Hello again, and welcome to another installment of Dave Does Games. This month I want to spread the word about some amazing people, the great job they’re doing, and in the process hopefully introduce you to something you may not know about, and will find far more entertaining than you might guess. Games Done Quick is a pair of week long marathons livestreamed on twitch.tv. These marathons are also fundraisers. Awesome Games Done Quick, which takes place in January in the D.C area raises funds for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Summer Games Done Quick takes place in June, in Colorado, and raises funds for Doctors Without Borders. So what do they do for the week? Speedruns. 24/7. For those unfamiliar, speedrunning is trying to beat a game as fast as possible. The exact rules can vary greatly from game to game, and many games have multiple ways to speedrun. For example in Mario 64 there are categories for beating the game with 16 stars, 72 stars, or all 120 stars. In other games there can be restrictions such as no out of bounds. Meaning you can use glitches, as long as they don’t take you outside of the game world. Other times there are no restrictions at all. This may sound like its only interesting if you understand whats going on, which is what I always thought. I thought it was cool, but I had no idea how or why they were jumping in weird ways, or through walls or whatnot. Then I saw some videos from these marathons. Each game has not only the person playing it Mic’d up, but usually at least one dedicated commentator who knows about the game being run. This allows for commentary on whats happening, how, and why. This makes all the difference in the world. 80-90% of commentators will even explain like you’ve never played the game before, making it entertaining for anyone watching. All of this is also recorded, split up after, and put on their youtube channel, so you can go back and cherry pick your favorite games. The only thing to be aware of is that some of these are races. This is really cool, but comes at a price. Races are exactly what they sound like, you get a split screen of two (or more) people playing at the same time, trying to finish first. The only downside is these tend to have much less commentary, and are tougher to follow, since action is happening on two screens, so from my experience watching a race of a game you know nothing about isn’t as fun, but your mileage may vary. In addition, they also run a huge variety of games. For example, AGDQ 2014 had games like Chrono Trigger (a 100% run!), Half-Life 2, Minecraft, Starcraft II, Metroid Prime, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Contra III, Mario Kart 64 and a lot more. The runs can be anywhere from a few minutes like Chip ‘n Dale which was completed in just over 10 minutes, to hours, like Chrono Trigger’s 5 hours and 36 minutes of awesome. So no matter how much time you want to spend on youtube, you can find runs that fit your schedule.
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On top of the entertainment, these events are becoming more successful by the year. They started in 2011, with totals raised of $53,379 for AGDQ and $21,396 for SGDQ. This year? AGDQ raised $1,031,159 and SGDQ raised $799,214. Even better, both of these totals are more than double the 2013 amounts. Interested yet? Good! I’ve got a whole bunch of links for you. First, check out the youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/SpeedDemosArchiveSDA. This is where you can check out all of the runs from the last 3 years from both AGDQ and SGDQ. My advice? Start with a few games you know and like. This will let you get a feel for how these work and make sure its something you like. After that, go nuts. I’ve watched runs for games I’ve never heard of and enjoyed every minute. That covers the viewing portion. Interested in either speedrunning yourself, or getting involved with the events? Check out http://speeddemosarchive.com/ This has both a huge knowledge base of speedrunning games, tips, glitches etc, and forums. The forums (“Marathon discussion” specifically) have all the information on attending and/or volunteering for the events. Finally, although its a ways away, http://gamesdonequick.com/ is the home of the marathon itself, with the twitch stream, donation information, etc. It still has all the SGDQ stuff up now, and probably will for a while since AGDQ wont be until January, but its a great thing to bookmark for when that time comes! If any of this sounded even a little interesting, I highly advise at least checking out some of the old videos on youtube. The videos for SGDQ 2014 should be on their way before long as well. Enjoy, and see you next month!
David Lucier is an avid gamer and all around geek. He’s been gaming and enjoying sci-fi and anime for years (ok, ok, decades). He’s previously worked with Goodtobeageek.com and currently works with Iamthink.com providing game and hardware reviews, event coverage, and interviews.
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www.veroconcepts.com
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As long as I’ve been going to conventions, I’ve been hearing about ConnectiCon from from the folks that I regularly interact with in the convention scene. The combination of my yearly hotel budget usually being reserved for Anime Boston and living in the wilds of the greater Manchester, NH area, it always seemed just out of my reach. Thankfully, my move farther south made the drive back and forth to the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT bearable, and I finally made my first excursion to ConnectiCon. ConnectiCon is billed as a “Massively Multi-Genre Convention,” and based on what I experienced, it certainly lived up to that description. The guests in attendance spanned the entirety of the geek/pop-culture multiverse featuring voice actors such as Ellen McLain (Portal series), Alan Oppenheimer (HeMan and The Neverending Story), Jennifer Hale (Metal Gear series and Mass Effect series), convention scene regulars Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche (Pinky and The Brain), as well as Richard Horvitz and Rikki Simons (Invader Zim), just to name a few. In addition to a line up of voice actors and on-screen actors, featured guests included various internet personalities and content creators such as the crew of Marble Hornets (best known for popularizing the Slenderman mythos), Steve Kardynal (comedian and YouTube personality known for his “Chatroulette” versions of Wrecking Ball and Call Me Maybe), and Doug Walker (The Nostalgia Critic). Notably, ConnectiCon 2014 also marked the first convention appearance of Diedrich Bader (Batman: The Brave and The Bold, The Drew Carey Show). In addition to the wide variety of guests, there were plenty of panels and workshops to keep attendees busy, which covered just about every geeky interest under the sun. Workshops offered chances to learn the Scottish Broadsword, Chinese Calligraphy, and even sewing plushie weapons. Panels covered a myriad of subjects from Adventure Time, to bad video games, to cosplay, a belly dancing show, and a hypnosis show. All of these were in addition to the Q&A panels featuring many of the guests that I listed above.
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For the gaming crowd, the convention featured a large board-gaming area in the main convention center with an extensive game library, plenty of tournaments, learn-to-play sessions, and even a giant Monopoly game with players acting as their own tokens. Notably missing, however, was a main video gaming area in the convention center. While there was a selection of dancing/ rhythm games on the second floor of the convention center, the main video gaming area was located at the Hartford Hilton, which is a 15 minute walk from the Connecticut Convention Center. Shuttles were offered for attendees to get back and forth with ease, but I have a personal policy to avoid wandering too far from any convention that I’m attending, especially given my unfamiliarity with Hartford. Given what I saw, though, I can’t really blame ConnectiCon given that the Connecticut Convention Center is already the largest meeting space in the state, and it appeared that the space was already being fully utilized. The cosplay scene, as is usually the case for me, was probably my favorite aspect of the convention. Cosplayers of all skill levels were in attendance and, like many of the other parts of the convention, expressed their fandom from all corners of the geek multiverse. There was a hefty dose of League of Legends cosplay, possibly in part to the convention’s LoL tournament. Overall, my first trip to ConnectiCon was really enjoyable. While I heard a couple of horror stories from friends that I see in the convention scene, I didn’t have any troubles personally. I’ll certainly be back to see what they have to offer in 2015.
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Cue Don Henley, Because Summer is almost Gone. July’s highlights included Transformers: Age of Extinction shattering records in China, becoming their highest grossing movie ever. Also, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes delivered a high quality sequel to a rebootquel that came out of no where two years prior, regenerating the Apes franchise long dormant since Tim Burton’s take almost thirteen years ago (13 yrs Already? Wow! Feels like it was yesterday I was walking out of the theater disappointed). Another notable release was SnowPiercer, the post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale set on a train circling a frozen globe. It set itself apart by doing a direct release to video-on-demand and scoring critically acclaimed reviews. Lastly, July brought us San Diego’s Comic-Con, where all the biggest films that studios bank on are showcased and previewed months in advance to dedicated fans with hopes of earning their excitement to hype these films until their film’s release. Some of this year’s Highlights include a brief glimpse at Batfleck Vs Space Jesus with Batfleck armored up like it was The Dark Knight Returns or something, Mad Max’s return in Fury Road, the announcements of Pacific Rim 2, Godzilla 2 Featuring Rodan, Mothra and Ghidorah, and a reboot of King Kong simply titled Skull Island. But this month’s biggest release was previewed their last year, with Director James Gunn and the cast in Attendance. That would be August 1st’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Set in the depths of space beyond our universe, this is a loose adaption of Marvel’s longtime comic of the same name. Chris Pratt plays a Han Solo-esque Space Pirate who was abducted from Earth as a child and grew up in outer space alongside Yondu (a Blue skinned Michael Rooker with a red fin on his head) and his band of Ravagers. Star-Lord gets himself into some trouble and ends up on the run, meeting up with a Talking Tree played by Vin Diesel (who’s vocabulary is limited to “I am Groot”), a Badass Gun-Toting Raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper, a blade wielding psycho played by Dave Bautista and an Sultry Assassin played by Zoe Saldana. Together they form a sort of Space Avengers as they evade Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and Korath the Pursuer (Djimon Hounsou) who are hunting the group down for a powerful orb that is sought after by Thanos, the purple guy at the end of the credits of The Avengers. Rounding out the cast is Benicio Del Toro, Glenn Close, Karen Gillan and Peter Serafinowicz. But if none of that sounds appealing to you (how can it not?), then also out that weekend is Get On Up, the James Brown Biography film in the vein of Ray or Walk the Line. Chadwick Boseman stars as the legendary James Brown, profiling his rise to stardom. Then, on August 8th we get Michael Bay’s produced remake of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles directed by Jonathan Liebesman, whose last two movies were Wrath of the Titans and Battle: Los Angles. The movie retells the story of a news reporter played by Megan Fox who stumbles upon Mutated Turtle Teenagers who are trained to be Ninjas by their sensei who is a anthropomorphic rat. Just like the title says. They also fight a clan of ninjas called The Foot led by a villain by the name of Shredder who may or may not be an alien this time around. Also expect a lil brain like creature called Krang in the belly of an Android. Again, if Ninja Turtles isn’t your thing, then go see Guardians of the Galaxy again, but if THAT doesn’t cut it, then also out that weekend is Into the Storm, which looks like 1994’s Twister turned up to 11. It stars someone who died on The Walking Dead.
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But in between Fridays this month we get a nice little Wednesday release with Let’s Be Cops, yet ANOTHER Rated R comedy this year. Starring Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr., it follows two guys who dress as cops for a costume party, but then end up posing as cops. Comedy ensues. The Age of the R-Rated Comedies is back, get out there and see these movies before they stop making them again for another 20 years. Then that Friday, the 15th we get the latest installment in the Golden Aged Action Ensemble, The Expendables 3. Starring everyone from every kick-ass movie since the 80’s & 90’s except unlike the last two, this one is PG-13. Also out is The Giver, which plays like a Hunger Games meets Equilibrium with Jeff Bridge’s The Dude gone serious and being a party stopper. Lastly that weekend in limited release is the quirky comedy Frank, starring Michael Fassbender & Domhnall Gleeson, about Fassbender a musician who wears a giant Morel Orel head ALL THE TIME. #SOLD Next on the 22nd we get the last major release of the month with Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. This sequel is actually partially a prequel to 2005’s Sin City, based on the black & white noir comic written by Frank Miller. The original film was a smash hit, the sequel seems to be trying to recapture that same vibe almost 10 years later (Jeez, 10 years already. It feels like yesterday I....You get the point). The film reunites most of the cast of the original sans the obvious ones, but recasts with President All-State from the tv show 24, who played Cerrano in Major League. Another Wednesday release is November Man starring Pierce Brosnan doing Bond-Like things. That hits on the 27th Then lastly on the 29th is the French themed horror film about creatures lurking in the tunnels below Paris in As Above/So Below And that’s August! Told you it wasn’t over yet, there was still more to go this summer. Stay tuned to our Movie (P) Review Page on Facebook for up to the minute stories, speaking of which we are also recruiting writers and correspondents for the page. Inquire by shooting a flare from the highest point of your nearest location. Or just message the page. See you next month for cannibalistic Jungle Dwellers, Walrus Men, Boxed Trolls and Denzel doing Denzel in a TV remake.
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TJ: We do a lot of convention coverage. We get to hang out with a lot of cool people. Mostly in the fandom type of cultures. Professional wrestling is obviously a very deep entrenched fandom culture. You and your gimmick have a crossover from wrestling to comics. I’m assuming the Hurricane gimmick had to come from you initially? Shane: No not at all. TJ: Really Shane: I had the green lantern tattoo and I would wear comic shirts. It was cool to be a comic fan. Now comic movies are running Hollywood. Now it’s the in thing, but at that time it wasn’t. TJ: Right Shane: Now all the fair weather fans are coming out. All the wrestling fans are coming out. Back then I didn’t care. It wasn’t like I was trying to be cooler than anyone else. I liked comics. I always read them my whole like. It helped my life. At that time a lot of WCW guys had been brought in to the WWF and there were a lot of guys that were searching for identities. The company was trying to do a lot of PR experiments with a lot of guys. I wasn’t the only one the experimented with. Most of them just didn’t work. TJ: Right. Shane: It kinda started with a back stage segment I did with Stone Cold. The only duration I got was he might ask me about my tattoo or something. Vince was producing the segment. Back then things were less scripted. They would let us go and be ourselves which I feel was better. I didn’t know what I was going to say because I did not know what Steve was going to say. He’s Steve Austin; he can say whatever he wants. I was just glad I was there. When he asked me about the Green Lantern tattoo I started talking about the Green Lantern like it was a real person. I’m not really sure what it came out but it was just how it happened. “What’s the tattoo about? he asked.”. I told him he beat superman with one punch. “Boom”. Deborah was there and she started laughing and his reaction to her was funny and we knew we were on to something. For the next couple of weeks every time we did a promo I would trail off into theses tangents about comics. That’s all they would say. We want you to talk about Kurt Angle this week and then go off into a tangent. I would put all the comic book characters that I liked. Only stuff that comic book fans would know like Black Adder. My favorite comic character of all time. I would start talking about him and all that. I did that for two weeks or so and then Stephanie McMan came to me and said; we’re thinking about making you into a superhero”. I was like “Yeah”? I got 22 amateur gold medals and could never envision myself being in a boy band or being a Super Hero. She was very nice about it. Not demanding. She wanted my feedback. I was like Yeah. Back then I wore the little trunks so I was basically in my underwear. I TJ: So you were just one step away anyway? Shane: Yeah I was like a full body suit, cape, and mask all of that. I was like: If that’s what you guys want to do I’ll give it a 100%. That’s the secret of why it worked was because I did give it 100%. Why the other experiments failed is because those guys didn’t. TJ: It was kind of an extension of you as well. Shane: I did love comics so that was easy to pull off. The crazy speech patterns I developed as Hurricane and the walking patterns, the mannerisms was all on the fly stuff that I would experiment with. Whatever the people reacted to I would keep. I would remember. I did take it upon my self to upgrade.
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Shane: They gave me a really bad mask initially. The outfit was very one dimensional. It looked like nothing.. There was like a little hurricane symbol on my butt that looked more like a bull’s-eye which I did not want. I took it upon myself to make the outfit cooler. I went to the face paint. I wore the make, but I was like this is not going to work. That’s the secret. People could tell that I like it and I believed in it. If I go out there in some cheesy mask that’s going to fall off in 5 seconds it’s not going to work. Vince was like “What about Face Paint?”. I went to the makeup lady and she did all the cool designs. I wore that until the leather mask was made. TJ: Like you said, you have had a lot of other gimmicks. The Boy band gimmick in WCW, and at that time it was some of the best wrestling. The cruiser weight division was some of the best wrestling I have ever seen. They let you guys open up and just go and do what you do. Shane: Man it was amazing. It was hard to follow. We would get direction to go out there and have a car crash. Do as much shit as you want. You really don’t need that in an opening match you know. You watch Star Wars they don’t blow up the Death Star in 15 min. You still have the rest of the movie to get into before they blow it up. It you watch Starcade that want us to start off with a ladder match. We went t out there and stole Starcade. TJ: Where do you go from there? Shane: It was fun. Definitly sugar Shane in my humble opinion was the brightest of that last couple months of WCW. TJ: It was. Shane: It was a lot of fun. I had a great time. TJ: since all of those other gimmicks you have this hurricane gimmick. You seem happy with it. You seem to be working with it. I think by far it has really caught on in terms of people loving it. Shane Yeah it was one of those thing where I could go to Canada with the WWE I was the one American they didn’t boo. They would always make me wrestle Canadians, because at least they wouldn’t boo me. TJ: Right Shane: But at the same time I’m like; I wanna get cheered here too you know. I remember I came back from the ring one time and I was like; can I come to Canada and not wrestle a Canadian just one. It was always on TV. TJ: I think we are friends on Facebook. You always have a very positive outlook on Facebook. Recently there were some trending things. You can see on Facebook what’s trending. And your name was up there. It was for all the encouraging words for the string of guys that just got cut. I read into that and there was a lot of encouraging words. Getting cut from WWE I can imagine is terrifying. Shane: I was just in a place where I was Ok with it, but I am very aware and I have friends who were let go that weren’t Ok with it. So I went though with then a little bit. Me I was in a place in my life, I had been there 10 years. I was probably the shortest phone call they ever had. I was asking Johnny if he was Ok with it because he sounded more upset about it than me. Where you’re that young and you know you can more, but they are just not on the same page as you. It’s a strange industry anyway. It’s a strange creative process up there. Right now the indie scene is so hot. I think the TV products from both of the major companies are soft. I love ring of honor, but every match has the same exact kind of flow. Almost like once you have seen one you have seen them all. I still watch it and I still love it, but they have their niche audience and it doesn’t seem to get any bigger. I’m not sure it will until they add different dynamics to it. The indie scene is loaded with talent. You are starting to see the guys that belong there. You take Chris Masters and Lance Hoyt are a hundred times better than they were in WWE by far. It’s a very strange thing because you used to have to be good to get into WWE.
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Shane: That’s where you ended your career once you were good. Now they bring in guy when they are very new. They don’t really know what they are doing. They don’t know how to react to so many different situations they are thrown into. When they don’t react equivalent they get let go. Then they leave, travel the world, and then they get good. It’s the exact opposite of how it should be. TJ: I agree. It used to be strong working ability and we’ll market that. You will find a marketing campaign for that. Now it’s what can we market and we’ll fill in the rest. Shane: The WWE has always been heavy in the marketing thing. Without a doubt. It’s just now they are so worried about age I don’t know what the mindset is with that. With now much TV they got careers are going to be shorter there. More than ever. Where you were on TV once a week you could stretch that out a bit. Now they are on three times a week. Fans want to see somebody new. Careers are going to be shorter. I don’t know why they are so obsessed with these guys who look like teeny boppers. When I was a kid I saw grown men out there fighting. There were so many I was afraid of. Even as I started to get older you could see these are grown men out there. Now I watching little boys out there and I love high school wrestling, but I’m not afraid of those guys. I can kick those guys ass. TJ: Right. Shane: If I feel like I can go out there and beat the world heavy weight champion to me there’s a disconnect. I need to be afraid of somebody on this show. TJ: When we were younger it was these titans coming together and now it could be your neighbor. Shane: Even if it weren’t one of the big guys, the other guys were men. Adrian Street. I was scared to death of him. He could get nasty. Buddy Roberts one of the best. I was scared of Bunny Roberts. Gordy was the bad ass. Everybody liked Michael. Michael wanted to be a baby face all his career anyway, but Buddy Roberts could get nasty. He was terrifying. Those kinda guys there no guys like that now. Now there is no one who you see, who is like, that guy is going to hurt somebody. No real heels. Something is really missing. TJ: I think the best heel thing that I’ve ever seen, and if we really went back. This is even going back a couple of years already. It was when Steve Austin and Triple H they had that classic heel run together when they were tagging. Almost that cowardly heel, where they would take a powder. I really loved they way that was very old school. Shane: They were trying really hard. Steve had to try really hard. He never really got a lot of legit interest. Now matter what your going to like Steve Austin. That’s one of his things you know. It’s such a lost art to go out there now. Everybody wants to have merchandise and all this kinda shit. Definitely from a business stand point. TJ: Stands to reason. Shane: I run a promotion down in North Carolina I understand you want money coming in for your guys, but at the same time I think the story telling gets lost when there’s nobody to beat. Darth Vader was not the heel of Star Wars. Everybody loved Darth Vadar. You like Darth Vader more than you like Skywalker. TJ: Oh Yeah. Shane. The Emperor was the heel. Everybody hated him. In today’s climate everybody want to be Darth Vadar despite the fact that the crowds are cheering for them. I don’t care if you have Heel written on your shirt if the crowds cheering for you then your not a heel. TJ: There was this anti heel I guess. The anti hero is what they ended up call it and that’s how Stone Cold did his stuff.
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Shane: Yup. That’s a very American thing. We like the bad guys. TJ: Girls like Bad guys. Shane: It was fresh at the time and it got so hot. Steve was always going to be a baby face. When that turn starts to happen, and it happens organically as opposed to being shoved down your throat, that’s a thing of beauty. The whole world was behind Steve Austin at that point. TJ: That organic thing is the same thing why the Hurricane, that gimmick, is so big. Cause it’s organic and people know you love it and by proxy they love it. Man we appreciate so much for taking the time out and hanging with us. Shane: My pleasure man. TJ: It’s been fantastic. Where should people go to find out what you’re up to? Shane: My web site is www.ShaneHelms.com Everything is Shane Helms Com. TJ: I so glad you came to hang out with us. This has been awesome. Shane: Oh yeah thank you very much. My pleasure!
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“Urban Exploration” is a term coined to classify the action of knowingly trespassing into an abandoned building or property. After the advent of the internet, the title has come to label an entire subculture of people. The problem with broadly categorizing something such as this, is that due to the spectrum of people who fall under the classification of “Urban Explorer” the title doesn’t hold any true meaning. There are near infinite reasons for someone to enter an abandoned building. Some do it to experience a sense of danger, some get a high from breaking laws, some wish to experience a piece of forgotten history, and still other do it to create art. Obviously there are other reasons as well, but I wish to focus on the group of explorers who venture into these oft hazardous environments to be inspired and create artwork. The range of work from artists who have drawn inspiration from abandoned places is truly astounding. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned broadness of the label, “Urban Exploration” has come to be more closely associated with vandalism, arson, and the hobby of delinquents, as these are the stories which we hear the most about. Very few people may be savvy to a photograph someone took in an old school that has brilliant sociopolitical undertones, however the local news surely covers the story when a group of explorers decided to torch said school. It’s a matter of exposure, and Urban Exploration has terrible P.R. Jokes aside, an urban explorer is more than all this, and despite all the bad connotations that the They are heralds of the end times for forgotten places. The history of a place doesn’t just stop once its doors are closed, and it’s up to those who traverse these dark paths to share what neglect and lost potential look like, with those who else-wise may never have given it a second thought. This brings up an interesting question however - What makes a place worth saving, or even remembering at all?
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The sprawling Greystone Psychiatric Hospital sits on a hilltop in Morris Plains, NJ. It was constructed there well over 100 years ago, and opened in the summer of 1876. At the time of its completion Greystone was the largest singular building in the entire country, and held that title until the Pentagon was completed in 1943. The enormous facility was constructed following the Kirkbride plan. Named after Thomas Story Kirkbride, it was a model of psychiatric hospital that featured large wings of wards stretching outward from a center point, which was often the main entrance and administrative area of the facility. Typically, as was the case with Greystone, there were two wings - One for male patients and one for females. Though often seen as eerie places, these old asylums were actually built with the best of intentions for the patients. Yes the sprawl of these wings may seem imposing to an outsider, but they were purposely created narrow to allow patients constant window views and plentiful sunlight. Since the wards were indeed slender in design, they had to make them exceedingly long in order to allow adequate room for the thousands of people living here. The many ornately barred windows which ran the length of the wards allowed for an abundance of sunlight to make its way inside the old asylum. The once-blackened corridors slowly transitioned to the golden glow of the early morning sun. Long ago this would be the time of day in which the occupants of the wards began to stir. Awakened by the warm morning rays they would leave their beds, perhaps joining together in the day-room to talk or listen to music on the hospitals PA while awaiting breakfast. The day-room now sits in silent decay, the music stopped playing from the rusting wall speakers long ago, and conversations have not transpired here in over twenty years. However, to say there is no life here would be a lie. A building such as Greystone holds on to these memories, and if you’re paying attention, it plays them back for you in the only way it can - in an orchestration of light and shadow. We are often asked why do we want to see such a place saved? When we are asked such things, I try to remember that the person asking likely only sees the place as a scary abandoned asylum (with all the Hollywood creep-factor), and has no clue about what actually spawned the facility’s creation. Greystone was built of equal parts stonework, compassion, and an incredible amount of forward-thinking. Sure bad things happened here, especially during the era of severe budget restraints that most hospitals similar to Greystone suffered through, but since when did a sad history make a place not worth remembering? If we were to prescribe to that kind of mentality, we would lose some of our most important history. Safe-houses of the underground railroad. Nazi concentration camps. Any Civil War fortification. All these would be lost if we simply plowed over things that made us feel uncomfortable. You have to remember that not all of human history was built upon positive change, and more often than not it is through these terrible experiences, and the lessons learned therein, that we can grow. Greystone is not a relic of the dark ages of psychiatric medicine, it stands as a reminder that we once built entire cities just to attempt to care for those who could not care for themselves. A humbling notion, and one that may be lost altogether once the last of the Kirkbride buildings fall.
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This is an unanswerable question, but ones that Christina and I have been forced to wrestle with over half a year, as we push forward with our film Greystone’s Last Stand. Originally the movie wasn’t a movie at all, but was initially intended as a short online video to promote and spread public awareness for the organization Preserve Greystone, and their fight to save the abandoned Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital from the plow. However, just weeks into production, the state of New Jersey chose to ignore all redevelopment plans that had been proposed, and instead announced their plans for the total demolition of the facility. The news had a snowball effect, and with Preserve Greystone acting as our mediator, all of a sudden we were speaking with countless people coming out of the woodwork to speak with us in protest of the states decision. This is how our small online production quickly escalated into a full-length documentary film. One that we hope may shift the tide in favor of saving the forlorn asylum. Below: Hand drawn brids eye veiw of the massive property.
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http://www.alleventsound.com
http://www.crushmedia.com
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When you do as many photo shoots as we do here at Crush Media one thing is for certain; we are always looking for new ideas to stretch the limits of our creativity. Rounding up a group of time traveling warrior princesses just become part of the job. We settle on a concept and then it’s off to work planning and building everything we will need to bring our idea to life. The real work is behind the scenes getting all the duck in a row so to speak. It certainly involves much more than throwing on some costumes and firing off a few images. Some shoots can take months to organize. Hopefully if we get it all right it leads up to a fun , but hectic day of capturing images that will be used for promotion, publication, and portfolio’s. Post Apocalyptic Princess started way back in March 2014. Once the concept was decided then planning for the shoot commenced. Construction of the costumes was done by Stephanie Allison and Eric Baird over several weeks. We gathered materials form several different sources and assembled the costumes base on rough drawing and images found online. The goal was to bring to life, with various materials, the essence of the rough sketch. We hope you like our interpretation of these pop culture icons and what it might be like to create real life human game characters.
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