Sunday, September 4, 2011

Chris Baldwin vs. The World: My Avatar Creation Experience.

In creating my online avatar, I sought an avatar editor that fit my tastes and attitude. Eventually, I found the Scott pilgrim Vs. The World avatar editor, a promotional tool on the movie's web site. And though I'm no lover of Hollywood promotional tools, I do have a deep affinity towards this movie in particular.

I love this movie and the graphic novels that inspired it due to the nature of its content. It takes place in a Toronto (Canada) around a group of video game/anime/music (typically 90's grunge/alternative and punk/post-punk rock) fan boys and band members. They encounter those they like to mock (hipsters, ultra-pretentious vegans, jocks, ignorant people, preps, etc.). Furthermore, it touches on themes of how such people relate to each other: sarcasm, apathy, friendly bullying, and the complexities of love in such small social circles. More than anything the movie brings the [video]gamer's imagination, culture and sense of humor to life in a mainstream medium.

Finally, back to my experience. I found this editor simple and fun. Obviously it is not a complex editor, but it does a good job customizing a character that fits in the manga-style medium of the property's original format. I really do look similar to myself, and at the same time similar to a typical type of character seen in the manga or video game; however, I'm sure this wouldn't work for just anyone, due to the aesthetic costume style being similar to some very specific American music subcultures. The only major problem I had with the editor was that I was forced to make my beard brown and my hair red when, in reality, it is the other way around. In the end, I give this editor "Epic" status even though the facial color scheme was a "Fail".

On a side note, "grad student" doesn't exactly fit, but it was the closest I could find.

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