Happy Holidays!!!!

Hello mr blog...

It's clearly been awhile.

I was actually looking at going steady with another blog provider, but i might be too lazy to go through with it. It's much cleaner lookin'. The sort of blog you'd introduce to fancy people. You can see some of this blog provider in action over at thedeadmustdie.com which is now the official site for the DEAD MUST DIE series. Or at least the first part of what will hopefully, at some stage become more of a series. One is not a series, or so I've been told, one is just one. Not two. Never two. Not really.

One of the coolest things about that sexy new blog is that I can update it via iphone from anywhere, with voice, video, or whatever digital nonsense I wish to inflict upon you. So yes I like it, i think it's cool. Or as cool as a blogging website can get, which on the grand scheme of things that are cool really doesn't place.

So about the short-series-whatever, it's done, signed, sealed, delivered to Sundance. Now we wait eagerly for any sort of acceptance (or the opposite - but hopefully not) before we send it on anywhere else. I'm really looking forward to seeing people's reactions. I think it's a good one. I sent it to Charlie Adlard - The artist from 'The Walking Dead' series and he seemed to like it. So i guess that's worth the price of the ticket alone. Not that there's any screenings to buy tickets to yet... But I digress.

In 2 weeks i'm off to Santa Fe, New Mexico where my other film - The Legend of ol' Goldie has been nominated for a Kid's First Award. Which is very cool as Kid's First is the largest Children's Film festival in the whole world, and this is my first nomination above student level prizes. Like proper grown up stuff. (Even if it is for kids!) Goldie also recently played at the New Orleans Film Festival and at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Which was so super awesome because that was the film festival I wanted to be in the most! In fact, I had the poster for the festival above my computer during the edit last year. It was the proverbial deadline fest. But I missed the holy deadline and had to wait a whole year to submit again. But submit I did and here I am. Big-shit-eating-grin all round.

I'm also tagging a week in NY on after the awards to see all those lovely New York people I met when I was on Engine Room last year. I genuinely can't wait :D New York better watch out. Because... Because... nope can't think of a reason, but i'll point in it's face, and make my eyebrows look like scrunched up, like i'm about to say something... But then I won't... How do you like them apples, big apple?

Hmmm starting to. not. make. sense. Better pull the ripchord.

Next time, i'll tell you about the time I saved the world...

T-minus.....

Hey all, okay so quick catch up... Didn't make the finals of the below competition, but I did make the semi finals! So I get a laptop yay! I need to make more friends on YouTube to win these sorts of competitions... One for the to-do- list! In the meantime, I'm currently sitting in with my "go-to-sound-genius"Tommy Godfrey as we finish our mix for THE DEAD MUST DIE! I'm sending it off to sundance tomorrow on last minute expensive postage! So here's hoping!! Fingers crossed! I really wanna go to Utah! Didn't get in last year... But this one is better than last time so I guess that makes sense... Anyways it's all a bit exciting! Will let you know as soon as I do(probably maybe)

I'm not really a Gorilla...

Hey Gang! See it hasn't been that long since the last post! Back is fine and sprightly. New office in Soho, cool new hat. Life is good. Please enjoy the above video and give it a thumbs up if it permits you to do so... It's a youtube/HP competition and it's prettyyyy coool.. Enjoy! Have a swell weekend.

The triple fortnight, or trifflenight if you will...

So...

I enjoy looking back over the last few blogs every time I go back to do a new one. It's like reading a diary, except it's a diary where every day is like a triple fortnight (6 weeks) and it's also like that movie Momento, where I have amnesia and can't remember stuff and then tattoo things on my body. Also, I live my life out of sequence... Yes I did somehow just compare my life and blogging habbits to the movie memento. Just be glad I didn't compare it to the Dark Knight. Because I can.

Where am I? Yes, that's right... I joined the gym! Like a triple fortnight ago, and so that should mean I'm totally buff right? Wrong. Because then I hurt my back and couldn't bend much, not that gym and bending go hand-in-hand per say, but apparently for me it does. So no, not super buff, and i can't even say it was some awesome sort of gymtastic menouvre that pulled it out of whack... rather I just woke up with it. Like some sort of old person. But it's all better now! I went to an osteopath and he made me strip to my boxers and then jumped on me a bunch of times until my spine literally crunched like it was eating a granolla bar. True story. Then i had to go back 3 more times. Also, he said my spine is now behaving itself. It takes instruction well. There's something for the CV - spine takes instruction well... Also i apparently have a larger than average 'middle third' so I'd be a kickass highjumper and I'm now growing a beard...

I also bought shiny white Puma trainers that are were designed by Ferarri. What a sportscar manufacturer knows about people's feet i'm not sure. But what i do know is that i make car sounds when i wear them. This is turning into a list of stuff i bought... a new spine, a beard, ferarri shoes... And an Iphone.

Yes i succumbed. No, i'm not writing this via Iphone. I have chunky digits. It's like magic. Who would have thought you could put so much stuff into something so small. There's even an application that plays a frequency only teenagers can hear, and they hate it. It's a mini torture device for little brothers. Fantastic. And it plays monkey island, and i have a UK tax calculator, and topographical map of venus. When the robots rise up. And they will. The Iphone shall lead them. And I will probably be on their side.... Is that wrong?

What else? i'm busy working too much. The DEAD MUST DIE is coming along very nicely, I finished a first cut today, all the effects shots are done, and now it's full steam ahead with sound and music, so wahey! Working on the next film already with the awesome writer Dan Abnett, which promises to be phenomenal and will reallly push my 5D mark ii!

Avatar day is coming up next friday where they will show the 20 minute teaser reel from Comic Con to the public in Imax theatres worldwide for free. Go along and support my bro's film!

Currently listening to Florence + the machine ;D


Will be back in under a double fortnight.

The trailer!

The Dead Must Die! from matthew snyman on Vimeo.

So here it is... The trailer to 'The Dead Must Die' Chapter 1: Every Zombie has a mother.

It's gonna be epic.

The world turned and I forgot I had one of these...

Been a busy boy recently...

Here's a preview!

Since the last post I've been around the world, shot some zombies, saw some friends, made some epic discoveries, and started doing some awesome stuff basically. Oh and I joined a gym and want to start narrating my life like a 1930's film noir gangster... And maybe dressing like one.

Will post more sense when I can find some.

Thundercats ho !

New picture drawing! Thought i'd post it now, as it is just completed. I've been on a serious 80's cartoon swing. Hell i'm always on a serious 80's cartoon swing... But yeah, somehow, Mumm-ra the everliving going speed dating appealed to me. Then i realised he's one of those villans that is hard to remember, hell he aint no Skeletor, Megatron or even a Shredder. So I decided to bring Lion-o into the mix, which made it all bizarrely poignant... But then in real life, i don't think belly-less tanktops are ever a good look.

Anyway i hope you enjoy the Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats hos.

Matt has a hole in his head.

There, that got your attention.

Time to jump into the driving seat as I talk about how much I loved Speed Racer. I missed it at the cinema and for some reason never hunted it down. And due to the fact that i'm a little ill in bed, i finally got around to viewing it! And i'm not sure if this is the antibiotics talking, but Speed Racer is one of the best films i've seen ever! It has everything! Ninjas, hilarious monkey sidekicks, Korean popstar Rain, Car-fu, Wednesday Addams, John Goodman with moustache and wrestling moves, Jack from Lost wearing a funny mask, and amazing special effects. This is the closest i've ever seen a film coming to replicating an anime or a videogame. And it does both. Perfectly. It made me very happy.

I also saw Taken, the Liam Neeson, "Jason Bourne gets old, has a daughter, daughter gets kidnapped, Jason Bourne takes apart Paris" film. Its did everything i wanted it to do, with an extra side of awesome. Makes me really want to be badass someday.

I realised in writing this, that I don't normally talk about movies on this blog. Which is weird, because I think about them a lot. But let me get back to the title of this blog, which has a double meaning. Not a double entendre - just two meanings derived from the same title. First meaning: My Goldfish film, The legend of ol' Goldie is gonna be playing at the Another Hole in the Head Film Festival in San Francisco this May. Which is cooooool. So if you're in need of something to do on the West Coast of the continental United States sometime in May, there's that. ;)

Second meaning: I had the mother of all migraines this weekend, it was like a volcano behind my eyeball, that had numerous seismic eruptions and tremors. I thought my brain was trying to escape through my eye socket. This is how painful it was... but then I'm probably overselling it a bit. But that's how comes I'm full of antibiotics at the moment. Had to go the emergency hospital and everything. It was very exciting in retrospect. But i didn't describe it as a volcano to the doctor, nor did i say my brain was trying to escape. I don't trust doctors ya see. They have the power to make me go away for a very long time in a jacket with no sleeves...

Also I'm eyeball deep in work deadlines and I'm busy rendering, which gives me time to do this blog, because I can't take staring at the render bar all afternoon. So I'm just going to continue posting random cool things... Take that all you anti-cool thing posting people. Firstly, if you haven't seen this: Do yourself a favour.



And then follow that favour up with another favour here:



And i think that's probably enough favours for everyone...

Those are my two 'mostest looking forward to films this year' after Coraline, which still hasn't come out in this country. Which is funny 'cause it was written by a bloody englishman! That might be a bit extreme, but then again i'd say Neil Gaiman is bloodier than most englishmen.

And now for my next trick, i'm gonna stop posting and saying random nonsense and leave you to go rent Speed Racer, and then scratch your head confoundedly at my wild drug-addled accusations of its awesomeness.

MAtt!

Brand new blog!

Man, it's tough to keep up to date with this blogging thing, i'm going to try do this more often, perhaps in smaller increments (in time and length) A bit like twitter, except here... and propably a bit longer than twitter. Perhaps i'll conjunct my name with tweet. So mattweat. And it can double as breakfast cereal. Or something.

So what's up that was worth me actually logging on and blogging, considering that the last one was almost 2 months ago... I'm not sure. I felt bad I guess, and also I felt like writing a bit. So here I am writing, and i'm not having as much fun as I was expecting. The thought of writing something for fun, is waay more exciting than the actual writing part, which is where you are forced to use your brain to put together sentences that make sense. And make sure that your words have the correct number of letters in them... and at 1am in the morning, both of these things get expontentially more difficult. Also it's not as fun as writing it down with a pen. Because with a pen there is always a hint of danger. What if you run out of ink? What if you're left-handed (like me) and end up smudging half a paragraph as you try too add a more interesting flourish to capital Y.

Or what if you run out of ink? and decide that the best course of action is take the pen apart; then suck on the one end of the ink-holding-plastic-tube to somehow 'encourage' the ink to start flowing again, and then you end up with ink on your shirt, your hands, in your mouth, your hair, your nose... Like I said: a hint of danger...

Well this post has certainly taken a course towards the obscure and/or asinine. This always happens. Well let me just tell you about events like a normal person would. Okay here goes... I went to Paris last week to reunite with my teammates from Team Europe from that MTV's Engine Room show (that is probably chillin if you scroll down towards the older posts)It was an amazing weekend. We drank, ate, partied, arted and smarted. And took silly numbers of pictures. It was so cool to see those friends again, it reminded me that you've got to keep in touch with your people, wherever they are. It's so easy to fall under the whole, 'out of sight, out of mind.' quip, when describing foreign based friends, but in the age of the 'book of face' and the 'i-chatting' and the 'skyping', it no longer cuts mustard. Not that you'd ever need to cut mustard. It no longer ~spreads~ mustard. I think that might be less of a saying, and more of a euphamism, but for what i'm not sure. Maybe something illegal.

This is sounding more normal now right? What else are people interesting in hearing about from me on here? New developments professionally? I am now semi-actively seeking a literary/film agent ( semi-actively means thinking about, but while doing other work - when this should be my priority...)I have a tendency to work really hard and diligently on a project and then sort of stop once it's finished. I have two feature screenplays and two illustrated children's books that need homes. I think I need to open up some sort of dog shelter, like a pound, except where all the dogs are amazing and very well written, and you have to make them into movies or read them to your children, otherwise you can't take them home with you. So yes, i need to spend time on this idea. Or rather on the agent finding. I doubt some sort of ~build it they will come~ literary dog shelter is the best way forward for me professionally.

I'm hoping to do another short film soon, probably this Summer, and i'm hoping it will look as good as it does in my head, and that it will get into as many/or more festivals than the last one did. (Which by the way will be fully available to watch on this site at somepoint soon - it's running the last few legs of its life, and to continue this 'my work as dog analogy' it needs to be taken 'round back...)

I'm still working on this design series that you can see when scrolling down, I got an awesome image in my head for the next one, that screams awesome, i'll post it soon! But in a similar style at least, i completed this webpage recently for some work friends: www.helpusmakeahome.com




It's to help them 'make a home' for their wedding! It's a great idea too, so good luck Dre and Jorien if you read this. I genuinely do think it is a really good idea. And the illustration and design is amazing. ;)

Do I have anything else worthy of noting? Ummmmmm my Goldfish film is on the front cover of the KidsFirst Programme! Which is pretty shway, and also i bought a pair of red(ish) cowboy boots, which make me feel more manly, even though technically they're man heels. Also I think i'm gonna buy a pair of rayban Wayfarers and possibly a video recording dslr because I can't wait for a Red Scarlet.~
Yes, that last sentence was supposed to be greek, just to test if you were still paying attention.


So all in all, where this post might have lacked in ink, it made up for in dog. Thus creating a smidgen of danger. Because dogs are evil. Just ask Jono.

And happy earth hour! Also clocks go forward 40 minutes ago, which means i'm posting this around 2.45am, which makes me waaaay more lame than if i was posting at the gentlemanly time of 1.45am.

Oh one more thing, congratulations to my buddy Darin who's going to be a soldier in the new George Lucas Movie!! (and to add to that, last week i visited Elstree Studios and went on the George Lucas stage, and stood where Han Solo was frozen in Carbonite -geek out) Also, is is Han short for something, like Hans? or Hansel?
Hans Solo sounds a little gay porn to me... thoughts?

The blogmonster

It's a funny thing, blogging.

I don't know about you, but whenever I do a blog I feel that I need to say something worth saying, or at least, elaborate on some vague exploit worth the telling... It makes this a bit of a tricksy business really. It's like i'm stealing your time, second by second... And the longer you read my ramblings, the less time you now have to do some other possibly/probably more interesting thing (delete as appropriate). I wonder what it must feel like for a newspaper writer or a CNN blogperson, who get to steal lots of people's time, on a fairly regular basis at regular intervals, in a rather regular manner. but i guess 'regular' is the problem... You never read a 'news writer' or 'CNN blogger' writing about how they keep losing their socks in the washer, and have actually checked the handbook in search of a secret sock pocket - OR - how they once went camping near Bath and saw a strange coloured squirrel...

...no, they talk about other people's news; strange people, usually foreign people; Or famous people. Which is interesting.

For reasons I am yet to understand...

But what I do know, is that I have stolen at least 50 seconds of your life, and if enough of you have read this, I will have aged in reverse by at least several minutes.

And that my friends, is why CNN bloggers and newspaper writers all look very young. It's all that time they have stolen from you, which you may never get back... Unless you start writing now. Perhaps start a blog? Then we can share in this confusing, never-ending, word war of time.

Perhaps we can call it Word War One. And 'War and Peace' shall be our Atom bomb!!!!


Ooooor not. Bad idea? You think it's kind of lame huh?

hmmm?


Oh, why don't you get lost and read a book then! See if I care. Just remember the seconds. All those pretty seconds. MWHAHAAHahaHaha

Or... look at the next picture in my 'I Drown Sharks' Superbowl Fiesta thingy.

Confused? Always.

MAtt!

New Pikki-tures?

Hello friends,

I start this blog with the fond hopes and lucid dreams that you all shall have a wonderous stoopendous awesome-o year. And you can tell I mean it 'cause I used lots of funny words :D.

Anyhoo, to the topic/s at hand, I have completed a new feature script (1st draft) called the Whaler's Daughter, that I am super excited about, and shall blog on with more intensity and vigour at a later date... hint - There are Whales and Daughters and people who hunt whales, but not necessarily people who hunt daughters...

Next topic, I love my new Cintiq so much i've decided to do a whole mess of drawing. And I want to put together some sort of team of drawings to compete against other teams of drawings in some sort of drawing olympics. Who wants the television rights?

The team of drawings is to be called "I drown Sharks." and will be full of silly drawings of funny things, or at least things that I find funny, which i'm sure some people will find offensive or disturbing. But then you are reading this...

So, dear reader, do you find me offensively disturbing or disturbingly offensive? If yes to either one of these, drop me an email, i'd love to get to know you. ;)

So without further adieu, I present the first two team members of I drown Sharks... Notably the captain - 'I drown Sharks' and then, 'a bunch of naked dudes in a prison shower'



mmmmm twisted...

MAtt!