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[thatguyniles]

Did you SEE that?

When designing a superhero the first thing I usually think of are the powers. Specifically gravitational control, and the power to control some aspect of space and time. This time around I figured I would do something different. The powers are the same but the way they are used will be visual powers that are powerful but also work in some flare.

Our hero Anti-Matter, who’s birth name is Sarafina Cory, whose name means “bright star” in Swahili, is a young 23 year old black woman from Atlanta, GA She has defined natural curls and also likes to sport two strand twists. Sarafinas style is a mix of late 90’s hip hop and modern street wear. She sports a pair of clear glasses with rounded lenses, and her favorite pair of shoes are a black pair of Doc Martin’s….or her black Timbs she can’t really decide lol. Sarafina is the daughter of Dante Corey, aka Dj DropDown, a successful producer from the Bronx. Her mother Fiji Corey who was a librarian from the south side of Chicago. They told her to never doubt her own abilities and it got her a full ride to college. Spelman College to be exact, with a major in ophthalmology. 

One day during her study hall period she decided to go to the lab room to brush up on her tool identification, when she stumbled upon the next generation of lasik laser machines. Though still a prototype she figured she would give it a whirl, I mean how hard could it be for the top student in her class? She looked for a way to plug in the machine, but when she found no cord she figured it was just a model for lectures. She poked and prodded the machine for what felt like ages, spoiler it was 5 min. That’s when things took a turn, whether it was good or bad would be up to her. She flipped a switch that she thought was a light switch but instead was the power switch to the laser. The machine turned on but by the time Sarafina turned around a laser was already on its way towards her and hit her right in the eyes. The beam was amplified further by her glasses and she passed out.

When Sarafina awoke she felt an odd energy emitting from her eyes. She went to reach for her glasses they shot across the room . Thinking she was dreaming she rubbed her eyes, only this time, things seemed to move in slow motion like time itself had been ruptured but she moved at normal speed. Freaking out she scurried around looking for her glasses, not because she couldn’t see but because they are her favorite pair. When she located them she noticed a light purple tint on the lenses. She put them on, and not only was her vision clear, but she noticed a light purple sphere surrounded her body that covered a large area. The area inside the sphere had altered time. She tested hee theory by tossing a pen, and sure enough the pen traveled through the air like it was traveling underwater.

Since the backstory to her powers has been established we can get into how her powers work exactly. So the lasik laser had a powerful reaction with her prescription glasses almost like they wrote a new prescription for her eye's genetic composition, allowing her to control time within a given space, as well as control her own gravity and the gravity surrounding her. A little OP but so was thanos and Dr Manhattan so I could care less. By day she is a licensed eye surgeon, but when duty calls you can be sure Anti-Matter is on the scene. After about three years of protecting Atlanta and eventually she discovers that she can travel to different dimensions by focusing her gaze on a spot and manipulating time and space on that spot to create portals and time gates to other worlds. She can also use this power to travel great distances, similar to Doctor Strange.

During this time she has battled the likes of small crime syndicates in ATL, space mercenaries, time lords and even space gods who claimed to create the known modern universe

As she gained popularity throughout the city she began to work with tech companies to help enhance ocular studies and medicine. At the end of the day she does have a degree in Ophthalmology, her first love. She has been successful in both protecting Atlanta and developing new technologies for eye surgeons globally. Though she did have one slip up and destroyed ATL and had to travel back in time and change it without changing anything else in the timeline.

If there were a hero she is most comparable to, it would be Doctor Strange from Marvel’s cinematic universe. Both Anti-Matter and Dr Strange are very intelligent due to them both being in the medical field. Strange being a brain surgeon and Anti-Matter being an eye surgeon. I drew inspiration from Strange’s portal ability for Sarafina’s space time jump portals, except hers uses time and space manipulation and he uses magic. Her portals also use a lot of energy and strain on her eyes so repeated use in a short amount of time will cause temporary blindness. This is similar to the Uchiha clans mongekyo sharingan technique except that leads to total blindness.

 As a counter to this she can use each eye separately, meaning she can use one eye for gravity abilities and the other for time or space. She can choose whether to use one or both eyes, and using both amplifies that abilities power by double.

[thatguyniles]

Fantastic Watership

When people think of lessons learned in films they don’t normally think of animated movies as a first option. But if you sit down and think about it these films can give some important life lessons that both adults and kids alike can learn from. Take disney for example, and how many of their films have a deeper meaning or lesson to them.

Two films in particular have themes that can be learned from and relate to real life. These films are “Watership Down” (1978) directed by Martin Rosen and the acid trip of a film called “Fantastic Planet” (1973) directed by Rene laloux. 

The first theme I thought of is the fight for a better tomorrow, the second is do what it takes to achieve your goal, and lastly every culture has a story to tell. Both films involve the characters in some kind of struggle that affects their present and future. In Fantastic Planet, there are creatures called the Oms that are similar to humans and they are hunted and exterminated by these large blue skinned, red eyed alien creatures called the Draags. Throughout the film the Oms are constantly at war with the Draags and their savage environment. Eventually the Oms take matters into their own hands and strike the Draags meditation site. This attack renders the Draag society virtually in shambles, and because of it they wish to seek peace with the Oms and grant them their own planet to live peacefully.

In Watership Down, Hazel the rabbit sees a great danger spreading over their land and warns everyone else in the burrows. The leader doesn’t believe Hazel, so he takes matters into his own hands along with some others and they leave the burrows in search of a new home. Along the way they face many dangers including death, but to them it’s worth the danger if it means a safer and better tomorrow for them and the future generation.

 These themes are relevant to history, especially the Civil Rights movement. African Americans in America during the 50’s and 60’s had to fight for their lives, literally to have a better present and future for the future generation like myself. As we can all see they had an everlasting progression of change and a story to tell through time.

The theme of fighting for a better tomorrow is also a lesson relevant to modern society with the Black Lives Matter movement. After the unjust killings of several African Americans this year the size of the movement grew exponentially, to the point where it became a global movement. The goal is to fight unjust policies and behaviors to leave a better tomorrow for our youth and future generations. Take the Oms for example, they were “domesticated” and seen as insignificant by the Draags. The Draags toyed with them, culled them when numbers seemed too high, and saw them as nothing more than unintelligent beings. 

The Oms eventually become fed up with the constant torment and violence enacted upon them by the Draags and they decide to rise up, initially killing a Draag. Ter, a domesticated Om whose mother was killed by Draag children as a baby steals a meditation device used by his captors and teaches the savage Oms how to use the device and learn everything the Draags now. They use this information to first try and get away to another planet, but once they see it is the Draags' place of meditation and what I assume to be reproduction, they start to turn up and blow stuff up.

Watership Down is similar to what Native people went through when early European settlers arrived on their land and drove them out. In the film, humans begin to deforest the area Hazel and his clan were living. They dug up the earth, filled their burrows and even gassed them out in an attempt to flush them out or kill them, whichever came first.

This reminded me of the Trail of Tears in specific, even though Hazel and the rabbits weren’t directly forced to leave if they didn’t they’d be killed whether it be from human hands or a lack of food and resources destroyed during the deforestation process.

[thatguyniles]

Blog #3: An Orange Clock Works

“A Clockwork Orange” by Stanley Kubrick is a sci-fi/crime film, and is an interesting film to say the least. We’ll get into that in a bit. The film is an adaptation of the novel by the same name, which was written by Anthony Burgess and was published in 1962. The film was made in 1971.

The story takes place in a reimagined English society and follows the story of a young man named Alex, who is played by actor Malcolm McDowell.

Alex is the leader of a troublesome group he calls his “Droogs”, which I’m going to assume is English slang for squad or gang. They dressed in all white with black top hats and black boots. You would think a group of troublemakers would wear less noticeable clothing especially since they do most of their criminal deeds at night.

  In the early stages of the movie Alex and his droogs stumble upon a homeless man and do what any group of young up to no good would do….they beat him up! They assault him with fists, kicks and batons, eventually running off to spread more mayhem.

Later in the night after messing with drivers on the road, the Droogs break into a couples home. They tie up the husband and restrain the wife. This is where the film starts to get dark and the viewer realises the group is more than just night life thugs. Alex begins to cut the wife out of her clothes (literally) and beats on the husband while singing “Singing in the rain”. He then undresses himself and the camera pans to the husbands horrified expression as Alex sexually assaults the mans wife. To make matters even worse he enjoys listening to Beethoven, gross right. 

This scene gives makes Alex and the droogs appear to be the lowest of the low and a true danger to society. The next time the Droogs attempt a heinous home invasion it ends even worse than the previous one. Alex ends up killing the woman who lives there with a piece of art shaped like male genitalia

 He is arrested and given fourteen years in prison. It’s here at the prison that the movie takes yet another dark turn. The prison performs inhumane experiments on Alex in exchange for his release from the facility. The movie takes a page from a lot of military movies and video games because they pry his eyelids open and force him to watch hours of extreme violence on video to force him to see the error of his ways. To really make it hell for him they have his favorite musician playing in the background of all the violence and abuse, Beethoven.

After several of these grueling sessions Alex begins to see the error of killing, abusing and all the other atrocities he has committed in his life and claims to be a newly changed man, even if Beethoven is ruined for him forever. 

The film gave me mixed feelings at first because I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a serious toned movie, or a more comedy driven film. I will say the narration was a good way to progress the story, and Alex being the narrator gives you insight into his mind because it is. It’s his conscious.

The sexual innuendos and art kinda felt unneeded in my opinion. They were pretty distracting because I was wondering if it was for comedic purposes or had an actual significance to the plot.

In the prison they mention Alex being a good Christian after he loses his evil ways from the past, so maybe the sexual themes in the film are his demons in a way. When he killed the “cat lady”, played by Miriam Karlin, he used the penis statue. So in a way the message could be that sex is the devil and it was the downfall of Alex.

Now the effects of the movie are very bad even for a movie made in the 70’s. Whenever anyone got smacked or hit there was no force behind the swings at all which made those scenes seem more comical to me along with the fake falling reactions to being hit.

The rest of the acting surprised me I’ll be honest it was pretty good. The facial expressions are what made the film slightly better for me, Malcolm McDonnel did a really good job in letting his expressions set the mood of the scene or emotion of the character. When watching the violence in prison he had an actual look of fear and disgust for what he was watching.

While at a milkbar in the beginning of the film Alex has a very evil expression on his face, and has this same expression when he addresses the Droogs if they question his leadership and authority. I just wonder why milk is the drink of choice in this society, but I thought it was funny that a bunch of goons wind down with milk.

Throughout the film Alex gives off a very sarcastic, smart aleck vibe and It’s proven with how he interacts with the other characters and tops it off with a smirk that makes you wanna just knock it off his face at the sight of it. He can’t even keep a straight face after being beaten in police custody for cracking jokes during interrogation...and the fact he punched one of the guards in the nuts but that’s not the point.

Overall I didn’t think the movie was great but it’s not terrible either. The film does have some charm from the corny acting and comedic moments to add some life to the film. It does feel like it drags in some spots and those moments bring you back in to focus. Alex himself as a character I thought was likable from a personality standpoint at times when he’s cracking jokes or trying to weasel out of a situation but other than that he is pure scum for most of the flick. I mean the man had a daydream about him as a Roman crucifying Jesus and then enjoying quality time with his wives hand maidens. Not gonna lie it was funny I don’t care. The pacing could be better, it feels like the film drags on longer than it needed too. One of the Droogs plays no real role in the film at all and he’s kinda just there. I’d rate this movie 3-3.5 stars, I think some people will see it as a classic great film and others like myself will see it as something to watch with friends to poke fun at with.

[thatguyniles]

Blog Post #1

Out of all the films we had to watch, Mid 90’s was the most interesting to me. I’m interested in learning to skate and the retro look has always been cool to me. It was also one of the only films to hold my full attention to the point where I rewatched scenes for my own pleasure. Long story short this movie is lit. One of the characters I most identified with would be Ray. 

In the skate shop, Ray explains how it is being black because Fourth Grade asks if it’s cool. Spoiler it’s pretty cool not gonna lie. Ray gives an example that I wasn’t expecting from the movie. He says when they skate in Beverly Hills, they already get looked at some type of way and people say they’re vandalizing and stuff, but it feels like it comes down harder on him. After hearing him say that it was apparent that I would probably relate to him the most since i’m a young black man, and have also felt that some instances the consequences are harder for myself. 

When Ruben is explaining to Stevie everyone's nicknames, he says that Ray doesn’t need one because he’s cool without one. I feel a similar way about nicknames. I don’t need a nickname to feel different or cooler because A) I’m already cool, and B) I feel like my name is cool and having a nickname would take away from who I am. Stevie also says that ray is cooler without a nickname. Ray’s friends obviously see him in a positive light, which is the same with mine (I hope). They’ve told me I’m a cool dude, even though I don’t see anything I do that makes me seem any cooler than the average guy. If I had to take a guess It’s probably how I carry myself, like Ray I come off as a chill, laid back kinda guy and I also have a knack for clowning on people. We both also question authority, whether it be demands or rules that are set in place.

 When Ray and his squad are posted up on the steps of a school, a security guard walks up and tells them that they gotta skidaddle before they get their asses beat. Of course in classic teen fashion they say no and start roasting his ass lmao. Ray and the guard get into an F-you match and Ray says “you smokin cigarettes on school property” and the guard says Jesus smokes cigarettes. Ray immediately claps back with “what kinda cigarettes he smoke”. The guard, caught off guard (pun intended) stumbles over his words and storms off. Long story short I’m a smart ass.

There are three common themes in the films we watched and they are, drugs, acceptance and alcohol. In Mid 90’s Stevie smokes cigarettes with Ruben because he wants to fit in. Ruben saying he should be more like him because he smokes, skates, and dips his pen in someone else’s ink *wink*probably gave Stevie more incentive to try and fit in within the group of skaters especially since it appears that Stevie is younger than Ruben is. In KIDS Telly steals a 40 and drinks it throughout the next scene. Later Telly is offered Whip its in one of his homeboys crib and does one, immediately feeling the high. Back to Mid 90’s, Fuck Shit gives Ruben and Stevie some of his ADD medication, much to the dislike of Ray. In the next scene the group goes to a party and Stevie is seen smoking weed with a girl he met that night. These themes are relatable to youth culture because teens and young adults are at a vulnerable point socially in life. 

Teens usually try to fit into groups that they see as popular or successful at that point in time.They try to feel accepted because they themselves are unsure of what they want to do or who they are. Humans are social creatures so not fitting in any group hits us hard mentally.

Now the part I’ve been looking forward to the most, a new soundtrack for Mid 90’s! I’m about to give you the greatest soundtrack ever just so you know. 

The first song I thought of was “There They Go”, a South african rapper named  Nasty C. This song in my opinion fits well in the scene where everyone is skating at the courthouse and the police arrive. Everyone scatters and I think the name of the song fits the situation well. The song just sounds like good chase music to me.

 Next is “Dr Birds”, by rap collective Griselda. This song fits more as an instrumental in the scene where Fuck Shit accidently hits Stevie’s older brother with his board during a trick. The two then stand face to face and Fuck Shit punks him making him walk off. The song gives off a standoff vibe and has a bell sound that reminds me of the standoffs from Dragonball Z right before a fight.

“Fubu” by rapper Royce Da 5’9” featuring Conway the machine comes to mind as soon as I saw the party scene. The song is from Royce’s album “The Allegory”, and like always he come with bars. The beat gives off a mischievous and sneaky vibe that I think would go along well with the low lit lighting and the weed they smoke since obviously they wouldn’t want anyone to know what’s happening here.

“Wish You Well” by rapper Amir Obe would fit perfectly during the scene when Stevie comes home high off the drugs he took before and after the party and runs from his brother around the house. The song has an intensity that isn’t too overpowering for the scene, even if only the beat is used.

“Kingdom Come” by Raury played in the back of my head when Ruben and Stevie were talking about nicknames. The song reminds me of togetherness with its calm mood and slower tempo. I think it works well when characters are connecting or expanding their relationship between one another.

“I’m Good Luv, Enjoy” by rapper Aaron May is a song I personally love to cruise to, so it’s only fitting I have it play during the scene when the group of skaters (and Stevie) are riding their boards down the street after Ray suggest they go skateboarding at the skate shop. The song would continue to play during the security guard interaction. The song has a good bounce along with the lyrics “I ain’t got time for you, get up out my face” work well because Ray gets in the guards face and clowns him which makes him leave. It reminds me of high school when me and my friends would crack jokes on the security guard at lunch.

“PTSD” by rap label Dreamville is a much better song to play when Ray and Stevie skate after his mother tells him he can’t hang with the skaters anymore. After his mom does her motherly duty Ray and Stevie have a heart to heart, and ray opens up about his younger brother who passed away. The song that actually plays during this scene is ass I’m not gonna lie. They needed to have me select the songs, Jonah Hill should cut me a check I’m just saying.

“Almeda” by Solonge is more of a joke selection. Don’t get me wrong the song is good, but if it were to play when Stevie downs a 40, that would be hilarious! Think about it as Steve chugs the bottle Solonge goes “pour my drank, sip, sip, sip,” lmao pure gold right there.

“Y U DON’T LOVE ME (MISS AMERIKKKA)” by Joey Bada$$ would play a little after Stevie gets drunk to Solonge. A lot happens in this scene and the trippy sound the beat has would complement Stevie and his impaired state especially when he gets into a fight with Ruben at a skatepark.

The final song I couldn’t decide between “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” by Nas, or “93 ‘Till Infinity” by Souls Of Mischief. These songs would play during Fourth Grade’s movie he was filming throughout the whole movie. The song that plays in the movie is an old school hip hop record, so I figured why not keep the similar sound, especially since he named the film wait for it….Mid 90’s.

You probably want to listen to this marvelous and swaggy soundtrack, oh what’s this a link to the soundtrack where did that come from. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0eFLRkG3KEgyMbWTGcJefn?si=RBLAKIsrTFqDLrsaLG_PSQ

[thatguyniles]

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[thatguyniles]

Who Is This Guy?

What’s good everyone! My name is Niles Skelton and I am not  dummy. I’m 21 years old so I guess it’s just down hill from here. I graduated from NFA North in 2017. I’m currently a New Media major and so far it’s been pretty lit. I had Mark during my 1st semester and he’s great. I have a couple things I like to do in my spare time like writing poetry, playing video games (RPGs, shooters etc), surf the internet, hanging with friends (not so much now because y’know), minding my business, and slandering the third world country of Indiana. They won’t see this because they don’t have internet so I have no worries. Did I mention I ramble? No, yo bad then lmao. I also wanna teach myself to produce and what not, as well as teach myself guitars (been sayin this for 10 years now). I like be comfortable in the clothes I wear and look good too, which isn’t hard and I know because my momma told me and she would never lie to me. Bu besides that, I think clothing is another form of expression or an extension of personality and who we are I guess. If anyone has any movie or show suggestions let me know because I’m not gonna lie i’m ignorant, if it isn’t a cartoon or doesn’t have explosions i probably didn’t watch it. I don’t know if y’all watch anime and I din’t care because ima tell you to watch Akame Ga Kill, that jawn is fire.

If you own a ps4, I recommend you play Ghost of Tsushima if you haven’t already. This game feels like assassins creed japan game we been waiting for except with less clean parkour. if you own and Xbox I’m sorry to hear that y’all got no games but you have spotify in 4k. The last thing I created was a one min radio show commercial for a music festival for a project last semester in radio production. outside of media I made a food baby earlier today named omelet. Speaking of omelets, my last meal on earth would have to be ox tails with collard greens and my aunts mac and cheese. Her mac and cheese can cure blindness I swear. Ox tails are already top tier and collard greens with a little hot sauce is bangin. If I could eat the West Indies i would. If you haven’t fallen asleep congrats and I look forward to a fun semester! Also rapsody is the best female rapper out right now I don’t wanna hear nothin else.