arts / 10

Cutting a classic back down to size

» ‘The Hobbit: Dwarfed Edition’ film review

Chandler Walter
Distribution Manager

he Internet is chock-full of

people who like to complain
about everything. Once ina blue
Durin’s Day moon, someone
actually does something about
it. These people are the true
keyboard heroes.

Among these modern day
saints isa Reddit user under
the name of “AdultTeenBaby”
who has put in the time, effort,
and risk of legal action to cut
the first two installations of
The Hobbit down to an hour of
footage each. The end goal is
a three-hour movie, spanning
the entire Hobbit trilogy and
covering, for the most part, only
what was actually in the book.

With the three movies
combining for a total of more
than eight and a half hours (I’ve
always joked that you could
finish the book in less time), it
must have taken quite the pair
of digital scissors to shear away
the excess. But what was left
was greater than any hoard of
Dwarven gold.

Most—f not all—important
aspects of the literary story were
left. Though, with less dialogue
and awkward inter-racial sexual
tension, and fewer battle scenes,
the movies lose the dreary pace

that so vexed critics and fans
alike.

: Notably missing:

: - Legolas and his girlfriend/

: sidekick Tauriel

: - That one white orc that just

: can’t ever seem to die. (Due to

: this, the wolves and the fires

: in the trees and the deus ex

: machina—I mean eagles—had
: to be cut as well)

: - Our third favourite wizard,

: Radagast the Brown and his

: rabbit ... sled ... thing

: - About 20 minutes of barrel

: riding

: - Some dwarves being left

: behind in Lake-town, just to

: open up the possibility of more
: strange, strange romance scenes
: - The entire climax of The

: Desolation of Smaug

: Thankfully kept:

: - A much shorter rest at

: Rivendell

: - Riddles in the dark with

: Gollum

: - Beornand his queer lodgings

: - Flies and Spiders and all those
: fun things

: - A casual conversation with

: the dragon, Smaug “The

: Magnificent”

: - One of my all-time favourite

: Middle Earth quotes: “We have
: no time to wait upon the wizard” :
: - Thorin ... and pretty much any
: other character who has made

: plans with the guy

With the three movies

: edited down to their much more :
: reasonable proportions, most

: of the central plot is dedicated
: to Bilbo’s development as a

: character. This was something
: that seemed almost drowned

: out by all the other filler plots,
: and I appreciated that the

: editors were able to bring it to
: the surface.

Overall, I found the first

two-thirds of The Hobbit:

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: Dwarfed Edition to be

everything I would expect The

: Hobbit to have been, if it was

: only made into one movie in the
: first place. I cannot wait to see

: how the editors incorporate The
: Battle Of Five Armies into their

: project.

When it is finally a complete

three hours (a long movie, even
: at that), I feel that The Hobbit:
: Dwarfed Edition will make a

necessary start to any Lord of

theotherpress.ca

 

: the Rings marathon viewings.

: Because who is really going to go
: through more than eight and a

: half hours before even making it
: to Fellowship of the Ring?

(The Other Press does

: not support or encourage

: viewing online torrent material.
: Accessing The Hobbit: Dwarfed
: Edition is at your own risk.)

 

Kickstarter in the Community: Chemistry and comic books

» Science enthusiast creates comic book from doctoral thesis

Cheryl Minns
Arts Editor
Marts
@theotherpress.ca

 

Veron Berns, PhD, has
always loved science from
a young age, wishing that

she could catch a ride on the
Magic School Bus or that Bill
Nye the Science Guy would be
her fourth grade teacher. As
she got older, she realized that
some of her friends and family
didn’t understand science as
well as she did, which became
particularly difficult when she
began her doctoral thesis in
chemistry at the University of

Wisconsin-Madison.

“I got very sad that this
thing—this culmination of five
total years of my life—wouldn’t
be accessible to my non-

wrote to the Other Press.
That’s when Berns got

: creative and translated the

: complex content of her thesis
: into something her family

: and friends would definitely

: understand: a comic book.

“I chose a comic book

: format because it’s what I know
: how to do. lama fan of comic

: books and graphic novels, but

: T also love to draw and doodle,”
: she wrote. “It also helped that

: my particular area of study is

: very visual.”

Atomic Size Matters is

: a full-colour, 50-page comic

: book about the “theory of

: why calcium and cadmium

: atoms pack together to form

: quasicrystals.” The book is

: divided into six sections,

: starting with the basics of solid
: structures and the way atoms

: interact, and moving on to

: quasicrystals and where this

meoneaane a» : kind of research is headed in
scientist friends and family,” she :
: the future.

After realizing the impact

: the comic book could have on
: non-scientists, Berns set out

: to publish her comic book, not
: through a publisher but with

: the help of crowd-funding.

“To me, the book is a

: practical replacement for sitting :
: down with someone over lunch
: and explaining to them this

: cool story about theoretical

: chemistry,” she wrote.

: “Kickstarter allowed me to put

: my voice and face in front of the
: book and connect with people

: before they even get their copy

: in the mail.”

The Kickstarter campaign

: for the comic book has become
? a success, raising more than

: $9,000 from over 300 backers,

: and still has plenty of time left

: before it finishes on February

: 3. The campaign became the

: Kickstarter Project of the Day

: and reached its funding goal of
: $5,965 on January 12. It was also
: chosen as a Kickstarter Staff

: Pick.

“T’ve gotten a lot of

: heartwarming messages about
: parents eager to read it to their
: kids, and grown children of

: scientists who want to read the
book with their moms and dads :
: and havea conversation about
: science with everyone on the

: same page,” Berns wrote. “I’m

: really excited to see it bringing
: people together. That’s a

: positive effect I didn’t predict.”

The colourful, cartoonish

: illustrations and unique,

: handwritten lettering in Atomic
: Size Matters make the comic

: book stylistically approachable

for most age groups.

“The font is one I made

using my own handwriting.

: It was important to me that

: everything looked really hand-
: done and a little bit sloppy,

: like I was drawing it just now

: off the top of my head,” she

: wrote. “The Sunday funnies

: section was a huge part of my
: life asa kid, and I think the
: handwritten font idea came
: from there. Just really simple
: drawings with a bold, black

: line.”

Atomic Size Matters is just

: the start for Berns and science-
: themed comics. She’s already

: got her next idea in mind.

“I’ve been thinking about

: making a series of comics that

: explain the science behind

: the annual Nobel Prize,” she

: wrote. “I’ve done a few of them,
: and it has been fun to venture

: into unfamiliar territory like

: biochemistry and cell growth.

: But it takes a lot of time, so it

: will bea while before I have a

: substantial collection built up.”

To learn more about Atomic

: Size Matters or to support the

: campaign, check out the project
: on Kickstarter.com. Berns can

: also be found on Tumblr at

: Nique.tumblr.com