Production Update 183: E-book, Coming Soon

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Chris Biewer

This past week I spent some time catching up on some life stuff that piled up a little bit. The reward for sacrificing the week to do that is reaping some early benefits. I was able to dive into the e-book and started polishing it up to get it ready for a release. There will probably be about another day of work in the e-book before it will be ready to submit to the store. I want to go through it one more time and make sure the text, audio and everything is consistent with the first episode. I also have one more page to design. It is a very exciting time to get this released into the store. Once the e-book makes it’s way into the store, it will close the chapter (no pun intended) on the first volume and allow me to completely transition into the second episode.

That’s not all! I will also be packing and preparing for AnimeFest in Texas since it is less than two weeks away! This will be another “first” for me, since I have never been to an AnimeFest before. I am looking forward to meeting so many new people and seeing what the convention has to offer.

One last note. This is my last week for my summer class as well. I’ll be spending one night this week wrapping up my final assignment and one night working on some freelance work as well. I am going to be jumping back into getting more content up this week as well.

Production Update 178: Next Stop, E-book

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Chris Biewer

I know. I know. I have been writing the past few weeks about how my goal was to get the e-book cover or the script to the second episode written but I have a confession. The past couple months I have been creatively burnt out. I didn’t want to admit it and I thought it was just a week long funk but it turned into a good month to 6 week session. The good news, I honestly feel like I am coming out of it.

While I had some traveling this past week and some school work to do, I did start moving the ball on more Cosmic Rage items. First off, I have a rough sketch of what I want the e-book cover to be like. I spent some time in the car working on some rough layouts and working through some of the elements on I wanted. I feel like I have come to a very good solution and I am hoping to get into that this weekend! I have the lofty expectation of getting it wrapped up this weekend. (My Patreon supporters will get to see these sketches, if you are interested in supporting Cosmic Rage, check out my Patreon page)

I also need to get my grant paperwork filled out and sent in as well. I made a lot of notes and I need to flesh out to areas yet and that will be off of my plate as well.

Lastly, I had a rough outline for the second episode completed. I can now say that I have officially started on the script! While it isn’t close to done, I have begun writing out the first few scenes and I am very excited to build onto the world.

I really appreciate your patience, as much as I try to be transparent here, I really underestimated the amount of burn out I had. But I will leave you with one of my pictures from this past week in photography!

Production Update 177: More Submissions and Another Schedule Screening

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Chris Biewer

I made the journey to Texas this past week in anticipation for Akon 27. I was going to go to Akon solely as a fan, I didn’t have any panels this year since I presented the History of CGI last year. However, I actually didn’t make it to Akon this year as I had initially planned.

Friday night I started laying out my itinerary and there wasn’t enough going on that I felt like I had to go. There content was a lot of costly panels, which I don’t do. Plus some of my friends from out of town didn’t make it to Dallas since we are planning on all meeting up at Tokyo in Tulsa, so I decided to bail on Akon at the last minute. I also had another matter to take care of, which I will share with you all very soon. I do regret not going to get some autographs at Akon, but I know I will be back next year and looking forward to checking out the con.

Outside of that, I submitted Cosmic Rage to some more animation festivals this week. I have caught up on the submission front so I shouldn’t have to worry about submitting to a few for a couple weeks, since I submitted to the ones that have deadlines in June, I should have bought some time for a few weeks in terms of applying for animation festivals.

I also got word and panel times for the next convention I will have a panel at and a screening as well, Sodak Con in Rapid City, South Dakota. Friday night I will be sharing the History of CGI in anime and on Saturday I will have a screening for Cosmic Rage!

Finally, I started my photography class this week as well. It is the last class I need to get my graphic design degree! Here is a pic from this past week.

Production Update 176: Race Against Time

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Chris Biewer

Forgive the lack of posting recently I have been in a little bit of a race against time. So last week I was planning on posting up a review of Persona 4. However, we got notification last Monday that we could start planting our community gardens. The forecast the entire week was scheduled for rain but the storm shifted and we spent every night after work in the garden putting the fences up and getting the ground worked and our seeds and seedlings planted. So everything is in the ground now and doing pretty well with the exception of a few plants. Last week we didn’t get home until later and I forgot to get the blog posted, so it will be pushed to next week.

I also am writing the production update today because of the holiday weekend. So time to get you caught up to speed!

I spent some time last week working through some planning for the second episode. I have an outline done and need to flesh out the dialogue next. I am traveling for Akon later this week so I will have some plane time to hopefully start writing. Over the holiday break I spent time uploading new files and submitting Cosmic Rage into animation festivals. I will do my best to share any information on these submissions with you.

This week I am starting my photography class so I will have some homework for the next couple months. I still need to get into some drawing and start roughing out some covers for the e-book. I also have to finish off some end-of-the-year grant paperwork too.

Another update next week, post-Akon!

Things to come…

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Chris Biewer

Full disclosure, I didn’t have anything really prepared for last week’s blog post. Over the past few weeks I haven’t thought much about the mid-week blog posts I typically do. So, with that in mind, I want to give you an update as to what some of the upcoming posts that I am working on will be, so you can look forward to new mid-week content.

Top 5 things I learned from making Episode 1 of Cosmic Rage.

Top 5 issues/dilemmas going forward on Cosmic Rage.

Reviews of things on my “to watch” and “to read” pile (Kill la Kill, Persona 4, Gurren Lagann, Shirobako, Psycho Pass, Bakuman, Resident Evil, Inuyashiki) and more.

An introduction post to the band (Phoenix Ash) that has music used for the closing credits for the episode, Convergence, of Cosmic Rage.

I have a Photography class this summer, pictures will be shared!

Anything you want to see? Just reach out and let me know!