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Jun. 29th, 2016 04:13 pm
Schizoid Behavior, Politics And Robots
Sep. 27th, 2011 10:22 pmThe other day, I went to Gatlinburg to window shop and to just plain avoid the noise and chaos of the renovation being done to Rather Manor's bathroom. At a sports memorabilia shop, I found some keychains of FOX Sports' robot mascot Cleatus in various team colors. I may buy one eventually, but I feel little urgency.
I'd thought, on the way back to the house, to "stat" him out for wargames, as the keychain figure was of a good size for CAV, Heavy Gear and other games I could play. While looking to get started, I found something that I'd been looking for for weeks but kept missing--a concept for a marketing campaign. (I had NOT misfiled it...just that I had changed my mind about where it belonged, and the other parts of my imagination didn't get the memo!)
Back in the Nineties, I was trying to get hired by a company that imported model kits from around the world. At the time, it was the height of the real robots genre of anime, and this company sold South Korean knockoff/bootleg versions of the popular model kits of the day. My thought, as an alternative of the cliche practice of making mecha into Transformers automatons, was to make a deliberate alternative continuity in which there could be hints of the "real worlds" but not infringe on existing anime properties.
I never came up with a title for this idea. When the CAV game came along, I adapted some of my concepts for my own use, but haven't done much with it. Like many sci-fi wargame continuity creators, I am loathe to make factions "good" or "evil"--although some concepts are easy to make one way or another.
Anyway, I've come back to this because now I have the resources to take the overall concept into new and more interesting directions. Suddenly I have NINE political factions to make livery, insignia and themes for and a galaxy to redraw.
I'd thought, on the way back to the house, to "stat" him out for wargames, as the keychain figure was of a good size for CAV, Heavy Gear and other games I could play. While looking to get started, I found something that I'd been looking for for weeks but kept missing--a concept for a marketing campaign. (I had NOT misfiled it...just that I had changed my mind about where it belonged, and the other parts of my imagination didn't get the memo!)
Back in the Nineties, I was trying to get hired by a company that imported model kits from around the world. At the time, it was the height of the real robots genre of anime, and this company sold South Korean knockoff/bootleg versions of the popular model kits of the day. My thought, as an alternative of the cliche practice of making mecha into Transformers automatons, was to make a deliberate alternative continuity in which there could be hints of the "real worlds" but not infringe on existing anime properties.
I never came up with a title for this idea. When the CAV game came along, I adapted some of my concepts for my own use, but haven't done much with it. Like many sci-fi wargame continuity creators, I am loathe to make factions "good" or "evil"--although some concepts are easy to make one way or another.
Anyway, I've come back to this because now I have the resources to take the overall concept into new and more interesting directions. Suddenly I have NINE political factions to make livery, insignia and themes for and a galaxy to redraw.
Writer's Block: Transmogrified
Jan. 29th, 2011 02:58 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
How many times, since the Eighties, have I wanted to become a human-scale Veritech jet from Robotech/Macross/Mospeada/Southern Cross/Orguss so I could lose the crowds on the pavement and take off for somewhere at Mach 1?
How many times, since the Eighties, have I wanted to become a human-scale Veritech jet from Robotech/Macross/Mospeada/Southern Cross/Orguss so I could lose the crowds on the pavement and take off for somewhere at Mach 1?
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No Way I Would Ignore THIS
Apr. 6th, 2010 11:04 pm
For the record, I think any attempt at a SHOGUN WARRIORS movie would be an exercize in intellectual properties Hell. Not only were there instances of "concept rape" in the translation to American (no human characters imported, for a big example) but the mecha designs came from at least three different sources that were, and still are, competitors!
Across town, the would-be creative team behind the proposed ROBOTECH movie are awaiting a greenlight from Warner Brothers. They have the backing of Harmony Gold (no duh) but are basing their story on Macross Saga which means they'll have to somehow placate Big West and Tatsunoko (the Japanese creators and rightsholders for the original content).
PS: The scorecard on the SHOGUNS (cribbed from Wikipedia)...
* Dragun, Poseidon, Raider, the Mazingers, Gaiking and Grandizer were all from the imagination of Go Nagai. And there is a Mazinger TV series that either is currently running or recently finished in Japan.
* Combatra, Voltes V and Daimos were from the (future) creators of Voltron at Toei Studios.
* Danguard Ace came from Leiji Matsumoto, who also brought us Captain Harlock and Star Blazers.
* Raydeen was created by Yoshiyuki Tomino, who went on from that to Mobile Suit Gundam.
* 17 was from a Japanese live-action show, and Leopardon was from the Japanese live-action version of Spider-Man.
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When I Was Supposed To Be Served
Jan. 6th, 2010 04:31 pmThe current storyline on the webcomic Shortpacked! is about the "remastering" that ABC did to the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers...the exact way done to the first season of Transformers to make "Generation 2" years ago.
Well, the subject creeped to "what fandom defined your childhood?", a question I tried to answer by looking at a Wikipedia Saturday Morning TV schedule from the year before I entered Kindergarten. To my dismay, very very little that year was "new". In fact, the "new" was really the same-old-same-old. Hanna-Barbera and Filmation and Sid & Marty Krofft doing whatever they wanted. Reruns of MGM/WB/Universal short cartoons from the preceding four decades. Animated retreads of past primetime hits/pop culture. Everything I was supposed to be "into" had already been around from before I was born.
No wonder I felt like I wanted something that was my own.
Well, the subject creeped to "what fandom defined your childhood?", a question I tried to answer by looking at a Wikipedia Saturday Morning TV schedule from the year before I entered Kindergarten. To my dismay, very very little that year was "new". In fact, the "new" was really the same-old-same-old. Hanna-Barbera and Filmation and Sid & Marty Krofft doing whatever they wanted. Reruns of MGM/WB/Universal short cartoons from the preceding four decades. Animated retreads of past primetime hits/pop culture. Everything I was supposed to be "into" had already been around from before I was born.
No wonder I felt like I wanted something that was my own.
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Not So Prime
Jun. 29th, 2009 09:00 pmCourtesy Medium Large:
Once upon a time, I'd had another idea, for a cheap rip-off movie in which a high school loser kid steals his elder brother (ex-military techie)'s car for a date and accidentally discovers that it transforms into a suit of robotic power armor. And that's just the start. Working title: Transversity. Hey! I know Hollywood SPFX guys! I know low-budget filmmakers! I wonder how much money I'd have to raise...
Once upon a time, I'd had another idea, for a cheap rip-off movie in which a high school loser kid steals his elder brother (ex-military techie)'s car for a date and accidentally discovers that it transforms into a suit of robotic power armor. And that's just the start. Working title: Transversity. Hey! I know Hollywood SPFX guys! I know low-budget filmmakers! I wonder how much money I'd have to raise...
Writer's Block: Be Prepared
Dec. 3rd, 2008 11:53 am[Error: unknown template qotd]
I've become very fatalistic in these times. I don't take unnecessary risks--in fact, I'm quite conscious of risks--but I don't let the paranoia drive my living patterns either. I've already lived through hurricanes and earthquakes and fires and car crashes. As for zombies and catgrrls... *shows Moonshine transforming into her combat robot mode* ...I think I'm about as ready as I need to be. :)
I've become very fatalistic in these times. I don't take unnecessary risks--in fact, I'm quite conscious of risks--but I don't let the paranoia drive my living patterns either. I've already lived through hurricanes and earthquakes and fires and car crashes. As for zombies and catgrrls... *shows Moonshine transforming into her combat robot mode* ...I think I'm about as ready as I need to be. :)
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Tonight's Conversation Over TV
Oct. 15th, 2007 11:38 pm(Ad for Transformers on DVD appears...)
DAD: Are you going to get that?
ME: Haven't decided yet. Maybe eventually.
DAD: Why?
ME: You see, the different stores are coming out with different versions. The Wal-Mart one comes with an action figure. The Target one comes with a special DVD case that transforms like an action figure. Dunno about Best Buy or any of the other places that will sell 'em.
(Returning to here and now...)
Thing is, while I like Transformers and I have a lot of the comics and some of the toys, I don't feel as strong about it as I do with other things. Maybe it was the fact that I was already a teenager when it came along. Maybe it was because I didn't invest all that much emotion into it. I can't really tell you.
The really likely thing is us getting the DVD as part of a package deal from Columbia House...perhaps if they've got a special edition with a bonus disk. We like good movies that come with bonus disks.
FP
DAD: Are you going to get that?
ME: Haven't decided yet. Maybe eventually.
DAD: Why?
ME: You see, the different stores are coming out with different versions. The Wal-Mart one comes with an action figure. The Target one comes with a special DVD case that transforms like an action figure. Dunno about Best Buy or any of the other places that will sell 'em.
(Returning to here and now...)
Thing is, while I like Transformers and I have a lot of the comics and some of the toys, I don't feel as strong about it as I do with other things. Maybe it was the fact that I was already a teenager when it came along. Maybe it was because I didn't invest all that much emotion into it. I can't really tell you.
The really likely thing is us getting the DVD as part of a package deal from Columbia House...perhaps if they've got a special edition with a bonus disk. We like good movies that come with bonus disks.
FP
