The MK Projects

New York Comic Con

2011-10-16T02:23:00.001-04:00

New York Comic Con: a bastion for comic readers, anime nuts, video game lovers, and film buffs. The last 3 days have not disappointed. This was my first convention, and although I was there to work for the American Museum of Natural History and to hand out flyers for The MK Projects, I had a fantastic time and walked away with more s.w.a.g. than I thought I could carry. The MK Projects got some great reception from passers-by, but unfortunately the nature of flyer-handing in a place packed so tight with geeks you can barely breathe didn't allow for much conversation about the show. I managed to have a few minutes with one of the co-founders of The Cultyard, a large section of the con devoted to independent artists and companies in the arts, everything from comic artists to toy designers. He had a lot of great advice and insight into the world of independent nerddom that will definitely be of use when we here at The MK Projects get a few more minutes of the show completed.

That said, it was fun. Played some upcoming video games, saw some excellent cosplay, viewed a panel or two, and genuinely enjoyed the neon trip through another louder, crowded world of terrible wigs.

Tonight's The Night!

2011-09-22T21:06:00.000-04:00

Alright faithful readers (all the millions of you, I'm sure), tonight is the night we begin the Kickstarter campaign! We have exactly 45 days from 9pm tonight to come up with $6,000 in donations for the show! For the next several weeks, I'll be talking up the projects on message boards, flyering in New York and San Francisco, as well as bugging everyone I see at the upcoming New York Comic Con (October 13th through the 16th) to visit this blog and donate at Kickstarter. November 6th at 9pm, the donation period ends. It's make or break, if we don't reach our $6,000 goal by then, we don't get any of the donations, so tell your friends, family, enemies, pets, neighborhood grocer, cleaning lady, manager, co-workers, and THEIR pets about The MK Projects.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to the Kickstarter page to donate now. Remember, you don't even have to have money now to donate today as funds are not allocated until November 6th!

Today is a big day, so I'll leave you with some grand animation to check out for stopping by.
This animated short is called "TARBOY". The story of a being created from the sorrow of thousands of artificially intelligent robots that were destroyed by their masters. A combination of Flash and traditional 2D animation, "TARBOY" was completed 2 years ago by James Lee at the Griffith Film School in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Wonderful character design, chilling silhouettes, and rich colors sets this noir-esque action epic apart from anything you'll find on television. STUNNING!

The home stretch...

2011-08-07T01:09:00.000-04:00

Here it comes. The long wait is nearly over.
The Kickstarter proposal is completed, polished up a motion test this week, and worked up a couple of flyers to post all around New York and San Francisco. By the way, the fan page for The MK Projects is now up on Facebook. Click on the link and hit the Like button or attack bees will find you.

Here are the fruits of my labor this week. Check out the motion test below. It is very simple, just a 3 second sweeping gun motion. I animated it at 30 frames per second as opposed to the standard tv animation speed of 24 fps. The smoother the better, right?

And here are the flyers. Simple, just a few pieces of concept art and a still from the motion test for the background, a little bit of show info, and pull tags for people to take away. The tags lead them here, and from here, they can see all the other Facebook, Tumblr, and Kickstarter posts.

The proposal is coming this Saturday, August 13th. Be ready for it, and by that, I mean give me your money. Please.

"The time has come," the walrus said...

2011-07-13T18:58:00.001-04:00

After, oh, I don't know, A MILLION hours of image touch-ups and video editing, the Kickstarter funding proposal is here! Well, not here, but

here. It's currently just on Youtube while I drum up some interest in the show around the city and online, but it IS finished.
Okay, not 100% finished, it is still just the proposal's rough draft version, but all of the agonizingly tedious single-frame edits and writer's cramps are over with for the time being.
There are a couple of images and renderings in the video I won't be posting here or on the Flickr account, so I suggest you watch it now, and ready your wallets, purses, and pocketbooks, because I'm going to be asking for contributions soon. Of course, with Kickstarter contributions, you are guaranteed something awesome for your donations, but you'll see what those are soon enough.

I'll leave you with another one of Genndy Tartakovsky's greatest works, Samurai Jack. A seamless effort of fantasy, science-fiction, and japanese lore all with Genndy's signature style: fluidity, dramatic lines of action, and a color pallate of rich solids that aren't afraid to display the texture of the watercolors that compose them, particularly in the backgrounds. Enjoy!

Maybe He's New In Town

2011-06-29T01:50:00.001-04:00

The Kickstarter funding video is coming along nicely. I have the next 2 days off from work, so I should be finishing it any time now. I'll load it here and try my hardest to get it on Kickstarter around the beginning of August. And just 40 or so days after that, hopefully funding for a cartoon will come through!

If you haven't had a chance to check out Aniboom, do so! It's a site loaded with works by amateur animators and occasionally run contests for coveted television timeslots. This short film about a bounty hunting cowboy unprepared for the relocation the corpse of finds is grotesque and hilarious. Also, it has some Tom Waits at the end. Always a plus.

Come back Thursday night, you're bound to see something great in here...

Classic Animation Mashup

2011-06-22T22:25:00.000-04:00

No new update on the toon today. A bit too much work over the last couple of days, look for one tomorrow or Friday, though!

Today, I have a video uploaded to Youtube earlier today by Nick Bertke, better known online as Pogo. A professional remix artist, he has worked directly for Disney, Harpo, Showtime, among other companies to provide some post-modern tracks. In this video, you'll see clips and sound bites from Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Aladdin, and other classic Disney movies cut together into an ethereal song that catapults the listener back to a state of childlike wonder, almost a sense-memory of what it was like to feel the magic of Disney's stories for the first time. A fitting tribute to one of the world's greatest animation dynasties.

"It doesn't tell what o'clock it is!"

2011-06-20T01:24:00.001-04:00

We're getting closer and closer to having a real show on our hands, kiddos. Head over to The MK Projects Flickr photostream for a few new character renderings, as well as this sweet new composite of some of the characters from various seasons:

This will be a short post, work in the morning. You know how it is.

I'll leave you with a clip from Batman: The Animated Series. It is the introduction to the show. Can't really be called a "title sequence" as there is no title. Even those who have never watched an episode can recognize the grandiose score by Shirley Walker, futuristic/art-deco visual style (thanks Tim Burton), and the unmistakable silhouette of The Bat. No title needed. One slick animated series enjoyable for people of all ages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEx9r5enZsk

Well... it seems there is trouble getting the video to embed here. Just hit the link.

Keep Up The Pace

2011-06-17T23:59:00.003-04:00

Just finished another sketch, now up on The MK Projects Flickr stream.

Put a couple of other images up, as well. Photoshopped skyline images to be used as establishing shots for the first couple of seasons:

Season one, set mainly in San Francisco during 1967, covers from January to October, from the Human Be-In at Golden Gate Park through the Summer of Love. The hippy movement, an indirect result of the CIA's MK experiments with dosing unknowing civilians and military personnel with LSD, began and "ended" here, making the dissenting vibe and music scene of the city the perfect setting for the beginning of Cole Allen's journey.

Season two will be set in New York City from June through July of 1977, including the '77 Blackout that caused mass looting and crime for two hot summer nights.

In my first installment of "If You Haven't Seen This, You're Not My Friend Anymore", we have a clip from Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In this scene, Mace Windu, aka an animated Samuel L. Jackson, wrecks a few thousand droids faster than the mass circulation of that Honey Badger video. Now revel in it's fluid motion and excellent sound editing, including the brilliant use of silence and chaos.

Burning eyes, yet again

2011-06-17T02:34:00.010-04:00

One more quick post before crawling between the sheets. Some concept art and storyboard work done over the last few days is now up on the show's Flickr account. Have a taste...

Hit the link for more!

A little bonus for you, as well: a very particular song is written into the pilot episode, one that will probably require a little bit of money to secure the rights for. Seeing as how it is written into the first episode, I thought it fitting to be a part of the first day of the new blog.

Enjoy.

Long Overdue

2011-06-16T23:58:00.000-04:00

Well, this certainly took longer to come around than it should have. Without further adieu...

Welcome to the official blog for The MK Projects, the sweet, sweet entertainment idea-baby of Jared McLean and Cole Musselman. The MK Projects is an animated short film based on experiments, some hilariously misguided, others genuinely terrifying, conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s regarding interrogation tactics, bio-effective weapons, and even (by some accounts) attempts to create Manchurian Candidate-like sleeper agents during the worldwide feverish delirium known as The Cold War. These experiments had many different codenames, the most infamous being Project MKULTRA. It is currently under production, as it has been for a year and a half now. Motion tests, research, storyboards, scripts, character breakdowns, a move from Eugene, Oregon to New York, NY, and pair of red, sleepless eyes are just the beginning of this journey.

This blog will see frequent updates for a while, until things start to demand a bit more confidentiality, but I can tell you that the past few days have been very productive: I've managed to bang-out a handful of concept pieces and storyboards. Thank you for returning, my muse, whatever you are.

Here's a little info on the show, from the upcoming production pitch for Kickstarter:

"The story follows a man named Cole Allen, as a young man in the early 1950s during his time in the Korean War all the way to the 1990s in the crumbling former Soviet empire. In short, he joins the CIA after the Korean War and soon goes on the run after deciding he can no longer ethically continue his endlessly violent orders.

"The story is incredibly involved, flashing backwards and forwards, delving into the personal and emotional journeys of Cole and those around him, from old war buddies, enemies, and the family he was forced to leave behind. Moreover, it is a show that takes on a much larger, yet simpler theme of what it truly means to be free. Which is where the inspirations and influences for the show come in...

The Who invented flying,
screw you Wright Brothers.

"Taking place from the 50s to the 90s, the show parallels the evolution of Rock and Roll throughout. Each season, as the story arc is currently planned, features a soundtrack that matches the era in which the action takes place. One of the reasons Rock and Roll has had such a powerfully lasting effect on popular culture is its simple message freedom, it is the aural embodiment of the quest for freedom.

Samurai Jack, all
kinds of messed up.

"Visually, the shows influences come from a number of different animators and television shows. Gendy Tartakovski of Dexter's Lab, Samurai Jack, and his animated Star Wars shorts of The Clone Wars; The Venture Brothers; Cowboy Bebop; shows with fluidity of movement yet high character detail.

And, of course, the
greatest action hero
of them all: Reginald
VelJohnson... as a cop.

"Overall though, the show is an homage to the great action stars and films from the last 50 years. Stars like Steve McQueen, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, the greats. Movies like Bullitt, Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, the Bond movies, of course, Indiana Jones... the list goes on."

Over the next month or two, you'll see more art, video links to the many sources of inspiration for the show, and the funding proposal on Kickstarter, without which, this thing could probably not be possible. So start spreading the word now, this cartoon is gonna be
HUGE.