bla. felt like i wasted my time today. i woke up late as i was pretty tired and kinda sick, having slept only 5-7 hours total in the preceding 2 days. went to church but there was no sunday school, as it was mission sunday, so just hung out with bestie awhile. rain was imminent so i just went home without bothering to wait.
i havent played bball in 4 weeks! man. i wonder if i can still shoot. or dribble. or will i be some clumsy clown with the ball.
mm, i just got my pay yesterday =) when we booked out the officer told us that the pay was credited to our bank account already. then.. apparently there's some extra money too. i dunno if it's the advance for CNY or it's just some bonus for GST or dunno what, but i had an extra 200-300 dollars =D
then i tried to use the ATM machine for the first time in my life.. and failed terribly. i tried all the freaking options but couldn't withdraw any money. in the end i figured that the machine had no money, as other people also walked away from the machine with a black face and no money in their hands. made me late for my date :(
watched The Mist with my dear girlfriend, which took alot of persuading, as she doesnt watch horror flicks =) hee managed to get her to watch.
k lemme do a quick review.
The Mist is about this mist (duh) that descended upon a town, and a large group of people are trapped in a supermarket. Anyone that went out in the mist would get snatched by some unknown monsters. So they seek refuge in the supermarket and plan for their next action.
In terms of scare factor, i would say they sucked terribly. Their 'scare methods' were all too predictable, and not shocking at all. Ok let me digress abit and talk about 'scare methods' . Skip this whole dark blue section if you're not interested.
Having Horror as my favourite genre of books/movies for the most of my life ( i changed to action/thriller for movies and mystery for books recently), i know of most, if not all of the 'scare methods' employed by movies/shows. lemme list some of them and rate them on their scare factor:
1) Silence Method
As characters approach a scary moment, music cuts, and they walk in silence.. inch by inch.. this sometimes makes us subconsciously hold our breaths.. then BAM. the scary monster/vampire/killer/cat/chicken/whatever comes out.
Very predictable, when music cuts you just EXPECT something scary that it's not that shocking/scary anymore. (Rating: 2/5)
2) Eerie Music
As characters approach a scary moment, the music becomes a particularly eerie tone, adding to the mood.
I like this only when it's used together with the silence method. Like the eerie music goes really loud... then it cuts. then WHAM. scary part. (Rating : 3/5)
3) Point of focus method
One of my favourites! This method makes you concentrate on a particular part of the screen, seemingly normal and harmless. There is no warning whatsoever of a scary part. Then suddenly in the background something scary comes out.
This effect is great as you have no idea it's coming and you're focusing on the screen such that when the scary part comes out it hits you harder.
(used in The Mist, the part where the guy is eating a chicken wing in front of the window.. and bam the insect slams on the window) (Rating: 4/5)
4) Post Anticlimax method
Not used often enough, though i think it's pretty effective.
What happens is there's a typical buildup to a scary moment.. and BAM. You get a shock but it's not the real thing. (for example, a group of people are walking through a haunted house.. then BAM. something jumps out. oh, it's just one of them playing a fool.)
Then straight away after this happens, you get hit by another shock (behind the joker who just played the prank a big monster slowly stands up)
This double whammy works pretty well, i believe =) (Rating: 4/5)
5) No foreshadowing method
Simply put, there's no warning of the scary part that's coming, and it just suddenly hits you.
A simple example would be in 'I Am Legend', when willsmith is examining the zombie on his surgical table and has just given it an injection. All seems normal ... then suddenly it explodes to life and begins thrashing. I think the whole cinema jumped at that point.
I particularly like this effect, though i admit a show would be boring if it just employed this method. The build up is necessary to cause more suspense. Though one or two of this thrown in adds the icing on the cake =) (Rating: 5/5)
Ok back to the show.
Yea besides the weak scare factor, i thought the plot was pretty weak too. I felt the show lacked flow, and was quite.. random, in the way it moved from scene to scene. And the ending SUCKED. like.. it's one of those that makes you go -_-"
mandy whispered to me as the show was ending: "wow if the show ends like this i would say the show really sucked". And after she said that it really ended like that and the lights came on.
(another slight digression - i think i shall call amanda mandy cos i cant think of a suitable pet name without feeling weird saying it online (tried dear/darling/honey all seemed weird typing out), and everyone else calls her manda, so i shall use 'mandy' :P )
So if you're looking a good show to watch or a good scare, DONT watch The Mist. badbad.
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didn't get to go to soupspoon :( after the show it was pretty late and we both didn't feel like going so in the end just went home. Soup Spoon is this really nice place at raffles city which sells various types of soup. The soup is really thick and tasty, you have to go try it! Ah, i'm craving for it now, as the weather is so cold. :/
Yknow, i kinda wonder who reads this blog. besides my mei and shamim who are both spamming my tagboard :p even my bestie doesn't visit :( blah. well, i'll update this once a week definitely, when i come out from army. and they'll be long entries like this one. so.. you know when to visit yea.
Time to go pack for army and set off soon. sigh IPPT is tomorrow, hope i pass my 2.4km run. With a cough and terrible stamina (having exercised the whole week, since i was sick) .. i somehow doubt it. Hope i don't end up like those people who collapse and die after the run as they push themselves too hard.
bye
