OT but who cares. Jonny Quest Interview!

[MovieStuff]

Check it out!

http://www.jonnyquest.tv/amazing_interview.html

Roger

[carllooper]

Thanks Roger. I enjoyed the article. You're famous!

Having never seen the JQ series, I never had the opportunity to become a fan, but being a sci-fi tragic as I am, I know a younger version of myself (still in me) would have loved the series.

You mention that you'd be enthusiastic to do a recreation of one of the episodes if there were a budget to do so. While a studio financed budget is one way the other might be social network financing, where anyone interested (I'm thinking all the fans) can have an opportunity to invest, for example, through a website set up for such. The return on investment can be simply a copy of the final work. But then I don't know how much you would need to raise and whether such an approach would really suffice. But you never know. And then, of course, once money starts changing hands, there is the issue of intellectual property rights, which would add to the cost.

In any case I hope you get an opportunity to do it again. I loved the first one. It was an opportunity to experience being a kid again. What I found myself identifying with was not so much the final result as such (although that is the most powerful aspect of the work) but with what it implied: all the activity that went into making the work - you and your crew being kids in a kine-garten.

cheers
Carl

ps. my only criticism of the work is not that it was shot on digital (that works for me) but one of the compositing decisions where it might have otherwise worked better had it been done in front of the camera (or in some other way). It's the lens flare effect. I can't help but read it like an afterthought, or as a retrospective effect (like the effects that Lucas added to the original Star Wars). All the others, I find, resonate with appropriate charm.

[MovieStuff]

Thanks Roger. I enjoyed the article. You're famous!

Almost!

You mention that you'd be enthusiastic to do a recreation of one of the episodes if there were a budget to do so. While a studio financed budget is one way the other might be social network financing, where anyone interested (I'm thinking all the fans) can have an opportunity to invest, for example, through a website set up for such. The return on investment can be simply a copy of the final work. But then I don't know how much you would need to raise and whether such an approach would really suffice. But you never know. And then, of course, once money starts changing hands, there is the issue of intellectual property rights, which would add to the cost.

Yeah, I do not own the copyright to anything related to this. I just did it for fun, which it was.

In any case I hope you get an opportunity to do it again. I loved the first one. It was an opportunity to experience being a kid again. What I found myself identifying with was not so much the final result as such (although that is the most powerful aspect of the work) but with what it implied: all the activity that went into making the work - you and your crew being kids in a kine-garten.

Well CGI has certainly made an impact on the number of hands-on aspects of special effects. One of my favorite suppliers of solvent used to glue styrene together announced they were going out of business. Hardly anyone builds models anymore; at least not a level that would sustain a profit margin for the solvent producer. I've found a replacement using the same nasty ingredient (ethylene chloride) but even they say their days are numbered. Sheesh, where does one find their favorite carcinogen in these modern times?

ps. my only criticism of the work is not that it was shot on digital (that works for me) but one of the compositing decisions where it might have otherwise worked better had it been done in front of the camera (or in some other way). It's the lens flare effect. I can't help but read it like an afterthought, or as a retrospective effect (like the effects that Lucas added to the original Star Wars). All the others, I find, resonate with appropriate charm.

Well, the lens flare was a total afterthought. When I put together all the clips for the final, I was doing some sweetening of the shots, like camera shake, etc. The lens flare was added to the jet shot and the pterodactyl shots, just to give them some energy and more depth. Not crazy about CGI anything but they do work better with the lens flare than without. Oh, I could have created my own lens flare fairly easily but, frankly, I was just plain tired. It was about 10:00 an night when I made the decision. Adding the lens flare from Photoshop meant it could be finished completely before I went to bed. Generating it from scratch would have meant another set up which, due other commitments, would not have happened for several weeks. So, Photoshop it was. This was a long, long project. Much longer than I anticipated and I needed to wrap it up and get on with another book that I had been formulating. So now I'm out of JQ mode and back into writing again. Hope to have it finished by the end of summer, if I don't get too distracted by work. Also starting to formulate some more paintings.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Roger

[Patrick]

Great read, Roger! Really shows your enthusiasm and commitment to the project. And I have to add again that the opening sequence that you "recreated" looks amazing.

[David M. Leugers]

A full episode would be so cool! Well done Roger, would love to see more. Maybe a promo for theater chains (Johnny Quest goes to see a movie - saves the day buying tickets on-line) type of thing?