Kickstarter and its Inherent Awesomeness.

This blog post isn’t about anything I’ve read, watched, or played recently. Instead it’s about Kickstarter and how Kickstarter is helping propel the arts.

Kickstarter is a website that allows people (You and I and the plebeians) to fund projects, be it artistic, technology, etc. As of now I’ve funded two projects. (I wish I could afford to fund more but college is pretty expensive.) Hollow World, a book by Michael J. Sullivan and a CRPG by InXile Entertainment Torment: Tides of Numenera. Let me just say I cannot wait to get my hands on these goodies.

What Kickstarter does is it brings the creation of what we consume into direct contact with the people who consume it. Before Kickstarter, a book was written and then trickled through different stages of development until we, the consumer, got our hands on it. Only after all that would it get praise or hate.

Now we have dialog with the writer. Now there is push and pull and sway. Even as I write this there’s a debate going on at the Torment Kickstarter page on whether or not some of the game-play should be Turn-Based or Real-Time.

http://kck.st/13F7hZn

This dialog is a good thing because we help the creators craft what we want, and often times we’re right. (Because as a whole, we are collectively more knowledgeable than the author.)

Kickstarter gives people and small organizations opportunities they would not have had access to as little as 10 years ago. It proliferates creativity because people are now reaching out to the creators, giving them money.

It’s inspiring to see a kickstarter with a goal of $900,000 reach $4,188,927. It shows the faith we have in talent. It shows our collective thirst for more.

Oryx and Crake

I recently read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and enjoyed it tremendously. So much so, that I ran out and bought a copy of The Handmaid’s Tale. Which is supposedly one of her best works. I don’t know my way around reviewing jargon but I’ll do my best and explain how I think this would make a great movie and is a wonderful example of the trans media narrative that I mention all the time in my blog posts.

It’s about a man and another man and a woman and the end of the world.

Margret Atwood does a great job at mixing an abysmal end of the world setting with snarky humor. I often found myself cracking a smile and then a minute later feeling sorry for her oracle-hobo-protagonist, Snowman.

It’s a very cinematic novel.

What I mean by that is that while I read the novel I felt like I was watching a movie. She does a fantastic job at putting the reader inside Snowman’s head. I think if done well, this could translate into a blockbuster. Much in the same way that The Road received a brilliant movie adaption. (Some critics may argue with me, but I found the film adaption moving and engaging.)

Oryx and Crake also has some sprinklings of Urban Fantasy. With Urban Fantasy the traditional “forests” are replaced with the concrete jungle. The setting very much needs to be a character of its own. I think this is also true with end of the world stories. You need to feel the decay, understand that there is a “once was.” And this book does just that. As Snowman journeys through the world Margret put him in, you can’t help but feel that the decrepit houses and dead cities are alive with character.  

I think that a sign of great speculative fiction is the sign that it can become a movie. But doesn’t always have to. I think this is doubly true for SciFi/Fantasy. It needs to have a great story, or, in Twilights case, sell well.

Apparently Oryx and Crake is the first book in the Maddadam Trilogy but like any good book, can be read as a standalone novel.

If you’re up for an Orwellian tale. This book reads like a classic. I think that’s exactly what it will become.   

The Maltese Falcon and the Importance of Breaking out of Your Comfort Zone.

Earlier in the semester I read The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. I picked it because I don’t really read detective novels and I thought this book would be a good opportunity to branch out and read a genre of fiction I usually walk right by at bookstores.

I only know Sherlock Holmes from the movies. (I know… I’m sorry.)

The book is rather well written, I was surprised, I know nothing about Dashiell Hammet besides the fact that he was a heavy drinker and a private eye. I have also never seen the movie. That’s another reason why I picked this novel, so that I could (eventually. sometime soon. let’s shoot for December) watch the movie afterwards. Ever since the first class, I’ve been trying to pick literature that has a trans media narrative. I often ask myself, “Would this make a good movie? A good book? A good game? Will it age like a fine wine, delicately fermenting in a virgin oak barrel? Or will it age like milk during a power outage?

I think these are important questions to ask oneself while in a literature and media class.

It’s also important to read things outside of what you’re comfortable with. I read almost exclusively fantasy, with some SciFi thrown in. And if it’s a rainy night, I’ll dust off the old Necronomicon. The Maltese Falcon reminded me of the importance of reading outside your comfort zone. It was like a literary vacation. After reading the novel, I got back into my fantasy swing with renewed vigor as well as making sure to check out other books by great writers.

I think that’s a good life lesson. Doing things outside your comfort zone. Skydive. (It’s fun.) Learn to ride a motorcycle. Do something unexpected and unplanned and wild because all those experiences add up. You can always come back home and live vicariously through Frodo or Harry Potter or Raskolnikov.

But there’s a whole world out there, so don’t forget to live vicariously through you.

Leigh Brackett's The Empire Strikes Back

I’ve had a fascination with Leigh Brackett for a while now. I don’t know why. Probably because her SciFi novels don’t deal with the “far beyond. ” They don’t even travel very far. A lot of her novels take place on mars and it has swords and creatures and laser beam pistols. Generic laser beam pistols. (That’s the best kind.) She’s pretty cool and if you wanted to read something by her I suggest, The Sword of Rhiannon or The Ginger Star.

Or The Empire Strikes Back.

           

The story goes, at least from my layman understanding of it, that George Lucas recruited Leigh Brackett to aid him in writing the original screenplay. She was in her early 60s at the time and in fact, died before the movie’s release. George Lucas, being the knightly man he is, gave her credits post-humorously. And he didn’t even use a lot of the edits she made. Apparently he didn’t like them very much.

           

There’s not a lot of difference between the Leigh Brackett version of TESB and George Lucas’ version. But there’s enough change to make it worth the read. Names change and one or two pivotal plot points are different. It got me thinking.

Somebody needs to make film off her script.

I like this idea. As I was reading it I couldn’t help but feel like I stumbled across a carefully guarded secret. As if the screen play was buried underground locked in vaults with impassible combinations and the vaults were guarded by not 1 but 2 Stormtroopers. It was nerdy euphoria.

I’ve seen the movie many times and if I had watched them recently, would have probably written a blog post about it, too. Knowing the movie helped me imagine as I was reading the film. Star Wars is so branded now, unlike novels. Everyone sees characters in novels differently. But there’s only one way to see Han Solo, one way to see Darth Vader. And so I think watching the movies before reading the screenplay is the way to go when it comes to Star Wars. I think this rendition of a movie classic is worth the read.  

You know. I kinda prefer Minch.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

This Thanksgiving my mother came up to visit me and brought me a copy of, The Ocean at The End of The Lane. Since this past summer I’ve wanted to get my hands on this novel by Neil Gaimen, and she knew it. I have a good mom.

            I did what any self-respecting 22-year-old introvert would do and read it in one sitting. It’s filled with a corner of the room loneliness I didn’t even know existed. And it moved me. Much in the same way wind moves a mountain, except it happened all at once and I didn’t even know it.

            I’d recommend the novel to anyone interested in speculative fiction or Neil Gaimen or great writing in general. The better than brilliant narrative is there. The characters feel and react and live and you can’t help but feel a little voyeuristic when reading this book. By the end you feel like you’ve learned something you weren’t supposed to know. But you feel like you’ve really learned.  And that’s hard for a book to do, but the ones that do deserve to be read and written about and taught in classrooms.

            Few writers can envelope you in the same way that Gaimen does in his works. There’s darkness to his work but you can’t always point it out —Like the swift black thing in the corner of your eye that causes you to turn.

If you’ve never read anything by Neil Gaimen before The Ocean at The End of The Lane is as good a place as any to start. Its short and can be read and understood in a day. It’s also just very, very, well written.

I can’t wait to read it again. Hopefully not too soon. Hopefully I can resist the urge. I already here it calling.

Video games and literature.

Today I’m going to talk about two games. One from 2013 the other from 1999

The Last Of Us, is a magnificent post apocalyptic experience. Much like Cormac McCarthy’s, The Road, the story follows a child and adult on their journey across a tarnished America. Like The Road, the story isn’t about how the world came to such a state of decay. It merely serves as a backdrop, creating a setting for the two main characters. The Last of Us is one of the most memorable experiences in video game history. It’s a tale littered with uncertainties, vulnerability and the omnipresent feeling of despair. (A quick teaser review. But it helps you get the feel of what the game is like.)

The Last of Us is a great example of the trans media narrative. It could easily have been a book, or movie but I think it was captured perfectly as a game. I think that games now are where comics were 50 years ago. And I think we’re just coming to an age where people understand the cultural value that’s told/shown in the games of today.

Games are narrative and immersion and music. Games are art.

I think another great example of this is a game called Planescape: Torment. It was based of the Planescape RPG boardgames and has some of the best writing and character progression I’ve played through.

In fact, author Patrick Rothfuss is on board and helping with the writing of the new Planescape game. (Which I helped fund on kickstarter. Kickstarter deserves a blog post of its own.) 

It’s rather wild to see how games have been evolving. Everything has changed, people expect more. Even if they can’t put their fingers on it —Some people want better graphics or stories or art or music and that drives the value dynamicly upward. And that’s pretty cool.

My thoughts on Advertising

Advertising is less  about recognizing trends and running with it. We’re problem solvers, having more in common with the mathematician than the artist or poet laureate.

            As an undergraduate with one semester left until I receive my BFA, it’s an odd philosophy to embrace, but I believe this is true. Here’s why:

We don’t say new things; we say old things in a new way.

When it comes down to it, advertising is about telling a story. In western literature there are only 7 stories. Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy and Rebirth. That’s it boom done. Any story you’ve ever told is one of those. The same is true with advertising. It doesn’t matter if it’s a two-minute spot or a print ad —it can be placed into one of those categories.

This is a wonderful thing because it gives us a creative rulebook to follow. We’ll never be able to break the rules, but we can bend them and create the illusion of something new.

Oldspice (Comedy) did this, Nike (Overcoming the Monster) did this and Allstate (Rebirth) did, too.

Advertising is a commodity.  

            I like to think of advertising as a product. I’m not creating a 30 second spot to sell something. I’m creating a 30 second comedy. If you think of advertising as a way to entertain, or to create a dialog with the consumer, then you’re off to a great start. What creates good advertising? The same thing that creates good products —that’s innovation.