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wreckthelist · 7 years

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warmth: meeting Jack Lowden

Warmth. Sunshine.

That’s what it felt like looking at Jack Andrew Lowden sitting a few paces away from you.

(Honestly I should’ve picked the seats to the right of the theatre, but I wouldn’t end up with a clip of me asking him my question as I did. Forever thankful to the Indonesian girl sitting next to me.)

I walked into the theatre so surprised at how casual and low-key the event was. There was no stage, just chairs. No distance, just a table and water bottles within eye level. He’s going to be sitting right there, Jack. And Mark Gill, and the MC (whom I’d spotted when I dropped in at the Genesis around 2pm with my copy of War and Peace - for a 6pm Q&A. I was that keen. But also without knowing how intimate it was going to be.)

My heart raced when I took my seat. I tried talking to the girl next to me to calm myself down, branching out to trivial topics like messenger apps and all that.

“You must really like him,” she said, referring to my anxious gestures, including my spread-out palms rubbing both knees and shallow breathing (he wasn’t even in the theatre yet, guys. That’s the degree of pre-Q&A anxiety I had, if you wanted to imagine it.)

“N—I, well, it’s like this with anyone I come to meet,” I said, after taking quick pictures of the screen with my all-too-flimsy paper ticket (which is unfortunately lost, as of the time of writing), the empty chairs, and the Q&A slide.

“I just can’t believe it’s happening,” is what I think I said as an afterthought to her, before the MC came in and launched the event.

Here we go, I was thinking. Time’s ticking. Time’s now. In less than an hour and a half and he’ll be in here.

Him!

I had to come see him - was my thought when I saw that tweet. I was (quite rightly) shocked out of my mind that he’s attending the Q&A. I’d met Fionn and Tom before, and did not plan for this at all.

But Dunkirk fan tendencies aside, I genuinely love England is Mine, as you could probably tell from my gushing about the film infused with my utter helpless adoration toward the Mark Gill-penned young Steven Patrick Morrissey (god, I love the full name. Every. Single. Time.). Jack’s Steven is my favorite role of his to date. To date. No other. So to be able to hear Jack and Mark elaborate more on the film was a dream chance turned reality I hadn’t expected before.

I’d been looping the Hanlodge Productions’ England is Mine playlist on Spotify all week, for God’s sake.

(Especially Give Him a Great Big Kiss—and we all know why. I need an entire musical please. Oh man, that’s another thing I should’ve told him!)

By the time the final shots on Stretford and Manchester concluded the film, I’d already pulled out my pen, blank paper to take notes, and (obviously) phone.

I was going to write down the Q&A. I know it was being recorded, but all things be damned. I was going to.

(For my National Union of Students article, no less. So be on the lookout for that. This will be a fan experience blog entry.)

The film ended, and the MC gave the duo a grand introduction—“Mark and, the man behind Steven himself, Jack Lowden!”

They came in, sat down and grabbed water bottles.

And that was just it –Jack Lowden was in front of me.

(Whoa. Okay.)

The Q&A started with preliminary questions from the MC, as most Q&A’s go. My hand shot up the minute they opened the floor for questions, having rehearsed the ‘script’ in my mind for two days prior to this (self-explanatory as to why Steven’s introverted eyes and his skulking around corners of clubs in spite of the need to be around people and the music he loved resonate with me so).

“Hi Mark, Hi Jack,” I started, “My name is Anji (sad they didn’t say anything. It felt extraneous and ridiculous now, throwing that out. But whatever. It happened. I was cringing two hours afterwards, but that’s just me. I wouldn’t have said it if not for Katherine Pearce’s character in the film. It’s a trip every time I hear him say the line, “They’ve been like that for years, Anji,” in Steven’s voice, about six-ish minutes into the film.) This is my third time seeing the film.”

“Wow,” Jack muttered (and I wished that was recorded haha.)—even Mark Gill had a bit of a surprised look on his face.

“Thank you for the film. I love it.”

(There’s a whole lot of me wanting to say how much I love the cinematography, Jack’s performance, his take on Steven and the music….but I didn’t want to take up too much time. Then again, it was that voice in the back of my head talking to myself, no one else. Anxiety—TM.)

I’ll be honest here. I have no idea where I was looking when I was asking the question. I was so spaced out, verfremdungseffekt wise. I couldn’t even look at Jack. It was surreal and a bit too much that it was happening.

(Leave space for post-Q&A embarrassment room here.

Why, that must be some look on your face, Anji.)

But Jack was staring straight back at me, intent, when I was asking the question, listening, actually listening to me.

“My question is—I love Steven’s quirks—how’d you come up with them?”

“The physicality of it, you mean?” asked Jack, and I was thinking, oh god, I’m talking—I’m talking to Jack Lowden. He’s asking me a question. We’re conversing. We’re …having a conversation. An actual, honest-to-god conversation.

(I’d researched interviews before this, wanting to ask a question he hasn’t been asked before. And the quirks were the ones he brought up in an interview, proud that he’d thought of them himself. I wanted to hear him elaborate on them.

And if you’re wondering - he’s exactly as he is in the clips in person. Scratching his beard, fingers grazing his ear, eyes cast down at the floor when Mark Gill’s talking, a ridiculously short outburst of a charming laugh, and those gorgeous, beaming eyes that could brighten someone’s day.)

So it went (as per the clip), and I told him, “The more I watch it, the more details I notice,” and he was nodding, smiling for the slightest second when he said, “Great.”

(Ah. Well.

Well.)

One girl asked him right after the Q&A, “Can you sign this for me?” And I knew it was go-time when he said yes.

Got off from my seat, books and notes and all (I’m a girl with many things. I’m a girl with two black rings.)

It was chill and casual and intimate beyond belief. Basically a bunch of us standing, crowding around him and talking. The girls praised his brown hair, and he turned back to the screen, said, “It was brown!” I was laughing along with them, trying to fish out my friend’s drawing.

(“What’s this? What’s this?” Jack asked, his voice surprised, incredulous, more like.

“It’s you,” I pointed out, quickly, “My friend drew it for you. She loves you.”

“Oh, oh wow,” and he’s glancing down and inspecting the drawing, “It’s amazing. It’s amazing.”

I asked him to sign it, of course, and, after a while (switching rounds with other girls) asked if he could take a picture with the drawing.

“Like this?” he asked.)

He had his arm around me when we took our selfie (over way too soon and way too fast, I think). His hand was so warm, and that I’ll always remember. (The first word on my Instagram caption of the selfie was warmth.)

He’s loud and friendly and funny, asking one of the girls (Holly, from our little Dunkirk events girl gang) if she’d bump him in the head again (after she’d told a story about accidentally bumping her head with his at the Dunkirk premiere), miming a boxing stance (HONESTLY!).

After a Korean fangirl informed him of the film’s presence at the film festival starting today, I had to step in and tell him.

(Nope. #ThailandRepresent. Had to. Wouldn’t not to. Couldn’t not to. More than my introverted self and the thoughts circling my head at being in that theatre at that moment, seeing him and sensing him and hearing him and watching him—was my pressing need to let them know we exist. That Thai fans love him so.)

“You have a lot of fans in Thailand,” his eyes widened when I said this.

“Oh really,” he replied, eyes locked on me (!!! I know. Same. The human equivalent of the exclamation marks, I was. And still am. If writing at 2:13am’s any clue.). He’s listening, truly listening all the way through.

“They all really love you, and everyone wants to watch this film, but it’s not in Thailand yet.”

I think I ran out of steam by that point and was basically the end of a tape—you know, when the filling’s used up.

I just kind of stopped, and then he didn’t say anything back, aside from nodding.

I know. Don’t look at me. I know.

(“And this mute here is Steven,” said Linder, in the film.)

So the girls hugged him and I was standing there wishing I could, but then there was no one to take a picture for me. And I couldn’t find a moment to.

Someone came and got Jack. He had to leave, but still found time to take selfies with Cora (another one of our gang). “The lighting’s better here too,” he said to her.

He’s joking around a lot with them. It’s lovely.

I rushed in, asked for another picture (“Can I have a picture too?”) and he took my phone, “So why don’t you just--?” and took a picture with him smiling behind me (bless).

(It’s the height difference. It must be. My timing’s not so good since we were in the middle of the hallway, but I didn’t know we were moving out after Cora.)

Then he had to go (for real), and we all trotted after him like the loyal, lovestruck groupies we were (and are, I guess. I just ordered the Making of Dunkirk book, thanks to Amazon’s one-day delivery and so forth).

He got up on the staircase to the right of the theatre (leading up to the Bar Paragon and Screen 1) and was looking down at us and waving.

“Bye guys!” he said.

“Bye Jack! Bye! Bye!” I was saying, along with the other girls, just awestruck and still riding on that high.

While I was standing there at the staircase, my brain was still processing that it was happening—had happened. Did happen. My eyes taking mental photographs of those smiling eyes and wide-stretched lips on his warm, friendly face. Those hands waving.

It’s the same with Fionn.

Would’ve taken a photo but was too busy taking in reality.

I’d met the man behind Steven Patrick Morrissey. I’d talked to him and saw him live, in real life, in the flesh. And he was a whole bundle of warmth, of abundant amiable nature and an infectious sweetness that lingered with his smiles.

I miss his voice already.

#Jack Lowden #England is Mine #cinematic wanderlust

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 6 years

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Apple HomePod, Amazon Echo, Google Home and more: We put 7 speakers to the test

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/apple-homepod-amazon-echo-google-home-and-more-we-put-7-speakers-to-the-test/

Apple HomePod, Amazon Echo, Google Home and more: We put 7 speakers to the test

Image caption Amazon’s Alexa director Daren Gill has called voice “the next great interface”

For the last four weeks, I’ve been living in an Orwellian nightmare. One in which I have to watch every word I say because “they” are always listening. And by “they”, I mean Alexa, Siri and Google.

It seemed like a good idea – get seven smart speakers and test them in a real house to see how they affected our listening habits and daily routine.

At times, they’ve been pretty helpful. If we’re running low on biscuits, one of us can bark, “Hey Siri, add Hob Nobs to the shopping list” and a reminder appears on our phones.

During Storm Emma, Google kept me up-to-date on train cancellations, while our kids amused themselves for hours by asking Alexa what noise a cat makes.

Thankfully, none of the devices started spontaneously laughing in the middle of the night – but they were all prone to bouts of madness.

I once asked Alexa “what’s the weather in Yemen” and got the reply: “‘Das wetter’ is German for ‘the weather’.”

And when I told Google to “play music in the kitchen”, it responded by streaming Lee Brice’s Songs In The Kitchen to a speaker in the dining room (congratulations, Lee, on your new royalty stream).

To find out which smart assistant was the smartest, I put each of the speakers to the test – posing 50 random questions on music, sport and general knowledge. Like all good quiz show hosts, I only accepted their first answer.

Alexa fared best, with 37 correct answers, followed by Google on 32, and Siri, which scored a lowly 27.

Apple’s assistant was hobbled by its lack of integration with other apps – meaning it couldn’t read my calendar or look up recipes.

When it came to music-related queries, however, Siri had more success.

For instance, the HomePod was the only speaker that could parse the command “play the James Bond theme next”. Its competitors all tried to find a song called “James Bond Theme Next”, failed, and gave up.

You can find the full list of questions, and how the speakers responded, here.

As you’ll see, none of them are perfect (never ask for music by Haim in an Northern Irish accent) but smart speakers look set to replace the smartphone as the tech giants’ biggest growth products.

Choosing the right one can be tricky. So here’s our guide to the speakers, and how they might fit into your lifestyle.

Apple HomePod (£319)

Image copyright Apple

Apple has arrived late to the smart speaker market, but not through laziness.

The HomePod has been in development since 2012, and boasts a unconventional design – with seven tweeters (the speakers that produce treble) arranged in a circle to project music into every nook and cranny of your house. The bass is also punchy and well-balanced, even at low volumes.

I found it worked better with acoustic, singer-songwriter material. Playing Regina Spektor’s Samson, the HomePod championed the singer’s vocals without losing the detail in her piano work. On a busier song like Stevie Wonder’s Superstition, however, it struggled to pick out the star’s intricate drumming.

It’s also an incredibly insistent speaker – demanding your attention with a very “forward” soundstage. We found that was great in the hustle and bustle of a family kitchen, but less attractive when listening to music in bed at night.

One important note: You can’t set up the HomePod unless you have an iPhone or an iPad. The speaker is then tethered to that device and certain functions, like updating your shopping list, only work when they can “see” each other.

HomePod is also completely loyal to Apple Music. You can’t ask Siri to stream from Spotify or Deezer – although you can access them on your phone and beam them to the speaker.

Best for: Apple enthusiasts; audiophiles

Amazon Echo Plus (£139)

Image copyright Amazon

If you want a speaker that comes with a free light bulb, then Amazon’s Echo Plus is your only choice.

The speaker aims to be a “home hub”, controlling all sorts of connected devices, from your lights to your kettle. I wasn’t able to test those abilities, though, as the BBC budget didn’t stretch to buying me remote control curtains.

As a music player, the Echo Plus is competent but unspectacular – but it’d make an ideal replacement for a kitchen radio.

Alexa will happily stream from Spotify and Deezer, as well as Amazon’s own Music Unlimited service – which you get at a discount if you purchase an Echo device.

It’s particularly good at finding the music you want, even if you have a terrible memory. I managed to get Alexa to cue up Girls Aloud’s Love Machine by asking, “What’s the song that goes, ‘Let’s go, Eskimo?'”

One word of warning: Amazon’s streaming service doesn’t have a parental filter, so you’re stuck with the explicit versions of the songs in their catalogue.

And now that Amazon has leased Alexa to other speaker manufacturers, there are better devices in a similar price range.

Best for: Casual listening, smart assistant abilities

Ultimate Ears Megablast (£199)

Image copyright Ultimate Ears

The Megablast is a long, tall cylinder of fun, available in a range of colours (our review unit was a lurid yellow, which I became weirdly fond of).

It gives out a bassy, fulsome sound; which goes up really, really loud without losing any finesse. You can use Alexa to play songs from Amazon Music Unlimited (but not Spotify yet), or simply use it as a bluetooth speaker to stream music directly from your phone.

Best of all, you can unplug it and take it to a party, with a generous battery life that means you won’t be left tuneless when the clock strikes midnight. And it’s waterproof, so it won’t go kaput if you spill your drink.

On the downside, the microphone is poor at picking up your voice commands – especially when music is playing. And the charging port is awkwardly placed at the bottom of the speaker, meaning it has to be laid on its side when its plugged in, ruining the sound. (Ultimate Ears sells a separate charging dock, pictured above, for £35 if this is a deal-breaker).

Best for: Portability, volume

Sonos: One (£199)

Image copyright Sonos

Sonos are masters of multi-room audio, but the One is their first foray into smart speaker territory.

There’s an intriguing set-up, where you’re asked to wave your phone around the room while the unit emits a series of sci-fi bleeps and bloops.

This helps the speaker adapt to its environment and, to be fair, it performed admirably in our cluttered bedroom, with a weighty, dynamic delivery that belied its tiny size.

Superstition, which confounded Apple’s HomePod, sounded bright and lively, with a deep, funky bass and plenty of breathing room for Stevie Wonder’s vocals.

Best of all, Sonos welcomes all music streaming services – with 49 currently available in the UK, including Apple Music (not all of them can be controlled by Alexa, though).

You can also chain two Sonos speakers together to get stereo, while the Sonos app is the only one that allows you to tweak settings like treble and bass to tailor the music to your tastes. And if you buy multiple units, you can scare your family by playing ghost noises in the attic while you’re in the kitchen.

One small niggle: Sonos has programmed Alexa to speak over the start of your music, so you constantly miss the first five seconds your favourite album.

Best for: Stereo, choice of streaming services, multi-room audio

Google Home (£129)

Image copyright Google

It looks like an air freshener. An air freshener on the Starship Enterprise, but an air freshener nonetheless.

Still, I was quite enamoured with the Home’s sleek, matte white finish and the easygoing, friendly voice of its virtual assistant.

It transpires that her dialogue was written by Emma Coats, a former Pixar employee who drew up the film studio’s 22 rules of storytelling – which explains why Google feels more engaging than its competitors.

There are a few neat touches to the AI, too. When you ask Google to “flip a coin”, for example, you hear the sound of a coin being tossed before learning the result. Even better, the Google Home enables you to make voice calls to any UK landline or mobile number – for free.

Sadly, though, the device isn’t up to much as an actual speaker. It had the worst sound of all the units we tested, and was prone to distorted bass even at low volumes.

Best for: Personality, design

JBL Link 300 (£249)

Image copyright Harmon Kardon

Luckily, fans of Google’s voice assistant have some alternatives. Sonos are promising a Google-enabled speaker later this year and JBL will release their Link 300 in the next couple of weeks.

It’s a chunky little device that works best on pop and hip-hop, with an eloquent sound that emphasises the low end thanks to a circular resonator on the back that pumps out the bass.

One neat feature is a wi-fi light that shows the strength of your internet connection (something I’d like to see on more devices, given the patchy wi-fi in our house).

In the end, this became our go-to speaker in the living room and kitchen, despite an infuriating five-minute fight to make it play the Hamilton soundtrack.

It turns out you had to say “OK Google, play ‘Hamilton: Original Broadway Cast Recording'” – a command that’s as intuitive as a lead wetsuit.

Best for: Google smarts with better sound.

Amazon Echo Show (£199)

Image copyright Amazon

The Echo Show has a 7-inch screen, which displays song lyrics while you listen. It’s a bit of a gimmick, but it was a big hit with our kids.

The device also came in handy in the kitchen, where we used it to display recipes and set timers without having to touch the screen with our sticky fingers.

All this functionality comes at the cost of sound quality, though. Don’t expect anything beyond your average clock radio.

Best for: Karaoke night

Secret option eight: Don’t buy any of them

Image copyright Getty Images

Here’s the thing: With the possible exception of Sonos: One, you’re not getting true hi-fi sound with any of these devices.

If you’ve already got a good home stereo, it’s much cheaper to buy an Amazon Echo Dot (currently £39) and hook it up to your existing set-up with a simple cable.

Similarly, if you’ve got £300 to spend, you can get a decent hi-fi system and an Echo Dot with money to spare.

That way, you get all the benefits of voice control and music streaming without breaking the bank.

Best for: People who’ve already got speakers and have privacy concerns about this whole thing.

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