// ::::::::: :::::::::: :::: ::: // :+: :+: :+: :+:+: :+: // +:+ +:+ +:+ :+:+:+ +:+ // +#++:++#+ +#++:++# +#+ +:+ +#+ // +#+ +#+ +#+ +#+#+# // #+# #+# #+# #+#+# // ### ########## ### #### // ::::::: // :+: :+: // +:+ +:+ // +#++: ++# // +#+ +#+#+# // #+# #+#+ // ########## //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ///////////// Interview with Shawn Brauch of Pen & Pixel Graphics ////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // A: How did the company start?
 // 
S: My brother and I were working for Rap-A-Lot Records in Houston, Texas. // My brother was general manager of the label from the start, he had worked // there for a number of years. Other than 2 Live Crew, Rap-A-Lot was was the // first exposure that America had basically seen to gangsta style southern // rap. I came to Rap-A-Lot in about 1991 to assist him directing music // videos. My main purpose was story-boarding. My brother was more into // business, I was more into graphics. Before that, I went to the Chicago // Art Institute, I have one degree there and another one in Parsons School // of Design in graphic communication. // // 

A: What albums did you work on, over at Rap-A-Lot? // 

S: Quite a few. One of the first albums was Prince Johnny C, and most of the // Geto Boys albums. // // 

A: Why did you choose to leave Rap-A-Lot and run your own business?

 // S: We had started using computer special effects on some of the album covers // of that time. Willie D's "I'm Going out like a soldier" was actually the // first CD cover to use a high amount of photorealistic special effects. // When that album came out, people started saying that they wanted that for // their covers. So they would come to Rap-A-Lot, thinking that they would // just get the artwork and nothing else, but Rap-A-Lot obviously said that // was impossible. The demands for the work went up to the point where my // brother and I said "Listen, that sounds like a good business venture, so // let's start and do our own thing". 
 // // A: Was it an easy move at the time?

 // S: Yeah, we started out with $1K to buy computer equipment to seed the // company. We worked out of our apartment, on the dining room table. // // 

A : Both of you were hip-hop fans?

 // S : Oh, well, yeah. I mean, yeah, you could say that. It kinda grew on us but // that the demand for the work was there, and we said "Well, let's supply // the service" as the demand gradually grew. That was really a business- // oriented move. 
 // // A: Both of you grew up in Houston? // 

S: No, we actually grew up overseas. We lived in south-east Asia and Brazil // most of our lives. I got in Houston in 1991 and left in 2003. My brother // was there from 1989 all the way until, well, he just left recently. // // 

A: So, as soon as you arrived in Houston, it was on, you were in the music // business. // 

S: Yeah, instantly. The day I arrived, I went to a movie set and I started // working on music videos. // // 

A: What was your philosophy for Pen & Pixel?

 // S: Well, at the very, very beginning, I noticed that people had not really // got a good understanding of Photoshop and what you could do with it. // People were paying a huge amount of money to go and have themselves in // front of a Bentley, and hire models, and rent jewelry, and go to a // location… I also had a background in photography, and before Pen & Pixel, // your photoshoot could be $15-20k just to get everything right. And there // were still not the dimension, the bling-bling, that was limited on what // you can do with it. So what I said is "Why do all that when we can actu- // ally do that at one-tenth of the price? We have everything: we have pic- // tures of Rolls Royces, pictures of girls, pictures of diamonds, we have // all this stuff, including their clothes!" If they didn't want to buy // clothes, all we can do is photograph the face, and we will have a body // model, mimick up their bodies and we would put it in a place where you // would never know the difference. And it worked. That formula worked very // very well. // // 

A: How did you get all those photos? You were making separate photo shoots?

 // S: Absolutely. For example, if we had the chance to rent a Rolls Royce or // go down to the Bentley dealership, we would shoot 250 pictures at one // time, with no one on it, no one inside it. We would take that back to Pen // and Pixel and cut it out very meticulously inside and outside, knowing // that we would shoot a model and put that model in the Bentley driving it // down the freeway. We knew exactly what the lighting situation was, we took // all these notes on how everything was done. So when we shot the model or // the rapper in the studio, the lighting and everything fell together // absolutely perfectly. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// color backgroundColor; color foregroundColor; color foregroundColor2; float px, py; float pfx, pfy; float pv2, pvx, pvy; float pa2, pax, pay; float pMass, pDrag; void setup() { size(640, 360, P3D); noStroke(); backgroundColor = color(0, 0, 0); foregroundColor = color(255, 255, 255); foregroundColor2 = color(170, 170, 170); initParticle(0.6, 0.9, width/2, height/2); } void draw() { background(backgroundColor); pushMatrix(); iterateParticle(0.15*(-px+mouseX), 0.15*(-py+(height-mouseY))); translate(width/2, height/2, 0); fill(foregroundColor); drawK(); pushMatrix(); translate(0, 0, 1); translate(0.75 * (px-width/2), -0.75 * (py-height/2), 0); translate(0.75 * (px-width/2), -0.75 * (py-height/2), 0); rotateZ(atan2(-(py-height/2), (px-width/2)) + PI/2); rotateX(PI); rotateZ(-(atan2(-(py-height/2), (px-width/2)) + PI/2)); fill(foregroundColor2); drawK(); popMatrix(); translate(0.75 * (px-width/2), -0.75 * (py-height/2), 2); rotateZ(atan2(-(py-height/2), (px-width/2)) + PI/2); fill(backgroundColor); beginShape(QUADS); vertex(-640, 0); vertex( 640, 0); vertex( 640, -360); vertex(-640, -360); endShape(); popMatrix(); } void initParticle(float _mass, float _drag, float ox, float oy) { px = ox; py = oy; pv2 = 0.0; pvx = 0.0; pvy = 0.0; pa2 = 0.0; pax = 0.0; pay = 0.0; pMass = _mass; pDrag = _drag; } void iterateParticle(float fkx, float fky) { pfx = fkx; pfy = fky; pa2 = pfx*pfx + pfy*pfy; if (pa2 < 0.0000001) { return; } pax = pfx/pMass; pay = pfy/pMass; pvx += pax; pvy += pay; pv2 = pvx*pvx + pvy*pvy; if (pv2 < 0.0000001) { return; } pvx *= (1.0 - pDrag); pvy *= (1.0 - pDrag); px += pvx; py += pvy; } void drawK() { pushMatrix(); scale(1); translate(-230, 70); beginShape(QUADS); vertex(0, 0, 0); vertex(0, -140, 0); vertex(38, -140, 0); vertex(38, 0, 0); vertex(38, -140, 0); vertex(85, -140, 0); vertex(100, -80, 0); vertex(38, -45, 0); vertex(110,0,0); vertex(110,-140,0); vertex(150,-140,0); vertex(150,0,0); vertex(160,0,0); vertex(200,0,0); vertex(280,-140,0); vertex(240,-140,0); vertex(160,-140,0); vertex(200,-140,0); vertex(280,0,0); vertex(240,0,0); vertex(290,0,0); vertex(325,0,0); vertex(325,-140,0); vertex(290,-140,0); vertex(325,0,0); vertex(370,0,0); vertex(370,-35,0); vertex(325,-35,0); vertex(325,-60,0); vertex(370,-60,0); vertex(370,-90,0); vertex(325,-90,0); vertex(325,-110,0); vertex(370,-110,0); vertex(370,-140,0); vertex(325,-140,0); vertex(380,0,0); vertex(415,0,0); vertex(415,-140,0); vertex(380,-140,0); vertex(410,0,0); vertex(460,0,0); vertex(460,-35,0); vertex(410,-35,0); endShape(); popMatrix(); }