I found an interesting piece on YouTube - it's the guy who does the voice of Mario playing around with technology that allows him to capture voices and animations for the characters from anywhere in the world. What's interesting is that as he talks, the character models move according to his tone and pitches. Also I find it interesting that when he changes his voice to Wario, the computer model changes from Mario to Wario. I'm not sure if that's actually voice-activated or if he switched using a button. But what's the MOST interesting is that the voice of Mario and Warrio looks like Frasiers dad :). Who knew?
Monday, October 22, 2007
Seinfeld Narrative
Narrative Analysis is to look at something as a novel, find out who the characters are, what the plot is, and piece it all together. In class we were discussing Seinfeld, and how it's a narrative about a whole lot of nothing and that there never is a set-in-stone plot.
I think the creators played around with this notion a bit. This is evidenced by the "Backwards Episode." Basically what happens, is they play the final scene first, and then in order, played them all back to the first scene of that particular episode.
If I remember correctly, it began with everyone being miserable because of a failed-wedding. Then the next scene was the wedding, which was a disaster because of something to do with invitations. The following scene was the actual mishap to do with the invitations, and so on and so on until the very last scene was the announcing that someone's getting married. It all pieced together so nicely that the episode was just as good backwards as it would have been forward.
I think this was a neat way for the creators to play around with the characters and the show as a whole. It was the characters that really helped to drive the episode, because as a viewer, you knew what they were all about.
I think the creators played around with this notion a bit. This is evidenced by the "Backwards Episode." Basically what happens, is they play the final scene first, and then in order, played them all back to the first scene of that particular episode.
If I remember correctly, it began with everyone being miserable because of a failed-wedding. Then the next scene was the wedding, which was a disaster because of something to do with invitations. The following scene was the actual mishap to do with the invitations, and so on and so on until the very last scene was the announcing that someone's getting married. It all pieced together so nicely that the episode was just as good backwards as it would have been forward.
I think this was a neat way for the creators to play around with the characters and the show as a whole. It was the characters that really helped to drive the episode, because as a viewer, you knew what they were all about.
Convergence in Wrestling
Speaking of convergence, there's this new concept in wrestling called, "Cyber Sunday." It's a pay-per-view event in which the fans supposedly create the entire pay-per-view. What WWE's doing is they give the fans a website to go to where they can vote for who wrestles who, what stipulations are involved in the match, right down to the attire of what the female wrestlers are wearing. It's touted as putting the fans in 'complete control of the situation.'
However, much like Star Wars' fan films, they're in complete control "ONLY if....." For example, they'll give you the following choice: "Who do you want to challenge Randy Orton for the title?" They'll give you three choices: "Shawn Michaels - Mr. Kennedy - Jeff Hardy." By that, they're limiting what the fans can actually control.
FURTHERMORE, using that same example, they'll announce the pay-per-view months in advance, but every week on TV, they'll make the 'companies pick' look like the stronger, more viable choice. For instance, they'll give you the three choices, but Shawn Michaels will be winning every week, getting the most television time, and put in situations where he lays out the other two picks. Meanwhile, Mr. Kennedy and Jeff Hardy could be burried, losing in the opening matches, all in an attempt to sway the votes.
Overall, I think it's pretty smart business. Make the fans think they have a choice so they're happy, meanwhile influence their decision so it's best for business overall.
However, much like Star Wars' fan films, they're in complete control "ONLY if....." For example, they'll give you the following choice: "Who do you want to challenge Randy Orton for the title?" They'll give you three choices: "Shawn Michaels - Mr. Kennedy - Jeff Hardy." By that, they're limiting what the fans can actually control.
FURTHERMORE, using that same example, they'll announce the pay-per-view months in advance, but every week on TV, they'll make the 'companies pick' look like the stronger, more viable choice. For instance, they'll give you the three choices, but Shawn Michaels will be winning every week, getting the most television time, and put in situations where he lays out the other two picks. Meanwhile, Mr. Kennedy and Jeff Hardy could be burried, losing in the opening matches, all in an attempt to sway the votes.
Overall, I think it's pretty smart business. Make the fans think they have a choice so they're happy, meanwhile influence their decision so it's best for business overall.
Movie Idea
We were discussing Movie Idea's in class a few weeks ago if I remember correctly. Anyway, here's something I came up with while getting lost while driving a few nights ago.
This couple, or group of friends, is on a road trip to Canada or something like that. They plug in the GPS system because it's more convenient than maps. The GPS takes them on the right path for 5 or 6 hours, but then as it gets dark, it goes, "Recalculating....." All of a sudden, the GPS voice starts taking you down all these side-streets and dead-ends, finally leading you to the middle of this dark, creepy orchard. It goes, "You have arrived at your destination!" Then it can turn into the typical October horror movie.
Like I said, I came up with this idea while I was driving with my friend and the GPS kept rerouting me through side streets. I go, "We're probably going to end up in some slasher movie" and then I just pieced it all together. If you use it, though, I will sue for intellectual properties, so watch out ;)
This couple, or group of friends, is on a road trip to Canada or something like that. They plug in the GPS system because it's more convenient than maps. The GPS takes them on the right path for 5 or 6 hours, but then as it gets dark, it goes, "Recalculating....." All of a sudden, the GPS voice starts taking you down all these side-streets and dead-ends, finally leading you to the middle of this dark, creepy orchard. It goes, "You have arrived at your destination!" Then it can turn into the typical October horror movie.
Like I said, I came up with this idea while I was driving with my friend and the GPS kept rerouting me through side streets. I go, "We're probably going to end up in some slasher movie" and then I just pieced it all together. If you use it, though, I will sue for intellectual properties, so watch out ;)
Sanjaya's a Star
When I first got into wrestling, I was introduced to then-WWE Talent Agent, Kevin Kelly. I asked him, "What does it take to be a star in this buisness?" He told me the following: "Stick around, work hard, and get on TV somehow even if it's a seemingly worthless role." What he meant by that last statement was, "Get on televised wrestling, even if that means losing every match for a year." The moral of the story was that if you're on TV, you're under the radar, and your perceived value increases instantly.
With that in mind, I want to talk for a minute about American Idol's ability to turn seemingly worthless people into celebrity superstars. Take William Hung for example. Before his small bit of TV exposure, he was probably bullied in school and picked on in the lunch room, the whole bit. Why? Because he's a walking joke (in a good way of course!). But ever since his stint on American Idol, he's a famous, RICH walking joke, and just about everyone loves him!
The same with Sanjaya. Here's a guy who if it wern't for American Idol, he'd be just like anyone else, but quirkier. Because of his 15 minutes of fame, for NOT BEING VERY GOOD I might add, he's in all the gossip magazines, his face is in media print, and people know his name. In both William's case, and Sanjaya's case, if they wanted to take that little bit of celebrity and capitolize on it, they could with very little effort. In Hung's case, he did.
What's the difference between Sanjaya and the girl that sings across the hall from me? The girl across the hall from me isn't in magazines or famous. Why? Because she wasn't on Television .
With that in mind, I want to talk for a minute about American Idol's ability to turn seemingly worthless people into celebrity superstars. Take William Hung for example. Before his small bit of TV exposure, he was probably bullied in school and picked on in the lunch room, the whole bit. Why? Because he's a walking joke (in a good way of course!). But ever since his stint on American Idol, he's a famous, RICH walking joke, and just about everyone loves him!
The same with Sanjaya. Here's a guy who if it wern't for American Idol, he'd be just like anyone else, but quirkier. Because of his 15 minutes of fame, for NOT BEING VERY GOOD I might add, he's in all the gossip magazines, his face is in media print, and people know his name. In both William's case, and Sanjaya's case, if they wanted to take that little bit of celebrity and capitolize on it, they could with very little effort. In Hung's case, he did.
What's the difference between Sanjaya and the girl that sings across the hall from me? The girl across the hall from me isn't in magazines or famous. Why? Because she wasn't on Television .
Survivor Joke
I'm thinking back to our discussion about Survivor and reality TV, and I remember the saying, "Behind every Just Kidding, there's a little bit of truth." With that in mind, I want to bring your attention to Daniel Tosh, a Stand-up Comedian who does a bit about Survivor. The joke goes like this:
"We wonder why other countries hate us? I love that! We have a game show in our country called "Survivor." Thats a GAME in our country! ...You can win a million dollars for surviving on a place where people already live! Do you realize what kind of message that sends? Not a good one!
'Excuse me, I've been here for 60 years. May I have some bread?' 'Haha!!! No! We're American's! This is a game! OH NO! We dont have our cell phones! This is so hard!"
People find humor in it because there's a notion that this is probably pretty accurate LoL. Any comments?
"We wonder why other countries hate us? I love that! We have a game show in our country called "Survivor." Thats a GAME in our country! ...You can win a million dollars for surviving on a place where people already live! Do you realize what kind of message that sends? Not a good one!
'Excuse me, I've been here for 60 years. May I have some bread?' 'Haha!!! No! We're American's! This is a game! OH NO! We dont have our cell phones! This is so hard!"
People find humor in it because there's a notion that this is probably pretty accurate LoL. Any comments?
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Paris is an idiot.
I'm no Celebrity junkie, I'm really not. But my buddy Nick just sent me this video on YouTube and I find it hillarious. I figure since I already did a rant on Brittney, I'll rant on Paris, too. She's only famous for being famous and has no real talent at anything. She's just a name that happens to be in the public eye so they use her to do stuff. I find it hillarious that Dave will parody her to her face, and she STILL has no idea how useless she is. This is a perfect example. After watching that, Dave did a GREAT job with it, he treated her exactly as he should have. She tries to pout and 'sad puppy face,' to get out of the subject and it's really pathetic. Someone's got to teach this girl a lesson, but everyone's too busy trying to appease her. I thought she wanted to be a role model? Why didn't she use it as a platform to say, "What I did was wrong, don't do what I did?" Because in her opinion, her Futuristic Musical and new perfume is more important.
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