I was stuck. It was my turn and all the things that I was thinking of saying when everyone else was talking vanished. So I just let myself talk.
“Well, I’ve always loved reading books,” I replied.
Long pause.
“I loved the way that they can tell stories of people from different walks of life. I thought I could do that with writing, whether it’s for films or journalism. So, yeah.. at the core of it, I just want to tell stories.”
—
Earlier that week, my mom confronted me about my post-college plans. She recounted how when her and my dad graduated, they immediately sought out jobs. To them, what I was doing at the moment, was stalling.
This stung. But I suppose, it was expected.
Maybe I was.
In this city, you need 2-5+ years of experience to get a job, and a job to get experience. It’s laughable how paradoxical and backward it is, except it’s true.
Maybe I was just doing this because I know what’s out there and what the response will be, and I’m scared out of my wits.
—
“He could have half-finished projects,” she said.
We were brainstorming about a character for a short film and I paused. I cowered in embarrassment because I do that too. I know the frustrations of having ideas and seeing them through till the end, or abandoning them.
“That’s what’s happening to your generation, she continues. “You’re all indecisive about what you want to do.”
This hits home. I knew this was true.
Doing something with your passion requires risks. It’s terrifying and daunting. But when it’s your life’s work on the line, your passions, it can only be everything or nothing. Instead of doing nothing, you just have to jump.
In an attempt to show my work (since people say I don’t post it anywhere), here’s a terribly late brief photo essay of museums that I’ve wandered around during my visit back then.
Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). June 2010, New York.
A single-take video of a man walking backwards, but the video is edited and played in reverse, so it appears that he’s walking forward and the whole world is moving in reverse. Watch it!
Damsel in Distress: Part 1 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games
Taking a break in between to share this because I like games and I’ve seen this too often in games, television, films and other counterparts of media.An insightful and comprehensive analysis video about the origins & effects of damsels in distress in video games.
Why can’t there be and why isn’t there much stronger female characters? They need a Joss Whedon/Buffy-like character, I tell you.
mikemeijer said: Utopia sounds amazing! Great job of drawing in your readers with awesome descriptions and creating immense interest in what you review Pam! :)
Thanks Mike! You’re too kind! If you’re into those kind of shows, watch Misfits and Alphas too. :)
I’m finally getting around to posting these. Most of the time, I was alone and wandering aimlessly, it was scary and liberating. Here are some of my favorite street shots. :)
There’s always something about British television shows that’s enticing. With Mistfits not being back yet, Utopia is a nice distraction.
From the sound of it, you’d think it was a dystopian sci-fi series. Au contraire, it’s set in a no-powers, no-zombies and just plain old London, revolving around normal people.
What’s enthralling about it is how it turns a theory to a terrifying reality, making it a conspiracy thriller coupled with creepiness, a bit of humor, good cinematography, and violence. Utopia’s characters are ordinary; an IT consultant, a PhD med student, a schoolboy, a conspiracy theorist and a senior government employee.
And what brought them together? An unpublished manuscript of graphic novel The Utopia Experiments Two. I know! So cool, right?
Forum friends and Utopia Experiments fans Becky, Ian (who was Curtis on Misfits), Wilson and Grant agree to meet when Bejan, the fifth member, tells them he has the unpublished manuscript of the graphic novel. This is when their lives change.
They get pursued by a government organization known as the ‘The Network’, with two assassins trying to chase them. In a parallel plot, a government employee gets blackmailed to do a “mission” that slowly unravels to involve a political conspiracy.
Utopia has a penchant for eerie violence, among other things.
A still shot in Utopia as a man is pushed to the edge of the building.
A particular scene I liked for its beautiful composition and color grading was when the two villains pushed poor Bejan off the building and they took a wide shot of his body falling in slow motion with industrial buildings as background.
Another was when Jessica, a significant character who helps out the fugitives, strangles a man with a tie. It was shot in an interesting and beautiful (in terms of cinematography and grading) way. With no background music, silence was used aesthetically. Like a poke at how we don’t even care anymore and just look away when we hurt people.
Then, there was that scene in Wilson Wilson (yes, that’s his name. Oh, you funny, writers, you.)’s room when Lee, one of The Network’s people, tries to find out where the others are.
“Most torturers tend to have their favorite area of body to work on - genitals, teeth, soles of the feet, “says Lee. “With me, it’s the eyes.” And he starts to work on Wilson WIlson’s eye. I enjoy a bit of violence every now and then, but for this, I just had to look away.
For the rest of the first to the fourth episode, it’s captivating. It can get creepy and violent, but I suppose that’s part of the allure.
It’s creative - there’s coded messages and prophecies, blackmail, the lengths the Network goes to take the fugitives out of hiding and witty conversations of morality freaked outness of the graphic novel’s fans who can’t believe they’re sucked into the conspiracy and drama.
With a bland, urban-looking town and believably real and relatable characters, it has a 21st century nightmare eerie feel that will keep you on your seat.
