Viral Marketing: You're Doing it Right!

I've already mentioned how excited I am about J.J Abrams' new project Super 8 - for various reasons mostly pertaining to a trailer that involves something hella strong trying to bust out of a derailed train from Area 51.

Abram's projects are no strangers to viral marketing - Cloverfield essentially built its success on it! I've never really gotten involved it in before, but I've watched people enthuse about it. My former manager followed The Dark Knight viral campaign from start to finish and it sounded amazing!

For Super 8, the initial trickle of information included some set photos - some of which (the ones I can't seem to find now) showed in store displays for a brand of ice pops called Rocket Poppeteers. A website for this brand was revealed shortly thereafter, encouraging users to register for their Astronaut Programme.

I did so, and got this in the mail shortly before Christmas! (Note: not my real name LOL!)

There is also a 3 digit code on the envelope that needs to be entered - somewhere - on the Rocket Poppeteers website. I have to say - even if I leave off here and don't bother going any further, that's a pretty impressive piece of viral marketing! They've literally been mailed all over the world!

The website has been down for a while but worked for me this morning - you can explore quite a bit but I can't get any further when it comes to using my code. It claims not to recognise my registration - this is either because they haven't launched that part of the site yet, or because I'm somehow doing something wrong!

You can still register - but I'm not sure whether they'll do another mailing! If I ever get to start work on the Twin Teamwork Fleet I will let you know! In the meantime, you can follow Rocket Poppeteers on Twitter or keep up with Scariest Thing I Ever Saw (the main viral website for Super 8) and Super 8 News if you don't want to have to figure it out for yourself ;)

I know they did a big roll out at Comic-Con so if anyone experienced that, please feel free to share!

A Steampunk Short and a Heads Up

Woah! *blows dust off blog*

Life has been nuts and is only getting more so - therefore I won't make the mistake of promising a return to (semi-)regular posting.. but I will be popping in more often with fun things to share!

I've been working on Tweeting more (but not too much) from work so you can catch me @titangrrl if you want to hear random things about working in geek publishing, you know where to go ;)

This little steampunk short popped up on one of the Livejournal communities I follow - and it's so heartbreakingly beautiful that I just had to share it.

Also through a steampunk community, I discovered a movie called The Clockwork Girl - which I had somehow managed to be shamefully unaware of! Originally scheduled for a 2010 release, I'm honestly not sure what is happening with this movie, but I so hope that it does get a release as it looks like so much fun!

Based on a comic book series of the same name, The Clockwork Girl tells the story of Tesla, a robot girl, and the hilarious mutant boy she befriends. Check out the preview on the official website and keep an eye out for it in the future!

Give a little geek this Christmas...

Not too long ago, practically every geek on the internet was reading an article about a little girl called Katie who was bullied at school for having a Star Wars water bottle that was "for boys".

In no time, a Facebook event sprang up calling for people to get their geeky pride on and wear something Star wars related on this Friday - December 10th.

Katie's mom, Carrie, posted a follow up article which I thought made a really awesome and important point - which was that we should think very carefully about how we gender label our toys and the effect that that has on children.

To that end, she suggested a really wonderful thing - which is that we each donate a Star Wars/geeky toy to a shleter/hospital/children's charity and very clearly label it as being suitable for a girl OR a boy.

If we all stop and thing about it - anyone who is in to geeky things definitely has at least a little bit of cash to spare. We go to conventions, make costumes, and buy lightsabers when we really shouldn't (GUILTY!).

So this Friday I'm heading out in my Her Universe Star Wars t-shirt and dropping my geeky gift off at the Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal - which anyone in the UK can do at their nearest Salvation Army or participating Superdrug.

You can also Google for local children's charities or your nearest children's hospital as they always appreciate donations.

Let's make an effort to get some awesome toys to kids who wouldn't have the chance to receive gifts like that otherwise, and raise a new generation of geeks while we're at it!

Sucker Punch: The Art of the Movie by Zack Snyder

I'm just about to hit the approve button to send this out to the internets as a whole, so I thought I'd give you guys a 30 second advance preview ;)

A new and AMAZING trailer for Sucker Punch has also just hit...

This movie is going to be sexy... this book is going to be EXTRA sexy.

Preorder a copy now!!!

5 Short Films to Watch... if you've never watched short films before!

Short films often evade me for a variety of reasons - I'm too lazy to sit and watch something for 15 whole minutes, my gods damn work computer is so slow that it can't actually process video (trufax! I've actually only seen every 8th frame of the Deathly Hallows trailer!), I don't have headphones and my flatmates are watching tv... the excuses pile up!

My newfound addiction to io9 and an empty living room this evening prompted me to sit down and make my way through some of the short films I had bookmarked - and woah was it worth it.

Whether you've never watched a short film in your life or you are a veritable connoisseur (in which case I suspect you will have seen all of these anyway), at least one of these films should definitely be for you. Give them a shot; I urge you.

1. Sintel tells the heartbreaking story of a lone warrior and her dragon. Originally born as a proof-of-concept for an open source 3D creation suite called Blender, Sintel was funded by internet donations and premièred at the Netherlands Film Festival in September. It has since, justifiably, become an online sensation.

2. Fallen - aka the brief story of the cutest meteorite that ever was - catalogues the brief life of a burning lump of space rock that realises its own existence shortly before coming to an abrupt halt. Yes, yes, we all know the sperm whale got there first - and more amusingly - but this is an adorable little short and coming in at 3:50, it's not too taxing.

Fallen from Sascha Geddert on Vimeo.

3. The Anachronism is simply gorgeous. Part steampunk, part children's adventure story, part love letter to British Columbia, this one is well worth 15 minutes of your time. Two would-be explorers document the flora and fauna in the woodland surrounding their home - until they stumble on an occupant that they couldn't possibly have expected. The worthy winner of 6 Leo awards.

The Anachronism (Full Film) from Anachronism Pictures on Vimeo.

4. Just about as different in tone as you can get from the previous offerings, When It Will Be Silent is the beautiful, stylised sophomore project of film student Dan Sachar. A post-apocalyptic vignette that will take your breath away.

When it Will Be Silent (כשיהיה דומם) from Dan Sachar on Vimeo.

5. I'm cheating this one a bit, as it's actually about two films and there are only trailers available. These two short films from Polish filmmaker Grzegorz Jonkajtys look truly remarkable. The Ark has won multiple awards and even won Best of Show at Cannes in 2007. The only remaining survivors of an unknown virus that has claimed most of mankind take to the sea in order to survive. Stunning and unusual animation.

The 3rd Letter shows a remarkable vision of a dystopian future in which mankind utterly depends on bio-mechanical alteration to withstand the declining climate. The only place worse than America to lose your health insurance - as Jeffrey Brief learns.

Please suggest any other short films you may have come across that you think are particularly remarkable - and please give some of these a chance; they are incredible stories, each in their own way.

Steampunk Thursday #10: Art and Artists

The last and final Steampunk Thursday! You can catch up with all of the previous posts here.

Steampunk being the creative community that it is, artists literally abound!

Jessica Van Hulle's beautiful collection of steampunk and dieselpunk pin-ups are just begging to be on your living room wall! These oil paintings are more than just a little bit different and have a fun, quirky style.

DeviantArt is awash with beautiful steampunk pieces - Steampunk by PReilly being just one such example. Look see what a steampunk search turns up!

io9 have collected an amazing gallery of Sam Van Olffen's work - very much steampunk meats surrealist, his art is very heard to categorise but I would select AWESOME.

Of course art doesn't just live on the screen/canvas and there are some even more fantastic art pieces/furniture/just about anything you can shake a Victorian walking stick at that have been thoroughly steampunked!

This beautiful steampunk book was made by none other than geek with curves' significant other Tim - who is not only a fantastic make up artist but also a skilled prop maker and sculptor - check out his DeviantArt for more quirky creations!

If you've ever Googled 'steampunk' you've probably seen some of Datamancer's custom steampunk computers. As he proclaims himself, he creates heirlooms - and I couldn't agree more!

I hope you've enjoyed this introduction to steampunk. Remember to go to Brass Goggles for friends, Steampunk Jewellery for... well, steampunk jewellery (!) and Livejournal for steamy fashion tips!

Let myself (@jesuisbienseule) or @amy_geek know if you have any thoughts, comments, feedback or suggestions on this blog series and don't forget to follow geek with curves for all the latest geeky awesome!

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King with London Philharmonic Orchestra

Last week, just about the best thing that can happen to a fangirl (aside from maybe getting invited to dinner at Skywalker Ranch - still on my to=do list!) happened to me! A message popped up on the Lord of the Rings Livejournal community offering a single ticket to the sold-out screening of LotR:RotK at the Royal Albert Hall with the score performed live by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

My seat was amazing. The Lord of the Rings has been such a massive part of my life for so long that it was just so incredible to be there, listening to the orchestra that had actually recorded the original score for the movies. Howard Shore is a genius - the music is so stirring and powerful that by the time the Rohirrim arrived at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields I was totally prepared to stand up and punch the air and yell when they charged into the fray.

Not only did they have the complete orchestra and a full choir, but during the applause a vaguely familiar face came to take a bow with the conductor. I can't say that I had ever really contemplated how I would feel about seeing Howard Shore before that moment, but the answer is thrilled. He made the music that was the backdrop to my life for so many years.

But I digress... if you can ever go and see a movie, any movie, with an accompanying orchestra - do it! The Royal Albert Hall have done all three LotR movies now, but given the astounding success that they appear to have been, I have no doubt that they will do this or something similar again in the future.

Star Wars in Concert don't have any tour dates listed at the moment, but keep checking the site.

The Proms did a Dr. Who night this year, too!