Tyler's Taxivision Journal
::May 7::
8:00am
First day off brain medication, feeling a bit weird. Current stimulant,
Starbucks coffee. Decide to start Tori Amos video. Instead, turn my complete
dirt yard by hand and plant grass, fertilize and water.
::May 8::
12:45pm
Wake up tired after long dreamy night, side effect of quitting Paxill. Current
stimulant, Grapefruit Juice. Listening to song, making text storyboard while
listening. Noting times. Got one week. Considering the impossibilities.
1:15pm
Finished storyboard. Taking break.
1:30pm
Get back from break with new glass of Grapefruit Juice. Open window by computer.
Step on power chord, unplugging computer. UPS no longer holding charge. Did not
save. Doing the storyboard again.
1:59pm
Pressing save. Phew, close.
2:11pm
Pressing save again. Done. I hate doing things twice. It was good I did,
reworked a couple parts. Gonna get lunch.
3:18pm
Current stimulant, cola. Next, going to start storyboarding with sketches.
Figure out the backgrounds.
4:48pm
Got sidetracked. Really starting storyboarding now.
::May 9::
10:30am
Current stimulant: Grapefruit juice and coffee. Got one rough sketch done last
night, first scene background, then went and saw Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers at a "second-run" theater. Heh. Going to go ahead and final sketch it and
put it into the animation to see how it's going to work and set the stage for
how I proceed with the rest of the BG sketches.
1:01pm
Current stimulant: coffee is brewing. Got sidetracked. Then played some War of
the Monsters on PS2. My paper is still blank. No little elves helped me out in
my absence. Been pretty lightheaded and dizzy the last three days, not too much
sleep either, have to concentrate on not falling over or passing out, just
symptoms caused by withdrawal from my medication. Mainly just experiencing
vertigo when trying to walk around, actually, I kind of like it.
3:55pm
Realizing I get distracted very easily, no wonder it's hard to get stuff done.
Current stimulant: cola and Tori Amos Scarlett's Walk album. Sketching still.
Downloaded some photos of Tori for reference/inspiration whatever.
4:51pm
First background sketch scanned into Photoshop. It's like the crappiest sketch
which will mean lots of Photoshop work.
5:36pm
Still in Photoshop. Took a break to walk around my yard, making sure ground is
staying wet where I planted grass. Realized that the grass is suppose to
germinate in 1 week, the same time I have to finish the video. This grass is
high tech stuff... specially engineered in a lab for fast growth. I challenge
thee grass to a race. The grass is so gonna win. The impossibility of finishing
this video grows clearer, but I am not stopping now. Besides, I got nothing
better to do than sit here at the computer. When I walk around I get real dizzy
and feel like falling over, it does not seem to be getting better. Current
stimulant: Grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice gives me a real rush. I've been
informed that it is also used in detoxing so I should drink lots of water too.
Which I assure you I am also doing. Although one of these trips to the bathroom
will be the death of me when I fall over and bash my skull open on the toilet.
It is really nice outside. My wildflowers are starting to sprout. Nothing is
happening in my vegetable garden. My roses are blooming though. Also the baby
plums and peaches on my trees are growing fatter each day. I need to get outside
more, need to get a laptop I guess.
6:08pm
Still working in Photoshop. Trying to avoid distraction. Current stimulant:
none, last time I tried to walk I had to catch myself against a wall. When I
walk forward it feels like my brain is going up on a fast escalator. Realizing
this journal is less about the animation and more about yardwork, the effects of
chemical withdrawal and what I'm currently drinking. Nevertheless, I think it is
the only way to help keep myself on track.
7:34pm
Current stimulant: Peanut M&M's. Fun size bags. Might be fun for kids, but to me
they prove to me annoying, having to open several of them to get my quota,
there's like only 10 candies per bag. It's a huge bag of little bags. In fact, I
think there might be more actual bag content than candy content. Still working
on first scene. Wish I had more time to work on it, but even at this rate I will
probably only be able to finish the first background by the end of the week, heh.
The sad thing is, the first background only lasts for like 12 seconds of the 4
minute video. Now I am experiencing the vertigo just sitting here at my chair,
like I could just fall out of it at any minute. My body sits here still but my
brain is on an elevator that only goes up. Maybe I will attempt to go outside
and see how the grass is doing in this race we are having. Last I checked ants
were marching off with the grass seeds. I laughed, hahaha. Probably only a minor
setback for the grass but I will take full advantage as I charge ahead...
::May 10::
7:18am
Current stimulant: the smell of coffee brewing. Didn't finish image. Did go
watch Treasure Planet on DVD. Was able to plan out the rest of the backgrounds.
There will be 16, I'm still working on the first one, heh. Well, it's the most
intensive one at least. I thought of staying up all night being I don't really
sleep much lately anyway. But after much work was able to fall asleep, still
pretty dreamy. Even when laying flat on my bed I felt like I was going to fall
over. Vertigo does not seem to be so strong today, I may have a chance. Going to
finish background.
8:54am
Finished background. Importing as multiple layers into Flash.
9:04am
Time to check the e-mail. Why is it that everyone thinks I want a bigger penis?
I use to at least get a variety of junk mail, but these days every one of them
seems to be a penis enlargement ad. I'm going to start getting self conscious.
The most recent one suggested I also enlarge my balls and had an edited photo of
a squirrel with elephant nuts (not the kind they eat) heckling me. I don't have
squirrel nuts. I don't want a bigger penis. Leave me alone. I'm not well, I
could flip out at any time.
12:28pm
It was only fair I go out and make sure the "dirt to be lawn" is getting some
water. The first scene is coming along nicely. I guess I should mention the
animation will be an actual Taxi Ride in a futuristic city... science fiction.
The first 14 seconds is nearly done. Current stimulant: food deprivation.
2:37pm
Current stimulant: cola and peanut M&M's. First 14 seconds done. May go back and
add a couple elements of animations. It's a city scene and it needs to be
somewhat alive. Figured out how to do the next scene in 3 short clips with
minimal backgrounds that can be reused later.
6:48pm
Current stimulant: some strange acrylic nail chemicals that are in the air.
Adding lightheadedness to my lightheadedness. Took a skateboard break. My
oldschool board got run over, so the other day I was at the toy store and they
have those cute little mini boards and I just couldn't resist. I got the type
with the wider board, I want to kill myself on it, just not that quickly. Second
scene background done. My friend called, he bought Red Faction 2 and ordered a
pizza, damn him. I must...take a break, yes, breaks am good...
::May 10 continued::
Really Late.
Current stimulant: beer and wine, probably not a good mix. Moving slowly. Got
first part of 3 part second scene done.
::May 11::
8:20am
Current stimulant: coffee brewing. Must have finally passed out early this
morning. If it were possible to schedule the creation of a 4 minute animation
into a week, then I figure I would be behind schedule. I plan to get a lot done
today. I'm going to drink caffeine till my kidneys hurt.
9:20pm
Current blood type: caffeine. Spent a while talking on the phone to my
mom...after all, it is Mother's Day. Got scene 2 done. Working on scene 3. Lip
synching involved. The impossibility of finishing on time grows clearer while my
mind is slowly becoming a fog. Sleep no longer seems to be an option.
::May 12::
Sometime
Damn, I saw a few grass seeds with little nubby sprouts peeking out, during my
one break. Current stimulant: sleep depravation, non-stop work buzz, cola, red
wine, red chili pepper. I don't have time for this entry. 1 minute done, 3 to
go... They want you to US mail the entry. US Mail only guarantees 2 day. That
means I would have to be done Wednesday, the 14th. Crap. I guess they should
accept Fed Ex. Maintaining good focus and some sanity...
::May 13::
2:21am
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy!
All work and no play makes Ty a dull boy...
::May 15::
2:25am
I have lost the concept of time. All I know is that I have to overnight this
thing tomorrow, or today. The 15th. 3 Minutes of the video are done, that leaves
one minute and any final tweaking. Then outputting it to VHS. Outputting could
prove to be annoying, it's a nice digital file now. But at least it will ensure
that it works and plays correctly. When I first went off medication I
experienced one of the side effects, enhanced senses. I could pretty much hear
anything and see sharply at night. I could hear my eyeballs move, I don't want
to talk about that though. That has faded. Now I see and hear things, but I
think they are things that are not there, I'll blame the lack of sleep or
caffeine. I did manage to get a bit of sleep the other night thanks to the aid
of some red wine, but that probably won't be happening tonight. I have a steady
diet of Red Bull and Cola tonight. Today I bought a dual DVD VCR machine. Kind
of cool to have both in one. I wanted a new high quality VCR for outputting the
video, I also purchased the highest quality VHS tapes and plastic cases for
added protection. My video card has video out in the form of an RCA jack, so
I'll just run that to the VCR and record it while my computer is playing it,
nothing to fancy. Will just need to figure out what the optimum resolution will
be. I have pretty much only used the video out option for watching DVD movies
and downloaded clips on my computer but displayed at a nearby Video Monitor
without having to take up room on my VGA monitor. It's hot. I need to hook up
the swamp cooler when I am done with this. People close to me seem concerned
about my mental health and look forward to me finishing this project and taking
a good break from the computer to disconnect and decompress. Going to Wal-Mart
and getting those video supplies was the first time I interacted in society in a
week. People and stuff seemed real funny to me. The video seems to be coming
along nicely and doesn't look like I will have to sacrifice much by taking
shortcuts.
::May 15::
7:20pm
I'm done. I got it to Fed Ex with only a half hour to spare. It should be there
tomorrow, on time. I don't know what to do with myself now...
Guess I'll go lay in my grass...
Here's some screenshots...
