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Archives for March 2016

The Bold Swing of Batman v Superman

March 28, 2016 By Brendon Marotta

Batman v Superman is the highest budget fan-film ever made, with all the awesomeness and problems that come with that. In compressing information, it creates an new style of storytelling. Although it doesn’t totally work, it’s a bold interesting film.

I won’t spoil anything big, but I recommend you read this article after you’ve seen the film. In fact, don’t read anything about Batman v Superman until you’ve seen it. The reviews have not been kind, even spawning internet memes of Ben Affleck’s sad reaction to them. However…

The Reviews Are Wrong

…but not in the way you think.

First, reviews, like all media, are driven by economics. A long insightful critique, like the one one I’m about to share with you, doesn’t drive clicks the way a really savage quote does. People want to see a fight. They’d prefer blood and gods, but they’ll settle for words. The same force that makes us want to see Batman vs. Superman makes us want to see a wimpy critic take the piss out of a multi-million dollar film.

Based on the reviews, I expected Batman v Superman to be a mess. Instead what I found was a very bold swing that doesn’t quite connect – but could have. An experiment. The kind other filmmakers can learn from if they’re willing to take the lessons.

Batman v Superman Invents a New Style of Editing

In a typical film, you see full scenes, beat by beat. Superman sees a child about to die in a fire on the news. He turns from the TV, finds a telephone booth (or whatever the modern equivalent is) and changes. Then you see him fly through the sky. He enters the burning building. The child is scared. He tells her it’ll be okay. The building collapses around them, but he gets her out. He hands her to her mom, and the grateful people thank him.

But this isn’t a typical film. Batman v Superman has a lot of plot points to juggle, and a lot of characters to introduce. It doesn’t have time of a full scene like that – and frankly, we’ve all seen that scene before. The moment we see that kid in a burning building on TV, we know what’s going to happen – so Batman v Superman just cuts to that moment.

Seriously – in Batman v Superman, Clark Kent sees a child in a burning building on TV all the way in Mexico, and the next time we see him he is floating down from the building as Superman holding her safe. All that middle stuff is cut out. Instead of getting a full scene, we get an impression and fill in the blanks.

Except, Batman v Superman doesn’t just give us impressions of scenes. It gives impressions of scenes crosscut. So that Superman-saves-a-child scene is crosscut with Bruce Wayne stealing data from Lexcorp, Lex Luthor giving an awkward speech, and Diana aka Wonder Woman making a mysterious appearance to steal the data Bruce is stealing. Plus, each of those scenes are never shown in full either – we just get impressions of those too.

What Batman v Superman amounts to is a full-on fanboy montage, that assumes you already know these characters and know what is going to happen. And you know what – they’re right.

The Montage Theory of Batman v Superman

The film opens with Batman’s parents being killed. I saw this film at the Alamo Drafthouse, where they were showing Batman and Superman clips before the film. One of the clips they played was a montage from Vulture, showing every version of Batman’s parent’s death. (Watch it yourself here.) We all know that story. Why tell it again?

Well, the film doesn’t. It just gives us an impression of that death, crosscut with a young Bruce Wayne falling down a well. Since the two shots cut together form a new idea, the film creates the impression that this death sends Bruce tumbling into the world of the bat – which is the core of the Batman story.

Where this montage theory fails is when the story becomes complex. Typical films show every beat of a scene for the sake of clarity. If you’re not familiar with the Superman mythos, then cutting from a child in a burning building to Superman carrying the girl out, will raise a lot of questions. How did he get her out of there? Why didn’t they burn up? How did he get all the way to that building in time?

These kind of questions abound in later parts of the film. With each of them, a couple extra moments could have added a world of clarity. As a fan, I can fill some of them in, but others feel like they were just done because it would be cool. Which leads to the real problem…

Fan-service by Fanboys for Fanboys

Many of these montage moment feel like they were done for fan service, not story. The most obvious is Batman’s second dream sequence where Batman imagines a post-apocalyptic future ruled by Superman, and his army of humans and flying insect people (really – I’m told they’re a comic reference).

While the sequence is cool – the kind of thing that would be completely at home in a comic or fan film – you could take this sequence out of Batman v Superman and not lose any story. It’s only there for it’s coolness.

Synder does many of fan service elements throughout the film, and many of them don’t hold up under scrutiny. When you ask “why did the character do that?” the real answer is probably “because it’d be cool.”

If you sent me fan film where Batman leads the rebellion in a world where Superman has gone bad and rules a post-apocalyptic wasteland, I’d open the link, but seeing it in the theater I just thought “this should have been a really cool deleted scene.”

Likewise, the changes made from the comic – like having Batman brand his enemies – feel like a fanboy saying “this would be badass!” without really thinking through what each change means for the character.

As a fan, I sympathize. There is a certain joy just seeing these characters appear onscreen. The woman next to me audibly gasped with joy when Wonder Woman appeared onscreen. And I have to admit – even some elements screenwriter in me didn’t think worked, the fan in me still appreciated.

Yet canon is held to a different standard then fan-fiction. Many of the choices in Batman v Superman felt like they were on the right track – they just needed an extra draft or two.

Fixing Through the Unexpected

The good of this montage style is that you compress a lot of story and action into each montage. The bad is that you lose clarity, and create moments that don’t make sense.

I believe Batman v Superman compresses scenes because it assumes the audience already knows what will happen. They’re right, but it raises the question – why include these scenes at all?

A good screenwriter will anticipate how the audience expects a scene will play out, and then delivers in an unexpected way. For example, what if Superman doesn’t save the girl? Then what?

Of course as fans, we’d be mad if that happened. So writers do a triple fake-out. First, you think he’ll save the girl. Then the building collapses! Superman emerges from the rubble. He makes grim eye contact. It doesn’t look good. You think she’s dead. Then a third reveal – he pulls the girl from the rubble. She’s okay!

Three fake-outs – first, you think they’ll make it, then they won’t, then they do. No matter what you expected, there is a moment where you’re shocked and it doesn’t go as expected. If you want an example of this triple fake-out, watch any Joss Whedon show. (The first episode of Agents of Shield does one beat for beat with a potential character death.)

Batman v Superman could have leveraged audience expectations to whip their emotions around and take them on a ride. Instead, it uses those expectations to compress time, while delivering on them exactly as expected.

There is value in this style. It’s almost experimental, like a Guy Maddin film, where all but the best parts of a sequence are edited out, and those “best parts” are delivered on over and over again in money shots. Maybe this rapid montage style is necessary to introduce as many characters as Batman v Superman has.

However, I think if you were to combine this montage style with more traditional scenes, written to surprise audience expectations, you could get something really magical. Where Batman v Superman‘s fails, it fails from daring to greatly. It’s the kind of bold swing, I can respect.

Read More: The Real Problem With The Ghostbusters Reboot Trailer

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5 Weeks Into The Wim Hof Method And I’ve Never Felt Better

March 7, 2016 By Brendon Marotta

For the past five weeks I have been doing the Wim Hof method, and I’ve never felt better.

If you’re not familiar with who Wim Hof, check out this excellent documentary:

The tl;dr version: Wim Hof is the Iceman. He can endure intense cold, prevent illness, and alter his physiology through a series of breathing techniques. Wim Hof’s claims have been tested in laboratory conditions and scientifically validated. He teaches his methods in a course called the Wim Hof Method.

If you want to try one of his breathing methods, check out this demonstration he gave on the Joe Rogan show:

I’m not going to give away any aspect of his method that hasn’t been made public, but I will talk about my experience.

Doing the Wim Hof course is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

The biggest surprise has been the massive shift in mood and energy. Doing Wim Hof makes you feel positive and energetic. In reviewing Scott Adams book, I said one of the most important things you can do is to focus on activities that energize you. Wim Hof gives you more energy. It doesn’t take long. As Wim says, “breath man, it’s free.”

The course itself is focuses on cold exposure, breathing exercises, and physical movements.

Cold Exposure

Prior to this course, I hadn’t been a fan of the cold. I even moved all the way to Texas to avoid the cold. (Okay, there were other reasons, but… it was a factor.) Part of my motivation was to confront the fear of the cold and make it my friend.

After doing Wim Hof, you will look forward to cold showers. The way Wim Hof eases you into cold exposure is so well thought-out even a warm weather person like myself can embrace the cold.  A couple weeks earlier during a freakishly cold day, I saw other Texans shivering while I stood comfortably.

Breathing Exercises

The breathing exercises make you feel light headed, serene, calm… It was nice, but I wasn’t sure how I’d use it till the other night, when I saw a YouTube video featuring a situation I was afraid of. It something you might actually do, shown from a real first person perspective. My heart started racing as if I was really experiencing it.

I noticed the fear, and decided to stay with it. I found as I meditated I could let go of the fear, but the moment I imagined the situation again, it was all back. Then I tried Wim Hof breathing. One round and it was totally dissolved. I realized if I found myself in a panic-inducing situation, I could use this to reset my nerves.

If you’re an artist struggling with stage fright, fear of failure, or any of the mental challenges creatives face, this method could help you. I just did the basic breathing shown in the Joe Rogan video above, and was able to clear fear. Try it next time you’re afraid and see if it doesn’t melt the fear away.

Physical Movements

Wim’s stretches are comparable to yoga. You’ll feel great after doing them. In particular, I’ve noticed increased spine strength. It feels like these stretches hit parts of the body weightlifting exercises don’t always reach. You don’t have to be a lifter or yogi to do these exercises – though it wouldn’t hurt.

Speaking of exercises – through all of these methods Wim says “feeling is understanding.” It’s a phrase sums up the right mindset for his methods. Much of what you experience during these exercises may be hard to describe, especially during the meditation. But you’ll know it when you feel it.

I’ve still got five more weeks to go. The next five are when we get into deep cold exposure like ice baths and holding your breath in the water. The course is a significant time commitment – an hour per day – but worth it. If you’re someone who wants to feel great in their body, this course is for you.

Sign-up for the Wim Hof Method here.

Read More: Joining the Vanguard: A Weekend of Survival Skills With Atomic Athlete

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