susana

This is amazing!

"Hollywood MGM/UA executives are reconsidering a company policy of adapting all movies into video games after a disastrous reception to Hotel Rwanda. Critics, parents groups, and the African Union have all condemned the game based on the fictionalized story of a real man who rescued hundreds of refugees during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. MGM executives countered that the game, which lets players assume the role of Paul Rusesabagina, leading hundreds of Tutsis from threats of slaughter, or the leader of the Interahamwe militia committing the genocide, is historically accurate, educational, and features a kick-ass new graphics engine.
In a bid to become the most technologically advanced of all Hollywood studios, MGM in 2001 adopted a policy of adapting all movies into games, which has resulted in a number of hits such as James Bond: Die Another Day, Agent Cody Banks, and the surprise hit De-Lovely. But few executives at the company thought about the repercussions when MGMs interactive division began developing a Hotel Rwanda game last year, per company policy.
We certainly agree that the policy should be more flexible and should include consultation with affected parties, such as families of the Rwandan genocide victims, in the future, said MGM VP of interactive content Aaron Sanderson. But despite the controversy, I believe this is a thoughtful, historically accurate film. And the graphics are so cool. It looks like you're really in Rwanda.”
Several actors from the film who lent their voice talents to the game, including Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, and Sophie Okonedo, are now distancing themselves from the game, saying they didnt realize they were getting involved in a potentially inappropriate spin-off.
I thought I was recording dialogue for a Saturday morning cartoon series, explained Cheadle. I had no idea it was for a video game. I would never get involved with something so tasteless.
With nearly uniform bad reviews (save for a rave from the Mobile Telegraph), MGM is now pulling copies of the Xbox and Playstation 2 game from shelves and plans to donate it to orphanages in Rwanda to fulfill a commitment the studio made to give $4 million in cash or gifts to Rwandan charities along with the films release."

link here

of critical importance:

-- they really have a blanket policy of adapting all movies into games?

-- "few executives thought of the repercusions" of making a game based on the genocide, really?

-- "But despite the controversy, I believe this is a thoughtful, historically accurate film. And the graphics are so cool. It looks like you're really in Rwanda."

-- "... actors... are now distancing themselves from the game, saying they didn't realize they were getting involved in a potentially inappropriate spin-off.... I would never get involved with something so tasteless..." they didn't know?

-- "MGM is now pulling copies of the Xbox and Playstation 2 game from shelves and plans to donate it to orphanages in Rwanda to fulfill a commitment the studio made to give $4 million in cash or gifts to Rwandan charities along with the film's release." THIS JUST PISSES ME OFF -- TALK ABOUT TASTELESS! They're going to donate video games (are they also donating the game boxes?) about their country's genocide to orphans of it in order to fulfill their monetary obligations for having borrowed/stolen their stories?! i've been looking online for it, seems like it's no more. i would really, really, like a copy.

Posted by at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

All this current discussion motivated by Harvard University President Lawrence Summers' remarks (claiming that there are "innate differences" between men and women and that these differences partly account for the disparity in the numbers of professional men vs. women in scientific fields) is a very, very good thing! I'm glad it's being discussed openly and publicly. Of course, it's extremely frustrating that such an educated men should say such words (the "innate differences" argument has been repeatedly refuted by numerous research) even if in the context of scholarly debate. I'm just glad that we're talking about this. I'm glad that people are saying to the rest of the world: "you know what -- it's absolutely true, women in science & technology fields (universities, corporate, government) generally suffer much more hostility and discrimination; mothers generally suffer much more difficult choices and negative professional consequences than fathers do..." and so on. Some of this also applies to other under-represented groups besides women. How can we live with the knowledge that so much potential (in fact, research indicates a figure from 50% to 66%) is being untapped, ignored, even discouraged?! One of the projects I'm currently involved with (at the Annenberg IML) incorporates the use of computer graphics to realize LA high school students' literary visions; out of a group of 15 students, only two are girls. When I asked why this was so, I was informed that a boy in the group (I believe this boy is no longer participating) terrorized the girls and thus only two "survived". As if these girls don't have enough disadvantages in their lives already. Since these numbers are certainly reflected in our very own IMD, I was hoping to instigate some thought on the matter.

Posted by at 7:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Project C.A.R. [commuter art rig] logo design v1

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this one is tough - Peggy is forcing us, albeit gently, but forcing us she is to shape these vague hopes and desires into REAL THINGS! how crazy is that!?

Title: ''never again''

Brief description: online simulation (incorporating a physical/bodily interface).

Subject matter / Topic: The best and the worst of humanity/human nature, as reflected by the journeys & decisions of one couple living against the system.

(Something about) the Experience: It demands self-confrontation (of the viewer); it is shared by 2 (no more, no less) persons (online) at a time; it is a (roughly) 15-minute-experience: ''enlightenment in 15 minutes''; it is dynamic (it changes/evolves).

[I'll begin a bibliography of thesis-related and inspiring thoughts, media objects, artworks, etc. on my blog -- coming soon.]

Posted by at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Object #1: 'Marie' - A previous personal work, short video

This turned out to be a surprisingly important work for me. It was a class project, and albeit, I was not particularly enthused about the assignment. 'Marie' portrays a glimpse of a man grieving for his loved one who perished in New York on September 11th, 2001 during the catastrophic events. As it turned out, I was due to present this short on the one-year anniversary of the event and I felt compelled to commemorate it. This short is important to me because it strongly conveys exactly the feelings I was hoping to communicate. Feelings which even now I can't help but think I would somehow trivialize or mutate should I declare them in written words - as I think that at least partly, the reason the short 'succeeds' is that it is a purely visual and unspoken communication which transpires.
It is a relevant work because to this date, I have seen very little within the art & media world that at least attempts to understand the events from an intimate perspective.

Object #2: 'War Photographer' -- A Film by Christian Frei with James Nachtwey

This is a documentary about world-renowned war photographer James Nachtwey. The film's director followed Nachtwey for two years into the wars in Indonesia, Kosovo, Palestine and others. This doc has been one of the films, or for that matter, media objects/events, that have moved me most in my life. The film candidly displays Nachtwey and reveals this thoughtful and unobtrusive man perform at his absolute best during moments of absolute worst. Nachtwey's very being represents something he often talks about in the film, something that noticeably haunts him and consumes him: the inherent contradictions present in the very thing that he does (i.e. the desire to create artful imagery from real-life tragedy). This brings the themes of the film to a philosophically and intellectually heightened place while simultaneously documenting human drama also at its climax. Again, the ways in which these inherent contradictions are slowly and benevolently revealed imprint the viewer's mind with soft layer after layer of meaning and awareness.
An inspiring technique was invented for the film: video micro-cameras are attached to Nachtwey's still camera. This enables us to hear every breath of his and to participate in the act of shooting his war photos. The intimate insight into how Nachtwey chooses his subject, his framing and his 1/60th sec moment amazing to me. Something felt new to me here, cinema had accessed a new possibility. It was a visceral feeling and I didn't (still don't) fully comprehend what I was experiencing nor why it was so powerful. All I can say is that all those layers of meaning, on top of the “participatory/interactive” one, created an important work full of potential, much of it realized - and that which wasn't, was equally poignant because it pointed at a possible future, at possible forms only bound by the limits of our imagination.
I made two short-format documentaries not too long after seeing War Photographer; one was about North African Muslim migrant workers in the agricultural south of Spain and the other about a neglected and nearly forgotten gypsy ghetto in the outskirts of a large southern town. I wrestled with contradictions throughout the entire process.

Object #3: 'The Sims'- A game by Maxis / EA

The Sims is important to me because it was the first game that emphasized people within its own world, its own gameplay. It wasn't about one 'fantastical' character in one 'fantastical' world - fantasy has never engaged me - it was about creating your own individual/s and seeing how its life unfolded within a game that was 'closely' (relatively) modeled after real contemporaneous first-world life. I am not an avid player but every time I play I do feel a strong sense of potential. The game does facilitate escapist activities, but what about the idea of a war photographer Sim in a war-torn Sim world?

Analysis:

These three objects are similar in that the subject at hand is a person/group of persons and their stories. Additionally, though each is a very specific iteration of life, they all attempt to represent modern day life, as most of us know it. The first two items clearly share much in common: they examine a slice of human drama at its most difficult to comprehend and to accept.

One obvious difference is the form they each take: a short fictive video, a long-format documentary, and a simulation/game. The Sims differs greatly from the other two in that it does not attempt to represent one very crafted, very specific, very meaning-heavy experience - rather it offers the potential for this but by no means does it encourage it.

There have been personal accounts about 911 on the internet - stories about grief and loved ones and psychological turmoil. I have not spent much time absorbing these, but I cannot think of many mass-scale pieces about it. There have been didactic documentaries (i.e. Frontline) and countless snippets of personal accounts on television. There was the theatrically released collection of shorts ''11'09'01'' (directed by Sean Penn, Mira Nair, Iñarritu, and others), but I have not had a chance to see it yet. There have also been counter narratives about the events online: alternate perspectives (I do not like to use the term 'conspiracy theories') sometimes realized as quite engaging videos and interactive presentations - but again, they are obscure and not usually intimate explorations on the effects of losing loved ones on this complex and contentious day.

There is a narrative film entitled 'Harrison's Flowers' about a war photographer in Kosovo that goes missing and his wife who goes searching for him, never believing he is dead. It is also an important film for me, and even with all its possible/probably flaws, it still deals with human drama at its most evil (Kosovo) and at its most transcendent (bond between two individuals) in interesting ways.

Well, 'The Sims' has countless iterations and manifestations: expansion packs galore and so forth. One other game I can think of that may stress similar themes and offer similar possibilities is 'Second Life', though I have not yet played it.

I am interested in drama - I am most engaged by (interesting) people and the ways in which they choose to live out their one chance at life and the ways in which they choose to die. I am interested in situations in which the ABSOLUTE worst and ABSOLUTE best in us is explored. I am most interested in the form of simulation -- yet what does this mean (to me)?????

Posted by at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

please excuse the appearance of this blog -- it is under revision -- thank you for your patience

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