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     __ _                              _ _ _____  _|___ __|_   _ __.
    |                                        ____ \___/____/ ____  |
    .       .. OPTIC UNDER THE LENS ..       \ _ _ \o |_ °/  __ /  |
                                              \_\\   (__)  _ /_/   |
      An Interview Made By Matarazzo 980624   _ _\\______/\// _ ___|.
                                                  \________/
                                                                              
High  up in north there lies a country
called  Norway.  Ever heard of it?  Of
course  you  have...   Norway  is most
known  for  there good skiers but they
also got good graphicians.At least one
:)  .His  handle  is  Optic and I have
made an interview with him for you.
                                     
                                    
                                   
Hello  Optic!   I  hope  your  not too
nervous   about  doing  an  interview.
Mabye  I might be more nervous because
I havent made an intervied with anyone
before  :)  To  begin this interview I
want  you  to  fill up this list as an
introduction  of yourself.It will give
us a good picture of you :)
                                    
                                  
                                      
                                    
                                
Age                      : 22                                    
Real Name                : Hans                                    
I live in a city called  : Oslo
Group(s)                 : TRSI, DCS and Planet.Jazz (of importance anyway,
                           I parttake in two trackergroups aswell)
                                                                        
E-mail addy              : optic@forpresident.com                  
Shoesize :)              : 44                                    
Favourite food           : Asian food in general                  
I like to drink          : Coffee :\                  
The thing I hate most here in life : Probably having to get up in the morning
                                                                        
Countries I have been to :Ireland, England, USA, Denmark, Sweden,
                          Finland,Greece, Austria                  
                                                                        
Favoutite computergame   : Right now, I'd have to say Starcraft and
                           Warhammer,Dark Omen                  
                                                                        
Music I listen to        :Anything goes. Im not too fond of opera, and such
                          tho.. but occationally some of it is quite good.
                                                                      
Best Movie(s) ever seen  : Bladerunner is one of my all time favourites.
                           If I were to give a run down of all my favourite
                           movies, I would go on forever. Im a fanatic movie
                           buff.                  
                                                      
A person I admire and would like to know  : John Steakley, author of Armor
                                            and Vampire$, aswell as Dave
                                            McKean, kick-ass designer/artist.
                                                                        
Best demo seen this year           : DCS-Nebula
                                                                        
Best demo ever seen                : Andromeda- Nexus7                  
                                                                        
Top 3 graphicians in the scene :   1:Made                  
                                   2:Cyclone                  
                                   3:Nero                  
                                                                        
Best overall graphician    : Made                                    
                                                                        
Most underated graphician  : Dunno, seems most graphicians get a fairly
                             reasonable rating. Theres probably some odd
                             feller stuck away in some far-away country
                             thats not being paid enough attention, but in
                             that case.. i haven't heard of him either.
                                  
How  did  you come up with your handle
"Optic"?

Um..   round  91  I guess, when i grew
tired  with  my lame-o old nick, which
was    Wigflipper   (inspirated   from
Butthole surfers 'flip your wig' tune)
.   I  wanted something that reflected
artistry,  and  found that Optic might
work.   As  my  reference  to the name
'optic'  is the eye or sense of sight,
or  the  optic  nerve.I do get alot of
tedious  puns  refering to 'optic' and
'glasses' ...

How  long  have  you  been  an  active
scener?

Since 89 more or lessly, I had a break
from  late 94 till late 96, when I was
generally  very  tired of the scene as
such,  and  had  other  more  pressing
matters at hand.


Tell        us        about       your
computerhistory.What   was  the  first
computer  you  had?  What equipment do
you have today?

The  first computer that was only mine
was  an  old  c64.   Today  I  have  a
steamengined A1200 020, and a p166.



Who introduced you to the demoscene?

A   friend   of  mine,  who  bought  a
shitload of PD disks from a 'local' PD
library.   After  watching  some demos
that  were  on  the  disks, we decided
that  we  could do this too.  Prior to
this,  we  had  been  making games and
such,  much  unaware  of  the size and
content of the demoscene.



Personally I will stay in the scene as
long  as  it exist.  Will you be there
with me ?

Most   likely,   now  I  have  a  more
distanced  relationship  to  the scene
than I had back in the early 90's, but
I  think,  as long as I still have fun
doing  this, there is no reason for me
to  quit the scene.  But I dont 'live'
the  scene,  as alot of people do, and
alot  of  people  did.   I  tried that
aspect  of  the scene, and it ended in
me taking a break.



I  suppose  you  do have a life beside
the  scene.What  do  you  do  in  your
spairtime when not computing?

I  collect  books,  comics and movies.
Hence  I  read alot, and watch alot of
movies.   I  also try to spend as much
time  as  possible with my girlfriend,
Tonje.   And  the  rest  of  the  time
usually  goes when im drawing/painting
(paper/canvas,  not  on the computer).
I  used  to  do  alot  of martial arts
aswell,  but  my right knee gave in on
me  last  summer, so I have to relax a
bit,  and give it time to heal, before
i start doing that again.




Are you a regular partyvisitor?  Which
is the best party you have been to?

Not  regular  as such, I try to attend
as many parties in Norway as possible.
But  as  for  foreign  parties,  I can
seldom  afford  them..sigh..  The best
party..   hm,  I'd say that would have
to be TG 92 or 93.  Very nice sceneish
atmosphere,    and    scene   activity
everywhere.   These  days  you have to
roam   around   searching   for  scene
activity,  and  you're  quite lucky if
you find any, amongst all the gamers.



Which  is  the worst party you've been
to ?(if any),please motivate.

I'm  not  sure, Distance98a was pretty
bad,  with  only  25  attendees or so.
But  parts  of  that  party was pretty
cool  tho.  Like demo and intro compos
running  on a 17" monitor...  heheh ..
I didn't like it at TG98 either, thats
why  I  left  after one day.  Too many
people, and too little atmosphere.



I  know  you  are  going  in a kind of
art/design  school in real life.  Tell
us a little about it.

I'm  currently studying graphic design
here   in   Oslo.    And..well..    it
revolves  around  all  things  graphic
design-y..   heh ..  Its my first year
of two, and after that (even after the
first year) one have the possibilty to
continue studies in England or the US.



What  are  you  plans  after school is
out?

If  I don't get a job right away, I'll
most   likely   move   to  England  to
continue   the   studies  and  get  my
masters  degree.   That  will  take me
four  years.   But at the bright side,
four  years  of studying means 4 years
that  I  dont  have  to  get up in the
morning to go to work.



Do  you think your computergfxing have
improved   since   you   started  that
school?

Not  my  pixelling  skills,  those are
pretty  much  undeveloped.   Maybe  my
sense  of  colour and composition have
improved,  but  nothing majorly.  I've
become  quite  good  at photoshop tho,
after  I  started  at the school.  And
freehand drawing sure have developed a
few  notches.   It's just too sad that
im too lazy to try redrawing any of my
original  work  instead of copying.  I
guess   thats  basically  cause  i  do
copying  other  work  and photos which
much  greater  ease,  and carelessness
than   I   would   redrawing  original
sketches  and  artwork.  Im very picky
about  my  work,  and  thus its easier
being  sloppy  with  stuff  that other
people  have  "done  for  me".  And it
also  saves me from having to sit down
and ponder about shadows, contrast and
colouring,  as my drawings usually are
linedrawings,  in  black and white.  I
do prefer drawing with ink on paper.


I have only seen low-res pictures from
you.It   takes   more   skill  of  the
graphician  of course but do you think
there   is   anymore   benefits   from
painting in lowres?

It  takes  less  time  ...   thats the
reason  why I only do low-res.  I dont
want to spend too much time pixelling.
I've  started two hi-res pictures, but
I  dont see no end to them.  I have no
idea  how i will manage to finish them
within my
 lifetime  :)  ....  or maybe I'm just
lazy..  hehe



How do you feel about hi-res painting?

Too  timeconsuming  for  my taste, but
details improve alot.



How long time do you spend on making a
picture?   Of course it depends on the
motive and size but in general.

In  general  i  use  1-3  weeks  on  a
fullscreen      low-res      picture..
sometimes it takes longer tho.  I very
quickly  tire of a motive, and jump on
to something else.

Were do you get your motives from?  Do
you  use  to  draw  sketches  on paper
before starting on a picture?

I usually read thru wathever magazines
that  are  lying on the coffetable, or
find  something  neat  in my artbooks.
From  there on i decide whether to add
something or remove something from the
picture,  or  combine  motives.   If I
decide  to  add  something,  or remove
something  substansial to the picture,
I  redraw  the  motive on paper first,
and   add/remove   till   the   sketch
satisfies me.  From there on I spend a
week  or  so fiddeling about redrawing
that  sketch on the computer, till I'm
satisfied  with  the  proportions  and
such.  Then I starts shading, and if i
dont   tire   completely,   detailwork
follow.



What program are you using when making
your pictures?

Dpaint  and gfx2.  Gfx2 being the only
useable pixelling program on PC.  If I
make  pictures  or  logos as part of a
webdesign, or for a flyer or something
like  that,  I  usually use Photoshop.
Sometimes  I also render parts of such
pictures.   But  I'm  not very good at
this  3D stuff yet.  You have to think
completely  different  when drawing in
all 3 dimensions.



You  both got an Amiga and a PC.If you
compare  PC's pixelpaintingprograms to
Amigas DPaint and PPaint are there any
differences?   What is the benefits of
Amigas    program    respective   PC's
program?

Well,  at  them  timebeing,  I..   cof
cof...   only  pixel  on PC, and watch
whatever  the  result  or outcome of a
final  product  is, on the amiga.  The
reason  for  this,  is  that  my amiga
monitor  is  so  utterly  crappy,  its
impossible   for  me  using  it  while
pixelling.   If  it  weren't  for  the
monitor, I'd probably use Dpaint, as I
feel   more   comfortable   with  this
program,  and  for  the time being, it
got more features than Gfx2.



Are   you   using  a  digitizingtable?
(Wacom etc.)

I  have  one,  bought  cheap from Boo.
But  as  i  have  some  problems  with
drivers  and  compatability  and those
gewgaws,  its collecting dust under my
desk.



Whats      your      oppion      about
copying/redrawing  pictures,is it okej
or not?

It  completely  okey,  in  my opinion.
Its  probably  preferable using photos
for  redrawing, as means of reference.
Not  copying  everys single itsy bitsy
detail,  and  adding  stuff  and style
that  makes  it  your  own.   What  is
questionable,  is  copying  pieces  of
established    art,   and   thereafter
winning a pixelcompo or such with it..
thats stealing..  But, in all..I don't
really  mind  that  either..  It helps
develop  technique  and  such  ..  The
whole    nocopy/copy   discussion   is
grwoing  a  bit  tiresome, and I don't
really have nothing original or new to
add to the context of it all.



Mostly  of  the  pictures  made in the
scene  are of women.Im starting to get
bored  of  todays  graphicians.Allmost
everything  you  see  is variations of
babefaces.Do  you  think  there  is to
much womenpictures?

Yeah..   and  its even a stepdown from
what things used to be.  Before it was
babes   in  different  positures,  and
shapes  riding  dragons,  and  holding
swords  etc.  Today theres only babes,
no  swords,  no dragons, no fat little
axe wielding dwarfs.I guess the reason
for  all  these  babes, is the ease of
winning  votes  at compos (with tits),
and the ease of drawing it all.



At     the     partys     pixelcompos,
photoshoppictures   is   getting  more
usual  theese  days.Do you think there
should   be  two  separate  compos  at
parties,one  for  pixeled pictures and
one for thoose Photoshopmade?

Hmmmm,  I  really  dont have an opinon
about  that..   yet..  At the present,
there  is  no  need  for this I think.
But  as  photoshope pictures gets more
and   more  run-of-the-mill,  seperate
compos   would  be  preferable.   Like
they've  done  with  renderings and 2d
art..  I remeber when they used to run
both  2d  and 3d in the same compos...
sucked.


In  the  future,do  you  think  theres
gonna   be  any  pixeled  256  colored
pictures  or  is  the 24-Bit generated
and  Photoshopmade pictures gonna take
over?

Depends  really.   There  will be more
24bit pictures, but I dont think we'll
see  any fewer 256colour pictures in a
while yet.



Some graphicians have said they wanted
a   jury  at  partys  to  judge  there
pictures     instead    the    visiors
voting.The   jury  should  contain  of
graphicians   who   can  zoom  in  the
pictures  and  determine  how well the
picture  is  made.  This to get a fair
ranking       and       no       silly
friendsvoting.What  do you think about
this way??

Depends    on    the   size   of   the
compo/party.    It   would   prove   a
valuable  asset  on  smaller  parties,
where  there  is  alot  of  friendship
voting.   And  it  would probably help
the  guys  that  don't  draw  tits for
every compo too.



Is Trsi or Planet Jazz planning on any
productions for the nearest future?

As   for  TRSI,  I'm  not  sure..   We
probably   have   some  stuff  up  our
sleeve,    with    new   members   and
all.Planet.Jazz   however,  will  soon
finish  a  new intro, the oldtime way.
We wont release this under any special
'below  this  or below that' kb limit,
nor will it be entered in any compo as
far  as  I  know.  It will be released
when  its  ready,  and we're satisfied
with  whats  become  of  the  original
idea.   Apart  from  that  another PJZ
intro  is  under  planning,  aswell as
difuse  thoughts  about  a demo/bigger
project.



If  you  would  get  the  chanse to be
invisible  for  one day what would you
be doing?

Having   an  awfoul  lot  of  problems
finding  where  my legs are so i could
fit into my trousers.



How are you feeling about Norway being
out   of  FootballWorlCup  in  France?

Even  thue  there out they really gave
Brazil a tuff game,I must say.

What  is  football?..   
I  hear  alot  of people talking about
this  guy  called  Football,  and some
other  geezer called Soccer.  But I've
never met any of them.



What is Optic doing in 10 years ?

Is sleeping an option ?



Okej Optic...Everything has to come to
an end and so does this interview.  If
you  wanna  say  something  to all the
readers,here  is  your  chance.  Mabye
greet someone...

Some last minute Hans-shakes flies out
to  everyone  keeping the scene alive,
and  everyone that made the scene what
it   is.    Special  greets  to  Ilke,
Guffaw, you, friends at #amigascne and
everyone  in  PJZ, TRSI and DCS.  Dont
drink  and  drive, stay in school, and
take lots of candy from strangers!