KateMcSpadden-Explorers Wanted Contest Entry

Lamia Nature Goddess

Please vote for this here: http://insidefilms.com/?lang=en&page=gallery&galleryid=5738

Are the Five Nights At Freddy's Games Art?

For years people have debated weather video game design is a form of art. In my eyes it is, weather it is in character design, scenery, theme, story, plot points, etc. Before people found film making not an art form, but video games have an advantage over film as an art form because in games, you are interacting with it. But when a game stays in your mind long after turing off the game, creates an emotion in the viewers, makes you question the character's actions, or draws you into looking at the piece again, that is when a game is truly a work of art. Recently there are a series of games that has made people frightened, talking, dive deeper into the lore of the franchise, and has done something incredible that most games in the same genre are unable to do.

    In August 2014, "Five Nights at Freddy's" was released on Steam. The object of the game is the player gets a job as a security guard working a graveyard shift at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, an entertainment center/restaurant similar to Chuck E Cheese. Your job is to monitor the animatronics, who are on a free roaming mode to prevent their servos from locking up. But you have to keep them out of your office because if they see you, they think you are a naked endoskeleton and would stuff you into an empty costume, killing you in the process. But what makes the game difficult is you have limited amount of power each night, and you have to get through to 6AM as your power drains.

    I saw several videos of people playing the game and I was laughing at the guys screaming like little girls. I bought the game for my tablet after many sites recommended it. It was very intense playing, but I was able to get through the first night without much trouble. I almost beat the second night but I ran out of power at 5AM, so I tried again but died half way by Bonnie the Rabbit. I had to stop playing, my heart was pounding so hard and fast. I had trouble sleeping at night after playing, I would wake up in fear hearing footsteps coming towards my room, even though it was just my cat walking around. I would also wake up several times to see if the lizard plush toy I have on my shelf was still in one place and not walking around while I was out! 

    This game did something most horror games I have played could not do, it brought a fear in me even after the game was turned off, by resurrecting a childhood phobia. What was I afraid of when I was little? THE GUYS WALKING AROUND DISNEYLAND IN THE COSTUMES! I always thought they were really monsters dressed as lovable cartoon characters as a facade! DID ANY OF YOU FOUND THEM SCARY?! ANYONE? Oh yeah, and also that scene from "Dumbo" where he gets intoxicated and hallucinates the pink elephants, most of the scene was trippy, but there were a couple of parts that freaked me out! I thought I just outgrew that fear and got over it as I got older, but it turns out it stayed in my mind the whole time. But as the game became viral, it turns out I was not alone, millions of people shared the same or a similar phobia.

    When the sequel was released, I was still drawn into looking into the game, even though I didn't buy it. I found the backstory of the games so fascinating, including how the sequels change the gameplay. And I found the gameplay changes for the second game so interesting, as subtle as removing the doors, winding up the music box to keep the puppet at bay, or the inclusion of toy versions of the previous animatronics is, it intensified the tension drastically. Once the third game was just released, the fear and paranoia was intensified once again, despite the fact that there was only one animatronic to worry about, making you feel schizophrenic. Without spoiling too much, the ending is bitter sweet, having people sad about the ending wondering if there will be more games in the franchise, but ok with how it ended. 

    So why is these games art? Let's look at the games overall: They are simple. Simple gameplay and layout, and to the point, so anyone can play whether they are hard core gamers or not. Its fear is effective to the majority of video game players demographics because most of them were children in the 80s and 90s, when places like Chuck E Cheese were very successful and popular. It got players terrified long after the games were over, something most horror games are unable to do, by doing something different: attacking an irrational childhood fear,  They are fascinated by the story of the games so much so they are demanding sequels so they know the next part of the story and how the gameplay will change. So I think we owe the series creator, Scott Cawthon, a little respect for making something pretty revolutionary in creating horror games. 

What do you guys think? Write down what you guys think of FNAF?

http://ai-don.deviantart.com/journal/Is-Five-Nights-At-Freddy-s-Art-518113242

Four-Eyed Carbuncle

My entry for Helpful Bear's Creature Design contest: www.facebook.com/events/452193…

My enchanted little creation is the four eyed carbuncle, a creature sited in Latin America that can bring luck to those who catch one. With its multiple eyes, it has a broad vision and able to spot enemies quickly so it can use its wings to make a quick escape. It has an affinity to sneak into people's homes to take gold and jewelry.

Fouette Zoetrope Animation

I created a zoetrope of a ballerina performing a fouette. A fouette (French for "Whipped") is a ballet term for a twirl where the dancer has keep one leg in a passe pose while they spin and must use that leg to whip their body around to maintain the speed of the spin without that leg touching the ground. In the Swan Lake ballet, the ballerina playing Odette must perform 32 fouettes in a row!

I cut out 16 2" squares and drew the dancer using a mechanical pencil, after inking it with a blue 005 micron pen I used blue, silver, and aqua glitter gel pens. I taped them onto a poster board that I created the wheel, and placed it onto a lazy susan. I had to thin the small pictures and make the viewing windows wider because the windows were too narrow.

Myotis The Bat Scholar

Please vote, go to the most recent entries to find it! insidefilms.com

 My entry for Dell's What Lives Inside contest. The first creature that came to mind was a bat, most people view bats as creatures of horror and scares, so I began looking into various cultures to find more positive views of bats. In Chinese culture, bats are considered lucky because the word for lucky (Fu) and the word for bat (Fu) are homophones. In certain Native American cultures, bats are symbols of rebirth, dreams, and enchantment, hence the feather decorations and the dreamcatcher earring and rings on his left hand. The idea of sloths also came into mind in the form of how they move so slow that moss grows on their backs.

Myotis is a bat character who is one with nature to the point where he lost his ability to fly. Due to his long lifespan, he has an extensive knowledge of magic and nature. But he is a gentleman character who help those who are lost.

Done in Photoshop.

Why Was The Lego Movie Snubbed?

The Lego Movie was considered one of the best movies released in 2014, and was expected to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. In mid-January, the nominees were announced, once they got to the animated film category, I was excited and nervous to hear who were chosen. After Big Hero 6, The Boxtrolls, and How to Train Your Dragon 2 were announced, people were ready for them to say The Lego Movie. But after the fourth nomination was revealed to be Song of the Sea, there were gasps and shocked expressions from viewers, the fifth nomination was given to The Tale of The Princess Kaguya. After the announcement, fans and critics were ranting about the snub as it looked like that The Lego Movie was guaranteed a nomination.

I myself was shocked, and wondering how this could have happened, this is just my opinion but this seems to make sense in my eyes. Then it hit me after I told my father he should see this movie, but was uninterested by saying "It looks stupid, it's just a marketing tactic, they are just trying to get you to buy toys!" Was it the fact that it was a famous toy line as the subject that cost it? Most of the oscar voters are around the age of 60, and some say that the Academy does not take the oscar category seriously. Most adults find the idea of watching cartoons too childish, regardless of the target demographic, and that the main focus of The Lego Movie was a real life popular toy product made it a double whammy! Unlike the Toy Story movies where they made their own original toys as the main characters.

Recently people complained about wanting to diversifying the Oscar voters based on race, nationality, and ethnicity, I think we also need to diversify the voters based on age. If we add more younger voters, at least 18 years old, I think we can look at the animated feature category and animation more seriously, and gain a more current perspective on other films.

Sources:http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/03/oscar-voters-94-white-76-men-and-an-average-of-63-years-old/284163/
http://variety.com/2013/film/awards/oscars-should-end-prejudice-against-animation-and-its-crafts-1200919732/