Heeeeeeey Kids!
October 29, 2004
Hey kids, do you know what time it is?
No seriously, do you know what time it is?
Come on you stupid kids, someone just tell me the time?
Time for another “special edition“?
Oh. Okay.
Thank goodness that’s over with. Unlike the previous special edition, this one isn’t so much because the next episode is full of thousands of tiny miniature cuts of zombie-fu… It’s more about how much time is realistically required to get through the remaining three episodes without needing a month off to whip the monster finale (a.k.a. episode 48) into something resembling “shape”. CGI effects, cast of thousands, big song and dance number, clowns, jugglers, trained racoons, 3D-glasses, on-line voting, special guest appearance by Jeff Probst… It’s mammoth. Read more
An Evening at DED HQ
October 26, 2004
7:30 pm - Brad arrives home from work. Usually Shane and Matt have arrived first and Shane is “playing” Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, if by “playing” I mean repeatedly driving cars back and forth over old ladies until money comes out of them.
8:00 pm - Decide on priorities for the evening. To date Brads repeated suggestion of “Forget Dead End Days and go see a movie” has been voted down 208 times in a row. Read more
“You’re on CNN, the show that leads into mine is puppets making crank phone calls.”
October 22, 2004
Hey, ho, let’s go!
(I’ll wait until you get back)
Ahh… Satisfying no? I thought so. Hated those guys.
As I was laid up with a viral lungfection for a couple of days this week I had lots of time to think about what I was going to rant on tonight. I considered writing a 500 word ode to Katamari Daimacy (whose brilliant play and innovative design have captivated our hearts and occupied our PS2’s. I suggested to Jay and Matt that we re-write the end of “Days” to incorporate more “rolling” but they threatened to crack my head open with blunt instruments. Philistines. Read more
When it rains, it pours…
October 19, 2004
Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve written one of these production journals. Not from any lack of prodding on Brad’s part, nor for any lack of beginnings on mine. I’ve probably got five pages of first paragraphs cluttering up my computer. The fact is, I’m finding reflection at this point in the game extremely difficult, as there is still so much work to do. It feels like trying to cram a strategy session into the middle of a championship soccer match. It’s a great idea, but the timing could probably be better. At the same time, though, how do I make sure I don’t forget something if I don’t record it while it’s fresh in my mind? Read more
Doornob, Ankle, Cold.
October 15, 2004
Brad the coffee guy…
On Dead End Days…
We have a new epsiode. Woo.
On Sales…
Sorry for the delay on news on the “last gasp” Shirt Sale that will be going down over at the store. Information to the mailing list should be going out this weekend with a general announcement next week… Please stand by!
On Champions…
Last plug (promise) for the 2004 World Rock Paper Scissors Championships going down in Toronto this Saturday. Tickets are available at the door so it’s not to late to “be the world champion”. Far more details than I can cram here at: www.rpschamps.com
On Llamas…
I strongly urge anyone within earshot of a CBC radio transmitter to listen to Danny Finkleman on Saturday nights. Regardless of your tolerence level for “the music of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s” his staple show Finkelman’s 45’s have been a staple of my weekend for just about as long as I can recal.
Admittedly I do like the music that Danny plays (being raised on a staple diet of oldies tunes by parents with pretty wide musical tastes) but far and away the best thing about the show is his Interstitials.
In between songs Mr. Finkleman (as I like to think I would call him should we ever meet) fills us in with what is wrong with visa cards, cell phones, modern day sports, telemarketing, his children, and all manner of modern products. Ocassionally he stops to praise a deserving technology such as the lazyboy recliner, cordless drill, or pickled beets, but for the most part he doles out curmudgeonly grudging that would do Andry Rooney proud.
I only point this out, because one of the few areas I disagree with the show is Danny’s postulate that the Internet is only good for weather reports and baseball scores.
Back in my wilder youth I’d get incensed by his anti-internet dialogue. How dare he? Even back when I was trying to convince my father that a 2400baud modem had other uses than “getting the viruses” and “hacking into the bank” I knew that networking computers had a range of practical applications.
The ease of transferring data, across the globe in seconds. IRC, Usenet, Archie, Gopher, this crazy new HTTP, all had myriad applications to make our life a better place. I believed the Internet would make us smarter, faster, and stronger (we have the technology).
Now that I’m older and wiser, I have a new theory: The Internet has succeeded in turning us into a generation of absurdists.
Where Beckett, Ionesco, and Golgol created a momentary ripple of absurdity various unknown Internet pundits have created a societal movement that revels in the strange juxtaposed with the inconsequential.
And it’s fabulous.
One hundred years from now, textbooks might not mention sites like, The Infinite Cat Project, The Llama Song, Eric Conveys an Emotion, Ming the Merciless, this thing with dancing cr
I went to the music studio and a zombie fight broke out!
October 12, 2004
[One of my personal favourite elements of Episode 43 is the excellent "Run, Zombie, Run" track lovingly hand-crafted for us by the wickedly talented Kevin Dworak. To be frank, I don't know much about Kevin's musical background other than the fact he has put out a celtic-infused ass-kicking CD with the band "Time and Whiskey" that I have no idea if you can buy for money - and that while he originally graced our sets to make token appearances in episode 19 and episode 22 we somehow roped him into penning some music including "Sam and Bridget's Theme", which I now hum obsessively anytime I use a public washroom. I thought to re-jump-start Tuesday production journals, it might be nice to get a taste of what goes into crafting a song like this, as what I know about music is pretty thin. Yeah, I played baratone in Jr. High band... but that don't cut you a lot of slack on the pro-audio circuit. So without further ado, perhaps the most actual "production journal-esque" thing we've put in this space... take it away Kevin! - Brad ]
Hello Dead End Days Fans. I was approached by the producers to write a bit about my last composition “Run Zombie Run”, so here it goes:
In the beginning when I was asked to compose a piece for a fight/chase scene, my initial thought was that I wanted to create a high energy “in your face” type piece. I spent a couple days going through my music collection listening to a variety of songs (from progressive rock to drum and bass) to get an idea of what kind of drums I wanted. Once that was in place, I chose to start the writing process on Bass Guitar (which was a first for me, being a guitar player first and foremost). I really focused on having a solid foundation from the drum and bass tracks. It didn’t take too long before I had something I could work with. I ended up running the bass guitar through a bass synth filter to add another element to rhythm tracks. With my drum tracks and bass sounding the way I wanted them to, everything after that was smooth sailing. I basically let the song write itself. It’s a great feeling when the writing process runs smoothly (as it did with this particular piece). I doubled the rhythm guitar tracks (just to make it sound fuller) and ran them through a plug-in called “Guitar Rig”(that plug-in has made my life so much easier when it comes to recording guitar. There is an abundance of simulated amp set-ups that sound amazing!). I then ran the lead guitar through the Digitech Whammy Pedal, Line 6 Delay Modeler pedal and Guitar Rig. The last layer to this creation was a guitar that I ran through a Line 6 Filter Modeler pedal (just for some ear candy). I’ve always been into using effects that make my guitar sound like something other than a guitar and I was happy I got to do it in this latest recording. That was the end of tracking the song, now it was time for the final mix-down. I brought in a great musician and good friend of mine (Des McKinney) to help mix the track. I always find it useful to have an outside ear come in for this stage because they can bring out elements you might have missed in the process. We did 3 mixes together before I was 100 % happy with the end result.
There you have it folks. The brief behind the scenes look at the creation “Run Zombie Run”. Be sure to support your local music scene. Until next time…….
Back in the saddle…
October 8, 2004
Man, those “special edition” weeks really mess with my sense of time, it seems like eons since we last had a new episode.
Life was simpler back then, we were all ignorant of a certain country, and the X-Box could only be used to play games (and occasionally Linux), not this new-fangled OSX.
Yes, those were the days.
Well, that was then and this is the brave new future so we better make with the ass kicking. This holiday season is absolutely choc-a-bloc full of top tier video game releases so we better wrap this thing up before it starts cutting into Firefoxes vacation time in San Andreas, non?
Run for the Cure 2004:
First up I can’t thank you guys enough for your support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundations 2004 CIBC Run for the Cure. The run raised over $19 Million dollars for Cancer support and research of which the Deadenddays.com supported “Team Strange Brew” was able to contribute well over $2,000 with hundreds of dollars coming from friends of Dead End Days and viewers like you!
You guys rock! Your support truly meant a whole bunch to me and my hat is off to you all.
If you didn’t have a chance to chip in during this go round - keep a Breast Cancer organization in your local area in mind the next time you are considering donating some money to charity. There’s a lot of great organizations out there vying for your donation dollar - but talking to a number of breast cancer survivors in the weeks leading up to the run, I can tell you that your donations really do make a huge difference.
Is your T-shirt sold out?
If the size, style, or colour of shirt you really wanted from the Dead End Days Store has been sold out (or never existed in the first place) we have one last “kick at the can” sale coming up this week. Mailing list members will get the first crack (and save some cash) so there’s no time like the present to fill out that little box on the right.
Toronto, are you ready to PAPER?
You’ll notice a banner up above in heavy rotation over the next week, but I thought it was worth mentioning here that if you are 19 or older, the 2004 Rock Paper Scissors World Championship is coming up in Toronto on October 16th. This is quite likely my favourite annual event all year, and I’m not ashamed to admit it! Whether competing or spectating it’s a really fun mix of pro-wrestling showmanship and high stakes competition. Where else can anyone off the street with the $21 entry fee have a shot at $10,000 in prizes, challengers and media from around the world, and a legitimate world championship? Rob, Shane, and I will be there as special guest referees - who knows what other DED “celebrities” might make an appearance?
Lots more information can be found at the World Rock Paper Scissors Society or the official championship website.
Linkage
And since it’s been a while since I’ve thrown any link-loving your way I’ll just point out that Gawker Media is trying really hard to get me fired. Gizmodo was already taking up a goodly portion of my daily coffee break with their definitive gadget news, but to add the super-high quality Kotaku and Screenhead delivering punishing amounts of video game and humour news daily… How am I supposed to get any work done?
Okay that’s it for now kids, see you in five for a… Production Journal? Crikes, what’s a “production journal”? Whatever it is, there’ll be one in five. Go figure.
What the?
October 1, 2004
Here the latest epi… special? What’s a special?
All hilarity aside, in last weeks news post I briefly (and cryptically) made a vague passing reference to the fact that our usual footage review and logging session turned up a big blank space on one of our tapes where normally one would find glorious footage.
A whole series of shots - vanished; shots containing actors since scattered to the distant corners of the globe. Lesser men would weep. Actually we may have done some weeping… I don’t remember much of it… I may have turned into the incredible hulk in my rage. Thankfully, no destruction of the army was requiredl With the exception of this week, a little creative re-ordering and some fancy scheduling footwork we should be back on track by this time next Friday (here’s hoping anyway).
As Erin alluded to, albeit in a comedy bit, we are going to be very protective of our last few episodes some of them are more than three times the amount of work required by a “regular” episode. Rather than try to cram everything into a week and risk ruining them - if we have to take a little extra time, or put up some kind of filler we probably will. We’d rather make sure after this marathon run we don’t stumble in the final dash.
For those of you writing me inquiring about shirt sizes or colours that aren’t in stock any more - stay tuned. We’re going to have one last clothing sale that might be able to hook you up with some currently sold-out merchandise… I hope to have everything finalized by this weekend. As per usual, the mailing list folk will get the first crack so now is a good time to sign up if you haven’t yet (hint: it’s the box on the right).
Thanks to Erin, Robin, Shane, Matt, and… Uh… Me for help with this weeks filler and I’ll catch all you talented folk here next week for what has the potential to be my favourite “Days” episode of them all.
