This Friday I’ve chosen a sketch I made while in pre-production on Lo. While gearing up to make a film about a man fighting with demons, I was battling my own by making a film about them. It was a lot of hard work with very little time or money. Last week I screened Lo at the Indianapolis International Film Festival, showing it my family for the very first time. It is always a nerve racking experience introducing them to my movies. They are from the world where films have massive budgets, superstar actors and are released in real theaters. They have very few experiences with independent film and with directors who prefer to tell stories in unconventional ways. That is not meant as a cut to their character, only to say that we are from different planets artistically.

That being said, I was unsure how they would react to a movie that takes the shape of a long conversation between a man and a demon. I felt a little like the guy in the pentagram surrounded by something I could feel but not see. Something that, the minute I stepped out of the circle, would devour me whole. So, yeah…I get nervous. Thankfully the screening went very well and everyone seemed to enjoy it to varying degrees. I think everyone was happy that this one had humor. My first film, joshua, kind of grabbed them by the throat. Here they could breathe. Their support is and always has been amazing, and I couldn’t take the risks I do without it. 

A couple very nice reviews came out of the screening as well. Give um a look-see if you’re bored:

Review # 1

Review # 2

Much love

Travis

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This blog/early sketch pad entry, is dedicated to my marvelous forever lover, Shannon. Today we celebrate 3 very happy years of heart skipping beats.
Much much love
Travis

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I could not be more excited about the next five days of my life. Two of my favorite things are colliding; vacation and making movies! Tonight, Shannon and I get on a plane bound for Indiana (my Hoosier state). We’ll be spending four well deserved relaxing days at my parents lake house. They just bought this place a little over a year ago and I am completely addicted to it. I used to love going to my grandma and grandpa’s lake as a kid, but I had forgotten how much I loved the atmosphere of it. I’ve been so stressed lately and working so hard that I desperately need the time away from my brain. Cruising around the lake with my family, my girl and a beer on a pontoon boat…that’s good for the soul. 

After that amazing four days of battery recharging goodness, we’ll be taking a little trip South where the Indianapolis International Film Festival will be screening my new feature film, Lo! This will be the most exciting screening yet for me, as my entire family will be there. I always get excited/nervous to show them my work. They are not generally exposed to independent film, so I do get a little scared they won’t know how to respond to it, but at the end of the demon filled day I know it is a great flick and they will enjoy the hell out of it.

I may not be a widely accepted and successful filmmaker, and I may still be eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches just to survive, but it’s small moments in time like these that make me feel like I have made it beyond the boundries people set up for happiness.

Much love

Travis

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It’s Friday. I have a lot on my mind, but not much to say. So instead of doing any real soul dipping today, I’m just gonna give you this ridiculous sketch and be done with it. 

Much love

Travis

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Don’t mess with my boy, Andy. Mother fucka’s off the hook with his awesome. I doodled this out one day while waiting for my sound designer to make some changes on my film, Lo. We were knee-deep in post-sound and it can be slow and tedious. So I sketch. As usual, brilliance is born. 

So I was thinking that the little guy (who’s not so sure Andy is all that awesome) needs a name. I mean Andy has Andy and it’s only fair the little guy gets his own shiny new name. I am open to suggestions. Happy long weekend everyone! 

Much love

Travis

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My diet has always been nothing short of horrible. I was raised in a Dairy Queen, for my father owned it. My childhood was made up of hot dogs and blizzards. I fought against anything green or remotely healthy. I ate so much fast food as a kid, that I think it sabotaged my taste buds. Present day, try as I might to eat healthy, I just can’t seem to do it. I simply do not like the foods that are good for me. The only vegetables I like are corn and asparagus, I never eat salads, I like fruit but don’t really eat it. I live on meats and starches. Cheeseburgers, pizza, potatoes, hot wings, tacos. These are things I put in my body every week. I slather foods in mayo and extra bacon and I’ll wash it all down with a Dr. Pepper or a beer. My poor heart must be pissed. 

Before my girlfriend moved in with me I was eating fast food 5 or 6 times a week, sometimes for both lunch and dinner. Today I average once a week, which is super great, but sadly my diet is still pretty bad. Just because I’m not getting my food from a fast food chain, doesn’t mean I’m not eating the same shit. Even at WholeFoods I gravitate towards the burger, the pizza, the Cajun chicken sandwich with cheddar, swiss, bacon and Cajun mayo! AHHH! So Delicious! Occasionally I will go for the sushi or some turkey, but who cares when you down a pint of Ben & Jerry’s right after it.

The fact of the matter is, I do not like the taste of a good many foods. My taste buds betrayed me early on and only allow me to enjoy the worst of the worst. I do try to take baby steps towards adding healthier foods to my diet, but it is a slow and painful process. I found it much easier to give up smoking than I do the bacon double cheese burger. 

Much love

Travis

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I have six words that are irritating me right now. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.  Ummm…does anyone see something very wrong here? Anyone? Could it be the simple fact that these mammals and dinosaurs NEVER co-existed together? Look, I realize it’s just an animated movie for kids. I even read a thread where someone was saying, “leave the time-lines for the classroom”. Sure, I mean I’m all for having fun and stretching reality a bit to entertain…but what about all those kids out there like me? The ones who only half listened in class and got a good portion of their knowledge from the ol’ moving pictures? What about those unfortunates who will think the damn dinosaurs came after the ice age!?

WARNING: Before you read further into my rant I feel I must let you all in on the secret that I am pretty damn sure that the characters find a pocket of surviving dinosaurs and that it’s not about them co-existing together on a normal timeline. That being said, I still find it cheap and lame and the use of the word “DAWN” is enough to make me rant anyway…so suck on it.

So yeah, DAWN of the dinosaurs implies that it is their time in history. This is when they began to walk the earth. It is their DAWN. Their beginning. Man had his DAWN when he started learning about fire and wheels and microwavable macaroni and cheese. So, how does this movie have the balls to use that word in the title of a movie that takes place 66 fucking million years after the actual DAWN of these creatures. There are two explanations: 

1. They don’t give two shits, like the title and know it will sell tickets.

2. They REALLY don’t give two shits and are actually ignoring history.

I’m pretty sure it’s the former, but if it does turn out to be the latter than I may just blow my top. If this is the case then I can already see the next string of these movies fed to young, impressionable minds:

Ice Age: The Dawn of Man. Ice Age: Hangin’ with Jesus. Ice Age: Meeting Ben Franklin. Ice Age: Vote Palin. And finally, Ice Age: The Four Horsemen.

Much love

Travis

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I didn’t read comics growing up. I had a couple as a kid (G.I. Joe and Star Wars mostly), but I was never really that into them. I did, however, dream up scenarios every night of my youth in which I had amazing super powers. They were stories I would make up in my head while lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I had an origin, super friends, a handful of Nemesis’s and a love interest. Every night I would continue the story where I left off the night before (and by “left off” I mean “when I fell asleep”). I continued this dream well into adulthood. I don’t really do it anymore, but that’s not to say that I haven’t picked up where I left off so many years ago from time to time. There are nights your mind races in bed. Nothing puts it at ease then a thrilling adventure where you are a super hero!

The origin of my powers went a little something like this: Myself and my two best friends, Danny and Robbie, where walking down our neighborhood street, when all of a sudden a striped and swirling neon colored tunnel appeared out of thin air. The opening of the tunnel had a powerful suction to it. We try to stand our ground, but it is far to powerful for three young boys. We are sucked into the tunnel, which turns out to be more like a really long slide. On the way down, powers are shocked into our bodies and we are outfitted with swords. Turns out that we are the chosen ones (how lovely for us). We must protect the entire universe against evil. Our swords are sheathed on our backs, but they are invisible. You can only see them when we reach back and slide them out in front of us. Our powers included flying, disappearing and shooting fire and electricity from our fingers. We each had Lamborghini’s that we used to transport ourselves through dimensions. The cars would speed through lightning fields and rip through wormholes. They were pretty bad ass.

We fought a number of villains, including Nipsco, a creature who lived on the sun and was made of fire. The Magician, who was pretty much just a really evil magician. There was a creature as big as a dinosaur, with an over-sized head and lightening quick reflexes. They were very destructive and very hard to kill. There were also the creatures from the movie Pumpkinhead. But the most dangerous and evil(and steeped in metaphor without evening knowing it at the time) bad guys we had to face was…ourselves. Yep. When we were created into super heroes, the evil inside us was torn out and shaped in our likeness. The evil versions of us had all the same powers and looks. The only difference was their eyes. They were blood red. We fought against them the most. The tricky bit with these villains was the fact that we couldn’t kill them, nor they us. If they died, we died. We were that connected. So we were always trying to trap each other in these little glass orbs. Oh, and did I mention we sang songs a lot? Yeah, it was  a phase, but one that lasted a good amount of time. I would take my jam box to bed with me along with  a mixed tape I made just for the adventure. When a cool fight would erupt, I would hit play and sing the song in my dream while slaying beasts-o-plenty. The music eventually faded out of the story lines, but it sure was fun and bizarre while it lasted.

Every night we would travel to different planets and dimensions, saving the races that lived there from whatever evil entity I could concoct that night.. We never fought on Earth, as it was a protected planet hidden from the bad guys. They were always trying to find it and destroy us. As I grew older, the trio begin to get a little rocky. Robbie’s character fell under a very dark spell and turned evil. The story lines became much darker. The villains in my world had discovered a swirling neon liquid that (if injected into our blood) would kill us. Normal weapons were useless on powerful beings such as ourselves. After many heart wrenching episodes of fighting against Robbie, we were forced to kill him with a knife that was made out of this liquid. Robbie was dead. Not long after, Danny’s character begin to feel the pressure of the job. Robbie’s ghost was haunting him and he wasn’t the hero he used to be. Danny gave up his powers and returned to Earth to live a normal life.

That left me. The lone ranger. I was more powerful than ever, but because of this, I became a bit unbalanced. Things were not so black and white anymore. Villains were sometimes the good guys and choices I would make could end up hurting people. It was a tricky tricky time for my brain and its night adventures. The people in my fantasy life were dying around me, and I became fueled by revenge. There was even one adventure in which I died. Don’t worry, I found a way to bring myself back…but I actually forget how I did that. 

I would meet women, but they would never last long. It seemed I only created them so that they would be killed by some horrible evil and I could seek revenge. Not sure why the character turned so angry during that period. Eventually I ended up with a girlfriend who had the same powers and mission as I did. I was part of a group again and it was equal. In many adventures after that, she would have to save me from time to time. It became a nice balance of power, one that I am happy to see came from a starting point of balance.

Looking back, the whole fantasy was very educational. I started with a team. people I loved and trusted. People in which I counted on when a muck monster was dragging me under. Later in life I began to severe ties with these people. I believed I was more powerful. That I could release myself from the muck monster and still keep all the credit/glory. But that only led to anger and loneliness. People around me always got hurt, and I even died once because of it. And then, I reconnected with my original ideals. I found more power in loving someone than I had in my electricity shooting fingers. And here we are. A man living lives in reality and fantasy, and mirroring himself in both.

Much love

Travis

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It  seems like every time I am about to book plane tickets there’s another tragedy that occurs in the “friendly” skies. This week I am gearing up to buy tickets to Indianapolis, so of course an entire airplane vanishes out of the sky! An Air France air bus was lost at sea when it flew through a storm. I realize the probability of crashing in a plane is very low. I have read all the statistics and data tables that swear it’s the safest form of travel with the least amount of yearly casualties. You can throw numbers and safety records at me till the cows come home. It will never change the fact that when I am trapped in that damn winged sardine can and shot up thousands of miles above the Earths surface, that I am gonna be in a constant state of anxiety. As much as they say automobiles are a trillion times more deadly, I would rather strap in behind one and drive three days to the Hoosier state, rather then spend four hours of nail-biting hell in the cloud-smiling sky. I just feel more in control. I’ll take a balanced feeling of blissful ignorance over a rational short period of pure terror any day!

I sketched this little doodle while high in the sky. I was angry at the fact that we humans must get from point A to point B in such a timely fashion. I figured if A killed B then I’d never have to get inside this metal bird and go there. So as a form of therapy, I did just that. Drew A killing B. Fuck you B. 

Much Love

Travis

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We all shit. Even Christ plopped his ass down for a good loaf multiplying session. It’s a normal, every day duty (pun intended) that no one escapes. But even knowing that, pooping is still something we don’t like people to know we do. While pooping in public, many of us willl hold it when another person enters the bathroon, not wanting them to hear our noises of sweet release. We are embarassed. So it amuses me to think about some of the worlds greatest leaders and celebrities framing their ass cheeks on the toilets reciever and letting loose. Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Don Johnson. Or perhaps Hitler, Jessica Alba or Sarah Palin. Pooping is most certainly weird, but famous pooping is fucking hilarious!

What other famous names spark hilarity while duecing?

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