This is an effects test that I filmed a little while ago. There isn’t really any plot, other than me, Isaac, and Jared Reid blasting away at each other with PVC pipe and rubber balls. This movie is second only to “Lightsaber Duel” in the amount of post production timme spent on it, and I hope you see a little bit of improvement in the VFX compared to our very early movies.
Enjoy the show!
Archive for January, 2012
Effects test
Me with a flamethrower
I recently made an effects test with Isaac and Jared Reid. As I was going through the footage, I couldn’t find a place where one short clip could fit in, so I’ve uploaded it separately. I made the “flame” in Blender.
Enjoy!
(longer effects test coming soon!)
The Highwaymen-bloopers reel
Here are the bloopers of “The Highwaymen”. Some of them are purposeful, some are funny, and some are there because someone didn’t get out of frame when they should have. Enjoy!
The Highwaymen
Here is yet another wonderful movie that SixSibs Media Group has made. It’s the first movie we’ve ever made that includes people other than our family. Unfortunately, the Reid’s won’t be in many more movies, as they were only living by us temporarily. It isn’t all that great of a movie, as we basically decided that making a movie would be a good idea, whipped out a camera, and started filming, but, I guess that’s kinda how we do most of our movies anyway!
So, talking aside, here is our latest movie,”The Highwaymen”.
Francois the Mouse, Chapter 2
Here is chapter two of my story:
“Francois woke up with an awful headache. Groaning, he opened his eyes. He was surprised to see a chipmunk looking right back at him.
“Wall,” the chipmunk drawled. “Lookee here! Looks like yuh fin’ly came to! I just about gave up on ya! You’d swallered about 10 gallons of sea water! What’s your name feller?”
“Francois”, Francois answered.
“Fran, Fran- what? That ain’t no name at all! I’ll just call yuh Frank!”
“Oh, that will be fine”.
“Oh boy!” The chipmunk said. “I just ‘bout went and forgot my manners! I didn’t tell yuh my name! It’s Bubba!”
“Pleased to meet you Mr. Bubba”, Francois, or, as Bubba had re-christened him, Frank, said. “I must ask if you know where any of my fellow shipmice are”.
“Oh, they’re all over this beach. There’s 16 of ‘em in all”.
Frank sighed in relief. That was the number of mice who’d set out with him.
“May I go see them?” He asked.
“Wall shore yuh can! Just foller me!”
Bubba pulled Frank up easily, almost losing his balance, since he’d expected Frank to be heavier. He exclaimed, “Yikes feller! You don’t weigh nuthin! Yuh need ta come home with me for a few weeks. My older brother’s cookin’ will plump you up a bit!”
“Yes, yes”, Frank said. “But really, I must go and see how my shipmates are doing!”
“Okie dokie! “I’ll take yuh to ‘em”
Bubba led Frank down the beach to a small cove. A quaint little house was situated on the far side of it, and the sounds of singing and merriment could be heard issuing from it. Bubba walked right up to it and, without even knocking on the door, walked right inside.
Frank followed and was relieved to see all of his crew inside, along with 2 other chipmunks, one short and one round. Bubba introduced them as his brothers, Stubba and Chubba. Frank was greeted warmly by all his shipmates, and then he retired to a pile of oak leaves that the chipmunks had prepared for him, exhausted yet jubilant.
“Wall,” the chipmunk drawled. “Lookee here! Looks like yuh fin’ly came to! I just about gave up on ya! You’d swallered about 10 gallons of sea water! What’s your name feller?”
“Francois”, Francois answered.
“Fran, Fran- what? That ain’t no name at all! I’ll just call yuh Frank!”
“Oh, that will be fine”.
“Oh boy!” The chipmunk said. “I just ‘bout went and forgot my manners! I didn’t tell yuh my name! It’s Bubba!”
“Pleased to meet you Mr. Bubba”, Francois, or, as Bubba had re-christened him, Frank, said. “I must ask if you know where any of my fellow shipmice are”.
“Oh, they’re all over this beach. There’s 16 of ‘em in all”.
Frank sighed in relief. That was the number of mice who’d set out with him.
“May I go see them?” He asked.
“Wall shore yuh can! Just foller me!”
Bubba pulled Frank up easily, almost losing his balance, since he’d expected Frank to be heavier. He exclaimed, “Yikes feller! You don’t weigh nuthin! Yuh need ta come home with me for a few weeks. My older brother’s cookin’ will plump you up a bit!”
“Yes, yes”, Frank said. “But really, I must go and see how my shipmates are doing!”
“Okie dokie! “I’ll take yuh to ‘em”
Bubba led Frank down the beach to a small cove. A quaint little house was situated on the far side of it, and the sounds of singing and merriment could be heard issuing from it. Bubba walked right up to it and, without even knocking on the door, walked right inside.
Frank followed and was relieved to see all of his crew inside, along with 2 other chipmunks, one short and one round. Bubba introduced them as his brothers, Stubba and Chubba. Frank was greeted warmly by all his shipmates, and then he retired to a pile of oak leaves that the chipmunks had prepared for him, exhausted yet jubilant.
Francois the Mouse, Chapter 1
If you haven’t figured out by now, I looooooooooove to write! I’ve written two stories so far, each of them about 25 notebook pages long, and I am working on transcribing them so you can enjoy there literary genius. (?)
Here is the first chapter of one of them, titled Francois the Mouse:
“The gale blew fiercely as the young mouse tried to keep his course. How many days has this been going on? He wondered quietly to himself. He’d just been on a routine mission, collecting tribute from the outlying islands when this very out of routine storm had stuck. He glanced at his log, now almost illegible, due to the salty spray. He squinted his eyes to read the running ink. “November 12”, it read. “Barometer falling. Wind from northeast quadrant. Location-” And there the words ran together, making them impossible to read. Oh well, the mouse thought, the 12th was 5 days ago, and we’ve travelled miles from where we were then. Then they were only a dozen miles from mainland, and now who knew where they were; they could be- The snapping of the jury mast brought the mouse back to reality. An older mouse, rather stout, but tough looking, came toward him.
“Cap’n sir. What do we do now? The jury mast took the stump of the main mast with ‘er when she went over. We can’t put up another mast, ‘specially in this storm, and without ‘er we can’t steer at all! We’ll drift about for who knows how long!”
“The currents will at least keep us away from any rocks or reefs”, the captain, whose name was Francois, replied. “The storm will abate sooner or later”.
“But sir”, the mouse replied. “We only have enough supplies for another fortnight, on half rations at that, and our water is getting tainted by salt. Better to face the risk of getting bashed on some reef than to face the certainty of us starvin’”.
“True, true mate. Take soundings. I’ll head towards the nearest land.”
Soundings were taken for the rest of the day, but the cable never touched bottom before it ran out. The mice were all getting restless, until suddenly a monstrous black object towered out of the darkness. It was moving at great speed, and smashed right into the side of the little ship. The ship scraped along it’s side for what seemed like hours until the end of the smooth black object finally came in sight. The mice cheered, but as they slid off the object’s side, they realized they’d spoken too soon. Two huge, spinning blade were thrashing the water, sending up jets of spray and creating an enormous current. No matter how hard the mice rowed, they could not withstand the force of it.
“Cap’n sir. What do we do now? The jury mast took the stump of the main mast with ‘er when she went over. We can’t put up another mast, ‘specially in this storm, and without ‘er we can’t steer at all! We’ll drift about for who knows how long!”
“The currents will at least keep us away from any rocks or reefs”, the captain, whose name was Francois, replied. “The storm will abate sooner or later”.
“But sir”, the mouse replied. “We only have enough supplies for another fortnight, on half rations at that, and our water is getting tainted by salt. Better to face the risk of getting bashed on some reef than to face the certainty of us starvin’”.
“True, true mate. Take soundings. I’ll head towards the nearest land.”
Soundings were taken for the rest of the day, but the cable never touched bottom before it ran out. The mice were all getting restless, until suddenly a monstrous black object towered out of the darkness. It was moving at great speed, and smashed right into the side of the little ship. The ship scraped along it’s side for what seemed like hours until the end of the smooth black object finally came in sight. The mice cheered, but as they slid off the object’s side, they realized they’d spoken too soon. Two huge, spinning blade were thrashing the water, sending up jets of spray and creating an enormous current. No matter how hard the mice rowed, they could not withstand the force of it.
Chop, Chop, Chop. They got sucked closer. Chop, Chop, Chop. Francois closed his eyes and tried to close his ears. Chop, Chop, Chop. Francois heard an awful crunching sound. Then everything became a confused jumble of sounds and flashes and he knew no more.”
I hope you’ve liked the first chapter, I’ll have more coming soon!
My Siblings
This isn’t exactly a new poem, as I wrote it about three months ago, but I forgot to post it in my huge poem post, and will post it now. I hope you enjoy it, although I feel sorry that you can’t personally know all of my delightful sibs!
My Siblings
I’m blessed with five siblings, I love them each one,
They are all first-class, second to none.
They all bring me blessings every day,
If you asked me to trade them, I would say nay.
There’s Paul, he’s a blessing, a gift from above,
He brightens our home with his laughter and love.
Whenever Paul’s near, fun is not far away,
He brings special joy to every day.
I am so glad that God gave us Paul:
He is such a blessing to us all.
Isaac’s a fireball, a boy on the run,
He is the one who brings us such fun.
If it were not for Isaac, my life would be dull,
But since I have Isaac my life is so full.
John is a corker, a really good guy.
(Though sometimes I worry he’ll blow us sky high!)
He has many talents, he’s sharp as a tack,
If you listed them all they’d make quite a stack.
He brings us great blessing, he brings us such fun,
I am so glad that our fam’ly has John!
Rachel is loving, always so kind.
Such a good sister is sure a rare find;
worth far more than rubies or diamonds or treasure,
To be her big brother is sure a real pleasure.
She brings all of us so much great joy,
I’m so glad that our fam’ly isn’t all boys!
Luke is my brother, for which I’m glad;
If he were not I would be so sad.
He’s been my brother as long as I remember,
I’m glad that our fam’ly has him as a member.
He blesses us with his personality,
I’m so glad that he’s in our fam’ly!
I’m blessed beyond measure to have all these sibs,
To say that I’m not would be a great fib.
I’m so glad to be their big brother,
I am more blessed than any other!
Poetry
I really enjoy writing poetry, and have amassed a pretty good quantity of it over the pas few months.
Here it is, in all it’s glory:
A poem I wrote as an assignment for my TPS class
I’ll sing thee a song of the Abbey’s Delight’s
There’s good food for all both by day and by night;
There’s succulent shrimp and fine juicy fish,
Many a tasty mouthwatering dish;
There’s chestnuts and acorns and good apple chews,
A seat at this feast you wouldn’t want to lose.
And when you’re done eating grab a chair if it’s handy,
and wash it all down with some elderberry brandy!
A poem I wrote for Rachel’s birthday.
“Rachel was born many long years ago,
She came in the winter, she came with the snow.
We shovelled a path so that they could get in,
And bring Rachel home so the fun could begin.
December eleventh, 2000 A.D.,
That day will always seem special to me-
Why? You might ask, I’ll tell you; you see,
That was the day Rachel joined our fam’ly!
She’s been such a good sister, she’s been such a huge blessing,
She is so great that I must be confessing:
That Rachel’s the best sister there’s ever been,
She blesses me so much I cannot begin,
To tell all the wonderful things she has done,
But I’ll just say this: Rachel is Fun!
She’s beautiful, sweet and wonderful too,
I’ve listed all these things but I’ve just said a few,
Of all of the wonderful things she can do!”
Why I love Christmastime
“Christmastime is lots of fun,
With lots of yummy, tasty treats,
Of all the days it’s number one,
But not just because of all the sweets.
It is the day Jesus was born,
Over two thousand years ago,
He came for us on Christmas morn,
So we his saving love could know.
That’s why Christmastime is best,
Because it’s when our savior came,
He took our sin, he gave us rest,
He carried all our guilt and shame.
If he hadn’t come we would be lost,
Condemned to suffer for all time,
But since he came we all are found-
That’s why I love Christmastime!”
White Christmas Re-mixed
“We’ll prob’ly have a brown Christmas, just like the ones we always know,
Where the snow is missin’,
And no trees glisten,
And our Christmas tree is faux.
But, that does not matter one bit, we’ll have lots of fun I know,
‘Cause we’re all together,
What’er the weather,
With my fam’ly who needs the snow?
We’ll surely have a good Christmas,
My fam’ly always does it’s true,
When my fam’lies around,
Joy surely is found,
With my fam’ly here who can be blue?”
Christmas in the Heironimus house
“Christmas in the Heironimus house,
There’s no room for grumbling, no need to grouse.
There’ll be fun for all ages, both young and old,
So come in and join us, get out of the cold!
We’ll talk for a while and sip some hot tea,
And stare at the twinkling lights on the fake tree.
We’ll read Christmas books and sing lots of carols,
In our crazy family fun comes in barrels.
We’ll play lots of games, maybe ping-pong,
Fun in our family lasts all year long.
So come in and join us, I know you’ll like it,
I know you’ll enjoy it,“Why?”, you might ask,
Answering that is quite a large task-
Because of the things that we all do together,
Because all our spirits are light as a feather.
Because of about 2 million more reasons,
Because all these things go on through the seasons,
Because my fam’lies the best of the best,
So come in and join us and you’ll see the rest!”
2011
“2011 was a lot of fun,
In it a lot of things were done.
We went to Boston and DC,
All that was lots of fun to me.
You very soon will all have past,
To honor you till next year I’ll fast!”
Christmas is a happy time
“Christmas is a happy time,
We scrubbed and shined to get rid of grime.
I’m grateful for my delicious food,
It is very, very good.
I love my sister and my brothers,
They do bless me like none others.
My fam’lies loving, very kind;
No better fam’ly could you find.
I cannot wait for Christmas dinner
When it’s over I’ll not be thinner!”
I hope you’ve enjoyed these, and I’ll probably post a new poem sometime soon!
Book Review: Autumn Days With The Moodys
I was able to buy my siblings Autumn Days With The Moodys for Christmas.
Like the other five books in the series preceding it, it is very good, and while I don’t think that Tolkien or Lewis are going to have too much competition from Sarah Maxwell as far as writing style goes, I would still recommend that you take the time to read it.
This book is a good story about a Christian family as they go through everyday life, shining the light of the gospel wherever they go. In the process of the book, as in 4 of the other 5, one of their unsaved neighbors is saved. The chapter in which this book takes place has some good ideas on how to share your faith with someone, using the “good person” test developed by Ray Comfort.
My only real complaints about this book is that the children in it always act “perfect”. While this may make for a pleasant reading experience, it doesn’t really help children see how to deal with problems with their siblings in a constructive manner, as the Moody children hardly ever have arguments or fights. While the Moody books show how families “should” act, they don’t really tell how families that are having trouble with arguing or fighting can get to the level of “perfection” of the Moody family.The other thing about the Moody books is that the Moody family has kind of just sealed themselves off from “the world”, making it hard for “real” people to glean any information on how to live holy Christian lives while still having a few friends and going to a real church, rather than a nursing home where the children’s father preaches.
I might have made Autumn Days With The Moodys sound too negative, but it’s a very good book, which I would give 4 out of a possible 5 stars.
Luke and Adam’s Pasta House
I have made numerous special dinners with my siblings, and yesterday Luke and I made one.
It was Italian themed, and we decided that pasta and meatballs would be a good idea to make. The only hitch was that our family is on the Daniel Fast right now, which means that meat is off limits. We decided to be resourceful and made “meatballs” out of spinach, lentils and portabella mushrooms. I got the recipe from Mrs. Kristen Feola’s book, The Ultimate Daniel Fast. We all had a great time, both preparing and eating the meal!
Happy Birthday Rachel, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
So many things have happened since I blogged last!
Rachel turned 11 on December 11, we had a Christmas celebration, and of course 2012 arrived.
We’ll (Lord willing) be able to make higher quality movies this year, as, for Christmas, Luke and I both got cameras that shoot 720p video and our entire family got an iMac.
I hope you all have a great 2012!
