PAINTING WITH MUSIC (A Family Affair)
My brilliant composer cousin TOBIAS TINKER had an incredible idea — make original piano works inspired by the acclaimed paintings of his grandfather and mum, performed on the piano that has been in his family for generations. It's beautiful stuff, so I hope you'll take a minute to watch (and listen to) the embedded video pitch. Art for Art's sake. From the Heart. Inspired by Family.
GAME WRITING: A Short Exercise In Suspense ('Homecoming')
A potential client recently offered an intriguing challenge — write a short story in five parts with the following limitations: three sections of prose under 200 words in 2nd person narrative style, and two sections of TEXT MESSAGE dialogue with 8 lines or less in each. Use a female protagonist, and craft the tale from one of the following genres: Romance, Urban Fantasy, Comedy, Horror, or Suspense.
COVENTRY: A World-Building and Branching Narrative Exercise (GAMES)
Building a world affords a certain creative freedom. You aren't forced to work within established boundaries or strict IP limitations. You can let the imagination run a little wild. You have a chance to throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks. And, quite often, you can incorporate factual research into the world building of a fictional space. Which means you might even learn a thing or two in the process.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR — 10 Things That Just Didn't Work (SPOILERS!!!)
Call it clickbait. Call it bandwagoning. Call it contrarianism of the highest order. But there's simply no way I could keep my nerd cred' and stay silent on the cinematic behemoth that is AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR! Check out this bonus podcast + blog version that is sure to get tongues wagging and stir up debates...
WRITING PROMPT: Questionable 'CHOICES'
Over the past year, I've been approached more and more about writing for 'branching narrative' games. Usually it's an established property, with the team leader keen for a different take on the material (which tends to translate as 'Characters and dialogue with more edge, please.')
Hmmm...I think I can do that ;-)
BRANCHING NARRATIVE: Choose Your Adventure!
Whether crafting linear or branching narratives, the end goal remains the same — Emotional Engagement. I've been thinking about this a LOT lately. And that's only natural when app and game and media folks keep wanting to bend your ear and chat 'choose your own adventure stuff'. Something, my friends, is in the air...
HAVEN: A 'Choose Your Own Adventure' Mini-Mystery (TEXT ONLY)
I'm an oldschool text adventure fan. ZORK 4 LIFE. Thanks to a client's prompting, and the power (and ease) of TWINE, I whipped up this wee mystery/thriller 'prologue'. Zero frills. More of a proof-of-concept than anything else. But as a fan of Twin Peaks and The Prisoner, you KNOW that weirdness awaits...