my profile pic is not green

Throughout the day I noticed, as many of you may have, that many of my friends on Facebook changed their profile pics to solid green in support of what is happening in the VFX industry.  While I am in total agreement with the perception of unfairness in the entertainment industry, I am not convinced that this protest action will have any lasting benefits.

Before we even look at the merits of the case, we have to acknowledge that the vast majority of those who join actions like this join due to bandwaggoning and hanger-onism.  Most people, if push comes to shove, will do nothing.  That is something that we here in SA should know all too well.  There is a huge “public outcry” against violence against women and rape with everyone making a huge racket over how everyone should stand together, and how it’s time somebody did something; but with nobody actually doing anything.  “Look at the protests and outrage in India after those girls got raped in the bus” they say “If they can force the government into change, so can we!” they say, while not creating their placards and putting on shoes that are comfortable for the long walks that protest involves.  This is not to say that I am against the outcry.  I totally agree; rape and victimization of women is primitive and savage acts that deserve no place in an “advanced” society.

Along with this comes the effect that protest has; which is to say the lack of effect.  There have been quite a few high-profile protests in recent memory: protests against the war on terror, protests against the government secrecy bill in SA, protests by the screen writers against unfair treatment by film studios, the Occupy Wall Street movement.  The overarching theme here is total, unambiguous failure.  The Vegas analogy applies: the house always wins.  Governments and big business executives always find a way to come out on top, mostly by performing damage control while largely ignoring the problem until it goes away.  This leads us nicely to my second point…

Regardless of the anger and resentment that is pulsing all over the internet, it will be impossible to coordinate global mass action.  Whether through scabs or international outsourcing, studios will always be able to find VFX studios somewhere that will be willing to undermine the mass action to potentially get their foot in the door with a big player.  We must also realize that any (unlikely) wholesale strike by American VFX studios will only accelerate the quality of VFX work from abroad.  The amount of work which is already being outsourced to studios in other countries is already increasing, and these countries usually have labour laws which are much more lax than those in the States, allowing for an even cheaper, longer-working workforce.  True, companies like R&H (RIP) and ILM are miles ahead of the rest, but a drop in quality won’t affect the layman too much.  Let’s be honest; the general public doesn’t even notice bad work now while these studios are there as a comparison; and as stated already, a heavier reliance on international studios will be a shot in the arm to their development and industry experience which will level the playing field fairly quickly.   With regards to ILM specifically, they now belong to Disney.  I don’t even think I need to elaborate why it will be highly, highly unlikely that they’ll join the protests.  Certain individuals with moral backbone might quit to join the protest, but they will be replaced very quickly by others who, like most VFX workers, are chomping at the bit to work somewhere like ILM.

I am anticipating a large backlash from acquaintances in the industry, but remember to look at the points I am making.  Yes, I agree that the treatment and level of disrespect facing the industry is criminal.  Yes, I agree that it is time to make a change.  What I don’t agree with, however, is that mass action will be able to dismantle the film industry overnight, as many seem to think.  Film studios are businesses, and very successful ones at that.  They are run by some of the best business minds in the world, and if there’s one thing that big business leaders are very good at doing, it’s protecting their financial interests.

…actually no, I’m not expecting a backlash.  Nobody ever reads these.

pregaming

i was going to write about the frustration of how i temporarily become obsessed with certain activities at different times...but that didn't turn out to be all that interesting.  so, football.

tonight is our 2nd game in the league, and i'm slightly concerned.  last week we had our first competitive win, and we all played fairly well.  after my team mates told me they appreciate the training we did, and felt it contributed to their performance, i feel quite chuffed with myself.  i am trying to keep things varied and match-related, while keeping it fun and not too serious.

with our last training session though, only four people showed up.  that's a problem, as i'm worried that our win last week has made us complacent, and if that is the case we will lose again tonight.  i have a very strong suspicion that we will have to be very focused in defence tonight, and that our opponents will try to outmanoeuvre us with short passes at a high tempo.  the midfield will need to be compact, and press together in order to force the ball back and into wider areas...but let me not give away my tactics, you never know who may be watching ;)

speaking of tactics, we are facing what could potentially be a very tricky opponent soon.  i have a basic tactical outline for what i'm expecting, but i need to make a few observations in order to confirm a suspicion or two.

so yes, all in all i am still loving this tactical business and come the end of the month, i fully intend to start a bronze certification coaching course.  this is a developmental certificate which officially lets you coach kids aged 5-9.  even though i hate kids, this is a great place to start as it lets you get to grips with the basic elements of coaching.  also, most of the guys in our team have never been coached in football before, so basic skill development and team interplay is perfect to apply to our situation.

i am excited.

football...fucking hell

2 years ago i got some friends together and we started playing football once a week for fun.  over the next 2 years we have had quite a few setbacks, from people leaving to troubles at the fields we used to use.  eventually we decided on joining a local 7-a-side league in order to play regularly.  a grand spanking new kit and the knowledge that we'd have opponents every week was a great.

we started this league, and things seemed to get worse - internal politics, expectations etc started popping and after 1 season a lot of us (me included) decided to leave the team as it wasn't fun anymore.  now another season is on the horison, and i've decided to recommit myself.  i started becoming too competitive and let the factors like politics and our performance detract from the simple joy of kicking a ball around with some friends.  we did decide, however, to start fundamental training so we could just sharpen the basics like awareness.  this, however, has created a new problem...coaching and managing

i have been doing a bit of research into training, developing and coaching football and nothing has grasped my interest in such a way for a very, very long time.  i find myself constantly thinking of tactics and draining drills to improve certain aspects of the game.  in my head, i devise set pieces...i assign defensive strategies...i plan out how i'm going to explain these tactics and drills to the team...something's got to give.

if i don't start putting these things into practice i cannot be held accountable for my actions.

if i don't do something, i might just pitch up at some team's game with a bundle of hastily scribbled tactics and start shouting at them from the touchline.

"play a 4-2-3-1 with a combination of ball-winner and passer in front of the defence" i'll sob when they find me, lying in the fetal position in the gutter.

then the court will force me to join a 12-step program, but since it's all religious mumbo-jumbo i'll just disregard it, until one day i'm spotted running up and down against the fence of some school in a monogrammed tracksuit, clutching a sweaty bundle of training drills and formations while shouting at the kids playing football during their break.

and then, finally, fingers will be pointed at my friends and family after i am arrested for accosting a small boy on the street and coaching him to death.  didn't they see the warning signs?!?!?

so, i have decided to join a coaching association and get qualified.  the basic bronze coaching level lets you coach development, focusing on ages 5-9.  then, maybe i can find a school or something that will let me help out.  anything to make the voices stop!

bioshock infinite revisited...although not really

if you know me, you know that i have a mind that tends to overanalyze everything i come into contact with.  i then start creating this long monologue in my mind, based on the thoughts generated, which can go on for quite a while.  therefore i decided to start this blog and get those thoughts out; after all if i'm generating them i might as well use them, right?

 

to get myself in the swing of things i decided to go back to things i've written in the past, and see if i still agree not only with what i wrote, but also the overall tone of the piece.  so, without further ado, here is a "first impressions" piece on the game bioshock infinite, dated 23 september 2010.

 

"why i already dislike bioshock infinite

 

so i watched the bioshock infinite gameplay video. was i impressed? to be honest, not really.  after all the bold statements about reinventing and reinvisioning, this initial footage strikes me as simply a mod for the existing game. sure it's a new (excessively bloomey) engine and all, but absolutely everything in this trailer (except for elizabeth, but she basically seems like a more interactive version of the little sisters from bioshock 2) has a parallel in the older games. let's have a look at them, shall we?

1-columbia
this is a floating city built on socio-political ideals (here i could make a clever little pun here about it all being "hot air" in reference to the hot air balloons keeping the buildings up).  these ideals have come into question and now the 2 factions are openly fighting in the streets for control of the city. the parallels here with rapture are so obvious that, to quote yahtzee, a narcoleptic retard could see them.  both are isolated utopias that have failed, both are covered in period-style propaganda and advertising and, despite the endless horizons and open skies of columbia, it seems just as linear and constricted as rapture.

confused? here's why.  see, there might not be the implied pressure of the ocean or anything, but by having the city float up in the sky, they managed to create invisible walls. you can't run on over the edge, now can you.  so in effect what happens is that each of these floating suburbs, or city blocks or whatever, becomes an isolated little pocket of gameplay just like the areas in rapture. instead of travelling between them by bathysphere or train, you use these skyhook things.  at least you seem to be able to travel around these at will, which should open things up a bit.  the only real difference between the 2 is that while columbia was built by the american government while rapture was built to get away from it. there's also the fact that the revolt is just breaking out, unlike rapture's which has passed. both differences, however, should be merely cosmetic with no effective difference to the gameplay.

2-alphas
in the original trailer and interviews, they use the symbolism of a big daddy being destroyed in order to make it clear that they're moving in a completely different direction.  oh really, irrational games? then please explain the alphas -  2 supernaturally strong well-nigh indestructible constructs chasing you around the city as an overarching threat and plot device. seriously, the one even has eyes that resemble the portal of an old diving helmet with a yellow glow on the inside. i guess when they crushed the big daddy they had no intention of crushing the big sister concept then, since they seem to do the same thing.
also, alpha no1 also has a round cavity in his chest which emits a red glow, just like a big sister.

3-powers
just like the gene tonics used by splicers in rapture, the citizens of columbia seem to able to augment their genetic structure to gain supernatural powers.  this is shown in the trailer as the player obtains the "murder of crows" ability by drinking from a fancy bottle. this undoubtedly means resources (like rapture's adam and eve) will be needed to activate and regulate these abilites. there are 3 powers shown here, 2 of which, namely electricution and telekineses, are straight out of bioshock 1 & 2.

now, electrocution here is shown to combine powers with elizabeth when she creates a localised rainstorm which you electrify to shock a group of enemies at once. the only innovation here is that you don't need to wait for a puddle to do it, but i'm sure if you do it'll still work there too.

telekineses has a nifty little feature whereby you can disarm enemies from afar and use their weapons at point blank range. this is a potential gamebreaker though, which is where the need for some form of cooldown or management system comes in.

the 3rd power shown is this murder of crows business, and lets you hurl a flock of crows at your enemy. this seems remarkably similiar to hurling a swarm of wasps at a splicer, does it not?

4-npc's
while the npc's in columbia might not always attack on site, they are just as zealous and one-dimensional as splicers, driven by political and social motivations. this, coupled with the in-your-face obviousness of their propaganda makes it seem like irrational is holding the player's hand and saying look, these are bad people. they are closed-minded bigots. see? there's another poster, just in case you forget

i realise i might be a bit harsh, but i feel that after all the hubbub they made over how this is entirely new and how they showed the big daddy toy being crushed by an alpha you'd expect them to not just create an open-aired version of exactly the same thing.

now that you've read my little rant, here's the video  in case you haven't seen it

...bioshock infinite. how apt, since they seem intent on remaking the same game over and over"

 

so, what is my standpoint 2 years later?  firstly, i still agree with the content and points made based on the available information.  i make this distinction for a specific reason: i don't care enough about this game to keep myself informed of its development and progress, therefore i don't know if any of the related points have changed.  this is very much down to my general disinterest in today's triple-a gaming titles, and the fact that there are very few games being produced with actual substance.  that, though, is a topic for another post.

 

secondly, i am a but more critical of myself in terms of the tone and presentation of this piece.  besides the fact that i noticed 3 spelling mistakes (go me), there is no clear mood.  i start out fairly level-headed and objectively, but towards the end i start ranting, making things a bit disorganised.  i also feel i could have taken more time to explain some of my points a bit better.

 

all in all, i'd score myself well on the argument and supporting premises, but not on their presentation.  this poor presentation would however lead to a poor argument, so my overall mark would be poor...oh well, live and learn eh?

 

that was fun...not only did i get myself writing a bit, but i also have another potential topic, so good job everyone.

blogging,

it would i appear that i am