Mon May 18, 2009 12:29 pm
#21246
This will be my third (maybe fourth) year returning here. I haven't been active on the forum, mainly because I think you are doing an excellent job without me!
As far as other suggestions go, here are some of the other ideas bouncing around in my head:
Unique Creations:
This category is clearly for your creative thinking, so I do not want to make any direct suggestions for patterns. What I will say is that I would love to see some more legitimately scary looking patterns, as I am less into the kiddy/silly look a lot of them seem to have. This is not a knock on your style; I would just be more likely to carve a scary pattern over a cartoonish one (I am all about scaring kids as much as I can every year). Things like your ghoul pattern from House of a Thousand Corpses are right up my alley in terms of the uneasy feeling you get looking at it (a perfectly petrifying pattern). I know you've got some terrifying ideas in that head of yours. Let's seem them!
Burton's Nightmares:
- The only think that comes to mind is something from this new "9" movie coming out in September. There are all kinds of original and creepy monsters in it, namely the "Catskull" thing. If you haven't heard of it, watch the original short film the movie is based on (featuring "Catskull") and the trailer for the film:
I only mention it because the animated short was excellent and the movie seems extremely promising. Let's just hope Burton doesn't bastardize it like some of his recent work.
Movie Monsters:
- You've already done an excellent job with this category; it is hard for me to think of anything you haven't covered. If I come up with anything, I will mention it.
Kreatures for Kids:
- Garfield sporting the pirate hat from the Halloween TV special. Seems simple enough to do and would do a lot for us late 80s kids.
- Anything from the Charlie Brown Halloween TV special. Maybe something like the iconic scene of Snoopy's silhouette against the moon in the pumpkin patch.
I mention these two because when I think of being a kid and what Halloween meant to me back then (and still does today), these TV specials always come to mind right away as paramount in tradition. It is the same way that your Grinch pattern will be a huge hit. As much as it is awesome to have some of the other obscure pop culture patterns, at the end of the day it is all about Halloween, and we need to remember our childhood roots with the holiday.
Heroic Headliners:
- The only thing that has yet to be "patternized" on your site (considering how much of a classic favourite it is with my generation) would be anything from Back to the Future. I realize how extremely difficult it is to come up with any images from the films that would lend themselves to a pumpkin pattern. The best I can think of would be the image from the theatrical poster/dvd cover for the first film; Marty with his foot in the door, checking his watch, with simply the one open gullwing door to represent the DeLorean. I'd suggest doing the car itself, but I doubt it would work well as a pattern, as recognizable as it would be. I'm sure the thought has more than crossed your mind, it just seems like an untapped resource. BTTF and Ghostbusters are my all time favs!
Pixelated Players:
I'm sure there are tons of legitimate suggestions for this category every year. Here are some that I would like to see:
- A profile/headshot of one of the "Big Daddies" from Bioshock. They are pretty iconic, and would make for a creepy pattern even for those who would not recognize it.
- Dhalsim from Street Fighter. His skull necklace, white eyes, and face paint seems appropriate for Halloween. Even if no one got who it was, it would make a nice tribal warriorish pattern, which would fit in with other scary patterns.
- Have you played/seen the game "Shadow of the Colossus" for PS2? It is an absolute masterpiece, and all of the monsters in the game have such a detailed and unique style to them. I think any of their faces would make for an intricate and beautiful pattern, even if no one understood the source material.
- A Solid Snake profile done in the artsy, sketchy style you see on the covers/concept art for the games in the Metal Gear Solid series. I think this would make for a really unique pattern, though it might fall on deaf ears as not a ton of people would recognize him.
- An FF7 Cloud or Vincent (get it, ghost, halloween?) as they appear in Advent Children.
- Link, from any of the Zelda games.
- Samus Aran, ala Super Metroid.
(less enthusiastic about those last two, though, as they would not make the most impressive patterns)
I'm sure I could go on... As you can see, the medium really lends itself to this type of thing (in my opinion, at least). Not only that, but gaming has become a more pervasive phenomenon these days, as not just 8 year olds play anymore. Because of this, I am sure others would love to see some more focus on pumpkin patterns for this category (especially as the others seem so rich already). In my opinion, some of the more serious source material would be nice to see; more than your cliche Super Mario Bros. stuff (not that this isn't awesome). Like I said, there is a ton there that is hugely popular and hasn't been done.
Thanks for listening.
[/novel]
Haha, thanks ZP!zombiepumpkins wrote:I totally agree with all your suggestions today, maegnus. Keep 'em coming, I like how ya think.
This will be my third (maybe fourth) year returning here. I haven't been active on the forum, mainly because I think you are doing an excellent job without me!
As far as other suggestions go, here are some of the other ideas bouncing around in my head:
Unique Creations:
This category is clearly for your creative thinking, so I do not want to make any direct suggestions for patterns. What I will say is that I would love to see some more legitimately scary looking patterns, as I am less into the kiddy/silly look a lot of them seem to have. This is not a knock on your style; I would just be more likely to carve a scary pattern over a cartoonish one (I am all about scaring kids as much as I can every year). Things like your ghoul pattern from House of a Thousand Corpses are right up my alley in terms of the uneasy feeling you get looking at it (a perfectly petrifying pattern). I know you've got some terrifying ideas in that head of yours. Let's seem them!
Burton's Nightmares:
- The only think that comes to mind is something from this new "9" movie coming out in September. There are all kinds of original and creepy monsters in it, namely the "Catskull" thing. If you haven't heard of it, watch the original short film the movie is based on (featuring "Catskull") and the trailer for the film:
I only mention it because the animated short was excellent and the movie seems extremely promising. Let's just hope Burton doesn't bastardize it like some of his recent work.
Movie Monsters:
- You've already done an excellent job with this category; it is hard for me to think of anything you haven't covered. If I come up with anything, I will mention it.
Kreatures for Kids:
- Garfield sporting the pirate hat from the Halloween TV special. Seems simple enough to do and would do a lot for us late 80s kids.
- Anything from the Charlie Brown Halloween TV special. Maybe something like the iconic scene of Snoopy's silhouette against the moon in the pumpkin patch.
I mention these two because when I think of being a kid and what Halloween meant to me back then (and still does today), these TV specials always come to mind right away as paramount in tradition. It is the same way that your Grinch pattern will be a huge hit. As much as it is awesome to have some of the other obscure pop culture patterns, at the end of the day it is all about Halloween, and we need to remember our childhood roots with the holiday.
Heroic Headliners:
- The only thing that has yet to be "patternized" on your site (considering how much of a classic favourite it is with my generation) would be anything from Back to the Future. I realize how extremely difficult it is to come up with any images from the films that would lend themselves to a pumpkin pattern. The best I can think of would be the image from the theatrical poster/dvd cover for the first film; Marty with his foot in the door, checking his watch, with simply the one open gullwing door to represent the DeLorean. I'd suggest doing the car itself, but I doubt it would work well as a pattern, as recognizable as it would be. I'm sure the thought has more than crossed your mind, it just seems like an untapped resource. BTTF and Ghostbusters are my all time favs!
Pixelated Players:
I'm sure there are tons of legitimate suggestions for this category every year. Here are some that I would like to see:
- A profile/headshot of one of the "Big Daddies" from Bioshock. They are pretty iconic, and would make for a creepy pattern even for those who would not recognize it.
- Dhalsim from Street Fighter. His skull necklace, white eyes, and face paint seems appropriate for Halloween. Even if no one got who it was, it would make a nice tribal warriorish pattern, which would fit in with other scary patterns.
- Have you played/seen the game "Shadow of the Colossus" for PS2? It is an absolute masterpiece, and all of the monsters in the game have such a detailed and unique style to them. I think any of their faces would make for an intricate and beautiful pattern, even if no one understood the source material.
- A Solid Snake profile done in the artsy, sketchy style you see on the covers/concept art for the games in the Metal Gear Solid series. I think this would make for a really unique pattern, though it might fall on deaf ears as not a ton of people would recognize him.
- An FF7 Cloud or Vincent (get it, ghost, halloween?) as they appear in Advent Children.
- Link, from any of the Zelda games.
- Samus Aran, ala Super Metroid.
(less enthusiastic about those last two, though, as they would not make the most impressive patterns)
I'm sure I could go on... As you can see, the medium really lends itself to this type of thing (in my opinion, at least). Not only that, but gaming has become a more pervasive phenomenon these days, as not just 8 year olds play anymore. Because of this, I am sure others would love to see some more focus on pumpkin patterns for this category (especially as the others seem so rich already). In my opinion, some of the more serious source material would be nice to see; more than your cliche Super Mario Bros. stuff (not that this isn't awesome). Like I said, there is a ton there that is hugely popular and hasn't been done.
Thanks for listening.
[/novel]