Dec 23, 2010

WHAT IS LINEAR TIME ?








Perhaps the bravest of the Star Trek Franchise?

Dec 20, 2010

TRON LEGACY IS THE NEW PHANTOM MENACE




TRON LEGACY blows harder than The Phantom Menace. Commercial directors should not be allowed to touch classic films. At least George Lucas ruined his own mythos. Joseph Kosinski would have been better off doing a fashion spread based on TRON. What disappointed me most, wasn't the fact that they ditched the character TRON altogether-it was that the new lightcycles drive like cars from the Fast and Furious. Meaning they no longer turn on 90degree angle but instead glide and spin out with a tire screech and halt for a product placement shot. Why? This is Tron. We're inside a program after all. Please don't let these folks near Logan's Run.

Dec 16, 2010

LYNN HERSHMAN ON COMPUTER CHRONICLES




Artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson has been internationally acclaimed for her pioneering use of new technologies. Her work often deals with identity in a time of consumerism, privacy in an era of surveillance, interfacing of humans and machines, and the relationship between real and virtual worlds.

Lynn,can you do a studio visit with me, PLEASE?

P.S. Bring back the show Computer Chronicles

HISTORY OF LISBERGER STUDIOS INC




This documentary is really inspiring. NEVER GIVE UP!

Dec 14, 2010

WHERE IS JA-MA-CIA?




I love this video so much that I have been keeping it a secret, hoping nobody else would discover it. Today I realized that was ridiculous and that everyone NEEDS to see the pioneering efforts of MIT students who were developing new ways of communicating with computers through gesture, voice, and collaboration.

Dec 8, 2010

COMPUTER REALITIES - TRON 1982




As passionate as I am about analog effects, model making, and puppetry, I admit there have been occasions where I have exclaimed "Tron (1982) is the most beautiful movie ever made"!

After viewing Computer Realities: The making of Tron, I can't help but feel the anxiety of the special effects people of that time. To them, here comes The CRAY 1 Supercomputer, parallel with the plot of TRON,here comes MASTER CONTROL. Their fears are right on. 28 years later, computer graphics have not only taken over the movie industry, their impact on viewers have rendered the work of these special effects pioneers as "cheesy" or worse yet "campy".

Simultaneously, I find the CRAY 1 Supercomputer an amazing tool and can understand the excitement and the inspiration of the programmers working with it.

So when does technology go too far? How do we go from TRON to BEOWOLF (2007)? Is TRON the exception because it's self aware,as it is a movie about computing itself?

That said, I'm looking forward to TRON LEGACY, even though they ditched the old look. I trust Steven Lisberger, more than let's say, George Lucas. We shall see!