The WC Project - Learning the industry through doing...

For those who have been somewhat out of the loop or are not big followers of this blog, I've been slaving away at a web television concept since the end of the 48 hour film challenge last year.

This has been a real eye-opening and strengthening experience for me. Firstly, I have a new found respect for the amount of trouble and time that goes into producing a show and I really now understand why some shows can take decades to be produced.

One thing that has always bugged me about producers is that it is never really clear what a producer does and how they go about it. Well the reason is because a producer really does a little bit of everything and has to spend a lot of time looking at the real logistics of a film.

It does surprise me how many people I have met who kind of think that saying "oh I want to be in a film" don't realise how much work making a film is. Like I said - new found respect.

I'm not sure who coined the phrase, but it is very much a case of herding cats. Particularly when you are making a production on a zero-budget. Relying on volunteers means you have to be skilled at balancing compromise with control. You need to get everyone together and keep them pumped about the project, but at the same time you have to make it as little hassle as possible for them because they are not getting paid for the work.

You can't rely on the promise of "if this becomes big..." you really need to make sure that the people involved are as committed to the vision as you are.

For me the big challenge isn't so much the compromise, nor the frustration when people aren't available - these are par for the course and I expect those things. It's about me being able to give the design, director and actors room to interpret my script and world in a way that works for them.

This is tough when you're trying to stay true to a vision, but also be open to new ideas. And it is one I find I constantly berate myself over. Sure, there are important things that I want to ensure make it into the series, but I have to make sure that everyone is enjoying the project - and they need to be able to express their own creativity when doing this. Which means I have to be willing to say "cool, not what I really wanted, but let's go with it."

Like I said - compromise.

We've recently been doing casting calls for the series - which has been a fantastic experience for me. Norman, our director, is really good at guiding actors and while he sometimes has different ideas about the characters than I do - he does a good job in auditions at getting the actors to try out ideas.

There is something cathartic as a writer to see people reading your lines and bringing the characters to a semblance of life - and it really helps to push me further with the project.

But the best part to date is how everyone who has auditioned has genuinely laughed at the jokes in the script and commented on how fun the characters are. I had some doubts about how humourous the script was going to be - but after watching some of New Zealand's prime time "comedy" out there - I think our show is going to knock people's socks off.

While we are still to finalise who is playing what roles, we have found some very talented actors who are keen to just be in the series and love the characters. Now, more than ever, I really find myself genuinely believing that this project is going to be something that people are going to talk about and want to see more.

That pushes me to work harder and get everyone organised and ready to shoot this sucker.

Why WebTV and not a short film or national television show? Well I have a bit of a strategy here. Firstly, Web TV doesn't require as much in the way of resources to film and distribute. Secondly, every man and his dog in Wellington is shooting a short film. It's easy to just get lost in the sea of mediocrity and fringe film. There is an increasing demand from television companies for local web based content. What we're doing with our show is ambitious and has the potential to be news worthy once it is released. Thirdly, a television show allows for more time to tell your story and focus on characters. It also means you can release a feature length story in fifteen minute parts. I find this preferable.

Although it does mean that we are effectively filming six short films as opposed to one! :)

I am so excited! This is proving to be a very eye-opening and educational experience. It also has the potential to lead to some very big things, and that potential also excites me.

Love and Huggles

Conan

Review Time - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

In this age of Next Generation consoles, you often hear a lot of talk about graphics, story and playability. This is a market that is dominated by games like Gears of War, Halo etc...

This is a market where innovation is often the driving force behind game design.

But there is something to be said for eschewing innovation in favour of doing something well, and doing it right.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, a flagship game for the PS3 that many have overlooked as "Tomb Raider with testicles."

Frankly, it is not. Part of this is because the main character, Nathan Drake, is not some mindless treasure hunter with big tits and a posh accent. He's a character with emotions and personality.

And this game is a classic example of innovation not through gameplay, but through design approach. This is a game that ever so quietly shows why the PS3 is such a powerful gaming console, and does so effortlessly.

Adventure, Exotic Locations, Women, Villains, and Lost Incan Treasure

Inspired by the old pulp classics, with dash of Indiana Jones, Uncharted is focused on three characters. There is your quintessential hero, the character you play, Nathan Drake - a treasure hunter who believes himself to be the direct descendant of Sir Francis Drake. Elena Shipman - a reporter who films for a show about treasure hunting, and whose producers have paid for Drake's little treasure hunt. Sullivan - also known as Sully, he is Drake's gruff sidekick and handy getaway guy when things get tough.

While these characters are stereotypical adventure/cliff-hanger movie characters, the actors and graphics engine inject them with an incredible life of their own. They laugh, smile and have extremely detailed expressions. Compared to Nathan Drake, Commander Shepard of Mass Effect looks positively wooden in comparison.

And Drake's expressive nature is not restricted to cinematic scenes... more on that in a moment.

The main story revolves around Drake discovering a journal of Francis Drake's that leads him to discover that Sir Francis may have found the lost treasure of El Dorado.

Through in a greedy and influential debt-collector, a mad superstitious Phillipino mercenary, a cold and efficient Spanish terrorist and an lost island of secrets with a dash of lost Nazi U-boats - and you get a genuine pulp-adventure story worthy of the big screen.

Gameplay and those Graphics

Still shots simply don't do justice to how this game looks.

Gameplay-wise, Uncharted is essentially a longer and slicker version of Gears of War. Most of the time Drake will be ducking behind cover and engaging in tense and exciting shoot-outs with pirates, mercenaries and an assortment of other enemies. There is a straight forward but cinematic melee system - but you kind of use it in a rare case of finding an opponent on his own and out of range of anyone else. Then it goes down to fisticuffs.

This is indicative of the level of detail that has gone into this game. Every tree and frond moves on its own. Jungles are a riot of colour and movement, and Drake himself is detailed to the point that his biceps bulge when he pulls on objects, his shirt wrinkles when he walks - and when I say wrinkles, it looks like a piece of clothing and not just a skin over a model.

When Drake walks in the water, the bottom of his jeans get wet. When he swims, he comes out dripping with his clothes soaked with water.

The fluid movements, the incredible attention to details- it makes for a lush and gorgeous game to play.

Now for the part that will stun you...

The game doesn't install itself on the hard-drive. It runs directly off the disc and only has one load time - when you start or leave the game.

It does all this without texture pop-up, and only the very occasional screen tear.



Compared to the unholy graphical nightmares of some 360 games, this is stunning. I simply cannot believe that the same level of quality and detail would be possible on any other console on the market.

Uncharted is a game that more people should try out and play. It is worth every penny and is a prime example of what the PS3 is truly capable of.

I love it and highly highly highly recommend it.

Laters!

Conan

iPhone-y Baloney

My current Nokia phone is seriously on its last legs. I've been holding out replacing it because to get a new phone would require me to sign to a new contract and all the fiddly mess that goes with it. After all, I've been working myself out of debt rather than aiming to get back into debt.

I've been tempted by the usability of the iPhone for some time. As anyone who knows me can attest - I'm a big fan of Apple, and the ability to have a Smartphone that synchs with my mac is very appealing.

So what has gone wrong?

Vodafone has unfortunately opened that can of worms that has been waiting to explode - mobile data usage.

New Zealand has some of the highest prices for internet and mobile usage in the world. We have had all manner of excuses piled out about this, and now the iPhone may be the product that causes companies to pause and think.

I watched the "rebuttal" from Vodafone last night on Campbell Live, and it comes down to 'this is our cheapest plan' and 'New Zealand is isolated.'

Now I'm not a big fan of John Campbell, he's a bit of a phoney himself I feel, but damn if he didn't do a good job of making Vodafone's PR guy look like a fool. Campbell was armed with figures - including Australian markets - and the PR guy kept running back to his "we have plans from $50 and up" over and over like a mantra, as if that would answer the question.

Then as a defence he argued that New Zealand has the highest fixed broadband costs too. Dumb move - that's not a defence for high prices, that's an example why Vodafone could have led the way by competitive pricing.

As it is, they seriously underestimated the backlash, I suspect. We wont know until the actual release day how much this pricing plan has worked or failed - but given the rumblings, and the fact that the people Vodafone are counting on purchasing the device are savvy enough to know that they are being ripped off - this could be a bit of a bomb for VF.

The harsh reality is that a similar plan on Telecom with an OKTA touch - which might not have all the iPhone's features, but is close enough for a lot of users - is a few HUNDRED dollars cheaper on a two year plan.

Arguing that the iPhone is a unique product is a weak defence, as comparably there are still alternatives, and when nearby nations are selling this item for demonstrably better deals - it is a bit rich to argue that "it's the best deal compared to our other prices"

Guys, if your other prices are stupidly high, this defence is a failure. And I looked - I stuck with Telecom because Vodafones standard contracts are ridiculously priced compared to the current plans Telecom is offering. So even standard Vodafone plans are a rip-off.

All in all, Vodafone have made a big marketing error here. I predict that there will be a pick up rate - but a number of people will be waiting to see if Telecom offers a better deal once they get to run the iPhone off their network...

Love and Huggles

Conan

Ego, Film, Work and Life

So your anecdotal evidence is better than his anecdotal evidence? I knew you had an ego problem, Keggy, but I never knew until now just how bad it was.

This is from this forum post on RPG.net where I, somewhat foolishly, got involved in a debate about the new Fourth Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Now folks who know me well, would know that I love this game. They probably also know I have a habit of getting into debates.

I have a thing about people making wildly inaccurate claims, a bad habit when I have been known to do the same myself at times. However, in this particular case I was pretty confident that the person who wrote the review that this forum was linked to had made a number of inaccurate claims. I made an effort to be reasonable and stick purely to the facts.

This this guy/gal, who clearly knows me outside of the interweb (s/he refers to my name in a way that he knew would give this fact away) says this. Now I will be humble enough to say that I took the bait - but I did make an effort to keep my response sharp, simple and avoiding too much in the way of personal attack.

But it does niggle at me. Not because I feel s/he's right - but rather it has played on one of my weaknesses. I worry too much about being too arrogant. I have a habit of lecturing people when I don't mean to, and I have a low self-confidence because of people like this. No doubt this "spectral knight" is one of the infamous a-holes from Auckland who spent five years trying to wear me down because I had the audacity to suggest that the Auckland University roleplaying club could use improvement.

There were a core of people who hated the idea that I suggested AMERICA pay attention to such events as KapCon and Buckets - that the club should aim to draw in more members and actually promote our hobby. Thankfully a large number of the newer crowd at the club seem to have taken up this goal thanks to the hard work of Karen - who was part of a group of us who all felt that the club needed to be more inclusive.

But for five years I had to put up with people accusing me of doing it for my own self-aggrandizement. Despite my working hard to encourage people to join, donating time games and energy to the club - it was always seen as to benefit my ego. Of course if I took a step back and decided to just run games... me being egotistical again. Anything I said - it was out of ego.

How do you deal with that? I would end up feeling exhausted and frustrated. I really believed in helping the club out and supporting the hobby - but some people didn't want to see me do that because they got it in their heads I was doing it for my own benefit.

Because, you know, being known as the guy who changed a small university roleplaying club into a happier small university roleplaying club with fun activities would be the pinnacle of my life.

It was kind of depressing and taught me a valuable lesson about how much damage a few negative people can do.

So I do have an ego problem - in that I don't always have faith in my abilities. Not that I think I can do no wrong - but that I feel I will inevitably fail and that it is hard to rely on others because they will always expect you to think only of yourself, and in doing so will do the same.

Yet another part of me knows that I should be proud of myself. Not in an arrogant manner, but in a healthy confident manner. And this week has shown why...

Firstly, work is offering me a chance to prove myself and develop my skills to move up to management. I have been there only four months, and they are that pleased with the work I do. I have kept my head down and slaved away, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. It doesn't pay more - but the opportunities for the future are amazing!

Secondly, my web tv project proceeds nicely. William is doing some amazing design and art work for the project, and I recently started casting calls - already we have some very talented and experienced actors keen to volunteer their time for the project! If this keeps up I'll have more actors than roles!

Life in general is improving, one of my major debts is almost paid off and while I'm poor for the next couple of weeks I'm feeling positive about the future.

There are a number of people who are being great sources of support and encouragement, and if I was such an egotistical wanker, I'm sure I wouldn't be getting so much coming this way. I am confident that the next few months are going to see my fortunes improve. We have so many talented people working on this web show, and more coming on board over the next few weeks.

Work has informed me of how well I'm doing and how pleased they are with my efforts.

I could possibly be forgiven for having a little bit of a swollen head on these matters. :)

Love and Huggles

Conan