Freak Factor

You can find Freak Factor as Changethis.


This manifesto...sweet jesus, this is so true it hurts me. I read through this and man is it good.

The basic point of Freak Factor is that everyone has corresponding weakness and strengths. The man down the road who's organized and calm? He's also stubborn and less emotional. That girl over there who's "boring"? She's a responsible person. Think of your traits like a sliding scale- at one end is one personality quirk, at the other end another. As you have more of one quirk, say realism, you have less of another quirk, like positivity. In the same way, you could say that having more realism leads to more negativity. Each trait has its own counterpart. What you need to do is identify what traits you have, what corresponding weaknesses you have, and how you can amplify your strengths. Don't try to get rid of your weaknesses- it doesn't work. Focus on what you can improve, not what's holding you back.

This manifesto has nine points that enforce this general theme. Here's just three:

POINT ONE: What's Your Weakness?
Identifying your weaknesses is important. You have to know what you're good at and what you aren't good at, otherwise you'll never be able to choose what you should do in any situation. I'll use myself as an example. I am:

Physically weak.
Nonconfrontational.
Shy.
Inflexible.
Negative/Pessimistic.
Lazy (hey, check the time I posted this for evidence!)
And so on.

If I didn't realize my own weaknesses, I might make some pretty stupid descisions. For instance, I might decide to go into sports or debate. I don't like physical activity or arguments, so obviously that would be stupid. Knowing one's weaknesses helps you find your place in the world.

POINT TWO: There's Nothing Wrong With You.
I listed some of my weaknesses above. "Wow," you say, "He sure has a ton of flaws.". Here's the thing: so do you. So does everyone. But every flaw has a corresponding perk. I might be weak, but I'm intelligent. I might be negative, but I'm realistic. I might be lazy, but I'm imaginative. I might be inflexible, but I'm responsible. Like a coin, there are two sides to every aspect of your personality. Let's take a look at a friend of mine who I'll refer to as Dave.
Dave is:
Charismatic
Energetic
Passionate
Strong
Analytical
Creative

"Wow!" you say, "He sure is amazing!". Well, to complete his strengths, he's also...
Emotionally Distant
Obnoxious
Single-minded
Impulsive
Dismissive
Unresponsible

"Wow!" you say, "You're so correct, he has a set of both strengths and weaknesses!"

I knew you'd learn eventually.


POINT THREE: Don't Try To Fix Your Weaknesses.
"Wait!" you interrupt (again), "Why shouldn't we try to improve ourselves?"
Don't get ahead of yourself. This manifesto and blog are NOT about telling you not to improve. This point is about getting the MOST out of your self-improvement.

Here's a rather nerdy example. Let's say I have a party of a fighter, wizard and rogue. The wizard has such low strength compared to my fighter! Surely I should train up his strength instead of focusing on pumping his magical power! Repeat for "fighter" and "speed" and "rogue" and "defense".

See how dumb this philosophy is when you think about it? Everyone has weaknesses that they shouldn't focus on because the effort required to get those up to speed with your strengths could have been used ON those strengths to make them that much stronger! With that example, I could have a wizard with 100 strength and 100 magic power, or I could have a wizard with 150 magic power and 50 strength. Which is more useful for his job? Why would he need high strength? The same could be said for real people. Sure, I could spend five hours in the gym every day and eat salad until my canines commit suicide from misuse, but what's the point? After several years I might be a beefcake, yes, but why didn't I spend that time focusing on gaining intellect or creating something interesting? Focusing on weaknesses just makes you a jackass of all trades, and a master of nothing.



So, this is the end of the blog. The quarter is over, and the class is ending. Thanks to the TAs for interesting assignments and help and to Professor Willaims for being (crazy) awesome and making the class really interesting.

Collapsus Response

(PLACEHOLDER TEXT GOES HERE. IMAGINE IT'S AN AMAZING ESSAY AND/OR AUDIO RESPONSE)

Gaming Presentation Review

We presented an idea for a game that was based on a ton of doodles I did in high school and some characters I created, modified a bit with everyone's input. I'd like to think we got everything across pretty well, but let's see what I can think of that we did less than perfect...

First of all, I don't think we got the story of the game across as well as we could have. The concept was that there are 12 main characters who you follow through the game. The game begins with two of them unleashing an ancient evil (bear with me through the cliche here) along with a good force that were both sealed away. The evil escapes and begins to plot to take over the world...or...something. The good force splits itself up and seeks out the 12 main characters and gives them special powers. The initial two characters journey across the world, gathering allies and weakening the evil forces at work. At certain points the party either splits up or the story switches to a different character, making the player choose who to follow and giving them more variety. I felt like we could have gotten the plot as a whole across to everyone a bit better, but we were close enough.

I think it was pretty hard to discuss mechanics very well, mostly since we never really planned out anything besides plot, characters and platform. We had a skeleton idea of what the controls would be, but nothing specific. Jump, a few attack buttons, maybe a block...that was about it. Aside from the fact that not everyone in my group is a gamer (as thus didn't know the jargon/lingo/slang/nonsense I did), it was still not something we defined very well. This also made mechanics a weak point of our presentation in my opinion. We couldn't get it across very well to each other, so obviously we couldn't get it across as well to an audience.

Overall I did enjoy the project (partly because it didn't have anywhere NEAR as much crunch time as the previous two...) because I enjoy video games AND sharing ideas with others.

Heroes and Villains

Left: Fulton (villain)

Right: Lucina (hero)

Here's Fulton's animation...

The fight animation and Lucina's animation are Flash files, so I can't post them...apologies.

Hero/Villain Review 1: Jason Butler
Hero: Mr. Sun
Villain: Malicious Moon

Both of the characters are fairly basic. They're both made of simple shapes and colors, giving them a bit of an affinity. However, the fact that they use yellow and blue contrasts them, as does their constantly different facial expressions. The colors both characters use are also different in brightness and value- Mr. Sun is much brighter and lighter, while Malicious Moon is darker and duller.
There weren't any shadows, although I do remember mentions of Mr. Sun never having shadow on him, since he's the SUN. This does separate him from his enemy and makes him a more obvious hero. There were also no symbols, and there was not a clear mood.
Both characters moved essenially the same, with no overlapping movements or weight.
Overall I don't have much to say, since there were no individual character animations posted.

Hero/Villain Review 2: Eric Miller

Hero: The Trash Compactor
Villain: The Mogul

These two characters are much more contrasted than the previous pair. The hero, The Trash Compactor, is mostly a dull grey and rather boxy in his design. The villain, The Mogul, is dark purple and much sleeker. The Trash Compactor's duller colors contrast with the Mogul's more vibrant ones.
The lighting around both characters are also different. The Trash Compactor is mostly in the shadows, since he fights on the streets. The Mogul is more in the light, since he seems to be the leader type instead of the street thug type. The constant lighting may also give him a vibe of being more refined, especially since his opponent is covered in garbage cans.
The characters also move differently. The Mogul's movements are much smoother and stylish, while the Trash Compactor seems more focused on efficiency than looking cool, as I would expect from a guy who wears garbage cans.

Hero/Villain Review 3: Logan Hayes
(Not up at time of post)

This American Life and Superpowers.

This American Life


Superpowers are AWESOME. This is something everyone has known since they were kids. Everyone wants to be special, and what better way to be special than to be able to do something no other person on earth can? Well, in this blog I'm going to take a look at my favorite superpower and why I want it.
I feel like I can better explain this via text rather than via an audio blog, since I'm much more articulate when I don't have to rerecord my blog every time I eventually make a verbal misstep with my fast speech rate.
Oh, and I get to be as verbose as I damn well please with text.

This is Patrick Stewart.
This is also Professor Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X. His superpower is telekinesis, the ability to manipulate the world around him via the power of his mind. He also has a host of superintellectual powers, but telekinesis is the one I'm going to focus on.
Telekinesis has always been one of my favorite powers- I've always been the smart-yet-weak kid, and telekinetic characters showed that strength of mind can be just as good as or better than strength of body. The telekinetic character is one who appeals to the pen, not the sword.
Telekinesis is not just something that appeals to my primarily mental worldview. Telekinesis is also a power that has a million uses and has a million different archetypes associated with it. You've got Professor X, the archetypal wise, calm telekinetic, and then you've got the sadistic or rash pyrokinetic character. There's a slew of different types of characters that go with mental powers they possess. Telekinesis is a power that can have almost any character molded around it. A character with regular telekinesis, the ability to use their mind to create force and manipulate things, leads to Professor X, the mentor. The character that controls fire leads to the Human Torch, a more irrational and impulsive character.
Aside from the diversity of the connotations of mental powers, there's the practical side of having telekinesis. There are a thousand and one things I could do with telekinesis. Being able to move things around me is incredibly practical and has many mundane uses. This is why I choose telekinesis- I am NOT a superhero. I would want a power I can use constantly in my average life. As awesome as the ability to shoot lightning from my appendix or something would be, what the hell would I use it for? Sure, once I eventually find my icy-spleened nemesis I would be incredibly thankful for my powers, but how often is that going to happen?

So, overall, I would want a power that, while incredible and extraordinary, still has a use in the ordinary and the normal. Being a superhuman does not mean I'm no longer human- I'm just a bit more than that. Think of it as being the B+ to humanity's B.





So, if I did an audio review and wanted to be Aquaman, would I get bonus points for having a straight face the whole time?

Video Jokes!

Joke 1: "Big Blonde Women"
Joke 2: "Blondes and Puppets"


Seeing as both videos had the same plot and characters, they're somewhat similar. However, there are still differences.

The first joke mostly uses a voiceover to tell the story, while the second joke uses dubbed dialogue. The first joke has fewer actors and brings attention to the three main characters (ventriloquist, blonde and puppet). This use of space contrasts the second video, which has the blonde in a crowd of people for a good part of the movie. Both videos make use of the rule of thirds when the blonde and ventriloquist confront each other, however. This use of space focuses the viewer's eyes on the two opposing characters.
The first video uses shape to contrast the two main characters- the blonde woman is large and fat while the ventriloquist is much skinnier and appears smaller. The second video uses the positioning of characters for the same effect when the blonde berates the ventriloquist to make her seem much larger than the ventriloquist. She's standing while he's (I'm?) sitting, she's looming over him while he cowers, and so on. This didactic information makes the audience view the blonde as a more powerful character and the ventriloquist as weaker.
Aside from the visual differences in the videos, the second video does have some differences in execution and story. First of all, there are more than three actors and a puppet, giving a better crowd effect. Eric's script also called for the puppet to actually be alive, which is by far the biggest difference, giving the video an unexpected twist and a rather slapstick ending (which is stupidly hard to see because it's very dark...). The second video does frame the joke much differently, however. The video is presented as someone telling a story to someone else, instead of just being an event. This allows for cuts to the storyteller and his audience for commentary and Greek Chorus-style dialogue.

Overall I think we did pretty well and both videos are well-made...of course, I might be a bit biased since they ARE my own...and they AREN'T THE DAMN TRAIN JOKE.
Seriously, like half the videos were the train joke.

Visual Design in Games

Here's a look at Team Fortress 2's visual design. See the video here.

Response to "How to be Creative"

You can find "How to be Creative" here.

You can find my audio response to the manifesto here.

Visual Framing Re-Imagined

Today I'll be comparing a small slice of a painting with the whole, demonstrating why the whole painting is there.
To the left is the full image for "The Temptation of Saint Anthony".
This piece, by the great Salvador Dali himself, is...interesting. It shows a man (presumably Saint Anthony) in the lower left corner, holding a cross against a parade of spindle-legged...things, such as a horse and a house. The rather normal anatomy and structure of Anthony creates an enormous contrast with the exaggerated, stretched form of the parade of figures coming at him. Also contrasted is their size- Anthony is very small and the other figures appear to be behemoths. The lines of the legs of the creatures draw the viewer's eye down the line of creatures and into the background. The viewer's eye is not drawn to Anthony whatsoever- possibly to emphasize how insignifigant he is next to the giant creatures.
To the right is a cut version of the painting:
This bit of the painting emphasizes Anthony more, but it cuts out a lot of the creatures coming at him. Here, the lines of the horse's legs draw the eye to Anthony and the ground, rather than deep into the painting. In this small piece it seems like Anthony is standing against a single beast, rather than being attacked by a parade of monsters, making him seem stronger. Overall, this small bit of the painting makes Anthony seem less helpless and weak, which is probably why Dali painted the whole instead of this small bit.

Song Reviews

See previous post, but for songs!
Likity 2: The Relinkening

Soundscape Reviews

Here's me reviewing soundscapes badly in front of a camera!
Linkity

MDIA 203 Song Project

Ok, here's a WORKING link to my song.
Hopefully it's processed.

Brainwashed

You can find "Brainwashed at this website.

In this article, Godin makes 7 suggestions to help readers reinvent themselves. I'll be taking a closer look at two of them.

Acknowledge the Lizard
The "lizard" is the part of the brain that holds our base worries- safety, acceptance, anger. It's the part of the brain that tries to hold back creativity and push obedience for fear of being mocked. It's the part of the brain that tries to make you average, boring, to make you fade into the background because you're safer that way. But for those who create, this just isn't possible. We need to stand out to be heard.
Obviously, as a creative person, it has some effect here in my blog- it's a constant thought in the back of my head: "don't put that out there!" "what will people think if you write that?". This resistance to creativity needs to be repressed to truly create, and that's just what Acknowledging the Lizard is: hearing it, knowing what it sounds like, then completely ignoring it.

Shipping
Things that are rare are usually valuable, it's basic supply and demand. Godin proposes that instead of a physical thing being rare, the rarest thing is the ability to put that physical object out into the world. If your rivals are afraid to do something and you go ahead and do it before them, you come out ahead and with a lot of recognition. However, the Lizard doesn't like to ship- why put yourself out there? Then everyone will just pay attention to you and you might fail!
This kind of thinking is why Acknowledging the Lizard is important- if you can quash that little voice, you can Ship things that your competitors do not.
Shipping is important to a blog- there are so many these days, you need some way to break out of the pack of news feeds and complaining. By putting out unique ideas and ideas that others fear to put out in the open, I can make myself rise above the tide of blandness and lizarditude and get noticed.

Covered Up

Covers are a great opportunity for a band to pay tribute to someone who inspired them or who they respect, and it's also a great way to put a new twist on an old classic. Sometimes the new version is a little...odd, but experimentation is an important thing.

The song I'll be examining in this post is "Head Like a Hole", originally by Nine Inch Nails and covered by a band that's quite different...Devo?
Yes, Devo, the new-wave nerds from the 80s covered Head Like A Hole. It's a bizarre loop of Devo influencing Trent Reznor then covering his music. Obviously, since Reznor makes rather serious music on the whole and the band covering him is Devo, there's going to be a lot of contrast.

Before I begin...
"Head Like a Hole", Nine Inch Nails
"Head Like a Hole", Devo

The songs both start differently: The NIN version builds up from a very bare-bones drum machine track while the Devo version jumps straight into the drum beat. However, both songs then go into the main riff with heavy bass guitar/keyboard. The songs (obviously) have the same lyrics, but the rhythm of the lyrics during the verses is quite different. Reznor delivers his lyrics at an irregular speed without elongating any words or syllables. Mark Mothersbaugh (the lead singer of Devo) uses a more consistent speed of singing and elongates a few words, making his version seem more relaxed.
The choruses of the song are much heavier than the verses, Reznor going into full shouting, verging on screaming, and Mark shouting as well, possibly being the heaviest section of a song Devo has ever played. The intensity of both songs changes, but to a different level. Reznor's song becomes full of distorted, amplified guitar and shouting. Devo's song introduces a heavier, tom-filled drum line and some distorted guitar, but it's mostly the vocals that get heavier.
The similar instrumentation in both songs (drum machines, vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards) gives them an affinity, but there are noticable differences. The most noticeable is the vocal line: besides having a different singer, it's just...sillier. The trademark altered voices are there, shouting "More MONEY!" during the verses and "No!" during the pre-chorus. During the post-chorus, they sing "Bow down!". Reznor is the only singer (aside from some background notes and cackling) in his version, but Mark is not alone in his. This gives the songs a very contrasted timbre- the Devo version feels a bit fuller, a bit more chaotic. Aside from the vocals, Devo uses some guitar during the verses, where Reznor does not. The voices they use during their intro and breaks are also very different, being general higher and less serious.

Overall I have to say I'm a bigger fan of Devo's version, simply because I'm a big Devo version. The NIN version isn't bad, in fact I enjoy it, but I've never been a huge fan of theirs. I like Mark's voice, and I like Devo's instruments.

Soundscape Project

Here's a soundscape!

Assignment 1A: Who Are You?

Hello, my name is John Wheeler and I am a gamer.

Ordinarily, this term is used to describe someone who plays games as their main form of entertainment. But when it's applied to a creative person, this label takes on whole new meaning- the "Gamer" is a creator, a constructor, a maker of worlds. A musician may make a wonderful song and a writer may create a compelling story, but only in video games can one take an idea and truly have it blossom into a complete world where their audience can immerse themselves.

The writer may create a world, yes, but does the reader insert themselves into it? Only mentally, having to supply their own audio and visual elements. The director may tell a story, but can he put the audience into the mind of a character? Of course he can, but the audience doesn't control the character, they simply watch- they're on the outside looking in. At the end of a film, do they say "I shot six hundred Nazis and saved the world!"? At the end of a game, one says "I defeated the sixty-foot-tall space beast from Hell and rescued the girl!". There's just something about guiding that character from beginning to end and being with him or her every step of the way that makes a video game a unique experience.

Now that that little soapbox is out of the way, you know what kind of creative person I am...and yet you don't. I've simply said I'm a gamer. This, however, is not exactly a precise title. From space marine to portly plumber, there are too many types of games out there to classify oneself to one type, genre, or setting. What can be used to classify someone is their influences and what games inspire them.

Obviously I'm going to listen to my own advice and use those.

Over the years games have been realistic and ridiculous, bone-crushingly difficult and walk-in-the-park easy, original and formulaic, and more. I prefer the games that take full advantage of what the medium allows them to do- anything. While a hyper-realistic war shooter has its place, in my opinion they're uncreative and boring. A truly inspiring game, to me, must separate itself from this boring reality we're all stuck in and transport me to a new world, one that interests me both visually and conceptually.

My first example is a multiplatform title from a few years ago, Psychonauts. Created by Double Fine, Psychonauts is a platformer/action game that stars Raz, a young camper and aspiring Psychonaut, mysterious agents with (obviously) psychic powers and training. The game focuses Raz's adventures at summer training camp and the mysterious events that unfold once campers start disappearing. While the settings and characters are all fantastically done, it's the main concept of the gameplay that fascinates me the most. There are no "levels" in the real world- early on, Raz obtains a special psychic door that, once placed on someone's head, allows him to venture into their minds. This concept opens up infinite possibilities for levels and characters. While not every character's mind can be explored, the ones you do explore vary wildly and are all beautifully-crafted. From Coach Oleander's military-style training course and tutorial level to Fred Bonaparte's board-game-like match with the spirit of his ancestor Napoleon, nothing ever gets stale. The contrast between the character's (relatively) normal outer image and the sometimes warped or hidden things you find in their minds creates much deeper characters- they aren't cardboard cut-outs with cookie-cutter personalities. Even the characters whose minds you can't explore are quite fleshed-out if you go and talk to them when you can.

This trailer, while having a slightly generic announcer, contains quite a bit of the game's unique and brilliant humor, art design and characters.

Next, I'm going to go from one game with a fantastic plot and world to another almost without one. Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer First-Person Shooter by Valve. In the game, two teams of nine types of suspiciously-identical mercenaries fight each other for intelligence and dominance of nondescript areas. As you might guess, the plot isn't exactly the focus of this game. What is the focus of TF2 is well-polished gameplay and recognizable character, weapon and map design. Give someone about half an hour with the game and they can name every class from half the map away by just looking at their silhouette and equipment. Each of the nine characters is extremely distinct, in looks, equipment and personality. The exaggerated art style let the game designers make the important things about a character or an environment pop out- the weapons and shape of an enemy class, for example. It's impossible to confuse the Heavy Weapons Guy's hulking frame, massive minigun and Russian rumble with the Scout's wiry build, compact shotgun and brash Bostonian accent. The Sniper's quiet laid-back/psychopathic personality is impossible to confuse with the Demoman's rowdy drunken shouting. Every class's combination of looks, weapons and personality lets the player subconsciously know what the class's job, actions and threat level are. Looking at the Spy's small frame, small gun and listening to his controlled and smooth Franco-Spanish-everythingish accent, you can tell that in a straight fight, he won't do very well, and that he usually catches his opponents unaware. The Heavy's enormous size, both of the man himself and his gun, send a clear message that you should stay far away from him if possible, and that, while slow, he is a huge threat. Every aspect of the game's design is fine-tuned to send a message to players.

From left to right: The Pyro, Engineer, Spy, Heavy, Sniper, Scout, Soldier, Demoman and Medic


The last game that I find is a great influence is a recent title called Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Created by a small company call Frictional Games, Amnesia is a survival horror game based in a 19th century castle. As a young man named Daniel who loses his memory before the game starts by imbibing a potion, you're driven deep into the old and damaged castle by lingering scraps of memory and notes left by your past self. Along the way you discover that the castle holds horrific secrets and terrifying locations, surviving on his wits and stealth alone. The game's use of tension and release is astounding and done with pinpoint precision. Since you have no way to defend yourself, the "survival" aspect of the game is much more prominent than in most games that share the title. Hiding and avoidance are the only tools you have to fight off the beasts inside the castle. The pitch-black corridors and chambers of the dungeons and rooms of the castle is offset by the sounds, both nearby and in the distance, both real and created by your slipping sanity, that you hear around you. Crouching in the darkness lets you hide yourself, but at the same time the darkness drains your rather sparse sanity. You'll have to choose between either staying hidden and slowly going insane, unable to differentiate between the reality of the abomination down the hall or the illusion of the screaming echoing down the corridor, or staying in the light, visible to whatever horror actually lurks in the area. You can never really be sure if an area besides a hub is safe. However, while it would seem that the player would never stop being terrified, but the game is spaced so that safe areas come at perfect moments to let the player stop, catch their breath, and admire the beauty of the decaying castle. For example, just as the player has exited the prison, a terrifying area where both horrifying creatures and terrifying visions lurk, they emerge in the Cistern. The Cistern is a quiet area with very few dangers and just a few puzzles that impede your progress... as far as I know. I'm still at the start of one area in the Cistern, the Morgue.
I'm not going in there.

Warning: viewing this trailer alone or in the dark may cause unwanted soiling of pants.


So that's it: a small sampling of games that inspire me to create- to create worlds that are more than they seem, to create worlds that are recognizable, and most importantly, to create a world that nobody will ever forget.

Link to Monique

Link to Monique's blog.