#the project brief in question describes several in-class activities we straight up have not done. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sylleboi · 4 years

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𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖈 𝖇𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖋𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖆𝖑 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖗 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖏𝖊𝖈𝖙 - 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖌𝖊 𝖔𝖓𝖊 | 02/06/20

There are two types of textures;- Implied texture is basically texture that appears to be there, but it’s an illusion.- Actual texture is texture that exists and can be felt by touch.So I have been falling behind with what we as a class have been doing online on Moodle, making it feel increasingly difficult to approach it and get things done since it feels like things just keep piling up, but I have decided to give it a shot and just go for it!

The following message/messages were left for us on the Moodle forum;

“Hi guys,

Thanks to those that attended the Zoom meeting this week. Well done.

If you are committed to progressing next year I will need to see the following:

- Post a reply to this thread to show you are checking in with Moodle

- Interact with a least 1 of the summer school activities

- Attendance at ALL subsequent Zoom classes.

- A Conscientious and studious approach to the summer project

The time line for what happens next in terms of your studies will be as follows:

Tuesday 26th May - Summer project posted to Moodle and emailed directly to college emails (This will give you a chance to read/obtain equipment/purchase core text)

Monday 1st June - Zoom Lecture - Reviewing the brief and discussing research activities and practical tasks. Q & A

Monday 8th June - Zoom show & tell - Discussing progress so far / issues / findings / examples / Work in Progress

Monday 15th June - Zoom Break out groups / Smaller discussions

Please if you are in contact with any of your classmates/peers who have not be interacting can you please encourage them to do so, the longer we abstain from learning the harder it will be when we do get back to the 'New normal'.

Happy Wednesday!”

- Post a reply to this thread to show you are checking in with Moodle

I posted a short reply to show that I am active on Moodle.

- Interact with a least 1 of the summer school activities

I am yet to do this, but will be attempting my best to catch up.

- Attendance at ALL subsequent Zoom classes.

I have already failed this, but will attend the Zoom classes schedule ahead.

- A Conscientious and studious approach to the summer project

I will be working towards living up to this over the next few weeks as we work on the Summer School Project.

“Hi guys,

Hope you had as good bank holiday, here is the Summer project as promised. 'Comic Book Confidential' is a project that will allow us to start thinking about the type of work we will create in our 2nd year as well as addressing the theoretical and academic ideas we will need to start thinking abound discussing in detail when we return.

This week, I want you to do the following:

- Read the brief thoroughly and write down any questions you may have

- Order your core text book, Scott McCloud's 'Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art'

- Obtain any of the necessary equipment if you do not currently have this

Please ensure you start your research from Stage 1, and begin to write notes for the questions; as I will be asking you to relay your new knowledge next Monday (1st June) in our first Zoom lecture/discussion. I will forward an invite in a separate email and on moodle. I look forward to working with you guys on this, it will be a good one.

Best Regards,

David Dixon”

𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖈 𝖇𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖋𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖆𝖑

The brief;

“Hi guys,

Thank you everyone who joined us yesterday for the launch of our Comic Book Confidential Summer Project, there was a great turn out.

I have attached the PDF of the presentation for you to look at and use as a resource.

Please begin stage 1 and make sure for next week you have your viewfinder made and you are able to talk about either a comic book of your choosing or answer some of the questions of stage 1 with clarity.

Any question please post to here and I will answer as soon as possible.

Cheers

DD”

I missed this zoom call, but got some notes and insight to what was talked about during the call from a peer.

This brief is the first surrounding the topic of sequence art/comics that we have done as a class. Comics can be described as being a “sequence through illustration”; a series of images, sometimes with no dialogue showing an action or conveying a space of time in just a few panels, like glimpses of a film, showing key moments to portray the meaning of the sequence.

On another note, we are allowed to animate the project if we want to.

For this brief/project, we are required to put some form of narrative together, based off of our own personal experiences with the 2020 lockdown, making it a personal project to each of us. It is also required to be non verbal.

During the process of making our comic sequence, a short film showing the process from start to finish.

AIMS:

Make at least 5 comic book pages with at least three panels per page

Build a narrative exploring the ideas of isolation and coming out of lockdown

Understand how to create the passing of time

Explore the basic characteristics of a comic, BASICS!

A series of juxtaposed images creating a narrative or a selection of images.

An aesthetic response to our viewer done using a selection of images in a deliberate sequence. - “Sequence art”

Can we link this back to year 1?

I did a workshop at the very beginning of the year (19/09/19) called Fragments/Clips. It focused on experimental editing and making something unconventional with what resources we were given, much like we are asked to do with this brief; creating comic strips from the resources we find within and around us.

𝕶𝖊𝖞 𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖘:

We can find our own if we like but the suggested artists are;

- Hokusai

- Aiden Koch

- Sam Elston - former student from our course that will be visiting us.

Can you define what a comic is in your own words?

Comics can be described as being a “sequence through illustration”; a series of images, sometimes with no dialogue showing an action or conveying a space of time in just a few panels, like glimpses of a film, showing key moments to portray the meaning of the sequence.

What are the characteristics of a non verbal comic?

The primary characteristic for non verbal comics is the lack of words used. Non verbal comics are told solely through illustrations that, when you “read” it, will come alive like an animation that doesn't move. An example of non verbal communication could be something as simple as a smile, often indicating happiness, or perhaps a lack of expression can indicate boredom or something of a much darker background, like contempt or bloodlust.

What different forms of comic can you find, and how are they different?

A number of comic genres pop into mind immediately; Science-fiction comics, Superhero comics, Fantasy comics, Teen comics (humour), Adult/Erotic comics, Manga etc. Comics can also come in many different types of mediums, some that I can think of being Webcomics, Graphic Novels and Comic books.

How do comics communicate their messages?

In comics, with both verbal and non verbal communication within them, the major selling point is the illustrative work. Each panel represents a time, with each gap between the panels representing a passing of time. Much like glimpses of a sequence, put together in a harmonic composition with the goal to be compelling to ones eye. The message/messages that the artist want to portray can be executed through visual language; line, shape, form, texture, value and colour. All of these elements play into a successful comic strip.

I will give a simple example of each of these used to convey the same thing;

* Note that all of these will be left as examples and may look a little rough around the edges since they are just there to show the effects of visual language and nothing more.

Line:

Within visual language, line work is one of the most prominent and frequently used across all comic genres. In fact, the earliest comic that has been traced back to being from 1837 is made up of only line work, meaning no use of colours, values, textures etc.

It was called The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck and was originally published in several different languages across Europe, among them an English translation meant for the British in 1941.

For this first example, I have used only line work and included some shading using various hatching techniques (much like what has been used for the comic of The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck). This has resulted in a very classic feel of comics, made up by only blacks and whites.

I attempted to make this classic style transform into a more modern style by applying a few halftones on top, resulting in the following outcome:

As you can see, by applying these halftones as overlays, the piece successfully achieves the look of a manga/comic book/webcomic, rather than the previous classic style.

Shape:

By using shape in art, one can easily and effectively archive much with little. Shapes can be used in several different ways to convey different emotions. Because this ‘comic’ page is based on action and a narrative of climax, I chose to emphasise on sharp edges as they are commonly known to communicate danger. For example, I changed the smoke into fire and made it look much alike shattered pieces of glass, yet again to indicate it as being something dangerous to touch.

Each line is straight and rarely bends; creating some interesting shapes, squares, and triangles;

Form:

Form is most often describes and applied to something that is a three-dimensional subject, such as clay sculpting, although generally speaking, it is connected to things that are 3D, (three-dimensional) meaning there is an aspect of extra depth that you can’t normally archive with 2D. This is emphasised by light and dark values. (low and high contrast), otherwise known as shading.

For this example I attempted to make the line-art I had done earlier feel more real and lifelike by adding these different shades of grey.

Texture:

There are two types of textures;

- Implied texture is texture that appears to be there, but is really an illusion.

- Actual texture is texture that exists and can be felt physically by touch.

Since I am doing this digitally to speed up the process, I will be doing this by using the technique of implied texture.

For a long while now, I have been building up a collection of high quality scans and pictures of a large variety, based on the advice of my teacher when we were playing around with the visual language of texture in a past project. Out of these, I chose just a couple to play around with in Krita;

Now all that was left to do was to layer these on top of the artwork I had done earlier and have, as I mention before, a play around with them using different layer modes such as colour dodge, screen, overlay, soft light, hard light, multiply etc. I came up with a handful of different textured outcomes, but will be posting just a few of my favourites and put the rest into a gif;

The reason that I chose this one as being one of my favourites is due to how successful both the textures layered together translated so clearly and well. It gives a lovely look of it being aged as if it were torn out of an old comic book and scanned into a computer.

Now this one I am especially a big fan of! Although inverting the values got rid of the majority of the details within the art work, It doesn’t take away from the subjects and narrative, but the most compelling thing about it is how it strongly reminds me to the look of lino printing.

An example of a great artist I found that specialises in this medium of artwork is Valdis Baskirovs. I have chosen to compare their work to this comic strip in particular because their subjects are also most often animals, including canines.

Below are some examples of their work and work process doing lino printing:

Value:

Value is often described as a way of drawing with light, where value is based on how light or dark a given colour or hue is. Values can easier be understood once they are visualised on a scale or a gradient.

The scale above ranges from white to black, with a number of grey tones in between, but any hue/tone has a similar scale that goes from light to dark;

Different colours or values can be achieved by adding light or dark hues, in the case shown above, adding white to it to lighting it, or by darkening it with black.

Colour:

Last but not least, colour is an incredibly important part of visual language. It is used to convey a feeling, narrative or meaning within a given piece of artwork.

For this comic page, I have decided to go for a more cartoony and simplistic style, since that is what the line art communicates with it’s sharp and clear edges; but instead of just splashing any random colour on, I wanted to try and make it monochromiatic, meaning that all the colours have the same base tone, and therefor relate and harmonise with each other. The base tone for the example shown below is a muted orange-yellow.

I applied a layer of texture on top for two reasons; one being to make the piece feel more connected, but also for the reason being that this texture makes the page look like damaged or burnt paper, again to subconsciously communicate the fire being dangerous.

Can you list the similarities and differences between the three artists (Katsushika Hokusai, Aidan Koch & Sam Elston)

From looking at these three artists work side by side, I came to notice that they all seem able and confident in portraying more with less. Everything from line work and choice of colour is basic, simple, yet it still shines through as strong artwork. It feels like there is room to breathe due to the lack of business.

All of the three pieces of artworks shown below have the above in common. They feel light and minimalistic, using a variety of pastel colours and light values with the occasional dark black lines and/or splashes here and there.

I will be keeping this in mind for when I attempt drawing my own non verbal comics/sequences - the saying that less is more.

Example of the work of Katsushika Hokusai.

Example of the work of Aidan Koch.

Example of the work of Sam Elston.

- - -

𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖘 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖊��

Frans Masereel (1889–1972) is the creator of the wordless graphic novel “The Sun”, or “Le Soleil”. Frans was a Flemish painter and graphic artist whom worked primarily in France, completing over 20 wordless novel during his career, with his novel “Passionate Journey” or “Mon livre d'heures” from 1919, allegedly being his best work.

“The Sun”/“Le Soleil” Consists of 63 pages showing prints from woodcuttings, and is a contemporary retelling of the Greek myth of Icarus. Briefly explained, the protagonist of the novel continuously attempts to seek to the Sun by any means possible, but before he succeeds, he is sent plummeting back down to Earth.

𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖚𝖓 𝕿𝖆𝖓

Another artist that has added to the genre of wordless novels is Shaun Tan, which work we have studied for a past brief before. I will be talking more particularly about his graphic novel “The Arrival”, originally published in 2006, it is made up by 128 pages intricately drawn in pencil and later edited to fit the aesthetic and look off an old book.

After “reading” through this graphic novel, I was left thinking that this book is very touching and makes your mind wander off in thought.

It follows a man that cannot use words, thus the readers are experiencing everything as he is; silently. The protagonist, a man, leaves his wife and daughter to board a steamship to cross the ocean; all for the reason of building a better future for his family. - This book touches on the journeys that immigrant’s go through and experience on their travels. Although the reader clearly experiences the mans inner isolation, they also get to share his new found joys.

Below are some of the pages found within this book:

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canaryatlaw · 7 years

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Well today was pretty good for a 12 hour day, haha. I was annoyed because I only ended up getting like 4 hours of sleep. We've been having issues with our heater, mainly that we can't get it to turn itself on when it gets too cold, so it just continues to get colder, so we have to turn it up really high if we actually want to heat the apartment, and last night holy fuck it was freezing, so we had it like all the way up. So then I wake up at 5, two hours before my alarm goes off, and of course now it's sweltering, but I don't want to touch the thermostat because I don't wan to put it down to far and then fuck it over again. And I guess that and a combination of a few other random things made it impossible for me to fall back asleep, so that was somewhat less than ideal, but oh well. Got ready for work and headed there, went to my supervisor and showed him my new fancy 711 license, who then had me show it to all the other attorneys on the calendar haha he's a nice guy. So he started talking about cases I could take, probably starting with permanency hearings because they're super easy, just status updates on cases after adjudication (and sometimes termination of parental rights) have taken place, so you're really just asking about the kid and the parent's progress, basic stuff. And he said I could probably second chair some other stuff and then work on it on my own, like temporary custody hearings, which again aren't terribly hard because the GAL doesn't have the burden of proof, and probably 95% of the time they're gonna side with the state. But it's all really exciting! I was looking at the license and it legit says I'm "temporarily licensed to practice law" and just !! That's so official!! I'm lawyering!! Actually practicing law and lawyering!! And I just, I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to get to this place. So, so many years saying I'm going to be a lawyer, I just have to get through this first. But now I'm here and I'm doing work I love so much, and I'm just so happy because I'm really just at peace with my life in a way I haven't been in a long time now. I'm just happy to be here and living my life and doing what I do, and that's such a wonderful feeling I can't really describe it. But, anyway. Despite the exciting start I didn't actually make it into a courtroom today, but instead got saddled with some other projects. I had some free time in the morning to hang out (read fanfiction) and then one of the lawyers on the calendar came in and pulled a couple files (there's like, mountains of files in my office, you basically have to step over them to get anywhere) from this case with like ten kids or something ridiculous like that in the system, and one of them who's aged out wants a copy of his birth certificate, and she doesn't think we have a copy of it, but wants me to look through all these files to make sure haha. I mean, not the most interesting work but I've definitely had worse. So I get to looking, stopping occasionally to read something that peaked my interest. There was one really concerning report I read, it wasn't about the kids whose file it was, but about a girl at the same residential facility one of them is in, and due to the nature of the problem a copy of it gets put in his file for safety/documenting reasons. And like, I've read a lot of residential facility horror stories, but this one definitely takes the cake. Now, the staff in these places and trained in certain restraints they sometimes have to use on kids who are just completely out of control, obviously it's a last last result and I'm not terribly fond of the idea, but at least if they're done correctly the kid won't get hurt. WELL. Apparently this one wasn't done correctly, because this poor girl ended up with her arm being broken in FOUR FUCKING PLACES. Like you could not make me more furious about this if you tried. Just....agh! This shit makes me so angry because it's putting kids who've been removed from their parents because of being in an abusive environment right back into an abusive environment at the hands of the state and the dollar of the taxpayer. Just...ugh. And of course this isn't her file so I don't get to see any of the follow up papers and find out what happened, just one sheet of paper that made me so goddamn furious. But, anyway. The rest of it was pretty basic and not very interesting. When I was just about done with those (birth certificate, unsurprisingly, nowhere in sight) another lawyer comes in and hands me a CD of medical records and asked if I could look through them for any mental health diagnoses for the mother. The state filed a termination petition, and one of the grounds you can use to terminate is that the parent is incapable of caring for the child because of mental illness. He said they only have it documented that she has depression, but he thinks it may have been depression with psychotic features and that obviously makes a much more convincing case, so I set to work with those. There were about 60 sets of records, ranging in size from 8 pages to 80 pages, so I went through them. Sad story, especially to read in reverse. The kid this petition is about was only born in January 2016, which is pretty fast moving for termination. But she had another child a year prior who was removed from her care at like two weeks old because, according to her, she was "feeding him orange juice" at two weeks old (and not because of malnutrition that was reported by the doctor). The kicker to that is that yet another year prior to that she had her first baby (or at least first she kept, there was one reference to her giving one up for adoption at birth but I didn't see anything else connected to it), who died at like 13 years old, because of malnutrition/SIDS/her rolling over on the baby in her sleep, depending on who you ask. So being that there already was a child death here they weren't taking any chances. So I looked through many records, which I don't really find boring because I'm actively looking for something so it keeps my mind occupied. Many many records, until I got back to right after her first baby died, and it had recordings of post-partum psychosis and severe depression with psychotic features. Bingo, that's what we needed. So that was good. Headed out at 5, hopped on the bus to the train and then the train from one courthouse to the next for trial advocacy tonight, which was pretty good. I got to be a witness this week, and you know I hamming it as a witness as much as possible and just making it hilarious for everyone, and the material here was so easy. It's some dumb contract case about this lady who signs a contract to buy a sports car but then the next day decides she wants a minivan so she calls to change it and they say they will, but then in two weeks they call saying the sports car was ready and they have no record of the contract modification, so my character wanted her minivan or her $2K deposit back. So given those facts, I decide the only plausible reason someone would want a sports car one day and a minivan the next day is that they're going through a midlife crisis, so I went for that angle and oh it was so easy. They do the introductory questions at first and ask about family, so I said I had a wonderful husband named Wadsworth and two beautiful sons named Mickey and Pluto (and of course say this with a completely straight face), because why the fuck not? Lol. So then I start talking about how I need this sexy sports car in my life so I go and find the best one, then the next day I realize if I try to drop Mickey off at soccer practice in that car all the soccer moms are going to go nuts, and I should really just accept that I'm a soccer mom and get the accompanying minivan 😂 I thought it was a pretty good strategy, and I think everyone else did too as observed by their reactions. So I had fun with that. After that I had to do a cross, which didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped just because their was some confusion about impeaching, but it turned out alright. We had the guy instructor this week who kept telling me I talk too fast (I'm from New York okay, it's what we do) so I apparently have to work on that, lol. But overall pretty good class. We get out and 8 and of course I "rush" home as much as one can while on public transportation, arriving a little after 9 and flipping on legends after trying to very nicely beg my roommate to let me use the tv. (which I felt like an asshole about because she was watching something, I just needed to see my show dammit!) So, the episode. I feel like I have a disconnect in my head between the excitement I get about new episodes versus the reality we actually get, and the reality can be somewhat underwhelming at times. But, that being said, I did enjoy the episode. Everything they did with the film students was a PERFECT parody, one someone can only learn from going to film school (we share a building with them and I hung out with pretty much all of them, so I was close enough) and Rip as "Phil" was just cracking me up, and I think I like him better than Rip haha 😂 I did like the moment he had with Sara in his old office in a very BROTP way of course, but it was sweet. Nate and Ray were hilarious, what giant dorks they are that they based their life choices around their favorite movies. I need to see an alternate reality where Nate is a yoga instructor, okay?? It needs to happen, stat. There's a lot I feel I can comment on but my eyes are closing quickly (see beginning of post) so I'll try to keep it brief. I'm not sure how I feel about the Mick and Stein plot, just because it felt pretty useless to come up with this whole thing with a device in his brain that could be causing this, then "oh, guess it wasn't that, oh well!" and Stein is basically like "we all hear different voices in our heads" because that's totally the same as visual and auditory hallucinations?? Come on bro, ya killing me here. I'm a little sad we didn't get to see any Snart in this episode, but I'm comforted by the fact that he will be coming back in actually alive form very soon...(or at least it better be real soon, or I'm gonna hurt someone, preferably the writers). Okay, last comment, the whole "let's break Rip out of jail with this crazy scheme" coupled with Merlyn and Darhk just going in there and start killing people were both sooooo overdramatic and unnecessary because they definitely could've bailed him out for like, 10 bucks. I mean come on, he's not even gonna get charged with anything, they don't have enough proof. I'm just saying, they really went overboard when they had an easy answer in the legal system, lol. Okay I'm done now. Tomorrow should be good, finally getting my haircut! And yes, eyes definitely want to be closed right now so I'm going to do that. Goodnight people. Be well.

#daily journal #January 2017 #rachel watches legends of tomorrow

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dubsism · 4 years

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Today’s Movie: Hollywood Air Force (also released as “Weekend Warriors”)

Year of Release: 1986

Stars: Chris Lemmon, Vic Tayback, Lloyd Bridges

Director: Bert Convy

This movie is not on my list of essential films.

NOTE: This installment of Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies is being done as part of something called the Second So Bad It’s Good Blog-A-Thon being hosted by Taking Up Room. I keep telling her this will easily be the worst movie in this event, but she thinks the competition is stiffer than I think. You’ll have to be the judge; you can see all the contributors to this blog-a-thon here:

Days One, Two And Three

The Story:

If we were to have a contest as to the bona fides for a bad movie, I would bet a large amount of money I win on this one phrase:

“Produced and directed by Bert Convy.”

When you have a D-:List comedy bankrolled and directed by a 1970s/80s game-show host…well, doesn’t “bad” just seem to be in the cards?

If that’s not enough, let’s talk about this movie’s first-class pedigree for “bad.” The best way to describe it is the 1950s kids from the “teen” comedy “Porky’s” grew up, graduated, and ended up in the “Cold War” American military of the 1960s. But fret not, you fans of the “Porky’s” franchise…this movie still comes with a full complement of bawdy sex and bodily-function jokes, complete with a bad-taste-defining “hula dance” and a “fart-lighting” scene.

The plot is equally as formulaic; it’s all about the protagonist and his buddies and the perennial struggles against authority. In the case of “Porky’s,” “authority” comes in the form of overweight gym teachers and morbidly-obese brothel owners. Naturally, “Hollywood Air Force” replaces those with the “out-to-get-everybody” Congressman Ernest W. Balljoy (played by Graham Jarvis) and the stoogish Sergeant Elroy Burdge (played by Vic Tayback).

Sergeant Elroy Burdge…”the world’s ugliest hot fudge sundae.”

Set in the height of the Cold War in 1961, “Hollywood Air Force” revolves around an Air National Guard unit based in Southern California comprised of an exceptionally not-very-military group of misfit Hollywood actors, writers, stuntmen, make-up artists, and various studio personnel. The one thing they all in have in common is they joined the Air National Guard in order to avoid being drafted into full-time active military service; hence the alternative title “Weekend Warriors.”

The leader of this group of misfits who when not spending his weekends as part of the California Air National Guard’s 73rd Transport Wing is a Hollywood screenwriter named Vince Tucker (played by Chris Lemmon…yes, he’s the son of Jack...).

Lloyd Bridges, Bert Cony, and Chris Lemmon

Flyer Tucker and his band of merry airmen fall into disfavor with the visiting Congressman Balljoy when he walks into some of their shenanigans during an inspection of the 73rd’s base. As a result, Balljoy announces in a national press release that the 73rd is ready to be called up for active Air Force duty to meet a looming threat as the Soviets are actively building the Berlin Wall.

However,it is Balljoy’s intent to have the 73rd not only out of his district, but sent to an isolated Pacific island. To avoid this, the unit must pass a full Air National Guard readiness inspection; otherwise they will be called up to active duty and lose their status as “Weekend Warriors.” (Yeah, I know that doesn’t make much sense. You would think failing the inspection would get them sent somewhere for training, but that’s one of several reasons why this is a bad movie.)

But this is where they put the “Hollywood” in “Hollywood Air Force.” Led by Tucker, the men of the 73rd come up with a plan that will thwart Balljoy and insure they remain in California. They use their connections to hire an entire Hollywood production company using it’s “magic” to portray the 73rd as a top-notch transport unit.

The show is a success, Tucker and the 73rd dazzle the Air Force brass, Congressman Balljoy and his guest, a stone-faced Romanian ambassador, whose presence is another thing which makes no sense. Balljoy fully expected the 73rd to be the Air Guard’s answer to the Keystopne Kops, so why would you have him there knowing full well he would report back to the Soviets what a bunch of stumble-bums the American military was?

Here’s the bottom line. If you can get past the stuff that just doesn’t add up, and if you want to laugh at the same kind of stuff you did when you were 12, this movie won’t disappoint.

If nothing else, you can get a few chuckles out of the 73rd’s commanding officer, Colonel Archer…he’s basically Lloyd Bridges reprising the “picked the wrong week to quit smoking guy” from “Airplane!” spiced with a few dashes of “Colonel Klink.”

The Hidden Sports Analogy:

“The Luftwaffe…the Washington Generals of the History Channel” ~ Homer Simpson

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At first, this may sound strange, but there’s an art to being a professional loser. After all, nobody sets out to lose every night. The most inept sports teams throught history all had one thing in common. Be they the 1962 New York Mets, the 2008 Detroit Lions, or the 1972 Philadelphia 76ers just to name a few…well, they all had one thing in common. They were all trying to win.

You can’t say the same for the Washington Generals. For the better part of seven decades, the Generals’ job has been to play the foil to the clown princes of basketball, the Harlem Globetrotters. Granted, there was a script; the Generals weren’t supposed to win. They were the “straight man,” the “Abbott” the the Globetrotters’ “Costello.” The trick was there had to be enough legitimate basketball to make the gags work. The Generals would run up and down the floor with the Globetrotters and hit their share of shots for forty of forty-eight minutes, the other eight ear-marked for the Globetrotters’ half-court heaves, dribbling wizardry, the trademark confetti and ice-bucket tricks, all preceded by the passing-drill warm-ups to the dulcid tones of “Sweet Georgia Brown,”

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The that was the formula; a few parts crowd work, a few parts tomfoolery, and a few parts actual basketball baked into a cake of pure entertainment…with the stars winning at the end. Well…with the stars almost always winning.

A Harlem Globetrotters “game” was a bit like the basketball version of professional wrestling in terms of being more entertainment than sports and having a pre-determined ending. But because it was basketball, maintaining the illusion of the game being somewhat “real” required the Washington Generals to look like they were trying to win when everybody expected they wouldn’t. In fact, nobody lost more consistently than the Washington Generals or their various aliases (Boston Shamrocks, Atlantic City Seagulls, and Baltimore Rockets to name a few). Regardless of name, they have lost to the Globetrotters more than 17,000 times since 1952. The Generals long-time player/coach “Red” Klotz used to compare his team to Ginger Rogers; they had to keep up with the greatness of Fred Astaire, except doing it backwards and in heels.

That brings us to that “almost always” thing. It was January 5th, 1971. when the Globetrotters faced off with the Generals at the University of Tennessee-Martin, The problem was the Globetrotters were without their featured star, Curly Neal. Since he was the guy who filled most of the game with his dribbling ball-handling wizardry, the Globetrotters were without much of the gags present in the “show” part of the game. As a result, they played this much more like an actual basketball game.

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It so happened that this would be the day the Generals (playing as the Jersey Reds) played a tremendous game. The had one of those days where everything went their way; they couldn’t miss shots if they tried. Next thing you know, they were leading the Globetrotters by 12 points with only a few minutes left in the game. In an attempt to keep to the script, the Globetrotters mounted a comeback to take a 99-98 lead with only a few seconds left on the clock.

The Reds in-bounded the ball to “Red” Klotz, their 50-year old player/coach, who promptly tossed up a two-handed set shot that clanked around the rim, then dropped in to give the Reds a 100-99 lead as the buzzer sounded.

But much like a rigged Chicago election (or when the U.S. men’s basketball team got robbed in the gold medal game in the 1972 Olympics), there was some shenanigans involved in adding time to the clock to give the Globetrotters a chance for a last-second shot. But despite being given several opportunities, the Globetrotters’ other main star Meadowlark Lemon bricked a bunch of close-in hook shots at the buzzer. Finally, they ran out of reasons to extend the game without making it plainly obvious they were just trying to get the win for the Globetrotters, and the Reds/Generals were finally winners. The popular story is the crowd booed and children cried when the Globetrotters lost.

Klotz passed away in 2014, and despite being asked several times, he never admitted whether he was actually trying to make that shot. It matters little, because for that brief moment in 1971, The Washington General conquered the Harlem Globetrotters’ world.

The Moral of The Story:

Sometimes being bad is the point; it takes talent to be reliably bad. Just ask Bert Convy or the Washington Generals.

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Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies – Volume 68: “Hollywood Air Force” Today's Movie: Hollywood Air Force (also released as "Weekend Warriors") Year of Release: 1986…

#Bert Convy #Blog-A-Thon #Classic Movies #Harlem Globetrotters #Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies #Washington Generals

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