A Simple Plan by Gary Hesketh

[snowjosie]

THIS IS A GREAT VIDEO TO SHOW ANYONE THAT IS STRUGGLING IN FINDING THEIR PLACE IN THIS LIFE. OR FINDING THE MOTIVATION TO PROGRESS EVEN THOUGH YOU AND OTHERS ARE STRUGGLING AND PEOPLE AROUND YOU ARE FAILING OR JUST NOT GETTING IT.. KEEP MOVING FORWARD. YOU DONT KNOW HOW MUCH THIS SONG MEANS TO ME. THANK YOU FOR USING YOUR TALENT IN THIS UNIQUE WAY! JUSTIN STONE

[merrycenci]

I m sorry... I m sorry I haven t listened to this song before, but I promise I m going to do it at least once a day till I ve got enough (that s to say: when I m dead or deaf...)

Thank you Gary to color my days

[smartbluecat]

@merrycenci That's OK, I have quite a few songs up now so I'm not surprised there are a few you haven't seen. Glad you like this one. It was in many ways a tech test for what later became Create Myself (animated textures and all that). Come back as often as you like.

:o)

Gary

[merrycenci]

@smartbluecat  ;- D

[merrycenci]

I m sorry.... I m sorry I haven t listened to this song before, but I promise I m going to do it at least once a day till I ve got enough (that s to say: when I m dead or deaf... )

Thank you Gary to color my day

[LukasVideosify]

Thanks, Gary. :)

[LukasVideosify]

Hey, Gary!

How did you actually make the black 3-D character?

I mean: The grass/hair looks absolutely like being made in Maya but

most other compoments (esp. background) look like being animated with After Effects CS3. Did you render the finished 3-D character out and then put it into AE or did you maybe even all in Maya?

And most of all: How did you actually synchronise it so perfectly?

(To me synchronising seems to be one of the most difficult things at all)

Greets, Lukas ;)

[smartbluecat]

@LukasVideosify Hey man. I rendered out the background separately so I could effect it in post using AE as you guessed. To sync it I filmed my face singing not moving my head at all for the head texture, animated the flower in AE, I attached that to my character and did a playblast to check the thing had lined up OK. (create myself was a harder) I timed all the the background shifting with AE in post using colour tools etc distorting the basic Maya render. Hope that helps.

:o)

G

[54321bb]

Thanx gary bril love it.5*****

[SomebodyIusedtoknow]

i almost forgot how brilliant you are. inspiring ♥

[smartbluecat]

@SomebodyIusedtoknow Thanks so much! Come by any time.

:o)

Gary

[ScalerWave]

Wow dude, that was great !

[smartbluecat]

Cheers man. Glad you liked it.

:o)

G

[panthersocks]

You are truly one of the most impressive artists on You Tube and beyond. The fact that you can - write the song, record it, conceive a video then pull it off at such a high level across the board is sooooo impressive. You were clearly built for this, or like so many artists built yourself for this. Bless you and your kin magic man.

:)

[smartbluecat]

Dude, you leave some of the best comments ever.

Thank you so much.

:o)

Gary

[loopyone73]

Vous êtes simplement le meilleur. A pensé j'essaierais quelque chose différent cette fois. Bravo monsieur. =)

[loopyone73]

Eté-t-cela sensé ? Je ne fie pas ces wotsits de traduction. Il n'y a pas de mot français pour wotsit lol. ; )

[smartbluecat]

Merci beaucoup. Vous êtes trop gentil. Traducteurs ne sont pas merveilleux?

: o)

G

[smartbluecat]

oui c'est logique. Je n'ai pas eu wotsits dans les âges.

: o)

G

[loopyone73]

I translated - 'They make your mush go all orange' which came back as 'Ils font votre bouillie aller toute orange.' which translated back to 'They do your end to go all orange one.' 

Merveilleux et amusant aussi.

Have a great day man. =)

[SanDiLee21]

@loopyone73 Yeah...whatever you said (???) Its brilliant isn't it, he is one of the best here on YT.....as are you Paul.

[DisforDelight]

.. @,@.. speechless...

[smartbluecat]

Grateful. :o)

[loopyone73]

Man this is monumentally brilliant.  There is nothing simple about you mate apart from that you're simply a genius. The fact that I don't think you know it makes it even more special.

[smartbluecat]

Hey! Just saw your comment. Thank you, mate. A compliment always means more when you respect the person giving it.

Cheers again.

:o)

[Projoiner1]

Wow .....

Great stuff man, thanks for sharing

Cheers

[smartbluecat]

Thank you for watching.

:o)

[BigLoveZone]

Seeing this for the third time and it ain't got boring a bit. Great work, Gary! xo

[withnailus]

Thought you would like it

[smartbluecat]

Glad to hear it!

:o)

[healthyaddixion]

WOW. faved, vlogged and subbed. AMAZING!

[smartbluecat]

Thank you so much!

Glad you liked it. Stop by any time.

:o)

[withnailus]

Amazing is the word

[withnailus]

Wonderful work, love the song and the video which idea came first ?. Such great work, much respect.

[smartbluecat]

Cheers! The song always comes first with me. The quick and instantly expressive act of creating music is so meditative. I often use it to let off steam while I'm working on a big animation. I'll then think about the themes that may work visually and do a video with a short pipeline - This video took about four days. Bla bla bla. Sorry.

:o)

Thanks for watching and leaving a nice comment.

[healthyaddixion]

my god! awesome!!

[fuckoffycus]

I love it Gary!!! Wicked vid and lyrics, a nice 'Coldplay' feel to it, if I'm making sense!? I love 'Coldplay'. YOU ROCK!!! Gonna add this to my fav's now, thanks for sharing!!! All the stars for ya *****

[smartbluecat]

Trish! Hey! Thanks very much. Glad you liked it.

How the hell are you?

:o)

[annaalmar]

Wow, awesome work with all of that! :D

[smartbluecat]

Thank you very much! It's one of my more abstract ones. :o)

You may like Robotterfly (a Maya animation on my channel, phew it was tough!) if you get time to check it out. I love your work. Thanks again for answering my question.

Take care Anna!

[AVDJ]

I just love this video.

[smartbluecat]

Thanks man! Very glad you do.

Cheers for dropping by - you're welcome any time.

:o)

[SanDiLee21]

Look....you made it to the top and now you are flying..!!! yeah, I agree with Rose,  I needed another fix too.... Thank You !!

[smartbluecat]

Hey! It's a tough climb but the view is amazing! Thank for coming back for seconds, Sandi. Always great to see you.

:o)

[SanDiLee21]

Right....I'm about half-way there and I'm digging what I can see is waiting cause....I want to do that levitation thing too!!!

[Capriceism77]

Very cool! Thank you for sharing this Sandi!

[smartbluecat]

Hey! Thanks for watching.

:o)

[WavelengthRose]

came back for another fix..

[smartbluecat]

I'm glad you did Rose. Visit any time.

:o)

[smartbluecat]

Hey! Well... the whole vid is meant to be metaphorical and kinda surreal - a more defined human would have looked a bit wrong in the highly stylized environment - his walk is also as simple as he is, the robotic movement is meant to suggest how relentless he is at reaching the top. Also the men are visualisations of the words I wrote "The hollow silhouette stare..." and of-course "I am a simple man." Detail would subtract from what the song's about. Cheers for watching.

:o)

[daneboe]

Hey Gary...is this song available for purchase or download anywhere? I LOVE it!

[tulpa1234]

Hi Gary.. Are you getting any work as a result of these? If not, why not? You really are very very good..

Richard

[smartbluecat]

Not any work because of my music but Robotterfly has generated a bit.

:o)

Thanks for watching Richard!

:o)

[kinggreywolf]

thanks for making this

[smartbluecat]

Thanks for watching this.

:o)

[Elphyrafire]

Great song! Really enjoyed it. Let me know when it's on itunes! Seriously.

[smartbluecat]

Thank you so much. You never know.

:o)

Cheers for stopping by!

[atomictrain513]

Cool.

[smartbluecat]

Thank you!

:o)

[mnmtwinz]

This video deservse way more views ratings and comments. this video is AWESOME 5/5 stars and faved. i would love it if i could download this song ;D

[smartbluecat]

Thank you so much! That means a lot.

:o)

Feel free to pass it around if you wish.

Cheers for checking it out. Have a great week.

:o)

[mnmtwinz]

i sent this vid to all of my contacts hope this helps :D

mnmtwinz

[smartbluecat]

You're very kind! Thank you! Appreciated!

:o)

[panthersocks]

I love the message! Makes me feel I can do anything! It's not over the top, no pun intended, it's a work of art. Beautiful and meaningful.

I can't stay away. I may prefer this to To Bed... by a hair!

:)

[smartbluecat]

That's great man. I'm glad you liked it so much. Yeah To Bed is a very different vibe.This is more upbeat. Always nice to hear from you.

:o)

[AhBeer]

MMMMM?

Not sure about this one SBC. I think maybe I have missed the point? Is it a music Vid? Or is the music there just to enhance the vid work? I think the jury is still out with this one, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe it just went over my head? mmm? Still good to see the work is still coming from you. Keep it up M8!

[smartbluecat]

Hehe! Each to their own mate. No worries.

:o)

I wrote the song and kinda liked they way it turned out so thought I'd bash a video out using a simple style(ended up being bloody complex). Sometimes it's nice to splatter paint around and go for emotion and hang everything else... to a degree of course.

:o)

I'm surprised so many people got what Im was aiming for!:o)

Take care mate.

[woahhitsmaurax]

creepy

[smartbluecat]

I don't know - looks like more of a stride to me... :o)

[WavelengthRose]

i like it more and more..

[smartbluecat]

Thank you Rose. I'm very glad you do!

:o)

[DavidRandallCurtis]

how did i miss this--just saw it cos i was sending you a new poem/ 5 stars faved==========great work

[smartbluecat]

Why thank you! Glad you found it and found it to your liking.

:o)

[LetArtsLive]

how did you make this video?I like the song.Of course not that im complaining i always think it needs a heavy metal riff or 2..dan

[smartbluecat]

Cheers! Short version of that answer - I filmed my head and lip synced to the song, I then animated the flower in AE and masked around my head to get it to fade to black on the outside, then rendered head and flower as an Xvid file. I built the man and scene in Maya(animated an atomatonistic walk cycle) then used the Xvid as a texture for his face. I rendered out the background(no man or hill) as a tga image seq, then vise versa with the man.Into AE to get a painterly look, that was tough.:o)

[LetArtsLive]

wow that is a lot of work.Amazing effects.Did you learn this in college?

[smartbluecat]

Nope, I'm self taught. This vid took five days -that's fast for me-my hardest video so far was ROBOTTERFLY, that took over four months not including building the robot, room and butterfly . I saved up and got my first pc about four years ago and started teaching my self by trial and error... a lot of error! My learning would of been faster if I'd had the internet for tutorials and help but I only got that two years ago... I'm cooking with gas now though. Thanks for watching! Appreciated!

:o)

[orangewoman671]

What a simple plan!!! Awesome vid and cool tune....my fav.

[smartbluecat]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for taking a look.

:o)

[PhilosopherFresh]

Wow! This was Amazing bro! Faved! 5 ***** awesomeness!

loved it man! you are truly talented!!

[smartbluecat]

Thanks mate. Glad you enjoyed it.

:o)

[lapislazuline]

"i find your ideas intriguing and would like

to subscribe to your newsletter"

[smartbluecat]

I'd better get cracking on that first issue then.

:o)

Thanks for watching.

[SPIDER]

good job

[smartbluecat]

Thank you.

:o)

[JudysMusic]

F A N T A S T I C ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[smartbluecat]

T H A N K Y O U !

:o)

[Babungus]

Superb, other worldly. What a talented crazy cat you are!

[smartbluecat]

Thanks man. Glad you liked the craziness.

:o)

[roadbiketraveller]

'A Simple Plan'

The basis of an endless discussion. How to embrace reality yet achieve serenity and a sense of meaning......

Gary,- that you share your work with us is a spontaneous act of generosity.

This video is beautiful. Thank you.

.x.

[smartbluecat]

You're very welcome. Thank you so much for another great comment. That hill's a 1st gear job!

:o)

[roadbiketraveller]

Yes I know, I've attacked that hill many times and am almost strong enough to pull you up if you draft in behind.

.x.

[smartbluecat]

I bet you are.

:o)

[rpatzelt]

Simply :) wonderful!

[smartbluecat]

Thank you!

:o)

[owlphanumeric]

this is INSANELY good! i can't get over it. need mp3. srsly. this is amazing.

[smartbluecat]

Wow! The lovely owlphanumeric! Thank you so much for dropping by and leaving such a nice comment!

:o)

[SanDiLee21]

Your simple plan is a brilliant plan, the journey up the mountain is not easy as ....that's ME falling down behind you...boing....boing..! but I'll get up, dust myself off and try again as I want to see whats on the other side. Really well done, thank you.

[smartbluecat]

Ah! Hey SanDiLee2! Thank you so much for watching and leaving a nice comment. I've fallen down that hill so many times! That's why at the start I'm at the bottom... phew it's a tough climb!

:o)

[SanDiLee21]

Yeah.....it is. After awhile I have discovered that if you are going to fall down the mountain again, make like a ball and....ROLL......!!!!! LOL

[Clobberbob55]

Hello, my wonderfully talented friend.

Again, I find myself groping for words that might express the affect of your work.

I tried, but there's just no way to prepare myself for the extent of mind-blowing I must endure to observe your projects, lol.

I want to say you've floored me.....but the affect is more like levitation. Once again, your timing is impeccable.

Thank you for the heads up.

[smartbluecat]

Thanks mate. Your comments always mean a lot.

I'm very glad you liked it. If I ever get something, a book, a film. whatever out into the big wide world I'll come to you for the jacket quotation.

:o)

"there's just no way to prepare myself for the extent of mind-blowing I must endure to observe your projects." isn't just a very kind thing to say it's a bloody hilarious collection of words too.

:o)

Thanks again, bro. You Rock.

[EarlIam]

ommm,,,, I listened to this several times, and then i read your words,then i watched and listened, walking the journey with you, trying understand, where are you taking us, what a beutifull struggle, what wonderfully healing and encouraging words, the music all around , what a great ending, the light, the top,the view, the sweet chanting in the end of the journey, endurance can yield some wonderfull dreams,,,,, very nice,,,,,

[smartbluecat]

Thanks mate! Glad you liked it.

I'm off to climb the next mountain.

:o)

[1ertia]

Gary you never fail to amaze me!you're one of the few youtubers i'm totaly anticipating to watch their works!you gave me a chill on the spine with this:)beautiful work,keep going:)

[smartbluecat]

I'm so glad you enjoy what I do. Thank you for such a touching comment.

:o)

G

[Mepamper]

Wow! 1 day and almost 300 views!!

[smartbluecat]

Yeah... it's my fastest climber yet! Boom boom!

:oP

[Mepamper]

Geez Gary! You did it again!!  You rock!! Catchy little tune isn't it!? I have played it 3 x's and now it's in my head! ;) You have a true gift and determination at what ever you do! You're blowin' me away!! BIG KUDOS!!

[smartbluecat]

Thank you so much, M. Good to see you here as always.

:o)

[Mepamper]

You have a myspace channel??

[smartbluecat]

Nope I'm afraid not. You Tube takes up enough of my time. lol

:o)

Thanks for the send - the guy's very good indeed.

:o)

[Mepamper]

Yea.. You're a busy guy for sure..Just seems that is the place where artists and musicians tend to flock and the place some musician's managers tend to suggest they maintain a profile to gain exposure in the industry.. Just a thought my friend. Many aren't on it every day and it's a place to put yours songs for a wider rang of people perhaps in the future?!

[smartbluecat]

Indeed! Yeah it's a great idea. I'll get around to it one day soon.

:o)

[Mepamper]

Cool.. Most only put up 4-5 songs in general.. although with that said.. I have seen some place 1-2 there with their link to YT.

[wigon]

I thought I had left a comment but couldn't find it. Just wanted to add to my pm that I just realized after listening to it that there is a piano in it as well that I didn't even catch. The layers of movement woven together is truly mind blowing with the lush crescendos feeling like waves of emotions hitting my soul. As others said, THIS is what YouTube is all about. Your willingness to share your gift with us however, is what I think humanity is all about. This is true Art! Thank you Gary!

[smartbluecat]

Wow! Great comment! That means a lot coming from you. Thank you very, very much. I agree - sharing our perspectives and experiences is what it's all about I reckon.

:o)

[smartbluecat]

your pm? I didn't get a private message from you... maybe you tube ate it.

[wigon]

Yeah, I think cuz I made the mistake of replying directly from my hotmail notification. Oops. lol

[tinySpectacle]

I love the lyrics here, especially the refrain: "I am a simple man...makes fear a coward." A very compelling song.

So you are a "Gary," my brother an father's name as well. :)

[smartbluecat]

Hey! Yeah I'm a Gary... really a Gareth but I don't use that much.

:o)

Thanks so much for checking this out.

:o)

[vicanny1]

Well done, all really impressive :)

[smartbluecat]

Thanks V! Nice of you drop by.

Hope all is well.

:o)

[happymat27]

Blinding tune you've made there :) A real interesting video too, nice style.

[smartbluecat]

Cheers man! Thanks for dropping by.

:o)

[dashpoet]

Great piece of work - it's what YouTube is all about, what makes it worthwhile. 5*

[smartbluecat]

Thanks Dash! Nice of you to stop by.

:o)

[RANDOMATNESS]

Superb original animation of proverb - hope many skateboarders achieve proficiency before their hair grows too long - youtube should create a special rating above 5 just for you

[smartbluecat]

Hehe. Cheers man. thanks for watching.

:o)

[marcmickey]

cool video--

[smartbluecat]

Cheers!

:o)

[babypandacat]

What a lovely song! It makes me feel like I'm walking with u on your journey to fly. Lyrics were fab and it was lovely to see your face. It must have been quite funny videoing that. As for the animation u know I thing u r amazing! Great job! Take care

[smartbluecat]

Thank you.

:o)

[cinderellalifestyle]

how incredible is that-??---!!!!!!!!!,.....!!!!!­!!

I know hours and hours had to go into this production,..I feel privileged! way to go!!!! :-) big applause!

[smartbluecat]

What a lovely comment! Thank you!

:o)

[kentishbloke]

Highly original. Love It :))

[smartbluecat]

Thanks Tim! Glad you like it.

:o)

Cheers for taking a look.

[londonpenda]

Ex-Cell-Lant

[smartbluecat]

Thank you very much!

:o)

[kristshun]

Good stuff, very cool-

K-

[smartbluecat]

Thanks K!

Cheers for stopping by.

:o)

[babypandacat]

Fab love it love it! I 'll comment better when I watch it again when I wake up. Nite nite

[marycigarettes]

you're the business!

[smartbluecat]

Thanks so much for checking this out.

Cheers, man.

:o)

[DaSkateChannel]

nice homie, def keep up the hard work !!

[smartbluecat]

Thanks! I will.

:o)

[mcasual]

gravo great looking video and the song was radioheadish (to my humble ears :) ) :) i got to remember to add more glow to my videos :)

[smartbluecat]

Thanks! The glow is a tough mistress.

I need to remember to not use it so much. It took a lot of keying to keep it under control this time.

:o)

Cheers for stopping by.

:o)

[bowlingballout]

Absolutely spectacular. I really enjoy your talent!

[smartbluecat]

Hey mate! Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this. :o)

Two years since we bumped into each other here and you're still watching. Cheers to you, sir. I appreciate your support.

:o)

[soccer4lifez]

i want to talk to u more often, because you'll get more famous, and i won't be able to.

[soccer4lifez]

nice video, but can u add me, and sub me. :)

[smartbluecat]

Thanks for the nice words.

:o)

Regarding subs - not the way it works here mate. Sorry. I don't sub randomly.

Take it easy and have a great weekend.

[panthersocks]

Had to come back! A lesser artist would have got caught up in getting a naturally human walk cycle - I know you're capable, but so glad you didn't - the choice to make him atomaton-like in movement adds so much power to the message. You have to be single minded and to reach your goals and that is expressed wonderfully in his motion. Astounding!!

[smartbluecat]

Thanks again! Yeah it was a tough choice!!!! I started with more natural motion but it stood out and, as you said, didn't fit the message. Glad you "got" what I was going for.

Cheers!

:o)

[andyisbrilliant]

Awesome, love the video love the song. How's the view at the top there? ;)

[smartbluecat]

Not bad mate. I can see the base of a bigger mountain in the distance though, better get my climbing boots back on.

:o)

Thanks for watching.

Gary

[MelodyProsser]

Wow! Gary, I love this one and posted it on Facebook.

[smartbluecat]

Thanks very much! Post it wherever you want.

:o)

[twohawksfucking]

It isn't often I'm blown away by what I see on here--TinySpectacle's poetry does it--but this is work worthy of serious superlatives!

Nice, Gary...

Roy

[smartbluecat]

I'm honoured to be mentioned in the same sentence as Lo. Thank you so much man. That means a lot.

:o)

[CLAYM8s]

Nice job:D

[smartbluecat]

Thanks!

:o)

[dirtysock145]

wow this insane!!!

[smartbluecat]

...err thank you?

:o)

[clayLavl]

this is pretty cool..

[smartbluecat]

pretty cool of you to say! Cheers.

:o)

[clayLavl]

i'm not cool.

[smartbluecat]

Sure you are, Clay! You're called Clay for Petes sake!

:o)

[clayLavl]

u r cool.

[smartbluecat]

Right! We're both cool. OK?

:o)

[panthersocks]

Wow! There's such beauty in what you do.

:)

[smartbluecat]

Cheers! Not enough beauty yet... there's more to come.

Thanks for dropping by.

:o)