skip to main |
skip to sidebar
On to Part IV of the ongoing quest to cast the Marvel Universe. In case you missed it, here are the links to Part I, Part II, and Part III. For Part IV, I decided to tackle the Summers family tree. So let's take it from the top.
Corsair - Tom Selleck
Honestly, the moment I saw this picture (and that mustache), I thought to myself, "that looks just like Tom Selleck!" After doing a bit of research, I found that Tom is 6'3" tall (exactly the same as Corsair). In terms of realistic family casting, it stays consistent with the general physical bearing of all the men in the Summers family. Pay attention to his hairline and jaw, you'll be seeing some nifty similarities in the people cast as his children.
Havok - Matt Damon
Enter Havok, aka Alex Summers, son of Corsair and younger brother to Cyclops. Much like being halfway through a Sudoku puzzle, casting Havok required that I account for family resemblances to both Tom Selleck and Neal McDonough. Fortunately, Matt Damon, filled that requirement nicely while still looking a fair bit like the actual illustrations of Havok. You can see that Matt and Neal both share the same general head shape and hairline, and their chins are passably similar. He does have different eyes, but let's just assume that he gets it from his mother. Matt stands at 5'10" tall (two inches shorter than Neal), so casting him at the right age would make for a believable younger brother.
Cyclops & Jean Grey - Neal McDonough & Kate Beckinsale
You can read about my choices and rationale for Cyclops and Jean Grey in Part I, this is just a quick recap for the sake of easy visual comparison. 
Cable - Gerard Butler
Here's a tough one. Cable, son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor (a clone of Jean Grey), is a giant of a man. Standing at 6'8" tall, he's supposed to be two inches taller than Colossus even. I didn't really concern myself with finding someone of the same height, but I did need someone who was taller than Cyclops at the very least. Gerard Butler is, so far, my best hope for filling the role. He's 6'2" (two inches taller than Neal), in top physical shape (especially after his insane training regimen preparing for 300), and is visually intimidating. Imagine him slinging an enourmous energy rifle and all you really need is for him to lose his natural Scottish accent. And you can probably excuse him for breaking from the now standard Summers hairline. He probably takes after his mother anyway (which, you have to admit, is not a bad direction to take).
The way I see it, Kate Beckinsale and Gerard Butler would both have to do double duty in terms of character roles because of cloning situations. The former would need to play Madeleyn Pryor, and the latter, Stryfe. It'd be interesting to see how the actors handle the dual roles.
If you're already familiar with animation auteur, Hayao Miyazaki (the director of the award winning films Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke) then consider yourself lucky. His work is magical and amazing to behold. But even die hard fans may not be versed in his early works. I want to throw some of the spotlight onto a golden oldie.
One of Miyazaki's earliest directorial efforts was the post-apocalyptic adventure tale, Mirai Shonen Konan, or alternately, Conan, The Boy in Future (in its official English title). Many hold this twenty-six episode series to be the greatest thing Miyazaki has ever created, and for good reason. The style, themes, characterizations, and trademarks that make Miyazaki's movies so indelibly his, all have their roots in this epic masterpiece. Everything from strong child protagonists and flying machines, to political and ecological themes was present and perfectly executed here.
I consider myself blessed to have been heavily exposed to the show from early childhood. Still, it wasn't until I was able to rewatch the series as an adult in its original Japanese (with English subtitles) that I was able to fully understand the plot and appreciate the genius. My childhood viewing was done to a stack of VHS tapes that were dubbed in Korean, which may have had a lot to do with my general lack of full comprehension.
Honestly, Miyazaki was so far ahead of the game back then (in 1978, no less) that it makes the competition of the time seem pitiful by comparison. And that's not just in animation fluidity, but in straight storytelling. Have you ever watched a show that you loved so much that when you got to the end, you felt like someone had hollowed you out? Have you ever felt the sadness of knowing that you would never see the characters develop further beyond the confines of their fictional universe? I felt that... and continue to feel it when I reminisce about this story.
So it's with intense fondness that I urge you to keep a lookout for this one. If you're a fan of the singular, rare, and beautiful in life, this is something you're going to want to see. Arigato gozaimashita, Hayao Miyazaki, the world owes you an unpayable debt.
Welcome to Part III of my quest to cast the Marvel Universe! If you're just joining in, you should check out Part I and Part II before reading on.
Beast - Anthony Hopkins
While Kelsey Grammer wasn't a terrible choice for Beast, he wasn't, by any means, the best choice. If anything, he falls victim to the Batman/Bruce Wayne duality problem... where it's very easy to find an actor to play one or the other, but exceedingly difficult to find an actor to convincingly portray both. Kelsey has the intellectual side of Beast down solid. Not a surprise, seeing as it's just Frasier in blue makeup. A tougher sell is Frasier the fighter. Yeah. I can't picture it either. And I've seen X-Men 3.
That's where Sir Anthony Hopkins steps in. Wind the clock back to him in his late twenties and see if he couldn't do a better job in Beast's furry blue skin. Intelligence and animalistic rage both present (look at his full IMDB if you have any doubts of his range). His physique is much more appropriate to playing Beast as well, which is an added bonus.
Psylocke - Maggie Q
Quick abridged recap for those unfamiliar with Psylocke: she was originally named Elisabeth Braddock, an English Supermodel with stylish purple hair turned substitute superhero who's mind was eventually transferred into the body of an Asian ninja assassin. That's probably the shortest version of that story you'll ever hear. Now a quick abridged recap of Maggie Q's career: originally a supermodel, she began an acting career with some early stunt training from the venerable Jackie Chan, and in a stunningly short amount of time, became a household name for being both unbelievably beautiful and genuinely talented, stunt/action-wise.
Something tells me that Maggie Q would make a fantastic Psylocke. In some versions of the story, Psylocke actually retains some of her original genetic code, which makes Maggie's mixed ethnicity all the more appropriate. Just imagine her in that red dress from MI:3 kicking all kinds of tail like she does in Live Free or Die Hard, and you'll start getting the picture of the Psylocke I have in mind.
Iceman - Shawn Ashmore
To be honest, I spent more than a little time trying to recast this role from the X-Men films. And after an inordinate amount of mental grief, I found myself back at square one. My biggest two complaints with the original casting was that Shawn Ashmore was too slight of build and height to play Iceman, and that he was too young. But as it turns out, Iceman is actually only 5'8" while Shawn Ashmore is a good 5'11". Looks like he's not too small after all. As for the age, I'd just cast him older so that he feels more like an adult (I really hated that they cast half of the X-Men as kids in the films). But overall, I think Bryan Singer had the right idea with Shawn. A lot of the Iceman feel comes from the eyes (I know... it seems minor, but think about it and you'll realize it's practically a necessary requirement), and Shawn's got the pale blues to match. So after much internal debate, I'm willing to leave this one as is.
Emma Frost - Michelle Pfeiffer
Emma Frost, also known as White Queen, might be an obscure one for some of you. If you're like me, you probably knew her as a bad guy, then never really heard of her again (or just never realized that the White Queen from distant memory was the same person as the Emma Frost of today). If you want the detailed back story, I suggest you check out the Wikipedia article on her. For now, it's enough to say that she's an on and off member of the X-Men, and thus, warrants a spot on this list.
You really wouldn't believe how many actresses I sorted through to cast Emma. I mean, honestly... the physical requirements of being blonde and attractive are kind of useless as a set of filtering criteria in today's Hollywood. Blonde women are kind of a dime a dozen. If you care to know, I rejected the following listed actresses on the basis that they either couldn't sell the image of the cunningly intelligent businesswoman side of Emma, or that they didn't have the acting chops to portray the seductress. Some of them could do one or the other, but most of them would have just looked foolish trying to do both. As it stands, I vetoed Liz Hurley, Sharon Stone, Madonna, Ali Larter, Rebecca Romijn, Sienna Miller, Scarlett Johansson, Uma Thurman, Rachel McAdams, Rebecca De Mornay (The Three Musketeers era), Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchette... and that's just from what I can remember off the top of my head.
In the end, I reached back in time a bit and settled on a Batman Returns era Michelle Pfeiffer. You have to admit, Michelle's not your stereotypical blonde airhead. She's got the beauty, the sensuality, and the intelligence all in one package. Sizzle, spectacle, and a commanding presence. So what if she made her mark as Catwoman in the DC Universe first?
Angel - Val Kilmer
I'm running with pre-Archangel here, so think back before the blue skin and metal wings. The thought that occurred to me was that Angel needs to look a little like Matthew McConaughey, and act... well... nothing like him. The serious, brooding, and lonely rich guy is much more the Angel I'm looking for. Going back to the Batman/Bruce Wayne duality, my choice came by way of stealing yet another DC character actor, Val Kilmer.
In my opinion, Val was a great half of Batman. He played a fantastic Bruce Wayne, but his Batman was weak at best (kind of the opposite of Michael Keaton's Batman when you think about it). But the way he played Bruce is exactly the way he needs to play Angel. Pick up the Val Kilmer from back in the Tombstone, Willow, or even Top Gun days when he was still fit, and I'd say you've got yourself a decent match up.
That's about wraps it up for this installment. I haven't decided where to go next with my next set. But chances are good that I'll be tackling the Summers and Lehnsherr family trees soon.
Here's a bit of trivia for the Trekkies out there. If you've seen The Terminal, you may have noticed some interesting things about Zoe Saldana's character, Officer Torres. As Viktor Navorski (played by Tom Hanks) tries to help out his friend Enrique win Officer Torres' affection, he discovers that she's an avid Trekkie who has, on at least one occasion, gone to Star Trek Conventions cosplaying as Yeoman Rand.
The awesomeness continues with her name, which matches up with Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres' from Star Trek: Voyager. And to top it all off, Zoe Saldana will be donning the uniform of a certain communications officer by the name of Nyota Uhura in J.J. Abrams' film reboot of Star Trek due out in 2009. Here's me wishing I could bend the space-time continuum and make 2009 happen now. Anyone up for a little slingshot around the sun?
I wish I could describe to you what the Wilhelm Scream sounds like. Still, if you've seen an action movie, ever... I'm positive you've heard it already, though you may not have known it for what it was. The Wilhelm Scream is a distinctive yell with a story that goes way back in cinema history. If you need a refresher though, try checking it out here or YouTubing it.
What started out as a stock scream recording was later rediscovered by none other than sound designer Ben Burtt, the man who would become famous for his contributions to the Star Wars movies as the man who gave voice to R2D2. As for Ben's ongoing career, you can see, or rather hear his handiwork in his most recent film Wall-E, as he provided all the adorable chirps and blurps that emanated from the titular character's sound card.
Seriously though, tracing the Wilhelm scream becomes pretty easy if you know what it sounds like. You can hear it in just about every movie ever made that has any tiny bit of action. It's like the greatest recurring joke in cinema. The hard part comes in trying to track every single movie to ever use the Wilhelm Scream... because that list is long. Here's a YouTube video that puts just a small handful of those clips together. I dare you not to laugh when you see how awesomely overused the sound is.
Somewhere, tucked away deep in the realm of Internet geekery is a brilliant, brilliant man by the name of Jonathan Coulton.
Jonathan used to be a computer programmer and a self-proclaimed "code monkey." But in 2005 he gave it all up and traded it in for shiny new career in Internet troubadourity. Most of his music is thematically tied to the best tenets of geek culture: zombies, video games, science fiction, evil overlords and the like. But what distinguishes Jonathan from the rest is his refreshingly original combination of musical style and lyrics. You wouldn't think that a song about a giant squid's lament over the ships it crushes could be both poignant and meaningful. It's a testament to Jonathan's abilities that his music, though thematically ridiculous, can actually be quite touching.
The musical business model is as unique as the artist. On the music section of his official website, you can listen to every song he's released so far, and download many of them for free. Most songs have three payment options ranging from none at all, to fixed price, and lastly, pay what you think it's worth. Thanks to avid (or is that rabid?) fans and solid word of mouth, Jonathan's Internet rock stardom is well on its way.
Personally, I was introduced to Jonathan's music through his contribution to the genius video game Portal (as was part of The Orange Box). The final credit song "Still Alive" was by far the funniest and most clever compositions I'd heard in a good long time. Possibly ever. After some Internet sleuthing, I discovered who the mind behind the music was and was subsequently pulled into the glory of Jonathan's genius. I guess you could say I've been a fan ever since.
My current favorite songs from his list: Skullcrusher Mountain, Code Monkey, Shop Vac, Drinking With You, Tom Cruise Crazy, and The Future Soon. Seriously. Go check them out.
So here's to Jonathan Coulton. Making geek culture cool... or at least a little less uncool, for those of us who just can't help ourselves.
Veronica Mars. Highly underrated show, and prematurely canceled (criminally early, if you ask me). Here's some random trivia for fans of good television.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumni Charisma Carpenter and Alyson Hannigan both have minor roles in Veronica Mars. Notably, you can see them acting opposite each other in the episode, "My Mother, the Fiend." If you've seen them in Buffy, it's a little jarring. Charisma plays Kendall Casablancas... well... pretty much the same way she plays Cordelia in Buffy (though, notably, she grows as a character in her reprised role in Angel), but Alyson's Trina Echolls is like the polar opposite of stage fright ridden Willow.
Bonus points to anyone who noticed Joss Whedon making his own cameo as a rental car service manager in the episode "Rat Saw God."
On an even more coincidental note, Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development fame also guest star in one episode of Veronica Mars. The same episode, "The Rapes of Graff." They play students at the college Veronica Mars is looking to attend. How strange is that? I suppose it's a tribute to their incredibly youthful looks that they both have the flexibility to play both young teens and young adults. But really, Kristen Bell wins the gold at playing younger characters. She was twenty-four when she started her run on the show as a high-schooler. Go figure.
And we're back for Part II! If you haven't already seen it, you should check out Part I before reading on. Otherwise, here we go...
NIghtcrawler - Alan Cumming
Nightcrawler is a pretty strange character, and one you'd think would be a tough sell. Luckily, he was handled just fine in the X-Men United. Yeah, he's supposed to be a little more lighthearted, but that's after he becomes a regular member of the team. As far as casting goes, Alan Cumming was spot on with every detail, the accent, the physicality. I really couldn't ask for a better adaptation. So... I won't.
Colossus - Daniel Cudmore
After much thought, I decided to leave Bryan Singer's original casting choice of Daniel Cudmore as Colossus well alone. Normally, my process involves finding the right actor to embody the spirit of a character before choosing one based on physicality. But Colossus is a character for whom physicality is a core attribute... and Daniel is 6'8" tall! Yes, you read that right. This guy is six eight, which, strangely enough, places him two inches taller than Colossus actually is (in his normal state, that is, Colossus grows to 7'5" in his metal form in the comics). Daniel also looks a fair bit like him. If it were up to me, I'd get the guy some coaching to develop the Russian accent (also a key element to Colossus) and hope for the best.
Shadowcat - Alexa Davalos
Casting Shadowcat, or Kitty Pryde if you prefer, caused me no small amount of grief. As a character, she's not quite as popular (or as important, some might argue) on her own in the same way characters like Professor X or Jean Grey are. But she is important in relation to a number of the X-Men, which required me to cast her around her potential chemistry with a number of my other choices. Not only does she play a daughter figure of sorts to both Wolverine and Storm, she also becomes a love interest to Colossus.
Ellen Page plays Kitty in X-Men 3, and though passable within the context of the film, I felt that they could have done better. Kitty needs to exude both sweetness and vulnerability (while actually having the range to become a tough fighter later on), and I think the right actress to portray her is Alexa Davalos. If you want an example of how the classic Shadowcat/Wolverine relationship would look on screen, take a look at The Chronicles of Riddick and see for yourself how her character Kyra responds to the gruff, laconic, and seriously people un-friendly Riddick.
Gambit - Shane Taylor
Ah, the character that everyone has an opinion about. Online fans have been batting around names of people to play Gambit ever since the first X-Men film was even rumored. Most notably, Lost star Josh Holloway was rumored to have been heavily pursued for the role, though it's being said that he declined due to the similarities between Gambit and his current character Sawyer. As for who'll actually fill those metal shoes, we'll be seeing Taylor Kitsch playing Remy in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but I'm still skeptical of the choice. Taylor Kitsch strikes me as someone they cast to bring in the teen girl demographic. And let's face it, the real Gambit may be a ladies man, but he's hardly a pretty boy. I firmly believe they need to focus on finding someone with two traits in particular, the range to cover the depths of Gambit's inner complexity beyond his playful front, and the ability to make us believe the accent.
That said, my pick for Gambit was locked up tight when I watched Band of Brothers. In it, Shane Taylor plays a character named Eugene Roe, who's half Cajun. I was surprised to find out later that the guy's English (like practically half of the actors in Band of Brothers), but that doesn't mean that his accent isn't spot on. Every word was like hearing the real Gambit speak. It was stunning. Moreover, the guy's a fantastic actor. He's charming without it feeling forced at all. You feel that there's a weight on his shoulders that he's carrying silently. You want brooding? Shane Taylor can do it. His role didn't call for much by way of lightheartedness, but I'm confident that he'd be able to do justice to Gambit as more than just a two dimensional character.
Rogue - Keri Russell
What would Gambit be without his Rogue? Classic romance. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the Rogue from the films. The last thing I wanted to see was a trilogy of X-Men movies with the weakest and mopiest characterization of Rogue imaginable. And what was with Rogue actually going through with the de-mutation procedure in X-Men 3? And Cyclops dies? And Jean kills the Professor!?! I swear, Brett Ratner killed my inner child with that last film.
Right. Back on topic. The Rogue that I want to see is the Rogue from the X-Men Animated Series... the post-Ms. Marvel Rogue. I want to see flights, fights, and serious power packed neatly into a petite southern belle. And the actress I want for that role? Keri Russell. Keri's got two films that really help sell her ability to play Rogue. You want conflicted romance and the southern charm, watch Waitress. You want a glimpse of the action hero, watch her small part in MI:3. Keep in mind that Rogue's not exactly an amazon. At 5'8" she's just a normal woman with beyond-normal strength. Keri's a little smaller at 5'4", but if anything, I think it'd serve to accentuate the contrast in her favor. If Joss Whedon taught us anything, it's that it's awesome seeing petite women with superpowers kicking all kinds of tail. Buffy did it. River did it. Rogue should most certainly follow in their dainty footsteps.
That wraps it up for this set of five. Check back soon for Part III, covering the five more of the more permanent members of the X-Men: Beast, Psylocke, Iceman, White Queen, and Angel.
Well comic fans, here it is. I'm officially starting a recurring article of epic proportions, Dream Casting the Marvel Universe. As with my Final Fantasy Dream Cast articles, I'm going to attempt to seriously cast a live action adaptation of this beloved world in a way that's both respectful to the comics and ultimately satisfying within the film context. With my Final Fantasy Dream Cast articles, I upped the difficulty factor by casting the film for a specific date, mainly to prove that it could actually have worked. But considering how large the Marvel Universe is, I'm selecting actors and actresses at specific points in their careers, regardless of their current ages. Think of it as the All Star Cast from all of history coming together.
Although the subject matter is trivial, believe me when I say that the logic is serious. If you're the kind of person that thinks any muscle-bound WWE star can play a superhero, this isn't the article for you. As I've stated before, this is an exercise in careful compromise, taking the essence of each character and finding the the best actor or actress to bring it to the screen. Thoughtless flaming will not be tolerated, but if you disagree with a choice and can sway me with an alternate, I'll not only change my submission, I'll credit you with the switch. So let the intelligent discourse begin!
Professor Xavier - Patrick Stewart
Occasionally, the films do get things right. Patrick Stewart is the only man alive who should be allowed to play Professor X. I don't think I have to even explain why. But here's a bit of fan trivia, there's an X-Men/Star Trek crossover book called Planet X where Storm and Wolverine actually meet with Captain Picard. The hilarious part of the meeting is where they comment on how much the Captain looks like the Professor. This book came out in 1998, and even then there was no doubt as to who should portray the Prof.
Cyclops - Neal McDonough
More often, however, the films get things oh so very wrong. James Marsden was given the role for the X-Men Trilogy, but as far as I can tell, his casting is completely off on so many points. Cyclops is supposed to be the team leader. An imposing man both physically, and in general presence. What they did, though, is throw a GQ pretty boy into a role that would be better suited for a soldier. I don't really have anything against James Marsden, but as Cyclops, he was sorely miscast.
My pick to fix: Neal McDonough. He's a lesser known actor (which is a shame really) who's played supporting roles in a number of films. But the role that convinced me was his part as Buck Compton in Band of Brothers. Here is a Cyclops that I would actually follow into battle. Standing at 6 feet, Neal is only three inches shorter than the real Cyclops (as opposed to James Marsden's five inches), and has the physique necessary to fill his frame on screen. He may be blond, but if you've seen Star Trek: First Contact, you'll see what a little dye can do for his look. Lastly, Neal has one of the most expressive jaws I've ever seen. The range of emotion he can convey with just the lower half of his face is crucial to making a great Cyclops. Seriously, go check out some of his work and see if you're not convinced. In an interesting bit of trivia, if Neal were to actually play Cyclops, it would be his second time taking orders from Patrick Stewart, as he's already done in his role as Lieutenant Hawk in First Contact.
Jean Grey - Kate Beckinsale
Famke Janssen from the X-Men films is another example of uninspired casting. The only thing she had going for her was her look. She couldn't act, let alone be Jean Grey, and in the first film, her American accent needs some serious work. My pick to fix: Kate Beckinsale. Granted, any time you throw in an A-list actor or actress that's in the most-mind-bogglingly-beautiful-people-ever list, you're going to get some knee jerk reactions that immediately dismiss you as crazy. But after watching more of Kate's work, I'm convinced that the woman knows how to actually act and is much more than just a very, very, very pretty face. As a disclaimer, I'm not convinced that she's the perfect woman for the role, just the least wrong out of all the women I've considered for it.
Admittedly, Jean Grey is a tough character to play. She's a little insecure, immensely powerful, more than a little bi-polar, and caught in a seriously tense love triangle between Cyclops and Wolverine. But take a good look at the films Kate's been in and you'll see that she can actually cover the requisite range. In particular: Vacancy, Underworld, Pearl Harbor, Van Helsing. As an added bonus, Kate is 5'8", which is only two inches taller than Jean Grey is. As an even better added bonus, we've already seen the kind of chemistry she and Hugh Jackman have in Van Helsing... which bodes well for the believability of the love triangle. To top it all off she can even sport a respectable American accent. Toss in some hair dye and green contacts and you're good to go.
Storm - Vanessa Williams
Talk about downright painful. Halle Berry as Storm? To quote Gob from Arrested Development, "Come on!" If your only requirement was that the actress be black, you could have done better picking a name out of a hat than purposefully choosing Halle Berry. Here's the bad: She didn't look the part, and had about as much screen presence as a paper bag. I don't care if she won an Oscar, I'm still unconvinced that she can actually act. My pick to fix: Vanessa Williams.
You may be asking yourself, "the lady from the Proactive commercials?" And my answer would be a resounding yes. I first really noticed Vanessa Williams when I saw her playing Rose Alvarez in the film version of the musical Bye Bye Birdie. This woman has presence... loads of it. And really, that's what you need in a good Storm. If she's supposed to be an African Princess (and practically a goddess), she should very well have the charisma to make you believe it. Halle Berry? Not so much. Vanessa Williams, on the other hand, has the full figure, the vocal command, the theatricality and the beauty to give life to the Storm that the films desperately lacked. The added perk here is that Vanessa can pull off the long hair for real (none of that wig nonsense). A silver/platinum dye job would be all you really need. She even has Storm's blue eyes. Lastly, being a senior member of the X-Men, you'd want to cast Vanessa in her mid to late twenties to effectively play a mature leader of the team.
Wolverine - Hugh Jackman
And score two for Hollywood, Hugh Jackman really is an inspired choice to play Wolverine. Any fan will tell you, the Wolverine on screen is a bit different from the one in the comics. The most glaring alteration? The height. Wolverine is actually only 5'3" tall, and about 300 lbs. due to his adamantium skeleton. Hugh, on the other hand, is just over 6'2" and nowhere near as bulky. As far as changes go, though, this is a good one. Wolverine's the most popular character in Marvel history. He works in the comics, but how's a tiny, hairy, animal of a man going to hold up on the big screen? Not very well, that's how. What Hugh's taken and run with is the complex persona of Wolverine. Add a little feral rage and you've got yourself a much better result than you'd expect. We've yet to see the true berserker show himself, but hopes are high that X-Men Origins: Wolverine will cover it. As for me, Hugh Jackman is Wolverine, and I'm sticking with him.
So there are the first five of the X-Men. Stay tuned and check the Dream Cast Label for the next (and upcoming) set(s), which will cover Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Gambit, and Rogue!
As it turns out, after helping my buddy Stuart redesign his blog the other day, I found myself mightily depressed with the lackluster stock template I was still using on my own blog... as you can see here.
After browsing through all the other available templates, I declared: "I don't love these... seeya!" And resolutely set out to create something better for myself. I quickly realized that working on blog redesign was much more difficult without company. Partly due to the lack of feedback, and partly due to my general lack of HTML coding knowledge whatsoever, the task took much longer than I anticipated. You'd be amazed at how long it takes to filter out all the garbage and create a simple, minimalistic layout when you have little idea of what you're doing. Funny how that works.
The photo reference I used for the banner was from my archive of pictures. This one in particular was from when I was free diving in Bali, Indonesia with my Canon S80 and a Dicapac waterproof case. There were some scuba divers below me, so I dove down to about 25 feet, and one of them ascended to meet me halfway. We waved at each other in a somewhat goofy manner for a few seconds (what else can you do underwater?), before heading back to our original starting points. But on my way up, I snapped some pics of the air bubbles the scuba groups' tanks were giving off.
But back on point, you can see that I was finally able to wrangle the majority of my blog into it's current form. The whole thing definitely went kicking and screaming the whole way. But you know how it is. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
[Update I: The new animated favicon was a bit labor intensive. I had to create it in Photoshop with a very specific layer mask on the "wave" element, then I had to edit it in CS3's animation window, and once it was properly animated and timed stop-motion style, I exported it into a .gif. Then I had to upload it to my flickr account and direct link to that final url in the HTML of my blog. Yikes.
Update II: The animated favicon seems to only work in Firefox. And the question isn't why, but rather, why it should matter to anyone. If you're not already using Firefox, then you deserve to miss out on all this animated bliss.]
My friend and fellow blogger, Stuart Lock, was in desperate need of a redesign for his blog, Stuart's Train of Thought. His posts were great, but the layout was far too cluttered and visually confusing. In response, we found ourselves setting up his laptop at my home workstation and spending the better part of the day customizing and tweaking his site to create one more befitting his written content.
In line with my design ethic, we first tried to determine a particular mood before we settled on a color and layout schemes. But once we decided on his ideal, it became clear that we would need more than what was available through the standard blogger templates.
Thus began our DIY blogger day. I worked mainly in Photoshop, creating custom image content to fit the blog. At the same time, Stuart was working directly in HTML to modify the site to make space for the content I was creating for him (Though not crazy difficult, I will say, though, that the clean look of the final product involved far more work than you'd expect). Once our elements were placed, I took a screen capture of the new layout, brought it into Photoshop, and began color concepts.
Seeing as altering colors on the fly is much easier in Photoshop, we tested a number of color combinations in Photoshop before even attempting to implement them through the Blogger template controls. Once settled, we took the hex codes directly out of Photoshop's color picker and copied the values into the HTML to recreate the exact hues.
In the true spirit of DIY goodness, we disabled a number of undesirable layout elements on the base template we chose, and took photos from around my apartment to create the new header. The final step was to reorder the content to create a strong visual information hierarchy to subconsciously lead viewers to the primary content. Now, from the moment the blog loads up, it's clear what's important, what's new, and where to go to find old information.
All in all, I call it a very successful redesign. So... that's coming along.
Don't you love it when you find out about something cool all by yourself? It's better than being just a fan... it's like when you've read both the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion and written a senior thesis on the allegorical nature of both long before any of the movies even... uhm... of course, I would know nothing about that personally, seeing as that was a hypothetical situ...
Right... Freeze Ray. The point I was trying to make was that it's exciting when you get to share something cool with people that have no idea what on earth it is that you're trying to show them (and sometimes giving you that "I think this guys nuts" look). It's almost like a personal challenge to sell them on your newfound love in the twenty seconds you have before they leave... or spray you with mace.
My latest discovery is a band called No More Kings. Seriously, these guys are tight. And I don't mean just cool, they're musically tight. But let's just cruise straight past their talent. The thing that gets me about them is the originality of their lyrics and their hilariously genious pop culture themes.
Consider the topics of some of their songs: Sweep the Leg is about the first Karate Kid movie and has one of the best choruses ever. Michael (Jump In) is about the old school Knight Rider TV show's protagonist, Michael Knight... the cartoon music video is an absolutely gem... and you can watch it on their YouTube page, like, immediately. Leaving Lilliput is about Gulliver and the Lilliputians' Radio DJ. Zombie Me is about a guy who trips on his shoelaces, dies, and becomes a Zombie. Do I need to go on? Just go listen to the free tunes on their MySpace already.
