At a hidden laboratory deep in the wastelands of Yoro, a lonely figure resigns himself to a fate he did not choose but one that he realizes is inevitable. Dr Louis De Planq, former Chief Scientist and head of research of the Keepers, reflects on his life and the choices he has made that have brought him to this place. In the face of great peril, he has done all that he can do and now must leave the rest up to the uncertainty of fate.

Let us know what you think. As always if you think it’s cool, feel free to share.

Dr. Louis DePlanq voiced by the legendary writer/actor Stephen Jared
Music by Kevin McLeod

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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Due to the overwhelming success of the Black Panther movie and because Marvel recently announced that they have moved up the release of Avengers Infinity War to April 27th (our launch date), we have decided to push back the launch date of our crowdfunding campaign. It is believed that much of Avengers Infinity War takes place in Wakanda and we acknowledge that nothing else will be happening on April 27th. Our new launch date is May 25th, 2018. This means you have more time to sign up early and grab the early bird bonuses. Thanks to all those who have already signed up. Mark the date and spread the word. Are you excited about the Celflux Animated Short?

Greetings Celflux fans.

What a ride this Celflux journey has been. Those who have been with us from the beginning know that it’s a labour of love. The late nights, the sacrifices, all worth it because we are passionate about this little project of ours. It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since we started working on issue number one. We’ve learned a lot and our little project has grown quite a bit. Today, we are three issues down and also working on an animated short. So we believe the time has come for us to take a leap of faith to the next step of our journey.

As you guys know Celflux is a totally independent project by Dixie Ann and I. For three years it’s been a team of two. Everything you see in the pages of Celflux was put together by just us two. Both of us write the story and I’m responsible for all the visuals. When we decided to work on the animated short it was the same. We both came up with the story and I taught myself how to animate to deliver the visuals. At this point, we needed some help. We needed to bring our characters to life by giving them voices. We were extremely lucky to find an awesome group of voice actors who came on board and lent their voices to our characters. Our team went from two to fifteen. This included a talented musician who also came on board to give the short an original score. We are totally indebted to them all because each person that came on board did so because they saw our vision and fell in love with Celflux. They all lent of their time, talent, energy and equipment to help us make the short a reality. We’ve released our first trailer check it out below:

The Next Step

Ever since day one we’ve have avoided crowdfunding. There are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, as we said Celflux has been a labour of love. Making money from it has never been our motivation. Those who follow us on social media know that we don’t push sales because it’s not our priority. Anyone who is passionate about what they are creating can identify with this. You just want to create and you find a way to do it. You don’t concentrate on monetizing it. Many might say that’s not a good thing. They might be right, but it’s the reality. Don’t get me wrong money has its place. However, historically, the desire to make money has never been a good motivator for anything. We’ve got enough of that in the world.

Secondly, Crowdfunding is somewhat of a litmus test to determine who are your real supporters. Most projects have a lot of followers, but you are not sure how many of those are loyal fans. Crowdfunding helps give you a clear picture, really quickly, about how much real support you have. Not too long ago I was introduced to the 1% rule of internet culture. It’s the philosophy that states that 90% of the participants of any internet community only view content (they are called lurkers), 9% of the participants actually participate by commenting, liking, sharing etc., and 1% of the participants are actually invested, emotionally and otherwise, in seeing you succeed. I’ve seen quite a few crowdfunding campaigns fail that had large numbers following them. Large following numbers does not necessarily translate to a large amount of support. So we’ve stayed away from crowdfunding because we really did not know if we had enough real support. But I guess the only way to know is to make that leap.

Thirdly, fear of failure. This is basic. No one wants to fail. No one wants to be seen failing. But most can tell you that if you never try, you will never know. Better to try and fail, than to fail to try.

Fourthly, not having a good enough track record. When we started out in 2013 we came out of nowhere. Nobody knew us from Adam. We were just a couple working on a book. Who would support newcomers and strangers? Not many folks would. So we had to take the time and build the awareness of the Celflux brand so to speak. Make people aware of Okira and her team. Let people get to know about the project and the folks behind it. While Celflux is far from being a household name, we believe that Celflux is a lot more known now than when we first started. People can also see that we’re dedicated to this project for the long haul otherwise we would have let it go a long time ago. Folks can see our progress and are aware of the quality of the characters and project as a whole.

So these are the reasons we’ve avoided crowdfunding in the past. Today we are overcoming all those fears and taking Celflux to the next step. We’re talking the Celflux Animated Short to Indiegogo.

Sign up and see the first of three chapters for FREE!

Release Date & Breakdown

The Celflux Animated Short will be one hour long. It will be made up of three twenty minute chapters/episodes. The episode titles are; I. Assault II. Alone III. Awakened.

We will be releasing the first twenty-minute chapter “Assault” on 25.05.18. At the same time, we will be launching our first ever crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. Everyone who signs up early will get to see the first chapter for free. You can sign up on our Indiegogo pre-launch page.

Sign up and see the first of three chapters for FREE!

For our crowdfunding campaign, we’ll be offering all three chapters on one DVD or digital download along with lots of other perks. We’ve got comics, posters and more. We’ll be giving more details in the coming weeks. Help us spread the word by sharing the news with your friends. With your help, we’ll be able to make the Celflux project a success. Thanks to all who have supported Celflux thus far and we’re looking forward to great things in the future.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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Indie Sketch Pad is a new creative initiative from Dixie Ann Archer-McBain and I. It’s going to be a bi-weekly video blog that deals with all the topics that are dear to us. From art to anime. 80s toons to tutorials. We’ll be covering it all.

Subscribers will have the opportunity to come alongside us as we work on our current project the Celflux Animated Short. We’ll also be giving away free commissions.

Subscribe today and also follow the Indie Sketch Pad page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndieSketchPad/

Learn more about the Celflux Animated Short. http://bit.ly/celfluxfilm

If you would like to support us you can do so on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gemgfx

Thanks to The Passion HiFi for the music in our promo. Check him out at https://soundcloud.com/freehiphopbeatsforyou

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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The post Introducing Indie Sketch Pad appeared first on Celflux - Graphic Novel & Animated Series.

The Early Days

I first started sitting in front of the television as early as the age of five. Jonny Quest (1964 ), Birdman (1967), The Herculoids (1968), Space Ghost (1968) and, Thundarr The Barbarian (1980) were some of my early introductions to cartoons. I fell in love with animation immediately. I loved seeing these characters with superpowers in action and I remember thinking to myself, even way back then, “Boy I wish I could do that someday.”

During the 80s I was introduced to a lot of great animated sci-fi and fantasy movie classics. Watership Down (1978), Heavy Metal (1981), The Secret of Nimh (1982), Rock and Rule (1983), Fire and Ice (1983), Starchaser The Legend of Orin (1985), Transformers The Movie (1986), Gi Joe The Movie (1987), Gandahar (1988) and, Brave Starr The Movie (1988). This is just a small list and I haven’t even touched on the Japanese animation that I discovered in the 80s and 90s. I singled these out because they had the greatest effect on me at the time. So my hope was that one day, maybe, I would be able to animate something.

Just a few of the classic sci-fi and fantasy animated movies that I came across in the 1980s.

The First Celflux Trailer

When Dixie Ann and I decided to create Celflux I wanted to create a trailer to help promote the book. The first one that I did was similar to a motion comic. Have a look at it here.

It was cool and got the job done. I simply used the images from the comic itself and put them in the video. At the end of the trailer, I did my first animated footage and it was of Samantha doing a flyby. I realised then that the next trailer that I did had to have more than just the motion comic.

When you have a burning desire to create, you find a way to make it happen.

I started this post talking about Thundercats. The reality is I’ve always loved 80s cartoon intros. Bionic Six, Thundercats, Silver Hawks, Visionaries, you name it. I loved the action and energy demonstrated during those intros. Have a look at this Visionaries Knights of the Magical Light intro.

So I wanted to do a trailer for Celflux with an 80s cartoon tribute feel to it. I didn’t have the skill or know-how though, so I decided to approach some animation studios to get some quotations. I got quotations of $20K and 30K for a 30-second intro. Astronomical and rightly so. Make no mistake animation is a very difficult, tedious and technical process. So I couldn’t be angry with anyone who charges those prices for their animation work. It is well deserved. I, however, did not have that kind of money. So what was I to do? I thought to myself “Perhaps crowdfunding?”. Crowdfunding is a strange creature and is not for everyone. Many people see the success of certain crowdfunding campaigns and think that it’s easy to do. We have a saying in Trinidad. “Gopaul luck, ain’t Seepaul luck.’ It means what one person will get away with, another person will not be so lucky. Therefore, we decided against that. So we didn’t have the money and couldn’t raise it. Most folks would give up on the idea at this point. But my fellow indie creators can bear witness that we don’t give up that easily. When you have a burning desire to create, you find a way to make it happen. I thought about that little boy sitting in front of the television all those years ago hoping that he would someday animate something and realised, that little boy’s time had come. I was going to teach myself how to animate, and I was going to attempt to animate the 30-second trailer myself.

Is it Possible To Animate Alone?

This is a question I had to ask myself. As I said earlier, animation is a very difficult, tedious and technical process. Hence the reason there are usually teams of people working on any given animated project. So I had to find out if it was possible for one person to do it all by themselves. I was happy to discover that the answer was a resounding YES! I found that there are hundreds of talented animators out there creating masterpieces all by themselves. The advances in technology and the availability of software has made high-quality animation possible for the single creator. There are several case studies, but the one that stands out to me was the story of Makoto Shinkai.

Makoto Shinkai left his job to work on the animated short Voices of A Distant Star

Makoto Shinkai born as Makoto Niitsu, is a Japanese director, writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematographer, voice actor, manga artist and former graphic designer. The story is told that in May 2001, Makoto quit his job at a video game company and began to work on a film called Voices of a Distant Star. As he would later say in an interview, the 20-minute film took about seven months of “real work”. The film went on to be critically acclaimed and is talked about even to this day. The work on Voices is fantastic and one is hard-pressed to believe it was all done by one person. But it was. So it was possible. I decided then to apply myself. Look at tutorials on YouTube. Learn about the animation process, frame rates, cinematography, lighting, film editing and so on. It was a learning process but I put my best foot forward. The result was the first Celflux Animated Trailer. It had a lot of room for improvement, but I was happy with it. So we put it online and set it loose. It racked up about 14K views (on Facebook) in a relatively short period of time. By no means viral, but it encouraged us that we did something worth watching.

The Celflux Animated Short.

Many folks saw the first Celflux trailer and gave us some great feedback. One of the individuals was Ms Camille Selvon Abrahams. She is the owner of Full Circle Animation Studios and the head organiser of an event called Animae Caribe that takes place annually here in Trinidad and Tobago. She saw the trailer online and extended an invitation to us to be guests at Animae Caribe. We’re eternally grateful to her for this because she gave us an opportunity to introduce Celflux to a local audience. The response to Celflux was fantastic. Our books and t-shirts sold out and everyone has some really encouraging words for us about our animated trailer. Because of the positive response to the first trailer at Animae Caribe and online, I asked Dixie Ann if she thought we should try to do an animated short film. Dixie Ann is always encouraging and convinced me that I could do it. So I again decided to do more research into the process of creating an animated short. This was going to be more involved than the first trailer. This was going to have a story, and actors, and lots of other cool stuff. So I got to work on the planning. The first thing I did was write a script. I had to learn how to do this as well. Scriptwriting is a skill. Much respect to those who do it for a living. With a few drafts and much trial and error, I was able to complete a stand-alone story featuring the characters of Celflux. The second thing I needed was voice actors. I found the Voice Acting Club and I put out a call for people willing to collaborate on the Celflux Animated Short project. To our surprise, we got quite a few responses from folks wanting to be a part of it. All of them very talented. We eventually settled on a group that we believe are not only the most talented, but the most decent, helpful and genuine individuals you would ever hope to meet. We are lucky to have them on board.

Demetria Bridges – Okira, Kate Sample – Samantha, Matthew Curtis – High Councillor, Sarah Brown – Genocyde, Tony Black – Raymond, Manuel Benavidez -Ahoteh, Chasity Conner – Shandrita, Tracy Pfau – Sarah, Hector Chavez – Indigo, William Harmar – Stephen, Stephen Jared – Aditional voices, George Sharperson – Aditional voices.

Gwenaël Mario Grisi the talented musician from Brussels came on board to create an original musical score for Celflux.

We want to thank Kate Sample as she was the one who brought on board Demetria Bridges who is the voice of our leading lady Okira. We also want to say thanks to Matthew Curtis as he was the one who brought on board Gwenaël Mario Grisi who would become our talented musical composer. We also want to thank Tracy Pfau who was responsible for bringing on board her husband Stephen Jared and her good friend George Sharperson. I sent them the script, and they all recorded their lines and sent them back to me. We were going to do this. For no other reason than it’s something, we wanted to do. I then had everything I needed to begin working on the next thing. A trailer.

The Celflux Secret Weapon Trailer

Like the first trailer, I had new things to learn. I needed to learn sound editing. How to match up the sound effects with the action. How to synchronise the character’s mouth movements with the voices and so on. So once again there was a learning curve. But I was following in the footsteps of all the other talented independent animators that had gone before me so it could be done. After about 5 months of work, I was able to complete and release the first trailer for the Celflux Animated Short. Have a look at the trailer here:

In April of this year, after some encouragement from one of the voice actors Tony Black, we submitted a proposal to CreativeTT. There was an open call for individual filmmakers to receive grants for film projects. The Trinidad and Tobago Creative Industries Company Limited (CreativeTT) is a wholly-owned State enterprise established by The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago through the Ministry of Trade and Industry. CreativeTT’s mandate is to stimulate and facilitate the business development and export activities of the Creative Industries in Trinidad and Tobago to generate national wealth and, as such, the company is responsible for the strategic and business development of the three (3) niche areas and subsectors under its purview- Music, Film, Fashion. In May, we received an email from CreativeTT that told us the Celflux project was selected to receive a grant for Marketing and Distribution. We can’t really talk about our plans yet, but suffice to say we are seeking to take Celflux to the next level. You can find the official announcement by CreativeTT here.

Conclusion

So that’s the story of how the Celflux Animated Short came to be. We began working on Celflux the graphic novel in 2013, and had no idea where it would take us. Now four years later, we’re working on an animated short with a great group of voice actors and a state investor behind us. If you had told us that in 2013, we would never have believed you. I’d like to encourage my fellow independent creators out there to live that independent spirit. Follow your creative heart and do what is necessary to bring your creations into reality. Don’t let the pursuit of fame or money cloud your vision. Don’t let anything hinder your creativity. In the immortal words of Shia LaBeouf “Just do it!” You never know where your journey will take you.

Till next time. All the best.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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The post Why I Taught Myself How To Animate. The Celflux Story appeared first on Celflux - Graphic Novel & Animated Series.

We’re very excited because today we have a really cool treat for you guys. Today is the day we release our first teaser trailer for the upcoming Celflux Animated Short. Today is the day you, our fans, get to have a first look at what we’re working on and it gives you just a glimpse of what is to come. This teaser features our villains The Keepers. The voice you will hear is that of the awesomely talented Sarah Brown. One of our amazing voice actors who portrays the voice of Genocyde. It also features the original music by Gwenaël Mario Grisi. The Celflux Animated Short is a lot of hard work and a monumental task. It is the biggest project we have ever embarked upon. But we’re fueled by our love for Okira her story and our desire to share it with our fans. As we said this is our first trailer and it’s just a teaser. Our main trailer is still to come. So, for now, we hope you enjoy it. We hope it whets your appetite and gets you excited about seeing the short film. If it does, please consider supporting us with a like and a share and help us get the word out. We can’t do it without our fans.

Celflux: Reluctant Heroes, The Secret Weapon, is a stand-alone animated short film featuring the characters of the graphic novel Celflux created by Dixie Ann Archer-McBain and Everard McBain It follows the adventures of Okira an ordinary priestess who, with the help of a disjointed group of strangers, must face a great evil that threatens her world.

It stars the voices of Demetria Bridges, Matthew Curtis, Manuel Benavidez, Cee Cee – VoiceActress, Sarah Brown, Tony Black, Kate Sample – BostonBrit Voice, Tracy Pfau, Hector Chavez, William Harmar, Stephen Jared, and George Sharperson.

Original musical score by Gwenaël Mario Grisi.

Find out more about our upcoming animated short film here: http://bit.ly/celfluxfilm
Download the high-res version of the poster: http://bit.ly/celfluxfilm3
Check out the animated trailer that started it all. http://bit.ly/2fbd82D

Follow us on social media:
@Celflux @GemGfx

#CelfluxFilm #gemgfx #celflux #okira #art #comics #illustation #cartoons #animation #80scartoons #artwork #indie #indiecomics #marvel #dc

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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The post Celflux The Secret Weapon Teaser Trailer appeared first on Celflux - Graphic Novel & Animated Series.

Our recently released animated trailer has risen to 13K views on Facebook. This is more than I ever thought possible when I was making it. Because of that response and some really positive feedback from our fans, we have decided to embark upon an even more ambitious journey. We’ll be making a Celflux animated short film.

UPDATE: Celflux Animated Short First Trailer Completed.

As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I’m a child of the 80s and my early Saturday morning cartoon addiction was the inspiration for me spending nine months creating the Celflux animated trailer. You can have a look at the trailer:

Or check the 13k views on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2fbd82D

I had to learn most of it from scratch and there was a learning curve. Through it all, I’ve learned a lot and we received som really good feedback. So Dixie Ann and I were talking about the possibility of us doing an animated short. Was it possible? Could I do it? It would be a lot of work. But I thought to myself it wasn’t necessarily about my ability but more about “What have I got to loose?” So as is our custom we began to do our research. We also had to decide if we were going to do a short with voices for the characters. I did everything for the trailer. But I couldn’t do voices. We decided that we had to have voices. But who would want to be a part of this little project? So we took a leap of faith and sent out requests. To our surprise, we were inundated with auditions of extremely talented individuals who wanted to portray the characters of Celflux. So much so, that it was really difficult to choose the voices because of so much talent.

What helped us decide was not how well someone could deliver a line, because as we said all the auditions were awesome. No, the deciding factor was if the individual could capture the spirit that we had in mind for the character. This was really important to us because the voices had to be believable. So today we are happy to introduce you to the talented voice artists who will be lending their awesome talent to bring the characters of Celflux to life. We want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of these individuals who not only have committed their time to help us, but they have really expressed a confidence in the project that really encouraged us. We encourage everyone to show these guys all the love and support possible.

Demetria Bridges – Okira: Her tagline is “The voice with the velvet touch.” Believe me, when I tell you, that’s a perfect description. Demetria has accepted the awesome task of being the voice of our leading lady Okira. She is an extremely talented and experienced voice actor with a long and impressive resume. She is also a fan of 80s cartoons. We are very lucky to have her as part of this project. You can find out more about her work and connect with her via her
Website: www.demetriabridges.com
LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/demetriabridges

Kate Sample – Samantha: You would remember Kate as the voice at the beginning of the trailer. She did a really good job for us and was excited to learn that we wanted to do a short. She is also highly talented and a really cool individual. It means a lot to us to have her on board. Visit her links to show her some love and support.
Website: www.BostonBritVoice.com
Voices 123: http://voice123.com/katesample
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kate-Sample-BostonBrit-Voice-1488146798064029/

Matt Curtis – High Councilor: When we heard Matt’s audition for the High Councilor, we were immediately sold. The guy is a vocal wizard. If someone can make you see facial expressions by just hearing their voice, that person is talented. He also has a long and impressive resume and a lot of experience doing character voices. To have him as part of the Cleflux project is invaluable. You can connect with him at these links:
Website: www.MicTheMatt.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MictheMatt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MictheMatt

Manuel Benavidez – Ahoteh: Manuel describes himself as a newbie to voice acting. Well, we couldn’t tell. Because his audition was exactly what we had in mind for Ahoteh. Ahoteh is one of the main characters of Celflux and we needed someone to properly deliever him. The intensity and spirit were perfect so we immediately let him know that. He’s also shown us a great deal of encouragement and is really excited about the project. We are excited to have him as well. You can reach out to him on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/manuel.benavidez.9

Tony Black – Raymond: We’ve always pictured Raymond played by Michael Jai White in a live action version of Celflux. So for the animation, we said we wanted a voice “similar” to Michael Jai White. When Tony sent his audition, we thought the real Michael Jai White was auditioning for the part. The guy did a perfect impression. We are really lucky to have this guy as part of the project. We have no doubt that Raymond will become one of the most memorable characters of Celflux because of Tony’s portrayal. You can check out his many other impressions and extensive demo talent via his Soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/user-69124635

Chasity Conner – Shandrita: How can you demonstrate an introverted person using a voice? That’s what we had in mind as Shandrita’s personality. Chasity was able to capture that. She has extensive experience doing voices for anime and said Celflux was a project she really liked the first time she saw it. She, like the other voice actors, is very talented. We are really blessed to have her on board. You can check out her work via her Social Links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CeeCeeVA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ceeceeva/
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ceeceeva
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CeeCeeVA

William Harmar – Stephen: William has a strong English narrator’s voice. His YouTube channel has some really powerful readings of short stories that reminded us of those radio dramas that we used to listen to long ago. The guy is a vocal performer. To play Stephen would be a walk in the park for him, in our opinion. He sounds like he belongs on Broadway. The guy is that good. His audition for Stephen sold us immediately. We still can’t believe he is on board. You can check him out on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/GentlemanWalrus

Hector Chavez – Indigo: Versatile. That’s the word that comes to mind in listening to the work done by Hector. We needed a crazy, unhinged portrayal for Indigo. We wanted it believable. Hector delivered it spot on. His YouTube channel shows his wide range of work. His talent speaks for itself and we really appreciate the fact that he is part of this project. Follow him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HectorChavezVO
Or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmAyESqajZTY37-sRFXB6Q

Sarah Brown – Genocyde: The interesting thing about Sarah’s audition, is we weren’t sold at her portrayal of Gencyde, but on her introduction of the audition. She started out by saying. “Hello my name is Sarah Brown and I’ll be auditioning for the role of Genocyde”. The way she spoke saying that, sounded like Genocyde to us and it was enough for us. But even more than that, she captured Genocyde’s rage perfectly. In our minds, we saw Genocyde’s rant while we listened to her voice. It was perfect. As with the other talents, we cannot believe how lucky we are to have her as part of the project. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synaes

Tracy Pfau – Sarah: So we’ve saved Tracy for last. But believe me when I tell you she is by no means the least. Tracy is not just a voice actor, but an accomplished movie and TV actor. As her IMDB page will tell you, (yeah, she has an IMDB page) she’s had roles in Touched by an Angel, Vampire Diaries, Chuck, Married with Children and Dragnet to name a few. To say her resume is extensive is a drastic understatement. She is an excellent actor. We still are in disbelief that she sent us an audition and wanted to be a part of the project. You can check out her work at her website http://www.tracypfau.com/ and on IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0679336/

So here you have it. The amazing voice cast of our Celflux animated short film. It will be titled “The Secret Weapon”. So here’s the thing. With this level of talent being on board, I’m challenged to bring my work up to the level that will be worthy of this kind of talent. As with the trailer, I’ll be doing everything myself. Yes, all of it. I have my work cut out for me. But I’m excited about it because not only is the team talented, they seem to really believe in Celflux and that’s a huge, huge encouragement to me.

We won’t be doing any form of crowdfunding for the Celflux Animated Short. The only support we’re asking of our fans, is to help us spread the word. Share the news with your friends using the hashtag #CelfluxFilm. So stay tuned for updates as we begin this journey, and we look forward to creating something we hope fans can watch and enjoy.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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“It was a time when magic was more powerful than science, and only those who control the magic, control destiny. They are the Visionaries.”

(from Wikipedia)
“Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light was originally a range of action figures from Hasbro, released in 1987. This action figure range was promoted by two different media, telling the stories of the characters. The better known of the two was a half hour animated television series made by Sunbow Productions in the same year, but there was also a comic book series issued by Star Comics.

The toyline was not a big success, which led to both the series and the comic being cancelled after a very short run. The comic lasted only 6 issues, and was cancelled halfway through a four-part storyline. The animated series lasted one season of 13 episodes, and was not picked up for a second, possibly because all Sunbow cartoons came to an end after The Transformers season 4 three-parter (“The Rebirth”) and G.I. Joe: The Movie, when Sunbow lost its contract and did not get it renewed.

The story was set on the planet Prysmos, an advanced society where all electronics had failed and the people were forced to rely on the old magics. The Visionaries consist of two groups of knights — the Spectral Knights and the Darkling Lords. They are both called to for a competition by the wizard Merklynn. After surviving traps, dangerous creatures, and each other, the survivors on both sides are rewarded. Everyone of them is given a different animal totem which appears on the front of their armor, which they can turn into. The animals are selected by Merklynn based on their personalities.”

I can still remember how excited I got when I heard the Visionaries intro. Those words spoken by the very dynamic voice of the shows narrator Malachi Throne, over some dramatic operatic type music. The heavy male voice, almost Gregorian Monkish, choir singing the intro. The song was only four lines long. But it was extremely awesome. The animation for the show’s intro was also like nothing I’d ever seen. It was quick, dark, rich colours and mind blowing.

“Visionairies,
Knights of the Magical Light.
Visionairies,
With Magical Powers they fight.

Powers of mind, strength, skill, ‘n’ speed.
Powers to accomplish the greatest of deeds.

Visionairies,
Knights of the Magical Light.”

Here’s the intro.

It was very interesting to know that the cartoon was not the primary object of production. It was actually the action figures. The cartoon and the comic were actually marketing tools created to promote the toys. They both suffered early demises because of the poor sales of the toys. I’m sorry the creators didn’t decide to continue the cartoon, because it was really popular and up to this day is still a classic.

There are some really dedicated fans of the Visionaries who have put together a virtual encyclopaedia of the Visionaries. You can find a lot more information on the show, the comic and the cartoon there. http://www.thevisionaries.net/

Do you remember the Visionaries, and was it one of your early inspirations? Till next time.

Cheers.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

ww.gemgfx.com

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(From Wikipedia)
“Thundarr the Barbarian is a Saturday morning animated television series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series ran 2 seasons, 1980–1981 and 1981–1982. Action figures of the three main characters were released by Toynami in 2004.

Thundarr the Barbarian is a Saturday morning animated television series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions.

Directly inspired by comic books, with the likes of R.E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian and Flash Gordon, Thundarr the Barbarian is set in a future (3994 AD) post-apocalyptic wasteland divided into kingdoms or territories – the majority of which are ruled by wizards – and whose ruins typically feature recognizable geographical features from the United States, starting in New York City and working itself to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Mount Rushmore, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.. Other episodes with recognizable settings are located in Central America, while one is in London. Another notable feature of this future Earth is that the Moon was broken in two pieces, but the gravity of the pieces drew them back together, orbiting at roughly the same height as the intact Moon once did. The shattered moon and the ruins of the former human civilization were caused by the passage of a runaway planet (more resembling a comet) between the Earth and the Moon in 1994, which, from scenes shown in the opening sequence, caused radical changes in the Earth’s climate, geography and tidal effects. However, by the time period in which the series is set (2,000 years later), the Earth and Moon seem to have settled into a new balance. Earth is reborn in a world of “savagery, super-science, and sorcery”.

When I was growing up I really, really liked Thundarr The Barbarian. The cartoon was my first experience with the idea of a post apocalyptic world. They combined a new emerging idea of magic, sword and sorcery with science fiction. The world they portrayed was accepted without question. It was believable. This was superhero stuff, but in your mind it was possible. This could really happen. So I had no problems coming up with Celflux as being a world where fantasy, superhero and sci-fi could all exist without friction.

This was also my first experience with the idea of team balance. There was a strong lead hero who was complimented by two team members. One with brute strength, and the other with softer magic. I loved Thundarr The Barbarian so much I even had a Thundarr The Barbarian lunch box.

A Thundarr The Barbarian Dome lunch box. I had one just like this growing up.

Here is the opening sequence for Thundarr The Barbarian.

Here’s a short documentary about Thundarr The Barbarian with a look at the creative team and inspiration for the series. It shows how much of a ground breaking cartoon this was.

So here’s to early inspirations. How many of you remember Thundarr The Barbarian? Till next time. Keep dreaming.

Cheers.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

ww.gemgfx.com

The post My Inspirations: Thundarr The Barbarian appeared first on Celflux - Graphic Novel & Animated Series.