The #CheeriosChallenge 2017

#CheeriosChallenge Twitter Chat

Last year Life of Dad started something amazing called the #CheeriosChallenge. This year it is back and St. Louis Dad has joined in on the fun. You can get in on the action as well by posting your favorite photos of you or your family trying out the #CheeriosChallenge!

Here are some of my favorite pictures that I have come up with during this awesome challenge. Take any of your own? Link them below in the comments!

The Script – Short Film

The Script - Movie PosterSometimes I obsess about things. Most of the time it is an obsession with a T.V. show or movie. I will start watching a series and if I have to stop watching in the middle of a season then there’s a good chance that I just start thinking about that show constantly. Wondering what’s going to happen next. Analyzing all of the details, etc. Same thing with a movie. I will watch it and then think about it so much that it becomes this weird obsession.

There are times where this obsession extends beyond T.V. and film. Recently, my cousin and I have been working with a group of students so they can create a short film for this festival a few teachers and I are trying to put together. So as me and my cousin are talking with these kids and telling them that making a short film can be challenging but can also be somewhat easy.

It’s easy right? At least that’s what we’re telling these kids. Come up with a story and then start putting together your shots and you’ll do great. So why not show them how easy it actually is. So I started obsessing. I got home one night and spent 30 minutes trying to come up with an idea. Most of the those ideas were way to crazy. I wouldn’t be able to pull off over half of them. So I went simpler. That’s when the idea hit me. I spent the next 20 minutes writing a script and I fired it off over to my cousin and he took a look at it and gave me the thumbs up we needed to get started.

After a bit of back and forth to figure out logistics we had our plan in place to get this short off the ground. We planned to shoot everything in one day so the schedule was going to be pretty tight. I figured the majority of the work was going to be editing. So once the day of the shoot arrived we knocked out all of our shots four hours ahead of schedule. We could’ve maybe done some more, but we had what we needed and we didn’t want to over complicate things. Remember, we’re doing this to show teenagers how to make a movie.

20 hours was put into editing the footage, creating the animation, and editing all of the audio we had our short film. I created a poster and a little behind the scenes slideshow to show the students. We went over how we did some of our effects, practical and digital as well as where lighting was set, the acting process, and a few other neat tidbits about our process. The students seemed to really enjoy our short film and now I hope you do as well.

 

Abby Doodles TV – Episode 10 – Season One Finale

Well, it’s finally coming to an end. Season one at least. Back in August of 2014 my daughter and I started making a some videos. It was nothing serious and we didn’t spend a lot of time on setup or anything of that nature. I wasn’t even sure how well this would all come together. To be perfectly honest, not much has come out of any of this. We probably spent too long in between each episode to actually build a following.

So here we are, a little over two years later and we are closing out season one. When we first started this show Abby did not know how to read at all and could barely write her own name. Now she’s writing some sentences and can read at her age level so we are ready to start planning for season two. Abby and I discuss her show a lot and we have some good ideas for season two, now we just need to put the plan into action and actually film some episodes. We are hoping to start the next season this summer, so be sure to subscribe and be on the look-out for that. There is talks of a new intro and theme song, but we will have to see about all of that. For now though, enjoy season one for what it is and expect some great new things in season two!

Abby Doodles TV – Episode 09 – Super Star of The Week

Well, I guess you could say that I was busy, or you could call it a long spout of laziness but here we are with a new episode of Abby Doodles TV! In this episode Abby decided that she wanted to announce that she is the Super Star of The Week in class. She gets to bring in a few items to share with everyone so in this episode she tells us what she plans on bringing and also makes the official announcement for Abby Doodles TV Season Two!!! We have at least one more episode for season one before we start filming season two so definitely be on the lookout for that in the coming weeks.

For now, enjoy the latest episode of Abby Doodles TV!