Reboots

It seems lately that the only thing Hollywood does these days are Reboots, Batman, Spider-man, Superman, King Kong, Godzilla, Hulk, the list is endless, if its not a reboot its usually a film based on a book or comic, the Avengers, Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, Bourne, Transformers, sometimes it seems like Hollywood is completely out of original ideas and the fact that Im having a hard time trying to think of a movie that came out this year that is not a reboot of some sort says everything really, there is however the rare occurs of a fantastic yet original script such as The Wrestler and Shame.

Contract negotiations

As Robert Downey Jr's contract with Marvel Studious has expired, he is in negotiations to renew it, however he has alot of leverage as his Iron Man franchise has ranked in the most cash, by far. However rumours have occurred of Marvel treating their actors poorly, not downey of course, because they need him, but treats to recast alot of the cast have been made and Downey has stated that unless his co-stars get a pay rise, he wont return. Now i think both sides are being more than a little greedy, and Chris Hemsworth made 200 thousand on the Avengers but made 5 million on Snow White and the Huntsman, so who could blame him for expecting a pay rise, or go else where where they'll offer more? and its the same with most of the cast, only time will tell how things pan out but I hope they keep the cast on.

Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo Del Toro is famous for doing horror and monster movies, but my favourite of his works is Hellboy, its not only the film that is outstanding but the make up and costumes used to bring the character to life, he's on screen as this monster that looks 100% there and its because he is, its the most impressive costume I've seen in a movie and there are several others that match it in the same movie.

Danger Girl

Danger Girl is a Comic by J Scott Campbell, it has a certain Indiana Jones / James Bond / Charlie's Angels feel, very cheesy, action packed, but so much fun, it seems like the book is dying to be made into a blockbuster and it should be, especially with super heroes dominating the box office more often than not, its like watching the power puff girls if they were sexy spies, its defiantly a must have for anyones comic book collection.

The Hobbit

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is one of my favourite ever made, however The Hobbit was one of the most disappointing experience of my life, I understand the book is more child friendly, not to the point of a rabbit version of santa clause but still more childish, and you can feel that watching the film, however it just doesn't fit with the original design, if they wanted to make a Hobbit film they should have either kept with the same atmosphere or made a standalone film, and it clearly is not supposed to be either  because they are using characters from Lord of the Rings that never appeared in the Hobbit and using elements of Lord of the Rings to spread the Hobbit out into three films so the Studio can make more money, a fact they have admitted. Not only are they shoving stuff into the story that doesn't belong, but they are also completely making up story arcs and it just looses the magic, there re scenes i loved, such as the scene with Golum. but overall the film wan't only not as good as Lord of the Rings, it wasn't as good as your average fairytale adventure, even Snow White and the Huntsman was far better, and that stared Kristen Stewart, thats low, it was like playing a really bad video game thats based on a film, completely over the top and diluted of its original magic.

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a long running Science Fiction BBC drama about a time traveler who calls himself The Doctor, The programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989, and after an unsuccessful attempt to revive it 1996 with a pilot in the form of a television film, the programme was relaunched in 2005 by Russell T Davies. There have been many differnent actors who have played The Doctor but my personal favourite to date is David Tennants performance.

Wolverine (Character - Hugh Jackman)

Hugh Jackman's first appearance as Wolverine was in 2000, as the the first x-men film hit theaters, this was a major blockbuster yet they gave the tittle role to a unknown actor, the director (Brian Singer) had his first choice to play Wolverine as Russel Crowe, but after the recent 'Gladiator' at the time, Crowe wasn't feeling up to another year of work out training for a role, but suggest another Aussie actor to take his place, and the rest is history. Jackman has played the character six times already with another filming at the moment, by which time he will have played the character for nearly fifteen years. It it such a loved character and Jackman plays the well so well, that I don't think he will be replaced, I think he will play the character until the fans have had enough, and in my book thats a very long time yet.

Quentin Tarantino

I think Quentin Tarantino is one of the greatest directors of our time, he hasn't made a single film that I disliked or could criticise, He constantly makes films on different Genres, but all with the same style, and I think this just proves how versatile he can be, it does annoy me how some people criticise his work, it seems every time he makes a film people come out saying its too violent, which i think is ridiculous, if its not to your taste don't watch it, but some people simply do enjoy it obviously because its so successful. Recently the focus has been on his latest film 'Django Unchaind' some people have accused the film of being racist, but I find it hard to believe a racist director would cast black heroes in nearly all of his films,  and although some really awful things happen in the movie, it's still p.g compared to the things that really happened in the slave trade, and wouldn't it be worse to ignore it and never talk about it like people have recently? Tarantino has got people talking about something that has been ignore for decades, and he even cut some of the footage out that was too violent.

24

24 is an American television show about C.T.U agent Jack Bauer, the success of the character made producers realize that the rouge government agent could be a money making idea and so the brought Jason Bourne to the Screens, then Daniel Craig took over as James Bond , and we even have Laim Neeson in Taken as a retired Agent whose daughter is kidnapped, which is strikingly similar to 24, without Jack Bauer i doubt we would be seeing alot oft he films that are n cinemas today, also another interesting note, in the first few seasons, half of the plot is about america having its first black president, which audiences thought was ridiculous at the time, but the actor who played him (Denis  Hasbert) is credited for getting Barack Obama in the White-House.

Tsutomu Nihei

Tsutomu Nihei's manga style take on Wolverine is certainly different, some critisms say isn't too 'emo' for Wolverine, I just think it looks like a Tim Burton take on him, its a different spin on him, Not as muscular but still animal like. I think it looks alot more threatening  Hugh Jackman said when he was getting in shape for the role that he didn't want just muscles, but a extremely veiny look, like the kind of guy you would actually be scared of if you saw him in a bar, which is ironic cause Jackman was super ripped, but i think these pics have that quality to it, that instant fear, I think it works. 

Captain America (Character)

I'm a fan of Captain America, but I was incredible displeased with the way he has been portrayed on the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. I understand there is more than an element of patriotism in him, and in children s cartoons and games he's alot more clean, but the Captain America I know is much more like Jack Bauer from 24, he will serve his county but much more importantly he will do what is right, and sometimes that means getting your hands dirty. Honestly I saw more Captain America in Iron Man 3's Iron Patriot. I also was really annoyed with Captain America: The First Avenger, whilst I liked his costume in that film and the whole Captain America story-line they're using in M.C.U is obviously influenced by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting series it is supposed to be based in modern day, seeing all those lasers and huge steam-punk tanks looked ridiculous for something that should have been set in world war 2. That film should have been Saving Private Ryan with an injection of testosterone, its a shame he's everyone's least favorite in the Avengers when he should be the best character in there. The only thing they really got  right was the costume, and then in The Avengers it got swapped for some tight, brightly colored uniform, when everyone else was wearing armour and leather, Marvel have really screwed up Captain America in their cinematic universe, and I pray it will improve with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Brian Michael Bendis (Author)

Last years 'The Amazing Spider-man' rebooted the franchise, and I think for the better, however I do have  one problem with it, it followed the same story as 'Venom Origins' in the Ultimate Spider-man comics but changed a few small details and replaced the character Venom for Lizard. I understand why they did this as Venom appeared in the one before 'Spider-Man 3' and rebooting a franchise with the same hero and villain just a few years after the last film is not a great way to start, but the character of Venom is much more interesting if done correctly, unlike the in the appalling Spider-Man 3.

Warner Bros. Interactive entertainment

Injustice is a new fighting game from the makers of mortal combat, the gameplay is great and the graphics are realistic but with an obvious stylized look, however I think the best thing about it is the costume designs, its a new take but I think it works fantastically.
 

Tom Hooper

Tom Hooper has managed to turn the incredible stage production Les Miserable and take it to the silver screen, which is the first for Les Miserable, its has the ideal cast, taking some famous names from the stage show and combining them with Hollywood stars, I think this take was always going to be successful, alot of the actors praised the director for letting them sing live instead of miming, which the said allowed them to put more effort into acting instead of  concentrating on lip syncing, I think this worked fantastically and was completely necessary as the characters go through so much and without the right cast and acting chops it would not have been believable.

Justfied

Based on the book 'Raylan' Justified is a relatively new T.V series but one that caught my attention quite early on, its a modern cop drama thats all been seen before, except it has a twist, its set in south america and has a very western feel to it, which is what caught my attention, its a great mix of action and humour and just a joy to watch.

Kevin Feige

Kevin Feige is in charge of Marvel's Cinematic Universe, or as most people call it the MCU. He has looked over all of Marvel's movie projects since 2008's Iron Man, right through to The Avengers, that is a total of six films, and thats just phase 1, Marvel has at least 2 more phases to complete of which Feige will be in charge of, his work so far is officially the 3rd most successful movie franchise of all time, and he's just getting started. This is their plan:

Phase 1: Iron Man,  The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Iron man 2 - Marvel's Avengers Assemble

Phase 2: Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Marvel's Agents of Shield, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Gardians of the Galaxy - Avengers 2

Phase 3 is mostly unconfirmed, but it will contain an Ant-Man movie, and a Dr Strange movie, there is also likely hood of anouther Hulk movie, and it will finish with Avengers 3. The great thing about these films is that they all link into one another, for example, after the credits roll there will be a short sequence promoting the next in the series, also all the films are filled with easter eggs, for example the famous villain Thanos was first teased in Thor, when we saw the infinity Gauntlet in Odin's throne room, then at the end of The Avengers we saw him briefly after the credits and Marvel has confirmed him as the villain in Guardians of the Galaxy and in The Avengers 3.

Leeds 'POW' event

I heard of a small Conic Convention happening in The Royal Armouries in Leeds, so I attended, it wasn't a big event, there were some people dressed as super heroes and some martial arts classes with people dressed as Wolverine and Batman, it wasn't anything compared to the London Super Comic Con, but it was still an interesting experience. They had some replicas from the Dark Knight Trilogy on display but my favourite thing I saw was the replica of the Iron Man suit, it was incredible and there was a man inside it posing for photos, so I got one. 

Iron Man Trilogy

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm a huge super hero fan. My favourite in the cinematic universe is Iron Man, i just think the character was written so well for film, the character has so much charisma that it just doesn't fit on a page as well, the super powers lend itself to a C.G.I action blockbuster but with heartfelt likeable characters, whilst it was marvels first self-finaced movie, and a risk, its by far the most successful and was the first to introduce marvels cinematic universe, which has lead to The Avengers and  will soon lead to much bigger things.

Stan Lee

The man who basically created the Marvel universe, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Spider-man, The Fantastic Four, all these characters and hundreds more are Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's creations, and have been loved from children and adults since their creation. Stan Lee is the reason I got into art, storytelling and creating characters, and when I had the opportunity to meet him, and shake his hand, I showed him some of my work,  and asked him what he thought, he turned to me and said 'I think this work is damn great!' and even if he was saying the things he did to be polite, or he simply didn't have time to say more, this was still one of the greatest moments of my life so far, and probably always will be, the man who made me passionate about the things I am since I was little, thought my work was fantastic, it was an unbelievable experience, its hard to describe quite how amazing that felt.

David Finch

Daviv Finch is a comic book artist best know for his work on batman, however I liked his work in 'Ultimatum' he manages to get every muscle perfectly in the right place, perfectly in proportion, yet every character has a different physic, I had the chance to see him at the London Super Comic Con where he gave me some feedback to imrove my art work. you can see this interveiw here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAltOBPX8lc

2nd Interveiw with Brady Webb

After the first comic con in 2012, I took the advice the profesionals had given me and worked on improving my art, In 2013 I went to see him again and he agreed to give me more feedback, you can se the 2nd Interveiw here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4jjM7ANZp8

J Scott Campbell

Jscott Campbell is without doubt my favourite comic book artist, his work on Danger Girl is simply amazing, he draws women in what some would call a sexist manner, but as he draw men rippiling with muscles with a full head of hair and a strong jaw I'd hardly call his work sexist, its just a comic book, and visually outstanding on at that, he can get the proportions and curves on women better than Iv'e ever seen any other artist do, and I read alot of comics. In febuary 2013 he agreed to look at some of my work and give constructive feedback on how I could imporve, you can veiw the interveiw here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB3hBNi6vbw

Bob Layton

Bob Layton is the definative Iron Man artist, he's famous for his artwork in comics on the character, and for designing the suit in the 2008 hit film 'Iron Man', as a huge Iron Man fan i was very exited to see Bob Layton but unfortunatly he didnt have have tim eto see me the first time, he did however agree to see the the next year and you can see our interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4_Ud09B1YE

Zenescope

Zenescope are a comic publishing buisness, 'Beyond Wonderland' is one of my favourite of their works as it takes a tale that already exists and puts a adult, dark, twist on it, wich works excepailly well with the mad hatter. I manged to get Anthony Spall, whom works for Zenescope, to take a look at my work and give me some tips for the future, you can watch the interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVskSHj0gG8

IDW publishing

IDW (Idea + Design Works) was created in 1999 by a few entertainment executives and artists. They wanted to create a company that allowed them to work with a wide range of clients focusing on things they were enthusiastic about, including: video games, movies, TV, collectible card games, comic books and trading cards. I personally like all their works but particularly like the True Blood comics they published. At the London Super Comic Con i arranged an interveiw with with Chris Ryallfrom IDW, and asked him to have a look at my work, you can see the interveiw here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2oxhNVBiMU

Panini Comics

Panini Comics publish many different kinds of comics but I'm mostly a fan of the work they do for Marvel, they obtained the Marvel UK license in 1995, enabling them to publish reprinted American Marvel Comics. They have been my main source to Marvel Comics, I excpecailly like how you can buy several comics in volumes and several volumes in a book, I prefer a constand read like you would watch a film, rather than buying a small comic and finding double page spreads dedecated to advertisements.When I visited the London Super Comic Con in 2012 I was lucky enough to arrange an interview about my work and how to improve with their Editor: Brady Webb. I filmed the interveiw and the video is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tQ4hNmupxI

London Super Comic Convention

During Febuary 2012 and 2013 I have visited the London Super Comic Con to see some of my favourite contemporary artists and designers, I brought some of my portfolio which relates to their work and asked for their advice on how I can improve my work, for some key tips for breaking into the buisness and how they got to where they are today, some of the most intresting names that attened include Bob Layton, David Finch, J Scott Campbell, Panni Comics, IDW, Zenescope and the one and only Stan Lee, I'll produce blog posts on them later and post videos of me interveiwing them.

RockStar (Red Dead Redemption)

This game has the all time best environment I've ever seen in a game, the location in massive and the detail is photo-realistic, RockStar have managed to capture every essence of the western genre by incorporating music, atmosphere and game play to the peak of perfection, I would like to do the same with my theme, in order to create a Joyful pirate environment I will have to consider all of these.

RockSteady (Arkham City)

This game provides one of the best game environments I've ever seen on a game, the level of detail is incredible and the thought of of how long it must have taken to produce such an artwork in unthinkable, I think the level of realism it gives and the scale its on is too much for me to try and accomplish, but I still like to appreciate the quality of the city.

Lucas Arts (Star Wars Battlefront 2)

This game gives you the chance to play as to 501st, which any star wars fan will know, and provides fun gameplay weather your a star wars fan or not. There are several different locations to play in and different modes of the game including conquest and assault, you can also play space missions and Jedi levels so the player has some variety, which keeps the gameplay interesting.

Activision (X-men Legends 2)

X-men Legends 2 is another great example of how fun co-op gameplay can make a game fantastic and worth the poor animation and story, the whole campaign is playable with up to four players, choosing between any of the x-men and brotherhood characters,  and the only one in the series with the 'Brawl' option where you face of against each other, this game is hugely enjoyable for all ages.

Electronic Arts (Marvel Nemesis)

Marvel Nemesis is a fighting game released in 2004 and still my favourite to date, its only a simple 3D fighting game with a terrible story and poor animation but the characters are rigged so perfectly and have the perfect cross between human and superhuman fighting moves, eacd character is completely different down to the way they stand, walk, and fight even without superpowers, theres so much individuality it enables continuos play without getting bored. I've enjoyed this game since it was released and used its co-op play to bring the course together a little closer, early on in the course I noticed people weren't talking to each other very much so I started to host house party's so everyone could socialised outside college, however these party's have gone from involving this game into straight out playing it non stop, which is in no way lame, its shows how a games can bring people closer and this one in particular I found to be a great way to socialise.

Naughty dog

The Crash Bandicoot games have always been a personal favourite, I did however prefer his earlier adventures in 1996-2004 when Naughty Dog was the developer and it was published by Sony computer Entertainment, Universal Interactive Studios, Travellers Tales and Vicarious Visions. I don't know why this made a difference for me but I feel its lost a part of its charm afterwards. I enjoyed the simple, joyful atmosphere of the game, and although its an old game and the graphics are pretty bad, I think the stylised look of the game hides it pretty well. 

Learning Curve

The Game Art Essentials module was by far the most difficult of the year in my experience, although I knew the basics of the Unity and Maya, I was using them was on a whole new level. I had a lot of trouble with UV mapping and getting my head round mapping the extrusions on both the barrel and tree exercises. I found the modeling relatively easy and importing textures to use in the hyper-shade menu no problem, but I also needed to create fire for the inside of my lanterns on the ship but the fire Unity provided was too large and could not be scaled down any further, so I had to create my own particle system and make it look like fire, this caused me alot of stress to begin with until i decided to youtube my problems and find online tutorial guides to help me through the process, most of my difficulties were resolved in the tutorial guides either provided or on YouTube. The other difficulty I had was the animation of the flag, I must have made at least five joint chain animations before I was happy with my outcome, but I think that’s how you improve your skills with a program you’re new to, just lots of practice and eventually you’ll get the hang of it, It did get frustrating at times but I persevered and I am very pleased with how my game level has turned out and I’m glad I’ve managed to hone my skills with the  programs. 

Ubisoft (Far cry)

Whilst far cry 3 is and action adventure game I found the scenery to imply something different, it indicates something relaxing and calm, joyful almost, it looks like a place you would want to visit, adding the storyline to this twists the idea and plays on it, this was a clever move as the game is based upon insanity, I do however want to incorporate the desert island and palm trees as it makes nice scenery and I want my level to be joyful.

TT Games

Lego's take on Pirates of the Caribbean offers a more simple and cartoon look on the franchise, which compliments the style they have, the game plays like most of their games but has more individualism to the characters, and personally i found it more scenic, although that may be person choice due to the genre, I liked the way the modelled the pirate ships, the cartoon style game is a sense of fun that the movie has, which is why I want to use a similar style in my game level.

Klaus Badelt

Klaus Badlet compossed the music for the original Pirates of the Carribean film, and my particluar favourite theme 'One Last Shot', the title refers so a sub plot in the movie but fits perfectly for my game level, it has a excitment and awe to it, its joyful and relaxing and goes through a few different stages of emotions but altogether has an uplifting atmosphere to it, I'll edit it down in Final Cut Pro and play it on loop over my level if I think it works when I apply it.

Ubisoft (Assassins Creed 3)

In Assasins Creed 3 offers the audience to explore old navy ships in an open world enviroment, and the next in the series looks to follow that trend with Assasins Creed 4: Black Flag. The design of old wooden ships has always fasanated me, and I've often traveled to see them for myself, such as Captain Cook's ship in Whitby, the chance to visualize a digital version and control it immeditly got my attention and was a major selling point for this game, and something I'm looking forward to adding into my game level.