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reverienne · 11 months

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@aylaaescar suggested answering this question from Lena’s blog for my ShoH blorbos and here comes Jul’s answer!

Caine needs “The Talk”! How would MC approach the wonderfully awkward task of explaining the birds and the bees to a preteen kid?

Juliander Strzygomski:

Generally, Jul would seem to be a good person to approach? As in: he's not the person that you'll go to tips regarding your love life per se - think "Oh no, I have a crush on this girl. What do I do?" - because you know that he's gay and your tween mentality tells you that Boys Are Different TM, and though at some point it becomes Known that he and Chase are together, Jul is definetely not The Cool One in the relationship. People correctly notice that the right question to ask is "What did Chase do to make you fall for him, Juliander?" and not the reverse. They would go for courting advice to Chase, not Jul. Sex ed, however? Jul has the energy of a cool rebellious uncle and that makes him perfect for sharing knowledge that your parents don't want you to know or you're too embarrassed to ask your parents for. He despises adults who dismiss children with "I'll tell you when you're older" or "You'll understand it when you're older", who project their own shame onto their kids and refuse to equip them with essential knowledge about their own bodies.

(There's also the additional factor of parents's knowledge sometimes being very limited in certain areas - sometimes because of prejudice, sometimes because they simply weren't taught about the alternatives. For example, Jul's parents’s idea of a default sex ed was rather cishet. They would try being more inclusive, if they knew that Jul was attracted to men, but they had no idea, Jul himself had no idea that he was gay at that point and then they were gone 13-th-birthday-style so... Jul had to do his own research once he figured out that he's gay. If he can make one youngster's journey of figuring out the ropes a bit easier, then he did some good in the world.)

Jul totally understands that there are plenty of reasons why you simply can't ask your parents or you asked them and they didn't give you a sufficient answer, and he has this chill nonjudgmental aura that makes him feel like a person that you can trust and let yourself be vulnerable with. You can ask him any set of "embarrassing" questions and he'll answer them fully, no sugarcoating and no abridging. He's any controlling parent's nightmare.

Also, a fun fact - it's actually not easy to make him blush or stammer while covering these topics. He may need a moment to come up with an answer, if he gets surprised by a sudden change of topic, but it's only becauase he wants to give the kid the most thorough answer he can. He's extremely professional, kind and understanding.

A way to make him blush would be to ask him what he does with Chase specifically, but it’s only so because IT'S PERSONAL and Jul would like to have his privacy in that regard expected. He can give some general tips based on his knowledge and experience, but you won't squeeze any saucy backstories out of him while he's answering your questions.

And if Jul pawns the responsibility off, it’s always for a good reason. The thing is - Jul very much realizes that he's not the norm, he can't and won't pretend that he is the norm, and that a statistically likely allo kid sometimes would like to hear some reassurance from an allo adult with similar experiences. Jul is demiromantic and while he falls in romantic love somewhat easily (at least compared to my other demi characters, Siri or Bogumiła), it's based on the person's vibes, not their physical appearance. He's also demisexual and it takes him time getting to know his crush (and sometimes also a near-death experience to speed up the whole process) to start experiencing any sexual attraction at all. Jul very much realizes that his particular experience may not be helpful to everyone and while he hates dismissing people (because it feels like being the kind of a person that Jul personally despises and that he would hate to become), he may point someone in the direction of someone who would provide them with a better answer. Statistically, I think that it's mostly Red (who is cool with that and eventually became Haven's second unofficial sex ed teacher), but at some point Jul surprised Bogusia with a visit from some kid who shared similar experiences to her and it was very sweet. 🥺

#shepherds of haven #Juliander Strzygomski #happy pride 🌈#I have the ask stashed and I want to reply for it for Bogumiła too #it's okay to reblog :) just to clarify

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quirkwizard · 5 years

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Quirkworks: A Wizard’s Guide to Making Quirks and Characters

Please note that this is a guide. I am not telling you how to make your Quirk or your character, merely explaining my personal process of what I think constitutes a good Quirk and character.

-Quirk Name

The name of your Quirk should be short and pithy; something that rolls off the tongue and is easy remember. It should quickly convey what your Quirk is about. To accomplish this, it is best to keep the name of your Quirk to one to two words and under six syllables, using abbreviations or compound words can help with this if you want to get a specific idea across, and apply wordplay when appropriate.

-Quirk Type

While this is mostly understood throughout the fandom, it bares clarifying. The three types of Quirks can be boiled down as such.

Mutant: A permanent alteration to the body. Transformation: A temporary but notable alteration to the body. Emitter: Everything else.

I even made a little chart to help make things clear:

-Inspiration-Where the Quirk is from

While it is not necessary to do so when making a Quirk, a fair amount of Quirks have been inspired by other characters. However, as characters usually have many powers, it is best if you take one aspect of that character and make it into a power. For example, if you wanted to make a Quirk based around Wolverine, he has several abilities you could base a Quirk off of. Regeneration, Claw Protrusion, Metal Bones, Enhanced Senses, or even Berserk Rage.

It’s doesn’t need to be a perfect translation either as long as you get the general idea of the power across. For instance, Spider Man’s abilities of Wall Crawling and Web Slinging are represented in “Slide and Glide” and “Tape” respectively. Keep in mind, some abilities must be weakened to fit within the setting.

If you want to make a Quirk based off of something you may not know much about, you should do a little research into what the effects may be. I recommend something meant to teach kids, since it is teaches whatever information you may need in the quickest and simplest way possible so you won’t need read to deep into it.

-Integration- What the Quirk does

It is important to be clear on exactly what it does, as it is set up for how the rest of the Quirk works. Quirks are a singular ability, which can often be described in under a sentence or two. What can be done with the Quirk is taken from that single idea. And while there are multiple uses for a Quirk, it is all based around that single ability. Captain Celebrity doesn’t just fly and have super strength, he has a special barrier which allows him to fly, but he can control in order to replicate super strength. Though small, unspoken aspects can be added to help the Quirk function without it being that big of a deal. IE Stain not getting sick from drinking blood or Bakugou’s arms being resilient enough to withstand the explosions he produces.

However, some abilities can have minor additions to their power set. This is fine as long as it makes sense for a Quirk to have an ability to function or if it something small that doesn’t really hurt anything by having it included. For instance, “Lizard Tail Splitter” comes with a healing factor. This makes sense as the user needs to detach their body parts and could easily lose them. “Queen Bee”’s bees having syringe stingers is not that big of an issue in the grand scheme of the Quirk.

If you ever find yourself questioning how a Quirk functions, it’s best to just chalk it up to what I like to call Quirk Magic. It’s basically the part of the Quirk that allows the Quirk to do what it does, like Uraraka being able to make things float or the part of Ectoplasm that allows him to make the goo he does. This doesn’t excuse not thinking through how a Quirk functions, such as not having real world physics or consequences apply to what they do, just try not to overthink it.

-Application-What can be done with the Quirk

This is taking the basic ability and coming up with all of the possibilities it has. Just try to keep it reasonable within the confines of the Quirk you have set up. For instance, Bakugou is able to propel himself around via the force of his explosions, which is a reasonable use of the ability with how his Quirk is set up. It would not fit is he suddenly began shooting explosions from his feet, healed people, or started shooting fireballs. This can be divided into the following categories.

Offense: How it can do damage Defense: How it can protect the user or others Mobility: How it can help the user get around Information: How it can gain knowledge Support: How it can help allies Hindering: How it can weaken enemies

Sometimes a Quirk can be given a certain advantage by how it functions. For instance, “Forced Quirk Activation” is a pretty mediocre power, but it is improved by the fact that the effect is delivered through the black spears which give it more range and the user can do other things with the black spears. “Tape” is a pretty okay Quirk, but is made better by it’s relatively unnoticeable drawback.

-Limitation- What keeps it from getting out of hand

Good rule of thumb: every power in the series has some inherent weakness to it. While it can be trained around or lessened in someway, it will always be a part of the Quirk. It would be best to follow some kind of logic with the limitations, such as a Quirk that enhances muscles requiring the user to train their muscles or a Quirk related to darkness has a weakness to light, and give each Quirk at least two drawbacks. However, there are some widely used choices you could pick or take inspiration from:

-Range of the Quirk This often more of an exchange then a drawback. The stronger the ability, the shorter the range (”Overhaul”, “Compress”) -Focus on a certain body part (”Black Hole”, “Big Fist”) -Reliance on a finite resource What the user eats, the Quirk draining their stamina (”Blood Control”, “Wave Motion”) -Reliance on the environment Time of day, needing a substance around to control, (”Dark Shadow”, “Cement”) -Reliance on the user’s mental state How well they are emotionally or their ability to concentrate. (”Clones”, “Pop Off”) -Reliance on a substance Needing something to activate the Quirk (”Sugar Rush”, “Homing”) -Reliance on someone’s body Something like their gender or blood type (”Magnetism”, “Blood Curdle”) -Backlash from overusing the Quirk (”Explosion”, “Electrification”) -Certain knowledge being necessary (”Creation”, “Warp Gate”) -Time limitation An actual time limit or something else keeping the user from using the Quirk too long (”Permeation”, “Overclock”) -Complicated use How difficult it is to activate or some innate problem with how it functions. (”Brainwashing”, “Attraction of Small Objects”) -Dangerous abilities A lack of accuracy or just the through the sheer power of the ability. (”Decay”, “Knockout Gas”) -Limited application This can be a problem even if the Quirk excels at it’s chosen application (”Telepath”, “Heal”) -Limited Capabilities Limited or limiting speed, strength, or staying power of the Quirk (”Hardening”, “Telescopic”)

But I do recommend you try to stay away from drawbacks that are severe in how detrimental they are for the user. For example, a drawback that takes lifespan or drives the user insane are just so much of a handicap that it likely be too much of a problem to be worth dealing with no matter what the ability may be.

Let’s try this system on a few canon Quirks:

Quirk Name: Permeation Integration: The user can cause their body to pass through physical matter. Application: -Phasing through attacks and defenses -Shooting yourself at your enemies Limitation: -Everything, good or bad, passes through him, meaning he can’t harm anyone and he can’t see, hear, or even breath.

Quirk Name: Zero Gravity Integration: The user can put anything they touch with all five fingers into a state of zero gravity. Application: -Moving debris -Throwing enemies off balance. -Greater mobility for the user and their allies. -Dropping objects or people to damage them. Limitation: -Needing to touch something to activate the Quirk. -The user will have nausea if they use their Quirk too much or use it on something that is too heavy.

Quirk Name: Frog Integration: This Quirk gives the user all the traits of a frog. Application: -A long prehensile tongue to grab things or smack people. -Sticking to surfaces. -Strong legs to kick or jump around. -Camouflaging to blend in with the environment. Limitation: -The user is weak to the cold, and will enter a hibernation state if suddenly exposed.

Things to Avoid

While My Hero Academia is a very creative series, there are ideas and concepts that just don’t belong with how it has been done so far. Things that are generally supernatural, unfounded with what the series has set up thus far, or is simply too strong to fit within the scale the universe are best to be avoided. Examples like these include:

-Manipulation of Time, Space, Luck, or any other vague/powerful concepts -Anything having do with magic or religious figures -You can take inspiration from stuff like this, just don’t overtly mention it like saying you are gaining power from the stars or becoming an actual angel. -Anything relating to the afterlife, undeath, or the soul -Creating life/intelligence from nothing, making something sentient, or forming something from fiction or imagination. -Something far above the level of power within the series.

Quirk Power

While it doesn’t have any sort of official “power level”, it does help give you a general scope of the series and the abilities there in. Just something to make it easier to classify your ability, what you want it to be, and how it may compare to the rest of the Quirks.

D Tier

The lowest tier, these Quirks are notable by their dull effects, lack of potential, or just having too many limitations to be practical in a majority of scenarios. These Quirks are often given to civilians; too weak or unimpressive to worth noting in most cases. They can be good, but it will take a lot of training.

Examples: “Attraction of Small Objects”, “Fly Swatter”, “Gecko”, “Invisibility”, “Leafipulation”, “Love”, “Permeation”, “Quad Arms”, “Tail”, “Telescopic”

C Tier

While stronger then D Tier, they are still not much to write home about. Quirks like this are generally stronger, but can sometimes have limited applications, or have strong effects with strong drawbacks. These Quirks are often given to weaker students or mook villains.

Examples: “Air Walk”, “Big Fist”, “Food”, “Knockout Gas”, “Leap”, “Pop Off”, “Sloshed”, “Telepath”, “Zoom”

B Tier

While stuck in the middle, this is where Quirks start to get impressive. Quirks in this group are have stronger effects, more versatile/applicable, or just have less notable drawbacks. These are often given to stronger villains or more remarkable students.

Examples: “Acid”, “Blade Tooth”, “Brainwashing”, “Clones”, “Dupli-Arms”, “Erasure”, “Explosion”, “High Spec”, “Lizard Tail Splitter”, “Voice”, “Zero Gravity”

A Tier

The more notable Quirks in the series. These Quirks are often just inherently more powerful then most or just have a broader power set then a majority of other Quirks. These belong to high profile heroes or villains.

Examples: “Compress”, “Earth Flow”, “Fat Absorption”, “Fierce Wings”, “Flight” “Gigantification”, “Hellflame”, “Meatball”, “Search”, “Sludge Form”

S Tier

Hands down some of the strongest Quirks within the series. These a notable by how unique they are in comparison to the rest of the Quirks we have seen, whether that is because of how strong the effect is, how versatile the power is, and how rare they are in story. Note that this tier is inconsistent, as it mostly boils down to whatever Quirks people think are the strongest, and will vary depending on who you ask.

Examples: “Manifest”, “Creation”, “Whirlwind”, “Dark Shadow”, “Black Hole”, “Warp Gate”, “Half Hot Half Cold” “The Ones”, “Rewind” and “Overhaul”.

Tiers are Irrelevant:

As the series has shown time and time again, how powerful a Quirk is doesn’t matter when put in the hands of certain people. Mirio, in spite of having a ultimately lackluster Quirk, was able to rise in the ranks to become a truly great hero. Denki, in spite of having an amazing Quirk, is held back by his own ineptitude and falters because of it. The whole point of this tier list is to give you a general idea of how strong certain Quirks are relative to the rest of them and how you want to write your Quirk. If you want to make a powerful character, aim for an A Tier Quirk. If you want to make it seem like your character trained relentlessly to get where they were, give them a D or C tier Quirk to make the struggle more noteworthy.

Character Name:

These are often puns or other kinds of wordplay. Try to relate them to your character’s power, their personality, or what you want to do with them in your story. They can even be references to real life locations or ideas. For instance, Shoto contains the kanji for “burning” and “freezing”, alluding to his Quirk. Twice’s surname of Bubaigawara is taken from the a train station in Tokyo run by two different railroad stations, alluding to not only his Quirk, but his differing personalities.

Personality:

Characters are often influenced by their Quirk relative to their personality. Iida is highly driven matches his car-based Quirk, Shigiraki is drawn towards destruction fits perfectly with “Decay”, and Mt. Lady love of attention works great with “Gigantification”. Now this may be a coincidence or a joke, but it is something you may want to consider when designing the personality of your character. That or their Quirk depending on which you make first.

Hero Name:

A hero name should represent the kind of idea, theme, or idea you want to put forward. There are three types: -Personal Names: Names that represent some goal they strive for or idea they wish to convey. For instance, All Might represents his desire to be number one; someone who stand above all as a protector. Lemillion is a reference to Mirio’s dream of being able to save a million people. These are the names you give to important or main characters.

-Memorable: While less personal then the previous category, it still tries to convey what the hero is about and makes them easier to remember. These incorporate the brand a hero goes for, some clever wordplay, or just a reference. For example, Uravity is a combination of Uraraka’s name and the name of her Quirk “Zero Gravity”. Best Jeanist is a reference to a famous modeling competition where competitors would model jeans. A majority of hero names fall into this grouping

-Humorous: These are more jokey names, with not as much thought put into them as other characters. They include things like naming yourself after your own Quirk, ones that make no sense, or are just jokes by the author. Such as Can’t Stop Twinkling, which is a joke based around Aoyama’s flamboyant personality. Bubble Girl is a lazy name, just the hero’s Quirk with a pronoun added on. These are best reserved for one off, background or gag characters.

Costumes:

Costumes are important as they get across the character’s personality or the kind of brand they would like to represent. Like Ojiro being dressed in something resembling a Gi or Present Mic dressing like a rock star. But while that is a key aspect of them, the main point of a costume to either prop up the user’s abilities or cover their weakness, whether that be their Quirk or just how they fight. Unless your style of fighting or your Quirk can be independent of the costume, such as the Quirk having drawbacks the costume can’t counter, the practicality of the costume needs to come first. Back to the earlier examples, Ojiro’s style of fighting of complimented by the freedom of movement offered by a Gi, and Present Mic’s long distance techniques is not limited by his choice of clothes.

However, you should try to keep it within the technological limits of both something made for a costume and the world as a whole. Unless necessary, it should be compact or simple, as the hero is often moving a lot to fight crime and they don’t need something weighting them down. The series, while more advanced then ours, still hasn’t reached the points of nano-tech, super suits, or anything out there in terms of technology.

Aesthetic Mutation:

Some of the characters look rather strange, with cases of it being completely unrelated to their Quirk. This is an Aesthetic Mutation, covering all of those unexplainable changes to a person. This can be in small ways, such as Kirishima having sharp teeth or Mina having black eyes, or major ways, such as Tokoyami's bird head or Shoji's monstrous face. As long as it isn't a new power or isn't beneficial to the user, like if Koda's rocky skin did anything to protect him, then it will be probably be okay.

Family Quirks:

You shouldn’t feel the need to include the Quirks of your character’s family members unless they are somehow important to your character. Otherwise you’re only doing to end up racking your brain trying to come up with ideas and just waste your time on it. If you want your character to be the result of a Quirk Marriage, try coming up with the resulting Quirk and work backwards from that.

Giving your characters powerful Quirks:

Sometimes people will want to give their character powerful Quirks. Only two kinds of people should have Quirks that powerful: those with a personality drawback(s) or villains.

Characters with personality drawbacks are held back by themselves, making them much less powerful as a result and helps in balancing things out. Villains are suppose to be stronger, as they are meant to be a challenge to the hero, so it makes sense to give them an advantage like that.

Overhaul exemplifies both of these ideas remarkably well. Not only is he a major villain, but his germophboia keeps him from ending a fight or killing someone by using “Overhaul” to turn them into mush since he’ll get blood all over himself otherwise. Todoroki, at least in his introduction, is a good example as well since he refused to use his right side and ultimately suffered in his performance on top of being an antagonist to Izuku during the Sports Festival.

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letterboxd · 5 years

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The Missing Linklater.

“Any time I’m on a set with Rick I feel very fortunate.” We talk to the writers behind Richard Linklater’s new missing-person feature film, Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

An adaptation of Maria Semple’s 2012 comedic novel about a reclusive architect who goes missing just before a family trip to Antarctica, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? stars Cate Blanchett in the title role. Bernadette’s daughter Bee (Emma Nelson) sets out on a quest to find her, with Bernadette’s husband Elgie (Billy Crudup). Laurence Fishburne, Judy Greer and Kristen Wiig also star.

Directed by American filmmaking icon (and co-founder of the Austin Film Society) Richard Linklater, the screenplay was co-written with his frequent collaborators (and married couple) Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo Jr. If their names are not familiar as scriptwriters, that’s because they usually work further behind the scenes for Linklater, and have been since 1993’s Dazed and Confused, when Holly was a production coordinator, and Vince a second second assistant director.

Vince became Linklater’s first AD for the films Bad News Bears, Fast Food Nation, A Scanner Darkly, Before Midnight, Boyhood, Last Flag Flying and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?. Holly co-produced Linklater’s Me and Orson Welles (2008), which she also wrote with Vince.

Reviewing Where’d You Go, Bernadette? on Letterboxd, Tom suggests that after a “generic” opening, the film “slowly starts to show its true colors as the character of Bernadette is unwrapped… it’s a story that is touching and even a bit inspiring for those who aspire to be their own artist in life.” J Oled agrees: “This could’ve been a Hallmark special, but because Linklater generally loves humanity, and is always experimenting, this film is quite watchable, it’s warm, relatable, and modest, and I wasn’t asking for much else.” Melissa, who has read the novel, offers: “If you’re a fan of the book… the movie is starkly different. But if you’re a fan of Linklater… you’re going to love it. Cate Blanchett may be the best actor of the decade.”

We spoke to Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo Jr. about their collaborative writing process with Linklater, mining their own relationship for inspiration, and making films for the social-media age.

Cate Blanchett as Bernadette and Emma Nelson as Bee.

How you were brought onto the project? Holly Gent Palmo: We have worked with Rick [Linklater] for many years. We first met on Dazed and Confused, where we were on the crew, and we’ve worked on many projects with him. He’s one of our close friends. He was brought onto the project and then we read the book and loved it so he brought us on. We started from scratch, it was all based on the novel.

What did you relate to in the book that made you feel you had the right perspective to take it on? HGP: This is a movie that for me personally is very relatable because it’s about a woman who has really lost herself in motherhood and as much as she loves that journey, she’s also really looking to rediscover her passion of her past creative impulses. I think that’s something that Rick, Vince, and I all can relate to, not only as parents, but also as people trying to do something creative in this world.

Was the book’s author Maria Semple involved at all? HGP: First of all, the novel is fantastic.

Vincent Palmo Jr: Love the book, love the book.

HGP: Maria knows so much about the filmmaking process and has that history herself that she knew that she wanted to hand it off to Rick. She talked to Cate and she talked to Rick but she did not take part in the writing.

Richard Linklater seems like a great writer to collaborate with. What is it about him that makes that operate so well? HGP: With Rick, the way we work is that we talk a lot in the beginning and clearly discuss every aspect of the book. This one was particularly challenging in that it was a modern epistolary novel told in emails and transcripts. It’s not a straight narrative and it’s not told in a linear fashion, necessarily. So we had to sort out the chronology of our story and what would be included.

Screenwriters Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo Jr. / Photo: Wilson Webb/Annapurna Pictures

It’s the way he works with actors and everyone. It’s a really respectful, really collaborative process where everybody gets to bring to the table their own personal point of view in their own lives. With Rick, we dove into the parts of the novel we liked best and what threads we were going to pick up and carry through.

VP: It was a pretty deep exploration of the novel, of all the different characters and situations. We talked through all that and came to an agreement between the three of us for what we felt said the themes best.

Vincent, you’re also Linklater’s first assistant director, which is an interesting combination of multi-tasking. On set, would you pitch in on the script-side? VP: No, on set as a first AD I’m more concerned about the day’s work and really having everything in place and ready to go so Rick just has to say “action” and “cut”. I don’t talk at all about the script. At that point we’re all dialed in anyway.

When Holly’s around they have their conferences and I’ll be arranging the next set up. I’ve done a lot of things with Rick. I did all twelve years of Boyhood. There’s a shorthand there that I’m intent and focused on each day’s shoot and what’s coming up the next day.

HGP: By the time Rick gets to set, he’s totally prepared and ready. He has his rehearsal process with his actors. Our process is over, he’s very sure of what he wants.

VP: You can’t over-prepare, but we’re very prepared.

HGP: Except maybe in a rare instance in having to negotiate some small change.

VP: Yeah, like in what the weather’s brought or something new at a location, things like that.

Boyhood and Before Midnight are both classics of their decade now. What were those sets like? VP: I’m so happy for Rick [that they’re highly regarded]. Boyhood just stretched on. I remember there were times where we were like, “is somebody in Eastern Europe doing the same thing and it’s going to come out before us?!” We really didn’t know.

To pick it up each year and shoot it on film when all that kind of change [to digital] was in the midst of us shooting… Any time I’m on a set with Rick I feel very fortunate. To see them received in the way they were, it’s really thrilling.

Emma Nelson and Billy Crudup in ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette?’.

In what ways, if any, did you adapt your style to the talents of Cate Blanchett and the other cast members? HGP: We knew that Cate was interested from the moment that we began. We were always hoping to do justice to her great talent and thinking towards that. To me, there could be no-one better in that role. Cate brings so much to it.

It’s an inspiration to think that no matter what kind of nuanced emotion we write in a scene, she can carry it and do an incredible job. It gives a freedom of inspiration thinking that there’s a possibility that Cate Blanchett can be playing the part.

The book is largely renowned for the way it captures the nuances of Seattle. What types of research did you do for the characters’ occupations and their environments? HGP: Rick did a lot of interesting, in-depth research for Elgie’s technology role and the kind of things he was developing. He talked to a lot of people involved in Microsoft developing those sorts of things, to bring that in the most detailed and up-to-date way.

For architecture, Rick arranged some meetings with some really great architects to go and talk to them about the language they use. As far as Seattle goes, there’s no greater resource for that than the novel itself. Maria really knows that world and has so many funny and interesting outsider opinions about it that I felt it was the perfect way to learn about that.

What did you feel you could bring to the element of marriage when writing as a married couple? HGP: That’s interesting.

VP: That is interesting. Well, we’ve been married for 26 years.

HGP: I do think that all three of us brought in our past relationships and our current relationships to the process. I believe it’s a realistic portrayal of the quest to keep improving your life through self-discovery. It’s a unique story that you don’t really see a lot of.

That whole idea that you can’t ever really know anyone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try—Rick really loved those words, they’re the opening words of the novel. It’s this idea that the other person is always somewhat unknowable, but you keep trying to get to know each other while you change through the years.

VP: The search continues! You find new things.

HGP: Nothing is more rewarding in life than those close relationships that last decades.

Richard Linklater, Emma Nelson, Cate Blanchett and Billy Crudup at a New York screening earlier this month. / Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Do you think it’s difficult to write contemporary films for the social-media age? HGP: It’s fascinating when you see movies and there’s this before-and-after cell phones dividing line, because so many of the great films and their plots would have been so different if everyone was carrying a phone around.

I don’t know if it’s easier, but it is a change in your way of thinking as you realize everyone has a phone in their pocket. I think both [period and contemporary] are fun. Any kind of story or plot that you’re trying to figure out is a really fun and challenging puzzle. I notice in a lot of films they try and get rid of the phone in some way.

What was the film that got you into filmmaking and made you want to be a part of this industry? VP: Oh my gosh, wow. Jeez, that’s a really tough one.

HGP: There’s so many stages to it. There’s the ones you see when you’re a little kid that just blow you over. Those are so bound with light and emotion that you don’t even understand. I remember Apocalypse Now—that was something that blew my mind.

VP: It just kind of builds. I got a degree in journalism and then I ended up working in film so it’s hard to point to just one that really flipped the switch. I don’t know why, but I saw The Sound of Music a bunch of times when I was younger. Maybe it was just easier for my mom to take me and my four siblings out to see it.

‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette?’ is in select US cinemas now.

#richard linklater #austin film society #holly gent #vincent palmo jr #seattle #where'd you go bernadette #maria semple #billy crudup #emma nelson #austin #letterboxd

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sunnydwrites · 6 years

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Writing Injuries

[ What a fitting topic, seeing as I’ve been inactive for almost a month now due to my own injury. ] Hey everyone, it’s Abby with a writing advice post! This week we’re talking about injuries, and we’re going a little in-depth.

So let’s get one thing down, real quick: Being injured sucks. But this guide isn’t anything close to comprehensive, and it’s definitely not the only thing you should be relying on for this topic. This is meant to help you get started and build a general base on injuries, treatments, effects, etc.

In this guide, we will not be talking about an injury’s effects on mental health; that topic on its own is extensive enough to be covered in a post of its own (which may very well happen eventually).

Actually Getting Hurt

This is arguably the hardest part to write. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly which event would realistically create the “desired” injury here, but there are general things to go by and things to pay attention to here. If you want to go more in-depth, I would highly recommend @scriptmedic‘s blog; injuries are kind of their thing.

Pay attention to anatomy.

Some things don’t have nearly as big of an effect as you’d think they would, and others are the complete opposite. Your anatomy knowledge will come in handy here; know the most easily injured parts of the body and how to avoid those injuries, and write them in. Some examples of this include (taken from real life experience):

I slammed my finger in a car door not too long ago (just above the first knuckle). I couldn’t use that finger for a day or two but there was serious bruising in that one knuckles; my nail eventually fell off and that’s about it.

Practicing a bit too roughly before my martial arts test is what got me inactive for so long. We’re still not sure what happened; we’re thinking it may have been a pinched nerve or a strained tendon.

But why are these effects so weird? They should be flipped, right? Slamming your finger in a car door should be a little more serious than practicing a little too hard, right? Wrong.

Now, I don’t know too much about anatomy in general. But just a glance above and you can pretty easily see there’s a lot going on there. That’s a lot of stuff you can pretty easily mess up, especially when it comes to tendons, nerves, and weaker muscles. With my finger, the injury was more of a contusion, where the bruise was just incredibly deep (albeit incredibly painful, but not hard to source).

So what was the point of this little section? It’s just a reminder that everything in your body is connected. When you’re writing your injuries, give the anatomy of you character a quick check and see what else might be affected, then plan accordingly.

Deciding on the Cause

This is directly related to the thing above; once you’ve determined what needs to be affected, it’ll be a little easier to figure out the big cause. It’s simpler to work backwards this way because once you know what needs to be injured, a quick bit of research should do the job for you. “Injuries that affect xx and xx” might even suffice, but I would highly recommend checking out a few different websites. This will do two things for you:

Fact-check - Because the last thing you want is an unrealistic injury, if you’re putting in the effort to research it.

Broaden the possibilities - One website might list three of the most common causes for wrist pain; another might give you fifteen.

Just to be sure, I would check with two or three different websites. If you’re still unsure, remember @scriptmedic referenced above.

If you want some ideas just to get you going, here are a few I made up off the top of my head:

Getting into a fistfight

Big fall

Sliced with a sharp object of some sort

Breaking or spraining something

Aggravating a previous injury

Any sort of bullet or stab wound

I mean, the possibilities are literally endless here. These are just a handful I came up with on the fly, but it just goes to show that pretty much anything could be plausible so long as it fits within the boundaries of your world.

The Injury’s Effects

Side effects are the things you’re going to want to pay attention to; that’s what your character is going to have to live with for the longest time while they heal. I’m going to split this into three categories: Making Sense, Short-Term Effects, and Long-Term Effects. Here we go!

Making Sense

This one could probably start off pretty obvious; naturally breaking your leg isn’t going to hurt your wrist unless you somehow injured your wrist in the process. The effects of each injury should relate to the injury somehow; if they don’t, I hope you’re creating a hidden wound for later.

Another thing you’ll want to keep in mind here is the idea that this is all relative. A bee sting will be a bit of a painful jolt to someone who’s never been stung, where someone who’s been stung a thousand times before will chalk it up to an annoyance. Someone who happens to be allergic to bees, however, will react in a completely different way.

What you’ll want to keep in mind here is your character. Is there anything they’re allergic to, maybe? Are they especially sensitive to anything? Do they have any pre-existing conditions? (Hint: that last one is definitely something you should be paying attention to.)

Short-Term Effects

Doing the research for this one, most of the results that came up were for brain injuries like concussions and such. This makes sense, seeing as injuries to the head tend to be pretty severe. But these short terms effects could easily be very dramatic, especially if you’re writing from the perspective of the person. A few of these can include:

Nausea

“Blinding” pain

Possible (temporary) numbness in the affected area

Shock

Inability to use the affected area

These are some quick things I thought of that will both add accuracy and a bit more “drama” to the story. (Either myself or a close family member has experienced each of these things.)

Short-term effects should fade after time, but it depends on the severity of the injury. For example, bruising could fall into pretty much any category; it can go wherever based on the injury. Short-term effects (in non-severe injuries) can usually be described as sharp and uncomfortable, where are long-term is usually more of a distant pain as the body heals itself.

Long-Term Effects

These are the ones you need to be paying attention to in your writing. They need to work themselves into your character’s life one way or another. Like literally every other part of writing an injury, this needs to be heavily researched. The long-term effects are going to be what will determine your character’s abilities for days, weeks, months, years, etc.

This one is going to take a lot of research, and I mean a lot. There are a lot of causes for different effects and these need to be kept track of. Having too many injures can lead to so many long-term effects that your character wouldn’t be able to function. A few examples of long-term effects could be:

Memory loss or a case of amnesia (for head injuries)

A constant, dull ache in the injured area

Not quite regaining full range of motion

Need of a support such as a crutch or cast

Inability to perform basic tasks (usually for more severe injuries)

Again, these are just a few examples; none of these go strictly with one injury, and one injury could create more than one of these effects. So I’m going to stress it again: do your research and keep track of everything.

For this one, because I have the experience to do so, I’m going to give a quick real-life example of long-term effects:

About five years ago, I was crawling around in the snow looking for something and ended up smashing my knee - hard - on a rock. For the rest of that day it hurt to move it, and that feeling continued for about a week. There was a slightly visible bruise there, but we went to the doctor’s anyway to get an MRI. When started off as a contusion quickly became something they described to me as “water on the knee”, but eventually that faded. But, like in the wrist, there are a lot of things in your knee that can be screwed up like that. So to this day it hurts to do too many impact exercises (like running or martial arts, both of which I do regularly) without a brace, and on the days I don’t wear I brace I have to be extra careful or I’ll be feeling it for the next week.

Moral of the story? Look at how long-term effects play into your story, how they can develop from a small bruise to a contusion to something different entirely and how that follows your character. (Also, don’t smash your knee on a rock. Just don’t.)

The Healing Process

Hey, things are starting to get better for your character! Yay! We’re into the healing process now, looking at different ways healing can be done and things to watch out for.

Different Healing Processes

There are many processes we know about, but this isn’t meant to be a comprehensive guide. We’re going to look at the two most common healing processes here: natural and surgical. This part won’t entail magic (but that’s totally cool if you want to include that).

Healing Naturally

As would be expected, healing naturally takes the longest time. If the healing process here is completely natural, there’s no medication whatsoever (with maybe the exception of a few painkillers). This is going to require your character is take it easy, and I mean really easy; any sort of vigorous exercise could lead to the aggravation of their injury, and then we’re right back to square one.

In this stage, your character should be focusing on healing and staying healthy; this option would presumably be the hardest for your daredevil or prideful characters.

Surgical Procedures

This one involves a lot more help from other people. Of course it wouldn’t be a magical cure to the injury, but having someone much more qualified might speed up the process a bit, don’t you think? This would involve a much more controlled environment and would follow a pretty linear schedule; hospitals usually keep their patients until the injury is more manageable and send them off with a list of things to be careful of (at least, that’s what happened for me).

Using this method might present a challenge for characters who find people hard to trust or hate any of the tools that would be used in the procedure with a passion, that kind of thing.

Facts & Common Misconceptions

In this section (also the last section) I’m going to cover a few common misconceptions that come with injuries and their healing, then give a few facts to pay attention to. (source)

“FACT: R.I.C.E. spells initial relief. While both acute and chronic injuries should be attended to by a qualified physician, using the RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) method for milder injuries like strains and sprains within the first 48 hours after injury occurs will help to initially relieve pain, reduce swelling and promote the healing process.”

“MYTH: “Rest is always best.” This is not entirely true. While rest may initially reduce inflammation and pain, it will not treat the root cause of a soft tissue injury (i.e., muscle, ligament and tendon sprains, strains and tears). It is important to seek a proper diagnosis and treatment plan beyond the initial rest period to treat soft tissue damage. Rest alone is not enough to heal and strengthen the affected area.”

“FACT: [Sports] Injuries are either acute or chronic. Acute injuries occur suddenly, like when you twist your ankle during a game. These types of injuries include sprains, strains, breaks and fractures and are characterized by severe pain and tenderness, swelling, limited motion, out-of-place bones and inability to put pressure or weight on the area. Chronic injuries occur after longer workout sessions or sports-related activities, and are characterized by pain during the activity and dull pain or mild swelling afterward.”

“MYTH: “Pop a painkiller.” We all admire the elite athlete who takes a shot before the big game and plays through the pain. While this may seem admirable, even a world class pro will tell you that it’s not the long-term situation. If you take a couple of Advil or the like before your next workout or game, guess what? The pain may subside, but it will return, and then it may be even worse. If you experience pain, listen to your body’s alarm systems and seek professional medical advice.”

“FACT: Never play through the pain. Never. This is a sure way to aggravate any injury. If you feel pain during a workout or a game, stop and seek treatment. Acute injuries should be attended to by a physician immediately. Less severe injuries—like mild sprains—may be treatable at home, but you should still consult a doctor before beginning any type of treatment.”

“MYTH: “Stretch away those injuries.” Not so fast. While stretching is an important component of any workout or pregame warm up, it is not a shield against injury. In fact, stretching an injured muscle or other affected area may cause further damage. Keeping your body strong, balanced and in shape through proper training is key to overall injury avoidance.”

“FACT: Don’t play doctor. If you are injured during a workout or sports-related activity, don’t try to treat it yourself. Yes, initial treatment measures you can take at home—like RICE—may mitigate the pain and reduce the potential for further injury, but they are not a replacement for sound, effective medical treatment unless indicated by a doctor.”

References

Wrist Anatomy Image (p.s. This website is really great if you’re looking for diagrams like the one above!)

@scriptmedic - Aunt Scripty is incredibly helpful and gives a lot of useful information, then usually continues with alternate suggestions if any are needed (or if enough information is needed). Check out their Before You Ask first.

Common Misconceptions - This page applies mostly to sports injuries, but is accurate to more than just those. Everything is quotes came directly from that page.

Please let me know if any of this information is inaccurate! Until next time, stay lovely <3

#writing tips #injuries #writing injuries

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dazzledbybooks · 5 years

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I am so excited that MISCHIEF & MAYHEM by L.E. Rico is ON SALE for .99 today that I wanted to share the news! If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author L.E. Rico, be sure to check out all the details below. This blitz also includes a giveaway for a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card, International, courtesy of L.E. and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post. About the Book: Title: MISCHIEF & MAYHEM Author: L.E. Rico Pub. Date: July 9, 2018 Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC (Bliss) Formats: Paperback, eBook Pages: 315 Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo Welcome to Mayhem, Minnesota, home of the Knitty Kitty, The Little Slice of Heaven Pie Shop, and O’Halloran’s Pub—owned by the four young women known as The Whiskey Sisters. In the wake of her divorce, Jameson O’Halloran has gone man-vegan. And this is one diet she’s determined to stick with. Even when her long-lost ex-brother-in-law shows up looking like two scoops of double dutch dipped in chocolate… She’s not giving in. Been there and still wearing the messy T-shirt. It’s been a decade since Scott Clarke left his family and his hometown, never to return. But when tragedy strikes, he finds himself dragged back to the land of gossip, judgment, and the one woman he absolutely, positively, without a doubt can never have. His brother’s ex is off-limits. He just needs to keep repeating that to himself until it sinks in. Excerpt: The shelf is a little too high for my short self, and I’m only able to brush the dishes with my fingertips. “Oh, here, let me help you with that…” Before I can object, he’s standing behind me, reaching over me to get the dishes. For a brief second, his front is pressed against my back. His broad, muscled, perfectly sculpted front. I feel a wave of unwelcome warmth beginning under my collar and creeping up my neck. “Thanks…” I murmur awkwardly, keeping my back to him for a moment longer in an attempt to quash my blush. “Okay. I’m just going to grab a shower before my brother gets here, if you don’t mind.” “Nope. Not at all,” I say quickly. “You go right ahead.” Once he disappears around the corner, I silently smack my palm to my forehead. What was that, Jameson? Why the blush? He’s just your ex-husband’s brother, that’s all. This is insane. I’ve got to stop this childish behavior. No. More. Men. Remember? No thinking about men. No looking at men. No fantasizing about men. Especially not that man! I’m still shaking my head and silently berating myself when I hear him behind me. “Hey, Jameson, do you happen to know if my dad keeps an extra toothbrush around? I dropped mine in the toilet and…” I don’t hear the end of his sentence because, when I turn to face him, I suddenly can’t hear anything. I’m too entranced by the sight of him wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Oh, crap, oh crap, oh crap… I am in so much trouble here. No men. No men. No men… I repeat the mantra over and over again in my head, but clearly the rest of my body isn’t getting the memo. Q&A With L.E. How did you pick Minnesota to be the location of the Story? L.E. (Lauren): My primary career is as a classical music radio DJ and when I was in my late twenties, I had the chance to work for a nationally syndicated service called Classical24—which happened to be based in St. Paul, MN. Even though I’d lived all over the east coast, I knew the Midwest was a whole other world, so I was pretty scared when I got there. But the Minnesotans welcomed me with open arms and helped me weather (pun totally intended) my first winters, buying and maintaining my first house and my ongoing struggle with depression. I had friends almost immediately and was totally enamored of the quirky, cool community around me. The polka mass at the local Catholic church, the obsession with hotdish, and the state fair—where everything is on a stick and Princess Kay of the Milky Way reigns supreme, were some of my favorites. Honestly, had I not met my husband and moved back to New York, I’d probably still be there now! Was it always your intention with this book to do it about a sister and then two brothers? L.E. (Lauren): Yes. We first see Jameson in book one, Blame it on the Bet and it’s clear that her marriage to Win is in trouble. Knowing that her book would be next, I was already concocting scenarios for her to find love after divorce and by having someone who’s been away for so long, I was able to use him to reintroduce the readers —who may or may not have read Blame it on the Bet—to the whacky town of Mayhem and its quirky residents. Plus, I knew it would make Win craaaazy! And that’s always a bonus :^) Was it always your idea to have different issues like stroke, adoption, working in foreign countries a part of the story or it just came as the story flowed? L.E. (Lauren): It all came as the story unraveled under my fingers. My characters often tell me what their stories are, believe it or not! I start off with a very basic idea of who they are and then the events just kind of unfold. Adoption played into this story. Was that something you researched or did you know someone who went through that? L.E. (Lauren): I have two uncles who were adopted—the youngest of whom is two years younger than me. He and I grew up more like brother and sister and we’re still very, very close today. And, while I didn’t purposely set out to write a story about adoption, it was easy to paint that kind of attitude that we were raised with—family is family is family, blood or not. In the case of my elder uncle, my grandparents had to fight for him when, mid-adoption, a “white” family was interested in taking him (my grandparents are Latino). Those were totally different times—even though it was just in 1961—and it was a battle but they never backed down. So this idea that Big Win and Marjorie would do whatever they had to do to adopt that child and keep him—and his identity—safe wasn’t foreign to me. Was the county fair always part of your original story? L.E. (Lauren): Ohhhhhh yeah… I’ve never seen anything like the Minnesota State fair. The food is all deep-fried and on a stick, the rides are amazing, there are people walking around in bee costumes for the honey judging. And, of course, there’s Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her royal court— the inspiration for my Princess Mary of Midwestern Dairy. They really do make a butter bust of her! How could I NOT include that?! Although, I have to admit that the float catastrophe was all mine. Do you have a process that you come up with when you are choosing names and personalities of your characters? L.E. (Lauren): I’ve run through most of the guy names I like so I sometimes use a name generator for help with that. I’ve got a ton of girl names, though. Sometimes I consult a baby names book. The personalities just kind of unfold as I write. I had a good idea of who Jameson, Win and Big Win were based on Blame it on the Bet. Scott was a mystery to me—I had to figure out what it was about him that kept him from coming home and confronting his past for a full decade. Oh, and then there’s little Jackson…God help us all. He was the most fun of all! I’m at a loss for what I’ll do with him as he gets older in the upcoming books! Do you use daily events sometimes as your inspirations? L.E. (Lauren): Oh, sure, all the time! The character of Bryan, Hennessy’s boyfriend, is basically me when I first moved to Minnesota. I was the fish out of water—especially when it came to things like winter preparedness and regional foods like lutefisk (yuck!) and cheese curds (yum!). But more than events it’s people I know who inspire my characters. Janet Lahti, the pie-making mystic is actually an aunt of mine. She’s a bit of a psychic and has had some really spooky occurrences over the years. Julie Freddino, aka The Knitty Kitty, is a girlfriend of mine who took up knitting and gave me a pussyhat last year. It gave me the idea for her business and she picked out her own purple hair. Did you always have big Win getting sick at the beginning in your draft? L.E. (Lauren): Oh, yeah. In the absence of the late “Pops” O’Halloran, Big Win is the paternal figure here. So when his life is in serious jeopardy, it’s a crisis that sucks them all in—the sisters, Win Jr, Scott—even Jackson is effected by the fall of his “goppa.” So it’s a good thread to bring them all together in shared fear and stress and grief. And with his life on the line, it was an opportunity for me to explore the kind of man he’d been when he was younger—when Scott and Win came along. It was also a chance to really see his incredible strength and the love that comes with that. Was that scene considered the hook to the story? L.E. (Lauren): I’m big on starting things right smack in the middle so that the reader is immediately thrown into the deep end. And that image of Big Win on the floor with Jameson giving him CPR and little Jackson wailing in the background—well, it doesn’t get a whole lot more high-stakes than that. When you began to write this book did you know it was going to be a romance and a mystery? L.E. (Lauren): Bringing Scott home was easy—his father’s health crisis put him in an impossible position. He had to come back. But that begs the question—if he’s such a great guy, why did he leave in the first place? So, yeah, it was kind of a mystery for me as well while I sorted out what kind of demons might make someone run away from their family—from their life—for a decade. When do you know that the time in the story calls for humor, like the float scene at the fair? L.E. (Lauren): Honestly, I didn’t even know I was funny until the reviews came in for book number one—Blame it on the Bet. So it was pretty scary approaching Mischief and Mayhem thinking I HAD to be funny. But I found my way. There were a couple of early drafts that were just way too dark and my editor helped me find my way back to a more lighthearted, funnier place—like Princess Mary showing up at the pub and the iguana on the plane. Of course, there’s always going to be something around the Knitty Kitty. But, yeah, that float scene—it was totally organic and it STILL cracks me up! If your book was made into a movie who would you have play… L.E. (Lauren): Yikes! This is always tough for me… Jameson: Rose Leslie Scott: Theo James Win Jr.: Alex Pettyfer Win Sr.: Treat Williams What song or songs best describes your couple or book as a whole? L.E. (Lauren): It’s the theme song from the prologue through to the epilogue—with a generation in between: “Make You Feel My Love” – Garth Brooks “Make You Feel My Love” – Adele What is your next project and when is due out? L.E. (Lauren): I’ve just released a new, non-Whiskey novel, Counterpoint about two concert pianists who bond over a tragic past, a dismal future, and their love for one another. 2019 will also see books for the remaining two sisters, Walker and Bailey. About L.E: Award-Winning author Lauren Rico also happens to be one of the top classical music broadcasters in the country. Her voice is heard nationally on SiriusXM’s Symphony Hall channel, as well as on radio stations in New York City, Charlotte, and Tampa. She’s even been known to accompany travelers as they fly the skies over Thailand, Oman, and China as part of the in-flight entertainment on several airlines. Her love and passion for classical music have allowed her to breathe new life into the stories of the great composers. And now Lauren is telling some stories of her own… Beginning with her erotic thriller, Reverie (Harmony House Productions, 2016), she set out to “put the sexy back in Bach,” creating a riveting tale of passion, deception and redemption set against the backdrop of an international music competition. She rounded out the trilogy with Rhapsody (Harmony House Productions, 2016) and Requiem (Harmony House Productions, 2017). From there, Lauren partnered with Entangled Publishing, LLC, to create the first in her Symphony Hall series of romance novels, Solo (Entangled Publishing 2017). Her most recent release, Mistletoe in Mayhem, is the third in the five-book Whiskey Sisters series (Entangled 2018). Upcoming projects include two more Whiskey Sisters romances, a follow-up to Solo and a super-secret, as-of-yet-unnamed thriller. Lauren hopes to bring classical music to a new audience by showcasing it in twisty, steamy stories that grab the reader and keep them turning pages — and YouTubing the music — into the wee hours. When she’s not on talking on the radio or typing on her laptop, Lauren enjoys time with her husband and spectacularly spoiled mini-schnauzer. Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Book Bub Giveaway Details: 1 winner will win a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card, International. a Rafflecopter giveaway The symbol of the Gallows Saint. About S.A.: S.A. Klopfenstein grew up on a steady dose of Tolkien and Star Wars. As a child, he wrote his first story about a sleepwalking killer who was executed by lethal injection. He lives in the American West with his wife and their dog, Iorek Byrnison. He can be found exploring the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, or daring the halls of the middle school where he teaches Language Arts. Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads Giveaway Details: 1 lucky winner will win a finished copy of THE SHADOW WATCH & THE RAGE OF SAINTS, US Only. a Rafflecopter giveaway

http://www.dazzledbybooks.com/2019/04/mischief-and-mayhem-book-blitz.html

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stephramosanimation · 6 years

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Modern technologies influencing and enhancing the visual storytelling in the gaming industry

Why I chose this industry

I chose this industry since I have always been interested in creating narratives and the conception of the final product over the product itself. My interests have always been in creating an interesting story that leaves a mark with the person who is going to see it, and I think that games leave the biggest impact on people, based on my experience of playing games my entire life. With the change and development in technology over the coming years I can see the potential that it has towards making the process of creating games a lot easier and different enough to change the scene entirely.

Outcomes/Objectives

With this research and essay I aim to achieve the knowledge in my chosen industry that will help me get a job in the future or at least identify the key skills I have or will need to work on in order to get a job in the future in this industry. I also aim to look at current companies and practices and ways for myself to innovate and bring something new to these companies and practices using the technology I will research.

General statistics

21 million people play video games in the UK, making it the 5th largest video game market in 2017 based on consumer revenues. The UK consumer spend on video games was valued at £5.11bn 2017 (12.4% increased from 2016: £4.33bn)

There are 2,175 active video game companies in the UK (as of 2017) and 68% of the companies were founded since the beginning of 2010.

Higher education in the UK strongly supports the games industry; 60 universitires provide 215 undergrate video games (in 2014 alone)

23% of courses are in London, 18% in the West Midlands and 16% in Yorkshire.

Trends in Technology

Motion Capture technology (or MoCap) is a method that is used to digitally capture and record human movements. Recorded motion that has been captured is mapped onto a digital model in 3D software (Maya or Unity) so the character then moves like the actor you have recorded. Motion capture can be used for film, video games and VFX.

Examples of motion capture: Andy Serkis in Lord of the Rings, Troy Baker in Infamous: Second and The Last of Us.

Software MoCap can be done in: Xsens MVN, Maya, 3DS Max, Unity.

At this time the market was “booming for mobile and handheld gaming, so a common trend became the secondary screens for consoles and cross-play.” (Poh, 2018)

The Wii U was announced at E3 in 2011 and wasn’t released until 2012, or really become a leading game until 2013. The Wii U’s main selling point was the additional “controller” which had a screen, giving the players the ability to to play both on the gamepad or the tv, or both at the same time using the gamepad to access inventories the play on the screen.

At the same time, rival company Sony, announced the PS Vita – allowing the main console to act as a second screen through cross play and remote play. This would allow players to play console games away from the console and on the smaller screen to play on the go.

VR became very popular in 2016 when the Oculus Rift was announced and introduced: it aimed to let players experience games they play as if they’re in the world in the game. With it’s design they aimed to make it as comfortable and immersive as possible. Once Oculus released the Rift other companies such as Google and Android also wanted to take advantage of the VR, which welcomed the release of Google Cardboard.

Tools used to create games in VR include:

• 3DS Max and Maya

• Unity 3

• Unreal Engine 4

• Blender

Trends in technology (2016-2017)

VR, AR and “physically collaborative” (Erica Webber, 2016) games are becoming a big trend in 2017. Companies are now trying to find more ways to incorporate the body into gaming but not only as a way to get players more active but to also immerse them in the world they’re in, your body would act as a physical anchor to the game you’re playing.

Pokemon Go, released in 2016 paved the way for augmented reality games on mobile. Created by Niantic with 650 million downloads in 2017 alone, it influenced Google to create augmented reality games on mobile such as: Ghostbusters World, Jurrasic World and The Walking Dead Our World. Even though it didn’t create a surge of AR games on mobile, it did allow Google and Apple to begin development on AR platforms which would allow developers to easily create AR games.

Some tools to create AR games include:

• Apple ARKit

• Vuforia

• Kudan

• ARTool Kit

• Augmenta

• EasyAR

UK based companies that specialise in AR/VR Gaming:

• Harmony Studios

• Preloaded

• Kuju

• Climax Studios

Rise of indie studios

Rise of Indie studios

Developer platforms have been increasing in the past years considering software available to create games have been more accessible for anyone to create games. Because of this the numbers of indie studios and games have been increasing.

List of Indie games made by UK Companies:

• Monument Valley

• Purrfect Date, Surgeon Sim, I Am Bread

• No Man’s Sky

• Prison Architect

• LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway, Dreams

UK Indies:

• Ustwo

• Bossa Studios

• Kuju

• Introversion

• Hello Games

• Media Molecule

• Hard Light

• Criterion Games

Free software available for game development:

• RPG Maker

• GameMaker Studio

• Unity

• Stencyl

• Unreal Engine 4

New Technologies

Grease Pencil in Blender

The grease pencil in Blender is beginning to create a change in the way we animate in 2D, by combining 3D features with 2D tools you can make an animation in Blender fully in 2D but on a 3D plane, create visual effects using 2D and rotoscope your 3D animations or combine 3D with 2D. Positioning cameras in conjunction with models and affects can allow the grease pencil to create dynamic animations. When using the tool it also allows for bone rig and model deformers allowing you to change the shape of the objects you create. “Hero” is a short film made in the Blender using the Grease Pencil that shows off it’s true potential and some limitations. Much like Spine, using Blender retains the traditional charm of 2D.

Spine – 2D animations for games

Spine is an up and coming 2D software animation tool which allows artists to create animations specifically for video games, whilst utilising a lot of aspects from 3D software. The basis of this software is that it allows you to create 2D animations for video games whilst using a lot of helpful features from 3D software, meaning you won’t need to spend a lot of time animating frame by frame and thus cutting down a lot of time and therefore money. Some main features include:

• Dopesheet: allows a detailed view of the layers and timelines, letting animators make fine adjustments in timings.

• Meshes: as opposed to drawing rectangles the meshes let the artists specify polygons inside the image and increases the fill rate as the pixels outside of the polygon won’t be drawn or selected – which is essential for mobile games.

• Graph editor: allows interpolation between keys to adjust the timings and create life like movements, like we’ve seen in Maya.

• Free-form Deformation: allows you to move individual mesh vertices to squash and stretch the image which isn’t possible with regular rectangular images.

Paths + IK/FK: allows your images/2d animations to be rigged with Bezier splines to be controlled using bones, allowing intuitive use of your drawings.

Some companies that have used Spine as a 2D tool:

• Rocket Punch

• Game Freak

• Daedic Entertainment

• Bee Square

• Bulbware

Real Time Rendering – Unreal Engine 4

Real time rendering involves “animation that are rendered so fast they appear to be generated in real time.” (What is Real Time Rendering and Why It Matters, 2018) It was created by Epic Games, they unveiled it by showing off three new games that utilised this technology: Fortnite, Kingdom Hearts 3 and Sea of Thieves. Real time rendering allowing designers to create characters and props that would be placed in the world or the stage and it will be rendered immediately, also meaning that any subsequent changes to the characters, props or lighting will also be rendered immediately, thus saving time. Not only does it save time, but it allows great potential for the designers and developers to experiment greatly with the designs, lighting, camera placement and colour effects as they can be rendered in real time and making the process much more intuitive. It “allows the directors to act much like a film director would on a set” (What is Real Time Rendering and Why It Matters, 2018), by cutting waiting time and making almost immediate changes. Other upgrades to this engine mean that games can be created with photo-realistic finishes with characters that are much more life-like. In the future, artists might be required to also know how to use real time rendering and it will most likely become common practice in industry considering how much time it saves.

Places for innovation

Real Time Rendering saves a lot of time in the development pipeline such as saving time when changing assets or small design aspects, for example, in the development of Ori and Blind Forest, a lot of time was spent on having to re-render the character of “Ori” as they constantly had to change position of his arms to fit the 2D plane of the game. If the team had access to real time rendering, a lot of time could be saved as they could’ve just changed the assets and render them immediately.

Tiltbrush in VR; Tiltbrush is a tool made by Google which allows artists to freely draw in a 3D space in Virtual Reality. It also allows artists to create small animations in VR, Tiltbrush could easily be used to create 3D models, which means they can be done faster and easier, as well as allowing potential for more stylised models. Tiltbrush will let artists cut time and create 3D models and still retain the charm that comes with 2D.

Upon completing this research I have found that I need to develop my technical skills, specifically in terms of rendering assets. As well as this in my future studies I aim to work on my conceptual skills in order to develop my aesthetic and skills. This research has given me an idea of what the gaming industry looks like in the UK and what I should expect to be getting myself into. With this research I have also identified companies I aim on interning at or doing work experience at: Mind Candy, Bossa Studios, Kuju, Jellyfish and The Third Floor. These are pre-viz and video game development companies.

References/Bibliography

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