a nerd of epic proportions

From twitter.

ASSFDGFNFJDGCGFUFHJ NEW DRAGON PRINCE SEASON 4 CLIP!!!

CALLUUUM!!!! Holy crud I love the new look!

(Please don’t get obsessed with the mirror like a certain somebody)

Also, ITS COMING TO NETFLIX THIS NOVEMBER!!

(At least, it says so in the description of this clip)

Anyways,

How To Train Your Dragon (2010) / The Dragon Prince (2018—?) / The Sea Beast (2022)

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Harrow is a good man, caught in cycle of violence he can’t stop because he views the conflict with Xadia as a narrative of strength. A philosophy that feeds on centuries worth of conflict and pain, and perpetuates a war that could’ve ended centuries ago.

And the directors show us this by having Harrow march TOWARDS the Katolis towers, where his war and throne rooms await him (obviously he chose neither, but there’s a whole different discussion as to why.) 

Ezran does the opposite. Despite being in literal, physical chains at the end of his reign, Ezran broke the metaphorical chains of history when he chose to make peace with Xadia.

And because of that, Ezran is moving AWAY from the towers, and all that they represent. He chooses to reject Katolis’ self destructive narrative of strength, and walk his own path, unknowingly fulfilling Harrow’s dying wish.

Deadpool Update (X)

BITE stands for Behavior Control, Information Control, Thought Control, and Emotional Control.

The more points a group “scores” on the model, the more of a cult it is.

I think this model is the best one for several reasons:

It’s more nuanced than “cult” or “not cult” and doesn’t make false equivalences between groups

It’s versatile, applying to groups big and small, and cults of all kinds, religious, political, financial, etc.

This is a great example of Thought Control used by cults whenever they’re confronted with criticism.

Yeah, we get our fair share of bar patrons and stoners throughout the night but do you know who else comes in for food? The bartender. The chef from the local restaurant after he closes for the night. The delivery drivers from the pizza shop across the street who get back too late from their last run to have the cooks make anything for them. Two companies worth of sanitation workers on their way to work. Construction workers about to travel to their job site. Doctors and nurses getting off shift or on their way in. Utility workers on call for emergencies. Police and EMTs. Sex workers. Road maintenance crews. The owners and staff of the donut shop and little bakeries in town. So many truck drivers. I'm on a first-name basis with the woman who drives the huge USPS mail truck making deliveries to poat offices who stops in every time she drives past because we are the only place open on her route where she can use the bathroom and grab a cup of coffee. Teachers on their way in early to lesson plan or set up or attend meetings. Panicked parents of sick children who are always so upset that we don't carry medicine for babies and kids but are so grateful that at least they can get pedialyte and soup and popsicles.

Walmarts in my area close at 11:00 pm and have since the pandemic started. All of the local Dennys diners close at 8:00pm after a server was brutally attacked because someone's food was taking too long. Every shop and restaurant around has now hiring signs posted. The town Facebook page is constantly full of announcements of shortened business hours and "Sorry we can't open today because we don't have staff." When Mom and I wake up in the evening and don't feel like cooking we know we will probably have to call 2 or 3 different places to find somewhere that is open to pick up food from because so many restaurants around only stay open until 6:00 or 7:00. Most small businesses in the area have closed permanently. People come from 30+ minutes away because they know we will be open. So many of our regulars were devastated last week when we had to shut down the kitchen overnight for a few shifts because Mom and I were out with covid and we are literally 50% of the overnight staff. Thankfully most of our regulars were understanding and were so happy to see us back and hear that we were feeling better.

Vs.

Game of Thrones:

They're just impossible to watch.

That's the whole point of this post: you can have a gritty, atmospheric vibe while still permitting your audience to see what is happening.

I actually Lost My Shit during a scene because it was lit by torchlight and then they snuffed the torch and I could still see!

And if you look at those scenes in horror films, they are almost always lit such that your Potential Victim and/or the foreground is visible, and the Creepy Thing is just barely visible so that you (and, believably, the Potential Victim) don't see it at first.

here is an example from a long twitter quote-tweet chain about single shots from films that will haunt you forever (along with a well-lit nighttime scene from the person he's quote-tweeting):

You can have a really dark scene, major parts of the screen just black, and as long as the light you do have is positioned such that it's hitting the relevant planes and edges of the focus of the shot, you're fine. The frame is intelligible.

Just. Get some contrasts in there, egad.

Film involves pointing a camera at a real object, but it still relies on the same basic composition principles as drawing and painting. You are making an image out of light to be processed by a human brain. That doesn't change.

I get the impression this is less and less emphasized in cinematography and the directors calling the shots know less and less cinematography, as time goes by.

Because of course, Getting The Light Right is a specialized union job that takes time and equipment, and it's faster and therefore much cheaper to just take the shot and plan to 'fix' any issues with lighting 'in post.' Which simply doesn't work very well, considering the whole point of 'taking a shot' is capturing existing light, especially if you want it done cheap and fast. Post should be enhancing what you've got, not trying to add stuff you left out.

(Other than obviously the dragons. Although those would usually be better as CGI-enhanced practical effects too ngl.)

Most of it is the corner-cutting that labor abuse and easy digital editing encourages, but I think it's exacerbated by another element of the shift to all-digital filmmaking, too.

Because digital cameras literally don't see light the same way film ones do; they soften and smooth and color-balance and by default tend to equalize it, while also picking out a new style of detail-crispness, and have definitely changed how the toolset available to lighting coordinators and other people who focus on lighting technique will practically apply to the finished product.