Geekology Magazine Vol. 1 Issue No. 1

DESIGN MGZ 6 | 1

GEEKOLOGY MAGAZINEVolume 1. Issue #1December 2014

G E E K O L O G YFandom MusicalsUnite! pg. 30

Damsels Not-So-In-Distresspg. 20

Meet the Artists:Jason & Dave pg. 8

Constructing The Indestructible pg. 22

2 | GEEKOLOGY MAGAZINE

GEEKOLOGY MAGAZINE | 3

The Guardians of GeekololgyName: W. AlcopraRole: CommanderWeapon: SwordWeakness: SushiCatchphrase: Muffin

Bio: William is the Com-mander in Chief here at Geekology Magazine. We don’t know how this came to pass or why there was next to no context, but the rest of the team does sus-pect it’s his disturbingly extensive knowledge of the deep recesses

of the Internet. It could also be because he was named after Commander William Riker of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but we highly doubt that. He is a physical embodiment of a search engine. This has led to multiple hairbrained schemes due to his expert level tracking skills. With his TARDIS in tow, no source goes over-looked as he explores every facet of geek culture.

Name: S. Sukraj Role: Second in CommandWeapon: LassoWeakness: Sucker punchesCatchphrase: *Ex-pletive*

Bio: New to the Geek world, Sandra is a headstrong and confident woman who is able to take on any challenge thrown at her. However, she does

dislike participating in normal human activities such as procrastination and despises slow or faulty hardware. Her hobbies are flying to drive-thrus for coffee in the wee hours of the morning. Why? Who knows, but she’s a part of this team and we’re glad to have her as our second in command.

Name: H. MohamudRole: Heavy WeaponsWeapon: Pulse RifleWeakness: MilkCatchphrase: You’re Lack-Toast

Bio: Short in stature, but large in heart, very little can stop the team’s heavy lifter. Whether it’s sweet-talking stubborn sources or vanquishing vengeful bounty hunters, he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure a successful mission. He has only one weakness and, curse it

all, it is milk leading to his infamous catchphrase “You’re Lack-Toast!”

Name: P. MaquirayaRole: Technical Sup-portWeapon: ExplosivesWeakness: Time ConstraintsCatchphrase: One More Minute

Bio: Paolo is like the Gandalf of the group. An old soul hidden behind a youthful exterior, his wisdom and knowledge in geek culture makes him seem infinitely more badass than

he actually is. He’s knowledgable in most fields, but specializes in film and anime, always willing to use his powers for the good of the geek team (and the world).

4 | DESIGN MGZ 6

Initiate,

The Guardians of Geekdom have chosen you.

In your hands you hold a vast repository of art and knowledge. Be

warned, it will leave you forever changed.

Long and hard they toiled to create this work.

As you read, Initiate, you will be exposed to many things. Within these

pages you will discover things you have not known before. It will expand

your knowledge in all things Geek.

Many have suffered to gather this information. In the hope that their

sacrifice would protect the world from devastation and to unite all peo-

ples within our nation.

The people need a hero, to give them hope and without hope, there

can be no future.

In brightest day, in blackest night, no lore shall escape your sight.

Let it be your guide, let it be your helping hand and we guarantee that

you will reach a level of Geek enlightenment that has never been possible

before.

You cannot fail. You will not fail us. Awaken the Geek within.

A Word From The EditorIt has been my pleasure – and an education! – to work with the Geekology team over

the past few months. I’ve learned about everything from sexism in comic books to

the wonderful world of cosplay to the enduring legacy of Stanley Kubrick. I’ve lived

vicariously through the team as they set off on adventure after adventure armed with

video cameras and an unrivalled enthusiasm for all things geek. They’ve struggled to

solve the mysteries posed by real-life room escape games, shot at each other while

playing Battlegrounds, the 2014 version of Laser Tag, and photographed everything from

Unplugged Expo to Toronto’s famous Zombie Walk. And I’ve watched with awe as they

incorporated all sorts of fantastic ideas (augmented reality, original comics – wow!) into

their magazine and website. They’ve had a blast, and so have I. I hope the readers of this

publication enjoy the results of their labours as much as I’ve enjoyed being along for the

ride. Long live geek culture!

FOREWORD


Geekology | 5

IMAGES TAKEN BY


6 | DESIGN MGZ 6

CAPTAIN’S LOGMeet The Artists: Jason & Davewilliam alcopra

notable entries from the crew

ConstructingThe IndestructiblepAOLO MAQUIRAYA

8-11

22-25

Red Pill or Blue Pill? 12-13

Damsels Not-So-In-Distress 20-21

Cause-Play: Combining Cosplay and Charity 16-19

Shocking Twist On A Classic Game 26-29



Geek Girls: Fact Or Faked?sandra SUKRAJ

Fandoms Unite!

hassan mohamud

14-15 30-33

Do You Want to Play a Game? 34-35

Combating Cosplay Crises 40-41

Kubrick: Picture Perfect Vision 36-39

From 8-Bit To Beyond! 42-43

CAPTAIN AMERICA

(LEFT PAGE) AND

DR. WHO/GUARDI-

ANS OF THE GALAXY

(RIGHT PAGE)

THESE TWO ILLUSTRATIONS WERE CREATED BY OUR GUEST ARTISTS, AND FRIENDS, JASON

TOCEWICZ AND DAVE FRANCIOSA.

CAPTAIN AMERICA WAS DRAWN AND ILLUSTRATED BY DAVE FRANCIOSA AND THE DR. WHO/

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY PANEL WAS BY JASON TOCEWICZ, DAVE FRANCIOSA AND SAM

NOIR FOR FAN FICTION THE SHOW


DOIT-YOURSELF


CAPTAIN AMERICA

(LEFT PAGE) AND

DR. WHO/GUARDI-

ANS OF THE GALAXY

(RIGHT PAGE)

Meet The Artists:Jason and Dave

WRITTEN BY WILLIAM ALCOPRA

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVE FRANCIOSA AND JASON TOCEWICZ

By day, Jason Tocewicz, 38, doodles caricatures of his

customers at Starbucks on their cups. At night, when the

green coffee-scented apron comes off, he pursues his life-

long passion: comics.

“I’ve been reading comic books all my life. One good

memory about my father (is that) he would buy comic books

and hide them around the house; like under chairs, under the

couches stuff like that,” Tocewicz said. “For me, it’s comics.

Ever since then, comics have been my main source of enter-

tainment, of escape.”

Comics have not only provided Tocewicz with solace and

joy, but they have inspired his creativity leading to his career

as a comic book artist.

In 2010, Tocewicz was focused on writing and took a

writing/graphic novel class at the University of Toronto.

Eventually he found himself at Ty Templeton’s Comic Book

Bootcamp. “I joined class with him and my whole focus went

back to write and draw comics,” he said. “Over the years I

took all the class es he offered. Now I’m just trying to reposi-

tion myself to try and get back into it – do it for myself.”

Tocewicz finds himself at a loss for words when describ-

ing the design process. “You’re creating something and you


Another illustration by contributing artists Dave Franciosa This is Sub-Zero, one of the playable characters in the fighting game

“Mortal Combat”

know it’s there. The more it takes shape, the more it takes

form, the more you take stuff out of it and the more you

put stuff in…it’s this really great feeling,” he said. “The more

you work on it, the more you write it, the more you draw it,

the more it becomes this physical thing. Once you get it out

there and it’s all done, it’s like ‘I made this’ and I get to share

it with people.”

Every time he creates an idea and shares it, Tocewicz

gets that feeling of “giddiness.”

“I guess every time I create a different idea where I talk

about something like that or I show someone a sketch I get

that feeling all the time. Almost all the time creating it is a

great experience,” he said.

Tocewicz creates comics mainly in black and white ink.

He’s been published in several copies of the Heavy Mental

anthology and Solitude.

Dave Franciosa, 25, is a hardcore Batman fan and a Ham-

ilton-based comic book artist. He’s been drawing Batman and

comics since he was two years old.

“As long as I can remember I’ve been drawing. More im-

portantly drawing comics, and to be totally specific, drawing

Batman. At the age of the two, when some are known to be

terrible, a method for relaxation was to watch Batman (1989),

draw, or both simultaneously,” Franciosa said. “The visuals of

the Tim Burton movie really captured my eye and sparked

my interest in illustrating comic figures. Now as an adult I

understand that illustration has become not only my career

path, but a way of meditation. Just as it helped me focus as a

child, it continues to do the same for me now.”

Zachery Ellis, 25, is another Hamilton-based cartoonist

and portrait artist. He’s the artistic mind behind the webcom-

ic Wow Such Wow. Ellis bought the domain as a joke but

ended up using it for the exercise of making a daily comic

strip.

“I just always drew, right from the get go. I have a cre-

ative brother and father so that doesn’t hurt either. I was a

pretty tiny kid growing

up and my mom was

always a little hesitant

to let me go out and

get roughed up from

sports with the bigger

kids. I was a little afraid

myself too I think,” Ellis

said. “The result was

that I spent a lot of time

inside with pencil and

paper and doing crea-

tive things. I work my

off hours as a freelance

graphic designer just making websites and catalogues that

helps with the bills while I pursue my love of comics.”

For inspiration, the artists find it in some interesting ways.

Tocewicz asks himself “silly questions” like “what if Quentin

Tarantino directed Disney movies?” Franciosa draws inspira-

tion from friends and family.

“Most recently I

have found personal

adventure and nature

to extremely inspira-

tional. If I spend like

20 minutes on a trail or

something, I usually get

all introverted and can

find a joke or an idea

within,” Ellis said. “It’s

pretty great for get-

ting to know yourself

through your work.”


This is Batman fan-art by Dave Franciosa.At the age of two, Dave would spend his days watching Batman on TV or drawing Batman. Sometimes both!

It’s pretty great for getting

to know yourself through

your work.”

“

“


DO-IT-YOURSELF

Ever wondered what your cat does

when it ventures into the vast outdoors? Most of us don’t

know for certain, but author Sherwin Tjia’s choose-your-own-

adventure book, You Are A Cat!, gives the reader free rein

to explore that question by chasing squirrels all day, among

other things.

“The difficulty of writing from the perspective of a cat

is that their choices, as well as how they affect the world

around them, is limited,” explained the Montreal artist. “The

things that move a human being are different from the things

that move cats, but what’s interesting is that people are often

themselves around felines in a way that they aren’t around

other humans.”

Tjia also noted that the reader would be able to instantly

understand nuances in the story that the cat protagonist

simply could not and how that was a beneficial factor in the

choice-making process.

“It was a lot of fun to put the cat in increasingly precarious

situations despite it not always realizing their magnitude,” he

said. “This is what later led me to up the ante and create a se-

quel about the same cat in a zombie apocalypse. There have

been tons of those stories from the perspective of humans,

but never from a cat.”

So what pages lead to deaths? And which pages advance

the story? The associate publisher at Chooseco (Choose

Your Own Adventure publishing company), Melissa Bounty,

explained the different aspects of gamebooks that she works

on with her writers and how that translates to the overall

page turns/options.

“We don’t have a specific number of pages…every writer

that we work with thinks about that construct in a different

way,” she said. “One writer named Douglas Terman who is

now deceased, created all these really perfect moments and

compelling choices he wanted in his book on written index

cards taped to a wall. He had the whole book plotted out on

the wall before he sat down to write.”

Bounty detailed the writing style of the late Choose Your

Own Adventure founder R.A. Montgomery, as simply sitting

down and writing the book out from start to finish. However,

he did apparently keep a list of all the page numbers and

would cross them off as he wrote so as to “not duplicate a

page.”

“Good or success endings versus bad or death endings

come after the fact,” Bounty said. “Our writers write with a

compelling story as the first mission and the structure is kind

The difficulty of writing from the

perspective of a cat is that their

choices, as well as how they affect

the world around them, is limited

“

“Red pill or Blue pill?

WRITTEN BY Hassan Mohamud

IMAGES TAKEN BYHassan Mohamud


of affirmed by that. There isn’t a huge amount of predeter-

mined structural influence that we are putting on the writers

editorially other than sequencing the book effectively.”

Jerry Belich, creator of the computerized Choosatron

arcade box, shared his viewpoint of choose-your-own-adven-

ture stories from a technical direction.

“My parents had bought me a few choose-your-own-ad-

venture books and I didn’t like most of them because I didn’t

think the writing was very good, but I was really intrigued by

the mechanics behind them,” he said. “That got me into cre-

ating simple adventures using BASIC on my first computer.”

Belich said that the influence those earlier years had on

him led to his eventual journey to recreate the option-based

stories he was accustomed to in a technological manner. He

pointed to Carol Gaskin’s 1985 gamebook, Forgotten Towers,

as his favourite of that time. His Choosatron invention is the

culmination of his prior forays into the interactive world.

Belich described the Choosatron as a small box with a

thermal printer like a receipt printer without any ink. The user

puts in special paper and it heats up with a printer head as it

comes out so that upon turning it on, the machine prints out

a menu that has a number of stories to select from.

“When you pick a story, it will print out the first part of that

story as well as at your choice-making junctions,” he said.

“Eventually you’ll come to one of the endings in the story and

at that point you basically tear it off like a receipt, effectively

keeping that representation of your journey.”

Although gamebooks haven’t been particularly popular in

recent years, Tjia sees a huge potential in the medium to do

things previously not attempted.

“The medium is untapped because there are so many sto-

ries that we could tell,” he said. “ I was just in the bookstore

yesterday and I saw a Neil Patrick Harris choose-your-own-

adventure autobiography…the thing about these gamebooks

is that they implicate you as the reader and that’s the great

thing about this particular medium.”

These images depict the inner workings of the

Fighting Fantasy Gamebook series, from their inter-

nal adventure sheets in which readers can jot down

their progress to the necessary junction points in

which they make their choices.

1 - Fighting Fantasy issue # 28 (Adventure sheet)

2 - Fighting Fantasy issue # 1 (Luck testing)

3 - Fighting Fantasy issue # 1 (Adventure begins)

4 - Lineup of the 3 books (issues 1, 28 & 29)

Inside pages and cover of Fighting Fantasy Gamebook series


It’s a growing phenomenon

throughout the geek world. If you’ve

ever gone to a convention – for ex-

ample, Fan Expo or Comic-Con – you

may have seen them wandering by,

hips sashaying, bodies scantily clad in

popular fandom* attire.

It’s the fake geek girl.

But what exactly is a fake geek

girl?

“She’s the girl who buys into the

sexist aspect of comic books,” said

reverse engineer Aimée Martinez.

Martinez, who is also a self-pro-

claimed Trekkie*, admits that she’s

been criticized for being a fake geek

girl and had to build her credibility.

She believes there are many

definitions of fake geek girls, simply

because they “have boobs.”

“This is still very much a boys-only

club,” Martinez said. “I am nervous

to offend any girl who is actually a

n00b*, but is being razed as fake.”

Hope Nicholson, a comic book

historian and publisher of 1940s Ca-

nadian comic book reprints, defines

this as “a term coined by fans who

PERSPECTIVE

FACT OR FAKED?Fake Geek Girls: Real or Myth?

WRITTEN BY:Sandra D. Sukraj

Catwoman illustration by Dave Franciosa


feel upset that their particular fandom is becoming popular

outside of the few hardcore fans.”

She also describes it as a phrase used to mock women

who are newer to fandoms or who appear less knowledgea-

ble. She said it’s used to try to control the demographics to

be primarily male.

“Fortunately, it does not appear to be working well,” Ni-

cholson said. “More and more women are showing their pres-

ence and passion online and at conventions, and are fighting

back against the concept; along with a healthy amount of

male allies.”

So, who is alleging these women and girls are fake geeks?

Nicholson said it’s mostly male fans, but also a small percent-

age of females.

But in a world where people are constantly changing

interests and finding new ones, is there really such a thing as

a fake geek girl?

Meghan Bell, managing editor of www.roommagazine.

com and digital communications co-ordinator at the Vancou-

ver International Film Festival and Vancity Theatre, doesn’t

buy into this phenomenon.

“I don’t believe there is a such

a thing as a ‘fake geek,’ whether

male or female,” Bell said. “The

whole concept of the ‘fake geek

girl’ is incredibly sexist and elitist.”

With the convenience of the

Internet, the involvement of fe-

males within geek culture has ris-

en. But there is still criticism from

the minority who feel threatened

by the growing accessibility to the

public in any way.

“The real geek and nerd com-

munity is made up of pockets of tight-knit groups,” Martinez

said. “While we welcome new people, you really have to want

to find us. You really have to have something to bring to the

table. You have to put in actual time and effort to learn any

subject, not just once a year for Fan Expo.”

The concept of the fake geek girl might seem like the new

mainstream fad, but Nicholson said it’s been around since

fandoms have existed. However, fandoms were less exclu-

sionary when it was more a part of society – for example,

when comics were available on newsstands.

“When comics went underground and into specialty

stores, that’s when the exclusion of female fans started to

occur,” Nicholson said, “as well as the ‘geek-shaming’ and

gatekeeping of the fandom.”

Many characters within fan-

doms are obviously sexy – think

Catwoman or Wonder Woman –

but some would say that’s hardly

enough of a reason to label a

women as a fake geek.

“I would wear a Catwoman

outfit because it’s sexy, yes,”

Martinez said. “But I know exactly

why she’s sexy and I’m doing it

for me.”

The concept of the fake geek

girl is widespread. By simply con-

ducting a quick Google search, you’ll find numerous memes

and even online quizzes you can take to determine if you

are a fake geek or not. But with most male-dominated areas,

women are uniting and breaking stereotypes and forging

their own dominance.

“People should be able to like the things they like to

whatever degree they like it,” Bell said, “without their fandom

being judged as ‘fake’ or ‘real.’”

Standard photo used to create fake geek memes

Fandoms: A close-knit group of people who share the same interest in a particular genre.

Trekkie: A devoted person belonging to the Star Trek fandom.

N00b: Internet slang. A short form for newbie, which is anyone new to a fandom. Using ‘00’ instead of ‘oo’ is Internet speak.

Razed: destroy or tear down.

The whole concept of the ‘fake geek girl’ is incredi-

bly sexist and elitist.

““

Permission for

photos was given by

Casey Brown/Skyleaf

Creations

Examples of Cosplay for A Cure’s photobooth shoots:Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite (Left) Sona from League of Legends (Right)

by Award Winning Cosplayer VickyBunnyAngel


DO-IT-YOURSELF


Cause-Play: Combining Cosplay and Charity

WRITTEN BY Paolo Maquiraya IMAGES TAKEN BY Skyleaf Creations

Fantasy and reality don’t typically go hand-in-hand.

They’re viewed as parallels that never intersect; however,

there are times when an opportunity arises for the two to

cross over.

For cosplayer Casey Brown, 29, the two collided when

her friend Shannon Neprily, 29, was diagnosed with breast

cancer on June 7, 2012. After that diagnosis, Brown decided

to combine her passion for cosplay with a cause to support

her friend, and the result was Cosplay for A Cure.

“When Shannon told me she had been diagnosed with

Stage 3 breast cancer my brain went, ‘What can I do to show

support?’” Brown said. “And I thought of a photo booth, [so]

I contacted my photographer friends, the Canadian Breast

Cancer Association, and six weeks later we did our first

event.”

Brown founded the group as a photo booth that attends

conventions across the GTA offering photography services.

Photos of attendees or of guest cosplayers are made availa-

ble for purchase at $2 apiece for individual photos or in disc

format including five photos for $10. Proceeds go towards

restocking on supplies and the Canadian Breast Cancer As-

sociation.

Sadly, Shannon passed away two years after being

diagnosed at age 31, but the group continues its mission to

fundraise money for a cure and bring awareness to younger

people that cancer doesn’t just affect older people.


Examples of Cosplay for A Cure’s photobooth shoots above and below:

Master Chief from the Halo video game series (Left)

Gender Bent Joker from Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight (Right)

“We’re about raising money and awareness to a genera-

tion that doesn’t necessarily think about cancer,” Brown said.

“The unfortunate fact is that it is affecting more people in

their 20s and 30s.”

Rethink Breast Cancer in Young Women in Canada con-

ducted a six-year survey prior to their publication in 2013. It

found that a total of 574 women who had been diagnosed

with breast cancer during the previous six years responded

to the bilingual online survey. 65% of survey participants

were ages 20 – 45. 35% were ages 46 – 69.”

One person Brown has reached out to to help spread

awareness is Vickybunnyangel, 26, an award-winning cos-

player from Toronto.

“I’ve been asked to help promote charities [like Cosplay

for A Cure] and lend my presence to help raise awareness,”

she said. “I come to their booth every now and then [when

we’re at the same convention] to take pictures with donors.”

Vicky does some of her own charity work as well, particu-

larly for the gaming event Extra Life. The event is a marathon,

but not for runners or walkers—it’s for gamers.

Vicky has participated in the charity event in support

of Sick Kids Hospital, which is part of the Children’s Miracle

Network of Hospitals, for the past two years. Her choice to

support Sick Kids comes with a bit of a personal touch.

“I know a lot of people who either have family members

or kids who needed treatment there,” she said. “Children’s

hospitals in general are a great cause because there’s nothing

more sad than adorable children with not-so-adorable hospi-

tal bills.”

She has raised over $3,200

for Sick Kids Hospital in the

two years she’s been doing

Extra Life.

An large group of the cos-

play community includes the

501st Legion, which is a group

of Star Wars cosplayers who

fabricate their own Star Wars

costumes.

Michelle Donnelly, 40, is a

member of the Canadian

Garrison of the 501st who

was introduced to the group

by her husband Luke and

has participated in numerous

charity events with the organ-

ization.

Some of those charities

include the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Starlight Starbright

Children’s Foundation.

And much like with Casey Brown and Cosplay for A Cure,

Donnelly and the rest of the 501st pay themselves for all

things concerning their charity events.

“It’s entirely out of pocket. We don’t get reimbursed for

anything (we put in),” Donnelly said. “Whatever we raised

goes directly into the charity.”

At this past FanExpo in

Toronto, members of the

501st, including Donnelly,

brought with them elaborate

set recreations of famous

scenes from the Star Wars

films to host some of their

activities, including a photo

booth and shooting gallery.

“We had a ‘Blast a

Stormtrooper booth,’ which

basically involving firing a Nerf

gun at Stormtroopers,” she

said.

Together with their photo

booth, the 501st Legion raised

over $14,000 at FanExpo. On

top of the money, the real

reward for these local cosplay-

ers comes out of giving.

“This is something we do because we want to do it,“

Brown said. “It’s about using our craft, our passion and our

love for cosplaying and doing something positive with it.”


“It’s entirely out of pocket,

we don’t get reimbursed for

anything (we put in),” Donnelly

said. “Whatever we raised goes

directly into the charity.”

“

“


They bring you to fantasy-filled dwellings where your

imagination can run wild. The vivid colours capture your

attention. The battle between good and evil is intertwined

within the crevices of each page.

The comic book industry has been around for decades.

We’ve all owned a comic book, had a favourite superhero –

or heroine – or dressed up as one for Halloween. But what

some people overlook is how much sexism exists within

those pages.

Writer and editor for www.thegeekanthropologist.com,

Emma Backe, believes that while it wouldn’t be fair to say

every comic book is sexist, forms of sexism are fairly ram-

pant.

“If you look at the genre of comic books historically,

even just literature

in general, male

writers tended to

dominate the pro-

fession,” Backe said.

Superman, Bat-

man and Iron Man

are all draped in full

costumes. Their fe-

male counterparts,

on the other hand,

are clad in more

revealing, sexy

clothing. DC Com-

ics’ Catwoman and

Wonder Woman

and Marvel Comics

Elektra are all laced

with sex appeal.

“There has

been a great deal

written about the

character of Won-

der Woman, for

example, and how

her abilities, personality, romantic relationships and backstory

have changed throughout the decades,” Backe said. “She’s

been appropriated

as a feminist icon

recently, but her

representation of

women has been

regressive and prob-

lematic at times.”

Avid comic

book enthusiast and

OCAD University

grad Brianna Gallant

feels that while com-

panies like Marvel

and DC are slowly

becoming more

representative - for

example, the new

Ms. Marvel is a Mus-

lim woman - there’s

still little care given

to how female char-

acters are depicted

by comparison.

“Men in comics

aren’t objectified;

they’re glorified,”

Gallant said. “They’re

put into strong

poses, doing heroic

things. Women in

comics are often

contorted to show

as many sexualized

body parts at once - the ‘boobs and butt’ pose - and seem to

be there for eye candy only.”

Undeniably, male superheroes are sculpted with well-de-

fined abs and rock-hard bodies, but those bodies are fairly

concealed.

“Perhaps the most blatant evidence of sexism in comic

books are the costumes that most female characters are

depicted wearing,” Backe said. “Female super-heroines

Damsels Not-so-in-distress

Emma Backe is a research assistant at George Washington University’s Global Women’s Institute in Washington D.C

Once male dominated, the comic book realm is seeing a rise within the female demographic

PERSPECTIVE

WRITTEN BY Sandra D. Sukraj


are often shown

in revealing, tight

costumes that, from

a strictly utilitarian

level, would not be

useful in fighting

crime.”

Of course, the

argument could go

both ways in saying

men are also stere-

otyped and objecti-

fied. Toronto comic

book fan Brandon

Vella feels it de-

pends on personal

views on characters.

“Could you sug-

gest male characters

were written in a

sexist stereotypical

way? As in they fit

gender stereotypes?

You could,” he said.

“However, it’s not as

much of an objectifi-

cation matter.”

According to

www.comicsbeat.

com, Facebook data

shows that nearly

47 per cent of comic

book readers are

female. Conversely,

Vella feels although

readership of comic

books is close to a

50/50 split in gen-

der now, this shift

in demographics

hasn’t translated

into a wave of positive super-heroines or changed how most

women are portrayed.

“Although Wonder Woman is being included in Batman

vs. Superman, many have argued that Wonder Woman

deserves her own movie and should not be treated as a

secondary character,” Backe said. “Especially because she is

a founding member of DC’s Justice League.”

Gallant states that men in comics may often be superhe-

roes with unrealistic proportions, but it’s a male power fanta-

sy they’ve created

for themselves.

“Men creat-

ed the superhero

image to repre-

sent themselves.

They made the

super-heroines as

something to look

at, and love inter-

ests as something

for the superheroes

to save and bed,”

Gallant said. “Sex-

ism towards men

doesn’t hurt men in

the way misogyny

hurts women; it isn’t systemic and it’s often been created by

men themselves. It’s men who perpetuate masculinity and

denounce femininity in men’s actions.”

However, not all female super-heroines are overly sexu-

alized. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a prime example that in

a male-driven genre, not all male writers exploit the “sexy”

heroine.

“Male writers and artists can create excellent female

characters,” Backe said, citing Buffy creator Joss Whedon as

a “perfect example.”

“Guardians of the Galaxy is a great example of the pro-

gress that has been made for women in comic books,” she

added. “The movie was written by Nicole Perlman, the first

female writer credited to Marvel studios, and the movie also

featured strong, complex female characters, such as Gamora

and Nebula.”

The comic book world seemingly still has a ways to go,

but it’s heading in the right direction.

“As more females start reading comic books, it raises the

demand for more positive female characters in them,” Vella

said.

Gallant agrees the future of comic books is going no-

where but up.

“With more female creators, we get better representa-

tion of women in comics,” she said. “I’m optimistic about the

future of comics with less sexism, and more intersectional

representation.”

Damsels Not-so-in-distress

Justice League illustration by Dave Franciosa

Brianna Gallant

ConstructingThe Indestructible

ILLUSTRATIONS BY Duncan Marshall

DO-IT-YOURSELF


The escapism that comes from cin-

ema is a feeling shared by both audi-

ences and filmmakers alike. Forgetting

about the real world and just immersing

yourself in the vision of a director not

only allows you to feel the passion of the

filmmaker, but also ignite your own.

That was the case for Kalen Artinian, 25, a Toronto

filmmaker who has worked on various freelance jobs from

directing music videos and short films to sound editing and

even cinematography.

“To me it’s the escapism of it where I can just forget

about my real problems for two hours,” he said. “I did that as

a kid if I were stressed out or something and I’d pop in some-

thing like Jurassic Park.”

It’s that sense of escapism in those films that finds itself

as a thematic component of his latest short film project, The

Indestructible.

“It’s about a teenager who loves to draw, gets bullied, but

doesn’t care, he just loves to draw and he’s in his own little

world,” Artinian said. “And every time he draws, we go into

this animation sequence of this superhero he’s created (The

Indestructible) that is the complete opposite of what he is.”

Artinian says it’s a project he’s been working on since

December 2012, but because of his desire to blend live-action

with animation the budget required wasn’t feasible back then.

“It’s a film we’ve been trying to make for two years now,”

Artinian said. “It’s been so much where it’s too ambitious,

[and] there’s a really big budget [needed].”

One of the people who worked with Artinian is cine-

matographer Matvey Stavitsky, 25. The two met during the

premiere of Artinian’s first short film, Hellvitica.

“I first met Kalen a few years ago when I was doing

some photography for his first film’s (Hellvetica) premiere,”

Stavitsky said. “I took some pictures and went up to him. We

started talking, and I asked him if he had any other projects

he was working on and it became Ruby’s Secret.”

Ruby’s Secret went on to have a successful festival run

during this past year. With its success and the desire to go

back to The Indestructible, Artinian saw a different route for

funding - Indiegogo.

Indiegogo is a crowdsourcing site similar to Kickstarter

where he is hoping to raise, at least in part, the necessary

funds for The Indestructible. Whether he meets that goal or

not won’t ultimately dictate whether he goes forward with

the project.

“Our budget right now on Indiegogo is $8,000,” Artinian

said. “I don’t know if we’ll make it. Hopefully we do, but if not

we’ll figure something out because [that figure] is a tight

budget.”

Ideally, he would like a budget of $10,000 to do the

short film really well, but he figures that he and his crew can

squeeze out a lot of the current $8,000.

The decision to go through with Indiegogo wasn’t a

no-brainer for Artinian, as he consulted with friends and fel-

low filmmakers who had previously used the crowdsourcing

site for other projects.

“I asked a lot of people about it, like the people produc-

ing the film looked into all the options before we launched,”

he said. “I also spoke to other filmmakers about what their

advice was for this route.”

While Kickstarter has gained popularity and notoriety as

a means of funding films like Kristen Bell’s Veronica Mars and

Zach Braff’s Wish I Was Here, Indiegogo presented itself as

the better option for Artinian and his project.

“Indiegogo just seemed like the friendlier option for us,


WRITTEN BY Paolo Maquiraya

“To me it’s the escapism of it, where I can just forget

about my real problems for two hours,” he said. “I did

that as a kid if I were stressed out or something and I’d

pop in something like Jurassic Park.”

and we chose the flexible funding option,” Artinian said. “So

if we don’t reach our goal we still get a portion of the money

we raised.”

“For example, if we reach our goal we’re deducted four

per cent, but if we don’t make it the deduction is nine per

cent, which were percentage rates more favourable than

Kickstarter.”

The campaign for The Indestructible on Indiegogo lasts

for 30 days. It started on Nov. 17 and ends this month on the

same day.

Artinian and his team had the option of setting their

campaign for 60 days, but decided against that on the advice

that the shorter time gave a greater sense of urgency to the

project.

Currently $1,496* has been donated to support the film

through its first nine days. The costs are meant to alleviate

some of the burden for Artinian and his team, including Mat-

vey Stavitsky.

“We’re aiming to rent out equipment with this to make

sure we’ve got great lights and lens with the equipment we

already have,” Stavitsky said. “We’re not paying ourselves

or anything. It’s just meant to cover the costs of rentals and

locations.”

Costs and a lack of a stable job aside, The Indestructi-

ble comes off as a self-titled description of its creator as he

pushes forward into unknown territory by taking the initia-

tive.

“[Not having a full-time job], I treat [life] almost like a

9-5,” Artinian said. “When I’m home I’m usually working on

editing a shot or searching for more jobs. You can’t just wait

for someone to give you a job. You have to go after it.”


Screenshot of Kalen’s short film Ruby’s Secret Cinematographer Matvey Stavitsky

Sketch of a character in Indestructible


*raised at time of publication


Animated and graphic artist Duncan Marshall


Ghostface Killah with an Indestrucible t-shirt

Shocking Twist On A Classic Game

IMAGES TAKEN BY William Alcopra

CHECK THIS OUT


What if there was a game that incorporated all the best

parts of paintball, Airsoft and laser tag?

What if that game also had the best parts of video games

like Halo, Call of Duty and Battlefield?

No kidding. This game has it all: health, shields, machine

guns, shotguns, respawn points, force feedback and really

cool in-game sound effects.

Salivating? Good.

Meet Battlegrounds, a live gaming experience that’s a re-

invention of traditional laser tag augmented with technology

used in an innovative way.

They are a Toronto-based startup that aims to revolution-

ize laser tag.

“Battlegrounds is a reboot

of laser tag. We all love video

games, paintball, Airsoft and

laser tag. But we couldn’t do

the stuff we love in video games

in real life,” said Miles Bossons,

chief executive officer and

founder of the game.

“The idea was to find a way

to build a system that could

let us have those awesome

features we love in video games

– customizable equipment,

reactive playing fields, lots of

data, and bring that into a phys-

ical playing experience and that’s where Battlegrounds came

from,” Bossons said.

In terms of similarity, Battlegrounds has the same shoot-

ing mechanics, at its core, as laser tag. The gun is an ergo-

nomically designed mash-up of the Battlegrounds team’s

favourite Airsoft guns and the vest is outfitted with LEDs, vi-

brating force feedback motors and a Wi-Fi link to the server.

The shooting mechanics were improved in this version, but

“that’s where the similarity ends,” according to Bossons.

“After that, it was all about data and customizability. We

record every action that the player performs in the game –

where they are, what they’re doing (whether they’re pressing

the trigger or switching weapons) – and we’re able to work

with all that data to build really complex game systems,” he

said. “So, objectives. Complex objectives or missions that are

hard to do without having awareness of what’s on the game

field. We can do that.”

How do they do that,

you ask? Simple: chips (the

processor kind).

To be accurate, there’s

an 800 MHz ARM chip inside

every gun. It’s roughly the

equivalent of an iPhone 4,

according to Bossons.

In-game, players can

choose between three differ-

ent types of guns – machine

gun, shotgun, laser rifle using

a small LED screen. “They

run Linux on the guns them-

selves and the servers run

Linux as well,” Bossons said.

“With that horsepower, we can do a lot more complex calcu-

lations on the fly.” That’s right, the guns do a lot of the work.

But getting all that hardware to work together in these

new ways requires the appropriate software. Cue Battle-

grounds lead software developer, Andrew Murray.

GEEKOLOGY MAAGAZINE | 27

WRITTEN BY William Alcopra

“The idea was to find a way to build a system that could let us have those

awesome features we love in video games – customizable equipment,

reactive playing fields and lots of data, and bring that into a physical

playing experience. That’s where Battlegrounds came from.”

We all love video games, paintball, Airsoft and laser tag. But we couldn’t do the stuff we love in video games in

real life

“

“

It’s his job to write all of the code that runs on the gun

and on the server. On the guns, that means making the

buttons work, making the sound work and making the screen

change as the game progresses. (A white skull and cross-

bones when you die, for example.) “That means describing

the game rules. Making sure that the game starts and stops

and the correct winners...And the rules of how the games

work,” he said.

“It’s your standard software development job in a lot of

ways. You have hard bugs that you can’t find. You need to

dig through the code to try to fix. Turns out, it’s something

stupid. You have development

challenges that are common

to all sorts of software devel-

opment. It’s fun, but it’s also a

good experience to get your

hands dirty in that sort of field.”

In fact, last year’s Toronto

Mini Maker Faire presented

the Battlegrounds team with

a problem as unique as their

product.

“We thought we had a

pretty good product ready to

go,” Murray said. “It was a bit of

a slog to get it to a point where

we were confident we were

playable, but we didn’t have

time to test it. So when we brought it out and had a bunch of

kids with massive guns shooting at each other, it would crash

constantly. Like two or three minutes in, the vests would

crash and the gun would go crazy and start vibrating like

nuts.”

Initially, the team had no idea what was wrong. Eventual-

ly they figured it out. Turns out that the vibration motor, as

it vibrated, induced a current in the serial line between two

computers on-board the gun, which corrupted the data and

caused the program to crash.

“It was just this bizarre bug that combines hardware and

software in such a particularly unique way to our product,”

Murray said.

Unlike laser tag, you know you’re getting shot and when

you’re dead. In Battlegrounds your LEDs light up white (in-

stead of your team colour) and your vest vibrates. When you

die, the LEDs turn solid white.

But here comes the cool

part. If you hide for three

seconds, your shields go back

up. But if you can’t hide and

your shields go down, then

you take health damage. It’s

optional, but if you have the

shock armband on, when you

take health damage that’s

when you’ll feel the electric

shock.

“We can do anything from

a light static shock, which

really doesn’t bother you at

all, up to as strong as the pain

of a paintball hitting you, but

without the physical risk and

danger of shooting projectiles at people,” Bossons said.

The electroshock, as a force feedback mechanism, came

from the team’s paintball and airsoft background.

“We knew that as fun as laser tag is, there’s a risk element

that’s missing from laser tag. The game is still fun without

electroshock. But when you do play with shock you’re actual-


The game changes dramatically when

players have the shock band on.

“

“


ly risking something; you’re asked to play a bit more careful-

ly,” Bossons said.

“The game changes dramatically when players have the

shock band on,” he said. Originally the team thought that

people would think they are crazy for having it. Of the 400

beta testers, about 95 per cent chose to wear the shock

bands. They loved the additional level of force feedback.

Joyce Estaris, a 17-year-old gamer played the game for

the first time last month. She’s an avid gamer and immediate-

ly recognized Battlegrounds’ similarity to first-person shoot-

ers. Estaris has also played paintball and laser tag before. She

wanted to know what made Battlegrounds so different.

After a three-minute game, she came out breathless. “It

was exhilarating, because it was really dark to start with and

it had a lot of obstacle courses with different walls,” she said.

“You couldn’t see everyone. So it was almost a maze. Since

it was such a small closed area, you bump into your enemies

often, so it’s this sort of flight-or-fight response. It’s really

fun.”

Despite positive feedback from players, the Battle-

grounds team says they still have a lot of work to do. They

plan to open their first playing facility in April 2015 near

Yorkdale Mall.

In the first week of December, Battlegrounds launched

an Indiegogo campaign to pre-sell tickets to the first playing

facility.

“We open that playing field in April and from there we’ll

tweak the game,” Bossons said. “The first players, through

the Indiegogo backers, they’ll get a chance to have their

feedback and input come back to us and help tweak and

shape the game for the people that come afterwards.”


CHECK THIS OUT

CAN YOU FEEL IT AUDIENCE? CAN YOU

FEEEEEL IT?

Fandom Musicals is a comedy/musical theatre group based in Toronto. They specialize in original material as well as parodying various works of fiction and pop-culture.

Top picture was taken from Fandom Musical’s recent Frostbite show this past Nov. 8

The two smaller pictures (left to right): Tyler Mann, co-founder of Fandom Musicals and Lucas McDonell, one of the many cast members.

Fandom Musicals has taught

me to…I’m going to quote Walt

Disney, ‘keep moving forward.’

““

MUGSHOTS TAKEN BY William Alcopra



Fandoms Unite!A group of like-minded individuals band together due to their shared love for comedy and theatre

FANDOM MUSICALS

What: Fandom Musicals during their Frost Bite show

Location: ConBravo Fanfare Geekfest II

Date: Nov. 8, 2014

The crowd at this year’s Unplugged Expo roared with

laughter as Tyler Mann, dressed up as Sora from the King-

dom Hearts video game series. He poked fun at the audience

with hilariously timed punch lines, one of which involves

asking a question and then disregarding the spectators’ re-

sponses by simply going off to ‘find’ the answer.

Fast forward almost a month later, Mann met up with fel-

low members of the Toronto based comedy/musical troupe

at York University’s Keele Campus for their second-last

Thursday rehearsal before the premiere of their new show

Frost Bite, appearing at this year’s ConBravo: Fanfare Geek

IMAGES TAKEN BY Fandom Musicals

Fest II on Nov. 8.

“I was always interested in theatrical related stuff at

conventions,” he said. “The first year at ConBravo, I decided

to sum up the entire story line of the Kingdom Hearts video

game series in six minutes as a masquerade sketch with some

colleagues and it went over really well with the audience of

the convention.”

Mann, 23, explained that following the success of their

sketches dedicated to the early 2000-era video games, he

had pitched an abridged/fun-poking musical version to his

fellow Fandom Musicals co-founder Tarif Khondker, only to

be met with skepticism.

“I suggested doing a musical version of our original

sketches and it was met with uncertainty,” he said.

Khondker, 24, acknowledges the doubtful reception to

Mann’s proposition, but notes his immediate change in out-

look upon seeing the work in progress.

“Tyler had approached me and a couple others and put it

out there that we should do a musical,” he said. “Sure, there

were a lot of mixed results in terms of our reaction to the

suggestion, but Tyler came back to me six months later and

pulls out a draft for half of a script and 18 songs written and

rough-recorded.”

Mann talked about how the finished product, aptly titled

Fandom Hearts, was crowd-funded through the Indiegogo

website in order to raise money for costumes, props, sets and

the recording of the soundtrack during the production phase

before their audience-winning performance at ConBravo

2013.

Christian Teatro, who was initially brought in to help put

together Fandom Hearts, is now the director for this year’s

Frost Bite show.

He recounts the thinking process that eventually led to

basing the performance around one of pop culture’s most

well-known genres.

“Right after Fandom Hearts, we were in a hotel room talk-

ing about what we should write next,” he said. “I kind of put

out the idea for us to do zombies and everybody else was

instantly behind it. I took about a whole year to eventually

finalize the script.”

Teatro, 22, echoed the shared sentiment of great team-

work among his group mates. He points out that although

Fandom Musicals functions through one individual writing a

script for a proposed show, everybody else chips in with their

own ideas and suggestions.

“In rehearsal I could literally disregard a line that I had

written and instead go with something that one of the cast

members said offhandedly,” he said.

Mann, Khondker and Teatro are self-professed fans of

comedy, video games and anime. Their interests vary from

Kingdom Hearts to the Legend of Zelda video game series

and the old-school Spongebob Squarepants show. Teatro

also has a background in improv comedy, having belonged to

a troupe that Mann was also a member of for eight years.

According to Mann, the amount of fan reactions to his

work in Fandom Musicals has been a very humbling experi-

ence. He was even recognized by a fan at his day job.

“Somebody recognized me at work, which was pretty

fascinating,” he said. “I was just interacting with someone at

my workplace and the person suddenly asked, ‘Were you

Sora (the main character from Kingdom Hearts video games)

in Fandom Hearts?’”

The three look back on how challenging it was for them

in the beginning to put the Fandom Musicals group together,

stick to schedules, find the right management and hold audi-

tions, all while juggling their personal lives. They repeatedly

mention what a great learning experience it has been.

“My experience in Fandom Musicals has taught me to…I’m

going to quote Walt Disney, ‘keep moving forward,’” Mann

said. “My mother got sick before I finished the script for what

would become Fandom Musicals and passed away right be-

fore the auditions. It made me want to go through with this

more than ever.”

FROM ONE SHOW TO

ANOTHER:


FROM ONE SHOW TO

ANOTHER:

(From page 32) Fandom Musicals Star Explorers show poster

(From page 33, clockwise from top) 1. The FM cast raise their hands together in unity during their Frost Bite show2. FM cast members during their Off The Top Of Our Heads (co-founder Tarif Khondker on far right)3. FM cast during their Fandom Hearts show



Do You Want to Play a Game?

Escape is no longer an art......it’s a game!

CHECK THIS OUT

IMAGES TAKEN BY William Alcopra

WRITTEN BY William Alcopra

...I was blindfolded and handcuffed in a pitch-black room.

Our team had been sent deep behind enemy lines on a

top-secret mission and we have had 50 minutes to accom-

plish it. Separated into two groups, we began our assign-

ment...

...Using a vintage Morse key, my teammate Sandra and I

sent the other team a message in Morse Code (instructions

for them to escape from where they were). We didn’t know if

they got the message, but we had to get out of the hand-

cuffs...

...Scanning the room with our flashlight, we found a book

on the floor and a canteen hanging on a hook. After several

minutes, we managed to lasso the book with some rope. In-

side the book were keys to unlock the handcuffs. The canteen

had a key in it too. We tried the key on the padlock, but it

didn’t work; the other door had a combination lock. We were

stuck and didn’t know how to get out...

What you just read is the beginning account of the Gee-

kology team’s experiences with the Liberty Squad scenario at

BreakOut Team Adventures Inc. located at 705 Progress Ave.

BreakOut Adventures is one of at least seven companies

offering Torontonians “real life room escape games.” A real

life room escape game is an experience where you work

with a team of people to solve various puzzles and escape

a locked room (or series of rooms) in order to achieve an

objective. In this case, to accomplish a top secret mission in

Second World War. Or to escape from cannibals who plan to

eat you, in others.

Steven Jie, 20, CEO of BreakOut Adventures, started

the company after playing an escape game in China. “I just

thought it was a really cool idea. So after playing it, (I felt)

‘wow, this is such an amazing experience,’” Jie said. “When

I came back to Toronto, (I wanted) to play more of this, but

unfortunately, there wasn’t any (at the time).”

Currently, there are about seven different companies in

the GTA offering real life room escape games. The Geekology

team was able to experience escape games at three of them:

BreakOut Adventures, The Great Escape and Mystery Room.

When Jie arrived back from China, there was only one

company offering room escape in the GTA, Adventure

Rooms in Hamilton. “Then I thought, maybe we should open

one up for those who didn’t want to drive the two hours or

who doesn’t have a car or who’s too busy,” he said. “We just

want to provide this service to Torontonians and the GTA.

Not only do we want to bring it here, we want to improve

upon the concept and make it better (to) keep pushing this

industry forward.” the concept and make it better (to) keep

pushing this industry forward.”

...Despair and loss. We didn’t know what to do next. Then

I heard voices. Sandra did too. They belonged to Hassan and

Paolo, our squadmates. They were on the other side of the

door and we had each other’s keys...

According to Jie, the Liberty Squad scenario is vastly

different from the game he experienced in China. The game

in China was a very small one-room or two-room scenario.

“That was very exciting. You’re trying to get out. You’re

feeling you’re stuck. It’s exciting,” he said. “So we thought,

‘Let’s just take it to the next level.’” BreakOut features a

1,000-square-foot, multi-room scenario, Liberty Squad, with

special effects and gadgets designed and built by a team

of designers with over 30 years of experience in the special

effects industry.

Joe Burton also saw the popularity of the escape game

in China when he visited. He thought to himself that he’d

like to bring escape games to Toronto and North America.


He thought it would be popular here. He founded Mystery

Room, located at 422 Dundas St. W., in March. “I was so

very pleased with the positive response.”

...I was really happy to see them after we got our keys

to the appropriate locks. The solution to the combination

lock was elusive. We knew we were running out of time...

Ryan Hu, 36, chief operations officer for BreakOut Ad-

ventures, noted the difficulties they faced in the beginning.

“It’s pretty different (between) playing the game and now

you’re creating a game for customers,” he said. “They’re

two totally different feelings.”

He described the difference between eating a cake and

making the same cake from scratch.

...We stormed the last room. There’s a safe, a desk, a

bookshelf and a locked door. Without a word, we fanned

out searching for the few clues between victory and defeat.

Four minutes left...

To those that don’t make it, Hu “calls them all champi-

ons.”

...The safe is open. It has the last clue. Two minutes...

“The point of the game is that escaping is not the only

point of the game,” Jie said. “I think we make it more – so

that people enjoy working with each other and that they

become better friends at the end.”

...We left the final room with heads bowed in defeat.

(Top) Steven Jie, CEO of BreakOut

Adventures, briefs the Geekology team

before their mission. (Bottom) Geekologists

Sandra and Hassan carefully study the

Morse Code to be used

“Here’s Johnny!” Somewhere, somehow you’ve probably

heard that line, or some parody of it, accompanied by a head

popping in through a crack in a door. How about, “I’m sorry

Dave, I can’t do that” as you stare into a red eye. These are

two of the most iconic lines of dialogue and both come from

the mind of acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick, the subject

of the latest exhibition at TIFF Bell Lightbox that opened on

Oct. 31st and runs through Jan. 25.

Kubrick had a storied career spanning nearly 50 years,

from his first feature film Fear and Desire in 1953 up until

Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, which was released posthumously

following his sudden death in March of that year. Known as

a perfectionist and gifted storyteller, many of his films have

gone on to become iconic pieces of pop culture.

“The reason that Kubrick’s films endure is because they

are so meticulously made,” said Steven Attanasie, associate

editor for SK Intertainment. “They can be enjoyed by a varie-

ty of people with varying tastes. He appeals most obviously

to cinephiles, but nerds love 2001, fans of black humour love


CHECK THIS OUT

Stanley Kubrick: Picture-Perfect Vision

IMAGES TAKEN BY Paolo Maquiraya

WRITTEN BY Paolo Maquiraya

The Stanley Kubrick exhibit, dedicated to the late director, is now open at the Bell Tiff Lightbox. It runs through Jan. 25, featuring screenings of his films, round table discussions and tours.


Dr. Strangelove, military people love Full Metal Jacket, teens

love A Clockwork Orange, horror fans love The Shining, histo-

rians love Barry Lyndon and pervs love Eyes Wide Shut.“

Those very same fans can now learn about their favourite

Stanley Kubrick films at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. There, fans

both old and new can reflect on what has made his films so

impactful and unlike any other filmmaker.

“I think Kubrick made movies that forced me to think,

which made me want to re-watch his work multiple times.

His shot composition and storytelling were extremely visual,”

said Harold Canlas, a behaviooral science student and exhibit

attendee.

“His attention to detail was insane—the way he would

change the placement of objects on a table in between shots

to make the viewer uncomfortable and you can really appre-

ciate those details.”

For instance, even though A Clockwork Orange was

released in 1975, the iconic imagery of the film can still be this

day. The animated series The Simpsons paid tribute to the

Kubrick film with its own parody segment as part of its annu-

al Tree House of Horrors special this past Halloween. “Refer-

encing Kubrick makes one seem film literate,” Attanasie said.

“I think The Simpsons is perhaps the greatest pop culture

contribution to society as a whole, and often it’s because the

writing staff are fans of Kubrick.”

Perhaps the reason why he is so referenced in pop culture

is due to this reputation as a perfectionist, which started from

humble beginnings as a photojournalist.

“He comes out of photography,” said Seth Feldman, a

professor in the department of film at York University. “He

slowly got interested in making films, but his interest was

always in the look of a film because of his background in

photography and became a perfectionist in how films look.”

Kubrick’s perfectionist ways covered all aspects of his

films, especially with the accuracy of every element on

screen, including sets. In his 1964 farce film, Dr. Strangelove

it is made apparent in his recreation of an American bomber

where a good chunk of the film takes place.

“He reconstructed the inside of the bomber so precisely

that the American military got nervous because they thought

he was stealing official secrets from them,” Feldman said. “It

turns out he had just gone through a lot of airplane maga-

zines that showed bits and pieces that he put together.”

His final film, Eyes Wide Shut, notoriously holds the re-

cord for longest filming shoot at 400 consecutive days with

the movie spending another year in post-production before

the finished copy was presented to Warner Bros. by Kubrick.

His demand for perfection was shown through then-pow-

erhouse couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, who signed

open-ended contracts for Eyes Wide Shut not knowing when

the enigmatic director would complete the project.

For Attanasie, if anything was evident from his body of

work, his eye for detail and penchant for precision it is that

On loan to the exhibit are various replicas

of items and memorabilia from his

numerous films including 2001: A Space

Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, Full Metal

Jacket, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange

and his final film Eyes Wide Shut


WRITTE HERE A PARTICULARTITLE FOR THIS SECTION

Kubrickput his “very life, time and essence” into each and

every one one of his creations. They are a standing testament

to the creative genius that he has been recognized for his

body of work.

“More than anything else, his work endures because he

created it to endure,” Attanasie said. “So much entertainment

is disposable and Kubrick always approached everything he

did with an eye toward immortality.“

1953 - Fear and Desire1955 - The Killer’s Kiss1956 - The Killing1957 - Paths of Glory1960 - Spartacus1962 - Lolita1964 - Dr. Strangelove1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey1970 - Barry lyndon1975 - A Clockwork Orange1980 - The Shining1987 - Full Metal Jacket1999 - Eyes Wide Shut

Stanley Kubrick’s filmography through his nearly 50-year career from the early ‘50s to the late ‘90s

More than anything else, his work endures because he created it to

endure. So much entertainment is disposable and Kubrick always ap-proached everything he did with

an eye toward immortality.

“

“



It’s finally here!

The convention

you’ve been wait-

ing for. But you

couldn’t afford an

elaborate costume

or just didn’t have

the time to buy one.

So, what do you

do?

L a s t - m i n u t e

cosplay* costume

ideas are gaining

popularity among

cosplayers. It pro-

vides an alternative

to store-bought,

boxed costumes

and allows the

wearer to make it

his or her own.

Toronto cos-

player Katherine

Keeling has done

this many times in

the comfort of her

own home – and

closet.

“You think of

something that you

can easily do with

the wardrobe that

you have,” she said.

“A lot of people go

for elaborate cos-

tumes. There’s a

lot of really simple

stuff that can be

done throughout

your wardrobe.”

Being a fan of

sci-fi fantasy, Keel-

ing’s husband also

opts for the do-it-

yourself costume,

more specifically

taking inspiration

from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

“The main character wears pajamas. Pajamas and a robe.

And chances are, you have that in your closet,” Keeling said.

“So, he got to walk around the con* in pajamas and a robe

with a towel and he was comfortable and people got it. Most

girls are in heels and corsets and my husband’s in his slip-

pers.”

While this is definitely a more cost-efficient and creative

alternative to buying a costume, a DIY costume isn’t always

necessarily cheaper than a store-bought one.

Rebecca Pahle, assistant editor at Film Journal Interna-

tional and lifelong cinephile*, said that while she has friends

who do closet cosplay, the stuff in their closets are items

they’ve acquired throughout the years.

“It looks awesome, but it ain’t cheap,” Pahle said. “As an-

yone who’s into crafting knows, making something yourself

is often way more expensive than buying it pre-made. The

benefit of DIY is that you get to add all the details you want

and have an end product that’s truly you.”

But Pahle said there are some DIY costumes that won’t

break the bank. For example, shows and movies where the

characters dress, well, normally – like Keeling’s husband and

his pajamas.

DO-IT-YOURSELF

COMBATING COSPLAY CRISES

Low on cash? Out of time? Don’t fear,

cosplay tips are hereExample of gender-bending at Unplugged Expo 2014: Sailor Man - the male take on

popular manga character, Sailor Moon

The Joker illustration by Dave Franciosa.

WRITTEN BY Sandra D. Sukraj


“Doctor Who, Supernatural and the like are always going

to be easier than assembling a good Batman cosplay at the

last minute,” Pahle said. “Which isn’t to disregard

the amount of effort that some people

put into Doctor Who and Super-

natural cosplay - just that that’s

the sort of thing you can put

together at the last min-

ute.”

Keeling has

also felt the rush

of putting togeth-

er a last-minute

costume. With only

two weeks before

her convention she

found inspiration on

the Internet.

“Somebody had cro-

cheted a light saber and

I thought ‘I can do that.’

So, I did it. I crocheted two

light sabers and Princess Leia

hair and the Twi’lek* tentacles

that come out of their heads and

I wore that,” she said. “I think a lot

of times when you go into just

recreational cosplay, not the

people that are really into it for

making money or for shows,

you can have a lot of fun with

it.”

Sunny Zhao, owner of

Cosplay Station, a Toron-

to-based online store selling

cosplay costumes and wigs, said

some of the most memorable cos-

tumes she’s seen at conventions

have been ones with over-sized

props, especially if it i s n ’ t

an elaborate cos-

tume.

“Sometimes the

props really make the

character come alive,”

Zhao said. “I can’t

really remember

what they were

wearing, but I can

remember how big

their gun or sword

was.”

Also becom-

ing popular among

cosplayers is the

concept of gen-

d e r - b e n d i n g

– taking tradi-

tionally male

cha rac te r s

and making them female, and vice versa.

For example, this Halloween Keeling dressed up as

the Joker – despite being female.

“He wears a purple suit and usually an orange shirt

under it with a green vest. So, I wore a purple dress that I

had with an orange tank top under it,” she said. “I sprayed

my hair green, got green eyeliner, made my eyes green and

I wore red lipstick. People instantly knew.”

That’s just another creative DIY costume

from simple, everyday items found in your clos-

et. But it’s not just the clothes that make the

costume. Attitude is important too.

“There’s a performance aspect to cos-

play,” Pahle said. “Wearing a cheap suit

that’s a little too big for you doesn’t

necessarily scream ‘Dana Scully,’* but

if you have the attitude down, the

poses, saying Scully-esque things

when people ask you who you

are, then it can make your cos-

play really awesome. And atti-

tude’s free.”

Pink Power Ranger cosplayer at Unplugged Expo 2014 at the Chestnut Conference Centre in Toronto.

Cosplay: Short for costume play. Dressing up as a character from movies, books, shows or video games. Popular choices include characters from Japanese anime, manga and comic books.

Cinephile: A person with an intense passion for the cinema.

Twi’lek: (via www.starwars.com): Twi’leks are tall, thin humaniods with skin pigment that spans a rainbow of colours. Their most distinctive feature is a pair of shapely prehensile tentacles that grow from the base of their skulls.

Dana Scully: Lead female character in the television series The X-Files.

Cosplayer dressed as Alucard from the Hellsing manga and anime series at

Unplugged Expo 2014 at the Chestnut Conference Centre in Toronto.

From 8-Bit to Beyond!



PERSPECTIVE

IMAGES TAKEN BY Hassan Mohamud

For Randy Orenstein, 31, video games are

more than just a pastime. He sits comfortably in

his apartment’s built-in hammock, the numer-

ous genres of games that adorn his shelves are a window into

how he approaches his work as a video game developer: with

an informed and open mind.

“Video gaming or video game development is at its ado-

lescence,” he said. “We’re now dealing with mature games…

it’s just that the power of the medium to touch more people

has expanded vastly, as well as its ability for more varied

voices to reach into it.”

At the mention of the media portrayal of games and gam-

ers, Orenstein goes into detail illustrating just how greatly

media reports focusing on the video game community have

shifted.

“The portrayal of the video game community has

changed drastically for a number of things,” he said. “Geek

identity, nerd identity is becoming cool these days because

of various things like nostalgia for the ’80s and the fact that

games are becoming so massively produced that they are

forcing their way into the consciousness of ‘cool.’”

Stephen Dragi Sekuvloski, a University of Toronto

Scarborough student and very involved gaming/anime club

community member, pointed out the changing perception

surrounding video games and how that has helped them to

become more noticeable in the mainstream.

“Video games are a huge part of geek culture

because they have always gone hand

in hand with each other,” he

said “The words ‘geek’ and

‘nerd’ are no longer

considered derogatory

and are no longer

synonymous with

someone who just

sits in their basement

playing games all day.

Now, video games accepted

to the point where they’ve

become a family-oriented pastime.”

Sekuvloski, 29, believes that video games serve to

connect people who otherwise wouldn’t interact with one an-

other, effectively bridging a gap and even fostering commu-

nities of like-minded individuals. “I went from Anime club and

Shutterbugs (photography) club at UTSC to the tabletop and

Video Game Society,” he said. “It’s a huge community and by

joining, you’re suddenly open to a social group. You’re not so

much of an introvert and have people to communicate similar

interests with because you’re not strangers anymore. There’s a

shared common bond.”

Centennial College Game Design student Jovanne Rowe

explained the impact that the popularization of geek culture

and video games has had in opening his eyes.

“I’ve seen the diversity in a lot of students in my program

studying game design,” he said. “I never would have thought

that jocks actually wanted to be game designers or even were

gamers back in high school. Since the geek culture as a whole

has gotten more mainstream, I’ve seen so much change and it

really inspires me.”

Rowe, 20, shares his delight at how mobile games have fur-

ther included the elderly and the possibility of what else video

games are capable of accomplishing.

“My grandma is almost 80 and she asks for my phone some-

times to play video games,” he said. “It’s not even the boys on

the streets playing Pokémon on their Nintendo DS, but the girls

as well. It hits everybody.”

On the subject of inclusivity and connectivity, Orenstein

explained the purpose of the Toronto Game Jam and his role

within it.

“Game Jams in general are development events where

game developers get together and produce a game in the

course of a single weekend from start to finish. No going home

and no sleeping,” he said. “Troy Morrissey and I started the To-

ronto Global Game Jam about three years ago and we’ve been

running it ever since.”

As for the future of gaming, Orenstein is optimistic.

“I think it’s definitely brighter,” he said. “I didn’t have a very

good time as an adolescent. I’m enjoying being an adult and I

think games will as well. I believe that once the medium truly

matures as an art form, it’s going to be amazing.”


(Below) “Spider-Sheik” Illustration by Dave Franciosa

The words ‘geek’ and ‘nerd’ are no

longer considered derogatory and are

no longer synonymous with someone

who just sits in their basement playing

games all day.

“

“

44 | DESIGN MGZ 6

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Geekology Magazine Vol. 1 Issue No. 1