Van-El II

So... I'm going to be a voice actor...

van_el — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:37:16 GMT

...in something that's a mish-mash of audio-novel, radio-play and podcast. Who'd have thought?

It's a London (UK) science fiction-comedy production called A Brief History of Time Travel. If you're at all interested, you should probably head over to their website HERE to see what's going on and to listen to the trailer (which is pretty funny). There's quite a few names involved who will be recognizable to some from British TV - but the most famous one has to be Robert Llewellyn, the legendary Kryten from Red Dwarf, himself - as narrator.

I'm currently slotted for an undetermined guest role in one episode - kinda like an extra in one of those crowd scenes, but with real lines and a credit in the cast at the end. I think.

It's going to be my first ever role, and recording will begin in May, the aim being to have the episodes available to buy and listen to around August. There's a book available, and people buying the episodes will be able to get a version which includes "DVD extras" at some point. I might even be part of that feature (though probably more in bloopers than in anything else more interesting, but you never know).

Wish me luck, and if you like the idea of playing "spot the weird guy I know" - buy the show!

(Belated) Happy Non-Denominational Winter Gift-Giving Holiday, sponsored by CommercialMas!

van_el — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 15:47:11 GMT

The above to you and any family you have.

As with last year, I am going to list this year's haul from under the tree... or in my case, handed to me in an envelope or the original shopping bag...

1x IOU written on HSBC Bank Headed Counter Cash Paperwork Slip reading: "IOU - One (1) delivery package containing one (1) Non-Denominational Winter Holiday Gift from an as yet unnamed online retailer, to be received no later than 29/01/2013 (quoting 1 to 6 weeks delivery dispatched on 20/12/2012)" (from fraternal unit)

1x €50 Note and Christmas Card in an envelope (from step-grandma) - received 05/12/2012 *note - not legal tender in the UK, as the UK is not and never will be part of the European Monetary Union and is doing what it can to pull out of the European Union...

1x (substantial yet not to be revealed £GBP amount) direct bank transfer to current account, in lieu of gift cards, cash and card or present due to inability to figure me out (from maternal unit)

1x copy of Virtue's Last Reward for 3DS (from step-paternal unit) - received 05/12/2012 *note - this was one of those cases where I was at the checkout with it and he offered to pay it for me instead, then and there, calling it "your Christmas present, three weeks early".

1x collected series DVD box of "The World God Only Knows" Season One. An actual gift. An ACTUAL WRAPPED GIFT.(from kid sis, an impoverished student)

She may not have given me the most expensive thing, she may not have given me the most extravagant thing or exciting thing, either - but she gave me something I'm going to enjoy (she knows I loved the show and like to rewatch anime when it gets dubbed), she gave it to me on Christmas Day and she gave it to me wrapped with a card and everything. I think this means my kid sister officially wins at Christmas - don't you? That said, special mention should go to my very sweet and lovely step-grandma. €50 is a lot of money for a pensioner - but I haven't the heart to tell her that I can't spend it, and that with the Euro in pretty bad shape, not to mention bank charges and commission when I change money, her present will lose over a quarter of its value if I try and convert it...

And that's it!

Hope you guys got good hauls this year!

What wonders and knowledge can be discovered when you play The Game of Books?

van_el — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 07:25:06 GMT

The Game of Books is both an educational tool that encourages people of all ages and walks of life to read, and a means of tracking your reading interests thematically, to provide you with reading recommendations. The people behind the game (and sister site BookLamp.org, which analyses the "DNA" of books) are launching a smartphone app designed to monitor the books that you have read and the themes that those books contain - and you earn "experience points" and "level up" much the same way you would in an adventure or role play game (be it video game or pen, paper and dice). When the game is finally completed, it will also allow you to show off your "reader levels" and your reading "accomplishments/achievements/trophies/badges" - the latter being earned for completing certain author's works or a series of books.

As a result, you might select books that will help you level up specific reader levels you have if you want bragging rights for reaching a higher Reader Level or Title than your friends, or you can supplement recommendations of books by linking your friends to the picture of the card for that book (which also shows the XP earned when you've completed it for the five biggest themes in that book's story DNA - such as these ones for Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Bram Stoker's Dracula).

There's currently an incomplete (over half the books and authors I wanted to add aren't listed, and some features aren't complete yet), beta available to play online here, and below is my character card

What does YOUR card look like? I'd love to see you guys post this (meme style) on your LJs or in the comments.

I'm also curious what books you guys think I read most commonly to get scores like that (FYI, my next five highest rankings are "Fields & Hills" Level 24, "Historic Combat & Military Campaigns" Level 18, "Monsters, Predators & Beasts" Level 13, "Forests & Trees" Level 11 and "Old City Infrastructure" Level 11 - all of which may or may not be red herrings!)

Edited To Add 1: If you're wondering how to save your progress when adding books to your list in game - you will have to bookmark the very latest version of the website you have after adding books (and after creating a card). This is because this beta site is only a demo and the smartphone app and user account system won't be ready until August 2013. This works because the game just adds the ISBN numbers of each book you add to your list as you go, once you have completed a card.

Edited To Add 2: In the interests of warning people, several famous book series such as Artemis Fowl, Percy Jackson, Redwall, Harry Potter and the Hunger Games books are not yet on the StoryDNA database - and as such they are not in the game yet. That said, Twilight fans can rest assured that that series is in there, despite these other notables being among the missing...

Some of the sillier thoughts I had while watching the second Man of Steel trailer...

van_el — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:03:25 GMT

People liked the Hulk in Marvel's The Avengers. They think he stole the show. Maybe I can get the fans to like me if I do my best Bruce Banner Impersonation?

Seeing as I saved you and a bus full of kids, can I take you to the homecoming dance, Lana? And please don't tell my Dad about the bus...

Mysterious and Powerful Kandorian Artefact tied to Clark's Kryptonian heritage and the House of El... or a Novelty Pencil Eraser?

My 3rd Grade Science Experiment: Why it's sometimes okay to let a bus full of children die according to my Dad.

Female Audience: Clark Kent shirtless and on fire... CLARK. KENT. SHIRTLESS. AND. ON. FIRE! *SWOON*
Male Audience: Getting flashbacks to Arnold Schwarzenegger walking through the flames in the Terminator Movies...

BE AMAZED! I'm going to use my psychokinetic powers that I only ever showed in Superman 2 to swirl an ounce of snow around my fist!

"Give him to me, Lara. I will send him to a planet twenty seven light years away from us, with only technologically backward savages around him, with no one to protect or nurture him and leave him to be someone else's problem long after the Planet blows up and we are long dead - even with my many enemies seeking vengeance upon me through him; all of them snapping at his heels. It will be a painful, lonely existence of servitude and guardianship over inferior beings while constantly battling forces of evil. It's the best life we could possibly give him..."
"As long as he doesn't get raised by someone who would have a transport shuttle full of younglings perish for the want of a kind act..."

Why are you kneeling before Michael Shannon? YOU SHOULD KNEEL BEFORE ~~Terrence Stamp~~ZOD, CURSED SON OF JOR-EL!

Lara Lor-Van watching Kal-El's ship escape Doom and Destruction, or an over produced J-Pop Music Video Warner Brothers lifted to save money on the movie?

~~Morpheus~~Perry White doing Gangam Style while Metropolis collapses around him...
♪Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy scared lady~~!♫

I'm sorry there, officers... I didn't know the Pentagon and White House were no-fly zones...
... and can someone please tell me where I left my red pants? Covering my crotch with my hands in cuffs is tricky and this is a family movie!

This is the look on Lois Lane's face when she realizes Superman's going to bang her, then beat Zod, then fly off to space leaving her to deal with pregnancy on her own, then come back after 6 years without so much as a phone call, and then skulk around in the background of her life with her new husband like some superpowered stalker...
...what do you mean Superman Returns isn't canon? What do you mean this is a REBOOT?

The over-designed S-Shield, so that we know it's an alien glyph and that it isn't just an S for Superman! HONEST!

What is WRONG with Warner Brother's PR Department?

van_el — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:42:40 GMT

While I get the theme in the twin-narrative teaser trailer for the movie - of "Silver Age Era"/1930s Clark Kent travelling the world for years after the deaths of Jonathan and Martha Kent to discover his place in it and his connection to humanity beyond that of his adoptive parents (a theme that made most people scream out in the style of Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?) - I don't get how this poster does anything but give a rather incorrect image of arguably the first truly recognizable costumed superhero archetype in Modern Myth.

Why is the Last Son of Krypton in handcuffs and being escorted by an armed division of the National Guard? Why does Kal-El have such a confused, spaced out expression on his visage?

In fact, the best caption *I* can come up with is this:

Superman arrested and charged with FUI (Flying Under the Influence) and possession of Kryptonite infused Cannabis. News at Eleven.

Apparently, this is what $4.05 billion buys...

van_el — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 01:42:32 GMT

...when it's not used to buy Marvel Entertainment.

I'll just leave this here...

van_el — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:05:18 GMT

In honour of tonight's DC Comics Robot Chicken Special, I present...

van_el — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:21:09 GMT

...the REAL reason why DC Comics UNmarried Lois and Clark:

For those who want to play something that's ANGRIER than Birds on your iOS or Android Phone/Tablet

van_el — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 23:54:12 GMT

When I posted about this before, I didn't take into account how slow a news day it was...

van_el — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 04:40:26 GMT

Marvel Now! - Join the ReEvolution (all currently released #1 regular edition covers)

van_el — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:17:35 GMT

A certain comic book company rebooted its entire superhero comics universe last year (end of September) and released new Issue #1s for 52 titles. The event was (and still is) a great success in terms of the numbers the books are selling at - with a few changes here and there since to keep the momentum.

Marvel Comics noticed this. Starting October, they're following suit with their "Marvel Now!" universe-wide relaunch. Not all the new books have been announced yet, and not all of them have published covers either - but the ones they've released are shown below the cut. Wonder what you guys think of the NEW Marvel Universe!

How different superheroes handle their dual-identities:(single image post)

van_el — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 13:07:12 GMT

Seeing as my last post probably made people lose their breakfast/lunch/dinner (delete as appropriate to timezone and post view time), I thought it might be nice to post something that makes people laugh instead.(Warning - image is NSFW due to use of 1 F-Bomb)

Dear DC Comics - This'll probably piss off more fans than it'll please

van_el — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:27:28 GMT

I give you the Jim Lee Variant Edition Cover to DCnU/The New 52's Justice League 12:

Let the comments commence!

I HELPED FUND A MOVIE!

van_el — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:51:53 GMT

At the time of writing, I have successfully helped a movie get enough funding to complete shooting, distribution, DVD pressing and now I am not ONLY due an exclusive, first pressing DVD with a bunch of extras, my name will be in the credits!

If you want a chance to be a part of the same movie, you have about 15 and a half hours left at time of writing... Just follow the link to the movie's details here, or here

Kickstarter and the Quest for Cheap Eats.

van_el — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 20:12:43 GMT

I thought that, to take a break from my typical nerdy posts and chat about movies, video games, toys, cartoons and comic books - I would take some time to talk about a website I like to visit: KickStarter.

For those of you who aren't aware, KickStarter is a website which offers something called Crowd Funding services: in short, it's a website where creative types of all kinds can solicit financial backing in order to get a project off the ground, typically in exchange for related goods or pre-orders of the finished product - without having to lose creative freedom to a big company or investor. The person creating a project on KickStarter must have a US Bank Account, an Amazon.com Payments Account, and set a target for their project to get off the ground, a deadline, and a set of tiered rewards for potential backers. Backers (people like you and me who want to support a project/preorder the finished product) who pledge must have an Amazon.com account as well, in order to process payment of their pledges (and create a free KickStarter account, too).

Now, for a project to actually be funded, the project must gain at LEAST enough pledges to bring them over their target within their self imposed deadline, or no backer is charged any money. Once the project is fully funded and the deadline passed, no more money can be pledged, and it's now down to the project creator to get their project going and sending off those rewards.

That's how the site works in a nutshell.

Now, personally I have been using KickStarter for a little while now. In fact, if you're curious of the wide range of things you can end up backing, feel free to check out my profile over on the website to see some of the crazy things I've backed (and perhaps get some insight into how my messed up geeky, nerdy brain works).

That all being explained now, I'd like to recommend a project to my friends on LJ here, and hope that you spread the word, even if you yourselves don't back it: The project is called "The Food Stamp Gourmet" and it can be found here. Rather than explain the project myself, I'll let the project's pitch video explain it all:

Edited To Add: Oh dear. I didn't notice the video wasn't working until mark_clark pointed it out. Thanks, Mark!

Something I found while waiting for another "Hi, I'm a Marvel and I'm a DC" episode...

van_el — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:14:59 GMT

The Latest Superhero Movie Costume Snafu!

van_el — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:58:55 GMT

Dear LJ-Friends and Google Passers-by,

I know that some of you are at least aware at how I rag on some superhero movie and TV costumes in IMs with you, be it a famous conversation I once had with htbthomas about Susan Richards (neé Storm)' outfit spawning from a screenshot analysis comment about Black Widow in Iron Man 2, laughing at Peter Parker's Spider-Man Nike Sneakers with the likes of jenn_1 and mark_clark or even decrying the new Man of Steel Superman Costume with babettew54.

I've largely left The Dark Knight Rises alone, though - not out of respect for the franchise (little known fact - I despise the current Nolan movies as, personally, I don't think they even star Bruce Wayne or Batman, but a badly miscast Christian Bale embodying himself and not the character instead), but lack of interest in the property and therefore managing to avoid it altogether...

...and then Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment showed some press photos I stumbled across on Den of Geek, which happened to make me blurt out the first thing that came to mind...

I AM THE GODDAMN BATMAN! FEAR ME AND MY GODDAMN NECK-BRACE!!!

You have to see this to believe it...

van_el — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:13:24 GMT

OH GOD!

I was searching for "Avengers Movie Plushies" on Google today... and as a result, I think I found a spoiler for either Thor 2 [Summer 2013] or Marvel's The Avengers 2 [TBD]...

Either this is some horrible, cruel and unusual nightmare-of-a-punishment and banishment by Odin Allfather for his transgressions and war-crimes or Hasbro's website design has some strange scripting glitches they really need to fix!!

I found Loki HERE of all places! (screenshot included in case they take the link down)

I know he's done terrible, terrible things - but is this punishment truly fitting of the crime? To be banished to the realm of the FurReal Friends for Eternity?

Edited to Add: It seems Hasbro has de-listed the previous search result from Google in an attempt to prevent spoilers for the upcoming movie(s). That said, the search string now reveals THIS instead. Oops!

Disney/Marvel Avenger Build-a-Bears Assemble!

van_el — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:38:00 GMT

If you thought the movie tie-ins were getting ridiculous, think again! Meet the newest entries in the Build-a-Bear Workshop Catalogue!

Captain America Blue Cuddly Hearts	Iron Man Champ - A Champion Fur Kids	Hulk Bearemy

Teddy Bear US/Canada Site - UK Site	Teddy Bear US/Canada Site - UK Site	Teddy Bear US/Canada Site - UK Site
Costume US/Canada Site - UK Site	Costume US/Canada Site - UK Site	Costume US/Canada Site - UK Site

As of right now, there are no other Avengers currently on sale or in design process, so Thor, Hawkeye & Black widow fans (along with GiAnt-Man, Wasp and Black Panther fans for the cartoon watching kids-of-all-ages) are currently out of luck. Oh, and there's another Marvel movie out this month, so maybe that's why this little guy has a bear, too...

Oh DEAR Disney... how did you manage to screw THIS up?

van_el — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:24:36 GMT

Considering the foreign take for a movie some are saying "makes all previous Marvel Studios Cinematic Universe movies look terrible," you'd think Walt Disney Pictures/Buena Vista and Paramount - the owner and credited distributor respectively - would do their utmost to ensure a press preview of the movie for US audiences would go without a hitch.

No one wants to follow up a decent overseas take (over $178 million, USD in the first weekend) with a domestic flop TWICE in a row...

That said, SOMEHOW they managed it: I've heard of deleted scenes, but this is ridiculous

Van-El's Marvel Movie Megapost!

van_el — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:58:03 GMT

So, I just got back from watching "Marvel's Avengers" (or as the UK and Ireland billing has it, "Marvel Avengers Assembled" in order to avoid confusion with a certain 60s and 70s UK Cult TV classic detective show which got a Hollywood remake starring a villainous Sir Sean Connery). If you want to find what I thought of the film, just follow the LJ cut below and read on., True Believer!

Note: There are many plot and Easter Egg spoilers beneath the cut, but they are hidden behind spoiler tags and as such will only be visible if highlighted or you hover your mouse over them. Thought you should know.

tl;dr - It's an amazing popcorn/action-movie that will certainly entertain for the nearly two and a half hour runtime. Seeing it in 3D is well worth the cost of admission. Seeing it in IMAX 3D will make the visuals even more impressive.

In full: OK, so Joss Whedon had a lot on his plate - tying together the hints of the Avenger Initiative from the "Iron Man" movies, the Cosmic/Tesseract Cube from the "Captain America: The First Avenger" flick, and the concept of alien and interdimensional aspects of the Marvel Universe in "Thor," and somehow make room to explain how this ties in to the "The Incredible Hulk" movie and its post-credits scene after the battle in the streets of Harlem.

While he does a great job doing so, with all these threads to pull together - he does have a bit of a struggle to explain it. If you've not seen the other movies, you'll have the odd speed bump catching up - but if you're the target audience of this movie, chances are you've seen all five and won't be mentally putting together a "who's who" chart in your head and grasping at plot threads.

The movie plays its plot well - Loki has found allies after his fall from grace at the end of Thor. Having been denied the Asgardian throne, Loki now seeks to take Earth as his Kingdom to spite his adopted brother, offering the Tesseract Cube as a price for the use of an Alien invading force, known as the Chitauri (who Ultimate Comics Marvel Universe fans are familiar with, though these guys aren't shape-shifters and seem to have a cybernetic/hive-mind thing going on). When he steals the Cube from SHIELD's Joint Dark Energy Research Facility with the assistance of a mind-controlled Professor Erik Selvig and Agent Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, among others, Nick Fury reactivates the decommissioned Avenger Initiative and calls for the assistance of people around the globe who will form "Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Unfortunately, these same heroes are such a clashing group of personalities, that it will take a miracle for them to band together. That or the threat of the End of the World, of course.

Initially the team appears successful - with Cap, Shellhead and Widow being able to capture Loki with extreme apparent ease that unsettles the stoic Sentinel of Liberty - their victory is cut short by the arrival of Thor, who seeks to capture both Loki and the Tesseract Cube and return them to Asgard, leading to a three-way battle royale beatdown by The Big Three as they settle their differences on how to deal with the Trickster God.

Unbeknownst to the team, they aren't being told the full story - it seems the World Governments are running scared because of the events of the last five films, especially with the revelation that Earth is hopelessly and hilariously out-gunned and outclassed by alien and other-dimensional beings. As a result, they seek to use the Tesseract Cube to power weapons much like Hydra and the Nazi Regime did in World War II. While SHIELD and the heroes clash over this revelation, Loki makes use of the in-fighting to enact his ploy - and reason for easy capture - to destroy the SHIELD Helicarrier from within, using the Hulk as his ace up his sleeve - and sow dissent in the ranks.

The movie has multiple trademarks of both Stan Lee and Joss Whedon in the writing. From Stan, you have the conflicts and inter-personal details that often make you wonder just HOW this collection of flawed heroes is ever going to be a team and not a loose-knit group of individuals without a common goal. From Joss, his witty dialogue - with the best lines seemingly reserved for Tony Stark and Phil Coulson - is everywhere... and one OTHER trademark of his that would lead to spoiler territory. The delivery of the all star cast is what draws you to the story - aided by a good, if not great, script.

One question that comic book fans will be asking is how the team gains the name "The Avengers"? Without Janet Van Dyne as the Wasp to explain that the team should avenge the wrongs done by others, the name doesn't automatically come to mind for the team until the death of Agent Phil Coulson at the hands of Loki - stabbed through the back with his otherworldly sceptre. This event is used to galvanize the group into a functioning team with a single purpose, and it was definitely a big surprise to the crowd in the theatre with me!

But it's not all talking heads and round tables and harsh words... or even comedic timing. No, people want to see this film because they want stunts, explosions, beat-downs, collateral damage, laser beams, shield slings, bullets flying, archery, acrobatics, magic, lightning... and a big giant green guy in torn purple trousers smashing things up. You get all that - and THEN some.

The final set-piece, a battle raging through the streets and skies of Manhattan as the six heroes band together is one that - by all appearances - dwarfs most of the other competitor budgets for an action sequence.

Or, as Hulk would put it. "Puny buildings and puny enemies GO SMASH!"

Onto a couple of Easter Eggs: Marvel Comics nerds and aficionados should look out for several key names of politicians from the Marvel Universe, particularly those in the SHIELD Oversight Committee. Stan Lee's cameo is right at the very end of the film during a man-on-the-street interview over the events of the film's climax - lamp-shading the ludicrous notion of superheroes in New York, and is hilarious as always, and no Marvel Movie is complete without some kind of post-credits scene. This one is a doozy. It appears the Chitauri have a leader, and it's a cosmic villain who hasn't been seen outside of comics - I don't think he's even featured in the cartoons... Thanos!

As a comic book nerd, I would give this film high marks - in the region of 8 or 9 out of 10. As a regular mainstream viewer, the length of the film may be a stumbling point and could cost the film between a half or a full point. Worth watching regardless.

Oh, and in case you were planning on asking me if the new Batman Trailer was on the reel before the movie? Not in the UK it's not.

Edited to Add: Having watched the film four times, now - solo, with my kid brother, with a group of friends who are comic book fans and with a group of pure action fans - I feel I need to add a little more to the review than when I initially published it.

The first and most glaring weakness of the motion-picture has to be Maria Hill. Despite fan excitement over her presence in the movie as the wary, hard-as-nails military security woman acting as Nick Fury's second - and a driving force in the events of the comics story-lines such as "Marvel Civil War," "Secret War" and "Dark Reign."

With a director/writing collaborator such as Joss Whedon, one would have expected Special Agent Hill to have *some* impact on the movie plot beyond being someone for Samuel L. Jackson's Fury to bounce lines off of. Sadly, she seems to have been reduced to a non-entity. It wasn't so much a shortcoming of Cobie Smulders in the role as it was the screenplay itself - and her lines and role could easily have been given to any other SHIELD grunt.

What are you still doing here reading? GO WATCH THE MOVIE NOW!

Warner Brothers must be REALLY desperate.

van_el — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:15:37 GMT

While one would expect that a character, franchise and (as DC and Warner Brothers would call it) "intellectual property" such as Batman presumably has legs given the pop-culture icon levels of following he and his recent movies have had - it appears that Warner Brothers isn't above making Devil's Deals to prevent any kind of risk.

Case in point, the fact that Warner Brothers, Legendary Pictures and DC Entertaimnent/Comics have targeted perhaps the only challenger to its crown for "Summer Blockbuster Movie."

They've paid an undisclosed sum to have the third and final trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises" run prior to Disney and Marvel's "Avengers" on the 4th of May, when it goes on wide release across the United States (No word yet on international territories, some of whom are releasing the movie nearly a week in advance).

Knowing the intense, competitive rivalry between Time Warner and Disney (not to mention Marvel and DC), I have to wonder just how desperate Warner Brothers were when they signed off on this, and how much blood money they had to pay to Disney for the privilege?

To be fair to the Bat Crew - I may have a slight tinge of bias here due to the *largely* positive critical reception to the Avengers trailers and TV spots, while behinds the scenes news seems - if the same internet forum boards, news-feeds and aggregators are to be believed - less than positive or lukewarm reception to the designs of Bane and Catwoman, along with aspects of plot that have leaked. It's also quite possible that Disney and Buena Vista (along with co-distributors Paramount) desperately needed the cash on offer from the Time Warner camp, resulting in this unlikely of advertising alliances.

My guess is that they feel the need the Avengers moviegoers to double-dip for TDKR just to feel safe in the investment so far...

Like the Rainforest, the Uncanny Valley is Slowly Disappearing.

van_el — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:20:50 GMT

For those of you who have no clue as to what the "Uncanny Valley" is, it's a hypothesis put forward that the more human-like a human facsimile is - be it a robot, mannequin, CG image or voice synthesis, for example - whilst still remaining imperfect, there will be a feeling of "wrongness" or even revulsion at the sight or interaction with it.

The phrase was first coined by Mori Masahiro of the Mukta Research Institute in Tokyo back in a paper he had published in "Empire" in 1970; since then (to an extent) his assertion holds true. Many people bemoan CG in movies, and it's amazing just how many people spot airbrushing and artificial graphical editing of images. The heavy reliance on auto-tune also seems to aggravate people, with speech synthesis also feeling weird.

That being said, this is changing quite rapidly as technology pushes development further and further through the use of more sophisticated design and advanced techniques allowing for quirks and nuance not available to older methods and hardware.

.Case in point, this video (do yourself a favour and watch it in full-screen HD to see it in all its glory):

"KARA" (A short film by David Cage / Quantic Dream)	The Making of "KARA" Technology Demo for the PS3

The above video shows a REAL-TIME rendered CG movie created for the Sony PlayStation 3 to showcase what is possible in the future of both gaming and film-making on the platform. The technology used for the movie, available to all Sony Network Users as of the beginning of this month, is in fact 1 year old in comparison to the advances Quantic Dream - David Cage's animation studio - have since achieved and are ready to utilize in modern games. Yes - as amazing as it is to believe, the above video is, in fact "obsolete technology" and running on a home videogame console.

Interestingly, it also addresses the intention to obliterate the Uncanny Valley. If you're still in need of convincing that this is possible, the above is the result of a scant 6 years worth of progress on the previous generation of the same CG tech used in the videogame "Heavy Rain" (also by Quantic Dream).

I'm curious, though, as to what people make of this - be it the movie itself, its theme, or the concept of the Uncanny Valley itself. Is it something to fear, as it may cut into the livelihoods of artists and actors if Hollywood or its replacement entity/entites get greedy? Is it something to embrace as it reaches a point where any amateur film-maker with a computer can create a film at home without need for actors at all? Will it ever happen? Please comment with your thoughts below

So, there's this here movie coming out on the 4th of May...

van_el — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:45:04 GMT

...and it had a Superbowl Trailer that went something like this:

thoughts?

DC Comics: "We're not being propagandist, honest!"

van_el — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:38:19 GMT

OK, most people on here know that I'm a huge comic book fan - and while I love Marvel and DC, comic books aren't all about superheroes and villains. The medium allows for storytelling in all kinds of genres - and in particular - from all kinds of peoples, nations and voices.

I love the American comic book industry for the weekly/monthly/quarterly fix of escapism and storytelling that it offers, but it's certainly not the only source of entertainment I consume.

I am a huge anime and manga fan. It kinda comes with me being half-Filipino, growing up in Quezon City and watching imported Giant Robot TV shows from Japan, subtitled or dubbed into English/Tagalog. It's shows like Daimos V, Casshern, Gatchaman (G-Force: Battle of the Planets) and Astro Boy that are largely why I'm a big science fiction nerd.

So when I see a campaign like this - paid for by DC Comics (America's largest and oldest comic book publisher) that I'm rather saddened.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

DC Comics, and comic book stores - please don't tell us what to buy. That only makes you as bad as the people trying to censor our internet...