If you have watched tonite’s game of Layer Tennis, you might know what i am speaking of. First half semmed to me like a battle between copywriters instead of layer/graphic artists and who is the most skilled copypaster of pre-prepped work.
I must add: i have nothing against using your archive (pre-prepped stuff like i called it), but i think it should somehow stay in focus with the theme (what’s between the lines) of the match and should be incorporated or remixed into the existing work, not just be placed as a new topmost layer.
As much as i like Scott’s and Rob’s work, this game awfully hurted. Not really portfolio material. Volley 8 anyone? Sure, i understand how hard such a game could be. And fifteen minutes? That’s like nothing — i totally understand that “complexity”. I guess i must explain myself:
My in deep examination
First off, i was dissapointed by Scotts’ serv. I love Scotts’ work, i really do. ISO50 was one of the first sites i saw when that whole internet thing dawned on me, and i was stunned that there are people out there with blogs who share the same kind of love for such styles.
But i do not approve Scotts’ serv because honestly, i think he can do much better (but you know, that is just my personal taste), and you have some time for prepping the serv, don’t you? And then came Robs’ reply, which was cool; the characters looked like fisher-price-scissor cutted, but it had really not much in common with the serv, except maybe a linguistic reply to “game is on” — totally, dude!
Volley 3 tried to stay in focus with the concept, a merger between v1 and v2, but it didn’t impress me really, but thats just personal taste again i guess.
But look at v4 now. If Rob made that up in fifteen minutes: My hat’s off, sir! But what is it? I mean art and graffity doesn’t need to be clearview enabled, but i have a hard time seeing anything there in the blended character soup (except Marge Simpson and some Springfield eyes flying around).
I mean i am really doing ok de-hieroglyphing street and tram graffities, but ecxept a few characters i can’t make my mind up what this is about. And if that was something pre-prepped, which is ok for me, look at the wolves and sheep from Shaun vs. Kevin, than this was just not fitting well enough to toss it in there, and besides that, it just looks like a placed layer above the previous volley, nothing more — where is the connection?
Volley 5, the stereo gorilla, looks like another serv, except that a some bits of Robs’ hieroglyphs shine through.
Volley 6 is actually kinda cool. The thinking gorilla (to be an ape, or not to be an ape, that’s the question) who likes to move on. But now comes Scott with bear vs. bird, and ignores the previous volley. Rob tried to give the canvas new room for fresh chalk, but Scott completely whipes it out, except the footprints and starts over on his own. Another serv? Keeping the footprints only? C’mon man. Too easy, too little. Using archived stuff is ok i guess, but shouldn’t there be some kind of a theme, a story line, that should at least roughly be followed by remixing it or something? This was not a grphicwise reply, nor a linguistic one.
Probably Rob was puzzled now, thrown back into the mayhem of before moving on, and saw no other escape but making a joke in reply to the versus vs. versus. Could have been funny, but mate, that font, as much as it is loved by a bus full of hippies, is like Comic Sans bigger brother. How was that fitting into the path and “i try to be the theme here”-theme? No way i can let that go. Noooo way, really not!
Now the friendly lizard from frisco want’s to evolve. A second one shouting help buy saying “moving on”, just with other words? Rob must have been giving up by now, ‘cos v10 can’t be taken seriously as well, now can it?
To make one thing clear: I like Robs’ and Scotts’ work, and i am sorry for all saying this and dissing it, but i really fucking do. I wish i were as good as them — but this game, i don’t know why it happend, was big bullocks.
Last words
Sorry Scott and sorry Rob for being so honest — but remember, this is just my oppinion about the game, nothing personal, and not a critique on your skills and talents. Bad friday, blame the stars or something.
Maybe i take that whole game too serious, but watching these guys is like meeting my favorite movie stars so to say. Coudal should think about that regarding the rules. This is our x-games.
[...] us on. I have to say it was a very interesting experiment. I read the forums and some blogs afterwards and in hindsight, may have done a few things differently. I think Rob and I have [...]
I think by actually playing the game yourself you’ll understand the complexity of it.
Oh crap, it came out wrong, huh? Bad tongue! Go to your room, immediately!
I added a deep examination to my original article, hope that makes me less of a bad boy and explains a bit more. I absolutly do understand what this game could be a bitch to please and that fifteen minutes is like just 2 minutes less than what i need to put on sneakers.
You keep commenting about pre-prepped work… Is part of the problem here you just don’t believe that they could create something in 15 minutes? Because Hansen has already responded to your comment saying none of his work was pre-prepped, he just pulled elements from other pieces if he got an idea.
Have you looked at the previous matches? I think reviewing them would give you a better understanding of what layer tennis is.
Everybody seems to be angry about that, and noone seems to understand my point either. Sure thing that pre-prepped work, in other words, an archive is used by the contestants, and that is totally fine.
I never believed that Inman/Cornell drew the sheeps and wolves right in the middle of the match. But they fit snuggly into the whole theme of the match and were just additions to their plays.
If you look at the current match at volley 4 now, be it archive material or wizarded up, i don’t see how that blends in anywhere.
It is technically stunning though, and if Rob says he really made that up while he was on, then i would believe that, but still, where is the context? What is written between the lines there?
And since i don’t see that, i must come to the conclusion that it was archive stuff, believed to be deadly stunning, which again, is fine — if it fits that is. And if it is merged in there somehow, not just placed as a new topmost layer.
But thank you for replying, Kangaroo Russell! One of a few who took the effort! Cheers mate!
Oh sure mate, i’ve seen them all, most of them live.
Sorry guys, while I understand the difficulty of “layer tennis,” and creating on the fly, I’m not very interested in the results. That is, I don’t find them aesthetically interesting. I’ve seen the match results and the “episodes,” but these graphics don’t grab me.
Matthew Rose/Paris, France
http://lalandedigitalpress.blogspot.com/