From the EndWar to the Mirror's Edge and Back Again

My good buddy, Mr. Crews is correct. We're not quite dead...yet. To all three of you (if that) reading this humble blog, I apologize for the delays. I'm working on a lot of projects at once, some I hope to throw around and get recognized for, others to help me improve my work in the difficult craft of writing.

In other news, video gaming to be exact, two new games which have utterly mesmerized me are Tom Clancy's EndWar and EA's new stylistic project, Mirror's Edge.

EndWar follows the typical Clancy game format (save it's RTS design) in which a future not unlike our own is under major military jeopardy and you get to play the highly trained tactical commander in charge of fighting the last war of history. The fun thing about this little gem of a game is all the controls are voice-based. Sure, you can play the game by using the Xbox controller and looking around with the analog sticks, but the real command treat is barking out orders to your infantry and tanks and watching them perform admirably in the face of certain destruction. It's a great addition to an all ready stunning looking game.

For Mirror's Edge, we change gears a bit. Okay, a lot. The game is intensely first-person, and you play Faith, a "Runner" in a shiny pristine authoritarian future. When information is controlled by the government, the rebels and resistance fans have gone low-tech, employing parkour (or freerunner) agents to physically race their information and clandestine plans around the city. It's a great kinetic game with intense visuals and lightning-quick pacing. The demo is short but very sweet.

For those of you with Xbox 360s out there, check out these demos now. EndWar is all ready out in stores, and Mirror's Edge will be released in a few days as of this writing. More later.

We're not dead!

Despite the eerie silence of late, we're not dead! The shooting script and story-boarding for "Valley of Heroes" are nearly finalized and soon "filming"\dubbing can begin. As usual, RBKearney is the lead for this project so if you want to help talk to him, but if he's busy you can talk to me. Anyone with a microphone can apply for voice acting, however filming will more restricted by practical constraints. Updates to follow soon!

It's Been A Long Road

Well, 'tis been a long time since I have posted. I told you all I was reading Choke and The Road, and when I finished I'll let you know how they were, but I'll get to that in a minute. For me, my road to adulthood has just begun because only last Thursday did I, your humble poster, move on to college. It was a tough 6 and a half hour drive that began at some time after 4 am, and I was running on very little sleep, plus I was a little hungover. Yeah, fun day. My dad had me drive some of the way down, and I almost fell asleep a couple times.

But I made it, so that's all that matters, and I fucking love it. And, yes, fuck was totally necessary.

Now on to business. Choke was great. I'm not going to say anything about it because that'll ruin it. Just go out and see the movie if you don't want to read the book. Apparently Chuck Palahniuk loved the movie and felt it really captured the spirit of the book, so that has me sold.

Now, on to The Road. Uh, that was one of the most depressing books I have ever read. And you know what else? Nothing really happens! They walk around for three hundred pages! And avoid cannibals and other horrors that are even worse and I really don't want to mention. And the end sucks. It's not bad, it's just so... middle of the road. It should be sad, but it's somewhat hopeful, but most of all the world they live in is still shitty and won't ever change. Sounds kind of familiar, huh? The whole book is a metaphor for day to day life, and I get that, but it's going to be tough to make a good movie out of it. I'll still see it, but, there are things that will probably be sanitized, and characters that will be expanded upon unnecessarily, just so it's not all Viggo and the kid. And that's unfortunate.

And, today I'll leave you with the trailer for the movie Watchmen. Now, I'm sure all of you have seen this trailer, but I want to expand everyone's analytical side with this. Just so you know, I read the graphic novel, which was amazing and doesn't seem like it'll translate well, but we'll see. Plus, the guy who did 300 is doing this one, and I hated 300 (me and like three other people). So, I don't know if I'll see this one, but the trailer has me so intrigued even though I know already what happens. What I want you all to do is watch this trailer, but listen closely to the lyrics of the song (which is "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by the Smashing Pumpkins) and follow along with the scenes, and just how well it all goes together. I keep watching this trailer over and over, and it just pulls me in so well.

Brief Recruiting Update

"Valley of Heroes" the first official Two Tons Production of 2008 is in the pre-production phase. We currently need voice-actors and available body actors (for Halo 3). The story is a military drama/action piece and is set within Halo canon. The script is roughly 20-25 pages (depending on format) and will most likely be split into a four episode mini-series. I have an Audition Sheet for those interested in voice-acting. If interested in hearing more about the project or finding out how you can get involved, email me at burke.kearney@gmail.com or message me here or on the www.machinima.com forums. My handle there is "Foxtrot". My Xbox Live Gamertag is Foxtrotarmy, so that's an equally valid way of contacting me. Until next time!

Spotlight on Machinima

Hey all you out there in the interweb, this is a new weekly segment called "Spotlight on Machinima." Seeing as how Two Tons Productions is currently in the Pre-Production phase of a Halo 3 short, as well as the beginnings of writing for a WoW series (hopefully to be donated to a studio that can film it properly) I figured it'd be a nice touch to showcase some of the finer workings of our filmmaking brethren in action. You can look forward to this segment every week on Wednesday. And for the record, while on the subject, "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" will be back this week, but on Thursday. Sorry for the delay, but you can expect Week 3's coverage of that to continue tomorrow.

The inaugural piece I intend to show is Episode 5 in a running Call of Duty 4 series called "Retaliation". You can find it on www.machinima.com and YouTube. Embedded here is the film and I want you all to take note on how with very little dialogue, great sound effects, lighting, and camera movements, even a video game can achieve cinematic quality in action scenes.

M-M-M-Music

Current Top 10 for Saxman

1. Propane Nightmares - Pendulum
2. I Don't Feel Like Dancing - Scissor Sisters
3. Vanished - Crystal Castles
4. Hell Yeah - Rev Theory
5. Half-Truism - The Offspring
6. Good Day - Jukebox the Ghost
7. I Feel it All (Escort Remix) - Feist
8. Modern Love - David Bowie
9. Umbrella (Rihanna Cover) - All Time Low
10. Negative Thinking - The Death Set

Check em out, yo.

History of Red Vs. Blue

This is a video that I'm afraid not many people have seen. It's Rooster Teeth's very own accurate reproduction of the events in time that led up to the cataclysmic unveiling of the undeniably greatest machinima series ever made: Red Vs. Blue.



The video stars Burnie Burns (the voice of "Church" in Red Vs. Blue) and Geoff Ramsey (nee Fink, the voice of "Grif" in the show).

ALL CREDIT GOES TO ROOSTER TEETH PRODUCTIONS

You can check out their (awesome) website here.