It’s live! Becoming A Better Artist – Critical knowledge and techniques for today’s artists

NEWS:
My workshop Becoming A Better Artist – Critical knowledge and techniques for today’s artists is now open for enrollment. After more than a year’s worth of blood, sweat, and tears, it’s finally ready to go live. Space is limited (only 35 students will be accepted), so definitely act fast. The course will start on March 8th and will last eight weeks. Whether it will repeat in the future will depend on popular demand, so if you don’t get in the first time, definitely let CGSociety.org know that you want to see it repeated. If you want even more details about the workshop or want to ask question, get yourself over to this announcement thread.

The first run of the workshop is going to be very interesting, as I’ll find out if it’s possible to teach so much content in just eight weeks. I hope the students will be a real pleasure to teach–passionate aspiring artists who are hungry for knowledge, craves guidance, motivated, and hopefully smart and talented as well.

WEBLOG:
My Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM display monitor have been acting up in the last few months–it would turn itself off repeatedly, refuse to respond to the power on/off button in the front, jump around in brightness/contrast levels, and other weirdness. It acts up sporadically so it’s totally unpredictable and hard to reproduce the problems. I took it to the local Samsung service center in Fuzhou and they said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it, but when I brought it home it’s still got the same problems. I know it’s not because of my video card or computer since everything’s normal when I use my SyncMaster 244T instead. I’ve only used the 2493HM for about a year, and since the problems usually don’t last (turning the power switch on the back on and off usually takes care of it, but sometimes even that doesn’t work), it’s not like I have full justification to just go out and buy a new display monitor. I almost wish it would just kick the bucket so I could be rid of it.

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Elena was telling me the other day that she’s sick and tired of seeing useless people posting petty and pointless emo rants online in blogs, forums, social networking sites…etc–she called it “polluting the internet with negative vibe.” These people don’t seem to contribute to our civilization in any tangible way, and only adds misery, chaos, and negativity to our virtual world. Why not actually contribute something useful or meaningful to the world? Post a recipe. Offer some useful advice. Share interesting knowledge. Help others. Hell, even writing user reviews of products you have used is contributing to greater good of our civilization. Do something–anything, that makes this world a better place while you’re online, instead of only dumping personal baggage into our virtual space.

Related to her little rant, I had a similar one myself. I was talking to her about David Duchovny’s character (Hank Moody) in Californication and how he’s not nearly as likable as Fox Mulder in The X-Files. While both characters are very intelligent, talented, and witty, the difference is that Mulder is passionate, motivated, and strives to be a noble person, while Moody is mostly a jerk that takes pride in being an asshole. I could never relate to people like that–those who enjoy hurting others or putting them in uncomfortable situations for their own amusement. I know we all have the potential to act like real douchebags, but the difference lies in how much of an effort we make to keep that ugly side shoved far down in the basement of our psyche and how hard we try to do the right thing whenever we can. Taking pride in being a jerk is the last thing I’d ever want to see in myself or those around me.

I personally believe that people who are intelligent, talented, accomplished, driven…etc have the obligation to strive to be role models–to set an example for others to follow. If the most capable of us don’t try to be the best the human race has to offer, then perhaps they don’t deserve the gifts bestowed upon them in the first place. Unfortunately, many of the elite use their gifts for evil and selfish gains, carving a path of destroyed lives as they ruthlessly march forward in their quest to satisfy their greed, or they’re simply too narcissistic to care beyond admiring their own greatness. I guess the question that we all should ask ourselves is this–if we find ourselves in the world of superhero comic books, will we choose to be a supervillain or a superhero? But life is not that simple, is it? Even if we pick a side and try to live according to our convictions, we will be tested when life throws us a curve ball. For example, if you find a wallet stuffed with cash and you’re in need of money, would you give the money back or would you keep it? How about if you accidentally run someone over while driving and you’re pretty sure of two things: 1) The person is dead 2) No one saw you–would you drive away or would you turn yourself in? Even if we think we know how we’ll behave while contemplating such questions in a calm, detached manner, we could very well do the exact opposite when actually facing these decisions under stress.

When when it comes to everyday life, we’re not faced with these very difficult decisions, so at the very least, we could try to be kind to one another instead of behaving like jerks. But apparently, even that is too much to ask of some people.

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Quickie movie reviews:

The Road – I loved the book–it’s now one of my favorite books of all time, and when I found out it was being made into a movie, I had high hopes. I knew instinctively that the gravity of the source material will only attract cerebral and serious filmmakers–the kind that could do the book justice. In other words, the book is safe from shallow directors like Michael Bay, because it doesn’t have enough explosions car chases.

The film remained mostly faithful to the spirit of the book, and whatever deviations didn’t detract from that spirit, except maybe the ending. While the ending is essentially the same, because the difference in the characters involved in the ending makes it feel like the film tried to appeal to the lowest common denominator–the kind of audience that demands Hollywood happy endings. I think that’s the one thing the film did wrong–it shouldn’t have tacked on that extra coat of sugar at the end–it almost felt like the kind of rampant sentimentality that Steven Spielberg used to sprinkle throughout his films, until he finally grew out of his Peter Pan phase. The ending aside, I think the film is a worthy adaptation of the book.

Avatar – I’m one of those people who has heard of Avatar’s development as far back as the late 90’s, and have been waiting for it for all these years. I finally got to see it a few hours ago with Elena, and we watched it in 3D.

I think as a commercial blockbuster made for the mainstream audience, it’s got a very good balance of heart, action, visual spectacle, and a conscience. It’s very obviously dumbed down a bit so that it can reach the widest audience. I think Cameron learned from Titanic that a simpler story is what will be understood by more people, and in turn make the most profit as well. I think Cameron is certainly capable of writing characters that are more complex and morally ambiguous, but whether he wants to take that route with very expensive blockbuster films is a different issue altogether. Maybe a small indie film could afford to be very complex, but in today’s cinematic climate, I think the days of expensive blockbuster having the same complexity as sophisticate arthouse films are long gone. I can’t remember the last big-budget blockbuster that had a really complex story with moral ambiguity.

I thought the CG characters were expressive, and served their purpose very well, but any talk about conquering the Uncanny Valley is irrelevant because they are stylized fictional creatures, so they don’t count as human CG characters. In most cases, they looked like an interesting blend of stylized realism, but they are definitely not to be mistaken for total photorealism–at least not to me. I doubt they were meant to be in the first place, since the whole world of Pandora has an ethereal and stylistic vibe to it.

During some scene transitions I had the distinct feeling that some scenes were cut for the theatrical release, and we’ll definitely see them on the DVD.

A lot of people talk about the white man’s guilt and also how it always takes a white hero to save an inferior native race (Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, Black Rain…etc), and I think perhaps it’s just a template that resonates with typical American audience the most. If the main character wasn’t white, would the discussion have taken place?

A side note about the movie-going experience:
The last time I went to the movie theater to watch a movie in China was almost 9 years ago when Fellowship of the Ring showed in China, and I swore then I’d never watch a movie in China ever again because the experience was just horrible. People treating the theater like it’s their living room–they’d talk loudly, answer their cellphones non-stop, and the sound of food wrappers crinkled from the first minute to the last. This time, the theater was newer and more modern, but the quality of the audience remained the same. The guy to my right answered his phone SIX TIMES during the movie, and his kid kept on talking and asking questions loudly. The women to my wife’s left also kept on talking and answering their phones and she had to tell everybody to shut up three times during the film. I know this kind of stuff happens in most countries, but in China it’s extra bad. But then again, I haven’t exactly watched movies in theaters in a bunch of different countries, so maybe some countries are even worse.

Drag Me to Hell – Sam Raimi’s return to the campy horror comedy genre, and I think as a director who’s helmed big Hollywood blockbusters and serious dramas since his Evil Dead days, he is now much better at knowing when to use restraint and when to get down and get crazy. I think some of the more campy scenes stick out a bit since they only really happen during the scenes with scares and the rest of the “normal” scenes don’t really contain any traces of that campy vibe–resulting in a somewhat schizophrenic feel. Overall it’s a lot of fun though. Alison Lohman is an interesting looking actress. I remember she was really adorable as Nick Cage’s daughter in Matchstick Men, and she’s one of those really petite girls that just on the verge of being too tiny, but that’s part of her charm–that cute waif look.

The Royal Tenenbaums – Although this one has the trademark Wes Anderson mixture of wry comedy and heartfelt drama, it wasn’t as interesting as his other films I’ve seen. The relationship between some of the characters were underdeveloped, and the focus seemed to wander a bit.

Final Destination 4 – Elena and I have seen all the Final Destination films, and while the story is always the same, the fun is in the creative ways each character gets offed. I don’t know how many more of these movies they can make before people stopped watching them though. Unless they come up with a new twist to the franchise, this may be the end of the road.

Time Traveler’s Wife – While it may not make logical sense if you want to get scientific about the plot, the film is endearing because of it’s warmth, and I think Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams really sold those characters. It’s definitely a movie for romantics, and I think if you allow yourself the suspension of disbelief, you’ll be won over by its charm.

Surrogate – A fairly interesting sci-fi premise about humans and their artificial surrogate bodies, but the plot itself squandered the potentials the premise had, being too simplistic and lacking an additional layer of subtext or complexity. The moral ground it takes is also shaky at best–one of those arrogant and illogical human fallacies that places mankind’s sick fascination with existentialist crisis before pragmatism and reason. If in my life time this technology becomes popular and available, you bet your ass I’ll gladly indulge in it.

The Lovely Bones – I was very disappointed by this film. The entire paranormal/after life aspect of the story felt unnecessary and overly self-indulgent. It did not add anything significant or profound, neither did it express any meaning worthy of its inclusion. If anything, a simple murder mystery would’ve been much more effective than the meandering mess it is.

The Perfect Getaway – A pretty entertaining thriller, although I guessed the plot twist pretty early on in the film. This is one of the things I hate about being a writer–you can see the tricks other writers use from a mile away, and it takes away the joy from being an unsuspecting audience. If a film’s writing is halfway decent, then it’ll have to make sense, and in order to make sense there are very limited number of suspects in every thriller, because only bad writers would jump the shark and pin the murders on characters that barely had any screen time and completely irrelevant. Once you figure out the formula, you can pretty much guess the possible plot twist of every single thriller you watch, unless the writer is wickedly talented and clever–so much so that he could even surprise other writers. So in a way, my being able to guess the plot twist of this film shouldn’t count against the film, because in all honesty, it’s one of the more refreshing thrillers of late.

Jennifer’s Body – I can’t decide if the slightly campy tone made the film more endearing or detracted from it. Megan Fox is definitely easy on the eyes, but I couldn’t help but kept thinking that the character she plays seems so much like how the media portrays her personality in real life. Maybe they cast her because she’s known to be a bitch? I think the film pulled too many punches and was way too tame to make its mark in the world of horror cinema. It should’ve had a much darker tone and been far more violent to make a strong impression.

2012 – A compelling premise with eye-popping special effects, but completely drenched in sappy Hollywood sentimentality–to the point of being idiotic. While I’m not an advocate of cold-blooded pragmatism, I also think that unchecked sentimentality which would put the survival of an entire species at danger is just moronic. Too often Hollywood writers err on the side of excessive sentimentality, and I think there just has to be a better balance in these types of movies.

Carriers – It was entertaining enough, but a bit too safe and predictable. I think when it comes to thrillers, today’s audience expects thrilling surprises and plot twists, and this film doesn’t really have any.

My personal beef is that I can’t stand watching irresponsible and idiotic characters in movies, especially if they are the leads. I avoid morons like that in real life. yet I have to spend an hour and a half glued to the every move of the same ilk of dickheads? The older brother, Brian, is exactly the kind of asshole idiot that I can’t stand in real life–people who are completely incapable of self-control or understand that any kind of horsing around is the perfect ingredient for accidents or disasters. It’s idiots like him that causes accidents–doing stupid shit like “Look! No hands!” while driving or riding a motorcycle or sitting on some railing 20 floors high. Assholes like that think everything is a joke and it’s funny to create dangerous situations just for a laugh. I hope jerks like that get themselves maimed every time they pull stunts like that so they finally learn to cut that shit out for the rest of their lives.

White Out – The story itself wasn’t bad, but the execution was thoughtless and clumsy, displaying many of the problems that film buffs often complain about–things that are so easy to address if the people in charge had the mental capacity for it. It’s not even the really big things, but smaller things like ridiculously glamorous makeup on the female lead so that she looks like she’s about to pose for a high fashion magazine, or being exposed to extremely cold temperature during a furious blizzard for a very long time without wearing any protection for the face, but looking totally normal after the fact, or the female lead kept turning around to check the door behind her for possible attacker, while standing there waiting for sheets of fax to print out, but never thought of to simply turning the fuck around and face the door while waiting, or the embarrassingly gratuitous shots of her undressing and sticking her ass directly into the camera right at the beginning of the movie. That should have been a clear enough sign that it’ll be a pretty mindless movie made by people with less than stellar taste (not that I have any problems with T&A–it’s all about context and choosing an appropriate creative tone for any given project, and the people behind this film didn’t understand that).