mallika

By Carolyn Petit

In Hamlet, almost everybody dies. Even those who aren’t too familiar with Shakespeare’s tragedy know this much. It may as well be set in stone; Hamlet, Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, Polonius, Laertes and others will meet the same fate in every production of Hamlet you ever see, the characters powerless to change the course of events that result in their demise yet again.

But what if one character were made aware that these tragic events were repeating themselves? What if, like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day or Link in Majora’s Mask, Ophelia had the ability (or perhaps the curse) of reliving the events of Hamlet over and over again, and was empowered to try to alter her own fate and the fates of others? This is the concept behind designer Katie Chironis’ upcoming game Elsinore. I spoke with her and members of her design team last month at GDC, where Chironis described how the game emerged from her own background in literature and game design.

“I was a writing major in undergrad,” she says. “I read Hamlet multiple times in high school and again in college, just breaking it down, and at the same time that I was reading all these tragedies and dissecting them, I was also starting to make games. And so it was kind of like, ‘What if we combined this concept of the power fantasy where all you do is win win win, with a tragedy where all you do is lose lose lose?’”

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia doesn’t get to do much. This is partially why Chironis felt that she was the right choice for the protagonist of Elsinore. Hamlet, she notes, is “booked every hour of the day,” while Ophelia spends most of her time offstage, freeing her up to do other things while the play goes on. In Elsinore, you don’t change the course of events by poisoning people’s goblets or stabbing them in the back with daggers, though your actions might get other people to do such things. You do it by gathering information—often by eavesdropping on conversations—and then deciding when and with whom to share that information.

How is it that Ophelia can get away with skulking around? “Ophelia is kind of the ideal stealth character,” Chironis explains, “because nobody pays attention to her and nobody expects her to do anything. She’s so unimportant to the major events of the play, and so in some way, she’s the perfect person to be whispering in people’s ears.”

Even though information is your tool and your weapon in Elsinore, the game is much more complex than a standard series of dialogue trees. As engineer Eric Butler describes it, “What we wanted to do with Elsinore is to make some of it a simulation instead of a standard choose-your-own-adventure. So what we have is kind of a melding of these two; it’s not just a branching narrative and it’s not a wide-open simulation where you’re playing in a sandbox. What you’re doing is influencing parameters that then make certain events possible, certain events impossible, eventually changing the outcome.”

In those terms, it may sound kind of dry, but when you think about the very high, very human stakes for Ophelia and everyone else involved in the events at Elsinore Castle, it’s anything but.

“For instance,” Chironis says, “in the play, Gertrude’s whole arc is that she just kind of sits at the king’s side and then is poisoned and dies at the end. But what if you were to tell her that her husband actually murdered her last husband to get where he is? Would she try to get her revenge against him? There’s all these different paths, and because you can present information at any given point in the time loop, you have to account for that, given what the character knows right now and what they would do with that, given their mental state at the moment.” Or as Eric puts it, “Your actions don’t directly control what happens. Your actions control how the NPCs are thinking and feeling, and how they’re thinking and feeling controls what happens.”

This, the designers hope, will work to subvert any attempts to play Elsinore as a kind of power fantasy. Chironis says, “We’ve seen a lot of frustration from players where, I think their mental model when they start playing is, ‘If I gather all this information, I can have this perfect mastery. I can play puppet master.’ But you can’t because the characters are still really fucked up people with their own aims and ambitions that will get in the way of your best intentions.” So you might present a character with a piece of information that you expect will have a very positive result, only to see them twist it into something horrible because of their mental state, with the results being something you had no intention of bringing about.

Players may not exactly enjoy this, but the team is okay with that. Engineer Kristin Siu says, “It’s very disempowering for the player but for us, it’s pretty satisfying. It also fits in very nicely with this idea of tragedy. Tragedy is all about watching characters that you empathize with do things you don’t want them to do. You can try to present all this information to characters but they may not necessarily behave in the way that you want them to behave. And so part of experiencing the tragedy is seeing them take the information that you gave them and twist it into something terrible.”

But Elsinore isn’t all doom and gloom; as the time loop repeats, Ophelia learns things, and you actually can use the knowledge you gain to have a positive impact on the course of events. The game also takes a playful but subversive approach to its interpretations of characters in Shakespeare’s tragedy. Chironis says, “I grew up going to Shakespeare productions with my parents and it was always an all-white cast, and back in Shakespeare’s day it would have been an all-white, all-male cast. Now I think it’s interesting to reinterpret Hamlet for a modern audience that, I hope, doesn’t want to see an all-male, all-white cast.”

So Ophelia and her brother Laertes are biracial. Additionally, Chironis explains, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are women of color. And I don’t want to go into too much detail but a lot of the characters have fluid sexuality and gender identification. People think of history as being predominantly white and male but it actually isn’t, these people have been here all along. We’re gonna talk about their stories and their experiences through the lens of Hamlet.”

Elsinore is scheduled for release later this year. You can subscribe to the game’s mailing list on the official site.

Here's some exciting news for Texas filmmakers: The Austin Film Society has announced that the 2014 AFS Grant Cycle is now open, and the deadline for applications is June 2, 2014. Filmmakers who live in the state can apply for up to $15,000 to cover production, post-production or distribution of their independent narrative, documentary, experimental and short films. 

To help grant hopefuls through the application process, AFS will hold free and open to the public workshops during April and May in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Fort Worth. Register to attend an AFS Grant Workshop here and take a look at the details below. 

AFS Grant Workshops

• Austin -- Monday, April 21 at 7 pm in the AFS Screening Room (1901 E 51 Street, Austin, TX 78723).
• Houston -- Tuesday, April 29 at 6 pm at the Aurora Picture Show (2442 Bartlett St., Houston, TX 77098); co-presented by SWAMP.
• Dallas -- Monday, April 28 at 7 pm at KERA, Public Television and Radio for North Texas (3000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75201); co-presented by the Video Association of Dallas. 

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I wrote about ABC's American Crime series pilot earlier this week. Here comes the extras casting call. Note they seem to want "real" doctor, cops, etc. to play those roles. But you don't have to be unemployed to play a jobless person! Note that black and Latino extra are particularly being sought, and we have a start date of March 10.


*NEW PROJECT* – AUSTIN, TX Casting Notice: ABC Television Pilot “American Crime”

CASTING THE FOLLOWING PROJECT in the AUSTIN, TX area:

**Please share this notice with friends, family and anyone who might be interested!!
Extras Casting: On Location Casting
Project: “American Crime” – ABC Television Pilot
Shoot dates: We will be filming on a Monday – Friday schedule from 3/10/13 – 3/26/14. Various time requirements depending on role cast in.
Shoot times: Times vary depending on role cast in. Extras should be prepared to work a 12 hour+ day on the day chosen.
Shoot location: Austin, TX and surrounding areas
Compensation: NON-UNION Extra Rate is TBD but will be minimum wage or higher. Overtime will be paid after 8 hours. Lunch and snacks provided.
Talent Specs: *NOTE: ALL TALENT MUST HAVE PROOF OF TEXAS RESIDENCY in order to work this project!!!
EXTRAS: male and female, all ethnicities, all ages!!
–Some specific types include:
-Law Enforcement/Police Officers/Detectives (real – with experience preferred)
-Hospital Staff – Nurses/Doctors/Orderlies/ER Staff/ etc. (real – with experience preferred)
-Airline Ground Crew (real – with experience preferred)
-Flight Attendants (real – with experience preferred)
-Bartenders and Waitresses (real – with experience preferred)
-Reporters and Journalists (real – with experience preferred)
-News Crews (real – with experience preferred)
-Social Workers (real – with experience preferred)
-Coroner’s Office Staff – Coroner, Medical Examiner (real – with experience preferred)
-Cab Driver (real – with experience preferred)
-Security Guards (real – with experience preferred)
-Bridesmaids
-Groomsmen
-Unemployed Job Seekers (for unemployment office scenes – do NOT have to be real!)
-Hospital Patients
-Restaurant Customers
-Garage Workers and Mechanics (real – with experience preferred)
-African American Party Goers
-Hispanic Party Goers
-Burly Bouncers (real – with experience preferred)
-Dive Bar Customers
-People with ‘beater’ old cars
-Hip Hop types
–and many other general extra roles!
STAND-INS – for Lead actors. More detailed information will be posted later.

**We will be needing A LOT of African American and Hispanic talent. Please share this notice with friends, family, co-workers, strangers!

Overall Talent Considerations: NO professional acting experience required! NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY! Your OLC talent profile and photos MUST be UP TO DATE within the last 6 month! Children under 18 MUST have updated photos taken within the past 3 months! ALL TALENT MUST HAVE PROOF OF TEXAS RESIDENCY in order to work this project!!!

HOW TO SIGN UP: (*If you are already in the OLC database (from “Friday Night Lights”, “My Generation”, “Revolution” or other projects, DO NOT CREATE A NEW PROFILE for this project – just log-in to your original account and you will automatically be considered. If you do not remember your log-in info, send us an email to request it). Once signed up, make sure to follow our page on facebook at www.facebook.com/onlocationcasting  to get updated casting notices.

IF YOU DO NOT ALREADY HAVE A TALENT PROFILE with OLC -
Submissions to our website ASAP at: www.onlocationcasting.net .
Enter on Talent, Click Register and Talent Application. Complete application and upload 1-2 photos. It is FREE to register so you should NOT pay for the suggested ‘active’ account upgrades that will be offered twice a month. There is NO charge and you can be booked for work with the basic ‘not-active’ profile. DO NOT PAY FOR AN ‘active’ ACCOUNT!!!

-Recent photos of yourself should be taken within the past (6) months. Please submit one head/face shot and one full body shot if possible.

-**PHOTOS should be of clear good quality, facing forward to camera, NO sunglasses, NO hats, NO silly gestures or faces, and should include ONLY those being submitted for the project. Photos should not be date stamped with any year other than 2014! Try to take a photo against a solid color background – take one from just mid-chest up and one from mid-calf up if possible.

IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE to create an online talent profile – feel free to CALL us at 512-696-4233 and we will make arrangements to have you come in for an in-person photograph.
If you have additional questions about this project or On Location Casting – please feel free to email us at: onlocationcastingTX@yahoo.com  with subject line “American Crime”. Please do NOT email just to ask to be booked – we will not begin booking until approx. 3/7/14.

When I say, "Rex Manning," do you smile in recognition or stare in confusion? This is a test of whether you are Forever Fest's target audience (Rex Manning is, of course, the obnoxious yet idolized pop singer from the movie Empire Records). The new film festival, which takes place November 1-3 at Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, celebrates all things "girlie" pop culture ... I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it.

I sat down with the festival's founders Brandy Fons and Sarah Pitre at Hey Cupcake to discuss the formation of Forever Fest and to learn from these two girlie-gurus.

Slackerwood: How was Forever Fest first conceived?

Brandy Fons: Forever Fest was, in many ways, born during Fantastic Fest 2012. I had just seen and loved Pitch Perfect [a rather girlie film about college glee clubs], but I didn't allow myself to indulge because it was Fantastic Fest time and not many attendees were super interested in sharing my Pitch Perfect love. I was thinking about all the film festivals that Austin had to offer, and there really wasn't an option for the Pitch Perfect audience.

Then I started talking with Sarah about her audience that she had already built with her website Forever Young Adult for YA literature fans and the Girlie Night events at the Alamo Drafthouse, and I wondered if she wanted to partner. Some have called it the "little sister of Fantastic Fest," although I'm not quite sure I like "little."

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By Ellie Kotapish

Prepare yourself for jaw-dropping tales and a night in Austin with five of the most daring men in Hollywood. Starting in the 1960s, these "Danger Gods" have been performing stunts of extreme levels for many years. But they are capable of more than just crashing cars and freefalling from tall buildings.

I had a sneak preview of what's to come at Friday night's "Our Dinner with the Danger Gods" event, as special guest Gary Kent (pictured at right in his early stuntman days) discussed revolutionary cinema in the 1970s along with his experience as a stuntman and filmmaker.

Counterculture takeover:

The '60s were a time of revolution in the streets as well as the studios. This change is evident not only in the content of the films but also in the filmmakers themselves. Kent entered into this counterculture takeover fully aware of this "new energy," as he described it. It was this revolution in filmmaking that lured Kent to Hollywood in the first place.

With television absorbing audiences, drive-ins were left with a different crowd and "no product," Kent said. At the same time, this vacuum at the heart of the exhibition market meant independent filmmakers finally had a place to showcase their work. And with no studio control, the subject matter had virtually no limits.

Love of the stunt:

As all these forces were beginning to coalesce, Kent took a bus to L.A. to pursue acting under the naive impression that the actors performed their own stunts. It didn't take him long to realize that his skills as a stuntman were in higher demand than his acting talents.

Kent's first gig as a stuntman – with no experience whatsoever – was on Monte Hellman's film The Shooting (1966). At the same time -- and shooting in the same locations -- he doubled for actors Jack Nicholson and Cameron Mitchell on the film Ride in the Whirlwind (1966).

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Even though London, Milan and the penultimate Paris often provide more prolific intel into the immediate future of fashion, one thing you can always expect from New York Fashion Week is an extensive lay of the land. The groundwork that will foretell the nuances of future seasons, if you will.

After all, without this city – our City – how would we know to keep an eye on bright lipstick, or low slung Bermuda shorts and pants, fringe details and fabric chokers? The simple answer is, we wouldn’t.

Arguably more interesting this season, though, is that in spite of a few recycled-but-new trends of note, most of what was sent down the runways appeared more like a continuation of past seasons than it did the surge of a brand new one. This is, of course, good and bad.

Good because for the first time in a long time, the clothes are perhaps unwittingly submitting that you don’t need to participate in every single season in some tangible capacity in order to adopt the gist. The subsequent assumption there is that the clothes are about the pure fun and artfulness of fashion rather than the consumption factor. It may be rendered bad, though, because at the start of every season, when the inevitable question – what are you expecting? – is asked, our answer is always, the unexpected.

We’re eager to make due with the hand we’ve been dealt though, so let’s swim on.

While hints of fringe have been imbued in the likes of Saint Laurent’s previous collections, no where has it been as salient as it was at the Spring/Summer 2014 New York shows. While Altuzarra showed it cascading down his model’s chest line in the prototypically Western suede, Calvin Klein, Tibi, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Marc Jacobs opted to use softer, lighter weight fabrics to create movement in their garments. What seems most interesting here in that in suffusing the trend into these collections, their outcomes are fundamentally different from one another – Calvin Klein’s fringe calls to mind an elderly woman’s astute knitting pursuits while as previously mentioned, Marc Jacobs is all about the ornamental throw pillow.

And with those throw pillows come visibly rounded shoulders which, uh, made their rounds during this past season as well. Photographed here you’ll find examples from Proenza Schouler in soft beige, Michael Kors in a tougher cognac-colored leather, Prabal Gurung in electric blue knit, Delpozo, with its sheer paneling and ethereal aura and Victoria Beckham, whose version looks slightly more like an oversize mens coat than it does a cocoon.

At Sass & Bide, The Row, Theyskens’ Theory, Richard Chai and Steven Alan, a nod to skirts worn over pants called back to mind the previous Fall/Winter collection of Dries van Noten, in stores now and continuing to endorse the combination of not a short, flared peplum-style skirt with pants but rather the more recently popular straight mid-length version.

In another nod to what is new but only in that it’s taken inspiration from the previous seasons, the thick metal chokers of collections’ past are now back and appearing as Isabelle Duncan style fabric choker-cum-neckerchiefs which actually bear a more nostalgiv semblance to The Girl with The Red Ribbon. (When she takes it off, her head falls off). Photographed here: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Creatures of The Wind, Ostwald Helgason, Cushnie et Ochs, Prabal Gurung and Tracy Reese.

Meanwhile, where color is concerned, Prabal Gurung, Misha Nonoo, Wes Gordon, Phillip Lim and Rag & Bone put one foot forward in favor of lavender – a nice segue from the additional pastel colors now emblematic of the fashion-sphere but far enough to hold its own beyond the obvious pale pink, blue and green.

In news that will be terrific to relay to the shoesmiths at Birkenstock and the wearers at Fashion Week, for the first time in a long time, several shows this season provided a slew of models wearing flats and only flats. And beautifully ugly ones at that. Photographed here are the iterations from Marc Jacobs, Phillip Lim, Creatures of The Wind, Band of Outsiders and Oscar de la Renta.

We reckon they’d pair terrifically (send ‘dem men running!) with the low slung, California-inspired board shorts of the season care of Phillip Lim, Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger and Suno.

Those low slung shorts are different from culottes, though, which were also a trend near and far at Tibi, Alexander Wang, Creatures of The Wind, Adam Lippes and Proenza Schouler. Remember that love letter Amelia wrote to exposed ankles just before the initiation of fashion week? Yeah.

Another trend we really enjoyed watching come to fruition was that of the deep, deep v-necks, reversible and not, indigenous to Alexander Wang, Rag & Bone, Reed Krakoff, Ralph Lauren and Rodarte. While we wholly understand this is a trend meant only for the most meagerly endowed chests, it’s exciting to see a non-sexual or promiscuous nod to bearing a body part that is becoming increasingly less taboo.

And while we’re talking nonsexual promiscuity, how about all the sheer paneling at Phillip Lim, Calvin Klein, Helmut Lang, Lacoste and Victoria Beckham? If last season was “all about” the exposed midriff, this one wants to scale back just a morsel of a bit and offer a measly veil of concealment.

…Kind of. If ever there was proof that My So Called Life is still as important today as it was during its initial heyday, it has got to be fashion’s relentless strive to keep the 90s alive. The decade has once again proved once that it’s not ready to depart, which for us, is a point of victory considering our recent investment in a fresh crop of, yes, crop tops and plaid shirts to wear around our waists. Photographed here, modicums from DKNY, Alexander Wang, Rodarte, Rag & Bone, Narciso Rodriguez and Jen Kao.

And on that note, it should make sense that the future of that trend might manifest as a series of slip dresses and negligees, which were featured at Thakoon, Theyskens’ Theory, Wes Gordon, Steven Alan and Marchesa. Now I don’t know about you, but I can totally get behind actually rolling out of bed in a night gown, lacing up my dirtiest white sneakers and walking out the door.

Finally I feel regretful to confirm that Cara Delevingne was not among the most roaring trends last week. Luckily for next week’s round up, she and her dashing eyebrows are everywhere in London. And with that, I drop the mic.

Collages by Charlotte Fassler & Samantha Herzog