Alex Garland
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Alex Garland on 'Devs,' free will and quantum computing
An interview with "Devs" creator Alex Garland, and how the FX/Hulu show explores the nature of free will with quantum computing.
Engadget Podcast: Quibi and a chat with 'Devs' creator Alex Garland
In this podcast episode, Devindra and TechCrunch's Anthony Ha discuss the launch of the mobile video startup Quibi. And we get to chat with Alex Garland, the creator of the trippy FX show Devs.
Alex Garland’s new show wants you to be scared of tech again
Back in the '90s, when the internet first entered our collective consciousness, Hollywood responded by releasing a slate of techno thrillers that warned of all the horrible things computers could do to us. Perhaps our existence could be erased like Sandra Bullock's in The Net, or maybe our entire species would be enslaved like in The Matrix. Now, the media is seemingly dominated by the brilliant-but-inept tech bros of shows like Silicon Valley, or friendly hackers like Abby on NCIS. Ex Machina and Annihilation director Alex Garland's new show Devs argues that maybe we had it right the first time: We should be afraid. We should be very afraid.
Take a first look at Alex Garland's tech-focused 'Devs' Hulu series
Following the Disney-Fox merger, content from the formerly-Fox channel FX is making its way onto Hulu. Not only will Hulu be hosting older FX shows, but it will also be the streaming home for upcoming 2020 shows including Devs from Alex Garland, writer and director of genre hits Ex Machina and Annihilation.
Alex Garland's 'Devs' explores free will in the age of predictive computing
Alex Garland deconstructed the Turing test with Ex Machina and tormented our psyches with a horrifying alien invasion in Annihilation. Now he's tackling free will vs. a deterministic universe in Devs. And instead of trying to cram all that philosophy into a two-hour film (that might not even see theatrical release), Devs was crafted specifically for TV as an eight-episode, big budget miniseries on FX, where every installment was written and directed by Garland. It's not strictly science fiction either: He calls it a "science-based thriller."
'Ex Machina' director embraces the rise of superintelligent AI
Alex Garland is no stranger to science fiction. As the writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, he's given us his own unique spin on the zombie apocalypse and a last-ditch effort to save the Earth (by nuking the sun!). Now, with his directorial debut, Ex Machina, Garland is taking on artificial intelligence -- and in the process, he shows the limits of the Turing test, the most common method for determining if something is truly sentient. The film centers on a young programmer who's sent to his genius CEO's isolated compound to test his latest invention: an artificially intelligent robot. Things, as you can imagine, don't go as planned.
Develop: How a movie screenwriter helped save Enslaved's story
Gamers sometimes criticize games for playing too much like movies. But as Ninja Theory Designer Tameem Antonaides explained at a Develop Conference session this week, bringing in screenwriting veteran Alex Garland to consult on their upcoming game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West made their game more movie-like is some very beneficial ways. As the writer behind movies like Sunshine and 28 Days Later, Garland had a feel for how to get the most drama out of Enslaved's story scenes, Antonaides said. Garland would write scenes with very simple, reductive dialogue that looked thin on the page, Antonaides said, but gained more "meat" with an actor's performance behind them. Indeed, the short story clips shown at the conference were notable for how much they relied on body language and vocal cues to convey information without words. Antonaides said they ended up cutting the game's cutscenes down from two hours of dialogue to a lean 80 minutes, with less focus on exposition and more on drama. "If you have too much dialogue, it doesn't work," Antonaides said. "Alex changed my view of what writing meant," Antonaides said. "I felt like a schoolboy so many times talking to Alex." %Gallery-97232%
First details, screenshots of Ninja Theory's Enslaved
Click to enlarge After teasing the partnership a little over a month ago at Germany's Gamescom, publisher Namco Bandai and UK-based developer Ninja Theory are ready to finally reveal some details of their upcoming "original, new IP" for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3: Enslaved. The game takes place in a "perilous, post-apocalyptic America" and centers on protagonists Monkey and Trip. That's right, protagonists, plural. You'll control the musclebound Monkey, while Trip -- a "technologically savvy but sheltered young woman" -- remains AI-controlled. Think: Half-Life 2's Alyx ... except considerably more manipulative. Recognizing her need for Monkey's "raw strength and power," Trip has linked their slave headbands so "if she dies, he dies." Uh, thanks partner? Helping Ninja Theory along its quest is Andy "Gollum" Serkis who is lending his considerable motion-capture acting abilities to the developer once more, following his work on the PS3-exclusive Heavenly Sword. Also joining the project is novelist, screenwriter, and video game newcomer Alex Garland, who you may recognize from his work on the novel The Beach and the screenplay for 28 Days Later. Enslaved is "planned for release in 2010," which we'll unofficially translate as "late 2010." Since you've got some waiting to do, why not take a peek at the first screenshots from the game? %Gallery-74258%
Old Halo movie script possibly leaked
An avid torrent searcher, 1UP visitor and super tipster stumbled upon and sent the 1UP editors a 127 page PDF file that is supposed to be Alex Garland's Halo movie script. If you don't remember, Alex Garland was initially hired to pen the Halo movie script in which author DB Weiss picked up and revised which ultimately landed in the deep, dark void that is Hollywood's "put on hold" script closet. Anyhoo, 1UP posted a few pages from the alleged Halo script in which Master Chief is introduced, his armor is talked about and we get to see the Flood. So, go ahead and make the jump on over to their site if you're curious. And let it be known that these script pages could be real and could possibly end up in a future Halo movie someday, so we'll slap a SPOILER WARNING! label on this just to keep civility. Enjoy ...[Via Joystiq]
