The November Project

You may have noticed that the blog has been rather quiet these last few weeks, well I've decided to take a bit of a different tack with it for the month of November which has taken some planning, and it's something I wanted to quickly detail here.
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Now every November NaNoWriMo happens, that's National Novel Writing Month to you or me, a challenge for people to buckle down and get a 50,000 word book written during November. Now this isn't what I'm doing, but hearing and reading about it has inspired me to co-opt its idea for my own purposes. Instead of writing a book, I will use the basic premise to use the month of November to write a draft of a script I've been looking to put together for a while. It's been stuck in the endless planning stages for too long and I think this sort of challenge is what I need to get through this. As such I will be focused on this task for November, my plan is to write 4 pages a day, to equal a full 120 (or thereabouts) by the end of the month.
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Now these things are easy to say and much harder to actually pull off, so I will try and focus my efforts by updating my progress on a daily basis here on the blog, so I have some accountability and record of how I am getting on as the month goes on. As such there won't be any normal film reviews during this time, but I will look to bring them back for December.
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So until Tuesday I will continue to plan as best I can, and then see how I get on. It's the first time I've done a challenge like this but I'm looking forward to pushing myself and to see what I can achieve in this time.

Becoming the Storyteller

The below is an article written for D-Pad Magazine giving some thoughts on storytelling techniques in gaming, find the original here.

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If there has been one thing that has become most notable in the times since videogames emerged into the hallowed third dimension, it has been the focus on story and storytelling. There once was a time when all the story you needed was simply to know that a certain princess was in another castle, or that you were charged with protecting Earth from the alien invaders which are conveniently falling from the sky. Not that the idea of telling a story through gaming is entirely a new convention, but with the advent of full motion video, cut-scenes and cinematic devices it has become an expected and prevalent part of all big budget high profile releases. With these developments have come advances in the way games play out; now tightly-scripted linear games are common, with an emphasis on telling a thrilling, singular story through your actions. Games such as Half Life and the early Call of Duty games are heavily cited as implementing a lot of these features successfully, using the environment, and immersive nature of the first-person viewpoint to pull you through a compelling and thrilling adventure.
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Whilst gaming is a highly immersive and interactive medium, this can often work against it from a storytelling point of view, the autonomy you have over your character becomes the most difficult thing to guard against, and so restrictions have to be put in place to maintain the illusion; NPCs will be invulnerable, or your firing capacity will become restricted when not in combat, only specific doors at specific times will open, bosses and enemies often have to be killed in specific ways and you have no real say in the way events will play out. You are a pawn in a virtual movie, your actions often very limited and it can be very difficult to try and tell a dramatically interesting story, when the only real actions your character can perform are navigating an environment and firing weapons, perhaps with a little puzzle solving in the middle. Any actual character development has to be left for the cut-scenes over which you have little to no control and there is often a strange cognitive dissonance between the two.

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Take Uncharted 2 as an example; in the opening sequence of the game Nathan Drake finds himself incapacitated thanks to a gunshot wound to the stomach. He stumbles along, dragging his feel clearly in a bad way and it limits your abilities as you play in this regard. However through the course of the game you suffer hundreds, if not thousands of gunshots to no ill-effect. The re-charging health system lets him shrug such injuries off, until the cut-scenes of course. Similarly whilst the game spins an entertaining tale with well rounded characters, there is no escaping the fact that in through the course of actually playing the game you, as Drake, are responsible for killing upwards of 1,000 enemies, a fact that is completely counter to the character and realism elsewhere forged through the story. It’s perhaps a natural limitation of gaming’s current desire to ape the cinematic form of storytelling, but ultimately games aren’t films and I sometimes feel that in trying to be they take away much of what makes gaming so unique and interesting an art form as it is in its own right. The very freedom you have as a player, that so many stories seek to limit, can itself be a source of interesting and unique stories, not in the grand sense of a novel or a film, but a much more personal experience, arising from the combinations of player choice and gaming systems.

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My recent, possibly unhealthy, obsession with From Software’s brilliant but brutal Dark Souls, is what brought this topic to mind. The game is extremely story-lite in the traditional sense, at the outset you are given very vague instructions and let loose in a world where pretty much everything wants to kill you (and will probably do so, many times). But what makes Dark Souls so compelling, is the way that you create your own story simply through the act of playing. My adventure through Lordran will be different to anyone else’s, the scarcity of checkpoints and fiendish design make exploring each new location a nerve-wracking and absorbing endeavour. You can’t help but recount the time that you nervously ventured in a new area, were immediately ambushed but somehow survived. Undeterred you crept on taking out enemies until, with the smallest sliver of health left, you reach the safety of the local bonfire, who’s outline you glimpsed from across the level. It is a tale so vivid and unique because you made it for yourself. Maybe someone else took a different route across the map? Maybe it took then a few attempts to reach the same place, by which time they had memorised the layout? Maybe they found a shortcut, or played the whole game and never even found that bonfire. There are no checkpoint markers, no on-screen objectives and so everything you accomplish feels incredibly rewarding. It’s a mini-adventure that you made yourself, the lack of knowledge and information that the game gives you leaves the act of discovery on you, the player, and it results in an experience that feels truly special.

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Even the way you build your character, in this and other more open world RPGs such as Fallout 3 and the upcoming Skyrim allow for these same storytelling opportunities. Some of the best moments of Fallout for me were not the pre-scripted quests or storylines, but the random encounters experienced out in the wilderness. The sense of character and place really made me feel like I was building something through my actions in the world, the people I got on with and the people I opposed. Even within the quests the differing options allowed you to act as you want, and construct your own stories as you go. Such melding of game systems and design is not as straightforward or easy as building a game around a fixed narrative, and both certainly have their place, but the experience you have of blazing your own trail, and taking what you want from a game is one not possible anywhere else. Ultimately these mini stories and anecdotes about your exploits in a world are what tend to stick in the memory, because you are acutely aware that you aren’t just experiencing the same scripted sequence as everyone who bought the same game.

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There are other games experimenting with different storytelling techniques, Heavy Rain for instance, which had a scripted linear plot, but with many divergent points based upon player decisions and performance, which seamlessly moulded into an experience that felt complete but also player driven. One of the best things about the game was not only how wrapped up in the story I got, but the discussions afterwards with others who had such a variety of different experiences. Characters that died in one game lived on in others, whole events and scenes either played out differently or didn’t happen at all. It was a brilliant gamble, and one that I hope more games take in the future.

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Gaming has the potential to be so much more than a cut-scene delivery system, the interactivity with the players gives an immediate investment that other media can’t replicate, all it needs is developers brave enough to do things differently. With the advances in AI and open worlds it isn’t hard to envisage a time when games adapt to your behaviour and performance, truly tailoring an experience that is truly unique and meaningful for each and every player. As it is we are so often the passive participant in other people’s adventures, but more and more I look forward to the day we become our own storytellers, and forge our own paths through these virtual worlds.

Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

Since Independence Day successfully brought back the large scale alien invasion concept, back in the mid 90's it has been a well from which many films have drawn. Battle: Los Angeles (or Battle: LA) brings its own twist to the tale, mixing the epic scope of previous blockbusters, with the gritty war-movie aesthetic usually reserved for much smaller scale endeavours. Unfortunately it also mixing in just about every military cliché in the book, along with some extremely forgettable characters (and this includes the aliens) resulting in a film that reigns some impressive images and sounds down but achieves very little.
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Aaron Eckhart stars as Sgt. Michael Nantz, a man on the cusp of retirement from the Marines who is recalled to fight to reclaim the city of Los Angeles following an alien invasion. Not much detail is given, deliberately, as to the exact nature of the aliens or their attack, we are thrust into the action along with the platoon, who are initially sent to rescue to some survivors holed out in a nearby gas station. After things don't quite go to plan the troop find themselves teamed up with the remnants of the resistance and set out to get to safety. There is rarely a beat or story point in the film that doesn't feel overly familiar, from Eckhart's reluctant hero to Michelle Rodriguez as, you guessed it, a tough no-nonsense soldier (not to mention last surviving member of her platoon). This in itself isn't necessarily a deal-breaker, but the film never carves out any characters that resonate which renders the stakes in many of the protracted action scenes non-existent. The use of the shaky cam, gritty visual style doesn't really help the film either, it does lend a certain immediacy and intensity (and props must be given to the excellent sound design) but when you end up with a series of gun battles in the streets and in building with enemies that are terribly designed (they look like humans wearing odd helmets) you may as well be making an actual war film. There is very little that the alien angle of the film adds, aside from a few pieces of tech and a set-piece surrounding an antenna at the end of the film.
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The alien design is a puzzle, even up close they are forgettable, indistinct humanoid shapes, let alone in the heat of battle. They are also remarkably inconsistent, early on it takes multiple rounds and marines to take one of these aliens down, the specimen is then examined for potential weak spots, a brief note is made about aiming to one side of their chest, but isn't brought up again, and yet as the film requires it the marines wind up mowing down the aliens at ease by the film's conclusion. It's nonsensical and again speaks to a lack of detail, and originality in the whole endeavour.
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That's not to say there is nothing good here, technically the film is impressive with neatly integrated effects and a couple of nice sequences and performances, but the whole feels so unsatisfying and familiar that it accounts for very little, it's not terrible or even bad, it's just bland and unmemorable. There was potential for an Independence Day / Black Hawk Down crossover, but whatever that could have been, Battle: Los Angeles is not it.

Frozen (2010)

Adam Green followed up his 2006 horror film Hatchet, with this small scale affair, based around a simple premise and with just 3 characters. The setup concerns a pair of best friends, Joe and Dan, played by Shawn Ashmore and Kevin Zegers and Dan's girlfriend Parker (Emma Bell). After spending the day at a local ski resort they take a late in the day lift out to the peak for one last run. From here a misunderstanding leaves them stranded, the staff gone home for the week and the power shut off, all the while their lift hangs 30+ feet over the snow miles from safety. The rest of the film simply deals with this situation, and how these characters react, prompting an effective case of 'what would you do' in the viewer. Green is careful early on to not only introduce the character dynamics, but also emphasise the realism of the situation. The logical leaps aren't that great for you see such a situation occurring and in this respect the film is effective, sidestepping many of the conveniences horror films often have to bypass in order to generate tension and scares.
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Here the tension comes from the rock and hard place choices these characters have to make, there is no obvious way out, the fractious nature of the friendships, tensions between best friend and girlfriend are nicely observed and the cast does generally good work, Shawn Ashmore in particular. The characters they have are recognisable but not especially memorable, perhaps by design. It soon becomes clear that the lift will be focus of the film, and Green does a generally good job of stretching out the film by incorporating various obstacles and problems to overcome as the film progresses. It is difficult to hold the audience's interest with such a limited scope and the film does suffer from this, it doesn't help that a moment about half way through that is clearly meant to be shocking winds up being almost comical through the over the top way it is put together. The film also relies on contrivances such as a local pack of wolves that makes an appearance to circle below the lift, filling in for the absence of any kind of real antagonist (aside from the weather). 
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With such a slender premise the film isn't able to really sustain the interest that it might have if it had been slightly more ambitious. Again I admire the effort to put together a claustrophobic character study more than a typical horror film, but I don't feel that on the whole these characters are strong enough, nor the premise effective enough to really work as well as intended.
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The film though is relatively short, and does make good use of it's options. The depictions of the characters as they suffer through the cold feel authentic and suitably horrific but the lack of either a clear goal or plan (other than 'escape') or time constraint make some of the middle sections drag. Overall Frozen is an interesting experiment in minimalism, it uses it's premise well and features some good performances but ultimately feels hampered by it's own small-scale ideals.

Green Hornet (2011)

I have been a fan of Michel Gondry since his video directing days, and for the most part have enjoyed his transition to feature director, Eternal Sunshine being one of my favourite films, but there have also been glimpses of his oddball sensibility and eye for the clever and absurd even in the films that didn't fully work. Green Hornet is the first really commercial project he has helmed, working with writers Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg (or Superbad and Pineapple Express fame) and it similarly their first foray into the world of big budget, more traditional blockbuster territory. The result is a film that surprised me, I didn't have great expectations despite the pedigree, in fact everything I had seen about the film hadn't impressed me, but the final product is a distinctive, fun and unusual comic book film. It has some big problems, but also does some things very well and marries the sensibilities of its creators well with the material.
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I was unfamiliar with Green Hornet prior to seeing the film, as it is it concerns Britt Reid (Seth Rogan), wealthy heir to a successful media empire but well renowned layabout with little in the way of business acumen or affection for his cold and somewhat distant father. Following his fathers death he starts to bond with Kato, one of his fathers assistants, together they seek to vandalise a statue of Reid's father, but during the operation they inadvertently stop a robbery. Sensing something they form a partnership, with the aim of pretending to be new players in the local gang wars, only to be secretly working to help people. It's a little convoluted but I get the idea to flip the usual. good guy with a secret identity on its head and have the good guys pretend to be bad, but the film never focuses too much on how this is accomplished, or to what aim it is put. Their main adversary through the film is insecure crime lord Chudnofsky, played by Christoph Waltz. It is here that the film stumbles somewhat as well, his character is supposed to be strange but dangerous, constantly worrying about what others think of him, but Waltz seems to almost be in a different film to everyone else. It's not really his fault, the character just never quite gels  and even with his neat double barrelled pistol he doesn't stand out as a memorable or worthy villain to the piece. Similarly Cameron Diaz plays Lenore Case, a wannabe journalist that Reid hires as his assistant. The film starts to build something of a relationship between the two but her character isn't given much to do other than prompt Reid and Kato with ideas of what criminal activities to be seen performing next.
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So what did I like? Well my issues mainly lie around everything outside of Reid and Kato, when the film focuses on them, and puts together details of how their partnership forms and progresses it is significantly more entertaining and fun than at any other time. Rogan and Jay Chou have great chemistry, despite (or even because of) Chou's difficulty with English it lets his performance be so much more physical and paring him with Rogan in typical motor-mouth mode was a master stroke. What is also unusual about Green Hornet is that the Hornet himself (Rogan) is by far the weak link in the partnership. He is the front man, but Kato is the real superhero, Reid may bankroll the operation but Kato builds the tech and has the martial arts skills. The visualisation of which (utilising Kato-vision) is one of Gondry's neatest visual tricks in the film, as the pair fight Kato is able to identify and isolate threats and predict their movements. It seems goofy but works really like any other superpower and makes the fights both clever and original.
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The film is a sort of strange mix of blockbuster and comedy and can be very funny, but with strong likeable lead performances and with Gondry's distinctive eye giving it all a polished, but distinctive voice and vision it very much feels like its own beast. I'm not clamouring for more Green Hornet adventures, but I wouldn't be adverse to it either, in the swarm of comic book films that are enveloping our culture at the moment Green Hornet certainly stands as the odd one out, but shouldn't be automatically overlooked. There's a low-fi charm and spring in its step that I didn't expect and that I, despite everything in the film that didn't quite work, still enjoyed.

Drive (2011)

Like it's enigmatic central character Drive is a cool, calculating proposition, carefully measured and capable of both unexpected sweetness, and shocking violence. Nicholas Windig Refn's first Hollywood film is stylistically bold, and signifies him as one of the most exciting talents in an industry where truly individual voices are sometimes hard to find.
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Ryan Gosling stars as the nameless Driver of the title, a part time movie stunt driver and mechanic, who moonlights as a getaway driver, offering his services for a five minute window, to aspiring criminals. Mysterious and tight lipped he marks an immediately iconic character, Gosling (one of the best actors currently working) finding untapped layers of cool and stillness as he begins to bond with his attractive neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son, who are struggling with Irene's husband being in jail. Through largely wordless scenes the pair form a real attachment, Mulligan brings real depth to a character who could be blank on the page, finding depths of loneliness and vulnerability that her eyes betray. She shares real chemistry with Gosling, while some might bemoan the films deliberate pace and restrained nature I found it affecting and distinctive. This is rarely a movie that does what you expect and as such feels fresh throughout. 
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Things take a turn for the worse when Irene's husband returns from jail and enlists Gosling's help in a pawn shop robbery to help protect his family. Needless to say things go wrong and from here the film takes a much darker and more violent turn as the ripples of these actions reverberate throughout the world and touch on the shady world of the local mob, fronted by Albert Brooks (in a memorably chilling performance) and Ron Pearlman. Both of which have links to the Driver in the form of fronting his boss (the always excellent Bryan Cranston) in his latest business venture. Whilst the plot may seem complex it is actually fairly simple, but each of the characters is so well crafted, even with the broad strokes that the film mainly deals in, that it becomes absorbing throughout.
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What really makes Drive stand out though is the atmosphere and construction, Refn's strong hand is visible throughout, from the moody Michael Man-esque glimpses of LA at night, to his framing and use of slo-mo and silence. As important a factor as anything is the films incredible soundtrack. fusing a mix of retro-electronica and ambient score this is a film completely in tune with it's soundscape, using it to heighten mood and enhance everything on screen. In many ways Drive feels like a film of a different era, a stylistic exercise that also works as a rewarding and thrilling film experience. This is largely thanks to the performances, Gosling and Mulligan really makes you care for their characters in a short space of time and it lends the back half of the film an emotional weight it might not have otherwise earned.
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Like a knife through butter Drive cuts through so much homogenised, generic Hollywood cinema and proudly does things differently. It is a wonderful things to behold, and one of my favourite films of the year.