Confusionment

Ok. Here's just a small post to express my supreme confusionment.

I recently downloaded a new sketching app for my iPod touch, but I found that I couldn't draw as well with my finger as I could with a pen.

So, like all good do, I Googled iPod touch stylus, and lo and behold, a huge list of pages appeared claiming that a pencil covered with tin-foil would work!

What nonsense is this!, I thought, but surely enough, it worked. But why?!?

Touching the screen with any other material that's not human skin doesn't seem to work, but why does touching a pen wrapped in tin-foil work just like a finger?!?!!

Hmmm...... I hope I'm not going to lose sleep over this.

More awesome Haunted Mansion Stage-Show stuff!

Greetings Peoples! I hope that this post comes out ok - I'm using a new Blogger app on my iPod touch.

Dale Ankrum, set designer, architect and general Floridian stranger has created some amazing 3D renderings of my Haunted Mansion set concepts.




















Are they not pretty awesome? And to top it all off, he created an ingenius wee demo video showcasing some of my ideas and some of his talents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgYzR0SWUTQ

Is that not pretty awesome??

That has to be the most times I've said the same word in a blog post....

Ponyo, Ponyo...

Who loves Ponyo? I know I do!

This enchanting new film from the renowned Studio Ghibli is simply stunning. While the film hasnt yet been realeased in the UK at all, I was lucky enoigh to watch the original Japanese version and I was stunned. This is a wonderful filmand I am so pleased that its getting such a hig reception here in the West.

But what im NOT happy about is the way that the Walt Disney Pictures are managing its realease. While the film was first realeased in Japan in July 2008 and in the US in August 2009, Disney have kept pushing and pushing the realease date until now its been set for - wait for it - Febuary 2010! Come on! Thats almost two years after the original release!

Although I love Disney, I cant help feeling that Disney is not giving this film the same care and attention that it gives its own productions, and in a way I dont blame them (after all, it makes sense that they give thier own work priority) but I'm mad and upset and yearning for some fish-faced-goldfish love.

Harry Potter - the Musical!

Yaay! It's my first non-Disney post!!

Had to post somthing about this amazing musical. Created by a group of college Harry Potter geeks, this fantastic origanal musical combines comedy and musical songs with the characters from one of the most popular books of this century.

So, head on down to the YouTube and watch this wonderful show. Expect a tap-dancing Voldemort, a Zac-Efron loving Dumbledore and Draco Malfoy, whom everythinks in wierd.

Watch the whole show here:  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C76BE906C9D83A3A

Bye bye.

Haunted Mansion Show - Plot Update

Right, I've been working on the plot for this wee HM show I'm making. A HYPOTHETICAL one I must add.

Heres a breif synopsis of the story as it stands right now.

" The year is 1839, and sea-captian George Ambrose Gracey is living with his wife Marie-Ann Winters in thier newly-built manor in a swampy-area on the outskirts of a flourishing town. Living with them are George's brothers Garrett and Gordon Gracey and Marie-Annes siblings Veronica, Elma and Henry Winters.


On the eve of thier thirteenth anniversary, thier first child is born, Emily Ann Gracey. Eager for thier new daughter to grow up into a respectable woman, the couple hire a butler, Thomas O'Malley, to guide thier daughter. Very soon, Marie-Anne has her second child: Edward Ambrose Gracey. Intelligant and handsome, Edward was quiet  compared to his outward and naive sister, Emily. But everybody was happy in Gracey Manor , for the first and last time.


In the summer of 1856, Emily died in a horrific boating accident. Showing off to a boy she admired, she took a small dingy and, not paying attention to the fast running water, she plummetted down a steep waterfall.
Struggling to cope with the greif of losing her only daughter, Marie-Anne hired a spiritularist, Madame Leota.


Happy to move in and help by conducting seances, Leota instantly fell in love with the house, and planned to make it her home.
With thier recent loss, George and Marie-Anne's marriage was strained. The couple began the argue constantly, and Edward grew up to the sound of shouting and banging doors.
Then, on a wintery night, George was brutally murdered whilst returning home through a dodgy area of town. With an axe thorugh the head, George was put to rest. Marie-Anne was suspiciously happy, but no-one dared asked why.


Over the years, Marie-Anne slowly spent her last years as a bitter and elderly woman.


The year is now 1869, and Edward Gracey, now the young Master of the Mansion, is on a family outing to the DeTerlizzio Carnival, with his Aunts and Uncles. There he meets the beautiful Lillian Ravenwood. They instantly fall in love and Edward throws a small tea-party in the Garden of the Mansion to celebrate thier engagement. Jealous of Lillian and deeply in love with Edward, Madame Leota suggests to Lillian that she demonstrates her tight-rope routine to the guests. Lillian gladly accept, and begins to walk across the erstatz tightrope. But - alas - the tight-rope staps and Lillian plummets to her death, in the crocadile infested swampland below.


Shaken and grief-stricken, Edward has lost his only love. But Thomas, the Butler, had a promise to keep to his former master, and convinced the boy that he had to try and marry again, so as the secure the Gracey Fortunes. Thomas suggested a grand ball, in honour of his Aunt Elmas birthday, where he could invite eligible bachelorettes to meet Edward. Reluctantly, Edward agrees.
Constance Hatchaway, a fair, yet mysterious woman all the way from Europe, hears of the great ball. A serial murderess who decapititaes her husbands for thier wealth, Constance sees the Gracey Fortune as the Jackpot, and travels all the way to Gracey Manor to be part of the great ball.


Elmas Birthday was finally arrives. The ballroom is decked out in all its glory. Friends and family waltz to music, Edwards uncles and a family friend have formed a quartet and sing to the birthday girl. And Constance arrives.
Quickly, Thomas realizes why Constance is here. He tries to warn his master, but is locked in a gallery by Constance with no way out. Quickly running out of air and going mad, Thomas hangs himself.
Overhearing Constance talk to herself in the attic, Leota locks her in a huge trunk. As she tries to tell Edward of Constances plans, Edward doesnt believe her, and Leota flies into a jealous rage. Summoning up spirits and ghosts, she curses the house, and locks many of the guests inside the ballroom.


Like his mother, Edward Gracey lives out his last days going mad, and was soon buried in the garden with many of his relatives. Leota took over the mansion, using it to channel all her evil energies, and has many spirits take up residence in the house. The House then goes silent, as has been for many, many years. "

It is rather long. I was inspired by many differant sources, such as the Phantom Manor ride, the Haunted Mansion ride and the film, as well as countless fan-stories.

Suggestions will be welcome.

Haunted Mansion - Set Sketches

Greeting, Happy Haunts (and Foolish Mortals...) !

Well here, are some sketches for set Ideas, for my wee 'Story of Gracey Manor' Show pet project.

I am designing several peices to move around and can be used together, so that I can create the many differant scenes and places. These include the exterior of the mansion, a garden, a graveyard and a fairground as well  as the numerous rooms and halls inside the manion.

The first peice is the main interior peice.
It features a spiral staircase teisting around a town, which, when pillars are placed in front of it, create the exterior of the house.

The design draws from many differant aspects of the ride. The railings on the stairs are inspired by the railings on the exterior of the mansion in Anaheim, and the top of the tower is modeled on the tower from the Florida version of the ride. The stairs also use forced perspective to create the illusion of height.

The bricked area on the tower will be made of scrim, so that I can light it from behind. This'll be useful when creating the Attic Bride and Master Gracey/Ghost Host hanging himself.

Below you can see the behind of the tower.

The set will be spin round to reveal this side. This would be used for outside scenes, such as the Graveyard or the Garden, and for scenes in which a charatcers stands on a balcony, or in a bedroom or upstairs etc etc.

When the tower peice is placed behind a set of pillars it'll create the outside of the mansion....

Well, I hope you like what you see. Other set peices that im working on include, another staircase (which will form a mansion corridor and the ballroom), the main gates, as well as several smaller peices such as Cranvial tents, the graveyard (havent a clue how im gonna create that...) and the wedding/party.

In case anyone is confused, this is NOT a show that will go into production. This is an imaginary show that I am designing and writing. Its what I do. :D

Bye bye.

The Haunted Mansion - the Musical?

Now, for those of you that are new here (and lets face it, all of you are, since I just made this blog today..) you may not know it, but I am a theatre-person. [Audience gasps!]

I know - you may be shocked, terrified even, but its true. I am a huge fan of musicals and theatre and drama. In my spare time I write reviews for my local Arts Centre and design sets and costumes for shows thats I make up in my mind.  But enough of that -

A few days ago, (9/9/09) I was sitting in my room and listening to the Haunted Mansion soundtrack thinking about all the lucky people that had tickets and could make it to the 40th Anniversary event in the States.... when it occured to me. What if there was a show (not nessarily an all-danceing, all-star musical) of some sorts, that told the story of Gracey Manor, and tried to capture the atmosphere and origanality of the origanal ride thorugh drama?

Now no doubt many of you are thinking that this is a terrible idea. Just an easy way to kill and brutily murder a beloved peice of Disney History. No doubt you may have seen the short ''dramatic'' peice that was put on at the 40th Anniversary dinner (if not, see it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odwsZMQP3aY ).

I personally think it was a bit naff. Sorry.

So I set to work on designing and creating a (hypothetical) show of my own.....mwhahahahahahaha!

Obviosly many many people have tried to explain the story of the Manor and how it became full of so many ghosts. The  story and plot that ive drawn up, is basically just hogde-podged from a serious of fan-stories, film-scripts and the storylines from the Phantom Manor, and frankly its a bit simple.  I'm an artiste - not a a playwright. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Again, i'll be posting more sketches, plot ideas and script extracts as I go on. Its kinda becoming my own wee project.

Bye bye.  

Disney Copycats - The Swan Princess and the Frog Princess?

Hey ho! It's my first blog post! Yaaay! (crowd goes wild, banners reading 'yaay!' wave in the air surrounded by streamers and balloons) Thank you, thank you!

Now, onto the first blog post! (yyaayy!!!)
I was watching the new trailer for Walt Disney's eagerly aniticipated The Frog Princess (you can find it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8N-kIiELUA ) and I couldnt helt noticing several similarities between it and New Line Stars 1994 animated-musical The Swan Princess.

Now, I always thought that it was films like these (The Swan Princess, Anatasia) that seemed to copy off Disney - but this seems to be an exception.

Here are the screen captures from several clips of both films. The first one is a shot of Madame Odies magic.

Notice the watery like magic and the way that it seems to wrap itself round what evers inside? Well here a shot from The Swan Princess, from the sequences where Odette transforms into a swan...

Now I did have trouble getting suitable screen-shots, but they are very, very similar.

Now, even if Disney liked the designs and visuals for the Swan Princess, I thought they'd have been more careful about using them, especially when they come from one of the best loved non-Disney animated films.

Mabye its nothing - but it bothers me. I would always expect Disney to do something completly new, rather than look to other films for ideas.

What do you think?