Dan Meth\'s Blog

ASIFA “Meth Minute” Screening

danmeth — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:03:45 +0000

Last Thursday, Dave Levy of ASIFA East arranged for us to show a selection of Meth Minute cartoons on the big screen at NYU front of an audience. It was great to see the cartoons projected huge (how many pixels wide? MILLIONS) in front of a large group of people. It’s sort of like seeing these films for the first time, and also the way cartoon were originally meant to be viewed.Afterwards, Dave moderated a Q & A session. It was nice to answer some burning questions about The Meth Minute that people had. (13 Watermelons. That’s how many it took!) Fred and Carrie joined me on the panel. We’ll most likely do this again in some form or another, so don’t be sad if you missed it.Dan

Van Guarding

danmeth — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:12:44 +0000

I’m honored to receive the Frederator Vanguard award this year. At first, I wasn’t 100% positive what “vanguard” actually meant, but when I looked it up I was flattered that Frederator saw me in such a light. The truth is that without Frederator giving me the chance to run with my cartoons, almost none of you out there would have seen my work at all. Frederator, by which I really mean Fred Seibert, saw something in my work that he liked and by gut instinct, predicted that others would like as well. He took some serious risks, put his name on the line, and then we both did what we did best: He packaged, promoted, programmed and advised. And I animated night and day for over a year trying to make the kind of cartoons I’ve always wanted to but never had the support or clients that allowed me such freedom.

The Meth Minute is the product of that collaboration and it seems like people really did like it. But any “vanguarding” I may have done, is a direct result of Fred giving me the keys to the “van”.

Thanks again Frederator!
Dan

If you want to see my silly acceptance speech check out the Channel Frederator episode below. It’s halfway through. Directed down the block by the great Justin Johnson.

We Were The Meth Minute

danmeth — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:01:08 +0000

Back when you were all watching episode the 9th or 10th episode of the Meth Minute, I was already planning episode 39. I knew it had to be epic, touching, and also something that included every character. The 80’s all-star charity video “We Are The World” seemed like a great format for such an episode. Since we started this with a song, I figured we ought to go out with one too.

My friend Scott Zillitto (the voice of James Brown in Sex Machine) seemed like the right man to help compose such a song. He’s a talented musician and a fellow connoisseur of 80’s cheese tunes. He came over one night and we sat at my kitchen table with a Casio and wrote “We Were The Meth Minute”.

Mind you, this is months before the the series was ending, so I had plenty of time to record each cast member singing it. I played everyone’s take and chose whatever line they sounded funniest singing.

Next I had assistant artists Daisy Edwards and Josh Weisbrod study the “We Are The World” video and re-do distinctive scenes with Meth Minute characters and logos. The end result is exactly how I imagined and hoped it would be. So without further ado…”We Were The Meth Minute”

-Dan

Cruddy Quicktimes! Anyone Know of a Solution?

danmeth — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:37:27 +0000

Yikes. Is anyone else having this same problem out there? You’re exporting a Quicktime .MOV from Flash CS3 on a Mac. You play it back and BKRSHHKRK! A character on screen moves and leaves behind a trail of pixelly crud (see the above picture). I’ve been wrestling with this for months now, searching for an answer on bulletin boards and such. I believe the term is “artifacting”. Pixels from previous frames staying on screen when they shouldn’t.

The only solution I’ve so far found is to laboriously save down to Flash 8 and export it from there. It always works with no problem. But if anyone out there has found a way to successfully export perfect Quicktimes from Flash CS3, PLEASE leave a comment with your sage-like wisdom.

Thanks!
Dan

Meth Minute is … Complete!?

danmeth — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:32:45 +0000

Wow, less than an hour ago I finished the last episode of the Meth Minute 39. It airs Thursday and it’s touchingly climactic as any series finale should be. As you can imagine, working on two series at the same time can be a bit hectic, and my blogging has suffered lately, but now I’m back. There’s alot to write about and I’ll get to it all, even the stuff I missed before. Onward into the future.

Meth Minute Cartoons at Pompidou Centre, Paris

danmeth — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:24:59 +0000

For real, this is no joke. Of all the places I would expect to see my work, it isn’t the esteemed Pompidou museum in Paris… but it’s true. The Festival Pocket art exhibit features some art made for mobile devices, including a few Meth Minute episodes. So if you happen to be in Paris from June 13th - 15th, go check it out. Dites-eux que Dan vous a envoyé, comprendre ?

Meth Minute 39 Screening and Q&A

danmeth — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:22:18 +0000

This should be fun: ASIFA East (NYC’s animation association) was cool enough to let the Frederator gang show some Meth Minute cartoon, talk about how they’re made and answer some questions from the audience. Everyone is welcome to attend and it’s FREE.
Hope to see you guys there.The Meth Minute 39 Show
Thursday June 26th 7pm
NYU Tisch Auditorium Room 006
Free!

Meth Minutes Fans Take Over!

danmeth — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:43:18 +0000

First, we had “Fan Fiction” in which the viewers wrote and animated segments with any Meth Minute character they wanted:
Then I took all the real voice messages we’ve recieved from fans and animated the best bits into the way I imagine the callers.

The fans are more important than ever to the Meth Minute. They know and love the characters, they can quote catchphrases and know all the inside-jokes. We got a Meth Minute Universe here, folks, and you’re all welcome to come inside! I love it!-

Dan

Meth Minute Music Monday: P-Cok

danmeth — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:33:00 +0000

The song “P-Cok” from the cartoon of the same name turned out to be a surprise hit. Download it right now, playa.

-Dan

Weezer “inspired” by Internet People?

danmeth — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:22:15 +0000

Take a look.now watch the ORIGINAL:

Now look at the ORIGINAL: