Episode 63: Complications

Russ finds himself at a crossroad concerning Liam and Gwen

it was bound to happen, some people seeing the birth of that baby as a bad omen, despite all the warning signs though, Russ would not let himself go there, as a parent your greatest hope is that your child is born normal, but in such a strange world, what is normal ... we were all wrestling with the implications of that mutated calf, why would you bring that thing here, Amy needs to see what could happen to our baby, just because you are scared does not mean you have to scare her to, Gwen had given Amy a sedative to calm her down, but it was going to take more than that with the other two ... Russ told them, what Gwen had told him, that she had delivered more than a dozen babies since The Fall, and not one of them was anything but healthy, Russ also told them that he could relate to what they were both going thru, when his wife was pregnant there were complications, [a clue!!] an abnormal heart beat, the doctor said it could correct it self or result in a variety of birth defects, maybe even death, they were both scared, as the father Russ felt so helpless, it's all completely out of your control, no matter how terrified you are, you have to put on a brave face, Joan had never been married and never had kids, so this was all new to her ... just when Russ thought he had the situation under control, Gwen came in and said that they had a problem, Amy was going into labor, she was having violent contractions, and her water had just broken, Gwen did not have to say a word, they all knew this birth would not be normal

Afterworld Reimagined part 2

About the Contest
If you’ve been following serialized media, then you know that Afterworld is the hottest thing around.

An episodic animated sci-fi series that’s got the ‘nets a’buzzing, Afterworld represents the next frontier in entertainment. And ACIDplanet.com ® will make you a part of it.

Russell Shoemaker learns that 99.9% of the population is missing, and all technology is dead.

Afterworld has provided us with music videos of footage compiled from the first 40 episodes of the show. These music videos feature New York City after 'The Fall', and Russell's harrowing journey to Seattle.

Your task is to create something new from the footage and/or audio provided. Be a VJ and edit the video with a remixed soundtrack and your own original score. Or create a remix of the audio to fit the video. Or leave the video alone, but create a new soundtrack. It’s anything you want – but, since this is a “VJ” event, it has to have video. Sharpen up your post-production skills and get to editing, ‘cause this is hot. And make sure your entries run two minutes or less.

On the third Monday of each month we’ll launch a new Afterworld contest. Entry periods end 11 days after launch, so you’ll need to stay on your toes. Winners will receive a bunch of swell prizes,including a Sony PSP, as well as having their entry posted on Afterworld.tv and MySpace.

How To Enter
First, create your remix of "Afterworld Reimagined part 2." If you don't already have ACID® software, download the free ACID XPRESS™ software. Next, download some of the loops. Using the ACID music creation software, paint the loops into your remix. When you're finished, return to this page and click the Upload My Entry button. Upload your track, and you've entered the contest.

Grand Prize Winner
• Sony PSP
• ACID Pro
• Sound Forge
• Vegas Pro
• Cinescore
• Five Standard Loop Libraries
• Two Cinescore Theme Packs
• Merchandise from Afterworld

Rules
• The contest begins Monday, October 29, 2007.
• All entries must be fully uploaded by 12:00 a.m. midnight PST on Friday, November 09, 2007.
• Entrants must be at least 13 years of age.
• Entrants must provide a Windows Media or Real Media version of their entry.
• Entrants must provide accurate contact information for the purpose of contacting winners.

At 12:00 a.m. midnight PST on Friday, November 09, 2007, the contest will be closed and no further uploads will be accepted. If you are new to ACIDplanet, you should create an account and upload a video as soon as possible so that you can work out any problems with uploading that you may encounter. Also, uploading a video can take a considerable amount of time. It's better not to wait until the last few hours of the contest to start uploading your entry.

Entrants must upload a Windows Media format or Real Media format version of their entry first. You will not be able to upload any additional formats after the contest closes, so if also you want to upload an additional format, please allow enough time to upload them both before the contest closing time.

Entrants must provide accurate contact information (valid e-mail and postal address) in their registration at ACIDplanet.com for the purpose of contacting winners. You can update your contact information here.


About Afterworld
Afterworld is a fully immersive sci-fi series with 130 episodes comprising Season One. A new kind of computer-animated entertainment that blends video games, graphic novels and anime into one dynamic experience.

Afterworld is about life on Earth after an inexplicable global event renders technology useless and 99.9% of the population missing.

The story follows the adventures of Russell Shoemaker, who wakes up in New York after 'The Fall' and is compelled to walk to Seattle in the faint hope that his wife and child have survived.

Russell's own harrowing journey, from technological dependence to total self-reliance, mirrors the world he discovers along the way, where other survivors are rebuilding society in strange and surprising ways. Piecing together the complex mystery of what caused the global event, Russell eventually paves the way for the bold new future of mankind.

as posted here

Video Reference: Afterworld

My foray through YouTube brought me to Afterworld: an animated serial. Stylistically, this is what I am trying to achive: the gloomy ambience; the earthy color palette. Another thing that I noticed was that the characters do not move much. Most of the animation is done using Video Effects and Transitions. As I mentioned before, although the Heidi Ott dolls hold their poses well, getting convincingly realistic motion out of them will be difficult. So, my lesson from Afterworld: it isn't always necessary to have the characters moving in order to tell a compelling story.

as posted on Dollhouse Animation

Remix Contest: Afterworld pt. 2 (AP)

Attention: You need to enter a video file here!

Deadline: November 9th, 2007
Track name: various sound files
Original genre: Pop, Soundtrack

Prizes: Sony PSP, ACID Pro, Sound Forge, Vegas Pro, Cinescore, Loop Libraries, Merchandise

Other: Afterworld is an animated sci-fi tv series. In this contest you get some video and audio snippets from it. The goal is to create something new out of it, whatever. You can produce a remix but you must also come up with some video running along. Acidplanet is going to launch further Afterworld contests every month from now. A free subscription to Acidplanet.com is required to take part.

as posted on remix.com

see Acidplanet.com here

Episode 62: Warning Signs

Russ gains a critical piece of information

the birth of a child is supposed to be a joyous event, but when people start throwing words around like Messiah, it puts everyone involved on edge, stay behind the fence with the other wackos or I will shoot, that was Joan, older sister of the Mother to be, while Gwen explained who she was, Russ decided it was time for him to move on, but Gwen, had other plans, Russ was my assistant, he will require room and board just like me, but Russ went along, he was just as interested as those people outside, to see this baby, while we were sanitizing everything, he asked Gwen, if she knew he was The Walker, why did she trust him, there is a story calling you a deom, and another calling you a saint, Russ told her she was the saint, running around the country delivering babies, so that's why you trust me, Amy, Amy I want to talk to you, I knew he would come back, I told you to forget about him, he is a no good drunk, it was Amy's baby but Joan's house, she claimed the family ranch, open up, I want to see my wife, it was the rancher that Russ had met earlier, he had found a dead calf that he wanted Amy to see, he had been seeing defected animals like this for the last couple of months, it ain't natural, he believed that there are warning signs in nature, when things are not meant to be, unfortunately he was not entirely wrong about the baby

Episode 61: Morning Star

Russ witnesses the unusual evolution of animals in north Texas

the world was changing, evolving in strange new ways, what was it becoming, that was still unknown, Russ started documenting the changes, taking Polaroids, the beautiful, yet humble reminders of mans existence ... but the biggest changes were in himself, his vision was better, especially at night, if he really concentrated he could hear the bugs rustling under his feet, and he swears he could smell a storm coming, other people noticed similar changes, but they mostly wrote it off to less distractions, white noise, Russ suspected that everything was undergoing a deeper transformation, on a genetic level,and his suspicions, were confirmed in Amarillo, for the most part, Texas was not the kind of land you lived off, so Russ headed for a pitstop, which was usually an isolated home on the outskirts of a city ... he heard a horse, his first thought was JD's horseman, but in some ways this was worse the horses seemed to be eating a carcass ... he grew up on a farm, he knew normal behavior of farm animals, he said that the horses, killed the cow like a pack of wolves, Russ told him that he was not looking for trouble just supplies, he said the best bet was in town, in Amarillo it was warring factions, the cartel and maunders, thing about cities, you had to know where to look for supplies, most people did not bother with offices, but there was usually a stash of snacks to be found ... Drop your gun, he told her he did not carry one, just a knife, she seemed surprised, she asked for his name, Shoemaker, The Walker, prove it, he told her he couldn't, he had lost his ID, but she was desperate so she recruited him anyway, her name was Gwen, a neo-natal Doctor, she had all ready delivered 14 babies from 5 states, she got hurt when a mortal shell landed near by, turned out there was a baby due any minute, at the Morning Star Ranch, not just any baby, according to the Word Wall this is the first one, conceived after The Fall, word had spread about the coming birth, and as usual every body was all worked up, waiting for some indication, about what we were becoming, the future of mankind

Episode 60: Holiday Spirit

Russ again encounters the mysterious Feral Boy

10, 9 , 8 ... all Russ could do was wait for the nightmare to unfold ... 4, 3, 2 ... but the warhead did not denote, Harold had removed the shielding cover, so that the EMP would fry the circuits ... the more I thought about that photo, the more I knew that there had to be a bio-logical aspect to The Fall, something beyond Physics and honestly way beyond me ... this can't be, there's a whole other chapter, this is not the ending ... it wasn't a miracle that saved us after all, it was scientific deduction, a welcome return to rational thought ... and when Russ revealed to Team Alpha, who the Professor really was, they abandoned him, except Harold, wait don't leave we can get another bomb ... it's OK Professor, we will try another approach ... something less radical, yes something to block the EMP, in the end Harold realized the same thing as Russ, the Professor was just a writer, a man that was so hit by The Fall, that he fell into his own fantasy ... Harold did not prove that the field existed, but he did prove that there was hope for humanity ... still the image of the bomb falling really got Russ thinking, it had been almost 10 months since he had left New York, it was Christmas Eve, he should of been home all ready, he did not want to be a hero, did not want the burden of saving the world, if he was going to save anybody it would be his family ... Russ then saw the feral boy again, he figured he was a manifestation of his guilt, there were so many terrible things that could happen to us. he could not stop them all, and he had to come to terms with that, so he followed the boy just like at the Serpent Mound, but this was different, this had a child's logic to it, then he realised that he was in his nightmare, this was about his guilt not Russ's, I did it, I made them all go away, Russ was standing amongst skulls ... he woke up in a cold sweat, his mind was spinning, why did the boy show him that awful vision, what was their connection, was he alive or dead, was it possible that he might of actually caused The Fall, a note "I'll be waiting for you", it was becoming clear, that anything was possible, miracles or disasters, if you believe, if your belief was strong enoug

Coolest show on Cable...AfterWorld

I have been getting in a new show called AfterWorld. It features a guy called Russell Shoemaker who wakes up one day to find 99% of the worlds population "missing" due to a massive EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) and technology for all intensive purposes has ceased to exist. No technology!

Not a new concept if you are into SciFi this topic has kind of been touched on before. see Omega Man, etc...

What makes this show unique is that is doesn't feature any live action but some awesome dialog and cool computer generated cartoon type stills (kind of similar to the Myst games) .

The story and dialogue is captivating. And of you miss any episodes you can download podcasts and even get email reminders for future episodes.

as posted on Aaron Saikovski's Tech Blog