KEVIN IVERS
"AMISH"
Las Vegas was my first MineCon so my impact on it was minimal. I created a portion of the artwork for props like torches and mooshrooms. The Production Designer called for the torches to light up so I was tasked with retofitting the fans that created the flames inside the box the torches would be made out of. I also assembled several creatures like a spider and boxes that became parts of the Ender Dragon.
In 2012 The BarnYard went to Paris for MineCon. I stayed back in the states working on graphics. The idea was to make a few posters that advertise the attractions around the con based on classic posters that Disney used at their theme parks.
2013 was our biggest undertaking yet. This year we wanted to create physical biomes. (Biomes are the different locations in the world.) We would build 4 x 8 foot boxes to cram entire landscapes into. There were 8 biomes including Dunes, Ender World, a Pond, Forrest, Desert, Icey Tundra, Grassy Plains, and the Nether. I saw these biomes from start to completion and this will give you an idea of how that was accomplished.
We wanted to use forced perspective to give the scenery a broader scale. I came up with a starting point utilizing three different sizes of styrafoam. Our Production Designer Greg Aronowitz simplified it to lock in the method we used in the end.
Next I would convert each layer to a black and white outline to be printed as a pattern. Each layer was named and numbered because there were going to be a lot. I then placed each shape at full scale on a 3 x 4 foot template fitting as many pieces on as few pages as possible to minimize cost of printing. This was when my days of mastering Tetris came back to help me. On average each biome took up 12 pages. That is almost 400 feet of patterns in total.
Greg would give me a rough idea or sketch of what he wanted in each biome and I would desiign a landscape accordingly. Once the basic designs were approved I conceptualized a color coded system to help visualize the topographical maps of each biome. I created each individual layer on a grid. They would then stack to create the image you see above. I was also able to import the layers into Adobe After Effects, extrude them, then have a rough turn around of the actual map.
When the paper came back from the printers, we applied spray glue to the backs adhearing them to 4' x 8' x 1" styrofoam board. Then we spent some time cutting out the pieces on a ban saw. We had several people working on two bansaws for a few days.
Next I worked with several teams of people to assemble the biomes. We would stack up the pieces according to the maps I printed. Then stripped off the labels and spray glued them together. Next steps included painting, scenicing, and placing bushes trees and backgrounds. Most of the shrubbery was made out of stipple sponge.
The next gallery features the finished Biomes followed by an image of the in-game version of that biome.
Also includes the force perspective cave built by Greg Aronowitz.
On top of the biomes I was given several odd jobs that needed to be done for other parts of the con including pieces for vendors. This cube was one of them.
With the rising popularity of the game the Victoria and Albert Museum in London had asked Mojang if they would be interested in creating an exhibit for a program they were hosting. Mojang turned to Greg at Barnyard FX with a few ideas and Greg just had to do ALL of them. We created artifacts like a stained glass window, a marble statue, a creeper necronomicon, swords, tools and other artifacts.
I designed several of the pieces starting with the stained glass window. Including laying out the grid for the image and the pixelated details for the frame.
I also designed a samurai sword. And a tiny samurai statue that was to look like it had been carved from ivory.
My official position at the barn yard is Illustrator, so even after all the practical I still had my design duties. I designed the official logo. Here are a few different versions of the full color logo, and the simplified version for the tshirt. From this logo I was also tasked with a creating a 2d animation for promotional items.
Below is an actual screen shot from the game. Microsoft bought Minecraft in 2014. Because of the transition, the con was canceled.
Minecon London was eventfull. Minecraft was awarded the Guinness Book of World Records Award for largest convention for a single video game. 10,000 tickets were sold. We had carried over some of the ideas for 2014 and were ready to unleash a new experience on the Minecraft loving masses. We wanted more interactivity from the fans so we went with a carnival theme for the main floor. I designed the games based in the minecraft universe. I designed the logo. And full scale sinage.
Greg wanted to add 2 more biomes to our worldly collection. I designed a swamp and what would be my best one yet, the Mesa. Spires shooting up into the sky, caves burrowing in safe places right near a bowl that was carved out of time by the receding river below. I wanted to make a skydiving Steve but sadly there wasn't time.
Since this one had to be finished on site then was shipped into storage, I still haven't seen the mesa completely finished.
2015 was also the year we put on a "small world" ride. The ride showcased biomes and mobs from each part of the game. I created the graphics for the golf carts that would carry the "conventioneers" through the ride. Inspired by Mary Blair of course. These first two graphics were mounted on top of the carts, the first one on the front and back, then the second image on either sides. In the third image the golf cart sides were made up to look like the mine carts from the game. I got the measurements of the cart and made sure there were enough pixels to cover from end to end.
2016 was an interesting year. This was the first year Microsoft managed the Con, so we had extra approvals and restrictions to deal with. We worked hard for the client to give them the best work we could. But as is the case with new producers to an established show they didn't understand the framework we created or the process of how we had worked for the past 4 years. So much of the time was wasted on meetings and not focused on work.
The studio I work for did our prep to present to Microsoft and Mojang as per usual. Greg wanted to incorporate a minigolf theme into the main floor. So I created a number of mini golf courses and maps to meet that atheistic.
Our center piece is usually a big something. In Orlando it was a Giant Steve and his Dog. In London it was an Ender Dragon on Big Ben. This year the subject was an Enderman. And the thought was to make the base photo ops in all directions. So I drew up a few ideas.
Greg also had the idea to make the pillars of the entrance into biomes from the game. Like small versions of our boxes from 2013. I want to replicate it someday because it is such a cool idea. It's tiny details like that I think make these Cons memorable.
But those ideas were rejected.
Microsoft wanted to "simplify," make everything to scale, which is a neat idea but it would prevent half of the scenery and props from fitting in the room since one block is about a meter tall. Relative size helps things work for spaces where you are only allowed a few feet to indicate a vast expanse. The last thing you want in a floor space is for it to feel cramped and uninteresting.
So we rolled up our sleeves and came up with a new plan. The center piece was redesigned still with the idea that it would be photo ops, just blocky. The Entrance sign I think just ended up being black blocks.
After I skinned the Endermen We had to install them by sliding slots in the feet over rails on the top of the "hill". It is hollow so we are literally standing on a piece of wood looking down into a shaft all the way to the floor.
We were going to build our farm space from previous years, and incorporate our trees into a new forest. But the major addition was going to be a house. The concept for most of our work is bringing Minecraft to life. This house was no exception. I was tasked with creating furniture and making the patterns for the majority of the props that would occupy the house. Now because all of the game is pixelated, I had to replicate that.
I started with craft sheets of wood I ripped into strips on a 3 inch table saw and then chopped those strips on a 3 inch chop saw into 2 inch squares, the approximate size of a pixel for a our build. I got in to the movie biz to work with miniatures, but this is ridiculous.
Everything dealing with wood used my panels so I was cutting squares for at least a week solid. The oven was also one of my projects. There I used a dremel to cut in the grid. Anywhere the dremel couldn't reach I went in with a file by hand.
You might see the books in the bookshelf are unmarked. I had come up with an idea to make Minecraft based titles and write them on the books. But because we would have had to get the names cleared by Microsoft and we were short on time, the idea was scrapped. I asked my friends on facebook to come up with a few titles anyway and here are some of the best ones.
Moby Brick : The History of Cubism : Yours, Mine, [Ores] : Herobrine: Myth or Man? : Block Beauty : 101 Uses for Coblestone :
The Little Minecart that Could : The Crafting Dead : Brickleberry Finn : Brickenstein : Squarry Potter : The Great Craftsy : Mined and Prejudice : To Craft a Mocking Bird : Fifty Pixels of Gray : Enderman's Game :
One Stone Two Stone, Red Stone Blue Stone : As You Mine It : Exterminating Creepers :
A Block and a Hard Place : Jane Ore : Goodnight Mine :
When I was gluing the tiles down the glue would sometimes make the wood flex so I was able to flatten out the wood while it dried by making a couple custom spacers out of scrap MDF. Since there wasn't an underside to clamp onto I used bricks and good 'ol fashioned gravity to keep the tiles flat. When the block was done we gave it a light stain to make it shine. And boy it looked great. So you are looking at 4 items being built at the same time.
A workbench, A jukebox, a bookshelf stacked 2 high, and an oven.
Even after the boxes were finished there was still a little work to be done on them. Like making an invisible access hatch so they could change the batteries on the fire in the oven. And mounting the tools to the workbench so kids wouldn't be able to just rip them off. Which meant big heavy bolts. On site I didn't have a sawzaw so I drilled out a space big enough for me to reach up in through the bottom. I had someone help me get the cube up on a few apple boxes so I could simultaneously be in and outside the box at the same time to hold the tools on the outside while I tightened the bolts on the inside.
One of my favorite parts of the project was a shining moment for me personally. The Elder Guardian was one of the photo ops we designed early on. A day or so before the Con was to open Greg came to me and said, alright now we need you to animate an eye for the guardian and mount that into the fish. No problem 10 minutes in after effects and I'm done with the animation. Now the idea was to get a usb and let the video loop off the usb. But the TV we brought could only play photos off the usb, and Greg wanted the eye to look around. With little time to waste I thought well maybe I could make stills that move around to make it look like the eye is moving. but I couldn't get the slideshow setting to work properly for that to be effective. Finally we landed on getting a cheapo DVD player and I was hoping they had some sort of operation that would let me repeat a short video. On first try after hooking it up I found the dvd player would automatically start and loop the video when it ended. So with far less difficulty than I can have with electronics on deadlines this just worked out and I couldn't have been happier.
This is me inside the fish excited that things are working out. Unlike how things went for Pinocchio or Jonah.
As it happens when most cons end, it all has to come down, one way or another.
That is it. My Minecraft Experience over the last 5 years. MineCon has moved away from the physical and on to the digital format this year 2017, and we look forward to it's success.