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Happy 30th Birthday ‘War Games’

Posted on June 3, 2013

WarGames-Sheedy-Broderick

Sorry, it can’t be Star Wars 24/7 around here. Instead, let’s turn our attention to another movie from my youth I thoroughly enjoyed then and still do today.

That movie? Director John Badham’s 1983 cold war computer geek classic War Games.

In War Games, a young Matthew Broderick plays computer hacker David Lightman who tries to impress a girl named Jennifer (the equally young and cute Ally Sheedy) by hacking into the school’s computer to change her grade. He does it, she’s impressed and all is well. However, things then take a turn for the worse when David inadvertently hacks into a powerful NORAD defense computer known as the WOPR and almost starts World War III.

The feds, as you can imagine, are not amused and go looking for David. As they close in, and with the clock counting down until the start of an actual war by the computer that thinks its not a game, David goes on the run to find the only man who he hopes can make things right: the thought-dead inventor of the WOPR Professor Falken.

WarGames-computer

Sure, the movie’s technology is dated and yes, so are the hairstyles. But after 30 years War Games still holds up as a serviceable cold war thriller and provides some good insight into the mentality of an eighties teenager/hacker.

As a former eighties teenager/hacker myself, I can relate. Although, not to the almost starting World War III thing. That wasn’t me. I was out of town that day.

Check out the trailer for War Games below. If you haven’t seen it in awhile, or ever, it’s definitely worth a look.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbqMuvnx5MU?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

‘Walking Dead’ Season 3 Visual Effects

Posted on April 9, 2013

Walking Dead

Continuing our trend of highlighting visual effects work, here’s a reel from Stargate Studios showcasing their work on The Walking Dead season 3. In addition to all the great zombie kills, pay particular attention to what they did with the prison. And they did it all with Adobe After Effects. Huh.

Great stuff.

[vimeo 63430867 w=525 h=295]

Really Living With Less

Posted on March 12, 2013

living-with-less

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about reducing the amount of stuff I have. I’m guilty of accumulating a lot of things over the years, as many people are, but I’ve realized I can live with far less.

That doesn’t mean giving up everything, but it does mean trying to reduce what I have to the more like just the essentials. A good rule I’ve heard, and this may not be new to you, is that if you haven’t seen, used or played with something in a year, you should probably get rid of it.

I like the idea and am starting to consider many of the things I have in those terms. Of course, some people have really taken that idea to a whole new level.

I don’t know if I could live like this, but the concept and execution are still quite impressive.

[vimeo 55389782 w=525 h=295]

‘Before VFX’ Is Fascinating

Posted on March 7, 2013

dark-knight-arron-eckhart-before-vfx

A couple days ago I posted a video showing some before and after visual effects shots from various TV shows and movies. Many people were surprised at the number of effects being used and also that, in many cases, effects were used at all.

Yeah, Hollywood likes to use visual effects to do almost anything these days. They do it a lot. To help illustrate just how much, a new website has sprung up showcasing what the author calls “The Canvas” of visual effects.

It’s a fascinating look at the “Before” shots in lots of famous movies including The Dark Knight, Twilight, Captain America, Kick-Ass, Avatar and a whole lot more. Plus, it gives you a greater appreciation for what the actors have to go through. Playing a big, emotional scene with a bunch of dots stuck to your face can’t be that easy.

Here’s a few of the “Before” pictures. Head over to the Before VFX website for a whole lot more.

pirates-curse-black-pearl-1

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl”

kick-ass-1

“Kick-Ass”

cage-ghost-rider-spirit-of-vengeance-1

“Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”

The Green Screen Is Your Friend

Posted on February 27, 2013

If you watch a lot of movies and TV as I do (and occasionally even make them), you’ve probably sometimes wondered “How did they do that”? Well, as you’ll see from this video, they “did that” with a lot of green screen and visual effects.

Visual effects is a huge part of Hollywood and the men and women who work in that industry should be recognized and rewarded as such. This is only a small fraction of the work they do each and every day.

Enjoy and try not to be too shocked.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnozSXyF4k?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

Writing On the iPad with Final Draft and More

Posted on December 2, 2012

Even though I’ve had an iPad since day one, I haven’t really embraced it as a pure writing tool and it hasn’t completely replaced my laptop for that purpose as I hoped it would. I have used it for some writing, and various other tasks like watching videos or perusing Flipboard, but I still found myself turning to the laptop for any work for The Flickcast or for this site, especially when editing pictures or embedding video were involved.

However, I recently discovered that the iPad is particularly great for writing at least one thing: scripts. I discovered this fact when I finally got around to using the Final Draft Writer app for the iPad that I’ve had installed for some time but basically ignored in favor of its Mac OSX-based brother.

In short, the Final Draft Writer app is quite intuitive and works extremely well. And, much to my surprise, it’s very usable without an external keyboard. I just type on the screen. That’s a big plus when it means you only need to carry an iPad in your bag which, even compared to my 13″ MacBook Air, is still lighter and much more portable.

Plus, the Final Draft Writer app integrates with Dropbox so I can work on scripts and then save them to the Cloud for later editing on the MacBook Air, desktop or even the iPhone (if I’m really bored in line at the DMV or something). Sorry, no Google Drive integration yet, just Dropbox. And yes, to take advantage of this feature you do need an iPad with a data connection (I have the Verizon 4G LTE version) or, of course, available WiFi.

Still, the combination of the Final Draft Writer app, Dropbox integration, the retina display and long battery life of the iPad and no need for an external keyboard, makes this an excellent alternative to a laptop or desktop. In fact, I’m going to try using the iPad exclusively to work on my various scripts for the next couple weeks and see if I can leave the desktop and laptop behind.

I’ll keep you posted.

And before you ask, no, I’m not writing a script called “The Swans of Brooklyn.” That’s a demo script that comes with the software.

Apparently, People Still Make Typewriters

Posted on October 11, 2012

As a writer and a geek/nerd, this makes me happy. It’s only $200.00 and I think I might just pick one up.

Of course, I also know that Brother still makes electric typewriters, so there’s that. Still, there’s something about an old fashioned manual that’s pretty cool. Of course, I still often write by hand with a pencil in a notebook, so what do I know?

Maybe typewriters aren’t the way to go? Maybe these computers are the wave of the future?

Maybe. Even so, I think I still might go ahead and grab a new manual typewriter, just in case.

Verizon Sells Your Browsing Data, Demographic Info and More

Posted on October 10, 2012

I posted about this on Twitter, but think it’s important enough to put it here too. If you use an iPhone on Verizon (and probably other phones too) the company will collect and sell your browsing data, and more, unless you opt out.

I don’t think that’s cool.

If you don’t either, here’s how to make sure they don’t do it. It’s actually pretty simple, really. You navigate to this url: www.vzw.com/myprivacy

Once there, you pretty much want to select everything that says “Don’t share” in the three categories of information. Once done, you should be good . . . at least for now. Who knows what other schemes are out there.