E-Scribe News : a programmer’s blog

About Me

PBX My name is Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using as much open source software as possible. From September to June I teach web design and other important non-photographic professional skills to photographers. In the '90s I wrote technology commentary and reviews for magazines, newspapers, and web publications, including Wired, Salon.com, FamilyPC, the late lamented Web Review, and the Chicago Tribune. Feel free to email me.

Book Project

I'm co-authoring a book, "Python Web Development with Django", with Jeff Forcier and Wesley Chun. It will be published by Prentice Hall in July 2008, but is available for pre-ordering on Amazon now.

Colophon

This site is built on a fresh trunk checkout of Django, running on Python 2.5.1, served by Apache and mod_python. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive.

Pile o'Tags

ajax apple blogs browsers business design django ebay fp fun google hardware haskell intellectual property iphone javascript linux media mobile open source os x oscon oscon2007 palm php programming python rails rants reading risks ruby site spam textmate the well tips vcs web development web frameworks webservers wmassdevs

Stuff I Use

Akismet, del.icio.us, Django, dpaste.com, Emacs, FreeBSD, Freenode, jQuery, LaunchBar, MacPorts, Markdown, Mercurial, OS X, Postfix, Python, SQLite, Subversion, TextMate, Trac, Ubuntu Linux, wmii

A Django site.
(Finally!)

Copyright 2008
by Paul Bissex
and E-Scribe New Media

The original Lego Star Wars

I attempted to make a Super-8 animated-Lego version of Star Wars when I was 14 -- in 1982 or so. I had made several other animated movies, Lego-powered and otherwise, but this was my most ambitious project. Over several weeks of painstaking stop-motion animation, I got as far as the escape-from-the-Death-Star scene. In real time this was about four minutes of footage (yes, it was a multi-reel production), but as anyone who has done traditional animation can tell you, that's a lot of work.

Anyway, one night, our Golden Retriever named Sugar had puppies. This event was not a total surprise, naturally, but it hadn't really been on my mind. Somebody grabbed the camera out of my room to document the miracle of birth and, well, I never made it back to my magnum opus.

Lego Wars I recently came across this tiny animated GIF I made many years ago -- I had scanned a few feet of the film and sliced the individual frames in Photoshop. In case the 0.0034-megapixel resolution makes it hard to pick out the details, what I believe is happening here is Han and Chewie are blasting their way through some hapless stomtroopers. The pyrotechnics are actual burning match-heads. Blaster bolts were to be added in a post-production phase that never came.

I still have the original film. Can anybody recommend a trusted vendor for doing a digital transfer?

Monday, March 31st, 2008
+ +
2 comments

Some related posts: USB Art
• Comment from David Reynolds, 3 weeks later

How much of the film td you manage to do?

• Comment from Paul, 3 weeks later

David -- In about 4-5 minutes of breakneck footage I think I got from the opening credits to the climactic Obi-Wan/Vader lightsaber battle aboard the Death Star. I also think that my scene-list was quite selective and completely from memory. I haven't watched it in many years. I located my old transfer box, so the digital conversion may actually happen as a summer project!

Post a comment

Comments use Markdown syntax. Your comment will not appear until approved, which may take a few hours or more. Spammers will be torpedoed.


(Will not be shared)

(Optional)