Woot!

By the way, over the weekend the site had its 500th visit!

Storyboarding Update

I've been hard at work on the new website which should be up soon. In the meantime, here are some more storyboard sketches.

With the last shot from the previous post, the camera had zoomed way in to the rubble laying at the bottom of the river. Here the viewer sees lots of little rocks, twigs and other things that normally lay at the bottom of a river.


Upon closer inspection of the grass, though, the viewer will see little creatures cling to the blades.


A narrator of some sort will explain that as long as this river had existed, so had these little creatures, clinging to the riverbed. The camera will then show the landscape above the river going through the cycles of the four seasons to indicate the passing of time.


Back in the river we will see a couple of river creatures having a conversation.


One will be remarking to the other something along the lines of, "I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom!"


The other creature replies, "Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!"



More updates soon...

Thank you

I am extremely grateful that so many of my visitors keep returning. I feel like I'm letting you down when I don't update the site every day. Please know that I am hard at work at something when an update isn't made on a daily basis.

Along with working on my storyboarding, right now I am in the middle of creating a full fledged website that will be viewable at www.risemedia.org. I'm also spending a bit of time working with Meals on Wheels. I truly want to give as much as I've received, and I feel like I have so much to be grateful for.

Good readin'

I have read a number of books recently that have contributed a great deal of clarity and encouragement to this endeavor. Here's a list of them:

• The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (These I actually have as audio CDs, so I listened to them on my commute to work rather than read them. I have the rest of the series, but no longer have a work commute...)

• Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

• Jesus, Life Coach : Learn from the Best by Laurie Beth Jones

There are a few others that I keep handy and read passages from, but haven't read cover to cover. These are:

• The Runner's Bible by Nora Holm (Thanks, Mom!)

• Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (Thanks, Dad!)

• The Holy Bible: King James Version (Thanks, God!)

• World English Bible (Thanks, Internet! This isn't an actual, physical book; it's accessed through a program on my computer)

Here's a list of to-read books – ones I have but haven't gotten to yet:

• Discover the Power Within You : A Guide to the Unexplored Depths Within by Eric Butterworth

• The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery and Adventures on the Quest by Richard and Mary-Alice Jafolla (technically, I don't have these yet. Although I have ordered them from Amazon.com, they haven't shown up yet)

• Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch (Another one I don't technically have yet, but will soon)

I wasn't too sure where this fit, so I'll just mention that I also get the Daily Word which gets read (almost) everyday. They offer a free issue at their website for those curious about it.

Please feel free to comment on any of these books if you've read them, or wish to. Or have suggestions on other books you thinks would be helpful to me.

Learn to look at the donut, not the hole

I read an excellent article over at spirituality.com this morning that captures many of the same experiences and emotions that I have been feeling lately. You can read it here.

Head Progression

I thought some of you might be interested in seeing a few of the different concept sketches I've done to try to figure out whet these river creatures are supposed to look like. Here are a handful of sketches I've done focusing on their head.



Here is a full-body sketch of the critter. This is pretty close to how I think he should look.


I apologize for the low quality of the sketches. My scanner is pretty old and doesn't want to cooperate with my sketchpad. :)

First Scene Sketches

Here are a few sketches for how I see the animation currently starting out...












You see this peaceful landscape with a crystal clear river running through it.












The camera moves towards the river...












...and then into the river.












The camera finally stops near a cluster of large rocks.

Here we will see lots and lots of the little river creatures clinging desperately to the rocks. I'll have more sketches up soon!

More sketches...

Here are a handful of sketches I've done recently. They are drawn from scenes from a Japanese animation called Samuarai Champloo. That series has the kind of visual "pop" that I hope to capture with my animations. These relatively quick sketches were a study of composition and camera placement

Here are a couple of new sketches. More to come.


This is another sketch of our protagonist. Still a work in progress, but I think he's coming along.
















This is a sketch of a section of the river. I'm trying to get a feel of scale and color with these sketches. The areas of little blue specks are the communities of river critters.

Inspirational text

I read this passage this morning and found it extremely inspirational.

"Neglect not the gift that is in thee. I Tim. 4:14.
When you become aware of the nature of this gift, when you discover the channel through which your particular message is to be delivered to the world, lend all of your energies to make the gift perfect and to keep the channel free from obstructions. Through this gift and this message, salvation will come to you as well as others. You can have all the power in all ways, that you need; and you will have as much as you desire and seek for, if you live – not after the flesh, but after the spirit, looking to “the things that are above.” Aim for perfection. Perfection is God. Remember, too, that this work which has been delegated to you to do, can be done by none other; therefore be faithful, be true. Trust."

-Nora Holm, The Runner's Bible

Why am I doing this?

I feel that media in general (television, video games, movies, radio, art, etc) is mostly comprised of content that does not promote spiritual, moral, ethical growth in its audience. I feel that media has an enormous impact and influence of its audience and can be used as a tool to help people grow in a positive way.

Over the past few months I have gone through (and am still going through) an overwhelming spiritual awakening. I have had the clarity to take a good look at my life, where it is headed, and how I impact others.

“…we need to look again at the stories we are living and ask if this is the best we can do.” – Laurie Beth Jones, Jesus Life Coach

Recently I have spent a lot of time reading, praying, and looking for guidance on what my true purpose is. It has become crystal clear to me that I need to use my creative talents to produce media that provide entertaining, ethical, moral, and spiritually uplifting content.

Right now I see this content being distributed via the internet, but I see this eventually growing to a point where content will be aired on television, perhaps through PBS. I want this content to be available to the public completely free of charge.

I feel that it is necessary to make this venture a Nonprofit Organization and am in the process of filing all of the necessary tax papers to make that a reality. I see this as a something that needs to be supported by a like-minded community. I am not doing this to make money. I believe that my purpose is to help fill a void of quality media.

This project has to be community supported. While I will do this on my own if I need to, I feel that this can become a powerful force in media if others help me.

As stated earlier, I am writing up the paperwork to turn this into a Nonprofit Organization. For this to be a NPO, I will need a Board of Directors. Currently that’s only me. If you feel that this is something necessary and are willing and capable to support it, please consider applying for a position on the Board of Directors. Email me at dan.risemedia@gmail.com with some information about yourself and we can pursue this further.

I would love some assistance with building a website for this project. Web design is not one of my strongest suits and I feel that there are others out there that can create a much better website. If you are willing to help with that, please send an email to dan.risemedia@gmail.com. I have already registered a domain name and have 500mb of web space allocated for this purpose.

Updates are coming

I know it's been a couple of days since I last updated the site. Don't worry -- there has been a lot going on behind the scenes. I don't have much to post right now about the project, but be assured there there are big things on the horizon. So with that in mind, I'll leave you with a quote from a book that has inspired me.

"When we think that we know it all... when we refuse to try another way of doing things... when we are determined to remain inflexible and ignorant, we are doomed for failure."
- Jesus LIfe Coach : Learn from the Best by Laurie Beth Jones

The plot...

The animation project I'm currently working on is based on a short story found within a fantastic book by Richard Bach titled Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. I believe I can post the story here as it is less than 500 words. I am in the process of writing a letter to Mr. Bach to make sure he doesn't mind me using his material for an animation project. If my posting the story steps on anyone's toes, please inform me and I'll remove the text. Anyway, here's the story so you all can have an idea of where I'm headed with this project:

“Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

The current of the river swept silently over them all – young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.

Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth.

But one creature said at last, “I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom.”

The other creatures laughed and said, “Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!”

But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks.

Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.

And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, “See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!”

And the one carried in the current said, “I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.”

But they cried the more, “Saviour!” all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a Saviour.”

- Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach


More to come...

Early concept sketch

Here is an early concept sketch of one of the character types I am developing for the new animation. It's very rough, and a little creepy, but it will most likely change dramatically before we're done. It's a start.

This also marks my first real attempt to use GIMP in any real fashion. I've fiddled with it over the past few years, but it's taken a back seat to Photoshop. I'm very impressed at the level of quality some open source software has obtained.

Why Support Rise Media?

We want to make the best animation we possibly can, creating a positive impact and encouraging spiritual growth. If you feel this is a worthy cause, please donate what you think it's worth. We're not looking to get rich, but the more financial supprt we have, the more quality work we will be able to produce.

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by! I should have more information and a few concept sketches available shortly. Please check back often.