Futurama's Many Crossovers and References.

The other day, as the class was learning about the history of television, Santiago called to attention the fact that Professor Farnsworth being named so was no mere coincidence.  In fact, this fictional cartoon character was named after the unrecognized inventor of the television, Philo Farnsworth.  This got me to thinking, if futurama has a character named after the inventor of the TV, what other references to inventions, technology, and pop culture are made throughout the shows history...

Look Familiar?

                                                                ...If it does, that is because the class viewed a clip of a movie called "2001 Space Odyssey."  In the movie, this artificial intelligence interface was named HAL, and it was the life support, auto pilot, and main control system of the ship in that movie.  Well, in futurama, they named this AI interface AL, and thats not the only similarity.  The episode in which this appeared was basically a tribute to HAL.  To prove my point, AL even tries to kill the people on board of the space ship.  

Along these same lines came another interesting crossover that could happen in the future.  The other day I attended the presentation by Carmen Hall about video mapping.  In the presentation she mentioned something about a music player that translates the sounds into light, creating something similar to the many music playing software, where the lights and designs move and change according to the music. I don't remember what this device was called, but I find it interesting none-the-less, because I believe futurama calls attention to this as well.  In a few episodes, there is an instrument that creates image from the sounds that is played upon it.  They call it the holophoner.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                I believe this is a reference to something that was before its time, and not really acknowledged as something historically significant.  However, futurama takes this idea, and makes it into something that is completely within the realm of possibility for technology progression in the next 1000 years.  This is where I arrive at my overall statement.  I believe futurama takes ideas from movies and technology, in order to depict a realistic scenario of our future, and no matter how satyric the show is, it is in these examples that we find they take their depiction of the future quite seriously.  They created a futuristic show that people would believe to be possible, so they took ideas from our modern life, and blew them up so they would fit in their futuristic world!

The Breakthrough of Walt Disney.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was the first full length animated film to use technicolor.  The way this video portrayed the process of making an animated film with technicolor was kind of funny at times actually, because as the narrator spoke of certain positions, the time in history this was recorded was definitely captured.  The parts that were most noticeable to me were when the narrator refers to the outliners and painters of the outlines as "pretty little girls" as if that position could only be filled by girls, and that was probably the case in that time.  Well, that may have been the most noticeable part, but the entire video was quite interesting.  How chemists created "secret" recipes for all 1500 different hues.  That there were 250000 different images in need of painting. Even how the sound effects were recorded may just be a part of history, but without these initial processes, we wouldn't be where we are today cinematically.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarves broke countless barriers in animation and cinematography when it was produced, and today it is still considered a visual masterpiece.  That what is most impressive about this movie.  That it withstood the test of time!

Georges Melies was a real guy!?

When I saw Hugo when it was still in theaters, I saw a brief clip taken from a Trip to the Moon and spliced into the film. At that time I thought it was quite interesting, because the interpretation of the rocket and moon in that scene are so different from anything that our modern science fiction creates, and deems realistic. However, at that time I did not know that Georges Melies was a real movie making pioneer.  Nor did I realize that the shot with the rocket just suddenly appearing out of thin air right in the moon's eye was taken from a real movie.  So now I understand why this interpretation of space travel is so different from modern takes on science fiction.  Since Melies didn't have the advanced technology we do to base the educated guesses that determine what is plausible for future technology, he relied on tricks and magic in technologies place. Yet, even though this isn't something I've encountered before in cinema, I can't help but love it.  The idea that a crew of 3 people can climb into a giant bullet, and basically catapulted at the moon and be able to hit it, is just hilarious to me.  The way the moons face is just minding its own business, when out of no where a giant bullet appears in its eye cracked me up.  And the civilization that the "space explorers" find on the moon was just over the top.  The way Melies created movies was not just artistic in form and application, but also incredibly innovative for his time.  Its basically because of him that we have so many special effects and tricks to use in film and cinema today.  So thank you Georges Melies, for your entertainment, movie magic, and creative genius.

Teche in Broadway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LgzXwpePTTU#!

The first video I watched was of this scene from a play called "Man of La Mancha."  The scene starts wth this man and woman standing in the middle of a darkened stage, and the only light available is that of the spotlight in the middle of the stage, illuminating them both. As the man starts singing the light continues to hang over both the actors, but as the man becomes more passionate about what he is saying in the song, the light reaches an apex of luminosity, where it only covers him.  You can still see the woman, but now her entire body is draped in shadow, so the brightest part of the stage is where the man is standing and singing.  Then when the climax of the song ends, the lights fade to what they were before, as the man continues to sing, but this time he is the only focal point. The woman still stands in the background, but he is the one you are paying attention to as he finishes his song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sSTm321Is7o

This video took place in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and featured the cast of the Broadway version of "Annie."  In this video, the Teche came in the form of costume design and color symbolism. A few seconds in, it became obvious to me that the director wanted to keep the viewers eyes trained on the young actress playing Annie, as it should be obvious to anyone who watches this.  She's wearing red, while the other performers are wearing either darker clothes or, in the other children's cases, matching school uniforms. There are some performers, however, that do come in for a brief part towards the end of the video, that are wearing some pretty loud costumes.  I believe they did this because they wanted you to focus on the dance number where these performers come in, instead of directly on Annie.  This theory would make sense, because for this short dance number Annie is nowhere to be seen.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZiwQ3OHJb3I#!

The teche that is visible in this video is that of the set/background.  In this performance, the set, which is an intermediary placed between the backdrop and performers, is in the form of a giant keyboard.  At the beginning of the video it is lifted up above the stage in order to introduce more dancers onto the stage.  Then, later on in the video, it is lowered back down behind the dancers.  This is a pretty simple way to manipulate a set.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e6skpCNIoes#!

In this video, the teche appears once again in the form of lighting.  Not only is there a pixelated screen in the background, that is showing all of these cool designs along with the performance, but the lighting over the stage is constantly changing.  At first, the entire stage is well lit, so the band and performers are all visible to the audience.  Then the lighting starts to change to a dark shade of red that blankets the entire band, but avoids reaching the performers up front, so they are still well lit. Then the lighting goes through another metamorphosis. The lighting becomes even darker so the audience can just barely see the silhouettes of the band in the background. However, what's truly incredible is that the contrast between dark in the background and light in the foreground gives the coolest effect.  The brightness of the light in the foreground doesn't increase at all, but because the background is incredibly dark, the foregrounds lights seem quite a bit brighter by comparison. I find it amazing how professionals can manipulate lighting.  I would have never thought that such basic technology could bring about such outstanding effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CsKH2tqoFJ8#!

This video shows a song from the broadway play "Wicked."  The song that is featured here is titled "popular" and it is sung by Glinda "the good witch" to "the wicked witch" Elfaba about making her popular in school.  So because this scene has 2 big characters on stage, it would make sense to have 2 spotlights, so the audience will be focusing on both characters, and not the scenery around those characters.  In fact this is the case.  The stage is darkened except for these 2 focal points, so there won't be any unnecessary distractions from the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S6swLYqUcBk&noredirect=1

Honestly, I don't even think I have to explain what's going on in this one. All you have to do is watch it and you'll know why I decided to include this video in this post.  I mean, there are so many lights in here, which look to be comprised entirely of digital or LED lights. I'm not positive of that though, there could be some bulbs in there as well.  So the entire stage is lit with these massive lights, and all of the performers are visible to the audience, and depending on the ups and downs of the song, the lights dim or brighten accordingly. Its quite an amazing stage set up that is visible in this video.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kMwotYjG0Ak&noredirect=1

So here's the last one.  I decided to include this one here because I wanted to do one that I actually had a stake in.  I mean, the other videos I have watched up to this point were awesome, and I enjoyed watching them, but I am not to familiar with broadway and musical theatre. So when I found this one, which includes some actors that I am familiar with, I could not resist.  So first off, this video stars Neil Patrick Harris. However, it also includes Stephen Colbert and John Cryer, both of which I did not know had done musical performances before.  Now, on to the set.  The set was put together beautifully.  The background was a city skyline, completely lit from the back.  Then there was the lighting on stage, which was composed mainly of blue, and shades of blue.  Also, the performance ended with a throwback to vaudville, which was just great.  This video was amazing, and I encourage anyone who visits my page, if you watch just one video, let it be this one!

Madama Butterfly

I have only good thing to say about Madama Butterfly.  This 10 minute long video is just amazing.  First off, I loved the animation. It was beautifully done, and incredible to watch.  I love how the creators mixed modern and classical elements to the story, as to emphasize certain characters actions but not to overshadow the story of Madama Butterfly. Such as when the screen shifts over to the boat, where you hear music and see lights flickering on and off on board.  I believe this was to call attention to  how indifferent the sailor was when it came to Madama Butterfly. Another cinematic device that I thoroughly enjoyed in this video was the music that can be heard throughout the animation.  At the beginning of the video the music that is playing is easily heard and not muffled at all.  In fact, as Madama Butterfly and the sailor are having sex, the music reaches a climax.  However, after the sailor leaves her, and gives her the phonograph, you can just barely hear that same beautiful music as if it were playing through the phonograph.  I believe this is because the phonograph represents her last stake in the man she loves, and the muted music playing through the phonograph represents her desperation that he will one day return.  This animation was beautifully done, and the abstract way in which they portrayed the characters, their actions, and the world they lived in gave the story a satyric twist that I would not expect in such a sad story.