Samsquatch

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At an early age, despite there being hundreds of reported encounters accross the country, I firmly believed that Bigfoot was just one creature. Just one hairy guy loping back and forth between states. And this belief went uncorrected for . . . much longer that it should’ve. And there was only one Yeti, too; he and Bigfoot worked different beats.
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Layout by Edward Juan

What this story is about:
Conrad Canard, a frustrated monster hunter, ventures into the Pacific Northwest in search of the legendary Bigfoot. Instead, he bumps into Sam, an earnest helpful youth who happens to be a diminutive sasquatch. Now, with fame within his grasp, Conrad will stop at nothing to capture him. Sam, mistaking Conrad for a persistent theater agent, must convince him that he belongs in the forest and not on the stage.

The Characters:
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This character description was crucial during the casting process. Or it would’ve been had it been completed prior to the auditions. Nevertheless, a great cast has been assembled and the recording date is set. We’ll be announcing the cast soon. Hmm, as Samsquatch was the last short to be greenlit, this is well-trodden bloground by now. What do you, the three people who read this blog, want to see? And I’m talking to you, Nicole’s mom and Maria.
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Pen Ward’s answer to the question: What’s a funny way for a Thunderbird to create lightning? Unfortunately, I lacked the temerity to try and slip the “gastric” method into the storyboards.
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Maybe they’re heckling a mountain lion. Or watching a lost BFRO expedition wander by. After reading Anne and Melissa’s post bemoaning the loss of their much beloved Sunny Honey Bear I harked back to another casualty of time constraints. Trick Corn, World’s Scuzziest Unicorn. Sure, his role was reduced to a cameo by the third round of revisions. A one-off gag, really. And maybe unicorns are C-list cryptids fit only for fantasy pulps and trapper keepers. Carry on, Monocerous.

Chad’s motoring through the prop/fx list and, later this week, Edward Juan starts tackling the background layouts as I continue indulging in verbiage.

Here’s a swatch of cleaned-up storyboard. There is accompanying dialogue but the emotions are no less powerful without it.
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As one wag put it, I keep posting images on this production blog of what the finished product won’t look like. And this is no different. Actually, I’m still casting about for the “look” of this short. I’m trying to avoid the usual pitfalls of the genre both visual and narrative. Sasquatch movies are usually cloying family fare or SciFi Channel “Killer Bigfoot” fodder or just deeply hurtful. Though, I’ll admit, Lithgow was almost as good a Bigfoot as John C. Reilly.

Meanwhile, under the guidance of the casting director Meredith Layne, we’ve begun the search for the right voices for Sam. Personally, I’m hoping to get the voice of Chunk from the Goonies, untouched by time. But that’s my challenge. Later this week, Chad Coyle will be onboard to design all the props and effects. I feel kind of bad, seeing as there aren’t many cute girls for him to draw in [Read more…]

The two agonists in our little melodrama, Sam and Conrad Canard. These past weeks I’ve been beating my initial storyboards into usable production boards with a lot of help from my director, Larry Leichliter. But before the wheels of industry get rolling too fast I should synopsize the humorous events that occur:

When Payton Shoemaker and his sister Maggie happen upon a pint-size version of Sasquatch — Little Bigfoot — a summer vacation in the woods becomes an adventure of mythical proportions. They befriend the tiny creature and name him Bilbo, only to realize (too late?) that the Largo Logging Co. is out to hunt him down. A family vacation becomes an adventure of a lifetime!

I am totally serious.
-A

“I think Bigfoot is blurry, that’s the problem. It’s not the photographer’s fault. Bigfoot is blurry. And that’s extra scary to me, because there’s a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside.”

Does he exist? Is he an ape or just a scraggly hermit? Most importantly, is his name Sam or is Samsquatch just his species? . . . these are the questions I’m afraid to think about. I’m working on finishing the boards this week. This image is intended for cryptozoological debate and low-budget tabloids. The actual cartoon will look much much better thanks to the crackerjack crew we’ve got lined up. Yes, Samsquatch is real. And he likes his coffee black.

-A