Interview with Erin Olrenshaw
In January 2000, Fireflight conducted this interview with artist and animator Erin Olrenshaw.
1. Okay, we’ll start this off by asking your name, rank and cereal preference?
Erin Olorenshaw, Animator/Artist, Cheerios Mmmmm.
2. What part did you play in Homeworld, and what are you working on now?
I joined the Homeworld Art team a year into the project and mainly worked on game art and animation which included a good handful of the real time cut scenes. As for now, I’m an Animator on the NSP and I’m working on… COUGH caogh KHAA! Heh hem… fur ball.
3. Your bio page mentions you’ve had a lot of artistic experience, especially theatre and dance. What was the strangest experience you had in a production?
Aaaaah memories… I saw a fellow dancer fall off the stage in mid performance once, I’ve seen people lose important pieces of costumes displaying their privates to the audience, and this girl actually lit herself on fire during a play! OK, that was me, but I really only scorched my eyelashes. I’d think the strangest and most traumatic was when I was a mere child. I was a Cabbage Patch Kid in a dance number. To make a long story short I had to wear a bald cap on my head and dance around with a big soother in my mouth. To make things worse, the soother (bought at a pet store) was actually a doggie squeek toy and it definitely tasted like something a dog would enjoy licking off his butt!
4. You attended the Vancouver Film School for 3D Animation. What are your favorite animated series/movies, CG or otherwise.
Going way back to preschool days, the Muppet Show is classic. In more recent years Toy Story’s debut really got me into a craze with it’s level of talented CG animation and amazing lighting. The Matrix blew me away with its editing and special effects. And my favorite cartoon series to date is “THE TICK” SPOOOOOOOOOOOON!
5. I ask this question only because I am an rabid fan of them and I just found out a new Transformers movie is in the works, so I’ve got TF’s on the brain. What do you think of Transformers and all the fancy new CG series?
Can’t say I’m a big fan of the Transformers themselves, but I think it’s great when I flick on the T.V. to find a fully 3D animated show, especially when the shows are looking better and better as new technologies and software become available.
6. This is a pretty standard question, but if I don’t ask people will wonder why. :) The games industry is very much a male dominated industry. What’s it like to be a woman working with all those wacky guys?
Working mainly with boys in this industry has given me a lot of insight into the male psyche. Which can be amusing, but at the same time quite lethal and deadly! Like sitting in the garage with the car running or sticking your mouth on the end of a tail pipe and breathing in for an hour or so… Oh the drama of it all! I am the lone female at Relic and I can’t recall another time in my life where I was the only female in a job or school situation. It doesn’t seem to have made that big of a difference though. The boys here are all so very talented which makes it fascinating to work with them and I look upon them as my friends before I’d see them as male people. Although, I have to admit that I’d love to see more women taking the leap into games. A little balance is always good in any industry.
7. Erin is one of those ambiguous sounding names. Did you ever have a “Are you a boy or a girl” incident? If so, care to share?
I’ve heard stories that lead me to believe the Relic crew thought I might have been a boy when they first saw my resume, seeing as there are two other Erin/Aaron’s in the company who happen to be boys. However, I’m quite positive that after they viewed my demo reel, which involves an animated Camel dressed in a pink tutu and leg warmers, they figured I was either a girl or a really femme boy who coincidentally had a bi-gender name.
8. This is more of a general question, but what was Relic’s response to the recent cracking of Homeworld’s data files? It certainly happened a lot sooner than I expected!
I can’t speak for Relic as a whole, but I’d say the general feeling is that it was inevitable and the fact that it happened sooner than later is irrelevant.
9. When you aren’t working on HW2 or the NSP or whatever you guys are working on now. What games do you enjoy playing?
Worms!
10. If you had unlimited resources, what kind of game would you create?
Worms take Manhattan!!
Truthfully, as for what kind of game, I couldn’t say. But I’d make sure it was wickedly fun and entertaining. Allowing much more detail in the art, models and animation. I also think humour is a great medium for entertaining and storytelling. I love it when a game makes me laugh!
11. If the NSP was a famous actor/actress, who would it be, and why?
Weird Al meets Marlin Brando… Deranged yet strangely compelling.