Time Travel [Horizon]

Now that I have looked both into the present of Time Travel and the past it’s now time to scan the horizons. I hope to look at a wide range of different things to do or relating to Time Travel and hope to find a vast amount. From the present and past research I’m starting to notice a pattern, especially with film franchises. I hope to find new and original media examples in this research, as well as advances in the scientific field. 

-:Time Traveller:-

Level 5 have recently revealed their new video game for the 3DS called “Time Traveller“. Unfortunately not much has been revealed so far about the game in question. The announcement was back in April 2011 and they released a small piece of art work. It depicts a girl on top of a clock tower, looking over a destroyed city. At the end of September 2011 they released a small trailer for the game. It revealed that the game was going to be released on the 3DS. In the trailer is shows a young girl (Mikoto Shinmichi) on an underground train on her own. Numbers start to count down and she notices a man (Skeleton) in the reflection of the train window. The time then counts down to 0 and numbers start to flash around the train. Then at the end she is on the clock tower (shown in the artwork) and she slowly falls off.

Concept art of the game "Time Traveller" (Ishaan, 2010)

“Time Travelers is a mystery game being developed in collaboration with Jiro Ishii, who penned 428: Fusasareta Shibuya de, a high-profile visual novel published for the Nintendo Wii in Japan. If you’ve heard of it, the anime, Canaan, is based upon a bonus scenario in 428.” (Ishaan, 2010)

Screenshot of the game "Time Traveller" (Ishaan, 2010)

The trailer looks really interesting, although it doesn't really show how she travels in time. Maybe she travels through time via the train or her herself can travel through time using some sort of power? She might also be able to see into the future, rather than just travel to it. I really like the art style they have gone for, very realistic and post-apocalyptic. It'll be very interesting to see how the game plays and works.

-:Magic Tree House:-

The Magic Tree House was originally a series of books written by American author Mary Pope Osborne. Very recently they revealed at a press conference by film distributor Gaga that there will be a film based off the books. The book is about Jack and Annie, two siblings who have magical adventures by travelling through time in their tree house. The film will be released in Japan on the January 7th, 2012. The books have always been very popular in Japan and are regularly read to children at school. The film will have their art style based off Ayana Amako illustrations, the artist who did the art for the Japanese versions of the books. The artist who did the American illustrations of the book was Salvatore Murdocca. The have some big names working on this movie such as Hiroshi Nishikiori (directing), Ichiro Okouchi (screenplay) Yoshiaki Yanagida(designing and supervising ), Toshiharu Mizutani (art director) and Akira Senju (music).

 Screenshot of the movie "Magic Tree House" (tetrazelda, 2011)

Magic Tree House - Teaser Trailer (BonyEntertainment , 2011)

“The film about Jack and Annie, siblings that go on adventures through time with a mysterious tree house, will premiere in Japanese theaters on January 7, 2012.” (Unknown, 2011)

The film looks like it has a very kid feel about it, with bright colours and simple, styles characters. I really like the idea of them travelling via a tree house though. In the trailer they seem to pick books eg. A book on dinosaurs then they end up in the time when dinosaurs walked the earth. They also go to a Roman time and another time which has knights in it. A very cute idea though and very appealing the kids, I can understand why the books are as popular as they are all over the world.

-:Greenwich Mean Time, GMT:-

"If adopted, the change would mean that for one autumn, the clocks would not go back, synchronising the UK with much of Europe and meaning that British Summer Time (BST) would effectively continue throughout the winter. The following spring the clocks would go forward to BST plus one hour, or two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) - something which has been called "double summertime"." (BBC. 2011)

The British Government is considering changing the Greenwich Mean Time to an hour ahead for the next three years. It would be a trial for the moment, meaning that our times would change and our mornings would get darker. 

"It calls for a review of the potential costs and benefits of advancing the clocks by one hour, and if the review recommends it, a trial period. Ms Harris told BBC2's Daily Politics her bill was about "moving an extra hour of daylight from the morning when a lot of us waste it in bed to the evening when we can actually get out and enjoy it and do things after school and work". Advocates of a change cite a range of benefits to lighter evenings, including promoting sports and exercise and reducing energy consumption." (BBC. 2011)

The change of time would mean many different things and on an overview it would be beneficial and save the country money. There are obviously both pros and cons to the change in time.

"Evenings are more dangerous than mornings on the roads, especially in these days of cheap alcohol and all-day opening, and of sparse police patrols, because ¬drivers have had more time to drink too much. Light and dark make little difference to that.

But Mrs Harris’s well-supported Bill is well on its way anyway, unlike several similar efforts on the subject over the past dozen years. These all ended in defeat, as did

the 1968-71 experiment." (Hitchens, P 2010)

I couldn't find any more to find out if this is going to be a permanent change or not to the UK time. From the quotes above it sounds like this has been a topic that politicians have talked about a lot over several years. 

"Eight successive attempts in parliament since 1994 to change clock times have failed. Dr Elizabeth Garnsey, reader in innovation studies at Cambridge University's department of engineering, who has conducted research into the benefits of a new system, said: "An hour more light to the evening could reduce daily demand for electricity all year."" (Helm, T. Woolf, N. 2010)

It is unclear to whether they will actually go ahead with the change but if they do it means that time in the UK will change forever. The mornings will be darker, even in the summer, but the evenings will always be lighter. I honestly don't really see how the change would be more effective, I think the time should stay as it is now.

-:Men in Black III:-

Poster design for the new film "Men in Black III" (Unknown, no date)


"The MIB duo of Agent Jay (Will Smith) and Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) are back in action. When the world is threatened by an evil alien, Agent Jay travels back in time to 1969, where he teams up with the younger Agent Kay to stop an evil villain named Boris (Jemaine Clement) from destroying the world in the future. Emma Thompson will play take-charge MIB operative Agent Oh, who is monitoring a prison breakout." (productionweekly.com, 2010)



The movie is a sequel to "Men in Black II" (Sonnenfeld, B. 2002) and will make these films into a trilogy. The film is now in post-production which means that all the filming is complete and it now being edited. It is set to hit cinemas on the 25th May 2012.

An image of the actors on set filming "Men in Black III" (xposurephotos.com. No date)

The synopsis of the movie says that he travels back in time but it is unclear as of yet how he does it. Still it sounds like an interesting film and should be very popular. It's previous films did very well in the box office.

"The first "Men in Black" was made for $90 million and went on to earn around $590 million in worldwide ticket sales. The sequel, Men in Black II, was released five years later, was made for $140 million and earned $442 million worldwide." (Unknown, no date)

With the outlook on the past figures so positive I think that people will want to go see this film. I think it depends on how well it was made and how well the story was written which will prove once and for all if it's a success or not. The Time Travel in this is used more as a plot device which gives the movie a new time to film in. I think this element will make the movie a lot more interesting as Men in Black is set in very modern surroundings, so going back to 1969 will give the film a new look.



-:Time Travel films to be announced:-

I found lots of films with the theme of Time Travel, or that in the title, which have still yet to be announced. This means there is very, very little information on them that I can access but I thought it would be beneficial to still list them here.

"Time Travel for Dummies
Synopsis: Three hapless friends make use of a time machine to get out of life's chores, with unexpected consequences.

Frequency asked Questions about Time Travel
Synopsis: The story centers on three social misfits - including two geeks and a cynic - who attempt to "navigate a time-travel conundrum in the middle of a British pub." Anna Faris will play someone from the future who sets the chain of time-traveling events in motion.

Time Traveller
Synopsis: An African-American male rises from poverty to a distinguished academic and scientific career, which includes a Ph.D in theoretical physics. He lays out the technical specs for what he envisions as a workable time machine. Developing a time machine had become an obsession for him since the age of 10 after his father's death. His goal is to travel back in time to save his father.

Hiding in Time
Synopsis: In the future, the Witness Protection Program uses time travel to relocate high-value witnesses into the past for safe keeping. When the program is compromised, a government scientist must travel back through the greatest moments in history to help a master thief rescue his old crew from the assassins sent back by their former employer." (Unknown, 2011)

Unfortunately not being able to find out any more about these films is a let-down as the synopsis of all the movies sound very interesting. All of them do include Time travel in some sort of way; they don't all just have the words in the titles. With these titles all to still be confirmed it's not 100% certain that they will be made and released for the cinema but it does mean that there is still a market for Time travel. It means that people want to make these films as there has been a gap in the market for some new Time Travel films.


-:Time Travel MMORPG:-

A screenshot of the new of the MMORPG by Time Voyager (Singh, P. 2011)

"Chris Loo is a man who wants to turn everyone into time travellers and he reckons the Chinese can help him step into the future. The co-founder of Singapore-based firm Time Voyager is developing an online time travel game. And while his game is pushing the scientific barriers in the virtual world, Mr Loo is challenging the norms of funding in the real one." (Singh, P. 2011)

"Time Voyager is well positioned to lead in the new class of social network-centric MMORPG," said JD Yu. "The Time Voyager team has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to take a time travel MMORPG concept into a new level of social media experience." "Despite a highly competitive landscape, the Time Voyager team delivered on very challenging product development milestones under tremendous pressure," said Kay-Mok Ku. "This resulted in a strong endorsement as well as publishing deal with a leading MMORPG publisher." (Valecha, A. 2011)

"The MMORPG flagship game is currently undergoing Closed Beta phase and targeted to be ready for commercial launch by 2nd Quarter of 2012 in China." (Valecha, A. 2011)

Unfortunately not much more is really known about the game as of yet but it seems to be fully in development now. With a big investment they company is able to improve its engines and make a MMORPG based on Time Travel. I wasn't really able to find any more images either showing the game. I did find this image though of someone playing most likely a very early version of it.

Someone playing an early sample of the game from Time Voyager (Goh, D. 2010)

I honestly think this is a brilliant idea for a MMORPG as it's a very big market but the element of Time Travel could really push it into new and original areas. Unfortunately this means that I won't be able to create a new IP on this but I'm very excited about this idea. It would mean that people could actually be Time Travellers themselves and maybe even control which times they go to. With time being so long there are so many era’s the player could explore and do quests in. It's a shame the game only seems to be coming out in China but it shows that this company saw a gap in the MMORPG market and combined it with Time Travel, creating a new IP.

-:Time Travel scientifically possible?:-

The development in the scientific field is on-going today and scientists are still coming up with new solutions and theories on whether it is possible. I was unfortunately unable to find any new or future plans of work (as it is most likely being kept as top secret research by high powers) but I found quotes of research with has been completed over the past few years. 

"The first time travellers from the future could materialise on Earth within a few weeks. Physicists around the world are excitedly awaiting the start up of the £4.65 billion Large Hadron Collider, LHC - the most powerful atom-smasher ever built - which is supposed to shed new light on the particles and forces at work in the cosmos and reproduce conditions that date to near the Big Bang of creation." (Highfield, R. 2008)

With the new introduction of the Large Hadron Collider back in 2008, this new piece of equipment has opened up vast new opportunities for scientists to learn about atoms. This could stretch into Time Travel research and help scientists develop the theories they have. 

"The work has wider implications since the idea of parallel universes sidesteps one of the key problems with time travel. Every since it was given serious lab cred in 1949 by the great logician Kurt Godel, many eminent physicists have argued against time travel because it undermines ideas of cause and effect to create paradoxes: a time traveller could go back to kill his grandfather so that he is never born in the first place.

But the existence of parallel worlds offers a way around these troublesome paradoxes, according to David Deutsch of Oxford University, a highly respected proponent of quantum theory, the deeply mathematical, successful and baffling theory of the atomic world.

He argues that time travel shifts between different branches of reality, basing his claim on parallel universes, the so-called "many-worlds" formulation of quantum theory." (Highfield, R. 2007)

There are many different formulas being explored right now. With all the articles I found scientists are working hard and trying to find a solution. So, when will we have the ability to Time travel?

"In about 15,000 years at this rate, assuzing new laws of physics don't rule it out." (Stewart, I. 2009)

I guess we will have to wait quite a while until it actually happens. Time travel has apparently already happened though.

""The short answer is that time travel into the future is not only possible, it's been done, and we've known about it for over a century," says Davies. "The reason that the public doesn’t seem to know about it is because the amount of time travel involved is so pitifully small that it doesn't make for a 'Doctor Who' style adventure." A phenomenon called time dilation is the key here. Time passes more slowly the closer you approach the speed of light -- an unbreakable cosmic speed limit. As such, the hands of a clock in a speeding train would move more slowly than those in a stationary clock. The difference would not be humanly noticeable, but when the train pulled back into the station, the two clocks would be off by billionths of a second. If such a train could attain 99.999 percent light speed, only 1 year would pass onboard for every 223 years back at the train station." (Lamb, R. 2010)

So the actual task of Time Travelling is possible and we seem to do it when you travel at high speeds. The faster you’re able to travel to the speed of light the slower time will go for the person travelling it, this all links to Einstein's theory of relativity which was created almost 100 years ago. 

"We physicists used to laugh at Star Trek's warp factor. We don't laugh anymore. About 10 years ago, a Mexican relativist named Miguel Alcubierre was watching Star Trek, and he came up with a new solution to Einstein's [general relativity] equation. The loophole is negative matter -- Einstein never considered it." (Boyle, R. 2009)

So the ideas from Science Fiction shows also seem to inspire scientists to research into if they are actually possible. The genre of science fiction links very closely to science fact, only science fiction is actually able to carry out these amazing theories such as Time travel.

I was rather disappointed with the lack of information I could find on new developments in the field of Time Travel. I guess like I said before it could be due to it being top secret work. The evidence shows here though those scientists are working on it and I bet in the future more theories and ideas will be created by scientists. There have been huge developments in the field though and I'm sure scientists will find an answer some day in the future, but not for a while. It's also quite interesting to hear that science fiction, such as Star trek, has inspired scientists to look into new ideas that are actually physically possible. Sometimes with all the action packed sci-fi films that blow you away with the amazing CGI you forgot that some of the stuff you see is actually scientifically possible, we just haven't figured it all out yet.

-:Doctor Who:-

"Doctor Who Magazine has officially confirmed what has been clear for a while now – Series 7 will not air until Autumn 2012.

With the 9 month shoot on the seventh series not beginning until February 2012, it would have been impossible for the traditional Spring start. The best we could hope for would be an Easter special to make the long gap easier to swallow.

It seems likely that only half of Series 7 will be shown in Autumn 2012, with the remainder coming early 2013. This means the Christmas 2012 episode would air in the middle of a series rather than the end." (Unknown, 2011)

It has been confirmed that Doctor Who will have a series 7 that will run from autumn in 2012. This will be running on the BBC and will carry on from where series 6 left off. This series will be split into 2 half's, the first being shown in autumn 2012 and the rest most likely in 2013. 

"It would also mean that 2013 would see an eighth series airing in time for the 50th anniversary." (Unknown, 2011)

Since in 2013 it will be the 50th year that Doctor Who has been running I am guessing that they will do something special to celebrate this. There are no plans as of yet of what but they can't miss an opportunity like this. I think it would be stupid of the show if they didn't, they could really market it strongly and promote the show, really making it popular. It's not every year a show turns 50th.

-:Doctor Who, Christmas Special:-

An image from the "Doctor Who Christmas Special 2011" (Rae, J. 2011)

"BBC America has officially announced that Doctor Who Christmas Special 2011 "The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe” has a premiere date. And what is the Doctor WhoChristmas Special 2011 Date? It’s Sunday, Dec. 25., 2011." (Rae, J. 2011)

Doctor Who will once again be getting a Christmas special which will air on Christmas day on the BBC. The episode will be a on off and only shown on Christmas. It'll be a side story which won't affect the main plot but will still have all the main characters in.

"It’s Christmas Eve, 1938, when Madge Arwell comes to the aid of an injured Spaceman Angel as she cycles home, in this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, starring Matt Smith as the Doctor. He promises to repay her kindness – all she has to do is make a wish. Three years later, a devastated Madge escapes war-torn London with her two children for a dilapidated house in Dorset. She is crippled with grief at the news her husband has been lost over the channel, but determined to give Lily and Cyril the best Christmas ever. The Arwells are surprised to be greeted by a madcap caretaker whose mysterious Christmas gift leads them into a magical wintry world. Here, Madge will learn how to be braver than she ever thought possible. And that wishes can come true…" (Rae, J. 2011)

Of course, the episode is set at Christmas time. From the sounds of it it sounds like Doctor Who will help this family overcome their fears and become closer after the death of their father/husband.  

An image of the Doctor from the "Doctor Who Christmas Special 2011" (Rae, J. 2011)

The storyline sounds interesting but a little confusing, I don't really see were the Doctor actually comes into it. Still I think that fans will sit down and watch it on Christmas day. The episode doesn't sound like it has Time travel in it but then again you could argue that the Doctor has travelled back to 1938 which then incorporates Time Travel. The show is still carrying on the plot device of the Doctor being able to travel through both time and space. Time Travel isn't a strong point in this series but it sets up the stories for the Doctor in each episode. 

-:Doctor Who movie:-

"Last month, the Internet temporarily melted when Harry Potter helmer David Yates was revealed to be working on a big screen take on Doctor Who. The news was a bit of a bolt out of the blue, not least because there still appears to be no crossover either with the current run of the television series, or the people behind it. Still, given that it’s going to be a few years until we see a finished movie, there’s still lots of time for the Internet to break altogether." (Brew, S. 2011)

It has been confirmed by David Yates that he will be creating a Doctor Who movie. He's probably most famous for directing four of the seven "Harry Potter" movies, his latest one being "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt.2" (2011).

""To clarify: any Doctor Who movie would be made by the BBC team, star the current TV Doctor and certainly NOT be a Hollywood reboot," he wrote." (Sperling, D. 2011)

It sounds like it will be sticking very true to the Doctor Who shows we know today, rather than taking the concept and turning it into something new. It also sounds like there's no worry of it turning into a "Hollywood" Doctor Who. With the BBC team making it and the cast being in it, it sounds like it'll stay true to the feel and look of the show, as well as keeping it British.

"Yates has stated that a Doctor Who movie will take years to reach the big screen, adding: "It's a long journey and we're going to take our time with it."" (Sperling, D. 2011)

I'm quite glad to see that there will be some sort of development in Doctor Who. Through my present and past research I noticed that Doctor Who has stayed the same format for almost 50 years now. It's always been a TV show, I mean sure they had new Doctors, new actors and new stories but it feels like it needs something new. The new movie could be a great opportunity to really develop the show and maybe try and add something new to it. It's a new thing that no one has ever done with Doctor Who before. 


-:Star Trek 2:-

"With filming set to begin on January 15, it sounds like the film is well on its way to finally being completed. Little is known about the upcoming, unofficially titled sequel. Reports say the flick will feature Klingons, but won't include Khan contrary to hopeful rumors. That leaves a big question mark in the air for who Benicio Del Toro will portray as the series' new villain." (Schwartz, T. 2011)

It has also been confirmed that they will be creating a sequel to the film "Star Trek" (Abrams, J. 2009). Unfortunately nothing had been confirmed about the story line or the cast but there have been rumours going around that it will be filmed in 3D.

"Another point of interest, Deadline has confirmed that Star Trek 2 will be filmed in 3D, making it the first J.J. Abrams film to do so. " (Bibbiani, W. 2011)

I'm not too sure whether J.J.Abrams will film it in 3D, I know there are lots of films that are in 3D at the cinema right now but he's never made one before. The 3D really could lend its self well to the sci-fi film though. Still I think the sequel will do just as well as the first one. As you can see from my present day research the first Star Trek movie (directed by the same director).

"Budget $140,000,000 (estimated) .

Gross

$385,680,447 (Worldwide)" (IMDB, 2011)

-:Terminator 5:-

"After eight years away from Hollywood, the former California governor is to return to the role of The Terminator in a new film currently being shopped around Hollywood studios, according to Deadline." (Child, B. 2011)

The rumour of there being a Terminator 5 film has been confirmed to be true. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is most well-known for his role as the original Terminator, will be back again for this film. 

"After a couple years of slow-moving development, progress on Terminator 5 suddenly picked up earlier this year. Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Justin Lin both came aboard." (Han, A. 2011)

Justin Lin will be directing this film, rather than the original director James Cameron. James Cameron directed and wrote all the other Terminator films and owns the rights to them. This might be why the development of the film is taking a while as they don't actually own the rights to it.

"Deadline reports that Universal, Sony, Lionsgate and CBS Films are all considering their options. The return of Schwarzenegger to his most iconic role makes a fifth Terminator film a tantalising prospect for the studio bean counters, even if the series has not been at its best since Cameron's last outing, 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The first non-Schwarzenegger film, 2009's Terminator Salvation, was the worst-reviewed so far, although it still made $370m (£225m) globally (albeit on an enormous $200m budget)." (Child, B. 2011)

The previous films made a lot of money and were all very popular. I think this sets the bar pretty high for the newest film but also gives it a good head start. The four previous films and even the TV series are very popular. The figures here prove the popularity of the films. Justin Lin must have seen this and decided to develop this further. It’s unclear yet whether the film will do well or not, or when it will actually be filmed, but it shows that the Terminator franchise is still popular. The Time travelling is a major plot point in this franchise, even though the characters don't travel through time the "Terminator" has come from the future to help stop the past being changed.

-:TIME Magazine:-

TIME magazine has released its list for who should be "Person of the Year, 2011". The list contains a whole mixture of people, from celebrities, royalty and political leaders. The voting has now stopped on who will be chosen but we won't see who is chosen until the 16th December, 2011. 

"Time says, "Person of the Year is bestowed by the editors on the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year."" (Gulino, L. 2011)

Unfortunately we won't know who the actually Person of the Year is until they publish the magazine. It really could be anyone as the voting doesn't really count in the end. In the end the editors choose who the Person of the Year is. I know that TIME magazine doesn't actually have anything to do with the topic of Time Travel per say but picking a person who has been noticeable in 2011 could lead to them having a better future in 2012. In a way it could be changing the future of that one person, making it into a kind of Time travel.

-:Back to the Future:-

While doing both my present and past research into "Back to the Future" (Zemeckis, R. 1985) I noticed that there was a lot of different rumours going around the internet about their being a fourth movie being made. I thought I would do a little research into this and see.

Whilst we don’t dare ask the “Will there be a Back to the Future 4?” question (Bob Zemeckis is known to spank!) to any of the powers that be on the day, Coming Soon already have! Props for going there without Armour!

So…?

“I think three is a good number to end on,” Zemeckis, who’s long resisted reviving the franchise, told the website. “Three is enough.”

“The story is closed,” confirmed screenwriter Bob Gale. “When Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s we said ‘Come on. Who wants to see a Back to the Future movie if Michael J. Fox isn’t it?’ I don’t. He didn’t. Nobody does.” (Malone, A. 2010)

I wasn't able to find any hard evidence about their being a fourth movie, only rumours. I think the quote above does explain to why there won't be a fourth movie. The director himself, Robert Zemeckis, has said that he won't be making another. Plus the writer that worked with his, Bob Gale, has confirmed it too. Plus the original actor who played the main character in the trilogy has fallen ill to Parkinson's disease (as I covered in my present day research. I think the franchise will still stay strong but there won't be any new movie, that’s for sure.   

After looking at all the research here I think I can say that my prediction at the beginning of this research has come true. Many different franchises are still being carried on into the future but there are some brand new and original ideas out there. I’m quite sad that I couldn’t find more of a variety, it seems too many be staying in the film/TV side of media which would limit their audience. I guess this means there is a chance to expand into another market that hasn’t been explored with the theme of Time Travel.