Roger Ebert, an industry-respected film critic, has shocked the gaming community for the second time in 2010; He’s cried “uncle.”
In a surprising turn of events, Ebert posted a brand new blog entry stating that his position on video games was one of ignorance and bullheadedness.
I should not have written that entry without being more familiar with the actual experience of video games.
Recently, Chicago-based critic Roger Ebert has revived his now-infamous claim regarding the state of video games in our artistic landscape. As a gamer who also values Ebert’s critical opinion, I feel the need to respond.
After reading Roger’s most recent support for his claims, I went back to have a look at a post from 2007, where he first defended himself. It’s clear, upon reading, that Ebert needs some serious time behind a controller before he can fully understand the argument he’s presenting to the world. How can anyone propose to judge a medium they don’t actively experience?
I’ve been thinking about this lately. With 3D visual technology being pushed further and further into public consciousness with gigantic media forces like Avatar (and into living rooms now, yes?), I wonder what’s on the horizon for audio.
Recently, while helping my girlfriend try and come up with ideas for a graphic arts class, I scribbles something on a piece of paper that ended up getting stuck in my mind:
A few days passed, and I decided I wanted to try and come up with a semi-organic way to create hatching similar to the above idea on a computer. I’m currently developing using processing. If it turns out, I’ll port it to multiple applications.
You can take a look at a small practice file I’ve been working on the past few days here.
“House” is a final project completed in the Fall semester of 2006 at the University of Illinois: Chicago for the AD405 ‘Smart Art’ class. Performing music, for me, is about the connection I have to the people around me. This project is my first step in trying to blur the boundaries of audience and performer. I utilized PD-Gem to create a program that would manipulate audio based on the movement of an audience.
The program utilizes a digital camera to manipulate audio based on changes in pixel colors.
“Music and Memory” is a flash-based project completed during my undergraduate studies at UIC. In the project I was investigating my ties to the past and how they made me whoI am today. I am generally fearful of the present wondering if I will look back at today years from now regretting decisions I made or how I acted. When I was heavy into undergraduate work in Chicago, I found myself commenting on experiences I had during high school. I found it amazing that I was in this incredible city, and the past seemed to have the most impact on my work.
I consider this project an emotional culmination of all of that thought. During the last week of finals, I took a train back to my home town, and I brought a video camera with me. I went back to places I remembered that meant something to me, and I made note of songs I listen to that reminded me of those places.
“Music and Memory” shaped up into a collection of memories laid out like a set of piano keys. Once you click on the link, you can move your mouse to the left or right of the keys to pan in either direction. You’ll see little sections of videos playing, and when you click on a key, the memory will expand, revealing the full video and the song I associate with that place.
Each song and each place hold very special places in my past, and it’s still emotional for me to look at. Much is left to interpretation, so, while this is a very personal project for me, I hope others can interact and find meaning from their own experiences. Click the link below, allowing a few moments for the content to load, and interact with “Music and Memory.”
(Must have a version of Adobe Flash Player to view content)
This is a detailed character model self portrait that will serve as an avatar in a real-time 3D concept I’m currently developing that is based on the idea of exploring memory. The base model was completed using Maya and the detail was sculpted and painted using Zbrush 3.1.
Design updates and real-time demos will follow shortly, so check back often!
This is an example of my Flash work. It was completed during my 2nd year of college for Intermediate Computer Graphics. Photos were edited in Illustrator and Photoshop using masks and base textures.
Here are some further studies with masks and textures in illustrator and photoshop
This project was the culmination of all of my thoughts and experiences at the University of Illinois. While it wasn’t necessarily developed as a thesis, I began to think of it as such when I was finishing it up..It was shown at the Senior Show on a c-wall in full stereoscopic 3d.
The project is an interactive virtools project that plays like a first person videogame. I wanted to make the whole experience to be symbolic of my college experience..having a dream and finding out how to make it a reality..or even simply the search for what I love.
Here is a link to a few slides proposing the idea before it was developed
The person in control, using an xbox 360 controller with a typical first-person setup, started out in a dark and dingy hallway..no end in sight..only doors to the left and right.
The object is simple: Walk from the beginning to the end..the hallway takes around 5 minutes to walk straight to the end from the starting point..along the way, images fly at the user trying to turn them around and confuse them and sounds entice the user to open the doors along the way and investigate. If the user walks through the door, they’ve strayed from the path to their goal and are thrown in a purgatory of sorts..
They have to crawl their way back on track following sounds and visual cues to lead them in the right direction. Once close to the end of the hall, a white light indicates they’ve almost reached their goal. When they make it to the end of the hall, they’re transported to a colorful and serene landscape full of life..
After a few moments to walk around and take in the sights and sounds, the user is transported back to the beginning of the hall…once a dream is attained life doesn’t stand still…there are other dreams to follow…always a new path to tread.
Everything is going well on the game project. Here are a few screen caps to show you all how it’s coming. Expect a full World 1-1 demo to be posted shortly.
