Success in the World

What is success? What does it mean to me, especially as a filmmaker? Some points were brought up in class on Tuesday about what success is. From all of the many topics we discussed this was a topic that really caught my attention. In a world full of hardship and having to rely on money and work for survival, one may view success as having a stable home, good job, and high pay so that you can live comfortably. Having power and money in the workplace an expensive home, and a wife and family are all things some may consider when thinking about success. To many this is the definition of success. However, on the contrary I find that this is not how I would define the notion of success. I could have achieved all of these things and still I would not have felt successful or accomplished. Here's why: success to me is an idea of fulfillment and accomplishing something I set out to do. To create a work I love and not only for my personal fulfillment, but for the betterment of everyone. I am not concerned with money, power, or even having a steady job. In the world of filmmaking I don't see myself as some kind of studio driven filmmaker who is out for money, fame, and Oscar nominations, but rather I want to be the independent artist who gets his work seen by many without having to worry about a controlling studio or whether I'll make tons of money off of my film. I don't want to be a director like Michael Bay, J.J. Abrams, or James Cameron. Their work lacks much of what independent artists have. I see myself as an Ingmar Bergman, a John Cassavetes, or a Sofia Coppola. Film is my medium and my audience is the world, if people understand my films then I will have achieved my success. Money and power is of no importance to me.

Documentaries

One of the first documentary's I remember being exposed to, although I know there were plenty before, was when I was in the 6th grade and Super Size Me came out. Since then I watched that just about every year in a class in school. It baffles my mind that a movie like that, which conveys just how bad fast food is, hasn't changed the culture of America. I guess you can say it has with the younger generation, but the older still flock to the fast food empire. What it comes down to really is that old habits die hard.

My favorite type of documentaries, though, have to be those of which are focused on war. They're an interactive way of learning so to speak since I am a visual learner. Especially when it comes to the topic of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. If we don't learn from the past then we are doomed to repeat them and they get the brain thinkn.

Another type of documentaries that I enjoy are ones that show how things are made. The TV show How It's Made always blows my mind. It's a nice insight to how the products you use are made. Consumer awareness is an important aspect in today's generation. The behind the scenes of how movies and other entertainment entities are always fun to see as well.

My last thought on documentaries are that when it comes to the realm of sports they also provide a way for fans to get to know and understand the whole story. For instance, the '83 NFL Draft has always been a topic of conversation. Greats like John Elway and Dan Marino were a product of that class and the reason why there's so much controversy is because although Elway got drafted by the Colts he refused to play for them and Elway dropped way further than he should have been. Again, documentaries are always just a nice spark of conversation and knowledge boosters.

Quality and success

As someone who plays a lot of niche games, I think that success in games doesn't necessarily mean sales. For the ultimate example, look no further than Platinum Games. Few of their games have sold very well, but they have one of the most devout fanbases a studio could have.

Also, just because a company pumps millions upon millions of dollars in to something, that won't make it good. Look at Destiny. It's just bad FPS Phantasy Star Online with a very bored sounding Peter Dinklage as the only character. Destiny is practically the opposite of games by Platinum. While Platinum games are beloved by their target audience, they don't sell (Their past 2 games were Wii U exclusives. NO ONE does that if their goal is cash money). Meanwhile, Destiny sold like 20 kazillion copies over night, and is on the very low end of the 4 point scale.

Couldn't find a fitting picture, so I just made a .gif out of some hype Metal Gear Rising gameplay... Platinum maintains it's luster forever!

A Little More Conversation, A Little Less Reaction

The fireworks were certainly flying in class today as we opened up the infamous can of worms called The Great Video Game Debate. I have to say, as a member of society who plays mainstream video games, I do enjoy things like Halo and Battlefield. Is there much substance and depth to these games? I’m not so sure. I do think that we as American gamers have become too driven by instant gratification to pursue games with deep meanings. Perhaps that is why the Japanese don’t release some of their more difficult products to us Americans.

            I do agree with Professor Leeper on the fact that it is good that this conversation is being held. Video games are becoming huge influencers in our world, and they are a force with which to be reckoned. In fact, I wrote a Sociological Study paper during my senior year on the effects of Grand Theft Auto on American teens. Research is showing that it most definitely does affect people, and it isn’t for the best. This is why I think we need to really keep an eye of video games. Never before has a medium engaged an audience in such a way. We are now actually controlling what happens in the media that we are watching as an audience. We can’t do that with films or music. This is why we must be very careful, and it is why we need to approach this subject as a civilized conversation, not a heated, opinionated argument characteristic of a Pokemon battle with Team Rocket. :)  

A Medium Of Art

        Logan brought up a great point on what determines a good/successful video game; but what really caught my attention is that he brought up the fact how he does't care for a great story in a video game. HE JUST WANTS TO BLOW SOMEONE'S FREAKIN HEAD OFF! And I completely agree with him. Yes I probably sound stupid to all of you because I only want that little simplistic need but I still would like at least a decent plot within the game but as long as I get that "psychological need" then I'm good.  Honestly that all it really is, a "need", because if you think about it, those like to play Call of Duty have been paying $60 for the same game for years now. COD has been the same for years just with different characters, guns, setting, and probably a little mix with in the plot but it doesn't matter to some of us because we need that "need." Assassin's Creed for that matter then yes I would need a great plot because it all involves time traveling; and no one would wan't to play a game based on time traveling assassins to be dumb and confusing.

        Then yet someone had brought up the fact of how video games have an impact on our children, for example Grand Theft Auto (GTA). Now we all know how the game goes, stealing killing, shooting, profanity, sex and drugs. Now as by being a christian goes, it is obvious that christian parents won't allow their children to play these such games because of its content but video games shouldn't dominate our behavior. My parents let me play GTA III and Mortal Kombat for the first time and I was only seven years old. Yea my parents aren't christians but that doesn't mean to think anything wrong of me nor them.  They raised me well. Look at me. I'm good. No criminal record, I haven't drank nor smoke and you don't see me trying to perform fatalities on people even though i do desire that "need".

I do agree with the fact that those games are violent and a little inappropriate but it's a medium of art.

But I'll have to admit this particular video game here is completely dumb and pointless and extremely inappropriate .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV3PhvCf_Jg

Calling

While there are a lot of subjects and details from today's "debate" I could talk about, and I probably will in another blog, I'm going to focus on the idea of calling.

It was a very small point in the conversation, but Leeper briefly mentioned about everyone having a calling, or if people didn't believe in callings. I for one definitely believe in everyone having a calling - sometimes it takes awhile to know exactly what it is, but it's there and it's different for everyone. Your calling is something you are extremely passionate about, something you want to do for your whole life and devote time to. Now there are two type of calling to me - your career/job and your ministry/missions calling. Sometimes they are both the same, and in many instances overlap.

For me my career/job calling is in the film and art industry. Maybe graphic design, maybe writing - I'm not entirely sure yet. But film and comics are my big calling and passion. Yeah that sounds funny to have comics as a calling, but no one tells that to Stan Lee. And I'm seriously passionate about comics and superheroes and all the fun stuff that comes with it. If I had a job in the comics industry, I'd be content.

I actually read comics for goodness sake.

Now, my missions/ministry calling? Not entirely sure yet, but I'm been on multiple missions trips doing various things. Not every issue or problem is for everyone to solve and help out with, and we as Christians need to understand that. It's not that we're not sensitive to some things, it's just not our thing. I really like helping out with construction and building/cleaning homes for people. I've done that on a few missions trips. I like talking to and helping the homeless. What I've found I'm not comfortable with are small children and the sick. I visited a terminally ill center in New York once, and I was so uncomfortable there I could barely talk to the patients I was supposed to comfort. I was so freaked out, I could never do something like that. But some people, that's what they are passionate about. We all have certain areas we're called to.

I thought I was cool as a freshman.

Career and missions callings usually overlap, because, let's face it, we are just so passionate about both callings, they just end up becoming merged. Some people are called to be missionaries, some start organizations and foundations. For me, I'll probably help in film campaigns and making stories prevalent to the issues I'm called to. So the idea of 'callings' is a great one to me, and I just wanted to share a little on it. I'll ask you - what to you feel called to and passionate about?

True Biblical Success

Very interesting debate that directed the whole of today's class.  In my opinion, success is not measured by how much money you make.  If you give the public what it wants you are only "successful" by the world's standards.  If you just go along with what society demands of your talent, you are wasting your talent, and you're not changing lives with your work.  As an artist (in my mind), it is more important that you challenge the world and give them something unexpected.  Something that challenges them to think about their worldview.  You may lose the appeal of the majority of your audience, but the few that do accept your work and enjoy it will be changed for the better.  I think it's far greater to challenge and delight the very few than to please everybody without changing them in any way.  Oh sure, you won't make much money (you may even lose it), but what's important is that you're living out your calling to be salt and light. Some insightful verses that talk about true success are the following:
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" -Matthew 16:26      
and
"Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do."-1 Kings 2:3  
The reward for success is the joy of knowing that you changed somebody for the better. 

Indie and Mainstream together

Holly garbage flakes today was intense! There was some serious back and forth that I thought was good and interesting and then someone pulled out the Call of Duty Pokémon battle and that was crazy. As someone who has played both games but is a fan of neither I will try to be objective in a brief discussion of the two. Pokémon we have been told brings new creatures and environments, as well as a new feel to each game. Yet Call of Duty does the same thing in their own way, just look advanced warfare released not more than a day or two ago, I have seen my roommate playing it like crazy, and though right away I can recognize it is Call of Duty, it also is something new for them with whole new elements and so far a interesting enough story. So the excuse that neither are making gradual change doesn’t seem to hold up although the change they both experience seems to be in tiny increments as far as I can tell.

I do have a bit of bias on the next subject which is indie games. I for the past year or so have played hardly anything but them. I check Green light, early access, and Indie tabs almost every day on steam. The reason I started this was not however for the love of indie games, it started because I felt God telling me to stop playing M rated games, so indie was one of the few places I had to turn, and I quickly discovered that these tiny companies actually had something to say, and not just a fun game. I fell in love with the stories, and new ways of doing things that many games would come up with. This does not mean I do not love some of the big titles though. Back when I played M games there was a host of mainstream I loved, I know it has been beaten to death but let’s be honest Bioshock Infinite was fantastic, however I hated the gameplay, it was too easy and repetitive at least for my taste, the thing I loved was what everyone… the story. Fallout 3 was, and to me still is the most immersive game I have ever played, never have I felt so intensely part of another world as I did in that game (side note: with the help of a dear friend I was able to turn off the blood and gore in Fallout New Vegas {not dead bodies lying around part of the game} so I do play that). And the peaches and cream of gaming for me… Sonic Adventure 2 Battles, because let’s face it, the story sucked, the campaign was meh, but Chao World was one of the greatest things to ever happen to gaming in all of time. Don’t believe me? Here is a Chao race

 

So I think it is safe to say you can like Call of Bio Poke Creed but give indie a shot. Download steam and get this free game called The Plan, it will take you about Five minutes to complete maybe 10

 

 

 

More Video Games

The class conversation about video games was a little interesting and made me glad I don't play any of them.  They did, however, remind me of how my half brother was when he was really abscessed with video games.  When he was younger he used to play video games 24-7 and lock himself in his room in order to do so.  His grandmother on my step-father's side would buy him all of the games he wanted.  By the age of 12 or 13 he learned how to drive by himself, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten caught by the police yet.  He still plays video games, but not as much as he used to.  Despite what most people said about video games making humans dumber my half brother and my cousin proves that to be false.  My half brother is smart, but purposefully fails his school work so he doesn't have to go home, due to the problems at home at the time.  My cousin loves science and is one of the top students in his class.  I guess it depends on how the individual uses the games.  There are a lot of video games that can make you use the brain to make certain strategies that may help them when it comes to solving problems.

What Success and Good mean

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary he definition for success is "the correct or desired result of an attempt". When we talk about all the mainstream games like Call Of Duty and Halo you can not say that they suck because the people making them succeeded. Something that is Good is something that is to be desired. Call of duty which is my favorite game, is desired by many people. this would say if you follow the definition that the game was good. When talking about indie games and other independent games they are making the game to tell a story and be a fun and desirable game to play; unlike Call Of duty who is probably just trying to make money which they do. For those games they have to be desirable for us to play or the game is no good in turn making the developer unsuccessful. When we were watching the movie you heard the one guy said that if the game wasn't good he would kill himself. how do you if it is good if people want to play it. this means that it has to appeal to the audience. no matter who you are you are not making something just for yourself and trying to tell a story because quite honestly no one really wants to hear all your stories if there boring and unappealing. when you look at movies, books, songs, you choose what is appealing to you. when the maker makes there stuff they do it so there story can be heard but if no one hears it they were not successful in what they wanted to accomplish. like in indie games he said he was making for his 13 year old self. if a kid that was just like him at 13 didn't like the game then really was he successful. i guess what i"m trying to say is that you need to open your eyes and realize what is actually good and successful. Anything can be successful without being good if the company or person did what he wanted to but something good has to desirable. if it is not desirable then its not good. and that's not saying everyone has to want it but there has to someone and a good percentage that want it, because spending countless hours on a game and only one person like the game is not success just because its appealing to that one guy. 

Video Games.

There was a debate today in class about whether some video games are successful, or not. I think that a video game is considered "successful" in my eyes if the game is making money meaning that the game does not "suck" if there are people waiting in 1-2 hour lines for the midnight release of the game. I started playing the Grand Theft Auto series at the age of 6 or 7 and it did not influence me to put the actions of the game into a real life situation. I disagree with the fact that parents that do not allow their children to play games like that, because of the impact it may have on them in real life situations.

Pixar Films.

As a child when I was initially introduced to Toy Story, I couldn't tell you that I noticed the small details such as; graphics, the use of humans in the early years that were in the films. I had a huge addiction to Toy Story, and other Pixar films such as; Monsters, INC, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and even Bugs Life. I especially like Pixar films the most, because of the story lines, the technical aspects, and the largest reason why I prefer Pixar films over others is for the details of the characters.  When Toy Story 3 and Monsters University were released to theaters, I had a sudden urge of a child again, because I grew up with these movies as a kid, so when the next movie in the series was released, I was there on opening night. Some of the younger kids will not be able to understand why it was exciting for the older kids.

Videogames: Then & Now

Video games have been a part of my life since I can last remember. I love video games from PS1 all the way to the Nintendo 3DS. The games I played most as a child and still play to this day are Spyro, Crash Bandicoot games, Twisted Metal, Fighting Force, Need For Speed, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, Sonic, Pokemon, and so much more. I am not real impressed with the new games today and I am not a fan of XBOX. The only game I really enjoyed from today's life is GTA only because it is basically an improved version of Need For Speed and Driver. I guess I do not really enjoy most XBOX games because I never took the time to play them or even own the console for that matter. I am definitely a PlayStation fan although I have never owned anything higher than a PS2. I did however go through the phase of GameBoy to Nintedo DS Lite to the fancy Nintendo 3DS. I actually play the newest Pokemon game in 3D and even though its so much different, I really love the change. I do not think the 3D version ruined generation 1 and everything is going to change no matter what anyone has to say. I applaud Pokemon for taking the next steps. It was very obvious that Pokemon was going to go to the 3D route through its game evolution.

Here is the evolution of the game:

Skyrim's Art

When Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim came out, it was truly ground-breaking and seemed to change the face of commercial gaming. The depth of the story is incredible, and the amount of time you can spend on the game in a single player is stunning. 

I currently have 530 hours of Skyrim logged on Steam. About 300 of those are spent on my first character. There's that much content. Then, once they released the DLC's even more content was available. 

Yes Skyrim isn't an "indie" game. It's a huge commercial game with thousands of workers. I acknowledge that huge companies like Bethesda aren't the only companies that make good games. Indie games are also amazing. I think there's so much value in those too. 

Short But Sweet

Pixar is awesome, it's indisputable. Now they're a powerhouse animation company, cranking out huge, polished, feature films nearly every year. However, Pixar wasn't always the giant it is today. In fact, it started out relatively simple, with short animation films. Pixar has dozens of short films, mostly played before one of their films start. But Pixar hasn't always had large productions, they had to start small. Though their first projects were much smaller in scale than what they have been able to achieve today, the shorts are impressive nonetheless.

In class we watched the short "Luxo Jr.", which was completed by Pixar in 1986. The film is simple; a story of mother and child or father and child, but represented by desk lamps. This seems to be where Pixar got that little bouncy lamp that they use in their logo. Maybe not the most impressive by today's standards, but revolutionary when it was released.

We also watched "Tin Toy", or as I like think of it, the short with the world's most terrifying baby ever. The little tin toy was animated nicely, and really resembled the actions of a toy. However, the baby in that film looks like an evil, plastic Benjamin Button.

Another short we watched was "Kick Knack", the one about the snowman who wants so badly to escape from his snow globe, but keeps failing when he attempts to get out. It's such a fun short, and you really do feel sorry for the little guy. This was one of the earliest snow particle animations too, which is pretty cool. I love how they test out their new technologies in the short films they make.

By 1998, Pixar had released their first feature film, "Toy Story", and it was time for their next feature, "Bugs Life". Accompanying "Bugs Life" in theaters was their 1997 short, "Geri's Game". I believe this was the first Pixar short I ever watched, and "Bugs Life" was likely the first movie I ever saw in theaters. Since watching Geri play chess with himself for the first time back when I was two years old, I think "Geri's Game" still remains as my favorite Pixar short.

We also watched some of the more recent short films like "For the Birds", which experimented with feathers and fur before they went on to make "Monsters, Inc."; and the teaser for "The Incredibles" which was to get people anticipating that next film.

Pixar has done an outstanding job creating fun and meaningful stories through their animations. They've come a long way since their earliest shorts, but it's great to watch the older works too, because you can still see the quality of their productions in the earlier years.