Review: Survivors (episode 1)

Generally we try to avoid reviewing new material at The Outland Institute. We feel there are plenty of places to read about new films and books, and our efforts are best directed toward looking at 20 year-old annuals and exploring the importance of the moustache in 1970s television. After all, who else is going to review vampire-themed Sweet Valley High Books or take a new look at Storm Boy? This stuff doesn’t happen by itself, people.

But the new version of Survivors covers so many of the Institute’s obsessions – illnesses on screen, retro television, great theme tunes, cheap science fiction, Paterson Joseph – that it would be churlish not to talk about it. Beware, minor spoilers lie in wait.

For those who came in late, Survivors was a British television series that ran for three seasons from 1975. It’s premise? A man-made virus wipes out the majority of the world’s population, the few left behind trying to start anew in an unfamiliar world (so it’s a bit like Ugly Betty). It was created by Terry Nation, who also created the Daleks and Blake’s 7. Not a bad resume. Certainly better than working at Lidl.

Tilt-Shift Photography: Exactly Like Where You Are Right Now…

I was having lunch with my friend Roy. He was explaining why he should be allowed to legally marry his iPhone, and I was staring out the window, thinking about kittens. Suddenly I heard the words “tilt-shift photography”.

“Hang on,” I said. “That isn’t a product made by Apple. It doesn’t even start with an “i”.”

Roy then explained that Tilt-Shift Photography is a technique used to make images of real life look like pictures of models. For example, here’s an image from Photography Jam of Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station:

It looks fake, but it’s real, just like Kerri-Anne Kennerley. Here’s some images of Melbourne by Ben Thomas: