strange frame: Love & Sax

Rachel is finishing her internship this summer. She goes to High School in Laupahoehoe. Currently, she is animating an ad for x-ray clothing of her own design. She did a couple of comics about her experience here:

Before that she did a short documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHwuv5UP4rc

Enjoy!

For some reason people believe that directing an indie film is somehow glamorous.

Like I spend my time hobnobbing with celebrities and wealthy VC people. My last couple of days were spent:

Being the janitor - 

Rebuilding and installing new parts on the flush mechanism of one of our office toilets.

Being the IT guy-

Reconfiguring our new iMac and troubleshooting software installation on that computer. 

Being the facility maintenance person - 

Installing blinds so that we can adjust the brightness of our office which is very important if you are staring at computer screens all day.

Of course –  I did some animating, producing and directing between my other required work.

As usual, Sue and Jake threw a great party. The biggest comment about the party was: “When are you having another!”

We converted our old house into our new office.

The bright tile and bright walls make for happier animators!

From L to R: Matt, Kali, Janelle, Kim, Bobby, Scott

My work corner looks very inviting….I’ll think I’ll stay there for while.

Equipment: Wacon Cintiq 21UX, Samsung T240, LaCie eSata, Apple G5 Quad Core

Tonight I spoke at the graduation ceremonies for the Hu’iana Mentorship Program.  I usually don’t do ceremonies, but I realized how important it was for these kids to feel their accomplishment. When I was standing listening to these students describe their internships, I could hear the pride. They needed this ceremony for closure on this first step towards their careers.

After the ceremony, when people were digging into their grinds (Pidgin for meal), I sat with one of the key people of the program – Paula Thomas. (I couldn’t grind ’cause my stomach was grinding itself!)

Paula and I talked about the many challenges that faced kids growing up on a rural and economically challenged island. One things that few people (definitely not our State government on tiny O’ahu) understand is how big our island is. Any program for students has to include some sort of transportation support. Many of the youth do not have any access to a vehicle and the bus schedule is getting better, but is currently really poor. I lost a great intern late last year because the bus schedule was such that she had to leave home 3 hours before work and it took over 4 hours to get home…plus she had a full course load at college to contend with!

Paula and I agreed to continue this conversation in the near future. We’re always trying to brainstorm these problems into opportunities.

On the bright side, I saw two of my former interns (Kayla and Ashley) at the filmmakers workshop in Waimea this past weekend. It was great to see them again and hear that they are continuing to animate! I look forward to seeing their work ad hearing more of their adventures in production.

Rachel, one of my current interns, made a short comic strip about working at the studio for her presentation at the ceremony. I’ll put it up here as soon as I get a copy.

Gotta stop thinking and get some sleep.