~Splinter-Cell37

This film is one of the few that, in my mind, classify as a work of art, not just a great film. It's not just a thrill ride, or a suspense trip, or a journey of cliches and done-to-death meanings.

The important thing about this film is that it doesn't try to be a super hero film, nor does it try to be dark. It has a story and it tells you that story, but the story itself is so creepy and so believable (bar one or two points which are evidently founded in its comic origin) that it becomes subtly dark enough that you'll find yourself tense on your seat, even though there's no post-processed filters and deafening sound effects. There's just the Joker, and what he says, and the way he talks, and an aural representation of the sound of silence (an effect that sounds like an electrical current), and the very fact that it created tension at all within me is proof that the director knew exactly what he was doing.

The Joker as a character seems to be a representation of the suppressed plea in all of us to be free from systems, from restraints, from appointments and bookings and bills. The character that the scriptwriter presents is designed to be someone we accidentally sympathise with, as much as we don't want to, because he presents ideas that make sense to us. The fact that - for one second - I could understand the character's point of view is a mastery of scriptwriting. I am truly impressed in ways I haven't been for a long time.

The film, in its all-too-short 2 and a half hours, goes through concepts and ideas that are unique to the film's world (particularly the concept of Gotham city) which can be twisted and applied to our world in many intersting and philosophical ways. The film taps into meanings of life and how we deal with things, at a very subtle psychological level, that no other film I have seen lately manages to approach in such a flawless way.

My only complaint about the film was that there wasn't enough Joker. Ledger's performance is such that he has completely redefined the character; in my opinion he surpassed even the comics' representation of the character, causing him to be THE Joker as I see it. I have always envisioned the Joker to be a psychopathic, mentally ill killer; but the way Ledger portrays him is so much more dissettling and freaky that everytime he's onscreen, you feel awkward and anxious, and yet his amazing performance only makes you want to see him more often. The sheer dimension the scriptwriter gave to this character made <SPOILER>_Two-Face's appearance seem far too flat and two dimensional</SPOILER>.

The ending deliberately allows room for another film, but as unexpected as its finish is, it just makes you want to see another film that much more.

The scriptwriter adds an extra layer of dimension to the character of Batman that not only surprises but pleases, especially when he becomes a darker protagonist half way through the film and fully embodies the 'moving shadow' image that is central to the character's image.

The fact that Batman's morality and emotions are demonstrated, and the way Joker demonstrates his polar opposite - like a mirror of him - confirms that this film is a masterpiece of filmmaking and a work of art in its own right.

The fact that it's also a thrill ride is subsidiary to this fact.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...~stateless.

Any photographer should be able to appreciate the sheer craftsmanship that goes into these photos. It would take a student of photgraphy minutes to set up the angle, decide the composition, and agonizing seconds to frame the image perfectly. Even then it errs in their esteem.
Mr. Stateless, like Midas, can turn any scene into gold. His expertise in photography, his knowledge and concepts of its theory and art, prove themselves in his gallery - the way he 'manipulates space' within the lens of the camera, his harmony of composition and balance...absolutely amazing.

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Don't just pass them by because the subject isn't entirely interesting - stop and look at them, things you see nearly every day, yet they are portrayed in such a unique way through a camera. Everything he does is studied and thought through. It's just fantastic in its subtlety.

Check him out! Lovers of photography will be sure to find his works fascinating.

(Personal life is really ambivalent, but if I don't have anything positive to say I won't say anything at all)

Student A: We are going to get [drunk], Teacher!
Teacher: A, that's not appropriate.
Student B: Yeah, mind your f***ing language!
Teacher: *gasp* What would you mother say about that!?
Student B: Well, she would get the joke.

As much as I hate school, it does have its not-so-low points sometimes.

(Posted because I needed to hide the previous entry.)

Jokes.

Probably should post some art eventually...eh?

Not had much time for art lately, self-inflicted...I run to video games for relief now.
Probably not a good thing, I notice my right eye has an amusing tendecy to not keep looking in one place (very very subtle, it's hardly even noticeable unless under very close study)

Film rant

Though no physical manifestation of art I'm still seeing the world through an artist's lens - cinematography has absolutely FASCINATED me (To the point where I watch films to see how I would do shots differently) because I've come to a realisation that cinematography is just motion photography.
So while similar techniques must be applied, it requires a fair bit more thought. Or does it? Because the audience stares at a photo for minutes but sees a film shot for seconds.
Each shot is vitally important to the overall experience, however.
Speaking of crafting experiences, I've been looking into Sound quite a bit - not to the point of composing my own music (can only do short tunes ), but to the point of analysing the structure and composition of music that causes it to appeal to the sense, and to be subjectively appealing.
A director once said that sound is...what? 40, 50, 60 percent of the film experience? I forget which...nevertheless he was right, as a film without sound can be tedious to watch, yet a film without music can be insanely intruiging. And vice versa.
So I'm listening to music. A lot of music.
And the concept of storytelling is also another thing which I'm focusing on, as it isn't my filmmaking strongpoint. Speaking of which...

Game rant

So! Game design. Most gamers have a point in which they retrospect on something they played and thought "What if I'd done that differently?" and that's the sign of a game designer.
What are films? A narrative or performance played out with intent to entertain, amuse, inspire, inform or deliver some sort of message.
So then what are games? A set of rules and objectives within which a player seeks to "win". Alternatively, it is an interactive narrative. The player has the ability to control the outcomes within the game by their choices.
But do they really? No. Well, few. Fable, Mass Effect, KOTOR are all lovely "choice" games but inevitably linear - you're stuck in a scenario, you have a barely-changeable outcome, you have a scale in which you end up on one side or on the other - good or evil. Or grey, but that's hardly noticed at all. Now, that doesn't make them less of a game, nor does it decrease their fun factor. They're outstanding games. But the question is, why is our games so linear that something slightly less linear becomes "outstanding"?

Further elaboration on that...
Assassin's Creed. I loved this game before it even came out (and after, of course ). This game had linear storytelling, simplistic objectives (my main problem with the game), and little creative freedom. While you could climb, run, and jump wherever you pleased, you couldn't buy a house, buy from a market stall, quit the Creed. But is this a bad thing? No! It is like an interactive film - we craft our own hollywood moments of hit and run, and the game facilitates that sort of fun to such an extent that it should have been awarded. While we do not have limitless freedom, we have limited freedom, and that is enough. We are still playing a set character with set rules and a set objective, but it is here OUR choice as to how we accomplish that. Though our choice has little consequence - something which could have been a nice addition - it makes no difference.
How could this game have been made better? Pardon me if I rant too much, but...stealth. An assassin's greatest tool is stealth. In such a freedom-based game, why was stealth so linear, so confined? The game told you were you could hide - you had no say in the matter, just a choice of which designated spot.
Halo 3. Linear as a...line *cough*. Yet the multiplayer provides hours and hours of fun, in a small arena of a battlefield, where your reflexes and skill are your best friend (and a rocket launcher helps). Although the story mode is confined and a bit mediocre, the multiplayer is like a sandbox because there's so much you can do with it. You can craft your own level design (which I'm not very good at ). The game's main flaw was its campaign and lack of sufficient variety in multiplayer maps (which it now has).
But while all these games have fun, they have very limited freedom.

And now to speak on the other end of the scale.

Let's take another example...Elder Scrolls. Oblivion, for this article's sake. This is one of the few games I've seen which are not linear. Sure, you can follow the story from start to end and in linear fashion if you desperately want to. But what if you don't want to? You are under no obligation to complete the story. Now THIS is revolutionary if you ask me, at least within an industry where the only freedom is after you finish the story.
Like magic? Join the mages guild. Like fighting? Join the fighter's guild. Like stealing? You can go solo or join the thieves' guild. Itching to murder? Join the Dark Brotherhood. Want to make a store? ...well I don't know if you can do that
Desperate for justice? As far as I know (only ever tried it in Morrowind), you can actually join the Imperial Legion and become a "cop". On the sly, join the thieves' guild, and become both a cop and a robber!
Need money? Join the gladiator-ish arena and risk your life for gold.
Need more money? Stock up on health potions, weapons and armour, then explore the wilderness...hunt through caves! Kill the bandits and goblins that occupy it, take their gold and gear, and go sell it off. Like a Stalker, you can risk your life to get valuable stuff, or get money the slow and easy way (or steal it!). Along the way people may ask you for favours, or demand it. Reunite broken families, recover lost property, discover truth in legends (and some loot on the way). And once you have lots of money...you can buy a house and settle down.
Isn't that just brilliant? I have spent so many hours on this game (around 70, in fact), a lot more than any others, because of the sheer freedom it gives you.

Recently, Ctrl+Alt+Delete did a comic version of Choose Your Own Adventure, where you voted what the character did next. This reminded me of those books. There were rules and limits, but within that you had choices THAT WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING.
So I was thinking...why were our books more interactive than our games?
And that's where my latest idea came from...you start the game at a fixed point with no memory, no weapons, no idea of what's going on. You're in a terrible, post-apocalyptic place - buildings are mostly intact but the entire place is abandoned...aside from the mutants roaming the area.
Scattered around the area are clues to what has happened, and suggestions to get to the Safe Zone.
Now, you have your wits, your stealth and whatever you can find to survive.
The mutants are humans turned into creatures - you can research a cure and try and save everyone.
You can kill all the mutants to make it safe for the people in the safe zone to get out.
You can try and reach the safe zone to see what has happened.
You can try and find all the clues as to what is going on.
Or, you can stock up on food and weapons and hide somewhere, hoping someone will save you.
What will you do?

This is similar to what Dead Rising did, but still significantly different - no annoying boss fights, for instance.

Rampant ranting here, sorry. I don't really expect you to read all this, I just needed to say what's been on my mind for a long time.

Everything else

-I have a cold. Really really violent cold. I'm coughing up mucus here, people...
-WON S.T.A.L.K.E.R LIMITED EDITION IN AN AUCTION. YAY.
-Hate school. Seriously hate school.
-Would rather be at school than feeling this sick. >_<
-Brother William Branham's book "An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages" is quite possibly one of the most important things a christian could ever read. Accordingly, satan tries very, very hard to stop you from reading it - whether it be making you feel sleepy, lose focus, or give you a million distractions, he's trying his hardest to stop you reading it...obviously it has to be REALLY important, so I'm trying hard to read it.
-Roadside Picnic is a GREAT book.
-I have Windows Vista. My motherboard was designed for it, so it's working better than XP does - not crashed once yet, whereas XP crashed within hours of install. Seriously. And I've had Vista for maybe a week in total now, so yay.

That's probably the longest journal entry I've ever written. Good luck if you plan to try reading that!!!

Stay safe people! Will try writing a book soon maybe, or 3D...not in the mood to draw at the moment.

For some utterly bizzare reason, Halo 3's multiplayer maps look better when played...horizontally flipped.