Skube's everyday life Blog.

Snowmaggedopocolypse

2011-02-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

We got hit with a blizzard the other day. It was epic.

Shutterbug

2010-11-18T10:13:00.001-08:00

Been snapping a lot of pics lately. Nothing special, just practicing.

Rob Zombie

2010-10-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

I got inspired to paint this a couple weeks ago. It's from a photo by Sara Collaton. The photo is amazing! Check out her other stuff while you're at it. This chick is talented.

Alien Fairy Thing

2010-09-30T15:40:00.001-07:00

I don't know what else to call it.
This was started using a technique where you look for shapes in a bunch of overlayed scribbles, similar to looking for shapes in the clouds. This is what I saw.

Slowly but Surely

2010-06-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

I'm very slowly updating my BCS blog.

You screwed me, Lost.

2010-05-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

Lost Spoilers below.

Working on a few lists to help express my total disappointment in the Lost finale.
I don't have a problem with the fact that they are all dead in the alt-verse and that it's actually a kind of purgatory. I haven't had a problem with the ghosts that have been appearing since the first episode. I can accept that.
What I can't accept is that the alt-verse served no other purpose than to give an ending, because apparently the writers couldn't come up with an ending to the actual story we've been following for the past 6 years. And I can't accept that they didn't answer a damn thing OTHER than what the alt-verse is. Remove the alt-verse from the season and what are you left with? A show with no explanation other than "It's Magic!". This "ending" could be tacked on to just about any show out there. Seinfeld could have done the same ending. Newhart could have done the same ending. It is a one-size-fits-all ending.

So with that in mind, and people who think I'm just not happy with the answers they gave, here's my ongoing list of unanswered questions. Also, there's a list of questions that were actually answered. It's a short list.

Unanswered Qs from Lost.
Why was Dharma food being dropped, despite that the Dharma Initiative hadn't been around for 20 years. Why did the island cork turn smokey into smokey? What was the cork blocking and why was it magnetic? Why was the smoke monster called "a security system", even by Richard who apparently knew it was an evil man? What is the significance of the Egyptian mythology? Who built that stuff? What was Smokey's name? Why was Walt so special? Why did the island cure cancer? Why did it fix John Locke's spine? Why did the island NOT heal Ben's cancer? Where did the lighthouse come from and why does it see places around the world?

ANSWERED Q's in the big finale
What is the Alt Universe?- Limbo
Who is the new Jacob?- Hurley
What is the Island? (The most important question)- It's just an island, with a hole, filled with magic light, and there's literally a cork in it.

And don't tell me it's not about the island, and that it's about the characters. Of course it's about the characters. And the finale did the characters just as well as they always do, if not better. But, don't tell me it's not ALSO about the mystery of the island, and that we tuned in time and again because we believed, if we stuck in through it all, that we would have answers. Solid answers. Maybe not answers we wanted, but answers. And "It's magic", is most definitely not an answer.

Muy Macho

2010-05-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know. This kinda artwork makes me look like a badass.

Sad Sad Day

2010-03-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

My initial reaction yesterday was, "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!" give or take a few letters.
Today, I'm just more bummed than anything.
I found out that a project that I was working on as a potential pitch for a feature film is remarkably similar to one that is already in pre-production, and is set to star Hugh Jackman in the lead role. While my story was different, the overall concept is very much the same. It was going to be centered around a sort of UFC for robots, with human's remote controlling them. A near future version of those battle bots and mech wars. A concept that is not all that original anyway, *cough*robot*jox*cough*, but it hadn't been done in a while. I thought I was being clever by bringing it back.

Oh well.

So here's the concept art I drew up for one of the bots that I was modeling for a proof of concept scene. I might finish the model, just as a reel bit. But I'm gonna give up on the rest of it and move on to a different project now.

Winter 2010 Reel

2010-02-19T12:18:00.000-08:00

Man, how long has it been since I did a demo reel? Like 4 years? I figured it's about time I stop procrastinating and I put a new one together. So I did.

Sean Skube Winter 2010 Reel from DJ Smack Mackey on Vimeo.

more robots

2010-02-04T07:50:00.000-08:00

sometimes I just like to sketch some robots.

Nic Cage As Everyone

2010-01-21T14:21:00.001-08:00

Last week we discovered the awesome site Nic Cage as Everyone. How could we resist submitting our own? Short answer, we couldn't. Here's my submissions, some of which have already been posted on the site.

practicing inking

2009-12-03T15:46:00.001-08:00

Just practicing "inking" in photoshop.

Bionic Jack

2009-11-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

Finally finished my Thought Faucet entry for October's topic. "Bionic Jack the Ripper".

I toyed with just doing a bionic arm, but all you would see was his hand, so I made him more machine and gave him a robotic head.

Here are the WIP pics I saved out as I went along.

Mer-man

2009-10-26T08:42:00.001-07:00

Did this one for Thought Faucet. The topic was He-man redesign, but I didn't wanna draw He-man, so I drew Mer-man instead.

Daily Doodle- Robot

2009-09-24T15:21:00.001-07:00

Felt like drawing a robot.

Smoke Break

2009-05-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Smoke Break from DJ Smack Mackey on Vimeo.

I finally got around to uploading this silly, spur of the moment short

Wolverine & Cyclops switch powers

2009-05-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

did this one for Thought Faucet.

Daily Doodle- Dog Creature

2009-05-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

just another creature. I don't have any purpose for doing these. Just practicing. Maybe one day I'll make a model based on one it. Who knows.

Daily Doodle- Crab Creature

2009-05-05T13:51:00.001-07:00

Just a creature concept I doodled up. Not exactly scary or anything. Just tryin' out different techniques lately.

Daily Doodle- The judge

2009-04-09T08:58:00.001-07:00

just started doodlin', and came up with this.

Took some new photos

2009-04-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Uploaded some new photos to my D90 set.

Rattler

2009-02-20T13:27:00.000-08:00

My latest digital painting for Thought Faucet. Made in Photoshop.

d90 night shots

2009-02-20T08:33:00.001-08:00

posted a few d90 night shots I took on my way home the other night. I did some mild color correcting on a few of them, but certainly not to brighten them. The d90 does remarkably well in low light with the right settings. These are hand held shots. Wish I had a tripod to keep the shot steady.

Photography and my new D90

2009-02-16T16:08:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time.
I've just bought a Nikon D90 and it has barely left my hands since. I love the pictures I can take with it. I bought a 50mm f1.8 lens for it too, which has been used a lot more than the kit lens. The kit lens just doesn't do as well in low light, and most of the time I've had to play has been at night, or indoors, or when I can't carry around different lenses, so I use the smaller *cough better cough* one.
Anyway, This will probably become a photography blog for a while. I can't help it.

My Flickr D90 page

My niece's 1st B-day!

2008-11-24T07:07:00.000-08:00

I can't believe she's already a year old. I think she enjoyed her cake.

And here she is with Pops.

Ears

2008-09-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

So, I was working on a job that involved fur. We were all set, and I spent two days relearning Maya fur. And what happens? Right when I get the fur the way I like it, project was scrapped. Oh well. Here's the fur. Rendered in Mental Ray. Model is by Mark.

Thought Faucet daily- Ladybug

2008-09-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

my latest thing for Thought Faucet.

Thought Faucet-Plant People WIP

2008-08-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

My work in progress on this week's Thought Faucet topic. Plant People.
[EDIT] The final pic can be seen here.

Thought Faucet

2008-08-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

This is my latest entry over on Thought Faucet. I recommend checking out the art that is being churned out there. It's amazing!

This is my life

2008-07-29T10:04:00.001-07:00

Sadly, this is what I have to deal with every day of my working life.

Stan "the Man" Winston is gone

2008-06-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

One of my idols growing up is gone. Stan Winston died today. I met him just once, and very briefly, but he was unbelievably cool. If I can find the picture I got taken with him, I'll put it up here. For those who don't know, Stan is responsible for creations such as The Predator, the queen Alien, and the Terminator. Most recently, his studio created the practical version of the Iron Man suit.
He will be missed.

EDIT: my friend Marc (on the far left) sent me his copy of the pic we got to take with the man! We were all like a bunch of giddy school girls for the rest of the night.
"OMG, we just got to meet Stan Winston! He was soooo cool!"

&fmt=18 and youtube

2008-05-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Not new, but new to me.
if you add the text
&fmt=18
to the address line of a youtube video, you will get a much clearer picture usually. It depends on the quality of the video when it was uploaded.

Daily Doodle: Lizard Man Sam

2008-04-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

This daily doodle is inspired by an old project I did, where I turned my friend Bob into a lizard man. I've been thinkin' about revisiting this project, because I think it actually wound up having some potential that was worth looking into. We'll see where it goes.

Last Snowboarding Trip of the Season :(

2008-03-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sad but true, the final snowboarding trip of the 2007-08 season has come and gone. It was a bittersweet day. The snow was melting, the weather was warm. But I made the most of it, and I even met my personal goal of the season, and then some. I told myself I wanted to do a black diamond before the season was over. I did part of one at Granite Peak, but my injury had me too worried, and in too much pain, to do more than a small part of it. And it was looking like that was the most I could claim. But we decided to make one last trip to Devil's Head this past weekend. And I am happy to report that I went down a black diamond, and even did a lil' half pipe action. Yeah, that's right!
Ok, so I didn't do anything noteworthy in the half pipe, but I at least went up and down the walls a bit. Next season I'll be going off jumps. I just gotta get over this rib injury. And yes, I did hurt myself again. Same rib. Ouch! But I figured it would happen, and at least it didn't happen til the second to last run of the day. Oh well, it probably just set me back a couple weeks in my healing schedule. :)
I can't wait til next season! Already got my season pass to Devil's Head!!! YEAH!!!!!

And here's some of Dorothy in the halfpipe!

Samurai Cop!

2008-03-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine put it best. He called Samurai Cop, "The Citizen Kane of Bad Movies". I think that's absolutely correct. I don't know if I'll find a more enjoyably bad movie than this.

Below is a copy of the review I posted on the DV Rebel's Guide forum. I hope it convinces anyone who reads this to go out and find a copy. It's spectacular.

-----------------------------------------------------
Samurai Cop Review....Part 1

Disclaimer: Due to my bad memory, some of the names, events, and dialog might not be 100% accurate.

So, I've only seen the first half of the movie, which is where most of the youtube clips we've seen come from. But it's enough to begin my review.
First off, the people who wrote the script probably wrote this whole backstory for our hero, and then started writing the beginning scenes with him joining the LAPD. Then they probably wrote scenes of the Yakuza's hold on the city of angels growing with the police helpless to stop them. Then they must have said, "F**k that! let's get to the good Sh*t!", cause this movie opens with this evil redhead chick with shoulderpads who says "Here comes the boss", and then the Yakuza leader, I think his name was Mr. Mullet Head, sending his troops out to take out one of his rivals. And so then they do, and it's awesome. There's bullets firing, and this one dude gets hit and in the next shot he's in a totally different area kickin' ass! And then you'd think they'd give you a break and let you breathe a little after all that excitement, but no! They throw you right into the middle of a major drug bust where there's this hot lady cop in a helicopter. I think her name is Officer Pornstar. And she's using her radio to talk to Samurai Cop and his even more nameless partner. And they're looking for a boat in the marina, and she says "How am I gonna find the right boat" and Samurai Cop says "look for the boat with the drugs in a suitcase". And she does, but the drug dealers spot the cops and they get in their van and drive away. And if you've seen the youtube video, you know how badass this car chase is. Samurai Cop runs right over one of the bad guys with his car. He just says "Yeah, I ran over him. So what?" and the chase continues to it's fiery end. Oh, but what they don't show you in that vid is just how awesome Samurai Cop is. Officer Pornstar radios down from her helicopter and says "Hey Samurai Cop, great job, we should celebrate" And Samurai Cop doesn't even have to use a radio. He can hear her with his samurai super hearing, and he just says "Yeah, let's go unmake the bed."
BAM!!
SEX SCENE!!!
Well, not really sex. See, this guy is so friggin' Samurai, he doesn't even take his loin cloth off for sex. His magic powers allow him to have sex through underwear. I couldn't help but notice how this one scene, and only this one scene, seemed to use a better film stock, and it seemed a little better lit. How weird.
No time to cuddle. Off to the hospital burn unit, which is naturally right next to the dentists office. I think we all know what happens next. While his friend tries to get answers from a burned up dude, our hero sends out samurai vibes to the hot to trot nurse. But no, he is denied. Apparently she must be a flight attendant, because Samurai Cop starts talking to her about jumbo jets. He should just cut her head off with his sword and get back to the action. But instead his samurai powers must have been scrambled, cause he didn't notice the nurse walking into the burned up dude's room is the evil redhead!!! She's pushing a cart into the room and once the coast is clear, lifts the sheet covering the cart to reveal the big villain, Evil Samurai Jawbone Man. I'm not sure why ESJM is hiding in the cart, since he's already dressed up as a doctor. Maybe he just likes white lab coats? But I barely had time to think this thought before he pulls out a samurai sword and cuts burned dude's head off. And he keeps it! He doesn't just leave it there. What a villain!
ESJM almost makes it out of the hospital undetected, which must be a secret government hospital, because from the outside it looks just like a sleazy motel. But the cop on guard duty....wait. let me give a moment of praise for the actor playing the Cop on guard duty. Sure this was written as a typical Cop on guard duty, but this actor made it his own. He must have thought about who his character is. why he's on guard duty. And he created a character that is so uncomfortable in his own skin, so unsure of where to put his hands, or even if he should stand fully erect or hunch over....wow. Brilliant performance. I totally believed his character. So anyway, this guy walks in to find the decapitated burned dude and, thinking quickly, DOESN'T use his radio, but instead runs yelling through the hall. This must have triggered the "There's an evil samurai with a big jaw dressed as a doctor who just beheaded a patient" alarm, because just as ESJM is about to get to his car and escape, random citizens try to stop him, despite the fact that there was no reason to. Thank god for that special alarm I guess. But alas, he still gets away. Darn!
I wish I could write the entire first half breakdown, but I don't want to spoil everything. Let's just say, bad guys shouldn't go to brunch, unless they want to die in a parking lot gunfight by their own boss. A parking lot that looks an awful lot like the one at the hospital. How strange.

To Be Continued.

PART 2

Forgive me, but the second half of this movie is so unbelievably awesome, that I simply can not express in words just how wonderful it is. It's beautiful.

When last we left Samurai Cop and his partner, the Yakuza (which for some reason is made up of almost no Japanese people at all) had just blown up their car in a massive parking lot shoot out. The captain burns their asses, charcoal black, and throws out some F-bombs to let them know he's serious. Then he tells them he'll see them in hell and they get out of his office. So, its probably been about 2 hours since Samurai Cop has had himself some female company, so he goes to see the lovely lady he met earlier at brunch. This is a scene where the director must have wanted to let the audience know that this lady is tough because when they dressed the set for her office, you can see in the background she has the head of a ferocious lion mounted on the wall. This appeals to SC's killer instinct, cause he tells her he wants to get with her and asks her out. She tries to tell him how busy she is, but Samurai don't take "no" for an answer.
For some reason, SC and some other cops go to arrest the number 2 Yakuza member, Bald Baddie. They bust in on him while he's in the middle of some foreplay, but darnit, the sliding glass door was locked. Bald Baddie gets away, and manages to get dressed in 2 seconds. He escapes, with SC hot on his trail, down the hill behind his house. No, my mistake, it's a wooded area. So then when SC catches up to him, Bald Baddie dares him to fight like a man. Oh no! Samurai Cop's only weakness is to be called out for a little mano e mano action. He puts down his gun and puts up his dukes. They prepare to do battle amongst the trees. No wait, my mistake, they're in a clearing. Where the hell are they? Doesn't matter. It's time for some martial arts action my friends! Fists flying, round house kicks, gut punches, wavy brown locks, floppy bangs....oh wait. I was just describing SC's hair, which for some reason looks lovely whenever he's fighting. Must be a Samurai thing. So it's high speed action leading up to SC arresting Bald Baddie, only to have to kill him when he tries to pull a fast one. Not again! Why can't Samurai Cop catch a break!?
So, somewhere along the way, we get a Shakespearean moment where we see the film within the film. I'm not sophisticated enough to know what this moment was about, but I do know it was kickass! The actor playing Samurai Cop is going over the dailies for the movie with a projectionist, when some yakuza guys show up at the studio. Thankfully there's a warning bell at the studio, for just such an occasion. SC pulls out his gun and goes to work, gunning down the baddies as he walks through the hallways, dodging bullets, out on the rooftop, ducking for cover, shooting from incredible distances with a pistol.
Then back to the story without skipping a beat. In fact, we get back to the story in mid-beat. It's date time. SC goes and picks up the lovely lady for their date. He cooks her the finest meal of KFC, and takes her out to the beach where they wear their His and Hers bikinis and make out on the rocks. Big Time! This guy don't mess around when it comes to lip locking. He's all about it!
Uh oh, it seems the Yakuza is mad about Bald Baddie's death. They've had enough of this Samurai Cop guy. The problem is, they don't know his home address. But they do have the addresses of all the other police officers, so they go by each of them and ask for directions. It was clear while watching this, that the people who made Lethal Weapon 2 totally stole from this movie.
SC's partner gets attacked as he's stepping out of the shower, and these yakuza guys threaten to cut off his "big black gift". Oh man, if that wasn't enough to make all the men in the audience cringe, the thug pretends to hold the "black gift" in his hand, with a knife to it. But don't worry. SC's partner is resourceful. He distracts them, telling them he wrote down the address and it's in his coat, all the while grabbing the scissors that he uses for his scrapbook, and deftly getting the upper hand. And being a good cop, he gives them the chance to surrender, even though we know surrender isn't an option for the Yakuza. So, SC's partner kills them both and grabs his phone to try and warn SC. But SC is busy, if you catch my drift.
Leave it to Evil Samurai Jawbone Man to get the job done. With a little bacon grease, he gets his answer from Officer Pornstar. If you have a weak stomach, you might want to turn away during this scene. Not for the violence, but for the fact that Officer Pornstar does not look good in those shorts! EEK!!!
SC is just finishing his latest heavy-ass makeout nudie scene, when the phone rings and he answers it. His partner tells him to get out of the house, but it's too late. The Yakuza are there already. Looks like he'll have to shoot his way out.
And he does. Old West style!
Oh, and I'm thinking this isn't the first time the Lovely Lady has been in a situation like that, cause right afterward, she is fairly unaffected. Probably cause she's such a hardcore hunter, what with that lion head and all.
By now, the police Chief has had enough and tells SC and his partner to go and get those F-words. And they do. Oh....they do.
The final battle is full of bullets and blood, leading up to the confrontation between SC and ESJM. This fight scene is full of energy and dynamics, reminiscent of the lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul. Except SC has way better hair. It's distractingly lush.
I won't give away who wins. Let's leave that unspoiled. Suffice to say, viewers will not be disappointed.
You may think I've talked about everything in this movie, but you'd be wrong. I've merely described the tip of the iceberg of badassery that is Samurai Cop. From it's tight script, to it's A-list acting, to it's top notch editing, this movie is a thrill a minute action ride to hell and back, full of rich characters, comic relief, intense romance, and martial arts and gunplay worthy of comparison to The Matrix, Lethal Weapon, or even Dark Ops. It gets my highest praise and I recommend it to you all.

Doodles

2008-03-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

some new daily doodles. It's been a while, but I have a bit of downtime at the moment, so I started sketching stuff in photoshop until it resembled something and then I'd run with it.

Loving Snowboarding So Much It Hurts

2008-02-27T07:47:00.000-08:00

So, I'm hooked on snowboarding now. I've bought a board and gear, and I've gone the past two weekends, and I'm trying to go again this weekend. The thing is, I bruised a rib last weekend and tore up my ab muscles, and it hurts to move. So what's a fella' to do? It might not matter now though, cause I might have to work this weekend. Blessing or curse?

Snowboarding goodness

2008-01-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went snowboarding for the first time. I tried skiing at christmas time, but it wasn't for me. I was worried it would be the same with the snowboard, but I actually really loved it. I fell down a bunch, of course, but that's to be expected. I'm bruised and sore, but I don't care. I'm gonna go do it again!

Vids from the day

Dorothy's best effort.

Try and guess which one is me at the beginning of the vid.

Steve tries to jump

I do a jump. Hey, at least I landed.

Lisa carves up the fresh powder

Steve tries again

Steve sneaks up on us

Man, I need to get back to this

2007-08-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

I really need to find something worth posting on here. Hopefully I'll have something worthy of putting up here soon. We'll see though. In the meantime, my friend Kate had her baby last weekend. Darlin' little Natalie was born on Friday night. She's pretty adorable.

Dogs

2007-06-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

My dogs are such great sources of amusement for us.

Again with the SSS faking

2007-04-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

So, it's me again, trying to find a more production (and user) friendly way to achieve that subsurface scattering look, without any complex shader work or long render times. This is my latest work on the subject. From Left to Right the shaders are:
ordinary blinn shader, blinn plus lambert with backlit translucency, and blinn+backlit translucence+another lambert for scattered translucence(or whatever you wanna call it).

anyway, the render times for each of these was around 45 seconds. No difference in render time from one to the other. the only reason it took 45 seconds was cause the mesh is made up of almost 1,300,000 triangles. Rendered in Mental Ray, cause this is a case where Maya's renderer just won't cut it. No textures. just three shaders and three spotlights.

AVP

2007-03-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

So, I've been wanting to join the Outsider Art Club for a while now, but haven't found enough time to finish a drawing til now.
The last topic they posted was Celebrity Faceoff. So I decided to do AvP. (zombie) Anna Nicole versus Paris Hilton. I wish I'd done a better drawing, but I wanted to focus more on the digital painting, since it's been forever since I have done that. I've never been all that good at composition anyway.
So here's some progress pics and the final image.

I guess this could be filed under Daily Doodle

2007-03-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

We're doing monkey concept art, and I got a little far away from the style we are supposed to be doing, but oh well. So I figured I'd post it here, seeing as how it's guaranteed this one will be tossed out right away. I based it on a species I believe is called Hanuman Langur.

doodles, explained

2007-03-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

In case anyone reads these posts and is wondering about my daily doodles, they are not actually meant to be good or anything. I just open a photoshop file and start drawing with the wacom tablet, and I just draw without thinking about what I'm drawing. Kind of free association for drawing. So, rather than just throw them away, I decided to start posting them. Just for the hell of it. And that is a what a daily doodle is.

Zoffee

2007-03-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

just another random ridiculous thoughtless drawing.

daily doodles

2007-03-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

just more doodling. No rules, no aesthetics, no nuthin'

skin lovin'

2007-03-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

So anyway, I kept thinking about this method for making that translucent quality of skin that you notice in close-ups. I was watching Rome last night on HBO, and I kept noticing it on the skin around the actors' eyes especially. So I decided today to try and get it using the technique I kept meaning to try out. And sure enough, it worked just fine. I'll have to write up a new Trade Secret on my site about it soon. notice the render time. yeah.

2D vs. 3D The Blog

2007-02-22T09:19:00.000-08:00

the war is ON!!!!

http://2dvs3d.blogspot.com

3d vs. 2d volume 2

2007-02-15T16:22:00.000-08:00

Take THAT 2D

3d vs 2d volume1

2007-02-14T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have thrown down the gauntlet here at Radar Studios. Now let's see if the 2D department is up to the challenge. Here is the first battle in what will surely be a long and drawn out war. no pun intended.

Who will be the victor? And who will be the victoria.

This could get ugly

Click the image to view

Grindhouse

2007-02-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

Well, me being such a fan of Rodriguez, I am extremely excited about Grindhouse coming out in April. So when they announced the contest to create your own fake trailer, I had to give it a go.
And this is what happened.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out with this.

Only The Coolest

2007-02-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

Dare I say, this may be the very coolest thing I've ever created. Maybe the coolest anyone has ever made.

Credit where credit is due

2007-01-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

Mark wouldn't stop bitchin' about me not naming him as the co-creator of the flesh pickle. Non stop complainin'.
So here he is ladies and gentlemen.

P.S. This is all in camera. The man carries around this starburst backdrop and floating "supa-star" sign. It's annoying.

switched

2007-01-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

I made the switch to the new blogger. Seems an awful lot like the old one. There aren't even any ninjas in this new blogger. How can they call this better?

Anyway, so I've been updating my website, and so I changed the look of my blogger page to match the look of my webpage. I went with a simple two-color scheme and a kinda retro look. Nothin' big. Just wanted a change.

fun with SSS

2007-01-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to find a good method of getting Subsurface Scattering without using the time consuming mental ray "fast" sss shaders. So I've been coming up with my own solution. It still needs work, but I figured I'd post a comparison.
This is a model that a co-worker and I did in mudbox a couple weeks ago. PS, LOVE mudbox! It's so easy to use right out of the box, compared to a certain other program..**cough cough** Z-BRUSH **cough cough**.
Anyway, don't ask me what it is, cause we were making it up as we went along. It's some sort of flesh pickle with a classical greek beard.
So see if you can pick out which one was mental ray, and which was my own method.

Top Shows

2006-12-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

For this next top ten list, I'm going with the top 10 shows I've watched this year. And this year was a great year for television. I have a hard time figuring out what order to put them in.

1)Dexter (HBO)
2)Heroes (NBC)
3)Spaced (BBC)
4)Rome (HBO)
5)Extras (HBO)
6)Entourage (HBO)
7)Big Love (HBO)
8)Hex (BBC)
9)Black Books (BBC)
10)Peep Show (BBC)

Again, these aren't necessarily shows that started this year, just shows I watched this year. Actually some of them I watched on YouTube more than on TV, but it still counts cause it's my list.

Flushed Away ignored

2006-12-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

So I was checking out the list of movies nominated for Golden Globes this year, and in the animated section they have Cars, Happy Feet, and Monster House. Umm...I thought Cars was supposed to be the weakest Pixar movie to date, and that it was mostly just a kids movie. I've heard Happy Feet and Monster House were surprisingly good, but I haven't seen any of them. However, I did see Flushed Away, and I loved it. How did it get ignored? Also, wasn't Over the Hedge supposed to be better than Cars, also? So why is Cars nominated?

2006-12-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

So, what with all the top ten lists coming from AFI and the like, now that the year is ending, I thought I would start my own top ten lists for 2006. Just because I have nothing better to put on this blog at the moment. So today I will post my picks for the best 10 films I saw this year. Not necessarily films from 2006, but just ones that I saw this year.

1)Little Miss Sunshine
2)Shortbus
3)Borat
4)The Host
5)Flushed Away
6)Casino Royale
7)Primer
8)Pirates of the Carribean 2
9)Oldboy
10)United 93

My work in Screen Mag

2006-11-29T12:43:00.000-08:00

So, I did this spot a couple months back for McDonald's. Anyway, a still of it is the feature image for an article in Screen Magazine. So that's kinda cool. Whatever.
http://www.screenmag.tv/feature.aspx?fid=1501

LTZ

2006-11-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah!

Grindhouse Footage!

2006-10-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

Man this looks too cool!

Our Party Invite

2006-10-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

This is the party invite pic I sent out. Delightfully Inappropriate. The Photo isn't mine. If I'd thought ahead I would have staged my own, but this picture was just too perfect anyway.

Yet Another Trade Secret

2006-09-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

I've put up a new Trade Secret on my website. This time I tackled the hot topic of I.D. passes. Oooo, exciting!

Hollywood remaking Mr. and Mrs. Smith

2006-08-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

I read this old article in The Onion, and I thought it was HILARIOUS!!

Hollywood Plans Big-Budget Remake Of Mr. & Mrs. Smith
February 14, 2006 Issue 42•07
LOS ANGELES—Studio executives at 20th Century Fox announced that production will begin next month on a big-budget, all-star remake of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the blockbuster action film of 2005 starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. "We're always looking for ideas, and moviegoers really responded to Mr. & Mrs. Smith," said Fox vice president of development Mtumne Ngumwebaum. "Buckle up, action fans! This time we're going to do it bigger and better, with twice the budget and even hotter stars." Said film critic Harry Knowles: "You shouldn't touch a classic like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but if you bring Eli Roth in as director, count me in!"

My Venom

2006-07-23T00:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I was all jazzed to see Venom today, but it seems we were deceived, and they only released a pic of mid transformation for the poster.
So I decided I'd make my own.
Here 'tis.

The completed set

2006-07-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the completed set.

finished

2006-07-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

I'm finished painting the boards. I just have to attach the handles, but that only takes two shakes.
This is the design for board number 2.

Of course anyone who knows me, knows this is a picture of my dog, Willard, whom we love very much, so I figured he would be the best subject for the second design. So tomorrow morning, my wife will have her set, all ready to play. I ordered the bags, and they arrived today. Hopefully late next month we'll get some friends together for a little mini tournament.

Ok, I'm going to bed. I just watched Hostel, so I'm sure I'll have such pleasant dreams. By the way, I really was expecting to hate the movie, but I was shocked to find it was well done. Lord knows, I didn't like Cabin Fever at all, save for the "party man" guy. But Hostel got me pretty tense, and I was practically trying to hate it. I don't think I'll watch it again though. Doesn't really need a repeat viewing.

board 1 progress

2006-07-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

This is how far I've gotten on the Devil's Advocates board. I'm not too happy with how the face turned out when compared to the photoshop design, but it'll have to do. When I compare the two, I like the more french like appearance in the photoshop design that I somehow lost while translating it over to the board. mainly in the jawline, eye angle, and height of the ear.
Oh well. It's not like anyone will really be doing a side by side comparison when we play, so I'm just obsessing over nothing.....or am I?

Summer Popcorn Fun

2006-07-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

I finally had two, no wait, three good moviegoing experiences. I went and saw Superman on it's opening weekend and the crowd was perfectly well behaved! I was shocked. Then I remembered that I was watching it downtown on a Thursday. So that I'm sure had a lot to do with it. Then I went and saw it again at the IMAX for the 3Dness. eh. 3D didn't add anything, and was actually more of a distraction, what with putting them on and taking them off. But the audience was great, and there were two kids who passed in front of us that actually said "Excuse me" every single time. I was in shock. Well behaved kids at the cinema?? And finally, we went and saw Pirates 2 DMC. Spur of the moment, on a weekday afternoon. Wow! I loved it. Decent audience, decent projection, and fun movie. And I couldn't believe it when I read the next day about how Davy Jones was entirely CG. I was sure it was just a CG enhancement of Bill Nighy in pirate gear and make-up. But they actually made him 100% CG based only on mocap. WOW!
So anyway, I'm glad to know there are still some movies being made that aren't crap.

Oh, and I haven't really posted any artwork here in a long while, so I figured I'd try and get back into doing that. Starting with my photoshop design for my wife's birthday present. It's a corntoss board that I'm making. I'm actually making two, but I don't want to put both designs up yet, since she looks at this blog and I'd like her to at least have one design as a surprise.
So this is the one she's seen. Our Corntoss team name is the Devil's Advocates, so I wanted to do something with that. I did a logo a while back, but I wanted to do something new. Not that I don't like the old one I did, but I wanted something I thought looked pretty cool. So this is what I came up with.

Now I am in the process of transferring the design to the board, using acrylics. I know it won't look exactly the same, since this is all digital here, but I'm hoping it'll be close. We'll see. I'll post pics of the finished boards when I'm done with them.

It's only getting worse

2006-06-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ugh, bad news gets worse every day. Today's bad news started with word that the Strause Brothers are directing AVP 2. AVP 1 was bad enough. But effects guys directing is just a step further down. I mean, the track record for effect people directing is not good. Did anyone see Komodo or Starship Troopers 2?
And then the real bad news came. An american remake of one of the best movies ever, Battle Royale, is in the works.
Why?
BR is such an awesome movie already, and it's not that old. Why remake it? It's pretty much as perfect as it can be already!!!
I wonder if it's possible that Hollywood will go out of buisness in the near future. Maybe video games and indie films will take over completely. Yeah right. Not likely.

Hollywood is committing suicide

2006-05-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

I just have to take a moment and express my views on Hollywood's self destructive behavior for a moment.
I used to be the guy who went to see as many movies as I could reasonably see, while they were in theaters. But lately, I haven't really seen any. I went to see Syriana and Munich in the theaters, and I think those were the last movies I saw in theaters. Because frankly, there's not been much to make me want to go pay 14 bucks to watch.
Which brings me to my point. Hollywood is stuck in a rut. Nothing new is being done. Lord of the Rings was the last great thing to happen in the theaters really. And looking at the movies coming out, doesn't inspire me with confidence. We have another summer of sequels coming, which always sounds good at the time, but usually leaves us all disappointed. Pirates 2, Superman Returns, Xmen3, etc... And today I've heard word of TWO more remakes coming. A remake of Clash of the Titans, and a remake of , no kidding, Revenge of the Nerds. Not to mention the TV Shows to Movies trend. Magnum P.I. and Miami Vice. Don't get me wrong, Miami Vice does look to be a decent film. But all these movie producers with their remakes, tv-to-films, and sequels, are shooting themselves in the foot I think. More and more, we are getting better home theaters, and with HDTV, I'm finding less of a need to go see movies in the theaters. I just watched Robots on HBO HD and I loved it. Not the movie so much, as the look of it. And seeing it in my home in HD was probably way better than sitting in a theater with whiny kids or annoying teenagers.
I guess what I'm getting at is, Hollywood needs to find a reason for people to bother putting up with the theater experience, and remakes are just going to push us away even more. I mean, why pay to see something you've already seen before. Any exciting visual effects will just be on the HD commercials anyway.
Supposedly this whole 3D thing will bring the crowds back, but I'm dubious.

Checks in hand

2006-04-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

I have the checks in hand. After threatening legal action, they suddenly became VERY cooperative.
Never again!

Black Suit, Black Suit, Black Suit!!!!!!!

2006-02-24T07:18:00.000-08:00

Oh my god, I am totally geeking out over this!!! Spider-man 3 poster comes out, and he's in a Freakin' BLACK SUIT!!!!! AWESOME!!!!! Oh man, I wish I'd gotten the job to work on this one. I was soooo close!

China Bans Human-Cartoon hyrids

2006-02-23T13:28:00.000-08:00

I just read this, and absolutely HAD to post a link to it here. This is some backwards thinking here people. China has banned any shows that mix live action with animation. They explain their reasoning, but it still doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, check it out.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2006-02-23T013904Z_01_N22478767_RTRUKOC_0_US-TV-CHINA.xml&archived=False

New Trade Secrets

2006-02-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

I have 3 new trade secrets on my webpage.http://www.seanskube.com/
(hopefully blogger will let me keep this post this time. 3rd time's the charm, right?)

Black Tuesday

2006-01-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

I fear that today may be the day. All signs are pointing to it. The end is near. I should have worn a black armband today, because it is expected to be announced that Disney has indeed bought Pixar. Not just struck a deal. Bought. Incorporated. Enveloped and consumed. And this may very well be the slow, agonizing death of Pixar. I hope I'm wrong...........I hope I'm wrong.

transformers test footage

2006-01-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

In case anyone wants the link to ilm test footage for the Transformers movie effects, here you go.
http://rapidshare.de/files/10753999/sideswipe.mpeg.html
I'm still not sure about this. I heard they were going to make it like the old cartoon, but I think if they make it too much like the old cartoon, it'll suck. Everyone who was a fan of that old show is now grown, and hopefully so have their tastes. I think they should keep the core idea, the characters, and the look of the cars as best they can, but make the story more serious. I have a feeling we have another Scooby-Doo or Garfield movie coming our way though. Makes me sad.

Munich

2006-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, I went and saw The Chronicles of Narnia last night, which was ok, but nothing spectacular. The CG was great on Aslan and the beavers, the little girl was good, and Tilda Swinton was great (though I still love her in Constantine best), but it just didn't get me excited.
So as usual, we snuck into another movie, and the one that was most convenient happened to be Munich.
Now, I have to say, I already liked everyone involved with this movie, but I was still blown away by how good this movie is. Everyone brings their A-game to this film. Bana is probably going to be nominated for an Oscar here, and if Ciaran Hinds (Caesar in Rome) is ignored for supporting actor, I'll be pissed. Daniel Craig (Layer Cake) is terrific, and Mathieu Kassovitz (Amelie) is for lack of a better word, adorable, as the toy maker turned bomb maker. Geoffry Rush has a small part, but every scene he's in he steals. And all the other players turn in top notch performances, no matter how big or small their part.
But perhaps the best part of this film is that it restores one's faith in Spielberg. I for one thought the man was slipping a bit, and forgetting how to keep audiences attention glued to the screen. War of the Worlds was good, but there were parts that lagged, and the last quarter of the movie was pretty weak. And his other movies have been kind of lack-luster. The last great movie he made was probably Saving Private Ryan. And I think Munich is far better than that even.
So far, it's my choice for best picture of the year.

Kong

2006-01-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend Kong. Awesome work, and I swear I kept having to remind myself that Kong was entirely digital. I thought I was looking at a real living Gorilla.

Movies movies movies

2006-01-04T18:18:00.000-08:00

So, as usual for Xmas, I got a bunch of DVDs. I got The Frighteners Directors Cut, Serenity, Sin City Extended Edition, The Brothers Grimm, and Star Wars III. The Frighteners and Sin City ones have the best extras of the bunch.
For the Frighteners, I love how Peter Jackson doesn't try to hide any of the "secrets" of the film. They put the laserdisc 4 hour behind the scenes feature on this DVD. About damn time.
Sin City has some really great extras too. I love The Long Cut where it shows about 15 minutes of uninterrupted footage with Tarantino directing. Also the 15 minute film school is good. Not as good as the one on Once Upon a Time in Mexico or El Mariachi, but still really good. And the highspeed green screen of the whole movie is fun to watch.
Serenity doesn't have a whole lot of bonus stuff aside from the usual, but it's still a great film. I loved Firefly though, but I don't think you have to have seen that to enjoy the flick.
Star Wars has a few good tidbits in the extras department, but I still don't love the movie. It's decent and has great effects, but the story felt WAY too rushed and slapped together. oh well.
The Brothers Grimm was fun, but didn't feel quite the same as the usual Gilliam movies. Still, a good fairy tale movie, and reminded me of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow.

Be back soon

2005-12-30T06:59:00.000-08:00

I've been out of town for the past couple weeks for the holidays. I've been having fun shooting footage with my new HDV cam. Got some nice shots of my wife's aunt's wolves, and I'm going to Georgetown today, so hopefully I can get some cool shots there.
I'll be back soon.

bestpricecamera.com sucks nuts!

2005-12-06T00:44:00.000-08:00

OK people, this is a warning to all out there who shop online for cameras and equipment. DO NOT SHOP AT BESTPRICECAMERA.COM!!! I just got my HDV cam today, and found that they had decided, in their infinite wisdom, to "upgrade" me to a less desirable package deal. I was charged almost 300 bucks more than what I was supposed to, and I was not given everything I had ordered. I looked these guys up on price.com's review page and I found that there are TONS of reviews with similar stories. Also, they apparently use more than this site for their company. There's a few that are all fronts for these bait and switch jokers. And their customer service is a joke. The guy actually asked me what I was "bitching" about, since I was still getting "a good deal". Classy and professional, huh.
The lesson here is, when ordering over the web, do as much research as possible. You can never have enough info on people like this.
I'm hoping my credit card company will be able to help me out with this. I'm not giving this camera back to them just to have to wait over 8 weeks for my real order.
Infuriating! Mr. Mcgee has made me angry, people. And he isn't gonna like me when I'm angry.

Old work

2005-11-27T21:43:00.000-08:00

This is all just old work that I did a few months back. Most of it was for McDonalds, but the old man was for a hospital spot. btw, the old man's legs were ripped from a poser model, but the rest is stuff I modeled.

HDV

2005-11-27T21:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, I couldn't wait any longer. I just ordered myself a Sony HDV cam. The HDR-HC1. I found a pretty good deal online for it, so the temptation was too great. Now I just have to patiently wait for it to arrive. I also need to come up with a way to justify the purchase. Maybe I'll write up a little script and try and make a short film. Also, I'll have to travel to some exotic lands and get some sweet footage with it.

Mmm mmmm!

2005-10-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

Today I was given the task of modeling an edible dog turd. It's actually a sugary kids cereal, but it just doesn't look very appetizing. Anyway this is the end result. Doesn't it make you wanna go out and buy some?

I'm doin' it!

2005-10-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Alright, all my friends are blogging these days, so I'm commited. I'm ready to go. I'm gonna start BLOGGIN'! I just need to figure out what I have that's worth saying......................................