"STOKED" Promotional Tour!

Submitted by Mike H on June 06, 2009

Right Side View of the "Stoked" Promotional Tour HUMMER! (c) 2009 - Teletoon, Inc.

It's been a while since my last post, as there has been little time to update lately... but that will change soon enough!  Look for new Posts and Tutorials Soon!

For the past couple months, I have basically been working Two jobs for the same studio.  Full-time Creating and Compositing Flash-Animated Ocean and Surfing Effects on "Stoked" during the day... and my evenings and weekends have been spent creating a minute-long Flash Animated Short for a new pilot project for the same studio.  Read more »

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Career Highlights - "Bartok The Magnificent" - 1999

Submitted by Mike H on April 19, 2009

DVD Cover Art of 20th Century Fox's "Bartok The Magnificent" (1999)

When "Anastasia" was finished, and about to be released in theaters, we took a few weeks and animated some custom "Bartok the Bat" commercial bumpers to show on Fox Kids Saturday morning cartoons.  Bartok would be 'hosting' the cartoon lineup for several weeks over the release of Anastasia in theaters.  The short clips were anywhere from 5-10 seconds, to longer 30 second shorts... and were pretty funny.  On the first weekend that Bartok was hosting, I decided to get up early and watch. To this day I am still confused why Fox only played the commercial for 'Anastasia' a couple times over this 6 hour cartoon lineup, while they played commercials for the re-release of Disney's 'Little Mermaid' and "Flubber" at nearly every commercial break.

Around the same time we animated the 'bumpers', we also created a little animation of Bartok for a Burger King - Kids Meal Commercial... the toys were really cool, including a working train set! Read more »

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"STOKED" - Sneak Preview

Submitted by Mike H on April 15, 2009

"Stoked" Logo - (c) 2008-2009

 

While at work today, we discovered that someone has posted a low-res video of one of our promotional trailers for "Stoked" on Youtube....so I thought I would post the video in here!

"Stoked" is the new Flash-Animated TV Show I've been working on for over a year. A teen comedy based around Surfing and Surf Culture, with really beautiful Art Direction, Effects and Character Designs...and it's funny too!  It is set to air in time for Summer! Read more »

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"The Jinx Project" - Writing the Story - Part 3

Submitted by Mike H on April 10, 2009

Jinx The Black Cat - Created by Mike Hogue (c) 2001 - All Rights Reserved"The Jinx Project" - Writing the Story - Part 3

Read this "Story Commentary" from the beginning by clicking HERE.

 

On Sunday, March 9th / 2009, I read my story to my family for the first time.

 My Dad and his Wife listened quietly as I read everything. I started off reading at a normal pace, but by the end I was going through it all much quicker than I should. I lost track of time in the process. I knew that I had been talking for quite a while, but I had forgotten to look at the clock before starting. Read more »

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"The Jinx Project" - Writing the Story - Part 2

Submitted by Mike H on April 09, 2009

Jinx The Black Cat - Created by Mike Hogue (c) 2001 - All Rights Reserved"The Jinx Project" - Writing the Story - Part 2 

Read this "Story Commentary" from the beginning by clicking HERE.

 

As a kid, I enjoyed writing poetry occasionally... rhyming or not. Both of my parents write poetry, so I guess that's why I've found it comes naturally to me.

On this project, however, I still had my share of writer's block!  I would sit there staring at my laptop trying to make sense out of my sentence... and say what I wanted to say, using only rhyming words... Read more »

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"The Jinx Project" - Writing the Story - Part 1

Submitted by Mike H on April 08, 2009

Jinx The Black Cat - Created by Mike Hogue (c) 2001 - All Rights Reserved

"The Jinx Project" - Writing The Story: Part 1

Several years ago when I first planned out "The Jinx Project" over the Christmas holidays, I began writing small sections of the script. At the time, I only focussed on some of the key moments... writing a couple paragraphs-worth at a time. I have always intended the story to be told in rhyme, so that's how I wrote down my ideas.

I wrote on paper, and kept these random moments in a 'production journal' along with the rough sketches of my characters and other ideas. I suppose it was a good thing I was somewhat organized at the time, as it made it easier to return to the project after a hiatus of a couple years. Read more »

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Career Highlights - "Anastasia" 1995-1997

Submitted by Mike H on April 05, 2009

Theatrical Movie Poster of 20th Century Fox's "Anastasia" (1997)

 

Just last night, on the Canadian TV Cartoon Channel "Teletoon", they played the first film I ever worked on as a professional... "Anastasia".  It's been shown many times on television since being released on Dvd about 10 years ago, and during the production of the film I must have watched it nearly 300 times in various states of completion (no exaggeration!)... but for some reason, last night I found myself watching it again, as it triggered many memories. So, it seems fitting that I start this "Career Highlights" section of the blog now... where it all began... Read more »

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"The Jinx Project" - Production Journal #1

Submitted by Mike H on March 30, 2009

...and so, "The Jinx Project" Production Journal Begins!

 

Well, this Production Journal has been a long time coming.... so,  I suppose I should get you up to date with what "The Jinx Project" is, and where it's at... Read more »

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First Post! - The Story So Far...

Submitted by Mike H on March 22, 2009

Welcome to my Art and Animation Production Diary!

Ok, I’m a little behind the net on starting a Blog.  It’s really come down to having a custom site to showcase it.  I have several Art and Animation sites that I maintain… but I wanted a way to talk about everything I have going on, in one convenient place… so, that’s what this site will be.  Special thanks to Pierre Marcel of Imagery Fusion for setting up this new open-source ‘Drupal’ website, and for giving me a refresher course on how to maintain the site and upload my content.
 

I’ve been told that I write the way I talk, casual, friendly, funny… with the occasional footnote, or long-winded tangent.  So, that’s what you can expect in here.  I'll try and keep future posts shorter though.  ;) 

 

Also, if you have an interest in learning flash or animation basics, check out my Tutorial Section!

 
A little about me:

I live near Toronto, Canada.  I’ve been an Artist my whole life, and a Professional Animator since graduating the Classical Animation program at Sheridan College in the mid-90’s.
 

A lot about my career:  

Anastasia (1997) - Bartok the Magnificent (1999) - Titan A.E (2000) Read more »

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