Final Cut Pro and Dogs

Hello everyone who matters. First of all, I know... its been ages since I last updated my humble blog here on blogspot. To tell the truth I've been doing a heck of a lot of writing for other establishments as well as all the making of video content I so cherish...

In related news, I have upgraded to Final Cut Pro - the industry standard when it comes to video content. I'm learning the ins and outs, at the moment it seems fairly easy to use. Waaay more efficient than windows movie player or iMovie and I look forward to putting up some more regular original content.

Anyway, as means of an xmas present to my number one YouTube fan - i.e. my mum. I made two videos about our dogs, Darcy and Moby. Life has been tough over the last couple of years, but I can take solace in the fact that I have two new canine companions who have both come into my life and made it better.

The first video I made was of Darcy, who barked non stop for about an hour at a single solitary pidgin perched on our garden fence.



The second is a more general video showing the life of times of Darcy and Moby soundtracked to all kinds of cheesy music. If you are looking for something more art house or you're more of a cat person, these videos are wasted on you...

Interview with Phil Fish, Lead Designer of Fez

It isn't everyday you get to sit down and play a game in the company of the lead designer but thats exactly what I did at last year's Gamecity Festival in Nottingham. Fez has been getting a lot of buzz in indie circles and has managed to secure support from Xbox Live. Phil Fish has been designing the game for a whole 5 years and it looks as if the game is finally going to see release, spring this year. No mean feat, Fish stars in new documentary Indie Game The Movie, in which he reveals the ups and downs of creating a video game from scratch.

From what I played of Fez, its going to be a different experience to the usual slew of games that are released. It has a very Xen feeling, as you explore a seemingly 2D world that is contained with a three dimensional puzzle. There is no combat, just exploration and platforming choreographed to a dreamlike 8 bit score. Its one of the big games, I'm looking forward to this year.



And yes, I did accidentally refer to Fez at Rez at some point in this interview, way to show respect for five years of one man's work Chaz... [facepalm]

Interview with Mark Kermode

Thanks to my ongoing writing for world cinema blog subtitledonline.com, I had the opportunity to interview BBC film critic Mark Kermode in front of a camera. Well... I say camera, I really mean my trusty Sony Bloggie. I met with the good doctor at the Electric cinema in Birmingham, as part of his nationwide tour in support of his second book The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex, a book which seeks to illuminate the ugly side of modern cinema.

I sat down with Kermode for a good ten minutes talking about the state of foreign language movies and independent cinema in general. As anyone who listens to his BBC radio 5 live show will tell you, he knows how to talk about movies.

Video Interview with Nolan North.

Last September, whilst attending the Eurogamer Expo I had the privilege of meeting with Nolan North. Most gamers will know about Nolan North of course, aside from acting as Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, he has provided the voice for Desmond Miles in Assassin's Creed, Doctor Richtofen in Call of Duty and most recently the Penguin from Batman: Arkham City.

North was in town with Richard Lemarchand showing off Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception to legions of fans. After attending the panel, I managed to somehow get myself into a Q&A session with the prolific voice actor which was filmed by Eurogamer TV. After which, North graciously met with fans, posing for photos and doing all the voices the fans love him for. 

Armed with my trusty Sony Bloggie, the fledgling freewheeling new media/games journalist that I sort of am I finally met with North and asked whether he would be able to do an interview with me. The Naughty Dog team were clearly longing to get back to the hotel after a hard day of promoting the game, but they still graciously awarded me some time. The next five minutes are the result. 

Nolan North was also publicising his book Drake's Journal which chronicles the making of Uncharted 3. A book which I have had the pleasure of reading and watching (the book contains links to behind the scenes video via smart phone camera). Suffice it to say, if you are interested in how a triple A video game is made it is a worthwhile read. It seems that with cinema there are all kinds of documentation about how the film was made, not so much for video games however, definitely a gap in the market.

Buy yourself a copy of North's book from Gamespheres.com either in traditional book form or iphone/android app.