Adventures with Kazmir the Flying Camel Blog » kazmir

Left Turn at Albuquerque!

Gina Vivona — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:00:56 +0000

I grew up on Bugs Bunny; his clever wit, his diabolical mind, and well, he’s just a plain stinker. But oddly enough, I learned a few history lessons about World War II from Bugs, such as what “war rations” and “lights out” were and why they recycled rubber. I learned that Alburquerque is to the left, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was a real book, and duck season follows rabbit season.

So I too, wanted to share some education with my young readers and listeners. The facts in my story are true. There was a 4th Dynasty in Ancient Egypt and it does coincide with the step-style pyramid that I write about, as well as the burial facts. The gods mentioned, as well as Amaunet was a true egyptian goddess (although I give her a nickname, Shalimar). Khol was used as eye-liner, and the stones of the palace, just like Kazmir, were made from limestone. When Michael-Ann and her father travel from the Alexandria Hotel to their excavation site, there is a city named Alexandria, although I named the hotel after the city, today it would probably be a Radisson. However, I did fudge the facts on the Jeep they drove. So I’ll set that story straight right now. The first Jeep was actually a creation by Willys-Overland in response to the demand by the US Army for a four-wheel-drive reconnaissance car. It was created in 1940, 10 years after the use in my story, but Willy-Overland had been producing cars since 1908, so this is a stretch of the truth, more than a bold-faced lie. The name Jeep appeared on the first Civilian Jeep (CJ) in 1945.

Michael-Ann and her father, Prof. Neville Fraser travel from Hotel Alexandria to Giza.

Hear all the fun facts for yourself, free!

Voices, Voices, Everywhere

Gina Vivona — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:00:17 +0000

Colleen O’Shaughnessey is perhaps best known for her roles as Sora from the first and second seasons of Digimon, Jazz Fenton in Danny Phantom, Ino Yamanaka and Konohamaru in Naruto, and Neliel Tu Odelschwanck in Bleach. She has over 76 titles to her credit including animation and video games.

My husband and producer, Michael Woodrum, worked with Colleen on other projects and knew she was perfect for Kazmir. Colleen is an amazing and talented person full of energy. She danced from the voice of 12 year-old Michael-Ann to the voice of a tree-hugging Optionator with grace of a well-choreographed ballet. At times, I was so in awe, that I couldn’t even follow along the script. Instead, I closed my eyes and listened as Colleen brought my characters to life. A thrill I’ll never forget.

Colleen O'Shaughnessey doing the voices for Michael-Ann, Prince Ahmed, Queen Mother, Daka-la, Felicia Morgan, Gwen, Opling, Answer Head, Wish Weaver Spider.

Here’s a 13 second snippet of Colleen as the The Answer Head.

Listen to all the characters with the free complete download.

Blum: Voice of Thunder

Gina Vivona — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:00:09 +0000

There is no doubt that Steve Blum is an amazing voice talent. His credits scroll forever and are so many that I can’t even pick the top 10 to list here. He’s the voice behind countless video games, Anime and original animated TV series (seriously, I started to count and just gave up) including Mass Effect 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Thor: God of Thunder, and most of the Transformers, Star Wars and Batman games. He’s Wolverine in The Superhero Squad Show, Green Goblin and others from The Spectacular Spiderman TV Series, and The Red Skull from The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and most recently Starscream from Transformers: Prime… plus over 20 of the original Digimon characters, voices for Lilo and Stitch, Cowboy Bebop, Naruto and hundreds of others!

And I got him for Adventures with Kazmir the Flying Camel! Michael Woodrum, my husband and producer, worked with Steve and my other voice actor, Colleen O’Shaughnessy, on a previous project. So we sent Steve the script and he immediately heard the voices in his head. Steve went through the list of characters testing out various voices. Everyone of them were perfectly suited for the character. Then he and Colleen started from page 1 of the script and recorded right through. Often, they had conversations with themselves when the characters overlapped. I watched with amazement as they juggled from one voice to the other and then back again. A true performance!

Steve doing the voices of Kazmir, Farouk, Mosaic, Prof. Neville Fraser, Optionator, Puffinhuffer, Question Head, The Great Hammer Shnail, Helmet Head, Somebody

Listen to this Farouk with the evil Farouk and Mosaic the Great Wizard. Steve is both characters!

Get the full audiobook for free to hear all the amazing voices.

The Power of Music

Gina Vivona — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:00:34 +0000

If you ever want to create an audiobook, I would suggest a close and personal relationship with a producer. Luckily for me, I just happened to have married one. Michael Woodrum is an amazing human being and an extremely talented music producer. Sure I’m bias, but it’s all true. In fact, it was his idea to turn my written book into the audiobook. He said to me, “An audiobook will be the perfect place to create mental visuals and will broaden your audience. The sound effects, voice characters and music will heighten the experience.” And if that didn’t sell me, he added, “It will be like a movie in your mind.” I mean, what genius! If this guy wasn’t already married…

Michael recorded the voices (more on that later), added just the right sounds to intensify the experience, and layed in the music by Bill Brendle to create the emotion. Music is a powerful thing and here it’s paired with strong visuals and the spoken word. I am still so tickled about the outcome of this project. The production is truly outstanding and it’s due to all the amazing talent that went into it and how Michael pulled it all together.

Michael in the Studio

If you haven’t heard it yet, you don’t know what you’re missing. Download it free now.

The Final Score

Gina Vivona — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:00:44 +0000

In my opinion, Danny Elfman changed the way we listen to movies. I think Beetle Juice was my first conscious realization of the impact a score can have on the mood of a film. “In Tim’s (Burton) films, more than most, if you miss the tone, you don’t get the film,” says Elfman.

And Bill Brendle understands this concept. Watching movies as a kid, he would run to his piano in his room during commercials and try to figure out the part he just heard as the car went off the cliff and crashed. This was the beginning of training his ears. As he got older, he saw more movies, and recreated more parts. When he first saw Star Wars, the music struck him as another character, leading him through the film. Then he noticed Danny Elfman’s name (one of his favorite performers from Oingo Boingo) popping up on films like Beetle Juice and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. He, like me, loved that Elfman could cross over into this world and it gave Bill the encouragement to go forward in this career.

Bill looks at writing melodic themes as a texture and he did just that for Kazmir. When I hear words, I create pictures in my mind. When Bill read the script, he heard music. He saw an opportunity to underscore the narration and lead the listener through the world’s that I created, from Ancient Egypt to the Five Skies. He created a theme for each character that repeats when that character appears. Due to budget, Bill composed everything using technology, but the result is the sound of traditional scores. “Combining different layers of art in an all-encompassing piece is true art,” says Bill.

I’m looking forward to the day that I can tell Bill, “Hey, we’re making the movie. Bring in the real orchestra!”

Bill Brendle, composer extraordinaire

Here’s one of my favorite pieces that we call Traveling Music that was played when Michael-Ann is flying on Kazmir’s back.

Here’s another snippet of the The Optionators. To me, it sounds just like what they would sound like walking along their tree limb paths.

Hear the complete audiobook for free and tell me it’s not one of the best scores you’ve ever heard.

Crystal Tower – Sky 5

Gina Vivona — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:00:33 +0000

The Crystal Tower grew out of Fire, our fifth element. I had prisms hanging in my room when I was a kid. They made rainbows on the walls, but I really liked looking into them. The colors came from deep inside and seemed endless. It may be a simple idea, but sometimes the best ideas are simple ideas. I think the concept of a crystal tower and the reflected changing colors would be a really dramatic visual in the movie. Don’t you?

Michael and Kazmir flew above the flame, steam, and gushing lava to reach the side of the Crystal Tower. They turned sharply upwards and flew along the wall. They could see their small figures reflected back at them in its smooth, glistening surface until they finally reached a narrow window at the very top of the tower. They darted inside the small room and Michael climbed off Kazmir’s back. She warped to full size immediately and steadied herself as she stared through the crystal floor to the black ground, hundreds of feet below. The sky outside was turning from a burnt orange to a crimson red, and the crystal walls danced with the changing colors.

Read about the First Sky and how the Skies were created.

Listen to the chapter Crystal Tower, or download the full audiobook free.

Somebody – Sky 4

Gina Vivona — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:00:36 +0000

The 4th Sky and element is Earth. Our resources come from the earth. It provides life and protects us. Somebody IS the 4th Sky. His whole body, uh, face, well, you’ll have to hear the chapter to fully understand. Anyway, he covers this sky and has a very important function. He was designed for a specific purpose. And like all good design, Somebody was designed to make our lives easier. You don’t notice the design of a good toothbrush until you put a poorly designed toothbrush in your mouth. In the same way, you don’t notice Somebody. He exists, like all good design, he is subtle, clever, and does his job without our awareness.

Read about the First Sky and how the Skies were created.

Listen to the eleventh chapter Somebody, or download the full audiobook free.

The Rain Masters – Sky 3

Gina Vivona — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:00:34 +0000

Another of the 5 elements is Water. And as we all know, water is important for balance in the kind life. In the 3rd Sky, water surrounds us as the listener. It rushes and sloshes and trickles. It’s everywhere, and it should be. This is where rain is created, harvested and tilled, like any good crop.

One of the creatures in this Sky came to me while on a weekend getaway in Big Bear. The cabin had a knot in the wood paneling that was very interesting. It looked like a creature that was supported from around its belly by a long elastic strap. I imagined this creature boinging down to touch the ground, maybe planting something, before boinging back up high in the sky, then boinging down again. Hence, the Boinalongs were born. Of course, the Boingalongs are just one of the many creatures who help the rain grow. It’s truly a team effort. Listen for yourself.

How to do a Rain Dance when you don't have Boingalongs

Read about the First Sky and how the Skies were created.

Download the full audiobook free.

The Five Skies – Sky 1

Gina Vivona — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:00:42 +0000

When I first started writing the story of Kazmir, I decided on 7 skies, for no other reason than I liked the number. But what were they? Where were they? Like any good design, form follows function, so what do the skies do? As I thought about them, and started drawing them, I came to one conclusion. There could only be Five Skies.

Each Sky reflects one of the Five Elements and has a conscious color that compliments the setting. There. That’s the form follows function part. The Skies have meaning. Next, I had to give them purpose.

initial development sketch for the Five Skies

Valley of The Option Trees – The First Sky
I started with wood. And what better use of wood than a living tree. Although I incorporated 3 gigantic, enormous trees, cause I just can’t do anything halfway. I used to sit for hours in a huge Coral Tree that grew in our yard, so it was easy for me to imagine a world in a tree and what that world would be like. The branches would become the sidewalks and pathways for the bustling creatures that lived there. But it wasn’t enough to just exist. These creatures and their world existed for a reason, and I got to decide what that would be.

Listen to Valley of the Option Trees – The First Sky

Or download the full audiobook free.

Dreaming of Stain Boy

Gina Vivona — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:00:41 +0000

At the beginning of this journey, the beginning of this blog, I’ve shared with you that Tim Burton is my choice as director for my movie about Kazmir. He’s not my only choice as there are some amazing talents out there, but he is my first choice. Although life has come between me and my last entry, visions of Kazmir on the silver screen have continued to push me forward.

In fact, last weekend, my husband and I went to LACMA (that’s Los Angeles County Museum for all you visitors). I’ve been waiting for this show for months – The Art of Tim Burton. Wow! What a show for the senses. The color, the stripes, the music, the costumes. I couldn’t spend nearly as much time as I wanted because the crowd was thick. So until I go back to see it again, I have been spending some intimate time with the big huge book from the show – gingerly turning each page, examining the creations that come out of this man’s mind. And these are just sketches, mere scribbles on napkins and newspapers, each line is perfect, simple, and yet a thousand words are expressed. Oh what this genius could do with Kazmir as the movie. I’m giddy with the thought of Tim Burton breathing life into my creation, taking him farther than I dare to dream. How evil and twisted could Farouk really become? How would the Wish Weaver Spider move on her woven web of wishes? What sights and sounds would exist in the industrial 3rd Sky of the Rain Masters? I just gotta find out. Tim! Call me!

Tim Burton exhibit entrance at LACMA