My name is Matthew Hornbostel, I'm the sole creator of "Hornbostel Media", as well as the lead creator of TriumphantArtists.com and many other websites affiliated with these two. I am 22 years old and I really love making art, games, and movies. The point of this website really is my media - the videos, games, and so on, so if you're new to the site, you should probably click the back button and check those movies and games out first - especially the recent ones!
Basically, I'm a Protestant Charismatic Christian, an Eagle Scout, a college senior, and an enthusiastic artist who makes videos and games and stuff because it's what I love doing.
I have a number of goals and ideals that will govern my future work here:
IDEALS OF HORNBOSTEL MEDIA
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-Keep stuff short. Most of my projects are "short" videos, small software apps, etc. I'd usually rather have a 10-minute movie that's well-paced than a bloated 50-minute bore. Short but good - and that also means a wider variety of content, posted more often.
- Treat actors and collaborators with respect. This means treating them well, making sure every crazy-looking thing we do (from pyrotechnics to stunts) is as safe as is reasonably possible, supplying decent food on shooting days, and offering tangible benefits to participants.
-Refuse to whitewash anything. My work will not be "Village of the Happy People" just because I'm a Christian. The Bible addresses the darkest evils of life. Why can't I? There'll be some controversial, "mature", and sometimes disturbing stuff mixed in here.
-Go heavy on visual design. It MUST be flashy. It must look interesting. I love doing VFX work, animation, etc, and I want the work to have really eye-popping imagery. I like cool graphics and they draw attention!
-Advertise mainstream. I am not going to make "Christian movies" for a Christian audience, or niche movies and games for Troop 4 or some local group. There has been, and will be, some of that, but I want to head towards accessible content aimed at everyone; I want all kinds of people to see this stuff.
-Aim for user-friendly design. The website has to be logical in its navigation, and can't be so loaded with graphics that it takes forever to load. Text must be clearly readable, and links must be convenient. And frames and distracting background audio are definitely no-nos.
-Run with intense efficiency. I know how to do stuff dirt cheap. I am a DV rebel in the truest sense of the term. I know how to get a really big "blockbuster" movie done for, say, $2500. (Or less).
-Give extravagantly. 40% of my income, as a minimum. I want to heal the sick, feed the starving, and bring hope to the hopeless. I want to improve the world by helping suffering people, and to glorify God by loving Him and loving others.
-Make most of my content available for free. I want people to have access to my work for free. I know there may be occasional exceptions, but as a rule, 90+% of my projects are, and will continue to be, released for free, and even the ones that aren't will be very inexpensive. -Provide a hub for other indie/hobbyist artists. I want to include other peoples' work here too, and give them a chance to collaborate with my enterprise in a way that is mutually beneficial. Check out TriumphantArtists.com to see how I'm working with other artists now.
-Offer teaching to local people interested in learning media techniques - this is something I've considered one day doing - I may offer a free, informal course/club to teach VFX/movie production techniques to participants, someday. It would go something like this: Free summer course, small group of people recieving individual attention and tutoring for a week, collaborating on group projects and learning in a hands-on way. Members would benefit from practical experience, access to advanced tools and personal teaching in game development and video art, and their projects would be posted online. Any areas they are already skilled in, they can also help teach in.
- Expand beyond "Hornbostel Media". I'm making an entire interconnected web network. There are over a dozen domains in this network already.
- Figure out all the tax/legal ramifications of the web network. Because that will become an issue as it grows.
Personally Significant links: |
This does not include the media links elsewhere on the site that are movie-related, or game-related, or effects-related - the ones on this page are just places that have influenced me, in no particular order:
University of Houston. I've taken so many classes here. Movies like "Tinyville Disaster", "Relativity", and "Super Soda" were actually class projects. I'd like to give particular shoutouts to Keith Houk, Craig Crowe, Randy Polk, Nubia Eisenlohr, Jose Baez, and everyone else who taught me in areas that were relevant to my future career as a digital artist.
Church of the Redeemer Episcopal, Houston, Texas. Mark Ball (Hurford Blumper in "Super Soda") leads the youth group here, the people there have had a big influence in my life. See "Send in the Clones 4" to find out who the Youth Group people are/were. And boy scout Troop 4 meets at this church, too. Redeemer was BIG during the 1970s Jesus movement, there were a lot of miracles (even one guy raised from the dead!), over 2000 members, the church won Guiding Lights "Best church of 1972". Since then, it has shrunk to a fraction of its former size, and a lot of the members are pretty old and traditionalist and nothing really *miraculous* is going on, but they're nice people. The current pastor is Rev. Nan Dorr, who was a schoolteacher and police officer prior to entering seminary. The building is worth observing for the architecture and the stunning mural in the front of the sanctuary, and the history of it, and the fantastic groups that meet there, from the Youth Group to the Young Adult group "Seek First" to La Roca and Troop 4. And there are some worthwhile new things emerging now, like the underground cafe/prayer room, and the rectory where a bunch of my friends live. If you live in Houston, Texas, it is worth a visit.
Houston Vineyard My current church. Located in the Heights, has really excellent worship in its services, a lot of enthusiastic young people clapping and dancing, very modern and charismatic with a lot of programs. Michael Palandro is the pastor. David Ello goes here, you can watch the "I sought the Lord" video we collaborated on, in the "Movies" section. Also check out INTERACTIVE THEATER, Westley Edmondson's group.
Boy Scout Troop 4 The boy scout troop that spawned the famous "Troop 4: Uncensored" comedies. I made Eagle Scout in this troop and still am involved in it as an Assistant Scoutmaster.
Another Vineyard I'm loosely associated with, Dave Tenney's, has a great media group I'm involved in. "Traveler's Enigma" had its genesis with this group.
International House of Prayer 24/7 house of prayer, in Kansas City. You walk in and somebody will come up to you and talk about things in your heart that the Holy Spirit speaks to them, things they'd never know in the natural. Much of what people like Patricia King and the IHOP staff have said to me really confirms what I know the Spirit has spoken to me directly. The devotion of the people in this group, and their focus on prayer, fasting, and eschatology is so extreme that my cousin Erich describes it as "cultish". But they really, really love God and seek Him intensely. And the experience of visiting their place was great.
MGM, Media Group Ministries, I was involved in it, sort of. It's at Bartlett Street Studios in Houston. Good place for meeting Christian media artists. One of the group's members, professional writer/actor Gordon C. Williams, was cast in "Traveler's Enigma".