Welcome to Part II of this First We Dream “Dream 10″ Guide on how to elegantly fit what you’re trying to say into those scant few 140 characters in Twitter!  If you skipped Part I, it’s vital you start there, so you understand the first five tips before proceeding.

Otherwise, let’s move on to tip 6, next page!

If you’re a member of the A.D.D. generations- or a President of the “Death to the English Language” club, and are a regular on the best social media site out there- Twitter- you probably don’t care how unreadable your Tweet is when you jam your commentary into 140 characters.  You’re making up words, abbreviating everything into forms that word has never been abbreviated into in the history of mankind, replacing every you and two with “U and 2″ (it’s only cool when Prince does it!). You’re struggling to jam what you want to say into a limited space- and in the process you’re often losing your point while simultaenously confusing anyone reading your Tweets into a heaping pile of “what the hell did that mean?”

Fear not: I present the First We Dream “Dream 10″ Guide of ways to help you fit your Tweets into 140 characters, be able to speak in proper English (with some obviously necessary exceptions), and make sense at the same time (well, depending on content- that remains up to you.)

Important Note:

Keep in mind one important Tweet-size rule though:  You can jam a Tweet in at exactly 140 characters, but MOST Tweets (unless you only stick to your few followers) will need one to four hashtag (#) channel labels that count towards the 140 characters.  You have to learn to write clean, but short so you have room for those hashtags, and for other people to RT (re-Tweet) your witty statement with your Twittertag included in that 140 limit.

Tip one, next page!

Yesterday’s post introduced the first teaser trailer for James Cameron’s upcoming December 18th movie “Avatar”.  Let’s recap some things concerning “Avatar”. Industry experts have stated that “Avatar” is going to do for 3D film making what “The Wizard of Oz” did for color television.  Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg visited Cameron to be introduced to the technology, and both said it is “the future of how movies will be made in Hollywood for the next 10-15 years”.  For 15 years this movies has been stewing, forming, waiting… until it finally gets to see the light of day this year now that our technology is fully capable of handling photo realistic computer simulation.

Yesterday, after the masses witnessed the teaser, Twitter burst forth with judgment on the movie:  “Sucks.”  “Meh.” “Blue people? Stupid.” “Gonna cost way too much and suck.”  On the must-see daily all-things-geek G4 television show “Attack of the Show”, they conducted a poll. “Does the teaser trailer make you want to see the movie?”  60 percent said no.  A guest film expert who’s followed the movie for 15 years was interviewed by Kevin Pereira.  Kevin asked him if the release of 15 minutes of 3D footage in Imax theaters today would give people a better indication of the movie.  His guest’s response? “Well, there was no “wow” factor in the teaser trailer- I don’t see how they can have a “wow” factor in 15 minutes of footage.”  Kevin also indicated that he was confused by what the story was about (mimicking the majority of those online who said they didn’t “get” it.)

I’m simply stunned by these notions, and that our (younger) society is so quick to negatively judge every single thing that comes down the pipe.  Frankly, you don’t even have to show anything- just the mere mention of an idea will result in the same response-  “I hear they’re making World of Warcraft into a movie.” The inevitable and immediate response? “That’ll suck.”

I simply can’t wrap my mind around what happened to the generations younger than me to create this hatred of all of our creative output as a society.  Especially when in the end, these same people who are so quick to judge will be the ones who will in fact go see the movie and then spend just as much effort proclaiming it to be the best ever. (For some, of course.)  Why exactly is everyone 35 and under brain-tuned to blurt out “that sucks” so automatically?

Conversely, why am I, at 37, always excited to hear of a new concept coming down the pipe?  World of Warcraft movie? Cool! Bring it on!  Avatar? The trailer looked awesome, and it wasn’t even in the revolutionary 3D it was designed to be seen in!  I mean, my instinct has never once been to even think “that will suck”.  And in 99.9 percent of cases, when I see the final product, it… Does. Not. Suck.

Indiana Jones IV? Didn’t suck.  Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars? Didn’t suck.  Transformers (any)? Didn’t suck.  Pirates of the Caribbean (any)? Didn’t suck.  These movies are fine, enjoyable, quality (predominately summer) popcorn flicks.  Is Indy IV the best in the series? No, of course not.  Does it “suck”? No- unless you are jaded.

Where does this jadedness come from?

I can’t put my finger on the point of pollution, exactly, though I do know the internet is involved in this mystery.  Why do I say this?  Because when leaving the theater upon the release of Star Wars Episode 1, I heard not ONE negative comment.  Conversely, I heard raves, and glowing praise, and the men’s bathroom was full of people quoting parts and talking about scenes- even laughing (favorably) about Jar-Jar Binks scenes.  Then guess what happened? Two days passed, and “THEY” on the internet began the “it sucks” campaign.  Suddenly the exact same people who had been so in love with the movie were now on board with the mass popular thought- “It sucks.” “Jar-Jar is “*gay”!” (*disgusting slang, never mine.) The invisible people behind the internet tubes had proclaimed it to suck- and these invisible people are the much younger generations- the teens to some degree-but mainly the twenty-somethings.

You see, the twenty-somethings are babies of technology.  They’ve always had amazing technology, movies, games and the like available to them their whole “adult” lives. Their idea of nostalgia were the systems that were still major steps forward in technology back in the day.  They never experienced the dawn of the technological entertainment industry.  So they are spoiled, by nature.  There is a disdain for CGI in films, because to them it’s just “fake computer people” getting in the way.

To my generation (while I technically lie in the Gen X category, I don’t fit their attitudes or mindset- I instead belong to what Prince refers to as “The New Power Generation”), those “fake computer people” are so welcome.  You see, when you compare what was possible in the 70’s and 80’s to what is comparable now, there is simply no argument that modern movies completely obliterate older ones in terms of quality.  There is something to be said for balance- for instance, I fully agree that in Indy IV, Lucas should have gone without the CGI ants and instead stuck with what made Indy so beloved- the gritty realism-  real bugs would have been not only a better choice but a tie in to “Temple of Doom”’s icky corridors of bugs.

That said, is it the fault of Spielburg and Lucas that the population is not informed enough to understand the end of the movie?  That it had nothing to do with “spaceships”?  I mean, they spelled out it was about inter dimensional beings.  This tells me that the younger generations have no knowledge concerning our current state of awareness concerning theoretical physics and the fact there are numerous dimensions, all of which likely hold life.  Space aliens? No- only to the uniformed.  Yet that’s how the jaded generations railed against the film.  Even the brilliant fridge scene- which was classic Indy- was slammed as “unrealistic”.   Hello?  When has Indy been realistic?  The scene was humorous from start to end, as well as suspenseful. But no, it’s now a running joke akin to “jump the shark”-  “nuked the fridge”.  I simply don’t follow this train of thought- or from my viewpoint, lack of thought.

Unless you don’t keep up to date on the movie industry very well, you should be quite aware of the upcoming December release of legendary filmmaker James Cameron (Titanic, Dark Angel) and his over-10-years-in-the-making Sci-Fi epic “Avatar”.

The word on the film is that Avatar will do for 3D films what the Wizard of Oz did for color television.  We’re talking revolutionary, enter-the-next-phase  filmmaking here, people.  Remember how movies changed after the first Matrix?  Meet Avatar- this is the next movie to take film making into the future another step.

Without further ado, here is the first trailer released that has movie fans climbing the walls with excitement!

Now that a few dozen Sci-Fi fanboys have hurled themselves off bridges or into oncoming traffic, I’ll point out that was obviously a joke.

The real first trailer (honest!) is located here: James Cameron’s Avatar

Avatar arrives in theatres December 18th to change moviemaking forever.

I’m certain some of you keep up to date on the latest internet memes- those hysterical can’t-miss videos that get thrown from person to person faster than you can take a breath before laughing again.

Every so often I’ll throw up some of these videos here on First We Dream, because after all- what can possibly be a better example of the type of simple creativity and imagination that each and every one of us can participate in? No need to be brilliant painters, writers, or other skilled sets.  Just some film footage from your camcorder or webcam, a bit of witty dialogue, and a film editing program a three year old could use- and YOU may make the next great viral video.

While many have seen the original “Hey Alan!” gopher, not everyone has seen this additional footage and “added bonus”.

If you’re an online gamer, particularly if you’ve spent hours on World of Warcraft, you know the online gaming scene- you understand the inside jokes about the genre, the guild politics… this game truly becomes a second life for many.  Of course, stereotypes abound and every female you run into is of course assumed to be a 40 year old fat guy in his mom’s basement (sorry, I only play male characters- it’s not me!)

However, online love happens- often- but a running joke is the trend of many male players instantly hitting on any female character they encounter in game.  Still- what’s a greater fantasy for so many male gamers than to date that perfect female- another gamer?

No one has a better understanding of the stereotypes and humor that lies not-so-hidden behind the surface of massively multiplayer gaming than Felicia Day, as she has proven with her award winning web series, “The Guild”.  If you have yet to watch these mini-episodes, you’re missing out on quality comedy and gaming humor with a specifically brilliant touch on how the obsession over these games impacts the lives of the players in the “real world”.  The videos are available online on iTunes (purchase and show your support!) and also on the Xbox Live videos area-  please, if you’ve missed them, go watch those first then return to this post to see the music video (you’ll get a much, much greater appreciation.)

The Guild – YouTube Channel (Subcribe- you won’t be disappointed!)

For those familiar with The Guild, you will adore their new music video directed by none other than Jed Whedon- that’s right, Joss Whedon’s brother.

So make sure you’re up to date on The Guild, then enjoy The Guild cast in their epic music video- I think I see another award on the horizon.

I only have two issues: Felicia obviously needs to read my blog on a more accurate name for “MMOs”- The lyrics should have figured a way to use “MMGS” (well, if she wants to be even more trendsetting. )

And the second issue?  Forget her Avatar-  how the heck can I date Felicia herself?!

Amazing sand art. Simply brilliant to watch.  This will make you smile.