of course putting the finishing touches on Movie 7. Stay tuned.
Lovingly crafted Lew Rockwell avatars and off-beat scripts are good for a laugh, but with the same couple of dozen generic sets and ready-made scripted actions, its almost impossible to avoid repeating ourselves. 10 minute films are no small achievement when one is using the built-in machinema option tacked on to the video game, and as each of our first five movies was markedly longer and more complex than the last, and movie six was a marked pullback because frankly, trying to shoehorn complexity onto this model gets tiresome. Movie 7 will be approximately as complex as Movie 5, maybe slightly more... it is not, as some have suspected, the eagerly anticipated "Open Issue" movie that we promised before, that's temporarily shelved until the expansion pack enables some of the more complex stunts we need. But its rapidly becoming time for a change.
I'm not saying we're gone with The Movies, because its still a nice application for simple films, and there will no doubt arise occasions when its a perfect medium. These characters are popular, and took a long time to create, we're not ready to retire them just yet. Simply put though, its not enough by itself anymore.
In the upcoming days, we'll be making some decisions regarding what direction to go with future projects, and of course putting the finishing touches on Movie 7. Stay tuned.
Monday, January 14, 2008
A Hack Job
There are fewer things lower on the food chain of film-making than the Star Wars parody. Seriously, every joke has been done so many times that they're instantly recognizable. We here at Anarcho-Pacifist Films would like to say we're above that sort of thing. We'd like to promise that
we'll never go to the LucasFilms well for cheap laughs.
But who are we kidding, huh?
Instead, we're going to get all those jokes out of the way in film seven, and hopefully we won't be tempted to do so again for a good, long time.
we'll never go to the LucasFilms well for cheap laughs.
But who are we kidding, huh?
Instead, we're going to get all those jokes out of the way in film seven, and hopefully we won't be tempted to do so again for a good, long time.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Character Design: From Inception to Filming
Though it may not look like a tremendous amount of time is invested in the design of a given character, that is not always the case. While some characters are indeed slapped together, or in many cases just plucked from the randomly generated actors available in program, creating a recognizable character based on a highly recognizable figure is no small task. Even if much of this work is not obvious to the end user of the trimmed down Google Video version of a given film, there is quite a bit of detail put into the creation of this fellow on the right.
This does tend to lengthen the time a film takes to produce, but how can you put a price on a lovingly crafted Lew Rockwell? All we need to do now is slap some vaguely tinted glasses on him, put him in a suit of some sort, and he's off... ready to strike terror into the hearts of his enemies.
So what sort of adventures will the intrepid paleo-libertarian find himself in next? That would be giving away too much, but rest assured Lew will make his debut appearance in an upcoming work, to be released very soon.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The Language of Love
So it would seem, the French have discovered our work.
Given the indelible charm of Messieurs Kinsella and Block and those lovable rascals H.H. Hoppe and T. G. Palmer, it is not unreasonable to expect that Anarcho-Pacifist Films will sweep the French nation, much as Jerry Lewis did before us.
Of course, this inevitably brings up the question of fansubs. Not every Frenchman can successfully translate "Homestead his Misery" into his native tongue. I'm frankly unaware of a French verb equivalent to "to homestead" (is prétender used?), but we here at Anarcho-Pacifist Films are quite confident that the trademark French resilience will carry you through.
Given the indelible charm of Messieurs Kinsella and Block and those lovable rascals H.H. Hoppe and T. G. Palmer, it is not unreasonable to expect that Anarcho-Pacifist Films will sweep the French nation, much as Jerry Lewis did before us.
Of course, this inevitably brings up the question of fansubs. Not every Frenchman can successfully translate "Homestead his Misery" into his native tongue. I'm frankly unaware of a French verb equivalent to "to homestead" (is prétender used?), but we here at Anarcho-Pacifist Films are quite confident that the trademark French resilience will carry you through.
Friday, January 11, 2008
A rapidly expanding hit
In addition to the aforementioned publicity coming to our humble third movie, I now I have it on good authority that the movie has also been forwarded to a mailing list for libertarian scholars (not by anyone affiliated with the film, I assure you).
So we can now officially say that there is interest in the film from PhDs in both hemispheres, truly a global phenomenon.
There is not much content on this blog yet, but please bear with us, we'll have something new every day, and we're going to keep this up as long as its funny, and probably a few weeks afterwards just for the sake of completion.
Who knows, 20 years from now you may be saying "I remember that Anarcho-Pacifist Films thing when it was just two blog posts and a bunch of unlisted Google Movies no one seems to be able to find... look at them now".
So we can now officially say that there is interest in the film from PhDs in both hemispheres, truly a global phenomenon.
There is not much content on this blog yet, but please bear with us, we'll have something new every day, and we're going to keep this up as long as its funny, and probably a few weeks afterwards just for the sake of completion.
Who knows, 20 years from now you may be saying "I remember that Anarcho-Pacifist Films thing when it was just two blog posts and a bunch of unlisted Google Movies no one seems to be able to find... look at them now".
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The 'Outing' of Anarcho-Pacifist Films
Because you've got a lot to live, and Anarcho-Pacifist Films has a lot to give...
The internet's best kept secret is a secret no more, it would seem. Intrepid Internet blogger / editor of the venerable Journal of Libertarian Studies Dr. Roderick T. Long is hot on our trail, as his posting in last week's widely read Liberty & Power shows.
Actually, what he found was only the third in the series. He "didn't succeed in locating the first two". Little does he know he didn't succeed in locating the last three either. As of today, there are actually six videos in the series.
Dr. Long won't admit to finding the video funny. However, in the Gandhian tradition of 'being the change we wish to see', we at Anarcho-Pacifist Films will admit that we find the attention this blog post has generated for this video and the others completely hysterical.
The internet's best kept secret is a secret no more, it would seem. Intrepid Internet blogger / editor of the venerable Journal of Libertarian Studies Dr. Roderick T. Long is hot on our trail, as his posting in last week's widely read Liberty & Power shows.
Actually, what he found was only the third in the series. He "didn't succeed in locating the first two". Little does he know he didn't succeed in locating the last three either. As of today, there are actually six videos in the series.
Dr. Long won't admit to finding the video funny. However, in the Gandhian tradition of 'being the change we wish to see', we at Anarcho-Pacifist Films will admit that we find the attention this blog post has generated for this video and the others completely hysterical.
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