Orphan Black Magic

Orphan Black has been a major hit show for the past two seasons and is one of my absolute favorites. Not only because of the characters, but also because of the special effects put into the production to make this show a possibility.  The special effects used in this show allow Tatiana Maslany to play all six clones during filming instead of having six different people playing the six different clones.  Through their use of robotically controlled dollies and the software Fusion, a scene like the one below can be created.  (hint, all four women in this scene is Tatiana Maslany)

While Tatiana does all her work with stand ins acting as another clone, Fusion allows for the editors to manipulate the footage and put all the different Tatianas into the scene at once.  If you have not seen the show I strongly encourage you to watch it.  It will satisfy your creative, technical and slightly weird side that all of us hide.

Septemberween spotlight: Five Nights at Freddy's

With Fall upon us, it is time to prepare for the best time of the year, Halloween. Lobotomizing pumpkins, crunching leaves, and all things spooky have their time in the sun. So, what should we look at to get in that Septemberween spirit? Scary video games of course!

                                               Meet Scott Cawthon's Five Night's at Freddy's

Taking place at a Chuck-E-Cheese Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, you play as the night watchman tasked with looking over the place from 12 to 6 am. But be warned! The animatronics don't take too kindly to you, and if they get you, well, you die.

Looks pretty good right? But what if I were to tell you that everything in the game was 2D?
Five Night's at Freddy's was made in an engine called Multimedia Fusion, which is a 2D game engine. The game itself is actually a 2D point and click, styled to look 3D. The graphical style is reminiscent of the point and click computer games of the 1990's

Darkseed II, 1995

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, 1995

Every possible action and outcome in Five Nights at Freddy's is pre-rendered. The fully animated parts (which tend to be the parts right before you die) are gifs, and not a character moving in real time. The textures and shading of the characters and environments make them look remarkably 3D.

If you see this in-game, you're good as dead.

Most of the character movement happens off screen, adding to the terror and subtlety of the game. Nothing moves so long as you watch it, but you can only watch one camera at once, and it eats up your limited power. 

Each of the animatronics has its own AI, resulting in each one having different tactics. For only 5 bucks on steam, even to just look through the game's files at the superb art, Five Night's at Freddy's is worth a look. If you don't feel up to the spooktacular challenge and would rather watch other people play it and freak out, there's plenty of that too. 

Happy Septemberween, everybody.