About Me

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Allen Park, Michigan, United States
I am Anthony Powers, a professional animator. Seeking self expression, I carry my soul through space and time. Stumbling about, I come across some picnic baskets and lollipops. Taking a chance, I peek into their murky depths. Using passion as my vehicle the world opens its arms.

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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Squash Wars script 2

          SEQ. 01 - THE SQUASH AND THE CAVE

          SEQ. 01 - INT. CAVE - NIGHT

          An old, tired, and battle worn Squash is sitting silently by
          a fire in the back of a dark cave.

          His blood soaked sword sits beside him.

          The scar across his eye begins to sweat as he looks deeper
          and deeper into the blaze.

          Suddenly a noise breaks his stare. Standing up, he clamors
          for his sword.

          As he begins to carefully step towards the noise, an old
          pineapple stumbles out from the darkness.

                              PINEAPPLE
                    *Hick* *Heh*... Why hello thah
                    stran-jah! What be bringan ya
                    round' here at this time o'naight?

          The Pineapple doesn't seem to notice or care about the sword
          being pointed in his direction.

          He continues to stumble about and drink from his flask while
          taking a seat on a rock.

          Looking up, he suddenly notices the gnarly and torn up
          appearance of Squash who has just gotten done fighting in a
          battle.

                              PINEAPPLE (CONT'D)
                    Oh... my, we gots us a warrior on
                    our hands. Ah'just look at what the
                    worlds been doin' to yah.

          Squash relaxes and sits back down.

          He begins to dig through his nap sack, pulling out a
          notebook and pen.

          He begins writing.

                              PINEAPPLE (CONT'D)

                    And a poet too, heh hah! Mind if I
                    take a gander? I happen to be quite
                    the writah mahself.

          Thinking for a second, Squash hands the leatherbound, beaten
          up notebook to the old drunken Pineapple.

          He looks at it for a while, reads a bit here and there,
          flips through for a while, until suddenly he freezes.

          He holds his breath. His eyes begin to bulge out of his head
          and his chest shakes.

          Squash looks up curiously and their eyes meet.

          Pineapples tone changes, he suddenly looks very serious.

                              PINEAPPLE (CONT'D)
                    Whea did this map come from? If you
                    don't mind meh askin'.

          Squash looks up.

          He watches as Pineapple slowly points the familiar map in
          his direction.

          His mother's map.

          She had given it to him before the onset of the war, and it
          is one of the only things left of hers for him to hold on
          to.

                              SQUASH
                    Ah, my mother's map. She had
                    recieved it from her mother before
                    her. Does this map mean something
                    to you?

                              PINEAPPLE
                    And your motha's name?

                              SQUASH
                    Charlotte.

                              PINEAPPLE
                    Goodness... yeah... Charlotte.

          It is apparent that the Pineapple somehow knows the mother
          of Squash, a strange shimmer begins to grow in Pineapples
          eye.

                              PINEAPPLE (CONT'D)
                    My that was so long ago. Ah those
                    whea tha dayhs!

          Pineapple stands up and begins to pace, laughing and making
          noises, garnering gestures as if remembering moments from
          his youth.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

The Rainbow in your Jail Cell

When an apple, a human, and an alien find themselves floating along in an epic adventure, they discover a strange planet with dark circumstances. A king must be kicked to the curb and the princess must be saved, or else it could be the end of humanity!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Squash Wars Synopsis


Synopsis Rewrite

            The day begins as Squash rolls over in bed, looking outside his large 2nd floor window. The morning sun casts down upon him, filling his spirit with warmth. He rises and goes to school like normal, and everything is perfect and fine for 3 weeks. Then the Cucumbers arrive in droves, a stench filling the air. Hired as mercenaries by the evil and bewildered Apple King of the Fruit Empire, they roar through the village like a plague, devouring its resources and separating the people. Led by Captain Serendipity, the Cucumbers pillage and burn everything in their path, capturing slaves and getting the land ready for sale. With the one eyed master tactician Sergio as Serendipity’s right hand man, this band of Cucumbers is different than the raunchy bunch of hooligans the Squash Village had grown accustomed to in the past. Squash and his family are split up in the chaos, but the fighting is suddenly stopped as a cavalry unit of the nearby Pumpkin Tribe decides to intervene on its way home from defending territory in the south. Squash is miraculously rescued by a young and mysteriously heroic mercenary pumpkin named Ibrahim, who carries a strange confidence, and simply could not bear witness the reality of carnage, injustice, and cruelty on his first trip to the battlefield, so running from his own army, and departing the country, he drops Squash off in the care of his own mother, Aspasia, and departs for ancient far away realms, presumably the Land of our Ancestors.
An extremely wise and happy widowed woman, it quickly becomes apparent that Aspasia is where Ibrahim gets most of his good qualities. She is an outspoken teacher of peace, but, being a woman during times of war, she is careful to not draw much attention, and she is the sole teacher at a small school she runs out of her own wages from working at the nearby Iron mill as a coordinator. Squash is the only yellow student she has, and being a fellow gourd, there is a natural rivalry between him and the pumpkins, but with Aspasia’s influence, the other kids become very easy going and show Squash unexpectedly genuine hospitality. They will all eventually forge a tight bond through many greetings and goodbyes, remaining true brothers and sisters throughout the story.
 In seeing the world as it could be, this is where Squash begins to believe in himself. He has seen Aspasia lift ignorance from his classmates and bless them with vision, so he sits back and watches, thinking if Aspasia can be such a teacher, and attain such a goal as to help turn these profoundly clouded pumpkins into genuinely carefree ambassadors of unconditional love, (who will overtime prove to carry an astonishing capacity in understanding their own situation and how it relates back to everything around them), than Squash feels he can realize his own goals of helping the community that has helped him grow and has helped him become proud of being alive. Absorbing sadness and lingering in bliss, Squash eventually becomes every emotion, basking in each peculiarity and spreading it like a sprinkler, dripping it upon everything, the houses, schools, the factories, the people, a scared and confused community, biting off more than they can chew; asking for help.
He eventually gains a job helping Aspasia with everyday tasks and saves the money to get his own small hut near the school. Studying hard, he quickly becomes a good and clever student. He reads every chance he gets down by the river, and during breaks, practices with his sling, setting up sticks and trying to break them in half without uprooting them. He begins to gain confidence as the years pass. He starts to take part in the local combat competitions. His unique and impressive repeat performances lead him to be noticed by the leader of the Pumpkin Tribe, Duncan III. He is allowed to join the military academy as an honorary citizen after Duncan declares him a kindred spirit. Squash begins to tell him all about his past tribulations and the growing resolve in finding his parents and taking back Squash Village from the clutches of Serendipity and Sergio in the now controlled Fruit Empire province of Squash-On-Yah, A heavily fortified city-state where his home once stood. Squash also desperately wants to earn peace within him self while helping society to regain its balance during these dark times of a new breed of scarily honest and purely, manipulatively, poignantly, evil, spreading its fear through the self-created, desperately alone, hopelessly bewildered souls that wander life in a stupor, never looking past random reflections.

End of episode one

            After 1 year in the academy he becomes well respected by his mentors and fellow students. After proving himself in a duel against one of the best young warriors in the tribe, he earns a prized position, becoming captain of the 1st sling regiment. He continues to earn respect, proving himself in small skirmishes against bands of Cucumbers along the northern border. He gains a reputation with the enemy as a particularly fierce sling warrior, drawing the attention of Serendipity, and even the Apple King himself. He has been known to engage armed soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, using just a rock in his hand, and never losing. With his charisma, he quickly gains a following among his companions. He comes to lead his band of 24 through many battles and he maintains the best survival rate of any band in the tribe, the leader again takes notice and sets him aside.
It soon becomes clear that Duncan III has bigger plans for him than a simple captain or even a general.  He wants him to depart on a long and dangerous quest. A mighty journey through territory unknown in search of a lost object, an item rumored to be so powerful it could end any war before the battle begins. Though he must first seek out a wise man currently living in Olive Town who goes by the surname Onizuka, and consult him on how best to sneak through the captured territories and into the largely abandoned, forgotten, Continent of the Ancient Ancestors.
Squash is allowed his pick of 4 of the best soldiers in the tribe, along with a controversial gift personally from Duncan III, a royal gemmed sling stone that symbolizes an intelligent leader with unmatched perseverance. It is said to have belonged to King David himself, kept by his son Solomon and housed within Solomon’s Temple. Such an object intimidates Squash, he is not sure he can live up to this gift. Squash accepts it gracefully though and feels a profound change within his thinking, he suddenly sees that all the trials in his life so far were only trying to prepare him for this epic journey through space and time, lasting generations and maintaining its grasp, pulling him along with the stars. Pushing him unbound towards the future, he begins to dance with the clouds.
Squash deliberates on his gift along with which companions to bring for many days. He eventually decides on Rumplestiltskin – his most trusted friend at the academy, an axe-wielding maniac with a heart of gold who has never lost a duel. Stonewall – the absolute top archer in Squash’s graduating class, and the carrier of first place awards in each of the top 4 events for archery 3 years running. With gorgeous long black hair and a defiant attitude, he has earned a reputation for honesty and brutality, he has begun to feel a sense of rivalry with the fun natured captain, Squash, possibly leading to feud. Next he decides upon choosing Ping yang – a young tactician and performer of eerie magic. She eventually shows profound untapped abilities to see into the future. On account of her naturally mystic nature, the tribe ignores her out of fear, leading her to become very quiet although quite content and consistently happy. Leaving Last but not least, Pistachio – the comedic relief and master of potions, chief witch doctor in the tribe. He has the strange feature of appearing very large sometimes, and extremely small on other occasions. Depending on his mood it would seem his entire physical structure changes slightly. His energy can sometimes expand so far and be so true to their owner during battle that they cast shadows on his faults, exposing only his strengths, and making him look gigantic and intimidating, scaring the enemy and his companions alike. He is rarely in a fighting mood though, and chooses to act on his light hearted, goofy, and strangely poetic states of being even during battle.

End of episode 2

So the group gathers and decides on a plan before setting out, to be continued in episode 3 with the groups first deadly encounter, a band of warrior grapes from the fruit empire have gotten lost and see Squash and the gang as an easy meal! See what happens next time, on Squash Wars!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

An Update on my upcoming junior film "The Rainbow in your Jail Cell" (title pending)


    Well iv been thinking a lot about what to do with the characters themselves. How do I want them to move, act, what noises should they make. Could they even talk briefly? Iv really been experimenting with their movements. I do tests over and over of the apple walking across the screen. Iv been getting into the fight scenes animation. I think its going really well, its very fun for me to animate. I dont think my animation is there yet though, Im gonna have to do many more tests before Im ready to shoot the final scenes. The story is coming along well, I want to put more emphasis on the princess and her relationship with her father the king. Iv been working on some traditionally animated facial expressions for the princess, I want her to look very sad and defeated at one point when her father packs her in a game of basketball. Im thinking of having her join in on the fight rather than just watching sadly, maybe she can be the one to give the final knockout punch. I really want this to be about the characters. I have to work a lot more on little facial expressions and eye movements, body language, interaction on screen. I really want to go into depth with the castle and whats inside of it. I have a lot of props drawn out so far, but I still need to make them all paper cut out props. Im having a lot of fun animating, I have 2 minutes of rough animation so far. Its not what it can be yet, and Im only using the normal cameras so far, so I think this is gonna turn out pretty cool. I really want the fight scene to be explosive and intense. I have to work on animating some explosions and work really hard on closeups and action shots mixed with long beautiful scenery shots and facial expressions. I still have a lot of cutting and drawing to do, but im having a good time doing it so this should be a fun and educational experience.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Squash Wars Little questions with Big answers

Little Questions with Big Answers
 Squash Wars Protagonist & Antagonist
Squash - Protagonist

Holiday:

            Squash has always been very fond of Halloween. He likes to get dressed up and pretend he’s someone else. His village is always one of the first to get into the spirit, so the entire month of October is full of scary stories, eerie sights, and just an overall departure from everyday society. He enjoys the night of Halloween because of all the crazy costumes and decorations. He likes to run around town with his friends and feel as if the world were so far away. He loves to explore the village during cold fall nights. He feels a sense of excitement when confronted by scary places such as the Dark Wood In the west end of Squash Village. He always carries along his trusty rock just incase he runs into an enemy. He wants to explore outside of his village badly, but because of the rising political tensions, borders have been heavily fortified. It’s during Halloween one year that Squash eventually builds up the courage to go on his first quest at the age of 15, bringing only his rock and food. He made the 5 mile journey through the Dark Wood and onto the mysterious shore, a small piece of land behind the Dark Wood only accessible either by ship or traveling through the wood. It is only 1 mile long by 1/2 a mile wide. The Squash Village has a spooky feel during this time of year. People put candles in the windows and hang paper lanterns from the trees. Strips of paper are hung in the wind to represent their fallen ancestors.

Day of the Week:

            His favorite day is Friday. He likes to spend the day in contemplation. He thinks of the week that has gone by, and he thinks of the weekend to come. He likes to wake up really early and listen to music for hours and hours before the day begins. He leaves the house ahead of schedule and gets breakfast from down the street. He always gets a carry out of mashed potatoes for lunch that day at school. His mind wanders all day while waiting for school to get out. He thinks of all the wonders in the world and how it relates back to him. Once leaving school he normally stops home and gets a bite to eat, blasts music while dancing and singing, puts on something nice, and heads downtown.

Color:

            He would be the color purple if he had a choice. He feels the color purple represents him the best because of its bright and cheerful insides yet dark and mysterious outsides. Purple can be used to represent a variety of things. During medieval times the color purple was so hard to produce that only kings would wear it. The color became a symbol of power and generosity. In modern times the color has been used to describe the night, the paranormal, or the generally mysterious aspects of life. Purple is a strong color, it represents masculinity and femininity, it is a color that does not discriminate. It is a good color for the Squash to relate back to during times of trouble.


Apple King -  Antagonist

Holiday:

            His favorite holiday is St. Patrick’s Day. He gets very excited when the time finally comes and he gets all decked out in green. His emerald rings flash in the sunlight. His glimmering forest green tunic sways in the wind while his lime green boots click on the marble floors of his castle. He puts on his stovetop hat with a buckle wrapped around the bottom. His green tights cling to his agile legs as he prances about the castle asking all the maids how he looks and how their day is going. His advisors all arrange a special leprechaun hunt for the King once noon hits. He sits down, has some green beer and corned beef with baked potatoes and sour cream. His hunt nearly always lasts until sun down. He can't control himself at the thought of finding the elusive leprechaun and his magical pot of gold. He will follow the rainbow to the ends of the Earth and often his advisors must chase him down and convince him to resume his duties as King.
                                            


Day of the Week:

            Apple King would be a Monday. He likes the weekend, but come Monday he’s always glad to be back at work. He rises early and immediately checks and double checks his calendar. He writes new dates and jots notes for himself for later on in the week. He always makes himself a cappuccino and sometimes just can't contain himself. He runs around the castle singing at the top of his lungs and waltz-walks through the finely lit corridors of his ancient estate. He makes his way towards the hall of the ancestors, past all the kings and great men who are represented through relics, portraits, and statues. He pays his respects by lighting the sacred incense and smoking cannabis to get closer to the spiritual realm. He sits here and meditates for 1 hour while listening to Queen. The rest of his day is determined by his advisors and he really doesn’t appreciate it, but he has a great amount of respect for the system so he follows orders and leaves his personal life for the night. Come 10pm the King is relieved of his duties and is advised to stay in and get some much earned sleep, but he always gets restless and has been known to sneak out through the window, past the guards, and over the wall, only to return hours later glowing red faced and panting.

Color:

            He would be the color pink. He likes to think of himself as very cute and cuddly. He thinks that pink really suites him, since his natural color is already red. Pink can be considered a violent color since its just hiding behind white. This fits his personality well, since he is very outgoing, frantic even, and does have a tendency to loose his temper. He will suddenly throw kicks and punches into the air, shoot energy beams into the distance, and even throw terrible insults towards his advisors, which he later apologizes for. He sees pink as a very romantic color, but he is so preoccupied with how people see him, that he fails to see how he is acting towards them. He is scaring people. Nobody thinks that he’s cute besides him and his mom and maybe the old tomato at the bar. Pink represents him because it’s a color that tries a little too hard. It’s a color with a bright outside, but a dark and brooding inside.



                             

Monday, February 7, 2011

Character Descriptions for my advanced story concepts class


Character Descriptions – Protagonist, Antagonist

Protagonist: Squash



Stakes

His family is at stake along with his own safety. He learns to put himself in others shoes by witnessing war and understanding the positions it forces us into. His village is destroyed and his whole way of life is at stake, he desperately clings to his past and never wants to forget where he comes from. He has a keepsake from his mother that he holds onto dearly; whenever he feels lost he looks into it and feels safe. His life is at stake almost constantly. His feelings are at stake, he is an outcast in the pumpkin tribe. His courage is at stake; he may loose hope and give in to fear at any time.


Personality Trait

            He is originally meek and anxious. He is afraid of conflict and doesn’t understand violence or arguing in general. When his village is torn apart and his family becomes split up he begins to see the horrors of the real world. No longer able to just sit by and ideally judge, he begins to change his view on life and the actions he must take to gain peace with himself and the world.  He becomes strong and heroic. He outwits even master tacticians of the pumpkin tribe and also proves to be a very energetic and powerful fighter. His strong character is immediately noticed by the leader of the tribe, and they become fast friends. He eventually gains the trust and friendship of all the tribe and leaves to test his courage against the evil armies who threaten his way of life.


Motivation

            He was forced into this life and is just trying to survive in the beginning. As he becomes more aware of his surroundings he begins to want to affect the outcome. He realizes the thin layer of crust the world is supported by can be easily disrupted and changed.  He sees fear everywhere around him. When he was growing up in the squash village people were very friendly to him. Everybody seemed to help each other, people hardly argued. The squash village had become confident in itself and let their culture develop. When his is dragged into war, and the world of the pumpkin mercenary tribe, he realized there is a lot of bad shit in the world, and people are legitimately scared. Good people are forced to rat on their neighbors, negative gossip spreads, lies seep into the peoples minds and all are warped by fear. People in the tribe are dominated by negativity, deceit, and suspicion. The squash wants to change their attitude. He also feels the negativity creeping into him. It’s very contagious, so he struggles with himself as well as those around him. He feels that if the community doesn’t get better, he cant either.

Touches

            It’s going to be very surreal. I will put in strange little details that shouldn’t stand out too much, but they will be out of place and in weird combinations. Its gonna be pretty dark, the colors are going to be pretty pale and there will be heavy contrast & shading techniques used. I will try my damndest to make all of the characters likeable and unique. Their differences will be subtle, and I might use simple objects or patterns and colors to represent their personalities, but nothing too in your face. Like a mole, or a bandana, eye patch, boots, runny nose, pink shoelaces, big eyelashes, big teeth, always eating. There has to be some sort of fat character. Well I guess the pumpkins are all fat, so that’s good. The leader should be the fattest of all, but also the fastest runner and strangely the most flexible.






Antagonist: Apple King


Stakes

            The Apple King has just been crowned emperor of the Fruit Kingdom. Assassination plots have become rampant in the kingdom, so the King immediately demonstrates his power and ruthlessly puts down a rebellion. The rebellion had been caused by his first declaration as King, to expand the mighty fruit empire and bring civilization to the savage continent of vegetables. His reputation is at stake if he fails at his task, although nobody but him really cares. With his ruthless tactics, he makes many enemies both at home and abroad. The banana tribe even succeeded from the union and joined the vegetables in their struggle. The King is in dire straights and his enemies are closing in, he just wants to solidify his place in history the only way he knows how. His entire life is at stake, his livelihood is at stake, his reputation is at stake, and his place in history is at stake.

Personality Trait

            He is a ruthless tyrant who feels very insecure in his new position as King. He has a skewed way of looking at the world, and he comes off naïve. He does horrific things and always explains it away as if he had just saved the world. He tends to talk all the time and never listens. He gets angry and throws mini tantrums that look more like a choreographed dance. He moves in funny ways, he has a feminine way of moving and talking. He has the ability to charm when need be. He is actually a very strong fighter and has mastered the illusive energy wave technique. He also writes novels in his spare time.



Motivation

            He has a lot of pride. He has grown up in a rough part of town and has worked his way up the political totem pole to become voted in as King. He loves himself almost too much; he has statues of himself all around town and 3 or 4 portraits within his castle. He thinks that the entire world would benefit a great deal from his hard earned knowledge. His heart is in the right place, but his mind is skewed. He believes he is helping the world when really he is destroying it. He constantly makes excuses when he gets bad reports from the battlefield. He remains blissful even under dire times. He never gives up.

Touches

            He will move in a very distinct way. I want it to be sort of elegant and feminine but clumsy and strong at the same time. He will have conflicting personalities. Like he will be having a tea party surrounded by stuffed animals while conducting battlefield operations. He will have very interesting things to say, his personality is strong and he convinces others to follow him by playing with their needs and fears. He is very smart and charming, but he is leading everybody off the edge of a cliff.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

blargh!

first drew this in pats class about a year and a half ago, inked 6 months ago, photoshopped it yesterday. having a good time.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Group Drawing Exercise

Today me and my friends John Sasser, Chelsea Carl, Natalie James, and Gabrielle Evans created 6 drawings together as we rotated each others sketch books in a circle. We did it as an exercise to get our minds together for an upcoming animation were working on. I still havent seen the other 3 completed, but they are all awsome, Ill show them when i see them.

In My Circle Poster

An early poster for my upcoming junior film "In My Circle"