Illarterate.co.uk » Videos

Replay Expo 2011, Blackpool: An illuminating experience [Vlog]

Illarterate — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 12:57:56 +0000

Harry Yack takes a trip to the home of donkeys, expensive lighting and billions of bed and breakfasts. No time for sausage ‘n’ chips or walks along the promenade, however, as the 2011 Replay retro video game type thingy was also taking place just down the road at Norbreck Castle.

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Super Mario Bros. [NES] video game review

Illarterate — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:52:14 +0000

Well, this isn’t a proper ‘review’ as such, but an exercise in taking video games far too seriously.

Critical piece discussing the fungus fancier’s first console outing, chronicling the conception, controversies and downright LSD-fuelled insanity of Brooklyn’s most prominent pudgy pipe plunger. Nah, not really. I just reiterate the really obvious, half-humorous observations of other people.

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Who Wants to be a Millionaire? UK [PSX] video game review

Illarterate — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 11:00:12 +0000

Harry Yack takes a look back at a game so culturally significant it hardly matters.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire stood proudly atop the video games sales charts for weeks, nay months, after its release. This delivers false promise, for due to the unbelievable popularity of the TV show, every other parent who got their kid a Playstation for Christmas went out to Dixons and bought a copy. For 35 quid. In actuality, all you get is a bog-standard question and answer affair, and you know how fantastically those types of games translate to the Playstation. Exactly, they don’t.

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‘Teleglitcher’ featured in Dick Whyte’s “Detournement: Critical Cinema and The Internet”

Illarterate — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:52:02 +0000

Teleglitcher, an early video from my 2007 Pixel is Power project, has been featured in a special presentation at the New Zealand Film Archive. Kiwi visual artist Dick Whyte, with the help of Mark Williams, put together a screening of various experimental media, described as such:

“What do Miss Piggy, Britney Spears, Mussolini, Super Mario Bros., Charlie Rose, John Key, Ruth Richardson and Buster Keaton have in common? They are all the subjects of avant-garde films on YouTube. Film maker and academic Dick Whyte presents a screening of recent avant-garde films he has curated from YouTube. All of them re-purpose existing material into new works.

“Whyte says, “Technology has taken a long time to get to the point where video makers can sample with the same abandon as musicians and still image makers. YouTube heralds a new age in avant-garde cinema which is fully engaged with popular media.” The screening will be accompanied by short introductions to the films and their particular strategies, looking at the function of avant-garde moving-image at the beginning of the twenty-first century.” — New Zealand Film Archive

The show was screened at the Film Archive Mediatheatre, Wellington, in January of this year. See all films from the presentation at Whyte’s blog.

Good Copy Bad Copy: Creativity on the line [The VHS Project]

Illarterate — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:09:33 +0000

Personally, I am not a fan of copyright licenses. Oftentimes I feel restricted in my work, unable to sample almost anything at all for fear of infringing copyright laws. This comes as no real surprise, me being of the mass media Internet generation who doesn’t much care for the mainstream music or film industries and all.

That said, I still enjoy a good album or movie in much the same way I like lighter, DIY user created content such as video mashups, and respect peoples’ rights to make money from their creations. Heck, it would be nice to one day make something out of what I do, but of course it’s never the primary motivation. People motivated by money may be rich but, on the whole, aren’t very nice individuals, and I’d hate to become one of them.

Good Copy Bad Copy is a Danish documentary offering some hope for the future, a utopian world where individuals are free to express their creativity with as wide a range of media as is available without fear of censorship. It’s a great watch for anyone interested in such things, covering copyright laws in the United States, Europe and even Nigeria. Here’s a bit of taster, the final minutes of the film:

Watch the film on YouTube, or download it from the official website.

The Super Mario Challenge [TCC, 1991] TV show review

Illarterate — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:34:42 +0000

Hey, would you look at that. It’s the Yak’s first TV show review, and pretty pants it is too! Well, I had some fun making it so I suppose that’s all that matters. Erm, I mean, it’s awesome and should be watched right away!

Footage mainly grabbed from The Children’s Channel. More info can be found here.

PGA Tour ’96 [Mega Drive] video game review

Illarterate — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:55:43 +0000

I’m constantly trying out new styles of review, mostly to see if I can do them but also because I like to experiment. This particular foray into the mid-90s is a relatively serious retrospective of a rather serious game: PGA Tour 96 for the Mega Drive. Would you have been happy to pay 20 quid from Game for this? Well surprisingly, at the time I was. I know different now, though, having played PGA European Tour.

Analogue Propaganda: Nick McCabe – Ambience: Teletext is Dead early mix

Illarterate — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:50:50 +0000

When creating the ‘Teletext is Dead’ video, I tried out a number of soundtracks, messing around with the pacing before finally settling on a fast paced, hectic concoction. This early mix, by contrast, is much more relaxing and laid back, whilst at the same time strangely intense. Music is provided by Nick McCabe.

Oh, and now you know where inspiration for the ‘Dreamy’ instrumental (as seen in this video) comes from.

Fifa 98: Road to the World Cup [Mega Drive] video game review

Illarterate — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:52:49 +0000

Earlier in the year, I planned to do a whole ‘season’ of video reviews on football games I used to quite enjoy, you know, with the World Cup fast approaching. That series didn’t transpire as I would have liked it to, but I did produce two reviews which I suppose constitutes a mini-series. The first of these dates back to the end of May and was recorded, edited and uploaded within the same day –I don’t think I’ve done that again until just yesterday, actually– so expect the odd factual inaccuracy here and there.

Download: FLV

Hindleyak Blip channel

Roland on the Ropes [Amstrad CPC] video game review

Illarterate — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 19:57:52 +0000

This ‘Roland’ person, also a flea and a rat(?) in later outings, takes on the role of Indiana Jones in an attempt to raid the tombs of Tooticarmoon [sic]. Will he succeed? Well, with me as his guide, he has absolutely no chance. Might still be fun to watch this video, though.

From October 2008.

Download this video: FLV