Taking the suggestion by JR from my request last week for poll position topics this weeks poll position question is which is the better movie Watchmen or V For Vendetta?
[polldaddy poll=”7219440″]
Posted in Versus
Apparently, there is a special celebration coming up for you guys across the pond. So, I thought it might be a good time to do a contest that I’m surprised hasn’t been done before (just a take a few minutes to let the irony of an Englishman giving you a fourth of july contest sink in).
This week I want you to design a character that represents one of the 50 states that make up America. Doesn’t matter what you do, just so long as it is connected to a state in some way. I know a few people have done things along these lines already, so I know this should be good.
There is a limit on entries this week, but I doubt anyone will reach it. You can only do ONE ENTRY PER STATE PER PERSON, so you can only do each state once (so there’s a limit of 50 entries, but I’m not expecting you to do them all).
It’d be nice to see every state represented. If we do I’ll make a map using my favourites for each state at the end of the week. But anyway, good luck and have fun.
Rules for posts, contests, and challenges that I am hosting: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warnings. Only post characters that you have either created for this contest specifically or you know for certain have never been entered to a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.
Posted in Character Design Challenges
A new bi-weekly topic I’m trying out now. Here we’ll have a look at some of the weirder, unpopular or down right stupid decisions made by people in the industry who should have known better. And to kick us off, we’ll look at a nerd-rage classic.
Now, there are some good bits in Star Wars Episode 1. Liam Neeson, Ian McDiarmid’s acting, Darth Maul and the final fight. However, in many (most?) peoples eyes this isn’t enough to salvage a below par script, a slow story progression and a pointless Formula 1 style pod race sequence that went on ten minutes too long. However, most peoples ire is raised to its highest by the focus of this week’s column.
Yup, he’sa here.
Let’s kick off by admitting that, as a kid, I loved Jar Jar. However, after a few years, I realised that, actually, he is reeeeeeaaaaalllllllly annoying. But that hits the nail on the head, George Lucas has been quoted as saying that Jar Jar was aimed squarely at the kids (and not only at your childhood). And it’s not like he didn’t have form on that front. He did the same thing with the Ewoks. Now, having been born a decade after Return Of the Jedi came out, I don’t know first hand what the reaction to the teddy-bears from Endor was at the time, but I know a few people who hate them as much as they do Jar Jar. But of course, Mr. Lucas doesn’t care about that either. To quote the man himself- “The movies are for children but they [the fans] don’t want to admit that… There is a small group of fans that do not like comic sidekicks. They want the films to be tough like The Terminator, and they get very upset and opinionated about anything that has anything to do with being childlike.” Whilst he obviously hasn’t heard the phrase “the customer is always right”, it’s his franchise, he can do what ever he wants with it.
There is a bigger problem with Jar Jar though, he could be just a little bit racist. Allegations of such have been levelled at him since he appeared, comparing him to the 50’s blackfaces and a “laid back clown” stereotype of black Caribbean’s, especially Rastafarians. Whilst it has been denied strenuously, shurely George Lucas has more brains than that, to make a character aimed at children that is straight away associated with a highly negative stereotype? Either he really didn’t see how such a stereotype could be read into one of his characters, or he was so engrossed in the rise of the nazi party analogy he was sub-scripting into the film, he completely didn’t notice.
Though it may be stupid to attribute the massive nerd-rage around Disney buying Star Wars to just one character, the perceived threat of more Jar Jar like characters is certainly one factor. Luckily, due to his diminishing screen time throughout the prequels, and the fact the new movies are set after the originals, means it is unlikely he will return, it is a rumour that has been circulating, Ahmed Best (the actor behind the orange) has been vocal in his support for the sequels. But you know the best bit. Robert Pattinson has expressed interest in playing the character. There just wouldn’t be enough vomit in the world.
Posted in Movies and TV, What Were They Thinking
Congrats to Delirious Al for winning the last Character Design Contest. I thought it would be closer than it was, I must admit.
Posted in Challenge Favorites
As promised, one of the new weekly blog posts. Now there idea here is not only to give praise, but to look at good design features and highlight techniques that make the composition work. So without further ado, this week we’ll look at Renxin’s Kwan Yin.
This was entered into this weeks CDC, but I had to disallow it due to it contravening the ‘no current religions’ rule, however, it is certainly worth looking at more closely.
First off, let’s look at the colour. Being a representation of a Buddhist god, the colours are very light and natural, none look out of place or overly dominant. Using only three colours is one of the best techniques for getting a good costume, you can often smoother a good design by using too many colours, no matter how well chosen they are. By using only the green, purple and white, it allows the foreground figure to stand out more against the background. The fading effect used on the colours of the lower dress (HINT: which is done by using the rectangle or circles on the last page of the Background-Shapes page and setting the first colour’s alpha setting to 0% and then masking to the desired object) is a really simple but effective technique that can be used in lots of different ways (such as shadow effects or highlighting).
The lotus petals around the feet is a really neat way of using that insignia and by using a lighter outline colour compared to much of the rest of the piece, it differentiates these foreground objects from the main composition in a highly effective way.
The choice of items for making the clothes, whilst not highly innovative, is very effective. The skirts for sleeves is a good example of going to other categories to find what you need.
My favourite part of this piece however, has to be the face. I’m still not quite sure what item was used for the eyes (maybe the manga style nose? Do you think you could clarify for us Renxin, I’d love to know) but it works perfectly. The expression definitely says ‘peace’, which is the point of a depiction of buddhism. The choice of items for the hair and hairpiece were very well chosen and certainly add to the whole head area without drawing attention away from the face, much like the background ‘halo’.
Overall, a wonderfully executed piece that looks very simple, with no masses of shading, because it isn’t needed. Shame it wasn’t eligible for the contest really.
Well it is once again time to select a caption contest winner! Last week I gave you the following image to work with:
After going through the entries I have selected the following five as the finalists.
JR19759
“What’s the point in having superpowers when I can’t even rid the world of Justin Beiber?”
The Atomic Punk
The director cast Ryan Reynolds to play me in an upcoming movie.
Firecracker
Dang! Fired! And I really liked that TSA job.
Alexander of Limbo
…and then Power Girl said: “well at least i have a pair to flaunt!”
Prof. Abercrombie Q. Anthrax
It’s always Marcia! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!
All very good candidates for the winning spot so now I must select out one, and that one is ……..
Firecracker for the clever play on my Tuesday random panel post from last week.
Posted in Caption Challenges
This week on Anime Talk I am going to be doing a mini review of the 1987 anime series “Red Photon Zillion”, the anime that got me hooked! Zillion takes place on the year 2387 on the planet Maris ( which humanity had apparently colonized at some point) which is under attack by a alien race called the Nozas whom wish to destroy all human life and claim the planet for themselves. The Nozas as practically immune to all normal human weapon systems, and the last line of defense against this threat are three human teens, JJ, Champ, and Apple known collectively as the “White Knights”.
The White Knights are able to stand against this alien threat because they have been entrusted white the Zillion weapons systems, three mysterious guns that had recently be discovered on the plant and that run on a extremely rare power source ( Zillion ). Anything that is shot by the Zillion guns is instantly disintegrated, things just seem to wink out of existence when hit. Now on the surface the premise of this show may sound a but silly, three teens fighting an alien army on there own with three magic guns but if you can get past that little difficulty of suspension of disbelief I found Zillion to be a fun show to watch.
The show has as much action as anyone could want, as well a a nice helping of humor due to the interactions between the three main characters. The show is clean with no gratuitous sexuality to worry about and while having its fair share of violence since it is about an alien invasion after all, it is not over the top is that regard. The animation work being from 1987 looks a little dated style wise compared to more modern anime but still looks fairly good at least in my opinion. In conclusion I would say that If you are looking for a light, non-complex, fun PG rated anime that you can watch with the family then I suggest you give Red Photon Zillion a try.
For this weeks Poll Position, I asked for your help in picking a topic for the poll. There were some real good suggestions made but I am going to give the nod to The Atomic Punk for suggesting “Traditional or Pen and Paper RPG’s vs MMORPG’s”. So this is what I want to know, given that they are two totally different experience, which of the two do you prefer to play? Please take a moment to vote for your favorite, and comment below with your reasons for your pick. As a bonus I would love to know which games you have played in the past?
[polldaddy poll=”7203320″]
Myself I have played:
Pen and Paper Games: AD&D 1st edition, AD&D 2nd Edition, Heroes Unlimited ( a superhero rpg ), RIFTS, Palladium Fantasy, Mechton, and Vampire the Masquerade.
MMORPG’s: Everquest, Guild Wars, Final Fantasy XI, World Of Warcraft ( for a very short time ), Shaiya, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and DC Universe Online.
All in all while I enjoy both experiences I have to say that if I had to pick a favorite I would go with the old school pen and paper rpg’s. There is just something about getting together with some real good friends around a table that you lose with MMORPG’s. to throw in a little bonus answer my favorite game of all the pen and paper games I hav e played would have to be RIFTS.
Posted in Versus
Ok, for this weeks character design contest I want you to give me your interpretation of a god from mythology (none of the major world religions please, we don’t want to cause offence, unintentional or otherwise). However, I’m going to give one rule……
NO GREEK/ ROMAN OR NORSE GODS
They’ve been done to death. There are plenty of other pantheons to pilfer from.
As I said, it is your interpretation, so it doesn’t have to be historically accurate (you can do modern day superhero versions if you want), but keep the theme of whoever you’re doing and please make sure I can tell who it is (links to wiki pages may help, I don’t have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all mythology).
Anyway, you have until Sunday. No limits on entries. Have fun and good luck.
Rules for posts, contests, and challenges that I am hosting: Original characters only, no copyrighted characters, no characters based on copyrighted characters, no characters based on RPG’s or other games. The characters must be your own design and not based on any character that might be copyrighted in any way. I have the right to delete any post that I believe crosses this line without warnings. Only post characters that you have either created for this contest specifically or you know for certain have never been entered to a contest before. If you aren’t certain, don’t enter it, because I’m not going to go back through all of the contests and check.
Posted in Character Design Challenges
Three middle-aged nerds (including yours truly!) review all of the MCU movies in chronological order. Short, funny, and full of good vibes, check it out and let us know what you think!
Nerdmudgeon.com