Problems I Overcame When Filming

The experience I've had with this whole filming a film based on a script you wrote for a bunch of people you don't know/like to watch can be described as moderately tense at best and taking a bath with a group of angered porcupines at worst.

There have been many downs and ups on this crappy roller-coaster most of which are probably my fault. The first and likely worst was a miscommunication which left me down a producer and a cameraman. Alright I can fix this, I have time. And by sheer luck I got a backup cameraman no producer but how integral are they to the actual filming process? You can decide for yourself how rhetorical that question is.

And then I'm down another cameraman the day I'm shooting because they want to edit their own film. The irony of the situation is that after I directed and filmed by myself I learned that they COULD have helped me after all because their own endeavours were halted by somebody else's. I don't like to think of these as excuses just as minor frustrations.

So I make the 30 to 40 minute walk up a hill carrying heavy equipment to film this movie and bring my vision to life. This part wasn't too bad to be honest. I'm not the best cameraman who ever lived but if I can turn it on that's all I need. The shots in my opinion and for what they were turned out okay and the sound (thanks to Paula the technician at E3 offering her assistance) turned out great. And with filming done to a non painful standard I headed back home dragging the same equipment downhill. Much to my surprise and delight the footage.

Editing wasn't awful but it's something I don't like and required a lot of time and effort. Getting music and sound effects took a lot of work but the main concern was structuring it by which I mean using the right cuts. By the end it was an edit that just kinda existed.

The fact is I'm not a terrible cameraman or a terrible editor nor am I a terribly good cameraman or editor either. And some of the ideas I had in mind I just wasn't capable of. If at the very least I gained one positive from all this it's that I know and need to remember my limits.

Although initially I was excited for this project I don't feel the same connection to the subject as I did at the start. The more the project progressed the less enthused I became. I've learned to appreciate the effort those who willingly take on the production roles in film and television practical roles but I've learned through my time in this field that simply isn't for me. From now on I intend to stick to creating ideas and throwing them at someone else to make.

Why I'm Sick of Horror

I'm sick of Horror. That's unfortunate for me cause I shot and am about to begin editing a horror film. But I digress.

It dawned on me whilst I was filming how overdone the entire genre is, be it remakes, found footage or dumb new ideas nothing seems to click anymore. Don't get me wrong some things are still scary but none of them have the kinda throat crushing power the likes of Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers had. I say had because the Friday the 13th remake sucked and the first Halloween reboot whilst fascinating wasn't on the same level as the original. As did the sequel to the remake. A lot of franchises tend to get dumber as they go on, we only got a second movie and the dumbness had peaked.

We had something good going with Paranormal Activity but it pretty much died a death after the fourth one. Even movies based on video games can't get it right. Resident Evil as a game has only recently turned into the generic appeal to everyone rubbish it is in the last few years. The films have always been action oriented and there's no true scares too it.

And now there's remakes. Remakes aren't necessarily a bad thing, it did bring us Nicolas Cage punching a woman in the face whilst dressed as a bear.(that's the last time I bring that up I swear) it also brought us the Halloween remake directed by Rob Zombie which I could never say was bad or good but definitely worth watching. On the other hand it did bring us the unnecessary shot for shot remake of Psycho starring Vince Vaughn. A pointless idea that the world probably should've forgotten by now.

And it's not like the new stuff is any better. The fact is when we see something unique in horror films nowadays there's only a slim chance it works, the rest of the time it's just an idea that everyone else was smart enough not to use.

Horror shouldn't be a difficult genre to do sorta right surely. But I think there's more to it than that, I'm reminded of the Hogfather by Terry Prattchet and the reveal that the first tooth fairy is actually the Boogeyman. It's actually a really poignant scene where the Boogeyman admits that she used to scare kids but when she saw how humans could be far scarier than her she decided that she didn't want to scare them anymore she wanted to help them and protect them.

To draw away from that my point is horror doesn't work the way it use to because the real world is far scarier than any film. Another less serious problem is that there's nowhere to go with the genre anymore. The 90s brought us Scream and its sequels and several guaranteed to not continue careers (except for David Arquette who held the WCW World Championship whilst sleeping with Courtney Cox had I born a decade earlier he'd have lived out two of my boyhood dreams now he's just living out dreams I can't because that belt is dead and buried). And we can't make films about the characters being aware of horror rules because A) Its been done, B) it's stupid and C) If your cast is well aware of their fate why should we as an audience care?

So yeah I'm giving myself a break from scary movies for a while. Maybe I'll check in again when another genre has been sucked dry. Say doesn't Sony still have the film rights to Spider-Man and X-Men?

An Intro That Gets It

This Blog is gonna be a little different than most. Mainly cause it's not going to be that long. It's not about a film no one else saw made for several million, it's not about bears punching people. No it's about an opening.

Friday Night Fisticuffs is the latest show being made by Two Best Friends Play. A group of Youtubers who play video games for the fun and amusement of everyone else. They're Matt, Pat, Woolie and Liam. I know the name is confusing but you learn to live with it.

This isn't the first time the group has thrown together a special something for the viewers. Halloween brought us Shitstorm of Scariness, Matt and Woolie partook in Scrublords where the duo played crap fighting games and Pat and Woolie did a play through of I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream.
But this is a little different because of one thing. The opening. Each episode starts with the cameraman knocking on the door. Woolie greets him and the two go inside where Matt and Pat are waiting to start gaming. This opening captures that feeling perfectly. The idea of a group of friends getting together to play video games.

The music, the atmosphere even the way the room looks all play part in giving the audience this feel of the fun were gonna have. I'm not the only who says it a lot of comments all say the same thing.
Hell I can't watch the opening without a smile coming across my face because I get it. I know that feeling, that feeling of having fun playing the medium your parents tell you you'll grow out of. You have friends and win lose or draw everyone's here to have a blast.

This might sound a little elitist but the fact is unless you've spent some time getting into the world of gaming you won't get it. If you have you'll feel a nostalgia unlike any other. If you haven't you can't possibly imagine it.

Here's the first episode if you're not sure yet. (Don't worry the intro isn't that long)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iixYVYW9pJQ

Why Does No One Talk About This?!!: Nicolas Cage Punching a Woman Whilst Dressed As a Bear

You read that title right. Nicolas Cage punches a woman in the face whilst dressed as a bear. A realistic bear. Even in context this scene makes little sense. But I'll try.\

The Wicker Man remake is an atrocious film even by remake standards, if you ever get into an argument over someone over the negative impact of remakes this film serves as both the best and worst argument ever. It's the best argument is that it doesn't have a single redeeming quality and that's just weird because the director is a guy I actually like. Neil LaBute made a few films like Lakeview Terrace a film that makes the idea of being neighbours to a police officer actually legitimately scary. In the Company of Men has the sort of Fight Club level of What the hell to it but in two guys who are more than willing to destroy an innocent deaf womans life just because they can. The premise alone makes it one of my favourite movies. Actually looking at it Mr LaBute doesn't have a high opinion of women does he?

So when he directs a remake of Wicker Man a film i've never seen but have grounds to believe is legitimately scary I have high hopes. Not since Mortal Kombat Annihilation or the ideas that I hope may help me maybe fit in with society has my hopes been dashed so quickly. Everyone remembers this scene for that scene. The scene with the bees. Yeah that stupid scene that wasn't even in the original theatrical release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETrB6z3VMak

And that ridiculous bee scene ended up overshadowing the real meme worthy moment of this film. The scene where Nicolas Cage punches a woman whilst dressed as a bear. Every time I type that it gets funnier.

This scene is the worst argument ever for remakes. The original didn't have anything half as awesome as this. I don't even need to see it to know that. This is why we need remakes because sometimes a remake does something so bad it redeems the entire film. And then that stupid bee scene

To put it simply Nicolas Cage knocks out another woman and steals a bear suit she will be wearing for the festival they keep talking about, and then he dons the costume and infiltrates the festival dressed as a bear, it's not a bad strategy by any means it's something Solid Snake would do if he had no cardboard boxes. The problem is when he blows his cover by punching a woman in the face. dressed as a bear. Why does no one talk about this?!

The fact is this scene is so perfect it can lead to far too many jokes. So I leave you with the glorious scene itself played over Chariots of Fire. Because it just works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOpsbAUEe90

Cruel ironies of being me

One of the cruelest ironies of being me is my relationship with horror. For some reason I love scary things be they movies games or books but at the same time I'm one of the most easily frightened people who ever lived.

And that's the weird thing about it I'm not afraid of real life things like a mugger or murderer I'm more scared of the things that aren't real, now you can argue that I shouldn't be scared of things that aren't real cause they're not real but think about that for a second, how do you know you're right and I'm wrong?

I have trouble sleeping, normally it's a mix of stress from things slightly out of my control and the fact that I don't use any energy during the day when I'm more prone to fall asleep but when I was younger and even now to a lesser extent it was because there was always that nagging fear that someone or something is watching me. Hell I can't even relax if my door is open and it's dark. That's how much of a fraidy cat I am.

So now you have a guy like me who loves scary things but can't stand being scared. I'm a bizarre one aren't I? But bizarre ones tend to go far in life or at least that's what Alan Moore taught me.

I pin it down to an overactive imagination but at the same time it is a mixed blessing. The fact is being easily scared makes it easier to understand how to be scary. R.L. Stein of Goosebumps fame said the same thing. Id like to think as a director I want to try and weaponise my own fear, the fact is fear isn't something that you can really get everyone to agree on but the idea of what creates fear is universally acceptable. It should be an interesting endeavour at least.

Foodfight!

In two days time I intend to film my end of year magnum opus isn't that swell? Truth be told heading into it I was nervous well I still am but less so and you know why? The reason is simple: Foodfight!
Foodfight! Is a fascinating film and an example of how something can make you renounce your faith in humanity but restore your confidence in yourself, because I have never seen a film that does nothing right exist on a budget of 45 MILLION! FORTY FIVE MILLION!!! Though in fairness I think it was more the mascot licensing issues rather than literally anything else in this film.

First a history lesson, the film began production in 2001 it didn't get released till last year. Right off the bat that's not a good sign. But nothing was gonna stop Lawrence Kasanoff the man behind it all from getting this film out there! Not even the near finished film being stolen in an act of corporate espionage was enough to put this dog down.

What he made up for in determination to not have his legs broken by Mr.Clean and the California Raisins he lacked in any understanding of how things worked (and yes the way that last sentience was structured was intentional).

See Lawrence was very hands on working with the animators and that isn't a bad thing, it shows a level of support between director and crew and it's better than George Lucas just stamping a ticket down on everything he likes and then leaving. Problems occur when your director doesn't really know what he's talking about. He'd walk around and tell his crew make it "30% better" or "more awesome" I'd also like to point that this man supervised production, marketing and merchandising of Terminator 2.

But I've done enough tearing the films development to shreds. Let's find some new wounds to salt, the story is a good one.

The story concerns a grocery store that comes to life at night when people are not around. Dex Dogtective (Charlie Sheen) is a top agent of the United Supermarket Defense Association which keeps the aisles safe from crime as well as running a club called the Copa-Banana where fellow advertising icons ("Ikes" for short) can hang out such as Charlie the Tuna, Mr. Clean and the California Raisins. After his beloved Sunshine Goodness (Hilary Duff) vanishes without a trace, he ends up stepping out of the game only to be brought back in when a mysterious "Brand-X" has emerged in the grocery store by the machinations of a Mr. Clipboard (Christopher Lloyd) and Icons are disappearing or being murdered. With the help of his sidekick Daredevil Dan (Wayne Brady), Dex must uncover the truth behind Brand-X and its Femme Fatale leader Lady X (Eva Longoria) and rally a resistance in order to prepare for well, a Food Fight.

I already have several questions. The film establishes that the store and its products come to life at night but there is a scene in this movie where are two heroes Dex and Dan are in a high action scene in the real world where the real nasty animation comes out. Seriously heads up it's hideous.

I told you it hideous. Try watching it when its in motion.


 So can they be themselves during the day? Is it because of Brand X? Or is it just a plot hole no one filled in?
Why do you have all these mascots in your film and do nothing with them? Well there's a few jokes towards Mr Clean but they aren't funny, and the many brand characters who were removed from the film are replaced by hideous caricatures of themselves. Subtle. And very mature.

I wanna take time out to rip apart the animation. Now the animation is over 10 years old but for a ten year old film with a 45 million dollar budget it looks worse than an episode of Cubix.
Anyone? The show with the transforming robot? Nope?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PJsIqdqMQA

Alright enough dated references lets talk Mr Clipboard played by the legend himself Christopher Lloyd. This animation is horrible. This character is horrible to look at. And there really is no reason it needs to look like this. Well there is but that's a spoiler.

Christopher Lloyd's worst role since Stacked. Look it up.

It's all about the stare. The Kubrick Stare.

Stanley Kubrick. The madman of filmmaking. Well one of them at least. If you know anything film you know who Stanley Kubrick is and the role he has played for the film industry.
The long list of films Kubrick shows how good he was and how eager he was to get details in every shot perfect. But the fact is I'm not here to talk about his perfectionism if I was we'd never see the light of day again.

No, were gonna talk about one of the things that made Kubrick's characters work. The stare, the Kubrick Stare. If you look for it it's in a lot of films and obviously Kubrick's own works.
A Clockwork Orange had two examples that stand out. The first is the very shot of this film with our hero (and I use that term loosely) Alex pulling off the stare in a way that shows you right away what were in for. The fact that he never blinks makes it pretty scary and it holds even as the camera zooms out and the music hits its peak.

The other example is actually a weird upward example of this near the end of the film. As Alex is being tortured by the music that makes him ill during his Ludvigo Treatment the writer who Alex tormented early on in the film can be seen looking up towards the ceiling in a manner very similar to how the Kubrick Stare would be done. From what I can tell this is supposedly a reference to old photos of Beethoven.

It was also in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, remember David Tennant as Barty Crouch Jr? Yep he does it there. Jack Nicholson in the Shining, he does it there too though that was a Kubrick film so it makes sense to be honest.,
This is a pretty difficult thing to talk about but that's because there's a massive list of examples even in more recent films. But the fact is I absolutely love it as a shot. Why?
I follow Alfred Hitchcock's theory on eyes. That they're windows to the soul ,watch any of his films and you'll notice that eyes are pretty important in establishing a character like the cop in Psycho to make him scarier Hitchcock just covered his eyes with thick dark sunglasses and called it a day. And it worked
But I'm a little different, I believe you can show off someone's soullessness by showing their eyes. And the Kubrick stare proves it. Give a good actor the chance and you have a something truly terrifying on your hands.

Oh and fun fact. Kubrick himself pulled this off a lot when he wanted to be serious and intimidating. Don't believe me? That's him in the first panel on the top left. 

And finally I leave you with a quote from the legend himself Roger Ebert. Because this took several weeks to write and it needs to end at some point and it might as well be good. 

"In that showdown, and at several other times in the film, Kubrick indulges his favorite closeup, a shot of a man glowering up at the camera from beneath lowered brows. This was the trademark visual in A Clockwork Orange, and Jack Nicholson practiced it in The Shining. What does it mean? That Kubrick thinks it's an interesting angle from which to shoot the face, I think."

Character Profile: Jordan

Inspirations:

Jordan is a combination of 5 individual characters.

First is the Tyler Durden from Fight Club. Both characters are cool and collected and charismatic to a fault and yet there's something off about both of them. When who they really are rears its ugly head the whole course of the story changes. Gone is cool cat Tyler Durden and in his place is a dogmatic monster hell-bent on setting the world back to 0. So men can be men again in a world where they've had nothing to feel satisfied with.

This photo pretty much embodies everything I want to put across. Cool but out of his freakin' mind!

Up next is the OTHER main character from Fight Club (I loved this movie and so should everyone else so give me a break) his name is Narrator/Jack/No Name Given. Despite supposedly being the blue to Durden's red he has more than a few black spots on his person. He's unbelievably pessimistic, hates the world he lives in and the people in it. Jordan definitely has a lot of that going on. Though at the same time both characters do care about things in their lives (for Jordan it's Moby, for No Name Given it's Tyler and Marla the only two people who seem to be consistent positive figures in his life).

And that's the character in a nutshell.

Up next is the character Vincent from Silent Hill 3. Vincent actually inspires the other half of Jordan's character "that evil side" which is weird as Vincent isn't really an evil character just rather creepy and greedy. The creator of the character described Vincent as " a hypocrite behind nice clothes and a neat appearance" which is weird considering his teeth are decayed at best. He has a penchant towards sadism and manipulation as he knows far more than he is willing to admit about the situation, Jordan is the same he knows what's going on but only divulges when he feels like it and by the end he still hasn't told everything.

The other aspect borrowed from Vincent was his mannerisms, Vincent is a very animated character, he gestures when he talks almost as if to an audience (an interesting or somewhat creepy detail is that if you observe closely at all times one of his eyes is looking at the player so in that sense he is talking to an audience) Jordan is similar, his attention always seems to be somewhere else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVtT5F4pqXc

To be perfectly honest I struggled to find a scene that really got the point of what I was trying to say but this is the best I could do. It is probably the scene that defines him.

 

Then there's Alex from A Clockwork Orange. Specifically his very creepy intro. The one where he's staring directly at the camera without blinking for a full 5 minutes never once breaking eye contact and legitimately making your trousers heavier with every second? That one?
Well here's an image in case you forgot:

And lastly there is Sherlock Holmes. Not just a specific version of the character but the character as whole. An isolationist jerk who only interacts with people if it allows him to show off how smart he is.

Pitch and Preparations

Pitch and Preparations

The pitch went well in the delivery of the story. And that was pretty much it. I knew what I wanted to use and how I wanted to use it but I had no guarantee I would be using it.

Normally I'm good at presenting stuff to for lack of a better term clients because in order to overcome my nerves I devoted a chunk of my studies to relaxing and conducting myself properly during a talk or presentation. I know how to make and maintain eye contact, how to emphasise key details and how to counter arguments against the pitched entity. But for some reason this just didn't work out here. Maybe it's because I'm good at creating and selling ideas but making them exist is something I've never done before. I guess it's a life lesson at the very least.

But that's a little harder when you're working off what could happen not what is going to happen.
Since then things have looked up. I have an actor Patrick Conway who's been very helpful even offering suggestions for how to advertise my search for actors until I decided he was the guy for the role. I have a producer who has proven herself through and through and I have a cameraman who I have total faith in to be there when needed.

Things are looking up. I'll just say this though. If I can get through this I can get through anything.

 
These location shots serve well enough for now. But it's better being in the room itself. There's just a sort of atmosphere to it. The minute I walked into it I thought to myself "this is what I want" the grey floor, the dull walls, the empty space and the lack of air all just sort of say "SCP building" to me.


The halls work. My main concern is that colour. Thankfully it's a darkly lit film and I'm sure the cameraman can work around it. 

I've Just Watched Fight Club

I am Jacks blog on Fight Club.

The first rule of fight club is that you don't talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club. However because both these rules exist to be broken I am talking about Fight Club. Get it? If you don't that's fine.

I am Jacks second paragraph.
Fight Club is a film that I get. I don't get what I get but I know that I get it. It's a film about not being satisfied with life. Life isn't worth it at times. Entire days of going through the motions seeing other people getting dealt better hands than you. Of course the grass could be greener and it will always be greener on the other side.

I am Jacks third paragraph.
It's an odd case of wish fulfilment. We all know that one person we wanna be like or that idea of a better self. I had that idea too, I always told myself when I'd be older I'd be better, I'd be more confident, I'd know how to talk to girls, I'd be cool, I'd be popular. But that's the thing about growing up, you don't improve just by doing it. All the while there's someone else who has it all, everything you want and more. In short you have Tyler Durden, and to quote the man himself:

"All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not."

I am Jacks fourth paragraph.
I shouldn't be talking about Fight Club. That's the first and second rules. But everything about it deserves to be talked about. The direction, the acting, the themes, the music and everything in between and beyond. But why should I talk about it? Watch the film. You've got nothing better to do with your life.

I am Jacks fifth paragraph.
There's something fascinating about watching this film progress. From one man who hates the world in front of him. To two guys beating the crap out of each other, to several guys beating the crap out of each other, to violent criminals and finally terrorists. All wanting to go back to zero.

I am Jacks sixth paragraph.
Death is a pretty big deal in this film. What did you wanna do before you die? A question asked whilst in front of an incoming truck. Did you do everything you wanted to in life? Was it worth it? I don't know the answer to that.

I am Jacks seventh paragraph.
Just a little reminder as we wrap up here.
"You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of the same compost heap. We're all singing, all dancing crap of the world."

I am Jacks final question.
Do you feel good about yourself?

Order VS Chaos: Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat isn't a series known for its intelligence that's for sure. Yes there's a pretty in depth well written story with strong characters in it but nothing particularly amazing. But that doesn't stop it from at least having stuff worth looking into.
In the 6th game in the series Mortal Kombat Deception our new protagonist has to visit 6 realms to find 6 rare treasures the Kamidogu. Two of those realms he visits are Seido the realm of Order and the Chaosrealm.

Obviously the two realms have their contrasts. Seido seems pretty peaceful for the most part and it is. The Seidan guard are diligent and devoted and no one seems to complain. At first at least..

The longer you spend in Seido the more apparent that it isn't perfect. The guards are so devoted to their work that even missing a curfew that you didn't know existed can put you in jail for several years. And then there's the riots.

Turns out the citizens of Seido aren't made of sturdy stuff mentally. All it takes is mentioning the word chaos and the town descends into.... well chaos. It's a certain point worth making, walls that keep out danger keep out knowledge and the ability to grow.

The realm of Chaos is a little different, to be perfectly honest other than being a little creepy it seems pretty normal. And then you talk to the inhabitants, it's otherworldly gibberish (actually the series sound creator John Vogel talking backwards). That's just the start. If you attack the locals they will thank you for it!

One thing the people worship is water they hold it sacred because of its shapelessness and that it takes no form, characteristics considered by Chaosrealmers to be chaotic. It has no form and can't be controlled. It actually makes sense when you think about it.

The two realms form an interesting contrast but even as the polar opposites of one another they are very similar. Despite the strict laws Seido still struggles to control its crime levels, the two realms have an egalitarian view of life as in Seido title means nothing if you break the law and in the Chaosrealm titles go against the very nature of the realm.
Isn't it funny when the two realms don't get along but have some skin deep similarities?

Order VS Chaos: Shin Megami Tensei

Order and Chaos. Two concepts that everyone knows and understands. We have to balance these two in order to have a peaceful society that's just common sense. But what if such a world vanishes, destroyed by nuclear weapons and that the people who remain try to carve a new way of living out of all the madness? What if they fought each other over their ideals to the death? What if the powers that be are very much real and very much aware but choose to do nothing?

That's the world of Shin Megami Tensei. A world where chaos and order stand on opposing sides and embody what they stand for to an absurd degree. And you're the kid with some weapons and a portable computer that can summon demons.

Did I forget to mention the demons? Well there's demons. Some are horrifying and some are adorable either way you're gonna need their help. Our main character can't fight demons with magic so he needs to recruit demons to help him out. This is the tricky part, everyone but you has picked a side.
If you stumble into a town on the verge of death and low on supplies you better pray you didn't walk into an opposing town. If you're lucky you'll be paying a lot for your expenses. But more likely is that you'll die walking around.

The point is choices mean everything. They shape your demon choices, they shape the fate of your friends and it even determines the ending.

If you decide to play the game devoted solely to order then God and his angels appear and unify the world under his might. Sounds like a happy ending right? Well you'd be wrong. God takes away the free will of everybody and starts a kingdom under his dictatorship.
Yeah since this is a Japanese game there's a lot less concern about depicting God in a negative light.
God isn't depicted as you'd expect he's a selfish and petty tyrant with nothing but contempt for the concept of free will. And he certainly doesn't look human.

But without order there is chaos, chaos is represented by Lucifer who's agenda is a lot harder to get. He makes it quite clear he hates his former master and is doing everything he can out of spite for him but at the same time he says that he'll never abandon humanity. If you go for the chaos ending then seems a little better everyone can think for themselves at least. But Lucifer makes it clear that some races just aren't cut out for survival in a world of chaos. The strong will live and rule and the weak will simply die.

So in short we've got two sides both ruled by otherworldly beings who's moral compass is pretty shattered. So our hero has another choice, fight back against both and lead the world into a new future free of God and Lucifer. Whether he does is of course entirely up to the player.
And that's the big question of the game: No one else knows or cares about the real problems in front of them so what can you do to fix things? And in that what makes you qualified to fight for the future apart from the fact you're the only person who can talk to demons consistently?

If you go for the path of neutrality things are a lot better than they could be. I won't say anymore because this is the canon ending and it teaches a pretty important lesson about humanity and what it can do if allowed to be by itself. And the risks it takes if left unchecked.

Shin Megami Tensei is 22 years old at this point and when it first came out it was consisted ground a breaking for its treatment of story, themes and interpretations of other cultures mythology it was something special. And them every one and their dog started copying it and doing it better.

The game was truly revolutionary in its treatment of the post-apocalypse, demons, morality and the like... and everybody in Japan proceeded to rip them right the hell off, from Neon Genesis Evangelion to Super Robot Wars to Soul Eater (the latter being a kind of Lighter and Softer Deconstructive Parody, that's how far we've come). Seeing what made the original game so unique can be somewhat harder in this day and age. The gameplay also suffers from this in a huge way - in 1992 the first-person dungeon crawling was relatively unique in execution. For anyone used to post-Quake 3D navigation or PS2-era and beyond user interfaces, though, the game will want to make you tear your eyes out in frustration over how clunky it is. The mapping feature itself requires you to open two menus alone.

If you want to experience the story that started it all it's actually available on iPhones in English for the first time ever. That 22 year wait paid off.

Pulp Fiction

I am an absolute mark for the works of Quentin Tarantino. Well except for Death Proof but I'm willing to let that slide. 

Pulp Fiction is one of my favourite films if just because the dialogue in it is even funnier than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Samuel L Jackson steals the show in literally every scene he's in. And I love him for it. 

The fact is Pulp Fiction isn't about any real structure, it's about a bunch of things that happen in a non continuity manner. But that adds to the appeal I guess, trying to piece together all these scenes how they actually happened in the universe of Pulp Fiction rather than how they happened onscreen.

Then again most people didn't see (and still don't I think) for its plot. They saw it for it's dialogue and that's just as good a reason as any to see it. 

There's the scene where Jackson goes on about Cheesburgers, the metric system, and how his girlfriend is a vegetarian and so he has to be too. And if you've seen the movie you're playing the scene in your head right now aren't you?

After that there's the scene where Tarantino shows up and gives off a speech I can't discuss thanks to the content of it so instead here's a link to it reenacted by Spongebob Squarepants. God I love the internet. You haven't seen Samuel L Jackson until you've seen him voicing Patrick Star.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iEdBeyXGZ94

The other scene that stands out is Christopher Walken's cameo. All of it. Walken has the unique the ability to make even the most awkward scenes way more awkward and make it go the whole way round to brilliant. Uma Thurman is also in this film for a tiny bit but somehow manages to get on the front cover. Guess Tarantino knows how to get money outta me. Or at least that's how it used to be. Then Kill Bill Volume 2 came out, then Super Ex Girlfriend. Then Motherhood. And then it all went downhill. What was I talking about? Oh right Uma Thurman's in this movie and she's really hot and this was before her career went south.

Christopher Walken, Samuel L Jackson, the pre Super Ex Girlfriend Uma Thurman (so before things went straight to hell), Bruce Willis and out of his coma John Travolta all make this gem work. Seriously Travolta's contribution to this movie was probably hilarious back then and even now to a lesser extent.

If it's good enough for a parody by the Simpsons during their peak it's good enough for everyone else. You probably know this movie even of you've never seen it and if you've never seen it THEN YOU NEED TO SEE IT!! And if you have already seen it well see it again.

The fact is Pulp Fiction is a great movie and basically proof of the great things to come. Still doesn't explain why there's non consensual sodomy but it's still better than Death Proof.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

"We had two bags of grass, 75 pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can."

This is just one of the many legendary quotes that stand out from this film. And it sums up the entire point of this film. Two men high on drugs pushing the laws and limits to such an extreme that they could get away with it (which they did).

Based on the real life adventure( i use that term very loosely) of Hunter S Thompson the father of gonzo journalism. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a one way path of destruction through sin city.
Raoul Duke and Dr.Gonzo are our two main leads and Duke serves as our narrator. Duke makes an interesting narrator because not only is he caught in such chaos and perfectly fine with it but he contributes a bit of that chaos too and even acknowledges how dangerous him and Gonzo are to everybody else.

It's a fascinating movie with a lot of varying ideas on its world and the drugs in it. The protagonists
are an incredibly destructive duo especially Gonzo who seems to consider murder the best and only
option. But at least they admit it.

Even the supposed "clean people" are corrupt, take a look at the drug convention during the second half of the movie. No one there has a clue how drugs actually work, they're naive morons in a position of power they shouldn't have. It says a lot about this films sense of morality when the two protagonists who are more or less insane know far more about everything than these idiots do.
Besides if you really wanna scare kids off the drugs this movie is pretty good at doing it. It may all be played for very bizarre laughs but the fact is this film can scare the crap out of anybody when really thinks about it.

And then there's the patrenal gland scene. The most inexplicably frightening thing ever put to screen since the tunnel from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. The bizarre transformation, Raoul's reaction and Gonzo's monologue make it one of the most intense scenes in film history.

To be perfectly honest I struggled to write this. It didn't really hit me how Herculean a task I had in front of me trying to write about this until I rewatched the movie. The simple truth is that there's just too much going on in this film to cover it all... So I'll only cover a few scenes.

The cafe scene near the end of the film. Never has a shift in tone been this jarring or sudden. It basically cements the truth that even if everything we've seen so far is played for very wacky laughs there are still victims in all this. Gonzo threatening to murder a woman is the moment when the character stops getting away with his madness and becomes a proper monster.

The scene somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. It's the scene most people know this film for be it Raoul Dukes memetic line "We can't stop here this is bat country!" or a seriously hilarious bit with future Spider-Man Tobey Maguire who has to play normal man to the two least normal humans in existence. My personal favourite is Gonzo's first bit of genius advice, telling Duke to take a hit of mescaline and drive really fast as it'll be a miracle if they make it to the hotel before the stuff kicks in.

Next there's the scene where Duke plays a tape in the hope of finding out what they did last night. It's hands down the funniest scene in the movie outside of the opening. A scattered senseless mess of consciousness that's impossible to understand and probably for the best. Actually describes the book it's based on too when you think about it.

There's also the scene after the audience meets Lucy played Christina Ricci. Gonzo seems to have picked her up at some point but Duke knows that having her along will cause trouble and proceeds to list off a long list of impossible for me to mention atrocities that they will bring upon her in their madness if she sticks around. It's the most backwards way of showing that Duke is both smarter and slightly less evil than Gonzo even if it's more so the two of them of don't go to jail rather than for her sake.

Finally there's the last scene before the credits role. Unlike the rest of the film where it's either terrifying or hilarious this scene is about the changes America had gone through for Duke as a person and people like him.

The so called Silent Majority was back in power. Men like the real life Thompson's mortal enemy Richard Nixon had the country the way they wanted it. Suddenly men like Raoul a Duke aren't acceptable. They're the enemy to a traditional America.

You can see it constantly throughout the film that Duke and Gonzo don't meet society's standards. It's easy to brush this off as them just being weird beyond weird but the fact is if Duke's flashback is anything to go by he was one of many and it was men like Nixon who were the flawed men.
So now Raoul Duke is a fragment of history, but he's still walking and breathing like he isn't. Now he's just a creature too detached from the reality around him to recover. Of course then again why would he want to?

I had to rewrite this a bunch of times because I always felt this wasn't good enough. The fact is that much like needing to be there to appreciate the world Thompson lived in you need to see the film to really even attempt to understand what's going on.

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

Hardin and Zephiel: Fallen Heroes

Hardin and Zephiel: Fallen Heroes

Fire Emblem is a turn based strategy game in which you control a small group of various soldiers to face off against a far larger army. It's all about survival and strategy. Every move counts as if someone dies they stay dead.

These games plots are very formulaic, large army attacks small city or nation, small nation fights back only to reveal there's something bigger operating behind the scenes. Whilst these games do both plot and gameplay well it has its archetypes. You can see the archetypes coming from a mile away but that doesn't stop it being intriguing.

The best example is the Hardin Archetype. Named after Hardin,a cavalier from the first game, the Hardin as a noble man with a strong sense of Justice who through circumstances beyond their control fall into a corruption and become a great threat later on.

Hardin was a prince who fought alongside the heroes and was in love with Princess Nyna who did not love him back. However the two married at the end of the first game anyway.


Hardin expressing envy over Nyna handing the hero Marth the Fire Emblem. Subtle foreshadowing to Hardin's weaker side.


Hardin's start of darkness. A combination of grief and heartbreak turning him into a tyrant.

When Hardin found out the truth he was heartbroken and distraught, he locked himself away and had no contact with anyone except for a single merchant who gave him a jewel. Suddenly Hardin was changed, gone was the just ruler and in his place was a man the people called "The Dark Emperor". Hardin was supposed to heal the wounds of the last war not start another.


Hardin's transformation into a villain note the corpse like skin and red eyes.

Eventually Hardin was slain and the truth was revealed, the merchant was a sorcerer named Gharnef and the jewel was a Darksphere which corrupted Hardins soul. The sphere destroyed Hardin and lead to another terrible war. As he lay dying he asked for forgiveness and and cursed his weakness dying a tragic figure. With Hardins demise the continent was now ruled by King Marth the hero of the game who also ruled Altaneia.

In regards to how Hardin fits the theme of dislocation the fact is that Hardin archetypes are expected to bring about great peace normally end up making things worse. They're expected to be great rulers but something beyond their control goes wrong making them a tragic figure.
But none are more tragic than Prince Zephiel.

Zephiel is the main antagonist of the sixth Fire Emblem game, Binding Blade, he's misanthropic, ruthless and unbelievably cruel to his enemies but the game keeps making hints that he wasn't always like this.


Zephiel as he appears in Fire Emblem 6: Binding Blade

When Blazing Sword the seventh game was revealed to be a prequel we learn the truth and suddenly everything he is about to commit is more tragic than it really should be.
Zephiel appears as a youngster and the game makes he's an excellent swordsman, loved by the people and a compassionate person in General. The exact opposite of his petty tyrant of a father Desmond.
Zephiel wants nothing but his fathers love but he will never receive it. He finally realises this when Desmond tries to kill him.... Again.


Zephiel in the ending of Fire Emblem 7: Blazing Sword

Zephiel snaps and along with his retainer Murdock fakes his death. When Desmond looks over his sons casket Zephiel emerges from inside and kills him.
Zephiel in his madness initiates a war with the other nations killing countless innocents and inevitably destroying the continent when he dies. The exact opposite of what he was expected to do.

The Hardin archetype is about hope and the inevitable chaos that follows when that hope is lost. When a potential hero falls from grace and the destruction that follows. The knowledge that there was a chance to stop this only making things worse.

The Embodiment of Dislocation: SCP 106 "The Old Man"

For my end of year film I have decided to make a 5 minute film based on the SCP Foundation. For those unaware the SCP Foundation is a wiki dedicated to the recordings of supernatural entities. It's a pretty entertaining site and pretty much all the ideas on there are unique and certainly scary. For example there's a blue key that can open any door in the universe, a coffee machine that can make any liquid in the universe and beyond, an indestructible lizard with a great hatred of humanity and a living drawing of a woman.

But the SCP that stands out to me most of all is SCP-106 also known as "The Old Man". SCP-106 is a literal living embodiment of dislocation, the rules of reality mean nothing to him, he can move through matter by making the world corrode, he can't be killed or even hurt just stalled and he always comes back. To put it simply he is an immortal, implacable nightmare brought to life. To make him even scarier it's impossible to say what he looks like the best the site can manage is an artist interpretation(see below) and there's a file on the site that implies that the SCP had a blast during the second world war and was simply forgotten due to the atrocities committed.


(SCP-106 Mid Emergence)



 (SCP-106 when he was known as Corporal Lawrence)

His ability to be anything and nothing does a lot of favours to me as for filming purposes SCP-106 doesn't need to look like a unholy abomination. He just needs to have the air of one. This means he could appear in his humanoid form and still be just as scary, he might not even appear at all just make it known that he's there. Making the audience fear something that can be anywhere at anytime and pull you into a world of its own design till it's done toying with you right? Right?

Dong Zhuo: An nasty embodiment of Cause and Effect

Dong Zhuo

Is it okay to declare someone a living example of cause and effect? I think I have enough to justify that claim and it's still an interesting topic for what it's worth.
Dong Zhuo was a tyrannical Chinese warlord who can be considered either directly or indirectly responsible for the fall of the Han Dynasty and the many bloody battles that followed lead by the forces of Wei, Wu and Shu during the Three Kingdoms Era (known to most as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms on a fictional note). He was a hedonist and a sociopath who used and abused his power to fit his idea of "paradise" (basically paradise for him and no one else).

After years of corruption by various eunuchs and an inept emperor, the Yellow Turban Rebellion rose up and was inevitably destroyed by the troops by Hu Jin who is then killed by the eunuchs who are in turn slain by Yuan Shao. During this chaos the emperor Shao and the prince of Chenliu vanish.
They end up in the hands of Dong Zhuo who seized control under the guise of protecting the emperor. Dong disposed of Shao and instilled Emperor Xian who he controlled like a puppet. The reign that followed was brutal as innocents were put to death and those not rich enough suffered constantly.
After two assassination attempts, a full scale war began. However Dong had one trump card: his adoptive son Lu Bu. Lu Bu was a god among men who no one could defeat. As long as Lu Bu remained by Dongs side no one could touch him.

But a conflict grew between the two. Lu Bu, already losing patience with Dong Zhuo, fell for a maiden who his father also lusted after. The maiden convinced Lu Bu to betray his father and Lu Bu slew him, ending the tyrants madness.

Lu Bu attempted his own campaign against the emperor but was betrayed and executed by Cao Cao of Wei. Dong Zhuo's reign was short but the impact was great. He's generally considered the straw that broke the camels back as his death lead to the fall of the Han Dynasty and 3 men all with their own idea of paradise stood up and fought amongst themselves.

It's possible that Dong Zhuo is what caused these 3 men Liu Bei, Sun Jian and Cao Cao to stand up for their beliefs. What followed lead to the death of countless men and ended in pointless tragedy. Historically speaking none of the men "won" Cao Cao died in his bed, Liu Bei went mad after the death of his best friends and Sun Jian died during the campaign to overthrow Dong Zhuo. His sons Sun Ce and Sun Quan tried to replace him but Ce died of an illness and Sun Quan was killed years later during an invasion by the "true winners" the kingdom of Jin.

Perhaps had Dong Zhuo not committed his many atrocities the men may have worked together? Maybe they wouldn't have decided to act at all? History agrees that Dong Zhuo played a huge part in all 3 men's motivation but if he wasn't here who can say? The Han Dynasty was on its knees and chances are Dong Zhuo simply sped up the process.

On a final but by no means uninteresting note, Dong was so hated that they dragged his corpse out into public,set it alight and anyone who tried to put it out was killed on the spot. He was so fat that his corpse burned for three days straight. In the middle of winter.
Anyone who carried the Dong name was hunted down and killed including Dong's elderly mother who plead innocence as she was brutally murdered. That's how hated Dong Zhuo was by the people of China.

As I've said before,Dong Zhuo COULD have been the cause of the following war. His actions provoked a large number of men to stand against him and after his death they began to focus on one another. Corruption ran deep through the country at the time but Dong Zhuo was far from subtle about it.

It's an interesting aspect of history that eternal question of "What Could Have Been?" but that's exactly it. What could have been is a cruel aspect of life as reality will always ALWAYS disappoint to what we can imagine. And considering how many people died as a result of the aftermath it is a pretty disappointing reality.

The Darjeeling Limited

The Darjeeling Limited is a pretty interesting movie. Especially in regards to how it shapes its themes. All three leads in the film all have gaping flaws that shine out through everything else, Francis (played by Owen Wilson) throws money around like water from a fountain and its made very detached from the people around him. Peter (portrayed by Adrien Brody) has a wife who is extremely pregnant but he opts to go on a trip to india with his brothers without telling her (this is something that even shocks his two brothers). Finally, there's Jack(played by Jason Schwartzmen) who is.... really good at picking up women.

The three brothers reunite after a year away from each other and try to enjoy a trip around India. The problems between them kick in as Francis starts ordering everything for the brothers and is oblivious to their displeasure. Francis seems to disregard the feelings of pretty much everybody (a serious case of Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense). http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RichInDollarsPoorInSense

This reaches it's tipping point when Francis buys and smuggles a poisonous cobra onto the train they're staying on and even after being caught with it still tries to talk his way out of trouble. (Funny how Owen Wilson basically plays the same character in everything he's in but here he's actually meant to be dislikeable).

Another valid reason for the brothers many issues is their mother who abandoned them years ago and continues to lie about wanting to make things better not even attending her husbands funeral which took place a year before the film began. It turns out that the real reason that Francis reunited with his siblings is to find her and he has located her in a temple in the Himalayas. In any other movie it would be a tear filled reunion with happy endings for all but here it's build up and then she's gone again cementing her status as a horrible mother. Her dreadful treatment of her sons is probably a huge contributor for their own issues and when she abandons them again it's made clear to both the audience and the brothers that the whole journey was a wild goose chase. They may want to be with her but she has no interest in that. At the end of the film the brothers run for the train but realise that they won't make it carrying all their luggage (say another word for luggage is baggage isn't it?) so they start dropping their “luggage” and run to successfully board the train leaving their “luggage” in India. (Do you get it?!!!)

Subtlety and symbolism don't exactly go hand in hand during certain scenes. The best example of this is a scene where the train the brothers are on is declared “lost” and Francis (with the subtlety of funnily enough, a trainwreck) outright states maybe we're they're the ones who are lost, thankfully Jack and Peter both look at him like he's grown a second head.

But apart from symbolism subtlety that is severely lacking the film definitely knows how to do itself very well and draws its audience in with strong character development and a genuine indication of the fact that these 3 brothers really are lost in a world that is doing zero to help them and it makes you care for them as a result and cheer when they conquer the things holding them down be it their egos, their horrid mother, the death of their father or everything else between India and their homes.

End of Year Film Blog Intro Entry

End of Year Film Introduction Blog

This is the introductory blog for my end of year film. Throughout the remainder of the year I intend to update this blog at the very least once a week (maybe more if I feel like I have something worth sharing but who knows when that will be).

For this introductory blog I would like to break it down into four categories starting with a discussion of the short film Hotel Chevalier directed by Wes Anderson a name I know but should really know more about (I'm a film student after all). Right off the bat the film shows of how it uses dislocation as a central theme our main male lead is shown to be an American living in France he is metaphorically dislocated as he's far from home and making himself settle in a hotel wasting a lot of money as a result. He appears to have a very sloth ridden life as he watches television, doesn’t dress very well and leaves his massive hotel room in a mess.

The theme continues as Natalie Portmans character shows up and is the lead's love interest girl though that's hard to tell because the conversation two have has all the chemistry and compassion of a loaf of bread in a big pond. Granted this might be intentional as he has shut himself off from the world and she's been trying to find him, their conversation is stilted and the romance takes a while to recover and it's not when they start making out because even then that feels awkward.

One interpretation presented to me by a fellow classmate is that they are friends with benefits (not the term she used but it's the closest I can get without using an expletive) which could explain why the passion between the two is loaf of bread like. It's only near the end of the short where the two see the view outside of the male leads room do they look like there is something more between them (or perhaps more accurately a DESIRE for something more). Whatever the case the romance itself seems very chaotic and their small talk is just as awkward. It just feels like nothing happens for 7 minutes because the two leads don't have a notion to go on.

Then after 7 minutes they start making out (if I didn't see how long the short was I would've been convinced that a scene had been skipped) the love scene starts off lukewarm and then reaches the astonishing boiling point of tepid. Then Portman's clothes start coming off and the film goes up a notch (or something went up a notch). Funnily enough after the love scene is done it starts feeling romantic thanks to the sweet music that plays (really lovely song it is) and the nice embrace the two have as the film ends. It's solid character development for something the length of a Dexter's Laboratory episode.

The second point of this blog I'd like to discuss is initial thoughts on the module. To be honest I don't have any reason to complain. I'm actually excited, I have a chance to use this theme to discuss things I like that I think work with the theme (I'm hoping to have something on Dong Zhuo a Chinese warlord who's evilness more or less lead to the destruction of the Han Dynasty and the war that followed but that's getting ahead of myself). The theme itself threw me off a bit at first mainly because I thought it was the literal interpretation of the word. I'm not sure what I can make for a film but I'm pretty eager to find out. This goes in line with my third point the theme of dislocation, how I intend to explore and interpret for my work. At the minute I'm not too sure but I certainly look forward to making something out of it.

The fourth and final point is my ambitions, job roles, influences and aspirations. Up until about 4 years ago the only time Scott and the word ambitious showed up together was if the words “is not” were in between. I envied the clouds (still do a little bit) but now I've found a desire to get into media as a script writer (preferably fiction but I've learned that reality isn't always boring so I'm willing to adapt). My film influences include Stanley Kubrick particularly his adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, Dr Strangelove and the first half of Full Metal Jacket.

I (rather riskily at that) also cite Paul Anderson as an influences simply because he managed to make a handful of movies based on games that didn't make me cough up blood I'd even go far enough to call Mortal Kombat great and not just because I can quote it word for word 14 years after I first watched it. That was until he got his wife into every Resident Evil film and destroyed all his credibility in a way Yoko Ono could only dream of. There's also Quentin Tarantino who made Pulp Fiction. Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2, Django Unchained, Inglorious and Reservoir Dogs so saying anything else seems redundant. My other inspiration would be Ed Boon creator of the Mortal Kombat gaming franchise the man who can be held responsible for my reality is boring approach as he's the man I got it from because and I quote:

“ Reality is boring, no wants to pay for reality, we take everything beyond reality”

That quote has stuck for 14 years.

As for aspirations I only have one: To get far enough in life that I'm successful enough so that the people I care about need never work jobs they hate again. That and maybe sleep in more often but mainly the first one.