Computers And Internet

By Daniel Punch

Computers and Internet are not deadening our heads; they areinspiring us to create!

The Internet is sometimes criticized (usually by parents whothink their kids need to be outdoors more often) as leadingpeople to be sitting in front of their computers all day growingbulbous, lethargic and (depending on who you talk to) stupid. Ithink that the opposite can often be true. My friends and I haverecently been inspired to new creative ventures through the timespent online.

I have long been a fan of movies, martial arts movies inparticular. It has been said that they’re kind of like themodern musical with finely choreographed dances (although inthis case the ‘dance’ is a fight) showing fantastic physicalability, timing, and grace. Recently I have found that there aremany online groups of people dedicated to making their ownmartial arts films. Most of these guys are really talented andI’ve seen film fight scenes that are better than the majority ofthe American made ‘martial arts’ movies. Where the commercialfilms focus on special effects, from wirework (attaching wiresto an actor in order to allow them to do extraordinary feats) tocomputer rendered effects (sometimes even using a computeranimated actor in fights as seen in ‘The Matrix Reloaded’),these independent groups get out there and make impressive filmsthrough sheer physical exertion and amazing ability.

It’s amazing what a bit (well, a lot really) of hard work can dofor you. These independent action crews perform wall runs,flips, falls, tumbles, and flying kicks without the use of wiresor special effects. There’s no insurance to worry about orstudios to get sued so they try some pretty incredible anddangerous things. My favorite stunt crews are ‘The Stunt People’who can be visited at http://www.thestuntpeople.com, and ZeroGravity Stunts



who have their homepage athttp://www.zgstunts.com. There are also Jabronie Pictures(http://www.jabroniepictures.com) and VJ Films (some of whosevideos can be found athttp://www.my5minutes.com/thumbnails.php?album=1115) that areboth worth a mention. These sites also provide many links toother similar websites, so your collection of independent shortfilms can be built up to a fearsome size quite quickly.

So, I’ll now get back to the original topic of this article,that being the Internet as a medium to inspire people to becomeactive and creative. These films got me pretty excited. I’dnever really thought about just trying to make my own shortmartial arts film. The world’s largest short film festival heldin Australia called ‘Tropfest’ provided a group of friends and Iwith a valid excuse to behave silly in front of a video camera.I’m not going to lie; the film we produced was relatively lowquality. One of the fights we filmed was, well, not bad! Therewas a decent amount of good mixed in with the not so good, and Ihave great memories of spraying false blood out of a hose thatwas wound around a friend’s chest all over my parent’s housewhen simulating a gunshot. We had no flips and very few tumbles(I myself having the gymnastic ability of a dead walrus) but thepoint is we got in there and had a great time with anentertaining outcome. We have plans to make more movies and afew other film festivals on the horizon that we may enter. Maybeone day our films will be good…

The Internet has inspired us in other ways as well. In the pastI ran a webcomic that unfortunately is now all but dead.However, it too was a lot of fun while it lasted. A friend ofmine is currently setting up a web-based design company becausehe realized just how easy the Internet makes it to go intobusiness for yourself, instead of working your way throughuniversity through a variety of often low paying anduninteresting casual job positions. I currently waste too muchtime playing other people’s games so my newest plan is to learnFlash and make my own online games.

So, while I’m trying to inject some form of gymnastic abilityinto my gargantuan frame as I attempt to make short films with adecent story, acting, camerawork and so on, why don’t you findsomething that gets you excited and try it out for yourself? Ifsomeone like me can do it, then you can probably work it outwith a just a little bit of effort. You may never be as good asthe things that inspire you, but it’s a lot of fun trying toemulate them or create your own. Another positive point tomention is that when you get stuck the Internet is full oftutorials written by those in the know to get you through yourdifficult spots. Even I can try and learn from Tricks Tutorials(http://www.trickstutorials.com). So, see the greatpossibilities in the Internet and go and have fun broadeningyour horizons!

About the author:Daniel Punch M6.Net Web Helpers http://www.m6.net