You may post your second progress report for the SF Slide Show Update Project here. Refer to the blue handout you received in class for guidelines (also available as a PDF on the class web page). You make also choose to email the assignment to me, or print it out and hand it in in class on Wednesday, March 5.
12 comments:
For my SFSSUP progress report I am doing a director/writer/producer study on James Cameron. I chose James Cameron because has directed many of my favorite Scifi movies, like Aliens.
James Cameron was born on August 15 1954 in Kapuskasing Ontario, Canada.
He is an Academy Award winner for Titanic.
He has made such Scifi movies as Aliens, Terminator, Terminator 2:Judgment Day, The Abyss.
He is also a producer and has produced movies like, Solaris.
He recieved a Bradbury Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
I got my information from Wikipedia .org
For my author I am presenting Micheal Crichton. I found some pesonal info in the back of his book The Andromeda Srain
I chose Crichton because he was recommended to me. He is an interesting writer who wrote some Science Fiction books as well as nonfiction and Directed some movies as well. Crichton was born in Chicago in the year 1942. He went to school at Harvard and after went through Harvard Medical school.
Some of his novels include The Terminal Man, The Great Tain Robbery, Eaters of the Dead, Congo, Sphere, Jurassic Park, And Rising sun. he is also the author the nonfiction books Five Patints, Jasper Johns, Electronic Life, and Travels. Micheal Crition also has a name in the movie buisness by direction the films westworl, Coma, and his own version of The great train robbery.
For My progress report I will be Summarizing the sci-fi movie classic called DUNE. ( Based on the book by Frank Herbert)
As the movie starts The narrator tells us of the age 23,190 AD when 4 worlds of the known universe ( Cladan Home of House Atreides, Geidi Prime Home of House Harkonnen, Kaitain Home of the Emperor of the Known Universe ans finally where most the story takes place Arrakis or Dune home of the 'Spice'. There is also the Guild a group of mysterious people who use the spice to bend space and time for themselves.
As the story narrates it tells us of the spice; The spice is life, The spice is power, The spice is everything that exists in the universe.
Four planets draw the attention of the Spacing Guild: Arrakis, a desert planet and only source of spice in the universe; Caladan, home of House Atreides; Giedi Prime, home of House Harkonnen; and Kaitain, Home of the Emperor Shaddam IV. The Guild, fearing a plot that might jeopardize Spice production, sends a third stage Navigator to Kaitain demanding explanations from the Emperor, who confidentially lets the Guild know of his plans to destroy House Atreides. The popularity of Duke Leto Atreides has grown within the Landsraad (a political sect that controls all religeon and activity) , and as Leto is suspected to be creating a secret army with a technique involving sound, he is now a threat to the Emperor. Shaddam's plan is to give the Atreides control of Arrakis, replacing the Harkonnens, who at an appointed time would launch a sneak attack on the Atreides. Upon being informed of the plot, the Navigator commands the Emperor to kill the Duke's son, Paul Atreides, a young man of whom has visions that tell of him being a prophet. The cryptic assassination order draws the attention of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood (related to the sect Landsraad), as Paul Atreides is tied to their centuries long breeding program in search of the Kwisatz Haderach (or holy prophet to bring rain of change upon the universe.
The Atreides leave Caladan for Arrakis, a mysterious world of vast deserts, filled with gigantic sandworms and populated by the Fremen, mysterious people who have long held a prophecy that a messiah would come to lead them to true freedom. Upon arrival to Arrakis, Duke Leto is informed by one of his right-hand men, Duncan Idaho, that the Fremen have been largely underestimated, as they exist in vast numbers in Arrakis and could prove to be powerful allies. Duke Leto gains the trust of the people of Arrakis, proving to be a charismatic and just leader. But before the Duke can establish an alliance with the Fremen, the Harkonnen launch their attack more quickly than the Atreides expect. While the Atreides anticipated a trap, they are unable to withstand a devastating Harkonnen sneak attack, supported by the Emperor's elite troops, the Sardaukar, and aided by a traitor within House Atreides itself, Doctor Wellington Yueh. Captured, Duke Leto dies in a failed attempt to assassinate the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen using a poison gas capsule planted in his tooth by Dr. Yueh, but his concubine Jessica and his son Paul escape into the deep desert.
Paul learns the way of his destiny and uses a power called the Voice which uses sound waves to control the mind.
He and Jessica become adopted by the fremen and Paul becomes the prophet Mua'dib and as a force of 1000 strong they slowly take back arrakis for themselves. Their goal was to bring the emperor himself to theplanet to end the reign of terror and treachory for the universe. When the emperor finally comes Paul lauches his final attack on the emperial forces with 10,000 strong fremen warriors. In the emperors shadow Paul finds his right to call Rain to the Planet for the Prophecy to be fulfilled.
This is actually one of my favorite movies. I haven't read the books yet but I plan to read them. If you like movies with lots of action and agreat story with hundreds of metaphors than this movie is for you.
Works Cited:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087182
http://www.duneinfo.com/
I chose to research an author from my time period, Terry Bisson.
-He was born February 12, 1942, Owensboro, Kentucky
-Terry Bisson won both the Hugo and Nebula awards
-Wrote novels based off the newest Starwars movies.
Some of his accomplishment during our time period include:
- Year's Best SF 3 (1998)
- Stars (2003)
- Mammoth Book of Best New SF 17, the (2004)
- Locus Awards: Thirty Years of the Best in Science Fiction and Fantasy, the (2004)
- Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection, the (2004)
- Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Second Annual Collection, the (2005)
- Year's Best Fantasy 5 (2005)
I chose to research about Terry Bisson because I have read some of his books and he is an excellent writer. I enjoy the material he writes about.
Work Cited
http://en.wikipedia.org
For my SFSSUP progress report i am giving my thoughts on the Movie Spider-Man 2 directed by Sam Raimi and Starring Toby Maguire as Peter Paker/Spiderman. Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson. I chose spider man 2 because i think that it was great example of how sci fiction can be used for superpowers and not just technology.
Since it is the second movie Peter Parker has already been turned into spider man and is still trying to go out with Mary Jane even though he knows it can never happen because of his powers. Also he is in college witting a paper about Dr. Otto Octavius, a scientist working on creating "the power of the sun" so that there will be infinite energy on the earth. When his experiments go terribly wrong when the tentacles on his back (which are used to control the forming sun.) The chip that keeps them from going out of control is destroyed leaving him vulnerable for them to convince him to do anything they want. The first thing he decides to do is rebuild the experiment (because it exploded when it overloaded)he decides to rob a bank to get the money which immediately gets spiderman's attention. They fight in many different scenes throughout the entire movie. Then in the middle Peter stops believing in spiderman so he slowly starts to loose his powers and begins to like it more and more. But after doc oct kidnaps Mary Jane he knows exactly what he has to do. In the end Peter convinces him that it is to dangerous to build but after it has already started. So Doctor Octopus sacrifices himself to destroy the sun in the river.
I think that the biggest part of science fiction in this movie is the creation of the everlasting "mini sun" which gives unlimited power. This is an example of a anachronism or when something from way out of its time is put into a different time period which it doesn't belong in. I think that this is a very neat and different approach on sci fi because most movies all the future technology takes place in the future, not just one being futuristic. Also i think that Peter loosing his powers is not just himself not believing in spiderman but it also shows that when other people keep telling you something about yourself it begins to set in and you believe them. Ex. when the newspaper company releases lots of stories about how he is a crook and evil so he believes that and that also contributes to him loosing his powers. Doc oct is a very confusing character because he is very spontaneous and you never know what he is going to do. I think this greatly adds to the effect of the mysterious factor of the movie because he starts out good, then goes evil, then you almost like him again in a weird way then he kidnaps Mary Jane and you hate him again, and in the end he is a hero and saves the New York City. Overall this is one of my favorite movies of all time and not only is is sci fi but it is also action and drama which is not easy to make all into one movie because they are so far apart from each other. Overall this in time could be considered a classic sci fi/ action move.
Phil E --
You have some good info about Cameron. What images could you include to present his info to class?
Lynch G --
Crichton is certainly a recognized SF author. For your presentaiton, you will want to emphasize the truly SF elements of his books.
Pearce --
This is definitely a thorough summary of the film. If you look at the assignment guidelines, you'll notice that your are supposed to do a short summary, and then mainly review the film (tell what's good and bad about it). You had just a little bit of review at the end, though it did show your appreciation clearly.
James L --
You chose a good modern author to research, and you included pertinent information about him.
Zach C --
Good discussion of the film. A little heavy on plot summary, but you did include some good comments about the significance and quality of the film.
The author I have chosen for my report is Orson Scott Card. I chose him because he wrote one of my favorite sci fi books of all time, Ender's Game.
Card was born on August 24, 1951 in Richland, Washington but was raised in Santa Clara, California.
He is a descendant of Brigham Young, the founder of the first Mormon pioneer settlement in Canada. He himself is of the Mormon faith.
He is the only author, as of 2007, to win both of science fiction top prizes two consecutive years in a row.
Some of his more famous works include the Ender series (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, etc...). The series spans 11 books.
wikipedia.com
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