Author: dan

• New things

  January 27, 2015

  A big couple of months, hence the lack of updates. I’ve taken up a new position as Lecturer in Media at RMIT University. Yes, RMIT in Melbourne. I’m now, once more, a Victorian. The move has been tough, but it’s great to be back down here surrounded by family and friends and much decent coffee.

  The new job is shaping up well, and is sucking most of my hours, particularly in terms of catching up on research. I’m still in the process of editing the PhD for publication, and will have finished another two publications by the time I start teaching proper in early March.

  Things bode well, and I’ll keep this updated as often as possible, particularly with notes on research, more war films, games, and so on.

• What is it good for?

  November 24, 2014

  

  Based on a recommendation from my good friend Joel (his excellent writing can be sampled at his equally excellent project The Ladyist Experiment), today I started playing 11 bit studios’ hyphenate extravaganza This War of Mine. I sunk about two hours into the game, and feel I’ve barely scratched the surface. As such, what follows are my very rudimentary notes on the early experience of the game. (more…)

• Gone Girl

  November 10, 2014

  

  What are you thinking? What are you feeling? What have we done to each other? What will we do?

  About a month ago, I smashed through Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl in a few days. I came away from the book feeling dirty: sullied somehow. My first words to my partner were, “I think I need a shower.” It’s hard to define why this is. I enjoyed reading the book. I was hooked the entire time, utterly engrossed in this deep character study of two seriously messed up people. The book was very well-written, a literary thriller of the first degree, and mesmerising in its wit and structure. The book was funny, at times, too. (more…)

• Editing

  October 31, 2014

  Rough cut.

  Draft cut.

  Polish.

  Proof render.

  Final cut.

  *crack beer*

  …

  Changes arrive.

  Final cut V2.

  Final cut V3.

  Export for web.

• Cinemaaaah, cont’d

  September 24, 2014

  I’ve been doing my best to take notes on as many films as I can, but for now I’ll just compile a list of those watched in the last fortnight…

  • The 39 Steps (d. Hitchcock, 1935)
  • Eyes Wide Shut (d. Kubrick, 1999)*
  • OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies (d. Haznavicius, 2006)
  • The Artist (d. Haznavicius, 2011)
  • Fargo (d. Coen, 1996)

  Planned viewing for the next seven days…

  • Tora! Tora! Tora! (d. Fleischer et. al., 1970)
  • L’Appartement (d. Mimouni, 1996)
  • Manhattan (d. Allen, 1979)

  * – Rewatch