Spoiler alert: This blog is boring. You have been warned.
As previously mentioned, my life right now is exceptionally dull. Absolutely nothing is going on in it. I’ve spent a lot of time watching movies and writing reviews for Platform (look out for reviews for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and The Last Airbender in the next few hours.)
The only vaguely fun thing that has happened today is that lots of new information about the Deathly Hallows movies has come out. We found out definitively where the split is, and also found out about some changes to the story compared to the books (generally stuff that will just make stuff that already happens just look even cooler on screen).
I won’t spoil anyone who doesn’t want to know, but I will direct anyone who does to Leaky, where you can see the scans of the EW article where the information came from.
And that is LITERALLY the only thing that happened today. Oh and since I last blogged I’ve found a screening for Scott Pilgrim. Woot.
Dear world: please let something happen tomorrow. I don’t like boring my readers!!!
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
BEDA - Aug11 - This is Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
I am at that part in the middle of the month where I have run out of interesting things to say in this blog. There are some interesting things coming up in my life in a week or so, but until then if I was to just give you a "this was my life" today blog, it would just be: "I went to work, I came home. My life is dull." And you don't want to read that!!! The last few days there have been some interesting issues to talk to you about. But today, even they seem to be eluding me.
So instead I’m going to use today’s blog as a piece of free advertising. For the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs The World to be exact.
If you haven’t heard of this movie, then you have clearly been living under a rock, because it feels like there are trailers for it before almost every movie, and it’s been trending constantly on Twitter for a while now (and hasn’t left the top 2 in the last few days).
It’s based on a set of 6 graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, of which I’ve read the first 2, and can confirm they’re brilliant, and according to everyone I know who has seen an advance screening of the movie: it is as faithful as it can possibly be (right down to even the style of the movie almost being that of a graphic novel, with “POW!” and “Kaboom!” appearing on the screen during the fight scenes.)
The movie follows the story of Scott Pilgrim (played by Hollywood’s go-to-guy Michael Cera), a twenty something love-struck rocker in a crappy band. Scott falls for the bewitchingly beautiful Ramona Flowers, but soon realises that to be with her he will have to do battle with her seven evil exes. Like actual battle. Comic book style. With Kung fu, and swords and all sorts.
As if this movie wasn’t already going to keep the nerds happy, it’s written and directed by Edgar Wright – creator of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Spaced – who fell in love with the story after being given a copy of the first novel at a promotional event a few years back. Wright’s work has always had the cult edge to it, and that’s why this sort of project is one I’m really excited to see him take on. He’s yet to make a bad movie and I doubt he’s going to start now
I’m trying my hardest to find an advance screening before this movie comes out, because my utterly nerdy brain simply cannot wait to see it.
Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is released in America this weekend, and joins us here on this side of the Atlantic on the 25th of August. See it. You won’t regret it. And in the meantime, find a book store and buy the first graphic novel (titled Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life – SPvtW actually being the title of the second novel)
So instead I’m going to use today’s blog as a piece of free advertising. For the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs The World to be exact.
If you haven’t heard of this movie, then you have clearly been living under a rock, because it feels like there are trailers for it before almost every movie, and it’s been trending constantly on Twitter for a while now (and hasn’t left the top 2 in the last few days).
It’s based on a set of 6 graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, of which I’ve read the first 2, and can confirm they’re brilliant, and according to everyone I know who has seen an advance screening of the movie: it is as faithful as it can possibly be (right down to even the style of the movie almost being that of a graphic novel, with “POW!” and “Kaboom!” appearing on the screen during the fight scenes.)
The movie follows the story of Scott Pilgrim (played by Hollywood’s go-to-guy Michael Cera), a twenty something love-struck rocker in a crappy band. Scott falls for the bewitchingly beautiful Ramona Flowers, but soon realises that to be with her he will have to do battle with her seven evil exes. Like actual battle. Comic book style. With Kung fu, and swords and all sorts.
As if this movie wasn’t already going to keep the nerds happy, it’s written and directed by Edgar Wright – creator of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Spaced – who fell in love with the story after being given a copy of the first novel at a promotional event a few years back. Wright’s work has always had the cult edge to it, and that’s why this sort of project is one I’m really excited to see him take on. He’s yet to make a bad movie and I doubt he’s going to start now
I’m trying my hardest to find an advance screening before this movie comes out, because my utterly nerdy brain simply cannot wait to see it.
Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is released in America this weekend, and joins us here on this side of the Atlantic on the 25th of August. See it. You won’t regret it. And in the meantime, find a book store and buy the first graphic novel (titled Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life – SPvtW actually being the title of the second novel)
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
BEDA - Aug10 -No more Newport State of Mind
So yesterday I spoke to you all about book piracy and copyright issues. And now I’m back for a second round, this time squarely aiming at the music business. Now, my opinions on the piracy of music in the “I’ll just download it for free” type of piracy are that it’s wrong but that it’s the way the world is going, and so the music industry is going to need to learn to adapt.
But that’s not really what I want to talk about. I want to talk primarily about Parodies, and their place in the confusing and murky world of copyright law.
Today, “A Newport State of Mind”, a brilliant parody of Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind which had amassed tons of viewers on Youtube in the last month was pulled down after a complaint from EMI that the song had infringed upon their copyright.
Now technically it’s certainly fair to argue that a parody is a derivative work, and that derivative works are indeed covered under copyright law (except when used for research/criticism or news reporting) Noone would argue that.
But at the same time there is a level to which parody has always been used to not only imitate but in many ways criticise and comment on the original work, and I would argue that to some extents that is exactly what Alex Warren and Terema Wainwright were aiming for when they created “Newport”. Instead of speaking in the idealised tones that the original did of New York’s “concrete jungle”, indeed they list everything wrong with Newport and try to pass it off as the greatest city on earth all at the same time.
Add to that the fact it’s clearly free advertising for the original track, the pulling of the video just seems to conflict slightly with common sense.
In this world of ever evolving social media, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to see where the lines on copyright law stand, and in the next few years I wouldn’t be surprised if there are radical shifts both in the way we receive music (probably with a move towards complete DRM free downloading and sharing being the norm), and the way in which Record labels make money – while physical music sales are declining live revenue has been growing exponentially as more people have more access to more music. Sites like YouTube will be the home not only to the music videos that you would once have watched on MTV, but also fan made videos, covers and parodies like this, hopefully without “the man” stamping all over it.
I mean come on lads: Newport State of Mind: CLEARLY A JOKE, not making any money, and frankly, not a threat to EMI’s bottom line, so WHY BOTHER?!
p.s: if you’re interested, you can still see the video here, where it hasn’t been pulled, because obviously: copyright infringement is only copyright infringement once its had 1million views on youtube, and not before then (EMI’s blatant hypocrisy/stupidity/whatever you wish to call it, showcased for all to see.)
http://www.kontraband.com/videos/23502/Newport-State-Of-Mind/
But that’s not really what I want to talk about. I want to talk primarily about Parodies, and their place in the confusing and murky world of copyright law.
Today, “A Newport State of Mind”, a brilliant parody of Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind which had amassed tons of viewers on Youtube in the last month was pulled down after a complaint from EMI that the song had infringed upon their copyright.
Now technically it’s certainly fair to argue that a parody is a derivative work, and that derivative works are indeed covered under copyright law (except when used for research/criticism or news reporting) Noone would argue that.
But at the same time there is a level to which parody has always been used to not only imitate but in many ways criticise and comment on the original work, and I would argue that to some extents that is exactly what Alex Warren and Terema Wainwright were aiming for when they created “Newport”. Instead of speaking in the idealised tones that the original did of New York’s “concrete jungle”, indeed they list everything wrong with Newport and try to pass it off as the greatest city on earth all at the same time.
Add to that the fact it’s clearly free advertising for the original track, the pulling of the video just seems to conflict slightly with common sense.
In this world of ever evolving social media, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to see where the lines on copyright law stand, and in the next few years I wouldn’t be surprised if there are radical shifts both in the way we receive music (probably with a move towards complete DRM free downloading and sharing being the norm), and the way in which Record labels make money – while physical music sales are declining live revenue has been growing exponentially as more people have more access to more music. Sites like YouTube will be the home not only to the music videos that you would once have watched on MTV, but also fan made videos, covers and parodies like this, hopefully without “the man” stamping all over it.
I mean come on lads: Newport State of Mind: CLEARLY A JOKE, not making any money, and frankly, not a threat to EMI’s bottom line, so WHY BOTHER?!
p.s: if you’re interested, you can still see the video here, where it hasn’t been pulled, because obviously: copyright infringement is only copyright infringement once its had 1million views on youtube, and not before then (EMI’s blatant hypocrisy/stupidity/whatever you wish to call it, showcased for all to see.)
http://www.kontraband.com/videos/23502/Newport-State-Of-Mind/
Monday, 9 August 2010
BEDA - Aug9 - SEKRIT things are SEKRIT
Secret (or SEKRIT as Maureen Johnson would say) things are afoot. I’ve been very busy the last couple of days with planning and figuring out logistics for a project I am going to embark upon very soon. This (as well as an epic late night shift at work) was the reason for my completely rubbish blog yesterday. I just wanted to keep planning.
I cannot tell you exactly what it is yet, because until I unveil it properly I want to keep it on the down-low. Just know that (I think) it’s going to be a lot of fun.
My current plan is to try and get it unveiled as part of the end of BEDA on August31. But if it’s not ready by then, then I won’t be releasing it until it is – I want to do it justice, and this is sort of a labour of love. All I can say is that it’s going to combine my love for Film, for Youtube, and for blogging – possibly not in the ways you might immediately think. But anyway: more on that later in the month.
For now: its August 9th. I was just watching John Green on BlogTV, and discussing the ins and outs of ebook piracy, stemming from the fact that more than 40000 have allegedly illegally downloaded John’s book Looking for Alaska in 2010 – far more than have bought it.
This led to a discussion on the future of publishing both in ebooks and regular books, and the way copyright works, and how an alternative system with no copyright may (or may not) stifle creativity.
It was fascinating stuff, and as an aspiring writer myself – I am in the process of writing my first 2 novels (yes, 2 at once, both entirely unrelated, I just liked both story ideas so much I needed to keep writing both or I would have lost one of them) – the idea of actually making money off of my stories has never been at the forefront of my mind, indeed both stories I am writing purely because I need to write them – if anyone else enjoys them when they’re done then all the better, but I’m really writing them because they’re in my head and have been for years and I need to finally do something with them.
For many people though – people like John – it’s not that easy. They need to make their living on writing, so they can you know, buy food, or diapers for their 6month old son. So in this new world order, if people are becoming less and less likely to purchase books in the way they once would, just where will these kinds of authors go?
I cannot tell you exactly what it is yet, because until I unveil it properly I want to keep it on the down-low. Just know that (I think) it’s going to be a lot of fun.
My current plan is to try and get it unveiled as part of the end of BEDA on August31. But if it’s not ready by then, then I won’t be releasing it until it is – I want to do it justice, and this is sort of a labour of love. All I can say is that it’s going to combine my love for Film, for Youtube, and for blogging – possibly not in the ways you might immediately think. But anyway: more on that later in the month.
For now: its August 9th. I was just watching John Green on BlogTV, and discussing the ins and outs of ebook piracy, stemming from the fact that more than 40000 have allegedly illegally downloaded John’s book Looking for Alaska in 2010 – far more than have bought it.
This led to a discussion on the future of publishing both in ebooks and regular books, and the way copyright works, and how an alternative system with no copyright may (or may not) stifle creativity.
It was fascinating stuff, and as an aspiring writer myself – I am in the process of writing my first 2 novels (yes, 2 at once, both entirely unrelated, I just liked both story ideas so much I needed to keep writing both or I would have lost one of them) – the idea of actually making money off of my stories has never been at the forefront of my mind, indeed both stories I am writing purely because I need to write them – if anyone else enjoys them when they’re done then all the better, but I’m really writing them because they’re in my head and have been for years and I need to finally do something with them.
For many people though – people like John – it’s not that easy. They need to make their living on writing, so they can you know, buy food, or diapers for their 6month old son. So in this new world order, if people are becoming less and less likely to purchase books in the way they once would, just where will these kinds of authors go?
Sunday, 8 August 2010
BEDA - Aug8 - Totally cheating
I am absolutely cheating today, and just writing this one sentence because I'm super busy but didn't want to just not blog at all *total cheater*
Saturday, 7 August 2010
BEDA - Aug7 - Don't even get me started
OK, so my day, by which I take to mean the entirety of August7, starting at midnight, has totally and utterly sucked.
My bus home from Summer in the City got half way up the motorway only to find the motorway closed because of an accident, and so we sat stationary for hours. I was already supposed to be getting back in at like gone 1, I ended up getting in after 4. It was hell. Especially as I had to be at work by just gone 8, and not for a short shift today - oh no that would be too easy - but for an entire full 9hour day, on literally no sleep except for some sketchy "trying to sleep on the coach" sleep, which didn't help at all.
Add all this to the fact I was already more than a little peeved to not still be at Summer in the City ANYWAY, you can generally imagine how I'm feeling right now.
But enough of my whining. Because ONE cool thing did happen today. The epilogue to Lost leaked. And given that Lost is the best thing to happen to television since the actual invention thereof, this cheered me up a little
A 12minute sequence, made up effectively of 2 scenes, titled "The New Man In Charge", aimed to show what happened during Hurley's tenure on the Island, and hint at where it would go next. It's on the DVD box-set for the 6th season and complete season box-set to be released in a few weeks, but it leaked (very temporarily) online earlier
Without wanting to spoil anyone who hasn't seen it, it definitely gives some answers we didn't get before, which I like, but somehow feels like it was made purely for that purpose - to tie up loose ends, and after the finale I was very much in the camp that I was fine with the end anyway. My loose ends were tied.
There will be people who love this completely, and will call it the definitive end of the show. But while I sure liked it - I will never not like new Lost footage - and appreciate it for what it is: I can't bring myself to say I loved it, and Vincent and Jack in the bamboo will always be where my story ends.
My bus home from Summer in the City got half way up the motorway only to find the motorway closed because of an accident, and so we sat stationary for hours. I was already supposed to be getting back in at like gone 1, I ended up getting in after 4. It was hell. Especially as I had to be at work by just gone 8, and not for a short shift today - oh no that would be too easy - but for an entire full 9hour day, on literally no sleep except for some sketchy "trying to sleep on the coach" sleep, which didn't help at all.
Add all this to the fact I was already more than a little peeved to not still be at Summer in the City ANYWAY, you can generally imagine how I'm feeling right now.
But enough of my whining. Because ONE cool thing did happen today. The epilogue to Lost leaked. And given that Lost is the best thing to happen to television since the actual invention thereof, this cheered me up a little
A 12minute sequence, made up effectively of 2 scenes, titled "The New Man In Charge", aimed to show what happened during Hurley's tenure on the Island, and hint at where it would go next. It's on the DVD box-set for the 6th season and complete season box-set to be released in a few weeks, but it leaked (very temporarily) online earlier
Without wanting to spoil anyone who hasn't seen it, it definitely gives some answers we didn't get before, which I like, but somehow feels like it was made purely for that purpose - to tie up loose ends, and after the finale I was very much in the camp that I was fine with the end anyway. My loose ends were tied.
There will be people who love this completely, and will call it the definitive end of the show. But while I sure liked it - I will never not like new Lost footage - and appreciate it for what it is: I can't bring myself to say I loved it, and Vincent and Jack in the bamboo will always be where my story ends.
Friday, 6 August 2010
BEDA - Aug6 - Summer in the City
Regular readers of this blog will of course be aware of my YouTube obsession. I’ve been vlogging on and off now for about 2 years, and in that time have forged numerous friendships in the Youtube community, as well as finding people who I watch all the time even though I know they have know idea who I am. YouTube is one of very few places where you can say that and it’s not stalkery at all. And Summer in the City is one of very few times that UK YouTubers all get together and generally party hard, and realise that we’re all the same.
After an early morning to get to the coach station the day got off to a disastrous start – I’d booked 2 coach tickets, one for today and one for another event I’m attending next week, and of course, in the early morning rush I’d printed the wrong one out. Thankfully I could pull up my email on my blackberry and show the driver the confirmation, or I’d have been in serious trouble!
Finally arriving in London I quickly found Lidewij, my dutch friend from Vidcon, and her group of friends, who I quickly came to learn were just as awesome as she was. Throw in Steve the Aussie, and this was gonna be an ace day.
The 100’s in attendance split into teams (our clean team name being Team Double Rainbow, our not so clean name being a rather… dirty… dutch word which I won’t repeat here - partly because I can't spell it =D) and embarked on a huge scavenger hunt which would see us take in just about every sight in London, before eventually crashing out around Leicester Square for drinks and food – preferably in that order. Lidewij left us to head to some concert, and the rest of us headed to Yates’s bar to enjoy some cold beverages.
And then all too soon the day was over. I wish I could have stayed for the full weekend, but unfortunately work shifts worked against me and meant that I had no choice but to get to the coach station and return to my normal life.
I’ll see Lidewij again next weekend at a John Green event (back in London again), and this is just about all that’s keeping me sane, the promise that there is more fun to be had in the near future. Because leaving a group of friends behind is always difficult. Whether you’ve known them 9hours or your entire life. If you’ve clicked with people, you’ve clicked with them.
SitC2011 is a long way off, as is VidCon2011. So my plea: Lets not wait for the next official gathering to all meet up!! Everyone should just come visit. You are always welcome here, and there will always be an airbed. Just let me know you’re coming and turn up. =)
After an early morning to get to the coach station the day got off to a disastrous start – I’d booked 2 coach tickets, one for today and one for another event I’m attending next week, and of course, in the early morning rush I’d printed the wrong one out. Thankfully I could pull up my email on my blackberry and show the driver the confirmation, or I’d have been in serious trouble!
Finally arriving in London I quickly found Lidewij, my dutch friend from Vidcon, and her group of friends, who I quickly came to learn were just as awesome as she was. Throw in Steve the Aussie, and this was gonna be an ace day.
The 100’s in attendance split into teams (our clean team name being Team Double Rainbow, our not so clean name being a rather… dirty… dutch word which I won’t repeat here - partly because I can't spell it =D) and embarked on a huge scavenger hunt which would see us take in just about every sight in London, before eventually crashing out around Leicester Square for drinks and food – preferably in that order. Lidewij left us to head to some concert, and the rest of us headed to Yates’s bar to enjoy some cold beverages.
And then all too soon the day was over. I wish I could have stayed for the full weekend, but unfortunately work shifts worked against me and meant that I had no choice but to get to the coach station and return to my normal life.
I’ll see Lidewij again next weekend at a John Green event (back in London again), and this is just about all that’s keeping me sane, the promise that there is more fun to be had in the near future. Because leaving a group of friends behind is always difficult. Whether you’ve known them 9hours or your entire life. If you’ve clicked with people, you’ve clicked with them.
SitC2011 is a long way off, as is VidCon2011. So my plea: Lets not wait for the next official gathering to all meet up!! Everyone should just come visit. You are always welcome here, and there will always be an airbed. Just let me know you’re coming and turn up. =)
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