Video games are an art form that entraps millions into a cyber-reality that reflects the human mind and challenges it's decisions. Even games as simple as Tetris recreate our identity as strategists and competitors.
Today I will be discussing Arkane Studios' role playing game called Dishonored. This action-packed strategy game follows the royal protector in a gothic, British-esque empire called Gristol. The main character, Corvo, is framed for murdering his empress and secret lover as well as holding the princess hostage. The story follows Corvo rescuing his daughter and killing the conspirators who set him up in order to gain complete power of the state.
Dishonored's storyline is rich in universal qualities of storytelling: love, loss, revenge, and questioning the gray area between good and evil. As Corvo Attano, a player has choices just like in reality. One can choose to be an unforgiving killer, or a merciful rebel who knocks out the opposition, which could end up in gaining their support. Most low-level AIs in this game are unaware of Corvo's innocence, but based on statistics, most players kill them off anyway.
In conclusion, any video game like Dishonored resembles a reimagined reality that either us humans lived in, could have lived in or could be living in (of course in a dramatized fashion). What would we do in a situation such as Corvo's? Would we bloody our path to satisfy revenge? Or would we take the time to sneak our way around the opposition to respect our deceased Empress who only desired peace?
Games are like a history lesson for future generations. It explains the creator's perspective of reality during whenever the storyline was made. Just like novels, but more interactive.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Voice and the Auteur Theory - Wes Anderson
Today I will be discussing the similarities between three of Wes Anderson's films: Bottle Rocket, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Anderson has a strong voice that passes through each of his narratives. The most apparent theme between these films is the desire to escape the ordinary world. In Moonrise Kingdom, main characters Sam and Suzy desire to, quite literally, leave everything behind them and start anew in the wilderness. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, young Mr. Moustafa willingly drops his life to live and breathe The Budapest Hotel as a simple Lobby Boy. Lastly in Bottle Rocket, Anthony and Dignan decide to steal from Anthony's parents and create new lives for themselves as criminals.
Another couple themes seems to stand out as well. The "Buddy Story" as well as the "coming-of-age" genre. Sam and Suzy are clearly a duet from the beginning, slowly falling in love and finding crafty ways to stay together. On a lesser level, the Lobby Boy and his mentor Mr. Gustave befriend each other quickly. They even end up stealing a priceless painting within the first couple days. We follow them for most of the film in a flashback. Lastly, Anthony and Dignan are childhood friends and both has similar social issues, but they learn and build from each other. Regarding "coming-of-age", all these stories exhibit a young protagonist running through trial and tribulation, becoming more mature by the end of the piece.
Here are some more minor similarities that may not be comparable to all three films. Anderson LOVES actor Edward Norton. He plays the scoutmaster in Moonrise Kingdom and a Sargent in The Grand Budapest Hotel. To add, Anderson seems to love color, reds and yellows in particular. It's clear that production design is very important to him. Lastly, Anderson's directing scheme seems quite theatrical with characters making big and bold movements, complimented with camera movement.
Anderson has a strong voice that passes through each of his narratives. The most apparent theme between these films is the desire to escape the ordinary world. In Moonrise Kingdom, main characters Sam and Suzy desire to, quite literally, leave everything behind them and start anew in the wilderness. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, young Mr. Moustafa willingly drops his life to live and breathe The Budapest Hotel as a simple Lobby Boy. Lastly in Bottle Rocket, Anthony and Dignan decide to steal from Anthony's parents and create new lives for themselves as criminals.
Another couple themes seems to stand out as well. The "Buddy Story" as well as the "coming-of-age" genre. Sam and Suzy are clearly a duet from the beginning, slowly falling in love and finding crafty ways to stay together. On a lesser level, the Lobby Boy and his mentor Mr. Gustave befriend each other quickly. They even end up stealing a priceless painting within the first couple days. We follow them for most of the film in a flashback. Lastly, Anthony and Dignan are childhood friends and both has similar social issues, but they learn and build from each other. Regarding "coming-of-age", all these stories exhibit a young protagonist running through trial and tribulation, becoming more mature by the end of the piece.
Here are some more minor similarities that may not be comparable to all three films. Anderson LOVES actor Edward Norton. He plays the scoutmaster in Moonrise Kingdom and a Sargent in The Grand Budapest Hotel. To add, Anderson seems to love color, reds and yellows in particular. It's clear that production design is very important to him. Lastly, Anderson's directing scheme seems quite theatrical with characters making big and bold movements, complimented with camera movement.
Monday, March 20, 2017
In Class Assignment - Jim Jarmusch Film Similarities
- Most are Black and White
- Slow blocking in action
- All films are coming-of-age dramas
- The man of good intentions forced to do evil deeds based on their differing situations
- All period pieces, normally in rural areas
- Long, static shots of full coverage. Doesn't shoot for normal coverage.
- Multiple main characters - parallel editing until they finally meet
- Tone: Rough, Edgy, out-of-place,
- POV / Theme: Leaving the conformist world to find the eventual goal
- Lots of cigarettes and alcohol
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Adaptation: Costume Designer for Chinatown
Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" follows Gittes, a private detective hired to investigate a case regarding adultery, and instead finds corrupt, greed and murder. Set in 1937, Polanski revisits the narrative style of Film Noir.
As Costume Designer, I'd like to start with J. J. Gittes, a former-policeman trying to make an honest living. I can picture him in a black suit with a fedora of the same color. As he goes through trial and tribulation, the audience gets to know Gittes on a more personal level. By the end, I would make his color pallet change from black to a navy blue. He smokes cigarettes and drinks, just like any classic noir detective.
Duffy and Walsh are a team of lackluster detectives who do nothing but argue with one another. Because of this, I'd like to dress them similarly. Duffy's suit would be a darker tan while Walsh wears more of an oak tan.
Evelyn Mulwray is the female lead who is running from the very beginning. She's been through non-consensual incest with her father, defaming scandals and is constantly on the run after the half-point. As she gets tougher and tougher, I'd like her color pallet to shift from pale pinks (innocence) to a radiant red (fights back).
Ida Sessions, the sneaky woman who posed as Evelyn is the mini femme fatale in "Chinatown". I picture here as a sensual woman, trying too hard to look like she's the farthest thing from a threat. She should have long blonde hair and a semi-revealing dress (we don't want to make it too obvious now do we?)
Noah Cross is the hidden antagonist throughout the entire film. I picture him in a slick dark-gray trench coat symbolizing his apathy towards others, i mean, he killed a man.
Mr. Mulwray was the hardest to conceptualize, for his neutrality between Gittes and Cross. I decided he'd look good with a dark green suit. This implies a sickness to him- a poison. He's only got so many pages to live.
As Costume Designer, I'd like to start with J. J. Gittes, a former-policeman trying to make an honest living. I can picture him in a black suit with a fedora of the same color. As he goes through trial and tribulation, the audience gets to know Gittes on a more personal level. By the end, I would make his color pallet change from black to a navy blue. He smokes cigarettes and drinks, just like any classic noir detective.
Duffy and Walsh are a team of lackluster detectives who do nothing but argue with one another. Because of this, I'd like to dress them similarly. Duffy's suit would be a darker tan while Walsh wears more of an oak tan.
Evelyn Mulwray is the female lead who is running from the very beginning. She's been through non-consensual incest with her father, defaming scandals and is constantly on the run after the half-point. As she gets tougher and tougher, I'd like her color pallet to shift from pale pinks (innocence) to a radiant red (fights back).
Ida Sessions, the sneaky woman who posed as Evelyn is the mini femme fatale in "Chinatown". I picture here as a sensual woman, trying too hard to look like she's the farthest thing from a threat. She should have long blonde hair and a semi-revealing dress (we don't want to make it too obvious now do we?)
Noah Cross is the hidden antagonist throughout the entire film. I picture him in a slick dark-gray trench coat symbolizing his apathy towards others, i mean, he killed a man.
Mr. Mulwray was the hardest to conceptualize, for his neutrality between Gittes and Cross. I decided he'd look good with a dark green suit. This implies a sickness to him- a poison. He's only got so many pages to live.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
World Building - "The Book of the Dead"
Topic: What are the precise strategies that are used by its creator to convey the world to us and us to the world?
Edwidge Danticat adds subtle background information to the conflicts occurring in "The Book of the Dead".
On the first page, our inciting incident is Ka, a Haitian-American art teacher and our hero, is waiting in an office at the hotel she and her missing father are staying at. There, Ka gives bits and pieces of what she hears and sees: the hotel manager has a Spanish lilt to his voice and that the police officer is Floridian. Within the first page, the readers already know that we are in a Spanish-section of Florida.
Later in the story, we figure out who Ka is giving selling her statue to: a famous Haitian-American named Gabrielle Fonteneau. Here, we now know the time period. If a Haitian-American is successful and wealthy, our timeline is passed the Civil Rights Movement. I'd say around the 70's to the 80's.'
Edwidge Danticat adds subtle background information to the conflicts occurring in "The Book of the Dead".
On the first page, our inciting incident is Ka, a Haitian-American art teacher and our hero, is waiting in an office at the hotel she and her missing father are staying at. There, Ka gives bits and pieces of what she hears and sees: the hotel manager has a Spanish lilt to his voice and that the police officer is Floridian. Within the first page, the readers already know that we are in a Spanish-section of Florida.
Later in the story, we figure out who Ka is giving selling her statue to: a famous Haitian-American named Gabrielle Fonteneau. Here, we now know the time period. If a Haitian-American is successful and wealthy, our timeline is passed the Civil Rights Movement. I'd say around the 70's to the 80's.'
Sunday, February 19, 2017
The Yellow Wall-Paper - Writing Assignment
Set in the early 1900's, The Yellow Wall-Paper is about a woman assumed to have a false disorder called hysteria and is entrapped in an airy, cringe-worthy room prescribed by her physicist husband. Throughout the story, our protagonist slowly goes insane, seeing a woman trapped behind the piss-yellow wall-paper. The subtext of this story implies that this woman is trying to save herself.
The question for discussion: How are relationships between men and women are portrayed in this story?
The physicist, John, is the true antagonist from the first page. He decides who goes where and what happens, even with his sister who assumes her "natural female job" as a house-maid. John has convinced our hero she is insane when, from reading the first couple pages, seems quite normal. Because of John's forceful nature and entitlement to being right and more intelligent, the woman becomes insane due to the situation she is put in.
What I'm trying to get at here is that woman in this era are taught to be submissive towards men and not to question the expectations of what a woman can and cannot do or feel. They are in a constant cage of limited activity, which was contextualized to the T with our hero gaining intrigue in assisting a helpless woman behind the wall-paper. It's really her, trapped in a male-driven world.
The question for discussion: How are relationships between men and women are portrayed in this story?
The physicist, John, is the true antagonist from the first page. He decides who goes where and what happens, even with his sister who assumes her "natural female job" as a house-maid. John has convinced our hero she is insane when, from reading the first couple pages, seems quite normal. Because of John's forceful nature and entitlement to being right and more intelligent, the woman becomes insane due to the situation she is put in.
What I'm trying to get at here is that woman in this era are taught to be submissive towards men and not to question the expectations of what a woman can and cannot do or feel. They are in a constant cage of limited activity, which was contextualized to the T with our hero gaining intrigue in assisting a helpless woman behind the wall-paper. It's really her, trapped in a male-driven world.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
A Female Heroin Design
Today I will be designing a female heroin in a world that is a quite dramatic version from our own.
I would like to create a heroin that fights for women's rights and inspires the young generation to break the stereotypical profiles that are brought upon them. Being skinny, submissive and a caretaker are only some prejudices that must be eradicated for women of the world to truly branch out and be whoever they want to be.
Imagine a country where women are enslaved to men. As the caveat for this repulsive life style, a rebellion was formed called "Unity" made up of women and men with common sense. It informally seceded from that nation, Divicious, and constantly attempts to take down that government, but has been having issues doing so. Divicious has the numbers and the technological strength, but their flaws aren't something one can see, it's in their human right standards and life style (clearly). Women who are enslaved to caretake and reproduce only need the inspiration to break from the prejudice they have of themselves and fight back against the oppressors.
Our female lead, Jeffra, was a brainwashed Divicious native that was a trusted secretary and spy for the Vice President. At first, she believed in the oppression, thinking it's where she belonged. After having to "teach a lesson" to a reproductive workforce on strike and then being sexually assaulted by the VP as a "thank you", Jeffra realized how terrible her actions have been for her own gender. She needs to make up for it and make a difference.
This world doesn't have superpowers, but Jeffra's skills are the closest thing to it. In her old days, she would spy on the women workforce's leaders and act accordingly. With this experience, she knows exactly how to blend in a crowd, even a crowd of men.
Jeffra has found herself personally at Unity and quickly skyrockets through the ranks. She's quick, diligent and innovative, but has suppressed aggression that usually always gets her into some trouble during the missions in Divicious. Though, her charisma and kindness trumps her flaw at the last second, therefore being able to give anyone a second chance, because she was given one as well.
Jeffra has never been interested in anything sexual and doesn't identify with a sexuality. This makes her crossdressing very useful when she infiltrates Divicious's governmental meetings. Physically, she is not skinny nor overweight, but that doesn't matter. Her muscles are helpful but not prominent. Jeffra has a business-like fold in her hair on the left side and it only goes passed her ears.
In this story, Jeffra's goal is to redeem her past by being the strongest force to take out Divicious and help create a new, equal community for all: gay, straight, male, female, black, white, and so on.
- Daniel G. Gorham (2/12/17)
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