elspethdixon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
elspethdixon) wrote2007-01-30 07:18 pm
elspethdixon) wrote2007-01-30 07:18 pm
Entry tags:
Textbook scams done one better
I have to pay $90 for class materials for my library science class. $90! Because the professor is charging us forty dollars for the syllabus and class assignments! (as well as fifty for the books, which we have top buy from him, not the UMD bookstore).
Personally, I think that's unethical. Actually, it goes beyond unethical to just plain slimy and possibly evil. If he doesn't want to pay the photocopying costs to make multiple sets, he could just email them to everyone in a pdf file for free. You do not charge for assignments or for your syllabus--that's supposed to be covered in the already too high tuition prices we're paying to take the class.
In more pleasant news, I watched the interviews on the director's cut to Daredevil. Turns out, the directors cut was originally intended to be the theatrical release. The studio had them cut out almost a quarter-to-a-third of the film so that it would be ninety minutes long and "fast-paced." Hence the gaping plot holes and rushed feeling to the theatrical release version.
Studio guy claims that the theatrical cut is the "true" and superior version of the movie. The director/writer and producer claim that the director's cut is superior (and truer to their vision of a darker, more complex story, rather than a straightforward action/revenge plot, as well as truer to the characters, especially Foggy and Matt).
I get the strong impression that Mark Steven Johnson and Avi Arad are comic book people first and foremost (or at least comics fans), and that studio editor had never picked up a Daredevil comic in his life. The cutting process apparently went something like this:
Writer/director: But, but you can't cut that scene of Foggy in the courtroom! It's so well-acted and funny.
Studio guy: But not exciting enough. Cut it!
Writer/director: But it has Coolio in it, come on.
Studio guy: I thought I told you we were cutting the subplot that shows Matt and Foggy actually being lawyers and the Kingpin actually being a threat to Hell's Kitchen. It distracts from the action plot.
Studio guy: Why is this scene here? It's too slow.
Writer/director: Because it provides depth to the character and is also taken directly from a panel in "Man Without Fear." It's classic Daredevil backstory! Trust me, fans will love it.
Studio guy: But who are these people? Why do we care? Cut it!
Writer/director: But, but, if you cut this shot, Frank Miller will cry!
Studio guy: Who's Frank Miller?
Personally, I think that's unethical. Actually, it goes beyond unethical to just plain slimy and possibly evil. If he doesn't want to pay the photocopying costs to make multiple sets, he could just email them to everyone in a pdf file for free. You do not charge for assignments or for your syllabus--that's supposed to be covered in the already too high tuition prices we're paying to take the class.
In more pleasant news, I watched the interviews on the director's cut to Daredevil. Turns out, the directors cut was originally intended to be the theatrical release. The studio had them cut out almost a quarter-to-a-third of the film so that it would be ninety minutes long and "fast-paced." Hence the gaping plot holes and rushed feeling to the theatrical release version.
Studio guy claims that the theatrical cut is the "true" and superior version of the movie. The director/writer and producer claim that the director's cut is superior (and truer to their vision of a darker, more complex story, rather than a straightforward action/revenge plot, as well as truer to the characters, especially Foggy and Matt).
I get the strong impression that Mark Steven Johnson and Avi Arad are comic book people first and foremost (or at least comics fans), and that studio editor had never picked up a Daredevil comic in his life. The cutting process apparently went something like this:
Writer/director: But, but you can't cut that scene of Foggy in the courtroom! It's so well-acted and funny.
Studio guy: But not exciting enough. Cut it!
Writer/director: But it has Coolio in it, come on.
Studio guy: I thought I told you we were cutting the subplot that shows Matt and Foggy actually being lawyers and the Kingpin actually being a threat to Hell's Kitchen. It distracts from the action plot.
Studio guy: Why is this scene here? It's too slow.
Writer/director: Because it provides depth to the character and is also taken directly from a panel in "Man Without Fear." It's classic Daredevil backstory! Trust me, fans will love it.
Studio guy: But who are these people? Why do we care? Cut it!
Writer/director: But, but, if you cut this shot, Frank Miller will cry!
Studio guy: Who's Frank Miller?
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And I feel much better knowing that about the movie - it also makes things make a heck of a lot more sense.
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extortioncost.Yeah, you'll each still have to buy the textbook, but it would probably cost $50 at the bookstore anyhow. (Unless you can find the book at another source? If so, buy it there.)
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Oh, and look for the textbook on Amazon.com. You may be able to get a cheap used copy. I sold a lot of my lib sci books on there.
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I think he and Stan Lee may be friends.