Poor Image: Apathetic Citizens

Even with an explanation I still can't see what's happening. Not a good image at all, I'm afraid.

can you though? I couldn't discern anything in that scene.

I'm not particularly impressed with the video source, either. It claims to be 720p widescreen, but goes about it in all the wrong ways.

720p? Well, if you count taking the raw 480p image and blowing it up to a pixellated end result, sure. I don't.

Widescreen? As long as you don't mind that it's accomplished by removing visual information from the top and bottom instead of extending it to the sides (the latter not exactly being advisable for games designed for 4:3, but doable in some emulators).

Alright. Let me try my hand at an example from Stand Alone Complex. The scene is kinda spoilery though, and admittedly dark due to taking place at night while raining.

the second or the third are the best suggestions so far, but it is a spoiler.. :/

Yeah, I know. I just can't think of any other examples right now.

... well, maybe I can dig some up.

OK, take two. I'm aware that it kinda relies on the caption.

edited 9th Oct '12 7:31:02 PM by DRCEQ

Is that a picture of factory spewing smoke while the people watches?

I'm kinda torn. It has simplicity going for it, but it does kinda rely on the caption. Still, making use of captions is not always a bad thing, as long as it avoids JAFAAC syndrome. Maybe if you can make it clearer that it was an explosion of some kind rather than normal factory smoke.

edited 9th Oct '12 11:57:42 PM by nitrokitty

Yeah, it's suppose to be an explosion from an RPG-7. The scene turns to show the common citizens turning in response to hearing some kind of explosion off in the distance, but the scene only lasts about 2 seconds before it goes back to the action.

I'm trying to think of other examples, both visually and to add to the list of examples for the trope itself.

I don't think #32 shows the trope. It shows people reacting to something in the distance. Even if it was clear it was an explosion, they're still reacting to it in a reasonable manner.

The spoiler one would be great, but...

With a trope like this the best ones are going to be spoilers.

Stumbled upon this one◊ in a message board I go to regularly (Neo GAF if it matters).

Not sure what the usage restrictions are, though.

Oh that is GOOD!

that one's great, but I'm pretty sure we'd need permission. Apparently the photo was taken by a Will Cole. The only photographer I could find with that name is this guy: blog, inactive since January, facebook, but neither of those feature the photo, plus it seems like the Will Cole who took the pic isn't a professional photographer from what I gather. I can ask him though. Nope, that's not him. Still looking.

OK so I sent an e-mail to the college's alumni office to see if they might help us with contact info. This is starting to feel ridiculous, but I really do feel that that photo is the best suggestion.

edited 12th Oct '12 12:04:19 PM by bananasloth

Best of luck in this endeavor.

Man, that pic is just way too good. Hope we can get permission.

But if we can't, I think a lot of homeless charities have photos along those lines. Something like this one: [1]◊

The lady from the alumni office forwarded my message to the photographer and he's already contacted me to ask where we'd like to use his photo, so hopefully he'll get back to me soon.

I don't think that's an example. Something actually has to happen for the citizens to be apathetic towards. Like someone collapsing in the middle of a bridge(?), in the case of the photo.

edited 15th Oct '12 4:35:53 PM by bananasloth

We got permission to use the pic, but the guy said he'd actually prefer it to be uncredited.

If he prefers it that way, then so be it. I'll work on resizing it.

ED: Okay, #1 just resizes the image to 350 wide, the second crops it off the right edge (mostly empty space there, anyway). Which do you think works better?

edited 18th Oct '12 5:25:39 PM by ShadowHog

I like the wider shot better. It feels less artificially set up.

I like the crop better, but wouldn't mind the other image either.

I like the second shot, but don't listen to me. Just use that picture, it's good.

Either version works for me, but I lean toward the second.