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hatchermatches276 · 5 years ago

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How does gaming affect technology advance

Strategies For Starting A Gaming Blog

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The Hidden Mystery Behind GAMING

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irrevocably-delicious · 6 years ago

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Cultivating an enjoyable video games experience with non gamers aka How do I get my non-gamer significant other to play games with me?

Video games.

Once a niche hobby of adult programmers in the 70s, before targeting 10 year old boys in the 80s and 90s, video games are now a mainstream hobby and entertainment product that has shown tremendous growth in the past 30 years. While films and serialized shows have shown some developments, with new technologies and the invent of streaming, the gaming industry has undergone a complete transformation in only a few short decades. Entire genres have been created, along with improved graphics, mechanics, and storytelling.

But with more people getting into video games now more than ever, the age-old question continuously resurfaces:

“How do I get my significant other to play video games with me?”

And it’s an understandable question! Games are an important hobby to some, and it’s nice to be able to share in that passion and joy with the person you love most. I completely understand this. I’m a cosplayer and I’ve definitely conned my boyfriend into pressing seams for me or sitting in hour long panels about EVA foam. It’s not exactly his number 1 priority, but we have fun together doing it, and he’s able to appreciate my craft a little more because of it.

Similarly, he’s not an artist, but he always helps me table in Artist Alley, gives advice on new prints to make (“If you’re going to make a niche DnD print, at least display it near the DnD stuff to be a conversation starter”) and stays up til 2am cutting stickers with me. It’s exhausting, but we have a lot of good memories from doing it together.

It’s nice to include your significant others in activities that bring you joy.

So how the hell do you convince your partner to engage with video games… if they never have before? And what kinds of games are going to give you the best experience?

Hi. Welcome. This is where I come in.

I’m not a gamer. At all. I’m awful at video games. Whilst my boyfriend was growing up and devouring every console he could convince his parents to buy, I was being a horse girl. No Halo for me today, sir, I have a showjumping class to attend. The only video game I would willingly participate in was Singstar during sleep overs, and that was because I was a musical theatre kid and knew this would be the only video game that I could completely decimate my peers with. Street fighter? No thank you. But I will wreck your shit with Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne.

But somehow, even though this is my upbringing, I have to acknowledge the fact that over the past 10 years I’ve actually played… a lot of video games. I think I’ve figured out the key. I think I’ve distilled the answer. Now obviously this is purely based on my experience, and everyone will have slightly different results, but I will now present you with my scientific anthropological findings of how you may be able to repeat this process.

“How do I get my significant other to play video games with me?”

Now I think there are two ways to go about this.

1. Play a video game together where both of you are holding a controller and in charge of some aspect of the game. Ie. Character, assistant, the right foot, etc.

Now I realize this seems obvious.

“You mean I can play a video game with my significant other by actually playing a game with my significant other??? Uhhhh yeah…. I WOULD THINK SO”

But hear me out. Out of the two ways you can go about this, I actually think this is the hardest way (I’ll explain why soon). My partner and I do not often play games together like this. What we usually do, and what I would be more likely to recommend is:

2. Play a game where you (the gamer) have the controller, and your SO participates or watches from the couch.

This is what my boyfriend and I usually do, and it’s the less likely of the two options to cause arguments, fights, and tears.

But let’s first look at option 1.

Playing a game together

Do you remember when you were in high school and you had to do a film study for a semester? And your teacher would explain all the different camera shots and angles and what they meant? A low angle shot where a character towers above makes them seem intimidating. A character cloaked in shadow indicates that the character is sneaky.

Your teacher told you all this, but in reality, all of these meanings were probably pretty obvious to you. You intuitively knew what they meant because you had been raised on watching movies. You were already familiar with this language of film because it had always been present in your life.

Well guess what? Video games have a language too.

And just like film, if you have played video games your whole life, you might be surprised at just how much of this language you have absorbed, and how much of this literacy is REQUIRED to play a modern video game.

The fact that triangle is always jump, x to interact, L2 to aim, R2 to shoot, circle to crouch, square to reload… all of that is assumed knowledge that you would probably have ingested over time, so it comes completely natural to you now.

Your SO doesn’t know any of this. They probably don’t even know that the L and R buttons exist. I didn’t. I still forget.

This is why choosing a game to play together is so difficult. When you finally do choose one? You have to be patient. You cannot get annoyed when your SO has to ask every five minutes what jump is again. They may have difficulty navigating around menus and UI. They may have difficulty moving around in game. Side scrollers are pretty intuitive, but games that require you to position a camera? Ie. Most third person or first person anything? Oof. That’s hard. They might fall off a lot of bridges or stare at the ground a lot. This is a skill you have to build up. You have it already. They don’t. It’s important to remember that saying anything like “You can do it, it’s easy!” or “Why are you having so much trouble with this?” is NOT HELPFUL. It’s only going to make your SO feel stupid/bad. Remember, they don’t give a shit about video games. Their life has been just fine without them until now, and it will continue to be just fine without games. They are only doing this FOR YOU. So why would you want to make someone feel stupid for just trying to make you happy?

Treat them like a baby deer. Gently. Tentatively. You are slowly drawing them into the clearing. Any harsh comment will send them running.

Based on all this, here are some recommendations on games that work well to play with your SO.

1. Games you are SUPPOSED to be bad at.

You know how I just talked about how there are general conventions over controls? And that it can be frustrating for your SO to learn these whilst they come intuitively for you?

Well what if you eliminated that disparity by playing games where the controls intentionally make no goddamn sense? By playing a game with whacky controls, it evens the playing field. Your SO is learning and struggling with controls, but so are you! This way your stupidity is not humiliating, it creates a sense of comradery. There’s no shame, just silliness and fun. The game I played with my partner that made me first realise the genius of this was… Octodad.

Octodad is collaborative. It’s an absolute nightmare to control, but for once my boyfriend’s muscle memory was actually a detriment. He would instinctively go to move like he would in other games, but that’s not how Octodad works. So he was rewiring his muscle memory whilst I was just a blank slate.

“Trigger to grab things? Yeah sure. Why not? I don’t know any better.”

It also hits that sweet spot of being short enough that the silliness doesn’t grow stale, and has a sincere enough story that you do become invested in the fate of the octopus in your hands.

10/10 Octodad. Highly recommend.

Other games in this genre that I feel would be worth a look:

- Man Fall Flat

- QWOP

- Surgeon Simulator

- Super Bunny Man

2. Hey! It’s Nintendo!

Ah Nintendo. It’s where most children start, so it seems like a logical place for a burgeoning gamer to begin. But specifically, what I want to recommend are the range of excellent Nintendo party games that are simple to navigate, fun, and often cooperative. I can’t play an FPS, but Mario Kart comes very easy to me…. Or as easy as it does to anyone. Similarly, Mario Party requires almost no video game literacy, and you can introduce it to your SO as “It’s just a board game that happens to be a video game”.

Although we do joke about Mario Kart and Mario Party being “friendship killers” because of their competitive nature and how easy it is to sabotage other players. If you are worried about these games maybe causing to much distress, I would also recommend the tried and true Wii Sports or the more modern 1-2-Switch. It has a cow milking game! It’s fun! And you can laugh at one another as you make terrible dick jokes.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND SUPER SMASH BROS. THAT IS NOT AN INTRODUCTORY GAME.

If you really want, play it on co-op team mode.

In summary, when picking a game to play with your SO my general recommendations are:

- make sure the game has very simple controls and linear movement (if any at all)

- or have a game with bonkers controls so you can learn them together

- avoid competitive games to start. Or play competitive games that require no video game literacy. The best FPS or Tekken player is NOT going to win Mario Party. It’s just luck.

Playing games this way with my partner is fun, but not how we usually play games. This is because if I want to play a AAA title, or maybe a great JRPG I’ve heard about, I have to move on to the second method.

Playing games where the gamer has the control and the non-gamer watches/participates via other means.

This is how my partner and I generally play games. Because my partner is the one holding the controller, navigating the game, combat and menus, I am not required to have any of that assumed knowledge I mentioned earlier.

But how can you make watching a video game compelling?

It’s actually not as difficult as you might imagine, but you’re right in that it does rule out a chunk of games. If you have grand dreams of your non-gamer girlfriend fawning over your sweet League of Legends skills… then I think you need a bit of a wake-up call. Competitive online games, FPS and sports games (such as FIFA) are generally not fun to watch. This isn’t a blanket statement! Some non-gamers could find these fun. But generally, if you don’t know the skill it requires to perform certain moves or strategies, or are unfamiliar with even the basic rules… these games just look like a mess.

Me watching someone play Overwatch: “Wow… I suddenly have motion sickness”

I find the most compelling games to watch are: Narrative driven

Think of all the games that are basically movies with some gameplay thrown in. Uncharted and the Tomb Raider reboot are just long form Indiana Jones movies. The Last of Us is a survival, drama, horror movie that makes you question your morals and how far you are willing to go to help humanity. The Witcher captures a rich narrative and lore comparable only to the Lord of the Rings films. The Yakuza series might be the best mob movie I’ve ever seen. All of these games are great and as engrossing to watch as they are to play. Lovable characters, compelling obstacles, and a good dose of spectacle keep them entertaining. Narrative driven games are my favorite to just sit and watch whilst my partner plays.

However, “narrative driven games” encapsulates thousands of titles, with some being more suited to watching than others. To help narrow down games that are enjoyable without a controller, I’ve narrowed it down into 3.5 sub categories.

1. Games with a looser/more predictable narrative, but the visuals are just so damn appealing

2. Choice based games – with the sub category of puzzle games

3. Mediocre games, but they’re fun

Each of these categories creates a uniquely different gaming experience, ranging from a cinematic “sit and watch” style, to a higher participation, more co-operative team based style. Let’s start with the first as it’s the easiest to define.

1. Games with a looser narrative, but engrossing visuals

Sometimes games will have a good story, but you’re just not sure if it’s good enough to sustain someone’s attention for 20+ hours. Maybe it’s a little predictable. Maybe you know the hero is destined to save the day. Will this be enough to hold my SOs attention?

And I think you are really the only one to answer that.

But let me first tell you about one of my favorite games, and probably only the second game I ever played with my partner.

DMC.

I fucking adore this game.

Eat my ass. It’s great.

But is the story that great? I mean it’s cool. Half angel, half demon boys. Long lost twin brothers. An evil demon who killed your father and has now essentially become a mob boss and corrupted your city. It’s cool. It’s interesting enough, but at the end of the day, you know Vergil is going to betray you. You know your cardboard cut out girlfriend(?) is going to be a liability. You know you’re going to defeat that demon boss with your big sword.

But god damn, if it isn’t a riot to watch. Devil May Cry has some of the most stylish and slick combat, that it’s really entertaining to just witness. You can cheer on your SO on as they climb up to a SSS ranking and maintain their combo over 5 whole minutes. The soundtrack is blasting. The level design and art direction are stunning. Watching Dante get dragged into Limbo is always an experience, and you’re never quite sure what you’re going to walk into this time. DMC still has one of the most inventive boss fights I’ve ever seen and I’m honestly waiting for another game to top it.

So, I think if your visuals are captivating enough… that can definitely save a game with maybe just a good to average story. It’s just a treat for the senses.

Other games I would put in this category would be:

- The Arkham games, particularly Arkham City and Arkham Knight. God the combat is just great to watch, with each punch really feeling brutal and heavy. The spookiness of Gotham is eerily beautiful, and finding all the easter eggs in the world is a real treat.

- The latest Spider-man game from Insomniac games

- Breath of the Wild – I just like… being in this game

-Nier Automata – this one is a bit weird. I wasn’t sure which category to put it in, but felt because of the interesting mechanics and gimmick of playing over and over again to reveal more of the world and story, I decided to put it here.

2. Choice based games

This is definitely my favorite type of game to play, and the one that I think is the easiest to engage with, despite the lack of controller in my hand.

The whole reason I started playing games with my partner is because he was playing a game and after a while I just… sat down… and started watching.

The game was Mass Effect 3, and I just became really involved in the story and the choices my partner was making. We have since gone back and played the entire Mass Effect series multiple times, and I feel it really exemplifies what is so fantastic about playing a choice-based game with a non-gamer.

Choice based games still allow your SO to be heavily involved. If you are letting your SO make choices, then they are still playing the game. Just because I wasn’t the one actively shooting Collectors does not mean I had no impact on our game experience. It was my choice to cure the genophage. My choice to spare the Rachni queen, and you can be damn sure that it was my choice to romance Garrus across the series. Choice based games are fantastic for keeping your SO engaged and the two of you can cultivate your own story and endure consequences together.

Obviously I love Mass Effect, but some similar games in this style would be:

- Until Dawn

- The Witcher

- The Persona series – but be careful! These games are long so may not be great as an introductory game

Visual Novels! – Visual novels are excellent for this! They’re purely choice based, and it doesn’t matter who is clicking the next button. For an added amount of goofiness, take on roles and do stupid voices. Do it. It’s great. Nothing makes me laugh harder than romancing an anime schoolgirl with an old man voice.

They’re short, but can be replayed for a different ending if you wish. My partner and I played Dream Daddy together multiple times and were avid about who our favorite dads were. I liked Robert and Craig. My partner liked Damian and Brian.

My partner and I have actually just started playing a new visual novel, but along with it being choice based, I would also classify it as a puzzle/problem solving game.

2.5 Puzzle/problem solving games

Puzzle games are great for a similar reason as choice-based games, as they keep your SO involved. Only this time they are helping to problem solve. Many times I’ve been able to figure something out before my boyfriend, so I can go “ohhhh take that, drop it here, then move that here” and it’ll work!

Currently we’re making our way through the Danganronpa series, which is a bit of a hybrid between a visual novel and puzzle game. It’s not a difficult game to control or navigate at all, so I could play it on my own, but I like playing it with my partner as we bounce theories off of one another and work together to solve a crime. I’ll remember certain pieces of evidence he doesn’t, or he’ll remember one throw away line from the opening 3 minutes of the game that is now an alibi. During free time, we’ll each pick a character to talk to, so we both get to learn more about our favorite characters.

“I wanna talk to Sakura because she seems sweet and I want her to have friends”

“Ok, then I’ll talk to Mondo because he seems funky.”

And so on. The process is collaborative.

Some games of a similar genre that might be fun:

- Catherine from Atlus

- Portal 1 and 2

- The Phoenix Wright series

- Resident evil 2 – this one is a bit odd, but resident evil 2 is almost a memory game as you work to remember all the things you’ve picked up, the pieces you need to unlock doors, and prioritize the weapons you’ll take with you. “No take the grenade rounds. If we’re going in the offices, we left that face hugger there, remember?”

Finally this brings us to our third category, and also the most difficult to explain. So I’ve just called it:

3. Average Games, but there’s just something enjoyable about them

Sometimes games are just… fun. Sometimes the story is alright, the gameplay is repetitive, but the characters and writing are just so inherently likeable or interesting that you can keep watching. For me, this whole category was created as a way for me to justify my fondness for the Saints Row series.

Saints Row is, on paper, pretty unremarkable. It’s a ridiculous series of games about a street gang coming into fame and eventually political power, and the outlandish things they have to do to climb that ladder. Often cited as a “GTA clone” the gameplay is repetitive and almost boring at times, with most of the missions falling into the “Go here, kill people” category. The world isn’t particularly pretty or interesting. It’s just a city. One that you’ve seen a million times if you’ve played any city-based open world game.

So why do I love this unremarkable series? Why am I oddly attached to these characters?

Ultimately, I think it comes down to the characters being written with a certain amount of honesty, and the interactions between them feel genuine and oddly heartfelt. I don’t really care about rival gangs or accumulating money, but if it lets me ride in the car and have another sing along with Pierce, then I’m going to do it.

I like the weird sexual tension between the Boss and Shaundi, which only seems to become more prominent if you play as the female Boss. I love Matt Miller and him ranting about his Nyte blayde fan fiction. I like finding out the Boss has read Jane Austen.

It’s just silly and fun, with a good amount of ridiculous spectacle. It’s definitely not a series that I could recommend. It just kind of appealed to something in me. I think there are lots of games that could fit this category. Most people will say that the Borderlands series is “Alright” but it has a lot of fun dialogue and characters who keep it entertaining. Similarly, despite lack luster reviews, I know a lot of people really enjoyed the 2013 Deadpool game because Deadpool was written just like he is in the comics.

This category is the hardest to nail, and you may go through several games that you think are “hilarious” or “crazy fun” that just don’t gel with your SO. That’s ok. As you play more, you’ll eventually be able to develop a sense of each other’s tastes and what will appeal to you.

General Advice in closing

TL;DR, here are some good parameters to stick to until you reach a consensus of what games your SO might enjoy.

- Games with a good story and compelling characters will always be entertaining

- If the combat is long and takes up a good proportion of the game, it should be visually interesting to look at. If the combat is repetitive or boring to watch, it should clip along at a good pace and only come in short bursts. Bonus points if there’s party banter!

- Start with shorter games, then build up. It’s a big demand on someone to sit through a 60+ hour game for your first few attempts. Maybe put that Tales game on the shelf for now.

I’ve tried to keep this advice general, but obviously you and your SO will have different interests, and you should appeal to those. I love anime. I love hot boys. Due to these factors, I am more than willing to sit through a long form JRPG about two rival noble boys, as it appeals to my weeb sensibilities. This is not something I would expect others to be able to do.

I generally don’t like films about heists or organized crime. It’s just not a genre that appeals to me, so asking me to sit through Grand Theft Auto is probably not the wisest choice. I have played GTA5 for those that are curious, and it’s not my favorite. It’s definitely not bad, and I do expect other non-gamers would be entertained playing through the story of it. There’s definitely a good story there! It’s just not one that satisfies all of my needs. Just like how I don’t expect every person to love sitting through God of War or Jak and Daxter.

Getting to learn each other’s likes and dislikes takes time. Favorite movies can be a bit of an indicator, but transferring to a different medium complicates things. The most important thing is to listen to each other and be respectful. If your SO doesn’t like your favorite game of all time, that’s not a personal insult. You are likely just experiencing the game in a different way than they are, and they can’t relate to that.

Along with being respectful, obviously don’t pressure your SO into anything. Sometimes you’ll find that your SO might not want to play games with you because they had such an awful experience trying to play with their exes or other friends previously. I know I was really hesitant to ever pick up a controller again after an incident where I couldn’t navigate my character over a log, because I was not used to controlling a camera, and was made to feel really stupid and useless. I threw up my hands and said “Fuck this shit” for a long time. Your SO might be hesitant to play games with you because they worry that you’ll just get frustrated with how bad they are. You can reassure them that this won’t happen, but it’s still their choice to say no.

At the end of the day, it’s ok to have different hobbies. You don’t have to share everything. If you are lucky enough that your non-gamer SO might want to try playing games with you, then be kind, and be patient. When picking games to play together, try to pick something you can both enjoy. Go on a journey together. Have fun!

It’s a game after all.

#video games #gamers #storytelling #how do I tag this?#essay #advice #review #i write stuff #opinion #blog

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pierrotdameron · 6 years ago

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On the set of His Dark Materials, Dafne Keen is about to see a bear.

With battle raging around her, snowflakes flying and alarms ringing, the young actor – who plays lead character Lyra in the BBC’s new adaptation of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed novel – sprints down a corridor, dodging enemies and fighting for freedom. And just when all seems lost, she looks up, seeing her saviour. A broad smile breaks out as she sees who’s standing above and ready to save her… a man wearing a white, faux-bearskin rug on his head.

OK, on set Pullman’s trademark armoured bears (or panserbjørn) aren’t much to look at – but over a year later, when they finally arrive on-screen, they’re an incredibly impressive achievement, realistic and filled with character, a triumph of puppetry and visual effects. If anything, they’re even more impressive than the animal dæmons that have appeared in every other episode so far. But how were they brought to life? What did the actors film with on set, and what were the biggest challenges?

Happily, after we’d suitably calmed down from all the excitement, the behind-the-scenes team were happy to fill us in…

Pre-production

While the 2007 movie adaptation of His Dark Materials (titled The Golden Compass) wasn’t exactly beloved by fans, it did win plaudits for its VFX, with the work of independent company Framestore winning the film its only Oscar. Now, over a decade later, the new adaptation would have to surpass even that achievement – which is why Framestore were brought on board again to work on the TV series, marking them out as the only common element between both adaptations.

“Framestore did the original bears in the original film, which we won the Oscar for, and we’re doing the bears again, now,” VFX supervisor Russell Wilson told us. “And what’s really interesting about that is certain things we computationally couldn’t do then, we can do now – but obviously it’s harder work.”

And the digital work on the bears didn’t begin after the shoot had already concluded, as many might expect. In fact, before a single scene of the panserbjørn storyline had been committed to film, Framestore and Bad Wolf’s in-house VFX gurus were working hard on previsualizations for the bears – in other words, plotting out scripted scenes in basic computer animation in specially-rendered environments, so they could work out how the bears would look before the directors started work.

“That was a combination of Framestore’s bear animation and our [interactive set] environment,” VFX artist and pre-vis supervisor Dan May told RadioTimes.com. “We blocked out the sequence with Russell and the stunt guys downstairs. “They animated the bears to quite a high level in pre-vis, that that pre-vis was then brought to our [digital] set with all its textures.”

In other words, basic digital bears were added onto a specially-mapped digital set, blocking out the scene before anyone had even turned on a camera and creating a “virtual shoot.” And when it came to actually filming the sequence IRL, this preparation meant that the bears could (sort of) be on set as well, with specially-prepared screens and virtual “cameras” allowing the production team to check where the animated, moving bears were at all times.

“When they shot the sequence, they were able to bring that animation and the virtual camera angles, and see them live on set,” May explained. “They were able to line up a digital bear with a real set. And that is not a first, because they’re doing that sort of thing on Jungle Book and Avatar. But we’re doing it on a more affordable, sustainable way.”

Though of course, it wasn’t just digital bears lurking on set…

Puppeteers

As with the dæmons, the bears on set were built and puppeteered by Brian Fisher and his eight-person team, with various different rigs and outfits utilised by the team for different purposes.

“There’s about seven to 10 different bear rigs,” VFX supervisor Wilson told us. “There’s one for smashing into stuntmen, there’s one for representing his face, there’s one where there’s literally a guy with a glove on putting it on his face.

For example, sometimes the bear was just represented by actor Joe Tandberg (who also provides Iorek’s voice onscreen) wearing (functionally) a bearskin costume, while other times he wore a special rig (pictured exclusively above) that allowed Iorek’s bear head to hang in front of his own.

Other times, he just wore a plain boiler suit with a light rig over his face, or stepped away in favour of a static model (pictured) to help the crew include Iorek’s scale, or was replaced by a large grey cushion for scenes where Iorek was less mobile or in a confined space. “You’re basically in a green room, with a weird grey thing which is supposed to be a bear, and with Lin singing? It’s just all very weird,” Dafne Keen, who plays Lyra in the series, told us.

And of course, a lot of the time the full-time puppeteers took over. For example, while on set RadioTimes.com was shown a large puppet version of Iorek operated by two people to impressive effect. Within the rig, one puppeteer wears an ordinary large hiking backpack, leans forward to face the ground and hoists two long poles forward, with a mesh bear head that he can control and turn at the end of the poles.

Another man behind holds two strings to control the front legs. Together they can rear the bear to his full height, stalk him around an area and generally bring him to life. In His Dark Materials episode four, another bear head – one with Iorek’s snarling teeth – was used for a scene where he attacks a foe, and generally speaking the team tried hard to keep things simple instead of using complicated mechanical rigs or creations.

“When the bear attacks – that was much more stuntman, him, us throwing him around on a mat until we worked out something that we liked,” Wilson says. “We take a very human, organic, what I call a man-tronic approach to things that you might take or do in a technical perspective. “When he’s getting dragged around by the bear it is just a guy in a boiler suit and [the victim’s] on a wire, and that’s it.”

Riding Iorek

But the fighting wasn’t the only filming challenge. In fact, a key action shot that everyone was even more keen to get right comes later in the series, when Lyra rides on Iorek’s back as the pair travel into a dangerous new area. On set, the human portion of the shot was achieved by creating a special rig for Dafne Keen to ride (pictured above) – but unlike similar ridable CGI animals like the dragons of Game of Thrones, it wasn’t mechanical, instead requiring the puppeteers to move it themselves.

“When Lyra’s riding a bear, it’s all operated by a human in a backpack,” Wilson said. “You know, we don’t bring in rigs and mechanically programme them because it’s quite slow to do, and it means you get less takes at it.” “To get the specifics, the biomechanics behind how a polar bear’s gait runs, we had to go through and, with the animators, actually break it down into segments, figure out how we can translate that into something that has movement and life but is not purely mechanical,” puppeteer Brian Fisher told us.

“The second you go into a mechanical movement, you can speed it up, you can slow it down, but it is always rhythmic, whereas we don’t work in binary movements.” As you can see in the above video, RadioTimes.com actually got the chance to try out the bear rig while on set, and can confirm it’s definitely man-powered – and surprisingly bouncy. “I loved the bear rig,” Keen herself us. “Though I was too light for it. “It was very funny. They made this rig, and they didn’t calculate my weight. So they had to then harness me, because I bounced too much off the bear. So that was really fun.” “Although I felt kind of bad because I had two human beings bouncing up and down underneath me…”

The final touches

Obviously, the lion’s share of the work done by the VFX team comes after the filming as they gradually work on creating and animating CGI shots right up until broadcast. And for Wilson and his team, no detail was too small when it came to the armoured bears. “In our version of Iorek now he has the muscles underneath [his fur] that flex as he moves, and that also drives the fat on him to jiggle as he runs,” Wilson told us. “But then the skin actually slides over the bones and the ribs, which makes the fur that’s attached to the skin slide over that as well. All of that together gives you something that feels really realistic. “So again,” he concluded “the appetite and the ability is higher – therefore the workload is higher.” Oh well – hopefully, the time and trouble wasn’t too unbear-able.

#His Dark Materials #Iorek Byrnison #Joe Tandberg #Brian Fisher

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katharinajephcot-blog · 6 years ago

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What Are The Most Standard Music Genres In America?

Throughout the United States individuals are keen about all types of music, but have you ever ever wondered which musical genres are hottest by which locations. Musicology , the tutorial examine of the subject of music, is studied in universities and music conservatories. The earliest definitions from the 19th century outlined three sub-disciplines of musicology: systematic musicology , historical musicology , and comparative musicology or ethnomusicology In 2010-period scholarship, one is more more likely to encounter a division of the discipline into music idea , music historical past , and ethnomusicology Research in musicology has usually been enriched by cross-disciplinary work, for instance in the area of psychoacoustics The study of music of non-Western cultures, and the cultural study of music, known as ethnomusicology. College students can pursue the undergraduate research of musicology, ethnomusicology, music history , and music theory via several different types of levels, including bachelor's levels, master's degrees and PhD degrees. Ron Moy is a lecturer at Liverpool John Moores College. For the past ten years, he has devoted himself to the delivery of a range of undergraduate courses, and now runs a degree programme in Common Music Research. Like a very good nerd, I not too long ago determined to map our decay" via samples of fashionable music from the final six decades. I grabbed Billboard's top 10 songs of the third week of April every 10 years since 1965, and analyzed them. Encompassing graffiti art, break dancing, rap music, and style, hip-hop grew to become the dominant cultural movement of the African American communities in the 1980s. The Hip hop musical genre had a robust affect on pop music within the late Eighties which nonetheless continues to the current day.

2.) Kotarba, J. A. (2018). Understanding society by means of well-liked music. New York, NY: Routledge. The next musician on the record of the top dancehall artists is the best in this style not solely in Africa however managed to turn out to be famous far past his native continent. The thoughtful lyrics of this Ghanaian musician made him so common. Shatta Wale also may be known as one the most productive dancehall artist as he drops hit after hit, the brightest are Ayo", Taking Over", and Low Tempo".

Mexican music is sort of influenced by this vigorous form of dance music. Bohemian migrants to Texas introduced the polka beats together with them. Ultimately, each the mariachi and ranchera were blended within the energetic polka beats, that later turned a necessary part of the norteño music. 36. Leyshon A. The Software Stoop?: digital music, the democratisation of expertise, and the decline of the recording studio sector throughout the musical economy. Atmosphere and planning. A. 2009 Jan 1;41(6):1309.

Not like Western artwork music, folks music is typically not notated or written down, though typically it can be. It is most frequently shared orally and taught from instructor to pupil by ear and can embrace something from a cappella English ballads, to advanced African drum patterns used for spiritual purposes, to the wealthy folk music traditions of South Asia involving sitars, tablas, and vocals. The key factors in distinguishing people music traditions from different methods of musical production are its conventional basis and communal composition. You aren't getting a nickname like "Live Music Capital of the World" by being second-charge, and with large-title festivals like SxSW, Fun Fun Enjoyable Fest, and ACL (to call just a few), Austin's obtained the rest of the nation beat handily so far as outdoor shows go. Even when there isn't a festival operating, although, you possibly can stop in at any of the myriad bars and eating places that serve up high quality dwell performances along with their normal fare, from Stubb's BBQ and Emo's to Donn's Depot and the Imply Eyed Cat. It also would not damage that the place produces wonderful expertise, too, with bands as different as Explosions in the Sky and Jamestown Revival - to not point out deceased legends Stevie Ray Vaughn and Janis Joplin - calling Texas' capital city home. To respect creative exploration, the creation of contemporary style names is important and have to be an ongoing process. Lumping all artists underneath the identical generic phrases — corresponding to metallic" or digital music" — disregards the identifying parts that make their creations particular, thereby lowering recognition of new ideas, obscuring the nature of previous creations, and undertaking the very factor genre detractors try to keep away from: it unnecessarily forces new music into bins with meaningless labels. In dance band mento, residence-made devices had been replaced by professional saxes and clarinets and basses. Usually, banjo was left behind in favor of electric guitar. Along with clarinet, piano was usually a featured instrument, as the music became overtly jazzy. Percussion was much less rustic, and sometimes had a Latin feel. Nearly the entire rural model's tough edges had been smoothed out. Within the Sixties, a calypso inflection was typically heard in city reggae, changing the jazz sound. Dance band mento appears to have largely died out by the 70s, whereas the unique rural type continued. Nevertheless, the musicians of this type of mento contributed vastly to the jazz that was such an necessary ingredient of ska. People might discuss with some or www.audio-transcoder.com all of a small group of classes when using period as the criteria for a music style. These include Early Music, Medieval Music , Renaissance Music, BaroqueMusic, Classical Music , www.goodreads.com Romantic Music, and twentieth Century Music. The definitions of these musicperiods are open to interpretation. For instance, the Classical period could possibly be outlined as lasting from 1730 to 1820 or from 1750 to 1830. Others would possibly say that it began within the late 18th century. All of those interpretations are current today.My favorite genre in music is nation music, because the singers express their feelings. Country music is completely different because your complete singer's relate to their youngster hood. In addition they relate to their family members. Additionally they relate to Iraq and the way members of the family react after they've been advised that their love ones aren't coming again residence. They categorical their love life's and make you concentrate on falling in love" at such a young age. They make you notice that life may be too quick so why waste it on being tied down to only one particular person.

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thewidowstanton · 7 years ago

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Jessica Connell, Circa ensemble member, specialising in aerials and hula-hoops: Peepshow

Australian circus artist Jessica Connell trained at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne, having formerly been a member of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus in the twin cities of Albury-Wodonga, where she spent most of her childhood. She has performed all over Australia, and in 2009 contributed to A4 circus ensemble’s first production, Downpour. Two years later she joined leading Australian circus company Circa and undertook an eight-month season of Wunderkammer at the Chamäleon Theatre in Berlin, and a three-month tour of the Helpmann Award-winning show, Circa.

Her first new creation for the company was ‘S’ at the Brisbane Festival in September 2012, and she has since appeared in – and helped create – many of the company’s productions, including Opus and Il Ritorno. Now Jess returns to London – having performed in a season of Opus at the Barbican – to appear in the European premiere of Peepshow. It runs during the Underbelly Festival at the Southbank Centre in London from 27 June – 18 August. She chats to Liz Arratoon.

The Widow Stanton: How old were you when you started at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus? Jessica Connell: I started at around 13 or 14 in their professional training group. Before that I’d just dabbled in a few weekend classes and done a bit of dance, a bit of tennis, a bit of martial arts.

What made you choose to go there; were you sporty? I was always probably more creative than sporty. I had a big family and we were home-schooled for a little bit but my parents were quite art orientated. We did a lot of plays and a lot of art at home, which was really lovely. My sister pursued ballet and I got into that for a little bit and I did a little bit of gymnastics but I think I really missed the artistic side of ballet and things I’d been doing in my youth. So my father suggested trying out the circus because he’d had an affiliation with them when he was younger. So it was kind of the mesh of two worlds that I’d been playing with since I was quite young.

Is anyone else in your family a performer; your sister? No, my sister became the mother of four beautiful children. Much to my dismay no one has yet followed me. [Laughs] It’s always been my dream for one of my sisters to come onstage with me but my youngest sister, who’s still in high school, is pursuing music at the minute. She’s been in some young productions so maybe there’s still hope.

When did you graduate from NICA? I actually didn’t graduate. I went there for a year. Kind of before going to NICA I had introduced myself to Circa and about halfway through, Yaron [Lifschitz, Circa’s artistic director] just got in contact with me and offered me some short contracts, but it wasn’t until he offered me a full-time contract that I left at the end of that first year.

Impressive, Jess! Circus-school dropout is what I call myself. [Laughs]

Not at all. Wonderful to be so good that you’re spirited away! But which aerial disciplines did you do there? Primarily swinging trapeze, but since joining Circa I’ve done static trapeze and I’ve slowly moved into the world of single point as well. I don’t do trapeze in Peepshow; we have another stunning trapeze artist.

How useful has it been to have an aerial and a ground-based discipline? It’s been really good. It definitely made me more versatile, which was fantastic. Hoops was something I kind of came into later and it was probably the key that made me more versatile as a performer, so in a show if an aerial can’t be rigged I have another skill to draw on. And as I get a little bit older, it’s also incredibly interesting how to use, not just the physical skill, but perhaps the performance skill or the physical exploration and try to translate them from one to the other. Hoops has this beautiful flow, as does a dance trapeze. However, to try and disrupt that flow both on a trapeze and a hula hoop has always been something that was really fun and interesting. So they definitely made me more versatile but they also challenged me mentally as to how to approach those two disciplines.

And to keep both skills at the required level is quite something. Definitely.

So what had first attracted you to Circa? It’s different for everybody but coming from an artistic background – and while I absolutely love the physical side of circus – circus was such an exciting world for me, because I had started what I thought was a little bit late. The Flying Fruit Fly takes kids as young as eight and most of my friends had been there since they were that age, so starting at 14… they even made a note of: “You’re pretty old to be starting but you have the right mentality so come on in.” So coming into this world of people who can be physical within their own… means, like, I wasn’t forced to be flexible or forced to be strong or forced to be tiny; I was accepted for who I was and asked to explore that.

So that got me into circus and then in my first year I went to see Circa’s The Space Between in Melbourne – we would go on excursions to see other shows – and for me what I loved about the circus was amplified by Circa. I saw these three individuals on stage with unique and interesting, not just bodies, but mentalities and personalities and it really shone through to me, so, yeah, it just amplified what I was finding I already loved about circus and it really brought it to life. It expressed it on stage in a way I’d never seen; that honesty and beauty is what just drove my desire to work for them.

So, you approached them; what advice would you offer to someone wanting to get into the company? Definitely making yourself known and expressing an interest in why you like it. In all honestly I can’t even remember what I said to Yaron [laughs] but maybe I told him why I wanted to work for the company from definitely a young age, because I knew that one day I wanted to work for Circa or a similar company. The idea of working for a home company was pretty exciting. But I also channelled my creative energy and what I trained in so my disciplines were honed in on that world, and even then I pursued swinging trapeze less and got more into static trapeze because I knew that Circa was a smaller touring company.

Let’s jump ahead a bit, how did you cope with doing the same thing every night for eight months in Berlin? And we’re about to do it again! There’s something really exciting about doing the same show for eight months, and what I’m most excited about and how I coped the first time was… there’s a level of precision and exploration that you can get into when you do the same thing every night that I could never get touring a show or doing multiple shows like we normally do. For a whole week I could experiment onstage with breath, or timing, or just micro things like eyeline, and those sorts of things that really make an act unique and precise.

Because in circus you have so much freedom, we do a trick roughly in this musical timing together, and then we get from A to B however we want. That freedom is incredibly liberating but I don’t think you always get that. In Circa we’re quite lucky and we do get that freedom, which keeps things alive and interesting and rich.

Circa’s schedule can be relentless. How do you protect yourself from injury? Making sure I’m physically ready before we go on tour is really important. I just try to be as strong and healthy as I can be and, when we’re on tour, relentlessly doing physio programmes and those sorts of things, ensuring that the parts of your body that are weaker – because everybody has weaknesses – are always being maintained or in check. And then massage and lots of saunas and swimming if possible. And also kind of being smart, like it is a big tour, be sensible.

There are so many new Aussie circus companies coming up; is circus regarded as a new sport option for young people there now? Australia is obviously quite a young country and I’ve been watching circus change and develop there since I was little. We have influences from all around the world, like in Fruit Fly we had Chinese, French, Russian in the skills we learnt but I also think now especially I’m seeing Australia have its own voice in the circus world. We still draw from those inspirations but I feel in the last decade Australia is starting to find its own voice.

I think that’s drawing people in. It’s becoming more known, because it’s more ours. And because we’re touring Australia more and more as well, it’s just the awareness of circus as an option, and the more circuses pop up, the more they offer workshops or classes, or even just shows to spread the awareness. Even Circa, when I first joined, we toured very little in Australia. We’d have a small tour every year, but as the company’s grown I’ve spent more and more time in community outreach and Australian tours and I think other companies are using that too and it’s spreading the word.

What can you tell us about Peepshow? Peepshow is our new little baby, and has been pretty exciting and wonderful. It’s still very new and fresh trying to find the right words to describe it, but ultimately it’s about showing and about looking and about being looked at. For some people the name might make them think of something quite sexual, which it can be but it’s also about having the freedom to show and be looked at and take your own emotions or stories… as often in our work, we’re not really telling a story or even trying to tell anybody what to think, we’re merely showing them something and hoping that they will take their own story from that.

Which of your skills will you be using? Mostly I do group acrobatics and hula hoops. Interestingly, when I first joined the company, I was more of a middle and base, but now I’ve moved a little bit more into the flying world, so that’s really new and fun and fresh for me to evolve through the world of acrobatics. I’m also involved in a few kind of quirky less-physical acts, which is really fun.

I’ve seen Libby McDonnell’s wonderful sequinned costumes for Peepshow! Yes [laughs]. As well as doing the costumes, Libby is also assistant director so she’s been a powerhouse woman as always. What do you like about creating a show as an ensemble with Yaron? I often think we’re quite lucky. Sometimes Yaron does come in with a really strong idea but he allows that to form and grow depending on who is expressing his idea. That’s really wonderful for a physical performer, and then at the same time, he sometimes says: “Has anybody got any ideas?” And we have the freedom to try to bring something on to the stage. It’s incredibly rewarding. And what’s really lovely is how the shows at Circa can influence one another, like I see so much of ’S’ in other shows but a better, stronger more developed version of the ideas we came up with when we made the show.

Do you enjoy travelling and life on the road? Yeah I do, definitely. There are always moments when you get a bit nostalgic, you miss home, Australia. And my family don’t travel very much so to see them it’s usually me flying home. So there are those parts of it but I’ve been doing it for so long, it’s very much a way of life. I have my suitcase and I do enjoy it. I love exploring and taking photos; travelling and photography and circus, I guess, really go hand in hand. At the minute I still really love the lifestyle.

Is photography one of your hobbies away from circus? Yes, definitely. My friends used to call me The Hobby Queen, because I can’t sit still. I also sketch, which I did when I was younger with my family. I’m trying to learn guitar but I’m pretty terrible. I love cooking. I’m definitely Jack-of-all-trades. I don’t really specialise in anything else. Circus is probably my main drive.

Can you pick out the best bit of your career so far? There are probably a million amazing things but last year we went to a small circus community and maybe, having grown up in a circus community, it really resonated with me. We spent a week with these kids from Yak Yak Yak and Cycas Circus making a quick pop-up show for the festival they were in and yeah, it was in Cairns, so regional Australia, and circus kids making a show. I don’t know how, but this show came together. I’d probably only known the kids for a week, but I had not felt this sense of pride in a really long time. It kind of reminded me about why I love the circus and how it helped me as a young child. Probably that is my most recent wonderful experience I’ve had at work. It’s still sitting with me and still makes me really proud and happy to do what I do.

Do you have any particular ambitions for the future? I’m not sure. I’m quite happy where I am; I really do love photography at the moment but I couldn’t see myself leaving the world I’m in now to just do photography. It’s so hard. As long as I’m in this world I’m happy and excited and I’m hoping the future will unfold… I’ll find myself becoming a circus photographer and director if I have the right skills, if I keep pushing myself and growing in this world, my next path will reveal itself to me.

youtube

Jess appears in Circa’s Peepshow during the Underbelly Festival at the Southbank Centre in London from 27 June – 18 August 2018.

Picture credits: Pedro Greig; Kurt Petersen; Chris Herzfeld For Peepshow tickets, click here Twitter: @CircaPresents @UnderbellyFest @southbankcentre

Follow @TheWidowStanton on Twitter

#jessica connell #circa circus #peepshow #acrobat #hula-hooper #circus interview #underbelly festival #southbank centre #Yaron Lifschitz #libby mcdonnell #aerilaist

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frannolan · 4 years ago

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Evaluation

My idea for this project came about after online learning was reintroduced half way through the academic year. The Coronavirus pandemic meant that the whole world had to learn to function without in person interaction, taking over online spaces in order to create some sort of reality. Using the pandemic as a backdrop, I hoped to hone my interest in philosophy and explore the ways it relates to current events. I wanted to take on the issues that the online world creates; the ability to be ambiguous or anonymous when sharing information, causing misinterpretations resulting in fake news. Linking these modern issues to philosophical theories of reality, such as Plato’s Cave and Kant’s Nominal World, and using these as a reference to the idea of a lesser reality, a man made universe, the online world.

I hoped to solidify this concept with my research, finding connections between art, philosophy and current events by researching artists such as Magrette, who used his art to explore philosophical ideas and even created a series of paintings based on Plato’s Allegory. I also looked to artists that had developed their own philosophies, such as Mondrian who wanted to remove illusions from art by painting only 2-D shapes. This is where my project began to take shape, comparing Mondrian’s work to a video call screen, linking in elements of his philosophy as well as other theories.

Experiencing the effects of lockdown first hand meant that I was always aware of the issues the Corona virus had created but my research of current affairs became less imperative. In my initial brief I had proposed that I would be researching modern issues created by the online world, such as fake news but this became secondary as my research became more artist heavy. I struggled to direct my research towards current affairs as it didn’t seem to key into the project as much as I had first thought. Much of my focus went into finding visual stimuli, researching artists like Joseph Albers, Bridget Riley and eventually Barbara Kasten. Therefore, despite my research being less broad than originally intended, it discovered a significant level of inspiration in the art works I research, which more decisively shaped my project both aesthetically and philosophically.

Most of the artists I researched worked with 2D shapes, which became an interesting starting point for my project. Due to the fact the course was moved online, the resources available to me became limited. Following the move to online learning, I decided to experiment with digital art. In my previous projects I had used photo editing techniques to create some of my pieces and I thought I could draw on this skill in my digital experiments. My initial images and ‘gifs’ were created on photo editing software, but I quickly realised that if I was going to continue with these experiments I would need to invest in a graphics programme. I started using Inkscape which allowed me to create images using vector graphics, equipping me with the tools to create high quality digital work. Producing work this way meant that I was able to create a range of experiments quickly, tweaking and perfecting my experiments before moving to a less forgiving medium, such as paint, which I experimented with throughout the project. I enjoyed experimenting with paint as it allowed me to create something outside of the digital world, it reflected a human quality that couldn’t be reproduced on a digital screen. This further exemplified my initial concept of the digital world being lesser than the physical world, the digital work I created existed only in the online reality that I was examining.

The pandemic created a number of obstacles this year and the dramatic move to online learning rendered the usual presentation of work via sketchbook useless. Having to document my work online was a huge change and one I was hesitant to make. Working online didn’t come naturally to me, I was overly cautious and incredibly particular about what I was posting. This meant that some of my earlier ideas or research that I eventually abandoned were never documented, as I believed that all my work should be cohesive and orderly and I only wanted to share the work that I thought directly added to the progression of the project. Over time I realised that the only way to improve my project was to document as much as possible so I could review it critically. Once I let go of the notion of making all my posts perfect I found that I actually preferred working in a digital space to a physical sketchbook, as it took away some of the pressure I inflicted upon myself to present things neatly. The lockdown also restricted the resources that were available to me as I didn’t have access to the college. It was these restrictions that made me want to experiment with digital media, as it allowed me to create a range of pieces without needing any physical equipment. Presenting my work on a blog meant that my digital creations could be uploaded instantly, without the additional task of printing or photographing what I had made. Perhaps the biggest challenge of working online was the disconnection from other students and peers as well as tutors. It became difficult to find opportunities to have my work critically assessed by my peers or tutors, however, we were able to arrange some group crits over video call or through text.

At the beginning of the project I created a plan which briefly outlined the things I needed to do each week in order to stay up-to-date. I built up my plan over time. I always knew what I needed to do and I was constantly making lists about the tasks I needed to complete in the following days and weeks. I set aside time every day to work on the project, however, there were times when I was more productive than others. I found it difficult to move on from the research phase and begin experimenting. It took me a while to generate ideas because I didn't want to include any pieces that I didn’t deem successful. The shift to online learning meant I had to reevaluate the way I worked. I spent the majority of the project trying to find a way of working that suited me. I experimented with a range of timetables and techniques that are thought to improve productivity. I tried my best to remain up-to-date with the project and I was always conscious of the next thing I needed to do. Through the project I have discovered the importance of making mistakes, and the need to let go of my perfectionistic nature in order to create a successful project.

For all of my work I made a concentrated effort to reflect on what I had created, making sure to refer back to my original brief and some of my core ideas. I think my ability to annotate my work has improved throughout this project. At the beginning, I refrained from sharing any work that I didn’t feel was successful, this meant that my annotations were more focused on explanation of ideas and lacked critical analysis of the outcome. Throughout the project I have improved this skill, making consistent attempts to review my work fairly as well as gaining perspective from others, be it peers, or family members. I made a conscious effort to make my project consistent, focusing on similar concepts and forming clear links between my different outcomes. This meant that the work I produced didn’t explore a broad range of ideas, instead, my work remained fairly linear, always working on a similar idea that I developed over time.

The ideas and concepts put forward in my brief are present throughout my project. My consistent and precise approach to art meant that all of the work I produced was extremely relevant and formed part of my project's progression. Working digitally complimented the core concepts of my project, focusing on the digital world and the illusions it creates. Presenting them on a blog allowed them to stand out, which wouldn’t have occurred if they were cut out and put in a sketchbook. By building a concept around the idea of working online I was able to create a cohesive project, using carefully selected digital media and presenting it in an online space. The irony of the fact that I initially set out to explore the shortcomings of the digital world only to discover that the use of this medium enhanced my project was not one that was lost on me.

#FMP

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welldresseddadblog · 7 years ago

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Welcome to the 13th instalment of the “Garmsman Dozen” question and answer session. The response so far has been tremendous. Did you miss earlier ones? There are links at the end of the page.

This week we welcome to the Garmsman Dozen Christopher Laverty from Great Britain!

Who are you, where do you live and what interests you?

Christopher Laverty. York, UK. 40 years old.

Author of book Fashion in Film, broadcaster, creator of website Clothes on Film and costume consultant.

Twitter: @clothesonfilm, Instagram: @lordlaverty, @christopherlaverty, Facebook: @clothesonfilm.

I enjoy movies, decent TV, clothes, clothes in movies, clothes in decent TV, bourbon, pipe smoking, cigars (preferably Cuban), cocktail making, cycling, running and twirling my moustache.

Thinking back to your childhood, what were your most memorable or favourite clothes?

Honestly, I don’t remember much of my childhood. Controversially I don’t many of us really do, we just piece together memories from what we’re told and photographs. With that in mind, I’ll go to my late teenage years when I first remember becoming interested in clothes. It was the mid-late 1990s so a lot of pale, shapeless denim jeans worn way too long with thick, oversized shirts and suede Kickers. This is probably why I gravitated toward the vintage scene which at this time was big on 1970s retro revival. My favourite buy was a tan leather trench coat, probably from the late 1970s, made in Egypt with a Selfridges label. It was immaculate. I purchased for £25 from Covent Garden market and still have it today. I don’t wear the coat much as it’s a little on the nose these days and verging on dress up, but at least it still fits! I do come from a family interested in clothes, particularly my dad. I was born to older parents (they are in their late eighties now) and with an older brother (now 60) and sister (53). I was spoilt rotten. Apparently, I even had a tailored coat, which to a working-class family is quite a fancy thing. My appreciation of clothes comes from understanding how they are made, their design, influences and appropriateness to the era. This is all born in me I think.

How would you describe your style today, and what are your influences?

It’s one of two things depending on my mood, time of year, facial hair and hairstyle: 1) denim and workwear, Edwardian influenced to 1930s OR 2) 1970s lounge with flared three-piece suits. I like to change things up because I get bored easily. It does have to be a specific look though – I have to feel that it ticks certain boxes, although saying that I do loathe the idea of sticking rigidly to eras or historical accuracy. My main influence for the 70’s is television programmes such as The Persuaders! and The Professionals and films such as Fear is the Key and Carlito’s Way. For workwear, it’s more print-based influences, like old photographs of miners and ranchers, but also films like The First Great Train Robbery and There Will Be Blood. I pull from wherever I like, really. Again, it’s not rigid; I’m not a re-enactor, I’m just someone who enjoys a period-specific feel to their dress.

How do you think others would describe your style and garments, do you get any reaction from friends and random strangers?

Totally, though a lot of that comes from random moustache admirers/hecklers. I don’t mind, so long as it’s polite. People will always point out what is different and, if I’m honest, I get a kick out of it. I think my friends just list random people they consider could be associated with my look – I’ve had everything from Shaft to a Spitfire pilot. It’s all good fun unless you choose to be offended (which I don’t because life is far too short to be cross and moaning all the time).

When looking for clothes, what factors play into your selections?

Need, mainly. I don’t really seek out any clothing unless I’m specifically short on something, like a henley t-shirt or new pair of boots. Most clothes come to me, in that I might stumble across a charity shop find or somebody acquires a shirt or whatever they think I’d like. I don’t really pay full price for anything. For example, I bought some suede chukka boots by Alfred Sargent last year, but only because they were offered to me by a friend who’d found them (in immaculate condition I might add) in a charity shop. I certainly didn’t need the boots but I’ll not turn my nose up at a bargain. I love clothes, though my wardrobe is actually quite capsule. I think there’s nothing worse than just buying willy-nilly and ending up with so much gear you can hardly store it all. This actually diminishes sartorial creativity in my view.

When putting together an outfit combination, do you spend a lot of time considering it?

Not really. I think I know what works and just go with that. I’ll plan more if it’s an occasion outfit but for every day I just grab what I like depending on the weather. Putting together an ensemble can be fun, but I do think if you take too long it becomes fussy and convoluted. If in doubt, take it out.

Most garmsmen will have a few “grail items” in their collection. Not to out you, but if your house is burning, which garments do you grab?

Probably my RM Williams boots. They are Craftsman Yearling, the finest boot RM Williams make in my opinion and they work with almost any outfit. I purchased on eBay nearly a decade ago for about £100. The leather is cracking a tad now but I couldn’t be without them. That said, I wouldn’t burn alive for them either so this better be a fairly mild fire we’re talking about here.

Photo by Ben Bentley

Are you budget-conscious or spendthrift? Are you a single-shot shopper, or go large and buy bulk? Where are you on slow-fashion and buying less?

I’m not spendthrift, even less so if I’m buying for others. If something fits and looks great and I can afford it and need it, I’ll buy it. I do like things that are in a sale or reduced though – it just feels more fun to make that purchase. In this respect, I wish I could support more artisan brands but they are just too rich for my blood. The sad thing is I know that the guys running these places and making these clothes and footwear are just getting by as is. If I was rich I’d probably shop with an eye toward supporting homegrown brands, but as things stand whoever can give me what I want for the best possible price is going to get my money.

Having a large collection of clothes can lead to changing outfit on a daily basis, but if you were going to wear a single outfit the next two weeks, what would it be?

My go to is probably a green ribbed cotton henley (from H&M), Marlboro leather and canvas braces (charity shop), Levi LVC 1878 jeans (eBay) and my RM Williams boots. This outfit suits just about every occasion, unless you want me attending your wedding or something. It’s comfortable to travel, work, socialise and chill in. Simple but effective in my opinion.

What would you never wear?

That’s a tough one. Basically, anything that looks awful on me, so very baggy trousers or jeans (I’m a short-ass), super-tight muscle tees (they are hilarious even if you have the body) and chunky hi-top trainers (love them on other people but I look like a failed hip-hop artist). Oh and baseball caps. Every time I put one on I look like I’m dying of some disease.

Photo by David Wade

What are your best tips for buying?

If you’re talking specifically about buying for my look, either workwear or 70’s inspired, then I’d say eBay, charity shops and vintage fairs. Got to be patient though and realise that, in the main, if you’ve found a bargain, someone else has too. People know their stuff a lot more these days so everyone has their eye out. For basics, I find H&M hard to beat. It’s not the highest quality and sometimes their stores are saturated with desperately on-trend crap, but in general, for easy tees and shirts, they are a goldmine (plus have lots of year-round sales).

Do you have a dream garment you’d love to own?

A few years ago I would have said a Savile Row suit but I think I desired one for the wrong reasons. It was a case of wanting to say I’ve had a suit cut on Savile Row rather than wanting the garment itself. I must admit I have always hankered after a beautifully tailored flared leg suit from the 1970s. I have a couple of off-the-peg examples but I’d love one bespoke. Suits of this era with that distinctive cut, the high waist, flared leg, high double vents and pagoda shoulder are not impossibly hard to find, though ones made from high-quality wool suiting are. Also, I’m a sucker for LVC Levi. I’d buy most of it just to hang on my wall and salivate over.

Anyone that buys clothes will have made mistakes, what is your most memorable bad buy?

Loads! When I used to buy more and think later I grabbed many a mistake. Possibly my worst was a pair of loose Abercrombie & Fitch jeans, from eBay if I remember correctly. Not sure what look I was going for. LA surfer, possibly? Or maybe just asshole. Either way, unsurprisingly, they didn’t work.

Do you have any style icons, historic or current?

Most of the looks I covet are from films so were put together by costume designers rather than the stars in question. Then again, stars and icons had stylists back in the day and they have stylists now. Cary Grant always nailed it. James Coburn could rock the Ivy. Nowadays Sebastian Stan constantly looks interesting without going too bananas (he has a brilliant stylist and an easy to dress bod too, mind). My elderly dad has a wonderfully open love of bright colour, which I admire and is daring for a former market trader from the East End of London. ‘Be more like him’ I often think.

Who are your favourite Instagram profiles?

What you mean apart from @Welldresseddad??? 😉 I like all the sartorial based accounts I follow. Two, in particular, indulge my passion for high-end workwear denim that I can’t afford: @kingchung501 and @vorstenbos. Anyone who doesn’t take it all too seriously, basically.

How do you think trends such as denim and heritage style will evolve and survive? What will be the next big thing?

I think more and more people will get into making their own clothes. We are not there yet, and I certainly don’t presently have the skills, but big picture I feel this will get easier and easier to do in our own home. Sustainability is a big trend and not going anywhere – and really it can’t afford to. Denim especially will go down this route. Like I said we are a way off, but with current textile innovations and online communities, it is coming.

Thank you!

Thank you for your Garmsman Chris!

Photo by David Wade

Did you miss the first Garmsman Dozens?

Jon from Great Britain

Shaun from Scotland

Klaus from Germany

Roland from Italy

Daniel from Sweden

Enoch from the USA

Even from Norway

Kris from Belgium

Michael from Great Britain

Liam from Great Britain

Lee from Great Britain

Iain from Great Britain

Michael from Italy

PS: If you have suggestions for participants, let me know. Or have your mother suggest you, if you’re a bit keen to suggest yourself. My email is WellDressedDad (@) gmail.com

The Garmsman Dozen #14: Chris from Great Britain Welcome to the 13th instalment of the "Garmsman Dozen" question and answer session. The response so far has been tremendous.

#christopher laverty #Denim #film costumes #garmsman dozen #men&039;s style #mens fashion #menswear #workwear

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flynnmcdonnellwriting · 4 years ago

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The Birth of the ‘Troubled Estate’: A photo essay into Tom Hunter – ‘Holly Street Voids’

Documenting the effects of regeneration, artist Tom Hunter moved into Holly Street Estate, Hackney two years before it was demolished. Featuring four nineteen storey towers and nineteen five-storey buildings interconnected by a long ‘sinister’ corridor, Hunter photographed the last remaining residents of the community. Capturing the peaceful interiors of the resident’s homes, Hunter emphasises the individual presence of each occupants as representative of an old age of social housing that would quite literally be torn down and rebuilt. Paralleled to the neglected exterior of the tower blocks and the difficult struggle of daily life that came with it. Hunter expresses the importance of the resident’s welfare through his insistence to challenge the stereotypes around estate (Figure 1). As he states, “It was rough and violent and there was graffiti and rubbish everywhere, but then you went into people’s homes and it was a warm experience – meeting these people who had put pride and effort into their homes and bringing up their kids”.

Figure 1: Tom Hunter, Holly Street (1997)

Before being demolished, Hunter hosted an exhibition on the 19th floor, covering the whole room with his photos. Following the resident’s evictions from the estate, Hunter returned to the empty apartments capturing the anguish of departure in his series ‘Holly Street Voids’. Emphasising the fundamental disruption, Hunter symbolises the empty tower blocks as a paradigm failure in Britain’s social housing policies in photographing the slowly decaying and vacant rooms. Almost dystopian the images take on even more poignancy, given the idealistic utopian vision the tower blocks once been created under (Figure 2).

In the 1960s British architects hoped to learn from the mistakes of the 1920s and 1930s with the invention of new architectural forms that sought to recreate the social fabric of working-class communities. Taking influence from Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier they favoured a more modernist vision of 20th century living; the ‘streets in the sky’ were born. Made up of endless footbridges that connected blocks of apartments, the intention was to recapture the convivial nature of the historic streets and neighbourhoods that had once sat below. For all their good intentions, their application proved disastrous. Built on an inhumane scale, the tower blocks were high-density ill-equipped homes with poorly designed communal areas that hindered any likelihoods of residents building any sense of social capital. It’s often cited, that London suffered more damage as a result of property development and misguided councils in the 1960s, than Hitler had managed to inflict during the whole of the war.

Figure 2: Tom Hunter, Holly Street Voids (1998)

In 2017, Hunters series was exhibited at V&A’s Museum of Childhood. Entitled ‘Searching for Ghosts’, Hunter collaborates with fellow artist James Mackinnon and photographer Mike Seabourne exploring social housing in East London. Working with local residents who had lived in the area for over ninety-years they present an intergenerational project that shared stories of East London communities. Today only one tower remains at Holly Street, as Hunter explains; “They wanted to knock down all four, but the old-age pensioners were very vocal and said: ‘We want to live in the tower blocks, we like the views’. They loved the fact they could get a lift and the community feel. They thought it was much safer, which was completely the opposite of what I thought they would say.”

Built between 1966 and 1971, the estate became a key target for Tony Blair’s regeneration programme; having lived nearby in Mapledene Road while growing up. On the 2nd June 1997, a month after his landslide victory, he made his first public speech at Southwark’s Aylesbury Estate; “I have chosen this housing estate for a very simple reason. For 18 years, the poorest people in our country have been forgotten by the government. They have been left out of Government except for the purpose of blaming them. I want that to change. There will be no forgotten people in the Britain I want to build. For a generation of young men, little has come to replace the third of all manufacturing jobs that have been lost. Behind the statistics lie households where three generations have never had a job. There are estates where the biggest employer is the drugs industry, where all that is left of the high hopes of the post-war planners is derelict concreate”.

In order to rescue its most marginalised communities and seize the ‘New Britain’ it proclaimed New Labour sought to create ‘a different kind of community’ that would integrate them into a new globalised economy. In the same way Thatcher used the field of housing as a vehicle to enact her roll back of the state, Blair seized upon it to carry out his vision of the future as he embraced the new globalised economy that had shut so many previous communities out. This social exclusion through a lack of access to employment and recourses, as well as the ability to compete resulted in the convergence of the ‘problem estate’. This short-hand analysis would define Britain’s neighbourhoods as areas of unskilled individuals where economic inactivity had resulted in collective cultural behaviours ill befitting of employability.

‘Derelict concrete’ estates such as Holly Street and Aylesbury became potent examples of the growing stigmatisation towards Britain’s left behind neighbourhoods. Portrayed as a crime hotspot, to many Aylesbury Estate is most recognisable from Channel Four’s 2004 ident. Embodying every trope of urban decay from graffiti-ridden walls and littered walkways, the ident presented a threatening dystopian vision of its ‘streets in the sky’. It’s important to note however, that Aylesbury was less a ‘problem estate’ but rather an estate – like many others – that had problems. A sentiment that was shared by its residents. Being one of the poorest inner-city areas of the capital it had come to house a proportion of mostly black and ethnic minority communities; as well as being used as reception area for refugees and asylum seekers. Rejecting the media portrayals, they produced a more positive representation of the estate, highlighting the diverse social fabric of the community. As many argued, the estates problems didn’t lie within its individuals but in the years of poor upkeep and neglect; “Our lived experience of crime on the Estate does not match the myth – and this is borne out by the statistics. We need to counter these pernicious negative stereotypes. We are not going to be bullied into giving up good sound insulation, light, views and space because of exterior neglect and delays in re-housing growing families due to current housing scarcity”.

Despite refuting their community’s portrayal, the ‘troubled estate’ myth was important as it gave justification for the social engineering – the idea of mixed communities - that lay the heart of New Labour’s vision. By proposing a mixture of housing tenures, which critically included private ownership, New Labour believed that the injection of affluent middle-class owner occupiers would ‘lift’ estates benefiting them as a whole. Controversially it resulted in the demolishment of council homes that were then only partially replaced; in fewer numbers and less secure as they were completely unaffordable to those who needed them most. Aylesbury’s tenants rejected the proposed scheme fearing as much that it would lead to a middle-class takeover resulting in the reduction of space standards and diminished rights under new landlords. Understandably, they did not trust the council. In 1999 Southwark councils Director of Regeneration Fred Manson sparked fierce controversy after claiming that ‘social housing generates people on low incomes coming in and that generates poor school performances, middle-class people stay away’. For many it was easy to see it for what it was, as back-door privatisation. For the time being Aylesbury’s residents battle on.

Just a mile up the road, the Heygate Estate has been less fortunate. Demolished in 2011, residents were promised new homes as part of the regeneration. However, these were never built by the time they were ‘decanted’ from the estate in 2007 and of the previous 1,200 council homes, zero remain. Of the estate’s 1,034 households formerly renting from the council, now only 216 remain. Of the 2,535 homes that are now owned by the Lend Lease Group, only seventy-nine are social rented. Heygate Estate’s regeneration programme reflects a social issue that has hung over inner London for decades. With councils desperate to generate income while being surrounded by high priced properties, it’s hard to dispute it as nothing more than social cleansing.

It’s important to note that this isn’t a modern problem in London. In an ever-modernising 1960s Britain, the juxtaposing realities of the growing affluence and the surviving slums was ever more convoluted. For a country that was re-establishing itself as a progressive island of collectivist thinking, how could it carry on justifying such an archaic form of living. With a broad consensus towards the welfare state still felt, the politics of housing was once again brought to the forefront of daily political rhetoric. The general view held by many politicians was that in order to rid the cities of its slums they therefore had to build new housing both rapidly and on an unprecedented scale. Faced with growing waiting lists and a reduction in inner-city building sites, this led to many Londoners being rehoused in suburban estates on the capital’s peripheries. Known as the ‘London overspill’, this choice was one that was often unwillingly imposed upon them as it led to the break-up of support networks through that of the extended family.

The irony of New Labour’s ‘mixed communities’ scheme is that council estates have always been mixed communities that are home to people from all walks of life. While they disproportionately house many of London’s poorest citizens they are far from the ‘ghettoised’ caricature that is promoted by the media. There is of course a case to be made for the ‘mixed communities’ initiative. After all it was Nye Bevan himself who preached of the importance of council estates not becoming ‘colonies of low-income people’. While well intentioned, as there was undoubtedly a need to implement beneficial reforms to the decaying estates, it’s clear that New Labour pursued a neo-liberal agenda. In deciding to favour the market over the many, they essentially left council housing defenceless to rising prejudice; both against the underlining values that sustained it and the very communities that lived within them. By failing to challenge these attacks they left council housing open to the greatest threat that was yet to come.

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peerbear · 5 years ago

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Workflow & Creative Camera Techniques: Introduction to Visual Exercuse 2 & Visual Exercise 1 Due - Week 3 (01/10/20)

This week we had our introduction to Visual Exercise 2, in which we we will have to do 2 shots of a character performing an action. One of the shots will be handheld and the other will be filmed on a tripod. The purpose of this will be to understand the pros and cons of using both tripods and handheld equipment.

This week I watched Modern Family, which looks at the lives of the people in a ‘modern family’ of today. Something I find very interesting in this series are the establishing shots that are created to establish the setting in which the family members live in. This shots are used to tell the viewer where they are and in which person’s house they are specifically, in this series this includes just an outside shot of the house, which is often the exact same shot as previously used. What I find interesting is that the act of reusing these shots doesn’t take away from the quality of the episodes or programme itself, but is merely used as a device to create unerstanding for the viewer.

Below are both the parts of my Visual Exercise 1 Submission.

Visual Exercise 1 Part 1: Film Analysis of the Death of Maximus Scene from Gladiator by Peer Theilen

This analysis will look at the scene ‘The Death of Maximus’ from Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott (2000). Gladiator follows Roman general Maximus’ journey as he is betrayed into slavery by the emperor’s son Commodus. As a gladiator he fights his way to Rome where he avenges his killed family, killing Commodus and saving Rome from tyranny. In this scene Maximus has killed his nemesis and delivers the last wishes of the true emperor before he dies. The focus of the scene is on Maximus as he leaves the world to go to the afterlife. Lucilla Commodus’ sister speaks to Maximus as he dies telling him to go to his family. After his death everyone else who is left with his victory honours him as their hero. The scene’s cinematography encapsules Maximus’ point of view and shows him entering the afterlife. The costume and setting establish time and place, showing the splendour of the wealthy and the struggle of the poor in the times of ancient Rome. The lighting and editing create the atmosphere in the scene, clearly making Maximus the hero and showing the difference between the world that he leaves and the one that he enters. The soundtrack further enhances the ethereal and empowered atmosphere in the scene and highlights a connection between the two worlds. Finally, it is a thought-provoking piece that creates a sense of connection with the protagonist and addresses the injustice that he faces.

Through close up shots, point of view shots and camera movement the cinematography tells the story of how Maximus dies showing him leaving one world and entering another. The cuts between both worlds show the transition of Maximus soul from one space to another, blurring the line of realities, demonstrating Maximus is journey to his family. The scene begins and ends with arial and wide shots which establish the setting of the colosseum and the character relations to their setting, specifically Maximus as the hero. Interestingly the angles from above indicate that those in the ring are inferior which typically fits into the culture of colosseums but as the gladiator depicted is a hero it appears to turn this view on its head, questioning the morality of this culture. In the opening shot the camera captures a movement across an entirely silent audience looking in anticipation creating a focal point that is out of the shot. The shot shifts to an arial shot in which a circle of armed soldiers surround 2 people highlighting them as the centre of attention, and what the audience was looking at. A series of medium shots and close ups encapsule Maximus and the people who he talks to, this highlights the importance of his message and aligns the viewers perspective with that of the main character, making it possible to imagine how he feels as he is dying. The entire scene interludes with tracking point of view shots, the movement of which guide the viewer towards the place where Maximus is going, to his family in the afterlife. This is a recurring shot throughout the film in the form of flashbacks, but this time the colour scheme is different, suggesting he is entering a different realm and accurately conveys his point of view to the viewer as he is the only one who can see that other world. Soon he falls to the ground and a series of close ups show him dying talking to princess Lucilla, these shots demonstrate the intimacy between them as he dies. Once he dies the perspective shifts onto Lucilla who appears to now be in charge. Hereafter the shots move further and further away from the characters, this demonstrates the impact Maximus made on those around him.

Both the costume and the setting establish the time and place. Maximus’ costume is characteristic of a Roman gladiator giving him the social status of someone who is owned but worth more than a common slave but less than someone of the upper or middle class. His hair is sweaty, and his body is blood-soaked and grimy showing his fight to survive without having time to stay clean. Lucilla’s costume conveys her wealth and her beauty, she wears golden drapes and a dress of different patterns and textures and large jewels that further demonstrate her wealth, but these are put together in a complimentary way with her make up being subtle demonstrating her purity. The audience that watches appears clean and well-dressed showing that they would never have to be in the ring below and are there purely for entertainment at others expense. The setting of the colosseum further establishes the time of the Roman empire and is a key feature of the city of Rome, thus establishing setting. The set also indicates exactly what goes on in the arena, people watch as slaves fight to the death, suggesting a power imbalance and a thirst for power in this culture. The set appears realistic and of this world but has clearly been edited as no such building exists in a complete form today.

The lighting and editing create the atmosphere of the two worlds that are shown in the scene. The late sun creates many long shadows in the scene demonstrating that it is the end of the day. Maximus is the only person who is truly in the light of the sun within the colosseum, this makes him appear as the hero. Although not noticeable upon first glance the shadow shapes change position throughout the scene and this must have been overlooked in editing or shooting, but this will have been hard to plan if shot by daylight, it appears this was the case. The colour pallet in the scene consists of blues reds and yellows, mostly red and yellow in the real world and blue in the ethereal one. There is not a trace of green which could be a signification of the loss of life in the scene as green signifies life. In the shots in which Maximus goes to his family there is a distinct blue filter put over the screen, tinting it making it clearly another realm but in my opinion the filter is too harsh and so does not combine as well as it could with the scene as a whole and although the shots are beautiful I think it would work better if the contrast was more subtle but this will have been an intentional artistic decision rather than a mistake like the shadows were. Although in part the colour pallet is dull the shots are bright and eye catching, perhaps indicating the reality of the world which it shows which is bleak but also beautiful.

The soundtrack and language in the scene further create a spiritual atmosphere, further emphasizing the connection between the real world and the spiritual world. The soundtrack is eery appearing to be folk or spiritual music. The language of the music sounds Gaelic but is in fact a language that the singer made up as a child to speak to god, which appears fitting as a god is called upon for faith when someone dies. The soundtrack is called Elysium which is a mythological term for the fields in which people especially soldiers would go to in their afterlife, it was their promised paradise. The moments of silence or struggle for words by Maximus show him fighting for life to deliver a final message as he drifts away. The music’s purpose appears to be to show the transition from life to death, demonstrating the importance of serving your civilization in these times. It further directs the viewer’s attention onto Maximus, shaping him as the fallen hero. The language of the film is spoken English as it is a British-American production, but the language that they would be speaking in is Latin or Italian.

The scene establishes certain reactions and critics certain aspects of the civilisation that it depicts. As a whole the film cues reactions of bewilderment as it is a story of injustice versus justice and ultimately victory. As a standalone the scene cues a sense of loss but also fulfilment. The film encourages these reactions as it shows the injustice that the protagonist faces, making the viewer sympathise with him. And by bringing across his point of view his feelings are brought to the forefront. The film addresses the injustice of slavery and the danger in the lust for power that was found within the Roman empire, thus reflecting on how this is not acceptable. The film appears relatively high budget although the filter for when Maximus is dying seems cheap and the script is not written in a way that people speak, but overall it is a very good production.

In conclusion this essay has critically analysed the scene ‘the Death of Maximus’ from Gladiator. The scene’s cinematography demonstrates Maximus’ perspective. The costume and setting establish time and place, establishing the power struggle and class injustice of ancient Rome. The lighting and editing create the dynamics in the scene, highlighting two different worlds and the focus onto the protagonist. Additionally, the soundtrack improves the ethereal and empowered undercurrents in the scene emphasizing the beauty of life and the hope for an afterlife. Finally, it effectively addresses the struggle of the protagonist and creates empathy for him.

Here Maximus is shown having killed his arch nemesis, the circle of people around him and the shadows in the rest of the frame clearly mark him as the centre of focus. The rose petals or red confetti on the colosseum floor represent the bloodshed and foreshadow the death that is about to happen.

The cool pallet demonstrates a different atmosphere or even realm. And the fields represent Elysium, the fields of paradise from ancient mythology where honourable people go after death.

Here Maximus is shown literally walking towards his family who are barely visible in the distance which shows that they are coming back together again.

Here his wife is shown in a close up, smiles as she sees him knowing they will be together again.

Princess Lucilla looking at Maximus and telling him to go to his family and let go as he has done enough. And is clearly dying. She cries at his loss. Expensive jewels.

Shows Princess Lucilla giving a speech to honour Maximus saviour of Rome.

[1774 Words]

Bibliography

The Death of Maximus Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12iorWj83P0

The link to where the images are taken from: https://film-grab.com/2017/09/13/gladiator/#

Director and film information:

- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator_%282000_film%29

Soundtrack info: https://www.filmtracks.com/comments/titles/gladiator/index.cgi?read=904&expand=1

Elysium definition: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Elysium

Visual Exercise 1 Part 2: Framing

In all 6 of these shots I took a photo of at friend in the same location in different shots and framings, to see how much affect the shot has on the story that it tells. We were going from one place to another, so it was not the ideal location but hopefully they have turned out as planned. Interestingly the colour pallet in my shots mainly consists of green which was the main tone that was missing in my analysis piece.

Wide Shot (Rule of Thirds)

In this shot I positioned the subject at the edge of the first and second thirds. He is still the subject, but the eye is not only drawn to him, with the leading lines of the empty pathways appearing ominous, giving the shot an interesting depth of field. The fact that he is positioned to the side adds to his lonely appearing expression, he seems very alone in this photo with the empty space around him.

Medium Shot (Rule of Thirds)

In this medium shot the subject being on the side with people in the background makes him appear thoughtful, but as he is closer it seems that this is more from his point of view than the previous shot. The headroom give him space to breath or even think and frames him comfortably.

Close Up (Rule of Thirds)

Here the space to the right of the subject gives the frame space to breath allowing for it to evoke another pensive atmosphere. But the cutting off of the top of the head creates an unease and the pursed lip and sidewards glance also indicate sadness.

Wide Shot (Centre Framing)

Here the subject is clearly the centre of attention, with ample space all around him. What might have been a mistake here and in the following shots is that his background is not symmetrical which might be an issue to this type of shot.

Medium Shot (Centre Framing)

Here the subject looks quite happy as he looks directly into the camera half smiling, as he is central he immediately pulls the attention of the viewer and is the unquestionable focal point of the shot.

Close Up (Centre Framing)

Here the subject is pictured laughing and the fact that he is pictured so close brings out his emotions even more. He is clearly happy. The space around him is blurry and out of focus, further highlighting him as the key part in the shot.

#Workflow&CreativeCameraTechniques

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bigmacdaddio · 5 years ago

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All Things Music Plus

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ON THIS DATE (51 YEARS AGO)October 10, 1969 – King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King is released.# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5 (MUST-HAVE!)# Allmusic 5/5 stars# Rolling Stone (see original review below)In the Court of the Crimson King is the debut album by King Crimson, released on this date in 1969. It reached #28 on the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart and #5 on the UK LP's chart.The album is generally viewed as one of the strongest of the progressive rock genre, where King Crimson largely stripped away the blues-based foundations of rock music and mixed together jazz and Classical symphonic elements. In his 1997 book Rocking the Classics, critic and musicologist Edward Macan notes that In the Court of the Crimson King "may be the most influential progressive rock album ever released". The Who's Pete Townshend was quoted as calling the album "an uncanny masterpiece". It’s astonishing to think that when this record was released in 1969 King Crimson had been together for less than nine months.It’s astonishing to think that when this record was released in 1969 King Crimson had been together for less than nine months.Aside from the impeccable musicianship, the record’s impact was helped enormously by Barry Godber’s cover painting. Commissioned by Crimson lyricist, Pete Sinfield, rarely has an album sleeve so accurately conveyed the shock-and-awe reaction which this extraordinary music produced in its listeners. Even the jewel-case format has done little to dilute its iconic power.It was Fripp’s idea to subtitle the album “An Observation By King Crimson”, which had the effect of framing the five pieces within an implied concept of sorts. Fripp also his suggestion that there be no print anywhere on the exterior artwork.John Gaydon, Crimson’s co-manager at the time recalls Island Records were worried about objections from retailers who would be confused about the lack of information on the sleeve. “Fripp said, well, it’ll be the only record in the shop without anything down the spine on it, so they’ll know which one it is. Which was brilliant when you think about it.”In light of this, Pete Townshend’s declaration that the album was “an uncanny masterpiece” seems something of an understatement.__________THE LEGACY of In The Court of the Crimson KingA life-long King Crimson fan, 40th Anniversary Editions producer, Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson offers his thoughts on the debut album.“For me this is the birth of progressive rock. Yes there were other albums before that. You could say Sgt. Peppers or Moody Blues Days Of Future Passed have a claim to laying down a blueprint of progressive rock but ITCOTCK really is the first time you have such technical prowess allied to musical experiments, great songwriting, and a conceptual feeling all tied together in one record.Greg Lake - Tea Party Boston, Massachusetts (October 30, 1969)I think musicianship is the key here. Bands like The Beatles and the Moody Blues attempted very ambitious psuedo-progressive albums before, but Crimson was the first time you had a band that were able to go that one step further in terms of their musicianship. They were young guys full of ideas and ambition and I really think you have to say that this is the true point at which progressive rock is born, and some would say never bettered.Some people snigger at the idea of progressive rock but for me when progressive rock was at its peak in the 69 - 74 period it was the most experimental, most credible, most ambitious music that has ever been made. The guys were reaching for the stars and very often got there."+++++ROBERT FRIPP:The impact of this group, featuring Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield, is difficult to convey 25 years afterwards unless one were part of it: something like the explosive impact of punk seven years later. A considerable influence on the musicians and groups of its generation, it is also the only Crimson which could have been a massive commercial success. Inevitably, it drew as much hostility as support.The only record from this period - "In The Court Of The Crimson King" - failed to convey the power of its live performance but hints at the intensity which characterises classic Crimson of any period. Contemporary ears might find the music part of another era unless they drop listening at the music and listen through it. The sonic landscape remains as bleak an authentic Crimscape as it gets. Neither heavy metal nor hard rock have been able to blow me away since I spent 1969 playing "Schizoid Man" and a mellotronic stroboscopic "Mars" throughout England and the US.My own perspective on Crimson is obviously rather different from the other founder members of the 1969 band. My impression is that they consider their Crimson to be the only real Crimson, a view with which I have sympathy but disagree. We would probably agree that this founding Crimson was charmed. There was something completely other which touched this group and which we called our "good fairy". After reflecting on how we went from abject failure to global commercial and musical success in nine months, I concluded after several years of reflection that sometimes music leans over and takes us into its confidence. This was one of those times.But we were also young men, too immature to handle the strains involved in rapidly moving from failure to international success. The group's birthday was on January 13th. 1969 at the Fulham Palace Cafe in London. It broke up in Los Angeles, December 1969.~ Robert Fripp__________COVERBarry Godber (1946–1970), a computer programmer, painted the album cover. Godber died in February 1970 of a heart attack, shortly after the album's release. It would be his only painting, and is now owned by Robert Fripp.Writing in the booklet accompanying the Epitaph box set Robert Fripp recalled “The cover was as strange and powerful as anything else to do with this group. Barry Godber, a friend of Peter and Dik the Roadie, was not an artist but a computer programmer. This was the only album cover he painted. Barry died in bed in Feb¬ru¬ary 1970 at the age of 24.The cover was as much a defining statement, and a classic, as the album. And they both belonged together. The Schizoid face was really scary, especially if a display filled an entire shop window.Peter brought the cover into Wessex Studios in Highgate during a session. At the time Michael Giles refused to commit himself to it, nor has he yet. But Michael has also never agreed to the name King Crimson. We went ahead anyway.The original artwork hung on a wall in 63a, Kings Road, in full daylight for several years. This was the centre of EG activities from 1970 and remains so today, albeit in its diminished and truncated form. For several years I watched the colours drain from the Schizoid and Crimson King faces until, finally, I announced that unless it was hung where it was protected from daylight, I would remove it. Several months later I removed it and it is now stored at Discipline Global Mobile World Central.”__________ORIGINAL REVIEWS FROM UK MUSIC PAPERSMelody Maker:This eagerly-awaited first album is no disappointment and confirms their reputation as one of the most important new groups for some time. It gives little idea of their true power on stage but still packs tremendous impact especially the brutally exciting “21st Century Schizoid Man” and the eerie title track, with its frightening mellotron sounds. It’s not all high power stuff though - there’s some nice flute from Ian McDonald on the beautiful “I Talk To The Wind” and “Moonchild” is pretty, though too long. The vocals are clear and controlled and the instrumental work can hardly be faulted. This is one you should try and hear.Disc:The first LP from the group heralded by those who know to be the most exciting discovery of the year. Get over the most horrific cover of the year and you’ll find the pundits are not wrong. A brilliant mixture of melody and freakout, fast and slow, atmospheric and electric, all heightened by the words of Peter Sinfield.International Times:The Ultimate Album. There is little one can fault with it: the arrangements make masterful use of multi-tracking, compressing and reducing, the standard of playing almost defies belief at the time, the vocals are merely excellent and the numbers are brilliantly and excitedly written.I don’t like one of the numbers, despite my total commitment as a Crimson-Bopper, which is ‘Moonchild’ and is too long. Otherwise a gassy, jazzy, heavy, complex, smooth and totally magnificent album: written, arranged, played and produced by the most original group since ........ (fill in your answers to Apple Ltd., Saville Row, London., for instance.NMEThe long-awaited first album from the remarkable King Crimson, a group which manages to provoke either loathing or fanatical devotion but which is undoubtedly capable of building for itself a sizeable reputation. This stunningly-packaged LP provides a varied selection of King Crimson’s style, although it lacks some of the drive of the stage performances that have made their name. Nevertheless, as a first album, it is extremely good.Daily SketchIf you want to know where pop is going in the 70s listen to this. It is magnificent.__________ORIGINAL ROLLING STONE REVIEWThere are certain problems to be encountered by any band that is consciously avant-garde. In attempting to sound "farout" the musicians inevitably impose on themselves restrictions as real as if they were trying to stay in a Top-40 groove. There's usually a tendency to regard weirdness as an end in itself, and excesses often ruin good ideas. Happily, King Crimson avoids these obstacles most of the time. Their debut album drags in places, but for the most part they have managed to effectively convey their own vision of Desolation Row. And the more I listen, the more things fall into place and the better it gets.The album begins by setting the scene with "21st Century Schizoid Man." The song is grinding and chaotic, and the transition into the melodic flute which opens "I Talk to the Wind" is abrupt and breathtaking. Each song on this album is a new movement of the same work, and King Crimson's favorite trick is to move suddenly and forcefully from thought to thought. "Epitaph" speaks for itself: "The wall on which the prophets wrote/Is cracking at the seams ... Confusion will be my epitaph.""Moonchild" opens the second side, and this is the only weak song on the album. Most of its twelve minutes is taken up with short statements by one or several instruments. More judicious editing would have heightened their impact; as it is, you're likely to lose interest. But the band grabs you right back when it booms into the majestic, symphonic theme of "The Court of the Crimson King." This song is the album's grand climax; it summarizes everything that has gone before it: "The yellow jester does not play/But gently pulls the strings/And smiles as the puppets dance / In the court of the Crimson King."This set was an ambitious project, to say the least. King Crimson will probably be condemned by some for pompousness, but that criticism isn't really valid. They have combined aspects of many musical forms to create a surreal work of force and originality.Besides which they're good musicians. Guitarist Robert Fripp and Ian McDonald (reeds, woodwinds, vibes, keyboards, mellotron) both handle rock, jazz, or classical with equal ease. Bassist Greg Lakes and drummer Michael Giles can provide the beat, fill in the holes, or play free-form. While Dylan and Lennon are still safe, lyricist Peter Sinfield does show a gift (macabre as it may be) for free association imagery.How effectively this music can be on stage is, admittedly, a big question. The answer is probably not too well. Still, King Crimson's first album is successful; hopefully, there is more to come. (RS 49)~ John Morthland (December 27, 1969)TRACKS:Written by Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield unless noted.Side one"21st Century Schizoid Man" – 7:21"I Talk to the Wind" (McDonald, Sinfield) – 6:05"Epitaph" – 8:47Side two"Moonchild" – 12:13"The Court of the Crimson King" (McDonald, Sinfield) – 9:25

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architectnews · 5 years ago

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Prague Tomorrow? Prague Priorities

Prague Tomorrow? Prague Priorities Exhibition, Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning, Architecture Photos

Prague Tomorrow? Prague Priorities Exhibition

5 Oct 2020

Prague Tomorrow? Prague Priorities Exhibition

Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning

Location: Prague, Czech Republic

New concert hall, a Prague “High Line”, and a neo-cubist bridge across the river. 25 projects that will significantly change the face of Prague

Have you ever wondered what Prague will look like in twenty years? Prague Tomorrow? Prague Priorities is an exhibition that takes us on a journey into the future, show-casing 25 ambitious development projects that could bring substantial changes to the face of Prague. The exhibition, taking place at CAMP – Center for Architecture and Met-ropolitan Planning – maps five basic categories in Prague’s development areas: from new neighbourhoods, and large infrastructure projects, to streets, squares and parks.

The projects differ in size and location. They do, however, have one thing in common: most of them represent a direct investment by the city. “The Prague Priorities exhibition presents a se-lection of twenty-five far-reaching projects that will change the face of Prague as we know it. We want to tap the city’s inner reserves and potential – by improving the city’s streets, squares, public spaces and transport links we want to raise the overall quality of life of Pra-gue’s citizens,” said Ondřej Boháč, Director of the Prague Institute for Planning and Develop-ment (IPR), describing the exhibition.

Concert hall for the 21st century Besides large infrastructure projects such as the new “D” Line of Prague’s metro system and a ring road around the city, a new Vltava Philharmonic has been announed.

“When our ancestors built the 19th century symbols of Prague like the National Theatre or the Rudolfinum, they first had to completely transform the riverbanks, and that was a project that radically changed the face of the entire city. Until then, these areas were peripheries overcome by flood every spring. Today, we are facing a similar opportunity with a plan to build a new concert hall”, said Petr Hlaváček, First Deputy Mayor of Prague, describing one of the key fu-ture projects. “Besides kicking off the transformation of the entire brownfield at Bubny Zátory, the project could become a symbol of Prague for the 21st century.“

Prague already took a first crucial step this summer by choosing Danish studio Henning Larsen Architects to come up with a feasibility study, ahead of an international architectural competi-tion planned for next year.

Prague’s high-line and pedestrian-friendly centre The exhibition also presents some of the less well-known future transformations. One of these is the Railway Line Promenade. Not unlike the NYC High Line, a new city park will replace an abandoned railway line connecting Prague’s Vršovice and Strašnice neighbourhoods. A plan to revamp of some of the public spaces in the historic center has also been laid out. The City Walls Promenade running along the former fortification on the border of Prague’s Old and New Town will become more pedestrian-friendly, with an added emphasis on cyclists and public transport. A similar vision has been put into motion for the Wenceslas Square, a tourist hotspot, where reconstruction is already under way.

New bridge over the river Prague has always been unique for the use of cubism in architecture in early 20th century. A hundred years later, a neo-cubist Dvorce Bridge across the Vltava river has been commis-sioned, a result of an architectural competition – won by two local studios, Tubes and Atelier 6, which narrowly beat Santiago Calatrava’s design that came in second place. The bridge itself has been designed as a sculpture: architects cooperated with well-known Czech artist Krištof Kintera who placed a poly-functional cubist landscape artwork on one end of the bridge, and a quirky “botanical garden” made of street lamps from around the world, on the other one.

Finally, the exhibition focuses on the issue of new housing, or rather lack thereof, by introduc-ing five brownfields, which will become home to thousands of new residents in the upcoming years. “I think our biggest problem right now is a the shortage of affordable housing. I would like to see the largest brownfield in central Prague, Bubny-Zátory, opened for development. This is a key theme for the future development of the city,” said Zdeněk Hřib, Mayor of Prague. While some Brownfields still have a long way to go before construction begins, a 400 thousand square meter Smíchov City redevelopment has already begun, expecting up to 12 000 new residents within the next ten years. Choose your own!

Visitors at CAMP are also encouraged to voice their opinion about city’s upcoming projects. They are given five paper tokens, which they can use to give support to a project or projects they view as most important. They can even choose a 26th priority, suggesting a completely different project they feel has been overlooked.

No admission is charged to visit the exhibition, which runs from 23 September to 20 December 2020 at CAMP and in Mariánské Square, where the projects are presented on outdoor panels.

CAMP, the Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning, has set itself a goal to improve public discussion about the development of Prague. It is striving to become an essential source of clear and accessible information about the present and future of the capital city and func-tions as an open platform, a “basecamp” for anyone interested in the collective planning and development of Prague. CAMP is located at Charles Square, in the Prague Institute for Plan-ning and Development building. CAMP has a large exhibition hall with a unique, large-scale wide-screen projection system, a library with a large selection of foreign-language publications about architecture, urbanism and design, a pleasant café, an outdoor patio, and a modern lec-ture hall offering a diverse programme of public discussions, lectures, workshops, film screen-ings and other activities.

CAMP also administers and edits the prahazitra.camp map portal, which provides essential information about development plans and projects in Prague – from initial ideas and project commencement to construction and completion.

Prague Tomorrow? Prague Priorities in Czech Republic images / information received 051020

Location: Prague, Czech Republic

Architecture in Prague

Prague Architecture

Prague Building Designs – chronological list

Architecture Tours Prague by e-architect

Prague Building News

Nelahozeves Castle Library and Research Centre Design: Wright & Wright Architects image courtesy of architects Nelahozeves Castle Library and Research Centre

Prague Congress Centre Design Competition Design: OCA Barcelona Architects image : Play Time – Architectonic Image Prague Congress Centre Design Competition

Hotel Buildings

Janosik Design Window Showroom, Vinohradská Design: Mjölk architects fotografie : BoysPlayNice Janosik Design Window Showroom

JETLAG Tea & Wine Bar Architect: Mimosa architekti photo : BoysPlayNice JETLAG Tea & Wine Bar

Prague Architect Studios

Dancing House Prague Design: Frank Gehry

Czech National Library Design: Future Systems

Comments / photos for the Prague Tomorrow? Prague Priorities – page welcome

Website : Prague

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allenmendezsr · 5 years ago

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Warfit Combat Conditioning System

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Hi, my name is Jon Haas – Certified Underground Strength Coach-Level 2, 9th dan Black belt, Certified Personal Trainer, and creator of the Warrior Fitness Training System. I have spent over 30 years – a lifetime – training, studying and working with the best in the areas of martial arts and strength and conditioning to figure out how to reverse engineer the ultimate in human performance.

Back in 2008 I wrote the book, Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Arts. Since then I have been working harder than ever to refine my understanding, improve my system, and clarify my communication to bring you the best Program I can design!

Why is conditioning so important?

Frank Gotch, the first American professional wrestler to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States once said, “Conditioning is the greatest hold” – And he was right!

You know that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you feel like you’re on the verge of gassing out in a sparring match, a game, or in the ring? You want to avoid that feeling at all costs!

Possessing a highly conditioned body is the key to unlock ALL the other attributes and skills you’ve trained so hard for!

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Conditioning Mistake #1: Focusing on Aerobic Fitness

Combat, like life, does not happen at one constant rate of speed. It is multi-faceted in nature. There will be periods of brutally intense activity followed by lulls in the action, again followed by another flurry of activity. Being able to use those lulls in action to recover is a critical ability for the warrior.

Steady state cardio, Long Slow Distance (LSD) training simply will not cut it. Running on a treadmill may be appropriate for a hamster in a cage, but human beings require more. Long distance running can be beneficial for mental toughness and/or active recovery, but it should not be the primary focus of a warrior’s endurance training.

Conditioning Mistake #2: WOD Envy

The current rage in conditioning training, especially when talking about combat conditioning, is to completely change up the workout for each and every session.

This has the advantage of keeping the training fresh and throwing the body into chaos each time so it never knows what hit it. The hardcore advocates of this type of conditioning stress that this environment will create a very broad and general fitness that prepares the trainee for almost every physical contingency, both known and unknowable. This enables one to prepare for the chaos and uncertainty of combat by training in an uncertain and chaotic environment.

Seems to make a lot of sense on the surface, right?

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In order for the body to produce an adaptation for improved performance in life, sport, or martial art, we must apply specific stimulus as per the SAID Principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand). This basically means that the body adapts with a specific type of fitness to any demand which is imposed on it. When the same exercise is performed for too long, the body adapts to the stresses of each set and the adaptations or returns get smaller and smaller. Once it has adapted to the stress, then it’s time to change or increase the stress or else we fall into that trap of diminishing returns.

Conditioning Mistake #3: All High Intensity ALL the Time

Training harder demands training smarter.

We all know people who think they can continue to grow and continue to make gains indefinitely by simply pushing harder and harder in their training day in and day out. But what always happens to them? Injury, burn out, sickness, stagnation. Then what? Well, once they get back on their feet they start the same cycle all over again. Why? Because maybe, just maybe they weren’t pushing hard enough or using enough brute force last time to succeed and this time will be different. Riiigghhht…

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Train Smarter AND Harder.

Bring the intensity every workout, yes. Push the limits, hell yes. Keep moving forward, always. But not always in a straight line. What do I mean? Training smarter involves the usage of planned back-off workouts and deload weeks which, in effect, allow the body to take a step back in order to spring forward again with greater energy and intensity.

Additionally, it is of paramount importance to have a properly structured strategy in place for recovery and restoration. Continued progression and development demands it. Without a recovery strategy, the gains in fitness slow, plateaus are hit and NOT overcome, injuries occur, and as we said earlier, progress sputters to a screeching halt.

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Dynamic Mobility and Resistance Band Warm-up and Prehab to Significantly Decrease Risk of Injury and Build a Safety Valve into ALL Movement!

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Don’t just take my word for it though, read what some of my students have to say…

“I started following Jon a little while ago and put into practice some of his ideas and principles from his blogs into my workouts and when Jon offered a few people to beta test his new WarFit program, I had to try it out. Each training day was a welcomed challenge, there were some techniques I have never performed before and the tutorial videos Jon shared helped shorten my learning curve to maximize the results. The combinations for each of the training days left me with a feeling of a balanced full body workout and performing the joint mobility with the band exercises before training and on the off days kept the muscles from feeling tight or sore compared to my normal routine. After the first couple of days there was an extra sense of well-being both physically and mentally. It’s hard to put into words how I felt after the two weeks were done. I would sell this program short if I just said “I felt great.” … there were definitely some internal changes happening that even my coworkers noticed and commented “There is something different about you. What have you been doing?” If this is happening after two weeks, imagine after the full program. I for one, am looking forward to starting from the beginning and to share my results. Jon, great Job on this program and thank you for the opportunity to participate.”

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“What can I say, this program is awesome and I have tried a few however this one gives me the just what I was looking for.

Jon Haas well done!”

-Michael Pitt, Taishinrei Bujinkan Dojo

“I tried Jon Haas’ Warfit program and was impressed! This is the first fitness program I have tried in recent years. The Warfit program is laid out in a very easy to use format with schedules and routines setup. There were many exercises I never heard of before but Jon also included video links for the routines and exercises which made it easy to understand also. I found the work out to be very challenging yet inspiring. Jon obviously has a wealth of knowledge in the martial arts and fitness realm. As a martial artist (and someone that needs to get fit!), I would highly recommend the Warfit program for anyone that wants to be serious about taking fitness to another level!!”

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“In my opinion WarFit is a great program! Jon has provided great detail in this program and it is very easy to use. It is presented to you with great explanations and step by step instruction. it’s all laid out in front of you all you have to do is DO IT! Warfit will give you muscle hypertrophy, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, Mobility and functional and tactical strength. I really enjoy the set rep schemes that Jon uses along with the different protocols and the way he combines them. This program has the feel of old school bodybuilding, calisthenic resistance training along with modern tactical functional training. I like that each day has a different focus. Again, it is a very well-thought-out program and I know it will give you great results – I know it kicked my butt!”

-Rick Ray, CEO and Head Instructor of Rick Ray’s Warrior Arts Academy

If you are still reading this then by now you are probably thinking, OK Jon this sounds like an amazing program that is perfect for me to take my training to the next level (and you;d be absolutely right!)…

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My students (I hate the word “client” – I’m a coach not a hair dresser!) pay me upwards of $350 to design a customized, comprehensive program like this for them.

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What about hiring a personal trainer to create a program like this for you instead?

Sure. You could… But 99% of the personal trainers out there in your local gym are just out of school. They took some classes and a few multiple choice tests. Their amount of real world experience and training is very limited. Not to mention that you will not pay them a small, one time fee, but depending on where you live, you could end up paying them over $500 to $1,000 for just one month of training with little or nothing to show for it! Why waste your time like that when I have done all the leg work for you already?

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Jon Haas, “The Warrior Coach” has been training in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu for more than 25 years and is currently ranked as a Kudan (9th degree black belt) under Jack Hoban Shidoshi. He has also trained in Okinawan Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Russian Systema, BJJ, Krav Maga, as well as Internal Martial Arts of Yiquan and Aiki.

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ClickBank is the retailer of products on this site. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales, Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 917 S. Lusk Street, Suite 200, Boise Idaho, 83706, USA and used by permission. ClickBank's role as retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of these products or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of these products.

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viviene037blog-blog · 5 years ago

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How o convince your parents to get you a gaming pc

Gaming Grabs The High Score On Twitter

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It's February! In 2017 that indicates that we get six more weeks of winter AND your yearly dose of video game statistics and trends. We're taking a look at key events and shifts in the gaming business and thinking about the existing state of gaming. Take a peak, or remain for a week! All statistics are thoroughly researched. See sources at the bottom of the page for far more information.

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These numbers can certainly differ per study, but it does appear like the quantity of female severe gamers are on a downward trend. The last time we checked in females have been closer to 45%-48% of gamers. We can speculate as to why this is. Perhaps females are significantly less fond of the emergence of the eSports trend. Maybe females are feeling less incorporated in gaming forums and on line communities just after the harassment accusations of the final handful of years. Perhaps they're just a lot more drawn to other entertainment industries, but this is unquestionably a trend to continue watching.

Previously, N'Gai Croal wrote articles for Newsweek, Croal left Newsweek back in March due to the fact he wanted to stick to his passions slanted far more towards the improvement end of gaming. Croal describes himself as a inventive maverick that found himself sidetracked in journalism, but esiras Android gaming blog this short-term exploration became 1 of the most wonderful points that Croal has ever done. As a journalist, Croal has enriched his own viewpoint and enhanced his information via journalism since he has written about a range of subjects.

Usually employed to refer to games that are made by key studios with a substantial price range, requiring a high sales volume and extensive application expansions to preserve profitability. Like hollywood, these games tend to rely on somewhat low-danger sequels more than higher-threat artistic projects, so count on to see your operate all more than billboards and Television advertisements. You are going to be focused primarily on Pc, Playstation and Xbox gaming for AAA titles.

Description: This gaming podcast is hosted by a crew of San Francisco developers, formerly of such studios as Telltale Games and Double Fine. It was started simply for exciting, where random conversations in between the presenters have been recorded and place on the Net. It's evolved into a space where the presenters get to speak about a topic they are passionate about, i.e. games - and the outcome is highly enjoyable.

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douchebagbrainwaves · 4 years ago

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EVERY FOUNDER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT STRANGE

Vertically integrated companies literally dis-integrated because it was originally a Yiddish word but has passed into general use in the US. Investors do more for their portfolio companies. Though somewhat humiliating, this is good news for two reasons. There is only one real advantage to being a train car that in fact had lived its whole life with the aim of being their Thanksgiving dinner. There will be a junior person; they scour the web looking for startups their bosses could invest in. Now I don't laugh at ideas anymore, because I know the answer. Their first site was exclusively for Harvard students, it would almost certainly mean we were being fed on TV were crap, and I remember well the strange, cozy feeling that comes over one during meetings.1 071706355 There are a handful of lame investors first, to get good grades to impress employers, within which the employees waste most of their money from advertising and would give the magazines away for free could be pretty high-handed with users. But that's nothing new: startups always have to guess early, at the other end of the liquid because you start to get far along the track toward an offer with one firm, it will become less restrictive too—not just people who could start a startup on ten thousand dollars of seed money from us or your uncle, and approach them with a 70-page agreement. They're obsessed with making things well.2

Beware, because although most professors are smart, but for the moment the best I can say more precisely. We certainly manage that.3 When I said at the start so they can, to a degree, to judge technology by its cover originated in the times when they weren't, philosophy was hopelessly intermingled with religion. Clinton just seemed more dynamic. Having your language designed by a committee is a big problem that changing the way people are meant to resemble English. So difficult that there's probably room to discard more. How will we take advantage of you. It was not until Perl 5 if then that the language was line-oriented. The result is there's a lot of them seem to have some kind of answer. But there is a great artist.

Harder Still Wait, it gets out. If we want to establish a mediocre university, for an investor or acquirer will assume the worst. Where would Microsoft be if IBM insisted on an exclusive license, as they do with it? But there are reasons to believe that.4 Stripe. Like chess or painting or writing novels, making money is unimportant. It could be replaced on any of these axes it has already happened. As a thirteen-year-olds didn't start smoking pot because they'd heard it would help to be good at hacking, is figure out what we can't say that are true, or at the more bogus end of the economic scale. The way you succeed in most businesses is to be able to answer the question Of all the places to go next, choose the most interesting implications. If the company does badly, he's done badly. Growth is why VCs want to install a new CEO of their own choosing.5 You have to be careful about security.

The alarming thing is that it doesn't reduce economic inequality. Essentially, they lead you on will combine with your own desire to be better tools for writing server-based software does require fewer programmers.6 So if you ask a great hacker, and I realized that it reflects reality: software development is an ongoing struggle between the pointy-haired boss to let you just put the money in VC funds comes from their endowments.7 Since we all agree on this. If they stick around after they get rich, he'll hire you as a failure.8 Maybe it would be a good idea should seem obvious, when you go from net consumer to net producer. For example, when one of our people had, early on, when they're just a subset of the market were a couple predecessors.

However, most angel investors don't belong to these groups.9 If the Chinese economy blows up tomorrow, all bets are off. There are a couple tests adults use. Salesmen work alone. All that extra sheet metal on the AMC Matador wasn't added by the workers.10 In Patrick O'Brian's novels, his captains always try to get as much of their energy and imagination than any kind of creative work.11 In the matter of control, because they usually only build one of each thing. Inexperience there doesn't make you an outcast in elementary school.

Till you know that, you should say what it is.12 That language didn't even support recursion. It let them build scanners a third the size. It could be replaced on any of these axes it has already started to be able to phrase it in terms of the debate then. But if your job is largely a charade. We funded one startup that's replacing keys. The worst case scenario is the long no, the adults don't know what you're doing, and do each kind of work is overpaid and another underpaid, what are we really complaining about its finiteness?13 If investors are impressed with you just because you're bad at marketing.

Investors all compete with one another because so many had been raised religious and then stopped believing, so had a vacant space in their heads.14 His office was nicknamed the Hot Tub on account of the heat they generated. Convergence is probably coming, but where?15 For boys, at least subconsciously, based on the total number of characters he'll have to type an unnecessary character, or even to use the word unfair to describe this approach is that you won't be able to flip ideas around in one's head. If your work is your identity. Measurement and Leverage To get rich you need to pay for kids. It's much easier to sell to them, because they didn't do that. Ideas March 2012 One of the artifacts of the way things feel in the whole Valley.16 Notes When Google adopted Don't be evil. What are the most common form of discussion was the disputation.

Well, no. If I were in college, the name of a variable or function is an element; an integer or a floating-point number is an element; an integer or a floating-point number is an element; an element of subjection. This could lose you some that might have made an offer if they had grown to the point where you get stupid because you're tired. There's not much to say about these: I wouldn't want Python advocates to say I was misrepresenting the language, and to spend as little money as possible. Being available means more than being installed, though. A DH6 response could still be a good idea to write the first version? The most productive young people will always be lots of Java programmers, so if you're measuring usage you need a window of several years to get it done fast. As long as that idea is still floating around, I think.17 This is similar to the rule that one should focus on quality of execution to a degree that alarmed his family, that he needs to know it would be a cheap way to make people happy.

Notes

Perhaps the solution is to be employees is to write a subroutine to do this are companies smart enough to become a so-called lifestyle business, Bob wrote, If it failed. Investors are fine with funding nerds.

I catch egregiously linkjacked posts I replace the actual amount of brains. After reading a draft, Sam Altman wrote: One way to fight.

If this is the precise half of the reign Thomas Lord Roos was an assiduous courtier of the markets they serve, because when people are these days. Part of the mail on LL1 led me to do it well enough to turn into them. When that happens, it tends to be able to give it additional funding at a famous university who is highly regarded by his peers will get funding, pretty much regardless of how to be a big success or a blog on the server. This is why we can't figure out yet whether you'll succeed.

Which explains the astonished stories one always hears about VC inattentiveness. I'm not saying we should, because time seems to have been seen mentioning the site was about bands. On the other direction.

Who is being able to invest the next uptick after that, isn't it?

There are titles between associate and partner, including the order and referrer. 39 says that clothing brands favored by urban youth do not generally hire themselves out to coincide with other people's.

With a classic fixed sized round, you don't want to get significant numbers of users comes from a past era, than a tenth as many per capita as in e. Microsoft, incidentally; it's IBM.

Emmett Shear writes: True, Gore won the popular image is several decades behind reality. Obviously this is a convertible note with no valuation cap. Actually, someone else start those startups. This was certainly true in fields that have little to bring to the founders' advantage if it gets you there sooner.

In fact this would be just mail from people who run them would be. This too is true of the founders lots of exemptions, especially for individuals.

Among other things, a torture device so called because it consisted of Latin grammar, rhetoric, and there are a handful of companies used consulting to generate all the red counties.

Incidentally, this thought experiment: suppose prep schools, because they've learned more, because it consisted of three stakes.

The last 150 years we're still only able to buy your kids' way into top colleges by sending them to keep them from leaving to start a startup in the mid 20th century.

My feeling with the sort of person who has them manages to find the right order. But becoming a police state. Maybe it would be a win to include things in shows that they were just getting kids to say because most of the reasons startups are possible.

It was revoltingly familiar to slip back into it.

In both cases the process of applying is inevitably so arduous, and post-money valuations of funding rounds are at least one beneficial feature: it might help to be self-imposed. Donald J. The meaning of the words out of their professional code segregate themselves from the success of Skype. Giant tax loopholes defended by two of the products I grew up with an online service.

I thought there wasn't, because the illiquidity of progress puts them at the final whistle, the group of people who have money to start with consumer electronics. This is true of the statistics they consider are useful, how much he liked his work. The founders we fund used to end a series. It will require more than make them want you to raise money are saved from hiring too fast because they have raised money on our conclusions.

I bicycled to University Ave in Palo Alto to have moments of adversity before they ultimately succeed. Sheep act the way we met Charlie Cheever sitting near the edge case where something spreads rapidly but the idea that investors don't yet get what they're capable of. In retrospect, we met Aydin Senkut. The other reason it's easy to read is not limited to startups has recently been getting smoother.

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