Okay, I can't help it. I've got to post some more of these. They're just too cool.
Now here's a great game just begging for the GAF Collection treatment. The original cover is atrocious:
The GAF guys came up with these:
The one on the left is decent. I think the title words should be spaced apart a bit more and possibly shrunk down a bit. The one in the middle is really cool, if a bit conventional (close-ups of half a face are pretty easy ways to create an instantly intense image). The one on the far right is my favorite, because it's an image that sums up the feeling of the game, which is very open-ended and a lot of the outcome is decided by your decisions. Also, I'd be willing to bet that whoever designed that one had Carl Sagan's astronomy books in mind:
The Criterion Collection's mission, in their words, is to gather "the greatest films from around the world and [publish] them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements," and also, to publish "the defining moments of cinema for a wider and wider audience."
A major part of their operation is pulled off with their cover art. The Criterion crew is lauded for their DVD box art design and for very good reason. 99% of the time, their covers are stunning, minimalist design pieces that do more justice to portraying the essence of the films than just about any other publisher around. Here are some great examples:
The key is that they always seem to focus on either something really specific that only people who've seen the movie could fully comprehend, or, they create some sort of visual metaphor of the movie's theme. To me, this is what every poster/cover of a major work should be doing, but, as we well know, that can't always be the case.
Now with that in mind, a friend recently tipped me off to this web page, where someone has posted a collection of alternate designs for classic video games, inspired by the design styles seen in the Criterion Collection. It's called the GAF Collection (all the designs are made by members of Gaming Age Forums, one of the most popular videogame message boards around). I'll post a few of my favorites, alongside the original box art.
Content aside, and maybe I'm just sheltered when it comes to web comics, but it never occurred to me to set up a comic that way. To just make it one long scroll, utilizes the most basic of web browser elements (the scroll bar) to great effect. There are little things you can do with timing and pacing in a comic laid out vertically for the entire narrative.
So could this work as well elsewhere? As in, not on a computer?
I don't think so. I mean, humans used to be all about scrolls, but then we realized how much easier it was to make much smaller pieces of paper, bind them, and turn them over with our hands. A scroll is big and awkward (obviously, I can say this because I remember the golden days of the scroll, firsthand).
With the computer, however, we can bring the scroll back in all its vertical glory, as evidenced in this little web comic. Hmm, I think I'll add another side project to my never ending, will-probably-never-finish list of side projects.
Here is an absolutely fantastic example of animation innovation. Well, more accurately, it's a new way of looking at an old method. You have got to see this:
I can tell there's some After Effects (or a similar program) being used to manipulate the edits here so they more effectively deliver the illusion of consistent movement between frames. The sound effects are extremely well chosen, too.
Could a style like this be used to tell a longer story? Sure, but it might become tiresome and uncomfortable to watch. A style like this, that is so un-polished, could really only be used for something this short, but what a style it is. There's a lot of raw energy and creativity at work here.
I'm a big noir head. Films noir, novels noir, comics noir, sci-fi noir, neo-noir, you name it, I'm interested. There's been a big resurgence of noir appreciation over the past several years, and the comic book industry has become a real hotbed for the best of the best noir on the market (see 100 Bullets, Scalped, Criminal, and the unfinished Stray Bullets).
Which is I'm so hyped for Stumptown, an upcoming series written by Greg Rucka (co-writer of an excellent superhero/noir hybrid called Gotham Central, a series told from the perspective of the detective unit in Batman's Gotham City). And it's a private detective story, the most classic archetype in all of noir fiction, second only to the femme fatale.
The indie comic publisher, Oni Press, has come up with some very cool little ways to market the series. First of all there's this fake yellow pages entry:
Check out some of the names up there, too. Every single one of them is a reference to famous (or obscure) private detective character or agency, whether from books or film. Of course you have Spade & Archer, as in Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon. And also P. Marlowe, as in Philip Marlowe from The Big Sleep. But then he's even included Valiant & Valiant. The detective agency from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Awesome.
This is definitely niche marketing, but I'll be damned if they don't have their target audience - me - in the palm of their hand. I'm very anxious to get my hands on this series. And it's a female protagonist, if you'll notice. Not many girl P.I.'s out there. This will be a treat.
Oh, and the Stumptown website? Well, it doesn't exist, but if you go there, you'll see this:
503-389-2135.
That number actually works, too. If you have a chance, call it right now. It's another great bit of interactive, immersive marketing.
The fact that we can actually say, with a straight face, that there is a Dante's Infernovideogame coming out is something that seems a lot more silly and bizarre than it actually is. At first glance, it's as ridiculous as the idea of a Paradise Lost or A Christmas Carol videogame. It just feels strange to digest the idea that this antique pillar of literary history has branched out to such an unlikely medium of entertainment. When you look more closely at the situation though, you're quick to discover that its connection to the literature is essentially in name only. Aside from the references to each circle of Hell and the fact the main character's name is Dante (no other connection to the literary Dante at all), this is, for Christianity, what God of War was for Greek mythology. The gameplay also looks identical to God of War (which was very similar to Devil May Cry, which starred a character named, oddly enough, Dante), if that helps drive the connection home.
All that aside, Electronic Arts, the company producing the game, has come up with a fairly ingenious (though controversial, at times) marketing campaign to count down to the release of the game. Watch below to see what they sent to CHUD.com writer, Alex Riviello, to commemorate this specific circle of Hell:
I love how they forced this guy to actually engage in an act of wrath as part of their marketing campaign. It's a brilliant way to choreograph an engaging, interactive situation. It's definitely very memorable, too.
However, what does this actually say about their product? We know the artistry involved has to be top notch. Especially if their disturbing mini-books are any indication. But this kind of thing can backfire because it reeks so strongly of over-compensation. I'm sure the crew truly believe they have a top-notch product on their hands, but it just seems like an awful lot of hype before any substance. I predict it'll end up being a pretty solid action game with not much else to set it apart, except the visuals - something that every new videogame of this generation seems to emphasize over inventiveness and ingenuity in gameplay.
Nowadays, with so many avenues for companies to compete for our attention, big budget projects are pulling out all the stops to keep our eyes on them. Hence the viral marketing trend. Remember the Dark Knight's campaign, before Heath Ledger died? There were all these interactive web sites and Joker-themed scavenger hunts that kept people excited for the movie. Then, of course, Heath Ledger died and the marketing team didn't have to do much else. The hype was at its peak. But for a while there, they had the most potent viral marketing campaign I've ever seen. So how was the actual film? Passable. Enjoyable enough. Ledger's performance was legendary, but the movie itself? Merely decent, in my eyes.
That was a bit of a digression, but the point is that marketing campaigns for big budget projects have seemed to have more inventiveness behind them than some of the products/projects they're advertising. I guess the longer you're exposed to it, the more wary you get of this fact, because I know this can't be something that's cropped up in the last decade or so, it just seems like it has, because it's finally losing its effect on me.
In August, Smashing Magazine posted a list of 45 examples of code-generated artwork. That is, artwork created using not only sophisticated computer software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, and Photoshop, but also programs, like ActionScript, that take algorithms and generate imagery according to whatever code is typed into the computer. There are some really beautiful images, and looking at them got me thinking of the time when I'd hear people (mainly my high school art teachers) criticizing computer art as a medium less worthy of praise or admiration because, as they said, "the computer does the work for you."
People don't seem to be saying that as much anymore. I think many of those in the art field, at the time, were still feeling threatened by computers - as if they'd be replaced by automated artists churning out works on an assembly line somewhere. Luckily that turned out to be very far from the truth. Computers are merely another tool in the artist's toolbox.
Here are some of my favorites from this list.
"Circle Explosion" by Mark Knol
"Composition #72" by Patrick Gunderson
"Crimson" by Natzke
It's the perfect union of art and science, or mathematics, if you want to get technical about it. Despite the fact that the computer is the one implementing the information, it still takes a human mind to give it the right information to create the image. It requires not only computer knowledge but also some understanding of color and compositional concepts. Cool stuff.
Then, of course, there's the more representational side of computer generated art. These are amazing.
More specifically, I miss the time when MTV actually meant Music Television. Sure, they pretty much "killed the radio star," helped usher in increasingly obnoxious fads and more often than not you would find yourself making fun of the videos (which in itself was a fun passtime with friends), but every so often there was a video that reached iconic status and became ingrained in our culture in ways that just can't happen anymore. It was once a medium that launched the careers of some of our most unique and creative filmmakers (ie. Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze), but now it's hardly noticeable amid the cacophony of Youtube hits and misses.
But, alas, time marches on, things fall apart, etc., so now we have to just take what we can get, which, judging from these two videos alone, can still be pretty amazing.
This first video for Grizzly Bear's recent single, "Two Weeks," is the official video for this song, which means that its main purpose is to reflect the attitude of the band and, in a way, introduce them to newcomers. I think it does a pretty good job in both departments.
If you already know Grizzly Bear, you know that they're kind of like the modern indie rock version of The Beach Boys. Their vocal harmonies and the general dream-like nature to a lot of their songs make it hard to avoid the comparison. If you don't already know them, this video sums them up pretty well as the twisted choirboys they are. The subtle enlargement and shrinking of their facial features is a particularly nice/disturbing touch. And the exploding head thing that occurs right along with the crescendo near the end of the song is just as effective.
Now, here's another video for the same song, this time made by an extremely talented fan. With no access to the band members, this guy made the video solely to serve the music. It's a real treat.
There are times throughout the video when the imagery seems to be directly related to the lyrics - like early on, when we see the cars on the highway and we hear "a routine malaise" - but for the most part, the images relate to the song in the most abstract sense. It's all about the feeling, first, and interpretation, second. I really like how the birds wing flap to the beat and, later, when we emerge from the tunnel to a bright, wide open environment, right along with that same crescendo that had the guys' heads exploding in the first video. All in all, very well crafted, and, at the same time, representative of the band's indie nature, aesthetically.
