JTHM

I'm a big fan of comic books and graphic novels. Most graphic novels have great artwork and good story lines, but most of them go along the same style. A big, strong, yet flawed superhero has to overcome the villain who is the exact opposite of what he is.

There is one I cam across about a year ago that was nothing like any other comic I had ever read. A little independent graphic novel called "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac" by Jhonen Vasquez. I'm betting at this point you probably laughed a little, that's the point. The story centers around a young guy named Johnny C. who throughout most of the comic (obviously) kills people. What makes this more than a simple blood book is the story line behind it. Johnny is very emotional character who sees only the underlying evils of everyone around him. And he takes this info to weed out those he sees as unfit to affect the world around them. The best part of all this is that this whole horrific story is actually supposes to be funny. It was one of the first of what they cal a "dark" or "gothic" comedy, in which that which we hold sad or evil, is portrayed as funny. 

It's unique in the fact that it took so many risks in its subject matte and presents a unique story line and art style as show here:

(this is about the least graphic I could find)

If you're easily offended, I would not recommend this series ever. But if you can get past the violence then it's a great read.

Unique Game Designs

The thing about games today that disappoints me the most today is the fact that they all seem the same. It's a giant mess of gritty, greyscale graphics and first person shooting. However, there are a few out there that are just amazingly unique and creative in their presentation.

The examples I have ready are Assassin's Creed 2, No More Heroes, and the Final Fantasy series.

AC 2 basically is a game about a war between assassins and the Knights Templar. What makes it so unique is the gameplay and story elements. You are allowed to climb on every building you see to travel throughout a large city in Renaissance Italy, allowing you to approach you're targets from any angle you choose. Not only that, but the historical references are amazing, and educational. No More Heroes is a one in a million game. It has a very strange, satyrical story line, and cell shaded graphics. The Final Fantasy series has always been a unique series being the first series ever to develop the RPG progression system (character progression and stats).

These example show that there are a few unique  designs in games out there today and that shooters aren't the only option out there.   

3D vs. Claymation

I've always been a fan of 3D animation. Some of my favorites when I was young were movies like Nightmare Before Christmas and Toy Story. But I always noticed a big difference when I was young on how they looked, and I always wondered what type of effect that Tim Burton used to make his movie. 

I found out that the technique used in Nightmare (as well as most Burton Movies) is called Claymation (a.k.a Stop motion). It's basically creating clay models and moving them just a little and photographing each one. When you take several photos, you create an animation. 

The technique takes much longer than regular 3d animation., but by most animation critics is considered a more artistic approach. It's definitely a different and impressive approach, but not the fastest. But I'm no Futurist, so it's cool with me! 

Painting Programs

After working with different painting programs over the past couple of years, I've developed a very good opinion on what is better than the other.

There are several programs to choose from; Photoshop, Gimp, Chorrel, Open Canvas, and Sai are the most popular. Photshop, Chorrel, OC, and Sai all are paid programs. Gimp is free. It's also the worst one out of the group. It basically is the same thing as MS paint. 

Photoshop and Chorrel are the most expensive, but offer the most features. Sai and OC are cheaper but offer less features than Photoshop or Chorrel. From that, I believe that Photoshop and Chorrel are the best. From there, it's all up to what type of paintings you want. Photoshop gives works a refined, digitally made feel. Chorrel gives them a realistic, oil painted feel.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that people who want to use paint programs should look into several different programs before buying.

 

New Media Tools

As an artist, the tools I use are the most important thing. I need the correct tool for the job, or the project itself will fail. That is why I looked into the Wacom Tablet.

I tested a few different tablets from Wacom. Tablets are basically mouse pads with the mouse replaced with a very complex pen tool. This basically allows someone to draw and paint freely on a computer program like Gimp or Photoshop. 

I've used the Wacom Bamboo model, the Intuos 3, and the Cintiq. I thought the Bamboo and Intuos were the best. The difference between the two sets is that the Cintiq actually has a screen where you see what you are drawing. The other two do not. The sensors on the Cintiq, however, feel off when you draw. Plus, they're somewhere around $1,500 dollars, the Bamboo is $100 and the Intuos is $300. 

People are better off getting the cheaper models, especially if they're just starting with digital artwork.

development of Virtual Reality

The new approach of most new media forms such as phones, games, and television is virtual reality. Things like the Wii already use the concept in every game design they make.

 The concept has been in play in new media for several years, but the technology was inefficient and sometimes harmful, such as the Nintendo headset made in 1990. It let you watch your games in infrared from a headset, which would give a headache in 1 hour, and could blind you in two! Other examples include the arcade games that allowed you to shoot at the screen and hit enemies or games that used to similar technology to simulate bats or golf clubs.

In my opinion, the approach to this new form of media is a little fast. The technology is still awkward and hard to use, however it will become a wonderful tool when it is perfected. Knowing this is definitely helpful for any new media designer in games as this is going to be the way of the future. 

Making the Conventional Unconventionally

After this last assignment, I began to think on other examples of create a presentation of a medium that isn't commonplace for the particular presentation. One I personally enjoy to see people use is map editors in video games.

In the game Halo 3, players can create their own levels using a map editing system called "Forge". In its initial release, Forge was meant to create levels specifically for multiplayer fighting matches, however, there are several people who have learned to exploit the physics Halo offers and actually make creative artistic mobile designs rather than just simple maps. A good example here shows a mobile design created by a group of players last year to wish Bungie, the creators of Halo, a Merry Christmas 

link

Even thought the program wasn't designed for this, a group of creative took something conventional and made something unconventional but well designed out of it. There are several other examples on Youtube and other sites of people taking what limited options they have for creating an artistic statement and succeeding in doing so, especially in Halo Forge. 

Crazy Invention

Recently in my N100 class we discussed the advancement of New Media product design. One product in particular had one of the most poorly designed commercials I had seen. It was basically table sized iPhone but designed by Windows. It allows for people to transfer data to each other by laying their phones on the table and moving the data with there fingers, plan out routes on roads, and pay for dinners, all using a large touch screen. 

The problem here is that the product obviously isn't designed for home use. Something this big is more designed for a restaurant, hotel, or cafe. The thing costs about 10,000 dollars to own. The commercial, however, aimed it as something built more home use. 

The fact here is that when you create something, you have to watch how you advertise it or people get the wrong idea about what your product is designed for. For home use we already have the iPhone. We don't need a big table to plan out a route to the cafe.  

One Man Guitar Band

Over Youtube there are tons of people who are famous for theses one man band acts. I found one channel in particular that plays several tracks from the Final Fantasy 7 video game. He's very good.

Link 

What's done here is one individual plays several different instruments, or in this case several different parts to a song and creates a whole musical piece. Several people have done versions of these, but only cover one of the parts of the song. This one is truly one of the best. 

This shows how people today are multitalented and creative. People can still make a name for themselves without the assistance of many people. 

Here's a link to another one man band:

Link

 

The Artistry of Cosplay

Over the weekend I visited an anime convention in Indianapolis. During my time there I observed what they call cosplayers (Costume Players), which are people who dress up like their favorite characters from a video game or anime. 

These costumes can range from the simple to the extravagant. They can be as cheap as throwing together $30 worth of clothing to spending over $200 on one costume. I noticed that people put enormous amounts of effort into the costumes they wear. In my opinion, it's a great experience and very fun, but a huge but good waste of time and money

What this tells me is what can be considered a well designed outfit for a character in a graphic novel or artistic presentation, because people tend to dress as the character who they like the most, which are usually the ones with the best outfits. It's good for reference on what's a perfect outfit design, and character design.

Cell Shading vs. Rendering

As anyone can tell from these blogs, I'm a fan of the 3D world. I always find something interesting when I research this area. 

I decided to discuss the different types of rendering I've found in the past few weeks. I always knew of the realistic, traditional rendering that I saw from games I played, but recently a friend of mine showed me a unique style called "cell shading."

The technique itself, as it turns out is a style of rendering that causes all the graphics to look like hand drawn or hand painted artwork. Several games (particularly the Nintendo games) such as the Legend of Zelda series, No More Heroes, and BorderLands use this style. I find it very useful to give game designs a unique, stylish look.

 It can add a sense of artistic intensity, such as in BorderLands, or give the game a cartoonish, carefree feel, Such as in LOZ. It also works in movies and animations just as well, though it isn't often used (which I find very disappointing...).

Change of Career Outlook

Recently, I've had thoughts about changing my career choice.

Originally when I came to college, my dream was to become an animator. That had been my plan for the last few years. But as time has marched on through this semester, I feel I should consider game design instead. I've had several classes on the development of new media, and the field of animation is dying in terms of two-dimensional animation. While I still might do some things with flash for fun or alternate career options, I'm starting to realize that game design is the better way to go. I've thought this ever since I saw the different things I can do with game design as well as the exposure of new games by friends, students, and teachers.

The availability to be a game designer has become so much easier with things like Xbox Live and independent games, It's so much easier to get into than animation. Plus, it's so much more interactive and immersive, and just is a whole other experience all together. 

As a result, I've taken the path of game design instead.