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features
Thursday, Oct. 13 - Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016
FRANK GUITRON / The Inquirer
Students sketch stills of beloved Universal Studios’ monster King Kong at “Going Ape” event.
DVC artists ‘Go Ape’ at monster draw FRANK GUITRON Staff member
The eighth wonder of the world thundered onto a big screen at Diablo Valley College on Friday, Sept. 30th, as Arthur King, DVC art instructor, explained the history of monster movies. Fittingly enough, the theme was "Going Ape." Before the feature began, King discussed the origins and development of traditional monster movies and stories. One tradition that older movies had — similar to live theater — is that they played overture music before the performance to inform the audience that the show was about to begin. King talked about the underlying themes and critiques that monster movies tend to address and the inspirations behind them. King also pointed out the interesting and different ways Hollywood has portrayed the great monsters and apes of years past: from monster suits and prosthetics, to animatronics.
Certain actors were designated to being the gorillas. Charles Gemora, one of such actors from the 1930s, was a constant gorilla suit actor appearing in the Laurel and Hardy movies and "Murders in the Rue Morgue." The medium evolved, however, and the climate changed from animatronics shown in "King Kong," to suits in "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and finally into prosthetics like in "Planet of the Apes." Another typecast was actress Fay Wray, who was coined as the original "Scream Queen," as she was known for her blood curdling scream in monster movies. "King Kong" was the primary example of animatronics and stop motion back in 1933. "If you watch the movie, you would actually notice two versions of the monster," King said, "The scary far away and the closeup comical." King then showed the bust of King Kong in a still from the production of the original 1933 film. Throughout the viewing, King paused the film as requested so students could draw the stilled frame. King advised students to "start out loose, and then get specific."
The still showed the armless head and chest of a giant ape with a goofy grin on his face. Scenes like this were used to help humanize the monster and at times make the audience sympathize with the creature. The students at the event even reacted with a sympathetic "aww," in unison, as Kong got hurt and appeared sad as he stared at his injured hand. When asked why King hosts these monster draw events, he responded, "It's an excuse to create conversation among students." King stated that this is a great way for students to share lore and stories, and to keep these older stories alive and pass them on. They bring awareness to the constant re-imagining of iconic monsters like "Godzilla" and "King Kong," among other Universal Monsters. "This event has been going on for about five or six years now," said King, and he plans to continue it to keep the tradition going. Contact FRANK GUITRON at FGuitron@DVCInquirer.com
Find DVC friends with new app CHELSEY SCHALLIG News editor
Courtesy of BUDDYUP
Buddy Up conncts students for study sessions.
Diablo Valley College students have the opportunity to find study partners and meet new people on campus. Brian Forrester, chief executive officer of BuddyUp, was inspired by his own personal experience when he was failing a statistics class. He pitched the idea of the app to his university, but they did not fund the project. Forrester then recruited the computer science department and ended up creating a team of computer science majors to build a prototype over summer break, and the app was launched in 2014. “When you’re in college it isn’t always obvious how to make friends or how to approach someone to be a study buddy,” wrote Forrester. This is a simple private messaging app that connects students nationwide and is currently only available in the United States and
Australia. As of Sept. 26, BuddyUp is available for all students at all major U.S. colleges in partnership with Chegg, an industry leader known for textbook rentals and homework help.“It’s about taking the kinds of technology that we as millennials and post-millennials use in our everyday lives and applying it to the academic environment in ways that help us accomplish our goals and support each other,” wrote Forrester. Since 2014 students were able to send buddy requests to each other, and if accepted, you’d be able to chat with each other. Developers soon realized that the whole system made it difficult for students to message each other. As of this Fall, you can now send a message to anyone from your school through the app. “It’s fun to browse through profiles and start chatting with people when you see they share your major, are looking for study partners or are just as obsessed
with Game of Thrones as you are,” wrote Forrester. Another new feature that came out this Fall allows students to create “groups” which are like classes but based on majors or which dorm you live in. The “group” feature is still an experiment for the app right now. Forrester added, “In fact, a lack of adequate peer support is one of the leading causes of student dropout in the country, especially for first generation students, freshman students, and students of color.” Students can benefit from this app and can feel more connected to their classmates. Freshman students are more likely to use this app twice as much as anyone else. “It’s also been shown that if you have study partners and friends, you’re more likely to get the help you need and therefore get better grades,” wrote Forrester.
Contact CHELSEY SCHALLIG at CSchallig@DVCInquirer.com