#and everyone is doing a great job but jonathan in particular is especially amazing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lokitvsource · 4 years ago

Photo

You came into the show with the idea of Loki clashing with the TVA already in place. How exactly does this kind of arrangement work at Marvel? Michael Waldron: There was a creative brief that was 20 pages or so that basically said: “We want to do something about Loki running up against the TVA. Here’s some different avenues that might be cool to explore.” It was really serving it up for writers as a jumping off point for us to put together our pitches. Then I went off and really worked on the idea of Loki being brought in to hunt another Loki, and that becoming the heart of the show, and the Loki/Sylvie relationship. The big thing that I did in my pitch — even as early as pitching it to Kevin [Feige] — I really walked through the six episodes, kind of similar to what they were. I knew I wanted Episode 3, for instance, to be a little bit of a Before Sunrise, with Loki and this character walking across this apocalyptic moon. But Marvel had the initial, probably the most important spark of genius, which was just Loki and the TVA.

Where did the idea of the variant being a female Loki come from? That was one of my ideas, that we then confirmed in the writers room. Yeah, we knew from the get-go that it was going to be Loki falling for another version of himself.

Why was that appealing to you? I love writing any romance; it’s fun. Especially, it hasn’t been done a ton in the MCU. There’s an obviously self-reflective quality to it. And a show that’s quite literally about self-love; it is Loki getting to see parts of himself. At the start of the show, he kind of hates himself. He assesses himself to Mobius as a villain. And then he meets Sylvie, and he sees her as someone on a heroic crusade. He sees the good in her, and is able to see the good in himself.

Mobius suggests that, of course, Loki fell in love with his own variant, because he’s a narcissist. Do you think he’d be capable of falling in love with someone who is not a version of himself? [Laughs] I don’t know if he didn’t fall in love with himself first. Maybe after that, but the first time he falls, maybe this is what it had to be.

What’s the key to telling a time travel story that takes advantage of the concept without confusing the audience? I think it’s doing a lot of work that the audience never sees. It’s really understanding the logic of this thing, building out the TVA as a real organization that actually exists in our minds. Our writers room, we had a TVA handbook, encyclopedia, what they do and why they do it, a glossary of terms. And then you want to only give the audience the absolute bare minimum to understand the story, and to just get swept up in the emotional stakes of everything. If the sci-fi of it all, if the time travel logic of this show did not hold up week to week, then that would have distracted from the emotional journeys of the characters. So I’m glad that even though everyone had to take their medicine a little bit, along with Loki, in episode one, I’m glad it didn’t distract from the story we were telling. And we had the benefit of Loki being the audience’s eyes in. The audience is learning as he is.

There’s a funny scene in Avengers: Endgame where the Avengers start arguing about exactly how time travel works in the MCU. How much did you have to study what other Marvel movies had done with the idea to make sure your rules were consistent? Fortunately, Endgame was the main one, and that’s how they understand it. The TVA is an organization that understands time travel on a deeper level, probably more comprehensively than the Avengers do in Endgame. We wanted to make sure we were staying true to any rules that they laid out, but sort of establishing our own rules. It’s a time travel show. What was I thinking? A movie’s one thing, but a show is hard.

How many Loki variants did you have on the writers room whiteboard at various points? Hundreds. So many different Lokis. There was one Loki, actually maybe it was a version of Mobius that took off his glasses, and he just had really tiny eagle eyes, like he could see everything. There was stuff like that all over the white board. Tom Kauffman, who wrote that fifth episode, he’s an amazing comedy writer, and was on the first three seasons of Rick and Morty. His first draft of that episode was just bananas.

Was there a variant, or a crazy idea in general, that you really loved but couldn’t ultimately do? There was so much different stuff that we wanted to do in the Void. But the truth is, I don’t want to say any of it, because you never know. The ideas that I want to do the most may pop up elsewhere.

Okay, so let’s stick with a variant we did see. Was Alligator Loki actually a Loki, or just an alligator that happened to be wearing a Loki’s crown? A magician can’t reveal his tricks, man. That’s the great debate. Let it rage.

What was Alligator Loki‘s origin story on your side of things? Who pitched him and how was that initially received? That was maybe my very first meeting with the producers at Marvel, Kevin Wright and Stephen Broussard, talking about the show, and me saying, “When we’re doing this, you can encounter lots of different Lokis. You could have an alligator Loki. Why? Cause he’s green.” And us all laughing about how stupid that was. I think I made the point that it’s that energy of what we can do with the show. We can have something like that, but let’s play it straight. Alligator Loki, you get a laugh out of it, but by and large you try and play it straight. That was the fun tonal balance that we tried to strike in the show.

There’s been some conflicting information out there about whether the big bad was originally just going to be He Who Remains, who’s a different comics character altogether from Kang, and whether the casting of Jonathan Majors changed the plan. From your point of view, what happened? The character was always written as a version of Kang, as early as the first draft of the script, we knew in the writers room, relatively early on. He Who Remains, that’s the guy behind the curtain with the TVA, and we saw an opportunity to fuse that mythology with the Immortus mythology. And that was just really compelling. It was a way to elevate, it just felt right for Loki, because Loki was there in the first Avengers, he’s the one who brought the Avengers together, and here is directly related to the exploding of the multiverse, this event that will drive the events of Phase Four. Certainly, when Jonathan came in, it allowed us to step on the gas of just how eccentric and charismatic this character could be. I was inspired in the writing of He Who Remains by Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia, trying to give it that Frank TJ Mackey energy a little bit. He captures that and then elevates it to something else that’s different and weird.

You just said how important the multiverse is going to be to Phase Four of the MCU. How challenging is it to have to set up this big thing for the larger Marvel endeavor while also serving the needs of the particular story you’re telling on this show? It’s a challenge in the sense that it’s all a relay race, and you’ve got the baton on this thing, and you want to do a great job. The name of the game over at Marvel is with each movie or TV show, make it the best it can possibly be. And they’re really supportive of that, and trust that it will organically fit into the larger blueprint of everything. We were excited about introducing a version of Kang, because yeah, to introduce this new big bad was cool for our show. I was aware, and cautious, of the thing I read in your review, that it might not be the most sound storytelling to introduce a new character at the very end that we’ve never seen before as the big bad of this thing. Obviously, we had the benefit that people know who Kang is, and there’s a meta thing where a portion of the audience knows Jonathan Majors is going to be playing Kang in Phase Four. But the finale was only ever going to work if He Who Remains, in a compelling way, serviced the Loki and Sylvie emotional story. That was the most important job that that character did in the finale: he laid out a very compelling conflict that ultimately drove the two of them apart.

There has also been some confusion as to exactly when you knew that there would be a second season, as opposed to you just making a limited series. Initially, in the writers room, we were not operating as though there would be a second season. And the whole way through was, this should be a story that should stand on its own. I referenced The Leftovers and Mad Men all the time. I think about those seasons, they pushed the overall stories forward, but you can pull any one of those seasons and look at it on its own as an individual story. I wanted that to be the case here, whether we did a second season or not. I think we always felt that we would want to propel Loki forward into the MCU after the conclusion of our season. The only question was, would that be in an appearance in a movie, or would that be in a second season. And it was only over the course of development that the stars aligned to make a second season.

But that end scene, where Mobius no longer recognizes Loki and the TVA is filled with Kang statues, wouldn’t have been a satisfying conclusion to a limited series. That is an ending that only works if there’s going to be a second season. So there is another conclusion to the story that I wrote that exists out there, that I guess is just for me. My own little play, that I perform with my action figures.

What was Sylvie’s original plan, before Loki hijacked her to that dying moon? It was to empty out the TVA. The entire bombing of the Sacred Timeline was to create a diversion. She’s not going to be able to create a multiverse from doing that. Ultimately, the TVA has the manpower to get out and take care of these events, but they’re going to have to scramble a lot of their minutemen teams, and it leaves the Time-Keepers significantly less guarded than they would have been otherwise. That was her plan.

You didn’t come into this as a big comic book nerd. So was there someone on staff who could tell you, “Well, there’s this giant cloud called Alioth that eats time,” or, “Well, one time Thanos had a helicopter,” or maybe someone assigned to you by Marvel? I’m constantly reading the comics but trying to not be so beholden to the and do our own thing. I charged our writers assistant, Ryan Kohler, with, “You’ve got to become the authority on all things TVA, all things Kang, and all that.” So he and my assistant, Sophie Miller, became a support staff who read a ton of these comics and became a wealth of knowledge for the writers to turn to. And then the Marvel producers, obviously are very well versed in the comics. It was Kevin Wright who came in one day and was like somebody throwing down a blueprint in an asteroid movie, going, “Alioth! Look at this!” And we were like, “Ohmigod, this is perfect!” The best thing about working on these comic book shows is that if it’s from the comics, it doesn’t matter how much of a deus ex machina it is, it’s just cool, like, “I can’t believe you pulled that from the comics.” Alioth, that was a big breakthrough that unlocked the last two episodes for us.

That is not a famous comic book that introduces Alioth. It’s an obscure Nineties miniseries, with really ugly art. But you look at it and see what it could be. You say, “If we do this, and it feels like Twister, it’s going to be really cool.”

Was Mobius’ love of jet skis there simply to illustrate his character, or did you have a grander idea in mind? I will come clean: I’m a jet ski guy. I’ve spent a good amount of time on jet skis in my day. I used to tow a jet ski to a lake and ride it in college. So it probably was me. Loki, I was just becoming a steward of that character. Mobius was a character I really felt I got to create from nothing. There’s not really anything to that character in the comics. So bits and pieces of me found their way in. I just think there’s something so poignant — here Mobius is, a guy who is literally fighting to preserve all of time in the multiverse, and yet his interests are maybe the most humble, human, terrestrial, unremarkable thing you can think of. Just a jet ski. And when you’ve got Owen Wilson playing him and it’s just that much better.

Will you be back in some capacity for Season Two? [long pause] Time will tell.

‘Loki’ Head Writer Michael Waldron — and ‘Rick and Morty’ Alum — on MCU, ‘Heels’ and More

#loki tv #loki series #michael waldron #interview

70 notes · View notes

hlupdate · 4 years ago

Link

Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

“We’ll dance again,” Harry Styles coos, the Los Angeles sunshine peeking through his pandemic-shaggy hair just so. The singer, songwriter and actor — beloved and critically acclaimed thanks to his life-affirming year-old album, “Fine Line” — is lamenting that his Variety Hitmaker of the Year cover conversation has to be conducted over Zoom rather than in person. Even via videoconference, the Brit is effortlessly charming, as anyone who’s come within earshot of him would attest, but it quickly becomes clear that beneath that genial smile is a well-honed media strategy.

To wit: In an interview that appears a few days later announcing his investment in a new arena in his native Manchester (more on that in a bit), he repeats the refrain — “There will be a time we dance again”— referencing a much-needed return to live music and the promise of some 4,000 jobs for residents.

None of which is to suggest that Styles, 26, phones it in for interviews. Quite the opposite: He does very few, conceivably to give more of himself and not cheapen what is out there and also to use the publicity opportunity to indulge his other interests, like fashion. (Last month Styles became the first male to grace the cover of Vogue solo.) Still, it stings a little that a waltz with the former One Direction member may not come to pass on this album cycle — curse you, coronavirus.

Styles’ isolation has coincided with his maturation as an artist, a thespian and a person. With “Fine Line,” he’s proved himself a skilled lyricist with a tremendous ear for harmony and melody. In preparing for his role in Olivia Wilde’s period thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is shooting outside Palm Springs, he found an outlet for expression in interpreting words on a page. And for the first time, he’s using his megaphone to speak out about social justice — inspired by the outpouring of support for Black people around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Styles has spent much of the past nine months at home in London, where life has slowed considerably. The time has allowed him to ponder such heady issues as his purpose on the earth. “It’s been a pause that I don’t know if I would have otherwise taken,” says Styles. “I think it’s been pretty good for me to have a kind of stop, to look and think about what it actually means to be an artist, what it means to do what we do and why we do it. I lean into moments like this — moments of uncertainty.”

In truth, while Styles has largely been keeping a low profile — his Love On Tour, due to kick off on April 15, was postponed in late March and is now scheduled to launch in February 2021 (whether it actually will remains to be seen) — his music has not. This is especially true in the U.S., where he’s notched two hit singles, “Adore You,” the second-most-played song at radio in 2020, and “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 22 on Variety’s year-end Hitmakers chart), with a third, “Golden,” already cresting the top 20 on the pop format. The massive cross-platform success of these songs means Styles has finally and decisively broken into the American market, maneuvering its web of gatekeepers to accumulate 6.2 million consumption units and rising.

Why do these particular songs resonate in 2020? Styles doesn’t have the faintest idea. While he acknowledges a “nursery rhyme” feel to “Watermelon Sugar” with its earwormy loop of a chorus, that’s about as much insight as he can offer. His longtime collaborator and friend Tom Hull, also known as the producer Kid Harpoon, offers this take: “There’s a lot of amazing things about that song, but what really stands out is the lyric. It’s not trying to hide or be clever. The simplicity of watermelon … there’s such a joy in it, [which] is a massive part of that song’s success.” Also, his kids love it. “I’ve never had a song connect with children in this way,” says Hull, whose credits include tunes by Shawn Mendes, Florence and the Machine and Calvin Harris. “I get sent videos all the time from friends of their kids singing. I have a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they listen to it.”

Styles is quick to note that he doesn’t chase pop appeal when crafting songs. In fact, the times when he pondered or approved a purposeful tweak, like on his self-titled 2017 debut, still gnaw at him. “I love that album so much because it represents such a time in my life, but when I listen to it — sonically and lyrically, especially — I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he says. “I was scared to get it wrong.”

Contemporary effects and on-trend beats hardly factor into Styles’ decision-making. He likes to focus on feelings — his own and his followers’ — and see himself on the other side of the velvet rope, an important distinction in his view. “People within [the industry] feel like they operate on a higher level of listening, and I like to make music from the point of being a fan of music,” Styles says. “Fans are the best A&R.”

This from someone who’s had free rein to pursue every musical whim, and hand in the album of his dreams in the form of “Fine Line.” Chart success makes it all the sweeter, but Styles insists that writing “for the right reasons” supersedes any commercial considerations. “There’s no part that feels, eh, icky — like it was made in the lab,” he says.

Styles has experience in this realm. As a graduate of the U.K. competition series “The X Factor,” where he and four other auditionees — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — were singled out by show creator and star judge Simon Cowell to conjoin as One Direction, he’s seen how the prefab pop machine works up close. The One Direction oeuvre, which counts some 42 million albums sold worldwide, includes songs written with such established hitmakers as Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha and Teddy Geiger. Being a studious, insatiable observer, Styles took it all in.

“I learned so much,” he says of the experience. “When we were in the band, I used to try and write with as many different people as I could. I wanted to practice — and I wrote a lot of bad shit.”

His bandmates also benefited from the pop star boot camp. The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members — Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles — each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

This departs from the typical trajectories of boy bands including New Kids on the Block and ’N Sync, which have all pro ered a star frontman. The thinking for decades was that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

“When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band. ‘Don’t worry, everyone, that wasn’t me! Now I get to do what I really want to do.’ But we loved being in the band,” he says. “I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it.”

Indeed, during the five-ish years that One Direction existed, Styles’ schedule involved the sort of nonstop international jet-setting that few get to see in a lifetime, never mind their teenage years. Between 2011 and 2015, One Direction’s tours pulled in north of $631 million in gross ticket sales, according to concert trade Pollstar, and the band was selling out stadiums worldwide by the time it entered its extended hiatus. Styles, too, had built up to playing arenas as a solo artist, engaging audiences with his colorful stage wear and banter and left-of-center choices for opening acts (a pre-Grammy-haul Kacey Musgraves in 2018; indie darlings King Princess and Jenny Lewis for his rescheduled 2021 run).

Stages of all sizes feel like home to Styles. He grew up in a suburb of Manchester, ground zero for some of the biggest British acts of the 1980s and ’90s, including Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and Oasis, the latter of which broke the same year Styles was born. His parents were also music lovers. Styles’ father fed him a balanced diet of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Queen, while Mum was a fan of Shania Twain, Norah Jones and Savage Garden. “They’re all great melody writers,” says Styles of the acts’ musical throughline.

Stevie Nicks, who in the past has described “Fine Line” as Styles’ “Rumours,” referencing the Fleetwood Mac 1977 classic, sees him as a kindred spirit. “Harry writes and sings his songs about real experiences that seemingly happened yesterday,” she tells Variety. “He taps into real life. He doesn’t make up stories. He tells the truth, and that is what I do. ‘Fine Line’ has been my favorite record since it came out. It is his ‘Rumours.’ I told him that in a note on December 13, 2019 before he went on stage to play the ‘Fine Line’ album at the Forum. We cried. He sang those songs like he had sung them a thousand times. That’s a great songwriter and a great performer.”

“Harry’s playing and writing is instinctual,” adds Jonathan Wilson, a friend and peer who’s advised Styles on backing and session musicians. “He understands history and where to take the torch. You can see the thread of great British performers — from Bolan to Bowie — in his music.”

Also shaping his musical DNA was Manchester itself, the site of a 23,500-seat arena, dubbed Co-op Live, for which Styles is an investor and adviser. Oak View Group, a company specializing in live entertainment and global sports that was founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015 (Jeffrey Azoff, Irving’s son, represents Styles at Full Stop Management), is leading the effort to construct the venue. The project gained planning approval in September and is set to open in 2023, with its arrival representing a £350 million ($455 million) investment in the city. (Worth noting: Manchester is already home to an arena — the site of a 2017 bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert — and a football stadium, where One Love Manchester, an all-star benefit show to raise money for victims of the terrorist attack, took place.)

“I went to my first shows in Manchester,” Styles says of concerts paid for with money earned delivering newspapers for a supermarket called the Co-op. “My friends and I would go in on weekends. There’s so many amazing small venues, and music is such a massive part of the city. I think Manchester deserves it. It feels like a full-circle, coming-home thing to be doing this and to be able to give any kind of input. I’m incredibly proud. Hopefully they’ll let me play there at some point.”

Though Styles has owned properties in Los Angeles, his base for the foreseeable future is London. “I feel like my relationship with L.A. has changed a lot,” he explains. “I’ve kind of accepted that I don’t have to live here anymore; for a while I felt like I was supposed to. Like it meant things were going well. This happened, then you move to L.A.! But I don’t really want to.”

Is it any wonder? Between COVID and the turmoil in the U.S. spurred by the presidential election, Styles, like some 79 million American voters, is recovering from sticker shock over the bill of goods sold to them by the concept of democracy. “In general, as people, there’s a lack of empathy,” he observes. “We found this place that’s so divisive. We just don’t listen to each other anymore. And that’s quite scary.”

That belief prompted Styles to speak out publicly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As protests in support of Black Lives Matter took to streets all over the world, for Styles, it triggered a period of introspection, as marked by an Instagram message (liked by 2.7 million users and counting) in which he declared: “I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white. … Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist. Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting. I’m donating to help post bail for arrested organizers. Look inwards, educate yourself and others. LISTEN, READ, SHARE, DONATE and VOTE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

“Talking about race can be really uncomfortable for everyone,” Styles elaborates. “I had a realization that my own comfort in the conversation has nothing to do with the problem — like that’s not enough of a reason to not have a conversation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve been outspoken enough in the past. Using that feeling has pushed me forward to being open and ready to learn. … How can I ensure from my side that in 20 years, the right things are still being done and the right people are getting the right opportunities? That it’s not a passing thing?”

His own record company — and corporate parent Sony Music Group, whose chairman, Rob Stringer, signed Styles in 2016 — has been grappling with these same questions as the industry has faced its own reckoning with race. At issue: inequality among the upper ranks (an oft-cited statistic: popular music is 80% Black, but the music business is 80% white); contracts rooted in a decades-old system that many say is set up to take advantage of artists, Black artists more unfairly than white; and the call for a return of master rights, an ownership model that is at the core of the business.

Styles acknowledges the fundamental imbalance in how a major label deal is structured — the record company takes on the financial risk while the artist is made to recoup money spent on the project before the act is considered profitable and earning royalties (typically at a 15% to 18% rate for the artist, while the label keeps and disburses the rest). “Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music,” he says. “There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change.”

By all accounts, Styles is a voracious reader, a movie lover and an aesthete. He stays in shape by adhering to a strict daily exercise routine. “I tried to keep up but didn’t last more than two weeks,” says Hull, Styles’ producer, with a laugh. “The discipline is terrifying.”

Of course, with the fashion world beckoning — Styles recently appeared in a film series for Gucci’s new collection that was co-directed by the fashion house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and Oscar winner Gus Van Sant — and a movie that’s set in the 1950s, maintaining that physique is part of the job. And he’s no stranger to visual continuity after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dunkirk” and having to return to set for reshoots; his hair, which needed to be cut back to its circa 1940 form, is a constant topic of conversation among fans. This time, it’s the ink that poses a challenge. By Styles’ tally, he’s up to 60 tattoos, which require an hour in the makeup chair to cover up. “It’s the only time I really regret getting tattooed,” he says.

He shows no regret, however, when it comes to stylistic choices overall, and takes pride in his gender-agnostic portfolio, which includes wearing a Gucci dress on that Vogue cover— an image that incited conservative pundit Candace Owens to plead publicly to “bring back manly men.” In Styles’ view: “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

But acclaim, if you can believe it, is not top of mind for Styles. As far as the Grammys are concerned, Styles shrugs, “It’s never why I do anything.” His team and longtime label, however, had their hearts set on a showing at the Jan. 31 ceremony. Their investment in Styles has been substantial — not just monetarily but in carefully crafting his career in the wake of such icons as David Bowie, who released his final albums with the label. Hope at the company and in many fans’ hearts that Styles would receive an album of the year nomination did not come to pass. However, he was recognized in three categories, including best pop vocal album.

“It’s always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff,” Styles says. “I think it’s important when making any kind of art to remove the ego from it.” Citing the painter Matisse, he adds: “It’s about the work that you do when you’re not expecting any applause.”

#harry styles #variety #021220

57 notes · View notes

hldailyupdate · 4 years ago

Text

This Charming Man: Why We’re Wild About Harry Styles

Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

Harry for Variety. (2 December 2020)

#harry styles #harry update #article #variety #hldaily #December 2020

48 notes · View notes

knovesstorytelling · 4 years ago

Text

Murray Mysteries S1E3 Transcript

Episode 3. Dr Seward’s Clinical Hour

Written By May Toudic

Mina: Welcome to Murray Mysteries.

[Theme music plays.]

Mina: Hello everyone! And welcome back to the podcast. Today’s episode is something a little bit different. I promised variety, entertainment, and a healthy amount of educational content. So, we are branching out. I’m here with Dr. Jane Seward, who agreed to tell us about her job as a clinical psychiatrist and share some of her case notes with us.

Jane: Thank you for having me, Miss Murray. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Mina: Thank you for coming. I know this can’t have been the most, um, comfortable location for us. First of all, how did you end up running a whole mental health institution at such a young age?

Jane: Oh, I, I guess I got lucky. I did quite a few internships during my degree, including at the institution I currently work at. They offered me a residency after graduation and then a permanent job. The previous director left soon after that and he offered me his position.

Mina: You must’ve done an amazing job to climb the ranks so quickly. I assume junior members of the staff usually aren’t a first pick for a job like this.

Jane: I do my best, but I wasn’t any more deserving than any of my colleagues.

Mina: Okay.

[She hums in thought.]

Mina: Now, can you tell us what your job entails exactly?

Jane: Mostly administrative tasks. The day to day running of an institution like this one requires a lot of paperwork. But I do get to take on a few patients to keep my skills sharp and conduct my research.

Mina: Wha— what kind of research?

Jane: I’m generally assigned to cases that can’t easily be diagnosed with anything in the handbook. I have a patient at the moment — oh, uh, you want to play the recordings?

Mina: If you don’t mind. Listeners, the very organized Dr. Seward has agreed to share some of the voice notes she takes on the job to keep track of her cases. We’ll still be here to interject if anything needs explaining, but for now, take it away Past Doctor.

[A beep.]

Jane (recording): Right. New patient in today, and a promising case. I’ll call him R in here for confidentiality purposes. Late 50’s, impressive physical strength, very excitable with periods of depression and some fixation we haven’t managed to pinpoint yet.

[A beep.]

Jane: R has been with us for a few days now and I’ve had the chance to get to know his case better. He displays signs of a few known disorders, but his symptoms are peculiar. He’s obsessed with animals, started collecting insects he found in his room and common areas. Spiders mostly. Some flies, even a few birds. He uses a lot of his own food to keep them alive, even if we upped his portions, so we’re somewhat worried about his nutrition. Although it seems like he’s, um. Eating some of them. Escalation is a concern in this case, especially since he’s started requesting other pets. He keeps asking for a cat, which we of course had to refuse. We’ll see how the situation evolves in the coming days, but this is an interesting case. Zoophagia, some kind of fixation, I need to do more research. There must’ve been a similar case somewhere, sometime. But if this hasn’t been documented yet, this could be big. Right, to the books.

[A beep.]

Mina: That is fascinating. Do you already have a diagnosis in mind?

Jane: There are a few possibilities, but I don’t want to favour a particular one until we have more information. I’m hopeful we can diagnosis in due time. It’s easier to treat a condition when we know what we’re treating.

Mina: Um. What happens if, uh, if it isn’t a known condition?

Jane: In the unlikely case this is something new, I do research. More research, and more research on top of that. Take a lot of notes, ask for a second opinion, then a third. Then I write a very long paper, have it peer-reviewed, and submit it to many, many, many academic journals.

Mina: That sounds like a lot of work. But, it would be rewarding, right?

Jane: A new illness is quite an important discovery, yes. But the well-being of the patient comes first, and the best thing for him would be to get diagnosed and treated for something that has a precedent.

Mina: Of course. Well. Ah, this has been a great talk! I’d love for you to come back and keep us updated if that’s okay with you.

Jane: Hem, yes. Yes, why not. I, I just.

Mina: Ah. I’ll make sure Lucy’s out.

Jane: Thank you.

Mina: Well, this was clinical hour with Dr. Jane Seward. Tune in next time for an update on R’s mysterious condition.

Jane: Oh, um. Goodbye!

[Jane leaves the room.]

Mina: I hope you all enjoyed that because this week’s personal update isn’t the cheeriest. Sorry. I know, I promised you, uh. Fun and entertainment. I just—

[She sighs.]

Mina: I’m worried. Talking to you makes me feel a little less... Alone. Like I’m not just, talking into the void. The past few days have been complicated. I haven’t heard from Jonathan in a while. At first, I figured he has no reception. The place he was headed to was in the middle of nowhere, so we figured this might happen. But. I still got nervous after days without signs of life. So I reached out to the boss at his firm, Mr. Hawkins, uh, to see if he knew anything. But he told me he just received an email from Jonathan saying he was leaving his client’s place. Just one line. No time frame, no flight details. Nothing.

[She sighs again.]

Mina: It’s not like, it’s not like J, I swear it’s not. He’s usually open and communicative. First Christmas after we got together, he went home to see his family and kept texting me about every single part of his day. When he woke up, what he dreamt about, what he had for breakfast, what the weather was like, what presents he’d found for his third cousin and the food—

Mina (laughingly): Oh God, so many food pictures.

Mina: Anyway. I tried to ignore it and, uh. Just wait for him to get back. But it’s been a few days now. And no matter how I think about it, there’s no way it would take that long to get from the Romania to UK. Mr. Hawkins hasn’t heard from him either, not since that one email. I keep thinking something’s happened to him. I get this… feeling of dread every time the phone rings.

[She lets out a quiet breath.]

Mina: I would normally talk to Lucy about this, she’s great at talking me out of a crisis, but she hasn’t been herself either. She’s sleepwalking almost every night. Her mum says it used to happen when she was a kid, but definitely not that much. We agreed to keep her bedroom door locked at night. I sleep in here with her so I can keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t try and get out. But that means I keep getting woken up by her moving around and I’m not sleeping much. Lucy’s mum thinks all the sleepwalkers gravitate towards roofs and cliffs and end up falling to their deaths. So far, Lucy’s only been wandering through the house and raiding the fridge, but uh. Better safe than sorry?

Mina: She’s even more angsty than usual too. Art had to fly to the US, their dad’s not doing great, so she’s been dragging me into her schemes and making herself busy. If I have to spend one more night watching her do shots at the village pub, I might lock her in during the day. No, no I feel bad just saying it. But, come on! Even jigsaw puzzles aren’t worth all this. Especially not when she keeps getting distracted and sending Art pictures of the funny shapes.

[A pause.]

Mina: The weather’s turning, I should— I should go check on her. I promise the next update will be more fun. I’ll do cartwheels or something.

Mina (whispering): Wait, no, you can’t see me.

Mina: Um, verbal cartwheels? I’ll— I’ll do those? Ugh. I’ll talk to you next week, when I’ve had time to figure out what verbal cartwheels are and how to do them. Bye!

[Theme music begins]

Credits: Murray Mysteries is a Knoves Storytelling production. This episode was written and produced by May Toudic and featured Drew Victorie as Mina Murray and Bebhinn Tankard as Dr. Jane Seward. Original music by Sophie K. Thank you for listening.

#mm transcripts

2 notes · View notes

sulietsexual · 6 years ago

Note

Could you elaborate why you were dissapointed in season 3 of Stranger Things? I haven't seen it yet but feel free to spoil stuff, already saw tons of gifsets on here.

royalweirdonj said:Thoughts on Stranger Things 3?

Okay, so I have some mixed feelings about this season, so I’ll talk about both the good and the bad and why I was ultimately disappointed with this season (at least in part). So we’ll start with …

What I Liked

First and foremost, I absolutely loved what they did with El’s character development and characterisation this season. El is a character who hasn’t really had the chance to grow or develop because she’s always so isolated and/or going through so much trauma. In Season 1 she was basically just a traumatised child and in Season 2 Hopper kept her very isolated and her weird sojourn to find her mother and her sister didn’t feel authentic to me. But this season finally gave her the opportunity to start to develop her own sense of self and I loved that, especially the medium through which she did so, ie her friendship with Max.

We’ve all wanted this friendship since Season 2 but I don’t think that any of us realised how glorious it would be. El is a reserved and unsure character (when she’s not being pushed to save everyone) and so she really needed someone like Max in her corner, someone who was loud and assertive, who would stand up for her when she couldn’t stand up for herself and who could show her how to be more dominant and make her own boundaries and rules. I loved the shopping montage, particularly the part where Max helped her pick out clothes that felt like her (”Not like Hopper or Mike, but like you.”), as well as their sleepovers, the way they investigated everything together and the bond which formed from them being the only girls in a group of boys who didn’t always understand each other. It was a really sweet and organic friendship and I’m so glad that the Duffers decided to develop it.

And speaking of friendships, I also adored the dynamic between Steve and Robyn, the way the show turned what we all thought would be a romantic relationship on its head and instead turned it into a sweet and snarky friendship between two people who genuinely liked one another. Robyn herself was a great character and her presence on the show greatly improved the overall tone. I loved how smart and quirky and snarky she was and Mia Hawke really made the character feel authentic. And I really loved the subversion of her and Steve’s relationship and her coming out scene. Steve Harrington proved what an absolute cinnamon roll he is with his reaction to her coming out; I loved that his only response was to tell her that she needed better taste in women and I loved that in the Three Months Later sequence they were still besties looking for jobs in the same place so they could stick together.

Steve Harrington remained the awesome character he’s always been. Loved that his and Dustin’s friendship is still so intact and that they still care about one another so much. Also loved him sneaking the other kids into the movies on a regular basis. And I liked how the series demonstrated that while he isn’t book smart, he’s smart in other ways, such as figuring out where the music on the recording came from or using the vial of green substance to jam the elevator door open. It shows that he knows how to think on his feet and that he pays attention to his surroundings and is street-smart. I love what they’re doing with his character, allowing him to continue to grow into a more kind, smart and compassionate character with every season.

Also, I loved seeing Science Teacher Scott Clarke again! I missed him in Season 2, so seeing his epic reappearance was amazing! Wish he’d been in more than just one episode.

Characters aside (although, I should mention that I love Joyce Beyers more with every season, her “Mom Voicing” the Government was brilliant and I liked that they touched on her grief over Bob’s death) but that aside, the season felt really well-paced. Only having eight episodes meant that the story progressed quickly and there wasn’t a lot of filler, which was good. There was also so much excitement and action going on that it was very easy to binge-watch the whole season. That being said, I feel like the season changed direction mid-way through, which brings me to …

What I Didn’t Like

Following on from the previous paragraph, I feel like Season 3 started as a character-based season and then quickly switched to a plot-driven season (and on an added note, I was kind of annoyed that the plot this season was literally the same as last season ie the Mind Flayer has taken over someone close to one of the party members and they have to close the gate to stop them - again. Also, the subplot with the Russians was kind of lame).

There was so much characterisation laid down in the first half of the season which was then kind of forgotten about in the second half once the action got underway and then was never resolved. Will spends most of the first three or four episode lamenting his lost childhood and desperately trying to re-connect with his friends. It’s heartbreaking to see how much he craves the days before everything, the days where he felt safe, where his friends were there for him and not concerned with their romantic entanglements. It was actually a really interesting look into Will’s character and how he’s desperately clinging to the old days but once the Mind Flayer comes into play, this is pretty much dropped. Aside from a half-hearted attempt from Lucas to bridge the gap, Will’s disconnect from his friends and the fact that they’re growing up faster than he is and therefore growing apart from him is never addressed again, leaving this particular thread unfinished.

Hopper’s characterisation and his storyline regarding being a parent to a thirteen-year-old was also left unresolved. Overall, I didn’t love Hopper’s characterisation this season. He seemed overly aggressive and I really didn’t like that he got so drunk when Joyce didn’t turn up for their date. He’s obviously having communication issues with El, and the opportunity to resolve these issues died along with him. His jealousy over any man who even talked to Joyce was irritating and I didn’t like that he essentially threatened a fourteen-year-old kid and seemed pleased with himself when said kid then hurt his daughter (because it meant that he got his way and that’s all that mattered). I understand why he was so alarmed with El and Mike spending so much time together but the fact that this never got resolved in an adult manner irritated me. And his death, well, we’ll talk about that soon because that pissed me off beyond belief.

Billy’s character needed more depth. I did feel a bit sorry for him this season and he definitely felt like a better character than the previous season, but any development he had (including his relationship with Max) happened offscreen, so it was hard to believe that Max would grieve for him so much after everything we saw him do to her in Season 2. Obviously things have gotten better between the two of them and Billy himself is nowhere near as gross as he was (although he’s still a dick) but we never got to see this growth/development, so it was hard to really empathise with his character or feel grief over his passing, even for Max.

Nancy’s character felt (once again) kind of useless this season and her storyline was (once again) so separate from the main storyline that I really feel that it could have been removed entirely and it wouldn’t have made a lick of difference. Also, I get that we were supposed to feel that she was being treated in a sexist manner by the men at the newspaper but, I mean, she was only an intern. She wasn’t there as a reporter, she was working as a intern and it’s an intern’s job to run menial tasks such as getting coffee, picking up lunch and doing boring tasks like photocopying and filing and the bad treatment she received seemed to be based more off her intern status than her gender. Also, what did she think, that she would become some groundbreaking reporter based off a summer job with zero experience or writing credentials? Lastly, Jonathan barely felt like a character this season, his sole reason to exist seemed to be to prop up Nancy’s storyline and I hated that after Jonathan delivered that epic (and entirely true) speech about how Nancy didn’t understand the lower class and how he needed the job and wasn’t born with the same silver spoon in his mouth that she was, he then turned around and apologised and said that he was wrong (which he totally wasn’t). Yet another example of Nancy treating a boyfriend like crap and getting away with it, but hey, “feminism”!

I also didn’t really like the dynamic they wrote between Joyce and Hop. It was good at first, with him going to her for advice on how to deal with El and Mike. But once she “stood him up” and they developed that weird snarky “banter”, I found myself growing tired of the dynamic. Also, bringing back the creepy conspiracy theorist from Season 2 to tell them they needed to bang (like he did with Nancy and Jonathan) was, again, so annoying. I hate when characters are told that they have feelings for one another, rather than developing naturally. So yeah, never been much of a Jopper shipper and this season made me even less so. Bring back Bob!

Oh, and lastly, Erica Sinclair is the most annoying little snot of a character. I didn’t find her entertaining at all. She was rude, obnoxious and mean, horrible to pretty much every character, took advantage of Scoops tasting policy while acting like an entitled brat and I just honestly could not stand her. I wish they’d left her out of the Steve/Robyn/Dustin dynamic, she was just such an unnecessary addition.

What I Hated

So, characterisation issues and weird bait-and-switches between it and plot aside, there were a couple of aspects to the new season which I truly hated.

First of all, this season was unnecessarily violent. Like, I get that there’s been violence in this show before, but it’s always been stylized violence, usually aimed at bad guys and quite subdued. But this season? Wow. Starting with that horrible imagine spot where Billy envisions bashing Karen Wheeler’s head in, it just never let up. Having grown men savagely beat up teenagers was way more than I needed to see and the violence often seemed really gratuitous and unnecessarily drawn-out. Steve’s torture at the hands of the Russians was really hard to take, especially because it went on for so long. I hated having to watch them punch Robyn in the face. Jonathan’s brutal beat-down from the Flayed Editor of the paper was horrible to watch and, once again, went on for way too long. Also, watching Flayed!Billy literally choke, punch and smack thirteen-year-old El around was horrifying. Also, his taking of Heather (and later on his attempt to take El) was incredibly rape-y, what with him leaning over them while they were incapacitated and telling them “Don’t move/struggle”, “It will be over soon”. Totally uncalled for and incredibly hard to watch. Maybe I’m oversensitive but I honestly don’t think that the show needed to display that level of violence.

The character assassination of Karen Wheeler continued, with her and her creepy middle-aged mom friends sitting poolside to perv on a eighteen-year-old kid. Imagine if the genders were reversed and it was four middle-aged men perving on a young girl? Also, why would she even consider sleeping with a teenage boy? Sigh. Remember when Karen Wheeler was a concerned and caring parent, who was strong enough to yell at government officials when they wouldn’t tell her what was going on and dropped by a grieving friend’s house with food and comfort? At least she and Nancy had that sweet scene in which she was encouraging to her daughter, but the rest of the time she was just useless and didn’t even know where her kids were.

Speaking of which, why did this show separate Joyce and Hop from their kids for so long? And why on earth would Joyce and Hop be willing to be separated from their kids for so long, after everything they went through the previous year? It felt so OOC for them to not even be suspicious that they hadn’t spoken to either of their children for at least three days, just taking the word of other parents that their kids were alright.

And lastly, the thing which pissed me off the most and actually made both me and my husband instantly switch off from the show and feel like we had just wasted eight hours watching this season, the death of Jim Hopper.

I know, I know, the Stinger maybe hinted that he was still alive. I know we didn’t see a body. I know that there were hints of time travel in future seasons and that Jim Hopper possibly isn’t dead. But you know who doesn’t know this? The characters. And I hate that. I hate that El has now lost her father, less than two years after finally finding one. I hate that she’s now alone, separated from Mike and while, yes, Joyce will take care of her the best she can, it’s never going to be the same. I hate that Joyce now has to suffer through the heartbreak of losing yet another man she had feelings for, less than a year after she lost the first. I hate that she made the decision to move away (even though I understand it) which separated her kids from their relationships and removed El from the one person who still loves her with all his heart. I hate that the season ended on such a downer, with such loss and tragedy and sadness. It really brought down the whole season for me and left me with a horrible, sad and empty feeling and not at all looking forward to more seasons because of all the crap the characters have gone through.

Whew. That got really long. Hope this was coherent!

#psychoticdelena #royalweirdonj #stranger things #stranger things spoilers #stranger things season 3 #answered

21 notes · View notes

helencweekestx · 5 years ago

Text

Tips For Marketing Post Corona Virus

April 6, 2020

Online marketing

Companies rely on marketing work to get the word out about what they offer and to draw people in to purchase their products or use their services. Companies use advertising to get people interested in what they are doing. There are times when companies are doing really well, especially when the world around them is prospering, and there are times when companies struggle. It is important for a company to know how to market their products after something like the Corona Virus strikes. A company must know how to change its advertising after something affects the whole world and starts to make people think differently.

Focus on People’s Needs: When marketing a business after a big ordeal like the Corona Virus, it is important for a person to think about the needs of the world around them. The one who is trying to get people to focus on a particular business needs to think about what the business is doing for those people who are hurting. It is smart for a person to consider every product and service that the business offers and for them to share about those products and services that are most relevant to those people who are struggling because of the virus that took place and took their job or put a strain on them in some other way.

Share About Cleanliness: The Corona Virus is something that has many people thinking about germs and worrying about which businesses out there are making their employees wash their hands and which are not. Many people are concerned about the practices that a business has put in place to help fight the spread of the virus, and people are still going to be thinking about germs after the virus is gone. It is important for those who are trying to get people to trust a certain business to keep talking about all that the business is doing to keep things clean and to help prevent the spread of germs. Even after the virus is gone and people are feeling a little safer, those who want their business to do well should let people know about changes that they have made to the way that they are keeping their building and products sanitary.

Share About Giving that was Done: If a business has helped out with the relief efforts through the whole virus ordeal, they should let others know about that. A business does not have to brag about the exact amount of giving that they have done, but they can help people know that they care about their community by sharing about some of the causes that they were a part of while everyone was struggling. A business can market their products by letting people know that they see what is going on around them and that they are always willing to step in and help out those who are struggling. The business that has given to charitable causes deserves to have people know that they have done that and that they have made sacrifices for the benefit of their community.

Reassure People that Everything Will be Okay: One of the best ways that a business will be able to market their products after the virus is gone is by letting everyone know that things will be okay again. People are going to be struggling after the virus is gone and they are going to be worried that there might be another virus around the corner. People are going to be less likely to buy products and pay for services when they are concerned that something bad is about to happen. It is important for those who are working to market the services of a business to let their potential clients and customers know that things were bad but now they are not. It is important for those people to let their potential clients and customers know that they will do everything in their power to help make sure that things stay good for a long time.

Be Careful in Creating a Marketing Budget: Those who are jumping into the work of marketing a business right after something like a virus has been around need to make sure that they are careful with the spending that they do. It can be tempting to take a lot of money and spend it on advertising to get the word out about a business after a bad time, but it is important for people to think about the advertising that makes the most sense and to consider their budget and how much they can actually afford to spend on advertising. The one trying to market a product after the virus is gone should be saving some of their money aside when they first start with their work of advertising that product and take things slow as they begin to work.

There are changes that will forever affect people after this virus is gone. It is important for a person to know how to market a product or service well in the days following the virus so that they can help a business grow.

Kyle Busch

With over 15 years of marketing experience I have helped over 1,000 businesses amplify their customer base. I have spent the man hours to make sure every one of my clients have had a positive experience. I take the time to sit and get to know every company I work with on a personal level. I started this company to put qualified leads in front of the companies who are looking for them. The Website Marketing Company headquarters in Orlando, FL. 32803 services clients across the country.

corona virus marketing

About us and this blog

We are an Orlando Florida marketing agency with a focus on helping our customers achieve great results across several key areas.We work with clients across the country.

Learn more about us

Request a free quote

We offer professional Orlando SEO, PPC, and Social Media services that help websites increase their organic traffic drastically in order to compete for the highest rankings even when it comes to highly competitive keywords.

Contact now

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.

<![CDATA[ var formDisplay=1;var nfForms=nfForms||[];var form=[];form.id='14_1';form.settings={"title":"SEOWP: MailChimp Subscribe Form \u2013 Vertical","created_at":"2019-03-30 06:15:11","form_title":null,"default_label_pos":null,"show_title":"0","clear_complete":"1","hide_complete":"1","logged_in":"0","seq_num":"2","date_updated":"2015-04-29 09:55:36","status":"","bti_layout_master":{"cols":"1"},"append_page":"","ajax":"1","not_logged_in_msg":"","sub_limit_number":"","sub_limit_msg":"","enable_paypal_standard":"0","paypal_standard_mode":"live","paypal_standard_business_email":"","paypal_standard_currency_type":"USD","paypal_standard_recurring":"0","paypal_standard_billing_cycle_number":"1","paypal_standard_billing_cycle_type":"D","paypal_standard_recurring_time":"","paypal_standard_product_name":"","paypal_standard_first_name":"","paypal_standard_last_name":"","paypal_standard_email":"","paypal_standard_address1":"","paypal_standard_address2":"","paypal_standard_city":"","paypal_standard_state":"","paypal_standard_zip":"","paypal_standard_country":"","paypal_standard_success_page":"","paypal_standard_cancel_page":"","_seq_num":"2","ninjaForms":"Ninja Forms","changeEmailErrorMsg":"Please enter a valid email address!","changeDateErrorMsg":"Please enter a valid date!","confirmFieldErrorMsg":"These fields must match!","fieldNumberNumMinError":"Number Min Error","fieldNumberNumMaxError":"Number Max Error","fieldNumberIncrementBy":"Please increment by ","fieldTextareaRTEInsertLink":"Insert Link","fieldTextareaRTEInsertMedia":"Insert Media","fieldTextareaRTESelectAFile":"Select a file","formErrorsCorrectErrors":"Please correct errors before submitting this form.","formHoneypot":"If you are a human seeing this field, please leave it empty.","validateRequiredField":"This is a required field.","honeypotHoneypotError":"Honeypot Error","fileUploadOldCodeFileUploadInProgress":"File Upload in Progress.","fileUploadOldCodeFileUpload":"FILE UPLOAD","currencySymbol":"$","fieldsMarkedRequired":"Fields marked with an <span class=\"ninja-forms-req-symbol\">*<\/span> are required","thousands_sep":",","decimal_point":".","siteLocale":"en_US","dateFormat":"d\/m\/Y","startOfWeek":"1","of":"of","previousMonth":"Previous Month","nextMonth":"Next Month","months":["January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"monthsShort":["Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"],"weekdays":["Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday"],"weekdaysShort":["Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat"],"weekdaysMin":["Su","Mo","Tu","We","Th","Fr","Sa"],"embed_form":"","currency_symbol":"","beforeForm":"","beforeFields":"","afterFields":"","afterForm":""};form.fields=[{"id":"39_1","order":0,"fav_id":null,"def_id":6,"label_pos":"hidden","mask":"","datepicker":0,"first_name":1,"last_name":0,"from_name":0,"user_info_field_group":1,"show_help":0,"help_text":"","calc_auto_include":0,"calc_option":0,"conditional":"","placeholder":"Name","user_address_1":"","user_address_2":"","user_city":"","user_zip":"","user_phone":"","user_email":"","disable_input":0,"input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","user_state":0,"autocomplete_off":0,"num_sort":0,"admin_label":"","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","show_desc":0,"desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","bti_layout_master":{"row":"1","col":"1","sizex":"1"},"element_class":"","required":0,"container_class":"","label":"Name","key":"textbox_39","type":"textbox","field_label":"Name","field_key":"textbox_39","beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","parentType":"textbox","element_templates":["textbox","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap"},{"id":"40_1","order":1,"fav_id":0,"def_id":14,"label_pos":"hidden","mask":"","datepicker":0,"first_name":0,"last_name":0,"from_name":0,"user_address_1":0,"user_address_2":0,"user_city":0,"user_zip":0,"user_phone":0,"user_info_field_group":1,"show_help":0,"help_text":"","calc_auto_include":0,"calc_option":0,"conditional":"","placeholder":"Email","disable_input":0,"input_limit":"","input_limit_type":"char","input_limit_msg":"","user_state":0,"autocomplete_off":0,"num_sort":0,"admin_label":"","user_info_field_group_name":"","user_info_field_group_custom":"","show_desc":1,"desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"<strong>We\u00a0do not spam.<\/strong> Maximum 3 newsletters per month with one-click unsubscribe.","bti_layout_master":{"row":"2","col":"1","sizex":"1"},"element_class":"","required":1,"container_class":"","label":"Email","key":"email_40","type":"email","field_label":"Email","field_key":"email_40","beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","parentType":"email","element_templates":["email","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap"},{"id":"41_1","order":2,"fav_id":0,"def_id":0,"input_limit_msg":"character(s) left","show_help":0,"help_text":"","show_desc":0,"desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","bti_layout_master":{"row":"4","col":"1","sizex":"1"},"processing_label":"Processing","element_class":"","container_class":"","label":"Subscribe","key":"submit_41","type":"submit","field_label":"Subscribe","field_key":"submit_41","beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","label_pos":null,"parentType":"textbox","element_templates":["submit","button","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap-no-label"},{"id":"0_1","label":"","order":3,"key":"optin_mailchimp_42","type":"unknown","message":"Field type "optin_mailchimp" not found.","beforeField":"","afterField":"","value":"","label_pos":null,"parentType":"unknown","element_templates":["null","hidden","input"],"old_classname":"","wrap_template":"wrap-no-label"}];nfForms.push(form); ]]>

Prev. Post

All Posts

Helped guide me to make my website professional and personal so my clients could see my business higher on SEO rating! Very helpful would use again

Matt Montgomery

15:13 02 Jun 18

These people are awesome guiding me through how to make my website more popular and it did just that! I would recommend them to anybody

Mackenzie Thatcher

17:58 02 Jun 18

SEO takes patience and Website Marketing Company, has proven they know what they are doing! Not only am I receiving business inquiries from referrals, but now from people searching on Google! Huge THANK YOU

Taylor Lakes

18:27 19 Feb 18

The seo rankings we have been receiving have been amazing switching companies to you has already paid off. The old adage of you get what you pay for is absolutely true! Roi is up and the changes you suggested have paid off. Thanks. I'll be recommending

Mike Moon

01:21 15 Mar 17

Perfect Job . I love the site that they built as well as their input as far as SEO goes. Not only that, I asked for the site and it was complete within a week. AMAZING!!!

Stephanie Lennon

23:28 08 May 17

really nice service, made me a nice looking, easy to use, user friendly website for my travel blogs. really enjoy the style they used. thank you!

Edgar Rellis

22:29 19 Jun 18

Your marketing has been amazing. Thanks for elevating us!

Jonathan Weber

01:35 15 Jul 18

Thank you for improving our SEO. You were upfront (which is more than i can say from our last agency) and honest. Thank you for pointing out the mistakes our last agency made using tactics frowned upon by Google and getting us back on the right track. 7 months with you guys has been better than the last year and a half with 2 other agencies.

Love Ruth

05:01 05 Oct 18

I am glad i found you sooner rather than later our PPC spend was out of control and yall helped me increase sales while decreasing spend. I knew something wasn't right and yall quickly turned it around. I'm not going to try and do the "marketing" stuff on my own anymore.

Thomas A. Dahl

15:12 09 Oct 18

Thank you to Kyle and his team for their hard work and dedication. Kyle literally spent the first 3 months being my main point of contact and he is the CEO! With a large budget like we spend its nice to know the owner of the company is available to take my calls and meet with me. He was in the office everyday we dropped in and our new account manager Ryan is just as good! The positive ROI has been amazing and i can't wait to bring my new start up on board from the begining when it launches in December of 2018.

Stanley Taylor

05:43 13 Oct 18

Very pleased with the work. WMC has kept in constant communication with me about any changes, and although marketing requires a lot of patience, they have been putting 110% into their work with exceptional professionalism.This makes me feel like I am part of the family. Shout out to Kyle and Jess for making things happen. Jess is phenomenal.

Jose Miguel De La Cruz

18:40 25 Oct 18

Top notch customer service and very knowledgeable when it comes to PPC marketing. Austin is our PPC account manager and he is always available to take my call. Our business has tripled sales over the last 5 months. I highley reccomend you contact them the consultation was free and they are very laid back and not some huge 500+ employee agency that never has time for you.

Steven Elmore

19:55 25 Oct 18

Website marketing company has done a great job managing our social media accounts. They provide us with the content to review ahead of time and explain in easy to understand terms on why they post and when they post. We have seen our social media presence jump 300% this month

Alice North

05:25 07 Nov 18

Social media is what we came for and we have not been disappointed! Jessica has been great and keeps us informed on trends and makes great content

Amanda Spence

08:10 11 Nov 18

We needed an Orlando marketing agency that could meet the daily needs of our company and we have met our match made in heaven. Website Marketing Company has not only done what we hired them to do but they have exceeded our expectations. Friendly staff and its right down the road from our Orlando office which makes it convenient.

Elisha Love

13:32 02 Jan 19

We went through 4 "marketing agencies" before we finally had results with Website Marketing Company. All agencies are not created equal and we learned you get what you pay for. Other agencies locked us into a contract and charged extra fees we were not aware of before signing up. All of that is a thing of the past now with y'all. You were upfront and honest, no extra fees, no contracts and i feel at home. Prompt replies to my emails and a detailed breakdown in easy to understand language.

Alison Wilson

09:56 03 Jan 19

Our business has significantly improved due to the marketing strategy that you implemented. We even had a last minute change that needed to be made and we were able to call our account manager Austin on Christmas and he had the changes implemented the same same day! Thats customer service and can't wait wait for 2019.

Chapman C.

08:29 04 Jan 19

This company was originally helping us with our SEO and website improvements, but they have now progressed into assisting us with our social media presence. I was completely oblivious to how effective social media can be for leveraging new customers. Over the past few months, they have been very successful in attracting and influencing new customers and building our organic presence. I’ve learned a lot about the right and wrong ways to improve our business thanks to Mike and the marketing team. Thank you for your honesty, transparency, and guidance! I look forward to a continued and prosperous partnership between the both of us. Best Regards,Angel

Angel Turner

19:22 17 Jan 19

They have catapulted my maid cleaning business to new heights! Excellent customer service, response times, and professionalism from everyone on the staff. Whenever I’ve had a question about something, it has been answered promptly and transparently. I feel like I’m in good hands with this company. I would recommend them wholeheartedly if you’re running a local business! Cheers to SUCCESS!

Isabella Ramirez

02:24 24 Jan 19

I have a very busy schedule. Therefore, I do not like to spend my free time hassling my marketing company for updates regarding work I’m paying for. I had that issue with a few other marketing companies before finally migrating over to this company. They are organized and it shows because my status report at the end of the month is always detailed and pinpoints exactly what kind of results were achieved during that specific month. So far, they haven’t missed a month. My SEO has drastically improved and I’m looking forward to running more campaigns as they continue to prove they are capable. Special thanks to Austin and Peter for being consistent and personable to do business with.

Ryan Jefferson

01:48 24 Jan 19

If you’re looking to explode your rankings, this is the right company for the job. I own a dog sitting business and I’m partnered with corporate partners like Rover, but despite that, I knew my business could be improved even more. I handle my own social media marketing, so I really only needed this company for Google ranking purposes. They skyrocketed me to the number 5 position in my niche and city in just 2 weeks. I was probably on the 3rd or 4th page before that, so they really worked their magic. What’s crazy to me is, this is JUST the beginning of what my business’s rankings are capable of!

Davon Phoenix

20:51 24 Jan 19

Jess made us feel right at home with the way she handles social media marketing. She explains things well and gets results which at the end of the day is all that matters. We highly reccommend her for social media!

Melendez Mary

09:39 30 Jan 19

Great Orlando marketing agency. Quick to do a marketing analysis on our company and send over the proposal. No contracts which is awesome. didn't try and oversell us services we didn’t want.

Mark Bilodeau

04:37 21 Feb 19

Best investment i have made in my company was going with this marketing agency. Jess has been super helpful and Pete is great with websites.

Jan Spencer

15:23 14 Mar 19

Shyanne is my account manager and she has been doing a good job answering my questions and keeping me in the loop about our social media management. I will be recommending to other business owners i know.

Dean Dietrich

15:58 18 Mar 19

Walked into your office and the huge wall mural you guys made yourself caught my eye. I could see the creativity instantly and thats why I went with you for our logo design. Quick turn around time and just what we wanted

Rebecca Diaz

15:29 25 Mar 19

Peter has been great in the whole design process of our new website. Keeps us up to date and lets us take peaks at the progress when we drop by. Cant wait to see the end result!!

Lydia Turner

14:56 26 Mar 19

No sleezy salesman here. Your presentation was solid and there was no pressure to sign. i like that there are no contracts which is hard to find in a marketing agency now a days. 1 year in and i wouldn’t give you guys up for the world

Thomas Arnold

13:32 07 Apr 19

Website Marketing has done a great job helping our local orlando business gain traction. They handle our social media accounts and our Google ads. They have improved our ROI and continue to bring us an incredible amount of leads. There communication is key and they are easy to get ahold of and their Orlando office is really nice. We feel at home, Thank you.

Josef Yanez

16:52 18 May 19

Highly recommended!! Jess and Austin are amazing account managers and have been working with our company for over 3 years. They must not have a high employee turn over rate because we have been able to talk to them for the past 3 years and that speaks volumes to their knowledge of not only our business but the marketing agency as well. I am looking forward to continued success and sorry it took us 3 years to get to writing this review.

Jenise Fehribach

15:14 20 May 19

Jess made us feel comfortable with the way she handles social media marketing. She explains things well and gets results which at the end of the day is all that matters. We will recommend her for social media!

Hunt Daron

15:33 05 Jun 19

You guys are doing a great job on our Ecommerce marketing! Thank you for helping out a local Orlando business achieve success

kitty keychain

16:48 25 Jun 19

Great marketing results for my roofing company. Easy to get a hold of and no hidden fees

Anabel Carpenter

14:33 12 Mar 19

Finding a trustworthy marketing company is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. When you find one, it's a phenomenal feeling. That's how I've been feeling for the past 3 months now, as I watch my newly optimized website rake in the traffic! Flawlessly executed by them!

Simon Jenner

15:05 24 Jul 19

My new website looks great. Much better than the one I tried to build for my own business. Thank you for taking over!

Palmud Rich

18:54 24 Jul 19

Made a switch to this web design company and haven't looked back since. They do quality tier work and I'd endorse them for this marketing service.

Richard Barrett

18:34 25 Jul 19

Having a website that generates leads consistently is vital to the heartbeat of any business. Thank you for helping me achieve this finally after so many wasted months of trying to do it myself.

Helena Joseph

06:51 26 Jul 19

Don't worry about spending money for a pro to build you a professional website. You will quickly make that money back if it's done correctly!

Richard Contraisee

17:15 27 Jul 19

Great experience! Would recommend them for web design.

Rolesaau Pollard

02:39 30 Jul 19

Amazed with my new website! Launched in less than 2 weeks and runs incredibly fast!!

Rizuwan Ahmad

18:34 29 Jul 19

I remember that I ordered a new Website for my business and they just finished my work in couple of week. I will never forget how their Brilliance made my website best. They are recommendable just because of their Outstanding Skills and trustworthy Management.

Ridam Reha

20:38 01 Aug 19

No one can deny the fact that they are best in market for SEO/SMM. In my Opinion, They are Mind-Blowing.

Peter Handscomb

15:46 02 Aug 19

My experience of working with them is Remarkable. I won't forget the brilliant website they built for me in several days. Thanks Guys!

Hazel Keich

18:00 05 Aug 19

I loved them the way they serve their customers. I always like them as they are brilliant in building E-Commerce Websites.

Sinfonia Futon

15:58 09 Aug 19

I would like to thank WMC for explaining and breaking down what we needed done to start bringing in leads. We ultimatly ended up going with Pay Per Click and the return on investment has been fantastic.

J Davis

15:08 09 Oct 19

We were looking for a marketing agency in Orlando that we could visit and have sit down meetings with who could really get us some SEO results and well we found it!! Our website has already made it on the front page of Google and we are already getting organic sales. So awesome in 3 months to have these kind of results.

Charles Hance

05:17 10 Oct 19

Really top notch marketing agency. We had given up hope on PPC trying to do it ourselves and we quickly realized when set up and run properly the ROI was huge!

Robbie Johnson

14:16 23 Oct 19

Really top notch marketing agency. We had given up hope on PPC trying to do it ourselves and we quickly realized when set up and run properly the ROI was huge!

Robbie Johnson

14:16 23 Oct 19

J Davis

15:09 09 Oct 19

Kyle at website marketing set us up with call tracking and grooming leads for our salon. We not only hear the phone ringing more but you can go back and listen to the calls which helps us with training and let’s us know what calls were from his leads. Our appointment books are filled!

Jeff Lauzon

15:02 29 Oct 19

A huge thank you to the team at website marketing company in Orlando Florida! Everyone I have worked with has been very knowledgeable and helpful answering all of my questions.

Mariette Jolicoeur

19:49 05 Feb 20

Search engine optimization is something our website another company built was lacking. Coming to you guys was a breath of fresh air! The detailed reports are actually being able to see the organic leads come in is all we needed to see to know that you guys are experts. We were a little hesitant to go with an agency out of town but your communication has been great and we don't plan on ever leaving.

Marylee Reese

10:36 08 Feb 20

My PPC has reached an alltime high in the number of leads it is bringing in. The ROI is really incredible and I can't wait to hire a few more people on my staff so we can expand into other areas of the state.

jacob murphy

10:28 08 Feb 20

Great Orlando marketing agency

Kyle Busch

19:33 04 Jun 19

‹

›

//<![CDATA[ setTimeout(function() { var script = document.createElement('script'); script.async = true; script.src = '?cf_action=grp_auto_save&place_id=ChIJodHaeHJN54gRuDcfgTpUbcE&min_filter=5&reviews_lang=en&ver=' + new Date().getTime(); var firstScript = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; firstScript.parentNode.insertBefore(script, firstScript);}, 2000); //]]>

The post Tips For Marketing Post Corona Virus appeared first on Website Marketing Company.

source https://www.websitemarketing.co/tips-for-marketing-post-corona-virus/ from Website Marketing Company https://websitemarketingco.blogspot.com/2020/04/tips-for-marketing-post-corona-virus.html

0 notes

brokehorrorfan · 8 years ago

Text

Interview: Ted Raimi (Ash vs Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Darkness Rising)

Cult actor Ted Raimi discusses his new film, Darkness Rising, which hits select theaters and VOD on June 30. He also talks about the 30th anniversary of Evil Dead II and his recent return to that universe on Ash vs Evil Dead. Perhaps most exciting, Raimi reveals exclusive details about his upcoming feature directorial debut, a psychological horror film titled The Seventh Floor.

Can you begin by telling us a little bit about Darkness Rising and how you got involved?

Darkness Rising was a good script. A friend of mine, Austin Reading, directed it. We've worked together in the past on a few things, and he’s a good director. He asked me to do a cameo in it. Normally I don't do those, but I really liked the script, and I like Austin's directorial style too, so I said yes. It's a good, spooky haunted house movie. There's a lot of those, but I think this one's unique. The cameo that I do is a period piece, so that made it doubly interesting.

I'm sure you get approached for horror movies all the time. What attracts you to a particular project?

Any number of things. Artistically, if it's something that hasn't really been done before. Haunted houses are certainly nothing new, but it's how this one approached that was very original and great. Typically, if they're not friends handing my scripts like Austin did, they need to get you on a scary level that is a genuine fright. Cheap scares are easy. Monsters popping out of the darkness is a simple thing to do. Jacques Tourneur, this American director who pioneered that, has been imitated so many times we've forgotten where it originally came from.

That said, things that really scare me I love to consider. For example, one of my favorite horror moments of all time is in a movie that is mostly terrible: The Amityville Horror. It's a dreadful movie; I'm not a fan of it. But there's a scene where the guy who wants to buy the house goes to the bank and get gets like $78,000 in cash - remember, this is the '70s - and he puts it in the library. He walks next door to talk to the owner and says, "I'm ready to make you an offer." Then he walks into the other room and the money is gone. That is absolutely frightful. Your whole life is gone. Your family is in trouble. That's true terror. If scripts can approach something in that manner, that excites me.

You appeared on Ash vs Evil Dead last season. How did it feel to return to the Evil Dead universe after all these years?

It was fantastic! It was like a high school reunion, but with new kids that I hadn't met yet. All my old pals were there - Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless and a lot of the crew and the producer, Robert Tapert - but then there's these new guys, played by Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo. Those guys are just tremendous! They're like the next generation of Ash. It was great to work with everybody. And I got to put the monster suit back on, for better and for worse, as well playing Chet Kaminski.

What was it like to get back in that Possessed Henrietta costume?

Trepidatious, but glad I did it! There's a new team in New Zealand that recreated Mark Shostrom's amazing original creation along with the guys from KNB special effects. They did a good job. It was challenging. It was still just as hard as it was 30 years ago, but I'm glad I did it. It turned out good, and we had a good time making it. Bruce and I were there again, 30 years later. It was the weirdest deja vu. The cabin was the same, we were in the same costumes. It was like we had gone forward in time 30 years. Usually you want to go back, but we went forward. It was weird!

Was it strange to be on an Evil Dead set without your brother Sam Raimi in the director's chair?

No, not at all. It's still his vision, but now there's new directors that have their own vision to add to it. It makes it very refreshing.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Evil Dead II, which remains one of the best horror sequels of all time. How do you feel reflecting back on that time in your life?

Good! That was my Screen Actors Guild card intro. In those days, you had to have a line in a feature film that was also Screen Actors Guild, so I agreed to do that movie. I thought, "This will be an easy way to get my SAG card." But it was, in fact, that hardest way I could have ever done it. It was the equivalent of, say, there's a train that goes underneath the Alps from Italy to Austria. You can take this train. Alternately, you can hike the Alps all by yourself in bare feet. And I went, "Oh, I guess hiking the Alps in bare feet must be the way to go!" So that was that.

You voiced two characters on Buddy Thunderstruck for Netflix. What was that experience like?

It was great. Those guys at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios are terrific, immensely talented. That show was written by a guy named Tom Krajewski, who really wrote some fine episodes and very funny dialogue. It was great, because it’s stop-motion animation and all done in Burbank, California. Normally, these days cartoons are all outsourced to India, China, places like that, but this was done frame-by-frame in Burbank, just like Disney used to do in the '20s. It was cool. I really felt like I was working on something iconic. I thought it turned out very good.

Plus, it's nice to do something that's kids-friendly for once in my life. Usually, everything I do you can't show kids - except for maybe a couple of Spider-Man movies, and even those are a little scary for the young ones. I've got cousins and nieces and nephews that can actually watch something I did, as opposed to, "Well, when you're a little older, you can watch Uncle Ted's stuff!" [laughs]

I know it's early, but have you heard anything about a second season of the show?

I haven't yet, but Netflix is very, very quiet about their shows. We can't get a peep out of them. I think it has something to do with how they aggregate their ratings; I don't really understand it. I have not heard anything, but it certainly seems to be a popular show. Fans approach me about it when I go to conventions. It was a lot of fun. I was very grateful to have done that. It's nice to not shave and get in a booth and drink coffee and do your lines. It's incredible that you don't have to go to set and do all that stuff. It was fun.

As someone with your longevity in the industry, do you have any advice for upcoming filmmakers or actors?

Always try to make the make the greatest movie you possibly can. Don't make an okay movie just to make a movie. There's enough crap out there, and your movie will get lost, and you will be known as a mediocre filmmaker. Make the greatest movie you can. If it falls flat on its face, well, at least you tried.

One other piece advice: don't ever try to be a cult filmmaker or cult actor. The audience decides that for you. There's nothing you can do about that. A lot of people have tried to be a cult actor but failed in one way or another. Some actors desperately try to be as strange and as outlandish as possible. It's not that they're bad actors, but it's not up to you. I tried to do the best I could, thinking I was a pretty straight-ahead actor, and all of a sudden I was a cult actor and doing conventions and all that.

Speaking of conventions, what are those like from your perspective?

It's a wonderful thing. You get to meet fans. When you do movies and especially television, which I've done so much of, the best you can hope for is to sit in your living room with some of your friends, drinking booze and having a laugh, and then it's all over and everyone goes home. But when you go to conventions, you get to meet the thousands of fans that go to these things, and you say, "Oh, my God! All you guys watch it, too? That's awesome!" And I'm a fan myself. Most actors go to those things I think because they have to, but on the last day I'm there I'll close up shop early from shaking hands and doing panels and stuff, and I'll go walk to the floor. I love to see all the cool stuff, because I really love horror.

Are there any celebrities who you were really excited to meet at a convention?

Are you kidding? Yeah! I don't really care about autographs personally, but I've met some icons. I just met Dario Argento. It was insane meeting him. When he was alive, I met Jonathan Harris. I used to watch re-runs of Lost of Space when I was kid, and Jonathan Harris played Dr. Smith. He was awesome, an old Shakespearean actor. Also Malcolm McDowell and other guys who I always loved as a kid, thinking, "I'll never meet him," but I've finally met them all. They were were awesome and great inspirations. Also a lot of directors, like Dario and John Carpenter, who I first met at a convention and have since spoken to many times. It's a wonderful thing. And now I'm one of them! These young actors go, "I've seen you in so many things since I was a little kid!" So I guess I'm like one of those guys I used to admire when I was kid. It comes around, and that's a good thing.

You've worked with so many great filmmakers - not only Sam, but also the likes of Wes Craven, Bernard Rose, William Lustig, Takashi Shimizu, to name a few - and I know you've done some shorts of your own. Have you ever thought of directing a feature?

Yes, I'm directing my first feature this year, as a matter of fact. It's called The Seventh Floor. Veva Entertainment is producing it, and we're pre-pro now. We don't start shooting until September, at the moment. It's a thriller. I can't tell you what it's about, but it's psychological horror. I'm very excited about that. It's not traditional horror; there's no monsters or zombies or anything like that. It's more in your head.

And this year I created a campaign for the Starz network, which was a really wild experience. If you look online, it's called the Shemps Beer ad campaign. I created it when I was shooting Ash vs Evil Dead, so it was wonderful. Rob Tapert gave me a nice chance to work with Starz, so I made this for their online presence. It was really fun. I didn't know I'd also like advertising. It's the same old story that motivational speakers always tell, but it's kind of great. Somebody says to a kid, "You like playing the trombone?" Kid says, "I don't know, I never tired it." So I tried to be an ad man, and I wound up really like it. It’s odd.

I know you can't give away any details, but are there any particular films or directors you're drawing inspiration from before you get behind the camera on your first feature?

For this one, Roman Polanski and Dario Argento. Both of those guys are incredibly influential; Roman Polanski for his ability to build tension where there seemingly is none, and Dario Argento for his filmmaking style and the speed at which the action happens. It's unbelievable. I've studied them to get a sense of it. I'm also heavily inspired by David Cronenberg. He for the same reason that I like Polanski. He's able to create such amazing moments where there is no action, but you sense a palpable tension.

If you think of Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly, you think about Jeff Goldblum transmogrifying into the insect. But if you watch the first act, there's a scene that lasts about 10 minutes where Jeff Goldblum is talking to Geena Davis in his laboratory, which is in this warehouse. Nothing happens. There's just dialogue, and yet there's something so fearful about the whole thing. It's the greatest magic trick any director has ever done. I don't know he did it. There's no spooky music or spooky camera moves, and yet it's absolutely frightening. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I've watched that first act probably six times trying to get it, but I can't. If I can recreate that to some degree, I'll be a very lucky director.

I have to say, I was excited to learn that you're getting behind the camera, but to hear you mention Polanski, Argento, and Cronenberg as influences, I really can't wait to see it.

Thank you! That's a nice compliment. You really seem to know your stuff! You really did your research.

Do you have any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?

No, just that movie. It's keeping me very busy. That, and a pipe broke in backyard, so I've got to take care of that. That's on a personal nightmare note. [laughs] Normal crap happens to Hollywood people too, just in case anyone's wondering! Fans think it's funny. They see you on TV a thousand times, and they don't know that you also go to Trader Joe's and 7-Eleven. They're like, "You do?" And I'm like, "Yeah, do you think everything magically appears in my house?" Nope! [laughs]

#ted raimi #ash vs evil dead #ash vs. evil dead #evil dead 2 #evil dead ii #darkness rising #interview #article

41 notes · View notes

brokehorrorfan · 8 years ago

Text

Interview: Stacy Title (The Bye Bye Man, Hood of Horror)

In celebration of The Bye Bye Man arriving on Blu-ray and DVD today, director Stacy Title discusses the unrated cut of the film, critical response, working with greats like Faye Dunaway and Snoop Dogg, the challenges of being as female director, and more.

Can you begin by telling us how you came aboard The Bye Bye Man?

It started with a brilliant producer named Trevor Macy, who I've known for a very, very long time. He felt like he could find a woman who could do horror, because so much of the audience is female, and we bounced around a lot of projects before settling on this. He had a script that was already commissioned based on a chapter in a non-fiction anthology [Robert Damon Schneck's The Bridge to Body Island], and I took that with my husband [Jonathan Penner] and we reworked it. Then I found LAMF, which is a company that's run by Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman, and they came in with the money. After we had the money, STX stepped in also to co-finance and distribute. It was a lucky alignment of fans of mine.

The unrated cut is coming out on Blu-ray and digital. How does it differ from the theatrical version?

It's substantially different. It's what I shot the movie to be; the movie that I thought would come out. But when they started testing the trailers, they didn't want to lose that younger audience. You'll find that there's a lot more intensity. It's more tight, intense, violent, visceral. There's a couple of really excellent shots that aren't chopped up, including a oner at the beginning that was pretty difficult and I worked very hard for, that has Leigh Whannell coming into the house and shooting his sister and his brother-in-law and turning around and walking across the street and stalking the two neighbors. It's all one take, and I was very proud of it. I was kind of sad to chop it up. There's a couple of other really excellent moments. When Cressida Bonas, who plays Sasha, is stabbed in the face, it's much more visceral. There's a lot more violence, and that's kind of my pace, so I'm happier with it.

One thing that's not in either cut that I sort of regret isn't there is something that's connected to the DNA of the movie. There's going to be a way for you to get it. There's two or three clips that comprise a lot of the mythology, the backstory of The Bye Bye Man, and they got cut out of the movie for a variety of reasons. I put that together so that people can see why the Bye Bye Man is who he is, what the coins mean, what the train means, what happened to him as a young boy. Basically, he was murdered, and they put hot coins on his eyes and cut out his tongue. They put him on the train to dispose of the body and cover up the crime, so that's why he rides the train. All that stuff was in the movie. I think people were a little unsatisfied with that stuff, so I'm happy that those clips will be available too. They won't be in the cut, but they will be put out so people can see some of the stuff I intended.

What was it like working with veteran actresses like Faye Dunaway and Carrie-Anne Moss?

It was fantastic! Carrie-Anne Moss is so lovely as a human being and so professional. She really brought up the game of a lot of the younger actors and didn't let them fool around in between takes. She really kept them on point. It was brilliant, because it really kept them focused and we ended up going a lot faster. She was really thoughtful about her character. When you're doing a part like that, you don't really get a lot of backstory or context, but we built it all up so she would have that to work from, even if it wasn't linear or literal of the dialogue. Faye Dunaway was wonderful. She's very demanding, but in a great way, because it really, really lifted up the game of everyone. She's a movie star for reason. She really pops. It was exciting and really an honor to work with her.

And what about Doug Jones, who is so good at playing creatures? Tell me about working with him as the Bye Bye Man himself.

He's amazing. I can't say enough. He could probably be the nicest person that I've ever met in my entire life. I love that inversion, that he has that ability to channel a darker part of himself that isn't really a substantial part of his true self. He was so patient. It took hours and hours to put that makeup on, and he would just sit there and grin and bear it. He would be there for off-camera stuff when he was in process, so that the actors playing against him would have something to work with. He really brought a lot to the characterization and what I wanted. He's so elegant and physical, how he uses his hands and how he moves. He's almost like working with a dancer or the best stunt person, because he has such a sense of space, besides that he's such a wonderful, creative actor. The physical life that he brought to it - truly, not many people could have played that part well.

How do you feel about the critical response to the film?

I was disappointed, to be honest, with a lot of it. I did get some high-end exceptional reviews; I got the LA Times and the New York Times. For a lot of people, that's what they look at. But the fact is that people were disappointed with the mythology, and they were very critical of it. There's a lot of train stuff in the movie; the DNA of the movie has trains and coins. That was all connected to the mythology of the Bye Bye Man. I think if I had a little bit more of that stuff, they probably would have been more satisfied. They wouldn't have thought that my hands went of the wheel, which they hadn't; I just had certain people to please with the different trims. That's just how it goes. But in general I really like how the movie came out. When I've watched it with audiences I've had such an exciting time. I really feel like if you watch it with an audience you can really appreciate the power of it, so that makes me happy.

The Bye Bye Man was your first movie in a decade. Was that an intentional decision?

No. Honestly, I think it's hard for everyone to direct. It's very hard to get these jobs. Being a woman director, especially in the genre, is peculiarly unusual. There's an unconscious bias when it comes to hiring directors. People are just more comfortable hiring men. I'm not quite sure exactly how we get programmed that way. I can say, to be honest, when I think of a DP, I think of men too. I have my own unconscious bias. I believe it's a very similar thing. It wasn't for a lack of trying; it was really just that I didn't get the opportunities.

I'm glad to hear you bring that point up, because it's important to recognize. From your perspective, do you see headway being made?

There is a little headway being made. I know personally I'm feeling it, but there's so much further we have to go. Between 4 and 6% of theatrical features are directed by women and 12% of television. We're about 51% percent of the population, so that disparity borders on criminal. The ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] brought a complaint to the EEOC [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission], who took it, spent a year culling interviews with women, and are negotiating with the six major studios. If they don't settle, they're going to file a lawsuit this fall, and that will bring more attention to it. They can't do quotas, because that's not legal, but they can do proportions, goals, and fines. I think the fines are really what's going to change things. I think Hollywood is not good at policing itself. If they are really going to lose a lot of money, I think they'll pay attention.

Do you have any advice for young women who are interested in becoming a director?

Absolutely. These days, you don't really need a crew to make movies; you can use your phone. I would really suggest to keep making as many things as you can, then you have a reel, something to show. If no one will hire you, hire yourself. That's how you can get other people to hire you, because you don't need them to work, and they see that confidence. Now that you can really put stuff together, even just shorts, there's a great market. It's very exciting to do small work, in particular horror. The audience for horror is more women, so I think there's going to be a lot of women coming up who are going to get more opportunities as people start to figure that out.

With the success of Get Out, it feels like the perfect time to revisit your earlier film, Hood of Horror. How do you feel looking back on that one?

If I had been able to finish that movie I think it would have turned out even better. I ended up losing control of it for a while before they brought me back. I do think that movie has a lot of relevance today. I think there's a lot of really interesting stuff in it that relates to Get Out. I think The Last Supper also has a lot of stuff that connects. Personally, I love Get Out, and I think Jordan [Peele, writer-director] did an amazing job. I really think there's going to be a dividing line in horror now with being able to do issue-oriented stuff, and I can't say more about how excited I am about that. It's great that that's now going to be considered central to the mainstream and we can really talk about these important things.

Do you have any fun stories about working with Snoop Dogg on Hood of Horror?

He was a fantastic guy. He's so interesting and so thoughtful. He's a fascinating person. He doesn't sweat. He's wearing all these silk shirts and stuff, and he literally doesn't perspire. It was interesting to work with him, because he isn't like most actors who need a bunch of takes to do better. Some people start to peak around four or fives takes, and then they might dip down and then give you more later. In low budget, you usually don't get to do more than four or five takes. He was really great on the first take and got bored after that. It was like he laid down the track and he was done. His first or second take was always the best. It was very different from most actors. He also would constantly leave set to watch peewee kids football, because he was coaching. He would be watching all the other teams he was about to play, which is awesome.

Do you plan to continue your relationship with the horror genre?

Absolutely! I love horror. I'm a big horror fan, and I really enjoy that genre more than most. I can't say I don't love comedy and drama and action. I might bridge to science fiction, because there's a couple of projects that I'm circling that are in that area. There's a comedy I'm working on now too, but I'd love to stay in the horror space if they'll let me. The thing is it's mostly men that do it, so I'm really hoping I can continue to have a voice in horror.

You mentioned that you're working on a few projects. Can you elaborate on any of those?

I'm re-writing with my husband the 1980 Shaw brothers movie Hex, which is a great, dark, fascinating movie about hexes. I'm attached to direct that, so that could be something I do next. There's a movie called Mer, which is a very dark mermaid story that I'm attached to. It's not financed yet, but that might be something I end up doing as well.

To wrap things up, why would you recommend someone check out The Bye Bye Man?

It's very scary, it's very intense, and it has a heavy that's really interesting because he's psychological. He doesn't need to touch you to hurt you. The movie is about fear and paranoia, and I don't think there's anything better than a movie about fear and paranoia to help us get through this troubling time we're in!

#stacy title #bye bye man #the bye bye man #hood of horror #doug jones #interview #article #snoop dogg

17 notes · View notes