Buy this book!

Really it's as simple as that. If you ever do slideshow presentations (Powerpoint, Keynote etc.) this book will help you communicate your message in the most effective manner. It doesn't matter if you're a pro or amateur this is the book that will help you fulfill your potential as a presenter.

The look of required reading

Now personally I never have to do presentations. I am however quite interested in them as I am nearly in all visual forms of communication. Unfortunately I am occasionally subjected to presentations and find that they differ from the rare good to the all-too-common terrible. A few are even help-get-me-out-of-here-my-brain-is-melting horrible but I've yet to witness (live) a single presentation that deserves the great-stamp. OK, I'm probably quite stingy when it comes to my great-stamps, but needless to say the Powerpoint-presentation-genre is in dire need of improvement.

Based on Garr Reynolds blog of the same name, Presentation Zen is a pleasant read, nay a pleasant experience from start to finish. The layout is top notch (as it has to be) and the text is of the personal yet effective variation. This is not a book on technology though. You won't find explanations about the hidden "make it great" menus in Powerpoint or the like. What you will find is a thoroughly explained philosophy about the DNA of presentation greatness.

If you run a business where a lot of the communication is carried out through powerpoint you should buy a copy for each and everyone of your employees. I wouldn't be surprised if this modest investment would actually improve your productivity.

So, this is it. After all the false prophets among books on presentations this is the Jesus-book. It will save us all, make you a better person and make the world a better place for all of us. (OK, maybe not, but it will make you a better presenter and give the audience a better experience).

Apparently this is one of the cool and clever things to do to get your own and other people's blogs some deserved recognition. You make post on a specified subject and then link to a few other blogs that will in turn do the same thing. I was tagged by Karen So here we go:

7 strange facts about me

1. I only use the first initial of my first name. T. Benjamin Larsen, what's that all about? Well back in '72 when young Mr. Larsen arrived Benjamin wasn't exactly your run-of-the-mill name here in Norway. My grandparents were less than thrilled and insisted on a "proper" Norwegian name. I got one, but won't reveal what the T stands for at this time…

2. I own a car but have never had a licence. Being a 35 year old male, the fact that I don't have a licence often get people to raise their eyebrows. The ownership of a car is of course explainable as I own it together with my wife who does drive. (And have a licence!)

3. I am a huge fan of Liverpool Football Club. Well, not that strange as it is of course the greatest club in the world. I am however able to see the absurdity in the fact that a born-and-bread Norwegian get mood-swings based on have a north-English, American owned football-team trained by a Spaniard is doing on the pitch. (Some of you might refer to football as soccer, but this is the game where the players actually passes the ball with their feet!)

4. I have a soft spot for Howard the Duck. That's right the duck known as one of hollywoods biggest turkeys has a special place in my heart. I accept that it's not good, but for me it has enough charm and (for its time) some great effects. (I love the stop-motion monster in the end sequence).

5. I have a silly drinking problem. Not the serious kind, but I find it hard to drink slowly. Whatever the beverage, as long as I have a glass i front of me I seem to finish it before anyone else have emptied half of theirs. Not a problem when it's water, but at other times…

6. I once bought an Amiga-CD32. An amigo-whatwhat? The Amiga-CD32 was Commodore's desperate attempt to revive the company with an Amiga-based gaming console. Too-little-too-late and some really badly thought through specifications meant it was doomed on release. No one bought one, at least no one with an ounce of common sense.

7. I can't stand Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films. Yes I know I am not totally alone in this but as I love fantasy, enjoy most of Jackson's earlier work and was a huge Tolkien fan as a kid it is kinda' odd. What's even stranger is the fact that I own the extended version of all three films on DVD.

Now let's see if this tagging thing actually works. I'll tag the following people:

Eyvind over at his .larre blog
Elling at Life of Elling
Tone at Tones Paralelle Universe

Since my last post about the LSD project I haven't really made that much progression. Being more than a tad under the weather, finishing the first of my ramblings-films, bloging and my work at my dayjob has taken most of my time. When I in addition to all this played my first football- (soccer-) game for more than a decade it has obviously not been much time left for animation.

Some rough pencil sketches to guide me through the upcoming sequences

I have done a little work though. I've finished sketching out the opening tune for the titles and opening sequence and I'm fairly pleased with the jolly little accordion-waltz I've composed. In my own humble opinion it has the right "french" sound to it, which fits perfectly as the film starts in Paris. I have also done some rought pencil sketches for the next couple of sequences and got some new ideas for the title-sequence that seems to push their way to the front of my attention.

Finally in case you were concerned, LSD (my film) does not have anything to do with drugs what-so-ever. It's actually an acronym and I promise to reveal the title the next time I mention the project.

Cheers!

One of the ideas I was experimenting with in my recent superman-film was the attempt of making the visuals entertaining enough to overcome the world's least passionate voice-over. Based on the feedback I received it seems I had a certain degree of success. I'm sure you'll also agree that well delivered speeches can work brilliantly on their own. I therefore started to ponder the thought: "can a brilliant speech be ruined by poor visuals?"

Powerpoint-presentations are today's most used form of oral-visual presentations. It is also the most loathed one. The last few years have spurred a lot of articles about how Powerpoint is often used in a way that actually lessens the impact of a message, so the answer to my question should be fairly obvious. But how far can you push it? I chose a few seconds from President Kennedy's inaugural address as this is one of the most inspirational speeches made in the last century. Below you can see how it comes across when I've "complimented" the speech with slides from a standard Powerpoint-template.

Edit: I've replaced the original quicktime-file with the YouTube clip

To me the effect is almost unbelievable. I find the 40 seconds or so to be mind shattering dull. Now here's the trick: Try playing the clip again, but with your eyes closed. It's better isn't it? So, if poor visuals can lessen the power of JFK in his prime, then just think what they could do to your average presenter. Does this mean you should just skip the visuals the next time you're making a presentation. Not necessarily. The right visuals can improve the audience's experience and their emotional connection with the material. However, if you're not willing to invest the time and resources to get the visuals right, you're probably better off leaving Powerpoint at home...

"Super Mario Galaxy!" The jolly voice of the grand-old-man of game-characters always brings a smile to my face. The game with the same name has proven to be one of the best gaming-experiences I've ever had. Now, Mario has always been about gaming with a capital G. The latest iteration is an incredible collection of creative playfullness when it comes to game-mechanics and I'm thrilled with how the developers at Nintendo have managed to constantly surprise me with new ways to play the game without ever breaking the internal logics. As a "game for the fun of it" this is about as good as it gets.

But can games be more than pure entertainment? And should they be more? Now, in some respects they already are. Improved eye to hand coordination is a well known positive effect and a recent study from the University of Toronto indicates improved spatial skills from gaming as well. But this is not what I'm looking for. I'm awaiting the moment where games can truly be considered great art. Now "art" is a fairly elusive subject, I know. The "certified-art" stamp on it's own isn't necessarily worth a lot. Obviously games already have a lot of artistic elements about them, but I'm still awaiting that one clearly defined moment where a game changes our understanding of society.

Most(?) people have probably had experiences with art that have changed their outlook on life and/or society. Perhaps a book, a film, a painting or any of the other clearly defined artforms. Even more impressively a handfull of artworks can actually be said to have transformed society itself. But a game? I've had my share of "wow this is great"-experiences but none that could be said to have changed my outlook on the world. How often do games put you in a truly moral dilema? I believe part of the problem comes from the nature of games. You play to win. People don't care why they have to kill the aliens as long as the action provides the necessary rush. I am not requesting optional paths for the player to choose in mechanical fashion. No, it could be as simple as changing the perceived reality a bit during the span of a game. What if you start out as a butch alien-killer only to find out that the aliens you have been killing are friendly creatures with families. This might seem cruel but if games never provokes us to think like this they'll for always be the funny, but shallow, cousin of the art-family.

Hopefully I'll be able to experience the La Guernica of gaming in my lifetime...

* Yes I know there are female gamers as well, it's just the way I write...

Phew, it's hard work sorting out those a's and o's in anamolies anamalies anomalies!

I've been working for some time on the first installment of what I've chosen to call "Pointless Ramblings". No, that is not the new title of my blog. The idea behind this, and hopefully future ramblings, is to make a quick video about uh... something. I prepare a text relatively quickly and get a soundtrack in place based on the text. I then more or less improvise by making illustrations, animate text and put together a visual to accompany the video. In lack of a better term it could be called video-jazz.

Yes it does say superanomalies...

I don't nitpick on every detail, everything does not have to be great. OK is good enough. This is the only way I'll be able to get stuff like this out while still having some time left for more ambitious projects. Now, hopefully this should still mean that the "ramblings" are both watchable and mildly entertaining. I think #1 is, but I'm obviously biased. It has been said that _a picture is worth a thousand words_, so if my calculations are correct this film should be worth nearly 5 millions of them. Happy viewing!

A higher quality quicktime version is available here