"Animation Reel 2" Debuts with new Logo

By: Andrew Bermudez

(Mustache Maniacs Film Co. Headquarters; January 8, 2013)

     Earlier today, a demo reel from MEA 135 class was released, showcasing some animation from that class (you can watch it here). However, a more important element of this release is the logo at the beginning. If you compare it to previous releases, you will notice that this logo has been highly upgraded with banners, text, and more. "This logo update is very important," said LEGO Studios CEO Mark Matthew. "Before, the technology used in our films was a little...dated, to say the least, so the old logo worked. However, we now have the entire Adobe CS6 Creative Suite. We can literally add big-budget special effects, highly stylized fonts, dramatic credits, and more to our films, giving our films a professional touch. However, the unintended side effect is that our films will now look so good, the old logo will look bad in comparison. That is what makes this update important." 

The new logo template is reminiscent of MGM's logo. Note the hole in the center; the original logo plays here.

      Another reason to update the logo is for resolution. The old logo was created all the way back in 2004, before HD was readily available. Now, when the old logo is saved at a HD resolution, it becomes pixelated and indiscernible. Even though the old footage is still used, the video size was reduced during the compositing  in Adobe After Effects CS6, thus making the pixels smaller. Now the video does not pixelate at HD resolutions, thus making it usable in HD videos. This new logo will be used in all of our films from now on.

     In the meantime, filming continues for Johnny Thunder and the Wisdom of the Ancients with steady progress. Now that the film crew is in Zimbabwe, things are moving faster now, making the December 2013 shooting deadline feasible. "We are excited to have this film come out in time for Mustache Maniacs Film Co.'s tenth anniversary," said director Steven Lawrence. "Our Johnny Thunder films are very popular, and were the way that we first moved onto the online world. This significance, coupled with the high anticipation for the film, will make it the perfect flagship film for 2014." Until then, a lot of work must be done to meet the summer 2014 release date.

      Changing the subject, New Friends ~ An Environmental Fable will be wrapped up, hopefully for the new release date: February 15th. While the rough version proved to be popular at its premiere, more work must be done to refine it to perfection. Some of this work includes:

• Adding a giant ship for when the dodos sees the settlers come to the island.
• Correcting compositing mistakes made during post-production.
• Filming new footage to clarify confusing actions.
• Adding opening and closing credits.
• Adding the brand-new Mustache Maniacs Film Co. logo.
• Adding shading effects.
• Re-recording lines of dialogue.
• And other adjustments.

     All of these adjustments should be done by February 2013. There is actually talk of this film being a hopeful nomination for The Second Mustache Maniacs Film Co. Fan Choice Awards. Let's hope this rumor is true.

     Don't forget to sign up for The Film School Challenge! Registration ends February 28th, so hurry!