Our Spring Days

Well, as usual it has taken me a while to write again. I believe pictures tell more so I'll include a few with slight narration to let you all know what's been going on lately with us. Lee, Nikie and I flew out to Vegas to see Mom and Dad and the family. We borrowed Mom and her Van and drove to Los Angeles for a few days too. I wanted to show Lee and Nikie Hollywood, so we toured Warner Bros. Studios (saw and sat on the couch from Friends), Cartoon Network (this was Nikie's big thing, I arranged for a private tour, via my good friend Geri Kelly, of the studios, met and talked with animators, as well as, background artist Don Watson who worked on Flintstones and Scooby Doo), the Disney Concert Hall and NBC (got Leno tickets but were too busy to go) to start out.

We stayed at a great little hotel called the Coast Anna Belle which is right in the heart of Burbank and walking distance to Leno. Mom and I stayed there last year, in fact, we got the exact same room. We now call it "Our room", for everytime we get to Hollywood. I'm sure we'll be staying there a few times more.

Well, our trip had two intentions...visit and have fun, and make a film and have fun. The film was for Lee's Art History class and was to be all about Frank Gehry's Disney Concert Hall. So we took an audio tour of the building, Lee took lots of notes, I shot video and taped everything I could and took stills too. We also were fortunate enough to get a tour of Mr. Gehry's studio in near by Marina Del Ray. I had contacted the firm before we left Missouri. We had a great italian dinner at Venice Beach, then headed to the concert hall, again, for night shots. Above is one photo at night and one by day of Lee and I.













We also did two days at Disneyland. Two, because our first day there it rained for 14 hours straight. So I promised we'd go back later in the week. We went back on Thursday which was sunnier and then left at 9pm to drive back to Vegas. We got home by 2:30 am. I'm sorry I didn't visit much with my Dad this trip. But come this summer, we'll be around more. July 15th is the baby shower we are throwing for Larry. We are holding it at the Bellagio in a Penthouse Suite. In March the nice lady...Liz...who is helping us with the whole deal, gave us a tour of one of the rooms she has in mind for us. Also coming up this summer is the Comic Con in San Diego.

Once we returned home, Lee edited her first film. She did an incredible job. She did much research and writing first, then looked at all of the materials we collected with video, stills and images from a book that Frank Gehry's assistant gave her. We even have video from the firm showing the process Mr. Gehry takes when creating a building. Lee used music from Cold Play, Enya and the Blue Man Group to give emphasis to the drama of the Concert Hall featured in her film. We still see some areas that need tweaking, but all in all, given the amount of time invested, the film was a huge success. Her class enjoyed it very much, and another professor asked her for a copy so he could use it as a teaching tool in his 3-D design class.

Lee also had 3-D design for a class and built a giant slice of cake for a class project. We decided it should be a permanent structure, so it is strong and stuffed and serves as an ottomon/toybox.

























Nikie has been involved with a few film projects herself in the past few months. First, back in the fall she finished an Animation Documentary Workshop and her film then premiered at the Blue Note during the 4th Annual True False Film Festival.

Next Nik had the opportunity to act in a Horror film. She played the role of a Killer and just finished shooting a couple of weeks ago. Special effects allowed her to get thrown from a second story window and attack a woman and rip her eye out. Though the content seems creepy, the experience was alot of fun. She would show up on set around 3 or 4, get her costume and make-up applied, and then sit around until it was time to shoot her scenes. We did this a few Saturday nights in a row until Mid-night. She was such a trooper! But by the time it was time to go home, she was more than ready to get home, scrub off her make up in the shower and get to bed. I tried to talk her into going to the Waffle House for a bite in full make-up and costume, but she wouldn't hear of it.

The film will be in post production through the summer, and premeire at the Blue Note in the fall. Evil's Alter will also be for rent in all Blockbuster Video stores in three states, as well as run regularly on Columbia Access Televsion and the local St. Louis Channel.

Now, because of contacts we made with this film crew, Kindred Moon Productions, Nikie has another opportunity for doing some animae type illustrations for another movie project. This project calls for freezing the film in a scene, then disolving the shot into a cartoon like drawing, then disolving back into live action. There should be about 12 illustrations for Nik to complete.

Kindred Moon will begin shooting another film in January and has already asked Nikie to play the Vampire. She's loving it!



















Well, I think we are about caught up. Our next venture is summer trips both east and west. I'll have lots more to tell and show in the coming months. I, myself, am planning a big photography expedition through some of our Nation's National Parks. Hiking, Camping and Photography, what a great combination!
Until Next Time...
Take Care Everyone!
Kim