Banished (PC Game)

I, like a lot of people, enjoy playing games where you are basically a kind of god figure the the people you have in front of you. You can create houses, farms, or even disasters, which is always nice for when you get bored of your save file. Banished is one of these games. Unfortunately, most people go straight for Sims as a simulation game, or for something like City Skylines, but there is rarely a game between these two dynamics, focus on one family or focus on an entire city, with no power over its people. This is where games like Banished come into play.

I know it may seem silly to review a game hundreds of people have already reviewed, but it seems that people don't really know about this game, I know I didn't until very recently. This game is really about building a town using your citizens as workers for particular jobs. This is a level of gameplay a lot of simulation games rarely reach, since there is already so much to do to take care of a city/family. This does mean then that this game is harder than your average simulator game, since to actually maintain a population, you have to have almost everyone catching or farming food constantly, which means that farms are usually a bad idea, since they only produce food in the Autumn (or Fall), unless of course you have the luck of being placed far form a lake or river, in which case, plant those farms straight away!

Really, the only way to play this game effectively is to install mods, which does mean you get practice at the game, but often means you do not receive any achievements for the games you play with them on, and be sure to turn on mods before you create a new game, it has a habit of crashing if you don't! Other than a few bugs, and the difficulty level being insane, the game is actually fun to play almost anytime, want to relax? Play an easy game. Want a challenge? Turn off your mods and see how long you last!  Honestly, in my opinion, this game is definitely worth the time and effort needed to master the timings and food balance, as well as finding all the mods you need, since the actual gameplay is slightly addictive.

Expired Black and White Polaroid 600 Film (Impossible Project)

This film , although again from Impossible, was very different to what I have previously tried, even if they were both monochrome based.

The first main difference is of course the colour, the whites are slightly sepia toned, but it is most likely due to the age of the film, yet it does add a certain style to the photographs, while the black is dark enough to cause a major contrast to the images. This is of course excellent if, like me, you're a fan of the more dark, mysterious photos, but if you're looking for a less contrasting photo, it's as simple as using a flash, especially indoors, where the contrast seems to be highest. 

Honestly, I am quite impressed at how 'moody' these photos turned out, since most film I use in this camera turn out very over-exposed, while these ones seemed to be a lot more mist-like in their exposure, by which I mean that when I viewed the photos the extra light was concentrated on the edges of the image or along the bottom, making it seem much more mysterious. 

Like with every new type of film however, it does take practice to achieve a decent photograph, which is why taking multiple pictures at the same location is always a good idea. 

While this film was exciting to use, the fact that it was so hard to get rid of this 'misting' effect means that anyone not as interested in this kind of photography may not wish to buy the expired packs, just to be on the safe side. 

Tricked (Netflix Documentary)

Just a warning, this review mentions themes of sex and abuse (the subject matter of the documentary). Don't read if easily offended.

This week I have been watching a documentary on Netflix called Tricked. The basis of the film is to follow the story of a particular woman and her history of prostitution and abuse, pretty heavy stuff, I know. Because of the subject matter, it must be taken as a serious and emotional piece, which is exactly how it presents itself and how it comes across.

The main interviewee, named Danielle, narrates most of the film, adding her own experiences and emotions into the mix. She does a very good job at holding together during the most emotional scenes and seems to be genuine, with very little bias towards those girls still in the business.

There are other interviewees, including one man who admits to paying for sex numerous times, and sees no problem with it, claiming it to be human nature. His viewpoint does seem quite self-centred, but is presented with no bias at all within the edit and so allows his opinions to be expressed without prejudice, meaning you're free to make your own decisions about those ideas.

Overall, the multitude of people interviewed gave a varied dialogue between 'pimps' and 'pimped', while the emotional depth gave the film a very somber yet informative feel, so don't watch it unless you're ready to spend this time watching parent's accounts of their children being forced into what is essentially slavery, or these girls telling their stories and, as expected, getting very upset. It is a very well done documentary and the subject is handled wonderfully and with appropriate sensitivity, while still getting the hard facts into the mix. It is a very interesting watch if you're up for it.

Expired Magenta Monochrome Polaroid 600 Film (Impossible Project)

I recently puchased a three-pack of expired film from the Impossible Project website. My first pack contained film for eight magenta monochrome pictures. Since this was not my first choice of film, I decided it would be a good starting point for a practice project, being the first time I would use a Polaroid camera. Because it was magenta monochrome, it meant that all of my photos were going to be pink and only pink, so a very limited spectrum was to be expected.

My first photo came out great, well exposed and well framed, a great start! However, I found out very fast that in natural light, it is almost impossible to get a well exposed photograph with this film if you cannot adjust the exposure on your camera, which I can't. The pink colour meant that it was naturally going to be quite light anyway, but outside on a cloudy day, photos were almost impossible to take with a decent exposure. This may have been due to the expired film having a lower light tolerance, however being only one or two years out of date it seems unlikely. 

Overall though, playing around with focus and exposure was a great learning experience and seeing that this colour is so niche for a project, I believe it was a good investment, if only for practice. Considering the expired film was so much cheaper than the in-date packs, it was well worth the money to be able to test the camera and the film as a whole, as well as still having two packs to play with from the set!