LuisCastanon.com

Yotam Perel aka LazyMuffin

July 2008

Q:

Greetings, it’s a new month, which can only mean that errr it’s a new month! … and that i have another interview to release, today we are joined by Yotam Perel, otherwise known as LazyMuffin to us interweblings. So without further ado, lets kick things off with a brief bio…
This is pretty much the only part people will read so try to be exciting to get to know!! What got you started in the flash scene? When did you start and have you made anything we might have heard about???

A:

I started messing around with flash when my brother downloaded it in 2001 or so (I was 10). He showed me some animations on Newgrounds and I found it fascinating, especially Xiao Xiao who I still go back to for nostalgia. Even before I knew of flash I made little flip-book animations for fun.

Q:

Ah cool so its more or less in your blood to do this stuff. So I’ve interviewed artists from all over the globe, but I think you’re the first one to come from Isreal. What is the flash scene like over there? Have you seen it change / evolve as time goes on or are you still more or less an oddity? I’ve always been fascinated how an artists environment might influence his/her work, do you feel your location or even your upbringing has affected your work in anyway? If so, how? Sorry thats at least 5 questions bundled into one, but Im paid on a commission basis!(JK)

A:

After he showed me the program I made him teach me the basics and since then I’ve been playing with it. Once I got more familiar with Flash and got out of the stick figures stage, I got into animated music videos due to Tim Frommeyers great animations. As for my animations, you may have heard of my Nameless series. At lease I hope you did.
Did you? ):
IF NOT, HERE’S IT’S PAGE ON NEWGROUNDS!
http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/nameless.html
The flash scene in Israel… to be completely honest, I have no idea. I haven’t really gotten into the scene around here, if there even is one. I sometimes see commercials that are made with flash, but that’s about it. Hopefully one day once I finish all of my social obligations I’ll be able to get more into that.
I don’t think that my environment influenced my work… I don’t make any political satire or anything involving Israel really. It may surprise some people, but I live a very normal life in Israel, It’s not constant bombing and fear as some may think. I go to school, watch movies and ride camels like each and every one of you!

Q:

So as you’ve previously mentioned, your claim to fame has been the Nameless series, in an attempt to dive into a slew of questions related to that, lets start from the beginning. How did that series come about? Are the characters loosely based on real life people and if so who?

A:

The beginning of the Nameless series make me laugh since it was something so unintentional and retarded that people liked. It started when I was bored one day at the soft age of 13, so I decided to record myself. I ended up recording a stupid “sketch”, the punchline was that Crippleboy was crippled and had a voice of a baby (http://lazymuffin.deviantart.com/). I submitted it and it got (somehow) to the front page of Deviantart, so I just made more.
The characters aren’t really based on anyone I know (I don’t know any cripples or people made out of chocolate), I just try to make them outlandish and fun.

Q:

Why ‘Nameless’ anyway, do you have some sort of strategic masterplan for naming it ‘Nameless’, or was it just something that you decided on a whim? I THINK I already know the answer but indulge me….

A:

The only reason I chose the name ‘Nameless’ is that I’m horrible at naming stuff; thus Crippleboy (A boy who is crippled), Chocolateman (A man, made out of chocolate), Chocolatelady (A lady, made out of chocolate) and Chocolateman’smom (I just never bothered to name her).
For a while I was considering changing the name of the series to “Sweet and Crippled”, but it just wouldn’t be the same.

Q:

Yeah it wouldnt be the same. Maybe it woulda been better. ZING. Ok so now that you’re 6 volumes deep into the series and you’ve naturally improved over the years, both in your delivery and execution, how far do you see yourself going with the series. Do you see yourself introducing new characters / phasing out others / or maybe neither? How do you feel the series has changed as you’ve developed it over the years, do you think its stayed faithful to your original vision of it or on the otherhand are you more pleased by how it has strayed and gone beyond what you originally envisioned?

A:

I’ll go with the series as long as I feel it hasn’t worn itself out. Once I really struggle writing and feel really unmotivated working with the same characters I’ll probably end it. I don’t see that happening soon though, I already have two more volumes planned for episode six, and from there I’d like to make shorter episodes in order to pump em out faster. I love playing with characters, so I can see myself adding characters, but Crippleboy and Chocolateman will always be the protagonists of the series.
I feel the series developed very well for something that started out as a joke. There was nothing to stay faithful to though, it started as just fun, and it still is. Only now It’s fun that comes with a plot and not-only-random jokes.

Q:

Yeah, personally I think your series is finally beginning to pick up real steam now. It was like a pedal boat when you started it and now i see it more like a steamboat. Oh, here’s a philosophical question which you are welcome to apply to the Nameless series if you wish… Pretend you had a time machine and you were able to take your skills today and go back in time and redo one of your pieces. Which one would you want a second crack at and why, or perhaps you wouldnt want to touch any of them in which case id ask why not?

A:

I don’t know if I would like to change anything. As much as I might not like some of the beginning episodes of Nameless, I like to keep em the way they are just because I love seeing how the jokes, the graphics and the voices change. ACTUALLY, I have a funny story regarding voice change: I started recording Crippleboy when I was about 13 and my voice hasn’t changed yet, and once my voice changed I felt it’s a whole new character, so I killed him off. That’s why one of the episodes just start with Crippleboy being hung in his room.
So no sir, I wouldn’t have changed anything

Q:

Hmm I never considered puberty into the equation…. damn that opens up a whole new set of pubescent worms but i wont get into that. Easy transition time! Aside from the Nameless series what else are you up to?

A:

For now, Nameless is the only thing really planned. But overall, I never know. If I think of some funny sketch, I write it down and animate it. If there’s a song I feel I’d like to animate, I try and do some once in a while.

Q:

Oh speaking of not having a plan. I’ve actually been asked this a couple times and dare I say I have trouble answering it so for the sake of filling in other people who will undoubtedly ask AS WELL as filling ME in on how to respond… What is the RWD? What differentiates it from the usual stream of clocks, locks, star syndicate, kitty krew, jesus crew, etc. I made that last one up btw

A:

Jesus Crew might be our spinoff crew.
The RWD started when I saw Nogfish’s animation ‘A KITTY CREW BEATDOWN‘ and commented about how I don’t like them since most of their stuff are effortless loops like many of the crews you have mentioned.
I decided we should open a crew that only publishes quality spam, thus differentiates us from most crews. We also made up a silly background for the group that may take part in future RWD related animations. Were villains who create quality spam, That’s about it.

Q:

Oh, that wasnt as complicated as I thought it would be. While you are in a flashback mood heres a question for you. So Back in 2003, when you got your start, artists were pretty much doing flash purely for the love of it (aka not getting jack shit in regards to compensation)… fast-forward 5 years and now we are in an age of sponsorings and ad-served opportunities, do you have any observations as to what sort of impact you’ve noticed in the flash scene as a result and more importantly what sort of impact do you see it making in the longrun?

A:

I don’t see the sponsoring as a bad thing, I think it’s a good motivator since everyone loves money. I was sponsored by Newgrounds for Nameless 6 vol 2 and I just see it as a reward for all of the time I put into it, I don’t think now that I’m sponsored I’ll put less effort into it. From my point of view, It’s all pretty the same, except changing trends regarding whats popular. It used to be violent games, stick figures etc and now it’s, of course, game parodies. I don’t see it making much of an impact, the people who put a lot of effort into their animations will get sponsored and continue to do so… then again, maybe I’m just being naive.

Q:

VERY naive of you. Anyway enough of that shit. Lets lighten the mood a bit! Name an animation you’ve enjoyed this past month and what you liked about it. We spend so much time talking about the interviewee in these things that it might be refreshing to plug something else that someone might enjoy!

A:

To be honest, this month there wasn’t anything that I really really liked. This month had a lot of game parodies and sprites which I’m also not really into. I really enjoyed ‘sherry enema: #2‘ due to its quick witty humor and great timing. It reminds me of the radio stations in GTA, which I find hilarious. Also, ‘Dollar‘ made me laugh. These picks make me look like I only like social satire… oh well.

Q:

Yes you are QUITE the social satirist (is that a word?) but whatever I’m not judging. Youre still fairly young, but have you thought about animation in terms of a career at all? where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years when i reinterview you.

Animating as a career would be ideal for me. I would love to do something where I can implement my writing skills and animating skills. A series of my own would be reaching for the stars, but I would love that.
Before I start working as an animator(if possible), I feel like I should have a crappy job for a couple of month’s just so I can appreciate being able to animate for a living completely.
In 10 years I’ll be filthy rich and will never let you in my yacht… or internet browser.

Q:

Well my toilet is currently backed up you are more than welcome to start your crappy job career there if you want. It would be for your own good of course :D
Ok laaaast question, may as well end it in contraversy… you mentioned you didnt care for game parodies.. want to elaborate on them, and how you do think they fit (or shouldnt fit?) into the flash animation scene?

I’ve been thinking about that lately and I’m finding it hard to come up with a conclusion. I was always into people making animations for fun and the enjoyment of others, and the game parodies do provide entertainment to a lot of people. On the other hand, I feel like it’s almost too easy. The crowd loves it so they should keep going, but I think it lowers the standers for people who put a lot of effort into their animations. People copy (admittedly) Egoraptors style, which used to be rushed and poorly animated (HE SAID THAT!) and get a shit ton of views, while someone who may put a lot of effort into his animation gets a quarter of that. But it’s the demographic, and in the internet, the demographic likes video game parodies. I try not to get frustrated though, there’s no point. I can’t change what the people like.
Although seeing three game parodies on the front page worries me, especially where one has been there for over a month but I can’t do anything about it since that’s what the people like.
My plan is to get some big gaming company to make a game based on Nameless, then my animations would be a sensation.
I’m a bitter, bitter man.
THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW, KISSES

Kevin Okulolo aka LeafWorthy

June 2008

Q:

Greetings, well after a LOOONG hiatus from these interviews and my site in general… its time to roll up the sleeves and get back on the horse. As people are probably aware, May’s featured artist was put on a break due to the madness that was Pico Day. I’m disappointed that I didnt get an AOTM for May but I put in a full year of interviews and I think people can excuse a blemish here and there. Anywho, this month we have Kevin Okulolo, he has recently released the second installment of his Story of Khale series and considering people might actually not know much about him it seemed like an excellent opportunity to eat up a bit of his time with an interview. So here we gooooo….

Ok Kevin, the first question is pretty easy… who are you and how did you fall prey into the clutches of animation and / or flash animation in particular?

A:

My name is Kevin Okulolo and I’ve been a fan of Newgrounds and flash animation for years now. I go to UC Davis, but I was born in Oakland, raised in Berkeley, and loved every minute of it. I’m half Nigerian (”African”) and half Michiganian (”White”), emphasis on the mix. I grew up skateboarding, drawing, and exploring my mind (know what I mean?).
To be honest, the very first animation I saw on NG was probably ‘All your base are belong to us’, back when it first came out. Me and my friends used to just DIE watching it. But what really got me into flash animation was when I took a summer course in “digital animation” that taught me the very basics of Flash. I knew, probably from the first day of working with it, that it was a ridiculously powerful tool for traditional 2D animation. I’ve never been interested in making 3D animation (though I love every Pixar movie to date), so when I started working with Flash and started seeing crazy good animations pop up like Paladin’s Synj vs. Horrid, or Phillips’ Bitey of Brackenwood, I couldn’t help but get deep deep into this thing called Flash Animation.

Q:

Ahh yea Synj vs Horrid is a classic. I still find myself watching that movie and thinking up ways to port over some of the techniques. Ok so as I’ve mentioned already, you’ve recently released the sequel to the highly anticipated Story of Khale series, before actually diving into a discussion about the sequel itself, could you tell us a bit about the series itself? Maybe a quick 15-second pitch for those unfamiliar with it… What inspired you to create the character Khale or even the world Khale lives in (Rellitrea)?

A:

The story itself was born of many days where my friends and I would kick it in my room, getting creative and writing down cool ass shit to put in a story. Eventually, through the years I’ve been working on it, it has developed into a completely autobiographical piece. The story will follow Khale, trained as a warrior with the forest elves of Gunda, who will be sent to war ‘for his country’, and will find a lot more than courage along the way. I don’t see the series as a fantasy, but rather as a way to express how the world the way I’ve experienced it. I don’t think reality is realisitic, but rather it will always have a ridiculous, fantastical, rushing feeling of life always hitting you in the face for the first time, or filling you with wafting sorrow. I’ve felt life very intensely (due to Bipolar Disorder) and I wrote this story to try and express how I have experienced life. So the friends in the story are my friends from real life, my real mom even plays the Mama character, and my dad (in real life named Baba-Ken) plays Baba, Khale’s father.

Q:

That’s pretty cool that your parents are very supportive and even take an active role in helping you put your visions on screen. While we are on the subject of Khale, I noticed his proportions changed drastically from back when he was first seen in Khale vs. Fooh ‘N’ ceO. Do you have any juicy tidbits as to why you went with an almost total makeover?

A:

Khale vs. Fooh’N'ceO was the first animation I ever completed. It is the product of that four week summer class on ‘Digital Animation’. So that was WAY before I ever really went 100% with the designing process, or with my animation studies, or had the right tools… So, suffice it to say, look at the dates =P. The Story of Khale will evolve with my skill as an artist. With a timeline of one episode every 6 months (the slowest it could possibly go, IE the speed it is going now, without any outside help, while going to college and working part time), the series’ 42 episodes will last the better half of my life. So you ought better get used to some evolution of the characters. But, in case the change between the trailer and episode 2, Khale will start his adventure as a small child in middle school, but will grow to a full fledged adult by the end of the series, so he changes a bit in size and proportion every episode.

Q:

42 episodes, Jesus Christ! You certainly have your work cut out for you to say the least! Speaking of episodes, one of the interesting things about the series, was that the first episode in a way doesnt really feel like a first episode… the real backbone of the series comes in this latest one. What was your reasoning for opening the series like that?

A:

Well there are a couple reasons. I see the series as eventually combining into a long movie, to be watched as a piece as a whole. Secondly, when approaching the series, I wanted to first set the mood, and let you know what direction the series is going in. Also, I knew I wanted my skills to improve before I really set into animating the storyline, so it was kinda like a practice run for me too =D

Q:

I liked that you didnt dive into the storyline. Alot of series have a tendency to overload you with info from the very start and it starts feeling like a CHORE watching it. You know what I mean? Ok, so fast foward roughly a year later after the first episode, this episode obviously had a bit more sophistication in its delivery and technique than the first one, but was there any particular challenges that you faced this time that perhaps were unique to the episode OR is there any particular change in your execution that you can recall that perhaps might be overlooked by the casual viewer?

A:

Well, the biggest change in my work style between the two, is that after I did Gangsta Bean for 6 months (and really worked on my animation skills, reading all kinds of art/animation books), I used the prize money from the MaxGames challenge and invested in a wacom Cintiq (which I highly recommend to anyone who’s considering buying it). It totally changed my process. With the Cintiq, I could not only draw more easily/better, it allowed me to draw much more quickly (due to the natural feel of the stroke (that’s what she said)). This allowed me to add more frames into the movements, to get that smoother movement, while actually animating much faster than before still. The climax of Episode 2, with the huge skate trick over the gap, and the traditionally animated response of the vendor JoJo, was animated in under a week, including colored lines, all the hair/muscles on JoJo, and the movement of that cloth. That scene was especially hard, but satisfyingly quick to animate due to the Cintiq.

Q:

I’ll have to look through that sequence again to overanalyze it now that you’ve told me that. So one of the things I love/hate about the portal is that moment of tension when you’ve just submitted something.. no matter how awesome (or not) its like waiting in pergatory waiting jesus to let you in…. where in this case you wait for the general crowd to hopefully accept your hard work. Its not so much that one fears that it will be blammed but you’re like really interested to know what people will think of the mini hell you went through to entertain em for a few mins. So my question is this, first of all, do you feel that way at all when you submit and more importantly what did you make out of the response to your second episode in general? Any particular mental notes you’ve been able to make based on some feedback that perhaps you see yourself considering on the next episode?

A:

Well I was coming off of a couple of submissions that a really thought went underrated (not to toot my own horn) and felt a bit disappointed in NG for a bit (as with how there are so many very poorly generated flash animations that are so well-received by NG, cough Halo in general cough cough). I was overwhelmed with the way Episode 1 was recieved, but shocked and completely disappointed when it got 6th place monthly, losing it’s spot to none other than a Starfire (pedofile much?) Rape Hentai. It was like a kick in the soul. Then after a few serious bugs hurt the score of GB (but lost to the very deserving Age of War), I was overjoyed to see the tremendous reaction to Episode 2! I’ve received so much love from the community, including a generous donation from you =D. I’m very excited to see how my next release, Gangsta Bean 2, will be received.

Q:

Ahh yeah, to be honest I saw Story Khale through a link that Tom sent me, usually I am able to run into really awesome animations on my own. Food for thought I guess.
Ok I think I’ve exhausted all my Khale-related questions, on to something different…. what are you up to besides that series? You started to talk about Gangsta Bean so I may as well steer the questions towards flash games, how do you feel making animations for games compares to making animations for movies? What do you like or not like about it?

A:

I love games, I grew up on games. The sega genesis and DOS were my god-parents. So I’m crazy stoked to finally have the ability and the sponsorship (now from AddictingGames.com) to make games all by myself!! How nuts is that! I’m having a lotta fun making games, I feel like that’s when I really get to be the silly me and have fun killing stuff at the same time. Games are where I feel like a kid again. But here’s the wonderful part, the Story of Khale, after episode 3, will go hand in hand with The Fights of Khale, a Story of Khale fighting game that will have new releases with every new Story of Khale episode. The Fights of Khale’s characters will get older as the Story of Khale chars get older, and new characters in the series will appear in the game. That way, like with series’ like Naruto or DBZ, you can PLAY the characters you just watched, and even fight out the same fight you saw in the episode. After Gangsta Bean 2 is released in August, production on Episode 3 and simultaneously The Fights of Khale, so that about this time next year, there will be two more Leafworthy games, and another episode of The Story of Khale.

Q:

That’d be pretty cool for the series to really embrace both the animated and game aspects of the Flash medium. That would make the series super-immersive from all sorts of angles.
What’s next for you anyway? Both flash-wise and maybe career-wise? Where would you say you see yourself in 2018, and dont give me that world is gonna end 2012 bullshit just so you dont have to type alot!

A:

In 2018 I’ll be ten years older and have a LOT of the series and games done, as well as hopefully be starting up a studio of my own by then. I’d love to work for about a decade in the industry, working at the major studios and working freelance for a bit, but I would hope to someday be able to have my own studio, where I could produce Khale faster and with a much higher budget. That way episodes could come out monthly instead of every 6 months, and could be longer, with more original music and with the money to buy legitimate licenses for copy-written songs. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, after UC Davis, I’m heading down to L.A. to find work in the industry. My brother Kalil Wilson and my parent’s are thinking of moving down, so I’ll probably be in LA for some years. Until then, I’m try to build a big fat portfolio with The Story of Khale, Gangsta Bean, and freelance work (to anyone who needs ANY animation, shoot me an email at kevin@leafworthy.com).

Q:

Well you certainly have the drive for what is shapping up to be a really monster series. The whole integrating the games into the story is just brilliant if you are able to manage to do that.
Ok laaast question, this is kind of nerdy but I’ll go for it anyway…. ok so lets pretend you’ve one the Flash lottery and you have the money to commission one major upgrade for the next installment of Flash, what sort of thing would you pick?

A:

1) Get rid of the ridiculous number of crashes/audio bugs that have been in Flash for upgrade after upgrade.
2) Include arcing/bowing skewing effects that Illustrator has.
3) Get rid of the weird random sensitivity-less large dots that happen when drawing with the brush with a pen tablet.
4) Include a way to select a bunch of frames and convert it to a graphic/movie clip symbol, instead of having to copy and paste it into a symbol manually.

Thank you very much for the interview!

Booo… the bugs are what make flash loveable arent they???

Sean Montela

April 2008

Q:

Greetings, its the start of the month and that can only mean the launch of a fresh new interview. This month we feature Sean Montela, he goes by the alias AloneInTheDark on Newgrounds. As to not steal too much of his thunder, let me get the interview underway and let him fill you in on his details.
Hi Sean, how about you tell us who you are, how long have you been in the scene and how did you stumble upon Flash?

A:

I’m a 23 year old architecture student from Amsterdam. I’ve been working with flash since i was 17. Back in those days i used it to make simple websites. But after i discovered Newgrounds in 2003 I got inspired by the stuff i saw here and started using the program to create animations.

Q:

Do you have any siblings and are they into arty things at all? Do you have any family in the creative industry? I always find it intruiging to find how peoples upbringings and environment may have played an influence on their creative tendencies… I mean to ask this in every interview but i forget to :P

A:

My family is actually the most uncreative bunch of people imaginable. Nobody here really draws/paints or pees on canvases, but one of my best friends who i’ve been hanging with since i was 7 is a very talented artist. Back in the days he drew extremely realistic drawings with spot on shading for a kid. I learned a lot from him and we motivated each other to draw. I still have a Wolverine comic that we made together back then.

Q:

Aaactually speaking of environments, I was in Toronto a few months ago and I found it kind of refreshing how Flash had much more of a prescence and demand than it does where I live, like there was all these posted handbills of companies seeking flash creative work. Being that you live in Amsterdam (and the fact that I’ve never been there) what is the scene like over there?

A:

Well there is a good demand for people who are able with the program. There are a lot of web/graphic design companies that you can work for. The other day i had a job interview at an architecture agency and they even had a seperate team of photoshop/flash experts who made presentations and such for the firm. Also, there is this dutch guy who uses flash and is very respected in the avant garde art scene. His name is Hoogerbrugge, probably best known for his ‘Hotel’ series. On www.submarine.nl there is a nice overview of other notable dutch flash talent.

Q:

While youre not as active flash wise as some of my past guests, one of the things that I find intruiging about your work is that your work tends to explore subject matter that is unusual in the scene. Things like ‘Autumn Tree’ and even ‘Alive’ come to mind, where flash becomes your personal soapbox to stand on. What inspires you to tackle projects like those? I think alot of the reasons why artists dont stray from the norm is because they fear that all their work will be in vain because people wont ‘get it’… does that ever cross your mind?

A:

It’s all a matter of where your priorities are. There are lot of animators who get their satisfaction out of the animating itself. For them, the idea and personal vision in making their shorts is less important, so they make things that are fun to animate and that are appreciated by a large crowd. There is nothing wrong with having this type of view on animation, as long as it is what you believe in. However, an artist should never let the public decide what stuff he is going to make. If for example
an animator only makes animations based on video games, because that is what people want, then i think that’s a pretty lame thing to do.

Q:

While I’m on the subject of ‘Autumn Tree’, probably one of the more contraversial animations of 2005, what attracted you to work on that? What sort of response did your audience have when you finally finished it? Was it a response that you anticipated or were you suprised/disappointed by what people thought about it?

A:

What interested me about the Columbine tragedy was the human aspect of the entire happening. So much has been said about it and what happened was terrible, but in the end it remains a story of 2 teenagers slipping away. Eric and Dylan weren’t monsters or born evil. They were average kids living average lives in a boring town. I wanted to put emphasis on this aspect in the animation. I think these type of stories need to be told to let people form an opinion themselves about what happened. That is why i was very careful not to turn it into a melodrama and let the viewer sympathise with the killers or victims. It turned out rather bland and almost documentary like. I like that.
The response was actually more positive than i thought it would have been. I thought that a lot of people wouldn’t get it and would think i was paying a tribute to Eric and Dylan but fortunately that wasn’t the case. Many reviews were written and people all have their own views on the situation. That’s all i could ask for really.

Q:

Ok so earlier I touched on the subject of artists not wanting to stray too far from the norm. One of the hot subjects these days are artists feeling like their limelight is being eaten up by video game parodies and pop references. That the artistry behind animation is becoming ruined by artists who set out to spoil viewers out with gimmicky forgetable flash movies. What is your take on the matter?
Do you think the outcry for change is valid? You’ve been around for many years now, do you see the scene changing?

A:

I don’t think there is anything we can change. With the popularity of flash increasing, it is inevitable that the content of animation and games gets adjusted more to a mass audience. Especially since a lot of money can be made nowadays in the flash business. I do find it a pity, but that’s the way it is. It’s something that has happened during the development of cinema, music, gaming industry and television too.
However that doesn’t mean that there is no room anymore for good original content. People will always enjoy to see an animation that’s different from the norm, when it is made well. It’s just harder to create such an animation when the obvious road to money and popularity is through simple parodies or used concepts.
The flash program itself is also becoming more and more professional. With the direct implementation of 3d techniques in the upcoming flash version the bar for animating and design will be raised dramatically. Online flash gaming also has a lot of potential and the business will only get bigger and bigger. I see the future very bright for the program.

Q:

Lets lighten the mood a bit… what interests do you have outside of flash?

A:

I love modern art and anything creative! I also like travelling and going out with friends. And like any other guy i’m also pretty interested in women and beer.

Q:

Speaking of outside interests, ok so your ultimate goal career-wise lies in architecture. I find that sort of unusual considering you have alot of potential in your flash work. What attracts you to the world of architecture anyway?

A:

What i love about architecture is the design process itself. It is actually very similar as to when i start making an animation. When I start an architectural project i analyse the context, start sketching and come up with a concept as to what the building should be. As i get further in the design process i focus from a broad perspective to the small details. I love using many different techniques, like making traditional drawings, scaled models, 3d renders and digital CAD drawings. When the building is designed and other people can see the qualities in it, that’s something very satisfactioning.
The structured manner of thinking in architecture is something that i find really useful in the process of making an animation too.

Q:

Ok so back to the flash world. You finally wrapped up the first episode of Jinas near the end of last year, thats a rather gargantuan project you set out to create. Can you give us a brief run down of the series and where you are going with it, maybe what sort of things inspired you to persue it?

A:

The story itself is rather simple. It’s basically a love story in many ways. Love for a special someone, love for friends and love for yourself. However cliche this may sound, I try to create characters that are very honest and real. They all have different sides to themselves and the situations they get confronted with during the series are never black or white. I want it to be humorous, but also confronting and thought provoking. A lot of my personal experiences have been a foundation for the series. Some of the personalities in the series are kind of the same as the ones of people close to me. It’s a story i HAVE to tell.

Q:

Heres an easy question, we’re a quarter of the way through 2008, what sort of things do you have in store for us this year?

A:

At the moment i’m working on a smaller side project. After each Jinas episode, i want to take the time to create some smaller stuff that has been in my head for ages. Right now it’s an animation called ‘Shaped Of Clay’. It’s a rather dark animation about manipulation and perception. I hope to finish it this summer or something. After that, i want to make one more animation with Andres Ciambotti (co-author of Autumn Tree) before i start with episode 2 of Jinas.

Q:

Okay, last question.. if you were to disappear from the flash scene forever tommorrow what would you want your legacy to be?

Well a fan club of blonde young women would be cool to have.