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OGDEN: In the supplemental materials on the DVD, you spoke of the recording process as if you were almost channeling the characters when you recorded the voices. Where do you think the characters and their voices came from? Did you already know the voice of the character when you wrote the screenplay?

ALBEE: The "where" isn't important. What is important is that feeling comfortable believing and feeling as I do, I am able to do some pretty good work - and that's really what matters.

The exploration of high-energy physics is something I've enjoyed, especially the theories that lend credibility to the probabilities of alternate dimensions, or the re-combining of what we know of as dimensional vectors to measure space/time in different ways, resulting in different perceptions of what we consider "material" and "reality."

OGDEN: There is a tantalizing scene in the trailer for this film which I do not think showed up in the final movie... that of Kaze climbing out of a window and saying over his shoulder, "You couldn't kill me when I was alive. What makes you think you can now?" Was that a scene that got cut, or something you did just for the trailer, or something else?

ALBEE: A lot of people ask about that Scene. That's from Sequence 5, which turned-out to be a long-ish anticlimax to the film that shaped the ending in a much softer fashion than what I had wanted.

When I began viewing the animatic with more and more of it having been replaced by the final footage, I realized that the drama of the film would be much stronger, much more holding the feeling I wanted, by ending after Sequence 4.

Not to worry, though, all the work that was done for Sq05 is preserved, and will be used to begin the second episode of the "Kaze, Ghost Warrior" series.

How that Scene made it into the trailer is that the trailer itself was the Production Pipeline Test - done before Production itself was begun.

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OGDEN: Your challenge -- one man, two computers, 6 months -- includes a development budget of $5k. Did that cover everything? Living expenses, film prints, cost of software and computers... what exactly figures into your 6 month development budget?

ALBEE: There were no film prints, (which would be ~$9K for the master alone).

Computer hardware and software were acquired in direct trade for my own services, writing, design, animation, etc. (I found it interesting in that working for "real" goods and services, [as opposed to the largely symbolic concept of currency,] my own sense of self-worth as an artist increased dramatically.)

The $5K covered my expenses for the six months of Production.

OGDEN: Did you set out specifically to prove the effectiveness of the Albee Microstudio Method, or did you operate within those parameters out of necessity?

ALBEE: There are so many talented people who could do so much, if they only believed in the power they themselves have within their hands. I had to do "KGW" in this manner to prove beyond the shadow of any doubt that this is indeed possible, that even if there were no one else a dedicated animator could ask for help, that a beautiful, powerful, feature-quality film could be made in a reasonable amount of time, and on a reasonable budget.

Many people who've read my book, "CGI Filmmaking," have e-mailed me telling me that while their friends and co-workers have told them to "get real" and stick to being a cog in a great machine, they see now how they, themselves, can do the exact same thing I did, with their own stories!

This is far beyond what just one filmmaker can do, far beyond just one film or just one series. This is about the Dreamers of this world taking the power within their own hands to make the films that they, themselves, have always wanted to see. This is about making these Dreams a reality, and still remaining free from the big-studio snares.

I had to show that this was possible, with the production of "KGW," otherwise it would just remain a theory... and I'd never ask someone to do something I wasn't fully prepared to do, myself.

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OGDEN: What things would you have done differently on the film? How did you let go of those things and just ship it?

ALBEE: Aside from the fact that hardware and software have made improvements over the course of production, my only managerial decision would be to have asked more footage of myself at the outset of the film.

At first, I was averaging about seven seconds of completed footage a day. During the last month and a half of Production, I was averaging between 35 and 45 seconds of completed footage per work-day.

I knew from the outset that I'd not be able to do more than a good rough animation for each scene, (spending on average only 4 hours per scene). The overall ambience of the piece, the storytelling, the motion all work together to support a contiguity within the film so everything looks like it fits.

This is just planning, knowing your abilities beforehand and working within them to create a cohesiveness that fills the entirety of the vision.

OGDEN: Were you ever tempted to stop working on Kaze and work on something else instead halfway through? How did you get through that?

ALBEE: Oh, you mean the "Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul." Yeah. Every artist goes through that.

I just kept my focus on remembering that the months of planning and work merited more than the days of doubt.

You've heard that saying, "An object in motion tends to stay in motion..."? Inertia works with mental and emotional forces just as well as with physical ones. Just keep moving... and when you notice your Focus not where you want it to be, without criticizing yourself, just guide your Focus back to where you wish it. (With enough practice at this, your Focus will cease to need as much of this kind of guidance.)

OGDEN: What do you hope people take away from the film when they are done watching it?

ALBEE: A sense of hope... a sense of possibility... a sense of a larger "canvas" extending beyond the boundaries of the screen, that they themselves may be able to find a part of at some point in their life, (allegorically speaking).

This is purposefully not a film that lays all its secrets bare upon the first watching. I've had people tell me that they're still picking up on things "hidden" in transitions even after their fiftieth viewing.

I've had hard-as-nails ex-military people at screenings turn to me afterwards with tears in their eyes for having touched aspects that they, themselves, lived in the field.

I've had teens tell me that somehow they have something to hold to in their own lives...

I'm just a conduit. Doing my job means allowing this focus to come through me as clearly as possible... even I continue to find meaning within this story, every single time I see it.

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OGDEN: What do you think the future of animation is?

ALBEE: Freedom.

I believe that Traditional Animation will exist as a choice, in much the same way that theatre exists as choice.

And for many who, within the Big Studio way of doing things, may have had their creative careers relegated to being second bananna to the "stars" of animation. With the computer being able to handle the grunt-work of a hundred or more highly-skilled artist / technicians, they can then be their own stars and leads.

I believe that there are hundreds of Walt Disneys and Hayao Miyazakis out there that have been, for whatever reasons, squashed and constrained into cubicles of disbelief and disregard.

Sure, it may be harsh at first, having to fend for one's self after a cushy job within a big studio... but think of the possibilities when those Dreamers start to take their own Dreams in hand and tell the kinds of stories that they, themselves, have always wanted to have been told!

Take a look at John Lasseter and Tim Burton! Given the chances to do what they always wanted to do, they've shown far more brightly than they ever could have, had they remained as bits-and-pieces within the Corporate Machine that exists where the art and guidance of Walt Disney once flourished.

OGDEN: How did you get involved with your distributor (KURV Studios)?

ALBEE: KURV Studios came about, in part, out of discussions with my editor at Wordware, about how frustrating it was that people who've read the series of books I've written on animation and Filmmaking, would still have a fight ahead of them to get distribution. KURV Studios exists as a place for training, an option for distribution, and perhaps soon, a hub for networking.

OGDEN: What are you working on next?

ALBEE: A the moment, I've been doing a fair amount of consulting work, setting up production pipelines, inspirational lectures and the like.

I'm in the process of securing funding for the Kaze feature film, and all the fun stuff that must happen before a production can begin. After the "Kaze" feature, there's the "Kaze, Ghost Warrior" series and another feature film with the working title of "Wolfpack," in varying stages of pre-production.

The big picture ideal is to have TA Animation be a place where people can come to learn animation within an actual production environment. Many people come out of film school and try to enter into the workplace, only to find that the education they had paid lots of money for was not what studios are looking for.

Teamwork, integration, ingenuity and integrity are the hallmark of both good artists and good leadership. And the only way you can get this is to be a part of a strong, cohesive production team - ideally, right from the beginning.

OGDEN: Thank you for talking to us.

ALBEE: Thanks very much for the opportunity! I wish your readers the best in grabbing hold of their Dreams with both hands and doing all they need to do to bring them into a Reality we all can enjoy!