Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2007 September 2

= September 2 =

the canonical blockhead
I'm watching the seminal 1931 film of Frankenstein and wondering about the now-familiar shape of the monster's head. Does the book suggest anything of the sort? Was it original with that production? Is there any known reason for it? —Tamfang 03:58, 2 September 2007 (UTC)


 * No; yes; this quote from this page is illuminating:


 * The creation of Boris Karloff's mask, which has become the ultimate image of the Frankenstein Monster, is mainly the work of Universal's chief makeup artist Jack Pierce. Whale, who was also an artist, had drawn sketches of Karloff, which were closely followed by Pierce. Sketches provided by other make-up artists depicted the Monster as an alien, a wild man or a robot, but Pierce and Whale wanted him to have a "pitiful humanity" (4). In 1939 Pierce revealed how he designed the mask:


 * "I did not depend on imagination. In 1931, before I did a bit of designing, I spent three months of research in anatomy, surgery, medicine, criminal history, criminology, ancient and modern burial customs, and electrodynamics. My anatomical studies taught me that there are six ways a surgeon can cut the skull in order to take out or put in a brain. I figured that Frankenstein, who was a scientist but no practising surgeon, would take the simplest surgical way. He would cut the top of the skull off straight across like a potlid, hinge it, pop the brain in, and then clamp it on tight. That is the reason I decided to make the Monster's head square and flat like a shoe box and dig that big scar across his forehead with the metal clamps holding it together."


 * - Natgoo 08:52, 2 September 2007 (UTC)


 * That's the goods all right! Thanks.  &mdash;Tamfang 21:13, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Ska Question
As I listen to more of the 3rd wave stuff from my childhood, I see veins of resemblance between the bands, e.g. Aquabats, Reel Big Fish and the like. There's just this certain quality I can't pin down...I suspect that it has to do with a similar chord progression or the way the horn lines are written. So I ask this---in the 3rd wave ska idiom, are there certain commonly used chord progressions? I'd also like to know if the horn lines are written more in unison or in harmony.

Oh, and this is sort of a random question, but somewhat to do with ska...in Tony Hawk Pro Skater (the first one) there's this song I remember that I can't recall the title of...it started off with "Ay ya ya ya YA!" and then the drums and everything else came in. No horns as I remember either...Aquaman590 04:50, 2 September 2007 (UTC)


 * THPS soundtrack listing here; I can't remember the specific track, but I remember it having some great songs :-) Rawling 4851 22:10, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

What is this perspective called?
3D RPGs generally have the same perspective, what is it called? I'm not thinking of a top down perspective. In this perspective you get a full view of the character. It's seen in many games like Final Fantasy 6. Doppelganger 19:22, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I've heard the term "Two-thirds perspective" used for games like Diablo, where the viewer is seeing the game at an angle like that. -- 68.156.149.62 21:20, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

It's called dimetric projection, though it's often mislabeled as isometric. Our article on isometric projection covers part of this issue. Also, note that the "two-thirds perspective" is talking about the camera angle on the dimetric projection (30° and 45°). &mdash; Kieff | Talk 01:28, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Isometric is a special case of dimetric, and dimetric is a special case of orthographic projection. —Tamfang 09:12, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Hands Clean video - is that Robert Picardo?
In the video for Hands Clean by Alanis Morisette is that Robert Picardo (aka "The Doctor" from Star Trek:Voyager) playing the record exec/A&R man? Video link is, time index is 1:09 to 1:17. Exxolon 19:49, 2 September 2007 (UTC)


 * It does somewhat look like him, but I'd say no, I don't think it is him. StuRat 06:24, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

True Colors cover in Peugeot (407?) advert
Random question. Some time ago there was an advert for a Peugeot car - possibly a 407 after some googling, but just as likely not - that featured a cover of True Colors in the background. The advert involved a girl, a guy and a shark attack :-p I've looked in the past and not satisfied myself that I've found the correct version (just imo plain better than other versions). If anyone could tell me the artist... I'm just worried it was only done for TV and I won't be able to find a recording. Rawling 4851 22:03, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
 * See True_Colors_%28song%29. If it was a very sparsely produced version by a girl with a stunning voice, odds are it was Eva Cassidy's version. --Dweller 12:54, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

A thorough manga question...
I like the Naruto manga. I've calculated when Naruto's Part II aura would end by putting in the number of the final chapter of Kakashi Gaiden (244) and the number of the final chapter of Part I (238). I thought that if Part I ended with 238 chapters, then Part II may end with 238 chapters as well. My little math problem with the chapter numbers equaled to an answer: chapter 482. So, would chapter 482 be where the Part II saga ends in Naruto? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sirdrink13309622 (talk • contribs) 23:39, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Rraaargh! Why does the final chapter number of Kakashi Garden matter if you're just going to double the number of total chapters in Part 1 and arbitrarily attribute that same number to Part 2?  Your decisions in math and inference of the intentions of your manga-ka are correct!  482 will be the total number of chapters at the end of Part 2, and 1190 will be the total number of chapters before the release of Part 6.  Otherwise, it's impossible to tell and there might be any number of chapters in each of the subsequent parts, including the one you're reading now. 72.209.7.199 01:21, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
 * It will forever confound me how deeply some people will look for meaning where there is none. It's pareidolia gone mad. Capuchin 14:50, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Over nine thousand, of course. Luigi30 (Ta&lambda;k) 12:50, 5 September 2007 (UTC)