Couple Tidbits

Wow, it's been a while since I have updated my blog, which is definitely a reflection of how busy I've been lately. I've got lots of news that I'll be able to share at the end of August/ start of September. For now, here are a couple tidbits.

I'm really excited to say that my animation LaCuna is an Official Selection of the Edmonton International Film Festival and will be screened on Sunday September 29th, as part of their "In Our Own Backyard" programming. I made a simple website for LaCuna, www.lacunaanimation.com, and this short video on the Making Of LaCuna. Personally, I love to see behind the scenes stuff.

The Making of LaCuna from Meags Fitzgerald on Vimeo.

Right now, I'm putting the finishing touches on some material for my publisher, Conundrum Press' catalog, which is a preview of their upcoming books and recent backlist. For the catalog, I drew this "author's portrait" of myself.

LaCuna Trailer

Here's the trailer for LaCuna, which I've submitted to some film festivals and hopefully it will be screened a few times this summer and fall. The music is by Jason Michael MacIsaac of the Heavy Blinkers.

TRAILER - LaCuna from Meags Fitzgerald on Vimeo.

Desk Aerobics

I've been busy juggling three separate artistic endeavours lately, they are as follows:

1. LaCuna: My stop motion animation made of photobooth pictures is FINALLY FINISHED! I have officially applied to my first Film Festivals, it will be a few months until I know if my submissions were successful or not. To maintain exclusivity rights for festivals, I won't be sharing the animation online until next year, in the mean time I'm working on a trailer and I've made these two posters. I owe a mountain-sized thank you to Jason Michael MacIsaac of the Heavy Blinkers who composed LaCuna's original soundtrack.

2. Editorial Illustration and Promotion: It seems that trying to book illustration jobs is a full time job in itself. I've worked hard to revamp my portfolio and have been regularly sending it out to art departments. And I've had some success! Though that work is many months away from being share-able. I've also for the first time applied to illustration competitions. The objective is to be included in an awards annual or illustrator directory that is then distributed and used by art directors and other creative professionals. It will be a while still until I hear back about any of those, but my fingers are crossed.

3. Photobooth, A Biography: I'm working on my graphic novel around the clock, and I've finally got into a nice rhythm with it. Of all the things on my to-do list, its the one I'm most excited about. I've been sharing work with two friends, one who gives me feedback on the writing and another who critiques the artwork, but I won't be sharing any of it publicly, everyone will just have to wait a year for it to come out.

I know what you're thinking after reading that:

She must sit at a desk a lot.

You're right, I do! But fortunately for me I found a set of  light aerobics videos. They're keeping my joints alive. 

Given that I'm working hard on three things that I can't really share, my blog may be a little dry for material.  So! I'm going to switch up the content here a little; posting more old work that I haven't shared before, more photos of my collections and lists of my favourite people/things. 

Tiny Secrets

I've got a few projects on the go that I'm keeping quiet about until they're finished. Or trying to at least.

One of the projects is editing my black and white photobooth animation, which is nothing short of a painstaking process.  I've finished animating one sixth of it, once it's finished I'm having a musician friend compose a soundtrack and then I'll use it to apply to animation film festivals this spring.

I have the finished portion online but you need the link and the password to view it. If you'd like to give me feedback or you're just curious, leave your name here in a comment and I'll send you the details.

Shooting the B&W Photobooth Animation

A couple weeks before leaving Chicago I shot a stop motion animation in the Model 11 photobooth at A&A Studios.  Leading up to the big day I shot some of the simpler sequences by myself and saved the more complex sequences (which required me in costume and make-up) for that day. Two wonderful friends, Elizabeth Archer and Rachel Winslow helped me immensely with the slow and time consuming process. This post here shows some of the test shots and gives you an idea of the imagery I was working with.

Here are some tests and out-takes from the big shoot. I'm really happy with how the final images look and I'm excited to work on it. Next I have to sit at my computer for a couple hundred hours to scan, align, crop and put the one thousand or so images in sequence. Fortunately I'll have lots of time post-surgery to do just that.