:: Dano's Production Journal ::

:: 2/27/2003 ::

Fred McFeely Rogers
1928-2003
Thank you, television neighbor.

An excerpt from 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Children, Television, and Fred Rogers' edited by Mark Collins and Margaret Mary Kimmel. From Jeanne Marie Laskas' essay "What is Essential is Invisible to the Eye."

“Hey, you’re the real Mister Rogers!” a young boy named Brian cried out one day, on seeing his hero walk into the studio. Nearly every morning of taping there were kids running through Studio A. They came to meet Mister Rogers. Many were fans who had written letters - Fred receives about a hundred a week and responds to each one personally - and children with special needs are often invited to come visit the Neighborhood.
“And you’re the real you,” Fred said, bending down. He shook Brian’s hand. “You’re so brave to shake my hand,” he said. Brian, eleven, was a plump boy, somewhat awkward in his own body. He had Williams Syndrome, a condition that causes mild mental retardation and congenital heart failure. He’d come all the way from Arlington, Texas, to meet Mister Rogers.
“I am special,” Brian said, “aren’t I, Mister Rogers?”
“Yes, you are.”
“You know what, Mister Rogers?” Brian said. “You are my friend.” With that, the boy started singing a song from the Neighborhood. “You are my friend, you are special…" Fred put his arm around him and sang along quietly. The crew in the studio grew silent.
“Good for you, Brian,” Fred said when the song was over. “Good for you!”
“Can I give you a big hug, Mister Rogers?” Brian asked.
Fred Rogers opened his arms and Brian Campbell fell inside.
Brian’s mother was completely undone by this exchange. “This is, like, the highlight of my life,” she said.
Fred and young Brian continued playing. Brian made the trolley go, then fed the fish, while Fred followed along, trying to crouch down to the boy’s height. Eventually, the producer came over, hoping to turn this studio back into a place of work. “Come on, Fred,” she said. But Fred had one more thing to say to Brian.
He got to his knees. He looked the child square in the eye. “You blessed my space today, Brian,” he said.
Brian considered this. “Well, I’m glad you’re here, Mister Rogers,” Brian said. “But we’ll probably never see each other again after today, will we?”
“We can still be television neighbors,” Fred said. “Can’t we?”
“Okay,” Brian said, adding, “I am special, Mister Rogers, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are.”


:: Dano 8:41 AM [+] ::
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So it's hard to see on a white car, but there's about half an inch of ice on my car and the windshield wipers are frozen beneath it. Of course it's nothing like what the rest of the country has had to live through this winter, but Austin hasn't seen a freeze like this in the last 6 years. It was a fun slippery walk to work...
:: Dano 6:56 PM [+] ::
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Episode 5 is done. For those of you in the immediate area with Time Warner Cable, you can see it for the next couple of weeks on channel 16, fridays at 9:30. For those of you who don't, well, if you look at all the pictures below in a flip-book, it's almost as entertaining. Or just wait for the DVD...






Thanks to everyone who made episode 5 something I will always have worked on.

Peace!
:: Dano 12:19 AM [+] ::
...

Well, Modernism Cowgirl is officially done. I'm starting immediately on White Blood Cell on safari. I expect to be up just as late, but it's fun to be animating. Why am I telling you this?





Until the morning...
:: Dano 8:02 PM [+] ::
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Latest marathon of editing:

"Oh no! It's the Diabolical Bean Machine!"


"Yes, I am Kurtz... and I'm quite INSANE!"


"Hello, snake! Squawk!"


"We're waiting for Learnbot!"


"So cut it out, Jeff."


"...until it dies of starvation."

It's going to be a long night...
:: Dano 1:37 PM [+] ::
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I'm pretty happy with this sequence. Should be entertaining...



On an unrelated note, the worst juxtaposition of topics I've ever seen on television:

George Stephanopolous: "So terror experts were relieved this week, since they expected hundreds if not thousands of Americans to be dead by this morning. We'll have more after this station break."

Cut to ABC announcer guy: "ABC has all the jaw-dropping Michael Jackson specials you can't miss."

Another reason to love America - our absolute thirst for escapism when we have the most freedom we could possibly hope for. Rock on, Michael Jackson. Rock on.
:: Dano 3:49 PM [+] ::
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:: Dano 8:51 PM [+] ::
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"Screw ya'll! I've got a date with Cho Chang."
- Learnbot in "Harry Potter and the Diabolical Bean Machine"
:: Dano 11:54 PM [+] ::
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Well, tonight hasn't been very productive. It's clear that this episode will be delayed for a week. There's just way too much to do and no reason to not do it well. The last 3 weeks of production have caught up with me. However, here are 2 Chumples things that are coming along.


Chumples is turned into a roach for Kafka's "Metamorphosis"


Tokyo is a strange, strange place...

:: Dano 1:03 AM [+] ::
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In tonight's daily pic, Flopsie scolds the boys for delving into post-modernism. They'll never learn!


:: Dano 9:33 PM [+] ::
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Sunday Night Catch-Up

Well, I'd hate to start this production journal and not show you folks abroad my latest project - the final animated sequence of Dana Garner's film, End of Ego. I won't try to explain the premise at this juncture - I'll let the pictures talk for themselves.


Here George, portrayed by JR Nutt makes his transition into the animated world.


Meanwhile, in outer-space...


...the space kittens grow restless...


Now this shot I'm proud of! 100 stalks of corn swaying in 3D glory! And technically my first walk-cycle, although we never see his legs.


Touching down...






"Take us to your litter."


Intergalactic cereal swapping.

Well, I ought to get back to editing Modernism Cowgirl. I spent too much time enjoying the nice weather today and the wonderful motion picture, Shanghai Knights. Maybe it was the mood that Tate, Ryan and I were in, but we laughed all the way through! Check it out!
:: Dano 11:13 PM [+] ::
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"Happy Modernism Day, and happy trails!"
- Danu Uribe as 'the Modernism Cowgirl'
:: Dano 12:25 PM [+] ::
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Well, I started this page so I could post pictures of current productions, so I don't fill my friends' inboxes with huge jpegs. Of course, now that I have registered danojohnson.blogspot.com I discover that I need to pay to post pictures. Doh. Well, fear not. This will soon be remedied. I guess it will also force me to re-learn some HTML and maybe Dreamweaver - practicing for a new, real webpage - for a new, real career...
:: Dano 12:37 AM [+] ::
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