Yo, adulthood, take a back seat — I am so playing this come launch day.
D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M D O O M ! ! !
•February 13, 2016 • Leave a Comment UNCANNY VALLEY [short film]
•February 12, 2016 • Leave a Comment3DAR’s latest short film explores the frightening potential of our next technological revolution — virtual reality; its ramifications and exploitation of fantasies and behaviour.
In the slums of the future, virtual reality junkies satisfy their violent impulses in online entertainment. An expert player discovers that the line between games and reality is starting to fade away.
Interesting concept. Well executed. Good twist. Great title too, as ‘uncanny valley’ is a term used to describe computer generated humanoid characters that although they may resemble people, they just look intuitively wrong. The concept was identified by the robotics professor Masahiro Mori as Bukimi no Tani Genshō (不気味の谷現象) in 1970.
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used in reference to the phenomenon whereby a computer-generated figure or humanoid robot bearing a near-identical resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or revulsion in the person viewing it. “anyone attempting to build a believable human facsimile also has to beware of the uncanny valley.”
Uncanny Valley director Federico Heller is already shopping a feature version of the idea which will be part of a massive multi-media experience including a VR game on Oculus Rift, with the help of INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE writer Carter Blanchard who took it under his wing after it blew him away.
If you liked that you may be interested to hear about an upcoming feature film THE CALL UP that takes on a similar premise, whereby gamers are faced with real-world life or death consequences within a virtual space:
A group of online gamers are invited to trial a state-of-the-art virtual reality simulation.
The film’s US sales rights were recently picked up by Altitude Films, and the film is expected to release worldwide in the second quarter of 2016.
Quantum Chess — Paul Rudd vs. Stephen Hawking
•February 10, 2016 • Leave a CommentCaltech’s Institute for Quantum Information and Matter in association with Trouper Productions bring you a chess match for the ages: Paul ‘Ant Man’ Rudd vs Stephen ‘one of the greatest minds of our generation’ Hawking in a game of Quantum Chess, narrated by Keanu “whoa” Reeves:
Director: Alex Winter / Producers: Devorah DeVries (Trouper Productions) and Spyridon Michalakis (Caltech) / Associate Producer: Damir Omic / Director of Photography: Joe DeSalvo / Graphics: Jonathan Pope/ Script: Jose M. Gonzalez / Story: Gorjan Alagic, Chris Cantwell, Jose M. Gonzalez and Spyridon Michalakis / Editor: Chris Catanach (Stitch Studios) / Ant-Man footage courtesy of Disney and Marvel Studios. Funding provided by the National Science Foundation.
How NOT To Introduce a Female Character In a Script
•February 10, 2016 • Leave a CommentA new Twitter account via the handle @femscriptintros, created by Hollywood producer Ross Putman, features actual introductions for the female leads in scripts he himself has read. They are questionable, sexiest, confusing, not very insightful, and all together silly.
Putman changes the name of the female leads to Jane, but otherwise, he states that everything else is verbatim. While the intros are hilarious at first, they grow increasingly cringeworthy once reality hits that these are serious. And the trends he uncovers explain a lot about the way Hollywood looks at women. Below are some notable choices:
Question; is casually jumping naked on a bed normal among women? I think I can guess the answer, but I blame advertising for skewing my perception of what is not real femininity. I don’t know what’s not real anymore. No really.
Ye old adage, “sex sells”, is a reality, but one has to wonder how absolutely ridiculous selling sex must read on paper, and the people/men who OK it. Video related:
Kiwi Protester Hurls Dildo at Politician
•February 5, 2016 • Leave a CommentIt seems, John Key (prime minister) and his party’s legacy to NZ is provoking a nation to hurl dildos in frustration.
New Zealand’s economic development minister, Steven Joyce, had a dildo thrown at him today during a press conference in Waitangi, Te Tii Marae. A woman at the event, nurse and anti-TPPA protester Josie Butler, threw the sex toy at the minister whilst shouting “that’s for raping our sovereignty”. She was soon after taken away by police.
Mananews‘ interview with Josie clears some of the questions surrounding the incident:
Can you explain the reason for you throwing the dildo at Steven Joyce? I’m a nurse and I’m very concerned about the effects of the TPP on my patients. I believe, and I am not alone, that the TPP will have profoundly negative effects on New Zealand, socially, culturally and economically.
Did you expect it to gain this much attention? The aim was to gain awareness about the atrocity that is the TPPA.
Would you do it again? I will continue to proudly stand up for my country and it’s beautiful people.
“We actually thought it was a little bit humorous at the end of it all” ~Steven Joyce
If anything, that video proves to the world how chillax we Kiwis can be, as well as how serious. Honestly speaking though, if it’s bullshit you’re selling, it will mean war!
Dream Shadows — Sleep Paralysis Sux [F]
•February 5, 2016 • Leave a CommentEarly this morning (4ish) I experienced sleep paralysis. Before waking, I dreamed I was in a living room in the dark and hiding on the floor under a duvet, trying not to move because there was a presence in the room (dream logic scenario). I willingly kept still, but then realised I couldn’t actually move a muscle, which is when I saw a shadowy figure standing over me, featureless (I saw dark legs anyway), and what felt like a hand pressing down on my chest — this pressure being the thing locking me in my place. I then woke up with a jolt. And then a few seconds later, awake…I threw a punch in the air. …Just to make sure. It’s funny now, yeah, but hey, you tell me how funny sleep paralysis feels if and when you ever experience it.
I like keeping personal things to myself, but just so you know how super uncomfortable it made me feel; one of my biggest fears is a h___ i_v_s___. So this isn’t something I will soon forget in the recess of my mind. Seriously, shadows, stay clear of my personal space bubble. Sheesh.
“The Nightmare” oil painting by Henry Fuseli (1781).
Spawn – The Rise of Image Comics [comics]
•February 1, 2016 • Leave a Comment
Marvel and D.C. are the two major comic publishers many have heard about. There are a lot more of course, but one publisher in particular (which happens to be my favourite) is the topic of this short video essay where the publisher’s underdog origin story is revealed — IMAGE COMICS: where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties:
R.I.P. David Robert Jones / Bowie 1947~2016
•January 11, 2016 • Leave a Comment
Incarnations of David Bowie by UK-based illustrator Helen Green.
Taipei Fine Arts Museum’s Bubble Device & Water Calligraphy Device 水书法器 by Nicholas Hanna
•January 1, 2016 • Leave a CommentNicholas Hanna is one inventive fellow, he also made this Water Calligraphy Device:
Reddit Q&A with Rick Remender [comics]
•December 6, 2015 • Leave a CommentWriter Rick Remender (BLACK SCIENCE, DEADLY CLASS, LOW, TOKYO GHOST) opened up to the internet recently in a Q&A session hosted over on Reddit:
Writer Rick Remender offers the keys to life by finding your center in the joys of the universe in this, his second, and best ever, reddit AMA. (self.books)
lvest, asked:
“Hey, Rick, thanks for a lot all your great work. I can’t tell you how much I am enjoying Low, and I can’t wait for it to start up again.
What advice do you have for people who want to write good stories? I don’t care about making money, I just want to write stories that people want to read. How did you learn to write as well as you do?”
Remender, AMA Author/Submitter:
“Write about the stuff you think about all day. Write your obsessions and passions and hates. Write what you know or what you want to explore. Write what you want to read. Care about it or they’ll know you don’t.”
Nazislike, asked:
“Who were your heroes when you were younger and with you being one of the top writers in the industry, what words of wisdom do you have to offer the next generation of writers entering the world of comics?”
Remender, AMA Author/Submitter:
“My heroes by age 12 were painter Robert Willaims, Steven King, John Byrne, Jeff Grosso and Ian Mackaye.
Wisdom… well, make sure it’s what you want. You have to already be doing it. If you’re not making comics, you might not have the sickness. If you are, if you’re writing and drawing everyday, and you love it so much nothing else seems feasible, then my advice is keep making more comics. Anyone can get good at something. I’m no special snowflake, I just love writing and drawing. You do it long enough and give everything you have to it and you’ll get good. Then you have to keep at it for year and years when there is no sign that it’ll ever pay out. Eventually you’ll find where you belong. Mostly.”
[Details can be found at http://www.rickremender.com or @remender. Above art by Bengal @bengal_art.]
NZCA Lines — “Two Hearts” [♬]
•December 5, 2015 • Leave a Comment“Two Hearts” is a delightful slice of electro-pop — NZCA Lines, the London-based (previously solo) project of Michael Lovett, is joined by Charlotte Hatherley (Bat For Lashes, Ash) and Sarah Jones (Hot Chip) for their forthcoming album ‘Infinite Summer’.
From the album Infinite Summer. Out 22/1 on Memphis Industries. Preorder from www.nzca-lines.com.
Lovett says that the album is influenced by his love of science fiction authors such as Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), explaining the album’s concept in a press release: “The album is based around the idea of a far-future Earth, where the sun has expanded to the size of a red giant and our extinction is imminent. Half of the world is covered by a city [Cairo-Athens] that clings to the past and embraces its destruction, whilst the other half is trying to rebuild, create and make something new. Yet, it’s good on both sides because it’s warm everywhere and people just party most of the time.”
🎭 