Students work on a variety of key projects for the Game Art I and Virtual World Development I courses at Flashpoint Academy.

The Flashpoint Academy film students just finished production on their second films. This is a picture from the set one day last week.

Before they embarked on these films I sat in on a series of production meetings and was struck by how much the students have grown since their first productions last November. I would like to chalk it up to brilliant teaching on my part, but in fairness I think the students did most of the heavy lifting on this one. Of course they learned from their first films, but then in January and February they observed and worked with professionals on the set of The Intruder, our Production-in-Action film, and finally in the weeks leading up to this production they pulled it all together.

We had a group meeting before they set out where all the Film and Recording Arts came together and I told them how I was witnessing their transformation from film students into filmmakers. This transformation was evident all over the place; in their language- I have never heard as many people throw around the term “script lock” before and in their demeanor- they stood taller, they were more confident. They didn’t assume anything, but sought out answers to problems. This attitude was a big difference from their last productions.

This week and for the next two the students are huddled around their Avids editing the films with delivery set for April 18. It’s exciting to watch their progression, but at the same time I hope the students reflect on their own personal growth and development. They have come a long way in a very short time.

PeterH

With Actor Jay Leguizamo

With Actor Luis Guzman

With Actor Freddy Rodriguez

Edgar & Ellen Website

Ken Nordine (born April 13, 1920) is an American voiceover and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisements and movie trailers. One critic wrote that “you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you’ll almost certainly recognize his voice.”

The son of an architect, Ken Nordine was born in Cherokee, Iowa. In Chicago he attended Lane Technical College Prep High School and the University of Chicago. He has three sons with his wife Beryl whom he married in 1945. He initially attracted attention when he recorded the aural vignettes on Word Jazz on Dot in 1957. Word Jazz, Son of Word Jazz (Dot, 1958) and his other albums in this vein feature Nordine’s narration over a cool jazz background. He began performing and recording such albums at the peak of the beat movement and was associated with the poetry-and-jazz movement. However, some of Nordine’s “writings are more akin to Franz Kafka or Edgar Allan Poe” than to the beats. Many of his word jazz tracks feature critiques of societal norms. Some are lightweight and humorous, while others reveal dark, paranoid undercurrents and bizarre, dream-like scenarios.

Nordine was Linda Blair’s vocal coach for her role in The Exorcist,and Word Jazz inspired Tom Waits’ spooky, spoken word-type pieces, such as “9th and Hennepin,” “Frank’s Wild Years” and “What’s He Building?”

On television, Nordine did a series of readings on a show titled Faces in the Window, and Fred Astaire danced to Nordine’s “My Baby” on a TV special. Nordine’s past radio series were Now Nordine and Word Jazz. He currently hosts a weekly radio program and maintains residences in Chicago, Illinois, and Spread Eagle, Wisconsin.

Ken Nordine completed a DVD entitled “The Eye is Never Filled” with a scheduled release date of 14 May 2007.

So far, things have been very interesting at Flashpoint Academy this academic year, and what has been most surprising does not really exist within the typical “gaming” mentality you might expect from new game-developers-in-training here at our state-of-the-art school in Chicago.

This process comes down to establishing in our students what amounts to them becoming “modern digital professionals.” The patterns initially are the same as they have been in the past across all industries. It takes hard work. Sweat. Tears. It takes drive and ambition. It takes attention to detail. It takes the ability to deliver on time and on target, meeting and exceeding expectations in every way. Communication, both written and verbal, is essential. That feeds right into one of the most important parts: team work. No person is an island. Everything is done in collaboration. Sure, there are leaders, but without the rest of the production team, none of it is possible. Project management and time management skills are invaluable. These are all things that game studios desperately need, and so far I have not mentioned anything about their technical or creative training in the game medium! So the final pieces for the “modern digital professional” include not only these baseline “soft” skills, but new skills in balancing forever advancing technology and creativity, and making each serve the other in any task put forward.

So, does that fit the mold when it comes to your idea of a stereotypical gamer? For those interested in Flashpoint Academy: If you don’t have the capacity to go down the difficult road of being a successful “modern digital professional” and “digital artisan”, we will encourage you to get serious and get ready before you consider the unbelievable program we offer here at Flashpoint.

The exposure students here have had to those in the game industry has been exceptional. Here’s a quick recap: they have spent countless hours with our incredibly senior faculty members (each have at least ten years of professional experience in their field – well beyond what you find at typical institutions trying to teach interactive media in the way that we are doing right now), to special visits by game documentarians, game industry executives, and composers from the Halo series and Final Fantasy series (yes, Nobuo Uematsu spent a morning with us a few week ago!). And more are coming. I have not mentioned the incredible things going on in our film, recording arts, or visual effects departments (along with the cross-department collaborative projects!).

Our students have worked on developing a large number of innovative games, and they are working with cutting-edge game engines right now using the latest tools that were literally just “science fiction” a few short years ago. The whole production process, the digital asset management system, the workflow, and the responsibilities of each team member – these are all critical things for these new game developers to learn in their efforts under our guidance and supervision within our curriculum.

So, you can see, this is not just for people who are interested in playing games for a living. This is for people who want to make games, and who are willing to do what it takes to achieve the challenging heights they must reach before we launch them into this competitive industry. By the time they complete our program, they won’t need “launched” – they will be on their own feet, ready to work hard and face the challenges ahead without fear.

Footsteps, cloth, and props. It’s messy; it’s physical; it’s a day in the life of a Foley Artist. Flashpoint Academy, in a continuing effort to bring high-profile, industry professionals inside the studios and classrooms of its educational facilities at 28 North Clark Street was fortunate enough to host Vincent Guisetti yesterday in two workshop sessions.

There was a simple theme to Vincent’s message: Foley effects can breathe life into faithful, but otherwise sterile, soundtracks for motion pictures. Though it’s not complicated, it does require an eye for frame accurate precision and a feel for the natural rhythms and cadences of actor’s movements. “You have to be willing to get inside a character’s head. In essence, become that character while you are performing Foley,” he said. Vincent treated our students to many of the stories of working on roughly 350 films, TV shows, and cartoons including Passion of the Christ, Mr. Brooks, Hostel parts I & II, The Pursuit of Happyness, Talladega Nights, Behind Enemy Lines, and the last five years of SpongeBob SquarePants.

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Old Town School of Folk Music Returns to FP for a tracking session with exotic instruments as part of the Recording Arts Program.

Bass

Acoustic Guitar

The Jug

Fiddle

Stomping

DogEar Records Blog 
さて、TBMのCDが完成したその翌日、ノビヨ師匠とわたくしはDistant Worlds Tourのシカゴ公演のために遠くアメリカまで旅立ったのでした。さすがに何日間かほぼ寝ていなかった状態でしたので、いつ飛行機が離陸したかも覚えてないくらい、ぐっすりと眠れました。といっても乗り継ぎを含め、トータル15時間ほどの移動ですので、ただ寝ているだけでも疲れる距離ですよ。
しかし、いつもいつも移動はつらいと思いながらも、こうしたコンサートに出席するたびに、心から来れて良かったと満足感いっぱいで帰るんですよね。
果たして今回のコンサート後はどうなるのでしょうか？

TRAN