VIDEOGAMES!

                                                                          Fable III

For this week, I chose a game that I started weeks prior, Fable III. I found this game to be both entertaining, rewarding and ultimately, a piece of literature. This game tells a story through the choices of the individual and through these choices depends on the outcome of the story.  The game actually resembles closely to what a “choose your own adventure” story entails. Let me take a step back a bit.

            The history of this game starts with Fable, the first game in this trilogy. In the original Fable videogame, an orphaned boy is taken in by a guild and raised to become a hero. The setting takes place in Albion, a fictional place set in England. I didn’t play this game, although the next line in the series, Fable II, became a great addiction of mine.

            In this game, not only are you to become a hero again, you are in the same kingdom as before, only a much later era. In this game, you can buy a house, get married, have children, get a job, loot, steal, follow quests, help people, and kill people, among many other numerous things. With the help of your dog and magic powers given to you by the guild, you set your own destiny. It’s a role-playing game in which you, the player, decide the moral fate of your set character. If you decide to go one way or the other, certain quests and challenges are presented to you. When you make your choices, certain quests regarding your path are set in front of you.

            Now, the third Fable in the line is about a new hero. It takes place in the era of industrialization, still set in Albion, only years later. As always, you are allowed to buy and sell houses and businesses and get married, same as the two before it. The real difference between the first two and the third is clear. You don’t start off poor in this game, or orphaned even. You are a princess. Also, they have a revolutionary new addition, holding hands. But that’s for another day.

In the beginning of Fable III, you discover what a tyrant your brother has become as king. Therefore, your character starts a rebellion. Throughout the game, you earn the trust and following of each kingdom by proving your leadership and strength. Eventually, you get all the colonies to follow you and you face your brother in combat. You overthrow your brother and become Queen (or king, depending on who’s playing). This is where the tricky part comes in. You, as queen discover that a force, an evil force you actually barely escape from earlier, is coming for the kingdom in a year.

            The brother, a tyrant by reputation knows this and has only been raising the taxes to prepare an army for such an event. This made him unpopular with the kingdom to say the least. In your attempt to be queen, you must keep all your promises that you kept with the colonies, or risk being a tyrant. The problem being, there isn’t enough money to protect the people AND keep all the promises.

            Fable III is a perfect example of literature, a new type of literature even. The story is undeniably defined throughout, with minor changes. When you make a choice, it submerges the character into a different series of events. The video game has all of what a traditional book has, and then some. It has a defined setting, quests, obstacles, with a climax and ending. The best part of the whole experience is this: If you don’t like your character, you can change it. If you don’t enjoy where you’re heading, you can change directions at any time. I think because of these things it makes the story so much more enjoyable and a cornerstone in the development of literature.

 

Oryx and Crake

                                                                     Oryx and Crake

“Oryx and Crake,” by Margaret Atwood is about the future of technology and what might happen to mankind if we abuse such power. The story is essentially about a man named Snowman.  Before everyone got infected and died, before oryx, before crake, and before he was given the responsibility of the Crakers, he was called Jimmy. Jimmy grows up in a compound where his father works for companies developing gene-splicing materials. Because of the experiments, animals such as wolvogs, pigoons and rakunks were created.

These are animals that were spliced together to form a new species, eliminating the weaknesses, whilst gaining the advantage of the other animal. His best friend Crake grows up to invent a one time only birth control, only with a deadly disease as a side affect. Through this love story/fantasy, the themes of personal relationships, abandonment, and human kind in general are all themes of this novel.

Not only is “Oryx and Crake” about the future, its about a past we all share. I saw this book as bittersweet with the message. The bitterness was in the destruction of mankind, the abuse of technology, playing God. It all sickens me to know that we have this power because you know someone will abuse it. You can’t help but like Crake though. Even though it was awful what he did, I think that in the whole scheme of things, his creation was even greater.

Crake wasn’t right in killing off virtually all of mankind, but making a better human helps the fat pill of reality a little easier to swallow. Knowing that the good-natured Crakers were going to outlast snowman and probably most of mankind surprisingly made me feel warm and comforted inside. I suppose the idea of the earth not being inhabited at all by a smarter life form just seems…. well, empty.

Snowman, or Jimmy, was a very complex character. He was a very human person. He did some good and some good, neutral in my book. To me, he represented everything a human is, was, or will be. Oryx represented an ideal, an abstract goddess who is calming and always looks on the bright side of things. She is beauty. Crake is like a teacher, the creator, and the boss. He is also good-natured and wants the best for mankind, to our knowledge. Still his intentions for everything are still so ambiguous, I don’t even think Margaret Atwood knew. It’s supposed to stay a mystery, some things just are meant to be that way.

The book as a whole was extremely entertaining. I loved Atwood’s writing style. I enjoyed how she caught a single moment sentimentally, and then make a sudden shift in the story with a sentence such as, “…and he cut her throat. Jimmy shot Crake.” It was brilliant. I would suggest this to anyone.

 

                                         

      I chose this picture as a depiction of women because I think it’s funny and sad that women have to feel sexy and wanted by doing things like this. This is just one example of many like it. Why do women put themselves in these degrading situations? How are they benefiting from this? It really angers me, and I think most women when they believe they are being “Empowered” by their sexuality. This is true, to an extent. Women want to be independent and empowered, but putting your body on display is a step backwards in my opinion.  I think that this is an issue not only for men but for women, We are the bigger culprits here. The problem is, its too easy. Women love attention, that’s how its always going to be. It’s a physical advantage I wish we didn’t abuse so fleetingly. Maybe then, we could respect ourselves first, and others will follow in our example. Maybe then they will take us seriously and pay us equal wages. :/

Graphic Novels

                                                                    Asterios Polyp

When I first saw Asterios Polyp at Barnes and Noble this past summer, my friend recommended that I read it. So it did, all in one sitting. I was so taken in and enthralled by the story that I barely looked up at all. Asterios character, constantly bringing up the subject of Geek mythology or Greek references, is very human in this novel. In Graphic Novels, some people tend to think that these are all super hero comics, or something of that nature. I find graphic novels much closer to a more “traditional literature”, such as a book than comics necessarily. Yet, I don’t hold them in a lower regard.

The graphic novel “Asterios Polyp” is about an architect who taught at a college in Ithaca, New York. While there, his building burns down and he moves to Opogee, New York to work as a mechanic. Throughout the story, it travels from the past to present, revealing the relationship between him and his wife, Hana but also his dead twin.

Essentially, this story is about duality. Through his brother and his wife, his relationships are sometimes troubled. I found this story relatable and also extremely unique. I thought that the idea of visually showing an argument, especially the one between Asterios and Hana, was brilliant. Showing his personality through blue geometrical shapes and hers through soft pink lines, further demonstrated where each person was coming from.

Through graphic novels, I feel they are a merging of art and books. Two of my favorite things, what’s not to like?! Although, it has a different feel than a book. To me, books feel a little bit more real for me and sometimes I don’t like that. I like to feel that I am being taken away in a whirlwind of a story. Being submerged in a serious subject whilst being entertained and pleasing to the eye are ideal. The amazing aspect to me is the amount of moral fiber and lessons laced through a cartoon. All the more reason to pick one up.

 

                                                                        Paprika

Paprika was a very interesting movie. I need to start off first by saying that this was my first anime movie ever. Ever. That being said, it was a bit different for me. I’m a typical American girl, raised on nickelodeon and Disney. I was a little taken aback by the very different drawing style, and story style. When I started it, I didn’t wasn’t to be biased because of that and tried to accept the work as it is.

I loved the movie. The style still is a little odd to me but I enjoyed the story line so much, I just couldn’t stop watching all the colorful visuals and immersive plot. Paprika is a character invented by the main scientist, At-chan. That, or it’s her other self. I’m not exactly sure. When the DC Mini, a device used to share dreams, goes missing, Hatsuro, an employee is the main suspect. Through further investigation however, they discover it’s actually the chairman who is trying to control everyone’s dreams. This movie was a very fast paced movie, just bursting with visuals and deep meaning.

The story is set in Japan. The main character, Paprika (aka At-Chan) is a psychotherapist working with the DC Mini to enter dreams, helping those with deep psychological problems. I found a lot of similarities between the graphic novel and this anime movie in terms of style. They both represented real life problems and issues (to some degree) with an underlining artistic vision and imagination. This is a perfect drink for an intellectually thirsty artist.

There are, in many respects a lot of visuals that I found very professional and detailed. The city scenes absolutely amazed me in the dedication in details. That made it all the more real. In the dream sequences, I also thought they did a phenomenal job in making it look real and then just like that, leading you right into a dream. They really did make you feel like the character, unknowingly submerging themselves into the uncharted territory of dreams. One issue I had with the story was, why was the only extremely obese guy American? J

 

Pattern Recognition

                                                                     Pattern Recognition

Cayce is a woman who only wears neutrals and has a unique sensitivity to brands and logos. When she is taken on by an agency to help with a new shoe logo, she also reluctantly takes on a job concerning online video phenomena. Her job is to find the origin of the film, and essentially, its maker. She gets a tip that a Japanese hacker found a watermark on the video. She receives it; yet as soon as she gets it two men attempt to steal the watermark from her. She escapes with the watermark to London where she gets a lead on the company that made it. Dorotea, we find out, was hired to follow her and ensure that she take down the job in hunting down the video’s origins.

Cayce purchases a Curta calculator from Voytek Biroshak. With the calculator she is able to find the email address of the buyer of the watermark. This turns out to be Stella Volkova. Her sister, Nora, is the maker of the videos. She is brain damaged and this is the only way she can express herself. She then gets in a slight mix-up with the Russians after she had mentioned on the site that it might be the work of the Russian mafia. The ending tied together nicely when she comes to terms with her father’s absence when the Russians turn over all the information about his disappearance to her.

Pattern Recognition was a bit harder to read than the other books. The author’s language can be a bit wordy in some areas. It also goes into a lot of side stories and tangents throughout. Sometimes, this made it hard to follow but the overall story was a fun ride. It took a while to get the story moving in the beginning but then picked up a bit after they went to Tokyo. Although it was a modern novel, from 2003, I found a lot of similarities or inspirations from some of the earlier novels. The ways things are described are sometimes similar. Comparatively, I think that this novel proved to be a little confusing at parts, whereas the Maltese falcon proved to be an easy follow-along. Besides that, some of the language was like music to my ears. I loved some of the imagery that William Gibson provided in this novel.

Pattern Recognition was essentially about finding meaning in seemingly meaningless data. People strive for purpose and meaning and through advertising and industrialization, this becomes ever more apparent. I think this novel touched on issues of what it means to not just see advertisements but to feel it. We all have a sensitive reaction, no matter how large or small. It happens to the best of us. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the art or advertising world, as well as suspense novels, modernism, and introspective themes. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

 

Medium is the Message

Pages to Add to his works:

Lolita

 

Lolita is a story about a man and his reasoning for what he did to get into jail. This beautifully written novel by Vladimir Nabokov is disguised by a darker underlining theme.  The story is about a man who has relations with a 12 year old girl. Throughout the story, he tells his story, reasoning with the reader about his actions. Personally, I don’t buy a second of it.

            I didn’t finish this story because I found it really disturbing. The main character likes twelve-year-old girls for god sakes!  The beautiful words he speaks barely mask this horrible act. If it were someone who speaks plainly and was incarcerated for the same crime, nobody would give him excuses. For me, its not what you say, its what you do. What that man did was inexcusable and I don’t think hes suitable for the outside world when he has those urges.

            One of the arguments he presented on his defense was that just 50 years ago, (well 100 for us) 12-year-old marriage to men, whom were older, wasn’t exactly uncommon. This is a juvenile defense; “They did it, so I can too” is not going to convince me otherwise.  Times were different back then, life expectancy was shorter, people had to grow up a bit faster because they did marry much earlier in life. Even today, my parent’s generation tended to wed a lot earlier than today’s youth. This is because of the education for women and their independence as a whole.  Just because, up until about the 60’s, sexual harassment was is the workplace does not mean that it’s acceptable today.

            Maybe I am extremely biased in that I know people have had traumatic experiences when they were the same age. A person that young is not ready for that adult experience because they know nothing or very little about it. Maybe that’s the way things were, I don’t care. I don’t think it’s the way things should be. Im usually a pretty open-minded person but this is where I draw the line. Youth and innocence should be protected at all costs.


Movie: Exotica by Atom Egoyan

 

Pulp Fiction

                                                                 The Maltese Falcon.

            The Maltese Falcon, written by Dashiell Hammett is essentially about a detective whose partner dies after taking a job from a woman under the alias Mrs. Wonderly. Throughout the investigation, you follow detective Sam Spade as he unwraps the mystery of The Maltese Falcon.

            Though I’ve never read a mystery pulp fiction novel before, I found it quite exciting when I bought the audio book for it. The reader did a plethora of different voices for the characters, making identifying them that much easier. I found the wording of the novel much different than that of today’s fiction.  The author describes the way the faces look throughout the whole book. Also, the author points out how they move and how they speak. These help picture the characters much more clearly in their emotions and actions.

The relationships between all the characters were odd in some parts. Spade treats the women as delicate, dull-minded creatures. He kisses them all freely and without consequences. The women aren’t much better than the men, either. They are annoying and shrill. They seem to be so needy of the men and badger them whenever something goes wrong. Although, this stereotype isn’t as strong today, I still see these prejudices often. I suppose that’s just the way they were. The roles of the men were made to emulate a gun wielding tough guy who doesn’t crack under the beauty of a woman. A woman’s role was to have the ability to have that over a man. This is still true today.

It was explained earlier in the course that novels such as these weren’t considered literary pieces. Although “The Maltese Falcon” wasn’t one of the best written pieces I’ve read. Though, I found it to be well written and enjoyable nonetheless. Spades investigation seemed a little tedious and over explanatory at times but altogether I found the book informative and gripping with detail.

The novel was an overall good story, although I knew that woman was no good to begin with. She lied too much; you knew that she had much more to tell from the beginning. Still, I liked how it came together at the end. Spade became the hero I wanted him to be and not the crook like we thought during the climax. I give this story 4 out of 5 stars. J

Day of the Locust

                                                                 Day of the Locust

“The Day of the Locust” is a short novel by Nathanael West. Set during the great depression, it is a story about alienation and outcasts who join together to make their dream in Hollywood. Tod Hackett, the main character, is a painter from Yale but has recently moved to Hollywood in pursuits to painting set backgrounds. Tod falls in love with Faye Greener, an aspiring actress. Tod soon gets to meet some of her wacky friends such as: a Mexican who hosts cock fights, a guy who acts like a cowboy, a guy named Earl, a dwarf and Homer Simpson, a man she readily takes advantage of.

The story was essentially about people who meet under similar circumstances, bounding up together in desperation. I think that the way they clung to each other seemed a bit desperate because this story was set during the great depression. Because of this factor, being a struggling artist, actress, or any trade really of that time, they had to rely on each other for support. I think that Tod was also a very desperate person. Yet, he was more desperate for Faye, really. I think he took to what she wanted from him and followed whatever she said.

A common theme in this era, compared to “The Maltese Falcon” is really the voice of the writer. Although the characters aren’t one bit the same, some of the wording seems parallel. Throughout the book the characters really say what’s on their mind a lot, and smoke often.  I think that pulp fiction genre books are interesting in the way they end. They aren’t necessarily happy endings or complete, they are more abstract. The ending of “The Day of the Locust” was satisfactory for me. I thought it really random and messed up about the girl in the crowd with the creepy guy touching her. But I thought that the ending, with the riot in the streets was a strange way to end it. I would have liked to find out further about what happened with Faye.

Auteur ship Essay!!! :)

Auteur ship In Film

Auteur theory holds that a director’s film can reflect that director's personal creative vision, as if he were the main "auteur" or “author”. The Directors voice seems to be apparent for the observer making them seem above the film. The more a director’s voice is heard through the films, the more it creates a memorable movie. For the assignment, I chose Robert Altman as my director. I saw the films “The Company” (2003), “The Player” (1997) and “The Long Goodbye” (1973). I chose these movies specifically because of the years in which they were made. In getting a feel for the day in which they were made, simultaneously looking at the style and “auteur ship” of the director, himself.

The movie, “The Company” was a surprise for me. I’m not really used to the way he presents the characters and the whole movie in general. I shunned it at first but warmed up to it a bit later on. There wasn’t a whole lot of dialogue going on in this film. It takes place in Boston, after the new millennium. It follows the happenings of a ballet dance company. The movie is slow paced but beautiful. The shots taken while the company dances are awe-inspiring. Its as if the bodies did all the talking in that movie.
Contrary to “The Player."

“The Player” was jam-packed with dialogue. Including the first scene in the movie when its just one long shot with lots of individual conversations and happenings at once. The conversations would flow naturally between the characters and there is a lot of creative wordplay happening back and forth between the characters. This movie gave me more of a feel for the director’s style and directions of his films. The balance between the humor and the serious undertones made it both entertaining and artsy to me. I was anxious the whole film, wondering what was going to happen next.
The last film I saw was “The Long Goodbye”. This movie is set in the 70’s, a private detective gets intro trouble when his friend commits suicide and the mafia come knocking on his door. This was similar to “The Player” In that it was a murder and it was sort of a mystery at the same time. You are figuring everything out as the character goes along. “The Company”, I believe did not follow as closely in relation to the other two but they were all enjoyed. ☺
The cultural aspects of the films were very different. In “The Company” there were many modern things I could recognize but I could also tell by some of the clothes and the hair styles (not to mention a hot James Franco) that it was early 2000’s. “The Player” was much more obvious to me. There was a car phone and there were women with shoulder pads. The talkiness of the 80’s and 90’s is easy to spot. By far, “The Long Goodbye” was the most foreign and most 70’s of all. The nudity, the fag jokes, the beating of women and the use of drugs all show the carefree spirit of the seventies.

As a director, I feel that Robert Altman shows his auteur ship through the way his characters interact, the way the movie is shot so that it seems that we are invading on an actual conversation. The Way he just shows the actions within fame. You can tell everything that is happening. His wordplay especially shows through his movie, especially in “The Long Goodbye”. I believe that Robert Altman definitely has a certain style to his movies and I think its important for films to be inspired by that because it helps show the world how others can see and interpret the world. Intentional or not, there is always a deeper meaning in a work of art.

Director's notes for "La'Venturra"

Claudia from the movie "La'Venturra"

La’Aventurra

Characters:

Anna- She is the main character in the beginning of the movie. She is a Brunette 25 year old. She is Sandro’s mistress. She becomes missing halfway through the story and we never hear from her again. My ideal cast for her would be Kiera Knightly.

Anna’s Father- a skeptical man, Anna and her father are at odds. Ideal cast being Donnie devito.

Claudia- Anna’s best friend. She is 24, Blonde and generally disproves of Anna’s aristocrat friends. She also becomes the lover of Sandro. My ideal cast – Melonie Laurent.

Sandro- a young attractive man of thirty-five, he is a rich aristocrat and Anna’s lover. Later, he begins to develop feelings for Claudia. Ideal cast- Adrian Brody

Raimondo- a deeply bronzed young man in his thirties, it seems that he works for Patrizia and her husband, Ettore. He adores Patrizia and does anything to get her attention.

Patrizia- emerges wrapped in a filmy nightgown. She is a woman of great elegance, somewhere in her thirties. She is married to Ettore. Ideal cast- Nicole Kidman

Ettore- Patrizia’s husband. He is also a business partner with Sandro.

Corrado- has a sensitive face, with a look that is both sharp and intelligent. In age, he is closer to his fifties than his forties. Guilia is his mistress of twelve years, although they have never married.

Guilia – Following directly behind him is Giulia, one of those impossible women who are so terribly sweet and coy and yet so demanding of attention. There is a saccharine tone of voice in which she speaks. She is the lover of Corrodo, but later in the story she falls passionately for Prince Goffredo. -

Old man on the island- has a sense of humor and, as far as we can tell, is a nice man.

The Princess- She is an elderly woman, rather ordinary in appearance but very aristocratic in taste and manner.

Prince Goffredo- He is the Princess' nephew. He's eighteen years old. He paints.

Gloria Perkins- a most charming and provocative young
Brunette with tight-fitting pants and a blouse that is open almost from the
Neck to the waist. Married and a writer by profession. I write in a trance, almost always in contact with people who are dead.

Zuria- Journalist whom comes into contact with Gloria Perkins. He is a bitter and sarcastic man, one who is completely absorbed with his own little problems and his own daily routine. But for this very reason he is quite capable of taking any kind of insult, either big or small.



Setting Notes:

This takes place in Britain in the beginning of the screenplay and then moves to the high seas. There, they visit a small island called Lisca Bianca. This is located near a much larger island known as Basiluzzo. Because of the general geography of the rocks, that being a jagged, rough environment, I would have to say that whatever island was used for the movie “King Kong” would be right up our alley. As far as the other half of the story, it takes place throughout Europe. I would use Britain’s cities for most of those parts.

Themes

I feel that the theme of this script is that nobody wants to be alone. Its also about desertion and how humans cope with loneliness. I also feel that this takes place more in the 50s or 60s, which give it a more nostalgic feel.

Overall reaction

I loved the story, personally. Some parts didn’t feel like they came together in the end but overall I thought it gave a lot of interpretation to the reader, or observer. I give these movie 3 stars out of 5. ☺