In an effort to defy procrastination and laziness, I'm taking to this project for the great company Excalibur Publishing.
Initial thoughts? It's going to be nearly impossible to advertise their products seriously. They have titles like 'Farming Simulator 2011' and 'Street Sweeper Simulator'. It's going to be difficult to walk the line between not displaying the product in such a serious manner that it becomes ridiculous how straight it's played, and outright mocking the products to the point where it loses any appeal.
I've rolled through a few ideas that were either too straight or too mocking, and I've arrived at one I think is just about balanced on the line.
Procrastinate Properly
The games made by Excalibur are somewhat unique in that they're halfway between a casual game and a proper game, with an audience far different from most. Most games are played as procrastination, I'd imagine, to put off a more difficult task. The concept behind this campaign is that if you're going to waste time instead of being productive, you might as well do it properly.
The project brief, too, is to make the advertisement viral. This is the single hardest hurdle. Viral advertisements propogate mainly through YouTube, Facebook, and all your other miscellanious social sites and word of mouth. The games made by Excalibur Publishing I doubt have the core demographic of people who are highly active in such circles.
The basic concept to be fleshed out for PP is a 30s commercial slot. My time breakdown is currently looking like so, and the concept can be applied to several different but similar advertisements (allowing viral potential)
0-15: Video of person procrastinating in a boring manner. Minesweeper, Freecell, doodling in the side of a worksheet, anything. This will be the main viral-enabling portion, so gets a bit more screentime than is really neccessary.
15-25 : 'Procrastinate Properly' transition. Current concept is a soundbyte signature to the game currently advertised and movement onto displaying footage, with voiceover advertising game.
25-30: Excalibur Publishing ident on full screen, along with information on where to submit your own procrastination.
The viral part would come in an open competition with a prize for used content, with open invitation to submit a 15-second clip of 'procrastinating'. The interpretation of this would be left mostly open, and submitted entries could be viewed to find the best to make into the next iteration of the advertisement with the submitting user getting a prize (Some amount of money and, say, a gift redeemable on Steam for the collected Excalibur works. Or a tractor. Dunno.)
Going to get to work on the 5 second final part in 3dsMax, as videos will be more easily made when I return to Uni.
Thursday 4 August 2011
Wednesday 9 March 2011
Disaster
It seems 3ds Max decided to forget how to save following 10 hours solid work, and I now have a corrupt file.
A lesser man would be deterred. Let's see what a single day solid work can get me, from pretty much scratch.
A lesser man would be deterred. Let's see what a single day solid work can get me, from pretty much scratch.
Friday 4 March 2011
Keep 'dem Shoggoth's rolling'
On the image:
Left: The mostly-finished enclosure. It's subject to being altered in shape later to appear more rock-like, but for now it's close enough to the final shape to focus on more important things.
Right: The inside of Area A (the first large cave). The feeling of still-claustrophobic size and transition into a very claustrophobic tunnel B is coming along nicely. Working on adding the pit props now; getting into the detail work over basic formation.
Wednesday 2 March 2011
More progress
Making the cave up, finally building the enclosure. Going a lot more smoothly than I expected so far.
Tuesday 1 March 2011
Hi ho, hi ho, Y'gs'lg C'thulu n'gnlo
What do you get when you combine the Great Old Ones and their tentacly appendages and consuming madness with the already creepy location of an abandoned mine?
Let's find out.
Let's find out.
Monday 28 February 2011
Rollin' rollin' rollin'.
This work bought to you by a bowl of pasta and cheese, and my beautiful new second monitor, tall enough to use four-screen modelling on, making my tasks much easier. Been told I should be documenting my work progress better, so hopefully this counts.
Sunday 27 February 2011
Tetsuo - Iron Man - Thoughts
Just realised I've had this in a notepad for quite some time following a lack of internet connection when I watched it, and have yet bothered to upload it. Copy-pasting it here. Go.
--------------------------------------------------
Tetsuo - The Iron Man - Budget Bodyhorror
Not certain what to think of it. To go through the whole film and it's plot would, I believe, be missing the point. Instead, I took most interest at the themes throughout it, those of violently graphic body horror and cyberpunk, with what looks to be a fairly low budget and with a total film crew that I believe in total dosen't surpass double digits.
Mostly I took the film of an example of stretching what one has and making the most of it with creative filming techniques and appropriate material (contrast with The Room). You can see it had a low budget, it can't hide this. But how it makes up for that is what becomes impressive.
The usage of sexual themes in the film also caught me by suprise. For the most part, sex either is included, and is general titilation and eroticism, or it is forgone entirely. In Tetsuo, in the most obvious sexual reference (in which the poor chap's Meat & Veg turn into a Black & Decker) serves only to make the scene more visceral, the sexuality of it all making it cut deeper to the gut (pun not intended), making it all the more sickening and personal, by striking from an angle we rarely expected. This, along with the not-so subtle comparisons with rape and abuse, create a mesh of twisted, truly discomforting themes, striking from so many emotional angles, that it distracts very successfully from the cheapness of the film.
The soundtrack was excellent and reinforced the cyberpunk theme to a tee, another fine example of money stretching. For the most part, the film made me think that it would have worked almost fine as a 'silent' film, with the soundtrack played over the top, forgoing the little speech there was in entirety.
However, aside from the positives, the plot was conveyed in such a way that it was confusing. Had it been simply the point of one mans struggle with this horrific metal-virus spreading through him, I would have been fine, but some characters seemed entirely unnecassary, serving only to complicate matters without adding much.
The jet-boot chase through a city also seemed fairly forced, not really meshing with the rest of the film which was very much clustered in one area.
All in all, I'd imagine the point of watching this was to give evidence of what can be done without a budget, but with pushing the limits on filming techniques. Ideas from it should come in handy with the AV piece, but I doubt ideas from it can fit into the other two parts.
--------------------------------------------------
Tetsuo - The Iron Man - Budget Bodyhorror
Not certain what to think of it. To go through the whole film and it's plot would, I believe, be missing the point. Instead, I took most interest at the themes throughout it, those of violently graphic body horror and cyberpunk, with what looks to be a fairly low budget and with a total film crew that I believe in total dosen't surpass double digits.
Mostly I took the film of an example of stretching what one has and making the most of it with creative filming techniques and appropriate material (contrast with The Room). You can see it had a low budget, it can't hide this. But how it makes up for that is what becomes impressive.
The usage of sexual themes in the film also caught me by suprise. For the most part, sex either is included, and is general titilation and eroticism, or it is forgone entirely. In Tetsuo, in the most obvious sexual reference (in which the poor chap's Meat & Veg turn into a Black & Decker) serves only to make the scene more visceral, the sexuality of it all making it cut deeper to the gut (pun not intended), making it all the more sickening and personal, by striking from an angle we rarely expected. This, along with the not-so subtle comparisons with rape and abuse, create a mesh of twisted, truly discomforting themes, striking from so many emotional angles, that it distracts very successfully from the cheapness of the film.
The soundtrack was excellent and reinforced the cyberpunk theme to a tee, another fine example of money stretching. For the most part, the film made me think that it would have worked almost fine as a 'silent' film, with the soundtrack played over the top, forgoing the little speech there was in entirety.
However, aside from the positives, the plot was conveyed in such a way that it was confusing. Had it been simply the point of one mans struggle with this horrific metal-virus spreading through him, I would have been fine, but some characters seemed entirely unnecassary, serving only to complicate matters without adding much.
The jet-boot chase through a city also seemed fairly forced, not really meshing with the rest of the film which was very much clustered in one area.
All in all, I'd imagine the point of watching this was to give evidence of what can be done without a budget, but with pushing the limits on filming techniques. Ideas from it should come in handy with the AV piece, but I doubt ideas from it can fit into the other two parts.
Sunday 20 February 2011
Scary Mine
Mines are scary.
They're deep pits into the guts of the Earth, with dark depths kept light only by poorly-supported lights extending in front of you, they're enclosed and claustrophobic, they're dark, they're cold, damp, there's death by crushing piles of earth held off your head by now-rotting wooden struts, there's jagged rock everywhere, the poor lighting causes shadows that seem to change as you pass them, the chugging rattle of creaking, aged machinery, stalictites that look like sharp, predatory teeth gnawing upon the path you're heading towards....
We're desensitised to most the usual horror spool. Zombies are now things to make comedy with (Sean of the Dead, Dead Rising), Vampires are now irritating teenage boys that sparkle in daylight and are in dire need of better dialogue, personalities, and plots, and skeletons are generally seen on the cover of celebrity magazines, sporting the newest Size -2 dress.
But on the news we see people being ferried out of collapsed mines, shaken and crying, blinded by the sun and mentally broken from being lost, alone, and trapped amidst cold, merciless rock and infinite darkness, waiting to starve. People get lost in mines. People die in mines. Mines are scary beyond any arm-flailing monster. A skeleton is six feet tall and even if you get caught by it, it'll just stab you or something.
But a mine, with proper application of horror, is a mile-square monster of earth, with teeth that hang from the cieling, grinding people up who have come to take from it the treasures it held. And you're already standing inside it's mouth. Add to this making the mine derelict, no longer used, shut down due to accidents, but something tore down the yellow tape, and there's a trail scratched in the floor, and the lights are flickering, still on the grid but dying of age, and they swing loosely on the breeze, the shadows extending and shrinking, like some kind of gullet pulsating around where you're standing and oh mercy get me out of here the walls are going to eat me.
I admit to being a big fan of horror, in all it's forms. Something bursting from the side of the room is startling, not horrifying. I was told when designing my track that it looked a bit too short. That's true. I haven't made it very long. If it was long, I'd be going at a decent pace. The track is simple and slow, and it dosen't wind or flip about. Horror comes in two speeds. Slow, and the heart pounding rush of stumbling for your life. My track has both, in what I believe to be the correct amounts.
Going back to horror, I believe that something mildly scary, that feels utterly believable, will cut a thousand times deeper than clearly fictional monstrosities. The works of H.P Lovecraft and Stephen King show this well; They create believable worlds and characters that are slowly sunk into the paranormal. Contrast this with the movie Van Helseing, where Hugh Jackman is regularly run-and-gunning with thirty vampires.
Of course, allowances must be made. The ride dosen't have the time to build up enough suspense and context to make something mostly insignificant horrifying, so I rely on other techniques, such as minimal actual monstrousness. The more something is seen, the more normal it becomes to see, the less it is paranormal, the less it is scary. So what I aim for in the flow, is to have the first scare event focused primarily on the fear of an unseen action taken by the presence in the mine, the second event based on a brief glimpse of the presence, followed by the aforementioned escape rush, and the final event being utterly overwhelmed by multiple sightings of the presence. At the moment the first two scare events are set in stone, but the third is up in the air.
________________________________________________________
Events
As brief descriptions:
Scare 1:
As the minecart slowly enters the first main room (Area A, coming from Tunnel A), the main light source is the flickering light from a minecart that has fallen from the tracks, lighting an area to the high left for the audience. As the light draws attention (possibly with some kind of event such as a small crumbling fall of rock in the area of the main light), a quick sound of breaking glass is heard from the direction of the abandoned cart (the audio must be clearly from the abandoned cart, nowhere else, possibly emphasised by a minor audio blackout a moment before the shattering) as the flickering lightspot on the wall is instantly extinguished (done by simply removing the light presence in 3dsMax and playing a sound in the editing at the same time).
Following will be the faint sound of footsteps moving away from the abandoned cart, and a faint rattling, with the area now significantly darkened.
Overall: A minor scare event designed to build suspense. In my hopes, an effective event created with only minor visual and audio interaction, leaving most of the work to what isn't seen.
Scare 2:
As the minecart reaches the end of Area A, which is now darkened following event 1, they are pulled further along the tracks towards Tunnel B. The tracks appear to be torn out and broken, but these are largely prosthetic parts of the track, with the true forward track being hidden to the eye of the rider by darkness, angle, colour, and distraction. As the viewer moves forward, the lights behind dim slightly and the cart light becomes brighter, increasing the viewers focus on the front, where they see a dark pit ahead of them. At this point, with the viewer looking ahead, the figure of a miner is moved onto the track behind them. When this is complete, the minecart light blows out with an audible pop as the lights remaining in Area A become a little lighter and an audible rattle plays once more, this time from close behind. This likely would bring the rider to turn around and see the sudden presence behind them. Following this, the cart immediately enters tunnel B quickly, and several events take place.
Overall: An event that utilises some startling, but primarily relies on directing the viewers attention and using the audio connection of the rattle, rather than jumping out. Nothing jumps out, the figure is still and only moving at a normal pace towards the cart, but it is unexpected. Event relies primarily on controlling and directing the audience attention.
Scare 2b
Following the first part of scare 2, the cart enters tunnel B. Tunnel B is designed to create the feeling of extensive and dramatic movement within a small area, by combination of several factors:
The exact event that will happen within Area B is yet to be decided, but it will be the most powerful, using elements of both previous scare events, and finally throwing the rider to the exit of the ride.
Note: Considering a few things I am considering altering the presence in the mines to be something more Lovecraft-inspired, rather than the skeletal things I was thinking of. Hopefully this will add some more originality; I'd imagine there'll be no shortage of skeletons and zombies, but I doubt many people will be including Yog-Sothhoth and the Great Old Ones. At this stage in planning, such is very much still possible.
They're deep pits into the guts of the Earth, with dark depths kept light only by poorly-supported lights extending in front of you, they're enclosed and claustrophobic, they're dark, they're cold, damp, there's death by crushing piles of earth held off your head by now-rotting wooden struts, there's jagged rock everywhere, the poor lighting causes shadows that seem to change as you pass them, the chugging rattle of creaking, aged machinery, stalictites that look like sharp, predatory teeth gnawing upon the path you're heading towards....
We're desensitised to most the usual horror spool. Zombies are now things to make comedy with (Sean of the Dead, Dead Rising), Vampires are now irritating teenage boys that sparkle in daylight and are in dire need of better dialogue, personalities, and plots, and skeletons are generally seen on the cover of celebrity magazines, sporting the newest Size -2 dress.
But on the news we see people being ferried out of collapsed mines, shaken and crying, blinded by the sun and mentally broken from being lost, alone, and trapped amidst cold, merciless rock and infinite darkness, waiting to starve. People get lost in mines. People die in mines. Mines are scary beyond any arm-flailing monster. A skeleton is six feet tall and even if you get caught by it, it'll just stab you or something.
But a mine, with proper application of horror, is a mile-square monster of earth, with teeth that hang from the cieling, grinding people up who have come to take from it the treasures it held. And you're already standing inside it's mouth. Add to this making the mine derelict, no longer used, shut down due to accidents, but something tore down the yellow tape, and there's a trail scratched in the floor, and the lights are flickering, still on the grid but dying of age, and they swing loosely on the breeze, the shadows extending and shrinking, like some kind of gullet pulsating around where you're standing and oh mercy get me out of here the walls are going to eat me.
I admit to being a big fan of horror, in all it's forms. Something bursting from the side of the room is startling, not horrifying. I was told when designing my track that it looked a bit too short. That's true. I haven't made it very long. If it was long, I'd be going at a decent pace. The track is simple and slow, and it dosen't wind or flip about. Horror comes in two speeds. Slow, and the heart pounding rush of stumbling for your life. My track has both, in what I believe to be the correct amounts.
Going back to horror, I believe that something mildly scary, that feels utterly believable, will cut a thousand times deeper than clearly fictional monstrosities. The works of H.P Lovecraft and Stephen King show this well; They create believable worlds and characters that are slowly sunk into the paranormal. Contrast this with the movie Van Helseing, where Hugh Jackman is regularly run-and-gunning with thirty vampires.
Of course, allowances must be made. The ride dosen't have the time to build up enough suspense and context to make something mostly insignificant horrifying, so I rely on other techniques, such as minimal actual monstrousness. The more something is seen, the more normal it becomes to see, the less it is paranormal, the less it is scary. So what I aim for in the flow, is to have the first scare event focused primarily on the fear of an unseen action taken by the presence in the mine, the second event based on a brief glimpse of the presence, followed by the aforementioned escape rush, and the final event being utterly overwhelmed by multiple sightings of the presence. At the moment the first two scare events are set in stone, but the third is up in the air.
________________________________________________________
Events
As brief descriptions:
Scare 1:
As the minecart slowly enters the first main room (Area A, coming from Tunnel A), the main light source is the flickering light from a minecart that has fallen from the tracks, lighting an area to the high left for the audience. As the light draws attention (possibly with some kind of event such as a small crumbling fall of rock in the area of the main light), a quick sound of breaking glass is heard from the direction of the abandoned cart (the audio must be clearly from the abandoned cart, nowhere else, possibly emphasised by a minor audio blackout a moment before the shattering) as the flickering lightspot on the wall is instantly extinguished (done by simply removing the light presence in 3dsMax and playing a sound in the editing at the same time).
Following will be the faint sound of footsteps moving away from the abandoned cart, and a faint rattling, with the area now significantly darkened.
Overall: A minor scare event designed to build suspense. In my hopes, an effective event created with only minor visual and audio interaction, leaving most of the work to what isn't seen.
Scare 2:
As the minecart reaches the end of Area A, which is now darkened following event 1, they are pulled further along the tracks towards Tunnel B. The tracks appear to be torn out and broken, but these are largely prosthetic parts of the track, with the true forward track being hidden to the eye of the rider by darkness, angle, colour, and distraction. As the viewer moves forward, the lights behind dim slightly and the cart light becomes brighter, increasing the viewers focus on the front, where they see a dark pit ahead of them. At this point, with the viewer looking ahead, the figure of a miner is moved onto the track behind them. When this is complete, the minecart light blows out with an audible pop as the lights remaining in Area A become a little lighter and an audible rattle plays once more, this time from close behind. This likely would bring the rider to turn around and see the sudden presence behind them. Following this, the cart immediately enters tunnel B quickly, and several events take place.
Overall: An event that utilises some startling, but primarily relies on directing the viewers attention and using the audio connection of the rattle, rather than jumping out. Nothing jumps out, the figure is still and only moving at a normal pace towards the cart, but it is unexpected. Event relies primarily on controlling and directing the audience attention.
Scare 2b
Following the first part of scare 2, the cart enters tunnel B. Tunnel B is designed to create the feeling of extensive and dramatic movement within a small area, by combination of several factors:
- Audio: The ride has a constant sound of bumping connections in the tracks, running at a pace concurrent to the carts speed, coming from a speaker within the cart. This will increase in tempo dramatically.
- Textile: A fan will be hidden within the walls, and will blow air directly towards the rider to simulate the feeling of wind when moving quickly. Not actually done in 3dsMax, but hopefully the effect will be clear.
- Instability: The cart will rattle slightly from side to side and front to back, as if becoming unstable from the speed.
- (Possible) Visual: A sheet of material designed to appear rock-like, surrounding Tunnel B will be blown by the fan and dimly lit, with the rapid flapping hopefully appearing similar to a rapid passing of the walls. Otherwise, simply use complete darkness and rely on other factors
The exact event that will happen within Area B is yet to be decided, but it will be the most powerful, using elements of both previous scare events, and finally throwing the rider to the exit of the ride.
Note: Considering a few things I am considering altering the presence in the mines to be something more Lovecraft-inspired, rather than the skeletal things I was thinking of. Hopefully this will add some more originality; I'd imagine there'll be no shortage of skeletons and zombies, but I doubt many people will be including Yog-Sothhoth and the Great Old Ones. At this stage in planning, such is very much still possible.
Thursday 20 January 2011
Wednesday 19 January 2011
Digital Me - Design Asthetic thoughts
More brainstorming.
Color Scheme / Design ideals
- Looking at various portfolios and such online as well as general design themes.
http://www.vilepickle.com/
http://www.artviper.net/web-design-portfolio/3d-design-portfolio.php
Requirements:
Clear
Lots of space for media
Look professional (but prefably humble, too)
Simple navigation.
Width ~980
Display on all web browsers
Use style sheets
Color Scheme / Design ideals
- Looking at various portfolios and such online as well as general design themes.
http://www.vilepickle.com/
http://www.artviper.net/web-design-portfolio/3d-design-portfolio.php
Requirements:
Clear
Lots of space for media
Look professional (but prefably humble, too)
Simple navigation.
Width ~980
Display on all web browsers
Use style sheets
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Digital Me - Initial Design Thoughts
Brainstorming ideas here. Don't mind me.
1/2/3 Columns -
1 column -
+ More space for content with galleries
+ Simpler layout, scroll up or down.
+ More easy to lead the eye of the audience.
+ Room for more design on sidebars, unlikely to squash site content.
- Harder to seperate information
- Mostly forces navigation bar to be across the top of the page
- Makes perhaps too much use of empty space.
2 column -
+ Allows content to be seperated into seperate parts, eg. Images on one side, notes and comments on image on other.
+ Can be used for a navigation sidebar
- Content can seem disconnected
- More compacted content
3 Column -
+ Lots of space for different content.
+ Space for both a navigation bar and extra content.
- Heavily compacted content
I personally think the single-column design would be favourable, considering that the sight will contain a lot of media. The other columns severely restrict how much space can be available for an image. and therefore will make displaying content more difficult.
1/2/3 Columns -
1 column -
+ More space for content with galleries
+ Simpler layout, scroll up or down.
+ More easy to lead the eye of the audience.
+ Room for more design on sidebars, unlikely to squash site content.
- Harder to seperate information
- Mostly forces navigation bar to be across the top of the page
- Makes perhaps too much use of empty space.
2 column -
+ Allows content to be seperated into seperate parts, eg. Images on one side, notes and comments on image on other.
+ Can be used for a navigation sidebar
- Content can seem disconnected
- More compacted content
3 Column -
+ Lots of space for different content.
+ Space for both a navigation bar and extra content.
- Heavily compacted content
I personally think the single-column design would be favourable, considering that the sight will contain a lot of media. The other columns severely restrict how much space can be available for an image. and therefore will make displaying content more difficult.
Sunday 16 January 2011
eXistenZ-ial thReshOldZ
Having missed the first session, I've found the work assignment on NOW and the film on YouTube. I watched through it, and noted down some of the most glaring flaws, amongst the threshold concepts it attempts (and sometimes fails) to pass through.
Based on the ending, I begin to assume that eXistenZ is either well-written, or badly-written, and if the question of that is raised, it is almost always the second option. A film that for 90% of the playtime seems to be badly-written, illogical, and unbelievable that in the final 10 minutes sort-of explains all these flaws and inconsistencies by a plot twist, is still a movie that for the vast majority was bad.
If I wanted to try and give it credit, I'd suggest that maybe the point the writers were attempting to make was that, by noticing all the inconsistencies and difficulty in crossing thresholds, the viewer might roughly guess at what the ending would reveal, thus freeing themselves from 'eXistenZ' in the way the characters couldn't.
An idea with potential, but the execution of it just came across as a film that appeared illogical and inconsistent. If the objective was to write a film that broke the immersion of the viewer to make them believe it was in fact unreal, it succeeds at the first part, but for me, fails at the second and just makes it seem like a badly-written, illogical, and immersion-breaking film. Introducing themes of doubt and questioning earlier on would have made it much more possible for the viewer to take the mental jump to the conclusion that this might not be reality.
I made a small list of things I found it possible to believe and those I didn't, or had extreme difficulty.
Believable Thresholds
As an audience I was left with raised eyebrows and the feeling that any concern I had for the characters or their fates had died along with them (several times).Too many leaps of blind belief are expected to be made without explanation or the focus they needed to be significant parts of the story.
The audience needed to be kept in closer touch with the plot to not be sent reeling off into confusion, as I felt the script was written with the ending already in-mind, but not making any sense until it. If the script was written without the assumed knowledge, the concept could have really pulled through and made sense. As it was, it was just not believable.
Based on the ending, I begin to assume that eXistenZ is either well-written, or badly-written, and if the question of that is raised, it is almost always the second option. A film that for 90% of the playtime seems to be badly-written, illogical, and unbelievable that in the final 10 minutes sort-of explains all these flaws and inconsistencies by a plot twist, is still a movie that for the vast majority was bad.
If I wanted to try and give it credit, I'd suggest that maybe the point the writers were attempting to make was that, by noticing all the inconsistencies and difficulty in crossing thresholds, the viewer might roughly guess at what the ending would reveal, thus freeing themselves from 'eXistenZ' in the way the characters couldn't.
An idea with potential, but the execution of it just came across as a film that appeared illogical and inconsistent. If the objective was to write a film that broke the immersion of the viewer to make them believe it was in fact unreal, it succeeds at the first part, but for me, fails at the second and just makes it seem like a badly-written, illogical, and immersion-breaking film. Introducing themes of doubt and questioning earlier on would have made it much more possible for the viewer to take the mental jump to the conclusion that this might not be reality.
I made a small list of things I found it possible to believe and those I didn't, or had extreme difficulty.
Believable Thresholds
- Virtual-reality through blobbish things - This is alright. The Matrix did something similar but not quite so obscure.
- Gristle-guns - I struggled, but I made it through. If lizards can be genetically bred to be spinal-column-interfacing control pads, then heck, they might as well be able to be guns, too.
- Mutant lizards in the first place - Why have they mutated? It's never really explained, but it's the future, so I substitute any of the various reasons for mutation, deciding to settle with it being an accidental by-product of the gene-alteration being done on lizards. Makes enough sense. I just wish less time had been spent watching people fondle them or turning them inside out.
- Everything within the explained video-game world. It was a video game, that was our explanation. However, since this was toted in the introduction session as being incredibly advanced, and is mentioned as being 'five years of passionate work' with millions of dollars in it, I'm slightly confused as to how all the non-player characters seem to be mindless automatons that need certain phrases saying to them to progress the 'games' plot. Considering even Fallout 1, released two years before this movie, allowed the player to actually type questions to certain NPC's and have them react based on keywords in the text, it seems odd that in the future, we've actually regressed to single-option choices in terms of interaction. So believability of the gameworld passes, but the apparent laziness in the design of conversations and structure has more trouble.
- The Cult of Reality : Okay, but I wish they'd had more explanation. As one of the most interesting parts of this film, they didn't seem to have much representation beyond using fish-bone-guns and hating the games. Why? Who leads them? What caused the hate? This is interesting but ignored.
- Alegra's Mary Sue - A Social Recluse who somehow has perfect hair, common sense, and no problems with human interaction unless it's within the games that she apparently spends her entire life on. She also, apparently, is sexually fustrated or a deviant, based on the innuendo she constantly spouts.
- 'Copies? Oh, bugger....' - It is proven in the story that making a copy of a game is an easy enough task, based on what the thick-accented balding man says about copying the entire unit's memory core in his effort to steal the game. If this is the case, why is there not a hundred copies in the original building, five in a safe, and one in another safe in another state? They have the funding to do so, clearly, and it would even be believable enough to say that the other copies were destroyed or corrupt rather than just nonexistent, especially considering how fragile the content apparently was.
- Where did the money go? - Apparently Alegra is the only producer of the game which is worth tens of millions. By extension, she is worth tens of millions to the company. Why, then, is she freely available in a room with a total of one unarmed security guard who's on loan from their PR department, to the point where a character was able to draw a gun, stand, walk slowly to the front of the room, raise it, proclaim her a demoness and his quite strong opinion that she'd be better off dead, fire a shot into her, pause, and finally shoot another man before he's taken down?
- Bio-ports don't get infected! I mean mouths don't! - This entire explanation bridges over a massive leap in logic and realism with weak, damp paper. Mostly it marked the point where I stopped taking the film seriously. Since every other entrance to the body has a clear defensive mechanism such as mucus, saliva, tears, stomach acid, etc, the explanation made no sense. If this had been a turning point at which the security guard openly questions the logic of this, but is again shrugged off by Alegra, the audience would have suddenly had reason to question the reality of this world, and hang onto the plot more tightly. Furthermore, how can a bioport be 'removed'? Short of some way of healing the thing up instantly, a hole in the spinal column can't just be removed. Some explanation here might have helped.
As an audience I was left with raised eyebrows and the feeling that any concern I had for the characters or their fates had died along with them (several times).Too many leaps of blind belief are expected to be made without explanation or the focus they needed to be significant parts of the story.
The audience needed to be kept in closer touch with the plot to not be sent reeling off into confusion, as I felt the script was written with the ending already in-mind, but not making any sense until it. If the script was written without the assumed knowledge, the concept could have really pulled through and made sense. As it was, it was just not believable.
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