Ali Showkati's Blog

Halls of Chaos.

2009-09-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was our first and only day of Principle Photography for my short film Halls of Chaos. I'm using the opportunities afforded me by my "Advanced Intermedia" class to explore and experiment more with different styles and techniques of filmmaking. In this I've decided to write and shoot a short film, based on the characters I'm gonna use to write and shoot a full-feature film. Halls of Chaos (HoC) is a short detective mystery, mixing film noir with modern gritty melodrama.

"Full-Feature" isn't typically something "students" do. Student films tend to range 3-20 minutes in most cases. I'm looking to write something around 90 minutes. I think it all depends on how post production goes for HoC. As well as how well it's received. My teacher has already given me the option to pursue the full-feature. So we'll just have to wait and see. My cast seems to be up for it. So it is definitely a high possibility.

This project is what I've been so busy with lately. I am dedicating a lot of time and energy to this, as it is my ultimate passion.

I am also shooting a music video for my "Video Art" class. Same teacher, he's really cool. The music is a mashup I made combining two songs. (More about it, as well as the audio track itself here.) For the video I shot video moving backwards down the streets of downtown Omaha (I did this with a biddy of mine, as to not look like a complete nut-job). Separately in a a studio, I am gonna film a female co-worker of mine, in front of a green screen and insert her into the environment. It's inspired by Apple's iPod ads, as my character will be silhouette (black as well as various other colors).

I have high hopes for both projects and can't wait to share it with you guys.

Looking Forward to APE

2009-08-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Well we just rounded up a pretty busy summer over at TNP Press. In my last blog I talked about Edge of LA Comic-Con and how much I am looking forward to San Diego Comic-Con ( or SDCC). We'll SDCC was a blast. Last year my bud Joenis (of Unconscious Ink) and I were only there for one day and barely scratched the surface of the surface. This time around we were there all five days (including preview night) and I still felt like I barely scratched the aforementioned surface of the thing. It was intense. So much going on, overlapping one another. And thats not even counting the show floor, which is supposed to really be what the Convention is about. It's no secret that all the attention, at SDCC, is given to the panels. This years panels included the usual big-guns hollywood presentations, with lines of people exceeding in the 3-4 thousands. I participated in a couple of these lines out of self interest. The fiorst was for the Showtime original series Dexter. The next for ABC's LOST, which featured the show's executive producers and a few key cast members (definitely the highlight of my SDCC experience.) I also attended Kevin Smith's panel, which was basically a stand up show similar to his famed Evening With dvds.

The other slew of panels I attended related more to what I went to SDCC for, webcomics. Dumbrella and Zuda had their panels there. Thats the innate issue with SDCC; It's basically now a "popular arts" convention, as opposed to just a comic convention, so you pretty much have to choose to have a ton of fun, or just have some fun but get work done and learn something. Many of the "cool" movie/tv panels happened at the same time as the informative or important comic and webcomic panels. It's tough to decide which to focus on. Overall, I think SDCC was a hit. We did lots of video interviews, over at TNP Press LIVE, which helped us network with others within our industry.

The big hitter, I feel will be APE (Alternative Press Expo) It's basically Comic-Con minus the "Popular Arts". So it fits in better with what TNP Press is about. the crowd will be more focused in, and are interested in our line of work, as opposed to being there to sneak a peek at James Cameron's Avatar, for example. I'm feeling pretty good about APE. Its October 17th and 18th in San Francisco. The big difference, of course, is that TNP Press will have a booth There! Joenis, Phillipa (or My Cardboard Life), and I will be representing TNP Press all weekend. There will be more details about it as time approached so stay tuned to TNPPress.com or easier, twitter.com/thenoirproject

Also, I finally made myself an online portfolio, check it out at AliShowkati.com its pretty snazzy :D

Cons and Cons

2009-07-19T11:30:00.001-07:00

The past two weeks have been insane. So much so that I had to call upon the generosity of my colleagues to help me out with SSW. I now know the value of planning ahead, and just getting ahead of posts. I plan to get at least one page ahead of myself this summer. The next 10 months are gonna be an interesting time, with my last year's college class load being the heaviest it's ever been in my entire college career. That by itself is gonna be kicking my ass, but the light at the end of the tunnel will surely keep my back straight. I've also got a part-time job at Starbucks, which I kinda need at this point. What all this means is that unfortunately the frequency of SSW isn't gonna increase anytime soon. It will be until at least May before I can increase the frequency to the ideal 2 per-week or the desired 3 per-week system.

Yesterday was our first appearance at Edge of LA Comic-Con in Claremont, CA's Packing House. Joenis Norac and I were there representing TNP Press. We had our booth setup and displayed our merchandise. It was an interesting experience, with a slightly pedophilic Spider-Man being the least of our worries. The convention was much smaller than we expected with only two other artist and three plain dealers. On top of that, thorough their limp efforts at advertising, we didn't get much of a crowd. In-fact we only made $1 from merchandising. Although partner in crime, Joenis and I, feel like it was a bit of a rip-off, at $65, I feel the glass was definitely half full yesterday. What we didn't make in sales, we made up in Networking and advertising. We actually did meet a fair amount of people who were interested in TNP Press. And a few people who seemed to like the concept of SSW. We managed to unload a good amount of Flyers and buttons. Overall, I think Edge of LA just wasn't for us. We just didn't have to right crowd.

The real winner, I feel, is gonna be later this year at APE (Alternative Press Expo). That more along the lines of what we are combined with the fact that APE actually cost money to attend, the crowd should be more interested in webcomics and other non-mainstream art, so they should hopefully be more inclined to inquire about our group.

Anyways, stay tuned to tnppress.com for updates on our appearances at San Diego Comic-Con International this week.

Professional

2009-03-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

Spring break was fun. Saw lots of family; may whom I hadn't seen for 10 years. It was nice. I got the first proof of SSW Vol.1, I have to make a few adjustments and send in for a second proof. So the release of the book will be delayed a bit longer. I didn't anticipate how long it would take for the printing company to get them printed. Now that I'm back I've got a lot on my plate. This weeks is gonna be pretty hectic, but I'm sure I'll manage.

I just registered as a professional for this years San Diego International Comic-Con. I really hope I get in. That would feel really satisfying. Also, I'll take any chance to save myself a benjamin. Plus I'll get a guest pass. I wonder what preview night will be like. Fingers crossed.

SSW Books!

2009-03-07T23:22:00.000-08:00

So the SSW books are well on their way. I've ordered the proof of Volume 1 and anxiously await it's arrival (Three times fast?). The prologue (pages 1-2) has been extended to 4 pages remastered. And Pages 3-6 have been enhanced. It's been really fun designing these books. I can't wait for them to go on sale. I hope Ka-Blam delivers on their promise of quality. Also the current side story "The Meeting"will be included in the Volume 2 book.

This weekend has been interesting. I saw the long anticipated Watchmen, which I will not comment on; respecting a friend's wishes. I bring this up because SSW's borrows some it's story's formatting from Watchmen, and it was interesting to see how that format can translate to accommodate for the demands of the film world. I'm pretty excited to get into Chapter III: The Weeping Angel. I just spent a few hours last night, doing some editing and rewriting, getting it primed and ready for COMIC-IZATION!!

Song of the Page

2008-11-01T23:21:00.000-07:00

In an ongoing effort to make SSW as immersive of an experience as possible, I want to start playing around with an idea I've had for a while now. The idea is to have a track of music available to play along with each page of SSW. The music would help define the mood of the scene, as an orchestral score would to a film. Also, Music has always been the biggest and most influential source of inspiration for my stories, so it would display to the reader the track (or one of the tracks) that inspired the respective page or scene.

I call it "Song of the Page." I'm still playing around with the logistics of it. For instance, I'm still trying to figure out how to even pull it off. I don't know if I want it to just start right when the page loads, or for you to start it with a little mini-flash-player. Let alone if it's even legal to have it at all. I might have to just settle with displaying the name of the Artist/track and have people seek it out on their own.

Regardless of what it ends up being, it's a feature I want to implement in the near future in some fashion. Le me know of your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.

Breaking Out!

2008-10-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

Writing the notes to page 25 made me wonder about film. In the notes i wrote:

"I have a very film-like visual sense. As this story is intended to be a film, I can’t help but see it play out in my head as such... I know that the advantage comics have to film is the fact that at any moment, comics can choose to break out of that format."

This got me thinking about the reverse. What if film could break out of it's predefined parameters of a 1.85:1 (a.k.a. 16x9) aspect ratio. Comics and photography are able to defeat this problem due to their ability to option a vertical (a.k.a. portrait format) presentation. Of course I'm not talking about differently shaped TVs, although places like Target use TVs set up on their sides to display content vertically. It would be presented in the same 1.85:1 frame, but the content within that frame would go against what is expected. Currently, film is presented in a 1.85:1 wide-screen format. Most of the time, for cinematic reasons we end up with 2.25:1, 2.05:1, 2.35:1, etc. which further limit the vertical and effectively enhance the horizontal (a.k.a. landscape format).

One example would be shooting a scene sideways (90 degrees on it's side), to display more of the vertical of the scene. There is currently no efficient method to concentrate on the vertical of a scene instead of the horizontal. You can pan up or you can also zoom out enough to encapsulate the amount of the vertical you want to display. Both are still inefficient in conveying the "vertical's" significance. Shooting a scene sideways may seem like a very bad idea, due to the fact that the audience would potentially need to tilt their head to receive the information correctly. This concern can be nulled if the information presented is important enough and of a certain nature to where the orientation isn't a factor. Of course this rules out text and things of this nature. Perhaps a man standing in front a building could work. The shot would be filled with the entirety of the building and in front of it, a man. You could avoid a pan, or a low-angle shot. If the objective is to display the building in its entirety as compared to a man, the orientation is insignificant, because both the man, and the building would still be identifiable. Especially so if the components of the shot are established in two sandwiching "upright" shots.

A more convincing setting would be in outer space. That way it is instantly justified due to the absence of gravity, or absence of ground, in space. It boggles the mind to think of the possibilities.

Spider-cise!

2008-08-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

So we ended up staying til Saturday, and didn't get back to San Jose until Sunday A.M. Spent all of Sunday and half of Monday working on Page 16. It was nice having Joenis here to show me a couple to techniques. Hopefully it's noticeable.

Seattle was pretty amazing though. I'm definitely gonna work towards moving there within the next year or so. It all depends on whats going on in the education and finance realm.

2008-07-31T23:19:00.000-07:00

I'm in Seattle this week helping my friends find a place. I've never been here and I'm already in love. It seems like the perfect place to live. I'm getting to know the city alot more that I thought. I really like the downtown here. There's nothing more beautiful to me than skyscrapers by waterfront. Maybe that's naive, but it's what I like.

Driving around the different districts, crossing the different bodies of water, going to the neighboring cities... It all gives you a more genuine an educated decision about whether or not you like the city, and would ever decide to move there. I think i officially know this place better that San Jose AND San Francisco combined. You gain so much more appreciation for a city when you have a sense of purpose, and not just there for more than "vacation".

As far as Seattle, I'm definitely on the fast-track to move up here as fast as I can. It really us an amazing city. I did not expect this much.

I've been on this trip since Monday, and I should be back by Friday, so next weeks comic might be hand-drawn on my sketch pad.

Rock On!

twitter ftw!

2008-07-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

Joenis and I are now a part of twitter! Twitter is this new microblogging network. Its like blog-as-u-go, and it's hella addictive, especially after you set it up to work with your mobile device's SMS. We're adding what twitter calls "badges" to our sites, (next to our cbox) which provides a live feed of our twitters! So Join twitter and follow us in our adventures. fun!

Page 11. Plus Enhanced Pages!

2008-06-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

Page 11 is now up for your reading pleasures.

I have also posted "Enhanced" versions of pages 6-11. For all of those pages, the color pallet was retooled to help with the mood and atmosphere of the scene. Also, for some pages, new dialogue and monologues were added, as I shifted a few things in the plot.

I hope you like the new Enhanced pages. As always please visit our forums for discussions on sswestern.

Profiles!

2008-05-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

The new profiles page is up! Just click on "Profiles" at the top and let me know what you think. Ill be updating and adding new entries as the occur in the story.

Anyways I'm almost completely settled here in San Jose. Tomorrow the moving company is arriving with 98% of my stuff and they're coming early. So i'm going to bed.

Peace.

Moving

2008-03-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

I guess it's official enough for me to blog about. I'm moving to California. San Jose to be exact. Thats where my parents are right now, and my brother and I are moving there on May 23. I think i will miss Omaha but I am so much happier that I'm moving back to my home state. Especially moving close to San Francisco, one of my favorite cities. Erin said this and I agree: I wont miss Omaha, I'll miss the people I know. It makes sense 'cus there's nothing here to do but to hang out with people. There's nothing interesting here and I will be hard-pressed to find a legit reason to ever live here again. Fun in the sun.

I just got a nice RAM upgrade for my iMac. From 1GB to 4GB. Its pretty awesome. Photoshop CS3 launches in less that 5 seconds (it's friggin sweet). It helps alot with my massive graphic novel pages. Which is going quite nicely if i do say so myself. After some more research I realized that I'm gonna have to cram about twice as much stuff in each page. So (at least for this coming week), I'll have to do half pages. But if its at twice the content, it should even out right? They're in page form cus i wanna publish the whole thing in a hard-copy when it's finished. Hopefully by the time I (actually) move out to CA, you guys will know the plot and kinda get a real feel for the kind of story it's gonna be, so I can start getting some more reactions from you all.

check out the latest page of my graphic novel and all pages preceding it at sswestern.com

I Like!

2008-02-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

Finally got some pics of my new car. It's a 2008 Mazda 6. It's only 4-cyl but it drives amazing, and this kid's got power!

Zoom-zoom

2008-01-31T23:08:00.000-08:00

This has definitely been an interesting week. I got my copy of Adobe CS3 Web Premium in the mail on monday. It's pretty awesome so far. Then, Tuesday morning on the way to school my car suddenly died. Thinking it was just my battery, i called up AAA for some roadside assistance. Turns out it wasn't my battery so the guy towed it to Midas where they determined that it was my engine. Apparently my timing belt tore and damaged some stuff inside my engine. And since a new engine would cost more than the price of the car, its a gonner. I kinda saw it comin. That car was nothing but trouble since day one.

So now I've decided to lease myself a new car. I'm pretty well sold on the Mazda 3. I think it's gonna happen. Most of the harder stuff is done. I'm just going there tomorrow to crunch some numbers to get it to the payment i want. I was really surpised with the drive of the Mazda 3. The one i picked out is a 2008 Mazda 3, 5-door, galaxy grey mika (dark metallic grey). I'm shooting for a 27 month lease between $200-300/month with 500 down. They already accepted my credit and the $500 down so were just gonna work to get the payments where i want them.

So yeah, wish me luck.

Back to School

2008-01-21T14:52:00.001-08:00

So the first week of school is over and I have mixed feelings about
it, but I am glad to back on track towards finishing my degree.
Overall everything is going really well. All I needed was a bit more
organization, now I feel a lot more in control of my life. Dont ya
love the new year? My classes are proving so much easier than
anticipated that I was considering taking my hrs back up to 40/week.
But. I think I'm gonna decide against it do I can spend more te on SSW!

Sent from my iPhone

CS3

2008-01-08T23:14:00.001-08:00

Im excited. Hopefully within the next week or two I'm gonna be getting my hands on Adobe CS3 Web Premium. The software includes Flash CS3 professional, Fireworks CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, Photoshop CS3 extended, Illustrator CS3, and Contribute CS3. I can't wait. It's gonna fly on my new iMac.

Bon Voyage

2008-01-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

A new semester is about to start for me at UNO (University of Nebraska Omaha). I took last semester off to straighten out some things in my life and get myself back on track. I think i now know what i want out of my education and can now work towards finally finishing it successfully.

I'd also like to announce that issue 131 was in-fact the final RobTheBot. I know we're all sad to see it go, but now we get to move on to bigger and better things. Spaghetti Strap Western was my original idea for The Noir Project. Unfortunately, a mixture of technical and artistic blockades prevented me from moving forward with it. However, now I believe i possess the technical and artistic prowess to execute it.

So I will be taking a sort of hiatus form TNP to write Spaghetti Star Western. I will continue to blog here so keep on visiting the site to stay updated.