NaNoWriMo 2008

It's here! The perfect opportunity to stretch your creative literary legs. National Novel Writing Month goes on for the entire month of November. The goal: to write a 50,000 word novel in only one month. It may sound like a lot of work, because it is, but it isn't impossible. If you do the math, your quota is about 3 single spaced pages a day.

The rules (basically):
1. Start fresh with something you DON'T have any previous written progress.
2. Write fiction, so your imagination gets a workout.
3. Just write and write, don't worry if it's good writing. Revision is death!
4. Copying and pasting the same word 50,000 times doesn't count, you fucking cheater.
5. Have fun and try not to go insane.

Character Animation Crash Course!

If you’re interested in taking your animation skills to the next level, Eric Goldberg’s book is perfect. It’s packed with lots of information on character construction, staging, composition and it comes with a CD. The book is light but heavy with content. It’s an easy read. However this is not for beginners, its loaded with examples that require a basic level of understanding of animation. This is a book every animator should have on their bookshelf. Pick it up at Amazon. Most bookstores probably won’t have it in stock and buying online is cheaper.

-Demetre

Story Ka-Zine Issue #2 Call for Submissions

Here it is! Story Ka-Zine issue numero dos! It's the art zine made by Ai Inland Empire students to promote our own art as well as the art of anyone else. We plan on making this one bigger and better than the last so get creating. There's plenty of time until the dead line in November so get started and make something amazing.

The phrase for issue #2 is
Alien Sushi

- Final print size is 5.5 x 8.5"
- All artwork must be scanned at 300 dpi
- Jpeg format
- Short stories are limited to two (2) 5.5x8.5" pages
- Use no smaller than a 9pt readable font on short stories
- Grayscale or black and white artwork only
- DEAD LINE is NOV. 29th

Send your submissions and questions to storykabob@live.com

Remember that the phrase "Alien Sushi" is your starting point. Interpret it however you want, but think outside the box. Wait! Just kill the box all together and go crazy!

-Dustin

The World Premiere of Story Ka-Zine

Story Ka-Zine and One Way to Unblock Those Blasted Mind Blocks

Story Ka-Zine issue one sold out! People loved it. There were a lot of comments on how great it looked and that they didn't want to take it out of the packaging. I have to thank Demetre for all the support and Mike Meave for his layout work. Johnne saved me lots of work over the weekend by helping with the folding and putting them all together. And of course thanks to everyone who submitted work. This issue was really rushed, but it was a great beginning and is leading towards greater things. I personally can't wait for issue 2.

We began discussing possibilities for issue #2 yesterday in Story Kabob and it will be coming out towards the end of Fall quarter. As soon as things are ironed out we'll post so watch closely. Remember that submissions are open to everyone; students, staff, and civilians (anyone outside of beloved Ai-Inland Empire community).

Along with Story Ka-Zine we also discussed our stories. I was stuck on the middle section of my story and Demetre decided to use me to teach us all a lesson. After briefly describing my known plot points he had everyone start throwing out ideas as to where the story could go. There were many crazy and bizarre ideas thrown out but his point was proven and I gained some insight into my story. Demetre's point, well I should say the point that I picked up on (I could have very easily missed his point entirely) was that when you're stuck let your mind go and just think of any and all possibilities regardless of how insane they might be. From there you can pick and choose and shape your story accordingly.

That's all for now. I'll post some pictures when I get a hold of some. Peace out.

-Dustin

Oh, I thought it would be appropriate to list all those featured in Issue #1 of Story Ka-Zine. Here they are.

Niles White
Taber Dunipace
Johnne Tyson
Vince Molina
Jake Castorena
Jon Vazquez
Carlos Galvez
Drifting Eddy
V.
Mark Carino
Dustin Glauser
And thanks to my buddy Samson for the intro.

Story Ka-Zine Issue # 1 Submission Info

Hey Everyone,
Issue # 1 of Story Ka-Zine is going to be coming out at the end of this quarter! We are really excited! But unless your one of five people at Ai Inland Empire you haven't heard anything about Story Ka-Zine. What we're doing is producing a zine based around Themed Imagination. This is where you are given a theme (or phrase, or idea, or sentence, etc.) and you use your imagination to interpret it artistically. Pretty simple stuff and incredibly fun. Submissions can be illustrations, graphic art, photography, or short stories.

Here's what you need to know to submit your work for consideration:

- The phrase for Issue #1 is
MONDO POTASSIUM

- Black and white artwork only
- Dimensions are 5.25 x 8.25" (1575 x 2475 pixels)
- Must be a scanned .jpg at 300 dpi
- The Dead Line Has Changed!
All Submissions must be received by Friday August 29th

For any and all Submissions and questions please email
storykabob@live.com - include name and contact info.


-Dustin

Last Week's Meetin' (8/6/08)

Last weeks meeting was a good one. Johnne and I received some good advice on our ideas. When we were discussing the story idea that I'd presented it was suggested that any main villian would need to be the direct opposite of my hero. What this would do is make for great conflict. Stories are all about conflict. If there is no conflict then where's the story? John Truby reveals how much conflict plays a part in story telling in his seven steps (check out the post Classical Structure under Previous Posts).
Besides discussing story structure and ideas we also talked about things we could do as a club. Demetre realized that we have a quarterly budget that we need to use. Aaron brought up the idea of using some of it to purchase small items for some of the classrooms. An example would be small mirrors for each desk of the animation room. Another idea was to produce a zine. I've been thinking about different ways in which we could present it to the public (the public being the school) and will see what everyone thinks about my ideas today. Right now we know that it will be 5.5 x 11" and black and white. I'm really excited about it and want to get issue # 1 out as soon as we can.
That's it for now. We meet again today and every Wednesday at 4:30 in the animation room. Peace out!

-Dustin

Some Things to Remember When Presenting

When presenting an IDEA, tell us:
- What is the "Hook" for your idea
- Who is the main character
- What do they want
- Where/when does it take place
- When first presenting an idea there isn't a need to elaborate on the back-story or the history of your stories world. Just the basics.

When presenting a STORY, tell us:
- Present a particular scene in your story using only action, dialogue and brief description
- Do NOT explain back-story or history
- Do NOT go off track and explain other things happening in the story which we cannot experience in this one particular scene
- Act it out! If you really get into your scene, we'll get into it too.

When presenting ARTWORK:
- Try to show us the artwork without explanation at first and just allow the audience to experience the work the way they would if you weren't there
- If showing thumbnails or rough ideas, explain what the idea is and how you plan to achieve your goal
- Unfinished work is absolutely welcome!

-Dustin

Story Kebab Summer 2008

Welcome to the Summer quarter of Story Kebab. We are meeting on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:00pm in the animation room. From what I understand, I will be the primary spokesman for the blog this quarter. I will be posting tips and methods that will help us all better understand the difficult art of story telling.

Some of the best ways to grow as an artist are to critique and be critiqued as well as collaborate and brainstorm. That is what Story Kebab is about. We promote and expect positive feedback and ideas. No idea is a bad idea. We hope to see you there.

-Dustin

Script Writing Format

Hey guys, if you ever want to write a script, you'll need to know how to format it. Here are a couple links to help any would-be screen writers out there!

This one is for margins:
http://www.scriptwritingsecrets.com/Film_format.htm

This one is a bit confusing but suggests font and size:
http://www.simplyscripts.com/WR_format.html

And this is the mother site of the online book I'm getting this info from:
http://www.scriptwritingsecrets.com/contents.htm

Enjoy and see you guys at the club, 4:30 on Wednessdays in the Animation Lab!

Welcome!

Welcome new members and old to the Winter quarter of Story Kebab! We'll be doing mostly creative writing exercises this term, so be sure to post up your work here or bring it to class with you. Hope you enjoy the club and be sure to drag your friends along once in a while!