alexv-fink

[alexv-fink]

Finally watched GoT

Watched Game of Thrones season one - obviously one of the most-discussed bit of television ever made so I’m not expecting to find new revelations about it. I’d caught little bits of it at the time and bounced off it, probably because I didn’t follow it as a serial. I’d consider it moreish without actually being all that good minute-to-minute - much more of a Tolkeinesque soap opera than a vibrant piece of drama. I fundamentally don’t like the bland way in which it’s shot. It also, even in only a 10-episode arc, has a series of major lulls in the story that drag the thing down for whole episodes. The tenuous links between the different strands of the story don’t help - you have to take it on faith that any of the sub-plots will ever marry up to conclude somewhere. One of the major sub-plots in season one simply never joins up with the main plot - that should really be considered a fairly bizarre bit of bad plotting (though I’m sure it works in the overall sweep of the multiple series).

What it does have is the chutzpah to push the sex/violence/taste buttons at regular intervals. I’ve seen the echoes of this in Westworld - it’s really exploitation television, with the old Roger Corman rule of thumb that every few minutes there should be breasts or murder and preferably both. I should add I really have no problem with this - it gives each scene an extra layer of tension, because you don’t know how far it intends to push each idea. And the same goes for character and plot too - it’s a show that wants to shock the viewer at regular intervals and does so.

What I like about it, and this goes for other television dramas that I like, is where it has the space to just explore a character or an idea for no other reason than it’s own whims. A minor character will be given more depth than you might expect in a scene that doesn’t really push the plot forward but embellishes the world it inhabits. And given that GoT is basically a who’s who of ageing British character actors it can be a real treat to see them given something to really chew on. You end up with a show that must have 50 characters plus but all with enough depth that you end up with a rich tapestry of relationships - they might not really have anywhere to go with it but it’s fun to follow all the same.

[alexv-fink]

[alexv-fink]

A COUPLE OF GARRY SHANDLING MEMORIES

I was lucky enough to be on two episodes of The Larry Sanders Show. I remember filming a take then Garry walked over. He had a performance note for me. He didn’t preface it with “this is what I want you to do.“ He prefaced it with “only try this if you think it’s funny.” I was floored. I barely had any acting experience and couldn’t believe he trusted me that much. I realized this is what made him the real deal. 

Sometime after filming the episodes I planned a trip back to LA. I think Sarah Silverman told him I was coming. Before I left there was a message on my answering machine: “Todd, it’s Garry Shandling. I heard you were coming to LA. Want to stop by the set? I think you should.”

So I went to Garry’s office and hung out for hours. I told him about my girlfriend at the time. After rattling off a list of her good qualities, he said “she sounds great.”

There was pause.

“Do you want to call her?’ I asked.

He smiled. “I was just about to ask.”

I laughed, gave him her number, then watched Garry Shandling call my girlfriend.

[alexv-fink]

what is soft chambers???

soft chambers is about tenderizing games

soft chambers is for games as tools for facilitating the giving and receiving of care

soft chambers is against ‘empathy games’

soft chambers is the warm, enveloping space of an alien cave filled with unfamiliar flora

soft chambers is in pursuit of warm, cozy games and disdains the cool

soft chambers is openly valuing the feminine in the face of cultural derision

soft chambers is against the notion that the positive is always more straightforward and less interesting than the negative

soft chambers is building a makeshift little home for itself in the side of a mountain and is content with that

soft chambers is not just about cuteness

soft chambers is exploring its warm, pulsing insides

soft chambers is taking a nap

soft chambers is petting a cat

soft chambers is aware that emotion is not apolitical

soft chambers is about imagining new ways to relate to one another

soft chambers wants to know if you would like a cup of tea or another blanket

soft chambers likes you quite a bit

[alexv-fink]

So... You have some very strong connections to the video game industry, and I was wondering if you've given thought to writing the story for a game? I think this would be a neat thing.

I have actually written a game. THE CURFEW, which I did with Littleloud for Channel 4. No longer available, due to reasons.

However… well, I get a lot of offers to write games. I’ve turned them all down, partially due to schedule reasons, but mainly the nature of most games writing.

While there are exceptions, there is still a lot of games writing which involves pretty much coming to a finished game, looking at the levels, and trying to work out a way to connect all those pieces together with some kind of narrative glue. Or then have a story which you have to lose half the levels for, and then work out what story you can tell with that. Even ones which start with a synopsis end up passing through dozens of hands after that, and what you end up with will bear little relation to that original text.

In general, a writer in a videogame is a job akin to a texture artist. You are wrapping detail over a pre-existing structure. Yes, it has an important aesthetic effect, but in terms of importance, you’re kinda set-dressing.

In other words, the problem is that I know exactly what videogames writing primarily involves, and I have little interest in being anyone’s story monkey. For me, writing is control. Videogame writers, on average, don’t have enough control for it to appeal.

Generally speaking, we can look at games which have been praised for their narrative, and there we see that the project lead is also the driving writer. That’s because someone with an interest in Narrative is controlling the shape of the whole project, which is exactly what writing is.

This is not what you get to do as a for-hire writer.

As such, unless I’m willing to go and work for a dev for a decade and hope I get into a position of power, I won’t be in any place to write a major videogame, at least to my definition of writing. So I probably won’t do it.

I suspect you’re more likely to see it in an exception - smaller indie projects which can be more agile. The size of the team was a big part of why I was attracted to THE CURFEW. I could have more impact. It’s not that I want to be a dictator, but I do like my input to move the dial in a formative rather than reactive way. I’d get involved with a friends game, or writing in a smaller section of a larger project. I could always end up contributing to something for shits and giggles. Or if the money was big enough and the time commitment was small enough, obv. I like to try things, especially if they’re relatively low commitment.

Obviously I could change all of this tomorrow. I have work up with days thinking it’d be nice to just disappear and hide in a much larger organisation, and being a games writer could be that.

But really, I love games too much and know too much about games to want to be a games writer. I would just find it deeply frustrating. Generally speaking, the more you know about how mainstream games are made, you end up not thinking “why are game stories so bad?” but “how can game stories be as good as they are?”

[alexv-fink]

Voxely rabbit run animation I made for Staxel

[alexv-fink]

Ok sure - well what specifically do you think is the problem?

"Too much corruption, not enough transparency, media keep trying to silence our complaints."

Oof, that’s a tricky one. I mean you’re sort of suggesting a number of things there, first of all that corruption has been proven to...

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NOTE: This was originally posted by Greg Costikyan over at Gamesutra. It was taken down for excessive profanity. All I haveto say is “fuck that.” This needs to be read.

Gamersgate: STFU by Greg Costikyan

"As a male voice in the game industry," writes my daughter Vicky, "you should speak out...

[alexv-fink]

Recorded live on June 12 at 9:43am.