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February 22nd, 2008 by: Pete
Hello iD Nation!
From time to time, I like to highlight some of our past students, featuring them in the ”Where are they now” category of this blog. I’m sure you’ll like this next story about our summer film camps. We recently heard from one of our students, Christina Frenzel. Here’s a bit of what she wrote:
“Tell Pete I say hi. I remember him as I attended summer camp when the company was just starting out in Santa Clara. He was always there watching how camp was going and I remember how nice he was.”
Well, thank YOU, Christina! It’s nice to know you remember me, and thanks for the compliment. Very cool!
Christina Frenzel: Film School Phenom
“iD Tech Camps not only helped me to become a better filmmaker, but more importantly, this summer camp in the Bay Area fostered my growth into becoming a confident young adult. I will never forget the people I met there, especially the camp instructors that encouraged me to follow my dreams and supported me along the way. Almost ten years after attending camp, I still am in contact with some of the instructors, and I recently invited them to my graduation dinner celebrating my accomplishments at USC. It meant so much to me to have them there because I knew I could not have accomplished all that I have without them.”
Christina recently graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts with a double major in film production and psychology. She attended iD Tech Camps for multiple seasons as a middle school and high school student, and continued to develop her passion for film production. By the time she reached college, two of her documentaries aired on HBO. While at USC, Christina was named as a semi-finalist in the 33rd Student Academy Awards for her thesis film. After graduating, she worked as a research and production assistant for PBS’ Frontline and will soon be working in Washington D.C. as a production assistant for a political advertising firm for the 2008 presidential election. In her free time Christina loves to volunteer, backpack, and play soccer.
Christina…way to go! We will be keeping an eye on you!
-Pete
February 22nd, 2008
Posted in: do something BIG
February 12th, 2008 by: Pete
Exciting news! A former camper, Ian Cinnamon, who formerly attended our Los Angeles Summer Camps and San Francisco Bay Area Summer Camps has written his own book titled Game Programming for the Evil Genius.
I wrote a forward in the book, and we have also featured Ian in our 2008 Summer Computer Camp Catalog. Here is an excerpt from our catalog: “Ian has attended four summers at iD Tech Camps and is currently a high school sophomore. A 15-hear old phenom who got his start at iD Tech Camps, Ian has been programming for over 7 years and is certified in both Java and C++. Ian has recently written a book titled Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius (McGraw Hill). Ian provides strategies, code, and insider’s programming advice on how to build and test video games with ease.”
I want to congratulate Ian on his latest accomplishment. I know we helped Ian a little bit along the way by providing great teachers and hands-on instruction in our summer computer programming camps and summer video game design courses.
But Ian has shown that being an author of sophisticated tech topics knows no age boundaries. Way to go, Ian! We are proud of you!
-Pete
February 12th, 2008
Posted in: do something BIG
December 3rd, 2007 by: Pete
iD Tech Camps Hoping Former Staff Secure Big Budget Film Financing
Former iD Tech Camps employees Andrea Ajemian and Jon Artigo, who honed their producing skills in their management roles with the iD Tech Camps, are closing in on securing 3 million dollars to finance their upcoming feature film, a teen comedy “We Got the Beat.” The duo have collaborated on three award-winning feature films during the past six years, working with other iD Tech Camps colleagues including Kevin Painchaud, Chad Meserve, Jill MacDonald, and Julie Fletcher. Ajemian is currently in negotiations with executive producers who would include “We Got the Beat” with a slate of films pitched to investors for a total of 50 million dollars.
“We could not be happier for Andrea and Jon. They are fabulous people and we take pride in knowing iD Tech Camps played a role in supporting their creative careers over the years”, said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, president and CEO of iD Tech Camps.
They say it’s a small world.
While on a conference call, Ajemian was telling an executive producer about her former employment with the top technology camp in the country. When she mentioned “iD Tech Camps,” the executive producer burst out, “I have their brochure right here on my desk in front of me! My son is ten years old, loves creating video games and really wants to go to the camp next summer. I’m thinking of sending him to the Stanford Computer Camp.”
“I couldn’t believe it”, said Ajemian. “Here I am knee deep in negotiations and iD Tech Camps comes up. It’s another reminder of how small the world is and how our lives interconnect. Of course, I told him of my experiences and how I feel iD is the best camp for his son.”
The teen comedy Ajemian and Artigo have written demonstrates they have a unique pulse on today’s youth. Both credit “being in tune” to their professional experiences with iD Tech Camps. They spent time with and around young people–giving them fodder for their creative inspirations in their own teen movies.
Artigo and Ajemian’s latest film “Still Green,” a teen drama set along the gulf coast of Florida, just began it’s festival run. Just weeks after premiering the film at the 32nd Annual New England Film and Video Festival in Brookline, it took top honors winning the Best Narrative Feature Award. “Still Green” won the Spirit of Independence Award for Best Ensemble at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. As they wait to hear from upcoming festivals regarding acceptance, they are in negotiations with a sales agent who will then represent the film to both international and domestic distributors. The film stars Sarah Jones (HBO’s Big Love, Showtime’s Huff), Noah Segan (Brick, Cabin Fever II), Ryan Kelly (Mean Creek, Stolen Summer), and Douglas Spain (HBO’s Band of Brothers, But I’m a Cheerleader).
iD Tech Camps was one of the first nationwide technology programs to offer movie camps and film camps to young students ages 10 to 17. They have been offering cutting-edge courses to students in digital movie editing since their inception in 1999. Their curriculum incorporates professional–grade Apple® Final Cut Pro® in which they have seen significant progression in the software’s capabilities over the years.
In 2008, iD Tech Camps launches the iD Film Academy at UC Berkeley in California. The teen movie camp offers intensive study in filmmaking and post-production. Students in this teen film camp learn from top-tier instructors who have an insider’s knowledge of the industry and film festival circuit. Surely, one of these students will be pitching their own movie project someday.
December 3rd, 2007
Posted in: do something BIG
May 11th, 2007 by: Pete
Hello iD Nation!
I roam the office a lot here at iD. One of my employees mentioned in passing that one of her friends (a recent college grad) now works at Google. She went on to explain that her friend also attended iD Tech Camps when he was a bit younger. Her friend’s name is Jasper. Should iD Tech Camps take credit for 100% of Jasper’s success? Of course! Not. But, as you’ll read below, iD Tech Camps obviously helped him along his path, and this is something we are all proud of in the company. Please read the below interview I had with Jasper. There are some intriguing responses. This blog entry might be especially interesting for our older iD students who are looking to pursue a career in a hi-tech company. Hint: Start by going to a hi-tech camp.
Jasper Seldin
Q: Where do you work now, and what do you do?
I work at Google as an AdWords Associate. I help our advertisers understand Google’s systems and get the most out of their advertising dollars by analyzing search trends and determining what the most relevant terms are based on their webpage or service.
Q: Where did you go to college? How did you decide on that college? What did you major in?
I went to Santa Clara University, and to be honest, a scholarship I received played a large role in my decision to attend. I also was attracted to the location in California, which isn’t a bad place to live 
I majored in Political Science.
Q: You say you got a cool technology start at iD Tech Camps. Where did you attend camp at iD Tech Camps—which location? What courses did you take?
I attended iD Tech Camps in Colorado Springs, CO at Colorado State University – Colorado Springs. I took the Digital Video Production course.
Q: When did you go to camp? What was your most memorable experience?
I went to camp in 2000. My most memorable experience was showing our finished product to a room full of campers and parents. Everyone was amazed at how much we could accomplish in only a few days. I also really enjoyed interacting with the counselors — they were really cool and flexible with our schedule. They didn’t just tell us what to do — they were involved in every aspect of our video production, and even starred in our movie.
Q: Did you go to Day Camp or Overnight Camp? What was cool about it?
I went to overnight camp. I really liked the interactions that occurred after camp hours and would strongly recommend it. There was a nice mix of games and physical activities that made it a lot like a traditional camp experience. It was also really cool to hang out with the counselors.
Q: Have you applied any of the skills you gained at iD Tech computer camps to your professional or personal life?
Definitely. A large part of my role at Google requires me to work as a part of a team, and I was able to develop project management skills through iD Tech Camps. The environment is similar to the work environment at major technology companies.
Q: Who are your favorite role models?
I really admire Bill Clinton. I think he was a great leader and I really admire his devotion to charity work after leaving the White House. I also admire Thomas Friedman for his innovative analysis of the changing world.
Q: What is a typical day like for you at Google?
I spend portions of my day learning about new Google products, helping advertisers with their accounts, and analyzing advertising campaigns to identify areas for improvement. It’s really exciting to be a part of such an innovative company because there’s always something new to master.
Q: What are your favorite video games?
My favorite video game of all time is Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. I also like Donkey Kong Country and Final Fantasy Series. I’m a die-hard nintendo fan.
Q: What do you do when you aren’t at Google? For fun?
I really like to travel and have been all over Europe, The Middle East, and Australia. I also like watching Baseball, Football, and Basketball. (Note From Pete, it also looks like you like feeding animals at the zoo. Be careful, Jasper. Yes, working at Google is dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous as being a bird feeder.)
Q: What are some of your favorite new technologies coming out on the market?
I’m really excited about the potential of the Nintendo Wii. I think we’ll see some really cool games in the years to come that make good use of the Wii technology. I also can’t wait to get my hands on an iPhone.
Q: Can you attach a couple of pictures so I can get you up on the blog?
Pictures attached
- Jasper
OK, Nation! I hope you enjoyed this entry. Jasper, we wish you all the luck in the world at Google. Tell Larry and Sergey I said hi.
-Pete
May 11th, 2007
Posted in: do something BIG
May 4th, 2007 by: Pete
Sometimes, the simplest messages are the best. This email was just forwarded to me. It really sums it up:
-Begin email-
From: Former iD Student (name withheld for confidentiality purposes)
Date: Apr 29, 2007 8:21 PM
Subject: re: old friend from Internal Drive
To: Kevin Painchaud (lead digital video instructor)
Dear Kevin,
I got your e-mail from Chad. I hope you remember me. You were a mentor/instructor when I was in high school and you taught at Internal Drive. How are you? I hope that you have been well. I know it’s been a while since we last spoke, but I’m e-mailing you because I would like to invite you and a guest to a graduation dinner party that I am holding. I’m graduating from USC Film School this May, and I decided to hold a party to celebrate and thank all of the people that had a positive influence in my life. You no doubt had an influence on my life during high school, and I would be honored for you to attend. Chad and Joy are coming, and I would love for you to come too.
The party will be held on Saturday May 12th…
-iD Student
-End of Email-
Kevin was working back with us in ’99, and is still working for us today. He has been a mentor to hundreds, if not thousands of students.
May 4th, 2007
Posted in: do something BIG
April 27th, 2007 by: Pete
Hello iD Nation,
We’re counting down the days until camp. We actually start summer computer camp the first week in June at UT Austin, and then rollout our other sites every week from that point. Camp is the best time of year! We’ve got some pretty cool announcements that follow below, and a cool story about one of our campers to go along with it:
While other students spend their summers watching TV, Jimmy McChristy spends his time creating video games and learning technical skills at summer computer camps.
Jimmy McChristy
This past summer, Jimmy, 16-years-old, attended our intensive 3-week game development program called the iD Gaming Academy. During the program, teens like Jimmy used powerful industry-standard applications like Maya® to learn the basics of 3D graphics production and to create a gaming project by the end of the session.
But along with learning the skills he needs to develop technology projects, Jimmy is also practicing to become a better competitive gamer. Although he is a teenager who may seem like any other teen his age, Jimmy, or “MMMPotatoes” as he is known in the gaming world, is already taking big honors for his age playing in video game tournaments at summer camp. During the last summer season alone, Jimmy set a tournament record, achieving four regional titles—three wins of which were consecutive.
Jimmy may be following in the footsteps of esteemed gamers before him, such as Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, considered by many gaming authorities to be the top gamer in the world. Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel is the most accomplished, professional PC Gamer in history and is the breakthrough name and face of the sport. As the world’s most famous PC gamer, he spreads interest in PC gaming wherever he goes and, in the process, has become the sport’s worldwide ambassador.
Johnathon Wendel (Fatal1ty)
This upcoming summer, students such as Jimmy (and other up-and-coming gaming stars) will have the opportunity to test their skills against luminaries such as “Fatal1ty” and members of the Free Players Organization™. We at internalDrive, the national leader in summer technology camps, have partnered with The Fatal1ty Brand to provide students from across the country an opportunity to play against the best of the best.
Students attending our elite game development camp, the iD Gaming Academy, will have the chance to play in these exciting tournaments. Our players will engage in intense competition on gaming servers hosted by NVIDIA, one of the premier names in computer gaming hardware. They will play some of the hottest computer games on the market, including QUAKE 4 from id Software. Local tournaments will narrow down the competition and bring out only the best teens, such as Jimmy, who will then move on to play against “Fatal1ty” and members of the Free Players Organization™.
Perhaps the next great gaming star will get his chance at stardom while playing teen gaming tournaments at our iD Gaming Academy. Perhaps that future star will look back and highlight playing his childhood role model while at summer camp as the height of his inspiration. In any event, teens with a strong interest in gaming shouldn’t miss out on this unique opportunity. For some, playing against “Fatal1ty” or a member of Free Players Organization will be a once in a lifetime event.
About iD Gaming Academy
iD Gaming Academy by internalDrive immerses teens in the dynamic world of video game development. Students create their own mini game portfolio with levels and interactivity in this intensive 3 week program. Using powerful industry-standard applications like Maya, teens will learn the basics of 3D graphics production, including modeling, texturing and animating. Additionally, they’ll participate in late-night gaming tournaments, LAN parties and tour a game development studio. Sessions are at UCLA, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and Villanova University. Visit www.idgamingacademy.com or call -1888-709-TECH (8324) for more information.
About Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel
Johnathan became the world’s first full time professional video gamer in October 1999, when he placed third at the CPL’s Frag3 tournament. Two weeks later he was invited to represent the USA in an international tournament in Stockholm, where he went undefeated with a perfect performance, winning all 18 maps and losing none. He has continued to dominate competitions all over the world, competing on 6 continents during his 6-year professional career.
Winning the 2005 CPL World Tour Finals in New York City secured his twelfth Major Championship and tenth world title, accomplished while competing in 5 different games – an unprecedented achievement. His New York City victory earned him $150,000 and brought his 2005 total winnings to $231,000. During his competitive gaming career Fatal1ty has placed 1st in 65% of all the competitions he has entered and top 3 in 90% of them.
About Free Players
The Free Players Organization is made up of Professional Video Game Players, who compete in tournaments around the world. Unlike other video gaming groups who take a portion of competition winnings, members of the Free Players retain all prizes won in tournaments.
Free Players are dedicated to the promotion of Video Game competitions as a true sport and travel the world to advance that concept.
With contributions by Kenneth Keegan
April 27th, 2007
Posted in: do something BIG
March 30th, 2007 by: Pete
Hello iD Nation! This week, I’ve got a special guest blogger — Boy Wonder. We’ve got so many students inquiring as to how they can break into the gaming industry that we decided to provide some cool, informative information. Thanks, Ken, for your research and enthusiasm. Let’s Roll!
Begin Ken’s Guest Blog:
Recently I received an email from one of our summer camp students who is researching the gaming industry for a high school paper dealing with careers. Having met and having become friends with several people working in various parts of the video game industry, I share an interest in this topic and was glad to help him out by fielding some answers to his questionnaire. I think this particular topic is also very intriguing for many of our campers who are themselves preparing for a career creating video games. Based on my experience and conversations with friends in the industry, I’d like to relate some of my knowledge on a career in gaming.
Q. What high school classes did you take that help you as part of your work designing games?
A. The high school classes you should take depend on what particular aspect of game design you find most appealing. Game studios have evolved from one or two man shops to enormous operations with many highly specialized members. There are specific positions for programmers, animators, riggers, modelers, concept artists, and so forth. Even within those broad categories there are more specialized positions available. Programmers, for example, can often focus solely on a particular area, such as network programming, engine development, or AI development. The first step to the process would be to figure out what you enjoy the most.
If you think you want to work on the programming aspects of game design, take classes in mathematics and physics. Games utilize a wide variety of mathematical functions, so being proficient in that can be a requirement. Knowledge of physics principles and operations have recently become important as well, especially in 3D games that use complicated physics modeling. Even simplified 2D games can require trajectories, gravity simulations, and other similar topics. In addition to math and physics courses, take a variety of programming classes and branch out among languages. Although a few core languages are important (C/C++/C#), scripting languages are often used in conjunction with development tools to streamline the development process.
If you feel like the art is more your style, then you’ll want to focus on art-heavy classes. All of the artists I know who work on games (as modelers, animators, etc.) are also very talented traditional artists. They can sketch and draw very well. Art intensive programs at colleges and universities will emphasize an initial focus on traditional art creation, so you can get a head start in high school by taking traditional art classes. If there are any digital art classes available to you (Photoshop, modeling, or animation classes), then take those as well. It is important for artists to have a portfolio when breaking into the industry, so having these classes will also allow you to start building up a portfolio.
Other routes include leads or directors, which can be seen as generic “designers”. These are the people who actually design the rules and game play in games. Many of these people have degrees in computer science and yet might also have a little experience in programming, scripting, or art development. Having a large variety of experience (even if it isn’t in depth to the level of the specialists) allows these designers to understand what the team members they are guiding are actually doing. They can understand the obstacles and problems better than someone who has never programmed or created an art resource.
There are more positions than that, such as sound or music directors and so forth, but basically take whatever aspect you would enjoy most and take classes that reflect those skills.
iD Tech Camps is also great venue to help you get started deciding what you’d like to do in the gaming world–especially if you are a younger camper or your high school doesn’t offer some of the aforementioned options.
Q. What does your job entail at iD Tech?
A. During the summers at iD I’ve been an instructor starting with 3D Game Design and Game Modding. More recently, I played a role in helping to launch the iD Gaming Academy, a more intensive program that tries to model the way real game studios actually work. When I was there I focused on teaching the programming aspects of the game engine but also helped with technical aspects of art importation (the process of moving models and art you have created into the game engine). During the off-season I work on a variety of tasks including curriculum development. I also design flash games for our website. Currently, the work we do on that is very similar to a studio, though in miniaturized form. I do all the programming and initial prototyping (a way of figuring out how the game might play) and a co-worker designs all the art.
Q. What is the best part of becoming a game designer?
A. I’d say there are two really rewarding parts to game design. The first is sitting down to brainstorm and conceptualize the game. During this stage you get to come up with all sorts of ideas and you’ll generally flesh them out in sketches or storyboards with an artist. It’s an exciting period where no ideas are thrown out and everything goes.
The second part I enjoy is when your game is finished and produced and you get feedback from people who play it. It really is satisfying to read and hear about your game and how people enjoyed playing it. Just being able to show off your creation is a great reward.
Some of my industry friends have told me that the part they enjoy the most is seeing other people play their creations. For them, the ability to bring excitement and enjoyment of the game to others is the most rewarding part.
Q. What inspired you to want to become a Game Designer?
A. Both a friend of mine (who is a modeler/animator) and I started when we were very young. We started programming with QBasic on our PCs and continued programming in various forms while growing up and going through school. We didn’t really have Computer Science or Digital Art classes at our high schools so both of us were self-taught until we started college. Our early-on inspirations were the games we both played when we were younger. We are huge fans of adventure games (a genre which doesn’t really exist anymore in the mainstream – check out Sam & Max as an example). The act of creating games (even simple ones) pushed us to learn more and create better and better games. He then went to an art school and I got a computer science degree.
Q. What guidance can you give me on how to become a successful game designer?
A. First, find out which aspect you enjoy the most. Explore different roles (programming, art creation, sound creation). Doing so is important for a few reasons. The more you know about a variety of subjects the better able you will be to work as a member of a team and with those specialists. Also, you may find you like one aspect more than you thought – the good friend I mentioned thought for a time that he was more interested in the programming but discovered he has a talent and interest more in the modeling.
Next I would recommend that you just get started. Start working on games now and start small. Make an asteroids clone, a version of pong or other simple game types and then make them better. Flash is probably the best tool for the job since it makes creating games simple and contains all the elements you would need. Other simplified packages such as Multimedia Fusion from Clickteam (http://clickteam.com/eng/index.php) and Torque Game Builder from GarageGames (http://www.garagegames.com) offer an excellent way to get started building games.
Q. Where do you get you ideas for the games that you design?
A. Most of my game ideas come from games I’ve played and enjoyed. Occasionally I’ll take specific parts of games I like and try to spin off my own version. When you are first getting into game design it helps to create games you’ve already played or that are slightly different, since you can focus on the actual game-making process and the skills needed for that. Later you can work on the ground-breaking new game types and genres.
One process that helps to come up with completely new ideas is to set aside a specific amount of time, either alone or with the team you are working with, and simply brainstorm ideas. Make a list of 30 game ideas and don’t move to the next step until you have 30. Once you have your list, pick 10 you like best and for each of those 10 do a sketch (storyboard) and flesh out the idea a little more. Narrow it down again to your top 3 or 5 and get input from others to make your final selection.
One important note is to follow-through on an idea you start. If you have a game 50% complete it can sometimes be tempting if you get another great idea to start working on that. Force yourself to complete the first game, no matter how difficult or frustrating doing so may become, and then you can focus all your attention on the next idea. You may have tons of great ideas, but a single 100% completed game is still better than 10 half-finished games. Why? You generally can’t show off a half-finished game or put it in a portfolio, but a completed game shows your ability to follow projects through to completion.
For those who like a summary…
I know many of our computer camp students who are interested in creating video games are at a point in their lives where they will need to decide on high school classes or even colleges. To those of you who fit this description I have a few final words that summarize everything in this article. Find what you love about games. Learn as much as you can about that aspect. Practice that aspect, then employ that skill in whatever way you can. Brainstorm ideas then focus and work on projects to completion. When the time comes to decide on classes or schools, find a school that satisfies the roles you enjoy. If you enjoy the art development, take art classes and consider a design or art school. If you enjoy the technical development, stock up on mathematics, physics, and programming and then pick a technology school, like Georgia Tech or the Rochester Institute of Technology, for instance. Discover, learn, practice, focus, and complete: the rest will follow.
End of Ken’s Guest Blog. Thank you, Ken, for the insight!
Until next time, iD Nation!
-Pete
March 30th, 2007
Posted in: do something BIG
