Luis Castanon.com » Artist of the Month

Artist of the Month

Luis November 14th, 2007

MindChamber

March 2007

Q:

Time for a very LATE episode of Artist of the Month, but better late than never, so off we go! The first question I’ve always wanted to ask you is what the significance of MindChamber is? Do have a sort of personal/symbolic connection to the character and/or alias?

A:

The name originally came about when I finally decided to create a site. On Newgrounds I went by the moniker, ‘OrtizAnimationZ’ it was a horrible name. Long and ugly. So I decided to have one of those cool compound words that meant two completely different things.
The word Chamber was stuck in my head because of Pico vs. the Uber Kids ‘One in the chamber’ was a phrase used in the intro. So then I thought long and hard what could this chamber contain that is essentially impossible to… well contain! First thing that came to mind was the containment unit in Ghostbusters. So originally it was gonna be something spectral. Like GhostChamber. Then I thought about how cool it would be if it meant a part of the brain that is yet uncharted. As section that defines you beyond your DNA. You can never contain that, or a mind for that matter. So I was like hmm Damn.. Mind.. Chamber. I looked at it like this section of myself that I was able to contain for myself. And it’s all held within the mindchamber. Haha. Sounds wack. Then later I started coming up with these stories in my head about how someone was actually able to contain this part of someone within this chamber. Which later became a very involved story of a robot that actually possesses a mind-chamber containing the mind of someone very important. I have this huge epic and convoluted story swirling around in my head about mindchamber. One day I will be in the position to tell it properly.

Q:

Hmm… well that answer was definately more than I or anyone could have bargained for… what a basketcase! But who cares! On to the next question…
You are amongst the first generation of NG Flash animators in the scene; I think you even pre-date me… what inspired you to pick Flash up?
Flash back in the day wasn�t as mainstream as it is today, was there something or other that lured you in?

A:

Before flash, I was enamored with Adobe after effects. I was scanning all sorts of junk, tying to make these little mini stories with it. I thought, wow, this is the shit. Then I got an internship at a web company called UBO. They first introduced me to Flash. I was floored. I was able to do what I did in aftereffects, but it was much easier to do. I did little interstitials in flash for them, but I knew even then flash was the next big push in animation. I keep telling them, ‘Damn we need to make movies with this stuff’. It was there when I was introduced to Newgrounds. I knew right away Newgrounds had the right idea. So on my off time I started doing flashes that I knew I would submit to NG.

Q:

Cool, thats very visionary-like of you… so lets fast forwarding to 2007, now that you’ve been in the scene this long, what’s your take on how the scene has changed over the years? in general and/or in Newgrounds?

A:

Flash has finally been taken seriously. Big time pros are now snooping around to get their 15 minutes. Major studios use it for broadcast animation. It isn’t the ‘fun for all’ type of entertainment it used to be. Big businesses are sticking their smelly hands into the pot. On the plus side more and more artists are finally getting the recognition they deserve, on the downside, kids are getting lazier and greedier by the minute. The gleam in their eyes are slowly being replaced by money signs, and I fear the market could get saturated like TV.

Q:

One of the changes that has always disturbed me is the fact that as more animators sprung up and claimed their fame (guilty parties to remain nameless) they have become more closed and defensive about integrating with the community almost afraid that their secret recipe will be exposed or something… yet you’ve always been very open and accommodating to your forum goers and NG enthusiasts in general, aren’t you concerned about being bitten by your generosity in the long run? What could you possibly get out of it?

A:

Man.. Shiiit.. I get bit in the ass all the time. I’ve had little faggots ask me how a certain thing is done in flash, only to tell me later on, ‘Welp, thanks for your help. I’ll see ya at the top�. But that’s just the way it is. It’s almost worth it when I see someone do something incredible and tip their hats to me for helping them out. There’s no such thing as ‘talent’, only skill. Skills can be learned. So refusing to help someone in fear of losing your secrets is selfish and stupid; because obviously that person learned it from somewhere themselves.

Q:

You’ve been involved in a fair number of games as of late, some that have already released and some that are probably still on your frying pan…this is a cliche’ question but which do you enjoy more, animating for games or for animated shorts and why?

Red Baron

A:

Making flash for games is like crack. You hit it fast and hard, and there’s a huge High. Not only are you animating your characters, you are letting others control them. Controlling characters you created is incredibly engaging and addictive. Creating games that have any replay value have a longer lasting effect than movies. Making a flash movie takes a bit more time, you have to weave a story, make convincing characters, and you must keep the viewer engaged, using only visuals and sound. Flash games are a lot of fun to create; flash movies are a lot more personally satisfying.

Q:

In other news, Newgrounds is on the heels of a major redesign launch. How do you feel about it as the launch date looms. Do you think it’s gonna be a faithful representation of the core ideas you all originally had for it when you were in brainstorm mode? Don’t worry Tom never visits my site! He’ll never read this.

A:

Definitely, there’s a lot of love and thought being put into the redesign. The big plus being that we are fans of the site ourselves, so we know what people want to see, and most likely it’s what we want to see as well.

Q:

Well Tom sure is taking his sweet time, if he didn’t constantly side track himself it’d have been done already… ok well Flash-crap aside, what else do you like to do besides Flash, do you paint, ballet, basket weave, all of the above?

A:

I love to read about robotics, (as if that ain’t too obvious) Hmm, aside from being avid gamer, I like to hit the bag to relieve stress.
Remixing soundtracks are a lot of fun.
I Plan to save up for a decent DV camera so I can get out there and do some short films. That’s about it.

Q:

On that same thought, name one thing your internet admirers hardcore fans probably do not know about you.
I once again assure you that nobody reads these things so let it all out!

A:

I love to cry at movies. :) I cried like a bitch at the end of Gladiator, one of my favorite movies. When Maximus hit the ground, I was bawlin’ like a baby.

Q:

Alright well I’m spent, and there’s only one more question left and of course it’s always the most important one. Which would you rather do if you were faced with this situation: Piss out a marble or shit out a cinder block?