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NOTE: I know I have been inactive for over a year now, but I am intending to start over again. This interview is from the time when I still was in business. It was supposed to be released with the submission of Kill Kar 2 and Larry: Episode 1! Again, I am truly sorry, and especially to you, JAZZA, for not releasing it as promised, a year ago ... anyways, here it is, so enjoy ;)

After being dead for a year, JAZZA is back in business with all new series, which kicks ass! Do NOT miss this interview, for both, getting to know him better, and to finally get your answers :D

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6th November '09

Hello, Josiah (JAZZA)!

Since when have you been working with Flash?
It all began on a clear spring day in 1922... *cough* nah i started using flash when i was 14 in what Americans would call 'junior high'. before that it was a year of paper flicking and microsoft power point. flash became my lover very quickly.

From where did you get the idea to make Paladin, and since when did you start the Series?

Umm well i've always been a big medieval lover and when i became a little more competent with flash IE, not needing to animate stick figures constantly (nothing against stick figures!) i decided i'd go with something along my lines of interest and focus more on detail. unfortunately i didnt focus much on story which in the last few episodes became the Achilles heel and i had to re-work and over compensate many areas of the story.

You're a talented man with really amazing art/animation skills. Are you as good as drawing in Flash, as you are on real life, or better?

LOL um i'd probably say i do a LOT better in flash then i do on a piece of paper. every time i try and do something realistic or artsy fartsy that ISN'T a cartoon i end up making them look way too cartoony.

Did you work with Paladin really hard, or was it just some spare time project?

it began as a spare time project and with every episode i got more passionate and involved. the journey went from episode 1 being something that took 3 months and no voice acting and illegally used songs, to episode 5 being a 20 minute long two part animation hiring voice actors, composing the music making a DVD and taking overall 16 months to complete.

Why did you make a game out of the Paladin Series?

i suppose apart from just wanting to make a cool medieval game and using the grounds already established, the big reason was also because i wanted something that made the paladin story look as if i had it planned out that way from the very beginning, and made sense of some of the less continuity driven aspects of the story.

Why don't use Frame By Frame animation instead of tweening?

haha, the short answer would be because i'm lazy, but realistically my style tends to use a lot of FBF although in less substantial amounts. it tends to be the trend sometimes to classify an animator as either FBF or TWEEN, IE adam phillips FBF and james far TWEEN. effective animation utilises both and you'll see that most dramatic slower scenes are more TWEEN and action sequences and rapid movement FBF. i always animate mouths and jaws and stuff FBF because i've not yet found an effective tweening method to pull it off realistically.

Why are you suddenly making games instead of animating?

hmm... i suppose because games tend to reach a bigger audience and its almost like making tools and giving them to a user to do waht they want which they enjoy quite a lot. i'll always animate movies but now i'll always be working on games too because i love playing them and making them! there are a lot of great ideas you can pull of in a game and nowhere else that satisfy filling hours of boredom. plus theres always a feeling of satisfaction animating something and watching it react to what you do. i loved running around as the paladin in the paladin game!

How and Why did you learn 3D?

i thinks its just a natural progressive step. stick figures tend to lead people to little funny cartoons, which tend to lead people to more realistically proportioned characters, which tends to lead then to 3D. for me at least. 3D art has always been really appealing to meso it just came next chronologically, however at this point in time i still know very little and have keps 2D the priority. i guess it's kinda like choosing between moving to a bigger house and spending a lot of time reajusting everything, or staying in your already comfortable home which youve grown to love quite a lot. i cant be bothered with the effort but now and thenn i'll feel like a holiday to the big home.

Have you made some other 3D Short movies than Pico Day Message?

when i'm learning a new medium i tend to make a lot of short movies that dont get past its early stages. it's all part of the learning curve. i have plenty of unfinished flash movies that i just didnt have the attention span to finish.

I've also seen that you compose music. Are you trying to accomplish something by learning most of the stuff (Music, Animation, 3D, etc.), or is it just for fun. And do you know anything else?

i've been playing music all my life so it was only natural it'd creep into the flash and stuff. as for the standalone stuff i know i've built my reputation on my flash rather then my music but i'm the kinda guy who makes whatever he feels like so you'll probably see a lot of music from me to come. it's not to try and prove that i can do lots of stuff, its just coz i enjoy lots of mediums! i sculpt too, i havn;t been showing any of that stuff though. lol. my brain thinks artistically so i can do most things except dance (you dont even wanna see me try that one). put a form in front of me to fill in or a puzzle and i freeze

Just something I wondering, what does JAZZA mean or stand for?

NOTHING!! lol. when i was 11 years old the trend in school was making EMAIL ADDRESSES (Whoa!). i could think of what to name mine, josiah brooks was WAY to lame for a cool 7th grader. My big brother however was the cool kid in year 12 and he ran around saying "JEZZA!!" and people would reply "LANCO!!". jezza lanco was a football player at the time, i know nothing about sports but i knew he was cool AND my name started with a J. my email address then was born, using the name jazza. years later making my first flash animation i also noticed it was the trend to have an alias and put email adresses in the animation. i submitted my stuff to what was then sticksuicide.com under the alias and email, JAZZA. what a lovely story.

Thanks for the Interview. I really hope you answer most of the questions, so that Newgrounds may know a bit more about you!

thank YOU, i've been dead on NG for a year or so and now that i'm comming back full on it'll be fun to try and get back out there. thanks journalist

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28th February '11

How did you come up with the idea of LARRY?

i guess i just wanted to make a comedy series for a change, and i'm a sucker for anything medieval, and i had an instant image in my head of a midget knight with attitude problems, so over time and planning, Larry was born.

Is any part of LARRY related to you, in any kind of way?

Hehe perhaps. Some of the jokes i pull out can be a little gross and sadistic and it feels like i'm unleashing the sick side of myself, so maybe deep down i'd like to make out with my father if he were a decapitated head. maybe.

Is the story of LARRY, original, or inspired by someone?

Everything has influence so i'm sure something influenced it along the line somewhere but, to my immediate memory, no, i can't think of anything in particular that made Larry come to life via inspiration.

Between the release of LARRY: Episode 1, and Larry and the Gnomes, why did you submit the mini-games from the BIG game?

That's more of a 'business' side of things, it was mainly to help promote the main game Larry and the Gnomes, as well as give a good run for the Newgrounds Sponsorship so it's worth their time and money.

LARRY: Episode 2, was amazingly well made. Do you think you could've done it without the few assistants?

The more help the better. I hope to find ways to make future episodes quicker to make, and of a higher quality, inevitably this involves getting help of course.

Did you work full-time with LARRY: Episode 2?

yes.

If you did, then what did you look forward to the most, when thinking of its release (feedback, earnings, score, etc.)?

Hm, not so much scores or medals, the more rewarding side of releasing each Larry episode is that it brings to a reality the world i've constructed in my head. I have a very rich picture of Karryon and the stories to come, but nobody else can appreciate them yet. My favorite part in submitting episode two was bringing to life in other peoples imagination, things that have been cultivated in my own for a while.

What is your purpose in putting such large effort in your games and movies (what do you want to reach, what is your goal)?

I'd like to make a rich world that won't die. A series FULL of recognizable characters and personalities, each as memorable and funny as the last. Kind of like an online short medieval 'simpsons'... that being said, it's unlikely, but hey! where would we be without delusions of grandeur, right?

I watched your video, where you showed us, you, doing the voice acting for LARRY. I must say, it was really impressive. I think you've got great voice acting skills. Does it have a background, or is it natural skills?

I've had singing lessons so i know how to provide power to my voice and switch into different registers, otherwise, nah i've had no training for voice acting and i used to shy away from it coz i didn't have the confidence, but since i've started doing it more and more with Larry i have found it really addictive :P

How is it to collaborate with other users?

Wonderful. Find the right people, with the right enthusiasm and the same goal, and it can turn a good production into a great production.

Can you tell us about the game, 'Ortus' (under production)?

ooooooh secret projects :O
I must say Ortus is the biggest project i've ever worked on (and i think the entire team of 15 people can say the same). It is also to my knowledge one of the most ambitious indie flash projects in development, but i can't make too many claims until people try it for themselves. What I CAN say is that it's one of the first TRULY customizable isometric RPG's (similar in style to baldurs gate/diablo). It's aimed to be a "play your way" game. The way you interact with NPC's, the actions you take, people you kill, quests you take, etc, will all change the world's perception of your character and effect your future paths. It's a single player engine, but with massive story and engine depth.

Are you planning on releasing mini-games in the midst of producing Ortus?

no. No gimmicks or stunts, just one big free awesome game.

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BIG TITLES: Paladin | Kill Kar II | LARRY
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT HIS ART GALLERY - IT'S AMAZING!
THIS MAN ALSO COMPOSES INCREDIBLE MUSIC!
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Again, first part of this Interview is 1 year old, from when I was still active. So, when I first interviewed JAZZA back in November '09, he still hadn't released Larry: Episode 1!