Robyn Miller's Blog, page 3

Get Abducted!

<a href="http://robynmiller.bandcamp.com/album..." data-mce-href="http://robynmiller.bandcamp.com/album... - Original Game Sountrack by Robyn Miller</a>

I haven't posted anything to my blog in about forever. Instead I've migrated over to twitter, where mostly no one is interested in anything that anyone says. :-)

But there's news: yesterday I released a new soundtrack album that I composed for Cyan's new video game, Obduction.

If you only have time to listen to only one piece (because we're all very busy), try this:

<a href="http://robynmiller.bandcamp.com/album..." data-mce-href="http://robynmiller.bandcamp.com/album... - Original Game Sountrack by Robyn Miller</a>

And the game is available on Steam.

Wow! This was fun! Maybe I should get back into this blogging thing!

Augustus Gladstone Through Time

Otherwise titled... Everything you wanted to know about Augustus Gladstone but were afraid to ask! Including, but not limited to...

His birth in 1856 (on Christmas day)
A brief timeline covering some of the most important events in his life
2011 - His discovery and use of YouTube
2011 - The production of this documentary film about his life
2014 - The merchandising of Augustus Gladstone :-)

For the full-sized PDF (with links to everything AUGUSTUS GLADSTONE) click the above image. Or to click here to go to The Immortal Augustus Gladstone website.

Robyn Miller's AMA

I had a blast exposing my innermost secrets at yesterday's AMA! I answered a ton of provoking questions about Myst/Riven, some unexpected questions about my debut film, The Immortal Augustus Gladstone, but only one question about the elusive and extraordinary long horse. Thanks to everyone who attended!

 

Interviewing Me

  

A few days ago, Mark Frauenfelder from Boing Boing interviewed me about directing and playing the lead role in The Immortal Augustus Gladstone. We had a great conversation! The above video includes the first three minutes of the film.

Here's another short video about... Who is this Augustus guy anyway? And why is Boing Boing suddenly in the film biz?

 

The Immortal Augustus Gladstone Everything

 

 

Hi loyal tinselman readers (and members of the Republic)! I've been talking about it for awhile and now it's here... or virtually here! The Immortal Augustus Gladstone will be released, for your viewing pleasure, on February 19th, Valentines day, at 12:00 midnight... because we think that's kind of dramatic and a little romantic... and we think Augustus would like it that way.

Above is our latest trailer featuring the music of VAST! We call the trailer "Searching For Blood".

More news... our film is being released and presented by our favorite blog Boing Boing. Its initial release will be exclusively available only from their site! But you can can pre-order the movie now as a DRM-free download!

We'll be partnering with Boing Boing to bring you tons of fun stuff. Like contests, interviews with collaborators, related short films, and more... like the following first episode of "Augustus Speaks", created from footage we didn't use in the film..

Visit our channel at YouTube or Vimeo to subscribe.

You can also now pre-order the official soundtrack to the film - the first soundtrack I've written since Riven. Or maybe just listen to a few tracks...

Soundtrack is available here. It will be released Dec. 13th (just a few days from now).

You can find all this and more at our new website, here.

Augustus needs your help! (So do we.) Please help spread the word! Thanks!

Cyan's Obduction

Slightly creepy photo of me, staring directly into camera.

Four reasons why you should back Cyan's new kickstarter: Obduction. 

Because Cyan is harnessing their creative talents toward a type of story that's never been attempted in video-games. This is either courageous, foolhardy, briliant, or all of the above. 
Because I haven't seen Rand so excited about a project since the original Myst. It's downright cute (sorry Rand).
Because it has absolutely nothing to do with Myst, which is creatively invigorating for everyone involved. Starting with a blank slate stuff.
Because I've agree to play one of the lead characters in the game (that's me, above). Rand will also be playing one of the lead characters. 
For the first time since Myst, we'll be appearing in a video-game together. And I promise, neither of us will be asking for a red or blue page!

As of today, November 11th, there are only four more days to go.

Gallery

I've finally found a moment to reassemble my online gallery. I've culled away some of the works and thrown some other things into the mix (including the thumbnails above). The gallery is by no means comprehensive but I hope you enjoy it.

Making Star Wars Great

 

If you haven't seen this, take a look! Incredibly well done and I enjoyed the four suggestions.

That said, based on my own experience, I think any future Star Wars will only be decent if J.J. Abrams remains insulated from this sort of thing. It's much more important for him to remain true to his own creative vision of the universe, otherwise he'll end up second guessing creative decisions based on what we, the fans, say we want. To a certain extent, I think that's the trap that George fell into. George created the first two films based on his own creative instincts. But then other pressures and expectations began to creep in. Those kinds of pressures always crush intuition.

Now that I've encouraged J.J. Abrams to not read anything I say (which I don't think I have to worry about anyway), I've got a couple more rules... or "guidelines" of my own.

No Recognizable Movie Stars - I watched Star Wars as a nine year old and I didn't want it to be a movie. I wanted to pretend it was real... maybe because it felt so true and consistent. It helped emmensly that I had never seen any of the actors in any other films. Luke Skywalker had not starred in Jaws. Carrie Fischer had not starred on Love Boat. In my mind, the people that inhabited the Star Wars universe existed a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. So no stars in Star Wars!
Star Wars certainly had elements of a Western, but I've always been struck by its medieval themes, which is far more magical and wonderful to me. A black knight and a dark sorcercer. A princess and a peasant who rescues her from a dark lord. A teacher of mystic arts. A great castle (the death star) and the gift of a sword from father to son. All of this was beginning to wane by film three (and was gone by the next three films). All of this stuff is the real magic of Star Wars... it's the "Long Time Ago" of Star Wars.

Moving on, for your amusement... here's my ridiculous plot idea for the next films! Luke Skywalker gets all forced up and mega powerful, turns to the dark side like his father, eventually redeems himself and finds a way to shoot himself back in time (not a wormhole--something a little more force-ish). The process changes him into a shrivelled up mockery of his old self... Yoda! That's right, Luck becomes Yoda! Now he can eventually fail to teach his youthful self to use the force! I just blew your mind, didn't I? :-)

Orange Starbase

No info found. Enjoy

(click image for more space stations)

via Exonauts!

Mountainous Moon

Above is the surface of the moon as imagined by illustrator Chesley Bonestell, before we landed there. (click image to enlarge)

Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun wrote that he had "learned to respect, nay fear, this wonderful artist's obsession with perfection. My file cabinet is filled with sketches of rocket ships I had prepared to help in his artwork—only to have them returned to me with blistering criticism."

Below is an image of Bonestell Crater on mars, named in Chesley Bonestell's honor: .