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.