HW#5: Marble Hornets

I always wondered where the Slender game originated. In 2012, Slender was names scariest indie game of the year by StarSports (channel) "Game". 80 % of us are familiar or have heard of Slender and 49.2 % fear him according to Escapist pole. I wouldn't mind actually seeing one in person, since he apears to be right up with Big foot, and U.F.O's. But that got me wondering, where'd he come from? 3 months after I first played the original Slender game, I came accross a video entry simple titled Entry #1

Now in a day and age where anything is possible with technology, you'd assume this was fake. But that matter here is not whether we are proving reality or hoax, we are looking into the origins of Slender.
The video account was equally mysterious, simply reading Marble Hornets. So I questioned myself, What is Marble Hornets?
 So I decided to look it up.

I found under wikidot.com an article titled Marble Hornet anonymously authored by a fellow name Jay.
 Marble Hornets was an amature film project by a young college film student by the name of "Alex". The film was to be based on his child hood origins and life. According to his friend, Jay...

"After about two months of off and on shooting, Alex dropped his pet project completely. It was really sudden when he let me know about it. When I asked him why, he told me it was because of the "unworkable conditions" of where he had picked to shoot. Which struck me as very odd since he had been living around that area since he was eight, and never seemed to have a problem with it. What's even stranger is that he acted incredibly distant when telling me this news. Soon after, he started avoiding me and from what I hear, everyone else. All he did was sit around his house."

~ Jay

 

According to Jay, Alex dropped the project unexpectedly and mysteriously. Jay, being a goof friend and fellow film student tried to reach out to Alex regarding the film. Alex upon time was now sickly and thinner then what Jay had last saw from his friend. Jay evidently asked Alex about the raw footages for the film and Alex simply quoted "burn them". This shocked and confused Jay even more. Alex did not want any part of those footages nor did he want them.

Jay eventually asked to take the footages out of Alex's hands Alex agreed but on one condition:
"He also highly discouraged me from showing any if it to anyone else."
Alex later quoted to Jay "don't ever bring this up around me again."

Jay took the raw footages and soon after, Alex had left and transferred to an out of state school. Jay never saw his friend and film comrade again. 2 - 3 years had past since Jay was given the footages and never did he watch a single one, he eventually forget about them until 2010 when he finally decided to watch the clips and upload them online (A year before the official Slender game was released).

According to Slenderman.wikia, Jay assumes task of finding out what had happened to Alex and begun his own investigation on the where-abouts of his friend.

Upon his investigation, a figure now named by Jay as "The Operator", has been mysteriously stalking Alex from the begining of his film project. Thus, he is the reason for Alex's odd behaviour and evident disapearance.
Jay continues to locate Alex, updating the public with his own video entries. His latest is entry # 66 (which was uploaded Jan 23, 2013)



"The Operator" According to Jay (Entry # 51)

Now the clips have been branded as controversial and possible up for debate. Is it real? Perhaps not. One big point for discussion in my opinion is the fact that from the begining, Alex's says and I quoted "film students", so what rings-a-bell in my mind is that these are guys who obviously know how to manipulate a video with the help of technology and special effects, not to mention a low-budget custom. As I mentioned, in a technical day and age, anything is possible.

Yet, the debate continues on the authentisity of the entries. So at this point, where do I stand on this controversial yet intriguing matter. I don't personally believe there is such a thing, but any thing could be out there. There are many unknown answers and creatures out there, perhaps this may be a new monster to add in out fear-book.

I now realize that Slender is based on something and not just a figment of the designers imagination. They found his origins and made gave him a name. We may not know if Alex or Jay or the Operator are real or if they are out there. What we do know is that they've made a huge impression in our society today.
It falls to your own toughts, opinons and imagination on the reality of Slender and his myth.

HW#4: Why do we have Fear?

In general, we all have a fear of something, may it be big or small, deep or pitiful, fear exist in our society. Even the strongest and most bravest soldiers of our times have a fear, perhaps the fear of never seeing their family again, or the fear of death itself.
When I was younger, I feared things such as spiders, clowns, the dark; common fears of kids. As I progress, most of those fears I had were eventually over comed. But now, at my teens, I question the science of fear.
Why do we have fear?

According to Natural Remedies (presented by the members of the National Food and Drug administration) & a Discovery Channel: Science of Fear by Susan Winslow, "Fear" is an emotional response by our brain in times of extreme mental stress. Biologically speaking, when a person experiences fear, certain areas in their brain such as the amygdala and the hypothalamus are immediately activated and appear to control the first physical response to fear. The brain senses fear and secretes chemicals such as adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol which are released into the blood stream thus causing effects of rapid heart palpitation, high blood pressure sharpened or redirected senses, muscle tightenings, increase of sweat and Dialation of pupils.

Areas of the brain that fear originates from.

There are numerous causes of fear. Some are better known than others, such as the fear of spiders (Arachnophobia), fear of blood (Hemaphobia), fear of heights (Acrophobia) and fear of exams (Testophobia). Others types of fear not so well known are fear of mirrors (Catoptrophobia), fear of hair (Chaetophobia), fear of being tickled by feathers (Pteronophobia), and fear of work (Ergophobia). Still, new causes of fear are being diagnosed.

Now, according to this article, common fears can be over comed and in some cases avoided. By avoid, for example fears of public danger. It's a common fear for parents to allow their children to go out on their own even if it's for a close walk. Now a days, with crime soaring off the roof, fear plays a critical part in todays society.

So, why do we have fear in our lives?

"Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger—if we didn't feel it, we couldn't protect ourselves from legitimate threats. But often we fear situations that are far from life-or-death, and thus hang back for no good reason. Traumas or bad experiences can trigger a fear response within us that is hard to quell. Yet exposing ourselves to our personal demons is the best way to move past them."

~ Psychology Today (Fear)

So, from what I've learned, fear is within us, there is not such thing as someone without fear. Fear is in out mind, our brains. So, how does one over come fear, it falls to that person alone to over come it in his/her own ways. There is a saying, "Mind over matter" which simply means if you put your mind into it, you can accomplish anything. If you want to over come the fear of the dark, you can. If Fear tries to kidnap you or steel your bag, you can fight it or do your best to  survive.

When fear gets out of control, or when we fear something that cannot actually harm us, it can escalate to a point where it effects our daily functioning. Fear is no longer adaptive if we find we are constantly afraid of events that haven’t happened yet.
Future-orientated fear is known as anxiety. While fear happens at the moment danger arises, anxiety is characterized by apprehension because we don’t know what’s going to happen next, and we cannot control upcoming events.
Experiencing an alarm response when there is in fact nothing to be afraid of is known as panic. Many people are familiar with this type of fear and it is often (although not always) accompanied by a phobia.
Panic is an immediate physical response to unrealistic and irrational fears. This can have a huge affect on both your emotional and physical well-being – as well as your ability to reach your full potential.

HW#3: Ever felt like you're being watched?

I'm sure most of us have had that over-the-top aquintance, fan, or friend who just knows you abit-to much to the point it's creepy. Personally, I've had a few over the years and have slightly become one during my early teens. I'm an artist who's been posting online for more then 6 years so I've had those fans who were abit pushy with questions and personal details, but regardless, it's not an offense in their stands. Most times their just misunderstood or miseducated.
Does it mean their a stalker? Not necessarily.

Don't get me wrong, Stalkers are out there, and they can be any one (especially in the world wide web).
I've had friends (famous online artists) who've had problems with stalkers. There is a saying, with fame comes a prices. Which begs the question, why are there stalkers? Besides trying to get close to the particular individual, What do they get out of stalking?

According the the National Center for Victims of Crime and the Bureau of Justice 

During a 12-month period an estimated 14 in every 1,000 persons age 18 or older were victims of stalking

About half (46%) of stalking victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week, and 11% of victims said they had been stalked for 5 years or more.

The risk of stalking victimization was highest for individuals who were divorced or separated - 34 per 1,000 individuals.

Women were at greater risk than men for stalking victimization; however, women and men were equally likely to experience harassment.

Male (37%) and female (41%) stalking victimizations were equally likely to be reported to the police.

Approximately 1 in 4 stalking victims reported some form of cyberstalking such as e-mail (83%) or instant messaging (35%).

46% of stalking victims felt fear of not knowing what would happen next.

Nearly 3 in 4 stalking victims knew their offender in some capacity.

More than half of stalking victims lost 5 or more days from work.

Children are more prawn to stalkers since they are the most vulnerable to attacks. This is commonly backed up by the media such is an example of "Law and Order: SVU" in which most molestaion, rape and kidnapped victims are under 19 and younger.

Now returning to my earlier question, Why!? why stalk your prey? Scientifically, stalkers are not emotionally and mentally stable. Most cases commonly educed by histeria or mental disorders such as "Schizophrenia", or at most cases obsession. There is a saying, to much of any thing is bad.
The general definition for Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted or obsessive attention by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them.

Most games t.v show & media films today feature stalker-like characters or scenarios. Recently, thanks such, this came to reality with the case of the Batman theater shooting in Aurora of 2012. Where in the shooter stalked the theater, learing ever bit around it then in the night of July 20th went in with an arsenal of weapons and shot 20 dead.

Now this begs a new question, can stalking be cleanced?
I believe it could be possible with so rehabilitation and some medication perhaps. In the past, celebrities look to the legal might of the law to heed their harassers, and mostly it does prove worthy of working, but that goes for the rich and famous, what is there for the middle class and poor. Stalkers exist to prey on what they perseve as the week and vulnerable.

In any case, the best way is to be prepared and keep calm. If you believe in God, look to the heavens, if not, look to your self and be strong against your enemy. Not all cases of stalking is with out reason, there is always a reason. And most time, if you can figure out that reason, you maybe able to avoid horor.

HW#2: ARG's

I'm not a gamer but I do appreciate good games, and now-a-days games are very well made to the point it looks and feels like reality. From GTA down to Snipers Elite as the years progress so does our video and PC games, which got me thinking, why are games like those so moving and at most so compelling to the player that it get them screaming, get their heart pumping and their minds over whelmed?

The most common games to date that get your heart pumping are indie honor games such as Amnesia, Left 4 Dead, Slender, etc...
So why are they so impacting to us players? Upon my inquiry I came accross an article on what they called ARG's (Alternate Reality Games) on wikia.com. According to what I've read, ARG's are interactive storytelling devices that make use of real-world interaction devices and media to add realism in order to help tell a story, which may be altered by 'participant' action.
Simply meaning with a story to follow in the game, it creates the feel of suspense & wonder. Which make perfect sense on it's impact to the player. According the the television program Game ™ on StarSports ™ in 2011, players prefer the esthetic appeal of the game play if it has a good story. Thus is why games such as Left 4 Dead and Grand Theft Auto are so popular, not only because it allows you the freedom of what the real world can not provide and the also the excitement that the real work can provide.

Left 4 Dead - The Sacrifice

Sniper's Elite

 The same goes heavily on horor games. One of the most recent and popular indie horor games is the Slender games which at this point has evolved from a simple "Find 8 pages" to a large origin survival game. One of the most difficult among the Slender games is the "Haunt" where in you find out one by one how Slender became, and how to survive, leading you from one point, to get you to another.

Now games like these have vivid & impressive stories which lead you to play further thus spanding your interest. But where do these stories come from, besides the imagination of the game designer?

Many if not all typical ARG's are not actually ARG's (according to wikia.com) but rather ARE's (Alternate Reality Experiences). Simply meaning these are taken from common experience by people in day to day lives and events.
When we look at games such as Grand Theft Auto, we can relate that to common crimes of mugging, car-jackings, gun voilence, prostitution & drug smuggling.
Other games prefer most historical events such as World War 2, Medieval sieges and so forth. Games such as Assasins Creed, League of Legends and Team Fortress 2  all apply such events that can be related to modern combat events and historical events such as DDay and the British & Spanish Empire battles of the late 17th hundreds.

From my perspective, games are here not only to entertain us but the enlight us in the our history and our world culture. We enjoy the stories of games because they are our stories; stories from the past and the present. We conent with these stories cause they happen to us every day, we see it happen in the news, from our familys, in films. When we make that connection it makes the game a winner.

HW#1: Slender Man's Origin

I got into the Slender man game a year ago from friends who played it during a convention. At the time, I had no idea who was 'Slender' nor did I know anything regarding the game. After the convention, I asked my friend what was the game about, he told me it involved your character (a young child, early teens) lost in the woods and the only way to survive was to locate 8 mysterious paper notes avoiding the Slender man at all cost. If Slender catches you, you evidently get harmed by him, either way, the game restarts from the begining.

So I asked, if he's a ghost, a psycho, or simply a figment of the characters imagination? My friend replied saying it's just a man with no face, in a gark grey suit & tie with long arms. And I tought to myself, that isn't as scary as it sounds yet loads of people fear him.

So I wondered and asked my self, what was so horrifying about Slender? What makes him so fearful?
Months past since the convention and I decided to play the Slender game (since those past months game reviews and threads of the Slender had become rather popular).

I found 4 notes before confronting the Slender man, a tall, tin tree-like figure with long arms and white-faceless head. I died evedently, but I understood why the game was so scary, yet simply constructed. The game touches us so deeply of our fear of getting lost, not knowing how to get out in a dark vast space of land.

After New Years, I decided to create a project simply titled "The Slender Project" finding out further information regarding the origins of the game. Then I came accross a blog intitled Alternate Reality Game on Google search. In it, it indicated the origins of the game in which it specifies that it came from the small YouTube entry compilation simple titled MarbleHornets. The entry via YouTube has become a critical piece in the production of Slender; in the entries, the character Alex films his day-to-day encounters with the stalking figure they call "The Operator". Alex then gives the films to his friend Jay who then compiles it and posts it online. He then never here's from his friend Alex again, however, he begins his own investigation to find Alex and figure out this stalking figure.

The entry ends there but the myth begins,  soon after the entries become viral amateur documentaries and unexplained figures in photo's appear online.

1950's British Commercial postal card



1990 alleged Slender man sighting.



The results I found are incredible, spanding to the middle ages up on to the 17th Century Europe, Recorded testimonies of eye witnesses, police and psychiatrist.
Now which begs another question, is it valid. I always believed that seeing-is-believing, unless I see the Slender with both my eyes, I wont believe it. In a day and age where anything online can be fabricated, it's difficult to believe anything you watch and read. But what if there is a deeper meaning to "Slender". What if society has just given a name to common fears we already have had through out the ages, common fears that we know exsist.

In my opinon, Slender is a compilation of common fears such as the fear of being stalked or being watched, the fear of strangers in public, the fear of pedophiles, child molesters & rapist, all combined and manifested into one monsterous creature which we named, Slender. Is Slender man scary, yes. Is he real, Yes and No. The tall, faceless, grey suited, long-armed man may not exsist in reality, but he exsist in society.

The Indian teen rape case of 2012-2013, the case of Jack the Ripper (infamous stalker of the turn of the century), the case of Jerry Sandusky (convicted child molester in 2012)... All common fears in reality, all that has happened over the years. That is where Slender comes from in my perspective, and that is why he exsists in our society today. He is Sandusky, he is Ripper and he is the men accused in the rape trail. We don't know who they are, but they are out there.



Captured on my digital camera
on a trip to Baguio, 2009