[Weekly Update] The Assassin's Creed-ify of Cinema

After two months of health problems and stressful work, I'm finally done wit the difficult part! Woohoo. Now I can have a slow month to prepare for bigger projects this winter.

Also Montreal is like, 12 degree C today.

CHANNEL UPDATE

Hope you enjoy you videos on LGBT films from 3 "conservative" countries! I've been wanting to share with you these films ever since I watched them. Generally, videos on artistic and socially conscious films don't get much traction on YouTube, and are always a liability when it comes to engagement and sponsorship. Still, I think these films and this topic is worth the discussion. But I will not be able to take this financial hit if not for your direct support of this channel. Thank you!

For September, we have only one video planned, but it's a pretty ambitious one. We'll be talking about the solar eclipse happened this year, my thoughts on it, our place in the universe, and also talk a little bit about Chinese mythology. The editing process is way more complicated than our usual stuff, which is why we only have this video scheduled.

In the mean time, I'll also be working on our video Maggie Cheung, and an overview on the history of Yakuza cinema, in time for the (possibly terrible) Like a Dragon TV series.

We'll also be changing our billing method this month. If you are a new supporter on Patreon, and are planning to continue pledging support in future months, your future bill will arrive on the day of your renewal each month. You'll also soon see a price in crease if and only if you pledge through the iOS app. This is due to Apple's App Store policy, and is beyond our control. Please pledge through the Patreon webpage instead.

If you are accidentally charged extra fees, you can contact us. We'll try our best to refund your pledge.

MEDIA TALK

Did you know that there's currently at least 10 different Assassin's Creed games in the pipeline? Thanks to the success of AC: Valhalla, developer and publisher Ubisoft has pushed the series into overdrive, with at least 2 single-player games, 2 multi-player games, 1 mobile game, and a few more prototypes that has yet to go into full development, including a remake. This list does not include planned ports and re-releases.

Don't worry, you don't have to know Assassin's Creed to understand this media talk. If you are not familiar with game development, what Ubisoft is doing is certainly not the industry norm. Most game franchise only receives one game every couple of years, at maximum one release per year. Ubisoft is gunning for 2 to 3 releases each year.

I know what the gamers among you are thinking. What about Call of Duty and its yearly release schedule? Indeed, the only reason I pick Assassin's Creed as the example is because (1) it is an early example (2) Ubisoft is very transparent about their upcoming plans, and (3) Despite the disposable release, the series still lingers in the "prestigious" game space, clinging on barely.

And this feels exactly like what cinema has become.

With the rise of cinematic universes, a trend that somehow refuses to die, every other film has become a sequel of some other film, which is a sequel to some TV series. MCU, Star Wars, Sony Spider-Man Universe, MonsterVerse, the Upcoming DCU. It is the same 2 products a year for the next 7 years strategy.

IP-milking is now the industry norm, exploiting the FOMO from their audience. Driven by the sunk cost fallacy, these cinematic universes occupies our vision whenever we go to the cinema. There's always a new movie from the same franchise on the schedule, and it is quietly pressuring us. Should we miss out on one film, we'll be lost in the social discourse. We'll not be able to follow future movies. And all the times we have sunk into the previous storylines would have been nothing. At least, that's how it'd feel for many.

Assassin's Creed is also the only franchise of narrative historical fiction out there. Meaning the niche comes in one and only one format. Similarly, superhero movies only comes in this cinematic universe template nowadays, Spider-Verse notwithstanding. If you are a fan of the genre, you have to engage with it or be lost. It's like an abusive relationship.

As stated before, this is a corporate strategy and planning. These films, and these games, are created because of market demand and strategy. In other words, artists have no choice in the matter. Because fans want to see something, artists must create it, even if they themselves have no idea what to say about the topic.

The result is a franchise of fan-pleasing fast food: high calories, low nutrition. Every story is text without subtext, motion without emotion. Fans get to see what they asked, and not much beyond that. We get to see Captain America wielding Thor's hammer, but we don't get anything beyond this cool visual. We see Kong punches Godzilla, but we don't feel the emotional impact beyond surface level hype.

This trend has become so prevalent, there is now an entire generation of young audience who did not realize cinema can be more than what is happening on screen. Fast consumption is the only thing that is available. And it's honestly kinda ass.

Well, that was a rant. The topic is a little obvious but I hope you can relate, and if not, I hope it still gets you thinking about the topic. Lately, due to insomnia, I've been watching history tour and landmark tour on YouTube. Assassin's Creed became an adjacent topic because of that. I saw a video talking about when did Assassin's Creed become bad, and the video creator said he hopes he can see the vision of an artist manifest in 3 games, nor the plan of a corporation in 30. And it very much resonated with me. Art education is so lacking, it seemed most people don't even know they want art until they accidentally consumed it and start craving it.

I just want art to be returned to the hands of artists, and not the money holding CEOs.

Anyway, I'll see you in our next update!