I really appreciate it everyone, I don't know what else to say but thank you!

Ever since I saw the concept trailer, I've been super excited for the Goon.  Adding the exciting idea of such a great comic being brought to life to the thought of David Fincher directing an animated movie, and I just can't help thinking" how can this movie NOT be made?"

I very strongly believe that if this movie gets the amount of funding it needs, it'll send a clear message to Hollywood studios that there IS a place for adult-focused animated feature films.  

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One of my teachers has just released a book about  background design for animation, sequential art, and gaming, and I've just ordered my copy.  I learned quite a bit about background design and staging in his classes so I definitely recommend picking it up.

Link : [link]

It was just pointed out to me that I've got 100k pageviews and I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone that has taken the time to look at my stuff and give their feedback.  It's not talked about very much, but most of us artists feed on the enthusiasm and encouragement of others and I've been blessed to have a year full of that.  

I haven't posted at all lately because all my artwork has been for my job, but man I'm super excited to show you guys what I've been doing.  Hopefully I'll be able to in a few months!

I just got back from seeing the Dark Knight Rises and I loved it so much that I had to make a journal entry JUST to tell you I saw it with absolutely nothing substantive to say.  I FUCKING LOVED IT.  I teared up several times, I got boyishly excited and almost cheered out loud for Batman to succeed, I CARED.  Chris Nolan's biggest weakness (in my opinion) had always been that he was weak at eliciting emotion, but he DESTROYED that weakness in this movie.  GUSH GUSH GUSH


So Superman.  I've been pretty pessimistic about this movie so far...but wow this teaser was really intriguing.. I don't think David Goyer is a very strong writer (I'm doubly skeptical because he had to rush this script out) and I don't think Zack Snyder is a very strong director, but as a coworker pointed out, this teaser feels extremely unlike anything Zack Snyder has done so far. It gave me a lot more optimism.  Check it out:

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*SPOILERS AND NERD RANTING AHEAD*

Saw this at midnight last night and I was pretty frustrated by it.   It had some gorgeous action and the casting was PERFECT, but the writing was so incredibly sloppy, and it was stuffed full of things that didn't make sense as well as wasted opportunities. I just felt...eh inside.  I'm going to nerd about it rant now:

Let me start with what I liked:

The cast. I loved the cast.  Andrew Garfield as Spider-man?  Perfect.  Sarcastic,  lanky/skinny,  he was nerdy when playing Peter Parker,witty when playing Spider-Man.  They could not have cast the role better.  Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy? Perfect again.  She was cute, charming, funny, made the audience want to date her etc.  Martin Sheen and Sally Fields?  They were sympathetic, sweet, caring, it was hard to not have my heart go out to them.  Rhys Ifans?  Nailed the role.  I thought he was motivated, sympathetic, and RESTRAINED in his performance as Dr. Connors.  All of their perfomances carried the hell out of this movie.  I think without this stellar cast, people would have walked out of the theater significantly more disappointed.

I liked that Uncle Ben didn't actually SAY "with great power comes great responsibility."  He discussed the concept with more believable dialogue and they let the audience say the line in our heads (which everyone totally did).  I thought that was brilliant.

I loved the car thief scene.  When this scene went on the internet, it completely sold me on the tone of the movie.  Spider-Man was sarcastic, funny, kind of a dick. It was great.

I loved how much time was spent building up Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy.  We all know what eventually will happen between the two of them, so it's good that they started setting up for it early.

The action was great! Not much I can say about that.

Here are the things that I think needed work:

One thing that consistently disappoints me in most interpretations of Spider-Man is how little time is spent letting us get to know Uncle Ben.  His death is the PRIMARY MOTIVATING FACTOR in Peter's decision to become Spider-Man, so why do we keep rushing through it?  I think AT LEAST more than half of the movie should have been spent with Uncle Ben alive, letting us get to know and care about him and REALLY establishing his relationship with Peter. We as an audience need to FEEL Peter's frustration and grief when Ben dies.  We need to be tearing up as Ben tells Peter his last words.  As everyone loves to point out, Up made us love and cry over the death of a character in ten f*cking minutes.  We need to actively root for Peter and be angry with him as he hunts down the gunman.   There was no need to rush it and this is Martin Sheen!  Jed fucking Bartlet!  He could have had the audience in tears NO PROBLEM with the right script.  MAKE US CARE.

Speaking of making us care, the scene where Peter is on the roof and the cranes start aligning themselves to help him get to Oscorp was another example of them getting SO CLOSE but ultimately not doing enough to get us REALLY invested, and consequently wasting another emotional opportunity.  This was a scene where Spider-Man should have been at his lowest point.  I mean Peter had just been shot, but he barely acknowledged the wound.  He should have been limping hard from the bullet, bloody, tired, barely able to stand.  We should have FELT his exhaustion.  He should have been on the phone with Gwen as she was freaking the hell out,  the Lizard stalking through the labs, Gwen desperate to remain undetected, until finally,  the Lizard bursts through the wall causing her to scream and her phone to cut off.  
Suddenly Peter would be losing it.  He's thinking that it's about to happen again!  He's about to lose ANOTHER person he loves, but this time he's determined not to let it happen.  This is the REAL reason why he's Spider-Man after all. To protect the city yes, but more importantly to protect the people he loves.

So he's battered, shot, bloody, limping, but all he can think about is getting to that fucking building and saving her. Right now, this is the only reason he exists.  He's desperate.  Except he can't do it because there's no  path to Oscorp from where he's standing.  He's frustrated, panicked, angry.  He doesn't know what to do.  He's certain Gwen's about to die and it's all his fault because he can't protect her.  And just when he's about to collapse under the hopelessness of the situation, THAT is when all the cranes align in front of him and give him the opportunity to rush forth and save the girl he loves.  THAT would have had me at the edge of my seat.  It seemed like they were going for something similar but in my opinion, they just did NOT make the situation hopeless enough.  

This scene would also serve to set a precedent for what we all know will eventually happen to Gwen.  This scene could have been mirrored in the next movie with Green Goblin, except this time there are no citizens of New York to help Spider-Man.  No happy ending. A logical build-up to that iconic scene on the bridge with Norman Osborne and Gwen Stacy.

  Without intensely raised stakes (at a pivotal moment which,  to me, defines what the Spiderman's arc is about), there's no tension and no reason for us to care!  At least not enough of it.

As a side note, I think the "lining-up-the-cranes" thing was awkward to begin with. While I liked the idea of Spider-Man  inspiring the people he saved to turn around and save HIM,  I think it was executed in a manner that felt too contrived and convenient.  It needed a little bit more to make us really buy it and not seem as corny and implausible.

In fact a lof of this movie felt incredibly corny and implausible.  For example:

Norman Osborn being this shadowy mystery figure.  Why?  He's the head of a major corporation.  He should be calculating, charismatic, and most importantly he should be ambitious.   Him hiding in the shadows in the after-credits scene just came off as silly to me.  I couldn't take that dude seriously.

EVERYTHING IN THE HIGHSCHOOL.  I thought every scene in the high school was retarded. Why?  Because that's NOT what bullying looks like,  that's NOT how teenagers interact with eachother, that's NOT how a teenaged nerd would stand up to a bully.  It felt like someone went out and watched every other super her movie, and then wrote Spider-Man.  It's just rehashed rehashings of every high-school-superhero-kid-standing-up-to-the-bully scene you've ever watched.  

Also, when a dude named Spiderman appears on t.v at the same time a kid at school throws a football so hard that he dents a field goal post, and quadruple backflip dunks a basketball so hard that he tears off the rim…people are gonna put shit together.

Speaking of idiots in this movie not putting shit together,  Peter LEAPT and STUCK to the ceiling in a subway car full of people after he beat the shit out of like 9 dudes in the most absurd example of a New York fight I've ever seen.  I can't go in depth with a critique of that scene because the entirety of it was stupid.  
In fact, all the I-just-got-powers scenes were lazy as shit.  That's probably where I saw the most wasted opportunity, they just copied and pasted from what had already been done.

In general the script was just incredibly corny and cheesy.  I think Sam Raimi could have made gold with it, and he would have done so by EMBRACING the corniness. THIS movie seemed like it wanted to have a more believable tone, but the script still seemed like it was intended to be silly and tongue-in-cheek.  The tone of the movie conflicted with the script and the result was a mess.  A script should have been written that was way more believable to suit the tone of the film.
Now I know it seems like I hated this movie, but I didn't, I just thought it was very mediocre.  For some reason, that sets me off more than if it had been outright terrible.  This movie had a stellar cast, and they could have done something really incredible if they invested a lot more into a better script.  This could have been a knockout but instead the potential was wasted and the movie was forgettable.  I hope they continue the franchise with better writing.

I would kill to see Joss Whedon write lines for Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, especially for Avengers 2.  I feel like Garfield's Spider-Man is EXACTLY the kind of character Whedon could do wonders with.  I can't imagine how entertaining the banter would be between him and Iron Man.

                                                                                          /NERD RANT

Also, if you haven't already, watch the BBC show Luther starring Idris Elba.  It's incredible.  And also watch the Newsroom, the first episode was fanastic!

Hey guys, I've got a twitter account, which I usually use to dump random thoughts and let people know when I have a new blog post.  If you're interested

Twitter:   [link]

Blog:   [link]

I'm frantically posting this everywhere, not stopping to take a second to consider my lack of humility but I hope you guys will understand, my JLA designs just got featured on Bleeding Cool!  Being recognized on a site you've already been a gigantic fan of is a feeling I'm unfamiliar with, and I'm honored to see that the guys there and the forum posters seem to dig what I did.  A million thanks to everyone at Bleeding Cool for their appreciation!

EDIT:  Of course I would be an idiot and forget the link  [link]

So our game seems to be up for best indie game for the Gamer's Choice Awards.  Here's a link if you happen to be a Dun Def fan and are interested in voting!  

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I'm heading out to GDC this year in San Francisco and really excited about it because I've never been to either.  Any of you guys going?

My friend and former professor is trying to get his tabletop game off the ground, check it out!

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There's a Steam sale going on right now in which Dungeon Defenders is being sold 75% off.  You guys should go buy it to keep me employed because you love me

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Aside from the horrible nightmare that was my return flight, I had a great time at the expo and will probably be returning again next year!

A few friends of mine () () made an awesome game called Protostar. You guys should check it out!  

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Our game's out and we're at the number 1 spot on Steam!

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This tech demo has been leaked so I guess I can post this now, although I'm not allowed to say much about this game.  What I will say is THAT IS NOT AT ALL THE FINAL UI OR CONTROL SET.   In fact nothing in this video is finalized, it's JUST a tech demo.

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I'm going to find out if I'm allowed to post any of the concept art I've done for it.

Our game Dungeon Defenders has been getting good reviews so far and it's definitely lifted the mood at the office!  Now I've done very little artwork for this game, but I've been HEAVILY involved in producing artwork for the DLC creating concept designs and illustrations for story sequences.


Video Reviews :

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Text Based Reviews :

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9.0 from EGM and Xbox magazine so far!

So there's this awesome web comic that some buddies of mine ( ) have created   YOU GOTTA GO READ IT

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Sony sent a camera crew and blindsided the hell out of us.

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whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

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.......is coming soon.  


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