Maybe I’m doing it wrong.

Consumerist posted this beautifully animated short visualizing the credit crisis.

Incidentally, I sure hope I don’t find out how insanely popular this video game reviewer is.

Emergency 411: Going Green (Corporate Edition)

E411: I blew it out the god damn airlock.

When you find yourself adrift in outer space without a spacesuit, the first thing to remember is don’t panic.

Seriously, it uses up your precious O2 that much faster.

I was so proud of myself for having this idea until I realized it bore a striking similarity to an episode I had already made.

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Emergency 411 is on Crackle’s wet paint

Two episodes of Emergency 411, “Finding Parking” and “Having a Baby” are finalists in Crackle’s Wet Paint animation contest, and with my cartoons garnering somewhere between 15,000 and 4 views, my chances are anybody’s guess. Both have been featured items, even though they aren’t the most-watched nor the highest rated videos. But you can still change that! I am proud to have two videos in the contest out of 70 entrants, and at least it means better odds than the chances of the CERN supercollider destroying the world.

Speaking of CERN — and the earth suddenly becoming a ball of evaporating strangelets — I think I may throw a party as a last hurrah before the imminent destruction of the world by Swiss high-energy particle physicists — or to celebrate our continued existence as fairly mundane, non-black hole matter.

I don’t know what I would enjoy more, my continued existence or winning an animation contest. I’ll get back to you on that.

Everyone’s a winner, we’re making that fame

I’m pleased to announce that my latest Emergency 411: How-To How-To was a winner in Mobifest’s MobiBio contest! What could describe me better than a minute cartoon about wasting time and sitting on my ass? Myself and some of my fellow esteemed animators and filmmakers have all won one thing or another, so I guess what I’m saying is I’m just keeping my head above water.

In case you need a refresher:

E411 drops a bomb on Channel Frederator

Once again, Channel Frederator’s got the inside track on more Emergency 411, so check it out — but be sure to get those tax returns in first!

I haven’t started mine yet. Is that bad?

Also, watch for William Hohauser’s Silly Gags. It’s like the WarioWare of animation.

(Speaking of timeliness… next time I’ll try to give updates on time, and not a month after my cartoons have gone up. Oh, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!)

Taking the 411 to Channel Frederator!

I’m pretty excited that FIVE of my Emergency 411 episodes have been featured on popular animation blog Channel Frederator. Check it out:

That Tim Heiderich has some hilarious observations. His 411 shorts are simple, graphic, and very funny.

After missing him at Mobifest Toronto, I was delighted to meet the man behind Channel Frederator, Fred Seibert, at Nickelodeon in Burbank. He shared some great insights into how one fits into the entertainment industry and told me that the only way to get ahead in Hollywood was to…

Wait, why am I telling YOU?

Check out my work as well as an unbelievable amount of amazing animation updated more-than-weekly at Channel Frederator.

Emergency 411 gives you the 411 on how to 411

For my MobiBio submission, I reveal how I procrastinate produce every episode of Emergency 411.

Who knew animation involved so much sleeping and goofing off? View it now, along with the rest of the E411 guides over at Mobifest.net!

Crackle finds the 411 on parking

The Emergency 411 keeps showing up in more places! This time, it’s part of Crackle’s Wet Paint contest, featured alongside many fine (and some familiar) animated shorts currently gracing the web. If you’ve been stuck circling the block and haven’t gotten a chance, check out Emergency 411: Finding Parking — it’s on Crackle right now!

And while you’re there, the shouting talking half of Penn & Teller has something to say on Penn Says, with one of my favorites being his thoughts on fame. And just because I’m linking to Penn doesn’t mean I’m trying to convert you into an internet libertarian.

Toronto karaoke DJs: the worst people in the world?

I had a great time in Toronto at this year’s Mobifest. Toronto’s a wonderful city and I would definitely go back. Sorry it took me roughly three weeks to say that. I met some great people, made some connections and got to see some fun videos and animation, but more than that, I learned one important thing: that guy running karaoke at the Holiday Inn was a huge asshole.

I enjoyed the Mobifest show itself (up until the awards part anyway) and I could see in each short what made it stand out to the judges. And it’s true, you do learn a bit about what works and what doesn’t from watching your video with an audience… like sometimes you can be too clever for your own good. I’m not saying that to sound arrogant, I mean that trying too hard to reinvent a tired story, or abstracting something to the point of obscurity, or just having too many things going on at once, you may just trip over your own feet. From that, here are a few things I learned about producing mobile content:

1. Be iconic. Have a solid, easily-recognizable style, color palette, design.
2. Don’t rely too heavily on audio; cellphones aren’t known for their sound quality. They’re known for having tiny, tinny speakers.
3. You’re on a small screen, so don’t rely on a lot of subtle detail. A whole joke can be lost by a compression artifact or dropped frame.
4. Don’t rush every joke — there’s this thing called ‘pacing’; you don’t have to write like your viewers have ADD.
5. That guy running karaoke at the Holiday Inn can go suck a dick.

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