Draft:MediEvil EU site: Difference between revisions

'''What did you do before working here?'''<br />I was a book illustrator, I had just finished college in Farnmouth and I was just trying to make a living but couldn't, because there are so many illustrators out there. So I tried computers. At Farnmouth we did technical drawing and life science - taking animals apart, drawing the insides, looking at butterflies.

 

'''Ripping their insides out? Are you the one that takes the team's cuddly toy camel apart? I heard that someone cut the tail off at a Christmas party.'''<br />That's right. They dismembered Calvin the Camel. People have done all sorts to him. He survived it though. I've taken him on holiday. He had a good time.

 

'''Where did you take him?'''<br />I have been to Madeira and Greece with him. He was already in South Africa. Camels should travel.

 

'''And not to stay still and have their tail ripped off?'''<br />Exactly. He has big soft shoes, they are not there for nothing.

 

'''And what is this story about a monkey?'''<br />That was the programmers. I have nothing to do with that. I christened him Chunky the Monkey, and it stuck.

'''How did you get here?'''<br />I arrived with my portfolio: I had no computer experience and I relied only on my portfolio. And the managers told me, "OK, you have two weeks to learn how to use D Paint". I had never touched a computer in my life. We had Apple Macs in college but we hated them.

 

'''You thought drawing with computers was not really "drawing"?'''<br />Yes, but then I realized were the way forward, that they were doing the simplest work. That's why we did not like them, but now we know why: it's a production tool that works incredibly fast. It is also less expensive. So I had to learn.

 

'''So you had to put the paint down?'''<br />Yeah, I haven't put paint to canvas in two to three years.

 

'''So you haven't got this creative urge to. . . '''<br />All the creative juices get taken out during the day.

 

'''Do you rush around being a dramatic artist or are you down to earth?'''<br />I'm pretty down to earth. If I get uptight I take it out during kickboxing.

 

'''Have you always drawn?'''<br />Yes, almost since the age of six. I did not fit any standard. The teachers said "oh, Jason, his mind wanders in the classroom." But, I am an artist, I am different. I did not think I was going to work on games or these kind of animations. But I fell in love with the animation. It allows me to really see my images move while before they remained static. They become something else, it gives them life. I wanted to illustrate children's books, but now I just want to stay where I am. I am much happier as well.

'''Has MediEvil got a lot of FMV?'''<br />It's got about fifteen minutes of it. And there are a couple of scenes that I would have liked to put in but as a last minute decision we decided not to because they didn't quite link in with the story. So we took them out. But it doesn't matter as the story is told better. The FMV is throughout the whole game. There's is a two-and-a-half minute intro that tells you what happens at the beginning. And within the next four to five levels there are about fifteen seconds of animation each. Then the story builds and the timeline of the FMV gets longer and longer and longer telling you more and more of the storyline and getting more exciting.

'''So there is a piece at the end too?'''<br />Yes, there is an outro as a reward that continues for about two minutes. You don't get any FMV if Dan dies. If you finish the game, there is another reward.

 

 

'''While you're coming from Leicestershire, right in the middle of the UK!'''<br />Yes. It's something you do not see often in the area I come from. This is my favorite part. The galleon. The ghost ship. This part takes place almost at the end. It is a ship in the mist and you can also play on it.

'''Did you find that working in a creative team was restrictive?'''<br />It's good to get other people's opinions. I do not mind that at all. It's good to have the opinion of others, it does not bother me at all. It's sometimes frustrating, but in the end we all have the same goal. If you only have your own opinion, it does not work. Many people would probably disagree with me about it.

'''So do you play games as an artist or a gamer?'''<br />Both really. I kinda like Crash Bandicoot 2. I like a lot of racing games, I like a fast game. I like the look of Command and Conquer, but my mind span just can't hack a computer game that lasts longer than fifteen minutes. It has to end in fifteen minutes.

'''Do you find that because you are a creative person , you can't just get on and enjoy playing them because you are always looking at them with a creative eye?'''<br />Precisely, I just look for the inspiration from films, books, comics. I do like to look at a wide variety of visual material.

'''What tools do you use for graphics?'''<br />Alias and Matador. I've got about three years knowledge of Alias. I would like to try some more software packages out, but Alias seems to be the main thing to use for development suites and stuff like that.

'''Have you not used Softimage?'''<br />I would love to have a go, because it has a better rendering engine. I am pretty impressed by the other tools on Softimage like the ray tracing. This means that you can have a suitable amount of reflections and refractions. And you can also have motion blur. Whereas in Alias, you can't get motion blur from ray tracer. You have to go into a ray caster, which is a cheaper rendering system.

'''What else do you do besides taking camels on holiday?'''<br />I do Thai boxing and circuit training. The circuit training I've only done over the past two years. When I first started, I didn't do any exercise and I thought "my body's losing it". So I decided to do some exercising. It clears my mind a little bit. And then I can come back and work better.

 

 

'''What kind of Brandy? Metaxa?'''<br />I drank a lot in Greece. It's like a medicine. I don't care about the brand, as long as it's pure Brandy. My father brought me cheap Spanish Brandy and I didn't like it.