Donnerstag, 4. August 2011

Extra Credits Eggsamples!

This is the long story of the previous blogentry. If TL, scroll for pitturz...

About Extra Credits
Tvtropes.com calls Extra Credits:
"(the show) that takes a deeper look at videogames: how they are made, what they mean, and how we can make them better. "
Since their very first episode I have been a big fan. I love the depth and the good research, I love the entertainment, the great visualisations of complicated topics and the many different solutions Dan, James and Allison offer for discussed problems. They usually have a very positive and motivating approach and its a great pleasure to watch them and discuss their input with friends and everybody who does not run away in time.

The episode Gamifying Education (link will be updated as soon as this esisode is back in the internet) blew my mind. As the Credits where rolling, i started talking and talking because I really wanted to discuss the topic, but my boyfriend made me stop to see the credits... and there we were... him asking me for my hand in marriage. So... you know how much i love that show. So much, that my boyfriend made the efford to ask the amazing people for this favor. I cried for 2 hours out of happiness : )

Oh Noes!
Some weeks later I learnt as many other viewers, that the artist of the show - Allison Theus - got really sick and could not afford the operation necessary for her to continue drawing. Extra Credits started a rockethub project to collect donations. Within hours they exceeded the goal. I do not seem to be the only one really loving these guys. Extra Credits would not be Extra Credits if they took the money and ran off with it to Mars. Read about the project they have planned on the rockethub-page!

But - alas! - I am about to finish university and could not give as much money as i liked, so I offered my drawing-skill0rz! I had in mind to help out coloring or cutting thumbnails or whatever needed to be done, but suddenly there came the mail: Yay! Do a whole episode!

Issues and Artist Angst
I was very hesitant at first. First: I never worked in Flash before. Second: Extra Credits has a lot of fans and they are used to Allison's visualisations. Allison Theus draws amazing creature designs and _could_ draw elaborate shows as well, but there is a reason for the show to look like it looks. I was afraid that the fans of the show would hate a different approach or even feel, that i was disrespectfull to the language Allison, Dan and James created.
In the end James and Dan reassured me, that they really liked different styles and the chance to have guest artist's on bord for exactly that reason.

The Process
Along with other artists (every one of them blew my mind!) I was allowed to chose a topic. Allison usually does one episode in one week. We got 2! And, oh boy, did I need this time. I had 1 1/2 Weeks to plan, think and draw the episode (the other days went into cursing codecs and acknowledging my utter n00bnes with moving pictures). I am so lucky to have a short episode and 2 weeks. Such an interesting topic and a great scale of emotions on the narrator Dan's voice. It was a blast! I thank everybody who helped me with their input.
Dan and Allison finally turned the flash into a video, because I could not slay the beast that is convert to .mov!

Thank You.
I hope, that the fans of the show see, how much i love Allison's visualisations and that i tried to keep close to her colors and many elements. But i did not want to copy her. Even though in the end the lovable stick figures are faster to draw, it would have taken me way longer to learn how to create these persons and make them look "original".


These are some of the drawings from the episode. My sincere apologies go to Bill Waterson, Terry Pratchett, and Cthullhu.

8 Kommentare:

  1. Hey, just dropped by to say thanks for helping out! You did a great job, and I really enjoyed the episode!

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  2. Thank you very much Stan! It was a huge honor and amazing fun. I cannot understand, how Allison does one of these PER WEEK!

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  3. Miss, I have just seen the episode you drew for; your art was wonderful, and I especially loved how you drew in Allison with her special (possibly atomic powered) arm brace. The subtle additions you added here and there were great, too, like the companion cube being herded along with the other games.

    Thank you for your hard work, and giving us the time for this treat. :-)

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  4. Just come from the link under the video and have to say I adored your style! The expressiveness and level of detail were wonderful too; I hit replay as soon as it finished just to make sure I saw everything :). I can safely say you've gained yourself a fan (one of many I'm sure).

    I hope the EC guys offer you a guest slot again (and that the amount of work needed hasn't put you off, you're right I have no clue how Allison does it), I'd love to see more.

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  5. Great art!
    I agree that probably most ppl (including myself) are used to, and fond of, Allison's style, but I think I prefer that you used your own rather than trying to copy.
    You also really managed to keep that "Extra Credits feel" (in lack of better phrase). Cant put my fingers on what exactly that feeling is, but I think it has a lot to do with the colors used.

    Congratulations to you and your fiancee, and thanks for the episode! ;)

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  6. Hi Gab!

    Dein Stil in EC war wunderbar, man hat echt gemerkt, wie viel Gedanken du dir darüber gemacht hast. Du hast nicht zufällig einen Twitter oder DeviantArt-account, damit ich dir heimlich folgen kann? ;)

    Grüße aus dem Ruhrpott!

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  7. Hey Asti,

    Gabs DeviantArt-Seite ist http://gabrieldevue.deviantart.com/

    Grüße!

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  8. Wie cool ist das denn... da muss ich mir das wohl mal wieder ansehen. (hatte vor nicht allzu langer Zeit mal alle Folgen auf einmal geguckt, heh)

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