The return of old-style props in movie making

I read this article about CGI in the Guardian the other day, and thought it was good.

I'm so tired of CGI in films - it really can spoil a movie for me. Take Star Wars for instance - I think CGI was one of the big reasons that the prequels felt more lifeless and generally not as good as the originals.

In the article, a guy called Rob Burman makes a couple of interesting points. First, real props add to the physical reality of a film, as actors can react naturally to them, and they just look less 'shiny' and more real, because they are. But also, anything that is 'too CGI' and unbelievable can actually take you out of the movie, which surely defeats some of the point of using it? As Burman says: "It can look utterly believable, but if what you're watching is beyond possibility, it's hard to suspend your disbelief." As movie-goers, we can now usually tell when something is computer-generated, and if it isn't physically there, the scene just seems less real.

And for me, believability and realism is very important, as I love to get lost in films, but that doesn't tend to happen very much these days. So many films of the past would possess nothing of the charm they do if they'd been made with CGI, and so I really hope that real props start to make a comeback sometime soon.

The Top Ten Reasons Gaming Was Better in the Early ‘90s

Andrew Sztein makes a lot of good points in his article The Top Ten Reasons Gaming Was Better in the Early ‘90s. I agree with just about everything he says, especially points #8, #3 and #1.

Games just seem so complicated and serious these days, while back then it was all much simpler and felt more like fun. I've often had to explain to my younger brother why playing the NES and Mega Drive back in the day was way better than playing Gears of War on his fancy Xbox 360. But he just doesn't get it.

Or maybe we all just end up enjoying whatever it is we do while we're kids, and we'll always like and be nostalgic for that. Either way, give me some old school Sonic and Mario over Halo any day.

Home sweet home

I came back to my parents' house yesterday after finishing uni on Friday. Central heating, food in the cupboards, a tidy living room and a working TV are just some of the things I've missed. The other house never felt like home, and it's really nice just to be back, sat in my bedroom, listening to music, with the smell of Sunday roast wafting up from downstairs.

I've gotta start some serious revision for my exams tomorrow though - I can't wait until they're over. This summer should be pretty sweet. Kinda got a lot planned already.

One night in Manchester

Last night was pretty fun - me and my mate went to Manchester to see Big D and the Kids Table, Sonic Boom Six and Random Hand at the Manchester Academy.

We caught the train from Sheffield at around 6pm and arrived in Manchester about an hour later. I didn't realise until I arrived, but I'd never actually been to Manchester before, which is kinda strange considering how big a city it is and how close it is to Sheffield. I'd also forgotten that the Champions League final was on, and Manchester United were playing in it.

We left the train station and kinda just guessed our way towards the Academy. It took about half an hour to get there, and the streets were pretty busy because of the football.

Manchester is quite a nice place, or at least the parts we went through, and everything's bigger than Sheffield.

The academy was inside the Manchester University students' union, and it felt a bit odd being in another university's union, but again, it was a nice place. We found the room where the gig was and met up with a couple of friends who go to Manchester uni.

I'd seen all the bands before, but it was a good show. Random Hand were really energetic and fun, and Sonic Boom Six were pretty lively as well, but Big D were the best band of the night for me. They didn't play some of my favourite songs though, sticking to their more recent stuff.

While we were inside we discovered Manchester United had actually won the match, which we were glad about, and as we left the gig the roads were full of people driving along, beeping their horns and waving flags.

On the way to the gig someone had handed us a flyer for an after-party, and our friends and the bands were going so we decided to go too and catch a later train. It was like a pop punk night and the drinks were cheap, so we ended up having a good time.

Just as we were leaving we had a quick chat with the bassist and drummer from Big D. I told them to play some of their older stuff at shows, and that they should come to Sheffield next time, but the bassist said they had got in a fight or something last time they did. I also asked where the band name had originally come from, as I'd heard one theory before, but wasn't sure how true it was.

If I remember right, the bassist said that one of the singer's friends had suggested it as a name after hearing the phrase on a TV advert (although the bassist wasn't sure how true that was). Then when the band formed and couldn't think of another name, they went with Big D and the Kids Table. So now you know!

After that we walked back to the train station, but had an hour to wait before our 3:30 train, so we went and got some food at a nearby chip shop that was still open. There were some drunk Man Utd fans there who had obviously had a sauce fight, as they and the walls were covered in brown sauce and ketchup, and the owner got quite annoyed and tried to throw them out. It was pretty funny.

After eating we went and waited at the train station. Our train came, and I tried to get some sleep on the way back, but this other passenger was being noisy and kept waking me up. The seats were really uncomfortable too.

There was a bit of a delay at one of the stops, and so we got back to Sheffield at about 5am and walked home.

All in all, although at times kinda odd, it was a really fun night. I'd probably go back to Manchester too - I really like the place.

Feelin' good

Things are looking up. My Japanese listening test is done, my website for Web Journalism has been submitted and I just handed in my last essay of the year. And I'm going to see Big D and the Kids Table tonight in Manchester. And the weather's pretty nice too today.

Still got two exams in a couple of weeks, but I'm not thinking about them for the moment.

Libraries and horses

Just finished a 10 hour stint at the library working on my website for Web Journalism. Life is pretty sucky right now. My last week at uni starts tomorrow, then I have exams to revise for. But everything should be over in under a month.

I think the best part of this week was going to see HORSE the band at Corporation. They're really fun live, and I got to speak with the synth player, Eric afterwards (pictured below). I gave him my band's demo. Maybe he'll listen to it. Also, a band called rolo tomassi were supporting. I saw them last time I went to see HORSE too, but they'd improved since then, and I really enjoyed their set. Spoke to the guitarist a bit after.

Phone and camera

So my new phone broke a couple of weeks ago now. Some of the buttons stopped working and then it turned itself off. It's been really hard to do anything about it, especially as it was my dad that bought it and not me. But in the end I took it to The Carphone Warehouse at Meadowhall yesterday, as they can send it off to Nokia for a repair under warranty, and it'll take 8-9 days they said.

It's been kinda liberating not having a phone, but mostly just annoying, having to use Facebook all the time to arrange stuff with people.

The main reason I'd actually gone to Meadowhall was to buy a new camera from Jessops, where my mate works. I'd been wanting to get a decent digital camera before I go to Japan, and upon recommendation I decided on the Nikon Coolpix S210. I'm just charging the battery up now and haven't had a chance to use it yet, but it's meant to be pretty good.

I think photos are becoming more and more important these days. Maybe it's because of things like Flickr and Facebook. People seem to want to take them all the time. They are a good idea though - you'll probably see a few more pictures on here from now on.

Reviews

My band, Spheres of Chaos got mentions in two Sheffield music magazines this month. The first is in COMA Magazine. They reviewed our new EP, Stratospheria, and as I don't have a scanner handy, I'll type up what they said:

"Bit annoyed that once again the only way to find out what's on this disc is to access the bands website. I refuse to do so and have no idea what these tracks are called, but it's great. Progressive rock has returned with a big bag of sugar poured over it. I feel like I'm listening to Camel for the first time with a bit of the better guitar bits from Pink Floyd etc etc etc. It's nice, it's really nice and a good selection to play when you can't be bothered with words and just want the waves to crash through you and the ground to melt between your toes."

I really like that. Especially the comparison to Pink Floyd! But maybe I should have written the track names on the disc I sent...

The second was in Sandman, and this was a review of a show we played at West Street Live a couple of months ago. It's only a few lines but it's still quite positive. If you live round here you can pick up a free copy (as you can with COMA), or there's an online PDF version. We're on page 27. I also sent a copy of our EP to Sandman, but they haven't reviewed it yet. Maybe next month?

Sport

I went to watch Sheffield Wednesday's last game of the season yesterday against Norwich City. We had to win to be sure of avoiding relegation, and we did, 4-1! That meant we actually ended up finishing 16th in the table, 6 places above the relegation zone. It was quite an exciting match, but the main thing was that we stayed up, although I hope we're finishing towards the other end of the table next season.

It's also the final of the World Snooker Championship tonight. I always enjoy watching this tournament, especially as it's held in Sheffield. I'd like to actually go to the Crucible one day and watch a match, but watching it on TV is good too. I don't fully understand the game, but the commentators always explain everything and make it interesting. Also, I like the fact that, compared to other sports, snooker doesn't tend to be overhyped or anything - it's just nice and relaxed.

I'd like to see Ronnie O'Sullivan win again, and I reckon he will as he's already winning by quite a way.

Pokémon Gold came in the post

After sending off my Pokémon Gold cart to Nintendo to get a new battery it came back in the post today. I had to wait more than the three weeks it was meant to take, but I got one of those plastic game cases with it, which is cool. And it's not like I have time to play games at the moment anyway. But only three more weeks and a couple of exams now, and then it's the summer holidays!