#like from live action to cartoon or to a silent film. etc etc. that would be fun too

[squuote]

What happens if I connect Narrators hair cable to a TV B)?

just broadcasts his thoughts in video format :-)

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Spider-Man: Far From Home Thoughts Part 3 a.k.a. Iron Man Junior: Far From Spider-Man

This will be the final part of this essay series and here I’m going to go through how this film holds up as an adaptation of the source material.

Shockingly the answer will be that it’s fucking awful.

I’ve already made what must be over a dozen posts about how terrible Far From Home is as an adaptation and representation of Spider-Man but screw it let’s go over it more!

Before I start to rant let me qualify something.

When you are adapting a character as famous, iconic and beloved as Spider-Man you don’t have to be a 1:1 translation of the source material. But you 100% do have to respect the spirit of the source material as much as practicality will allow. You have to respect the essential ideas, original intention and core themes and concepts underpinning the character and his world.

That is the root of my objections in this post and so many others.

Homecoming and Far From Home misunderstand Spider-Man on a fundamental level. Or worse they do understand him and actively chose to ignore what he’s about, what he represents.

He’s all about great power and great responsibility within the context of being a relatively relatable Average Joe.

This isn’t making him an everyman the way Bilbo Baggins or Luke Skywalker are. For Spider-Man he has to much more accurately reflect the average person and the world the average person lives in. He has to live in a real city, he has to worry about bills, laundry, studies, getting a job, holding a job, maintaining friendships and romantic relationships. He just has to be Spider-Man ON TOP of that and that must clash with his normal life. Being Spider-Man is one more additional responsibility he must juggle.

Before I rip this film to shreds for so aggressively NOT doing that let me get a few scant positives out of the way.

First of all the action scenes were not just generally improved from Homecoming, but honestly felt more like Spider-Man. I could easily see the way Peter and Mysterio attacked, defended, countered, etc, being something from the comics. Particular praise must go to the Berlin action sequence.

For many years Spider-Man fans have understandably claimed that Mysterio would be the perfect villain for the big screen due to his skill set being about generating great visuals. And we were right because we get not just a classic Mysterio action sequence in Berlin but outright one of the all time best ones from any version of Spider-Man. The film even drops us some appreciated fan service, firstly by putting Peter in his red and blue costume so it feels like the comic come to life and secondly via the giant Mysterio hand ripped straight out of ASM #66-67. The snow globe sequence in particular, if it wasn’t from a comic (and off the top of my head I can’t recall it being so) was simply inspired.

Equally Mysterio’s look was a different yet ultimately brilliant realization of the comic book. To an extent Mysterio is also a spiritually faithful rendition of the comic book character. In the comics he was a special effects master, stuntman and failed actor who craved fame and was frustrated by the lack of recognition he got.

In the movie he created highly realistic holographic technology, was frustrated by it’s small scale use, the lack of recognition he got for it and with a whole crew of helpers fabricated his Mysterio identity in the hopes of becoming the most famous superhero in the world, although he was himself rarely in the costume.

Traditionally Mysterio is a practical effects guy and this makes the most sense given how he physically fights Spider-Man, but the updating of that to holographic technology is fine and dandy because CGI has, for better or worse, supplanted practical effects. Even in the 1994 cartoon when that wasn’t the case the showmakers gave Mysterio holographic tech.

Him not being a stuntman is more of a mixed bag. On the one hand being a stuntman is what enables him to sort of fight Spider-Man himself, but on the other hand outside of his debut Mysterio’s usually been more effective when not physically fighting people but rather tricking them and manipulating them. So if you are focussing more on that aspect of the character dropping the stuntman angle is fine.

In fact one of the two things (and we will talk more about the other later) which does spiritually undermine this version of Mysterio is his lack of explicit connection to Hollywood. However he is still an actor just not a professional actor in the film or TV industry. And a great actor at that as he is so capable of fooling everyone.

We might also argue that having a crew of helpers undermined Mysterio’s independence and intelligence, but I think it works for the movie fro 2 reasons. First of all in a movie for general audiences suspension of disbelief doesn’t stretch as far so savant characters are less acceptable. Mysterio is 100% a savant. He’s a skilled actor, stuntman, manipulator and technician who knows holographic technology, robotics and all manner of things like that. In the movies you could maybe buy someone having a grasp of the purely technical side of things, but even Tony Stark wasn’t an expert on biology or chemistry, maybe he knew enough to get by but remember he needed to read up on stuff in Avengers 2012.

By giving Mysterio a group supporting him it makes it more believable that this villain is capable of all these things. More poignantly, and you can see this especially when they were ‘rehearsing’ for the London attack, it renders Beck something of a director, thus subtextually giving him yet more connection to the world of film. Again it’s just a shame this was not more explicit and instead his abilities and motives stem from...well we will get there.

On a final note Mysterio can in truth be one of the creepier Spider-Man villains and you don’t really get that vibe outside of the Berlin fight scene (and even then only a little bit). I think that’s fine as he was still manipulative which is one of Mysterio’s better skills in the comics.

So there is a lot this version of Mysterio has going for him, he’s faithful in the idea but not in certain details. Unfortunately those details sink this take.

Other positives include the set up of Chameleon as the stoic and silent agent Dmitri within SHIELD. This will not only pay off in MCU Spider-Man 3 but will is also a great example of irony and foreshadowing. Chameleon was introduced as a saboteur and enemy agent so him being a mole within SHIELD lends itself well to his character and the fact that he is an imposter amidst imposters (the Skrulls) is deliciously ironic.

Also this movie gave us the best version of Ned and Betty’s relationship ever because no one died or got cheated on. Finally I liked Aunt May running a homeless shelter. It gives her something to do and is a very fitting role for her.

I want to go back to Mysterio for a moment though as this isn’t really a positive or a negative of his character.

He’s a very tricky character to adapt. In his debut he is pretends to be a powerful new superhero who wants to bring down Spider-Man whom he’s obviously framed.

In a movie I can understand how framing Spider-Man might not sustain a 2+ hour movie.* However the bigger question to ask is whether or not you bother with having Mysterio framed as a hero or not.

In the 90s it was easier as Spider-Man and his mythos wasn’t so prevalent so people simply know a lot of stuff via osmosis, and in the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon the showmakers simply present him as a criminal off the bat.

If you do go with him pretending to be a hero it’s tricky to pull off without feeling like you are going through the motions.

All of which is me saying the movie is faithful to the comics in presenting Mysterio as initially pretending t be a hero but I don’t know how good of an idea that is. I don’t know anyone who walked into the movie not knowing he was the bad guy.

That’s about it for positives.

So...FUCK THIS MOVIE!

Once again in this Spider-Man  movie everything revolves around Iron Man.

I’ve written in posts past how this undermines Spider-Man’s agency simply as a character in a movie but as far as adaptations go this is beyond insulting.

Spider-Man was in part created to be an independent superhero. In part created to literally NOT have the kind of relationship he has with Iron Man in this movie.

I cannot describe how much of a fundamental misunderstanding of Spider-Man’s character it is to have Iron Man be utterly integral to who everything about him.

He’s so goddam integral that Peter’s alleged character arc in this movie is about becoming him (in the most obnoxious of ways too, see Part 2) and he is the wellspring from which 99% of this movie springs from even though he’s fucking dead. I mean my god the plot device everyone is after is Tony Stark’s glasses!

Spider-Man doesn’t get to be his own man even when Iron Man is literally not alive!

Shit even Mysterio is motivated and built to be a dark reflection of Iron Man. And this kills his character not just because it denies him independence because it makes his ambitions entirely too big scale to work as a Spider-Man villain. His motivation is to gain access to Tony’s magic glasses. At least Vulture with a tweak could have worked as a regular Spider-Man villain. He had the working class down to Earth and relatable ambitions and lifestyle down. Mysterio is doing everything to both spite Tony and become him.

Jesus, even Iron Man’s dead weight and most irrelevant supporting character Happy Hogan is not just in this movie but plot relevant...for the second movie in a row! He’s even dating Spider-Man’ aunt. At this point given how she’s never even mentioned him is Uncle Ben even dead in this universe or did he just run off with a somehow even sexier 50 year old?

Oh...and let’s talk about Uncle Ben, whom I was naive enough to think was going to be referenced when that gravestone appeared but noooooope, fucking Iron Man again.

From Endgame onwards disgusting posts and articles were written about how Iron Man’s death now truly makes him MCU’s Uncle Ben. Because you see he was Peter’s father figure and he died...so that’s the same thing.  Nevermind that he didn’t die because Peter was inactive and selfish, or the fact that his death didn’t widow his aunt, or anything like that. Shit Peter doesn’t even seem that upset about it beyond 1 or 2 scenes. And yet that’s one or two scenes more than we’ve ever seen Uncle Ben get referenced. Think about that we’ve seen Iron Man mourned more than Uncle Ben in a SPIDER-MAN movie!

We see that more than we see Aunt May even. Aunt May is just there in the MCU movies which is not just a waste of Tomei as a talented actress but it is again insulting as an adaptation. Even in Spider-Man 3 and ASM2 she had more to do and delivered a good scene or two. In these movies she’s eye candy and nothing more. She is more relevant as a punch line about how men are attracted to her than as her own character.

And now that we are on the subject of supporting characters, I talk about this more in other posts, but Michelle is so bad. The romance comes out of nowhere there is no justification given for their respective feelings for one another and to say she’s not Mary Jane would be redundant.

She fails to be anything like Mary Jane on any level beyond her nickname. This is not okay for several reasons. Among them is the fact that the Spider-man movies have had a problematic habit of treating the love interests as interchangeable characters as opposed to being their own distinct characters. Worse we’re screwing up Mary Jane not only a second time on film but worse than before. This is the Lois Lane of the Spider-Man mythos, she’s an iconic beloved character integral to the over all story of Spider-Man. And we’re treating her as so insignificant as to able to present an OC with her initials and claim that’s good enough.

As for the other supporting characters they continue to be broken. Like how the fuck did Betty Brant wind up the relatively most faithful character? Ned is just a repurposed Ganke except now they’re writing him as a lame Disney Channel sidekick character so he’s not even got the depth of comic book Ganke and Flash...oh Flash. He’s not just irrelevant to the movie, he’s not even really a bully in this film. He’s just a preppy docuchebag no one takes seriously and in fact gets treated as the butt monkey on more than one occasion. The only redeemable moments for his character were when he sang Spider-Man’s praises and was stoked that Spidey follows his social media channel.

All the characters feel like shallow attempts to make Spider-Man ‘about youth’ which as I’ve said countless times in the past, he provably isn’t about and never was. But this film not only continues to lean on that misinterpretation but lean harder on it. Like the premise of this movie is literally about Spider-Man trying to enjoy his summer vacation and school field trip.

But the film fucks up Spider-Man’s defining values in so many other ways.

Of course there is the blip.

People were so hype for Spider-Man to be in the MCU but hindsight is painful because that fact just hurt Spider-Man movies on a fundamental level.

In Marvel comics, we never know for sure if any of Spider-Man’s friends or family died in the Infinity Gauntlet and no one remembered it happening anyway. It also didn’t happen in a Spider-Man story so it could be safely ignored as is the nature of a shared universe.

But in the movies Far From Home acting as MCU Chapter 23 creates an ongoing problem for these Spider-Man movies. The fact that Spider-Man and everyone he knows died and came back but also there were some people who are five years older than him now creates a fundamental dissonance undermining the more grounded, relatable angle of his character. The only solution of which is to simply wilfully ignore the elephant in the room that represents that dissonance. In short these Spider-Man movies would’ve been better off not being connected to the MCU or at least being on it’s fringes.

This applies to even the post credits scene of the movie as now in our movies that are supposed to be about the grounded and relatable hero we have fucking aliens! And they were there the whole time. The movie even gleefully plants its flag in rejection of the idea of having a more grounded Spider-Man by saying Spider-Man ISN’T a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man by virtue of having gone to space. I was okay with that in Infinity War as that was not a Spider-Man movie but by actively rejecting that idea in this movie it showcases how the film makers treat Spider-Man as a more generic hero who can be anything and everything...and therefore nothing. There are no definitions to the type of things he will get involved with.

You might counter outside of the opening school scenes and post-credit sequence the alien involvement isn’t that much of a problem because all the interdimensional and alien stuff wasn’t real in the movie.

But that leads us to the next problem. Spider-Man as a globetrotting super spy agent. Again...this is not Spider-Man. Spider-Man is more domestic, more down to Earth and sans space travel there is nothing less grounded and down to Earth that globetrotting and secret agents. There is a reason James Bond is indulgent escapism!

Worse the spy stuff essentially hijacks the movie, it’s not even something that flows out from Peter’s character or world, it comes out of nowhere to appropriate his story.

Speaking of which...SHIELD have to hijack Spider-Man because...Spider-Man doesn’t want to get involved...

...what?...

I will repeat that.

Spider-Man, the character defined by a low level burglar he chose not to stop who then killed his uncle thus teaching him that having super powers gives him a responsibility to use it to help others...chooses to not help out against giant elemental monsters threatening all life on Earth...because he wants to enjoy his vacation...

...words simply cannot do justice to how beyond broken that is as an interpretation of Spider-Man.

This isn’t even a case of he quits because being a hero has taken such a toll on him and he’s had a wobble.

This is him still deciding to be Spider-Man but actively tries to avoid it because he wants to have fun for an extended period of time. MAYBE that’s okay. MAYBE him deciding to not take his suit along on vacation could be justified and in character.

But when presented the means to be Spider-Man and a major crisis that requires his help (it isn’t like there is a small group of equally or more powerful heroes to cover for him) for him to simply reject it, to have to be forced into helping and when he reluctantly does only doing the bare minimum until he realizes people he cares about are in danger...no.

Just no, whoever was responsible for that characterization you should not be allowed to write for Spider-Man.

It’s not even consistent with Homecoming’s already misinterpreted version of Peter Parker. In Homecoming Peter was screwed up because his intervention made everything worse near 100% of the time but even that’s better than presenting Peter as choosing to not intervene at all for purely selfish and unsympathetic reasons. And to rub it in our faces when he does choose to intervene he does it with more high tech Stark crap. No him making the suit himself doesn’t make it okay, Spider-Man shouldn’t be using technology from other people like that nor consistently having access to such high-tech. It goes against the idea of him being independent and of being grounded.

The Stark tech crap is also relevant to what is a major contender for the single worst scene of any Spider-Man film to date. The drone strike on a bus.

In this movie about the superhero who’s supposed to be relatable and like us, Joe Average, we have a scene where he uses a pair of high tech bequeathed to him by his dead superhero father figure accidentally to launch an orbital drone strike on a fellow school student on his bus because he’s about to ruin his chances with hooking up with a girl. Then he has to engage in wacky hijinks to save the kid and everyone else.

Do I need to say more about that scene? To call it jumping a shark would be an insult to other shark jumping moments. It shatters the verisimilitude of the movie maybe even more than the blip.

Let’s switch back to Peter’s personality in this movie. I’ve already talked a lot about it in prior posts but I do have two more things to point out.

The first of these is that we have less quips than in prior Spider-Man movies. And I don’t just mean the most recent ones I mean of any of the movies going back to 2002. And by less I mean 0. Spider-Man NEVER quips or jokes in this movie. Ever. It’s like they’ve grown to understand Spider-Man even less than in the last movie!

The second and more significant is how stupid Peter is when it comes to his secret identity. In the comics Spider-Man is famously secretive about his identity, to the point where it’s almost paranoid.

Here though he isn’t concerned about SHIELD or random SHEILD agents knowing who he is, or Mysterio, or everyone in a bar or anyone looking at the bridge in London where he unmaskes makes out (awkwardly) with Michelle.

The movie pretends like it cares about this aspect of his character by having Peter point out if he goes out as Spider-Man abroad people will deduce it’s him.

Not only is this an attempt by him to weasel out of hero duties but it’s moot because Betty immediately figures it out (leading to the cringe Night Monkey gag which doesn’t even make sense since monkeys don’t crawl on walls or shoot webs!), Michelle figures it out and Peter was cavalier with his identity before and after that scene.

All culminating in just everyone knowing his identity which like in the comics fundamentally fucks up the idea of him as the everyman even more. Forget space aliens and spy shit now he’s a celebrity. Celebrities are the exact opposite of the everyman, that’s why they’re friggin celebrities!

Big take away from this movie as an adaptation?

It was fucking insulting for it to have been dedicated to Lee and Ditko.

Fuck this movie. Fuck this direction for Spider-Man. Fuck Marvel for ruining Spider-Man again.

*That being said I did once hear a brilliant pitch for Spider-Man 4 wherein Mysterio frames Spider-Man and the police call in aid from Kraven the Hunter to catch him. 

[21goodinfo-blog]

Scary Movie - Attracts film production company Lovers

รีวิวหนังใหม่ 2020 Industry of films provides numerous kinds associated with movies. They are particular styles of movies that amuse us. They make all of us laugh, make us weep and sometimes makes people frighten also, but within any situation we obtain entertained and really feel exhilaration. Main movie types may be categorised into eleven kinds. These 11 types of movie genres are Activity Movies, Adventure Movies, Humor Movies, Crime & Crapule Movies, Drama Movies, Epics/Historical Movies, Horror Movies, Music (Dance) Movies, Science Fictional Movies, War (Anti-War) Films and Westerns.

รีวิวหนังใหม่ 2020

As title suggests each genre from the movie is filled along with the called element, this kind of as action together with excellent stunts, comedy using nerve-tickling sequences and like this. Together with traditional genre film kinds there are additionally non-genre video categories. A few of these non-genre motion picture categories may be Cartoon Videos, Classic Movies, Conspiracy Motion pictures, Children Movies as well as that way. Whatever the type is regardless of the categories tend to be, this is a correct fact that movies captivate really and they business lead us to some whole brand new world of fantasies.

Film production company show most beautiful encounters, the majority of ugly faces, many sensitive love-filled heart and also at the same period probably the most ruthless heart, which is, you can see every feelings of our living inside these movies. The videos possess great dance sequences, songs and views. Absolutely no one can extra yourself with the magic of those movies. Social movies distribute good message for creating the actual society a great place with regard to living. These types of films encourage us the lot. Movies perform provide education in that feeling.

One genre of dvd which attracts a massive bulk of movie enthusiasts is actually horror movies. The actual scary movies have unusual figures with unusual confronts along with body structures. These kinds of motion pictures show sound results which are really frightening that causes chills in addition to shudders. Horrors movies motivate us also and these people are filled with spine-chilling sequences.

Horror shows have frequently a terrifying as well as surprising finale. They discourage us all while captivating and also enjoyable us at the exact same time within a cathartic encounter. Horror films feature any wide range of designs, through the earliest silent Nosferatu traditional, to today's SPECIAL things and deranged people. They may be sometimes combined having science fictional. Here the particular menace or even monster will be related to a problem of technology, or whenever Earth is threatened through aliens. The scariest videos show sequences of a good aged and deserted large structure with no 1, but some sort of ghost along with a group of individuals fulfill him or the girl in bizarre implications. All these movies are full regarding unique sound effects in addition to light effects.

Everybody loves in order to get oneself scared simply by watching these horror motion pictures. It scares, excites and quite often makes us laugh below fear also. There are usually many sub-genres of fear movies also love slasher, teenager terror, dramón killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. A person would love to shift away in a dream land using these movies therefore often. Movie business offers produced many outstanding apprehension movies. Some of typically the best rated horror titles are generally Psychotic, The Innocents, Lifeless involving Night, Peeping Ben, The particular Wicker Man, Typically the Haunting, Theatre of Bloodstream, Dracula, Brides of Dracula, Deceased Man's shoes as well as Doctor Jekyll And Cousin Hyde to name a new few. The horror shows are generally a story of containment, superstition and also sexual foreboding. These films boast superb cinematography, outstanding acting along with seriously driving moments.

[michael-radi-the-glamorous-life]

Do You Hear What I Hear?

(And don’t worry, I’m not talking about the Christmas song.)

Sound is a very powerful thing. It surrounds us at all times, and yet how often are we paying specific attention to those sounds?

Sound can be music of course, but it can also be created by a billion other things:

Objects (doors closing, printers printing, squeaky floors, keyboard clicks, etc.)

People (unintelligible chatter, direct conversation, whispering, yelling, sneezing, etc.)

Actions (vehicles on the road, steam from a radiator, glass breaking, etc.)

Reactions (fires crackling, the frying of an egg, stomachs digesting food, etc.)

And more

And because of this pervasiveness of sound in our lives and its ability to recall in us specific thoughts, images, and emotions, sound is an excellent way to create an environment and to tell a story.

Theater Sound

Last weekend I saw a preview performance of the current Broadway revival of West Side Story. (I would have posted a review here, but since the show does not open for another several weeks and is likely to change, it seemed unfair to do so.)

I have always been particularly sensitive to sound - just ask my poor parents who dealt with a sobbing child covering his ears every time a firetruck passed - and this includes both the volume of that sound and the emotions it tends to elicit.

(***Though I won’t be giving very much away about the new West Side Story, DO be warned: Here There Be Spoilers***)

So sitting in the theater this past weekend, staring at a very non-Broadway-musical-set and ready to watch a West Side Story that is supposedly not very like a West Side Story, I was immediately jarred when a big ‘ole Broadway pit began blasting out the Jonathan Tunick orchestrations that sound essentially like the original production.

Wait, what?

Everything else about what I was seeing and experiencing in this commercially avant-garde Ivo van Hove musical production was screaming “This is not a normal Broadway musical!!!” But the music was. And it didn’t fit.

It remained basically unchanged, and the music suddenly seemed to be undermining everything that the production was attempting to accomplish.

This was incredibly jarring, and not in the way that it seems Ivo van Hove was intending.

Now, I didn’t feel this way for every single number - there were 3 big dance sequences that, I think, benefited from the orchestration. But 3 out of an entire show would not be a passing grade in high school.

And this got me thinking. (A dangerous pastime, I know.)

In the theatre particularly, directors are so good at having visions of their productions that create a world and come together cohesively and wonderfully, transporting the audience into the story. But, I have often felt that this doesn’t always apply with director to the sound of a piece.

“Well, that’s the job of the [Sound Designer/Musical Director/Composer/Orchestrator/Arranger], right?”

Is it?

Isn’t a large part of a world or an environment the sound of that environment? Shouldn’t that be part of the vision, and therefore part of the cohesive whole?

When a director says (for example) they imagine “a run-down street as the main set with heavy colors of blues, greens, and grays, with streaks of yellow,” we don’t then say “Well, that’s the job of the Scenic and Lighting Designers.” So why would we say the same of sound and music?

In the case of Ivo van Hove’s West Side Story, several of the (interesting and potentially very effective) changes he made to the show and its presentation could have landed brilliantly with a soundscape that supported his vision.

But it didn’t.

Sound is so important to a story.

Sound As Environment

Sounds are such an important aspect to creating an environment and, often, we may not even be aware as to why it works as well as it does.

But it does.

Someone who understood this completely and utilized this idea to the max? Mr. Walt Disney.

In Cartoons - Dialogue was (originally) scarce or non-existent, so the entirety of the emotion, pacing, and language of his cartoon shorts were communicated through music.

In Films - Music creates a sense of wonder and fantasy, or sometimes danger and darkness, and supports (literally underscores) the dialogue and action of the films. Additionally, Walt understood that a catchy tune creates both joy in the audience and commercial success in its repetition.

In Parks - The first thing you hear when you enter Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is one of the classic Disney tunes from his early cartoons or movies being played out across the Main Street, orchestrated to sound like a recording from the early 20th century. You are transported immediately. And the music changes (song, tempo, orchestration, and volume) as you enter each new section of the park (Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, etc.).

On Rides - Walt knew the importance of environment for the sake of entertainment, which is why his inventive use of “Dark Rides” was so popular. He even made sure that the queue to get on the ride was part of the same environment, both to prepare people for the ride to come and to provide entertainment and stave off boredom. A large piece of this? The sound. Think about the soft, low, inconsistent drum beats and strings that mix with chain clinks, thumps, and incoherent grumbles while waiting in line for Pirates Of The Caribbean. Or the ominous and wandering organ music that plays amidst howls, squeaks, crashes, and screams in the line for The Haunted Mansion.

Sound can transport you to a time and place without any visuals at all. And this happens in real life too.

What does your bedroom sound like? Mine sounds close to silent most of the time, but there’s a consistent soft rumble of distant tires on pavement, occasional echoing car horns, and a slight whistle from passing wind. Sometimes this mixes with a loud hiss from the radiator, muffled water splashes from the nearby shower, or the clinks of dish ware from the kitchen next door.

How about your place of work? Your favorite coffee shop or restaurant? Your relaxation place?

They all sound different, and I bet you could describe what they sound like if you stopped and thoughts about it.

Application?

How does this apply?

Well, if you work in the business of creating stories and environments, it’s definitely something that needs to be carefully thought about, discussed, and analyzed.

For everyone else?

I think it’s a good idea to take stock of sound and music and the way it affects you, your moods, your tastes, your desires, and your overall comfort levels.

Perhaps the reason you didn’t like that new Broadway show last month had more to do with the sound of the music than the storyline?

Perhaps you don’t feel like your workouts are hard enough because you haven’t underscored them with the right kind of music?

Or perhaps you have a hard time falling asleep because of the natural sounds of your room, and maybe a sound machine would prove useful?

Take stock of what you hear and see what you notice. Maybe you’ll even learn something new about yourself.

[creepykingdom]

The Lion King (2019) Review

By Kayla Caldwell

Ah, The Lion King, the beautiful reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this time, in live action form. Before we talk about how dreamy the visuals are, let me just say upfront, the singing is weak. But we’ll get more into that later. The movie seems to start about the same as the 1994 cartoon. Rafiki (John Kani) holds baby Simba (JD McCrary) up to present him to the animal kingdom as the camera pans to stunning views of Pride Rock. Young Simba is cute af. Every time he or baby Nala (Shahadi Wright Joseph) were onscreen I couldn’t stop thinking, “I want one!” And I didn’t realize it until I saw it in action, but John Oliver was the perfect choice for Zazu, down to the scene in which the perturbed bird shouted, “IT’S THE NEWS!” emphasizing how immensely important that message was, after Simba had playfully attacked him while he was going over the day’s happenings with Mufasa (James Earl Jones). And for anyone, who, like myself, was terrified about the waterworks that would be set off during the stampede scene, this version actually moved past Mufasa’s death pretty quickly. I was prepping myself to sob in the theater full of people, but next thing I knew Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor ) was yelling at Simba to run away, and we were already moving on. I’m grateful for that, at least, though I will say it’s still a pretty suspenseful scene. The music is LOUD and the sound of the wildebeests running is unnerving. Plus, the graphics are so good (especially in IMAX), that I almost raised my hand to swipe away the dust rising off of the ground as the animals charged. Watching this scene again in adulthood really made me question things. Why did Mufasa have to climb up to the top of that mountain? He seemed fine clinging to the side of the cliff. I mean, sure, I bet it was tiring, but how long could a stampede really last? Alas, even though I watched that scene like a naive child, hoping it would produce a different outcome despite knowing exactly how this story ends, Mufasa does fall. And he dies. And then… one last wildebeest runs by a trembling Simba, and all I could think was, same. That would be me in gym class, wrapping up the mile in a cool 12 minutes because ya girl has asthma and also is not built for running. 

After Simba runs away, he passes out in the desert, and there’s a scene where a group of vultures creepily circle before the cub is thankfully saved by Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumba (Seth Rogan). Now, I’ve already said the singing in this movie is less than impressive, but it seems they tried to play up the humor to make up for it. And it’s not a bad effort. Timon and Pumba are hilarious. From the moment they meet the lion cub and introduce him to their philosophies “Life is meaningless” to Timon tactlessly asking, “What’s wrong… in as little words as possible?” The duo are a great comic relief. After teaching Simba “Hakuna Matata,” they mimic the montage from the original movie, where the little cub grows into a full-grown lion, all while they’re singing. And the meerkat and warthog joke about this in the movie, telling Simba enough is enough. Pumba jokes he’s gained about 300 pounds since they started singing. And Timon cries, “Now he’s riffing, Pumba, this is a nightmare!” There’s a scene around this time in the movie where a little pile of hair falls off of Simba’s mane, and floats down a river, and is picked up by a bug, and then a bird, and then the breeze, etc. etc. It eventually makes its way to Rafiki, alerting him that Simba has NOT died, and I get the visual impact they were going for - circle of life and all that jazz. However, as someone with thick hair that sheds about as much as a dog’s - this just made me think of when you have to clean a clump of hair off of your brush. Not exactly romantic. And as we all know, Hakuna Matata doesn’t quite work when you’re the rightful leader of a kingdom being thrown into disarray, something a grown-up Nala (Beyonce) reminds the wayward Simba. Their reunion sparks up a rendition of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” that could be described as cringeworthy. I know! I know, how dare I disrespect Beyonce like that? But hear me out, I’m a huge fan. I saw her on the Formation Tour and it was like a religious experience. But this version of the song is weird and full of riffs and just doesn’t feel like that beloved Elton John classic I was looking for. My roommate, who is super into music, even covered her face with her hands during it. Not a good sign. Another big disappointment? “Be Prepared.” That’s a great effing song in the cartoon. And Ejiofor basically just talk-sings it. That’s actually the main problem with this movie, and likely all of the Disney live action remakes. They put together great casts, but the problem is that they’re more focused on star power than vocal ability. So most of the songs in this film - which are classics beloved by fans - turn into weird, almost rap-y talk-songs. It’s a little disheartening. 

Speaking of Scar, dude is scary. Visually, they did a really good job making him fearsome. He’s too skinny. His fur seems matted, and he’s just … wrong. It’s perfect. Typically, whenever I see a big cat (like tigers or, say, a lion), I’m desperate to pet it. I know I cannot, but boy, do I want to. But with Scar, let me tell you just how much I did not want to pet him. I wanted to stay far, far away from that guy, and that is exactly how Scar should make me feel. His lackeys, the hyenas, weren’t any better. I feel bad saying this, because I love all animals, but man, are those things ugly. They’re like deformed dogs that should be in Stranger Things or something. The way they shrieked when ripping up a carcass also made me think of the evil monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. So yeah, be prepared to be scared. (See what I did there?) The conclusion of the film really ratchets up the fear factor. While the remaining Mufasa loyalists fight off Scar and the hyenas, the rest of Pride Rock is ablaze, surrounding them with flames while ash rains from the sky. It’s very Silent Hill-esque, and creepy as hell. I challenge you to not be alert and enraptured during this scene. All in all, it’s a really fun watch. Was it groundbreaking, or honestly, even necessary? No. The cartoon still holds up. But, that being said, there’s a great group of talent here, and Timon and Pumba really are funny. And, if you’ve been craving a more realistic depiction of the royal lions, then this is perfect for you. The views are stunning, and the animals (Scar and the hyenas aside) are beautiful. 

They also got creative with the cinematography, adding some fun, new POV shots that really enhance the overall experience of watching the film. Long live the king.

(ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DISNEY)

[sixtharrow]

Did the “Favorite Character Bingo” meme, in general order of discovery. I didn’t include live action characters (there would have only been like two anyway) just those from cartoons, anime, games, etc.


If you’re curious who anyone is they are listed under the cut :>


1. Pikachu (Pokémon)

2. Gohan (DBZ) 

3. Tetsuo (AKIRA, moreso in the film cause he’s more sympathetic) 

4. Heather (Silent Hill 3, first video game crush maybe lol) 

5. Zidane (Final Fantasy IX, cause tail) 

6. Jounounchi (Yugioh) 

7. Sora (Kingdom Hearts, idk why I picked such a silly looking picture for him lol 

8. Ed Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist, Al is also great) 

9. Silver (Treasure Planet) 

10. Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon) 

11. Yosuke (Persona 4) 

12. Otacon (Metal Gear Solid series) 

13. Kaworu (Neon Genesis Evangelion) 

14. Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony) 

15. Korra (Avatar: Legend of Korra)

16. Marceline (Adventure Time)

17. Pearl (Steven Universe)

18. Ellie (The Last of Us) 

19. Keith (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

20. Yurio (Yuri on Ice) 

21. Baz (Carry On)

22. Taako (The Adventure Zone) 

23. Catra (She Ra) 

24. V (Devil May Cry 5)

[peoplearentwearingenoughhats]

Guardians of the Internet

Look, I know the world is going to hell in a handcart. Believe me I am furious over Brexit, Trump/Putin, and a whole load of other topics that I am not really very well informed about - because have you *tried* reading and self-editing the entire news of the world every day?! - but equally, on the face of it, make me just as mad.

But this morning my brain is mainly occupying my thoughts with processing the firing of James Gunn, the foremost director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, also human being.

Okay let’s get the nasty stuff out of the way first - the tweets.

The humour is dark. 

Some of them would not seem out of place in a game of Cards Against Humanity. That terrible game, which also occasionally acts as a force for good in the world.

Now - out of context - the top-right tweet about the Expendables, sounds like a parody of what ‘bros’ might say about such a macho film as the Expendables. Sort of in the way that Broforce has a knowing look at past action heroes, and the unrealistic nature of their character. Which may have been Gunn’s way of processing the problem that toxic masculinity can pose without self-awareness. Although, I suspect had I met that sames James Gunn in 2010, he may well have been the exact sort of asshole I think his tweet sounds like is parodying.

And - and here’s the kicker - I recognise some of my younger self in here. Some of these jokes are jokes I would have made in the past.

I wouldn’t now - to be clear - but I would have made them in the past. In fact I have a book of quotations from my days in internet chatrooms, and a lot of things I say in the book are really not things I am comfortable saying now. But I remember being there in that moment, saying those things to get reactions from my friends; and - in general - the reaction was laughter. We were a bunch of sick fucks. Well, maybe not entirely true - maybe some of the things I said had a negative impact.

But whatever the impact was, I said it. And it’s all there, in black and white; literally bound up in a book. I can’t go back and change that even if I wanted to.

What I have tried to do is to progress. Develop my understanding of the world; correct past mistakes; improve.

Which is what Gunn seems to have done; in the two tweets from the BBC article - that recognition came a number of years ago (the most recent tweet is 2012 from what I can make out), and moved into the space within which he now operates.

-

I don’t see how to attack or defend those tweets. Yes, if the attitudes portrayed within had persisted onto the sets of Guardians, should be be fired? Absolutely. I don’t believe that is the case in any of the allegations against Gunn.

What if he were working on a project that dealt with some of the topics referenced in the tweets? I would completely question his involvement in such a project, and would fully support his firing. The only exception would be a project that was literally his self-exploration of his past self and why his past comments were wrong, and what affect it potentially had - but that would be a self-serving vanity project at best, and I wouldn’t be interested.

-

My understanding of the Guardians films is that they are about family. They certainly feel that way. Whilst I am generally not interested in the whole superhero comic-book world, and the tropes within them - Guardians gave me a personal group I could identify with on some levels, and the tone of them gave me feelings!  If it was to be planned in GOTG3 that Peter Quinn explored a past in which he had been sexually abused as a child - I would be uncomfortable. Not least because that’s pretty dark for a comic book blockbuster to go into! But also because of my knowledge of where Gunn’s humour has gone before, and I would question if he was qualified to make any sensible judgements on the topic. However - I’m pretty certain that is a narrative not on the table for Guardians 3 (although we may never know - I mean apart from Taika - who is well placed to bring us the final part of the Guardians trilogy? IE will there be a third??).

-

Of course the hypocrisy of Disney firing someone over 6 year old attitudes, expressed on social media - when they retain someone like Johnny Depp on their Pirates payroll, despite some fairly damning evidence he’s a dick. (Okay so the former is a joke that backfired but only a YEAR ago - Gunn’s not been publicly like that since he was taken on by Disney - but Amber Heard’s suffering does not seem to concern the people in charge at the house of mouse).

=

I think this brings us to the question of art being separate from the creator.

Up until the Weinstein allegations, Kill Bill was one of my favourite films. Tarantino seems to be strangely silent on the topic of his good pal Harvey, which makes me suspect that he might be too close to see the clear faults that people removed from the situation are provided with in the media.

I’m not sure what I need Quentin to say on the topic - as I’m not sure how that relates to two really great volumes of films - but I haven’t watched them since, as I suspect they will feel tinged with ‘yuckyness’ - a terrible phrase but when there is some removal between the art and the people in the background of it, it isn’t easy to describe the feeling you get when thinking about that film.

It’s a similar thing when I saw the news about Rolf Harris. I loved being part of Rolf’s Cartoon Club as a kid - I remember seeing the Luxo Junior computer animation on there for the first time, having no idea it would lead to many great Pixar films. But that show (to me) had nothing to do with Rolf making sexual assaults on children. Obviously - I wasn’t aware. And whilst I have no positive feelings towards Rolf Harris the human being - I still retain a whiff of nostalgia for that show.

Is that wrong?

=

Ultimately I would have had no issue with James Gunn creating and directing Guardians 3, assuming the narrative holds up that those are old tweets, he has changed his approach - acknowledged his past wrongs - and that the set of the film is conducted with professional behaviour. I suspect Disney have irreversibly affected that by firing Gunn, and I don’t envy Chris Pratt etc. who will no longer be able to work in the same environment that made Vol 1 and Vol 2 a great pair of films.

And if this is truly because of a bunch of people decided to get together a lynch mob on the internet, and rant about how some misjudged tweets from 6+ years ago truly reflect the character of someone in the present day, and bang on the door of the house of mouse until they were heard, then truly we are living in a terrible age.

But then again, you already knew that...

=

This video was going to be more related to the point of my article above, but it didn’t make it in the end.

However, it is important to remember, when dealing with anything you aren’t directly in the present to experience:

[denialofspoon]

all the asks

Mmmmmboy I’m lazy but also I love attention so ty anon!

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? 

Spotify! Pandora sucks and SC got to ad-heavy.

is your room messy or clean?

messy ;_;

what color are your eyes?

Brown

do you like your name? why?

It’s nothing fancy, but I feel like it suits me pretty well, so I like it.

what is your relationship status?

@nottootypical and I have been together for over 2 years now lol

describe your personality in 3 words or less

Witty, driven, creative

what color hair do you have?

Brown-auburn… Also my beard is orange lol

what kind of car do you drive? color?

Silver VW Jetta

where do you shop?

Amazon mostly, also a local outdoor mall. Clothes in my size are tricky to find.

how would you describe your style?

Hipster with accents of streetwear. “Shitty SoundCloud DJ” I guess? lmao

favorite social media account

This one! I love being anonymous enough to be honest. Plus y’all are super nice to me.

what size bed do you have?

Honestly I don’t remember. Full?

any siblings?

Two! They’re very different from me but we’re close.

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?

I’ve been around and honestly, Austin represents the greatest opportunity for my dreams… Plus it feels like home! I’d love to be able to travel when I wanted to. Would love to spend some time in Reykjavik.

favorite snapchat filter?

That one with the pug! It’s so unsettling!

favorite makeup brand(s)

Don’t wear the stuff, but @nottootypical‘s Urban Decay palettes are awesome!

how many times a week do you shower?

7-9. I need to be cleeeeean

favorite tv show?

Twin Peaks! I’m hype af for the reboot!

shoe size?

American 10.5

how tall are you?

5′10″/180cm

sandals or sneakers?

Sneakers

do you go to the gym?

Not lately. As soon as the semester ends I’m jumping back in.

describe your dream date

We eat like 3 pounds of steak, sit quietly and hold hands, pet like 20 dogs at once, and then get launched into the void of space with all those dogs and start a dog colony on the moon.

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?

$100 in cash.

what color socks are you wearing?

Black

how many pillows do you sleep with?

2 personally. In total we sleep with like 50 because Alisa is a pillow hoarder.

do you have a job? what do you do?

I’m an analyst/consultant. 

how many friends do you have?

Several? I dunno the quantity. I have maybe 7 or 8 friends, 3 very dear ones.

whats the worst thing you have ever done?

That I’m comfortable telling the internet? Uh, awhile back I let a breakup get the better of me and turned into a pretty toxic, unpleasant person for a few months. I’m pretty sorry I put everyone through seeing me like that.

whats your favorite candle scent?

It’s super basic but I enjoy vanilla/gingerbread scents.

3 favorite boy names

I honestly don’t know

3 favorite girl names

^^^

favorite actor?

Leonardo DiCaprio or Mahershala Ali. Both are brilliant.

favorite actress?

Marion Cotillard is super underappreciated IMO

who is your celebrity crush?

Chris Evans holy shit dude

favorite movie?

Interstellar. I don’t think I’ve ever had another movie fill me with so much wonder or make me feel such a wide range of emotions. I’m also really partial to space operas tho don’t mind me

do you read a lot? whats your favorite book?

I used to read a lot. Less since college. I look forward to returning to reading for pleasure. I really love the Witcher Saga or the Silmarillion.

money or brains?

Brains can beget money.

do you have a nickname? what is it?

Nope!

how many times have you been to the hospital?

5? I think?

top 10 favorite songs

In no particular order:

Shelter- Porter Robinson & Madeon

Pay No Mind- Madeon & Passion Pit

Do I Wanna Know? -Arctic Monkeys

Empty Threat- CHVRCHES

Paper Boats- Darren Korb & Ashley Barrett

Gold Dust Woman- Fleetwood Mac

Running in the Night- FM-84

Everlong- Foo Fighters

Let Them Feel Your Heartbeat- A Silent Film

Destination Unknown- Scandroid

do you take any medications daily?

Nope. I’m occasionally on treatments for asthma or a digestive condition.

what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)

Dry, but really reactive and can get oily quickly.

what is your biggest fear?

Dying without leaving a mark on the world. I want people to remember me.

how many kids do you want?

Currently 0. If I have kids, probably 2. I feel like having a sibling is an important part of growing up.

whats your go to hair style?

Somewhere between an undercut and a pompadour. 

what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc)

A small apartment.

who is your role model?

My friends, honestly. I feel like they’re always showing me new ways to improve and kind of exude goodness and ambition.

what was the last compliment you received?

Alisa said I was cute :>

what was the last text you sent?

“ayy lmao”

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?

6ish.

what is your dream car?

Maserati’s Birdcage Concept. It looks like it’s from the future.

opinion on smoking?

Filthy, harmful habit. I worry for my friends who smoke.

do you go to college?

Only for one more week! I’m 15 class hours and a few exams away from a BBA!

what is your dream job?

CEO of a tech company. I want the power and influence to make the world better, and I want to be able to make devices that improve lives.

would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs?

This is super hard for me. I grew up in a rural area and I love being out in nature, but it can be so dull. I suppose suburbs to be closer to the city, but eventually I’ll need to escape.

do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels?

yeah lol

do you have freckles?

Yep!

do you smile for pictures?

Yeah, just to counteract my RBF

how many pictures do you have on your phone?

Like maybe 20. Android phone quality.

have you ever peed in the woods?

So many times

do you still watch cartoons?

Yeah lol

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?

Wendy’s hands down.

Favorite dipping sauce?

If salsa doesn’t count, honey mustard.

what do you wear to bed?

Underwear/nothing. I gotta be free man.

have you ever won a spelling bee?

Yep!

what are your hobbies?

I write, draw/paint, make music, and I have a few coding projects on the side. I take a lot of joy from the act of creation.

can you draw?

See above!

do you play an instrument?what was the last concert you saw?

I play trumpet and bass guitar. The last concert I was at was a music festival. Pretty Lights Live was probably the coolest act, but I wasn’t super impressed with anything.

tea or coffee

Decaf tea.

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

Starbucks

do you want to get married?

Yes I do!

what is your crush’s first and last initial?

AY lmao

are you going to change your last name when you get married?

Nah m8

what color looks best on you?

Grey is my go-to. Also dark blue.

do you miss anyone right now?

Yep!

do you sleep with your door open or closed?

Closed.

do you believe in ghosts?

I have some thoughts, but no definite answer.

what is your biggest pet peeve?

People who don’t consider other people in their actions or decisions. If you can’t handle seeing the world from someone else’s perspective, shut up and sit down.

last person you called`

Alisa!

favorite ice cream flavor?

Orange blossom!

regular oreos or golden oreos

Regular

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles?

Chocolate!

what shirt are you wearing?

A Saint Pablo Tour shirt. Mahhhsanoonah.

what is your phone background?

Snowy mountaintops! 

are you outgoing or shy?

I’m so heckin shy

do you like it when people play with your hair?

y e s

do you like your neighbors?

Nah they’re pretty dumb. I don’t hate em, but I prefer they leave me alone.

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?

Yes, at night.

have you ever been high?

lol ye :~)

have you ever been drunk?

l o l  y e : ~ )

last thing you ate?

I made a peanut butter/coconut ice cream shake. It was amazing.

favorite lyrics right now

“If I could try a little harder, I would succeed/I’d rather give up and be happy” is super sad but pretty to me, idk

summer or winter?

Winter.

day or night?

Night!

dark, milk, or white chocolate?

Dark as a moonless night!

favorite month?

November is top.

what is your zodiac sign

Libra af

who was the last person you cried in front of?

Alisa pretty much exclusively over the past 3 years. I’m not super good at crying tbh

Thank u for asking me so many things and helping me put off doing work anon! We’re friends now, u and I!

[gamerszone2019-blog]

Cult Horror Game Devotion Will Not Be Re-Released After Joke About Chinese President

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/cult-horror-game-devotion-will-not-be-re-released-after-joke-about-chinese-president/

Cult Horror Game Devotion Will Not Be Re-Released After Joke About Chinese President

Taiwanese game developer Red Candle Games has issued a new statement on the status of its horror game, Devotion, which was pulled from Steam in February over a Winnie the -Pooh joke. And it appears the developers will not be re-releasing the game.In its new statement, Red Candle confirmed it will not be putting Devotion back up for sale, following controversy about an included joke that referenced Chinese president Xi Jinping and Pooh together.

“For the past four months, the art asset incident related to ‘Devotion’ has caused immeasurable harm to Red Candle Games and our partner. We would like to offer our most sincere apology to all impacted teams and personnel,” the Red Candle Games team writes in a public Twitter statement.

Greetings, we are Red Candle Games from Taiwan. To all of our players, industry and media friends, we would like to provide an update on ‘Devotion’. pic.twitter.com/wfGTUbHtHx

— redcandlegames (@redcandlegames) July 15, 2019

And although Red Candle says it’s still in “business mediations” the Red Candle co-founders, “have reached a unanimous decision to not re-release ‘Devotion’ in the near term, including but not limited to obtaining profit from sales, revision, IP authorization, etc. to prevent unnecessary misconception.”

The tweet from Red Candle Games is the first public statement in four months since Devotion was pulled from Steam. At the time of the initial controversy Red Candle Games told players the team was in the process of negotiating Devotion’s return to Steam. But the developers stayed mostly silent after the controversy first broke. Red Candle Games also pulled all of its Devotion trailers from its YouTube channel.

There were also reports from Iain Garner, a Taiwan-based games publisher, that Devotion’s Chinese publishing partner, Indievent, lost its business license since the Devotion controversy. But it’s unclear if that incident is related to Red Candle’s game being pulled from Steam.

Unfortunately, anyone looking to play Devotion again soon may have to wait awhile, if not indefinitely.

Why Red Candle Games Pulled the Critically Acclaimed Horror Game Devotion from Steam

Red Candle Games rose to prominence after the release of its 2017 horror game Detention. Detention takes place in the 1960s during the White Terror period, where political dissidents in Taiwan were suppressed. Critics praised Detention’s scares and originality, and IGN named it one of the best horror games of 2017. Detention was also adapted into a live-action horror movie set to be released later this year.

Red Candle Games followed up Detention two years later with Devotion, which the studio released on Steam back in February 2019. Reviewers again praised Red Candle’s second game, including IGN Japan which scored it a 9.8 out of 10.

But a week later Devotion was pulled from Steam following a review bombing campaign led by Chinese citizens. The review bombing resulted from the inclusion of an art asset with a reference likening Chinese President Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh in the launch version of Devotion.

The reference to Pooh was found in a poster inside the game, which when interacted with, would flash the words ‘Xi Jinping the Winnie the Pooh moron’ in Chinese. The reference would not be easily recognizable to anyone who can’t read Chinese, so the controversy was almost exclusive to Chinese-speaking territories.

When it was discovered, however, the subsequent backlash from players caused a chain of events that led to Devotion getting pulled from Steam less than a week after its release.

Much ado about Pooh

Winnie the Pooh has become something of a taboo subject on the Chinese internet. Since Xi became the leader of China in 2012, internet users would use images of the cartoon bear as a way to lightly joke about the president. Pooh was used as a physical comparison to Xi, but the meme became mainstream and subsequently censored on Chinese internet services, including social media platforms like Weibo.

The censorship of Pooh in China has been so widespread that the country denied the release of the Disney live-action film Christopher Robin. And in video games, Chinese game websites went so far as to censor Pooh out of images for Kingdom Hearts 3. As far as the Chinese internet goes, Winnie the Pooh is a serious red flag.

The Internet’s Response to Red Candle’s Apology

There’s been an outpour of support for Red Candle Games since its new statement went live earlier today — especially since many see the apology as unnecessary. Prominent video game developers have come out to defend Red Candle Games and to protest its continued absence from Steam.

“This is hard to read. What happened wasn’t fair to the studio and many completely innocent people suffer because of it,” one game developer on Twitter wrote in response to Red Candle’s tweet.

This is hard to read. What happened wasn’t fair to the studio and many completely innocent people suffer because of it.

— Blazej Krakowiak (@Lexmechanic) July 15, 2019

“Reminder to the gamers who promise to “rise up”: this is what actual censorship looks like,” Ubisoft Monetreal programming team lead Gavin Young wrote.

Reminder to the gamers who promise to “rise up”: this is what actual censorship looks like. I know you love your anime tiddies, but maybe get outraged about something worthwhile for once? https://t.co/4y5pKy6pBa

— Gavin Young (@GavinDYoung) July 15, 2019

“[S]olidarity and solidarity and solidarity with [Red Candle Games]. [R]eading this twists my stomach up. [M]y thoughts are with them,” Friends at the Table podcast host Jack de Quidt wrote.

solidarity and solidarity and solidarity with red candle games. reading this twists my stomach up. my thoughts are with them https://t.co/Fl3f4XF5GO

— Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) July 15, 2019

“As regretful as the incident was, we have to bear its full consequence,” Red Candle Games writes. In the meantime, the developer asks commenters to not harass any of its publishing partners and reiterated that the studio bears the full responsibility for the controversy. However, this is the latest incident to show how a seemingly innocuous internet meme in China can have dramatic consequences. The historic tensions between Taiwan and China no doubt also intensified the gravity of this controversy.

We reached out to Red Candle Games asking for further details about its ongoing business mediations and whether the studio has seen the outpouring of support from developers and fans.

Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

Source : IGN

[warfare4life]

asian horror movies - Attracts the Motion Picture Lovers

Industry of movies offers many kinds of movies. These are particular styles of movies which entertain us. They make us laugh, make us cry and also occasionally makes us scare also, yet in any case we obtain captivated as well as feel enjoyment. Main flick categories can be categorised into 11 kinds. These 11 kinds of motion picture styles are Action Movies, Experience Movies, Comedy Movies, Criminal Offense & Gangster Movies, Dramatization Movies, Epics/Historical Movies, asian scary movies , Musical (Dancing) Movies, Sci-fi Movies, War (Anti-War) Movies as well as Westerns. As name recommends each category of the film is loaded with the called element, such as action with excellent feats, comedy with nerve-tickling series and also like that. In addition to typical category flick kinds there are additionally non-genre movie groups. Some of these non-genre motion picture categories might be Cartoon animations, Timeless Movies, Cult Movies, Children Movies and also like that. Whatever the category is whatever the groups are, this is a true reality that movies delight absolutely and they lead us to an entire brand-new world of dreams. The movie reveal most beautiful faces, most hideous faces, the majority of tender love-filled heart and at the same time the most fierce heart, that is, we could see every emotion of our life in these movies. The movies have terrific dance sequences, songs and also sights. Nobody can save oneself with the magic of these movies. Social movies spread out good message for making the society an excellent place for living. These movies inspire us a whole lot. Movies do give education because feeling. One category of flick which brings in a big mass of motion picture lovers is asian scary movies . The Asian Movies have strange characters with unusual faces and body structures. These movies reveal sound results which are really frightening that triggers cools as well as shudders. Scaries movies thrill us additionally as well as they teem with spine-chilling series. asian scary movies have often a frightening and also stunning finale. They terrify us while exciting and also enjoyable us at the same time in a cathartic experience. asian horror movies showcase a large range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu standard, to today's CGI monsters as well as mad human beings. They are occasionally combined with sci-fi. Right here the threat or monster is associated with a corruption of technology, or when Planet is threatened by aliens. The scariest movies reveal sequences of an old and also deserted huge royal residence without any one, but a ghost as well as a group of individuals fulfill him or her in bizarre consequences. These movies have lots of unique sound results and light effects. Every person loves to get oneself frightened by enjoying these asian horror movies . It terrifies, delights and often makes us laugh under concern also. There are many sub-genres of asian scary movies likewise like slasher, teenager terror, serial awesomes, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. You would like to relocate away in a fantasy land with these movies so usually. Movie industry has created several outstanding asian scary movies . Several of the top rated horror titles are Psycho, The Innocents, Midnight, Peeping Tom, The Wicker Man, The Haunting, Theatre of Blood, Dracula, Brides of Dracula, Dead Man's shoes and also Dr. Jekyll And Also Sibling Hyde among others. The asian scary movies are normally a story of repression, superstition and sexual hysteria. These movies boast outstanding cinematography, outstanding acting as well as seriously terrifying minutes. It is really hard to find the film of your selection especially in asian horror movies category. New-age on-line shopping websites are supplying numerous titles under this category. They have classic asian scary movies , cult asian scary movies , scariest asian scary movies as well as like that. The titles available wouldmesmerise you without a doubt. Buying these titles is also really easy as well as filled with enjoyable. Simply inspect one of these sites as well as you could see lots of exhilaration is awaiting you.

[f4ppstore-blog]

asian horror movies - Attracts the Movie Lovers

Sector of movies offers countless type of movies. These are specific styles of movies which delight us. They make us laugh, make us sob and also often makes us scare additionally, but in any case we get amused and also really feel enjoyment. Main flick styles can be categorised into 11 kinds. These 11 sort of film categories are Action Movies, Adventure Movies, Comedy Movies, Criminal Activity & Gangster Movies, Drama Movies, Epics/Historical Movies, asian scary movies , Musical (Dancing) Movies, Sci-fi Movies, War (Anti-War) Movies and also Westerns. As name recommends each genre of the flick is full of the named element, such as activity with fantastic feats, comedy with nerve-tickling sequences and like that. Together with traditional genre flick kinds there are also non-genre film classifications. A few of these non-genre motion picture classifications may be Cartoon animations, Traditional Movies, Cult Movies, Kid Movies and also like that. Whatever the category is whatever the groups are, this is a true truth that movies delight genuinely and they lead us to a whole brand-new world of dreams. The movie reveal most gorgeous faces, many ugly faces, the majority of tender love-filled heart as well as at the same time the most fierce heart, that is, we could see every feeling of our life in these movies. The movies have fantastic dance sequences, songs and sights. No one can save oneself with the magic of these movies. Social movies spread out excellent message for making the society a good location for living. These movies inspire us a whole lot. Movies do pass on education because feeling. One category of movie which brings in a substantial mass of movie lovers is asian scary movies . The asian horror movies have weird characters with unusual faces and also body structures. These movies reveal sound effects which are very scary that creates cools and shudders. Scaries movies delight us additionally as well as they are full of spine-chilling series. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have typically a frightening as well as surprising ending. They frighten us while fascinating as well as enjoyable us at the same time in a cleansing experience. asian scary movies include a variety of designs, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today's CGI beasts as well as psychopathic humans. They are occasionally combined with sci-fi. Here the menace or beast is connected to a corruption of innovation, or when Planet is endangered by aliens. The most frightening movies reveal sequences of an old and deserted huge royal residence without any one, yet a ghost and a group of individuals fulfill them in peculiar effects. These movies have plenty of unique audio results and light results. Every person likes to obtain oneself terrified by viewing these asian scary movies . It frightens, excites as well as sometimes makes us laugh under anxiety also. There are many sub-genres of asian scary movies additionally like slasher, teenager fear, serial awesomes, hellish, Dracula, Monster, etc. You would certainly like to move away in a dream land with these movies so usually. Movie industry has created several outstanding asian horror movies . A few of the top rated scary titles are Psycho, The Innocents, Dead of Night, Peeping Tom, The Wicker Man, The Haunting, Theatre of Blood, Dracula, Brides of Dracula, Dead Man's footwear and also Dr. Jekyll As Well As Sibling Hyde among others. The asian horror movies are normally a tale of repression, superstition and also sex-related hysteria. These movies flaunt exceptional cinematography, outstanding acting as well as seriously scaring moments. It is very hard to discover the motion picture of your selection specifically in asian scary movies genre. New-age on the internet shopping websites are supplying several titles under this classification. They have classic asian horror movies , cult asian horror movies , most frightening asian scary movies as well as like that. The titles readily available wouldmesmerise you for sure. Looking for these titles is likewise really easy and also full of enjoyable. Simply inspect among these websites and you can see lots of exhilaration is waiting for you.

[hayleysolano]

asian scary movies - Draws in the Movie Lovers

Sector of movies supplies various sort of movies. These are specific genres of movies which delight us. They make us laugh, make us sob as well as in some cases makes us scare also, however regardless we obtain entertained and really feel enjoyment. Main film genres can be categorised right into 11 kinds. These 11 sort of flick categories are Activity Movies, Experience Movies, Funny Movies, Crime & Mobster Movies, Dramatization Movies, Epics/Historical Movies, asian scary movies , Musical (Dance) Movies, Sci-fi Movies, Battle (Anti-War) Movies and also Westerns. As name recommends each style of the film is full of the called component, such as action with terrific stunts, comedy with nerve-tickling sequences and also like that. In addition to typical style film kinds there are additionally non-genre motion picture categories. Some of these non-genre flick categories might be Cartoon animations, Classic Movies, Cult Movies, Children Movies and like that. Whatever the category is whatever the classifications are, this is a real fact that movies captivate genuinely as well as they lead us to an entire new world of dreams. The flick show most stunning faces, many ugly faces, most tender love-filled heart as well as at the same time one of the most callous heart, that is, we can see every emotion of our life in these movies. The movies have excellent dance sequences, songs and also sights. No person can save oneself with the magic of these movies. Social movies spread excellent message for making the culture a good place for living. These movies influence us a whole lot. Movies do present education and learning because feeling. One category of movie which draws in a substantial mass of film fans is asian horror movies . The asian horror movies have weird personalities with uncommon faces as well as body structures. These movies show sound effects which are very terrifying that causes chills as well as shudders. Scaries movies delight us additionally as well as they have plenty of spine-chilling series. asian horror movies have frequently a frightening as well as stunning ending. They terrify us while captivating and enjoyable us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Dolls movie include a large range of designs, from the earliest silent Nosferatu standard, to today's CGI monsters as well as insane people. They are sometimes incorporated with sci-fi. Below the hazard or beast is associated with a corruption of innovation, or when Planet is threatened by aliens. The most frightening movies show series of an old as well as deserted large palace with no one, yet a ghost as well as a team of people satisfy them in unusual consequences. These movies teem with special audio results and light effects. Everyone loves to obtain oneself terrified by watching these asian scary movies . It frightens, thrills as well as often makes us laugh under concern likewise. There are numerous sub-genres of asian scary movies also like slasher, teenager terror, serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. You would certainly enjoy to relocate away in a dream land with these movies so frequently. Movie industry has created numerous exceptional asian scary movies . A few of the top rated scary titles are Psycho, The Innocents, Midnight, Peeping Tom, The Wicker Man, The Haunting, Theater of Blood, Dracula, Brides of Dracula, Dead Man's shoes and also Dr. Jekyll As Well As Sibling Hyde among others. The asian horror movies are generally a tale of suppression, superstition and also sexual hysteria. These movies flaunt excellent cinematography, excellent performing and also seriously scaring minutes. It is really challenging to find the film of your selection specifically in asian scary movies genre. New-age on the internet buying websites are providing numerous titles under this category. They have timeless asian scary movies , cult asian scary movies , most frightening asian horror movies and also like that. The titles readily available wouldmesmerise you for certain. Buying these titles is additionally very simple and packed with enjoyable. Just examine one of these websites and you could see lots of exhilaration is waiting on you.

[sleepy-ki-blog]

Final Submission

Storyboards

Storyboards are a series of images usually composed from a script to tell a story in order, in a visual way. It is part of the pre-production stage of any visual media – be it games, films, animations, comics etc. – and is a helpful guide to discovering issues with composition in shot angles, timing, and dialogue. This essay will cover the history of the development of storyboards, reasons why it is a necessary component in pre-production, what they do and how they help in this, and how producers may use them differently to most.  

Dating back to the silent film era, Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès is known to be one of the first filmmakers to use storyboards in pre-production for planning out his effects (Gress, Jon, 2015). He worked with special effects and used the method to visualize them beforehand. Many large companies in the silent film industry used them too, but due to a reduction in studio archives in the 1970’s and 1980’s, this material has been lost. The storyboard we now know and use today was developed in the 1930’s by Walt Disney studios (Whitehead, Mark, 2004), they brought about the form and function and order of the sequence and description. Diane Disney Miller wrote a biography of her father, The Story of Walt Disney, (Henry Holt, 1956) in which she explains that the first completed storyboards in the modern style were created for the Disney short, Three Little Pigs (1933). Before Disney developed the storyboard, they were dubbed as ‘story sketches’, created in the 1920’s to visualize concepts for animated cartoon shorts such as Plane Crazy and Steamboat Willie (Canemaker, John 1999). Christopher Finch in The Art of Walt Disney (Abrams, 1974), mentions that Webb Smith was credited by Disney with creating the idea of drawing scenes on separate pieces of paper and pinning them up onto a board, thus telling a story in sequence; creating the first modern storyboard. Studios caught on to this method of pre-production, and the second studio to utilize the storyboard over ‘story sketches' was Walter Lantz Productions in 1935. Harman- Ising and Leon Schlesinger Productions followed this example by 1936. And by either 1937 or 1938, all American animation studios were using them. 1939 saw one of the first live action films to be completely storyboarded, Gone with the Wind. David O. Selznick was the producer of the film and hired William Cameron Menzies to design every shot of the film as the production designer. This then lead to a boom in the use of storyboarding for live action films in the early 1940’s and it soon became the norm. They are now an essential part of pre-production.

Essential because of what they do, and what they allow. Storyboards are usually used after the script has been written, they are there as a means to plan out the visual aspect of a film/animation/game/etc, in a sketchy enough way that it is still comprehensible – detail isn't required too much as storyboards are there to plan camera angles, timing, and movement, style and appeal isn't really important at this stage; animatics are more often than not, much nicer to look at.  A storyboard allows the producer to work out the kinks in the timing of scenes, to see how it would look and work on screen regarding characters movements (is the pacing right? Does the camera angle capture this motion correctly, would the audience be able to see their expression, or would it be better if the camera was positioned elsewhere to catch something in the background?) Timings regarding scenes, how long shots should last, how transitions would work, if it matches with the tempo of the dialogue. It also looks at pacing with the dialogue, matching it correctly so it doesn’t feel too mechanical, and instead, smooths in with the visual aspect so everything works together well; that punch lines would land. This whole planning stage with storyboards allows producers to see if anything needs to be changed, rearranged or scrapped and rewritten early enough in production that it shouldn’t affect anything other than (at most) the script. Previously mentioned was the fact that storyboards are usually sketchy, but for animations, sometimes they can be drawn in the style of the final animation. This is because 2D or 3D animations can be stylized and therefore, some things that might look good with real actors, may flop or not look as appealing when drawn out. Animation allows for more exaggeration, movements and characters can be styled to an appealing silhouette and these things would only work from specific camera angles. An example being the famous eyes bulging out (a good example is in Who Framed Roger Rabbit) which is only ever done on a three-quarter to side view. Doing it facing the camera never really works and the whole ‘bulging out’ effect of the eyes couldn’t be seen by an audience, so, a storyboard would allow for this experimentalism in camera angles, to see which way something like this would look best. Storyboards make way for experimenting with all aspects of the visual side, as well as tweaking timing for the dialogue and Foley work.

Despite this idea of doing them after the script, some producers are unconventional in their methods. Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, author, and manga artist who works for Studio Ghibli. He tackles animation differently to most producers; using the storyboard to build the narrative (drawing it first) and creating a script around it. In a press conference in Paris in late December 2001, Miyazaki was asked "Is it true that all your films are made without a script?" to which he responded with "That's true. I don't have the story finished and ready when we start work on a film. I usually don't have the time. So the story develops when I start drawing storyboards. The production starts very soon thereafter, while the storyboards are still developing.” He mentions how it’s a “dangerous way to make an animation film" but that's how he works best as a producer, and so the rest of the teamwork that way alongside him. What is taken from this is that the method is unorthodox and can cause issues along the line if the schedule isn’t kept on track during production. Storyboards take longer to create than writing a script, and editing them if they don’t work (especially because he works completely on paper) can eat up a good chunk of production time, meaning falling behind can happen quite easily. And nothing else can get done until that section of the storyboard is complete; a setback in creation can essentially cause a halt to production, causing not only time, but money loss too. Storyboards are still important in pre-production, regardless of where they are in the process though. The method Miyazaki uses may be ‘dangerous’ but it does have some good qualities and outcomes to it too. It utilizes the unique way storyboards create visual development, allowing the scenes to essentially write themselves without audible aid. It’s proof that animations can be created without dialogue and still be comprehensible, a script being written around the storyboard, means the visuals tell the tale rather than the words. It produces a means for full flexibility in the animation, means the camera angles, the movements, the timing, all get worked out first and smoothed out properly before they even touch on dialogue. The drawings set the pace of the whole movie, he’s mention in the same interview that in Spirited Away he had originally envisioned 1200 shots, but as he drew it out and paced it accordingly, it ended up being 1415. This goes to show how a storyboard can properly time a story out and allow for a piece to flow according to its own story. Dialogue fits in around the pauses and the moments. Every scene is pivotal because it is drawn out as such, and from experiencing the films, the pacing is smooth and doesn’t ever feel rushed.

To conclude, storyboards are a key part of pre-production, they are diverse and can be adapted to fit how a producer works. They come in forms ranging from stick-figures to detailed drawings, on paper or digitized. They time the production, help catch mistakes early on in the process, they are the fundamental base of any visual production, sometimes writing it before the script does.

Storyboards are versatile and important and necessary. You can’t make an animation without one. Freelance animators use them. Larger conglomerate businesses can have a multitude of storyboard artists. Others (like Miyazaki) have a skeleton team of around 30 or so. They are necessary and a good skill to have in the industry; there’s usually not enough.

Storyboards are utilized to check for risks, to make sure the production in smooth and paces well, that punch lines hit, and backgrounds and characters are seen from the best angles possible. They allow for mistakes to be made, changed to be done and sometimes even scripts to be rewritten. A production without a storyboard would flop, it would have no proper planning and the timings would be off because there would be no room for trial and error.

[mcsanders278]

Silent films vs Green Screen

I remember as a child seeing the first academy award winning best picture, Wings, in class at my elementary school around fifth grade. For those of you who are unaware, it is the only silent film to win best picture. Even at a young age the film left a lasting impression and was my first introduction into silent cinema. Admittedly, looking back on Wings now it is nowhere near one of the best silent pictures made but it will always have a sense of nostalgia for me. 

Since that initial introduction to Wings my appreciation for silent cinema has waxed and waned over the years. I would be remiss to say that silent films don’t require a different level of dedication than sound pictures as it is essentially impossible to do anything else while viewing them. Foreign cinema is similar in nature but foreign films have always felt more accessible to me since there is at least some speaking element - even with a lack of understanding the language, hearing tonal shifts in voices and sound effects can still provide a relatively high level understanding of what is going on even if the viewer is not completely paying attention / engaged in the viewing process. 

There is a large gap in memory between my viewing of Wings and my next silent film as my next cognizance of a silent movie was probably about eight years later in watching Buster Keaton in The General in a film history class. Oddly enough, as much as I considered myself a film connoisseur even at a young age taking the film history class made me realize that the earliest form of cinema had never been a format I completely delved into...I had never even seen a Charlie Chaplin film by the time I was in college (this could easily be viewed as cinematic blasphemy).   

In my third year of college I spent a considerable amount of time in the school library due to having large chunks of time between my classes. It was here that I was introduced to more cinematic endeavors as there were multiple television stations with laserdisc players connected. Even then laserdiscs were a dead form of media but the library had an extensive collection of films, including F.W. Murnau’s silent masterpiece Sunrise and numerous Criterion Collection films (this is a company which will undoubtedly come up in future posts). 

Even with my love of Sunrise and The General, for some reason I still didn’t have a complete buy-in to devoting a great deal of my film viewing hours to the silent form. Fast forward another 10 years or so when my sons were of an age to appreciate something beyond Disney cartoons. The three of us gained an esteem for Charlie Chaplin and his visual genius pretty much at the same time. I wasn’t expecting them to have the patience to sit through a silent film but for those of you who have seen the comedies of Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, etc you are well aware that they have a someone animated quality in their presentation anyway, which is never boring.  

For the next 8-10 years I was open to watching silent films on a regular basis; however, I essentially limited my exposure to comedies. There were a few dramatic films in between the comedies but nothing of mental consequence.  

Fast forward yet again to a relatively recent screening of Fritz Lang’s restored version of Metropolis at the FilmBar in Phoenix. I had seen the film previously years ago but it was a very poor print converted to DVD. One thing I have realized over my film viewing years is that if I am screened a poor print of any film my attention span is already depleted to almost zero. Needless to say, the version screened at FilmBar was a newly restored version with scenes recently found and it was gorgeous. How they were able to make a 90 year old film look so pristine is beyond me / just shows how film itself is magical. The luxury of seeing Metropolis on a big screen and completely devoting myself to its genius in a theater was an insane experience. 

Even if you haven’t seen Metropolis you have unquestionably seen some movie which was influenced by it as it was groundbreaking not only from a technical stance but also from a narrative stance.

I’m sure by now you’re asking how any of this has any relation to my topic / the current use of green screen in films. I’ll get to that in a moment. About 7 years ago I took my sons on the Universal Studios VIP tour which gave us a behind the scenes look at the movie-making process. During the tour we were actually taken into a sound stage which was green screen from floor to the top of the walls (see below)

At the time I thought this was a pretty cool but little did I know how green screen since then / over the past 5 or so years really has created a void in today’s cinema. If you think about the entire concept of green screen/CGI and what it asks of the viewer it is actually pretty weird...you know it is CGI, the filmmaker knows that you know it is CGI, yet you are supposed to pretend that it is real. Think about that for a moment...

One could say that it is just a souped up version of what Disney did years ago with films like Song of The South and Mary Poppins with the incorporation of animation on live action; however, the difference is that there is never a question that animation is involved with those earlier films and the viewer is not expected to think otherwise. Watching the film Tarzan a few years ago is when I fully realized my pure contempt for films which have predominant use of green screen as it was quite clear that probably more than 85% of a film which was supposed to take place in the jungle was filmed indoors / in a setting like the photo above. Again, think about that for a moment...

Getting back to silent films (and most notably films like Metropolis), the set designs and production values of a lot of silent films by the known silent directors of the time (Lang, Murnau, Chaplin, etc) were pretty insane. It is in seeing the ingenuity and care of films from almost 100 years ago compared to the somewhat frivolous approach to film-making nowadays where all of the big budget, big money-making movies are over run with CGI / green screen that one must wonder if we have taken a huge step backwards in cinema/imagination. We now seem to be at a point where viewers are desensitized and don’t care for good stories and good film-making, just “loud” productions. This isn’t to say that all movies nowadays are bad and that the use of green screen/CGI can’t be used for a good purpose (as long as it only adds to the story and doesn’t drive it) but if I were to have a choice between watching an amazing, emotionally engaging production like Metropolis or Murnau’s Faust versus a predominantly green screen production, which really has a cold, empty feeling to it, I would choose the silent film. 

[theminatureone-blog]

Timeline: The History of Animation

Pre-1900s Technique: Praxinoscope

Praxinoscope means ‘action viewer’. It was invented in 1877, by Charles-Emile Reynaud. This is a pre-cinema animation device, which uses series of pictures to create a movement. The pictures are located in a cylinder wheel, and when the wheel turns, the pictures create continuous movement of what’s in the picture.

1900s Technique: Stop Motion

It was first seen in the movie called Humpty Dumpty Circus by Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton, which was a 1897 movie. Stop Motion, is an animation technique to make an object or person seem to move on its own. The object or person, is changed little by little for each frame and taken a photograph. The film The Nightmare Before Christmas  (1993) by Tim Burton is another example for this technique, where every single character is made by waxes and moved for each frame of the movie. 1906

James Stuart Blackton makes the Humorous Phases of Funny Faces using chalk drawing and stop motion technique. This is usually cited as first animated cartoon by historians. Blackton started making it in 1904, and released it in 1906.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Animated_GIF_from_the_1906_HPFF_by_Blackton.gif 1908

Emile Cohl makes an animation film Fantasmagorie. This is also considered one of first animated film by many and it uses the same technique as James Stuart Blackton, that is stop motion. 1910’s Technique: Rotoscoping      

This is similar to Live action reference method, but more like motion capture. Rotoscoping was first used by Max Fleischer, and it was a method where the live action movies were projected onto a glass and animators could draw actions, frame by frame from those footages.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Waking_Life_rotoscoping_372.jpg

Key Frame Animation

Key Frame Animation is consisted of drawings which are beginning and end points, or important movements happening. It is just like a framework. The main idea is just to draw specific frames, and then depending on choice, leaving it as it is or filling in the blanks. 1912

Windsor McCay makes a 6 minute long silent animated film called Story of Mosquito using stop motion as well. It was very popular back then. 1914 Windsor Mccay makes Gertie the Dinosaur to be the first cartoon to use keyframe animation. This is the first movie to Feature a dinosaur.   http://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbyy8eagSa1r6ja9oo1_500.gif 1910’s Technique: Cel animation

Invented in between 1914 - 1915 by John Bray and Earl Hurd. This is also known as traditional animation, where every layer and scene is drawn by hand, on a paper. Until the computer animation came, this technique was the main form of animation. Cels are transparent papers with drawings on them. It allows the animators use the same frame again and again to save time and labour. They would only draw the moving objects rather than everything in the scene on transparent cells. This is used in popular cartoons such as Simpsons and Adventure time. 1916

Earl Hurd starts a series called <i>Bobby Bumps</i> which uses cell animation technique.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k109/mrgrum/popeye1-52.jpg 1920

Walter Disney starts working for an animation company called Kansas City Slide.

John Bray makes an animated series called The Debut of Thomas CatThis used an process a called brewster colour process which is named after Percy D. Brewster who invented it. Additionally this has been billed as first colour cartoon, and original traditional hand drawn cartoon is now presumed lost.

http://www.everwonder.com/david/felixthecat/gallery/balloonsA.gif 1923

Walter Disney started a series called Alice Comedies which used live action animation technique. Alice existed before Mickey Mouse and Other Disney Princesses. This Show ran up until 1927.

1928

Walter Disney starts a series called  Steam Boat Willie. This remarked the birth of our beloved star who is popularly know a Mickey Mouse. It was also a notable for being one of the first movie to make use of synchronous sound.

http://media1.giphy.com/media/y6Yu1CsMjNqNi/200.gif 1930’s Technique: Live Action Reference

Even though it’s not actually a technology development, this technique was really useful for every animator. First used by Art Babbitt, this is a technique of watching people movements and observing them, and then transfering the movements to drawings. Thi method technique was used in most of the movies you can think of, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarf to Lion King. Live Action Reference can be seen as an early version of motion capture technique, used by CGI.

https://68.media.tumblr.com/05776947a5f59b62277bd290acd0b05d/tumblr_ncfchzHGQH1qetpbso2_1280.jpg

Stereophonic Sound Technology    

Commonly known as stereo, this is the technique of the reproduction of sound. The technique was invented during 1930s, by the engineer named Alan Blumlein, but the technology was first used in animation, in the movie called “Fantasia” by Disney Pictures in 1940.

During this decade live action reference was very popular technique it was later used in popular cartoons such as: Scooby Doo, the Flintstones, The Fairy OddParents, Inspector Gadget, Casper and many more.

https://33.media.tumblr.com/95f3547ac4bf4799c99ea71ff3ce01e3/tumblr_muhqsj0TAO1rf73xqo2_250.gif 1940

Disney studio releases a movie called Fantasia. This was the first movie to use stereophonic sound technology. 1966 - 1967

Lapis and Permutation by James Whitney. He is considered father of computer animation, also used motion control in these short films.

http://www.bluntmetaphysics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/whitney.jpg 1967

Hummingbird by Charles Csuri and James Shaffer, is one of the first animations. It consisted of over 3000 images and 25 sequences which were generated by computer.

1971

Metadata It was the first 2D short film made by only using a graphic tablet. It was produced in Canada.

The Point was the first animated film made for Television that was more than 60 minutes long. This particular movie was 70 minutes long.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pjpxNmoqPro/UZwJd-n3pnI/AAAAAAAABbY/XeqWfACI4fI/s1600/Pointless+Forest.jpg 1975

Great was the first animated film to win an Oscar award. It was directed by Bob Godfrey. Moreover, it won an British Academy of Film and Television Arts award in 1976 for best animated film.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NrHZ-DRp-GU/UDxQslm23-I/AAAAAAAABNo/wSdf-7tflFU/s1600/1975+-+Great.png 1900s Technique: CAPS Animation

CAPS is short for Computer Animation Production Systems. Founded by Disney and Pixar in late 1980s, this technology is a mix of softwares to colour the animators drawings with digital inks and paintings, rather than traditional ones. It replaced Cel Animation, because CAPS was much more cheaper way of colouring animation.For example it was used in the movie 101 Dalmatians. 1980s Technique: CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery

CGI is the application of computer graphics to create images, videos, games, commercials, films etc. This technique is the one we know as “computer animation”, where movie makers use only 3D modeling and computer graphics to create the scenes, characters and lightings. Although there is no specific date of the beginning of CGI, it is seen taken off in films in the 80s and later becoming a major part of the film industry. 1982

The Works, created by Lance Williams from the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab, could have been the first animated movie but was never completed. 1983

Osamu Dezaki’s Golgo 13 is the first anime to utilize CGI technology.

http://38.media.tumblr.com/6dbe553cfb86438e29531f4757d0194b/tumblr_mub0t1aT9I1r8oyaho1_500.gif 1983        

Rock and Rule is the first Canadian animated feature film to use computer graphics. It was entirely produced in Canada. 1984

Alvy Ray Smith and Lucasfilms (later splitting off into <b>Pixar) creates The Adventures of Andre and Wally B. is the first CGI animation that uses motion blur and a squash and stretch motion. It is loosely based on Mickey Mouse. Modelling program that they used at that time could only use geometric shapes such as spheres, cones, cubes, etc. Therefore, to create a shape a tear drop they stretched the sphere to infinity.

https://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lowvfjfDSs1qlv01zo1_250.gif 1985

Walt Disney Picture’s The Black Cauldron is the first animated movie with CGI effects. This was the first Disney animation that did not contain any songs are neither performed by characters nor in the background.

http://31.media.tumblr.com/29a7759c41e831b0bee0310c24e5daa9/tumblr_nben7iSbhx1r3vhy7o5_r1_250.gif 1986

Pixar’s  Luxo Jr. first used CGI technology for shadows in this short. Luxo Jr. later became their mascot. 1989

Disney’s The Little Mermaid is the first movie to use CAPS technique, even if it was just in the end scene of the movie. A re-release of the 3D version this movie was scheduled;however, it was cancelled in 2013 due to poor performances of other movies that were converted into 3D.  

http://media2.giphy.com/media/qHY6ij6LYizle/giphy.gif 1990

Walt Disney Picture’s The Rescuers Down Under is the first film to use CAPS for the entire movie.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/e71e003fa62ebe9f24c03a9497d38d20/tumblr_mird8sM1T91qjj1swo1_500.gif 1991

Walt Disney Picture’s The Beauty and the Beast is the first film to combine hand drawn animations with computer animation. Until Disney-Pixar's movie UP this was the only animated movie to be  nominated for an academy award for best picture.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/4b73a2ea1af71f64c84d9c2bb6415874/tumblr_inline_mwgxa8bDZL1rup8k6.gif

1994

Mainframe Entertainment, Alliance Communications, and BLT productions’ Reboot is Canada’s first computer animated TV series.

http://media.giphy.com/media/XGyZtXWTsybJu/giphy.gif 1995

Pixar’s Toy Story becomes the first CGI feature length animation. As stated on IMDB website "Each frame took 4 to 13 hours (depending on the complexity of the shot) of time on a RenderFarm consisting of 87 2-CPU SparcStation 20's, 30 4-CPU Sparc-Station 20's and a SparcServer 1000".

https://68.media.tumblr.com/5c8010dde98c336043094167cd3ce36d/tumblr_ndfs4oHYTD1st0dt8o1_250.gif 2000s Technique: Motion Capture

Motion Capture was first used in biomechanics studies in 1970s and 1980s, and then expanded to entertainment, education and animation. The idea is to record the movements of human body and using those data to animate and create characters on computer. Even though it was existed in 1970s, the first use of motion capture technique in movies, was in the film Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within.

http://38.media.tumblr.com/d3cac2a4c20f3afc4894b559ef2708c5/tumblr_n6gwsmBfj91rqyzc2o1_400.gif 2001

John A. Davis, in partner with Nickelodeon creates Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius first CGI film made using off the shelf hardware. Off the shelf hardware are usually built and delivered by third party vendors. It was the first movie by Nickelodeon to receive an academy award nomination.

http://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwd1jalLzA1qcntf5o1_r1_500.gif 2004

Warner Bro’s and Dreamworks’ Polar Express first uses motion capture, computer animation and 3D technology together. It was the first mainstream movie to be released as in 3D IMAX format. 2005        

Disney’s Chicken Little is the first computer animated film in 3D Formats, Disney Digital 3D and RealD 3D. Originally the beginnings of the film were supposed to be traditionally hand drawn, but the plans changed later.

http://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6r5lefgP91qm6oc3o1_500.gif

2006

Elephants Dream, directed by Bassam Kurdali, is the first computer generated animated film using open source software. Post production and texturing on this movie is done by using a software we all used in the class class GIMP.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/cb08efd78da1905f1d979fd02a2f4b0b/tumblr_mhou89eAnc1r2o0mno1_500.gif 2007

Flatland, animated by Ladd Ehlinger Jr., is the first CGI film animated by one person using Lightwave 3D and Adobe After Effects. This movie is based on a book of same name by Edwin Abbot, and about geometric characters living in a two dimensional world.

http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu186/Andrei_STF3/Flatland2007DVDRIPXViD-CGshareth-2.png

Beowulf, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is entirely made with CGI known for realism, and also utilizing motion capture to incorporate the actor’s facial expressions. This movie was inspired by an Old English epic poem of the same name by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet sometime in between 8th and 11th century.

http://midpenbeowulf.wikispaces.com/file/view/Wealhtheow.gif/54287574/Wealhtheow.gif 2009

Plumiferos, directed by Daniel DeFlippo and Gustavo Giannini, becomes the first feature film to use open source software.It was originally titled Plumíferos - Aventuras voladoras. All 3D models, animation, lighting and render process were done under GNU and linux operating system.

Avatar, directed by James Cameron, is the first movie to use performance capture to create photorealistic 3D characters. On a talk James Cameron mentioned that he started working on the film as early as 1990's; however, the technology did not existed at that time for the film he was envisioning. 2010

Pixar Animation Studio and Walt Disney Pictures create Toy Story 3 is an 3D computer animated movie, became the first CGI animated feature length film to gross more than 1 billion dollars. This movie was nominated for 5 academy awards. It has received 99% like rating on rotten tomatoes as well.

[sleepy-ki-blog]

First Draft

Storyboards

Storyboards are a series of images usually composed from a script to tell a story in order, in a visual way. It is part of the pre-production stage of any visual media – be it games, films, animations, comics etc. – and is a helpful guide to discovering issues with composition in shot angles, timing and dialogue. This essay will cover the history of the development of storyboards, reasons why it is a necessary component in pre-production, what they do and how they help in this, and how producers may use them differently to most.

Dating back to the silent film era, Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès is known to be one of the first film makers to use storyboards in pre-production for planning out his effects (Gress, Jon, 2015). He worked with special effects and used the method to visualize them beforehand. Many large companies in the silent film industry used them too, but due to a reduction in studio archives in the 1970’s and 1980’s, this material has been lost. The storyboard we now know and use today was developed in the 1930’s by Walt Disney studios (Whitehead, Mark, 2004), they brought about the form and function and order of the sequence and description. Diane Disney Miller wrote a biography of her father, The Story of Walt Disney, (Henry Holt, 1956) in which she explains that the first completed storyboards in the modern style were created for the Disney short, Three Little Pigs (1933). Before Disney developed the storyboard, they were dubbed as ‘story sketches’, created in the 1920’s to visualize concepts for animated cartoon shorts such as Plane Crazy and Steamboat Willie (Canemaker, John 1999). Christopher Finch in The Art of Walt Disney (Abrams, 1974), mentions that Webb Smith was credited by Disney with creating the idea of drawing scenes on separate pieces of paper and pinning them up onto a board, thus telling a story in sequence; creating the first modern storyboard. Studios caught on to this method of pe-production, and the second studio to utilize the storyboard over ‘story sketches’ was Walter Lantz Productions in 1935. Harman-Ising and Leon Schlesinger Productions followed this example by 1936. And by either 1937 or 1938, all American animation studios were using them. 1939 saw one of the first live action films to be completely storyboarded, Gone with the Wind. David O. Selznick was the producer of the film, and hired William Cameron Menzies to design every shot of the film as the production designer. This then lead to a boom in the use of storyboarding for live action films in the early 1940’s and it soon became the norm. They are now an essential part of pre-production.

Essential because of what they do, and what they allow. Storyboards are usually used after the script has been written, they are there as a means to plan out the visual aspect of a film/animation/game/etc, in a sketchy enough way that it is still comprehensible – detail isn’t required too much as storyboards are there to plan camera angles, timing and movement, style and appeal isn’t really important at this stage; animatics are more often than not, much nicer to look at. A storyboard allows producer to work out the kinks in timing of scenes, to see how it would look and work on screen regarding characters movements (is the pacing right? Does the camera angle capture this motion correctly, would the audience be able to see their expression, or would it be better if the camera was positioned elsewhere to catch something in the background?) Timings regarding scenes, how long shots should last, how transitions would work, if it matches with the tempo of the dialogue. It also looks at pacing with the dialogue, matching it correctly so it doesn’t feel too mechanical, and instead, smooths in with the visual aspect so everything works together well; that punch lines would land. This whole planning stage with storyboards allows producers to see if anything needs to be changed, rearranged or scrapped and rewritten early enough in production that it shouldn’t affect anything other than (at most) the script. Previously mentioned was the fact that storyboards are usually sketchy, but for animations, sometimes they can be drawn in the style of the final animation. This is because 2D or 3D animations can be stylized and therefore, some things that might look good with real actors, may flop or not look as appealing when drawn out. Animation allows for more exaggeration, movements and characters can be styled to an appealing silhouette and these things would only work from specific camera angles. An example being the famous eyes bulging out (a good example s in Who Framed Roger Rabbit) which is only ever done on a three-quarter to side view. Doing it facing the camera never really works and the whole ‘bulging out’ effect of the eyes couldn’t be seen by an audience, so, a storyboard would allow for this experimentalism in camera angles, to see which way something like this would look best. Storyboards make way for experimenting with all aspects of the visual side, as well as tweaking timing for the dialogue and Foley work.

Despite this idea of doing them after the script, some producers are unconventional in their methods. Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, author, and manga artist who works for Studio Ghibli. He tackles animation differently to most producers; using the storyboard to build the narrative (drawing it first) and creating a script around it. In a press conference in Paris in late December 2001, Miyazaki was asked “Is it true that all your films are mad without a script?” to which he responded with “That's true. I don't have the story finished and ready when we start work on a film. I usually don't have the time. So the story develops when I start drawing storyboards. The production starts very soon thereafter, while the storyboards are still developing.” He mentions how it’s a “dangerous way to make an animation film” but that’s how he works best as a producer, and so the rest of the team work that way alongside him. What is taken from this is that the method is unorthodox and can cause issues along the line if the schedule isn’t kept on track during production. Storyboards take longer to create than writing a script, and editing them if they don’t work (especially because he works completely on paper) can eat up a good chunk of production time, meaning falling behind can happen quite easily. And nothing else can get done until that section of the storyboard is complete; a setback in creation can essentially cause a halt to production, causing not only time, but money loss too. Storyboards are still important in pre-production, regardless of where they are in the process though. The method Miyazaki uses may be ‘dangerous’ but it does have some good qualities and outcomes to it too. It utilizes the unique way storyboards create visual development, allowing the scenes to essentially write themselves without audible aid. It’s proof that animations can be created without dialogue and still be comprehensible, a script being written around the storyboard, means the visuals tell the tale rather than the words. It produces a means for full flexibility in the animation, means the camera angles, the movements, the timing, all get worked out first and smoothed out properly before they even touch on dialogue. The drawings set the pace of the whole movie, he’s mention in the same interview that in Spirited Away he had originally envisioned 1200 shots, but as he drew it out and paced it accordingly, it ended up being 1415. This goes to show how a storyboard can properly time a story out and allow for a piece to flow according to its own story. Dialogue fits in around the pauses and the moments. Every scene is pivotal because it is drawn out as such, and from experiencing the films, the pacing is smooth and doesn’t ever feel rushed.

To conclude, storyboards are a key part of pre-production, they are diverse and can be adapted to fit how a producer works. They come in forms ranging from stick-figures to detailed drawings, on paper or digitized. They time the production, help catch mistakes early on in the process, they are the fundamental base of any visual production, sometimes writing it before the script does.

Storyboards are versatile and important and necessary. You can’t make an animation without one. Freelance animators use them. Larger conglomerate businesses can have a multitude of storyboard artists. Others (like Miyazaki) have a skeleton team of around 30 or so. They are necessary and a good skill to have in the industry; there’s usually not enough.

Storyboards are utilized to check for risks, to make sure the production in smooth and paces well, that punch lines hit, and backgrounds and characters are seen from the best angles possible. They allow for mistakes to be made, changed to be done and sometimes even scripts to be rewritten. A production without a storyboard would flop, it would have no proper planning and the timings would be off because there would be no room for trial and error.