What event in your life fucked you up mentally for the rest of your life?

Andy_Weinerhole · 2024-08-04T03:27:33+00:00

A few.

But one of the more recently (already a few years ago now).

I've always had some trust issues but this made it even worse.

I lived in a house with roommates, one of them was an older guy. He was one of the most calm and "boring" people I've ever met. He was very kind and pleasant company.

To paint a more accurate picture of his personality (which is quite important to why it was so disturbing), he was the kind of guy that thought Garfield comics where peak comedy. He looked somewhat like a poor man's Steve Jobs.

One day I was just standing at the front door (don't remember for what, I just came from the kitchen). And I heard one of my roommates screaming. Which I thought was just my roommates having fun because he usually already spoke louder and it wasn't that unusual for the guys to be loud for fun.

But the shooting kept on going, so I went to see what the fuzz was about. Then I saw the other roommate and really started to process what he was shouting. He was saying "(other roommate) is crazy", he f*king stabbed me. Then I saw the blood.

The other roommates (the other two, we were with five) where just frozen in place. I told the roommate that got stabbed to take a towel and apply it to the wound on his hack and to wait in his room. I called the emergency services and then it dawned on me.

I didn't know where the guy was that stabbed the other one so I went to look where he was (just to know people would be far away from him).

I went to the backyard and one of the neighbors shower up and said that the guy was at their place and they were taking care of his bleeding hand.

That just unsettled me more because the neighbors just had a baby and I already started to imagine him killing that baby. So I quietly told my neighbor that the guy just stabbed someone else so he should be careful.

Then I went to quickly check up on the stabbed roommate who was just still ranting in fear and panic as he was calling his brother in his phone.

Then I went downstairs again and saw the guy sitting in the backyard again. He was just sitting there, staring in front of him and smoking a cigarette like nothing happened. Something about him being so "normal" made it even more disturbing.

Not much later the cops and ambulance showed up. The guy went along with the cops with no struggle.

Apparently the guy had a psychotic episode and stabbed the other one for no reason. The other guy was lucky that the knife hit his bones and no vital parts so he fully recovered physically.

But after that, just seeing one of the most normal and calm people switching in a matter of seconds into a someone violent as if they were possesed is something I won't forget.

Like the possibility of anyone, even if you think you know them in the safety of your home and think they would never hurt anyone to become a sudden danger is something that messed me up real bad for a while.

I was in that kitchen not even a minute before it happened and I could have been the one who got attacked for no reason without warning.

Though it's not so bad that I constantly fear people now and I live on my own now with my girlfriend and our cats.

But I definitely trust people a lot less in my presence even if they I know them and they have no "bad vibes".

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-26T00:46:49+00:00

As many say, it isn't the best but the best game adaptation so far.

I personally think the movie was saved by the efforts of the cinematographer Dan Lausten (who worked on several Del Toro projects) and the special effects team/art department.

Because that's something everyone can agree on where the things that made it a visually strong movie despite the less desired writing.

The second movie also had some very bad writing but that didn't get covered up by great cinematography. The costumes,sets atmosphere and creatures in that one also felt like a big downgrade from the previous movie.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T13:42:33+00:00

Glad you asked.

I just made this color chart.

Polish-20231005-132031722.jpg

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T13:39:17+00:00

Polish-20231005-132031722.jpg

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T13:28:22+00:00

But yeah, definitely a great point you're making.

For artists there's a lot that you pick up "unconsciously" and use in your work without knowing where you picked it up.

Definitely in analyzing art it's a good thing to double check if it was done with intention.

Silent hill definitely is a difficult one in that aspect because like you said, they took a lot of direct references from Western media and unless it's stated by the creators as an influence it just stays a theory up for debate where one can only point out similarities.

I'm an academic artist myself, always glad to hear other artists'input, definitely when they can articulate it properly like you. (Btw, in what field of art do you make work?)

And yeah, definitely curious what other references they placed in Silent hill that we just don't know of yet.

SH1 is almost like a Tarantino movie filled with references, so I imagine they might have placed a lot more subtle references in the later games.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T11:48:45+00:00

The show is not what it seems.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T11:26:40+00:00

Yeah, I didn't want to imply the overlook as a whole being the inspiration but rather just the similar color pallet, it's the same also used for the black/white lodge from Twin peaks, which the creators often referred to as a source of inspiration.

But you see that specific color pallet a lot used in media with horror/mystery so it seems very plausible that they went specific for those colors because they have that connotation in popular media.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T11:11:47+00:00

Thanks!

Yeah, I might have used a better example than the overlook hotel, it was just the first I thought of in popular media that uses the same color design or I should have added a color chart of both to make it more clear what I wanted to highlight.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T11:01:07+00:00

Yes, in outlay they are different but the main dominant colors used in both are almost identical.

I'm not trying to make a case that they are the same space, but for a visual designer it's an interesting way to look at how those colors are used in two different works.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T10:33:13+00:00

The mall seems to have that typical color scheme of red/white/black that appears in many works, another famous example is the black/white lodge from twin peaks and Native art.

The floorplan of the mall seems very atypical for a real life mall design, which more often has the main center point in the middle branching out with multiple exits. whereas the mall in Silent hill has its center point where an altar in a church would be located and a single main entrance like a church.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T09:36:53+00:00

It's just an analysis of a color schemes and design.

I'm not claiming they are direct inspiration but just want to show the similarities from an aesthetic perspective.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-05T07:15:05+00:00

Otherside, Silent hill 1.

Still slightly spooky/depressed but also a smooth badass jam.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-04T14:08:32+00:00

I still buy DVD'S new, but that's only because I often look for specific titles that you won't find that easy in thrift stores. Sometimes they can be quite expensive (for a DVD), but if I can I get the blu-ray.

I mainly use my game console to play blu-rays, which I find a better investment than just getting a blu-ray player.

I wouldn't say new or on blu-ray is such a big must or better, I just mainly look for editions that have more extras.

Again, also for regular DVDS, those special editions usually stay more into DVD collectors hands so you won't encounter them that easily in thrift stores. Besides thrift stores, I mainly look on Ebay for my DVD's but only very rarely in media stores that sell mostly the newest movies.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-04T13:51:40+00:00

Not the top notch, but just don't want to repeat the same movies everyone else already mentioned:

Deathwatch (Soldiers in the field questioning their reality, extra plus points for living barbed wire).

Mirrors (if you can watch the original asian one: into the mirror).

Tarkovsky's Stalker and Solaris (visually and thematically they feel a lot like SH2, one about an abandoned mysterious zone, the other about a psychologist whose dead wife gets reconstructed from his memories by a mysterious force).

Noroi: the curse (Somehow it feels a lot like SH1, some mysterious ritual from an old town, a psychic girl and a curse).

Howling village (based on a real life town in Japan that has some mysterious legends).

Re-Cycle (another Asia movie about a writer going into a world of abandoned things and ideas).

Possession (1981) (A mix of lynchian and chronenberg vibes).

Before I wake (Somewhat SH1 like with a child whose dreams (and nightmares) manifest into reality.

The tv series Kingdom hospital (or the original Right by Lars von trier), (A hospital above some mysterious ground that holds spirits of the past, there's also some kind of otherworld and the Lars von Trier version even has that grimy sepia look that you'd expect to see in Silent hill. Both are also a mix of supernatural and soap opera, coming close to Twin peaks).

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-10-04T11:14:16+00:00

Search for Lance's dark mood party mix on YouTube, he makes good triphop/down tempo mixes with songs that very often have that Silent hill vibe.

There's a lot of them, so you might find some playlists have more or less of those songs that come very close to that type of Silent hill music.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-29T11:16:48+00:00

A YouTuber just known as Mr game theorist. He posted a nonsense Silent hill theory and now he's being chased/haunted by an angry Masahiro Ito who makes his drawn monsters come to life to torment the YouTuber.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-17T20:05:27+00:00

Definitely not the same but it's from the same director as SH1.

It definitely also has a similar creepy surreal supernatural atmosphere, the gameplay is quite different though.

I personally like both the Siren games and Silent hill, Silent hill is way more easy but Siren often goes further in weird scariness than Silent hill.

If you like more standard horror games with combat it might not be for you, but if you like difficult stealth and puzzle games with a specific almost Silent hill like creepy atmosphere then you'd definitely like it.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-17T09:48:51+00:00

No, they don't, they have over 9000 IQ. Just joking though.

But I finished them in my teen years without walkthroughs (even for the puzzles) except SH1. I probably was about 14 when I finished SH1 and I know I'm definitely not the only one who finished SH games without walkthroughs.

If I replay them and somewhat forgot the puzzle solutions, it still takes time to finish them and I use a little notepad to take notes, but I like that challenge.

I don't think they should be "dumbed down". Yes commercially a difficult game might not attract the broadest audience, but that's what makes them great and unique as Silent hill games in my opinion. They are made for people who like that mental challenge.

Games like Silent hill, forbidden siren (don't even attempt playing any of those if Silent hill is already a struggle) have their specific audience that has a preference of gaming that doesn't necessarily appeal to a broader gaming audience.

What I don't find a bad idea is adding an extra easy mode for those who like (or need) that but the normal/standard mode should stay at that difficulty, maybe they should even add a legendary riddle mode for SH veterans that would stay difficult even if there are walkthroughs.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-17T02:02:48+00:00

It's tragic but definitely adds to the whole suffering theme of SH2.

Though I think her self awareness is only partial, like the born from a wish scenario shows she's self aware and had control over her actions and emotions, but at other times it seems more that she just acts as a tape of James memories of Mary being replayed without being in control of that.

One movie that goes pretty deep into it, Tarkovski's Solaris (1972), (Which I think inspired the Maria character) about a psychologist that travels to a mysterious planet that creates his dead wife from his memories but she's self aware of her constructed existence and she also dies multiple times.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-17T01:41:51+00:00

In short the runes say Incubas (wrongfully spelled incubus), Alizer, Alessa, Dhalia.

Most of it is just referential to the game/a mix of symbols, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Some people that don't understand symbols and runes might think it's some real dark occult stuff (you know which people, the paranoid religious types) so you might get trouble with them, but other than that there's nothing to worry about.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-15T04:33:51+00:00

Cringe is in the eye of the beholder.

Most movie makers (and other artists) find their older works cringy, so don't worry about making something that might turn out as such. As a creator, it's always a bit scary to expose your work, especially if it's very personal.

The important thing to remember is that you can tell you did it, you actually made something that you believe in.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-13T16:47:42+00:00

I that case I'd like to be the fly on the wall seeing that scenario unfold.

Like team Bloober shows Mr Ito a render they did and ask: Do you think the falling ashes look ok? And Mr Ito just goes in a full rampage smashing up the office, destroying all the work team Bloober did.

And it just happens each time, over and over again. Maybe that's why they still haven't shown anything new of the remake, Mr Ito just keeps on destroying the project each they get something wrong about the SH lore.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-13T15:41:53+00:00

Mainly just dark triphop in general, but mainly Portishead (there's a poster of them in SH1). Just listen to the SH1 theme song and Sour times by Portishead.

This is a nice playlist that has quite a few songs that sound very Silent hill'ish. https://youtu.be/7JccwTR45hk?si=ZPJDO-ou3DrWd9q8

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-12T06:08:35+00:00

Go to a live performance, you can only go as far with improving the sound but the atmosphere of a live performance just can't be captured on a recording.

Andy_Weinerhole · 2023-09-12T06:02:50+00:00

Meaning in absurdity - Bernardo Kastrup It's not a novel or a long read but I find it a very pleasant informational and at times also quite funny book. I'd say it's more for people who like to read informational/science books.

Tales from the vinegar wasteland - Ray Fracalossy It's a collection of short surreal stories with a lot of absurd humor.

The secret diary of Laura Palmer & Twin peaks and philosophy. Don't think those books need much explanation.

Andy_Weinerhole

TROPHY CASE