Hey there! While you're browsing through my stuff please let me know what you think, I need as much constructive criticism as I can get.

Nowadays I'm much more active on my tumblr, which you can find here [link]. Although I may not respond immediately I'll try to show get back to all your comments and favourites. If I favourite your work or send you a llama, don't feel like you HAVE to reply, but I'm glad to hear when it's appreciated.

Thanks for dropping by!

I'm back on deviantArt - for now at least. A big thank you to everyone who gave me a comment, favourite, watch or llama! Sorry I can't thank you all individually, but I've given you all a llama as a token of my appreciation. I have a few new things since I've been here last, which I'll be uploading over the next few days. Hope to see you soon, and don't forget that feedback and critiques are always appreciated.

Cheers!

If there's one thing I can say about Tron: Legacy, it's that it made me think. Hours after I left the cinema I was still divided, because it seemed to defy classification. And to its credit, not many films manage to make me do that.

I was divided because, at its face value, Tron: Legacy is not a good movie. The plot is essentially the same collection of archetypal characters and themes that we've been seeing for years in similarly large budget films. In many ways Legacy makes a close comparison to Avatar, because both films seem to be foremost preoccupied with selling the technology we're told will revolutionise film and somehow seeming to forget providing the substance that drives these narratives in the process. But although the driving plots of both these films are similarly mechanical, Tron: Legacy's great success lies in the details.

Because in fact, Legacy actually does have a very good story to tell, it's just that that's not the one that the directors decided to tell you. The mechanics and society of the computerized Tron world are only skimmed throughout the movie, and yet somehow these vague references, were enough to keep me in a sense of wonder through the entire film. I wanted the to explore this world, to understand its bizarre social dynamics and physical laws, but of course we never get the chance. Even the role of ENCOM in the beginning in the film had me intrigued, which seemed to be building up to some sort of plot point which was never realised, implying the greater interrelationships beyond the film alone.

And while the film's plot was often handled with an extremely heavy hand, there were also a few sparse moments of brilliantly executed subtlety and restraint that are so rarely seen in modern big-budget cinema. The scene where CLU and his lackeys arrives in Flynn's house in the wasteland could have easily been the setting for a string of dramatic exposition, but almost not a word is spoken. Instead we see them wondering at the objects that lie about the room: a cushion, a toy, a piece of fake fruit, things that they can never hope to create themselves, and its at that moment when it becomes clear how alien this world really is.

Strangely enough the strong religious overtones of the film - which would normally be a dealbreaker for me - were also handled with relative subtlety, given some depth by the fact that the film went out of its way to show that humans in general and more specifically Flynn (essentially a deity in the electronic world) was imperfect, though its a shame that these themes were mostly left at face value. But the simple fact that it was exploring the fact that humans are now almost capable of being god make this film an interesting reflection of a modern, computerized society (although to tell the truth it's difficult to say whether these things were intentional, or whether I'm simply reading too much in to it). Strangely enough, during the opening segments of the movie there's also some strong support for open-source software, which isn't something that's regularly tackled in the world of big-budget movies, and a small geeky part of me was extatic to hear.

Tron's narrative may lean on its stunning visuals as a crutch, but there's more here than meets the eye. And if you're willing to be patient, if you can look in to the details and open your imagination, then you might just stumble across something unique.

I've been absent for a while, but I'm going to start trying to keep up with this page again! Although you can probably expect another long silence as soon as university starts up again.

In recent news, I have an internship (paid!) in the web-design department of a property developer starting tomorrow. I'm both nervous and excited, but it means I'll probably have much less time for arting during this break. But at least it's something to keep me busy until the next round of university begins.

Cheers!