PDF - Cashmere High School

THE CIRTWENTY
CUIT
SPRING TWELVE
E D I &TATTRIBUTIONS
O R I A L
The Cashmere Circuit, Cashmere High School’s annual
student magazine.
The content of this magazine was contributed from the four year 12 and 13
media studies classes of teachers Richard James, Brett
McKersey and Dan Hanson at Cashmere High School.
Selections were made from each class.
Financed by Cashmere High School.
The year was 2012.
Edited by Lachlan Taylor and Jonathon Thomson
(Media301JA)
Printed by Wyatt Wilson Print, Christchurch.
Published articles contributed by:
Chris Bailey
Maja Burry
Millie Gribbin
Amanda Gray
Florence Fournier
Taylor Foster
Sam Lewis
Nicola Hodge
Student artwork contributions:
Xander Dixon
Andy Barr
Izzy Molloy
Cover Art:
Tom Tuke
N
ine months ago we sat lurking
in the depths of K4 dreaming
of making the ultimate student
magazine: uber cool, super
sleek, dripping with finesse and effortless class. Nine months on from there
we’re still lurking at the back of that
class, putting the finishing touches on
what, while not quite the ubermag of a
new year’s naïve ambition, has turned
into a little production called The Circuit
that we’re mighty proud of.
Learning to edit a magazine is nothing
like learning to ride a bike. It’s more like
learning to operate a bulldozer in pitch
darkness. There were no steady handlebars to hold onto for us, only obstacle
after obstacle for two inexperienced
teenagers with no editing or graphic design knowledge to back us. The biggest
obstacle we had to hurdle is apparently
funny in a rich man’s world but it really
isn’t in an editor’s, and that was money.
The start of the year brought high hopes
with applications to funding schemes,
pub charities and potential advertisers
but as the torrent of financial enthusi-
asm fell to a trickle of frugal despondency we dropped into a sump of editorial
depression and with deadlines drawing
closer and our contributors taking longer
than we thought to give us anything to
work with, the obstacles just seemed to
overcome the enthusiasm.
Yet it’s here that we have to give our
first big thanks to Cashmere High
School, and our Principal, Mark Wilson,
for fronting the money that’s made The
Circuit a reality. There is no way this
magazine could have happened without
that support and as editors we cannot
thank them enough. Big thanks also
have to go out to the media teachers
involved in this slightly experimental,
student-run, way of producing a magazine usually handled by teachers. Special
thanks, in this regard, must go out to
Mr Richard James, our media studies teacher, for guiding us through the
choppy waves of the editorial ocean,
pointing out the right way when we got
lost and always having the experience
and advice to keep us on track, on time
and on budget.
The other big thank you we want to give
here is to everyone who contributed to
the content of this magazine: the articles
from both year 12s and year 13s, the
artworks and photographs of Cashmere students, the cover artwork from
ex-pupil Tom Tuke, and everyone else
who aided us in turning an idea into 32
stapled pages of the best Cashmere High
has to offer.
Finally, we hope that you find The Circuit
an enjoyable, entertaining and informative experience that gives you a glimpse
of the true wealth of talent we have here
at Cashmere High School. We hope that
you take the time to read through these
articles and bear witness to the hardwork and effort put in by some fantastic
young members of our community. We
hope that you’ll take something positive
away from this magazine. We hope you
like The Circuit.
Co-editors
Lachlan Taylor, Jonathon Thomson
C O N T E N T S
The Label That
Wouldn’t Die;
Page 27
7 STROKE OF GENIUS Millie
Gribbin talks art and education
with ex-pupil Tom Tuke.
9 FURIOUS FILM MAKING
Sam Lewis on this year’s V48
hour film competition.
11 MANGA What place do
Filling In T
he Gaps;
Page 23
anime and Japanese comics
have in our society? And what
are they all about? Nicola Hodge
explains.
17 A TASTE OF CHILE Maja
Burry talks with year 12 student
Ruben Gordon about his exchange trip to Chile.
19 I STRESS, EUSTRESS
Study getting you down? Florence Fournier has what you
need to get through.
A Taste of
Chile;
Page 17
21 DAYZ The ingenuity and
hands-on experience of a New
Zealand game designer. Chris
Bailey writes about one of the
most successful gaming mods of
recent years.
Stroke of Genius;
Page 7
23 FILLING IN THE GAPS
Taylor Foster tells an earthquake
story with a difference. Cashmere High School students contribute to bringing back some
vibrancy to a CBD that has lost
so much.
k
Student artwor
roughout
th
s
ion
ut
rib
cont
Manga;
Page 11
27 THE LABEL THAT
WOULDN’T DIE The story of
New Zealand’s most successful
independent record label, Flying
Nun, by Amanda Grey.
TWO T H O U S A N D
School Crossing Safety
Traffic lights aimed at making school crossings safer
are to be installed on Barrington Street around
Christmas this year. The new lights will put an end
to the after school cone system currently in place
that requires teachers taking extra time out to help
students cross the road.
CHS and The RBNZ
Space Camp 2012
“Space Camp is the geek trip. What most people don’t know is
that it is one of the best trips that you can go on at Cashmere.
No matter whether we liked science a little or a lot, we all loved
Space Camp. We got to spend nearly three weeks in the States
hanging out and having fun with each other in the southern sun.”
Cashmere High students this year participated in
The School Reserve Bank monetary policy challenge.
Using the same information as the Reserve Bank,
teams had to assess the economic conditions facing
New Zealand and the outlook for inflation, finally
deciding upon an official cash rate that they see
best. The CHS team was one of four schools in New
Zealand selected to go through to the regional finals
for the competition, representing all of Canterbury.
- Laura Viney talks about her time in the USA
Year 12 Biology Trip - Temple Basin
On the 12 of March to the 16 of March four year 12 biology
classes spent a tiring but educational three days at the Temple
Basin ski lodge in Arthurs Pass. The purpose of the trip was to
expand our knowledge of ecology and plant adaptations in the
South Island. Before we could relax (or so we thought) at the
lodge we had to endure the gruelling one and a half hour walk up
the mountain, which left us all tired and with aching legs.
The next morning it was more walking, this time to the top of the
mountain to see the tarn (Mountain Lake) where a few brave souls
took the plunge which provided a source of amusement for those
of us who chose not to. The walk down was not without its tragedies as a torn ligament and a helicopter visit soon proved!
Despite a few mishaps, the majority of us managed to sample
over 40 square metres of plant life and sit down that evening to
complete the formal assessment. It was a lot of work; but with
the generous assistance of our teachers I think I can speak for
everyone when I say it was a great trip and an amazing experience.
Vibrancy at CHS
A student council initiative
(headed by Year 13 student
Xander Dixon) brought
about the creation of a new
mural in the school, painted
on the end of D block.
Painted by local mural artist
Nick Lowry (his work can
be seen with Underground
Coffee and other local businesses) the work encapsulates the school value of
vibrancy, incorporating the
Lymphad and the school
house colours.
The mural is part of Principal Mark Wilson’s long
term plan to brighten up
the school grounds with
artwork, more seating for
students, landscaping and
planting initiaives.
The seating pictured to the
left was completed in October with the help of Cashmere High Students and is
also part of the initiative.
3 | Circuit | Spring 2012
AND
T W E L V E
Kristina Di - Fluidity
This painting by year 13 student Kristina Di has recently won a Christchurch young artists’ award.
What’s happening in Term 4?
29th October iCandy Film Competition
Oct 30th October Music Competition Finals
Nov 1st Achiever’s Evening
Nov 5th Year 11&12 Prize Givings
Start Dates for 2013
Thursday 24 January
9:30am - Year 13 re-enrolment
11:00am - Year 12 re-enrolment
Friday 25 January
10:00am - Year 10 re-enrolment
11:30am - Year 11 re-enrolment
Monday 28 January Teacher only day
Nov 7th Yr 13 Graduation
Tuesday 29 January 9:00am - Year 9 Powhiri in PAC
Dec 11th Year 9&10 Prize Givings
Wednesday 30 January 8:45am - All students start classes
Ashleigh Ward in FIFA Women’s under 20s
Year 13 Ashleigh Ward this year was a
member of the New Zealand under-20
women’s football team, which recently
played in the FIFA World Cup in Japan.
She started all three games.
Unfortunately the New Zealand team
narrowly missed out on progressing
through to the next round but Ashleigh
still had an unforgettable trip.
We’ve had the time of
our lives...
Back to the 80s, The Totally Awesome Musical
This year’s production Back to the 80s
was a tremendous sucess with all four
evening performances sold out.
“We’d beaten Switzerland in our first
game and not many New Zealand
teams win their first game; then we
drew with Japan and that felt like a
win because they were so skilful and
are such a good side in women’s football. That was great, but then the way
we missed out was the hardest part.”
“After all the tragic events of last
year, we all needed a pick me up and
Cashmere High School’s production of
Back to the 80s was exactly what we
needed to lift our spirits. Whether you
were performing in it, helping create it
or just coming along to watch, everyone seemed to have an amazing time,
it really made a brighter day and it set
the school up for a fabulous year we
were all in need of.”
-Ashleigh Ward
- Sylvia Bellingham
Loudon Farm - Andy Barr (Year 13)
STROKE OF GENIUS
Prized past Cashmere High School student Tom Tuke gives insight to life as an emerging artist at Elam School of Fine Arts
Words by Millie Griibbin, Art works by Tom Tuke.
F
ine Arts student Tom Tuke first
started experimenting with art,
as every child does, by “Jackson
Pollocking” his food recklessly
around the kitchen walls, creating his
very first canvas of swirling colours in
mashed potato and peas. Replacing
his bib with a pencil, five-year-old Tom
began to sketch impressions of power
lines and palm trees while sitting with
the windows open to a thunderstorm.
He conjured up a unique list of imaginative childhood dreams and wanted
to grow up to be a, “lolly-dropping-jetpilot,” a mum, or an artist. Although now
that Tom has stopped throwing his food
and has left the halls of Cashmere High
School, it has become apparent that he
has chosen his path wisely.
7 | Circuit | Spring 2012
“Art
doesn’t need
to be
be deep.”
to
deep.”
-Tom Tuke
-Tom Tuke
Tom Tuke is living back in his home
town, Auckland, taking a four year
course at Elam School of Fine Arts.
“Cashmere is a fairly well-represented
school up here, heaps of familiar faces.
Will Linscott, Florence MacDonald, Briony
Lightbody and Bob Dougan are all floating about,” he explains. After finishing
his usual student lunch of bacon and
eggs, Tom sits in his room at Grafton
Hall and tells me he is exploring new
ideas and getting a handle on our largest
city’s contemporary art scene. “It’s pretty bloody conceptual up here, and it can
be a bit of a struggle to come to grips
with.” He continues to say that there is
an incredible transition in the first year
of Fine Arts, “where in many ways you
have to discard any preconceived ideas
coming into it, putting what we’re thinking at high school on hold and starting
afresh.” Although having hardly touched
a paint brush in nine months, Tom’s time
is filled with art study, and with a growing loan he is considering selling a few of
his own caricatures to keep food on his
plate.
After showcasing his unique painting
style in the 2011Cashmere Talent Quest
Tom Tuke became a well known character around the school. While the tunes
of Lonnie Donegan played throughout
the hall, Tom did Britten House proud by
performing a four-minute, large-scale
performance painting act. Confusing
the audience, the painting didn’t seem
to resemble anything until Tom flipped
the canvas around and an amazing
Rolf Harris style portrait of Fidel Castro appeared. It was as if his painting
career had already begun when teachers
wanted to assist Tom by purchasing his
paintings. “It’s a measure of how highly
thought of he is at Cashmere,” Deputy
Head and art history teacher Blair Johnson stated. “He had a knack of thinking
through concepts and taking them to a
new, more creative level.” Mr Johnson
also stated that, “Tom is one of the most
genuine guys; clever, creative, funny
and hard working.”
It is clear that Tom has had his fair share
of experiences around famous artists
and their work; from living in Lyttelton
and retrieving soccer balls from Bill
Hammond’s garden, to staying a year
in the Netherlands living in MC Escher’s
hometown and Van Gogh’s homeland.
Tom has also spent time at his cousin,
Jenny Neligan’s, Bowen Galleries in Wellington, where a variety of New Zealand
artists’ works are showcased, including
sculptures by Sam Duckor-Jones and
portraits by Grant Beran and Colin Luxton. Growing up surrounded by artistic
talent has led Tom to appreciate and
look to these artists for inspiration. He
shares that he has learnt much from,
“The expressionists, New Yorker cartoons, Matisse’s attitude, Cezanne, Mr
Johnson, and the film Amelie.” He continues to say that his mum and dad were
a huge influence, as well as, “Giacometti’s drawings, cycling, all of his teachers,
kids drawings and attitudes, Raymond
McIntyre and Chris Salmon.”
“Tom is an artistic influence on me, he’s
just so into what he does,” commented
year thirteen art student and friend
of Tom, Xander Dixon. Though Tom
may not be aware many Cashmere art
students are interested by his work and
creativity, Xander continues to say that,
“It is easy to see his passion towards
art, which shows in his work. Always
painting or doodling, it’s very much
something he does in his own time. His
love for art and his crazily awesome
style is inspiring and gets me super
stoked; also his name just has that artistic ring to it: Tom Tuke.” Tom expresses
what he has discovered since leaving
Cashmere and states that, “There is a
world beyond NCEA paintings where
everything has themes and symbolism. Art doesn’t need to be deep.” He
then brought forward the point that as
long as you are learning and developing, it doesn’t matter what mark you
get. Tom shared his tremendous respect
for the Cashmere art department, “Art
students are like five-year-olds, always
needing advice from teachers.” When
asked what is the one thing he would
do if he came back to Cashmere, Tom
responded with yet another creative
idea, “I would make a speed painting
club, and we would be the best in the
country. Also, I know the folio evenings
are a cool way to show that Cashmere
has the goods, but it would be cool to
have a student-run gallery where people
could sell their art.”
“It’s easy to get
stuck in our own
little worlds.”
-Tom Tuke
“My thoughts on art are continually
forming and reshaping, especially since
being in Auckland,” he writes. At school
Tom would often paint landscapes with
hidden faces and portraits within them,
while in the city he finds it sad how you
often forget about the land when you
are surrounded by people. “Spending all
day concerning yourself with art is full
on and difficult.” Tom made the point
that at high school you get a variety
of subjects, you have a break and can
make art about different topics, whereas
at university, “Everyone ends up making
art for art’s sake, or art about art which
is all very post-modern, but also hard to
attach to. It’s easy to get stuck in our
own little worlds.” Surely similar to any
artist, Tom finds that he goes though
patches where his creativity is all dried
up and, “At times it feels a bit pointless.”
Throughout his move, one thing Tom
has kept up is his drawing and cartooning. “I have spent a lot of time on my
bike, drawing observations while riding.”
He has also spent some time drawing
into photocopies of well known masterpieces, turning Rodin’s Thinker into a
motorcyclist or Cezanne’s Card Players
into fishermen on cruise ships. He then
leads onto questioning, “What is ‘good
art’?” as everyone seems to enjoy these
works. “I like that everyone can appreciate it, I want to make art that is
accessible to everyone, and cartoons are
good like that.”
For Tom Tuke, it is clear that he has
lived a pretty out-of-the-ordinary life
so far and by no means was Cashmere
High School the end of his unbelievable
and creative journey. Although I fear
it is too late for motherhood to be his
fate, or a lolly-dropping jet pilot to be
on the cards, the reality of his dream
of becoming an artist certainly seems
promising. Cashmere High is looking
forward to seeing Tom’s name next to
those artists who have been of influence
to him, as he will certainly become of
influence to many aspiring artists in the
school halls of Cashmere High.
V48HOURS is officially New Zealand’s largest film competition.
There is nothing quite like it.
Simply put, filmmaking teams have just one weekend to make a short film.
Words and phtographs by Sam Lewis
C
onnor and I arrived at the venue
early to be welcomed by a green
castle of V crates, with several
organizers behind it taking down
team names. A man drew a card from a
deck and handed it to us. Competitors
sat at small bar tables in a large hall
wondering what the card they were
given meant. Thirty minutes later we
found out. Rom-Com. Ideas of what we
could make flooded our heads. We had
48 hours and a team of eight to shoot
and edit a short film. Out the doors
everyone ran to tell their teams.
To sum the weekend up in a sentence,
Simon O’Brien, a fellow Cashmere High
competitor says, “Exciting, intense and
a whole lot of fun!” He was from one
of three teams from Cashmere High
that entered. V48hours is an awesome
experience that anyone with an urge
to create and share with the world
9 | Circuit | Spring 2012
needs to try. Each year brings new
competitors and this year had over
1000 teams across New Zealand, which
is almost 20% more than last year.
Most teams that try it will be eager to
“Exciting,
intense and
a whole lot
of fun!”
do it the following year and try to do
better. “Can’t wait for next year,” was
what Simon said afterwards. Before the
event, competitors remarked, “The first
year is more of a trial and error because
everything that can go wrong seems to
go wrong.”
You are given a genre, a camera
technique, a line of dialogue, an object,
a character with a certain persona. With
all these things you would assume that
all the films would be very similar but
it’s quite the opposite. Our team got
romantic-comedy but when it came to
discussion time there were ideas from
a thriller love story to a comical affair
between a man and a tree. Many think
this is an easy task but it’s intense even
for the professionals. Thanks to the
Cashmere High School Media Department
we had all the gear needed.
To get the most out of the 48 hours, 4
hours sleep and many V cans would be
the way to go. We got up at 5am in the
morning to a crisp frost and a 1° air
temperature. It was freezing. The filming
continued despite the cold. We filmed
for a few hours then went back to the
house to make a rough cut copy on the
computer, then went out again.
computer watching our film being
pieced together scene by scene. We
were so proud that it was all falling into
place nicely. Hours were spent piecing
it together and before it was time to
render. A rough cut had already been
rendered just in case the computer
crashed, so that we would at least have
something to hand in.
A huge pressure was suddenly gone and
the team relaxed and watched a movie
while it rendered. A few hours later
there was a high pitched jingle from
the computer. “It’s finished!” exclaimed
Connor, a member of the team. After
that we drove to the hand-in destination
and went back home. All we could do
now was wait for our heat to be judged.
In one of the scenes James Wright, one
of the actors, had to jump over a fence
with a guitar to perform a romantic
gesture. When landing, his ankle
rolled and he could not stand. Within
10 minutes his ankle was the size of a
tennis ball and he could barely walk.
This was a disaster because he was still
needed in scenes, but he gritted his
teeth and kept going.
Late into the night, as more footage was
being loaded onto the computer, the
camera was suddenly bumped. Everyone
held their breath as we checked if the
footage had been lost. It had, which
meant we had lost nearly all the footage.
We would have to re-shoot the next
morning. Everyone woke up at 6am
again to a bitter frost to film the missing
scenes. After that we added it to the film
and started to render again.
Several days later, our heat was being
screened at the Palms Mall for all to see.
We sat down nervously waiting for ours
to come. Suddenly, ours was on. It was
great to see our movie in the theatre.
Everyone laughed at the right moments
and clapped at the end. Past the green
banners with our heads held high we
walked knowing that we had completed
V48 hours and had a great time doing it.
The funny thing was all we could think
about was what we would do next year.
That night we all huddled round the
11 | Circuit | Spring 2012
MANGA
Manga: Japanese comics in the West. A little-known
art form that has the power to change the way you will
read comic books. Words by Nicola Hodge, pictures by
Claudia Anderson.
Until recently I had never heard of manga, or its digital brother anime, so it was
quite a shock when one day I opened a
comic which would change what I read
and how I did it. The style of Japanese
comics and their animations have taken
the world by storm, with manga such as
Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist becoming increasingly popular in the west.
Manga rose out of the ashes of a postwar Japan like a magnificent phoenix,
eventually stretching its wings to touch
nearly all the corners of the globe.
Japanese art is quickly being adopted
into our own culture from the games we
play to the films we watch, whether it is
Pokémon or Avatar: The last Air Bender.
So what exactly are manga and anime?
How did they get here? And what makes
them so special?
To find out, let’s start with the basics.
“Manga
rose out of the
ashes of a post-war
Japan like a
magnificent
phoenix...”
Simply put, manga is the Japanese word
for a cartoon. It translates loosely to,
“doodle” or, “whimsical sketch,” and is
pronounced, “manh-ga.” Japanese comics are read right to left, with what we
would consider the back cover being the
front of the book.
But, manga has another meaning; a
meaning which has become a definition in the western world for describing
Japanese comics. In Japan manga is a
generic word for any type of cartoon,
while in places like New Zealand it refers
to a distinct style of art which has come
to be universally considered as Japanese. The same interpretation can be
applied to anime, which is simply an
abbreviated from of animation. In New
Zealand and the rest of the western
world, anime is distinctly Japanese, while
in Japan it can be used to refer to any
animated cartoon. The universal definition of manga is not set in stone. In the
western world the word manga has become associated with the iconic aspects
of art found in the majority of Japanese
manga. Manga is now used to describe
any comic which uses the stereotypical
Japanese style even if it was produced in
China or America, but for the purposes
of this article the word manga refers to
the comics produced in Japan.
A common misconception with the definition of manga is that the art defines
whether or not the comic is Japanese.
However, this is simply not so. Manga
artists, who are known as mangaka
in Japanese, each have a unique style
which separates their work from every
other mangaka. By simply comparing
the art in Naruto to Full Metal Alchemist,
one can see both similarities and differences. The idea is that each mangaka
adopts aspects of the art; some use the
stereotypical big eyed, cartoony characters while some stick to realistic dimensions, sketching highly lifelike images.
Seong Oh, who works in The Graphic
Novel Cafe, located in Auckland, a shop
which specialises in Japanese manga
and anime, explained that the thing that
makes manga so different from western
comics is not the art but the plots. In an
interview, he explained that, “Manga and
anime are very good at making creative and imaginative plots. The ‘manga
eye’ is just one of the many aspects of
manga style drawing. I don’t think it is
very important because there are manga
which don’t use, ‘Big manga eye’ such
as Vagabond where the characters have
Asian eyes.” Seong Oh also explained
that the way manga is set out helps
distinguish it from its western cousin.
“Flow and the way manga delivers atmosphere. Readers naturally follow the
character’s emotive expression and the
story development by the author’s panel
layout.” Seong Oh described the comic
layout as being made out of, “Beautiful
still shots with lots of situation descriptions. It requires readers to stop at
each panel and read to know the story
development,” and that manga is, “More
graphic-oriented” than the western style
of comics which ensures that “Readers
will catch the situation or story development by just following the ‘Flow’.”
Manga is growing in popularity as it
spreads into New Zealand, and as Seong
Oh explained, “It is excellent entertainment, why not? Are we not enjoying fine
food culture from overseas, espresso
coffee and Hollywood movies? Obviously
in NZ, there is a population who enjoy
this form of entertainment. Diversity and
choices are always good.”
While the history of manga is something
of a mystery it is believed that its origins
lie in the 11th century, in medieval
Japan.
The original Japanese manga weren’t
anything like the stereotypical images
you see today in paperbacks or on television, and it is thought that the term
manga was coined in 1814 by the Japa-
nese artist Hokusai. Brigette KoyamaRichard, who is an art historian and the
author of One Thousand Years of Manga
and Japanese Animation, has provided
a detailed analysis of the scrolls that
have remained intact throughout the
years. Only fragments of emaki (painted
scrolls) have survived the trials of time
and the history of manga is far from
complete.
The original manga were in essence
sketchy cartoons, they were created for
a mixture of propaganda, entertainment and religious
reasons. One
religious form of
manga originated
in the 17th century and is known
as Zenga, which
was designed to
help Buddhists
achieve personal
enlightenment.
However, Zenga
was just scraps of
disjointed images and wasn’t the iconic
manga known today. It was not until
1931 when Soji Yamakawa published the
first picture story Shonen Oja, turning
the traditional whimsical sketches into
highly professional and entertaining stories, that manga began to take the form
that we know today. The turning point
in the history of manga can be traced to
one man: Osamu Tezuka.
an influx of American commodities. By
this time the American counterpart of
Osamu Tezuka, Walt Disney, had released his animated masterpiece Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and
was busy pioneering in the relatively
new field of animation. However it is
important to remember that Japanese
animation was not invented after World
War Two, as Simon Richmond in his book
The Rough Guide to Anime explained,
“It’s reckoned that some ninety percent
of pre-World War
Two films have
been destroyed
[from bombing]
including what
are generally
believed to be the
first examples of
anime.” Tezuka
was able to bring
anime back from
the ashes.
“Manga & anime are
very good at making
creative and
imaginative plots”
In recognition of his achievements in the
field of Japanese comics Osamu Tezuka
has been nicknamed “manga no kamisama,” and, “Anime no goddofāzā,” which
translate into, “God of comics,” and,
“Godfather of Anime,” respectively. Tezuka had not always been a Manaka, and
before he turned to cartoons the young
artist was studying to be a medical
student. After receiving his degree and
earning the title of Dr Osamu Tezuka, he
pursed manga and in doing so, changed
the industry forever. Patrick Drazen in
his book Anime
Explosion explains
that after Osamu
Tezuka’s revolutionary use of,
“Panning shots,
extreme closeups, time-lapse,
flashbacks and
other cinematic
devices, Japanese
comics literally
exploded off the
paper they were
printed on.”
Tezuka wasn’t too
far behind Disney
when it came to animation. His manga
had been successful enough to provide
him with a strong foundation from which
to build his animation companies like
Mushi Productions and Mushi Pro Shoji.
Tezuka’s first animation was based on
one of his most popular manga: Tetsuwan Atomu. Translating into Mighty
Atom, the anime became famous under
the title Astro Boy. Astro Boy is an
archetypal figure of Japanese manga
and even though the first comic was
published in 1952, it is still very popular
today. In 1963 Astro Boy became one of
the first Japanese anime to be aired in
Japan and became the first Japanese animation to be aired on American television. Astro Boy has been remade several
times; Tezuka remade it in 1980, and as
recently as 2009 a computer animated
version of Astro Boy was released.
Although several of his animations were
quite popular, like Astro Boy and Kimba
the White Lion, Tezuka’s first attempt at
stepping into the
world of anime
was not successful. Tezuka
resigned from role
of acting director
of Mushi Productions in 1970, and
after a series of
financial struggles the company
declared bankruptcy in 1973.
Tezuka turned to
his other company
Tezuka Productions and focused on his
manga, before re-entering the world of
animation in 1978. Tezuka’s influence on
manga must not be underestimated; he
changed the style of Japanese comics
and pioneered tirelessly in the field of
animation, helping to turn anime into
what we know today. To give you an idea
of the credit the, “God of Manga” has
been awarded, his work has been remembered in the Osamu Tezuka Manga
Museum, and fellow mangaka can gain
the prestigious Tezuka Osamu Cultural
Prize awarded annually to mangaka who
“There is no doubt
that manga is being
accepted into New
Zealand culture”
Osamu Tezuka’s influence cannot be
over-estimated and he is credited with
founding some of the most iconic aspects
of modern manga. The large emotional
eyes of stereotypical characters are
thought to have originated with Tezuka
and it is also thought that he in turn,
was inspired by Betty Boop and other
similar animations like Disney’s Bambi
(1942). At the time there was there no
shortage of foreign films and animations,
World War Two had seen the occupation
of Japan and with the Americans came
13 | Circuit | Spring 2012
Son Goku the main character from the
Dragon Ball series, most commonly
known in new Zealand by the Dragon
Ball anime rather than the manga.
The Series has been extremely
popular selling more than 200 million
copies worldwide.
follow in Tezuka’s footsteps.
Don’t deny it, you’ve heard that somewhere before. Pokémon is perhaps the
most famous of all the Japanese manga
and anime influenced products that
have infiltrated western society. The
Pokémon logo has been imprinted on
nearly everything, there are card games,
manga, anime, soft toys, key chains,
internet games, Nintendo games on
consoles such as Wii, Nintendo 64, DS,
Gameboy, you name it, Pokémon sells
it. Nearly everyone can recognise an image, phrase or sound from the Pokémon
industry. Whether from its expanding database of exotic creatures or the classic
Pokéball, which has become the series
icon, there is hardly anyone who hasn’t
been touched by Pokémon in some way.
But despite its influence on western society, very few people actually know about
its history.
Pokémon is the English version of
Poketto monsutā which translates to
Pocket Monsters. It was created in 1996
by Satoshi Tajiri. Originally intended for
the Game Boy console, it was quickly
turned into an anime and was launched
to an eager audience. Pokémon was
an instant success, within a year terms
were being negotiated for its release in
America. However, few people realise
“...Guinness
Book of World
Records record for
Most Photosensitive
Epileptic Seizures
Caused by a Television Show...”
that the phenomenon that was Pokémon very nearly didn’t happen. The
first episode of the Pokémon anime had
been aired in Japan on the 1st of April
1997, and on the 16th December 1997
the 38th episode, Dennō Senshi Porygon, was aired. What happened next
would change the history of television
programs and set a world record. Patrick
Drazen in his book Anime Explosion
explained what happened. The incident
started when someone threw, “A bomb
at Pickachu. Pikachu responds with his
ability to shoot out lightning bolts. Both
had happened often enough on television with no ill effects. However, this
time the combination of the two was just
at the wrong rate of strobing. It induced
an epileptic seizure in about seven hundred Japanese children.” The episode has
never been aired since, in Japan or any
other country. It set the Guinness Book
of World Records record for, “Most Photosensitive Epileptic Seizures Caused by
a Television Show.” Afterwards requirements were set in place for all television
shows to meet in order to prevent the
incident from ever being repeated. The
incident, nicknamed, “Pokémon Shock,”
resulted in bad publicity, making world
headlines, which could have seriously
damaged the success of the impending
release of the Pokémon Gameboy game
into America. The incident has been
parodied in western pop-culture. In The
Simpsons 226th episode, “Thirty Minutes
over Tokyo,” aired on the 16th May
1999, the Simpson family go to Japan
and watch the fictional program Battling
Seizure Robots, which promptly induces
seizures among the watching family
members. There is another interesting
aspect to this Simpsons episode, as it is
the only episode not released in Japan,
this isn’t because it parodies Dennō
Senshi Porygon but because it is seen
as being extremely disrespectful of the
Japanese Emperor.
There is no doubt that manga is being accepted into New Zealand culture,
Seong Oh explained that it’s, “A niche
market with growing potential.” Although
manga does not receive major publicity
in New Zealand Seong Oh thinks that it
is beginning to be more recognised and
being a small market it has much more
room to grow. New Zealand is a multicultural society and is open to embracing
new cultures. While the market here is
not as big as in countries like America
and Europe it certainly is starting to
expand. Manga and anime are beginning to make their way into our TVs and
libraries. Whether it is from the 2009
live action Dragon Ball Evolution movie
or the very successful Naruto manga
series which by 2011 had sold 113 million copies worldwide, Japanese cartoons
are finding their way into our society.
As New Zealand embraces this new and
highly entertaining aspect of Japanese
culture thousands of manga and anime flood into our stores, libraries and
homes, and as their popularity increases
so does their availability on the internet.
There are far too many to name, but
there are a few that Seong Oh would
recommend: for those in search of a
good old comedy Azumanga Daioh and
Yotsuba! might be a good starting point,
and if you want a slice of romance in
your comedy Cross Game and Nodame
Cantabile come highly recommended.
For those wanting a more serious romance the historical manga A Bride’s
Story may fit your criteria. Not all manga
are romance or comedy, some of the
most successful are the action packed
Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, One Piece
and the Dragon Ball series. However, if
looking for a more realistic manga Seong
Oh recommends one of his best selling
manga, Bakuman, which is a slice of life
drama of an aspiring mangaka.
Manga and Anime are making their
presence felt in the western world. Their
popularity is steadily growing and the
manga industry is starting to outstrip
sales of the traditional western/American
comics. Perhaps the age of super heroes
like Batman and Superman has passed
and maybe it’s time to acknowledge and
embrace the dawn of the manga revolution.
Untitled
Untitled- Xander
- XanderDixon
Dixon(Year
(Year13)
13)
A TASTE OF CHILE
Ruben Gordon talks about the ups and downs of spending a year abroad in Santiago,
Chile, on a student exchange. Words and pictures by Maja Burry
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Allí donde fueres haz como vieres.
South America, with all its subtleties and
unique customs.
- Spanish Proverb.
For Ruben, his journey began long
before he touched down in Chile. At
Cashmere High School, the process of
going on an exchange consists of two
I
n March of this year Ruben Gordon
exited Santiago, Chile’s airport
terminal and entered a world so
diverse and different to anything
he had ever witnessed in his 16 years
of living in New Zealand. Having hardly
any idea what he was going to see when
he departed the plane, his expectations
were a mental image that consisted of
Googled images, web pages and the
stories from people who had experienced
Chile first hand. Gathering strength and
keeping faith in the unknown future, he
reminded himself that a year wasn’t a
long time at all. In fact, if all went well
hopefully about a 90th of his life. So why
get worried about something so small?
Well, that’s what he told himself anyway.
This new and unfamilar place was South
America, and one of its largest countries,
Chile, would become his home for the
next year. Ruben Gordon is one of two
scholarship winners of the Cashmere
High School Exchange 2012. A chance
to gain fluency in Spanish is not the only
thing Chile has to offer. This exchange
gives a student a once in a lifetime
opportunity to travel and study at an
overseas school with the support of a
volunteer host family. It teaches you
about building friendships and taking
responsibility for yourself, allows you to
become immersed in the vibrant culture
that Chile has to offer and provides experiences and involvement in things that
a tourist would miss. This is what allows
you to really discover the way of life in
17 | Circuit | Spring 2012
“Say
yes to every
opportunity”
key parts, the first and most vital being
applying for and getting the Scholarship.
With the support of his family and one
letter of aplication later, Ruben found
himself seated in front of Señora Carrasco and Miss Smith discussing why he
was a valuable candidate for the scholarship, speciffically why he would like to
go, why he should be picked, and how
he would handle various situations that
come with the opportunity to spend a
year abroad.
When Ruben found out he had been
succsessful in his application a week
later his first thoughts were, “Wow, I
didn’t expect to win that.” In the space
of a few short weeks Ruben’s life had
transformed itself, but this was only the
beginning. The next phase of the process
was to acquire a visa that granted him
permission to spend a year in Chile. This
took endless letters and papers, which
needed approving and/or special stamps
or ribbons, and even a trip to Wellington to the embassy of Chile. Once this
had all been approved the waiting game
commenced. “At first I didn’t know what
to think, I was just trying to work out
what was actually about to happen, but
once I had time I became a bit more
nervous and scared.”
Before Ruben knew it he found himself
in Chile. He reflects upon his first week
as being quite difficult. “It was very hot
and dry, with some jetlag, mild sickness.
I had to spend the week with a teacher
and her family because my family was
on holiday. I was just looking forward to
getting to see where I would be spending the year, being able to unpack my
suitcase and settle down a bit.” Ruben’s
host family consists of two parents and a
17 year old brother. Their other younger
son is currently in Christchurch fulfilling his own exchange at Cashmere High
School. They have provided Ruben with
the support to get through the most difficult elements of the trip, giving him a
home away from home and helping him
develop his Spanish.
Initially Ruben found learning the
language hard. Being unable to have
a proper conversation was frustrating
but he discovered his skills picked up
quickly and now can hold a conversation with almost anyone. Although he
still has moments when he has no idea
what someone is saying, this is easily
remedied by letting him or her know and
then a simplified version of what they
were saying is produced. For Ruben,
what helped make learning the language
manageable was the people, because
they are all very warm, kind, and easy
to be around.
been one of the biggest highlights of
Ruben’s exchange so far, although he
says it’s, “Not hard here, because the
school, (years 1-13) only has about 300
students and I’m the only exchange
student, so I got a bit of attention when
I arrived.”
When asked what the hardest part about
being in Chile is, Ruben replied without
hesitation that it was missing people
back home. But he understands the only
cure for this is time, “I know I just have
to wait a bit, no point getting hung up
on that.”
Ruben has also been enjoying the live
music. As Chile gets more big names
than New Zealand he’s had the opportunity to go to several concerts, and listen
to some of his favorite artists and bands
such as The Artic Monkeys, Foo Fighters and MGMT perform live onstage.
What can also be noted is the rewards
working hard at his Spanish and keeping confidence in the language have
given Ruben, commenting that a “simple
pleasure was when I was able to make
people laugh only using Spanish, that’s
when I really knew my Spanish was getting good.”
The other aspect he has found difficult is adjusting to the Chilean school
system. For Ruben a school day starts
with getting up at about 7 to shower,
get dressed, eat, get his bag ready and
get out the door. He arrives to school at
about 8, with classes starting at 8:15.
At his school every class is an hour and
a half (except the last period of the day,
which is 45 minutes), with five classes
every day the final bell rings at 5pm.
These long school days take some getting used to, but having lots of friends
around has made the adjustment
easier. Undoubtedly making friends has
For people considering an exchange
Ruben advises “not to be scared about
leaving, once you get here, yes it will
be hard, but it gets a lot better and
time flies. Speak as much as you can,
even if you know what you are saying is
wrong, you just have to keep using the
language and you will improve faster.
Say yes, if there is an opportunity to get
out and see the country, take it, don’t be
shy. Don’t focus on what you might be
missing out on and get sad and homesick, make the most of what you can.”
So much has happened since Ruben
Gordon stepped off that plane all those
months ago. If there is one thing Chile
has taught Ruben other than Spanish
it’s, “To put feelings aside and just enjoy.
Focus on the good.” As he enters the
final few months of his exchange he is
looking forward to bringing everything
Chile has given him into play back home,
hoping to use Spanish in a career later
in life perhaps in broadcasting or film.
Chile 2012 has been an unforgettable
experience for Ruben Gordon, something
that he will value for the rest of his life.
“I really mean it when I say I am looking
forward to being back in Cashmere, but
I’ll probably take that back.” Although
unlike Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz
Ruben may not sport ruby red slippers,
Christchurch will always be his Kansas,
and he knows there truly is no place like
home.
I STRESS, EUSTRESS
High school students are often highy susceptible to stress. Luckily there are simple
ways to manage and convert stress into eustress. Words and pictures by Florence
Fournier.
I
nternals, exams, friendships,
relationships, personal appearance,
family issues, maintaining a job and
high school. Stress.
It’s the night before a big test.
You’re revising, or at least trying to.
Realistically you only have a few topics
to go over and you’ve got at least two
hours before you’ll need to go to bed in
order to still get eight hours of sleep.
This sort of revision should be highly
achievable. You start reading some
notes when you realise you only have
two hours to study and there isn’t
going to be enough time.
Your breath quickens. Your heart
starts to beat rapidly. It becomes very
difficult to focus. You’re feeling very
emotionally volatile. Maybe you feel
like crying, and then nothing. You
seem to go numb. You’re still worried
about your test, sure, but you’re now
unprepared to even attempt revising
(or you’re so stressed you can’t even
concentrate on your revision). What’s
the point? You’re just going to fail
anyway. Your stress is immobilising
your ability to function properly and you
feel utterly defeated.
Stress is an inevitable part of life
that many begin to experience during
high school. It is an emotional and
physical reaction to change or a buildup of pressure. Small amounts can be
incredibly helpful, as stress provides
pressure that can motivate us to get
19 | Circuit | Spring 2012
things done, but as stress levels increase
they can become overwhelming, causing
us to break down.
The Chambers Dictionary defines stress
as, “Strain; a constraining influence;
physical, emotional or mental pressure.”
Mr Chris Hooker, Cashmere’s beloved
counsellor of fifteen years, refers to it
as, “Just a thing that happens in life.”
“Stress is often
only realised as a
negative thing but
in reality it can be
a quite an asset.”
Stress is often only realised as a
negative thing but in reality it can be
a quite an asset. This positive type of
stress is known as eustress. Eustress is
normal psychological stress interpreted
as being beneficial for the experiencer.
This form of stress is what pushes us to
get things done, reach deadlines, and
motivate ourselves.
Unfortunately stress can have many
negative effects, both mental and
physical. Physical effects may include
headaches, stomach pains and nausea,
increased sweating, shortness of breath,
increased heart rate, and/or muscle
cramps and tension. It can also lower
the immune system, making you more
likely to catch colds. Short-term mental
effects may include irritability, difficulty
sleeping, and lack of focus. Long-term
stress may lead to depression, social
dysfunction, or a diagnosable anxiety
disorder.
Stress becomes a serious problem
when it gets past the point of being
productive. When this happens it is
crucial to know how to deal with it
in order to move forward. If you feel
yourself getting overly stressed or
panicky about something, stop. Breathe;
in through your nose - out through
your mouth. Repeat as necessary. Take
a break from whatever you’re doing,
distract yourself, do something fun for a
while.
When you’re feeling more at ease, you
can deal with the stress better. Ask
yourself if your stress is rational and
consider what will stop it. It might be
as simple as applying yourself to get
some overdue schoolwork done or
reducing your work hours so you have
more downtime. Or, you might need to
consider talking to a professional about
whatever’s bothering you. This is okay.
When you’re extremely stressed for
a prolonged period of time, different
parts of your brain begin shutting down.
Normally your body clock is the first one
to go; this causes sleeplessness which
increases irritability. Your energy levels
follow, depleting motivation. The final
area is the part that causes pleasure.
When this stops functioning regularly
it causes sadness and, in some cases,
depression. It is very important to talk
to someone who can help you out if you
start feeling this way.
doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and
fortunately it is easy to learn from past
encounters.
Stress doesn’t need to be obliterated,
just controlled. And this is highly
manageable if you know how to do it.
Start by setting some goals for yourself.
While the idea of not achieving a goal
can be seen as a new cause for stress,
it will provide an incentive which should
activate some eustress, helping you
get things done. Part of the difficulty
of being stressed is that it can be very
overwhelming when you have things to
do.
Although stress is an inevitable part of
life it can be very easy to manage if you
know how. Everyone deals with stress at
some point during their lives, especially
during high school. If you or someone
you know seems to be experiencing
chronic stress it pays to talk to a
professional like one of Cashmere’s three
counsellors: Mr Hooker, Charlie, and
Guy.
Fortunately this stress can be managed.
Focus on why you are stressed about
it, and what you can do to reduce this
stress. Usually it is by taking personal
responsibility and taking some action. Do
you have a test tomorrow you haven’t
studied for? Start some revision now and
learn that in future you need to prioritise
your study better. With stress, what
Often it comes down to time
management. Maybe you’re stressed
because you leave all your assignments
to the last minute, or you never have
time to spend with friends because you
are so caught up in school activities.
Make yourself a schedule that allows
time for schoolwork and time for friends
and relaxation then stick by it.
It’s the night before a big test. You’re
revising, or at least trying to. You’re
feeling a little bit stressed. You stop
what you’re doing. Breathe. You quickly
write out a schedule of study for the
night, setting the goal of doing at least
two hours of revision while allowing a
few quick breaks. You get it all done
while still getting sufficient sleep, and
remind yourself not to leave study to the
last minute again. Stress to eustress,
simple.
STRESSED?
•BREATHE
•Set goals
•Make sure you get sufficient sleep
each night
•Exercise regularly and eat properly
and healthily
•Set aside “me” time where you can
focus on relaxing - go for a walk or
have a bath
•Reduce caffeine and sugar
consumption
•Avoid smoking, alcohol, and drugs
– these substances do not reduce
stress, they merely numb it for short
periods of time
•Talk to someone about your stress
or write down how you’re feeling in a
diary
•Learn from past experiences
•Accept the things you can’t change
and move on to a healthier, happier,
less stressful life.
Who would have thought that the man behind one of the
most successful games this year was New Zealand’s own
Dean “Rocket” Hall, a NZ Armed Serviceman. Words by
Chris Bailey, pictures courtesy of Dean Hall.
You land on a beach, a flashlight in your
hand and some bandages in your bag.
You are in a Slavic Russian state by the
name of Chernarus, a vast 225km2 open
world with bustling cities and abandoned
villages, the once-developing state has
fallen victim to a large virus outbreak
leading to the infection of the general
populace.
You have to survive and thrive in a hostile environment. The dangers of attack
from the infected and medical emergencies like breaking a bone or falling victim
to malnourishment are imminent.
There is a catch to all of this: you the
player are not alone. This vast landscape
is also inhabited by other survivors much
like yourself, who may want the comfort of staying by your side or be forced
to kill you by the sheer desperation for
supplies.
The excitement of DayZ exists in the
choices it offers you, and the situations
you create for yourself. If you make it to
the airfield at the top of the map after
your long vigorous journey you may find
yourself with state of the art firearms
and equipment like night vision goggles.
You may even be dressed in a ghillie suit
with full camouflage; it is now up to you:
What will you do with your new found
power, help survivors? Or prey on their
weakness?
DayZ is a mod currently running on the
Arma 2 game engine. It is like no other
survival horror game the PC community has ever seen. Unlike other generic
zombie survival games, DayZ has a large
21 | Circuit | Spring 2012
multiplayer environment were players
will attempt to survive the zombie apocalypse, managing realistic effects such
as hunger, thirst, body temperature, and
medical emergencies.
“Zombies aren’t the
terror. There’s complex
political stuff that
happens when the world
collapses.”
things, over arguments to who gets the
last can of beans to fallouts between
friends.
With 200,000 players logging in each
day (and rising) there is clearly an exciting future ahead for DayZ. But who is
behind this original concept?
The man behind the greatness that is
DayZ is none other than ex New Zealand
Army and RNZAF officer Dean “Rocket”
Hall. Dean is 31, he grew up in the
South Island and attended Victoria University. I asked Dean were his inspiration
for the game came from. During survival
training in Singapore Dean was faced
with a medical injury.
DayZ has a complex inventory system,
encouraging players to scavenge items
for survival.
Designed originally as a military training
simulator, the game psychologically tests
players with the struggles to integrate
into in-game social hierarchies. This unseen genre of mod has bred much hype
within the gaming community.
PCGamer have said that DayZ is the
best thing to ever happen to PC gaming in this currently stale market. It has
been praised by Eurogamer and the mod
itself is responsible for 300,000 individual sales of the original game Arma 2
within a two-month period. Since launch
in early April 900,000+ players from all
corners of the globe have walked collectively 985,271,282kms. Within this
experience over 3 million players have
fallen victim to homicide from small
“I realized in this time that emotional
responses had a big aspect on your
thought processes and I felt existing
training was missing this,” explains
Dean. From this experience and having
background game development skills
Dean set out to develop what is now the
most talked about game in social media.
So what is the future of DayZ? Dean
states that soon he hopes to release a
standalone game that allows huge community integration and wants to develop
it by incorporating the creative ideas of
its fans.
After interviewing Dean it became apparent this easy going Kiwi Bloke is like no
other game developer. He interacts with
his fans and profit is not on his mind.
He cares hugely about the state of the
industry and when I asked him about
gaming in New Zealand, he insisted us
Kiwis were the smartest when it came
to it. “I still think Kiwis are some of the
best people in the world, great thinkers... but we’re resting on our laurels
too much at the moment and complaining too much. Get out there and do it
New Zealand!” Dean’s enthusiasm and
respect for his fans is something that
has brought him great reputation. He
smiles at competition and doesn’t get
involved in petty Hollywood jargon.
DayZ is much more than a game. In
my many, many hours playing I have
realized that it is an experience that
will make you think and react, unlike
the vast majority of computer games
released today. DayZ and Dean’s efforts
bring hope to a stale game industry
whose main objective seems to be turning a profit rather than creating a lasting
and original gaming experience. With
the close work of developers and the
community we can create games that
are one of a kind.
To this date there are in excess of 1 Million unique players who have collectively
slain two Billion zombies.
Dean is excited about the prospect of
DayZ becoming a standalone game,
saying, “I believe it will be standalone
much sooner than you think.” With over
200,000 players logging into DayZ each
day, it is obvious that a standalone version which Dean has hinted at would
have the same pricing structure of usual
indie games ($15) and would be a huge
success.
Dean is obviously very ambitious about
his project. He has great passion for it,
his desire is, “To build and construct the
mechanism by which players create their
worlds, and then generate media from
that.”
Dean is employed by Bohemia Interactive, who developed Arma 2, the game
that he modified to create DayZ. They
are very grateful with the newfound success. The mod DayZ has been advertised
on digital PC game giant Steam and had
placed the base game Arma 2 on the top
seller list for 2 consecutive months selling over 350,000 copies. (Figures from
Steam’s monthly sale report).
Whatever the future is, it is evident that
Dean and his games will go far, with
innovation and respect for a struggling
community, anything is possible.
od?
What is a M
“Mod” is a term applied to personal computer games (PC
games), especially first-person
shooters, role-playing games.
Mods are made by the general public or a developer and
can be entirely new games
in themselves. Mods are not
stand-alone software and require the user to have the
original game in order to run.
They can include new items,
weapons, characters, enemies,
levels, story lines, music, and
game modes. They also usually take place in unique locations and can be single-player
or multiplayer. Mods can create
additional content for an existing game or create an entirely
new game using the old game’s
design. They can also be used
to fix bugs that exist in the
original release of the software.
After hours of organising, three Cashmere High School students produce a night of fun and entertainment for the youth of
Christchurch. Words by Taylor Foster, Photographs by Sorana Pandrea
“You have the ability to achieve great
things. Don’t wait for a light to appear at
the end of the tunnel, stride down there
and light the damn thing yourself.”
-Sara Henderson
A
s the majority of the Christchurch CBD said goodnight to the
rest of the world, one gap was
yet to sleep. After almost two
years of abandonment the city has once
again been filled with youth and entertainment.
On July the 4th 2012, Gloucester Street
was taken over by a group of 14-17 year
olds. Over 150 high school students
came along to the Re-Entry Concert on
the night between 7pm and 10pm to
listen to bands. Organizing the concert were three Cashmere High School
students. The concert had a variety of
musicians and short movies presented
by Christchurch high schools.
After attending a Gap Filler workshop in
May 2012, students contributed ideas
for activating a vacant site. Students
were told that one of these ideas could
become reality. Those who wanted to be
involved would put their names down
at the end of the workshop and became
the Re-Entry organizers. Amongst these
eight organizers were three Cashmere
High School students: Ross Hulley, Maddie Dempsey and Sorana Pandrea.
These students were involved in planning the Re-Entry Concert over a period
of five weeks with Gap Filler. Gap Filler is
a creative urban regeneration initiative
started in response to the September 4,
2010 Canterbury earthquake. It aims to
temporarily activate vacant sites within
23 | Circuit | Spring 2012
Christchurch with creative projects for
community benefit. Alongside Gap Filler
students attended a WE Speak annual
youth conference held in Christchurch.
This involved preparing the site and
working hard to source what was needed
to make sure the event was successful
on the night. “My main job was to organize music such as Claudia Jardine and
her band,” Ross noted.
“Something
for the benefit
of Christchurch’s
youth”
-Claudia Jardine
After meetings every Monday night for
five weeks, organization and effort never
fell short. The concert was held at 160
Gloucester Street, just down the road
from the central square and the Cathedral. The site was an old construction
area from where a building had become
damaged in the February earthquake
and had been tidied and cleared for the
organizers.
The concert was to promote the re-build
of the city and draw the attention of the
younger generation. “Bringing youth
back in to the city was our main goal for
the concert,” Sorana claims. Ross also
noted that, “Heaps of my friends are
moving away, but this is a way of showing them there is stuff to do. People just
need to make stuff to do.”
Musicians from Cashmere High School,
Christchurch Boys High School, St
Andrews College and CPIT Jazz School
preformed throughout the night. The
teenagers danced to music from DJs and
singers, including Works End, The Baker,
Anikin, Siobhan Russel, Claudia Jardine
and The Haze. Claudia Jardine, who
performed with her band at the concert
said, “It felt amazing to be involved in
something for the benefit of Christchurch’s youth. We have been through
such a tough time over the last couple of
years, I would definitely do it again if I
had the opportunity.” As well, there were
short films made by St Andrews College
students.
The night was filled with a great atmosphere and good times were had by all.
Finally the youth were back in the city,
although some felt a little uneasy being
surrounded by numerous tall buildings.
But after encouragement from others
and distractions from the entertainment, everyone couldn’t help but enjoy
themselves.
After hours of organizing and planning,
the night finally came to an end. The
Christchurch CBD said goodbye to its
youth once again. Hopefully the message was well received, and it wont be
too long until the younger generation
are back in the city, full of entertainment
and enjoyment.
“Bringing the
the
youth back
back
into the
the city”
into
- Sorana Pandrea
Pandrea
- Sorana
Untitled - Izzy Molloy (Year 13)
Black Chair - Izzy Molloy (Year 13)
Chris Knox performing live.
THE
LABEL THAT
WOULDN’T
DIE
27 | Circuit | Spring 2012
Beloved New Zealand indie record label, Flying Nun, sealed its place in music history
in the 1980s with sounds that defined a culture, and continues to release new material as fresh as the tracks that sparked a label and a movement.
Words by Amanda Gray.
F
lying Nun is Christchurch’s own
independent record label. They are
New Zealand’s most significant and
well known independent. Founded
in 1981 by Roger Shepherd, knowing
little about the process of producing records, the main idea was to sign, record
and sell bands that would otherwise not
be signed. For the first seven years of its
existence, Flying Nun was virtually able
to do what it liked, releasing and distributing their product. The main intention
was to record the sound of Christchurch,
but as the label rose to national prominence they began promoting the up and
coming sound of Dunedin. Recording
bands on a four-track recorder, production and release was an expensive
business for the local label so records
would be released in small numbers or
would be sitting on the shelf in the Flying Nun office for months on end. This
sometimes turned problematic for the
fans wanting albums, with only limited
numbers being released, putting extra
pressure on the small label. Lacking the
resources to meet these demands, in
1991 Flying Nun sought a production
and distribution deal with WEA to enable
continuation of record releases. Meaning WEA pressed the record, printed
the sleeve and got the record into the
stores.
“It’s just a matter of whether I liked the
band. Simple as that,” Roger Shepherd says on how the A&R (Artists and
Repertoire) department chose who they
were to sign to the label. Roger would go
around scouting out local talent, finding
new and exciting bands that he liked,
and figured the Flying Nun fan base
would also. In the 1980s there were no
written contracts for Flying Nun, only
verbal agreements as no one liked all
the paper work. Musicians want to do
what they do which is play their instruments, not waste time on a contract
that they may or may not stick to. Pin
Group’s Ambivalence 7” was the first
release from Flying Nun, although it is
often though that Tally Ho! by The Clean
was the first release as it unexpectedly reached number nineteen in the
New Zealand charts, bringing the label
unanticipated profile and income. Other
bands that have been signed to the label
include The Chills, Headless Chickens,
Straightjacket Fits, and Dimmer, to
name a few.
The Clean recorded their first album, a
“It’s just a
matter of
whether I liked the
band. Simple as that”
-Roger Shepherd
6 track EP called Boodle Boodle Boodle
in 1981. This went to number four in
the charts and stayed in the top 50 for
6 months, going on to sell over 10,000
copies. The Chills, Submarine Bells made
it to number one on the album charts
along with Straightjacket Fits, Life in
One Chord which made it to number 10.
In 1998 Roger walked away from Flying
Nun, vowing he would never work in the
music industry again. He had been living
and working in London for the last few
years and was sick of both his Australian business partners and the UK music
Industry. Roger sold a fifty percent stake
to Australia’s Festival Mushroom Records
(FMR) in 1990. Then in 2005 Warner
Music Group took full control of Flying
Nun when it bought FMR. Later, in 2005
Roger’s wife was offered a job in Wellington, two weeks later they were on
a plane back to New Zealand. He later
went to say, “I’m glad we did [return].
New Zealand is a great place, the people
are friendly, the schooling is easy and
the trees look good all year round, plus
you can park your car almost anywhere
you want.” On his return, he quickly
found out the music was still superb and
started to reconnect. It had been ten
years since Roger sold out the company,
so some changes had to be made.
After eighteen months of negotiating
with Warner to buy back the label, they
finally came to a decision and he was
able to buy back Flying Nun, although
for a lot more then he had hoped to pay.
He joked that the price was more than
the $50 he spent on producing Tally Ho!,
The Clean’s 1981 debut single and major
success. With Roger back in charge of
the catalogue it meant music that has
been unavailable for many years is being
reissued, to the delight of the fans.
New Zealand music legend Neil Finn and
his wife Sharon helped Roger buy back
Flying Nun and are now part owners.
Shepherd approached Finn in late 2009
when looking for investors to help buy
back and resurrect the label to its former
glory. “I always admired what Roger
managed to achieve with Flying Nun
and I love a lot of the music. With him
back in charge, I hope the catalogue is
once again given the love and attention
it deserves and that he has a chance
to work with some brilliant new talent
because he’s got such great ears,” said
Finn, when asked about working with
Roger Shepherd and his feelings towards
Flying Nun.
Roger never expected to come full circle,
after living in Britain for four years and
returning to New Zealand he realized
The Great Unwashed rehearsal.
THE KNOX BOX
One of New Zealand’s best musicians
and a constant presence in the Flying Nun camp, Chris Knox has been
often touted as the voice and driving
force behind the label, especially in
the pioneering days of the early 80s.
Knox, and his four-track recorder,
travelled the length of the country,
capturing the bands that he and
Shepherd deemed worthy of the Nun
stamp of approval. In these formative years, Knox was known for his
almost religious dedication to the
“Do-it-Yourself” attitude of Flying
Nun’s recordings.
29 | Circuit | Spring 2012
Having dealt with the soul-sucking
professionalism of WEA with his earlier band, Toy Love, Knox showed a
profound distaste for anything other
than the simple recordings he made
on the four-track with soundman,
Doug Hood. This often led to clashes
within the label such as when a
Sneaky Feelings bass track ended up
missing from the final cut. Despite
suffering a stroke in June 2009,
Chris Knox remains at the forefront
of New Zealand’s music conscience
and will always be remembered by
those at Flying Nun for the work he
did for the label.
how significant Flying Nun had become
and wanted it back. “It seemed like the
right thing to do on behalf of all the music,” Roger said in a 2010 interview.
As well as reissuing music on CD, vinyl
and digital formats, Roger was also
keen to sign new local acts. The label’s
“Dunedin Sound” veterans welcomed the
news, saying, “It would invigorate the
label,” which has stayed stagnant since
Mr Shepherd’s departure. David Kilgour
of the Clean said it was great to see him
take ownership of the label. Chills front
man Martin Phillipps said, “We are looking forward to seeing our older albums,
and reissues would be welcome.”
As November 2011 came rolling around,
now known in the Flying Nun camp as
Nunvember, Flying Nun celebrated their
30th anniversary with new releases, rereleases, and over 20 shows throughout
New Zealand. The anniversary shows
featured both old and new Flying Nun
acts including fan favourites The Clean,
HDU, The Bats and Ghost Club alongside
newly signed bands Pop Strangers, T54,
Surf Friends and Grayson Gilmour. Celebrations started In Auckland and ended
in Dunedin. There were some very some
special releases including Tally Ho!: A
double disc 30 year compilation and the
eighth studio album from The Bats, Free
all the Monsters just to get the fans even
more excited. For the vinyl lovers, The
Bats have a re-release of their debut
album Daddy’s Highway and The 3D’s
Hellzapoppin. Singles from the newly
signed Pop Strangers, Surf Friends and
T54 all gave fans a taste of what is coming up for Flying Nun.
Tally Ho! Off to Auckland
Since the writing of this article, the new
and invigorated Flying Nun has shifted
its base of operations from Wellington to
Auckland, with Roger Shepherd remaining as shareholder and consultant in the
capital. Read more at http://www.flyingnun.co.nz
HOW TO LISTEN TO
FLYING NUN
1
The Clean - Tally Ho!
(1981)
Where better to start than
the beginning? One of Flying Nun’s earliest recordings and first hit, Tally Ho! By The
Clean is the best way to introduce
you to that tone, that feeling, that
indescribably Nun sound. With
Martin Phillipp’s infectious keyboard line stuck in your head you’ll
be ready to delve deeper into the
Flying Nun archive.
2
The Verlaines - Death
and the Maiden (1983)
If ever there was a Flying
Nun, “Dunedin Sound,”
then The Verlaines had it.
Death and The Maiden has all the
jangle and repetitive strumming,
with lyrical references to 19th
Century French poets you’ll need
to delve into the mind of Graeme
Downes, the band’s front man.
3
The Chills – Pink Frost
(1984)
Now that you’ve scratched
the surface of Flying Nun,
get ready to dive below
the waves with this minimal, droning 1984 hit from The Chills. Pink
Frost showcases the talents of
band leader Martin Phillipps and
gives a crisper, darker edge to
the Flying Nun sound that earlier
recordings lacked.
music,
If celebrating with live
ses weren’t
releases and re-relea
has been lucky
enough, Flying Nun
a beer made
enough to have had
Flying Nun 30
especially for them.
, celebrates
year, created by Epic
rd label in New
the most lauded reco
Zealand music history.
5
The Mint Chicks – I
Can’t Stop Being Foolish (2009)
Though no longer with
the label, The Mint Chicks
represent Flying Nun in the 21st
Century and for any new listener
to Nun wondering where the label
finds itself in the modern world,
this is the answer. If you strip
back the electronic whine and the
high-pitched voice of Kody Neilson,
you’ll hear that same jangly tone
from 30 years ago that made Flying Nun into what it is today.
4
Tall Dwarfs – The Brain
that Wouldn’t Die
(1984)
From the ashes of Toy
Love, Chris Knox and Alec
Bathgate rose to create a band
that defied the polished edge WEA
had tried to give them in Australia,
and instead sought to create a
rougher, gnarled and home-grown
sound that perfectly matched the
DIY ethic Knox brought to Flying
Nun. The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
is a track full of raging distortion
that strikes a chord in any true
Nun lover as a testament to the
lyrical power of Chris Knox.
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