YOUTUBE CINEMATIC LOG #3

Quick: what’s the first thing that tells you the identity of a given company? C’mon, tell me what it is. Don’t be shy. Any day now. I’m waiting.

OK, maybe I should give my inhumble perspective as to what makes me remember a company: it’s the products they sell. If I like a product, I tell people all about it. Depending on what the product is, I even let others try it out. Products that fail to meet the expectations of the many, however, get their reputation spread further than peanut butter in a lake, courtesy of me.

It’s impossible to deny that another kind of unique creation gives consumers the ability to tell which company makes which product. This creation would take the form of the logo. Because they are meant, by nature, to distinguish one company’s wares from another, logos take on shapes that reflect the company agenda, and say a lot about what kind of products a company intends to sell. They are, truth be told, characters of a sort.

But though these logos help to make each company line unique, a common question lends itself to discussion: what would happen if these logos were characters slash entities in a crafted fictional world? Artists have wondered this for decades, but until the advent of the internet, we never received an answer.

Then someone did…in France. Thankfully, they put it on Youtube, so now, many can have a laugh at the mania and commercialism of LOGORAMA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUd_IdUOz9U

This animated short gave me quite a laugh in how the logos & mascots weave into the world; from the MGM lion serving as a main zoo attraction, to the Big Boy acting like nothing more than a spoiled brat, the Michelin Marshmallow guy keeping the peace as police officers, and Ronald McDonald as a two-cent criminal. There’s even a great gag involving the Jolly Green Giant & a tilting low angle shot, which serve to create a hilarious joke I’m surprised no-one else thought up before this.

Many medium close ups serve to highlight the character’s reactions to a certain event that begins occuring at the end of the short, creating a sense of care & sympathy (and maybe empathy) from the audience. I found myself especially frightened by an extreme closeup of Ronald McDonald’s face when his story arc takes a turn for the better as he finds some leverage for his situation. Several extreme longshots accompany the many locations, such as the bushy zoo, sprawling city & desert-like countryside, highlighting their many unique features and creating the feeling of an authentic world. One of the best shots in the short involves an extreme longshot that continually zooms not in, but out.

There’s no way anyone could watch this and say no care went into making it. Because that would be a lie. And lying about someone’s identity, especially that of a company, is bad.

YOUTUBE CINEMATIC LOG #2

Art evolves. First, humans had the simple 2D image. Then, we had a sequence of moving 2D images. After that, we invented stuff like the camera and editing programs to create interesting worlds that we could be immersed in, within the second dimension.

Things got real after that, when people got the great idea to introduce the third dimension as an extra source of room for entertainment. Of course, limitations existed. Ridiculous glasses of scientifically explainable, yet physically unfashionable structure were needed to decipher the third dimension within entertainment outlets. It’s a surprise that not much was said of 3D contact lenses.

Which we didn’t need, funny enough. For in summer 2010, in Los Angelos, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, in the centre room, on front stage, six feet from Nintendo of America’s president Reggie Fils-Aimes (Fees-uh-mes), a giant screen introduced a device that could show 3D without any help from extraneous glassware.

That device? The Nintendo 3DS.

This trailer? A work of exciting horror.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83GoGHBkdyg 

It all begins like all good stories do- with the President of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, playing video games in an abyss of white. He looks on down from a high angle, proud of the power that he possesses, not just as the highest member of the biggest video game company in the world, but also as the player.

Then Mario emerges from the 3DS, like a panda surfacing from water.

Satoru is amused at first, the medium shot providing him much comfort, but then the fat, yet tiny, plumber pops a mustache upon him and dives back in to the 3DS to avoid losing his lives. With his terrifying plumber powers, Mario then telepathically controls the machine and drags Satoru in with him, leaving behind a high angle medium shot of the 3DS looking innocent of its crime.

Cue the master of creating video games, Shigeru Miyamoto, entering the scene, a medium close-up examining his suspicion of the room or dimension, whatever it is. He finds the 3DS in the chair, and during a series of shots that settle on a close-up, a dog emerges and jumps upon its prey, bringing Miyamoto great joy and happiness.

And then the dog brings Shigeru terror as it drags him with it back into the world of the 3DS.

This is followed up with, in general, close-ups and longshots of the 3DS vomiting out items from various Nintendo games. An extreme longshot ensues when, just after retaining an immobile position, Reggie Fils-Aimes enters the room, optimistic yet confused as to how these props came into the room without a delivery truck. As if to answer, the 3DS belches some coins and a Mushroom.

Reggie picks up the 3DS, and he laughs as his Japanese coworkers run for their real life from the furious claws of King Bowser Morton Koopa in a backwards-trucking longshot. This burns him to three degrees when the King of Monstrous Turtles emerges from the 3DS in a shot transtioning from a medium shot to a high-ish angled close-up, having presumably eaten Miyamoto and Satoru.

This commercial was, and still is, phenominal. At lot of Nintendo stuff is referenced. All the actors react to the CGI effects and other SFX believably, which is amazing considering their main profession isn’t acting. Of course, I can’t forget, how the commercial makes light of the 3DS’ immersion in such a fun, yet literal way. This commercial convinced me I would get sucked in to the experience.

YOUTUBE CINEMATIC LOG #1

Sometimes, we all need a laugh to distract us from the surrounding misery. Other times, we get bogged down with obstruction and wish things were simple. Therefore, when obstruction appears and misery swipes at us maliciously, we need the ultimate solution: a simple laugh. Thankfully, this video can provide it.

It all begins with a medium longshot from behind the subject in question. It stares, beyond, wondering, thinking, scheming. Then, almost suddenly, it turns around, the camera zooming in for a close-up of the true insanity that it bears upon its face. That is the very definition of a dramatic chipmunk.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=a1Y73sPHKxw 

This combination of camera movement, as well as the species of the subject in question, combines to make a terrifying demon force. The music then transforms terror into laughter, making this nightmare feel over-the-top, therefore not able to be taken seriously, and therefore relaxing. The laughs continue to pile up when the beasty stares at the camera for a prolonged amount of time, making the viewer wonder what's going on. All this, in 5 seconds.