As you guys know we are making the big festival push that will see our film entered into over 100 film festivals around the world, focusing on the Oscar accredited festivals. This is just the beginning of our year long campaign which has the goal of getting our film onto the Oscar short-list and beyond. We are very thrilled with the help all supporters cast and crew have given us on the journey so far, for that we thank you.

But Anima needs a bit more help.

As you can probably imagine, pushing a campaign like this with such a big goal can be very costly (as well as making the film) and the producers and I are looking for a corporate sponsor for our festival campaign. The costs involve many things, including flights to festivals, accommodation, printing of posters and press kits, and everything else that will go along with the marketing and PR.

The things we can do throughout our campaign to advertise and promote business are extensive, for example, wearing pins in all interviews and press, website links, trailer links and also poster logo and press kit advertisements which will be distributed to all the press involved around the world in the festivals. (as well many other little ideas we have)

The costs we will incur will be sizeable, and we are going to need a decent amount of money for our initial push and if the film gets into the big festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, Tribecca, SXSW, and other Oscar accredited festivals) our marketing and PR will be put the pedal to the metal for the Oscar season, so a further amounts will be needed.

If you are a business or an individual; any way you can help us is appreciated, whether it be recommending us to a contact or just telling a friend about the film over a coffee.

We very much appreciate the help you guys have given us so far, and we hope you would like to come a bit further with us on our journey!

All the best and I hope to see you at a screening soon, can’t wait to show it to you all!

Your friend in time

Scott Mannion

(If you have any questions feel free to contact me on smannion@singularityfilms.net)

Our festival campaign, which will see Anima entered into over 100 international film festivals, has finally cut the ribbon. Hopefully it will be screening in many countries, so for those of you who supported us from over the deep blue will be able to watch the film in all of its glory, splendour, epicness, scope, grandeur and magnificence [;)] on the big screen.

We will update the website with information on where and when you can see the film. The private premiere will be held in about a month while I gather the funds to give us a big night. Wahoo!

I hope to see you all soon and I can’t wait for the big night!

All the very best

Scott Mannion

Heading in the right direction.

As we draw closer to the end of our post production period, I thought it would be a good time to let everyone know that the project is coming along much better then I’d hoped. We are now beginning our CGI effects, composition and sound design; I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and upon reflecting, I never imagined the project would turn out this well. I never imagined the avenues I would choose or the epic amount of work I would put in when I began this project. I’m pleased, but not surprised.

Because when one is bold, great things can happen.

Fear is a indicator (at least in art) for that which one should pursue, and this project had plenty. Fear was a compass for the directions I chose and I have learnt to be bold in the face of fear. If we are bold, many rewards will come. If we are bold, people will help us, join us, become our allies, even great friends.

Boldness is the enemy of resistance, procrastination and fear.

Resistance and fear can fuck off, cowards never did anything of worth.

Show the world you’re bold, and the world will tip its hat to you, with a wink and a smile.

We have a completion date of March 3rd, and when all the finances come together the private premiere should be quite soon after that. I look forward to seeing everyone who supported our film, having a brew, and telling war stories of times past.

Brothers and sisters, comrades and friends,

I thank you all!

See you soon.

Scott Mannion.

P.S I have been updating on the Facebook group for the past few months, which is here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/159323147435158/317244518309686/?notif_t=like please join it if you want to be kept in the loop. I apologize for neglecting kickstarter.

Hi All. The Edit is coming together slowly, performances are great. Also have received the help of brilliant time-lapse photographer Christoph Malin. Truely epic beautiful stuff. We will probably be finished up around late Jan-mid Feb. I’ve been commissioned as a photographer on a feature film in Bulgaria for 2 months, so that has put our release back a little! my apologies! Onward and upward!

Born in 1985, I was one of the first generations to be brought up on the internet. This resulted in an intrinsic connection to this world; its pitfalls and benefits, its positives and negatives. When children are young their imaginations, their minds, are starved for stimulation; through advancements in technology and psychology, game companies have been able to take full advantage of this. And in my view they have become increasingly cunning in the manipulation of the human psyche.

As I grew, living in game worlds became an obsessive escape from my physical existence. Simply, it was much more enticing then the real world. I had no problems, a loving family and good friends, but I was bored with the stimulation of school and modern life. I had a vivid imagination, and this craved for an escape into worlds that contained the kind of stakes and vibrant stories I was read as a child.

At first it began with First Person Shooter gaming[*], eventually moving into Clan [†] competitive gaming.  After a few years of this type, which I’ll call ‘non committal’, our group moved on to the more time intensive World of Warcraft, which is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game[‡].

In WOW one plays a role, a life, in a ‘swords and sorcery’ surrogate world. I always had a penchant for this kind of fantasy story, but this game caught me completely by surprise; containing a stimulation and escapism that was unparalleled at the time. WOW[§] was seductive, addictive and all consuming.

The Surrogate World.

WOW deals in fantasy fulfilment and a never ending cycle of goal completion and creation. In other words there is no ‘end’ to the game. The reason this game is so seductive is it allows the reward of fantasy fulfilment without the hard work and time that is required in the real world to achieve; one can be ‘the hero’, ‘the leader’, ‘and the savoir’, the only thing required to achieve these things is time[**]. It is designed in such a way that your desire to have the best equipment and strongest hero is never ending. Even if you acquire this goal, a new goal is placed in front of you, with a shiny new item, in an endless cycle of digital consumption.

What is wrong with this may you ask? A sense of escapism is very necessary for the mass culture to continue functioning. Movies give us this, as do novels and other art forms. Why not allow people to escape in this virtual world?

Well, as the current technology operates, one’s physical body needs to be maintained in this world. Therefore obsessive gaming can become a serious problem for mental and physical health.

No matter how much one would like to exist in these imaginary worlds, they have limits to their reality; one can only travel as far as the designer has built and one must work, sleep, eat, and exist outside of this world, maintaining oneself and functioning as a member of society. Of course, a game like WOW is an ever growing parasitical drain on your time. You have the desire to spend every waking hour logged in, because this is where you are pot committed, and where you have invested all your time and effort. This effect is exponential, the longer you play, the more committed you are, and the more time you spend inside the game world (To the detriment of your life in the real world). As it stands, this is a problem many fields must face as technology cuts into our lives. Psychology, law and medical institutions must remain vigilant of the growing problems.

The Future?

At this very moment a quarter of the earth’s population are connected to the web and this number is growing at an unprecedented rate. I was addicted, and so are many others. Korea, Japan, Vietnam and China list several deaths and a generation of young users addicted to this online world.

In the west this problem already exists, but the implementation of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking technologies are spreading use to the general user, changing the social structures of human interaction and how we live, they seem to connect us, but in my experience they further disconnect users from the physical world. The web is a blessing, but it has dangers. The more we assimilate technology into our lives, the greater disconnection with reality, and the more disconnected and muted we become as humans.

Yet I think this effect is only temporary due to our technological limitations, which don’t allow the use of all 5 senses to connect. If we could communicate in this way, then a genuine connection through the internet would be possible. The only difference between real world communications would be the knowledge in one’s mind that neither communicator is truly present.

This is certainly possible in the future as technology is increasing at a unprecedented exponential rate, it’s a matter of time before our lives are so synergised with technology we won’t be able to tell the difference between the biological and technological.

Eventually the lines between reality and virtual will be blurred. We won’t experience these worlds through our monitors, but through our 5 senses. If one chooses so, they’ll be able to live life within a designed VR world, without deterioration, or maintenance in the outside world. If this were to occur (even with what I experienced in early life) I think civil liberty must allow members of society to make this independent choice for themselves; it’s up to the individual to determine how much they value reality. After all, how could one say what they are experiencing isn’t as ‘real’ as this world?; with the little we know about reality through science, that would be a very rich statement to make.

What would I do if this were possible? Personally I’ve come to see the mysteries and interactions in this world are much more interesting then anything a designer could currently create; I think it’s our job as storytellers and artists to inspire humans to value to enjoy the awe of the world we live in. I see reality as objective and material, so philosophically I truly value the world I live in, and no longer want to escape. (But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to encroach on the liberty of others who don’t think like I do)

Defeating the addiction or replacing it?

How did I come to this conclusion? Why did I leave gaming behind? Firstly, my search for stimulation was eventually left wanting. I began to see the seams as I explored the limits of the designer’s world. It began to feel artificial and limiting.

Secondly, a dark thought overwhelmed me. As this is a social game, one is required to join up with other users[††]. This requires you to stick to a stringent schedule which allows you to acquire the items you need to succeed and progress in the game.

Coaxing people to cooperate sounds like a good idea in principle, but it’s a little more sinister in this case. Eventually one begins to mould real life around the schedule of the game. The social mechanics amongst these groups are like a horde of heroin addicts all looking to be the most powerful junkie[‡‡]. The game plays you, you don’t play the game.

When I had this thought I knew I had to quit. I left World of Warcraft, but I was plagued by other games and motivation problems for at least a year after.

So what did I do, how did I break this cycle? I don’t really have a band aid solution for you. I was lucky that I got out before it became too serious and In my case it was less severe then most, yet it was still an addiction, like any other.

It was helpful when I discovered a real world passion, filmmaking(you could say I replaced gaming with another obsession), which led me to a thirst for knowledge that I never knew I had, and it was through knowledge that I came to understand the psychology of my behaviour. I also excommunicated myself from my equally addicted social group, and gained new friends who were high achievers and ambitious just like myself.[§§] I knew my mind was easily seduced by the escapism these games brought, and I knew when I had to cut myself off and keep away from games entirely.

I still get the urge to play, and sometimes I’ve relapsed and began to play certain games again, but I think that recognising the addictive behaviour has shown me that there’s no middle ground. Many times I told myself that I could play ‘Just a little’. It was later that I knew this was always a slippery sliding slope for me. This was a lesson hard learned.

If we want to help people in this position we all must remember that when one approaches addicted gamers, they see nothing wrong with how the game is manipulating them. To the contrary, as they have come to value their achievements in this world so highly, they will take any restriction of their logging in time as an attack on everything they’ve worked for. This is what they value and this is what is important to them; understanding that is the only way you can combat the parasitical nature of games like these.

In conclusion, there’s no stopping the advancement of technology and the synergy it will have within all of our lives. The only way to remain vigilant is to be informed and educated with both eyes open. We must all understand that technology is a tool, and a tool can be used in positive and negative ways. It’s our job to judge whether each individual technology has a parasitical or symbiotical effect on our lives.

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[*]I will note, the sense of brotherhood in a clan has a lot of positives to it, I made a lot of friends who I would never have met if it weren’t for this type of online gaming. It’s also not as time consuming as a game like WOW.

[†] A group of players who unite to compete in online competitions.

[‡] Calling it a ‘Committal’ game would be an understatement.

[§] World of Warcraft.

[**] As apposed to other games which require hand eye coordination.

[††] In groups of players called Guilds.

[‡‡] The one difference being, this drug is cheap, and it’s legal.

[§§] Never underestimate the power of the environment on the individual’s psychology.

It was the eve before our last big day shoot, and I sat with the producer having a beer on the back patio, wondering what the next day would be like. “We should remember this moment, right on the dawn of the end of our film. Remember how we felt” I said.

It’s important to have these little existential moments in such stressful times, because it allows you to absorb and appreciate the things that matter about the experience; it allowed me to step back. Thinking about time extends the moment, stops it from slipping by, and gives one context.

So what were my thoughts about this brief moment in time?

It was hard, it was scary, it was glorious, it was fun, it was elative; but most of all it was an education. I feel like I’ve been through the wars with this film, yet I’m thankful that I pushed myself and those around me to take it to a professional level, because that experience was invaluable.

I knew this work was for me when I finished my last film, yet one goes through the same anxiety every time, thinking “Am I cut out for this, can I get through it?”.

But then we came to the final big day. It felt right, it felt whole.

The ups and downs, the stress, and love, the passion; it’s addictive. I feel the same realisation I did last time, and I know this is absolutely the life for me! I am deeply thankful for the support from everyone that’s around me, on and off the film. Thank you for your trust.

We had a great team, and it felt like we were finally starting to gel together as a working unit. Then BAM, it was over! Sadly we were saying good bye! Just when it was starting to get comfortable and well oiled! Right when this happened, I remembered what a veteran filmmaker said to me: “short filmmaking is like sex for a woman, it’s over too fast and you’re left to clean up the mess.” How true that is!

Yet the mess is half the fun, we have mistakes to learn from, problems yet to solve, insanity to continue!

I could dribble on and on, but I would like to end by thanking our wonderful cast and crew, as well as all our supporters! As soon as I get this dam footage ingested we will be busting our asses in post to make this a film worthy of all our hard work!

Thanks for coming with me on our little adventure. I’ll try my best to bring back an elixir for everyone in the tribe to enjoy

-Scotty