And what a song it was. Dreamcast ushered in a generation of online console games by being the first one to launch with a modem in the hardware. Phantasy Star Online was an breakout title for the system with many devoted gamers that stayed with the game well after the console’s death. Dreamcast’s online component would not meet competition until Xbox Live launched 3 years later.  Which by that time, the system was a year dead. (I was one of the few people to play Phantasy Star Online the game when it launched on Gamecube and I loved it. It was far too addicting not to waste weekends playing and, boy, did I.)

My personal memories with the system were short, because, well… I remember feeling it was a bit early for a new generation of consoles to launch and I had just bought an N64 2 years previous. Fortunately for me, these feelings were not present with my closest friends and I was able to mooch precious hours on the system for free.

Since we were young and poor, the first one of my friends to get the system only managed to get one controller with one VMU. His first game was Crazy Taxi and we had hours of fun playing passing around the controller, trying to beat each other’s score, and thinking that The Offspring was the God’s gift to video game music. And that game set the standard for what kind of games I should expect from the Dreamcast: colorful,  fun, and communal games that anyone can enjoy without any sort of elitist entrance fee.

Tower Records so upset from the news of Dreamcast’s death followed suit soon after.

Dreamcast’s game mantra permeated the next game on the system I met. Even though I had already invested so many hours into the original Smash Bros., and my entire mind set at the time was that no company can compete with Nintendo’s game design, Powerstone was the most fun I had had with a fighting game. This was especially important because I had always strayed from fighting games because my friends were so punishingly good at them they persistently would leave me with my tail between my legs. Powerstone was the first fighter that really balanced the controls (while some may think they were too simplistic) and gave gamers of little experience a level playing field with the fighting experts.

Despite everyone’s allegiances to certain consoles, I haven’t met anyone yet who didn’t have anything but a good time playing the Dreamcast. If video games are really all about getting together with your friends and having a good time, then Dreamcast was were it was at.

RIP Dreamcast 1999-2001.

Storyboards By Tina-Idontwanttotrytospellherlastname.

We start shooting this weekend, and I have been so nervous I have gotten a minimal amount of sleep this whole week.

blagh

Yes, that is a Jellyfish. I’m assuming this is photographic proof that they can mash themselves together to form a Megazord-like being that stalks the beaches eating environmentalists hoping to push them back in the ocean.

They are such a menace.

I feel like I could really get lost in the world of her artwork.

Mary Blair is one of my favorite artists during the golden age of cartoons. She worked on concept art and backgrounds for Walt Disney, most notably Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland. But arguably her magnum opus is something that nearly killed humankind with cuteness overload. That infamous Disney Land attraction:

ITS A SMALL WORLD!!

That guy would be me, because if I didn’t, I would miss out on hilarious advertisements like this:

Notice the Print Shop Deluxe headlines, and the urgency of multiple question marks. The awesome graphic imagery of the helicopter. Is it rising to victory? Is it ducting a missile shot by those pesky Ruskies? Or is it crashing and now it’s up to you to save it? So many questions to ponder, and so many open answers. I guess its really up to you to decide. Can you handle it? The question just eats at your spine.

This is the finest example of print advertising I can imagine.

The whole time I was in the theater I kept thinking “This is what Fantasia would look like live, only better because its just drums.”

The basic premise of the show is a bunch of individual drums ensembles with a visual element. Apparently in years past, they would choreograph  modern dancers to certain drums pieces. But this year they showcased some student films from the ACCAD (a top tier computer animation school housed at OSU).

They live scored these brilliant pieces of animation so beautifully, that when I was looking that the theater screen I barely noticed that the music was live.

One of the highlights of these live score pieces was not a computer animated short but a silent film. That’s right an entire silent film score with only percussion instruments timed exactly with onscreen action.

This show was so neat. I enjoyed this much more than Blast, which is only worth seeing for the drum battles. But Drums Downtown was one of the most original pieces of theater I’ve seen in my underexposed-to-theater life and I am sure as hell going again next year.

The script.

Then, I scribbled down some storyboards that are horrendous looking and will be made into beautifully flowing, elegant sequences by a real artist on Thursday.

I am extremely lucky to have Ryan Moody as my producer since he is hauling ass on everything, and Jacqueline Hicks for stepping up and providing individual stories for Film and Video Society to produce.

This is the first time I have ever worked on anything independently with people I didn’t con into being on camera because they were my friends or had any resources that weren’t household pieces of junk.  Lights, Costumes, an actual script, an actual producer, an actual crew member, and, finally, actual actors. All these resources are at my disposal to make whatever I want. It’s an absolutely crazy concept. It excites and scares me, which is probably a good place to be.

Hope you hate it.

Apparently if you aren’t watching IFC, you miss great Hollywood moments like this.

We may never see Bruce Campbell on Inside The Actor’s Studio, but at least we have one interview with him talking honestly about movies and the genre that put him on the map. Hail to the king, baby.