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c-is-for-circinate · 5 years

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I’m sure CritRole fandom has already been well down this road, conspiracy theory-wise, but I’m still 15-20 episodes short of catching up and I want to write this down while I’m thinking about it...

So, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Molly’s deep conviction that he’s not Lucien, whoever-the-fuck Lucien was, whoever had this body and this life before him, that Mollymauk Tealeaf is a different person altogether with his own independent life and existence. Many of those feelings are related to the fact that, as an independent person, Molly got to be alive for all of two years and that’s heartbreaking; some of them relate to the moment Molly and Beau both agree that they feel nothing for their pasts, nothing whatsoever, and Zone of Truth says they both mean it because neither of them realize how badly they’re lying. (Terror and bitterness are both emotions.)

Molly is more frightened of the things that happened before his memory than anything else in the world. More afraid than death. A lot of it is the fear that he was a terrible, awful person once, a cult leader who was “charming in his cruelty”, someone he never wanted to be--that’s the stated fear, and I think it’s real. Just. I sort of wonder how much of it, beyond that, is the stark terror of potentially discovering that he’s not actually a person at all. The Nein look at Molly and see someone with a larger-than-life sense of self radiating out in all directions, but Molly looks at himself and sees someone with no past, who was literally in every possible way nobody, and who worked and fought to fill this life up and create himself every step of the way. Molly had to work for every ounce of self he possesses. The Nein can look at him and assume that a Molly who knows his past would just result in a Molly with a few extra memories to file away; Molly gets to deal with the very real fear that meeting and learning and remembering his past would result in a Lucien who spent a couple of years messing around in a daydream that called itself Mollymauk Tealeaf. That everything Molly made and built and created and called himself would turn out to just be a story that some asshole invented for a couple of years. And that is some existential horror shit. No wonder Molly would try anything under the sun, anything at all, would leap across a horse and cart to challenge a murdering slaver with nothing but a couple of cheap swords, four hit points, and a grin, but refused to even address the possibility of his past. It’s the bittersweet to the Mollymauk tragedy--he died, but by god he mattered. Ten plus episodes later he still matters, and I assume that keeps going on in all the subtle, reverberating ways that people can echo throughout the rest of the episodes I haven’t watched yet. He lived and he was real and he left places and people better than he found them, in measurable ways (and of course the man with no past and no identity who had to build his life and self from nothing ties all his personal moral philosophy up in the impact he can have on the people and places he leaves behind, in changing things, in mattering).

And right that’s all fine and beautiful and heartbreaking, but the more I think about who Molly was as a person, and his insistence in maintaining a self separate from that asshole who got himself dead and buried before, the more I wonder, conspiracy-theory-wise, what if he’s literally right?

There was a live Talks Machina panel where Taliesin talked a little bit about the possibility of hitting Molly with a resurrection spell, and he mentioned, offhand and cryptically, that for various reasons it might not even have worked. And I just wonder, right. Lucien-fucking-Nonagon uses his blood hunter cult to do some weird magic ritual fuckery, astral projects himself to some mystery city full of undead bullshit, and never comes back. And maybe something else does. Maybe someone else does. Maybe a channel gets left open, and whatever wandering ghost or demon or restless spirit found its way back through to the body Lucien left behind took an opportunity to escape whatever empty hell that mystery city might be. No memories, or at least none that could get pulled down into this new mortal form; just a brand new person with a brand new life.

And the people that found them, found him, were kind. So the no-longer-empty thing that started calling itself Mollymauk Tealeaf learned to be kind. They pushed ink and shiny baubles through their new skin and horns to stake a claim on this body that’s apparently theirs, now, and they learned to lie and charm and dance and care and fill up a life with joy.

I think I like this conspiracy theory, mostly because whatever Molly is, it leaves the door open for them to come back again. (I would be SO into a fic where the M9 manage to cast a resurrection spell on Molly after all, except they unexpectedly get back a Lucien-Nonagon who’s been dead for three years and wants to know where the fuck all of these tattoos came from and what happened to his hair and also where are his cultists at, provided that actual-Molly shows up at some point too.) It’s definitely neither the only convincing nor the only feelings-y/meaningful way to read canon, but I’m into it.

I should write things about Caduceus, who I’m getting to know and admittedly very intrigued by, about Yasha who I still don’t know a tenth of well enough, about how each member of the Nein handles the concept of morality because that is a really interesting question and very central to the theme of the whole story at this point. But this was the post that wanted to happen tonight, so here we are.

#critical role #driveby meta attack #look molly is still up there in top 2-3 favorites ok #please let the M9 figure out his backstory eventually #so many questions!#so little time!

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thejacksmit · 5 years

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Projection Room: The Smit Awards 2018

What a year it’s been. YouTube channels got ripped apart, launched and ripped apart even more, Disney actually closed the Fox deal, life at two cinemas has become the norm, superhero films have dominated the box office, and for a change Hollywood has had less scandal than it usually does... hang on, I sense a Gunn has been fired somewhere.

As ever, here on TheJackSmit.com, we end every year with our satirical awards that honour the best and worst of the last 12 months. It’s our way of looking back at a year where 66 films got reviewed in-cinema, a new strand of screening was conquered, and I got to witness actual film production for the first time. So, let’s just get on with it. Welcome to this year’s edition of the Smit Awards.

Before we begin…

Time for the usual rules and regulations of these elusive honours. There are none, except for the main Film of the Year- that has to have been screened on a British cinema screen (whether it’s previews, Screen Unseen or general release) between January 1st and December 23rd, and the important bit: if it was nominated for any of the major Hollywood awards back in February, it’s of no interest here. So, here we go, and be warned, there are potential spoilers ahead.

DIRECTION

Bart Layton, American Animals

This guy worked wonders on this film. After making a few documentaries in the past, his first true feature film blended the worlds of fact and fiction incredibly well, and stylistically, this film just worked on so many levels. I really wanted to give this award to a fresh filmmaker, and for Layton, he did his thing at the right time.

PERFORMANCES

Lead: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody and Viola Davis, Widows

These set of awards were difficult. And as usual, because of the way distribution works, I can’t go with the big films yet- so these two are the strongest performances in my eyes. Malek was able to become Freddie Mercury pretty damn well, and for Viola Davis, she is able to pull off quite a complex role and make it her own.

Support: Timothee Chalamet, Beautiful Boy and Claire Foy, First Man

Again, it’s been difficult to pick these awards. Chalamet continues his blistering rise into Hollywood’s elite with his work on Felix Van Groeningen’s adaptation of Beautiful Boy (and that performance arguably saved the film, believe me), and with Foy’s performance in First Man- a film which has been looked down upon by cinemagoers, it is subtle, nuanced and very thoughtfully worked out.

Ensemble: Bad Times at the El Royale

I can’t not give this film some love- when myself and film production guru Ed Greenberg seen this one back in October, we were rather taken back by the quality of the entire cast- so it felt like the natural choice for this year’s Ensemble award.

SCREENPLAYS

Original: Bad Times at the El Royale

And speaking of the El Royale, Drew Goddard’s script really did make that film come alive- we all know how good his films have been, and this one is no exception, every character has their own narrative, and it is balanced so well that even the mighty Ed Greenberg (who I have worked with more than ever for this blog over the last year) was impressed with it. And me and him are not easy to impress.

Adapted: Black Panther

Hail to the king. Ryan Coogler added a whole new take on the superhero genre with his work on Marvel’s February release this year, and his script with Joe Robert Cole felt refreshing. This may be the big award it scoops at the Oscars, and considering the success of this film, it is fully deserved if it wins the big one.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

First Man

You can’t really argue with the work of Linus Sandgren nowadays... unless it’s on films like Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Just the sheer scale of that landing sequence in First Man was enough to convince me for this award- but obviously shooting it for IMAX is the real reason that cinematography worked.

Traditionally we’d deliver an award for Visual Effects in this bit. But because the standard this year has been so good, picking one film wouldn’t do any justice. So here’s the best of the best.

AQUAMAN

AVENGERS INFINITY WAR

READY PLAYER ONE

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

All of these films had some top quality CG, and like I say, picking one sole winner would be too difficult.

MUSIC

ORIGINAL SCORE: Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

This guy has had an absolute killer few years. Steve Jobs, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Molly’s Game, Ocean’s 8, and now his masterwork- not bad for a guy who once upon a time wrote the title music for Peep Show. Watch the film first, then listen to that score again- because it fits the action perfectly.

SOUNDTRACK ALBUM: A Star is Born

Obviously. The impact this film has had in the charts kind of warrants this particular award, and potentially that Oscar for Best Original Song too.

WTF MOMENT OF THE YEAR (THE I SMELL BULLSMIT AWARD)

The entire film, Sorry To Bother You

Anybody who’s seen this film will know exactly what I mean when I say that the ending was literally unexpected. But seriously though, Sorry To Bother You is the most surreal thing I’ve seen in a cinema screen, and that’s saying something.

TURKEY OF THE YEAR

Awarded to the film that disappoints audiences and critics alike

There were so many contenders for this award in 2018. But there could only be one.

SHOW DOGS

Angry. Disappointed. Regular readers will know that those are the most scathing words I can bestow upon a film, and in this case, those are the most suitable.

In a year where we’ve had Venom, The Happytime Murders, Patrick, Nutcracker and The Four Realms as well as Robin Hood, none of them could compare with the mediocrity of Raja Gosnell’s Show Dogs. It truly was horrific. And that’s before I mention the infamous ‘zen place’ joke.

THE ‘MYSTERY FILM NIGHT’ AWARD

Awarded to the most surprising Screen Unseen film of the last 12 months

AMERICAN ANIMALS

I am honestly surprised that this film didn’t open wider than it did- because it was a film that really came out of nowhere. It was bold and unique, especially considering the true nature of the story, and quite honestly, seek this film out when it’s released on DVD- because it’s unlike any heist film you’ve ever seen.

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

WIDOWS

It’s been a rocky road for this film at the box office, but Widows was another masterclass from Steve McQueen, one that qualifies for this honour through its link with Film4- it’s Ocean’s 8, but way more serious, brooding, and it’s a much better take on the female heist movie.

BEST ANIMATED FILM

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

This was a real surprise considering that we finally got The Incredibles 2 this year- but seriously, Spider-Verse really delivered upon the goods, and broke Sony’s curse of making some pretty mediocre superhero films. It has some brilliant comic-inspired animation, a perfect script, and so much more.

THEJACKSMIT.COM FILM OF THE YEAR 2018

The big one. Which film will follow Dunkirk, Arrival, Brooklyn and others into the history books? It has been an incredibly difficult decision, but the 2018 Film of the Year is...

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT

youtube

Now, because of the way the awards films are released, we haven’t had the proper contenders like The Favourite or Green Book here in the UK yet, which is a real shame. But in terms of what Chris McQuarrie did with Mission 6, there isn’t much to fault. Everything about this film was incredibly well thought out, and even with a slight injury to Tom Cruise, the film got finished on time, and it delivered upon the hype. I rewatched it earlier this week during the final deliberations, and it is just hard to believe that this is a 2 and a half hour film.

2019: Back to Basics

And that just about does it for 2018 here on the blog- but as you’ve seen in December’s Journal and our little rebrand last week, there’s a few changes on the horizon. Guest writers, merch, podcasts, and 100% less bias to any cinema chain will become the norm over the next 12 months. And readers, you are a key part of it all. Keep your eyes peeled on the blog over the next few weeks for further announcements, because this is a bold new era for TheJackSmit.com. An era where we are all #BornIndependent.

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mollyyorkmedia · 7 years

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Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I have been pleased with the overall feedback from our psychedelic Music Video, being predominantly positive with more comments about things that people have loved rather than the criticism they could offer to us. As well as the focus group, I have asked a selection of people from within our target audience range of 18-25 year old’s and A-C1 social demographic to see how the video played off to those we were hoping to appeal to. I also asked them about my following Ancillary tasks to get an idea of what had worked, and what didn’t.

We received some positive comments on the social media platform of YouTube itself, with one commentator going in-depth about what they liked about our production. This has showed me that it is being treated like a real media product, managing to appeal to our actual target audience members outside of our circle of friends.

I firstly asked my audience what they thought of the video overall and what parts in particular really drew in their attention and appealed to them.

My Focus Group audience also commented on similar shots, mentioning the journey and quick cuts at the end of the sequence and how that encapsulated our protagonists journey, also making reference to her stepping on the headphones and effectively those around her.

From this feedback, I found that my audience tended to favour the match-on-action shots or cuts that went to a different location. By using these cuts, I was able to create a direct link between the audio and the visuals, following Goodwin’s theory of the common conventions within Music Videos. This is exactly the sort of response that I wanted, deciding to make the variety of changing locations establish the background of the character and alternating between quick shots and longer ones to maintain the audiences attention, as well as show how she is quickly moving through the locations to find her answers and create a rushed pace. This has proved useful for the overall look and feel of our production, representing the psychedelic genre and the story-line all in one. I am also glad that my intentions to edit in this way have been recognised, building the story-line without the need or aid of lyrics to illustrate what was going on.

I also asked my audience what part of the video was the most effective for them and why, purely to see which part of post-production had best influenced them and created an engaging response.

From these comments, I can gauge that the end 26 seconds of contrasting fast-paced shots had worked particularly well to establish her change in journey. During post-production, this was a last minute consideration as the plan was originally a single long shot to show how far she had traveled. It has also proved that I was able to develop the editing skills that I had to establish the amplification of the title, ‘Why Won’t They Talk To Me?’ and show our protagonist visually finding the answers. These responses have proved the tendency to be drawn in by a fast-changing environment and my audience have interacted as I had hoped. I also received the comment about the contrast in colour between our protagonist and extras and how that had established Joss to stand out. I am happy that this was picked up upon as during pre-production we received some comments that pushed us initially against this idea and to make it a lot more obvious.

It was important that I asked for constructive criticism on our Music Video, giving me valid points to see how our target audience had really felt about our product and what didn’t work. This will aid me in the production of future projects.

My Focus Group also picked up upon how some of the shots, such as the car park one, were far too quick for them to understand what was going on and couldn’t make a clear enough connection between the extras at the car park and the extras at school, mentioning how we could’ve made this more explicit were we to improve the product.

From this feedback, I found that each of my target audience members had picked up on a variety of things. One of my commentators had mentioned the squashed shot at 1:58 where my protagonist was running through the car-park. I myself had also noticed this error but it had been due to the problems in exportation and the effects we had had to use to stabilize the animation time rate and remove the green dots at the end of the production. There was also the comment about the digital stabilization distort on the headphone users at the very beginning of the production. This had again been due to exportation of the clip from Adobe AfterEffects but leaning more to my own fault in not ensuring the clip was exporting under the correct settings. By spotting these faults, it has made me more observant towards the exportation process of projects and how certain effects will require a range of different settings in order to work properly. It has also made me a lot more wary about how my more engaged audience members will spot some of the more subtle errors, but proves that you can’t make every problem perfect.

Another interesting comment was the movements of the extra characters at the very beginning of the sequence and a suggestion about if they had been still then it would’ve been more effective for her. I personally think this is a great suggestion that would’ve made the opening a lot more ominous and grabbing, however, I myself prefer the use of movement in the scene as it demonstrates her rather literally ‘standing out’ from everyone else in her world and how life is passing by without her. It was also a way of conforming to Goodwin’s theory of looking, contrasting the beginning shots where she opens her eyes and then showing the divide between those around her and herself as she remains looking directly at the audience whilst the others neglect her.

I also asked the same person if they hadn’t understood a certain part of the video, due to it’s psychedelic nature. I agree with her with the relevance of the galaxy background and how it is not entirely made specific as to why it is there or has been used. My interpretation of the galaxy was to exaggerate the fact that she is ‘dreaming’ and is now thinking explicitly through her mind, using this harsh change in landscape to enhance the alternate perspective. We had also chosen this background due to it being a feature used in some of Tame Impala’s videos themselves and how it related to the psychedelic genre in a much more ‘in-your-face’ way. This demonstrates Stuart Halls’ theory of audience reception and how some of my audience had accepted the preferred reading of what the galaxy represented, whilst this member had rejected the idea and had a more oppositional reading.

I think that these comments are incredibly useful to show the effect on the overall production and how these mistakes affected the reception of our product. Without this criticism, we wouldn’t be able to improve in the future and get a false perception of what was really thought about our production.

I also asked how our target audience had responded to the psychedelic genre, inquiring if they thought we had managed to show it well and their opinions of how we had chosen to do so.

My Focus Group said that they all enjoyed the psychedelic genre, commenting that the sequence fit really well with the song, being a smooth transition and a ‘perfect combination of live action and animation’.

I found it incredibly interesting to see the response to the psychedelic genre as it is not typically one that is favoured amongst people, showing how we were trying to appeal to a niche audience. These responses prove that it was accepted and actually rather enjoyable, with a comment showing how they liked the contrast between the real life of our protagonist and her ‘dream-like’ state, just as intended. The more explicit use of the genre, such as the animation, was also well received as we had hoped, and the use of colours was also picked up upon by the more perceptive audience members. I was drawn to Charlie’s comment, ‘I only think that it shows it to some extent as I didn’t feel as if the character was hallucinating for all of the time period; only when she was imagining things that seemed impossible’. I thought that this shows the actual effect of the psychedelic genre, demonstrating how some of it is understood and some isn’t and again conforming to Hall’s theory of audience reception and reading. It also tells me how when working under the constraints of this genre, it is important to make it explicit and use more ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ items if it is an overpowering effect, such as having a physical impact on the character, using things like the ‘impossible’ hallucinations to make it incredibly clear and understood.

I also received feedback on my two Ancillary texts.

Evaluation Question 3 response from molly york

These comments have taught me about the process of producing and editing a music video and how every single detail needs to be considered with a reason behind its use to be effective, as well as to have an impact on how the audience receives the text. For example, we used a bright orange jumper to show her standing out both visually from social norms but to also establish she was the protagonist and keep a sense of continuity throughout the video. I have also learnt the importance of checking every setting and effect in both production and post-production and how that can affect my audience in a variety of ways, such as them being distracted by a cut that wasn’t exactly on the beat or a clip being stretched due to exportation settings. It has showed me how it is incredibly difficult to get everything right and to suit every individual within your target audience as they will all perceive the text in different ways to each other, agreeing or disagreeing with our ideas based on their backgrounds or personality. Getting feedback from our actual target audience has showed me that I have the skills to persuade and appeal to a certain group of people through careful consideration of each element, and receiving the criticism has provided me with knowledge of how I can tailor this even more in future projects to better appeal to them.

How did these comments affect the way you would work in the future as a group or individual?

These comments have picked up upon things both myself and my partner Gabes did individually, creating a balance of things that worked well and things that didn’t. As Gabes was more focused on creating the animation and appealing to the psychedelic genre, it has showed me that in the future I will need to pay close attention to what worked well in our Music Video and apply that to further projects, something I tried to establish myself within my two ancillary texts. As I was working on the editing of the actual production, receiving mostly positive comments in this area of work has influenced me to follow this type of role forward in later projects, refining my skills through the aid of peers and online media content and posting on social media to receive further comments on how I can improve my skills. I think that it worked well with the split between Gabes filming and creating the animation, and myself editing the production as it allowed me to keep on-top of my time management and encouraging my peer to stick to the deadline. This split also meant that we had a near-equal share of the work, aiding each other with the creative decisions of shots in production and sorting out technical issues during post-production.

Overall, getting this feedback from my audience has demonstrated how a real target audience would react and a general overview of what things I can take forward into future projects, as well as areas that still need work - such as exportation issues.

#a2 #a2evaluation #evaluation

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