Roberto Castelli grew up in Argentina – a country of contrasts, where life isn’t easy, but there’s plenty to fall in love with. A small town kid, in Tucumán, he spent his days running on the city’s dusty, hot streets. One word stretches over his entire childhood when he looks back – freedom. But, with freedom came hardship, of the kind that spawned a love/hate relationship between Roberto and his homeland. “Argentina had a deep impact on the way I see the world,” he says. This sentiment becomes evident through his masterful use of self-irony and explorations of the darker side of humour.
Continuing on the theme of contrast, Roberto might have spent the days with bruises on his legs and dust in his hair from playing football, but at the end of it all he always turned to books. “Many times I’d find myself reading politics or biographies at a very young age. I remember being anxious to grow up.” He continues, “On the flip side, I also loved playing soccer – we spent the days playing in the neighbourhood, building our own courts in deserted fields. We then spent the evenings playing board games and inventing our own. I guess we were very creative kids in that way – if we felt we were missing something as a group to play, we would make it ourselves. I’ve always loved to be able to create my own things and be independent.”
Following his care-free and creatively-infused childhood, Roberto went to college where he studied journalism and audiovisual communication, though he never got to finish the degree. In the fourth year of his studies, he started working as a photographer and got into what he looks back on as a ‘crazy project’ called ‘The Mongol Rally’. For it, the team drove an ambulance from Madrid to Ulan Bator, which led Roberto to try and shoot a documentary and that in its own right made him drop out of school.
Off the back of that Roberto says that he has always loved real-life experience more than theory. “College was fun and there were many interesting classes and everything, but what really got under my skin were the crazy passion projects I dove into. Another one of them was a short film I shot with a girl I was trying to impress at the time (it was her script). I had no clue about directing, it was all based on pure intuition, and somehow it worked. The best part of the story is that today that girl is my wife – almost 15 years later.”
So, after dropping out, Roberto got stuck in freelance photography doing pretty much everything he could get his hands on – products, weddings, events, wherever the camera took him. These years cemented his love for photography which he still returns to sometimes. “It feels nice to come back to where everything began. Also, shooting skills are an amazing background for my work as a director today. I speak the same language as my DOPs, I have a very clear insight of the technicalities of production and sometimes it is very useful on the creative side, because I can use those skills and experience to think of creative ways to tell a story.”
Since photography was what Roberto was concentrating on, advertising or technically directing in the advertising industry was not yet on the cards. However, a happy accident changed the course of things somewhat drastically. In his freelance photography journey, Roberto bought the 5D MKII camera with the goal of upping his photography game for events, but quickly realised that it was “one of the most disruptive cameras in the past 20 years”. It totally changed the landscape, almost merging the spheres of filmmaking and photography and allowing pretty much anybody to shoot cinema-grade content with small and low budget equipment.
“It was a game changer,” he says. “As I had the camera, one of my classmates proposed to shoot a couple of short films to enter a contest at college, just to see how it works. Surprisingly, we won.” That win was what made Roberto rethink the possibilities. From that day, he started shooting on the 5D MKII, which turned out to be the first step of the pipeline leading to his own production company and his life as a director.
This beginning means that whatever Roberto knew, was completely self taught. “I was shooting everything I could but I was also editing myself, grading myself, absolutely everything. Some of the classes from my four years of school gave me some background on cinema and a beautiful insight on the reason why certain things are made in some way.” The following months and years were crowned by practice, practice and more practice. “Shooting, shooting and more shooting – every day, until you get paid.”
Some lessons Roberto took away from the beginning of his career were centred around the importance of being clear and brave with your own creative decisions. “Be very clear with what you want and who you are, never be afraid to ask,” he says. “And never be afraid to go crazy on a project. Many times we hold ourselves back, but the reality is that creatives want to have as much fun as you do.”
When looking back on his first professional project, Roberto remembers a music video he and his friends made for a band. “I say ‘we’ because this was an entire passion project which we shot at the time with a group of friends, many of them not even remotely related to the production scene,” he explains. His dad, who has a construction company, also helped with the script. The cast were Roberto’s closest friends (and even he makes an appearance in the video) and everything was hand made by a completely inexperienced group of friends.
An interesting setup for what then snowballed into a very difficult concept – people falling from the roof into an empty room. “I look at the final video today and I see so many things wrong with it,” Roberto laughs. “But mostly I see valuable lessons. Shooting that first music video I learned that if I could achieve that with so many challenges, I could overcome anything. I learned to love the craft and most importantly, that I love working with friends – something I do to this day.”
Lesson after lesson and project after project, Roberto grew as a filmmaker and was finally able to establish his own production company – Le Chuck Studio. One of the first projects they shot was a L’Óreal film with Jessica Goicoechea, which turned out incredible despite the ‘ridiculously small’ crew and almost equally small budget. “With that film, many other bigger projects came along and I feel somehow it was a breaking point in my career. The ambition and work we put into it took us to another level and eventually the company grew to film really big projects.”
Roberto’s wild journey with Le Chuck went on for five years during which he came to truly understand the love he has for creating film. “I feel like what we do as directors is so special. Sometimes I feel like it’s not even a job. Of course, it’s a job, but how much fun is it to be on set, right?! It’s something I deeply love. The darkness, the crew, working with people that eventually become trusted friends. Creating universes each and every time, not knowing what will come next. It feels to me like an adventure, and I feel so lucky that this is my craft.”
However, in saying that, Roberto finds himself somewhat anxious due to its inconsistency. The back and forth swing between having too much to deal with and almost nothing at all is the roller coaster that he has not been able to get off since he got that special camera back in the day. “It can be hard. But it can also be a good thing – it depends on how you are wired internally,” says Roberto. So even though the instability has its impact, he wouldn’t be happier sitting behind a desk day in and day out. He adds, “I love how my line of work is completely free and random. And that has the other side of the coin, which is absolutely necessary for the good part to be as it is.” Freedom and duality – both reminiscent of his childhood in Argentina.
Looking at the future, what is important for Roberto is to continue developing his own style of filmmaking, both visually and from a narrative perspective, and be able to translate it into his work. “Being hired for a project, not only because you are a good director who does a good job, but also because they want specifically your style and how you do things – I think that is what I would call success.”
But, to have a style that people want is to understand how to plug it into the current of the ever-changing industry Roberto works in. And while he follows DOPs, producers, art directors, companies and whatnot, he believes that in such a dynamic digital environment one simply cannot be on top of everything. “I have many inputs per day on what is being done, not only in Spain but around the world. I don’t believe it’s necessary to have this as a guidebook. I think it’s more important to make decisions based on your own personal look and approach rather than this or that trend.” Besides this, Roberto loves the human aspect of his job – so while AI might be the next exciting technological development, the human factor for him will never lose its importance.
When you take him away from his craft, Roberto still loves all he loved as a kid – sports and building things. Beyond that, he shares that he has had a few fiction projects sitting in his bedside drawer for a long time. “Finally, I’m starting to develop one of them, which is currently being pre-produced. So that is an amazing side project I have ongoing at the moment which keeps me really excited.”
Over everything else though, Roberto’s love for creativity has remained and only grown through time, as has his work ethic and need for working with people he enjoys. He leaves us with this: “I’ve always had really high expectations of myself and that has been a huge motor in my life. It has helped to get me started and get me where I am today. Now I feel that all I want to do is enjoy as much time as possible with my wife and kids, so I work hard. Balancing the two is difficult, but it’s important to at least try.”
Wizards of the Coast held a press summit earlier this month to announce plans for the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game for the next six months, which includes a revival of the Planescape campaign setting, as well as its efforts toward outreach, diversity, inclusion, regaining fans’ trust, and growing its audience.
The company held the summit at the Hyatt Regency in Renton, Wash., across the street from the building that will host its new corporate headquarters later this year.
The event featured panels from the internal D&D team, meant to discuss where D&D stands in 2023 and where it’s going in the near future, as the game approaches its 50th anniversary in 2024. Wizards also revealed data about its player population and talked about the hit film “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.”
Speakers included game design architects Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins; executive producer Kyle Brink; senior brand manager and Dragon Talk co-host Shelly Mazzanoble; product managers Chris Lindsay, Natalie Egan, and Hilary Ross; VP of marketing Nathan Stewart; and Wizards’ diversity, equity, and inclusion manager Jontelle Leyson-Smith. Greg Tito, senior communications manager at Wizards of the Coast and the other co-host of Dragon Talk, served as an informal MC for the event.
Read on for a recap of all the announcements and discussion at the summit.
Naturally, much of the summit was spent on a discussion of the upcoming rules updates to D&D, which were initially announced in August as part of an initiative called “One D&D.”
Crawford clarified at the summit that that term “One D&D” was always meant as a marketing placeholder, and instead, Wizards now simply calls the same initiative the 2024 Rules Update. It still empathically isn’t a sixth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, however.
“One of the reasons why this word ‘edition’ is loaded for D&D is partly because it has two different meanings,” Crawford said. “In broader publishing, ‘edition’ is a neutral term. It simply means ‘a new version of a book.’”
He added: “In D&D, over the years, the term has gained much greater weight because it also came to mean a revision of the game. We are releasing new editions of the books. We are not releasing a new edition of the game.”
Under this initiative, the three base books for 5th-edition D&D, the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual, are being revamped and rereleased with new rules, better glossaries, and changes that result from a “decade of feedback.”
Crawford and Perkins both worked on D&D 5e in 2014, and according to Perkins, “started building [5e] 2024 as soon as [5e] 2014 went to the printer.” The original version of fifth-edition D&D was done on a comparative shoestring, with fewer resources and contributors than modern D&D has to offer.
Now, the team has used player feedback, constant content testing via methods such as Unearthed Arcana, and their own experiences with D&D to make a new, better-organized version of the game.
Many of the 2024 changes are aimed at new players, by virtue of making D&D as a game easier to learn. “Past books were more like the Dungeon Master’s Warehouse,” Perkins said. “This one’s a guide.”
The 2024 DMG features multiple sections that are meant to help teach a total novice how to run a game of Dungeons & Dragons. This includes terminology; how to prepare for a session; what to do about disruptive players; and how to deal with what’s sometimes called Matthew Mercer Syndrome: the expectation that your game should be as good as what’s shown in professionally produced live-play shows.
Other mechanical changes in the 2024 books include reworks to how characters are created, where your character’s background and origins figure more heavily into their starting stats than their race or class; a new system called Weapon Mastery that gives more power and flexibility to non-magical characters; and more spells that make reference to iconic characters from throughout D&D’s history, such as the Circle of Eight.
Planescape has a legitimate claim to being one of the most influential campaign settings in D&D history. Originally published in 1994, it serves as a guide to setting adventures in D&D’s elaborate cosmology, including the elemental planes, the various realms that make up D&D’s afterlife, and Sigil, the twisted city that sits at the center of D&D’s multiverse.
Planescape’s most enduring contributions to D&D as a whole are arguably the introduction of the tiefling, as well as inspiring the 1999 cult-classic PC game Planescape: Torment.
The fifth-edition rework of Planescape, scheduled for release on Oct. 17, is a reintroduction and continuation of the setting from where it left off in the ‘90s. It consists of three books: one about the setting, one that serves as a bestiary for the sorts of monsters that players might encounter out in the planes, and one pre-made adventure, Turn of Fortune’s Wheel.
Like most of Wizards’ recent first-party releases for D&D, Planescape will ship in standard and “core hobby” editions, the latter of which will only be available at dedicated hobby shops. That edition will include brand-new art by original Planescape artist Tony DiTerlizzi.
Other upcoming releases for D&D include:
Both Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast began 2023 at a disadvantage. In January, a leak that Wizards was considering plans to rework the rules surrounding third-party content for D&D caused a major controversy, which only came a few months after the last major controversy.
A few weeks later, that ended with Wizards publicly walking back any plans to change those rules, as well as releasing the basic rules for fifth-edition D&D for free, under a Creative Commons license. That didn’t do anything to mitigate the real anger that had arisen in the D&D community, some of which was directly unleashed on Wizards during a content creators’ summit in early April.
More recently, Wizards came under fire for another incident in April that saw the company hiring the Pinkertons, a private security firm that’s historically associated with anti-union activity, to retrieve a set of unreleased Magic: The Gathering cards that were mistakenly sent to a YouTube content creator. To quote a friend of mine, Wizards hired the guys who are the villains in every Western, including Red Dead Redemption II, to go get some cards back.
“We want this to be an ‘everyone game,’” Stewart said at the media summit. “Along the way, we’ve accomplished so many things, but we’ve also made mistakes.”
In addition to the January controversy, Stewart also cited Wizards “not listening to fans” for the entirety of D&D’s fourth edition, which ran roughly between 2008 and 2013.
“We took the negative feedback and we changed course,” Stewart said. “We learned, we adapted, we changed. We continued to create and steward this brand. We’re going to continue to learn and adapt.”
The ongoing reaction at Wizards includes an update to its cultural sensitivity reviews, with all future products from Wizards having at least two outside cultural consultants attached to them; creating more frequent opportunities for direct communication between contributors, creators, and Wizards (“we didn’t understand how much of an open dialogue had to happen,” said Brink); and “specific infrastructure” that’s being put in place at Wizards to help independent creators who’ve been subjected to harassment.
Other interesting reveals from the D&D media summit included:
For NYCxDesign 2023, Sight Unseen launched an exhibition to debut its latest additions to their Sight Unseen Collection, which includes the work of both up-and-coming and established designers. Work from 23 global designers and studios is on display through May 24, 2023, and can be ordered directly from Sight Unseen. The exhibition of furniture, lighting, and objects is happening at the Voltz Clarke gallery on the Lower East Side, featured with the abstract art of France-based painter, Heather Chontos.
Known for sharing the latest in design and art online, Sight Unseen ventured into sales in 2018, by offering eclectic and unique furniture and objects from independent contemporary designers. While Sight Unseen, founded by Jill Singer and Monica Khemsurov, is no stranger to NYCxDesign, this is the first year they’ve shared their own collection to the masses.
Tapestry Chair, Reflection Table, and Vignette Chair by Alexis & Ginger
DeMille Lounge Chair by Laun, Lineage Bench, Flecto Firepit, and Flecto Fireplace Tools by Muhly
DeMille Lounge Chair by Laun, Lineage Bench + Flecto Firepit by Muhly
WS-Shorty Credenza by Willettspace and Tera Lamp by Ceramicah
Lyndon Chair by Aleiya Olu and Quad Coffee Table by Mike Ruiz-Serra
Paulin Coffee Table and Antica Floor Lamp by Ohla
Neo-Lounge by Kouros Maghsoudi, Tumi Chair by Nifemi Ogunro, and Foldont Chair by Jumbo
Beaver Tail Chair and Ascend Floor Lamp by Objects & Ideas
Pyramid Mount Lamp by Lesser Miracle, Westbury Nightstand + Junius Lamp by Arvo Ray Studio
Fun Guy Table Lamp by Frangere, Tera Lamp by Ceramicah, Carousel Table Lamp by Episode, and Alpine Table Lamp by Astraeus Clarke, and Plump Bench by Alistair Cochran
Tone Nightstands by YSH and Fun Guy Table Lamp by Frangere
Brut Bar Cart by Studio Anansi for Sight Unseen x Bestcase and Magna Chair by Charles Constantine for Sight Unseen x Bestcase
The Sight Unseen Collection is on display through May 24th, 2023 at Voltz Clarke gallery at 195 Chrystie Street in Manhattan from 12pm to 6pm daily.
Photography by Sean Davidson.
A photographer whose work has transitioned to being “80% AI” has generated a lifelike social media influencer using artificial intelligence (AI).
Antti Karppinen did not use his camera at all during his latest project for Finnish energy giant Helen where he created a children’s character called Ellen.
“We had to bring Ellen to life and make her appear as realistic as possible, so I started sketching ideas for the character in AI,” Karppinen tells PetaPixel.
“I first used Midjourney to get a good picture of the girl, created variations, and different angles. Once we had the main features down, I created a personalized AI model to make Ellen versatile enough to fit into various situations and environments,” he continues.
“We even had Ellen pose for some real-life photographs with Helen employees and the amazing iconic Finnish actress Seela Sella.”
“To get a lifelike character as possible I used Stable Diffusion AI with ControlNet to get full control over the character with my own personalized AI model,” says Karppinen.
“So the character is fully generated from AI images, it just needed a few steps to get the realism I wanted.”
PetaPixel has featured Karppinen’s pioneering work before, previously reporting how he created a dataset that AI images can be produced from removing the need for any further photography and how recreated his own photos using AI.
While those previous projects still involved some form of Karppinen’s photography, his latest social media influencer undertaking requires no photos whatsoever.
“As an AI specialist, this project was both challenging and thrilling. I had to employ all my skills and tools to make Ellen look as lifelike as possible,” Karppinen writes on his website.
“The results, however, were beyond even my expectations. The project showcased the boundless possibilities that these emerging technologies offer in storytelling and visual productions.”
Karppinen’s trailblazing work could offer a clue as to what might be expected from photographers in the future.
“At the moment 80% of my work is AI related,” he tells PetaPixel. “[There are] some photography projects but I have transitioned quite heavily to this — Big brand clients and lots of consulting and education about AI.”
For further reading, check out Karppinen’s blog about the project. More of Karppinen’s work can be found on his website, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Image credits: All images by Antti Karppinen.
Nathalie Miebach, “Build Me a Platform”
How does it feel to inhabit an irreversibly damaged planet? An exhibition opening at the Design Museum of Chicago this summer brings together works by ten artists and collectives that answer this question through data, color, tactility, and material.
Curated by Colossal, At the Precipice: Responses to the Climate Crisis considers physical and emotional reactions in the era of environmental disaster and emphasizes how art can offer an accessible entry point into such an overwhelming and dire emergency. Varying in medium and methodology, the works included explore several of the most urgent issues affecting the world today.
The Tempestry Project returns to the Paleolithic era to visualize how rapidly our climate has changed in the last few centuries alone, while Luftwerk and Zaria Forman consider the impacts of a warming world on glaciers and arctic regions. Morel Doucet, Nathalie Miebach, and Migwa Nthiga are concerned with the increasing intensity of weather events and subsequent forced migration, and Jean Shin and Chris Pappan look to shifts in rivers and access to water sources. Selva Aparicio questions loss, remains, and acts of remembrance, while Redemptive Plastics offers a localized and scalable solution to waste.
At the Precipice runs from July 14 to October 30. We’ll be announcing talks, workshops, and other programming in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for details.
Help Us Knit a Century of Chicago Weather!
As part of the exhibition, the Design Museum of Chicago has generously kickstarted a Chicago Tempestry Collection, which will use twelve knitted works to highlight changes in the local weather patterns during the last 120 years. Anyone interested in creating a tempestry—a tapestry depicting daily temperatures—to be added to the collection and displayed at the museum can purchase a kit on the project’s site.
Morel Doucet, “Black Maiden in Veil of Midnight” (left) and “Olokun” (right)
Zaria Forman, still from “Overview: 12 Miles of Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean, North of Greenland”
Migwa Nthiga, “The Warriors Of The North”
Selva Aparicio, “Our Garden Remains”
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article ‘At the Precipice’ Emphasizes the Role of Emotion, Tactility, and the Senses in Understanding the Climate Crisis appeared first on Colossal.
