The Sky-Fallen Legacy │ Episode 9: Beyond the Threshold
The Reality Foundry
423,352 views
With VEXA closing in, Eva’s condition continues to evolve beyond anything they expected. Orven reveals just how far her N.A.E. has progressed and why VEXA feared synthetics who crossed that threshold.
As Jack struggles to protect Eva and keep their search for Ethan alive, the situation quickly turns violent. VEXA forces move in, old alliances begin to shift, and new choices force the group onto a path they may not be able to escape.
Meanwhile, far from the battlefield, the consequences of Jack and Eva’s escape begin to reach the highest levels of VEXA command.
The search for Ethan continues.
But Eva is changing.
And there may be no way to stop it.
#DreaminaCPP
20 Comments
But don't rush it. This is becoming a masterpiece. :)
The Sky-Fallen Legacy │ Episode 9: Beyond the Threshold
The Reality Foundry
423,352 views
With VEXA closing in, Eva’s condition continues to evolve beyond anything they expected. Orven reveals just how far her N.A.E. has progressed and why VEXA feared synthetics who crossed that threshold.
As Jack struggles to protect Eva and keep their search for Ethan alive, the situation quickly turns violent. VEXA forces move in, old alliances begin to shift, and new choices force the group onto a path they may not be able to escape.
Meanwhile, far from the battlefield, the consequences of Jack and Eva’s escape begin to reach the highest levels of VEXA command.
The search for Ethan continues.
But Eva is changing.
And there may be no way to stop it.
#DreaminaCPP
People like to be entertained. Most usually evaluate the content’s plot, certainly a good place to start. Is the plot at least, somewhat, unique? Relevant to anything? Is it interesting? Plausible (at least from a sci-fi standpoint)? Logical? Does it flow at the right pace? Are you pleasantly surprised by what comes in the next scene? Leave you with questions? Asking what comes next? At the end, is the intended message obvious?
Is the plot linear and simplistic? Or, are there flashbacks and flash forwards, parallel storylines, historical connections, chronological developments, and story interludes?
Most people enjoy these characteristics without being much aware of them.
But, don’t stop where you started. ‘Fine art’ requires much more than plot. So, look deeper.
Start with the mechanics … the cinematography. Are the individual scenes short or long enough? Can you follow what’s happening from their sequencing/order? Do they flow smoothly? Are the cuts, blackouts, and transitions smooth, or jarringly abrupt? Are the same types transitions (e.g., slide, rotate, ‘fade to black’) used too many times? Are the camera angles different for each scene? Is the depth (distance) of each scene different? Can you see what is important in both close-ups and panoramas? Clearly? Or, does the cinematographer hide the unattainable quality behind fog, darkness, and blurriness?
Are the colors correct? (Is a pumpkin the right shade of orange?) Contrast, white balance, exposure, etc.? Are the scenes too dark or washed out? (Getting such things correct is horribly complicated by different display technologies.)
Are the shadows correct? Do they move appropriately with object motion? Are there reflections where they should be? Are object details (facial wrinkles and hairs, textures on fabric and wood, cracks in ceramics, variegations in animal fur and tree bark) visible? Do crying eye tears form and fall naturally? Does hair blow in the wind? Do people get dirty (and stay dirty) when they fall down?
Is the displayed technology believable? Do machines and electronics look, sound, and behave in ways that you understand (i.e., without magic)? Or, is the plot entirely dependent upon such hackneyed capabilities as ‘warp’, ’quantum’, ‘FTL’, ‘implants’, and ‘cryogenic’? Do the controls and interfaces look like you could manipulate them, if you knew what you were doing (as opposed to a square ‘panel’ detecting your presence, humanity, genetics, identity, intent, worthiness, and/or thoughts when you put your hand on it)?
Are physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, mathematics, relativity, etc. respected? Do objects have inertia, thermal capacity, and electric and magnetic charge? How many degrees of freedom (motion) do they have? Are energy and momentum conserved? Are Newton’s laws of motion respected? Inverse-square distance equations? On the opposite (bad) ends of the spectra, does sound travel through a vacuum, do objects accelerate instantaneously, biologics survive impossible impacts, machines have infinite strength, objects bend and rebound unnaturally, plants grow too fast and in unnatural directions, communications over light years are instantaneous, energy is disproportionately created, stored, and dissipated, etc. in impossible ways? Do all planets have breathable atmospheres? Are asteroids floating around so close to one another that you could spit from one to the next? How about nonsensical ‘hiding’ behind a moon or in an asteroid field? Can an entire metropolis really be hidden from orbiting aliens deep under the Earth’s ocean? Have advanced civilizations really forgotten how to defend against kinetic projectiles? Hey, does everybody in the universe really speak English? (Most stories fail these tests miserably. There are no scientific advisors on the production teams. And, the result is garbage.)
Does portrayed machinery move appropriately? Do robots, androids, and synthetics act, move, and respond plausibly, according to what we would believe for the era, technology, and environment presented? (This is a hard one to get right, since we don’t know what ‘right’ is in the future.)
Are the sounds appropriate? Is the background noise (birds, trees, wind, crickets, machinery, burning fire, etc.) what you would expect? What sounds are made when someone is walking? Running through mud and water? Chewing? Sleeping? Eating? Do the explosions, take-offs and landings, impacts, projectiles, rivers and lakes, etc. all sound like they should? Do people sound like people or are they just flat waveforms from an EPROM? Technically, are the EQs (volumes) correct? Is the sound spectrum balanced? Can you hear the dialog when you should be able to? If a speaker turns away, does their volume decrease?
Is the music, if any, appropriate for each scene? Complex and multi-voiced? Arranged? Timed to the scene? Bass, treble, and everything in-between? Orchestral quality (as opposed to a garage-band drum machine)? Can you detect multiple instruments doing their own parts? Harmony? Is there a common, repeated musical theme? Does music fade in and out, or are transitions abrupt? Do you even notice the music?
Are the characters realistic? Do they act normally? Do they respond in ways that you would? Are they despicable, likable, even lovable? Do you want to get to know them better? Do they feel emotion? Fear? Regret? Do you feel emotional about them? Do you connect? Are they complex and deep? Do their emotions change, develop as the scene/story unfolds (e.g., fear becomes relief, anger becomes regret)? Do they look into the past and/or future? Do they have a past? What do they long for? Have they accumulated more knowledge, experience, and skill than their ages would normally permit?
Are there good people and bad people? Beautiful faces and ugly faces? Old and young? Healthy and sickly? Does everyone have perfect hair? Are the men always clean-shaven? Are their clothes always clean? Do they cry and scream when injured? Do they bleed and have scabs? Do their guts come out when they are impaled? Do they die ugly deaths, or do they just fall down like in Western movies from the 1950’s?
Is the dialogue normal? Do men say man things, and do women say women things? (I’m talking psychology, not sexism, here.) Do the characters say things that imply they are thoughtful and really thinking? Feeling emotion? Are they impulsive in speaking? Do they ever regret what they just said? Are their responses too clever and witty? Could you think of such responses that quickly? What would a person of that age, gender, and culture really say in that situation?
Is the imagined environment structured? Does the universe portrayed have governance? Laws? Authority? Traditions? Is there a culture? Are the military, governing body, judicial layer, and priesthood(!) separate and distinct? Is there a hierarchy of authority in politics and military? A caste system for commoners? Is there morality? Is there religion? Do people have conscience? Compassion? Respect? Sense of duty? Loyalty? Self-sacrifice? Where does their moral compass come from? How is societal conflict resolved? How is peace created? Enforced? Does justice prevail?
Dialogue between characters, screen titles and other textual messages, subtitles, signage portrayed in scenes, patches and decals, warnings, communications, announcements, and disembodied voices of all types carry the burdens of correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, in addition to the burden of consistency over paragraphs, scenes, chapters, and episodes. Intonation, pacing, pronunciation, and syllabic emphasis affect character credibility, as well as betraying much about the content creator. Idiom usage, cultural references, historical accuracy, slang, inside jokes, and geographical variations, when used correctly, are all telltales of creative competency. (They are also tattletales of incompetency, carelessness, and more importantly, intentional deception.) Considering the abject failure of the educational system in the United States, almost no modern content survives this test. People in the U.S. can no longer speak or write. The King’s English has been lost. Audiences in the U.S. do not notice or care. And, English is not the only language worthy of respect, but brilliant writing seldom survives translation. Rhyming, idioms, and cultural references fail. Releasing brilliant content in multiple languages simultaneously is seldom successful. And, finally, if a language (English, for example) is a foreign (Turkey, for example) content creator’s second language, then the situation is 100% forever hopeless. The ‘accent’ is never lost.
To a ‘seasoned’ critic, the writing (including spoken dialog) strongly correlates to the content creator’s gender, background, education, culture, and religion. Men and women write differently. (Flame me if you want.) A perceptive critic can also distinguish between human- and AI-generated announcements, product reviews, comments, interviews, responses, and responses to responses. Yeah.
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Sky-Fallen deserves all of the praise it has garnered, including mine, even though it doesn’t meet 100% of these criteria. Yes, it could be better.
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This is how I evaluate content, and as a ‘professional critic’, I cannot do otherwise. I am not a hater, but I am ‘death’ to creators and their works. They almost always fall short.
You, the audience, don’t have to be so critical and judgmental. Your ‘bar’ can be lower, higher, different, or even absent. You can just enjoy being entertained … while I indulge myself with the invisible, hidden, mysterious details. 😊