jtr7 on 22/2/2008 at 00:53
Is that full-size, marshall banana? The contrast adjustment really helps.
Anyway, (
http://www.mediafire.com/?8my1cm2czj4) here's my lame attempt.
-----------------
Rustmonkey seems to have ceased sometime in 2005. I can't find verification, and somebody's continuing to pay for the neglected website.
I found (
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=37893505)
this music video (sorry it's on MySpace, the music player didn't like being turned off, so it interrupted the video). I don't know what Noel's singing about, but the video's disturbing. It was released in, yep, 2004.
Daniel Thron as "Hairy Thug" in a 2007 (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AANPAIfqutA) Trans Am music video?
(
http://imageshack.us)
Inline Image:
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/2995/danthronasathugiu3.png Inline Image:
http://www.thief-thecircle.com/darkproj/thron.jpgIf that's him, over a year ago.
From an (
http://www.stephenkingshortmovies.com/) Interview with Dan Thron; January 27, 2005 :
Inline Image:
http://www.stephenkingshortmovies.com/images/interviews/director/Dan_Thron.jpgHe is the second man behind King's short story The Last Rung on the Ladder.
SKSM: Could you start with telling me a bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
Dan Thron: I currently live in Boston, and make movies primarily for the videogame business, doing the ads and 'cutscenes'-- the (usually animated) cinematics that advance the story between levels of gameplay. I did the movies for Eidos' 'Thief' series for PC and Playstation, as well as work for 'Neverwinter Nights' (a Dungeons and Dragons license) and many others.
For the past 4 of those years, I've co-owned and ran an animation and effects company called Rustmonkey ((
www.rustmonkey.com)), with the aim of making features.
SKSM: How did you become involved with The Last Rung on the Ladder?
Dan Thron: Jim and I went to high school together in Chatham, Massachusetts, and were on the same bus. We're both serious geeks (though Jim was much, much cooler than me -- you can ask him, I was a bit more of a Napoleon Dynamite character), so it wasn't long before we became good friends, talking about Star Wars, Aliens, etc. But unlike all my other friends, who mainly wanted to talk about how great it was to WATCH these movies, he was the only other person I knew who was as interested in the MAKING of them as I was.
Jim had already made a couple of very funny short films, and I believe he lent me the copy of King's 'Night Shift' collection that started the ball rolling, and suggested we do write to King.
SKSM: How did you get started as a (co-)director and what do you do on a production?
Dan Thron: There's a lot of good stuff in Night Shift, but Last Rung was a natural for us, as not only was it a non-effects based production -- so that it was within our budget and technical abilities -- but it was also a good mix of Jim's and my skills in storytelling.
Jim is an excellent character director, and I'm very visually oriented. And using Jim's wonderful adaptation as a base, I think we found the division of work quite easy -- I could focus on telling the story from a visual standpoint, and he could bring his vision to the actors, and take time to draw the gentle performance he wanted from them. We complimented each other very, very well I think.
SKSM: You worked with James Cole on this film, how was that?
Dan Thron: Jim is one of the most talented folks I know. I was amazed then, and continue to be amazed now at his process; He's patient and straightforeward; he communicates at a very real, very emotional level, and it's impossible not to be affected by his deep sense of empathy, whether in his writing or in his direction. In Last Rung, he treated the kids with incredible respect and trust, and the naturalism is evident on the screen. Likewise, he was very understanding of what I wanted to do with the camera. His confidence in everyone kept the set very peaceful and fun. A real pleasure; I learned a lot from watching him work.
SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when you made the movie that you would like to tell me about?
Dan Thron: There is a running gag in all the outtakes from the film where Glen Whelden, brother of Melissa, who played Kitty, would run into frame and yell in a fake-old-man voice, "excuse me, is this the way to the Indian trading post?" and everyone would double over. I cannot for the life of me remember why that was so funny to us then, but there it is. :)
SKSM: Do you have any plans for making more movies based on Stephen King's stories? If you could pick - at least - one story to shoot, which one would it be and why?
Dan Thron: I would love to work on another King piece; certainly there are some movies I'd like to remake -- I'm convinced Firestarter would be beautiful if done right. But of the shorts, I really can't believe no one's tackled 'The Long Walk' -- I'd love to take a shot at that.
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Dan Thron: Thanks very much!
Yandros on 22/2/2008 at 02:39
Quote Posted by jtr7
Dan Thron: ... I did the movies for Eidos' 'Thief' series for PC and Playstation,
:confused: Just a mental slip?
jtr7 on 22/2/2008 at 02:44
Trauma? Denial? :D Before the deal was made for the X-Balks, was another console in the bidding?
Way Late EDIT: (
http://www.ttlg.com/articles/t3p1.asp)
It was originally slated for the PS2, but I assume (assume, mind you), that something happened with that deal: Seamus Blackley was former LGS, and he had a major part to play in bringing us the XBOX itself, so I would hazard to guess that was how PS2 was out and the XBOX version was in, and RustMonkey was there early on before the switch, or the switch wasn't even on the RustMonkey radar, and might be burned the strongest in Dan's memory.
New Horizon on 22/2/2008 at 02:51
Neil Hamburger is also in it. Cool.
Digital Nightfall on 22/2/2008 at 03:07
In the final days before T1's release, some sites were running an ad for Thief on the N64. I of course quickly contacted LGS and we all collectively scratched our heads and went wtf?
jtr7 on 22/2/2008 at 03:16
:weird:
WTF, indeed. Heh heh.
Specter on 22/2/2008 at 03:37
Alright lads, what do you all say? I would really like to see if we can get our hands on some original artwork, or at least determine its fate. Has something like this been attempted? If Eidos holds the intellectual property rights, would all previous artwork be tied to that license, or would we have a chance of getting it separated? Does anyone have any kind of educated guess what the rights to something like a computer game would sell for? (Out of curiosity)
JTR7, you and I seem to have crossed paths again with that interview, but I happy that we're on the same page. Im thinking that if we want to email someone about the artwork, the first place should be Eidos. Agree? If all we accomplish is fruitlessly sending out emails, I would still like to take part. Hell, I would do it alone if I had to. Of course, I want to educate myself as much as I can, hence my constant search for opinions. I realize what I hope for is pretty ambitious, but nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say.
jtr7 on 22/2/2008 at 04:03
Crossing paths is great! Crossing the beams, even if it helps get rid of Gozerians, is generally not that great. I know the devs have been asked to death about any surviving media and materials. I know that at least a few of them are sitting on stuff they would love to share, but without the right to do so, they may just take it out of it's box and turn it over and over in their hands. A well-written, respectful letter, void of typical fan-speak, guilt-trips, whining, begging, and ignorance of business and copyright realities, may work in our favor, provided we also direct our letter to someone who was there, believed in the game(s), and has an appreciation for it and/or our favorite devs. Unless the record-keeping for these stored-away assets is impeccable and fairly accessible, we need to contact someone who already has an inkling. I doubt Dan Thron would legally have any of his Thief work with him, but he may have photos or scans like the ones used in the German walkthrough.
And/or we could set up yet another petition. The worst part of it is, if it happens for us, only a few people will have these items, and they can only take pictures or pass them on. Hopefully none of it would end up on an online auction.
Specter on 22/2/2008 at 04:58
Just a quick reply before I hit the hay... I did think of who would be in physical possession of the works, should anything be obtained, and I figure that there would be no better place than in the hands of the founders of TTLG. Their work here and in the Thief community make them the ideal candidates. Whatever we may (if we're so lucky) obtain would belong to the community, and the community heads are thus best suited to be the guardians.
