After 15 years, the Apocalypse it back! Stream Scrap Metal now on AnimationMnM-TV! Ad-free, money-free, AI-free! Ditch your shitty phone or laptop monitor and watch the colours pop on your home television screen! 

Just search "AnimationMnM" in the apps for your Roku, Apple TV or Android TV. Kick back and let the nostalgia wash over you. Watch the world strangled to death by killer plants rather than bland AI memes. This is how the Aplocalypse SHOULD be!

Watch Scrap Metal

 

Animatic

 

In honour of Scrap Metal's 15th anniversary, I've unearthed the tattered remains of the storyboards from the archives. See the storyboard animatic for the first time, compared to the final version of the film. You'll notice a couple changes, especially in the climax, as time to complete the film ran out.

Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) 2018

 Scrap Metal was featured as part of a screening for animated films created by Laika employees in the 2018 Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, aka the Internationales Trickfilm Festival Stuttgart (ITFS) on Saturday, April 28, 2018 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.

Klamath Independent Film Festival 2017

Scrap Metal was featured in the Klamath Independent Film Festival at the Ross Ragland Theater in Klamath Falls, Oregon on Sunday, September 17, 2017 as part of the Laika Shorts segment at 1:30pm.

Goodbye Blair Kitchen

I'm saddened to report that Canadian animation industry veteran Blair Kitchen passed away early this morning. Blair has been an inspirational and positive influence in my life. I met him in Artist Alley at Fan Expo where I bought some issues of his Possum comics. Later, I was privileged to have Blair as my Mentor at Sheridan College where he provided valuable feedback and guidance for the story and the making of Scrap Metal (he's right there in the credits) and continued to help me make contacts and get my own animation career off the ground. My condolences to Blair's family including Mike Kitchen who also gave advice in the making of Scrap Metal. I'll always be thankful to Blair and remember him for his whimsical artistry, generous nature and positive attitude.

There's a piece about him on Animation Magazine and be sure to check out his comics on Possum Press.

Blair Kitchen (left) and his brother Mike Kitchen (right) on their podcast Kitchen Bros.

StopTrik International Film Festival 2016

Many Canadian films that showed in the Stop-Motion Film Festival, including Scrap Metal, will be featured in the 2016 StopTrik International Film Festival in Maribor, Slovenia on October 30 and in Łódź, Poland on November 13

OMSI Animation FIlm Festival

Scrap Metal will be part of Reel Science: Laika:
 A Giant Skeleton & Animated Shorts

 

This will kick off the Animation Film Festival 2016 hosted at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, Oregon from September 15-18

Come Thursday, September 15, doors will open at 6:20pm where a lecture on Laika's Odokuro (giant skeleton) will begin followed by Q&A and then the screening of some short films by Laika employees (including mine) at 8:30 followed by Q&A. This will be the largest screen that Scrap Metal has ever and probably will ever be screened on, so don't miss it!

Melbourne International Animation Festival

Scrap Metal was featured in the Melbourne International Animation Festival in Australia on Sunday June 23, 2013 as part of the Best Of The Next: International Graduate Festival.

Meet the Composer

Scrap Metal's musical composer Paul Emil Levasseur was featured today in an article on McNallyRobinson.com. Read the full article here.

Paul: “For me, art is about creativity, creation, and communication. Like watching the sun set, beauty is something that can be appreciated. Yet, not all art should be about beauty since oftentimes, other emotional, human, and otherworldly states need to explored. In a recent commission, I was charged with the task of creating a sacred work for solo cello for the international cello festival, something that was to be an expression of faith by both the composer and the performer. This begs the question: in lieu of text, what can make music sacred? Can art hold meaning, even if it is not absolute meaning? If the goal is to communicate, what can be communicated through music?

"As a composer, after studying an undergrad at U of Manitoba and a masters at UBC, I became very interested in this idea of communication. Rather than letting my creative process be dictated by boundaries of what should and should not be done, I decided to focus on writing without boundaries. We were taught to ‘think outside the box’ but I think it best to respond to this maxim by saying ‘what box?’ I believe musical expression can occur freely when any sort of artificial boundaries are crushed and the creative process can occur when, as creators, we draw upon the sum total of our musical experiences.”

Paul Levasseur is the mastermind behind the Scrap Metal soundtrack. I requested something very reminiscent of the old 50s monster flicks and he delivered a sound scape that payed homage yet also remains fresh an unique. There is no arguing that Paul's music truly ignites the images on screen.

Paul isn't limited to just monster music either, he has a wide range of music potential. Check out Ragen, where he crafts a score reminiscent of French cinema.

If you are interested in contacting Paul Levasseur, you can email him at <paulieparrot@hotmail.com>

Geekie Awards - Animated Short Winner

Scrap Metal has won Best Animated Short Film at the 1st Annual Geekie Awards of 2013!

Scrap Metal is also in the running for Best Short Film. The awards are in Hollywood, but I may just have to make the trip out there because the event will also award Stan Lee a lifetime achievement award!

Sunday, August 18th, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 11:00 PM (PST)
The Avalon / Hollywood, CA

The Geekie Awards will celebrate the most talented indie creations in these categories: Short Films; Web Series; Podcasts; One Shots (Trailers, Music Videos); Comics & Graphic Novels; Toys & Tabletop Games; Art, Craft & Food; Websites & Retail Stores; and Crowdfunding.

The Awards show begins at 7:30 PM. Red carpet arrivals begin at 5:30 PM.

All guests who purchase tickets are invited to the after party on the main floor of The Avalon. The after party will begin around 9:00 PM.

Beverages and a limited food menu are available at nine cash bars throughout the venue. Credit cards accepted.

Dress is fancy attire… but you’re welcome to wear something crazy. Cosplayers welcome!

The Awards are planned to be streamed online, and all of the entrees can be viewed and even streamed from the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/TheGeekieAwards

 View the live streaming of the awards here: http://www.ustream.tv/user/TheGeekieAwards  

update:

Videos of the event are free to view here: http://YouTube.com/thegeekieawards  

Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival 2013!

Scrap Metal has been accepted into the annual Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI-IFF) 2013, which is attached to the 2013 San Diego Comic Con!

I will personally be in attendance to speak about the film and answer any questions! I encourage anyone who can make it to come. My panel is scheduled for:

Thursday, July 18. 7:45-8:10pm

Marriott Hall 2, Marriott Marquis & Marina

View schedule here

Lakeshorts International Short Film Festival

Scrap Metal has been accepted into the 3rd annual 2013 Lakeshorts International Short Film Festival in Toronto, ON, Canada.

 

 

 

Scrap Metal was one of the 15 shorts selected out of over 160 submissions! I want very much to attend this fest as it is taking place in the Toronto homeland. But alas, my contract in the USA once again denies my the pleasure. Please check out the festival if you can:

 

The Assembly Hall

1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Dr

Toronto, ON M8V 3W8, Canada

 

Friday, May 3rd, 2013



2013 Rising Star Award Winner!

Scrap Metal has won the Rising Star Award from the 6th annual 2013 Canadian International Film Festival!

 

 

 

The award is in the Animation section of the competition. The Festival takes place on April 5th-6th in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

 

It is a great honour to be recognised by this prestigious community.



DragonFrame

Scrap Metal is featured on DragonFrame's blog, which is reserved for films that were shot using this awesome  frame-grabber software. Although, back in the day, the program was called Dragon Pro. The year Scrap Metal was shot was also the first year that Sheridan College adopted the use Dragon software for student films. Four other student films were shot that same year using Dragon and all of them were successfully completed and look terrific! I've also noticed that every stop-motion studio I've worked at uses DragonFrame as well; it is easily the best frame-grabbing software I've every used and I can't recommend it more to my fellow stop-motion animators.

Check out the DragonFrame post here.

Its got some behind the scenes info I haven't shared before!

IN 3D

IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!

Scrap Metal is now available to view in 3D exclusively only on Youtube! And its not that fancy-pants, polarized 3D crap you see now. No, this is Sheridan Scope - hard core, blue-and-red, 50's monster-flick 3D where the colours are all screwed up, but you don't mind in this case cause its all nostalgic and junk! So dig out those old 3D glasses you cut out of your cereal box 15 years ago and put them to good use!



*NOTE: After launching the video, click the 'change quality' icon, which is the little gear in the lower, right-hand corner and change the video to 720p for best resolution, then click the little 3D icon which will then appear just left of this icon. You get some 3D options, I'd suggest 'full colour'. For best results watch in full-screen and, if this embed gives you any trouble, just click the little YouTube icon in the lower-right corner to go straight to the YouTube page.

**UPDATE: YouTube no longer seems to have the 3D feature, but you can still enjoy the film in high resoltion.



Scrap Metal is Invading Now!

Well, its midnight, December 21, 2012. The Mayans predicted the end of the world and here it is... in the form of my stop-motion film, Scrap Metal!

 

 



Scrap Metal from Anthony Straus on Vimeo.

 

Merry Doomsday! And a happy New Year!

Teaser and December 21 Release Date!

Well, we've all been patiently waiting for the Mayan calendar to end and now it is almost upon us. And you all know what that means right? Armageddon!! And what better way to celebrate the end of civilization than with the worldwide release of Scrap Metal? That's right, one year and eight months after the completion of my thesis film, I've finally decided to release it on the web for everyone to stream absolutely free! Why free? Well, money isn't really going to be worth anything in 2013 now is it? Except maybe to burn for warmth after solar flares knock us into the dark ages! One problem with my plan though, if the grid does go down, how will anyone be able to watch Scrap Metal on the Internet? Well, just be ready on the 21st to catch it before the grid is gone, don't wait, watch it while you can and send it to everyone you know so that they can get a quick glimpse of what the end of the world looks like before enjoying it firsthand!

 

I can't just leave you all high and dry though, so here is a little teaser that has been a long time coming:

 



View in HD: Scrap Metal Teaser from Anthony Straus on Vimeo.

Local Focus 5 Film Festival Winner!

Scrap Metal is this year's winner Animated Film category of the Local Focus 5 Film Festvial!

This is the fifth annual festival of its kind, hosted in my hometown by the Multicultural Cinema Club. Scrap Metal screened in the 8pm block at Queen Street Commons Café on November 22, 2012.
I meant to go to this but, unfortunately, completely forgot because I just finished moving back home from California. It`s a real shame I didn't go.

My prizes include a $600 HD Equipment Package & One Year Membership at the Multicultural Cinema Club! In addition, I'm receiving a certificate and getting paid CARFAC recommended artist fees. CARFAC is an organisation that makes it their priority to ensure artists are paid a cut of profits resulting from the screening or distribution of their work. This is fantastic and I think other festivals should make this a priority as most other festivals actually cost the artist money to submit, but don't offer any financial return or reimbursement after the festival is over.

Props to the Multcultural Cinema Club, you guys are awesome!

2012 St. Louis International Film Festival

Scrap Metal has been accepted into the narrative shorts category of the 21st annual St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF).

 

 

SLIFF offers an official Academy-sanctioned short subject competition, which allows winners in all categories to be eligible for consideration for an Oscar nomination without doing a theatrical release. So this is a very prestigious festival to be a part of!

 

Scrap Metal will be screening Sunday, November 11th at 9pm at the Tivoli Theatre as part of the Animation 2 program.