#but I will draw them as classic couples for nostalgia purposes

[knotboy-dean]

Idk maybe drawing them as stupid little Disney style princes will fix me

Part 2

[squarefriend]

Alrighty how about 14 with Mettaton and 9 with Toriel?

This is a long ass post, so buckle up buttercups >:)

So, if you really think about it, Mettaton IS a robot now. He fused with his body, considering he can die in Stabby Stabby/Nuetral routes. Robots can’t absorb alcohol, therefore they can’t get drunk.

Now, the argument could be made that he just absorbs the magic that makes up the drink then sends it to his power core, like an organic body. The that funky drunky flow intoxicates him.... But that also contradicts my personal head cannons on how Metta’s body works.

I’ll make this brief (if that’s possible in a post of this length lMAO), but how I think that MTT gets his power is either through electricity or, in a worst case scenario, gasoline mixed with magic. While I believe he can eat and drink monster food, it’s stored in an internal compartment before being broken down into manageable magic chunks over a series of several days. So, alcoholic beverages would give him at most a buzz over the course of like a couple of days.

That being said, there’s hope!!!

Remember when I said that I headcannon Metta runs on gasoline if he can’t get any electricity? Well, the means he can switch between which tank he’s drawing from. And, there is a type of gasoline made with a base of Ethanol! Which is the compound used to make drinks alcoholic! Therefore, the alcohol would be going to his core at the rate needed to actually get drunk.

Which means, if he wants to be drunk he can just switch into gasoline mode and slip into whatever tipsy needs he has! As long as he’s filled up on ethanol!

Now I’m not saying that this was found out by complete accident with Alphys testing out a new fuel type but.....

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

But!!! Yall didn’t come here to hear about Mettaton’s autonomy, so let’s talk about his drunken habits!!

I like to think he doesn’t drink often, mostly because of the aforementioned not actually realizing he could till he was on the surface. But, some of the best examples of how he is in a drunken state would probably be back when he was a ghost.

It was probably some rough times back then. Shyren’s sister had just fallen down, and it’s inplied the cousins are rather close with the family. Add in a healthy dose of dysphoria and yearning for a greater audience- no, purpose... It must’ve been rough for Metta.

Mabey to cope, the cousins invested in some ghost ale?

I like to think when buzzed, Mettaton is just a (somehow) more confident and showy version of himself. Just with less motor control and a higher chance of making impulsive decisions.

Once we pass into drunk territory... things start getting more emotional. There will be tears. Probably a lot of them. He’s very emotional and can and will state his mind. Heartfelt confessions might happen, rivalries may happen, or he may just tell you what you already know.

If the cousins cracked open a cold one.... Well.... That may of been the first indications (aside from behavior they’d picked up but not said anything about) of what was really on Metta’s mind. About how desperate he was.

Metta didn’t remember it in the morning. Blookie never told him what they talked about. It was never spoken of again.

Ok!! On a slightly higher note: Toriel!

I’ve always seen Toriel as having a very smooth sounding, mezzo soprano voice. It’s nothing remarkable. She doesn’t belt often, she doesn’t have much of a verbrato, she just sounds like your normal 50ish woman who sings abit too much in the car. But, her voice is warm and soft and perfect to fall asleep too, especially when a smile gets in the way of her vowels.

She sings fairly often, probably the most in the main cast (aside Mettaton and MABEY Papyrus). Be it in the car, or when she has too much to drink, or when singing a lullaby to her kids.

I’ll start with lullabies since I believe they’d be the most personal to her.

We don’t know exactly when the monster human war happened, but I’m of the belief that it happened sometime in the Middle Ages, which would place Toriel’s childhood in medieval times. While she wasn’t born there, I also think both Toriel and Asgore’s families hail from Ireland. Her mother would sing to her every night, sometimes mixing in ancient tales of wild beasts and faeries.

It’s a sentiment she’s passed down to her own children.

Albeit, she changed a few lyrics or scenes in the stories to make them less terrifying, besides when she was caring for some of the older souls. There may also be a touch more happy endings than there were in the older days, and mabey a couple more injuries instead of deaths. But for the most part, they stay the same.

The pieces she dare not change though, are the ones she sings in Gaelic.

Frisk hasn’t learned the language (yet), so Toriel finds no need to change any details to such relics. Plus, they have a lot more of an emotional connection than most of her other songs or stories. Her eldest two children were incredibly fond of them

(Also the song I used for these doodles is called Bó na leath-adhairce (One Horned Cow). The woman who sings it (Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh) sounds a lot like how I imagine Toriel sounding. But like. With a lot more vocal training. She still sounds like she’s singing through a smile and I love it)

On a much more fun note, let’s talk about Toriel’s drinking songs!

So, this doesn’t happen often, but if the moods right and Toriel’s had JUST enough to drink.... She might attempt to start up a drinking song with whatever crowd she’s got around her. She doesn’t know many songs, and she only half remembers the rest, but goddamn it if she’s not gonna try it.

It’s awful. Any recognizable lyrics are either slurred, butchered, or in a language no one else can understand.

But she looks like she’s having so much fun, no one ever tries to stop her.

Hell, some people might even join in, if there’s been enough to drink in the house. If that happens, and if she’s feeling confident enough, Tori might even get up and dance a little bit, dragging whomever she pleases in as well. If she’s drunk enough to start singing like this in public, then she’s definitely drunk enough to do some dances.

Mostly though, she just sticks to lullabies.

As for the second part of this prompt, it’s a lot simpler than all of the rest of this post. Toriel enjoys most music, especially the choral verity. She’ll let anything on the radio, so long as it’s appropriate when Frisk’s in the car.

Her favorite genres though, are Classical, Folk, and Celtic. They were the styles she grew up with and remains fond of to this day. They bring back a feeling of Nostalgia without too many memories, just how she likes it. She also quite enjoys Operas, and plans on taking Frisk to see one once she gets the hang of the internet.

She used to adore ballroom music and waltzes but....

Now they just bring back Memories she’d rather not have.

[novastarlyght]

That Time I Named an Invader Zim Background Character and Everyone Thought it was Canon: The Story of Ixane

Like a lot of others it seems, the premiere of Enter the Florpus has recently made me think back to my first stay in the Invader Zim fandom many years ago. For me it was between 2006 and 2007, and I was 14-15 at the time. IZ was and still is a very special cartoon to me, not only for how it influenced me creatively but also the fact being a part of its fandom was my first really positive experience in a fan community. And I wanna talk about that experience because it... lead to something very interesting. Something that only could’ve happened in the now bygone days of the early internet where reliable sources were harder to find and misinformation was much more common, but somehow, has lasted until today. 

This is how Ixane, a silent extra that appears only in the episode “Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars,” got her name.

So first off, you might be wondering “Who the heck is Ixane?” As I mentioned, she only appears as a background character in the 21st episode of the original series, titled “Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars” which I’ll abbreviate for the rest of this post as just Backseat Drivers. She’s a member of The Resisty, a resistance group against the Irken Empire who also only appear in that episode, although they were planned to become more significant recurring characters later down the line before the show was cancelled.

In 2006 I LOVED the Resisty. They were my favorite group of characters in the entire show, probably because I was fascinated by all their potential which sadly didn’t get the chance to be explored before IZ was canceled. What planets did each of them come from? What are each of their individual species like? How did they form into a single resistance group? What were their names, their personalities? Their hopes, dreams and fears?! THEIR FAVORITE DRINKS?!?! I attempted to provide my own answers to some of these not-so-burning-to-anyone-but-myself (or so I thought at the time...) questions by writing a fanfic called “Resisting Authority,” which I published on Fanfiction.net and later DeviantArt. It’s since been taken down on FFN while the DA version is currently in private storage on my old account, so here’s a screenshot just to prove it existed:

(click here for larger image)

Despite being more adult in tone than the show it was based on and rather melodramatic (then again, I was 14, and probably so was everyone else reading it), “Resisting Authority” became really, REALLY popular... at least for a fic that didn’t feature any of the show’s main characters, given it was entirely about the Resisty and told mostly from the perspective of its leader, Captain Lard Nar. Regardless it got a large amount of positive feedback and significant fan art on DeviantArt, most of which is no longer online although there’s still a little bit hanging around - mainly featuring Lyn, an Irken OC from the story who chooses to rebel against the empire and falls in love with Lard Nar, leading to a star crossed lovers conflict.

Because the purpose of the fic was to further explore the Resisty along with the idea of “What if an Irken betrayed their own?” several characters that appeared onscreen for only a couple of seconds in Backseat Drivers were fleshed out considerably in “Resisting Authority,” where they were given names, species names, home planet names, backstories, motivations and personalities. And of these the one who received by far the most development was a feminine, blue-eyed alien in a hooded purple cloak who I decided to name “Ixane.”

Ixane would become one of the most important characters in “Resisting Authority” right behind Lard Nar and Lyn. She is a Xanan from the planet Xana, a race of spiritual mystics. She is initially distrustful of Lyn, despite her actions and claims to be as much of a rebel as the rest of them, due to her hatred for the Irken Empire and how they destroyed her home. She believes Irkens are more like machines than living creatures, their bodies merely being empty shells to carry their PAKs around, making them incapable of genuine emotion. When she discovers Lyn and Lard Nar have been in a secret romantic relationship, she becomes even more hateful towards Lyn both due to jealousy, since she’d been harboring feelings for Lard Nar herself, and her genuine belief that Lyn’s feelings aren’t real, something that will only hurt Lard Nar in the end.

However throughout the course of the story her views are challenged and eventually Lyn manages to prove her wrong by displaying what she can’t deny is anything but legitimate love for Lard Nar and compassion for her allies in the Resisty. Unfortunately Lyn is fatally injured during a battle with a number of Irken soldiers sent to hunt down the rebellion. Now wanting nothing more than happiness for the person she loves, Ixane uses her mystical powers to save Lyn’s life while sacrificing her own in the process.

This character development (both in the meta sense and in the context of the fic itself) plus her selfless heroic sacrifice is what I think made Ixane one of the fic’s breakout characters and caused her to stick in the minds of those who read “Resisting Authority.” They were no longer thinking of her as just some extra, but as this fully developed character complete with an arc that I’d made her into - as the character of Ixane. But it didn’t occur to me just how big of an impact this may have truly had until about 9 years later.

In 2015, the official Invader Zim comic series by Oni Press began publication and I found myself extremely hyped about IZ again for the first time in almost a decade. It was during this time I came across a particular IZ wiki article and section of its TV Tropes page...

(Sources are here and here)

And I thought to myself “Wait... I thought I named her Ixane...?”

Because at this point I seriously couldn’t remember. I hadn’t thought about “Resisting Authority” in years, and with TV Tropes in particular noting that Ixane’s name was given “in the [episode] script” I wondered if I didn’t actually come up with the name. Maybe it was in the script for Backseat Drivers after all so I used it in the fic. Being unable to find said script (the original script as made by the episode’s writers, not a transcript) I couldn’t confirm it, so I mainly shrugged it off and thought more than likely I just had a bad memory. It wouldn’t be on a (still regularly maintained) wiki if it didn’t at least have a high possibility of being canon, right?

Cut to last night, August 2019. Me and all my other friends and fellow nerds who also grew up loving IZ are still buzzing over Enter the Florpus and our childhood/teenage fan content comes up in conversation. I dig up “Resisting Authority” from my old DA storage for perhaps a good laugh and a bit of nostalgia when more of when I first wrote it starts to come back to me. “I know the wikis all say her name was in the script, but I swear I came up with the name Ixane myself,” I thought, wondering if there was any way I could prove it.

Turns out I could. All the proof I needed was in a drawing of the character I posted to DA in January of 2007, which like the fic was still in storage:

(click here for larger image)

“Um...I bet a lot of people who read Resisting Authority got the impression she was an OC. She technically isn't. She is a Resisty character we saw VERY BRIEFLY once or twice in Backseat Drivers and I just elaborated on her for the story. The cloaked girl, yasee. Just look here: [link] “

That link no longer works normally, however putting it into Wayback Machine provides a snapshot taken in September of 2006, which would be around the time “Resisting Authority” was first published on FFN. Scrolling down on that page gives us...

(click here for larger image)

Additionally, opening the image itself reveals the filename “resistycloak.jpg” rather than something like “ixane.jpg” or “resistyixane.jpg”

For those who weren’t in the fandom back then, The Scary Monkey Show was a very well known IZ fansite and its Encyclopedias section was basically a resource for the show’s lore, one considered highly reliable, before things like fan wikis became commonplace. I actually used this site as a reference for the different types of Irken ships and other planets in the IZ universe brought up in the fanfic and so did many other fic writers at the time. If any site on the internet would know a minor or even background IZ character’s name, if it really was in the official episode script, it’d be The Scary Monkey Show. Yet her name is listed as unknown.

So why am I telling you this?

Because as wild as this whole situation is, I’m not a person who likes misinformation. I feel like IZ fans, both young and old, should know Ixane is not actually this character’s canon name as given to her by the writers of the show. That being said...

I see no reason to stop calling her Ixane. That’s just her name now.

Heck, it’d probably be difficult to go back to thinking of her as having no name given how long the name has been used on all these wiki pages and whatnot. And I’m completely fine with receiving absolutely zero credit for actually being the one who came up with the name in the first place, because here’s the thing...

I may have made the name, but it was the fandom that spread it. The IZ community, primarily in my absence too, were the ones who codified, legitimized it. Who added it to those wikis and accepted it as canon all these years. Who believed in it enough to assume it came from the official episode script, from the IZ crew themselves!

Ixane isn’t my name for her. It’s our name for her, as the fans who made Invader Zim the cult classic it is today.

And I want that to be something we all can have and be proud of ❤︎

[doomonfilm]

Ranking : Top Films of 2018

Here we are... that moment that every critic simultaneously loves and dreads : the Year-End Top 10 List.  At worst, we are forced to scrape the creative dredges and cobble together something that resembles a best of list that will bring glory and honor to the year.  At best (like this year), we are forced to leave personal favorites in the dust and judge the larger quantity of offerings on a much tougher scale in order to truly represent the top quality work of the year.

As I’ve said in many pieces this year, 2018 was a joy in terms of being a film-lover.  This list was not an easy undertaking, and it more so resembles a snapshot of how I’ve felt over a judging period than it does a concrete group of selections in a fixed order.  Take this list as more of a jumping off point for discovery than you do the gospel of DOOMonFILM. 

Note : I am not sure when I will get a chance to see Vice or The Favourite, which I am sure will skew my results once I do see them... I will address those films in their respective reviews, however.  Forgive me in advance.

Honorable Mentions

Damsel Even if the Zellner Brothers weren’t representing Austin beautifully with this gem of a film, it’d still be on my radar simply for the fact that it is a unique twist on a genre that most figured had seen every presentation imaginable.  Add to that a strong female lead character, and you’ve got a winner on your hands.

The Endless A science-fiction modern day classic, and apparently part of a possibly bigger line of stories (with some of the best integration of aspects from another film I’ve ever seen).  This film is chilling in its approach to the concept of cults, as well as its use of the concept of ‘the danger that lurks just off-screen’.

Isle of Dogs Had this year not been full of stellar animated films, this one probably would have made the main list.  More groundbreaking animated films, combined with personal feelings about the films of Wes Anderson, however, regulated this one to Honorable Mention status.

Mid90s I was all set for Eighth Grade to be my bit of nostalgia, or my reflection on what it’s like to be a kid again, and for what it’s worth, it was a great film.  The thing is, Mid90s directly spoke to me in a way that Eighth Grade unfortunately could not, simply because Mid90s was like looking in a time-traveling mirror. 

Thoroughbreds I really wanted this to be on my top 10, but ultimately, it was too ‘quiet’ of a film to make it in a year full of big noise.  Thoroughbreds will certainly be a future favorite for public screenings and friend viewings, but a couple of films this year hit the same notes on a higher frequency.

Black Panther The cultural impact of this film is one that cannot be ignored.  It took February, a month that is generally a box office bust, and it put up unparalleled numbers that not only lasted throughout the year, but were topped from within rather than by another Hollywood studio.  The respect given to the characters and their African heritage did not go unnoticed, either, as several think-pieces and a number of curriculum were spawned from those researching elements of the production design.  The narrative is strong, and it righted the Marvel villain boat prior to the big MCU bombshell that was lying in wait. 

The Favourite I really wanted this to make the top 10 of the year... I thought long and hard about what film I should remove or replace.  What I came to realize, however, is that despite The Favourite being a world-class comedy and production, it simply falls short in the realm of the spectacular : it does not contain visual innovations, it is not a reflection of the times, and it didn’t completely break my brain.  That being said, on any given day, I’d happily name this one of the top 10 films of 2018... it’s essentially like having 11 cakes on the table and having to pick the 10 best.

Avengers : Infinity War This movie was the true film event of the year.  Marvel has been building up to this singular event for nearly two decades, and in my opinion, the payoff more than succeeded.  Thanos tiptoed the line between anti-hero and villain with purpose perfectly, and the rapport between characters worked both in terms of advancing narratives and being mined for humor.  I am definitely looking forward to Avengers : Endgame this April, and I know the masses are right there with me.

10. BlacKkKlansman

Not that I ever doubted Spike Lee had it, but after a few abstract offerings and documentaries, one wonders if their style can translate into an ever-expanding world of film language.  Luckily for Lee, it seems the world has grown into his cinematic vision, with an older true story serving as the perfect backbone for many of Lee’s trademark tricks to be implemented for maximum effect.  The ending will put you in tears if you have anything closely resembling a soul.

9. Blindspotting

This film really deserved a bigger run than it got, as it hit race relations of today on the nose without coming off as preachy or heavy-handed.  Daveed Diggs proved that his charisma translated on both stage and screen, and his integration of hip-hop into both realms will hopefully have positive long-lasting effects.  The chemistry between all members of this cast is kinetic, the story is told with perfect pacing, and the movie rides visual highs that match the narrative ones.  I would love to see this movie receive some high-degree nominations.

8. Annihilation

I came into 2018 with high expectations for this film, as I’d spent the previous 16 months or so completing the Southern Reach trilogy in its book form.  Then I started hearing things about the production and the release that gave me a bad feeling : a Netflix distribution deal that seemed to all but kill a true theatrical run, trepidation from the studio in regards to the director’s vision, and other whispers that attempt to sink a film.  Then I saw this movie, and was taken away to a completely different world.  We may not be getting a faithful, trilogy-length adaptation of the series anymore based on what happens in Annihilation, but if these are the moments I’m left with, I’d consider myself happy in the long run. 

7. First Reformed

It took me longer than I intended to get around to this one, but knowing that Paul Schrader wrote and directed it made it a must-see.  The film was drawing comparisons to Taxi Driver (not a surprise, based on the aforementioned Schrader involvement), and surprisingly, it more than lived up to that hype.  The tension is equal, but updated to reflect the times in a way that could impact any of us.

6. Suspiria   

This movie will make it extremely hard for me to blanket-debate against remakes simply because it does all of the right things in regards to updating a classic.  The film does not rely on existence as a new millenium version of an old film... rather, it boldly takes concepts only touched upon in the original and fully embraces them, presenting a true psychological horror gem in a year full of them.  The film also looks amazing on top of everything, which was a high bar to meet considering the original movie is basically driven by its visual style.  A 2018 must-see, film buff or not.

5. Spiderman : Into the Spider-Verse

Easily the most fun I’ve had in a theater all year.  I was blown away by the animation, and can’t wait to see further installments of the Spider-verse specifically to see how that enhances over the years.  There was such a high volume of homage and Easter Egg placement in this film that it warrants repeat viewings, and it was one of a handful of films that I wanted to instantly own as I was walking out of the theater.

4. Mandy

Like Spider-Man : Into the Spider-verse, I wanted to own this movie the second I walked out of the theater as well.  The trailers intrigued me, a recommendation of Beyond the Black Rainbow fully sold me, and the final product did not disappoint.  This film certainly is not for everyone, and funny enough, the two biggest aspects that would place it on that ‘not for everyone’ list sit in opposition of one another : the film is a bit indulgent on the style at the sake of what would be considered normal pacing, and it has some extremely violent moments.  That being said, Mandy is easily one of, if not THE, most beautiful films of the year.

3. Roma

This seems like the closest thing to a Fellini film that us modern day film lovers will ever get.  The story itself is intriguing, as it juxtaposes class issues, political issues and the barrier of trying to raise a family in a crazy world all in an intriguing tapestry.  The cinematography is calculated, observational, and the choice to film the movie in black and white adds an instant timeless quality to it.  Director Alfonso Cuaron even manages to get in a little cinematic and visual humor, albeit mostly subtly, but it definitely pays off if you’re in tune to what he’s doing.  Easily one of the best pictures of the year, worldwide, and a party that I was certainly late to.

2. You Were Never Really Here

If Mandy is a bit too over the top for your tastes, then You Were Never Really Here may be the jarring experience you need in 2018.  This film is almost as visually stunning, but the narrative is far more calculating, deceptive and intriguing, both on the surface and as you dig deeper.  The hectic camera setups, editing and score put you in such a disjointed state of mind that Joaquin Phoenix becomes the only thing you can hang on to, and your involvement in his journey is completely immersive.  In a year of performances that focus on the anti-hero, this film found a way to scrape to the top of the pile.

1. Hereditary

Something strange is happening here... who would have thought that a horror film would be my favorite film of the year?  Hereditary is no run of the mill horror film, however... it treats its audience as intelligent, and there is so much texture in the film that it’s impossible to see it all without multiple viewings.  The close of the first third of the film is horribly unsettling, but it propels the narrative forward so abruptly and intensely that you’re locked in from there out.  A genius film, and an instant classic.

(Editor’s notes)

- Original post date : 12/27/18 - Revision date : 1/8/19 (Roma added to position 3, Black Panther moved to Honorable Mentions) - Revision date : 1/10/19 (The Favourite added to Honorable Mentions) - Revision date : 1/22/19 (Suspiria added to position 6,Avengers : Infinity War moved to Honorable Mentions)

[roxilalonde]

YOUR FAVE FILM YOUTUBE CHANNELS PLS HELP A HOE!!!!

I Provide

Folding Ideas: this guy talks about the basics of filmmaking and editing, as well as analyzing popular films for the principles he talks about in other videos. it’s convenient because he uses movies you’re likely to have actually seen, so it’s more accessible than, say, renting the complete works of Alfred Hitchcock. focuses on the technical aspects of movies, like color, symbolism, and framing.

Lindsay Ellis: used to be Nostalgia Chick, but broke with NC and branched out into much more detailed and intelligent critiques of film. has a couple of series, including “Loose Canon,” tracking the evolution of certain characters over time and how it reflects on the public that creates them; “Booze Your Own Adventure,” in which she and her friend get drunk and crowdsource YA satire; and some video essays, in which she dissects examples of bad filmmaking to explain their errors, using them as a “what not to do” of movies. her current project is “The Whole Plate,” a series which uses Michael Bay’s “Transformers” series to explain a variety of film theories.

KyleKallgrenBHH: creator of “Brows Held High,” which analyzes what we’d consider highbrow ‘ivory tower’ movies, things your average viewer wouldn’t necessarily understand (or want to.) he incorporates discussions of philosophy and references the classical works that a lot of modern “pseudodeep” highbrow media draws from, and he delivers it in a way that’s a lot more palatable than, say, 8,000-word essays written by elitist academics. a great jumping-off point for exploring more esoteric films.

hbomberguy: not exclusively a movie channel, but talks about the more literary aspects of media-making; i.e., analyzing of story structure, character development, and other aspects of narrative. usually makes long videos on his subject of choice, so each one is a substantial time investment, but he also provides the kind of analysis that justifies the length; i’d recommend in particular his video about Sherlock, which was my introduction to him and, more generally, an good demonstration of his analytical talents. he also has some videos for the sole purpose of mocking racists and sexists. those aren’t educational or anything they’re just funny

Lessons from the Screenplay: a little bit of everything. take a wholistic approach to filmmaking based on the screenplay, usually founded on the script, but also taking into account camera, light, & character design. like most channels on this list, they use contemporary films as vehicles for their analysis, utilizing pieces of the text to delineate what the screenwriter contributes to a movie and what the production team needs to bring to the table. i especially enjoy their videos about dialogue and subtext, which are useful for the aspiring screenwriter.   

Every Frame a Painting: i first found their videos about sound design and cinematic score, which delighted me. like Folding Ideas, they specialize in technical analysis, but are different in that while Folding Ideas tends to focus on the flow of shots, Every Frame takes shots and moments individually to examine them and what makes them work (or fail). EF has a video on their editing process, which is great if you’re just getting into the business, as well as a couple on how to edit for your genre.

[bts-love-sweat-tears]

(Ice) Princess, Part 3

Title: (Ice) Princess, Part 3.

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Type: Fluff/ Angst (this one is pretty angsty, but I promise it will get fluffier soon!)

Rating: PG

Word Count: 2,915

Link to:  Part 1, Part 2

A/N:  It’s 12:30AM on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, but I wanted to get this up on schedule for you, dear readers!  I wrote this in two hours with minimal editing time, so please let me know if you see anything I should change or have feedback. I had no idea which direction the story was going to go in until I actually sat down and wrote it. As of right now, I’m thinking there will be two more parts! As always, thanks for reading 💝

Your head drooped forward as the stylist did your hair for the day. You had thought that you had been tired when working the grueling hours you put into the family business, but that was nothing compared to the schedule you kept now. In an attempt to protect Tae’s image after your “sort of” date, you had used all your family and business connections possible. While you were able to keep the photos of your and Tae’s outing out of the press (though every now and then, speculation would pop back up from the fan blogs), it had come at a cost. One of the biggest media conglomerates in South Korea (name redacted for legal purposes) offered you an exchange: the disappearance of the photos in exchange for unprecedented access to one of the wealthiest  (and most reclusive, or so they marketed you) young heiresses in the country. Nothing in this world was free, as you had quickly come to realize.  

The price you paid was this: a reality TV show. The show followed you around to different meetings and work trips, presenting you as a high flying, 21st century woman. But when that proved not “exciting” enough, the directors had scripted additional outings, shopping sprees and brunches. At first you had been hesitant to present an image that wasn’t your reality, but the producers assuaged your guilt by reminding you that “no reality TV was really reality.” You knew it was pure justification, but what could you do? You didn’t really have control over your image, what with the photos that the company still had filed somewhere. You now had more Gucci, and every other designer brand, than your closet could hold, but you had never felt more trapped or unfulfilled than at any other time of your life.

In a mere six months, you had become one of the most recognized faces in South Korea, with your show garnering record viewership in the 18-25 category, a number of sponsorship deals, and a spinoff was being planned (though your down-to-earth parents were strongly resisting, trying to protect the family’s privacy). It had also garnered cameos on variety shows, though this was the first series where you would be a recurring guest. The show basically paired up celebrities and simulated what it would be like if they were married. It was to be your most intensive filming yet, but it was this or live in the jungle for two weeks. You couldn’t afford (literally or metaphorically) to be gone from the family business for so long. Despite your filming, you were still responsible for running the business. You had never slept less, or felt so worn around the edges, but your public image, and that of the family business, had never been better. 

You were nervous about who you might be paired up with, hoping for someone laid-back. You knew that the producers would find ways to create drama somehow, but you didn’t want this to be too much additional stress. In order to make the reactions as authentic as possible, they weren’t going to tell you who your “husband” was until the cameras were rolling. You sighed and lifted your head back up as the stylist finished your hair. For this first episode, they had everyone at the studio to reveal the pairs, and then they would give you the first mission for the week.

As you were guided to your studio chair, the crew was checking the lighting, and stylists were doing last minute adjustments to wardrobes and hair. In going with your public image as Korea’s young, trendy professional woman, they had put you in a classic black dress, spike heels, a blazer, and a silver statement necklace. A few weeks ago on your show, the producers had mandated that you get a haircut, so you ended up with a super sleek, asymmetrical bob. Looking around though, it could have been much worse. Another woman had hair down to her butt, which the stylist was still desperately trying to finish curling, and another was in a skirt so short that you were grateful for the business concept. You would never have been able to sit comfortably in that.  Your hair and wardrobe weren’t low maintenance compared to your life before, but it struck you that it was all relative. One of the guys had so many gold chains, you thought he might topple over, and another had guyliner that would give Marilyn Manson a run for his money.

As your eyes wandered around the studio, you noticed only one empty chair, directly across from you in the semi-circle. You wondered who would cut it that close to a filming. Before you could even finish the thought, a familiar face plopped down. Tae. You felt a blush immediately form on your cheeks and neck. You were feeling a weird mix of nostalgia, yearning, and….anger. You hadn’t heard from him since that eventful day six months ago. You knew he had been touring internationally, but it wasn’t THAT hard to send a text, or grab a coffee in between concert obligations. Did he even realize how much your life had changed because of him, and what you had traded for him to get off scot-free? You could feel your pulse in your neck, and took a few calming breaths. You had learned how to suppress your emotions and control your facial expressions for the camera. He was looking at his phone, while his stylist fixed his hair. Everyone was fawning over him, as BTS had just won a Billboard award. You were proud and happy, but it was always bittersweet to see him on TV. You wondered if he ever watched your show or other appearances. Would he even recognize you? Here you were sitting across from him, but he hadn’t even acknowledged your existence.

Before you could descend further into self-pity, the camera crew gave the countdown and you were recording. You were having a sort of out of body experience, where you were physically present, but your mind was elsewhere. Before you knew it, the other couples were paired up, and the MC was calling your name.

“And for the final couple this season, we have Y/L/N Y/N and…..Kim Taehyung!” The MC was drawing it out for maximum drama, but you felt time stop as his gaze locked with yours. If you were having an out of body experience before, you didn’t have words for what this was. Your face remained impassive, but on the inside, the same hurt and anger were surging. You guys were given the concept of “power couple” (whatever that meant). Were you being subtly bullied by the media company? The first mission was to get to know more about each other by “scheduling” time for an elegant dinner. Since their was an airdate though, the production crew of course scheduled things between his team and yours. You were whisked away for individual filming, where you gushed (appropriately) about how excited you were, how attractive Tae was, and how you were looking forward to getting to know him more. God knew what he was saying about you.  It wrapped up quickly, and you were herded by your manager back to your house, where your show would be filming a “spa-day” with all the best aestheticians in the city. Hopefully it was a fraction as relaxing as they would make it out to be on TV.

To film the first mission, you found yourself back at the French restaurant where you and Tae had quite literally run into each other at your mother’s birthday celebration. You rolled your eyes that this was the place your staff had chosen. You were pretty sure it was bullying now. You were in a red turtleneck sweater dress and nude heels. You opened the door, cameras following you, and smiled to them.

“I can’t believe he chose this place-it’s like he already knows me,” you beamed. “I have so many good memories here, like my mother’s birthday party.” You always tried to put a grain of truth into your lines for the show, hoping it felt more real. You felt like an imposter, but Tae played the role perfectly. He briefly hugged you, pulled out your chair, and was charming the entire time, keeping the conversation going. You felt yourself smiling more naturally than you had in months, and had to remind yourself to keep your walls up. There were cameras here, and it was all an act. Hadn’t that been the reason your mother had liked him to begin with? His acting skills? And you weren’t the type of person to let yourself make the same mistake twice. So you tried to deflect the charm back to him, leaning in close, laughing at his and making your own jokes,  and sharing your hopes for the program. With both of you on your best behavior, the filming sped by, and the meal was over before you knew it. The crews then separated you to get the “behind-the-scenes” commentary, and asked what you thought.

You looked “nervously” into the camera. “I hope the whole show can be like this,” you murmured. “I knew he was talented at singing, dancing, and acting, but who knew he was so charming!” You felt bile rise in the back of your throat at that one. You had pushed the truth a little too far, there. “I hope we can spend more time together!” you said, trying to redirect to safer, more generic commentary that wouldn’t test your emotional control. The crew adjusted the lighting, got a few more angles, and you repeated your lines with more or less enthusiasm. After what felt like ten years, your car arrived and you excused yourself. You had actual business to attend to at the company, and you were grateful for the excuse. Managing the company, and knowing that your parents, brothers, (future) children and grandchildren were provided for was one of the few things that gave you genuine happiness anymore.

A few days later, as you were looking through the dividends paid to investors and the residual earnings you had left to put back into the company, your phone began to ring. It was your manager- the footage of you and Tae and the restaurant had been the most popular of any of the new couples, and garnered the highest viewership of any episode that season. People on social media were speculating about “the chemistry” the two of you supposedly shared, and the “tension” between you. If only they knew what that tension was really comprised of. Due to this, the producers were working on a “special surprise” (you cringed at this) for the next episode. Your manager told you to clear your schedule for the following week, and when you protested, she negotiated that you could keep your phone with you to take business calls. You knew this was as much as she would budge, without bringing up “the collateral.” She wasn’t a bad person, per se, just one trying to protect her own cash flow.

An hour later, you found yourself in a coffee shop, sitting across from Tae. He was in full on-charm mode, and you again found yourself fortifying yourself with your anger. You were both there to learn about the next mission. The staff handed you a piece of paper, which you unfolded and promptly dropped to the floor. No amount of anger could have prepared you for this. The producers were sending the two of you to his hometown, where you would meet his parents and family, and work for a week on their farm. The idea was to see how the modern professional woman would cope with small-town values and expectations. On Tae’s side, it would allow him to show you his upbringing and to show you the ropes of rural life. It was clearly meant to be a touching moment, but you were in shock, and there was no way for you to cover it.

“Look, she’s so excited, she’s speechless!” Tae bubbled, buying you some time. When it was clear that they weren’t going to get any better reaction from you, they cut and suggested that they follow you as you packed and prepared for farm life.  You knew they would dub that section over later and play up your shock. You numbly agreed to let them follow you around, still not processing anything. Only when Tae gave you a goodbye hug did a little color return to your cheeks. You actually did have a lot to do, as you had to get everything ready to go by tomorrow (since BigHit had cleared Tae’s schedule only for the following week, just for this show. You rolled your eyes-had anyone thought to consult your schedule?) and take care of as much business-related stuff as possible before leaving. Your mother looked concerned when she saw that you were still up at 3AM. She had come down for a glass of water, and the glow from your computer reflected throughout the cavernous white and silver kitchen, casting the space in an eerie, artificial blue glow.

“What are you still doing up?” she tsked her tongue.

“Trying to get these reports done before I leave for Daegu at six,” you muttered.

“Daegu? Why?”

“Well, not even Daegu, if we’re being specific, but a farm outside of it.”

“My daughter? On a farm? You’ve never worked in manual labor or lived outside Seoul,” she chuckled. “You’re the brains of this family, not the brawn.”

“Tell that to the producers, please,” you replied acerbically.

She came around the island you were seated at, and gave you a warm hug. It was the most comforting thing you had experienced all day, and before you knew it you found yourself crying into her shoulder, explaining everything about the new show you were on, and your partner. She already knew why you had your own show in the first place (nothing was a secret between you), but she still sighed as she rubbed soothing circles in your back.

“You’ve given up so much to protect someone who hasn’t given you anything in return. For a supposed ‘ice princess,’ you’re going to awfully long lengths to help someone else. Are you sure that you want to keep up with all of these filming and shows? You were never a person who wanted the spotlight.”

“I know. And I feel like the more they pile onto me, the more I resent it, and him. I just want to run the family business and spend time with you all,” you sniffed.

“Is there a way you can turn them down? Say no and stand up for yourself! The daughter I know wasn’t scared to speak her mind or to negotiate,” your mother countered, trying to give you a pep talk.

“Not without hurting his image and our business.”

“The business isn’t everything,” she replied, pulling you tighter. “You’ve done more than enough for this family.”

It had been too long since the two of you had sat down and spent time together. You were normally so composed- you rarely cried, and didn’t want to burden her. But it was the best feeling in the world to know that you had someone in your corner no matter what. She made you feel strong and brave, and you decided then that whatever happened on this trip, you were going to be your truest self. If you and Tae had a second away from the cameras, you would maybe even be honest with him about how you were feeling. While you guys hadn’t had anything serious, it still hurt that he had dropped you without a word and no inkling of what you had done to protect his career.

You stayed in her arms awhile longer, before you sent her back up to bed. At some point around 5, you woke up with a keyboard imprint on your face.  You knew that it was as much sleep as you would be getting, and got ready for the train ride to Daegu. You had to be at the station by 7. Though you knew there would be cameras, you decided you didn’t care. To test how much “reality” they actually wanted, you slipped on your favorite oversized hoodie, yoga pants, and a pair of bright New Balance sneakers.  You grabbed your duffle and were out the door. As your driver sped expertly through the early morning streets, you messaged your manager that you were on your way to the station, where the camera crews and staff would meet you. Your trip to Daegu had officially started.

[holytheoristtastemaker]

Graphics technologies have changed a lot over the years, including on the web, and the web is on the cusp of its next big change with WebGPU on the horizon. In this first blog post in a series of two, I'll cover a brief history of graphics APIs and what's in store for the future. I'll also focus on Construct - our leading web game engine - and how it's evolved with these changes over the years too.

A few notes on terminology

Construct's renderer is the code that draws all the graphics to the screen - also known as rendering. When it comes to rendering, most modern devices have two chips in them which are involved:

The CPU (Central Processing Unit), a general-purpose chip that runs the main application logic

The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), which is specially designed to handle rendering graphics really quickly.

In general the application logic on the CPU builds up a list of rendering instructions, and then sends these to the GPU to execute quickly, so both are involved in rendering. These days GPUs are used for other specialist purposes like AI too. Broadly speaking, CPUs are designed to run serial instructions (one-after-another) efficiently, which is typical of application code, and GPUs are designed to run parallel instructions efficiently, which is typical of rendering (e.g. filling all pixels in an area the same way). Some devices have both the CPU and GPU on the same physical chip, also known as integrated graphics, but the same purposes apply.

The CPU can also render graphics by itself, but this is usually very slow as the chip isn't specially designed for it, so wherever possible the GPU is used instead. Drawing on the CPU is called software rendering, and drawing on the GPU is called hardware acceleration.

It's also worth mentioning that before Construct 2 I had plenty of experience working with C++ and DirectX 9 on Windows while working on Construct Classic. So coming from that, I knew what it took to build a native-grade high performance renderer for games.

The early web

Historically, it wasn't generally possible to achieve high-performance graphics on the web. Browsers generally used software rendering so tended to be very slow with graphics. They also lacked appropriate features, meaning games would have to resort to inefficient hacks like moving HTML elements around. Flash was the best available option, and so became the de-facto web gaming technology.

HTML5 canvas

Construct 2 was first released in February 2011, around the time HTML5 was taking off. The key feature of HTML5 that made games possible was the <canvas> element. This provides an area of the screen that you can draw images to, which is exactly what you want for a game.

At first it only supported the "2d" context (often referred to as canvas2d), which essentially provides a basic "draw image at position" capability. It had pretty limited features, and was not as fast as other lower-level graphics APIs like DirectX or OpenGL. The main reason for that was around how efficiently the CPU can issue drawing commands to the GPU. With canvas2d all you can do is repeatedly say "draw this image at that position" (via drawImage), requiring lots of function calls with lots of performance overhead. The key to achieving good rendering performance is the ability to batch commands together - meaning being able to have a single command that says "draw these images at these positions". This creates lots of work for the GPU to do at once, which is ideal for a massively parallel processor. But more on that later.

Even canvas2d was software rendered at first, but pretty quickly browsers added hardware acceleration since making fast games - and getting rid of plugins like Flash - was on the browser maker's minds. Still, this was enough for Construct 2 to launch with its canvas2d renderer, being one of the first engines to provide a reasonably performant HTML5 game engine without needing any plugins at all.

I can't resist a bit of nostalgia, but at the time we assumed this would only ever work on desktop. Mobile devices in 2011 were very weak by today's standards, both in hardware and software. The idea of running high-performance games in mobile browsers was unimaginable at the time. We've come a long, long way!

WebGL

The Next Big Thing in web graphics was WebGL, which appeared surprisingly quickly after <canvas>. WebGL is essentially OpenGL for the web (OpenGL ES 2.0, strictly speaking). OpenGL is a low-level native-grade graphics API similar to DirectX. If you are serious about high-performance graphics with impressive effects, it's a must. So WebGL was clearly an essential feature for a web game engine.

WebGL first appeared in Chrome 9 and Firefox 4, both released in early 2011. In November that year we released our first support for WebGL rendering in Construct 2 r68. Our initial benchmarks showed it was 4x faster than canvas2d, later increasing to more like 10-20x faster - a huge improvement! It also had far more features and support for beautiful shader effects. WebGL allows us to produce sophisticated batched commands, such as drawing hundreds of sprites in one go, which is why it's so much faster. Back in 2014 I wrote a blog post on How the Construct 2 WebGL renderer works which despite being quite old, is still a pretty good overview of the details of optimising WebGL rendering and how batching works. It's useful background reading to help you understand the rest of this blog series.

Full browser support for WebGL took a few more years. It wasn't until iOS 8 added WebGL in 2014 that all desktop and mobile browsers had support. Also at first not even all desktop systems supported WebGL, and IE11 had added WebGL in 2013 but was taking years to roll out to everyone. So we had to support both canvas2d and WebGL in Construct for many years. In fact we only really fully removed canvas2d when we launched the C3 runtime in late 2018 - which requires WebGL and has removed all canvas2d code. By then WebGL was ubiquitous so it was no real loss, and greatly simplified our codebase too, allowing us to focus on one renderer. (The old canvas2d code is actually still hanging around in the C2 runtime in Construct 3! But the C2 runtime will be retired in July 2021 along with Construct 2 itself, when after a decade we'll finally say goodbye to our ancient canvas2d code.)

WebGL 2

WebGL 2 is an update that improves WebGL's capabilities to be equivalent to OpenGL ES 3.0 (where WebGL 1 is equivalent to OpenGL ES 2.0). WebGL 2 adds loads more features to the API, but in the context of Construct, it's a minor update that just lifts some minor restrictions and allowed us to tweak some parts of the engine to be a bit more efficient. It's not really that important an update for 2D games, and is probably much more important for 3D games.

WebGL 2 first arrived in 2017 with Chrome 56 and Firefox 51. It never got added to Internet Explorer or Edge, until Edge switched to the same browser engine as Chrome (which only got released this year). Mystifyingly, Safari has to this day still not added support for WebGL 2. It appears to still be in development though, but it's not really especially important, since as noted it's only a minor update for Construct. Meanwhile Apple do appear to be actively working on WebGPU - an even more advanced API - so it'll probably matter even less in the long run, but more on that later.

Since adding support for WebGL 2 in Construct only meant making a few changes, it's still basically the same renderer. Most modern devices support WebGL 2, but if it's not supported, Construct switches back to WebGL 1, and everything largely works identically. It's hard to come by good numbers but probably something like 60%-80% of devices support WebGL 2, so there's still quite a significant use of WebGL 1, but unlike with canvas2d it's very little work to keep supporting that.

WebGPU

We've caught up to where we are today: using WebGL 2 or WebGL 1 for high-performance graphics in Construct. However the tech continues to improve, and there is now WebGPU in the works to provide even faster and more powerful graphics technology for the web! But to understand what's exciting about WebGPU, we have to review a brief history of native graphics technologies too.

OpenGL

OpenGL, the cross-platform low-level high-performance graphics technology that WebGL is based on, is very old. It was originally developed in the early 1990s. In computing terms, that's ancient! Modern GPUs actually work very differently to how they did back then - but many core concepts of OpenGL had not changed. Consequently, applications were basically using OpenGL like it's the 90s, and then the graphics driver - the software between the application and the hardware - would convert that in to something that can actually run on the GPU.

As GPUs became more complex and powerful, the graphics driver ended up having to do a lot of extremely complex work. This made graphics drivers notoriously buggy, and in many cases slower too, since they have to do all this work on-the-fly. A similar fate had befallen DirectX, although probably to a lesser extent, since Microsoft had the power to make major upgrades at a couple of points through its life. OpenGL was particularly lumbered by decades of backwards-compatibility.

Vulkan

What can't be fixed can still be replaced. As a result Khronos, the group behind OpenGL, came up with an all-new, completely redesigned modern graphics API: Vulkan, released in 2016. It's even more low-level, faster, simpler and a much better match for modern hardware.

However it also meant applications had to completely rewrite all their graphics code to support it. This kind of tectonic shift in technology takes years to play out, and as a result there's still a lot of OpenGL out there.

Whilst Vulkan is designed to be a standard API that is able to work on all systems, as has long been the case with standards, Apple also came up with Metal for iOS and macOS and Microsoft also came up with DirectX 12 for Windows and Xbox. Both are more or less the same idea as Vulkan: new, lower-level APIs that throws out all the historical baggage and starts with a clean slate design that much more closely matches how modern hardware works.

WebGPU again

With the graphics world moving on to this new generation of APIs, the question was then what to do on the web. WebGL is basically OpenGL with many of the same pitfalls, and high-performance web game engines like Construct's still stand to benefit a lot from the new generation of graphics APIs.

Unfortunately unlike OpenGL, Vulkan has run in to trouble getting true cross-platform reach due to Apple. iOS and macOS only support Metal and have no official support for Vulkan, although there are third-party libraries for it. Further, even Vulkan is not really suitable for the web: it's just too low level, even dealing with minutiae like GPU memory allocators so that AAA game engines could extract the maximum conceivable performance. Not all of this is appropriate for the web platform, and security is also a much more significant concern in browsers.

So the solution was an all-new API designed specifically for the web, high level enough to be usable and secure in a browser, and able to be implemented on top of any of Vulkan, Metal and DirectX 12. This is WebGPU, and it seems to be the only truly cross-platform, modern and low-level graphics API. It's still in development, but all major browser vendors are on-board - including Apple - and working on experimental implementations. And I've been prototyping a WebGPU renderer for Construct! But more on that next time.

Conclusion

That covers the history of graphics technologies on the web, up to recent progress with WebGPU. Note that WebGPU is still very much an experimental technology under active development. There's lots more work to be done before it gets anywhere near release, so don't hold your breath.

I didn't want to end up with too epic a blog post, so I've split the second part of this blog in to a follow-up post: From WebGL to WebGPU in Construct. This continues on from this blog, covering how my experiments with WebGPU support in Construct have gone, what I've learnt while porting our engine to support WebGPU, and how it compares to WebGL. So take a look for the next part of this series!

[jakecgraphicdesign]

Saul Bass inspired imagery

Now that we had looked and analysed a range of bass’ work the final task of the case study was to respond to our findings, by creating imagery inspired by Saul Bass’ iconic style. 

Collecting influence: 

Firstly, we looked at some other successful artists who have been influenced by Saul bass, and we analysed the ways in which these artists have taken inspiration but modified it to create their own unique pieces. 

Instantly, the bright and bold colour pallet of Bass’ pops out and draws in the viewers attention.  This links back to Bass’ large focus of the audience and gaining the audiences attention, this bright use of colour is just one of the methods he would utilize to do this. Contrasting against the vibrant background colours is the deep black objects - the contrast of such a dark colour combats against the bright shades, forcing the viewers attention towards the significant black areas, a technique Bass would also use in order to instantly convey information to the viewer. 

Another large similarity is the simplicity of the designs. They are all very simplistic and have been stripped down to the bare minimum, just like in bass’ own designs. Details are scarce and all of the artists have chosen the minimum imagery to communicate the message or product. The use of simple shapes and lines is also apparent, however, a more interesting feature within some of these pieces, namely Noma Bar’s cover for their book ‘Bittersweet’, is the use of negative space to create extra imagery and objects within other objects, AKA, Gestalt theory. Gestalt theory is a technique which can often be found in Bass’ work too, h would use this method to creatively include imagery without making the design too complex or crowded. 

An instantly recognizable element of Saul Bass’ work is he use of messy, hand cut edges and shapes; This style can also be seen within these above pieces, with the most obvious being Olly Ross’ poster for the film Rocky. Much like bass, Olly ross uses sharp and unnatural isometric lines and edges, rather than more rounded, organic shapes, which give the objects a distinctly ‘cut out’ style, as if they have been hand cut from paper or some kind of material - which is a technique Saul Bass often used too. This use of hand cut style lines give the pieces a distinctly naive aesthetic, it provides a certain element of charm by adding a distinctly more human, homemade look. 

Personally, i think all of these artists have taken Bass’ iconic style and slightly adapted it in some way, making them more unique and individual. Individually, my favorite design is the cover for Bittersweet, by Noma Bar: Gestalt theory and negative space have been brilliantly used to include more deatil - another dog can be seen within the original dogs face, as well as a mouse which creates the dogs nose. Not only is this done very well, it also presents many narrative theme: the closeness of the animals presents the idea of friendship/kinship between the species and suggests the story will focus upon animals and their relationships to one another, rather than humans.

the second design ‘Poster’, by Cody Hudson is not as visually pleasing, in my opinion. Despite being made up of simple shapes, i feel this design is too complex - the build up of shapes makes it difficult to distinguish if the poster has a message or is communicating anything, or is simply a mass of abstract imagery. The contemporary use of a poster is to communicate something to the viewer, however, this design not only doesn’t communicate anything to me but also confuses me, which is a huge negative for a product meant solely for presenting information quickly and easily. The use of colour suggests a grouping in the shapes, however, other than that there are no clear similarity's; the poster seems too random and spontaneous, with no real thought behind placement and what the poster communicates. 

I don’t believe this design is a good indication of work inspired by Saul Bass, The bright primary colours are similar, however, Hudson has used multiple different colours, which over complicates the design. Saul Bass would only use one distinct colour, which the audience would then associate with the product being advertised. However, the use of multiple colours simply removes this key effect Saul Bass used. The overall complexity of all the shapes group together also go against Bass’ rule of simplicity. 

Saul Bass inspired designs

Once we had analysed some of Bass’ work as well as how other artists have taken influence from him, but made their designs unique, we were tasked with creating our own designs, based off his iconic style. For my Bass’ inspired designs i wanted to create something relevant to the themes i have been looking at during my project. I began by thinking about what types of design and products Bass primarily created, leading me to the conclusion that i should make a poster advertising a film or video. Within my project i have been researching a few key films, so it was an obvious choice to create my own Saul Bass style poster for one of the films i had been researching. For my poster design i decided that it would be easiest to chose a film with iconic imagery and the film with perhaps the most iconic and memorable imagery i have been looking at is the original ALIEN film, from 1979.

The ALIEN franchise has some of the most memorable, recognizable and horrifying imagery of all horror films, the film has a lot of interesting and unique ideas, coupled with the fascinating and unequaled designs of H.R.Giger. For example, perhaps the most memorable part of the film is the Xenomorphs (The films antagonists) life cycle, which is depicted within the film. Starting in the form of a simple egg, waiting for a curious victim to look in, only to be pounced on by a crab like Face hugger, which one purpose is to impregnate the victim by releasing an egg into their body. This egg rapidly grows inside the victim until finally exploding from their chest - the chest burster stage. From here the xenomorph baby rapidly grows, quickly turning into a fully grown xenomorph creature. 

Every step of this life cycle is as recognizable as it is horrifying; and i believe it is this absolutely horrifying idea of a creature latching onto your face and impregnating you, only for the creature to eventually burst out from inside you, which makes the life cycle and imagery so memorable - almost as if everyone's been scarred by the idea. This coupled with the immensely creepy designs by Giger and Ridley Scott. The fact that the film already has such memorable imagery makes it perfect for advertising and poster  as the viewer will instantly recognise the product being advertise. There is also a level of nostalgia, as the film is quite old at this point, which can be tapped into as another method of advertising, if done correctly.

For my poster designs i wanted to include the iconic imagery of the aliens life cycle, from the egg to the grown adult; extending off this idea of a life cycle, which gradually builds up and grows, i had the idea of creating a series of advertising posters which would be released one by one during the build up of the film. Each poster would demonstrate a key part of the creatures life cycle, and with each poster the life cycle would move forward, up until the films release. The first poster would be the beginning of the cycle: Showing the Aliens egg. The second would be the gestation period of the baby alien growing inside a human and finally, the last poster would show the full grown adult, just before the films release.

Poster design 1 - Ovomorph Egg

My first poster is designed to be the first in a series of three. Linking to my idea of each poster presenting a stage in the Xenomorphs life cycle, this poster would depict the egg - the very first stage. For this design i instantly thought of the original poster design for the Alien film:

The original poster for ALIEN is perhaps one of the most recognisable movie posters ever, so in my Saul BAss inspired design i wanted to take advantage of this, by keeping my design similar enough that it would be recognisable and have a nostalgic quality but also unique at the same time. Saul Bass’ shapes were always extremely simplistic and where often simple silhouettes, and to recreate this effect i took the iconic imagery of the Xenomorph egg and reduced it down to a detail less shape, so that while being bare and minimal, the classic egg shape is still recognisable. 

I used Bass’ classic hand cut technique, by cutting out the shape from solid black paper, which i then scanned in, allowing me to edit it digitally. For the background, Saul Bass would often use a bright block colour, so, taking influence from this i decided to use the same idea. However, instead of the bright and eye catching colour Bass would often use, i have chosen a more muted and sickle green - the same dark and gothic green used within the original design, which once again links back to the memorable classic poster. 

Keeping the simple layout of Bass’ designs, the last addition i applied was the title. However, i wanted a more interesting way to present the name rather than just placing it anywhere so, taking influence from Bass’ use of Gestalt theory i cut the lettres out from the Egg’s surface, meaning the negative space spelled out the title. 

The organic green around the deep black creates almost a glow around the egg, like light is being pushed off the center image, and the the juxtaposition of the bold black object in the center of the lighter green draws the viewers attention straight towards it, and therefor towards the title in the eggs middle.

Poster Design 2 - Alien Ovulation

My first poster design was largely based on making a nostalgic recreation of the original 1979 ALIEN poster, however, for this poster i wanted to make it more unique and link it more to some of the themes i have been researching within my project.

The imagery of this second poster is based off of the ovulation stage of the Xenomorphs stage within the film - where the alien baby develops within the human host. The idea of a foreign alien creature growing inside of you, feeding off you is a horrifying theme, and is a idea which was popularized in the original theme, making this poster idea not only almost nostalgic and memorable - as it will remind people of that disturbing scene within the film but the poster also communicates the maturity and adult content of the film, making it clear that this film is not for kids. I have amplified the horror and disturbing imagery of this scene by using a strong red colour scheme - as i have stated in my analysis of Saul Bass’ cover for the Anatomy of a murder poster, the colour red is strongly synonymous with negative themes such as violence, rage and most of all blood. 

In this poster i have also used the classic Saul Bass technique of cut out shapes, giving the piece a more rugged and messy aesthetic, which compliments the gory and terrifying themes and imagery the poster is designed to communicate. As well as this, i have also taken influence from Bass’ poster design for the film Bunny Lake is missing. In this design the character is inside a deep black void of negative space, however, they are still connected to the outside ever so slightly, they aren’t completely lost within the darkness; suggesting that there is still hope for this character.

For my design, i have also used similar imagery, where the Xenomorph baby is connected to the exterior space, However, i haven't done this to communicate hope, rather the opposite. The connection to the dark negative is meant to represent the evilness of the creature - with the alien being literally and metaphorically connected to darkness, which is linked to negativity and evil. This also shows a use of Gestalt theory which can be seen in Bass’ work too.

The final addition i made to my second poster design was to apply a noise filter to the image. The noise is meant to look like this image is being viewed on a monitor, during an ultrasound like event. Much like how pregnant women get to see their babies growing inside of them before birth, however, this time the image the person sees is much more horrifying. The poster is supposed to capture that image on the screen, and communicate the horror that person feels when they see that creature growing inside of them.

Poster 3 - Full grown adult 

In my final poster design i have taken the most Saul Bass influence - for this poster i really wanted to capture his style of design and every key aspect of his original posters. 

The theme of this final poster is the full grown adult Xenomorph - as the last poster in the series it is meant to depict the final stage of the Aliens development cycle. To communicate that the Xenomorph is now an adult, i have used the famous inner mouth/tough as the center point of the poster. The inner mouth is perhaps one of the most famous aspects of the alien series and perhaps the most famous element of a creature design ever, as soon as you see it you instantly recognize and remember the classic film and design of the Xenomorph. It is such a creative but creepy idea that, in my opinion, the design still hasn’t been topped. By using this classic imagery on my poster design people who see it will instantly understand what the poster is advertising. 

However, perhaps the most eye catching element of the poster is the background colour. Taking influence from Bass’ use of strong and almost blinding background colours, i have used a rich and vibrant orange for the posters negative space. This bold background instantly draws the viewer's attention towards the image, the negative space wraps around the imagery and title of the poster, emphasizing and contrasting against them, which helps them pop out and be more eye catching. Alternatively, the bright orange - a colour associated with positivity - doesn’t really fit in with the horror film it is advertising. The colour is far too bright and cheerful, making it misleading and suggesting a more happy and positive film, rather than the horrific and disturbing events within the film. The colour scheme really juxtaposes against the core of what the film is and therefor isn’t a good indication of the films content, essentially making it an effective poster and a bad advertisement. 

Much like Bass’ posters, for this design i have been as minimal as possible. For this design i have simply presented the memorable imagery of the aliens tongue, which is enough indication of what the poster is advertising alone. 

Here is an image of some of the class’ poster designed presented together. It is interesting to see such a broad range of designs, all developed using inspiration from one incredible designer. 

[ratpresenting]

1-100

Unusual asks! 1. Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? Spotify all the way, I have like, 40 playlists and I use it every day2. Is your room messy or clean?So messy, but I clean it up once it really bugs me3. What color are your eyes?Green-ish?4. Do you like your name? why?Not really, it's a really common name and i don't really feel it fits me, but I'm fine with it. My middle name is Elizabeth and I've always wanted to go by Eli but its too far gone now5. What is your relationship status? I'll stick with complicated6. Describe your personality in 3 words or lessFriendly, obnoxious, anxious7. What color hair do you have?Dirty blond8. What kind of car do you drive? color?I don't have a car, but if I'm saving up for one and its going to be a motorcycle, not a car. 📣(I hate everything about cars!!!)9. Where do you shop?Mostly thrift stores and consignment stores10. How would you describe your style?Like, 80s mom meets 90s grunge meets modern goth witch11. Favorite social media accountProbably twitter at this point12. What size bed do you have? Queen 👑13. Any siblings?A half-sister, shes a little older than me though, and she lives across the country, but i love her and miss her!14. If you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?Probably Eastern Canada because my family is super Canadian and i just love it there15. Favorite snapchat filter? Idk any really, I guess that one that makes ur eyes and mouth really big because my friend uses it alot and its so funny!16. Favorite makeup brand(s)Mostly Tarte and Urban Decay; Tarte because I'm allergic to most other shit and Urban Decay because I love the Naked palettes and I will suffer for them17. How many times a week do you shower?I wash my hair every few days but I shower like once a week in the winter and every couple days in the summer18. Favorite tv show?Brooklyn 99 or Game of Thrones19. Shoe size?8-ish20. How tall are you?5'9" if I stand up straight21. Sandals or sneakers? Depends on where I'm going, I like my feet to breathe, but boots and sneakers can be so cool and really put together and outfit22. Do you go to the gym? I have a gym membership that I sometimes use, but not having a vehicle right now is imposing on that23. Describe your dream dateA date that keeps going. Starting with food or drinks or whatever, and having such a good time that you keep it going and you go somewhere else, and another place. Enjoying each others' company so much that you don't want the night to end, even if that means staying up until the sun comes up. It doesn't matter if we're just sitting in a park talking and smoking cigarettes, its that neverending want that matters to me. 24. How much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?Cash, $12. I mostly use my debit card so i don't really carry cash25. What color socks are you wearing? I am not wearing socks right now because I am in bed but usually black26. How many pillows do you sleep with?1 under my head but usually at least 3 in my bed, well as all the shit thats on the left half of my bed27. Do you have a job? what do you do? Yes I work at a restaurant called Tokyo Joe's, I'm the unofficial assistant manager, and I am most often making sushi or taking out food and such.28. How many friends do you have? Including work friends I have 5, not including work I have 3. 29. Whats the worst thing you have ever done? Broke up a couple. Its whole thing.30. Whats your favorite candle scent? This candle I got from Ross, its tobacco leaf and Rose, but I'm more of an incense gal31. 3 favorite boy namesCharlie, Adrian, and Danny32. 3 favorite girl namesEli, Andi, and Dani (These and the last 3 are interchangable because I like genderless names)33. Favorite actor? Idk any off the top of my head, mostly because I kind of hate men, I really like Chadwick Boseman's acting, and I really like Leonardo DiCaprio as a person34. Favorite actress? This is really hard because I love lots of ladies, but acting wise I like Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman I guess? Idk I've seen like 7 movies. I love my gal Kristen Stewart though35. Who is your celebrity crush?I have several, more well known being the aforementioned kstew, and some lesser known names such as Lynn Gunn, Paris Jackson, and Hannah Hart36. Favorite movie? This is so hard, I guess the lotr trilogy because I can always watch that if I want to. I'm really more of a tv show kinda gal37. Do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? I used to when I was younger, I stopped when my depression took over pretty much my whole life, but I've been slowly getting back into it. I used to read a lot of teen fiction and my favorite was always Harry Potter, but now my favorite book is probably Through the Looking Glass, just because I loved it as a kid and its a nice nostalgia read, as well as a unique and creative book.38. Money or brains? Always brains.39. Do you have a nickname? what is it? Not really but I wish I did!40. How many times have you been to the hospital?I myself have had to go to the hospital only once that I can remember, ( I crashed my motorcycle) but other than that a few times for visiting family/ friends41. Top 10 favorite songsIn no particular order-Anyone Else, Pvris-Somebody Else, The 1975-In A Week, Hozier-Cherry Wine, Hozier-Pork Soda, Glass Animals-Interlude 1, Alt-J-Agnes, Glass Animals-If I Believe You, The 1975-Obsidian, Trevor Hall-From The Dining Table, Harry Styles42. Do you take any medications daily? I'm supposed to take allergy medicine but I never do so no43. What is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)Kind of on the dry side, I'm a lucky shit though because I barely take care of it and its pretty nice and soft44. What is your biggest fear? Everyone hating me45. How many kids do you want? A couple, adopted only46. Whats your go to hair style?I have pretty short hair thats curly. The sides and back are short and the top is curly, parted on the left,so it hangs just above my right eye47. What type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) Smallish condo with my ma!48. Who is your role model? Hannah Hart!49. What was the last compliment you received?My coworker said I have a very elegant air to me, especially when I tell stories, because I always cross my legs and i talk very extravagantly with my hands50. What was the last text you sent?My coworker Kaylee❤ dropped me off and I let her know I was in my house because you can't see my house from the street and she worries51. How old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?I don't think I ever believed in him?52. What is your dream car? I'm gonna replace car with motorcycle and its an Zero SR ❤53. Opinion on smoking?Unfortunately, I smoke. I love cigarettes! I smoke Newport 100s. I bought a vape to help me smoke less and it definitely helps!54. Do you go to college? Ya, I'm very slowly getting my associates at MCC55. What is your dream job? I have no idea, but something I enjoy doing, and hopefully something that makes changes for the better56. Would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? I truly just want to live in the middle of the woods and be a woodland witch 57. Do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? No, I have too expensive of shampoo for that and thats a stupid waste of plastic.58. Do you have freckles? Not like the classic type, but I have some random ones on my body.59. Do you smile for pictures?Almost always60. How many pictures do you have on your phone? Over 200061. Have you ever peed in the woods? Yes, I've been camping several times62. Do you still watch cartoons? Not really63. Do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?I don't eat chicken nuggets because they are 1. Chicken and 2. Garbage64. Favorite dipping sauce? Balsamic vinegar or Sriracha, depending on what it is. 65. What do you wear to bed? I sleep nakey 66. Have you ever won a spelling bee?Maybe? I don't know67. What are your hobbies?Sometimes reading, sometimes writing, alot of staring at my wall in the dark while listening to music68. Can you draw? Not well, but thats not gonna stop me!69. Do you play an instrument?Nope70. What was the last concert you saw? I haven't been to a concert in a really long time but i think the 1975? 71. Tea or coffee?TeaStarbucks or Dunkin Donuts?72. Dunkin has better coffee but Starbucks has better literally everything else, and the Starbucks next to my work is literally my sanctuary and all the gals that work there are such sweethearts I love them all so much even though they probably hate me.73. Do you want to get married?Someday far from now, and really only for adoption purposes74. What is your crush’s first and last initial?Denied75. Are you going to change your last name when you get married? Idk it depends if their last name is coer than mine76. What color looks best on you? Probably blue but im partial to black77. Do you miss anyone right now? Yes78. Do you sleep with your door open or closed?Closed79. Do you believe in ghosts?Yes!80. What is your biggest pet peeve? Rudeness just to be rude81. last person you calledMy coworker Kaylee❤82. Favorite ice cream flavor? I'm more of a shaved ice or sorbet gal, but i love the Ben and Jerry's line of almond and coconut milk ice creams!83. Regular oreos or golden oreos? Lemon!84. Chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? I guess chocolate? Rainbow sprinkles are literally flavorless sugar85. What shirt are you wearing? I was wearing an old '92 Hard Rock Cafe shirt from Hawaii that I snatched from my ma and turned into a crop too86. What is your phone background?My home screen is a golden sunset cloud photo I took a while back and my lockscreen is a picture i took in the woods of a tree with mushrooms growing on it87. Are you outgoing or shy?I am usually shy but I work customer service so if I have to be I can be very outgoing, its so draining though88. Do you like it when people play with your hair?Yes! Please do!89. Do you like your neighbors? I mean, I don't know them but 2 of the 3 smoke weed so they're probably pretty cool!90. Do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?Look it gets washed when it gets washed let's not discuss it91. Have you ever been high? I spent ages 17-19 almost exclusively high. I don't really remember a lot of it92. Have you ever been drunk? Yes, several times. I am a lovey drunk and I love to kiss when I'm drunk. Or cry. Just depends who I'm around93. Last thing you ate? Diced cucumbers with lemon and salt and some white rice with peanut sauce and onions94. Favorite lyrics right now"Where does your body go when I leave you alone?Would your heart know if I met you in a brand new set of bones?Cause you may see me in different bodiesHiding below with the same soul"Same Soul, Pvris95. Summer or winter? Winter, but only because I live in Arizona so winter means like, 70 degrees96. Day or night? I like being out and about at night but there's no where to go because everything is closed97. Dark, milk, or white chocolate? Only dark. Like, at least 80% dark98. Favorite month? I like October, the weather is nice and it has a fun atmosphere, plus Halloween!99. What is your zodiac sign?My Sun sign is Capricorn, but I have an Aquarius Stellium and I kind of identify with that more100. Who was the last person you cried in front of? Technically my cat this morning. I don't do alot of public crying. Lots of private crying though! I'm a big baby of emotions

[markcira]

2. La La Land

Directed by Damien Chazelle

Sorry in advance. This review is stilted in politics given that every critic out there seems to want to tackle race politics with this film.

Despite all of the stuff I don’t talk about below, this film has memorable performances, tremendous editing and pace, and some of the most breathtaking cinematography of the year. But permit me to digress…

There’s a great moment when Ryan Gosling’s character Seb is awaiting Mia for their second date to watch "Rebel Without a Cause" after he finds out she’s never seen it. When she finally arrives with a wash of the Nicolas Ray film upon her silhouetted body, their eyes meet. It’s in the intimacy of the theatre that they share their first touch and almost their first kiss. That is until the film burns out.

The allusion to the classic film is obvious: both share narratives about two misfits who fall in love, both are shot in beautiful Cinemascope, and both are about the disenchanted youth of America.

The fundamental difference, though, is everything. Where "Rebel Without a Cause" is about Jim Stark’s resistance against authority, his latent homosexuality and the outdated modes of society imposing their will upon him, "La La Land" actually finds little to rebel against.

Damien Chazelle quite literally projects these images of rebellion upon Mia, a protagonist who’s intrepid disposition is stunted by the grind of Hollywood. True to the title, the character is, for all intents and purposes, a rebel without a cause. In fact, her dreams to succumb to the galvanized Hollywood system fall in line with the comforts of conformity. So what is she rebelling against?

Seb’s invitation to the film is a de facto attempt to have Mia embrace those who came before her, just as his gushing of the “jazz greats” is an attempt at having her embrace nostalgia. When Mia does commit to full homage, entrusting Seb’s “you can never be too nostalgic” advice, she produces a one-act play about her Aunt in Paris and it fails...miserably. Living in the past, it seems, is not all it’s cracked up to be.

This is a film about the dangerous relationship to one’s past, not one which celebrates it, like so many critics seem to confoundedly surmise.

As Mia starts embodying the “virtues” of the past and Seb surrenders to his future of living in a modern jazz band, they come to odds with each other and themselves. It erupts into an arguement over a meal between the two. Behind them an eerie emerald green light projects through the transparent curtains.

The image is a disturbing echo of Hitchcock’s own film about the danger or recreating the past, 1958’s "Vertigo," in which John (Jimmy Stewart) attempts to recreate his dead lover through the character of Madeline. After her successful transformation into John’s ex-lover, she’s illuminated by a green light which at both times represents a false recreation of all things living and the tone of a corpse.

Mia’s similar transformation through Seb’s obsession with the past is not as morbid as Hitchcock’s, but the sentiment is still there: why do we wish to hold so dearly onto the past that we end up destroying the present?

When John sees Madeline for the first time in "Vertigo," she adorns a beautiful green dress, one akin to the one worn by Mia when she first sees Seb at the old movie theatre.

But where Madeline falls prey to this recreation, Mia ascends to greater heights.

Her audition at the end has her reflecting on the past through song. It is Mia’s reflection of a reflection, one step removed from the past and, as any auditioning actor will tell you, steeped solely in the present that garners her triumphant success.

Critics seem to be decidedly drawn to the comparisons of the American Hollywood Musicals of the 1950s, arguing La La Land feels stuck in the past. But its influences cheekily span from the early 20th century musicals like "Dames" to the Jacques Demy musicals that were so popular in 1960s France to its opening scene reminiscent of the 1998 Bollywood film "Dil Se..." (translated to America as "From the Heart" a play on the title of Coppola’s infamous 1982 Musical flop, "One From the Heart"), where countless extras dance atop a moving train. Chazelle drives the cultural simile home, even going as far as opening the movie with an Indian actress.

The other parallel argument is that Seb is the “white savior” of jazz, despite him representing a form of antagonism to Mia: he misses her performance, he talks over Jazz (that which he loves), and essentially belittles Mia for “wanting to feel better about herself” when he won’t take responsibility for his own unhappy success. And after Legend offers him a seat in his band (a symbolic gesture of accepting the future of jazz), he arrogantly rejects it…twice. This character is by no definition a hero, let alone a “saviour.”

But don’t tell that to the pseudo-political critical circle who are convinced the film is nothing but a liturgy of “better times” and is expunged of any contemporaneousness or, better yet, any diverse representation.

More puzzling about the argument for racism in this film is the critical oversight of John Legend’s character, which one critic described as:

“a smoothie sell-out, who may not be the villain of the piece but doesn’t make much sense as a character anyway,”

 A sentiment that seems more racist than the racial rhetoric critics lazily apply.

John Legend offers Sebastian a position in his band, not only drawing the character out of his cobwebs, but ensuring his legacy to jazz isn’t tarnished. Legend, in an interview, described the song he wrote for the film as:

“a single that still has some jazz influence, but could tell it was leaning in more of a pop direction than most music you would call jazz.”

It’s because of Legend’s carrying of the torch that ensures Seb’s financial security which permits Jazz to have a place in both the mainstream audiences and the carved niches in obscure Los Angeles nightclubs.

You needn’t a film history degree to understand the roots of racism in the musical genre, the first ever of which produced 90 years ago, The Jazz Singer, not only featured blackface, but exploited the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur to guarantee its financial success. This type of cinema “divides America…” contributing nothing to the “cooperative creation of something new but assimilation to old inequalities.” (Rogin, 101)

These old inequalities can be seen challenged in Chazelle’s debut, "Musical Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench," which featured an interracial couple dancing throughout New York, made on a shoestring budget. And the same of which are being challenged in "La La Land," though admittedly much subtler. But the conspiratorial racist narrative wrapped around his work remains.

Rebels without a cause.

Despite the fact that Ray’s radical outlook on homosexuality and youth culture in his work set the tone for cinema for a century (even today, films like "Moonlight" harken back to similar themes), Chazelle is well aware that a mirrored attempt to project that radicalism upon a very inoffensive, parochial love story would render it as fake as the hollywood backdrops to which the act of Summer opens upon.

However both are aligned in their staunch rejection of their ancestral origins. When Mia is describing the show she's auditioning for to Seb, she remarks “it’s like the O.C. meets Dangerous Minds. No, wait, it’s more like Rebel Without a Cause.”

One is a television show which revolves around the rich white youth of Orange County, the other is about a Caucasian teacher (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) who tries to bring order and discipline to an inner-city school.

When she compares the blend of these to “Rebel Without a Cause,” it’s so perverted from either stories, Seb can detect she hasn’t seen it or worse simply doesn’t understand it.

“I guess the joke’s on history?” Seb would later jest.

And the present, apparently. Critics bemoan a film which is obviously hyper-critical of nostalgia and thus begs the audience to consider their time and place now, even in a cultural landscape obsessed with its own conception like Hollywood.

This is where the third act repels the phantoms of the "Hollywood ending." Mia doesn’t fall in love with Seb, a personification the past, she leaves him. But not before she descends into the catacombs of history once more at his Jazz nightclub.

Chazelle follows Mia's entrance with her new husband as they stroll past the colourful billboard of Mia's near-present alter-ego plastered upon the black and white brick wall of her ex-lover’s nightclub: a constant haunting reminder to Sebastian of both the tumultuousness of the past and the ever-fleeting present.