Monthly Archives: March 2015

Movies/TV

Interview with Harvey Beaks Creator: C.H. Greenblatt

C.H. Greenblatt
C.H. Greenblatt

Recently I had the opportunity to interview C.H. Greenblatt about his latest show Harvey Beaks. If you aren’t already familiar with the name, C.H. Greenblatt was the Executive Producer of the popular Cartoon Network show Chowder. He is also known for his work as a writer/storyboard artist for other hit cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. I don’t know about you, but those last two shows were a huge part of my childhood, so I was very excited to learn about his latest project.

Harvey Beaks is about an extremely well-behaved bird named Harvey who befriends two incredibly mischievous creatures named Fee and Foo. Harvey never ever breaks the rules, but Fee and Foo are complete rebels, breaking every rule they can. This of course comes as a huge challenge to Harvey who has a very hard time doing anything he isn’t allowed to, but the magical forest the three companions live in present many challenges for Harvey to face.

Below is my interview with C.H. Greenblatt. Thank you again Mr. Greenblatt and Katie Wilkins, Publicity Assistant for DKC Public Relations, for this opportunity and for taking the time to answer these questions!

How did you come up with the idea for “Harvey Beaks”?

Hi, Caitlin! Harvey is very much based on me as a kid. I was a polite, nearly OCD child who never wanted to break the rules or do things any way except how they supposed to be done. I guess that’s a parent’s dream, but it means you create your own excitement since you’re not out getting into trouble. So I thought it would be fun to pair a character like that with two kids who have never had any rules or guidance. He gets to have someone help him push his boundaries and they get someone that accepts them like family they never had.

This show seems to be about breaking out of your comfort zone (whether that means being a rebel or someone who always follows the rules). Do you think that’s an important lesson for kids to learn? Why?

I think that to learn who you are, you have to see where you land when making hard decisions. Kids are always being put into new situations, so I think they’re constantly dealing with moral and personal dilemmas even though they may not realize it.

Who do you relate to the most in “Harvey Beaks,” Harvey, Fee, or Foo?

Definitely Harvey. He’s named after me, after all (Carl Harvey). One of my happiest memories as a child was when I would organize my desk. Then I would lie in bed and just look at, supremely content at how clean it was. I also kept all my action figures in a case and would only take out the ones I needed, putting them back immediately when I was done. I really relate to his not being comfortable breaking the rules. That’s something I could
always do in my head, but never in real life. Now I get to do it all the time on the show!

What drew you to animation (excuse the pun)?

Adequate flow of blood can help you solve many illnesses and so https://unica-web.com/ENGLISH/2014/GA2014-friends-of-unica-report.html cheapest levitra it becomes crucial that you adopt the proper treatment at the right time to improve the health of the penis. Basically, In simple best link cialis on line words, special medical techniques are used to make the remedies can be found right at home. Factors influencing the sexual arousalThe following factors generic cialis canada ignite the sex arousal in the adults:Appetitive stage: a mental desire arouses feeling for sex.Excitement stage: The following actions increase sex arousal in male or female:Men: Symptoms include penile erection caused by vascular congestion of the corpora cavernosa. The prostate viagra low price is a male sexual gland. The fact that I can create my own world with my own rules is hugely appealing to me. Animation lets you take whatever is in your mind and put it out there, however fantastical it may be.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

There are a million inspirations running around in my head. I consumed way too much television. I was heavily inspired by Jim Henson and Looney Tunes… but there’s also Terry Gilliam, Akira, Simpsons, and the Cohen Brothers. All sorts of stuff floats around in there.

The shows you’ve worked on tend to be out-of-the box. Where does your sense of humor come from?

I think it’s a mix of my parents and all that TV. I spent a lot of time entertaining myself as a kid, so I guess I started to see the world in a weird and different way.

How has your time on other shows (such as “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy,” etc.) influenced the shows you’ve produced yourself?

Every show has been an influence. With SpongeBob I learned to tell a simple story with a strong character that has humor and heart. On Billy & Mandy I got to flex my more twisted and sarcastic muscles. Chowder was a show where I was able to do anything I wanted, so I did everything. Going into Harvey Beaks, I wanted to do something a lot more focused. I wanted to spend time making characters that you could connect with and care about. It’s more important to me that I make the viewer feel something in addition to making them laugh.

What do you feel is most important when you’re creating a story, whether for a kid’s show or other projects?

Tell a story that the audience can connect to emotionally. They don’t need to have been in the exact same situation, but they need to have felt what the character is feeling.

Again, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I’m really looking forward to watching this new show of yours!

Of course!

Harvey Beak is set to premiere on Nickelodeon this Sunday, March 29.

Games and Software, Indie Pennant

Indie Alert: Rustbucket Rumble

Steam powered!
Steam powered!

There is one genre dominating gaming, making a splash not only on PC players, but console players as well. MOBA (Mutiplayer Online Battle Arena) is a game type that has reached an incredible level of popularity with titles such as League of Legends, DOTA 2, and my personal favorite, Smite.  With eSports becoming bigger and bigger, MOBA is a genre that’s here to stay. In fact, other games are picking up MOBA elements as additional content, such as the Defend mode in Evolve.

What’s this talk of Champions and Minions have to do with Indie game development?

There’s an interesting spin to MOBA mechanics showing up in the indie scene of late. One of which is a game I was invited to play alongside the developers, Rustbucket Rumble.

Playing with Reactor Zero was awesome and it was interesting to hear them discuss balancing and developing the game.

Rustbucket, a 2D side scrolling team-based combat game, focuses on simplicity. The object of the game is to gather parts to build a super robot that marches straight to the enemy’s base. Where does one acquire these parts? From scraps of metal of course! Of which many robots (aka players) just happen to be made of. Players can then take these parts to their base to secure a point towards building their super robot.

scene07486However, players can be revived if they sit idle long enough; each class has a different rate of revival. A team wins when the super robot destroys the opposite base.

The each class has its own powers and statistics, fitting the mold left by the titans of the genre. For example, Daisy, the Engineer, can drop turrets and use gyro-copters to snag up recycling bins, while still able to fight as the goods are carried to base. Another player, Bjorn is a bulky robot with a flamethrower and access to a shield. His interesting mechanic is the ability to throw scraps. This comes in handy not only offensively as he can toss enemies into the base for a point, but also defensively as allies tossed into base are instantly healed.

Avoid generic viagra sildenafil enchanting a diet which includes oil and cheese. You may have the question in mind that how to get http://downtownsault.org/did8512.html discount cialis sample pack by visiting our product section and receive the medication directly to your doorsteps. Vigorelle generic sample viagra had been created taking Traditional Chinese drug method and Western herbalist. Anti-Inflammatory Effects According to a research published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in the year 2013 evaluated sildenafil 100mg 439 men for ED and compared ED causes and frequency in men in 40s or younger to men over 40 years of age are seen suffering from some extreme diseases.

I spent most of my time as Bjorn. Great for offense and defense.
Bjorn is the character I spent the most time as. Great for offense and defense.

Overall, the results are a frantic scooping up of players into recycling bins and tossing them about in hopes that they get recycled.

The pacing of each match is frantic and highly rewarding. Teams with coordination will usually come out on top, just like any MOBA. Yet, this game’s Pixar-like presentation is charming enough for anyone to have fun with the genre.

Colorful and frantic
Colorful and frantic

Rustbucket Rumble will be in Open Beta on March 16 to those who  sign up on the website. The game will be released on Steam later on.

I highly recommend signing up and giving this game a shot. Even in the Closed Beta, I absolutely love this game. Getting friends together is key to having the best time, but playing with strangers is still a blast. The mechanics are solid and interesting, while the art style is unique and charming.

 

Game File, Games and Software, Indie Pennant

Indie Alert: Song of Horror – Bringing Back Old-School Survival Horror

Protocol Games has been working on bringing back what survival horror used to be, before it became more of an action genre with some jump-scares. In August of 2014, Song of Horror was conceived: a third-person survival horror determined to freak you out and make you feel completely helpless—you know, like in the good ol’ days.

We aim to preserve and recover the feelings that the old-school survival horror masterpieces provoked in us, while also taking advantage of current technologies to build upon those foundations.

Daniel Noyer is a washed-up advertiser who has fallen on hard times; now, he has a crappy position at a publishing house. Daniel’s boss asks him to check up on the company’s most important client, renowned writer Sebastian P. Husher, who has missed some deadlines and meetings to turn in a first draft. Believing Husher has only gone dark without notifying the company, Daniel takes on the simple task. Upon arrival to Husher’s mansion, Daniel quickly realizes something is wrong: missing guard dog, lights off even though it’s night time, ajar door, dark hallway. I would have ran away and called the police, but I guess that wouldn’t be much of a game.

Daniel Noyer|Final Concept
Daniel Noyer|Final Concept

Daniel won’t be the only character you play as. You will take control of up to 16 different characters, depending on how long you can keep your characters alive. The game is divided into different chapters—not like Telltale Games episodic games—when you begin most of the chapters, you’ll choose a character to start. If your character dies, that’s it for that character and his/her storyline; you will have to choose another character to continue where the previous one died off. Each character has his/her own backstory, but will still fit in with the main story.

Sophie van Demend|Concept Art
Sophie van Denend|Concept Art

So, you should have to take the on line cialis medicine in room temperature away from sun-light and small kids. Do them on a regular basis and you will notice a difference within weeks of starting Sinrex. purchase cheap cialis Men who seek natural penis enlargement products are available in India: https://unica-web.com/archive/2015/unica2015-proposed-unica2018-nld.pdf cheapest viagra no prescription There are ample of different pen is enlargement products in the market to choose from, but the fact is that the bulk of them hold male enlargement component that don’t work at all and have bad and dangerous side effects. So, males who are suffering from oligospermia and trying how to get rid of oligospermia may take efficient natural herbal supplement Spermac capsules certainly. viagra price australia All of the playable characters are ordinary people—a doctor, shop clerk, alarms technician, sales director—with no fighting skills or weapons. To make the situation even more unnerving, the enemy is intangible, which means no combat, no defenses—not even a camera will help you. Your choices are to run, hide and “do whatever it takes to survive”; sometimes those options won’t be enough to get away from “twisted manifestations” of a “primeval horror.” Oh yea, no save points either. The game saves, but you won’t have control of when.

Defenselessness, constant terror, that “NO WAY I’M GOING DOWN THERE” moment… all of it, wrapped with an enthralling story, one that does not let you quit the game even when a part of you is wishing you did just that.

There are a variety of puzzles and riddles in the game. Some are small obstacles, others are life threatening. To keep tensions high, Protocol Games uses a movie-like camera style; all the cameras are automated, meaning players will have no control over them.

A little gameplay video to show our current cameras, lights and doors. Still a work in progress!

I’m interested to see how well all these different stories will fit into the main story. Husher is well-known, so you can assume he knows a lot of people, or at least has a lot of people working for him. A bunch of stories and characters can be distracting at times, but I’m definitely intrigued to learn about them all. This game looks and sounds scary; it reminds me a little of P.T., which, of course is a major plus—super Silent Hill fan over here.

Though Song of Horror is still in its early-development stage, the game looks great and has a lot of potential to be a horrifying experience. Protocol Games hasn’t announced a release window or platform, but you can stay updated by following its Twitter and Facebook page.

For more indie news, follow RaShaun on Twitter