I’m currently working on Far Cry 3 as a Realization Director on Far Cry. I'm also working on internal trailers for the Single and Multiplayer.
setting up a tracking shot from a van. In the picture from left to right. Dillon Ward, Ezra Bookstein, Me (in the shadows directing), Peter Markle, our teacher (booming for sound)
I took a weeklong workshop at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine.The class was with Peter Markle, director of a number of TV shows like Rescue Me and The X-files. If you look closely you can see me directing from inside the shadows of the van. It was a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I would love the chance to work more on episodical dramas.
Another woah! for Osmos and Hemisphere; Osmos has won the Apple Design Award 2011!There were twelve winners, just three in each category of iPhone, Mac, Student and iPad, which was Osmos’ category.
Eddy from Hemisphere attended to pick up his award of Apple hardware and metallic cuboid that glows when you touch it. We look forward to seeing Eddy’s pics! Osmos included music from Gas and High Skies, and is available on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Linux.
And the art and Design was made by me ;-)
We are currently shooting my documentary on Pickpockets in Naples, Italy. It has been an amazing experience and I have come to love the city and the people here. We have amazing footage and I hope we will be given the freedom to get it done.
9/10 - Editor’s Choice Award - “The best iPad game yet.” -IGN
5/5 stars - Macworld Editor’s Choice - “One of the best games we’ve played so far this year. An utterly serene, yet fiendishly complicated game that deserves a place in every iPad owners collection.” -MacWorld
“An evolutionary step… What iPad Gaming Should Be All About” -Gizmodo
4/4, Must Have - “We are more than overwhelmed by Osmos for iPad… The game design is thoughtful and intuitive, new level structures are flawless, and the visuals are stunning yet simplistic. For half the price of the computer version, every iPad owner should have Osmos on their device. You just won’t find another experience quite like it.” -Slide To Play
9.5/10 and 9/10 - “It’s an awesome, awesome game. This might be the iPad game of the year.” -Reviews on the Run
“Osmos HD is THE game for the iPad.” -Pocket Lint
“This game may look like Pac-Man or Flow; it actually plays like a next-level Katamari Damacy in which the small objects you can pick up may themselves coalesce into a mass that could roll you up. This game is pure gameplay, something you haven’t done before, can’t imagine in any other medium. Justify your iPad purchase and play it.” -Kotaku
A, Highly Recommended - “Osmos merits our extremely rare flat A high recommendation, and should be a must-see for iPad owners who appreciate originality and class in game designs.” -iLounge
“Osmos is a must-play on the iPad… It’s the best iPad game on the App Store right now and should be purchased by anyone who picks up the device. Even if it’s not yours. Trust me, the owner will thank you.” -MTV Multiplayer
Grade “A” - “In a word, remarkable. Osmos is an absolutely essential purchase for anyone with an iPad.” -Games Uncovered
5/5 - “Excels on every level. Osmos will definitely be in the discussion for best iPad games by the end of 2010. If you are into strategy, puzzle games and testing your patience, download it immediately. Your family and friends will probably stage a gaming intervention.” -Appolicious
“When a game looks as amazing as Osmos and begins by quoting Isaac Newton, you know it’s going to be good.” -tapscape
4.5/5 stars - “Osmos for iPad is a game that plays as beautifully as it looks… this may just be the first great iPad game” -148Apps
“The first proper breakout hit for the iPad… Shows off the sort of experiences the iPad can so easily pull off. Osmos feels so natural and enjoyable to play, even when the difficulty ramps up and you find yourself repeatedly careening into a giant gaseous enemy.” -Wired
5/5 stars, Absolute Must - “Osmos is an absolute must for $4.99 that will change the way you think of games, and what you expect from them.” -AppAdvice
“Brilliantly clever… The game is almost as enjoyable to watch being played, as it is to actually play — something which you might say is the hallmark of an ambient game. It’s going to be fascinating to watch variations on this theme develop.” -Co Design
5/5 - “Its immense polish shines as you become absorbed in the game for hours on end. This flawlessly controlled game is a sign of the amazing iPad games to come, and the absolute best buy you can currently get for your begging iPad.” -touch Aholics
“If you’re looking for a great, original gaming experience on Apple’s magical tablet, Osmos is it.” -TUAW
4.5/5 stars - “Osmos for iPad does a spectacular job of utilizing multitouch controls, trance-inducing visuals, and dynamic audio. Not to mention the addictive gameplay that offers up plenty of variety and challenge.” -App Chronicles
“Its combination of smart control, surprising depth and no-brainer $5 price makes it perfectly suited for the system.” -Yahoo! Games
“This is one beautifully addictive game. If you have an iPad, this is a no brainer, just get it.” -Matrixsynth
“Osmos is more than simply a spell-binding, addictive video game: It’s a new-genre game that makes you feel relaxed rather than anxious playing it.” -The Daily Galaxy
“[The] gameplay mechanic works extremely well on the iPad, and is expertly paired with some fantastic mellow electronica that does a great job of setting the mood of the game” -TouchArcade
“Overall, Osmos is a great game that I highly recommend for anyone with an iPad.” -Wirebot
17/20 - “Osmos HD s’impose d’ores et déjà comme une référence sur l’iPad. Ce jeu innovant et addictif vous donnera du fil à retordre!” -Mister iPad
I updated this post with the final version of the sequence that I worked on.
I’ve been quiet on my website lately - I worked on Avatar (the game) this autumn as a director. (I was on the game for the last 10 weeks). Then I went travelling and now that I am back I’m working on Far Cry 3 - as a Realization and Performance Director. I'm especially working on the hallucinogenic scenes.
I’m back at Ubi working as a director for the Cinematics on the game for James Cameron’s Avatar. It’s a 10 week contract and looks like it is going to be a lot of fun.
Osmos is out and wow we are getting amazing reviews - head over to Hemishphere Games to check it out.
Again, as I mentioned before. I was part of a very small team working on this game - Me, Art Director
Here are some of the reviews:
Lots of great Osmos reviews and coverage have been flooding in:
“beyond doubt, a work of genius… a relaxing, meditative experience about going with the flow… very ethereal feel to the design… It all adds up to something otherworldly and just . . . incredible.”
“8.5/10 - Editor’s Choice Award - a beautiful, absorbing experience… brilliant to look at… the best videogame music I’ve heard… will make you forget your cares and immerse you in the game… you’ll find yourself returning for the experience.”
“88% - The most relaxing game in the whole (c)osmos. Ranging from a simple pleasure cruise to a edge-of-the-seat skill-based game, this is definitely worth the low US$9.99 pricetag - you’d expect to pay this much just for the soundtrack - and if my experience has proven anything it’s that you’ll keep coming back to it time and time again.”
“wonderful gameplay… beautifully polished and tantalisingly atmospheric… Osmos mixes puzzle, action and strategy remarkably and all the while does it with great finesse and style”
“fascinating… an absolute blast to play… creative, entertaining, and calming all in one go… It is easily worth your $10”
After sifting through over 150 submissions from a gaggle of gameplay types and a plethora of platforms, a panel of game industru experts have selected the ten best submissions to be recognized as this year’s PAX 10
Osmos, A game I art directed, is one of them: http://www.paxsite.com/pax10.php
If you have been following this newsfeed - we won a couple of awards at the Independent Games Award.
From. http://thehulureview.blogspot.com/2009/05/announcing-hulu-award-for-best-dramatic.html
After 20,000 audience votes, the audience favorite was "The Rip-off," with a definitive 79% of the vote. The director of this excellent short is Mr. Kun Chang, a friend of the Hulu Review. Kun wrote us that he was "excited" about the distinction, and you can read more about his past and current projects on his site, here.
WE DIDN’T WIN, BUT WE GOT 79 PERCENT OF THAT AUDIENCE THAT VOTED FOR US...79 PERCENT!!!!
4th dive in a Cenote
I can now officially do films under water!...or at least be there while other people are filming. (Update: I'm also a SSI Advanced Diver)
Andy and Eddy picking up the Award in San Fransisco
http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/03/igf_2009_winners_announced.html
D2D Vision Award ($10,000)
Osmos, by Hemisphere Games!!!!!
The end of The Movie Network Mamma Mia commercial.
I’m working on ...depending on how you look at it, either...8 or 9 commercials at the moment. All of them are sooo cool. I’m definitely in “the Zone” at the moment. Two of them, the picture above, were one takes done with Spy for The Movie Network on a huge soundstage (11k) in Toronto.
Osmos, a game I worked on with Eddy Boxerman is up for 3 IGF awards
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21742
You can read an interview with Eddy here: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21771
I’m currently working at the Cirque du Soleil on the Canadian pavilion for the world expo in Shanghai in 2010
I’ve been working on a Cirque de Soleil show for Sid Lee and Cirque Lifestyle with Martin Villeneuve. We are doing the concept and storyline. I can’t say much more, but it is very cool project.
Hellboy 2 is out today. I did the concept drawings for the opening scene (with the puppets) Here is one of the drawings I did.
I’m working on 2 commercials for Gatorade for BBDO Mexico, 1 for Zobo Beer for BBDO Moscow and another one for the Museum of Civilization in Quebec. Lots of work, lots of fun
I’m giving a conference at the NY Academy of sciences. Read about this in the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/01/arts/design/01acad.html
Osmos is a game I worked on with a friend: Eddy, that is currently being submitted to Microsoft for Live Arcade. I did the graphics.
It was also submitted to the Independent Games Festival but unfortunately didn’t make it to the finals.
Here are some of the nice words we got from the 2008 Independent Games Festival Judge:
“Osmos scored best in: Visual Art
And scored worst in: Technical
“After playing this, I felt like I’d sat through one of those PBS documentaries on cellular mitosis. OK, that didn’t come out the way I’d intended. The whole notion of absorbing enemies (and using bits of your structure to propel yourself) worked amazingly well. A unique take on the simple, yet difficult to master action game. A good deal of fun. In some ways, it reminded me of Flow. And like that game, I do want to point out that the choice of audio for Osmos is perfect in setting the vibe.”
“Very cool game. I like the simplicity of it, and especially like the levels where you are propelled around a large mass.”
“I’d love to see it adapted to gamepad.”
“I hate flow, and I like this. I think the varying objectives are a big part of what make this work as a game.
Presumably it’s been tried and rejected, but having to jam the mouse button to propel feels antithetical to the rest of the slow and ambient style — was holding down the button for a boost too difficult to control? I might like to try it with analogue propulsion.
Otherwise, apart from it being occasionally a bit too easy to get into a really rough situation with the other cells gaining their own size advantage, the idea and the slowed sound are elegant, the style is nicely done, and fantastic choices for the music (yay for Loscil!). —-”