food for your brain

[bmh216]

but I'm going to have to enter this fray. Jeez, it took me 3 days to read all of this! Welcome to the 3D Graphics Philosophy Forum! Awesome thread, guys & gals.

Okay, here goes:

Concerning Seinfeld: what he did was, when he answered the phone and the telemarketer began his pitch, Jerry said "I don't have time to listen to this right now. Give me your phone number at home and I'll call you later and we can talk about it. What? You don't like to be bothered at home about this stuff? Well, neither do I". And he hung up. (Not an exact translation, but pretty close). Here's what I do with telemarketers: Phone rings. I pick up, "Hello?" "Yes, is Brett there?" "May I ask who's calling?" "This is regarding so-and-so special offer" "I'm sorry, he works 2 jobs. Try again around 3 a.m." Since by law in the US they cannot call after 9 p.m., they are stuck, and will simply hang up and usually leave you alone.

Here's a good tip for those annoying automated menu systems that you always seem to get caught up in on the phone: Either don't press any buttons, thereby making the computer think you are on a rotary phone and patching you directly to a "real" person, -or- repeatedly press zero as soon as you hear the "press 1 for whatever" line. You will almost always get a person a lot faster that way. Try it.

Jens,
Regarding "nature" programming, have you not seen the "Discovery Channel" or "Nature" or "Nova" or "National Geographic Presents" or a myriad of other nature-based programming that is available? I know you are in "a remote location", so maybe this programming is not available to you, but there is a lot of good nature-based, documentary-style, very informative programming out there.

There is a quote that I'm not quite sure who to attribute to regarding cinema: Movies work as long as they provide a "temporary suspension of disbelief". In other words, as long as you can lose yourself and your worries and concerns in a good story, the medium works. This can also be applied to CG, be it images or animation. If you can temporarily look at an image and imagine that place/time, the image works. You aren't looking at the models, how they were made and lit and textured, but just at the image in itself. This is when it "works" for you. Just as you can watch a film and not see actors wearing makeup, acting on a set that's constructed of cardboard and lit with studio lights, you can actually care for them and their welfare and if it's done well, you might even shed a tear for these "people". Are they real? No, they are characters being portrayed by actors.

Did anyone (everyone) see "Saving Private Ryan"? This film exemplifies what I'm getting at. You find yourself literally involved in this war. You care about the welfare of it's characters. You might even shed a tear. This is the "temporary suspension of disbelief". I believe it is a necessary and beautiful thing. And it doesn't have to be film. Almost all art uses this same concept, from theater to orchestra to painting to CG. Think about it.

Brett

[Crow Haven]

Yes, that was Jerry alright!!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Good tips also about what to do with those annoyance calls and answering machine menus---I have found that a few times it works to wait after the last menu item offered and in a bit it would suddenly say you could also press "O" and get a real person---but there's that pause before it which most people wouldn't listen through... [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] I guess they really don't like to have to speak in person!

Yes, a movie "works" if it takes you into another world for a bit...when I think about some of the new films, especially ones with a lot of CG effects, it just loses me when the story writing is lacking. No matter how fantastic the effects, without a great story and actors it just doesn't work for me. I'm almost afraid to go see the new Star Wars episode---I was very disappointed with the previous one. Again the story and acting seemed very below par...just my opinion though. I enjoyed The Lord of The Rings.

Yep, the 3D Philosophy Corner!!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
---As The Crow Flies!---
Maya

[s.winders]

Ya that was it Brett {Jerry}


Saving prvate Ryan actually helped a lot of veterans release bottled up emotions apparently.


My father was in WW2 .He went off a fresh faced young man and came home devoid of emotion.He does not speak about it very often but he tells stories of his company stopping for lunch in the desert and an over enthusiastic machine gunner firing at a plane way out of range,but those rounds killing another man doing nothing but eating his lunch with his friends.Or of bombers dropping their rounds short because they were petrified of flying into enemy fire,which is understandable,but those short rounds sometimes landed on their own.This is the war he and his friends remember of those who are still alive.He calls it the story which will never be told.And I guess this gos on in all wars as we are only human.But anyway Saving private Ryan did help a number of returned serviceman who were finally able to let it go,for this reason you could call the movie a miracle [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]


National Geographic and Discoverey programmes are brilliant,I suppose it is what you watch more then anything.I remember reading in a Time mag that they did tests on people watching soap operas,and apparently brain activity dropped from what would be even considered a normal rate [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]



Stu.