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nero-neptune · 2 months

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“Roy was the engineer, and anything related to engineering, in any specialism, would have to pass through his hands. This included assembling the plane’s radio, just like he’d fixed the small battery-operated Spika radio and made it work.

“Adolfo sat down beside him. He explained to Roy that it was not a matter of expertise in electronics but one of ignorance, and pointed out that Roy was the least ignorant of everybody in that department. Roy argued that he had never seen an airplane radio in his life, not even in a book. Adolfo put his hand over Roy’s. ‘I know that, Roy. We all know that. I only wanted to tell you that you were the best one at handling the wires and the terminals, that’s all. But right now that’s a lot, it makes a huge difference … you are the engineer.’

“Roy, almost breathless, added something that his older friend already knew: ‘I am barely in my first year in Engineering, I’m only twenty years old, and the only time I’ve ever been remotely close to anything like this was when I helped instal a damn audio system for my cousins.’

“‘And you fixed the Spika radio,’ Adolfo responded, as if it were a thermonuclear station and not a basic portable radio the size of a pack of cigarettes. Before Adolfo even said the next sentence he knew clearly that it was as painful for him to say as it was for his friend to hear it. ‘Roy, the group needs your abilities. All we’re asking is that you try.’ ”

– “Is Anybody Listening?” from Society of the Snow: The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story by Pablo Vierci

LA SOCIEDAD DE LA NIEVE | SOCIETY OF THE SNOW (2023) dir. J. A. Bayona

#society of the snow #la sociedad de la nieve #moviegifs #filmgifs #doyouevenfilm #fyeahmovies #userconstance #userrobin #usermarina #userbbelcher #chewieblog #dasakuryo #henricavyll #tuserjyn #dailyflicks #dailyworldcinema #perioddramaedit #userfilm #userstream #myedit #i know i know it's a lot of text i KNOW. it's just important to me #beyond being one more aspect of the story that's shown on screen but further expanded upon in the book-#it spoke to me A Lot bc it's yet another reminder of how 'in their 20s' everyone is here #roy harley's the engineer. and whenever that's mentioned the book goes:#'truly cannot emphasize enough how much he/i hated Every Single Second of being the damned engineer'#like just think about whatever your college/uni major was. and imagine-without warning-you're now the default expert in your field #barely a year's-worth of learning in your back pocket. but people are depending on you! you literally have no room to say 'no'#he did eventually become an industrial engineer. it all worked out. but the stress?? the anxiety??? (all the while missing his best friends #like what a way to learn on the job :/

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hopeymchope · 3 years

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Godzilla Singular Point

I came into Singular Point with some trepidation because Godzilla’s history in anime is both very recent and extremely bad. The three anime movies released between 2017 and 2019 are easily the worst work of famed writer Gen Urobuchi and honestly contain more bullshit than I can even get into here. Those movies and this series were both Godzilla anime properties commissioned by Netflix, which didn’t get my hopes up very much. Thankfully, Singular Point is a very different beast from the anime trilogy. One could argue it’s very different from most Godzilla media, actually — at least from my perspective. And I’m still a pretty entry-level fan of Toho’s Big G, all things considered.

Let me just warn you right up front: This smartphone-based virtual assistant is basically the breakout star of the series.

When you think “Godzilla,” you probably don’t think “incredibly dense sci-fi concepts,” but with the big G’s first-ever anime series, the writers clearly set out to change that perception. Before the first kaiju even appears, the lead characters are plucked from obscurity and dropped into a mystery that involves fourth-dimensional time travel, physical objects that look different from all sides, theoretical math concepts, self-propagating A.I., and a whole lot more. And it’s NEVER made clear how all of it connects to the rampaging kaiju! Although we spend a lot of time investigating a red dust or sand that is very obviously tied to the monsters in SOME way, no one ever makes a connection that explains the relationship. Maybe we’re supposed to wait for a later season to connect the threads... but let’s get into the idea of “another season” later.

I like to think of myself as someone who typically enjoys hard sci-fi, but even with the characters spending loads of time trying to explain the high concepts driving the story, I was never able to fully wrap my head around what was going on in the mystery at the center of GSP. I rewound and rewatched a few explanations, but I still walked away feeling lost. I eventually settled on some vague, loose understandings of most of the ideas mentioned, but those understandings were subject to being ripped apart in subsequent scenes when I was shown or told something completely at odds with what I thought I knew. I can’t say I was ever bored with the thick, dense scientific concepts on offer — trying to find purchase with these far-out ideas kept me glued to the screen — but damn, I sure wish I was able to comprehend them.

What do we want?! DENSE SCIENTIFIC DISCUSSION AND DEBATE! When do we want it?! AFTER THOROUGH RESEARCH, TESTING, AND PEER REVIEW!

Another weird thing about this show is that the lead characters remain in separate locations and on separate tracks for the entire duration. We have Yun — a mechanical engineer and programmer who has an amazing grasp on physics and human behavior. And we have Mei — a grad student who is deeply invested in theoretical science, UMAs, cryptids and other far-flung concepts. Both of them are basically geniuses in their fields, and even though they take opposing views of just how flexible reality is, their shared ability to think “outside the box” becomes the crucial component in solving the mystery at the core of the series. Because they don’t even know one another (despite being separated by like, ONE degree), they only ever interact via text messages and behind screen names, which feels pretty damn weird. At least I immediately liked both of them, with Yun being the standout to me because of how his lowkey reactions to crazy shit generates a lot of humor.

This soundtrack cover LIES; you will never see these characters in a room together like this.

Alas, we don’t get to know the characters a whole lot beyond what we learned of them in the first two episodes. It’s not long before they’re trapped in a series of complicated exposition dumps, endlessly attempting to explain the high concepts of the show to other characters as well as my dumb ass in the audience. The fact that I liked them in the first couple of episodes carried me through more than half of the show, but I was always hoping to see them share more of themselves or just display more emotion. Anime as a medium excels at emotional storytelling. But despite the major, world-altering events the characters are constantly warning us about, none of them seem to have many emotions about said events.

Further complicating matters is how, when major events finally occur in this show, they are often kept off-screen. One character shockingly dies, but the portrayal of that death is so piss-poor that I didn’t even realize it’d happened until someone mentioned their death in the next episode. After that vague death, I was particularly sensitive to anything that looked like it might possibly be lethal. Yet a later event that is played up as a tragic, fatal occurrence ends up... fine, somehow? It’s not clear how the character survives, because — even after one of our heroes is left screaming their name in despair as they seemingly die — nobody ever talks about or explains how he’s just fine a couple of scenes later. And near the end of the series, there’s a major transformation that occurs for one of the characters, and we never see it happen nor do we understand HOW it happened. It’s just that suddenly, this character is extremely different due to off-screen reasons that are only vaguely verbalized.

I guess these two really bonded at some point for some reason? And what you are seeing here is literally the height of emotion shown in the entire show.

Even though the overarching story of the series so far pretty clearly wraps up in episode 13, we then get a post-credits tease for a potential second season. So the question becomes: Would I watch that?

Well... Godzilla Singular Point is a series with a lot of issues that kept me at arms’ length from it — tons of extremely confusing dialogue, highly frustrating choices in direction that lead to baffling storytelling, characters who are mostly exposition-dumping — and yet there’s still some foundational work here that I appreciated a lot. When the action occurs, it’s pretty cool/fun. And when urban destruction occurs, it can be awe-inspiring. The human characters, though little-explored, have likable and interesting foundations to them that could be expanded upon. And I didn’t even mention the soundtrack, which features a variety of musical styles combined with the classic Ifukube theme music and an OP that is an absolute banger. (I have a weakness when it comes to music; a good soundtrack can carry me through even the blandest series sometimes.) Even the core idea of centering a Godzilla series around hard science and mathematical concepts is a compelling one, I think! I just hated the execution of it; they went waaaaay too far on poorly explaining incredibly complex, mind-bending concepts for my pea brain to handle it. They spend so much time trying to explain things, yet somehow they never succeeded for me.

Ultimately, I’d probably give the show another chance. But if I do give another season a chance, it’ll be on probation. I wouldn’t watch the entire season unless I could see within four episodes that they’d definitely improved things.

Would I recommend that anyone watch the series as it currently stands? I mean... not really? I guess if you really dig complex math, hard theoretical science, and/or Toho’s stable of monsters, then maaaaaaaaaaybe give it a shot. But otherwise? Naaaahh. It’s not good enough at anything to make it stand out from the anime crowd. I didn’t hate it like I hated the Godzilla anime films, but Singular Point is still something that both casual viewers and most fans can comfortably ignore for the time being. It’s not a complete disaster, and it’s not without its highlights... but it’s definitely disappointing in my opinion.

OKAYOKAYOKAY, so let’s talk about the kaiju for a bit!

Below will be SPOILERS revealing all of the kaiju that appear in Godzilla Singular Point and giving my feelings on them.

Godzilla — It’s interesting to see a version of Godzilla that borrows some ideas from Shin Godzilla. Shin G has been incredibly unique until now, but this Godzilla manages to fold some of Shin’s distinctive aspects in with the more classic/typical versions to build a fun new depiction. Be forewarned that Godzilla doesn’t show up until the series is halfway over, and he doesn’t get a ton of screen time, either. He’s used quite sparingly and kept in hazy settings, often framed from the neck-up when they show him. It’s a little frustrating that they felt the need to shroud him so much, but I respect the fact that whenever Godzilla is shown, the destruction he causes is on a scale far beyond anything that the rest of the kaiju ever do. He is pure devastation.

Rodan — He’s easily the biological kaiju with the most screen time in Singular Point. Rodan is first introduced as one gigantic pterosaur, but if you’ve seen ANY trailers for this show then you already know that his depiction transitions into an asston of smaller pterosaurs, all of whom are also called “Rodan.” (Apparently the word Rodan is both singular and plural, like the word “buffalo.”) Although he looks kind of cool at first, pretty soon Rodan showing up isn’t special or threatening anymore. Rodan appearances go from “a big goddamn deal” to “some bland background noise” before the series is even 1/3 finished. The design might be a little too far removed from the original for my own taste, but even if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t be able to care for this Rodan simply because he’s rendered so unimportant and unimpressive.

If you go out in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise...

Anguirus — Now check this guy out! Anguirus gets one of the coolest fights in the show and also demonstrates some powers that are well beyond anything we’ve seen him do before. Because he sticks to unpopulated areas, we never see him do much damage to Japan, but he is definitely holding all the attention when he’s on-screen. He’s a highlight for me — a total badass who is very unique in his abilities. And the stated origin for his name is goddamn adorable.

Manda — Yup, Manda is in this series... but I don’t have much to say for him. It seems like the creators of the anime didn’t have much to say about him either. His role amounts to little more than a repeated cameo, and in most of those cameos you only ever see his tail. When we finally see his full body, it’s done so briefly and kept at a distance, leaving me with no real impression. I had to look up his design online and... yup, that sure looks like Manda. Final score: MEEEEHH.

Kumonga — I definitely did not see this appearance coming! Kumonga is much smaller here than you may be used to, but she gets to star in the most suspenseful sequence in the series and easily earns the most exciting cliffhanger moment at the end of an episode. I was utterly glued to the show during her screen time, which comes with a lot of icky twists. Good ones! I honestly like Kumonga here more than I ever have previously.

NEW PHONE WHO DIS

Salunga — Uh, who? This is the one monster that isn’t based on a classic Toho kaiju but instead is a brand-new creation. I suppose that everybody who touches the Toho Kaiju franchise wants to make their own mark on it in some regard. But a big part of the fun of this series for me personally was the anticipation of seeing new interpretations and designs of classic Toho monsters. And so, given that he kind of resembles both Baragon and Gabara, I never stopped wishing they’d just used one of those guys as the basis and namesake. Taken on his own, however? He’s... pretty neat. Not unique or exciting, but solidly above par. He resembles a cross between a lizard/dinosaur and an ape, plus his head has some nifty coloration.

Our Jaguar!

Jet Jaguar — I guess Jet Jaguar isn’t exactly a kaiju in the traditional sense because he’s a Giant Robot. However, if you want to consider him one, then I wager he probably gets even more screen time than Rodan! We meet him almost immediately when the series begins. Initially an odd pilot-driven robot that was constructed at the whim of a quirky old factory-owner with too much disposable income, Jet Jaguar grows and changes over the course of the show, ultimately undergoing a transition in episode 7 that makes him pretty damn impossible to dislike. In fact, I utterly adored him by then. This is definitely the best Jet Jaguar I’ve ever seen. His design is recognizably similar to the original yet utterly distinct, too. Like many of the other kaiju here, he’s not nearly as big as he was when he was first introduced to the movies, but his size is ideal for battling the smaller-scale monsters that we spend most of the series on.

#godzilla #godzilla singular point #anime #anime reviews #kaiju

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buddha-in-disguise · 4 years

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Discourse, Supergirl and fans.

The Supergirl situation with William Dey, is far more than about William Dey per se.

I touched on this when I first posted about David Harewood.

What I have seen, and I am still seeing is while some SuperCorp fans were annoyed about the preview for episode 12, this was also coming from a diverse section of the fandom. That David (and others) have singled out the SuperCorp fandom is both unfair, and unhelpful. But that is a different discussion altogether.

So - I am going to repeat and expand on some of what I wrote at the time to try and explain why I, (and others) have found Supergirl to be really problematic at the moment.

First of all: There is no doubt Supergirl currently has a diverse cast, inc. LGBTQ representation.

However, all the diversity in the world means absolutely nothing if a program is seemingly only playing lip service to the characters.

Compare and contrast with Legends of tomorrow. They have 6 women. 2 Muslim superheroes (a TV first). 5 characters are LGBTQ, including Charlie; who is recognised as gender fluid. 4 people of colour. The lead is a woman, who is bisexual, in a canon relationship with a lesbian, and is a superhero.

They do this without it being made a big deal of, enjoyed by LGBTQ and heterosexual audience alike. But it is a huge deal for many because of that diversity, and just as importantly they haven't overloaded the cast numbers, so they all get good solid storylines through a season. A season that is also shorter than Supergirl.

Legends are an example of how you can put in a diverse minority cast, without it becoming forced or cumbersome. It isn't without fault sure, but no program is.

So where is Supergirl going wrong at the moment?

Let's use William, as the crux of the problems are best shown with his character, but it isn't limited to him. I will put first - this is absolutely *not* a criticism towards Staz Nair, who I respect (& like, as far as one can from limited SM interaction). All too often the accusations are made that if you don't like a character, you hate the actor. That is categorically not true for me, nor others I've seen posting about this. Of course if anyone does hate on the actor, that is not okay.

So, back to William. I get the reason he came along in regards to Russell and so the Andrea connection. That story made sense. What hasn't made sense - William being used as a journalist, when Nia is right there! Nia has barely had any screen time, and virtually none as a journalist; you know - her actual job. I'm not sure what the minutes on screen ratio has been this season between the two, but it has felt completely slanted towards William as a viewer, at least until now.

First instead of Kara and Nia investigating Leviathan after William was 'exposed' in the earlier episodes, now Nia is sidelined again, because they want Kara to team up with William to investigate Lex.

Why? Why do they need that journalistic pairing, when Nia - who as a Superhero, is better placed if danger from Lex occurs. But no, they're making it about Kara having to work with William because Lex threatened to kill him. Plus Nia was being mentored by Kara. Is she no longer being mentored by Kara? Are they a team? Even if the mentoring has ended, Nia is still not being utilised as a journalist.

I am utterly baffled as to why they feel this arc makes any sense. Moreso when an already established character gets sidelined.

I'm also getting tired of seeing anyone who sees these valid opinions about current storyline as being trolls (or the comments all SuperCorp fans are just outright haters. No - SuperCorp fans are a large diverse group, that have incredible artists, fanfic writers, and social media users. Many also multi-ship. To place a blanket statement about a whole fandom as large as SC, is hateful. All fandoms have some who are problematic, but to single out an entire group is not right).

So back to my thoughts. An episode can have some great aspects to it, but it can also be highly problematic to some fans, & receive valid criticism or valid opinions for it. For example, the latest episode of Batwoman. The Alice/Beth story was great. The acting superb. What I found worrying was the way they made Sophie feel guilty for legitimate reasons why she had led a closeted lifestyle. That lifestyle is valid, for Sophie and many LGBTQ people, and for good reason, including keeping some people safe from harm. I felt it was a clumsy attempt for Alice to get into Sophie's mind; it could've been tackled other ways, so it felt wrong they used her sexuality as a way to achieve that. Being closeted for many literally keeps them alive. So that was one hell of a poor choice in my opinion. Yet others have made perfectly credible counter arguments that it showed the difficulties faced by many LGBTQ people. So, great episode, valid criticism/opinion from both points of view. It also highlights you can have excellent episodes, but they can have legitimate issues.

Nor does differences of opinion, as long as it is respectful, makes those voicing them a bully, no matter how much you disagree.

At the end of this, if you don’t agree, and your opinion makes you say something that is intentionally hurtful (directly or indirectly to a person or group of people), it's a bad thing. The key word being intentionally. We all make mistakes, and responses that could've been better, & we all need to be aware of that, but if it is an intended attack, don't be surprised if others call you out for your behaviour.

So now what in regards Supergirl?

I know ultimately that this show is about Supergirl, but it is also about those around her as family & friends. I understand there are only so many minutes in one episode. What I don't understand is why those precious minutes are going to a character, when they have one perfectly placed to do the same role. Why they have to potentially explore another relationship, when we have one canon relationship, one canon on/off again relationship & one relationship that while isn't canon in terms of romantic, it is a big story in terms of best friends, all seemingly sidelined. Which brings me to the Kara fighting for Lena's soul aspect. Again, I am not seeing a lot of fighting for anything, except more and more fans fighting themselves and cast.

Then you just need to look at the dislikes that teaser was given on YouTube, and compare them to previous ones. I've attached screenshots to show this.

A serious misjudgment was made by someone on how that teaser would be received, and again I will stress, this dislike hasn't just been from one area of fandom, but multiple areas. For many it wasn't just about William, but the culmination of unease that has built for a few episodes. A prime example of the straw that broke the camel's back. If you are solely focused on one area of fandom for this discourse (as many blame SuperCorp fans), you need to step back and recognise you are not allowing yourself to see the whole picture. To focus solely on one thing, rather than acknowledging the wider audience are saying this, does not make you the better fan. To dismiss it as trolls, is being dismissive of good, regular fans with legitimate questions or concerns. It is insulting to many of us.

I will be honest, I had high hopes for this season. I also knew it was likely going to be pretty confusing at times since it was given as 'our Black mirror season' and 'nothing is as it seems.' I accepted that.

However, all it seems at the moment is a jumbled mess from pre and post Crisis. They just doesn't appear to be any cohesion at all, which is making it really difficult as a viewer. Add in the changes post Crisis and it feels even more of a mess.

Of course, they could bring in more cohesive elements soon, but considering that we know episode 13 is 'It's a wonderful life,' and Alex Danvers in a later episode is wearing a Super suit - I just sense this whole 'nothing is as it seems' side we appear to be getting isn't changing any time soon, & with episodes running out, with so many strings running through at the moment, it feels really discombomulated. If by seasons end, they pull it off and you can look back and see how it's played out as a whole, I will be the first to say well done for that part.

I do though think right now Supergirl feels chaotic beyond expectation, and no end in sight. I feel there have been too many character additions this season (particularly Andrea & William) that is taking screen time away from Kara, Alex, Nia, Lena, Kelly et al.

It feels like a mess of unnecessary pairings and the crux of the story seems to have been lost in the midst.

That is causing confusion for fans, that is also beginning to become frustration. That frustration is spilling over. Add in the genuine and extremely legitimate concerns over the LGBTQ issues that have arisen (again from far more than just SuperCorp fans), and the frustration has built even more.

I can only hope the next couple of episodes address some of this and not complicate the mess further.

Whatever happens, Supergirl is not doing well in terms of a storyline that is gripping for fans, that is now top heavy with regulars, taking screen time from established characters, and a social media blunder that has so far only exacerbated the simmering uncertainty being felt by many.

It might improve, and I sincerely hope it does, but they are edging into the potential for the anger felt by fans to become an all out riot if they don't stop and see where valid criticism is being given. If this season continues on in this vein, then there is going to be huge swathes of fans drifting away. The concerns are legitimate. I wish it could be seen as that.

#supergirl #lgbtq #supercorp #gay #dansen #alex danvers #kelly olsen #nia nal #nicole maines #chyler leigh #azie tesfai

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wits-writing · 4 years

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Birds of Prey (Movie Review)

Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), from now on referred to as BOP for brevity, directed by Cathy Yan with a script by Bumblebee screenwriter Christina Hodson, follows Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) as she carves out her own place in Gotham City after breaking up with the Joker.

After an act of destructive spectacle to make sure everyone knows she’s serious about the breakup, Harley finds out just how many people want her dead now that the Clown Prince of Crime won’t be protecting her. Special notice in that aspects gets given to Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), aka Black Mask, a mob boss of Gotham’s East End currently making a play for the city as a whole.

[Full Review Under the Cut]

BOP’s story structure and aesthetic presentation are an exercise in communicating perspective. Harley provides the primary framing through her narration and overall off kilter way of looking at the world. Slow motion, the tone of the music and use of on-screen text impart how she’s our main filter for these events. Moments that don’t focus on her and the occasional nonlinear order of the central narrative’s events are Harley as the narrator backfilling that information. Her narration at one point outright says to the audience, “I guess I forgot to tell you about them.” Narration often gets framed as a lazy way to impart exposition and character development, but BOP uses Harley’s narration with a purpose. In the larger subtext of this being a post-breakup recovery story, Harley literally controlling her story’s presentation ties in with taking control of her own life.

Though like she says early on, Harley’s not “the only dame in Gotham looking for emancipation.” Once she makes her grand statement to let everyone know she’s cut ties with Mr. J for good, chaos spiraling out from that ends up ensnaring several other characters in her path as she runs from the people that want her dead. Starting with the Gotham street rat, Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). A foster kid who’d rather be on the streets than living her bleak home life. The kid ends up accidentally running afoul of Sionis when her routine pickpocketing brings her into possession of a valuable item that could give him the resources to expand his control beyond his turf into all of Gotham. Harley plans to save her own skin by agreeing to deliver the kid to Roman in exchange for protection. When Harley finally crosses paths with Cass, complications prevent her from turning the kid over to the mob boss right away.

Those complications become the heart of Harley’s character arc as circumstances force her to get to know the kid. Cass sees Harley’s flippant way of going about her criminal life and sees someone who has things figured out. A notion Harley tries to dissuade her of even as her moments with the kid are the first non-alcohol or drug induced states of happiness she’s had since the movie began. Robbie and Basco’s interactions have a sisterly back and forth to them, especially in the moments when Cass proves cleverer and more resourceful than Harley anticipated.

Cass is also the center of the Venn diagram formed by the stories of Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) and Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), aka Black Canary. Renee mainly knows Cass as a recurring face at the police station every time she’s gotten caught pickpocketing. In her daily life, Renee’s job as a detective involves a lot of people either not taking her seriously or stealing credit for her work. She’s been building a case to take down Black Mask for years but gets talked down from her pursuit by everyone else at the GCPD. Perez plays Montoya with a world-weariness that sells the years of being ignored that have taken a toll on her.

Her investigation leads her to Dinah, a singer at a club owned by Sionis recently promoted to his personal chauffeur. After seeing her mother lose her life trying to protect people in Gotham, Dinah wants to keep her head down and go on surviving for as long as possible. It’s complicated by the fact she can’t stop herself from caring or wanting to get involved despite everything. A trait shown in her tender interactions with Cass, whose foster parents live in the same apartment complex, and fighting to protect a drunk Harley outside the club. Smollett-Bell and Perez get their best material playing against each other in scenes where Renee tries to convince Dinah to help inform her on Roman’s plans.

Rounding out the Birds of Prey is an interloper in Black Mask’s plans to control Gotham, Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), aka Huntress. Her role makes her BOP’s secret weapon as she’s the lead we at first learn the least about. All we know at the start is she’s going around killing mobsters that have ties to Sionis’s operations. She doesn’t say anything but takes care of her targets with ruthless efficiency. Once she’s given the room to talk, it becomes clear that she has all the skills necessary to handle her vigilante manhunt but has a negative amount of social skills or flare for drama. Helena’s attempts at stoic one-liners are hilariously inept and Winstead plays each one perfectly.

A character I’m more mixed on than any other element of the movie is Black Mask himself. None of that is down to Ewan McGregor’s performance, who’s playing the representative of the type of controlling, entitled monster of a man that Harley doesn’t want in her life anymore after her breakup. While McGregor’s charisma can almost make you forget how awful Roman is, BOP has no interest in letting the audience forget what he’s willing to do to anyone that even slightly wrongs him. It makes for the movie’s most disturbing moments, especially when he’s sharing the screen with his torture-happy partner-in-crime, Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina). He makes his motives to kill Harley plain when he tells her he wants her dead just because he’s free to do it now that she’s out from Joker’s protection, not any specific grievance. However, that lack of specific antagonism with the main character makes him feel hollow outside of his cruelty, existing as something for the heroes to bounce off for their arcs. He’s functional and well played, but not much beyond that.

Once all the characters are gathered and their story threads have fully converged, BOP has its boldest showcase of the stellar action that makes it stand apart from other movies in the superhero genre. The movie never slouches to deliver on the goods when it comes to its leading ladies tear it up in the fights. Every one of them does something different, keeping things varied with different settings and weapons. Varied tones to the fights keep them from getting exhausting. Most of the fights focusing on Harley maintain the movie’s usual stylization, like her breaking into a police station with a glitter loaded shotgun. Which contrasts with the grounded street brawl when we first see what Dinah can do in a fight. Action scenes escalate as the movie goes, culminating in the previously mentioned final showcase. The fights up to that point already embrace Jackie Chan levels of “every object can be a weapon if necessary” and takes it to the next level. All boosted by the work of cinematographer Matthew Libatique and editors Jay Cassidy and Evan Schiff keeping visual information clear, which helps every bone crunching impact land. Pushed further by the soundtrack consisting of Daniel Pemberton’s original score and songs, plus some well-timed needle drops.

Like Christina Hodson’s previous work as a screenwriter with Bumblebee, what stands out about BOP is how it capitalizes on the wasted potential of previous entries in the film series, in this case 2016’s Suicide Squad. While in that case, the stylization and music choices were crudely plastered on, BOP uses every element with pointed purpose and feels genuinely fun rather than forced as a last-minute decision. Yan, Hodson, Robbie and the rest of the collected cast and crew put together a movie that accomplishes being exactly the kickass, glittery ride it sets out to be.

If you like what you’ve read here, please like/reblog or share elsewhere online, follow me on Twitter (@WC_WIT), and consider throwing some support my way at either Ko-Fi.com or Patreon.com at the extension “/witswriting”

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mejomonster · 5 years

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i’m re-watching person of interest and this show is just so clever and lovely about how it actually does establish arcs and character backstory from minute one, and within each subplot and each case-of-the-week seemingly disparate episode.

like we get a nice juicy parallel to another main character back story (at least one, but often multiple) each episode, we get useful flashbacks that serve beyond just being backstory but also often serve as the actual Machine’s pov and thinking process. we get little characters in side episodes that end up contributing to a bigger picture - a picture the machine can see ahead of the main characters. HR, Elias, Root, Reese’s old employers, the bigger Machine plot - these aspects that get so major later, are hinted at in little periphery aspects that keep growing each episode as the breadcrumbs build together into a more complete picture. Every case-of-the-week episode is a chance to tell a contained story AND a chance to further all character development and longer-arcs, and poi almost always is accomplishing all of those things each time. And like the main characters, we are piecing together the case of the week, and the bigger picture getting filled in, at the same time. It’s just really enjoyable to feel that bit of putting evidence together through the structure of the show’s storytelling, paralleling the main characters.

although, what i appreciate most of person of interest - is just that the character writing is SO phenomenal. I love characterization, the most, out of any aspect in storytelling. Every episode, every piece of an episode, builds up the characters - both the ones present, the ones being paralleled, and the players offscreen that are being built up before they’re even shown fully, before they even fully enter the main situations being followed on screen. I love that they flesh out these characters so well - so many of them have pasts that aren’t clearly told to the audience in the beginning, that in some cases are still being revealed all the way up into the ending of the show. But the pieces of those characters? They’re present from the first moment. Everything John Reese has as a character, as who he is as a person in season 5, is present in season 1. He grows and changes and evolves as a character, but its clear from season 1 that the possible potential is there, those threads exist to be built up on, the trajectory he ends up taking as a character is so satisfyingly clear in hindsight. So many of the characters feel like this. Even in season 5, when some one-off case-of-the-week characters come back, their trajectories make sense given what we’d seen of them in the show previously. I imagine if season 5 had been longer, more episodes, then more callbacks to previous one-off characters would’ve been on the show, and really would have added even more to that full-circle fully realized whole feeling. Even with the smaller amount of episodes they had in season 5, they still managed to pull off ending in a way that felt so good and followed a path the characterizations made sense taking, that made sense for the themes and plots, that tied back and clearly evolved from the initial premises established all the way back in season 1. This show really did the “starts small and compact, but always has more going on in the peripherals that’s been there from the start, and over time the story expands to reveal and expand on those pieces that were in the peripherals” well. Better, it expands in a way that clearly is in line with those very first pieces, with everything established in the very beginning premise. There’s no jumping the shark or suddenly drastically changing the universe or characters or premises of the show - the show had the potential of everything it became from the very first season, and expanded to encompass that potential. But this potential is particularly true in the case of characterization.

It’s not obvious the first time you watch it. It’s not obvious just how tight the characterizations were from the very beginning. But on a rewatch its suddenly clear that characterization of the machine was actually present quite early on, that the core of Finch and Reese’s characters and the hints of the potentials they had to grow into, were always there. It’s clear that the potential of the machine actually perhaps looking at cases based on who might be useful later, or related to some major players or situations later, was actually a possible reading from pretty early on. It’s clear on a rewatch that HR and Elias are going to be major threats, before they even make their presences the dominant active threats from the main character perspectives. It’s clear from season 1 that Lionel has the potential for wanting to be part of the mission, and clear that Carter has a moral compass that’s going to throw her at odds with a lot of situations and threats that will be able to conflict with her so much more than they’d be issues for characters like Lionel/Reese/Finch/Root/Zoe. It’s clear from Elias’s first episode on screen that he mirrors Harold Finch in a lot of ways, and so teaming them up in later seasons to further point out the ways they mirror and contrast each other, had been established as an idea from Elias’s first appearance. The hint of the machine having an active consciousness, making moves of self preservation, making active choices, gets hinted at in season 1 in the cuts of the machine’s perspective, with the text it chooses to label things, with the conversations it picks to highlight, along with it’s flashback scenes. So much gets established so early in person of interest, and constantly as part of each structure of each episode. And for me the best part is the consistent exploration and evolution of those characters and plot threads paying off.

It’s definitely worth watching. And if the first time you watch, you think it feels just like a case procedural until the main plots start getting more focus - that’s what happened to me. I didn’t realize until I had the benefit of hindsight just how much every detail in each episode was foreshadowing and building up the characters and plot. I imagine you’ll catch the parallel case stories/main character stories, since that’s easy to notice and appreciate even on a first viewing. I can only say that its definitely a show where theorizing and catching details pays off - just like it pays off for the characters when they do it.

#rant #poi #person of interest #characterization #poi meta #meta #i really.... really love that show

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lanniganshenanigans · 5 years

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What is a “fandom”? Of course, if you’re interested in discovering the definition then you could just use Google to search for and find your answer. Google defines the word fandom as “the state or condition of being a fan of someone or something” and “the fans of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc. regarded collectively as a community or subculture”. In regard to this examination of fandoms within the society of us readers, TV show lovers, and movie fanatics, neither definition is wrong.

However, neither definition succeeds in doing anything beyond scratching the surface as to what fandoms truly are. The term ‘community’ used in the definition provided by Google is fitting yet doesn’t quite express the strength and power to which being a part of a fandom holds. ‘Community’ portrays this idealistic, yet untrue, image of a large collection of individuals living and expressing their mutual love for said thing in harmony. However, there are times in which being a part of a fandom, or indeed multiple fandoms, is anything but harmonious… Therefore, it could be more fitting to use a different term to describe what fandoms are: fandoms are families. Those who are a part of a fandom will most likely agree to this use of terminology.

Fandoms are filled with people worldwide who come together to participate in the discussion of their favourite TV shows, books, movies, etc. Those individuals participate in a wide variety of activities which play a part in the ‘fandom life’ such as writing FanFiction, drawing fan-art, role-playing/cos-playing etc.

There are many fandoms which exist today, some more popular than others and each with their own delights and disasters. Examples of the more popular fandoms today are as follows:

Potterheads – fans of the Harry Potter book/movie series

Whovians – Doctor Who fanatics

Thronies – Game of Thrones fans

Sherlockians – Sherlock fans, mostly those who are fans of the BBC TV series although it does extend to those who are fans solely of the movie adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes tales starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law

Merlinians – Fans of the beloved show Merlin which featured also on the BBC channel

Other fandoms which exist revolve around a mixture of TV shows, movies, books and even just individual actors, such as Shadowhunters, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Lord of the Rings, Twilight and more…

But whilst all these fandom ‘families’ may dwell within their own fictional worlds, sometimes two separate fandoms, or even three, may co-join with one another. This occurrence is known as a crossover and is often seen in fanfiction or even encountered during role-playing, examples of this include:

PotterLock – In which the Sherlock characters are enrolled or have been at Hogwarts much like the characters of Harry Potter themselves.

SuperWhoLock – A mix of Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock characters merged together to create an even wider universe for fanfiction writing and roleplaying prompts.

The fandoms mentioned and the others which exist are able to merge so easily now with the help that the Internet provides and sites like Twitter, Tumblr, ArchiveOfOurOwn, Fanfiction.net, and those used for role-playing help to further expand the material surrounding a fandom by use of the fans’ imagination. One of the advantages which the Internet has with providing fans with the opportunity to interact with one another and create even their own material is that it allows—more often than not—for fans to keep the show alive even after it is over. For example, the BBC TV Show Merlin which ended in 2014 and MTV’s Teen Wolf has long been kept alive with the help of fans sharing their own AU fan fictions and fan art via sites such as Tumblr and even groups which can be found on Facebook. Additionally, there are many popular and extremely talented cos-players who can be found on Instagram, such as…

mr.malkin’s Instagram

#gallery-0-14 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-14 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-14 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-14 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

ds16591_michaelren’s Instagram

#gallery-0-15 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-15 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-15 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-15 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

ciaranyuill’s Instagram

However, it’s not just the internet which allows for fans to interact with each other and even with their favourite actors and authors alike, but events held like Comic-Con allow for fans to gather, cosplay (dress up as their favourite characters), and meet those whom they admire!

Of course, as stated earlier in this article, not everything about being a part of a fandom is smiles, laughter, and fans coming together without complaint or disagreement… Fandoms are like families, after all, and families have their rocky patches. A big issue with the fandom life is the controversy which comes with being an individual fan in a sea of them, each with their own beliefs surrounding the material which canon provides. One of the biggest controversies within a fandom comes with the idea of shipping.

More often than not, fans are happy with the final relationships which come out of the works produced by their beloved authors and directors. However, this isn’t always the case and even if it is, where is the fun in refusing to explore the various outcomes of a product. Various ships which exist out with canon are:

Dramione – Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series Jalec – Jace Herondale and Alec Lightwood from The Mortal Instruments series Newtmas – Newt and Thomas from The Maze Runner series Sterek – Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale from the Teen Wolf series Cherik – Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr from the X-Men series JohnLock – John Watson and Sherlock Holmes from the Sherlock series Merthur – Merlin and Arthur Pendragon from the Merlin series

All these ships allow for individual fans to explore the “what if’s” of their favourite movies, TV shows, and romance storylines. However, not everyone is a fan of a particular ship or in agreement of two characters being anything more than what they are in canon or even just friends and so the controversy starts. Shipping is not the only thing within a fandom which causes controversy either, more often than not fans headbutt each other when it comes to the many theories which each of them create; theories such as “How Did Sherlock Holmes survive? Is Jim Moriarty truly dead? Is the new Doctor being a woman a good thing? What if Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter had become friends in Year 1? What if Arthur had known about Merlin’s magic all along?” All of these theories can be found somewhere online with a great number of people arguing their own case, agreeing, disagreeing, and providing evidence to back up their points, the entire experience of joining in or even just observing is highly intriguing.

As stated, all these fan interactions allow for a fandom to remain alive through the fans themselves but just how far are fans willing to go to save what they love? One fandom, in particular, is the perfect example to use when exploring this question.

With the cancellation of the Shadowhunters series being announced on June 5th 2018, the fans of the beloved show were sent into a frenzy and it’s clear that Freeform picked the wrong fandom to mess with… The below image provides merely a few stories as to what lengths the fans have gone to in their attempts to save the show from creating the trending tweets #saveshadowhunters, #savetheshadowworld and sharing multiple images throughout the internet to hiring a plane to fly over the Netflix HQ carrying the banner #saveshadowhunters and more!

With campaigns being held over the social media and petitions going around via Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, countless fans doing their part in helping to save the shadow world which we have come to love from the moment it hit our screens, there is no doubt that proof exists as to how important fandoms can be to us fan-girl and fanboys. And whilst the fate of the show has since been determined, it’s clear that the dedication shown by fans allow for everyone to see how much of a family the fans truly are and prove the show will live on with them. They may be at war with one another at times regarding various aspects of the show, but mess with the show itself and the fans will stand together to fight side-by-side to save what has allowed for them to create such a family in the first place.

And if that’s not family, then what is?

The Family We Call Fandoms What is a “fandom”? Of course, if you’re interested in discovering the definition then you could just use Google to search for and find your answer.

#Articles #Blogging #Entertainment #Family #Fandoms #FandomxFanatic #Fiction #Love #Wordpress #Writing

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dawnajaynes32 · 6 years

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Bright Lights, Big City: Award-Winning Immersive Design

EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: AUGUST 13, 2018

100 million pixels of visual storytelling transformed a Dubai retail destination into a jaw-dropping immersive experience.

It’s a pretty big deal for a client to ask you to create a massive digital experience within a one-of-a-kind luxury retail environment. And it’s a really big deal when that retail environment is located in the heart of Dubai, a city known for its rare ability to continually expand, innovate—and define what a city of the future really looks like. That was the task CityWalk Dubai posed to Montreal-based Float4, a multidisciplinary studio that integrates digital experiences in physical spaces to amplify their identity.

Float4 readily accepted that challenge and exceeded expectations—including those of HOW’s International Design Awards judges, who awarded the project Best of Show. “CityWalk is an impressive combination of scale and craftsmanship,” says judge Leland Maschmeyer. “It’s rare for a work of art to reshape how you experience a physical space.” But that’s exactly what Float4’s contribution to CityWalk did.

BUILDING AN EXPERIENCE

Float4 strives to redefine conventions by designing and producing site-specific multimedia installations. “Our firm stands out in that we craft experiences that often have never been done before, and that’s thanks to the trusted relationships we develop with our clients,” says Alexandre Simionescu, Float4’s principal. “This aspect of novelty is also one of the elements that characterizes our corporate culture. Finding a way to do things that are challenging is something that sets our firm apart.”

CityWalk is an outdoor urban destination providing innovative retail and upscale dining for visitors and locals alike. It breaks the paradigm of standard retail environments and provides an outdoor meeting point, accessible to all. It’s also special because it provides access to a pedestrian retail experience that’s so common in many cities across the world, but that is quite rare in Dubai.

Float4’s objective for CityWalk was to create a multimedia infrastructure showcasing visually striking content in a luxury retail setting. The space encompasses an outdoor digital experience of more than 12 football fields in size, and includes more than 30 LED installations, nearly 30 projectors, and a water fountain show where content is projected onto water screens. All totaled, there are more than 100 million pixels of engaging, entertaining content that runs seamlessly on a digital structure that’s entirely custom-built.

CityWalk is comprised of three main areas—the Gateway, the Showstreet and the Place des Lumières—each set to elevate the customer’s experience throughout their journey.

As guests enter through the Gateway, CityWalk’s main entrance, they are immersed in an alley featuring two giant LED screens 93 yards in length, as well as a structure made up of LED hexagonal displays serving as a digital canopy. The large-scale screens display hypnotizing moving videos that morph content such as colorful galaxies and short stories into surrealistic, playful worlds that add an element of surprise.

The Showstreet, which connects the Gateway to the Place des Lumières, stretches nearly 109 yards and includes a ground projection provided by 12 high-definition projectors. This entertainment street is the focal point of the lighting scheme where floodlights are mounted at high level to provide playful, general ambient lighting to the floor, while integrated facade lighting ensures that vertical surfaces are well illuminated as part of a cohesive composition. The high-level projection on the floor allows for a flexible and creative layer of additional media for visitors, crafting an immersive showtime experience that interplays with the surrounding media screens and ceiling. This section can also easily be transformed into an interactive experience that reacts to guests’ movements.

The customer’s journey culminates in a circular space at the end of the Showstreet, also the highlight of the experience, which is the Place des Lumières. The space brings together more than 20 projectors and more than 100 lighting features into this 360-degree experience that gives the audience a multitude of viewpoints, making every occurrence unique. For five minutes every hour after dark, the Place des Lumières transforms into a show. At its center, an artificial pond comes to life when four computer-controlled hydraulic arms emerge from the water in sync with a custom built audio experience. Each arm, equipped with a system of nozzles, creates curtains of water on which projections are shown. When the show begins, people come from everywhere—every area, every alley—to gather around the fountain to enjoy the experience.

FINDING A WAY

So what does it take for a team of 20 to pull off such a massive high-tech project? “We had expertise in the field, which allows us to effectively tackle all the challenges that are inevitable with a project of this scale, and we also brought the right partners on board to deliver,” Simionescu says. “Our background in the video game industry, expertise in visual effects and hub of in-house creatives—in other words, our multidisciplinary talent—is what enabled us to push this project further. And collaboration is key to developing this type of project.”

About 50 people were involved in the year-and-a-half-long project. As executive producers, Float4 handled program strategy, content creation and technology infrastructure design. (The company has invested heavily in the development of its proprietary RealMotion platform, which has become the engine powering many of its projects for nearly a decade.) Float4 partnered with XYZ Cultural Technology to deliver the technological solution, and FLY and Gridspace to support the content. Other collaborators included Dubai-based RDK and Montreal-based LUZ Studio, Pixcom, La Majeure, Christie Digital and Freeworm Productions for everything from lighting design to soundtrack production.

While there’s no other single Float4 project that combines every element that can be found in City-Walk, the firm definitely drew upon a myriad of different aspects that they’ve done in the past. “Overall, it’s a very unique project that is hard to compare to anything else,” Simionescu says.

“We were tangential to the physical design of the space with this digital experience,” he continues. “The canvas and the audience were two of the main elements we looked at to draw inspiration from. Being sensitive to the culture was also a very important element, which did not constrain our creativity, but simply brought a different perspective.”

For instance, take the two content pieces showcased on the large screens during the Place des Lumières water show: “Future Now” is very much influenced by the vision of Dubai and its continuous evolution towards defining what a city of the future looks like. “Voyage into sound” echoes the importance of music in the local culture and how it has been used to tell stories over centuries as it transcends time.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

One of the biggest challenges from a content creation and production standpoint was the sheer size of the space and the multitude of platforms (LED, projection mapping, xf projection, custom LED ceiling, lighting, etc.). “With more than 100 million pixels across 30 different media supports, our production pipeline had to be streamlined beyond anything we had encountered until now,” Simionescu says. “The creative process was also a challenge by the sheer size of the space and the multitude of viewing points. It becomes very hard to convey an idea effectively when there are so many unique elements in play. Without the proper tools, it becomes a cognitive overload and you simply can’t process the information effectively in order to make good decisions. From a technical perspective, the amount of pixels that had to be processed required a performance criteria that is often delivered at the expense of flexibility, which in our case was not an option.”

It’s clear, however, that those obstacles did not stand in the way of stellar creative and technical execution. While Float4 can’t disclose exact numbers, they say the advertising revenue alone has provided a significant return on investment. “As the largest digital integration in the Middle East and quite possibly the world, CityWalk will become an attraction even by Dubai’s standards,” Simionescu says. “From the moment we launched the show, the place has been full every night. People go there, they walk there, and it’s now a destination in and of itself.”

Simionescu describes seeing the final version of the experience for the first time as “euphoria.” The public reaction was extremely positive, and people kept approaching the interactive design team to ask when the show would play again. “Seeing people taking pictures of it is always a great sign, and asking when they could see it again was an even better one to indicate how well received it is,” he says.

Simionescu adds that his favorite thing about the project is that there’s simply nothing else like it, even in a city like Dubai that has no shortage of eccentric projects. “The sum of all our efforts and our greatest achievement is to have contributed to a project that defines Dubai,” he says. “CityWalk presented a huge opportunity for us to work directly with the client in a place that is renown for its grandiose achievements.”

The post Bright Lights, Big City: Award-Winning Immersive Design appeared first on HOW Design.

Bright Lights, Big City: Award-Winning Immersive Design syndicated post

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dawnajaynes32 · 6 years

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Bright Lights, Big City: Award-Winning Immersive Design

EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: AUGUST 13, 2018

100 million pixels of visual storytelling transformed a Dubai retail destination into a jaw-dropping immersive experience.

BUILDING AN EXPERIENCE

CityWalk is comprised of three main areas—the Gateway, the Showstreet and the Place des Lumières—each set to elevate the customer’s experience throughout their journey.

FINDING A WAY

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

The post Bright Lights, Big City: Award-Winning Immersive Design appeared first on HOW Design.

Bright Lights, Big City: Award-Winning Immersive Design syndicated post

0 notes