As the weeks go by post release I will be dropping some of the work I did on the game on my newfangled web site here( in accordance with my NDA of course) . However in prep for the upcoming release I thought I would talk and share some info on how I joined the team.
As you know by now (if you have read any number of press articles) the Game began in the mind of Matt Korba while at the USC School of Interactive Media. The company of strange souls to make it was gathered by him and rock star producer Paul Bellezza while both where in their graduate studies. The journey started in school and eventually led to the formation of “The Odd Gentlemen” a story which you could…and SHOULD follow over at IGN 2K Winterbottom Blog ( hope I get mentioned “wink wink”)
Here is the official website: http://www.winterbottomgame.com/
and here is a small selection of awesome articles:
As for my part in this affair…
The Beginning: Whiskey, Video Games, and Disney Princesses
About 3.5 years ago I met Paul through mutual friends. We became fast pals based on our loved of Whiskey and Video Games. At the time I was working for Disney Interactive Studios on every game they were currently making for girls (no joke). I had joined DIS as an intern in their “Think Tank” . There we worked on creating new video game concepts for them to vet and consider. It was a sweet gig and I got to work on some great stuff. After the internship was over I stayed on and worked in the Art Dept. for a stretch. It was a good time, I almost even moved to Austin to work on Epic Mickey, however that is a whole other story.
A crazy Disney thing that never saw the light of day.
I did this stuff all day, painting over DS levels to make them look better. I was determined to make the best damn Disney Princess DS game EVER, hell be damned!
When Paul and I met Winterbottom was just an idea; This was 2006 and 3 short months after meeting we took a road trip up to San Francisco to attend GDC. It was on this trip that I first heard the name of PBW. If memory serves me Korba had to find WiFi in a Jack in The Box in order to email his paper containing the thesis for Winterbottom.
They told me about the game and asked if I would be into helping after I expressed interest. They accepted all hands at that point, as they needed lots of hands to make such a game. Korba had already been set on what would become Winterbottom’s visual direction (Black and white Edward Gorey-esque) But initially I was trying to wrap my brain on the character and what my own illustrated version would look like.
Early on I was resistant to his crazy big nose…because I was a fool
Although Sketching at random I was wrapped up in Disney work , so the game moved along with out me. Around the time the next GDC came about they were feverishly trying to get their build finished and looking good. They had about 9,000 Student “designers” but only about 2 or 3 programmers and Korba basically doing 90% of everything (including all the game’s art). So one crazy weekend I pitched in and helped build them some vector backgrounds for the game (as it was built in Flash then) a few other support graphics, and then did a few illustrations to help them promote. I tried to springboard and tighten up the general look of the game in everything what i did.
In these sketches I started getting more comfy with his crazy nose, still a ways to go with his honker though.
The first illustrated iteration of the tower of Winterbottoms, a motif we used a few times since.
In Limbo: A Lesson In Not Leaving People Alone
I desperately wanted to be a more dedicated member of the team at this point. However it was still a student game and I couldn’t commit full time. But post GDC I just hung around, and any time they need the services of an illustrator I jumped at the chance to offer help. Interest in the game started to ramp up at this point, and it slowly started to become a real thing that could have a real role for me attached to it. I wouldn’t leave them alone, I was always bringing it up with Paul, or raving at Korba about my ideas for the game’s visual direction.
Thus began 2008 and at the beginning of that year I left DIS.
Although I enjoyed my time at DIS I wanted to have a more personal impact on a project. So after almost two years with Disney I left to do freelance work. Which ultimately enabled me to work on Winterbottom.
At the end of the student project the asked me to do a screen print as a thank you for team members, which is what you are looking at above these italics
Truthfully it was a huge Gamble, they wanted me to work on the game, but were still shopping the title around. Official work didn’t even begin until October of that year. As I worked on other projects I did a small number of things for the team, illustration type stuff. With each new thing my own image of Winterbottom grew and evolved, and in August/September they signed with 2K and production was set to start October 1st.
Some little watercolor sketches I did right before begining production, getting started thinking about other characters in the world of PBW.
The Production Begins, and This Post Finally Ends.
In October of 2008 The Odd Gentlemen was officially formed and I started full production on the game.I didn’t know how far we would push the look, and how challenging it would all be.
I got to design their logo, so i envisioned a guild of strange fellows. Each “Gentleman” has their own strange origin that they brought to the group, much like the crazy diverse members of the actual team.
All the production images to share are currently on lock-down, but I will say looking back at these old images it is fun to realize how far we have come. Not just in my own Interpretation of PB but the whole look of Winterbottom is something I am in complete awe of. I am really lucky to have worked on the project and proud of our work. As I can I’ll share more concept art and illustration. Big Big Thanks to Paul and Matt and everybody at the Odd Gents, Let’s do this thing!
- VP
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