The Akashic Field Chronicle

I got this idea from The RubeTube (kudos to Punzki). Since the AFC is a relatively new blog, I thought it would be great to start a post series as soon as possible. Besides giving this blog some structure, it also motivates me to post regularly. In this case, at least once a week.

The P.O.W.

As I’ve mentioned, this is in no way an original idea. Even the name of the series isn’t original. What’s the point of creating something from scratch when there’s a completely good alternative that has already been tested. Even the acronym POW (also copied) fits perfectly in this case, since my nickname when I was a kid was POW.

I never really got why my parents spelled it that way, instead of the more socially accepted version which is Pau. I have never spelled it “pow” voluntarily, but my parents always insisted on keeping it that way. Now that I think about it, it’s probably better that way because of the individuality. There’s probably a million guys in the Philippines named Pau, but I have yet to meet anyone named POW.

Actually, it kinda reminds me of the Mario Brothers game (not the sidescrolling version) which had a POW block at the center. When you bump your head into the POW you kill the turtles (or whatever those guys were) at the same time.

Old School Mario Bros.

I couldn’t find a screenshot of the original game I’m talking about. This one will have to do for now (Are those crabs?!!).

Pick Of the Week (POW)

The pick of the week is basically a venue for recommending absolutely anything that I find interesting. It could be a show, a movie, favorite websites, great software, and a whole lot more. Every week, I’ll pick something I like and then post it in the AFC.

For my first POW, I’m picking… “Kung Fu Panda”. Woohoo! If you haven’t watched it yet, I seriously recommend that you do. The only thing I regret about watching it is not getting tickets earlier. My friends and I basically ended up watching it at the very front of a Trinoma Cinema. Besides the neck pains afterwards, it just sucks watching too closely. I had a headache everytime the scene was panning or the characters were moving too fast.

The rendering is simply stunning. The characters are well thought out and are so realistically cartoonish. Okay, maybe realistic and cartoonish don’t go along very well, but that’s the only way I can describe it. It’s cartoonish in it’s movements but realistic when it comes to shadows, reflections, and flowing hair/fur. You’ll just have to see it for yourself to actually get what I mean.

I also loved the way the backgrounds were rendered to look as if they were from a clay-mation film. It looks so solid (ala Wallace and Gromit) but I think it’s still CG though. It’s probably the amount of detail they gave to texturing different materials that gives the solid feeling.

The story isn’t that groundbreaking, but the way it’s told through humorous punchlines and over-the-top animation is more than enough reason to watch this movie for a second time. Probably way out at the back of the cinema next time though.

Thumbs-up to the 3-d animators out there. They just simply keep getting better and better.

(Have you watched Kung Fu Panda? Whatchathink?)

Links:

• IMDB – Kung Fu Panda
• The RubeTube’s PoW – where I “copied” the PoW concept

Click here to read other Pick-of-the-Week (POW) entries