Good art versus Photoshop. Why People are stupid.

Ok, so I am a fan of cosplayer Jessica Nigri. I find her costumes clever, especially the ones where she translates male characters into a female version, like this one. She recently did a Magneto photoshoot and all over her page people keep saying "Oh it's just Photoshop!" because there are floating chairs. Some of which even say "No chair shadows!" Bullshit. I'll show you.

Before I start breaking this down, I want it to be clear that I have a BFA, I work with Photoshop regularly, and while I am not a master, it doesn't take much to identify a shopped image. So here we go. The image:

So let me start with the "no shadows" thing, because people are obviously blind. Two of the three chairs' shadows were in fact caught in the image, see below.

So there ya go, shadows!!!!! OMG! And as for how the items were suspended, sure it could be done with Photoshop, but most professional photographers like to be a little more clever than that. There's this thing that was invented forever ago, and it's used by film, tv, and stage performers (as well as photographers) everywhere. It's called: lightweight high tensile string. It's lightweight and thin enough that it all but disappears on camera, and if it is even slightly noticeable, it can then be removed in about 1/2 a second in Photoshop. 

At least that's my theory, I mean hey, I'm a photographer, I see a room with those awesome support bars in the sunroof, and I think "Hey! I can create the illusion of chairs floating with string!" But, maybe that's just me, me and the guy/gal who took this pic. 

So please, enjoy the fucking photo, admire the talent of both the model and the photographer, and stop assuming everything is Photoshop.

The image used in this post belongs to Larry Alan Photography and Jessica Nigri.

/rant 

Edit: In hindsight, I felt that if I am going to sit here and rant on about Photoshopping, claiming to use it; I ought to back it up. Here's an example of my work. I restored a Polaroid taken when I was 19, which was a very long time ago. 

That is a Polaroid of myself with The Road Warrior Hawk, taken in the early 2000's. It's old, and time is taking its toll. So I scanned it into my then super awesome Macbook Pro. I ran it through Photoshop to restore it to it's original state. Here was the end result. 

Photoshop: It's not just for memes. 

Drucifer Reviews: Wolfenstein: The New Order

I wrapped up Wolfenstein a few days ago for the first time, and there will be replays. Not just for collectibles, but for hidden game modes and general enjoyability. This is definitely the revival this franchise needed, and a perfect way to introduce REAL FPS to the younger generation. Well, it’s all “real” FPS technically, but all FPS got its roots from Wolfenstein. And now, Bethesda and MachineGames has revived the franchise in what is easily one of the top games currently in 2014. More importantly, they have made sure that children of today are aware of who B.J. Blazkowicz is.

Bethesda and MachineGames have altered history with this title, by retelling the story of WWII as if the Nazis had won and became the dominant global superpower. This game tells its own separate story from the rest of the Wolfenstein franchise, and that’s okay because it works. It gives fans of the series something they want, while reviving interest in the series with a younger audience. Unlike many FPS games, where the story is second to the action and essentially irrelevant, Wolfenstein: The New Order has both great Nazi killing action and a heartwarming story showcasing the humanity of those who are still fighting to save the world of Nazis.

The Story:

The game starts in 1946, during a fictitiously extended WWII. As BJ Blazkowicz, you are trying to make a final push with remaining Allied soldiers to thwart the Nazis, entering General Wilhelm “Totenkapf” Strasse’s lair. After some brutal Nazi killing action, followed by a very powerful and emotional encounter with Deathshead himself, BJ and his friend attempt to escape, and in the process BJ suffers a head injury and falls unconcious. Left in a vegetative state in an asylum in Poland, we watch time fly by through the eyes of our protagonist. When he finally reawakens, we learn it is 1960. Not only are Nazis still present, they rule the world with an iron fist. Doing what he does best, BJ sets out to find out where the remaining resistance fighters are being kept, in order to fight back and overthrow the fascist Reich and restore freedom, peace, and order. America!

In true Wolfenstein fashion, these Nazis aren’t your great grandpa’s Nazis. They have frightening technology: Mechs, laser cannons, big ass guns, armored Super Soldaten, and machines powered by living human brains! But I only have one question for this series (which may have been answered in an article I overlooked inside the game): Where is Hitler?

One of the greatest, most rewarding experiences of Wolfenstein in the early days was battling, destroying, and defeating Mecha Hitler. But aside from the occassional “Heil Hitler”, there is no mention of him in this game. Why? I have two theories:

1) He’s still alive, but in the background where nobody is mentioning, focusing, or discussing him. He very well could have left all of this to General Deathshead.

2) He’s dead, and nobody bothered to revive him as Mecha Hitler, which is dumb and sad.

While I am sad to not be able to kill Hitler along with all his fascist soldiers, I can see why they might have removed Hitler from the story on this installment. This title was released internationally, including Germany and Austria where displaying Nazi imagery, or in any other way promoting Nazism is a crime. In order to make the game releaseable in those states, Bethesda and MachineGames were responsible for removing any and all Nazi imagery and references from the German and Austrian versions of the game. In its current state, the game wouldn’t be hard to edit, and it wasn’t. The Nazis, or Third Reich, simply became “The Regime” while all swastikas were replaced with the Wolfenstein logo. An easy fix, yeah? Ok, but what if they had introduced Mecha Hitler as an integral part of the game? Now they would be in a position where they would have to completely reinvent a large portion of the game.

The Mechanics:

Bethesda and MachineGames did an excellent job in maintaining staple features that have made Wolfenstein a great game over all these years and made them even better. Duel-wielding EVERYTHING? Check. Close range melee combat? Check. Killing Nazis en masse in brutally awesome ways? Check. But it gets better.

Leaning: You can lean from cover now, in similar fashion to other popular modern FPS titles. You can also sprint-slide, and shoot while doing so with your duel-wield everything.

Upgraded Weapons: All projectile based weapons (i.e. “guns”) in this Wolfenstein are upgradeable, and have a secondary projectile. Assault rifles with under-barrel rocket launchers, cutting torches that can fire laser projectiles, sniper rifles that can fire laser projectiles. Throwing knives, shotguns that fire shrapnel rounds that bounce and deflect (for getting Nazis in those hard-to-reach places). Max Health is even upgradeable, but still offers an “overcharged” state. Armor is upgradeable, too but I’m not sure what the upgrades too, they don’t increase capacity that’s for sure. While the healthbar climbs and climbs, armor is forever at 100.

Just like classic Wolfenstein, there are secret rooms that can be opened with hidden triggers, or small puzzles. I’m not sure if I’ve found them all in Wolfenstein: The New Order, but I have found a few. Some of the game’s collectibles are also hidden in these secret rooms, so that makes it even more important to try and find them. I have to say that my personal favorite of the collectibles is the Enigma Codes. There are four codes total, each comprising of two strains of 9 numbers, so 18 pieces per code. Completing an Enigma Code unlocks a hidden game mode. So far, I’ve unlocked two: ‘999’ mode and ‘Walk in the Park’ mode. Walk in the Park doesn’t sound all that hard, but 999 mode sounds fucking insane. The stipulations of 999 mode? 999% more action, 999 starting health, unlimited ammo, on Uber difficulty. Walk in the Park? No HUD aside from interactive prompts, reliance entirely on your senses, I AM DEATH INCARNATE! difficulty (meh).

Much like other modern games, this one isn’t without its bugs, but I have to say that I have had such minimal experiences with bugs, that I can’t even think of an example of one at the moment.

Nonstop action, coupled with an awesome story, make Wolfenstein: The New Order an awesome addition to the franchise and a phenomenal introduction of the grand-daddy of all FPS games to the next generation. I have to give it an overall rating of 9.5/10.