Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

Launch or Be Lunch, Day 13, - Realism vs. Reality vs. Realization vs. Real Estate? (Quick, Come Up With Another Word!)

As we discussed yesterday, research is the key to getting everything right - or at least plausible - in your works.  But in all that, there's a question that should really be asked.

Why?

Or rather, does everything need to be true and accurate in all details?  Yes, it helps to know that the point end of the sword is not the part that you hold, and that the moon is not made of green cheese.  But what it if was?  What if ol' Luna were composed of Swiss? (sorry, couldn't come up with a gouda enough variety).  What if there was air in space?  What if we just threw the book out?

And, of course, it goes without saying that some things just don't mesh well in a realistic setting.

Launch or Be Lunch, Day 16 - Inspiration is Where You Get It (or Something Like That)

Ah, insipiration, that fickle inspiring inspirative that inspires inspiration.  Yeah, whatever.

The fact is, most of us tend to get our inspiration from what we're exposed to the most.  If you read books, books are your inspiration.  If you watch TV, you get it there.  If you're a cinephile, most of your works will have a cinematic quality.  If you're an otaku, guess what?

Well, I'm here to give you yet another bit of information that will likely annoy the crap out of you and earn me yet more hatred and contempt (just performing a public service, folks!) from all my potential fans.

Stop.  Stop what you're doing now and Get Your Own Damn Idea.

The Emotional Development of Video Games

Last week, I shook my fist at what the kids these days are calling movies.  Today, I take on video games.  If movies are Porn Without Plot, then video games are Violence Without Plot.  *dramatic wave* Oh, won’t someone think of the children?

Actually, there’s a bit of optimism to follow.  I heard a recent report (on live radio, so, sorry, no link) that we spend four times as much money on games now as we do on movies.  Gaming is growing as a mainstream pastime, so game creators are bound to add depth and breadth to the gaming experience.  In a growing market, the last thing you want to do is ignore a group of potential loyal customers.  Therefore, the floodgates are opening, not just for more games, but for new types of games that will engage new types of gamers.

One Small Step For Fans...

Astronaut Alan Bean was the fourth person ever to walk on the moon, but that’s not the end of the story.  Well, if it was, that would be way too short a story.

While his journey to the moon as part of the Apollo 12 mission was doubtlessly the zenith of his career, he didn’t stop there.  In 1981, he retired from being an astronaut and pursued painting as... not quite a career, and not quite a hobby.  Alan Bean is a Progeek From Space.

Our passions can morph over time, taking sometimes radically different forms, but at their core, they remain the same.  Despite the flying leap between moonwalks and brushstrokes, Bean’s art reflects his previous achievements.  He specializes in lunar landscapes and actually incorporates real moon dust into his paintings.  Real moon dust!  How cool is that?

Beyond being a really neat story, it offers up some questions that all progeeks should ask themselves.

1. What is my “going to the moon?”
In other words, what goal of yours out-and-out tops all the others?  What’s the thing you want to be remembered for?  This serves as a reminder that a career is a long term string of goals all put together.  A career is a lifestyle.  So what is the super-epic-awesome achievement you want to reach through that lifestyle?  How do your daily choices support it? 

2. What is my overarching theme and what connects me to it?
In Alan Bean’s case, his theme is exploration (of space and of things artistic) and his connection is the Apollo 12 Mission (both being on it and painting pictures of it).  Your theme might be compassion, communication, mediation, discovery, leadership... Give it some thought and then ask yourself what you’re involved with that conveys your theme.  What do you do every day, year after year (or what would you like to be doing) that gets you into your theme?  What is your connection to where you’ve always wanted to be?

It’s all about making sure that the little things in your life are building towards the big things.  After all, super-epic-awesome accomplishments are really just the culmination of many years of dedication and hard work.  So set your trajectory for a fulfilling life, and always remember to shoot for the moon.

Why Originality - and Unoriginality - May Not Matter To Media Success

(Tamara had a great post last week on the paradox of originality versus people seeking original works.  Spinning off from that, I think I've got a bead on why originality is sometimes rewarded in media - and as well why sometimes stunning unoriginality is not).

Are you getting tired of vampires?

I've been tired of vampire fiction, movies, what have you for quite awhile.  i've seen it all, heard it all, and by now I have nearly no interest whatsoever in the whole vampire genre and its spawn.  I started getting tired of it around Anne Rice's heyday, and most young people reading "Twilight" today probably think Anne Rice is a cajun dish.

I can't be the only one tired of vampires in every media known to man.  Yet they're everywhere.

Mice, Technology, and Walt Disney: The Walt Disney Family Museum

I visited the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco with my wife and some friends, to celebrate my wife's birthday.  I was curious as it is - it's a museum containing a great deal of memorabilia about Walt Disney, and a chronology of his life, and run by his eldest daughter.  Disney's influence on our modern media can't be understated, so I figure a review was in order.

However, after going to the museum I'm going to have to split this review into two parts for you, my progeek audience.  One part will review the museum, the other will deal with some of the insights I had there.

To put it simply, it's a very geeky place - and Walt Disney was, when you think of it, a progeek.

How Internet Access Changes Failure

Being a geek, I assume you remember the time you discovered Mystery Science Theater 3000.  If you're one of the poor souls that doesn't know what it is, it's a show where characters mock old movies, and at times obscure movies.  These films get a new lease on life - and the show, in my opinion, increased interest in cheesy old films.

Of course before that there was the Golden Turkey Awards, which awarded various bad films awards for their "achievements."  This book is one I credit with giving Plan 9 From Outer Space more prominence, though it certainly called attention to other films.

Many films in the above media, and in similar media like Late Night Movies and the like, are films that are at best weird, and at most very bad.  Many would be considered outright failures, yet because of their very flaws, they get a kind of new life.

Is Everything an App?

iPhone Apps.  Android Apps.  Google TV will have Apps.  It seems everything is becoming an App.

Now I'm all for some interesting slang, but I think what we're seeing is something deeper here.

An "App" of course is short for Application, such as a Word Processor, only it seems the term is broadening.  You can turn your book into an App, you can make an App that's a game, you can make an App that interfaces with Social Media services.  It seems that the "App" really is a term for "something specific you do on a piece of technology."

I think this is great because it actually brings out an important truth about our media and our technologies - they're about doing things and getting information.  It's all Apps.

Frustration Friday - Trending to Stupid

I'm a news junkie.  I'm also a geek, which means that I'm used to getting my news from some blogs, aggregators, and sources that are pretty informed.  You know what I mean of course - you're a fanboy, fangirl, geek, nerd, otaku, what have you.  We THRIVE on information.

Which is why I'm getting a bit tired of the news cycles of the geekosphere.  You know, where you can predict to the quarter - if not the MONTH - what the big story will be, who will be up, who will be down.  Those times where every few months this company is big - and the next few months they're in trouble.  Those times when the news "discovers" something they discovered a few months ago.

It's getting old, people.

Weekly Challenge - The Next Country . . .

As I've noted a few times, Japan is a country that obviously has had major influence on the North American Geekonomy.  Video Games, anime, sentai and more.  From Battle of the Planets decades ago to Power Rangers and Bleach, from Space Invaders to Final Fantasy pick-a-number, Japan has had a huge effect.

At this rate, Japanese influence on pop culture and major Geekonomic areas is more than obvious.  I'm not sure how much more influence can be had (though my guess is Kodansha is looking for more).

But there's always a hunger for new products and entertainments, foods and culture, and business models and opportunities.

So here's your challenge for the week: what country do you think is going to be next to have a big cultural/pop cultural influence on North America?

South Korean and it's growing media?

India with it's tech opportunities and the power of Bollywood?

More British influence now that Doctor Who is Reborn and series are getting remade (again)?

Think about what's next.  After all, my fellow progeek, you're going to be living it in the years to come . . .

- Steven Savage

(And as for my answer?  I'm still thinking that one over.)