animation script for documentary

I worked for over a decade as a story-board artist in New York. These drawings below are part of a short script for a proposed animated segment in the documentary. I was eager to quickly get some complex ideas across to the audience.

I found these drawings and the script while digging thru some old files. This stuff was written (and drawn) in Sept of 2008, and I had forgotten about it completely.

The entire 6-page script is posted below.

I have to admit, I like these three frames. Despite the overt goofy quality, they accurately define (at least to me) the messy quandary of this phenomenon. I'm proud that I got Jesus and Horus (and Tinkerbell) all in one cartoon image!

The script was written in a caffeine induced flurry. I "borrowed" heavily from a list created by Brad Steiger. There is also a point in the text where I ask Mac Tonnies to chime in. We were emailing during the writing process, and he is a much better writer than I am, and I was bugging him to help.

In the three frames above, I added some handwritten text (that may or may not be in the script) and it's curious to note I used the word trickster twice.

These frames don't really match the script all that well. Guess I was more interested in concept ideas. That said, I think the drawings are funny!

An image of a hand written flow chart. The visuals start tidy and organized. Using simple flash animation, boxes with lines flow from this starting point.

The voice over dialog continues, and more and more boxes get added to the chart. The narrative speeds up and so do the visuals.

The camera continues to pull back to contain a more and more crowded frame. Little cartoon images appear in the chart, and more boxes as the dialog quickens.

This segment ends with a frame so crowded that it's impossible to comprehend. The boxes and lines are purposely insane.

Animation Script

first-person blog sharing experiences

I've stumbled on a really interesting blog titled Abducted by Aliens authored by a fellow named Chuck Weiss.

Here's a passage:

"A friend of mine told me recently that I have all the essentials to make a good blogger. I have a subject I’m passionate about, the UFO/Abduction Phenomenon. I write well, and I like to do it. I’m excited about this new direction in my life for a couple of reasons. First, I need to write. It helps me to focus and move forward ... Writing for me is medicine. It helps to relieve the aches and pains of being an Experiencer."

Chuck wrote a book detailing his personal experiences, and he is publishing it on-line. And this blog is a daily excerpt of the complete text of this book. I find it fascinating.

In the last year I have become utterly fascinated by individuals who claim contact with non-human entities, and then sharing their story on-line. There is a whole slew of these first-person blogs (and web sites) emerging on the internet. This new form of communication is a sort of democracy of individual expression, and I find it utterly amazing.

I've been keeping a list of these intriguing (that's getting longer and longer), and I'm deeply committed to finding more. At some point in the future I'll share this list. If anyone out there knows of a personal blog or website dealing with firsthand abduction/contact/experiences, please (PLEASE) send me a note in the comments below.

The Paracast ponders the ETH

On Sunday evening April 25th, I'll be a guest on The Paracast. I'll be part of small team discussing the far-reaching ideas of Mac Tonnies and the mysteries and complexities raised in his book, The Cryptoterrestrials.

The line up includes Gene Steinberg, his co-host Christopher O’Brien, Walter Bosley, T. Allen Greenfield, William Michael Mott and myself. It's a two hour conversation where we explore the mystery of Earth-based UFOs and the frontiers of our reality, as expressed by the late Mac Tonnies. My role was small, but it felt wonderful to be part of a diolog where perplexing ideas are batted around by open-minded researchers.

Click HERE for a link to the show.

Iceland volcano with lightning

There are a series of extremely psychedelic photos of the volcano in Iceland. Seems that the ash cloud creates a perfect environment for lightning, and thus, cool pictures.

Link to more amazing images HERE.

animal spirit communication with Diana

A very cute Pine Marten makes an apearence in this diolog

Very rarely in my life will I succumb to a complete full body tingle. I've gone years and not experienced this weirdly blissful feeling. During the Skype conversation with Diana, I was awash in the hauntingly beautiful sensation. I'm not sure what it means, but I wallowed in the feeling.

She has a very interesting website with a message forum where she does these readings.
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audio download / 1 hour 41 minutes long

I first heard her voice when she was interviewed on DREAMLAND by Anne Strieber. As soon as I heard her voice, I realized that I simply had to talk with her. Maybe it was a little bit selfish, but I wanted to know if owls would be part of her form of animal spirit readings.

Diana gave me a spirit animal reading from her homemade deck of cards. This is the center piece of the audio conversation.

Owls don't show up (much) but weasels do! The Pine Marten and Badger play an interesting role in this audio interview!

Plus, bumble bees, frogs, lady bugs, goose, coral (really), two dragons and a raven!

Also of note, this was my 100th posting.

mysterious star map?

Any astronomers out there recognize something familiar in this pattern of splattered coffee?

(Please don't read too much into this little story)

During the middle of March I was swallowed up in the obsessive throws of map weirdness. At one point I was on a skype call with my pal Natascha, and my cat walked across my desk and she ended up spilling a full cup of coffee and it splashed all over everything, including some pencil notes on that map.

As I cleaned up the inky mess, I saw that the coffee had splattered quite an compelling array of speckles on the paper with the notes. There was something captivating about the new image. My first reaction was: "Wow, is this looks like a constellation, is this a star map?"

I spent a little bit of time with H.A. Ray's beautiful book STARS (a book I dearly love) trying to find some correlation to the polka-dots of coffee on that paper. I put the book away, and then I kind of stated (quite loudly) in my own head: THE PLEIADES! There was a feeling of absolute KNOWING that accompanied that though. A feeling I was quick to doubt.

After a while, I realized that this was a little bit fanatical, even for me.

Please know, I am probably gunna take this post down at some point. I think it's funny, and there are a few readers who might think so too. 

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Also - To write this post, I made good use of the thesaurus to find synonyms for the word compulsive. No foolin' - that map got really intense.

The top image is exactly the coffee splatter made into a B&W star map. The image below is the Pleiades. I revised the images and featured only the six brightest stars or splat marks.

Diana the animal psychic from the recent audio interview chimed in via email, she said:

"...When I first looked at them I got 'Dipper.' Then immediately I got, 'No. That's not right.' Then I got 'Pleiades.' What is interesting is that it doesn't look exactly like the Pleiades, but my Guide said that. Have no idea why. I did look up a picture of the Pleiades and they are similar."

Diana went on to tell me that my cat was rather exasperated that I don't trust her and the dots she made with the spilled coffee. She said my cat was thinking: "Oh c'mon, I did a really good job, it's close enough!"

In the lore of the love and light contactees, the Pleiades is home to the beautiful blond angel like beings that radiate benevolence. I'm not sure what I'm implying, but...

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Here is an accurate star map of Cassiopeia for comparison. Some comments below noted the similarity.
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