I've never actually played Assassins creed (accept on iphone) but its influence is powerful and inspiring. The Concept behind it seems to capture what many steampunks find kool about historical fantasy. Assassins Creed Two centres on Venice in the Renaissance period of 16th Century and everything thats awesome about that time.
On Top of this they have done a live action movie to accompany the release. Usually it's games that accompany Big Movies, not the other way around. Those who like historical action should check this film out, it is surprisingly well made and the main actor is very cool as the assassin. CHECK IT OUT!
Last week i got a small package in the post. Upon opening it i discovered a rather spiffing artwork book about Where the Wild Things are. Apparently i won it in some competition i had unintentionally taken part in. Well anyway it was a surprise to say the least and served only to excite me more for the film which is out December 9th in the UK.
Mean while all my american friends are telling me that i will love it because of the stories i tell in Second Life.
Was my Birthday not long ago and although the actual Birthday itself was a rather boring affair i did get Birthday messages from those who care, thanks everyone :).
I got new Scarf, Gloves, a shirt, a new bag, and my sister got me a spiffing braclet thingy with brass bits on it, nice!. On wednesday i went out to a chinese place and had a great meal, mmmm scollops.
On the Saturday i joined my young friends in exeter who went to the trouble of making me a cheesecake, and so started the Donkey Cheesecake day which ended with me buying a Goonies action figure to commemorate the occasion. It might just be simpler to watch the video below ;).
All in all, with whats happend during the past year, this Birthday was awesome and i'm looking forward to next year with a positive attitude.
I did not do anything much for Hallows Eve this year. I of course carved a pumpkin for my mum to stick outside her door for the trick or treaters, of which there was twice as many than previous year.
Im all aching from a most excellent last LARP event of the year. It feels like the year went rather quick. This year was the end of a cycle, with Balor defeated the High King sacrificed, the thrown empty for the first time in 7 years. It's just another example for which 2009 represents a year of change for me.
Even though Samhain is not quite yet, although who knows exactly when it's supposed to be, this time of year is when we celebrate the end of the summer months and knuckle down for the winter months. This was signified by a mighty feast in the Long House while the spirits of ancestors knocked on the door for food an drink. There were visits from old enemies such as Balor being hunted by The High King, a last glimpse of the great characters now to be resigned to legend. There was fire dancing and a thick fog adding a supernatural feel to an already magical atmosphere.
And at the end of this year of years i was with my friends and all was peaceful and good and thats more than i had ever hoped for this time last year.
Now comes a period of no LARP as the season ends. I hope to meet up with some of the gang throughout the winter period as we build up excitement for March next year when it all starts again.
I honor the dead and what I say is living while true, And my walk through the veil though some may fail will make old a new, And the year some may fear Is a wheel yet to turn, That which has been I now shall burn, That which I make , That which I take , That which I ask is yet to be earned I shall mend , and yet once more , through time's door
Its not long now. i've been following the production of this film for years and now its just over a month to go. Was frustrated and annoyed that they have decided against a world wide simultaneous release on the 16th of october. Instead us UK people will have to wait until December the 10th.
Im stupidly excited about this film, and so overwhelmingly worried it'll be shit. To many times have i gotten excited about a film, then gone to see it coming out wishing it had been more. Phantom menace, Golden Compass, Indiana Jonze, The Matrix.... the list is never ending.
But i always get a inkling from Aint It Cool News (AICN) The Geek Gods there review a film from a geeks heart. They wrote how Golden Compass had cut out the DARK in his materials, they reluctantly agreed that Indy Jonze:crystal skull was fun to see but still lacked SOMETHING (perhaps being in 1980). They get it right they tell it true, so i was nervous about reading reviews on the one film that could rescue my childhood from the pain that was Star Wars Prequels.
Spike Jonze’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is a staggeringly brilliant encapsulation of the intent and contents of Sendak’s book, but more so… of childhood itself. The result is a film of immense and unquestionable power that has the power to shake you more than any of you are really expecting.
And this is just the start of the amazingly good heart felt reviews from the people i trust about movies.
Somehow it's fantastical and naturalistic at the same time, a fantasy movie that seems to strip away all the artifice, all the bullshit. It throws away all the gimmicks and crutches you expect to see in a movie about this and replaces them with humanity, for good and bad. Through these monsters you have fun, you get scared, hurt, angry, you make friends, you forgive, you say goodbye. It's funny, but not jokey. It's weird, but not quirky. It's gloomy, but not "dark." It's narratively simple, but emotionally complex.
I have never read such excited and astonished reviews from these guys before. It's done nothing but added to the overwhelming desire to see and be immersed in this film. But why? it's just a movie!??? or perhaps there is something more deeper engrained in me thats yerning to see this film....... December the 10th.
[UPDATE] Just discovered the official website has been updated with more funky graphics, music and video, and some amazing new photos from the film. Almost as if at the last minute Warner brothers threw a shit load of extra cash at it. There is also an iPhone app coming out for it though not yet available in the UK.
Getting back into the old creative spirit has been fun. Jon introduced me to a couple of websites where you can pitch for prizes. 99Designs is the one i decided to try out first. You choose from a list of 'contests' then create a design and submit in the hope your design is picked as the winner and you get the prize money.
Sounds easy enough, except there is a lot of things to take into account. 1. lots and lots of others pitch to the same contest. 2. everyone can see everyone else's ideas. 3. The Contest Holders can make comments on what they like and don't like. 4. you can then use the comments to produce something they might like, so it's not always best to be the first. 5. BUT some contest winners become fond of a designer and will guide them into producing what they want, ignoring other designers. 6. Some briefs are rubbish, some are good. 7. Some contests will go dead, finish and you'll never hear from the Contest Holder again. 8. Took me 2 weeks, 10 contests before i won ONE contest. So be prepared to build a mountain of unused work.
It might very well be that the amount of work done ain't worth the return in Contest winnings. I have found even though i have not won anything much, i'm still enjoying working on the contests. Seeing what everyone else does, comparing work and ideas helps inspire the creative mind and keeps it in tune. Im also building quite a portfolio of work that has been created for clients rather than my own personal fun from briefs that are current.
This is a great way for new designers fresh from collage to get an idea of what clients demand from the comfort of your own home.
Some say this kind of website is going to kill Design Agencies. I dont believe this, if anything it will kill off all the shitty agencies that blag it every day like the agency i used to work for. The serious Design groups dont want clients who need a quick logo done or home pages thrown together in a day. In fact sites like 99designs take all the clients with no vision away from bothering the good design groups letting them concentrate on Clients who demand proper meaningful work. ;)
Been running about a lot last week. After recovering from some strange allergy i went to Bristol to meet up with Jon. We managed to pack in a lot including seeing Cloudy with a chance of meatballs...
Was a fun psychedelic mash of ridiculous ideas enjoyed in eye popping 3D. The man eating chicken did freak me out a bit.
We also eat and drank lots, and visited the Arnolfini Modern Art Exhibits which included work by a Johanna Billing whos short films and Music caught our attention and left a mark. Check out 'It's a Magical World' on her myspace page
There was also rather a lot going on in the streets of Bristol, so much so that we almost could not decide what next to do. In the end though we went to see Dorian Gray which turned out to be a rather Spiffing victorian thriller.
Looked really nice, had absinthe in one scene, Also the set up was great, the second half kinda went on a bit. But i will watch it again for sure!.
Eventually i had to go home though and it was not long before i was in Bideford checking out my friend Andrews new house. Him and his mate are busy gutting the place and adding a new modern look to EVERYTHING as it was previously owned by an old person.
Then on Wednesday i ventured to Exeter to meet up with Pippin and Wills to go see District 9 again, also pressured Pippin into reading Dorian Gray as i knew he would love it.
And now... Im relaxing, first weekend home for a long time. Working on a big Virtual World project in Second life as well as trying out the 99designs.com stuff. All seems to be trundling along at a pace that is acceptable.
Well i guess that depends on who they mean by 'the rest of us'. For years i've cried for someone to create a simple drag drop click and poke app that would allow you to build upon the basic gaming templates of yesteryear. I got my hands on Sawblades Power Gamefactory that allowed users to change assets on a scrolling shootem up. This was a kool bit of software, simple idea, but lacked the vision.
Now comes Gamesalad. Looks modern, has everything a modern online sensation should have. Compatability with all major online social networks the ability to publish to iphone. So what is it?
Gamesalad gives you the basics of all the basic game templates of yesteryear, shoot em ups, platformers, scrolling driving, RPG. It has all these and allows you to change and edit in a more graphical way. No need for skills in coding, no need for complex CC+ xcodey -booby wotzits language skills. this as they say on the website, is 'game creation for the rest of us'.
Im good at the graphics stuff, im shit at the codey stuff, its a simple problem which Gamesalad is here to fix. The interface is quite easy to get yur head around, and i soon had the Asteroids template suitably modified to be Gelatinous green cubes on a beach. Changing the controls of the player character was easy, and adding new sounds. In all it all seemed to be doing what i expected.
Then i tried adding another level..... I thought adding a simple 'change to scene 2' would be appropriate. Though the software did not think so. Ok so i went online and looked through the sites wiki, and forums. In the end i had to ask on the forums how to make the game change to a next level.
I got one response and i tried really hard to understand what he was saying, but as i think i've already mentioned before, Im good at the graphics stuff, im shit at the codey stuff. So when i had done what the guy said and was confused at why it did not work, i resigned to thinking maybe i'm not in that group that call themselves 'the rest of us', outcast once again.
Sooooo, went to Plymouth, to big up me bro Jason. Josie was there too and we ended up going to get chinese food..... BAD IDEA, Jay threw up in the night and i... well... i dont wonna talk about that.
We did manage to watch the most shit film i have ever bought, Mega Shark VS Giant Octopus. This film was promoted as being so crap its funny...... WRONG it's so crap its just CRAP. No one should go near this film, its not clever! Honestly, im a big fan of films that are so crap they are kool, this film is not one of them!
Josie was very polite saying she enjoyed it, bless her. ANYWAY after that we watched Dead Snow about Zombie Nazis's vs young medical students in a small cabin. BRILLIANT blood splattering romp of a film. EVERYONE should see this, its a classic. Scary, gory, and funny. If yu like Evil Dead, Severance or Shaun of the Dead, yu'll love dead snow.
Anyway next morning i helped Jay and Josie bake cakes, and for a laugh we thought we would microwave one. BAD IDEA, took ages for the burnt smokey smell to leave the kitchen.
I then hooked up with my mate Rob who i had not seen for months and we skipped off to see District 9 at the cinema.
AWESOME, cant praise this film enough. It's a nice clever thought provoking down to earth sci-fi with awesome weapons bolted onto a fantastic very human story. I found myself unable to laugh at some stuff because i felt ashamed to be human, this of course was intentional by the film makers. The documentive style of filming was great too. I often feel that film makers do special effects films with such impossible comic book angles that it makes it feel unreal. In District 9 when the robot at the end kicks off with all its weapons, it look awesome mainly because its filmed like you are seeing it across the street. I loved the film and i will be wanting to see it again if anyone else wants to?
