Saturday, January 27, 2007

Shadow Chronicles DVD Release!


(The only original art you will ever see for the show. This is the only art being used for the DVD, the coffee table art book, the soundtrack, the poster, theatrical release, mousepad - okay, scratch the last part, there isn't any merchandise yet)

The most hyped film of the millenia is here, Robotech: Shadow Chronicles. People have begun to receive their preorders from almost out of the blue. Darkwater, a highly influential fan of the Robotech world, has reportedly gotten his copy and is probably toying with it at the moment.

What the hell does this mean to future Studio MMG? I'm not sure. But given the current Shadow Chronicles bandwagon is charging at full steam, I might actually hitch a ride.

Bad puns aside, it means I might actually make a fan film for this fucking movie. Yes, I want to achieve the title of 'first' Shadow Chronicles fanfilm. I know I originally planned to make a film based on the oft-ignored season of Robotech, The Masters Saga / Southern Cross section of the show, but hear me out.




BACKGROUND 

If you aren't familiar with the Masters Saga / Southern Cross section of Robotech, I won't blame you. The show is often shrugged off as the most badly written and unlikable of the three parts of Robotech. (The most popular being the Macross and Mospeada / New Generation) These criticisms might be true to some, but in my opinion, its probably the darkest, deepest of the three, and the epicness appeals greatly to me. The others are also great, but the idea of being a Southern Cross fan sets me apart from everyone, and I don't mind that one bit.

OKAY, SO WHAT? 

Alright, I said I wanted to make a Shadow Chronicles fanfilm. And I said I'm a big Southern Cross fan. I now want to make a film which reunites characters from Southern Cross during the set timeline of Shadow Chronicles. I want a film which has (probably, since I haven't seen the film yet) Admiral Reindhart giving orders to reestablish the 15th Squadron as a premiere tank division thingy (I don't know the proper designation). This would bring back certain characters like Angelo, Dana, Sean Philipps, Bowie Grant and maybe a new cast of unknowns. It's in the drawing board at the moment, but the story would probably involve the 15th handling a possiblity of civil war on Earth with the return Robotech Expeditionary Force. It would probably have little to do with the overall story of Shadow Chronicles (the conflict with the new alien menace), but this remains to be seen. 

Basically, it all comes down to whether I enjoy the new story of the new film. It's difficult to say at this point, but we'll have to wait and see. For now, I will work on sketches for old Robotech characters with the new Shadow Chronicles gear. While I'm not that good an artist, I will try my best to copy the look of the new film...

DID'YA KNOW?

Before I came up with this idea, I was going to work on a South Park-style Robotech show? It was going to be a dumb comedy which stars the Southern Cross characters and their bitter rivalry with the Macross and New Generation characters. It's also in planning phase, but I got some interesting ideas... If you've got suggestions, why don't you post a comment?



As you know, I'm not much of an animator, but man, if I do something as cheaply as South Park, it would be a hoot! If only I could get the comedy right now...

Posted by Medmapguy at 08:48:15 | Permanent Link | Comments (3) |

Thursday, January 18, 2007

News From The Fandom

Hello! After the relative success of my latest flashfilm, Super Dimension Fortress: Macross, I thought it would be nice to go and discuss what's up with the fandom these days. As you know, the Robotech fandom is in a relatively bad rut now, what with the imminent release of this "Shadow Chronicles" thing. (More on the fandom in a couple'a days.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Shadow Chronicles Dilemma
 
To coincide with the release of this Shadow Chronicles, there has been a significant increase in 'sticky thread' pollution in the Robotech Fandom & Events forum. The effect is that threads concerning the creative side of the fandom is being pushed out (like my Macross film :P) and other art/music related threads into oblivion. This leads us to the fundamental problem of combining Fan events with art. Official sources claim that a forum dedicated to art would be a waste in resources since nobody would be posting anyway. I say, bullshit. It's the company's (namely, Harmony Gold) fault in repressing creativity.

First we have the Fandom & Events forum, which suffocates art-related threads. If they don't appear in the main forum, they're considered as good as gone forever. I doubt any fan would actually search for the bloody things. There doesn't seem to be any end to the stream of 'sticky threads' posted by HG's rep since they're already posting events that would a happen as late as August.

Second, we have the ever limiting 480x480 pixel dimension limitation in the art gallery. What does this mean to an artist? That his work would have to be shrunk to a pathetic size. Minor details would be lost due to bad compression. Couple that with the relative ugliness and confusing nature of the art gallery in general and you have the biggest reason why noone likes posting art (there are many reasons, but this is one major contributing factor).
 
Third, flash gallery. Once upon a time, Harmony Gold commissioned fans to create flash films / fan films for this contest. Nearly four pages worth were submitted during that period. That was way back in 2002. Now? Nothing. The flash gallery just sits there. Like one a rusted old statue or some other analogy I can't seem to give now. No one sees any purpose in making films.
 
All these reasons, and quite possibly a few more have literally made fans not care about making fan-made content. The biggest problem I can see now is when Harmony Gold starts suing people for using their property ala Marvel.
Posted by Medmapguy at 15:40:12 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |