Pachinko Pictures Blog

Lol-a-Coaster rides out!

2012-01-19T10:28:00.000+09:00

Lol-a-Coaster hit the worldwide iTunes store on the 16th, and for the past few days we've been promoting the game and fielding questions about it. We're incredibly happy with the final result, and think that it fulfils the brief we were given by the client and agency. On a personal note, it was the first time that we had made a game together, and while it is a client project and not a personal one, I think we learned a lot about how we will go about making games in the future, and gained an appreciation for the personality and style of our work going forward.

The term "advergame" usually connotes a cheap and cheerful flash product that in some oblique way supports or drives traffic to a brand or product. Advergames are not generally objects of admiration, and so for a designer it can be a bit of a minefield to commit to making one. Our hope was to create an advergame for Chupa Chups that raised the bar. Throughout the process, we were conscious of the way in which highly commercial products of the past had been elevated by a designer or director investing a lot of love and care into their work. Take for instance music videos, which were despised by recording artists, until talented directors moved into the medium to raise the bar. At that point, musicians and recording artists' attitudes began to change and the potential of the medium opened up. We're sure that the advergame is here to stay, but that a it needs more talented designers working in the medium to show what it can do.

Lol-a-Coaster is our first effort to create, in a boutique independent way with a small team and big ideas, the kind of advergame that we'd like to see happening for many more brands.

There are huge benefits to small developers working for brands to make games. By having an advertising budget and a client, you have the monetary support to practice your craft, and a respondent to your design, pushing you for a result. After all, design is about fulfilling a communication goal through expressive means. For Chupa Chups, their motto of a 'Life Less Serious' manifested in the surreal playfulness of Lol-a-Coaster. At the same time, it showcased their character Chuck in a new way, leading to new imaginative possibilities for both the brand and the character. At a fundamental level, the game also functions as a platform for a consumer promotion -- other marketing and promotion channels feed through the game, and so multiple media are connected together. Ultimately, we're really happy to have created Lol-a-Coaster for iOS and look forward to our next client game project.

Download the game.

See the trailer on youtube.

Read about the project over at Desktop Magazine Online.

Promotional Cards for our new game Lol-a-Coaster

2012-01-05T16:38:00.000+09:00

We've been making a beautiful hand-made game

2011-12-04T18:27:00.001+09:00

We're in the final two weeks of our first big game production since moving to Australia. It has been an incredibly fun process for us, and I've particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to do so much drawing. The game is entirely hand drawn and heavily animated, and we're going to be doing a big release of some of the art assets around the time that the game comes out. Here is a little sketch of Nathan Drake that I posted on twitter from this morning. I like to do sketches before embarking on commissioned work, to warm up and get my brain up to speed. -- Dave

St Georges Road 2011

2011-10-03T22:09:00.001+09:00

St Georges Road 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Waiting for the tram. I'm just back from my weekend in New Zealand, where I keynoted the Animating Space Time conference. I'm going to see if I can get a copy of the video of the event. Fingers crossed I can get a copy, and then I'll post it here.
-- David

St Georges Road 2011

2011-07-26T17:26:00.001+09:00

St Georges Road 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

New Photographic work at Beam Contemporary

2011-07-25T12:15:00.000+09:00

We're exhibiting 3 new photographs as part of a new group show at Beam Contemporary:

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Tahlia Jolly, David Mutch, Debbie Pridmore, Mark Reid, Dawn Roe, David Surman, James Voller

Curated by Kyle Weise

Exhibition Opening: Saturday 23 July 3-5pm
Exhibition: 22 July - 13 August, 2011

beam contemporary
level 1/30 guildford lane
melbourne
australia
3000

Easey Street 2011

2011-05-28T23:32:00.001+09:00

Easey Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Untitled, Nicholson Gardens 2011

2011-05-26T00:48:00.001+09:00

Untitled, Nicholson Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Street 2011

2011-05-26T00:06:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Bourke Street 2011

2011-05-26T00:05:00.001+09:00

Bourke Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Gardens 2011

2011-05-26T00:04:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Ian, Lygon Street 2011

2011-05-24T00:46:00.001+09:00

Ian, Lygon Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

St Georges Road 2011

2011-05-22T23:20:00.001+09:00

St Georges Road 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Dallas Brooks Hall 2011

2011-05-22T01:42:00.001+09:00

Dallas Brooks Hall 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Dallas Brooks Hall 2011

2011-05-22T01:31:00.001+09:00

Dallas Brooks Hall 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Gardens 2011

2011-05-20T00:17:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

St Georges Road 2011

2011-05-20T00:11:00.001+09:00

St Georges Road 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Edinburgh Gardens 2011

2011-05-20T00:06:00.001+09:00

Edinburgh Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Mitchell Street 2011

2011-05-18T00:03:00.001+09:00

Mitchell Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Ian, Nicholson Street 2011

2011-05-15T02:46:00.001+09:00

Ian, Nicholson Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Gardens 2011

2011-05-15T01:18:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Street 2011

2011-05-12T16:41:00.000+09:00

Nicholson Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Andrew Street 2011

2011-05-11T22:01:00.001+09:00

Andrew Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Mitchell Street 2011

2011-05-11T20:17:00.001+09:00

Mitchell Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Edinburgh Gardens 2011

2011-05-08T14:27:00.001+09:00

Edinburgh Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Edinburgh Gardens 2011

2011-05-08T14:26:00.001+09:00

Edinburgh Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Bourke Street 2011

2011-05-08T14:25:00.001+09:00

Bourke Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Centre Place 2011

2011-05-06T00:21:00.001+09:00

Centre Place 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Street 2011

2011-05-05T23:58:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Five, Centre Place 2011

2011-05-05T23:27:00.001+09:00

Five, Centre Place 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Swanston Street 2011

2011-05-05T23:09:00.001+09:00

Swanston Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Street 2011

2011-05-03T23:53:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Smith Street 2011

2011-05-03T11:32:00.001+09:00

Smith Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Gardens 2011

2011-05-03T11:30:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Andrew Street 2011

2011-05-03T11:29:00.001+09:00

Andrew Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Ian, Easey Street 2011

2011-05-03T01:25:00.001+09:00

Ian, Easey Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Gardens 2011

2011-05-03T01:16:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Smith Street 2011

2011-05-03T00:17:00.001+09:00

Smith Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Edinburgh Gardens 2011

2011-05-02T21:14:00.001+09:00

Edinburgh Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Eureka Tower 2011

2011-05-01T21:39:00.001+09:00

Eureka Tower 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Mitchell Street 2011

2011-05-01T00:27:00.001+09:00

Mitchell Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Street 2011

2011-04-30T23:24:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

"A Little Death", Sam Taylor-Wood 2002

2011-04-30T23:00:00.000+09:00

Sam Taylor-Wood is an artist who often surprises and intrigues me.

Hanging Rock 2011

2011-04-30T13:09:00.001+09:00

Hanging Rock 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Hanging Rock 2011

2011-04-30T12:35:00.001+09:00

Hanging Rock 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Hanging Rock 2011

2011-04-30T01:53:00.001+09:00

Hanging Rock 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Ian is looking fabulous at the moment, as this image testifies. We went to hanging rock, had an awesome lunch, and then returned safely, unlike those victorian girls.

Mitchell Street 2011

2011-04-30T01:43:00.001+09:00

Mitchell Street 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Nicholson Gardens 2011

2011-04-30T01:42:00.001+09:00

Nicholson Gardens 2011, a photo by PachinkoPictures on Flickr.

Late Portrait 1 2011

2011-04-21T16:50:00.002+09:00

Thanks, Smith Street 2011

2011-04-21T11:53:00.000+09:00

Easey Street 2011

2011-04-20T00:12:00.000+09:00

Anna's Table, Wellington Street 2011

2011-04-19T23:16:00.001+09:00

Anna is moving to Sweden for a bit soon. Gonna miss her, she is our blonde rebel buddy.

Work by Kansai Yamamoto

2011-04-19T16:07:00.002+09:00

From Rutger Hauer to Kansai Yamamoto

2011-04-19T15:57:00.002+09:00

I was browsing around online today, and a friend of ours linked a tumblr with lots of detailed preproduction and set photography from Bladerunner (1982). On there was an interview from around the time of release with Rutger Hauer.

I totally love hearing Rutger Hauer speak, he is really enigmatic, and the interview really highlights the huge gap that exists between the European and American sensibility of the 1980s, and perhaps still today.

I was most struck though by the insane design on Hauer's sweater. It actually looks quite contemporary -- that sort of patterned surreal animal totem style design you see everywhere nowadays. One of the commenters had noted that it was a Kansai Yamamoto design - -someone I'd never heard of. I'm pretty good with Japanese designers' names normally -- who is this Yamamoto guy?

Kansai Yamamoto is a fashion designer and event planner, born in 1944. He was best known in the 1970s and 1980s for his avant-garde Japanese fashions, which achieved notoriety through their use by David Bowie in his Aladdin Sane period.

Kansai now works producing his self-styled Super Shows, that really have to be seen to be believed. Here is a digest of some of his events. The art direction and use of scale is really outstanding, with an incredible awareness of colour and costume that naturally arise from his legacy as a fashion designer.

Ivan Street 2011

2011-03-02T21:46:00.002+09:00

Desert Island Flicks with Poh Ling Yeow

2011-02-28T13:04:00.003+09:00

Just over a week ago, I took to the interview chair for an evening of conversation and film love with Poh Ling Yeow, famous TV chef and superb contemporary artist. It was a brilliant evening, and Poh and I shared many of the same passions for film and art. The interview was a breeze, and I think the studio audience had a great time too. You can check out Poh's fantastic paintings here.

Nicholson Street 2011

2011-02-13T22:35:00.000+09:00

I took this photo of Ian today.

Airport America

2011-01-29T09:27:00.002+09:00

Saria's Song (Lost Woods Theme) - The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time On Glass Bottles

2011-01-28T15:41:00.002+09:00

Bourke Street 2011

2011-01-27T19:51:00.003+09:00

Nicholson Street 2011

2011-01-25T21:31:00.000+09:00

Bonbeach 2011

2011-01-24T18:52:00.002+09:00

Fitzroy North 2011

2011-01-20T23:21:00.003+09:00

Vivian Maier, Corinne Day & Flickr

2011-01-17T13:26:00.004+09:00

Last year, I received a new digital camera for my birthday. People had been raving about how digital SLR cameras were revolutionizing filmmaking, and so unbeknownst to me, Ian invested in a new Canon 5D Mark II , the leading camera in this particular area.

I’ve always been a photographer and a filmmaker, but I haven’t seen them as being the primary languages through which I work. I’d always thought that drawing and animation were my primary medium, because I’d studied them and, more importantly, because my ego relied from an early age on praise for good draughtsmanship. Throughout my studies I had taken photographs, and photographic processes informed by animated films. Now, having moved from England to Australia, with the gift of a new camera, photography asserts itself back in to my life. It provides me with an opportunity to look closely at the world around me, and to project out in the form of my photos the world inside me.

From the moment you let photography in, an immense indebtedness begins to build up, and there you realize the extent to which photographic seeing and thinking has shaped us. Consider photography, as a history and culture with innumerable daily events.

I learned of two photographic events today that resonate and connect deeply with my own work right now. I learned today that in August of last year Corinne Day passed away. Perhaps more shocking in reading the various obituaries was the recurring figure of her birth date, 1965. I assumed she was as young as me (and as precocious). Of course she wasn’t, but the sense of association to her images made her mine. Corinne Day defined my youth in the early 1990s, with her images of so-called “heroine chic” models, and her infamous collaborations with Kate Moss.

Day’s steely waif-like images of young women articulated the particular kind of refined-yet-gritty beauty that ran through those years. Her images certainly went on the shape and reinforce those conventions as the style paradigms of the era. At the time her photography was popular, and I absorbed her photographic imagination through magazines and album covers, I took to transforming those influences in to characters, drawn in biro on A4 paper in my teenage shed/bedroom. The emotional heaviness of her photographs articulates an inner struggle that speaks volumes to the adolescent eye. The model no long exists in a remote utopia, but as an exemplary sufferer, connecting pain and art in a commercial idiom.

I discovered the obituary of another photographer today, Vivian Maier. Unlike the fashion icon Day, Maier died in 2009 in obscurity. Her legacy as a photographer discovered through the auctioning of her belongings. In death, she left behind some 100,000 negatives of her photographs, which portray Chicago street life, fashion and society from the 1950s through to the 1990s. Her work is of such startling quality that it holds up to comparisons with Walker Evans and Bruce Davidson. John Maloof, who discovered her work, is putting together a book and a documentary.

I think Maier is fascinating to us because she is so incredibly skilled, but also because she represents a rare creativity that clearly didn’t crave attention. In an age of digital photography and imaging, where images are shared and uploaded to numerous sites and often before being enjoyed (sharing for social capital rather than personal pleasure), what does it mean to look at the lost & found work of an anonymous master photographer? Vivian Maier’s work lacks the support of her testimony, but we can look at her photographs and consider the artistic voice they imply — a vibrant personal vision, rampant curiosity and deep humanism.

To an old love, Corinne Day, and a new one, Vivian Maier. You are both incredible.

TRON: Legacy Trailers #2 & #3

2010-12-08T14:56:00.000+09:00

TRON: Legacy at IMAX Melbourne

2010-12-08T14:49:00.000+09:00

We're super super super super excited to have tickets to the midnight premiere of TRON: Legacy here in Melbourne. I am a long term fan of the world of TRON, and can't wait to see the new film. Here's the first trailer, just in case you haven't seen it.

I've created a facebook group for those of us attending. If you're going and you want to say hi, do so through the facebook and we can all meet up!

Animated Spots for PARCO

2010-12-03T16:14:00.000+09:00

I totally love these two animated clips created for the Japanese department store PARCO. They really highlight how much you can communicate in animation in a tiny amount of time. I love the character design, colour and treatment too.

Taunton 2010

2010-11-24T08:00:00.003+09:00

Back to Australia

2010-11-24T07:58:00.000+09:00

We're heading back to Australia tomorrow, flying from Boston to LA to Sydney to Melbourne. It's going to be a grueling flight, but it will be nice to be back in Fitzroy. We had an awesome final day here looking around the MIT Media Lab and the GAMBIT Game Lab. It's been really useful and interesting to look around so many high end departments and research centers during this trip.

Geneva 2010

2010-11-24T06:42:00.000+09:00

Georgetown 2010

2010-11-24T06:39:00.002+09:00

Photographs from America and Canada

2010-11-12T21:40:00.000+09:00

We're taking photographs as we travel here in America and Canada. You can find them here over at Flickr.

Harvard today!

2010-11-12T21:27:00.000+09:00

We're talking at Harvard University today here in Boston. We'll post a copy of our talk at some point in the near future here on our blog.

OCAD Next Monday

2010-11-12T08:09:00.000+09:00

We're going to be talking at OCAD in Toronto this coming Monday. It was totally awesome to talk to our buddy Emma Westecott today; she's faculty at the infamous Canadian art school. It's going to be fun!

East Coast America & Canada

2010-11-04T21:56:00.000+09:00

We're overseas at the moment, working in New York, Boston and Toronto. Toward the end of the month we are going to be delivering a couple of talks at the new cultureplex in London Ontario, which promises to be awesome, and gives us an opportunity to catch up with fellow Aussie Angela Ndalianis. It's really weird coming from a Melbourne spring to a New York winter!

Characters from Pitches V

2010-10-31T23:24:00.000+09:00

Snow Sing Song

2010-10-28T00:24:00.000+09:00

FTSE

2010-10-27T00:07:00.000+09:00

formspring.me

2010-10-26T14:03:00.003+09:00

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/PachinkoPix

Vampire Hunter G

2010-10-26T00:02:00.000+09:00

Balloon Head

2010-10-25T00:00:00.000+09:00

Hipster-E

2010-10-24T23:58:00.000+09:00

Ink Drawing IV

2010-10-23T23:56:00.000+09:00

Abel

2010-10-22T23:57:00.001+09:00

Bodysnatchers

2010-10-21T23:55:00.000+09:00

Pale Ginger Hero

2010-10-20T23:54:00.000+09:00

Hydra

2010-10-19T23:52:00.000+09:00

Trick or Treater

2010-10-18T23:49:00.000+09:00

GameCity 5 coming soon!

2010-10-18T20:57:00.000+09:00

We've been working closely with GameCity for quite a few years now. We love the festival and think it stands out as a landmark in the gaming calendar. In anticipation of the event, here is a link to the animated clip we created last year to promote the festival. Enjoy!

Characters from Pitches VI

2010-10-17T23:51:00.000+09:00

Demon Prince and Dino

2010-10-16T23:48:00.000+09:00

Princess Belda

2010-10-15T23:47:00.001+09:00

Blue & Pink

2010-10-14T23:46:00.000+09:00

Dan's Head

2010-10-13T23:45:00.000+09:00

Demonz

2010-10-12T23:44:00.000+09:00

Meeting Scribbles III

2010-10-11T23:43:00.000+09:00

Frankenbride

2010-10-10T23:42:00.000+09:00

Sketchbook Scans I

2010-10-09T23:41:00.000+09:00

Wolfman! & It's My Birthday!

2010-10-08T23:38:00.002+09:00

Why isn't there a great werewolf game? Is Altered Beast the only title to investigate this! Also in other news, I am 29 today (AM OFFICIALLY OLD).

Silhouettes I

2010-10-07T23:37:00.000+09:00

I drew a bunch of characters to examine how silhouette and gender work together.