Advice

The Personal Is Always Important

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So Rob showed me RWBY, a CGI animated series that fuses video game and anime styles. It’s by Monty Oum, and thus has quite a pedigree. I found it enjoyable if needing fleshing out, and did enjoy the use of game stylings a great deal – there’s a very definite Suda 51 vibe that appeals to me.

But what was weird in watching this fan production by a fan favorite is that I found my reactions were odd. How was I to judge it considering its pedigree? Considering it’s audience-friendly involvements and previews? Considering it wasn’t from a big company?

It reminded me when I saw Pacific Rim, which is a giant love letter to mecha films (both military and super). I mean I knew I liked the idea of it, I like what I saw, but my reactions felt strange. On one level it was totally targeted at . . . well me. On the other I wanted to judge it as I would any film.

Then I thought about Rogue Legacy, which I noted “spoke” my language. It was also a personal experience, and one that made judging the game different because that was the very goal.

I was not judging these things based on artistic merits entirely. I was evaluating them in a series of contexts like who did them, focus on the audience. It was very personal. Oh sure there were merits I could note, but in many cases they came down to merits that existed in a personal/social context.

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The Three Sides Of “Making Something” and “Making It”

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Earlier this week, Serdar explored the difference between Making Something and Making It. The two aren’t necessarily connected, and an attempt to Make It can mean doing things that go against your talent, skills, ethics, and good taste. Doing something well and getting recognized aren’t always the same thing, but seeking the recognition can distort your efforts further.

In fact, I wanted to take up the torch (and perhaps the pitchfork) and cover something related to this that faces us in our careers and our lives: Making It and Making Something are not just different, they also represent different skillets – Three of them.

Yes. Three. Let me go on.

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Right On Script, Everything’s Going To Be Terrible

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For awhile, we here at MuseHack have been discussing the checklist issue of films, how films all seem alike and follow the same beats. We’re concerned what that means for Hollywood, writers, and media. We’re also feeling just a wee bit justified now that such concerns are mainstream and in fact may be traced back to one book and writing concept, Save the Cat.

(Serdar has more to say on “Save the Cat” in his own erudite way.)

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