jetpack_monkey_ljarchive

My usual Escapade roomies aren't making it this year and I don't want to be all by myself, for both monetary and social reasons.

Anybody want to bunk with me? I do not snore, will give hugs at the drop of a hat (any hat), and enjoy fannish conversations of many varieties.

I may or may not want to do some Tabletop gaming in the room, but can  move it to alternate venue if that's not in your interest.

Full disclosure: I am a walking mass of privilege, being a white, mostly-heterosexual, cisgender dude. But I'm also aware of this and will correct if any issues that are brought to my attention.

ETA: Speaking of Escapade, how many of you fine folks are going this year?

qkellie asked me to discuss my atheism on Christmas. I did start to write the post, but I stopped. I really had nothing to say. Today, I'm going to lay out, briefly, what I believe.

Technically, my belief system is probably more agnostic, but my operating reality -- the way I prefer to view the universe on a day-to-day basis -- does not include a central omniscient creator/deity. I acknowledge that there could be one, but act as if there is not. I believe that no religions is correct about what is going on, because religions tend to start from the premise that everything can be explained right now and then build from there. I think that everything can be quantified and tested, but there's a lot we just don't know and aren't equipped to know yet. I believe that what we think of as the supernatural is simply nature we haven't explained yet (but I'll wait for science to be able to come to conclusions after rigorous testing). I believe there's more things in heaven and earth, Horatio.

I also have a naturally superstitious disposition and tend to ascribe exaggerated meaning and patterns to personal life events. I'm constantly fighting that impulse. Human psychology is terrible.

cesperanza had a doozy: "I'm really wondering, if as a film person yourself, you've been noticing the really terrible continuity editing in the blockbusters of late. To me it's as annoying - and as obvious, and sadly now happens almost as often - as typos in the running scroll boards at the bottom of news programs, or people saying the "T" in often when they shouldn't. I am guessing that it is because the film is so expensive to shoot that if its too long, they just hack it out scenes, or if they don't have the shots they need, they just assume we won't notice. But I feel shocked and appalled by the sloppiness of mainstream film of the most expensive kind! Am I crazy?"

Right around the time you asked this, I was reading Robert Rodriguez's excellent book, Rebel Without a Crew, which is his journal of the making of El Mariachi. He has a bit that stuck in my mind:

"We only had one problem at Azul's. Since it was so hot, he kept taking his leather vest off between shots. In one sequence he forgot to put it back on. I hope it's not too noticeable. Azul asked if we should reshoot the scene and he'd put the vest back on. I told him it wasn't worth wasting film on something like that and that if people noticed it, that means they're probably bored and we've lost the battle so we might as well keep going."

Now, that's in reference to an ultra-low-budget film where film was at a premium, but I think the basic philosophy is sound -- if your audience is sitting there picking nits, you probably didn't have them.

The larger the picture, the more balls are in the air, the more people are involved, the more minute details need to get tracked. If you sit through the end credits of films (I always do, out of respect for the technicians who put a lot of time into being utterly invisible), you know that they're getting longer and longer.

With that said, there are some errors -- like misspellings in incidental graphics -- that are ridiculously easy to catch and correct and they make me mad.

I want to go off on a bit of a tangent and say I wish that people made more mistakes sometimes. Not silly careless mistakes, but happy accidents. Set dresser Frank Silva's reflection gets caught in a mirror while filming the Twin Peaks pilot and suddenly you have BOB. Patrick Fugit asks Kate Hudson to feed him his cue again while the camera is still rolling and Almost Famous gets the adorable "Ask me again" character moment for William Miller. There's a film -- the name of which is escaping me at the moment -- where, at a key moment, the entire picture dissolves to white. Artistic brilliance? No. There was a crack in the film casing. It was left in.

These days, though, everything is digital and it's easy to be a perfectionist. Anything you don't like can be fixed in post. Did the boom mike get into shot? Erased. Want the picture to pop a bit more? Throw in that ubiquitous orange-teal filter! You can be lazier while making the film because there's ways to take care of your errors later. I get that there are benefits and efficiencies to digital filmmaking, but it's a tool and should be deployed where appropriate. Some movies are still better on film, with all of the mistakes that can occur.

I highly doubt I'll have any vids I'm releasing between now and December 31st, so here we go:

Vids premiered in 2013

February (Festivids reveals)
All the Rowboats (The Godfather series)
The Angelic Look (Charlie's Angels)
Back to Avalon (A League of Their Own)
Feel Dead Inc. (Cabin in the Woods)
I Don't Speak Hungarian (A koppányi aga testamentuma)
Wolfsbane (The Wolf Man series)
Burn Brighter (Firestarter)

May
Wonderful World (multi)
Blow (The Prisoner, VidUKon)

August (Vividcon)
crushcrushcrush (Star Trek: DS9)
Let's Go to the Mall (Dawn of the Dead 1978)
A Quite Serious Thematic Analysis of the Works of David Cronenberg (David Cronenberg)
Slippery Slope (The Wicker Man - 1973)
Starships! (Monochromatic Remix) (multi)
Va Va Voom (I Love Lucy)
Vividcon 2013 Premieres Intro (Werewolf multi)

My favorite video this year (of my own):
It's a tie between All the Rowboats -- where I really challenged myself -- and Starships! Monochromatic Remix, which was fun to make, fun to watch, and was an overall educational experience.

My least favorite video this year:
I'm still not completely comfortable making vids about interpersonal relationships, so I feel like The Angelic Look could have come out so much better than it did.

Most successful video:
My instinct here is to say Starships! remix, but that one is such a gimme based on how great and loved the original by bironic is. So I'm going to go with Blow, because it was a labor of love for me and it had an unexpected, nigh-overwhelming response.

Video most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Wolfsbane. Hands down. Some of my most emotional, angsty work there.

Most fun video:
It's probably a tie between Starships! remix and Feel Dead Inc. The latter was just a blast to make and I still have fun watching it.

Video with single sexiest moment:
David Cronenberg has a whole spate of them. I worked really hard to make that vid both sexy and uncomfortable at the same time.

Biggest vid fail:
I still owe nakedbee a vid for making my amazing Prisoner jacket for Club Vivid. It's going to happen, I promise!

Hardest video to make:
Different levels of hard. Va Va Voom was the most difficult in terms of work-to-enjoyment. It was really kind of a slog, because while I was theoretically a fan of I Love Lucy, in practice, I wasn't feeling it. All the Rowboats represented a challenge I gave myself to bring my vidding to the next level and really be more than just the guy who makes fun vids or horror vids.

Most unintentionally telling video:
This is always such a weird category, so I'm going to go with the vid that told me the most about myself in the making -- Starships! (Monochromatic Remix). I have always been a film history buff, but I was astounded at how much easier it was to make that vid (which encompassed 77 different sources) simply because I was learning while I was doing it. I've always known that my external reason for vidding is to curry the respect and admiration of my peers. Making the Starships remix clarified my internal, personal reasons for vidding -- I do it to learn. I gain an intimate insight into editing, cinematography, and film history with this one hobby. The more I vid, the more I understand how film works and the more I understand I have more to learn yet.

Other vidding miscellany:

So I wanted to repost one of my responses from last year's iteration of this meme, where I talk about my expectations for 2013:

I honestly think 2013 is going to be a big year for me. I have some really interesting vids planned (or already made in terms of two Festivids vids). I plan on hitting Vividcon with all rockets firing and really pushing myself in terms of technique, musicality, and narrative. I don't think I could have come to this point as a vidder without the amazing community and I plan on doing more in terms of volunteering at Vividcon, running panels, and putting together vidshows.

I just got really emotional re-reading that because I am not a goal-setter and when I do set goals, I usually disappoint myself. But I feel like I accomplished all of the above. I'm a more assured vidder now. I've made vids that would've seemed impossible to me 18 months ago. It's been a good year.

For 2014:

I released 16 vids in 2013 -- I think I'm going to take a step back. I'm going to hunker down and focus on a smaller set of vids that are really important to me. And a couple of silly ones, too, because I'm me. And I'd like to make a video game vid this year. That would be cool.

grammarwoman asks: "What is the One True Vid (or more, if you want) of your heart that you don't think you'll ever make?"

If there's a vid I don't think I'll ever make, then I've probably let it go and it wasn't meant to be. There's a vid that I would love to make, but I'm really terrified about it being taken the wrong way.

It's a Lawrence of Arabia vid that centers on Lawrence's "What You People Need is a Honky" arrogance. I want to explore how his attempts to keep the Arabian people "pure" from British influence was itself an attempt to foist foreign cultural values (in the form of Lawrence's "noble savage" ideal) to a people who already their own culture and values, thank you.

I have a couple songs in mind -- one in particular really works for me -- but I'm really timid about approaching it because I could end up being the white male privileged asshole myself. It's definitely a Vividcon-level vid in my head, but if I don't execute this sucker perfectly, it's going to blow up in my face. I just don't have the confidence to approach it.

I want to take a little more time to ponder cesperanza's request about continuity errors, so it's moving to later in the month.

Working on Festivids has been kind of a slog this year, which makes me sad, since I was on fire last year. I am trying to be more... I don't know... forgiving of myself? I suffer from depression and ADHD and I can't compare my productivity at one point in the year to the same point the year previous. It doesn't work that way. I need to accept that.

Also, I am still playing lots and lots of Borderlands 2. And do not get me started on System Shock 2.

Shifting yesterday and today's answers by a day, so I'll get to the query about vidding music tomorrow (or Sunday).

greenet asks: "Favorite ongoing comics not from the big two?"

This one is so easy it's not even funny.

Saga.

It's the only comic I'm buying day-of (still digital like most of my comics purchases, but I'm willing to pay the extra dollar to have it now now now).

Brian K. Vaughan (he of Y: The Last Man, another comics masterpiece I'm working through) and Fiona Staples are crafting some epic sci-fi, full of intergalactic conflict, crazy world-building, interwoven fantasy elements, and poopy diapers.

Let me back up.

So there's this war on, right? Between the winged technocrats of the planet Landfall and the horned magic-wielding people of Landfall's moon, Wreath. The clever thing, though, is that destruction of either celestial body would destroy the other, so the war has been outsourced to every other habitable planet in the known universe. It's destroyed some cultures and made a pretty profit for some others.

Anyway, in the middle of this, there's two soliders, Alana and Marko. Alana is from Landfall, Marko, Wreath. They're not terribly good soldiers, but it turns out they're fantastic lovers. In the middle of everything, they fall in love, nature takes its course, and the series opens as Alana is giving birth. This is a PR disaster and both sides of the conflict send their forces to capture or kill the lovers, who take their baby with them on the run.

Oh did I mention that the whole thing is narrated by the baby? Well, from a future point where she's not a baby anymore. That her survival is inevitable doesn't detract from the story, though, which is full of rich, interesting characters who all have their own wants and needs. For instance, Prince Robot IV, one of the pursuers, is something of a psychopath, but he's also consumed with worry and expectation about his own pregnant wife.

I also like that the story isn't about the war or the plucky rebels rising up against the dictatorship or the benevolent government beset by terrorists. It's about the people whose lives are affected by the war even as they make every attempt to get away from it. There's very few scenes of an epic scale.

This doesn't mean that Saga isn't epic. It is so fucking epic. It might be a story about the little people, but goddamn, do they feel huge. I love them. So much.

Also there's a cat. She's called Lying Cat and she has a hook/trick to her that is so simple it's brilliant. She may be my favorite character.

Quick note before we get started -- the latter half of the month is quite barren, so there's still time to get me to babble. Just leave a comment here.

kiki_miserychic wants to know: "are there any movies that you wanted to like, but didn't? meaning, a movie people loved, but you didn't"

There's plenty. While I am very fond of Citizen Kane, I feel it has narrative pacing problems around the middle that keep it from being the "greatest film of all time."

I think The Exorcist is a smug, self-important joke. Paranormal Activity had me rooting for the monster to kill the male protagonist quickly. In fact, there's more than a few horror films out there where I just don't get the love -- but I think that horror is an area where I'm going to be more critical in general, because I've spent enough time with it to have developed a very specific sensibility and taste. What might blow one person's mind is going to be a "Same old, same old" for me.

With blockbusters, I've had more than a few occasions when walking out of a movie theater with friends, where everyone else was going "Did you see?" and "OMG that part!". Meanwhile, I'm trying to start a conversation on the narrative flaws, logical problems, or thematic dissonance. Not because I didn't like the movie, but because I felt that was the most interesting conversation one could have about it at the time. Nobody else seemed to really agree.

Also, I didn't have a good textual response to Saturday's query about my user interest "Gregory Peck's Left Eyebrow" -- so have some visuals:

( Read more... )

For kiki_miserychic's inquiry about one of my user interests: "please explain gregory peck's left eyebrow" -- I will actually have to come back to that one. For reasons.

From elipie : Ramble on about your favorite Universal monster.

For sheer power an emotional resonance, nothing beats the Frankenstein Monster as played by Boris Karloff in the 1931 film Frankenstein (and to a lesser extent in Bride of Frankenstein and a much lesser extent in Son of Frankenstein). Anyone arguing that monster acting is somehow less than "regular" acting should immediately review the scene where we meet the Monster for the first time. Karloff, under heavy makeup, uses awkward, stilted-but-not-stiff movements to evoke the otherness of this hapless being.  Then, in one of my favorite movie moments, Doctor Frankenstein opens a slat in the roof and lets the sunlight pour in. The Monster, who in his brief time on Earth has only known the darkness of the lab and its dungeon, reaches up, stretching for the light, his eyes full of confusion and wonder. And just as soon as he finds something hopeful in his life, the doctor closes the slat, his experiment moving on. And Karloff's hands go out in this helpless, pleading gesture and I. just. fucking. break.

Karloff's performance throughout really captures the soul of the Monster, an Other born into a world that didn't want him and that he didn't ask for. It's a 75-minute commitment that I suggest you make. Now. I'll wait.

While I do love Bride of Frankenstein, I think it loses some of the Monster's pathos for a number of reasons. The movie is played much more strongly for comedy, for one thing. The Monster also spends a good chunk of the film playing henchman for Dr. Pretorious, which becomes his go-to role for the next several films, serving one human master after another, until he becomes a pawn to be left off the play board until the end of the movie by the time House of Frankenstein rolls around in 1944. Of course, Karloff exited the role after 1939's Son of Frankenstein, an excellent film that, unfortunately, reduces the Monster's role to boogeyman at the beck and call of Bela Lugosi's Ygor. Don't get me wrong, I love their dynamic and Lugosi kills it in that movie, but it's clear that they've burned through all of their interesting ideas for the characterization and development of the Monster.

If I had to pick a Universal monster that absolutely did it for me in all of the films in which it appeared, it would have to be The Wolf Man/Larry Talbot. But that's an essay for another day.

Ahem. Sorry. Throwing my hat into the ring of "posting on topics provided by friends". It's an abbreviated schedule because I missed the first few days.

So here's how it works -- at the bottom of the post are the days of December. If you want to read my witty, scintillating thoughts on a subject, claim a day in the comments.

I'll talk about anything, but here's some general areas where I might have more thoughts than others: running a website, vidding, horror movies, movies in general, comic books, atheism/agnosticism, video games, and anything listed in my user interests.

So here's the list of dates. Multiple topics encouraged. Leave a comment!

December 3 -- This.
December 4 -- Tell us about your vidding process. In general, or of one specific vid you've made if you prefer. (thirdblindmouse )
December 5 -- Ramble on about your favorite Universal monster. (elipie )
December 6 -- How does it feel to be (such an awesome) dude in the so heavily female dominated vidding world? Do you see something gendered in vidding, or is it just the sort of thing that more dudes would like if they'd--IDK, let go and embrace their feels more?? :D (cesperanza )
December 7 -- please explain gregory peck's left eyebrow (kiki_miserychic )
December 8 -- what do you think was the main message behind Wonderfalls? (kiki_miserychic )
December 9 -- are there any movies that you wanted to like, but didn't? meaning, a movie people loved, but you didn't (kiki_miserychic )
December 10 -- What's your earliest memory of gaming? (elipie )
December 11 -- Favorite haunted house film? Or what makes for a good haunted house film? (greenet )
December 12 -- Favorite ongoing comics not from the big two? (greenet )
December 13 -- Is there a genre or style of music that you think should be vidded more often, either by yourself or by others? (seekingferret )
December 14 --
December 15 --How did you find fandom, and how long have you been involved? What about fandom appealed to you, and what place does it have in your life? (vagabondage )
December 16 -- Continuity errors and you: a rant (cesperanza )
December 17 -- the invention of film in the 1990s (shati )
December 18 --
December 19 -- What is the One True Vid (or more, if you want) of your heart that you don't think you'll ever make? (grammarwoman )
December 20 -- if someone were going on vacation to where you live, what would you suggest they do while there? (kiki_miserychic )
December 21 --
December 22 --
December 23 --
December 24 --
December 25 -- I think it would be very edgy to talk about agnosticism/atheism on December 25. (qkellie )
December 26 --
December 27 --
December 28 --
December 29 -- tell me about the time you laughed the hardest (kiki_miserychic )
December 30 --
December 31 --