We are who we're not

Second Skin is a new documentary that examines the lure and some of the dangers of virtual worlds, specifically the MMO games: World of Warcraft and Everquest.

Judging by the trailer, it appears to be in the same vein of other documentaries, like Trekkies and Darkon, movies that gave us an intimate glimpse into the lives of people who are so drawn into fantasy worlds, that their fantasy lives become dominant factors in their real lives. It is understood and shown that for many, these events are purely fun and casual. Not everyone has the same degree of fascination or hunger for an alternate existence. But the true focus and power of these films is when we meet people who's fantasy lives become so excessive, they supersede anything else. Trekkies highlights social groups and individual lifestyles that gravitate around the Star Trek universe, showing how the Trek franchise and fan numbers have increased with each decade, where Darkon explores a live-action roleplaying and wargaming group born out of the success and interest in Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy-embellished history enactment. Though both movies show associated individual pastimes, what is ultimately underscored is that these are both social phenomena. Even individual pursuits mostly take place within a larger context: individuals associate in groups that congregate in even larger groups which ultimately engage in large-scale annual or semi-annual events.

I think part of the fascination with these movies is that they are in part cultural anthropology and in part, geek-voyeurism. We get to peek into lives that for most of us are very different. For many viewers, I think there is a trap that they can somehow feel superior for being so non-geeky, or at least less a geek. And yet, say what you will, for Darkon especially but even for Trekkies, the emphasis seems to be highly social and to bring about friendships, bonds, and human interaction. And this counters a commented upon trend in modern culture that people are becoming more insular and less community oriented than preceding generations. So regardless of how you might approve or disapprove of the lifestyles of the people shown, they are meeting and interacting with others, often in the flesh, forming life bonds and exercising social will. Socially, they will have succeeded in functioning in ways that many people who might disparage or judge them have yet to achieve in their own lives.

That said, Second Skin seems to show a different short of community altogether. Though virtual association can precipitate a real world gathering for romance or group meetings, for the most part the interaction is befitting the medium and done solely through virtual selves. Missing is the "meat-space" physical engagement and association of Darkon or the showcase of club and convention gatherings that underscores much of Trekkies. Though participants in both these group phenomena embellish their social interaction through virtual mediums, for the most part virtual or Web interaction functions to support and enhance real-world engagement. For those shown in Second Skin, it seems to be more the opposite: rare as they are, real world engagements seem to underscore and reinforce the main activities, which are solely virtual. If true, the effect in some cases would be to push the person back into the virtual medium as the basis for generating more such social contact.

What happens when alternate reality becomes more important and more meaningful than just a casual activity? All three films examine this question of obsession. The core physical activity of Darkon shows the most real engagement of self. Alternate reality is compartmentalized and though it drives a lot of activity outside of the events and might be one of the most important things in a given life, there is clearer distinction between fantasy self and the real world. With Trekkies, though we are given to understand that there is a broad range of engagement, we meet several individuals for whom the alternate world of science fiction influences not only their pastimes, but crosses over to become part of their dress, work, lifestyle, life choices, even their sex lives. It's really hard to judge by a short trailer, but with Second Skin, it seems to show people for whom their real world selves are not necessarily subsumed physically by the alternate reality, but where the real world itself is largely irrelevant because it has no meaning to a virtual existence. I'm guessing the folks shown in Second Skin share much of the same needs for acceptance, social status, success, and wealth with those in Darkon and Trekkies, factors that might very well be missing from their real lives and which are certainly missing for some of those shown. Mentally then, the only way to achieve these is solely virtual for the most part. And so their alternate lives tend to, I suspect more so than in Darkon and Trekkies, become dominant to the exclusion and proper functioning in the real world, according to how much they feel they need the rewards provided solely in their lives as lived through alternate realities.

There is another, perhaps even darker aspect to be shown as well. Though commerce and merchandising are a big part of all such activities, one of the lives reviewed in Second Skin is said to be that of a "gold famer." This is usually, but not exclusively, a person from Asia who works long "sweat shop" hours in front of a computer to feed their own hunger by feeding the world hunger for virtual goods, or the virtual currency to buy virtual goods. Since for many people, virtual status equates to real status insofar as they're concerned, there is a real market for such goods. A New York Times article last year estimated that the money generated from such sales was then $1.8 billion. Given the growth of virtual worlds overall, and the large numbers of new children's virtual worlds funded by commercial and media giants, one can expect that number to be much higher and to only increase over time.

Second Skin is currently being shown at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, where I believe Darkon made its debut. I have high hopes, that like the other documentaries mentioned, I'll soon be able to see it for myself on either the Independent Film Channel or via a video rental service like Netflix. Hopefully like those other fascinating perspectives into alternate reality and social groups, Second Skin provides an insightful, non-judgmental, and carefully balanced glimpse into real lives. I understand that most people who were featured in these documentaries felt the portrayal was fair and were mostly flattered by the attention. I hope that such is the same for those who are letting us get under their Second Skins.

Warner casts a Blu-pall over high-def landscape

A probably fatal blow in the high-definition battle between HD-DVD and competing standard Blu-Ray was cast on Friday when Warner Brothers announced that it would be, starting in May 2008, exclusively Blu-Ray. Subsidiaries New Line Cinema and HBO Films were excluded from the announcement, leaving those studios free to make their own decisions. However, it is expected that both will follow Warner into the Blu-Ray exclusive camp. Warner Brothers will likely continue to honor any existing HD-DVD promises through May, though HD-DVD releases will lag behind standard and Blu-Ray title releases.

The decision of the last major studio to support both formats to change its stance to be now exclusive to Sony Blu-Ray forced a quick cancellation of Toshiba's planned CES announcement for HD-DVD, since Warner Brothers was said to feature prominently in that press release, being touted as one of the success factors for HD-DVD and one of the most prolific studios to release high-def titles.

HD-DVD supporters, Toshiba, Microsoft, Paramount Pictures & subsidiary Dreamworks, and Universal Studios remain the only significant backers of HD-DVD while the Blu-Ray camp includes not only major studios Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Sony Pictures-Columbia Studios and now Warner Brothers, but most of the smaller studios and distributors as well as most hardware and PC vendors. The Warner move gives the Blu-Ray camp about 70% title share, according to the Financial Times; with more to follow IF Paramount (and Dreamworks) exercises an alleged clause in its HD-DVD switch agreement that allows it to reverse its exclusive move if Warner were ever to drop HD-DVD. Even prior to the Warner announcement, a number of smaller studios that had been HD-DVD exclusive announced that they would be supporting Blu-Ray as well, indicating growth for Blu-Ray, while no such defections occurred from amongst the exclusively Blu-Ray supporters. Even the controversial decision last year for once-format-neutral Paramount and its subsidiary, Dreamworks, to defect to the HD-DVD camp excluded any Dreamworks films by Steven Spielberg, who was said to be either a backer of Blu-Ray or someone who favored supporting both formats.

Warner Brothers executive, Kevin Tsujihara, specifically mentioned that Warner Brothers did not take any money from the Blu-Ray group to come to its decision, contrasting the decision last year of Paramount and subsidiary Dreamworks, to switch from format neutrality to be exclusive to HD-DVD, a move the New York Times later revealed to have been motivated by a payout from the HD-DVD group for $100 million and $70 million respectively to make the switch. Warner Brothers was said to have been courted with a similar deal to switch to HD-DVD exclusivity, which had it occurred, would have likely ended in a format stalemate.

This move by Warner Brothers was said to reflect industry concerns that the format war was hurting the overall adoption of either format since consumers were both confused and wary of purchasing product that could at one point become obsolete. This has kept high definition disc sales stagnant at a minute fraction of potential sales compared to standard DVD. Director Michael Bay, who was highly critical of Paramount's decision to switch to the HD-DVD camp and who was initially furious that his blockbuster Transformers would only appear on HD-DVD, openly stated his opinion that the money used to essentially bribe Paramount and Dreamworks came from Microsoft and that Microsoft's true motives were not to back HD-DVD but to ensure that the format war would continue until Microsoft could develop a high-definition digital download service, undercutting both. Apple Computers, which does continue to expand its own digitial downloads service for movies, was a backer of Blu-Ray and recent news has indicated that Apple intends to offer Blu-Ray drives in its computers at some point soon.

There has been no news on how this might effect the third format, VMD, which unlike either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, uses a red laser and is said to offer a much cheaper alternative for high-definition content for vendors since it does not require the same level of retooling to produce the discs. It seems likely though that the Warner Brothers announcement will spell doom for this late-comer on the high definition scene.

Update: Apparently New Line Cinema made the expected move to Blu-Ray exclusivity. This will bring the impressive New Line catalogue over to exclusive Blu-Ray distribution, expected to include the Blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy whenever that anticipated title makes its high-definition disc debut. There is no word yet that I've seen about HBO Films.

Also, the purported reasons that Michael Bay assigned to Microsoft support of HD-DVD may well come to pass at some point, subsuming movie disc sales to those of digital downloads in the same fashion that CD sales, though still strong, continue to give way to digital downloads. In addition to Microsoft X-Box Live, the pairing of Apple iTunes & Apple TV, and those already available through cable and satellite, Netflix is intending to offer a streaming downloads service as well, premiered at CES. Sony has hinted at much the same for the PS3 with movies and other media potentially available through portals such as Playstation Home. Given that Sony is the only hardware vendor that actually owns their own extensive movie catalogue, competing services might find themselves starved for certain titles or scrambling to lock up exclusive deals of their own. If such fractured availability should occur, I would think it could only harm the adoption of digital downloads in the same way that the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray battle harmed mass adoption of either format.

Update: HBO Films have moved to Blu-Ray exclusivity as well. There is some rumour that Paramount/Dreamworks is mulling a move away from HD-DVD according to the Financial times, Universal possibly as well according to Variety, despite statements to the contrary made by both studios. Both studios have declared support for HD-DVD but Paramount's only move so far is to delay two forthcoming HD-DVD titles by three weeks. And further questions have been met with a no comment response.

In any case, I think the final summation of all this is that it's too bad that the studios could not have made a compromise forestalling this format war. This see-saw battle not only hurt themselves and left both standards in jeopardy of being preempted by direct downloads, but seems likely to have left over a million adopters of HD-DVD bereft of future title releases and having to hope for after-market solutions to keep their HD-DVD high-def title investments viable down the road. Apparently corporate memories are short and the lessons learned in the debacle that occurred between VHS and Betamax that helped lead to universal adoption of a single CD and DVD standard had since been forgotten.

Movie notions: Carnival of Souls

Carnival of Souls is a cult classic "B" horror movie that I feel transcends its humble origins. It was the product mainly of an industrial film maker from Lawrence Kansas, Herk Harvey. Harvey was a proven talent for the sort of industrial films of the post-WWII period showcasing agricultural, industry, and business themes, promoting the qualities of Kansas among other topics. Though he worked several years in that capacity and received a number of awards, including an Academy Award nomination, he is largely, somewhat to his chagrin, known for this one venture into mainstream film and horror genre. His choice of making a horror film was a practical consideration since he felt that it would sell well and fund future, more interesting feature film projects.

Such was not to be however. Limited production funding, limited advertising, distribution by a lackluster company that later went out of business, and I would argue, being somewhat ahead of its time, doomed it nearly from the start. Carnival of Souls disappeared and its cast and crew thought that it had simply gone the way of many such failed attempts at movie-making.

It was the process of late night television coupled with word-of-mouth that resurrected Carnival and brought it back from obscurity. This started mostly in big cities like New York City but later spread across the country. It soon became a regular staple of late-night fare and was an often requested favorite for Halloween movie marathons. Reviewers "discovered" the film and praised its surreal qualities and Siskel and Ebert even listed it among the finest movies of its genre.

Carnival I think owes its relative success to a number of factors, many of them fortuitous measures taken by necessity, and just good timing in that it came back into focus when its qualities were able to be more appreciated. Herk Harvey was a proven no-nonsense veteran film maker who could bring a project to completion on time (useful for Carnival since it was shot with many of its principals on vacation from Centron, the company where Harvey worked). And having only a meagre budget, Harvey could make use of Centron equipment. And since he knew and was friends with many Centron employees, they could be approched to work on Carnival. Many locals and businesses in Lawrence also participated or allowed use of their facilities for free.

The acting in Carnival runs from either the credible to quirky, with some very awful wooden performances thrown in. The real star of the movie is the abandoned Saltair amusement park, site of filming for most of the one week that Carnival made use of location shots in and around Salt Lake City. Harvey had seen the Saltair driving through Utah and the image stood with him. It formed the seed of the idea he would pitch to veteran Centron writer, John Clifford. There is something so lonely and pervasive about such a huge abandoned space falling to ruin that was once intensely filled with hundreds of people day in and out. Some of the most haunting scenes of Carnival have Mary, the main character, wandering the empty edifices of the Saltair, strangely drawn to something she doesn't understand. There is no dialogue, only rich black and white cinematography and a wonderfully moody organ score (Mary is an organist, a necessary convenience since Lawrence was home to the organ factory shown in the film). The film makes use of awkward angles and stark yet beautiful images shot around Salt Lake and Lawrence to add to its creepy tone. Some of the most inspired, unusual, and hence most memorable shots were apparently managed and undertanken by Reza Badiyi, an assistant director who appears in an uncredited cameo. You might not know his name but you know his work. Badiyi would later go on to become one of the most prolific television directors in Hollywood and the list of his credits includes most of the successful shows of the past decades. But Badiyi's work for Carnival, some of it done at risk of injury, coupled with cinematographer Maurice Prather's practiced and yet for Carnival, ambitious eye, helps make Carnival stand apart from anything before, except perhaps the films of Cocteau, to which it has been compared.

The story has elements similar to other contemporary stories in shows like Twilight Zone. But if it is derivitive, it is also inspiring and Carnival has been linked to the ideas of later directors and writers like George Romero and John Carpenter. The story draws on feelings of not belonging and being out of tune with everything. Being disconnected with the world or things or people around us is something I think many of us have felt, but here it leads to an awful truth. And because the lead actress, Candace Hilligoss, insisted on applying her method acting process to her character, clashing at times with Harvey's insistence on a more distant portrayal, we are drawn in and can feel Mary's desperate desire to not be removed and her fear of the inevitable process pulling her unwillingly toward's the film's end.

There are many substandard versions of the film outstanding and it can be rented or even purchased as part of B-movie compilations. And though it was not an overlong film, it was cut drastically in several, if not most, of these. If you've never seen Carnival of Souls and would like to see the best example, do yourself a favor and hold out to rent or find the Criterion version, whose restored print stands as the best to date. This version also includes a lot of interesting background material for fans of the film, including a reunion celebration and documentary, touching in that all these people who worked so hard on a labour of love could receive some validation, years overdue, for what they had managed to achieve.

And, like all movie recommendations, take this one with a "grain-of-salt." It's not for everyone, so don't go out and buy it for your first view. If you watch it and go "Huh?" - then you're at least only out the rental fee. :-)