Ethereality News & Weblog

July 9, 2010

IK Multimedia ARC System review

Filed under: Art & CG,Audio & Music,Film/TV/Animation,My Life/Musings,Photography,Site News,Video Games — Rob @ 7:07 pm

SITE NEWS:
It’s been many months since I last updated Kitty Cat Diary, but here it is–the latest entry:

WEBLOG:
Some of you have seen photos of my studio and know that it has extensive acoustic treatment, and my reference monitors are Klein + Hummel O300D‘s. I always knew that despite having built my studio from the ground up and having read books on studio design/construction, consulted experts, and really working at achieving the most accurate and neutral sound in my studio, it still had peaks and nulls. So after researching for a while, I finally decided to get the IK Multimedia ARC System, and I’m happy to say it met my expectations. My studio now sounds about as accurate and neutral as I could possibly make it. The awesome thing is that the ARC can be used in any kind of room, and will dramatically improve the sound quality, even if you don’t already have any acoustic treatments in place. It won’t correct any severe time-domain issues your room might have, but in terms of frequency response and stereo imaging, it really helps, and is especially a blessing for those that can’t use acoustic treatment for whatever reasons (spouse approval, limited space, budget). You might think your speakers and your room sounds fine, but until you put it to the test, you’re likely wrong (and it always seemed strange that audiophiles spend all that money on gear, but the room is totally untreated and the gears never sound like their real potential). ARC will show you just how skewed your room and speakers actually are and then correct them.

There are other products that do similar things like the KRK Ergo, JBL MSC1, dbx DriverRack, Samson D-1500/D250…etc. I chose the ARC because it’s not tied to hardware and it also tests your room in a manner I find most useful. The only caveat is that it is a software plugin, and if you are not running a computer-based audio rig, then you will not be able to use it (unless you want to use a hardware plugin host like the Muse Recpetor or other similar hardware products). For those of you with computer audio rigs, you can host VST plugins in J River Media center (version 14 and up), Media Monkey, Winamp…etc.

So anyway, onto my experience with the ARC.

My initial experience with it sucked–the damn thing kept crashing when I tried to save the preset on computer #1. On computer #2, the test tone would just stop making sound for no reason, and I could never get through the whole testing process without it becoming silent at some point. I tried to download updates from IK’s website (after registering the product and signing in to my account), and it gave me nothing. I looked in the user’s area in downloads, nothing. The download page won’t even load. Looked in support area, nothing. And I kept trying until I got fed up and just downloaded a cracked version, and you know what–it worked. I hated having to do that, but often I had heard that cracked versions fixed problems with the legit versions, and in this case it was true. Anyway, I paid for my copy so I feel no guilt about this. (And no, you can’t just download a cracked version and use it, since it has to use the dedicated testing mic that comes with it, as the software is calibrated to the mic’s specific properties.)

So off I went and did some tests. The first couple of presets I saved didn’t sound right to me–it was kind of limp and the bass was powerless. I was really disappointed. Then the next day, I did a couple more tests restricting the listening area to just normal head movements my body makes while I’m mixing/monitoring–that means, I didn’t tests spots all around the damn chair and where the keyboard and mouse are and just concentrate on the area about the width of my shoulders and about the same front and back of where my head would be. I also adjusted the settings on my monitors (K+H O300D’s) to get closer to the test results the ARC showed. This time, it worked really well–the result sounded very neutral and flat.

I had thought my room was already very well treated as I built my studio from the ground up and researched hard on the acoustics, design, treatment, consulted experts, read books…etc. Those of you that have seen photos of my studio know how extensive the treatment is, with superchunk basstraps up the wazoo, all the important reflection points taken care of, good room dimensions, ideal listening position, and so on. But what ARC revealed (and what I had already kind of known when I did my own tests with a sound pressure meter) was that there were spikes and dips and the two speakers did not sound the same (probably due to furniture placement and other factors). I had spikes at 45Hz, 75Hz, 400Hz, and dips at 125Hz and 1.5KHz, which resulted in a bottom heavy but visceral and punchy sound. The problem is, it colored all the material that way, even material that wasn’t supposed to sound that way. I also had a dip at 2Khz, and the treble/upper-mids were hyped, which resulted in a fatiguing and bright sound.

Here’s ARC’s testing results and correction:
ARC curves

After I applied the correction, the bass spike was tamed and the mids filled in and the treble wasn’t so hot anymore. I used to think t maybe the “neutral” sound of the O300D’s were a bit hotter than what’s comfortable to me–that my ears aren’t used to hearing really flat frequency range around the area that caused fatigue, but now I know–it was the room making things sound that way, and what I heard wasn’t neutral at all. With the correction, all the excessive brightness went away, and everything just sounded smooth and natural. The bass was still authoritative and punchy on material that was mixed that way, and it was smooth and soft on material that was mixed to be smooth and soft. I think that’s a sign that a sound device is neutral and flat–it reproduced the material faithfully, instead of coloring everything with a similar sonic footprint.

Prior to the correction, I also knew that the phantom center was a bit off due to the way I have the furniture and one side of the wall having a window behind the broadband absorbers. Now with the correction, the center was dead on and the stereo imaging was very clean and even between the two sides. ARC allows you to turn on time-delay correction and when I tried it, it moved the phantom center almost all the way to the left, so that wasn’t going to work. But when I turn it off, everything’s just fine.

I spend a lot of time later doing comparisons of correction on and off, and I even used the before/after curve ARC provided to further tweak some very minor spikes and dips that ARC couldn’t completely smooth out in the bass region, and the extra EQ made the K+H’s sound even smoother and tighter controlled (I used Easy-Q, a free high quality EQ for that, but you can use any high quality EQ–preferably a linear phase EQ such as FabFilter Pro-Q, Voxengo CurveEQ, Redline EQ…etc for minimum phasing and distortion). I think I’m finally hearing how the K+H’s are supposed to really sound, after owning them for three years and using them in three different home studios.

For a few hundred bucks, I really think the ARC is worth it. It has confirmed my suspicions about the deficiencies of my already well-treated room, and it has redefined for me what neutral and flat and smooth really means. It even changed my opinion about my headphone collection. I used to use the K+H’s as some kind of benchmark for accuracy to judge my various headphones, but now I realize I had been unfair to some of them when they were actually much more neutral and accurate than I thought they were (such as the Sennheiser HD650)., and certain ones are actually more skewed than I thought they were (such as the Denon D7000).

I also did a preset for my smaller multimedia speakers/sub, which I often use when I’m not doing critical work–like just watching a movie or something, and it worked really well. All the muddiness was gone, and the sound opened up and become much more clear.

So there you have it. I spent the money and I was ready to be disappointed, since I can be a skeptic just like everyone else about these types of products, and I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed. If you have tried it and didn’t like the result, I highly recommend you do the test again but don’t follow the diagrams in the manual. Limit the testing spots to just the area within your body’s width and a head front/back of your listening position, because when you are doing critical monitoring, that’s the area you’ll be restricting yourself to when you’re doing critical work anyway–that sweet spot. Don’t test a large area all over your big console mixer or the width of a sofa, since the result would be a compromise and won’t be very good.

…

After all these years of never being able to stick to an exercise routine, I think I finally found the answer–martial arts. I had done a little bit of karate as a kid, but nothing serious. Our family is a tennis family, so I grew up playing tennis since about age 11, was on the school’s tennis team, and then as I got serious about creative passions, I started playing less and less. By the time I was an adult, I stopped playing altogether. For many years I didn’t exercise at all–I didn’t even have enough time to try to master drawing, painting, music composition/arrangement, various musical instruments, writing, directing, design, photography…etc. In my late-twenties I played airsoft for a while but it wasn’t something you could do whenever you wanted since you needed other people and a suitable location for a decent game. Although airsoft can be physically demanding when things heat up, it can also have long stretches of minimum physical activity, such as when you are executing an ambush, just laying there in the leaves, waiting for the other teams to walk into your trap. After I met Elena, I tried to occasionally use indoor exercise machines, and we went through a few of them, but it was never consistent and barely did any good. We still have a nice exercise machine at home, but I rarely ever use it, even if I can watch DVD’s while using it–I just can’t stand repetitive and mindless exercise for the sake of the exercise itself–I need fun, excitement, strategy…etc. Perhaps I should’ve kept up with sports since most sports fit that profile, but I really don’t like the idea of having to rely on other people to get anything done, or not being able to do what I want whenever I feel like it (I guess that’s why I quite my 9 to 5 job as studio art director and chose to work at home for myself instead). So in my latest attempt to get a regular exercise routine going, I bought a freestanding punching bag:
punching bag

gloves

I chose fingerless gloves because, well, what happens if my nose itches and I need to scratch it, or the phone rings? Ahhh, pretty smart, eh? The knuckles are all well padded and protected, but it won’t stop me from twisting my wrist if I throw a bad punch.

I’m having a lot more fun exercising now, working on my kicks, punches, instead of something repetitive and boring run on a treadmill or rowing machine. I wish I had a partner to spar with though. Maybe I’ll join a local dojo next.

…

I’ve picked up Dragon Age: Origins recently, and since last time I didn’t get too far, I decided to go with a different character instead–a mage (last one was a human noble). I find that playing a mage is a lot more fun, since spells in general are a lot more interesting than just bashing away with a melee weapon or shooting arrows. As a mage you get to drain life and add to your own, which is one of my favorite types of spell.

The story thus far has been more interesting than I had expected. I tend to get bored of fantasy stories easily unless they are very intriguing. Most fantasy stories are like tired variants of the Lord of the Ring series and it’s ridiculous how unimaginative they are, especially considering fantasy is supposed to be all about imagining the wildest things that can’t ever be explained by science or history. So what do we get usually? The same fucking dragons, elves, dwarfs, orcs, and the same crap about kings and their thrones, uprisings, and the impending invasion of some demonic army. That is really sad, isn’t it? When I was younger, I used to prefer fantasy more since I loved anything to do with the possibilities of magic, but as I got older, I realized on the average, science-fiction is usually a lot more imaginative and compelling, and the most fantasy are just mindless and derivative. I’m hoping Dragon Age won’t end up telling some variant of the fantasy story we are already too familiar with. I enjoyed Mass Effect a lot, and I hope Dragon Age will be just as interesting.

I finally installed Crysis on my PC and have played it for a while. I suspect I’m about halfway through the game. It’s visually stunning, and it’s hard to believe how much the graphics has improved since Far Cry. I think of Crysis as the real spiritual sequel to Far Cry, since Far Cry 2 was nothing like the first one, while Crysis is practically the same environment and gameplay. I expect things to get even more fun once I start fighting the aliens. The Nano Suit is integral to the gameplay, and it’s on the verge of being frustrating since energy drains too quickly–to the point of being barely able to keep you alive in many situations.

I finally tried S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl too, and it was such a disappointment. With today’s games being so polished, this game was like a build that was at least six months away from the beta milestone. It felt so dated and clunky that I just couldn’t stomach it. Maybe we are spoiled by all these big budget AAA titles made by teams of hundreds, but that’s just how it is.

I finished Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, and I forced myself to only because I wanted to play Uncharted 2. It wasn’t as good as I had hoped, with predictable patterns of AI routine, repetitive gunfights, and the intrigue of supernatural elements didn’t start until too late in the game, and it was by far the most interesting aspect of the game. The final boss’s A.I. routine was so bad that I couldn’t believe it–he would take three blindly fired shots from behind cover, and one pop up and take one aimed shot–all in the exact same spot. This pattern repeated over and over and over, and every time you kill all his backup, he would run to the next set piece and do the same routine all over again. Seriously, that kind of lazy A.I. programming is so outdated that you really can’t get away with it in the 21st century. It just looks stupid. I also hated some of the enemy dialogues–cheesy gems like “You’re mine, punk!” or “You’re dead!” or “Blast him!” This is one thing that videos games are really, really bad at. Why can’t the writers actually write believable dialogues for the enemies during firefights? What about simple and logical ones like “Cover me!” or “Reloading!” or “Flank him!” or “I’m out of ammo!” or something with a bit more personality like “C’mon! He’s just one guy! We can take him!” The last game I played that had really idiotic enemy dialogues was The Darkness, where all the enemies–hundreds of them, knew you by name, yelled out insults to you like you have a history with every single one of them, and hated you with seething passion as if you raped all of their daughters. It was so bad that I was dumbfounded. But as I mentioned, I only played Drake’s Fortune so I could play the sequel, which won a lot of awards and was highly regarded. I wouldn’t say Drake’s Fortune is bad at all–it was quite good in some ways, but the lasting impression is that it could’ve been a lot more exciting and fun.

So now that I’ve played a little of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, I can say that it’s definitely an improvement over Drake’s Fortune, but it’s got its own issues, such as the “stealth” sneaking around while knocking out the museum guards one by one. I know they can’t exactly do a very realistic take on it, since it would probably change the tone of the game into something much more serious, but how they handled it was just so ludicrous that I can’t help but think there must be a better way to make the gameplay more believable. Guards were standing no more than a couple of meters away from each other and they can’t hear you punching living daylights out of their fellow guards? What, are they all listening to iPods? Also, you could practically run around as long as you are not in the direct straight-line sight of the guards. Did these guards somehow lose their peripheral vision when they took the job? Also, all the noise created from raising and lowering the gate and no guards noticed?

Maybe it’s just me, but I really dislike the so-called “stealth” in most games. They are about as logical or realistic as enemies who can take entire clips from a gun and not go down. I’ll continue to play Among Thieves just to see if the story is any good, and I hope it at least improves upon all the weaknesses of Drake’s Fortune.

Noticed I didn’t mention about the visuals, audio, or writing, and I think it’s because when there are glaring gameplay issues, it overrides everything else for me. Both are AAA titles so obviously they excel in graphics and audio. The writing is pretty good–typical pulpy movie type of writing. It’s good enough to be entertaining, and I think that’s all it’s meant to be.

…

Quickie movie/TV reviews

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season one) – My brother Dennis recommended this one. It reminds me a bit of Seinfeld, where all the characters are selfish, immoral, and the humor is all based on political incorrectness. But then again, it seems that’s what all comedies are based on these days.

Mad Men (Season Three) – Another excellent season of one of the most intelligent TV series every created. My brother Michael is the director of accounts at a large international ad agency, and his co-workers told him he must watch the show. Strangely enough, he said he didn’t really get it or enjoy it. I don’t understand why–he’s certainly intelligent enough. I guess he just doesn’t see it the way I do–that it’s a fascinating portrait study of an era in American history, or how the characters are complex and vivid, playing out their roles in a society that was fast losing its willful innocence. Don Draper is one of the most complex and mysterious characters I’ve seen in any TV show, and I can’t wait to find out what happens to all the characters in season four.

Sons of Anarchy (season one) – Another show my brother Dennis recommended, and it’s pretty good. By the end of season one, you realize you’re watching a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but with motorcycle gangs. I enjoyed it enough to want to see how it plays out, but I don’t have high expectations for it like I do some of my favorite shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Office, Entourage, The Wire…etc.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days – This film had such rave reviews and I could see why, although I think this type of film appeals to a very specific audience–namely the arthouse fans. It reminded me a lot of Rosetta and L’Enfant in its very realistic and almost real-time depiction of a mundane event in the lives of very average people. While I can appreciate these types of films, in general it’s not the kind of execution I prefer, since so many of the wonderful cinematic language and devices we have invented are off-limits in this kind of filmmaking.

The Crazies – I’ve never seen George Romero’s original version, but I enjoyed this remake. It was well-executed, and although I mistakenly expected pulse-pounding thrills in the form of an entire town of infected zombies, I wasn’t disappointed.

Green Zone - One of the most tense and thrilling movies I’ve seen in a long time. It’s basically like having Jason Bourne as a Chief Warrant Officer in Iraq tasked with finding WMD’s, and then follow him as he uncovers the ugly lies behind it all. Well, except that there’s no super human assassin bad-assness–just gritty realism of war.

Shutter Island - I really hate the fact that as someone who writes, I often can see a plot twist coming from 10 miles away, and it always ruins the surprise and the fun. I knew the plot twist to this film as soon as DiCaprio stepped onto the island. There was a quick shot of the armed guards reacting to him arriving, and it was so obvious to me how the movie would end right there and then. I don’t know why Scorsese was so heavy-handed with that particular shot–it doesn’t seem like something he would do. I was also a bit surprised by the lighting in a scene where he’s lighting matches in order to see in the dark. It was just a badly thought-out lighting situation where the ambient light was way too bright to look like a match-lit scene. I’ve seen these kinds of scenes lit very convincingly before, and I was disappointed to see a badly lit one in a film by a master. Overall I enjoyed the film and I think it’s one of his more accessible films in a long time, along with The Departed.

Book of Eli – If you don’t take the story too seriously and just enjoy the ride, it’s quite entertaining. Definitely make sure your suspension of disbelief is activated, especially for the ending.

She’s Out of My League – This movie felt a little schizophrenic to me. On one hand, it’s a sincere romantic comedy with a lot of heart, and on the other hand, the bromance and excessive juvenile aspects often felt like the creators were trying too hard to mimic the current trend, despite that the tone didn’t mix well with the rest of the film.

Bodyguards and Assassins (十月圍城) – My brother Michael recommended this film, and after watching it I wondered what the hell he was smoking. It was a terrible film that squandered an awesome premise, and it’s hard to forgive the filmmakers for it because it really is a very unique premise. It’s basically about when Sun Yat-sen went to Hong Kong to rally support for the revolution to overthrow the Chin Dynasty and bring about a new, modern China. The officials planned to assassinate Sun and use him as an example to discourage further dissenting activities. The underground resistance fighters make plans to escort and protect Sun during his one-hour talk with supporting representatives from the thirteen regions of China, and they must keep him alive and allow him that one hour to convince the representatives to support the cause, as it would change the course of history. That in of itself would’ve been an amazingly tense political thriller, but the idiots behind the film somehow decided to turn the entire second half of the film into laughably clichéd wire-fu martial arts brawl-fest. They completely cheapened the historical significance of the premise and went for all-out action entertainment aimed at the lowest common denominator–the kind of shallow audience who couldn’t sit through a movie without explosions and fist fights. Obviously, the historical event had no wire-fu fights.

There were other sloppy filmmaking and bad decisions, such as when they showed a man chasing after a horse-cart for blocks, running at top speed, and then when he stops to look at his daughter (for the first time), his breathing was perfectly normal. Who makes that kind of idiotic mistake anymore? Then there’s the use of rock electric guitars in the film score. I can’t stand that–when period films use very modern music styles and instruments. And there’s also people beating the crap out of each other with bare knuckles but their hands are perfectly fine and normal looking afterwards. I think in general, most Chinese filmmakers are still far behind the curve in terms of cinematic sensibility compared to the west. This film, plus the recent failed attempts to emulate Lord of the Rings type of fantasy epic (every single one of them was completely idiotic and horrible), really shows how limited of a range the Chinese filmmakers have. They excel in the oppressive and depressing dramas, but not much else really. There are only a tiny handful of Chinese directors who are worth watching–the rest are just wasting celluloid.

Taking Woodstock – I watch anything Ang Lee directs, since I find him to be a sensitive and versatile director. I was a little surprised by his choice of material this time around, since it’s been a very long time since he did a comedy. I enjoyed the film for the story and the character relationships, even if that era was way before my time and I have no emotional attachments to it.

Hot Tub Time Machine – I was happy to see John Cusack returning to his comedic roots. It feels a bit like jumping on the “bromance comedy with lots of foul language and juvenile humor” wagon overall, but that’s the trend for comedies these days I guess. I was entertained, laughed at a few jokes, and in general had a good time.

Youth In Revolt - I was mostly surprised by how safe and monotonous this film was. I guess my expectations were much higher. It reminds me a bit of being like an inferior Wes Anderson comedy. Michael Cera’s played out that sweet but awkward nerdy character by now, and if he doesn’t reinvent himself as an actor soon, people are going to lose interest in whatever he’s going to do next.

Law Abiding Citizen - While it’s easy to side with the vigilante mentality because we readily identify with a man who had to watch his wife and children murdered in front of his eyes, but as the movie went on, the entire premise and moral stance just loses resonance as things got more and more ridiculous and the bodies start piling up, including those who are totally innocent. If this movie had a moral message, it was so muddied and convoluted by the end of the film that you just can’t buy into the way the message was conveyed.

February 25, 2010

Top Ten Ways to Be A Better Artist

Filed under: Art & CG,Audio & Music,Film/TV/Animation,My Life/Musings,News,Site News,Video Games,Writing — Rob @ 9:31 pm

NEWS:
I always get a lot of questions when I post photos of my music studio, so I finally added a page showing the design plans and construction photos of my studio, with explanations of why I made the choices I made.

…

My Top Ten Ways to Be A Better Artist article has been published in the February 2010 issue of ImagineFX magazine. This was originally a more detailed version I posted at cgtalk, and ImagineFX contacted me and asked me if they could publish it. I had to edit the original down to fit their layout, so if you want to some of the missing details, read the original version.

It was quite a pleasure working with them this time around (they interviewed in their premiere issue, and I also did a paining tutorial for them as well. The editors were very understanding in my adamant request to be involved in the editorial process and have final say in the exact wording. I’m very adamant about this matter because in the past, I’ve had publications that tried to paraphrase me or shorten what I said in order to fit into their layout, resulting in technical mistakes, incorrect emphasis, incorrect context, or alteration of the tone for the worse. I vowed at some point to never be put through that again, so my currently condition in being interviewed or published is to be granted full participation in the final editing process. This might make me sound like a control freak, but that’s not really the case. I simply do no like being misrepresented, that’s all.

(EDIT: my previous mention of the mistakes was a misunderstanding. The scan someone sent me for some reason is not the same as what I just received in the mail from Future Publishing. I don’t know how someone got a hold of the pre-publication edit, but anyway, I’m very happy that the final edit is exactly as I had worked out with the editors.)

…

I recently did a Q&A session with Peter Lucky, and I thought some of his questions were quite interesting–different from the typical questions I get when I do interviews, so I decided to post them here.

Q: I’ve looked over a great deal of your website, including your really long bio. Reading it noticed how honest you are about yourself with other people. Not many are willing to do that, does this translate outside the internet in your everyday life?

A: Pretty much. I’ve always been a pretty candid person, and I don’t know why some of us are really withdrawn while some of us are really open. Perhaps it’s personality, or perhaps it’s outlook in life and also individual values. I believe in constantly striving to become a better person and redeeming past mistakes, so I see myself as a “work-in-progress,” which means I always have the chance to change anything I don’t like about myself, and also redeem myself. This leads me to never having to feel ashamed or overtly embarrassed about anything, because I know I can always improve and learn and change. I also believe that past mistakes are very important factors in our growth, because they are valuable lessons. I think sharing those lessons is a great way to give back to the world so others can maybe gain something from my mistakes, or at least feel like they are not alone in their struggles.

Q: I’ve seen the stunning amount of totally different careers you’ve done over the years, very few people will take the risks you do and prefer to stay with one thing most – if not all their lives. Were there any career decisions you made which you regret?

A: In some ways, I wish I had concentrated on music or film/writing, since they are the most potent to me emotionally, but because art was easier for me to find a job in, I stuck with art jobs even if they weren’t as emotionally involving to me. If I could go back in time, I’d have forced my parents into letting me take piano/music lessons and raised completely hell until they agreed. It’s the biggest regret of my life.

Q: You’ve said you’re a pretty optimistic person, what kept you going through the dark times you’ve had in your life?

A: I remind myself that I’m not terminally ill, am not living on the street, am not living in a country that’s constantly at war, was not born into some remote village in a very poor country with constant famine and disease…etc. Compared to many, I’m incredibly lucky. I also tell myself that tomorrow is a different day, and you can never tell what’s going to happen because life is full of surprises. Another thing I tell myself is that I’ve gone through very dark periods in the past, yet I survived them, and every single one of them felt like there would be no end to the suffering. They all eventually passed, and I’m stronger and better for having being tested, so this current dark period is no different. I’ll survive it and then sometime in the future I’ll be able to look back and think, “Yep, I survived that one as well.”

Q: You say everything you do is self-taught. This is something I relate to completely, most of what i’ve learned in creative pursuits are from my own initiative, research, experimenting, and mistakes. Even being in college now, I still learn most and best on my own. Having dropped out of college and not attending an arts school, did that ever put you at a disadvantage for employment? In the digital world, there have been endless debates about self-taught vs secondary education. From your experiences how has being self-taught affected you during job interviews? Have you ever been treated differently because of it?

A: Almost never. It’s all about your portfolio, resume, experience, and how you interact with people. In fact, most people are highly impressed that I’m self-taught. The only time I ever came across something different was this one art director who told me she preferred candidates that has a degree because it shows they can stick with something long-term until they achieved their goal. When I interview candidates as an art director, I don’t care about their education either, unless it was something unusual, like they never even finished high school. That’s when I get a bit concerned.

Q: Moving onto lighter questions, you’ve mentioned your passion for gaming. I’m very passionate for gaming as well, what would be some of your favourite games?

A: Check the “About Me” and “goodies” sections of my site–I have a page called “Influences” that lists everything I love (movies, music, games, artists…etc).

Q: Games are becoming more like high-budget films at a break-neck pace. Do you think this is a good direction for the video game industry?

A: Yes and no. The visceral impact is impressive and can really make your jaws drop, but there’s also less experimentation and innovation because every product has to turn a AAA level profit. With that said, I’m sort of guilty of buying into the big-budget AAA titles and don’t pay nearly as much attention to indie games as I should. This is mostly because my time is precious so I try to only play games that are highly regarded and has made a splash in the industry, so unless an indie game has garnered that kind of attention, I usually stick to the big AAA titles.

Q: Working with Sony Pictures Spider-Man 3 and Surfs Up hopefully would have been an incredible (and presumably well paying) experience. Could you describe how that experience was for you?

A: It was very stressful since half-way through the projects they raised my fee to double, but giving me only a fraction of the time to finish them. At first I had 3 or more days to do each piece, but once they doubled my fee I was only given a day per piece, so I wasn’t sleeping much at all. But it really pushed me to be resourceful and clever and choose my battles carefully when executing the pieces. It’s to date the most challenging gigs I’ve had because the caliber of the work had to be top-notch Hollywood level, but done very quickly.

Q: Soon you’ll begin teaching on CG Society (unless classes start as soon as your full) and I imagine this will be a very exciting learning experience for both you and your students. When you’re finished, do you expect to continue doing this workshop – or offer something completely different?

A: I will repeat the workshop for as long as there’s popular demand. It would be a shame if the workshop only ran once, after I’ve spent well over a year working hard on it. As far as tackling other subjects or focus, it’s all up in the air. For now, I’ll have to make sure this workshop does everything I designed it to do, and I’ll find out after its first run. Also, as creative people, we often go through cycles of learning, assessing, practicing…etc. After working on the workshop for so long, I’m totally ready to start my next cycle, which is to produce a lot of new works and take my own works to the next level.


Q: I saw your house and studio, both were absolutely stunning and being the tech enthusiast I am – the studio is my favourite part. Right now my studio consists of a small bedroom. To me having a studio like yours would really make me think of how far I’d come to be able to even have something like this. What does having your studio make you think?

A: It was also a dream-come-true for me to finally be able to design a studio from the ground up and construct it myself to my own ideals. But even then, compromises were made, since we’re not exactly rich. I wish it could be just a bit bigger so I can have a bit more room to work with–such as maybe putting in an acoustic piano or an additional drum kit. I also wish I’d have the room/budget to do a full-blown room-in-a-room construction so that all structural noises would be eliminated (such as some guy upstairs stomping around or hammering away at something). Acoustically, I’m quite happy with the acoustic treatment, but computer noise is still a problem and I’m working towards a solution right now (building a custom isolation cabinet). But even with the compromises, it’s my little piece of heaven–I spend all of my time in the studio. While we may never be totally satisfied and there’s always that premium piece of gear we want, the truth is, at some point in your studio’s evolution, you’ll hit a point where you pretty much have everything you need to create anything you can imagine, and whatever other gear lust you have are only luxuries, not necessities. That’s where I am now–I’m not missing anything, but I still have gear lust and want to upgrade certain pieces of gear. Knowing this is a calming feeling–that it’s no longer about you missing the gear you need to achieve a particular effect–it’s now all about how creative you can get.

Q: When it comes to software, what would be the most challenging one you’ve learned? Would you like to share your experiences with it?

A: I would say that in general, 3D software are by far the hardest to work with and are the most technical. Music, photography, writing, video, 2D…etc all have complex software too, but they are by nature not nearly as technical. That is perhaps the one thing that really turns me off about 3D–the highly technical nature of it all. Very often I feel like the ROI (Return On Investment) with 3D is not worth it for me personally. The same time and energy spent in music, drawing/painting, photography, shooting video…etc will yield me more creative fulfillment and fun, not to mention less frustrations and technical hurdles to jump over.

Q: You say you enjoy watching films on DVD with your wife, do you watch any television shows as well? Currently airing or on DVD.

A: The “Influences” page on my site lists them.

Q: Is there anything out there in the way of technology or software that you wish would be invented?

A: I fantasize about this all the time. Hand-held medical scanner that can detect any disease and its location, and then treat it ASAP. Completely reliable data storage/backup solution that’s also practical and cost-effective (maybe solid-state drives when they come down in price). Much more advanced and intuitive sample/physical modeling hybrid solutions for realistic musical instrument emulations. Cameras with far superior high ISO and auto-focus performance that’s as quick and dynamic as the human eye, so you’d never fudge a shot again. The perfect headphone that can easily rival the most expensive reference studio monitor speakers, including authentic and visceral sub-bass reproduction. Teleportation devices so we don’t have to fly/drive long distance ever again. The list goes on and on and on.

WEBLOG:
I finally finished Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 a while ago. My opinion of it hasn’t changed–it’s still a big Michael Bay-esque roller coaster ride with relentless and over-the-top action, and it’s a lot of fun without a lot of subtlety or substance. The credit roll with the museum set pieces were a big surprise, and I thought it was one of the most clever and interesting credit roll ideas I’ve ever experienced–right up there with Portal‘s adorable and hilarious ending song.

I’m not sure which game I’ll focus on finishing next. I did start on Dragon Age: Origins, but so far it’s not as compelling as I had hoped–at least not in the way that Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect were.

…

I’m currently looking to get one of the room correction products on the market (IK Multimedia ARC System, KRK Ergo, JBL MSC1, Samson D-1500, dbx Drive Rack PX…etc). Even though my studio is fully treated acoustically, it still isn’t perfect, and the room correction products will be the icing on the cake. I would never use one of these products to act as substitute or replacement for proper acoustic treatment, but as that extra icing on the cake, I think these products can be quite helpful. Once I decide on which one and have done the measurements and corrections, I’ll report back on how it went.

…

I recently purchased two software that I really love. One is the Isone Pro, and the other is the J River Media Center 14. Isone Pro is a plugin that makes your headphones sound like you’re listening to speakers in a room, thus eliminating listening fatigue that’s caused by the drastic stereo imaging inherent in headphones (that uncomfortabler “in your head” sound, which is the most dramatic when there are instruments panned hard right and hard left). Isone Pro allows you to set the distance of the virtual speakers, the size of your head and ears, and type of speaker cabinets used. I’ve tried other similar crossfeed plugins and they don’t come anywhere close to how natural the Isone Pro sounds. Redline Monitor is one such plugin, and it costs three times more than Isone Pro (which only costs $27), and it doesn’t really work all that better than the free Headphone plugin that comes with Media Center 14. None of the other crossfeed plugins actually sound like the sound is coming from speakers in front of you, and Isone Pro is the only one I’ve heard that does it. I’m assuming hardware units like the SPL Phonitor probably does something similar, but hardware units like that cost well over a grand. $27 vs. a grand. You do the math.

Media Center 14 is by far one of the very best media librarian/player on the market. It allows extensive customizing, is very robust and feature-rich, and now has native VST hosting, which was the main reason I finally upgraded from Media Jukebox (the free version of Media Center) to a paid license. Now that Media Center can host VST’s (and you can freely change the order of the activated plugins), one of my favorite things in the world is to listen to music late at night in Media Center while studying spectrum analyzers (Voxengo SPAN, Stillwell Audio Schope, Nugen Visualizer…etc), with the Isone Pro engaged, and play around with EQ’s (Voxengo GlissEQ, Fabfilter Pro-Q, Blue Cat’s Parametric EQ, EasyQ…etc). It helps me understand how some of my favorite songs were mixed and mastered, and in turn will help me improve in my audio production skills.

…

Quickie movie/TV reviews:

The Sopranos (season two~six) – I finally finished watching the entire series, and although I enjoyed some aspects of the show, I have to say that I feel it’s a bit overrated. While I appreciate the fact it broke new ground when it came out, I don’t really think it deserves the kind of rabid praise like “best TV show in the history of television.” For me personally, it’s important that a story contains some kind of transcendence, where the character(s) actually overcome some kind of obstacle and we see a metamorphosis happening–something is changed, and from that change comes a profound revelation of some kind, or at the very least an emotional catharsis. It doesn’t even have to have closure, but it must be cathartic, and intellectually we must have gained some valuable insight or understanding. With The Sopranos, we don’t really get any of that, or at least not the amount or intensity I had hoped for. In Goodfellas, we got a powerful and sobering closure when Henry looked into the camera and started speaking to us, the audience). In The Godfather, there was poetic and emotional catharsis–that operatic and visceral experience. In The Sopranos, we got a fucking anti-climatic riddle at the end that just wasn’t very satisfying (at least not in the way that we expected the ending to six long seasons to be). I have read all the different interpretations of the series finale, and whether the black silent screen meant it’s Tony getting whacked, or the audience getting whacked (no longer privileged to peek into their lives), it makes no difference–it just wasn’t emotionally satisfying. I so wished that someone in the show could’ve gotten out of that bleak world of violence and misery-maybe just packed up and drove away from it all to begin a new life, but no one did. Perhaps that was the message–that once you’re in that life, there’s no getting out, no transcendence, no redemption, no metamorphosis–just a dead end spiritually, physically, and emotionally.

In season 3, when the mash-up of Every Breath You Take and Peter Gunn played in the episode where the feds were tailing the Sopranos, I grinned like the Cheshire Cat. That was pretty damn clever.

…

Fantastic Mr. Fox – I was surprised by how well Anderson’s sense of rhythm for dialogue worked in perfect symphony with stop-motion animation. It was by far one of the most interesting and entertaining animated films I have seen in a long time, and I loved the fact that the film didn’t feel like it was aimed at children in any way. Often animated films aimed at adults can be a bit drab or pretentious, and this one really got the balance right in my opinion. Oh yeah, and no irritating and smug references to pop culture–thank God.

November 5, 2009

New Zendrum layouts

Filed under: Audio & Music,Film/TV/Animation,My Life/Musings,Site News — Rob @ 8:17 pm

NEWS:
I have been practicing hard on the Zendrum LT whenever I have some free time to spare, and I have created a bunch of new layouts for it. I’ve posted them, hoping that other Zendrummers will find them useful in their quest to design the most expressive, playable, and intuitive layout of their own.

My layouts are mainly based on the ambidextrous approach, because the LT model’s trigger layout just begs for it and excels best at it. It also makes the most sense because it approximates the way drummers traditionally have one stick in each hand, and could strike on any surface with both sticks and achieve the same mobility and control in each hand. My current favorite layouts are ones based on what I call the T.I.M. (Thumb-Index-Middle) system, where the thumbs strike the kicks, the index fingers strike the closed hi-hats with the first joint (from the tip of the finger), and the middle fingers strike the snare rimshot. The ring finger and pinky are then used to control the open hi-hats and open snare hits. The palm and heel of the hands control the crash and splash.

Although I created these layouts specifically for Addictive Drums (my current favorite drum library), you can translate them to whatever drum module or sample library you use. I use similar layouts for EZDrummer or any other drum module/library. In the future, I’ll be posting layouts for other various drum and percussion modules/libraries.

Here’s is my current most used layout:
Zendrum layout #11
This layout is the most reasonable compromise for me at the moment. I don’t get the ride shaft, but it sounds similar enough to darker crashes that I don’t miss it much. I don’t get the snare rim click, but if play the snare rimshot lightly, it sounds close enough that I’m okay with it. I don’t bother with the choke for the splash since it’s such a fast decaying cymbal anyway, and I like having it both sides so I can create quick accents on any beat (as opposed to the crash, which I usually use on odd beats).

You can find the other layouts I have created here.

I’ll be working on those Zendrum videos I talked about before, as soon as I finish writing the course material for my upcoming art workshop.

WEBLOG:
I’m really looking forward to finishing the course material for the workshop I’ve been working on, since it’s taking up so much time and taking so long. I could’ve made the workshop a very simple one, just like most other workshops where they teach one skill or one topic, but I really want to give the students something that will really change their lives, instead of merely teaching them a new skill or cover a narrow topic. Whenever I thought I was close to finishing it, more ideas pop into my head and I’m off adding new content again. This time, I really think I’m getting close though, and it’s about time too, because I don’t think I could add anymore content without completely overwhelming the students.

As soon as I’m done with the workshop, I’m going to first make those Zendrum videos I’ve been dying to make, and then I’m going to jump head first into my next long-term multimedia novel project.

…

Quickie movie reviews:

The Informers – A depressing film about a bunch of selfish, narcissistic, broken, and lost souls–all doing stupid things that any well-adjusted and mentally healthy person would shake his head at. The only character that had any meaning for me was Jack, who seemed to be the only one who understood right from wrong. The conclusion to his story was the only emotional catharsis, but the rest of the film just felt pointless. So we watched a bunch of useless people living out their useless lives for an hour and half–then what? What are we suppose to walk away with at the end of the film?

The Great Debaters – Predictable to the very last scene, but these types of inspirational films always are. You don’t watch these films for surprises, but to admire the struggles and triumphs of those who dared to try.

Election – It was a pretty good Hong Kong ganster flick, with that signature Johnnie To vibe. I’m a big fan of his 1999 film, The Mission/Cheung Fo, and I think he really peaked with that film.

Next – A pretty decent action thriller. I’m pretty tired of Nicolas Cage by now though, and I really would rather he just stop playing lead characters and actually take some supporting roles that’s nothing like what we’ve seen him do before.

Ju-on (The Grudge) 3 – Visually, these Japanese horror films will always creep me out, but in terms of story, they are often hit or miss. Most Japanese horror films have no logic to them–they are only meant to give you nightmares. The American remakes tend to try to be more logical, and thus more watchable in terms of plot, but none are ever going to go down in history as a masterpiece or anything, this one included.

State of Play – A pretty good political thriller overall. I was hoping for more insight into the friendship between Russel Crowe and Ben Affleck’s character, since I think it would’ve made the film emotionally more engaging, but it never happened.

Duplicity - Entertaining spy thriller that didn’t involve any guns or car chases, and had one of the most refreshing endings I’ve seen in these types of films in a while.

Passengers - A quiet little supernatural romantic drama. If you like Anne Hathaway, just watch it for her. The story is a bit ho hum since we’ve seen this kind of plot twist more than a few times by now.

October 14, 2009

The creative ideal

Filed under: Audio & Music,Film/TV/Animation,Latest Works,My Life/Musings,Photography,Site News,Video Games,Writing — Rob @ 3:00 am

NEWS:
New Kitty Cat Diary entries:

It’s hard to believe that the Kitty Cat Diary has been going for eight years now. Elena and I always joked that once she hits forty, we’d probably put an end to the Kitty Cat Diary. She’s going to turn thirty-nine in just a few months, so I guess we only have about a year left before the Kitty Cat Diary will come to an end. Time sure flies!

WEBLOG:
Recently, I’ve been thinking hard about the next long-term project I’ll be dedicating a lot of time to, and while going through all the different IP’s I’ve created over the years and trying to narrow down to just one project to concentrate on, I started thinking about the ideal story I’d want to tell. Creative people all have different things they value most in artistic works–for some, it’s originality, or technique, or motivation–it’s different from person to person. I have lists of attributes I value the most too–be it for visual art, music, fiction, film, or design. When it comes to narrative stories, I have discovered over the years that these are the attributes I tend to respond to and care about the most:

-A conflict that is worthy of attention, where both sides have compelling motivations and reasons we can relate to and identify with. If only one side has compelling reasons while the other side is completely unrelatable, then we must be able to completely empathize with the one side that has compelling reasons for its actions/reactions.

-It must have emotional elements that draw us in. A completely intellectual story without emotional satisfaction tends to feel like cold and calculating experiments instead of stories we can care about.

-There has to be something profoundly moving about the story–be it a moral lesson, emotional catharsis, arduous triumph, selfless sacrifice, tragic loss, compassion, forgiveness, and so on.

-It has to have characters we are drawn to for any number of reasons–be it courage, intelligence, sense of humor, deep melancholy, devious wit, audacious ambition, ethereal beauty, and so on. If all the characters have no redeeming qualities (the UK version of The Office comes to mind), then I get bored of watching a bunch of people I’d never want to have the displeasure of meeting. I prefer stories that have characters with at least some admirable traits, as opposed to stories about characters I wouldn’t care if they lived or died. The only exception to this is comedies.

-It must have an appropriate, effective, and consistent tone that matches the premise and the heart of the story. Unexplained and sudden deviations without compelling and convincing creative reasons will always result in the ruin of an otherwise good piece of work. The Halo video game franchise is a good example of what I dislike. The little dward aliens that run around yelling in cartoony voices (in a harrowing war for the survival of the human race) is one of the most inexplicably horrific creative blunders I’ve ever seen in my life. No excuses could justify it. I’ve heard all the reasons about gameplay issues and how they had to make it obvious the little aliens will scatter if you kill one of the big aliens, or that they wanted to inject some humor into the game, and none of the excuses were compelling or convincing. The Bungie guys could’ve done a number of different things to convey what they needed to convey–hell, I can think of a handful of effective solution off the top of my head for that particular gameplay issue or using humor that actually is appropriate and fitting for the premise. But instead, they ruined the mood of the Halo premise with that one blight of a bad creative call.

-It must feel natural, regardless if the general tone is stylized, or how fantastic the premise is. I have a personal dislike for pretentious pomp, overacting, and overly contrived stylization that is formulated at the cost of an authentic and honest visceral experience. Even highly stylized films like Pulp Fiction feel very natural and honest because the execution has the appropriate tone for the premise.

-The storyteller has to be sincere. Storytelling borne of cynicism and apathy almost always feel smug and heartless.

-No rampant and forced sentimentality. Emotions must be fully justified, and must serve a meaningful purpose in the story, or contribute to the plot progression in a way that makes perfect sense. The old narrative wisdom of “Show, don’t tell,” is the key here.

-I’m a sucker for premises with fantastical elements like the supernatural, science fiction, fantasy, surrealism…etc. Though I love any great story–even ones that have zero fantastical elements, my guilty pleasure has always been sci-fi, fantasy, horror…etc.

I think based on those attributes, it’s pretty easy to see what my priorities are as a storyteller, and what to expect from the long-term project I’m going to be concentrating on in the near future. Thinking about each of those attributes also helped me define what I should strive for and mistakes I should avoid. I feel that at my age (turning 37 soon), I have lived enough to know exactly what I want and don’t want as both a person and a storyteller, but I’m still young enough to be adventurous and an idealist. I feel like I’m starting to run out of time, and if I don’t get something out there in the next few years, it would probably mean I’ve failed.

…

Electronic musicians are always striving for newer and better ways to control/perform their sounds, and the eigenharp is the latest invention in that quest:
eigenharp

I wish it was more like the Haken Continuum where the pitch control is totally continuous, instead of single pitched keys. One of the hardest things to do electronically is convincing legato and portamento, and I have to wonder why the guys behind the eigenharp didn’t address that. As it is, I’m not sure just how much better it performs compared to a nice keyboard with breath controller, pedals, pitch/mod wheels, and ribbon controller. It’s probably easier to play, but that alone does not justify the hefty price tag. You can find out more about the eigenharp from these links (video demonstrations):
http://www.eigenlabs.com/roadshow
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/10/06/first-look-the-eigenlabs-eigenharp

…

I recently finished playing Gears of War. While playing this game, I kept feeling like it’s a game designed by the kind poser whose idea of manliness is ridiculous macho posturing. Every single line of dialog was so drenched in testosterone that it’s just comical. I don’t know why they even bothered to pretend there’s a story, because there isn’t–it’s just a paper-thin premise used as an excuse to go shooting from point A to B to C to D and so on. I was also pissed off by the save system, where you have to endure the asshole game designer’s God-complex and do it his way–which means NO SAVES. The checkpoint system when used right can be a decent substitute for a flexible save system, but when it’s designed to test your patience and assume you like playing the same level over and over and over, it justifies the arrest of the asshole game designer, with no trial, and sent straight to the torture chamber. I can even tolerate it if the checkpoint system only restarted me at the location I died in, but noooo, that would make too much sense and be too humane. The asshole game designer makes you not only restart the location you died in, but all the previous locations from the beginning of the checkpoint. So let’s say if you already cleared a whole large room full of continuously spawning enemies and then go to the backyard and almost cleared that whole backyard, but unfortunately gets killed by the last remaining enemy, you’d have to–that’s right–restart at the fucking large room and clear that room all over again and then clear the fucking backyard. I know a gamer-hating asshole designer when I see one, and Cliffy B is definitely one gamer-hating mofo. With that said though, I really don’t mind it when he’s not testing my patience with gamer-hating save systems. I’ve been a big fan of the Unreal series since the very first one and have never skipped any of the Unreal games. Unreal 2 even had a good story and ending, so it’s not like they can’t make a game with a good story. Overall, Gears of War was an OK experience if you don’t mind some repetitiveness. Visually, the game’s nice, but not my cup of tea in terms of style.

The score for Gears of War by Kevin Riepl was disappointing. I’m a big fan of his hybrid styled scores for the Unreal series, but when he tries to do all orchestral stuff, it just isn’t very good (he reminds me of Brian Tyler in that regard).

I never would’ve bothered with the sequel had I not read that it’s much better–especially in terms of story and more varied environments. So I’m now playing Gears of War 2, and it really is much better than the first one. The story is now actually interesting, and you want to find out what happens next. The characters are also now more compelling, and you invest more in them emotionally. I guess Cliffy’s not so bad afterall.

Quick movie/TV reviews:
Rome – Elena and I enjoyed this TV series very much, although it got cut short in the second (and final) season due to budget problems. We would’ve loved to see the series play out according to the original plan the creators had. The high level of production quality is obvious, and it’s easy to see why the show had to end due to the unbearable cost of production. The writing, directing, acting, music…etc were all top-notch. If you like political intrigue, violence, sex, and lots of backstabbing, you probably would love this show. For us it got a little excessive at times because it depressed us seeing all the characters always being betrayed, distraught, in pain, depressed, or having lost all hope.

Quarantine – Elena and I were on the edge of our seats while watching this film and we really enjoyed it. It’s one of the most intense horror films I’ve seen in a while, taking the Blair Witch formula of fake documentary and really kicking it into high gear. I didn’t know anything about the film beforehand, and it was only afterward did I find out Quarantine was a shot-by-shot remake of a recent Spanish film called [REC]. I wonder if I should bother watching [REC] if the two films are so similar. I do find it tragic that really good foreign films have to be remade by Americans just because the general audience hates reading subtitles. This really isn’t a problem for countries that never had a thriving film industry, since they are so used to importing movies from countries with healthy film industries, and they are so used to subtitles that they don’t even think about it. Some people prefer dubbing, but the abysmal track record of dubbing has long given it a bad name. It would be much better to try to improve the quality of dubs or try to get American audiences to accept subtitles than remaking foreign films, but it’s never going to happen. Americans are so spoiled by having the largest film industry in the world that they would simply find something else to watch where they don’t have to exert themselves.

Frost/Nixon – I enjoyed this film, and it’s one of the better Ron Howard films I’ve seen–probably his best film since Apollo 13.

The Knowing – I have kept hoping that one day Alex Proyas would make another great film like Dark City, and I’m still waiting. The films he’s made since Dark City were…well, let’s just say the term “one-hit-wonder” could be applied to filmmakers as well, not just songwriters. The Knowing has an interesting premise, but it just wasn’t as compelling as it could have been, especially with such a promising premise. The spaceship design for the aliens was really good though–one of the best designs I’ve seen in a long time.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – I knew I wanted to see this film at the very least for the best digital effects Hollywood has yet produced, and while I hoped the story would be worth the time spent watching the effects, I was surprised by what a let down the film was. There was no essential theme, no emotional catharsis, no triumphs, no moral lessons, no complex dilemmas–just arbitrary smattering of events strung together had no deeper meaning or contributed to any tangible proof that they had compelling and lasting effects on any of the characters. The entire film was essentially a lot of hot air about nothing. All of the conflicts were contrived and meaningless, and gave no emotional or intellectual satisfaction whatsoever upon the film’s conclusion.

Out of the Blue – This film is an example where I felt the direction was too bland and didn’t do the premise justice. For a film about an insane man massacring over a dozen of his neighbors and eventually gets taken down by the special forces, it wasn’t nearly as harrowing as it should’ve been. I think overall the execution felt dated and lacks the edge that contemporary films of the same genre has.

The Proposition - I’ve heard good things about this film, and it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, especially after having seen a stream of excellent recent westerns. While I liked the character of Captain Stanley, I didn’t care for the rest of the characters or the story itself. Charlie’s moral dilemma never felt immediate to me, and I feel if the film had been concentrated on Caption Stanley’s moral dilemma, and perhaps centered the story around him trying to protect Mikey at the cost of his job, or even his own life, the story would’ve been far more poignant and meaningful.

This is England – It’s rare to see feature films that feel this genuine and sincere. It feels almost a little like if Larry Clark had directed American History X, but with England as the backdrop and with an English cast. Young Thomas Turgoose was very good as the main character, and I hope we’ll see him grow into a formidable actor.

Transporter 2 – Mindless entertainment. There’s no other reason to watch popcorn movies like this. I try to keep a balance diet of different types of films so I can be more well-rounded, and sometimes mindless fun isn’t so bad when you’re in the mood for it.

Infernal Affairs III – Totally unnecessary, and feels like they’re simply trying to milk the franchise while riding on the coattail of the previous films.

Dead Snow – Even as a mindless popcorn movie it fails. Really pointless and banal writing, no character development, no semblance of a plot, and feels like what happens when a bunch of horror film geeks lacking any talent whatsoever for writing and directing gets together with some equipment and decides to make a movie.

Factory Girl – The film itself is OK, but the subject matter is one that makes me roll my eyes. I’ve always had this strong dislike for people who I see as parasites–socialites, the sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll self-destructive narcissism, and fashionable fake-artist whose only real talent is media manipulation, without any redeeming qualities as human beings. That whole segment of the society is just a waste of oxygen. I didn’t know that Hayden Christensen was in the film,and when he showed up on screen playing Bob Dylan, my immediate reaction was, “Are you fucking kidding me? Someone actually thought this was a good idea?” The fact that Christensen actually thought he had the acting chops to pull it off shows how much he overestimated his own talent as an actor.

44 Minutes – It was pretty good for a made-for-TV movie. Not much really happens though–it’s just two heavily armed bank robbers shooting it out with the cops–that’s it–that’s the whole movie.

Quick and the Dead – I couldn’t make it past the first ten minutes. Very low-budget film with terrible writing and direction.

Bad Boys II – Well, it’s Michael Bay, so you know what you’re in for–cheesy dialogs, bombastic action, and about as shallow as dish water. I torture myself with films I know I wouldn’t like, or even would hate, simply because I want to experience both good an bad films so I never lose perspective on what the entire film industry is really like. I think people who only watch films they know they would enjoy end up having a very skewed impression of what the world of feature films is really like, and being so ignorant of other types of films can be detrimental to one’s development as a creative person. So for the sake of having a well-balance diet of good an bad films, I suffer.

Underworld: The Rise of the Lycans – It was an OK movie–about the same as the previous two. Although I love the premise and the mythology, the films themselves aren’t exactly great cinema.

District 9 – After all the hype and glowing reviews, I was disappointed. The basic premise recalls South Africa’s past turmoils, but beyond that, I really didn’t see anything special that transcended other typical sci-fi action films. Many are calling it the best sci-fi films of the last decade, and I sure would like some of whatever it is they are smoking.

September 11, 2009

Long-term personal projects

Filed under: Art & CG,Comics,Film/TV/Animation,Latest Works,My Life/Musings,Photography,Site News,Video Games — Rob @ 1:28 am


NEWS:
A few re-processed black and white versions of previously posted colored photos:

New Kitty Cat Diary entries:

WEBLOG:
Recently, I’ve been pretty active in forum topics about intellectual property development. It’s a topic dear to my heart because I started my career as a comic book creator, and when I worked in the video game and animation industries, I also worked non-stop on developing my own IP’s. At one point I even had a short film ready to go into production, with all the pre-production work already done, just to run into funding problems at the studio I was working at as a writer/director. Now that I’m freelancing, I’m more than ever convinced that if my career is to move on to the next level, it’ll have to be my own IP’s, as I’m just about done with playing with other people’s toys. I’ve done the whole “working for the man” phase of my career, where I worked in studios on other people’s creations and stories, and 90% of the time they were products I’d never have paid money for as a customer. I think I’m particularly unfortunate in that regard, as many of my colleagues have gotten to work on projects they are big fans of. Perhaps if I had gotten to work on projects I was excited about, I’d still be working for other people. Maybe it’s meant to be–that my discontent was meant to fuel my passion for my own projects.

In the next few years, there will definitely be some big developments on my end when it comes to large scale personal projects. For the longest time (since after I left the comic book industry in the late 90′s), I’ve only done a lot of pre-production work on my own projects, but never something that could meet the public in its finished form (other than short-term projects like paintings and music), since the full-time jobs and freelance work takes up most of my time and energy. This is going to change. I’m still working on the CG Workshop course I’ll be teaching, but as soon as that’s done, I’ll need to get started on (or continue) a long-term project. Since I’ve quit my job as studio art director last year, I’ve been busy with the designing and construction of my new home and recording studio, and then the CG Workshop (which has turned into a monster workshop that’s many times the scale and complexity of what it should be, which means the students will be getting one heck of an education for a price that’s a total steal). I’m hoping by the end of the year, I’d be able to devote most of my time to a long-term personal project–be it a graphic novel, a screenplay, a new body of musical compositions, or a novel. Whatever it’ll be it’ll have to be something I can do by myself. Logistically it’s just too troublesome to seek the help or collaboration of others at this point in my life–everyone else seems to all have their own personal projects or jobs anyway. I’ve always enjoyed doing things on my own, so doing it lone wolf style is really the norm for me. It’s always been that way, and will remain that way until specific projects that require me to interface with a team or collaborators.

The hardest part would be to actually pick a project to concentrate on, since I have so many I’ve developed over the years. High on the list would be Promise (the short film project I created and was working on a few years ago, but had to stop due to funding problems. It was originally envisioned to be a graphic novel) and continuing Enchanted (the comic book series I created/wrote/illustrated back in the 90′s). If I do any kind of visual storytelling right now, it’ll most likely be some kind of multimedia presentation that involves prose, illustrations, music, and maybe some simple animation. I would prefer to avoid animation simply because I would much rather get the most bang for the buck in terms of ROI (Return On Investment). For the amount of time and energy I spend on an animated scene, I could have written and illustrated far more story content, so it’s not really worth it from the point of view of a storyteller. I personally prefer to deal with animation and live-action only when there’s some semblance of a decent budget and manpower–they are not things I have an interest in tackling alone. When in lone wolf mode, I think the format of graphic novel, novel, screenplay, or multimedia hybrid of prose, images, and music are much more realistic and practical.

If I do continue Enchanted, I would have to think about if I want to do an re-imagining of the previously published issues and then continue where I originally left off, or simply post scans of the original issues so new readers can catch up on what’s already happened and then just pick up where I left off. Much of the old art don’t hold up anymore, and that would be the main reason for doing a re-imagining. The storytelling also gets a bit clunky in some spots since back then I was just a young pup and didn’t know nearly as much as I do now about writing and storytelling techniques. Maybe I’ll simply redo the whole thing but interweave the previously published storyline with the new material so that they work seamless together instead of being in sequence. I kind of like that idea since the whole thing will receive a fresh take on the premise and with much better art, while looking and reading cohesively instead of having this disjointed “before and after” vibe. I might do Promise first since that’s a one-shot, and I could do it as a proof of concept to get the process down, then apply the tested process to Enchanted, which would be a long-term project.

I don’t know if I’d still call it Enchanted though. Ever since that Disney movie came out it’s been bugging me. I would definitely need a new title.

…

Elena’s been pretty busy lately, as her company’s doing some major expansion and it’s been a mess in terms of management, administration, quality control…etc. She is in many ways the spiritual and morale backbone of the company as she’s the only person at the top that the employees dare to spill their guts to, which is no surprise since she’s personable, fair, nurturing, and even tempered. She’s in many ways the good cop in the partnership, which also generates more headaches for her since everyone will come to her to bellyache.

These are a few of the latest expansions of the franchise and individual restaurants they’ve been adding (and they were lucky enough to actually rent all three spaces next to each other, so the three different restaurants are all under the same ownership:
restaurant
The restaurant on the left with red lanterns is a claypot restaurant. The one on the right is also a claypot restaurant, but a different name and not part of the the franchise.

restaurant

restaurant
The one with the yellow and red sign is a Hong Kong-styled business lunch type of restaurant.

restaurant

The hardest thing about running a business in China is personnel. The way China’s modern culture has developed has resulted in a largely irresponsible and immoral generation. Trying to manage employees with those undesirable qualities would try the patience of a saint. You know those books on management written by industry experts? They’re useless here because those books typically deal with the kind of employees and managers that are raised on western values in developed countries, and do not match the kind of corruption and selfishness of modern Chinese culture. I don’t envy Elena’s job one bit.

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I’m pretty excited about The Secret World, the new MMORPG that Ragnar Tornquist is working on. I’m a huge fan of The Longest Journey (although Dreamfall fell a bit short of expectations), and the theme of dark magic and demons are right up my alley (my comic book series Enchanted had the same theme). I almost never care about MMO’s because I simply don’t play them–I find single player storytelling so much more satisfying. I almost wish that TSW wouldn’t be fun so that I don’t have to finally become addicted to a MMO after having been immune to its allure in all the years I’ve been a gamer. The trailers do look awesome though, even if they are pre-rendered cinematics.

…

Quickie movie reviews

Appaloosa - Is it just me or does it seem like in the recent years, there’s been a string of really good westerns? In fact, I almost can’t remember the last bad western I has seen–they were all very good, this one included. The three main male leads are some of my favorite actors, so it was such a treat to see them all in the same film. I’m becoming a bigger Viggo Mortesen fan the more I see of him–there’s just something about the characters he plays that makes you empathize with them immediately.

Melody – I had heard about this film before but never seen it, and I’m glad I finally found it as a Japanese import DVD. Although the film is dated (from 1971), the subject matter really works for that time period. The same film probably couldn’t be made today, as the world has become so much more complicated and jaded. I think it’s hard for anyone to watch it and not be taken back to the time when we first had our puppy love at age ten. I distinctly remember in my late teens, I had already begun to lament the loss of innocence and I longed for the purity and the uncomplicated way I used to feel about love.

Burn After Reading - Brat Pitt was hilarious in this film, and in fact, it’s probably the only role where I actually found him to be very endearing and likable. If you like the Coen Brothers, then there won’t be any rude surprises–it’s got the same vibe as their other films.

Eden Log – Although I respect the unconventional approach to the film, I found it to be a bit convoluted and vague at times, and ultimately, it wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped. One critic said it had the same kind of appeal as other first time directorial debuts like Pi or THX1138, and in some ways, I agree, except Eden Log is not as good as those films IMO.

2Fast 2Furious - These types of films are always entertaining, and I watch them when I’m in the mood for some fun. I didn’t know Jin was in the film, and that was a nice surprise. It’s a shame his rap career never really took off.

In Bruges - A strange mixture of comedy and drama. The characters were interesting, but surprisingly, it was Ralph Fiennes, who had the least screen time, that stole the show for me. I wish they would make a film with him as the main character.

The Mutant Chronicles - These type of B movies for some reason tend to have writings that are about as unremarkable as their visual effects. Why is that? Is it because the screenplays for these types of films are mediocre so no one wants to invest too much money into them? Or is it because the expensive films get the best and most expensive writers to rewrite them? Either way, I think I’ll try and stay away from these types of B movies from now on because most of them just aren’t worth the time.

The Fall – Interesting premise of mixing fantasy with reality. Although I enjoyed it for the most part (the little girl was awesome–very natural and expressive), I wished the stakes in reality could’ve been higher–something more dramatic and thrilling, and the ties to the fantasy story more profound and devastating.

27 Dresses - Hollywood romantic comedies can be really annoying and predictable, and while this one was predictable like the rest, it had enough charm and the main leads were likable enough that I enjoyed it.

Eastern Promises- David Cronenberg is one of the most interesting directors working today, and I think I’ve liked all of his films I’ve seen to date. Viggo Mortensen was really good in it–he really pulled off the Russian mob vibe. The knife fight in the public bath had me on the edge of my seat. I have this phobia of blades since I’m very accident prone, and watching that scene just put my heart in my throat.

Reality Bites – Took me all these years to finally watch this film. I never liked Ben Stiller and I think this is the one film of his I actually think is pretty ok.

Evil Remains – A pretty predictable horror film with really bad digital grading. I’ve become very annoyed by the way filmmakers abuse digital grading, because some of them just look horrible and contrived. In Evil Remains, they really jacked up the mid to black points to give the film a “horror look,” but they overdid it and many of the normal day light scenes just look stupidly contrived, and the readability of some scenes were degraded significantly by the horrible grading. In some ways, I wish people would lay off that shit because most of the time it just doesn’t look very good. I think digital grading looks best when it’s done judiciously–to enhance instead of trying to completely change the dynamics of the original. If your original photography has so few merits that you need to actually molest the footage to the point of making the audience choke on the digital grading, then you need to just fire your DP and find someone who actually knows how to create compelling images in-camera.

I’m not really a fan of the Sin City/300 approach either, although I can tolerate those more since the visual style has been pushed so far that it’s beyond digital grading and into the realm of VFX.

Journey to the Center of the Earth - Harmless family fun. When I first noticed Brandon Fraser in his earliest films, I thought he would one day become a great dramatic actor, and it’s a little bit disappointing to see him in these family adventure films, as they really don’t stretch his acting chops. Strangely enough, he’s done dramatic films between his comedies and family adventures, but I really haven’t had a chance to see any except one or two.

Disturbia - I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The script was clever, and the characters were likable. I never really warmed up to Shia LaBeouf in all the previous films I’ve seen him in, but in this film, I finally saw the charm that made him popular. This film also reminded me that when I was a teenager, in the house behind ours, lived a girl that went to the same high school I did. Her bedroom window faced my bedroom window. Yeah, you can imagine the rest.

Starship Troopers 3: Mauraders - I enjoyed the first film for its campy fun and the great visuals, and I hoped that the sequels would at least have interesting stories and good direction if not the same level of visual effects. The first sequel was actually ok, but this one was just horrible. It’s horrible in so many ways that I don’t even have the interest to type them out.

Defiance – It was better than my expectations, and I highly recommend it. Daniel Craig’s fake Russian accent was just unbearable though–in some scenes the accent was barely even hanging by a string. Viggo Mortesen’s performance in Eastern Promises wiped the floor with his ass in that department.

Casshern – I don’t know why I bother with these bad Japanese live-action sci-fi crap. None of them are ever any good, yet I keep hoping that one would come along and change my mind. Ridiculous premise, bad writing, bad acting, and always style over substance.

Death Race – Mindless fun. The car chase fights get a bit numb after a while since you have to really concentrate to understand who’s doing what to whom, and with all the fast editing and crazy action, it gets a bit fatiguing after a while.

Beaufort – I liked this film more than I thought I would. It’s unique in that we never see the enemy–just mortars and missiles terrorizing the protagonists. It’s really a psychological drama about the minds of the soldiers holding a fort they’re about to abandon in the final days of occupation. Another film to add to the list of excellent unconventional war films (such as Jarhead, The Hurt Locker…etc).

The Wackness – I thought the usage of slang and the way the writer/director tried to evoke the feel of the mid-90′s was kind of laughable. It didn’t feel natural, and had all the awkwardness of someone trying too hard and making it too obvious. Other than that, the drama itself was ok, but nothing worth noting.

Blow – As much as I enjoy seeing Johnny Depp play eccentric characters, I always relish the opportunities to see him play relatively normal characters, because I find I relate to him better in those roles. I has said in the past that I generally don’t like biopics, but I quite liked this one. I liked that the film didn’t try to judge the character, and even though it didn’t denounce his crimes, it made very obvious the price he paid for his criminal lifestyle. After watching the film I looked up the real George Jung, and he’s got his own official website! I was glad to find out that a year after the film came out, his daughter finally visited him in jail and said she felt bad for not visiting sooner.

Unearthed – If there’s one genre that I think thrives in the B movie market, it’s horror films. Most other B movies tend to be pretty bad, but horror films seem to fit the B movie market perfectly, and plenty or really good horror films have come out of the B movie market. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of them. I actually fell asleep in the last part of the film (and I very rarely ever do that. I can count on one hand how many times that’s happened in my life thus far), and it’s supposed to be the most exciting part of the film. The acting was substandard, and considering I’m usually very tolerant of mediocre acting and find most critics to be too picky about it, the acting would have to be pretty damn bad for me to actually complain about it. The directing was also lacking as well, with no grasp on how to actually work the camera to induce anxiety and fear. Even the score was annoying. I hate it when the composer and the director try to underscore perfectly normal scenes just to force the horror stamp on them, even if nothing scary happens at all. It could be just a shot of a character walking out of a restaurant and to the car in the parking lot in bright day light, and there would be this evil and menacing sounding underscore drone accompanying the shot. WHY? It’s about one of the stupidest creative decisions a director or a composer can make. Please people, stop the nonsense.

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