Research

         In order to offer a little insight on the Fantasy fiction community, I  have chosen a couple websites that do just that.

http://www.tor.com/

Tor.com is a great website because it offers input from fantasy fanatics along with other people who wish to add their own opinions.  It also offers reading suggestions, movies, and photo galleries.

http://www.scifan.com/

Scifan offers a comprehensive database for sci fi/fantasy books. While offer insight to the history and evolution of the fantasy genre.  Scifan promotes sci fi and fantasy as literary treasures.

The websites work well together because one offers a communal discussion from fantasy lovers, while the other gives background to the literary evolution of fantasy.

-Jason London

Research

To further our mission of expressing and defining the world of fantasy I'll inspect other sources as well:

• Fantasy Fiction Genre Definition - Find Me an Author - Steve Bennett

http://www.findmeanauthor.com/fantasy_fiction_genre.htm
     This link encompasses much of fantasy and is by far the most complete. It defines it, covers history, sub-genres and cross-overs. It infers that fantasy is a captivating escape. With the lines and boundaries of fantasy unclear, this is a great source to help clear it up.

• Fantasy Sub-genres - Fiction Factor - Lee Masterson
• Overview of Fantasy Fiction Genres and Sub-Genres - Yahoo - M

http://fantasy.fictionfactor.com/articles/subgenres.html
http://voices.yahoo.com/overview-fantasy-fiction-genres-sub-genres-474787.html
     There are many sub-genres to fantasy. The above sites defines and differentiates the major ones. They focus on sub-genres such as dark fantasy, sword and sorcery and Arthurian fantasy. They will help our understanding of fantasy by breaking it down into smaller, separate areas of study.

• Questions of Genre - Film Reference -  ?

http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Fantasy-Films-QUESTIONS-OF-GENRE.html
     Here, fantasy isn't broken into sub-genres but instead questions the similarities and differences between fantasy, science-fiction and horror. How that fantasy is the most free, science fictions goal is to simulate a believable alter reality and horror is unreal fear. It is necessary to understand how fantasy films overlap and exist in other genres.

• Top 15 Fantasy Worlds in Video Games - Telegraph - ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8859915/Top-15-Fantasy-worlds-in-video-games.html
     With gaming comes more than just a picture to look at or a story to read. I really wanted to include video games because they add another dimension and give you control in fantastic lands. This source offers both pictures and descriptions of the top fifteen fantasy worlds. With games it shows how to make fantasy fun by actually incorporating you into it. This is perhaps the closest we'll ever get to these surreal worlds and its well worth looking into.

• What is Modern Fantasy Fiction - Yahoo - Bunchwacky

http://voices.yahoo.com/what-modern-fantasy-fiction-1365811.html?cat=38
     This short post breaks up elements that create fantasy such as talking animals and time travel. It states fantasy needs to "break reality" and "suspend...disbelief". Unlike other articles this one states that science fiction is fantasy. I feel the difference between should be further explored.

• Fantasy vs Science Fiction - Barnes and Noble Book Club - started by: lady_hockey

http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Fantasy-Science-Fiction/Fantasy-vs-Science-Fiction/td-p/62277
     This is a forum with three pages of responses to the difference between science fiction and fantasy. With so many people responding so many ideas and views are thrown out. Such ideas include that fantasy doesn't rely on science as science fiction does or that science fiction is just a modern fantasy. It is important to hear other people out as the differences seem to be more and more about opinion.

• Computer Graphics Hub

http://cghub.com/images/
     Here's what I believe to be a great mix of fantasy,science fiction, surrealism art. It has images of everything from concept art and computer graphics to full scale structures. Just something fun and interesting as fantasy should be.

Howl's Moving Castle

      Thinking about fantasy the first movie that came to mind was Howl's Moving Castle. The main story is about a young girl named Sophie who unfortunately is cursed into an old woman. Sophie beings her journey to lift the curse and right away meets Howl, a half man half bird warrior who lives in a giant walking castle. A talking fire then tells Sophie that if she helps him he will lift her curse; so she sticks around and becomes entangled in the rest of the story. Yet there is something that begins to worry her more than her age, she falls in love with Howl and learning his life as a human is coming to an end, she focuses on saving him.

      To further analyze the film I will use the approach of just looking at a single image of the film, the one above. This scene is cut across the middle combining both the simple life of a farmer and the whimsical and complex castle in the background. It suggests that an everyday person is in fact destined for change and something great. Which is true, nearly every aspect of Sophie's life changes: everyone she knows, where she lives, her worries, her age and most of all her goal.  She is uprooted out of her life like one of the castles feet from the ground. The fog in the distance portrays the mystery and unknown of the future as much of the movie has you question and forces you to just accept things that are unreal.

      As any good movie Howl's Moving Castle teaches strong morals. Such morals are good versus evil as depicted in the war going on. Another is that not everything is what it seems, seen in the many transformations of the characters such as Howl turning into a bird, Sophie becoming old and the scarecrow turning out to be the lost prince. A third moral is that we're all good on the inside, revealed when the once evil witch that cursed Sophie befriends her. A last being that love triumphs all, love is what ended the curse and love is what  returned Howl's heart.

      For anyone in search of a unique fantastical film that both engages you in the story and well crosses the border of reality I highly suggest Howl's Moving Castle.

The Lord Of The Rings

      The Lord Of The Rings is a successful fantastical trilogy that, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of occult films.  The number of followers and franchises this series has created is astronomical.  Ranging from board games, video games, puzzles, cos-play, role-play, and conventions.  I like The Lord Of The Rings because it incorporates so many different aspects of supernatural and fantasy culture into one film , such as wizards, goblins, elves, dragons, orcs, etc. 

      The film follows the adventure of a "Hobbit" or half-ling, a small child looking race, as he tries to make his way into the deepest and darkest part of enemy territory to destroy the ring of power.  The theme emphasizes the bond between friends and the uniting of feuding races, joining together to combat a common enemy for the good of all kind.  Unless, of course, you are the "bad guys", then it won't work out too well.  

       Following the endeavors of each individual characters, the audience begins to feel for them, wanting them to achieve their goals and hurts when something bad happens to one of them.  Because of this, I believe this trilogy has become more then movies but an experience for which the audience may enter a new world filled with excitement and bemusement by all the incredible creations that fill this world.  

        If you are a fantasy and supernatural fanatic I suggest you watch these movies and wait in anticipation for the three prequel movies to come out,  If you haven't already.  

-Jason London

Spirited Away

     Spirited Away is a movie about a young girl named Chihiro, who accidentally travels into the spirit world. She stumbles upon a mythical bathhouse for the inhabitants of the world, where she must work as a servant. This movies overall themes are friendship and the innocence of a child. Her parents have been trapped and turned into pigs by an evil witch who owns the bathhouse and she must work with the witches slave to get them back to normal. She makes many friends who if she had not met, she never would have succeeded. Her friends are constantly helping her through this mysterious world and teaching her lessons along the way. This movie shows that sometimes, help from your friends can be crucial. In the spirit world friendship is the most important thing for Chihiro.
     Chihiros innocence in many ways makes her more successful in the spirit world than an adult would have been. She doesn't seem to question the craziness of the spirit world. She keeps an open mind and goes along with the wacky things she is told to do. It is a great movie that really makes you think about how childlike innocence and friendship can help you get through life with a little more ease. Ill be back on soon to give you guys another update on the world of fantasy culture.

The Princess and the Frog

http://www.shallownation.com/2009/11/03/ne-yo-never-knew-i-needed-video-the-princess-and-the-frog-soundtrack-track-list-cover-art/

      The Princess and the Frog is a Disney movie that takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana telling a story about an underprivileged young woman named Tiana whose dream had been to open a successful restaurant. Tiana is so determined to open her restaurant that she spends most of her time over working herself for tips as a waitress. However, she encounters a major obstacle when she and Prince Naveen are transformed into frogs through works of the Shadow Man and the Prince's assistant. In Turn, the frogs travel the bayou with the help of friendly creatures in search of Mama Odie the voodoo priestess who they believe will make them human again. During this journey, Tiana experiences enjoyment and love for the first time, yet all she can think about is opening her restaurant. After finally reaching Mama Odie and being rejected, Tiana begins to realize that working hard is important but should not consume her entire life and what she needed was love and companionship.
     This movie portrays it's message best through shape and symbolism. For example, the Shadow man was known to be threatening and menacing. This message is relayed through the elongated crooked shape of his body, he also had skull and cross bones on his hat implying that he may be dangerous. However, although both Mama Odie and the Shadow Man were Voodoo priest and priestesses, we can differentiate the good and evil between the two characters because Mamma Odie is portrayed in an opposite manner. She is short and round, and instead of wearing mysterious colors such as black and purple like the Shadow Man, she is wearing cream white. Their environments are also symbolic to their personalities and motives because Mamma Odie is always shown in a background where there are many vibrant colors and many animals around her. I include the description of animals because this tells me that they are not afraid of her therefore she is not a threat. On the contrary, the Shadow Man is always lurking around in dark corners and is constantly surrounded by evil ghostly spirits.
   In the movie, these two characters are the key elements in symbolizing the battle between goodness and evil. I believe that the movie's main goal is to continue to remind ourselves and our children that goodness can always overpower evil things and situations. Furthermore, it also emphasizes that business and work is not everything but we must also take time to stop and enjoy ourselves as well.

-FairyTaleMovieQueen

   

Dragons In The Distance

     Dragons have always been a prominent figure in the world of fantasy. They're big, they breathe fire, and they can fly. Whats not love? This particular image depicts a great behemoth of a dragon, sitting on a ledge spouting flames from his mouth. You can tell a lot from the dark lighting and backgrounds in this photo. The dark sky behind the great beast gives a feeling of danger or dark times as if this dragon may be the cause of problems for the people of the land. The dark clouds give the picture a melancholy feel of hopelessness or despair. In the distance you can clearly see a secluded castle perched atop a steep rock formation. These people may be the victims of this dragons terror. They may be the people feeling the helplessness caused by his destruction.
     In this photo the attention is drawn mostly to the dragon on the right. Its large size takes up over half of the image making it almost impossible to ignore. His fire breath is also one of the only brightly colored things in the photo making it very vibrant and noticeable. The moon in the background is also very bright in contrast to the dark sky making it another very prominent object in the image. These two figures make what could possibly be a sprawling kingdom seem almost petty and insignificant in comparison, further expressing the importance of the dragon and its influence on the land. This concludes my analysis of this photo and Ill be back on soon to give you guys another update.

For my first post, I would like to go into an in depth analysis of this photo.  First I want to direct attention to the two figures.  The man in this photo is visibly in shock that this semi-transparent being is taking hold of him.  Notice that the man who is being held has his eyes fixed on the face of the being, he sees that paranormal entity that enshrouds him while he is in his study.  However, it seems as though that being itself is not fixed on the mans face.  It looks as though the figure is gazing above the mans head, staring into the corner of the room.  This may suggest that although the spirit is visible in the mans dimension, it has not completely crossed over itself.  It is trapped between two realities, that of the living and the dead.  Also, the way in which the entity is wrapping itself around the man suggests familiarity, possibly that this being is someone who new the man before he passed away, and he senses the familiar presence.  Let's move on from the characters in the photo and focus more on the surroundings. Notice how dark the furniture is compared to the floor and wall, as well the gothic shapes of the furniture.  They look very luxurious, this suggests that the man comes from affluence.  With that, they also look very ominous, not too sure how it corresponds to the entirety of the strangeness of the photo but I'm sure that it contributes greatly to the mystery.  I count three light sources that leak into this picture.  Two are pointed directly towards the top of the book shelve and one on the ground covering the floor.  These light sources contribute to the semi-transparancy of the entity.  The light gives the viewer a sense of security, while the dark shadows give a sense of an ominous presence encroaching on the safety of the light.  This completes my photo analysis  this week.

-Jason London

Coraline

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCjlHxZTeC2vz62v259kLxboPfCIANjJ8EpDtc17oKOCslosG8ogbALEK8UShEA05P1eAswo4l96SR3t1rsmVXzgQ3pNCiQqgqQO7nG7MVGCgzcT5hfV9HGJiyiusc6cfITLLiIxLhrQ/s1600/coraline-door-movie.jpg
http://sassyisconvenient.blogspot.com/2011/06/30-days-of-film-bels-day-17.html

     This is an image from the Children's fantasy movie Coraline produced by Focus Features. By looking at this photo we can tell that it captures a scene that takes place during the night. The room is very dim and gray, there are no lights on and the only light in the room is coming from the moon through a window we can not see. Although she is not centered to the photo, Coraline is obviously the main focus because she is the most vibrant subject in the room and also the only light is reflected onto her.
    It is very interesting that although there is not much light, the room looks very dull and old. We can tell that this was once a room that was used for gathering (meaning like a family room or dinning room) because there is a fireplace, a picture on the wall, and items on the mantel. However now, the room looks desolate as if there is not much time spend there by the family occupying the house. The fire place looks empty and forgotten and there are outside tools in the room implying that there may have been remodeling done or maybe that the room is now used for storing miscellaneous items.
     Coraline's devious facial expression hints to us that she may be doing something mischievous. It looks as though she is alone in the room and she is certainly not acknowledging us as viewers. She is barley pulling open the door and looks excited to be doing so as if she had been waiting for the opportunity all along.
     This photo portrays suspense. It seems very mysterious because Coraline is a child and she is in this room most likely alone in the middle of the night. Also, she did not turn any lights on and this may be because she does not want anyone to know she is in this particular room. The image is even more suspicious because she is not going into a normal door. This particular door is in the middle of a wall, does not have a door knob, and is so small that a child has to be on their knees in order to enter. What is Caroline doing?

- FairyTaleMovieQueen 

  

An Analyzed Duel

                                                                                                                             -Duel by Maciej Kuciara

   This suspenseful encounter between a young girl and a mechanical beast is not only frightening but also hopeless. My first thought being that the small little handgun is definitely no match for the metal behemoth. I get the feeling that both parties are fully aware of the fate of the duel. The girl is hopeless and reluctantly allows the monster's stone hand to reach towards her. The image also seems to evoke that they've met before and here they meet again.
   With a supposed story out of the way we can now move on to the individual elements. At first glance at the image, my eyes are forced upon the girl. She is by far the most lit and prominent. The path of the eye resumes by continuing down the short length of her arm to the gun and then the would-be destination of the bullet. And here we find our antagonist, only to say antagonist because it's easier in our minds to relate to something common and not of fantasy, and its radiant blue eyes trailing in from the left, its trail perhaps of an intense flame or a swift movement. Lastly, before analyzing the image as a whole, our eyes head to the far right, to the claw. Its presence crafts an impression of the overwhelming power of the creature, the constricting force in an unknown jungle. The hand's reflective appearance and sectioned off joints is what first suggested to me that this entity is in fact some form of conscious android.
  Our perspective of this duel is first-person. The blurry bottom left corner provides the impression that we are crouched, hidden, and watching the scene unfold before us. The setting appears to be a jungle or possibly a nature won city. The handgun and girl's clothing infers that its time period is not far from ours, if not ours. The setting's light sources seem to be a rising sun cutting through a lush canopy, the misunderstood creature ignited blue eyes and a third, unknown, illuminating the girls back.
   My choice for this art work was not random, I actually spent quite a long time with a sieve sifting through a myriad of other computer graphic and photo shopped images of fantasy before setting my sights on this one. I love this picture, I wish it was wallpaper sized, I love the colors, its simplicity, sense of mystery, how balanced it feels, the aura of anticipation it carries and its bone-chillingness. The epitome of beautiful fantasy.

Hello!

Oh hey!

        

          My name is Jason London, I'm a ctva major at california state university northridge.  I plan on investigating the inner workings of fantasy culture, while analyzing the supernatural/fantasy genre as well. I intend to offer my opinions of fantasy culture while analyzing and dissecting all aspects of the products of supernatural and fantasy culture that I can think of.   

          I do not consider myself to be an expert on this particular genre.  But being a movie lover and an amateur movie and game critic I feel confident enough in my own abilities to properly analyze this field.  My hope is for this blog to be entertaining and exciting for the reader, while maintaining an informative and investigative manner.  Well, let's get to it. 

The First of Many Posts

     Hello, my name is Dean Cypher. I am a college freshman and real estate major at Cal State University of Northridge. I have always been interested in fantasy culture and media. Everything from movies to T.V. to books and art. I have always thought it was a good way to get away to escape from the real world for a little while and become emerged in these stories of excitement and wonder. I wouldn't call myself an expert but I would say I know a good amount about the genre. Ill be on this blog to give you my two cents on the world of fantasy, the supernatural and the effects they have on the world. I look forward to writing more posts in the near future and I would like to thank everyone who supports this blog and its authors.

Tariq Soliman

      Hello, my name is Tariq Soliman. I am currently a student of California State University Northridge majoring in computer science. I have be fascinated by the unreal and imaginary for a good portion of my life.  I believe what the imagination conjures up is not just a mental vision but something that has substance and breaks through the barrier of reality. I thoroughly enjoy when my brain is stimulated to disregard proven fact and accept something that would otherwise be absurd, whether it be from television, movies, art, stories or games.
      I write to you as someone with a gift. A unique gift that every single person has innately lodged in their being. One that is taken for granted. The ability to concoct memories and subconscious into beautifully creative works. I am a fan of all works that promote the mind whether it be a television series such as Heroes that borders on magic and genetics to Stephen Shaheen's headlight in which little men with light bulbs for heads struggle to plug themselves in. Among these also fit David Johnson's firework photographs, M.C. Escher's many famous masterpieces that justify illusion such as Waterfall and video games such as Myst and Portal that reshape this world and alter physics.
      I plan, in this blog, to contribute insight into my interpretation of fantasy, shed light on the definition of supernatural and question what it means to live in a world that plans on pushing the limits.

FairyTaleMovieQueen

     Hello those of you who are interested in the world of supernatural and fantasy. I will be known to you as the FairyTaleMovieQueen and will be talking about controversial topics dealing with children's fantasy and supernatural films such as Disney films, Pixar films, and children's films produced by Focus Features. Like many other Americans I grew up watching films produced by these companies and they have always been very entertaining for me. Interestingly enough, I still continue to enjoy these films; however, now I tend to analyze these films more effectively and would like to began focusing on some of the controversial subjects associated them. 

- FairyTaleMovieQueen