Yesterday, something magical happened in our neighborhood. The local game store hosted a Magic: The Gathering pre-release event. For those who don't know, Magic is a popular trading card game filled with fantasy and strategy. The pre-release event is an exciting opportunity for players to get their hands on the newest set of cards before it is officially released. The event started in the afternoon and quickly became the talk of the neighborhood. Card game enthusiasts and Magic players from all over town gathered at the store, eager to see what the latest set had to offer.
The found footage cinematography used in The Last Witch is quite good. The film is shot primarily with a single handheld video camera that is passed between characters while walking. When the characters are in a fixed location for any period of time, such as a car or tent, director Carlos Almón Muñoz often places the camera on the ground. This approach adds more visually stable scenes to The Last Witch, but more importantly, enables all three main characters to be in-frame at the same time.
Mountains, crossroads, and ruins were also associated with the sabbath, as these were often locations that represented the unknown and all of the anxieties associated with it. Oddly enough though, when taken as a whole, the VFX come together and give The Last Witch a unique signature look that s consistent throughout the film.
Card game enthusiasts and Magic players from all over town gathered at the store, eager to see what the latest set had to offer. There was an air of excitement and anticipation as players shuffled their decks and prepared for the battles that lay ahead. As the event began, players were given a pre-release pack containing six booster packs from the new set, along with a promo card and a spindown life counter.
Fear, Fantasy, and Forests: Imagining the World of Witchcraft using the 2015 Horror Film, 'The Witch'
Robert Eggers’s 2015 horror masterpiece The Witch: A New England Folktale has all of the trademarks we expect of a story about witchcraft: a God-fearing family of the 1630s, shunned to live on the edge of a dark forest in the New England wilderness, tempted by the Devil, and terrorized by a horrifying and decrepit witch. The movie was a critical success with many critics praising the film as deeply atmospheric and unsettling, leaving the viewer with an unshakeable sense of fear and unease. Many viewers, after decades of jump-scare and gore-focused horror, were left to question why a movie that had so few of these traits was able to scare them so deeply. We can only begin answering this question by looking back hundreds of years to the early modern period, when the fear of witchcraft blended fantasy and reality over five hundred years before Eggers’s The Witch began terrifying audiences around the world.
Witchcraft, as it was understood by people beginning in the last decades of the fifteenth century was the result of a pact made between an individual and the Devil, and through his power were able to perform maleficia, or black magic. Witchcraft was blamed for a wide variety of real world tragedies, from crop-destroying storms, to the death of infants, to sexual impotence, all phenomena that could not be explained by common people living in the early modern period. Throughout this era, approximately 90,000 people were placed on trial for witchcraft across the European continent and in European colonies in the Americas, with 45,000 of these trials resulting in execution. While anybody could be accused of witchcraft, regional variations on concepts of witchcraft were extensive. Some areas such Russia placed mostly men on trial, others such as Italy were evenly split between men and women, and in the Basque region of France, teenaged girls were the most common targets of witchcraft accusations. However, in the lands we now call Germany and Switzerland, where over half of all witchcraft cases were tried, the overwhelming majority of people placed on trial for witchcraft were women, ranging from their middle age into their senior years. As a result of societal expectations about what a witch should look like and act like, more ageing women were placed on trial for witchcraft, feeding the stereotype and constructing a vicious cycle of fantasy and accusations. This image of the witch translated into the art of the early modern period, in which the old, naked, and ugly hag permeated etchings and paintings of the era. These pieces of art have transformed our idea of witchcraft and fear, lasting through the centuries. Robert Eggers’s witch is simply a continuation of this representation.
While the image of the witch has been the studied by many historians, my work takes a different approach. Instead of looking at Egger’s witch, my interests lie in the dark and discomforting forest that surrounds the family and lends the film its eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere. Through my research, I examine the landscapes that were associated with witchcraft to understand how people living in the early modern period viewed the world around them. More specifically, I am looking at the places tied to the concept of the witches’ sabbath, the secret nocturnal gathering of witches filled with dancing, desecration, and demonic sex. I focus on three case studies of the witch trials that feature the witches’ sabbath: Zug in Switzerland, Bamberg in Germany, and the Pays de Labourd region of France. My research so far has found patterns that tie specific locations to the sabbath, often at the margins of society where the boundaries between human and nature, secular and spiritual blur. The forest in the film follows this tradition, as forests in the early modern period were treated as dark and mysterious, sites where unwitting ordinary people could stumble upon the witches’ sabbath and where witches could plot the downfall of Christian society, illustrating the wary fears that people had toward these spaces. However, forests were not the only locations tied to the sabbath. Mountains, crossroads, and ruins were also associated with the sabbath, as these were often locations that represented the unknown and all of the anxieties associated with it. By examining primary sources tied to the witch trials, we as historians are better able to understand how people from all rungs of the social ladder viewed and interacted with the world around them by exploring the sites of fear and fantasy that they associated with witchcraft and the sabbath. By capitalizing on these spatial anxieties, Robert Eggers was able to craft a film that used ancient fears and societal expectations of witchcraft and the world in which it was set to scare audiences in the modern age.
While the image of the witch has been the studied by many historians, my work takes a different approach. Instead of looking at Egger’s witch, my interests lie in the dark and discomforting forest that surrounds the family and lends the film its eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere. Through my research, I examine the landscapes that were associated with witchcraft to understand how people living in the early modern period viewed the world around them. More specifically, I am looking at the places tied to the concept of the witches’ sabbath, the secret nocturnal gathering of witches filled with dancing, desecration, and demonic sex. I focus on three case studies of the witch trials that feature the witches’ sabbath: Zug in Switzerland, Bamberg in Germany, and the Pays de Labourd region of France. My research so far has found patterns that tie specific locations to the sabbath, often at the margins of society where the boundaries between human and nature, secular and spiritual blur. The forest in the film follows this tradition, as forests in the early modern period were treated as dark and mysterious, sites where unwitting ordinary people could stumble upon the witches’ sabbath and where witches could plot the downfall of Christian society, illustrating the wary fears that people had toward these spaces. However, forests were not the only locations tied to the sabbath. Mountains, crossroads, and ruins were also associated with the sabbath, as these were often locations that represented the unknown and all of the anxieties associated with it. By examining primary sources tied to the witch trials, we as historians are better able to understand how people from all rungs of the social ladder viewed and interacted with the world around them by exploring the sites of fear and fantasy that they associated with witchcraft and the sabbath. By capitalizing on these spatial anxieties, Robert Eggers was able to craft a film that used ancient fears and societal expectations of witchcraft and the world in which it was set to scare audiences in the modern age.
**This exclusive pack was a special treat for players, offering them a sneak peek into the new world of Magic.** The players wasted no time tearing open the packs, revealing the beautifully illustrated cards inside. Once players had built their decks, the games began. The sound of shuffling cards and the clatter of dice filled the store as players battled it out. There were cheers of victory and groans of defeat as players tested their skills against one another. The atmosphere was electric, with everyone engrossed in their own battles yet still sharing the overall excitement of the event. As the day went on, new friendships were formed and old rivalries reignited. Magic has a unique way of bringing people together, and the pre-release event was no exception. Players of all ages and backgrounds found themselves bonding over their shared love for the game. **The event created a sense of community and camaraderie that extended beyond the store walls and into our neighborhood.** By the end of the event, players left with their heads held high or armed with new strategies to use in future games. The Magic: The Gathering pre-release had been a resounding success, leaving everyone eager for the official release of the new set. In conclusion, the Magic pre-release event brought a touch of magic to our neighborhood. **It not only gave players a chance to get their hands on the newest cards, but it also created a sense of community and camaraderie among players.** The event was a reminder of the power of games to bring people together and create lasting memories..
Reviews for "Unleashing the Magic: Pre-Release Events Near You"
1. Jane - 1/5 - I was really disappointed with the Magic pre-release event in my neighborhood. The organization was terrible and there were not enough available tables to accommodate all the players. I ended up standing around for most of the event, waiting for a spot to open up. Additionally, the staff at the event were not helpful or knowledgeable about the game. I expected a fun and enjoyable experience, but instead, it was chaotic and frustrating. I will not be attending any future events in my neighborhood.
2. Mark - 2/5 - The Magic pre-release event in my neighborhood left a lot to be desired. The atmosphere was dull and lacked excitement. The organizers didn't seem to have a clear plan in place for the event, resulting in confusion and a lack of structure. The playing area was cramped, making it uncomfortable to sit and play for several hours. Overall, I felt let down by this event and would not recommend it to fellow Magic players.
3. Sarah - 1/5 - Attending the Magic pre-release in my neighborhood was a complete waste of time and money. The event was poorly organized, with little to no organization for pairing players. The staff seemed uninterested and disengaged, providing little assistance or information. The quality of the prizes for the event were also disappointing, as they were not worth the entry fee. I expected a fun and competitive event, but it felt more like a chaotic mess. I won't be considering any future events in my neighborhood after this disappointing experience.