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jamaljames · 6 years ago

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Songs in the Key of Life

This is an entry I posted yesterday on Facebook but was quickly told that it was entirely too long for Facebook. However it was suggested that I write a blog instead so … here goes we’ll see how this goes… please read and enjoy …

"Songs in the Key of Life" is the eighteenth album by American recording artist Stevie Wonder, released on September 28, 1976, by Motown Records, through its division Tamla Records. It was the culmination of his "classic period" albums. An ambitious double LP that included a four-song bonus EP, the album became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Wonder's career. In 2003, it was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2005, it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, which deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

By 1976, Stevie Wonder had become one of the most popular figures in R&B and pop music, not only in the U.S., but worldwide. Within a short space of time, the albums Talking Book, Innervisions and Fulfillingness' First Finale were all back-to-back top five successes, with the latter two winning Grammy Award for Album of the Year, in 1974 and 1975, respectively. By the end of 1975, Wonder became serious about quitting the music industry and emigrating to Ghana to work with handicapped children. He had expressed his anger with the way that the U.S. government was running the country. A farewell concert was being considered as the best way to bring down the curtain on his career. Wonder changed his decision, when he signed a new contract with Motown on August 5, 1975, thinking he was better off making the most of his career. At the time, rivals such as Arista and Epic were also interested in him. The contract was laid out as a seven-year, seven LP, $37 million deal ($172,277,675 in today's money) and gave him full artistic control, making this the largest deal made with a recording star up to that point. Almost at the beginning Wonder took a year off from the music market, with a project for a double album to be released in 1976. There was huge anticipation for the new album which was initially scheduled for release around October 1975. It was delayed on short notice when Wonder felt that further remixing was essential. According to Wonder, the marketing campaign at Motown decided to take advantage of the delay by producing "We're almost finished" T-shirts. Work on the new album continued into early 1976. A name was finally chosen for the album: Songs in the Key of Life. The title would represent the formula of a complex "key of life" and the proposals for indefinite success. The album was released on September 28, 1976, after a two-year wait as a double LP album with a four-track seven-inch EP titled A Something's Extra ("Saturn", "Ebony Eyes", "All Day Sucker" and "Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)") and a 24-page lyric and credit booklet. A total of 130 people worked on the album, but Wonder's preeminence during the album was evident. Among the people present during the sessions, there were legendary figures of R&B, soul and jazz music – Herbie Hancock played Fender Rhodes on "As", George Benson played electric guitar on "Another Star", and Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams added backing vocals on "Ordinary Pain". Mike Sembello was a prominent personality throughout the album, playing guitar on several tracks and also co-writing "Saturn" with Wonder. Some of the most socially conscious songs of the album were actually written by Wonder with other people – these included "Village Ghetto Land" and "Black Man" (co-written with Gary Byrd) and "Have a Talk with God" (co-written by Calvin Hardaway). Nathan Watts, Wonder's newest bass player at the time, originally recorded a bass track for "Isn't She Lovely" that Wonder replaced with his own keyboard bass for the final version. The same guide-track method was employed for "Knocks Me Off My Feet". At the time of release, reporters and music critics, and everyone who had worked on the album, traveled to Long View Farm, a recording studio in Massachusetts for a press preview of the album. Everybody received autographed copies of the album and Wonder gave interviews. Critical reception was positive. The album was viewed as a guided tour through a wide range of musical styles and the life and feelings of the artist. It included recollections of childhood, of first love and lost love. It contained songs about faith and love among all peoples and songs about social justice for the poor and downtrodden. On February 19, 1977, Stevie was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, an award that he had already won twice, in 1974 and 1975, for Innervisions and Fulfillingness’ First Finale. Since 1973, Stevie’s presence at the Grammy ceremonies had been consistent – he attended most of the ceremonies and also used to perform on stage. But in 1976, he did not attend as he was not nominated for any awards (as he had not released any new material during the past year). Paul Simon, who received the Grammy for Album of the Year in that occasion (for Still Crazy After All These Years) jokingly thanked Stevie “for not releasing an album” that year. A year after, Wonder was nominated for Songs in the Key of Life in that same category, and was widely favored by many critics to take the award. The other nominees were Breezin’ by George Benson, Chicago X by Chicago, Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs, and the other favorite, Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive!, which was also a huge critical and commercial success. Wonder was again absent from the ceremony, as he had developed an interest in visiting Africa. In February he traveled to Nigeria for two weeks, primarily to explore his musical heritage, as he put it. A satellite hook-up was arranged so that Stevie could be awarded his Grammys from across the sea. Bette Midler announced the results during the ceremony, and the audience was only able to see Wonder at a phone smiling and giving thanks. The video signal was poor and the audio inaudible. Andy Williams went on to make a public blunder when he asked the blind-since-birth Wonder, “Stevie, can you see us?” In all, Wonder won four out of seven nominations at the Grammys: Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Producer of the Year. Over time, the album became a standard, and it is considered Wonder's signature album. "Of all the albums," he told Q magazine (April 1995 issue), "Songs in the Key of Life I'm most happy about. Just the time, being alive then. To be a father and then… letting go and letting God give me the energy and strength I needed." Songs in the Key of Life is often cited as one of the greatest albums in popular music history. It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll; in 2001 the TV network VH1 named it the seventh greatest album of all time; in 2003, the album was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Many musicians have also remarked on the quality of the album and its influence on their own work. For example, Elton John said, in his notes for Wonder on the 2003 Rolling Stone's list of "The Immortals – The Greatest Artists of All Time" (in which Stevie Wonder was ranked number 15): "Let me put it this way: wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy of Songs in the Key of Life. For me, it's the best album ever made, and I'm always left in awe after I listen to it." In an interview with Ebony magazine, Michael Jackson called Songs in the Key of Life his favorite Stevie Wonder album. George Michael cited the album as his favorite of all time and with Mary J. Blige covered "As" for a 1999 hit single. Michael performed "Love's in Need of Love Today" on his Faith tour in 1988, and released it as a B-side to "Father Figure". He also performed "Village Ghetto Land" at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute in 1988. He later covered "Pastime Paradise" and "Knocks Me Off My Feet" in his 1991 Cover to Cover tour. R&B singers in particular have praised the album – Prince called it the best album ever recorded, Mariah Carey generally names the album as one of her favorites, and Whitney Houston also remarked on the influence of Songs in the Key of Life on her singing. (During the photoshoot for her Whitney: The Greatest Hits, as seen on its respective home video, the album was played throughout the photo sessions, at Houston’s request.) The album's importance has even been recognized by heavy metal musicians, with singer Phil Anselmo describing a live performance of Songs in the Key of Life as "a living, breathing miracle". The album’s tracks have provided numerous samples for rap and hip-hop artists; for example, "Pastime Paradise", which itself drew on the first eight notes and four chords of J.S. Bach's Prelude No. 2 in C minor, was reworked by Coolio as "Gangsta's Paradise". In 1995, smooth jazz artist Najee recorded a cover album titled Najee Plays Songs from the Key of Life, which is based entirely on Wonder's album. In 1999, Will Smith used "I Wish" as the base for his US number-one single "Wild Wild West". The song repeated the main melody of "I Wish" as a riff and some lyrics re-formed. In April 2008, the album was voted the "Top Album of All Time" by the Yahoo! Music Playlist Blog, using a formula that combined four parameters – "Album Staying Power Value + Sales Value + Critical Rating Value + Grammy Award Value". In December 2013, Wonder did a live concert performance of the entire Songs in the Key of Life album at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. The event was his 18th annual House Full of Toys Benefit Concert, and featured some of the original singers and musicians from the 1976 double-album as well as several from the contemporary scene. In November 2014, Stevie began performing the entire album in a series of concert dates in the U.S. and Canada. The start of the tour coincided with the 38th anniversary of the release of Songs in the Key of Life. Highly anticipated at the time, the album surpassed all commercial expectations. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Pop Albums Chart on October 8, 1976, becoming only the third album in history to achieve that feat and the first by an American artist (after British singer/composer Elton John's albums Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and Rock of the Westies, both in 1975). In Canada, the album achieved the same feat, entering at number one on the RPM national albums chart on October 16. Songs in the Key of Life spent thirteen consecutive weeks at number one in the U.S., and 11 during 1976. It was the album with the most weeks at number one during the year. In those eleven weeks, Songs in the Key of Life managed to block four other albums from reaching the top – in order, Boz Scaggs’s Silk Degrees, Earth, Wind & Fire's Spirit, Led Zeppelin's soundtrack for The Song Remains the Same and Rod Stewart's A Night on the Town. On January 15, 1977, the album finally dropped to number two behind Eagles' Hotel California and the following week it fell to number four. On January 29 it returned to the top for a fourteenth and final week. The album then began its final fall. It spent a total of 35 weeks inside the top ten and 80 weeks on the Billboard albums chart. Songs in the Key of Life also saw longevity at number one on the Billboard R&B/Black Albums chart, spending 20 non-consecutive weeks there. In all, Songs in the Key of Life became the second best-selling album of 1977 in the U.S., only behind Fleetwood Mac's blockbuster Rumours, and was certified as a diamond album by the RIAA, for sales of 10 million units in the U.S. alone (each individual record or disc included with an album counts towards RIAA certifications).[33] It was the highest selling R&B/Soul album on the Billboard Year-End chart that same year.[34] Songs in the Key of Life was also the most successful Wonder project in terms of singles. The lead-off, the upbeat "I Wish" was released in November 1976, over a month after the album was released. On January 15, 1977, it reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart, where it spent five weeks at the top. Seven days after, it also reached the summit of the Billboard Hot 100, although it spent only one week at number one. The track became an international top 10 single, and also reached number five in the UK. "I Wish" became one of Wonder's standards and remained one of his most sampled songs. The follow-up, the jazzy "Sir Duke", surpassed the commercial success of "I Wish". It was released in March 1977 and also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (spending three weeks at the top starting on May 21) and the R&B chart (for one week, starting on May 28). It also reached number two in the UK, where it was kept off the top spot by the song "Free" by Deniece Williams, who had provided backing vocals on the album. As sales for the album began to decline during the second half of 1977, the two other singles from Songs in the Key of Life failed to achieve the commercial success of "I Wish" and "Sir Duke". "Another Star" was released in August and reached only number 32 on the Hot 100 (number 18 on the R&B chart, and number 29 in the UK) and "As" came out two months later, peaking at number 36 on both the Pop and R&B charts. Though not released as a single, "Isn't She Lovely" received wide airplay and became one of Wonder's most popular songs. It was soon released by David Parton as a single in 1977 and became a top 10 hit in the UK.

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hypeathon · 6 years ago

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RWBY Volume 6 Adam Character Short - A Shot-by-Shot Analysis

Trailers and shorts in RWBY are very interesting and unique format as far as works of fictional entertainment go. They can be so tricky to describe that even the show’s late creator, Monty Oum himself, admitted he was not entirely sure what to call the pre-volume 1 trailers at the time they were first released. Whatever you or I call them, these small works can serve various purposes for this serialized web-series. On the one hand, they can give a very thorough idea of how the characters being focused on engages in combat through their movements. At the same time, they can also provide a piece of a character’s story, igniting many theories from within the show’s fan base.

How well a short or trailer can convey either of those aspects or any other ones depends greatly on its presentation. This is why I believe the Adam character short sticks out so well.

Before RTX, things were dead-silent as to what the future of RWBY’s main story would entail. So when RTX Austin 2018’s first RWBY panel showed the premiere of the Adam Character Short, word had naturally spread about the implied quality. This extended to a handful of fans learning of a snippet of the short without the post-production polish via a stream of the RT Animation Audio panel (oops). But aside from this, there was only so much to interpret. That is until Friday, August 17th, when the piece had officially been released to the general public. With the Adam short being the longest of any of the previous character shorts yet at a whopping 7 minutes, there is a lot to cover regarding both the animation and the visual presentation.

Speaking personally, this is by far the strongest of all the character shorts by far based on one factor: its visual direction. And there’s a strongly implied reason as to why this is. Back on February 12th, RWBY’s director & writer, Kerry Shawcross and Miles Luna respectively, as well as RWBY Chibi director, Paula Decanini, took part in an “Ask Me Anything” Session over at the RWBY sub-reddit. It was there when Kerry particularly responded to a question about the matter of “show, don’t tell” by stating that was what stuck with him the most. Love it or hate it, volume 5 left many fans with various mixed emotions, including concern for how the show would visually convey its story in future installments. However, between this character short and the announcement at RTX that Connor Pickens, the lead editor for volumes 3-5 of RWBY being promoted to co-director, these were signs how much Kerry took such particular feedback to heart.

Although it’s one thing to state the short itself applied “show, don’t tell”. It’s a whole other thing to elaborate on all the different ways it was utilized and why it matters. Sadly, there’s no confirmation as to who provided the storyboards, another important role in visual direction. In fairness though, who provides boards for the characters shorts are rarely ever stated to the public with one exception being that Kevin Harger did the ones for the Yang short at the “Just the Fights” RTX panel. What can be confirmed though are the animators confirmed to have been involved with the Adam short, as stated by volume 6 animation director, Joel Mann:

Melanie Stern

Matt Drury

Joe Vick

Asha Bishi

Hannah Novotny

Michelle Yi

Erika Soosar

Vince Cappelluti

Just like with the matter of “show, don’t tell”, equal concern has been expressed regarding Gen:Lock’s production have more of an influence at Rooster Teeth Animation, leading to certain fan-favorite animators in RWBY’s production being permanently taken away. However, I have gone on record on how vital it is to acknowledge the merits of both newer and veteran talent since like it or not, the former will have more of a presence in RWBY. The Adam character short is especially noteworthy due to not just the number of animators being double that of past shorts, but five of the eight animators were recruited during volume 5′s production while two were recruited during volume 4′s and Melanie Stern, the assistant lead animator for volume 6, was first brought on during volume 3. This makes things both interesting and complicated, the latter of which has to due with how for some animators, there are little-to-no sources confirming who did what in RWBY thus far. Though certain animators have confirmed or at least implied what sequences they did, making for a good opportunity to examine their skills.

With that said, now is the time to decipher how the Adam short stand outs shot-by-shot and scene-by-scene.

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Scene #1: Outside of the Schnee Dust Company Plant

The biggest thing worth talking about in this scene is how the cinematography is in great effect. When Adam is introduced, we don’t just see his model in plain view first thing. We see a shot of his shadow, then his feet, then his mask, and finally a slow pan up to his face as we are teased with not seeing how he actually looks. With reaction shots of the other faunus characters sandwiched in-between, this captures not just importance in Adam’s character for the short itself, but also to his own kind that look up to him. When fans of RWBY think of cinematography, it’s generally believed to not be capable of more then making things prettier. This completely mis-represents the purpose it serves. Cinematography is more about using elements of camera direction, lighting, staging and timing of each shot to help tell the story within a scene. Camera direction as one element, has played a role into helping convey different characters in RWBY since volume 3, as confirmed by certain people in the show’s storyboard and camera layout departments. Ozpin’s level-headed mindset by having the camera point straightforwardly at him, Ironwood’s display of authority from low-angles, Qrow’s drunk nature through the camera tilting, and Nora’s bundle of energy by having the camera dramatically pan and zoom along with her. Their characters have been further utilized by the camera in varied ways and Adam is no different.

Beyond that, one other aspect of visual direction in both this scene and the short in general is the use of transitions, namely the invisible cut. It’s a fairly common trick used in film-making but it has never used in RWBY outside of chapter 9 of volume 2, nor has it been used as consistently until now. More will be talked about this technique, but the gist as to what it greatly presents is the passage of time for Adam’s story.

Scene #2: The forest skirmish between the White Fang and the Humans

Before going over the next scene, it’s worth quickly addressing the setting. Some fans have speculated that too much time and resources may have been spent on the Adam short which could affect the production of volume 6. However, in terms of the models of the environments, specifically the forest set, it seems similar to the set in chapter 4 of volume 5, albeit with more varied placements of trees and open space and different lighting. The same goes for the set in the next scene with Blake and Adam which may have been from the Blake Character short. Although it’s all speculative, these observations can imply that at least on the modeling team’s end, not too much time was spent on the short.

Moving on to the beginning of the sequence itself, one bit that stands out is Sienna’s ears and the way they move. This is actually something seen a little earlier with the one faunus girl when she sees Adam and it’s noteworthy for three reasons. First, while there’s not a lot of information as to how real life tigers communicate through their ears, it’s possibly similar to how house cats use their ears to express various emotions. This in turn leads to the second noteworthy reason, how it adds depth to what certain faunus characters express at a given moment. It can even be seen with Sienna’s character which, assuming such similarities between tigers and cats are there, indicate that Sienna was feeling defensive and alert in the first shot next to Adam. There will be more moments where the animal ears add to a character’s emotion both from Sienna and Blake later on.

The third and final reason this is all worth bringing up is the matter of who animated the beginning of this scene. One animator in RWBY’s production that has made consciously applied movement to animal ears and tails is Asha Bishi. I’ve mentioned before how her way of moving characters, faunus, human, or Grimm, usually feel snappy and lively which makes character acting her greatest strength. And while the character acting is also strong between Ghira, Adam, Sienna and other minior characters here, I’m not positive it’s her. If I were to take a guess, Hannah Novotny may have animated this sequence. Hannah and Asha were both recruited during volume 4′s production and while both are great at providing expression through the characters they animate, the former is slightly less snappy with her movements based on the confirmed shots she did and thus feel a tad slower. That said, she does provide little touches herself when animating scenes like shrinking and shaking of pupils within the eyes and even movement of animal ears, hence my guess.

In the midst of the skirmish, there’s a brief as a bullet hits the window next to Ghira, it leaves off an neat electricity effect. Jumping ahead to when Ghira gets shot with more electricity and aura effects, we get to the first big action sequence in the short and right as he lands on the ground, I love the look of the small dust that forms. The VFX team have expressed in the past taking inspiration from visual effects seen in anime to help compliment RWBY’s aesthetic. They were already accomplishing that by volume 5 in the Anime Skies Fight and I think they almost perfected it here. We’ve definitely come a long way from the days how smoke and dust use to look like in the show.

We then get a quick rotation shot to show where Adam’s target is and according to Matt Drury, this moment is what he animated. He has gone on record as to how much of a fan he is of Adam’s character to the point where he did motion capture for him in volume 5 and even dyed his hair red, and boy, does it show in how he made Adam fight. Between him dashing, parrying, doing jump-inside kicks, and turning around as he crouches to jump for the tree and use it to spring himself across in rapid succession, Adam rides this balance between being using martial arts and being animalistic. The part where he jumps off the tree is an especially good use of squash and stretch and not an example of bad animation, in case anyone considered that. To get a clearer idea of what does and doesn’t make bad animation, Youtube Anime Ajay provided a very insightful video explaining what is and is not bad animation to respond to a practice commonly made by fans in the anime community.

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Going back to the short, the camera steadily follows Adam barrel-rolling to the far right, leaving some more good-looking anime dust and then sets some nice staging between him and his enemies in front of him as he blocks their attacks. One quick thing to note is how Adam twirls his weapon with the smear effects. The spinning smears throughout this short have invoked some big groans within the fan base and I would be lying if I didn’t have my minor gripes with it. However, the smear effects themselves are not inherently a problem and there are two instances where I believe it works for different reasons. This is one of them. The reason why it works here is through a combination of where the camera moves and zooms and how Adam’s hand moves is seen twirling the weapon. It’s very subtle when playing in normal speed, but it is there. Really, if there’s anything off about the animation is how the spinning just starts without a slow-in and thus feels a little too instantaneous. Though more will be elaborated on this later.

That tangent aside, what I love is how the camera zooms to angle Adam as being seemingly bigger in perspective compared to both characters he’s blocking bullets from. As icing of the cake, you see the shift in facial expressions from the girl on the right with the hoodie as she expresses being intimidated by Adam and ends up anxious for the girl next to her as she looks to her right. After pinning the one girl in the yellow outfit unconscious, we see a brief yet clean combination of smears and sparks as he blocks another bullet and then he dashes to trip the gray-hoodie girl and hit her in mid-air. As nice as it is to see action scenes done at a break-neck pace, having a moment where a character winds-up before performing a certain action can add more impact. What Adam did as he swung his weapon back before gutting the girl was a classic example of anticipatory action, one of the 12 principles. My only criticism regarding this moment was that I wish the moment where the girl was hit lasted a few frames more. Though it helps that in the next shot, we see the facial expressions of the girl who deeply regrets having faced Adam before being knocked back down to the ground. I can’t help but feel sorry for her in particular.

We then cut to Adam going towards another gunman while swiftly dodging bullets and once again using the tree to his advantage before kicking the latter unconscious. With the bright gunshot effects, because they are so close enough to the center of the camera, it helps makes the speed of Adam’s sidesteps feel somewhat blinding. The only slight problem is the smear effect of Adam’s kicks. Similar to the moment where he kicked the gray-hooded human, both use just red for the smears when they could benefit more from using a combination of red and black to consistently follow with the color of his shoes. But in the grand scheme of everything in motion at normal speed, this is all relatively minor. Then we cut to what is either the end of Matt’s sequence or the start of another animator’s. Either way, the faraway wide shot is really great at showing how unstoppable he is while appropriately charging like a bull. The next set of shots that follow a clever way to make the launch of Adam’s sword show how much force it had to make the girl emit such a reaction when being hit in the gut. Then follows the sword twirling in mid-air and here is where I started having issues with the use of smear animations. Though as I said before, more on that later.

Then there’s the human hiding who gives an anxious facial expression before deciding to fire, effectively displaying the fact he is making a split-second choice. Between what came a couple of shots before and what comes next, Hannah Novotny might have animated these parts. Though it’s somewhat of a shot in the dark based on her tweet of doing some action shots. Speaking of darkness, we then see Adam’s signature slash, which the compositing itself is presented slightly differently from the Black trailer. There, it’s timed so that the darkness fades after he absorbs the laser attack. In this character short though, it’s timed so that it disappears after he strikes. It’s different, but it works well here due to how it blackens his body, making him appear as a silhouette while the background fades to near-black and that all disappears once he draws his swords and strikes, making for great impact. It also helps that the way he’s posing with his back facing the camera and his should in front of him makes him more menacing in a manner akin to that one shot of Neferpitou from Hunter x Hunter.

As the human is struck in the next shot, there’s an interesting effect where the pupils in his eyes disappear that feels like something out of the One Piece anime. Just as an aside to talk about the music, I love how it suddenly stops to add to the shocking effect of Adam having brutally killed someone. Next, in the shot where Ghira and Adam look down at the human, we get really clever staging. Not only are they both framed so that only they follow the rule-of-thirds, but your eyes are easily drawn to the remaining humans that appear behind the tree in the far right and then flee. As the scene follows with Sienna defending Adam and calling him a “hero”, Adam makes a surprised reaction that tells a fair bit considering we can’t register his emotions through his eyes. To close the scene, we get the White Fang members cheering as they walk towards Adam, creating another great invisible cut while Sienna and Ghira stare down.

3) Adam and Blake at the rooftops

I mentioned before that there was another scene I believe Asha Bishi animated and Blake and Adam’s scene is it. At first I was only 70-80 percent sure it was her. But this was before Joel Mann confirmed who animated the short. Since then, I’m now 80-90 percent sure. Much of her tells can be identified here, especially with Blake. The various pupil shifts, the slight expanding and wincing of the eyes, and the abundant character acting with their body language and even Blake’s cat ears.

What I especially liked was the end where her hair is flowing in the wind for two reasons. First, it created an opportunity to show that the strands of.. hair, fur maybe, were flowing from her cat ears, something I’ve admittedly never seen before. It’s a small thing, but it showed a neat attention to detail in the modeling. Second, the way her hair flowed and how her fingers seamlessly dug into them is another sign of how we’ve come a long way from the days where hair when being touched or pull around felt more like large clumps than individual strands that could be felt between the fingers.

We are then shown another invisible cut and by far my favorite one of the fall leaves flowing after the wind gets stronger and harsher, indicating that Blake feels a hidden bit of uncertainty by trusting Adam’s words. These invisible cuts have really excelled at presenting the passage of time in Adam’s story and they reminded me a lot of how the anime Haikyuu used a combination of match cuts and invisible cuts to help visually enhance the story of certain characters. Again, I’m very unsure who provided the storyboards for this short and thus the transitions. Though the invisible cuts may be applied by the editing team. Either way, this is how cinematography is displayed in great effect.

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4) Adam, Sienna & Ilia at the White Fang facility

As the short transitions to the second set of action sequences, we are treated to a several-second rotation shot where Sienna flails her chain weapon at her enemies wildly but precisely. Melanie Stern confirmed she animated Sienna fighting and honestly, I had initially thought animator Austin Hardwicke may have done her scenes. So I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong this time. As camera stops to face her, we get more of her cat ears shift, this time to help her confidently stay one step ahead of the Atlesian Knight about to attack her from behind. Next, Sienna uses the mech as a spring board to launch across the hall. Although the camera as she leaps over the Adam and Sienna is zoomed a bit too much and makes the shot feel slightly more claustrophobic than warranted. That being said, moments that follow with Sienna kicking her chain weapon against one mech and then shooting the snapped off arrow-end to the other mech opposite of her are examples of the sequence riding this balance between being chaotic and readable. Sienna delivering her smirk right after also adds a lot to her personality in the limited time we see her fight.

Now would be a good time to quickly talk about the Atlesian knights themselves. First, while seemingly trivial, it’s an interesting attention to detail to have the electricity around them be red as oppose to a more generic yellow or blue to better match their color scheme. Whether that was the VFX or compositing team’s idea is unclear, but it was neat to see regardless. Second, the way we see one of their feet into the camera after the one prior fell is a brief yet smart way to draw focus to the remaining androids. It also helps that between the White Fang being blurred from afar helps stage the distance between them and their opponents. One thing the camera does consistently well in this entire second fight sequence is stage the distance between characters, as we’ll done again shortly. Moving on, Adam blocks more bullets with with some sword spinning smears, though we do get a bit of slow-in and slow-out smears as he as he draws his sword and again before sheathing it. Then get the staging of the previous shot mentioned in effect as Ilia runs ahead with the camera making a nice low-angle shot with some slight rumbling as it trails her.

Once she finishes her attack, it’s Adam’s turn to run ahead and we see a classic case of slicing a few mechs which cuts pause as he sheathes is sword for dramatic effect. This is where Matt’s other animated sequence in the short is presented and a few things are worth highlighting: First, the slash effects quickly fading one-by-one. Second, the way the ends of Adam’s coat flaps down as a follow-through after he pauses. Third, the way the mechs slightly shifted from where they were cut. And fourth, The way the camera tilts to indicate how much damage was in effect. All of these aspects demonstrated how swift and overwhelming Adam’s attacks were. It also helps to given that quick moment of pause. As I said before in the forest skirmish scene, having a time and place to slow down can make for greater impact on a certain action. The same can go for having a character pause before a certain action is performed as demonstrated here.

The scene then proceeds with a sequence of Adam destroying two Atlesian Knights in quick succession. Right away does this moment one-up the previous one in terms of both direction and animation. With the direction, as Adam shoots his sword, we cut to the hilt hitting the first android and with another example of the camera, perfectly staging the set-up and distance of where Adam’s targets are, The sword being shot and bouncing up also easily draws the viewers eyes to where Adam will go next. We then cut to another shot of the sword twirling in mid-air and here is where the smear animation is best presented in the short. In previous cases, the spinning sword lacks the slow-in and slow-in frames. Here, it properly displays the momentum of the sword as it slows down which leads to the next thing Adam does. Hopefully, this settles the matter that the smear being used at all isn’t the problem, nor is it what it’s referencing to. Rather, it’s about how it’s animated which if you look at various anime, there are a myriad of ways to present smears. Back to the sequence, as Adam jumps to the android and off it by shooting its head, he then kicks the sword in mid-air to the other android in a manner similar to animator Ken’ichi Fujisawa did in a fight scene in Naruto Shippuden.

We end Matt’s animated sequence to move on to the next one where the Schnee Dust Company personnel fire across the hall and we get a nice change to red lighting to signify how treacherous things will get for both sides. As Adam, Sienna and Ilia dodge the bullets, we see some good character acting maintained in how they each take cover. Adam using his sword skills to defend himself, Sienna acrobatically staying out of fire and Ilia clumsily back-stepping which makes her inexperience compared to the former two self-evident. Next is more of Sienna’s tiger ear shifts as she and Adam notice the canister creating some anime smoke screen effects, through they’ve been visually filtered a bit. As Adam and Sienna counterattack, the latter climbs up the wall and jumps off which gives a glimpse of how much her weapon resembles a tail. And following that, we get more of her using her chain weapon to flail the gun she lassoed to knock all three of her enemies around her with slightly chaotic but steady camera shifts,

Next is Adam getting more action through a brief shot of him charging towards the camera which reminded me of how Winter first struck against Qrow in chapter 3 of volume 3. The latter cut was part of animator, Ian Kedward’s sequence in that fight, but I’m unsure of who animated Adam’s portion of this sequence from here-on. Jumping slightly ahead, we get an interesting transition from Adam slicing to Sienna throwing her chain around. Only it’s not completely a transition, but because it’s a split-second and their actions flow well, it feels like one at normal speed. With more of Sienna’s agile moves, she snaps off her arrow again which starts with her facing towards the camera to then cleverly rotate around the arrow to highlight what it’s going to do. Moving ahead, we get one more action moment with Adam, this time with some additional funny character acting from the SDC guard as he tries to dodge the former’s strikes and attempts a right hook only to get schooled by Adam’s hilt again. Though it doesn’t end right there as we see a couple of shots of Adam framed dominantly, about to stab the guard while he’s down and he pleads for his life. Though there’s an excellent delayed reaction where Adam responds to Sienna’s call as if he got caught up in the blood lust. This short has been a good opportunity in general to add character to Adam and Sienna through just their facial expressions alone.

5) Adam and Sienna in the Throne Room

After all is said an done, we get another invisible cut to the throne room with another White Fang member running across the SDC facility hall. It would’ve been funny if it’s the same member that did the invisible cut after the forest scene, but they have different skin tones so that’s sadly not the case. In all seriousness, we don’t get any visual direction that’s too daring aside from the establishing overhead shot starting the sequence. An interesting observation is how in comparison, the seen that first introduced Sienna in volume 5 had he and Adam’s positions mirrored only she’s on her throne and Adam’s kneeling. This may visually support the fact Sienna was considering treating Adam as her equal in the future, so long as he did overstep his boundaries.

Not much else to add before moving on to the next short sequence through a transition that’s not an invisible cut but is something more like a jump cut? It’s honestly hard to describe, but it does go along with the motif of passage of time. One other thing to mention is the flame and how it’s animated. it doesn’t feel at all like a 3-D visual effect and is instead more like it was animated in 2-D with some filtering effects. Beyond that, not much else to add for the remainder of the short, though that’s not a bad thing since a moment of rest is needed to close off after two extensive action scenes. The only two things worth stating have to do with Adam. First is how when Adam is on the throne, there’s one shot where he is of distance from the White Fang members and another where we don’t see his full body from behind the throne. Both indicate the relationship between him and his followers. At this point in his story, he is less concerned about looking out for his fellow kind as he is about stroking his ego. To conclude, we get the most ironically-funny shot in the short where Adam gets exactly what he deserves and walks off leaving his mask behind feeling defeated. Some would find the choice to have him animated walking awkwardly to be strange when connecting to his last scene in volume 5. But in the context of the story of his character short, it works thematically.

Final Note

This was quite a short to cover, but there was so much packed in that both reinforced some things spoken by Blake before about Adam’s character while still peppering in insight into his psyche through a combination of facial expressions, adjustments to his line of dialogue and the in-genius transitioning techniques used. And there were still a couple more small details that weren’t fully covered like the red markings in Adam’s design added after the first scene or Ghira’s slightly younger character model. The visual direction demonstrated in just 7 minutes how in-spite of his hostile streak, Adam’s shift from the White Fang hero looked up to by his people to the tyrant whose thirst for power and dominance made his own followers turn on him.

While the short not totally perfect, its storyboards outmatch even the Weiss character short, which is saying a lot considering it was one of my favorites. It’s still a shame we don’t know who did the boards, but between them, Kerry and Connor, the ideas definitely payed off. The animators themselves also cannot be commended enough for the effort they poured into the short. There have been a few newer recruits being recognized by other more veteran animators, including Erika Soosar, John Yang, Michelle Yi and Jason Dickol. With Matt Drury added as another name, I do hope more fans will keep an eye out for them. Though none of this is to leave out the other animators involved with this short whose shots were unconfirmed, as they deserve to be kept an eye on in the future.

No doubt will there continue be criticisms and concern regarding the short though, as many wonder whether this will hinder on volume 6′s overall production. While the debate is a whole other subject for another day, it’s worth bearing in mind for now that shorts and volumes are two different things and the scale between them in terms of skill-set and more importantly, management, are night and day. For now, I intend to keep enjoying this short for both its story and as a potential sample of things to come.

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club-pera · 3 years ago

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RAqS w/ El Morabba3, El Far3i, Eqtibasat and D3mor

Woensdag 24 november 2021 in Paradiso Noord Zaal open 18:30 tot 00:00, Aanvang 19:00 Tickets & informatie

El Morabba band was formed in Jordan in 2009 and released its first album titled “Al Murabba” in July 2012 and in 2016 the second album titled Tarf Al Khayit, confirming its position as a very popular band in the MENA region. El Morabba3's songs are distinguished by the aesthetic sense of the words that care about poetic and social responsibility at the same time. The music comes in a post-rock style with the clamor of guitar clips and elegance of rhythm. The sound space of the band is complemented by its international Arabic tones, and all these different sounds are enveloped in thin electronic layers to create a feeling that mixes sweetness and pain that embodies the inherited truths of this generation.

The band’s artistic journey witnessed a change in members through the years turning it more into a collective project of musicians and producers currently lead by co-founder, singer songwriter and bassist Muhammad Abdullah. Accompanied by producer Basel Naouri on Keys,Trumpet and Electronic Production.

El Far3i, with multi-fold projects in his music archive, El Far3i is a Palestinian and Jordanian songwriter, rapper, drummer, and producer from Amman, Jordan. Known for his dichotomous solo act El Far3i/ Far3 El Madakhil, he enmeshes Arab acoustic folk and hip-hop and continues to experiment sonically, evolving into the more recent forked axis, El Far3i Flux.

This project encapsulates the essence of both the versatility of styles and the complexity of ideas. It is a space within which a sense of freedom exists, enabling experimentations with different tools, instruments, and writing techniques... A vision rooted in the ideals of independence, yet branches out to reflect the journey. Those concepts race between observation and exaggeration, concealing at sometimes and pushing hard at others.

His songs come from his region’s subconscious, with lyrics that archive the socio-psychological, political and personal subtexts of Arab daily life, extending to the diaspora. Themes of love, borders, spirituality and identity manifest. El Far3i’s ever reflexive raw rapping style contrasts his soulful melodies, creating chantable anthems and craved earworms.

D3M0R, Haroun Ben Hamida aka D3M0R is a Tunisian, Paris based, a multi-genre DJ/Producer, tickles from breakbeat, Jungle to drum and bass. D3mor is also founder of web station Radio Flouka that has relied on the the goodwill of volunteers and a steady stream of Middle Eastern talent for their ultimate goal of redefining how the world sees contemporary music from the region.

Eqtibasat is an audio/visual project reflecting the core glitches and experiences in the life of Guitarist/ Electronic music producer Hekmat Alkassar. First album under the name “Eqtibasat” means quotes in Arabic, was released in 2019, extending the transformative power of thoughts and emotions. Alkassar released the second music album and illustrations book “91 Portraits” in June 2020 and currently experimenting his works with new textures and electronic music techniques.

About Raqs Raqs is an initiative to empower the Levantine (Ash-shaam) contemporary music scene by a group of artists and organisers rooted in the Levant region. The collective presents alternative experiences of live performances fused in club and concert culture, full of chants, storytelling, culture, full of chants, storytelling, Tarab rhythms and Andalusian classics in ambient and electronic music styles.

This event will be filmed and posted on Raqs Experiences social media accounts. This event is produced by Raqs Experiences and co-produced by Stichting Pera and Paradiso Amsterdam, Funded by AFK.

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whenitsdarkweilluminate · 4 years ago

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Kyiv 2005 - Grand Final

Host: Ukraine Slogan: “Awakening” Participants: 39 Voting method: 12-point system (36 televotes / 3 juries) Format: 1 Semi-Final / Grand Final = the top 10 of the semi + the top 10 of '04 + the Big 4 Winner: Helena Paparizou - My Number One Country: Greece Language: English Points: 230 (50.4% of highest score possible) General Overview: 2005 is the 50th edition (not anniversary) of the Eurovision Song Contest. But the indulgence into nostalgia was reserved for the Congratulations special in October, where 14 Eurovision classics were replayed and then voted upon. The winner was “Waterloo”. The Grand Final contains its share of extravagance, however. Two famous Ukrainian boxing brothers opened and closed the voting by striking wind chimes (following the gimmick from last year where the hosts hit a gong). It's so extra, and the dialogue is awkward. And later on, the current president of Ukraine came on stage to congratulate the winner. Ruslana is heavily featured in this Grand Final as well. She opens the show with a reprisal of “Wild Dances”, but quickly jumps into the electrifying “Heart on Fire”, where whips out a flame thrower! That moment is so badass. It's one of my favourite opening acts. She reappears later in the interval segment to perform a third song (the breezy “The Same Star” - which contains some catchy “na na na”'s), alongside a percussion ensemble and a body contortionist. Ruslana also conducted the Green Room interviews. She was originally slated to co-host the event but those plans fell through. Organizationally, Ukraine's hosting is serviceable. The presenters (Maria Efrosinina and Pavlo Shylko) aren't too annoying. The post cards feature the usual cultural clips.. I was barely paying attention to them. And the stage design is optimal for the HD era and the era of crazy performances. There were a few audio mishaps, however. Musically, 2005 is the peak of the “Ethnic pop” era. A significant number of countries opt for that direction. There's also multiple female-lead rock bands. And very few ballads, which is a stark contrast to where this contest was a decade prior. 2005 seems like a forgettable year to Eurofans?, but I think it's one of my favourites. I was incorrect about 2004 being the final time that the correspondents read out the entire top 10, because they still do it in 2005. Which is tedious with 39 countries. This time, the EBU returned to calling the countries in running order (starting with the 15 semi-final DNQ's). This year's screw-up comes from the Ukrainian correspondent, who incorrectly gave three points to two different countries. The scrutineer told her to start over, which got messy. The voting itself was all over the place initially, with Switzerland and Latvia leading in the early stages. Greece wasn't even in contention until the Grand Final countries started being called. Percentage-wise, the top 10 threshold was higher than usual, while Greece had one of the lowest winning percentages in the 12-point era. Also, the “Big 4” occupied the bottom 4 slots in the final results... with the hosting Ukraine finishing in 5th last. Iconic.

Hungary: NOX - Forogj, világ! Nothing new to add. United Kingdom: Javine - Touch My Fire Following their recent under performances, the UK jumped on the “Ethnic pop” bandwagon in 2005 to align with current Eurovision trends. But perhaps “Touch My Fire” blended into the landscape too much – because this did not perform well at all. Or it seemed disingenuous coming from the UK. It also drew the worst running order slot. Also of note, Javine was the final person cut on the reality TV show that formed Girls Aloud. Anyway, the beat on “Touch My Fire” clearly channels Eastern Europe elements. The strings/percussion combo in the instrumental breakdowns are highly enjoyable. The songs flow like dancing on fire. While the red and yellow aesthetic (in the outfits and the LED screens) adds to the allure. The choreography has sensual moments too. I wish Javine's delivery packed more punch, but “Touch My Fire” is still one of the better UK entries of the 21st century. Malta: Chiara - Angel Chiara previously reached third place in 1998, where she was 8 points away from winning the contest. In 2005, the points difference is wider, but she improves her position by becoming the runner-up! I prefer “Angel” to “The One That I Love”, although I find both overrated. This one also employs a standard ballad formula, but the melody is more powerful. Meanwhile, the minimalist, gimmick-free staging and arrangement emphasizes the humble, intimate, and honest nature of the song. Chiara's delivery is sweet. She promises support to someone who can't reach her, like an angel protecting their loved one from beyond the grave. Although she oversells the performance at times; the grunt and the wink in particular. It's not the most “interesting” entry ever, but it's harmless. Romania: Luminița Anghel & Sistem - Let Me Try It sounds like someone dropped their drum stick towards the end lol. Norway: Wig Wam - In My Dreams Nothing new to add. Turkey: Gülseren - Rimi Rimi Ley Turkey's performance is so innocently joyful – how can I dislike it? The group has so much fun on stage with this cheerfully inviting song. And Gülseren is so enthusiastic with the constant smiling, the cheers, and how she casually joins the drumming section. Stylistically, “Rimi Rimi Ley” is one of 2005's many “Ethnic pop” entries. The banging percussion beat is a bop, and it sounds exotic. The traditional outfits add to that allure. The song has a continuous rhythm. And, although the chorus melody becomes static, the catchy "rimi rimi ley" ejections and the lively percussion keep it afloat. Unfortunately, there was a technical issue during the second verse, where Moldova's backing track played simultaneously. Moldova: Zdob și Zdub - Boonika bate doba Nothing new to add. Albania: Ledina Çelo - Tomorrow I Go Albania also employs an “Ethnic pop” beat, accompanied by visually slick staging. The four violinists and the drummer are a delight to watch. They emit bouncy energy. The violin playing is so fake lol. And the part at the end where the drummer bounds all six members together with a red ribbon is neat. The instrumental is dynamic, with how the guitars and the Çifteli continually stop and start. The lyrics, meanwhile, describe Ledina's heart-to-heart with her mother on her wedding day. Although the arrangement on “Tomorrow I Go” is more of a celebratory dance. Cyprus: Constantinos Christoforou - Ela Ela This is Constantinos's third time representing Cyprus, following a ballad in 1996 and a boyband bop in 2002. In 2005, he opts for an “Ethnic pop” entry! Featuring plenty of sexual charisma. This entry... is a mess. The chorus is certainly catchy (ie. the “come baby come baby” and the “Ela, ela, ela, la” hooks). But the vocals are sloppy and the bridge transition is so abrupt. Not to mention the song sounds noticeably similar to “Shake It” (Greece 2004). Overall, the execution is too forced/mechanical. Spain: Son de Sol - Brujería The Spanish entry encompasses a bouncy, rapid singing style that's reminiscent of “The Ketchup Song”. It's a lighthearted arrangement. And the lyrics are enticing, where the narrator is entranced by this person like “witchcraft”. I also like the skirt movements. But 2005 is a strong year, and “Brujería” doesn’t leave enough of an impression. The girl group whips through the lyrics too quickly for it take hold. Also, the raspy voiced guy who interjects is grating. Still, this is kind of a bop. Israel: Shiri Maimon - Hasheket Shenish'ar Nothing new to add. Serbia & Montenegro: No Name - Zauvijek moja This is the second and final appearance of Serbia & Montenegro in Eurovision, since they withdraw in 2006 over national final controversy... and then the country splits into two. So, following in the footsteps of “Lane moje”, “Zauvijek moja” is another entry that's creatively and expertly composed. The overall structure is unconventional – there are no verses, just a singular chorus melody repeated several times, with instrumental breaks interspersed. The song remains focused on singular moment in time - it's essentially three minutes of sustained tension. The instrumentation and melody are so overpowering and dramatic. Meanwhile, the group excitedly prances around like utter goofballs on stage, which I find amusing. Denmark: Jakob Sveistrup - Talking to You Nothing new to add. Sweden: Martin Stenmarck - Las Vegas “Las Vegas” breaks Sweden's run of consistent high placings since their 1999 win. It's also their worst result in 13 years. The chorus is a busy rush of Vegas madness, featuring some catchy “oh oh oh”'s. While the showy, brassy instrumental is reminiscent of the soundtracks given to Las Vegas montages in TV and film. But this entry seems sonically and thematically out of touch with Eurovision in 2005. The Melfest runner-up that year was miles better (Nanne Grönvall - Håll om mig). F.Y.R. Macedonia: Martin Vučić - Make My Day Nothing new to add. Ukraine: GreenJolly - Razom nas bahato Ukraine selects an outraged political protest song... to be performed on home turf. Wow. Although the artists had to remove all references to the Ukrainian president from the original version (the same president who appears at this Grand Final). “Razom” uses the aggressive side of rock and rap to establish a weighty tone. The rap sections are delivered with so much vitriol. While the chorus encourages standing against oppression. The emotions are expressed perfectly here, and the performance successfully grabs the audience's attention. I also love the crazy dancing from the two guys in handcuffs. Germany: Gracia - Run and Hide Gracia's scratch vocals are literally nails on a chalkboard. She screeches “iii-iii-iii” so often that it makes this song unbearable to listen to. And I usually enjoy female-lead rock bands. No wonder Germany sank into last place, with their only points coming from the jury countries. Croatia: Boris Novković feat. Lado Members - Vukovi umiru sami Nothing new to add. Greece: Helena Paparizou - My Number One (winner review below) Russia: Natalia Podolskaya - Nobody Hurt No One Russia selects a female-lead rock band, with a song about school shootings. The lyrics call out America in the opening line. The band then chastises those who don't sympathize with the frightened children. “Nobody Hurt No One” is a less dreary approach than Finland's attempt at the same heavy subject matter. There's some dark angst in the instrumentation and in the verse melody. But the chorus is soooo anticlimactic and stagnant. And I just can't take Russia seriously sending a song like this. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Feminnem - Call Me “Feminnem” is one cringe-worthy pun. Ignoring that, “Call Me” is a buoyant, lighthearted girl group bop that channels the 1960's. Lyrically, it's a celebration of Eurovision's 50th anniversary. So the retro sound makes sense. The performance is packed with joyful energy and the chorus melody flows along effortlessly. But the song's arrangement and concept are too simple to hold my attention for three whole minutes. Switzerland: Vanilla Ninja - Cool Vibes No watery eyes this time. Latvia: Walters & Kazha - The War Is Not Over Nothing new to add. France: Ortal - Chacun pense à soi The French entry has so much promise. The production is slick, modern and intricate – it encompasses a looped drum beat, tense strings, acoustic guitar, and a synth bridge. And it changes gears smoothly. The choreo routine conveys attitude too. Lyrically, it's a snarky song criticizing how self-interested behaviour can be destructive. “Chacun” is a cool song, but it's let down by the live performance. Ortal sounds vocally messy, and her mannerisms are awkward at times.

The Winner: Greece achieves an overdue victory, 31 years after their debut. From their first participation in 1974, their entries were reliably unique (most of the time). So I view their 2005 win as a celebration of their presence in Eurovision, much like Turkey in 2003. Interestingly, Greece performed exceptionally well during this time period. Nearly all of their entries from “Shake It” in 2004 through “Alcohol Is Free” in 2013 land in the top 10. Both the arrangement and the staging on “My Number One” are relatively simplistic. The production's foundation is comprised of a repetitive, circling clacking beat. But the monotony is broken up by the two violin solos; which adds a layer of quirkiness. As well as the rapid tapping bit that frequently appears, and the pause at the beginning of the second verse. But it's the vocal melody that elevates the production into a banger. Helena delivers these short, choppy phrases in an assertive manner, which escalates the tension throughout the verses. It's appropriate on the “never leave me” part. The chorus melody, meanwhile, flows freely in an effortlessly catchy way. Furthermore, the “you're my lover... undercover” section is yet another infectious hook. The staging is adorable. For example, the ensemble points their index fingers during the “my number one” line. Helena plays that string tool during the second violin solo. And the backing dancers form the number “1” with their bodies laid flat on stage. It's so silly, but it's so much fun. Helena exudes so much confidence on stage too – like an experienced performer. In her dance moves especially. “My Number One” is pure pop perfection. It's not the most creatively composed winner, but the song's arrangement and the staging are so meticulously executed. My only negative is that I don't like the backing vocalist that much. Verdict: “S” Tier My Ranking: Grand Final 01. Romania: Luminița Anghel & Sistem - Let Me Try 02. Greece: Helena Paparizou - My Number One 03. Israel: Shiri Maimon - Hasheket Shenish'ar 04. Hungary: NOX - Forogj, világ! 05. Switzerland: Vanilla Ninja - Cool Vibes 06. Norway: Wig Wam - In My Dreams 07. Albania: Ledina Çelo - Tomorrow I Go 08. Serbia & Montenegro: No Name - Zauvijek moja 09. Moldova: Zdob și Zdub - Boonika bate doba 10. United Kingdom: Javine - Touch My Fire 11. Latvia: Walters & Kazha - The War Is Not Over 12. Ukraine: GreenJolly - Razom nas bahato 13. Malta: Chiara - Angel 14. Turkey: Gülseren - Rimi Rimi Ley 15. Croatia: Boris Novković feat. Lado Members - Vukovi umiru sami 16. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Feminnem - Call Me 17. France: Ortal - Chacun pense à soi 18. Sweden: Martin Stenmarck - Las Vegas 19. Spain: Son de Sol - Brujería 20. Cyprus: Constantinos Christoforou - Ela Ela 21. Denmark: Jakob Sveistrup - Talking to You 22. Russia: Natalia Podolskaya - Nobody Hurt No One 23. F.Y.R. Macedonia: Martin Vučić - Make My Day 24. Germany: Gracia - Run and Hide Full Ranking: 01. Romania: Luminița Anghel & Sistem - Let Me Try 02. Greece: Helena Paparizou - My Number One 03. Israel: Shiri Maimon - Hasheket Shenish'ar 04. Hungary: NOX - Forogj, világ! 05. Switzerland: Vanilla Ninja - Cool Vibes 06. Norway: Wig Wam - In My Dreams 07. Albania: Ledina Çelo - Tomorrow I Go 08. Serbia & Montenegro: No Name - Zauvijek moja 09. Moldova: Zdob și Zdub - Boonika bate doba 10. Iceland: Selma - If I Had Your Love 11. Slovenia: Omar Naber - Stop 12. United Kingdom: Javine - Touch My Fire 13. Latvia: Walters & Kazha - The War Is Not Over 14. Andorra: Marian van de Wal - La mirada interior 15. Ukraine: GreenJolly - Razom nas bahato 16. Malta: Chiara - Angel 17. Turkey: Gülseren - Rimi Rimi Ley 18. Croatia: Boris Novković feat. Lado Members - Vukovi umiru sami 19. Belarus: Angelica Agurbash - Love Me Tonight 20. Monaco: Lise Darly - Tout de moi 21. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Feminnem - Call Me 22. France: Ortal - Chacun pense à soi 23. Sweden: Martin Stenmarck - Las Vegas 24. Spain: Son de Sol - Brujería 25. Belgium: Nuno Resende - Le grand soir 26. Austria: Global.Kryner - Y así 27. Netherlands: Glennis Grace - My Impossible Dream 28. Lithuania: Laura & The Lovers - Little by Little 29. Poland: Ivan & Delfin - Czarna dziewczyna 30. Cyprus: Constantinos Christoforou - Ela Ela 31. Denmark: Jakob Sveistrup - Talking to You 32. Estonia: Suntribe - Let's Get Loud 33. Bulgaria: Kaffe - Lorraine 34. Russia: Natalia Podolskaya - Nobody Hurt No One 35. F.Y.R. Macedonia: Martin Vučić - Make My Day 36. Portugal: 2B - Amar 37. Finland: Geir Rönning - Why? 38. Ireland: Donna and Joe - Love? 39. Germany: Gracia - Run and Hide

#eurovision #eurovision song contest #eurovision 2005

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severalbakuras · 7 years ago

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tagged by @scrawlers ♥

Nicknames:

severalbakuras, no nicknames irl

Star sign:

virgo

Height:

5′1″

Time:

17:27pm

Birthday:

21 september

Favorite bands:

ehh i don’t really have many bands i listen to, mostly songs? i guess i like fallout boy and mcr lel

Favorite solo artists:

same as the other one tbh i’m more of a ‘oh i like that one song -stop-’ person than ‘oh i like that one song -looks up rest of discography-’ person. i guess i like p!atd, britney beyonce and sia.

Song stuck in your head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jInIBx65tfU

specifically the 1:28 mark

(misery/depravity/confusion/hatred/mistrust/fire shadow CHAOS/these are the hallmarks/these are the pillars/~these are a few of my favourite things~)

Last show I watched:

voltron legendary defender in japanese audio lel.

Last thing I Googled:

”belleville rendez-vous lyrics english”

Do I get asks:

lol almost never

Why I chose my URL:

when i was actively in the yugioh fandom instead of passively absorbing it my fave was/is a guy called ryou bakura. he’s an unfortunate character for many reasons but the relevant one because there are several characters who also can be referred to as bakura. not enough to be many, not enough to be few, but enough for several bakuras. it also happens to form the initials for my irl name so that’s cool too. it used to have a hyphen.

Following:

Followers:

301 ish. fluctuates whenever i reblog anything to do with lotor lel.

Average hours of sleep:

5 on workdays, 9+ on weekends.

Instruments:

none. no co-ordination and i can’t read sheet music to save my life.

Favorite food:

is it vegetarian, garlicky, spicy and has no mushrooms/avocado/aubergine/courgettes in it? i probably love it.

Nationality:

british

Favorite song right now:

choice between sia’s rainbow and cold cold man by saint motel.

Top 3 fictional universes:

the world of warcraft universe is shit but also amazing much like the game itself, so even if i died like the first time i blinked outside of a safe zone to a swarm of murlocs it’d still be amazing to explore. like one of the plus sides of the wow verse is that almost every zone that isn’t legion blasted is fucking incredible and crammed with all sorts of neat things to see. stepping through the dark portal the first time and seeing hellfire peninsula and the demon armies before you. when you realize those massive underwater mountains in vashj’ir are actually ancient demigods - and they need your help. looking over the side of the walkways and realizing how vast the titan vaults are beneath your feet. suramar city is the magical elf city i’ve always dreamed of. even though nothing can put a scratch on me, ice crown still gives me the creeps. when it comes to sheer aesthetic warcraft wins for me every time.

pokemonverse is also pretty cool, i know what squad i’d be aiming for. i think either hoenn or unova would be my choice of location. no offense other regions but hoenn was my first pokemon game so it’s automatically the best and unova is my second favourite.

equal tossup between nier’s setting and ffx’s spira. both are incredibly miserable places but it’s nice to see games where the post-apocalyptic society is actually, yknow, a society. with cultures and belief systems that feel like they developed naturally as a result of their worlds’ traumas. they’re also both beautiful.

tagging anyone who wants in lel

#long post #meme post answers :D

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vrvisioninc · 5 years ago

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Using Virtual Reality for Remote Worker Training & Collaboration

With the world in the current state that it is in with the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s never been a better time to look to utilizing technology to increase organizational effectiveness. With so much uncertainty in the world right now, it makes a lot more sense for brands to start using virtual reality for remote training. Sure there is the current status quo way of conducting remote work, using things like Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, or even Zoom meetings. But we all know the effectiveness of these platforms is limited and can sometimes cause miscommunications.

Many times internally here at VR Vision, we’ve had meetings drop, connectivity issues, and trouble conducting live demonstrations of our products. Back two years ago many predicted that we would have virtual reality in the workplace and that “virtual meetings” would be the next thing. Here we are today in one of the deadliest epidemics to ever grace our planet, and yet where are the VR meetings?

As businesses look to go remote over the course of the next few weeks (or months?), can virtual reality be used in an effective way to conduct business? Collaborative white-boards and virtual conference rooms, all with customized avatars of users connected, seem like a good idea no? Yes and no. While the problem herein lies within the adoption of the technology. Not all brands have adopted VR, and not every company has disposable Oculus Quests for their employees to take home. Then comes the problem of programming; you would need some kind of virtual environment platform to host the meetings.

Virtual Reality Platforms for Collaboration Currently, there are two candidates for virtual collaboration in VR. Engage and Glue. Both have their benefits and drawbacks and I’ll look at the features of each below.

Engage VR

Engage is fully encompassing training and education platforms in virtual reality. It allows educators to host meetings, presentations, classes and events with people anywhere in the world. Engage allows for up to 50 remote users to be connected in their environments at the same time and has over 20 virtual locations that are unique environments for hosting your next town hall.

The platform offers over 1200 3D objects that you can utilize in their environments as well as a media streaming component that will allow users to share all types of media — from 360 videos to integrated web browsing and desktop sharing. They offer a recorder feature to create content presentation style, as well as quizzes and forms that can be interactive with users on the platform.

Glue Platform

Glue, on the other hand, is a collaboration platform that has a much higher quality graphic aesthetic. They feature a toolkit that enables 3D avatars, spatial audio and unique spaces built to enhance collaborative meetings and allow for teams to brainstorm, co-create, annotate, take notes and facilitate meetings all within virtual spaces. There are additional tools like whiteboards, post-it notes, 3D model importing and freehand 3D drawing all to allow for virtual team building.

But what if I want to have a remote training solution for enhancing process training?

With modern standalone headsets, you are now able to use them to create real-world replicated environments that can be used for remote worker training. This can allow companies to upskill their employees remotely so that when they are back in their work environments they are better prepared and educated.

The only thing is that since we are still in the relevant infancy for virtual reality, a lot of these process-based training applications haven’t been built yet. This is where companies can look to create custom training content for their company needs and host those applications in a virtual platform to allow for remote worker training.

Augmented Reality Platforms for Collaboration On the other side of the coin is augmented reality, and while not much currently exists for users to put on a Hololens and interact remotely, there is one player in the space offering a wearable AR solution.

Spatial AR

Spatial AR allows brands to collaborate anywhere using the power of the Hololens. Spatial allows users to transport your presence anywhere (albeit on a smaller form factor) so that you can meet with anyone anywhere in the world as if you were in the same room with them. Spatial is built for the Hololens, but will work on a PC, Phone, VR headset or even a Magic Leap (are they still in business?)

These platforms are more for collaboration but can still be used for educating and training if used properly. Many times these platforms will work to provide a unique and immersive remote collaboration solution. What these platforms don’t provide are custom bespoke training solutions and that’s where VR Vision can complement these offerings. We develop custom training solutions that can be integrated into any platform and allow scalability and remote collaboration — while also offering a custom learning environment.

To learn more about how VR Vision can help make your brand more immersive and enhance your remote training with VR or AR tech, get in touch with us today!

#vr vision inc #virtual reality #vr remote worker training #vr collaboration #vr platform for collaboration #augmented reality #ar platform for collaboration

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buttonholedlife · 5 years ago

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'No Fiat five hundred techno!': why digital popular music in Cork is actually coming off|Songs|The Guardian

"Messy in the best feasible way," claims Stopper producer Doubt of the epiphanic expertise he had in 2015 at a storage facility rave in Estate House, north Greater london. "It was actually definitely rested atmospheres. Surveillance-- although I failed to observe a lot of-- were actually sound, and there were massive sausages all evening. I will certainly never actually skilled just about anything like that in Ireland."

He remained in Greater london since of English producer NKC, among the inventors of the club noise referred to as tough drum, then only a Soundcloud tag. Uncertainty (genuine title Ollie McMorrow) and fellow citizens Tension (Dylan O'Mahony) and also Syn (Reneé Griffin) put together their personal tag, Flood, a year after their tough drum rendezvous in Greater london. After discovering, trying out as well as moseying with close friends in Cork, all it took was NKC's raucous parties to dissolve their cumulative obstacle.

Flooding and also an internet of various other producers in their 20s from the tiny Irish south-coast urban area-- Numbertheory, Lighght, Ellll and also Superfície-- are right now creating titles for on their own in European club popular music circles, with syncopated mutations of percussion-driven electronic songs. Although they're not all quickly organized together, the popular denominator is a primal drum-laden noise where rhythms tumble at breakneck velocity. The songs provides a lot of these youthful musicians a feeling of reason and also identity-- even when much of all of them are leaving Ireland for a new beginning, amid the sanitising of young people lifestyle as developers set waste to alternate venues, and a roaring casing dilemma, with taking off homelessness and the development of Dublin as one of the world's very most costly areas to reside in.

Cork has actually cracked new ground in Irish music prior to. In the 1980s, it was actually the unexpected property to a vibrant reggae culture, the cello-brandishing post-punk outfit 5 Go Down to the Sea, and Microdisney, the county's response to Fleetwood Macintosh. It was actually the bar Sir Henry's, founded in the overdue 70s, that opened up many in the county to club songs, specifically house. "Mam Henry's was ground zero," states Cork house songs pioneer Shane Johnson, that co-founded a night there called Sweat that drew in worldwide celebrities like Kerri Chandler, Cajmere and also Derrick Might. "Certainly not only for the club setting, however, for the nearby rock scene just before it."

Building on its own legacy, Jimmy Horgan, that runs local area file retail store Plugd along with Albert Twomey, has been a cornerstone of nonconforming music in Stopper, regularly holding the new kind of developers upstairs in the store's live space, a site got in touch with the Roundy. "The guy takes a genuine passion in every kind of popular music that's made as well as played in the urban area," producer James O'Connell, 25, that tape-records as Numbertheory, distinguishes me. "He's really for the lifestyle."

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Originally coming from Dublin, Horgan is self-effacing in his appraisal of the city's dynamic percussive songs setting: to him, it is actually the musicians'unrelenting creativity that has actually made it all achievable."Most likely the first pointer I obtained of the noise was when Superfície-- then going under the name Sexworker-- decreased in a few demonstrations of his monitors, maybe back in 2013 or even 2014,"Horgan bears in mind.

"Me and my associate were actually astounded."Parishes of these young musicians, typically in residences or even apartments, are where component of this Stopper drum act were born. McMorrow, whose dad and also grandfather were actually each drummers, points out:"Percussion has regularly been a huge component of my life."As well as at 14, O'Mahony came to enjoy performers such as Burial and also labels like Warp and also Hyperdub, and determined he might perform it, also, pirating manufacturing software program, messing all around with the features, and also investing the final two years at institution seeking to create one thing"from another location nice". While joining the exact same college training program, O'Mahony met Lion, that had been actually recording as Syn, and would certainly put up at her place after course. She introduced all of them all, consisting of O'Connell, to a collection of brand-new, eardrum-bursting audios coming from tags including Her Records, Fade to Mind, as well as Celestial Aircraft. Superfície, a Brazilian-Irish developer now located in Berlin, showed them kuduro, baile rut and batucada, while tensions of percussive songs promoted by labels such as Príncipe and also Naafi, widened their horizons additionally. Lighght, AKA Eamon Ivri, simply learnt about Flood--

"a real inspiration "-- via Soundcloud, randomly and belatedly, prior to he ever satisfied them, in spite of their distance as well as identical interests. Flood's very first launch, a fun nine-track collection, showed up in 2017, a year after they formed. They chose that they required a center for "effectively talking over ideas and blaring monitors as loud as possible"as well as discovered a little, private stockroom space in an industrial sphere ignoring Stopper's docklands. The duality in their music, in between the organic and also the mechanical, may in part be mapped back to this aspect. "There was actually a raw comparison in between the commercial, gray and also decaying storehouses and also the beautiful scenery out on to Cork harbour,"mentions Question. Ellll, Berlin-based techno alchemist Ellen King, says the internet as well as local hubs may certainly not have been the

only reasons that Cork surfaced as a breeding place for unusual club songs." Cork has been actually an incredibly house-focused area, and although I have actually never gotten in touch with that, percussive music coming out of the metropolitan area in the final couple of years experiences like a feedback to that attitude." Facebook Twitter Pinterest From the very first few seconds you mash participate in on a Flooding singular, or a hypnotic Ellll release, or even a stormlike go crazy loosie coming from Lighght, you listen to dispute and tumult. Percussion-wise, they take coming from audios from around the world. Pay attention to the drums and also you may think about Latin The United States or even Africa. Yet in some cases local designs sneak in: Numbertheory consisted of an example of sean nós, an Irish practice of haunting, melismatic singing; Syn's track Coy featured a sample of the bodhrán, an Irish drum produced along with goatskin; Lighght's outstanding 2019 cd, Gore-Tex in the Nightclub, Balenciaga Amongst the Hedges, utilizes the harp. Irishness is there certainly, even when it is actually merely sneaking. Stopper is actually known more popularly as"the rebel county", the end result of its own lengthy past of fierce protection and obstinate anxiety, primarily against English policy. A caricature of Cork individuals in Irish society-- perma-vexed and also precariously parochial, created well-known abroad by firebrand footballer Roy Keane as well as pop lifestyle phenomena like the TELEVISION series Youthful Criminals-- relatively includes some fact." It's a motto, however the entire rebel aesthetic that Cork has actually taken on definitely forms the urban area. You view landscapes of Che Guevara, recommendations to the Palestinian source,"states O'Connell, whose pummelling drums are actually typically gone along with through sludgy heavy-metal themes.

Many of these musicians don't understand Cork's medical self-mythologising, however. "I failed to delight in much of my young people, and also spent a bunch of my time as a teen in nearby drinking areas," claims Syn, 25, whose mama has worked as a nightclub DJ. "I remember begrudging Cork coming from a younger age due to the lack of tasks for young people in the area beyond acquiring fucked up."

& Facebook

Twitter Pinterest DIY rushing was the only means ahead in a tourism-oriented nation where, every pair of months, an accommodation seems to substitute a critical nightlife hub. The eventual members of Flood threw much of their own events since, as they see it, commercialised places prioritise step and double-vodka invoices over the sensory knowledge. Today, Syn helps run a queer night phoned CXNT in the Roundy, where throbbing, untrendy designs like hardgroove, gabber and donk masquerade the norm. As O'Connell puts it: "The significant nightclubs simply would like to hear EDM as well as monotonous, Heineken-sponsored, white-bread, Fiat five hundred techno."

In spite of their own inspiration, as well as the assistance of Plugd and various other venues, like Kino as well as the Town Hall, developers are actually compelled to look somewhere else for chances. The sounds being actually developed in Cork have actually been promoted through performers as well as DJs in the resources, at Dublin Digital Radio-- a shelter for Ireland's weirdest noises, where McMorrow still holds a monthly show contacted Hush-- in addition to stimulating collectives including Club Convenience.

Several proficient producers and creatives have, at the very least semi-permanently, gone overseas. Certified math wizzard O'Connell left behind just recently for Beijing, while Master and also Superfïcie have both relocated to Berlin. As it happens, McMorrow is actually occupied preparing himself for a transfer to Glasgow when we communicate, a typical quest for Irish creatives in current years. Rental fees are lower there, disorders for nightlife lifestyle are much less suffocating, and younger individuals are actually, in his perspective, alleviated better in Scotland than in his home nation.

"Unless you're anticipating forking out over half your fundamental revenue each month, you possibly won't have the ability to locate a location to reside in Stopper," he regrets. "I will enjoy nothing at all greater than to become able to remain in Cork, as well as perform what I love right here, but today it is actually simply not practical."

Financial barricades have actually not stopped the momentum of these musicians. "Whether it is actually a storehouse event with 30 inebriated individuals reviewed in to a dark, dingy area paying attention to industrial remixes of Princess or queen Super star, or enjoying the Roundy get become a partially nude sweatbox," O'Mahony claims of his long-lasting minds of the community-based micro-scene, "it's the important things that were actually created for, and also by, people like us that stand up out."

This content was originally published here.

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westcoastmineral · 3 years ago

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architectnews · 4 years ago

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Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis, Ningxia

Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis Sales Center, Chinese Retail Interior, Architecture Photos

Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis in Ningxia Province

27 Apr 2021

Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis

Architecture: Mind Design

Location: Yinchuan, Ningxia, China

Space For Urban Dimensions The cognition of world culture is always changing. Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis emerged with its fully new and strong commercial and artistic concept. The project was jointly designed and built jointly by the Mind Design and developer teams. With its distinctive aesthetic style and multi-dimensionally extended spatial perspectives, it stimulates and promotes the operation of the city by use of criticization, breaking and creation.

Elegance From Neoclassicism Since Vanke Mid-lake Island in Xiamen, the Vanke Metropolis series has expanded across China over the past 10 years, from the first-tier cities in eastern China to those in central and western China. Every commercial expansion is a bold attempt at urban planning and operation modes, and also an iterative change of design and living concepts.

The Vanke Metropolis project also continues its noble, elegant and post-modern architectural features, while its plain colors harmonize with the cultural, historical, environmental and other elements of northwest China in Yinchuan.

From the inner courtyard into the community lobby, this is a place to interrupt city noises. Its elegant and soft design provides a buffer zone between indoor movement and outdoor tranquility, and between outer roughness and inner delicacy. It also promotes a dialogue between people and the environment, and between mind and the world.

An Exquisite Urban Complex Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis is located in the central life district (CLD) planned by the government, neighboring the southern business district under construction in Yinchuan, covering Wanfang Shopping Center, Jianfa Youyue City and Yinchuan Cultural Park, and adjacent to Qizilian Lake with an area of 4,000 Mus on the east. Such superior geographical location and rapid urban changes have prompted builders to make a difference.

The developer and Mind Design teams originally conceived an urban complex to create supporting facilities for a life community, and a functional planning clearly different from traditional sales departments. Therefore, the criticalness and originality of spatial function and design can be seen everywhere in the interior space.

The corridor of the Open Audio-Video Area was inspired by and benchmarked with Fifth Avenue in New York. A large number of LED screens were installed here to highlight the commercial atmosphere and technological sense of the integrated exhibition area, and to improve the prosperous living experience in southern Yinchuan.

The developer and Mind Design teams hope that this kind of indoor and outdoor brand exhibition can reflect the senses of fullness and quality of the project in the early stage. In combination with large facilities such as Youyue City, the cooperation between Vanke and Jianfa would generate a complex with the best quality and the best supporting facilities in Yinchuan.

The construction of the large complex Jianfa Youyue City will be completed soon, and the density and concentration of consumers will soar as a result. A large proportion of real estate contracts of Yinchuan are concluded for projects in South Yinchuan currently. Therefore, for the convenience of customers, a more convenient and contract signing center integrating banking was created jointly by the developer and Mind Design teams as required by the actual situations.

In addition to the Contract Signing Center, the design team also designed a rest area for family members inspired by airport lounges. It is equivalent to creating a place to serve their families for Vanke owners in the Vanke Metropolis community, even it is close to the bustling business district.

A scenario is expected in the future, where a wife does some shopping in Youyue City, while her husband is playing games and drinking afternoon tea in the Rest Area, both enjoying the community service and waiting for his wife at the same time. All Vanke owners can come here to rest, and their independent sense of dignity is strengthened from the perspective of configuration.

Based on the neoclassical tone, the overall interior space of the Metropolis project integrates the essence of Greek and ancient Roman classicism, namely, elegance and delicacy, forming a strong contrast with the rough style of Yinchuan which is located outside the Great Wall in northwest China. The designers decorated modernism with the traditions of classicism, took natural materials as the media, and adopted contemporary design thinking and aesthetics to create a neoclassical real estate club which looks lightly luxury.

Luxurious Ultimate Aesthetics Wang Dacheng, the founder of Mind Design, commented that design is the art to serve the visual feeling of persons, and they always design projects only after both owners and consumers are satisfied with their design proposals.

As a new model of urban space, modern high-quality life supporting facilities need to be emphasized with thick and heavy colors. Therefore, Bulgari’s classic aesthetic style has become the main concept of this project in the discussion between developer and Mind Design teams.

Bulgari’s history of nearly 137 years has not only witnessed the evolution of the Italian classical culture, but also constituted an important chapter in the development history of the world’s top jewelry art. Its distinctive aesthetic style also forms a model of interior design in the world.

The project belongs to the Vanke Metropolis series. The Mind Design team was attracted by Bulgari when designers were looking for a new story line and the most moving elements during planning the project, in addition to the Metropolis style at which they are good.

Bulgari itself is a classic of luxury goods in the world. Its color tone is elegant, deep and warm, and thus quite suitable for Yinchuan’s tone and weather. Therefore, the whole project is full of noble and luxurious temperament, from the inner courtyard to the landscape and interior.

The design team has upgraded the original Metropolis style, so that it is of more dignity, topicality and theme-orientation, which fill the gap of local architectural styles in Yinchuan and also wins good response from consumers.

The designers cleverly combined classical and modern elements by integrating the iconic aesthetic features of Bulgari into minimalism through the collision of black and other colors, and meanwhile reinterpreted the unique elegance and nobility of the space by combining the design language of the building itself.

With the increasing scale of the business district around the Metropolis project, there will be more and more catering space. The developer and Mind Design teams intended to provide a different dining space with better hardware and more privacy, so as to provide owners another choice for more convenient private banquets. Considering the characteristics of local halal food in Yinchuan, the designers created many professional kitchen configurations and design elements.

By breaking the whole into parts and assembling parts into the whole, the designers made compound and diverse functional planning for rich service scenarios. Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis combined those supporting facilities above and below ground to create an eternal urban classic project with its experiential sales center, super avant-garde life perspective, ultimate color aesthetics, and international viewpoint.

Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis in the Ningxia Province – Building Information

Project Name: Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis Project Location: Yinchuan Ningxia Owner: Yinchuan Vanke Interior Area: 2,153 sqm Interior Design: Mind Design Soft Decoration Design: Mind Design Construction Company: Mind Design Architectural Design: Arch-age Design (Chongqing) Owner’s Team: Hu Sizhe & Ding Liuyuan

Photography: Zhang Qilin

Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis, Ningxia images / information received 270421

Location: Yinchuan, Ningxia, People’s Republic of China

Architecture in China

Contemporary Architecture in China

China Architecture Design – chronological list

Chinese Architect – Design Practice Listings

Yiwu Cultural Square, Zhejiang Province Architect: The Architectural Design & Research Institute Of ZheJiang University Co,Ltd photograph : Qiang Zhao Yiwu Cultural SquareBuilding

Shuyang Art Gallery, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province Design: The Architectural Design & Research Institute Of ZheJiang University Co,Ltd photograph : Qiang Zhao Shuyang Art Gallery Building

Xi’an Architecture

White Comedy of Xi’an Zhongshu Bookstore Design: Wutopia Lab photograph : CreatAR Images White Comedy of Xi’an Zhongshu Bookstore in Shanxi

Qujiang Creative Circle in Xi’an Design: Oval Partnership photograph : Zhang Qilin Qujiang Creative Circle in Xi’an

Metropolis Sales Center Design: ONE-CU Interior Design Lab photograph : Zhang Qilin Metropolis Sales Center in Xi’an

Baqiao Housing Xi’an Architects: Leo A Daly image courtesy of architects Xi’an Housing, Shaanxi

Xi’an International Horticultural Expo Design: Plasma Studio Xi’An World Fair 2011

Flowing Gardens Design: Plasma Studio Flowing Gardens, Xi’an Building

ORB Media Group Xi’an Exhibition

Chinese Architecture

Comments / photos for the Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis, Ningxia page welcome

Website: Yinchuan, China

The post Yinchuan Vanke Metropolis, Ningxia appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

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ericwollersberger · 5 years ago

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Death Grips and Jaques Attali’s Networks of Musical Production

In her essay “Extreme Noise Terror: Punk Rock and the Aesthetics of Badness,” Angela Rodel argues that extreme subgenres of punk, along with 19th century art music use an aesthetic of extreme noise and egotistical, non-communicatory strategies of composition to escape from what she describes as a “network of repetition” in which “music becomes a weapon of disguised violence, used to silence people through the illusion of choice and the banalization of any oppositional messages.” Using framework from Pierre Bourdieu, she describes how punk music, although often claiming to be musical resistance to social power structures, can become co-opted by the industry it claims to be rebelling against and used to trivialize genuinely subversive music. She then compares Bourdieu’s model to that of Jaques Attali, which describes four “networks” of musical production. First, that of “ritual,” the power of music itself, “representation,” where music is passively consumed by an audience, “repetition,” in which music becomes a commercial product designed for exchange and profit, and “composition,” where music is played “for self-enjoyment alone” and cannot be absorbed “into even a symbolic economy” due to its private and non-commercial nature. Attali’s model differs from Bourdieu’s in its inclusion of this final phase, which Rodel characterizes as being the only way to escape from the cycle of “repetition” (Derno, 2004).

Rodel’s essay was published in 2004 as part of the book Bad Music: The Music We Love To Hate and although it is sparse in terms of specific musical examples, the musical context she is specifically describing is that of “punk,” which in the context of her essay, she defines as “a general aggregate of musical styles and their associated subcultural ideologies that have developed over the past twenty-five years.” Since punk’s influence was so widespread and arguably transcended the genre of punk itself, I take this to include a wide variety of non-punk genres like ambient, electronic harsh noise, and a wide variety of internet based niches that didn’t exist at the time of the publication of Rodel’s essay that operate using similar strategies of “self-alienation.” I also believe that although she describes the four phases as “potentially overlapping,” I don’t think she was able to take account just how much it is possible for the four phases to overlap as they do now thanks to platforms like BandCamp and SoundCloud. While there is certainly no shortage of clearly “self-alienating” DIY noise music out there that clearly exists within or at least approaches Attali’s phase of “composition,” I believe it would be more interesting to look at an example where more of these phases overlap, and for this post I want to discuss how the ethos of Sacramento band Death Grips subversively combines the seemingly contradictory phases of “composition” and “repetition” (Derno, 2004).

Comprised of vocalist MC Ride, drummer Zach Hill, and audio designer Flatlander, Death Grips first made waves with their 2011 mixtape Exmilitary, which they released for free without a label. While it dealt in dark topics such as drug abuse, voyeurism, and violence, and existed on the fringes of any kind of genre classification, it was very popular upon its release and eventually landed them a major label record deal (Diver, 2012). Although it was released for free and its antisocial themes would seem to indicate that this album was purely within Attali’s phase of composition, its prominent use of easily recognizable samples from artists ranging from Pink Floyd to Link Wray to Black Flag suggests a little of the phase of repetition, albeit the repetition of other artists’ music rather than their own. It could be argued, however, that due to the album being released for free, it can be inferred that the samples were probably not legally cleared and thus not commodities in any kind of economical sense. However, it is hard to argue with the symbolic capital of invoking an artist like Syd Barrett or using a quote from Charles Manson to open the album to a band who have claimed that they are “essentially outsider music” (Diver, 2012).

They would more interestingly flirt with the phase of repetition after signing a deal with Epic and releasing their debut full-length album The Money Store, the title of which already demonstrated a level of self-awareness about their alleged “selling out.” “We spoke to many labels,” said Hill, “and we’ve talked amongst ourselves about how no representation is better than the wrong representation. But Epic were clear at the very beginning that they would let us handle ourselves. They went into this deal already aware of the ideology that we’re driven by, and they’ve worked to help the team move forward” (Diver, 2012). Thematically, the album explored their relationship with internet culture and the commodification of their art, especially on tracks like “Hacker” (”The tables flipped now we got all the coconuts bitch”) and “I’ve Seen Footage” (”Desensitized by the mass amounts of shit/I’ve seen it, I’ve been it”) (Genius, 2019c; Genius, 2019b). It would not be long, however, before they engaged in the self-alienation of the phase of composition by leaking their third album No Love Deep Web, causing them to be dropped by their record label. The opening track “Come Up and Get Me” could be read as an affirmation of this self-alienation: “When the world comes knocking/Fuck this world, fuck this body” (Genius, 2019a). The video for “No Love” saw them interfering with the repetition of their own music, abruptly interrupting the audio and pausing the visuals to flash text on the screen that read “1000%!! I USED TO GIVE A FUCK” while harsh digital noise played (Death Grips, 2014).

The rest of Death Grips’ albums were released on their own label, Thirdworlds (Stevens, 2013). They would release Government Plates in 2013 and the double album The Powers that B in 2015 before announcing their breakup and cancelling a string of high-profile tour dates with the likes of Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails (Adams, 2014). The decision seemed rushed (the announcement was written on a napkin and then posted to instagram) and the reasons for the breakup were unclear, so many fans assumed it was a hoax. Due to the band’s dislike of interviews, it was never clear whether this was some self-destructive posturing on their part meant to create interest in an upcoming album or whether they had actually planned to stay broken up, but in 2016 their fifth studio album, Bottomless Pit was announced and the band published an “Interview” that compellingly overlapped Attali’s phases of composition and repetition in a number of ways. The interview was in the form of a video uploaded to their Youtube channel. The first few minutes show the band performing for “Tuesdays with Matthew” host Matthew Hoffman while non-diegetic instrumental music by the band plays over the performance (Geslani, 2016). Hoffman goes on to interview each member of the band, but none of the diegetic audio from the interview is included and the video essentially becomes an extended music video for music that would later be released as the Interview 2016 EP (Death Grips, 2016). While this could be read as an affirmation of their dislike of interviews and, by extension, the media machine that demands them, it is worth noting that they are also engaging in self-alienation by blocking out the diegetic music they are playing in the video. What is also interesting is that they are also in the phase of repetition because they are using this subversion of the interview as promotional material for their upcoming album. This seems to be a self-aware decision, though, as lyrics from “Trash” the seventh track on Bottomless Pit seem to indicate (”We upload trash/face down, trash begets trash”) (Genius, 2019d).

The theoretical framework Rodel presents in her essay is especially interesting in the context of a group like Death Grips due to their self-awareness and individualism, and the aesthetic strategies she presents have grown increasingly multifaceted and overlap in ways that have only become more interesting in the internet age. In my own work, some themes I hope to explore are alienation and self-alienation as a form of escapism in the context of music and technology. For this reason I think I will be writing my critical analysis about the section of Rodel’s essay where Attali’s 4 phases of musical production are described and she explains how punk ideology and musical production in Attali’s network of composition can lead the way to a kind of liberation through aesthetic self-alienation (Derno, 2004).

References:

ADAMS, G. (2014). Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden replace Death Grips on Tour with Oneohtrix Point Never, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Cold Cave. [Online] Available at: http://exclaim.ca/music/article/nine_inch_nails_soundgarden_replace_death_grips_on_summer_tour_with_oneohtrix_point_never_dillinger_escape_plan_cold_cave [Accessed 23 November 2019]

DEATH GRIPS (2014). Death Grips - No Love (Official Video). [Online Video] 13th February. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MHhLDCJ57E. [Accessed 23 November 2019].

DEATH GRIPS (2016). Death Grips Interview 2016. [Online Video] 13th March. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtW7Qz0a3o0. [Accessed 23 November 2019].

GENIUS (2019a). Death Grips - Come Up and Get Me Lyrics. [Online] Available at: https://genius.com/Death-grips-come-up-and-get-me-lyrics [Accessed 23 November 2019]

GENIUS (2019b). Death Grips - Hacker Lyrics. [Online] Available at: https://genius.com/Death-grips-hacker-lyrics [Accessed 23 November 2019]

GENIUS (2019c). Death Grips - I’ve Seen Footage Lyrics. [Online] Available at: https://genius.com/Death-grips-ive-seen-footage-lyrics [Accessed 23 November 2019]

GENIUS (2019d). Death Grips - Trash Lyrics. [Online] Available at: https://genius.com/Death-grips-trash-lyrics [Accessed 23 November 2019]

DERNO, M. & WASHBURNE, C.J. (eds.) (2004) Bad Music: The Music We Love To Hate. London: Routledge.

DIVER, M. (2012). Suspicious Minds - The Resolute Mission of Death Grips. [Online] Available at: https://www.clashmusic.com/features/suspicious-minds-the-resolute-mission-of-death-grips [Accessed 23 November 2019]

GESLANI, M. (2016). Death Grips release bizarre video dubbed “Interview 2016″ - watch. [Online] Available at: https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/03/death-grips-release-bizarre-video-dubbed-interview-2016-watch/ [Accessed 23 November 2019]

STEVENS, J. (2013). Death Grips to release New Album under Record Label Thirdworlds. [Online] Available at: https://www.nme.com/news/music/death-grips-31-1260274#:~:targetText=Death%20Grips%20have%20announced%20that,dropped%20in%20November%20(2012). [Accessed 23 November 2019]

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x-reaper-blog1 · 7 years ago

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RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE MUN.

Repost, not reblog! Tag muns you would like to get to know better when done!

Name: Rae. Nickname: My co-workers call me Rae Gunz. Other than that, if you got any for me, I’m all ears dood. Age: 25. Faceclaim: Usually Domyoji from K, but I’ve been searching for a new one. Any suggestions? Pronouns: He/him. Height: 5′4 Birthday: February 9th. Aesthetic: Studs, glasses, weird socks, silver hair, space/galaxy, dark colors, glitter, purple. I could go on. Last song you listened to: You Will Hate Me - Blaqk Audio

Favourite muse(s) you’ve written:

Nagare from K for sure. In fact, he's still my favorite muse to write, but he takes some time to write as so it takes a bit to work up a muse for him/motivation to write him. Still, once I do, he's my absolute favorite. I really hope to fully revive his page one day.

What inspired you to take on your current muse (that you are posting this on):

He actually formed because of an RP I was doing on AIM with my sister, and he was a side character there, and then I took him and fleshed him out because I really wanted to use Chuuya as a FC, and it was a personality type I'd never really tried to write extensively before so I wanted to see if I could. .

What are your favorite aspects of your current muse:

Even though this is a negative trait, I like that Yohei's kind of spoiled/conceited. I usually play really humble/modest characters, so I think it's really fun to play someone who's built up the idea that they can't be defeated (although that rarely ever works in his favor). I also like that there's a sort of fakeness to him. Like he has this massive ego that won't let him stop what he's doing even though he has conflicts about it, and knows it's messed up.

What’s your biggest inspiration when it comes to writing:

IDK, I FIND INSPIRATION IN SO MANY THINGS TBH? When it comes to personal writing, I just... can't even put together all the things that inspire me. When it comes to RP, my biggest inspiration is my writing partners.

Favourite types of threads:

Angst. Look, I’m just here to get my feelings hurt. :/ < ---- I’m gonna keep this answer bc yeah.

The biggest struggle in regards to your current muse:

I'm still figuring out how to balance his character. I like playing someone hot-headed and cold, but realize it's impossible to continue interactions at length that way, so my challenge has been finding an in-between so he's still himself but capable of carrying a long-lasting rp. I still have some shit to work out with his background too.

Tagged by: @hatehailed THANK YOU ^O^ Tagging: Anyone who feels like doing it!

#ooc.#mun stuff

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hypeathon · 6 years ago

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RWBY - Volume 6, Chapter 2 Production Analysis

Vol 6, Ch 1 Production Analysis

It’s very safe to say that between the last production analysis post and every other response and feedback from the fan base in every corner of the internet, the volume 6 RWBY premiere started on an overwhelmingly high note. A lot of notes and criticisms (some more helpful than others) were taken to heart by Kerry Shawcross, Miles Luna and the rest of the production staff and to great effect through a combination of action scenes and comedic character acting. For the chapter that follows, aspects of the production have been applied to arguably just as great of a effect but for different reasons due to the admittedly heavy story beats provided. Let��s dive into all of that.

We can start with one part of Cinder’s scene in the beginning: effects related to water and rain. The first thing to note is the sheen on Cinder’s hair. It’s very fascinating because of how unclear it is as to whether this has anything to do with a new simulation in some plug-in tool or if it’s a small effect done in post-production or something else done together. Could it be something similar to how the process for this bit in episode 7 of season 1 of RWBY Chibi was done or something different is honestly hard to say.

The other effect to touch on is rain. Whether or not this is due to technical limitations or creative choices (or lack thereof), rainy weather started to occasionally be in the show since volume 4 when CRWBY primarily used the Autodesk Maya software as their animation tool. Since then, interactions between the character and environment models and rain have varied slightly such as ripples being faintly seen on raindrops and footsteps. However, this chapter made rain felt more “defined” so-to-speak. Water ripples are more visible and small splashes have appeared for the first time. Unlike the sheen on Cinder’s hair, these instances can more safely be presumed as having been done by the VFX team or Compositing department. What pops-to-mind about all of this is something mentioned in the previous production analysis post, that being the new 2-D FX artist position. When using the term “defined” to describe the rain effects, what this is referring to is how flat they look. This is similar to the smoke and wind effects already seen in the show in latter volumes which were presented specifically to help RWBY further resemble various anime, the medium RWBY is heavily-inspired by:

“The hardest parts were figuring out what kind of effect we wanted. We had a wind effect which drawing air can be a little hard to figure out. I spent a lot of time watching anime and looking at different ways in which people had drawn air and trying to come up with something that would resemble 2-D but have a very 3-D feel to it. We also had some fireballs that had to be developed from scratch that required not only coming up with the base of it, but also with some anime-esque flares so that was kind of neat to explore.”

- Jeff Yohn, VFX Artist, CRWBY Behind the Episode Season 1 - Anima Skies Fight.

It’s possible that Myke Chapman, as the 2-D FX Artist may have had something to do with this in particular. The push to make RWBY feel like an anime but in 3-D in as many appropriate ways as possible is definitely an admirable goal. There was a small concern regarding the possibility of the same visual effects, 2-D or 3-D, becoming reused a bit too frequently since not all effects in anime look the same and that’s largely to do with the animator in charge of cuts. However, this concern has been covered but more on that later.

Next is the setting everyone loves, the Mistral house. In all seriousness, It’s no secret that most of the fandom have expressed frustrations with this setting to some degree, even Nora made a tongue-in-cheek comment about it. But this scene is at least worth comparing to previous ones in the same setting throughout volume 5. The reason has to do with the character models. One big change made to volume 6′s overall aesthetic was the choice of overall lighting, being brighter compared to volume 5′s softer, warmer look. But a smaller change made were the inclusion of more line art and shading on certain physical features of most characters. When comparing between the same characters in the same setting, certain characters like Jaune and Qrow will have lines to form the collarbone unlike the last couple of volumes while other characters like Yang and Oscar/Ozpin have shading the present the folds in parts on their tops not previously seen. Even Weiss when looking back at the previous chapter will have a bit of shading on the rib cage area of her clothing to hell sell how tight they are.

This is not the first time this sort of thing has been done in RWBY as this was done to more of a much greater degree in volumes 2 & 3 when Poser was the primary animation software. The differences being that now there’s likely more of a simulation applied for the shading as oppose to being directly painted on to the models in earlier volumes. As a result, the line art for the physical features are applied more subtly. That’s the key word here, “subtly”. They are used just enough to define physical traits but not so much so that they risk coming off as distracting. When line work on characters were more heavily applied in volumes 2 & 3, the results varied. Sometimes they worked out okay while other times the line work were weird and confusing regarding how the bone and muscle structure even worked. To get a good idea of how much line work, shading, and overall form can make a difference in character design, 2-D or 3-D, Anime Ajay made a comparison of the character designs of Broly for the Dragon Ball Super film and in various Dragon Ball projects in latter years. I can only imagine how much of a broken record I am being for using Anime Ajay’s videos as go-to means of illustrating some points, but his insight on anime production and design and animation principles are worth paying mind to whether one cares for the Dragon Ball franchise or not.

Next are a couple of other things within the house scene, first being the relic. Many fans questioned and speculated why the artifact changed size from scene-to-scene and it’s through the shot of Ozpin how this happens. The seamless size adjustment is not at all bad, but the way handle grew bigger on Ozpin’s hand made it a bit too seamless. Perhaps if one close-up shot of the handle was shown first to indicate how Ozpin needed to adjust the way he held on to the relic and then followed with the original medium shot of the relic as a whole would have helped the size change would’ve been a bit better. But this is all just a nitpick. The other thing to touch on in the scene is Nora’s brief manic moment. There’s not a whole lot to say on it since such scenes have been done before with Nora’s character to great effect, but this probably most crazed version seen yet. The timing on this one is much more rapid than in previous instances with split-second cutting between characters, spontaneous reactions, smears in the animation, the one extreme close-up shot of Nora’s eyes and the tea kettle sound effect just cranks up the comedic nature. What probably sells it though is how Ren and Ozpin’s calm and easy-going personalities serve as the perfect juxtaposition to help immediately bring down high energy. I have no idea who animated the scene and I can’t say much about the editing besides the fact that Connor Pickens is still the lead editor despite also being a co-director. But whatever the case behind-the-scenes, the humor was perfect here.

With all of that said, here comes one of the biggest highlights of the episode in terms of breaking down the presentation and speculating the production. What most fans talked about this episode were the animation and Jinn’s design more than anything else. Both cases are very much worth paying mind to. The snowy scene where everyone’s hair and clothes flowed strongly in response to the wind and much of the character acting was top-notch, especially since Asha Bishi was confirmed to have animated it (her knack for creating expression through animal ears and other traits I’ve mentioned before here). And Jinn’s design is definitely otherworldly in terms of how she’s animated and the particle effects done on her model. However, what made this episode were the storyboards.

There are many resources about the production of RWBY throughout the volumes. In terms of learning about the various animators, the ending credits in each volume are a great starting point and from there, blu-ray audio commentary tracks, animator demo reels, tweets, convention panels and production diary videos are all constructive ways to familiarize oneself with the animation styles. It’s the main reason I managed to make the Animators Spotlight series of post in the first place. However, finding the same quantity information from other departments is scarce in comparison and thus a more challenging task. It’s one thing to at least learn the general process behind how a stage in the show’s production is approached in a given volume. But it’s a whole other thing entirely to pinpoint who exactly is responsible for a certain trick in the visual effects or an intricate-looking prop in an environment design. The same problem can especially apply to the storyboards and camera layouts since both departments share some of the same people but one person working on the boards in a scene may not necessarily also be doing the layouts in that same scene. It’s also hard to indicate when one the task of boards change from one person to another in a given chapter. Unlike storyboard artists in anime which are usually assigned to one person per episode, making it easier to indicate the choices in visual direction and cinematography, the number of artists assigned to board an episode of RWBY have varied between 2-6 people. Without much evidence to indicate who exactly did which parts of the storyboards, it can be near impossible to tell the visual languages different artists have brought into the show.

There is one exception however. One storyboard and camera layout artist that has been around in RWBY’s production since volume 3 contributed a great quantity to the show and there’s much evidence out there to suggest it. That person is Rachel Doda, whose name has been referred to in previous posts. Through most of the same sources mentioned earlier to learn about which cuts different animators have done, there is quite a bit of confirmation as to which scenes she provided storyboards or camera layouts for. The aftermath of Shion village, Qrow and Raven’s talk at the tavern at Higanbana, Weiss in her father’s office, Yang confronting the bandits, the entire Weiss character short, the volume 4 opening, Tyrian’s breakdown moment and Oscar vs Leo, all to name a few have been confirmed to be handled by her through either storyboards or camera layouts. Between these scenes and the patterns seen in them, it’s possible that she did the boards and/or layout for the snow scene in this chapter of volume 6.

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Certain visual techniques can be seen between these examples alone, one of which were actually confirmed from Rachel’s mouth herself via episode 11 of RWBY Rewind for volume 5:

“I work as a story and layout artist and in particular for this episode, I was a final camera artist. So what you’re seeing right now is the animatic with storyboards done by Kevin Harger of this little moment that happens in the episode where Oscar goes up against Leo. Then after it goes into animatic, it goes into pre-layout and animation and what was cool about this moment was this was a moment where we had to be collaborative with the animator and with camera.

I got the animator stuff (animator was John Yang) and I looked at it and compared it to the boards and I thought, “this is the first time I believe that we get to see Oscar use Ozpin’s cane in combat!” So for me, I was like, “let’s show off the cane as much as we can.” I’m a sucker for stuff that comes up into the foreground a lot and that shot where he raises it (the cane) right into the foreground, I like really resonated with that because to me that was like, “oh, it’s like fencing!” Or in particular, like epee. I want that to be a huge focus so, depending on where the camera goes, it’s like “hey, I want to lead your eye from one point to the other.”

I grew up with anime a lot when I was a kid, so seeing that stuff come to life is amazing.”

Having the viewer’s eye be drawn to a certain object closer to the camera can be seen in various shots she did boards or layouts for. Sometimes it’s to make the shot dynamic while other times is to provide a sense of staging or blocking. Certain other techniques that have been seen in her boards are rotation shots and panning shots that put a character in the background in focus. There are also long shots where the camera pans from a much farther distance to indicate the different kinds of relationships between characters or who is more dominant and submissive respectively or which characters are otherwise the focus of the scene.

Again, the long-winded point behind studying Rachel Doda’s approaches within her line of work in particular is to help compare to the snow scene with the main cast this chapter. It’s all to be on the same page in order to speculate how some of the shots may have come from her. Instances such as Ruby looking at the relic in the foreground or this shot where it aptly shows how Ozpin is pressured to defend himself against the members of Team RWBY through the use of height in the terrain can be compared to some of her other faraway panning shots. Of course it follows with a more high angle shot where Yang, Weiss and Blake are framed to surround Ozpin as he further attempts to defend himself. Then there’s one instance where the camera pans to showing Ruby possessing the relic and it follows with a clever shot of Ozpin’s hand being lowered after his arguments were questioned. Next is Oscar’s hand towards the camera as he tries to restrain Ozpin which is similar to the types of foreground-focused shots quoted from Rachel that she has done before. And then there are the moments of hair and clothing flowing in the wind for dramatic effect. In the first instance where Ozpin talked about Leo, the comparison can be made to Qrow telling Raven why it’s important to be told of the Spring Maiden’s whereabouts as a visually-timed period to their sentences. Now there is a strong possibility that all of this speculation could be way off and Kevin Harger, Cassidy Stone, or Veronica Valencia could have done the boards for this snow scene or even the next one. Whatever the case, hopefully, this will at the very least further entice food-for-thought and discussions regarding the various techniques in visual direction and who may be responsible for what.

Moving on, this would be a good time to talk about something rarely ever mentioned in any of these RWBY production posts before: voice acting. By now, many fans have been made aware of the fact that more and more of the ensemble cast in the show have been voiced by talent who spent their careers dubbing anime in Dallas or Houston Texas via titles from Funimation or Sentai Filmworks. What not as many people may be aware of though is how remarkable for casting choices like this to still happen given the current anime dubbing climate. Since the success of Space Dandy on the Toonami programming block on Adult Swim, Funimation started doing “broadcast dubs” or now called “simuldubs.” This practice is a similar but more time crunch approach to simulcasts where the episodes are provided from whatever licensing companies in Japan to premiere an anime dubbed within either a few weeks or some cases like My Hero Academia and Re:Tokyo Ghoul, the same day. This same practice recently started earlier in 2018 with Sentai Filmworks and HiDive under the name “dubcasts”. Whatever the name, it has made for stressful scheduling on voice directors, script writers, voice actors, and engineers and has led to sometimes cases of voice actors initially cast to not being able to do a part due to being sick or other matters.

In the case of My Hero Academia’s voice director and the voice of Momo Yayorozu, Colleen Clinkenbeard, not only is the scheduling especially tight, but when she started voice casting and dubbing the movie in July, she had to give the responsibility of dubbing the rest of season 3 to Clifford Chapin, the voice of Bakugo and Shay D. Mann from RWBY, to name a couple of his roles. Similarly, another voice actress named Luci Christian, who voices Ochako Uraraka from My Hero Academia, also does quite a bit of voice acting between Funimation and Sentai Filmworks and is also involved in various simuldubs and dubcasts. So for both of them to manage to record the voices of Jinn and Little Miss Malachite respectively in this chapter is astonishing to say the least. Casting of anime dub voice actors in the show started since volume 3 and went full force in volume 4 when Marissa Lenti of Sound Cadence studios started providing additional casting. And it has definitely brought the attention of those who have played a part such as Cherami Leigh as Ilia Amitola and those who want to play a part like Cristina Vee. But back in 2016, same-day simuldubs had not yet been done since Space Dandy and only a lot more shows have gotten that close scheduling treatment since then.

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Lastly, there’s the scene that ends the episode to breakdown. More striking shots of the stance and side between characters were definitely well-framed in this last segment. But this is also a good time to revisit the matter of visual effects and compositing. The smoke effect when the tower and props appeared in a white void helped address the minor concern brought up earlier about whether the VFX team would resort to using the same kind of look for certain effects. Where smoke has generally been presented to be more cel-shaded in latter volumes, here the smoke emitted from Jinn is a lot more wispy and grainy. This is to help further indicate how the overall post-production process requires just as much creative input as it does technical. And then there’s Salem herself. Her surprise reveal definitely left an impact on viewers but it also served as an example of a callback to the shot that revealed her current design. One example is more stoic and menacing while the other is more innocent and melancholic. This is far from the first visual callback in the show as Cinder stabbing Weiss in chapter 11 of volume 5 was another instance as explained by Rachel Doda in the same RWBY Rewind episode quoted earlier:

“So for storyboards, what we’ll do is we’ll go in and talk with the director and we’ll see what their vision is and what they want, we’ll give them options, we’ll give them thumbnails. Sometimes we’re given enough freedom where we’re like, “oh we can just do whatever we want and then come back to the director”. In this case, I believe Kerry was very specific about what he wanted for this moment. And for me personally, looking at this, you get a bunch of callbacks to Pyrrha’s death. But you also get a callback to Amber’s.”

And that is the end of chapter 2′s production analysis. The action was definitely absent this episode, but that is not at all a bad thing. The cinematography and character expressions this episode were the definitely what helped make the story as engaging as it was for fans, with staging as the primary means to create tension and rift between Ozpin and literally everyone else. The vfx and compositing also played quite a secondary role, specifically with Jinn’s character and her overall presence in the story. And of course, the contribution of the Dallas voice acting talent pool continues to be a pleasant treat, despite tighter schedules due to the growth of simuldubs. With the episode setting up what may potentially be a hefty backstory, it’ll be interesting to see what creative and technical choices are to be shown in chapter 3.

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