I’m coming up for air after an eventful GDC week. Did I mention: Lightning Prototypes, a group of crazy-talented folks, is now open for business?
We’re only a few days old, so there’s not much to tell you, but be assured, exciting things are in motion!
Once again, I am humbled to be working in the company of a truly outstanding group of visionaries, dreamers and doers.
Answer: The internet is broken.
My friends Dan Thron, Ben Hansford and their talented cadre are creating a whole series of these damn funny, love-filled tributes to the glory that is TRON.
That I have not told you about these sooner is a shame that will haunt me well into next week. But don’t take my word for it. That’s why they invented hyperlinks.
![Tron Reboot](http://www.chromecow.com/wp-content/graphics/Main/Tron_Reboot.jpg")
Where is episode 04 you ask?
Exactly…
Links have been fixed. Thanks Mark!
I had a great conversation recently with a couple of good friends, both grizzled industry veterans. A couple of quick introductions, before jumping in.
Gareth Hinds kicks off the conversation. Gareth is a creator of graphic novels, whose excellent adaptations of Beowulf, King Lear and The Merchant of Venice are not to be missed. He also has a dark, secret past as an extraordinary game artist.
Dave Konieczny is co-founder of Bithoard Games, whose recent release Blastination is one of my favorite iPhone games.
Gareth: What advice do you give to high school kids who think they want to become game designers? Is there anything like a recommended course of study as they head into college?
I recently got asked about this by two different kids.
Sean: You’re asking me? I just made stuff up as I went along, and somehow got people to pay me. But that was more than a decade ago…not sure that works anymore. };^)
Having a background in programming and art is certainly helpful from the standpoint of effectively communicating your ideas. That has certainly been a huge help to me over the years.
There will be math. Algebra, trig, statistics. You will be happy with a strong foundation in maths. The more you know the better off you’ll be.
But the biggest thing, and here is where I think art is important, they have to make themselves keen observers. They also need to read widely, travel, go for nature walks, pretty much everything but sit in a classroom/cubicle all day. Get out of the echo chamber of popular culture once and awhile.
Tell them not to get attached to ideas. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Focus on turning ideas into a product, a demo, something real.
Wow. My friends are really kicking ass this week. Rich and Tina launched their new show, and now Gareth grabs a little national media attention.
You go!
I’ve talked about my friend Gareth Hinds here once before, when he signed a deal to publish with Candlewick Press. While King Lear is still working it’s way to the shelves, Candlewick has released a magnificent hardcover edition of an earlier work, a graphic novel adaptation of the old English epic poem, Beowulf.
I was thrilled to hear from Gareth that Beowulf was getting a review in today’s New York Times Sunday Book Review. The review compares three adaptations of the work, and they lead with Gareth’s new edition.
While I am enough of a geek to cringe when they call a graphic novel a comic-book, I can’t grouse too much, as they give the book a very
nice review. Here’s snippet:
Hinds stages great fight scenes, choreographing them like a kung-fu master and then drawing them from a variety of vantage points, with close-ups, wide angles and aerial views. In its way, the result is as visceral as the Old English, which was consciously onomatopoeic, and by changing his palette for each of the poem’s three sections he evokes its darkening rhythm.
It’s a fantastic book, much (all?) of which was hand painted on wood, which gives a subtle and beautiful sense of weight and age. You really should go buy it right now.
Theatre is alive in well in Los Angeles, in no small part due to my good friends Rich Alger and Tina Kronis. They are the creative force behind Theatre Movement Bazaar. They’ve just announced their new show, Monster of Happiness. This is their tenth (by my count) original show, and going strong.
They consistently choose interesting and challenging themes to explore. This time they take on…well, I’ll let them explain it:
Monster of Happiness is a psycho-physical, science fiction love story based on the myth of Adam and Eve and examining a cornerstone of the American Dream: the pursuit of happiness.
In this work the company pursues the 20th century aesthetic innovations of early American modernist literature, Meyerhold’s Biomechanics, and post revolution ‘Soviet Style’ cinema. Integral to this process is a feedback loop, an invitation for the public (via the TMB web site) to provide personal views on happiness.
That last bit is important. They are asking the web public (that’s you!) to fill out a brief questionnaire about happiness. Some good, thought-provoking questions, and it can be answered anonymously, so the government web-spiders won’t find out your views on questions such as:
- If you had to choose between happiness and peace, which would you choose?
- What do you imagine to be the happiest era in world history?
- What’s better than being happy?
The show premieres at the 24th St. Theatre.
Show Times
June 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30, July 6, 7, 13, 14 @ 8:30pm
Late night shows June 30 & July 7 @ 10:30pm
You can buy tickets for the show online.
I have the good fortune to be friends with a number of wildly talent folks. One of them is fellow by the name of Gareth Hinds , an illustrator who has done a number of graphic novel adaptations of great works of literature. You may have seen his Beowulf , or Bearskin . You probably haven’t seen his soon to be published King Lear.
Gareth has recently entered an agreement with Candlewick Press. They will soon be releasing a new edition of his Beowulf and other new projects
Gareth is casting one of those upcoming projects, and asked me to sit for him as a possible model for a small part. The image on left leads to the full scan of the quick test. I hope I make the cut!
Now don’t just sit there, go check out his work!
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