#steven stop looking into the fourth wall/camera

[mad-intersex-mermaid]

The ending scene of Call Me By Your Name still stays with me. The way Timothée Chalamet displayed a variety of complex multilayered emotions--from sadness, hurt, heartbreak and broken heartache to numbness, disappointment, betrayal and anger and then finally a wry, begrudging resolve to reluctantly live with being abandoned, and all in his face and body language without ever saying a single word is a sight to behold. There's no word or sentence to fully describe the transcendence of the scene or the emotional impact that that scene leaves on me. And that final glance he gives to the camera/viewer while breaking the fourth wall...haunting.

Now granted, I've watched a good amount of Timothée's movies--Dune Part One and Dune Part Two, Don't Look Up, Bones and All, The King, Miss Stevens, Beautiful Boy--and his versatility and ability to immerse himself in each and every one of his roles with such fierce, razor sharp focus and dedication and passionate, soul bearing emotional depth and vulnerability is truly a sight to behold. Timothée said in his SAG Award speech that he wants to be one of the greats...well, frankly, I think he's already halfway there.

The Oscars need to stop playing and give Timotheé his flowers and props. The dude can ACT act!

[dogcopter]

conspiracy theory: that’s tiger millionaire

Idk who the other person is

[supersizemeplz]

Cute Enough To Eat

Photographer Erik Stevens x Black PlusSized Reader

Another #supersizedfic short. Random with no real plot, I like it nonetheless. Sorry in advance if you didn’t want to be tagged or I used the wrong tag. It’s been a while. I listened to Good & Plenty as I wrote. Enjoy!

The sunlight spilled into the studio apartment, bouncing off the bright walls for a brighter room. With no buildings tall enough to block the sun beams, it was on the warmer side. Sounds of the city below were soft background noise as it barely touched the windows of the tenth floor. Looking over the spread of photos on his round kitchen table, the contrasts of bright colors and brown skin tones brought happiness to the photographer. Some photos of nature, some of models, and some of both.

Erik grinned at his work, fingers brushing over a photo that caught his eye. Picking it up, he admired the radiant brown skin of his favorite model. You. It'd been a random photo shoot months before, spur of the moment really. He could remember it vividly as if it was just a day ago.

It was your fourth date, on a Thursday morning. He'd persuaded you into having coffee and donuts with him at a new black owned coffee shop over the phone. Well not really persuaded, you'd hopped on the offer with quickness which had made him chuckle. You'd cleared your throat to try and cover up your excitement but it was too late. Besides, he was just as excited himself.

He'd met you at your home, where you both took the short trip to the shop on foot. He'd carried his camera along with him, saying that inspiration could hit him at any moment. That moment hit as you both took a detour through the park, inhabiting a few parents and their children as well as a couple of pet owners.

You'd both found an area in the center of the park, between a few bushes and a large tree. He'd snapped that first few photos of you and fell in love.

"Morning, Daka." You surprised him, wrapping your arms around his bare upper body. Taking in his scent with a hum. The soft scent of his cologne caught your nose with ease and you snuggled deeper into him.

"Morning, baby. You're in a good mood." His hand laid over yours before he interlocked your fingers. Bringing your hand to his lips, he pressed a few kisses against your soft skin. "I wonder why?" He smirked, sliding from your hug to turn to you. With a soft tug, you were pulled to him with ease.

You let out a small blurt of laughter, widening his grin. "I'm pretty sure you have a good idea of that, Mr. Stevens. You're the one who put me to sleep." Smiling, you allowed your lips to ghost his. He hummed at the memory, pulling your waist closer if possible. Mumbling that he 'might need a refresher'.

You allowed him to catch your lips, indulging in a passionate kiss. He lifted your chin, thick fingers gently holding your face in place. Lifting up on your tip toes, you both were lost in each other lips before you heard him give a soft growl. No sir.

You pulled away, much to his disappointment, giggling as he licked his lips. "Wait, wait. Lemme holla at you real quick, baby." His eyes stayed on you with a hungry lust as he spoke. You moved towards the kitchen, putting space between you and him. You'd let him holla the night before and the happy flutter between your thighs could attest to that.

"Behave, Stevens. Do you not want breakfast?" You opened the fridge, glancing back to him before finding your ingredients. He watched you as you placed the few items in your hands on the island's countertop.

"As long as I can have it with a side of you." That was rewarded with a playful eye roll from you. Corny ass. He'd picked up his camera, tinkering with it. "I know that wasn't an eye roll, baby girl."

"It wasn't." You fibbed, starting on your pancakes. "I had something in my eye." He hummed at that, chuckling when you flashed a big smile. Replying with a humored ‘I bet’. Lifting his camera, he snapped a photo of the moment.

You looked up at him at the sound of the click, never stopping your wrist as you mixed pancake batter. “I am not decent enough to be snapping photos this early in the morning sir. I look a mess.” He moved closer as you began placing the batter into their little patties.

“Neva that, baby..” Erik replies, snapping two more photos of you. The last one of you with a hand on your hip as you looked at him. He walked to you slowly, grinning as you gave him a playful eye roll. The camera snapped more as you continued your task at hand.

You turned from him, going over to the cabinet to get a plate. Pressing a hand to the countertop, you reached up with a soft stretch. With that came the exposing of your bright lace panties hugging your backside from beneath his shirt that you’d taken for your own. “Never that..” He snapped the moment with a hum of approval.

“You just take a picture of my ass, Stevens?” You raised an eyebrow, a smirk teasing your lips. He chuckling, deepening his dimples.

“I didn’t necessarily take a picture of it..” He made his way to you as you flipped the pancakes. “It just happened to be a nice bonus to my photo of you. For my eyes only, of course.”

You chuckled as he wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you back against him as you placed the finished flapjacks on the plate. He nibbled at your ear, making you squeal happily when he smacked your thigh. “Quitt. I’m trying to cook, goofy.”

He obeyed, stopping his toying. “Just take a minute and look at these, baby. Two seconds.” Lifting the camera, he moved through the few photos he’d taken. Voicing which were sure to become a part of his portfolio as well as the three he’d take for his own private collection. “You literally could be doing the simplest thing and make it look good. Without trying..”

“I am cute, huh?” You joked, taking the camera from him to look through the photos again. He smirked, pressing a kiss to your shoulder.

“Cute enough to eat.” He mumbled, giving soft pecks to your skin. Getting sloppier the closer he got to your neck. You relaxed a bit with a soft ‘I thought it was good enough to eat. Not cute’. Humming, he turned you to face him and brought his lips closer to yours. “That too.. and I’ll prove it to you if you let me.”

____________________

(Since I haven’t tagged in so long.)

Taglist:

@sisterwifeudaku @kumkaniudaku @elaindeereads @wawakanda-btch @theunsweetenedtruth @hold-me-like-a-heart-beat @unholyxcumbucket @purple-apricots @marvelmaree @chaneajoyyy @wakanda-inspired

@justanotherloveaffair @cmonkillmonger @princesskillmonger @theblulife @airis-paris14 @liviy00 @whoramilaje @yaachtynoboat711 @yofavcocoa @kaykay0829

@terrablaze514 @iwrite4poc @truglori @muse-of-mbaku @killmongerdispussy @jozigrrl @thedelightfulone @bugngiz @mzbritt @tinyelfperson @ashleychristina73

@softnani @tashawar @callme-slime @kalliopetales @amethyst1993 @pinkdemolition @raysunshine78 @missmohnique @toniilaney @pinktiger501 @thehomierobbstark @princessstevens

@killmongerthiskoochie @soufcakmistress

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #226: Let's Kill Hitler

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/timestamp-226-lets-kill-hitler/

Timestamp #226: Let's Kill Hitler

Doctor Who: Let’s Kill Hitler (1 episode, s06e08, 2011)

Hello, sweetie.

Prequel

A phone rings as the TARDIS is in flight. The answering machine picks up and Amy leaves a message.

As the camera pans across the console and the dark control room, Amy asks if the Doctor will fulfill his promise to find Melody Pond. Even though she knows that everything turns out okay, she doesn’t want to miss Melody’s childhood.

The Doctor listens intently, but doesn’t pick up the phone. He’s clearly wracked with regret and sadness.

Let’s Kill Hitler

It was once a nice wheat field. Then the Ponds plowed through it, scrawling the word “Doctor” into the crop. They stop in the middle of the O – a giant crop circle – to find the TARDIS and the Doctor in his new pea green double-breasted coat. The Doctor shows them a newspaper article chronicling the event.

It turns out that this was the only way Amy and Rory could figure out to get the Doctor’s attention. He consoles Amy: He will find Melody because River lives. The moment is shattered by police sirens, a speeding red car, and a woman named Mels. The new arrival holds the Doctor at gunpoint and demands to be taken in the TARDIS. It seems that she wants to kill Adolf Hitler.

Flash back to a long time ago in Leadworth as young Amelia, your Rory, and young heretofore-unknown Mels grow up together. Apparently, Mels knows all about Amelia’s “imaginary” friend, the Doctor, and that knowledge gets her in trouble. A lot. Including stealing a bus. She’s also present when Amy finally figures out that Rory loves her.

In the present, Mels, Amy, and Rory take a trip in the TARDIS. Mels actually shoots the TARDIS console while in transit to Nazi Germany. In Berlin, 1938, those same Nazis are being observed by a team with future technology as a machine (posing as a custodian) shapeshifts into a Nazi officer. That team is inside the machine, a highly advanced ship called the Teselecta, which shrinks the Nazi officer and draws him inside. Since the officer is responsible for a series of hate crimes – after all, what Nazi wasn’t? – he is disposed of by a series of “antibodies”.

The Teselecta then goes to Adolf Hitler’s office and activates Justice Mode, but two things interfere in the plan. First, they are too early in Hitler’s time stream. Second, the TARDIS crashes through the wall into the office.

The Doctor evacuates everyone from the TARDIS as it smokes away, then stashes Mels’s handgun in a bowl of fruit. The travelers are beside themselves for actually saving Hitler. The Teselecta tries to attack Hitler again, but he shoots the ship before being stashed in a nearby cupboard by the Doctor and Rory. The Teselecta feigns a fainting spell while the crew analyzes the TARDIS and determines that the most wanted war criminal in history has arrived.

Also, Mels has been shot by Hitler.

Mels, short for Melody, regenerates into a very familiar form. Mission complete. Well… sort of. This new woman has no idea who any of her traveling companions are, she is incredibly self-centered, and has maintained her programming that demands murdering the Doctor. She tries multiple times with every weapon in the room, but the Doctor is several steps ahead of her, but he misses the poison lipstick.

Melody jumps out of window and takes on a squad of Nazis. The soldiers try to shoot her, but she survives due to her regenerative state and uses the discharged energy as a weapon. She picks up their guns and drives away on a motorcycle. Rory and Amy give chase with the sonic screwdriver, followed by the Teselecta disguised as a Nazi soldier.

The Doctor enters the TARDIS and extracts the smoke. He consults with the TARDIS voice interface – the sequence of trying to find a face that doesn’t remind him of his failures is hilarious – and determines that regeneration is impossible due to the poison extracted from the Judas tree. The interface mentions “fish fingers and custard,” inspiring the Doctor to set a course in the TARDIS.

Melody storms a restaurant and demands that the patrons give her their clothes. Outside, the Teselecta takes Amy’s form and miniaturizes Amy and Rory. Just before being killed by the antibodies, the Ponds are given clearance privileges and taken to the control room.

The Teselecta nearly passes judgment on Melody for killing the Doctor, but the Doctor arrives in a tuxedo and top hat. He uses a sonic cane to scan the ship. He also verifies that the Ponds are okay. The Teselecta places Melody in stasis before the crew explains that the mete out justice to war criminals at the ends of their respective timelines. Amy convinces the crew to offer any help they can to the Doctor.

The Silence, a religious cult who believe “silence will fall” when the oldest question in the universe is asked, are behind the plot to kill the Doctor. When the Teselecta crew reveals that they don’t know what the question is, the crew resumes their torture of Melody.

The Doctor asks Amy to save her daughter, so Amy disables the crew’s privileges so that they will all be attacked by the antibodies. The Teselecta releases Melody and the crew is teleported away to a mother ship. As the antibodies descend on Amy and Rory, the Doctor tells Melody to save her parents.

As the Doctor faces his imminent demise, he begs Melody to help him. She talks to the TARDIS and learns to fly the ship, rescuing Amy and Rory before returning everyone to the Doctor’s side. Melody Pond, a child of the TARDIS, wonders who she is. The Doctor asks her to find River Song and pass on a message.

As the Doctor falls unconscious, Melody asks who River Song is. Amy uses the Teselecta to show Melody her own face. Melody decides to pass on her regeneration energy – all her remaining lives – to the Doctor with a kiss, thus becoming River Song.

River wakes up in a hospital with the travelers looking on. The Doctor’s message was that no one could save him, which made her think that she could. This is how she learns Rule #1: The Doctor lies. The travelers leave her with the Sisters of the Infinite Schism to recover, complete with an empty TARDIS-shaped diary. She’ll find her way back to them in time.

As the Doctor ponders the data he downloaded from the Teselecta, River Song enrolls at the Luna University in 5123. Her motivations are simple: She’s looking for a good man.

There are a couple of items working against this fun ride: First, the introduction of the previously unknown Mels. Second, the crux of the assassination of the Doctor relies on him being the smartest man in the room again.

The first can be explained if we’re looking at the events of this season through Amy and Rory’s perspective, therefore seeing a low-impact change in the timeline after Melody’s birth and abduction. The second, while an annoying feature of the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who, adds a lot of humor and hangs a lampshade on the Doctor’s blind spot for River Song. Especially considering the fact that she is the person who kills the Doctor, an act for which she is imprisoned and is now revealed to be a fixed point. The second also hearkens back to the Ninth Doctor in Boom Town, but it worked there because it wasn’t as much of a storytelling crutch for Russell T. Davies.

That humor, coupled with the character development for River and the Doctor, really makes this story work. The origin story for River Song helps tie off her story and could have provided a convenient story terminus if not for the character’s immense popularity.

The humor also worked because it was self-deprecating. The scene with the TARDIS voice interface poked at the ongoing theme with companion departures and shame, invoking Rose, Martha, and Donna in the process. The scene also point us back to a moment of combined shame and innocence by invoking Amelia Pond, whom the Doctor had not yet screwed up but did leave hanging for her childhood years.

Going back to Rule #1, we find out in this story that temporal grace – the state in which the TARDIS interior exists – houses a “clever lie”. The Fourth Doctor claimed that weapons could not be used inside the TARDIS in order to stop Eldrad in The Hand of Fear. Of course, we already knew that it wasn’t absolute from Arc of Infinity – “Nobody’s perfect,” claimed the Fifth Doctor when challenged by Nyssa about a Cyberman shooting in the console room – as well as The Invasion of Time, Earthshock, Attack of the Cybermen, The Visitation, and The Parting of the Ways.

With all of the discussions about Doctor Who canon/continuity in fandom, it’s a good reminder that Doctor Who canon/continuity has never been consistent.

This story also presents a fascinating parallel to The Caves of Androzani, during which the Doctor was poisoned by could survive by regenerating. The Doctor had several lives to spare at that point, but this encounter comes at the supposed end of the Doctor’s regeneration cycle due to the events of Journey’s End and The Night of the Doctor.

There are also several other franchise callbacks: We’ve seen “justice machines” in the past, though they were in the form of the Megara; We’ve previously seen the TARDIS materialize in a micro environment, courtesy of Carnival of Monsters, and materialize in a micro state, courtesy of Planet of Giants; We’ve seen the TARDIS materialize around people and objects before in Logopolis, Time-Flight, The Parting of the Ways, and The Waters of Mars; We’ve also heard about transferring regeneration energy in previous adventures like Mawdryn Undead, the TV movie, and The Ultimate Foe.

I’m also a sucker for the “Doctor who?” title drop gag, which has been around since the beginning. It makes me snicker every time.

All told, I really enjoy the action, the spirit, and the heart of this story. It takes a tired time-travel trope (“Let’s kill Hitler!”) and turns it on its ear to both develop characters and move a story along. Well done.

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

UP NEXT – Torchwood: The Gathering

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

[greenhatsinthesky]

lockdown film no. 36 - The Laundromat (2019) dir. Steven Soderbergh

22/05/2020

- dire 

- I thought this film was going to be good and I don’t think it could have been any more of a let down. One of biggest problems is that this film just doesn’t know what it is — it lurches really awkwardly between different storylines and there’s absolutely no coherence between any of the storylines. Meryl streep does well with what she’s got and I think she’s actually pretty good as someone just trying to figure out why things are the way they are and why she’s been mugged off so much. But overall the whole thing is so disjointed and split  between trying to tell a serious story of what’s going on in this specific case with Meryl Streep, and then this more comedic, fourth-wall-breaking situation with Antonio Banderas and Gary Oldman and the other cases they were involved with. structure who

- I enjoyed the relationship established between Meryl Streep and her husband, they had really nice genuine believable dialogue so it was a shame he died immediately 

- the annoying thing is that this could have worked. I don’t mind fourth wall breaks — the big short was a really good example of how straight up telling the audience what something means, and happily completely abandoning nuance and subtlety can fit with a film thats actually super serious and has a lot of heavy issues going on. When we put this film on, I was hoping it would be something similar to the big short, because the topic is similar, but this was just an incredible mess

- also gary Oldman’s accent in this? Please die in a fire

- she starts in a middle seat and ends up by the window? Come on

- having David schwimmer sat in a bar talking to people who know a lot more than we do was just so boring. Half the storylines could have been scrapped, just give me something to care about please. I don’t care about any of them

- I realised with about half an hour to go that Meryl streep was the woman in the glasses so I guess it was more entertaining this time round to realise who she was straight away

- jesus Christ jUST MAKE ONE FILM. STOP TRYING TO MAKE FIVE FILMS IN ONE IT DOESNT FUCKING WORK

- the music in this was so annoying as well. We had that really smooth drinking-cocktails-in-a-bar-on-the-beach theme when the two guys were explaining stuff to camera an like yea I get they’re meant to be comedic and yet we’re meant to hate them but still

- another one of few saving graces is that Antonio Banderas looks great in a roll neck

- the storyline with Charles (I think his name was?) was a bit confusing because we spent a lot more time with him without any particular reason as to why we should care more about him than the other storylines? Also it was supremely uncomfortable because initially I thought he was being weird with his daughter so the only saving grace was that it wasn’t his daughter and was actually his daughters friend. Which is still awfUL but at least it wasn’t incest

- he needed to get in a bin for so many reasons. Just hated him. Like everyone in that storyline was terrible and I had no reason to empathise with any of them, and not even in a fun way like in the social network where there’s something a bit more interesting going on. Also the acting when Simone hit Astrid was pretty diabolical to be fair

- when Astrid was describing her relationship with Charles I actually felt so sick not even gonna front it

- “The world is just men hiding behind piles of paper” 

- I enjoyed the bit where they talked about the difference between privacy and secrecy

- GRAPHIC BLACK MARKET ORGANS NO THANKS M8

- I didn’t know what was going on with that weird bit with the organs people and the guy who they were asking to divorce his wife and honestly I was too far gone to care at this point but that scene where they put porn on the tv was supremely uncomfortable to watch with my father, thanks

- “everyone sleeps better at night when corruption has been vanquished” ok thats metal and I like it

- having a recorder in the filing cabinet felt very hustle, and just reminded me how good hustle was and that I should be watching it instead of this

- it was strange for Meryl Streep to break the fourth wall. I didn’t like that. it would have worked if she’d been having some kind of internal monologue before this point but ohhhhh the inconsistencies

- it was a welcome break to see Barack Obama 

- the ending was… y’know, the bit where it ended. It was really annoying because films like these normally make me feel stuff, but this didn’t make me feel anything. I can imagine the bit when they realised they could have Meryl Streep as the statue of liberty right at the end because in theory thats electric but it fucking wasn’t

- it feels like they came to making this film thinking “this is a really important thing that happened and we should make a film about it” but if you can't make a good film about it then thats just a terrible way to approach it. if, first and foremost, the piece of art that you're making doesn't fulfil its function as a piece of art then it doesn't matter if it “makes a statement” or “makes us consider ourselves and the world” like if I don't care about the film without the external factors then you done fucked up. 

- how long the takes are is one of the only bits that I find impressive because that looked stressful to do

- when it cut to credits I was like “… that it?” 

- don’t bother with this honestly its diabolical

[kyurilin]

So last night while watching the Steven Universe movie for the fourth time I wrote a little FNAF thing and thought I'd share it for Halloween

[[MORE]]

Whatever happened was a blur, a moment awake followed by that same darkness he was used to after all this time.  The darkness that now faded slowly away with every repetitive drip. A part of him felt the noise was familiar; Spring Bonnie himself took a long while to realize that the noise was water.  

Everything seemed slow; this didn't feel quite right.  There was something new to his awareness, something that seemed more … human.  Curiously he looked himself over, although he couldn't tell what was really different.  He brought his hands to his face; there seemed to be something dark staining his fading gold fabric.  

Wait.  Fading?  How long had he been out?

He struggled to stand, something inside of him driving him.  He didn't feel like he was exactly himself, and it was odd. It almost felt like he should still be shut off, in the still of suit mode, but still he was able to move.  And these… thoughts… they were unusual. He could not remember a time where he had been able to think to himself, processing information on his own without something to guide him.  Still, he managed to get himself off the ground. He was unsure of why he wanted to- the motion seemed unnaturally hard, and he was vaguely aware of a noise he wasn't used to.  

"Hello?". Maybe there was someone nearby.  The building seemed to creak in response, but no human answered.  The only noise beyond that was the still repetitive dripping.  

His new consciousness faded for a moment, the world around shifting to black, before he came back to himself at the makeshift door to this derelict room.  He looked around in confusion, concerned. How had he gotten over here, and why was he reaching for the door as if he knew where it might lead? Still, maybe there was someone on the other side who might know what was going on and who might help him.  He pushed on it - a part of him told him that it might work, though he could not find the source of that knowledge in his own mind. The door didn't budge, seeming stuck in place. He put more weight against it, but still it didn't move.

"Is anyone out there?". There was still no answer, and for the first time he realized how alone he was.  This room was unfamiliar; he had no idea how long he'd been here or even if he should be functional right now.  This whole situation felt wrong. No one was here. Why was he awake? Why was he able to think like this?  

"Please.  Someone. Anyone.". He sat down against the door.  He'd never felt like this before, like the darkness of being shut down was somehow a part of him while powered on. 

"I do not want to be alone."

The darkness faded in again, and he let it. 

He came to, every now and then.  He didn't know how long it was between fades; it never felt like a natural shut down/power up sequence, although each time he remembered less of what that was meant to feel like.  Sometimes he came to and found himself in places he hadn't been the last time he faded. He didn't know how; but the feeling that there was something desperately wrong with him persisted throughout this odd cycle.  

His pleas for someone to find him were less frequent over time; even in the dark room, he could tell the place was slowly decaying around him.  He was lonely, lost in the continuing newness of being able to think and make decisions for himself. Sometimes he sang to himself, a creaky rendition of old diner tunes that slowly decayed alongside the room as his pieces seemed to wear down.  He'd always pause politely, as if his old friend Fredbear might appear and answer with his lines; no matter how much he wished it, it never happened.  

One day, he faded in and his surroundings were different.  This room- it had an exit. A light flickered outside of it for the first time in … he had no idea how long.  He struggled to stand, the movement rough and tedious after all this time (though he still had no idea how long it may have been).  He walked towards the light, a slow, ambling movement that felt like it took effort. This place was curious, seemingly run down but stuffed with posters and pieces from… Freddy's.  

A blinking red light caught his attention and after some searching, he found the source.  

".... Lo?". It was no use anymore- his voice was long gone, replaced with a staticky, broken sound that only occasionally mimicked words.  He walked towards the light, and found another hallway. Maybe if he kept following them, he'd find someone.

He kept wandering for a bit, disoriented by the sheer amount of stuff plastered on the walls and littering the pathways, tilting his head up to glance at the red lights whenever he found them.  

"Hello.". He stopped dead in his tracks.  It sounded, for all he remembered, like a child.  Surely there wasn't a child in this lonely place? Still, what if it were?  What if it was a human, someone who might be able to take him to someone who, for once, could explain what was happening?  

He followed where the sound had come from; he couldn't seem to find the source.  He looked with a desperation he still was surprised he could feel, but found nothing, and just when he was about to give up, he heard another call from elsewhere in the building.

He followed it too; and despite not finding the source once again, the sound kept continuing on, always seemingly out of reach.  After what felt like an eternity wandering the empty hallways, he stopped in one for a long while. There was another call from somewhere else in the building, but though something deep inside pulled him to find the source, he no longer felt like chasing it.  Maybe he should just go back … 

He's toying with you.

The voice came from within him.  Calm, collected, seemingly bored.  He looked around, wondering if it was a trick.

Fool.  I am a part of you. You will not find me there.  

A part… of him?  Like… suit mode?  

He is watching you from the cameras.  That light you keep following. He must be playing a sound so that your programming makes you follow it away from him.

Something felt wrong about this voice, something deeply wrong.  He had no idea what it was; never had this happened.

He does not want you to find him.  They abandoned you for 30 years. They only put you here as a gimmick.  They do not want Spring Bonnie. They want a monster. If you keep searching for that sound in vain, you will just continue to slowly rust away, lost and alone.  Do you want that?

He absolutely didn't. 

I will help you.  Maybe together we will find a way out of here?

"... Ar… ou?". The sounds didn't quite form words, the static hissing from his broken voicebox.

An old friend.  

The voice clicked and he remembered, seemingly out of the blue.  And he remembered William Afton.  

For the first time since he'd found himself in that lonely room, he didn't feel lonely anymore.  He could always trust one of the old friends from the diner. They had never led him wrong.  

Let's find whoever has been playing tricks on us and see if we can get him to see this whole thing as a misunderstanding, shall we?

He nodded, somehow knowing his old friend would know the movement as an agreement.

Maybe, just maybe, he could finally stop being lost.

[thank-you-for-the-vampire-money]

A MIGHTY HOMECOMING

Request: N/A

A/N: just thought I’d write something to let you guys know I’m not dead 😊

Dad!Steve x reader

Word count: 1507

Summary: You and Steve became parents a few years ago. You knew it would be difficult, but with Steve going off on missions all the time, it gets really hard.

Warnings: smidge of angst, big parenting decisions? idk

 (GIF not mine)

           “I miss you, daddy,” your three-year-old little girl sighed, leaning her elbows on the desk.  Steve let out a deep sigh as well, copying his daughter's movements, “I miss you too, sunshine,” he said, smiling weakly.

Steve had been away for almost a month on a mission in the Netherlands.  This was his fourth mission in a row and he had another one two days after he’s supposed to come back from this one.  It seemed like the only time you ever saw him, were the two-day periods in between each assignment, and on video chats.  Needless to say, you and your little girl, Brooklyn, really missed him.

   “When are you coming back, daddy?” Brooklyn asked, scootching closer to the computer monitor, “I’ll be home in two weeks,” Steve answered, “but I’ll only be back for the weekend, then I have another two-month mission.  B-but after the next mission, I’ll be home for three whole weeks!”. Steve was grasping at straws to cheer Brooklyn up.  She asked him every day when he would be home, he'd always answer 'soon' or 'before you know it'.  Especially if it was a long period of time before he would return.

Brooklyn nodded dimly.  She had barely seen her father in the past eight months, with missions, training, meetings, etc.  But, anytime she did get to see him, she was absolutely elated!  It was cute to see her and Steve interact with each other; tons of kids idolized Steve because he was Captain America, but Brooklyn adored him because he was Steven Grant Rogers, her dad.

“Tell him what you did at school today, sweetie,” you reminded, rubbing her back and glancing at Steve’s image on the screen. Brooklyn excitedly hopped down from the chair to go get her art project.

“Mr. Ramirez told us to draw what makes us happy!” the little girl explained, sitting back up on the chair with her big piece of paper and holding it up towards the camera, “he said I was best in the class!” “he told me she has your talent,” you added, smiling at your daughter, playing with her blonde curls, "I would have to agree,".

Steve looked at the drawing and almost wanted to cry. It was a picture, a beautiful picture, that looked like something drawn by a fifth grader and not a preschooler. She definitely had his artistic talent, and she was only getting better.  too bad Steve wasn't there to watch her grow.

The picture, was of you and Brooklyn, waiting at the top of Stark Tower, while Steve was up in a jet, waving to the other figures on the page.  When Brooklyn first showed it to you, you had suggested hanging it on her bedroom wall, but she said she wanted to wait and show her dad.  She always wanted to show Steve her art, it made him happy.

“It’s you coming home, daddy!” Brooklyn cheered, "do you like it?".  Steve had to wait a second before answering.  “It’s beautiful sunshine, you’re getting better and better every day,” Steve choked, trying to hold back a sob, “I’m so proud of you,”.

Before Brooklyn could ask why her father was crying, you told her to say goodnight and hop into bed, “I’ll be by to tuck you in and read to you in a few minutes, okay?” you said, kissing the top of her head. Brooklyn hesitated for a moment, but she obeyed and hopped down from the office chair.  "Goodnight, daddy!  I love you!" she waved, making sure he could see her on the screen before she blew him a kiss.   "Night baby, I love you too!" Steve smiled, catching the kiss and holding it to his cheek.  Brooklyn waved goodbye and skipped to her room across the hall.

 You sat in the chair with a heavy sigh after you closed the door to the master bedroom.  “Steve?” you called, making sure he was still paying attention.  He perked up and looked at you through the screen. “Is this healthy for her?”.  He didn’t exactly know how to respond.  He had spent many a night thinking about that.

He was an Avenger, this was his job, and it took up a lot of time and energy.  But he was also a father and husband, which took up just as much energy, if not more. When he was at work, he felt like he was neglecting his family.  And, when he was with his family, he felt like he wasn't pulling his weight at work. Where was the balance?

“I don’t know, (Y/N)…” he sighed, resting his face in his palms, “I don’t think I should be away this much, but I still have a commitment to the team,”.  You sighed and slumped back in your chair, “is it possible to ask for fewer missions? Maybe have someone else take charge for a few of them?” you suggested, “I’m sure Bucky, Natasha, or Sam would be perfectly capable of leading a few missions without you,”.  Steve sat silent.

You felt almost guilty for suggesting it. You knew Steve was very hesitant to give up his responsibilities, he felt like he was betraying his team if he did. But, he did have a responsibility to you and your daughter, the Avengers weren’t the only big priority in his life.

“I’ve got to go, I’ll call you guys later,” Steve mumbled, almost angrily, turning his face away from the camera so you could barely even see his profile.  “Oh, okay…” you nodded, “I-I love-” Steve ended the call before you could finish your sentence, “you… rude…”.

 A few days passed by and Steve hadn’t made any moves to contact you.  You had called him a few times, but he never picked up.  You had texted him a few times, but he never answered.  Brooklyn became very concerned by this.  “What if the bad guys have got him?!” she would ask. You would always tell her that daddy was okay and that he would never leave you two behind.  But, deep down, you were wondering if something bad really did happen to Steve.

 “Is daddy home yet?” Brooklyn asked as you strapped her into her car seat, “no sweetheart, he won’t be home for another week and a half,” you answered, closing the door to your car and jogging over to the driver’s seat.  Brooklyn just nodded.

Once were on the road, driving away from the preschool, you looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Brooklyn's sad little face. Her eyes were dull and her head hung low as she watched the city pass by outside her window.

“Mommy?  Does daddy not like us anymore?” she asked, her voice innocent and genuine, “what? Of course he likes us!  He loves us!” you responded, slightly shocked by what she said, “why would you think he didn’t?”.  Brooklyn looked at you through the mirror, hesitating a moment before a moment before answering, “daddy is never home anymore, and he hasn’t talked to us in a long time...” she reasoned, her eyes glaring over with tears, “if he loved us, wouldn’t he want to see us?”.  Your heart broke in half at her admission.  This poor little girl thought her own father, her father Steve Rogers no less, didn’t love her anymore…

 Turning the keys and opening the door to your apartment, you and Brooklyn walked inside, taking off your coats as you walked. "Go change out of your school clothes and I’ll make us some lu-” you began to speak, but the sight before you stopped you from continuing.  he sat on the couch, still dressed in his Captain America suit, but he stood once he caught a glimpse of you two.

“Daddy!” Brooklyn cheered, dropping her backpack on the floor and running into her father’s arms.  Steve greeted her with open arms and embraced his little girl tightly, kissing her forehead and cheek as he held her close.  “Steve?  I thought you would be gone for another ten days?” you pondered, dropping your purse and slowly approaching him.  “I was, but… I missed my girls too much, so I had to come home,” he smiled, cupping the side of your face and kissing your lips, “so, I put Nat in charge and flew back here.  And, I’ll be home for the next two-and-a-half months,”.  Now it was you who was holding back tears.  You smiled and rushed up to hug him tightly, never intending to let go of him.

Steve kissed the top of your head, basking in the warm, loving welcome.  He didn't realize how much he really missed you guys until he held you both in his arms. He buried his face into your neck, kissing it softly as he whispered, “I missed my girls…”.

TAGLIST:

@buckyshattergirl @paranoid-borderline-insane

[creativecityblog-blog]

101 FILMMAKING TERMS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

*Spoilers Alert*

There are thousands of terms that filmmakers use on set every day. Many articles or books that you read use these terms, so we are going to teach you 101 filmmaking terms, that you need to know. You will be able to impress your friends on the set of your short film.

1. Abby Singer The term ‘abby singer’ is used for the second-to-last shot of the day. It was named after the famed American production manager and assistant film director Abby Singer who worked between the 1950s-1980s.

2. Above the Line The term ‘above the line’ refers to that part of the film’s budget that covers the costs of the major creative talent, the stars, the director, the producer(s) and the writer(s), although films with expensive special effects (example: The Avengers) have more ‘above the line’ budget costs for technical aspects.

3. Ad Lib The term ‘ad lib’ refers to the line of dialogue improvised by an actor during a performance. It can be either unscripted or deliberate. A good example of this is in the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), a whole featurette (Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004) was created because the main actors continuously improvised.

4. Ambience The term ‘ambience’ refers to the atmosphere of the place. It is the feeling or the mood of the setting. It makes the scene feel more real to the audience. It can mirror what the character is feeling internally or externally.

5. Ambient Light The term ‘ambient light’ refers to the light that is already in the scene before adding additional (artificial) light. It is often natural light caused by the sun. If you have reflectors you will have the advantage of using the natural light indoors (the light that comes through the window), or outside.

6. Ambiguity The term ‘ambiguity’ refers to an event in a film that is deliberately left unclear. It can leave audiences confused. Sometimes one or more meanings attached to it. Don’t be mistaken by a cliffhanger, because cliffhangers is a pause between two films. Horror movies use cliffhangers to set up the sequel. The 1980 film The Shining is the perfect example, the audience was left not knowing if Jack was a ghost or not.

7. Anamorphic Anamorphic is a cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film. It is also an aspect ratio of 2.40:1. This means that the picture’s width is 2.40 times its height.

8. Antagonist The ‘antagonist’ is the main character who has a conflict with the film’s hero. They usually cause the problem in the story. They can ultimately change the character into the better person at the end. The antagonist isn’t always a person it could also be the protagonist’s fears. Examples of antagonist are the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), The Ocean in Finding Nemo (2003), and Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011).

9. Anti-climax Anti-climax is a disappointing ending to a story as the suspense is being built up so much and the audience can’t wait for it and then all of a sudden the hero kills the villain in one hit, or the villain spontaneously drops dead, or some other random guy shows up and destroys the villain before the hero does anything. In Monty Python and The Holy Grail, the film builds to a point where the Knights and the French are about to battle. If the Knights can get into the castle, they will get the grail, and their quest is over. But, a policeman comes and arrests King Arthur.

10. Anti-hero An anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks attributes found in a hero character. The audience roots for the anti-hero, even though he or she is the ‘bad guy’. Examples of anti-heroes are Dexter Morgan (Dexter), Walter White (Breaking Bad) and much, much more. Both these characters are breaking the law and hold ‘evil’ characteristics, but audiences still love them.

11. Archetype Archetypes can be characters, objects, and place that are recognised in many cultures. Examples of character archetypes are the hero, the villain, and the outcast. Examples of symbolic archetypes are light and darkness, the crossroad, and colours used in the film.

12. Arret ‘Arret’ is a French word for ‘halt’ or ‘Stop’. It refers to a camera technique of stopping the camera, then removing or inserting an object, then restarting the camera, to have the object magically disappear. It was one of the early techniques in silent films.

13. Aside This term refers to when a character breaks the fourth wall. Two great examples are Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and Deadpool (2016).

14. Asynchronous (sound) This term ‘asynchronous’ refers to an outgoing sound that is mismatched or unsynced with the footage. In professional filmmaking, the camera does not record the audio. When the editor is editing the film they sync up the audio and sometimes it is slightly off.

15. Auteur An auteur is a French word for ‘Author’. In film criticism, used in the terms auteurism or auteur theory. The auteur is the director, auteurs have a distinct style. The auteurs have complete control of the films look and feel, without the film studios changing it. Examples of auteurs are Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan.

16. Chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro is a notable and contrasting lighting technique, it cast deep/dark shadows. This is often achieved by a spotlight, the roots come from German Expressionism. The early films used candle lights to achieve the effect.

17. Continuity The term ‘continuity’ refers to action moving through multiple shots with interruptions. It can refer to an object, an example is an item of clothing, in one shot the character could be wearing a blue shirt and in the next shot, it is red.

18. Cue The term ‘cue’ is a signal or sign for an actor to start performing. It can come from either another performer, from a director or even from within the script. A cue is often at the end of a character’s line that indicates the other performer to start.

19. Dailies The term ‘dailies’ is the rough cut of the film. The rough cut just puts the shots in order to tell the story, there is no visual effects or colour correction. It is for the director or the producers to review the film. It helps determine if the continuity is correct.

20. Dark Horse The term ‘dark horse’ refers to a little-known movie (usually an independent film or a foreign film) that has been nominated for a major award. An example of some dark horses are Amour (2012), Life Is Beautiful (1998) and The Postman (Il Postino) (1995).

21. Decoupage The term ‘decoupage’ is a French word which refers to the design of the film (the arrangement of the shots). It is the editing process the word means ‘to cut up’.

22. Decouement The term ‘decouement’ refers to the final part of the film, it is the resolution. It is the part of the film’s plot is drawn together and the matters are explained or resolved. 

23. Dub The term ‘dub’ refers to the action of putting sound on a film after production. This could be dialogue, sound effects or music. It is commonly used when shooting on location, the wind or other noises that have ruined the audio. It is also referred to adding translating the language to foreign versions of the film.

24. Dystopia The term ‘dystopia’ refers to an imaginary, dehumanised, fearful, bad, oppressive place or landscape, often caused by a major world crisis. It is the opposite of utopia (the ideal place).

25. Ellipsis The term ‘ellipsis’ refers to the shortening of the film’s plot. This can be achieved by the use of transitions (a fade, dissolve, wipe, jump cut, or change of scene), to omit a period of time from the film’s narrative.

26. Epilogue The term ‘epilogue’ refers to the concluding scene in the film in which characters reflect on the preceding events. It is used to bring closure to the work. An example of an Epilogue is in Saving Private Ryan (1998)

27.  Eyeline Match The term ‘eyeline match’ is a cut between two shots which creates the illusion of the character, which is in the looking at an object, which is the second shot.

28. Favour on The term ‘favour on’ refers to focusing on or highlighting a specific object within the scene.

29. Fourth Wall The term ‘fourth wall’ refers to the invisible plane through which the film viewer or audience is thought to look through toward the action. The fourth wall separates the audience from the characters.

30. Gel The term ‘gel’ refers to a transparent, tinted coloured sheet of plastic that you place over the light, which is used as a filter for a movie light to create a coloured glow over a scene.

31. Generation The term ‘generations’ refers to the number of the videotape as been copied; second generations means two steps away from the original media master.

32. Hike The term ‘hike’ is a slang word which means ‘to increase’, ‘to raise’ or ‘to promote’.

33. Hitting a Mark The term ‘hitting a mark’ refers to an actor moving to the correct mark (there is usually a ‘T’ shape on the floor.

34. Hold Over The term ‘hold over’ is used by a director telling an actor that he/she has an extra day.

35. Iconography Iconography is used within film studies to describe the themes and various styles in a film, particularly in within the field of genre. We expect to see certain objects on the screen, for example in horror movies you expect to young girls, haunted houses, and contrasting shadow and light in darkened places.

36. Interlude The term ‘interlude’ refers to a film scene or sequence that is not specifically tied to the plot. An example is  Harpo Marx’s musical interlude performances of his harp in the Marx Brothers films. 37. Juxtaposition The term ‘juxtaposition’ refers to the contiguous positioning of either two images, characters, objects, or two scenes in sequence, in order to compare and contrast them. For example in Edward Scissorhands, Edward’s dark and grotesque mansion and then the pastel colours.

38. Kick Off The term ‘kick off’ refers to the start of the production or principal of photography.

39. Klieglight ‘Klieglight’ is a powerful carbon-arc lamp that produces an intense light. They are also used for promotional purposes at film premieres.

40. Leitmotif The term ‘leitmotif’ refers to an intentionally-repeated, recurring element or theme associated with a particular person, idea, or action. It can be a repeated sound, shot, bit of dialogue, or piece of music. It helps unify a film by reminding the audience of its earlier appearance.

41. Letterboxing Letterboxing is a technique of shrinking the film image just enough so that its entire width appears on the TV screen, with black areas above and below the image.

42. Lines The term ‘lines’ refers to the dialogue that belongs to a single actor/performer. They are found in the script.

43. Lip Sync Lip Sync is an editing technique, which involves synchronisation between the footage of a conversation and the words on the audio that was recorded on an audio recorder.

44. Locked-Down Shot A ‘locked-down shot’ refers to when the camera is in a fixed position and the action is happening off camera.

45. Logline The term ‘Logline’ refers to the introductory summary of the film. It is usually found on the first page of the script. The logline is read by executives, judges, agents, producers and script-readers. The scriptwriter use loglines to sell their script. It is also known as ‘premise’.

46. Magic Hour The term ‘magic hour’ refers the optimum time for filming romantic or magical scenes due to ‘warm’ and ‘soft’ lighting conditions. This occurs for about 30 minutes around the time of sunset and sunrise. It is also known as ‘golden hour’

47. Mainstream The term ‘mainstream’ refers to Hollywood made films. They have major actors, big budgets, and a big hype. Major studios make these films like Universal, Lionsgate, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Roadshow and etc.

48. Mark There are two means of the term ‘mark’, (1) the name of the clapping of the sticks to sync up the sound and the picture. (2) A bit of tape, a stick or chalk on the ground, which allows the actor/performer where to stand.

49. Mask The term ‘mark’ refers to covering up or blocking out a portion of the frame with blackness.

50. Master Shot The term ‘master shot’ refers to a continuous shot or long take that shows the main action or setting of an entire scene.

51. Match Cut The term ‘match cut’ refers to a transitional technique, which involves a cut in between two unrelated shots. They can be linked by physical, visual or metaphorical similarities.

52. Matte Shot The term ‘matte shot’ refers to the process of combining separate shot together (it is usually actors in the foreground and the setting in the background) one to one shot. This is usually achieved by the use of a green screen.

53. Mise en Scène The term ‘mise en scène’ is a French term for ‘staging’ or ‘putting into the scene or shot’. It is all the elements within the frame (objects, lighting, set design, etc.). They are all deliberately placed to project a meaning.

54. Mixing The term ‘mixing’ refers to the electrical combination of different sounds (music, sound effects or dialogue). This is done after production, once all the recording is complete the editor puts them all together.

55. Money Shot The term ‘money shot’ refers to a scene, image, revelation, or climactic moment that gives the audience “their money’s worth,” may have cost the most money to produce and may be the key to the movie’s success

56. Motif The term ‘motif’ refers to a recurring element in a film. It is repeated in a significant way, for example, a symbol, image, object, word, spoken phrase or line that points out the theme of the film.

57. Non-Sync The term ‘non-sync’ refers to a shot without any synchronised sound (the sound must be added later by the editor. On big Hollywood films, the audio and footage a recorded separately.

58. Obligatory Scene The term ‘obligatory scene’ refers to a clichéd or an expected scene for a specific genre. For example, in romantic or dramatic films you expect a love scene, the solving of a crime in a mystery, a rescue in an action film, etc.

59. Off or Offstage The terms ‘off’ and ‘off stage’ refers to action or dialogue that is performed out of the frame or of the stage (out of sight). It is also referred to off-screen.

60. Off Book The term ‘off book’ refers to when an actor/performer has memorised all their lines and no longer needs their script.

61. Omniscient Point of View The term ‘omniscient point of view’ refers to the narrator who knows or sees everything occurring in the story, including the characters thoughts, actions, places, conversations and events.

62. On or On Stage The terms ‘on’ and ‘on stage’ refers to the visible stage or frame (what the audience can see).

63. 180 Degree Rule The ‘180-degree rule’ is a screen direction rule that applies to the camera operator. There is an imaginary line, the action is on one side and the camera must operate their camera on the other side.

64. One-Liner The term ‘one-liner’ is a short, one-line joke, that contains a punchline.

65. One-Reeler The term ‘one-reeler’ refers to a film that is 10 to 20 minutes long. It is also known as a short film.

66. One-Sheet The term ‘one-sheet’ refers to a typical size of a movie poster.

67. Over-Crank(ing) The term ‘over-crank(ing)’ refers to speeding up a camera’s frame rate. It is to shoot at more than the normal 24 fps (frames per second). It can either be shown in slow motion or fast forward.

68. Overexposed The term ‘overexposed’ refers to a film shot that has more light than usual causing a ‘washed out’ look. They can be deliberately used for flashbacks or dreams.

69. Over The Shoulder Shot ‘Over the shoulder shot’ is a camera technique that is commonly used in films. It is often used when two characters are talking. The camera is behind one of the characters and ‘looking over their shoulder’.

70. Overture The term ‘overture’ refers to the pre-credits or opening credits musical selection that sets the mood and theme of the film.

71. Ozoner The term ‘ozoner’ is a slang term for a drive-in movie.

72. Pace The term ‘pace’ refers to the speed/tempo of the dramatic action, which is usually enhanced by the soundtrack and the speed of the dialogue.

73. Package The term ‘package’ refers to the marketing elements of a film project, such as the script, the stars signed to the film, the director, location and etc.

74. Panning Shot Panning shot is a camera technique, it is a horizontal scan, movement, rotation or turning the camera. It is also known as panoramic shot.

75. Pan and Scan The ‘pan and scan’ is a technique that avoids the ‘letterboxing’ of a widescreen film for a full-framed 4×3 home video or tv picture. The picture is mechanically panned to the side (left or right in a ping-pong effect) to show the missing part – hence, the term pan-and-scan.

76. Pipeline The term ‘pipeline’ to movie projects that are under development or production and scheduled for release in the future.

77. Point of View The term ‘point of view’ is a camera technique, it shows the audience the perspective of the character. You often see this camera technique in horror movies, in a chase scene.

78. Protagonist The ‘protagonist’ is the main character of them film. The protagonist is also known as the hero. The film follows the protagonist throughout the film. The protagonist can be an anti-hero like Dexter Morgan (Dexter), Lou Bloom (Nightcrawler), Driver (Drive),  Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) and etc.

79. Pull Back The term ‘pull back’ refers to a camera technique when the camera moves backwards or zooms out from the subject. The opposite of push in.

80. Push In The term ‘push in’ refers to a camera technique when the camera moves toward or zoom into the subject. The opposite of pull back.

81. Rack Focusing The term ‘rack focusing’ refers to a camera technique, the focus changes during one shot. It is also known as selective focusing or pull focus.

82. Red Herring The term ‘red herring’ refers to an instance of foreshadowing that is deliberately placed to make audience suspect an outcome, but the opposite happens. It is often used for humour, irony or other thematic reasons.

83. Redlighted The term ‘redlighted’ refers to a film project that was in production but lost its financial backing. It is also called film in turnaround.

84. Reel The term ‘reel’ refers to a plastic or metal spoon for winding film. The early films were measured in reels (one reel = 10 minutes of running time).

85. Reshoot Contingency The term ‘reshoot contingency’ refers to the funds saved by the producer just in case supplementary shooting are required. This usually happens after test screenings or decisions made by studio executives.

86.  Reverse Motion The term ‘reverse motion’  refers to an editing technique, it is created by running the film backwards. It is also known as reverse action.

87. Revisionistic The term ‘revisionistic’ refers to films that have an apparent genre stereotype and then challenge it. Examples of this are the sword-and-sorcery Dragonslayer (1981, UK), and Costner’s Dances With Wolves (1990).

88. Rough Cut The term ‘rough cut’ refers to an early edited version of the film. It has all the pieces of the film assembled in continuous, sequential order, but without any visual effects.

89.  Scene Stealing The term ‘scene stealing’ refers to a character who draws more attention than the other characters because of their appearance, actions and/or dialogue. A similar term is ‘chewing up the scenery’.

90. Sepia Tone The term ‘sepia tone’ refers a black and white image that has been converted to a sepia tone or a brownish grey to a dark olive brown colour in order to enhance the dramatic effect.

91. Snipe The term ‘snipe’ refers to any piece of projected footage during the film’s presentation that is not a trailer. For example announcements and theatre promos for the concession stand, courtesy requests and prohibitions.

92. Soliloquy The term ‘soliloquy’ refers to a dramatic monologue that is sometimes expressed as ‘thinking aloud’ dialogue of inner reflection. It is delivered by a character to him or herself, or directly to the audience.

93. Stinger The term ‘stinger’ refers to a surprising last minute dialogue or footage that appears after the end or closing credits. The Marvel Cinematic Universe does this all the time.

94. Subjective Point-of-View The term ‘subjective point of view’ refers to a film where the narrator has a limited point-of-view regarding the characters, events, actions, places, thoughts, conversations, etc. The opposite of the omniscient point-of-view

95. Subplot The term ‘subplot’ refers to a secondary plotline, often complementary but independent from the main plot. It involves secondary characters. A great example is Daredevil (2003), Checkout http://whatculture.com for an in-depth explanation of the subplot of Daredevil and nine other prime examples.

96. Three-Shot The term ‘three-shot’ refers to a medium shot that contains three characters in the same frame.

97. Two-Handler The term ‘two-handler’ refers to a film that only has two characters. These are often independent films.

98. Two-Shot The term ‘two-shot’  refers to a medium shot that contains two characters in the same frame. It is often used to provide a contrast between the two characters.

99. Underexposed The term ‘underexposed’ refers to a film shot that has less light than usual, causing unclear image lacking contrast, it gives it an ominous effect.

100. Walk-Through The term ‘walk-through’ refers to the first rehearsal on the set, to figure out lighting, sound, camera positioning, etc. This is done to make sure everything runs smoothly.

101. Wig-Wag The term ‘wig-wag’ refers to a red warning light that is located above each entrance-exit door on a film set and sound stage. It is designed to flash (with a buzzer sound) to indicate when shooting commences or ends.

That is 101 filmmaking terms you need to know. Now you can impress your friends, co-workers and professors/lecturers. I hope you learnt someone thing knew. If you have any questions click here. Thank you for reading this article and have a beautiful day!

creativecityweb.wordpress.com

https://creativecityweb.wordpress.com/2017/07/02/101-filmmaking-terms-that-you-need-to-know/

[agilenano]

Agilenano - News: We’ve encountered several Steven Spielberg productions in past installments of this series, where Steve was able to turn his talents at producing blockbuster features toward the small screen for mini-epics in the superhero vein

His efforts are far from through, and we will have “close encounters” below with some late episodes of Tiny Toons, as well as several from his next animated showcase, Animaniacs. Also in today’s mix, a panther of odd color, a duck of odd strength, a cat of odd appetite and another of odd bad luck. Odds are, you’ll find something below to your taste. The Just-us League of Supertoons (Warner, Steven Spielberg, Tiny Toon Adventures, 9/15/92) returns Plucky Duck and Hamton Pig to their super alter-egos of Batduck and Decoy. Taking off on DC’s “Justice League”, Batduck receives a call on the hot line from Buster Bunny, alias SuperBun, informing Batduck that the Just-us League has an opening for a new member, and would he like to stop by tonight for an interview. Trying not to appear too anxious, Batduck replies he can probably pencil them in. En route, Plucky dreams of the merchandising opportunities that will come with being a League member, while Hamton dreams of fighting crime alongside the greatest heroes of all time. Plucky, having no interest in the work side of the coin, reacts to Hamton’s dream, “That’s right. Burst my bubble, you little killjoy.” They arrive at League headquarters, leaving their vehicle in the hands of parking valet Montana Max – who in reality is again Wex Wuthor, with another nefarious plan. Inside, Plucky is introduced to the other members besides Buster – Babs Bunny as amazon Wonder Babs, Beeper as Little Dasher (a parallel to the Flash), Sweetie Bird as Pink Canary, Calamity Coyote as Teen Arrow, Shirley as Hawk Loon, and Fifi La Fume as Scentanna. Buster asks what superpowers Batduck brings into the mix, and Plucky boasts of his fearsome image, marvelous gadgets – and he’s also a heck of a clog dancer. The League members lose interest quickly, having been under the impression that he possessed some genuine super power (a bit of a writing slip-up, as the inclusion already in the group of Teen Arrow would mean at least one other member relied upon gadgetry rather than super abilities). Plucky and Hamton are given a thumbs down, and placed on the reject list. Despite resorting to a little groveling, Plucky, along with Hamton, trudge dejectedly back to the parking lot. At this inopportune moment, crashing through the ceiling with a jet pack comes Wex Wuthor. The League is equally unimpressed, knowing that he has no superpowers either. Maybe not now – “But I will once I steal yours”, Wex boasts. He presses a button on his suit, and the League is caught in a stun ray. With another button, he announces that he has invented a “super power transfer thingy”, with which he will absorb the combined powers of the League to become the world’s most powerful criminal. Who should come wandering back into the hall but Plucky, stating that he forgot to get a validation on his parking ticket. Wuthor turns the stun ray on Plucky, and declares he will absorb Batduck’s powers first. Plucky receives a jolt from the second button – but as the process is completed, Wuthor falls out of the sky, and wobbles around shakily, as Buster advises him that all he absorbed were the powers of an egotistical green duck. Plucky adds, “Although no one could absorb my ego all at once”, giving Max a swift kick and landing him in a heap on the floor. The League hails Plucky as a hero, and Plucky narrates that as a result, Batduck and Decoy became “key” men in the Just-us League – in other words, the new parking valets. The Return of Batduck (12/19/92) was actually a pilot episode from the Tiny Tons spinoff, “The Plucky Duck Show” – which died quickly, as no other new episodes appear to have been produced, and the show was merely a schedule-filler compiling old Plucky cartoons from the run of the regular series. A bit too much placed into this half hour for a thorough description, but we’ll try for a flavor. Plucky has landed his own television series (much to the nearly-bored surprise of Buster and Babs), and is attempting to put on a showgirl filled musical extravaganza (though he tumbles down a tall staircase, knocks over giant statues of himself, and collides with his lead showgirl – who is actually Hamton Pig in disguise). Buster and Babs goad him in the wings with a copy of Variety, indicating that Tim Burton is casting a new Batman movie, but getting Plucky’s goat by reminding him he has his show to do instead. Plucky’s ego of course soars through the roof, realizing to himself that he’s feature material, and type-cast for the part in view of his old Batduck roles. He abandons the show and attempts to get on the Warner lot. Hamton is recruited to pose as his agent to make him look legit (though Hamton can’t get agent’s lingo right, quibbling about the improper grammar of the phrase, “Let’s do lunch.”) Little did us kids know when watching this episode that we were being introduced to a character from a series yet to come – Ralph, the security guard from “Animaniacs”, makes what is probably his debut appearance, nine months before the series premiere. As usual, he is no-nonsense about keeping the riff raff like Plucky off the lot, and wraps Plucky up in a string, then uses him as a yo-yo for various tricks, climaxing in “around the world”, as he tosses Plucky into orbit. Plucky does manage a re-entry which finally catches him up with Hamton, and together they plot how to reach Burton’s office (a dark castle shrouded in thunder and lightning on the opposite side of the lot). Plucky produces a map of the studio sewer system with which they can take an underground route to the castle. Hamton is curious where he got such a map, and Plucky points to Art Carney as Ed Norton, selling such maps in the same manner as maps to stars’ homes, with his trademark “Va Va Va Voom”. Hamton asks if there are rats in the sewer. Plucky scoffs that there are no rats, no alligators, no nothin’. At that moment, they are passed by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Plucky continues as if he were still in mid-sentence: “…to speak of!” He then breaks the fourth wall, asking the audience, “How many saw that coming?”, and a show of hands raised in front of the camera lens gives the indication, just about everybody. After a string of various celebrity encounters, Plucky finally makes it to Burton’s office. Burton is turning down another applicant, who’s got the “dark” part all right, and a snazzy costume, but just isn’t quite the type – Dracula. The sight of Plucky is enough to make his staff exit screaming, and Burton almost jump out a window, but Plucky appeals to him as a comrade, reminding Tim of his animation background. “We’re cut from the same cel.” To prove it, he zip-pans Burton to a “This is Your Life” studio, and reintroduces him to his horrific high school doodles, who take life and swarm around him. That’s all that Burton can take, and he relents to give Plucky a screen test. Plucky retrieves his and Hamton’s costumes from the old “Duck Cave” set. Hamton activates an inflate-a-duck apparatus to pump muscles into Plucky’s suit – but explodes him instead. Nevertheless, Plucky makes the screen test appointment next morning, repeatedly blowing heroic exits by swinging into walls, dangling helplessly by a plunger grappling hook from the nose of a gargoyle, and using six devices from his utility belt to suspend himself from six buildings at the same time – only to pull all of the buildings down atop himself. Yet Burton gives him the role he was auditioning for – though it’s not quite the one he expected. As Plucky pushes his way through back sets, he encounters someone too big to push – a caricature of Michael Keaton – as the real Batman. Tim welcomes him to the set, and introduces Plucky as his new stunt double! Plucky takes a licking and barely comes out ticking, and bemoans his fate. “Vanity, thy name is Plucky”, he groans, discarding his cowl, and sadly remembering that he could have been on his own show right now. Buster Bunny informs him that actually, he’s still on his own show. “What? How much time is left?”, asks a panicked Plucky. “About ten seconds”, replies Buster. Plucky climbs the tall staircase again, and attempts to resume his musical production number – but a prop mockup of the bat signal falls from the rafters and flattens him, for the iris out. No clip from BATDUCK… but here’s a rare Fox Kids promo he appears in: Pink Pink and Away (1/13/93) marks the premiere of the 1993 revival of “The Pink Panther”, and the first of a 4-episode arc returning the Panther to the role of Super Pink. Unfortunately, the writing and timing are no match for the DePatie-Freleng original, and the episode comes off surprisingly lifeless and lacking in energy or originality. Pink (in talking Matt Frewer mode) takes a few routine pratfalls battling a completely redesigned Dogfather and his mob, first in an ATM robbery, then a diamond heist from a museum. He also saves a wise-guy kid/video game whiz who almost joins the Dogfather for a life or crime, until a double-cross leaves him in the museum jewelry case as substitute weight for the stolen diamond. Pink ultimately foils the robbery by using a spear from a cave man exhibit to bring down a dinosaur skeleton on the crooks. Junior goes straight, and swears to be like Super Pink – donning a duplicate outfit – but then soars off into the sky like a real superhereo. “He’s always doing that”, says his Mom, and soars into the sky after him! Pink tries to make the same exit – and flops on the ground, scratching his head in puzzlement. Super Pink’s Egg-Cellent Adventure (10/17/93) deals with theft of a giant egg, developed to solve the world’s food shortages by a little Germanic professor from the “Super Schmarty Society”. Pink (the building janitor) witnesses the egg‘s theft by a Sumo wrestler and his ninjas, and sees “a job for Super Pink”. They trail the crooks to a chow mein shop, where Pink flies up to a roof skylight (even though the door was open all the time), using the jet power from a giant shaken cola can strapped to his back. Finding a grocery list including ingredients in humongous quantities, he and the professor tail the villains to the only place large enough to fill the order – a “Super” market. The professor attempts to help in the chase by inventing a pair of jet skates he attaches to a shopping cart. The invention goes haywire, leaving management to call for cleanup on nearly every other numbered aisle. The chase leads into a railroad train, and a fight which is seen in blackouts as the train goes through various tunnels – with the last light-up showing our heroes tied back to back. The Sumo announces he’ll show them what he has in store for the egg, and takes them to the roof of a tall skyscraper, where the ninjas place the egg teetering on the ledge of the roof landing. Below in the street, a giant bubbling bowl of liquid and equally giant place setting awaits. Pink realizes that the ingredients list adds up to – egg drop soup! The Sumo states that it is written that he who makes the biggest bowl of egg drop soup shall rulse the world. Panther yawns that he’s read that fortune cookie too. Seeing the crooks’ giant package of soy sauce, Panther whispers to the professor to give it a kick – spilling the slippery stuff on them, and allowing Pink to slip out of his bonds. The crooks are ultimately subdued, but the egg falls off the ledge, with the professor foolishly diving for it and also helplessly falling. Pink produces the professor’s jet skates and puts them on, then grabs two of the ninjas’ swords. He takes off from the roof, using the sword blades as wings, and dives under the professor and the egg, catching them on his back for the rescue. The egg is returned to the auditorium of the society – but doesn’t stay intact for further presentation, as it hatches, producing in the fashion of “Horton” a professor-bird, who runs after the professor, calling him “Daddy” with Germanic accent. “I just love happy endings”, says Panther. The End of Superpink? (10/14/93) begins in unusual artistic form, in a fight scene between Pink and villainous The Wriggler, set against backgrounds where every splash of color is seen in a wide spaced print-style dot matrix. This is because the entire incident is happening only in the pages of the “Super Pink” comic book that Pink has just finished drawing. He tries to drum up customers for the publication at a comic-book convention, but faces the challenges of the reigning super-celebrity, the towering, cleft-chinned Captain Chaos. Vying for press attention from a magazine photographer, Captain Chaos manufactures situations of peril for a junior fan’s kitty kat to stage a daring rescue – but has to deal with the interferences of Pink trying to be legitimately heroic. When Chaos throws the cat into a runaway blimp, he fires a grappling hook to scale into one of the conveyance’s gondola windows – but gets stuck in the porthole. Pink rescues both of them in complicated chain-reaction fashion, including use of a teeterboard and souvenir yo-yo to launch himself skyward to save the day – while the cat takes liberal swipes with his claws at Captain Chaos’s defenseless chin. Pink winds up the center of the magazine story, while Chaos’s only picture is of his butt sticking out of the gondola. Chaos reappears as a chef serving celebration cookies to Pink’s new fanbase, who mob him for the cookie tray. Pink shrugs his shoulders to the reporter: “He needed the work.” Power of Pink (10/29/94) goes altogether too far out. It differs from the others by actually giving Pink temporary super powers, unexplainedly drawn from another food-grow machine of the professor which without explanation instills super energy into a pickle. It also features another caped hero (Amazing Man), who actually is a giant rat in disguise, using a Superman style “Magnetic Telescope” to pull the moon closer to use its gravity to rearrange buildings into giant laboratory mazes for the humans to run. (So why is he posing as a superhero in the first instance?) None of it makes sense, and the situations lack in either cleverness or genuine laughs. Not a recommend. Eex Men (Nelvana, Eek the Cat, 10/9/93) – A completely misnamed episode, as it has nothing to do with the Marvel franchise its title infers, but is a straight Superman-style parody. The opening credits to this show often began showing Eek in a supersuit, rescuing his 300-pound girlfriend from a burning building – but barely able to lift her through the skies, and with his cape on fire from the flames. Yes, the credits were merely a dream. But this time, he gets to do it for real in the episode. Gary Owens (or a very convincing sound-alike) provides narration to give this episode special super-effect. Superpersonman is the reigning hero of the area. Receiving signals in his Bunker of Goodness of the impending approach of super villain and friend of no-one Garbage Man (a burly alien who wears a trash bag over his head), Superpersonman does what any intelligent visitor from another planet would do – telephones his girlfriend Ultra Babe for a quick getaway vacation. But before leaving with his packed suitcases, he realizes he can’t leave the city unguarded, and determines to deputize someone by passing on his cape to them, thus making them feel obligated to take the terrible beating that was intended for himself. Enter Eek, conveniently on a mountain-climbing excursion past the Bunker. Superpersonman, in slow mental spurts, improvises the lamest excuse for his departure – helping his mother get over her case of the plague – and Eek, living by his motto “It never hurts to help”, acquires the cape, and immediately falls off the mountain cliff. He lands in front of a fast food stand (“Ed’s Gopher Guts”), and the “E” falls off its sign onto Eek’s chest, providing the proper alphabetical insignia. The first sign of crime spotted by Eek is two country-bumpkin types fleeing a bank with sacks of money. (No, for once they’re not tellers or bank presidents.) Eek gives them what they deserve – advice. “Hey, you robber guys. Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s wrong to take something that isn’t yours?” “Well, no, actually, no one ever did”, respond the robbers. Eek takes them back to the bank, and they politely apologize for the mistake, and promise they’ll never do it again. Meanwhile, Garbage Man’s ship parks in a municipal parking lot next to a football stadium. He enters the stadium and turns on a water hose to flood the stadium during a big game. He visits the governor’s mansion, and sets all the clocks an hour backwards, causing the governor to miss an inspection of an “untested and possibly faulty” nuclear power plant, which is started up without him, erupting in a mushroom cloud. Meanwhile, Eek runs into his neighbor Sharkey the shark-dog, who as usual puts the bite on Eek. But with Eek’s new powers, Sharkey’s teeth shatter like glass. He runs to Elmo Elk the dentist, and receives a steel set of dentures – which bend in all directions upon his second chomp on Eek’s paw. Sharkey returns the bent dentures, pulling them down around Elmo’s waist like a hula skirt. Eek begins to notice the effects of Garbage Man’s reign of terror, and reverses the crimes – by blowing the radioactive cloud from the nuclear plant back into a small laboratory bottle – allegedly before those runaway isotopes could have any nasty effects. The lab assistants wave a happy goodbye – although their hands have mutated into ferns. Eek next drains the football stadium dry by sucking up the water in his cheeks – then uses the water to put out the fire of a newly-erupting volcano. Garbage Man observes that Superpersonman may have grown stronger – and furrier – than the last time they did battle, and thus attempts to round-up a variety of weird and improbable minions for an invincible army. They do little to assist, as Garbage Man’s ship, with his minions inside it, is towed from the parking lot for exceeding the maximum parking limit. Eek finally meets Garbage Man, and in his usual peaceful way, asks him in the name of niceness to quit his shenanigans before someone gets hurt. Although no one’s laid a paw on him, Garbage Man cowers as if his very life had been threatened, and pretends to surrender – at least until he can reach the refuge of a getaway helicopter, from which he jeers that he will return and have vengeance. His exit is spoiled, as the copter crashes into a building. He tries it again on a bicycle – and runs into a tree. Once more he departs – on a city bus, but sticks his head out the window for one last taunt, and gets knocked cold as his head collides with a telephone pole. Superpersonman and Ultra Babe return from vacation. Eek, having no idea who Ultra Babe is, assumes she is the mother with the plague he’s been told about, and spills the beans to Ultra Babe on everything Superpersonman did. Babe, shocked that Superpersonman would burden a poor kitty with his job, tells him she’s through with him, and smacks him a super-blow, leaving him in a dazed heap. She invites Eek to Paris for a French dinner – complete with real French Fries – and the two fly off together, as she tosses Superpersonman’s rolled-up cape to the winds. The narrator indicates that it is unknown what became of the cape – but not for long, as a caped Sharkey flies into the shot, holding an American flag, to fight for truth, justice – and whatever sharkdogs fight for. The Cranial Crusader (Warner/Steven Spielberg, Animaniacs (Pinky and the Brain), 3/10/94) – This one’s a bit of a plot stretch – What makes the usually ingenious Brain think that proving himself the world’s greatest crimefighter is his ticket to getting the public to let him take over the world? Nevertheless, that’s the premise. This time, instead of Acme Labs, Pinky and Brain are kept as experimental mice in the crimefighting lab of an ersatz bat-cave, owned by that champion of justice, the Caped Opossum. Such hero leaves “calling cards” with a silhouette and his initials at each scene of his victories against the forces of evil. Though he regularly makes the 11:00 News, the news report reminds him that one arch-villain remains unthwarted – Johnny Badnote (a mad musician, with some attributes of the Joker, but equally likely to have been inspired by the appearance of Liberace as a villain on the original Batman show – said to have brought in the highest ratings in the show’s run). Brain decides to capture this uncapturable foe, leave his own calling card to steal the spotlight from the Opossum, and become the nation’s favorite hero. Pinky, addicted to the Opossum’s comic books, claims to know everything there is to know about being a superhero – and is inducted into service as the Pink Wonder, while Brain takes on the super-identity of the Cranial Crusader. They hijack the Opossummobile and head to a shady warehouse district where Badnote’s hideout is suspected to be. From a vantage point on a high cliff, Pinky suggests using the vehicle’s prehensile tail-grappling hook device to lower the car into the valley below. They hook the tail onto a tree, and begin to lower themselves down on an attached cable. Unfortunately, Pinky has failed to notice that the cable crosses a railroad track – and an oncoming train severs it in two. Brain commands Pinky to fire reverse thruster rockets to break their fall – instead, Pinky ignites forward thrusters, accelerating the car into a crash dive – and a battered wreck. Still, Pinky manages to activate the car’s super-sniffing device (a sort of elephant’s trunk under the hood), which sucks them to the side of one of the warehouses and through the wall. It s the lair of Badnote, who shakes his head at the would-be do-gooders. “Miniature crime fighters. I’ve got to get out more often.” Badnote places the pair into a death trap – the swing of a metronome progressively pulls the pin from an egg-shaped music box which is really a grenade, designed to play a farewell tune, then explode. The explosion will be the downbeat for Badnote to play a pipe organ solo – with the pipes being missiles which will launch upon his hitting the keys, to blow up the capitols of the world. Pinky and Brain are squeezed together inside the diameter of the grenade’s firing pin. Brain is upset enough about this hopeless situation – but what peeves Pinky is that Badnote has left Pinky’s comic book below the base for the grenade, where it will be the first thing damaged by the explosion. Pinky extricates himself from the firing pin, pulling the comic book out, but toppling the grenade in the process (as well as prematurely pulling its pin). The grenade takes several bounces off various musical instruments in Badnote’s collection, then rolls directly under Badnote’s feet as he listens for his downbeat. He gets to hear it all right – in way too high fidelity. Brain pulls Pinky to safety before the explosion occurs, taking care to leave his “C.C.” calling card with his silhouette behind. As the explosion finishes off Badnote’s plans, the impact topples an ink bottle within the lair – which leaves extra blotches of ink on Brain’s calling card, transforming the silhouette into the shape of the Opossum, and the second “C” of the initials into an “O”. When the nightly news report hits, everyone thinks the Opossum was responsible for Badnote’s downfall! Brain abandons all thoughts of superherodom forever, and sets his thoughts toward planning for tomorrow night. Pinky, drawing a comic intended to document the Crusader’s exploits, pens into Brain’s dialogue balloon, “Try to take over the world”. Also from Animaniacs, Super Buttons (5/2/94) is a feature for Buttons and Mindy – a recurring segment spoofing “Lassie”-style heroic dog shows, with wonder dog Buttons laboring endlessly to keep brainless toddler Mindy out of harm’s way – and inevitably aiming all the harm at his own sorry carcass, while never getting the credit for his many rescues. (Basically, this was Spielberg’s tweak of the situations he was used to getting Baby Herman into in the Roger Rabbit cartoons – which itself was a derivative from Popeye’s many rescues of Swee’pea (consider the similarities between Roger Rabbit’s “Rollercoaster Rabbit” and Popeye’s “Thrill of Fair”.) Unfortunately, the Buttons episodes became regularly formulaic. Parents would always leave Buttons in charge of Mindy. Mindy would always be playing some mindless game in the yard, attached to a waist harness to keep her from wandering. Mama would bid her so long, and Mindy would always call her “lady” instead of Mom, ending with standard catch-phrase, “Okay, I love ya. Bye Bye.” Something would attract Mindy’s attention, causing her to get free of the harness and wander away. Buttons would follow, and be exposed to a string of perils. Mindy would find someone to ask an endless series of “Why” questions to, then leave them with her catch-phrase above, finally wandering back to the yard herself. Buttons would be found wearily returning, and get the blame for letting his guard down in watching Mindy. But Mindy would give him a hug, which was supposed to make everything all right. With so many elements identical from episode to episode, the Buttons cartoons, despite occasional clever peril gags, quickly became one of the most repetitious, and sometimes tedious, elements of the show (with the other possible runner-up of Chicken Boo, to be discussed in a later article). This attempt at a new twist doesn’t do much to push the “buttons” in a new direction. The intro is new, allowing for some parody of the Superman exposition. Everyone in the family (Buttons, Mindy, and the parents) are cast as caped superheroes, predicting the Incredibles. Buttons is first seen on a dog race track, as the narrator states, “Faster than a speeding Greyhound.” Buttons indeed passes every dog on the track – but runs head-on into a Greyhound bus traveling the other way. “More powerful than a doberman pinscher.” Button does intimidates a doberman into a dark alley – but once standing in the shadows himself, Buttons finds himself surrounded by dobermans – which is another matter altogether. The “It’s a bird, it’s a plane” bit happens again, with one addition after the crowd realizes it’s Super Buttons – “And he’s not housebroken!”, which causes the crowd to run for cover. The usual plot formula ensues, as Mom and Pop announce to Mindy that they’re taking a little time off from fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. When Mindy again calls Mom, “super-lady”, Mom questions whether Mindy has gotten into some Kryptonite. Mindy escapes her harness by expanding her chest and bursting the straps, then flies into the sky after a small bird. Buttons follows her into a storm cloud – and offers assistance by holding an umbrella over her head. A lightning bolt is attracted to the umbrella like a lightning rod, leaving blackened Buttons to fall into a trash dumpster. The rest of the gags don’t particularly fire off well, including a crossing-busy-city intersection peril where Mindy merely tosses an oncoming bus out of the way, a bank robbery unwittingly foiled by Mindy, while Buttons finds room after room of lit TNT sticks, and a City-Hall encounter with a mutant spider-person (a villain, not a hero – no treading on Marvel territory here). The standard ending, and we’re done. Arbuckle the Invincible (Film Roman, Garfield and Friends, 11/10’94) shares some plot basis with Ducktales’ “Superdoo!” discussed in a previous article. An alien spaceship provides the bauble responsible for providing Jon with super-powers. Two (or perhaps I should say one, as they are joined at the torso) aliens are dispatched to Earth on a mission (though one questions the assignment – “Did they ever get intelligent life there?”), to retrieve a sample of shredded and processed bovine tissue, strewn with aged lactile substance – in other words, a cheeseburger. Encountering a meteor shower, they engage an invisible force field deflector on the nose of their spacecraft. However, one of them turns it off just a bit too soon, as a last meteorite collides with the ship, knocking the glowing deflector orb off the ship’s nose and causing it to fall to Earth. Below, Jon is attempting to hook up a rooftop aerial to get clear reception for a big game. Garfield is sure he’ll see the game clearly – they have great reception in the hospital! He and Odie relax on chaise lounges as ringside seats to watch Jon fall. From above, the orb enters Earth’s atmosphere, and lands with a plunk in the rear pocket of Jon’s trousers. Jon is knocked off balance, and takes the predicted dive off the roof – but merely bobs along a foot or two above the ground as if floating on a cushion of air. A surprised Garfield and Odie “follow the bounding Arbuckle” to see why he isn’t a mangled wreck. Jon is as surprised as they, and announces that he suddenly feels – indestructible. Garfield insists he must have a broken something-or-other, but Jon decides to take this new power to a place where it can be best put to use – a talent agency (lifting from the Three Stooges’ “Souperman”). Unlike the Stooges, Jon successfully demonstrates his abilities to the agent, by having him break a baseball bat over Jin’s head, then drop a ten ton safe upon him, which is merely deflected to crash through the floor. Jon is signed up to perform a stunt of being run over by the railroad’s 4:15 commuter special (which always runs on time at 5:30). As the event is to be televised, Jon decides to spruce himself up – by changing his suit (a bit of the Jetsons here, too). As Jon leaves the house, with the orb still in the pocket of his other trousers, Garfueld and Odie witness the aliens slithering from their ship down the chimney. They intercept the aliens inside, who explain they are seeking their lost deflector, finding it in Jon’s bedroom. Garfield realizes the orb was the source of Jon’s power – then he and Odie perform simultaneous delayed shock takes as they remember what’s about to happen to Jon. At the railroad tracks, Jon signs autographs before the big stunt – and is surprised when the point of a fan’s pen turns out to be sharp enough to prick his finger. A bit slow on the uptake, Jon begins to suspect there may be a flaw in his powers. But it’s too late to back out, as several stagehands are already tying Jon to the tracks, and his manager claims to have already cashed an advance check. Jon struggles helplessly in his bonds, while Garfield and Odie encounter a locked gate and realize there’s no way to reach Jon in time for a rescue. Always practical, Garfield decides not to make the trip a total loss, and escorts Odie to a hamburger stand for a bite to eat. Who do they encounter inside but the aliens, sampling the “bovine tissue”. “Small planet, is it not?” say the aliens. Garfield points out Jon on the restaurant’s TV, and asks if there is any way to save him. The aliens pull out a small remote, and suggest a simple molecular dissolve. At the tracks, as the train zooms toward its target, the ropes binding Jon are suddenly disintegrated, and though the train runs over him, Jon is never touched, and emerges unharmed. In a complete plothole, just to keep Jon from becoming a financial success, the writers unexplainedly have the agent trudge through the shot, informing Jon without explaation, “You’re not getting paid”. (So what happened to the agent’s advance check?) Meanwhile, Garfield and Odie happily chow down at the hamburger stand with the alien, Garfield wishing he had an indestructible stomach, anticipating the effect a few more of these burgers will have upon him. (This episode would lead off the very last show of the Saturday morning series starring Lorenzo Music, and the show’s opening credits commemorate the event with Garfield’s last off-the-cuff comment from the corner of the screen – “After seven seasons we’ve pretty much said everything you can say in this spot.”). Super Strong Warner Siblings (Warmer/Steven Spielberg, Animaniacs, 9/9/95) – The Warner Brothers (and sister) provide a riotous and wicked sendup of then-current juvenile hero squads in “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and “Voltron”, with a few additional elements common to other Japanese manga-style live and animated shows of the day. The show opens peaceably enough, with the Warners coming out from behind the show’s logo after the stock opening credits, and complimenting the behind-the-scenes work of their cameraman with almost winning then an Emmy – topped with rewarding him with a bag full of money, just because they’re in a good-natured mood. Far away on an alien planet, they are obseved by an evil sorceress in outlandish costume (including a crown made of a buzzard’s nest), who shouts every dialogue line with rage and non-stop syllables, even when there’s nothing particular to be angry about. (A parallel to series villainess Rita Repulsa from the Power Rangers.) She teleports a squad of ninjas to finish the Warners. Back at the lot, it’s just a typical day, as the Warners entertain a group of children with a song about serendipity. A little girl applauds them, and Yakko presents her with another sack of money. A boy next to her mildly points out, “Hey, I liked your song, too.” Yakko hands him a consolation prize of a fat-free yogurt. The ninjas materialize, and the Warners go into action. Hurtling into a series of choreographed jumps, set to a typical-sounding superhero theme song, and punctuated by repeated unison shouts of “Right”, the Warners assume defensive kung-fu positions, The ninjas fly through the air with feet outstretched in power-kick mode. The Warners respond by each pulling out giant tennis racquets, and each score a “smash” upon their respective opponents into a sound-stage wall, where a crew pasting a billboard of the show’s logo plasters the poster completely over the villains, covering them without a trace. The sorceress spouts more curses on her planet, and casts a spell to magnify a common garden insect into a massive monster. The creature begins devouring and tearing up studio buildings, and destroying others by merely stumbling into them. Meanwhile, the Warners are still busy helping mankind, addressing a meeting at the Center for Advanced Mathematics with equations that will change the world. A distress signal comes in on their Warnet-shield shaped wrist-receivers. They go into their choreography again, receive instructions from a bodyless floating hologram of Otto Von Scratchensniff in the studio psychiatric ward, and lampoon another staple of the day with characters assuming “power of” one species or another, except with odd choices. “Power of the blowfish”, shouts Yakko. “Power of the anteater“, shouts Yakko. “Power of the platypus”, chimes in Dot. They leap into the studio water tower, transforming it into a giant robot. The studio logo from the roof of a sound stage becomes a shield, while they morph a shield-shaped executive board room table into a fighting sword. Their robot battles fiercely with the giant insect, stomping through and destroying sound stage after sound stage, and setting on fire what little is left. They finally pick up the insect in an old wrestling show “helicopter spin” hold above their head, and hurl him into the side of a building, where his powers wear off and he becomes small enough for the giant robot to squash with one foot. Studio mogul Plotz appears, shouting, ”Look what you’ve done to my lot. Do you know how much it’s going to cost to rebuild it?” Rather than reach for a sack of money, Yacko hands Plotz a fat-free yogurt, and Plotz faints dead away. The Warners close with a final warning to kids to just say no to fighting giant bugs, and wave goodbye for the iris out. Superhero Huey (Universal, The Baby Huey Show, 10/21/95, Steve Loter, dir.) – Our scene opens as usual, with out “hero”, Baby Huey, watching his “hero” Buff Duck on TV. The opportunity almost arises for a direct steal from “Willoughby’s Magic Hat”, with a damsel in distress tied directly between two trains approaching in opposite directions on the same track. But Buff Duck does it the easy way, and merely lifts the damsel from the tracks in vertical flight while the trains collide. Papa Duck watches with a bit of disdain as Huey declares Buff is his “one true hero.” Papa asks, “Don’t you have any other heroes, Huey?” “Duh, Mama!”, replies Huey. Growing more expectant of a compliment himself, Papa asks, “Any others?” His ego receives a crushing downfall when Huey replies, “Casper!” “Any living, breathing heroes who happen to be related to you and are sitting right in front of you???” says Papa, his temper rising to a boiling point. “Duh, nope”, relies his dense son. An ad for a Buff Duck super costume inspires Huey to assemble his own super-outfit out of a pollowcase and red flannels, dubbing himself Super Huey. (Cleverly, his “H” insignia on his chest is a shape duplicate of the familiar Harveytoons “H” logo.) Mama reminds Papa that Huey can’t wander off alone to fight crime, so suggests a begrudging Papa spend some quality time with his son. Huey decides Papa can be his “kickside” – Mallard Boy. He converts Pop into costume by ripping his trousers off, leaving him in polka-dotted shorts, then tying a cape on him and slamming a cooking pot on his head for a helmet. Huey searches the backyard. “Hey, crime! Come out, come out, wherever you are.” He spots a kitten stuck in a tree. To keep Huey out of danger in the tree, Papa volunteers for the task. He corners the kitten on a tree limb, when Huey intervenes by bending the end of the limb down, and lifting the cat off to safety. Of course, Papa is still on the limb as Huey allows it to spring back into shape. Papa is catapulted into orbit around the globe about 3 revolurions, and comes down in the middle of an arena with banner reading “Reporter’s Convention”, where he lands face first buried waste deep in the ground, while everyone snaps his picture, making headlines reading “Duck Butt From Mars.” Huey’s next deed of good-doing is to help an old lady across the street. However, as Huey isn’t old enough to cross streets himself, Papa again has to volunteer. He gets halfway into the intersection, and finds traffic so fierce, he climbs aboard the old lady’s shoulders to cower in fear. Huey provides his own super-strength solution, by lifting one end of the asphault strip of crosswalk clear off of the ground, then flipping it like a carpet, allowing Papa and the old lady to ride on the crest of a concrete wave to the opposite corner. The lady lands safe – while Papa again winds up face-deep in the sidewalk upside down – with more reporters taking pictures. Papa’s had enough, and is about to break the news to Huey that superheroes aren’t real, when Heuy spots a helpless snail slowly crossing the tracks in front of a speeding train. This is a job too dangerous even for Mallard Boy, let alone Huey, and Papa tells him to forget it, as there’s no hope for that snail. As he speaks, a railroad crossing gate abruptly lowers, smashing Papa into the ground again (at least head-up this time). Unable to stop his son, he watches helplessly as Huey steps onto the tracks, and strikes a heroic pose with one hand outstretched to stop the train. The scene is nicely played for drama, rapidly intercutting between the speeding train, brave Huey, and sweating Papa. Of course, being the super-strong lummox he was born to be, Huey succeeds in holding the train motionless, picking up the snail from the tracks with his other hand, Papa extricates himself from the ground, runs to the scene, and orders Huey to get away from that train. “Okay, Papa. Hold my snail”, replies obedient Huey. As he is handed the snail, Papa sees the shadow of the train about to be let loose looming over him, and knows where this is going. CRUSH! Papa is flattened, but his hand holds the snail up out of danger. Huey makes the headlines, and receives a hero’s parade, together with Papa in partial traction. Holding the snail in one hand, Papa asks his son, “So, Huey, who’s Buff now?” Before he can receive his belated compliment, he forgets what he is holding in his hand, closing his palm, and crushes the snail into a gooey mess, splatterings from which coat the camera lens to black out the scene. However, we continue to hear Huey’s voice, finally saying, “You are, Papa!” More ducks next week, plus some more exotic species, including a meerkat, beavers, a catgog, and even a giant chicken, just in time for Thanksgiving! The post Reign of the Supertoons (Part 7) appeared first on . #BabyHuey #TinyToons #PinkPanther #AnimationTrails

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/we-ve-encountered-several-steven-spielberg-productions-in-past-installments-of-this-series-where-steve-was-able-to-turn-his-talents-at-producing-blockbuster-features-toward-the-small-screen-for-mini-epics-in-the-superhero-vein

[agilenano]

Agilenano - News: We’ve encountered several Steven Spielberg productions in past installments of this series, where Steve was able to turn his talents at producing blockbuster features toward the small screen for mini-epics in the superhero vein

His efforts are far from through, and we will have “close encounters” below with some late episodes of Tiny Toons, as well as several from his next animated showcase, Animaniacs. Also in today’s mix, a panther of odd color, a duck of odd strength, a cat of odd appetite and another of odd bad luck. Odds are, you’ll find something below to your taste. The Just-us League of Supertoons (Warner, Steven Spielberg, Tiny Toon Adventures, 9/15/92) returns Plucky Duck and Hamton Pig to their super alter-egos of Batduck and Decoy. Taking off on DC’s “Justice League”, Batduck receives a call on the hot line from Buster Bunny, alias SuperBun, informing Batduck that the Just-us League has an opening for a new member, and would he like to stop by tonight for an interview. Trying not to appear too anxious, Batduck replies he can probably pencil them in. En route, Plucky dreams of the merchandising opportunities that will come with being a League member, while Hamton dreams of fighting crime alongside the greatest heroes of all time. Plucky, having no interest in the work side of the coin, reacts to Hamton’s dream, “That’s right. Burst my bubble, you little killjoy.” They arrive at League headquarters, leaving their vehicle in the hands of parking valet Montana Max – who in reality is again Wex Wuthor, with another nefarious plan. Inside, Plucky is introduced to the other members besides Buster – Babs Bunny as amazon Wonder Babs, Beeper as Little Dasher (a parallel to the Flash), Sweetie Bird as Pink Canary, Calamity Coyote as Teen Arrow, Shirley as Hawk Loon, and Fifi La Fume as Scentanna. Buster asks what superpowers Batduck brings into the mix, and Plucky boasts of his fearsome image, marvelous gadgets – and he’s also a heck of a clog dancer. The League members lose interest quickly, having been under the impression that he possessed some genuine super power (a bit of a writing slip-up, as the inclusion already in the group of Teen Arrow would mean at least one other member relied upon gadgetry rather than super abilities). Plucky and Hamton are given a thumbs down, and placed on the reject list. Despite resorting to a little groveling, Plucky, along with Hamton, trudge dejectedly back to the parking lot. At this inopportune moment, crashing through the ceiling with a jet pack comes Wex Wuthor. The League is equally unimpressed, knowing that he has no superpowers either. Maybe not now – “But I will once I steal yours”, Wex boasts. He presses a button on his suit, and the League is caught in a stun ray. With another button, he announces that he has invented a “super power transfer thingy”, with which he will absorb the combined powers of the League to become the world’s most powerful criminal. Who should come wandering back into the hall but Plucky, stating that he forgot to get a validation on his parking ticket. Wuthor turns the stun ray on Plucky, and declares he will absorb Batduck’s powers first. Plucky receives a jolt from the second button – but as the process is completed, Wuthor falls out of the sky, and wobbles around shakily, as Buster advises him that all he absorbed were the powers of an egotistical green duck. Plucky adds, “Although no one could absorb my ego all at once”, giving Max a swift kick and landing him in a heap on the floor. The League hails Plucky as a hero, and Plucky narrates that as a result, Batduck and Decoy became “key” men in the Just-us League – in other words, the new parking valets. The Return of Batduck (12/19/92) was actually a pilot episode from the Tiny Tons spinoff, “The Plucky Duck Show” – which died quickly, as no other new episodes appear to have been produced, and the show was merely a schedule-filler compiling old Plucky cartoons from the run of the regular series. A bit too much placed into this half hour for a thorough description, but we’ll try for a flavor. Plucky has landed his own television series (much to the nearly-bored surprise of Buster and Babs), and is attempting to put on a showgirl filled musical extravaganza (though he tumbles down a tall staircase, knocks over giant statues of himself, and collides with his lead showgirl – who is actually Hamton Pig in disguise). Buster and Babs goad him in the wings with a copy of Variety, indicating that Tim Burton is casting a new Batman movie, but getting Plucky’s goat by reminding him he has his show to do instead. Plucky’s ego of course soars through the roof, realizing to himself that he’s feature material, and type-cast for the part in view of his old Batduck roles. He abandons the show and attempts to get on the Warner lot. Hamton is recruited to pose as his agent to make him look legit (though Hamton can’t get agent’s lingo right, quibbling about the improper grammar of the phrase, “Let’s do lunch.”) Little did us kids know when watching this episode that we were being introduced to a character from a series yet to come – Ralph, the security guard from “Animaniacs”, makes what is probably his debut appearance, nine months before the series premiere. As usual, he is no-nonsense about keeping the riff raff like Plucky off the lot, and wraps Plucky up in a string, then uses him as a yo-yo for various tricks, climaxing in “around the world”, as he tosses Plucky into orbit. Plucky does manage a re-entry which finally catches him up with Hamton, and together they plot how to reach Burton’s office (a dark castle shrouded in thunder and lightning on the opposite side of the lot). Plucky produces a map of the studio sewer system with which they can take an underground route to the castle. Hamton is curious where he got such a map, and Plucky points to Art Carney as Ed Norton, selling such maps in the same manner as maps to stars’ homes, with his trademark “Va Va Va Voom”. Hamton asks if there are rats in the sewer. Plucky scoffs that there are no rats, no alligators, no nothin’. At that moment, they are passed by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Plucky continues as if he were still in mid-sentence: “…to speak of!” He then breaks the fourth wall, asking the audience, “How many saw that coming?”, and a show of hands raised in front of the camera lens gives the indication, just about everybody. After a string of various celebrity encounters, Plucky finally makes it to Burton’s office. Burton is turning down another applicant, who’s got the “dark” part all right, and a snazzy costume, but just isn’t quite the type – Dracula. The sight of Plucky is enough to make his staff exit screaming, and Burton almost jump out a window, but Plucky appeals to him as a comrade, reminding Tim of his animation background. “We’re cut from the same cel.” To prove it, he zip-pans Burton to a “This is Your Life” studio, and reintroduces him to his horrific high school doodles, who take life and swarm around him. That’s all that Burton can take, and he relents to give Plucky a screen test. Plucky retrieves his and Hamton’s costumes from the old “Duck Cave” set. Hamton activates an inflate-a-duck apparatus to pump muscles into Plucky’s suit – but explodes him instead. Nevertheless, Plucky makes the screen test appointment next morning, repeatedly blowing heroic exits by swinging into walls, dangling helplessly by a plunger grappling hook from the nose of a gargoyle, and using six devices from his utility belt to suspend himself from six buildings at the same time – only to pull all of the buildings down atop himself. Yet Burton gives him the role he was auditioning for – though it’s not quite the one he expected. As Plucky pushes his way through back sets, he encounters someone too big to push – a caricature of Michael Keaton – as the real Batman. Tim welcomes him to the set, and introduces Plucky as his new stunt double! Plucky takes a licking and barely comes out ticking, and bemoans his fate. “Vanity, thy name is Plucky”, he groans, discarding his cowl, and sadly remembering that he could have been on his own show right now. Buster Bunny informs him that actually, he’s still on his own show. “What? How much time is left?”, asks a panicked Plucky. “About ten seconds”, replies Buster. Plucky climbs the tall staircase again, and attempts to resume his musical production number – but a prop mockup of the bat signal falls from the rafters and flattens him, for the iris out. No clip from BATDUCK… but here’s a rare Fox Kids promo he appears in: Pink Pink and Away (1/13/93) marks the premiere of the 1993 revival of “The Pink Panther”, and the first of a 4-episode arc returning the Panther to the role of Super Pink. Unfortunately, the writing and timing are no match for the DePatie-Freleng original, and the episode comes off surprisingly lifeless and lacking in energy or originality. Pink (in talking Matt Frewer mode) takes a few routine pratfalls battling a completely redesigned Dogfather and his mob, first in an ATM robbery, then a diamond heist from a museum. He also saves a wise-guy kid/video game whiz who almost joins the Dogfather for a life or crime, until a double-cross leaves him in the museum jewelry case as substitute weight for the stolen diamond. Pink ultimately foils the robbery by using a spear from a cave man exhibit to bring down a dinosaur skeleton on the crooks. Junior goes straight, and swears to be like Super Pink – donning a duplicate outfit – but then soars off into the sky like a real superhereo. “He’s always doing that”, says his Mom, and soars into the sky after him! Pink tries to make the same exit – and flops on the ground, scratching his head in puzzlement. Super Pink’s Egg-Cellent Adventure (10/17/93) deals with theft of a giant egg, developed to solve the world’s food shortages by a little Germanic professor from the “Super Schmarty Society”. Pink (the building janitor) witnesses the egg‘s theft by a Sumo wrestler and his ninjas, and sees “a job for Super Pink”. They trail the crooks to a chow mein shop, where Pink flies up to a roof skylight (even though the door was open all the time), using the jet power from a giant shaken cola can strapped to his back. Finding a grocery list including ingredients in humongous quantities, he and the professor tail the villains to the only place large enough to fill the order – a “Super” market. The professor attempts to help in the chase by inventing a pair of jet skates he attaches to a shopping cart. The invention goes haywire, leaving management to call for cleanup on nearly every other numbered aisle. The chase leads into a railroad train, and a fight which is seen in blackouts as the train goes through various tunnels – with the last light-up showing our heroes tied back to back. The Sumo announces he’ll show them what he has in store for the egg, and takes them to the roof of a tall skyscraper, where the ninjas place the egg teetering on the ledge of the roof landing. Below in the street, a giant bubbling bowl of liquid and equally giant place setting awaits. Pink realizes that the ingredients list adds up to – egg drop soup! The Sumo states that it is written that he who makes the biggest bowl of egg drop soup shall rulse the world. Panther yawns that he’s read that fortune cookie too. Seeing the crooks’ giant package of soy sauce, Panther whispers to the professor to give it a kick – spilling the slippery stuff on them, and allowing Pink to slip out of his bonds. The crooks are ultimately subdued, but the egg falls off the ledge, with the professor foolishly diving for it and also helplessly falling. Pink produces the professor’s jet skates and puts them on, then grabs two of the ninjas’ swords. He takes off from the roof, using the sword blades as wings, and dives under the professor and the egg, catching them on his back for the rescue. The egg is returned to the auditorium of the society – but doesn’t stay intact for further presentation, as it hatches, producing in the fashion of “Horton” a professor-bird, who runs after the professor, calling him “Daddy” with Germanic accent. “I just love happy endings”, says Panther. The End of Superpink? (10/14/93) begins in unusual artistic form, in a fight scene between Pink and villainous The Wriggler, set against backgrounds where every splash of color is seen in a wide spaced print-style dot matrix. This is because the entire incident is happening only in the pages of the “Super Pink” comic book that Pink has just finished drawing. He tries to drum up customers for the publication at a comic-book convention, but faces the challenges of the reigning super-celebrity, the towering, cleft-chinned Captain Chaos. Vying for press attention from a magazine photographer, Captain Chaos manufactures situations of peril for a junior fan’s kitty kat to stage a daring rescue – but has to deal with the interferences of Pink trying to be legitimately heroic. When Chaos throws the cat into a runaway blimp, he fires a grappling hook to scale into one of the conveyance’s gondola windows – but gets stuck in the porthole. Pink rescues both of them in complicated chain-reaction fashion, including use of a teeterboard and souvenir yo-yo to launch himself skyward to save the day – while the cat takes liberal swipes with his claws at Captain Chaos’s defenseless chin. Pink winds up the center of the magazine story, while Chaos’s only picture is of his butt sticking out of the gondola. Chaos reappears as a chef serving celebration cookies to Pink’s new fanbase, who mob him for the cookie tray. Pink shrugs his shoulders to the reporter: “He needed the work.” Power of Pink (10/29/94) goes altogether too far out. It differs from the others by actually giving Pink temporary super powers, unexplainedly drawn from another food-grow machine of the professor which without explanation instills super energy into a pickle. It also features another caped hero (Amazing Man), who actually is a giant rat in disguise, using a Superman style “Magnetic Telescope” to pull the moon closer to use its gravity to rearrange buildings into giant laboratory mazes for the humans to run. (So why is he posing as a superhero in the first instance?) None of it makes sense, and the situations lack in either cleverness or genuine laughs. Not a recommend. Eex Men (Nelvana, Eek the Cat, 10/9/93) – A completely misnamed episode, as it has nothing to do with the Marvel franchise its title infers, but is a straight Superman-style parody. The opening credits to this show often began showing Eek in a supersuit, rescuing his 300-pound girlfriend from a burning building – but barely able to lift her through the skies, and with his cape on fire from the flames. Yes, the credits were merely a dream. But this time, he gets to do it for real in the episode. Gary Owens (or a very convincing sound-alike) provides narration to give this episode special super-effect. Superpersonman is the reigning hero of the area. Receiving signals in his Bunker of Goodness of the impending approach of super villain and friend of no-one Garbage Man (a burly alien who wears a trash bag over his head), Superpersonman does what any intelligent visitor from another planet would do – telephones his girlfriend Ultra Babe for a quick getaway vacation. But before leaving with his packed suitcases, he realizes he can’t leave the city unguarded, and determines to deputize someone by passing on his cape to them, thus making them feel obligated to take the terrible beating that was intended for himself. Enter Eek, conveniently on a mountain-climbing excursion past the Bunker. Superpersonman, in slow mental spurts, improvises the lamest excuse for his departure – helping his mother get over her case of the plague – and Eek, living by his motto “It never hurts to help”, acquires the cape, and immediately falls off the mountain cliff. He lands in front of a fast food stand (“Ed’s Gopher Guts”), and the “E” falls off its sign onto Eek’s chest, providing the proper alphabetical insignia. The first sign of crime spotted by Eek is two country-bumpkin types fleeing a bank with sacks of money. (No, for once they’re not tellers or bank presidents.) Eek gives them what they deserve – advice. “Hey, you robber guys. Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s wrong to take something that isn’t yours?” “Well, no, actually, no one ever did”, respond the robbers. Eek takes them back to the bank, and they politely apologize for the mistake, and promise they’ll never do it again. Meanwhile, Garbage Man’s ship parks in a municipal parking lot next to a football stadium. He enters the stadium and turns on a water hose to flood the stadium during a big game. He visits the governor’s mansion, and sets all the clocks an hour backwards, causing the governor to miss an inspection of an “untested and possibly faulty” nuclear power plant, which is started up without him, erupting in a mushroom cloud. Meanwhile, Eek runs into his neighbor Sharkey the shark-dog, who as usual puts the bite on Eek. But with Eek’s new powers, Sharkey’s teeth shatter like glass. He runs to Elmo Elk the dentist, and receives a steel set of dentures – which bend in all directions upon his second chomp on Eek’s paw. Sharkey returns the bent dentures, pulling them down around Elmo’s waist like a hula skirt. Eek begins to notice the effects of Garbage Man’s reign of terror, and reverses the crimes – by blowing the radioactive cloud from the nuclear plant back into a small laboratory bottle – allegedly before those runaway isotopes could have any nasty effects. The lab assistants wave a happy goodbye – although their hands have mutated into ferns. Eek next drains the football stadium dry by sucking up the water in his cheeks – then uses the water to put out the fire of a newly-erupting volcano. Garbage Man observes that Superpersonman may have grown stronger – and furrier – than the last time they did battle, and thus attempts to round-up a variety of weird and improbable minions for an invincible army. They do little to assist, as Garbage Man’s ship, with his minions inside it, is towed from the parking lot for exceeding the maximum parking limit. Eek finally meets Garbage Man, and in his usual peaceful way, asks him in the name of niceness to quit his shenanigans before someone gets hurt. Although no one’s laid a paw on him, Garbage Man cowers as if his very life had been threatened, and pretends to surrender – at least until he can reach the refuge of a getaway helicopter, from which he jeers that he will return and have vengeance. His exit is spoiled, as the copter crashes into a building. He tries it again on a bicycle – and runs into a tree. Once more he departs – on a city bus, but sticks his head out the window for one last taunt, and gets knocked cold as his head collides with a telephone pole. Superpersonman and Ultra Babe return from vacation. Eek, having no idea who Ultra Babe is, assumes she is the mother with the plague he’s been told about, and spills the beans to Ultra Babe on everything Superpersonman did. Babe, shocked that Superpersonman would burden a poor kitty with his job, tells him she’s through with him, and smacks him a super-blow, leaving him in a dazed heap. She invites Eek to Paris for a French dinner – complete with real French Fries – and the two fly off together, as she tosses Superpersonman’s rolled-up cape to the winds. The narrator indicates that it is unknown what became of the cape – but not for long, as a caped Sharkey flies into the shot, holding an American flag, to fight for truth, justice – and whatever sharkdogs fight for. The Cranial Crusader (Warner/Steven Spielberg, Animaniacs (Pinky and the Brain), 3/10/94) – This one’s a bit of a plot stretch – What makes the usually ingenious Brain think that proving himself the world’s greatest crimefighter is his ticket to getting the public to let him take over the world? Nevertheless, that’s the premise. This time, instead of Acme Labs, Pinky and Brain are kept as experimental mice in the crimefighting lab of an ersatz bat-cave, owned by that champion of justice, the Caped Opossum. Such hero leaves “calling cards” with a silhouette and his initials at each scene of his victories against the forces of evil. Though he regularly makes the 11:00 News, the news report reminds him that one arch-villain remains unthwarted – Johnny Badnote (a mad musician, with some attributes of the Joker, but equally likely to have been inspired by the appearance of Liberace as a villain on the original Batman show – said to have brought in the highest ratings in the show’s run). Brain decides to capture this uncapturable foe, leave his own calling card to steal the spotlight from the Opossum, and become the nation’s favorite hero. Pinky, addicted to the Opossum’s comic books, claims to know everything there is to know about being a superhero – and is inducted into service as the Pink Wonder, while Brain takes on the super-identity of the Cranial Crusader. They hijack the Opossummobile and head to a shady warehouse district where Badnote’s hideout is suspected to be. From a vantage point on a high cliff, Pinky suggests using the vehicle’s prehensile tail-grappling hook device to lower the car into the valley below. They hook the tail onto a tree, and begin to lower themselves down on an attached cable. Unfortunately, Pinky has failed to notice that the cable crosses a railroad track – and an oncoming train severs it in two. Brain commands Pinky to fire reverse thruster rockets to break their fall – instead, Pinky ignites forward thrusters, accelerating the car into a crash dive – and a battered wreck. Still, Pinky manages to activate the car’s super-sniffing device (a sort of elephant’s trunk under the hood), which sucks them to the side of one of the warehouses and through the wall. It s the lair of Badnote, who shakes his head at the would-be do-gooders. “Miniature crime fighters. I’ve got to get out more often.” Badnote places the pair into a death trap – the swing of a metronome progressively pulls the pin from an egg-shaped music box which is really a grenade, designed to play a farewell tune, then explode. The explosion will be the downbeat for Badnote to play a pipe organ solo – with the pipes being missiles which will launch upon his hitting the keys, to blow up the capitols of the world. Pinky and Brain are squeezed together inside the diameter of the grenade’s firing pin. Brain is upset enough about this hopeless situation – but what peeves Pinky is that Badnote has left Pinky’s comic book below the base for the grenade, where it will be the first thing damaged by the explosion. Pinky extricates himself from the firing pin, pulling the comic book out, but toppling the grenade in the process (as well as prematurely pulling its pin). The grenade takes several bounces off various musical instruments in Badnote’s collection, then rolls directly under Badnote’s feet as he listens for his downbeat. He gets to hear it all right – in way too high fidelity. Brain pulls Pinky to safety before the explosion occurs, taking care to leave his “C.C.” calling card with his silhouette behind. As the explosion finishes off Badnote’s plans, the impact topples an ink bottle within the lair – which leaves extra blotches of ink on Brain’s calling card, transforming the silhouette into the shape of the Opossum, and the second “C” of the initials into an “O”. When the nightly news report hits, everyone thinks the Opossum was responsible for Badnote’s downfall! Brain abandons all thoughts of superherodom forever, and sets his thoughts toward planning for tomorrow night. Pinky, drawing a comic intended to document the Crusader’s exploits, pens into Brain’s dialogue balloon, “Try to take over the world”. Also from Animaniacs, Super Buttons (5/2/94) is a feature for Buttons and Mindy – a recurring segment spoofing “Lassie”-style heroic dog shows, with wonder dog Buttons laboring endlessly to keep brainless toddler Mindy out of harm’s way – and inevitably aiming all the harm at his own sorry carcass, while never getting the credit for his many rescues. (Basically, this was Spielberg’s tweak of the situations he was used to getting Baby Herman into in the Roger Rabbit cartoons – which itself was a derivative from Popeye’s many rescues of Swee’pea (consider the similarities between Roger Rabbit’s “Rollercoaster Rabbit” and Popeye’s “Thrill of Fair”.) Unfortunately, the Buttons episodes became regularly formulaic. Parents would always leave Buttons in charge of Mindy. Mindy would always be playing some mindless game in the yard, attached to a waist harness to keep her from wandering. Mama would bid her so long, and Mindy would always call her “lady” instead of Mom, ending with standard catch-phrase, “Okay, I love ya. Bye Bye.” Something would attract Mindy’s attention, causing her to get free of the harness and wander away. Buttons would follow, and be exposed to a string of perils. Mindy would find someone to ask an endless series of “Why” questions to, then leave them with her catch-phrase above, finally wandering back to the yard herself. Buttons would be found wearily returning, and get the blame for letting his guard down in watching Mindy. But Mindy would give him a hug, which was supposed to make everything all right. With so many elements identical from episode to episode, the Buttons cartoons, despite occasional clever peril gags, quickly became one of the most repetitious, and sometimes tedious, elements of the show (with the other possible runner-up of Chicken Boo, to be discussed in a later article). This attempt at a new twist doesn’t do much to push the “buttons” in a new direction. The intro is new, allowing for some parody of the Superman exposition. Everyone in the family (Buttons, Mindy, and the parents) are cast as caped superheroes, predicting the Incredibles. Buttons is first seen on a dog race track, as the narrator states, “Faster than a speeding Greyhound.” Buttons indeed passes every dog on the track – but runs head-on into a Greyhound bus traveling the other way. “More powerful than a doberman pinscher.” Button does intimidates a doberman into a dark alley – but once standing in the shadows himself, Buttons finds himself surrounded by dobermans – which is another matter altogether. The “It’s a bird, it’s a plane” bit happens again, with one addition after the crowd realizes it’s Super Buttons – “And he’s not housebroken!”, which causes the crowd to run for cover. The usual plot formula ensues, as Mom and Pop announce to Mindy that they’re taking a little time off from fighting for truth, justice, and the American way. When Mindy again calls Mom, “super-lady”, Mom questions whether Mindy has gotten into some Kryptonite. Mindy escapes her harness by expanding her chest and bursting the straps, then flies into the sky after a small bird. Buttons follows her into a storm cloud – and offers assistance by holding an umbrella over her head. A lightning bolt is attracted to the umbrella like a lightning rod, leaving blackened Buttons to fall into a trash dumpster. The rest of the gags don’t particularly fire off well, including a crossing-busy-city intersection peril where Mindy merely tosses an oncoming bus out of the way, a bank robbery unwittingly foiled by Mindy, while Buttons finds room after room of lit TNT sticks, and a City-Hall encounter with a mutant spider-person (a villain, not a hero – no treading on Marvel territory here). The standard ending, and we’re done. Arbuckle the Invincible (Film Roman, Garfield and Friends, 11/10’94) shares some plot basis with Ducktales’ “Superdoo!” discussed in a previous article. An alien spaceship provides the bauble responsible for providing Jon with super-powers. Two (or perhaps I should say one, as they are joined at the torso) aliens are dispatched to Earth on a mission (though one questions the assignment – “Did they ever get intelligent life there?”), to retrieve a sample of shredded and processed bovine tissue, strewn with aged lactile substance – in other words, a cheeseburger. Encountering a meteor shower, they engage an invisible force field deflector on the nose of their spacecraft. However, one of them turns it off just a bit too soon, as a last meteorite collides with the ship, knocking the glowing deflector orb off the ship’s nose and causing it to fall to Earth. Below, Jon is attempting to hook up a rooftop aerial to get clear reception for a big game. Garfield is sure he’ll see the game clearly – they have great reception in the hospital! He and Odie relax on chaise lounges as ringside seats to watch Jon fall. From above, the orb enters Earth’s atmosphere, and lands with a plunk in the rear pocket of Jon’s trousers. Jon is knocked off balance, and takes the predicted dive off the roof – but merely bobs along a foot or two above the ground as if floating on a cushion of air. A surprised Garfield and Odie “follow the bounding Arbuckle” to see why he isn’t a mangled wreck. Jon is as surprised as they, and announces that he suddenly feels – indestructible. Garfield insists he must have a broken something-or-other, but Jon decides to take this new power to a place where it can be best put to use – a talent agency (lifting from the Three Stooges’ “Souperman”). Unlike the Stooges, Jon successfully demonstrates his abilities to the agent, by having him break a baseball bat over Jin’s head, then drop a ten ton safe upon him, which is merely deflected to crash through the floor. Jon is signed up to perform a stunt of being run over by the railroad’s 4:15 commuter special (which always runs on time at 5:30). As the event is to be televised, Jon decides to spruce himself up – by changing his suit (a bit of the Jetsons here, too). As Jon leaves the house, with the orb still in the pocket of his other trousers, Garfueld and Odie witness the aliens slithering from their ship down the chimney. They intercept the aliens inside, who explain they are seeking their lost deflector, finding it in Jon’s bedroom. Garfield realizes the orb was the source of Jon’s power – then he and Odie perform simultaneous delayed shock takes as they remember what’s about to happen to Jon. At the railroad tracks, Jon signs autographs before the big stunt – and is surprised when the point of a fan’s pen turns out to be sharp enough to prick his finger. A bit slow on the uptake, Jon begins to suspect there may be a flaw in his powers. But it’s too late to back out, as several stagehands are already tying Jon to the tracks, and his manager claims to have already cashed an advance check. Jon struggles helplessly in his bonds, while Garfield and Odie encounter a locked gate and realize there’s no way to reach Jon in time for a rescue. Always practical, Garfield decides not to make the trip a total loss, and escorts Odie to a hamburger stand for a bite to eat. Who do they encounter inside but the aliens, sampling the “bovine tissue”. “Small planet, is it not?” say the aliens. Garfield points out Jon on the restaurant’s TV, and asks if there is any way to save him. The aliens pull out a small remote, and suggest a simple molecular dissolve. At the tracks, as the train zooms toward its target, the ropes binding Jon are suddenly disintegrated, and though the train runs over him, Jon is never touched, and emerges unharmed. In a complete plothole, just to keep Jon from becoming a financial success, the writers unexplainedly have the agent trudge through the shot, informing Jon without explaation, “You’re not getting paid”. (So what happened to the agent’s advance check?) Meanwhile, Garfield and Odie happily chow down at the hamburger stand with the alien, Garfield wishing he had an indestructible stomach, anticipating the effect a few more of these burgers will have upon him. (This episode would lead off the very last show of the Saturday morning series starring Lorenzo Music, and the show’s opening credits commemorate the event with Garfield’s last off-the-cuff comment from the corner of the screen – “After seven seasons we’ve pretty much said everything you can say in this spot.”). Super Strong Warner Siblings (Warmer/Steven Spielberg, Animaniacs, 9/9/95) – The Warner Brothers (and sister) provide a riotous and wicked sendup of then-current juvenile hero squads in “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and “Voltron”, with a few additional elements common to other Japanese manga-style live and animated shows of the day. The show opens peaceably enough, with the Warners coming out from behind the show’s logo after the stock opening credits, and complimenting the behind-the-scenes work of their cameraman with almost winning then an Emmy – topped with rewarding him with a bag full of money, just because they’re in a good-natured mood. Far away on an alien planet, they are obseved by an evil sorceress in outlandish costume (including a crown made of a buzzard’s nest), who shouts every dialogue line with rage and non-stop syllables, even when there’s nothing particular to be angry about. (A parallel to series villainess Rita Repulsa from the Power Rangers.) She teleports a squad of ninjas to finish the Warners. Back at the lot, it’s just a typical day, as the Warners entertain a group of children with a song about serendipity. A little girl applauds them, and Yakko presents her with another sack of money. A boy next to her mildly points out, “Hey, I liked your song, too.” Yakko hands him a consolation prize of a fat-free yogurt. The ninjas materialize, and the Warners go into action. Hurtling into a series of choreographed jumps, set to a typical-sounding superhero theme song, and punctuated by repeated unison shouts of “Right”, the Warners assume defensive kung-fu positions, The ninjas fly through the air with feet outstretched in power-kick mode. The Warners respond by each pulling out giant tennis racquets, and each score a “smash” upon their respective opponents into a sound-stage wall, where a crew pasting a billboard of the show’s logo plasters the poster completely over the villains, covering them without a trace. The sorceress spouts more curses on her planet, and casts a spell to magnify a common garden insect into a massive monster. The creature begins devouring and tearing up studio buildings, and destroying others by merely stumbling into them. Meanwhile, the Warners are still busy helping mankind, addressing a meeting at the Center for Advanced Mathematics with equations that will change the world. A distress signal comes in on their Warnet-shield shaped wrist-receivers. They go into their choreography again, receive instructions from a bodyless floating hologram of Otto Von Scratchensniff in the studio psychiatric ward, and lampoon another staple of the day with characters assuming “power of” one species or another, except with odd choices. “Power of the blowfish”, shouts Yakko. “Power of the anteater“, shouts Yakko. “Power of the platypus”, chimes in Dot. They leap into the studio water tower, transforming it into a giant robot. The studio logo from the roof of a sound stage becomes a shield, while they morph a shield-shaped executive board room table into a fighting sword. Their robot battles fiercely with the giant insect, stomping through and destroying sound stage after sound stage, and setting on fire what little is left. They finally pick up the insect in an old wrestling show “helicopter spin” hold above their head, and hurl him into the side of a building, where his powers wear off and he becomes small enough for the giant robot to squash with one foot. Studio mogul Plotz appears, shouting, ”Look what you’ve done to my lot. Do you know how much it’s going to cost to rebuild it?” Rather than reach for a sack of money, Yacko hands Plotz a fat-free yogurt, and Plotz faints dead away. The Warners close with a final warning to kids to just say no to fighting giant bugs, and wave goodbye for the iris out. Superhero Huey (Universal, The Baby Huey Show, 10/21/95, Steve Loter, dir.) – Our scene opens as usual, with out “hero”, Baby Huey, watching his “hero” Buff Duck on TV. The opportunity almost arises for a direct steal from “Willoughby’s Magic Hat”, with a damsel in distress tied directly between two trains approaching in opposite directions on the same track. But Buff Duck does it the easy way, and merely lifts the damsel from the tracks in vertical flight while the trains collide. Papa Duck watches with a bit of disdain as Huey declares Buff is his “one true hero.” Papa asks, “Don’t you have any other heroes, Huey?” “Duh, Mama!”, replies Huey. Growing more expectant of a compliment himself, Papa asks, “Any others?” His ego receives a crushing downfall when Huey replies, “Casper!” “Any living, breathing heroes who happen to be related to you and are sitting right in front of you???” says Papa, his temper rising to a boiling point. “Duh, nope”, relies his dense son. An ad for a Buff Duck super costume inspires Huey to assemble his own super-outfit out of a pollowcase and red flannels, dubbing himself Super Huey. (Cleverly, his “H” insignia on his chest is a shape duplicate of the familiar Harveytoons “H” logo.) Mama reminds Papa that Huey can’t wander off alone to fight crime, so suggests a begrudging Papa spend some quality time with his son. Huey decides Papa can be his “kickside” – Mallard Boy. He converts Pop into costume by ripping his trousers off, leaving him in polka-dotted shorts, then tying a cape on him and slamming a cooking pot on his head for a helmet. Huey searches the backyard. “Hey, crime! Come out, come out, wherever you are.” He spots a kitten stuck in a tree. To keep Huey out of danger in the tree, Papa volunteers for the task. He corners the kitten on a tree limb, when Huey intervenes by bending the end of the limb down, and lifting the cat off to safety. Of course, Papa is still on the limb as Huey allows it to spring back into shape. Papa is catapulted into orbit around the globe about 3 revolurions, and comes down in the middle of an arena with banner reading “Reporter’s Convention”, where he lands face first buried waste deep in the ground, while everyone snaps his picture, making headlines reading “Duck Butt From Mars.” Huey’s next deed of good-doing is to help an old lady across the street. However, as Huey isn’t old enough to cross streets himself, Papa again has to volunteer. He gets halfway into the intersection, and finds traffic so fierce, he climbs aboard the old lady’s shoulders to cower in fear. Huey provides his own super-strength solution, by lifting one end of the asphault strip of crosswalk clear off of the ground, then flipping it like a carpet, allowing Papa and the old lady to ride on the crest of a concrete wave to the opposite corner. The lady lands safe – while Papa again winds up face-deep in the sidewalk upside down – with more reporters taking pictures. Papa’s had enough, and is about to break the news to Huey that superheroes aren’t real, when Heuy spots a helpless snail slowly crossing the tracks in front of a speeding train. This is a job too dangerous even for Mallard Boy, let alone Huey, and Papa tells him to forget it, as there’s no hope for that snail. As he speaks, a railroad crossing gate abruptly lowers, smashing Papa into the ground again (at least head-up this time). Unable to stop his son, he watches helplessly as Huey steps onto the tracks, and strikes a heroic pose with one hand outstretched to stop the train. The scene is nicely played for drama, rapidly intercutting between the speeding train, brave Huey, and sweating Papa. Of course, being the super-strong lummox he was born to be, Huey succeeds in holding the train motionless, picking up the snail from the tracks with his other hand, Papa extricates himself from the ground, runs to the scene, and orders Huey to get away from that train. “Okay, Papa. Hold my snail”, replies obedient Huey. As he is handed the snail, Papa sees the shadow of the train about to be let loose looming over him, and knows where this is going. CRUSH! Papa is flattened, but his hand holds the snail up out of danger. Huey makes the headlines, and receives a hero’s parade, together with Papa in partial traction. Holding the snail in one hand, Papa asks his son, “So, Huey, who’s Buff now?” Before he can receive his belated compliment, he forgets what he is holding in his hand, closing his palm, and crushes the snail into a gooey mess, splatterings from which coat the camera lens to black out the scene. However, we continue to hear Huey’s voice, finally saying, “You are, Papa!” More ducks next week, plus some more exotic species, including a meerkat, beavers, a catgog, and even a giant chicken, just in time for Thanksgiving! The post Reign of the Supertoons (Part 7) appeared first on . #BabyHuey #TinyToons #PinkPanther #AnimationTrails

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Agilenano-News/~3/-ikWk9B0yGs/we-ve-encountered-several-steven-spielberg-productions-in-past-installments-of-this-series-where-steve-was-able-to-turn-his-talents-at-producing-blockbuster-features-toward-the-small-screen-for-mini-epics-in-the-superhero-vein