There's No Time! No Time At All!!

Hello Readers,

This post is half about one of my favourite games and half, a last ditch attempt to get a kickstarter project completed.

In the year 2000 a guy named American McGee (yes that's his real name, awesome right?) designed a game for the PC called American McGee's Alice, which is a twisted unofficial sequel to Alice and Wonderland as well as Through the Looking Glass. It's art style was gorgeous, the music was fantastic and story was so thick it was fantastic. The game was developed by Rogue Entertainment and published by EA, Electronic Arts. The idea that Wonderland has been twisted was so dark but works so well. It's honestly one of my all time favourite settings to anything, films, books or games. The story is that Alice's house burnt down killing all of her family with the exception of her and she goes insane and is admitted to an asylum. You have to work your way through wonderland to get your mind back as the damage to her mind has caused damage to Wonderland.

I haven't actually managed to complete this game yet as I couldn't find a copy of the game for PC when I had one and when I switched to Mac I thought I wouldn't be able to play, but alas, when the sequel came out you could get a free download for this game when you bought the sequel, I was too excited for the sequel and just decided to go back to this game afterwards.

The sequel, Alice: Madness Returns, was released in 2011 by Spicy Horse ( a company run by American McGee) and EA again. This is one I've completed and oh my god I love it. I love it so much I've designed a tattoo for it all ready! After it is clear that Alice is no longer "insane" enough for the Asylum she is taken to an orphanage run by a therapist for young people. She still retreats to wonderland where she learns it's still just as twisted as before. There is a force named the Infernal Train which is racing through Wonderland causes destruction to Wonderland and her mind. You must stop it.

The game has the most interesting themes about what's right and wrong, what deserves to be punished or free to go. There is a lovely bizarre overlap between "reality" and Wonderland and with memories coming back to Alice you start putting pieces together to work out what's going on.  This really is probably the most beautiful game to me and the story had me so intrigued I was almost addicted.

American McGee has made it clear that he want's to make a third game to complete Alice's story but only if people want it. To see if people want more Alice he made a Kickstarter, but not for a game, a film.  The art style is gorgeous and he has all of the same people working for the film as he did the game, including  with some extra's he's determined to make it like a feature length cut scene. But he needs a lot of money to turn a game studio into a film studio without the help of EA who doesn't see it profitable. If there is enough interest for a third game as well as a film
then it is said it might be possible.

The film will be called Alice: Otherlands as Alice will be exploring other important minds of the time period to see what goes on in their heads. A couple of names mentioned is Bram Stoker, Jack the Ripper, Charles Darwin and many more. The goal is $200,000 and recently released stretch goal of $250,000 to get the original voice actors of Alice and Cheshire Cat. There will be an art book as well as a soundtrack out of this money too.  There are three days to go and I really hope it manages to reach it's goal and I urge you to help by spreading the word and even donating yourself. The page to donate has a lot more information as well as more sample work and a listing of rewards. Below is a couple of concept art images that are absolutely beautiful

So please I urge you go to this link:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spicyhorse/alice-otherlands/posts

and donate and share because it is a fantastical world that will challenge how you see the world and question the idea of sanity as well as wonder about your own Wonderland.

Thanks for reading and if you share this, thank you so much
Bye now
Rain

Defiant by SyFy Episode 1 Review

Hello Readers,

My dad has been going on at me everyday for 2-3 weeks now about watching the TV show called Defiant and to "go past the first episode and give it a chance" so I watched the pilot, part 1 and 2. I've noticed that a lot of reviews just go in depth about the plot so i'm going to try to just tell you my opinions in a clear and orderly manner.

The Synopsis of the show from IMDb is as follows, "The series is set in the near future, where aliens known collectively as Votans have come to Earth seeking a new home after their solar system was destroyed. However, when they reached Earth, they discovered despite a prolonged negotiation with the government on Earth, they were not welcome. Rather than turn away, they began a war with the humans as they are determined to make Earth their new home. During the war, the Votans dropped terraformers on the planet and transformed the surface; scorching the earth, opening chasms in the ground and covering the surface of the planet in dust and debris. After decades of war, a ceasefire is declared when both sides realise they must focus on survival on this new almost alien planet. The series largely revolves around the character of Jeb Nolan. Jeb was only ten years old when the Votans arrived and he served in the military during the war. With the war now over, he returns to his hometown of St Louis to find it's is no longer the city he left; it is little more than refugee camp. Deciding his services are needed, Jeb takes up a position as the Chief Lawkeeper in Defiance, so he can protect the town from dangerous clashes between humans, aliens, military scavengers and other dangerous visitors who occasionally enter the town". 

Things I didn't like about the pilot

The first thing I noticed that the aliens were all very typical looking aliens from every other alien film or TV series in the world. I made comparison photo below. During the making of these I forgot about a lot of the names of teh creature I was thinking of in video games, TV and films so there Is on the red-heads one for now, although even then the last one slipped my mind completely.

The second thing was in my opinion the obvious developing romances that were set up in the first episode in a way that made it seem too forced. Maybe it's just my "shipping" self that has been tuned to the romantic development between characters and a clear interest was was just to abrupt for my subtlety seeking eyes. I'm just going to predict that there will be a love triangle between Jeb and the sisters as well as a relationship between the deputy and Irisa, I also think that the McCawley and Rosewater kids are going to have some trouble once the parents' plan becomes known. 

The third thing was the lack of a father daughter bond between Irsa and Nolan. It's established that Nolan considers her his daughter and she calls him Dad but there were moments such as the brothel scene where I felt that their relationship was more "annoyed friend" than daughter and the way he introduces her as "companion" doesn't feel right to me. 

The whole show just felt a bit too "every over-done sci-fi plot" and too predictable although my dad says that there are twists. Another prediction here, the guy wearing sunglasses who's been set up as "the mysterious villain who's working with the unexpected traitor" will betray the unexpected traitor.

Going into a bit more technical stuff here, there wasn't enough shot variety too keep me entertained for long. They all mostly showed the action.


Things I liked About the Pilot


Earth had changed. In most fantasy settings in the future after an alien lands the earth stays the same. When I say change I don't mean cities have fallen I mean that the plant life has changed. If aiens were to land they would be carrying and bringing all sorts of stuff from their planet with them, willingly or not. A seed might of been stuck on some packed clothes, landed on earth and grew. It makes the setting more believable.

Overall there was a lot of action to keep the audience entertained as well as dialogue to inform the audience, there was a very good mix as usually pilots just set the scene and don't do much. 


It also established a lot in a mostly subtle manner, by the end of the episode you are no longer a stranger to this new setting and know a lot about the history of this world and some of the characters.

 It sets up future plot points to get you to come back and watch the next episode and the episode ended in a satisfying, non-cliff-hanger, way.  I like that. A lot. 

The steampunk, post-apocalypse style. I love it. Anyone who's read any of my previous posts know that.

So yes, overall I will be watching the next episode and not just because of my dad I am just really interested in whats going to happen. I hope this review was done okay and managed not to spoil anything or make it so you don't have to watch the episode first. Please tell me below if you liked the layout of this and if you want more things reviewed like this and give me your suggestions!!

Rain

Sucker Punch and Why I've Changed My Mind

Hello Readers,
This post is going to purely be about Sucker Punch. I talked about it a bit in this post.  I have watched it since then and I've changed my mind slightly. Here's what I said in that post:

"Now I'm sure angry people, woman and men alike can rant, rave and rage themselves blue over this film. The sexualisation of the young looking protagonist, the obvious use of good looking woman in typical "nerd" settings and many other arguments that mostly self righteous nerds and feminists say. The film is about a girl who is unfairly sent to an asylum in 1960's and is driven insane by the asylum and escapes to different fantasy's with her inmates.  In these fantasy's she  finds things she needs to escape the asylum.  It was made in 2011 directed by Zack Snyder. Now I agree with some of the arguments to a degree but they aren't the reason I'm putting this film with the bad film good look post. Like most films these day's there was an extended version released and it changed the story by loads. There was a song and a couple of extra shots at the end which changed  the story by a lot. For one it explained the story more and the villains were given a back story that the film needed to be a story. I would of liked more character development for some of the main girls too and know what they're like in the real world which wasn't shown much in either version. I also would of liked all the girls to not just be "YEAH! I'M SUPER BAD ASS AND COOL and a couple of us cry a bit so we aren't entirely flat but that's all there is really". The first fantasy which is the dance show fantasy I liked the look of for the reason I mentioned earlier. I love the burlesque show look with lights, feathers and luxury. The fantasies within a fantasy ( getting kind of inception-y here) had a big steampunk feel. Some parts were purely historic, some were purely futuristic and some where just a very cool mix.  The steam run people in a WWII kind of setting were very steampunk, as well as the clothes and weapons."

Now. I've found an easier way to explain the fantasy within a fantasy thing.  Let's think of this like layers.

Layer 1: A group of girls in an asylum, not all are crazy. It's established that throughout her first day she see's all she needs to escape. There is a woman, Dr. Vera Gorski who uses a kind of therapy with music. You see an area called The Theatre where there is a stage and a falling apart bedroom set. This, along with lots of other sets are mixed with and can be seen in layer two.  Blue is the person who demands money from people to take their non-crazy daughters, wives or anyone, fake signatures to say they are crazy. He also fakes the signature to get the girls lobotomised. It's hinted that depending on the girl he will  have sex with them before the labotomy so they don't remember it.


Layer 2: This is the place Babydoll goes to that represents a part of the seedier aspects of  Victorian mental institutes. The "Gentleman's Club" is a place where the girls are taken or dropped of at to dance (unwillingly) for men and it's described like the show is a menu. The men then choose their favourite girl and pay more money to have sex with her. The girls don't get the money, Blue does. Who in this layer is the owner of the club and direct murder and torturer.

Layer 3: These are the fantasies that the girls have when Babydoll dances. She and her friends use the fantasy to achieve things in Layer 2 and of course ( un-shown) in Layer. These are guided by The Wise Man who is in the first layer at the end and appears to also be aware of the fantasies.


The film does an excellent blend of these layers and the theatre is in fact the same room you see in layer two just really really done up. Another clever blend is when the cleaning closet is shown in layer 2 it's where Blue puts them if they "need to be more compliant" and would stay locked in this enclosed space for a few straight days. The walls are lined in the same way a typical mental patients room is. It's really reflecting and showing what the asylums really were for.

 The girls find a way to break free of their imprisonment and work together to achieve their goal. They want to escape from men who objectify them and find a way to live, when they talk about the  threat of death one of the girls replies with "We're already dead"  it's a pretty powerful metaphor that's not very obvious, woman need to stop being objectified and sexualised, that sounds pretty pro-women to me. The Wise Man points out how they need each other to survive and they learn how. Survival is a strong point in this film and is a recurring theme.

Blue Jones: You suddenly forgot what it is we do here?
  Madam Gorski: I teach them to survive you.

Madam Gorski: If you do not dance you have no purpose. And we don't keep things here that have no purpose. You see, your fight for survival starts right now. You don't want to be judged? You won't be. You don't think you're strong enough? You are. You're afraid. Don't be. You have all the weapons you need. Now fight.

 That "You have all the weapons you need. Now fight" quote was said by The Wise Man too. She's full of good quotes this woman. Look. 

Madam Gorski: It's like we talked about, you control this world. Let the pain go, let the hurt go, let the guilt go.What you are imagining right now, that world you control.That place can be as real as any pain.

Now the outfits change a lot from layers 1 and 2 to 3 because It's what Babydoll and the rest of the gang choose to wear and they wear armour! Well Babydoll doesn't but she doesn't have to because it's okay to like wearing the clothes like that, it's okay if you want to be in control over your body and willing to be seen in a sexual light.  Oh and the "bad-ass", armour outfits are still sexy because a woman doesn't need to wear frills and "girly" things to look attractive. It's also okay to use your natural female sexiness as a weapon. That is another big point in this film, the schoolgirl stereotype grows by using the stereotype agaisnt the people in the film to gain the items she needs to escape. She used teh stereotype to her advantage to be free. So it's all right to be a sterotype if you want, I know that people get looked down on for being a stereotype and this film teaches you how to use that and be strong from it.

Layer 3 is all about their choices. Okay, in the film there are unnecessary jumps and stunts with explosions but don't all action films have that? Just because all the protagonists  are females who are fighting for themselves and for freedom without relying on a man, doesn't mean it's a silly film designed to turn men on by making good looking girls do "guy stuff".

Now I'm going to directly address this video by FeministFrequency on YouTube as an example of people who think this film is sexist.

• She said it doesn't have a coherent plot. I've talked about it already. It's coherant.
• She's basically saying that only men can be hero's in action films
• She says in another video that Katniss from The Hunger Games is empowering because she is a hero who is given a weapon and told to survive. That's what the girls from Sucker Punch do. She said Sucker Punch was trying to trick people into think that was empowering because of that and it isn't. What does she mean ?
• She talks about cutesy names, firstly what's bad about that? Secondly, she mentioned two names. I'm sorry is Rocket a name that slipped your mind?

 So one of the big arguments about this film is that it's objectifying women. The point of the film is being against that!! Actually, here is a page with the actors and directors thoughts on the meaning of the film and it's very interesting. But here I'm going to put what the directer and writer himself said:

"Everything in the movie is about a show within a show within a show. Someone asked me, "Why did you dress the girls like that, in those provocative costumes?" And I said, "Well, think about it for a second. I didn't dress those girls in the costume. The audience dressed those girls." And when I say the audience, I mean the audience that comes to the movies. Just like the men who visit a brothel, [they] dress the girls when they go to see these shows as however they want to see them.
But my hope was that they would take those things back, just like my girls hopefully get confidence, they get strength through each other, that those become power icons. They start out as cliches of feminine sexuality as made physical by what culture creates. I think that part of it was really specific, whether it's French maid or nurse or Joan Arc to a lesser extent [laughs], or schoolgirl. Our hope is we were able to modify them and turn them into these power icons, where they can fight back at the actual cliches that they represent. So hopefully by the end the girls are empowered by their sexuality and not exploited. But certainly that's where they come from, the journey is asking, "What do you want to see? Well, be careful what you want to see.""

I only watched the film again and did more research after seeing this post on the social site Tumblr where she taught me a lot of things. There is mild language in the post so look with caution. I understand that this is a either a hate or love film, please tell me what you think below, if you dislike this film just because it's not your thing I won't complain or argue with you don't worry!

Thanks,
Rain

Acoustic Environments In Relation To Audio Recording

Hi Readers,
The audio aspect of media isn't something I understand a lot a out and isn't one of my main interests but knowledge of this is required. In my desired work place as well as the course so here is what I managed to understand about the different rooms and such.  Humans hear sound because something makes a noise by vibrating and the particles in the air vibrate and a chain reaction of vibrating particles knocks into our tympanic membrane ( ear drum, I actually remember that from year 3 science!) causing us to hear.  Acoustics it's self is the study of how the waves move through liquids, gasses, solids and different materials. I think those very simple explanations will help understand a few things here.

First there are indoor acoustics. Studio based acoustics are rooms that the sound will be recorded in and have another room where everything is recorded. A live room is the name of the part where the sound is recorded.The rooms are usually made wit wood as it blocks sound coming in or out ( this is called sound proofing)  and bounces the sound back to the centre of a room, this is called reverberation. Plastic screens that are curved can help with the bounce of sound.

Dead room are also places where recording happens. There are all sorts of materials fitted used to make it so the recording will have no ambiance and the only sound recorded will be the one made on purpose. It means it's easier to add effects to the sound as its a blank slate. Materials like blankets and soft fabrics can absorb the sound for sound proofing.

Recording outdoors on location (this is called actuality) is a little more tricky. For starters, the unwanted noise from the surrounding areas such as cars and general ambiance noise can distract and disrupt the intended sound. Then there is the wind. If it's strong the sound of it can be heard as well as muffle the wanted sound. Sometimes the surrounding sound, the atmosphere, is wanted so the location is established. To get  a good atmosphere sound you can use a sound bite which is just a section from a recording of the sound. Dead cats are a type of microphone that is very good at picking up the wanted sound outdoors

Not all sound is perfect straight away. Different things can effect how the sound.... well.... sounds. An effects unit changes how an instrument sounds digitally. This is called processing which can be done for all sounds and as long as the sound waves are changed some way it's called processing. The computer and editing software changes how something like a voice sounds. Compressing is when it automatically reduces the volume when it clips and reaches a certain pitch (the level of volume), the threshold and limiting is when you set the threshold yourself.  There things called plugins for the editing software that add specific capabilities so for sound it could be a different effects. Time Delay is something people use to do effects when musicians are live. It's when the input from the instruments is delayed to the speakers. Sound can also do a couple of other clever things with speakers. Surround sound is when there are speakers all around the room that have different kind of sounds at the same time, this is a multichannel. There have been some very creative people on youtube who use binural mic's where sound from the left and right side is recorded and then is played through each side of headphones so it sounds like there is someone right next to you.

Okay there are some of the things about sound I've found out. Thanks for reading if you would like to add anything please comment and tell me more!
Rain

Presentation Styles and Techniques of Persons In Media

Hi Readers,The different requirements and personalities needed for various presenters is very interesting to me. It's fascinating seeing how presenters adapt to the situation depending on what kind of presenter they are, one show can turn a controversial sentence into a joke and another a debate. These are different presenting techniques for different types of presentation.

News Presenter

News presenters must be able to sound very professional, so they have to use the correct terminology and pronounce everything correctly. They can't use any slang, unless of course, it's something like Fox  News. One of the tricky things about sounding knowledgeable is having to sound authoritative, but not talking down to the viewers. Few people would watch a news show that makes them feel looked down on or stupid. They also have to look very professional in appearance as well, so suits or smart clothing should be worn.  There are shows like Newsround that are aimed at kids and use words that aren’t as big and explain things in a clear way. There are also shows on YouTube that have news shows that are meant to entertain teenagers and young adults as well as show them the news. These usually don't need to follow the same rules.

Continuity Announcer

A continuity announcer is someone who links one show to the next at the end of a programme. They aren’t usually seen, so it’s just their voice as the credits roll. They have to sound very friendly so if they recommend a program on another one of the channels or something like that, they sound like a friend that you want to listen to so they have to be convincing too. They often make jokes about the previous programme and the next one so they have to appeal to the type of audience with the right kind of humour.

 

Broadcast journalist

Broadcast Journalists are the people who stand in front of the camera with a microphone telling the News show they work on the information they’ve found out. They must appear knowledgeable about the story they’re talking about, otherwise no one will believe or trust them. They have to talk about fact and research information based on fact, otherwise, when the truth comes out, they won’t be taken seriously again. Their appearance must make them look trust worthy.

 

Magazine Programme Presenter

A magazine programme is a show that’s formatted a bit like a magazine, so it has interviews and commentaries in the show.  The presenters need to look like they know a little bit about everything so when they question people they can seem interested and as if they are learning, but they need to know what it is the person is talking about to ask questions.  They maybe expected to know good interviewing techniques. The presenters need to be able to stay in control of a situation and link the different sections together; it’s like turning the page in a magazine with someone saying something for the pages to link together nicely and smoothly.

 

Lifestyle Programme Presenter

Lifestyle shows can be separated into different sub-categories: Cooking, home improvement, fashion makeover, healthy changes to your life, holiday travel shows and car shows. The presenters for cooking shows act very much at home and comfortable in their workspace, they will tend look more relaxed and their appearance is very homelike and homemade. It’s to make the viewers think it’s all very normal and natural. Home improvement shows have presenters that act quite curious about the development and the process the people chose to do and eager to see how it turns out. The American home improvement shows tend to favour more energetic and enthusiastic presenters. The fashion presenters have to have tact, they need to advise and change a persons look without offending them. They also need to look very stylish and friendly towards the person.  The presenters of life improvement shows are very natural looking, they wear minimal make up and white or gentle, neutral colours.  Holiday travel shows have presenters that are usually tanned and look good in typical summer clothes, they are very relaxed and “mate-y “ when they interact with people. Car shows are very “bloke-y” programmes so the presenters are male and middle aged. They need to have a lot of knowledge on cars but still act like one of the lads”

 

Documentary Presenter

Documentary presenters can be just be voice overs or they can have sections where they are on screen. They have to sound very smart and as if they know a lot, they need to sound like they are educating you but not in a way that sounds like they’re looking down on the audience. The most common documentaries are about wildlife, travel (not holidays), historic and life stories/ jobs but these usually aren’t informative , a fly on the wall kind of style. There are the very different styles of documentaries, for the most part it’s serious and informative but there are some more dramatised documentaries, they usually don’t have good quality information.

 

DJ

These people appear on radio stations and they will play music, talk a bit about it, be entertaining and introduce shows. They tend to be personality voices. It’s their personality that sells them and popular ones get hired more often. They don’t even need to know anything about music they just need to communicate and appeal to the target audience. They often sound like the people listening, they use slang, buzzwords and speak the same way as the target audience.

 

Chat show host

These hosts must be able to look relaxed and relax their guests and ask questions that entertain and/or inform the audience or what the audience wants to know. These shows are all done in front of a live studio audience so they must be able to interact and react with them to create a humourous ambiance.

 

Game show host

These are also done in front a live studio audience. They have to appear in control of the events going on but still look like they are just friendly people who want you to do the best you can at the games. They have to act very lively but still make contestants relaxed. If something goes wrong they have to think quickly about how to recover from it, it’s much easier if there are two hosts so they can bounce off of each other.

 The way these people hold themselves, their breadth of vocabulary, their illustrative language, their accent, their catch phrases, their tone of voice, their pace of delivery, their clothes, their hair and so much more makes a presenter good or bad for a certain type of presenting and so many little things all add up to a big thing. It's pretty elaborate really. Do you think anything else goes in to it? Tell me below.

Rain

It's All About the Look: Part 2

-->  This is a continuation of my post the "it's all about the look" if you haven't read that, you should, no seriously, this won't make sense unless you read at least the first part. My friend has made her own version of this post too, follow this link to read.

Burlesque 
The film was released in 2010 and directed by Steven Antin starring Cher and Christina Aguilera. Now I absolutely adore the burlesque style, the costumes, the stage, set and I love how the dance portrays woman as powerful but that’s a subject that would need an entire blog post on a non-media themed blog.  This film had a cheesy stereotypical dance film plot.  The only difference was that it was the singing instead of dance that made her leave her hometown. I thought the characters were pretty flat. The love interest she ends up with was of course a worker putting of a dream that the protagonist encourages him to follow.  I think the only reason I like this is because of my love of the dance and show burlesque.

 

 Ella Enchanted
This is another “kidd-y” film that stars Anne Hathaway and was directed by Tommy O’Havey in 2004. The film it’s is aimed for children and based on a book so I won’t criticise that. I love how there’s a mix of magic and electricity in this film like the wooden escalators.








Suckerpunch

The dance fantasy

 Now I'm sure angry people, woman and men alike can rant, rave and rage themselves blue over this film. The sexualisation of the young looking protagonist, the obvious use of good looking woman in typical "nerd" settings and many other arguments that mostly self righteous nerds and feminists say. The film is about a girl who is unfairly sent to an asylum in 1960's and is driven insane by the asylum and escapes to different fantasy's with her inmates.  In these fantasy's she  finds things she needs to escape the asylum.  It was made in 2011 directed by Zack Snyder. Now I agree with some of the arguments to a degree but they aren't the reason I'm putting this film with the bad film good look post. Like most films these day's there was an extended version released and it changed the story by loads. There was a song and a couple of extra shots at the end which changed  the story by a lot. For one it explained the story more and the villains were given a back story that the film needed to be a story. I would of liked more character development for some of the main girls too and know what they're like in the real world which wasn't shown much in either version. I also would of liked all the girls to not just be "YEAH! I'M SUPER BAD ASS AND COOL and a couple of us cry a bit so we aren't entirely flat but that's all there is really". The first fantasy which is the dance show fantasy I liked the look of for the reason I mentioned earlier. I love the burlesque show look with lights, feathers and luxury. The fantasies within a fantasy ( getting kind of inception-y here) had a big steampunk feel. Some parts were purely historic, some were purely futuristic and some where just a very cool mix.  The steam run people in a WWII kind of setting were very steampunk, as well as the clothes and weapons.

Okay, that was the second part of my look post.  I need to re-watch some films and maybe I'll see other films that I'll put in part three and who knows this might be an ongoing post. Thanks for reading and please tell me your thoughts in a comment.
Bye now,
Rain