Saturday, December 3, 2011

I've moved: here.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

"Pinhead" is playing at the CineBeasts screening on Saturday 9.10.11





End the summer with black magical mayhem!

Check out Pinhead on the big screen at the CineBeasts Wonderdonk Movie Series Saturday 9/10/11.

It plays with a collection of short films before The Point.

Take the L train to Jefferson.

More info is here.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Zombie sketch

Still trying to see how stylized the zombies will be. Here's one-


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

"Pinhead" on YouTube



Uploaded my short film Pinhead to YouTube.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Midsummer Night Toons III Event pics





MIDSUMMER NIGHT TOONS III -held at Slate NY this summer-was a huge success with over 170 people in attendance!

Photos courtesy of Mike & TJ Carlo.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Midsummer Night Toons III: This Friday




MIDSUMMER NIGHT TOONS III
-Free Event
-SLATE NY 54 West 21st Street b/w 5th Ave+6th Ave
-Doors 7 PM, Show 9 PM
-Happy Hour Til 9 PM / 21+ Over To Enter
-Guest DJ Pensatore

Monday, May 30, 2011

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Monday, May 23, 2011

FUBAR van


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Banks and windows


ABOVE: The bank that the heist takes place in


ABOVE: Alleyway Window

Sent off the rough cut to my composer this week. Sound edit next week.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

ROUND THREE!



FRIDAY JUNE 10 2011, Midsummer returns.

@ SLATE NY on 54 West 21st Street b/w 5th ave and 6th ave.

Doors 7 PM.

Happy Hour 7-9 PM.

Screening starts at 9 PM.

Guest DJ Pensatore.

Note: This event is not currently affiliated with any organization.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

drive

Friday, May 6, 2011

Manager

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Alley wires

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Cash grab

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Inside man

Friday, April 29, 2011

spin the dial


Thursday, April 28, 2011

suiting up

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

safehouse


Safehouse background-pencil+digital. This is where Denny and his crew prepare for the heist and work on their inventions.

A lot more stuff to be added--more wires on the floor and hanging off the ceiling; opened crates, boxes, etc...the final look will be really messy...which is a key story point. And of course- a few Tesla coils thrown in there for good measure.

Bank overview



I've been staring at the Chases and TD's for the past several months so I am sure the friendly employees believe I plan to rob em.

Friday, April 15, 2011

quick color tests


Saturday, March 19, 2011

Shortcut Characters


An image from The Shortcut. The character is "Denny," the ringleader of the robbers, voiced by Joe Cappabianca.



"Lenny" voiced by Albert M. Pardo.




"Benny," voiced by Mike Carlo.

There's about three more weeks of animation left for this one, and then it's off the coloring, backgrounds, sound edit.....making a short film isn't a sprint; it's a fucking marathon.

I haven't been updating as frequently as I would like to because this is the first short film I've written that has a twist ending. What you think is the punchline of the story is actually the set up. I think the more images or animations that I post, the more it'll be a dead giveaway, not to get too precious about it.

My last film "Pinhead" was easier to give away animations on this blog because it was just two characters stabbing dolls.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Halfway there



Animation is 50, 60% complete. At the moment I'm still animating the heist sequence. Above images are rough layouts. Ever since college, I've been designing rudimentary environments in Maya. It's just a great tool to test out different camera angles to tell a story. It's fun, and it saves time, too!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Color test


Color test of Benny. Benny, Lenny and Denny are all going to be dressed in black during the heist sequence. Good thing I made them small, medium and large in size so you'll be able to tell them apart!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

On 3....

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Who's bear is this? from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.



I gotta stop giving dolls important roles in my films!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

rough layout


Rough layout of the bank

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Security.




Rough sketch of a security guard, who has a small part in the story

Monday, February 7, 2011

sly. from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

raise from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

drop from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

throw from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

lift! from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Friday, January 21, 2011



Production on my film is chugging along at a steady pace...

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

point from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

masks from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Thursday, January 13, 2011

yet another turn from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

another turn, pt 3 from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Turn from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

remote from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

evil plans from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Beam. from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.



Pencil test of Benny firing his gun. The gun(s) are going to be the last items that I place in the shots because their design is still in progress (and the beams that fire out will be animated in After Effects, hence the chicken scratch beams in this clip)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

bear hug. from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.



Benny gives his oversized stuffed teddy a goodbye hug.

Monday, January 3, 2011



How I've missed animating in Toon Boom.

Midsummer Returns.



"Throons."

Sunday, January 2, 2011

It begins again-Day 1

Fire! from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.



First day of animation on The Shortcut. Usually I like to animate the small shots first, because it gets a good momentum going.


Around New Year's Eve, I finally locked the first minute of the animatic, which I've been reworking for God knows how long, because it needs to hold up to scrutiny on a second viewing (the story plays with perception and reality). The remaining parts of the story are set in stone.


Yesterday, I wrote a new sequence that will hopefully be a funny set piece. Unlike my last film, "Pinhead"- which was a slow-burn thriller in which the comedy intentionally ramped up towards the end--Shortcut is meant to be a silly film.


Onward! Let's own 2011!