The first big box (base game) contains all the main components: card decks, scenarios, character sheets, and some of the more frequently used counters. These all go into the custom wooden insert. Construction is exactly the same as the Arkham Horror one with poplar sides and plywood bottom. The board pieces, soundtrack and rulebooks get layered on top of the insert.

The second box (Growing Hunger) contains the rest and most of the counters for the game plus all the miniatures. I did consider doing it out of poplar like with the others but found this to be an undesirable choice. I’d have to make 50+ small-sized compartments which wouldn’t be much fun. Also, while the minis for LNoE are not fragile by any means, I still wouldn’t feel comfortable with them rattling around against hard surfaces.

All of this in addition to simply being cheaper then wood, I decided on pluck foam. The only downside to using pluck foam is that it doesn’t utilize space as well. With poplar and most wood, I can work with pretty much any type of sizing I want with walls as thin as 1/8″ (in my case 1/4″) but with pluck foam everything is based on a 1/2″ grid. This means all compartments and walls need to be a multiple of 1/2″. Not really a problem for LNoE but something definitely to take into account when planning. All minis and counters go into two foam layers as can be seen in the pics below.

Like with all the other tuckboxes, these were designed within Photoshop with the use of the online Tuck-box Generator to make blank template pdfs to work off of. Tuckboxes will also be up on BoardGameGeek in the near future.

Tuckboxes can be Downloaded Here.

The tutorial can be seen here off BGG and the results in my opinion are quite good given the relative lack of skill required. Priming is straightforward and not even sure if its a necessary step. My spray coverage wasn’t complete on some of the minis and the paint seem to adhere fine to parts that were bare of primer.

Like in the tutorial, the acrylic paints were applied extremely rough with no details or shading of any kind, just block colors for individual sections. The Minwax Polyshades did wonders for taking these ugly paint jobs and turning them into something quite appealing.

I’ve used polyurethane plenty for wood projects but never with the way this tutorial called for. I’ve actually avoided products such as these in the past that mix poly and stain claiming convenience with no reduction in final quality. I actually did try the Polyshades on “another” wood project out of curiosity and wasn’t too happy with it. Not terrible but not a replacement for doing wood stain and poly in separate stages.

For minis its a different story. The poly dries nice and hard giving a durable coating that isn’t too glossy. The stain part of the equation actually seeps into the cracks and crevices literally filling in the details of the molding. For zombies, it has the added benefit of giving them a nice grungy texturing. For the most part, worked great on the heroes as well.

I planned to try some sort of nice grass/flock for the basing but didn’t want to wait for an online order to ship out. Thus I hit the local craft stores to see what I could find. All that was available was a less-then-impressive greenery that was meant for making dioramas of California Missions. Its basically green styrofoam ripped up into a semi-fine powder. Applied and sealed in with a mixture of PVA glue and green paint to give it a better color to varying degrees of success.

In the near future, will probably finish up the rest of the minis from the expansions and also do a custom box/es for better storage as well.

Some things to consider though for anyone that plans to use these. I sized the Claustrophobia one wrong with the online generator but didn’t realize this until I had completed the design in Photoshop. Not wanting to redo it, I simply edited the sizing roughly by hand. Because of this, some of the inner flaps may be off slightly but this shouldn’t cause any problems. You may simply need to trim a bit more then where the lines tell you to do so.

For Forbidden Island, the Island Tile box expands outside of the size of regular paper so flaps 1 & 4 are cut-off. Simply just eyeball it and cut out a bit more past the line breaks. Also, the tuckboxes do add a bit of thickness to the tiles so it will be tougher to get it back in the plastic molding. Just get a dense object like a glass bottle to stretch out the compartment a bit and they should slide in fine.

Claustrophobia Tuckbox
Forbidden Island Tuckboxes
Pandemic Tuckboxes

Like with the Arkham Horror tuckboxes, these were designed within Photoshop with the use of the online Tuck-box Generator to make blank template pdfs to work off of.

For those in need of some Fresco organization, provided below as one convenient pdf. This includes tuckboxes for fresco, market, portrait, special blend, and bishop’s request tiles. Also up on BoardGameGeek as well.

Tuckboxes can be Downloaded Here.

The box itself is built from pieces of poplar finished with Feed’n Wax and pva glue that fits snugly into the original cardboard box. Tuck-boxes were done in Photoshop with the help of the online Tuck-box Generator and a handy scanner.

All the game pieces such as various tokens, money, stamina, and sanity markers fit into its own smaller box that pulls out so it can be placed closer to the actual gameplay.

Tuckboxes for anyone interested, are available as pdfs zipped conveniently in one file. They are also posted over on BoardGameGeek as well. Feel free to use for personal use.

These can be printed on pretty much any heavier paper stock but recommend using double-sided matte photo paper. Photo paper because its generally more durable to wear and tear and matte since glossy tends to be harder to adhere. Any PVA glue should do the trick although I usually use double-sided tape to make a stronger bond.

Construction is straightforward although the monster tiles cannot be printed fully as they extend past the 11″ of standard paper. Flaps 1 and 4 will either have to be made shorter or extended after printing. These are adhered in a way in which it doesn’t really matter though since they get glued inside.

Additional shots of the box below as well, simply click the thumbs for a fuller view.

Tuckboxes can be Downloaded Here.

The updated design aims to be less specific and more functional. A very simple two column layout boxed out yet still very aesthetically pleasing. For the most part, black/white with green for the links and background. Its also all done in serif fonts which I hardly ever do but it was requested and turned out quite nicely in my opinion.

JaniceL.com can be visited here.

For the most part, he wanted the theme as-is so no major changes were done to the overall design. Dropped in a logo and slightly tweaked the header for social buttons and a sidebar nav. Most of the other implementations were done through premade plugins such as the link nudging. Overall its a good example of how one can achieve a very professional and unique design without a large knowledge for code.

Cinémezzo can be viewed/read here.

I may or may not still do film write-ups. If I do, they will show up here and be archived via the navigation. Same goes for projects actually. Most unrelated and random postings will probably go on over at Put on The Glasses from here or out to keep things clutter-free on YGG’noise.

As far as the current redesign goes, the bulk is already done so everything should be functional minus “lack of content”. No socials, tags, or other sidebar widgets. If I feel a need for them, I’ll add them in as I go along.

Overall, films that were both commercially viable and critically successful on a global scale were becoming increasingly more likely. This was in direct contrast and often times in conflict with a parallel trend that was heavily aimed at drawing in domestic tween markets, with embarrassingly sappy melodramatic fare that was often times both formulaic and utterly mindless. Unsurprisingly, this latter trend won out and the emergence of this domestic innovation seemed to disappear altogether. Park Chan Wook and his contemporaries were still pumping out yearly works for the festival circuit, but it didn’t appear that anyone new was entering the limelight.

Its quite a sad affair and one that has honestly decreased my personal attentions to Korean film making on the whole. Thus I watch less films as years pass and pay increasingly less attention to industry developments. This isn’t to say I’ve completely given up on them but merely that my attentions are focused elsewhere on the globe. I still catch the new Kim Ki Duk or Park film when the opportunity presents itself. And on some rare occasions, still catch that oddball film that may have peaked my interest via a blog post or blind rental. Castaway on the Moon is such a film and one that I viewed wholly by accident.

I first read about Castaway on the Moon over on Twitch a few weeks ago and it caught my attention rather quickly. The director was unheard of but the premise itself seemed promising. A man attempts to kill himself to escape social ills by jumping into the Han River. By an ironic twist he doesn’t succeed and ends up stranded on Bamseom, a small untouched island in the middle of Seoul. It paints a rather striking image of urban isolationism rather literally. Here we have a man who in the middle of a bustling metropolis, seemingly goes ignored much like the rather odd island that miraculously goes equally undisturbed by the surrounding populace.

The narrative overall seems to resemble a comical version of Robert Zemeckis’s Cast Away. Kim, the man in question, even has his own version of “Wilson” and goes through the process of subsisting off the wild. Though instead of the more realistic pursuit of fishing/gathering by Tom Hanks, Kim opts to grow his own greens to make himself some Jajangmyeon, a rather ridiculous and nearly impossible stunt.

There is also a parallel narrative that bears some striking similarities. This one concerns a female hikikomori who literally lives her whole life in the confines of her darkened bedroom, completely isolated from the rest of society. She works through her computer and seemingly lives her life wholly on the net. Like Kim, she is seemingly caught in the middle of a bustling urban society but easily goes unnoticed. Its as if on both sides of the spectrum, both of these characters have failed to consolidate themselves satisfactorily into the social sphere at large.

The significant difference between the two though, is that while Kim is in actual physical isolation, “Ms” Kim is in a self-imposed simulacrum of the former. Her retreat away from social interaction itself seems to emerge more as a phobia then anything else. The reluctance to interact is so strong that to her own mother, she communicates via text messages rather then simply speaking directly to her.

The rather convoluted and irrational manner of socialization poses an interesting duality. On the one hand, Kim is faced with forced separation from society. On the other hand, Ms Kim is in the midst of society yet hides away, instead choosing to socialize and subside through the internet. The virtual distance of Ms Kim is therefore quite analogous to Kim’s physical distance and separation away from the surrounding city.

As the film progresses and the two narratives converge, viewers get treated to an Amelie-like quirky romance that brews between the two Kims. Both of whom never actually meet but communicate instead by long distance. Kim by writing large messages in the sandy beach and Ms Kim by chucking bottles with messages in the cover of night. Through this interaction, the presumed isolation wears away and Ms Kim actually ventures outside although in a characteristically Rube_Goldberg_Machine”>Rube Goldberg-like manner.

There is also definitely a critique upon urbanization akin to Edward Yang’s Terrorizers. Ms Kim although shying away from society seems to revel in its cultural artifacts. If her bleached hair is any indication, she seems to hold a certain degree of vanity and obsession with keeping up appearances for wholly non-existent social interactions. She exercises daily, browses and occasionally buys objects of fashion, and participates in avatar-ism.

It is thus all the more ironic that such a character is overly concerned from exposure, going so far as to cover her face with a motorcycle helmet on those rare skirmishes into the outside world. Her bubble-wrapped closet also seems to fall into these notions of over-protection or fear of contamination. She treats sunlight like foreign pollutants, fearfully backing away from its radiance.

As Kim himself comes to terms with his situation, he seems to develop a respect for his new-found life. Away from the worries of societal life, he pleasantly goes day to day directly making a living off the land. Its a far cry from the monotony of everyday urban life that seemingly has become absurd to the likes of Kim.

Ms Kim also seems to open up in unison. As Kim starts to work a small farm he has constructed, she finally vocally interacts with her mother. She starts to grow her own plants and takes in the sun’s natural radiance. Her once comforting bubble-wrapped commode, becomes agitating and she finally shifts her sleeping space back into the openness of her room.

The ultimate conclusion of the converging narratives is quite the ironic development. The final and surprisingly delayed realization by government workers of Kim’s residence upon Bamseom is rather shocking and comedic. Their appearance is as sudden as it is unexpected, but as viewers we simply wonder why it even took this long in the first place. The ignorance of society upon the individual is startling and Castaway On The Moon provides a clever representation.

Despite all this, its hard to summarize the film as completely critical of urban society and contemporary modes. While the ending may end hopefully and on a seemingly positive note, its somewhat of a contradiction. While the two Kims finally meet and seemingly come out of their individual bubbles, the means in which this is made possibly is troubling.

As Kim is being ferried away back to the mainland, Ms Kim in a courageous burst runs across town to meet him. She barely misses him as he steps onto a bus that speedily retreats. As both Ms Kim and viewers give up hope, Seoul is hit with a regular emergency drill which stops all traffic and business. Thus in an ironic twist, these escapees of society are saved by the very same institution they were seemingly trying to detract from. Its a somewhat enigmatic ending and is highly reminiscent of Mike Nichols The Graduate. Both coincidentally also end in a bus with a possible false veil of positivity.

Regardless, Castaway On the Moon is possibly one of the first mainstream films to deal directly with some of the much ignored social ills arising in East Asian metropolises. The desocialization isn’t relegated simply to otaku and social rejects like hikikomori, but increasingly becoming a major trend. Freeters or parasite singles or more common then ever and arguably occurring with increasing rate here in the West. Its not so much a dilemma of the social fabric irrationally tearing down, rather the reluctance of the institutions in power to come to terms with these emerging trends.

In the tradition of both cinéma vérité and Italian neorealist style, it seems that the central image of the bicycle within a bleak urbanized environment has become somewhat of a motif. Dating back to De Sica’s classic Bicycle Thieves and popping up more recently in Sixth Generation director Wang Xiaoshuai’s Beijing Bicycle, it has once again seemingly appeared in Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou’s social realist work, Take Out.

To not rely heavily upon comparative analysis, I’ll be brief. The continuing motif is obvious but probably irrelevant for the most part. Take Out has little to nothing to do with De Sica’s earlier work aside from genre and narrative similarities. If anything, it bears more in common with its Sixth Generation contemporaries across the globe such as Li Yang’s Blind Shaft or possibly Lou Ye’s Suzhou River.

In this manner there is a deep interest in its almost transnational cinematic relationship that seemingly parallels the subject matter of the film. Ming Ding, an illegal Chinese immigrant like most of the characters on screen, is struggling to not only earn a living, but save enough money to send back home to his awaiting family. His supposed frustration over this difficulty leads to borrowing money from a loan shark that he simply can’t pay back.

This serves as the central conflict of the film, but one that is not heavily emphasized. The two elements that probably marked this film in a unique light for me, was the sheer repetition and lapse of time that you get from the frequent and mostly monotonous deliveries Ming goes on to earn a living. The other secondary substance of the film is the more prominent interaction between Ming and his fellow coworkers.

The deliveries themselves are purposely repetitive serving to make the viewer feel like Ming, tired and constantly stressing over whether or not he will make enough by the end of the day to pay his debt. The customers themselves are also worthy of mention with most of them seemingly portrayed as balanced and understanding individuals who represent a wide spectrum across social and economic levels. Most tip and give appreciation for the delivery through rain or shine. While others, are seemingly bent on ruining Ming’s day or just causing him ill harm, ignorant of his plight. Regardless the camera work cleverly complements Ming’s own role here as almost a voyeur. Like Ming, the camera peeks behind cracked doors and hallways to glimpse into these individual’s lives.

The coworkers of the restaurant are possibly the central object of the film, more so then the deliveries or the conflict of debt. The one strong sense that comes off the fellow Chinese illegals is one of community and it almost echoes both a notion of shared experience as well as a more antiquated system of Confucian ideals, one where we look out for one’s own family. At the revelation of Ming’s financial misfortune Young, a fellow delivery man immediately hands over his cash in addition to giving all his take-outs of the day over to Ming. Other fellow workers also make similar contributions throughout the film.

Wang-Thye Lee as Big Sister is easily the most prominent of the characters who actually worked at the restaurant where the film was shot. Her completely natural discourse and demeanor with the customers is both charming and revealing of this multi-ethnic community, where the loss of English may not really be that important. One definitely gets the sense of a larger holism here that is more relative to class then language or ethnicity.

Charles Jang as Ming Ding is also somewhat surprising but works quite cleverly whether intentional or not. Despite similarities to films like Blind Shaft, Jang is quite probably the antithesis to protagonists like Yuan Fengming who hold an almost childlike innocence while being the victim in a corrupt setting.

While Ming is surely a victim of criminalization, it is hard to argue his “innocence” down to a level of ignorance. I would even go so far as to say hes not even that likable as a character. Pointing to this as a flaw though is hardly accurate. If anything it works more brilliantly for the characterization. Instead of being dynamically shifted to one side, Ming is indeed a very human character. Angst is his primary characteristic and he is fully aware of the situation he is put in. As viewers we sympathize with his troubles but at the same time fall victim to his rather off-putting angst that has markedly left the same effect on his coworkers.

I’m not sure whether or not the fact that Jang is actually a Korean American bears any constellation on his flavoring of Ming’s characterization, but what did seem apparent in viewing is a sense of outsider-ship. It could possibly draw into the notions of voyeur but more likely is hinting at the conflicting dynamic between him and his coworkers.

The conflict is readily apparent, especially when Wei messes up an order costing Ming a larger tip. The outsider-ship is thus more centered upon the fact that he is the ignorant and frustrated newcomer rather then some hapless victim; one who is beginning to realize how hard it will be to actually make money to send back home. Both Wei and Young who have seemingly been in the States longer, have the sense that they have either failed or succeeded in passing those initial years of frustration although it is hard to tell which one. Either way, the world-weariness of these older characters is lost on the younger Ming.

The general style and mise en scene of the piece is quite startling. To make an easy comparison, I am most reminded of the same Sixth Generation directors across the globe and their New Documentary Movement. Take Out is surely not a documentary nor is it true cinéma vérité. Regardless it seems to borrow heavily from these genre conventions especially in the manner in which shots are framed and composed. Most of the shooting itself is hand-held, sporadic, and somewhat chaotic. The camera rarely pulls away and is often closed in to a claustrophobic level. Often it harshly frames Ming and his customers in close proximity where little background seeps in.

In addition to this close quarters shooting, the editing itself is quite sporadic and frequent. The editing itself overall is almost contradictory to the aesthetics of cinéma vérité. Instead of long interrupted shooting, the edits are quite abundant with most cuts lasting less than a second. Jump cuts are also used which overall lends itself more to stylization rather then a notion of untainted reality. It creates an interesting dichotomy and one that I am left to ponder on.

The opening sequence of the film is one that I took great notice of. The montage depicts gangsters making their way through a seemingly maze-like living structure to get to Ming. The almost sardine can-like standards here are reminiscent of Walled City dwellers back in Kowloon years earlier with its extremely dilapidated urban setting. Cockroaches abound, with humans packed together in a small confined space.

One really gets the sense that Ming and these other dwellers are somewhat on a fringe. Partly residing here in the States, but always not belonging. It lends itself to transnational theory, with populations largely caught between two nationalities or culture, not really suscribing solely to one. The framing of many shots cleverly mirrors this; with Ming framed in the foreground by objects like doorways but always half covered or cut off, never in full clear view.

Ultimately its somewhat of a shocking film personally. The Sixth Generation’s NDM back in China has long been dead taken over by foreign market sell outs such as Hero or The Promise, so its even more surprising to see a work like Take Out emerge here. The documentary-like aesthetic works perfectly for the social realism that is being emphasized but strays far away from actually appearing cheap. The film does not at all appear improvised or half-assed. Shots are thought out and consciously montaged together to full effect.

In a way, it takes the best of both world, using the reality of cinéma vérité but the stylings of a more classic feature film narrative. The casting to say the least, is spot on which is shocking given many are non-actors, or non-Chinese. Wei as the kitchen chef hails from Singapore but really does come off as a seasoned cook. The bit roles and extras as well are almost expertly done with natural, on-the-spot dialogue. It appears non-scripted and probably wasn’t, but works to brilliant effect when supplemented with the film’s carefully crafted narrative.

External Links

Take Out Official Site
Take Out @ IMDB
Take Out @ Wikipedia