Computer on repairs. Video board blew up. Four days and a half off line. I realized that I have enough drawings for this project. The next post indicating the address of complete website should be the last.

I tried to use my time wisely. Rented four movies on this order: La Dolce Vita (1960), Ai no Corrida (1976), Hable con Ella (2002), and Jules et JIm (1962).

Watched La Dolce Vita because Daria reccomends it on episode 51, "Fire!". One of the best films I´ve ever seen in my life. I guess MichelangeloAntonioni inspired himself here to the the excellent Blow Up (1966).

Ai no Corrida (Realm of the Senses) may be a reflection of relationships based solely on sex: no content at all.

A friend reccomended Hable con Ella to me. I watched some movies directed by Almodóvar when I was younger and created an aversion to him since then. But I was dumber then. So I gave it a shot. Hm... seemed like a sophisticated chick flick. I honestly couldn´t see anything spectacular.

Jules et Jim is the first Truffaut movie I´ve ever seen. 60s movie that technologically seems from the 40s but with an end of the century character/plot development. Quite impressive.

Probably the best male figure I drew until now.

Yesterday I watched Red Spectacles (1987). It´s like a college student movie. Mamoru Oshii carries on some of the ideas he started in Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984) but this time on live-action. He is the only director I know that continuously works with both animation and live-action. It´s interesting to watch both because you can see how similar ideas work spectacularly in animation but poorly with actors.

Maybe this sketch book is getting smaller...

This is another version of the top part of the drawing two posts ago. It was bothering me.

I loved this one.

Hair based on Sheila from Mahou Shoujotai. I wonder if this title is Studio 4C´s necessary evil.

Saturday I watched "Is It College Yet?", TV movie that concludes Daria. I must confess that I expected more since the first movie, "Is It Fall Yet?," was great. I guess that when I think of a movie from a TV series I think big bucks which wasn´t the case in either.

It´s interesting to look at Daria and see the differences between American and Japanese animated series. I guess that while Japanese animation suffers from rigid schedules that need lots of planning, American cartoons suffer from the lack of it due to the necessity of immediate popularity response. I´ve seen lots of American live-action and animated series have their plugs pulled due to poor ratings, something kind of rare in Japan (the only I can remember is Dragon Quest). But on the other hand, once series survive the first seasons and networks enable a proper planning schedule, major improvements can be seen.

Based on the fourth Wong Kai War movie I watched this week, colors should do the break point of the illustration.

Cowboy Bebop´s (1998) 5th episode, "Ballad of the Fallen Angels", is a reference to this extraordinaire movie. Fallen Angels (1995) is the kind of movie Quentin Tarantino dreams to do. I usually expect more subjectiveness and a more "artsy" style from non-American movies, but thanks to director Kai War Wong this perspective has just gained a wider angle. Working with Hong Kong´s action movie tradition added something to his style that I haven´t seen in neither French, Iranian, Japanese, or whatever other country´s movies. And the best part is that this isn´t his strength. His fluid protagonist/narrator shift may even surpass Robert Altman´s direction style. Due to this, he also shifts genres in a way that I have never seen before.

I´m guessing this is how I´ll feel once this project is over.

Watched Chungking Express (1994) yesterday. Great movie. I wonder if it inspired some ideas in Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001).

I´m not sure about her outfit. I´m taking suggestions.

Note to self: maybe suspenders.