Crusher, but not of the Wesley variety.

Neill, what's up champ.

Not much here today. Had another playtest, so I had to wrap this up in less time than I was hoping. Lots of cheats. Basically threw color at it like a frat boy projectile vomiting on his birthday. BLARG! The good thing about flying through something is all the happy accidents.

I finally watched District 9 again. I know, you'd think the guy with the Neill Blomkamp blog would have watched it several times by now. It's hard Neill, my wife, not a sci-fi fan. I know she'd like it. Maybe you could convince her? We only have one TV (how un-American) and live in a fairly tiny house. Any way, fuck what a great film. I own it twice. I bought it on iTunes and received the BluRay for Christmas. It's that friggin' good. I love everything about it. Watching it again makes me want to scoop out your innards and curl up in your belly like a wee babe in utero. So come on down, I've got my pumpkin carving tools ready!

What?

Your baby boy,

DougleBug

Nothin' like a quickie

Whakind Neill, hows it going you befoking boss? Did I do that right? I wikipedia'd South African slang. Yeah that's right, I research shit. Like a professor at a second rate community college.

Anyway, quick one today. We play tested our kickass awesome game at lunch, so I only had around half an hour to bang something out. Get your mind out of the gutter.

So that's where this guy came from. Something for fun, part of something I'm actually going to pitch to Broadmore, hopefully next week. Prepare for it Gregory. It's totally maader. I unfortunately have to go to a memorial service for an old friend this weekend, so I doubt I'll get much done on it.

As for this alien guy; I'll work on him tonight, maybe tomorrow at lunch. We'll see. Maybe never. Maybe I'll never work on him again. Maybe.

Sooooo not busy.

Doug Skommel Tops Williams

Come Sail Away...

Yo Neill Dog, how it be hanging man?

Hey you think when Styx wrote these lyrics the had the above image in mind?

I thought that they were angels, but much to my surprise,
We climbed aboard their starship, we headed for the skies
come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me lads
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me...

Probably.

It's a big ol' floating city. Nomadic miners? Maybe...maybe. Shit I don't know.

Sorry for the short one today. Longish lunch. Delicous veggie plate at the Med Kitchen. Sooooo garlicy. I hope I'm not too stinky for my office mate Vlad. Vlad? Vlad, you ok? VLLLLLLAAAAAAADDDDDD!

Have a great one man.

Sincerely yours,

Dougle Bugg

PS--Tell Sharlto that the A-Team looks like a blast.

Tower Block 55

Neill the real deal! How's it going chinchilla? Wait; chinchilla? Have I used that one? I think I did...uh, how's it hangin' vanilla gorilla? Hopefully everything is going peachy keen. I bet it's tough getting your ski's waxed for the Olympics and working on another film. Oh, just in case others didn't know, Neill's taking on the world at the Winter Games this year, representing the country of AWESOME. Good luck dude; with both endeavors!

I'm really having fun making these future slum painting/drawing/collages. Last night I was listening to the electronic band Danger. The song 88:88 (EAT Remix) in fact. That song sort of has a weird 80's sci-fi vibe. That's really where this image popped up from, it was a lot different in the beginning. I have a whole story that was born from these few images. It came to me this morning on my car ride into work. It's not bad actually.

I was going to work on an image of another missed marketing opportunity for District 9, but decided against it. It would be too much, too far--especially since my parents visit this blog. Let me just give you the name: The District 9 Incher. Oh yeah, for all the lady D9 fans.....and probably a few guy fans too.

So dude, when we going to beer it up?

Alright killa', have a good one;

Douglestein the First

2 Topics 1 Cup

That's right Neill, here comes a double dose of info. One; the picture above, and two; Greg Broadmore.

First up, a quickie of a slum butted up against a glorious future city. Is this were we are all heading? Maybe. Seems like it. Did you know corporations in America are people now? Seriously, WTF?

Anyway, so there's that pic. Thinking of doing a Siddhārtha Gautama story, but put it in the future a bit. Use the other image of the slum lord. Make that the golden city of something. Maybe.


Ok, now on to the true reason for the post; GREG BROADMORE. Did you know Greg once killed an elephant with his bare hands? How horrible, you say? Did I tell you it was to save an orphanage? Damn straight.

See I'm guessing that you know all about Greg, I mean you worked with him. There's lots of people who do not though. There are different reasons for not knowing who Greg is.

There's the fact that he is a secret world government agent. That's right, all nations claim Greg as their own. They signed a treaty allowing this when Greg was created just after WWII to stop the real Hitler (loooong story). Some people are not allowed to know Greg exist. They usually find out the hard way; that usually means Greg is wearing his ninja suit and has just split your fucking head in two! Sometimes though, he just punches their throat out. The final reason, is...well people just leave as soon as film credits start. Seriously people, the movie just ended, let it sink in!

I could write for days about Greg, and his exploits, but I know you're a busy man Neill, so I'll keep it brief.

Did you know that Greg is responsible for overseeing and building the Three Gorges dam in China? He went to China on a walkabout and was impressed with the Great Wall, so he wanted to give something back to the Chinese for impressing him. Hence that massive dam

Artist Rendition of Greg eating.

Greg became a vegetarian after realizing his favorite delicacy of blue whale was an endangered spices. No one wants to tell him that his importing of California redwood trees for consumption is decimating the state park. The man eats two a week!

I probably shouldn't tell this story, but I will. Greg is responsible for Peter Jackson creating Lord of the Rings. Peter was prepping on his knew flick Ghost Train to Zombiesville when Greg walked into his house. He was wearing dirty thick robes, and was wearing no shoes (This is when Jackson also decided not to wear shoes). He looked as though he had just walked not around the earth, but through it (He had, battle with the Mole King; another long story). "Peter," he began, "Is this what you really want to make? Another splatterfilm?"

Peter didn't know what to say. He stammered a bit and replied,"Yes...yes, I believe so."

Greg simply stared.

Peter realized he did not want to make this film. He wanted to make something grander. Something tremendous, something he would be remembered for. "No." He replied.

"Then don't."

"But...then what?"

"Look into your heart."

"It's impossible." Peter's hand were shaking. he knew what he wanted to make, but it would be more than any filmmaker could tackle. the subject matter simply would not translate to film.

"Is it? I think not." Greg placed his hands on Peter Jackson's heart, "BELIEVE." The he smiled, walked back to the door and looked at Peter. "I will return in two years, and you shall hire me." With that Greg put his index finger to his nose, blew and flew away.

Peter walked to his library. Ran his finger along a series of dusty books, finally stopping on The Lord of the Rings. Tears filled his eyes, he pulled the book from the shelf, and the rest is history.

Greg did return, cleaner, and went to work at Weta. He also played every Orc in the film.

Artist Rendition of Greg and Peter.

So there you go, a small taste of a God among men. Without Greg we wouldn't be here. No seriously, he stopped an asteroid with a well placed karate chop.



So check out Greg's work. He's a really tremendous and talented artist.

See him here and here.

Thanks for everything Greg, I really mean that! ;)

The awe inspired Doug

Great Art Night!!!

You know Neill, sometimes it all comes together. Last night I was able to get 3 pieces done. Sure they're quick and fast, but dammit, they were fun. I'm finally letting go of my hang ups about using photo's. It's taken awhile, but good grief, you can make things quick.

I'm pretty sure you'll like at least one of these. One was a quick building...that needs more work in the background. Another is from a goofy book project that I wanted to make called redWolf (A bunch of Little Red Riding Hood images in various styles. It was going to be my White Album). Lastly is an image of a slum lord. The fancy pants live inside that big Buddha looking figure there. I might throw the some neon font up top that says 'PARKPLACE', and then everyone will think it's to Ridley Scott's new Monopoly movie.

Oh, hey, have you you ever watched the film Misery with Kathy Bates? It makes me think of you. DON'T MOVE THE FIGURINES! Ha ha, just fooling with ya'.



Serioulsy though, don't touch the fucking figurines.


Your buddy in arms;

Dougbot the Traptastic

Mundane Robotics

Greetings Neillbot!

So where are you? Are you ok? Should I call missing persons? Maybe get DaVinci on the case? I'm just curious because there's still no Neill contact. I thought by now we'd be dying each others hair while watching lost episodes of Poochinski. It's a little disheartening. I think I'm a decent guy, filled with some great ideas ( Did you see the toys?). I could stand to lose a a little weight, maybe a few pounds, not much. Maybe a small child's worth; but other than that, fairly decent guy.

Well at any rate, here's some quick sketches of mundane robots. A robot dog, and a robot mouse.

Robot dog.

Robot mouse.

Hmmnnn...I'm starting to see why you haven't e-mailed yet.

Have a smashtastic day!

Doug the Slug

PS-OH SHIT! Did you know it's Kekai's birthday? It is. We gave him a nine hour lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. At least now we all know what hell is like.

District 9: The Game

Yo Neillboy! Hope all is well. No pic today; well a stoopid mash up, but nothing substantial. I'm going to go serious...well as serious as I go. Don't worry, I have a whole bit planned coming up that'll knock your socks of.

I was recently reading your interview in the LA Times. I totally think a District 9 game would work, as long as you went with a small studio. Use the same attitude that you made the film with. I've been playing games since my Atari 400 (well before that, but that was the first 'console' I owned. It had a fucking tape deck!), and I've been working in games since 1997. I think I've seen enough failed games to know what doesn't work. I've played enough of good games to know what does as well.

Big studios want big games. Too many designers, too many people putting their ingredients into the pot, too many ideas form non game players. With movie games it's usually worse, because there's a short amount of time to make the game, so there's rarely anything new in them. Plus they also have to follow the movies story exactly, so they cram in some driving elements and some exploration and some half assed fighting on top of full motion video from the flick. Boo.

Escape from Butcher Bay got it right, mainly because they made something within the Pitch Black universe, but did not just remake Pitch Black. District 9 would work great that way as well. Tell stories within District 9. Not, 'this is why this is' stories. Leave the mystery, just tell stories from a ground perspective. It could be cool to have that documentary vibe as intro's and outro's, but render them in real time. Tell the stories from different vantage points, prawn, MNU agent, human, social worker and gangster.

I would opt for mini games. No, not Wii Darts, but small games that are downloadable through the Playstation Network (I'm guessing Sony would want the games to be exclusives), and maybe Steam for the PC. Each game would be around four to six hours, and twenty bucks. The thing is, once you build the assets the first time, Soweto is pretty much done. Now it's just placement. The slums lend a lot to cannibalism too, you could easily make new props out of chunks of the old ones.

The stories could be cool. I don't know if you'd want to go third, or first person. With MNU agents I could see first person. As a Prawn I would want third. Hmmn, that's tough. You'd want to make sure that the mechanics are fairly similar between the two. you wouldn't have a lot of dev time to make drastically different control schemes. Maybe a year for the first batch of games to be released, and six months for every following chapter (That could work with a engine off the shelf, not building one from the ground up).

I would give a few different perspectives in the first set downloads. Here's some ideas.

1: Young Christopher Johnson on the ship. Maybe the adults cannot get to the food storage areas because of their size, so the younglings have to crawl through ducts to get to them. They could encounter those nasty fighting insects on the way. Maybe some that have grown larger than the ones in your film. That chapter ends with the wall being cut away and the humans entering the ship.

2: Exploring the ship. This could be about boarding and exploring the mother ship. That's it, just some cool ambient looking around. Have a few of those little bugs from the other chapter, but as a full size human they're easy to kill.

3: MNU agent quelling a riot. A run and gun not unlike Modern Warfare one or two. End it with a prawn cowering and holding a young prawn in a hut. You can either shoot them or not (If you have a soul, not), but when you leave the hut that chapter ends with your character leaving the MNU and being with his family. The dialogue would be vague, but something about how he couldn't handle it anymore. Maybe it starts with him at the edge of a bed watching Wikus on TV, and it triggers those memories. After he leaves the hut we go back to him in his house watching the tv and his kids playing in the hallway.

4: Playing as or against the Nigerian gangsters. Avoid MNU agents while smuggling arms or food, I don't know, but there's something there.

5:Sneaking little CJ home. Although I can't stand kids in jeopardy games/films/stories since I've had my own (I've read The Road several times, and it kills me every time), it could make for a great intense stealth game.

After several releases, or maybe coinciding with the new movie you could release an actual shelf product, a collection of the games with special features. Maybe online play (I would leave that out at first).

The game wouldn't work unless it had your blessing, Clinton Shorter's music (did you know you can buy his Alive in Joburg single on iTunes? How effing cool is that.) and assets from the films.

I have a lot of other ideas on it, but in short, with the right studio and the right temperament (none of this 'Let's make the biggest game f the year' bullshit that kills games) it would totally work. I'm positive.

That is all.

Doug

Dicking Around

You know what's fun Neill? Sketching for fun. Like total, start from scratch, carving from black, sketching. You never know where it's going to go. It's like a box of chocolates, but the chocolates are filled with ambrosia, or shit.

Could you imagine trying to get into that suit? Can you image doing anything in that suit? Shit, I can't. Still, I do like it on some level.

So I have three things I'm working on...man it's hard to choose. I'm excited by them all. One I want to spring on some friends, but I can't imagine they'd have the time to do it. We'll see. Hope your movie is coming along well.

Tripping the light fantastically;

Dougle Butt

"Go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb!"

Well Neill, perhaps it's time to end this.

Sort of.

I'm 35, married with two kids and a head full of stories and ideas.

As far as the stories go; I'm doing absolutely nothing with them. They just whither and die. I've forgotten more unmade movies and comics than I could ever create at this point. What's really dumb is that with all the ability to present my stories, I'm still not doing anything with them. Hell, a simple blog filled with comic pages, an online story with a few spot illustrations, self published websites--I mean the possibilities are endless. I've always wanted to share these ideas and stories with others, and if it's truly not about money than what do I care if no one ever see's them? At least I tried right? Fuck yeah!

So I'll still post here, hopefully you get some fun out of the postings of an old fanboy (I'm so proud of you tiger), but it's time I made my own mark. I spend so much time thinking what I should make, that usually I make nothing, those days are done. As soon as I get some sleep. Holy crap Neill, I think my youngest is trying to kill me.

A friend (Thanks Kekai, I owe you) turned me onto an anime called Gurren Lagann. I don't watch a lot of anime anymore, but this shit rocked. You kind of have to stick with it. I watched/listened to it at work. For whatever reason it sort of renewed my faith in me.

So here's a quick image for an old idea I want to revisit. Pacific Northwest Native American Mech; nuff' said. Prepare for it.

Have a good one Neill, I seriously can't wait to see what you do on your next film;

Doug

PS I beat Modern Warfare last night. Just saying.

D9 Happy Town Toys!

Neill!!! What do you think man? Pretty brilliant, isn't it? The best part, we only need to make one torso and the just create head and color variants. Eventually we'll bring out the Happy Ride Exosuit(tm), but not initially. Cha-fucking-ching, right? Right? This thing on?

You might want to click on the image to read it. It's pretty self explanatory.

I can't wait to hear...uh...read your excitement.

Have a great day man!

Doug

Poo Poo Plater

Yo Neill!

How were the holidays? Mine was great! Lot's of great quality time with the kids and wife. Christmas was fun, the little ones got lots of great toys. In fact, have you heard of 'My Littlest Pet Shop' ? Well, my eldest daughter has and she got a big set of them from Gramps and Grandma. It got me thinking, You could totally make D-9 toys for kids, girls especially, if...you know, I can't explain it right. I draw them up for next time. Fuck, you're going to love them.

So here's a quick space bug. I used to have this seen in my head were some plant explorers come upon this big spiky lump in some tall grass. They think it's some bug beast, but when they get closer, it's a giant pile of excrement with these large foot long flies (like the one above) on it. As they get closer all the flies fly away and they have a good laugh. Of course as they're laughing this big snakey dragon lizard thing rises up behind them. Chaos ensues.

Anyway. Get ready to have your mind blown, these D-9 toys, man...it's going to be like printing your own money.

Skimarinka' Do,

Doug

PS- All you others out there, don't be afraid to post comments. Maybe Neill just doesn't want to be one of the first to post. If that's true, Neill, don't be afraid. I'm here for you.