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(08/11/18 2:56am)
Adolf Eichmann was one of the chief architects of the Holocaust, helping to organize the process of detaining Jewish people in ghettos and later supervising the transportation of many to concentration camps. Though not as widely known as Josef Mengele, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler or even perhaps Leni Riefenstahl, Eichmann was directly responsible for making the Nazi regime such an effective agent of genocide.
(08/11/18 2:56am)
Heartland Shorts Film Festival showcased the amazing work of over 200 filmmakers, all having produced films that clocked in at under 40 minutes in length. There were many amazing films on display, and here is one of my favorites from my time at the festival: This World of Ghosts.
(08/07/18 5:05pm)
by Jeremy Rogers
Adolf Eichmann was one of the chief architects of the Holocaust, helping to organize the process of detaining Jewish people in ghettos and later supervising the transportation of many to concentration camps. Though not as widely known as Josef Mengele, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler or even perhaps Leni Riefenstahl, Eichmann was directly responsible for making the Nazi regime such an effective agent of genocide.
When he was brought to trial for his role in the Holocaust, he claimed that he was only following orders. He presented himself as a dispassionate bureaucrat who only wanted to do his job. This inspired people to write about the “banality of evil.” Though this film is about Adolf Eichmann, it’s anything but banal.
True crime’s finest spy
The film is told from the first-person perspective of the lead Israeli secret agent, Zvi Aharoni, who tracked Eichmann, then living under the false name “Ricardo Klement” in Argentina over 15 years after the end of the Second World War. Aharoni describes the final days of his search, the plans that were made to capture Eichmann, and how that plan was executed, all while the artwork of writer and director Randall Christopher flows across the screen in a bold, sketchy fashion.
Though there is not much written about Aharoni, Christopher spent months engrossed in research about the man before starting his film. Knowing that the film was based on the interviews and rare first-hand accounts of the operation given by Aharoni before his death in 2012 makes all of these elements that much more dramatic.
Better than Bond
The sequence of events is presented with all of the tension and suspense of the best of James Bond’s exploits. This true crime story has many of the tropes of Hollywood’s most famous spy thrillers: secrets, false identities, stakeouts, car chases, smuggling, and world-altering stakes. Above all is the most fascinating aspect of Zvi Aharoni’s story: revenge. Growing up in a large, Jewish family, Aharoni was a patriotic German. However, the Nazis killing the Jews of Germany, including many of Aharoni’s family made his cultural connection to Beethoven and Brahms strained. Capturing the architect of the Holocaust was not just his duty as a German-born patriot upholding the just values of his country though; it was a pursuit to avenge his family who were murdered by the system Eichmann created.
Because Nazi hunting is relevant now
Over the span of two years, a Randall Christopher went from Googling “Adolf Eichmann” to presenting his film on Eichmann at Sundance film festival. Two years spent researching, drawing, and writing in his spare time. The story of the creation of The Driver is Red and the life of Zvi Aharoni both show how much can be done by highly motivated individuals. During the Q&A session after the film’s screening, Randall Christopher reminded the crowd that less than a year ago, Nazis were marching in the streets of the United States, underscoring the need for films like this to be seen and for stories like Aharoni’s to be celebrated.
The Driver is Red is a compelling film in every way. The amazing story of a German Jew hunting down the architect of the Holocaust is complemented by the fantastic characterization provided by voice actor Mark Pinter and the kinetically charged animation of Randall Christopher.
The film will be hosted online for the ShortList, The Wrap's short film film festival from August 8 to the 22nd.
(07/31/18 2:09am)
by Jeremy Rogers
Heartland Shorts Film Festival showcased the amazing work of over 200 filmmakers, all having produced films that clocked in at under 40 minutes in length. There were many amazing films on display, and here is one of my favorites from my time at the festival: This World of Ghosts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSZqgWP_xPA&feature=youtu.be
(06/12/18 7:09pm)
Sony had set the tone for their conference early in the week by announcing they would be revealing five new games coming to PlayStation in the five days leading up to E3. With some smaller announcements out of the way, Sony left time in their conference for some big reveals, so let’s take a look at what they showed off.
(06/11/18 10:36pm)
Ubisoft had a very positive 2017. Sure, For Honor had one of the roughest launches for an online game in recent memory, but the year quickly turned around for Ubisoft. Assassin’s Creed: Origins boasts some of the best reviews since Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, setting the series on a more positive course. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was hailed as an unexpected success on the Switch. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon opened to tepid review scores, but updates and patches have transformed the game. Ubisoft has also had success this past year with the release of South Park: The Fractured But Whole and Far Cry 5.
(06/10/18 6:37pm)
The latter half of 2017 and the fist few months of 2018 were very eventful for Electronic Arts. Visceral Games was shuttered, and EA acquired Respawn Entertainment. The company almost singlehandedly launched a wave of government regulation because of the loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront II. A Way Out was released and was very positively received by critics and players alike. More recently, the trailer for Battlefield V stirred controversy by showing a woman fighting in WWII (the gall of them).
(06/05/18 9:30pm)
by Jeremy Rogers
Grammy Award winning composer Eric Whitacre has announced he is accepting submissions for hopeful participants in his Virtual Choir 5 arrangement of his 2015 song "Deep Field".
"Deep Field" is an orchestral piece with light choral elements that was wholly inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope, arguably the most well known of NASA's orbiting telescopes. The melodies of the piece are meant to represent Hubble's history of needing several major repairs after it was launched into orbit. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured some of the most iconic images of outer space, including the famous "Pillars of Creation" photograph originally captured in 1995 and revisited in 2014 with a higher resolution camera.
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir started back in 2009 with an arrangement of Whitacre's choral piece "Lux Aurumque" which included 185 singers from 12 countries. It was followed up with Virtual Choir 2.0, a rendition Whitacre's choral piece "Sleep" releasing in 2011, sporting over 2,000 voices from 58 countries. The 2012 Virtual Choir 3 had over 73 countries represented in the choir of nearly 3,000 submissions all singing Whitacre's "Water Night."
Virtual Choir 4 changed the established formula by changing from classical choral music to a piece from Whitacre's musical Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, a musical that incorporates choral and operatic singing with electronica and trance music. The choir was made up of nearly 8,500 videos from almost 5,000 people singing "Fly to Paradise."
Whitacre is known for embracing dissonance in his musical arrangements. He won the 2012 Grammy for Best Choral Performance with his 2010 album White & Gold.
Singers interested in entering a video need to sign up on the Virtual Choir 5 website.
(06/05/18 9:24pm)
Last year’s 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference was marked by the announcement of the Homepod as well as a new configuration of the 10.5 inch iPad, updates to the Macbook line and the all new iMac Pro. This year’s WWDC 2018 has taken a much more software-focused approach.
(05/30/18 3:04am)
The Pokémon Company has made a few announcements during its Twitter retelling of the latest Pokémon Video Games Press Conference.
(05/24/18 9:23pm)
A game that appeared on the Steam storefront today that will allow players to play as a school shooter is causing controversy, especially in light of the shooting at Santa Fe High School on May 18th. According to testimony from Russian developer Revived Games, the game will allow players to play either as an active shooter armed with an assault rifle, a member of a responding SWAT team, or a civilian, in what the developer calls a “survival mode.”
(04/14/18 9:00am)
Jeremy Rogers
Ball State’s Spectrum will be putting on their semi-annual free drag show open to the public on Saturday April 14 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ball Gymnasium.
The proceeds generated by audience donations will be going towards the Trans Women of Color Collective.
According to their website, “At Trans Women of Color Collective, our work centers healing and restorative justice by elevating the narratives, lived experiences, and leadership of our community members in the trenches and at the forefront of creating healing spaces, building socio-economic growth, development, and power, but most importantly, leading with love.”
Students interested in learning more about the organization do so through Benny Link or by looking up BSU Spectrum on social media.
(04/14/18 1:01pm)
Ball State’s Spectrum will be putting on their semi-annual free drag show open to the public on Saturday April 14 at 7 p.m. in the Ball Gymnasium.
(04/12/18 5:35pm)
We're back witches, with another magical episode of the Coven Podcast. This week, we're looking at the toxic fandoms. Can a show be ruined by its fandom? The shows themselves are fairly unproblematic on their own... but then in comes the fandom... My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is perhaps forever tainted by the bronies who love it, but in recent years other fandoms have been cited as having ruined the show by making it cringe-y, ruining online searches for it with shipping and NSFW fanart, and other crimes. These fandoms include Undertale, Steven Universe, and perhaps most notably Rick and Morty with the whole sauce/intellectual nihilism thing. Can the fandom really ruin enjoyment of the show/game itself? Is this blown out of proportion?
(04/06/18 4:07pm)
We're back witches, with another magical episode of the Coven Podcast. This week, we're looking at the toxic masculinity. What is toxic masculinity, who is affected, who is helping, what is going on with defense on either side? All of these will be answered and more will be discussed on this episode of The Coven.
(04/04/18 1:00pm)
Indiana Comic Con is a yearly convention that caters to fans of all things related to comic books. With film festivals, panels, exhibits, contests, celebrities, and a huge exhibition floor for vendors and artists, there is bound to be something at the convention for casual comic fans and hardcore collectors alike.
(04/03/18 7:59pm)
by Jeremy Rogers
Indiana Comic Con is a yearly convention that caters to fans of all things related to comic books. With film festivals, panels, exhibits, contests, celebrities, and a huge exhibition floor for vendors and artists, there is bound to be something at the convention for casual comic fans and hardcore collectors alike.
With all the diversity usually present at such conventions, interesting people are always right around the corner. Here are a few profiles of just some of the interesting people who attended Indiana Comic Con 2018.
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(04/01/18 2:00pm)
TRIGGER WARNING: POLITICS WILL BE DISCUSSED
(03/14/18 9:44pm)
This morning at 9:45 a.m., members of the Muncie community gathered on Ball State’s University Green to remember and honor the lives of the 17 people killed in Parkland Florida one month ago today. Participants came clad in orange, carrying signs and ready to make their voices heard.
(03/14/18 5:36pm)
by Jeremy Rogers
This morning at 9:45 a.m., members of the Muncie community gathered on Ball State's University Green to remember and honor the lives of the 17 people killed in Parkland Florida one month ago today. Participants came clad in orange, carrying signs and ready to make their voices heard.
The protest was organized with the help of the Ball State Democrats, Alpha Chi Omega sister Darla Thomas and Parkland alumna Lexi Angel. Students formed a human chain that stretched from the Scramble Light all the way to the Shafer Tower. Each of the victims had their picture and name printed on empty chairs, and at the end of the demonstration, the balloons affixed to the chairs were released.
In case you were in class, we made sure to livestream the whole event. If you missed it, head over to Byte's Facebook page to watch the whole thing. If you want to know what moved the women behind the march to take action, see our video interview with Darla and Lexi.