Joe Murray's Journal

The Training and Experimental lab of Independent Film

David asked me to talk about the quality of animation on Fish Head. 

One of the great things about independent shorts, is that you can try out new techniques, new storytelling methods, new textures, movement, types of characters, etc. that can later be used in a larger project where the meter is running, and the studio or network isn’t too keen on straying from the already proven path.

Pixar used independent shorts to advance their computer capabilities that they used on their features. Same with Blue Sky who went on to do Ice Age.

One of the hardest jobs to give up when I became a “creator/producer” was doing some of the animation myself. On the Rocko Pilot, I was able to animate over half of it myself. I miss it. So I am taking this opportunity to do that, because I love it. Some of it may be very fluid, some a little less so, depending on gags and storytelling. I’m also experimenting with different coloring techniques, using paper  with texture, and the backgrounds being a combination of cut paper, various materials, and painting on distressed wood. But none of the techniques mean much if the story is not working. I do an animatic with the layouts ( a step above a finished storyboard) and throw in a scratch track, even sound effects and music. This allows me to play with it. At the moment, I’m doing most of it myself. I’m animating in Flash,( with scanned drawn key lay-outs) and then bringing it over to After Effects for some deep stage stuff, and then output in a digital film format to Final Cut Pro. I’ll be doing sound in Pro Tools.

I’m loving it. And yes David, I agree with you about Don Herdzfeldt. How he survives on making independent films ( along with Bill Plympton) is a testimony to resourcefulness and discipline. I have two children who depend on me financially, so it throws another hurdle in the mix. I think it’s all about balance.

I hope this answers your question David.

(bang gavel) SOLD TO THE MAN FROM AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!!!

Joe Murray Studio Archive Collection Store

This piece used to hang on my wall in my studio. It’s a 5 X 7 Gouache and Acrylic painting of Heffer done on illustration board. It’s Matted and framed in an 11 X 14 inch frame, with one of my old studio stickers on the back. It’s one of my faves of a collection of small paintings I did of my characters. I sold the rest, but held on to Heffer. He’s yours if you promise to take good care of him.

Check it out and bid on him on Ebay.

Volume vs. Craft

We used to say that TV was a beast that needed to be constantly fed. Sometimes it was like throwing in sacrifices to the volcano. Is the challenge fun? Yes, it can be. But it can also be a harsh obstacle to quality.

Putting things into perspective; A animated feature film usually takes about 3 years to produce one and a half to one hour and forty five minutes of film. Although those crews are also working feverishly, the scripts and boards can have constant rewrites before the animation actually begins.

Myself, my crew and the Korean crew produced over 30 hours of animation in 3 years. ( Some shows have even less time and less money). Upside to that. We have a lot of opportunity to shoot from the hip. Experiment. If we try something and it doesn’t work as well  as we would like, hopefully there’s a better episode hot on it’s heels. We still approach the work with a craftsmen feel, but it is still an assembly line. 

Sooner or later, your connection to the creative inspiration starts getting frayed. Enthusiasm wains. Stress begins to eat away at the creative spirit. Ego starts creeping in. “Is my show getting as good a time slot as that one? Why don’t we have toys like that?” Thoughts that don’t serve the work.

Working on Fish Head is a different sort of inspiration. The connection is fresh and strong daily. I find that I am not at the helm, that am merely a channel of what comes through me and out on paper. Time passes quickly because time doesn’t exist. ( I know this sounds a little too cosmic, but it’s hard to explain.) One doesn’t often stumble onto these moments in life. Most times we are led. Sometimes kicking and screaming because our ego thinks we should be doing something else that builds our resume.

I may be done with television. But then again, I thought that after Rocko.

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart…Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

                                                                                     -Carl Jung

Does anyone know the story of Dr. Suess? Up until the age of 50 or 55, he tried all manner of artistic avenues, from political cartooning to working for the movie studios ( made a movie), lots of advertising work, as well as children’s books. Nothing clicked for him except books. But the books he did were not exactly flying off of the shelves.

He decided to make a firm commitment to his books, and drop everything else. He worked out a budget ( $5,000. a year I believe, back in the 50′s, but still meager) and decided if he could make that in royalties( he never took advances) he would be okay. He made that commitment.

Needless to say, from that point on, Dr. Suess books have sold millions, raising generation after generation on Cat in the Hat beginner books, and others such as “The Lorax” with insightful messages.

And although he began to make tremendous money, he gave most of it away, sill choosing to live on a modest budget.

I’ve heard so many stories like this of following your heart, where the money just happened. If you have a talent you love and work at, you will always have that. If all that you depend on for satisfaction is money, sometimes you will have it, sometimes you won’t. It can be lost or taken away. And if you have it, and rely on it for every part of your being, all you will do is worry about losing it.

Work is going well on Fish Head. It’s raining out and that the cats are asleep. Very nice.

SOLD *       SOLD *       SOLD *        SOLD*         SOLD *       SOLD*        SOLD

Joe Murray Studio Archive Store

This weeks offering from the vaults, is the original title card used at the beginning of the Rocko’s Modern Life episode “Scrubbin Down Under” complete with Rocko getting scrubbed,,, well,,,, down under, by the famous “Hygiene Genie”!!

Autographed by me and the fantastic artist illustrator Tim Barnes. I  hate to part with this one.

Check it out on EBAY.

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

-Will Rogers

Today is a day to remember that anything is possible if you have the vision and the drive. Both Martin Luther King and Barack Obama have shown us that, against all odds, movement in the right direction can be achieved with collective vision.

And on the last day of the horrific Bush Presidency, ( a day I’ve been waiting for, for eight years) I’ll leave with MLK’s immortal words that ring true in more ways than one;

“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, We’re Free at last!”

I have hopes that a few of us can try to make a change for the better in the entertainment industry, especially in entertainment for kids, and the animation industry as a whole. I have been attempting to put projects together that meet dead ends due to the money people not willing to give up a few cents profit for socially and environmentally responsible practices, or to even look at alternatives they may not cost more money.

As far as attempting to make a change the way the animation industry does business ( and the way packaging and toys are made and distributed) This quote keeps me going.

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win”

-Mahatma Gandhi

We’ve been having some nasty winds up here in the hills of the Angeles Crest Mountains. The kind that keep you awake at night, wondering what it will look like when daybreak hits. ( And yes, those nasty wind chimes are still clanging from the neighbors porch).

Are they winds of change? ( Oh yes, only 4 more days of a bush presidency) . But Santa Ana winds bring a note of hostility with it. Sweeping off the desert removing any bit of moisture from it’s path. They make people irritable. The plants get confused thinking spring is already on it’s way. Only to get their infant buds hammered by more bitter cold next week. But nature has a way of still overriding diversity. We could take lessons.

Met with my people about some new projects in the works yesterday. My film is going well, but commerce keeps screaming at me to hurry up. Like in that scene in “Apollo 13″,, the oxygen is beginning to deplete. In blurry vision at times, I work to make a new filter to restore fresh air.

Having a career as an artist is always a tightrope walk, keeping the business machine running without sacrificing the art.

Today is good.

Joe Murray Studio Archive Store

I’m going to try this out and see how it works. I’m starting to clean out a lot of files in order to simplify, so if this goes well, I’m going to start offering a different piece for sale every Thursday. Ebay will be handling the auction.

The first item is an autographed original title card for the Rocko’s Modern Life episode “Feisty Geist”. It’s a one of a kind hand drawn and painted by Nick Jennings (who went on as art director of SpongeBob) and signed by both of us. It’s a really cool piece of art, with some great wonkiness to the faces seen through the crystal ball.

Check it out on ebay. I’ll also answer questions here. I’ll keep cleaning and see what I come up with.

Who gets to call it art?

How do we keep our art sacred while still putting it out there to share? The impressionist dealt with critics smashing their work for 20 years before an audience found their paintings to be masterpieces. How many masterpieces do we leave hidden because someone told us they were not good. Most people only base whats good on something they are familiar with. Meaning new directions get hit by panic. The audience can’t understand it. So they reject it. Critics jump on board and feed off of it. Is a cartoon a hit because it sells a lot of toys? Iron Giant was considered a masterful film ( which it was), but never found an audience.

Art means having something to say. And saying it. Others can disect it all they want, but its your statement.

You can say that about who you are as well. Others will slam you, talk behind your back ( when you are successful this happens 10 fold, trust me) but you know who you are, and we all have our own story.

Or maybe we don’t know who we are, and that’s cool too. We just can’t let others fill in the blanks for us.

And can I say this? Fathers get a raw deal in divorce situations in regards to kids. Trying to stay out of extremely sad places when I don’t have enough time with them. It’s been hard.