THE OBSERVATORY - ENTRY # 159: COMIKAZE 2011

by MRAM

November 14, 2011

Last week, November 5-6 at the Los Angeles Convention Center here in Downtown, COMIKAZE held its first official con event. Not bad for its first time out.

The SDCC had to go through its growing pains and baby steps to reach the point it is at right now and COMIKAZE seems to be ahead of the game a the same starting point. I figure that this event will be an LA staple within the next 4 years. 40, 000 people attended the event over the 2-day span.

Impressive...most impressive. (couldn't resist that one) lol

Althought the 501st Legion did not 'officially' participate (i.e. A booth and the usual 50 plus troopers), there were a few representatives from the Southern California Garrison.

I represented the SCG with my Sandtrooper gear and was accompanied by another squad member. I've never posed for so many pictures in my life! Aak! =)

Anyway, after 5 hours of trooping, I got out of my armor and went back in into the event in plain clothes and was FINALLY able to tour the con without interruption. A lot of cool things to see, from toys, collectibles to the awesome cosplayers!

I will definitely go again next year. This time with 'Vader's Fist'!

Enjoy the pics!

A NEW VFX ARTIST ENTERS THE FOLD

by MRAM

November 6, 2011

I keep thinking that if I had the same drive I have right now back when I was in high school to excel in my studies, I probably would have had a good shot at being in the Honors Class.

But when you're a kid, you don't any better. Right? LOL

Anyway, on November 4, 2011 & after almost a year of taking the MOTION GRAPHICS / VISUAL EFFECTS course at the industry renowned VIDEO SYMPHONY in Burbank, CA , I'm happy to say that I have graduated! Woo Hoo!

Just to think, last year I really didn't know which direction I was headed professionally. I didn't have too many options. But, now? Options, Baby! Oh YES!

So keep a look out for my work...

I've finally arrived! =)

THE OBSERVATORY - ENTRY # 158: DARK LORD OF THE SITH

ANH DARTH VADER ARMOR PROJECT

Phase 1 (Helmet) : COMPLETE

Target Date for Final Presentation: OCTOBER 31, 2012

THE OBSERVATORY - ENTRY # 157: "TRICK OR TREAT 2011"

Be Safe...

THE OBSERVATORY - ENTRY # 156: "GEEK"

Star Wars themed cereal boxes and assorted Pringles flavors? Epic. =)

THE OBSERVATORY - ENTRY # 155: "LET'S GO TO THE ZOO!"

by MRAM

August 27, 2011

Star Wars Day at the Los Angeles Zoo
August 27, 2011, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

The LA Zoo will take you to a galaxy far, far away! Meet you favorite Star
Wars characters and learn about creatures from other galaxies as well as our own.

"The zoo took great care of us for they day, providing soda, water, and gatorade for the morning, and water for the afternoon, plus snacks until they ran out and a huge pizza lunch! We also had a gigantic air conditioned changing room/break space that came in very very handy as they day got hotter. Each participant including wranglers got 4 tickets to come back later.

The zoo is doing a donation to charity in our name. We have asked that they donate the funds to the Esquenazi family if they can--since the zoo is run by the city, they may run into some rules/regs that may not allow them to do that. If its not possible, the money will go to St Judes Children's hospital.

We did learn a lot from this event, and how things went down. Despite a lot of planning including meetings, phone calls, and on-site visits, a few things will be changed for next year. And they DO want us to come back! We're looking at next May instead of August (so it wont be so HOT!). We're going to schedule times in advance for the tented appearances, and also have more of the really popular characters like Vader and R2 so that these characters can have shorter appearance times, and still keep the booths full. If we do an opening march next year, we'll coordinate that a little better! We're also going to shorten the event to 10 am to 3 pm, and spread it over 2 days. We may even do shifts next year, but with shortening the event that may not be needed." -- Lesley Farquhar / TR-3774 (Southern California Garrison XO)

This troop was ROUGH but it was a very fun one! Temps were in the upper 90's-low 100's. (Whew!) I'm glad no one passed out!

About 50 members from the SCG 501st and Rebel Legion came in for support of this event with 3 TDs representing the Sandies!

TD-6985 - Michael Ramirez: "SCRIBBLER" (MEPD / Route 66 Patrol)

TD-4749 - Robert Longfellow: "RETNUHHA" ('soon to be' MEPD / Route 66 Patrol)

TD-4544 - Ed Silva: 501st TD

These are pics that were taken from a 501st Legion event we did for the LA ZOO on behalf of LucasFilm...

SKETCHBOOK - SCRIBBLE # 153: CONCEPT ART

ALIEN SOLDIER

(Pencils - 2011)