Silent Reviews

• 17 Again – Competent…

Napa and Columbine

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the day when two teenage boys entered the Columbine High School, carrying duffel bags that contained the guns and home-built propane bombs they would use to wantonly attack their fellow students. What followed is one of the deadliest school shooting in US history; an event that shook up the nation, sparked a cultural debate, inspired a movie, and created a term that has become synonymous with school shootings all around the world: Columbine.

Today also marks the day that an armed man walked across the Napa Valley Collage campus (my wife’s school), putting the college under a total lockdown, with SWAT teams and helicopters combing the perimeter for the suspect.

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Silent Reviews

• Watchment (movie) – Yes
• Bolt (Blu-ray) – Yes
• Rachel Getting Married (Blu-ray) – Yes
• Depeche Mode: Sounds Of The Universe – Yes

Monthly Hike: Point Reyes

When I was in my early teens, I caught a swashbuckling adventure movie about Sir Francis Drake on TV. The movie was probably awful, and the plot most certainly heavily romanticized. But back then, it impressed me enough to start naming my game characters after the legendary English captain/explorer/pirate (depending on who you listen to) – and ever since then, my Ultima avatars have been named “Drake”.

History caught up with me a few years ago when I moved to Marin County. Drake’s Bay at Point Reyes is considered to be the most likely landing spot during Drake’s 1579 world circumnavigation, and many local features (such as the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard) are a constant reminder of this colorful history.

Why am I telling you all this? Because during the past two weekends, Victoria and I visited to Point Reyes National Seashore to do some heavy-duty hiking. Point Reyes is well renowned for its great hiking trails and camping sites, played host to the classic horror movie The Fog (filmed in Inverness), and offers other attractions like the Point Reyes light house and great whale watching. Oh, Point Reyes  is also located smack middle on top of the San Andreas fault – the reason for the breathtaking terrain that makes up this part of California.

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Disney Resemblances

When you work in 3D animation you’ll sooner of later hear of the term “retargeting”. That’s when the artist/TD takes animation that was created for one rig (the skelton used to puppeteer a character) and applies (“retargets”) it to a different rig. That’s how animation sharing across multiple, different characters becomes possible. But if you think that this practice is a modern development, think again! The 2D equivalent of retargeting is “rotoscoping” – and it looks like Disney animators did quite a bit of it:

Quite an eye opener! Of course production realities and deadlines often encourage these kind of shortcuts, so I’m neither condoning nor condemning. The resemblance is very fun to watch, that’s for sure!

Found at ThinkingAnimation.

Silent Reviews

• A Quantum of Solace (Blu-ray) – Yes
• MLB2009 iPhone app – Yes
• Hypothetical MLB2009 iPhone app without bugs – Yes

Happy Easter!

The Power of Package Design

Adage.com has an article on how the Tropicana box redesign caused a 20% sales plunge. I can’t say I’m surprised; I remember seeing those new boxes at the supermarket and not recognizing them as Tropicana (or orange juice) in the first place. When I did, my reaction was “Why?” It seemed unnecessary when the old design was so powerful. A straw sticking in an orange communicates “100% orange juice from fresh produce! It’s like drinking straight from the orange!” The new design looked like a weird buttermilk carton instead. It even took me a while to figure out that the graphic represents a glass of juice! When seen from a few feet awsy, it looks like some sleek gradient design.

Obviously the Tropicana story serves as a strong lesson in the importance of branding. What seems unnecessary is the specific mention of designer Peter Arnell in the article. The man might be an asshole, but the designer didn’t make the final decision on this new design. He probably didn’t even set the direction. A whole army of brand managers at Tropicana did, and deserve the blame.

Anyway, none of this really affects Victoria and I. We’re Minute Maid people

Silent Reviews

Marley & Me – Not really
Monsters vs Aliens – Kind of…
The 3D Effect – Yes
Watchmen (book) – YES

NASCAR In Game Design Terms

I was having a great dinner at GDC last week when the conversation drifted to NASCAR. As is often the case, I was the only fan, and I invariably found myself explaining my interest in the sport. My answer to this topic is usually two-tiered: for one, the NASCAR garage is one big dysfunctional family. There’s 43 guys with different personalities who are shoving, pushing and banging on each other 36 races per season. You know that tempers are bound to flare, and that rivalries aplenty are bound to spring up – on and off the racetrack. Having an opinion on NASCAR is easy, and it’s fun! Just start watching for a bit and you’ll catch on.
The other reason to watch NASCAR are the actual races, which, believe it or not, are very entertaining. That part is harder to explain without reference. But since I was at the Game Developers Conference, it occurred to me to describe the appeal in game development terms:

NASCAR is the Mario Kart of real-life racing.

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