Friday, August 24, 2012
Looks Like We Made It!
Against all odds, we reached our $1,500 goal on Kickstarter to help fund our new web series! This is so awersome! Backers will get their copy of the season and two will receive special VIP access at the premiere of the first episode party! We're so close to begin shooting, but unfortunately we had to replace ANOTHER actress, but things are looking well! We'll keep you posted and as always, thanks for reading!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The Hunger Games vs Battle Royale
So with The Hunger Games being released on DVD, it really got me thinking about how the whole franchise is severely overrated. It's the same thing that happened with Twilight. A wholly unoriginal story with poorly developed characters and a story that actually had a chance to be good, but for whatever reason the author/director ruins it. In this post I will analyze the differences between The Hunger Games and Battle Royale in both movie and print forms. I will analyze several aspects of both works on a scale of one to five.
1. Overall Concept: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (3)
While the basic idea of The Hunger Games isn't bad at all, Battle Royale's originality is superior. For one thing, Battle Royale takes place in an alternate timeline in the present. This makes the horror of the situation really hit home. The date is undisclosed, but this is to make it seem as though the story is present day, especially to the Japanese audience it was intended for. Hunger Games, on the other hand, takes place in a dystopian future that is highly unlikely to take place. When you add the element of the government being able to genetically engineer new species that behave more like automatons rather than animals, this reader was left feeling that the author was insulting the intelligence of her audience. Understanding the plausibility of the Battle Royale society requires a little bit of understanding of Japanese sociology, WWII propaganda and history that the average American doesn't have, but I encourage anyone reading this to experience both books and decide for themselves.
2. Characters: Battle Royale (5), The Hunger Games (1)
This is probably the biggest difference between the two books. By my count, The Hunger Games really only has two main characters and about 8-10 important supporting characters. Battle Royale follows an entire junior high school class, but has about 9 main characters that the reader follows more closely. The amazing part of Battle Royale is that even the minor characters (who only live about one chapter) have their time to shine. The reader gets to know these individuals on an intimate level and even the bad guys (with the exception of Kazuo) are able to be pitied in their death. Many characters intersect as well, making their ultimate deaths even more horrifying. Takami achieves this largely by writing in third person, so that the reader can be omniscient. Collins chose to write the entire story through Katniss Everdeen's point of view and I honestly think that telling such a grand story from in first person was her biggest mistake as an author. How different would Harry Potter have been if it had been written from Harry's point of view? Apart from the number of characters, Takami's are much more loveable. The ever-present optimist Shuya is a character everyone can root for, whereas Katniss comes across as annoying, moody and quite frankly a bitch with an attitude. Katniss refuses help and advice continually throughout the book and one must wonder why no one simply says, "Fine! Go out and die then!"
3. Story: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (2)
This part is tricky because many will disagree with me, but please read the entire section before you skin me alive. The Hunger Games has a story that had the potential to be incredibly profound and carry some weight. That being said, it still packs a punch, I simply find it regrettable that Ms. Collins chose to focus more on the musings of a 16-year-old girl rather than the socioeconomic and revolutionary world that she created. True, the center of Battle Royale has to do with friendship and love, but survival and distrust of the government are a large part as well. Shogo's character serves to open the mind of the reader to the idea that maybe even our government (or rather the modern Japanese government) isn't so much better than the one portrayed in the book. At no point in The Hunger Games does anyone really take a step back and legitimately make the audience feel that the tribute system is wrong. In fact, the book seems to glorify the forces slaughter of children. Perhaps the author intended to show the horror of the situation in this way, but the way the story is written it honestly looks like the author got lazy. The ending is especially a cop-out with The Hunger Games. The horrible part of Battle Royale is that under no circumstances is there more than one survivor, ever. The Hunger Games conveniently change the rules to supposedly make the audience happy. I can't stress enough how disappointed I was when that happened. That development completely cheats the audience out of a real winning experience (Also this is the part where Katniss very suddenly begins to care for Peeta, it is so abrupt it shows real laziness on the part of the writer). So Katniss and Peeta win the day when the government reverses the decision, so they threaten to commit suicide together. Their logic is that martyrdom of the children would create dissent among the people of Panem (a lame-ass name if I ever heard one). Here's the problem: If you're a totalitarian regime, would you bitch out like that? Or would a more effective way of keeping order be to show that even love has no hope of winning? The one GOOD moment where dissent takes place and works is actually in the movie when Rue is killed. There is a beautiful series of shots that cut between Katniss treating Rue's body and the people of District 7 rising up and being beaten back by government police forces, but this shows the beginning of revolutionary feelings that will likely rear their heads in Catching Fire.
Adaptations: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (4)
I rate adaptations the same for a few reasons. Allow me to explain. Battle Royale began as a novel, and I feel the novel is superior to the film and manga adaptations. However, the adaptations aren't bad at all. The only complaint I have about the manga is that at times the violence and gore seem a bit excessive and playing to the audience's desire to see it rather than working for plot. Plus there is a lot more "skin" in the manga. While there is sex in Battle Royale, the manga adds quite a bit more. Granted, it works but it still feels like pandering when reading these scenes and I wouldn't say it digresses to filth or pornography (especially by manga standards where nudity can be fairly commonplace). The film was done very well, but I have to confess to what seems to be a lack of quality likely due to a $4.5 million budget. To give you an idea, The Hunger Games had a budget of $78 million. However, Battle Royale would go on to become one of the top ten highest grossing Japanese films of all time and is considered one of the best ever made by critics with generally positive reviews across the board. The film also spawned an original sequel that was also pretty good for what it was. The Hunger Games movie was sooooo much better than the book mainly because we didn't have to be stuck in the mind of Katniss the whole time, but the film did showcase some of my biggest pet peeves. For one thing, this film does the very "in thing" of intentionally having an overly shaking camera (thank you Cloverfield) and likes to overly showcase simple moments like Katniss spending five minutes walking through the woods. Five minutes of walking. At least in The Lord of the Rings they were walking AND talking. Oh, but when she runs into Gail the spend five minutes sitting and talking. FUN! My biggest problem? They filmmakers really bitched out to get that PG-13 rating. It's a movie about children killing children. That's an R rating people. Since it's a PG-13 movie, any chance you have to hammer in the shear horror of what's going on is ruined because they can't show anything! This is particularly annoying at the beginning of the games when a veritable slaughter takes place and we see nothing except Peeta and Katniss running. We don't even hear it! Instead they play cheesy music that belongs in an elevator. We see no aftermath either. Everything is implied. However, despite all my complaints the film looks great and is still pretty good and worth seeing. Heck, I may still buy the thing and will probably still see the sequels, but Battle Royale is far superior.
1. Overall Concept: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (3)
While the basic idea of The Hunger Games isn't bad at all, Battle Royale's originality is superior. For one thing, Battle Royale takes place in an alternate timeline in the present. This makes the horror of the situation really hit home. The date is undisclosed, but this is to make it seem as though the story is present day, especially to the Japanese audience it was intended for. Hunger Games, on the other hand, takes place in a dystopian future that is highly unlikely to take place. When you add the element of the government being able to genetically engineer new species that behave more like automatons rather than animals, this reader was left feeling that the author was insulting the intelligence of her audience. Understanding the plausibility of the Battle Royale society requires a little bit of understanding of Japanese sociology, WWII propaganda and history that the average American doesn't have, but I encourage anyone reading this to experience both books and decide for themselves.
2. Characters: Battle Royale (5), The Hunger Games (1)
This is probably the biggest difference between the two books. By my count, The Hunger Games really only has two main characters and about 8-10 important supporting characters. Battle Royale follows an entire junior high school class, but has about 9 main characters that the reader follows more closely. The amazing part of Battle Royale is that even the minor characters (who only live about one chapter) have their time to shine. The reader gets to know these individuals on an intimate level and even the bad guys (with the exception of Kazuo) are able to be pitied in their death. Many characters intersect as well, making their ultimate deaths even more horrifying. Takami achieves this largely by writing in third person, so that the reader can be omniscient. Collins chose to write the entire story through Katniss Everdeen's point of view and I honestly think that telling such a grand story from in first person was her biggest mistake as an author. How different would Harry Potter have been if it had been written from Harry's point of view? Apart from the number of characters, Takami's are much more loveable. The ever-present optimist Shuya is a character everyone can root for, whereas Katniss comes across as annoying, moody and quite frankly a bitch with an attitude. Katniss refuses help and advice continually throughout the book and one must wonder why no one simply says, "Fine! Go out and die then!"
3. Story: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (2)
This part is tricky because many will disagree with me, but please read the entire section before you skin me alive. The Hunger Games has a story that had the potential to be incredibly profound and carry some weight. That being said, it still packs a punch, I simply find it regrettable that Ms. Collins chose to focus more on the musings of a 16-year-old girl rather than the socioeconomic and revolutionary world that she created. True, the center of Battle Royale has to do with friendship and love, but survival and distrust of the government are a large part as well. Shogo's character serves to open the mind of the reader to the idea that maybe even our government (or rather the modern Japanese government) isn't so much better than the one portrayed in the book. At no point in The Hunger Games does anyone really take a step back and legitimately make the audience feel that the tribute system is wrong. In fact, the book seems to glorify the forces slaughter of children. Perhaps the author intended to show the horror of the situation in this way, but the way the story is written it honestly looks like the author got lazy. The ending is especially a cop-out with The Hunger Games. The horrible part of Battle Royale is that under no circumstances is there more than one survivor, ever. The Hunger Games conveniently change the rules to supposedly make the audience happy. I can't stress enough how disappointed I was when that happened. That development completely cheats the audience out of a real winning experience (Also this is the part where Katniss very suddenly begins to care for Peeta, it is so abrupt it shows real laziness on the part of the writer). So Katniss and Peeta win the day when the government reverses the decision, so they threaten to commit suicide together. Their logic is that martyrdom of the children would create dissent among the people of Panem (a lame-ass name if I ever heard one). Here's the problem: If you're a totalitarian regime, would you bitch out like that? Or would a more effective way of keeping order be to show that even love has no hope of winning? The one GOOD moment where dissent takes place and works is actually in the movie when Rue is killed. There is a beautiful series of shots that cut between Katniss treating Rue's body and the people of District 7 rising up and being beaten back by government police forces, but this shows the beginning of revolutionary feelings that will likely rear their heads in Catching Fire.
Adaptations: Battle Royale (4), The Hunger Games (4)
I rate adaptations the same for a few reasons. Allow me to explain. Battle Royale began as a novel, and I feel the novel is superior to the film and manga adaptations. However, the adaptations aren't bad at all. The only complaint I have about the manga is that at times the violence and gore seem a bit excessive and playing to the audience's desire to see it rather than working for plot. Plus there is a lot more "skin" in the manga. While there is sex in Battle Royale, the manga adds quite a bit more. Granted, it works but it still feels like pandering when reading these scenes and I wouldn't say it digresses to filth or pornography (especially by manga standards where nudity can be fairly commonplace). The film was done very well, but I have to confess to what seems to be a lack of quality likely due to a $4.5 million budget. To give you an idea, The Hunger Games had a budget of $78 million. However, Battle Royale would go on to become one of the top ten highest grossing Japanese films of all time and is considered one of the best ever made by critics with generally positive reviews across the board. The film also spawned an original sequel that was also pretty good for what it was. The Hunger Games movie was sooooo much better than the book mainly because we didn't have to be stuck in the mind of Katniss the whole time, but the film did showcase some of my biggest pet peeves. For one thing, this film does the very "in thing" of intentionally having an overly shaking camera (thank you Cloverfield) and likes to overly showcase simple moments like Katniss spending five minutes walking through the woods. Five minutes of walking. At least in The Lord of the Rings they were walking AND talking. Oh, but when she runs into Gail the spend five minutes sitting and talking. FUN! My biggest problem? They filmmakers really bitched out to get that PG-13 rating. It's a movie about children killing children. That's an R rating people. Since it's a PG-13 movie, any chance you have to hammer in the shear horror of what's going on is ruined because they can't show anything! This is particularly annoying at the beginning of the games when a veritable slaughter takes place and we see nothing except Peeta and Katniss running. We don't even hear it! Instead they play cheesy music that belongs in an elevator. We see no aftermath either. Everything is implied. However, despite all my complaints the film looks great and is still pretty good and worth seeing. Heck, I may still buy the thing and will probably still see the sequels, but Battle Royale is far superior.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Kickstarter!
Greetings everyone. This quick update is to tell everyone about our Kickstarter campaign. For those of you who don't already know, we've recently discovered Kickstarter! I can't believe we didn't know about this site before. Anyway, help us raise some additional funds for our upcoming web series by visiting our Kickstarter page and sharing it when your friends! If you can give money, great! If you can't, simply passing the word along will help! Thanks to everyone in advance for helping out!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1628324602/web-paige
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1628324602/web-paige
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Update
Hello faithful readers! I'm terribly sorry for not posting for a long, long, long, loooooong time but I've been very busy. Which is what brings me to this update.
1. We are done casting for our web show and I must say we found some very talented people. We have almost all of the scripts done and things are moving right along.
2. Our first sales reports for Luke Robbins: Real Men Wear Vests online distribution came back. I was disappointed and then I realized I was looking at the dates wrong and the money brought it was only for that week, so now I'm excited to see more.
3. Wayne Campbell, the artist, has a new patent coming out soon and we'll be doing a video for that along with a new drawing/painting DVD for beginners, so look for that!
4. USGBC Alabama Chapter has asked us to do another video for their annual Gala. We're currently working with their executive director on that.
That's all for now and I promise I'll have another fun post coming soon.
1. We are done casting for our web show and I must say we found some very talented people. We have almost all of the scripts done and things are moving right along.
2. Our first sales reports for Luke Robbins: Real Men Wear Vests online distribution came back. I was disappointed and then I realized I was looking at the dates wrong and the money brought it was only for that week, so now I'm excited to see more.
3. Wayne Campbell, the artist, has a new patent coming out soon and we'll be doing a video for that along with a new drawing/painting DVD for beginners, so look for that!
4. USGBC Alabama Chapter has asked us to do another video for their annual Gala. We're currently working with their executive director on that.
That's all for now and I promise I'll have another fun post coming soon.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Casting Call
Vision Video, LLC is holding open auditions for women 18-27 for our new web comedy/drama series.
We're casting two supporting female characters who will be prominent throughout the show.
Bethany (18-27) - A twenty-something aspiring reporter. She is caring and supportive of her friends' endevours. She's very frustrated at her job since she's used primarily to get coffee.
Cassie (18-27) - A twenty-something elementary school teacher. She is crude and has no social barometer often coming off as rude, but in reality she's just honest.
We will be at The Fairfield Inn Conference Room (5905 W. 86th Street, Indianapolis 46278) on May 20th 10 AM - 4 PM. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to come out and audition.
ALL APPLICANTS MUST BRING A VALID PHOTO ID AND A HEAD SHOT. Everyone is encouraged to bring along a portfolio and resume if you have one. This is a non-paid position, but we will re-negotiate after the first six episodes should we film more.
If you have any questions or can't make the audition, please e-mail us with your head shot and we'll make arrangements for you.
We're casting two supporting female characters who will be prominent throughout the show.
Bethany (18-27) - A twenty-something aspiring reporter. She is caring and supportive of her friends' endevours. She's very frustrated at her job since she's used primarily to get coffee.
Cassie (18-27) - A twenty-something elementary school teacher. She is crude and has no social barometer often coming off as rude, but in reality she's just honest.
We will be at The Fairfield Inn Conference Room (5905 W. 86th Street, Indianapolis 46278) on May 20th 10 AM - 4 PM. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to come out and audition.
ALL APPLICANTS MUST BRING A VALID PHOTO ID AND A HEAD SHOT. Everyone is encouraged to bring along a portfolio and resume if you have one. This is a non-paid position, but we will re-negotiate after the first six episodes should we film more.
If you have any questions or can't make the audition, please e-mail us with your head shot and we'll make arrangements for you.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
BIG Update
Okay, so a lot has been happening lately. First of all, the latest project.
Vision Video recently did 10 video segments or motivational speaker, Jerry Ackerman. You can see all 10 on our You Tube channel or check out www.jerryackerman.net.
The second big thing is that we FINALLY got our website up! Same domain as the store used to be: www.visionvideollc.com. To go directly to the store you can go to shop.visionvideollc.com. We're very excited about the site and we're dramatically expanding our services!
Thirdly, our web series is really starting to come together. We have two scripts finished and finalized. We're copyrighting them as they come in. We have our leading actress signed on and we're having an open casting call on May 20th! For more information please contact our producer, Andrea at andrea@visionvideollc.com!
Vision Video recently did 10 video segments or motivational speaker, Jerry Ackerman. You can see all 10 on our You Tube channel or check out www.jerryackerman.net.
The second big thing is that we FINALLY got our website up! Same domain as the store used to be: www.visionvideollc.com. To go directly to the store you can go to shop.visionvideollc.com. We're very excited about the site and we're dramatically expanding our services!
Thirdly, our web series is really starting to come together. We have two scripts finished and finalized. We're copyrighting them as they come in. We have our leading actress signed on and we're having an open casting call on May 20th! For more information please contact our producer, Andrea at andrea@visionvideollc.com!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie?!
Oh my goodness you all have no idea how excited I was when I saw this trailer on YouTube. I thought maybe it was a fake one at first (like the April Fool's Legend of Zelda trailer -_-). Fortunately, it is not a fake and it's totally going to rock. For those of you who haven't seen the trailer yet, it's right below.
Aside from the fact that Rurouni Kenshin is an awesome story, there are several great things that I see in the trailer alone. First and foremost the audio is still in Japanese (notice the Warner Bros. logo at the beginning). Don't be fooled, the film isn't being distributed by Warner Bros., it's actually being produced by them. For Warner Bros. (an American studio giant) to actually produce a film like Rurouni Kenshin all on their own is a real tip of the hat to anime and manga's cultural influence here in the West. Another tip of the hat is the fact that the production itself is entirely Japanese. No American director, actors, etc. It looks like Rurouni Kenshin will be a world-wide release made soley by Japanese cinema, which has been overlooked far too long in my opinion.
The second awesome thing I see is the wardrobe. Typically with comic book movies (both American and Japanese) I've found that the costumes are one of two extremes. They are either nothing like the original comic, or they're so similar that they look cheap and cosplay. Rurouni Kenshin has achieved something rare. They've managed to translate from comic to live action seamlessly. The costumes are all dead ringers for their manga counterparts, but don't look so ridiculous that they scream costume.
Great thing number 3? American kids are finally gonna learn some history without knowing it. For those of you who haven't seen or read Rurouni Kenshin, it's set shortly after the Meiji Restoration in Japan and tells the story of an assassin from the Bakumatsu who changes his ways and tries to make up for his past deeds. The Kenshin character is a great vehicle to learn about the very fast and large changes Japan underwent during this time. Kenshin is very much a moderate. While he doesn't necessarily let go of the old ways, he understands that those like him must step back and let the new generation take over. Many characters from the series are based on real people like Saito Hajime, who was a real samurai turned police man and educator in his later years. Kenshin himself is based upon the mysterious assassin, Kawakami Gensai. The upshot to the movie being in Japanese is that people will hear the real vocabulary associated with these people. One of my biggest annoyances with the show (not the manga) was the translation of some of the words and concepts. Kenshin is often referred to as "Battosai the Manslayer" in the English anime adaptation. This is a poor translation. Kenshin's real title is "Hitokiri Battosai". Battosai is just a warrior name, but "hitokiri" essentially means assassin. Manslayer sounds like a singular title given to a particular assassin, but really it's just a occupational title. Also, words like Shinsengumi don't appear too often in the anime, but are rampant in the manga. Learning about the Shinsengumi confuses most Westerners because they have a hard time understanding that there really weren't good guys or bad guys, just people with different ideas of how the country should be run. There are several other manga titles that are sympathetic to the Shinsengumi, so this film should be a great opportunity for viewers to learn a little bit of history that is often overlooked.
Oh, you thought I was done? I saved the best for last. As a live action movie, Rurouni Kenshin promises to deliver some of the coolest, most awesome, kick-ass sword/fight scenes you could ever hope to see. In the story, Kenshin is a master of the fictional sword fighting style "Hiten Misturugi-ryu". This style calls for speed, agility, master swordsmanship and a lot of aerial moves that will leave your jaw on the floor. Of course, this style is physically impossible (or at the very least impractical) but for a movie it should be a treat. From what I can see in the trailer, they've kept the story pretty well intact. We see characters from the manga like Sanosuke, Jin-E, Yamagata and Saito. I only hope characters like Yahiko and Aoshi are present as well.
Aside from the fact that Rurouni Kenshin is an awesome story, there are several great things that I see in the trailer alone. First and foremost the audio is still in Japanese (notice the Warner Bros. logo at the beginning). Don't be fooled, the film isn't being distributed by Warner Bros., it's actually being produced by them. For Warner Bros. (an American studio giant) to actually produce a film like Rurouni Kenshin all on their own is a real tip of the hat to anime and manga's cultural influence here in the West. Another tip of the hat is the fact that the production itself is entirely Japanese. No American director, actors, etc. It looks like Rurouni Kenshin will be a world-wide release made soley by Japanese cinema, which has been overlooked far too long in my opinion.
The second awesome thing I see is the wardrobe. Typically with comic book movies (both American and Japanese) I've found that the costumes are one of two extremes. They are either nothing like the original comic, or they're so similar that they look cheap and cosplay. Rurouni Kenshin has achieved something rare. They've managed to translate from comic to live action seamlessly. The costumes are all dead ringers for their manga counterparts, but don't look so ridiculous that they scream costume.
Great thing number 3? American kids are finally gonna learn some history without knowing it. For those of you who haven't seen or read Rurouni Kenshin, it's set shortly after the Meiji Restoration in Japan and tells the story of an assassin from the Bakumatsu who changes his ways and tries to make up for his past deeds. The Kenshin character is a great vehicle to learn about the very fast and large changes Japan underwent during this time. Kenshin is very much a moderate. While he doesn't necessarily let go of the old ways, he understands that those like him must step back and let the new generation take over. Many characters from the series are based on real people like Saito Hajime, who was a real samurai turned police man and educator in his later years. Kenshin himself is based upon the mysterious assassin, Kawakami Gensai. The upshot to the movie being in Japanese is that people will hear the real vocabulary associated with these people. One of my biggest annoyances with the show (not the manga) was the translation of some of the words and concepts. Kenshin is often referred to as "Battosai the Manslayer" in the English anime adaptation. This is a poor translation. Kenshin's real title is "Hitokiri Battosai". Battosai is just a warrior name, but "hitokiri" essentially means assassin. Manslayer sounds like a singular title given to a particular assassin, but really it's just a occupational title. Also, words like Shinsengumi don't appear too often in the anime, but are rampant in the manga. Learning about the Shinsengumi confuses most Westerners because they have a hard time understanding that there really weren't good guys or bad guys, just people with different ideas of how the country should be run. There are several other manga titles that are sympathetic to the Shinsengumi, so this film should be a great opportunity for viewers to learn a little bit of history that is often overlooked.
Oh, you thought I was done? I saved the best for last. As a live action movie, Rurouni Kenshin promises to deliver some of the coolest, most awesome, kick-ass sword/fight scenes you could ever hope to see. In the story, Kenshin is a master of the fictional sword fighting style "Hiten Misturugi-ryu". This style calls for speed, agility, master swordsmanship and a lot of aerial moves that will leave your jaw on the floor. Of course, this style is physically impossible (or at the very least impractical) but for a movie it should be a treat. From what I can see in the trailer, they've kept the story pretty well intact. We see characters from the manga like Sanosuke, Jin-E, Yamagata and Saito. I only hope characters like Yahiko and Aoshi are present as well.
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