Saturday, December 14, 2013

Evolution of the Daleks



The Daleks are one of the main antagonists in the show Doctor Who. However hard the Doctor tries to destroy them, the Daleks keep coming back. Although this creatures have been in Doctor Who since 1963 the Daleks have changed in many ways, in both appearance and mechanics. Even though there have been multiple remodelings of the Dalek, I'm just going to discuss the original version and the 2005 Dalek.

The original Dalek made its television premier in 1963 in "The Daleks." The appearance of a Dalek, if you have never seen one, is basically a trash can with a plunger and a whisk sticking out of it. I did a bit of digging and I found  a video explain why it looks the way it does. (It is posted below.)  I discovered the only reason Daleks have plungers and whisks as weapons is because the BBC could not afford anything more. They had to put a magnet in the plunger so it could carry objects. The actual body of the Dalek was originally designed as taller and cylindrical but then made short so the actor could have more comfort. Playing a Dalek was quite difficult, although the designers did make the Daleks shorter so the actors could sit, they props themselves weighed a lot. It was difficult just to move, but they also had to aim the rays (whisks) and push buttons every time that certain Dalek talked. The buttons made a light to tell which Dalek was talking, this was a last minute decision. 

(part 1)
 
(part 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KidjDHxi2oMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KidjDHxi2oM

The first appearance of the Daleks in the new 2005 series of Doctor Who was in the episode "Dalek," named after the original episode above. These Daleks basically still looked the same, with a few minor changes because of a bigger budget. A major change of the Dalek were that they now could fly. Yep, so now stairs are not a problem. The movement of the Daleks have gotten easier because one other advances of the Daleks which were that the eyestalk, lights, and arms were then remote operated, this put less pressure on the actors. A few other small changes to the design were the Daleks now had a glowing eyepiece and an all over brass finish.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Evolution of Sam Winchester




This is going to be a special post about Sam Winchester from Supernatural, this is a step-by-step of Sam Winchester becoming who he is.For those who watch Supernatural, you know Sam has a very unlucky life you can say. But if you haven’t seen the show I will need to explain a little bit about his early life first.

            Even when Sam was a baby he had rotten luck. It all started when he was six months old, he was asleep in his cradle one night when the demon, Azazel, who cut his own wrist and feed baby Sam demon blood. Hearing Sam cry his mother walks in, disturbing Azazel’s ritual, Azazel pins her up to the ceiling and burns her alive. Sam and he’s brother Dean are now demon hunters.
            In season one Sam is a Stanford Law student with his girlfriend Jess. Sam has given up hunting demons but when Dean arrives he sucks Sam back into hunting.  When Sam returns from the ghost hunt he finds Jess pinned to the ceiling and then she burns alive just like his mother. In the end of the season Sam finds a clue to why Azazel feed him demon blood, he is now having visions and telekinesis.
            In season two Dean finds out why Azazel gave Sam these powers but he refuses to tell Sam. Finally, after being pestered by Sam, Dean tells him; Sam is to be in Azazel’s army. In the season finally Sam is kidnaps by Azazel with four other kids like him. They have all been brought together to fight to the death so Azazel can find the leader of his demon army. Sam and another kid, Jack, have almost escaped when Jack stabs Sam in the back, killing Sam. Sam is brought back to life when Dean sells his soul for Sam.
            In season three Sam is looking for a way for Dean to get his soul back. This season seems like it is a Dean season but no, they won’t let that. Throughout this whole Dean dilemma Sam is still discovering his powers. Sam is challenge by a demon named Lilith, hearing of Sam’s powers. Sam is greeted by another demon, Ruby, who claims she knows how to stop Lilith; he must drink demon blood to strengthen his power, the same thing that got him into this mess. Sam refuses to drink blood and cannot stop Lilith before she can collect Dean’s soul, killing Dean. 
            In season four Dean is brought back by Castiel, an angel. He brought Dean back because Lucifer is rising and he wants Dean and Sam to stop it. Sam, in the meanwhile, started hanging out her Ruby again and is drinking demon blood. (Real smart, Sam.) Dean obviously finds out later in the season and is very disappointed in Sam. Dean then locks Sam up trying to get him ‘sober’ of demon blood. But when Sam is on the brink of recovery Castiel, thinking he is doing well, lets Sam out.  Sam then goes find Lilith and kills her. But in that he discovers Lilith was the final sacrifice for Lucifer, Lucifer has risen.
            In season five Lucifer is set free but his human vessel to possess, which apparently is Sam. Lucifer wants to bring the apocalypse and his brother, Michael the archangel is trying to stop it. Sam refuses to be possessed Lucifer but Lucifer does not give up trying to persuade him. Finally at the end of the season Sam agrees to be Lucifer's vessel, and goes to a field to battle Michael. Dean comes to the battle ground to try to talk sense into Sam, who is possessed by Lucifer. Lucifer, getting annoyed with Dean, starts beating Dean up, claiming Sam is gone. Suddenly Sam takes control of Lucifer and opens a portal into Hell. Sam, with Lucifer, grabs Michael and jumps into Hell. So Sam is now in Hell but in the very last scene of the season we see Sam lurking outside of Dean's window.
             In season six we see that Sam is back, and later Dean finds that out as well. Sam was pulled out of Hell by Castiel, an angel, but not all of Sam has been brought back; Sam's soul is still in Hell. While Dean is trying to find some way to bring Sam soul back, Sam kind of being a jerk. Dean finds Death, one of the four horsemen, and pleads with him to bring Sam’s soul back from Hell. But in giving the soul back Sam gets all the memories back from Hell, the torture and agony.
             In season seven Dean and Sam are hunting this season's monster, the Leviathans, God's first creation. But in the meanwhile, Sam is still struggling with his memories of Hell. Sam starts to see Lucifer wherever he goes and it's literally driving him insane. Finally, Sam is sent to a mental institution for this. Lucifer is still trying to convince Sam he is still in Hell and it is working, Sam is refusing to eat, sleep, and in general is being tortured. Finally, Dean finds Castiel and Castiel takes Sam insanity away from him on to himself. In the end of the season Dean kills the Leviathan, but in the process is also sent to Purgatory with them.
              In season eight Sam is trying to make the best of a bad situation since Dean's disappearance. Sam is now living with his new girlfriend, Amelia, but a year later Dean pops up. Sam cannot decide whether to go with Dean or stay with Amelia, but in the end he goes with Dean. Sam and Dean then find a ritual with three trails to close the Gates of Hell, and they try it. Through course of events, Sam is the one who performs the trials over Dean. Dean is not happy with this because he sees that these trials are killing him. Right at the end of the season when Sam is about to close the Gates of Hell, Sam collapses.
             In season nine we find Sam in coma at a hospital. Dean is freaking out because he knows Sam is about to die, but he won’t let that happen. Dean calls to any angel listening and begs for help, and an angel named Ezekiel appears. Ezekiel agrees to help Sam get better but in doing that Ezekiel needs to possess Sam.
Yeah. So Sam is now possessed by an angel. Again, Sam does not have the best luck.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

GUEST BLOGGER!!!!



 

“On Leather Wings”

                                                                             by: Tabitha Jones

“On Leather Wings” is the first episode in the Batman Animated Series. The episode is a sort of Jekyll and Hyde story. A scientists who wants his colleagues to respect him, creates a formula. The formula turns him into a giant bat like creature. After breaking into a pharmaceutical building and attacking a guard, Batman gets on the case. After investigating the crime scene, Batman finds oddly shaped footprints and the guards tape recorder. Batman goes as his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, to interview some scientists at the local zoo. One of them is Kirk Langstrom, who is also the scientists who turns into the bat creature. After more detective work, Batman goes to confront Langstrom who then turns into the bat creature. After flying through the city and fighting each other, Batman is finally able to defeat Langstrom. Batman drops off Langstrom with his wife, who gets the formula out of his system. Batman doesn’t believe that it’ll be last time he sees Langstrom though. This episode shows the old style detective Batman and the new action and adventure side. The episode is well done and a good-kick start for the series.
*Special thanks to Tabitha Jones, film study major at Webster University, for writing this post!