Ball And Obstacles

You have to Collect all goal balls. considering to touch walls or obstacles.
When you collect all gold balls, you may leave current level by touching the blue ball. in to move your red ball, you must center your mouse to inside ball.

Exclusive: Scott Patton Talks About John Carter and Being Jealous of "That Guy"

Lead Concept Artist Scott Patton (Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) gave a brief interview about working on the film John  Carter (2012).

Q: How did you get involved in the designs for John Carter?
It all started for us with producer Colin Wilson. We had worked with him on "Avatar" and he really liked the way we were using digital sculpting and rapid prototyping as a fast efficient Character design tool.

The production  had already gone through 9 months of development with Iain McCaig and his team. We were brought on to do designs just as Iain was leaving. We were not really privy to  the work that had been done before us, other than a rough maquette that Iain had art-directed. I guess the thought was start fresh, see where it takes us. Andrew Stanton and Mark Andrews definitely led that charge!

They sat with me during live zbrush sessions drawing on tracing paper on the screen (that's old school photoshop) Even though we did not see the artwork that was generated before we started ( for the Tharks) after all was said and done they turned out surprisingly similar to what Iain's team had done. So those guys really deserve more credit than they got on the film for sure. In the end John Carter was a huge group effort by some amazingly talented artists.


Q: How much were you inspired by the novels in your designs?

Well, I was aware of and reading the "John Carter" novels from a young age, because my older brother went to school with Danton Burroughs( Edgar Rice Burroughs great grand son). I've have had my versions of all the Characters in my head for a long time and have done thousands of drawing and sculptures over the years. Andrew had a similar story, growing up loving the novels and doing thousands of designs himself. That being said, the designs for the movie were more of a form follows function thing than a literal interpretation of the book. In the book they are hideous monsters 15 feet tall bug-like aliens with long tusks sticking out of their mouths. We knew early on that the Tharks at least had to be able to relate to John Carter as something more than a beasts. So, we took the love we all had for the source material and put a practical spin on it.

Q: The director, Andrew Stanton, said he wanted to go "straight dog" in the design of Woola. How hard was it to come up with a balance between dog and alien?

Woola was a lot of fun. A lot of really good artists did work on him, so it was more about cobbling  together all the best ideas into the ultimate dog/alien. Andrew would say "if a toad was a dog or a lizard was a dog" so really what it came down to was personality more than a "Dog." So, I would put all the designs into ridiculous dog-like poses things that made us laugh!

Q: The different looks of the Martians all had a specific feel. How hard was it to come up with designs that were true to the books, but fresh for the screen?

The character inside the character was Andrew's main thing. John Carter had to relate to these Tharks. so we tried to distill down a look that would define each characters emotional state at a glance. It may seem one dimensional but it works. For example, I used Clint Eastwood as the Tars Tarkus "ideal" he is stern and  impassive. I knew if I could get that feeling into his face I was on the right track.

Sola was "Sad" , Sarkoja was "B**ch" , Tal Hajus was "disgruntled," seems a bit simple to break it down that way but that was the thinking, a simple visual cue to tell you who you were dealing with.

Q: Was your make-up artist experience helpful when you were designing the creatures?

Yes, it's always nice to have a knowledge of how things work in the “real world”. So many people come from a strictly digital background and have never sculpted  in clay, let alone done full size creatures. I feel that I have an advantage there. All the painting I do digitally is just a riff on how I paint with an air brush, All my Zbrush sculpts are just digital maquettes approached the same way that I would do them in clay. When I see a creature or character in a script, I think too myself, "How would I  build this practically, what materials would I use?" I try to base it in reality.

Q: Was there a character you designed you were most excited to see on screen?

Well that would be a toss up. I have always loved Tars Tarkus. I have a soft spot in my heart for him and wanted him to be great, but I was really excited to see the Thoats (The big Beasts of burden). I loved the final design on those, which is strange for me I usually end up hating my designs by the end of a show.

Q: Was there a story from the production you'd like to share?
One moment that stands out for me. It was after the Tharks were designed and we had a 3D printed maquette of Tars Tarkus sitting in my office.

We had shown the Maquette to Andrew and he loved it.

After that, we started going over some new designs for the thoats or something. Andrew was making his notes and I was changing and sculpting it live. I noticed that Andrew kept glancing over at the maquette out of the corner of his eye. This went on for about an hour. Andrew kept looking over, it looked like he was getting agitated. I was starting to worry that he was having second thoughts about the design. Finally Andrew starts to laugh this embarrassed kind of laugh. He looked over and said 'I have been looking over at the maquette and thinking, “Man, I wish I was directing that movie...I so jealous of that guy.... I hate that guy..."then I thought, Hey wait!, I'm directing that movie!!' He was psyching himself out. He was so used to thinking about the book and movie being so far away, that he forgot how close it was to happening.

So, from then on, if you liked something you were doing you would say “I'm so jealous of that guy”

Thanks Scott! You can read more about Patton and see his portfolio at www.scottpattondesign.com/.

BATMAN AROUND THE WORLD WACKINESS!

OK, I recently got some amazing photos from a few Friends over at Facebook who all live in different parts of the World. So, I thought I'd share them as one post titled "Around The World Wackiness!". Yes, my concept is stupid but these pic are really great, check it out! The 1st one is a photo of Comedian Kevin Meaney. During a recent trip to Vietnam He found this Giant-Size BATMAN Statue at the entrance to a "Cave" at some Theme Park. It's crazy!

Next up is a fast Photo, shot with a Cel Phone, by our Friend Mauricio in Santiago City, Chile! Just in time he caught this Subway Car going by that is advertising the BATMAN LIVE World Arena Tour. He said that he and his family are defiantly going to that show!

Last, but not least, is a random photo from the USA where some Kid is getting a special BATMAN Haircut. OK, now how cool is that?! That hairstylist is a true Artist!

COMIC CARDS PROJECT - Silver Age DC Comics Superheroes!

Here's a quick post to share some cool artwork! A Friend of ours has recently started a new Art Project where they're posting "Silver-Age DC Comics Superhero" Comic Cards done in a cute cartoon retro-style. The choice of obscure random characters is pretty awesome and eventually there will an entire complete set of Playing Cards. Now, they have only made a few cards so far so here's your chance to start collecting them, just click HERE!

THE JOKER - Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday!

I guess we should warn new readers to the Bat-Blog that every Wednesday we post some cool FREE New BATMAN Backgrounds and call it, "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday!". Oh Yeah, this week we're gonna focus on the Clown Prince of Crime, THE JOKER! The 1st one is a comic book version were he looks totally INSANE Crazy!! He's actually pretty scary, ha! The 2nd one is more friendly and was a graphic used on a recent custom t-shirt. This JOKER FACE is made-up of the words, "Why So Serious?", sort of a tribute to Heath Ledger's character in THE DARK KNIGHT Movie. OK, we hope you like these! But if not be sure to click the button down below for our most recent ones. You can also dig into our Bat-Blog Archives, located on the left-side of this page, near the middle.

'The Hunger Games' Control Room Concept Art Puts The Odds In Your Favor

When you're running through the wilderness arena with teenagers shooting to kill you, you need an advantage. The control room of The Hunger Games has a sprawling view of the arena and thanks to concept art you can get a good look at it.

Reid Southen, also known as 'Rahll,' was one of the artists on The Hunger Games (2012) and he posted some illustrations of the control room.

This view is from the trailer.

You can do an interactive tour at TheCapitolTour.pn.

You can check out Southen's portfolio at http://www.reidsouthenart.com and http://rahll.deviantart.com.

What do you think of the concept art?

Carlos' BATMAN ARKHAM CITY JOKER Tattoo Art

Over at Facebook a friend there recently shared this amazing JOKER TATTOO ART he recently had done. Of course this is the version from the recent BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY Video Game. How cool is that!!? Thanks Carlos, Your Bat-Tat looks GREAT!

CUSTOM 1989 Batman Movie BATMOBILE - $8500 in Cleveland, TN

OK, a friend recently sent us a link to a Craigslist Ad where a Guy in Cleveland, Tennessee is selling his CUSTOM BATMOBILE CAR that he started but never finished. It's the "1989 BATMAN Movie" version. Yeah, you can get it for just $8500.00. Here's a LINK to check it out!

BATMAN BATMOBILE BATIMOVIL - Vintage Toys Collection From Mexico

OK, I know this video is in Spanish and, if you're like me, you won't understand anything this guy is saying, ha! But it's still pretty cool to see. This clip is a Vintage BATMAN Toy Collector in Mexico who shares some highlights from his collection. There are some really great items here to drool over! I really love some of these great Batmobile Cars.

Exclusive: Unused 'John Carter' Concept Art Shows Very Different Martians and Woola

The film John Carter (2012) has some amazing visuals, but what would have happened if veteran artist Wayne Barlowe's designs had been used? Wayne Barlowe is one of the masters in the field having worked on Avatar and Harry Potter. Intricate, detailed and lavish Barlowe has a distinct look for the Martians.

I contacted Wayne Barlowe about his unused work on the film and his responses are below along with his concept art.

I was brought in during the pre-production phase in 2008. As usual, I was called upon to specifically focus on creatures - the Green Martians, Woola and Thoats in particular. I was on the show for only three weeks, I think. And, as you know, none of my designs were actually used.  

Concept design for John Carter, Green Martian Head Study (2008), unused.

I was preoccupied with coming up with a new and original vision of the Green Martians that adhered to ERB's (Edgar Rice Burrough's) words but strongly departed from the Frazetta, et al mold. I love Frazetta's work - it was inspiring to me as a teenager - but I felt that because it had already been seen an original approach was called for. So, I strived for something more realistic and severe. Their visible demeanor was meant to reflect their environment and their hardships on a dying world.

Concept Study for John Carter, Green Martian, (2008), unused.

I did some research in Tuaregs and other North African tribes and riffed on them. I wanted to impart a sense of old culture by layering a ton of exotic detail into their [accoutrements]. I loved the fact that Green Martians used long rifles - it fit perfectly with the Arab model and I wouldn't be at all surprised if ERB had that in mind when he wrote it. That kind of ornate weapon was making the rounds in Victorian and Edwardian homes. So, I used that and many bits and pieces of jewelry and costuming from African and Indonesian cultures as inspiration.

I try to approach every film job as a separate entity. It wouldn't serve anyone if a cross-influence was noticeable from one film to another. Nor would it be true to the various scripts.

 

It has been a policy of mine since I worked in publishing as a cover artist to ALWAYS dote on the words written by writers. I always insisted upon reading everything they wrote, took copious notes and made sure that, as best as I could, I hit all their marks. After that I would layer in my own aesthetics and ideas. So, the same was true here. Especially here, [because] I loved the material dearly. These were the first SF/Fantasy books I read. My dad gave them to me so the property has special meaning for me. I was on a mission to get it right.

Concept study for John Carter, Woola & a Thoat (2008), unused.

Thanks to Wayne Barlowe for the images and the answers. You can see more of his portfolio at waynebarlowe.com.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - Book Publishing News

OK, it looks like Book Publishers are gonna go totally crazy pumping out THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Movie-related books this time around. Here are just a few examples that have popped-up recently on Amazon and other retail sites, there will be many many more! Please keep in mind also that these are books marketed more toward younger readers ( weird ), but there will also be some very serious books too. I really like some of the graphics used here and it's neat to see more pics of Bane & Catwoman. Oh yeah, the merchandising for this film is gonna be crazy! Remember, if YOU, the Bat-Blog Reader, see ANY brand-new Bat-Products out there ( even if it's not "movie-related" ) then please be sure to let us know, thanks!

Brand-New BATMAN Action Figure Toy Line Planned by Mattel

Later in the year we'll be seeing some brand-new BATMAN TOYS that are totally created by Mattel's in-house Design Group. What I mean by that is these toys will not be tied into any existing Movie, Animated Series, Comic Book or TV Show. This new series of figures will be totally created by Mattel. The name of this toy line is "Batman Power Attack™" and shown here are some examples of the toys and their packaging. Check out the different Batman figures, the 1st Villain issued will be Killer Croc, and a pretty cool BATMOBILE Vehicle!

BATMAN LIVE Show is Finally Coming To The USA!

OK, Most of last year & even the present all we keep getting to hear about is how cool & wonderful the BATMAN, LIVE World Arena Tour Show is. Well, it's finally been announced that it will be arriving in the USA towards the last-quarter of 2012, YES!! The 1st US show will be in Anaheim, CA from September 5th to the 9th. I know, it's still gonna be about 6 months away, but be sure to stay tuned to the BAT-BLOG.COM for more future news. So far they have only released the dates for the 1st two months but they include:

1. Anaheim, CA – September 5 to 9
2. St Paul, MN – September 13 to 16
3. San Jose, CA – September 20 to 23
4. Los Angeles, CA – September 27 to 30
5. Las Vegas, NV – October 3 to 7
6. Oklahoma City OK – October 10 to 14
7. Rio Rancho NM - October 17 to 21
8. Colorado Springs CO - October 23 to 24
9. Loveland CO – October 26 to 28

FUNNY BATMAN NEWS - The Dark Knight Gets Busted!

Yes, "Batman" was stopped by Montgomery County Police Officers on Wednesday, March 21th, 2012 on southbound Route 29 at Prelude Drive, Silver Spring, for no tags on his Lamborghini-Batmobile. Hey, for real! This unidentified "Batman" is a real-life rich guy who just enjoys dressing-up like the Dark Knight to visit sick children in Hospitals. He says he wears the bat-suit TO the Hospital because it's extremely difficult to get into & also takes a lot of time. So, it's easier to just drive there "dressed for work".

Kim Kardashian Flour-Bombed On the Red Carpet

While promoting her new fragrance True Refection at The London Hotel in West Hollywood last night March 22, a “loyal fan” flour-bombed Kim Kardashian on the red carpet.

“That probably is the craziest, unexpected, weird thing that ever happened to me. Like I said to my makeup artist, I wanted more powder and that’s a whole lot of translucent powder right there,” the 31-year-old soon to be ex-wife of Kris Humphries told E! news 

Kim’s hair and entire back were covered with cooking powder. She later returned to the event after security guards, assistants and her entire entourage brushed her off.