Collected Data
"So long as a judge agrees, it's all fair game—even if it's illegal."
According to the legislation those warrants authorize the spies to "enter any place or open or obtain access to any thing," to copy or obtain any document, "to install, maintain or remove any thing," and, most importantly, "to do any other thing that is reasonably necessary to take those measures."
The proposed "disruption warrants" are good for up to 120 days, and can be renewed twice. The legislation is explicit that authorities can ignore the laws of Canada and any foreign state while operating under such a warrant.
Canada’s New Anti-Terror Bill Is Everything You Hoped It Wasn’t
This is just shameful.
"[Canadians'] freedom and their security, more often than not, go hand in hand," Harper told a crowd of supporters, continuing that "it was a jihadi terrorist that took away our freedoms," not police officers.
I don’t believe that terrorists can take away our freedoms, we can only give them away.
Watch: "The Bad Sleep Well (1960) - The Geometry of a Scene" by Tony Zhou
"I totally thought that door was a set :-("
Matte paintings are fake sets that—most of the times—used to be made with plexiglass and oil paint. The artists used oversized panels to create the necessary detail that the camera needed to fool the audiences when the film was projected over the large surface of the theater screen. The paintings were combined with live action filmed to match the perspective of the painting. If done well, the public would totally buy into the shot.
The matte paintings of the original Star Wars trilogy and their creators
“With docusoaps, people feel lied to. Ultimately, the country is vomiting that up in some way.”
Quote: "I’m not afraid of succeeding doing something that I love. I’m afraid of succeeding doing something that I don’t like."
“That’s why, when I say I want to teach or help people or do some volunteer shit, it’s less about me trying to be altruistic and more about how your capacity for inspiration depends entirely on what is in your world. And if it’s Groundhog Day for years and years and years…”
Read: "Filling the box: The Never-Ending Pan & Scan Story"
It’s been years since I clicked my cable remote to the Sundance Channel and the Independent Film Channel, now known as IFC. Seeing them a couple of weeks ago was a mild shock. Now each boasted a bug in the lower right corner, and swarming over the image were lots of texts plugging other programs. Worse, there were commercials for weight-loss scams, Burger King, and Portlandia. More to the point here, these services give us a new version of pan-and-scan.
Filling the box: The Never-Ending Pan & Scan Story
Watch: "Reunion of Giants" Trailer
"The way I see it, from a formalist perspective, most videogames aren't particularly interesting."
Everywhere *we* look we see pretend worlds and childish make-believe, imaginary dragons, badly written dialogue and unskippable cutscenes in which angry mannequins gesture awkwardly at each other.
More Thoughts on Formalism
The above quote more or less sums up my thoughts on most video games and why I don’t play very many.
I used to work at EA. At the time, the first HD consoles were about 9 months away. It was a very interesting time to be there. I’m a “Formalist” and proudly so. I like to know how and why things work. That’s what I consider Formalism; the study of the basic mechanics of a medium. No one I met at EA was at all interested in exploring game mechanics, they were just interested in rendering.
I’ve found this to be true in the film and television industry as well. No one is very interested in trying to understand the mechanics of how the mediums function. Which is a shame, because I’ve seen a lot of great ideas wasted.
The comments to the blog post are interesting too.
Sam Stephens;
The problem I have with a term like formalism is the implication that those who have an interest in "mechanics and systems" (i.e. gameplay) believe these elements are the most important element of an artistic medium and that they are denying the importance or value of other elements of that medium.
I’d say this is not a problem with the term “Formalism” but with the writer of the comment. The term Formalism does not implicate anything other than what the term means. The definition IS open to debate, but regardless, just because it is not inclusive does not make it a ‘problem’; that’s what makes it useful.
There are people who believe the mechanics of a medium are more important than the content. There are people who believe the content is more important than the medium. Giving these positions names makes debate easier and more productive. (Even if that debate is over the meaning of the terms.)
Stephens comments further;
It's difficult to argue BioShock and Grand Theft Auto don't present themes, messages, aesthetics and world views. It's just that the art of these products is irrelevant to the gameplay.
This is false. The themes, messages etc of both of the example games are deeply tied to the game play and design choices made by their creators.
James Margaris comments;
That's the elephant in the room in most of critical discourse: it's for other critics and a specific, narrow type of developer interested in philosophical and semantic arguments, not for game developers as a whole. People arguing about what formalism is or is not, what sorts of games formalists are interested in, whether people are too or not enough interested in ludo-whatever or who would win in a fight, ludozealots or narratologists - almost totally irrelevant to the actual act of creating video games.
This is essentially a version of “Those who can Do. Those who can’t Teach” A lot of people in creative industries think this way.
It’s bull shit.
It is a very narrow minded and arrogant view point. Critical thinking, theory creation and discussion can add a great deal to creation. It’s a great tool to use. Critical thinking and theory is creative. It can be used as inspiration just like any other cultural artifact.
He does go onto add something I agree with;
Which matters "most" is irrelevant - they all matter. Good video games, and even good board games, have good rules and good presentation / theming that supports the rules and adds to the experience.
And then, the foot attempts to go in the mouth again, but misses and create comedy gold;
There aren't that many specialized words in film criticism - most of them are invented by practitioners, not critics, and describe something specific that comes up in day-to-day work, like a "two shot" or an "insert." But you can read film criticism without coming across a single invented-by-critics word.
He obviously isn’t up to date on film criticism.
Even though I think he’s wrong, Luis Guimaraes makes a very well stated comment.
Games are not Form, games are Function, so "games formalism" would actually mean the opposite of what it's used to say (again, just "scientism" by other name), as "formalist" implies a focus on "form" over function.
Games are Form AND they are Function. They are both. “Formalist” does not ‘imply’ a focus on form over function. It is the study of how form allows or creates function.
Lastly, Joe McGinn’s comment is spot on;
even narrative has formal aspects, related to game systems, especially if one is innovating in the area as in 80 Days or The Walking Dead.And it's like anything. If you break the "rules" without understanding them, results will be more random. So I teach my students formal game design elements, in part so that they can break the mold on purpose rather than by accident!
Intention is everything. If you do not understand your tools, you will never master your trade. It’s as simple as that.
"The perversity of ad-blocking is that everyone ends up being affected by the bad practices of a minority"
In the digital advertising sector, the places to find some relief remain branded content or native ads. Depending on how deals are structured, prices are still high and such ad forms can evade blocking. Still, to durably avoid user rejection, publishers should be selective and demanding on the quality of branded content they’ll carry.
2015 Digital Media: A Call For a Big Business Model Cleanup
I hate branded content.
"Their core consumer TV and voice [home phone] businesses are in decline – and probably terminal decline"
Cogeco lost 8,465 TV customers but added 18,535 Internet subscribers, while Shaw shed 15,591 cable and satellite television customers and gained 14,048 broadband customers in the three-month period ended Nov. 30.This is a trend that has become common for cable operators as viewers increasingly turn to online streaming video options such as Netflix Inc. to supplement and, in some cases, replace traditional cable packages.
Shaw, Cogeco gain Internet customers, but see decline in TV subscribers
Editing: "QUICK AND EASY DIALOGUE CLEANUP WITH RTAS"
I didn’t really know what RTAS was useful for, much less how awesome it really is. It allows you to use many of the AudioSuite plugins that you would normally apply to a clip, and apply them to an entire track instead, without rendering (thus the RT in Real-Time Audio Suite). Up to five RTAS plugins can be chained together per track. When applied to dialogue tracks, you can chain together 3 RTAS plugins that will make your dialogue much more understandable and leave more room in other frequencies for your sound effects and music.
QUICK AND EASY DIALOGUE CLEANUP WITH RTAS
"It’s condos and luxury hotels, when there’s a wait list for affordable housing here.”
people like Mr. Yu say local businesses may find that high-end consumers in new developments would not shop at their herbal medicine or produce stores.
Chinatown residents seek moratorium on condo development
Chinatown in Vancouver desperately needs money. Money for social housing, addiction treatment and mental health care. It’s very sad how once again, the city is throwing away it’s history by tearing it down and burying it in a jungle of condos, nail bars and brew pubs.
"Partnerships, mergers and acquisitions characterize the audiovisual industry’s global growth."
The paradox in this “unlimited marketplace” is that media technologies, services and content are growing much faster than consumption. Users, who fear being overwhelmed, now restrict their access points and their message could be summarized by: “I don’t want to randomly go looking for content. If it’s important or popular enough, it will get to me.” Search may not be totally dead, but social is the new way to discovery.
Keytrends Report 2015 - The Big Blur Challenge (PDF)
Read: "The Power of Story" by Elizabeth Svoboda
The careers of many great novelists and filmmakers are built on the assumption, conscious or not, that stories can motivate us to re-evaluate the world and our place in it. New research is lending texture and credence to what generations of storytellers have known in their bones – that books, poems, movies, and real-life stories can affect the way we think and even, by extension, the way we act.
The power of story
Watch: "Empathy, Neurochemistry, and the Dramatic Arc: Paul Zak at the Future of StoryTelling 2012"
Watch: "Old Dog, New Tricks" Timber Kings Season 2, Episode 1
Timber Kings - Old Dog, New Tricks
The video above is a Teaser for Season 2. To watch the episode, follow the link above.
“I think the fact that The New York Times makes more money off consumers than advertisers” – a recent phenomenon – “is definitional, and it points the way forward.”
“We’re making a club, that’s what we’re making. This mass niche called people who read. It’s a weird, kooky activity. We could have annual conventions, like the Shriners, with go-karts and clowns,” he says.
David Carr: All the views he's fit to print
"Heavy metal could be aging you prematurely"
Then I read the article…
High exposure to the toxic metal cadmium could prematurely age cells, potentially triggering a number of diseases as people age, according to a new study.
Wow. New study shows that a substance THAT CAN KILL YOU might not be good for you. Science!
Heavy metal could be aging you prematurely
"A problem/solution way of thinking can clarify some problems in the history of filmmaking"
Asking why? about something in an artwork actually veils two different questions.The first is: How did it get there? The answer is a causal story about how the element came to be included.The second sense of why is: What’s it doing there? That’s not a question of causes but of functions. How does the element contribute to the other parts and the artwork as a whole?
Problems, problems: Wyler’s workaround
A new Bordwell blog entry is a great way to start the New Year.
movies4machines