Tomorrowland, more interesting stuff...

The marketing for Tomorrowland just got better, more interesting - less puzzling.

Found this website this morning:  http://takemetotomorrowland.com

There's things to explore, the whole Plus Ultra thing is opened up a bit and it's all wrapped up in an interactive 360 degree high resolution environment.

As usual it is relentlessly optimistic, forward looking and incorporates that child-like, uncynical vision of the future that the film has.

In some ways it also has that creepy feeling that I got after five days at Disney world some years ago. A corporate intensity, but also blandness. Almost a feeling of a religion or a large political gathering where breaking the rules was unthinkable - why would you want to do that?

That said, it's still a masterpiece of marketing.

Playing around with Bones

It's often said in some circles, the best way to learn something is to teach it. Yesterday I was confronted by having to teach something that only appeared 10 days ago. This was the poor, but respectable result.

Timing is all over the place. Joints are not in the right place really, but passable...

This is using the new (old) IK or Bones feature.

What you do is a number of Flash symbols, link them together with "Bones" and then when you move one part of the model. the other parts move in sympathy.

It's called inverse kinematics.

It's a process that allows more, and simpler naturalistic animation.
This is the structure I added using the Bones. Since this was the first time I'd ever used them, I didn't realise that the way I had done it, the shoulder would articulate from the heart and not the shoulder.

This then required careful use when I tried to animate it.

Next time I'll add far more hinge points and also restrict their movement so things like feet can't turn upside down.

Below is a screenshot of the arm moving. All I did was to drag the hand and the rest obediently follows.

The other thing, which I knew, but didn't do because this was just messing' was to prepare by producing a storyboard with the all important timings on them.

This would have prevented the animation looking a bit lazy when he's supposed to be zooming off into the sky.

For the flying sequence, I did a screenshot, the one here, resized it, flipped it and then did a loop the loop motion tween.

The background is a bit of rust I found in Google.


Leave a note if you like more info, or to see more.

Viral marketing lesson from Disney. (may contain spoilers)

I stumbled about this quite by accident in some ways. Recently I went to see the new Disney film, "Tomorrowland". It's a decent enough film in many ways - to be honest I couldn't quite be sure if it was intelligent, optimistic - or just too sugary sweet Disney and a bit boring.
Over the following days I mellowed and relaxed into the grip of its grinningly optimistic take on a wonderful technological future. I have even become defensive when other writers snarl at its optimism. I found this cynical and more than a bit depressing. After all that's what 60s children like me grew up on and it was a world full of sparkly things that would never go wrong* that we looked forward to.
However, digging around the web for more information I uncovered a whole network of hidden websites and a viral marketing campaign that had me gasping with awe at it's breadth and scope. Here's where it started

There's more I found here

*An if they did there was always International Rescue.

Here's the review I wrote for Amazon:

 "The prequel to "Tommorrowland" the film, this book sheds
 light on some of the mysteries in the film - and opens up some bigger ones of it's own.

It's an easy read - I did it in a day - and the print edition comes with a reproduction of the comic book that is constantly referred to through the story. You definitely want this version, because when you have worked out the code in the rear of the comic and then done some searching you will find a huge network of clues, codes, mysterious websites and real artefacts that Disney have cooked up to expand your enjoyment.

Of course some, probably most of this is viral marketing for the film; but it's very clever and great fun. I'm still watching the tricky to find cartoons about the founding of Tommorrowland with considerable amusement and recommend you do too."

Tomorrowland Times

Here's where a lot of this information is consolidated. But is it a fan site or a fake site?

Probably a fan site. But after all this browsing I wasn't sure what was real or fantasy. What do you think?

The Code

Here's the translation of the code: "Put on your glasses look out the window bring the comic we are waiting foq you". Note the second to last word is miss-spelled. There's a reason for that and although I'll show you some of the things I found I'm not going fill this full of spoilers.

There's other clues in the book and the built in comic book. Also, if I had read the book before seeing the film there would have been other surprises and connections as well.

Websites

There's a website that supports the people supposedly building Tomorrowland as a place. This is the Plus Ultra Website

If you click on the logo at the bottom it slides across and asks you for a code. If you had the code, then it takes you to a page associated with that code.

This is the page for the code I put in. It's that old grandaddy of hardcore real science and beloved benefactor of pseudoscience Telsa.

On the page you can see seven real Tesla patents and one fake one. TIP: this is a good way to lie..

This is the fake patent, I believe. (Note if anyone knows different please drop me a line!)

The patent drawing isn't up to the usual standard.

The product never existed - or as far as I'm aware could exist.

But it's really nice idea and is an important part of the film.

But then there's one that for the antis. This is Stop Plus Ultra
It's quite an interesting read. Of course if you read this, the other stuff and watch the film, you may end up thinking that the write of the article cited at the beginning has actually been taken in by it all. Is Tomorrowland fiction or propaganda disguised as fiction? Was there actually something that Disney cooked up back in the 50s and 60s that the film refers to? (For a clue, look up the history of EPCOT.)

Hidden in the pages is another clue or two. Also links in with the pin badges that feature widely in the film and in the virals.

Also videos:

This is about Stop Plus Ultra (Quick point for keen observers, how can you tell this isn't genuine period footage? - answers below please)

And this one "Take Back Tomorrow" interestingly, I note that these have been viewed by a very low number of people. Clever targeting? Missed targeting? How you do (along with everything else) a viral?

And then there's the fake and edited Wikipedia pages. Of course by the time you've read this, they may well have been removed or corrected.

This article on Tomorrowland Times says they have

There's an article in Wikipedia about Tesla in fiction, that screenshots the edits. (Reproduced here). You can find the original article by following this link.

The entry for the 1939 world's fair was also doctored. Link

Including the century 21 article. and an article about the 1909 World's fair.

Not forgetting Edison either. Link here Click on images for full size.

Artefacts and Articles
Supposedly, the Tomorrowland plan was discovered when this box was found buried under the "Small World" attraction as it was being moved from New York to Disneyland. Inside the box are a number of carefully crafted artefacts. The whole thing was revealed at the film's launch. You can read about it by following thee links:

http://www.slashfilm.com/tomorrowland-box-opened/
New York Times buys into the story: http://nypost.com/2015/05/16/the-plot-for-tomorrowland-came-from-this-mystery-box/
As does Geek: http://www.geek.com/news/tomorrowlands-mystery-box-opens-reveals-the-movies-true-intentions-1619660/

Other codes and puzzles

All through the viral are little codes that one up new secrets that in the end lead you to Disneyland Florida. What I particularly like about this - and similar things* - is that although you are quite sure that this is all fake, there's a little bit of you that wants it to be real and ends up not quite sure where the fantasy begins.

There was a morse code on a website that you needed to decode. When decoded led you to real locations.
Where, if you believe anything at all, this was dug up with another code on the top..
You can read about it here at Tomorrowland Times.

Videos
This video details the origins of Plus Ultra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-USh0Womb4 It's a nicely made retro looking bit of animation, which fills in another bit of back story to the main film. Of course just in case you missed it, the trailer, one of them is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNzukD8pS_s - and a mini 'making of' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItCdrcgtF0U Finally, a mix of fact and fiction - the Vision of Tomorrowland.
Don't miss the (real) LP with two tracks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_QnHowli3Y

Other
Disneyland  on Plus Ultra
Business Insider on viral and parts missing from the film
Wikipedia entry on the film

*I did an exhibition of fake science things a couple of years ago at FAB. Fact mixed up with daft fantasy, it surprised me how many people took it seriously. It was called Mechanisms and I'll post it somewhere at some point I promise.

Looking and Recording: Basics of developing a concept

Context: Modern media uses a huge amount of visual information to communicate ideas. Finding out what has gone before and discovering new information is an important part of that process. Today we look at the impact of toursim on Bath, you have to develop ideas (Ideas - not finished work) that communicate the (City/College/Something else?) in a fresh way.

Activity: With a sketchbook and a camera the learners will take a walking tour of Bath looking and observing carefully things that they have been primed for. They will need to record their observations that they have made using all five senses as photography, sound recordings, handwritten notes and collected ephemera. They should have previously looked and understood the usual clichéd image of Bath and seek to avoid that.