THE BIGGEST PROBLEM

You know what the biggest problem in this industry is? It isn't money. It isn't the gatekeepers, the lack of distribution or the lack of means for indies. The biggest problem in this industry is shortsightedness. You know the type I am talking about. The belief that there isn't room enough in the market for many different types of content. The idea that everything must conform to one style or type. It doesn't help if conformity and everyone falling into their place is a big part fo the culture.

Just a couple of examples... I remember there came this game a long time ago called Onimusha. I was a huge fan of Resident Evil from the same company previously and so I was sold on this game long before it came out. I bought the Japanese version at great expense just so I could dive right in as soon as it was released. The cinematic play style of Resident Evil combined with samurai action more than satisfied. It may still be one on my all time favorite games.

Later, there came from this same company a game called Devil May Cry. Now Devil May Cry was totally different game. It had much faster paced action and opted, not for the cinematic play style, but for a constantly moving camera, similar to Tomb Raider but not constantly stuck behind the character. I played through this game and it was short and sweet. I loved it, but Onimusha was just more my style.

I was working on the console team at EA, doing Playstation 2 titles, when these games came out. Now both Onimusha and Devil May Cry were very successful games in their own right and each spawned a successful franchise. Still, th consensus among developers, at the time Devil May Cry came out, seemed to be, "Great! Now they got this full moving camera worked out. They can do that on the next Onimusha instead of the cinematic style. It'll be so much better." I was thinking, "What?!"

It leads me to a very simple question. Why must they be the same? It reminds of all the people who constantly complained that Metal Gear Solid should be a first person shooter. Now there are dozens and dozens of first person shooters out there, and anyone who plays Metal Gear Solid knows that you do many more things than run around and shoot stuff. SO why must it become yet another first person shooter? Is there not room enough for all types of games in the marketplace?

You hear the same thing in regards to full 3D cel shaded anime. How many people say, "Now this is how it should be done! I hope all anime is done like this from now on."? Again I am puzzled. Why can't there be both? I happen to like and prefer hand drawn anime. I prefer my full 3D anime like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children rather than cel shaded. Still, I think there is plenty of room for all types in the market. To see otherwise is just shortsightedness. Today in the game world I am hearing the same arguments and complaints against the PS3 as were spoken against the PS2 when it first came out. The exact same arguments. Yet look at what the PS2 achieved. I see forums where somewhat might dare to suggest they are thinking of getting a new Mac. There will pop up the same tired old arguments, almost word for word, against getting a Mac, that were spoken ten years ago. Shortsightedness is a plague to vision.

STORM on the HORIZON

Today there are so many ways for creators to get their projects made I am actually surprised we don't see more quality content out there. I think expectation of what should be done holds more people back than anything else. Those who defy expectation are willing to try some interesting things. The creators of the recent, hit web series Afterworld have done that, using Poser to create something not unlike the "visual novel" method of storytelling. That show is now making the jump from the web to TV. As mentioned previously, the makers of Broken Saints also defied convention, creating a long web series in the visual novel style. This eventually led to a DVD publishing deal with Fox.

There is another method of visual storytellng that is, in my view, surprisingly underused. It has been around for years. It has thousands of adherants and millions of fans. That method is Machinima. Typically tied to game engines, where users would record scenes in Quake or Unreal Tournament and then put voices to them, Machinima has been one of the fastest way to create quality content. It is also because of this method of creation, being mostly limited to what the game possessed, that I think it has been held back. Of course, this has been swiftly changing for some time.


Moviestorm is a new tool, currently in beta, which is specifically designed for allowing users to make movies in Machinima. This idea is, of course, not new, as software like iClone and The Movies have given users this ability for some time, but this may be the first time is comes without limits. iClone, though extremely powerful and boasting incredible quality with its generation 2 characters, still requires users to know and used 3DS MAX in order to create their own content. That makes for an extremely expensive plugin to create content for iClone. The Movies allows users to import other object formats with some effort, but users of the movies do not own their creations done with the tool. They are in no way allowed to profit from it. Moviestorm is doing away with such limitations.

According to the Moviestorm site, this tool plans to give users the ability to create all of their content right inside the Moviestorm engine. This is similar to how Second Life handles content creation. Also, users will completely own everything they create with it, meaning that if they can find the avenue, users are welcome to earn money from their work. So just what avenues are available to earn from?

This takes me back to Afterworld. Here is a show that is primarily panning and zooming on stills that, on account of its great writing, has gone pretty far. With Moviestorm, though all movies currently on the site are not representative of it, you have levels of detail like a good game engine should. This means that some movies look flat and typical of realtime 3D, while others have precalculated shadows and lightmaps, realtime shadowmaps, and nice looking textures and shading. This means the gap can be very small between what can be done in Moviestorm and what is often done with Poser.


That's not the end. The ability to make mods in Moviestorm means you can push it as far as your computer can handle. Higher resolution characters, textures and sets can be yours for the making or for the buying when their mod marketplace comes out. But Moviestorm also doesn't limit you to staying inside the program. You can create clips and take them into your favorite editor or even compositor to add high quality FX. You could do matte paintings in Vue and shoot Moviestorm characters on green screen. You could add particle effects from your favorite particle engine, even composite creatures done with another tool. Are you starting to see the possibilities here?

I believe that the creator with vision will be able to create a show that will more than attract the attention of a large fanbase. I believe that creator will stand apart in a coming market boom, a storm that will change the content world. As always there will be far more bad than good. But I believe that creator who has the vision now and prepares, perhaps preparing to make web series, mods for the program, content for others to use, and more, will reap profits from it that may not be possible in other content worlds.

BROKEN MISSION

You may remember a year ago I posted about the web based visual novel Broken Saints being picked up by Fox for mainstream DVD distribution. Well, according to the Broken Saints Blog, there are very few left, and when they're gone, that's it.

Just wanted to let u know that Amazon has less than 80 copies of the deluxe FOX Broken Saints DVD set left - a mix of new and used, and they’ve dropped the price to less than $29 for the 4-disc set!!!

Quickest way there is to scroll down the links bar on the right and click the Amazon direct tab - goes straight to our listing - Huzzah!

Grab one for yourself…a friend…or a like-minded saint-in-training. The straight skinny is that once they’re gone, they’re gone - no reprints planned over at the Evil Empire - so snap ‘em up while you can. (and don’t be shy to leave a kind review if you’re so inclined )

Word is that the first run will be the only run printed, so if you were thinking about getting one, you should do so now.

GOING AGAINST THE SYSTEM

Like Morpheus tells us in the anime inspired, action film The Matrix, we are programmed to be a part of a system. The penalty for going against the system can be grave. How often do we hear terms like, "You have to pay your dues."? How often do we hear of the struggle and pain of the one who went their own way before they found success. The system desires to run like a well oiled machine. If you desire to go and seek your own way, the system will quickly turn against you. I remember reading the words of world traveller Winston Wu as to how his travels upset the system:

...On job applications in many American companies, you are required to explain any “gaps” in your work history, as if having gaps in your work record means that there’s “something wrong” that you have to explain. In their eyes, traveling, unless its related to your career, doesn’t come off well. Sheesh. Not only does this put extensive travelers on the defensive, but it means they will probably lose any chance of getting hired if they tell the truth. Therefore, in a sense, corporate America condemns travelers who don’t conform to the “work work work” year round routine and lifestyle.

This very attitude of companies made me immediately think of Phil Nibbelink. Instead of being praised his accomplishment with Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With A Kiss, he was nearly condemned. Reviewers, many of whom work for news agencies now owned by the major studios, trashed the film. Many theatre owners refused to show it. Even its DVD release was met with little fanfare or note such that even those interested in the film didn't know it was out.

Now think about this a moment. Many major studios like Disney often make far worse, lower quality movies for their direct-to-video, children's markets and these movies get great support from the company, marketing budgets and often sell hundreds of thousands if not a million copies. Any of these companies could easily have partnered with Phil Nibbelink, having all the work already done for them, and given his film a large release on DVD with very little risk. It's like making free money! But he went against the system. Supporting that might encourage too many other animators to leave their rigidly structured, 16 hour per day jobs where management and producers, who couldn't draw a stick figure, will tell them over and over how to do their art "right".

Like Morpheus tells us in the anime inspired, action film The Matrix, we must free our minds. We must strive to make the system unnecessary in reaching our audience. We must use the multitude of tools for marketing and distribution available to everyone today to circumvent the rules. We must control our own destinies.

GONE ARE THE DAYS

I guess the good old days of DVD extra features really telling us anything about the movie aside from entertainment fluff are truly over. What I really mean is that DVD's no longer seem to care about post production. Extra features have fallen strictly in the domain of actors, directors and all things involving principal photography. From there we go straight to the premiere.

If there is any movie that should be all about post production, it is 300, the recent blockbuster based on the Frank Miller graphic novel. The movie is shot almost entirely green screen or blue screen with minimal physical sets. The movie is full of incredible CGI, special effects and digital stunt work, creatures and armies. Yet the DVD, even though it is a two disc set full of extras, has almost nothing whatsover about post production.

The extra features on 300 talk at length about the comic book by Frank Miller and the great visual style. Principal photography is covered at length. There are even some great exerpts on fight training that Gerard Butler and the actors went through. In all, though, I think there was maybe one or two shots mentioning how they scaled the emperor Xerxes into a giant, and nothing more on post production. Nothing on editing, sound, not even a simple blurb on how they laid the sky in the background.

I first noticed this major decline in DVD quality in general when The Hulk was released. For the first time, I witnessed a DVD that forced the viewer to watch a ton of trailers at the beginning, with no way to skip them. In all the "entertainment Tonight" style extra features, there was maybe 2 seconds about texturing The Hulk, nothing on rigging, muscles or integration into the scene, just fluff. DVD's have only gotten worse since.

One of the most disappointing DVD's I have viewed in recent months was Superman Returns. There are literally hours and hours of extra features on the second disc, and none of it covers post production. Nothing about scanning actor Brandon Routh to make a digital double. Nothing about the digital flying effects or the saving of the plane. There was only a super quick segment on bringing back Marlon Brando, and even that was superficial.

In fairness to the creators of such projects, I am sure that DVD has gained such mass market appeal that detailed visual effects material would be unwelcome by the mass of consumers and the studios are aware of this. But this makes me far less interested in the format in general and more apt to consider the ease of iTunes or another such service to get movies. Why drive to the store, or order online, and rip through layers of shrink wrap and peel through impossible security stickers to get little more than a movie anyway? This makes me even less likely to consider Blue Ray or HD-DVD. For me, the extras gave DVD its value. Now that similar visual quality for the movie is only a download away, why waste money on worthless extras I no longer care about?