ALICE: OTHERLANDS - UPDATE #43 - NOBLE PURSUITS

Greetings Insane Children,

It’s been a while since our last Otherlands update, but progress continues apace. Here’s the latest:

In Los Angeles the team of model makers and animators working under direction from Troy are putting finishing touches on sets and puppets. They plan to begin production shooting soon. Troy sends along some video TEST FOOTAGE (please note emphasis) so you can get a sense of where the Wagner animation is heading. Check it out: 

video 

In Shanghai, Ed and his team of 3D-animators are also putting finishing touches on 3D models and set pieces. They are scheduled to begin animation production soon. Ed recently visited the sound studio here at Spicy Horse to direct voice over recording for both his and Troy’s animations. 

I believe everyone will be pleased to learn that we’ve brought back THE voice of Alice -Susie Brann - to record VO for our animations. Here’s a sample of some dialog from the recent recording session: 

audio

Next up… music! I am pleased to announce that we have received wonderful word from the weird world of Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys. They’ve offered to work with our directors to produce music for the shorts. Given the surreal breadth of sound that comes out of this group, I think the resulting marriage could be quite beautiful. We’ll smash our brains together and report back results soon! (And yes, we are still able to work with Chris Vrenna - we may end up with a mix of tracks or even a collaboration - who knows!?)

Progress on the feature film has come to a temporary halt. Due to the nature of the license option we’ve secured we can only develop the feature film story and production so far - then must acquire the film rights completely before proceeding further. That being the case, I am working with potential investors and financiers to gather the required funding ($400kUSD) so that we can move to the next phase of development. While it is frustrating to be blocked by a contract technicality, it’s not unexpected and it’s certainly not insurmountable. With the work we’ve done so far, people we’ve attracted to the production, and level of support we have from the community, we have an attractive pitch for potential investors. Keep those fingers crossed!

Lastly, logistics. It seems most of you that pledged for physical items (posters) have received your shipments. A few people are still waiting for the “slow boat from China” to arrive on your distant shores. Many thanks for your continued patience! If you’re still waiting on a poster and it hasn’t arrived by end of July, please let me know (send a message to me via Kickstarter). 

Those of you waiting on Art Books, DVDs or the animations themselves, those items will be delivered after animation production has finished. We’re still targeting end of 2014 for that phase of the project. 

I’ll leave you with some production photos from Troy and his team in LA: 

Adjusting Wagner