Digital Landscape

Today I continued on with my landscape project but this time I took a digital camera with me. I'm not gunna write much as it's basically the same ideas behind it as I already explained a few posts ago. I'm just gunna put some small versions of some images I took below so you can see the kinda work I'm doing.

 

Bone picking with del Toro

I've been reading a lot of books lately. My Dad brought me up to read books as often as possible and to enjoy reading for fun, not just for school. I've always loved reading but during the first term of uni I didn't read much as I hadn't much spare time. Now I'm managing my time better I have some time to read a few books I got at Christmas and a few I bought before then. I want to talk a little about 2 books that were lent to me by a close friend, these books are part of a trilogy beginning with The Strain (2010) then The Fall (2011) and then The Night Eternal. They're written by well known film director Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. 

It's a book about vampires (I swear not everything I read/watch is about vampires, it just so happens to all be happening at once). The premise is that a plane lands at JFK with all it's passengers bar 4 are dead and completely drained of all fluids. The surviving 4 go on to unknowingly spread the virus to everyone in Manhattan. The story center's around Dr Ephraim Goodweather of the CDC and his fight to contain the virus and dispose of the infected and find the original spreader of the virus, The Master. It's a very different telling of the classic man-in-a-cape type of story, one which is more gritty and scary and, more importantly, more believable. 

However, the one thing I have have come to realise about this book is that it is very, very similar to a film that was also directed by Guillermo del Toro in 2002 called Blade 2. The film is the second in a trilogy that follows a vampire hunter named Blade, in this film, the vampires have long tongues with stingers on the ends that infect the bitten instead of simply killing them which completely identical to the creatures in The Strain. This kinda disappoints me because Guillermo del Toro is responsible for such fantastically unique and beautiful films such as Pans Labyrinth (2006) The Orphanage (2007) and the Devils Backbone (2001) and the thought of him simply copying his own idea and making more money from it just really annoys me because I've seen that he can do better. Never the less, this series is shaping up to be a really good read and I still really enjoy it. I would have just liked to have seen a bit more diversity and deviance from that sort of plot line.

Fooooood.

I love it. So much. Might be the reason I gained like 5 pounds over Christmas but we'll ignore that. 

I really like to try new foods, my parents never really branched out with food when I was younger and they're kind of afraid to try in case it makes them ill or they don't like or it's made of something weird. I recently really got into eating sushi, there's a sushi bar in the Mall in Sheffield called Yo! Sushi and it's wonderful. It a very Japenese style bar with the little conveyer belts that the food goes around and you just pick up the dishes you want and pay after you've finished depending on what coloured dish you picked up. During my first time there i tried a few things I've never had before, I tried Octopus, Eel and a Lychee, all of them were so lovely and different. I also had the normal stuff you get like salmon and tuna and avocado and whatnot but trying those few new things was really fun. 

I've also recently started doing theme nights with 2 of my flatmates in which we pick a country and then make a dish that is usually served there. So far I've tried Lebanese and Khazakstani food which were really fantastic. I'm sure none of us are making this food with as much expertise as a native but it's the thought that counts!

I've still got so much I want to try, like different meats and stuff. I'm really looking forward to this and also looking forward to trying to get my parents to try some new stuff too.

Just a quick blog about a film

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Earlier I watched the fourth installment of the Underworld franchise, named Underworld: Awakening (2012)

I'll just explain the general plot before I launch into my 'Why this film sucked' rant.

There have been 3 films so far Underworld (2003) which was the first film to be made, it follows a vampire named Selene (Kate Beckinsale) who fights for the life of a human (Michael) with Lycans (werewolves). I know this sounds cliche and it kind of is but this is not your standard run of the mill vampire vs wolf film. It's very stylised and I really fell in love with it when I first saw it. The second film which followed on was Underworld: Evolution (2006) this again followed Selene and her now partner Michael, who is now a hybrid of Vampire and Lycan. This film was more sexualised and more edgy than the first but was still a great film with really good plot and character development. The third film that was released was a prequel to the first Underworld and it was named Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) this set up a more detailed story for a few characters in both the first and second films, even though I was a little disappointed in the special effects and half the gore looked like strawberry jam and the animated creatures were very animated, making them really easy to spot and making it a little hard to consider them a part of the actual film world. It was however still very good and worth the watch.

But then came Awakening.

I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in a sequel that I was so looking forward to. There was hardly any plot, the film felt way too short and scrambled and I genuinely can't remember all that much of it. But I can't really understand why that happened. It was written by Len Wiseman, who directed the first and second films, it starred Kate Beckinsale, again she was in the first and second films and is usually a really great and captivating actress, Kris Holden-Reid who I've been watching in a recent series and is really good in that but he seemed very flat and boring in Awkening. 

The film itself was pretty and the props well made and the locations perfect for the scenes, but that's not all that makes a film. Mabye I'm being a little harsh because I was looking forward to it a lot but I feel very let down by it.

I'd highly recommend the first 2 films, Underworld and Underworld: Evolution and even the prequel that was then released named Underworld: Rise of the Lycans but definitely not Awakening. It was not a fitting addition to the series, it neither built up much nor moved the story along. 

Games; Gears 3, ME3 & Arkham City

Today I want to talk about video games. I LOVE video games. My Dad bought me a playstation 1 when I was about 6 and I've loved them ever since. We started out playing the Tomb Raider (Lara Croft) franchise, which I've followed all the way to the most recent game which was released in 2008 and I'm greatly anticipating the release of a reboot of the series in the late stages of 2012. One thing I love to see, in the Tomb Raider games especially, is the progression of the graphics from solid angles and being able to see where the textures of floor panels started and ended to now having much smoother more realistic graphics. One way my Mum had this to say about the graphics; 'In 1996, Lara Croft had THE pointiest chest anyone had ever seen, (very reminiscent of Madonnas famous 'cone bra') and now she looks like she has two melons.' My Mother the poet, everyone.

So anyway, I wanted to talk about 3 games today. Games I have bought recently (actually my Dad bought them, like I have money for video games!) and have been really excited about for a while now. 

Mass Effect 3 (2012)

The last game in a trilogy sat far off in the future that follows an Alliance marine named Shepard. Now, one thing that I find really brilliant about this game is the character building. You can chose whether to be male of female, whether you have a soldier background or an neutral background etc. I like this because it isn't too intensive like I've heard World of Warcraft and such games are but it gives you enough chance to tweak the character so you can get a feeling for them and make them unique to you. The game has a mostly linear story line but you get certain choices at points, whether you want to recruit a certain team member or leave them behind etc, that can affect the type of ending you get. Which I feel is great because it's not just your standard run of the mill, everyone-has-the-same-ending type game. It means that you can play it through several times and see something different each time. Now, this is the one game out of the three that I have not allowed myself to play through yet as I got it at Christmas but didn't want to get too caught up in it as I don't take video games to my flat in Derby because they're way too much of a distraction and they first playthrough time is usually around 20 hours for me. I have very high hopes for this game as the previous 2 have been fantastic, the game play is great, the combat works well, the environments are so well made and really beautiful and the cut-scenes are film worthy and mostly it's pretty much believable. It is a little far reaching as it contains characters from different planets which all seem to bear a certain resemblance to humans but the story sets it up in a fairly believable way. One little niggle I had with this franchise is the box artwork, the 2 previous games have only showed the male option in the trailers and on the posters and all artwork for the games. This seems a little sexist to me as the option to have a female character is available from the very first game, however, in the last installment there was a special female trailer that appeared on TV and the Internet and the box art is reversible, so there is the male version on one side and the female on the other. This makes me a lot happier than just having the male version. I understand the main audience figures show that it's mostly males that play video games in general but it's nice to see some diversity.

Gears of War 3 (2011)

Now moving away from the more artsy to the more visceral. Gears 3 is also set in the future (I'm seeing a theme here) on a planet called 'Sera'. There begins an attack on humanity from a species known as 'Locust'. The story center's around a marine named Marcus Fenix and the Delta Squad that he commands. Now, although the game is in great quality and the cut scenes are good and whatnot, the marines still look around 7 ft tall and at least 4 ft wide. Their armor looks like they have stereo speakers for chest plates and bits of cars on them for the rest of it. Which makes them slightly unbelievable in my eyes but this can be overlooked once you get into the game play. It's basic cover combat, unless you get a shotgun, then who cares. The players are allowed to have 1 pistol, some grenades and 2 other weapons (shotguns and rifle variants).

The main gun, which is one of my main attractions to this game, is called a 'Lancer', it's a basic rifle but with a chainsaw attachment so occasionally you can actually chainsaw your opponent in half whilst listening to such witty lines as 'Nothing but bits' and having the camera be covered in blood. Being a fan of gratuitous fake gore I find this hilarious. The easy game play allows for a really good fun co-op game and it's great when you have a few people round and take turns. The story isn't too serious and anything that is is broken up with witty one liners and there's one character named Baird that I'm sure was just put in for comic relief and has continually gotten more snarky and witty since the first game. 

The way this game is made makes it probably one of the most fun games I have ever played, everything is oversized and overdone and it's fantastic. It doesn't really require any brain power and it's always enjoyable no matter if it's the first playthrough or the 10th. The characters, no matter how gruff they are, are still really likeable, the story is enjoyable and it gets extra points for having playable female characters that aren't girly and still kick some serious ass. Even if their voice overs won't shut up.

Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Let me just start this by saying I am a massive Batman fan. Have been for a verrry long time. Since I used to watch the cartoons when I was little, to watching the terrible but oh so brilliant Tim Burton films from 1989-1997 and even the recent reboot with Christian Bale. My favourite characters will always be the Joker and Harley Quinn, the old romantic in me (which I try to suppress at all times) absolutely loves their totally messed up but loving relationship. My friends often refer to me as Harley, which I can't decide is a good and funny nickname or whether they think I'm a homicidal maniac but we'll skip right past that. My favourite Joker on screen would have to be Jack Nicholson, not only is he already a fantastic actor but he fits the role so well. He easily slips from the late night gangster role into the maniacal world of the Joker and adds more to the character than the PG comics ever did. My other favourite would be Mark Hamill, he voices the Joker both in the cartoons and the videogames, his high and gravelly voice fits perfectly with the image that games creator company Rocksteady made in conjunction with DC Games. My least favourite, suprisingly as it was one of the most successful visions of the Joker, was Christopher Nolan's Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), played by Heath Ledger. I disliked it because it wasn't the true Joker. The proper story goes that Jack Napier was accidently dropped into a vat of chemicals by Batman, this de-pigmented his skin, caused his hair to turn green and petrified the soft tissue around his mouth into that signature grin he's known for. Therefore, no matter how good Ledgers performance was, I don't consider it a true representation of the Joker. 

Anyway, enough about my slightly disturbing obsession with Joker/Harley.

Arkham City follows Arkham Asylum (2009), in which the inmates of Arkham Asylum have been rehoused after a breakout to a walled off area of Gotham City. The main foes in this installment are as follows, the mainstream expected villains; The Joker, The Penguin and The Riddler and the more unexpected ones were; Mr Freeze, Clayface, Raz al Ghul, Harvey Dent/Two Face and Doctor Hugo Strange. We also see a few side villains who have very short story arcs separate from the main story such as Victor Zsasz, The Abramovichi Twins, Thomas Elliot and Black Mask. Some of these hint at a sequal as do the end credits, but we'll get to that in a bit.

You can also spend a little of the game playing as the ever over-sexualised Catwoman, she carries a whip. And wears tight leather. Go figure why most Batman fans are male.

The imagery in this game is absolutely sublime, even though the entire city seems to have a grey cast over it and it's always raining it's still lovely. The streets are grimy and covered in litter, the rooftops are all different so they don't look like the same template has been used to create the skyline, the henchmen that you fight through out the city are always really well thought out AI patterns. I have so many good things to say about this game. The main story carries on nicely from the first game, it doesn't seem like it's stalling to make a longer game at any point and it's pretty well thought out with some great twists. Unfortunately for me the story ends with The Joker dying which kinda killed it for me but it was good anyway. A few rumours say we may have a sequel not just for the reasons I mentioned earlier but also if you look closely through the game you'll notice that infact Quinn is pregnant and through the end credits you can hear her quietly crying and singing in a way you would only sing to a child. This was probably my favourite game of the year and one which I intend to play again many times over. If it were up to me, the Batman franchise would never end.

I know this has been quite a long blog but it's just because I am really passionate about videogames, I'm kind of a nerd that way. I just love that there's a whole world which you can get sucked away into and interact with.

Advanced Process

For my Advanced Process module I recently did 2 film shoots. One black and white and one colour. The black and white one was a bit of a failure as it appeared that the film had become unraveled in the back of the Mamiya I was using so none of the images really came out. The colour one however seemed to work just fine. I wanted to focus on macro images because I feel like I've seen a lot of wide angle rolling hills images in landscape. I took the film in the woods near my house in my hometown of Sheffield. The woods are really dense but with some pathways and there is a really wide variety of plants and trees to photograph. I'm beginning to get ideas about what I want my final body of work to look like, I'm thinking 6 a3 images, set out in two columns of three. The bottom two could be flowers that grow on the ground, then above that would be flowers on trees then above that either tree leaves or 2 images looking directly up at the canopy. I still need to do a digital shoot as well before I choose whiich one I want to continue my work with.

I'll take a few images of the negatives and put them below until I have printed contact sheets.

Ok, you can't really see the colour ones but at least you can see I did it.

5x4 Location Shoot

So recently I did an outdoor shoot using a 4x5 Wista camera for the 'Location' section of our Studio module. It was amazingly sunny, which was fantastic as we didn't have to fiddle with too much lighting equipment, so we went to a patch of grass nearby the uni. I went with Jen as she needed to do a shoot as well.

Jen went first and had me stand against a fence and look 'moody' as it were. Her insiration for her images are the Cindy Sherman film stills so I had to look like I was waiting for something or someone. As I was wearing sunglasses she made me do the classic 'chewing on the side of the glasses' thing that's done a lot in films. I really liked the way they came out, they look very staged (as they should do) and Jen was really happy with them. 

Then it was my turn. As I am taking pictures of flowers for my indoor studio work I decided to link this to my location shoots. I had jen sit cross legged on the floor and hold a bunch of flowers and tilt her head as if she was waiting for someone. I wanted a more candid and whimsical image so I had that and one of her looking directly at the camera and smiling with a flower behind her ear so it would look like the viewer of the image had just put it there. I really love the way they came out. They both have such different effects, the closer one where she is smiling has such a nice, happy vibe and really draws you in but he the other has a slightly negative vibe, like she's been stood up and she's waiting for someone that will never turn up. By accident I realised that they would look really interesting printed on top of each other but I'm not sure that's within the parameters of the module guidelines.

I've posted the images below.

We'll be doing another shoot soon so I'll post about that one too.