Back again and The Walking Dead

It occurred to me that I hadn't touched my blog in a while, I've been uploading college work straight onto EDI rather than on here, but now that I'm pretty much done (FUCK YEAHHH) I can now focus this blog solely on randomness like films, music, interests and what have you. So yeah, I'll restart things off with zombies, because despite them having been being milked dry over the past 50 years (mas o menos), they are still fucking awesome.

And in recent times one of the most unexpected surprises I've had in relation to zombies has to be The Walking Dead. As far as the TV show goes, I've only seen a few episodes of series 1, and if I'm honest I liked what I saw. Despite a slightly hammy feel to some of the characters, and some dialogue that I disagreed with, it kept my interest and managed to quench my thirst for gore and roaming dead people on the screen. But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here about the original Walking Dead that started the TV series, the on going monthly comic by Robert Kirkman.

I'm a big fan of comics. I was raised on 2000 AD, Alan Moore and Neat Stuff, something that gave me a taste for the medium from a young age. While I may not be a hardcore comic fan, I'm terrible when it comes to Marvel and DC for example, I like to think that when it comes to graphic novels I've read a few. Unfortunately, when it comes to zombies in the medium, they rarely ever hit the mark. Tokyo Zombie was brilliant, despite being weird as fuck, but other than I can't really think of any that stand out to me as great example of the genre in comics, which meant there was a gaping hole in the market.

I only found out the tv show was based on a comic when I looked up the tv series, and when I started to have a look at the comic I was pleasantly surprised to find that it made the screen adaptation pale in comparison. I'm up to issue 52 now, to date there are more than 100, and the best way I can think to describe it is as a soap opera, with zombies. And despite me usually not having the time of day for soaps, its fucking awesome. The group of survivors in the comic is bigger and as far as I can tell more fleshed out than the series, with the politics and relationships in the group getting explored in greater detail, the black and white artwork is a lot nicer on the eyes for me personally than the filmed for tv feel the show has and finally and most importantly, it covers a hell of a lot more ground. While I reckon if the tv show continues to be as successful as it is at the moment it could very well expand and end up following the plot of the comics a bit closer than it has been, but for the moment, the story in the comic is a hell of a lot more engaging.

With a nice mix of roaming the country trying to find safe places to live, building up anywhere they decide would be a good place to make a new home, and the inevitable departure again after it all goes to shit, it comes together nicely, helped in no small part by a constant stream of new and interesting characters. It’s worth noting that, in a feat I admire and respect Kirkman for, he is not afraid to kill off characters, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or how big a part they were playing in the story. Try not to get too attached, that’s all I can say.    

Despite having a clichéd white, middle-class and almost middle aged policeman as the main character, or rather the most prominent main character, It’s the wide variety of other characters that proves to be one of the strongest parts of the comic. Whether its encountering inmates still alive in an abandoned prison, a farm belonging to a god fearing hillbilly and his family, or a whole town/community of other survivors who have been corrupted by the horrors they've seen, it consistently manages to find new and interesting people to throw into the mix, then turn into zombie food.

The story takes a turn for something much darker than most people were expecting when Michonne gets captured by the Governor, I won't go into detail but I'll stress that it’s not a kids comic at all, and its set in a nasty world where bad shit happens. And it’s true, just because zombies start eating people it doesn't mean that all the nasty people in the world will go away, if anything they'll be left free to their own devices. It’s a pretty brutal book and isn't afraid to show it.

Finally, the artwork is wonderful. Whether it’s the awesome covers, a few of which I saw won some awards and rightfully so, or the detailed black and white panels, carefully balancing realism with comic effect, it all comes together as a whole brilliantly, very rarely leaving you puzzled as to what you're seeing or what emotion a character is trying to portray.

So, I think I'll write something else once I reach issue 100 to give my feedback on how it continues, but for now I thoroughly recommend this on going comic which finally does justice to the zombie genre. It’s got great characters, a nice inventive story full of twists and turns, lovely artwork and a creator who genuinely cares about the material, even if he can come off slightly big headed on the letters page. Kirkman claims he has enough story in his head to reach issue 300, if he can keep up the quality like he has managed so far then I hope he manages it.

unit 3ness

• Digital technology plays a huge amount of roles in the creative media sector, assisting in everything from menial day to day tasks, through such things as smart phones and the internet, to changing the very foundations of how things are run, through such things as digital storage like SD cards and programs like Final Cut Pro. If anything it has reduced the relationship between industries as advancements has made it easier to accomplish things in house, resulting in less need for specialist outside assistance.
• Since it has become easy to duplicate and share things like video and music files, copyright has come to the front of the digital media industry, in an effort to make sure no one steals other peoples ideas and material, and credit and pay is given where it is due.

for unit 6 of certi

2.3

Strengths and weaknesses of my own work.

When it comes to my bio, I’d say that despite being noticeably uncomfortable on camera, something that I’m sure I can get over with time, when it came to the technical side I was pretty good. The lighting was well done and the shots were nice, although I feel a longer time in Final Cut Pro would have helped improve the final product and allowed me to iron out some of the kinks.

When it came to the health and safety video, I was happy with the camera work I did in the later part of the video, but for the first few shots I hadn’t attached the camera securely to the tripod, meaning that there are some noticeable jolts and knocks to the camera. However I learnt from this and didn’t make the mistake a second time. 

extra things for unit 6

1.2

Luckily for me, working in an office doesn’t pose a massive amount of hazards and risks. However, anywhere can be dangerous, if you aren’t familiar with basic health and safety. For example, if the water cooler runs out of liquid and the container needs replacing, changing it is an easy task, but if you aren’t familiar with how to safely lift heavy objects, it’s the process could damage your back. Another example would be using a shredder. Even with all the safety precautions built in to them now days, if misused they could still seriously hurt someone. So make sure you think twice before unjamming it by clearing the block with your fingers.

2.1

When you sign your health and safety contract, you are giving yourself a responsibility. You are promising to follow the health and safety conduct, which is individual to each company, and at my work covers everything from not drinking a cup of tea over a computer to not using untested electrical items in the workplace. abiding to this document is essential, if you do not the company has every right to, and probably will, fire you for putting yourself and others at risk.

2.2

If, for example you find a crack in the ceiling, it should be reported straight away, but if it’s so bad that pieces of plaster are falling onto people, the area should be sectioned off and the relevant people should be called right away. In this case a plasterer or a builder would be the best people to get into touch with.

3.2

An unsafe practice I have come across in my workplace, and it is something that most people there do unintentionally, is not stretching and relieving their eyes. Aside from it being in the contract, it is common knowledge that if you work in an office, or indeed any place that requires you to sit in one place for long periods of time in front of a screen, it can be very dangerous and dangerous for your back and eyes, both from bad posture and sitting in front of a screen with out breaks. 

A review for a film I watched for work, the awakening

Means well, but is ultimately a flawed jumbled mess.


Just a quick review on the film as I have to run out for some lunch, I got to watch a copy of this at work, I knew nothing about the plot or who starred in it and made it, which I consider one of the best way to appreciate films. It follows a young ghost hunter in post WWI England who gets hired to investigate strange occurrences in a boys boarding school. I won't go into detail over plot, all I'll say is that it walks the line between predictability and innovation, unfortunately treading mainly on territory we've seen before with much more impact (The Orphanage springs to mind). By the end of the film the plot is such a tangled mess covered with plot holes, if I didn't have to watch it for work I'd have walked out. Dominic West provides a few unintentional laughs at the start but luckily improves as the film goes on, Rebecca Hall works pretty well as the cynic who starts to doubt her scientific beliefs, but overall I'd say the supporting cast were stronger than either of the leads with Imelsa Staunton up to her usual standard. The script is a mess and in dire need of a re-write, the second half in particular, and while the directing seems adequate, it is ultimately flat and boring. I wasn't scared, psychologically or otherwise, at any point in the film. I give it a 4 out of ten for effort, production values were nice, the building they used was a great location, but ultimately it loses its self in all its twists and turns, which I could follow, but we're clichéd and tired, leaving this viewer unengaged and ultimately unimpressed. A wasted opportunity.

Bringing Out The Dead, a Scorsese flick thats genuinely underrated?

Back in Spain, while we were living in Las Barreras, a little place just outside Orgiva, we had a couple of neighbors called Maggie and Isha. Both were ex social workers who had been living in Glasgow (I think) for years, had enough of the lifestyle there, and moved away to sunny Spain. Luckily for me, they were both film buffs and bought with them a great collection of dvds, which, soon after we had become friends, I started to make my way through. I eventually came across a film with a picture of Nicholas Cage looking like he hadn't slept for weeks on the front called 'Bringing Out The Dead', and I dont know why but for some reason it caught my eye.

Maybe it was the fact it said 'A Martin Scorsese Picture' on the front, by this point I'd watched Goodfellas and Casino and knew he had made them (is it bad that I'm 11 or 12 at this point?), so I presumed that this would be of the same ilk. Possibly its because it had John 'I can get you a toe' Goodman on the back, a personal favourite ever since Raising Arizona and the Big Lebowski. I don’t know. The point is I took it home and watched it. And despite not understanding quite a few of the darker plot elements, I loved it and it stuck with me for years, despite, or perhaps because I didn’t have a chance to rewatch it till years after (literally weeks ago). Its a brilliantly dark comedy, like so many of Scorseses better pictures, following a depressed paramedic over the course of three nights, with three different partners, as he desperately tries to quit despite his supervisor literally refusing to allow this, and maybe save his first patient in months.

What is it with me and tripped out, weird as shit films? This proves that before I'd ever even taken anything intoxicating, apart from maybe excess Calpol and stealing booze at the Dragon fest, I still held a fascination, or maybe appreciation is more suitable, of things surreal, dreamy and strange. Made by the same writer/director team who bought us Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, it should come as no surprise that its brilliantly observed, harrowingly bleak, and at times painfully true to life and all its absurdities.

I think that’s one of the reasons why I loved it. I had gone to a few parties down site with parents and mates and simply by living in Orgiva I had met my fair share of lost its, so some of the crazy characters I was seeing in the film didn’t seem alien, if anything they seemed familiar in some way or another. So maybe now that renders my opinion invalid, as I'm apparently biased due to nostalgia, but I don’t think so. If anything it proves that Schrader and Scorsese have traveled a few different walks of life, or at the very least observed and studied them, managed to find humanity everywhere, and the importance of humor, especially the dark kind.

And its thanks to this wisdom that I can easily overlook the films shortcomings, of which there aren't many but certainly a few: editing is a bit nasty in places, the supporting cast often run the risk of bettering the leads and I'm pretty sure Nick Cage is actually fucked up on all kinds of downers as opposed to just acting like he's going through a bad patch. But like I said, taken as a whole its a great observation on people, especially the crazy characters who come out at night, and a funny, fascinating study on feeling shitty.

Unit 5 (no pics tho)

1.1 So if for example you are going to set up a fireworks display with some friends, there will be certain things you need to make sure get done. You will need to work out exactly what you need to put the display on, who will need to work out who will be in charge of finding the things you need, how you plan to get those things and where you plan to put it on.

1.2 Depending on peoples interests and skills you should assign roles accordingly, for example the person with a car should be in charge of driving the five miles needed to be traveled to buy the fireworks, and the person with a big garden should be in charge of providing the space required to set the display off.

2.1 If someone has to much work and someone hasn't enough, you should always try and share the load to make things easier and less stressful for everyone involved. With a more balanced workload people are much more likely to finish the tasks at hand and remain engaged.

2.2 If you don't share information with colleagues then you will never know where each other are at, and will never be able to help each other progress. Communication is essential to make sure everything gets done correctly and to the best of every bodies potential.

2.3 If someone has a bad attitude sometimes its beneficial for everyone to diplomaticly suggest that maybe people would get more done if everyone was comfortable with how the situation is.
For example, if you work in an office and have a desk back to back with someone else, if that person starts to get cluttered and disorganized, leading to them taking up some of your desk space making things cramped for you, if you suggest that maybe they sort things out a bit, in a nice way of course, then maybe you'll end up making life easier for the both of you.

2.4 Make sure you cover all the points you are trying to make, answering any questions which arise or doubts people might have, always being sure to listen to any counterarguments and if you feel that your decision is better, explain why.

2.5 Find put exactly where the disagreement is and find out what each party hope to get out of the situation, then try and come to a mutual agreement which would benefit everyone.

2.6 If everyone shares a mutual goal or objective, and collectively work together to try and accomplish this, its going to be a lot easier for all the parties involved, many hands make light work and all that, but if you take it deeper than that, the more people involved in the process means that there will be more skills bought to the table, meaning there will be more points of expertise, accumalating in a better finished product.

3.1 Say, for example, you get designated a task with a collegue, you need to make sure that between you, you both feel like your doing an even ammount of work, and maintain this level of equality throughout the time it takes to finish the task. Keep talking to each other, making sure neither is left behind, and if either of you feel that the other might be, revise the tasks at hand and redistribute them accordingly.

3.2 Make sure you use context and are sure that everyone knows what it is you are talking about. Make sure you speak clearly, both through tone and language, people can't understand you if you mumble or aren't speaking coherently, so thats also a pretty good place to start. Something else you need to take into consideration is other peoples feelings. If someone makes a mistake, or does something in a way you know could be done better, its always god to tell said person, the best way to learn is through your mistakes, but its always a good idea to approach the situation diplomaticaly. If they have been having a tough day, its probably best not to start shouting at them about how terrible it is, its probably more advisable offer constructive criticism, tell them two ways in which they did something right for every thing you tell them they did wrong.

3.3 If two people with ideas are at a standstill over how best to advance a project, make sure they both understand fully what the other has come up with, then come to an agreement as to what they think would be the most mutually beneficial out of the ideas on offer. Try and remember that you's are working together towards a shared final goal.

3.4 If you need to quickly get an actor changed into costume and makeup on a day with a busy shoot thats running behind, you need to make sure you send him to the correct people, in this case costume and make up, as quickly as possible. If a new intern in the office cant find a desk they have to deliver post to, take a minute to ask who they are looking for and point them in the right direction, it doesn't require a lot of effort and will help everyone along.