August | 2015 | ahamin

The Genesis of my project…

Posted on August 31, 2015 by ahamin

Everything has an Alpha that eventually leads to an Omega, but you have to go through all the Greek alphabet to realize that final goal. Elements need to be forged before it can be assembled. So.. yes.. one must become a chemist in a sense to tell a story in a modern method; to present the work in a rare manner. So my words that I chose to post today will be about the elements of my new story, which I will reveal next Friday. The elements that made my new Animated novel. Before I go any further I’d like to mention that each element will be explained in details later on. Today’s class is actually an orientation.. so take a seat kiddos… the orientation is about to start.

The first Element: Drawing.

You can’t spell painting without pain.. and what a pain it was to learn how to draw. The idea that I had to tell the story that I wrote, is to be shown through imagery, music (composed by yours truly), and sound effects; some made by me and other SFX from here and there. The first element was the hardest to get. I tried to have an artist on board, but no one wants to do the hard work around here, especially since it takes around an average of 200-250 paintings, and sometimes even more… plus I couldn’t pay for a project that big every time I release a chapter on youtube. It is a story I want to share for free, a contribution I wish everyone would share with me and the world. Abandoning the project was never an option. So eventually… I made it happen. I taught myself how to draw. I bought a digital drawing pad, and watched some frustrating youtube tutorials which were hard to follow, but I managed eventually. This element will be further mentioned with better details from my personal experiences. Plus I will share some of my digital drawings too.

The second Element: Music.

In books, you get to know what the characters feel; what they are thinking. This, however, needs instruments other than words to show to your readers when the story you are telling is merged with imagery. My second element is, for me, the most important. Because I want to reach through readers senses in every way possible. This is the second element that I will be discussing later, with imagery and a taste of what you’ll hear this Friday.

The third part: Sound effect.

I always thought that what the old silent movies missed was not the voices.. not the music obviously, because there was music in old Silent movies. What it missed was sound effects. Anyone who saw Charlie Chaplin (my all time favorite by the way) would know that this guy makes a lot of rackets, especially his chase scenes from his performance as The Tramp. But it is a racket that I wish to know how it sounds. For me adding that dimension to the story gives a further stretch for the viewer’s imagination. That would be the third topic I would show you how I preformed and managed.

The fourth Element: Story… obviously.

So what am I trying to do… what is it that drove me through all these hardships to make this story come to life. This topic will be mentioned a day before the big premier. Which will be this Friday.

So set your clock, Clear your schedules, hire a nanny, because this Friday I will be releasing the first chapter from my animated novel. Wish me luck and I hope you will enjoy my upcoming story.

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Analyzing My Final Cut…

Posted on August 29, 2015 by ahamin

Dear WordPressers (That’s how I’ll be referring to you all from now on),

I have been known to blog and write a lot of inspiring, fun, and funny posts, with a side of announcements from time to time. But At the end of the last year and this year (Which is approaching to its end apparently) I have been absent from the blog scene. I showed myself from time to time just to remind the digital world and their wordpressers inhabitants that I am still alive, well, and kicking a bit higher than the average kicker; not just because I have a black belt in taekwondo, but also because my excitement threshold is off the roof.

I am a story teller, and until now, I used books.. two to be exact so far.. to conjure the spirit of my writing; which keeps growing and growing with time. And throughout the time where I appeared as I was slacking off, I was in fact busy; for my writing beast isn’t just growing anymore, it kind of mutated. I came to a vision that I wanted to share with the world; an idea I wanted to weave but I couldn’t find a tailor for it. So what choice did I have? The beast was growing inside and the idea needs to be conjured… So ‘I’ became the tailor.

I want to present a different nature of storytelling. I’m not sure how many people have came across great writers who write their stories on their blogs, chapter after chapter posted in tandem to each other. What I am planning to create is an animated novel, one chapter at a time, one episode at a time. A series where I can use more than one vessel for my talents, in music, story, sound effect, illustration and directing. I was planning to make all the voices using Adobe Audition to change my voice. It was a fine idea but it is time consuming, plus I need a full studio and all I had was a foam sheet lined box; good enough for video blogs, but for voice-overs, it will sounds like I am talking inside… well, a box. So I either have a full voice-over recording studio (Expensive$$$) or I abandon the idea (More precious to lose).

So as I reviewed my final cut without the voice over to see how the music and the sound effect sounds, I couldn’t believe myself… because I found it to be more enjoyable than having voices for my characters. It was like reading a book, and instead of reading how the scene and the character feels, you actually feel it through the SFX and the composition. And the voice-over is in your head, you give them the voice that you imagine… and nothing is better than your imagination.

Finally, and after so much work that I had to do by myself. The first episode of my animated story is done. A mixture of storytelling, wrapped with music, spiced by sound effects, presented in a plate of imagery with a dash of surrealism.

~ A. H. Amin

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Team Genesis Motion Comic Trailer #1

Posted on August 25, 2015 by ahamin

A motion comic with an audio book narration fashion. The story is about the appearance of a single supernatural being who changed the world and governments.
The full project is done by me, because I couldn’t find someone who is willing to present this story with me without being paid, and it’s a lot of work since each chapter ranges from 200-300 painting at least. Since I have a story to tell and everything is more possible today… but not easy… I decided to make the whole project by myself.
Now before you go judging; know these little facts:-
1- I’m a writer and a musician… so those are two things I’m good at in this project and I hope I won’t disappoint in those areas.
2- English is not my native language. I chose it though to get a wider audience; since it takes a lot of effort to do it by myself in more than one language… and I’m already doing the whole project by myself.
3- I have Rhotacism… no it’s not something fatal in case you were wondering… but it is a big obstacle. I pronounce the “Rs” “Ws”. I trained myself a lot and searched for ways around it… but it will show from time to time.. I’ll even add a character who has Rhotacism just to show you how I really sound.
4- I was never a painter.. I had to teach myself how to draw digitally and it was difficult. I’m doing a speed drawing, add music, then words, and then my voice. It’s in a sense an audio book with more visuals.

I will discuss more about it in my next video and I will even show you how I did the whole project by myself.

So.. Until next time.

~ A. H. Amin

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Team Genesis… The new Animated Novel.

Posted on August 23, 2015 by ahamin

When you have a story to tell and you really wish to show it, but you have no one to help you.. remember that your characters are with you. This is a full one-man show to prove that anything is possible. A full episodic motion comic; written, illustrated, directed, composed and acted by… yours truly.