"FICTION"//
Can fiction be a reality as long as you live through it? When fiction becomes reality, how will emotions affect the people who are a part of it? How does it feel to re-live someone else’s life and will you gain empathy, sympathy through it? Will living an alternative reality change one’s perception of the space and its history?
Synecdoche
New York
2008, Charlie Kaufman.
Synecdoche is a film about the theatre restaging of everyday events from the "director's" life. A set of New York is constructed to stage the scenes where we see the increasingly complex web of human interactions and their effects.
As the film progresses, reality morphs into fiction, identities overlap and begin to question every individual’s perception of reality. As days and scenes are replicated, it also brings up the possibility of being able to relive any day in your life.
Analyzing and restaging reality also gives us insight into how space, time, interactions and other natural factors might shape identities.
If you write a script of your life, got people to act in roles in that life and you participated in the recreation of that reality does it then become an actual part of reality?
Synecdoche New York, 2008, Charlie Kaufmann
“There will be no shocking memories, and the prevailing emotion will be one of nostalgia for those left behind, combined with a spirit of bold curiosity for the adventure ahead.”
DR STRANGELOVE
Stanley Kubrick, 1964
This is based during the cold war. Driven by patriotism and a rogue general giving commands to start a nuclear war, a base goes on lockdown, believing that the commands were genuine.
Armed with weapons of mass destruction and fuelled by the mindsets that was seen in war poetry at the beginning of the world war, a dangerous combination of “act first, think later” can be seen in this “documentary”.
The movie eventually progresses to the inevitable deployment of the nuclear weapon with the threat growing from the destruction of Russia to the world as Russia has a secret doomsday weapon that automatically deploys without human intervention upon a nuclear attack.
The point of this movie however, is not to examine the consequences of war, or look at the weapon in which war is fought with. It is established that unless we change the perception of warfare and constantly trying to outdo the other party, warfare just becomes an endless cycle of increasing destruction as seen at the end of the movie where faced with the threat of extinction, the first thing they debate about is how to repopulate faster than Russia.
FALLOUT 4
Bethesda Game Studios, 2015
Fallout is a series of computer game that reimagines reality post nuclear fallout. Influenced by post world war nuclear paranoia in the 1950s and is set in 2077 following a nuclear exchange that brought about an apocalypse.
The game reimagines the 1940/50s to have created nuclear energy, AI and genetic modification, accelerating the technology but combining it with the society and design of that time, creating a fulfilled utopia of the American dream.
A minority of the population survives the nuclear war and subsequent fallout by seeking refuge in underground bunkers known as Vaults and players can leave this vaults in special suits with Geiger counters that indicate when the level of radiation is at hazardous limits. The players will then have to look for cures for radiation poisoning.
The game focuses on the exploration of this post nuclear apocalyptic world and the different ways radiation mutated landscapes and how survivors learnt to live through the fallout.
Shelter
Abandoned shelters apart from the state built facilities that survived the fallout follows the same concept as what “preppers” describe as ideal bunkers for living or water storage.
Products
Fallout has reimaged products and consumerism post apocalypse. A commonly seen and referenced in-game item is Nuka Cola, a parody of America’s obsession with coca-cola. This product is so widely consumed that eventually, leftover bottle caps become used as a form of currency.
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_series
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Currency
SURVIVALISM
The practice of survivalism by people known as “preppers” involves preparing for major disasters that might happen. Fear and paranoia of natural or manmade disasters drives these people to practice survivalism which includes the learning of survival skills, stockpiling food, weapons and escape vehicles as well as any essential tools that one might require upon the collapse of societal infrastructure.
This study of Survivalism shows how many fictional representations of a post-nuclear apocalypse is mimicked in real life to see how fiction can be reexamined and reinhabited.
HOW TO SURVIVE A NUCLEAR WAR AND FALLOUT
Initial blast and fire
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Underground bomb shelters (no protection from ground zero)
Radiation
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Alpha Particles (only affects open wounds or when ingested)
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Beta Particles (protected by regular clothing/thicker fabrics)
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Gamma Radiation (4 inches of lead, 10 inches of steel, 24 inches of concrete, 36 inches of dirt, 72 inches of water, 110 inches of wood, 5000 feet of air or some combination of materials.) calculated through halving thicknesses
EMP
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Destroys electronic devices
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Requires EMP shielding container
Fallout Particles
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Cover self completely with thick easily washable materials/suits
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Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear certified gas masks.
Uncontaminated Food and Water
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Stockpile them in the shelter or protected from nuclear fallout (to be accessed after 2 days while fully protected)
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Cictern can be used to store larger amounts of water while food can be stored in sealed areas with root vegetables stored in a cool dark place.
