You know Back to the Future? xD
You know the hovering skate board Marty used?
I would so totally try to get this if it worked.
The Hoverboard is a project made by Nils guadagnin, a young french artist. This work is born in 2008 for an exhibition named “Back To the future”.
It is a copy of the hoverboard from the movie Back to the Future II. Integrated into the board and the plinth is an electromagnetic system which levitates the board. A laser system stabilises the object in the air.
When the first Avatar trailer went up, I asked myself what was that rubbish. Yes, it looked that bad to me. However, I must admit that seeing it on 3D was an experience very close to that of The Terminator show at Universal… after all, both are James Cameron.
This is the first time that I’ve felt that a 3D projection does justice to its 3D medium, and doesn’t just make objects pop out of the screen just because it can. Instead, Avatar pulls you in – in some scenes more than others – and lets you become almost part of it. There’s a scene in particular, in which the antagonist (Colonel Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang) looks through the rear-view mirror and sees himself. The way it was shot makes it seem like WE are there until Quaritch’s reflection hits us back. Is Cameron telling us something?
I watched District 9 yesterday, and I enjoyed it a lot. Actually, I watched Moon this past weekend as well, which was also pretty great. However, I had noticed that I had previously marked both films as “not interested“. Why? Actually, because I marked most films that way, unless I’m already interested. But this also made me think about the films I’ve watched this past year, and which ones I’ve enjoyed the most.
I’ve never followed Star Trek, but I admit I enjoyed watching the film this year.
And on a similar topic, I finally finished watching Battlestar Gallactica Season 1. LOL
But why do I seem so reluctant to watch Sci-Fi? Yes, it’s the nerd tag… I guess. I think my mother puts it best — She’s not interested in aliens, in other worlds, or UFOs — I think I’ve had the notions that Sci-Fi was just escapism, and it is in some of the films, but some of my friends (some sci-fi and comic book lovers) have taught me and made me understand that Sci-Fi can be so much more. And I do love a good drama.
But in the end, people don’t really listen.
My cousin, yes… that same one that told me Love Happens was money well spent, HATED District 9. Her brief Facebook status read something like “District 9, sucks! Badly…” and it got a bunch of comments including mine asking whether to believe her or not, considering she liked Transformers 2 (So good, she said), to which she replied “aliens!? c’mon>>>> no more comments“. LOL – The fact that she thought the idea of aliens is ridiculous should have hinted that she shouldn’t have picked District 9. Actually, she told me she didn’t wanna watch Inglourious Basterds either, to which I fainted. xD
What is good sci-fi? My friend made me sit in front of my computer screen (we haven’t seen each other since we graduated) and told me I was wrong. He told me Good Sci-Fi is Good Drama, you get social commentary in the form of metaphor and you can place those stories in the real world. Good Sci-Fi is about the characters… much more than the universe created. He is the same friend who made me watch Firefly. Yes, that same sci-fi show that my sci-fi-hating mom loved to watch.
So if you’re not sure you like sci-fi, you can give Firefly a try.
Good Sci-Fi is also not about how high-end and kick-ass your special effects are. It’s not about how many explosions you can get on screen at the same time. It’s not about how cool your props look like.
As we see on Moon, it’s almost as if this sci-fi world becomes a character piece in which the main character talks to himself and re-discovers himself in the process. About his daughter, about his wife, about his work. The miniature models are far from the high-end spectrum of regular CGI effects, yet hold this charisma or perhaps it’s nostalgia.
On District 9, what could have been an alien invasion film with explosions where people save the day turns into a film where aliens live in slums among us, as big corporate heads try to find the way to use their bio-technology weapons and think they can get away with it when one of their workers begins changing. The character sort of begins a transformation worthy of Kafka, in which he starts becoming more a “monster,” but in reality human beings are the monsters. It’s sad.
Oh,yes~
Jurassic Park made a huge impact on me. Mainly because I saw it as a kid, and was amazed after the theaters that 1. I had a nightmare with a T-Rex… or more specifically, the eye of the T-Rex. LOL and 2. I wanted to be a paleontologist for at least 3 years of my life. Because of Jurassic Park and those scary Velociraptors I went to see Jurassic Park II three times at the theater – hahahaha.
But come on, you can’t hold that against me. After all, I also watched Jumanji twice at the theaters.
I think those were some of the factors that made me want to get into 3D and Special Effects – You know, since I was also blown away by Michael Jackson music videos xD. I think it was that first scene in which you see the Brachiosaurus coming out of the lake with the amazing John Williams piece. It’s just magical, almost like you were actually in the film because they saw something that didn’t exist right there, and we saw something on screen that was never before~~~
Of course, now I know very little about dinosaurs because I’ve forgotten everything that I studied. I only faintly remember about Sauropods because I did my presentation on them when I was like 10 years old. So it all is just a faint reminder that I once was a Dino-kid xD
It may not look as magical as a Polaroid, but!
I want one~ xD
The Xiao Digital Camera has a built-in printer that works with ZINK paper – which works with dye crystals that get activated by heat- so there’s no need for ink! – Kind of perfect for postcards for travel, right? – Can’t decide if I want a Green one or a Pink one. LOL Or… it does look Aqua and Magenta, though. The one naming the colors must be a dude who doesn’t design. Dudes who design are also picky with color.
Though, I must admit… some printed magazines are so pretty.
xD – though a magazine like National Geographic should go completely green.
but that’s just my opinion…
Anyway, here comes an article saying that CBS will be running a video ad on the newest issue of the printed Entertainment Weekly. Say what? I must be confused!? Nope, nope~ it’s true, it will be a tiny 320x240px screen of 2mm of thickness, and you’ll be able to watch their Fall line-up.
Hmm… okay. I’ll be honest with you. I hardly watch any television, that means I hardly watch any commercials on TV – Now, if I don’t watch commercials on TV, I don’t think I’ll watch them in a magazine. To be even more honest, all commercials I watch are on-line… maybe YouTube, or on one of my favorite motion graphic/design websites.
I still support digital media!
Like this Paperless Book by Piel.Skin – an architecture book with Google Map links included! LOL – Now, that’s useful, right? – Also check out this old article asking if we are ready for digital paper… obviously we aren’t.
I remember seeing a prototype for a digital newspaper that used e-paper with simple motion (shaking the paper, folding it, etc) that would change the page/news section of your newspaper “virtually”. Can you imagine that? Sitting on your kitchen table one morning for breakfast, grab your blank e-paper. Shake it once. Headlines appear. Shake it once more, and it skips to the next section. Fold it and open it, to continue to next page. O.o Nifty.
Everything I know or get from product photography, I “got” as a kid watching Discovery Kids when they showed a clip of how the photoshoot for a sandwich – complete with pinned-lettuce, strategically placed ketchup, soaking-wet cheese, raw-yet-well-done-cold burger and silicon-sprayed buns – and of course~ the ice-cream cup which was filled with silicon squares, and a some other squishy-plastic-like product… so the ice-cream wouldn’t melt, you know?
I also did some “product shooting” in my school days, but really… wasn’t my thing.
But look at this! It’s almost so SO real, except the fries… but still.
O.O CRAZY!
Well… ‘interactive’ almost haha
Hmm… two weeks ago, in fact~~~ On February 25th, I was watching NHK and saw this pretty awesome segment where they showed this JDrama that you could put your face into, the second segment mentioned a new for of ‘karaoke’ to voice-over anime~~~ To tell you the truth, I found it hilarious!
Anyway, I was trying to find some info on it, but since my Japanese is so limited I couldn’t really google anything. Luckily, I was watching NHK this afternoon and recognized the hosts, so I could go to the show’s website and find out. And so I did!
The first segment is Sangwoo & my Story – obviously a romantic JDrama aimed at women who want to put their face into the protagonist body. LOL’ You literally scan your face, and they will make it all digital and moveable… they will even give u a digital surgery so your face is not wonky xD ~~~ Then they just paste your digi-most-improved-face onto the body of the person playing the lead, make your digi-mouth move at the proper sync and you got yourself into your love story JDrama. You buy it on DVD, go home to watch yourself on screen with your Asian hunk.
Pretty amazing stuff, really… even if it’s kind of weird. Can’t possibly imagine what the porn industry could do with that… LOL – Can you?
Anyway~~~
The second segment was a feature on JoySound.com – who have released a type of Karaoke machine to dub anime, so otakus can go… knowing all their favorite anime lines, begin recording with a passion, and then watch their masterful over-dubbing~~~ Funny stuff considering I could sit with my friend and play Harry Potter PoA while watching the film~~~ I find this one more funny, than impressive though… The above ABOVE idea was crazy.
Now, if all dramas could be like that~~~ let’s start with Japan. Can you imagine being in Nodame? Or Osen??? Can you imagine put your face into Eita’s body and get to hug Juri playing Ruka. LOL Can you imagine that in a western show… or I mean, your favorite American or English show?
I know a few that will probably considering being on FRIENDS… Well, I know many will likely do the karaoke-voice-over thing with it anyway.
Availability in all regions, cross-platform… ubiquitous movies, music… even books, if possible~ x’D Well, maybe I’m going too far with the books, since there’s a base of language and there’d be THAT barrier, but you get my point, right?
For instance, I can’t really remember when was the last time I went to watch a film at the movies, because I either:
So Amy supports world premieres because she’s impatient. Also, I would fully suport Paypal if they were available in Peru, but no~ They do not support accounts in Peru (That’s why I opened one when I was in Canada). Moreover, I would support other online stores (eg. mp3 stores) but they have region restrictions… some more annoying than others. One of the most annoying is the ‘billing address’ issue… even if I have a Canadian credit card, I would not be able to use their service because I don’t have a physical Canadian address anymore… WHILE I am still able to buy a physical album and ship it here for more or less the same amount of money.
I was also ready to buy shows through BitTorrent, but they support US Only – they ARE nice and professional enough to point it out below the “buy” button, so they won’t waste your time as you try to sign up for a new account there… to then find out you don’t have the right ISP, or you can’t add your credit card, or SORRY, THIS CONTENT IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN SUCH REGION. Ever happened?
So I’m all for movies and music available everywhere at the same time. And you?
