Just Keep Wishing… Just Keep Wishing… FINDING DORY!

It might have been revealed on April 1st, but it is most certainly not a joke! The wonderful movie of Finding Nemo will have a sequel. With the revival of several old movies such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Star Trek, and the entourage of 3D Disney movies, it seems that it was only a matter of time that Finding Nemo gets it’s sequel. No one was probably as excited as Ellen Degeneres, the voice actress of Dory.

She often refers to the lack of a sequel to Finding Nemo in her talk show (I watch the show enough to attest to that) and I’m pretty thrilled for her and for myself that Dory will be on the big screen again. Finding Nemo broke movie records, but Ellen also become the first voice-actress to win the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of Dory. We always see actors being awarded for their work on film, but isn’t it time to award voice actors as well? As an aspiring voice actress, I’d like to see some more recognition for magnificent voice-overs.

We’re going to get to see Nemo, Squirt and all the other young sea dwellers grown up in November 2015! Perhaps there is hope to see Jackjack from the Incredibles grown up one day too.

Fan-Financing: Veronica Mars

There’s fandoms, fanart, fanfiction, and now fan-financing. Crowd-sourcing is not unheard of; between start-up investments and scholarship funding, sites such as Kickstarter is a hub where projects find investors.

The fans of Veronica Mars broke Kickstarter records when the project of the Veronica Mars movie was proposed online. The project was fully funded in less than half a day. Thats two million dollars of fan donations. The project also had the most supporters ever recorded on Kickstarter. Looks like the movie’s happening. Read the NY Times cover of the whole thing here!

I remember watching Veronica Mars way back when, but never followed the series. It’s intriguing how excited fans are to bring this series back. Hoorah for the glee and joy that is Kristen Bell.

Perhaps this fan-driven success of Veronica Mars will spur the revival of the sci-fi phenomenon Firefly.

Here’s an interesting Ted Talk from Amanda Palmer, an artist who asks her fans to fund her recording, but releases her music for free.

No More 2D for Disney

According to an article from UK’s The Guardian, Disney has announced its termination of 2D animation for film. As a person who watched Disney 2D animations since childhood, I find this decision a pity. Yes, 3D animations are quite nifty, but I do not find it any more or less able to tell a story as compared to 2D animation. The article quotes Pixar’s John Lassester, who claims “unfortunately, 2D became the excuse for poor storytelling.”

Even the executive agrees that it isn’t the medium of 2D or 3D animation; if the story is good then 2D would work as well as 3D. I watched Disney 2D animated films before I knew English and was able to understand the story without a problem. On the same token, I watched the 3D animated Toy Story, and also understood what was going on without knowing the language. Clearly, it is about story not the dimension.

Disney’s recent release of Paperman showed a lovely integration of hand-drawn animation with 3d technology. I believe that this is the direction that Disney should head into. What’s Disney without princesses and hand-drawn graphics? Where has the magic gone?

 

Games for Change vs. Violence in Video Games

Violence in video games have always been topic of interest for parents, teens, journalists, designers, and most likely many other groups. Games are labelled with suggested ratings and some online games even allow for parental control. But I feel that violence has always been inherent in video games. The earliest games I played as a child were Street Fighter, Duck Hunt, and Contra II, Bushido Blade and Super Mario, Breath of Fire III. If it wasn’t direct combat or shooting, it was “defeating/killing” of enemy monsters. Even in a racing game such as MarioKart, you can throw shells at other racers to sabotage their drive. Were violence in video games as questioned back then as they are now? Is it the rise of first-person shooters and high-definition graphics that have people raising concerns over violence in video games?

In documentary “Digital Nation”, the Army Experience Center is featured, in which the military is allows youth to play video games such as first-person shooters and piloting simulators as a way of recruitment. The center spurred a group of protesting mothers who demanded the center be shut down, giving the claim of “war is not a game”. As much as I am a pacifist, I do not see the Army Experience Center to be a necessary evil; it is more of a clever recruitment technique.

As video games are being attacked for being violent, there are also “games for change”. Games for change is a movement to develop video games that will educate and inspire social, political, lifestyle, and/or global change. Games featured on the website tackle issues from bullying to genocide. One particular game, “The Killer” demonstrates the horror of hostage situations in Cambodia. The player holds a gun and forces a hostage to walk to the execution ground, along the trip, both may die from a landmine. If the player were to make it to the execution ground, the player is ordered to shoot the person. If the player decides not to, the hostage goes to the desert and dies of dehydration. Violence is clearly evident in this game, but is it grouped with the first-person shooters and survival horror games? Is “The Killer” exempt from criticism because it was made to raise awareness?

Screenshot of The KIller

#ifihadglass

Google poses the question “What would you do if you had Glass?” to the masses. Google Glass brings the science fiction fantasy of extreme mobile personal technology to the 21st century. It is a “pair of glasses” with one lens that can receive voice commands. One can take pictures, record videos, inquire for directions and translations, etc. In its latest stages of development, Google invites “Explorers” to be the first users of Google Glass.

The application to become an Explorer is the answering of the prompt of “If I had Glass,” in less than 50 words, five pictures and/or fifteen second video. One also has to follow Google on either Google+ or Twitter.

It’s interesting to see how video and picture applications are now accepted where as in the past, only eloquently written essays were the only way to apply.

The anticipation of Google Glass is quite exciting. I can imagine it opening doors to intense gaming experiences where players run throughout their residential city to complete quests in teams. Clues to quest completion would be embedded into mundane objects and things, and the only way to view the clue was through Google Glass. Augmented reality games will be a rising sensation. It’s as if everyone can finally be a super cool secret agent detective with the coolest toy.

One of the things I appreciate most about Google Glass is its language capability; it can command Google Glass is say words and phrases in different languages. It’s hands-free translation capability minimizes language barrier when travelling to foreign countries.

If I had Glass, I would explore the countries of Asia without worrying about geting lost or getting lost in the language.

The thought of being chosen to be an Explorer sounds fantastic, if not for the $1500 price tag of the Google Glass pre-order.

Apply to get Google Glass!

Viral for V-day

February 14th marks the day in which bitter singles vent and happy couples dote. February 14th also marks the day of One Billion Rising, part of V-day, a “global movement to end violence against women and girls. In honor of V-day, the Marist College Club of Theatre Arts are producing Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues”. As a way of outreach, co-directors Jennifer Laski and Marissa Russo created a video asking Marist: “Why are you rising?”

One of the goals with the video production was to make it “viral”. Cast members and friends have share the YouTube link on their respective social media sites, MCTV have the video in their programming and College Activities display the video along with their event ads. What exactly constitutes a certain piece of media being “viral”? Is it the view count? The number of “likes?” Does it have to be auto-tuned?

By definition, a “viral” thing would be something that never goes away, like the flu virus. A viral piece of media implies that the piece of media has a chance of “coming back” or forever marked in the internet world. I think the video has made its way around the realm of Marist College, but has yet to make its big break in the global internet world.

To find out more about One Billion Rising, V-day and the Vagina Monologues, click here.

Marist College will be presenting The Vagina Monologues this Friday and Saturday, 15th & 16th at 8PM in the Cabaret. Please see poster below designed by yours truly.

There will also be a toiletry drive benefitting the Grace Smith House as well as a bake sale in which all proceeds will go towards Domestic Violence Services of Dutchess County. I’m also in the cast… so please come see the Vagina Monologues!

Well, come

Come and poke around at my humble blog started in my participatory media class. Posts will generally feature fun online media amongst other digital media. Hopefully after a semester of analyzing participatory media, I can work to design my own. You are welcome to peek in at my learning voyage by following my posts as they come. 

Well, come. You are welcome. 

Here is an entertaining video from one of the largest user-generated content websites: YouTube.

Mixing 3D animation and traditional camera-work, the production pulls a classic video game into our world. If only we could all be pot smashers. Production credits of the video can be viewed on the YouTube page.