So my blog has been pretty dead ever since the release of THE WORLD IS SAVED!. Well that's because I've been busy. Very busy.

I HAVE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT soon to come on a new project I've been working on for about a year and a half now.

Please check back on this blog on June 18th for the big announcement. I really can't say a lot more other than to tease you mercilessly.

1. The Project is inspired by the creativity found everyday on Newgrounds.
2. The Project is in part sponsored by Newgrounds and involves many members of the Community
3. The Project is unique to Newgrounds, in the sense that Newgrounds has NEVER seen its like before.

Excited? You Should Be! Remember, June 18th.

See you then!

~Ben

THE WORLD IS SAVED: Gamer Music Video

The music video for Danny Wiessner's latest single, The World Is Saved, debuted on the live recording of Podcast Beyond Episode 200, a weekly podcast from the Video Gaming website IGN.com. It was met with acclaim at the show and the proud smiles of a few devoted members of the IGN community: Danny, Pandamusk, Ben, Michael, and Sam.

The project originated from a tradition on Podcast Beyond: end the show with a song. Years ago, the Podcast Panel would improvise a song, but then they started to play pieces of music that were submitted to them by IGN fans. Danny Wiessner, an IGN reader, student, and composer of music, submitted a few songs to Beyond that became fast favorites.

Danny emailed editor Ryan Clements months prior to Podcast Beyond 200 and told him that he would love to debut his latest work on our show. Ryan was immediately taken with "The World Is Saved," thanks to his deep connection with role-playing games, so he suggested they debut it on their live 200th episode. More importantly, Ryan urged him to produce a music video. Danny agreed and asked if Ryan could help collect artists for the project.

With a deadline of just a few short weeks, Ryan tasked Beyond volunteers pandamusk, Benjamin A. Smith, Michael Hruby, and Sam Alegria with animating a music video in their free time, with no budget. And without any further guidance, Sam contacted Ryan at 11:00PM the night before the live show with the finished product.

The World Is Saved music video is an incredible collaboration by a group of strangers that were brought together by their mutual interest in Podcast Beyond. It's a video that resonates with with all gamers and captures the melancholy of an adventure's end. And Danny's words remind all gamers exactly why we play games.

Come watch and vote 5!

or watch it on youtube

Watch in HI-DEF!

WELCOME TO THE NEWGROUNDS WRITING ANTHOLOGY!

VISIT THE OFFICIAL NEWGROUNDS ANTHOLOGY THREAD ON THE BBS!

If you are a writer with passion, skill and a desire to take your work to the next level, here is your chance to be part of Newgrounds history.

Newgrounds is collecting the greatest creative writing by its best authors.
The final selections will be assembled into a print edition to be sold internationally via the Newgrounds Store, with links back to the user profiles of all authors involved.

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO TEST YOUR TALENTS, TELL YOUR STORY AND POTENTIALLY GET YOUR WORK PUBLISHED!

The Anthology is supported by TomFulp, was initiated by gumOnShoe, and is currently being run by AdamCook and myself, Ekublai. You are in great company!

We are passionate about writing and we are keen to see all forms and voices represented in our Anthology. The doors are wide open to all-comers, but to ensure the highest quality in our works, we must lay down a few simple ground rules.

Submission Guidelines and Requirements (PLEASE READ, IMPORTANT):
The NWA aims to publish a collection of 12-15 pieces of "substantial size" or the equivalent amount of text. As of this thread, we have 6 or 7 such submissions that have been deemed acceptable. Otherwise, consider this the ultimate opportunity to let creativity take you to strange and awesome places.

We want ORIGINAL, first-run work. Give us what no-one else has.
If you are planning to submit a piece for the Anthology, DO NOT make your story publicly available online. No publishing house wants to print recycled writing!

AdamCook and EKublai are gladly accepting works that fall under any of the following categories:

Novellas (17,500-40,000 words)
Novelettes (7,500-17,500 words)
Short Stories (1,000-7,500 words)
Flash Fiction (1,000 words or less)
Poetry
Vignettes (Plotless fiction)
Screenplays (Film, TV)
Stageplays (plays, sketches, musicals)
Foreign Language Writing (with English Translation Attached)
Comic Strips or Graphic Art Storytelling
Creative Non-fiction

Requests to submit writing in a form outside these styles, including forms of Non-Fiction (i.e. Interviews, Memoirs etc.) will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
You may PM or post here with a short summary of what you want to write about.

Send your submissions to writing(dot)ng(At)gmail(dot)com
Make sure to give us your Newgrounds Username when you e-mail us.
You can also contact either of us by PM - AdamCook and EKublai.
From there, we can give you our e-mail addresses if you have questions or comments.
Remember: AdamCookis situated in Europe, so is 6 hours ahead of NG's BBS time.
EKublaiis on BBS time.

KEEP THESE TIPS IN MIND AND YOU'LL STAY AHEAD OF THE PACK:
Don't be lazy: proof-read your piece for all errors (spelling, grammar, logic etc.)
When we get writing that shows no effort, our eyes throw up violently in our skulls.
With the amount of work we receive, a poorly edited piece stands very little chance.
We recommend at least three drafts of revision before submitting.
Get a second opinion on your work, if possible - a fresh pair of eyes will see mistakes you never even thought you could make.

We ask that you send your submissions in .doc (Word document) format. It's a format we all know, own and are used to.They're clear to read, easy to edit and allow us the flexibility to comment in the margins when work-shopping stories.

Should we accept your submission, we will contact you with further information.

IF YOU ARE ACCEPTED (also important):
You are not done.
When you are accepted, you will join the great cycle of re-writing enjoyed by all published authors: Editing and Revising.
Luckily, you're not alone. We aim to work-shop accepted stories with their authors to ensure good submissions become great submissions. Keep an open mind, be flexible to change and be ready to make edits should we request them.
You should take this as the highest possible praise - not only do we want to get your story published, but we want to see you improve as a writer in a short time-frame.
If you have any issues with revising your story, please reconsider your participation.

When all is said and done, this is your free invitation to work on something that you're passionate about. It's worth taking on this challenge simply to learn more about writing, to improve your abilities and have great fun doing it.
Anything else that comes your way will be a great bonus.

Any general questions you may post in the official thread or in our respective blog posts.

Show us what you can do.

Update: Read my responses to comments.

Two Words: Ad Saturation. It is the future of the newgrounds flash cartoon.

Don't believe me? Watch NEWGROUNDS AD GONE CRAZY!!!

With the revenue system fully in place, Newgrounds flash artists have finally begun receiving a little cash for all their hard work and effort. Revenue systems, I believe, are in part responsible for the rise in quality flash movies and flash games in recent years, not to mention the quantity.
However, I recently noticed something while looking at Newgrounds medals: EXT and you may have noticed it too. That's right. It's just one big point giveaway. That and it has NGads on literally every in-game frame. Think about this. Ugolegend has about 6 advertisements on that flash and the flash has gotten 37,000 views. That means ugolegend has got somewhere between 37,000-236,000 ad impressions!!! And it's not even that popular! Here's my theory:

People will start realizing that making games and movies with lots of ads in it makes more money than better games with only one. Since ads need to display for a certain amount of time before it counts as an impression, some people will start to make games and movies where the in-game ad stays on screen for awhile. But seeing as that will make for more boring games, they wil figure out a different way of getting more ads in their flashes. This is the conclusion they will come to.

Replace Everything With ads. EVERYTHING.
This means flash artists will make their characters ngads, their backgrounds ngads, their stories ngad related.

Now some of you may be thinking: psshhhh, this is never going to happen, they'd get blammed for sure.,,,, BUT!!!! Doesn't The Clock Crew exist? The Lock Legion?

The Clock Crew: Newgrounds Gang
The NGad Alliance: Newgrounds Gang with Financial backing from Newgrounds.

Which gang would you join?

.... Now go watch my damn cartoon. I know it sucks, but seriously, this is the future of Newgrounds Revenue.

...... But unfinished. If any of you recall, I released a cartoon that I made in 8th grade. It was a absolutely pointless flash with terrible art, animation, audio, you name it. It got blammed wWell, every year since (wow that was 5 years ago!) I've released it under the name "Teacher's Cake (2006, 07, etc). Then in 2008, I tried spiffying up the graphics (okay it was a half-assed attempt) and re-releasing it. It passed this time (barely). Here is the result along with the original. http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/
444358 . you don't NEED to watch it because it's terrible.

But the real story here is that I realized that besides having a spam flash in the palm of my hand, I also had a pretty good script. I mean people commented that they liked the random humor. So I decided to actually revamp the toon as I should have done years ago. I used the independent study option in my senior year of high school to do it. Unfortunately, the year ended I was without a completed cartoon (I had anticipated it to be 3 minutes long but it turned out to be a 6+ minute script). So I put it aside and it just lay dormant for two years gathering dust. And the fact that it was split in five different flash files didn't help either. But this summer I decided to get off my lazy and just do it! Release it! So here it is Teacher's Cake: The Movie. incomplete but not getting any closer to being completed (It is worth seeing how I transformed the concept of Teacher's Cake 2008 into an actual storyline though).

Enjoy!

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/
546202

I am proud to sponsor and present to you the debut animated work of the lovely and beautiful Kristen Salustro. Watch, Enjoy, and Leave a well-thought out review.
This cartoon was hand-drawn and colored before its digital transfer by Kristen Salustro. It's an unfortunate consequence that something done so beautifully by hand must face compromise in quality because it was not done digitally. But at 6 minutes running time, the result is well worth the file size. For any aspiring animators out there, remember that animation begins on paper.
This video features edited selections from "Dream On" by Aerosmith.

In other news, along with the assistance of Kristen Salustro, I will be adapting Eddy Bowley's Voice-Acting Skit "The Turtle and the Wolf" into a flash this upcoming year. To hear Bowley's fantastic work sans flash please go to the audio portal entry here http://www.newgrounds.com /audio/listen/252628

I'm very excited about this project and it should be a fun time for everyone involved! So until next time!

~Ekublai

Hi Guys So I'm making a comedy flash based on an idea I got while watching the Oscars last Sunday, noting the antics of one Steve Martin and one Alec Baldwin, and one very confounding moment at the end of the ceremony. I have the great Traintrack6 lined up to play Alec Baldwin, but I still need a Steve Martin. The only real requirement for the part other than at least vaguely sounding like the man is that your mic records clearly. Sound has always been a big deal for me in my flashes so I'm stressing the need for good quality recording. Other than, take a look at the script and get back to me ASAP since I want to get this thing out before the Oscars become an old subject.

Title: That Darn Steve Martin!

(Typewriter Style: Temporary Abode of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (Beat) 02.07.10, 11:47pm (Beat) 1Month Before Oscars)
(Hotel, Exterior)
(Hotel, Interior)
(Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are both writing jokes for the Oscars in relative silence, then)

Steve (snickering): Heh (Beat) Hehe, hey Alec.
Alec (Still writing): Yeah Steve?
Steve: How about this one? (Slides paper over, Alec reads)
Alec (muttering): Of course, Vera instantly realized why they all call him... (clear) Haha! George Luny! That's gold Steve! Pure fuckin' gold! But wait... wait wait wait (Beat) Steve what do you think of this? (Slides paper over, Steve reads, then laughs)
Steve (amused): Haha! Depp was as mad as a hatter when he heard he wasn't invited! That's cute Alec.
Alec (grateful): Hey, I try.
Steve: You know, we've come up with a couple of good ones tonight Alec.
Alec: Steve, I think we've come up with MORE than a couple. This routine will have'em in stitches.
Steve: Man, great idea to have two hosts this year! I'm feeling really good about this.
Alec: I.. I have to agree. This is fantastic. (Looks at watch) Oh boy, but it's getting late. Let's call it a night, shall we?
Steve: Sounds good. Same time tomorrow?
Alec: It's a date! (Beat) (They catch each other's eye and slowing point at each other jokingly)
Both: Ahhhhhhh!
Alec (deep, drawn out): yeah...

(Cut Scene)

(Typewriter Style: Bed of Steve Martin (Beat) 02.08.10, 2:34am)
(Steve is sleeping in his bed, tustling)
Steve (slight incoherently in his dreaming): Damn Mirren (Beat, more coherently) Hitler! (more coherently, but still sleeping) Jews (Beat) Hollywood (Beat, shouts the last word, waking up) Mother Lode!

(Cut Scene)

(Steve Martin in a dark living room, throwing paper into the fireplace, giggling to himself. Alec Baldwin opens the door)

Alec (slowly): Steve?
Steve (casually): Oh hey Alec!
Alec: What the hell are you doing up? It's almost four in the morning!
Steve (distantly): Just makin' a fire...
Alec: Steve, I-wait (beat) Is that... (outraged) Is that our routine you're burning!?
Steve (cheerfully): Yup! (Sees Alec's reaction) Oh don't worry, I wrote another one. I thought some of the jokes in the last draft were a bit meh, so I decided to ditch it and throw another routine together. Here take a look. (Baldwin takes the script and skims through it)

Alec: Steve... 75% of these jokes are gay jokes directed at US.
Steve (condescending): Yes Alec, it's called a theme.
Alec (exasperated): Fine but, all the other jokes are backhanded compliments to Hitler and Nazis... With more compliment than backhand! And... born a poor black baby... Steve, Gabourey (Gab-or-ray) wasn't even born when "The Jerk" came out! It's just gonna seem racist to her! How the hell are we going to pull this off?
Steve (fatherly): Alec, you worry too much, it'll be great... Trust me.

(Cut Scene)

(Typewriter Style: Academy Awards (Beat) 03.08.10 12:00am)
(Steve and Alec are on stage near the end of the Oscars)

Alec: Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's official. The Academy is broke from going 30 minutes overtime tonight. (Audience Laughter) Haha! Not a joke! (Audience Laughter)
Steve: See Alec, I told you everything would work out with the new script.
Alec: Steve, Tom Hanks still has to announce Best Picture and that'll take like 10 minutes or more
Tom Hanks(off-screen): It's hurt locker!
(Alec and Steve look off-screen, then Alec looks back)
Alec (Shrugging): Okay!

I Am Animating In A Room

I jest not. As far as I am aware, no other flash has been made using the process that I used to achieve the type of animation I present in this experiment, "I Am Animating In A Room."

Enjoy!

1st Movement: "Ghostmas"
2nd Movement: "I am a Legend"
3rd Movement: "One Hour Evacuation"

After over three years of animating it, it is finally done. Perhaps the strangest part about "I am Animating in a Room" is that what it contains was never intended for release, at least not until October of 2009, which when I decided to turn crap into.... confusing crap.

There will a time to tell the full story of this flash in a blog post. The essential information is this: This is a rotoscoping/trace bitmap experiment. Digital effects were added to a video of the compilation of animations, then reimported it into Flash as a series of images, which I then bitmap traced. I then rotoscoped the vectorized bitmaps, using the traced bitmaps color palette to help me replicate it in my own way.

I've thoroughly enjoyed how polarizing my latest flash has been. People are calling it the most epic WIN and FAIL to ever grace the newgrounds portal? Which is it?

YOU DECIDE!!!!!!

MY NEWGROUNDS SKETCHBOOK

It's simple really. I'm making an experimental flash game which requires the recordings of not 1, not 2, not 3, but 120 people recording themselves saying their own name. No prerequisites required. All I need is your permission to use the recording in the flash for free.

Steps:

1) Using a microphone, record yourself saying your real name or even just your Newgrounds alias. You can say it in any fashion you want, the only thing you might want to watch out for is being too loud.

2) Send the recording in .wav or .mp3 format to 120Voices@gmail.com

You will be credited for contribution in the flash of course!

About the Game:
Working Title: The Path We've Taken

This project is very exciting for me because even I am not able to really classify what kind of game it is. It can be musical but in other ways its very visual. It is at once intellectual and also visceral. It toys with your senses and asks you to relax but also extend yourself in ways that you don't usually in games. It does not penalize, but really it does not reward in the sense of compensation for effort (Though it will have medals). At its heart, it is a game about you, the individual, your perceptions of the world in which you live, and about finding the "path" that brought you to this point, or whatever point is currently stalling in the static of your psyche. It has no goals but it tells a story. Your Story.

Sounds simple right? Right. My aim is to build a game that is both an enjoyable experience and also tries to effectively address everything I put in that sort of paragraph.

Obviously these are alot of voices, and no I don't expect to get 120 voices from newgrounds but since newgrounds has always been there to accept my wacky experimentations, I figure I should give back for what will be far my waskiest one yet. Thanks guys!