Thursday 31 December 2009

Warhammer Based Novel

Here's an early indication for you, before it gets its own section. I have been for some time working on an unusual concept for a novel, based in and around the Warhammer Fantasy world. I say unusual because of the writing method - more will be explained eventually.

I can't say too much about it right now except to say that I'm over 100 pages in a word document for this, its first draft and that it will follow the happenings between Dwarfs and Night Goblins in an all out war between these two most bitter of enemies. Their hatred is felt at an ancestral level.

'Duz Andy Know?' Title Sequence

Here's a video of the show's title sequence.
I've added a clip of music for the purpose of Domino Recording to look at as part of my copyright permission application. Hopefully this is the music I will get to use for the series. The full music ownership information can be found via the youtube page listing itself.

I went over different ways I could do this and in the end I decided that simple was more effective, especially as the words themselves are quite busy on the screen. The transition itself into the video will even just be a straight cut, enhanced by that little pause at the end of the title intro.

Monday 21 December 2009

My Email To Team 17

I am a huge Worms fan and feel frustrated at every Worms release now. Here is a copy of the email I sent Team 17, asking them to address my concerns. Let me know if you agree, guys. Hell, let them know!

Dear Sir or Madam,


You can count me among the truly die hard fans of the Worms series. The fact that I am sending you such an email is testemant to that. I have watched the releases of Worms titles over the last decade or so since you've been releasing them and seeing Worms 2 on Xbox arcade for sale makes me feel I should say something. As a fan, I am going to tell you the honest truth that you need to hear, straight up.


With all due respect I say this: You have almost designed the perfect worms game. The problem is, it's not in one piece. It's scattered amongst a few titles. Whenever you release a Worms game, there are often positives to be said for it - ways that it is improving or adding upon the series - yet there is always something missing from past versions. If you were only to collect the very best features from all of your Worms games you would have 'Ultimate Worms'. A game thats only update requirements would be graphics (or perhaps AI).


The thing that is disturbing me most when I see each new Worms release is the "almost" factor to it. The missed potential. Every single time. Example. Worms Open Warefare on the DS...well of course we don't really count that as being even a Worms game - it was more fun to dig up real life worms in the garden and watch them squirm about wondering where all the light came from than play that first game on the DS. However, the sequel? Now that was great. I still have it. Great new weapons bringing about wonderous new tactical opportunities. However, with Worms Open Warefare 2, you even felt like things were lacking - things you've seen in previous games, such as more schemes.

Here are the 3 major problems you need to address:

1. Custimized Options/Schemes - Out of all of your past games, you've amassed some amazing possibilities. However, they've never all been included together. Why not? Let the players custimize everything they've ever been able to. Let players turn on or off every setting. Let's have features like turning off sudden death and the like. Especially applying to the schemes. The major problem with your new XBL Arcade Worms 2 being its lack of schemes! To add to that, the fact that you cannot take your own made schemes online - so no remedy...Why limit us? Because you don't want griefers making too many bad schemes to annoy people? Alright, then add all the schemes from Worms World Party and no one will have to add anything! I used to like the Air Strikes scheme from the latter game. I'm damned if I've been able to play it since, for example. What a shame. It's a nice tactical mode, making me play in a different way. There's the key to longevity.


2. A.I. We both know that worms A.I. is a little unsatisfying. We can only hope that it becomes a bit more interesting and realistic. WWP was almost perfect in its own way, but of course the A.I. was quite horrid. Tactics like it using a shotgun to burrow at a wall turn after turn make the licence feel a little outdated.


3. Bring Back Sudden Death Poisoning!: This is so important that I've given it its own section. Remember in WWP how sudden death meant losing 5 pts from every worm each round + rising tides? That was perfection. There's nothing more annoying than having all your worms go down to 1 health and losing them all to some noob who uses a donkey on you. Minor splash damage, even from your own dying worms sent at you from the thing spells your end. It takes a really tactical game and makes it a no brainer. This important point related to point 1 a lot. You could have a choice of choosing which Sudden Death style you want! If it's radiation sickness then you could even choose the % lost per tick.


To wrap up:
Bring out a worms game looking as beautiful as the technology of the moment (like Worms 2 xbl is) with all the features of WWP and added features from everything else combined with an ability to turn off and on every single relevant setting. Have the ability to play all those schemes online. Try your best to improve the A.I. to new leaps and bounds, somehow and please above all else, make sure the sudden death elements are custimized so that those who want a more tactical game can do so.

Thanks for reading

Robert James Freemantle

Saturday 19 December 2009

YouTube Page Wallpaper Background

At http://www.youtube.com/user/DuzAndyKnow you will now find the collage (as seen in the last entry) as a wallpaper. That was my dream for the project. I love it when what I see in my head is accomplished on screen.

Friday 18 December 2009

Collage Promo

I've completed a collage made up from images of Andy. This is to be used for promotional purposes, advertising the upcoming youtube series 'Duz Andy Know'.

I can now reveal the collage and Andy himself to you.



Friday 11 December 2009

Why I Play Warhammer

I was reading a topic on the Chaos Army forum COTEC asking why its members love Warhammer.
I've pasted my reply below.

By the way, when/if I come to write out our Warhammer RPG adventure into a story for professional usage I'll have my format in place already. I quite like the idea of doing flashbacks for the cast, set off by something relavant in the real world that echoes the memory. That way we can get immediate about it but show a lot of character depth in their pre-setting.
This idea worked out superbly for 'Lost.'

This is why I love Warhammer:

This game feels like chess with dice! I truly love how real old battlefield tactics can come to the fore. Units on Earth truly did have to rank deep to better absorb a charge. Or there's the famous form square when cavalry would be coming. That'd be a 3+ rank bonus right there! Archers truly did used to try to gain a hill to better fire.


The actual hobby of Warhammer appeals because unlike things like train sets and models of vehicles, I need my work to go towards something practical I can use, to feel worth it.


Lastly there's the lore of the world. I'm so into it that I'm doing WHFRPG tabletop. While some of the writers can be a bit ropey, overall the options for creating your own storyline are really plentiful.

Thursday 10 December 2009

Interview Shooting Test

Andy came over to my house again today and I ran a shooting test with him, of some actual recording of interview. It was me asking him a range of questions and him attempting to answer them to the best of his ability.

I improved the light a lot but I'm a little concerned now about the sound being as loud as I'd like. As long as you can hear him though, that's what counts. It's a YouTube series, after all - expected to have some rough edges. Sometimes that's the charm of them.

I also took a few snaps of him via the memory card camera function of the handycam. Some of the shots look quite gormless...that might just be perfect. Aww I sound so mean! :P
Let me remind you again, he's not in any way mentally handicapped, he's just a lazy bugger. My point being that you're allowed to laugh at this and not feel guilty.

With the footage I have recorded with him today, if usable, I probably have enough for several episodes - being that I want a short 2 or 3 minute runtime format at most.

I suppose you could say that principle photography began today.

W00T!

Day One of Series Prep

Today is the first day of pre-production for 'Duz Andy Know?'

I dug out the handycam and set up a tripod in my front room and Andy came over so that I could shoot him from a few places and see what I like.

I think I'm leaning towards my sofa (gotta get better cushions - wakka wakka wakka) for him to sit on.
The major problem in this room is the lack of lighting, even in the day time. People wonder how I ever manage to get my Warhammer minis painted. I wonder too. The front room is fairly large but there's only one lightbulb in there. Add to that the fact that it's energy saving. Then there's the problem of the high rise buildings all around my house and the huge (protected) tree at the end of my garden. There's barely any light coming through at all. I feel like I'm living in a box sometimes.

I don't have any professional lights so I might have to wing it. Positioning bedside lamps in strategic places off camera.
*laughs*
Problem is, I'm not joking.

Then I had a huge struggle to find the editing/uploading/drivers software for the camera and even when I did, using it was a nightmare. It was cheap and tacky and the sound didn't want to work in there.
I'm not very techy you know. As an Editor I would have probably fared better in the splicing of reels days. I quite intend to call in the aid of my friend Lory to "co-edit" with me. The part of filming that I love the most is the directing. Of course, with a natural subject as the project that doesn't really get to happen anyway.

I have achieved one major thing though. I've used Windows Movie Maker to devise what the opening title style is going to be. Funnily enough I decided upon the Andy font.

Wednesday 9 December 2009

'Duz Andy Know?' New Youtube Comedy Series

I can now move this information from being a mere whisper in the misc section to having its own label. 'Duz Andy Know?' is the name of my new youtube series. As soon as videos are uploaded on there, they'll be uploaded on here.

Here's the link to the youtube page. http://www.youtube.com/user/DuzAndyKnow

Concept: I will be filming my long time friend Andy Alford, throwing a number of questions and challenges at him ranging from relatively simple to downright easy. I'll be making the series to prove his shocking ignorance in so many fields! Truly I'm amazed by it and I feel that others might be. Therefore, this was screaming to become a series.

I will output videos based on the quality of natural reactions I get from the test subject.

I would hope to get to the point where subscribers across the internet could feel free to send questions/challenges for Andy to take on, while  I point my trusty camera at it.

Disclaimer: The subject of this series of videos is 100% genuinely the way he appears. He is not acting and nothing is staged.

Andy has no medically recognized form of retardation or other learning disability.

He has never been diagnosed with any sort of mental illness or impairment other than anxiety.

Andy's current state is a result of ignorance and a disinterest in life to pay attention to anything around him.

He is in full agreement with filming this series and he fully understands the nature and tone of this series.

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'Duz Andy Know' title and concept are copyright of the owner Robert James Freemantle - 2009-
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Monday 7 December 2009

Another Possible Artist

We are in comms with another possible artist right now. I don't want to give details yet until I have something solid, but if I do, I'll link you to her DeviantArt gallery page.

This would be with the intention of creating a few pages of demo comic to include in our comic pitch pack.

I have created 4 PDF's of script with chosen pages specifically for this purpose.

Friday 4 December 2009

Issues 0-6 Full Story Script Completed.

That's the whole principle scripting process for the entire story complete as of tonight. All that's left now is for someone to pick it up!

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Possible Comedy Shorts Series With Peter...

I'm also in talks with Peter (co-writer with me on H/H) about a potential comedic venture that would be aimed at being a newspaper style cartoon comic or a short burst animation series. Things would be kept nice and simple, allowing the material itself to do the shining for us.

I don't want to reveal too many details about the project itself at this stage, but I will say that it is based on a paticular element of Peter's own real life and the stories would be based on real events.

More to come on this...

Extended Issue, Some Thoughts On Writing

We've decided that to get the intensity of the last fight across and really do the characters justice, we're going to extend issue six by perhaps another 10 pages. This means that it might come out as a 32 pager.
Of course, how all of this presents in its final version may be different, based on Editor input if published, but here I'm giving you the raw information on my end as it is written.

When you consider how long a fight Freddy versus Jason had at the end of it, we really see that the fans deserve to see more of our ideas with the characters they love so much.

Sometimes, through the writing you get these little pangs of concern: Would Clive Barker like this? Would the die hard fans? Then you have to remind yourself that if you let such thoughts carry on, you'll drive yourself nuts.

You can't please everyone and you can't write while trying to do that in your mind because you get a surge of energetic inspiration and you simply have to pursue that, to put down what is real from you, on the page.

We know as fans that the events taking place here please us. We really wanted to see this match up. If anyone had put it out there as a comic professionally already, we wouldn't have bothered (if we'd liked it). But now we're satisfying our curiosity in the exciting adventure that comes with writing a story.

Sunday 29 November 2009

Possible Youtube Series With Friend?

I'm in talks with a friend of mine about filming a new youtube ongoing series about just him! I don't want to reveal any of the details, even if the project doesn't happen, because it  might still at some other time.

All I will say is this: It would be classified as comedy and as much as you might not believe it, everything in the videos of my friend would be 100% true.

A little mystery to leave you on there ;)
If it happens, you'll hear about it on this website.

So Much More We'd Like To Show You

My thought of the day:
Just like a movie that ends up needing cuts and deleted scenes, we've had to forget about showing elements of other things happening at the same time as any given action in the story because there simply wouldn't be enough room. As it is we're running at six issues, with a forty-four page issue zero into the bargain.
The fact that we still have material that we'd have liked to have shown you is evidence of our many flowing ideas on this project.

I'm really happy and proud to have been part of a collaboration team for a story that is so gutsy and dark, so strongly aimed towards the originals of their respective series.

Saturday 28 November 2009

Sickens Even Me...

Writing the last fight for the last issue of H/H has been great, but for the first time in the entire 176 total pages of comic book written/planned, this is the first time I've actually felt a bit sickened. Sickened by my own writing! Some of the stuff that's going down in this last fight really won't be for the faint of heart! That's...that's all I'm going to say...

Although, I'm pretty sure that's a good sign for you horror loving folks out there too.

Thursday 26 November 2009

There's Gore, Then There's Gore

Working on this series is about striking the right balance between the gore levels of the two licences. They are after all on very different scales.

Hellraiser is quite upfront with its visuals, sometimes showing you something that is horrifying in a visceral way!

Halloween is more about suspense and "is the boogeyman here yet?". Where we see kills, they're not very bloody, with the use of cutaways to minimize gore.

We've not aimed right down the middle of the two, instead opting to let the licences be what they should be when on the page. Cenobite kills and effects will be a lot more bloody but with purpose. Michael's are a lot more psychological in nature.

Once they're fighting each other, well, you'll have to wait and see  ;)

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Muscle Pain Spasms, Piston Pins

I've been working on issue six, sending a google email back and forth to get the final combat sequences incrementally better when I spotted google's own subject relative adverts on the right of the screen window. I had to laugh.
it read: More about...
Arm Tattoos »
Fence Pin »
Muscle Pain Spasms »
Piston Pins »

Above it was:
Collar Pin
Screw End Collar Pin
For Collar pin shirts
http://www.classicwardrobe.co.uk/
Silicon Microarray Pins
Ultra high precision and low cost silicon microcontact spotting pins
http://www.parallel-synthesis.com/
Flashing NFL Pins
Light Up NFL Pins - Very Hot Item Many Teams, Order Online or Call Us
http://www.flashingblinkylights.com/
We offer secondhand Chain
Stud & Open link Chain 24 to 86 mm. Large Stock.
http://www.subestandar.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This really made me chuckle, seeing how the google links could get things so very mis-interpreted. Of course, it also gives an indication what we've been writing about, but in a clever way that makes you use your imagination.

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Artist Wanted For Preliminary Pitching

Work has begun slowly on the last issue, number six.

With the script almost finished, we are putting this advert out there for anyone who thinks they're interested:

Artist(s) required, penciller, colourist, inker needed for horror crossover comic book product development pitch pack, with the intent towards formal proposals to Clive Barker, John Carpenter, various agents and publishers.
 You would be creating a sample front cover image and a minimum of 5 pages of the actual comic to submit.

Please get in touch or send samples of your work to Rob & Pete at: robafett@gmail.com.

Be advised there would be no guaranteed monetary gain, but your work will be seen by professionals in the industry who would then be able to assess if your talent would be best paired with our script.

This could be a great opportunity to further develop your portfolio and chance of later job prospects.

Sunday 22 November 2009

Machine Machinations - Battle of the Sexes

This was another play about with the xtranormal software resulting in the video below.

Bear in mind it's the free version, so everything is limited in scope. You can't make them walk around or do whatever you like. Even the camera angles are a set (albeit quite a decent) amount. I would have flashed to an extreme close up on the male robot's gauge later in the movie, for example.

WHFRPG 3rd Edition?

Gah, I can't believe they're bringing out a 3rd edition of the game. It's completely going in a different direction now.
I say if it's not broke, don't fix it. Second Edition is fine.

My group aren't going to abandon ship at least.

The reason I mention this here? Our own created adventures/characters are really quite amazing, therefore I might take the time to make them into a comic script at some point and see what happens.

I love the Old World!

Friday 20 November 2009

Issue 5 Complete

Issue five is fully scripted.
Six will continue on the action where five leaves off and will be the final issue to script.

Wednesday 18 November 2009

What Makes a Moley Mole?

Introduction

The Animated section will just be a place for me to get some things off of my mind and play with animation in the bargain!

It originally came about when I discovered the website http://www.xtranormal.com/ and I wanted to play around with the controls to see what would come out.
This madness above the post here is the product of that!

Youtube Membership

Just letting you know where my Youtube account is, if anyone is interested.

Monday 16 November 2009

Plans For Next Issue...

We're sorting out and choreographing the final fight of the comic while we push on with issue five.

This one is gonna be a big 'un and I can announce here that the comic will end on issue six.

With  issue zero being a double lengther, we will have technically written 8 comics worth!

I'm really hoping you guys enjoy it. I know you can't please everyone, but we're really excited about what we're doing. Once it gets put out there, it belongs to the people.
I know that I've been disappointed with crossover titles before, but they just seemed to lack the ballsy brilliance that the originals had. In the case of many, just seeming utterly pointless. You can rest easy in knowing that the writers of this comic have that in mind.

Thursday 12 November 2009

Peter Parker

I said I would follow up on the story about how my friend and co-writer on H/H Peter Parker came to have this name, so here goes.

His name was Peter before, but he had a different surname. He informed me of the decision to change his name by deed poll and I replied, "well, you're Peter so, it's gotta be Parker!"
He took that information away and I laughed a little to myself.

Anyway, next thing I know, he'd done it!

You can imagine the fun he had in Forbidden Planet, picking up his monthly standing order for Amazing Spider-Man. "Can you go and get Peter Parker's monthly order of Spider-Man?" to the assisstant out back!

The reason I'm explaining this though is important. This moment made me realise that Peter was the sort of person who took my creative decisions seriously. Then we came to write together properly.

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Issue 4 Script Complete

Issue four is scripted now. 22 more pages of script, working out as 24 pages of Final Draft. I've been good this time, trying to keep the printed script page count down...

I'm ready to begin on issue five already.

Sunday 8 November 2009

Comic Therapy - What Once Was Planned; What May Yet Be

Just before Tiemen got too busy with uni to carry on with Warpedhammer The Comic with me, I was just flourishing with an idea for a comic which I called 'Comic Therapy'.
The idea was that it'd be a vehicle for the comedic parody scripts I was thinking up that didn't pigeon hole me with Warpedhammer. In the process, I started to notice the scripts for them dealt with issues that really did bother me, so in sharing them with the world it was a type of therapy.

The project started, with a few unfunny ORLY Owl caption pics and three of Tiemen's own Mythology issues. All of this was due to Tiemen's lack of time to get the first real issue done. In the end, we only ended up producing one issue, but it really does give an indication where we were going with the series.

I now present to you that very issue, titled issue #13: LOLTR

We were going to carry on with the next part showing Gandalf, with what happened after his great fall with the Balrog. He would have ended up dunked in a large tub of soap powder.
Suddenly he wasn't Gandalf the Grey anymore, he was Gandalf the White...with new lemony freshness...

I'm actually somewhat hopeful about this series. Because it's so unspecific, simply poking fun at whatever takes my interest at the time, perhaps I will get an artist on board to make it all happen as planned.
If it does happen, it would be a relaunch with the above comic more than likely not even used as an actual issue. More something to refer to to get the concept across to potential artists for it.

All I can say is watch this space.

Warpedhammer - It Was Great Fun

Well that wraps it up for the Warpedhammer material that I was able to source.

Warpedhammer The Comic ended prematurely. There are a lot more scripts that were written in advance, things that will probably never see the light of day such as 'Archie's Optician' (a 5 part arc).

Alas, Tiemen became very busy with Uni at the time, so it was unable to continue.

We served the Warhammer gaming community with a comic just for them.

Probably my greatest moment concerning the comic is a conversation a Games Workshop employee once had with me. A crowd of people were chatting in the shop and I was saying how I like webcomics. He recommended I read a comic he liked a lot, it was called 'Warpedhammer'.
My jaw dropped.

Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 57 - Archie's Ice Cream


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 56 - I Put Da "Ard" In "Drunkard"


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #55 - Christmas Card


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #51 - Ye Old Pawnographer part 3


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #50 - Ye Old Pawnographer part 2

Alas part one is now lost to the ages, so you'll just be able to see the last two parts.


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #48 - Da Recipe Fer Disasta


Saturday 7 November 2009

Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 45 - A Dragon's Tale Part 3


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 45 - A Dragon's Tale Part 2


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 45 - A Dragon's Tale Part 1


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 44 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 10


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 43 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 9


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 42 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 8


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 41 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 7


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 40 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 6


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 39 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 5


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 38 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 4


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 37 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 3


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 36 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 2


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 35 - Warpedhammer T.V. Part 1

This is the mini arc that Tiemen and I became the stars of our own comic!



Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 30 - A Dedication


This one was a dedication to the players who fought alongside my Orcy lot in our own player made global forum campaign 'Animosity', which I was co-writer/designer of.

Goblin Project Concept Art 3


Goblin Project Concept Art 2



Yet more in depth glances at our planning stages for the Goblin Project.

Goblin Project Concept Art 1

This is some cool looking concept art that Tiemen was working on based on MSN meetings we'd been having. I was trying to develop a brand new Goblin based comic series (serious, not parody) but he had to drop out, with life getting quite busy for him at university.

This project is still in my mind, you never know...


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 29 - Storm In A Teacup Part 6


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 28 - Storm In A Teacup Part 5


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 27 - Storm In A Teacup Part 4


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 26 - Storm In A Teacup Part 3


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 25 - Storm In A Teacup Part 2


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 24 - Storm In A Teacup Part 1


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 23 - Valten's Christmas Presence part 6


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 22 - Valten's Christmas Presence part 5


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 21 - Valten's Christmas Presence part 4


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 20 - Valten's Christmas Presence part 3


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 19 - Valten's Christmas Presence part 2


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue # 18 - Valten's Christmas Presence part 1


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #17 - Years Ago A Leggy-see Was Born...


Issues 10 & 16 info

The above mentioned issues were not included here as they were guest issues by 'Fras' and 'Drakai' respectively.

Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #15 - Model Behaviour Part 5


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #14 - Model Behaviour Part 4


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #13 - Model Behaviour Part 3


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #12 - Model Behaviour Part 2


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #11 - Model Behaviour Part 1

This one really looks deeply at the hobby and pokes fun at it.


Warpedhammer The Comic- Da Orc Chef - Poster

The Orc you knew from Issue #6 has become a chef in this poster we put together for fans at the time.

Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #9 - Archie's Day Out


Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #8 - A Cheat Indeed

In 1910, C.M Coolidge painted the masterpiece known as 'A Friend In Need', widely known and loved throughout the world, a famous work of art...


In 2004 T-Man and Robert Freemantle created this travesty and named it 'A cheat Indeed'.
 

Warpedhammer The Comic Issue #7 - Battle of the Pointy Hats


Warpedhammer The Comic issue #6 - A Choppa Is Not Cutlery Pages 1 - 3 (complete)