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radramblog · 4 years ago

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Some longer thoughts on Pokemon BDSP

I think at this point the absolute vitriol-fest thrown at the upcoming Sinnoh Remakes has largely died down, people moving onto greater things like the upcoming New Pokemon Snap release (I’m probably not buying it) or…whatever it is the #mainstreamPokemonFandom does when they aren’t spewing outrage about trees and dexits. It might be a bit early for me to do this considering the games still don’t have a release date, but I figure with the hype dying down a bit I can afford a few of my own thoughts as to what these games should look like.

Of course, we’ve all been burned before, and I’m not expecting an awful lot. But hey, it’s just my two cents.

I think the first thing that made people immediately bounce off of the BDSP reveal is the artstyle. And, I get it- it’s certainly A Choice. The models look kinda awkward, almost hearkening back to Gen VI’s first attempts at full 3D overworld but with a more deliberate style. The short, round characters look awkward against the more detailed overworld. And the full sized models aren’t especially impressive either- all the previous remakes updated the original’s character designs somewhat, as did third versions Emerald and Platinum, but BDSP doesn’t seem to have made any changes outside of model-ifying them.

And the thing is, I don’t care?

On the one hand, aesthetic in a game obviously does matter, and having the protagonist you’re going to be staring at all game look like that is going to be an issue for people. On the other, I actually really like how the overworld looks. On the other, other hand, I’m really not convinced that the artstyle of this game should make or break it, as it certainly doesn’t for me. Pokemon’s graphics have been arguably behind the curve for like, 8 years now? I remember all the complaints about Sword and Shield’s graphics, and that obviously didn’t kill that game. And like, I don’t want to go for the throat of a game I haven’t played, but, people don’t seem to mind Colosseum and XD’s artstyle from what I’ve seen, and those games kinda look like shit. They do have those dynamic pokemon animations though, and I hope we get to see that in BDSP- those (and that of Battle Revolution) were a result of outsourcing, I believe, and this game is outsourced to another studio.

More importantly, in my eyes, is the gameplay. Doesn’t matter how good the game looks if it plays like garbage. And herein lies the biggest sticking point, and potential blunder, of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Diamond and Pearl are like, easily some of the worst games in the series from a playthrough standpoint.

The pacing is all over the place, with backtracking that seems to be trying to emulate RSE but not quite making it. The level curve is messy, with the Elite Four being such a massive spike that they had to tone it down 4-5 levels on each Pokemon in the intentionally harder third version, Platinum. The regional Pokedex is sorely lacking- while Elite Four Flint’s infamous 2/5 “Fire” team is eminently memeable, Electric Gym Leader Volkner is just as bad (2/4, though he could technically be running…Pachirisu…), and of the 28 new Pokemon related to previous games’ evolutionary lines, 17 cannot be obtained in a regular playthrough. HM use is especially egregious in this game, with 6 of them being mandatory to complete the game (Victory Road alone requires 5) and of the other two, the games’ sprawling map and frequent backtracking basically necessitate Fly while without Defog the foggy parts of the map are absolutely miserable both to navigate and fight through.

How BDSP handles these issues is kinda my make or break with the game. See, a lot of the issues were solved in Platinum, and Heartgold and Soulsilver (the best remakes the series has had) solved much of the issues in GS by taking notes from Crystal and tweaking things in the transition. The thing is, the last remakes we got, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, did not take Emerald’s tweaks in mind, making them substantially worse games than they could potentially have been, and I’m worried BDSP are going to do the same. A particular sticking point for me is the HMs, interestingly- outside of the aforementioned Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire sticking too closely to outdated design, Pokemon for the last 4 generations has had light to nonexistent HM requirements. Black and White only had one mandatory HM use period (Cut in the Dreamyard after Gym 1), B2W2 and XY both only require Surf off the top of my head, and Gens 7 and 8 remove them completely from the game. Because that’s kind of what they are, outdated game design- I think the Alola games handled it best, where the interesting level design these obstacles can lead to is still present but tackling them is less restrictive on your party and is based on progression through the story. That’s the kind of design that makes backtracking interesting, something Gen 8 really lacked in the long run.

The final thing I want to bring up is kinda a combo of two things- postgame and connectivity. One would argue that the Battle Frontier is also outdated design based on development priorities, but it’s removal in ORAS was kind of a kick in the taint to fans- it’s a beloved part of the game, and it not being in BDSP would be a terrible shame. The other thing is whether or not the games will have online connectivity with Sword and Shield as far as trading and battling goes. While I’ve heard quite a few people express doubts that BDSP will do so, I’d be shocked if, unlike every other main series title, competitive battling stayed a primary function of Sword and Shield and BDSP didn’t get it. I’d also be surprised if the games weren’t able to trade with each other, considering that’s been a core facet of the series since day 1- not being able to trade would make Dexit feel more permanent almost, considering many, many of the Sinnoh Dex mons aren’t available to play at the moment, even with the expanded DLC Pokedex in Sword and Shield. In fact, one thing I noticed that leads me to believe that trading between games is absolutely going to happen is related to said DLC dex- namely, that the Crown Tundra added every single Fossil Pokemon to the SwSh Pokedex- except the Sinnoh ones, Cranidos and Shieldon.

At the end of the day, we’re just waiting for more information to come out for these games either way. I can tell you right now, though, that I’m not preordering them (last time I did that was Y, I think), and whether or not I get them is really going to base around many of these factors.

#ramble #pokemon #pokemon bdsp #BDSP is a really stupid acronym TBH

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themattress · 5 years ago

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Best Wishes vs. Sun & Moon: comparing the similarities and analyzing the differences

In terms of the three Pokeani shows that have run throughout the last decade, Pokemon: Best Wishes (2010-2013) and Pokemon: Sun & Moon (2016-2019) are a lot more compatible with one another than Pokemon: XY (2013-2016), and the reasons why are worth analyzing.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BEST WISHES AND SUN & MOON:

Ash has a sillier, more immature portrayal and screws up a lot more - In an effort to return Ash to his roots and justify keeping him eternally 10 years old, the writers made Ash act more like a real 10 year old would. After all, his skills as a trainer shouldn’t have to make such a drastic impact on his personality, and their core audience in Japan reportedly found the “mature” Ash of XY terribly boring, which factored into that show’s ratings decline.

Ash travels to the region with his mother on a trip and stays there unexpectedly - In both BW and SuMo, Ash doesn’t set out to the show’s region by choice. He instead accompanies his mother there when she’s going on a trip (in the case of BW, alongside Professor Oak as well) and then stays after finding out about something: for Unova, it’s that it has a League Challenge, and for Alola, it’s that there’s a Trainer School that he thinks is cool.

A Legendary Pokemon takes an interest in Ash and Pikachu at the start - In BW, it’s Zekrom, who lends Pikachu its power, in SuMo, it’s Tapu Koko, who gives Ash a Z-Crystal.

Ash gets a regional starter who remains unevolved and mostly used for comic relief - In BW, it’s the spotlight-hungry Oshawott, in SuMo, it’s the lazy, backpack-dwelling Rowlet.

A recurring Pokemon ultimately becomes part of Ash's team - In BW, it’s a Sandile turned Krokorok who wants to defeat Pikachu, in SuMo, it’s a homeless, distrustful Litten.

Ash gains a main rival with blonde hair and a bad attitude - In BW, it’s Trip, who looks down on Ash for being a foreigner, in SuMo, it’s Gladion, who is an ill-tempered loner.

Ash gains a goofier rival more akin to him shortly before the League - In BW, it’s Cameron, who goes on to defeat Ash at the League, in SuMo, it’s Hau, who Ash defeats.

Ash's companions are all regarded as his equals - In the OS, Ash and Misty were equals but Brock was clearly in a higher position and was their caretaker. In AG, Ash and Brock were now equals but May and Max were beneath them, with May gradually becoming their equal overtime. In DP, Dawn started out beneath Ash and gradually became his equal, but Brock somehow sank to a lowly, almost useless position in the group. And in XY, everyone was beneath Ash from start to finish. BW and SuMo are the only times where Ash and his companions are all equal in their group dynamic, with each bringing something to the table.

Lana and Mallow bear some similarities to Iris - Iris is the heroine of BW, while Mallow and Lana are two of SuMo’s heroines. Like Iris, Mallow has dark skin instead of pale skin, a cheerful disposition, and a detailed emotional backstory. Lana meanwhile, shares Iris’ wild athleticism and prodigious affinity with nature, plus a frequently snarky and teasing attitude.

Kiawe bears some similarities to Cilan - Cilan of BW and Kiawe of SuMo both appear at first glance to be fairly serious and professional in their attitudes, but pretty quickly show that they are far more flamboyant and comedically gifted characters than you would expect.

The TRio is sent to the region by Giovanni himself under a certain directive - In BW, it’s to lead the charge in a large-scale operation to take over Unova, in SuMo, it’s to conduct research on Alola’s Pokemon and capture the strongest ones (and later to master Z-Moves).

The TRio are the stars of their own subplot with their own new status quo - Rather than just following Ash and his friends around all the time like in the OS, AG, DP and XY, the TRio in BW and SuMo usually have their own matters to attend to. In BW, it’s engaging in missions for the Team Rocket organization, in SuMo it’s any number of odd jobs and side exploits. Through most of BW, they stay in Dr. Zager’s mobile research lab, through most of SuMo they stay in Bewear’s cave on Melemele Island which they construct a secret base above.

The TRio don't appear in every single episode - Although XY also kept this trend up.

The TRio are more competent and successful than is normal for them - The TRio succeed at their endeavors just about as often as they fail, and even their failures don’t tend to come so easily as their strategic thinking, technology, and Pokemon power has improved.

The TRio don't do much "blasting off" anymore - In BW, they usually make escapes (often on jetpacks) when defeated, in SuMo, Bewear almost always arrives to rescue them.

The TRio have another mission commander in place of Giovanni when he's busy - In BW, it’s Dr. Zager whom the TRio gets along with, in SuMo, it’s Matori whom they do not.

Giovanni takes up the Big Bad position once again - BW and SuMo are the only other times after the OS where Giovanni is the primary overarching villain who has conceived and is now conducting a master plan to take over the world by harnessing some great power. This transpires during the first and second years of BW, and just during the second year of SuMo.

It's a three-year show with mostly excellent pacing - For the most part, things don’t drag in BW and SuMo, with each stage of the show as determined by the current plot directive lasting precisely as long or short as it needs to. The only exceptions are the entirety of BW’s third and final year, and the middle of SuMo’s (between Poni Island and the Alola League).

The region is faithfully adapted from the games - Although XY also kept this trend up.

The N / Team Plasma arc has similarities to the Nebby / Cosmog arc - Both of these story arcs are similar in length (14 episodes and 12 episodes respectfully) and thus have a very tightly-written, compact plot that plays almost like a mini-series. They are also loosely adapted from the games’ plots: a mix of B/W and B2/W2 for the former, S/M for the latter.

The Meloetta arc has similarities to the Poipole arc - Both are as near cinematic as the previously mentioned arcs but less tight and more open in range, able to be extended through other plot points in the show. They also both feature a cute, rare Pokemon (well, Ultra Beast in Poipole’s case) who take a liking to either Ash or Pikachu and travel with them. Both arcs are also a part of both shows’ second years and conclude at the end of that year.

There are specific callbacks made to the Original Series - The biggest one in BW being the return of Ash’s Charizard, the biggest in SuMo being two guest spots by Misty and Brock.

The pattern of the movies in each year is the same - A well-crafted but notably flawed movie in the first year, an excellent movie that does something entirely different than what’s come before in the second year, and the weakest movie that stars Mewtwo in the third year.

The show's primary focus is on humor, adventure and character dynamics as opposed to shonen-style battling, shojou-style beauty contests, or adherence to formulas of the past - Really not much else to say here. That description kind of speaks for itself already.

The Pokeani fandumb can't stand it - For many of the reasons listed above, especially the previous one, since BW and SuMo both directly followed shows that were fandumb darlings because their primary focus was on shonen-style battling, shojou-style beauty contests, and adherence to formulas of the past: DP and XY respectively. Thus they will not shut up about how much they hate BW and SuMo, especially when compared to DP and XY, and take every opportunity on every platform they get to bitch and whine about how they’ve ruined the anime because they dare to be catered toward kids and not toward them and their entitled desires. But personally, I’ll take a well-made kids’ show over a bland, edgy pander-fest any day.

WHAT SUN & MOON DOES BETTER THAN BEST WISHES:

The animation - Many knock SuMo’s art style and I will admit I prefer BW’s, but the actual animation in SuMo is leagues and bounds ahead of not just BW but every previous series.

The humor - Not that BW couldn’t be funny, because it often could, especially when Shoji Yonemura wrote an episode. But SuMo, under new direction and with a new head writer plus many other new writers, is fresher and funnier in its humor, and it makes me laugh harder.

The worldbuilding - Unova may be rendered faithfully from the games, but Alola is even moreso. And because it only has a limited number of locations to use, it can flesh them out considerably more than locations in previous regions, building a recurring cast of side characters along with it, and as a result Alola feels realer and livelier than any prior region.

The central cast - In BW, the central cast was relatively small as usual: Ash, Pikachu and the rest of Ash’s Pokemon, Ash’s two new companions and their Pokemon, and Team Rocket. Everyone else were occasionally recurring side characters. But in SuMo, we not only have Ash, Pikachu and the rest of his Pokemon, and Team Rocket, but also Ash’s five new companions / classmates, Professor Kukui as the first professor to be a regularly appearing character, Burnet, Samson Oak, Lusamine, Faba, Wicke, Gladion, and each of these character’s Pokemon! And they all manage to be so varied, interesting and enjoyable!

Ash, Pikachu and the TRio’s characterization - Ash may have had a sillier, more childish personality in BW, but it wasn’t done well. He was still written as pretty boring, irritating, and 1-dimensional, with Pikachu still being little more than a parrot who just reacted to everything in the same way Ash did. You can chalk that up to Atsuhiro Tomioka still being the head writer. And as badass as the TRio was in BW, they mostly had to suppress their personalities while on the job in order to get things done, and this rubbed many viewers the wrong way. SuMo, thanks to head writer Aya Matsui, actually writes all of these characters better, with Ash being enjoyable and endearing in the first time since forever, Pikachu actually having personality beyond Ash and even able to do things without him, and the TRio managing to be badass while still displaying their personalities...and it’s their actual personalities from back in the OS days, not the flanderization from AG and DP or...whatever the Hell they were in XY.

The personal arc of the heroine(s) - Iris has one of the better personal arcs of any Pokeani heroine, but it was still notably flawed: in the middle of the show’s second year it suddenly stopped for a lengthy period of time while Ash and Cilan hogged the spotlight, then the writers had to pick it up again in a totally different and bumpier way than intended thanks to B2/W2, and then it got rushed to its conclusion at the start of the third year, with no follow-ups until an episode in the Decolore filler arc and a connected side-story special that aired five months later than it was originally intended to. There are no such issues with Lillie, Lana and Mallow’s arcs, which progress in a natural way, with Lillie’s standing as the best in the whole Pokeani.

The Myth Arc - Wow, was BW’s Myth Arc screwed over! Iris’ connection to it was severed, Zekrom never showed up again after the first episode, N and Team Plasma didn’t appear until the third year and their storyline was drastically altered from what was originally intended, there was a 45 episode gap between events transpiring within it, and just like DP’s it ended in an anti-climactic way and well before the actual show was ready to end...it was just a mess. SuMo, otoh, has its Myth Arc centered around the secrets of Alola unfold from start to finish without a hitch, and unlike XY it actually fully transpires within the confines of the show.

The League Tournament - The Unova League sucked, there’s no way around it. Aside from Ash vs. Stephan, it was a travesty in everything from characters to story to battles. But the Alola League is the exact opposite, being the best League arc the Pokeani has ever had.

The show's structure in general - BW’s structure is solid for the most part, but there are some problems: half of the second year’s story stages (Nimbasa City Tour, The Road to Mistralton, and End of the Badge Quest) are notably shakier in content than the other stages from the first year and other half of the second year. And then there’s the goddamn third year, which not only has the aforementioned Unova League but also is paced like a checklist for the rest of the Unova Saga, speeding through the climax of Iris’ personal arc, the Unova League, and the N / Team Plasma arc that wraps up the show’s Myth Arc, and then wasting the last 5 months on the wildly uneven, passionless Decolore filler arc which was clearly mandated so that early Gen VI promotion could happen that would be certain to air in the US during those games’ worldwide release. SuMo’s structure is almost flawless in comparison.

The “Shudo style” - While both BW and SuMo aimed to follow the style of the OS’ original head writer Takeshi Shudo, the writing team of BW under Atsuhiro Tomioka weren’t quite as properly equipped to do so in spite of director Norihiko Sutou’s best efforts, often coming off as trying too hard. When they nailed it, they really nailed it, but otherwise you could tell it was an imitation. With the writing team of SuMo under Aya Matsui, it feels so much more natural and true. It’s ironic, since all of BW’s writers actually worked alongside Shudo when he was around, but Matsui and her team are somehow more instinctively inclined to Shudo’s style.

WHAT BEST WISHES DOES BETTER THAN SUN & MOON:

The villains - SuMo has a villain problem. Team Skull doesn’t show up nearly as much as they should and Guzma only appears in the third year to be the villain of the Alola League arc, Giovanni and the elite Team Rocket squad of Matori Matrix are great but also very seldom appear, Lusamine isn’t a villain at all, Faba does a good job as the villain of the Nebby arc but he becomes a full-on good guy afterward, a rich asshole named Viren becomes less threatening and more comedic the more he shows up, the Ultra Beasts are just rampaging monsters, even the TRio and their Pokemon sit out of doing evil deeds regularly. BW, when in Unova at least, handles its villains a lot better: the TRio as the regular villains are actually competent and threatening and true representatives of the Team Rocket organization, Giovanni has a constantly looming off-screen presence even when he isn’t showing up in person and Dr. Zager is great at filling his commanding role in his absence, and Team Plasma appears with their own story arc after the overarching Team Rocket arc finally concludes at the end of the second year and, Ghetsis aside, are portrayed very well.

The rivals - The only rival characters in SuMo are the games’ rivals, Hau and Gladion. Hau only appears in one episode before the League, where he loses to Ash in a hilariously cruel way that underscores just what an afterthought he was to the writers, and while Gladion is a great rival for Ash, his personal arc has nothing to do with him whatsoever, it’s all about him and his family. While BW’s cast of rivals weren’t always handled properly, they at least provided a lot of variety: with Ash’s rivals being Trip, Bianca, Stephan, Cameron, and a League-exclusive rival Virgil, Iris’ rival being Georgia, Cilan’s rival being Cabernet, and even Ash’s rival Stephan getting his own tournament rival in Montgomery. It especially seems odd that SuMo has such a larger central cast than usual, and yet only Ash gets any rivals. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Lillie, Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and/or Sophocles had rivals? Yeah, large casts of rivals didn’t work too well under Tomioka, but Matsui could’ve made it work!

The scenery - The price for such great worldbuilding in a limited number of locations is that the scenery is going to stagnate. You’ll be seeing the same environments episode after episode after episode, and it can get tiring. The benefit to a series where the characters are always traveling is a variety of scenery, as almost every episode has a new location in it.

The dramatic weight - I don’t know what it is, maybe the art style, maybe the constant injections of humor, or maybe just the situations themselves, but the occasional high-stakes events in SuMo just don’t have the same gravitas that the high-stakes events in BW have. With BW, I always felt something serious was at stake whenever a big crisis hit, whether that be Castelia City, Milos Island, all of the heroes’ Pokemon, individual lives, the entire Unova region or, in one case, the entire world. I’ve never felt that with SuMo, all of the big events involving Ultra Beasts and Legendary Pokemon feel smaller in scope and more contained.

The English dub - The English dub of BW gets weaker as it goes on, but on the whole it is serviceable, with a lot of good performances. The English dub of SuMo, otoh, is a disaster. There are very few redeeming qualities to be found. Just stick to subtitles for this one.

#Pokemon #Best Wishes #Pokemon Sun & Moon #Analysis #Comparison

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anoutlandishfanfic · 6 years ago

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Idyllwild AU: The One With Faith’s Story

The premise of Idyllwild? FLUFF! PURE. UNADULTERATED. FLUFF.

As some of you may know, I’m a nanny by day and the MamaBear I work with is pregnant and close to term {{Edit: LittleBrother was born today! 5/10/19; 8lbs 10oz, 12in}} and the result is a feels fest in all things regarding the Fraser bairns. This chapter started out as a straight-up birth story, but it didn’t quite work with the Idyllwild feel and a sort of bedtime story was what I wound up with. Hugs to @thatsoccercoach for rocking the last minute beta.

Each chapter is meant to be stand alone, but you can find more over here on the master list. The only thing you need to know is that Faith will be six years old in a matter of days and Claire and Jamie have just had their fifth bairn (Counting Fergus. Can’t forget Gus!) a few months back… you can find that adventure here. Another fun take on a birth story.

It also worked out that Faith’s birthday in Idyllwild canon is May 12th, which is Mother’s Day this year! So, its a two fer one! Enjoy!

Bedtime, the Ninth of May, 2016; Lallybroch.

“Da, tell me ‘bout my birthday.”

“How ‘bout the story of the three wee piggies, instead?” I sighed wearily, though smiling as I pulled Faith’s covers up around her ears, just as she liked them.

“No, Da! I wanna hear my story!”

“Oh, aye?” I rose a brow at this insistence. “Aren’t you tired of it yet?”

Faith was absolutely besotted with her baby sister, Quinn, who had the entire household at her beck and call. The day Quinn arrived into the world just four short months ago had left quite an impression on Faith and she naturally assumed that all birthdays had stories such as her sister’s.

In that she wasn’t much mistaken, for my firstborn had made quite the entrance herself. The story of the day she was born was Faith’s favorite of late and I’d lost count of how many times I’d spun a happy, sentimental tale out of what was possibly the most terrifying day of my life.

Faith giggled, the tip of her nose emerging for just a moment as she pleaded, “Le do thoil, Da?”

I grinned as I caved in, powerless to say no.

“Aye, mo bheag gradh,” my heart clenched as I saw her not as the healthy, vibrant, headstrong kindergartener before me, but as she had been the first time I lay eyes on her… a tiny, helpless preemie in her isolette in the neonatal intensive care unit with a solid, plate glass window separating us.

I reached out my hand, desperate to replace the memory of the feeling of cold glass against the tips of my fingers with that of Faith’s tousled curls. She turned her cheek into my palm as I tucked a wisp behind her ear and her dark lashes brushed against me like the fragile wings of a butterfly. My stomach clenched at the heady rush of emotions surging through me, making me marvel at the utter miracle before me.

“How’s it start, then?”

It was a stalling tactic and I knew she’d see right through it, but I found it difficult to speak around the lump that had suddenly formed at the back of my throat.

“You know, Da!”

Her deft fingers grabbed a hold of mine, lifting them off her face in order to burrow herself deeper beneath the covers, her voice now muffled as she prompted, “Once a’pon’a time…”

The lilt of her speech slowed as she made herself cozy, her words jumbling together into an only semicoherant blob.

Oh, how she could steal the very breath from my lungs.

“Once upon a time,” I echoed, finding my smile again as I settled myself more comfortably against the headboard of the bed, “Mummy was working at the hospital with Auntie Geillis.”

“But Auntie wanted Mummy to go home an’ take a nap!” Faith cheerfully interrupted.

Pausing, I gave her a look. Her blue eyes sparkled, even amid the shadows, and I chuckled to myself as I reached out to tickle her neck.

“Are you tellin’ the story or am I, mo bheag leannan ruadh?”

“You, Da! Keep goin’!” she shrieked with laughter.

With that, we both settled back down and my thoughts turned inwards as I retreated into the past.

I remembered the way Claire looked as Faith grew within her, the special, contemplative gleam in my wife’s eyes as the swell of our firstborn became more than obvious beneath her scrubs. I heard her parting see you later, luv as she left for work that morning. She’d been pale and I could tell something was off. I should have pressed her about it, should have had her stay home and keep off her feet.

But if she hadn’t been at work, if she hadn’t had immediate and professional medical attention… would she still be with us today?

Would either of them be?

Shaking my head to banish the thought, I continued, “Mummy was tired and had a wee bit of a headache, but she wanted to stay and keep an eye on a patient who wasn’t feeling very good.”

Faith’s brow furrowed and her gaze turned thoughtful.

“Mummy takes verra good care of her patients, doesn’t she, Da?”

Sometimes at her own expense, lovie.

“Aye, tha’ she does,” I agreed instead. “So, Mummy agreed to work at her desk an’ Auntie would keep checking in on her.”

Claire’s patient had been in and out of her operating theater all week. It’d been a tough case, requiring her utmost attention, and even though our home was certainly within on-call distance, she’d wanted to remain in the building. Yet, even remaining seated with adequate hydration on hand, Claire’s headache worsened and she began to feel dizzy.

“But by lunchtime, Auntie said Mummy needed to come lie down on the wee bed at the end of the hallway.”

“An’ then Mummy called you an’ told you come an’ help her feels better?”

A dhia, that phone call took ten years off my life.

Jamie, I need you. How soon can you be here?

“She did,” I swallowed hard, “and I came and saw her in that wee room a’ the end of the hall.”

Her blood pressure had skyrocketed by the time I arrived and she was surrounded by no less than three doctors who were accompanied by at least ten nurses and a considerable crowd had even begun to form outside her door. It felt like the entire doctoral staff of the hospital was attending to Claire and I went into protective overdrive as Geillis ushered me to my wife’s side.

Caring not for hurt feelings and bruised egos, I’d shoved my way through and nearly climbed onto the narrow hospital bed beside my wife, taking her into my arms as much as was possible. She’d clung to me weakly, trembling against my chest as everyone tried to update me on her condition at once. I ended up ordering all of them out, save Geillis, and they begrudgingly moved to the hallway as she patiently explained to me what was going on.

Skipping all of that, I continued, “When I got there, Auntie told me today was the day you were going to be born.”

“Were you excited?”

Scared as hell, more like.

Lifting my shoulder in a half shrug, I tried to explain, “I was, but I was a little bit nervous because it wasn’t quite time for you to be born yet.”

“I was early,” she profoundly stated.

Faith had always known she was a preemie and found a great deal of pride in routinely shocking her doctors with her health, stamina, and growth. She’d been back to wow the nurses who had become family during our stay at Regions several times and, at the moment, she wanted to grow up to be just like them… so she could help her Mum at the hospital.

“You were thirty five days early, to be exact.”

Her eyes widened, “That’s a lot of days.”

“It was, and that’s why Mummy needed to go see Dr. Joe right away.”

Joe Abernathy had been Claire’s closest friend in medical school and they’d completed their residency together at Regions, where he’d stayed after graduation. He’d been a groomsman at our wedding and was a dear friend of the family, as well as being responsible for saving the lives of both my wife and child.

“Inna helicopter!” Faith wiggled with excitement as this was one of her favorite parts of the story.

I somehow found a genuine smile, seeing it as the grand adventure that she did, if for only a moment.

“Aye, Mummy got to ride in a helicopter.”

“Did you get to ride too, da?”

I’d certainly tried to.

After refusing to leave my wife’s side, my uncle Dougal MacKenzie had to physically restrain me as they loaded Claire into the LifeLink chopper.

“No,” I shook my head, forcing my smile to stay in place. “There wasn’t room for me to go with her, so Uncle Dougal took me in his squad car, instead.”

Idyllwild’s Chief of Police, Dougal MacKenzie, had been called in to ensure things went smoothly as our small community rarely had such an urgent medical emergency. I’d been thankful for his clear thinking in the moment and how he’d taken over all communication responsibilities. He’d gotten a hold of my brother Willie — who lived in Minneapolis and met us at the hospital — almost immediately, ensuring I wasn’t alone when he had to return to Idyllwild.

“Did you get to go really really fast?”

“Aye, he turned on the lights and the sirens and we went as fast as we could.”

I remembered very little of that trip, nearly distraught and barely able to stay in my seat as Dougal navigated the highway system. We arrived after Claire did, obviously, and it had taken some time to find the proper lobby to wait in and even longer to get an update on my wife’s condition.

“Dr. Joe was taking good care of Mummy when I got there so I couldn’t see her right away, but I waited right where they told me and prayed for the both of you,” I continued hesitantly, finding the next parts of the story the hardest to sugar coat. My voice deepened, almost becoming hoarse as I skipped ahead.

“But then they brought me to come meet you for the very first time!”

Faith grinned, pushing herself up on her pillows in order to see me better as she asked, “Was I teeny tiny?”

The tiniest, my love.

Having been born at just over five pounds, Faith was easily the smallest baby I’d ever seen — let alone held — but she was, in actuality, one of the larger NICU residents. There’d an itty bitty preemie named Ben who was there when she arrived and remained when we left, giving us more of a point of reference and much to be thankful for. Another wee bairn named Zoe was in between Ben and Faith, size wise, and arrived towards the end of our stay, as well.

I reached out with a smile and wiggled Faith’s almost constant companion: a stuffed lamb named Tally. Claire’s uncle Quentin Lambert had given it to her, one of her first gifts at the hospital, and it appeared in all of her monthly, milestone photographs. I’d found infinite amusement in the pun, something that Uncle Lamb admitted he hadn’t realized until he was purchasing the beloved toy, and it was certainly a high point of Faith’s story.

“You were no bigger than your wee lambie,” I demonstrated.

“Tally was bigger than me?!”

“A bit, aye, she was.”

Faith took a moment to delight in this before asking for more specifics.

“When did you get to hold me?”

My stomach clenched, remembering just how long the excruciating wait with Willie and later Jenny in that dour lobby had been. I knew they’d ushered me back to meet Faith as soon as they could, but my daughter was a full hour old before I was able to see her through a window and another thirty minutes older before I got to actually hold her for the first time.

“Well, I had to wait a wee bit while they made sure you were healthy and strong before I could hold you,” I explained.

“An’ I was!”

“Aye, mo beannachd, you were.”

She’d needed to be on oxygen for her first few days in the NICU, but her tiny body quickly rallied and she no longer needed the extra assistance long before was expected.

“And then you named me Faith!”

Claire and I knew were having a girl and had time to discuss names for quite a while before Faith’s premature birth. We’d tossed many around and even settled on a few favorites, but hadn’t really made a definitive choice. Claire had championed the name Faith almost from the get go, but I’d been more partial to having it be one of her middle names, as was Scottish tradition. I’d wanted to name her Elizabeth, taking her mother’s middle name, but Claire protested that it was far too formal and that she’d never cared for her Aunt Elizabeth, anyway.

Jenny had gone to great lengths to track down the hospital chaplain after I left to be with Faith and he joined me after I’d been with her for about two hours. He was, quite literally, a godsend and was able to keep me company for another three. He offered to baptize her and I eagerly accepted, grabbing my siblings from the lobby to stand as godparents on short notice.

“Aye, Father Anselm came and baptized you.”

“Faith Elizabeth Jane Beauchamp Fraser!” She giggled, for her full name and those of her siblings were of great amusement to her of late.

“Auntie Jenny thought it was fitting that you had a name as big as your courageous spirit.”

“Unca Willie too?”

“Aye,” I remembered the look of complete awe as he looked down at his niece. “He thought your name was perfect too.”

This clarified, Faith was ready to move on.

“An’ then you got to see Mummy?”

“I did!” I agreed, eagerly obliging to her desire to keep moving on. “Dr. Joe came and told me that Mummy was resting and I could go to her room and see her.”

I would never forget the feeling of relief that washed over me as I looked up to find Joe at the door of the NICU, his face communicating that the worst was over without so much as opening his mouth. He did open his mouth, though, and quickly got me up to speed, ushering me through the twists and turns of Region’s unknown hallways to my wife’s bedside.

Faith cheered, “An’ Mummy wanted to see me!”

This was the understatement of the century.

Claire’s body didn’t handle coming out of anesthesia well under usual circumstances and the emotional trauma she’d experienced prior to going under meant she was absolutely distraught when she woke. I could hear her calling for me and asking for her baby as we got closer and I broke into a dead run from the end of the hallway, nearly lifting her off the bed entirely and into my lap in my effort to calm her fears.

She’s okay, mo nighean donn. She’s safe, she’s strong.

“Aye, she did,” I managed a smile. “Mommy got to meet you a little bit later, but I told her all about you and that you were strong and—“

“Stubborn!”

My smile turned genuine in an instant and both of us shared a grin at this, for — despite her caring and sometimes shy disposition — my first born was as immovable as the Rock of Gibraltar when she wished to be. This attribute most often manifested itself as definite opinions and a habit of voicing them as loud as her little lungs could manage.

“I told her how you didn’t like the wee tubes across your toes and how you would fuss until things were just right.”

“An’ then Mummy got to hold me!”

I found Faith’s hand, squeezing it tightly as I remembered the look of complete joy and reverent awe on my wife’s face.

“Mummy loved you so much that they found a way for her to be with you while you both got better.”

It had taken some finagling and bending of protocols, but Joe managed to get Claire reunited with Faith within twenty-four hours of her birth. It happened in the middle of the night and he’d dubbed the plan Operation Mother Goose. Mother and daughter were able to bond skin to skin, giving both a tangible peace that hadn’t been there before. Parting again had been rough, but Joe had assured Claire that he also had a plan for how they could continue to see each other, though both mother and daughter were of fragile health.

“They made her a special spot! Just for Mummy!”

“Aye, just for Mummy.”

In one corner of the NICU — a ward surprisingly large in contrast to its tiny patrons — the nurses prepared a space where Claire could visit our daughter and still follow her doctor’s recovery instructions. Many of the nurses knew Claire from her time there before our marriage, though she hadn’t been in pediatrics, and they were eager to bend over backwards to facilitate these visits.

The space changed as Claire’s needs did, as regained health and movement, and she was eventually discharged from Regions five days before Faith was. She joined me in the spare room of my brother and sister in law’s home, going back and forth to the hospital together.

“But then the day came when you were ready to come home!”

It could have easily felt as though I were walking on air as we left the hospital together, had the weight of the car seat in my hands firmly tethered me to the ground and reality. I must have checked all the bolts and snaps and straps four times before I climbed into the driver’s seat, leaving Claire positioned beside the car seat in the back. It was over an hour car ride wasn’t ideal for Faith’s first and we ended up making quite a few pit stops to soothe her before we finally reached Idyllwild.

“I drove sooo slow — all the way home — because I had my most precious lassies wi’ me.”

“An’ then Gus showed me my room!”

“He did!” I grinned, relieved to finally be nearing the end of our tale. “Gus was so excited to have you home!”

Fergus had stayed with Jenny and Ian while Faith was at Regions, something he insisted on so that we could stay with his doux petit colibri. He came to visit as often as he could, but hospitals — especially intensive care units — aren’t very conducive to active ten year olds boys and, being as sensitive as he was, he didn’t like feeling in the way.

But he, along with my parents, was there to greet us as we arrived home… our family of four finally gathered together in Faith’s nursery for the very first time. There was a low sofa along one wall and we’d all piled onto it, limbs entangled as we watched Faith coo. After the spell had lifted, Fergus insisted on taking Faith on a tour of the entire house, leading me by the hand from room to room as I held her so that she would know exactly where she was and just how very much she was loved.

“An’ then I growed up an’ up an’ Mummy had Bree an’ Jakey an’ Quinn an’ we all lived happily ever after!” Faith pronounced with a great deal of satisfaction.

“Aye, mo bheag nighean,” I kissed her brow, settling her back down beneath the covers. “That we did.”

…

About Five Minutes Later.

“She asleep?” Claire murmured from amidst the pillows, the downy head of our youngest bairn positioned comfortably at her breast.

I shed my shirt and climbed in beside them with a tired smile, “Aye, at last.”

Leaning towards her for a kiss, Claire eagerly turned her face to mine in response, greeting me with a warmth and affection that cleared away any residual vestiges of fear and regret that remained from dwelling on the past. She caught sight of them, though, as they retreated back into the far recesses of my mind and concern gathered in her eyes as she studied my face.

I shook my head, reassuringly, “She wanted to hear her story again.”

“Her story?”

“Of the day she was born.”

“Really?” she lifted one brow in amused question, shifting Quinn and offering her to me. I gladly took her, nestling her on my shoulder in order to burp her… something she didn’t particularly like.

“Oh, aye,” I dipped my chin and cooed in her ear for a moment, then explained, “Faith’s asked for it several times since Quinn was born.”

Understanding dawned and Claire grinned as she began to settle herself for bed, rearranging the bodice of her nightgown and the pillows around us, “What do you tell her?”

“About how you got to ride in a helicopter an’ how Joe took such good care of the both of you,” I shrugged, feeling a tad self conscious, wondering if she’d find the whole thing absurd or not a wise choice in regards to our daughter’s sensitive heart.

Her hand lifted to my arm, her palm brushing across my skin before settling just below my shoulder. The tops of Claire’s knuckles nudged our bairn’s leg as she did so, eliciting a wee sigh of contentment — for Quinn now returned the borrowed air from her wee tummy, thankfully without deposit — from her as she buried her face in my neck. Claire squeezed my arm reassuringly and I reached for her, covering her hand with my own.

The sensation of both my wife and child against my skin made me grow more and more sentimental with every heartbeat, loosening my tongue and bringing me to an idyllic place where everything that had gone wrong in the past was now completely right.

“I tell her about the special place the nurses set up for you… about how she got her name, when we brought her home.”

Claire’s lips brushed across the top of my hand before placing a tender kiss on my bare shoulder… the one she’d mended the day we met.

“Mmm, just the happy bits, then,” she intoned, the soft vibration of her voice sending a thrill down my spine.

My soul smiled as lifting my hand to her face, tipping her chin up for a real kiss as I affirmed, “Oh, aye… all of the happy bits.”

My fingers slid along her jaw and settled amidst the curls at the nape of her neck as I pulled her closer. I felt a laugh bubble up within her as she ever so slightly acquiesced, shifting ever so slightly to make things more comfortable, but remaining just far enough away as to leave me in want…

“Is she asleep, then?” I asked of our daughter, eager to have both of my hands free to wander the length of my wife.

Claire grinned, a knowing gleam in her eye as she nodded, gently nudging me towards the edge of her bed with her knee.

“Haste ye back,” she teased.

I thanked my lucky stars that Quinn cared little about where or how she slept — provided, of course, she had a full belly — and she didn’t so much as stir when I quickly deposited in her crib. Retracing my steps record time, I was beside my wife again a moment later, finally able to take her into my arms.

Claire melted against me with a contented sigh, much like the one our youngest had produced not long ago. My heart let out a sigh of its own as I found her lips once more and we sank deeper into each other’s embrace.

My fingers dipped beneath the supple, cotton folds that consisted of my wife’s favorite sleeping gown, delighting in the very feature that enabled her to nurse with ease at a moment’s notice. The material fell away at my touch and I crooned, “Have I told you how much I love seeing our bairns at your breast?”

Claire’s gaze softened, her eyes gleaming for a moment in the dim light.

“Not lately,” she murmured, looping her arms about my neck.

“Mmm,” I hummed, my lips against the tender skin of her neck, “I really must remedy that.”

#Outlander #outlander fanfic #idyllwild au #the one with faith's story

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tomeandflickcorner · 5 years ago

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Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: Knock, Knock

Wow, I remember enjoying this episode to the point that it’s among the episodes I remember the most strongly from the days when I’d watch the show as a kid. But it really holds up due to how fun it was.

Right away, we get an action scene. The Ghostbusters are in the middle of a bust at this bowling alley somewhere. They manage to catch the ghost with relative ease, but not before inflicting some pretty sizable damage to the bowling alley. I’m not kidding, there’s actually a moment where the camera focuses on the fire that the Ghostbusters caused. Of course, the episode glosses over this as we’re never told who is paying for the damages to the facility. Instead, they simply exit the bowling alley to be greeted by the cheers of the crowd. Interestingly enough, when Winston comments how the crowd loves them, Egon voices his doubt, saying he thinks it could be a trap. (What kind of trap would this be, Egon? Paranoid much?)

They eventually make it back to the Firehouse, where they are greeted by a rather sizable mess. It turns out that Slimer has decided to have a huge gorge fest, consuming a sizable amount of food while they were gone. Janine doesn’t hesitate to complain about this, announcing that they don’t need a receptionist, they need a babysitter, and a whole platoon of them. Being true to character, Peter reacts to this with his usual anger. He makes a movement to fire his Proton Pack at Slimer, but Winston and Ray hold him back, giving Slimer the chance to get away. Egon reminds Peter that he can’t go after Slimer, as he’s the only ghost willing to hold still long enough to be closely studied, and that being able to study a ghost is vitally important to the advancement of science and whatnot. On that note, the Ghostbusters decide to retire for the night. But not before they head down the basement to place the captured ghosts into the Containment Unit. Though the odd thing is that they’re acting like it’s some big chore. Peter even briefly argues with Winston over which one of them will do the honors, with Winson insisting that it’s Peter’s turn as he’d already did the dishes. I didn’t realize loading a trap into the Containment Unit was such a trial.

Meanwhile, deep below the city streets, a group of construction workers are hard at work in building a new subway tunnel. As they’re tunneling along with their giant drill, they stumble across this large ornate door. Now, this door is awesome. Especially with the giant demonic looking face adorning it. This door was a personal highlight of the episode for me, and I think I’m sad the door never appears again after this episode. (Though there appears to be brief cameos of the demonic face in the IDW comics.) Anyway, the construction workers all pause for a bit upon discovering this door, with one of them noticing that there’s something written on the door. As they start to try and figure out what the writing says, the demonic face on the door comes alive, declaring ‘DO NOT OPEN UNTIL DOOMSDAY!’ Obviously, this gives two of the construction workers pause, with them thinking it might be in their best interest to turn around and leave this door alone. But their boss insists that they have a job to do, and this subway tunnel must be built, regardless of what some nut door might say. (Dude, a door is TALKING! I get you have a deadline or whatnot, but how jaded can you be?) When the head construction worker orders the drilling to continue, the door lets out a loud growl, and then opens up.

Okay, I realize the door would have been opened anyway if the construction workers did continue on drilling. But the door opened up before the drill even started up again. So….technically, nobody actually opened the door. It just decided to open up on its own under the mere threat of being opened. Kinda a faulty security system there.

Anyway, when the door opens up, the construction workers are all seemingly vaporized, as they completely vanish from sight, and a bunch of poltergeist energy is released. The energy ends up consuming a subway train, forcing it to become possessed. And apparently, so does the graffiti etched onto the side of the subway train, as all of it becomes alive and runs off. This alone is pretty wild, as it results in various illustrations and logos sprouting legs and running about. We’re talking winged eyeballs with legs and arms and a giant green speech bubble featuring the word ‘soon’ bouncing about.

Needless to say, this leads to someone putting in a call to the Ghostbusters’ office, resulting in a pretty good joke from Janine. Something along the lines of ‘Something messed up in the subway? How can you tell the difference?’ That was a clever one-liner, especially considering I’ve been on a New York subway. I can say from experience that you can encounter interesting things there. After taking down the caller’s information, Janine heads up to the Firehouse’s sleeping quarters to inform the Ghostbusters, who were in the process of changing into their pajamas. They do kinda groan at the fact that they have to head back out again, but they proceed to get back into their uniforms. (Random observation here- in a blink-and-you’ll miss it moment, when you see Egon zip his jumpsuit back up, you catch a brief glimpse of what I think was a patch of chest hair. So Egon has chest hair? Not a good or bad thing, of course. But it’s just a bit jarring, since it indicates someone actually took the time to animate chest hair on the character.)

As the Ghostbusters enter the subway system, they quickly find the place covered in in ectoplasm, with Ray noting how it looks as if the whole place is turning evil (something he’s clearly thrilled about). To their surprise, a subway train pulls into the station, despite the fact that they’d been told offscreen that the trains had stopped running. So of course they decide to enter the empty subway train, even though it’s pretty much a dumb idea to board an empty subway train even under normal circumstances. Naturally, as the subway train begins to move, the lights briefly go off, and when they turn back on again, the Ghostbusters find themselves completely surrounded by a horde of skeletal ghosts.

At this point, the episode gives us an extended action sequence of the possessed subway train careening out of control, even to the point of literally jumping out from one subway entrance to another, leaping over the city streets Free Willy style. While the subway train continues on its joyride, the Ghostbusters are busy firing their Proton Packs at the skeletal ghosts in an effort to keep them at bay as the Ghostbusters theme song plays in the background. Eventually, the train ride comes to an end, with the possessed subway train stopping at a shadowy station. When the Ghostbusters exit the train, it instantly deflates like a balloon. Upon consulting his PKE Meter, Egon notes the source of the disturbance is a 10 mile walk from their current location. But before they could begin to search for the origin point, their attention is caught by what appears to be a solitary woman standing at the edge of the subway platform. Peter immediately approaches the woman, offering to help get her out of there, but it’s then revealed the woman is another one of those skeletal ghosts. And then the skeletal ghost woman just kinda….explodes. Okay, that was odd.

Of course, the exploding ghost lady does kinda serve a purpose. Winston, upon backing up from the explosion, trips over a large stone tablet jutting up from the ground. The other Ghostbusters proceed to examine the stone, with Egon noting that there’s something written on the stone in Sumerian. (Even though close-ups of the stone show that the hieroglyphics don’t match actual Sumerian writing. Nice try, show, but I don’t think any ancient civilization ever utilized a skull with a tongue sticking out as a hieroglyphic.) Anyway, Egon, announcing that he can read Sumerian in his sleep, underwater with the lights turned off, translates the writing to say that the tunnel ahead leads to a door to the Nether-Region, and that this door was only to be opened at the end of the world. He goes on to announce someone must have opened the door prematurely. And much like a dam breaking, the flow of poltergeist energy will continue to consume everything. Peter, for some reason, doesn’t seem to understand why this is a big deal, so Ray has to spell it out for him through this whole analogy of stinky socks in a closet. I guess this analogy was put in for the benefit of the wee little kids watching this episode, in case the dam visualization went over their heads. Either way, they determine that all of this spooky ghostly aura that’s consuming the subway tunnels is what was meant to replace everything after the world came to an end. And if they don’t find a way to close the door again, this world of darkness with ghosts taking over everywhere will be the new reality. With the mission clear, the Ghostbusters head further into the tunnel. (And the stone tablet randomly sprouts a face and begins to laugh for no discernable reason other than to further illustrate that things are going to get weird in this episode.)

So the Ghostbusters continue to head down the tunnel to locate the door. Naturally, they encounter some strange and bizarre stuff along the way, such as a stone pillar covered with eyes that probably wouldn’t look out of place in a Jim Henson film. At one point, they witness what appears to be a longboat that is constructed entirely of bones. This longboat is being rowed by a group of human prisoners, with a skeletal figure overlooking their progress while pointing out random things like rocks and dirt like some kind of vindictive tour guide. Oddly enough, the Ghostbusters decide to pretend like they didn’t see this and continue on their way. Which is a bit upsetting, to be honest. I realize the implication is that these people are condemned human souls that are beyond help since we hear one of the people state they’ve been rowing for 500 years, but it’s still a bit disturbing that the episode simply sweeps this under the rug with them never referencing it again. Instead, we get some brief scenes interspaced throughout the episode to show what’s going on aboveground. More and more subway trains are getting possessed by the spectral ghostly energy emanating from the door, and a news report announces that the Ghostbusters haven’t been seen since they first entered the subway tunnels two hours ago.

Eventually, the Ghostbusters begin to near the end of the tunnel. But first, they have to make it through one final section that this creepy-voiced tree thing states is the Place of Lost Souls. The Ghostbusters are informed that all new spirits must make their way through it, and that no living being has ever came out of it in one peace. It then wishes the Ghostbusters a nice day as they press on. (Thanks, creepy tree thing!) The Ghostbusters navigate through the Place of Lost Souls, evading a dark room filled with a large amount of eyes and what could best be described as an Escher style series of paths. Finally, they reach the site of the opened door, where a large glowing core of energy can be seen.

It’s here that Egon reveals a bombshell. In order for them to put a stop to this, they have to actually enter the door and utilize the energy of the door’s Power Core to supercharge their Proton Packs in order to pull everything that was released back into the door. The catch is, if the door closes up again when they’re still inside, they will be trapped there forever. This idea is particularly distressing to Ray, as he’d just purchased season tickets to the Mets. Peter accuses Egon of knowing this from the start, and Egon more or less confirms this, stating that if he had told them the truth earlier, they might not have been willing to come this far.

After a bit of back and forth, though, the Ghostbusters all decide to see this through to the end, crossing the threshold of the open doorway. Upon doing so, they fire their Proton Packs at the Power Core, with their packs in full dispersion mode, wide angle. This results in all of the released poltergeist energy to be collected back up and, upon switching their Proton Streams back into Capture Mode, everything is drawn back through the door. However, as all of the escaped ghosts and such are drawn back into the door, the Ghostbusters also find themselves being pulled inward as well. In a last ditch effort at escaping before the doors can fully close behind them, Ray comes up with the idea of firing off their Proton Packs at the Power Core once again. Only this time in order to launch themselves back through the closing doors. Rather like a rocket being propelled forward by the flames shooting out the back. This ends up working, as the Ghostbusters make it out alive, seconds before the door closes up again. As they dust themselves off, Peter jokingly states that they should do that again. But the demonic face on the Doomsday Door responds by repeating its warning of ‘DO NOT OPEN UNTIL DOOMSDAY!’

With the crisis averted, the Ghostbusters once again return to the Firehouse, with Ray stating he feels like he could sleep for a week. Peter, on the other hand, announces he plans to raid the fridge and eat until dawn. Because saving the world obviously gives you an appetite. Of course, when Peter opens the fridge, he finds Slimer has already consumed everything inside. Naturally, this results in Peter’s renewed ire at the little green ghost, but the others seem to take the knowledge that Slimer just ate all of their food in stride, with Winston telling Peter he shouldn’t take it out on Slimer just because he had a bad day. Egon then points out that perhaps the reason why Slimer eats all the time is because he wants to feel accepted. As the others head out of the room, Egon reminds Peter that Slimer is a ghost who lives with a group of people whose job it is to bust ghosts. He asks Peter how he would feel if he was in Slimer’s shoes.

Peter doesn’t seem to be in the mood to consider this, but later that night, we see him sitting in bed while the others are sleeping, seemingly deep in thought. As the other Ghostbusters continue to sleep, Peter sneaks out into the hall, where he finds Slimer. Covertly, Peter tosses him a rather small pizza, announcing that if Slimer ever told anybody about this, then he would simply deny it. After delivering the small peace offering, Peter goes back to bed, as Slimer remains in the hall, chuckling to himself. And it’s here that the episode ends.

This episode was weird but fun. Sure, it’s a rather simple plot and a lot of the scenes are clearly there to fill in the time, but we get a lot of interesting visuals, so I say it evens out. And in a way, it does serve as something of a secondary pilot episode, as this was the first episode of the show’s syndicated run. So it’s entirely possible that this was the episode that would introduce the show’s premise to viewers who hadn’t been able to watch the first 13 episodes on ABC. And it was pretty awesome to get an adventure with high stakes involved. Not to mention what is quite possibly the first onscreen death within the show, as it’s doubtful those construction workers survived. Though it does beg the question of what happened with the subway tunnel plans. Were the plans at constructing the tunnel completely abandoned after the incident? Or did the construction company simply decide to chart out a different route for the tunnel? Of course, this is a show that’s largely episodic in nature, so all of those questions naturally have to be forgotten after the credits roll.

(Click here for more Ghostbusters reviews)

#the real ghostbusters #rgb episode review #ghostbusters franchise

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freshfrompoland · 5 years ago

Photo

THE FIRST EDITION OF PAPERLUST PHOTOBOOKS FEST IS OVER!

IT COULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT OUR PARTNERS, GUESTS, ARTISTS, VOLUNTEERS AND GUESTS. THANK YOU ALL!

by Fresh From Poland & Paper Beats Rock, funded by International Visegrad Fund

24.05 – 14.06.2019, Kraków

Paperlust Photobook Fest is a new biennial on the map of photographic events in Europe, stemmed from love to paper. Fest focuses on regional collaboration and aims to present the local self-publishing scene to the wider audience. The motivation behind the festival is to allow discovery while encouraging artistic exchange and explore the power of self-publishing as an offline medium, co-existing in the era of the Internet. PAPERLUST programme is formed of exhibitions, talks, book signings, panel discussion, workshop, photobook fair, reading room (chill zone and library) and dummy review. We invite small publishers, makers and established artists to present their practices, ranging from self-made publications and zines to book objects, albums, and photobooks published by the established institutions. As a reoccurring event, the festival aspires to become a photobook hub in Central and East Europe.

First edition – PAPERLUST Photobook Fest 2019. Art and self-publishing as a tool for social change is focused on the Visegrad region and has been created in close collaboration with the festival’s partners from Slovakia, Czech, and Hungary. It intends to gather local institutions, publishers, non-profit organizations and makers together to increase the visibility and exposure of the artists using photobooks to tell their stories, as well as strengthen, connect and empower the local art scene.

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PAPERLUST PHOTOBOOK FEST OPENING & PHOTOBOOK. ASSET EXHIBTION OPENING GALERIA I!, KRAKÓW, 24.05.2019

PHOTOBOOK. ASSET EXHIBTION GALERIA I!, KRAKÓW, 24.05.2019

Exhibition Asset focuses on the economic and prestige aspects of art publications. An artistic book has become a tool for the emancipation of artist-maker. Having printed publication allows in an almost automatic way to get into the field of the world of art, or rather the history of art. It is often made with the purpose of creating a unique object, that might become a cultural asset.

Except for the context criterion, we do not have any other criteria for evaluation, what is a work of art and what is not. In any case, however, we need legitimacy – perhaps as time passes, distribution of power and who has the legitimacy to evaluate and give the status to a work of art will change. However, traditional, institutional bodies are still holding a strong position. Even though artists, as well as publishers, say that books are overproduced, that there is no environment, not enough audiences or market, publishing an art book still seems to be amongst the best ways to build up one’s position in the art world.

The exhibition presents the selection of books made with a purpose to become an asset, a self-standing piece of art, to bring an income or to became a valuable, collectable object.

Artists: Petr Fabo, Ivars Gravlejs, Agata Grzybowska, Blanka Győri and Máté Labu, Hubert Humka, Dominika Jackuliakova, Libuse Jarcovjakova, Martin Kochan, Wawrzek Kolbusz, Peter Kollanyi, Martin Kollar, Wojtek Mazan, Peter Puklus, Łukasz Rusznica, Michał Siarek, Jakub Stanek, Krystyna Jędrzejewska-Szmek & Łukasz Gniadek, Beatrix Szörényi, Milan Tittel, Tereza Zelenkova

PHOTOBOOK. STORYTELLING EXHIBTION

ZNACZY SIĘ, KRAKÓW, 24.05 – 14.06.19

The show is a part of the series that focuses on various aspects of the photobook. A carefully designed exhibition presents the most interesting samples of the photobooks from the Visegrad region, that have been made out of the need to convey, usually a personal, story. Most of the presented works are either self-published or published in small editions, including hand-made or low-cost printed zine publications.

A book, as depicted in the show, becomes the means for communicating one’s personal experience, a cultural experience and the same time becomes an instrument protecting such experience from oblivion. The leitmotiv of a narration underlines the role of the recipient as an active participant/interpreter of the work of art.

Low-cost self-publishing is here a starting point for a polemic about the nature of the medium. The dissemination using the most economic and least demanding means gives it the power of an independent statement. The questions asked by the authors are an attempt to reflect on the phenomena of this type of publications on the Central European market, their role, ways of production and presentation, as well as expectations of the recipient.

Artists: Tabori Andras, Ewa Behrens, Eva Benkova, Stanislav Briza, Radek Brousil, Jan Brykczynski, Magda Buczek, Kateřina Držková, Peter Fabo, Viola Fátyol, Lucia Gamanová, Aurélia Garová, Agnieszka Gotowała, Anna Hornik , Tomoya Imamura, Zuzana Ivašková, Tereza Kabůrková, Ines Karčáková, Joanna Margarethe Kischka, Deana Kolencikova, Jan Kolský, Viktor Kopasz, Paulina Korobkiewicz, Andrea Kurjakova, Katarzyna Ewa Legendź, Tomasz Liboska, Michał Loba, Alicja Łabądź, Maciej Moskwa, Boris Németh, Anna Orłowska, Krzysiek Orłowski, Ivana Paleckova, Igor Pisuk, Marcin Płonka, Piotr Pytel, Krzysztof Racoń, Kaja Rejczel Rata, Anka Sielska, Jakub Stanek, Juraj Starovecký, Dorota Stolarska, Eva Szombat, Budha Tamás, Jiri Thyn, Balázs Varju Tóth, Ondrej Urban, Imrich Veber, Dorotteya Veykony, Ján Viazanička, Lukasz Wierzbowski, Karolina Wojtas, Adrian Wykrota, Ficsór Zsolt, Kasia Zolich, KWAS (Karolina Wojtas, Agnieszka Sejud)

PHOTOBOOK. PROCESS EXHIBTION

NOŚNA GALLERY, KRAKÓW, 24.05 – 14.06.19

In this exhibition, we treat objects of art as a consequence and as an event. We explore the medium of a book as a work in progress submerged in group work, culture, and its own particularities. The exhibition investigates photobooks as a constantly evolving medium in relation to its potentiality. It includes drafts, dummies, sketches, and excerpts from different stages of the work that cannot be completed.

Referring directly to the activities related to the book in a political context, here also the core idea is an artistic prosumer activity, or more precisely its aspect pertaining to work with an art object, that is done by a particular group/ collective. The work created in this way is a result of the vision and ideas of all those involved in the creation process. We want to open a dialogue on the role of a photo editor in photographic publications. We want to define the route which the author- photo editor relation is going through and tension it generates through the choice of photographs, arrangement, strategy – a cycle of events related to the photographic book.

Process exhibition emphasizes a special presence and interactive lecture by Viktor Kopasz and his lifelong process of creating Diaries.

Kopasz’s works become a starting point to think about a book in terms of a multidimensional process. The process can be considered from the perspective of an artist, as a work that can be presented synchronously – from idea to implementation – or asynchronously, as a kind of spiral, which concentrically returns to the centre, and can be looked at from different positions. By disrupting the order of the beginning and the end, the book appears as a final product of the process, enters into a new cycle – that varies depending on the adapted presentation and distribution strategy.

It is a more specific kind of self-publishing, in the context of the previous examples, as it functions as a work of art on the border of the avant-garde, ready-made and niche, crafted publications. Kopasz consciously plays with the medium, its content, and formal potential.

Artists: Jakub Bors, Kuba Dabrowski, Tomoya Imamura, Viktor Kopasz, Tomasz Laczny, Konstancja Nowina Konopka Książki twórców indywidualnych: Anna Ádám, Milan Adamčak, Hynek Alt, Aleksandra Vajd, Ján Ballax, Jakub Chromiński, Krystian Daszkowski, Peter Fabo (Petr Black FaBox), Lukas Hofmann, Nat Marcus, Alek Janicki, Karolina Jonderko, Ines Karčáková, Barbora Klímová, Paulina Korobkiewicz, Markéta Magidová, Barnabás Neogrády-Kiss, Lucia Nimcova, Lucia Papčová, Monika Pascoe Mikyskova, Tomas Pospech, Peter Puklus, Maciek Przemyk (Maciek P Myk), Catarina Simão, Anna Małgorzata Stankiewicz, Marta Szymanowska, Paweł Szypulski, Martina Šárovcová aka Kosmo Nauty – stories, Jan Sipocz, Bartłomiej Talaga, Konrad Trzeszczkowski, Imrich Veber, Karolina Zajaczkowska Książki grup twórczych: Časopis X o súčasnej kresbe, Hurrikan Press, If I saw that in a gallery I would say, this is art, Paper Beats Rock workshop dummies

VIKTOR KOPASZ. PROCESS. PROLONGED IDENTITY. OPEN STUDIO

APTEKA GALLERY, KRAKÓW, 25.05 – 27.05.19

Our ambition is to involve the artist in the process of creating. Therefore, for a limited time, we want to change the gallery’s window into an artist’s studio. Artist, being present, will allow the viewers to look at a photographic book as part of a broader phenomenon. The artist is working for 3 days in the window of the gallery. The temporary display changes every day. It might be a radical move or a subtle shift of meaning that we can follow alongside the process.

The presentation of the works and performative character of the exhibition by Viktor Kopasz allows placing the contemporary phenomenon of the book boom in a historical context while creating an experience of the process itself in real time.

TOMASZ ŁĄCZNY. PROCESS. C18FE7N18. OPEN STUDIO

APTEKA GALLERY, KRAKÓW, 01.05 – 02.06.19

A live book-making process. The artist creates a hand-made photography artbook using traditional photography techniques with elements of improvisation (taking advantages of technical errors of wet plate photography). It’s the final step of the personal project “It All Is. And Nothing”. The audience has an opportunity to experience work in progress in the experimental stage of the process.

OPEN LIBRARY & CHILL ZONE + KIDS ZONE

MOCAK LIBRARY, KRAKÓW, 24.05 – 14.06.19

If you would like to explore art books in a quiet and peaceful space, Chill Zone is a place to sit down and discover our reading room. It is located in a beautiful and bright MOCAK Library. Presented publications – zines, photobooks, small editions’ publications from Visegrad countries – come from the MOCAK and Paper Beats Rock collections, private collectors, artists and the open call.

We invite kids to spent time in our Kids Zone, space prepared specially for youngest fans of paper.

PHOTOBOOK DUMMY REVIEW

TYTANO, KRAKÓW, 02.06.19

Paperlust Photobook Dummy Review is a project intended for emerging artists working with the medium of photography and art books. Event will allow to connect young talents with professionals, publishers and curators from different countries.

The Tytano space will open for one day for face-to-face discussions over the photobooks in progress. Submissions are open to everyone over 18 years old. Selected artists will be invited to meet four of our international experts. Handmade dummies are in focus, although digital projects and small self-published editions are also taken under consideration. The main aim of the event is to help artists to develop the ideas they are already working on.

On Saturday, 1st June, we invite all of the Participants and Experts of Photobook Dummy Review to join the Portfolio Evening, a special joint event organised by Krakow Photomonth and Paperlust Photobook Fest.

Our Experts: Franek Ammer, Stanislav Briza, Zsolt Ficsor, Zuzana Flaskova, Gábor Arion Kudász, Wiktoria Michałkiewicz, Tereza Rudolf, Olija Triaška Stefanovič

STILL ‘TIS DEVILS MUST PRINT – ARTIST TALKS

MILK, KRAKÓW, 01.06.19

Series of 3 talks focusing on different aspects of the photobook and self-publishing in Visegrad Group countries will take place at Milk Studio. Subjects TBA.

Self-publishing practices in Hungary in the post-digital era/ Beata Istvánkó

The notion of artists’ publishing activities has changed over the past decades, in particular with

the expansion of the art market and the globalization of artistic practices, combined with the advent of the digital era and the introduction of new modes of production and circulation. Print and digital projects employ experimental formats and blur distinctions between art press, curatorial

experiments, and other publishing enterprises. The aim of the presentation is to summarize the history of independent art publishing in Hungary after 2000 through the activity of the Budapest based ISBN books+gallery.

The ISBN is a contemporary art bookstore and a gallery space established in 2017. The name of the gallery was obtained from the 13-digit identification number for publication, the ISBN-number (International Standard Book Number). The most important mission of the ISBN books+gallery is to map, collect, exhibit and distribute the domestic and regional, Hungarian and foreign language, new and second-hand contemporary art publications, exhibition catalogues, zines, art books, photobooks and theoretical publications.

Young scene of photobook makers in Slovakia/ Olja Triaška Stefanović

Five years ago students from the Department of Photography and New Media at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia showed great interest in making photobooks within their visual researches. Olja Triaška Stefanović, together with her colleague Juraj Blaško from Visual Communication department, realized that it is necessary to open new and interdisciplinary course, that will link two departments and prepare students to make more professional photobooks. They created and started together to teach, PHO BO – Creation of Photobook where the main part of the course is focused on teaching a wide range of technological processes together with visual dramaturgy and storytelling. The author will be focused on the presentation of youngest generations of authors from Slovakia, their production of photobook and how they can improve the self-publishing market in Slovakia. Triaška Stefanović will present their books, zines and introduce to the audience how they work within the PHO BO, what is the course methodology and how they prepare students for professional work after graduation.

I shout „That’s Me!” Stories of Czech fanzines from the ’80s till now // Miloš Hroch & Pavel Turek // presentation of the book

The book ‘I shout “That‘s me!” Stories of Czech fanzines from the 80s till now’, published by PageFive, for the first time takes its readers through uncharted waters of the Czech fanzine scene, that is of unofficial amateur magazines. It brings to light stories of those who fell for computer games or wrote sci-fi stories, who obsessively compiled their own metal music charts, who were driven to street demonstrations by hardcore punk music or who wanted to change the standing of women in society. And about those who then wrote about it freely in their magazines. „This type of publication has the advantage that you can wave it around and shout ‚That’s me!’” – a photographer, a protagonist of the youngest fanzine trend of photozines, explains the essence of fanzines in one of the chapters of the book. And while there is the talk of the decline of printed media, the microcosm of independent printing is constantly expanding.

LET’S TALK ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING – PANEL DISCUSSION

MOCAK, KRAKÓW, 31.05.19

Panel discussion at MOCAK with invited experts from the Visegrad group countries is orientated toward various aspects of the photobooks and self-publishing. The event has an informative and educational character, but also intends to encourage local collaboration.

The debate is focusing on the current situation of self-publishing the Eastern and Central Europe, its role and potential. Guests will discuss the phenomenon in the current socio-political context, its recent trends and how the role of self-publishing evolved in the era of the Internet.

The discussion at MOCAK Musem will be moderated by Michał Sita (Pix.House), and the speakers are Olja Triaška Stefanovič (Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava), Stanislav Briza (Bflmpsvz publishing) and Beáta Istvánkó (ISBN books+gallery, Budapest).

COLLABORATION NOW! SELF-PUBLISHING WORKSHOP

MOCAK, KRAKÓW, 30.05 – 02.06.19

Workshop …. Collaboration Now! International self-publishing workshop.. . is a unique formula designed for PAPERLUST Photobook Festival. As a participant you will gain basic knowledge about photobook creation from the scratch, including craft, design, editing and its function in the wider perspective of the art market. You will have a unique opportunity to work with internationally recognized artists from V4 region. Prepare for an intense experience where you will work in a group as well as directly with workshop leaders and other participating artists. You will progress by presenting your work, participating in round-table discussions and one-to-one sessions.

As a result every participant will create a dummy. This workshop will allow us to develop knowledge and consciousness about the medium of photography, photobooks, editing and narration and the use of visual language and self-expression through art. We believe visual is political and we intend to put it into the process. We will encourage emerging artists and amateurs (participants) to create visual stories, develop real skills and preserve the craft of producing a printed body of art, especially photobook.

Workshop leaders:

Katarzyna Ewa Legendź PBR| PL

Katarzyna Zolich PBR|PL

Leader from Hungary – Gábor Arion Kudász

Leader from Slovakia – Jan Sipocz

Leader from Czech Republic – Teresa Zelenkova

COLLABORATION NOW! SELF-PUBLISHING WORKSHOP

MOCAK, KRAKÓW, 30.05 – 02.06.19

Workshop leaders:

Katarzyna Ewa Legendź PBR| PL

Katarzyna Zolich PBR|PL

Leader from Hungary – Gábor Arion Kudász

Leader from Slovakia – Jan Sipocz

Leader from Czech Republic – Teresa Zelenkova

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Organisers: Fresh From Poland Foundation, Paper Beats Rock Foundation

Strategic partners: FOTOGRAF Magazine (CZ), The Studio of Young Artists’ Association / FKSE (HU), ISBN könyv+galéria (HU), Hardness &Blackness (SK)

Programme curators: Katarzyna Legendź, Katarzyna Zolich

Exhibitions curators: Katarzyna Zolich, Katarzyna Legendź, Gosia Fricze, Grażyna Siedlecka, Katarzyna Roniek, Beata Istvánkó, Markéta Kinterová, Slavomíra Ondrušová

The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.

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worldcup2018kazan · 6 years ago

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Day 9: Kazan Kremlin II - The Inside Story..

Today we decided to return to the Kazan Kremlin to see some more of it, this time we went inside the Mosque which was beautiful, then more souvenir browsing for the girls on what was an extremely hot day, temperatures in excess of 30 degrees C. After this we then took a horse and carriage ride to Bauman Street to sit outside in a nice restaurant. This place was extremely popular, particularly the outside seating which we struck lucky on and got one of the few unreserved tables.

The restaurant was OK, the girls told me it was part of a chain in Russia and that the food was good, they did appear to have a few dishes that were from the Tatar region but three out of the first four things I ordered they either didn't have or I was told it would take over an hour to prepare; very disappointing, I know it's busy but come on you should be capable of handling your number of covers; worse still we were waiting for our main courses for at least an hour anyway. To be fair the food we did have was good but compared to other restaurants we found I'm ranking this pretty low down on what is a good list.

While we were eating outside I could hear the Russian commentary of the first game of the day playing inside, I didn't see the Belgium vs Tunisia game but at 5-2 it was the expected result and a bit of a goal fest in the process; I'd had a few bets on lots of goals so I was happy with the result.

We returned to the apartment via the store to stock up the refrigerator and had a chilled night in, it's been all go for days and with the weather in excess to 30C and no sign of a let up, we were all pretty tired. This did mean I got to see most of South Korea vs Mexico and the whole Germany vs Sweden matches.

I figured Mexico would win so I had quite a few bets on this and also bets for over 2.5 goals and Hernández to score. The Mexicans went 2-0 up firstly from a penalty slotted away by Vela and then an Hernández strike, their counter attacking play is sublime they move the ball so quickly and fluidly on the break they will be a dangerous opponent for any team. Half of my bets were going to pay so I'd be a bit up but it didn't look like the number of goal bets I'd had would pay, but then 3 minutes in to stoppage time and too late to rescue anything from the game, South Korea's (and Spurs) Son Heung-min hit a 25 yard screamer that curled into the top corner.

Next would be the Germans but before that happened I got some messages and video through from the WhatsApp group showing the Colombians taking over Bauman Street, we'd been there a little earlier but didn't walk that far down.

Having suffered a shock defeat to Mexico in the first game and with Sweden on 3 points thanks to a win over South Korea, although I draw wouldn't mathematically send the Germens out they basically needed a win. The German machine kicked into action creating chance after chance that they just couldn't convert. They press so far up the field as a unit very often only the goalkeeper is in his own half and this leaves them vulnerable to a kick counter attack as Mexico had subjected them too in the first game. Although it's not quite as beautiful as the Spanish style you have to admire how the Germans play and the movement of the ball, although I still think they miss a Klose to give another dimension to their game, something that you could level at Spain in the past but the Spanish now have a firing Diago Costa.

The German pressure grew and grew, but suddenly losing possession around the half way line (so unlike the dependable Toni Kroos) they were hit by a great Swedish move and found themselves 1-0 down. Surely it couldn't happen again!

The first half continued with more and more missed German opportunities, you knew it was going to be a complete onslaught in the second half. Three minutes in to it Marco Reus put them back on terms, he's replaced Ozil, in the starting line up today, who people who know me can confirm I've been banging on about for years saying he's overrated and looks good because of the German team around him, sure he can have the odd good game but I'm definitely not a fan, for me I'd play Reus over him everyday of the week. I digress...

More wave after wave of German attack more opportunities just not quite finished due to the lack of a final ball or deft finish, and all the time more and more prone to a Swedish counter attack, what a great game, it ebbed and flowed. Perhaps not quite as good as that amazing Portugal vs Spain game (yes, I've started putting Portugal now instead of Ronaldo, think I've stressed that point enough), but not far off that game; wonderful for the neutral but probably heart attack material for all the Germans and Swedish in the stadium and on TV.

Then, Boateng sent off late on for a second yellow card, it's still 1-1 the Germans really must win but they have 10 men so the counter attack is now more dangerous to them than ever, but the pressure continues to grow. In typical German style just when you think that's it; the Swedes have held out; they give away a daft free kick which in a pre-worked out move ends with Kroos making amends for his earlier mistake and curling a beauty into the top corner.

The tournament has shown you can put a spanner in the German machine but in true German efficiency they look to be able to make last minute repairs.

For me this just further confirms that rather than South Korea vs Germany for my fourth game in Kazan being a dead rubber its a game the Germans again need to win and possible getting a lot of goals in case goal difference comes into play as the Swedes will play the Mexicans at the same time.

But before that I have a rather tasty Poland vs Colombia game tomorrow to enjoy, I'm expecting so much from it. :)

#worldcup #world cup #world cup 2018 #worldcup2018 #kazan #kazankremlin

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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How China’s Outrage Machine Kicked Up a Storm Over H&M When the Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M said in September that it was ending its relationship with a Chinese supplier accused of using forced labor, a few Chinese social media accounts dedicated to the textile industry took note. But by and large, the moment passed without fanfare. Half a year later, Beijing’s online outrage machine sprang into action. This time, its wrath was unsparing. The Communist Party’s youth wing denounced H&M on social media and posted an archival photo of slaves on an American cotton plantation. Official news outlets piled on with their own indignant memes and hashtags. Patriotic web users carried the message across far and varied corners of the Chinese internet. Within hours, a tsunami of nationalist fury was crashing down upon H&M, Nike, Uniqlo and other international clothing brands, becoming the latest eruption over China’s policies in its western region of Xinjiang, a major cotton producer. The crisis the apparel brands now face is familiar to many foreign businesses in China. The Communist Party for years has used the country’s giant consumer market to force international companies to march in step with its political sensibilities, or at least not to contest them openly. But the latest episode has illustrated the Chinese government’s growing skill at whipping up storms of patriotic anger to punish companies that violate this pact. In H&M’s case, the timing of the furor seemed dictated not by anything the retailer did, but by sanctions imposed on Chinese officials last week by the United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada in connection to Xinjiang. China has placed hundreds of thousands of the region’s Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in indoctrination camps and used harsh methods to push them into jobs with factories and other employers. “The hate-fest part is not sophisticated; it’s the same logic they’ve followed going back decades,” said Xiao Qiang, a research scientist at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, and the founder of China Digital Times, a website that tracks Chinese internet controls. But “their ability to control it is getting better,” he said. “They know how to light up those ultra-pro-government, nationalist users,” Mr. Xiao continued. “They’re getting very good at it. They know exactly what to do.” On Monday, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, rejected the notion that Beijing had led the boycott campaign against H&M and the other brands. “These foreign companies refuse to use Xinjiang cotton purely on the basis of lies,” Mr. Zhao said at a news briefing. “Of course this will trigger the Chinese people’s dislike and anger. Does the government even need to incite and guide this?” After the Communist Youth League ignited the outrage last Wednesday, other government-backed groups and state news outlets fanned the flames. They posted memes proposing new meanings behind the letters H and M: mian hua (cotton), huang miu (ridiculous), mo hei (smears). The official Xinhua news agency posted an illustration depicting the Better Cotton Initiative, a group that had expressed concerns about forced labor in Xinjiang, as a blindfolded puppet controlled by two hands that were patterned like an American flag. The buzz quickly drew notice at Beijing’s highest levels. On Thursday, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman held up a photo of slaves in American cotton fields during a news briefing. The messages were amplified by people with large followings but largely nonpolitical social media presences. Squirrel Video, a Weibo account dedicated to silly videos, shared the Communist Youth League’s original post on H&M with its 10 million followers. A gadget blogger in Chengdu with 1.4 million followers shared a clip showing a worker removing an H&M sign from a mall. A user in Beijing who posts about television stars highlighted entertainers who had ended their contracts with Adidas and other targeted brands. “Today’s China is not one that just anyone can bully!” he wrote to his nearly seven million followers. “We do not ask for trouble, but we are not afraid of trouble either.” A fashion influencer named Wei Ya held a live video event on Friday hawking products made with Xinjiang cotton. In her Weibo post announcing the event, she made sure to tag the Communist Youth League. By Monday, news sites were circulating a rap video that combined the cotton issue with some popular recent lines of attack on Western powers: “How can a country where 500,000 have died of Covid-19 claim the high ground?” One Weibo user posted a lushly animated video that he said he worked through the night to make. It shows white-hooded men pointing guns at Black cotton pickers and ends with a lynching. “These are your foolish acts; we would never,” a caption reads. Less than two hours after the user shared the video, it was reposted by Global Times, a party-controlled newspaper known for its nationalist tone. Many web users who speak up during such campaigns are motivated by genuine patriotism, even if China’s government does pay some people to post party-line comments. Others, such as the traffic-hungry blog accounts derided in China as “marketing accounts,” are probably more pragmatic. They just want the clicks. In these moments of mass fervor, it can be hard to say where official propaganda ends and opportunistic profit seeking begins. “I think the boundary between the two is increasingly blurred,” said Chenchen Zhang, an assistant professor of politics at Queen’s University Belfast who studies Chinese internet discourse. “Nationalistic topics sell; they bring in a lot of traffic,” Professor Zhang said. “Official accounts and marketing accounts, they come together and all take part in this ‘market nationalism.’” Chinese officials are being careful not to let the anger get out of hand. According to tests conducted by China Digital Times, internet platforms have been diligently controlling search results and comments related to Xinjiang and H&M since last week. An article in Global Times urged readers to “resolutely criticize those like H&M that make deliberate provocations, but at the same time, stay rational and beware of pretend patriots joining the crowd to stir up hatred.” The Communist Youth League has been at the forefront of optimizing party messages for viral engagement. Its influence is growing as more voices in society look for ways to show loyalty to Beijing, said Fang Kecheng, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Communications at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “They have more and more fans,” Professor Fang said. “And whether it’s other government departments, marketing accounts or these nationalist influencers, they all are paying attention to their positions more closely and are immediately following along.” The H&M uproar has had the presumably unintended effect of causing more Chinese internet users to discuss the situation in Xinjiang. For many years, people generally avoided the subject, knowing that comments that dwelled on the harsh aspects of China’s rule there could get them in trouble. To avoid detection by censors, many web users referred to the region not by its Chinese name, but by using the Roman letters “xj.” But in recent days, some have discovered firsthand why it still pays to be cautious when talking about Xinjiang. One beauty blogger told her nearly 100,000 Weibo followers that she had been contacted by a woman who said she was in Xinjiang. The unnamed woman said that her father and other relatives had been locked up, and that the foreign news reports about mass internments were all true. Within hours, the blogger apologized for the “bad impact” her post had made. “Don’t just support Xinjiang cotton, support Xinjiang people too!” another Weibo user wrote. “Support Xinjiang people walking the streets and not having their phone and ID checked.” The post later vanished. Its author declined to comment, citing concerns for his safety. Weibo did not respond to a request for comment. Lin Qiqing contributed research. Source link Orbem News #Chinas #kicked #machine #OUTRAGE #storm

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falkenscreen · 4 years ago

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Irish Film Festival Navigates 2020

“Necessity is the mother of invention; back in March the idea of running an online festival seemed beyond our technical capabilities but the pandemic has caused many changes to happen and people have had to adapt to a new reality”

Irish Film Festival founder Dr. Enda Murray sat down to chat about the first IFF online in the Fest’s six-year run. Having enjoyed five seasons replete with satellite events in Western Sydney and Perth, Australia’s solely-dedicated Irish film fleadh’s lifeblood of volunteers and passionate Irish community participation has seen, without fail, an annual Chauvel home run more memorable than most.

“The main challenge for a tiny arts organisation is finding the resources and skills to manage and operate a high-end technical process,” said Enda. “A benefit of online Film Festivals is that they are accessible to people who might be denied access in a physical sense due to distance or disability.”

“We are a cultural Festival and the arts has a difficult time in Australia at the best of times. The pandemic has made it very difficult for grassroots arts organisations who do not work in the commercial space who are the life-blood of our Festival. Other countries such as Ireland support entry level arts because it is recognised as an entry point into the industry and also a place where artists and technicians hone their craft. I think Australia is in danger of losing its unique voice unless local production is ringfenced and supported.”

The pandemic has seen an unprecedented number of Film Festivals either delaying the better part of a year, postponing indefinitely or giving little to no indication that they will run again in the foreseeable future if at all. Most Festivals heralded by commercial outlets included the Sydney, British and Jewish International Film Festivals have either relied on consummate digital infrastructure to reach audiences in their homes, resumed proceedings within limited capacity or indicated a timeframe for so doing ala the Children’s International Film Festival. Among the aforementioned Festivals are events with audiences not insignificantly yet not exclusively composed of demographics to whom Government health advice has been more greatly adverse as regards contracting COVID-19; with the corresponding Festivals notably to date subsisting entirely online.

Some Festivals more heavily reliant on volunteers such as SF3 have either resumed in person, solely opted for streaming or determined a hybrid model. Other non-profit Festival ventures, contending with reliably lesser patrons and revenue whether or not they proceed with a traditional or adaptive 2020 showcases, have been forced to reckon whether such a run is financially inviable and irrespective prudent in light of the above. The Irish Film Festival being no less a tradition than many of the now longstanding Australian Film Festivals, this author joins many in relishing the annual tradition even if the form isn’t that to which we’re accustomed. Some Festivals have written off the year, some won’t come back and others will struggle to maintain a viable audience having not recurred in requisite time or otherwise having lost momentum. IFF’s audience would have been back in 2021 and will be grateful for the visits to our living rooms.

“My curatorial policy starts with my own gut instinct; I’m roughly the same age as a lot of our audience so my own preferences are a good place to start,” said Enda of the Festival which has consistently drawn from across the breadth of Irish cinema and genre iterations. “2020 has been a dismal year for just about everyone so we were keen to get some comedies to liven up proceedings.”

“Also ‘When Women Won’ which is about the change to the 8th Amendment in Ireland (which prohibited abortion) was an important film in terms of taking stories from contemporary Ireland to Australia. I’ve found that as the years go by I have more in common with fellow migrants to Australia than I have with people who I grew up with because the migrant experience is such a huge part of my life journey; one of the aims of the Festival is to explore the experience of being Irish in Australia and to this end we have started a short film competition which is dedicated to filmmakers who are of Irish origin wherever they may be around the world. We had some great entries this year including the winner ‘Wine Lake’ and we are looking forward to more great films in the future.”

While there has been a consistent Festival focus over the years on Northern Ireland whether a result of the fixtures’ origins or subject matters, commencing in 2018 and coinciding with the anniversary of the Good Friday agreement there has been a persistent and stronger focus on the region continuing in 2019 and indeed in 2020 with ‘The Ballymurphy Precedent’ chronicling the killing of 11 people in Belfast 5 months prior to Bloody Sunday.

“We have found that documentaries about the Northern Ireland Troubles provoke a huge reaction in Australia,” said Enda. “We found this with Alex Gibney’s ‘No Stone Unturned’ in 2018 and again with Seán Murray’s ‘Unquiet Graves’ last year. Getting justice for the victims of the Troubles is a big factor in achieving a lasting peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and I think our audiences share this view.”

“It has been an anxious time for the Irish Film Festival crew because the move to an online format is such a huge leap for a small organisation but we have a marvellous bunch of people involved in the organising team and we have done our level best to make this a great Festival. We know that a lot of Irish people did not make their annual trip home this year so it’s especially important to keep those links with home for Irish ex-pats and for the wider Aussie community we want to bring some Gaelic sunshine to Australia!”

The Irish Film Festival is screening online until November 29

on Festevez

#xl #festivals #film festivals #sydney film festivals #enda murray #the ballymurphy incident #irish film #irish cinema #covid-19 #irish film festival #irish film festival 2020

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blacknovelist · 7 years ago

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Yknow what? This post has been sitting in my goddamn drafts for almost a year, so I’m gonna step back into the BNHA Desolation AU stuff for a bit and do a spontaneous thought dump of timeline, plot, concept, and canon parallel stuff. Not necessarily in that order.

So the timeline of Desolation AU is a looooooot more stretched out than in Canon, bc everyone needs time to do pretty much everything (Adjust to moving to Musutafu, train for the military, practice with and learn about Quirk Replacement/Simulation tech and actual Quirks, etc.), and as a result of this, Izuku does actually go out on missions without One for All. Its necessary as part of his regime (since he’s to be All Might’s successor, presumably, and Toshinori had to do this stuff too), and it helps promote good bonding with the rest of his troops. Izuku spends a good few years out on the field without the Quirk before Toshinori officially declares him his successor.

Nana died in battle against AfO and his men (AfO himself was mostly watching, and was not part of the battle until the end of it, when he and Nana fought briefly before he mortally wounded her and ordered a retreat). Toshinori was with her along with a few others like Gran Torino, and though they successfully got her back to Musutafu, she died of her injuries some time later. By this point, Nana has already passed on leadership over to Toshinori, but that didn’t make things easier. A lot of people really loved her.

Anyway; most of the Desolation AU stuff I’ve already talked about concerns backstory and world building and is generally really dark and dry and stuff, but that’s not really how the actual plot is. Like canon BNHA, I really want it to be kind of hopeful, kind of bright, kind of optimistic of a story even though everything is shit right now (and will be for some time). I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff.

While the song (Cut Apart from the Transistor OST) is very empty and, well, desolate sounding, which is why I though of a wrecked post-war world, I like the eventual progression back into a brighter and happy world (which is why I mentioned elements of both Transistor and Bastion in Desolation AU’s original ask post, since Bastion is much happier of a game)

The plot itself is, more or less; Following decades of war, the two factions have finally reached a tentative peace. Both sides are looking for a way to restart the war and end it once and for all, but a secret third faction from a city called Musutafu is moving in to combat years of ingrained hatred against the other side and encourage peace and prevent war from erupting again. All Might is the leader of Musutafu and the face of peace between Quirked and Quirkless people, but he’s looking for a successor to inherit both his Quirk and the responsibilities of being the head like he is. So, more or less the same plot as BNHA, except instead of heroes and villains it’s military factions. Did I mention I don’t really know much about what I’m talking about like, 85% of the time?

For the Kamino Ward stuff (my honest to God favorite stuff to think about at all times), I’m thinking that what happens is Musutafu’s camps are breached for the first time by AfO, who sends Shigaraki to oversee the operation with everyone without taking part. Bakugou is dragged off, presumably so they can try and sway over to their side and, failing that, get info from him. Musutafu stage raids on the area they confirm he’s being held - the group who snuck out in Canon (Deku, Shouto, Creatie, Red Riot, Ingenium) are, in the AU, instead assigned the warehouse area to raid with several others, since at this point Izuku has inherited OfA (not that anyone knows yet) and they are all soldiers in their own right (due to timeline stretching, they should be in their early twenties or older at this point). I’m playing with the idea of this being when the world at Large learns that Toshinori no longer has the quirk that put All Might/Musutafu on the map and the Musutafu guys leak it that he gave it to his successor like all the other Musutafu leaders, to make him into the symbol of peace and sacrifice I mentioned in previous posts, but I’m not sure I wanna keep that. Either way, like in Canon, this is the end of his career.

The equivalent of the sports fest arc will probably end up being a rapid fire series of missions and raids that put them into the spotlight for a bit and garner attention from the big man Endeavor himself.

To steer my conscience back to the timeline itself though, here’s a rough draft of the timelines (canonically AfO’s reign presumably spans several generations, and the same goes for Desolation. Let me know if I messed up somewhere though, I did this half asleep):

–> The start: Quirks start cropping up. Later on, AfO makes his debut on the world scene. –> He publically goes too far, provoking tensions between Quirked and Quirkless and thereby instigating a slowly escalating war between these two factions –> What starts as one region of the world at war with itself turns into pretty much the whole world fighting against itself –> At some point, OfA slips off, rescues people, and founds Musutafu –> Timeskip at several generations: the treaty is signed –> A couple years later; Musutafu surfaces the world scene, and stays in the shadows –> Nana Shimura leaves her family behind to join Musutafu –> A couple years later, she joins the mission that rescues Toshinori’s hijacked convoy and takes them to the city –> About five to ten years later, when Toshinori is a teen, he joins the military –> Less than a year later, the news of her husband’s death reaches her. She spends months using her resources to look for her son before being forced to assume him dead –> A few years after Toshinori’s enrollment, Nana declares him her successor and gives him her Quirk to start direct training –> After two and a half years of training, Toshinori takes on his mantle of All Might and becomes leader of Musutafu. Nana conditionally retires and continues to work with their troops and go on missions. –> Over the course of the next fifteen to twenty years (give or take a good few years), All Might puts Musutafu onto the map and world scene as a radical declaring peace, and turns himself and Musutafu into symbols of peace –> Towards the 10-year mark (give or take a couple), Nana Shimura is mortally wounded in battle against AfO and dies to her injuries –> Several years later (anywhere from two to five), AfO stages a drifter attack to kill All Might, only to be mortally wounded. All Might is likewise injured but the city is saved, marking victory for Musutafu. Both are forced to temporarily fade from whatever spotlights they’d been under –> A few months after that, AfO finds Nana Shimura’s son being shipped off via convoy and spirits him away –> Toshinori spends his time looking for a successor when he’s not hiding his condition and going on missions, before the eventual mission to Izuku’s hometown –> Musutafu receive Intel about a series of drifter raids on a group of cities and set out to intercept them –> Following the First Episode-equivalent events of the drifter attack, Izuku and Bakugou’s families decide to move to Musutafu (for their own safeties) –> Izuku and Bakugou enlist in the military cadets program (not unlike cadets irl, except a little more intensive) for the UA corps (TBD if that’s the name I’m keeping) so they can join properly when they’re of age. –> Izuku is doing this on Toshinori’s recommendation, and they meet regularly to talk about pretty much anything –> *Insert several year training montage here* (the entrance exam, hero vs villain and USJ arcs all fall under here) –> They’re eventually enlisted formally (approx age is likely 18-early twenties), after this is prob the sports fest equiv. –> Toshinori gives Izuku OfA somewhere in here. –> That’s more or less all I got for now (chronologically at least)

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #desolation au #bnha au #blacknovelist talks #bnha spoilers #i wrote most of this the night before my ap calc exam last year but it was worth it #i forgot this was in my drafts but it all looks good so i figured i'd finally post it #in all honesty idk if i like how i'm doing this au and i might consider a full overhaul and redo of the whole thing #but for now here's some plot and timeline shit!#*jazz hands*

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gurukulglobal · 5 years ago

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Gurukul Global School - School Profile

Hi Friends,

I am Gurukul Global School, today I would like to share with you all the glorious journey of eleven years. I was born on 13th April 2008 and since my birth, I have seen an upward growth and witnessed so many a young glowing faces joining me as tiny tots and leaving me as Well-groomed boys and girls. Before I share the nostalgic journey first and foremost I would like to extend a warm thanks to my revered Mentors who have given me a State-of-art Infrastructure with Smart Classrooms, beautiful lush green environs. So let me start now taking up various aspects of my growth.

My Mentors

Whatever I am today is because of the great vision of our revered Managing Director Shri Parveen Setya who dreamt about my creation. He worked hard to give shape to his dream project and thus evolved my unique personality. He is still there with me standing tall with his unflinching support and as a pillar of strength for all my stakeholders.

Giving him support next I would extend my thanks to the motherly and angelic figure none other than of our President Mam Mrs Neena Setya Ji who has always been therewith open arms to shower her love and compassion on each and every one she not only supports but guides us in the right direction with her sparkling and smiling personality.

Our chairman Sir Dr V.D. Singh has always been our true guide and his calm, serene personality has always supported and volunteered to take me to new heights. Here I would also like to thank one and all of the members of the management committee for their love and support in taking me to new heights everyday.

Without an able and strong leadership no Institution can be in the limelight and taking me to this glory is our Principal mam Mrs Urvashi Kakkar who is young, energetic and a real captain who sets an example by following what she preaches, she initiates and guides us to have a progressive vision. Now with such towering and motivating mentors I do aim at the holistic development of my students.

My Motto

‘Empowering Young Minds’ is my motto and I try to empower every child who trusts me and becomes my part. I lay equal emphasis to the traditional values and at the same time I believe in offering students ample exposure to the latest trends and technology.

Awards and Recognitions

Within a span of a decade I have been recognized with prestigious awards and recognitions. I was awarded the prestigious ISA certification by British Council. I have been awarded peace and mission knowledge award at UNESCO auditorium. I have also to my credit Edupreneur Award by the Times Group and the Prestigious Peace Award at Peace Fest – IYPF-2014.

My Infrastructure

I have a diverse range of class software designed to assist academic teaching – learning process this makes it a truly smart school. I have an ATL and Robotics lab. I have a state of Arts Computer labs all these things encourage technology-assisted learning. Apart from these, our students' area encouraged to participate in regular skills set activities which help to keep them healthy, updated and alert.

Regular Assessments:

I lay a lot of emphasis on the summative and formative assessments. Apart from these, my students are excelling in Olympiads and Proficiency tests. My students also win laurels in various Interschool competitions. I think it is imperative for students to learn the skills of critical thinking, creativity, communication and compassion.

Academic Excellence:

My students of Board classes have proved their mettle in all these years when they have shown excellent results and made an indelible mark in the Tricity. Our academic achievers this year are as follows:

Walking hand in hand: I believe strongly that an effective school is where all the stakeholders’ – students, parents, teachers, substitute staff and administrators, management and community- is benefitted. My students are taught to value all and work for the welfare of each one hand in hand.

My Kindergarten:

At the tender age of 2-3 years when a tiny tot leaves the secured home atmosphere and steps into my kindergarten – My loving and nurturing staff welcomes them with love, compassion and a pledge to make each one of them a perfect human being and leaves no stone unturned to home their innate talents and imaginations. We give each one a platform to learn and grow. Learning by doing is the technique which is followed to teach them the intricacies of life – they learn to draw, colour, create and build in a natural play way method. With my kindergarten has swings, toys, field trips, picnics, celebrations, festivities, foot-tapping music and dance to keep them active and learn through extra-curricular activities. I take a lot of care to break the monotony of books, notebooks, bags and homework. We try to give all the tiny tots the freedom to do and learn. We conduct intra-class competitions like cutting and pasting, table laying, recitation, storytelling, fancy dress and gardening to name a few.

Student Exchange programmes:

I organize International Immersion programmes every year to ensure the holistic growth of my students and give them real global exposure. We have participated in various interactive programmes with the students of Afghanistan and Nepal. Our students have attended summer programmes at Harvard and had an opportunity to visit NASA and get a first-hand feel of travelling in space.

Transforming learning through extra-curricular activities:

I do take a lot of care to bring my students out of their classroom and to ensure that their childhood is not buried under the books. Various Intra and inter-school events are planned in my academic calendar so that each student gets ample opportunities to open his wings and fly to broaden their horizons. I strongly believe that every student has hidden potentials which they can polish in various hobby clubs. We have myriad hobby clubs like - Art&Craft, Dramatics, Einstein club, Press club, culinary club, young thinkers club to name a few.

PDC and MUN an integrated part:

I have been conducting regular PDC and MUN every year since 2017 and that has become a major event in the school calendar. Participation in these gives a true global exposure to my participating students. They get a chance to interact and discuss the problems faced by the world countries and the world at large. They not only discuss but come out with solutions to such world issues. These platforms go an extra mile in increasing the confidence level of my students.

Games and Sports - my integral part:

I have not only made a mark in academics but my sports stars have been recognized at the regional, state, national and international levels also. My student of class 8 Hunar Mittal – a young golfer- made us all proud when she was declared in the girls B category tournament. She has played 126 tournaments out of which 12 at the international level. My basketball students have won laurels at the national level. Not only in the outdoor games, my students have excelled in indoor games also Arnav Aggarwal our Table Tennis golden boy has left an indelible mark when he won gold in U-14, U-15, U-18, U-21 tournaments and has secured a position at the national level.

#Top school in Chandigarh #Top CBSE school in Chandigarh #best kindergarten school chandigarh #Best school near IT park #school targeting holistic development

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rajucla-blog · 5 years ago

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Documentary Observations (including fundraising)

One of the documentaries I’m producing is the upcoming The Reunited States, based on Mark Gerzon’s book of the same name. Working closely with the talented director Ben Rekhi (whose killer film, WATCH LIST opens at the Seattle International Film Festival, or SIFF, in competition this Friday - tickets here, Deadline article here), we’ve been mapping out some of the ways to make the story as emotionally and socially impactful as possible (especially because the subject matter relates directly to civic engagement). As a result, I’ve been ploughing through a bunch of material on fundraising, the social impact potential for documentaries, as well as watching a bunch of award-winning documentaries as well. The below is a summary of my findings in case it is useful for any other budding filmmakers who may be as equally out of their depth as I am right now.

Creating a Social Impact

To begin with, I was led by this LA times article (’Leonardo DiCaprio, Don Cheadle praise the power of social impact entertainment’) to the Doc Society’s Impact Field Guide & Toolkit, a rich set of resources including a template that can be filled out for your own documentary that will help you postulate exactly what kinds of goals you want to set for your doc (and the metrics you’ll want to track in order to ensure progress), a well as a rich database of case studies on documentaries that have successfully made an impact. I found a couple of resources to be particularly helpful:

- Strategic Plan template - filling this out, especially aided by example case studies of well known documentaries (Blackfish & No Fire Zone, amongst others) helped crystallize exactly what the goals were that we were trying to achieve

- The Safe & Secure Checklist, also developed by the Doc Society - outlines some basic legal and insurance hygiene practices that any documentary filmmaker should keep in mind

Using the strategic plan template, we’ve now crafted a draft of our social impact plan, including a list of more than 100+ NGOs and civic organizations that we’ve been reaching out to in order to create a foundation for the people and tools that we’ll be able to leverage to help us, as well as a list of places we’ll be able to hold screenings

Fundraising

The IDA’s fundraising table is a pretty comprehensive list of all of the grants available globally to filmmakers, and you can filter by region, type of doc, etc. We used this to create a Google spreadsheet of 50+ foundations / grants / film funds that we then began applying to. Having a spreadsheet made it easy to track as we could note down the status, our login details for any apps, and also link to another Google doc that held our Documentary Core Application Checklist materials, a standard that many of these grant-making organizations use in building their applications. A couple of other links that we used as well to create our full fundraising list:

https://www.docsinprogress.org/funding_documentary

http://www.filmdaily.tv/grants/documentary

https://blog.storyhunter.com/25-documentary-filmmaking-grants-you-need-to-apply-for-this-year-6000cfba2600

http://edn.network/nc/resources/docalendar/showevent/rogers-documentary-fund/

https://www.amdoc.org/create/filmmaker-resources/#.Uz8IHqhX-uZ

http://www.impactpartnersfilm.com/sites/impactpartnersfilm/files/SOURCES%20OF%20FINANCING%20FOR%20DOCUMENTARY%20FILM%20--%20FINANCING%20101%20-%20Dan%20Cogan_0.pdf

Once we finish our full fundraising cycle, I’ll post our spreadsheet here so that readers can see the exact mechanics we used to keep on track (frankly, I’m surprised there isn’t a technology product that helps people with this). If you need it sooner or would like to have a conversation about how to optimize this process for our own project, don’t hesitate to reach out at [email protected]. Fundraising can be difficult, and we want to help.

Festivals

It’s still early in our festival strategy, but we’ve started to build a list of the festivals we’ll be going out to in the fall and the spring. I’ll post more information here as this strategy becomes solidified, but the biggest ones on our radar right now are the prestige circuit (e.g. TIFF, Sundance, Berlindale, SXSW), the doc-centric ones (IDFA, Doc NYC, Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, and DOXA Doc FF in Canada), and especially the doc festivals that also have a market where you could meet potential buyers (Sheffield Doc Fest has MeetMarket, Visions Du Reel in Switzerland has the Doc Outlook International Market, and Hot Docs in Canada has The Doc Shop). Some resources below that we used to build our list, including the list of festivals where your documentary can potentially be nominated for an Oscar (surprisingly, there weren’t any in the US):

https://filmdaily.co/craft/best-documentary-film-festivals-2019/

https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/92aa_doc_feature_festivals.pdf

http://www.documentaryfilms.net/festivals.htm

The Films

The journey into the depths of the documentary world led me to watch a number of recent classics, especially the ones focused around creating some kind of a social impact. I caught BEFORE THE FLOOD, CHASING ICE, and CHASING CORAL on the streaming platforms, and I caught FRAMING JOHN DeLOREAN at the Roxie Theatre as a part of the SF Indie Documentary festival. Finally, I also managed to watch the wonderful SKID ROW MARATHON at a recent CAAW (Camera as a Witness) event at Stanford, where the movie was screened in association with the United Nations Association Film Festival (another prestigious documentary-centric film festival, which takes place in Palo Alto in October 2019).

There were some interesting similarities and differences in styles and techniques that I observed, including:

- Central characters - Every film had a strong, empathetic central character that goes on a transformative journey which allows the audience to better relate to the unfolding events. CHASING ICE and CHASING CORAL were particularly interesting in that their main characters were not necessarily well known celebrities like Leonardo Dicaprio or John DeLorean, but highly specialized scientists who are building specialized equipment in order to be able to capture the time-lapse photography to show the decline of the world’s glaciers or mass coral bleaching events. Fisher Stevens, the Director of BEFORE THE FLOOD, summarizes the impact of having the story track a main character in this State of Impact Entertainment (SIE) report:

Having Leo as our main character meant that he became our tour guide for the issue, and he was able to take the audience through the narrative as it unfolded, allowing the audience to learn in tandem with him. That made everything far more compelling. It also made it feel less like the film was preaching — and with films like this you can’t preach or you’ll lose people. As a result, we were very careful and if we ever thought that the material was veering in that direction, we’d cut it.

I also believe that you have to make films like this personal. I tried to draw that aspect out of Leo in Before the Flood because that’s what really makes these films resonate. A good example of this is An Inconvenient Truth because Al Gore was going through a period of turmoil and change in his life and was so open about that in the film. It revealed so much about who he is as a person and the audience was able to connect with him and the film because of it.

Judge Mitchell in SKID ROW MARATHON is another compelling example; stoic, hard-working, and an extremely accomplished Los Angeles Superior Court judge, the camera tracks his unflinching style as he both dishes out justice in the court but goes to extreme lengths to try to inspire positive social change in the homeless and ex-cons by building an inspiring running movement.

- Climatic presentation - In CHASING ICE, CHASING CORAL and BEFORE THE FLOOD, all the main characters deliver a climactic, powerful presentation summarizing the findings of their journey in front of a large audience. What was obviously impactful here were the reaction shots of the audience, many of whom wept; you would think a coral bleaching event would be a pretty dry, academic affair, but seeing the emotional reactions of scientists and viewers at the end made the world’s mass bleaching events made it feel like you were losing something close to you

The most “out there” documentary was probably FRAMING JOHN DeLOREAN. It was shocking to learn about the history behind the pop culture icon of the DeLOREAN car, made famous by the BACK TO THE FUTURE movies. But the directors also used a hilarious, unconventional storytelling narrative in that they combined a traditional journalist re-telling (relying extensively on audio and video footage, including the infamous FBI takedown footage) with re-enactments (with the famous star Alec Baldwin playing DeLOREAN). However, there was a third element I found to be the most irreverent and also illuminating in terms of really understanding the psyche of the subjects - the actors analysis of the characters they were playing, as the actors themselves, while they were on set or in the makeup room getting ready to play the characters themselves. It was hugely beneficial in understanding the complexity of a man like John DeLorean to hear the actor’s assessment of how he would feel on different days based on the events being portrayed, and how he saw the state of mind of the subject even when he may have engaged in nefarious activity. I thought it was a fascinating look behind the curtain of a psyche of a complex person that we rarely get to see, displayed by the experienced actors playing them.

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abitterlifethroughcinema · 6 years ago

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WOKE! Film Reviews

BCN FILM FESTIVAL 2019 (DAYS TWO AND THREE)

Lucas Avram Cavazos

As St. Jordi wafted drizzly into evening, so did the films, and it’s a good thing that all these screenings mostly take place in the two Cinema Verdi locales in the heart of Gracia, replete with ‘xerradas’ (talks) with directors, actors and industry folks, much like the one I attended where famed director and playwright Mike Leigh graced us with his presence as he premiered his latest, quite historical opus, which clocks in at 2-1/2 hours. More about that below under the critique.

As the lone wolf in the Catalan film critics circle who reviews in English, it comes down to careful planning on how to strategically choose and attend the premieres of the film fest I go to…and then I bust my bum and get these reviewed recommendations to you, my lovely readers. Shall we continue with the Barcelona Film Fest 3.0 then?

Peterloo ###-1/2 There is a sense of wonder that occurs whenever Mike Leigh quietly releases a new film. One of the ‘xerrada’ audience members inquired if Leigh might ever return to the stage as a playwright, to which the famed director said that cinema was now the continuing love and preferred mode of work for him. Set exactly 200 years ago, as the fall of Waterloo has just happened, Leigh’s latest opus takes an in-depth, and often trying, look into the plight of the Mancunian labourers who were butchered and many more abhorrently beaten during revolts in 1819; to this day, the St. Peter’s Field Masacre remains a horrid mark on British history. The costumes and scenery that so perfectly paint a picture of these times also make sure we know how absolutely brutal they were. What Leigh also does is attempt to highlight that whatever the sad state of affairs that existed 200 years ago, we have not come far when actually confronting the injustices still rife in the UK, especially when looking at the “reports” that led to Brexit and its ridiculous stronghold nearly three years later after its vote. And its to his mastery, if at times a bit too long in its intricacy, this film also takes a stab at the backdrop behind the Peterloo massacre; alas, it was this drama that led to eventual parliamentary action against workers, only to then finally provoke parliamentary reform and the obvious need for unions and tougher workers’ rights. The film itself is long on political talk and there are often long slogs of minutes saturated by hard-to-define speeches and MP debates, which do fairly little to add to the meat and potatoes of the plot, so I sincerely think that a good 25-35 minutes could have been excised and still a concise movie would have resulted in similar statements That said, it is hard, especially as a tutor of modern history, to watch the film and not think that the Britons of a post-Brexit realm may need to seriously consider their protective rights as workers who once belonged to a larger union, imperfect to say the least, but still a force that gave strength to an already strong European power. Only time will tell what happens.

Born a King ### There is a new age of rising cinema awareness currently happening in Saudi Arabia. It lies part and parcel with many supposed tendencies taken by current ruler Muhammad Ben Salman as of late to paint a prettier picture of a new and changing Saudi nation, replete with women able to drive and cinema houses able to be opened for the first time ever. Let’s talk about this tasked farce for alas, it was ridden all over this film, and in the ‘xerrada’ that took place later in the week, that Saudi hands and money certainly had a stake on how this film would paint the story of the modern age of rulers of Saudi Arabia, as well as, their relations with the British Empire. In reference to that, there seems to be a motive to say that the Saudis were certainly on an even keel with the Brits, as we are speaking of what are certainly thought of as empires. Director Augusti Vilaronga (he of Pa Negre fame) took on the extraordinary task of helping create and direct the first European movie in history to be filmed in Saudi Arabia, as well as, now being the first film to show across new movie houses in Saudi Arabia. That said, when asked about the funding, he and one of his producers seemed to mumble over the fact, stating that money from Saudi hands was very little and was private…things that make you go hmmmm. The film is simple and easy to watch, though it starts off like what seems to be an animated affair, only to turn into a tale of the wonderful Faisal (first-timer Abdullah Ali), young son of warrior and King Abdulaziz of Arabia travelling to England as a barely 14 year old lad meeting and hosting audiences with heads of state in the name of his father and land. Detailing the conflicts and strengths between two extremely different modes of empires in a “modern age” is never easy in any manner, so the look of the film is a winder to its own self, as it highlights the way people live(d) in the two respective regions, as well as, the superiority complex that highlights so many governmental policies and mentalities. All in all, I liked the historical aspect of the story it attempts to detail, but all I kept thinking was…did anyone who funded this have any links to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi? I’d tread lightly with ever working with the Saud…Spanish history, especially militarily, rarely strays too far from that family, unfortunately.

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir #### One of the best films of the early part of the festival, Journey tells the charming and oft-times oddly harrowing voyage of Aja Patel (Tamil cinema star Dhanush), a conman who uses magic to his whims and as a way to pick people’s pockets. When his mum dies far too early in life without him ever making it to Paris with her, he decides to journey there and find his long-lost father. Now, suspension of disbelief is of utmost necessity here, but this film’s playful take on reality fused with fantasy, above par comedic acting, and fantastic scenarios in wonderful settings makes it so delectably enjoyable to watch. The thing is not so much the journey itself, but how happenstance plays a big part of everything Aja goes through and it is as inviting as it is silly. From a stowaway adventure in an Ikea-like furniture move to England to another stowaway moment via a huge Louis Vuitton suitcase to Rome and even a hot air balloon ride to Libya, we eagerly follow this incredible tale as it winds us around half the world and then back to India. Canadian director Ken Scott has crafted what is one of the finest pieces of celluloid love I’ve seen this year, and I hope it finds the international success that the book upon which its based did.

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