Cinema Memoir #42

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (July 28th, 1989)

And as soon as I finish praising my mom for her outstanding parental skills we arrive at this gem of a movie - one that, yes my mom took me to see - but only because I begged her though, I'm sure.

It was fun to watch. It was pretty scary and funny. And it was worth sitting through to see Jason's face at the end. Glenn will certainly appreciate this image.

(Poster image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #41

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (June 23rd, 1989)

I remember seeing the trailers for this movie quite a while before it actually came out, and I wanted to see it more than anything in the world - which is why I pitched a holy fit when I discovered that my Mom and Brother had seen it before me.

My poor mom felt so terrible that she took me out of town (because it wasn't playing back home) and sat through the entire movie again, just to make her youngest son happy. So I dedicate this post to my mom (God love her) for going out of her way to make her children happy.

Oh, and the movie was totally worth it!

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #40

Batman (June 23rd, 1989)

1989 was a pretty awesome year for movies, and Batman was probably the biggest movie of that year - I remember it vividly. No one had ever seen a movie like this. It was dark and funny, and full of action.

Seeing this movie in the theater was a really great experience. I remember the theater was packed because it was opening night, and there were actually people sitting in the isles and standing along the walls. I had never seen that before.

I never read comics as a kid, so to me Batman was Adam West from the 60's movie and TV show. This movie opened up new doors in my imagination and afforded me a fresh outlook on visual storytelling. Also, it was freaking cool!

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #39

Ghostbusters II (June 16th, 1989)

Not the best sequel, but it didn't matter because I was nine and was a huge fan of both the original movie and the cartoon. The only negative part of my experience was being really disappointed that slimer's design had changed. He looked so terrible!

This was the first time I noticed the huge marketing machine behind a movie. I believe Taco Bell handled a large chunk of the marketing.

The release of this movie also prompted me and several of my friends to take on the role of honorary Ghostbusters. Our objective was to rid the neighborhood haunted house of its spectral occupants. We figured a vacuum would suffice as a proton pack, but when we went in to the vacant house the only ghosts we came across where the ones we brought in there with us - talk about being afraid of our own reflections.

Ahhh - to be nine again.

(Image from impawards.com)

Digital Painting

Here are a few more digital paintings. These two were Christmas gifts for family members in 2007. Both were done using Corel Painter X and a Wacom tablet.

This digital painting is of the nativity scene. I used

reference from the film The Nativity Story.

For this digital painting of John Wayne I wanted
to pay tribute to Drew Struzan's awesome style.
He's one of my all time favorite painters.
Check out the link to his page in my links section.

____________________________________________

UPDATE - 12/30/11

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the comments and support of my work of the past few years, particularly the Digital Painting of the Nativity. As mentioned in the post, I painted it as a Christmas gift for my Grandmother who was in hospice at the time. Not long after that she passed away. That was 3 years ago and as far as I know it still sits in the hospice room where she died, hopefully giving comfort to others… especially during the holidays. A somewhat bitter-sweet story, but I couldn’t think of a better place for that picture to be.

Unfortunately, with all good there is also bad. Since I’ve posted this image it seems to have made its rounds on the internet. After a detailed search I’ve discovered some folks are using it for profitable reasons, and because of that I’ve decided to take the image down for the time being. If you’re familiar with my blog, you’ll know this isn’t the first time this has happened. The same also goes for all my other art. They will eventually be replaced with watermarked versions, hopefully to discourage folks from using them without permission.

That said, I would like to thank EVERYONE who actually went the ethical route and ASKED me BEFORE using this image. Unfortunately, since it’s caused so many problems, from this point on I will not be granting permission for anyone to use this painting in any form… other than for your own critique via my blog of course.

Thanks for understanding.

Matt

Copyright © 2009 Matthew J Killian All Rights Reserved
The images and content in this post are protected

3D Ball Bounce

This is my first rendered 3D animation. Our assignment was to create a scenario involving a ball with personality who interacts with another, inanimate ball.

This assignment was a good opportunity to explore the principals of animation, and was a good introduction to the 3D animation process.

Copyright © 2009 Matthew J Killian All Rights Reserved
The images and content in this post are protected

Cinema Memoir #38

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (May 24th, 1989)

The epitome of total awesomeness! The first ad I saw for this movie was not a standard trailer about the movie, but rather a trailer about the making of the movie. What better way to strengthen my interest in filmmaking? Plus Harrison Ford stapled his fedora to his head, come on!

I do remember getting really nervous at the beginning of the movie when I saw some strange man (not Harrison Ford) wearing the fedora and leather jacket. I thought maybe they had recast Indy or something, but it didn't take me long to figure out what was going on.

Also, I remember the moment when Sean Connery stepped into the frame for the first time in the movie and the audience applauded. That was the first time I ever witnessed an audience react to a movie like that.

Watching this movie in the theater is one of my favorite cinematic memories of all time, and Indiana Jones remains my favorite character of the silver screen.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #37

Pet Sematary (April 21st, 1989)

One of the most memorable movies I ever saw in the theater - partly because it's fairly well made, but mostly because it was absolutely terrifying. The walking dead people didn't phase me in the least bit, but the scene where Gage got hit by the semi truck scarred me for life.

My mom took both me and my brother to see this movie in 1989. I was 9 years old - 4th grade, mind you. In retrospect she's convinced herself that she was a terrible mother and totally regrets having taken us, but I reassured her that she was a great mother and was, in fact, dealing with 2 manipulative masterminds at the time.

My big brother - 4 years the elder - was a big Stephen King fan as a kid, which inherently made me a big Stephen King fan, as I had to imitate everything he ever did. Being the youngest has many benefits - I always got to do big kid stuff.

So when it came to watching a Stephen King movie in the theater he and I combined our efforts and succeed, and I've got the scars to prove it. Not the "I'll never watch another horror movie again" kinda scar - but more like a Jaws "Let's drink to our legs" kinda scar.

(Image from impawards.com)

Digital Painting

I figured I'd post some of my more recent artwork. These are some of my first digital paintings. All of these were created using Corel Painter and a Wacom tablet.

This is an unfinished digital portrait that I started
about 2 years ago. I doubt I will ever finish it.

This digital landscape was an exercise I did while
experimenting with Corel's brush library.

This was another Corel warm up exercise. Just some clouds.

Copyright © 2009 Matthew J Killian All Rights Reserved
The images and content in this post are protected

Cinema Memoir #36

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (March 10th, 1989)

Apparently I kicked off 1989 with this masterpiece. This was when it became very clear to me that never again was I going to see another 'quality' Police Academy movie like the one's I grew up watching.

Did I really just write that?

Yes! Police Academy, as stupid as the series might have been, was an important part of my childhood - This movie, however, was not.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #35

Cocoon: The Return (November 23rd, 1988)

It's funny that I wanted to see Cocoon: The Return in the theater, considering that, at the time, I hadn't even seen the first Cocoon. What can I say, I liked movies about aliens.

This movie wasn't too bad. It's didn't live up to the first Cocoon, but it seemed to deliver pretty well as family flick.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #34

Scrooged (November 23rd, 1988)

I really hated this movie when I saw it. I wanted to like it. It had some funny parts. But boy was I bored and oddly depressed in the theater that day.

I think I get more enjoyment out of it now that I'm older, but not much.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #33

Ernest Saves Christmas (November 11th, 1988)

I didn't see Ernest Goes to Camp in the theater, but I must have rented it a thousand times on video, so when Ernest Saves Christmas came out I was really excited, but it didn't have as strong an impact as its predecessor.

Ok, these two movies really aren't that great in retrospect, but they're a billion times better than the Ernest movies that followed. Even as a kid I would have agreed.

If I've learned anything from the Ernest movies, it's that he's a catalyst hero. Throughout the movies he pretty much stays the same, but when others cross his path their lives tend to change.

As far as my experience with Ernest Saves Christmas - I remember watching the trailers on TV more than watching the actual movie. It's probably been 15 years since I've seen it. Perhaps it's time to watch it again.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #32

Mac and Me (August 12th, 1988)

. . . or E.T. on Coke and McDonald's.

I'm embarrassed to say that I liked this movie when I saw it. I suppose I'm a sucker for terrible movie ripoff's. Then again, I was only 8 years old.

This movie was a marketing nightmare. I highly recommend watching it if you want to learn how not to market a movie.

"Mac" actually stood for "Mysterious Alien Creature". Apparently they were intending to make a sequel, because there's a title card at the end of the movie that said "We'll Be Back!" I wonder why they never did. I've waited 20 years and have yet to be revisited by another Mysterious Alien Creature.

Oh well, I suppose it's for the best.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #31

The Blob (August 5th, 1988)

This was a fun movie. It was another family movie adventure and another early R rated viewing experience. By this time I was total loving horror movies so watching this movie in the theater was a lot of fun.

I had seen the original 1958 black and white version prior to seeing this one and was not expecting it to be quite so violent and horrific, so of course I was pleasantly surprised.

Don't get me wrong, this movie is kind of cheesy, but for 1988 it was totally awesome. It also has some really good cinematic pacing.

It was around this time that the turnaround time between theatrical and video release was tightening up. I remember being shocked to find The Blob on the new release shelf at my local video store so soon after its theatrical release.

Just a fun fact about this movie - One of the screen writers was Frank Darabont, the director of The Shawshank Redemption and the Green Mile. He also wrote an early script for Indiana Jones 4.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #30

Young Einstein (August 4th, 1988)

When I saw this movie I really didn't like it too much. I enjoyed the slapstick because I was 8. I laughed at the jokes, but only because my big brother was laughing at them. The humor was totaly over my head.

The only thing that really stuck with my was the scene when he split the beer atom (he he he, see I laugh now) and blew up the shed, then came running up to the house, burnt to a crisp and looking like an Australian Aborigine.

I watched this movie again about a month again and found myself laughing at the jokes without the assistance of my big brother.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #29

Short Circuit 2 (July 6th, 1988)

Los Lobos kick your ass,
Los Lobos kick your face,
Los Lobos kick your balls into outer-space!

I was 8. It was fun. What more can I say.

I believe, no matter how good or bad a movie might be, there is always something that can be learned from it (although, in some cases, you do have to look very hard). It could be a moral from the story, a lesson of what not to do as a filmmaker, or perhaps something as simple as discovering a unique or interesting way to deliver a line of dialogue.

And yes, I did learn something from Shot Circuit 2. Johnny 5 is special because "Johnny 5 is alive". Nothing better illustrates this than the scene when Johnny 5 get's arrested and he's in his cell reading Frankenstein. What's awesome about this scene is the fact that, rather than speed reading the book just to obtain input- like he does with every other book in the movie - he's reading it slowly and actually relating to the story.

This scene probably doesn't make this movie any better, but to have made an emotional imprint on an 8 year old who just wanted to see a funny robot movie was an accomplishment.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #28

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (June 22nd, 1988)

This movie marked a major turning point in my life. I was 8 and was really beginning to become interested in special effects and how movies were made.

Again, another family movie night, and this one really stuck with me forever. What can I say, Roger Rabbit was, and still is, a really great movie.

A year after Roger Rabbit was released the Disney MGM Studios opened. We took a vacation there that very year - I was 9 at the time. I was so wrapped up in the experience that, when we visited toon town, I actually convinced myself (for a split second) that real toons would be walking around the park, just like in the movie. I was at the age when such things still seemed possible.

(Image from impawards.com)

Some Early 3D Work

Here is some 3D work I did during my Sophomore year at Ringling. For these projects I used a 3D program called Maya, which is pretty much the standard 3D software in the industry. I also used Photoshop for the textures.

This is a 3D model of an mp3 player. It was created using nerbs.

This Han figure was modeled with polygons. A friend of mine
did Greedo and we tossed around the idea of animating
them together. Of course Han would shoot first.

For this project all of the models were supplied, I just
arranged everything, textured them, and lit the scene.
It reminds me of my grandma's kitchen after a
thunderstorm.

Copyright © 2009 Matthew J Killian All Rights Reserved
All images and content in this post are protected

Cinema Memoir #27

Crocodile Dundee II (May 25th, 1988)

As I mentioned before in the Crocodile Dundee memoir, I really dig these movies. This one is not quite as good as the first one, but it works nicely as a sequel.

I really don't remember anything specific about seeing this one in the theater, but I'm pretty sure it was another family outing.

(Image from impawards.com)