luwucas04

[luwucas04]

About 4000 (I am so sorry) Words Concerning Films that Helped Define My Existence

Ah, movies. So much in one package. Story, music, visuals, what’s not to love? Today I shall be elaborating on the most noteworthy films in the thrilling ever-changing saga that continues to be my life. Screenplay alongside a screenplay, if you will (please take this statement as modestly as you can).

The first ever thing in my entire life that I remember being an avid and enthusiastic fan about was the original Star Wars saga, written and directed by George Lucas, spanning May 1977 (A New Hope) – May 2005 (Revenge of the Sith).

As mentioned in the podcast and as you may be able to tell from said podcast, I can’t really pinpoint an exact point in my life where I was introduced to it as it was kinda integrated into my upbringing from the get-go—and due to this it’s a very near and dear franchise to me. And oh boy fun fact my first ever childhood crush was Luke Skywalker (I vividly recall my uncle asking why I had his page bookmarked haha). I remember it was something that I would always watch with my dad and or grandpa, and then when I couldn’t find the VCR set that we had for it, I officially commenced my illicit streaming career (not really though, I didn’t get very far. Only crappy 20-minute clips on YouTube). Star Wars for me was the first thing that I actively sought out stuff for or showed genuine interest in pursuing if that makes sense. Like, you’d watch whatever movies or shows were thrown at you and you never thought much of them. Ohoho not Star Wars, though, that one lasted years. My cousin and I would always bring our little action figures to play with whenever we visited—or we’d find long-ish sticks in the backyard and have lightsaber fights, I got the video games, posters, Lego sets of ships (X-wing and Y-wing to be exact), an entire encyclopedia that I still own to this day (I just checked and there’s a date written inside, April 9th 2010 (which is my 7th birthday)), and of course inspiration for my own art and such. I remember I made this magazine that was essentially just me redrawing pages from the guidebook I had. I still have it, too! Sitting at the bottom of a drawer right now. Also, later on for some reason I absolutely loved drawing Ashoka Tano. Over and over again man. I drew her taking up my cousin’s entire driveway in chalk once.

Not only are the Star Wars films a nostalgic and comforting series, but it held onto its marvel throughout the. Wow well over 10 whole years, I’m getting old. Additionally, because at the time we didn’t have as much access to the things we can achieve with modern technology, I was basically all on my own with it. I fueled my own fascination. And shockingly, not a lot of people in my elementary school (up until maybe grade 6-7) showed much interest in it either. So it was pretty much just me myself and I, and occasionally my cousin whenever he visited, and I think that made it all the more special to me. Also, at the time I think it was geared way more toward kids. There weren’t series like The Mandalorian or active internet communities that were obsessed with the series as far as I was aware, so there wasn’t the same quantity of content nor overall enthusiasm around it. Nonetheless, it was and still is a very personal series due to how engrained it is into basically every aspect of my childhood. I’ll try not to be too repetitive with what I said in the podcast, but ultimately the clear nature of the franchise (attractive character designs, colours, setting in general (it’s an action-packed space adventure what’s not to love)) is what really made me latch onto it, and it kickstarted my interest in the very essence of media and understanding the film medium and what it has to offer. I remember asking how they got Jar Jar to exist on screen and he told me they made him out of CGI, and I interpreted that as they somehow made a real-life computer model out of him and that they were actually interacting with like a physical, solid hologram. Anyway, revisiting the franchise and diving into more of its intricacies now (like the production diaries) is like an absolute goldmine. There are so many aspects of it that 100% contributed to and nurtured my goals, passions, and ultimately who I am as a person. Here is some of my very recent art for good measure:

Up next up we got Lord of the Rings (dir. Peter Jackson, December 2001 – December 2003) or I guess a better way to put it would be those plus The Hobbit (December 2012 – December 2014) trilogy. I think it was earlier than the Marvel phase (which follows this section) because like Star Wars I can’t really remember my first viewing of it, but I definitely watched it all. It might’ve been around grade 3 so 2011-ish? Quick anecdote, one time I had a sleepover I was really excited for, and as we all know when you’re excited for something as a kid and it’s later on in the day, time doesn’t actually pass at all, and so my genius ass decided to flip on The Fellowship of the Ring and boom it was 5 pm and time to leave. Also my grandparents from my mom’s side of the family (they’re German so we call them oma and opa) were visiting once and my opa (grandpa equivalent) wanted to watch something so I was like “omg Lord of the Rings is perfect there are so many characters he can feel empowered by (Gandalf and Saruman because they’re old)”. Phenomenal logic—now thinking back it was probably much too violent for his tastes but yknow.

I love Lord of the Rings so much because it’s the true embodiment of an ideal fantasy story; there’s such pure character dynamics and personalities and Tolkien created such an incredibly solid world in which these stories take place. Man knew his stuff, and in turn provided a charming and utterly wonderful scape for young minds to roam free within. I was going to talk about this if I did my other culminating idea regarding masculinity within the media, but I have the perfect opportunity to do so here: something so great about said world is how sincere and genuine a lot of the male characters are (yknow minus people like Denethor and Alfred). Namely the fellowship, they all openly care for and are affectionate towards one another, something we rarely see between men both in modern media and in real life. Aragorn is a perfect example of someone owning and being comfortable in his masculinity. He is kind to and uplifts others, and communicates openly with them. He isn’t afraid of being intimate and vulnerable towards them, either. We see this in Boromir’s death scene. Aragorn doesn’t patronize him for trying to take the Ring, he consoles Boromir in his last moments and they treat each other with the utmost tenderness and respect—not callously or stiffly. Right after decapitating an orc, Aragorn is still able to run to his side, hold him, and kiss him on the forehead following his passing. Aragorn also isn’t afraid to share fame or glory, in fact he never seeks it out in the first place despite his lineage. It was at the battle of Helm’s Deep that he embraced that destine to be king, not out of lust for power, but because these people needed guidance and leadership and he could provide it for them. He elevates others in an incredibly positive and empowering way, especially Frodo and Éowyn, and is content with the fact that the story is not about him. Even at his own coronation, he directs every single person’s attention to the literal earth-saving feat that the hobbits have achieved in light of his own massive accomplishment. He is such a great role model to have been able to look up and aspire to be like, and I wish there were more characters and people like him.

I was a fan of those original films at an earlier point in my life, but the thing that brought that interest back a little stronger was undoubtedly the release of the Hobbit prequels. Like the Star Wars prequels, everyone can say what they want but they are very gorgeous to me. I skipped out on seeing Frozen with my class to go see The Desolation of Smaug with my dad and that was SUCH a good decision. Although, I’m rewatching them all now and Battle of the Five Armies kinda sucks at the beginning. They kill Smaug in like the first five minutes and like it wasn’t bad but it was very anticlimactic. I also don’t like how they shoved Legolas in there, his personality is really jaded and he’s kind of a big prick in those films. But it’s fine I love Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage and the rest of the dwarves the most. They were obviously the most significant and I like them a lot, and there are three movies as opposed to the one book so there’s even more content!

WHEW sorry about that anyway The Hobbit really was the revival/rekindling of that past love for Tolkien’s world. I also had a good close friend who was also along for the ride as well—being able to be into these things alongside someone is always fun and I’m grateful she was there and shared my same energy. She had the Lego game for that one, very similar free-roam concept as my Marvel one (coming up next), so we had lots of fun with that too. To reiterate, I am rewatching these movies again now as an older person with like an actual conscience, and my takeaway from them is vastly different on more of like… a philosophical level, I suppose. I appreciate the process of things more and the backstory behind Tolkien’s lore and the timeless characters and deeper meanings that he’s conceived. But that wouldn’t be very chronological of me to go into it here so moving on.

Proceeding next, around grade four at the most (so just after it came out), I watched The Avengers (dir. Joss Whedon, 2012). Not only did this single-handedly make my art convictions explode (in a good way), it also instigated my love for soundtracks (and also the entire Marvel universe but we’ll obviously be covering that very soon).

The Avengers was like an epiphany for me. Literally ground-breaking and earth-shattering. Changed my entire 10-year-old life. It was all that I ever wanted and more, and since it was around 2012-13 that I became aware of its existence, the internet community was blossoming with possibilities and content. That same friend liked it as well! My Avengers/Marvel phase definitely rivals my Star Wars phase; I think I watched The Avengers first, and then my dad was like “yeah ok you need to watch everything else now” and so henceforth Captain America and Iron Man and Thor. Those were very good times, and I actually remember experiencing all of them for the first time ever. The Christmas of 2013 was absolutely wild. I only got Marvel related gifts which was incredible at the time. My first ever ‘art of’ book was for the Avengers film, too! I also got an arc reactor shirt that actually lit up and I thought that was the absolute coolest thing ever, and then I remember I cut my tongue on this candy I was eating and my mouth bled profusely for a while. However the most iconic gift of all was my copy of Lego Marvel Superheroes for the PS3. I finished it in about 2 days, and it’s the only Lego game that I’ve gotten 100% completed progress on. I love that game dearly and still play it sometimes. The thing that I love specifically about it was the ability to free-roam the entirety of New York City as any character you wanted, me and that friend would do that exclusively for hours on end and make up our own stories with all the characters. Here is Galactus perusing the streets

Speaking of characters, this was the first thing that really got me making up and drawing a shit ton (apologies for lack of a better phrase) of original characters. I’d make superhero characters for me and my friend (ok I guess I should give her a name huh), Mackenzie, and even for random people in my class cause we needed to fill in some blanks in the stories we’d make. I’d create comics, write little stories, make variation after variation of these people we came up with, and of course like normal children me and Mackenzie would go to the park near my old house and pretend we were said characters. Man it was so fun. Then we’d do all those personality quizzes to find out which member you were most like. Mackenzie and I would do these quizzes on none other than our state-of-the-art BlackBerry playbooks. For me it was usually either Iron Man or Thor, and Mackenzie had this weird curse where she’d only ever get Loki as a result for anything at all which was very hilarious to me. Circling back to soundtracks, The Avengers OST was one of my first full album purchases. The main theme was my favourite track out of all of them for obvious reasons, but I still paid respects to all of them and listened to it often. Since I bought it with my dad’s Apple ID, it’d show up on the communal iPad that we used for music in the kitchen and I have full recollection of my grandpa playing it on blast in the morning to wake us up one time. I was aggravated at first but then when I realized what it was I was like ah yes of course. After the Avengers soundtrack, I got the Wolverine (2013) OST and that was fun but I didn’t like all the tracks in the same way, but THEN I got the Days of Future Past soundtrack. THAT is a good soundtrack AND a phenomenal film.

Anyway, after that I was a Marvel connoisseur for a little while. Like Star Wars I got an entire character encyclopedia, a bunch of comics, posters, you name it. My parents and sister also enjoyed dabbling in stuff too; we’d watch the animated series together on Netflix and eventually ended up seeing all the new movies together when they came out in theatres (except not my mom though cause she gets motion sickness from action films). Marvel was a staple in the adolescence stage of my life before I was introduced to anime (then it was all downhill from there (I am kidding anime was a part of my life that I look back at with great fondness)). It was reason for so much of what I explored with my art and my own imagination, and was one of my first experiences in what it was like to be a part of a fandom-esque community. There were also memes ripe for the picking when it came to Marvel; as one can assume I had no access to memes in kindergarten to grade 1 in the late 2000s. It was such a lovely and warm point in my life, something that established what kind of passion I really poured into something when I really liked it. And akin to Star Wars, there’s just so much to like about it. There’s so much to offer, an array of colourful characters and storylines—and of course, creative liberty when it came to superpowers and that whole narrative. The sky was literally the limit. Here is some of my ancient 2014 portraiture that I dug up for the sake of this assignment

Ok heads up we are now veering AWAY from childhood content and touching on a film that played a more personal part, namely during a very pivotal point, in my life. I picked up The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky, 1999) at a bookstore and read it at the speed of light; I was crying in my room on my bed by the time I finished it. I love how we see Charlie’s character change over the course of the novel, not only through what he describes or how he perceives things but his style of writing in general. Anyway, I wanted to read the novel first before I watched the movie (dir. Stephen Chbosky 2012), and I was pleasantly surprised by how accurate the movie is to the book (well duh the author directed it). I read/watched this right before I started high school, so I was kind of (but not really considering the built-up childhood trauma he has yikes) in the same position as the protagonist, Charlie, as he was starting out (minus a lot of the major aspects of his character and what he went/goes through (like drugs)). A lot of the things that he learns were really important takeaways for me before heading into that new chapter of life like he did.

Contrary to the title of the (I know it started out as a novel but I’m just gonna say film) film, you need to put yourself out there and advocate for yourself in life. It’s great to be a trustworthy individual whom everyone is vaguely aware of and likes, but you need to approach things with reason and make yourself known somehow. At the time, both before and during grade 9, and even still sometimes in the present (though I do it more deliberately now), I found myself just standing on the sidelines as life happened before me and I let it sweep me away without having any feet planted on the ground. It was like I wasn’t in control of it, and in turn I might’ve struggled in some areas more than I should have. I didn’t own anything, like I wasn’t totally present. Similar to Charlie, I was a person who’d always be there for others, someone people could talk to and confide in, and ultimately someone people truly enjoyed having around—which is pretty great. But I didn’t fully know my position or what I ultimately wanted in any of those situations. Don’t get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful for my entire freshman experience and I absolutely wouldn’t have wanted it any other way considering all personal circumstances, but with that foreknowledge of the importance of making a name for yourself, especially in high school, I think I was able to branch out with ease a bit more than I would have without it. I at least was aware of what was going on in that sense. That movie is really special to me because it ended up being a pseudo-mirror of my own experiences. Charlie’s English teacher, Bill, embraced his writing abilities and urged him to participate more, share his own thoughts, and express more of his personality by giving him books for extra reading. My first ever semester of Laurier did the exact same for me as Bill did for Charlie. It fostered my interests and intellectual abilities, and you guys constantly urged me and everyone else to go above and beyond what we were used to because you knew we could do it (even though I feel like I could’ve done a lot better on some things as my marks in grade 9 are a bit lower than I’d like them to be, but hey it was a time of adjustment and I did my best and that’s what matters). As a direct result of Laurier, I’m really lucky to have been surrounded by an amazing group of passionate students, a handful of which became my closest friends throughout high school, and that my very first teachers of the day were people who uplifted me and genuinely cared not only about furthering my academic work, but about my growth as a person.

Whew let’s wade out of the sap and get into some more energetic stuff!!! To tie off this recollection of my life through film the most recent and notable movie that impacted my life was, the one and only, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (dir. Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman, 2018). Similar to The Desolation of Smaug and Frozen, I went with my dad to the cinema but parted ways with him to watch this movie by my lonesome (he went to the Aquaman theatre instead smh). Again, phenomenal choice. I talked about this in my grade 11 blog, but Spider-Verse is an absolute masterpiece in every way shape and form.

At the point I watched it, I knew what I wanted to generally do with my life (be part of the art industry) and the visuals of this movie alone were enough to make me want to elope with it and never see or talk to anyone ever again. It is such a gorgeous film. The way they strayed from the yucky 3D conventions norm—and there is literally no way they could’ve done the majority of what they did in that movie effectively if they did it live action. Or, they could definitely try and make an attempt, but it’d look like garbage. For example, a lot of the action scenes in general and also when they become abstracted like with the particle collider. 40-60 fps would not do that sense of movement justice at all. Too smooth. Not enough grit and personality.

Anyway, they also pioneered new animation techniques in mixing 2D and 3D, and explored a newer superhero trope where the main character’s own mundane life struggles are equally as important as him trying to sort things out with these new powers. It’s more of a battle between what Miles wants with his own personal life—new school, the friends he won’t be able to see because of said new school, owning his own abilities and adjusting to change. Then on top of that he’s met with all these alternate-dimension people that he has to work and be on par with. Aside from the art, I thought the overall message was every special: Miles learns through trial and tribulations, unsureness—and most importantly, failure. Confidence and optimism, in regard to what he thinks he can and can’t do, is vital. Amidst everything he is faced with, he starts out as just another kid who wants to be just another kid. But we all have something special inside us that we must choose to embrace if we want to truly flourish. We see him come to terms with the fact that he really is capable of greatness if he sets his mind to it—and that’s the main message: anyone can wear the mask. And can we talk about that soundtrack??? Not only the instrumentals, but the actual songs were great too! “Sunflower” and “What’s Up Danger”? Lovely and fitting. And back to the OST, the Prowler’s theme??? Shivers.

There is such a unique and beautiful vibe to this movie, and it’s inspired me in more ways than one. Aside from that nice motivational stuff, it also has recently played a tremendous part in developing my own art. All of the artists who worked on the film are people I immediately tried to find on social media so I could see more of their work. I purchased the art book, and even bought a 2D sequence illustration course provided by one of the art directors, Patrick O’Keefe. That course also came with the (digital) brushes he uses, and I’ve used them in pretty much every single one of my pieces since downloading them. This movie really showed me the possibilities of what could be achieved in the art industry, and it made me want to be a part of it so much more than I was before. I want to be involved in revolutionary visual achievements, and I want to develop characters and stories and worlds that are as interesting and loveable as the ones in Spider-Verse. (my stuff featured below)

So there you have it folks, 5 (five) of the most significant movies in my life relayed in a whopping just over 4000 words. I hope this has been enlightening for all you readers out there, perhaps you now have a better understanding of how I came to be personality/interest-wise, and I hope you can catch a glimpse of that same importance these pieces of media have in regard to me and my values.

[luwucas04]

The Great Mario (characters) Saga

Throughout my childhood and up to now, I am a very avid Mario game appreciator. Super Mario, Mario Kart, that sketchy Mario Golf emulator we had on our Xbox, Mario Party, Mario (and Sonic) at the Olympic Winter Games, they all hold indispensable value in in the realm of my personal video game pallet.

Something that defines this particular franchise is its iconic characters. You know them all instantly even if you’ve never played any of the games before, it’s that well known in our pop culture. Something I’ve been thinking about, not in a bad way, is how all over the place Mario character designs are. They can be very simple like Mario and Luigi themselves, a Boo, and a Shy Guy--or they can grow more and more intricate in details like when you look at Bowser and the princesses. Regardless, these characters are all incredibly colourful, loveable, and unique, and are important to many people (including myself). These characters all have their own special personalities that shine through in their design, even if they don’t have any actual lines or prominent roles in the games; like the Piantas, goombas, piranha plants or lumas. They reflect both their environment and their objectives as characters, and they’re all instantly recognizable. Additionally, the specific blueprint for these types of characters (whether they’re obstacles or help along the way) make it so that new ones can be thrown into new games with no problem (like Mario 3D World).

At the beginning, a lot of these characters were a bit stereotypical in what their purpose was as a part of some of the earlier Mario games. For example, Mario as the hero and Peach as the princess who needs saving from the evil Bowser. But, that was at their absolute simplest and rawest stage when games like Donkey Kong (the one we looked at as a class) came out. Over the years, we’ve been able to get more intricate in video game storytelling, and in turn more depth and personality has been added to these individuals through the plethora of variations the franchise has seen: in television shows (giving Mario and Luigi an official-unofficial backstory and showing their brother dynamic), spinoff games like Super Princess Peach (where she is now the one saving Mario), Luigi’s Mansion (he now has the spotlight in his own game), Yoshi’s Island (where they are not a disposable asset that we only see briefly), Donkey Kong Land or Country (he has his own community completely separate from Mario), and Bowser’s Inside Story (he is no longer the main bad guy)--or we just flat out eliminate a storyline and throw all the characters onto the screen as equals like in Mario Kart, Party, or any sports rendition.

Not only that, but the very real ability to rope characters in from other franchises without it being weird (like in Smash Bros, DLC in Mario Kart, and ‘Mario and Sonic’ games) definitely help to reach broader audiences and keep things fresh and interesting. The versatility in these characters is what makes this franchise incredibly successful, and the possibilities and ideas that have yet to come have definitely ensured a long-lasting legacy in the Mario world.

[luwucas04]

MINECRAFT??!?!?!??!???!?! (do I like this genre of game)

I do gotta say I really like this genre of game (regarding Minecraft) because of, as I mentioned previously, how low stress it is. I can appreciate a high-stakes gameplay, but again it’s not really the most leisurely or preferable activity for me. I also like games where I can get everything done completely on my own if I can. I can play it easily and still get the most out of it with my own company, y’know? Team based games with tons and tons of action don’t totally jive with me (if you look at the kinds of games I enjoy I would be considered a fake gamer by the masses lol)

Minecraft encompasses many chill elements, such as the nice calming music (even in taxing situations), not too over the top graphics, lack of constant action/movement, and almost what could be considered “mundane” tasks you have to complete. It’s like The Sims and Animal Crossing. I just like to have a good time, really, and Minecraft along with those other games aren’t very demanding in plot which is fantastic. Just do as you please while maintaining something on the down-low: ie. an island, your character’s health, the cleanliness of your living quarters, etc. That said, there’s still the option of being tense if you’re on survival mode or playing on a server for example if that’s what you’re into. The versatility!

Also I just remembered this video in regards to what people can do on Minecraft. It extends beyond what’s expected of players, people can do some pretty wild stuff with what the game offers. For example, this man here constructed a bass that can actually make sounds that don’t sound absolutely terrible or unacceptable:

This particular game is also quite lovely to play with friends. You can collaborate with each other and create a world that caters entirely to your interests or go completely off in your own personal direction. I have very fond memories of playing this game with one of my childhood friends on her PlayStation. It was such a good time and you could go literal hours on end without getting bored. Additionally, you can also join pre-existing worlds and roam around those to your heart’s content. The possibilities this game holds are pretty endless, especially considering on pc you can add your own mods and whatnot. It’s quite a game that nurtures creativity (also I have this OTHER vivid memory of this kid in my class who used Minecraft to present a project back in grade 6. It was quite the demonstration to say the least. Teacher liked it doe so good for him). This thematic element/objective also applies to the other franchises I mentioned (Animal Crossing and The Sims).

To close it up let’s take a gander at this snazzy customized lineup. Ah the artistic liberty of individuals

[luwucas04]

Frogger First Impressions

Ok so there are many variations of the game Frogger, but I believe this is the first time I’ve played the original. My first impressions of it are very positive. I personally am a fan of more linear games if there’s a story behind it; the platform-esque ones like basically any Mario game. Heavy problem-solving puzzle games like Portal just stress me out cause you have to account for so many different elements to be able to make any actual progress. That’s probably why I’ve been playing Skyward Sword for over 8 years and I’m still not finished (I only play it for so long at a given period then take like a 10-month hiatus).

Anyway, Frogger is that perfect mix of simple and challenging. It’s starts out pretty easy and you’re like yeah ok this is fine, but then as you progress, they keep adding more and more and speeding it up as you complete more levels. I like that cause you can see where you went wrong and 99% of the time it’s entirely a fault of your own, whereas there can be these weird instances in games like first-person shooters where there was virtually no way to defend yourself or prevent a death which can frustrate people and dissuade them from continuing on (I don’t play shooting games though). With Frogger though, it just makes you want to keep trying again and again because it’s so easy to make progress (while also being so easy to lose it).

It also has an attractive design. I also enjoyed Space Invaders and made it considerably far on there, but the desire to play again and again wasn’t as strong as Frogger’s influence probably due to how monochromatic and uniform it is in style. With Frogger, there are so many individual objects moving around and you can interact with a lot more things, and it’s way less mindless than just firing a gun over and over (although I am not complaining, it’s just an observation).

[luwucas04]

Uh Oh Uncanny Valley

The concept of the uncanny valley has been coming up in discussion more frequently I have noticed—even before this unit. I personally think it’s a very real theory/occurrence, both due to my own levels of comfort as well as a substantial amount of my friends’ when it comes to varying designs in human semblance.

The instances of this that amplify unease the most for me are the ones that are very very real in human figure, but it’s the face that’s just slightly ever so off. For example, Gollum doesn’t bother me despite his somewhat human (hobbit) face. Maybe the context helps with that one: we know he used to be a regularly functioning guy back in the day, but because of the Ring’s influence he’s evolved to this point both mentally and physically. We know there’s substance to him and what he can achieve physically. It’s just a bit warped now. He’s far too animated and his features are way more defined to unnerve me in an Uncanny Valley-type essence. He, however, freaks me out because he’s an impulsive and violent weirdo, point-blank. Not because of how he’s bordering on natural vs. unnatural. Although his circumstances are definitely not fun. It also helps that Andy Serkis lends him so much life and eccentricity in his portrayal. I suppose the fact that we know Gollum isn’t a near possibility of human evolution anytime soon helps as well.

However, Ava from Ex Machina and Sophia, the actual robot from real life, they freak me out substantially more. Maybe it’s the bias I have toward AI and people wanting to make it so that technology progresses past the point of humanity’s control, but boy do they not sit well with me. This is very hard to articulate into words, but I think the most unpleasant idea of their cases is that there’s an aspect to them that we will never ever be able to understand—that being the whole artificial element. We know how humans are supposed to behave, we know human tendencies, we know the genres of people who vary from kind and peaceful to angry and violent and everything in between. But we don’t know the variants in that of a robot or anything else. This is amplified by the face, just like how the guy in that one video we watched said. We always look to the eyes for gauging humanity. There is nothing behind Ava and Sophia’s eyes which I think distinguishes them from real people. Sure, they can ‘express’ their emotions, or maybe even feign tone and intent in their voices, but there’s just something that’s not there. Maybe this ties into the whole soul thing. For some reason our intuition can just tell when there is or isn’t life or pure substance behind a person’s face. We get pulled in by how things like this appear to be familiar to us, but it’s the little things that stand out the most and threaten us. We don’t have to worry about this with characters like C-3PO and Wall-E though!!

Yes, they do have human qualities, but clearly they aren’t entirely physical. They have abilities to resonate with us on an emotional or sentimental level, which I think is way more effective and powerful than the other way around. I didn’t feel very strongly for Ava because I know she’s not actually human albeit her supposed intellect and how she moves around (although I guess my opinion doesn’t really matter cause I wasn’t really her target audience but anywho). She can present herself to be as conscious and aware as she possibly can, but I will never be able to fully accept her with a human perception because it’s impossible for her to adequately meet all the criteria. C-3PO, on the other hand, doesn’t try to be human, nor is that a goal of his. In Empire when he got pulled away from the crowd upon arriving in Cloud City and getting all torn apart, that genuinely worried me and I felt upset for him. Same with when R2 had to fight off those ship-destroyer droids in episode III (except I had the reassurance he could hold is own, also R2 doesn’t really have a place in the Uncanny Valley but y’know). I think it’s because of how we aren’t trying to be convinced of something or lead to believe something about these characters that we’re not immediately worried about some sort of brutal betrayal. Of course there are antagonistic characters like that but we just don’t have the same kind of fear or suspicion of them. There’s that sure-fire element of distrust. They look human but they’re definitely not and at the same time we don’t know what they can do along with whatever underlying feature they have. This is very hard to describe.

Then there are things like the newer Final Fantasy games and some more anime-looking video games such as a lot of the newer characters that’ve been added to Smash Bros recently. They’re fine. Again, I think the thing that helps is that we know there’re humans behind the physique (voice actors usually) and that they’re in their own world of what stylized humans are supposed to look like. There’s nothing definitively wrong with them cause they’re supposed to be abstracted. And although they do look pretty plastic-y, they show that believable range of emotion and realistic human conviction in their actions and motives.

As for the line-graph-thing for the said uncanny valley, here is where I think the things mentioned here would end up. Sophia is debatable though. I had a hard time 100% placing her but she’d be somewhere around either of the two places? I’m not an expert on how the graph totally works but it could be either or I think.. She falls around the prosthetic looking area but at the same time there’s a super heavy mechanical element to her.

[luwucas04]

Looking at Music

Alrighty so although I said I was thinking about doing an animated thingie that just did not work out with what else was going on in my week this week, so I opted for an illustration instead.

The song I chose is called “Baka Mitai”, which translated from its original language (Japanese) literally means “look like a fool” (some places call it “I’ve been a fool”, too. Either or, same message). This song is from the video game Yakuza—I haven’t actually played it but the song is pretty popular in general and that’s how I’ve come to know it. It’s a karaoke song that appears in the game, it’s not like a super super substantial part of the plot or anything… I think. Anyway it’s a good song and it’s kinda humorous when you look at the lyrics and juxtapose the guy who sings it so I thought I could definitely have some fun with it.

I knew I wanted to depict the chorus specifically because it’s the part of the song that everyone knows and loves. There are some pictures of the guy (his name is Kiryu) looking like he’s going through it while sitting at a bar, so I thought I’d incorporate that in there; it also goes with the tragic heartbreak the song’s lyrics talk about and is a popular way people are often shown in the media dealing with something rough.

Then, at the top of the image, I have a montage of the character doing various dramatic poses directly inspired by this photo:

I thought this would compliment/visually represent the emotion that the vocals evoke as well as add that comedic element of this intimidating masculine guy belting it out in a karaoke setting as per its role in the game. So in short, at the bottom of the piece, we have Kiryu in his actual physical form dealing with the angst with a glass of some kind of alcohol + the environment of that of a bar, and above him is the semi-subconscious element of the true devastation and impact the lyrics communicate and how he’s actually feeling.

For lyric placement (I wanted to include the lyrics), when all is said and done I just slapped em where I thought they looked best, BUT they also work well because the bulk of the lyrics, those of which happen to be the most elaborate ones, are up there with the equally elaborate poses, and then the ultimate takeaway from the entire song, being a fool, is right down there big and beside him.

LYRICS + SONG

(This is a good example of a song sounding cool in its original language but not so fantastic when translated into English)

So foolish. I am a child.

Chased dreams and got hurt.

I am a terrible liar, yet could show you an empty smile.

I can’t even say “I love you”.

I’m truly clumsy and bad with words.

Even so, even so, why could I say “goodbye”?

 (chorus)

This is no good. No good. No good at all.

I love you, I love you too much.

No matter how strong the drink,

the memories are never muddied; what a fool.

(end chorus)

So foolish. Truly stupid.

All I did was believe in you;

pretending to be a strong woman, showered in a sorrowful night wind.

 It’s been over 3 years since I became alone.

Even the cityscape has changed.

Even so, even so, why are only my regrets left behind?

 You truly are not a good man.

I take off the ring we bought together.

“This is what you deserve!” I feel relieved.

Even if I wait forever, it’s so foolish.

 This isn’t good. No good. No good at all.

I love you, I love you too much.

No matter how strong the drink,

the memories aren’t muddied; what a fool.

 You truly are not a good man.

I take off the ring we bought together.

It’s what I deserve. I feel relieved.

[luwucas04]

The Whimsical Artistry of Wes Anderson

Endearing and inviting, quirky, Bill Murray, eccentric, and unique; these are some of the attributes that instantly discern a Wes Anderson film. Especially in his more recent productions, it’s incredibly easy to spot his work due to how involved he is in every single aspect of his projects. In fact, due to this, Anderson has been viewed by many as a prime example of a modern-day auteur. He even looks like his characters for god’s sake

He’s written and directed a total of 20 movies, including shorts amongst more notable and known films. His most successful works include Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), and most recently, The French Dispatch. With his excellent direction of cast and crew and clear understanding of his own artistic vision, Anderson’s take on cinema is unbelievably one in a million. He repeatedly demonstrates in the industry that you don’t have to adhere to naturalism, seamless camerawork, or conventional character archetypes to construct a successful movie. This is why, due to how distinguished his films are, Anderson is a prime example of an auteur. He fits this theory perfectly as his use of specificities such as camerawork, narrative emphasis, and characters are all unique to his own directive style and these elements are essentially all present throughout his filmography. It’s even more significant since he manages to embed all these cohesive elements while keeping each of his films vastly different without looking the exact same. It’s like perceiving a series of paintings from an artist like Monet or Van Gogh. Each piece is never a carbon copy—it’s the style that shines through that tells people they are in fact viewing a Monet, or in this case watching a Wes Anderson film. Nobody ever says “oh we’ve already seen this before”, it’s more of a “this is definitely by the same guy”.

I adore Anderson’s work because he truly utilizes the medium of film. I feel like so many movies are all constructed in the exact same manner (plot aside, of course): directors lean towards trying to disguise things that could remind the audience that they’re watching a bunch of people act on a set, they try to hide the fact that it’s a movie. I’ve noticed this can make the visuals of works such as Marvel movies look quite honestly boring and monotonous. There is so much creative liberty in cinema which Anderson very clearly acknowledges, explores, and makes his own—so much so that you’re able to easily notice (or at the very least suspect) that he’s responsible for a production.

CAMERAWORK

Firstly, one of the most obvious stylistic elements in a Wes Anderson film would have to be the ‘unorthodox’ camerawork. There are such specific methods in which Anderson chooses to frame and navigate through a scene, one being his use of compass point editing (a term brought to light by film theorist and author David Bordwell). This essentially means panning the camera on 90-degree increments, a technique that substitutes simply cutting the camera from one direction/position to the next. This is seen countless times in the halls of The Grand Budapest Hotel and decks of the Belafonte in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It’s as if the viewer is turning their head while standing right on the set of the film and looking around in the shoes of other characters. There’s often an element of the audience being a part of the story since Anderson makes it so clear he is, in fact, telling them the story, but we’ll get into this later.

Next, there’s an abundance of what could be considered to be ‘perfectly framed point of view’ shots. A character holds something up and suddenly it’s positioned front and center, emphasizing whatever is in their hands. There’s an instance of this when Steve Zissou is handed a seahorse in a bag at the beginning of The Life Aquatic and he holds it up to observe: we see the creature moving around in the still bag of water through the eyes of Steve. Or maybe they’re given something and they look down—this would give us a beautiful, beautiful shot called an overhead or flat lay—we see the hands of the person and the object of which we’re supposed to be looking at in a sense that we are the person looking down at it. This happens at the beginning of The Grand Budapest where the girl takes out the book and opens it, as well as the sushi intermission in Isle of Dogs. The thing about Anderson’s overhead shots is that they are so carefully constructed. He takes into account the layout of every object and how they’re interacted with—this bleeds into my next point.

Another blaring defining feature of Anderson’s work is the underlying fantasy storybook element despite his stories being, to an extent, pretty realistic. He also takes advantage of the fact that, when all is said and done, this is a film. He plays against that usual conventional realism and opts to push conscientiously meticulous and obviously staged decisions to the max, in turn creating an imaginative feeling—there’s a childlike perspective in his storytelling despite the (occasionally) incredibly graphic situations or emotionally heavy topics. Right off the bat, his most recent films reflect this in their sets. When it comes down to it, they are actually rather flat, whether they’re animated or live action. In The Fantastic Mr. Fox and its stop-motion medium, Anderson was really able to spotlight his use of ‘flat’ planes. He has his characters interact with these planes kind of similar to that of a platform Mario game; they run in a linear fashion and move between layers of ground. He uses these a lot in long-shot hasty/chase-esque scenes, like when Mr. Fox and his wife steal chickens at the beginning of their film. Adding on to this and also most importantly, these scenes amongst others are full of symmetry. It would not be a Wes Anderson film if there were not reoccurring elements of symmetry and intricate carefulness. Nearly every single shot in The Grand Budapest is perfectly centered.

OBVIOUS NARRATIVE ELEMENT

Next, we’re going to address the explicit narrative style of his stories that I mentioned earlier. Unlike some films where they indicate once at the beginning and once at the end that this particular tale is out of a book, Anderson isn’t afraid of reminding the audience multiple times throughout the course of the movie that this is the story they’re being told. This is exemplified by the obvious method, whipping out a book at the beginning and closing it at the end. They use this in The Grand Budapest and Fantastic Mr. Fox, but it’s not limited to solely that one action. In The Grand Budapest, there are multiple narrative elements: it begins with a girl taking out a book, but then it switches to the author who wrote the book telling and, at one point, even writing the story. Then, we’re thrown back in time even more and we’re introduced to Zero who actually relays the story to Jude Law’s character. Ratios also vary depending on which ‘setting’ they’re in. It’s the conventional rectangle at the beginning with the author and Zero, but in the actual movie it’s more squared. What’s more, there are even title screens with a ‘chapter’ written on them when settings change. Lots going on. And, in The Life Aquatic, it begins as a screening in front of an audience and ends with a screening of the part two of Steve’s documentary that his crew recorded (the content that makes up the bulk of the actual movie). Additionally, in some cases, characters straight up just interact with the camera as if the movie the audience is watching isn’t a feature film at all, but a direct documentary this time instead of us simply looking down on it—we are the ones actually watching it. There’re also simpler approaches as well of course, in Isle of Dogs, it starts off with your traditional lore fill-in prophecy type deal. They’re very diverse techniques varied for different circumstances, but it’s evident that they’re all the same when it comes to effectively and blatantly narrating a story.

Music plays an important part in setting the stage for his films as well. Similar to how it would be orchestrated (both literally and metaphorically haha) in a Broadway or stage production, Anderson integrates music into his stories via actual tangible instances of music taking place within the actual film. For example, in The Life Aquatic, Pelé is almost always introduced/seen playing the guitar and singing, and different stages of the film are usually always introduced with Pelé. The music he creates merges into the actual soundtrack of the film as we see him playing. Also, the music in his helmet that Steve shows Jane continues playing and becomes the main track as they’re all diving. Next, in The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox is seen multiple times hitting play on tracks on his Walkman, those of which become the track that plays in the actual film and not just some background noise. Lastly, at the start of The Grand Budapest Hotel, singing is heard before we’re formally introduced to the setting; however as the girl is walking to the monument of the author, she passes by three men on a bench who are revealed to be the ones singing the music being used in the scene.

This has to be the most straightforward example but to conclude this section—but there’s always a thematic use of colour to create a general atmosphere and mood for the particular film. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, as the hotel itself is pink and also located in a snowy location, there are very evident hues of bright, saturated pinks and whites that go along nicely with the contrasting purple employee uniforms. In The Fantastic Mr. Fox, as seen in the colour of the title character and his family’s fur, there are many warm and earthy tones, but the most dominant colour throughout the film is orange. In Isle of Dogs, reflecting the mood of this drab, conflict-ridden country and its inhumane treatment of particular animals, the colours are more muted and dull. Finally, in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, two very prominent colours worn by almost every character are red and blue, and there are also very warm undertones as well as seen in their sandy environments and golden equipment. It’s on the more colourful side, but there’s still a general hue that sets the tone throughout the story.

COMICALLY NONCHALANT CHARACTERS

What would a story be without its characters? Anderson’s characters are often regarded as quirky or even weird, but that just makes them all the more interesting. There’s a comedic, unbothered-ness of the way basically all of his characters act. For starters, the use of dialogue and diction. The way in which is characters speak is so blunt and straightforward, evoking a usually shocked “is that what they just said?” kind of emotion from viewers. For example, the throat slitter and Gustave’s comments on Madame D’s nails from The Grand Budapest absolutely floored me, and the introduction of the albino dolphins in The Life Aquatic that for whatever reason don’t do what they’re supposed to and it’s a mystery why is just so charming. And even in more touching moments like when Mr. Fox randomly comes across a wolf while they’re on the road: “Where did you come from? What are you doing here? I don't think he speaks English or Latin. Pensez-vous que l'hiver sera rude?” Like what prompted this?? It’s so uncalled for yet perfect at the same time. The way these lines are delivered is always flawless, and the type of raw exchanges between Anderson’s characters are very easy to recognize.

With characters comes their body language. There are weird, eccentric things that Anderson has his characters do. They could quite literally just be standing there amidst something that starkly contrasts with their lack of movement, or maybe they poke their head into a scene they supposedly just walked out of. For instance, this happens in both The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Life Aquatic. An employee backtracks into a shot of when the author is talking with Zero, and in the latter film Klaus exits a door but then peers back in through the window after he disagrees with the crew’s criticism of Steve. Additionally, there’s this other scene I love when Gustave is relaying all these instructions to Zero before handing him these keys he needs to complete them, and (in perfect profile) Zero keeps reaching for the keys but then reaches away when Gustave just keeps going on and on and on. The takeaway from this is that these movements are visually exaggerated and therefore prosper in the medium of film and what it has to offer. Nothing needs to be said for it’s all (awkwardly) communicated by the characters.

Then, my favourite, the sheer contrasts and drastic scene changes. There are so many examples of this one and I love them all dearly. In Isle of Dogs, the dogs intellectually discuss whether this mysterious bag that dropped down onto the ground is something they should even be fighting over. Insert an overhead shot of a paw tearing open the bag revealing trash (food), an “ok it’s worth it”, and boom long shot of a classic cartoon-cloud-of-dust-and-limbs-poking-out fight. In The Life Aquatic, Zissou’s team finds Hennessey in another room in the abandoned hotel they rescued the bond company stooge from. He’s all bloody and playing cards with the pirates, he sees Steve in the doorway and asks if he’s there to rescue him. He then tells the pirates he folds, to which THEY SHOOT HIM and the scuffle begins. It is SUCH a transition to the gunfight that starts because of it. In The Grand Budapest Hotel when Zero visits Gustave (freshly incarcerated) in prison for the first time with a nice little Mendl’s pastry box, Zero’s eyes widen while he sits in complete stillness as Gustave approaches him. We then see an absolutely TRASHED Gustave who hilariously and pitifully explains how he got beaten up by a man by the name of Pinky Bandinski, but they’re on good terms now. Not only does Anderson utilize visual comedy in these scenes, but he shows a clear mastery of timing, pauses, and framing his subjects.

(unfortunately, as great as the jail scene is, I could not find a good video so here’s the ARREST scene:)

PROOF OF CRAFTSMANSHIP (if you squint it’s half of my conclusion but also doubles as an extra)

Now, technically I am done with stylistic similarities but I want to also include this last one here because it’s something you rarely if not ever see in any major motion picture, and I think it’s such a liberating ideology—especially coming from such an established director and writer. It emphasizes the possibilities one really has in the film medium and that there’s no ‘right’ way to do something, even with the generous budgets Anderson has. Last but not least, and one of the most compelling things to me about his work of all, Anderson leaves evidence that a production or creative crew has been on set. In some instances, there are literally fingerprints left behind within the final version of the film. In his stop-motion works (Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs), he liked the ripple-effect that stop-motion had when using a character model with real fur. This effect would easily be avoided with the use of synthetic fur, and this was suggested to him, but he was against it as he liked the idea of the tangible wind-like indication of a crew having to tirelessly move each model with intensive care. Proof of their efforts, if you will. Next, I noticed in one scene from The Life Aquatic that you could actually see the reflection of a hand (on what looked to be a microwave) holding a camera from behind said scene. Given it was 2004, there could’ve definitely been a way to avoid that being left in the final cut, but knowing Anderson’s tendencies and preferences it is safe to say he knowingly kept it in. With all my soul I want to include a photo of this frame, but I’ve been skimming through the movie for nearly 10 minutes and I can’t find it for the life of me. Anyway, strung throughout all of these, there’s often and unnecessary shakiness of a camera—not always, but enough to be noticeable—that’s clearly evident. This is seen more so in his earlier works like Rushmore and The Life Aquatic. Again, this could easily be avoided with the budgets he has to work with, and it could quite honestly be seen as an elementary problem that cameramen would opt to fix right from the start. With that being said, the human-derived shakiness is definitely intentional. It adds such a sense of personality and intimacy with the work being filmed. Above all, these elements provide that authentic human quality. Anderson’s works are not cold or rigid in an electronic, manufactured or artificial way. They don’t try to mask the fact they were created by a group of individuals beyond the actors, and that is something that’s beyond wonderful to me.

Wes Anderson has come to be an important artist to me because he breaks the ‘ordinary’ way of cinema. Each frame out of one of his films could be hung up on a wall in a gallery they’re so thoughtfully constructed. You can tell by how fluid his work is and the resemblances they carry that he deeply considers every single detail. I find this also helps consistently maintain my enjoyment and heightens the overall watching experience, too. Not only is the plot interesting, the film itself is actually interesting and fun to simply even just look at (which I’ve only ever also experienced with a very small handful of movies like Spiderverse and Blade Runner so this is quite the ordeal). Typically you need to go out of your way to sleuth out the person who worked on a movie (unless they’re a giant name like Spielberg, you don’t have to ask twice for him) and read who’s responsible due to the fact that the characteristics of said director were just buried in the production. You never had to and will never have to do that with Wes Anderson. He undoubtedly knows his craft intimately and he stays true to himself and satisfies his own preferences in every one of his films. This very aspect is what secures his auteur ambience. All this being said, with confidence I look forward to the official release of The French Dispatch as well as anticipate future brilliant works to come.

WORKS CITED

Maio, Alyssa, et al. “WATCH: Wes Anderson's Best Films (And How ‘Bottle Rocket’ Launched His Career).” StudioBinder, 3 Mar. 2021, www.studiobinder.com/blog/best-wes-anderson-movies-ranked/.

Wes Anderson. www.criterion.com/shop/collection/169-wes-anderson.

"Why Do Wes Anderson Movies Look Like That?" Youtube, uploaded by Thomas Flight, 9 Oct. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba3c9KEuQ4A

[luwucas04]

BING’S SPEECH ANALYSIS

Bing’s speech was a pivotal point in this particular episode of Black Mirror as it determined the outcome of everything Bing has been working toward since he lost Abi. Overall, Bing’s speech brings both the episode’s audience and real-life audience’s attention to how people’s free will and goals and ambitions are continuously being exploited and capitalized upon. The basis of their life and enjoyment—also necessities like being able to brush their teeth and eat proper meals—are all monitored and determined by how many of these Merit Points one happens to have (or is willing to give up). He talks about how nobody can do anything without it being tied to something that doesn’t even exist; artificial and temporary satisfaction that is manufactured to deter people from things that actually matter that are based on technological validation set up to control them.

(Before I get into why I think this speech is relevant to us, I realize I sound very pretentious in my explanation below so little disclaimer but this is how I feel and it has been getting on my nerves lately)

I absolutely agree with all these points he is making, and I unfortunately see these elements of which he despises ever so present in today’s media and society (although majority of my answers coincide with the takes of articles or characters we’ve looked at in class of modern culture supposedly being garbage, I do want to say that please trust me when I say I’m not actually a pessimist). I agree with Bing’s take because it’s so evident through social media and general behaviour these days that people base way too much value on their digital performance (whatever that may be); and because of how blaring it is, large corporations and business use this to their advantage (much like the judges). People become so lost in whatever temporary distraction they’re given that they genuinely lose sight of things that actually matter. They spiral into this detrimental black hole of not being able to support themselves for who they are, and get so caught up in the staged unreal lives of others that they feel as if they’ll never be someone they can be proud of or could even achieve something great. It’s easy for us to be bribed into valuing things that ultimately distract us and keep us from doing something that actually amounts to something more. Caring so much for the virtual avatars is similar to how people care so much for maintaining their hundreds of irrelevant Snapchat streaks—it’s clearly very weird yet most people find nothing wrong with it. And to top it off, ways have been established to monetize it, too.

Firstly, he mentions that “…the faker the fodder is the more [the judges] love it because fake fodder’s the only thing that works anymore, fake fodder is all that we can stomach — actually not quite all. Real pain, real viciousness, that we can take…”. This picks at how we have grown to find the most comfort in devoting a substantial amount of our time to things that simply do not matter; additionally, the most notable thing to maintain our attention are the emotions that come out of ridiculing others from behind a screen. As Bing says, in a world of superficialities, only negative occurrences seem to be the one real thing that tie people down to reality. A lot of people have become overwhelmed by responsibilities of that of a real, physical world, and primarily feel comfortable/resort to endless scrolling through some sort of feed or intaking information (whether it’s legit or useful or not). We don’t lean toward participating in constructive things much, anymore. Only instantaneous activities that (pardon my language) consist of pretty much bullshit in the grand scheme of life.

Like it’s clear we all collectively realize this yet we keep digging ourselves a deeper hole

The next idea from the speech I want to touch on is when Bing expresses that “That’s how we speak to each other, how we express ourselves is buying shampoo”. People place so much importance in how they present themselves—unfortunately it’s not usually from a personality or morality stance. Seldom do I see others worry that maybe they should do some self-reflecting on why a situation turned out the way it did, or why they feel a certain way, or how they could possibly help themselves in any current circumstances. They drown this out by buying things. A handful of people I know actually have the habit of dying their hair or purchasing new sets of clothes after facing a draining endeavour (take that as you will, they range in all sorts). And I’m like???? While it’s not exactly harmful, it kind of caters to impulsivity and doesn’t really do much to move past an experience you weren’t fond of. I understand the desire to change after going through something unpleasant, like people cutting their hair to signify a fresh start. That’s all cool and good. But that isn’t as easy as clicking a ‘purchase’ button. On the other hand, the whole god damn ‘brand name’ obsession. Like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, the list goes on and on. I’m not sure if you’ve seen, but in many corners of social media people are absolutely infatuated with repping expensive and distasteful fashion/products made by corporations that pretty much definitely operate on abusing workers in developing countries and ruining the environment. And, especially on the internet, whether you own or can afford these brands dictates your stance in a metaphorical influencer hierarchy. I see people online take it upon themselves to paint these logos onto things like shoes, their walls, or even imprint them into things like food as an attempt at some sort of design statement. Why???? What does this amount to????? It shows that you condone child labour and severely overpriced goods?????? It doesn’t even look good either please do something else with your time for the love of god like what is this

No it should definitely NOT be made for sale thanks

Similarly to people primarily expressing themselves based on their purchases, Bing then explains that “…that’s why when [the judges] find any wonder whatsoever you dole it out in meager portions, and only then til it’s augmented and packaged and pumped through ten thousand pre-assigned filters, til it’s nothing more than a meaningless series of lights…”. Going back and reading this, I realize how ironic it is in that this is the exact tactic the judges turn on Bing in the end. Anyway, this ties into how more and more things (I am realizing I say ‘things’ a lot but it just be like that sometimes) are becoming a commodity as opposed to something you can simply enjoy for what it is with no strings attached. You know what’s weird? In the past two months I have seen SO many people try to kickstart their own business. People my age, and they attempt this by selling their old clothes or making lip balm or bracelets. Power to them, but it puts me off because I see these first and foremost as hobbies (it’s not exactly in the same realm as someone having a business in making and selling furniture, for example). Society has made people feel as if whatever hobby or carefree activity they do isn’t real if they can’t get some kind of material profit out of it—and frankly that’s very upsetting to me. Remember the whole Bernie Sanders sitting thing when Biden officially became president? People decided they loved the gloves Bernie was wearing and somehow found the person who made them. Suddenly they decided they all wanted gloves like that from her too, and suggested that because of the high demand this person could quit her current job and establish a business for them. This person is currently an elementary school teacher who happens to love her job, and firmly stated that she is not interested in giving that up and turning something she did for fun into being a sole source of income (substantially less money than that of a teacher, mind you). We are so obsessed with money in so many ways, and it has bled into how we express and articulate our lives and warps how we determine our values. By all means, a side gig is cool, but how widespread accounts like these are becoming is a little weird. They end up losing sentiment and meaning; mass-manufacturing (the path these people seem interested in perusing after deciding they’re interested in entrepreneurial activities) eventually completely waters down the initial genuine intent behind a creation or something along those lines. I’m worried that we’re losing sight of being able to just do things for our own enjoyment—nothing more, nothing less.

[luwucas04]

NEW MEDIA STUDIES ERA FELLAS LETS GO GRADE 12

(a little divider from last year’s posts)

[luwucas04]

𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧

I almost feel like with this last prompt it’s gonna be over (although it’s definitely not lol).

So during this time, with me simply existing without moving much and everything in the media just coming to me and every major political figure being in the spotlight as its their jobs to deal with what’s going on in their nations, it’s been very easy to realize things I haven’t been aware of before despite how brutally obvious they were. A lesson that I’ve learned is that the government? Disappointing. They do not care. In reality, things have been so far gone and we as a society have just accepted them. They haven’t been paid any proper mind to issues that have been going on for centuries. It all revolves around power. The rich have been exploiting and still presently exploit the poor. People in positions of power abuse this power and prey on those who are marginalized within their own communities. And they all have been getting away with it.

I realized that we’ve all been taught to bury these things, that it’s just ‘something that goes on’ and that it’s no big deal; stuff like this happens. But that is not true. They say they’re going to address major human rights issues within the nation, but it’s sub-par. Its longevity is ineffective, and it does no service. The point is, stuff like this shouldn’t be happening period. Non-essential groups like the military and cops do not deserve their budget of $10 billion+ to brutalize civilians while health workers must resort to using garbage bags as slacks and denying patients due to lack of funding.

Child predators, sex traffickers, rapists, sexists, and racists should not have the ability to end up as president of the United States or even CONSIDERED to be eligible for ANY position like that. We have been caught in a repetition of compliance, we’ve been coerced to simply accept what is given to us and not think that we deserve something legitimately adequate that satisfies everybody’s individual needs. There should be no mindset of settling with the lesser of any evils. There should not be anybody evil governing an ever-growing generation of individuals. The influence and say that they have on quality of life is too severe.

I’ve realized that injustices have never stopped. Infringements of basic human rights have been happening for centuries and just now people have had enough. I’m genuinely shocked I wasn’t able to realize this before, but that’s something that comes with privilege. I haven’t been at the hands of racial violence; I haven’t been denied anything because of my class or where I come from. The pandemic was a magnifying glass that allowed the functioning of society to be put on blast for everyone to see. As much as it’s undeniable that we are making progress despite all of this, the roots of this problem itself still remain. We haven’t been able to see any adequate changes in equality because of the system that they never truly altered and the people whose mindsets are still the same as they were however many hundreds of years ago.

I’ve realized the power of the people and our voices are strong, but the only thing hindering justice is the fact that people still don’t genuinely care, and that those who have the so-called ‘authority’ in the matter are not willing to invoke any change. Only a few weeks ago I became aware how blind a lot of us have been toward the violence embedded within the system that we are so used to. Upon returning back to regular life, I want everyone to remain conscious of this. “Normal” never worked. Normal kills people. Injustices that people, largely black people, face on a regular, day-to-day basis all within schooling, the law, healthcare, all the way down to something as little as merely existing within their own homes is absolutely astronomical. And it’s been happening for centuries. It’s no different, we’re only just now seeing it because people are now able to film it.

In fact, I don’t think we should return. Upon learning about this violence that has been normalized and dismissed in the eyes of the government and law, we need to maintain the traction that we have created as a result of revolt. We must continue to challenge these organizations and continue to apply pressure for reconstruction and redistribution. The progress that we have made in only a few weeks is considerable, but it is not over. We need to take into account every little action we carry out and what effect it has on those who are less-privileged, especially returning to the old patterns of our lives, and execute this awareness in order to change the ways we have been abiding by since we can remember. It’s all about breaking out of old habits.

During the pandemic, I’ve been able to reflect on and organize all of my experiences. I’ve always known there have been major issues, but in the midst of this ‘time off’ I saw just how critical they really are.

^ Here’s a photo from the BLM march on the 11th, it was very eye-opening and there were tons of great speakers. As for the influx of twitter screencaps, that’s essentially the main outlet I’ve been using to stay informed amongst all this lmao. For good measure, I’ll conclude by including a masterpost of resources for whoever stumbles upon this:

[luwucas04]

𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤: 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞

Recently, when I had that big movie-binge, one of the films I watched was Train to Busan (2016, dir. Yeon Sang-ho). I’ve heard lots of good things about it, and the plot sounded pretty good. And boy, was it!

When I first started watching, it set up the anticipation of the event at hand very well. All too similar to how I remember the beginning of all of this: seemingly normal to the lives of most characters; it was just in smaller and lesser-known parts things started to get weird and very not good. But, clearly not enough effort was made to spread the news.

So, if you haven’t already seen the film, it focuses on a father and daughter travelling to Busan via train with a highly contagious zombie outbreak occurring. Around this time there are strange reports of people breaking out into violence, but most citizens are left in the dark. Anyway, as the train is about to leave, a frantic and frankly terrified woman boards last second, and she happens to have been freshly bitten, that escalates, etc. etc. etc.; long story short, there are infected passengers and a small handful of not-infected characters, and they’re basically trying to survive the ride and make it to somewhere safe.

The varying behaviors of individuals was very comparable to how people act now, I felt, as well. There was this one guy who tried to hide the fact he got bitten and openly tries to get rid of a select few of the people he’s supposed to be working together with in order to hide suspicion from himself. Reminds me of real life how people are super dumb (to say the least), don’t take any proper precautions, have no idea what the term “asymptomatic” means, and give no regard for others’ well-beings .

I think that if I’d have watched this film at a different time, I wouldn’t have taken specific mannerisms and even as much as themes the same was as I did this time around. When you’re able to somewhat relate to something, you pull away more than what you would when you’re not paying attention to a something for a particular reason. There was something to focus on, and in a way, it made the experience a bit more personal and insightful on the outcome of the characters’ actions in how they dealt with their situation.

On how realistic this portrayal of an outbreak is, personally I am no expert on the specifics of a zombie apocalypse. I think they could come in many forms due to many different reasons, but I don’t know how to properly classify this one’s case. But, in a sense of affliction spreading on such a rapid scale, symptoms, the severity of it, and the actions + reactions of people involved, I think it made for a pretty solid portrayal.

There are some scenes, two in particular (idk if you’ve seen it so I won’t go too much into detail, but if you have it’s basically just the whole last part of the movie) that really stuck with me—even just thinking about them is making me tear up a little. Fantastic cinematography and parallels, really hits you where you don’t want to think it’ll hit. The film was very well done, and the actors played their parts phenomenally (the kind of phenomenally where you have to remind yourself that they are, in fact, just actors, and the face of terrible person portrayed on screen is not the same as the face of the actor in real life).

[luwucas04]

𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞

Personally, every day I grow more and more disappointed with the masses of humanity and people with a large portion of power within society. More than ever it’s become so prominent just how people putting financial gain ahead of the well-being of others during the current global crisis we are currently living through is so utterly, disgustingly evil. I’ve noticed that how the world runs and the lack of attention to grave issues regarding the prosperity of nature and humans in general is very unfortunately dominated by billionaires and other capitalists, all with disgustingly little regard for any decency pertaining to morality or the greater good. If they can’t gain from it, they simply don’t care. They are more concerned about their economic status, gain, and the economy itself than the things that have real value when it comes to the betterment of our Earth and its people.

To be specific, right off the bat we have Jeff Bezos. He is THE richest man on the planet. The average person spending one measly dollar is equivalent to Jeff Bezos spending 1.2 million dollars. Adding to this, he roughly makes well over $2,000 every second. He is 36% richer than the entire British Monarchy (or than at least what we know the British Monarchy has). And what does he do with this tremendous amount of wealth? The absolute bare minimum. The only thing he himself has recently done was contribute a small donation of $100 million toward US food banks. Of course, any donation counts, but in this man’s case that’s just like a regular person donating less than 90 dollars: easy and not impressive considering just how wealthy he really is. What’s more, amidst the vast struggling within anyone below upper-class, him along with countless other selfish men are profiting from this. Just within the last couple MONTHS Jeff Bezos has gained 24 billion dollars. Yet, funding issues still remain, healthcare is overflowing, and the working class is suffering. And guess what! Just a few days ago he was announced to be well on his way to becoming the world’s first ever TRILLIONAIRE. I don’t know about you, but trillionaires should absolutely not exist on this planet whatsoever. There are too many injustices to be able to hoard that much money for yourself.

Rich people and even governments are fighting to reopen businesses and the conventional running of day-to-day life solely for the sake of ‘saving the economy’ and their profits. They don’t care about the well-being and safety of others. Minorities and the most vulnerable within society aren’t profitable to them, therefore they don’t exist as something that requires their attention or consideration. They have the privilege to do such incredible things with the wealth they have acquired—but they don’t. They stand by inhumane working conditions within their own companies. They silently watch people struggle and die within the situations they help to ensure. They choose to use their positions of power to prey on and assault others and get away with it. These figures of ‘authority’ do all they can to make it look like workers are being brave for stepping up during these times but do absolutely nothing to ease their material conditions. Oh, wait, the minimum wage was just upped by four whole dollars. That’s definitely going to help protect them from the novel coronavirus and put more food on the table, that’s so kind of them for their generous consideration.

Sorry for the heavy tangent on capitalism, but as of late rich people have been exceedingly getting on my nerves in ways I genuinely cannot describe.

However that aside, I’ve ALSO noticed changes in how humanity tries to bring itself together in a way! In my case, a lot of the bands I like have been providing (pre-recorded from past performances) concerts available to livestream on YouTube and various other insider-personal takes on their music. Those have been really fun; it’s usually on designated Thursdays and Fridays and I have to be awake for 10 am when a concert starts, we (me by myself) go to town for like 3 hours, then I go downstairs to have lunch. Or, a few weeks ago this other group had a 3-day-long (again, pre-recorded) livestream (that started at 11 pm this time) and I ended up staying up till around 3 am with my friend. I had a light stick from when I actually went to their concert in 2018, I was able to sync it up through their app and it probably looked like a low-key rave was going on from the cars passing by. Very good times.

From a non-personal standpoint, I recall seeing videos of people on their balconies in Italy coming out and singing and playing instruments together as a neighbourhood. That was very nice to see, but it’s also worth keeping in mind that is one of the best-case scenario situations and those people were lucky enough to indulge in something like that so nonchalantly. Not to say enjoying yourself isn’t allowed, but it should be acknowledged that just looking at lockdown like that is romanticizing the whole of what’s really going on, as it’s not that glamourous for everybody.

It’s been interesting seeing how people interact with others during their adjusted daily lives, too. I’ll go on walks sometimes and me and my friends will take turns sitting at the end of each other’s driveways and ‘hang out’ like we (well not really) would before. Adding on to human interaction, I’ve seen videos of people handing out packages of things like masks and hand sanitizer to people on the street, or leaving things out for delivery people, quite thoughtful, and maybe one could say even creative, things.

Living the life as you can see (I’m sitting on the grass)

Overall, when all is said and done, in my opinion, I think everything would be much better if the people who are in charge and dictate things A) weren’t painstakingly dense and simple minded—Angela Merkel and her policies would be a great example for countries like England and the US to take notes from; B) genuinely cared about their citizens and not just money and themselves; and C) properly absorbed science and legitimate medical advice and guidelines. Sadly, a lot of people, as you may be able to have tell, are very easily influenced and follow quite blindly *cough* ingesting cleaning products *cough*. But, fortunately that’s only a small portion of the population.

Conversely, this also goes to show other like-minded regular people, in a better light, become closer and stand in solidarity for what they know is best for them and the well-beings of others. Because the majority of us are all in the exact same situation doing the exact same thing, I feel like we can gain a better understanding and deeper familiarity with those around us. And this is really specific, but I think it’s cool how we now get to see some ‘famous people’ (right off the top of my head Doja Cat, Bernie Sanders and Taylor Swift are some examples) just livestreaming or posting themselves existing in their homes and generally having a good time. You wouldn’t get to see that part of their lives too much before. I think I’ve mentioned them over 50,000 times on this blog already, but the other day the band One Ok Rock (whose song I did on the guitar) released an upload of them recreating one of their old music videos while all the members are individually self-isolating.

(Joke explained, the original title of the song is 「完全感覚Dreamer」 (Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer), but they changed it to「完全在宅Dreamer」 (Kanzen Zaitaku Dreamer); the original kankaku means ‘feeling’ or ‘intuition’, and the new zaitaku means ‘staying at home’.)

Above all, it’s difficult to decide whether this has either brought out the best or worst of humanity. I think it’s really subjective to your status and mindset that you had in the first place and what you were dealing with before all this. Adding onto that, we know how the news likes to focus on the negative the most. There are good people in this world, and grouping them together with those who think haircuts are a human right and aggressively protesting in large crowds is a good idea isn’t really fair to them.

As for myself, I haven’t noticed anything prominent come out of myself. The best I can do and what I’ve been doing right now is just following official medical guidelines, keeping distance and not go into super crowded areas, and simply wait for what happens next while staying informed. Nothing outstanding.

Here’s someone’s hot take on the subject matter as well, as much as this is 100% valid I strongly believe it’s worth acknowledging even the smallest good things happening from this too.

[luwucas04]

𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

Ok so: my friend and I got this idea while playing, ready, LEGO Marvel Superheroes on the PS3 last year. We were fooling around and improvised a genuine shockingly solid story line, and so we wrote it down subpar fanfic-style. It’s incredibly fun to write, and we’ve been making way more progress on it via phone calls now that we can stay up past 12 am with less physical repercussions, but that’s just a small aspect of what I’m trying to get at. A long long time ago, I downloaded a visual novel program, RenPy, that utilizes the coding system Python, and I’ve been wanting to learn how to code with it for a while now. I came to the conclusion that the fic we’ve been working on would be perfect material for a visual novel.

I tried my hand at it a few months before the pandemic and it was dummy hard to get the hang of. The tutorials the program provides you with are only useful if you already have an idea of what you’re doing/need to do (which I absolutely did not), so I wasn’t able to do much with the time I had to put toward it initially. But, as we all know, time divvying has become a bit more lenient as of late. So, this wonderful German guy I found on YouTube has surprisingly in-depth, super easy to understand, and very thorough tutorials about how to code script and design layouts and all that good stuff. Sadly, he only has 3 videos for it, but I at least know the gist of how things work now. 4 months of procrastination, 3 hours of miscellaneous tutorials and one incredibly horrible computer crash and hard shut down (because I stupidly put over 250 lines of code in a single file without knowing I could separate different scenes into their own script file) later, I have a solid 20 minutes of gameplay!

The concept is basically like a really ironic and out-of-character dating sim: you’re given options and go through the story and make decisions that hopefully get you with who you want to end up with. Unfortunately, I cannot provide a demo of what I have so far of the game itself because lots of outside media things such as character illustrations are missing, and I’m not even a quarter way into it, but I CAN share the very technical coding aspect and some of the process.

[“Whatever. How many hours are in two days, doesn't matter, they’ll be gone.” I try to mask my very own anticipation, as my hands are pulsating almost as much as my Crest 3D Sailor Moon Special Edition toothbrush as I reach into my Saint Laurent Monogram leather crossbody bag which retails at the price of about $2,284 USD. I elegantly and tenderly grasp the beloved envelope in which my precious concert tickets reside. I whisk them out of the bag’s silky interior, a whiff of air following my swift movement. I shudder. It still faintly smells of his cologne… Roja Musk Aoud Absolue Precieux Perfume (the only part of that I can understand is the word ‘musk’, so therefore the musk part is my favourite). I melancholically smile about the nostalgic memory, but quickly shake away the scent along with the pain. The envelope is beginning to feel heavy in my tiny lady-hands. Although it’s a simple envelope, I hate how thoughtful Tony had to have been when choosing it. The edges were crisp with gold lining, and if I licked it right now, I bet you it’d taste like prime ribs on a summer escapade on [redacted]’s yacht. Speaking of food, the wax stamp stares back at me almost lustfully. Only a few days ago I’d send my distant family members mail with the exact same stamp crest... One the two of us now shared only in a distant memory.”]

And, last but absolutely not least, I’m hoping to send an inquiry to Ryan Reynolds once the script is completed to see if he’d be able to provide the voice of Deadpool. We’re both Canadian, so I have slightly above-average hopes in the matter.

[luwucas04]

𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃-𝟏𝟗 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞-𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐞: 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐈𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

So right before the shut-down of all ‘non-essential’ businesses was to go into effect (although what our premier considers essential is seriously up for debate), I had ordered an electric guitar; because I thought that if this was gonna go on for a while I might as well dedicate the spare time I’ll have to something new that I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. I used to play acoustic when I was younger, but I kinda stopped.

Anyway, I placed the order on a Friday, and the guy said it should come in by Tuesday, the last day before stuff shut down. And it DID—Long & McQuade came THROUGH. And as if on cue, Fender announced it would be providing free online lessons for 3 months, so you know I jumped on those (I made it to lesson 3/5 but idk I feel like I got to the point where I basically have all I need, the rest is just refining and the nitty-gritty stuff (I would like to finish them, though)).

So basically, there are a lot of songs I love that utilize the guitar and only a handful of them are at my current skill level and use regular tuning (I don’t feel like messing with the type of tuning I have just yet). The song that I decided to learn, that seemed fairly straightforward, is “Wherever You Are” by the Japanese band One Ok Rock. I love them and their work dearly.

This guy on YouTube (he hasn’t been active for almost 2 years, but I still appreciate him lots and subscribed) has a ton of cover videos and tutorials posted for their stuff, and he had a video for the song. Actually let’s be honest here I pretty much learned that one because the song I was originally looking at was too trippy with the string muting, and the rest didn’t have regular tuning. I also learned the opening on my mom’s ancient acoustic prior to getting my strat, so I almost had a prerequisite to really accomplish this one. And my fingers were already calloused, so it wasn’t super painful!

Here it is, I don’t have a distortion pedal and the amp I have is very, very cheap, but this is what I’ve been working on for the past 3 weeks.

[luwucas04]

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐯𝐬. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚

Quite honestly, from a pure content standpoint of YouTube (not from what I suppose "defines" a "typical" YouTube video), YouTube is a better source of entertainment than traditional types of media. As much as I do truly appreciate traditional types of media, you can just get so much more spontaneous and wide-ranging videos from YouTube.

There is a lot more variety and diversity in that anyone can create basically anything and upload it without needing validation or permission first. Because there's an endless possibility in the interests of any potential audience, there is quite literally EVERYTHING on YouTube. If you look hard enough.

It doesn’t just provide entertainment, it provides answers and knowledge (even if it’s bare-minimum knowledge, it still can be useful and transferable). For example, who would want to listen to a radio broadcast on how to load a brush-pen ink cartridge, or read an info-graphic illustrating different ways of how to turn on your ancient HP laptop that is absolutely refusing to turn on despite the battery light being on and fully charged? Probably nobody. But, the fact that a quick 2-5 minute YouTube video made by a humble yet incredibly generous and creator with just over 100,00 subscribers, out of the pure goodness of their heart and for the interest of the other 80,000 some-odd people experiencing the same, super-specific issue, is just amazing. Like, everything is right at your fingertips that can perfectly address the vaguest and most obscure questions or scenarios. No matter how poor the video quality or how insufferable the dubstep channel-intro is, more often than not, you will find a solution. Even if it doesn’t work for you.

I realize now this caters to me specifically, but that's the point! YouTube makes it so that people with the same uncommon areas of interest can connect and share their knowledge easily, and, for the most part, free. There wouldn’t be enough traction for profit within traditional types of media for this.

Secondly, you can find the most unique and simply unthought of (usually in a good way) ideas and concepts on YouTube when you look at something, such as a particular series someone is creating. For instance, now I went back and re-watched these, and as a junior in high school they’ve only retained at most 25% of the comedic value that I found in them when I was like... oh god how old was I, maybe 9 or something??? 9 years old; and I vividly remember showing my parents some of these while laughing so hard I was crying, anyway. FOR INSTANCE: the “asdfmovie” series. This feels so cursed typing it out. Again, there’s really no other way to intake content such as that collection of short animations other than a short 3-5 minute animated skit. Who would want to show that on TV? You can’t exactly receive it properly through radio or book either, at least I wouldn’t want to. YouTube provides such a platform that supports creators who, again, make oddly obscure yet very endearing content that wouldn’t exactly be shown elsewhere right off the bat.

I’d advise you to save 1 minute and 40 seconds of your life and not watch the video above, but I’m adding it to keep the pattern I have going.

Lastly, I’m gonna say it, YouTube can encompass almost all forms of traditional media. You can find old radio broadcasts posted on YouTube, you can probably find a low-quality slideshow of newspaper scans on YouTube, live recordings, compilations, AND, if you’re early enough (this happened to me a couple times), you can find full movies on there!!! Everything is all compiled in one place making it so much more accessible and convenient. Whatever that convenience for you may be.

See, here, with some tricks it’s possible to watch the original Broadway cast of Hamilton perform the entire musical on YouTube.

[luwucas04]

𝐀 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐞

Something that I’ll never lose my awe for is film and the process work and genuine consideration that goes into it. Especially animation.

One of my all-time favourite pieces is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It’s so incredible how a bunch of people can compile so many things to portray a well-rounded story with well-developed characters and STUNNING visuals. Like how they combined 2D animation with 3D animation while all strongly supporting stylized things; I hate how in typical 3D animation today they try to make everything hyper-realistic—like in any new Disney film or work, for example, all their new ‘live action remakes’. It’s not close to anything original and they’re not achieving anything new or different, and more often than not it’s seldom visually pleasing. It all looks the same. And the amount of disservice that then gets dropped on past artistic work and revolutions, and honestly ground-breaking 2D (and for Disney’s earlier stuff) HAND-DRAWN experimentation and studies in movement and colour. Anyway, that’s a fraction of my beef with Disney.

I love Into the Spider-Verse because not only does it combine 2 opposing methods of animation, the STYLES are different as well. Like the monochromatic schemes, flatter cartoon-like styles. It’s so visually appealing and smart. And following and researching the artists who worked on it—the tiniest things are mind-blowing—for example, at first, they animated Miles (main character) with less frames per second to make him more choppy with no smooth movements to visually demonstrate how he’s inexperienced and still has much to learn, and that he doesn’t have the confidence or coordination yet. Then towards the end of the movie after his ‘realization’ moment, everything falls into place and he knows what he must do, he moves with so much more grace—accompanied by more FPS. That point onward in the movie resonated so strongly with me, too. Being able to have that same click the characters have really provides a deeper understanding both with the movie and also within yourself. Good storytelling with good animation and good art (accompanied by a solid soundtrack)???? Super glad I skipped out on Aquaman for this one (funny story there, my dad and I went to the same cinema together but went into different theatres haha).

I’ve learned tons of techniques from artists who worked on the movie too! A lot of it was actually made in British Columbia. Such the importance of line, simplicity, composition, colour, texture, all when blocking a scene that can be applied to my art.

[luwucas04]

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨 𝐈 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐅𝐨𝐫??? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲

I use it for entertainment, learning things, inspo + reference for art and other creative stuff-- a whole lot. This is elaborated on more in-depth when I go over music films and comics (to save you some reading).

I appreciate a handful of the new technology that's helping us communicate in different ways; everything is far more convenient and easier than it's ever been before. Which is a good and also bad thing. I think that we should try to make it so that technology doesn't completely take over ways of doing rather mundane tasks that you could absolutely use 3 seconds of your life to do yourself (like Googling something instead of asking a device that spies on you and collects your information). On the topic of things you can do yourself, I literally JUST saw on Twitter that this guy died in an autopilot Tesla crash while playing a video game. I really don't have anything to say about that.

Anyway, I understand moving from telephones to cellphones, I support whoever's made that transition (if not you're still valid, shoutout to my grandparents). But Google Home and stuff like that?? Extremely overpriced things like AirPods which you can easily buy alternatives to elsewhere for more than half the price and also get WAY better quality??? I don't see the value or reason for stuff like that.

Geeeeeenerally though, overall, things are going pretty alright. Except that Tesla crash is throwing me off now. I wrote a lot of this a few days ago but man seeing that headline just a few hours prior ruined the whole vibe. I wanted to be optimistic about this but I feel like that event is the rising action instigator for something progressively worse.