So For Tax Reasons has some really for real work going on that is very exciting and very time consuming. I’ll be sure to drop more information when it becomes appropriate, but for now, here’s what went on for the better part of yesterday and last night. This is what it looks like when you animate for a television show in an apartment in Queens.
There was a fourth computer going in another room assisting with coloring.
Holy cats, people. Youtube is bugging the fuck out lately. But we won in the end, and now you get what we’ve been promising: INTERROGATION VACATION, Episode 3 of the Digital Pirates of Dark Water Saga. CAN YOU DIGG IT?
Emily Tarver is back voicing Agent Wilkins in this episode of thrilling heads talking at one another, as is Tim Martin voicing. . . well, watch the episode. Continuity!
Thanks for watching and keep an eye out for the next episode next month, as we quickly approach this epic’s endgame. Hopefully you’ve been so eager to see what kind of shit Mark and Barry have found themselves in that you’ve already watched the episode, otherwise this closing image isn’t going to make a lick of sense.
Well, that idea about posting all the time was a disaster. I’m breaking my hiatus to tell you how much I wish my mom wasn’t such a hippy and had gotten me something like this when I was a kid:
More on G.I.Joe later, but even sooner than that. . . RONIN DOJO. Final cut of the new episode is rendering as I type/you read. Emily Tarver is back, and so is Tim Martin, but he’s not voicing Seth. You have like 20 minutes to guess who he’s playing this episode before its posted.
The irony of the gradual, then very sudden, departure of key figures from the 1Up Podcasts, is that, over the last couple of weeks, the number of internet radio shows I’ve been listening to has jumped significantly. Rebel FM gets credit for being the first, but Ryan Scott’s The Geekbox is also a worthy listen. It was great to hear a number of personalities I’ve grown used to having in my ear during the day back to business as usual, even if they weren’t collecting a paycheck for it anymore.
Then Robert Ashley, a freelance game journalist and frequent guest on the defunct GFW Radio, dropped A Life Well Wasted on us all, and changed the game.
His podcast title is close to my blog name, but SO MUCH BETTER.
I’ve seen it said by others today, and it’s the first words that came to mind about minute into the first episode: Robert Ashley made a gaming podcast that wouldn’t be out of place as a segment or episode of This American Life. This isn’t the unedited round table conversation that makes up your typical gaming podcast, or podcast, period. ALWW is written, researched, thought out and edited to tell a story; in the case of its first episode, it’s the death of Electronic Gaming Monthly, and subsequently the greater questions its shuttering raises about the print medium versus the internet. It’s an audio version of The Escapist Magazine, a comparison I feel completely confident with despite only hearing one episode. I trust Robert Ashley.
I’m excited at what A Life Well Wasted could be. I doubt it will become a weekly show. It’s a fairly production heavy affair. But it’s clear Ashley has modeled it after This American Life and other public radio programs, and I wonder if he will open it up to other contributors. Imagine a piece about griefing, or Second Life, by Shawn Elliott. A Sean Baby story, looking at the weird demographic that made up the Nintendo Power readership. Could other people submit ideas for stories, or even finished pieces themselves? I know it’s something I’d be interested in. Maybe I’ll rough out my idea for a story in a future post.
This is essential, nerds. I won’t even qualify this with a line like, “If the only interest in video games you have is shooting hookers in Grand Theft Auto, this may not be for you.” This is for everyone. Challenge yourself. Robert Ashley has taken our stupid little obsession with video games and made it feel important. And for a guy who often wrestles with the thought that he’s wasted his life, it’s reassuring to know that it was a life well wasted. LISTEN.
Here’s the result of more thought on the robot design. Originally I was going for something more detailed and more Zaku inspired, but it’s starting to look more Tetsujin 28. Which is just as well. Fewer lines means an easier time animating. If it comes to that.
I’m about to go to the gym for the first time since college, but here’s something I got down on paper, inspired by some sweet art books at the Asian book shop I was in today. Would have bought them if they weren’t so darn expensive. Anyways, expect to see some more robots soon. . . I need to start designing one for a new project.
Whoops. I somehow turned off comments for the last two posts. If you were looking to comment on those posts. . . feel free to do that now. If not. . . carry on.
Yesterday I received this random text message from my girlfriend, who has read about as many comics as I have fashion magazines:
“Omg Scott Pilgrim just dumped knives!”
If that’s not a testament to the genius of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s work, I don’t know what is.
Scott Pilgrim
I’ve been in a bit of a Scott Pilgrim overload mode the past week. Since starting to follow O’Malley on Twitter, I’ve be inundated with hype for the movie, the cast of which is chock full of hotties on both sides of the gender line. Plus Volume 5 is due out next week. And O’Malley will be in town all week for signings, promotions and the looming monolith of the New York Comic Con. In fact, he’ll be here almost a week from tonight:
I’ll definitely be there in line, debating whether or not I should mention to him what an incredible influence Scott Pilgrim has been on me and specifically the Ronin Dojo stuff. There’s a secret special surprise piece of merch or something that’s be put together by Oni Press for the event and other signings all that week, so, y’know, I can’t fight it. Limited edition? Exclusive? Fanboy instincts take over at the mention of those words. I’m so there.
Indoctrinating outsiders to comics is something I’m hesitant to do. I know its a niche hobby, and I am well aware of how those pushy evangelists of sequential art come across to non-readers. But Scott Pilgrim. . . I don’t know. For my girlfriend, it won’t be a gateway comic to an obsession that will match mine. But it’s a book, a character and a story that boyfriends and girlfriends can enjoy together. Unlike Twilight. I am not reading that. Ever. Deal with it, girlfriend.
So they’re not actually werewolves, they’re shapeshifters? THIS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME.
Next to “Do you guys use flash?” (no), the most common question fans of the For Tax Reasons cartoons ask in either the comments section or private emails is “Have you thought about doing a television show?” That’s usually followed up with, “You guys should totally have a television show.” The generosity of those comments is never lost on me. To think that people out there want to see more of your work, so much more that they’d sit through 22 minutes of it, on a weekly basis, is incredibly flattering and humbling. I’d like to address those people today.
Yes, we have thought about a TV show. Extensively.
IM IN UR MANGER was supposed to be a one off. Mark, Barry and the forgotten musketeer David (whose irreplacable vocal talent Zach Steel moved to the other side of the country some time ago) weren’t even characters yet, so to speak. . . in the script and artwork, they were referred to as Casper, Melchior and Balthasar. We had a whole other idea for the cartoons we were going to do next, something completely removed from the world that became Ronin Dojo. But the short clicked with people, and clicked with us even more, to the point that Ben and I would randomly mention to each other ideas pertaining to these characters: their backgrounds, stories we could do with them, funny cosplay we could put them in. . . until eventually there was a lot more to Ronin Dojo than anyone watching the cartoons on the internet was aware of.
Mark.
We eventually got organized and put it down on paper. Hidden on our personal hard drives exist a show bible for Ronin Dojo Community College DX, a complete pilot episode script, and a 13 episode season breakdown. I’ll always remember the night we wrote every story idea and joke we would ever want to do on individual index cards, laid them out on a table and asked ourselves “What is the show we want to do.” It felt like some kind of weird school project the laid back media studies teacher would give you when he ran out of stuff to teach. It was the most fun I’ve had doing this independent animation thing yet.
But wanting a show and getting a show are the beginning and end points of a super twisty path that takes a very, very long time to walk. And at any point on that path, things can just shut you down and end your journey before it is completed. Ben and I haven’t done enough to warrant a television show. We’re young and relatively new to the industry. At this point in time, when it comes down to finished and polished product, we have one idea to sell: Ronin Dojo Community College DX. You can’t go around selling one thing and one thing only. Even Vince, the ShamWow guy, shills other products.
People may like Ronin Dojo, but it’s not necessarily something a network would want to put on air. That’s totally understandable. If a network or studio likes Ronin Dojo, we should be able to come at them with a few other ideas that still reflect our sensibilities but are ideas that, frankly, more people are going to watch. We’re working on building a portfolio of pitches and scripts, and when we’re ready, we’ll hit the streets hungry for another venue to make jokes and tell stories. But that time is a ways off.
Barry.
That said, don’t come away from this feeling down about your dreams of seeing Mark, Barry and David on the small screen. The pitch for the show, which we’re not ready to publicly post. . . it’s out there for the people who need to see it. Maybe someone will dig it, and we’ll be allowed to take the first step on that path, beyond just wanting it. I throw out a lot of self-deprecation whenever I talk about my work, but honestly. . . I think Ronin Dojo is an awesome idea, and I’m very invested in where it goes from here. We can do so much more with these characters, and it is so awesome that you want to see what those things are. But we need to keep at it if we’re to go to the next level, and YOU need to keep at it, too.
Keep being fans. Keep watching, keep commenting, keep sharing the videos with your friends, your WoW guild and your local anime club. Blog about us, post about us on forums, email your Uncle Turner and tell him he should give these For Tax Reasons guys a shot. We’re perfectly happy with where we’re at right now, doing shorts for the web completely for free, but, in the brief moments of respite from late night animating, we allow ourselves to wonder what the future might hold. It’s rad beyond words that you think we’re ready for that future, but we know we’ve got to earn it. If you’ve liked what you’ve seen so far, just wait until we get to the top.
David.
What I would want more than a television show, though, would be seeing some Ronin Dojo Community College DX boys’ love doujinshi hit the web. That’s when I’ll know I’ve made it.
The anonymous source stands revealed! A weekend of figuring out how to get our new copies of After Effects CS4 to run has given life to this, the latest episode of The Digital Pirates of Dark Water Saga!
Tim Martin and Emily Tarver provide all the voices for this one. . . the first For Tax Reasons cartoon ever to not feature either my voice or Ben’s. It’s probably better because of it. Enjoy it! Episode 3 is coming soon!
