Goodbye, Lipscomb (Or, Into the Interim)

So this past weekend I graduated from college.

Wow.

It's still taking a while to sink in completely, especially since the transition has been so gradual (and is in fact, still continuing!) There was the last in-person class, last online class, last exam. A goodbye to these friends, those friends, visiting family, and a muted goodbye to those who will be staying in Tennessee with me for the next little while. And throughout it all, there was way too much excellent food, many excuses to dress nice and wear suspenders, and enough beautiful weather for the first in-person graduation since Covid. As the bagpipes processed down the arena floor during commencement, I thought back on unlikely friendships, nights in my oddly nostalgic 1990's era dorm, laughter and struggle and tacos every Monday. 

What an incredible four years. 

It's no understatement to say that Lipscomb built me as an artist. Unless we're counting the influence of Steven Universe or the precious few principles I was able to remember from my single high school art class, I learned everything right there on campus. It's where I discovered (and sometimes met!) my art heroes. It's where I first learned about gesture and design. And most importantly, it's where I found a community of people who care about cartoons (and each other) in a real, inspiring way. I still remember the moment when I knew I was among my people - stepping into the (now repurposed) animation lab in Hughes and seeing Bill Cipher on the whiteboard as Sam and Naomi showed me their work. Grown adults, talking intelligently about cartoons they liked! That was something I never experienced in high school, and a blessing I've been able to share for the past four years. 

lu animation seniors class of 2021

the one and only tom bancroft

My Lipscomb experience has been about more than just animation (insert liberal arts joke here). At Lipscomb I rediscovered a love for nature during an Aaron Blaise talk, Biology & Literature, and Ornithology classes. I learned what empathy really means as an RA. I went to Hutchmoot (two times! snuck in!) and Lightbox Expo. I've been a victim of the overflowing hospitality of the Warren, the Bothy, and Toad Hall (this is why you should name your houses, people). The people I met at Lipscomb number as my dearest friends, closest collaborators, and nearest confidants. 

And now that the fanfare is over, the feasts have been supped, and the celebration subsides, I find myself thinking - what now? In one way, I have a clear answer. My first order of business is to finish Bearpuncher. It's a monster of a project, but it's gotta be done, and be done well. And in a generous display of grace I'll be able to focus on it full time. Because until it's done, it will be hard to feel like I can really move on to the next step (and technically, I'm not graduated until I get summer credit for working on it.) So I'll be doing that.

Yet despite this, I still feel very much un-settled. I don't have a normal job to work at. I'm not in an apartment, or even back home in NC. My Disney mugs are boxed away in a storage unit. And my friends are off in their own homes, miles away. I don't have classes to ground me, a cafeteria to feed me, and a consistent place to stay. It's all those usual summertime feelings except I won't be heading back to campus in the fall. Although it was perhaps unrealistic to think that I would hop straight from college into a new studio, home, and rhythm of life... I still expected it anyways.  It's the end of the era, but the beginning of the next one is murky and uncomfortably gradual. Never have I felt the title of this blog to be more apt - I have entered the Wayfaring Years.

Lipscomb has been such a blessing, and it's hard to think that the future could be just as full of friendship, growth, and good times as the past four years have been. But I know I couldn't have imagined these four years while in high school, so I'm hoping my expectations for post-grad will be delightfully shattered as well. I don't know where my home will be, or what the future is like, but I'm excited to find out.

And while this is a goodbye to my time at Lipscomb, it's not a goodbye to the people I met there, especially my junior friends who are watching all of us old dudes leave. Still trying to figure out how to reconcile that paradox, but you will be the first to know when I do, because we will still be hanging out.

Onward!

your wayfarer-in-chief,

dh

day 1

fin

Fest Zest

fest friends

About a week ago (I am much behind on my blogging!) was the culmination of the Lipscomb Film Calendar, the Five Minute Film Festival. The weeks leading up to the festival were stressful to say the least - even though I knew that Bearpuncher didn't have a chance of being finished in time, I caught a lot of secondhand diligence and anxiety from the Juniors who were working so hard to wrap their films. With the finish line for Bearpuncher being easily 4 months away, it was fun to vicariously have one last go at the finals hustle while also putting in additional hours on BP. The night before the fest I stayed up most of the night with the Juniors, waiting for the moment when we would export the final and celebrate. When that moment did come at 8:30AM, the celebration was postponed in favor of naps. 

But celebrate we did! That evening we gathered the crews of Sketchy Dealings, Home Slice, Chupacabra, and Bearpuncher together for a real good time. (Those films will be linked once public videos go live) Aedan Peterson gave a fantastic Fox-ian toast which really drove home what a blessing it's been to be a part of this community for four years now. The experience was such a shift from last year's festival. Even though it was still livestreamed, our room of excited, over-tired animation students burst forth into raucous applause anytime an animation professor or film appeared on screen. Applause so loud, in fact, that we got a noise complaint halfway through and had to end the evening most quietly. 

Unfortunately the awards announcement was a little more... complicated than last years. With seven animated nominations in the running (the most ever!) competition was at its tightest and some of the judges' choices seemed baffling. But nevertheless Lorna represented the seniors well by being the only one of us to finish (so far!) and by winning first. (An early version of Bearpuncher actually placed second, assuaging some worries about the general weirdness of the story and revealing that I GOT to finish it now)

The evening ended with an unofficial afterparty in the Shinn Center Event Space, karaoke to my new favorite Steve Taylor song, and Joel's legendary piano playing. Altogether an enjoyable evening - 10/10 would fest again. Even though I won't be nominated for future festivals (you know, with not being a student and all) maybe there will still be a chance for more celebration, more film, and more fest.

blessings to ya

-dh

BEARPUNCHER

bearpuncher

I have been teasing this for SO LONG guys - but the wait is finally over! I am ever so happy to formally announce Bearpuncher, my newest short film. Sorry to keep you waiting ;)

Bearpuncher is about a cursed mountaineer using her own monstrous powers to beat back the fearsome creatures of the woods. It’s a love letter to the Smoky Mountains, and the monsters I’m pretty sure are in them. If you like Princess Mononoke, Hellboy, or punching things, I think you’ll enjoy this film! It will be available to watch this fall, with an early (and I mean EARLY) preview this Thursday at the Lipscomb Five Minute Film Festival. 

It’s been a long time coming. For those keeping track at home, full production started in August 2020 but I've been doing development work on it since Fall 2019. My ever present worry is that the film will not live up to its two year production cycle, but I want to make sure this film is as good as a (mostly) one-man-team can make it! And that just takes a while. I'm committed to finishing it, and excited to begin bringing more people onto the team to make that happen (including my friend Sam Abner)! I’ve been trying lots of new things, most notably hand-animating it all Blender's 2D workflow, and even integrating some CG (never though those classes would come in handy but I was WRONG!)

But for now, it's exciting to start sharing it with you. I'll post some updates here, but most of the behind-the-scenes work will be in my new newsletter (more info in next post). Feel free to subscribe!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll love Bearpuncher when it releases LATER THIS YEAR!!

-dh

Thesis Animation BEGINS!

 

Hi everyone, 

Today I began work on my first shot of my thesis film! So it felt like a perfect opportunity to mark the moment here on the Roost and post an utterly trashy photo of myself. Here you can see my Covid-stache in its full glory - wearing a mask has let me live my dream of looking like a vintage outdoorsman without other people pointing out that I look more like a suburban dad (which, admittedly, is true). 

And I'm holding up my notes/reference sheet for Blender, the software I'll be using to animate the thing! It's a whole new world for me, but after seeing the amazing work Worthikids has been creating in it I figured it had the chops for the kind of projects I'd like to do. And it's free! (you know I can't resist a good bargain). I've spent the better part of this week learning how to use the thing, and getting reacquainted with working in a 3D workspace (though the film will be 2D, I assure you!) For those interested in learning Blender for 2D, I've been watching this tutorial and that tutorial, in that order. And while I'm still not totally comfortable in the software, I've been making steps and I'm surprised by just how much this one program can do! 

I'm really close to officially announcing my thesis on social media - but I want to make a teaser poster first so I can really start building up some hype! To be honest this hype train may be a long one - I pretty much have no chance of finishing it while in school (sorry professors) but since I'm working in Blender I'll be able to keep working on it beyond school until it's done and ready to go. After counting up the shots from the animatic I've realized that despite my best efforts I've still been a little too ambitious... oh well. Guess I'll just do my best to stick to it and see it through. Hold me accountable bloggerfolk!

To that point I'd also like to start an email newsletter to keep people up to date on the film's progress (and share other cool things and art and music I've been enjoying). I'm trying to find a format that wouldn't conflict or overlap too much with what I do here on the Roost - especially for people who might be email subscribed to both! I could just do all the updates on the blog, but blogspot's email subscription service is a little clunky and I think it would be beneficial to have the newsletter just be its own thing. And I think I need to start something, since 2021 has the potential to be a big year with both the thesis and a little artbook (whaaaat???) on the horizon! And I want all y'all to know all about it and get excited with me! Anyways, you'll be sure to know if I do get something started up. And I still plan on posting here on the Roost regardless. I need somewhere ramble and post dumb pictures, after all! ;)

Thanks for sticking around and following my art journey - I can't wait for you guys to see this film!

May you continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity.

-dh

Music Recommendation: This time of the year in Nashville brings me a particular kind of nostalgia that includes the video game Undertale, which I bought and played for the first time during this time of year, in Nashville, five years ago. (I guess that's how nostalgia works.) But anyways I've been listening to it's soundtrack again, and other video game music of the same genre/era. It's a niche love of mine for sure, but something about the chord progressions and 8-bit sound speaks to my heart in a way only chiptune can. And I'm looking forward to playing Undertale's sequel, Deltarune, during Thanksgiving break this year!