Shadow Planet Productions Blog

The Independent Gamer Issue 2

2012-01-26T11:08:00.000-08:00

Issue 2 of The Independent Gamer is out and it features an interview I did with them about a week ago. You can download a digital copy of the magazine for free or get a printed one for $3.80. Check it out! You can also visit their official website here.

Lantern Run World Record Captured on Video

2012-01-14T12:29:00.000-08:00

One of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet's mode is called Lantern Run, which can be played with up to four players on line or locally. Recently, I received a YouTube message from Davio14U informing me that the Lantern Run world record had been captured on video, and that it would be uploaded soon. I got a notification this morning that the videos are up! Those guys are crazy good players! Check out the three-part video below.

You can also see the single player world record on Davio14U's channel.

ITSP Nominated for an IAA

2012-01-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) today announced the finalists for the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs) and we were delighted to see that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet received a nomination in the "Best Downloadable Game of the Year" category.

The awards ceremony will take place on Thursday, February 9th at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas during the 2012 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit. They will be hosted by comedian, actor and proud game enthusiast, Jay Mohr. This year’s IAAs will be streamed live on GameSpot.com in its entirety at 7:30pm PT / 10:30pm ET.

Check out the press release for additional info.

Countdown to 2012 - ITSP Half Price

2011-12-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Xbox Marketplace has kicked off its holiday sales with "Countdown to 2012" and is offering Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet at 50% off for the entire duration of the promotion. Quite a steal, if you ask me.

You might also want to pick-up the add-on, Shadow Hunters. The add-on is awesome, but we need more people playing it on Xbox Live so that gamers can get the full benefit. It really shines when you can get a team together.

In the meantime, the game has been picking up more award nominations. Here are the latest:

Best Downloadable from Velocity Gamer Best of 2011

Best Xbox 360 from Diehard GameFAN’s 2011 Gaming Awards

Best of XBLA from IGN Best of 2011

Best Xbox 360 from 2011 Gamers' Choice Awards

Best Downloadable from BuzzFocus: Best of Video Games 2011

The Independent Gamer

2011-12-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Read the first issue of "The Independent Gamer", the magazine for independent games and developers, on-line for free. Click here.

ITSP at Disney's Tomorrow Land Pavillion

2011-12-14T12:37:00.000-08:00

When Joe and his charming girlfriend walked into the Innoventions Pavillion at Disneyland's Tomorrow Land to see an exhibit on the future of gaming, they were surprised and delighted to see videos of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet playing on several monitors of the exhibition wall! Now, how cool is that?

Annie Award Nomination and More

2011-12-07T14:14:00.000-08:00

I just learned that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet has been nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Video Game. You can see the full list of nominees here.

Besides the Annie, the game has been gathering various industry nominations. Here's three more to add to the list:

Best Downloadable from X-Play's Best of the Year

Best Licensed Music from The Annual Video Game Music Award

Best Downloadable from Gamers Headquaters Video Game Award

Two More Nominations

2011-11-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

ITSP has been nominated for an IGM - Game of the Year Award and a Game Fanatics Award in the "Best of XBLA" category.

Video Game Award (VGA) Nomination

2011-11-16T14:22:00.000-08:00

How cool is that? Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is nominated for a VGA in the category, "Best Downloadable". Let's keep our fingers crossed! Check out the official site and cast your vote.

For Your Consideration

2011-11-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

There's about one thousand videos of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet on YouTube from various sources, so I feel a bit hesitant about adding more. However, since I had to create new videos for awards submissions (yes, it's that time of the year again), I thought I'd share them here.

The first one features gameplay footage with in-game music from the Shadow Hunters mode, composed by Andrew Scott, Troy Lawlor and Dan Bruington.

The second video features game's cinematics with music by Dimmu Borgir.

Shadow Hunters Concept Gallery

2011-10-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the successful release of our first DLC, Shadow Hunters, I decided to put together this concept gallery to give the viewer a little insight into our creative process. Check it out here!

Download Magazine Volume 1

2011-10-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

The first issue of Download has been released and features 18 pages devoted to Insanely twisted Shadow Planet. This high quality, square bound French magazine focuses on downloadable games and is a visual treat for anyone interested in videogames. More info here.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet Game Add-On: Shadow Hunters On Sale 10/12/11

2011-10-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

Seattle, WA, October 2011 – Shadow Planet Productions is pleased to bring Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet's first Game Add-On, Shadow Hunters, to Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Shadow Planet Productions' partners and creators of ITSP, Michel Gagné (Gagne International) and Joe Olson (Fuelcell Games), are confident that this addition will further enhance the player’s experience and expand upon the narrative of the main campaign, as well as give an opportunity to tackle new challenges alone, or team up with your friends locally or over Xbox LIVE on your quest to eradicate the remnants of the invasive shadow virus.

This new mode begins with a cinematic that picks up exactly where the final scene of the main campaign left off. In a nearby asteroid belt, the Shadow Entity still thrives, and the player must clear these asteroids of the nefarious presence before it begins to spread again.

“Shadow Hunters won't be more of the same”, said artist Michel Gagné. “I'm really happy that we were able to further the story, steer the art in a fresh direction, and create an adrenaline charged gaming experience. As far as I'm concerned, Shadow Hunters may very well be the most exciting part of ITSP.”

“The whole team has really outdone themselves on Shadow Hunters”, said Olson, CEO of Fuelcell Games. “We started with the exploration and puzzle elements from the Campaign and incorporated those with the procedurally generated level and fast paced decision making elements from Lantern Run, then pushed these ideas even further to create a challenging and addictive new game mode in the Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet universe.”

Shadow Hunters will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade on October 12th, 2011, for 400 Microsoft Points.

For more information on Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet visit www.insanelytwistedshadowplanet.com or the official blog at http://michelgagne.blogspot.com.

ITSP Hunters Hands On Preview

2011-09-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last week, we had the pleasure of having game critic, Brad Gallaway, and a small group from PNWjournos meet us at Fuelcell Games to try out our upcoming DLC, ITSP Hunters. We were delighted by their reactions! Read all about it here.

Interview @ Gamasutra

2011-09-06T16:58:00.000-07:00

Recently, Joe and I had a chat with Jason Johnson from Gamasutra. Check it out!

ITSP on The Totally Rad Show

2011-08-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

N4G Reviews Compiler

2011-08-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Keep track of ITSP's reviews on N4G.

Reviews and Release

2011-08-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

The reviews for ITSP have been coming in and we're keeping track of them on our twitter account. Check them out!

The game is being release on XBLA tomorrow! Make sure you download the trial and give it a spin. I think you'll like what you find!

ITSP's Animated Credits

2011-08-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy seeing movies with animated credits. I even got to do the opening credits for the movie, Osmosis Jones, during my tenure as head of 2D special effects at Warner Brothers Feature Animation. We thought it would be fun to cap off our videogame with its very own set of animated credits. I had a blast putting those together. I hope you enjoy them!

Insanely Twisted Haiku

2011-07-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

GameRevolution.com is having a little contest. Here's your chance to win a copy of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet! From their website:

Here's the deal: You have to write a haiku using any ONE of the following words: Insanely, Twisted, Shadow, or Planet. How you use those words is up to you. The words surrounding those words is up to you as well. Really, we're not about to inhibit your creativity. We want to see what you can come up with!

Check it out!

San Diego Comic-Con and More

2011-07-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Joe and I will be showing the game and unveiling the four-player coopetitive mode at San Diego Comic-Con at these events:

Thursday, July 21 - Xbox Media Showcase 8:00 pm – Midnight

Saturday, July 23 – Xbox Lounge in Hard Rock Hotel 9:00 am – 7:00 pm

Sunday, July 24 – Xbox Lounge in Hard Rock Hotel 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

We popped the champagne open this week as our game went gold and passed Cert with flying colors in both, Compliance and Functional. We are good to launch! The game will be release August 3rd as the third XBLA's "Summer of Arcade 2011" title. It will retail for 1200 points ($15).

I will also be signing my new 200-page full color graphic novel, The Saga of Rex (which might also become a game at a later date) at these times:

Friday, July 22 – Image Comics (Booth #2729) 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Friday, July 22 – Flight (Booth #2235) 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Sunday, July 24 – Image Comics (Booth #2729) 11:00 am – Noon

Concept Art

2011-06-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

On your journey through the Shadow Planet, you will uncover icons that will grant you access to 37 pieces of concept art that I painted for the game. After we decided which 37 pieces would be hidden in the game, we were still left with a large amount of nice material. As a result, we decided to put some of this material on-line for your viewing pleasure. Click here to check it out!

XBLA Fans - Best of E3 Awards

2011-06-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Awesome news! XBLA Fans named ITSP, E3's Best of Show! Check out the full list of winners here.

And here's a nice write up from MSNBC Technoblog - "...breathtaking to behold. Like some kind of divine combination of art and gaming..."

More Coverage from E3 and a French Interview

2011-06-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

LVL Up Podcast - E3 2010 Awards "Best Indie/New Original Game"

MTV - "one of those rare moments in this industry"

Movies for the Masses - This one is in Greek!

Games Radar - "Don’t sleep on this indie gem – it’s going to be fantastic"

Padinga.com released their top games from E3 and ITSP is in there!

At last, here's a little French interview I did recently about ITSP.

Follow ITSP on Twitter

2011-06-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Einstein Award

2011-06-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

GamePro just released their list of "Best of E3" awards and I was delighted to see that ITSP made the cut!

ITSP Wraps Up and E3 Feedback

2011-06-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

It has been a long and difficult journey, but we have persevered and conquered! ITSP is finally done! I want to thank from the bottom of my heart, my partner Joe Olson and his amazing team at Fuelcell Games (Jonathan Peters, John Scrapper, Garret Smith, Travis Phelps, Dmitri Salcedo, Troy Lawlor, Corwin Light-Williams, Chris Eng, Thomas O'Connor, Ryan Meyer, Kimberly Walker, Daniel Rosas, Bryanna Lindsay, David Heutmaker) for going above and beyond the call of duty. Five years ago, I went into this not knowing anything about how games were made. If it wasn't for their talent, guidance and expertise, this game would not exist.

I also want to give props to my wife, Nancy, who not only supported me through this demanding endeavor, but she also was an instrumental part in managing Shadow Planet Productions and Gagne International throughout the whole process. Big thanks also to my friend and noise maker, Andrew Scott, who like me, went into this project with no game experience and managed to create one of the most beautiful soundscape I've ever heard.

Last week, we presented the game at E3 and the response was fabulous. We received four "Best of E3" nominations:

Best Original Game from Machinima.com
Best Downloadable Game from 1Up
Best Downloadable Game and Most Original Game from G4

Several reviewers were able to try the game for themselves. We're delighted to see their positive reviews. Check them out:

Destructoid
The Escapist
Game Spot
Joystiq
The Next Level
XBLA Ratings
XBLA Fans

We also made some very cool lists:

Top 20 games of E3 2011 from Men's Health (CNET)
Best Of Console Digital News: The E3 Roundup from Game Sutra
Top 10 Sleepers of E3 2011 from 1Up
Best Of E3 2011 - Top 10 Games From The Show from MTV

More updates coming soon!

Final Trailer + 10 Screen Shots

2011-06-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

E3 and a New Review

2011-06-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

Come play ITSP and meet Joe Olson and I (Michel Gagné) at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), June 7-9, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, South Hall – Space 1637.

On a side note, here's a new review of our demo that was just posted at Crush!Frag!Destroy! This brings the total of reviews of our PAX demo to 22 (those are the ones we know of). You can check out all the reviews at this link (PAX Demo Reviews).

Interview at Polygamer

2011-05-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

For those who can read French, here's a recent interview that was published on Polygamer.

The First Official ITSP Collectible

2011-04-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

One thing I forgot to mention about PAX East last March, was the fact that the XBLA marketing department released a set of 6 limited edition postcards featuring Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and other upcoming games. The postcards, designed to look like vintage movie posters, were quite a hit with the crowd. Only 700 copies of the set were printed so those puppies are pretty rare. Here's a look.

A Day In My Life...

2011-04-18T19:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by Mercedes Milligan, associate editor for Animation Magazine. She asked me if I'd be willing to be the subject of their monthly feature called, “A Day in the Life of...”, to which I answered, "sure, why not!"

And so, I proceeded to photographically document my day, giving an insight into my not so glamorous life. The pictures and captions I provided are featured in the April/May issue. I scanned the page for your viewing pleasure. Click here for a larger view.

Sweet Shadowy Dreams

2011-03-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Bartek Kielban sent me a picture of his bedroom. He writes: "After being inspired by your work we want to send you a photos of my room painted similar to your arts from Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet."

Nicely done!

Back From PAX

2011-03-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

Joe, Andrew Scott (sound maestro) and I had a lot of fun in Boston at the PAX convention. The reception to ITSP was incredible. The booth stayed completely busy the whole time with lines of anxious gamers waiting patiently their turns to experience ITSP. Everyone was so excited and positive towards the game, it really warmed our hearts.

Joe and I did several interviews and answered a lot of questions. We were given the go ahead by Microsoft to reveal that the game will be released this summer and that it will feature a coop version.

Observing people playing the game was very insightful. We took a lot of notes and will make sure to use the knowledge we gathered to make the game even better.

Here's a sample of the reviews we received from journalists who got to test the game for themselves:

IGN
Critical Bits
Indie Games
Gay Gamer
Platform Nation
Horrible Night
Armless Octopus
Game Rant
Rax Dakkar
Side Questing
VGrevolution
My Gamers
4PlayerPodCast

PAX East Gameplay Footage

2011-03-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

We'll have more on our visit to PAX East in the coming days! Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

PAX East, New Website and Press Release

2011-03-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

The past few months have been quite a marathon, to say the least, with Joe and I, as well as members of our team working into the wee hours of the morning. We're approaching the completion of the game and we're all dedicating ourselves to make ITSP as memorable as possible.

Joe, Andrew Scott (our sound maestro) and I will be flying to Boston tomorrow to unveil the game at PAX East on March 11th. You can read our press release here.

I've also designed a new website that centralizes everything about Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. Even this blog will now be readable within the main website. Go check it out at www.InsanelyTwistedShadowPlanet.com.

The website is going to keep growing with artwork and videos added periodically until the release date. Check out the art gallery for a peak at what's coming!

Last but certainly not least, we're going to release a gameplay video with 10 minutes of footage to coincide with the PAX event. Make sure you check out our video section on march 11th when the videos go live.

Coverage from Montreal

2011-03-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

Insanely Twisted shadow Planet has caught the eyes of La Presse, Canada's largest francophone newspaper. They did a video interview with me a few days ago, and today, they published a cool little article in both the printed and on-line version of the newspaper. Here's a link to the article.

My apologies to my partner, Joe Olson, who gets referred to as Joe Wilson in the article.

Prelude to Eden

2011-02-08T12:39:00.001-08:00

We're going to have some big news about the game very soon. We're all working around the clock as our completion deadline approaches. We're asking everyone for a bit more patience. I guarantee you will all agree that it was worth it when you see the finished game. In the meantime I thought I'd post my 1995 short film, Prelude to Eden, which I just uploaded on YouTube in full HD 1080P.

Videogames as Art

2010-10-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

I recently became aware that the famous movie critic Roger Ebert wrote,"videogames can never be art". I find it puzzling that he could make such a statement, since what attracts me to videogames, as an artist, is the unlimited potential for art. The cinematics are one of the many aspects that get my creative juice flowing.

While building the cinematics, I've been forced to constantly use my imagination to solve creative and technical problems while remaining on target for our milestones. It has been challenging and exhilarating at the same time. One of the thing that Joe and I agreed upon right off the bat was to keep them short and sweet - focus on quality rather than quantity. I'll take two great minutes of animation over twenty minutes of average any time. We want the cinematics to feel like rewards, not something you want to fast-forward through.

The next challenge will be to make the transition between cinematics and game play completely seemless. I look forward to that!

Dimmu Borgir

2010-09-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

We're very happy to officially announce that the music of Dimmu Borgir, courtesy of Nuclear Blast and Prophesies Publishings, will be featured in our game's cinematics. The music is beautiful and epic and really adds power to the images.

A bunch of us from the studio went to see them in Seattle the last time they were in town and we loved the show. We’re delighted to have them be a part of our project.

My New Short Film, Sensology

2010-08-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

We're going to be posting some updates on the game soon. In the meantime, I thought I'd share my recently finished short film, Sensology. Enjoy.

Let's Paint An ITSP Stencil

2010-06-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

Our trailer for ITSP inspired Ian Fagan, an artist from Portland, to create a stencil painting of one of the creatures featured in the game. He posted a video on YouTube demonstrating his technique. Check it out.

30 fps vs 24 fps

2010-05-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

When I started doing animation work on ITSP, Joe told me that 30 frames (or more) per second was standard for video games. I've always animated at 24 frames per second, that being the standard for the movie industry. Since a lot of the animation I do is hand drawn, increasing the frame rate by 20% meant a lot more hours to produce the same lenght of animation.

And so, Joe and I decided that I would animate at 24 fps and the game engine would adjust its playback speed when displaying my animation.

But then, I saw how smooth and silky my animation looked when we mistakenly displayed it at 30 fps. I was immediately hooked. I love how animation looks at this increased rate, especially when it's hand drawn!

So no worry, all the animation in the game will be at a minimum of 30 fps. No cheat!

Fixed Fragmented Fluid

2010-04-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd let everyone know about my upcoming animated project which will premiere in Vancouver on June 25th, 2010. I've wanted to do a project such as this for many years, ever since I discovered the abstract work of Oscar Fischinger, Norman Mclaren, Kandinsky and Yves Tanguy. I got started in 2006, and now, four years later, I'm finally going to be able to share this work with an audience.

Using cutting edge technology, I will be performing the animation with the musicians, creating a dialogue between music and images that should be quite exciting. I would like to point out that the seven musicians involved in the project are all fantastic and are worth the price of admission all by themselves. So if you're in Vancouver on June 25th, you might want to check it out! Tickets can be purchased here.

You can read about how the project came about here.

New Website Layout

2010-04-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

I've reconstructed the layout for the official site.

At the bottom of the webpage, I embeded a 1080P new rendering of the interstitials that inspired the game. The shorts were never showed in HD before. I still had the source files and was able to make a new version. Check it out.

Michel Gagne and Fuelcell Games Bring Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet to Xbox LIVE

2010-03-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Seattle, WA, March 2010 – Michel Gagne and Fuelcell Games are pleased to bring their independent video game, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, to Xbox Live® Arcade.

Michel Gagne and Joe Olson, CEO of Fuelcell Games, met in 2007 in Seattle’s Fremont district where they discussed the possibility of bringing feature quality 2d animation to the gaming world in a classic side-scrolling adventure. Shortly after, a production team was assembled and Fuelcell Games was born. Their mission: bring the vision of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet to life.

“This is one of the most thrilling projects of my career”, said Gagne. “I love working on ITSP with Joe and his team. It amazes me to see how they’re able to expand on my concepts and animations and create such a memorable interactive experience. Simply put, this game is going to rock!”

The Fuelcell team has been busy building a studio infrastructure and quietly working with Gagne on ITSP while exploring partnerships to develop the game. After months of negotiation with several entities, it was decided that Microsoft and Xbox LIVE Arcade was the best possible home for the project.

“The team here at Fuelcell is incredibly excited to be starting production in full force on Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet”, said Olson. “We’ve assembled an extremely talented, dedicated, and passionate group of people around this unique project. The combined forces of our team of game industry veterans, Michel’s unique artistic style and vision, and Microsoft’s expertise in the downloadable game space is sure to make for a lasting impression on 2D gaming.”

“Microsoft is thrilled to have Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet heading to Xbox LIVE Arcade”, said Saxs Persson, Senior Director of Xbox LIVE Arcade. “We look forward to helping Michel and Fuelcell realize their creative vision, and continuing to support independent developers looking to drive innovation on our service.”

For more information on Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet visit www.insanelytwistedshadowplanet.com or the official blog at http://michelgagne.blogspot.com.

Catsuka

2010-03-18T10:59:00.001-07:00

Catsuka is the first French television program entirely devoted to animation. Each episode features news, clips, short films, studio spotlights and artist profiles. I was honored to be the featured artist on the just released episode five (segment starts at 5:00). The episodes are in French but each one is filled with enough eye candy to keep your interest even if you can't understand the language.

Spawn

2010-02-05T15:39:00.000-08:00

I did this interpretation of Todd McFarlane's famous character for my pal Royce Viso about 10 years ago. I'm glad I took a scan before giving it to him.

By the way, I know there are a lot of people waiting to hear what's happening with the game. I can't say much at this point except that we have a verbal agreement with a publisher and we expect to make a big announcement very soon.

ITSP Gets Mexican Exposure

2010-01-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a piece of coverage from south of the border. You can read the article from issue #46 of Gamers Magazine (if you know Spanish) in PDF form by clicking here.

Shadow Tidbits: Outlaw Social Zombies

2010-01-04T15:45:00.000-08:00

Last November, I posted about a shadow puppet show I designed for the Victoria Philharmonic Choir in 2007, called The Spectre's Bride. The opening act for the show was a band called Outlaw Social. I was commissioned to do a zombie shadow puppet rendition of the band members for the event's press material.

...and here is the picture I had to work from:

ITSP Gets Russian Exposure

2009-12-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

Last summer, we were contacted by the editor of a Russian gaming magazine called Igromania. They wanted to do a feature on our game and sent us a bunch of questions. We went back and forth with emails and phone calls and later, we were sent a PDF of the two-page spread layout. Looks like the issue came out last September. We'd love to get a physical copy of it if anyone has a spare.

Shadow Tidbits: Brett's Tattoo

2009-12-12T10:52:00.001-08:00

Last June, my good friend Brett called from Iowa to tell me that he was going to get a tattoo of two of my designs that he had cobbled together.

When he sent me an image of what he had done, I almost got sick. I never do tattoos for people (please don't ask) but what he was going to have permanently tattooed on his body was so hideous that I had no choice but to agree to quickly come up with a better design. I fired up my Cintiq tablet and fifteen minutes later, I email him this design which he immediately got tattooed on his lower back.

Shadow Tidbits: ZED #8

2009-12-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

As I mentionned in my last post, we're in serious negotiations to get the game signed. This means that until the signatures are inked on the contract, we have to stay quiet about ITSP. Fuelcell have been making lots of progress on the technology side of things and I personally can't wait to get back in the saddle in March 2010, when we are scheduled to resume full production. In the meantime, I'm going to be doing a series of post called "Shadow Tidbits", which will display some of my artwork past and present, that features shadow silhouette imagery. This is kind of a follow-up to "My History with Shadow Puppets" posts I've been doing these past weeks.

First up, is the cover of ZED #8, which came out in March 2007. ZED is a comic series I started in 2001, and I've been doing one issue a year ever since. I'm planning on releasing the final issue, ZED #10, in September 2010, exactly 10 years after the release of issue #1.

ZED is the story of a cute and adorable alien scientist who discovers a clean and efficient way to produce energy. When he demonstrates his invention , he inadvertently triggers a deadly chain of events - a monumental disaster that claims the life of his parents, the hierarchy of the galaxy, and 60 billion beings. Suddenly, his dreams of offering his society free energy become a nightmare as little ZED must come to terms with the knowledge that he caused the death of his parents and the annihilation of an entire planet; and now he's a pariah, hated by virtually everyone. As the story progresses, we realize that things may not be as they seemed at first.

Among the comics' recurring cast, is the Heavy Metal shadow band called Krah which is features here, on the cover of ZED #8.

More on ZED at www.zedcomics.com.

Update

2009-11-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

We're in negotiations and are hoping to sign a deal soon. Our goal is to find the best home for ITSP and resume full production in March. In the meantime, I'm working on Fixed Fluid Fragmented, Flight 7, as well as a project with Electronic Arts, which I can't talk about at this point. To keep the blog going until we make an official announcement, I'll be posting artworks from my past and present done in a shadow puppet style.

Joe is also doing an interview and we'll post that as soon as it goes live.

My History with Shadow Puppets Part 7

2009-11-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

In June 2007, I was contacted by Simon Capet, artistic director of the Victoria Philharmonic Choir. He asked me if I'd be interested in production designing a live shadow puppet theatrical presentation of Dvorak's epic masterpiece, "The Spectre's Bride". It didn't take long for me to agree to the proposal.

The two shows took place at the University of Victoria’s Farquhar theater in British Columbia, Canada on October 30 and 31, 2009. The sold out performances featured a 65-piece orchestra and 80-voice choir, along with soloists Ken Lavigne, tenor, Anne Grimm, soprano, and Bruce Kelly, baritone. It premiered a new English libretto by Mollie Kaye. Puppeteer Tim Gosley assisted by members of the Puppetry Guild of Victoria handled the choreography of the shadow puppets presentation.

My tasks included designing all the sets, characters and props. You can see some more sample of this work here.

New Studio Space

2009-11-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

It's actually been a few months since Fuelcell moved into it's new studio space, but it's been such a busy few months I haven't had a chance to post some photos, until now. It features a covered entry with a better view, our walls are a bit thicker, and there's much more usable space than the last studio.

So much space in fact that we used a bit of it to house the classic 1988 Williams pinball: The Cyclone, one of my favorite tables when I was a teenager. Chris Eng, our junior programmer, currently holds the high score at 9,952,390.

My History with Shadow Puppets Part 6

2009-10-31T13:28:00.001-07:00

In July 2004, I had a meeting with Anissa Dorsey, director of development at Cartoon Network. Anissa expressed her enthusiasm for my work and asked me if I'd be interested in doing shorts for CN. After a few weeks of brainstorming, I came up with a concept for a series: Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppet Show!

I proceeded to do a visual package demonstrating my concepts and pitched the project to Cartoon Network, as well as Disney and Nickelodeon. Cartoon Network and Disney both passed, but Nickelodeon liked the idea. After a few back and forth discussions, Nickelodeon decided to give me a budget to produce 10 short interstitials (the short pieces that go between the shows and the commercials) based on the idea.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets aired on Nickelodeon on Halloween 2005. You can view all the interstitials here, and read a production diary of the project here.

Bellingham Comicon

2009-10-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

I will be a guest at the Bellingham Comicon this coming Saturday, October 24th.

A few days ago, I was asked to submit some artwork to publicize the event. To my surprise and delight, a still of our upcoming videogame was used as the cover of Take Five, the entertainment section of Bellingham's prime newspaper, The Bellingham Herald.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, come on by. I'll be there with books, comics, prints, etc, and will be on hand to answer all the questions you might have about ITSP. Hope to see you there!

My History with Shadow Puppets Part 5

2009-10-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

In 1993, when I did effects animation on Demolition Man (Check this clip to see some of the animation I did with John Van Vliet and James Mansfield), I had to ink all my drawings with black pens so that high contrast elements for the optical printer could be created. I thought the drawings all filled in with black ink looked really cool!

Once in a while, I return to that technique, and start filling in my effects concepts with black ink so I can get a stark silhouette of the design. Here are samples from The Iron Giant and Osmosis Jones which I did while I was the leading FX designer at Warner Brothers Feature Animation.

My History with Shadow Puppets Part 4

2009-10-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of 2000, after completing the effects work on "The Iron Giant", I joined the visual devellopment team on the movie, "Osmosis Jones" for which I designed and supervised the special effects.

One of my early assignment was to create a series of teaser posters for the movie.

For this, I decided to work in a shadow puppet and high contrast silhouette style.

Unfortunately all my posters were rejected in favor of a more cartoony approach. You can click here for a larger view.

Joe Answers some Questions @ Joystiq.com

2009-10-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Click here to read.

My History with Shadow Puppets Part 3

2009-09-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

In 1997, I wrote and illustrated my first storybook, A Search for Meaning: The Story of Rex. In July 1998, I took the plunge and self-published the book as a signed and number limited edition hardcover (1000 copies printed).

In the book, a little fox named Rex goes through a series of strange landscapes, meeting weird and unusual creatures in his search for enlightment. The story is somewhat autobiographical and reflected my own spiritual quest at the time. I used several black silhouette ink drawings within its pages, as well as on the cover (although, the current edition of the book uses a different, more colorful cover).

The following two years, I wrote, illustrated and published three more books in the same format: The Mystery of He, The Great Shadow Migration and The Bird, The Spider and the Octopus. Each one explored more of my strange concepts and philosophy. These first four books in my bibliography all used shadow puppet imagery to various degree to convey rhythm, mood and ideas.

These limited edition books were a big hit at the San Diego Comic-Con and quickly sold out. In 2004, I digitally remastered all the artwork and repackaged all four books into a 126-page anthology called Parables, again using a silhouette illustration as the cover.

These works were the launch of my publishing career and they really helped defined my illustrative style. I still have a soft spot for them.

My History With Shadow Puppets Part 2

2009-09-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

From 1996 to 1998, after seeing a Kandinsky exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), I became completely obsessed with doing fine art.

At the time, I was supervising special effects for Warner Bros Feature Animation which was a pretty demanding job - but still, I managed to create 75 fine art pieces in that two-year period which were displayed in several gallery shows.

The pieces were mostly abstract in nature and were done in a wide spectrum of mediums: acrylic paintings, wood sculptures, collage and ink and mixed-media. They ranged from large to small and complex to simple. All the pieces are very silhouette oriented and several of them use black to strongly define the shapes.

Doing fine art was a way to relax and express myself without commercial constraint, but more than that, it allowed me to build and elaborate my own visual language and iconography which would later show up in all my further work: special effects, book illustrations, comics, etc. A lot of the ideas I came up with during this phase of my art are being transposed and developed in our game, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet.

I rarely have time to do fine art these days but every once in a while, I'll create a piece for a gallery show and as usual, the silhouette aspect is always present. You can view a sample of some of my fine art work at this link.

My History With Shadow Puppets Part 1

2009-09-11T17:40:00.000-07:00

Although my art has many facets, I've always enjoyed the art of silhouette. Perhaps it is due to the fact that I see the world in 2D, having lost an eye at the age of twelve. My world has been 2D for many years.

But then again, in 1974 at the age of nine, three years before I lost my right eye, I designed this logo for my mother's store. The store has been sold and resold several times, but the logo still stands.

Looking at it today, it bears a strange resemblance to some of the design work in ITSP.

Interview @ The Reticule

2009-09-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Here's our latest and probably last interview for a while. Click here to read.

Interview @ Platform Nation

2009-08-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Click here to read.

Wallpaper and Trailer HD Masters

2009-08-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

Our exclusive deal with Gametrailers.com has reached its term so we are free to make the trailer available to anyone who wants it. We've created a series of 6 HD masters with different type of compression as well as a lossless version.

We've also had several request for wallpaper images. That's why we are releasing 31 hi-res images (1920 x 1080) to the public.

You get get the goodies at this link.

Interview @ Core Gamers

2009-08-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

Click to read interview

Here's our little alien.

2009-08-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the design of the little alien scientist we finally settled upon. You can see him in action (briefly) in the trailer at 0:44 - 0:45.

We've built this little guy in 3D and are using Maya for the animation. However, our goal is to make the final animation look completely hand drawn. Our test footage so far is very promising.

Update

2009-07-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

We've got a lot brewing right now. We had a big breakthrough in our technology this week which opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. My brain is buzzing with design ideas and I look forward to create visuals that will help implement this new technology.

Next week, I'll be visiting my family in Quebec while Fuelcell is relocating to a spiffy new facility. I can't wait to see the new studio when I get back.

If you are a member of the press who has contacted us and we haven't responded, you might want to send us a reminder in a couple of weeks. Joe has been answering a huge amount of emails but some of them are bound to slip under the radar.

In earlier posts, I've shown some of my failed attempts at designing our main alien character. Here are two more designs that didn't make the cut.

A Big Thank You

2009-07-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

The reaction to the trailer was very positive. The release did exactly what we were hoping it would do: get the attention of publishers.

We'd like to thank everyone in the media who posted about our trailer and helped spread the word. You can read some of the coverage we received through the links below:

Kotaku, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Destructoid, el33tonline, Notcot, Giant Bomb, Awesome Radical Gaming, Killer Wolverine's News Blog, Solomother, onelargeprawn, Gamer Limit, Spons, Gamer Sushi, Geekstrike, Info Addict, Elotrolado, TIGSource, En Direct de mon Ecran, 1Up, Aroba 8 Ball, Indie Games, Mike DiLuigi, N4G, Fidgit, Offworld, Alexoid, CJP, MediaWhoreNetwork, VG247, Gaygamer, 4 Color rebellion, We Game, AATG, Vox Ex Machina, Neoteo, Joystiq, XBox Mag, Game Almighty, The Awesomer, Boing Boing, The Android Workshop, Team Liquid, 360 Only, Nations of Videogames, Ecrans, Button Masher, The Bayle, Epic Battle Axe, PC Dome, Current Gaming, Frederator, Info Addict, Headphonaught's Nanolog, VideoJuego, Aeromental, Gamegea, CG Hub, Niubie, Sarcastic Gamer, UnderPC, Universe Bot, The Weird Pixel, 4 Player Podcast, Video Games Blogger, Game Blog, Beef Jack, Crush! Frag! Destroy!, Oddlight, Valhalla, Reign in Blog, Gamers Throne, La Pause du Gamer, Unreality Magazine, What They Play and Cartoon Brew.

This past week, we've been asked a lot of questions concerning platforms, release date, software, wall paper, etc. We'll be tackling all these issues in future posts so make sure you stay tuned.

New HD Trailer on GameTrailers.com

2009-07-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

Watch the new trailer for Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet on Gametrailers.com:
HD Version - Standard Version.

Here's a little history of our project so far:

In 2007, Joe Olson and I discussed the idea of collaborating on a video game project. We imagined a side-scroller that would combine old school arcade style game play with feature film quality design and animation. Thus was born Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet.

Soon after, Joe, a team of industry veterans, and I formed a partnership to begin development. A few months later, on August 27, 2007, we released our first trailer on-line. Yes, it's been a while, but by no means have we been standing still. Since starting the project, we developed the story arc and interstitials; we created environments, creatures, and mind-bending effects animation; we’ve blocked out levels, came up with new, exciting and challenging game designs; we resolved technical issues and made several technological breakthroughs.

We are excited to share some of the progress in this new trailer, which consists entirely of in-game footage. It conveys the scope, style, and breadth of the experience we aim to bring to the player.

The trailer also features the track “Blood Hunger Doctrine” from the album Death Cult Armageddon by Dimmu Borgir, used here with gracious permission by the band and its record label, Nuclear Blast.

We are hoping that the release of this trailer will bring forth potential financial partners who share our passion for Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and who can help us bring this title to the marketplace.

We strongly believe that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is going to be a hit, and the few who have glimpsed the progress unanimously agree. Twenty minutes of footage from the game were shown recently to attendees at the Industry Giants symposium in Austin, Texas, and the audience responded with great enthusiasm. You can read some of their comments here.

The 8-Bit Legacy

2009-07-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

When Joe originally approached me to partner up for a video game venture, my first response was to state my ignorance in the field. I told him that despite having been commissioned by both Disney and Sony to create designs for two video game projects that never saw the light of the day, my knowledge of the field was extremely limited. In fact, beside a short stint playing the original DOOM, my game playing days go back to the 8-bit era for which I have very fond memories.

I suggested to Joe that we could take the stylistic approach of an old-school 8-bit side-scroller, but instead of crude graphics, we could make it look like a feature quality classically animated film. Joe loved the idea and a few days later, we were at work building on the concept.

The two stylized art pieces (Space Invaders and Pacman) posted here are not from our game. They are two ink/pencil drawings I did for an 8-Bit tribute art show that took place in Los Angeles a few years ago. I thought they were relevant to the subject of this post and would be a fun addition to the blog.

Nailing the Concept

2009-06-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges of developing Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is transferring Michel's unique style to the interactive environment. Our goal is to give the player an experience of being the central figure in an animated film drawn by Michel Gagne. While we generally use Michel's concepts to set the visual bar and to provide mood and composition, in this case the end result is extremely close to the initial vision.

Below I've posted 2 images. One is an in-game screenshot I captured recently, the other one is from Michel's original concepts. Enjoy!

Pixar and Skeleton Crew

2009-06-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

I've been working on Pixar's "The Bear and the Bow" since we finished the Microsoft presentation. Work on ITSP is still forging ahead at Fuelcell with a small skeleton crew and I'm reviewing the progress on a weekly basis. This game is getting done.

Anyhow, here's another rejected design of our little alien I did about a year ago.

Our Newest Recruit: Chris Eng

2009-06-14T12:28:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a moment (and some of Michel's blog space) to introduce a new member of the Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet team here at FuelCell - Chris Eng. Chris applied to FuelCell for an internship under the University of Washington's Computing & Software Systems course and ever since has been instrumental in the development of ITSP. Most notably lending a much needed programming hand in the demo build we put together for the XBLA group at Microsoft. Contributing everything from AI state machines to bug fixes and polish, (even Michel can't break the build now!) Chris really knocked it out of the park.

Recently Chris graduated and gave a presentation on his internship at the UW's Bothel campus. A number of the FuelCell staff was on hand to witness this great moment in video game history, so I thought I'd share some photos with you. Also, it's good to mention Chris took first prize in the poster design section of the presentation - which not only comes with bragging rights, but also a large bag of victory blow pops. Congratulations Chris!

More Alien Madness

2009-06-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

The presentation at the "Industry Giants" conference went extremely well. All the footage I showed was enthusiastically received with cheers and applause.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera out of my suitcase so I don't have any pictures to share. To make up for it, here's another rejected design I did for our main alien character.

Industry Giants

2009-05-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'd like to invite those who live in or around the Dallas area, to come and check out the Industry Giants symposium on June 5th and 6th. Among other things, I am scheduled to give a presentation where I'll discuss the making of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. I promise to show lots of never-before-seen gameplay footage.

Interview @ The Escapist

2009-05-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Nathan Meunier, from the popular gamer website, The Escapist. Nathan writes a bi-monthly column called Indie Queue that highlights indie games currently in-development. The interview came out today, so check it out!

Microsoft Presentation

2009-05-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

The presentation with Microsoft on Thursday went extremely well.

We all worked our butts off to give them an eye full and without sounding pretentious, I must say that we really delivered. Getting the new demo ready for the presentation was no small feat. Our meeting was scheduled for Thursday 10 am and, after weeks of long hours, we completed the presentation material by Thursday 5 am! The whole team came through big time! Joe, Jonathan and myself went to the pitch having not slept for over a day. We all looked pretty exhausted, but fortunately, the work we showed spoke for itself.

We have a new two and a half minute HD trailer and a bunch of video captures of actual game play that I'm extremely proud of. Everything is coming along beautifully. I can't wait to share some of this stuff with the internet world. I hate the trailer that is currently on line as I feel it is no longer representative of the quality and the sheer epicness of our game. But since we are talking with Microsoft, we will not be releasing any of the new material for the time being. You'll have to be patient. In the meantime, we'll keep posting preliminary artwork and screen grabs to keep you checking the blog.

Upcoming Presentation

2009-05-09T12:16:00.001-07:00

The last few days have been intense to say the least. We're getting ready for a big Microsoft presentation this coming Thursday. We've got a lot of new exciting footage and gameplay to show them and we have a revised proposal that should be quite enticing. Our new 2.5 minutes HD trailer showing the overall vision of the project should make a strong impression. ITSP on the Xbox could be a cool thing indeed!

The Homebase Observatory

2009-05-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

When art directing the opening part of the adventure, set on our alien homeworld, I wanted to make sure to create an environment that would contrast strongly with the shadow world. I used soft and earthy colors, and restrained myself to not go too weird on the vegetation, as I wanted to keep the really strange stuff for later on. This image shows the homebase/observatory where our alien hero observes the shadow planet, keeps his equipment, and builds his ship.

Another One from the Reject Pile

2009-04-25T11:54:00.001-07:00

In our search to find a design for our alien hero, I came up with some pretty weird concepts. This design was just too strange and not relatable enough, but we all got a kick out of it.

Alien

2009-04-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges when designing the art work for the game, was to come up with a unique and appealing character who would be the hero of our adventure.

Here's an early version of the alien scientist who builds and pilots the ship that will explore the shadow planet world.

We all liked him but ultimately, we felt that the design was a little too cute and typical, so off he went to the reject pile.

A New Blog

2009-04-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hello folks. Many months ago, a decision was reached by concensus that we would keep quiet about our videogame until we get closer to our release date. Although, I was itching to release new footage and images, I held myself back and agreed to keep everything under wrap. The fact that we've been quiet doesn't mean that work on the game has stopped. Far from it. In fact, since last September, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is where I've dedicated the majority of my working hours. My partners at Fuelcell have also been pulling long hours programing, animating and building what we believe is going to be a unique gaming experience.

After discussing strategies on how to bring this project to fruition, we've decided to break our vow of silence and start sharing some of our work on-line to get people excited. As production progresses, I will share our triumphs and hardships, I will update with insights, videos and images at least a couple of times a month. I hope you'll enjoy the ride. Stay tuned.

A New Studio

2008-10-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

Making a video game independently is no easy task, especially when you're trying to make the most epic side-scroller of all time! Because the offers from publishers that were made to us failed to meet our demands, we've decided to pursue the making of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet independently.

After many months of struggle, we finally have a nice studio space, as well as all the hardware and software needed for our project. With a crew of 8 (so far) of the industry's top talents, we're forging ahead to get this game in the hands of anxious gamers by mid-2009.

I feel fortunate to have such an amazing crew working with me and I value the friendships I've made in pursuing this challenging endeavor. I'm thankful to Joe Olson (above) for planting the seed in my brain a couple of years ago. It's amazing where life takes you when you remain open to all potentialities.

Working on the Tutorial Level

2008-10-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks, I've been working hard on the tutorial level. I'm really excited about it! I wish I could share some of the new artwork but we've made the decision to keep everything under wraps for the time being, so you'll all have to be patient. Stay tuned.

Still Going...

2008-05-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

For all those who've been asking...

Yes, we are still very much at work on the game. We've created a new 1-minute trailer, and screened-captured 10 minutes of actual play to show investors. It's a pretty impressive package.

I've entered a legal partnership with Fuelcell to produce the game and I could not have chosen a better team. These guys are amazing at what they do and I totally respect their opinions. It's a good matchup.

First Round

2008-01-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

Our first round of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet demos is now completed and the reactions from all publishers were overwhelmingly positive. Not only was the esthetic of our game praised but everyone was amazed at the game play as well. Of course, our intention is not only to make a beautiful game but to create a memorable gaming experience. I'm glad this is coming through.

Demo

2008-01-06T18:36:00.000-08:00

The first phase of our live demo for the Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet game is done. In the next few days, my partner and I will be flying around the west coast to meet with some of the top publishers in the industry. The team and myself are proud beyond belief of what we've achieved so far and we feel confident that we will have a deal locked in soon. Stay tuned!

Update

2007-09-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

To every one who has contacted us about the game:

We ask for your patience. We've been flooded with emails from game developers, publishers and distributors. We need a couple of weeks to sort things out on our end and then, we will be in touch with everyone.

We have some amazing opportunities in front of us. We want to make the best decision possible so we can finish Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet OUR WAY and make a massive statement to the game industry. All I can say is be prepared for Trailer #2!

First Trailer

2007-08-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to the folks at GameTrailers.com who kindly offered to host a good quality version (much better than youtube) of our trailer that we could imbed on our insanelytwisted.com page. This is going to save us a lot of bandwidth.

The response in just the short amount of time since we posted the trailer has been off the chart! Bloggers are spreading the news at an incredibly fast pace. Check out some of these entries: BoltCity, Wired, Flight, Style over Substance, AOL, Looki, Bing Bang Blog, Game Musings, Kotaku, TIGSource, ING, PNG, Shamoozal, Pownce, Newsarama, Clickable Culture, Shmuptacular, Lycos, N4G, Beware The Frog, Dot Matrix with Stereo Sound, Game TV, Abattoir Noises, Gloob, Fat of the Land, Creative Uncut, GameKult, DopeSauce, The2Bears, Gaming Moments, Destructoid, Mmo Hub, MondoPixels, Enblog, Intelligent Artifice, Catsuka, Sexy Videogameland, Universo-Nintendo, Bashers, Gamer, GamePlayer, Nergon, Zunio, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Animwatch. We've already been contacted by several publishers and game companies. There's no doubt that there is some intense interest in this project. This is great to see especially considering that this first trailer is nothing compared to what's coming. My mission is simple: make the most epic side-scroller ever! You ain't seen nothing yet...