Long ago, a trip to the cinema was a major event. People would only go see a moving picture a few times a year. Later, it became a regular event, and people would go all the time just to pop in to see the news, or the latest serial. Nowadays, it is a regular event, one that many companies rely on for their income and success. Long gone are the days of dressing up in one's finest to go to the movies, instead people will just wear their t-shirts and jeans and go out to see a movie.
While a part of me wishes I could see the grandeur of the cinema in its golden years, the rest of me is glad it is so readily available and commonplace. Regardless, the ease of access and laid back casual approach to movie watching has generated a variety of bad habits and annoying circumstances that make going to the movies a pain. Worse still are the real dangers of going to the movies, the ones that can do physical harm. Don't know what I'm talking about? I'll get to that, but first I will list the pros and cons of going out to the movies.
Pros:
You will see the latest films before they are available online, on DVD/Blu-ray, or anywhere else.
You will see said films on the biggest screens available
And with the best sound (quality and surround sound a home theater could not even hope to achieve)
You will see the latest in movie technologies, like 3D and IMAX
Your friends can enjoy the movie at the same time
You have fun going out with family and friends and make a night of it
There are more pros, I am sure, but here are some cons...
Cons:
The price is not always cheap for tickets, and never cheap for consessions
The screens are not all the same, some are better than others and you never know what you are going to get
The new technologies have drawbacks (3D can cause headaches, IMAX can cause nausea, etc)
People
People is the main point of this post today. There are those annoying habits people have like talking during a movie, making a mess, causing a disturbance of some sort, and so on. In modern times, we are also bombarded with people who decide they can leave their phone on, or outright talk on the phone during the movie. There are those who think their mobile device's bright screen won't disturb anyone else in the theater. There are the messes of food and drink all over the floor from the last showing which is not always cleaned easily. Luckily all these have warnings before the movie, asking you to turn off your phones, don't text (finally), clean your mess, no talking, etc. Other than that, the common crowd noises are easily ignored (even by me), and if all these rules are followed, a movie is easily enjoyed.
But wait, these things are physically dangerous are they? No, not normally. Sure the threat of fires or illness from food exist, but that is rare and not a serious problem in theaters anymore. What I meant earlier by danger and physical harm can all be boiled down to one word, people. I will demonstrate with an event that happened yesterday to me and my dad at the theater.
We decided to see "Clash of the Titans" in theaters for Easter, while we waited for Easter dinner. We got to the theater early, got our snacks, even chose assigned seats at the Director's Hall where they were showing it. We decided against 3D, since this film more or less faked the 3D (it was filmed in 2D, and the 3D was added later). The movie started, and was somewhat enjoyable at first. Decent quality theater, clean, and quiet, at first. I was caught up in comparing the bizarre film to the original in my head, noting the many unusual changes (and reminded myself that the original had its fair share of cheese) when I heard a noise that didn't belong, a man talking loudly.
I looked over and saw my dad walking out to use the bathroom, and his shirt (which was unbuttoned as an over-shirt with a t-shirt underneath) was sticking out strangely, it was a little far, and in the dark, but it looked like it brushed over a man's bald head in the front row (one row down from us). Instead of just letting it go, he demanded an apology from my dad, loudly. My dad said sorry at a normal tone (which seemed loud in a quiet theater), and suddenly the man starts cussing at a yelling tone at my dad as he tries to walk to the bathroom. He bolts out of his seat, and runs after my dad, when the yelling (all coming from this man) continued in the hall.
Seeing how this man so violently got out of his seat and continued yelling obscenities, I was genuinely scared for my dad's safety. I was sure, not just slightly but absolutely, that this guy was chasing him down intending to start throwing punches. I ran after them and motioned to them to leave the theater before they continued the disturbance. I wish it ended there, where I heard my dad say for the second time that he was sorry he bumped into him, explaining it wasn't intentional and he didn't notice. I wish the guy would have accepted that as an apology, like any normal, logical, sane human being. Alas, he is not a normal, logical, sane human.
Now, outside the theater and still in the hallway (the one that leads to each screen), the man explodes at my dad for assaulting him. He used that word so many times, it sounded to me like he was trying to get my dad to admit he assaulted him, or at least find someone else who might side with him against being attacked. It was like he was trying to scam us.
Regardless, my dad walked into the bathroom as this man yelled after him, as though he was going to find a back way out of the bathroom and disappear. I was there and managed to keep the guy waiting. I asked him what happened, and he turns to me and says "that jerk grabbed my head and hit me in the theater". He then realized I was related, and asked me to tell my dad to "Come back out here and apologize like a man!". At this point, images of high school bullies, most of whom dropped out, came rushing into my head. This man already received 2 apologies, but that wasn't enough. While he was telling me this, he started his tough guy act. He tried to stand up taller (still a foot shorter than me), rolling up his sleeves, waving his arms around with his chest out, and yelling.
Hind sight is always useless for the situation you were in, but does give ideas for how to protect yourself from the same or a similar thing happening again. I realize now I should have whipped out my iphone, and started taking video. Photos wouldn't work, cause I can manipulate those, but I can not manipulate video (yet). That would have been best, but at least I will be sure to be ready next time someone makes visual physical threats against me or my family again.
I went into the bathroom to tell my dad that this guy has started threatening to call the police, and that his new favorite word was "assault". We went out together, and found the man still fuming, still yelling. My dad asked what was the problem, and the guy repeated his mantra (using "assault" for the 50th time). My dad apologized for bumping into him again, and explained he didn't notice and didn't mean to. The guy refused, loudly, to accept that answer. He was egging on my dad at this point. He was trying to get my dad to say he assaulted him. He was trying to show how big and tough he was with his waving arms, rolled up sleeves, and cocky attitude. He repeatedly asked my dad what he was apologizing for "(what did you do? what did you do?", he repeated his at least 6 or 7 times in a row). My dad said, "you tell me". I realized now that this guy looked like he was off his medication. It became apparent to me that I was not going to go back in to see the rest of this movie. Every time me or my dad tried to go back inside and just ignore the guy, he was block our way. He came within inches of touching us, as though he was trying to either provoke an actual assault (which he would have regretted since we were both bigger and both have black belts), or tried to get one of us to physically touch him so that he would either feign injury or retaliate in "self-defense". This guy really has a few screws loose, especially since he was in his 40s maybe, while my dad is a senior citizen.
About this time, 2 of his friends (or family, no idea the relation) came out trying to apparently calm him down. We explained that my dad apologized for the 4th time, and didn't do anything, and this guy was still yelling and would not accept the apology. By now, the managers had come over, and my sister also came out of the theater as well. We all argued, mostly against the crazy nutjob, while his friends did little, as they apparently didn't know why he was acting this way. They asked him to drop it, and he only got more mad.
The managers could do nothing, except comply to the request the nutjob gave them, to call the police. Which was fine cause my sister and I had both already dialed 911 and were about to hit the send button when they said this. By now the guy was so loud and obnoxious, we were asked to be apart from each other. We had no problem with this, but we heard the man repeatedly say he was going to press assault charges.
Several minutes later, 3 police officers showed up. First they talked to Nutty McNutjob, while we tried to calm ourselves down and have a chat with the manager about movies and 3D and the like. He was actually a cool guy, but made sure we understood that when the police get involved, they can do very little.
We occasionally saw the police talking amongst themselves, and one loudly asked "It's a simple question, yes or no?". Now they were still talking to Nutty McNutjob, when they said this. Now this brings to mind the many reasons someone would ask this question. Usually, it is either they didn't get a clear answer, or they didn't believe the guy from the get go. Here, I think it was both, but that is only speculation, as I heard nothing more of their conversation, but I knew then that the police didn't believe this guy either.
One of the officers came over, took down out information, and asked us to explain our side of the story. We explained all that happened, how we felt physically threatened by this man, and how he refused to accept an apology. The officer noted to us that they felt this man had no case, and was blowing hot air, and that they didn't believe him either. There was no motive for an assault, there were no witnesses to support him and plenty to support us, and so on.
In the end, what came dangerously close to a fist fight in a theater, which probably would have ended in Nutpants McNutter being arrested for assault, and sent to the hospital for injuries when we defended ourselves, as well as spending a night in jail ourselves, finally ended with the police asking him to leave and escorting him out instead. While charges are still a possibility, there is no case, and no evidence. If this guy wants to claim assault, where is the evidence? He had no injury, no bruise, no red spot, nothing. He was physically threatening, and verbally abusive. Where are his witnesses? What is the motive? He appeared to be either drunk (although we smelled nothing on his breath), on drugs, or not on drugs (i.e. medication he should have been on). We are convinced it was either the 3rd option, or he is truly one of those people who explode at the tiniest things and should be on drugs and in therapy.
We ended up going back inside to see that last 4 minutes of the movie, meaning we missed about half of it thanks to this guy. We got refunds from the theater. The managers were very cool about it. My adrenaline was all worked up, I felt sick in many ways over this, and my wife was left in the theater during all this although she waited in the hallways since no one came back in for most of the movie.
So, people, like Nutty McNutter here, are a major reason not to go outside and have fun with friends and family anymore, especially at theaters. You never know when someone is going to forget to take his medication, and decide you are his punching bag.
The irony here is that this guy, while clearly not on the level, and not thinking straight, messed up our movie watching experience, and yet we now have 2 free tickets each to see whatever we want to see at the same theater. Do not let things like this scare you into not going to the theater. You should always be ready to defend yourself against an attack, but also be more willing to forgive and let go, especially when you are the one yelling obscenities at people. Either you get free tickets, or you get escorted outside by the police.
All is well in the end, but I will be using my iPhone to capture video on all events I deem worthy of being evidence in court, if it should come to that.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Update, Schools, and Review
I have been very bad lately. The point of this blog is to help give me the incentive to work on animations, and even comics. I wanted to use this as a reason to draw every day, to finish more animations for demo reels and just for the experience of it. And of course to have fun.
Instead, I have been using excuse after excuse in my head, to avoid working on the things I really want to do. The problem is, I don't get paid to do what I want to do. In fact, I get paid very little, and only when I find the work doing freelance jobs. This is not a complaint, only an observation, on which I have full control over the situations. Currently, I have been doing album layouts for a wedding photographer, some image edits as well, and I just finished up a big job with a photographer who is trying to get his work in a museum. He also has a few book deals in the works and he may want my help with that too. I am busy, no doubt about it, but I do not enjoy the work I do, not the way I should. I am good at image editing, I enjoy the artistic side of it, but I am forced to do menial tasks, with little reward, and limited creativity. I don't mind a deadline, in fact I work best when under a deadline, but the work that I do is not enjoyable to me and I am unable to really get behind the work I should be doing. In the end, I avoiding the work I want to be doing as well. I rather spend my days doing house keeping and playing games, but this will get me no where, and I must use all the time I have to work on what needs to be worked on.
I have made too many promises to too many people that I have not fulfilled, due mostly to my lack of discipline and self-motivation. I can not go back on these promises, I will move forward and work on these, as well as all the work I need to do for both income and education. I have a lot of work ahead of me these next 2 days, but I will somehow find the time to prepare some more art to fill this blog by this weekend!
It's time I put my mind and efforts BACK on the right track!
This brings me to the topic of schools, which I am still looking at. The DAVE school was an experience, and it isn't a bad school at all. There are a few downsides, the cost being the biggest for me. Since it is not accredited, it is not eligible for scholarships or grants. The best a student can hope for is a student loan, in the amount of approximately $40,000! Now this is a one year school, and it is not an unheard of price for a specialty private school, such as this, and they are well within their rights to ask for such an amount. However, for me, since I am already in debt to a school that didn't go anywhere for me, I need to consider my options more carefully.
Luck is with me on this topic though. It just so happens that I have been put into contact with a company, College Lift Off!, which specializes in finding the right school, at the right price, for each person. We have been working on finding a school that both excels in the field of animation and visual effects, and is also affordable with ample financing options. There are several candidates right now, one of which is especially interesting, and I am hoping to learn more this week. I have tried to get in touch with them, but my timing has been off. I must concentrate on what I need to do, which is making money, and finding a school. I have long-since given up the job hunt, since my unemployment benefits are no longer active, so I should be spending all my time furthering my career, not just get a job. I am a little hesitant to mention specifics at this time, I feel it is in my best interest to continue my search for now, and report back later when I have something significant to post.
So since I am currently, and reluctantly, without any art or animations for you to gaze upon, I will offer a short review on the latest anime title my wife and I have been viewing on Blu-ray, Samurai 7.
Samurai 7 is a retelling of the classic 1954 film directed by Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai. The original film is a masterpiece of cinematography, story telling, acting, and film making. I know of no other film to date that can compete with the subtle complexities of the story and cinematography. Seven Samurai is, without a doubt, one of the greatest films ever made. I could go into a detailed explanation and review on how absolutely magnificent this film is, detailing the masterwork in each scene, but I will not. For one, many people may not appreciate all the nuances and subtle ingenuity, in much the same way most people do not recognize the genius of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of course most film enthusiast would agree that both these films are timeless works of art. Regardless, a work of art Samurai 7 is not.
Blu-ray
Movie
Oh, boy, where to begin. Most of you know I am a big fan of the Japanese pop-art 'sensation' of anime. I have been an avid watcher since the early 90's, before most people knew what anime was, so you can say my interest is not a mere passing fad. I appreciate any good animated feature, although recently I have found little to interest me short of Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar films. Still, I have been interested in the cover art of this particular series when I see it on shelves, and I decided to rent it on Blu-ray to give it a twirl.
Imagine Seven Samurai, now replace all the bandits with (dear God I can't believe I am saying this) Giant Robots. Yes... Giant Robots. Oh, I should have stopped watching there, right in the beginning of the first episode when they first showed up, I should have turned off the disc, returned it, and removed the next 2 discs from the queue. Sadly, I did not.
In an attempt to make the struggle between the samurai, the farmers, and the bandits all the more epic and grandiose, they turned the bandits into 4 story tall robots. It appears someone from the staff of Gundam snuck in to a staff meeting and decided to throw in a few of his poorly sketched mecha designs. Granted, the reasoning behind this is quite complex, although convoluted. They intended to further develop the complexity of the relationship between the samurai, the villagers, and the bandits, as well as the capitol itself, which is run by merchants. By having the bandits steal the rice, they could sell it to the capitol, which would use it for trade, to become wealthy, and keep the villagers under thumb. While this seems simple enough, the mechanical nature of the bandits leads to discrimination and fear for anything mechanical. To this end, they attempted to further complicated the already complicated and well developed character of "Kikuchiyo" (Which the English dub pronounced "Kikucho" or "Kiku" for short), by turning him into a mechanical samurai as well, so not only does he bridge the gap between the farmers and the samurai, but he also brings in an innate understanding of how the bandits work and think, as well as becoming a point of hatred for the leader of the merchants, who fears anything mechanical.
Kikushiyo isn't the only character butchered by this loose interpretation. While many of the samurai undergo minor character changes, the villagers are downright backwards. Instead of the village elder sending out 4 men into the city to look for samurai, they decide to send 1 man, 1 "water priestess", and 1 little kid. Of course, the water priestess is a combination of Shino and many of the villagers, yet she is not Shino, as her character still shows up. This new character has the ability to dowse for water, or apparently samurai. The little girl seems to have no point but to be an annoyance that dumbs down any complex aspect and retells the story for those who fell asleep. Cute, sure, but pointless and annoying. The rest of the villagers have little importance. The conflict between the youngest samurai, Katsushiro, and Shino is not even existent. Instead, they try to move the love triangle (a triangle??) to Katsushiro, the water priestess, and Kambei. YES... Kambei. Oh, is that a spoiler? Well, trust me, watching this will spoil your appetite, and probably your eyes.
I could go on. They continue to mutilate this story by adding new characters, factions, overly complex politics, overly simplified and lacking character development and relationships, and extremely unrealistic and laughable fight scenes. It is amazing they managed to take a 4 hour long masterpiece and turn it into a 26 episode long travesty. The gigantic explosions at the end of the series signify not only the destruction of the capitol, but also the destruction of any redeemable quality of this anime. There is a reason I don't watch many anime series anymore, so many of them turn out like this. Apparently, they assumed that by sticking direct quotes from the original movie into this series would be enough to justify these mutilations, but they only serve to further bury the enormous sonic sword into the heart of Kurosawa and all cinematography.
I give this a 2 out of 5 stars. It could have sucked even more, but it is so far from the original source, it should be banned in most countries.
Video
Oh. My. God! This has got to be the worst Blu-ray I have ever seen in my life! Nay. The worst disc! I am sure the DVD would look better than this. Allow me to explain. This transfer most assuredly uses a 1080p HD image, capturing all the detail, or lack thereof, that this anime boasts. Unfortunately, like some other animated movies, banding is an issue. That is actually a lie, banding is much more than an "issue", its a serious problem. It is hard to watch ANYTHING with the MASSIVE banding issues this series sports. It is consistent through the entire series, from the first unexplained and confusing flashback, to the final eye-gouging explosion. It is downright hard to see any of the other compression errors this series has thanks to the massive banding. Scenes that should have no banding at all are full of them. It is as bad as trying to watch a movie with an 8-bit color pallet, only worse. The flashbacks, previews, and reviews at the beginning and ending of each episode use a cookie-cutter effect, filled with black dots that start to look like dead pixels or dirt. Granted this is a minor annoyance, but enough to distract me and make me want to clean off my screen.
The real problem is the fact that the Blu-ray producers decided that 50GB meant they can stick 8 or 10 episodes per disc, rather than the standard 4. This means they instead of dedicating the extra space to quality video and audio, they compressed the HELL out of it to fit on more content. The result.... a mess that wreaks as bad as the bog of eternal stench.
I give this a 1 out of 5 stars. It was in HD... I think... but I bet you watching the DVD will prove less painful.
Audio
I am not really sure where to go with this. The Japanese had much better sound than the English. The English changed names and such. They used decent voice actors to more or less fit the parts, and the acting is not half bad, but there is really no quality to the audio. It just didn't impress me... sort of blah.
I will give this a 2.5 of 5, since it neither has absolutely awful quality, nor was it really notable. Just meh.
Extras
What are those?
Overall
This is quite simply the worst anime I have seen in a long time. Not the worst I have ever seen, but it is pretty bad. The original movie is so full of nuances and complex relationships, as well as well developed characters and an epic battle, I was hoping to see some of this in anime form, with more explanation into what was going on. Instead, I am bombarded with a corrupt government stealing rice from farmers through a complexly organized system of giant mechanical bandits who sell rice to "gaurdians" who in turn trade it to the merchants for land (?), who in turn sell the rice for trade. No one eats this stuff except the samurai, who have no real part in society. The ingenious schemes of Kambei are suddenly more convoluted and far less impressive. The crazy antics of Kikuchiyo have turned him into a mechanical samurai equivalent of a 5th grader on crack. The restructuring of the characters is both pointless and annoying, and only serves to further complicate matters in the wrong way. Main characters are given completely different goals, outcomes, and roles. All these things, while occasionally throwing in a random quote from the original film where it best suits them. About the only thing they did right in this series was kill off the right characters in ways similar to the original film... mostly.
What is it they say? You can't judge a Blu-ray by its cover? Something like that...
I give this a 1.5 out of 5. The story is awful, the video quality is unforgivably vomitous, the audio falls short of anything acceptable, and there are no extras in sight. But most importantly, they put Akira Kurosawa's name RIGHT ON THE FRONT of this atrocity! Kurosawa must be spinning in his grave. The abomination called Samurai 7 is an attempt to assassinate quality film, and the Blu-ray format, as well as HD, anime, and human sight. To call this watchable is an overstatement. Most would probably not even rate this as bearable. I will say it is unforgivable. A POX on the Blu-ray Authoring group who made this pile of muck. Even though the story is convoluted, laughable, and an atrocity to the source it names itself after, the very least you can do is spare our eyesight from the banding...
... The Banding...
... THE BANDING!!!
Instead, I have been using excuse after excuse in my head, to avoid working on the things I really want to do. The problem is, I don't get paid to do what I want to do. In fact, I get paid very little, and only when I find the work doing freelance jobs. This is not a complaint, only an observation, on which I have full control over the situations. Currently, I have been doing album layouts for a wedding photographer, some image edits as well, and I just finished up a big job with a photographer who is trying to get his work in a museum. He also has a few book deals in the works and he may want my help with that too. I am busy, no doubt about it, but I do not enjoy the work I do, not the way I should. I am good at image editing, I enjoy the artistic side of it, but I am forced to do menial tasks, with little reward, and limited creativity. I don't mind a deadline, in fact I work best when under a deadline, but the work that I do is not enjoyable to me and I am unable to really get behind the work I should be doing. In the end, I avoiding the work I want to be doing as well. I rather spend my days doing house keeping and playing games, but this will get me no where, and I must use all the time I have to work on what needs to be worked on.
I have made too many promises to too many people that I have not fulfilled, due mostly to my lack of discipline and self-motivation. I can not go back on these promises, I will move forward and work on these, as well as all the work I need to do for both income and education. I have a lot of work ahead of me these next 2 days, but I will somehow find the time to prepare some more art to fill this blog by this weekend!
It's time I put my mind and efforts BACK on the right track!
This brings me to the topic of schools, which I am still looking at. The DAVE school was an experience, and it isn't a bad school at all. There are a few downsides, the cost being the biggest for me. Since it is not accredited, it is not eligible for scholarships or grants. The best a student can hope for is a student loan, in the amount of approximately $40,000! Now this is a one year school, and it is not an unheard of price for a specialty private school, such as this, and they are well within their rights to ask for such an amount. However, for me, since I am already in debt to a school that didn't go anywhere for me, I need to consider my options more carefully.
Luck is with me on this topic though. It just so happens that I have been put into contact with a company, College Lift Off!, which specializes in finding the right school, at the right price, for each person. We have been working on finding a school that both excels in the field of animation and visual effects, and is also affordable with ample financing options. There are several candidates right now, one of which is especially interesting, and I am hoping to learn more this week. I have tried to get in touch with them, but my timing has been off. I must concentrate on what I need to do, which is making money, and finding a school. I have long-since given up the job hunt, since my unemployment benefits are no longer active, so I should be spending all my time furthering my career, not just get a job. I am a little hesitant to mention specifics at this time, I feel it is in my best interest to continue my search for now, and report back later when I have something significant to post.
So since I am currently, and reluctantly, without any art or animations for you to gaze upon, I will offer a short review on the latest anime title my wife and I have been viewing on Blu-ray, Samurai 7.
Samurai 7
Blu-ray
Movie
Oh, boy, where to begin. Most of you know I am a big fan of the Japanese pop-art 'sensation' of anime. I have been an avid watcher since the early 90's, before most people knew what anime was, so you can say my interest is not a mere passing fad. I appreciate any good animated feature, although recently I have found little to interest me short of Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar films. Still, I have been interested in the cover art of this particular series when I see it on shelves, and I decided to rent it on Blu-ray to give it a twirl.
Imagine Seven Samurai, now replace all the bandits with (dear God I can't believe I am saying this) Giant Robots. Yes... Giant Robots. Oh, I should have stopped watching there, right in the beginning of the first episode when they first showed up, I should have turned off the disc, returned it, and removed the next 2 discs from the queue. Sadly, I did not.
In an attempt to make the struggle between the samurai, the farmers, and the bandits all the more epic and grandiose, they turned the bandits into 4 story tall robots. It appears someone from the staff of Gundam snuck in to a staff meeting and decided to throw in a few of his poorly sketched mecha designs. Granted, the reasoning behind this is quite complex, although convoluted. They intended to further develop the complexity of the relationship between the samurai, the villagers, and the bandits, as well as the capitol itself, which is run by merchants. By having the bandits steal the rice, they could sell it to the capitol, which would use it for trade, to become wealthy, and keep the villagers under thumb. While this seems simple enough, the mechanical nature of the bandits leads to discrimination and fear for anything mechanical. To this end, they attempted to further complicated the already complicated and well developed character of "Kikuchiyo" (Which the English dub pronounced "Kikucho" or "Kiku" for short), by turning him into a mechanical samurai as well, so not only does he bridge the gap between the farmers and the samurai, but he also brings in an innate understanding of how the bandits work and think, as well as becoming a point of hatred for the leader of the merchants, who fears anything mechanical.
Kikushiyo isn't the only character butchered by this loose interpretation. While many of the samurai undergo minor character changes, the villagers are downright backwards. Instead of the village elder sending out 4 men into the city to look for samurai, they decide to send 1 man, 1 "water priestess", and 1 little kid. Of course, the water priestess is a combination of Shino and many of the villagers, yet she is not Shino, as her character still shows up. This new character has the ability to dowse for water, or apparently samurai. The little girl seems to have no point but to be an annoyance that dumbs down any complex aspect and retells the story for those who fell asleep. Cute, sure, but pointless and annoying. The rest of the villagers have little importance. The conflict between the youngest samurai, Katsushiro, and Shino is not even existent. Instead, they try to move the love triangle (a triangle??) to Katsushiro, the water priestess, and Kambei. YES... Kambei. Oh, is that a spoiler? Well, trust me, watching this will spoil your appetite, and probably your eyes.
I could go on. They continue to mutilate this story by adding new characters, factions, overly complex politics, overly simplified and lacking character development and relationships, and extremely unrealistic and laughable fight scenes. It is amazing they managed to take a 4 hour long masterpiece and turn it into a 26 episode long travesty. The gigantic explosions at the end of the series signify not only the destruction of the capitol, but also the destruction of any redeemable quality of this anime. There is a reason I don't watch many anime series anymore, so many of them turn out like this. Apparently, they assumed that by sticking direct quotes from the original movie into this series would be enough to justify these mutilations, but they only serve to further bury the enormous sonic sword into the heart of Kurosawa and all cinematography.
I give this a 2 out of 5 stars. It could have sucked even more, but it is so far from the original source, it should be banned in most countries.
Video
Oh. My. God! This has got to be the worst Blu-ray I have ever seen in my life! Nay. The worst disc! I am sure the DVD would look better than this. Allow me to explain. This transfer most assuredly uses a 1080p HD image, capturing all the detail, or lack thereof, that this anime boasts. Unfortunately, like some other animated movies, banding is an issue. That is actually a lie, banding is much more than an "issue", its a serious problem. It is hard to watch ANYTHING with the MASSIVE banding issues this series sports. It is consistent through the entire series, from the first unexplained and confusing flashback, to the final eye-gouging explosion. It is downright hard to see any of the other compression errors this series has thanks to the massive banding. Scenes that should have no banding at all are full of them. It is as bad as trying to watch a movie with an 8-bit color pallet, only worse. The flashbacks, previews, and reviews at the beginning and ending of each episode use a cookie-cutter effect, filled with black dots that start to look like dead pixels or dirt. Granted this is a minor annoyance, but enough to distract me and make me want to clean off my screen.
The real problem is the fact that the Blu-ray producers decided that 50GB meant they can stick 8 or 10 episodes per disc, rather than the standard 4. This means they instead of dedicating the extra space to quality video and audio, they compressed the HELL out of it to fit on more content. The result.... a mess that wreaks as bad as the bog of eternal stench.
I give this a 1 out of 5 stars. It was in HD... I think... but I bet you watching the DVD will prove less painful.
Audio
I am not really sure where to go with this. The Japanese had much better sound than the English. The English changed names and such. They used decent voice actors to more or less fit the parts, and the acting is not half bad, but there is really no quality to the audio. It just didn't impress me... sort of blah.
I will give this a 2.5 of 5, since it neither has absolutely awful quality, nor was it really notable. Just meh.
Extras
What are those?
Overall
This is quite simply the worst anime I have seen in a long time. Not the worst I have ever seen, but it is pretty bad. The original movie is so full of nuances and complex relationships, as well as well developed characters and an epic battle, I was hoping to see some of this in anime form, with more explanation into what was going on. Instead, I am bombarded with a corrupt government stealing rice from farmers through a complexly organized system of giant mechanical bandits who sell rice to "gaurdians" who in turn trade it to the merchants for land (?), who in turn sell the rice for trade. No one eats this stuff except the samurai, who have no real part in society. The ingenious schemes of Kambei are suddenly more convoluted and far less impressive. The crazy antics of Kikuchiyo have turned him into a mechanical samurai equivalent of a 5th grader on crack. The restructuring of the characters is both pointless and annoying, and only serves to further complicate matters in the wrong way. Main characters are given completely different goals, outcomes, and roles. All these things, while occasionally throwing in a random quote from the original film where it best suits them. About the only thing they did right in this series was kill off the right characters in ways similar to the original film... mostly.
What is it they say? You can't judge a Blu-ray by its cover? Something like that...
I give this a 1.5 out of 5. The story is awful, the video quality is unforgivably vomitous, the audio falls short of anything acceptable, and there are no extras in sight. But most importantly, they put Akira Kurosawa's name RIGHT ON THE FRONT of this atrocity! Kurosawa must be spinning in his grave. The abomination called Samurai 7 is an attempt to assassinate quality film, and the Blu-ray format, as well as HD, anime, and human sight. To call this watchable is an overstatement. Most would probably not even rate this as bearable. I will say it is unforgivable. A POX on the Blu-ray Authoring group who made this pile of muck. Even though the story is convoluted, laughable, and an atrocity to the source it names itself after, the very least you can do is spare our eyesight from the banding...
... The Banding...
... THE BANDING!!!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
DAVE School Visit
Well it's that time again! Time for me to come up with another excuse as to why I have nothing to show you all.
This week, it is simply that I have been too busy with work (as in trying to make money while unemployed), and research. The research here is actually more important than that of simply drawing and animating, which is why I have not finished anything this week. I have paid the DAVE school (that's "Digital Animation & Visual Effects School" for those who haven't heard) down in Orlando Florida, a little visit.
Upon checking into our hotel room, we called one of the DAVE school representatives, who happens to also be a 3rd block student, I'll go into blocks a little more later. He was kind enough to pick us up, drive us around town a little, give us a tour of the school, and answer some of our questions.
DAVE school is located on the back side of Universal Studios Orlando, on the premises. It is not inside the gate to the back of the park, but it is on their back lot. While they are on Universal's property, they are not owned by Universal but have a good relationship with them. Students get employee-like passes to let them into the back side of the park, where they can go on rides, enjoy the shows, or even eat in the staff cafeteria, which I am told has VERY reasonable prices. Fun aside, the school is currently in a sound stage which they converted for teaching classes. Despite this, it is decently equipped, with a mocap (motion capture) studio, green screen, small theater, and dozens of work stations. The front room is the entry where their receptionist can help with anything you need. Next to this is the guest lounge, where they show off all the movies, posters, toys, et al that they have made. They also have an impressive collection of student awards on display.
Upon entering the actual classrooms, we are confronted by an array of computer work stations, each one with 3 or 4 computers on it. They assign all 3rd and 4th block students a computer in each station, and they have to work together to complete their assignment. Again, I'll go into blocks shortly. Next to this, is a small theater where they show movies and such to students, and also give lectures. While it is nice to have it there, in their current location, it looks more like a temporary set up. I assume this will change in the near future. After the theater, there is a long hallway that is filled with past works they have done, including story boards, screen shots, character designs, etc. At the end of the hallway is the 1st and 2nd block classroom, where each student is assigned a computer, which all face a screen at the front of the class. This lets them see what the teacher is doing, so they can copy it on their own computer. All of the computers in this school are PCs, and while they recognize that both Macs and workstations are prevalent in the industry, they find it is more affordable and standardized to just use PCs in the classroom. They will even help a student build a PC, if they want one in their home.
Next door to this, is the mocap studio, which doubles as a green screen. Here, they have a full sized green screen room, where half the room is a green screen, complete with props and computers and monitors. They also have a series of mocap cameras in the room, about 20 I believe, to track movements of anyone wearing the mocap suit. This is the same mocap system that was used in Monster House and Polar Express.
Other than these main areas, they also have a small reference storage area, full of varous reference materials, props and toys all over the place, offices for faculty and staff, a small sound room, and a meeting room I could not see, cause there was a meeting in it at the time.
Now, the entire school lasts for only 1 year for each student (assuming they don't fail). Each year is split into 4 blocks, which are 3 months apiece. A student is assigned wither night or day classes, which stays that way for the entire year. Meaning the faculty have to change which times they teach classes every 3 months to accommodate the new recruits. In the first block, you are bombarded with information, most of which is 3D modeling. I understand that while the first few days might be typical for a class, it shortly becomes their hardest and most grueling block with the pure mass of data they require you to learn. This weeds out anyone that can't handle the workload right off, and anyone who is not serious about animation. It also gives student a good strong base to start with the 2nd block, which I understand to be mostly animation and mocap. I think 3rd block covers the more advanced features, like visual effects and green screen. And finally, 4th block is one big long class project. Students have very limited creativity in the class assignments. While they are encouraged to come in before or after class, and on weekends, to work on their own projects, so they can build their demo reel up and their skills, the class itself acts more like an actual animation studio, where the directors call the shots, and the animators have to make it happen. Therefore, we have to act like animators to make their vision come true. Students will have some limited creativity within each shot, but the majority of it is just to make the scene work the way it should.
The computers are not the most advanced, and most are only running Windows XP. This is fine with me, since upgrading that many computers that often is expensive, and it is always smart to wait on the latest OS until all the bugs are out. It is my firm belief that Vista is not an OS, it is a Beta. 7 is the real OS, since it actually works the way it should, more or less.
Despite this tour, it appears the school has been in negotiations with Universal Studios about moving into a bigger building. While this will probably happen after my first block, it will be a big change for the better. They will be moving into a location very close by, still on the same property, with a new set up. Instead of horizontal, it will be vertical. It will have more space for computers, a theaters, and a better mocap and green screen room. I look forward to seeing this new facility, which promises to be a big positive change for them.
Another change they are seeking is to become accredited by the State of Florida. Right now, they are not accredited yet, which is always a draw back, especially for financing. There are no federal financing options or scholarships/grants for non-accredited schools. While they have turned in all the paperwork to the proper Florida officials, it is now up to the State to declare them accredited. This will also probably happen at around the same time, while I am in school. This is particularly good, because it means that I will be able to get scholarships and grants to help pay for all of this, since it is going to cost me a pretty penny to go to this school.
Overall, I was rather impressed with them. While they are not a perfect school, there are no perfect schools out there. DAVE school has flaws, but they know they do and work around them to make it the best experience for the students. Their faculty/staff are well connected with Hollywood directors and actors, and they can sometimes get big names to donate their talents to the students. If you want to see a perfect example of this, go to http://www.daveschool.com/movies/, and check out "Batman: New Times", which stars Adam West, Mark Hamill, and Dick Van Dyke. Also look at Antrho, which was made for a Hollywood film maker to try to pilot his idea for a film. With the boot camp style of teaching, this looks like a great opportunity to really learn what I need to know fast, and get a job doing what I have always wanted to do, making movies.
There is one big drawback though, it is located in Orlando Florida, which isn't the problem, but the fact that my wife will have to stay here in DC for at least a few months, if not the entire year, is a problem. I hope we can figure something out so she can find a good job down there, and perhaps get her into the school as well, but we will just have to wait and see, and try our hardest.
Well I am looking forward to going, although I am not at all happy about leaving my wife behind. That is all I will write for now, I have a lot to do, including more work, more drawing, and more research.
This week, it is simply that I have been too busy with work (as in trying to make money while unemployed), and research. The research here is actually more important than that of simply drawing and animating, which is why I have not finished anything this week. I have paid the DAVE school (that's "Digital Animation & Visual Effects School" for those who haven't heard) down in Orlando Florida, a little visit.
Upon checking into our hotel room, we called one of the DAVE school representatives, who happens to also be a 3rd block student, I'll go into blocks a little more later. He was kind enough to pick us up, drive us around town a little, give us a tour of the school, and answer some of our questions.
DAVE school is located on the back side of Universal Studios Orlando, on the premises. It is not inside the gate to the back of the park, but it is on their back lot. While they are on Universal's property, they are not owned by Universal but have a good relationship with them. Students get employee-like passes to let them into the back side of the park, where they can go on rides, enjoy the shows, or even eat in the staff cafeteria, which I am told has VERY reasonable prices. Fun aside, the school is currently in a sound stage which they converted for teaching classes. Despite this, it is decently equipped, with a mocap (motion capture) studio, green screen, small theater, and dozens of work stations. The front room is the entry where their receptionist can help with anything you need. Next to this is the guest lounge, where they show off all the movies, posters, toys, et al that they have made. They also have an impressive collection of student awards on display.
Upon entering the actual classrooms, we are confronted by an array of computer work stations, each one with 3 or 4 computers on it. They assign all 3rd and 4th block students a computer in each station, and they have to work together to complete their assignment. Again, I'll go into blocks shortly. Next to this, is a small theater where they show movies and such to students, and also give lectures. While it is nice to have it there, in their current location, it looks more like a temporary set up. I assume this will change in the near future. After the theater, there is a long hallway that is filled with past works they have done, including story boards, screen shots, character designs, etc. At the end of the hallway is the 1st and 2nd block classroom, where each student is assigned a computer, which all face a screen at the front of the class. This lets them see what the teacher is doing, so they can copy it on their own computer. All of the computers in this school are PCs, and while they recognize that both Macs and workstations are prevalent in the industry, they find it is more affordable and standardized to just use PCs in the classroom. They will even help a student build a PC, if they want one in their home.
Next door to this, is the mocap studio, which doubles as a green screen. Here, they have a full sized green screen room, where half the room is a green screen, complete with props and computers and monitors. They also have a series of mocap cameras in the room, about 20 I believe, to track movements of anyone wearing the mocap suit. This is the same mocap system that was used in Monster House and Polar Express.
Other than these main areas, they also have a small reference storage area, full of varous reference materials, props and toys all over the place, offices for faculty and staff, a small sound room, and a meeting room I could not see, cause there was a meeting in it at the time.
Now, the entire school lasts for only 1 year for each student (assuming they don't fail). Each year is split into 4 blocks, which are 3 months apiece. A student is assigned wither night or day classes, which stays that way for the entire year. Meaning the faculty have to change which times they teach classes every 3 months to accommodate the new recruits. In the first block, you are bombarded with information, most of which is 3D modeling. I understand that while the first few days might be typical for a class, it shortly becomes their hardest and most grueling block with the pure mass of data they require you to learn. This weeds out anyone that can't handle the workload right off, and anyone who is not serious about animation. It also gives student a good strong base to start with the 2nd block, which I understand to be mostly animation and mocap. I think 3rd block covers the more advanced features, like visual effects and green screen. And finally, 4th block is one big long class project. Students have very limited creativity in the class assignments. While they are encouraged to come in before or after class, and on weekends, to work on their own projects, so they can build their demo reel up and their skills, the class itself acts more like an actual animation studio, where the directors call the shots, and the animators have to make it happen. Therefore, we have to act like animators to make their vision come true. Students will have some limited creativity within each shot, but the majority of it is just to make the scene work the way it should.
The computers are not the most advanced, and most are only running Windows XP. This is fine with me, since upgrading that many computers that often is expensive, and it is always smart to wait on the latest OS until all the bugs are out. It is my firm belief that Vista is not an OS, it is a Beta. 7 is the real OS, since it actually works the way it should, more or less.
Despite this tour, it appears the school has been in negotiations with Universal Studios about moving into a bigger building. While this will probably happen after my first block, it will be a big change for the better. They will be moving into a location very close by, still on the same property, with a new set up. Instead of horizontal, it will be vertical. It will have more space for computers, a theaters, and a better mocap and green screen room. I look forward to seeing this new facility, which promises to be a big positive change for them.
Another change they are seeking is to become accredited by the State of Florida. Right now, they are not accredited yet, which is always a draw back, especially for financing. There are no federal financing options or scholarships/grants for non-accredited schools. While they have turned in all the paperwork to the proper Florida officials, it is now up to the State to declare them accredited. This will also probably happen at around the same time, while I am in school. This is particularly good, because it means that I will be able to get scholarships and grants to help pay for all of this, since it is going to cost me a pretty penny to go to this school.
Overall, I was rather impressed with them. While they are not a perfect school, there are no perfect schools out there. DAVE school has flaws, but they know they do and work around them to make it the best experience for the students. Their faculty/staff are well connected with Hollywood directors and actors, and they can sometimes get big names to donate their talents to the students. If you want to see a perfect example of this, go to http://www.daveschool.com/movies/, and check out "Batman: New Times", which stars Adam West, Mark Hamill, and Dick Van Dyke. Also look at Antrho, which was made for a Hollywood film maker to try to pilot his idea for a film. With the boot camp style of teaching, this looks like a great opportunity to really learn what I need to know fast, and get a job doing what I have always wanted to do, making movies.
There is one big drawback though, it is located in Orlando Florida, which isn't the problem, but the fact that my wife will have to stay here in DC for at least a few months, if not the entire year, is a problem. I hope we can figure something out so she can find a good job down there, and perhaps get her into the school as well, but we will just have to wait and see, and try our hardest.
Well I am looking forward to going, although I am not at all happy about leaving my wife behind. That is all I will write for now, I have a lot to do, including more work, more drawing, and more research.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Orlando trip
I am going to be going on a trip this weekend to Orlando, Florida. I am planning to check out this aforementioned DAVE school (digital animation and visual effects) for myself.
I should be able to work on some more drawings when i get back. I plan to have a big update next week. I want to have all the backgrounds finished, and start work on the main character animation.
This will be the most time consuming part, but I plan to use a few tricks, such as recycled animation and cut-out animation, to get it done quickly.
I also plan to get some help this weekend and this week on coloring some of these backgrounds so that I can continue to work on the main drawings while the rest of finished. Multi-tasking so to speak. I suppose I'll have to ask someone to help with that.
So The next big update should be next weekend. I will also let people know how my trip to the DAVE school turns out.
I should be able to work on some more drawings when i get back. I plan to have a big update next week. I want to have all the backgrounds finished, and start work on the main character animation.
This will be the most time consuming part, but I plan to use a few tricks, such as recycled animation and cut-out animation, to get it done quickly.
I also plan to get some help this weekend and this week on coloring some of these backgrounds so that I can continue to work on the main drawings while the rest of finished. Multi-tasking so to speak. I suppose I'll have to ask someone to help with that.
So The next big update should be next weekend. I will also let people know how my trip to the DAVE school turns out.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Katsucon!
As many of you know, I am part of a group called Tangent Artists. You can look at our webcomics and other online content at www.TangentArtists.com.
Well, this week, the TA crew, at least some of them, will be representing at Katsucon in the National Harbor. Katsucon, for those that don't know, is an anime convention that is very popular in the area. There are a few anime conventions in the area each year, and while Otakon is the biggest out here, Katsucon is a popular alternative choice. It has shorter lines, fewer crowds, ans lots of good events.
If you are in the area, and thinking about or planning to go to Katsucon 2010, by all means check out our booth in the artist alley.
I myself will not be there this year, but say hi to the members that could make it.
Well, this week, the TA crew, at least some of them, will be representing at Katsucon in the National Harbor. Katsucon, for those that don't know, is an anime convention that is very popular in the area. There are a few anime conventions in the area each year, and while Otakon is the biggest out here, Katsucon is a popular alternative choice. It has shorter lines, fewer crowds, ans lots of good events.
If you are in the area, and thinking about or planning to go to Katsucon 2010, by all means check out our booth in the artist alley.
I myself will not be there this year, but say hi to the members that could make it.
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