Rex Crowle - Interview 1/2

Last week I was in the fortunate position to be able to interview a couple of very successful and well known individuals working in the creative industry today, Rex Crowle and Jon Burgerman. The lads are no strangers to hard work and dedication which is why we'd like to say a very big thank you to them for giving up some time for these interviews and preparing a special doodle each (found above).

We're kicking this double whammy of fun and frolics off with Rex Crowle.


What was the last thing you animated?

Aside from reanimating myself out of bed this morning, it was a little hairy caveman savage catching fish. Savagely.

Greatest nickname you've ever given to a character?

Hmm well I quite like Shiny ManCannon. Although I haven't had time to fully develop Jeff Baps so far.

What was it like to be involved in a project as successful as LittleBigPlanet (ps3)?

Lots of fun. I've worked on video games for quite a long time, but this one felt the most like we were playing at making a game, rather than working, due to the talent of everyone involved, great support from Sony, and it being a exact distillation of the teams collective imagination. And if the creators have a smile on their faces while they make something then that should transfer to the other side of process when little Jimmy unwraps his Christmas present (assuming his parents gave him LittleBigPlanet, and not Chunky McMeatSpray 2 or something else). Plus also its been amazing seeing the influence of the game turning up all over the place, from a Flickr full of photos of people knitting their own Sackboys to the building of the various LBP pop-up shops, and teaming up with Marvel, Capcom, Konami, 2000AD etc to make new downloadable LBP things.

Are there any exciting new projects or collaborations on the horizon?

Yep, quite a lot of fun things coming along - although the most exciting thing for me is a bit of holiday in NYC after the busiest year ever.

Favourite computer game of all time?

Thats very hard to answer. Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the best, and probably also my favourite, although it has some strong competition for my affection from the quirkier end of the spectrum. Titles like Psychonauts, Parappa, Day Of The Tentacle and Parodius.

Do you consider yourself to be a certain type of creative i.e. illustrator, animator or is the real fun in blurring the lines?

Basically I like making stuff, in whatever medium that best suits the idea, which is a bit harder to put a job description on, and probably makes it harder getting jobs. But a lot more fun.

What's it like paying the bills through your passion?

I've definately been lucky along the way, but its also hard work, mainly because there are so many avenues to explore, so that can easily mean trying to do too much.

Have you ever been in a collective and what are your thoughts on collectives?

I've been in some web-based collectives, with some awesomely talented folk like Julie West http://www.juliewest.com/ and Alex Fuentes http://www.losfokos.com/ but I've been slacking on that front lately. I need to get back to doing some collaborations for fun again! They are definitely a good way to grow as an artist, and the web makes it much easier to set them up, but I think it's probably best if you can still all sit around in the same studio and throw paint at each other than having to rely on remembering to log in and post something.

Any pearls of wisdom for those hoping to get a head in this industry?

There'll always be people that can draw better than you, so don't get caught up on it, just carry on enjoying it for your own pleasure and your work will shine stronger.

Once again a big thank you to Rex for taking the time to be a part of this and if you'd like to find out more about him or any of his work then please visit his site using the link below:


http://www.rexbox.co.uk/


Simon

http://www.simoncorry.com/
http://www.mylaststar.com/
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