army enlightenment

Free translation: the soldiers are saying how much they love doing the exercises, how they didn't know they had these capabilities, "you should have spirit and stamina" blablabla. It ends with the colonel saying "i am your leader". Great sheep spirit I say.





Two years and two months, I had to endure crap like this. And for what purpose exactly?

red right hand

The guys from Relentless who came in today, brought a different attitude than my preconception. Five days a week, eight hours a day, no hairy, bearded men in black *cough* sounds pretty good to me. It seems like a professional, yet laid back environment. A very well structured company it seemed to me, compiled of about 70 people. Noticeable is also how the art department does not work detached from, say, the programming department. Rather you might find a programmer sitting next to an animator, who's next to a designer. This interdisciplinary approach allows for better communication and versatility. So what do they do? They make Playstation games for Sony, their Buzz series of social games, apply to their mission of "making games for everyone". In their own words they "delivery high quality on time and to budget" and have "proven and sustainable working practices". Personal note was that a minimum charge for a game is around £3-4+ million.
Well stated also the fact that "it won't be wizards and warlocks forever" and that the game industry is going through a form of renaissance. True, times are changing. I can't wait though, until the day where it will neither be wizards nor warlocks nor soldiers nor super-soldiers.
Another insight/suggestion was flexibility. Don't just focus on one thing (designing cars), but be able to diversify yourself. And for Buddha's name, no more chicks and g-strings.
The idea of work experience being really important scares the hell outta me. It is something I've been thinking the last year, and got mentioned today that a person learns much more working in a studio than in college. Debatable to the field one wants to get into later on, of course, but nevertheless, it has planted a seed.
Ben also mentioned show-reels and demos. Very good advices to avoid, for example, don't disperse different video work just to make it look larger. They just want to see the work. And don't bother about music, they probably heard it before. Furthermore, the classic advice of sacrificing quantity for quality was also mentioned.
I have also checked out their website, and job openings, some pretty interesting stuff there, although I do feel in need to improve my skills first.

Jon Bird was an OM. Less a mantra and more an Operation Mindfuck. Mathematics, A.I, they fascinate me but I couldn't even multiply to save my life. Maybe because it was the last hour of class as well that most of the information just went completely over my head. The project they're currently working on seems very intriguing. Although for me, creativity is something very sacred, which, again a personal belief, is derived from a higher source and the creator being a mere vessel for the Muse to express herself - hence not believing a robot can actually "create"- it's great to see the scientific approach to the philosophical question "what defines creativity". It is also refreshing to see different practices merging together in production. Scientists building robots to create art which then gets judged by the philosophers seems engaging. I also noticed on their website that Anna Dumitriu, head of 'The Institute of Unnecessary Research' has also joined the team, thus the plot thickens. It is times like these that I slap myself for not paying attention to physics and mathematics classes in school.
What also caught my attention was the creation of an Artificial Curator. The approach was very clever, even though mind-boggling to a point (especially during the .zip comparison).

John Higgs is the writer and BAFTA nominee for the book "I have America surrounded - The life of Timothy Leary". He lives in Brighton and I contacted him a couple of days ago asking him for an interview. The reason for the interview relates to my dissertation. The Timothy Leary of 1972 was way different than the hippy, summer of love one. After repeated arrests, imprisonment, escape, smuggled out of America, arrested again and imprisoned in Switzerland and so on had changed him into the preacher of cyberculture. Strongly supporting that personal computers and the Internet would work as tools for personal liberation, beyond governments and nations. Prophetic when one looks at the state of the Internet and Web 2.0 today. William Burroughs says about Leary "Tim changed the world. Leary was successful and did bring about a fundamental and lasting shift in human consciousness for millions of people". In my essay, a relationship between the theories of Timothy Leary, Howard Bloom and Carl Gustav Jung are made concerning Web 2.0. The suggestion being that perhaps the collective unconscious is bringing unknowingly, a natural evolution, the archetype of godhead, oneness, unity into conscious.
Back to John Higgs, whom I thought would be a good idea contacting, not only as primary research for the essay, but perhaps shedding a new light to my not-so-objective-stand on Leary's concepts. I got a reply today, saying he's quite busy this week, but can do next week, and seeing I live in Brighton, we could get together and discuss over a drink. Which sounded brilliant to me, even a bit overwhelming, as it's not everyday I get a chance to talk to a person who has studied Leary in depth. So more to come on this...
This has turned into quite a long post, but before I stop my rambling, in case their are any conspiracy/paranormal/mythology buffs out there, I got Darklore Vol.1 on Saturday, and found it an excellent read. It is compiled of a variety of essays on esoteric science and history, the paranormal, outside the mainstream science. One article included is by John Higgs as well, (synchronicity?) and talks about the relationship between Aleister Crowley and Timothy Leary. Published by Daily Grail, the authors are barely your typical, average, take it all for granted. It's rather more skeptical and thought through. If you're into these kind of readings then I'd also recommend visiting their website which offers daily links to such related news, videos etc.
In the words of Blair Mackenzie Blake: Happy trails!

dear mtv

A change of plans for today. A friend of mine who owns Fishbone Records in Cyprus, has contacted me today to do a promo video for his annual event 'Bands Fest'. Thanks to Andrew Kramer and his tutorials which I'd recommend to anyone interested in after effects, I spent the day doing a 15sec clip inviting bands to apply to the competition. I'm very satisfied with the result and will post it here once my client has put it on his websites as well.
Also, taking part in a competition is something I don't feel at all comfortable with. If anyone else feels the same, I'd suggest reading on; it always makes me feel better. It may also be relevant to the people doing the MTV brief.

Letter from Nick Cave to MTV:
TO ALL THOSE AT MTV,

I WOULD LIKE TO START BY THANKING YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME OVER RECENT YEARS AND I AM BOTH GRATEFUL AND FLATTERED BY THE NOMINATIONS THAT I HAVE RECEIVED FOR BEST MALE ARTIST. THE AIR PLAY GIVEN TO BOTH THE KYLIE MINOGUE AND P. J. HARVEY DUETS FROM MY LATEST ALBUM MURDER BALLADS HAS NOT GONE UNNOTICED AND HAS BEEN GREATLY APPRECIATED. SO AGAIN MY SINCERE THANKS.

HAVING SAID THAT, I FEEL THAT IT'S NECESSARY FOR ME TO REQUEST THAT MY NOMINATION FOR BEST MALE ARTIST BE WITHDRAWN AND FURTHERMORE ANY AWARDS OR NOMINATIONS FOR SUCH AWARDS THAT MAY ARISE IN LATER YEARS BE PRESENTED TO THOSE WHO FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE COMPETITIVE NATURE OF THESE AWARD CEREMONIES. I MYSELF, DO NOT. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN OF THE OPINION THAT MY MUSIC IS UNIQUE AND INDIVIDUAL AND EXISTS BEYOND THE REALMS INHABITED BY THOSE WHO WOULD REDUCE THINGS TO MERE MEASURING. I AM IN COMPETITION WITH NO-ONE.
MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MY MUSE IS A DELICATE ONE AT THE BEST OF TIMES AND I FEEL THAT IT IS MY DUTY TO PROTECT HER FROM INFLUENCES THAT MAY OFFEND HER FRAGILE NATURE.

SHE COMES TO ME WITH THE GIFT OF SONG AND IN RETURN I TREAT HER WITH THE RESPECT I FEEL SHE DESERVES - IN THIS CASE THIS MEANS NOT SUBJECTING HER TO THE INDIGNITIES OF JUDGEMENT AND COMPETITION. MY MUSE IS NOT A HORSE AND I AM IN NO HORSE RACE AND IF INDEED SHE WAS, STILL I WOULD NOT HARNESS HER TO THIS TUMBREL - THIS BLOODY CART OF SEVERED HEADS AND GLITTERING PRIZES. MY MUSE MAY SPOOK! MAY BOLT! MAY ABANDON ME COMPLETELY!
SO ONCE AGAIN, TO THE PEOPLE AT MTV, I APPRECIATE THE ZEAL AND ENERGY THAT WAS PUT BEHIND MY LAST RECORD, I TRULY DO AND SAY THANK YOU AND AGAIN I SAY THANK YOU BUT NO...NO THANK YOU.

first samples

Started messing around with Vue 6, Poser and Cinema 4d to produce some 3d samples of what the poster could look like. Peter and I are leaning towards the visual style of a computer game, something that 16 year olds can relate to. There will be a bit of a twist to it, for example, as Peter suggested, maybe having the soldiers fighting on a wheelchair or a hospital bed. So while discussing this in the morning and Peter showing me his first sample of a cemetery which I thought was a brilliant idea, I started doing a 3d influenced by it. Send it to Peter and he suggested instead of a cemetery I place the character in an aftermath of a battlefield. Maybe I've mentioned it before, but just for the sake of clarity, I'll do so again. Vue and Poser are the most unstable, unreliable, and slow as hell softwares I've ever used. Yeah they use millions of polygons but even turning work views to mere lines still makes it very difficult to move objects or pose them in general. It is at this point that I understand why game devolopers practice so much in reducing the amount of polygons by using textures and uv maps instead of having the actual detailed model. The last sample I did took almost 45 minutes, and that's on an eight core mac pro. I intend on making some more ideas tonight, and spend tomorrow starting putting research in the sketchbook and drawings for ideas.

Here are the samples:

strong stomach required

While discussing my idea with a friend, he gave me a youtube link for 'waterboarding instructions'. Waterboarding, passed as legal in the UK and the US, and is an interrogation method (torture). Observe the soldiers facial expression, and please do share with me the rational for what exactly makes the particular being as 'human'. Quote from Wikipedia: "Waterboarding gained recent attention and notoriety in the United States when the press reported that the CIA had used waterboarding in the interrogation of certain extrajudicial prisoners^[15] and that the Justice Department had authorized this procedure.^[16] The new controversy surrounded the widely reported use of waterboarding by the United States government on alleged terrorists, and whether the practice was acceptable". Ah, such wonderful activities one can indulge in the army. Join Now!

no comment

More on the army

An article saying that 48% of all soldiers found the army worse than they expected with only 20% thinking it was better.
Another article regarding the unexplained deaths of four young soldiers within training, to which the army supports the deaths were suicide, something the families denied. One needs to bare in mind that a person commiting suicide is not doing it because he/she is in a jolly good environment filled with happiness and bliss. There's another article regarding the four "suicides" here. Further on it stands on an Amnesty International survey which revealed a number of 1,748 "non-natural" deaths since 1990.
Deepcut barracks which are also mentioned for their brutal, sadist initiation ceremonies they conduct have been brought to my attention by Peter, when he discovered some photographs that came out of naked soldiers fighting. The clever move by the mod to close down the deepcut barracks has been thought of as innapropriate before a decend enquiry has been conducted regarding the deaths of the soldiers. Another article mentions that one of the privates who commited suicide had two gunshots in the head. Perfectly natural, in the words of Frank Zappa, 'if you try suicide try getting it right the first time or else you'll be a suicide chump', maybe those were the words of the soldier when he realised that the first bullet didn't do the trick and had to shoot himself, AGAIN, IN THE HEAD, to die. Right.
A BBC cover shows that army bullying is a global problem. Maybe I should write my own experiences on it as well at a later stage.
Here is an article that covers torture and 'indecent acts' on Iraqi prisoners from the US army. A couple of years ago a friend brought me a documentary made by a Greek journalist where he interviewed Ali Shalal, the Iraqi prisoner whose photograph travelled the world, showing him standing on a box, wires on his hands and a bag on his head. I will post photographs from that documentary later on.

Quicktime 7.4

I've been trying since yesterday to render the work I'm doing for my client. After Effects kept giving me errors halfway through, towards the end (waiting for 5 hours for an error message is quite frustrating) and sometimes as soon as it begun rendering. I deleted my preferences and switched to factory settings but no change. I tried forums and so on, and I found out that the new Quicktime update 7.4 disables After Effects and prevents rendering. Once updated there is no way of turning back and I'm still trying software like pacifist to fix it. Up until now there has been no success and it seems I'm going to miss the deadline.
So mac users, try avoiding updates, and windows users, just don't download it.
Here are some posts I found related to this:
tuaw
adobe

research for d&ad armyjobs brief

The idea came up upon first looking at the d&ad briefs (see previous post). After taking part last year, then seeing the final winner,

it became very difficult for me wanting to participate this year. The fact that I promised myself after finishing my business course that I would never again take part in the advertising or marketing industry, makes it a bit harder. This year the briefs are all relate to the advertising industry, apart from the Bob Dylan brief, that I won't even start on discussing. Peter and I decided on doing the armyjobs brief. It is a difficult task as we want to make a statement against the army and war, yet keepi

ng with the objectives set. Up until yesterday we didn't even know whether we could 'get away' with it. But thanks to Micheal's support

we're diving head first into it. Yes some of you share a different opinion on the army, and that would be perfectly coherent and understandable in the 1800's. Not in 2008. If a person tries running through a wall and gets a bump on the head every time, after a couple of times, the learning part of the brain triggers the result

'you cannot go through a wall'. The same can be applied to a variety of situations.

A bit of brainstorming in class, led to us having countless concepts and issues wanting to bring up. Some of the 'evils' that come up are lack of compensations for families who have lost a loved one at war. Lack of compensation for injured soldiers. Mental problems, rehabilitation, nightmares, panic attacks and general post-dramatic stress disorder. Furthermore, the excessive spending in the war machine, leads to lower funding for education. Peter suggested we narrow down these concepts to three ideas or else we'd go on

forever in research. We ended up with the following three concepts:

• Surveillance/hacking/web tracking. Showing the more advanced side of the army, which requires more qualifications and so on. Even though the soldiers will be spending time archiving people with beards and the name Mohammed into databases.
• Money spent on the army means no support for returning soldiers since the funds have already been spent on machinery, bombs and so on.
• An antithesis between the life a person could leave outside the army in comparison with being in the army. Outside the army one can shoot bearded, inaudibly speaking pixels in front of a screen holding an xbox 360 controller. In the army one can use that same 360 xbox controller to kill real human beings, sometimes women and children, or red cross buildings.

With that in mind we begun researching on different antiwar websites, online newspapers to backup o

ur argument. One needs not look far to start uncovering the pile of infectious, unpunished crimes the army is responsible for. Even though 174 UK soldiers have died in Iraq since the operation 'liberate iraq' (hehe), the newspaper independent says there is a total of 6,700 ca

sualties including injuries (if you wanna make an omelet you gotta break some eggs). Naturally there will be casualties. Naturally, the government and army promised that there will be compensation

for injured soldiers who pledged themselves in defending the

ir nation (not attacking an invisible enemy). Naturally, though, history taught as that governments and the army tend to lie a lot. How can they pay for compensation and support when the UK government has spent over £3.1 billion in Iraq. That's not so bad as the US who spent $596.1 billion. No wonder, returning soldiers are kicked out of their homes and blow their heads off. The army says 'we take care of our own', and a classic example would be that of Steve Baldwin who suffering post-traumatic stress from a bomb attack that killed three of his friends got fired from the army (clever way to avoid paying anything) on the terms of temperamental unsuitability. Riiight. Many soldiers are also suffering from headaches and other diseases caused from the US *not* using chemical weapons in Iraq. As they didn't use them in the Gulf war. And all this to support a Nazi

supporter's complex syndrome. At the same time, the system is stinking from the inside, with the military spreading its tentacles within education by funding military projects. All of this is happening not to liberate Iraq, nor to arrest and kill the arch enemy of the world, be it Osama or Sadam,

but, and apologies for breaking that little bubble for some, *drum roll*, oil. Yes, oil.

For oil, we have about 100.000 US soldiers injured, over 3000 killed and over 1 million Iraqis dead. But this is not considered genocide like Rwanda or Armenia. Nope. This is freedom, democracy and protection. It's all good and arguable if you're looking out the other side of the bulletproof glass, but if it was your families, your wives, your children dying...it would be quite different wouldn't it?