Nico's Monster Hunt

I guess I'm going a little crazy for my son Nico's first birthday party, which is under a month away. They only turn one once, from what I hear.

I'd previously posted an entry about the monster invitation I created (my wife came up with the theme, believe it or not) and since then I've printed the invitations, along with a directions card, and sent them out (purple envelope with monster-face sealer sticker) to about 55 families.

Besides the invitation, I've printed more monster face stickers on Zazzle (as part of the giveaway), and a custom shirt for Nico to wear to the party featuring this design.:


I've also printed banners with the five monsters wishing Nico a happy birthday (each including a corny joke), and a series of signs with each monster offering Nico birthday advice. I put together a 14-song CD with rockin' versions of Monster Mash, I Put a Spell On You, Purple People Eater and similar monster-themed songs, designed and printed labels for the CDs, burned 70 copies, bought purple clamshell cases and assembled them all - another party giveaway.

And we have purple and green balloons, streamers, pom poms, monster cups (the main giveaway), paper plates - even Frankenstein's Monster and Wolfman piñatas (the Monster is, fortuitously, mostly purple and green) - it's become quite a project. My wife, who is designing a Mad Hatter-style cake featuring all five monsters (she's a pastry chef) has already suggested that his second birthday party be a quiet, intimate affair - I'm in agreement.

So, besides all of the above, we're working on activities - all monster-themed as well. You can't have a theme party without constantly reinforcing the theme, I always say. We're counting the piñatas as one activity, and we're going to play Hot Potato with a Frankenstein's Monster head for a second game. For the third activity, I'm developing a fairly elaborate game - Nico's Monster Hunt.

I want the kids (there are sixty kids invited - and about ninety adults - that's why we're having the party in a huge park) to have a little adventure, and a monster adventure at that. So I've created something kind of like a scavenger hunt, but instead of having the kids collect things (I didn't want to buy sixty of five items), it's a clue-based adventure.

The kids will get a flyer (I've pieced the elements together below) with instructions, a map of the park that I illustrated, and a spot for the answers to be filled in. Here's the setup:

The kids will use the map to walk around the park (probably with their parents, unless they're brave) using the five numbers to locate five semi-hidden signs. Each sign will have a clue that they'll have to figure out, filling it in above. And here are those clues:

1
The monster made by Frankenstein
Beyond this hill made his decline
And as he stumbled past this spot
He feared a stick t'was flaming hot

What did Frankenstein's Monster see here?

2
The Wolfman running in the night
Silhouetted in moonlight
Suddenly he howled in fear
From a bullet he found here
What kind of bullet did The Wolfman find?

3
Dracula, the king of dread
As a bat flew overhead
But when he landed in this tree
He lost his best accessory

What did Dracula drop here?

4
The Mummy, wrapped in dust and gloom
Walked here from his ancient tomb
He fled as soon as he could see
An insect just as old as he
What scared the Mummy off?

5
The Creature From the Black Lagoon
Swimming here one afternoon
Found beneath his scaly fin
A mesh of strings to reel him in

What made The Creature From the Black Lagoon swim away?

I'm not giving away the secret word, sorry - you'll have to work it out on your own.

Developing the puzzle was more challenging than I anticipated. The rhyming of the clues came fairly quickly, but I had to make some adjustments once I'd worked them all out. I gave no forethought to what the final answer to the whole puzzle would be as I was developing the clues - I just figured I'd make a five-letter word out of the answers, which I did - but the words I was coming up with had no connection to the theme. "Ropes" was one I kept arriving at - but how do I make "Ropes" the big answer? I couldn't make it work.

Then, when I figured out a word I liked for the final answer, it required one of the clues to be adjusted. Initially, The Wolfman saw his reflection in the moon (a nice, iconic image - I'm trying to give the kids the impression that the monsters were all recently in the park - I want them to have that warm, spooky feeling, which is hard to pull off in a beautiful outdoor environment, mid-day) - but "moon" didn't have the "r" I needed, so adjusted it to be... well, the final answer. All things considered, it wasn't too big a change to make, but I did feel a little sad that I had to lose the moon for The Wolfman. I hope the kids understand.

For the park illustration, I used Google Earth as a reference - but as you would imagine, it gave me too much detail. So after reviewing the satellite image, I grabbed a letter-sized piece of paper, folded it in half, and using a thick brush-tip marker, sketched it out from memory. Then, I compared it to the aerial view and made some adjustments.

I kept the view a bit distorted - not straight above, but down a bit, yet distorting some of the views of the objects so they're more easily recognizable. And I tried to include just enough landmarks so that the kids (and the parents) would be able to find the 8.5x11" signs on a stake in a sand pit (The Mummy = sand), nailed to a tree (for Dracula), by the edge of the lake or wherever they wind up being placed.

I originally considered making the map in full color, or even two color (tints of purple and green), but then just went with tints of the green. Besides being the fastest option, I think it works best this way - giving the kids just enough detail to get their bearings in the park.


Map detail. Click for full, larger view...
you amateur detective, you.

I used the same technique for the map illustration that I did for the invitation - hand sketching and inking with brush-tip markers, scanning, Live Trace in Illustrator, recoloring and final layout in Freehand. Someday I'll break myself of using Freehand, but probably not any time soon. It's the best.

I'm going to head out to the park next week for a test-run, and to make sure my sign/clue locations will work, and that the map is accurate and workable. I don't want the kids getting mad a me for a misplaced bush or something similar - that could get ugly.

I enjoyed making this whole puzzle - it gave me new respect for designer/illustrators who develop these kinds of pieces for publications like Nickelodeon Magazine and Highlights (who gave me the worst rejection of my life in the early 90's - "We don't use material of this style - please do not ever resubmit your work again in the future." - yes, seriously - it gave me a horrible impression of them after loving their magazine throughout my childhood, and every time I see a copy in my dentist's office I recoil).

Maybe puzzle-making is something I'll pursue in the future - in the meantime, I hope the kids and parents at the party appreciate it - and Nico, once he's old enough for it. I'll have to take him back in a few years and recreate it for him, once he has the word "scarab" in his vocabulary, I know he'll be ready (there's your freebie clue).

Jabloo - An Introduction

Jabloo is the biggest project I've ever undertaken, and for that reason, I'll be breaking it down into a bunch of different entries, each focusing on different aspects of the project (which is still far from fully launching).

I had the idea for the then-unnamed project in 2006, after reading Seth Godin's Free Prize Inside (more on that book later). I started thinking, in a purely analytical way, that I'd benefit from creating a project that exploited what I believe to be my strongest skills - vector character design, animation and Flash programming.

A lot of graphic designers don't have strong Flash skills, and even if they do their programming abilities are often limited. Something about the freedom of art, and the unforgiving nature of code, don't seem to mix often or well. But I was a Commodore 64 programmer in middle and high school (a badge of honor forever, even though I never got past BASIC back then) and entered college as a Computer Science major, with the plan to develop my own video games. Not a good idea, as I quickly realized the video game industry had already begun moving away from the lone programmer/graphics/animator/music guys I admired from the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64 realms, and each separate discipline was being broken down to different people with different (very different) skills. I found myself sitting in classes with high-functioning science and math guys with an understanding of the deeper aspects of computing that I knew I'd never approach (I'm still not clear on stacks and heaps), so I moved on over to the Graphic Design major, which was a much better fit. Still, though, I had the foundation of programming in me, and it only took another ten years to actually be able to use that skill set again - in Flash.

Back to 2006: I started to think about the different things that were inspiring me at that time. I'd recently read an interview with the Homestar Runner guys, detailing how their fun little project had moved from a diversion they worked on in their spare time to a full-time business that sustained them and a couple employees, all based on the products from their growing product line. That's very impressive in the online world - unprecedented, maybe, at least in this area (an original animated series). They even turned down opportunities for a Homestar Runner television series because they didn't feel they'd have the ability to control the quality of the website's content and a TV series at the same time. I'd have loved to see a Homestar show, and I admired their integrity, but I was especially impressed that they had the focus to foresee where their primary efforts should go - into their online presence, which they could completely control. They really were truly living off their creation - which is about as silly as it gets, by the way. Awesome.

And as this nebulous idea for some kind of interactive, animation-centered project continued forming, I thought of the things that inspired me from childhood as well. My wife Sharon had recently bought me a Captain Zoom CD because I'd told her about the Captain Zoom flexi-disc I had as a kid. These cheaply-made records contained the same fun little song that was made special by the fact that the fictional Captain would sing your name several times throughout the tune. That personalized quality was impressive - they had a library of hundreds of names, and in pre-digital days, that must have been an incredibly labor-intensive process. But the benefit was, kids got to hear their very own name in their birthday song, and they loved it (check out some of the fond memories this site has collected). So that was swirling around now, too - "individual name spoken by a character". Remember that.

I also kept thinking about a personalized children's book my aunt had ordered for me when I was about six or seven. The way it worked was, you ordered this book and sent in your child's first name, age, and a few other facts about them, and in a month or two, you had (from what I recall) a fairly nicely printed, bound book, with the child's name inserted throughout. The story also contained other facts ("Steve went into the jungle with his favorite toy - his Pet Rock!"). I know the book my aunt choose for me featured me, Steve, following my new friend "Evets" through a jungle environment, to get to a birthday party. Get it? They flipped the name around. But that means, I would guess, some kind of primitive computer was involved.

As a pre-teen (the last time I can remember still having that book), I decided they must have printed the pages blank, with no text, first - the final text had an almost typewriter quality. The text was clear, but left very slight indentations in the page. I'm sure that's the best they could do in that decade. The problem with these "personalized" books, though, was the fact that they could never show you, the actual kid, in the illustrations. You were always a hand or leg peeking out from behind a bush or rock or something - colored a brownish-peach (they didn't want to betray race by showing a specific skin color), not looking fat, thin, feminine, masculine, toddlerish, older or anything else specific. So the fun was limited. I don't even remember if they had a variable for the gender - I think the book may have avoided personal pronouns completely - "Steve ate Steve's favorite food in Steve's back yard!" - or maybe not. Either way, you really had to use your imagination in the 70's. I began looking around online for some of these bits of 70's ephemera, but I was never able to find one of those original books (though there are, of course, plenty of modern versions). Still, that concept was swirling too - another instance of "child's name in the story", like the Captain Zoom song.

Another favorite memory from childhood was the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. If you're not familiar with them, they were very popular Young Adult books that had stories whose plots you could vary by making a choice at the end of each section. You'd read about how you, maybe as a knight or space explorer or just a regular kid in way over your head in some nutty situation, were stuck in some situation, and then at the bottom of the page would be at least two options: "If you want to betray your friends and run into the cave, go to page 31. If you'd rather not be such a jerk, go to page 37." Not really like that, but hey - you had options.

Before I'd even played Zork or any other text or graphical adventure on a computer, I loved the story possibilities the Choose Your Own Adventure books gave you. In fact, the only thing I ever "stole" (from a library, though) was one of these books. Shame. It's not that I just wanted to have the book - I wanted to possess the story possibilities it contained (if that makes sense). So that added one more swirling childhood memory as I worked on my "big idea" - it's nothing new in the online world these days, but the idea of a story that a child could control, and explore, making each visit slightly different - I wanted that to be part of whatever it is I was planning.

In the midst of all this thinking, Sharon and I went to Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. It wasn't my first trip there, or even the first time we went together, but being in this creatively-inspiring place - specifically, hanging out in their water garden on a cool summer day, being spritzed from a fountain when the wind pushed a little harder, let my brain really open up, locking in on the overall tone I wanted for my project - that warm childhood feeling of friendship, adventure, exploring, creativity - and having unbounded fun.

And I'll leave it there for now. Lots of ideas swirling, looking for a home - a home which would eventually have a very silly name: Jabloo (rhymes with "canoe", by the way).

Robot Roundup

About a year ago, after months of intense research, I bought a Panasonic HVX-200a so that I could finally get into filmmaking and editing. I'd put off the purchase for a while, but eventually, after reading a plethora of positive reviews from satisfied customers, I bit the bullet and bought this sweet video camera... and a tripod... and a case, extra batteries, battery charger, mountable light, field mixer, cables, mic, boom, warranty, and of course, Final Cut Studio 2. Well, come on - I didn't want to just dip my toes in the water - I jumped in up to my neck. Maybe even my nose.

The HVX-200a doesn't really shoot on tape - technically, it can; it does have a tape slot - but no one buys this camera to use the tape function; it's really just a backup feature. The camera stores footage directly on P2 cards, which creates a very clean (if sometimes slow, and always expensive) workflow. My camera came with a single 16 GB P2 card, which at a medium level of quality (720p) stores about 40 minutes of footage. At the highest level (1080p) it stores only about 20 minutes. Want to guess how much a 16 GB P2 card costs? Around $1,200. Yeah. It's serious stuff, but the quality is nice, you see! I'm still saving up to buy a second one.

After a few months of shooting tests, I decided to do a little project to help me improve both my shooting and editing skills. And since we had a (then) three-month-old baby in the house with clear got star power, I made the decision to center the project on him.


Nico emotes.

Since my nieces Amy and Julie had sent Nico a cowboy outfit and matching horse puppet before he was born, I let that dictate the theme. Keeping with this "whatever's at hand" sensibility, I noted that I owned a lot of robots, including a Robosapien (which is remote controlled), so I devised a simple plot involving Nico the Kid and his old pal Cholera the Horse (no idea how the name came to me, except it sounded good with a country-style accent) fighting five robots. For a first "real" film project, that loose concept seemed just enough to work with.

I didn't write a script because that seemed pretty pointless. Nico is a baby, after all. Instead, I staged and lit the locations (a few rooms in our house) and started shooting master shots, over-the-shoulder shots and closeups. Sharon and I took turns operating Cholera, varying the pauses in his mouth movements. We didn't actually record any dialogue while shooting - I figured I'd just write that after we were done. That turned out to be the way to go, since it would have been tough to get a mic close to my mouth (hidden under a blanket or behind pillows), and Nico wouldn't have sat around for re-takes anyway. Half the time we weren't even holding Cholera while Nico shot his closeups - he was just watching Sharon or I dancing around and/or making silly faces. And all Nico's reverse shots (where you see only his hat and boot) were faked - we put the clothes on a teddy bear and I wiggled them a little off-camera. See? The eye can be fooled.

Other tricks were used - for example, the robots' dramatic turns to the camera were accomplished by standing them on a book, then spinning the book on the carpet. For Nico's ride on Cholera, I shot close and rotated around him as an axis, as Sharon slowly spun his body, maximizing the usability of the small room.

I used natural light enhanced by a few practical lights, but no actual professional lights - though I could have used them. The earlier shots worked out pretty well (thank you, sun), but the shots in Nico's room could have benefited from at least one soft box - though it would probably not have fit into the smallish room. Maybe the next project will require some set-building to create Nico's "Room Set".

After three weekends of shooting (including one weekend of reshoots - I didn't like the way the robots were lit initially), I had enough footage to fill out the story. I did a rough edit, and as I did so, the dialogue (still unrecorded) started taking shape. After the edit was fairly complete, I recorded the dialogue, rearranging, extending and shortening shots of Cholera to match the words as close as possible. It was a strange way to work, but it did allow for some creative compromises.


Nico's co-star in Robot Roundup, the disturbingly-named Cholera.

The longest sequence to put together was the robots' introductions. Aligning the text properly, giving each of the five shot elements consistent transition effects, working in the narration, getting the timing right (I had to loop a few shots to extend them - didn't shoot long enough) - that was a full afternoon, though it seems to work well in its final form.

I added opening graphics, composed music, added sound effects and created a few more editing effects in Final Cut. I did some practice exports, trying out different audio and video settings to maximize quality while reducing file size. All in all, the project took about 30 hours - much longer than I'd anticipated, but I'd learned a lot about my camera and editing. "More knowledge for the arsenal," I always say (never said that, actually, but I may from now on.)

And then I looked into HD video hosting sites. I looked into Vimeo, but after a few tries (each taking half an hour), I kept having issues with the aspect ratio of my video. Then I found Exposure Room, which converted my .mov file to its own format, retaining the proper aspect ratio (no stretching, squashing, or black bars) the very first time. I'm a simple man, so this won me over.


One of the Robot Posse - the irrepressible Rodney.

Robot Roundup has had many online viewings (on Exposure Room and elsewhere) so far, and has won Nico fans of all ages - many of whom look forward to his next cowboy adventure. There may never be one - not as elaborate as Robot Roundup, anyway (sorry). Nico has seen the video a few times, but we're not sure if he even recognizes Nico the Kid as himself - and maybe that's for the better. I fantasize about hiding the movie from him for the next 13 or 14 years, then renting a local theater, inviting all of his teenage friends and screening the film. What a fun surprise that would be!

Check out Robot Roundup on Exposure Room.

A few other fun facts for the Robot Roundup completists out there (these may be more fun after you've seen the movie):

• in the original HD footage, you can see a reflection in Nico's eyes of Sharon (and not Cholera) in some shots (we'll correct this in the five year anniversary re-release)

• the Atari joystick in the early shots is not an actual joystick from the 2600, but is in fact an Atari Classics self-contained game device that you hook up directly to your TV - now that's progress!

• Nico makes a little giggle in one of his reaction shots - this wasn't live audio, but was actually recorded on my cell phone days after shooting had ended

• an original ending where everyone was to their differences peacefully, by talking, was scrapped when Nico became crabby toward the end of the shoot - instead, we just had them duke it out, Wild West-style

• the Robosapien playing Shazbot laid on the ground for about half an hour after being knocked down in his final shot - as Sharon and I were cleaning up the room, we discovered an Easter Egg - sitting there quietly, he suddenly lifted his arms dramatically and said a single word: "Rosebud"

Free Baby Product Ideas

(the clear bib - but this is not Nico)

Having my son Nico roaming around our house for the past ten months has given me idea fodder for many child-oriented products. I don't plan to pursue any of these, so if you're an inventor, manufacturer, craftsperson or hobbyist, feel free to take up the gauntlet and develop anything here - it's yours for the taking.

The Clear Bib
Bibs suck. Okay, not really - there are more cool, clever bibs available now than there ever were before - but what sucks is the way they cover up most of the baby's shirt or onesie beneath. Nico has some awesome t-shirts, but most of the time they're completely obscured by his bib. So I propose a clear bib, to allow the clothing below to show through. Clearly (ha ha, I didn't even plan that), it couldn't be solid plastic because of the potential hazards - but maybe a clear plastic mesh, or some other type of gossamer material would work. This should exist! What's the point of making your baby wear shirts that amuse you if people can't see them 90% of the time?! They may as well go topless.

The Interchangeable Bib/Shirt Combo Collection
Similar to the above - a collection of bibs with the top portion of an image printed on them, and the bottom portion would be printed on the baby's shirt or onesie. Imagine a collection of robot heads, animal heads, superhero heads, monster heads (or maybe even something besides heads) with the bodies printed on the shirt or onesie. Everything would be interchangeable - stick a dragon head on a tiger's body. A superhero head on a robot body. Anything is possible, and because they'd all be well designed and harmonious in color scheme, a quick bib change would never cause a clash.

Toys with Wifi Music/Sound Effect Updates
The same few manufacturers (Fisher Price, Little Tykes, Graco, Vtech) produce the majority of baby toys. And most of these things have little sound components built into them these days. And not just in the toys, either - our pack and play, bouncy seat, and swing (all made by the same company) have battery-powered elements that not only gave you a choice between music loops or nature sound effects (seems to be a standard combination) - they also typically include a volume control, timer, and light. Very modern! But guess what? Even with longer loops, the sounds and music get burned into one's brain after a few dozens listens, and yet we'll listen to them thousands of times over the life of the product. I say let's add a Wifi connection that goes online once weekly or monthly and automatically pulls down new music and sound effects, replacing the current ones. The original audio could be stored in older sets, so the parent could revert if they chose to do so - but if not, they'd be surprised, even delighted, to discover new sounds awaiting them on a regular basis, with no action required on their parts. It would be a welcome mental relief for many, including me if it ever came into existence.


The real Nico, ensconced in his toys.

Baby Walking Training Environment
This one I literally dreamed up - and it's the wackiest one up here. Imagine if you will a collection of toddlers just on the verge of walking. They might be able to learn to walk on their own, sure - but (my sleeping mind wondered) how will they deal with differing terrains such as rocks, gravel, and mulch? Not to mention going around curves, up and downhill, maybe even through shallow puddles. In my dream, parents would take their children to play areas designed to train these kids by strapping them into harnesses (much like marionettes), supporting them at the shoulders. The children would be guided in a slow rotation around the track, cables (connected to a guide track above) slowly pulling them forward through the various environmental hazards. Meanwhile, parents would be on the sidelines, assisting them with a joystick control, lifting the kids and reorienting them when they got into rough patches. Perhaps there would even be mic/headset communication system, so the parents could give their kids encouraging feedback - like "Don't fall so much, Beth!" or "Way to navigate that cliff, Jeremy!" Everyone wins!

Activity Shirt
Nico loves to play with my collar. He loves to play with the buttons on my shirt, the laces on my shoes, and I could never deny the deep love he holds for my belt buckle. So why not create an Activity Shirt for adults to wear, so babies can be entertained by their parents' (or legal guardians') clothing? It could be an amalgam of the above-mentioned clothing items (buttons, buckles, zippers, laces), or it could be more electronic or mechanical (LED display screen, switches, knobs) or musical (jingles, bells, maybe even a little keyboard or drum machine) - anything to keep the kids busy and happy while they're interacting with our garments.

Storybooks Printed on Bedsheets
This one may already exist in some form - it's certainly the easiest to produce. When Nico came into our bed during the winter months (it happens) he was captivated by a set of flannel sheets we had, showing a pattern of snowmen and snow-covered houses. If instead of a pattern, the sheets told a full story - in images alone or words and images - children could enjoy reading the bed. Alternately, a "Where's Waldo?" kind of enormous puzzle-picture could work well, too. Printed on a child's bed linens, they'd have more reason than ever to want to get to sleep at night. Bedtime would no longer be a chore for children and their parents. Neat, eh?

Online Collaborative Children's Books
I've seen teachers do collaborative books - maybe a whole class creates the rough idea for a story, and each child write, and maybe illustrates, a single page. Put it all together, and you've got a class-created book. Very nice. And there is also the idea of the Exquisite Corpse - a pretty dark term for an innocent concept - similar to the above, each author/illustrator creates a page or section of a book, but it's done in sequence, so one person begins the story, and the next person continues it, going on until the end. I'm imagining an online community helping kids do the same thing electronically - they only see the page, or a summary of the page, that comes before their assignment. When the project is complete, the kids are all notified, and can read the book online (maybe add some web conferencing in there). And they can order hardcopies. And they can be a little famous. Kids like fame.

Foot Keyboard
When Nico was really little, I'd set up my little M-Audio Keyrig 25 MIDI keyboard, hook it up to my laptop and sit it under his feet. He'd be laying on his back, kicking his feet and not even seeing the keyboard, but enjoying the various instrumentation that was emerging from it. I think a more purposeful foot-oriented musical device, with big pads instead of little finger-sized keys, would help young babies develop their motor skills, and their appreciation for making music. Why don't I do this with Nico anymore? Simple: his legs are too strong now, and his kicks would crush the darn thing.

Mix-and-Match Beverage Maker
This one's for the older kids. Have you ever seen a bunch of kids gathered around a beverage dispenser in a restaurant? What do they love to do more than anything? The answer: they love to mix multiple kinds of drinks, because it makes them feel that they're breaking the rules, maybe even doing something that hasn't done before. Kids get a huge kick out of this, even if the resultant beverage tastes nasty, because they created it themselves. I envision a product with a small collection of flavors that would all mix well, that kids could combine in their own preferred combinations. They'll become little bartenders for each other, but it'll be cute because they won't be drinking alcohol (children aren't supposed to do that). Depending on the complexity of the device, the dispenser could even save favorite mixes for future use, automatically creating them for kids with the push of a button.

So there you go. I say go for it. You, not me. I've got other projects going on.