3 Arts Kate Romain 7 Film Willa Hope + Louis Pigeon-owen 10 Fashion Emily Claridge 15 Creative Writing Hugo Douglas-Deane 19 Gaming Kirsty McAlpine 23 Television Denise Koblenz 27 Music Alice Mortimer + Lois Young Deputy Editor - Melissa Haggar Art And design assistant - Emily Mildren
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Cover photo by MURRAY LEWIS
Concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk
muahahaaha editorial overlords Dougie dodds + niamh Jones leh Bleh Bleh! *Insert more stereotyped vampire noises* Welcome back to VENUE, or more specifically: our Halloween Issue. Basically all this means is that we’ve gone really ham on the theming for the Editorial page and the cover, with a few Halloween related articles scattered throughout. We wanted to make each section have a creepy façade but we’re scared they would all hate us even more for changing the design yet again. Make sure you check out our ‘Peculiar Children’ Feature to see how weird we all were as kids (Spoiler alert: Really weird). Dougie
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FEATURE Were you a peculiar child? Then you’ll love this issue’s feature. Detailing all our creepy, cute, and downright bizarre childhood tales, we prove that UEA is home to some truly spooky students. Burton would be proud.
t’s the most wonderful time of year. I bloody love Autumn, and all the opportunities it brings. Venting my anger out on piles of leaves, pissing off the guy who just swept them up. The American election, and the chance to laugh at the wrinkly misogynistic tangerine that is Donald J Trump. Best of all, it’s time for Halloween. So I have one message this issue; don’t wimp out on your costume. Over-dress, even if you have to wrap yourself in loo roll and pretend to be a mummy. Steal your housemate’s lycra leotard and work it. You will not regret it one bit. Niamh
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ARTS Creativity at The Crypt Lucinda Swain speaks to Emily Leason, who is inspired by landscapes and the natural world, as her work is exhibited at The Crypt Gallery.
re you afraid of the dark? No? Well ok, I tried. If you love Halloween, then there’s a 66% chance that this creepy crawly issue might appeal to you, especially if you have a penchant for black or live in a permanent state of goth-appreciation (I mean, look at all this black, it’s magical). Aside from the aesthetically pleasing colours, we have plenty of gory goodness to satisfy your cravings (for brains), including a run-down of the best Halloween TV shows that are funny as well as spooky, for those of you who like a bit of humour with your horror. Melissa
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Venue
FASHION ‘Cute? Scary? Sexy? (I feel like I’ve now just started listing off Spice Girls members)’ Get your ghoul on with these dead-on Halloween make-up and fashion tips, designed to help you embrace your inner monster.
Concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk
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Arts
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Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk
settle: Exhibition at the crypt A GREAT ADDITION TO THE LOCAL ART SCENE
LucinDA SWAIN I’d never visited The Crypt Gallery for a private viewing of an exhibition before, so I was keen to see how the space was going to be utilised. The gallery was practically heaving with guests. There was a lovely ambience, with pleasant conversation, live music and a great array of nibbles and champagne. The location couldn’t have been better; in the centre of Norwich within the Cathedral Close. It really is a great addition to the local art scene. Talking to some of the organisers they spoke of how they plan to use the space to promote the artwork of pupils from Norwich School as well as hosting contemporary exhibitions across all disciplines within art and design practice. They eventually intend to run educational workshops that will inspire children across Norfolk. The unique venue space, a centuries old crypt, which dates back to 1316 and was originally part of Bishop John Salmon’s Chantry Chapel, was truly stunning and enhanced the mood of the gallery. The exhibition featured the work of the talented Emily Leason, Rachael Cocker and Artist in Residence, Louise Richards.
The striking pieces of the upcoming textile artist, Emily Leason, garnered a lot of attention. Specialising in printed textiles and working with digital and sublimation printing, she creates her work by performing a number of physical approaches. Leason’s portfolio included a combination of mixed media, drawing, collage, photography and stitch. She spoke of her interest in the variation of material characteristics, by combining different qualities to fashion affective designs; from translucent, to opaque, fabrics and paper. Although she was busy explaining her motivation for the pieces to the many guests, she found the time to describe to me her huge appreciation for colour, human behaviour and emotion. Leason said of her work, titled Exhale: ‘I’m inspired by landscape and the natural world and the following work explores the beauty of colour in its subtlety and intensity. Through combining these elements I aim to create exciting interactive textiles that explore and accentuate positivity and uplifting design.’ Emily Leason is definitely one to watch in the art scene…
Illustrations (textiles and photographs) by Emily Leason
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Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk
Arts
don’t judge a book by it’s cover or in this case, maybe do
abi walton Although I have heard the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ many times, I find that the cover is one of my favourite aspects of the book. It’s why I was drawn to Lian Hearn’s Emperor of the Eight Islands. I had picked this book up many times in various different bookshops around the country, it kept catching my eye as the cover literally sparkles with gold paper embedded in its cover, how could I say no? Lian Hearn is a name I’ve come across a couple of times when talking to other fantasy readers about non-traditional fantasy books. The setting itself is novel to us, it is home to the unexpected, and nothing in this story
is predictable. It doesn’t follow Western storytelling sensibilities, certainly not literacy ones anyway. But Hearn creates a magical medieval Japan where each character’s story is a thread that weaves into the bigger tapestry of the tale where deadly consequences match each action. The lives of the people in this novel are more closely entwined with the spiritual and animalistic where the supernatural is an aspect of daily life. The setting of Emperor of the Eight Islands had me enthralled from the first page and gave the book a feeling of enchantment and beauty. Somehow, the way it is written, with the magic so quick and sudden, the narrative canters along and
makes the read feel easy and fast to follow. Yet in some ways, Shikanoko is an archetypal hero: after an attempt is made on his life by those wishing to deprive him of his inheritance, he retreats to the forest, where he learns to manipulate the supernatural world around him from the sorcerer who lives in the Darkling Woods. Eventually, he becomes part of a wider conflict involving lines of succession, mystical creatures, and betrayals. But Shikanoko is a more ambiguous character as well, moving out of a morally gray role over the course of Emperor of the Eight Islands, the first of two books in the series, and discovers that
the supernatural can be used for not only good but terrible acts as well. The second and final book in this series Lord of The Dark Wood comes out January 26th 2017, and I will be eagerly awaiting its arrival. I guess it shows that sometimes a book does need to be judged by its cover.
uea literary festival westley barnes
Credit to PanMacmillan
renowned writer david lodge at our very own uea
UEA literary festival 2016 kicked off with ardent literary humourist, interpreter of the academy and longtime friend of the festival, David Lodge. Now in his 80th decade, Lodge showed no physical signs of deterioration as he graced the stage to discuss the release of a trilogy of books spanning his career in more respects than one: a collection of short stories (The Man Who Wouldn’t Get Up) a collection of essays on renowned literary figures such as Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis and Muriel Spark (Lives in Writing) and a memoir detailing the first forty years of his life (Quite a Good Time to Be Alive).
Dr Christopher Bigsby opens his questions by paying tribute to another figure Lodge discusses in his essay collection, his friend and UEA creative writing cofounder Malcolm Bradbury. Lodge fondly recalls how Bradbury recommended Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975) to his agent, after the novel had been turned down by five publishing houses. The novel was nominated for the Booker Prize and cemented Lodge’s status as a master of collegiate British farce. Lodge’s work has often attempted to bridge the gap between stream of conscious
modernism and hearty British farce-forms, anticipating the style of two of his important influences, James Joyce and Kingsley Amis. When asked about how he first encountered Joyce, he spoke of an “encouraging English teacher” in his Grammar School who recommended he read Joyce’s A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man, a novel which he felt reflected the experiences of a dreary Catholic upbringing. When asked to read, Lodge chose a story that emerged from a depressing time in the author’s life, but one he managed to extract humour out of, a motif he feels
anecdotal of his overall body of work. A damp, fall apart Victorian house is the setting for The Man Who Wouldn’t Get Up first published fifty years ago, a feat that Lodge announced he found curious as a “a lot of the people in this room’s parents may not have been born at its time of publication.” An engaging and self-deprecating reader, Lodge eased the interview out with an interpretation eliciting wit, self-irony and panache.
Illustration by Kate Romain
Arts
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DAN BOX
an unsettling, genre-defying read, just in time for halloween...
Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk
THE HOUSE OF LEAVES
‘This is not for you.’ So begins one of the most unnerving novels ever written; House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. So, even if you don’t take anything else on board from this jaunt into the dark, I’d strongly recommend you listen to this: unless you are made of sturdy stuff, this probably isn’t a novel suitable for bedtime reading. Or middle-of-the-night reading for that matter. I found that out the hard way. Then again, describing House of Leaves as a novel doesn’t really do it justice. It is a stream of consciousness ramble through the rapidly disintegrating life of a Holden Caulfield archetype wayward youth, Johnny Truant. Roped into helping his friend sort through Zampanò’s flat, which is a perfect example of what not to do with a weird neighbour’s property, they stumble upon Zampanò’s incomplete report. Think back to first year, to that essay you did an hour before the deadline; random words missing, an incomplete argument, an Enigma Machine was needed to decode it… Zampanò’s essay conducts a very in-depth investigation into The
Navidson Record, an indie film, which the producers and cast insist is a documentary. A ‘documentary’ about a typical suburban family moving into a new house. Except that the house is bigger on the inside, shrouds a massive labyrinth, and is
actively trying to murder the family. That’s to put it simply. The big problem is that nothing of it exists. The film doesn’t exist, neither do the sources, or the cast. Similarly, the house doesn’t
exist either. Surely though, something must exist, as the essay sitting in front of Johnny is driving him paranoid and deranged as the world around him begins to disintegrate… House of Leaves is a truly genre breaking novel.
crime procedural, not quite an expeditionary thrill-ride. Either way, Danielewski constructs a horrifically ominous vibe from the get go, building up across almost 600 pages to a brutally surreal, yet strangely captivating, climax.
It’s presented as Zampanò’s partially restored essay, interlaced with footnotes, photographs, and Johnny’s increasingly concerning notes. Not quite an Eldritch night-terror, not quite a
It is very refreshing to read a horror novel which doesn’t rely solely on jump scares and slasher tropes. That’s not to say that the novel isn’t shockingly traumatic at times, or that everyone survives in a safe and sane state. Very much the opposite, to be honest. Rather heartlessly, your favourite characters will be ripped from your safe grasp in a manner that Game of Thrones has perfected, leaving you constantly on edge as you know that no one is safe. With Adult Horror thrust to the forefront, through the obliteration of the concept of the safe haven home, the terror when a parent cannot hope to protect their children, and the fear of something you don’t and could never hope to understand, the book creates a significantly more sinister interpretation on the classic haunted house tale. House of Leaves is a real treat for the Halloween season, though maybe not one to share with your younger siblings. Or maybe it is. Illustration by Kate Romain
eLITISM And hAllOween cOstumes WHY YOU CAN BE SUICIDE SQUAD’S HARLEY QUINN FOR HALLOWEEN MELISSA HAGGAR Let’s talk about elitism and Halloween costumes. You may have thought about this briefly before, the type where your affluent acquaintances can afford astonishingly accurate, carefully crafted costumes whilst you’re left with your low-price sheet and scissors for that abysmal, but affordable, ghost aesthetic. But I want to talk about a different type of Halloween costume elitism - the type where you can’t dress up as ‘X’ character because they’re too popular and/or you’re not a “true” fan. This seems to be overwhelmingly prevalent in the cosplay universe particularly amongst female cosplayers, and has slowly creeped into Halloween costumes as the two have merged. Many people are visibly enraged at women who choose to
Illustration by Murray Lewis
emulate comic or ‘geek film’ characters. Because, like, they couldn’t possibly know enough about that character to justify wanting to dress up as them (hint: you don’t need to in the first place, it’s a costume, not an encyclopaedia). This is prevalent for many costume-wearing women, but let’s talk about everyone’s favourite colourful delinquent, Harley Quinn. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months you’ll know that a tiny little indie movie named Suicide Squad came out, featuring some pretty bad-ass characters and resulting in
some polarizing reviews. But what you may or may not have seen is everyone and their grandmother hopping on the we-like-Harley-Quinnbut-hate-everyone-else-wholikes-her bandwagon. Not familiar? A quick Google or Facebook search will give you a plethora of people bemoaning the fact that Harley Quinn is now popular (even though she has always been a fan favourite) and how sad they are that we will probably see a billion Harley Quinn costumes this Hallow’s Eve. Unless of course you’re also a bit of a creep, in which case there have also been plenty of people (predominantly dudes) who have been half-hating, halfcheering at the prospect of a gang of Harleys, because they might
get to see some girls enjoying their night in Harley’s skimpy spangled shorts. Aside from the gross objectification, why is it that we, as a species, have such an affinity for claiming we knew something before it was popular? Why do we criticise those who might have found the character through a more popular or mainstream means? We certainly don’t own the character – and even if we did it still wouldn’t be right – so why are we judging others based on our own preset standards for those who can ‘justly’ wear a costume? Do we apply the same to children at Halloween? “Oh no Barbara, I don’t think Maxine can go dressed as a zombie this year, we haven’t had her watch iZombie or all six seasons of The Walking Dead, so she’ll be clueless.” Ultimately, you should do what makes you happy. Want to rock your dip-dye wig & home-made baseball bat? Then you go and knock them out, girl.
Film 07 Louis pigeon-owen Swiss Army Man has balls, brains and brilliance. Not normally adjectives you would associate with a love story between a suicidal, stranded survivor (Paul Dano) and a corpse suffering from chronic flatulence (Daniel Radcliffe), but then again, this is no ordinary film. This surrealist, noir comedy has, in many ways, become the bastard offspring of cinema, especially following controversial, mass walk-outs at the Sundance screening, it is a movie which no one wants to love, but everyone loves to talk about. And if this flick isn’t enough to finally uncouple Radcliffe from the label of ‘the boy who lived’ (instead now ‘the boy who died and farted in time to acapella music’),
niamh jones
Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk
swiss army man then nothing ever will. The fact of its divided reception and mixed reviews is possibly one of the highest praises any film can receive as, if movies didn’t every now and then turn a few heads and clench a few buttocks, then there’d be no point in the industry at all.
films and popular blockbuster effects such as CGI, and it’s a joy to once again see this goldmine of un-tapped, magic realist, potentially being tapped like there’s no tomorrow. In many ways, Swiss Army Man is as versatile as Manny’s multipurpose tool body: it is simultaneously a vulgar comedy, a journey of soul-
Since Birdman, the last few years haven’t seen much overlap of indie
searching and a disturbing meditation on loneliness that has fingers in almost every genre-pie of cinema. Words can only do so much to describe this film, itself a largely visual feast, which does as much with a bit of mime, bright colours and practical effects in one minute than most well-written scripts hope to achieve in one hour. You will laugh, you will cry, you will drop your jaw, scratch your head and scramble your brain, but, above all, you won’t be forgetting Swiss Army Man in a hurry.
my scientology movie
My Scientology Movie burst to life on screen with reams of flashy Scientology propaganda and enough booming bass and flaming righteousness to make even Christopher Nolan’s eyes water. It felt like being blasted in the face with a hairdryer, forced back into my seat with the sheer goldplated G-Force that comes from Scientology’s own studio in California. Since journalists are 1.1 on the ‘tone scale’, ranked in Scientology terms on
the same level as ‘sexual deviants and perverts’, Louis certainly struggled to get this film made, and you can tell. At one point, during a car drive with the infamous Marty Rathbun, the ominous presence of a white Jeep in the rear window even caused the usually ice-cool Theroux to cast an anxious glance backwards. John Dower revealed in the Q&A screening that the crew’s fear of being hounded by the church during filming led them to copy the film rushes at the end of every day and
hide them under mattresses. This paranoia seemed to increase throughout the film, culminating in a dramatic falling-out between Louis and ex-Inspector General for the church, Marty Rathbun. His mere presence in the film caused controversy, since as one ex-scientologist put it, ‘Marty knows he has a lot of blood on his hands’.
fantastic scene involved him remarking that the security flood lights around a Scientology compound helped him see better, whilst ignoring the sirens and sounds of dogs barking. I don’t want to spoil the film for you, but I will say that it is truly a fantastic watch. Go and see it, and remember, it IS a public road.
In terms of the film itself, Louis returns back to his cheery Weird Weekends persona that we all know and love. One particularly
Illustration by Dougie Dodds
Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk
London film festival
08 Film
gus edgar
the handmaiden
elle
Manchester by the sea
The Handmaiden is the screening chosen for the London Film Festival’s ‘Dare’ Gala, and it’s not difficult to see why. It boasts the twisting plots, inventive camerawork, and very, very explicit set-pieces expected of Park Chan-wook (Oldboy). As a bare outline, the film follows Sook-Hee (Kim TaiRi), a Korean embarking as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress (Kim Min-hee), who’s set to marry the rich Count Fujiwara (Jung-woo Ha), much to Sook-Hee’s displeasure. It’s a film better viewed with minimal information, such are the intricacies of a tightly-woven plot that manages to hold it
Sharing The Handmaiden’s unease, if not its ferocious enjoyability, Paul Verhoeven’s (Total Recall) Elle is an odd blend of jet-black humour and unsettling subject matter.
Despite how unassuming a film Kenneth Lonergan’s latest effort is, it’s generating an increasing amount of Oscar buzz, and for good reason: Manchester by the Sea is one of the most mature examinations of the human condition in quite some time. The film follows Lee (Casey Affleck), a handyman forced to parent his nephew (Lucas Hedges) after his brother’s (Kyle Chandler) untimely death. As Lee experiences the trepidations of being a parent, his past unravels via various flashbacks seamlessly interwoven with the narrative. The film feels small, owing to its understated camerawork, yet
While not always the easiest to comprehend due to the complexity of the subject, The Big Short is one of the most revealing films about America we have seen yet. Sporting an A-list cast and, arguably, Christian Bale’s best performance in cinema, this film examines the bleak and unflattering story of the financial crash of 2008. - Willa Hope
still astonishes - a powerful revelation halfway through sheds new, brutal light on Lee’s restricted mannerisms. Affleck, like the rest of the cast, executes his character perfectly. It’s a reserved, heartbreaking performance, aided by a script that refuses to manipulate. For all the potential for Manchester by the Sea to become cloying tedius, Lonergan has created a mellow masterpiece.
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
The Big Short (2015)
all together, despite some third-act redundancies. The visually arresting imagery and gorgeous production design offers authenticity to a 1930s Korean setting, while its script balances dark humour and intense uneasiness with aplomb. Wildly entertaining throughout, and gorgeous to look at, The Handmaiden is a film that will engross all but the squirmish.
Centering around rape, and how Isabelle Huppert’s titular character deals with this experience as the victim, the film lugs by aimlessly, having not much to say about its weighty premise. Instead, Verhoeven’s primary ambition is to shock the viewer, and while in the past these controversies feel earned, here it’s as manufactured as Elle herself. There’s a clear intent to contradict stereotypes associated with rape victims, but this is clumsily-handled to the point where Elle feels fake and erratic. Huppert herself gives a strong performance, and the script fares better when favouring a macabre comedic tone, but it’s difficult to care about any of the thinly-written characters, especially when there’s so many to keep track of. Photo credits: Flickr, WikiMedia
Appropriate Behaviour (2014) Appropriate Behaviour is a heart-melting tragi-comedy about a bisexual Iranian woman trying to make it work in Brooklyn after a messy break-up. Written, directed by and starring Desiree Akhavan, who based a lot of the film on her own personal mishaps, this is a charmingly unassuming search for acceptance with some jokes about strap-ons and threesomes thrown in for good measure. - Louis Pigeon-Owen
From the writers of Flight of the Concords comes a quirky, offbeat and hysterical cinematic masterpiece. A mockumentary that follows the lives of house-sharing vampires as they struggle to join the modern world, What We Do in the Shadows is completely unique. - Willa Hope
Film 09
Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk
the great super 8
pierre-yves bezat The current innovations in terms of technologies used in cinema are mainly due to the production companies' certainty that 3D, IMAX and 360 degrees will allow them to maintain a difference between the big screen and TV. But such a pursuit of innovation is not without underlining an eternal debate between filmmakers, a question that every one of them has ever heard: “do you shoot on film or in digital?” The difference between the two formats is easy to understand. On one hand stands the original film format, which consists of printing the actual scene taking place in front of the camera through still pictures that, when shown at a certain number of frames per second, create the illusion of movement. On the other hand is the digital format, allowing other kinds of camera to artificially recreate the scene using pixels as much as
possible, limited by the colours and light available. It is clear that the format is becoming increasingly democratized each day due to the technological progress of digital filmmaking. Indeed, anybody now has the capacity to realize a perfect slow-motion with a single smartphone (thanks big apple!). This rise in popularity of homemade videos is the modern equivalent of another, older, iconic method, which was also pretty mainstream when it was released: the Super 8 camera. Indeed, back in 1965, it was the first time the man in the street had the possibility to film anything in a cheap and easy way. Make no mistake: Super 8 definitely doesn’t belong to the past, quite the opposite… Indeed, more and more creative minds are still employing this format to give a special touch to
their project: the grain, coupled with the 4:3 size of picture, and most of the time the nostalgic slowmotion rendering, which are characteristics of Super 8. Many music videos are using it to illustrate the feeling of a track: Lana Del Rey obviously, but also Madonna, The Cure, or David Fincher in the ones he directed. And naturally, many of the big filmmakers began (and sometimes continue) shooting in Super 8: Steven Spielberg, Pedro Almodovar, Claude Lelouch, Jim Jarmusch, Andy Warhol, Nanni Moretti, or Steve McQueen (II) to name a few. The director of Hunger, Shame, and 12 Years a Slave also insists on another reason why Super 8 is more accurate than ever. Indeed, he remembers that “at the time, it was all about expense, meaning that I had to know what I wanted to shoot or at least edit it in my head before I shot it. It taught me how precious an image is and can be”.
The price of every frame, that’s what film format and Super 8 are all about. Not only the financial price, but the importance of thinking about it twice before pulling the trigger of the camera. The importance of imagining something, at least a way of filming it, so that the result can be appreciated for its beauty or emotional power. This also gives the film a chance to be artistic, rather than being part of the flood of random images that internet and social media are often made of. The 3 minutes and 20 second limit of a Super 8 cartridge is a guarantee of that. Anyway, as you would have guessed, Super 8 definitely has no place in an antique shop. And many filmmakers of today understand the importance of its resurgence. Proof of such popular demand: the new Super 8 camera released by Kodak this year, more than 30 years after the last model.
Photo credits: Pierre-Yves Bezat, Wikimedia Commons
Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk
10 Fashion
we asked you, what are uea’s wardrobe essentials? Rachel Throupe
Elizabeth Wigley 1. Backpack - the 90s are back in a big way, and what better way to show it off than with a backpack. Make sure it can fit all your uni items and you’re good to go. 2. Waterproof outerwear - although dubbed as the ‘driest region of the UK’, Norfolk can get pretty wet sometimes! Make sure you’re ready for a sudden downpour with a comfy jacket or coat that is guaranteed to keep you dry. 3. A few pairs of jeans these can be different colours (it’s up to you to decide if three various shades of black counts!). Although darker colours tend to be worn in the colder seasons, there’s nothing to say your white jeans don’t get to come out to brighten up your day. 4. Top layers - this is especially important if you’re living off campus. You leave the house thinking you should be wearing a thicker coat, yet by the time you get to the lecture theatre you’re wishing you could jump into a cold swimming pool. Layers will be your best friend in this case; it’s always better to have too many clothes on than not enough. 5. Scarf, hat and gloves - it’s undeniably going to get colder, and realistically these items aren’t going to take up much room in your bag if you don’t wear them. So if it’s looking a little chilly,
take them with you and thank yourself later. 6. Your favourite pyjamas/dressing gown whether you’re feeling down from freshers’ flu or being homesick, having these to slip into might help to perk you up a it. 7. Sports/gym clothes - you may not have joined the gym, you may not have joined a sports team, but that doesn’t mean you won’t change your mind throughout the year.
1. One crisp shirt, whiter than a pane of ice. Perfect for that sharp front of professionalism required for important meetings and careers events. 2. A couple of knitted jumpers, for layering over the aforementioned white shirt when ice has melted to warm Autumn cosiness. 3. A novelty pop culture t-shirt or two. Ideal for signalling your allegiance to fictional worlds.
8. Fancy dress clothes - these are a must-have for a Damn Good time at the LCR!
4. A pair of well-fitting jeans, for when you’re seizing life by the belt loops.
9. Low-care items - it’s inevitable, it’s going to get to a point during the year where you can’t be bothered to iron AGAIN. So take clothes that don’t crease easily or have to be dry-cleaned - save yourself the hassle!
5. A pair of washed out jeans, for when you’ve had two hours sleep and a 9am start.
10. A comfy hoodie - for those cold/wet/sleepy/lazy days, or for when someone burns some toast and you have to huddle outside whilst the fire alarm goes off. 11. Slippers - no one wants to step on something nasty in the kitchen when barefoot 12. A selection of going out clothes - for all types of weather! That playsuit you wore at freshers’ might not necessarily keep you warm in December...
6. Waterproof boots. When setting off on those impromptu collective flat walks around the broad, no one will remember the past three days of rain. 7. A snazzy, funky, rad patterned shirt, disorientating to the eyes and purchased at the start-of-semester vintage fair. 8. Gloves, scarf, hat. It’ll get cold quickly. Bundle up like a child - though without your mittens being connected through your coat sleeves (probably). 9. That one fancy dress outfit to dig out for every single
social, adding and taking away bits of it to adequately suit whatever the night’s theme is. 10. A Coveted UEA Hoodie (trademark). Mandatory. Get ‘em while they’re hot.
the verdict 1. Backpack 2. gloves, coat, hat 3. pyjamas 4. jazzy shirt 5. uea hoodie 6. lcr outfit 7. jeans 8. slippers 9. fancy dress 10. knitted jumper
Fashion 11
Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk
halloween make-up
zoe breliaud So Halloween is finally approaching and I honestly cannot wait. It’s hard to think of a holiday that tops this one; a time of year when looking like death is not only socially acceptable, but actually something everyone is trying to achieve. Those under-eye bags that you spend hours trying to conceal before attending a seminar the morning after a classic LCR night? They’re technically fashionable now! Embrace them! Halloween is my time to shine because, while I may not be that good at everyday makeup (despite my endless scrolling through beauty guru Instagram videos), I seem to be pretty successful when it comes to making my face look like I’m an extra in The Walking Dead, so I thought I’d share a few of the hacks I’ve picked up so you too can achieve a Halloween look that has all of your friends begging you to do their makeup as well. First things first (“I’ll eat ya brains”); the classic zombie look. This is actually a trick that I picked up from one of the aforementioned Instagram videos; how to achieve realistic fake
how to look like death...intentionally wounds without having the skills (or the bank account) of a professional SFX makeup artist. On movie sets this look is achieved with liquid latex, but you can get the same results with a much cheaper alternative; false eyelash glue! Apply generous amounts on any part of your face or body, leave it to dry slightly around the edges,
I learnt everything I know about makeup in general, and they can be particularly inspiring at this time of year if you still haven’t decided which path you’re going to go down for Halloween 2k16. Cute? Scary? Sexy? (I feel like I’ve now just started listing off Spice Girls members). YouTuber Cherry Wallis has recently launched a series
“Cute? Scary? Sexy? (I feel like I’ve now just started listing off Spice Girls members)” and then dab at it gently with your finger to get rid of the middle bit that’s still gooey. Voilà! You have the base for the perfect decaying wound, the next step is to use varying shades of black, red, green, and purple eyeshadows to bring the look to life (or to death I guess). A final touch of fake blood in the center and around your mouth and you’re ready to hit the LCR! I know I’ve mentioned beauty guru videos three times now but I cannot understate how helpful they can be. They’re where
of Halloween makeup tutorials which I definitely recommend checking out. As well as giving you inspiration, tutorial videos can improve your skills as it’s often easier to recreate a look you’ve seen someone else achieve step by step as opposed to starting from scratch with no idea where to start. Finally, remember that, at the end of the day, Halloween is all about looking scary and a little messed up, your makeup doesn’t need to be pristine
and perfect to have the desired spooky effect. It can actually look better if it’s a little rough around the edges, so don’t be afraid to let your creativity take over, even if it results in you looking like a collab between Pollock and Picasso (hey, that actually sounds like a pretty funny Halloween costume now that I think about it). Just have fun with it!
Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk
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Fashion
halloween fashion Emily claridge
where? Vintage markets and charity stores are always great for little gems that aren’t too expensive and you don’t mind getting a bit ruined by not only fake blood but the usual LCR VK spillage. At the town hall side of Haymarket you can find lots of vintage stalls, but they’re not as cheap as if you go trawling through some charity stores. For eyelashes, make-up, face paint etc Just Essentials in between Jarrolds and Tesco is perfect.
who? This Halloween article is about to get meta. Whatever vibe you are going for, there is no shame in sexy Halloween costumes. If you want to be a cat be a freaking cat, don’t let anyone stop you. It is, to be fair, a guaranteed cute and inexpensive choice and they sell cat ears everywhere now as they’ve sort of become an everyday accessory recently. Do you want to just wear what you always wear and have fake blood everywhere? (My personal favourite, as I have been known to leave a costume to the night before.) Or are you a sarcastic, t-shirt
There are only two real choices, cat or vk?
that says ‘costume’ on it, kind of person? These are all valuable questions. Who do you want to be this Halloween, what aesthetic are you going for? Ok I’ve probably rambled enough.
bothered’/ ’costume cannot load t-shirts’ are more acceptable when you’ll be ripped into by friends but essentially they’ll get over it. For the LCR I’m expecting a lot of cats, vampires,
“Imagine being dressed as a VK and going and ordering two VK’s?! You’re living the dream!” I’m a personal lover of the Norwich specific, UEA centric costume. For example, one of the 5 L’s, a VK bottle, Cloud Dog (too soon) and so on.
when? There is going to be a big difference between your Friday Propoganda outfit and your Monday Halloween LCR three nights out later where you wake up looking like a Halloween costume. Propoganda is often your usual fake blood everywhere, zombies, skeletons etc not so much the VK’s and 5 L’s. House parties lend themselves to the more controversial costumes, you’re among friends, anything goes, or the ‘I couldn’t be
skeletons, classic basic bitch, Halloween costumes which always go down well. People will appreciate the effort of going as a 5 L or a VK, imagine dressed as a VK going and ordering 2 VK’s?! You’re living the dream! Those costumes are always worth the effort
even if you sometimes have to explain to everyone you see ‘YOU KNOW THE 5 LS? YEAH I’M THE LIBRARY!’ They’ll love it when they get it.
some ideas: Cat. Always. Zombie/Vampire : When you have more make-up than Halloween clothes Any Disney character but covered in fake bloodclassic. A blue VK. A yellow VK. Any VK. One of the 5 L’s. Where’s Wally: cheap and easy, has been slightly over done but always funny in club photos. Deadlines, the scariest of all costumes.
UEA’s PECULIAR CHILDREN our weird & wonderful childhood stories "I thought it would be a good idea once to try and cut my own hair to save my parents money when I was 8-years-old. 10 minutes with a pair of scissors I'd found later, my toni&guy job looked that bad I had to go down the hairdressers and have my head shaved bald. I wore a baseball cap to school for 6 weeks. I've not tried to cut my own hair since." - Nick Murphy
"I had imaginary twin best friends called Mandy and Frankum that I played with every day! When I was about 8 my Grandma asked me how they were as she hadn't heard me speak about them in a long time - I told her they had both been hit by a car and were dead." - Emma Slaughter
gehog back g a dead hed in br to d ie old phone "I once tr I plugged an if t h at g ou th hed the bit to life. I wall and touc e a th e lik to in ld be charger gehog it wou ed h e th to es the end - Niamh Jon defibrillator."
"As a child, my dad & my sister and I used to make little video sketches with my dad's old camcorder and in one of them, our toys came alive and killed us - we also had one where someone ended up in an oven being burnt alive." - Melissa Haggar
bean stuck "One time I got a that I had so far up my nose ors to get it to go to the doct Godfrey removed." - Milly
"I had an imaginary friend named Tipton for 2 years, unt il I told my parents one day that he got married and left me. Then I adopte d six imaginary dogs." - Mega n Baynes
"I used to draw pictures of how my family and friends would die and post it to them." - Dougie Dodds
an egg in my "I once put nd d walked arou underwear an atch it like a uld h thinking I co eyes sica Frank-K es chicken." - J
ctoria and impanzee called Vi ch tic as pl a d ha "I s fault, so ong was Victoria' wr did I ng hi yt er ev d down the r at the wall an I would throw he d because e made me so ma stairs. One day sh so big a temper tantrum she made me have and chips. uldn't buy me fish that my mum wo wall in a the beach in Corn So I buried her on in Doherty lunchbox." - Caitl
"I used to eat garden snails and carry round their shells in a suitcase." - Willa Hope
Background Image by Dougie Dodds, Illustrations by Niamh Jones
C. Writing
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Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk
the city and the country
UEA is the perfect blend of city and country. Denis Lasdun’s brutalist concrete shapes sit amid a literal nature reserve and the winding broads. The grass that fringes the Square softens its hard stony edges; the conifers that stand stately and unchanging year-round offset the slouching ziggurats; the red and green ivy that climbs every other wall. The whole campus is in dialogue with the natural world, and coupled with the fact that Norwich is a city yet also incredibly rural, what an appropriate starting point and inspiration! Thank you to everyone who submitted, I had more than I could fit in, so it’s clearly a topic people enjoy writing about. — Hugo Douglas-Deane
london skies alight — A. R. Charlton London skies burn ambient tonight, a St Helens’ horizon Eclipsing the pilot stars.
Way back when — rachel innes
Twitching beneath its orange lens the city expands black and glassy Dilated like an eye.
I stand among the branches. If I close my eyes there’s only green; only the tang of pine and the calculated creaking of wood as the boy I know lifts himself higher. We are giants. But then, all too abruptly, I hear sirens and car exhausts and mid-noughties hits from a neighbour’s window. They go from muffled and distant to Here & Now. Tree sap sticks to my palm during the descent, filling in the lines. (The conifer overlooks an estate now. I don’t feel nearly as big.)
Veiled in a permanent dawn, charcoal streets crisscross like scars on a slave’s back below. The cities’ sirens seduce, entice, Untie you from your mast and cast you adrift under Herculaneum skies. Until you awake in terror Hysterical staring-up-between the legs of a new mast, flashing and winking with manic red pupils. Once a crystal palace burned here, Screaming windows melting into a Victorian sky; a clinging inferno in the machinery of night. Now cinders drift in the afterglow, Smoking, dishevelled, drunk homeless and cold in blackening stairwells. Yet looking to the sky at night, they see that London at its darkest, is bathed in human light.
the city and the country — jack carey enator Tom O’nassey paused to scrape the shit off his SThere boot as he stepped out of his sedan. He breathed in hard. it was.
in minutes.
The smell. Grass, hay, manure, diesel from a nearby pickup truck. The Country.
Each ant jostled for position, fighting for the chance to bite, and just like that, the big fat grasshopper was gone. If that wasn’t a symbol of politics, then Tom O’nassey didn’t know what was.
To many people the smell of sodden hay bales and cow shit wasn’t something to get excited about.
As he reached the periphery of the crowd he repeated the words in his head.
But for Senator Tom O’nassey, the smell only meant one thing. Votes.
You are the backbone of this country, you are the backbone of this country, you are, the backbone of this country.
Sure, everyone thought politics was confined to the city. That elections were fought and lost in dusty anterooms and around big round tables. Tom O’nassey knew this was entirely wrong.
“Senator! Senator! Over here!”
People out here thought quantitative easing and trickle down are types of haemorrhoid creams, and that didn’t matter, its was their vote that mattered and that was what Tom wanted. He strode towards the throng of people who had begun to congregate around a humble wooden podium. The scene reminded him of a wildlife documentary he had watched once when he was hung-over. A big fat grasshopper had flown into an ant’s nest and the ants in kind had covered it
“O’nassey for the Whitehouse!” “God Bless you” He smiled back at them, stopping only to shake hands or pat backs. They cheered louder as he sunk deeper and deeper into the crowd. He caught his reflection in someone’s sunglasses and quickly loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. There you go Tom, now that’s country.
Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk the city — eva wakeford
T
oday was like any other day. Wake up. Breakfast. Wash. Change. Commute to work.
I settle myself into my seat and let the gentle hum and jolting motion of the tram guide me into that blissful state of limbo – my eyes may be open, but my mind is light years away. The tram glides through the various transient landscapes, casting a spectrum of iridescent hues across the white-washed walls. Temporarily, the woes rattling in my head concerning the mass paper work awaiting me in my office, and the grubby stain of coffee on the hem of my shirt that I had failed to get out this morning, fade into white noise. ‘Tea, Sir?’ I was pulled out of my reverie immediately by the sound of a pleasant and musical female voice, and, upon opening my eyes, I track the source. The train hostess, of course. Her eyes, metallic and piercing, find mine. ‘Yes, yes that would be wonderful,’ I answer accordingly. She smiles at me like I’m the only human-being in the world, batting her eyelashes as she bends down to produce a cup from the trolley. She leans in, invading my personal space, as she places the cup in front of me. I look up at her. I’d find her attractive, alluring perhaps, if her entire form, including her over-emphasised cleavage, wasn’t constructed out of some form of metal alloy. The cup contains a single metal cylinder, and I watch nonplussed as its matter suddenly dissolves and expands, smoothly transforming into an earl grey. People claim that technology is truly groundbreaking nowadays. But in my opinion, I find the concept of this hi-tech-out-of-space tea bag completely and utterly absurd. I look up to see the hostess grinning at me once again, awaiting her payment. I dig my hand into the pocket of my suit jacket, and retrieve a pound. I grimace and inwardly curse myself. I forgot what a rare commodity they have become, but that was all the change I had on my person.
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C. Writing
‘Th-ank you. Enjoy your day’, she responds, a slight glitch in her programmed monotone. As she zooms away to the next passenger, I slump back into my seat. The telecom suddenly blares throughout the cabin. ‘Good morning passengers. If you look to your right, you will see what remains of the great Capitol 1. 200 years ago, this was once a thriving and bustling metropolis called London, the epicentre of prospect, prosperity and wealth.’ I turn my head towards the window, as the cabin is suddenly dominated by the cast of fiery and rustic tones, as if the whitewash walls had suddenly been splattered by the blood and decay of the passing millennia. I see this view every day, yet somehow, in each passing journey, I cannot fathom the gravity this plethora of chaos and desolation has over me. Despite its dilapidated and ruined form, there was some manner of morbid beauty cited within the fractured and ruined structures of what were once apparently called ‘skyscrapers’ that stood like watchful guardians over the citadel, or the meandering dry planes of what was once called the ‘River Thames’. I am a man of little worth and possession, but I would give my soul to have been alive to experience London in all its prime and glory. What was the London Eye? Did I have any ancestors that lived in London? What were their professions? Were they well off? All these thoughts were extinguished suddenly by the painful reality of how I will never know. Whatever happened in the past remains a mystery to the public sphere. All that we know, all that They have informed the population, is that all records were destroyed, whilst the leaching radioactivity apparently remained. The ruined London began to disappear from view, with the walls of the tram returning to their blank canvas. I eased back into my chair, forgetting about my tea, as usual, and closed my eyes. But unlike before, my mind was not at ease. I imagined myself, exchanging my briefcase for a gun and my brown pin-striped suit for a bio-suit. I jumped out of the door, and off I set towards the ruins of London.
Why I don’t see scenery — Sophie Bunce
observations — elisha rose Grass will spring up again, green, dewy, soft; and crystals of ice will begin to melt. Earth revived- moss is spongey on its rock, and lambs arrive, with their white coats of felt. Soon, wasps disturb lunch aside a warm lake. Only ice cream sooths the scorching summer. Butterflies leave nothing in their wakethe scent of roses impregnates the air. Leaves then fall, browning, from skeletal trees forming pulp that’s mushed up by worms and rain. Early nights, birds don’t sing their melodies, before snow fall makes treacherous terrain. Take just one moment from your busy world, to watch the wonder of nature unfurl.
My mother sighs As scenery passes me by But I didn’t know at what or where I was supposed to stare I wasn’t sure why or how to wonder at clouds And to glance Or look At the rivers and brooks For the countryside I suppose is fine But admiring it is a waste of time.
C. Writing
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Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk
Paving — Ella D. Gajic
I was moulded by the faded paving stones that ran up and down my grandmother’s street; I would jump over cracks in the concrete like my life depended on it, thinking I might slip between the fine lines and be consumed by the creatures lurking beneath the safety of this neighbourhood, my family, these doors to suburban homes, each identical, each containing a widow or a wife or a life so often forgotten about. I was moulded, not only by each chromosome that was passed down from your dimpled smile, your eyelashes and finger nails, but by your home: Your useless washing machine, blocked drains, shelves of board games, brown carpets, religious relics and that dusty liquor cabinet, each bottle still full with the weight of your tears, because he could never return to drink them away. I grew up on my grandmother’s sofa, her thick bolognese and milky tea. I was moulded by the rough bark on her frail, contorted apple tree, which left my elbows, my feet, my knees covered in blisters. This is the part of the city nobody talks about: you can barely hear the tubes rumbling so slightly removed from the pushing and the rushing; the fumes could not catch us here and the air felt still and silent, like it was waiting for a storm. But this was still London, just slightly more affordable, at that time, at least. This was London, the way I remember it, the clearest one that harbours in my mind.
— It was also the train rides home that moulded my childhood; how small I felt, how invisible in underground tunnels pushed around like I was in a pinball machine. Back then, squeezing into overly crowded buses was normal for me, so was falling asleep to the beats of far off speakers that vibrated through the streets and the shouts and screams which woke me from my dreams. But it wouldn’t be long until we would see her again waiting for us on that school step to push through crowds to take us home, to feed us apple strudel, to comb our hair, to cook and clean and never ask for a thing in a return. I didn’t realise how busy it all was until we left her. Left her in a city where she had no one left to wait for. It seems strange that the same concrete paving stones still lie there, cemented to her street. How peculiar that the place I felt safest now shelters people alien to me. And the London I float back to is not the same one I hold close to me. It lives independently of a person who taught me the value of a smile and the pain of goodbye.
SILKWORM KINGDOM — Liam Heitman-Rice
U
pward bound our eyes extend the polished vertical rivers, their blue plates divided in slim steel grids. They throb and pulsate in muted ecstasy, punching the skies with flat fists as they draw from the black tarmac veins of the city their green blood, richly injected by the steroids of commerce. Upon the wild tides of wealth ride the silk monarchs in their Bentley galleons, men of no name, unspeaking within a faceless collective - - ominous, oblivious, they impress upon the earth the deep treads of exquisite shoes of godly manufacture. Of short stature yet deceptively vast, these counterfeit Zodiacs reign with easy dominance cradling the sword of a John Steed umbrella and the shield of a Gucci briefcase. That is their armour, and oh how it shines! They are the crowns of economy emerging from their meadows of silver, gleamingly flawless and resplendent in the pace afforded to those of unquestioned supremacy. Never are they seen running or in haste, never is the glowing pink skin seen to perspire; for when one owns the world, why hurry to exploit it? It is a possession to be savoured, solely. As they retire, unmissed, to their rectangular citadels the blacksuit beasts of the city resume their habitual invisibility and prepare to plague unto those below the gales of ruin. Like wind their deadly influence is unseen but is surely felt, cold and devastatingly concrete: the breathless crack of tax, the whistling plummet of wage… and heard above this storm is the dissolved tinkle of crystal, the chattering cheers of champagne flutes brought together in the celebratory dancing of sky kings drunk on the splendour of their domination. If only we had taller been, to see the soles of our oppressors before they crushed us – but alas we see only a vertical highway of glass piercing the heavens we had long ago lost sight of. The glass illustrates our plight, offering glossy reproductions of our gaunt sallow selves standing before the tiered blocks of the world from which we have ventured. Clothed in the burnt brown shades of our poverty, we carry on our shoulders the stain of deficiency, the want of much and the access to little. Yet we breath clearly air purified of vice. Our backs bear no stab-wounds, our hands are cleansed of blood, and we have cut no throats. United in our destitution we are rich in dignity, and for that are we distinct from the asthmatic wolves of the city, choking on the embers of their greenback cigars. At what cost is one willing to accept cancer, of the mind and of the lung? The beasts cannot speak, for their dollars and dimes have stolen from them their health, and from them have the pennies and pounds stolen their tongues. They have been scorched by the excesses of their supremacy. And in the towers do the false gods reign. Illustrations by Emily Mildren
Gaming
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Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk
Disease meets Gaming THE BEST OF Biological Warfare
SaM WHITELAW Disease. It’s something none of us can avoid forever. Many of us are likely to meet our ends at the hands of a disease. They are a constant worry of society and are so ever-present in the news and daily lives. This in turn moves to disease seeping into a variety of games, in various ways. The most obvious of these is some type of zombie disease.
unnerving feeling that the disease brings to the game, and as such it becomes a modern classic.
and survive as the scientist attempts to create a cure.
sf buttacup lettering
One final game is Pandemic, which is a board game. Very similar to Plague Inc. except this time you are on the side of humanity. Working with others you must find the cure to the diseases/infections threatening to wipe out humanity. The game is beyond popular with near perfect reviews and multiple spin offs that are equally successful. Board games for grown ups have been a growing trend over the last few years and Pandemic is at the forefront of this.
However, the zombie epidemics in games have, unfortunately, been overdone. They are common trope and are thus no longer an interesting talking point. So instead of zombies, I would like to mention some diseaseriddled games that take a different path. One videogame that incorporates disease into the plot is Bloodborne. A recent game, your character is surrounded by a mysterious blood-borne disease, which is inspired by the vampiric disease of folklore. The game has horror elements, with the disease turning people into horrible creatures, but it is mostly an adventure game with a few jump scares. The gothic overtone helps the
nice touch is that you can also name your disease, so why not make everyone in the world die at the hands of ‘Deez Nuts’.
A small mobile game that does disease right is Plague Inc.. Working against the human race to get your disease through borders
Despite being a small game, different tactics can be taken, with various ways of infecting the secluded Iceland and Madagascar. A
Zombies are not the be all and end all of disease in videogames. So if you are looking for a game to play for Halloween, but don’t like horror games, maybe give one of these a shot, or the thousands of other disease games that aren’t zombie based. Illustration by Murray Lewis
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Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk
Bioshock Remastered: A review You wouldn’t adam and believe it chris Barkman Regarded as the ‘Big Daddy’ of world design and storytelling in video games, the original Bioshock in 2007 proved to the world that games should be taken seriously as art. Nine years on, this modern classic has arisen again in the form of a remaster. Bioshock Remastered is a free re-release of the original Bioshock for PC players who own the game on Steam. It was overseen by the studio Blind Squirrel Games and involves a revamp of the original’s graphics and performance, as well as a new series of documentaries titled Imagining Bioshock that explore the creation of the game with original key developers. The remaster can be purchased on steam for $19.99 USD or as part of Bioshock: The Collection on PS4 and Xbox One. Considering the original is now edging on ten years old, it’s a testament to how revolutionary Bioshock was that it still holds up. The story follows protagonist Jack when his plane crashes into the ocean in 1960, only for him to discover a mysterious and derelict underwater city run by the enigmatic Andrew Ryan. This city, Rapture, is the soul of what makes Bioshock so incredible. Not only is it an amazing setting for a game, it’s created through world design that was
unparalleled at the time of release. Mysterious shadows creep up the walls, water leaks across the floor, and its crazed citizens fill the air with blood-curling screeches. It’s a place that has clearly descended into hell, and manages to convey so much with saying very little. Environmental storytelling is the main device that original developer Irrational Games utilised to tell its compelling narrative, and it’s astonishing how much story they can create from something as little as a tape, a teddy bear and a body in a drain. To put it simply, Rapture quite literally drips with story and is at the crux of what makes Bioshock so special. The other pillar of the Bioshock experience, the gameplay, obviously cannot live up to the storytelling side but still manages to be compelling enough to happily see you through the
twelve hour campaign. The game is ultimately a firstperson shooter, and so uses the typical run-and-gun mechanics of the genre as well as an assortment of different genetic abilities known as Plasmids. The gunplay, particularly after the progress FPS’ have made in the last ten years, doesn’t hold up incredibly well. It’s still enjoyable enough, but lacks the weight and finesse expected from a modern shooter. This shortcoming is luckily covered by the Plasmids however, as they not only allow you to mix up combat in interesting ways, but also add some much needed dynamism and RPG elements to the gameplay outside of simply filling enemies with lead. So while it has been established that the ‘Bioshock’ part of the title is still incredible, it’s unfortunately the ‘Remastered’ aspect that drags the overall product down. To get the good additions out of the way, Blind Squirrel
Games did a decent job improving the graphics to a solid level, and the additional documentary is likely to be fascinating for new and old fans alike. However, the technical support is where the problems lie. At launch, the game missed a number of significant graphical features, several key resolutions and suffered from a whole swarm of frustrating bugs. Granted, many of those issues were fixed in a patch released almost a month later, but even after that I still continued to suffer from frustratingly frequent crashes to desktop. I estimate that I lost almost two hours of gameplay to lax saving and a subsequent crash. It is genuinely disappointing considering the quality of the game itself, and makes this remaster feel more like a cash-grab than a loving rerelease of a modern classic. That being said, this is still the best way to experience this masterpiece of game design. Certainly the technical side is frustrating, but the sheer quality and richness of the experience on hand almost makes trudging through the bugs and crashes worthwhile. If you haven’t dived into Bioshock before, would you kindly purchase this remaster because everyone deserves to go on this incredible journey under the sea. Illustration by Kirsty McAlpine
Gaming
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Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk
Schrodinger’s Pre-order An imagination driven space age adventure A world of uncertainty
TOm Lacy Sid Meier’s Civilization VI will be realised on the 21/10/16. You can pre-purchase it now on Steam for £49.99. But should you? Once somebody thought pre-ordering was a good idea, and why not? Back when games came as disks or cartridges, paying in advance and having the game delivered on launch day saved you a trip to the shop and the risk of the game being out of stock when you got there. Back then it still carried risks; what if the game wasn’t everything the company had promised it to be? This risk stays with us today, and yet even now that games such as Civ VI are available for download, avoiding the risk of it being out of stock, pre-ordering is still alive and well.
Illustrations by Kirsty McAlpine
I’m very excited about Civ VI. The franchise has pedigree, and a long history of producing in-depth and exciting strategy games. Firaxis has even given out early-access copies to various reviewers, allowing us to get a glimpse of what the game might be like before we preorder it. So what is there to worry about? First we should backtrack on that pedigree comment. The latest Civ game, Beyond Earth, had mixed reviews and failed to ignite the Civ playing community in any meaningful way. Furthermore, it is a well held opinion that when Civ V came out it was sub-par, only becoming as interesting as its predecessor Civ IV after several expansions.
Most people probably haven’t heard of another recent title, Civilization Revolution 2, a mobile game. Spoiler alert: it’s not very good. Secondly, the early access builds we are seeing online are small comfort, as the nature of Civ as a grand-strategy game, means that any real issues like balancing or gamebreaking rules may take 100s of hours to reveal themselves. If the recent No Man’s Sky drama has taught us anything, it should be not to trust companies on their promises, and Firaxis is no exception. Is Civ VI’s pre-order policy ethical? I’m referring
specifically to the decision that if you don’t pre-purchase the title, the Aztec Civilisation will be unplayable for three months. The Aztecs have for a long time been one of the cornerstone civilisations of the game, their hyperaggressive tactics haunt our memories, and dreams of eagle warriors burning our cities to the ground haunt our sleep. To withhold them unless we gamble £49.99 on what may or may not be a good game is cruel baiting, and so many will fall into the snare. I hope for their sake that Civ VI is as good as it has the potential to be, and my advice for everyone else is that unless you’re rolling in cash, hold off, wait for reviews, and then make an informed purchase.
The
r o r r o H f o s r o r hor Ethan Evans Horror films
Dougie Dodds
I fucking hate horror films. Not just horror films but especially horror games. This may be a bold statement, and I feel this will make a lot of enemies, but why in gods name would you want to sit and play a game where it forces you onto the edge of your seat? One with not only exposes you to all types of fear, but requires you to navigate though the puzzle like environments with only a flashlight as your friend, physically having to press a button to run away. It may be my inability to deal with suspense, always pacing in agony waiting for the toast to pop up, or physically shaking when they announce who is going home on the great British bake off. Horror is not for me, they may be for you, but come anywhere near me with a hockey mask or a chainsaw covered in blood and I will run for the hills.
Illustration by Murray Lewis
are unlike any other genre as they uniquely attempt to evoke every single emotion throughout the course of the narrative. I love horror films because they are very self-reflective, making the films more relatable and therefore result in an intense experience. An obvious example that utilises this is Wes Craven’s Scream (1996), as the antagonist’s flaws
create comedy, giving a sense of relief, and therefore making the intense moments far more immersive. The genre is extremely complex whilst being disguised as simple, which can be enjoyed on multiple levels. Under the surface they tackle serious issues and themes such as sexism and mental health, subtly having an impact on viewer even after the film has finished.
Melissa Haggar
I’ve always had a bit of a lovehate relationship with horror. When I was a child I absolutely adored horror and the Gothic, and I was addicted to creepy books and shows like Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark? (anyone who says they weren’t terrified of Slappy is lying to themselves). As I aged, horror and me grew apart, but ever so slowly we’ve reconnected and much like a distant friend who has got back in touch, we’ve reignited our friendship, and now I absolutely adore violent, spine-chilling, aesthetically pleasing affairs like Crimson Peak once more. I’m sorry we ever lost touch my gory, blood-soaked pal.
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Concrete.Television@uea.ac.uk
Halloween TV
supernatural and scream queens: How to put comedy in horror Sophie Bunce It is almost Halloween and the time of year to terrify yourself, or is it? If horror is not for you Scream Queens and Supernatural offer a funny alternative which is just as likely to make you laugh as it is scream. The reason why these shows work so well is that they do not take themselves too seriously. Whether it is excessive use of fake blood, corpses which come back to life or the main characters’ wacky wardrobe, these shows are certainly worth watching. Take Scream Queens, the E4 show in which a sorority pursue the murdering Red Devil Killer on their college campus. The group of rich socialites encounter bodies, which keep strangely disappearing, hidden in a meat locker, but any fear is offset by Chanel’s (Emma Roberts) gorgeous couture wardrobe. Nothing can be that scary in a baby pink fur jacket, surely? Though this show is by no means simple, amidst the screaming queens they ruthlessly hunt to find the murderer on campus as sorority members are picked off one by one. With its star studded cast including Nick Jonas and Emma Roberts it is highly addictive watching. Another show which captures the hilarity of horror is Supernatural. On its 12th series brothers
once you start watching it is impossible to stop. Whether you love Zombies from The Walking Dead, Tate from American Horror Story or charming Satan in Lucifer there are plenty of options for your Halloween TV. Halloween is the time for horror, but certainly not horrible television.
Sam and Dean have been in a permanent state of Halloween ever since dad didn’t come back from his hunting trip. With its fair share of scary there are demons, exorcisms and battles against God himself. However, the show’s survival can be credited to its humour and self deprecating tone. It also has its fair share of gore. Dean’s nail being pulled out with pliers makes perfect Halloween watching, but the show maintains a sense of humour through the afore mentioned nail pulling being done by an elderly couple. Sam and Dean can escape the apocalypse, but not the OAPs. No it’s not realistic, but Illustrations by Dougie Dodds
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Concrete.television@uea.ac.uk
Television
Oldie But GOldie Rachel Innes ‘Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one.’ So begin the early episodes of 90s cult classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Created by TV icon Joss Whedon, Buffy is a show so ingrained in pop culture, you would be hard-
Buffy The vampire slayer pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard of the vampire slayer and her merry band of Scoobies. The show lasted for 7 seasons (144 episodes!) and followed the journey of 16-year-old Buffy Summers as she goes from reluctant ‘chosen one’ to iconic hero. Despite the lowbudget campness of the first season, the show achieved its cult status for a reason. Between staking vampires and throwing out witty oneliners, it tackles depression, bereavement, sexuality and assault. Though not perfect (it’s very white-centric and,
despite its self-proclaimed feminist status, often includes gendered insults and male characters sometimes being generally gross towards women) for a show to emerge in 1997, it was very progressive and gave many women (particularly queer women) the representation and smart entertainment they had been looking for. Whilst, of course, some seasons fall a little flat (many shows seem to be plagued by a terrible fourth season. The ‘gas-leak year’ in Community, anyone?) it produced some of the best episodes of TV out there, including ‘The Body,’
an episode completely void of non-diegetic sound, ‘Hush,’ 30 minutes of which doesn’t have a single word of dialogue, and ‘Once More With Feeling,’ the godfather of the musical episode trope. So, for anyone who has yet to experience the joy of Buffy, I readily suggest rectifying that. And for those missing our sharptongued heroine, I strongly recommend Canadian sci-fi series Wynonna Earp. Think Buffy meets Lost Girl: full to the brim with demons, oneliners, and women kicking ass. What more could you want? Illustration by Denise Koblenz
Class Hannah Brown When I first heard about Class, the newest Doctor Who spin-off adventure, I was sceptical, primarily because I thought it would be a rip off of the Sarah Jane Adventures. For one, it is set in a school, Coal Hill School to be exact. An institution that featured in the first episode ‘An Unearthly Child’ in 1963, and has been in and out of the series ever since (lately having been the school Clara Oswald taught in). The fact that the show will focus on a group of students fighting aliens with an alien boy in their midst is also reminiscent of The Sarah Jane Adventures. However, as the show focuses on sixth formers (and with the actors
The New Doctor Who Spin-Off considerably older than that as well) we can already guess that Class might be slightly more controversial than The Sarah Jane Adventures. Overall one could see it as a mix between The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood. As a lot of us have probably outgrown Doctor Who, Class brings something new to the Who Universe, something a bit darker for an audience in their late teens, early twenties. The head writer on this project isn’t the Moffat monster, but Patrick Ness, who is already an experienced writer with successful novels such as The Rest of Us Just Live Here,
More Than This and the Chaos Walking trilogy. And we can see that Ness is already pushing for difference, as he once said, “One way to change the world is to act as if it has already changed,” and hopefully we will see Class as being a diverse, innovative program which truly reflects modern society.
character dynamics and more innovative story lines. Even if you are still sceptical about Class, it’s always good to try out new things: you never know, it might become a favourite. The first two episodes will air on October 22nd on BBC3 online, moving to BBC1 after.
So what can we hope for from Class? Hopefully some intriguing new Doctor Who monsters, a cameo or two and Peter Capaldi confirmed to feature in the first episode, some great Illustration by Olivia Campbell
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Child Actors
The supernatural, murder, psychotic torture - children in tv and film Melissa Haggar Child actors. Pint sized professionals plucked from obscurity and pushed into the spotlight with everyone waiting to see what they do next. Actors are hot topics in general, but young actors are particularly valued not only by entertainment industries but also the public – especially if they’re talented or have a workable persona. But what about the child behind the gilded screen? Television and TV shows often serve as homes to these starlets, where they are able to craft and build their career, but also serve as a place in which they can be exposed to a menagerie of themes and storylines; some darker than others. Popular TV series like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things relies on its child actors to carry the weight of the show, whilst also requiring them to tackle dark and disturbing events, both happening to their character and in the general storyline of the show. Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner spring to mind
(Williams was 12 when the show started filming and Turner was 13)
as both have been involved in horrific and terrifying situations as their characters (Arya and Sansa Stark) on GoT. The ‘hot right now’ kids from Stranger Things – Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin & Gaten Matarazzo – have also been involved in some rather dicey storylines involving supernatural creatures, murder, psychotic torture/ human experiments, child abduction and excessive violence. There is the age old question as to whether exposure to these types of themes at a young age affects children, however it is perhaps better to be involved in these types of scenarios in your professional working life, as it offers you the chance to explore certain themes in safe environments. Indeed, perhaps it is possible to stay more grounded and sane in television shows due to the more supportive regular cast around you, and the familiar working environments, as well as offering young actors the chance to be prepared and aware of the type of work and scenarios they are acting. Compare this to (yes, you guessed it) predominantly Disney tween television shows, where child actors take the form of Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana, or Hilary Duff as Lizzie Mcguire, or Demi Lovato as Sonny (in Sonny With a Chance) and it would appear that these stars had some
difficulty with their transition to adulthood and being thrust into the fame at a young age, struggling with their image, being involved in controversy and having significant mental health disorders that perhaps weren’t taken seriously or scrutinised too much. Perhaps it is the association with a squeaky clean show – unlike the harsh and chaotic Game of Thrones – that proves to be the most limiting, in that there is a certain image to maintain and its child actors may feel, or grow up to feel, trapped in these roles and unable to explore twisted, damaged or grittier characters. Is there a need for creative expression within your own show? Whilst it will be difficult to tell the effects that GoT or Stranger Things has on its child actors, or indeed perhaps more so the amount of media attention and pressure relating to their public image, it has clearly proved difficult for some stars on other television shows. Whether the media and
television system is doomed to create troubled adult actors from its children is unclear, but it is evident that some have sought solace in the music industry (Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato), shying away from the media format that garnered them their fame. In this sense, the future is uncertain for our budding child actors, and perhaps the type of show our favourites are on will be the deciding factor in their smooth transition to adulthood, but regardless, it would seem that it would do no harm to have a strong support system in place for any emerging young television starlets who find themselves the centre of media and public attention. Illustrations by Bella Patinson
Music 27
New Releases Beth Ramsay Jagwar Ma Every Now & Then
Amidst the album’s jangly guitar strums and disco-tinged synth sounds, a quieter moment in Jagwar Ma’s Every Now & Then stands out with the line “I still feel the way I did when we met” in the second track. Lead vocalist Gabriel Winterfield purrs the words, summarising how the Australian trio’s audience seem to feel about the band’s return since their impressive debut with Howlin’. Far more polished in its production, the latest release seems to once again strike gold.
Olivia Campbell Phantogram Three
Concrete.Music@uea.ac.uk
interview: The HUnna INTERVIEW: HONNE TheTOKYO, hunna DIVERSE on tourINFLUENCES life and being influenced by Honne TALK AND DREAM COLLABORATIONS everything from westLAMAR to the beatles WITHkanye KENDRICK ALICE MORTIMER
Frances Butler The Hunna are a Hertfordshire rock band, formed at age sixteen by singer and guitarist Ryan Potter, lead guitarist Dan Dorney, bassist Jermaine Angin and drummer Jack Metcalfe. They wrote a total of 200 songs before releasing their debut album, 100, in August. We spoke at the last show of their sold-out 100 Tour, before they support Jimmy Eat World in America.
“hey guys, how’s the tour going so far?” Ryan: Tour’s been amazing so far. We played The Forum the other night which was incredible.
“I saw outside this show is sold out, have you sold out all of your shows?” Ryan: Every single one, yeah. All of them sold out. It’s really cool. Dan: Today’s actually the anniversary of us being released, a year today.
Unimaginably named Three, the electronic-rock duo’s third offering is rather bland and uninspiring. Like so many bands, Phantogram are fearful of losing their sound and therefore refuse to experiment, ultimately losing themselves in an electronic infused mess. However tracks such as ‘Cruel World’ and ‘Same Old Blues’, redeem the album slightly. Both stand out as emotive and well-constructed tracks, whilst still being able to maintain the somewhat unique sound Phantogram once had. Overall, this sadly emphasises the album’s lost potential.
“ “What’s the inspiration behind your band name?” Ryan: We’ve got a big hiphop influence, and ‘1Hunna’ means one hundred. It means give a hundred percent of what you do and be true to yourself, which is how we live and what we do with our music. We always used to say ‘1Hunna’ to each other and then one day we put ‘The’ in front of it and... The Hunna was born!
“Who inspires you?” Ryan: Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Kings Of Leon, Kanye West. Jack: Decades of artists and bands as well, you’re brought up on childhood artists from your parents, your teenage years and there’s now, there’s so much new music. Hip-hop’s pretty lit at the moment. We take a bit from everything. Ryan: Whatever we connect to, whether it’s lyrics or a moment.
“is there a particular artist you would like to collaborate with?” Ryan: I always say Drake. It would be cool to do something with Kings Of Leon, Beyonce. Dan: Ben Howard would be a cool one. Jack: We’re an ice cream shop, not one flavour! Ryan: That’s it, The Hunna is an ice cream factory...
“What’s the best and worst thing about touring?” Dan: Trying to sleep sucks. Jack: Meeting loads of new people and seeing loads of new cities, that’s good. Ryan: Not eating well is the main thing. Until we have a chef...but we’re not there yet, no chef for us! It would be nice to have someone who could give us food that’s good for us so we can actually function.
for the full interview, head to concrete-online.co.uk
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grime is the new punk Georgina Hewison Along with the expansion of the Grime scene, 2016 has seen further alienation of the youth from political affairs. It is this lack of representation that has fed an engagement with the anarchic style of the East London born genre- with opposition of capitalistic manufacturing, angerfed messages on complex political issues, and a strong subculture at its core.
“punk music fueled a whole generation to upturn mainstream ideologies” With the main figures of Grime rising in the charts and Skepta winning the Mercury Prize for his album Konichiwa, the message of Grime is at an all time high- bringing the common comparison of this movement to that of punk 40 years ago.
The Punk movement started as a rejection of mainstream rock of the 70s, with bands such as the Ramones, the Clash, and the Damned developing a new cultural phenomenon. Growing out of workingclass angst, Punk music fueled a whole generation to upturn mainstream ideologies and fight during a time of war, racism, and sexism.
“Artists Stomzy, Ghetts and Skepta have all been vocal about the anti-establishment” Similarly, governmental neglect of the working class, anti-police and antiwar messages are just as relevant in the Grime scene today. Artists’ Stormzy, Ghetts, and Skepta have all been vocally antiestablishmentwhether that be leading rallies of fans to scream “Fuck the police” or tweeting out disregard for the UK’s decision to bomb Syria last year.
a Photo credit, right: Beat 768, Wiki Commons
Additionally, revival of
‘authenticity’ from its hip-hop roots, like Punk’s relation to Rock, has brought power back to the artist and its fans, with independent production and a strong community based following.
Music
Claud Letts White Lies Friends
After much anticipation, White Lies latest fails to match the consistency of Big TV. Friends starts strongly, with the singles: ‘Take It Out on Me’, ‘Morning LA’, and ‘Hold Back Your Love’. However it is track 8 ‘Come On’ which brings the best out of the Joy Division-esque trio from Ealing. The major theme of Friends is, of course, friendship. However, the similarities to its predecessor make this album forgettable.
It seems as though even with Grime’s growing Madelene AldridgE popularity, their powerfully candid style will hold up to Kaiser Chiefs the eventual manufacturing Stay Together that Punk felt.
“Grime will continue to bridge the gap between the unheard youth and the government” While the two genres can’t be regarded as wholly the same in their roots and culture, the recognition of Grime as being as powerful politically and socially as Punk is the most important aspect of this statement. In a time of such unrest in the UK, the rise of Grime will continue to bridge the gap between the unheard youth and governmentpicking up where Punk left off.
The Kaiser Chief’s latest offering, Stay Together has come a long way from the band’s rock roots. For this album the band have developed a new sleeker, synthpop sound. This is not the band’s first attempt at reinventing themselves, but after working on everything down to the funky cover art it could be a success. It’s not likely you’ll be hearing anything off this album at The Waterfront anytime soon, but ‘Sunday Morning’ and closing track ‘Still Waiting’ are definitely worth adding to your playlist.
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the autumn apocalypse: a wave of break-ups hits uea better than a tub
Jake thomson In the aftermath of a break-up, some songs can feel like they’re lost: entangled and forever tainted by the irrevocable reality of losing someone. Some songs however, when in this situation, can eternally be on loop: whether they be painstakingly melancholic or beautifully optimistic. It depends entirely on the listener.
‘Arm’s length’
‘Problem/Regulate’ ‘Problem/Regulate’ is Hozier’s rock-acoustic cover of Ariana Grande’s ‘Problem’, proving that occasionally, a rendition of a popular song can be tenderer and more fluid than the original (not even sorry).
‘Cat People...’
Kacy Hill’s addictive ‘Arm’s Length’, is a pop-sounding, majestic and tremulous tale of a partner who refuses to give their all to a broken relationship. “Your absence won’t define me now” epitomises the aftermath of any broken bond.
The late, great David Bowie, and his goth-rock epic ‘Cat People (Putting Out Fire)’ begins banally, but suddenly explodes with the octave leaping lyrics “I’ve been putting out fire/ With gasoline!” Bowie personifies a resurgence in self-confidence and self-worth with this masterpiece.
‘Nightcall’
‘F* *k You’
London Grammar’s ‘Nightcall’ encapsulates their debut album’s haunting sound: Hannah Reid’s unfiltered vocals revel in taunting, not pleading, with a lover to take a nightcall: “I’m gonna tell you something you don’t want to hear.” It’s the quintessential fightback melody (my favourite) but alas, that’s enough melancholy for this playlist.
I don’t need to mention why ‘F**k You’ by CeeLo Green is on this list.
Illustrations by Olivia Campbell
‘Enormous Penis’ I should mention why a song crudely called ‘Enormous Penis’ compliments all the above, but I’ll leave you to listen to this brilliant, phallic-themed obscenity.
of ice cream georgia rees-lang I have a confession: I love break-ups. Ok wait, I love other people’s break-ups. Not because I particularly enjoy watching my friends sob into a bowl of ovencooked hash browns (though that is how I’ve spent many a Friday night), but because I love a good break up playlist - here are some of my top picks…
‘You Oughta Know’ Chances are, unless you’re Gwyneth Paltrow or Chris Martin (in which case Concrete really is going places with its readership), you probably didn’t ‘consciously uncouple’ without so much as a raised voice or a crossed word. ‘You Oughta Know’ is a ‘getting over you’ angry classic through and through.
‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ Sometimes when you’re with someone, you know in your heart things just aren’t going to work out. So... for God’s sake, tell them. While it’s maybe not a good idea to quote Bob directly - I’m not sure exactly how I’d react to someone telling me
to ‘go lightly from the ledge babe’ - it can be comforting to know that even Nobel Prize winners have relationship problems too.
‘We Used To Be In Love’ This indie Liverpool band somehow manages to make despair and heart break - “every touch is not enough, it’ll never be like you and me” - into a song you can’t help but tap your foot to (even with tears still in your eyes).
‘Breathe’ To save myself perhaps a tiny shred of musical dignity, I’ve chosen one of Taylor’s lesser known break up songs (though of course belting out the entirety of “I Knew You Were Trouble” in the LCR after one too many VKs can sometimes do more good than a lifetime of therapy). So there you have it. In a world where love songs on the radio more common than rabbits on campus, sometimes it feels like what you need is a tiny bit of ‘fuck you’... and maybe some hash browns.