The Making of AE4HG

Michael De Boer did so much work for me on the award-winning animated short, The Night Life, that I figured I could never ask him to do anything again. Then on November 1, 2005 he asked me if I would be willing to write another script for him to animate (maybe a little shorter this time). The answer, of course, was yes!

At the very moment Michael was sending his e-mail message, I was chatting with composer Adrian Ellis at an independent film meeting. The next day, I wrote the script for a one-minute alien abduction story with a twist and sent it off to Michael, Adrian, and actor Andrew P. Welch. I knew that Andrew and his beautiful home would be perfect for this movie.

Over the next few days, I rounded up the rest of the crew: director George Vajna, special effects makeup wizard Elijah Koutsourakis ably assisted by goo wrangler Linda Pretli, and costume goddess Elswyth Fryer.

On November 27, we went to Andrew's and shot all of the live action footage in a single day. Making a short is fun!

Michael's day job keeps him busy during the warm weather but leaves him lots of free time when there's snow on the ground. We were hoping to finish the animation during the winter of 2005/2006, but it continued to the next winter.

In early 2007, Michael finished the animation. Then George edited it together and added sound effects and Adrian added what I believe I'm contractually required to describe as "a kick-ass score" (which it is).