Full Sail Grad Lands Great Gig in Games

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Joyal, a Full Sail University Graduate is working for Treyarch in Santa Monica, Cali., currently working on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

By Chris Misun – Meridian, Miss.

When Brian Joyal left Ashland, Wisc., in August of 2003, he was going to be entering the doors of Full Sail University, fresh out of high school.  The 18 year-old and I had no idea what was ahead of us, but we were none-the-less excited for the possibilities.  It was Joyal that had actually pointed me in the direction of the Media Arts school, as my focus was on Film and Video Production.  He headed there to pursue a degree in Video Game Design and Development.

After a grueling two years of study, Joyal emerged as one of the first classes with the Game Design and Development Bachelor’s Degree, a feat not easy by any means.  After school, Joyal stuck around the Winter Park area for a short while before returning to his roots in Wisconsin.

“After graduation, I was throwing my application everywhere I could and went a few months without hearing a word from anywhere.   I finally was contacted by Treyarch, and after a few phone calls, I was flown out to California for an interview and was ultimately offered a job,” says Joyal, who has been there now since 2005.

The transition has been a learning experience for Joyal, going from a small town of roughly 8000 people in Ashland, Wisc., to a much larger city in Santa Monica, Cali.

“It has been a bit interesting.  I still feel like I’m not at all used to how crowded this city is.  While I miss how relaxed a small town can feel, it’s also neat to have more variety and a number of activities available to me,” responds Joyal.

At Treyarch, Joyal is a Game Designer/Scripter, which means that his main job is to “craft the experience for the player.”  He works with others to design particular parts of the gameplay for the player by piecing together portions of other departments such as animations or effects, playing voice over dialog and spawning in enemies.

Since his integration into the Treyarch family, Joyal has worked on award winning titles including Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.  One of Joyal’s first games when arriving in California was Spider-Man 3: The Video Game.

Joyal makes a point to mention that, “making games is very different from playing them and sometimes those passions don’t overlap,” when we discussed advice to people interested in the game design and development field.

You can get your hands on several of Joyal’s games now and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is due out November 13.

Full Sail University is an Entertainment Media and Arts college in Winter Park, Florida.

@MisunMedia

4 of the last 5 Call of Duty games released by Activision since 2008.

Meridian’s Challenger League

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By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss

For almost two decades, a group in Meridian has organized an activity called Challenger League.  The Parents Circle Support Group is responsible for providing an opportunity to special needs children to participate in softball one night a week for four weeks between April and May.

“We usually have about 80 children that participate from all around Newton County, Lauderdale County, Kemper, Neshoba…,” says Patty Smith, the treasurer for the group.

The children are placed on teams and each player gets a turn to bat before the teams switch from offense to defense.  Depending on time permitting, each player gets at least two at bats each night.

“It gives our children an opportunity to be able to participate in sports and all because at this time of year everybody is playing sports, so this gives our children an opportunity that are unable to play for any regular team.”

The Parents Circle Support group also offers bowling as an activity at different times throughout the year, but playing ball has been the favorite amongst the kids.

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The Dustys and Debs help volunteer with the special needs kids while they play ball.

Students spread out among three different fields and age groups to participate in Challenger League.

 

All of the kids participating get to bat a couple of times each night.

 

Greater Lauderdale County Crusade Worship in Meridian

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By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss.

Over the past 10 years, the Jerry Pipes Production Company has been to over 30 to 40 different places around the country working with local Baptist groups to organize and provide crusades for locals in each area to come and worship.

“We tend to focus on towns that smaller type arenas, what I mean by that is that five to seven thousand seat range and it works out really well for this size town,” according to Organizer and Master of Ceremonies, Scott Adkins.

The Lauderdale County Baptist Association was responsible to inviting Jerry Pipes Productions to come and stage their crusade in Meridian.  The planning stage took nearly nine months and concluded with a four-night event featuring entertainment before Jerry Pipes took the stage to preach on different topics.

Several thousand people attended the event throughout the four nights.

@MisunMedia

Christians filled the Agri-Center in Meridian, Miss., for four evenings in mid-April.

The Lauderdale County Baptist Association helped organize a four night event featuring Jerry Pipes Productions.

The event included entertainment with music, a juggling act and guest appearances from Pro Football stars.

Jerry Pipes took the stage each night and preached on several issues that hit home with many attendees.

Jerry Pipes and his production company have been producing this show for nearly 10 years all over the country.

Buyer’s Market

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By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss.

As the country is making its way through a rough recession, the housing market around the country is making a comeback.  In the last year and a half the market has begun to really favor the buyer side and in Oklahoma City, Okla., newlyweds, Brandon and Jessica Misun, are putting their cards on the table and hitting the pavement in search of their first home together.  Jessica currently owns a condominium but is starting to see changes in the complex that is helping driving the home buying desire.

“The percentage of homeowners vs. renters has changed in the complex and it really shows by the way the property is being taken care of. Time to move before the property value decreases and while I can still get a decent amount of equity out of the condo,” says Misun.

There are several related factors between Oklahoma City and Meridian, Miss., such as the addition of a military base near both cities.  That has had a large impact on the consistency of the markets in both cities.   According to Housing Intelligence, Oklahoma City is ranked their best housing market for 2012 due to not only the Air Force Base but, a large university, biomedical and energy companies that are near or in the city have attributed to its housing success as well.

In Meridian, Tricia Collier has been a realtor for 12 years and has seen ups and downs, but in discussions with her brokers, who have 30 years of experience in Meridian, has said this has been the worst real estate market they had ever seen.  However, things are turning around and it is on the incline.

Collier sees many different types of homebuyers, “In meridian we have a good influx of military, business/industry, and young couples buying for first time, and then there are always people upsizing or downsizing.  For a small town we have a very good real estate business… in good economic times, that is!!”

@MisunMedia

 

Meet Your Meteorologist

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By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss.

Stephen Bowers, Chief Meteorologist at WTOK-TV in Meridian, Miss., has been bringing weather reports and analysis to the twin states since 2008.  A graduate of Florida State University, Bowers found a great opportunity to come to Meridian through a sister station, WCTV in Tallahassee, Florida.

Bowers passion for becoming a meteorologist came when hurricanes, Erin and Opal hit his hometown of Pensacola, Florida in 1995.  His fascination with the storms helped understand that dangers of these storms and he has used that passion to drive his own severe weather reports at WTOK-TV.

@MisunMedia

 

Contact Stephen at WTOK: stephen.bowers@wtok.com

Chief Meteorologist for WTOK-TV in Meridian, Miss., Stephen Bowers

WTOK-TV's Stephen Bowers enjoying his time on the set during a 10pm newscast.

Stephen Bowers, WTOK-TV's Chief Meteorologist is preparing his evening weather report.

Stephen Bowers, Chief Meteorologist at WTOK in Meridian, Miss., giving his weather report on the green screen.

Bowers looks at maps and other data to predict weather patterns

Jeannie’s Seizure Free Journey

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The story of Jeannie Null has many layers.  Jeannie will only be turning 8 years old in May, but has already had enough experiences to fill that of someone three times her age.  It was not discovered until she was around 18 months that she had Hypotonia, which according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describe it as decreased muscle tone.

A few years later, Jason and Julie Null, Jeannie’s parents, were told that Jeannie had experienced an In-Utero Stroke, which meant she had a stroke while in the womb.  This stroke caused Jeannie to develop epileptic seizures around age 5 and her parents decided the she would undergo several brain surgeries to help slow the seizures or potentially stop them all together.

In 2010, Jeannie had two brain surgeries, the second of which, on November 2nd, has been the last time since she has experienced a seizure.

Since that time, Jeannie has now come back to school and is back on her schedule for different therapies, including speech, occupational and physical therapy.  Her progress in speech therapy has now allowed her to be able to speak in sentences and communicate what she wants and is feeling according to her mother.  The more difficult of the two, Julie says, is the physical therapy.  “It hurts and her muscles get very tight and it’s painful.”

Jeannie’s journey is a never-ending one as it is for us all, but her vibrant personality and infectious smile helps influence the journey of those around her.  Julie Null knows that Jeannie may never be able to be self reliant but she has great optimism that her daughter will continue to make great strides in her therapy and consequently in life as well.

@MisunMedia

Jeannie and her dad, Jason Null, take a ride through their backyard on the Null's golf cart.

Jeannie has been seizure free since November 2, 2010.

 

Jeannie and her brother, Jonah.

Jeannie and her mother, Julie Null.

 

Jeannie's mother, Julie, says she has made great strides in her progress since her surgeries in 2010. Jeannie has been a regular at speech, occupational and physical therapies.

JEANNIE’S TEAM PURPLE

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By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss.

 On March 26, Purple Day is an annual awareness for Epilepsy worldwide.  In Meridian, Miss., one family has one big reason to celebrate this day.  Jeannie Null had begun having drop down seizures when she was five years old due to having a stroke in-utero.  In 2010, her parents, Jason and Julie, made the decision to have Jeannie go through several different brain surgeries to help try and stop the seizures from happening.  Since November 2, 2010, Jeannie has been seizure free.  

@MisunMedia

 

WTOK-TV – A Behind the Scenes look at the Station.

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- Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss.

Since September 1953, Meridian has been home to WTOK.  It is the second TV station to get up and running in the state of Mississippi.  The station was first funded by a group of local investors from Meridian and featured an array of local programming.  In the 1970’s, WTOK transferred from their CBS affiliation to an ABC broadcasting station.  The changed helped spark their newscast and it has been going strong ever since.

The station covers six counties of East Central Mississippi and two counties of West Central Alabama.  WTOK features four weekday newscasts at 5 A.M., 5 P.M., 6 P.M., and 10 P.M.  Weekends carrying a 6 and 10 P.M. newscast as well. 

News Director, John Johnson says the station is currently in a transition period from standard definition to high-definition (HD) for their newscast.  The transition will include a newly revamped Master Control room with a new video switchboard and two 60-inch HD TVs that will display multiple screens within each TV.  In the studio, the station now has four HD studio cameras to replace their three current standard definition cameras. 

Johnson says he looks forward to the change and is told the new HD cameras might make him look a bit older.

Tune into WTOK as they make the conversion to an HD newscast.

 

@MisunMedia