07:45 pm - Avatar Stacy and I went to check out the early afternoon Imax 3D screening of Avatar today. I went into it unsure whether or not it would hold up to the hype.
Avatar is absolutely worth checking out in theatres. It's a visually stunning film that breezes past the "Uncanny Valley" effect in a way that I'm still trying to process. The world is fully realized and jaw dropping, the characters are substantial and never feel detached from their surroundings and the detail holds up to 6 story high Imax scrutiny with ease. It's absolutely clear that although this movie broke the bank in terms of budget, it's all up there on the screen. It's world building, through and through. The directing is brilliant, utilizing the 3D effect as a way to bring us fully into a place instead of firing out lots of spatial depth "gotcha's" as a gimmick. The visuals are encompassing and detailed without ever getting cluttered or unfocused.
The story, on the other hand, is so bland and straight forward as to be almost unmentionable. It's a Frankenstein monster stitched together from every "White Guy Becomes One With the Natives, but Teaches Them a Bunch of Shit Too" and "Nature Spirit Knows Best" story you've ever seen before. There are absolutely no story surprises and every single character fits into their rigidly defined archetype without fail. Stacy and I agree that given the budget involved every single compromise likely came from the story department, making the film obvious as a way to ensure the widest appeal across as broad demographic as possible. It's unfortunate that so much money went into its look without engaging a similar complexity in its story and characters.
I kept wanting to dislike Avatar when the dialogue came out in cliche gobs without any subtlety at all, but the richness of the world and the intensity of its vision kept me interested and engaged even when I didn't really feel like I should be. I'm a huge story prick and the eye popping visuals and texture of it carried me past 1 dimensional characterization that would normally be a game breaker for me.
Avatar is a technical milestone. You should go see it. Absolutely realistic fully formed digital characters are now a reality.
Skullgirls is an extremely cool looking game with art from o_8 . When o_8 did a sketch dump in his livejournal the stuff looked so awesome I just HAD to draw something.
So I drew a reinterpretation of Squigly! Expect more skullgirls in the future from me cause the character designs are awesome, and check out more at www.skullgirls.com/
10:13 pm - For the Sugar Plums 2009 So back in 2007 I attempted to initiate a project I named "For the Sugar Plums". The idea was pretty straightforward: spin a mix of eclectic holiday music to get people in the Christmas spirit. The intent was to carry this out on an annual basis... After the first attempt, however, I immediately became aware of the fact that extended mixes just weren't meant to be carried out entirely in GarageBand. Luckily, I was able to obtain my own set of turntables between now and then. And so, two years later, I return with a professional mix, (the first of what I hope will be many), to get you feeling that warm holly jolly.
Introducing For the Sugar Plums 2009... just in time for the big day, baby.
This year I ended up taking a hip-hop/rap, dope beat angle on Christmas. There are some golden oldies, some fresh releases and even some classic reworkings. Yes, For the Sugar Plums 2009 is a moist, plump, throbbing Christmas fruitcake of hip hop listening goodness. So turn off Mariah Carey's number one hit Christmas single already, gather 'round the fireplace, grab a steamin' cup of hot chocolate and turn it up.
[00:00] Nelvana - A Cosmic Christmas (dialogue) [00:14] Brat - The BRAT Sings Christmas Shadow (BRAT Holiday Mix) [00:40] Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers - Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (Q-Burns Abstract Message Remix) [02:33] Slim Thug - 3 Kings featuring T.I. & Bun B [05:36] Warner Bros. - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (dialogue) [05:43] Sharpshooters - Jingle Bells Hop [07:32] CBS - A Charlie Brown Christmas (dialogue) [07:55] Jim Jones - Ballin' On Xmas [10:16] Clarence Carter - Back Door Santa [12:27] Moka Only - Uh, Clunk [14:42] Bump J - Move Around (Amended) [16:25] DJ Riko - My Chimney featuring Marcie [18:19] Eric B. & Rakim - Microphone Fiend [21:56] Jimmy Smith - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Oh No Remix) [23:40] Moka Only - Fur Coat In the Lobby [24:40] BBC One - Blackadder's Christmas Carol (dialogue) [24:59] Snoop Dogg - Christmas Intro [26:22] Moka Only - Martian Xmas Street Theme [27:59] 5 Star Moet, Benntton, G. Force, KC. Work & KG. the All - B. Boy Christmas Shout Outs [29:21] Berlin Symphony Orchestra - The Nutcracker Suite (Baz Kuts Breaks Mix) [32:57] Braille - Blessed Man (Beat By S1 of Strange Fruit Project)
Included in the stocking that is ZIP file of the download: An MP3 of the mix, a RTF file of the tracklist, and album cover art, all free.
NOTE: SOME EXPLICIT CONTENT. Not a whole lot, chill out. Some profanity and sexual innuendo did tip toe itself in there though.
Have a very merry Mixmas, Taylor Beaumont
P.S. I realize I haven't posted in months. I'll address that later. In the meantime don't worry about it. Everything's gonna be cool this Christmas. :) Current Mood: holly jolly Current Music: Moka Only - Its Neva Late
A Scottish cartoon, since I am back home for the holidays.
I'm well acquainted with the tune "Lord Lovat's Lament," since you hear it around these parts every time anyone has to pick up a fiddle and learn something. But you know, it's one of those tunes you know so well, you pay no attention to it, it's just there in the back of your head.
Then one day, I was looking up a bunch of works by Hogarth (the best) and came upon this portrait of 'Lord Lovat'. The lovely old tune and that devily face, they didn't match. So I wanted to learn more about him!
Lovat (Simon Fraser, born 1697 - there are about a million Simon Fraser Lord Lovats) really epitomizes how reading Scottish history can make you want to tear your eyeballs out, or laugh because it's nearly a farce it's so nutty. Either the people involved are disastrously loyal, or disastrously duplicitous. Everything is a disaster, but it's a hell of a ride.
- I'm a Guest Speaker and running an art workshop at Animex UK in mid February. I had an absolute blast at the Animex festival last year at Teeside and expect 2010 will be no different. Their programming is top notch.
More details on the workshop and presentation soon once the festival has everything locked down, schedule-wise.
- I'm an industry guest at the Emerald City Comicon in mid-March. Omar and I will be in Seattle premiering the new Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki comic with a con-exclusive cover. I've been wanting to attend this show for a couple years so I'm glad it's finally a reality.
More details and artwork once everything has been approved by Capcom.
Another urban fantasy portfolio piece. This is a Geist. A spirit that feeds of negative emotions. Each Geist is different and will grow more powerful off of different emotions.
Happy Holidays guys! I know things get really busy around this time of year so I just wanted to say now I hope you have an awesome December and an excellent new year! I made this big enough for people to print/pass around if they wanted to spread the cheer.
The holiday show "From Me To You" opened last Saturday at Show & Tell Gallery in Toronto. A good time was had! Thanks so much to everyone who made it out to the opening. The show is on until Jan 29th so make sure to go check it out if you're in the area! Here's the five paintings I did for the show.
"Dressed To Impress"
"Dracula", "Robo Dracula", "Milkman", and "Were Milkman"
When the game first launched a bunch of people seemed miffed at the lack of, well, Zork-ness in the whole thing. I received a lot of compliments on the art but quite a few people I talked to mentioned they were disappointed that the gameplay didn't feel like the Zork they knew and loved. It didn't have whimsical descriptions or puzzles, just a grind-centric battle interface with loot, moving from place to place and bashing things.
8 months later and it's now quite robust with actual story quests and puzzles, silly descriptions, a vastly improved interface and a much better sense of progression and things to do. Looking at the rankings, there are now over 117,000 characters created and a variety of groups and guilds playing together in 9 different languages. It's still a casual focused browser game but there's now a much greater sense of strategy and storytelling involved.
The crew and I have done 4 art updates (with the latest artwork just finished last week, so hopefully that will work its way into the active game very soon) and Jolt/Activision seem really happy with its growth and progress. As soon as that new art is live I'll start posting pieces up.
If you haven't seen the previous Zork designs I contributed to the project, you can check them out right HERE.
I just got back on Friday from a great trip I took to DisneyWorld in Florida with my mom, sister and nephew! It was a great time and it was so nice to see all the great stuff inspiring stuff going on over there. I haven’t been since I was a kid and it was like a completely different experience visiting all the parks and resorts. Thought I have to say I still love Pirates Of the Carribean the most! Here’s a few pictures I snapped of some things I enjoyed seeing over there:
Death of military personnel: my comics specialty. Anyway, I like Montcalm. He wasn't, I don't think, as talented as his young rival James Wolfe, but he was among the best they had and a well experienced, hard working man who did his job as best he could. Montcalm had a hot temper and didn't like Quebec, but he tried to save it, even though he was almost always at heads with Vaudreuil the Canadian born Governor- to whom he was supposed to defer. Vaudreuil was experienced in North America and cared passionately for Quebec, but had never really encountered modern European warfare, and didn't understand it. Montcalm hated the corruption in New France, thought the war was useless, and tried to leave but wasn't allowed. In his final letter to his wife he writes, "I think I should have given up all my honors to be back with you, but the king must be obeyed; the moment when I shall see you again will be the finest of my life. Good-bye my heart, I believe I love you more than ever." I like Montcalm.
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holly jolly
