Ahhhh Zelda, what an epic and wonderful game series!
When Nintendo announced the Wii U, they knew the Wii was approaching the end of her path. Sadly, the life for the little console was troubled by a lot of things; poor 3rd party support, 1 generation late in term of graphics, lack of online networking and options...and now, despite the wonderful things it gave to the way we play our games, it is the time to let the Wii to rest in peace.
Enough with the depressing stories! Let's talk about my special edition of the Zelda Wii U trailer, shall we? :P
Before I introduce you to it, let me back up in time a little bit. At the Spaceworld 2000, in the year that was supposed to be the end of the world...Nintendo was starting a new era of home consoles with the Nintendo Gamecube. In order to catch the attention from their beloved fans, Nintendo released a tech demo of a potential new Zelda:
Everybody was really excited by this new cool looking game...but, it never came out. Instead, Nintendo decided to go wild, with a cartoonish cell-shading zelda. At first, fans weren't very happy with the Big N decision but, after playing the game...it wasn't hard to say that it was one of the best video gaming experience of this generation.
So here we are, The Wii U will be released soon enough...and guess what, Nintendo did it again! They presented at the last E3, the true, first and only HD version of our favorite Link, in a tech demo where you see him fight a big spider in a temple. Very cool, indeed, but no video was released to the press what so ever and the only videos you can watch right now are off screen(screen filmed by a camera). Like you have maybe already guessed, there is no sound or music attached to the video...Well, look no further, I took the job and tried at my best to put some life into this epic battle.
You can watch the video here:
I hope people will enjoy this trailer as I enjoyed taking this big challenge!
On that note, I wish to everybody good luck for the year 2012 and a lot of success in your projects and career!
Dominic
Friday 30 December 2011
Friday 2 December 2011
Get Fruity Jelly For FREE!
Heeeello ,
Are you ready for this great journey with Jelly?!....well, you should be!... because now it is the best time to try it out!
Not only you can get it for free until Sunday, but a new World and a LITE Version are in development!
We are hard at work to bring you the best puzzle/platforming experience, and thanks to all the people who support us! It means a lot to us when we see your reviews on the app store, and a lot more when we see that you updated your game!
The next update is coming soon, until then, don't forget to rate Fruity Jelly 5 stars so we can keep going :)
See you!
Dominic
A.Jean Productions
Music Composer/Sound Designer/Producer
http://ajeanproductions.blogspot.com/
http://soundcloud.com/dom-lajean
http://www.linkedin.com/in/domajean
Are you ready for this great journey with Jelly?!....well, you should be!... because now it is the best time to try it out!
Not only you can get it for free until Sunday, but a new World and a LITE Version are in development!
We are hard at work to bring you the best puzzle/platforming experience, and thanks to all the people who support us! It means a lot to us when we see your reviews on the app store, and a lot more when we see that you updated your game!
The next update is coming soon, until then, don't forget to rate Fruity Jelly 5 stars so we can keep going :)
See you!
Dominic
A.Jean Productions
Music Composer/Sound Designer/Producer
http://ajeanproductions.blogspot.com/
http://soundcloud.com/dom-lajean
http://www.linkedin.com/in/domajean
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Monday 21 November 2011
Hello Folks!
I have just uploaded 2 new videos to my Youtube Channel for the remix contest. The votes begin today, if you like my music you can vote for me HERE
My Video Game Marathon will begin this week end. Now there is a little donation button on the top of the page. Thanks for the reading and see you in my next videos :)
Dominic
I have just uploaded 2 new videos to my Youtube Channel for the remix contest. The votes begin today, if you like my music you can vote for me HERE
My Video Game Marathon will begin this week end. Now there is a little donation button on the top of the page. Thanks for the reading and see you in my next videos :)
Dominic
Friday 18 November 2011
Video games marathon and donations for my career!
Hello everyone!
So my new Youtube Channel is all set, and my concept that will go with it as well.
I have a good collection of video games that I want to go through one last time. I will present each game in videos with me playing through them while commenting at the same time.
The goal is to change my life in a personal way and to get some money to invest in my music studio. As I said in my previous posts, I'm a freelance composer that live from his contracts. I need money to buy a new keyboard, since my keyboard is an old Casio-558 with a lot of broken keys.
Each week, I will present a video game, and I will organize some contest to give away freebies like Nintendo posters, magazine, action figurine and more!
You can help me out by donating money with the Paypal button below. I will show what I do with the money from the donations in my videos so you can see it is not a joke and that I really need money to update my studio and not to go out in a club on friday's night!:P
I hope to begin this whole thing in the next few days, and I hope it will work :)
Thank you and see you around for my first video!
Dominic A.Jean
http://soundcloud.com/dom-lajean
http://www.youtube.com/user/AJeanProductions
http://www.indabamusic.com/people/domajean
http://www.linkedin.com/in/domajean
So my new Youtube Channel is all set, and my concept that will go with it as well.
I have a good collection of video games that I want to go through one last time. I will present each game in videos with me playing through them while commenting at the same time.
The goal is to change my life in a personal way and to get some money to invest in my music studio. As I said in my previous posts, I'm a freelance composer that live from his contracts. I need money to buy a new keyboard, since my keyboard is an old Casio-558 with a lot of broken keys.
Each week, I will present a video game, and I will organize some contest to give away freebies like Nintendo posters, magazine, action figurine and more!
You can help me out by donating money with the Paypal button below. I will show what I do with the money from the donations in my videos so you can see it is not a joke and that I really need money to update my studio and not to go out in a club on friday's night!:P
I hope to begin this whole thing in the next few days, and I hope it will work :)
Thank you and see you around for my first video!
Dominic A.Jean
http://soundcloud.com/dom-lajean
http://www.youtube.com/user/AJeanProductions
http://www.indabamusic.com/people/domajean
http://www.linkedin.com/in/domajean
Friday 21 October 2011
How to manage your time and your contacts at the beginning of your career
Hello everyone,
So this is a post in direct link with my actual situation in my career. The video tutorials and follow up of my work will be there soon but for now I just can't get it done because of time restrictions.
This is also the main reason of this article: How to efficiently manage your time at the beginning of your career.
I believe that this article can be really interesting to young composers like me and to anyone who are losing their head in this crazy world.
Here's the deal;
In the next days you have:
-1 band recording for tomorrow
(for the next week)
-1 appointment for an important eye exam
-Music tracks and sound fxs to complete for 2 ios game and 1 pc game
-2 solo artists recording
-1 day for a video game job event
-A big update to prepare for Fruity Jelly, a game you have worked on pratically for 2 years.
-Payment for bills, grocery, house cleaning friends hang out blablabla...
This is a real situation, and, it would be beautiful if there weren't any problems between each task you got to do. But, sadly, in life, there are always some problems and, at some point, you have to stop. You cannot control everything in your life. You can, however, control a part of it. That part concerns only you and your soul.
On facebook, not too long ago, one of my friend shared an interesting picture:
Each of the previous task have a problem at some point related to them.
What you have to do, is simply take one thing at the time; like I said, you cannot control everything in your life.
The trick there is to separate each task and each problems in 2 different sections:
What I can solve/do
What I cannot solve/do
When done, you can now concentrate yourself on the really important things. To manage your time, you can always download a time manager software like Rescue Time but the best is to always give you clear objectives to complete.
Now that you have a clear list of what you can do right now, you can give real and clear objectives to complete during the next days until you get some news for the other pending projects or pending opportunity.
That said, it is essential that you don't forget the positive sides of your life.
Never forget that you are lucky...we're all lucky, to be alive, to be able to walk, to talk and to do what we do...Here's a video that demonstrate this point of view very well:
One last step is to always get a balance of work and fun....have some fun and do some physical exercises, it is good for the blood circulation and for your soul!
On that note, I am going to have some fun, and not think too much about all my problems...I'm sure I will be able to solve all this in a near future, like I always did...
Thanks for the reading, I hope this article and glimpse of my personal life/opinion can help you to climb that mountain...
Don't worry, be happy.
Dominic
So this is a post in direct link with my actual situation in my career. The video tutorials and follow up of my work will be there soon but for now I just can't get it done because of time restrictions.
This is also the main reason of this article: How to efficiently manage your time at the beginning of your career.
I believe that this article can be really interesting to young composers like me and to anyone who are losing their head in this crazy world.
Here's the deal;
In the next days you have:
-1 band recording for tomorrow
(for the next week)
-1 appointment for an important eye exam
-Music tracks and sound fxs to complete for 2 ios game and 1 pc game
-2 solo artists recording
-1 day for a video game job event
-A big update to prepare for Fruity Jelly, a game you have worked on pratically for 2 years.
-Payment for bills, grocery, house cleaning friends hang out blablabla...
This is a real situation, and, it would be beautiful if there weren't any problems between each task you got to do. But, sadly, in life, there are always some problems and, at some point, you have to stop. You cannot control everything in your life. You can, however, control a part of it. That part concerns only you and your soul.
On facebook, not too long ago, one of my friend shared an interesting picture:
Each of the previous task have a problem at some point related to them.
What you have to do, is simply take one thing at the time; like I said, you cannot control everything in your life.
The trick there is to separate each task and each problems in 2 different sections:
What I can solve/do
What I cannot solve/do
When done, you can now concentrate yourself on the really important things. To manage your time, you can always download a time manager software like Rescue Time but the best is to always give you clear objectives to complete.
Now that you have a clear list of what you can do right now, you can give real and clear objectives to complete during the next days until you get some news for the other pending projects or pending opportunity.
That said, it is essential that you don't forget the positive sides of your life.
Never forget that you are lucky...we're all lucky, to be alive, to be able to walk, to talk and to do what we do...Here's a video that demonstrate this point of view very well:
One last step is to always get a balance of work and fun....have some fun and do some physical exercises, it is good for the blood circulation and for your soul!
On that note, I am going to have some fun, and not think too much about all my problems...I'm sure I will be able to solve all this in a near future, like I always did...
Thanks for the reading, I hope this article and glimpse of my personal life/opinion can help you to climb that mountain...
Don't worry, be happy.
Dominic
Sunday 11 September 2011
Video Game and Music Career: What to do and what to not do.
Hi everyone, Bonjour tout le monde :)
Je voudrais en profiter pourdire que je vais commencer mon blog en français la semaine prochaine, car pour le moment je n'ai malheureusement pas le temps.
This week end was pretty intense! I had to finish the soundtracks for an ios game and didn't have much time to do anything else. At the begining of a music career, it is more likely that you will have to work a lot more than you think, for a lot less money that you might want.
So, for my case, I am not saying it is always like that, but I can say that what this guy was saying...was true. So, maybe you are interested by the music or the video game industry, so don't run away!
Here's a special list of what you should and shouldn't do, to start you're career with the good feet:
1. If you never been into music, don't think that spending thousands of dollars in a private school like Trebas or Musitechnic will solve all the music mysteries for you. They are really good schools, don't take me wrong, but, you should have at least a musical base before going there. The same apply for the other departments.
2. If you are about to begin a college degree, and you are interested by one of these industries...start building a portfolio!!! Ask your friends questions, surf on forums, ask for reviews on your work....but begin to build something! Don't wait.
For reviews on your work, you can go on http://forum.youngcomposers.com for music,
and you can go on http://www.deviantart.com/ for drawings.
3. Always have open doors for side jobs that doesn't really belong in your basket...it is not that bad, working in a restaurant...at least you make money, and you don't stress. With arts careers, bad stress = bad creations. Don't forget that your creations are a part of you, a part of your life. If you don't have a balanced life, you're creations won't be balanced either!
4.Begin to put money on the side. Open a separate bank account and remove like 50$ on each pay. It is harder than it looks like, believe me. If you do that for 2 years, you will have around 5000$ saved! Keep that money for the first years of your career, to buy your first equipment, and to survive while you are earning peanuts...or maybe not even.
5. Please, don't buy cheap equipment, try to buy semi pro equipment at the beginning, because the money you would spend on a cheap device, let say 200$, it's 200$ more that you could spend on a 500$ device! What is better, have something cheap and buy something bigger and then lose all this time and money you could have use with a semi pro equipment, or...just buy it right away?
Now, it is sure that you have to be careful, don't buy with closed eyes. Before buying anything inform yourself on the internet! Google is always your best friend, he will find the right thing for you. And ask questions on pertinent forums or to friends that know what they are talking about!
6. Try to find little projects, with no money implicated. You need practice, don't think you can already earn the big bucks because you have a laptop/sound card/reason. Too high expectations is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Aim low to go higher, it is that simple.
Little projects are the best, because they put you in a real situation, even if it is non-profit, it is the closest to the real thing.
I hope this list will be useful to someone, I will surely update it soon, but for now I still have a lot of work to do so I can't continue this post.
I am preparing a first video so we can begin slowly what this blog is supposed to be all about! :P
Cheers,
Dominic
Je voudrais en profiter pourdire que je vais commencer mon blog en français la semaine prochaine, car pour le moment je n'ai malheureusement pas le temps.
This week end was pretty intense! I had to finish the soundtracks for an ios game and didn't have much time to do anything else. At the begining of a music career, it is more likely that you will have to work a lot more than you think, for a lot less money that you might want.
So, for my case, I am not saying it is always like that, but I can say that what this guy was saying...was true. So, maybe you are interested by the music or the video game industry, so don't run away!
Here's a special list of what you should and shouldn't do, to start you're career with the good feet:
1. If you never been into music, don't think that spending thousands of dollars in a private school like Trebas or Musitechnic will solve all the music mysteries for you. They are really good schools, don't take me wrong, but, you should have at least a musical base before going there. The same apply for the other departments.
2. If you are about to begin a college degree, and you are interested by one of these industries...start building a portfolio!!! Ask your friends questions, surf on forums, ask for reviews on your work....but begin to build something! Don't wait.
For reviews on your work, you can go on http://forum.youngcomposers.com for music,
and you can go on http://www.deviantart.com/ for drawings.
3. Always have open doors for side jobs that doesn't really belong in your basket...it is not that bad, working in a restaurant...at least you make money, and you don't stress. With arts careers, bad stress = bad creations. Don't forget that your creations are a part of you, a part of your life. If you don't have a balanced life, you're creations won't be balanced either!
4.Begin to put money on the side. Open a separate bank account and remove like 50$ on each pay. It is harder than it looks like, believe me. If you do that for 2 years, you will have around 5000$ saved! Keep that money for the first years of your career, to buy your first equipment, and to survive while you are earning peanuts...or maybe not even.
5. Please, don't buy cheap equipment, try to buy semi pro equipment at the beginning, because the money you would spend on a cheap device, let say 200$, it's 200$ more that you could spend on a 500$ device! What is better, have something cheap and buy something bigger and then lose all this time and money you could have use with a semi pro equipment, or...just buy it right away?
Now, it is sure that you have to be careful, don't buy with closed eyes. Before buying anything inform yourself on the internet! Google is always your best friend, he will find the right thing for you. And ask questions on pertinent forums or to friends that know what they are talking about!
6. Try to find little projects, with no money implicated. You need practice, don't think you can already earn the big bucks because you have a laptop/sound card/reason. Too high expectations is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Aim low to go higher, it is that simple.
Little projects are the best, because they put you in a real situation, even if it is non-profit, it is the closest to the real thing.
I hope this list will be useful to someone, I will surely update it soon, but for now I still have a lot of work to do so I can't continue this post.
I am preparing a first video so we can begin slowly what this blog is supposed to be all about! :P
Cheers,
Dominic
Saturday 10 September 2011
Introduction - Find your way in the video game and music industry
Hi everyone,
This Blog will be written in French and English. French version will follow closely:)
I'm a young sound designer from Montreal, Qc, Canada, the capital of video games.
I was reading on a LinkedIn conversation that blogging is a great way to get jobs and to create a following of your work. I've decided to give it a shot, and hopefully, create an interesting concept out of it.
To be brief, my blog will be kind of an open window on my career progression. I will post videos of my work, with explanations on what I am doing, what I am working on at the moment and what's happening around these projects. I will always ask permission if I talk about co-workers and outsource projects, before posting anything. Also, I will insert a lot of links in pertinence with the subjects.
I hope you will enjoy this closer look to a video game composer's life, and that maybe this blog help people to find their way in today's industry.
To begin with, I want to explain a little more about my background, so people can relate their own stories to mine in a better way. Since I am beginning in the video game/music industry(around 3 years of composition), I had a lot of ups and downs, surely like several composers out there. I never knew what was coming in my way when I decided to apply for this music school named Musitechnic in 2008.
From the very start of my childhood, I always loved video games. Actually, not just love, it was a passion, a fascination of high degree. At the end of my secondary school, I knew that I wanted to be part of this industry...what I didn't know back then, was what to do, and how to do it.
What's interesting about the video game creation process is that it is the perfect blend between the different art styles of this world. You can become programmer, artist, concept artist, level designer, game designer, composer etc etc. there is so much possibilities and they are all interesting in their own way.
The problem, right now, in 2011, is that the industry is metamorphosing in something completely new. Like the music industry, CDs are slowly dying, and soon, with the new arrival of cloud gaming like OnLive and online networks like the Playstation Store, WiiWare and Xbox Live, the physical boxes with the little instruction manual will become something from the past. I think it is good; less pollution, and we really need...less pollution.
The ladder to climb in each department is a really long and though one...not in all cases, but must of them will require you a lot of determination, with a glimpse of patience.
For my part, I began with college programming classes, which I really didn't like. I went to the Campus Ubisoft open doors, and had the chance to visit all the different opportunities...but nothing was giving me butterflies in my stomach. I was kind of lost, because I wanted so badly to be part of a video game creation, but, none of the careers was interesting me.
Then, one day, I downloaded a trial of Fruity Loops, an audio software. Without knowing that I was, fascinated by this software in a weird way, it became fast enough a growing time killer. In fact, I bought my first keyboard only few weeks after. I say in a weird way, because I never was into music before that...I never played an instrument beside the flute in early school classes. While I was getting deeper in the non-sense of what I was doing on Fruity Loops, I heard about a cool software named Reason, which was literally a studio in a software.
It wasn't too long that I searched for a music school, a fast way to learn all the different music faces. Musitechnic, a one year duration scholarship, sounded really great, beside the price attached to it. I was ready to make sacrifices, I really wanted to learn fast about music, and to one day, compose for a video game.
January 2009, I was ready, with my AEC Diploma, to take on the world. I was ready to go apply for jobs, to begin my career! Finally, it was coming all together......if only I would have knew.
Lucky I was, I had an interview at Piccolo studios few weeks after my scholarship completion. And, at this very first important moment of my career, life punched me in the face! In resume, I was...practically, if not completely, nothing. What I mean is that beside the guys I saw in the studios who had like 5-15 years of experience, I understood that I wouldn't be able to work in a studio like this one, simply because I didn't have the knowledge to do so.
After this day, it was a slow fall to the hell. I was trying to find a job, to find something, but just couldn't do justice to what I wanted to represent. Plus, I was a really shy person, who had a lot of difficulty to integrate himself into groups. Even my family was against me career choices, they didn't believe that, someday, I would go somewhere with all this.
Thank you to have taken the time to read this. Will follow shortly with the real thing and keep the emotional stories for another day ;)
Dominic
This Blog will be written in French and English. French version will follow closely:)
I'm a young sound designer from Montreal, Qc, Canada, the capital of video games.
I was reading on a LinkedIn conversation that blogging is a great way to get jobs and to create a following of your work. I've decided to give it a shot, and hopefully, create an interesting concept out of it.
To be brief, my blog will be kind of an open window on my career progression. I will post videos of my work, with explanations on what I am doing, what I am working on at the moment and what's happening around these projects. I will always ask permission if I talk about co-workers and outsource projects, before posting anything. Also, I will insert a lot of links in pertinence with the subjects.
I hope you will enjoy this closer look to a video game composer's life, and that maybe this blog help people to find their way in today's industry.
To begin with, I want to explain a little more about my background, so people can relate their own stories to mine in a better way. Since I am beginning in the video game/music industry(around 3 years of composition), I had a lot of ups and downs, surely like several composers out there. I never knew what was coming in my way when I decided to apply for this music school named Musitechnic in 2008.
From the very start of my childhood, I always loved video games. Actually, not just love, it was a passion, a fascination of high degree. At the end of my secondary school, I knew that I wanted to be part of this industry...what I didn't know back then, was what to do, and how to do it.
What's interesting about the video game creation process is that it is the perfect blend between the different art styles of this world. You can become programmer, artist, concept artist, level designer, game designer, composer etc etc. there is so much possibilities and they are all interesting in their own way.
The problem, right now, in 2011, is that the industry is metamorphosing in something completely new. Like the music industry, CDs are slowly dying, and soon, with the new arrival of cloud gaming like OnLive and online networks like the Playstation Store, WiiWare and Xbox Live, the physical boxes with the little instruction manual will become something from the past. I think it is good; less pollution, and we really need...less pollution.
The ladder to climb in each department is a really long and though one...not in all cases, but must of them will require you a lot of determination, with a glimpse of patience.
For my part, I began with college programming classes, which I really didn't like. I went to the Campus Ubisoft open doors, and had the chance to visit all the different opportunities...but nothing was giving me butterflies in my stomach. I was kind of lost, because I wanted so badly to be part of a video game creation, but, none of the careers was interesting me.
Then, one day, I downloaded a trial of Fruity Loops, an audio software. Without knowing that I was, fascinated by this software in a weird way, it became fast enough a growing time killer. In fact, I bought my first keyboard only few weeks after. I say in a weird way, because I never was into music before that...I never played an instrument beside the flute in early school classes. While I was getting deeper in the non-sense of what I was doing on Fruity Loops, I heard about a cool software named Reason, which was literally a studio in a software.
It wasn't too long that I searched for a music school, a fast way to learn all the different music faces. Musitechnic, a one year duration scholarship, sounded really great, beside the price attached to it. I was ready to make sacrifices, I really wanted to learn fast about music, and to one day, compose for a video game.
January 2009, I was ready, with my AEC Diploma, to take on the world. I was ready to go apply for jobs, to begin my career! Finally, it was coming all together......if only I would have knew.
Lucky I was, I had an interview at Piccolo studios few weeks after my scholarship completion. And, at this very first important moment of my career, life punched me in the face! In resume, I was...practically, if not completely, nothing. What I mean is that beside the guys I saw in the studios who had like 5-15 years of experience, I understood that I wouldn't be able to work in a studio like this one, simply because I didn't have the knowledge to do so.
After this day, it was a slow fall to the hell. I was trying to find a job, to find something, but just couldn't do justice to what I wanted to represent. Plus, I was a really shy person, who had a lot of difficulty to integrate himself into groups. Even my family was against me career choices, they didn't believe that, someday, I would go somewhere with all this.
Thank you to have taken the time to read this. Will follow shortly with the real thing and keep the emotional stories for another day ;)
Dominic
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