Over the Edge + February 1, 2006 Arts and Entertainment 9 The Emerging Art of Computer Enhancement JEREMY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER Computer art has taken many forms in computers. It has also risen to new heights in the last couple of years that people couldn't even dream of 20 years ago, One form of art, which also hap- pens to be the most shady art of all, is NFO ASCII art. The reason this is so shady is the fact it is used by the release groups that are responsible for about 90% of all the copyrighted material that appears on peer-to-peer networks. An NFO file that is, in itself, an art form, and not just a file with informa- tion in it. A great place to check out GRAPHIC SUBMITTED NFO ASCII art is found on enfor- cedly, It is a site dedicated to just the :NFO files “of release groups releases ‘(or ‘scene réleases’). Of course, there is simple ASCII art where artists make pictures using the characters found on a keyboard (and characters not found on a keyboard, but found in character maps), depending on the quality of the art. The more interesting art is Flash art (and Shockwave games, but that involves more then just art): Flash art is probably the easiest form of anima- tion that exists depending on your level of expertise and experience with soft- ware. One of the best demonstrations of Flash art is found via homestarrun- ner.com, where the creators makes a cartoon series out of Flash animation. GIF animation is another form of ani- mation, but GIF animation usually re- quires the user to draw every separate frame, which can be a slow process. The files are small, though, and is very con- venient for decorating websites. The more well known art is Photoshoped pictures. Photoshoped pictures has served many purposes online: from red-eye reduction to deceptive chainletters. Photoshop is probably responsible for about 85% of all the still art found online, whether it be simply superimposing text onto a picture or cutting and pasting pieces of pictures. Photoshop is another name for the most famous software for pic- ture editing, Adobe Photoshop. Many other great pieces of software includes Paint Shop Pro, and the open source and free software, GIMP. ‘There is also the rise in 3D render- ing, both animation and still pictures. It has first came apparent by the Canad- ian-based company Mainframe, when they became the first to produce a cartoon TV series that was strictly 3D animation, called ReBoot. The cheaper 3D rendering software is called ‘Poser. Other great pieces of software include ‘Maya’ and‘Blender3D‘ A lot of the still art decorates your desktop, but all those little buttons on different programs like your web browser and the buttons that go along with the windows that you click through. These examples are small forms of art that is imbedded into the Windows processes. In practice, this is known as‘skins. Also, all icons on your computer is a form of art. It's not the only place where art has an obvious presence. Web forums, most likely PHPBB and vBulletin, many people work hard either seeking out or creating their own avatars. Ava- tars are little pictures that go along with theit names for every posting the user makes which gives a picture associa- tion to make them stand out from the other users. When there is a moderate number of users in a bulletin board conversation, this actually makes things easier. There is, yet, another form of art in existence that is getting an ever increas- ing presence online, That is video-game based art. They range from simple two dimensional sprites to full blown mov- ies captured on console games and edited into various video’, The biggest effort was the Roosterteeth project ser- ies known as‘redvsblue. It can be found at www.roosterteeth.com. The show is a very humorous series depicting char- acters from Halo and Halo 2 fighting a war against each other in a box canyon. Depending on. what one is ‘interest- ed in, one can find many forms of art online, There is more forms of art then this article can cover, but it does cover mostly the more well known forms of art and uses for art. It has made things easier to use. Otherwise, users may be stuck in DOS prompt based comput- ers for the most part. A Brief History of Emo ANDY RADIN SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR After Minor Threat broke up in late 1983, the vibrant DC hardcore-punk scene that exploded in 1981 seems to start to run out of steam and fresh ideas within the established DC hard- core sound. The wistful, posthumous Minor Threat 7” “Salad Days” comes out in 1984 and drives the final nail into the coffin of DC hardcore punk. Bands all over the country begin casting about for new things to do: DRI and Bad Brains start going cheese-metal, New York bands start doing tough-guy mosh, 7Seconds goes jangly U2 al- ternative, etc. The prevailing change in D.C. is toward melodic rock with punk sensibilities. _ Nineteen Eighty Four marks the re- lease of Zen Arcade by Minneapolis band Hiisker Di, documenting their new mature sound combining furious, intense vocal delivery and driving gui- tars with slowed-down rockish tempos and more-complex, melodic songwrit- ing. In the spring of 1984, a new band called Rites Of Spring forms from members of The Untouchables/Faith and Deadline. This band retains a punk speed and frenzy, but brings a totally new vocal approach to the mix. Singer Guy Picciotto keeps an out-of-breath punk style most of the time, at times delving into intensely personal lyrics dripping with emotion and sweat. His voice breaks down at climactic mo- ments into a throaty, gravelly, passion- ate moan. The summer of 1985 becomes known as “Revolution Summer’, when a new wave of rock-tempo, melody- based, sung-vocal bands forms out of the DC punk musician pool, with di- verse rock sounds - Three, Gray Mat- ter, Soulside, Ignition, Marginal Man, Fire Party, Rain, Shudder to Think, etc, Few bands retain the fast hardcore punk-based sound with the new vocal approach: Dag Nasty being the notable exception. Minor Threats singer, Ian Mac- Kaye's, sings for a band called Embrace (compare the band name to earlier DC bands Minor Threat, Void, and State Of Alert), whose lyrics are emotional and deeply self-questioning, but still clear and unambiguous, Musically, the group (formed mostly of ex-Faith members) writes midtempo, somewhat jangly music with a lot of pop guitar hooks. MacKaye's vocals retain his trademark bold enunciation, with only occasional sparks of emotive delivery. These bands’ sound eventually be- comes known as the classic “D.C. sound”. Some of it is derisively labeled “emo, as shorthand for“emotional”. One account has this term first appearing in a Flipside interview with Ian MacKaye. Shortly thereafter, DC bands acquire the tag“emo-core’. Slightly later (1986), some bands begin to focus on the “emo” element itself. The Hated, located in Annap- olis (near D.C.), seem to be the first post-Rites of Spring to do this. Shortly thereafter, Moss Icon appears in in the same town. Moss Icon strips the “emo” element down to the core, and adds a great deal of intricate, arpeggiated guitar melody (by Tonie Joy, later of Born Against, Lava, Universal Order of. Armageddon, etc.), with a strong focus on loud/soft dynamics. The vocals, too, break new ground by building up to actual top-of-the-lungs screaming at songs climaxes. Moss Icon, as a relatively well-known band that toured some, introduces the punk scene to music that has core emphasis on emotion instead of punk energy. As such, I consider them the starting point for the emo movement, not Rites of Spring, as is more com- monly asserted. Later emo bands draw heavily from the Moss Icon dynamics, guitar style, and vocal delivery, >>About the contributor: the above atticle was written by Andy Radin for his website “What the heck is emo, anyway?” at www.fourfa.com. “What the heck *is* emo, anyway?” is among the best emo sites online, and it's full of information on emo history, musical styles, and MP3 samples. It’s a great introduction for those who want learn more about the genre, so check it out! ASHLEY-PAIGE SMITH ADS MANAGER What is it that makes rock and roll movies instant classics or instant bombs? Is it the music, the acting, the plot? I looked into three entirely-dif- ferent types of movies that are in the rock and roll category, the infamous “The Rocky Horror Picture Show’, the biographical “The Last Waltz’, and a much less recognized “Grease 2" I've seen RHPS so many times be- fore, but I never really thought about how popular it has been since it first came out in 1975. The talent of Rich- ard O'Brien is endless in the making of this timeless film. He acts, sings, and helps write not only the screen- play, but the original music and lyrics to the play! Some people may say that RHPS is something that people should not watch because of it's sexu- ality, but I say that it is a movie that you should try on for size before you decide that you don't enjoy it. For music I would say that it has a 4.5/5 rating, but, all in all, I think that this movie is a must see! The movies in my collection typ- ically have a plot, a love story to it but it didn't take me long to add Martin Scorsese's “The Last Waltz’ to my collection. This film's plot is the story of The Band, with performances and interviews of the musicians, This movie is filled with famous musicians from the time period, like Joni Mitch- Rock and Roll Movies ell, Ringo Starr, and Eric Clapton. There isn't much I can say to convince you to watch this film: it’s just about one of the greatest bands that ever existed, Now I come to movies with good actors, good songs, but an awful se- quel. If there wasn't Grease, Grease 2 would not be so bad! Really, I don’t understand how people feel that they should make sequels (especially to musical ones), to make a few bucks, and butcher a story. With this movie, it's so bloody awful that it is awesome. The music makes you want to scream “mercy!’, yet it hypnotizes those who watch, It's one of those movies that you torture yourself by watching, and, yet, you are willing to rent, buy it and put it into the DVD or VCR. It truly does not give the first Grease any justice, but it is still a movie that must be seen.