Chaplin's Latest Release!

It's the kind of thing urban legends are made of, everybody dreams about finding an eBay bargain, an elusive bootleg or rare treat, but one man has topped them all with the discovery on a previously unknown film staring the one, the only Charlie Chaplin.

When Morace Park placed his £3.20 eBay order for an unassuming film tin he probably had no idea that he was ordering an piece of film history. Perhaps in some dusty recess of his mind the part of all of us eBay junkies that yearn for a bargain was hard at work, silent and unknown but always pushing us to venture online for that elusive bargain. But this isn't 37 issues of Woman's Weekly for 19 pence -this is the real deal.

For contained within this insignificant tin was a previously unknown film buy Hollywood's original big star: Charlie Chaplin. One can only assume that Park is either in possession of the kind of luck usually associated with higher powers or incredibly gifted when it comes to business savvy because his £3.20 investment could realistically be worth millions. Not bad for an afternoons browsing.

It seems a real shame though that we have to define something as important and artistic as a rare film find in terms of monetary value because that's naturally where all the coverage of the event turns in the end. For me, the most interesting thing about this find is that the film, titled Charlie Chaplin in Zepped, offers incredible insights into not only the history of the film industry, but also history in general.

For a start, according to experts Zepped is probably not a lost studio production, but a film cut together using outtakes from previous films. This has reputedly happened often with Chaplin films, particularly during the decline of Keystone Pictures where much footage was made freely available. So it could be argued that what we are seeing here is an early example of bootleg footage. What is certainly a first is that this film contains some of the earliest examples of stop animation a remarkable piece of film history indeed. Chaplin was certainly no stranger to new technology given his transition from silent films through to "talkies", in 1940 he released The Great Dictator, his first true talking film and an impassioned attack on Hitler's evil. This leads on to the historical interest surrounding about this film as it gives a real insight into what has happening in the world at the time.

Chaplin lived through trying times

As the title suggests the film centers around Zeppelins, the prime international terror weapon during the First World War. The film sees Chaplin, who was accused of not doing enough to support the war effort, dreaming of returning to England from the United States to fight along side the troops and later mocking the Zeppelins themselves. It's kind of like mocking nuclear weapons in modern times. From a historical stand point the film is thought to be the first piece of propaganda aimed at undermining the psychological impact of Zeppelin warfare against England.

It shows that the link between world events and the media was certainly as alive during the Great War as it is now in a world where you can't escape the influence of pro-war, anti-war and propaganda films centered around the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Which whatever your stance on world events makes this film a fascinating discovery and so much more then an interesting monetary discussion point.

So congratulations Mr. Chaplin on another release, I look forward to my advanced 3D screening in the coming weeks...

Finally, wearing glasses is cool!

Avatar is the highest grossing movie ever, yup even more than Street Fighter: The Movie. Now this is partly to do with it being a pretty spectacular film, and it's partly to do with the tickets being a stonking £9 at my local cinema. How can you justify almost a Darwin on a ticket? 3D of course, the latest craze that is sweeping through Hollywood, and allowing cinemas to increase their prices by 30%.

3D technology has come a long way since the red and blue lense glasses of the past, and Cameron's epic pushed the technology to a new level, relying on making the effect subtle and natural rather than focusing on having things fly out of the screen towards the audience. Globally more cinemas are embracing 3D technology and going out of their way to bill as many films that use technology as possible, and why not, a tidy profit can be made on the ticket sales, and assuming the gimmick doesn't die out there should be a steady flow of customers willing to watch films with that extra dimension.
As I said; 'assuming the gimmick doesn't die out' which may well be happening already thanks to over saturation of the genre. If the actual films aren't of a high enough quality then the technology has to take all of the weight, and when against 3 hours of poorly scripted uninspiring dance drama that's a lot of weight to carry. With things so up in the air you'd think that 3D would still be viewed as a novel experiment and not a new full blown entertainment medium, apparently the TV manufactures aren't on the same wave length as the first batches of '3D ready' televisions are going to be with us in just a few months.

Sony are leading the charge with the Bravia, featuring bulky 3D glasses that need to be 'activated' before use, thanks to their 'active shutter technology'. Hideous glasses aside the effect is almost exactly the same as that when watching on the massive screens of the local multiplex, but with the added bonus of being able to change the film, or pop in a PS3 game and enjoy it in glorious 3D. While the thought of playing Killzone 2 or Wipeout Fury in HD is pretty exciting, it's not quite enough to justify investing in a whole new TV unless you're already in the market for one. Extra glasses will be available for purchase as well as the set is rumoured to only ship with 2 pairs, also the industry standard of 3D technology has yet to be decided, so don't expect to be able to take your Sony glasses to your friends house to use with his Phillips. A few companies are working on 3D tv's that don't require glasses and use a lenticular screen similar to the material those fancy hologram DVD cases work, but as of CES none of the major companies seem to be taking this option very seriously.

It's too early to call the 3 dimension race just yet, especially as pricing has yet to be announced. It's certainly an interesting concept, but not something worth diving in to until the format wars have settled down.

Building the future

Epson have been hosting a photography competition in assosciation with Wired over the past few months with various themes. The first was 'power' and was won by James Smith's photo entitled 'cables', the second was 'disruptive' and'barrier' by Paul Simpson bought home the prize. It is the final theme and the entries it received that I really want to look at today.

The theme was 'future', something very close to our hearts here at S&N, so obviously it seemed natural to have a closer look into the entries. What surprised me most of all was that the large majority of entrys were of architecture, not something that I naturaly think of when I hear the word future.

The two do go hand in hand however, after all the easiest way to define the future in visual formats is to change all the buildings radically, the floating saucer houses in the Jetsons being a good example. Our perceptions of how the future will look is always changing, the Blu Ray Terminator 2 has the films alternate ending set in the (at the time) distant future, the scene however looks extremely old fashioned because it features the now laughable round buildings with obscure angles and inexplicable protrusions, and of course, hoops. Obviously the future is never here, something that lingers intangibaly in the distance, so our perceptions of what is futuristic constantly changes. To some degree, in this country atleast, I feel we predict too much change in our future landscapes. I grew up in a Victorian house, one that many people had lived in before me, on a street made up entirely of those types of buildings. When I left a new family took up residence and the cycle began again. That house will be there another 50 years atleast I'd wager, and is in no danger of being replaced with a sleek space dome any time soon.

To me technology defines the future, and I have no doubt that a lot of other people feel the same way. Tech is constantly changing, already a model of the iPhone has become old tech, as have many consoles, TVs and every computer component released in the last seven minutes. Maybe then technology actually defines the past?

Welcome...

Technology is a funny beast, although sadly not in the way a cat doing stand up would hold that title. Trends move and flux and such a paste it can be hard to keep up with the latest thing, for every 'The Hub' there is a 'Google Wave'. Twitter is already showing the signs of possibly having hit its peak, and Facebook can't be far behind in moving into peoples 'tired' categories as the novelty wears off.

Blogs however seem to have managed to hold a pretty constant following, some how far outlasting any other kind of popular technological trend. It is with this in mind that we bring you this very blog, as we stand on a platform of the past to look out to the future.

You must be wondering by now what the point of this blog is, why should you bookmark this page and who are we? I'm really pleased to say we've got some exceptional talent on board, hand picked to include a wide variety of interests and talents, all bought together by the common love of all things creative. It is our hope. That by sharing our experiences and our passions with you that we may bring some inspiration and entertainment to you, especially if you are currently looking to pursue a creative career in any of the arts. Our staff consists of artists, writers and musicians and we're always on the look for fresh talent and contributions, so don't be afraid to get in contact.
You can expect to find reviews, news and opinion pieces on a wide variety of creative media, as well as life trying to chase 'the dream', so no matter what your taste you'll find something that appeals. And of course as people who love all things creative we'll also be bringing you some of our own work, and we welcome the submission of yours so we can help you advertise it and bring you the attention you deserve.

We hope you enjoy what you see.