@ va Have an idea for a story? M arts@theotherpress.ca The 35th anniversary of "TRON’ > How the pioneering motion picture influenced CGI in television and film Clive Ramroop Contributor 6 ‘Gans: programs!” On July 9, 1982, a motion picture crept into theatres, introducing audiences to a cyberspace adventure inside a computer. While TRON was only a minor hit overshadowed by E.T- the Extra-Terrestrial dominating the box office, its innovative 3D computer graphics became a launchpad for TV and film productions to spawn more creative milestones in those media. In The Making of TRON, a documentary on the movie’s DVD, storyboard artist and animator Bill Kroyer recalled the difficulty of using early computers for a movie: “There really was no software to make anything move ... only software to describe where things sat. Let’s say you got an object like a light cycle. For every frame that it moves, it will need at least six numbers to describe its position; its X-, Y-, and Z-translations to show where it is in space. For 100 frames, you need 600 numbers of data—1oo frames is 4 seconds. Then we gave these guys at the computer company these exposure sheets with six rows of numbers for every single frame, and they typed them in. There was no way to just download it. And the CC “ITRON’s| innovative 3D computer graphics became a launchpad for TV and film productions to spawn more creative milestones in those media." very first time we would see it move ... we would stand there in front of this gigantic 7o-mm screen, and they would run this film on a projector. That was our ‘pencil test,” Kroyer said in the documentary. Director Steven Lisberger, in the documentary, described the movie as “highly experimental” and “cutting- edge,” but also added, “The Motion Picture Academy refused to nominate TRON for special effects, because they said we ‘cheated’ when we used computers, which, in light of what happened, is just mind-boggling.” Indeed, Pixar’s John Lasseter was inspired by TRON to be involved in computer-animated film: “Without TRON, there would be no Toy Story,” he said in the DVD feature. CGI would creep its way to greater prominence in audio-visual media, before venturing into full CGI productions. A quartet of British animators who made Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing (1985),’ the first CGI music video, moved to Vancouver in the 1990s and created ReBoot: The first 100 per cent CGI cartoon series. In the ReBoot DVD special Alphanumeric: Looking Back at ReBoot, Gavin Blair’s experiences with his pioneering co- creators echoed those of TRON. “The first episode produced ... took the best part of nine months. We had to build all the characters, all the sets, locations, props, everything. And work out how we were going to make the characters talk, develop the software to make the characters talk,” Blair said in the DVD special. “We were basically building the entire universe, and all the characters and working out ways to animate it, render it, get it to tape, edit it. We were answering every question as we went. We were doing something that no one had ever done. A lot of the people we were working with ... were from a traditional animation background; what we were doing was way more like live-action production.” Speaking of which, CGI’s evolution Time's arrow marches forward > ‘BoJack Horseman: Season four’ review Mercedes Deutscher Social Media Coordinator kkkknx Caution: This review contains minor spoilers. No original Bofack Horseman released its fourth season on September 8, and as a massive fan of the show, I must say this is the strongest season yet. Season four delves into the beautiful yet haunting family past of our protagonist. With less interaction between BoJack (Will Arnett) and the other main characters, other storylines are allowed to thrive. New supporting characters, voiced by a star-studded cast, range from hilarious to heartbreaking. The season opener plays on a theme of political absurdity, one that no doubt resonates with an audience in 2017. Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins), despite having no political experience whatsoever, has started a campaign to become the Governor of California, vying for the office held by Woodchuck (Andre Braugher). His wife, Diane Nyugen (Alison Brie), feigns support, despite sometimes opposite political stances and a rocky marriage. In what may become a historic television storyline, Todd Chavez (Aaron Paul) struggles with asexuality. Yet, by far the strongest theme of the season is parenthood. We see it reflected through Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris) as she debates staring a family with her boyfriend, Ralph (Raul Esparza.) We see it through the eyes of Beatrice Horseman (Wendie Malick) who inherits her poor parenting through her own parents and broken dreams. We see it through Hollyhock (Aparna Nancherla,) a new character who yearns to know where she came from, even with a loving home life. While the previous season experimented with storytelling with no dialogue, this season experiments with new styles of animation. Faces are scribbled out due to resentment or disappear along with memory. Edges and people become frantically drawn as BoJack spirals into his all-too-familiar depression. A cut- and-paste style is even used during a flashback of Princess Carolyn’s. I have very few complaints over the new season, however one complaint is found in a certain tradition. It is tradition in Bofack Horseman that “fuck” is only spoken once. In past seasons, it is uttered in a serious and pivotal moment. Yet it slips out early in season four, and has been one that other fans have had to re-watch to notice. Of course, the significance of this f-bomb—quite different from its previous contexts—is revealed later on in the season. It’s forgettable, but I would say that it’s forgivable given the strength of the season as a whole. Meanwhile, there are some episodes that seem like straight filler. I’m mainly referring to “Underground,” an episode where a campaign fundraiser goes horribly awry. While it has some comedic merits—and even then, it’s not the strongest for comedy—it stands out as an okay episode in an otherwise stellar season. Immediately following “Underground” is “The Judge.” While perhaps being slightly more relevant to the overarching story, this is my second pick for weakest episode. Although it touches on some strong themes of shallowness of celebrity culture and racism, it’s fairly forgettable, and its comedy feels forced. Having two weaker episodes right next to each other marks a dry spell in the season, but the following episodes more than make up for it. It’s difficult to choose a favourite episode. One runner-up includes “Ruthie,” which follows an abnormally awful day for Princess Carolyn. A terrible day where seemingly everything goes wrong is a story that everyone can relate to—even though they may not experience the same hardships Princess Carolyn faces. My other choice for runner-up is “Time's Arrow.” It’s the uth episode, which has always been the dark and emotional climax of the season. The episode is a flashback episode that (¥ ‘Nowhere to Go’ board game review (¥ Nota what but an ‘It’ (¥ An hour of free live music And more! gradually became photorealistic in live- action environments. Among countless milestones since TRON, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) demonstrated realistic human motion with the liquid- metal T-1000, and Jurassic Park (1993) brought dinosaurs out of extinction with the first photorealistic CGI animals. Avatar (2009) would take CGI even further with performance capture technology to generate photorealistic characters that could interact in a photorealistic CGI world. And in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Andy Serkis attracted worldwide attention (and awards) for his “virtual” performance as the digital character Gollum. Unfortunately, the Academy repeated its failure to understand computerized advancements in art, refusing Serkis a Best Supporting Actor nomination despite the performer interacting live with other actors on film sets. Leave it to Pixar to notch up one more significant CGI milestone: in 2009, Up would be the first CGI feature to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. If that final milestone of a computer- animated feature film winning Best Picture at the Oscars is ever achieved, perhaps it should consider mentioning TRON in its acceptance speech for building the first step that gained it that prize. “End of Line...” focuses on the previously mysterious upbringing of Beatrice Horseman, BoJack’s mother. It demonstrates hard decisions, and how we must live with the choices we make. But if I could only choose one episode as my favourite, it would be “The Old Sugarman Place.” It follows up on BoJack’s state after he seemingly runs away from all of his troubles in Hollywoo at the end of season three. It also focuses on a pivotal time in Beatrice’s young life. Despite probably 50 years taking place between these storylines, they parallel each other perfectly, sometimes even in the same screen. It tackles mental health and gender—once in a time where women were encouraged to keep their emotions to themselves, followed with how men are expected to show their emotions today. The music is dazzling, and leaves me humming along days after. It is not only one of the best episodes in BoJack Horseman as a whole, but perhaps one of the best episodes on television this year. I could probably fill this entire publication with praise over this show, but for brevity’s sake—just watch it. BoJack Horseman is so much more than another adult cartoon. It will make you smile, it will make you cry, and it will make you hurt. But you will love it all the more.