Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Podcast 3 - Supplemental - Tron Uprising, WAnimate, Prometheus


Here is the Character intro to Tron Uprising - I'm up to Episode 3 And I'm enjoying it

Additionally I caught up and saw Prometheus last night. Perhaps because my expectations were lowered I kind of liked it, even though it does degenerate, into a schlock horror gorefest for a bit in the middle. The tension is awesome, I give it a 6 out of 10

The WAnimate WACOM show and tell is not going to happen, sorry for the false report, however catch up with WAnimate and WACOM this week at Supanova. WAnimate will be hiding out at the WCIT Booth.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Podcast 3 Supplemental - Prometheus, Ray Bradbury, Para Norman

Hey there, animation fans. Some follow ups to Podcast number three!

  • Para Norman: new stop motion film coming from the makers of the excellent Coraline. You can read about their interesting way of using 3D printing to make their puppets here. 
  • Ray Bradbury: the sad passing of an American literary legend. You can begin your journey into the Bradbury world from his official site, his connection with movies and television, and the old 1950's EC comics 
  • Prometheus: 6/5 for the visuals, 2/5 for the gonzo story. Such a missed opportunity. Given the nature of the location and the strong sense of antiquity, the possibilities of the main character, Dr Shaw, and her beliefs being slowly challenged by the alien temple could have been a cracker. Not to mention the relationship between the android David and the human crew, and the changing power relationships as people realize what the Engineers represent.

    Imagine that as Prometheus: a dark and stormy planet, an expedition, far from home and picking through an ancient civilisation, evidence of our origins, and then, as the long nights pass, the storms come and go, and the tension slowly ratches up (like the 50's Thing, thawing out in its block of ice), as more and more evidence is uncovered, more secret chambers unearthed, more truths and story is fleshed out... the terrifying secret of the Engineers and their black goo... man, it really could have build up to something and hit us between the eyes, Exorcist style.

    But no. It astounds me that its written and put together like a routine bit of 21st franchise telly: you know the sort - lots of running around, silly plot twists and turns, written in episodes for far too many ads, inane action and dialogue, piling on the MacGuffins and gimmicks as a substitute for character development and substance... all designed to distract people channel hopping or remembering they haven't texted anyone for more than 30 seconds.

    I can't help it, but Prometheus for me should have been a 21st century update of Quatermass and the Pit - a surprisingly good bit of 1950's British telly concerning archaeological digs that reveal ancient aliens. It builds up suspense in a wonderfully old fashioned sort of way and there's also Quatermass 2: a surreptitious alien invasion that involves, of all things, a nasty black goo and terraforming. It was one of the breakout templates for British sci-fi, especially for things like the Hammer horror films and the early Doctor Who's. Chase them up.



    Anyway. For anyone curious about that old scallywag, Erich von Däniken, you can roll your eyes at his Chariot of the Gods. There was even a movie version (I recall seeing it as a kid, surrounded by a theatre full of guffawing teens) Apart from the patronising assumption that "primitive" peoples are basically incapable of their own development, it can't be denied that he exposed a lot of hitherto unpublicised ancient civilisations into the public realm.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Podcast 2 - Supplemental (Men In Black 3 Review)

In addition to the Men In Black 3 review in podcast form, I have posted a longer written form over at AccessReel, the Western Australian movie site I also write for.  Cheers.


Podcast 2 - Supplemental (Full Throttle, Diablo 3)

Below is the Full Intro to Full Throttle. Enjoy.



Additionally, there are the Combined Diablo 3 Trailers.

Podcast 2 - Supplemental (Annecy 50)

Here's the follow up to some of our news posts for Lightbox  Podcast #2:

Annecy 50 -  One of the world's most prestigous animation festivals, held in Annecy, France. Started in 1960 and still going strong, although its not that well known here in Australia.
  • Annecy 50 Festival teaser:
  • Annecy 50's interview with Aardman's Peter Lord; aw, how can you not love the guy? He nails exactly what animation is all about!
  • Ridley Scott's Prometheus opens on Thursday, June 7th in Australia. With another of those tantalising and provocative little viral videos. Watch out though, they're starting to produce spoilerific TV spots in the States!
  • And for you Diablo III fans who feel, like Tanya, that Diablo III wasn't quite up to snuff - try Torchlight. Or its sequel, Torchlight 2, soon to be released.
[edit: added tags!]

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Podcast 2, 2nd June, 2012




Lightbox Podcast 2 


Co-hosts and hivemind Tanya Beeson and Lindsay Fleay discuss animation, games and film with some old world charm from Phil Jeng Kane. Meanwhile Scott Gilchrist's brings ambient frisson to proceedings.


 00.00 – 01.00 - Intro 


 01.00 – 05.00 - Men In Black 3 review 


 05.00 – 14.45 - Diablo 3 review 


 14.45 – 18.40 - Lucas Arts games - Full Throttle 


 18.40 – 21.50 - Local events 


 21.50 – 22.50 - Outro


Lightbox 3 will be entering the atmosphere on Sunday June 17th. Until then you could do worse than revisiting this website or our Facebook page for updates and Podcast Supplementals.