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Month: April 2013

Old school animation in the digital age

Once upon a time,  if you wanted to see a rat ‘make it’ as a chef, learn what monsters are hiding in your closer or find out what happens to your toys after you left the room, you’d have to draw it. Panstakingly, frame-by-frame. But the times they are a changin’, as Bob Dylan once sang. But unlike Dylan I’m not flagging up a change of a social and cultural nature in the face of the civil rights movement, no, instead I’m looking into the much more important issue of the change of animation techniques.

It’s all Pixar’s fault really. Little did we all know as we tucked into our popcorn and slurped our big gulps, chuckling haughtily through each of the latest insta-classic films they delivered us throughout our childhood, that they were hammering nail after nail into the coffin of what has become known traditional animation.

You see the meteoric rise of Pixar, famed for their CGI 3D animation, coincided with the fall of Disney’s classic 2D output. In hindsight this looks to be more due to poor quality then changing tastes: compare Disney’s Atlantis (2001), Treasure Planet (2002), Brother Bear (2003), Home on the Range (2004) against Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004) and it’s clear which studio was a better run of creative form.

Regardless though, the studio bigwigs got together and decided the reason they were in such a rut was the format rather than the content. They proclaimed 2D was dead and promptly shut down their traditional animation studios and committed to aping the more popular approaches of Pixar and Dreamworks animation.

Since 2004’s Home on the Range you could look at the film landscape and agree that 2D is dead as CGI animation dominates the market. The last major 2D attempt, 2009’s The Princess Frog, was a relative financial disappointment, and the last major hit in the format was 2007’s The Simpsons Movie, which was a unique proposition.

Despite mainstream failure old school animation undoubtedly lives on, only just for more niche markets. Aardman Animation, though increasingly straying into computer animated waters, continue to toil away with stop motion with the likes of Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit and The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. The revered Studio Ghibli continually shows how 2D has no limits to its hardcore cult fan base of both kids and adults with such favourites Ponyo (2008) and The Secret World of Arrietty (2010). Not to mention quirky stop motion hits Coraline (2009) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

Most recently there was Frankenweenie (2012). This Tim Burton film is a black and white, stop motion film (perhaps as non-commercial as a family animated film can get). Speaking exclusively with The Mancunion, Frankenweenie’s executive producer Don Hahn talked about getting this kind film made in today’s climate. “The black and white was homage to the old monster movies and the studio [Disney] was surprisingly co-operative with all that stuff we wanted to do. And I don’t think it’s just because Tim was involved, I think its that stop-motion is a relatively cheap and really personal medium that has an under-served, rabid fan base.”

Though CGI looks to be the dominant medium for the foreseeable future, films like Frankenweenie are a great reminder of how family films don’t need computer animation to still feel fresh and relevant to modern audiences. Hopefully Frankenweenie’s success will lead to more old school style animated films, giving ‘kids’ films the same diversity as ‘adult’ films enjoy.

Frankenweenie is available on DVD and Blu-ray now

Help, I’m a traditionalist!

Over the Easter break, my friend from home asked a boy out. She met him, became smitten, added him on Facebook and started messaging him. A couple of days later she asked if he wanted to go for a drink. When she told me this the next day, my insides instantly shrivelled up. How could she be so bold? What if he’d rejected, or worse, ignored her? Most importantly, should women even ask men out?

After some thought on the matter, I realised that whilst I admired her, I would never be able to imitate her. Both my traditional romantic side and my independent ‘I don’t need anyone’ other half are, for once, in full agreement. Sadly, I believe in good old fashioned chivalry and courtship. I don’t want some big cringey gesture, but I don’t want to have to ask my knight in shining armour out first either. I like having the power to be reserved and slightly elusive; by asking them out there’s no mystery and there’s certainly no doubt about your interest.

However, later as I served a group of men at work it I found myself questioning why on earth women shouldn’t ask. Their captivating conversation covering new protein shakes and Match of the Day made me realise that women shouldn’t sit around waiting for these blatherskites to ask. If you know you like someone then there’s no harm in taking the plunge; many, I’ m sure, would find your confidence even more attractive.

The boy that said friend asked out did say yes and a date has been arranged. Whilst I envy her courage and the other women that follow suit, I can’t help but think that that will never be me. Women that ask are the empowered heroines, the Elizabeth Bennett’s of our generation and the rest of us are Janes: slightly more reserved yet (hopefully) ending up equally as happy.

Manifesto: Jonathan Breen and Harriet Hill-Payne

Manifesto for candidacy of:

Jonathan Breen: Editor

Harriet Hill-Payne: Deputy Editor

Jonathan – I think I would be a strong candidate for Editor of the student newspaper because I have extensive experience working on newspapers, and over this year have become intimately involved with the Mancunion, building on my previous work as a contributor to become a news editor this year.

As a committed member of the news team I have learnt a lot about producing content for the paper each week, as well as about how the paper comes together as a whole. Also, I have a close relationship with the current editor, through which I have developed a stronger understanding of what it takes to be an editor, more so I think than other members of the paper staff.

Harriet – As became evident in the second term of this year, having a separate magazine editor has had a really positive effect on the magazine section, and it is a proven model, which we would like to continue into next year. Having someone to specifically support the magazine section, and who has a background in writing for that section of the paper, has been invaluable, and the weekly meetings in which plans, ideas and concerns can be discussed has made the section feel more connected and, as a result, the paper as a whole more successful.

Having edited the Arts & Culture section of the paper for the past year, I feel I am a strong candidate for Deputy Editor. I have a good knowledge of Manchester’s cultural scene, which would be relevant to overseeing Music/Arts/Theatre, but also I have, from my own section and from the magazine section as a whole, a good sense of areas that have been successful and which we need to work on, and would, with the section editor team, use this opportunity to build on the strengths, and address where I think there are weaknesses.

Next year – We want to build on the impressive work done this year to enhance our online presence, making sure social media and WordPress/InDesign are covered extensively in the training sessions. We want to create better links with other student media, both in developing links with Fuse Radio/TV to potentially provide video and audio content for our website, but also trying to connect to some of the other student-led publications in Manchester, to access a wider readership and to bring in new content and new ideas.

We want to ensure the Section Editor training days deliver relevant information – potentially splitting the newspaper/magazine category to better think about the potential within each section, and to encourage editors to take ownership of their pages. For the paper, we want to see each section producing top quality student-related content, the news section and related sections continuing to tackle tough stories like they have this year, and more pages for sports to allow for wider university sport coverage. In the magazine section, we want to look at ways to build on the confidence our readership already has in us, hoping to introduce some regular columnists and features to give a sense of continuity and development week-on-week. We will look at ideas for weekly feature column/diary columns that are appropriate to each section, looking to ‘Craving and Saving,’ ‘Retro Corner’ or ‘Surviving Supper’ as examples of features which all anchor the page, encouraging readers to return to regular contributors/features, but allowing for flexibility in content each week.

The best/worst thing I’ve ever seen

The best thing I’ve ever seen: Blood Brothers (Phoenix Theatre, London, 2012)

Say it’s just a story! Well luckily Blood Brothers is, telling the highly emotional tale of un-identical twins who are separated at birth, and then unknowingly reunited later in life, with devastating consequences. Its perfect accompanying musical score features such classics as “Tell me it’s not true” and “Marilyn Monroe”, which along with the play’s richness of real life characters who the audience truly empathises with, were a great source of catharsis for me. The idea of the challenges of growing up in a rapidly changing world is ever-present, and since I saw this play just days before starting university last September, I was filled with an overwhelming epiphany of how my own life was changing. Sadly, gone are those care-free school days and long summers spent in the park when there were no worries in the world, “well, apart from deciding what clothes you’re gonna wear!”, and that’s exactly what we witness here – two lads going from chirpy children to troublesome teens full of freedom and fun, and into the big bad world of adulthood – poignant, heart wrenching and beautiful.

 

 

The worst thing I’ve ever seen: Sleeping Beauty (Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, 2012)

I’m a huge fan of the timeless “It’s behind you” routines and the larger-than-life dames that pantos showcase, and this production of Sleeping Beauty did have both of these. However, these were the only positive droplets in this sea of theatrical shame. The acting overall was tired, bemusing and dull, with the comedy-clown character doing anything but make us laugh. At times, it was cringe worthy, due to this actor’s lack of melodramatic style. This is a character who is meant to delight the audience by handing out sweets and blowing up balloons etc, but the only balloons I noticed in the whole show were lead ones. The screeching villain Carabosse wasn’t much better, sounding more like a broken Witney Houston record than a wicked queen and as well as this, the storyline was all over the place, with an overly repetitive Act I, a terribly unstructured Act II and an ending that must have been written by a three year old. And this isn’t just my cynical views – I overheard conversations of my fellow audience members expressing their disappointment after the show. If it wasn’t for the brilliantly played dame, I would have walked out of the theatre at the interval. Oh yes I would!

Must See: 15th – 21st April

Rutherford and Son

Northern Broadsides directed by renowned theatre director Jonathan Miller bring a classic Edwardian Drama to The Lowry. Following John Rutherford a father and industrial tyrant who rules over both a work force and his family obsessed with keeping the business in the family. Where better to see a play set during a key moment in Britain’s industrial history, than in Manchester, a city steeped in industrial history!

Runs 16th – 20th April at The Lowry. Tickets £10.

 

 

The Thing about Psychopaths

Set in modern day Britain following a young man, Noel, who gets a big break at a major financial institution, finding himself out of his depth and struggling to cope as her realizes how small his compared to those who make the rules.

Runs 18th – 19th April at The Lowry. Tickets £5.

 

 

The Full Monty

On its way to the West End, via Manchester, the famous film based on the screen play by Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy has hit the stage. Now Beaufoy has headed back to Sheffield to rediscover the city and the place where the story started. Following six unemployed Northern steel workers and their job creation strategy the play, from the producers of Calendar Girls is sure to offer much hilarity

Runs 15th April – 20th April at The Lowry. Tickets £14.

 

 

Prequel vs Remake

It is always a worry for long term fans when either a prequel or a remake is announced of their favourite films or franchises. It is a credit to the original idea that these films get made, but which one is more likely to give a serious tribute to what we loved in the first place?

I am always a fan of the idea of prequels as it allows us to dive back into the world we so loved with new elements added to it. In possibly the greatest prequel ever, The Godfather Part II (aspects of it), you get to follow the story of young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro). It is this sort of story that can make a prequel, as it is so greatly written and acted; it brings a whole new life to the character. The beginning of the story is always intriguing for fans and X-Men First Class provided amazing backdrop on two of the biggest characters in the X-Men universe, Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender). After the previously poor prequel in X-Men Origins: Wolverine we were won back, similar to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, helping us to forget the disappointing 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes. A Star Wars prequel centring on Han Solo has been rumoured and although exciting, can anyone play that character better than Harrison Ford? Oz the Great and Powerful recently came out as the prequel to the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, which is the perfect way to relive the magic that this era defining film brought.

The creation of a remake is always a dangerous task, especially as they usually look to emulate previously great films. There are many cases where a remake has worked wonders, The Departed (Infernal Affairs remake), the 1984 Scarface and Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia. No one could complain that these films equalled, if not bettered the original, and that we are better off for them. However, it is often the case that the remake, although not bad, just does not touch the original, which begs the question do we really need them? The Mark Wahlberg starring Italian Job is enjoyable enough, but it just doesn’t hold the old school class and charm that Michael Caine’s 1969 version does. Disturbia is a good attempt with twists on its original, but the fact is it isn’t Rear Window, an Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece. A remake has to be absolutely perfect in its delivery otherwise previous fans will never warm to it. Those who grew up with Arnold Schwarzenegger being the biggest action hero there ever was, no doubt didn’t view Conan the Barbarian and Total Recall as quite matching up to their predecessors.

Christopher Nolan used the now loved ‘darker’ theme in his Batman Trilogy to reboot the franchise with the same characters, same world, but a completely new film. The Zack Snyder directed and Nolan produced Man of Steel being released this year also seems to have this dark, grittier touch. Possibly such innovation has come from Tim Burton and his darker takes on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland.

There are examples of both good and bad prequels as well as good and bad remakes, leaving it all down to how the director decides to take on the project. When it comes to the film itself I can safely say I’d prefer a prequel, mainly because remakes always walk the line of embarrassing the original (I’m looking at you 1998 Psycho). But when it comes to it, an original script and movie should always be the first choice.

Come fly with me

This May sees the release of I’m So Excited or Los Amantes Pasajeros, the latest film from the titan of Spanish Cinema, Pedro Almodóvar. Whilst the title cleverly describes the current state of most Almodóvar fans, the film itself seems to be about a topic few of us would get excited about – following one fated plane journey towards Mexico City and the events that occur between passengers, crew and everyone in between.

This “stuck in a vehicle” scenario may seem familiar. After all, it was about this time last year that audiences were eagerly anticipating the release of the Cronenberg/Pattinson masterpiece Cosmopolis. But one look at the trailer tells us that I’m So Excited will be poles apart from the tense tale of a brooding hunk and his exploits in the back of a limo. King of the camp, flamboyant and extrovert, and with very much an “anything goes” philosophy; Almodóvar is always the one to knock us out with his crazy scripts and equally unpredictable characters. With Almodóvar himself describing the film as “a light, very light comedy” and with cameos from previous muses and Spanish acting royalty Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, I’m So Excited is set to be a celebration of all things Almodóvar!

Excited yet? Well prepare to go into overdrive. If you’re unable to wait for its general release on the 3rd May, The Cornerhouse is hosting a UK launch screening of the film on Tuesday 23rd April, followed by a satellite interview with Pedro Almodóvar himself. Described as the most internationally successful Spanish director since Luis Buñuel, and having written and directed some of the most brilliant, outrageous and hilarious pieces of cinema the world, let alone Spain, has ever seen, an insight into the mind of this Oscar-winning director is an opportunity few will be able to pass up on. So fasten your seatbelts, this is one flight – I mean film – you won’t be needing your emergency exits for!

Review: ‘Spring Breakers’

Spring Breakers could be described as a spectacle of pop-art aesthetics, glorified violence and objectification amplified by an appropriately hyper-aggressive Skrillex score. All this is reminiscent of pornographic franchise, Girls Gone Wild and in its heightened sensationalism, reflects popular MTV inspired culture. So, it must be perverse trash right? Well, not necessarily.

Harmony Korine first gained notoriety as the writer of Kids (1995), a doped up picture of teenage drug taking and sex. In Spring Breakers, he has returned to youth culture in a slightly sleazier tale of four wayward college students who, dissatisfied with the mundanities of their life, escape to Spring Break.

Ultimately, this film completely immerses itself in spring break culture. Rather than objectively observing and criticising, each part of the film is seduced and embraces the hedonistic delights of the spring break holiday. In its fast-paced editing, vivid colours and inebriated camera angles, the camera eye leers at and joins the girls on their intoxicated dream.

Of course, this has caused much uproar and dislike amongst critics. Many have talked of its overt sexism, unsatisfactory plot and lack of charm. Others have gone so far as to argue that it glorifies and encourages the rape culture that seems to be emerging within America. All in all, many have agreed it to be a one-dimensional, shallow, drug and sex-fuelled headache.

However, one cannot deny its humour. The opening scene is a montage of ‘boobs and bums’ jiggling to the accompaniment of Skrillex. Additionally, James Franco gives an excellent humorous performance of a gangster called ‘Alien’. To set up the film with these shots, Korine is telling us what he wants to achieve. He wants to shock, embrace and parody the spring break culture. Additionally, by reflecting the camera style of that of ‘MTV culture’, perhaps his objectified gaze and lack of plot substance is a reflexive and ironic reflection of this culture.

But you can never be sure. Maybe Harmony is simply living out his perverted fantasies. One cannot deny that it is a little odd that he cast two ‘disney’ girls into a role which is hyper-sexualised, and quite frankly, lacking development and depth. Even if he is being ironic, you can’t deny the feeling that he is fully glorifying a culture that is so heavily criticised for its destructive nature.

However, I believe that this is an interesting reflection of our movie and video game obsessed culture. There are constant references to going back to ‘reality’ and spring break being in a ‘dream’, hinting that perhaps these protagonists get stuck in their idealised vision of themselves ‘as in a movie’.

Whatever your opinion, one cannot deny that this has potential to become a cult film. In its controversy, it has a certain mystique, and that is why, love it or hate it, it is worth seeing.

Top 5: Musicals!

 5. The Muppets

This film follows the Muppets on a journey to reunite in order to save their old theatre from an evil oil tycoon. With songs by Flight of the Concords’ Bret McKenzie, who won an Oscar for the wonderful ‘Man or a Muppet’, it is one of the happiest films I have ever seen.

 

4. Funny Face

Funny Face stars Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, both on form, as the reluctant model Jo and fashion photographer Dick Avery respectively. This is the best film to cheer me up on a rainy Sunday afternoon with beautiful views of Paris and a wonderful wardrobe.

 

3. Moulin Rouge!

A tale of doomed love between a young poet and a beautiful courtesan, loosely based of Verdi’s La Traviata, Moulin Rouge is a modern masterpiece.  It has a sumptuous set and a brilliant score that reworks modern songs into the 19th century time frame. It is a film that is a treat for the eyes and ears.

 

2. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

With an unforgettable performance by Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter and classic songs such as ‘The Time Warp’, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has become famous for its devoted fans and midnight screenings. A true cult classic.

 

1. Cabaret

While it may not have the cheeriest subject matter, being set in Berlin during the early 1930s, Cabaret is a truly great musical. Winning 8 Oscars, it has brilliant songs and fabulous performances from the whole cast especially by Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey.

Album: Fall Out Boy – Save Rock and Roll

Released: 12th April 2013

Island

3/10

Quite literally burning their back catalogue, Fall Out Boy seem adamant that fifth album Save Rock And Roll will be a return to form for themselves and their genre. Take opener ‘The Phoenix’. Beginning on the stomp of drummer Andy Hurley and the tense instrumentation of the London Symphony Orchestra, it has all the pomp and ceremony of a grand entrance. The hammering ending ties together the myriad parts and benefits from the pop sheen created by legendary producer Butch Walker.

However, as the record goes on, it becomes clear that Fall Out Boy’s conception of rock n’ roll is strange. There’s little on display here which gives any indication to the group’s rawer past or to their side-projects (Hurley’s hardcore punk bands Focused Minds and Enabler plus his rock group The Damned Things, with guitarist Joe Trohman). The softer approach undoubtedly works at points. The pensive title track, featuring the one and only Elton John, cleverly pairs stripped down piano with processed drums. ‘Young Volcanoes’ is an enjoyable but inoffensive pairing of clapping, acoustic guitars and the infectious vocal performance of Stump. However, more often than not, you just want the group to rock out. ‘Rat A Tat’ comes pretty close to this with its catchy chorus and thumping bass, but the synthesisers are pervasive. As does ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)’ with its stabs of guitar. However, this song shows how far they’ve fallen lyrically, with Stump reduced to ‘Light em up/I’m on fire,’ in place of the self-deprecating wit and intelligence of Fall Out Boy’s past work. It seems to be a larger symptom; intentionally selling themselves short and posing as more in order to become the stadium band they’ve always dreamt of being.

There are other signs of it as well. Walker’s production pays focus to the power of Stump’s vocals and songs like the nu-wave driven ‘Miss Missing You’ would fall apart without his talent. In addition to this, Trohman and bassist-plus-public-face Pete Wentz are continually reduced to phoning in performances to suit the electronics. Indeed, it seems that the previously reclusive Stump is becoming the dominant focus of the band, aided by his recent weight loss and burgeoning solo career. If this is the future of rock n’roll, of every song sounding like a ‘club mix’ of itself, of washed out lyrics and tired stadium theatrics, then the future is bleak.

Moving House: Sankeys to close Manchester venue

Manchester institution Sankeys is set to close its doors next month.

The iconic nightclub, voted ‘Best Club in the World’ in a 2010 DJ Mag poll, will shut down as owner David Vincent seeks to concentrate his efforts on Sankeys Ibiza.

“I want our Ibiza project to be the best club in the world, just like what we have achieved previously in Manchester,” Vincent explained in a statement on Facebook.

“But I need my production and staff from Manchester to come to Ibiza with me to achieve this goal and therefore both clubs cannot be open at the same time.”

The club will say goodbye to Manchester with a 12-hour marathon set at the end of the May bank holiday, running from 1pm all the way through to 1am.

The closing show will feature global techno legend Joris Voorn, Germany’s highly acclaimed tINI, Fuse founder Enzo Siragusa and house stalwart Darius Syrossian.

Club residents Jozef K and Us & Them will be joined by Sankeys Ibiza resident Bones, and Sankeys also promises two “very special guests” will be announced on the day to make an appearance.

The hashtag ‘#SankeysIsClosing’ was trending on Twitter just half an hour after the news broke, as students and past visitors alike took to social networks to mourn the decision.

“Genuinely floored by the news that Sankeys is closing,” said Twitter user @happydan. “So many amazing memories from my clubbing days there. What now, Manchester?”

“RIP, thanks for the memories,” said University of Chester student Shaun Stewardson. “Truly honoured to have graced that basement many times, gutted.”

“One thing us Mancs could always boast about was Sankeys,” tweeted @mimipersia.

“At least we had a good run of it. Places like Hacienda and Sankeys will go down in history.”

Not everybody was so nostalgic upon hearing the news, however. A large contingent of people also made their opinions on the closure clear.

“Capitalism wins over community yet again,” posted Manchester Metropolitan student Ryan Kent on Facebook.

“Very disappointing and unfair that you are closing it, if it wasn’t for the people in Manchester you would never [have] had a Sankeys in the first place,” fan Sarah Masterson commented on Facebook.

“Manchester loyal [customers] are loyal all year round, Ibiza is an island only opened 6 months of the year!”

Sankeys’ response on Twitter was simple: “Hate us or love us you will 100% miss us.”

David Vincent, in his Facebook post, paid tribute to the almost two decades of clubbers who have crossed the threshold of Sankeys.

“Sankeys simply wouldn’t exist without our loyal crowd who have made us what we are today,” he wrote.

First opening as ‘Sankeys Soap’ in 1994, due to its residence inside an old soap mill, the club has been a fixture of the Manchester music scene since then.

All hope is not completely lost, however – this is not the first time the club has ‘closed its doors’.

In 1998, financial problems caused the club to close until it was bought by its current owner David Vincent and Sacha Lord-Marchionne, who later founded The Warehouse Project.

The club was later closed in 2006 – at the time, “for good” – before Vincent became full owner of the club and re-opened, this time just called Sankeys, that summer.

The club has been a Manchester fixture ever since, and many fans are holding onto hope that this is not the end.

“Well shit to see that Sankeys is closing,” tweeted graphics student Ross Pagent. “Hopefully [it’ll] be back after summer!”

“Marketing ploy much?” asked Facebook commenter Jasmin Keogh. “They’ll be back at the end of the IBZ season!”

“Bet anyone here it’ll be business as usual come September,” wagered Facebook user Liam Kelly. “After a grand re-opening with much fanfare of course.”

“Who knows when we will be back in Manchester, or if we ever will be back, or what comes next in this great city I love,” said David Vincent.

“All I can say right now about what happens next is quite simply: watch this space.”

Manchester achieve fifth in Ultimate Frisbee nationals

The middle of March looked bleak as the University Mixed Outdoor Nationals for Ultimate Frisbee were cancelled by hosts Durham due to frozen pitches. But Manchester women’s captain Elly White saved the weekend and organised 21 teams, accommodation, pitches, a party and much more besides all in just three days. Despite the stress for the home team it was a weekend of fantastic, high quality Ultimate Frisbee all round, with several really strong bids for top spot from the first game.

Since they were hosting Halcyon (Manchester) managed to take a big team, meaning that we had plenty of fresh legs and even several beginners making a stellar debut appearance. They took a tough pool by storm, winning three out of four games on the Saturday and holding a close draw with North West rivals Bangor- landing them at the top of their pool, a strong start for Sunday. Predictions were for Mohawks, SussexUniversity and a well-known formidable force on the Ultimate scene, to take top spot.

The pressure was on from the start on Sunday with an intense game against Durham. Neither team held back with Durham bringing out a strong line of women and Manchester using their fantastic long options; it was tense too with a lot of calls stalling play at crucial points for Halcyon, several times ruling out what could have been scores. It was frustrating but tight, landing the teams on a 7-7 draw as the whistle blew and forcing a sudden death point; a close, hard fought point with some frustrating stoppages ending in Durham just taking the game by the skin of their teeth. Despite now being out of the running for the top four Manchester went hard into a game against Oxford, determined to now take 5th spot. A last minute shock win for Jesters, LeicesterUniversity, put favourites Sussex out of the final. Leicester and Edinburgh brought a tough final with a proud Edinburgh just taking the title for University Mixed Outdoor Nationals 2013.

Manchester went all out for an aggressive last two games against Oxford and Warwick and, after some worryingly close moments, beat both of them with some convincingly strong Ultimate and 100% effort and passion from all team members. Manchester managed to finish in fifth. The club President, Kinga Roszkowska, said it was a weekend that made her ‘proud to be president’ and every team there agreed that Manchester had really stepped up and created an incredible weekend in a ridiculously short space of time.

Just the Toni-c! Pearce elected NUS president

The National Union of Students (NUS) has elected Toni Pearce to succeed Liam Burns as the organisation’s president at their national conference in Sheffield.

Pearce, 23, fought off competition from the far-left candidate Vicki Baars, and Tory candidate Peter Smallwood, to secure 57.8% of the vote. The protest candidate, UCL student Sam Gaus’ inanimate carbon rod, withdrew from the race on the second day of the conference despite attracting a cult following over the course of the campaign.

The new president – chosen to represent more than nine million students – will be the first female to hold the position since 2008 and, having not attended university, only the second from a further education background. Her victory follows a two-year stint as NUS vice-president for further education.

In her first speech as president-elect, Pearce told the conference: “Between now and 2015 we need to hold a full and frank debate about what education means to society and to properly articulate the public value of education in communities up and down the country.”

It marks the culmination of a meteoric rise for Toni Pearce who, by her own admission, “spectacularly failed” her initial A-Level exams before her first foray into student politics as president of Cornwall College Students’ Union.

Meanwhile, the NUS found itself mired in controversy on day one. As news of the death of Margaret Thatcher filtered through the conference hall, spontaneous cheers and bursts of applause broke out amongst a small but significant group of delegates. Outgoing president Liam Burns, who had already taken to the stage to deliver his opening address, returned to the floor to appeal for “sensitivity” and “respect”.

Manchester Student Media Awards 2013

Together with Fuse FM and Fuse TV, we’re hosting the first Student Media Awards at the University of Manchester, with the support of Your Manchester Fund.

Get your tickets here.

All entries by experienced media professionals, from BBC, M.E.N, Daily Mail, Capital, XFM and more.

Here are the judges for The Mancunion categories:

Maria McGeoghan

Maria McGeoghan is an awarding winning journalist who was Editor of the Manchester Evening News and Editor-in-Chief of MEN Media from March 2010 – April 2012. Today she is Director of Strategy and Operations at The Scott Partnership – a PR and marketing consultancy specialising in science and technology.

Jennie Agg

Jennie is a features sub-editor at the Daily Mail. She studied English and Drama and was editor of the Mancunion 2009/10. Under her stewardship the newspaper was named runner-up in the best publication category at the Guardian Student Media Awards. As well as the Mail, Jennie has written for the Guardian, the Observer New Review, Noises Off magazine, Cambridge News and is a regular contributor to playstosee.com.

Girish Gupta

A former News Editor at The Mancunion, and Guardian Student Media Award nominee, Girish is a foreign correspondent based in Caracas, Venezuela. He has covered Mexico’s drug wars, investigated links between Colombia’s paramilitaries and giant multinationals, followed the trail of diamond smugglers through the Amazon jungle as well as covering the final electoral campaign, cancer and death of Hugo Chávez. He has worked with various outlets including Reuters, the BBC, TIME and the New York Times.

Dom McGuinness

A sports writer and broadcaster, Dominic has worked in TV, radio and for the written press covering football World Cups, British and Irish Lions rugby tours and boxing world title fights. He has worked for the BBC, SKY, ITN, and as an independent producer making sport documentaries for ITV. Dominic is author of ‘Ricky Hatton – the Real Hitman’ and continues to present boxing for TV. He is also North-West correspondent for talkSPORT radio.

Richard Belfield

Richard is a journalist, author and documentary-maker. After leaving Manchester University, Richard Belfield joined Granada TV, working on local programmes before joining World In Action. He set up Fulcrum TV in 1986 and has made programmes for every major UK broadcaster, winning awards on both sides of the Atlantic. He is the author of five books. His last, SAS Operation STORM, reached the Sunday Times best sellers list.

Susannah Birkwood

Susannah is the Hong Kong-based Editor of Bloomberg BRIEF Private Equity, a weekly newsletter with a primary focus on global private equity fundraising activity. She studied Spanish & Linguistics at the University of Manchester and was Editor of The Mancunion in 2008/2009, during the which time the newspaper was commended in the Best Student Media category at the NUS Awards.

Ian King

Ian King has been Business & City Editor of The Times since January 2011, having previously been Deputy Business & City Editor since November 2008. He was Business Editor of The Sun from January 2000-November 2008, during which he was three times nominated and once named business journalist of the year at the UK Press Awards. During nearly 20 years as a business journalist on national newspapers, he has also worked for The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and the Mail on Sunday. He started his career as Editor of The Mancunion in 1988.

Competition! Win a ‘The Croods’ goody bag!

To celebrate the release of The Croods, Fox have sent us  two goody bags full of merchandise to give away! Each goody bag contains:

Skateboard

Alarm Clock

Digital Watch

Key ring

Magnets

Bouncy Ball

Door Hanger

Maze Game

For  a chance to win simply follow @mancunionfilm on Twitter and tweet us using the hastag #TheCroods. Winners will be randomly selected from both, and the prizes will be available for collection from the Student Union at your leisure.

UMSU-SHAMBLES

There was yet more controversy and confusion over the Manchester SU elections last week, as Kazi Tawseef dislodged Ellie Bradbury to become Wellbeing Officer following a successful appeal that overturned his disqualification.

Chourdhry Haziq and Shahneela Shehereen, candidates for General Secretary and Activities Officer respectively, were also successful in their appeals, but lost out in the subsequent recounts. The disqualifications of Khaldoon Khan (Community) and Ali Khalid (Diversity) were upheld by a 17-strong student panel.

A Students’ Union statement read: “Following the disqualification of five candidates from the Students’ Union Elections at 9.50pm on Thursday 14 March, the disqualified candidates were offered the opportunity to lodge an appeal against this decision.  The deadline for appeals was 9am on Friday 22 March.  All five candidates lodged appeals.”

Whilst three of the five appeals were successful, only one result was changed. A recount for the position of Wellbeing Officer saw Kazi Tawseef beat Ellie Bradbury by 278 votes.

The newly-instated Wellbeing Officer ran an unusual but clearly effective campaign, claiming to be supported by Albus Dumbledore and pledging to deliver a 24-hour student-only ambulance service.

But Mr Tasweef was initially kicked out of the race after one of his supporters allegedly hassled a voter at a polling station, despite several warnings by an official.

On results night, Fuse FM’s Joe Kearney broke the news that five candidates had been disqualified following complaints of cheating, minutes before the winners were announced.

While some took to Twitter to praise the move, PakSoc, who had supported all five of the banned candidates, called for a “detailed investigation” to ensure there “was no discrimination” against their candidates.

The panel that overturned the three disqualifications was “picked to be reflective of the wider student population,” meaning students were chosen on the basis of factors such as gender, disability, and sexuality.

Their decision will be devastating for Ellie Bradbury, who told The Mancunion having been announced as the winner on 14 March: “I’m so happy. This is a job I really wanted to do.”

When asked for her reaction to the news that she will no longer take up the position of Wellbeing Officer next year, Ellie explained: “I am very upset about the situation. But more than anything I am furious about how the whole process has been handled.”

“I was only made aware of the appeal the night before the decision to overturn the disqualifications, almost two weeks after the initial elections night,” she told The Mancunion. “I find it deeply upsetting that I have not received any information from the union since the recount, nor have I received any form of response to an email I sent expressing my concerns about how the situation has been handled.”

“Considering that the Students’ Union is meant to be there to support and advise the student body, that there has been no concern shown for how distressing this situation has been for any of the parties involved is distressing.”

She continued: “This whole process has been a shambles and deeply upsetting for all parties involved. I will be making sure that the Union takes sufficient steps to ensure that this never happens again. If I am not satisfied with their response, I will consider seeking legal advice.”

Ellie also confirmed that she has not been given the opportunity to appeal against the decision to reinstate Kazi Tawseef.

The reinstatement of three previously disqualified candidates has also sparked anger within the Students’ Union itself. On Wednesday, Manchester SU trustee Sarah Webster posted an open letter on her Facebook page deploring the Union’s handling of the saga.

It read: “The UMSU trustees were not informed of the decision to hold an appeal regarding the disqualification of five candidates from the UMSU elections yesterday. As a student trustee, I have received no communication on the appeal and have no knowledge of how the appeal was conducted or the information presented to the student panel.”

Ms Webster continued: “I have only had access to the information on the disqualifications and appeals that has been available to all students via the UMSU website. I found out via Facebook about the decision of the appeal.”

“I believe that the trustees should have been informed in advance for transparency and accountability reasons as we are ultimately responsible for the decisions and actions of the Union. It falls within the remit of our role to ensure that any appeals process against the decision of the Returning Officer is independent, unbiased and transparent.”

“I will uphold the decision of the appeal. However, I believe that there are concerns about the appeal and how it was conducted that must be answered. I am posting this statement because it is important that all students have faith in the democratic process at UMSU, and that the Union’s decisions and actions are transparent and accountable.”

“I post as a concerned trustee and as a concerned student,” the letter concluded.

The open letter has received significant backing on Facebook, with no less than half of the newly-elected Students’ Union executive indicating their support for the letter. Rosie Dammers (Education), Clifford Fleming (Campaigns), Liam Mayet (Activities) and Tabz O’Brien-Butcher (Women’s) all ‘liked’ the post after it went up last Wednesday lunchtime.

Nick Pringle, General Secretary of the Students’ Union, issued a statement confirming they have “decided to commission an independent external expert to look at our election processes and procedures.

“A separate full written report outlining the appeals decisions, including the reasons for the decisions and the process which was followed, be produced by the independent parties who facilitated the process and published by the Students’ Union as soon as possible.”

It has undoubtedly been an election season in which the rules have come under considerable scrutiny. Some candidates criticised the role current exec officers play in campaigns, particularly after Kaz Dyson publicly apologised for her tweets about Activities Officer candidate Raj Singh.

Later in the campaign, an open letter in protest against the use of iPads to garner votes was signed by ten candidates. The Students’ Union had initially banned them “until further notice” over the weekend of the 10-11 March, before the election’s Returning Officer confirmed to candidates that they would be permitted as of the following Monday.

DEMO2012 VERDICT: ‘A WASTE OF TIME’

It cost £155,000, but only 4% of the public even knew the student protest DEMO2012 was happening. In the end, it made the National Union of Students (NUS) “less credible” and failed to “achieve any national policy change.”

This is the damning conclusion provided in the NUS evaluation into their own student demonstration, in which around 5,000 protesters – one tenth of the 2010 turn out – arrived in London to fight against fees and cuts last November.

The NUS evaluation was released following feedback from over 1,000 students, exec officers, Students’ Union staff, and members of the general public.

In a series of embarrassing conclusions, it admitted to generating only “small” and “limited” media coverage that focused less on the issues and more on the contentious planned route to Kennington Park, which at the time led to the chant: “NUS, shame on you, where the fuck have you brought us to?”

Students angered by the choice of venue will be shocked to hear that the use of Kennington Park cost £5,738.

So disillusioned were the protesters with their own union that NUS President Liam Burns was egged off stage and forced to retreat to LSE Students’ Union.

Despite the enormous energy put in by Students’ Unions – including our own – only 16% of the student population had heard of DEMO2012 before it took place.

Fewer than 10% of Students’ Unions felt it was easy to promote the event to students, with feedback suggesting it was “really hard to sell” and “difficult to tell students the reason for marching.”

But despite this lack of widespread interest, NUS still forked out large sums to support the action.

Over £8,000 was spent on banners and placards, while steward staff time totalled a whopping £24,000.  Rally/march costs came to £18,000 and ‘legal and professional fees’ added up to £6,000.

The costs do not include the money individual Students’ Unions spent promoting and supporting the demo.

Manchester University’s Education Officer Luke Newton alluded to this, tweeting: “If you add up how much unions spent it’s probably a heck of a lot more then that!”

The message ‘Educate, Employ, Empower’ was kept deliberately broad to accommodate for different issues and encourage unions to use the demo as a catalyst for local campaigning activity. While in some cases this occurred, the summary admits the unions’ campaigns “would have happened anyway.”

The key point stressed in feedback was that the demonstration lacked any clear mission and fought no obvious policy.

The result was a vague campaign which, according to one survey response, had a “more negative effect than positive message.”

Responses further complained there was “no ‘tangible’ outcome.” Another added that because there were so many agendas, which ranged from anti-cuts messages to calls for peace in the Middle East, students got “slightly lost in the message of the day and what we were for.”

NUS acknowledged this in their conclusion, admitting they need to “practice what they preach” when it comes to “effective campaigning.”

In the NUS Demo2012 review based on the evaluation, they admit: “The impact of the demo on NUS appears to be limited to an audience whose engagement with NUS was high anyway.”

There were few positives to take from the evaluation, although the Twitter account @nusuk did gain 340 followers, while #demo2012 tweets reached an estimated audience of 2 million.

But since this evaluation, most #demo2012 tweets have been negative.

19 year old University of York student Shakti Shah wrote: “What did the NUS expect? #demo2012 had a terrible route, a terrible slogan, and was generally poor in comparison to actions in 2010.”

Zahid Raja, Swansea Students’ Union Education Officer, said: “The evaluation of #demo2012 is actually hilarious.”

As for our own Students ’ Union executive, who at the time publicly supported DEMO2012, only Education Officer Luke Newton has spoken out on Twitter, calling for “Delegates at #nusnc13” to “vote against #demo2013.”

Last year’s event was organised in response to a National Conference mandate in 2012.

Should Demo2013 go ahead, the NUS are likely to have similar problems recruiting protesters as following DEMO2012, the number of students saying they attend demonstrations on student issues fell from 16% to 7%.

Must See: 8th – 14th April

The Victorian in the Wall

Winner of the Perrier Award for Comedy in 2004 Will Adamsdale brings his new show to the Royal Exchange this week. A surreal and fantastical story which centres on a work-shy-writer whose career is waning relationship is stagnating. After being left in charge of the home improvements he finds a Victorian man living in the wall of his flat. Can the visitor renew his motivation and save his career? Can he save his flagging relationship? A new and original piece of drama in Manchester for two days only.

Runs 12th – 13th April at the Royal Exchange Studio. Tickets £10.

 

The Taming of the Shrew

Directed by Edward Hall, William Shakespeare’s well known classic comes to The Lowry. Following the story of two suitors competing for the hand of Bianca Minola, but are prevented from doing so until her elder and notoriously tempestuous sister Katherine is married. The two vow to find her sister a suitor and the play explores the blurring line between marrying for love and marrying for money.

Runs 10th – 13th April at The Lowry. Tickets £14.    

 

Twelfth Night

Propeller, directed by Edward Hall, also perform Shakespeare’s classic comedy Twelfth Night, a story of romance, confusion and mistaken identity. Set in Illyria an ancient region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea the story follows Viola the survivor of a shipwreck in a tale which explores the nature of reality and illusion.

Runs 9th – 13th April at The Lowry. Tickets £14.

 

Bobby

A new and original piece of theatre from the Just Add Water Theatre Company. A dark tragic-comedy about a boy’s journey towards the fate that awaits him in adulthood, using physical theatre, music and puppetry.

Runs 11th April at The Lowry. Tickets £10.

 

Amsterdam

A work-in-progress which dramatizes a collection of poetry about a long distance relationship between Amsterdam and Manchester. Using theatre, dance and music to explore the idea of absence, attraction and existence.

Runs 10th April, 2pm and 7.30pm at The Contact. Tickets free.

 

Gears of War: Judgment

For the first time in the series, the adventures of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad take the backseat. Set just after Emergence Day, Judgment follows Kilo Squad lead by series favourites Damon Baird and Augustus “The Cole Train” Cole as they defend themselves against war crime charges in a military court run by Col. Ezra Loomis.

You play through these testimonies justifying your actions to Loomis. Each testimony is broken down into sections; each section gives you the option of taking on declassified missions. These allow you to change your testimony to sound bolder and braver, but ultimately do not affect the story. One declassified mission has you battling across rooftops with almost no ammo, while others involve finishing the section only using Sawn-offs and Boltoks. The enjoyability of these missions varies, the ones restricting your weapon selection and toughening enemies’ amp up the intensity and add to the challenge. Others are at best lazy and at worse frustrating, the worst offender being the arbitrary time limits, that do nothing to enhance the gameplay beyond frustrating the player.

The incentive for imposing the additional challenge on yourself is that it allows you to accumulate stars faster. Your performance in each section is given a star rating, in order to get the three star rating at the end of the section, you must play an especially aggressive style of play, racking up Gib (Ground into bits) kills and executions. The star rating system works because it pushes you towards a more enjoyable style of play providing significant replay value.

Campaign takes a reasonable eight hours to complete on Hardcore difficulty, and generally sticks to the classic Gears formula. Dialogue between Kilo Squad felt forced and left you longing for Marcus and Dom to return. Cole can usually be counted on for a few laughs but sadly, the banter between Cole and Baird wasn’t enough to carry the story. New additions to Kilo Squad include Paduk, an ex-UIR man who still carried a grudge towards the COG from his experience in the Pendulum wars, and Sofia, an ex-journalist tasked with keeping an eye on Paduk.
Sofia and Paduk are welcome additions to the series, with Paduk in particular having the best lines, both in terms of emotion and humour.

With the new campaign comes new weapons, the most exciting of which is the Booshka, firing grenades that bounce off walls and explode on contact with the enemy. Other new additions include the Tripwire Crossbow, which fires an explosive tripwire, and the Breechshot, a powerful rifle that kills most enemies with one headshot.

Missing from the campaign mode were truly epic moments, perhaps Gears fans will have had their expectations sent unreachably high, but nothing reached the awesomeness of riding a Brumak, or watching a Rift Worm tear through a city.

Campaign also features horde-style objective defence sections, these are a welcome change of pace, and probably the best moments in Judgment’s campaign involve defending your AI from waves of Locust.

Once you’ve collected 40 stars, you unlock an additional campaign in Aftermath. Set parallel to the final events of Gears of War 3, you get to see what Kilo Squad did as Delta squad ended the war. While, additional gameplay is always welcome, Aftermath feels a lot closer to Gears 3 than it does to the campaign in judgment. The levels are cramped, and the pace is slower. Aftermath also lacks the star rating system, which feels weird after you’ve torn through campaign with it.

Gone are Horde and Beast mode and in their place are Survival and Overrun mode. The main difference being that you have to defend an objective rather than just surviving. Overrun differs from Survival mode by allowing you to play as the Horde. However like in Beast mode, controlling the Horde is clunky and doesn’t live up to the promise of destroying everyone as a Corpser.

Competitive multiplayer largely sticks with the classic Gears formula, but throws in a few new modifications. You can only carry two weapons now, and you have to choose between starting with a Lancer or Gnasher, this actually works very well as a way of balancing the Gnasher. One bizarre change was the shift from COG versus Horde to COG Blue versus Red, while it doesn’t affect the actual gameplay; stylistically it feels dull.

You can now customise your weapons and armour with a variety of skins that can be unlocked through levelling up or micro-transactions. While hardly ground breaking, and at times a bit silly, these do add to the multiplayer experience.

Gears of War: Judgment is worth buying on the strength of the main campaign alone, but some strange choices with multiplayer and Survival mode not having the fun factor of Horde mode means that it won’t be remembered as a high point in the series.