Tracy Fullerton and the new collaborative artform of video games.

Listen up debutant's and my cavalry, and listen well.

Today I had the wonderful pleasure of attending a lecture given by Tracy Fullerton, author, teacher, and video game designer. I've sat in front of hundreds of guest speakers and very few have impressed me as well as Fullerton. She impressed me by her belief that by integrating art, philosophy, and memories into a game, the user might find a way to relate to it. Its about experiencing the game on a higher interactive medium. Now I don't play video games. I might have smoked a joint or two (or more), geeked out, and got into some serious video game action while in high school. So as I was preparing for the lecture and boning up on Fullerton's background I cam across a free download for a game named "Cloud". I decided to download the game and give it a try. After an hour or so of game play I realized that I was experiencing one of my earliest childhood fantasies: the ability to fly. Given it was through a video game, but I never had experienced a connection with a game like I had with "Cloud" (All of you reading this can either groan or wipe your tears - its true). In the game, the user embodies a boy named Yun, and Yun has the ability to fly around the game universe and collect clouds. Once the clouds are collected, the user has the opportunity to release clouds in any pattern or design they can create. I remember as a kid looking up at the sky and imagining that clouds would look like a bunny or a frog. As simple as the game was, I experienced an engaging, and personal connection with the game that I haven't experienced before. The approach to Fullerton's design techniques revolve around the game's ability to interact with the gamer, not only functionality wise but on a level that integrates philosophical questions, reproduced art, and common memories that most people share. The philosophy behind “Cloud” is for the user to reconnect with their ideas and fantasies they had as a child. This allows the game to transcend the mechanics of the video game norm into a more communicative art form.

Fullerton also produced a trailer of sorts for her new game "Night Journey" for which she has teamed up with artist Bill Viola. The game resembles a "Myst"-like environment but recreates Viola's artwork. Still a prototype, it looks as if it might be an interesting art project.

Now to my rant.

Why is it that I am always stuck with immature film students that do nothing but crack jokes, complain about the film department and ruin what could have been a really interesting exercise. After the lecture, the large group was broken into smaller groups where we were supposed to play a basic game, and then create your own game. Well those in my group couldn't participate in a child's game and if they had to design a game, lets just say a certain school was the basis of the jokes. Go back to high school or grow up! Don't ruin other peoples experiences by your inability to be creative or at least act like an adult. Needless to say, I left (as did another group member who I assume was feeling the same way). I left because I didn't want to be associated with an idea that was designed to be a joke that was to be presented to Fullerton. Lets grow up kids or shut the hell up!

Sorry.....

Anyways for further info on Tracy Fullerton you can check out her website at www.tracyfullerton.com
or check out Bill Viola at
www.billviola.com

Also - a few films that touch on clouds:
Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain a.k.a. Amelie
La Science des rêves a.k.a. The Science of Sleep
Truly, Madly, Deeply

Now, let me off my boxx.
Soap

D'Est (Of is?): Chantal Akerman's Documentary

I have spent the past couple of hours drowsily recalling moments of Chantel Akerman's D'Est with equal parts fondness and annoyance. I say they are equal parts because I enjoyed viewing the film (and that's what it was - a viewing and not an experience) and am frustrated by the label of importance that is placed on certain films. I will get to the later in a little bit.

For those that haven't seen the film, it is an intimate exploration of people, their communities, and the mundane all wrapped in a pretty depressing form of a documentary. Its depressing due to the look of the 16mm film stock and the landscape of the film. D'Est was shot in Germany, Poland, Russia, and Moscow. Akerman focuses on cars, trucks, trains, people - both staged and real-life settings. As the camera tracks the action or is fixed on a certain scene, Akerman seeming dodges the lines of dramatic film making and guerilla documentary tactics creating a small barrier that allows the viewer to dive into the film without the interaction. The scenes that focus on individuals or groups of people, Akerman plays with the ability that allows these people to be viewed by the camera. The effect leaves the people in the film extremely vulnerable.

I do find the scenes that are located inside a residence to rid the film of certain credibility. One example is the woman that is in her kitchen drinking tea or coffee. Obviously nervous, she sips her tea/coffee (we will just call it cotea for short), shakily sets her cotea back on her saucer, and the sips it again. I can see Akerman sitting behind the camera saying "Now I will say action in a minute, and you are to drink your cotea and stare at the wall, like you usually do when you drink cotea, and just ignore the camera." The scenes are a little to contrived in my opinion.

The scenes that are located outside, showcasing everyday life in the street, remind me of Godard's Breathless, particularly the scenes with Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmando where they are walking around the city. Both have a captivating feeling that you (yes, you the audience) are in the same space.

As I stated earlier, there is a moment of reflection that annoys me to the point of strangulation. Maybe I am wound too tight. Maybe I should sleep more often and remember to blink. Maybe I am tired of people trying to tell me that certain experimental films are "important." In reading Catherine David's "D'Est: Akerman Variations" I found that her critique of the film to be quite eloquent but over-embellished to the point of vomiting blood. "Rarely (and not since the beginning of cinema and the early Soviet depiction of the heroic masses of the revolution) have the modern crowd and individual, the "idle community" of post-Communism, been filmed with such startling intimacy, in their abandon and dispossession." Give me a break. Yes the film was interesting to watch and it did reveal moments that made it stand out, but that is a tall comment for a voyeuristic film (and I mean voyeuristic in the nicest way. Not in that smutty, I'm watching you, and if no-one is looking I might just toss-off-to-you way).

Sigh. Anyways. D'Est is an interesting view into the lives of a post-Communism society, and deals playfully with the audiences boundary in the film viewing experience and the isolation that it can provide as well.

On a side note: I appreciate any feedback to my rants, however heated the feedback is I will take it to heart.... and then shove it right up your ass! Now let me off my boxx.
Soap

Late set-up but ready to go!

Well I know this is a little late, but when you're busy, you're busy. I've been super busy. So without wasting any more time, let me off my boxx.

Soap