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eddiezpaghetti · 4 months

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Okay, so my experience with Stranger Things is a weird one.

I didn't care when it first came out, started to watch it out of "might as well" in 2020, wasn't interested in it enough to make it past S2, forgot about it outside of going "oh, hey, cool, there's a lesbian in it now, I guess," in S3, got really annoyed when "Running Up That Hill" got popular from it because it was a song I listened to on fucking loop after one of my best friends died in high school and I fully expected its appearance in the show to ignore the whole survivor's guilt theme of the song (and was very happy to learn later that it did the exact opposite of ignoring the lyrics), saw people drawing Eddie, suddenly got a lot more interested, watched just the fourth season like a fucking psychopath because I was seriously only there for Eddie, then got interested enough to start the show over properly, having mostly forgotten what I did watch of the show before.

And let me tell you something from the perspective of someone who started with the complete fourth season, who wasn't there from the start, who wasn't tainted by ship goggles or this internal battle of hope and despair, who wasn't theorizing about what the painting could be or expecting Mike and Will to kiss when Volume 2 happened or rooting for Mike and Eleven's relationship to go down in flames or whatever the fuck. Just someone who went blind into Season 4.

It's really fucking obvious that Will and Mike are gonna be endgame.

Like holy fuck. It's so fucking blatant I don't even know why people are nervous.

No sane fucking person would shoot this scene this way if they wanted the audience to care about El and Mike as a couple. Despite being all blurry in the background, Will's reaction to what's happening here is smackdab in the fucking middle, clearly showing that the important part is what's going through his head here. What he's feeling. It's like the opposite of that scene from Kingdom Hearts II where Sora and Riku reunite and Kairi just fucking vanishes into the aether while it's happening because, despite the fact that she was standing between them when the scene began, she doesn't matter to the scene, so she's just kind of gone when the camera angle changes. Will could have been behind one of their heads, or so far in the distance he blends in with the background, but he's not. He's so obvious that despite being massively blurred out, he's still the first goddamn thing you look at. What, you think that's an accident? You think he's in the middle of this dramatic fucking scene because of a mistake? He basically has a big flashing neon arrow pointing at him with "THIS IS THE POINT" being screamed through a megaphone.

And then this?

They're paired up like they're taking fucking prom pictures. Each one of these pairs is so fucking close to one another and so fucking far from everyone else. It's not, "Oh, they're standing vaguely near each other in a group shot," it's fucking Noah's Ark out here. Again, there's no way to take this as an accident. It's not just a framing issue. If they wanted to make the shot look balanced while still not hiding anyone else behind El, they would have scattered people around much more naturally. Even if they wanted to keep Nancy with Jonathan and Hopper with Joyce, there's so much room on that hill for three people to stand on El's left and three on her right. But they didn't do that. They put Mike and Will together on purpose in the most obvious way possible.

Like I get that coming up with crackpot theories is fun in and of itself and I'm not blaming anyone for having fun. I totally get the appeal of arguing a point and reaching for every stupid little thing to pull into it because it's like a game, okay? I've done that. But if you're trying to actually convince someone (whether it's someone who wants to believe or someone who's pissed at the very idea that Mike and Will could be in love), stay away from blue and yellow lights, stay away from costume design, stay away from the existence of closets in backgrounds. And don't worry about whether Mike's gay or bi when he's in love with Will either way. I'll give you a little tip about persuasion: You're only as strong as your weakest argument. Even if you've got strong stuff in there, too, the person you're trying to convince is going to dismiss anything you say as complete insanity the second you start going on an entire tangent about the shape of a character's fucking pocket.

Sometimes, clothes are just clothes. Sometimes, there's a closet in the background because it helps establish that a character is in a bedroom. Sometimes, blue and yellow are just a couple of colors that look nice together. And sure, it might be set designers and costume designers and cinematographers smirking and winking at the audience from behind the camera. But if the show was just those things, instead of those things in the context of everything else, they wouldn't be saying anything of note.

But this?

This tells a story all on its own. Someone with no context can look at this and automatically assume that each paired person is standing with someone they care about deeply, seeking comfort as they watch some sort of disaster unfold. And yeah, romantic couples usually come in twos, and we live in an amatonormative society, so that's going to be the first association anyone makes seeing a bunch of people paired off.

It's the same reason you look at this

And go, "Oh..."

"Those two are probably a couple."

And I genuinely don't understand how people could have watched S4 Vol. 2 and gotten scared. Because as someone who went in with no investment whatsoever, I just looked at these two--

--and went, "Oh, those two are a couple. Good for them." And I moved on. Shut up about the trees for five seconds and just see the forest for what it is.

Oh, and if you're still nervous? Little thing from a storyteller here: You don't leave a hanging thread like "Will confessed his romantic feelings for Mike by projecting them onto El, but Mike either didn't understand or at least didn't say he understood," without coming back to that later. That's Chekov's gun hanging on the wall, babes. It's gonna fire at some point. If Mike was going to reject Will's feelings, if they weren't relevant, they would have had that discussion in Argyle's van. There'd be no reason to leave you in suspense.

#byler #meta #stranger things #theory #I mean I fucking guess #in the same way gravity is a fuckin' theory.#It feels silly that I even have to say this honestly.#Watching people freak out over these two feels like I'm being pranked.#Like you guys aren't pulling a Goncharov are you? Just making believe there's any chance these two aren't gonna be endgame?#Like completely ironically? And I'm too autistic to catch it?#It genuinely feels like I'm explaining that red and blue make purple here. As if you guys should have learned this in kindergarten.#Or like watching whole-ass adults watch Cinderella for the first time and being on the edge of their seat #wondering if she's going to live happily ever after with the prince or not.#It feels like I'm talking DOWN to people and I don't WANT it to feel like that but it's so obvious and I don't want people to be like #anxious for no reason you know?#Like I get that we're all scarred from queerbaiting and I know you guys are biased from years of shipping these kids.#But like. These guys? The most obvious 'there's only one way this could go' couple I've ever seen? You're scared about THEM?

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spock-smokes-weed · 1 year

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One thing I love that doesn’t get mentioned often is how the scenes in heaven are shot. I think the cinematography does a great job at establishing Aziraphale’s discomfort and fear of his superiors before he figures that out for himself.

The heaven offices are wide open spaces, super wide, bright, and empty. However the actors are often shot in extreme close ups, making it feel suffocating in all the wide open space. The place has no warmth to it either. Everyone dressed in elegant, expressive looking clothes, contrasted with Aziraphale’s old worn in clothes.

Another note on the clothes: Aziraphale is like one of the only angels/demons who wears “physical” clothes, and doesn’t manifest clothing like Crowley or Gabriel does. Michael Sheen even said Aziraphale’s wardrobe is supposed to invoke the feeling of something well loved and kinda frumpy, like an old couch. He expresses his love for humanity through the things they make like clothes, food, art, and books. So there’s always a contrast between him in the other angels anytime they’re in scenes together. The wardrobe is telling us how out of touch they are, and how even on a surface level it’s clear that Aziraphale is not one of them anymore.

Another things is Aziraphale’s wardrobe change after he gets discorporated. It can be hard to catch the first, because I think all the pieces are shaped the same, but he’s now dressed the part of an Angel. Everything is clean, new, and powder white. He finally “fits” style wise with all the other angels. And this is the moment where he chooses to put his foot down.

Aziraphale’s whole deal through season one was the struggle between his love for humanity and Crowley, and his fear of heaven and what disobeying them would mean.

So when the moment where his character arc comes together, and he has to choose between being a “good angel” in the eyes of heaven, and saving humanity, he’s dressed out of what we know Aziraphale loves. The costumes is screaming at us “Aziraphale being a “proper” angel would mean shedding all of his warmth. And that’s not who Aziraphale is”

And idk I think all of that is really neat. How so many things for Aziraphale’s character is represented through the cinematography and character’s costumes.

#good omens #aziraphale #it’s so late #early?#idk I’m sick as fuck and I woke up and now I can’t go back to sleep #take a rambling commentary about aziraphale because I love him

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welovethecloudboytoomuch · 2 years

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HI hello can you tell me where you got that rooftop gang drawing or is it just from the last chapter!? (Which I haven't seen yet) 🥺

Sure thing! It’s from the final volume of Vigilantes (Vol 15) extras. Currently the extras are only available on the electronic version of the volume on ShonnenJumpPlus that requires a membership (though I could be wrong about this), but hopefully the extras will be posed to the MHA Vigilantes Fandom Wiki in a few days.

The sketch that I posted is the only one of the rooftop trio from the final volume but I wanted to make it worth your time so here are all the extra drawings I can find of the Rooftop gang:

Vol 5

In private, Ms. Kayama keeps her sexy hero side subdued and comes off as more of an ordinary woman. Almost motherly even. The three little girls are cute and inoffensive, making them easy additions to any scene. By the way-they're in middle school, making them teenagers, just like Pop and the twins. [HIDEYUKI FURUHASHI, Author of Vigilantes]

For Midnight's casual look, I referenced her "house clothes" profile page from the main series. I’m a big fan of knit one-piece and boots, but sadly there weren't any really good angels of the boots in the story (LOL) In Furuhashi's rough draft, all three of the girls had the same face, but I decided to make one of the three a little off, just like with the Sturm and Drum perv brothers. It's becoming a trend. [BETTEN COURT, Artist of Vigilantes]

(In case you can’t tell the taller woman is midnight undercover)

Kaori (Midnight) and Kazuha (Pop)

The original plan was for these two not to realize the huge age gap between them and just think they were in the same year at college, but that would make Midnight seem more oblivious than she is and stall the flow of the scene, so I changed it to "they're working an undercover mission together." I'm always happy with the results whenever I ask Betten-san to design a group of girls in street clothes. Show me all that fashion! [FURUHASHI]

I don't mind coming up with street fashion now and then, but when I have to do it for a whole group of characters at once? Kill me, please! I was pleased to discover that when you give Pop a different hairstyle, she actually comes out looking cute in an ordinary way. (LOL) [BETTEN]

Vol 7

For the so-called cosplay chapter, I submitted a list of costumes ideas and Betten Sensei dew the best ones. Aizawa's such a serious guy so pretty much any costume looks funny on him. [FURUHASHI]

Often when reading the rough draft of a chapter, I think, "Wah ha ha, this is hilarious!" But when it comes times to draw, I'm stumped. This time was no different. I didn't want to piss anyone off! That was the main thing on mind while drawing. (LOL) A Japanse tennis player had just won some big tournament, so when I saw that on the news, I thought, why not have Aizawa Sensei play tennis too? [BETTEN]

Vol 8

Vigilantes has always incorporated cameos of characters from the main series, and though the whole Young Aizawa arc is an example of that, we got a much more intense reaction from readers than usual demographic. [FURUHASHI]

The only snippet of Aizawa's and Mic's school days provided by Horikoshi himself came in "The Digression" page of volume 6 of the main series. When I realized that, I was at something of a loss. "Oh crap..." I thought. [BETTEN]

There's a canon line of dialogue in the main series about Midnight's old costume having been even more scandalous in the past, so that was a point we had to touch on in the flashback arc. So many people asked if Sushi the cat was a parody of Sushi the dog in Tite Kubo's Burn the Witch one-shot, but actually it was more of a play on the series, Shota no Sushi...[FURUHASHI]

I received specifications and references images for Midnight's costume from Furuhashi-san, and upon reflection, I think I stuck a little too closely to the reference material. [BETTEN]

Name: Oboro Shirakumo

Birthday: 5/5

Height: 187 CM

Favorite Things: Blue Skies, The Sun

Quirk: Cloud

Shirakumo's whole concept started with Horikoshi Sensei describing him as "a Mirio-like friend of Aizawa's during his school days." Then, through a lot of back-and-forth conversations between Horikoshi Sensei and the Vigilantes team, we came up with a more detailed profile, visual design and so on, until the character really took form. Shirakumo's presence meant that Aizawa's and Mic's personalities and roles had to be a little different in the past. That necessitated including that altered portrayal , as well as showing the way they changed moving towards the present day, so the Young Aizawa arc turned into a pretty extended affair. It'll keep going for several more chapters. [FURUHASHI]

Shirakumo's U.A. uniform design came from Horikoshi-san. The googles I designed as part of his costume just happened to look like Aizawa's, and I'm grateful that Furuhashi-san picked up on that and made a whole point of it. [BETTEN]

Vol 9

For both these guys, my request were "lighter equipment than present day," "traditional period" and "shonen-ish." Once you add those googles, young Eraser Head is complete, so to speak. [FURUHASHI]

Since those two are in their powered-up forms in the main MHA story, I wanted to imagine these versions as an earlier stage of that. As if they would improve on these designs over time to achieve their eventual styles... Kind of like that. [BETTEN]

“We got a gift illustration from Horikoshi sensei! Isn't that great, Shota?!”

Vol 11

In Vigilantes, Midnight's character is basically an obliging woman who loves to look after others, which I extrapolated from her presentation in the main series (where she's a teacher who interacts with students a lot, and is someone whose, let's say, "proclivities," influence her words and actions). I can always count on her to discuss things with Koichi and the gang. [FURUHASHI]

For some reason, I get a lot of chances to show Midnight Sensei in street clothes or disguises. (LOL) I don't know if I'm nailing her whole image correctly or not, but I'm having fun at any rate. [BETTEN]

Midnight is always stylish in just the right way for the occasion, so her hero costume isn’t the way it is just to please the crowds. It’s a deliberate choice, stemming from her progressive sense of aesthetics. Probably. [FURUHASHI]

I’m quickly running out of wardrobe ideas for Midnight’s noncostumed appearances. With the draping, cape-like coat, I was trying to evoke a crisp, military-style look. [BETTEN]

And that’s all I can find! Hope this helps.

#welovecloud answers #mhav #mha #bnha #oboro shirakumo #kayama nemuri #this also just proves that midnight is a vigilantes character #i didnt realize that she had so many extras!#hizashi yamada #shouta aizawa #welovecloud #rooftop gang

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onehunnit · 4 months

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Cinema Studies Minor Gets Super Into Analyzing K-Pop Videos 2.2

Disclaimer: I'm still a student, no where near an expert, I will be wrong in some technical aspects. Also my interpretations are my opinion which means you may disagree and that's okay. Awesome even! Just be normal about it fr. This is also very out of order bc that's how my brain works. Also I am but a baby loretiny, which means my interpretations are shaky at best compared to what's been established. But the lore is confusing anyway so....

The World EP.FIN: Trailer Analysis pt 2: Sections

THIS WAS WRITTEN NOVEMBER 11TH 2023

Structure, Lines, & Perspective

Yo, Get This Camera Out Of My Face

Who Put Stanley Kubrick In My Album Trailer?

The Entire Set Crew Needs To Be Sucked Silly (Again)

Black and White In The Lore

Structure, Lines, & Perspective:

There are so many fucking lines. There are SO. MANY. LINES just look at the trailer again for me okay? Try and find a curve in the set. There are so few, it's astonishing.

Now for a place called Strictland, you may expect to see strictness. Well, you'd be right!

To touch back on German Expressionism, lines are used to imply rigidity and structure. Strictland is strict, and thus characterized by straight lines and sharp, clear angles. There is little softness, it's all hard [insert other adjectives here].

The lines in general lead our eyes to the action and provide awesome contrast with our characters. I would insert screenshots however. I will not

Yo, Get This Camera Out Of My Face (why he smiling like that?)

Close-ups and lighting are on the mind due to watching The Passion of Joan of Arc and talking about low-key lighting with my film professor for an hour. Low-key lighting is very even, and in this case I think it's used for cosmetic reasons. Listen, flawless skin is not just skincare and make-up, lighting is huge in it too!

But it gives off the effect of being youthful, which helps since the youth are the new generation and Loreteez are ushering in a revolution and change comes with that.

Who Put Stanley Kubrick In My Album Trailer?

Yeah so Hongjoong is doing the Kubrick stare. The subject tilts their head down while looking directly into the camera. This naturally casts shadow and is unsettling as it breaks the fourth wall. Originally used to depict characters who just tipped over into madness/insanity and its rly creepy, which brings into question Hongjoong's intentions. Is he happy that the girl rejected him? Is he planning something more sinister?

The Entire Set Crew Needs To Be Sucked Silly (Again)

Note: Loreteez is used interchangeably to mean the members in the lore as a whole and as the “A” Universe members. Halateez is used to describe the “Z” Universe members.

I just want to talk about a few shots in particular that made me go crazy insane when I saw them. This is where the interpretations start going by the way.

This one is soooo perfect to me. You don’t understand. So let’s get into it.

Mise-en-scene (MES) is a term that boils down to everything you see on screen: set, props, costumes, actors, blocking, lighting, anything!

It’s separated clearly into foreground (desk and Wooyoung) and background (Yunho and the machines), though for our purposes we’re going to call Yunho’s field of depth the mid-ground and the curtains the background.

In all fields the technology is old and anchored, contrast that with the futuristic holograms in this shot:

Which emphasizes the binary between old and new. This is also the first time (if i recall correctly) Loreteez is using this technology, which indicates growth in their cause over all.

Back to the first shot. While the foreground has all this older technology, it still fits in with Strictland as, from what we have seen, don’t have modern/future tech at their disposal. And why would they have it readily available if their whole deal is suppressing human emotion (“The disease is human emotion” - The Awakening of Summer (Rhythm Ta) Kingdom Stage) and expression. You don’t have a need to develop better technology.

The mid-ground is much of the same; straight lines running straight across. Everything is old etc. But there are some round lights that break it up. Roundness? Out of the ordinary, right?

The background is more interesting though, because you finally get some curvature in this. The curtains are loose fabric and they drape which adds a different texture and shows that it’s not constrained to fall a certain way.

Pictured: Notes written on the screen.: Structure in machines, straight lines ins background / Fabric = loose, curves, along w/ circle and roundness

In all, the progression of structure to flowiness presents how Loreteez is, looming over the background, and a change from the rigidity of Strictland.

The second shot comes later, with Hongjoong stopping in front of the Academy student. She is standing in a cubby created by the walls angling upward, dividing the scene. Obviously too, Hongjoong is in all black while she is in white

Black and White in The Lore

As a quick aside: Black and White in the Ateez universe is so curious to me. Black in our society is understood as “bad” and white “good” and Ateez uses that binary to create shades of grey (which we WILL be discussing more thank you very much!) and nuances to the social issues being presented and critiqued. Strictland is white, and in that society, it is the “good”; saving its citizens from a disease. Loreteez are “bad” because they are rising against the norms and trying to change them, threatening the institutions Strictland has put into place.

While initially we saw Halateez as “evil” due to their masked appearances and black garb when they first appeared, it became clear in Answer that they are not the antagonists, rather on the same side as our protagonists, Loreteez.

But beyond that lineation: In this particular shot, the lines of the wall and the people walking past make an invisible line for Hongjoong and the girl to cross to be pulled to either side, good or bad. The invisible line being made of people in movement and the inanimate wall is not lost to me either; showing how barriers are not just physical but can be social/psychological

14 comes up here, that is a # to look out for. Maybe the number of songs? JK LMAO that'll never happen 😭 <- I wrote this before the trackless came out okie?

Despite all my black and white talk, the curious thing about the color grading is that there is no true white in the costumes, it is all grey. There is a mix, we have moved on from the clarity and have moved into the murky soup. The grey and nuance are exacerbated in the next shot.

In this, the only thing I can think of is the idea of yin and yang, that at the heart of good and evil there is the other. Again, there is an invisible line separating the girl and Hongjoong. On the girl's side are her white shoes and the darkness behind her. On Hongjoong's side is the black of his attire and the highlights in front of him. But it is not white, rather it is grey, which is a transitional color.

But at the end, the girl does not take his outstretched hand, she walks on, he smiles (quite evilly tbh, go back to the Kubrick stare section). Out of what? Pride maybe? Everything is going to plan? He's certainly not unhappy so…

But that concludes part 2! I might do more, but who knows?

#x.txt #x.cinema analysis #ateez

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peculiarbob · 7 months

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I watched the FNAF movie so here are some of my thoughts (full spoilers):

-MATTHEW LILLARD!!!!

-I think we all knew he was gonna be William Afton but I was still happy when he showed up in the springtrap costume

-Why is Michael kinda….

-The height difference between Matthew Lillard and Josh Hutcherson is so funny

-Abby was so cute! She really embodied weird little girl vibes

-Vanessa! You poor thing, you didn’t deserve any of that

-I did not expect her to get stabbed

-And I really didn’t expect William to be HER DAD

-MATPAT?!?! AND HE SAID THE THING!!!!

-The fort building scene??? I loved it so much it was so cute

-The animatronics really felt like they were possessed by kids (at some points)

-The cupcake was a menace!

-The whole kidnapping of Garret is so odd?

-Like they’re probably gonna explain it better in the next movie (I think they’re gonna make at least 1 more)

-I like to think that Michael’s memory is wrong in some way. So much doesn’t add up with that we know from the lore but also with what is shown to us in the movie.

-Also Michael, Abby, and Garret not being Aftons changes so much!

-But obviously they’re connected somehow. Once William saw Michael’s last name he switched up. I’m very curious as to how this story will progress.

-I think the spring lock scene was good. It’s a pg-13 movie, I wasn’t expecting too much gore

-“I always come back!”

-Honestly this movie wasn’t what I thought it would be. I thought there would be more security camera stuff, closing doors and all that

(I actually went to see it again so I’m here again to finish up this post)

-Since when could they leave the pizzeria?!?! I’m not incredibly caught up on the lore but I thought they couldn’t do that

-Also the aunty died right? What ever happened with her????

-I need to say this: was the scene where Abby draws William killing the kids then the kids turn in William kinda cheesy? Yes. Did it make sense? Yes.

-Also I feel like I’m one of the few people who had a good theatre experience.

-Like yeah there were kids making noise, but it wasn’t too loud and their parents were able to get them to quiet down. Usually I get frustrated with kids making noise in a theatre but they all sounded like they were having fun and they really enjoyed the movie so I couldn’t get mad

-Max didn’t deserve that! I almost forgot about her. Like yeah she was spying on Michael but she didn’t deserve to get chopped in half

-The way this movie was shot was so well done. I love all the close ups and zooms and it was really nice to look at

-William fucking BODIED Michael. Bro went flying.

-Vanessa’s fear in her eyes when her own father stabbed her. She knew the risk the second she stepped in but that doesn’t diminish how terrifying it must’ve been for her.

-I loved Vanessa’s childlike happiness. We don’t see it too often but you can tell how much she loved Freddy’s. The part where she asked Michael to dance felt so innocent

-Very random thought but why can Abby see the ghosts? Was it ever explained in any books or the lore? Because she saw them before they went to the pizzeria right? Or were those actual imaginary friends?

-I really should’ve went into this movie with the mindset of “anything could happen” because, like most people, I know a bit of the lore so a lot of the big changes really threw me off

I think these are all me thoughts (for now)

#bob is talking #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #william afton #mike schmidt #abby schmidt #vanessa shelly

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adridoesstuff · 1 year

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Rant/Roast/Personal thoughts on the 2022 Schönbrunn concert version of Elisabeth das musical

So, inspired by the insightful video on this topic by fellow content creator @fitzrove , I decided to write down all my impulsive thoughts while watching this production, since Fitz's video will probably be the only bearable way I will watch the concert version.

Disclaimer: any criticism in the following list isn't meant as a direct criticism of the actors, they are just on that stage doing their job. But this is mainly a criticism of the creative team behind the production (i.e. director, choreographer, designers, casting directors...etc.), who are the main driving force and reason behind how a show looks and feels.

Disclaimer no. 2: The following text contains swearing. A LOT OF IT. And a lot of capslock. This production brought forth the worst in me while writing this and I wrote this at 4 am in the morning, so, you have been warned.

• Already hating the picture frame set and we didn't even begin

• The choreography for Prolog is already abysmal

• Why are we going off on the pyros? We didn't even get through the Prolog

• Whatever they have the Todesengel doing on the frame is dumb

• THE CROTCH CAM. Who's idea was it, because that is literally the worst angle they could have chosen

• Abla is so cute, but they did her so dirty with that dress and they didn't even try when doing her wig's hairline

• I miss Max wearing hunting clothes :( because where the hell is he going dressed like that?

• Why did they omit the line about Sisi wanting to join the circus if she weren't a princess? (Is it because of that damned swing?)

• Why did they decide to make a 3 year gap between Wie Du and Schön euch alles zu sehen? Because that makes Sisi 10/11 or younger during Wie Du, which just seems like an unnecessary change

• The amount of skirt hiking I see here is already exceeding my limits and we're not even 15 minutes in

• No costumes for the ensemble? I thought this was supposed to be the SPECTACULAR new version

• THE DREADED SWING. And it's even dumber than I expected

• I could already see Mark creeping in the background, so talk about an anticlimactic reveal

• And the inclusion of KKOG, my beloathed.

• The entire staging of KKOG here makes zero sense

• Mark, please get off that fucking swing. I don't care that you can take a seat on it from behind, just get off

• Also, why is Mark in white? Literally, why? When they kept in the lyric "Ich erkenn dich, schwartzer Prinz"? It makes no sense

• Ok, Lucheni on the swing is cute and understandable

• Andre was a good Franz back in the 1st revival, but at this point, he's too old to play a younger Franz in Act 1. If you're gonna split cast Elisabeth, do a split cast for Franz as well.

• And this gets only more apparent with Sophie, since the actress playing her looks about the same age as Andre. They literally look more like a husband and wife than mother and son

• Sophie's dress isn't bad per se, it is just very bland

• The male ensemble got some truly hideous coats for Jedem gibt er das seine

• Why are we skipping over the historical goodies of this scene? Literally, those were the whole point there

• PROLONGED HAND SHOT

• The costume department seems to have bulk bought that chunky gold trim and just said fuck it and put in on everyone's coat

• Abla stealing the conductor's wand and trying to conduct is so cute

• Her dress? Not so much. Very bland

• Literally, why are they cutting so much of the book? And especially Lucheni's lines in the middle of So wie man plant und denkt?

• The age difference is even worse now, that Abla and Andre are standing side by side (not looking forward to Nichts ist schwer)

• I miss Lucheni messing with Helene and Sophie :(

• I didn't think I'd like David Jakobs as Lucheni, but he and Abla are the only saving graces on that stage thus far

• Imagine what David could do with good staging and direction a la 1st revival and a complete book

• I even dare say that he could pull off being a Der Tod in the vein of Martin Markert, because he does have that chaotic "came here to fuck around" energy

• Yep, Andre and Abla look more like father and daughter together than a freshly engaged couple

• Okay, Lucheni holding the box with the necklace while giving the most dead pan face straight into the camera is honestly funny

• That necklace doesn't look the least bit heavy. It's literally just felt with some rhinestones

• They literally couldn't even give Abla's wig some forehead curls to mask that god-awful hairline? And they couldn't even curl it properly?

• Was the budget so tight that they couldn't even give the ensemble ladies ONE DECENT COSTUME?

• And they couldn't even iron or at least steam the wrinkles out of that wedding dress? And yes, I don't like it in all it's polyester glory

• The decision to have Mark's legs framed in the shot between Abla and Andre is a CHOICE

• Also, it doesn't look like Mark will change into the black costume anytime soon. Or at all for that matter. So much for the angels being in black

• Talk about "spectacular concert production". Yeah, spectacular that over half the costumes that should be here aren't even present and the set is amateurish at best

• And did Mark literally only stand there to do that evil laugh and then leave? Couldn't he have done that somewhere else?

• Oh, god, did I already mention that the choreography is bad. I can literally do better in my room at 3 am and I am an utter klutz

• I can't even make an argument for the exaggerated whisper motions being camp, because that clearly wasn't what they were going for

• Those colored gloves on the ensemble ladies are so fugly

• Also, the choice to have Elisabeth present while the entire nobility talks shit about her is a MASSIVE CHOICE

• Did Mark have in his contract that he must appear for a certain amount of time on stage? Because why is he standing there in the background?

• MARK, STOP CLIMBING UP THERE

• Okay, him telepathically controlling Elisabeth like a puppet could be an interesting idea anywhere but in a post 2012 production, where in their last scene together he told her "instead of ruling over you, I will be loved". Just makes Der Tod look like an ass

• WHY ISN'T THE ENSEMBLE FROZEN? WHY ISN'T ANYONE FROZEN FOR THAT MATTER?

• Manhandling your love interest is not the way to go unless you're Maté!Tod, who is essentally a giant cat in a human body. It's understandable then, because it does go along with the characterization there, but not HERE

• That was literally the unsexiest hip thrust ever

• Did Abla and Andre literally just flee the scene so that Mark could have his lead man big number finale moment for himself?

• I don't know how I didn't mention this already but MARK, TUCK YOUR GODDAMN SHIRT IN

• Did they literally cut the entirety of Die Gaffer?

• But when I think about it, it's probably better not hearing about the onsetting wedding night in this casting situation

• But they are doing David dirty by cutting so many of his lines

• And they literally cut the entire first verse of Eine Keiserin muss glänzen. Like, what's the rush, besties? You don't have a train to catch

• That change over between Abla and Maya was interesting, but I still am very much against the split track and plus the place they did it makes zero sense

• Did they hire the shittiest wig makers in Vienna for this? Because Maya also didn't get a wig with a decent hairline

• And they couldn't make the puffed sleeves on the nightgowns any less awkwardly short, could they?

• But Maya and Abla both slayed the vocals

• WHY DID THEY CUT STATIONEN EINE EHE??????!!!!

• If someone were to see this show for the first time here, they must be so fucking confused

• And if they want to excuse that by "oh, we're making it more understandable for a mass audience" BULLSHIT, YOU'RE NOT! You're making it LESS understandable by cutting all the context

• Also, the atillas look hideous. What did they make them out of???? Felt????

• Death now provides coffins for your dead kids! Also, for that coffin to have a 3 year old kid inside, it's kind of small

• That dress Maya got for this scene is so bad and just makes her look frumpy

• Yes, because nothing impresses your lady love like you doing a super manly power stance over her freshly deceased kid's coffin

• Homeboy, you didn't "float in a dance". You first telepathically controlled her movements, then were walking around all broody before you started manhandling her in the roughest way possible

• And yes, nothing calms down your beloved so much like wrapping her up in a coffin cover

• Maya looks so confused and yeah, girl, same

• Didn't they literally have anyone else but Andre available to carry the coffin away? What about the Todesengel? Is their only job climbing onto that frame and slowly spreading a wing each?

• Also, where is Mark walking to?

• DAVID IS BACK <3

• If they dare cut a big chunk of Fröhliche Apokalypse, I will scream

• Did they literally tell the male emsemble to bring their own beige trenchcoat to the job? Because it sure does look like they did

• They cut the second verse of Fröhliche Apokalypse...at this point, I don't even have the energy to complain about that

• At least they kept Lucheni's café apron, but it is kind of out of place since they have no set change to make it look like a café

• The amount of side-eye little Rudolf gives is honestly so funny

• Maya looks rightfully outraged at this production, but at least for once, she gets a costume that isn't outright bad (at least that robe looks decent, because that silky orange-y thing peeking out from under it doesn't

• Okay, that almost kiss was too close for this only being Act 1

• I would have liked it better if maybe Mark just remained sitting absolutely stunned for a moment longer than him immediately standing up after Maya pulls away

• I would have liked more smashing the Milchkannen onto the stage but I'm happy to see David back

• Why are they pouring the milk into mugs if it's meant to be for a goddamned bath? Filling an entire bathtub mug by mug seems kind of counterproductive

• OF COURSE THEY CUT A VERSE OUT OF THE SONG

• The cardboard cover for the frame is such a bad solution here. It literally could have been solved by different blocking and lighting but they did the laziest thing they could

• I feel like too much of the volume of the skirt of the Star dress migrated onto the sleeves. And what happened to making the Star dress looking soft and ethereal? Ever since 2012, the European versions just keep on getting stiffer

• At least the wig looks alright. It isn't the best, but it is, an improvement from that previous one

• They had multiple instances, where I feel a side entrance for Mark would benefit his presence. But this is the only time I feel like the top center entrance would be good, but they manage to screw it up once again and have him come on stage from god knows where only for him having to awkwardly time when to take the stairs to get the high ground while trying not to bump into Maya

• WE'RE ONLY AT THE END OF ACT 1???!!!

• Lucheni strutting through the audience with a hand held mic is honestly a mood, although I don't like the plastic toy crown they gave him

• Also, no Kitsch bedazzled jacket? :(

• And him not actually getting prop souvenirs, but the pictures being shown on the LCD screens seems like a massive cop out

• In short: they are doing David dirty with this staging

• The ensemble with their flags are just so unenthusiastic

• Okay, the carriage is a nice idea and Maya finally got a decent dress!

• But why is she already here? We're literally in the middle of Kitsch. Don't tell me they cut Éljen

• David is slaying, ngl and I would have liked to see more shots of him during Kitch rather than literally everyone else around

• Like, this is his big number, let him have his moment!

• Of course they cut Éljen

• And Mark still hasn't changed costumes, so I guess he's doing the entire show in the white version

• What are the ensemble ladies doing there during Wenn ich tanzen will? They are literally just there to block Maya from twirling in her dress

• Okay, Maya stealing one of their Hungarian flags is nice

• And we have a return of Der Tod telepathically controlling Elisabeth's movements and it's even worse than in Act 1

• I'm sorry, but where is all the spice this song is supposed to have? Maya and Mark literally have so little chemistry as Elisabeth and Der Tod due to this horrid staging

• Why is the lighting so severely purple and blue?

• I miss them flying at one another for that final chorus and pushing one another to the other end of the stage

• The camera operator must really like Mark's legs, because they make a comeback!

• They gave little Rudolf the blandest blocking

• But Der Tod taking Rudolf onto his shoulders is kind of cute

• Wait, I liked that blocking for once! Where are you going, Mark?

• Little Rudolf could literally not give less shits about Der Tod here

• Why did we cut the interlude and Lucheni's introduction to the insane asylum?

• Maya's dress has some nicely pleated cuffs, but that duochrome fabric looks so wrinkly. And her hat literally doesn't match her dress at all

• Okay, what is this weird newly added dance sequence and music interlude? Did they literally cut all the above mentioned songs for this??? It doesn't even sound like it belongs in this show

• That was the lengthiest and most confusing and unnecessary sequence ever

• Why did they light this scene in BRIGHT ULTRAMARINE when the only person on stage is Maya and she's wearing a RED/ORANGE/BROWN DRESS? It just washes her out

• And I forgot to mention that they couldn't have picked a more dull and unflattering brown shade for both Abla's and Maya's wig

• Why did they keep the mad woman there in the middle of the frame for the entirety of Nichts nichts gar nichts?

• DAVID IS BACK <3

• At least Sophie got a costume change and I like it much better than her Act 1 dress

• The return of those ugly out of period men's ensemble jackets :(

• They cut the middle of Wir oder sie. WHY ARE THEY CUTTING ALL THE HISTORICAL REFERENCES??????!!!!

• That was the most awkward transition in between songs ever done

• The female ensemble finally got some form of costume!

• And Frau Wolf is SLAYING

• Why did they cut the first verse of Nur kein genieren? And at this point I am convinced that someone has a last train home to catch and cutting down on the ensemble numbers was the only way for them to make it

• But, I like that we do get chemistry between Lucheni and Frau Wolf and that they got to split the lines in that one verse they kept in

• That fall down the stairs looked like it did take a while to practice

• And with it comes a costume I utterly hate: that goddamn lilac robe with the black lace chevrons Elisabeth wears for Maladie

• They literally couldn't have made that cape Mark wears here any less awkward in the amount of gaping it has in the front?

• Which is made even more awkward by him being in white

• If everyone remembers that gif set of Mark not catching the necklace at the end of Maladie during the 2nd revival: I think that is the reason why they kept him at ground level here

• And he does catch it, but that was literally so devoid of climax

• Sophie gets a nice bonnet/cape combo for Bellaria!

• Background framed power stance, but this time, they at least added some flavor with some contra lights

• At back to cutting more of the book for Rastlose Jahre!

• We finally got to Shatten!

• And Rudolf is a little too tidily dressed for my liking

• Oh, here comes the fishing rod/cat toy!!!

• Why are they sitting not looking at one another?

• Also, why are they literally 5 feet apart? As far as I remember, COVID wasn't that rampant in summer of 2022

• Matching one leg up on a stair poses

• The homophobia of not having the slightest bit of physical interaction between Der Tod and Rudolf

• But either way, I love Lukas as Rudolf. Still great 19 years later

• NO DON'T YOU DARE PICK UP THAT FISHING ROD/WHIP/CAT TOY

• Screaming at each other across the stage just like a couple of guys being dudes

• BEHOLD, CAT BOY RUDOLF. When the fandom said that Rudolf is our poor little meow-meow, we didn't mean this!

• You can tell from both Lukas and Mark's faces, that they also think this is ridiculous

• Why did they cut out so many of the feel good historical bits, but not Hass????? That is literally the only song I would prefer they skip here??????

• Lukas is so good in Spiegel (thanks for the feels!! Finally some good content from this performance!!!)

• And even though I dislike Rudolfs being dressed in Austrian style uniforms, Lukas has an especially nicely tailored one

• Lukas going to the ground to beg Maya????? My heart can't take the feels????

• MARK, STOP CREEPING IN THE BACKGROUND

• Oh, dear, the dreaded no-homo version of Mayerling

• And why did they choose to keep Maya on stage? During this scene? Why?

• Okay, the choreo is dumb again

• WHY DON'T WE GET THE TODOLF KISS ANYMORE VBW?????!!!!!

• AND WHY DID MARK NEVER GET TO WEAR THE MAYERLING DRESSES????

• Maya cradling Lukas's jacket during Totenklage is touching tho

To summarize: I wouldn't pay the insane prices for a ticket to this production for the amount of bad scenic solutions, lack of costumes and some truly abysmal directing choices.

#elisabeth das musical #elisabeth schonbrunn 2022 #rant #take everything written here with a grain of salt #but I think that by this you can tell my dislike for this version #already dreading the 2023 edition of the concert

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larathia · 2 years

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So I finally got my hands on the Beast movie. (review/analysis)

As a movie: ...wow. That was bad. That was ....Flash Gordon (the 1980s one, soundtrack by Queen, that one) levels of “seriously, you need a BUDGET to do this story, why didn’t you get one?”

As a BSD AU, though, there was some interesting stuff here.

Let me get the ‘movie itself’ bit out of the way first, though.

For anyone going “But I wanna see! I wanna see!” - I feel you. I do. I’d been scrabbling for months trying to get my hands on this movie, to see what it showed. And so I feel I really should tell you....WOW THIS MOVIE NEEDED AT LEAST FIVE TIMES THE BUDGET IT APPARENTLY GOT, okay. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen better SFX on movies from the 1980s. In fact, I know I have; that’s why the comparison to Flash Gordon came to mind, because it’s the only 80s movie I can think of offhand where the SFX are comparable-to-slightly-worse than this.

Akutagawa is definitely the central figure of the movie. They did not have anywhere near the budget to do Rashomon justice. The utter failure to do Rashomon any kind of justice actually makes the acting worse. Have you ever seen the 1960s Batman? Adam West? (If you haven’t, go look it up, I’ll wait.)

Bluntly, the fight scenes - and you know, there’s a lot of those - look like 1960s Batman fight scenes. Just without the ‘pow’ and ‘biff’ animations. It’s just about impossible to take it seriously. Even Oda’s fight scenes, which should have looked utterly Matrix-esque, came off this way. And if you’re thinking ‘yeah but the Matrix needed a budget’ - agreed. I will therefore add that even Kenji’s fights were 60s-Batman levels of cartoonish.

They didn’t even manage to make Dazai’s swan dive off the tower look realistic. I half-thought, the way they did that shot, that Dazai was going to swoop off into the clouds like a goth mummy Superman.

As for the costuming....I’ve seen better at conventions among the cosplayers, not gonna lie. I’ve seen better wigs on cosplayers, I’ve seen better costumes on cosplayers.

I’m sure the actors did their best with what they had, and sometimes - sometimes, despite all this, they managed to pull off a scene well. There are moments here and there where I forgot for a few seconds that I was watching a fansubbed movie that looked like a fan production. But I couldn’t fall into the movie on its own merits. I just couldn’t. I wanted to so much, and it just wasn’t going to happen.

Okay. Now that I’ve lowered your expectations to a more realistic level regarding “wanna see!”, let’s move on to the content.

I would like to begin by saying this movie expects that anyone who is sitting down to watch it has

1) Read the manga, 2) Read the light novels, 3) Also read the Beast manga, and 4) Watched the anime.

It harks back to all of these at different times, and also alludes to things in the manga(s) that it does not go into depth on because it assumes you already know all that shit. And then it goes in its own direction, all the while kind of winking at the audience like “hey, I bet you were expecting a straight adaptation, but GUESS WHAT” Sometimes, this leads to honestly bizarre choices. Like using the quite gentle-sounding ending-credits music from the anime during a big fight scene between Akutagawa and Atsushi. Other times it’s more puzzling...like nearly every appearance of Fyodor.

I will say that watching the movie cast certain parts of the manga in a new light for me; namely, some of Dazai’s motivations. It honestly felt to me, watching this, like B!Dazai used what he changed to try and actually ...wake Akutagawa up? Make Aku realize just what he’s been doing wrong all this time? Because in this version, he really was going to kill Gin...and you’d think that would be a terrible thing, but it actually comes off as kind of a mercy to her. A way to spare her from feeling responsible for her brother’s choices, since he’d happily kill the whole world to ‘get her back’. And it made me think of why B!Dazai kept Gin as a secretary, instead of recruiting her - we know she’s actually quite a capable member of the Black Lizards, main timeline. I think Dazai kept her a secretary because he needed her to be...well, pure. Pure enough at heart that she could see her brother being an out of control rabid dog and recognize it for what it was, and call him out on it. Because nobody else could get through to Aku. Everyone tried, but no one got through. It was Gin basically telling him he’s a soulless monster born to do evil that shook Aku up enough to start really questioning himself. And Gin did that because of how Dazai had treated her up to that point, meaning Dazai basically turned Gin into the key to cluebat Aku into growing the fuck up.

I was ...also less inclined to blame Dazai for how Atsushi turned out. Atsushi is just...broken, regardless of what universe he’s in, and in the Mafia you don’t get healed from that, you just learn to deal with it.Dazai’s order not to return to the orphanage likely had a lot to do with Mori being in there somewhere, and a desire to keep Atsushi from getting even more broken by the old headmaster. He seems to be as gentle with Atsushi as the situation allows.

Ah, but y’wanted to know what’s different.

Well, first, Fyodor is in this motherfucker. When Oda goes into a top secret facility to get the recording of Dazai so Aku can hear the Man In Black’s voice, Oda runs right into a cello-playing Fyodor. Who gives him the recording. And incidentally poisons Oda with a contact poison on the disc’s case. Why? Who the fuck knows. Fyodor and nobody else, that’s who. (Oda seems to just get better from the poison.)

Second, there’s a coda after the credits. In it, Atsushi is summoned to a supermax prison cell, where a straight up deranged Chuuya is being held by the government. Despite, y’know, being in a government supermax prison, Chuuya declares himself Boss of the Mafia. In this capacity he’s called Atsushi to attend him, and when Atsushi says he’s out, Chuuya says Kyouka’s already returned to the fold, oh and btw go kill the ADA.

Chuuya is deranged, it turns out, because he’s spent seven years plotting to kill Dazai, and then the fucker up and offs himself one day for shits and giggles (as Chuuya sees it). He can’t kill Dazai now, so he’ll go after the ADA, which attacked the Mafia and the attack resulted in the death of a Boss, therefore the mafia is honor-bound to avenge said Boss. (This is actually reasonable, since while Dazai does kill himself, the only witnesses are the ADA and Atsushi, who can be argued to be a traitor to the mafia. And the ADA really did storm the mafia base and kill a lot of people and it’s ...actually pretty reasonable for Chuuya to demand the mafia retaliate. That IS how such orgs work.)

For this movie, I have to say, a double-black shipper would need glasses so heavily rose-tinted you can’t tell the difference between blood and water to see any kind of shipness here. Chuuya haaaaaaaaates Dazai. And Dazai seems to regard tormenting Chuuya as a kind of stress ball.

Fyodor, meanwhile, is sending assassins after Aku and Atsushi with a timeline of ‘two weeks’, after which apparently the world will destabilize. (Because three people know about the Book; those two and him.) He says he’s fine being the ‘only one who knows the truth’. He then eyeballs the camera with basically a ‘come see part 2 when it comes out’.

Gods, I really hope if they DO a part 2 they get a godsdamned SFX budget.

The main takeaway that I feel is relevant here, is that the movie pretty much underlines that the Book’s reality-rewriting power is decidedly limited. Which I do hope will be relevant very soon in the manga.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd analysis

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thoughts-i-have-had-in-passing · 2 years

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DS9 trivia/quotes from my DS9 Companion, Part XIV:

The Circle

‘The Circle’ was the second episode in a three episode arc, and the first multi-episode arc Deep Space Nine ever produced. Multi-episode arc would become something of Deep Space Nine’s signature move as the years went on, and it was here that the waters were tested and the early foundations were laid.

‘The Circle’ was written by Peter Allan Fields, who said that he enjoyed participating in the endeavour, but that it wasn’t easy. “We wrote them all at once. So whatever Ira put in his episode, I would have to justify. I couldn’t write an episode that was in diametric opposition to his.” – Peter Allan Fields

Nevertheless, Part 2 of the trilogy was a strong episode. “Part 2 was the good stuff, the political stuff that takes in a lot of levels, a lot of character.” – Ira Steven Behr, writer of the previous episode ‘The Homecoming’

One thing that didn’t quite work as well as they hoped however was the character of Li Nalas. “He did get a little lost in parts 2 and 3. Maybe if there had been one guiding hand through all three shows, his story would have paid off as well as I’d hoped [in providing the initial setup].” – Ira Steven Behr

‘The Circle’ included a favourite scene of both the director, Corey Allen, and of fans, and that is the opening section of Act 1 where Kira is packing to leave the station, having lost her job to Li Nalas. “[The scene] had all the cast coming by to say good-bye to Kira, with Philip Anglim coming in as the [visual] punchline.” – Corey Allen

Allen stayed up until 1:00am the night before the scene was to be shot, prepping. “In the morning, we got the cast together while Marvin Rush was lighting the set and gave Marvin a run-through to let him see what the moves were. Then they went off and rehearsed it like the stage people that most of them are. I watched these marvelous actors take that thing and mold it into a scene with flashing hues and wonderful blocking, enjoying themselves and each other. Then we had one run-through on the lit set and filmed the whole thing in one take!” – Corey Allen

That one take did not make it to screen, unfortunately, because in television close ups are king, however Allen did ask for – and received – a copy of the single take for himself, and presumably still has it somewhere. (note from the blogger: It is still illegal to rob peoples’ houses, I checked.)

The other sequence that didn’t make it to air without getting a rather significant cut in it was the dream that Kira has in which she almost kisses Bareil. A kiss was filmed, and it was “a very hot and heavy kiss that was pretty torrid.” – Peter Allan Fields

However the producers wanted to maintain a bit of mystery as to the direction of Kira and Bareil’s relationship, and so had the kiss cut from the final episode.

The original concept for Bareil as thought of by Robert Hewitt Wolfe was that of a wise old man, but Michael Piller instead thought he should be “young and vigorous”.

The look of Bajoran casual wear also changed in this episode. Costume designer, Robert Blackman kept the colour palette but changed the texture of the clothes to be less ‘flat-finished’ and have greater texture, a change that was also reflected in the Promenade set. “It became more bazaar-like, with banners and more neon. It had been too utilitarian, too perfect.” – Robert Blackman

The hardest scene to film was one in which Odo morphs from a label on a cargo container to that of a rat. Lighting that was too different between the set and the green screen, footage that didn’t match up between the effects and the takes, and the most difficult of all: working with a rat.

“You have to get it on the first or second take. Because by the third, the rat is no longer hungry for peanut butter, and you can’t make it do anything.” – Glenn Neufield, Visual Effects Supervisor

#ds9 #DS9 Companion #The Circle #Bajor #Kira Nerys #Nana Visitor #Season two #the rat won't go #young and vigorous Bareil #yes really

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writingforfun0714 · 9 months

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Hi all

I’ve seen Ahsoka eps 1+2 twice now and I’d like to share my thoughts on the show.

Warnings: Spoilers for Ahsoka ep1 and ep2, not a fic, contains thoughts/personal opinions and guessing ages

Here’s what I like about the show in general: I like it, and wanna see where it goes.

Overall I’m interested. While I don’t think the show is bad, I definitely don’t think it’s the best show I’ve ever seen. The effects were decent and I loved the sets. I also loved the scores of music—though I don’t think I’ve ever hated the sound design/music for any SW show. The mural looked a little different from Rebels’ version but personally I still think it’s good, though I was hoping for more shots of the whole mural instead of mostly closeups of Ezra. I also liked the costume designs but the only change I would make would be having Ahsoka show up in white robes at the end of ep2 to match Rebels’ finale. I loved that when Sabine’s not wearing her Mando armor, she wears things almost identical to Hera and had a similar hair-cutting scene to Kanan 😍

Now for the story. I think the main story of finding Thrawn+Ezra is great. It’s something I’ve wanted since Rebels’ finale. I also love the new characters introduced. Baylan Skoll, his apprentice Shin (Hati?) stole the show anytime they were on screen. I love everything about them so far. Their personalities, their costume designs (Baylan wears all black while Shin wears more neutral colors and still has her padawan braid) and especially Shin’s unspoken body language has been amazing. I’m super curious about their dynamic, since it seems like any time Shin is unsure, she looks to Baylan. I’m wondering, since Ahsoka and Anakin had a sibling dynamic going on, if they’ll go opposite and make Baylan and Shin have a more father/daughter type of relationship cuz I’ll be honest and say when I first saw them, I immediately thought of Silco/Jinx from Netflix’s Arcane.

I also liked Morgan Elsbeth. I wasn’t sure about her in Mando and because she wasn’t super important like Moff Gideon or something, I didn’t really give her a lot of thought. But I liked her revealing to be related to the Night Sisters and I loved the Night Sisters Temple. I’m also interested in Inquisitor Marrok. I definitely think Marrok is Starkiller but we’ll have to wait and see.

I loved seeing familiar characters as well. Of course Hera, Chopper and Huyang were confirmed to come back from the trailer so I knew I’d love seeing them, but I was pleasantly caught off guard by Ryder Azadhi aka CLANCY BROWN, and Jai Kell. I loved that they got who they could to come back for their characters (Clancy Brown, David Tennant, Lars Mikkelsen). I loved Huyang’s scenes as well and I know some people were on the fence about MEW as Hera, but I actually liked her (though we gotta talk about THOSE CONTACTS). That being said Vanessa Marshall is still Hera to me. Her voice, her character in Rebels, will always be Hera.

AND CHOPPER!!! Need I say more?❤️

Now for what I didn’t like. These will be more specific instances/scenes compared to the show in general since, as stated above, I do like the show.

Of course I noticed the ‘Former Jedi Knight’ in the opening crawl. She was never knighted, just like Luke in the OT.

There is one part I didn’t mention above. Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship. I get that it’s the first 2 episodes. However, I think it’s really jarring to go from Ahsoka and Sabine being friends in the Rebels’ finale to look for Ezra+Thrawn now to cold and snippy with each other, especially given that Sabine is supposed to be like 30?? And Ahsoka at like 45-47? There was no indication of what happened between them for most of ep1, just that SOMETHING happened between the two until it’s revealed that Ahsoka walked away from Sabine, like she did with Anakin. But this also plays into another problem I have with Sabine. She is Mandalorian and was not force sensitive in Rebels. She had a whole arc about reclaiming her culture and training with the Dark Saber w/ Kanan. There was no need to make her a Jedi. Not only does that disrespect Sabine’s character, it also disrespects the Jedi. The Jedi were originally a religion that was meant to be a safe place for select few across the galaxy born with the connection to the Force. It’s not something to ‘train/work towards’.

Yes, Ahsoka ‘is not a Jedi’ however times when being referred to as one, she does not refute it or say otherwise like she did in Rebels. It seemed out of character for her.

I know some people love the idea of ordinary people/beings being able to train hard enough to gain a connection to the Force, but I personally think that Jedi are those born with the ability. Huyang even says that she sucked as a Padawan.

I also know that Dave Felony has a habit of changing canon but that’s no excuse for poor writing. In fact, I believe he’s been at the head of Star Wars for so long that he’s just gone unchecked about what makes a good story.

Aside from those aspects of the show, I enjoyed it and am interested to see where it goes nonetheless. If you made it this far, thanks for your time.

-Maisy❤️

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jalebi-weds-bluetooth · 1 year

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Hiya JWB! Your thoughts on the scene when Arnav takes khushi to his mums. i HATE that they used such obvious body doubles & only watched it i think two seperate times, whenever it comes on i skip or stop it. I dont even remember what was said in it as all i can see is the body doubles, and that hand rubbing khushis cheek to clean the drawing just before they go? Cant remember when but it properly annoys me haha. Love ur replies and analysis keep it up for us still loving Arshi. Biggest thankyou!

Hey Anon!

Oh I so wish they had the script supervisor just note which car they used to create some semblance of continuity! I totally understand why they’d use body doubles but then considering how prominent Sanaya and Barun’s hands are, why they’d go for hand close ups and just why they chose completely different cars… sigh

To be honest when you’re shooting rapidly and daily these important things can be really missed out on! I’m sure on the editing table they realized that damn the nail work just doesn’t match (they tried to crop it!) and the cars don’t match either but probably what’s most important is to get the episodes out in line at the proper time!

You can see below they super cropped in but couldn’t do a anything much cause it was evident how different the hands were!

However all said and done it is a BEAUTIFUL scene, one of the best ones post elopement and is absolutely worth the watch! It adds the emotional gravity we were so waiting for!

It’s a shame there wasn’t a common schedules for the actors that day and that very obvious discrepancies were visible (I can bet that even the directors and editors went “ah shit”) but perhaps it’s one of the few times I can watch over an obvious error.

Also at that point ipk was seriously breaking down in terms of budget - I think a lot of the production stuff was probably being funnelled to other shows? - because you could start to see the set wear down, makeup go off, cinematography slightly cheapen and all.

The scenes also are suddenly too brightly lit. You see the way they managed outdoor Nainital versus the garden and you’d understand there was just a higher quality of equipments employed previously.

(You can see the difference in colouring lighting costume and makeup - massive yet subtle differences)

It’s a good scene though - just hear it out - it ties up the conversation Arnav had with Khushi about parents becoming stars and the whole Anjali Arnav bangle conversation.

Sigh, if they’d only top that scene with Arnav actually giving her his mum’s bangles it would’ve totally closed the loop! But hey very few shows give things in retrospect at this point (where the writers were changed or new writers stepped in).

Small things though could’ve made the scene easier:

- give Sanaya a glitter mehendi or a real mehendi with sketch pen to the body double

- give the body double short red nails instead

- have Arnav wipe Khushi’s face with a handkerchief so in a closeup we have the thumb wrapped in a hanky

- choose the same car for the actors to blend the scene

- have the master shot instead of close ups where they touch each other’s face so we can see the full moment between the actors (the pic below is a master - which is usually a wider shot with both the leads in)

- shoot the hands from the other side so we don’t see the nails but just the hands together

But also there were moments where they got the lighting and body double position really right where you can easily believe it’s arshi! And that is tough considering you need to command eye line, where they’re looking, outdoor lighting and all to look cohesive!

So, I hope you give this scene a chance regardless! Cause tv is tough to perfect, especially under pressure, and sometimes when the writing is brilliant you can forgive other things 😊 I’d always take good writing above two actors in the same frame doing shitty scenes (for example the swami track eww)

On a funny note, the hut scene did give us the worst of both worlds 😂

Best,

- JWB

#ask #ipkknd #anon #ipkknd remarriage track #Jalebi gets technical

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moviewarfare · 9 months

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A Review of “The Flash (2023)”

The Flash is a hero I adore from the comics. It is crazy that it took this long for him to have a live-action movie. Unfortunately, the DCEU Flash movie went through development hell. It had multiple directors leave the project, multiple delays, multiple reshoots, the Ezra controversy, and constant changes in leadership at WB. Despite all these shenanigans, does this movie manage to deliver a great Flash movie?

Firstly, they do deliver some strong and emotional moments. It's hard to be angry at Flash for wanting to save his mother and prove his Dad innocent. Seeing Flash cope with the unintended butterfly effects of going back in time and saving his mother, is a great concept. Barry's desperation to save this timeline because his mother still lives is powerful stuff. It has a heartfelt story of grief which I liked. Funny enough, Ezra has great chemistry with himself. Ezra plays the original and new timeline Barry who both interact with each other throughout the movie. I like the contrast between a slightly more mature and serious original Barry compared to the younger whiny new Barry. There are some genuinely funny moments between the two. I am also impressed by how convincingly they made it seem like there were 2 Ezras on set.

One of the biggest selling points of this movie is Michael Keaton's return as Batman. It is great seeing him again even though his performance can feel a bit stiff and wooden. I was worried about how they could convince me that a 70-year-old Batman would still be capable of fighting. However, the action scenes with him are awesome and very enjoyable. Ben Affleck also returns as DCEU Batman for 1 last time. He is not in it for long but he is good as well. His action scenes are pretty entertaining and his scene with Barry is a highlight. The music score by Benjamin Wallfisch is wonderful and I love how he incorporates the classic Danny Elfman Batman theme. The greatest part though is Sasha Calle as Supergirl. She is terrific despite not being in it for long. I also think the costume team nailed the Michael Keaton Batsuits and the Supergirl suit as they both look exceptional!

Unfortunately, the Ben Affleck Batsuit looks terrible. It is ugly and doesn't even feel like a proper Batsuit. Likewise, the Flash suit just doesn't look great. It looks too polished and very plastic looking. There are scenes where it looks like a guy in a giant red condom rather than a proper superhero suit. On that note, I am very mixed about Ezra Miller as Flash. He was all right in Zack Snyder's Justice League as he was more of a supporting role with a better script. However, his performance in this film comes off as way more obnoxious and annoying. It doesn't help that new timeline Barry is meant to be annoying on purpose but the result is both Barry's are infuriating. He does deliver during the more emotional moments but at other times, not so much.

I am also very disappointed in the action scenes with the 'Flash'. While the Batman action is awesome, the action scenes with Flash are just not that satisfying. They are bland to look at, especially when compared to speedster scenes from X-Men and even Avengers. The 3rd act in this movie is a little overwhelming with the amount of things going on. There are some things concerning the multiverse that occurs as well but feels kind of contradictory to the rules set. I also find the ending terrible and contradicts the whole message of the movie. Additionally, they do something in the ending that raises more questions than answers and feels a little dumb if they are rebooting the universe. My major gripe though, is the atrociously bad CGI. A lot of the shots in this film look very ugly thanks to poor CGI. Some scenes look like it is straight out of a video game than a movie. They also use it to recreate people's likeness including dead people and it is disgusting to look at.

Overall, what a massive disappointment this ended up being. You can see some element of great in it but it is all overshadowed by the bad. It is sad to see how poor the last couple of entries in the old DCEU are. It makes me more appreciative of James Gunn rebooting the DCEU. We still have 1 proper DCEU movie left with Aquaman 2 but my hopes aren't high.

For more reviews like this visit:

https://moviewarfarereviews.blogspot.com/

#dceu #batman #the flash #the flash 2023 #the flash film #the flash movie #movies #film #Movie Reviews #Film Review #michael keaton #ben affleck #dc #DC comics

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cherrygirl-28 · 2 years

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I posted on May a post about my own L headcanons but was deleted accidentally. Luckily, I still got the text on my phone notes.

————

«Hello anon, thank you for asking! ❤️ I have a few headcanons for our beloved detective, although I've been in situations where I would argue with people about those headcanons. You know, most people in the fandom want L to be flawless, but I think it's because he's a complex character on his own. Nothing is black and white with him.

Here we go!

• Besides sweets, he also eats regular meals but only behind the scenes. He eats sweets only when he is in deep thinking, or when he tries to focus on a difficult case. Think about it. If he only ate sweets whole of his life, he would have died long before the Kira case started. Also, yes, he does sleep.

• He was born intelligent but received some training to become a detective. He passed through an intelligence test, in which all the children participated, so that people of the Wammy's house can choose which candidate will eventually become a detective.

• Doesn't remember his parents but would like to meet them and find out where he comes from.

• His mother was a... Luxury escort to make money since she had ran away from home at 17. Although she was generally careful with her costumers, she accidentally became pregnant by one. She was 20 and he was 75. Of course she was fired and didn't want to go through the surgery process, so she gave birth to him in Moscow, Russia.

• As for his strange behaviour when he arrived at Wammy's house and thought that hugging someone is a violent behaviour, (there's a scene about that in a one-shot manga) was a response to some trauma he had. He probably suffered through an abuse, or a severe shock. Remember he was only a child.

• Respects human life, even when circumstances don't allow him to respect it as much as he should. He feels pity towards a dead person whether they were a criminal or not. I think the reason he continues the cases with such stubbornness, it's because somewhere deep there's a smouldering desire for justice. Even though he says his job has nothing to do with it. (Referring to his speech about monsters)

• Loves animals. There is no preference. He loves all the species, although cats seem to like him and he can't understand why.

• Has a good relationship with children. And by saying good I mean he's patient and never yells at them. We have seen this concept again in "L: change the world" and it made him a great babysitter! L himself said he's childish and hates to lose. Well… Maybe there's an immature child inside of him who just wants to have fun, but didn't had that opportunity in his childhood. That's why he's so understanding towards them. Because in his mind it feels like he's talking to his younger self. Also, the children of the Wammy's house have him as a role model and admire him for his achievements.

• Is an artistic soul. As a child, he had been involved in music and even played the piano and violin. Later, he wanted to learn how to play electric guitar but didn't make it due to work obligations.

• He's a good listener. Even if he doesn't have great advice to give, he gives his full attention to the conversation.

• If he falls in love, he will become protective and endearing. And that's because he actually has a heart. You just have to be willing to see what is hidden behind that deadpan face.

• Never fell in love. He had some crushes in middle school, which felt intimate. Close to be love, but it was never actual love. It was something in between feeling friendly towards someone, and at the same time having that butterfly feeling when seeing them.»

#death note #l lawliet #headcanons #death note l #ryuzaki

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a-force-dyad-in-space · 11 months

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I'm still not allowing myself to be excited for the One Piece live action but after having seen the trailer a few more times I'll say that as long as the pacing is good (bad pacing trips me up so hard) and the show captures the essence and spirit of the story, I won't hate it.

I just hope the rest of the writing is better than that "Not a crew" scene, I'm still not very happy with that. Sure, a lot of the comedy from the manga and the anime doesn't translate very well into live action but they can still bring out the silly parts without relying on the same kind of 0815 quips that are used by every action adventure movie since the beginning of the MCU.

Something I didn't learn until today is that Oda himself was heavily involved in the adaptation, including greenlighting the cast, which I guess gives me a little more confidence that the show won't be a trashfire.

I really like the cast (and now that I know Oda gave his okay for Nami's and Sanji's actors I'm putting my earlier reservations to the side), I like their energy, I highly appreciate their love for the One Piece universe, so I have a feeling they may be my favorite part of the adaptation.

Something that's also been pointed out is that the characters are wearing a lot of outfits from color spreads from the manga, which is really cool, I like that a lot, it gives them realistic costume changes while still staying true to their designs.

As for some of the criticism I've seen float around the tag:

"WHY ISN'T LUFFY WEARING FLIP FLOPS????" I was a little put off by that at first, too, but I honestly doubt that we'll pay a whole lot of attention to his feet when we watch the actual show (and who knows, maybe they'll show up at some point)

"WHERE IS SANJI'S CURLY BROW??????" This is probably completely a Me thing but when I watched the trailer for the first time I didn't even notice that because I was honestly much more worried about his hair before the trailer was released; I totally get that him not having the curly brow is a little disappointing and leaves out some of the greatest bickering between him and Zoro, but it's still possible that they'll bring it into the show some other way, even if he doesn't have it all the time; same goes for the smoking (which, given that it's an American production that is aimed at kids, isn't really surprising, since smoking/tobacco is its own content warning on American TV), we might see him light a cigarette here and there but we were never gonna see him chainsmoke the way he does in the manga/anime

"WHAT ABOUT USOPP'S NOSE????" Okay, let's be real here, had they given Usopp his Pinocchio nose through either CGI or VFX make-up, everyone probably would have complained how stupid and cringe it looks translated into live action; Jacob has a very expressive face that more than makes up for the lack of the Pinocchio nose in my opinion, but maybe that's just me (Jacob was also the first cast member I was fully on board with from the start, so maybe I'm biased, but that's how I feel)

"BUGGY LOOKS TOO SCARY" Guys, we only got one shot of him and we don't know the context for it; maybe this is his introductory shot, maybe this is a special dramatic shot, maybe this is how other people describe him, we just don't know; just wait until the show is out

"THE FOOTAGE IS TOO YELLOW" While it is likely that this is the final color grading, it's also possible that the final color grading wasn't done by the time they put the trailer together (like, some of the shots look like the yellow isn't as strong), they still have more than two months until release, they could still be doing final tweaks until then; and maybe they wanted to emphasize Luffy's sunny personality, who knows, the cinematography probably looks different in emotional scenes

Also, and this is only of interest to my fellow Germans, the German anime voice cast is dubbing the show, so I might actually watch it both in the original version and with the German voices because the nostalgia is reaaaaaaaallll

Be still, my heart, so you won't be disappointed, but be hopeful, be so so hopeful 🥲

#jen's ramblings #one piece live action #some more thoughts on the trailer

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