Just when you think is it safe, you are so wrong. My last three months of hard work on my short film is gone! toast, lost forever. I could almost cry. This week I had it written down to backup my HDD and format my system to do annual cleaning and tweaks. ONE DAY before I had this marked in, my hard drive died and in turn took my short film to the grave with it. That metal on metal sound coming from the hard drive is not a good sign hahahaha.

So in short the drive is gone and nothing can be saved from it…… How am I looking at this? Well I was upset for about 2 seconds…. Since it was out of my control, why should I dwell on it right… Heck I was gonna back it up, it just happened to be one day too late. You can never ever see a hardware failure in advance . . . it just happens. I can say this, my short film got me to where I am now, an Animation Mentor graduate !! So it got me to my initial goal anyway :)…

When I get my system back in good shape, I will be storyboarding a new short film, and you know what? It will be better than my old film. This time I am gonna force myself to 30 seconds hahaha (still won’t end up that way) I will be posting it on here once I have something to show.

I did try a Data recovery place, and what little they could salvage was corrupt anyway so it was a waste of money….. When you have tried everything in you’re power, what else is there but to move on right? No point in crying over it, whats done is done. Moving on with a positive attitude.

Thanks guys and gals, and Happy animating.

Steve

PS: I just bought a 500gb external HDD, which I will be using with Time Machine, that will backup my files everytime I alter them…… I am covering my ass this time hahahaha

The actual graduation ceremony will be held in 2009, when I attend, I will take some video and snaps and post it here. So I have a little time to breath and relax…. God knows I need a break. However with that said I will continue to work on polishing my short film (below) and animating some other scenes for my demo reel.

Whats next for me?

RELAXATION! and more animation I am currently working on a Nintendo Wii game title called, Tee Off Madness and an online shooter called Cops & Crooks, you can learn more about these by visiting my company site at: http://gearworxprod.com

What is you’re main focus?

My main focus is my companies success. As mentioned above I am working on Wii and PC titles, with the goal of getting a fully functional and playable prototype of each, and then hunt down some publishers for funding e.t.c If this flies then Gear Worx Productions will shift from hobby to a full time job. If it does not fly, I will complete a fully polish reel and hunt for work in other game studios….. Either way I will be doing what I love…. ANIMATION & GAMES!

Short Film (Class Six Final):

Here is my class 6 short film in it’s current state.

PLEASE NOTE: This short film is still a work in progress.

Synopsis:

Father builds his daughter a brand new playground. What could go wrong? Right?!??

Things that still need work:

Continue to tweak and polish the entire film.
Re-work materials.
Re-work some of the props & set.
Lighting and render setup.
Final audio fx and music mix.
Final render.

Credits N Stuff:

Dedicated To:

My loving father & family.

Credits:

All Character Animation - Steve Adamson

Bishop & Brussels Characters - Animation Mentor

Girls Doll - Steve Adamson

Props & Set - Steve Adamson

Special Thanks To:

My loving and supportive family for the past year and a half.

The entire Animation Mentor Staff, for their hard work at making the best animation school on the planet.

My Amazing Mentors:

Class One: Ray Chase

Class Two: Joe Mandia

Class Three: Michelle Meeker

Class Four: David Gallagher

Class Five: Cal Brunker

Class Six: Kevin Koch

Without you guys I would not be doing what I love. ANIMATION !

Thanks ever so much.

2008 - Steve Adamson / Animation Mentor

Thanks for stopping by, I will post again soon…. For now though I am off to relax and enjoy some downtime.

- Steve Adamson

I was digging though my old game CD’s and came across a GEM of a game called Heart Of Darkness that I had to share with you all, because as an animator, voice actor, storyteller & game developer, it fits me like a glove. It has a fantastic story, amazing voice acting, amazing cinematic quality score and sound design, awesome 2D animation and for it’s time pretty decent 3D animation….. Ok the 3D stuff was a little rough around the edges but remember this was back in 98 and did not have a budget of a Hollywood film, so they did amazing with what they had….. But as a complete package it is a game that will remain one of my favorites. Check out the movie like promo trailer they did for Heart Of Darkness:

Check out some 2D / 3D gameplay:

If you can pick up a copy for the Playstation 1 or PC, I would recommend you do so, as it flawlessly combines 2D gameplay and 3D elements, with all of the above mentioned goodness. It is a classic that will live in my heart as one of those games that captures entertainment in it’s purest form and combines well balanced high quality production values in this amazing game.

Games that inspire me are mostly old school titles, anyway here is a list of games I find are top notch entertainment; in one form or another inspire me:

Out Of This World - This game was not only ground breaking, it had a really cool back story.
Heart Of The Alien - The sequel to the above game. Awesome close, to the story.
Heart Of Darkness - Pure gold on a CD as I mentioned above in greater detail.
Full Throttle (LucasArts) - A classic that to this day is still exciting and captivating to play.
The Dig (LucasArts) - Another great classic.
Old Point N Click Adventures - Day Of The Tentacle, Sam N Max, KQ, PQ, SQ e.t.c
Bioshock - One of the best current gen games that tells a good and cool story.
Half Life Series - Some of the best story telling, although vague at times haha
Little Big Planet (PS3) - YES I am a BIG KID!!!!! This one purely because of its creative focus.

Just to name a few There are lots of other games, that in one form or another inspire me…. but thats enough for now, or you might be reading all night

Once a gamer, always a GAMER!!

- Steve Adamson

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been very busy with a few things…. Oh please say it ain’t so.. Sorry but alas it is true. What have I been doing you may be wondering? I am now in Class 6 at Animation Mentor, so needless to say, I have been working my ass off, on my short film. I still have a long way to go and very little time to get it done and I am sad to say that the school is almost over, and I never thought I would say that about a school….. I will dearly miss the staff, mentors and students…. I have also been busy developing two game titles: Cops & Crooks, an online shooter, coming soon to Windows & OSX. Along with a Nintendo Wii title called Tee Off Madness…. Fighting to get my own game studio off the ground and all… Plus I am trying to stuff in some form of a social life in there hahaha. Thats working out WONDERFUL (*sarcasm*) So yup thats my life currently in a nutshell… Oh well, back to work I go. If you want to know more about my company and game development please visit my company site at: http://gearworxprod.com

Take care.

- Steve Adamson

My short film production has started, the film is titled “Assembly Required” and will run just under 1 minute in length. This is my Animatic story layout, for my short film. I apologize for the crude 2D drawings, but it gets across how I want the film to play out in its roughest form.

Thanks for watching. More on my progress at a later date.