NaN magazine – Page 5 – amusing things to read about

Mencius of the day

You search for the straight path far away and it is beside you. You believe that Goodness consists in making difficult things, when it is nothing more than making easy things with rectitude.

Game developers spotted!

http://www.gamedevmap.com/index.php

Publishers, development studios with a staff of five or more, studios with previously published games, and studios under contract with a publisher are listed.

Gamedevmap is a growing database of video game companies. For the sake of general curiosity, you can spot at a glance the most prominent areas for video game developing -this is a little tricky though, since the spots don’t give visual information on the number of companies on each one of them-. However, I believe that this link will be most valuable for those interested in entering the business, since it saves countless headaches searching for the companies’ locations and sites. Beware that not every company is covered: the webmasters rely on the readers’ help to complete the list, so this could be your opportunity to add a spot! 🙂

Risky Business

We all know that the producers’ aim is to make a profit. And it’s logical: like any company, they are moved by obvious interests:

Position in the Industry (I mean, having a predominance in a market segment against other companies)

…which allows them to be able to have at their disposal better human and material resources;

…which means they are able to tackle the biggest projects;

…which (they believe) will yield larger profits and cost-effectiveness.

Then, it’s sensible to think that every film will be considered a product to exploit economically. There’s nothing wrong with it.

Simplifying a lot, let’s Continue reading Risky Business

From here to Moroder

This is a great video featuring Giorgio Moroder playing one of his most famous hits, “From Here to Eternity”. Moroder was one of the greatest contributors to the electronic music scene in the seventies and eighties, producing music for countless artists (i.e., Donna Summer) and a handful of soundtracks, like The NeverEnding Story, Top Gun or Midnight Express, for which he was awarded an Oscar. In some aspects his music hasn´t aged very well, but he was a pioneer, and many of his songs will remain fresh forever. My personal favourite: chase!

Confucius of the day

Meng-chi-che had great physical strength and admirable courage, but that cannot be compared to the sublime strength of Truth, which Tseng-tse possessed.

In the mood for Love

Well. I don’t know the reason, but this afternoon I feel naive. Maybe it will be the nearness of summer time, or maybe not. One thing is true, today we are going to talk about romantic moments in the movies. Why not? Don’t I have the right to be mawkish (I expect I won’t) at least once every quarter?

Love or romantic scenes in the movies seem (too often) to be written by teenagers while hugging their pillows. Ugh! Bad vibrations, if we want to make a high-quality film. Is there a hope? I think so, and that is the reason why I will Continue reading In the mood for Love

Lego of Choice: Pinhole Camera

http://www.foundphotography.com/

I think the new design is simple and I dare say quite beautiful.

Adrian Hanft is a graphic designer and founder of the very interesting Found Photography Blog. Besides publishing his pictures he has also made several articles on the cameras he uses, among these a peculiar camera of his own invention: the lego pinhole camera.

A pinhole camera is a kind of camera which follows the same principle as the camera obscura (it is, actually, a small camera obscura). You can read a thorough explanation on both concepts in this and this Wikipedia articles; in brief, a pinhole camera is a camera with no lens, the light crossing instead through a very small hole in the body of the device. This simplicity has made pinhole cameras very popular among hobbyists, and you can easily Continue reading Lego of Choice: Pinhole Camera

Lovely head

There’s no doubt that Goldfrapp is one of the most interesting groups in the current music scene. But let’s start by the beginning. In the late 90’s, Allison Goldfrapp, alter having collaborated with some indie artists, joins Will Gregory so as to Continue reading Lovely head

Da Vinci Code, the movie: Afterthoughts

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thedavincicode/

(…) a secret that threatens to overturn 2000 years of accepted dogma

I wonder if “The Da Vinci Code”, the movie, will ever have a life outside of “The Da Vinci Code”, the book, just as much as I wondered before if “The Da Vinci Code”, the book, would ever have had a life outside of its title. In my opinion, both the book´s title and its cover design were the true reasons for its success, more than the plot, which albeit interesting was nothing new sub sole (for instance, check Peter Berling´s “The Children of the Grail“). In this way I would say that I Continue reading Da Vinci Code, the movie: Afterthoughts

Confucius of the day

In the past, those who devoted themselves to study searched for their own perfecting; nowadays those who devote themselves to study do so to affect upon the others.