Next Level ConferenceToday was the first day of the Next Level Conference, a new event in Cologne, Germany with a focus on the cultural and artistic aspects of game development. While Germany and computer games usually brings pointless bans to people's minds, the city of Cologne is trying to consolidate its role as a primary location for new media in central Europe. Thus, the brand new conference promoted various interesting projects from the demo, robotics and indie games scene. As a part of this effort, the organizers brought a level design contest to life in which Dominik Lau and Sebastian Kreutz - two German Invision Games developers - made the second rank. They were only overcome by a team which submitted an entire computer game. Nontheless, both developers are very happy with the second rank, especially since the project video was shown live at the conference. We've put up
screenshots of the project on our gallery. Or, you can simply watch the video shown at Next Level Conference:
Shanghai Grand TheatreWe've heard the question: "Is your composer an industry professional?" more than once. While he actually reached this enormous level and gave us this beautiful and emotional soundtrack, it was just a hobby for him - until now. David managed to get involved in two pieces shown at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, he provides the entire musical soundtrack for the shows. Check some
photographic impressions here!
For those among you who want to know how it's like to work as a professional composer, David wrote up a few linest to give some insight in the development of '
The Four Seasons', which is shown in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Shanghai Dance Academy:
Music Composed by David Fang
Choreographed and Directed by Mr. Chen
Performed by the Shanghai Dance Academy
First performance at the Shanghai Grand Theatre
The Ballet does not have a story and rather a poem. The opening introduction conveys the idea of creation then followed by Spring. After the first season, it is then followed by the other seasons summer, autumn, and winter. After the final season, the ballet ends with a smashing finale.
Writing Process:Writing began during January 2nd, 2010. It was later revealed that they already had music to accompany the choreography. As a composer, it is extremely difficult to follow the movements, especially if they already had old music readily available. As a result, new ideas cannot be conveyed and many parts were rejected. After a series of close calls, it was not until February 24th or 25th that the entire re-written score, with nearly 45 minutes of alternative tracks never heard before, was fully approved. The performance was set for March 18th.
Music Philosophy:After writing the four seasons, I've noticed a huge gap in the music philosophy between East and West. Woodwind and brass instruments are not very popular instruments in the far east and are usually used as supporting instruments to give additional texture. Given that the music was approved at the very last minute, for future performances, there will additional improvements to the score.
Response:Dance associations all across China hailed the choreography as wonderful, music was beautiful and very powerful. The only two problems was the costumes and lighting. The visual background is an enormous LED screen and there were several complaints that several digital artwork needs work. The materials for the costumes were considered too simple and lacked elegance to fit the music. Other than that, this ballet was approved for continuing performances in the future and a full premiere at the Capital City Beijing, which will host an actual orchestra to play the music. Once the improvements are made and completed, there will be a short-term project to transcribe the entire score to digital sheet music.
Congrats! It's good to see someone work their way up! Good to see more work keep it up!
Unbelivable work. Glad to see you get recognized for it !!! Now, GET BACK TO THE MOD DAMMIT Hahahaha