Interview with Other Staff
StarZander
Name: StarZander
Contribution: Website
StarZander got the ball rolling on a Chrono Symphonic site and ensured a good foundation for listeners.
1. When did you first play Chrono Trigger?
Oh, it must have been about 6 years ago. A friend of mine was playing it, and told me to play it aswell, so I did, and I loved it. Since then I've beaten it several times.
2. Did Claado Shou contact you about a website, or did you volunteer?
I volunteered for this project, because I wanted something new to do, and I really liked the idea of the project.
3. How did you pick the layout and theme?
I have always liked minimalistic designs, with alot of white, and few colors, so that's what I chose. I put in pictures of different timepieces and clocks, that has been used through history, to symbolize time and its passing.
4. Do you have any other websites under your belt?
I have worked with websites for several years now, and I am currently studying more advanced webdesign techniques, such as more programming languages, and user interface. I make new websites that come to mind, now and then, for myself, and sometimes projects like this appear, and I usually volunteer, if I think I can do a good job. The website I made for this project, has been called one of the best I've ever made, and I tend to agree. A great website, for an even greater project.
Eon_Blue
Name: Eon_Blue
Contribution: Art
Eon_Blue came around early to provide a general concept art piece, and later wrapped up the CD art and presentation. Though neither of them knew it until May 2005, Zeality and Eon_Blue knew each other as 002 and Æ on a GoldenEye 007 forum in 1998.
1. When did you first play Chrono Trigger?
Not long after the release – I didn’t actually own the game myself (nor the household console), but I do recall it being about $60 CDN at the time.2. You've done multimedia in the past; have you ever created a website or entered a contest?
I entered a website contest ages ago for Planescape: Torment, and came in 3rd place. I’ve done a few other projects - some for other OCR collaborations, some for just personal friends. Because I suck at remixing, this is pretty much all I can offer to the community. I’m working on the remixing part though.
Right now I'm working on the Link's Awakening Remix Project website and album artwork.
3. What was the main challenge of creating the Symphonic art?
I didn’t want to slap an obvious picture of Chrono on the front and toss some wordart across the top. I’d much rather have the theme implied rather than just thumping the viewer in the head with it. I chose to take an event in the game that you’d really need to know about to comprehend what was happening. Folks who’ve never played the game before won’t understand what the cover is supposed to be about, while those that have played through will understand the significance of Lavos’ approach on the planet – or that it even IS Lavos. The album art was created in both Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.
4. How's it feel being part of a Chrono OCR site project now that it's complete?
Initially, when Claado asked me to do the art, I was only mildly interested. I tossed a few ideas about, but nothing really materialized. I gave up for a while, and happened to hear a few of the wips that were available in the thread a few months later - and immediately jumped on the opportunity to be a part of this project. A lot of these projects get started, then end up collapsing because of lack of interest or whatever - so I was a little skeptical of it being a success. I was already burned by a project before - putting a lot of work into the site, then having everyone else bail on me (Megaman X, anyone? I've still got the site online...) I was a little worried about interpreting the project in a visual format, as well as essentially representing the album through the cover. When someone is interested in hearing the album, the first thing they see when picking it up is the cover. Still, I think it turned out well.
5. Anything you'd like to say to Chrono fans?
While certainly not playing the most integral part of the project, I’m pleased with how it turned out. I won't be hearing any of the music until the album is released either - I'm sure it'll speak for itself, cover or not. Enjoy.
ZeaLitY
Name: ZeaLitY
Contribution: Publicity & Interviews
Zeality, director of the Chrono Compendium, jumped at the chance to cover the project and provide insight into its creation.
1. What was the interviewing process like?
Pretty straightforward; most of the remixers got back to me with e-mail within the first few days. I had to track down some others, and a few didn't have much time to answer the questions. Patience is a virtue, though, and we now have words from every remixer and staff member who contributed to the project. This is really one of the Compendium's biggest features. No other Chrono site is even covering this, so I had to do the best job possible in this regard.
2. What else did you do with the project?
I really only kept the Chrono fan end up by notifying fans of updates and generally reporting on anything I could. Aside from Temporal Flux 2.00, Chrono Symphonic has been one of the most anticipated fan projects in Chrono Trigger's history, and everyone's ready to go crazy with its release. I'll be submitting the story to Slashdot, while Compendium admin Radical_Dreamer will post it to a few gaming sites he participates at. The Slashdot post alone will probably do better to alert Chrono fans about the project more than I could ever muster with my site alone right now, but the resulting publicity for the Chrono series can only unify the community.
3. Lastly, are you glad you got involved?
Definitely. This is ground zero for Chrono fans, and we need a huge event like this to wake everyone up. There's a few RPG fans out there who think that Chrono is dead and buried -- that Chrono Cross was full of plot holes (which couldn't be further from the truth); that the team is forever broken up and a new game will never come out -- and these people need to get a huge wake up call. All kinds of cool stuff continues in the community, and it's only a matter of time before we speak as one voice and ask for another installment. We're going to shake the heavens, and it all begins with a high quality orchestral album will no doubt capture the allure of a lot of fans.