#I took some creative liberties because the actual scene of this song is a MESS

[laylamva]

This was a doozy to finish, but I'm proud of myself for doing it! ^^

[reikitai]

V E R Y unpopular opinion time.

If you’re easily offended by people with different thoughts this won’t be for you.

--- Basically, I’m really getting back into Tim Burton’s works. I’m feeling the groove from this creative genius. As such because of that I’m also turning goth again and god does it feel good.

No, like this is a really big deal for me. I was such a H U G E  TB geek growing up when I was 10-12. I wanted to die when I couldn’t go to the MOMA exhibit all the way in NY. Then I suddenly stopped admiring without any real reason.  

I’m 20 now. I’m going through all his films again, I have all time favorites that never seemed to change for me,*Beetlejuice/Scissorhands/Big fish* and then I’ve also seen some.... Not so good stuff. *Cue live action junk- Alice in Wonderland/Dumbo, etc. I’m looking at YOU.*  and then I saw it again. There in the somehow mediocre at best pile... There’s the famous Nightmare Before Christmas. Why is this a big deal? I haven’t watched it in forever and now I can look at it through adult lenses, critically. 

**This is NOT to say that adults who feel TNBC is Tim’s best work is wrong per say but it just didn’t do it for me like it used to personally.** Back in the day, I would have mauled anyone who didn’t praise this film as cinematic genius. It was my favorite movie and I would watch it whenever because I loved it so damn much. Here’s the thing. It’s good at best, but I personally can’t say it’s his magnum opus in my opinion.  I will break down each reason step by step.

The story: The story as we know it is actually based off a much shorter poem Tim came up with previously and then the movie took creative liberties with it. I can applaud these creative abilities to go forward with something like this, the poem itself was also simplistic so I can’t really hate on the movie’s story being simplistic afterwards.  A simple story can be cute, charming and straight to the point which is exactly what TNBC is. People love that kind of thing! Unless you want a complex story this won’t exactly do it for you. 

Plot: Simple and easy to follow yet also cliche to a fault. It can be argued that the film is aimed at children to begin with but really it just turned into a classic that everyone loves anyway. In short: Someone strives to be something they’re not and there’s the liar revealed, hero tries to fix their mistakes and makes everything right again. We’ve seen this kind of story over and over again before and that’s part of why I was disappointed. There’s this magical setting where anything could happen but it had to follow the poem so strictly, it didn’t leave much growth for story innovation at all. 

I felt as if the movie didn’t really have any lesson at all as much as I had hoped for a lesson on culture sharing or something similar. No such luck. The closest thing I got was “Stick to what you know instead of venturing out and you’ll never mess up again!” Not really a good message for anyone at all really.

Characters: The whole movie is set up to get to point A to B. We don’t really get enough time to explore characters besides their main goals and wants/needs, it would have been great to see more besides the curious Jack or cautious Sally. I live for dimensions in characters and it felt like this was pretty lacking. 

The cinematic/Style: The year is 1993- TNBC’s birth that would inspire generations to come. Scene kids, goths, emos.. Maybe even people beyond that spectrum. All uniting for one hella edgy movie that would go down in history. Technology was very limited. CGI wasn’t used hardly as much as it is now and Tim is out there being an innovator as per usual. Part of the stop motion charm is the technique itself and how it takes so much time to perfect a scene. That being said a few hiccups here and there are visible and it’s kind of hard not to notice a few seconds skipping upon occasion. A part of me almost likes how I can see the mistakes being “fixed” in a noticeable way. It feels modest in that way, the artists were really trying their best to perfect this thing when it was hard to find alternative ways to fix problems. 

It’s not fair to compare it to other stop motions that would happen years later, because that’s such a huge time gap. Techniques always change.

Music/score: Oh, I love Danny Elfman. I listen to Oingo Boingo on the regular and his music is an absolute banger. Nobody else could be a better composer for Tim’s movies. His scores are brilliant but unfortunately it doesn’t really hit anything here. The soundtrack was mostly very soft and forgettable besides He’s the Oogie boogie man and of course, This Is Halloween but that’s because it’s distinct. It stands out compared to the rest of the soundtrack. I can’t forget this is Halloween because it’s catchy. Catchy however.. Doesn’t always mean good. 

Danny is known for his outlandish tunes and the interesting instruments he chooses to make songs pop and stand out. Here it was just a lull, something ultimately just not very alluring. He missed the chance to flex his broad talent on this one and it shows.

Overall: 7.5/10. It deserves all the attention it gets, but I feel as if it overshadows Tim’s other works that could need this attention more. 

For those wondering, I identify this film as BOTH a Christmas and Halloween movie. Because... Why the hell not.

Happy haunting! 

[houseofvans]

Art School | Edward Colver | Interview Part I

Photographer Edward Colver captured and lived the hardcore punk movement in LA from late 1978 to mid-1984.   His amazing photographs tell this story: Not only was he always on stage taking photographs or in the pit, but his work has been featured on more than 250 albums, including some of the most iconic covers of the punk era –from Black Flag’s “Damaged,” Circle Jerk’s “Group Sex,” to Wasted Youth’s “Reagan’s In,” just to name a few.  His recent exhibition ‘Idol Worship II,’ which opened Saturday, April 28th at Lethal Amounts Gallery in Los Angeles, featured some of his most iconic works as well as several unpublished photographs. We were honored to chat with Ed about various topics– from how he got into photography, how he shot amidst the chaos, and what his ingredients were for the “blood recipe” used for Black Flag’s “Damaged” cover. 

For gallery hours, contact Info@Lethalamounts.com Recorded and transcribed by Michael C. Hsiung 

How did you first get interested in photography? A friend of mine brought a 35-milimeter camera over to my place one time and we were messing around shooting pictures around the yard and shooting each other. And that’s the first time I ever used one and saw the results a couple weeks later or something, and it was pretty interesting. 

What was your first camera? My first camera was a really cheap Yashica Rangefinder that a friend of mine told me it was worth about thirty-five dollars. I always thought that was funny ‘thirty five dollars, thirty five millimeters.’

What kind of lightning were you shooting with? You know I was shooting all entirely available light with it at the time. My friend Frank Gargani– a really great LA punk photographer–and Bruce Kalberg that worked on No Mag . .  [so] Frank went and told Bruce –“Hey there’s this guy shooting available light.” Hah. It was because I didn’t have a flash or couldn’t afford one.

When did you first get published? They put some of my work in their magazine early on. I actually got my first photo published three months after I started shooting.

And how did that happen? It was all through my arts and crafts collecting from the sixties.  I got invited over for dinner by some friend’s house that also were collectors of arts and crafts period stuff. The wife’s friend or sister and these two people from BAM magazine.  My friend said “We heard you’re shooting pictures, bring some over.”  And I brought some of photos and some of them were of Johanna Went-the performance artist.  And they said “Hey we’re doing a story on her can we use these?” Hah. Yeah so it was a total fluke. Just months after I started shooting! Then, I might go on to say that I’ve been shooting for like thirty-seven years now.  

What did you use to get work? I’ve never advertised, don’t solicit work, and my phone number is unpublished and I use funeral sympathy cards with my info on it for my business cards. I always said that those cards would weed out “the clients” with no sense of humor who I wouldn’t want to work with then.  I’m sure some people and taken my business card and thrown it away immediately, and I’m like thank you! 

Did you always use Funeral Sympathy cards? Early 80’s at least I’d stamp my number on playing cards, so you know, when someone goes “hey you got a card?” Huh.  This one guy Greg Mishka turned up one on the Internet –a really early one when it was some old business card I had from some old bar I had crossed out and stamped my info on it. It was like Bob’s Smokehouse on 7th Street or something. It was really funny. We used to use instead of doing test strips I always just took a piece of paper and I would throw it out in the area where somebody’s face to get the proper tone and develop those and cut those up and use an apple on the face with an eye on it and stamp my information on the back with it. I was using scraps from my darkroom for cards

What was the first show you attended? Well, the first “band” I went to see and took my camera, and I’m even surprised I don’t even know why I did that was the Motels at Madame Wong’s. And they’re not a punk band, but they were really cool actually their early stuff is really dark and moody and stuff. A really interesting band. I’m still friends with Jeff Jourard the guitar player. 

Where did you go to see most of the bands? I had heard about that place (Madame Wong’s) and went to check it out a couple times but I was kinda of underwhelmed. Then the Hong Kong café opened right across the alleyway. And that was punk rock and I was gone forever.  They say Madame Wong’s is where New Wave went to die.  Hah.  People used to say “You into New Wave?,” and I used to say “FUCK NO,” I like PUNK ROCK!”  And I’ve never figured out why they got lumped together. Its like New Wave is like contemporary pop music and punk rock is something, totally new and branched off. It’s like they have nothing to do with each other. It’s like people who say Blondie, Talking Heads, and Devo were punk bands? It’s like what the FUCK are you talking about?

What made you stop going? When was it sort of over for you? Oh I don’t know, like I spoke earlier of the advent of the thrash bands which totally turned me off and the fact I had already seen everybody and shot everybody and worked on like eighty record jackets by the end of ’83 and I actually got my first studio at the Brewery “Art” Complex. I always have to put “ART” in quotations.  That was in early ’84 so I got a photography studio and started doing studio photography and working for record labels that actually paid me. I was gone out of the punk scene then.  To me it kind of like DIED. My buddy Steve Blush who is in American Hardcore thought it went to eighty-six. I kind of feel like it all sort of all changed. As much as I LOVED it and LIVED it, I was kind of like … it all sort of shifted. I already started doing something different at the same time and started getting paid to do photography, you know.

How would you describe 1978-1984 scene? Really creative raw energy was going on I guess it hadn’t happened before. It’s weird how hardcore turned into this huge macho thing and such. The early punk scene was all-inclusive thing, but then it became this really fuckin’ aggro, which is amazing and fascinating, but really excluded women.  Every once in a while I’d see one girl down in the pit.  

What was it like shooting at show? How comfortable were you doing that?  I never thought it in terms of “comfort.” It was like a war zone kind of.  Being in the middle of that stuff. I could say that when I started early shooting. I was always out all the time like five nights a week on the average out shooting pictures, and there were actually good bands playing that much!  It was great. Yeah, all the time there were amazing shows and they were small and at weird venues that moved around and stuff.

Who was the most photogenic band you shot? Probably the Dead Kennedy because I’ve heard Jello (Biafra) was actually theatrical.

What was it like to shoot a live show? Live is always pretty much the same situation. It was chaotic and I’d have to find a vantage point to shoot from, granted I’d move around.  But back then I was on stage with people all the time they were my friends, and I was there I’d be on stage I had carte blanche and before passes or anything.

How has shooting live shows changed for you over the years? I think twice I shot with the three song limit pass shit and I go “this is fucking bullshit folks.”  It had to do with their management and stuff. I’ve always said “God forbid you want any sweat in Rock n Roll.”  Because they wanted these guys to look good, but then scoot you out and it was like, ooohhh ok-ay. I did that about twice, and that was right around the time I totally quit. I stopped shooting live photos entirely in early ’84 I just totally stopped it. That’s when I got the studio and started studio and stopped doing live. People still think I do live stuff… I don’t do that shit anymore. I was always there. If somebody went to a show I was there. I was always there. And I was there every time you went out and if someone saw me they still didn’t fuck with me because I was part of it.  Like if I go there (shows) now, it’s like who’s this clown. It’s like a totally different thing. I wouldn’t go out in a pit and shoot for a thousand bucks nowadays. Besides not being interested, people wouldn’t know what the fuck I was doing.

Ever been injured shooting in this live show chaos? Nothing ever too crazy happened, like the barricade break at the Olympic.  I was the only person between the barricade and the stage. There was no bouncers, no nobody. I was the only person between the barricade and the stage, and this kid had like climbed up across and was going to jump off or something.  He had fallen down by me and bumped me, and it was like I helped him back up. And he jumped out. Then a minute later I got slammed in the back and looked to the right and the whole barricade had collapsed.  There were several hundred, you know, it was a three thousand people concert. There was a huge pit, and all of sudden I look over and was like oohh wwhhhaatt.  Instead of ducking under the stage, my thinking was I gotta get out of here, so I’m heading up. There’s nothing to step on as I threw my camera on the middle of the stage as this thing is collapsing and starting to pinch me. The Earl (Liberty) from Saccharine Trust was roading for Black Flag, and he ran over to help me.  But in this video I’ve seen there’s this blonde guy that runs over to help too. It actually shows me walking off the side of the stage holding my hip. Ouch.

Tell us about one of your most iconic images the Black Flag “Damaged” cover with Rollins punching the mirror? All the guys talked to me about Henry and the mirror. I shot that at the Oxford House in Hollywood, what was known as the Oxford House. It was on Oxford. I brought a red India ink with me to the photo shoot, and then I started scrounging around in the kitchen to see what I could find to make blood out. I had the red India ink and came up with the mixture of liquid dish washing soap for consistency, and instant coffee for consistency and color and red India ink for color. Made the blood in the kitchen and I took the mirror and put a masking tape all over the back of it. I flipped over and cleaned. Then hit it once with a hammer and cleaned it again. Then stood it up and did the photo. The back of the album cover using the mirror was for the text-to-overlay. [It was] my idea to use just the mirror, which I shot up in Los Feliz later that night. I laid it out on the sidewalk and photographed it on an angle. I like the way the flash made it look like– these energy bolts running through

Wow, just to think on the sidewalk in Los Feliz! It was a little bit interesting – I shot it outside of [my friend’s] apartment and it was a block or two from LaBianca murder residence. Her aunt had found bloody clothes in the alleyway right by there (St. George and Los Feliz) after the murders. Tex Watson lived on Griffith Park. I always thought that was kind of interesting.  That it was shot by the LaBianca’s place. Pettibon was always doing Manson art so.

There’s a famous photograph of Rozz Williams in Christian Death wearing a dress while sitting on a tombstone, blocking some letters out with his feet. It says Flickler …I told him to move his legs around till it covered the word so it said FUCKER.  We were out at Holy Cross Cemetery in Pomona doing a whole bunch of photographs at night. It was just Rozz, James and George and I. Rick wasn’t there I’m don’t know why but we were just shooting a bunch of individual pictures there. I have the rosaries that he’s wearing in that photo and some of his ashes.  

Wow, I’m just imagining the unpublished and printed photographs of Rozz you must have still. There are more negatives I’m looking for I shot when Rozz was in that second band called Pompeii ’99 backing him up. I did this whole photo shoot with him, and there are ones where he’s wearing a white leather jacket.  Some of those are around, but I had thoughts of doing this exhibit in this long narrow gallery, and I wanted to photograph Rozz like with his arm out and I put Weekly World News behind it. I covered a wall with Weekly World news and I wanted him with his arms out and he wasn’t into it. So I abandoned the whole thing, but I shot him, like his head and shoulders, his chest and arms and thighs and his feet. I was going to blow him up to 16 x 20 prints and they would be life-sized. I was gonna mount them on the wall. I wanted him up with arms out, and a girl under each arm had candelabra with candles burning on it. I was going to do two prints of that, and a print of each of the guys all at the end of the gallery life size all 16 by 20… I have those pictures of Rozz I never printed and they exist. Those will be amazing when I find them. He didn’t hang himself off the kitchen cabinet like they say in the Museum of Death. He hung himself in his closet. He was really destitute and poor and stuff. Real sad, very sad. 

Those photographs definitely made that tombstone famous. I think it was that one somebody on Facebook went back there to the cemetery during the daytime, and they found that tombstone and shot a farther away picture of it and then superimposed my picture of Rozz into it so a color daytime photo with him. It was really a cool concept, and I was like WOW that was really neat.  It was farther away and showed the whole scene in daytime and dropped my photo in it –pretty neat.

Don’t forget to catch Part II | Art School with Edward Colver 

Follow Edward Colver Website: http://edwardcolver.com Instagram: @edwardcolver