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twistedtummies2 · 4 years ago

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31 Days of Disney Villainy - Number 3

The 31 Days of Disney Villainy Continues! I’m counting down my Top 31 Favorite Villains from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ film output. My third place goes to a Lord of Darkness who is a being of few words…and a LOT of power. Number 3 is…Chernabog, from Fantasia.

Essentially the Devil himself – long before Hades was ever a thing – Chernabog (named after the Black God of Slavic Mythology) is a rather unique villain in Disney’s ranks. The centerpiece character of Fantasia’s “Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria” segment, he hatches no evil schemes, he never attacks any living person directly, etc. He just…basically throws a party in Hell. That’s about it. It might seem weird to some to place him in the Top Three. And I can understand that, trust me…but here’s my simple argument: IT’S THE DEVIL. THROWING A PARTY IN HELL. Does that sound particularly non-villainous to you?! Actually, it’s very telling that, despite the facts I just mentioned and even the fact that Fantasia was not a huge success in its own time, and gained an audience steadily over the years, Chernabog is still regarded as something of a “mascot” for the Disney Villains franchise. He’s not a character with a ton of reinterpretations, nor a character you can meet in costume (presumably due to his gargantuan size), but nine times out of ten, when there’s a big gathering of Disney Villains, Chernabog is either going to be a big part of that, or at least be referenced somewhere. There is no voice for Chernabog, at least not in his initial appearance, and most appearances since have wisely kept him silent UNLESS it’s for comedic effect. Like so much in Fantasia, what makes Chernabog so powerful is the animation. The character animation was chiefly the work of Bill Tytla; in describing his process working on Chernabog, he was quoted as saying: “I imagined that I was a mountain…but I could think, and move.” Tytla was known as a master for creating powerful, massive figures and giving them the necessary gravity and drama they required, and many have credited Chernabog as his finest creation. Admittedly, some kudos must be given to the live-action reference used for the character. Originally, Bela Lugosi – yes, Dracula fans, THAT Bela Lugosi – was brought in to reference for the character. While Lugosi’s facial expressions were ultimately used as reference for the moments where Chernabog’s face was most clearly visible, most of his physical gestures were rejected, aside from a few key points. (For instance, apparently Chernabog’s iconic wing-unfurling entrance was a Lugosi moment, which is not surprising.) Instead, much of the bodily movement of the character was conceived with the assistance of director Wilfred Jackson. All three of these artists, along with the concept art of Kay Nielsen, created one of the most infamous depictions of the Devil ever put to the screen. Chernabog may not be much in the way of a plot-based antagonist, but what he IS is a perfect Portrait of Pure Evil. He is the embodiment of sin and decadence; cruelty and darkness incarnate. He turns exotic beauty into base ugliness and unfathomable horror. He forces his minions to worship him and dance to his music, only to swat them like flies, crush them with his bare hands, or carelessly toss them into the fires of his volcanic home for his own amusement. He is the almighty terror, who has no reason to think of the affairs of any lesser being, unless he can take pleasure in their suffering. Ultimately, however, his shadowy majesty has no power over the hope-bringing light of the Sun or the sound of holy Church Bells. Ever since Fantasia, Chernabog has remained a mainstay in Disney; it’s fitting that, in re-releases of Fantasia, typically he and Mickey Mouse were shown together: Disney’s most iconic figure of innocence and goodness contrasted by perhaps their greatest depiction of absolute evil and corruption. He shows up over and over again, often in unexpected places: in “Once Upon a Time,” the character was reimagined as a carnivorous demon who fed on the bodies and souls of those with evil hearts. In the “Kingdom Keepers” book series, he was the monstrous and once again carnivorous leader of the Overtakers. In “Kingdom Hearts,” he popped up as a boss fight in a couple of games; the list goes on and on. It’s always fun to see Chernabog made fun of, too – most notably in “House of Mouse,” where he was sort of a big softie who just happened to look terrifying – but what makes him eternally iconic is the simple thing he represents. He is the King of All Disney Villains…yet he’s also only third place on this countdown of mine. One wonders what travesties I’m cooking up… Tomorrow, the countdown reaches its penultimate point with my2nd Favorite Disney Villain! HINT: He’s One Shadowy Character.

#31 days of disney villainy #halloween advent calendar #halloween #october #disney villains #countdown #chernabog #fantasia #devil #satan himself #night on bald mountain #black god

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mars-the-4th-planet · 4 years ago

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Ivy Munger plays Project Libitina (creepy fic for Halloween for my friend, might be disturbing)

(part one of two)

The episode begins with Jukebox herself wrapped cozily in a blanket, which is how all the episodes should start. She was playing a mod for doki doki literature club called Doki Doki: New Horizons on her GBA. She had little else to do what with quarantine and all. Spookbox watched mischievously out the window, silently giggling and rubber her hands together. She slipped through the window and crept into the kitchen, somehow unheard by Jukebox who stayed focused on her game. Spookbox was visibly transparent to the audience the whole time, representing that she is invisible to the characters in TIMS. (the ivy munger show)

Just then, Trolli and Sakura comes strolling and trolling in. Sakura sits perched atop of Trolli's shoulders. Trolli leans over to look at Jukebox's GBA screen. Currently, Jukebox is making Natsuki Island. In the shape of a trans flag, because of the common Natsuki headcanon. Trolli sees it and chuckles. "Hehehehe, a rectangle island Jukebox? I haven't seen such creative talent since Sakura tied her shoes together. Without laces!"

"H-Hey... I told you, I didn't do it! There was an imposter and they sabotaged me!" protested Sakura helplessly. "Sure, Saki. But seriously, a plain rectangle for an island? I know you can do better than that Jukebox. Especially for Natsuki."

"It's in the shape of a trans flag for the trans natsuki headcanon! No need to tease me Trolli."

"Ahahahahaa, trans natsuki? I love trans rights as much as you do Jukebox, but natsuki has been proven many times to be cis." Trolli pointed out.

"Aren't trans flags just the same shape as-" Sakura began, but was cut off by YouTube personified marching in and throwing a throw pillow at Trolli. "DEMONITIZED! Slurs are not allowed on this platform."

Jukebox sighed and rested her head against her hand. Trolli shot back: "What, cis? Cis isn't a slur!" only to get another throw pillow thrown at him. "Okay, okay... I won't say it anymore, happy?"

"Can I just play my game please? Actually you know what I'm getting a snack. You all need to stop this bizarre drama before a fight breaks out in our comment section."

It was too late for that. Already an argument had begun between people saying "cis is a slur" and "cissy lives don't matter" but that wasn't the main problem Jukebox would have to worry about...

She walked into the kitchen, and got an unopened box of cereal out of the cupboard. Jukebox opened up the top, and with a crinkle she opened the plastic bag inside...

Immediately after it was opened, an arm reached out of the box and grabbed Jukebox by the collar prompting a surprised yelp from her. A second hand reached out too, holding a handgun and pointing it at Jukebox's face. She struggled but to no avail. "Mwahahaha... I just caught an imposter~" a voice said behind her. Jukebox heard sound of something phasing out of invisibility right afterward. "What the- Who are you?! Let me go! TROLLI! SAKURA! HELP!" She shouted, panicky.

Trolli and Sakura rushed in. "Oh no! Jukebox! Jukebox? W-Which is the real Jukebox?"

Behind Jukebox was Spookbox, except she wasn't wearing her usual demonic makeup and had clothes on that matched Jukebox. She just looked like an eviller Jukebox with her hands behind her back. Of course, her hands were not really behind her back at all, they were coming out of the cereal box. "I caught an imposter trying to steal our cereal!!"

"What?? Why would you do this imposter--are you the same one who tied my shoes together!? Hmph!" Sakura jumped up and down while asking this. "No! I'm not an imposter! Who is behind me, I can't see them! Stop being weird and help me! >_<"

"It's... You. Is this some kind of prank?" Trolli asked, looking quizzical.

"For real guys, it's me." Said Spookbox. "I think this is M. M stands for Me, so it makes sense that M would take the appearance of Me."

"What are you talking about??" Jukebox replied, still panicky. "I'm not M! I don't even know who M is! What do you WANT?"

"Hmm..." Sakura looked skeptically at the both of them. "Both of my senpais seem kind of sus... How can we tell?"

"It's simple. I'm good at games, so this imposter should have to play a game to prove it!" Spookbox suggested.

"Which game?"

"Project Libitina! It's scary, perfect for a Halloween special! And it fits with our theme, with our DDLC let's play being one of our flagship series!"

"Why didn't you think of that, other Jukebox?"

"To be honest I wasn't thinking about my channel's content at the moment, probably because I have a gun in my face..." Jukebox pointed out.

"Fair enough." Snarled Spookbox.

"So... I just have to play Project Libitina then? That's good I thought you were gonna take my money or something..."

"I'm also taking your money. Or should I say, MY money. Since you're pretending to be me."

Trolli and Sakura giggled at that remark.

"...Dammit"

"DEMONITIZED!" YouTube shouted from another room.

Suddenly, the screen went to black and white and froze in place. A rantsona appeared on screen, although it didn't resemble any real animal. It looked sort of like if you mashed a zubat from pokemon together with a teddy bear, made the resulting fusion really fuzzy and put a green cap with a red star on it. "ACTUALLY!" he said, although his mouth (which took up the whole face) only cut to a frame where it was open instead of having lip syncing. "Spookbox should not have been portrayed as the villain in this episode! She is a working class hero taking DIRECT ACTION against the bougie youtuber who makes millions off of playing video games! She was right to aim for recollecting Jukebox's wealth as a goal."

Sakura spoke up, since she was also a 2D character she could still perceive what was happening. Although she didn't move at all while speaking. "This is OUR video! Kindly bug off! No one wants to hear your deranged and incorrect-"

The odd rantsona shook violently for a split second, and the video cut to black.

Once the video flickered back on, Jukebox was jumping onto the couch, ready to play Project Libitina. "Wow, it feels like this video has been going on for a while! And we haven't even gotten to the game yet! So I'll keep it's introduction brief. Project Libitina was meant to come out in 2018, but Dan Salvado had several delays. Not this was in any way his fault, he claimed that after working on the game his health would rapidly decline and would receive death threats that made him scared to continue work. Eventually though, he was able to finish and now we finally get to play DDLC's sequel! Or... Prequel if Matpat is right."

Jukebox started up the game and watched as the intro played. A warning flickered on the screen, saying that the game was far too disturbing to be played by people without adaquete mental training and preparation.

"Wow can you imagine having that much motivation. Sick, scared, and he still finished the game? If only certain people could work with that much determination."

Jukebox looked indignant. "What, you mean me?"

"No." Trolli looked directly into the camera. This made everyone watching uncomfortable.

Spookbox swatted Trolli. "Cut that out! I'm supposed to be the creepy one."

"But-

"No fighting, I need to hurry up and film the gameplay segment." Jukebox interrupted.

"All right, with that out of the way, the beginning of the game gives you a nice recap on the portrait of Markov. You get to choose between playing as "Mister Jones" or someone just named "Squid". Squid looks kind of depressing, probably because there was pretty clearly an accident involved with her? I'm pretty sure the researchers tried to give her a powerful tentacle arm, but as you can see... It doesn't look like it worked very well."

"Sure this game isn't too much for you Jukebox?" Trolli asked, voice hinting towards actual concern. "Maybe the other box should have to play it first since it was her idea..."

"Nah don't worry, I'm a brave girl!" Jukebox reassured Trolli.

"So, we're playing as Mister Jones. He's a single father, his wife apparently died but it's not that important to the game really. He honestly seems over it, as mean as that sounds to say. But you see a lot of his internal dialouge and he doesn't seem too fazed."

"Right now we're doing an experiment to try and increase control over Libitina. She kept attacking researchers until we gave her a real bedroom. So my task is to watch her through the window until she gets so uncomfortable that she agrees to go back in her sleeping box instead."

Jukebox took a deep breath and swallowed.

"In fact, most of the game seems to be doing experiments on this kid. The catch is that she has mind powers and can mess with you and other characters in all sorts of ways. For example, since she can sense you coming to the window, by the time you look through it she's already staring at the window. As you can see she's pretty clearly scared of us, so she's going to try all sorts of things to get us to stop watching her. But if we can stay firm, she will become so distressed by being spied on that the only way she can feel any privacy is to go into her ventilated steel container we call her sleeping box. The goal is basically to make her wish she never demanded to have a real bedroom like a normal child."

Jukebox said this clearly, but her voice quivered a little midway through. "She will try everything to get you to stop watching her like I said. Right now I'm hearing things in my headphones like something is behind me in the game. Like an animal growling, someone breathing in my ear, twigs snapping from being stepped on. It's tempting to look behind yourself but if you do it reaffirms her power over you and she will get closer to the window when you're not looking. If she gets emboldened enough to reach you, you get a game over screen. But if you keep your eyes on her, it makes her feel powerless. See? She's trying to hide under her blanket. If she does that it gives you an opportunity to tap her window for giving her extra fear. Don't tap her window when she is looking at you though!"

"What happens then?" Spookbox asked, intrigued.

"I don't really want to talk about that, haha. You get a special game over, basically." Jukebox giggled nervously.

"Now, since she has the ability to draw nearby threats to you, you need to learn how to tell what noises are just her trying to trick you and what are actually dangerous. She won't approach the window when things are outside besides just you. So you can shoot whatever's threatening you. For being a chapter of the game where you just watch Libitina through her bedroom window, it's surprisingly unsettling for me- AAAA!"

A ghoulish person wielding a tool so bloody it was hard to tell what it was supposed to be used for yanked Mister Jones around in the game and swung the tool repeatedly at him. It moved with strangely few frames, like a rushed stop motion project. Jukebox was too late in reacting to the attack, and got a game over screen. The game over screen had Squid holding Libitina by her hand and leading her along a road in the middle of nowhere. They both seemed very happy about it.

"Ohh! Oh my god- that-- not going to lie, this game kind of gets to me. But I'm no imposter or a quitter so I'll just cut until after I find out how to beat this part! And that's just one of several things that can kill you in this part of the gsme!"

The camera cut to black just as Trolli started saying something. When it reappeared, Jukebox looked sweaty and Trolli and Spookbox were no longer in the room. "Okay, so, I finally got the win screen. It took a while, but we finally got Libitina to start shaking under her blanket, and at this point she can't or won't pull any more psychic nonsense on us. We still have to be careful about wandering enemies but we can freely look away from the window now. Any second now... Ah there we go."

A distant alarm went off in the game and a win screen popped up. "Success!" it displayed, over a background of research papers that were heavily scribbled on. A 2D anime style clip played of Libitina begrudgingly asking a researcher to please let her sleep in her sleeping box again instead of a bedroom.

"Now we can go on to the next task! Our need experiment is optional, and apparently is important to the lore according to literally the one post I could find online about the mechanics of Project Libitina. Seems like only a couple people have played it counting me, weird. The reason it's optional though is because it's "the main reason for the warning at the start of the game" but I'm a brave girl so we're doing it!"

Text scrolled on the screen as jukebox selected the chapter. "Knife Conditioning: to-"

Jukebox shuddered and turned off the game. "Yeah, no, not a brave enough girl for this. It's one thing to see disturbing stuff, another entirely to be the one causing it. I can see why this is a psychological horror game. It's just too much for me. Right you two?"

Jukebox turned around, and looked confused. "Trolli? Other Jukebox? Where did everyone go? Wasn't someone else here too?"

She shrugged. "Guess they got bored and left. Oh well! I'm Ivy Munger, and thank you all for a wonderful time!" Jukebox thought it over. "Well, maybe not wonderful but thank you for watching! And don't play Project Libitina unless you are REALLY sure you can handle the darker stuff. Apparently the game has a happy ending and I might get to that later in a future episode but I'm not doing the optional chapters I can tell you that much."

#tw body horror #tw knife #tw knives #abuse tw #long post

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back-and-totheleft · 5 years ago

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A test for ‘Platoon’

In January 1987, the Chicago Tribune invited a group of Vietnam veterans, then in treatment for PTSD, to privately screen Platoon and provide their reactions. They were accompanied by a mental health professional for safety and support. As the article notes, “Most of the veterans were visibly shaken or in tears, well after the movie had ended.”

The critics have embraced it; audiences across the country are now flocking to see it. Indeed, the national opening of the Vietnam war film ''Platoon'' was pushed up two weeks in response to intense media coverage of it as a special event.

But the one audience reaction that hasn`t been heard from yet, as Ted Koppel said on a recent ''Nightline'' program devoted to the film, is the Vietnam veteran himself. What do combat veterans think of the film that claims to be the first fiction film to truthfully portray ground fighting in Vietnam?

To find out, we enlisted the help of the Chicago chapter of the Veterans Bedside Network, which assembled a group of six Vietnam combat veterans to watch a private screening of ''Platoon.'' Five men, all of whom saw front-line duty as Marines, were accompanied by a social worker-vet who has been treating them recently for post-traumatic stress disorder, which can strike anyone suffering from trauma.

Warning for frank discussions of violence, combat and mental illness.

Most of the men are 40 years old now, which meant they were about 20 when they saw battle. Each had resentment about how the war was conducted at the command level and how he was treated when he got back home.

More subtle, in some cases, was the barely hidden pain caused by having participated in or at least witnessed the killing of Vietnamese civilians. That nightmare is recalled in ''Platoon'' by a My Lai-style massacre sequence that makes such hideous violence seem reasonable.

For those who have yet to see ''Platoon,'' the movie was written and directed by Oliver Stone, a college dropout, who like the film`s young hero, played by Charlie Sheen, volunteered for infantry action in Vietnam to prove his manhood.

The film follows his bloody tour of duty with a platoon near the Cambodian border in 1967. And Stone`s film did its job extremely well, according to the veterans in our group, providing an eye-popping portrait of what Vietnam combat was all about: the heat, filth, confusion, fear and rotting bodies -- white, black, and yellow.

The veterans watching the movie were told very little about the film before it started. They were simply asked to take notes and to keep their reactions to themselves for a series of individual post-film interviews that would avoid any influence of ''group think.'' Then, they were told, they would reassemble as a unit to discuss the film and just how true-to-life any war film can be.

What follows, first, are the individual reactions of veterans and their counselor. Most of the veterans were visibly shaken or in tears, well after the movie had ended.

THOMAS WILLIAMS

''I served in Vietnam in 1966. I was a scout. And that scene of [the American platoon] being overrun, I've experienced that. The pain and the killing is shown right -- there`s no mercy.

'Having to kill like that and then having to come back here and having to pretend like nothing happened because you can`t tell anyone the horror of what it was like: This is what Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome is all about.

You get flashes of scenes like the ones in this movie, which is the closest I`ve ever seen to the real thing.

It was hell, man. And the first thing they had written on screen before the movie began -- that quote from Ecclesiastes about `losing your youth and becoming old` -- that`s very deep. That`s what happened over there.''

Williams, 39, with tears in his eyes, said he saw combat for 9 1/2 months in Vietnam. The most brutal battle he was involved in was called Operation Hastings.

''We fought the 324th B Division of the North Vietnamese. We fought them for 4 1/2 hours. They cut off our platoon from the rest of the battalion. Thirty-two of us killed approximately 1,000 men. That scene at the very end of the movie with [the overhead shot] all of the dead bodies in the valley -- it was exactly like that. Exactly.''

Tears were running down Williams` face.

''I thought I was going to die [in that battle]. The guy next to me, a round went through his head and blew the left side of his brains and skull onto the right side of my face. The guy carrying the [Vietnamese] flag, I hit him, and the guy next to him I unloaded a magazine [of bullets] in him and he still didn`t want to drop. I reloaded and I threw grenades, and that`s the only way that I made it. Out of 32 Marines, only five lived.

It hurts, man. It hurts. `Cause a lot of guys died for nothing. For nothing. Nothing."

FRANK KAUZLARICH

''The character portrayals were outstanding; they didn't `Hollywood it up,` '' said Kauzlarich, 40, who served in 1968-9 as a helicopter crew chief. ''They had the details right about the leeches--and the dust everywhere when [the college kid] arrived in Vietnam in the very first scene. I saw the same dust and the body bags when I first got there, and I thought to myself, `What the hell am I getting into?`

''The characters were all right on: the good, the bad, and the ugly, you might say. Also it showed the things you had to do -- the people you had to leave behind. As a helicopter crew chief, I saw areas I simply couldn't get into, and we had to leave people behind.''

Kauzlarich was different from the rest of the group in two ways. He didn't want his photograph taken, and he appeared to be the most composed after the movie. His self control, he intimated, grew out of his job in Vietnam.

''As a crew chief, I lived in my chopper. I had to maintain the chopper and make sure I was always ready to take off and get our guys who usually were in deep [shit].

''But my eyes were watered up during the movie. 'I just had a little more time to get myself together. I`ll be keyed up for a couple of days. It`s a good movie. He portrayed it all very well: the noise, the dust, the crap.

He did a good job, but no one could ever tell you about Vietnam in a movie. They can`t show the pain, the absurdities, the horror. You end up being an animal yourself in order to survive. You don`t have time to register the horror, until it just wells up in you. It was 13 years before I began reliving the thing. I got flashbacks of sounds and smells.''

TERRY TIDD

''That`s the most realistic movie I've ever seen,'' said Tidd, a burly, bearded man, who has just turned 40. ''I`m shaking inside."

''One thing that was good about it is that they didn't glamorize the killing and dying. Some of the other movies about Vietnam made it look like it was too much fun.

I just want people to know that [American soldiers] did go back and kill [Vietnamese] people in villages like that. But the people that did it,'' Tidd said, his voice cracking, ''weren`t rotten people. But if you go into a village, and there are no VC, and all you see are women and children, and you step outside of that village and you saw your buddies getting killed, and they`re screaming, well, some guys went back to the village.

''And this film showed it was that kind of a dirty war. I just wish people could know that we weren`t just a bunch of baby killers. We really thought we were fighting for our country and to stop the spread of Communism. And people who died over there, maybe they have an advantage over us who lived through it. Because we know it was a lost cause. They died not knowing it.

''I want to get my ma and dad to see this movie. I got a 13-year-old boy I might want to take. It may be too heavy, but he`s asked me a lot about Vietnam, and I probably should take him to see this.''

Tidd served in 1966 with the Marine I Corps near Da Nang.

''If anyone wants to know what the war is like, this would be a good one for them.''

LARRY BRIMM

"It can`t be fully felt unless you`ve been there. [The taste of death] just stays in your throat. I brush my tongue every morning, but I can`t get rid of it."

Brimm, 40, a 1965-6 Marine Corp veteran, also seemed composed as he stepped out of the screening room to talk. But then he opened his hands. His palms were full of sweat and creases formed by dug-in nails.

''As far as the technical end of the movie is concerned, it was good. It showed that for each man, it really was their own private little war of staying alive. There weren`t a lot of massive sweeps of men.

''When [order] broke down, you counted on your buddy to the left and your buddy to the right, and that was it. There wasn`t another squad, another platoon. There was just you and what was happening within three feet of you. And I got that in this film.''

Brimm also said he found the emotional transitions of some of the characters to be accurate.

''For me in 1965, I went over there idealistic. After a while though, I realized there was no point about fighting Communism. It was all a matter of simply staying alive. And then you start hating yourself for the things you have to do to stay alive -- like killing civilians.

I can really empathize with that scene where [the Americans] burned that village because of all that had gone on before. In 1965, it was more of a booby trap, sniper war of not being able to see the enemy. So to retaliate, you just didn`t care. But now I have to live with that.''

BILL BURTON

"In Vietnam there wasn`t the racism I find here. We called each other names, but we were there for each other when it counted. All of our blood was red."

''It was almost real,'' said Burton, a Marine who fought in a variety of locations in 1968-9. ''There were some things I saw in the film that I did.'' He began shaking his head.

''No, I`d rather not say,'' he said, taking out his handkerchief. ''It affects me to this day.''

Was he glad he saw the picture? ''Oh, yes,'' he said, ''it might help me. I`ve never seen anything since I`ve been back to compare to this. I could identify with a lot of it. For example, the scene where the [American soldier] shot the [Vietnamese] woman. It happened, man. You saw it happening all around you, and it was scary that it started to make sense.''

RAY BLANFORD

"The emotional side of the experience can never be communicated. If you fought and lived through that war, you were damaged."

Ray Blanford, who served two tours of army duty in Vietnam, now serves as a therapist in the Stress Disorder program at the North Chicago Veterans Hospital.

''I have heard the exact stories that were up on that screen--everything from the blood on the soldier`s face [when his buddy bashes a Vietnamese man`s skull] to the loss of control, the hate, the fear, and finally the killing of the [Vietnamese] guy with one leg. It was so real. The emotions in this film could have been taken right out of what we get in the Stress Disorder unit."

Blanford, 52, said he handled the stress in Vietnam because he was older than the average soldier. ''Most of the guys that fought were pretty young. We`re talking about, in many cases, mere high school kids. Forget the real war, if you simply subjected them to what you saw in this movie, you would have a bunch of traumatized kids.''

Along with the other vets, Blanford took special note of the film`s opening scene. ''I could almost smell the fuel of the C-135 [aircraft] and the dust, as well recall the confusion of the body bags going out and the men coming in.''

Now the men were brought together, and they were first asked to react to the final line in the movie in which actor Sheen, in voice-over narration, speaks, in effect to all veterans, saying that they, as survivors, ''have an obligation to build again, to find a goodness and meaning in this life.''

To a man, the veterans said such noble sentiments were a pipe dream. One exception is a cause promoted by Thomas Williams.

''The goodness and meaning that we`ve found on the ward is to try to find housing for the many homeless Vietnam veterans. Through our own illness and strength we`re trying to help them through an organization called Veterans for Housing, Inc."

But in general the mood of the vets turned dark when they were asked about their chances of ''building again.''

''I find a lot of irony in that,'' said Frank Kauzlarich, ''in that our society doesn`t want to give us a chance to build again. They just want to forget the mistakes that we and our government made over there. We`ve been looked down on since we`ve come back, and consequently we look down on ourselves.''

Bill Burton had a more specific complaint. ''I`ve only been able to hold onto a job for two years since I`ve been back. I just need a chance. I need a job. I live on the North Side, and it really gets me, man, to see these Vietnamese with jobs, but I can`t get one myself."

''It`s funny,'' said Burton, who is black, ''in Vietnam there wasn`t the racism I find here. I mean, we may have called each other names, but we were there for each other when it counted. All of our blood was red.''

At that point, Burton grabbed the hand of Terry Tidd, who was sitting next to him.

''That last line makes me angry,'' said Thomas Williams. ''They don`t try to understand us. They never tried. There were no parades -- everybody knows that. But what they don`t know is the sense of powerlessness we feel.

''I mean there`s a real power you have in `Nam when you have a gun and you`re killing. Then you come back, and you`ve got nothing. You`ve given up your flesh, your blood, and your mind. So that bit about coming up with a new life is bullshit. People just don`t care about us. The government doesn`t have the money to treat us. Thousands of vets are going without help.

''Hell yes I`m angry. Many of us lost our families `cause we couldn`t handle life when we came back. Build again? That`s a joke.''

''You get your ass blown up, they want to give you peanuts,'' said Terry Tidd. ''I got hit twice in my legs, they give me 10 per cent of my pay -- 126 dollars a month -- the absolute minimum for legs that are filled with metal. When I get X-rayed, they ask if I was in a car accident. I`m supposed to build a new life on that?!''

''On a job application,'' said Frank Kauzlarich, ''it`s not too smart to put down that you`re a Vietnam veteran. You`re better off putting down that you`re an alcoholic. Chances are the boss drinks, too.''

''The damage done to the warriors does not always go away,'' said Ray Blanford, the social worker.

The anger of the vets was a surprising turn of events, considering that their praise of the movie had been so effusive.

Some might say the group we interviewed was heavily battle-scarred. That may be true, but realize that only a small fraction of the people who served in Vietnam saw combat, and that combat soldiers is what ''Platoon'' is all about.

As it turned out, the veterans` anger was also rooted in their treatment at home, today. It became apparent when the vets were asked to complete the following thought: ''It`s a terrific movie but, even so, it doesn`t communicate...''

''It can be accurately portrayed on film,'' said Larry Brimm, ''but it can`t be fully felt unless you’ve been there.''

''The movie is missing the taste of death,'' said Bill Burton.

''It just stays in your throat,'' said Larry Brimm. ''I brush my tongue every morning, but I can`t get rid of it.''

''It was so hot in `Nam,'' said Thomas Williams.''The movie didn`t show people tying T-shirts over their face to cut the smell of death. But the smell you can never get rid of. It will always be with you.''

It was up to Ray Blanford to sum up.

''I say to all the veterans: See the movie, but be with somebody you care about so you can talk about the emotions the movie brings back. And if you need help, call us.

'As for the public: See the movie, but know that the emotional side of the real experience can never be communicated. A movie can`t communicate the terror or the lasting damage. If you fought and lived through that war, you were damaged. And I want every kid who sees this picture and thinks that war is exciting to know that.''

-Gene Siskel, “A Test for Platoon,” Chicago Tribune, January 4 1987 [x]

#oliver stone #platoon #ptsd #the vietnam war #mental health #war #violence #survival #chicago tribune #gene siskel

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sssoto · 7 years ago

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Happy 200th birthday, Serena!

My dearest baby Serena da Silva has her birthday today, October 17th, and it’s not just any birthday - today marks the day she was born 200 years ago! EEEP how exciting is that? You only get to celebrate an anniversary like that once in your lifetime!

If you’re unfamiliar with Serena, she is my character from my book project series for Amnesia: The Dark Descent, in which she plays a major role. She’s probably the character nearest and dearest to my heart, and she tends to be a fan favourite among readers as well, so I wanted to do something extra special for this particular anniversary.

So here comes: a birthday feature! In which I display all the amazing gifts Serena has received today.

First of all, I want to show the wip of what I had planned to do for Serena, which unfortunately I couldn’t finish in time since my laptop screen broke at the WORST. TIMING. EVER. I meant to have this artwork ready for today, but since I won’t be able to finish it until later, I’ll share a wip of the clean sketch:

I must admit, I’m quite proud of it! It’s the first time I experiment with perspective and interiors for real, and I also usually suck at drawing animals, but Cleo (Serena’s cat) came out quite okay here, so I’m happy! I hope I’ll be able to finish it sooner rather than later.

And now, let’s get into the amazing gifts my baby has received today AAAHHH!

@juliajm15

If you’ve been following me for a while, you might know that @juliajm15 is an art goddess who’s been making amazing beautiful fanart of my characters for the past couple years. She always goes so above and beyond for me, and that can be seen by LOOKING AT THIS GORGEOUS PIECE OF SERANIEL FANART.

IT’S THEIR FIRST KISS. THEY’RE SO YOUNG AND INNOCENT HERE. THAT HEIGHT DIFFERENCE. THAT DRESS. THAT HAIR (BOTH OF THEM). I COULD GO ON GUSHING BUT WE’D BE HERE ALL DAY.

OH YEAH, AND THAT BACKGROUND.

I just had to mention that.

OMG I die over how perfect and cute and romantic this is, it just completely captures the essence and emotion of that scene in my book! I feel so blessed and privileged, how am I ever gonna recover from this perfection?

But not only did she do this amazing gorgeous romantic piece for me, she also did a complete remake of Serena’s character portrait and DAMN SHE LOOKS GORGEOUS.

HOW does she always manage to capture Serena so perfectly? Ugh I honestly just can’t with this perfection, I just can’t. That expression, that hair, those LIPS. Okay, I’m gonna move on because I could literally gush about Serena’s face all day, but then we’d miss out on all the other amazing gifts she received today! Just, thank you so much @juliajm15 my darling, you’re such a generous and ultra skilled human being, thank you so much for being in my life and supporting me always

@shaelinwrites

So meme and aesthetics queen @shaelinwrites totally disarmed me today when she sent me THIS GORGEOUS MOODBOARD FOR SERENA OH MY LORD.

LOOK AT THAT GORGEOUS WINTER AESTHETIC. OMG LOOK, CLEO MADE A CAMEO ON THE BOTTOM LEFT. Omg these colours are just too beautiful I CAN’T. The art supplies, the gesture and expression of this girl, it’s all SO Serena. The whole feel of this moodboard is just so romantic and cosy and wintery and ugh, the nightgown, the long dark hair. I’m aware I’m just rambling and gushing throughout this post DEAL WITH IT.

And @shaelinwrites didn’t stop there, no, as any good bae, she knew how important the bae is. HAVE SOME MORE SERANIEL, THIS TIME BLACK AND WHITE SEXY EDITION.

OH MY LORD. HOW WILL I EVER RECOVER FROM ALL OF THIS. I CANNOT DEAL, CAN. NOT. DEAL.

All of this is literally just so accurate. Like, it’s so friggin’ hard to find good stock images that can embody a fictional character, BUT MY BAE DID IT *CRIES*. Thank you so much bae, omg this surprise was such a highlight today!!

@coffeeandcalligraphy

Another dear friend of mine (who’s a total cinnamon roll btw), @coffeeandcalligraphy, also went above and beyond for my character’s birthday because LOOK AT THIS:

I swear, everyone remembers the bae Baeniel. Eeeeeveryone.

Omg I swear, MY BABIES LOOK SO ATTRACTIVE HERE LIKE OH MY LORD. Daniel boooiiiiiii with that Expression of Angst™ and them puffy lips, and SERENA OMG THE HAIR AND THE LIPS AND EYES, HER INDIGENOUS ROOTS ARE SO PRONOUNCED WITH HER EYES AND I LOVE THAT.

I actually can’t??? Like how do I have so many talented af friends??? I must be a talent MAGNET I’m telling ya.

Oh and Rachel had the same idea as Baelin and went the sexy Black and White edition with the OTP as well:

BECAUSE CAN WE EVER HAVE TOO MUCH SEXINESS? I THINK NOT. Thank you so much @coffeeandcalligraphy I swear your art just blows me away, you’re improving at such a rapid pace, slow down, I can’t keep up

@sarahkelsiwrites

Also @sarahkelsiwrites is a close friend of mine, and actually @coffeeandcalligraphy‘s twin sister (gotta collect the whole pack amirite), and as part of her inktober challenge she did THIS GORGEOUS INKED PORTRAIT OF SERENA:

LIKE OMG OKAY SO the Victorian aesthetic is on POINT here, and OMG I love that her Hispanic features are soooo visible here. ALSO DAMN, THE DETAIL ON THE JEWELLERY. THE INKING OF THIS IS ALSO SO GREAT, LIKE, DO YOU SEE THE LINES IN HER HAIR???? I’m sorry, I’m an artist, I have to appreciate it when I see good craft, okay? I also gotta note that I’m living for how everyone always remembers Serena’s choker because girl never goes without one

Ugh HER EYES AND LIPS okay I gotta stop. I mention the eyes and lips every time, when will I switch it up. NEVER. Okay, glad we got that settled.

(Yes, I’m a dork, but only when I’m overwhelmed with this much love and beauty, I swear.)

Also omg THE SONG LYRICS, THOSE ARE SELENA GOMEZ LYRICS, AND IT’S STARS DANCE, AND I LOVE THAT SONG, AND IT’S SO RELEVANT, AND I’M ACTUALLY SHOOK. LORD thank you so much @sarahkelsiwrites god I just can’t believe how friggin’ talented and generous and thoughtful all of you are, I will never get over it.

Constance

So I’ve not mentioned this, but not too long ago I was totally taken by surprise and utterly *shook* when I received a private message on the site where I have Memoirs posted. This long message came from an angel named Constance, who registered a profile just to tell me how much she adored my story, give me fanart, and TELL ME SHE’S TRANSLATING THE ENTIRE THING TO FRENCH BRUH.

So if any of you out there are speaking French and not super comfortable with English, but still interested in reading Memoirs, it’s Constance you wanna hit up. She’s got you covered.

But back to the FANART.

Constance is working on this GORGEOUS Serena fanart for me, and while it’s not all finished yet, she said I could still post it for the birthday feature! (I’m going to update the post with the finished piece once it’s ready)

LOOK HOW CUTE AND PRETTY AND YOUNG MY SERENA IS HERE. THIS DRESS IS SO PRETTY, I DIE. OMG SHE HAS THE LOCKET. I realise like 90% of this post is all caps, but WHO CAN BLAME ME? I’m so #blessedyouknow right.

All I wanted in my life is Serena in a pink pretty dress. Thank you for realising my dreams, Constance *cries* and thank you so much for the endless support and this generosity! Seeing other people getting so invested in my story and characters really moves me so much, it’s all that I could hope for waaahh.

2k17 - Birthday One Shot

Okay, so I know how I said I couldn’t finish my artwork for Serena in time as I had intended, which made me very, very Sad™, BUT. I came up with something else.

So this was actually SUPER spontaneous and I usually NEVER do something like this, but I took a chance, and you know what? It worked out. I just wanna say thank you so much to my bae @shaelinwrites who pushed and motivated me to do this, I dunno what happened, but you must’ve transferred some of your writing machine abilities to me, because I actually managed to finish an entire one shot in JUST ONE DAY. (Are you as shook as I am? Cuz I can never seem to finish a chapter so I’m shook.)

Since I couldn’t finish my artwork for Serena like I planned, I decided to write a short fluffy non-canon one shot for her birthday. It was super spontaneous and unplanned, but it actually came surprisingly easy to write! I’ve not written in first person in many, many years, so this was really a leap of faith LOL, but I like the end result! A major thanks to @shaelinwrites, who encouraged me and critiqued the short before publication, and @coffeeandcalligraphy, @sarahkelsiwrites and @juliajm15 for giving it a read and telling me their thoughts as well! I hope you all enjoy this little piece of fluff; since I’m taking so long to write my book, maybe this can keep y’all entertained meanwhile

Thank you so much to everyone who’s supported me and celebrated Serena’s birthday with me, even just in spirit! It makes the long journey all worth it, knowing there are people out there who care (’:

(short story starts under the cut!)

Roses and Ballerinas

The balcony drapes danced lightly with the gentle morning breeze, a delicate waltz. My existence was comfort, head cushioned by feather pillows and silk sheets swathing my naked form. Sunlight hadn’t woken me; London was always grey, ash brick and fog, and even more so in the rainy days of October. However, for what one might expect, the morning didn’t seem to carry its usual autumn gloom—though I suppose that observation could’ve had more to do with my current disposition.

A smile crept on my lips at remembrance of the night previous, one which, if anyone saw, surely would’ve spoken of scandalous notions unfit for a such young lady to entertain. Fortunately, none had been around to witness what had occurred in this room; tangled limbs, kisses of the sweetest character, ardour’s touch, skin marked with such fierce passion that even I could not have imagined. It didn’t seem right that something so blissful could be immoral. Should a simple seal of matrimony reverse what was once considered debasement? What a frigid, unromantic sentiment. If anyone would’ve cared to ask me, I would sing praise to the levels of delight and unison one could only reach when committing so wholeheartedly to Venus’ embrace. Might my lover treat me to such a lovely experience again tonight? This was after all a special day of mine.

I turned in my silk cocoon to face him, and was met with a disappointing sight. Half my bed was empty, only evidence that anyone had occupied the space a faint outline in the wrinkled sheets where his body had laid. I was accustomed to sharing this queen size with no one. My parents had always been diligent in ensuring that I was endowed much more space than a small person like me required. Somehow, the vastness of this bed, indeed this entire room, seemed pronounced in this moment. I fancied I didn’t really like that much space at all. It only served to remind me of my loneliness.

Rationality grounded me; naturally, he’d gone to his own room before my maid servant would come to knock. It was only sensible. If Lydia came to discover him here, she could not keep such a secret from Mama—though truly I hadn’t much need for concern today, as she was typically inclined to let me sleep in on a day of my celebration. Yes, it was the day itself which heightened my sensitivity, nothing more. Admittedly I’d had hopes for the morning, that he might wake me with another of his sweet kisses, might whisper words of admiration and appreciation in my ears as he’d play with my dark locks—an occupation he liked to take up whenever he visited my private chambers, I’d noted with slight thrill. Indeed, he was a beautiful man—one would be hard-pressed to argue the fact—but more importantly was how knowledgeable he’d proven himself on the treatment of a woman. Had I ever felt so worshipped and adored? If so, I couldn’t recover the memory.

My hand caressed the empty space next to me. He’d always held my fancy, even before either of us could be consciously aware of such implications. As far back as when he’d been a scrawny boy with round green eyes and tufts of brown hair that grew unrestrained, too wild for taming. Such was he when I’d first laid eyes upon him, myself a guileless, wide-eyed girl just six years of age. Our childhood was an innocent one, as most are, and a discordant one, as most aren’t. We’d been too young to fathom the consequences of our relationship. Even so, I could never regret it.

The door clicked open. I sat in surprise, pulling on my duvet to cover me. Why would Lydia not knock? This conduct was so unlike my meek maid, and certainly rude and improper. Under usual circumstances I’d not mind, but in my current exposed state I would’ve preferred for my servant to know her place and knock before entering. Would she not question my state of undress? Would I have answers to offer that wouldn’t further incriminate myself and fuel her suspicions?

But the sight which entered was not Lydia; indeed, this character was too tall, too broad, too much man. The clothes he’d discarded last night was now fitted on him in a most casual manner, shirt tucked carelessly into the waistband of the trousers he’d worn the day before and not fully buttoned. The tension in my body dwindled, and I let a sigh of relief. “You’re awake already? I thought I might make it back before you’d notice my absence.” He wore a crooked smile as he closed the door behind him, though it wasn’t smug but awkward, as if regretful he might’ve troubled me while he was gone.

“Daniel, where did you go? Did you not care to think you could get caught sneaking in and out of my room like that?” I said while he approached. I could not ignore how he moved with an arm behind his back, making his climb back into bed rather clumsy looking.

His smile was amusement now, a hint of a chuckle on the tilt of his lips. He leaned close, and his scent engulfed me, piquant and potent, woodsmoke and seasalt. I savoured the fragrance of him, and his warmth, and those lips, perfect for kissing, as they met mine in a sweet greeting. “Happy birthday, darling,” he muttered against my smile.

He pulled back, much to my dismay—though that sentiment was soon replaced by curiosity as he presented whatever he’d cared so much to hide behind his back. “What is that?” The words escaped me before I’d taken a proper glance at the object; a wooden box, handcrafted. The carving of a rose adorned the top lid and composed the main attraction. Still the rest of the box was as skilfully ornamented, only with less eye-catching swirls and foliage.

“Watch.” He bit his lip in thrill as was his habit—one I found rather endearing, I might add. He produced a small key from his pocket and inserted it into an opening hidden on the side.

I looked on in fascination as three turns of the key set the box in motion. The lid of the case rose all on its own, and as a lovely tune began its play, a small ballerina came to life and emerged from the box. She twirled around in a graceful dance, contentment in her gesture. I brought both hands to my lips, unable to contain my smile; she had long black hair, just like mine. “A music box!”

“Is it to your liking?” Daniel chuckled, and this time his grin was indeed quite self-satisfied.

I took the music box in my own hands and brought it closer to my face. The ballerina spun and spun without a care in the world; she was me, a version of myself I had dreamed of once. Unrestrained, unchained, free of her cage. Her face was simply painted, but the meaning in her dancing form could not escape me. Such I had seen myself, fantasized of another life. That he remembered… “It’s beautiful! How… When did you arrange this?” The inquiry came out more quiet and raspy than I had intended, but he heard.

“Good while ago,” said he with an air of nonchalance, as though it was little trouble. “The actual crafting of the box and ballerina wasn’t too difficult, but I needed some help to have all the parts fitted together. A clockmaker assisted me in getting the thing to actually play; as you know, I’m not much of a musician.”

I audibly gasped and stared up at him, unable to help myself. “You crafted this yourself?”

He seemed amused by my shock—no wonder, as I shouldn’t have been so surprised. He was the son of an artisan after all. The tune of the music box came to a halt at last, its last note fading into silence. “With my own bare hands. Look here,” he pointed to the interior of the lid, “There’s an inscription.”

My eyes followed to where he pointed; the ballerina had indeed stolen attention away from an engraving hidden behind her, on the curved inner side of the rose-adorned lid. Soul free of sorrow, heart light with hope; this be the path I follow, this is the path I chose. My chest swelled, and breath hitched. I wanted to speak, yet couldn’t bring the words to my tongue. Instead I choked on them, and they came caught in my throat.

Daniel tilted his head, understandable question lingering in his expression. Oh, those striking green eyes, this lovely visage. Handsomeness was a term he embodied so utterly; how was it fair for a face like that to completely disarm a woman? I composed myself and swallowed the cry which would’ve escaped me if I’d had just little less self restraint. My one hand cupped the side of my face while the other held the music box, and my smile had no end to it still. Since all else I felt refused to be spoken, I settled on the one feeling I could formulate with ease—amusement. “Some poet you’ve become, huh?” I laughed, shaking my head, yet in an effort to quell the rush inside me.

He grinned and gave my shoulder a gentle shove, an action so very like his behaviour as a boy. “Don’t laugh, I put in a great effort; see, the words rhyme!”

My giggles intensified at his reaction. I placed the music box on the nightstand and spun the key again, thrice; thus the ballerina resumed her carefree dance, light and free. She was magical, twirling such as she did. What a spirit to have, a life to live. To choose your own path to follow, and not the one chosen for you.

I turned towards my company again and pulled on him, locking him between my arms in a tight embrace. “Thank you, Daniel.” I squeezed in hope that the fierceness of my display of appreciation would deliver the message better than words could. “Thank you so much. It’s wonderful.”

“I do consider myself quite the expert on gift giving.” His chuckle was warm against my bare neck. A large hand planted firmly between my shoulder blades and pressed me deeper into his warmth. “I’m sorry if I had you worried, Serena. I only went to fetch my gift for you. I promise I was careful.”

“It’s fine, Daniel.” The words came out in a sigh of contentment. He was indeed so broad and so much bigger than I; his figure wrapped me in amenity, instilling within me an ease I couldn’t hope to discover elsewhere. It was an ease of novel excitement and nostalgic familiarity, all at once. “In truth, what bothered me was the idea that you’d left me to wake by myself.” I pulled away enough to look at him and brushed a strand of his long, brown locks from his face. “Today of all days.”

At those words, Daniel constrained his smile from widening too much, and I blushed by the notion that I’d said something to make him so satisfied with himself. “Well, let me assure you that you needn’t worry of that, my love.” He leaned over me, and I fell back into silk. I had no need for the duvet to cover my naked figure any more; his broad form was quite enough coverage. “You should know that the only instance in which I would leave this bed willingly would be the moment you tire of me and kick me out.”

I bit my lip as a gratifying sensation waved through me, and my fingers found way to the waistband of his trousers, pulling the shirt loose of it. “If that is a challenge,” I laughed, “then go ahead and make your attempt at tiring me.”

By the smirk on his lips, it seemed he accepted. The music box played its last note; it rang into the room and deadened to silence, and so a music of another kind took its place. Lord pray that Lydia would have the thought to let her lady sleep in on her birthday.

So that was all for this century’s anniversary! Thank you so much to all my friends who made these amazing gifts for her, and all of you who participated in celebrating her; it means so much

Until next century, darlings! (I’m kidding, I’m not gonna be inactive on this blog a whole century…)

#amnesia the dark descent #daniel of mayfair #original character #fluff #fanart #fanfiction #birthday #anniversary #gift art for soto #art wip #friends #serena da silva #daniel james wilkinson #seraniel

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charlenelouise-gdc · 4 years ago

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Personal Practice:

London Film Festival 2019: Review

2 - 13 October 2019. This is potentially one of my favourite times of the year.

For me, its such an important period in my calendar - not only professionally but personally. I find film festivals a wonderful way of watching or accessing films. There is almost an organic way to it: seeing it with fresh eyes, everyone being in the same boat or seeing it before everyone else, not influenced by other people’s comments or opinions (on the film being screened). It allows me to have a pure experience with the film. I am able to cultivate my own ideas on it and evaluate it later on down the line. It feels much more like a richer experience.

Also, I simply love the buzz that it involves. The conversations had, emotions shared and the people you meet. From the screenings to the red carpet, I feel like there is a good sense of community. I find festivals a wholesome, exciting experience. Also, I feel a lot closer to my aspirations as a filmmaker in this setting. It makes me feel hopeful.

Most importantly, it reminds me why I love the art form in the first place. Being united by one thing before them and seeing the natural reaction among crowds, this is something rare - especially in a world that often feels “lonely" and when there seems to be very little reason to be united about.

Of course, in the time of digital distribution and binge-watching, these new found ways of distribution has its own positives. This is particularly true in reach; on demand viewing makes cinema a much more democratic experience. For instance, they enable niche, independent films to be seen by those who live in remote places or do not have access to independent cinemas without the need of travelling to major cities like London or New York. Both methods of viewing, on demand and via the cinema, are equally important and has their own strengths. At the end of the day, as long as the film is being shown and reaches its audience - that’s all that matters. However, there is still must be said about the cinema experience and the magic it offers. In its darkness and the glow of the projector, you get to escape and enter another world momentarily - live out the ordinary you know of. Film festivals, to me, is cinema viewing in its purest form and preserves that experience.

I was also lucky to be in the presence of the filmmakers themselves in some of my screenings. In the special presentations and Q+A sessions that followed the screening, they were able to contextualise their films and share the process behind the choices they make. I learned a lot from them and its a good educational experience.

In this year’s programme, I was able to watch the following films… I have also included some initial thoughts and comments from my notes for future reference.

Our Ladies (Dir. Michael Caton-Jones) - Drama/Comedy Heartwarming! Such a good feel-good film. Close to my heart as I come from Catholic education and has female friendship at the heart of it. It shows what good casting can do and proves it’s an equally important creative choice. The main ensemble really carried the film and a great part of what makes it so charming. Can’t wait to watch again!

The Lighthouse (Dir. Robert Eggers) - Horror/Drama Excellent, well-crafted sound design. Quite wild for an 8am viewing. The framing and composition of the image are done with great precision; it’s quite stunning to watch and I couldn’t look away despite feeling sheer terror at times.

Make Up (Dir. Claire Oakley) - Psychological Drama Unfortunately unable to finish the film due to scheduling conflict. Promising story against a holiday park backdrop and brings to light seaside small town life (which is often overlooked). Interesting blend of genre.

Premature (Dir. Eashaad Ernesto Green) - Drama Most disliked film from my viewing. Although I appreciate the authentic portrayal/visibility of Black youth in what seems to be an alternative of New York city life (away from the glamourised, white lens), the story is so underwhelming. Too tragic at times and pacing was dull. Lots of unnecessary shots (especially during intimate scenes) that served no purpose aside from catering to the male gaze - a complete disservice to the strong female lead its meant to be portray.

House of Us (Dir. Yoon Ga-eun) - Drama/Family A tender story. Told from children’s point of view which is so refreshing to watch; it served as a nice reminder that children are whole people too, with their own thoughts and valid feelings - which I often forget. As a society, we often disregard them for being dependent or “incomplete”. Although I found myself being annoyed at the children, the film really makes you empathetic. Colour grading is divine; has a childlike brightness that honours the story and the lens its being told. Followed similar style to “Florida Project”, where a lot of the image is shot a low height to resemble children’s perspective.

Marriage Story (Dir. Noah Baumbach) - Drama/Comedy-Drama Good performances from Johansson and Driver. I particularly loved the opening as it symbolised the beginning of the end for the couple. It had a wonderful attention to detail too (the letters). Baumbach is a good screenwriter and hits the lines where its suppose to be (e.g. fight at the apartment near the end of the film, although Charlie says such childish things - its reflective of the truth/a natural reaction to such event).

The Kingmaker (Dir. Lauren Greenfield) - Documentary/Drama About Philippine politics. Made me feel so angry as it hits so close to home, which still affect me and my family today. Clever structure. It begins by almost mocking Imelda Marcos which gives it a comedic effect and a lighthearted touch - necessary to tackling a heavy subject. However, it unravels slowly and leaves you with a gut punch feeling in the end, hitting you cold hard facts and what reality is for the ordinary Filipino people - away from Imelda’s rich and flamboyant world. It made me want to start a revolution.

The Disappearance of My Mother (Dir. Beniamino Barrese) - Documentary A story told in a such loving lens. An interesting study on the relationship (of Benedetta Barzini) with the camera - especially as a model and now through her filmmaker son’s lens. Raises the questions: how to be seen, how would you like to be seen, to what level or depth you can actually be seen. Nice mix of archive and interviews. I like the imperfect shots the most where the filmmaker just carries the camera - shaky, unbalanced; it makes it feel more intimate.

And Then We Danced (Dir. Levan Akin) - Romance/Drama Warm and tender. Beautiful colour grading that matched the essence of the film - delightful yellow tones. Such an important story to tell and captured the zeitgeist of today (lgbt love story/coming of age in one of the most orthodox countries in the world - Georgia). Respectful portrayal of Georgian dance and traditions; shown with honour and pride. Closing scene is so moving and strong; it captures him coming to terms with his identity - both as a dancer and as a queer person. The desire told in this story is multifaceted - his desire to become the best dancer and his desire for Irakli.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Dir. Céline Sciamma) - Romance/Drama A compelling story. I’m always fascinated by strong stories that is held together by a small ensemble or little cast. It reminds me that as long as you have a solid story and characters with depth, you don’t need a lot to make it a fulfilling and rememberable. Bursting with colour. Every frame feels like a painting. The cinematography has a beautiful kind of stillness; I appreciate this so much as it feels like a complete antithesis to society/our current way of life. So refreshing to see the female gaze in its full glory. Closing scene is so moving and powerful - similar to Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name. This really stayed with me.

Overseas Documentary (Dir. Yoon Sung-A) - Documentary Interesting background - Belgian/French production about a Filipino story, told by a Korean director. I really enjoyed the observational eye this documentary is told; allowing the story unfold by itself. It enabled the people to tell their story; the most authentic and truthful lens.

Lingua Franca (Dir. Isabel Sandoval) - Drama Promising work from Sandoval. Another important story worth telling, especially since its a minority story (trans, undocumented woman in America, trying to get a Green Card/be legalised; how this is a dehumanising process). However, I find that it focused too much on tragedy. Also, editing felt off at times or left too ambiguous.

Matthias + Maxime (Dir. Xavier Dolan) - Drama A pretty loud film. Lots of talking. Production Design is kind of weird as it doesn’t put a timestamp on the story (not sure if it was the 80s or early 2000s?). Perhaps this is to make the story timeless? But a part of me just found it a bit confusing. Strong casting and the ensemble is captivating to watch. I liked how the root of what happened to Matthias and Maxime wasn’t shown to show how it affected them after and the kiss wasn’t sensationalised. It made their kiss later on much more impactful (in relation to the build up). Nice story but not Dolan’s best.

Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Dir. Jp. Valkeapää) - Drama Interesting experience. Offered a much more in-depth perspective on BDSM, on a personal/humanising standpoint that is beyond pleasure. Production Design was excellent. Cinematography is so precise and there’s a clear visual language shown. Hard story to get into and the pacing is quite slow, with a sudden rush near the end of the story.

Rocks (Dir. Sarah Gavron) - Drama/Youth Beautiful cast and has girls from minority backgrounds at the heart of its story - something that British cinema is yet to improve on. Interesting that the ensemble is made up of mainly non-actors to keep the youthful spirit alive. Making process is certainly interesting. However, the story is pretty much a given and I find that it focused too much on tragedy.

A Hidden Life (Dir. Terrance Malick) - War/Drama Slow cinema; nice contrast to the world and pace of life we all lead. Stunning cinema throughout: crisp sound design and cinematography feels like a painting, honouring nature and the environment. Really keep the senses alive. I like the use of the “active camera” (tracking shots, handheld), during the points of the film where it was the most joyful - it truly captured the beauty of life. Lots of upward shots, featuring the sky - something quite holy and feels omnipresent. I like how the bond between the husband and wife is portrayed by the letters, which carries the story forward - a nice technique.

Personal favourites:

Tier 1: Our Ladies, And Then We Danced, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Kingmaker Tier 2: Matthias + Maxime, Lingua Franca, The Lighthouse

_______________________________

Additional viewings: Short Film - Programme 1 and 2 Programme 1: If I Knew / What do you know about the water and moon / White Girl / Fault Line / Gu04 / In Vitro Programme 2:

Algorithm / Between / In Between / Child / Watermelon Juice / Queering in Teknolojik

Seeing the Short Film Programme is also important in my professional development as its much more closer to where I am at in my practice. It showed me the kind of stories that are currently being told by my contemporaries and opens me up to new techniques or alternative ways of storytelling. Its always a eye opening experience and pushes me out of my comfort zone, widening my knowledge. It raises the questions: how can I do things differently? What makes this technique or story particularly strong? What do I like about this? What do I dislike about this? What are the key elements which makes me drawn to it. These questions and observations will help me shape and refine my practice. I hope to apply these in my next film and I look forward to what is next.

_______________________________

In the following year, I look forward to attending Cannes Film Festival (May) and Sundance London (May/June). Film festivals continue to have a special place in my heart.

#Personal Finds

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cupidford · 8 years ago

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denofgeek com/uk/tv/sherlock/46250/sherlock-33-nerdy-spots-in-the-six-thatchers

Oh cool! Although I’m pretty sure fandom caught most. (oh, and I was even cited in this one! as was finalproblem! how swanky!)

THIS IS INTERESTING THO:

10. The bus/flower scene was inspired by the same thing happening in real life to a friend of Mark Gatiss called, aptly enough, Edmund Moriarty: “His daughter was very young and he’d been up all night with her and he got on the tube to White City and this very beautiful girl started smiling at him and he thought ‘Still got it!’ and he got all the way there and got to work, looked in the mirror and he had a flower in his hair and that’s what she’d been looking at” Gatiss told the audience at a December screening of the episode.

Here’s the article, under the cut!

After taking a fine-toothed comb to new Sherlock episode The Six Thatchers (well, watching it with one finger hovering over the pause button) here are a few items of note discovered, in addition to a handful of discoveries made by some very fine Sherlock detectives elsewhere…1. We know that Lady Smallwood’s British Intelligence code name is ‘Love’, leaving the Holmes brothers and Sir Edwin to divvy up ‘Antarctica’, ‘Langdale’ and ‘Porlock’ between them. Porlock (as well as being a village in Somerset whence came S.T. Coleridge’s famed interrupting ‘person from Porlock’) was the alias of an agent working for Moriarty in Conan Doyle novel The Valley Of Fear. Langdale Pike was a character in The Adventure Of The Three Gables. But Antarctica? Perhaps that’s a fittingly chilly name for “never been very good with [humans]” Mycroft?2. It looks as though the opening credits have been updated for series four. They now feature a post-swimming-pool-fight Sherlock, Watson standing in what looks like a well and a lump of something odd in one of Sherlock’s posh Ali Miller teacups.

3. It��s hardly hidden, but there seemed to be plenty of focus on 221B’s skull décor in the episode, which was all about the impossibility of outrunning death. Symbolism! Additionally, the black fish mobile in Rosie’s nursery could either be foreshadowing the location of her mother’s death, or, you know, just some fish.

4. This is what John was typing in his “221Back” blog entry:

And we’re back! Sorry I haven’t updated the blog for such a long time but things really have been very busy. You’ll have seen on the news about how Sherlock recovered the Mona Lisa. He described it as “an utterly dreary affair” and was much more interested in the the case of a missing horseshoe and how it was connected to a bright blue deckchair on Brighton beach.

I’ll try to write everything up when I get a chance but it’s not been missing portraits and horseshoes that have taken up my time.

I’m going to be a dad.

I mean, I thought I’d spent the last few years being a Dad to Sherlock, but it really doesn’t compare. The baby runs all of our lives. Maybe not THAT different to [….] I’ve fought in two wars, my best friend once faked his own death but none of that [….] terrifying and amazing and the biggest adventure I’ve been on.”

5. There's a teensy error here, apparently. Look closely at the screenshot of John Watson writing his blog and the filename revealing him to be ‘typing’ into a static JPG image file is on display. Source: Daily Edge

6. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story A Scandal In Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes tells John Watson “You see, but you do not observe.” In The Six Thatchers, he makes the same complaint to baby Rosie Watson.

7. The number 626 bus, which John takes to work, is a real bus line running from Finchley to Potter’s Bar.

8. The advert on the side of John’s bus is for ‘Strawb Fizz’, sweets with ‘explosive flavour’. That’s not a real product as far as know, so must have been custom-made, but why? Could there be an explosion in Sherlock’s future? Or some strawberries...

9. As John gets off the bus with the flower behind his ear, a passenger can be spotted carrying a newspaper with a headline ending “…be in two places at once?” a possible reference to the case of The Duplicate Man that flashed up earlier on screen asking: “How could Derek Parkinson be in two places at the same time? And murdered in one of them?”. It’s never twins, remember.

11. The big hint for episode two, The Lying Detective, is spotted behind John’s texting partner ‘E’ at the bus stop. It’s a poster featuring Toby Jones in character as Culverton Smith, advertising either a new film, TV series or book featuring the character titled something containing the words ‘business’ and ‘murder’. The words ‘coming soon’ and ‘he’s back’ are also clearly visible… (Watson also walks past a poster for The Book Of Mormon, but not sure that's strictly relevant here.)

12. ‘E’, the woman John meets on the bus, appears in the credits as Elizabeth and is played by Sian Brooke, who played Ophelia to Benedict Cumberbatch’s much-publicised Hamlet at the Barbican in 2015. Look away now if you don’t want a potential spoiler revealed: Brooke was also spotted filming scenes for episode two The Lying Detective, and is referred to by setlockers as “The Lady In Red”.

13. A tenuous one this, but here goes: when John is texting ‘E’ late and asks if she’s a night owl, she replies “vampire”. The Adventure Of The Sussex Vampire is a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story about a dysfunctional family and a jealous, abusive brother attempting to do away with his younger sibling. Could her jokey answer be a clue to Elizabeth’s back story?

14. There may be a long list of things Sherlock Holmes doesn’t know about (former prime ministers?), but William Shakespeare isn’t on it (Conan Doyle’s “the game is afoot” catchphrase comes from Henry V, incidentally). In The Six Thatchers, Sherlock quotes “by the pricking of my thumbs” from Macbeth. Unless of course, he’s quoting from that other classic British detective writer, Agatha Christie…

15. The Power Ranger strapped to the front of Charlie Welsborough’s Ford was the Blue Ranger. Not sure if that’s relevant, but just being thorough.

16. The continued references to the Black Pearl of the Borgias are a connection to The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons. Said pearl was the treasure hidden inside one of six plaster busts of Napoleon in the original story.

17. Writer Mark Gatiss didn’t only borrow the premise of The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons from Conan Doyle for this modern update but also some names. Thatcher bust distributors Gelder and Co. were also the distributors of the Napoleon busts in the original story. Barnicot, Harker and Sandeford, bust owners, are also repeated between the two.

18. Toby the bloodhound proved a difficult co-star, as Steven Moffat told the Q&A audience in December: “It didn’t move! That was an immobile dog! You know that scene where they’re talking about the dog that won’t move, me and Mark [Gatiss] wrote that on the street to account for the fact the dog wouldn’t move. It just sat there like an ornament!”

19. Toby lives with Craig the hacker. In Craig’s room is a street sign for Pinchin Lane, which is where the original Toby the dog lived (with a Mr Sherman) according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Sign Of Four. Source: Vanity Fair

20. This isn’t the first time Ajay actor Sacha Dhawan has appeared in a Mark Gatiss-written script. He played Waris Hussein in 2013 Doctor Who docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time and then the lead in that year’s The Tractate Middoth.

21. According to this website, there’s a real-life hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia called The Sherlock. Now you know.

22. Mary-in-disguise’s fellow plane passenger was played by James Holmes. No relation.

23. A close-up of one of Mary’s fake IDs reveals one of her aliases to be Gabrielle Ashdown. ‘Gabrielle’ was the fake name used by spy Ilse von Hoffmanstal in 1970 Billy Wilder film The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes, and ‘Ashdown’ was the alias she used when pretending to be married to Holmes, then later alone in Japan. Source: Vanity Fair

24. The name painted on the boat Mary walks past in Norway, Flekkete Band, means Speckled Band, another Conan Doyle story title. Source: @ingridebs

25. Apparently the name on the boat behind, Løvens Manke, means Lion’s Mane, yet another original Holmes adventure reference, as spotted by Tumblr user Cupidford here.

26. We won't repeat them all here, but this terrific Tumblr page is full of links between Sherlock’s flurry of cases at the beginning of the episode and the original Conan Doyle stories. Find out how the man with the Japanese girlfriend tattoo relates to The Adventure Of The Red Headed League and many more.

27. Throughout the harrowing London Aquarium scenes, filmed in a single day, the team kept themselves amused by inventing facts about sharks, as relevant to their location. “Sharks like beans”, “sharks cannot spell” and so on…

28. Unlike that popular myth, sharks do sleep. In fact, the ones at London Aquarium have to be in bed by 2am, which made filming there difficult and is perhaps why it looks very much as though some scenes are set against a video screen of fish swimming rather than the real thing. “One of the things we did find hard was the aquarium,” said producer Sue Vertue, “which we tried for ages to work out if we could film everything in the aquarium and then we realised that sharks sleep at night. So we had to find another way around doing that.”

29. Mark Gatiss said at the Q&A in December that they had always planned for Mary to die sacrificing herself: “It was always going to be saving Sherlock.”

30. When Sherlock asks Mrs Hudson at the end to say the word ‘Norbury’ to him if she ever thinks he’s becoming “cocky or overconfident” he’s paraphrasing his literary counterpart, who asked John Watson in The Adventure Of The Yellow Face “Watson, if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper 'Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you." Source: Metro

31. When Mycroft arrives home and sees the “13th” note on his fridge, it’s hidden underneath a menu for a Reigate Square takeaway restaurant. The Adventure Of The Reigate Squire is an 1893 Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

32. Prompted by the note on his fridge, Mycroft makes a phone call and asks to be put through to “Sherrinford”. First introduced by Holmes scholar William S. Baring-Gould, Sherrinford is a hypothetical older brother to Mycroft and Sherlock. “I’m not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one” hinted Mycroft in His Last Vow. At this year's SDCC, Mark Gatiss, Amanda Abbington and Benedict Cumberbatch were photographed holding up signs saying "Thatcher", "Smith" and "Sherrinford". So we can expect to have the Sherrinford mystery solved by The Final Problem?

33. The therapist Sherlock sees at the end of the episode is Ella Thompson (played by Tanya Moodie), who formerly appeared as John’s therapist in A Study In Pink and The Reichenbach Fall. Who better to tell him what to do about John than the doctor who treated him for PTSD and grief?

#s4 press #tst review #e meta #ish #Anonymous

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njawaidofficial · 7 years ago

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Critic's Notebook: Why Female-Driven TV Matters More Than Ever

http://styleveryday.com/2017/08/24/critics-notebook-why-female-driven-tv-matters-more-than-ever/

Critic's Notebook: Why Female-Driven TV Matters More Than Ever

Like the earliest women film directors, today’s female TV creators, from Jane Campion to Ava DuVernay, are using their platform to tackle the biggest of big issues — and making some of the best shows in the process.

Top of the Lake: China Girl, the second season of Jane Campion’s fierce, dazzling detective series for SundanceTV, begins with a dead body in a suitcase. But as Detective Robin Griffin (Elisabeth Moss) searches for the killer, she finds clues in a brothel, and also meets the 17-year-old daughter — the product of rape — she gave up for adoption. As no ordinary police procedural does, China Girl spirals out to explore sex trafficking, abuse and motherhood in many forms, including by adoption and surrogacy.

Campion is one of several high-profile women, including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Ava DuVernay, behind some of the best television series of the moment. When DuVernay created Queen Sugar and declared that the production would hire only women directors, she kickstarted a mini-trend that the industry and press noticed. But that headline has overshadowed the other noteworthy element that unites these women-driven projects and sets them apart from the crowd: their urgent social and political relevance.

These shows are more than just examples of progress in gender equality among small-screen creators (which would be plenty good in itself). They address hot-button issues, exploding typical television narratives with stories that ripple beyond the screen, into the real world.

Queen Sugar deals with class, race and the prison system through the lens of one African-American family. Big Little Lies, produced by and starring Witherspoon and Kidman, takes on domestic abuse and rape in upscale suburbia. Margaret Atwood’s novels have been turned into two resonant series: Hulu’s Handmaid’s Tale, for which four of the five directors were women, is frighteningly timely in its dystopian portrait of a fascist regime that treats women as reproductive property; the forthcoming Netflix series Alias Grace, entirely written by Sarah Polley and directed by Mary Harron, mines the story of a 19th-century murder for themes including abortion and abuse.

It’s not as if men never tackle such subjects, but the pattern among shows dominated by women producers and directors is unmistakable. There is a full-circle aspect to this trend that goes back to the earliest days of movies. The first woman director, Alice-Guy Blache, made films about abuse and poverty. Lois Weber made silent films about alcoholism and prostitution. For a time, until men figured out that Hollywood was a playing field for big business, Weber was the most successful director in the country. In the 1940s and ’50s, Ida Lupino became one of the lone women directors, creating first-rate movies about unwed mothers and rape.

Those filmmakers took on tough subjects not because they were specialized “women’s issues,” but because they were both significant and largely ignored by men. There was no secret agenda, just eyes wide open, and a fearless will to forge ahead. The same is happening in television now.

The best part of the current trend is that these dramas are spectacular as art and entertainment — complex and sophisticated but relatable for men as well as women. China Girl (premiering Sept. 10) displays Campion’s signature artistic flair, with poetic images that convey at least as much as the dialogue does: a bridal gown is held aloft and set on fire after a wedding is called off; the green suitcase holding the corpse is tossed into the ocean, strands of long black hair floating out of a hole in its side. But there is also gritty realism. The casual sexism Robin faces in the Sydney police department is so routine that she brushes it off. Meanwhile, being a mother and a victim of rape are entrenched and entwined in Robin’s richly developed character. There’s no need for Campion to be didactic; the social commentary springs organically from the drama.

Queen Sugar, executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and now in its second season on OWN, offers a character for every class to identify with. Charlie (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) is a rich businesswoman and single mother, whose basketball-star husband was accused of rape. Her story deals with matters from family to celebrity culture. Charlie’s sister (Rutina Wesley) is a journalist crusading for prison reform and against racial profiling. Their brother (Kofi Siriboe) is an ex-convict trying to reclaim his life. Viewers who come for the domestic saga may have their social consciousness awakened along the way. What could be more Oprah?

In Big Little Lies, Kidman’s character is abused by her husband and Shailene Woodley plays a young mother haunted by memories of having been raped. As the addictive HBO show took off among viewers, those issues became part of the conversation in recaps and among writers and fans. A headline on an episode review from The A.V. Club website put it bluntly: “Big Little Lies is telling a vital story about abuse.” A Vulture piece argued that the show, despite its soapy trappings, was “about very big things,” notably “the natural human instinct to pass judgment on others, especially when those others are female.”

The Handmaid’s Tale has penetrated reality even more visibly, as women’s-rights advocates have shown up at marches and protests wearing the red cloaks and white winged caps worn by the enslaved women in the show’s fictional country, Gilead. No one could have predicted how much currency the series would gain simply by landing in the Trump era.

Those feminist issues have always run through Atwood’s work. Alias Grace (premiering Nov. 3) is based on a true story about a servant named Grace (Sarah Gadon) imprisoned for the murder of the housekeeper and her master. Suspense is built on the question of whether she is innocent, as she claims, or a great liar. Either way, the series reveals how women then and now are often victims — of domestic abuse, of assumptions about class, or of men who see what they choose to see in a woman’s character. Grace doesn’t have to be a saint for those themes to be powerful today.

Of course, men have been deeply involved in these series, too. David E. Kelley wrote and Jean-Marc Valee directed Lies, for example. Campion wrote China Girl with Gerard Lee, and directed two of the six episodes while Ariel Kleiman (a man) directed the others. But all of these series have women as their primary movers.

Not every female-driven project is so topical. Women have made smaller inroads in traditionally male-dominated genres. Lisa Joy is the co-creator of HBO’s sci-fi Western Westworld. Moira Walley-Beckett became an important producer and writer on Breaking Bad (and went on to create the Netflix series Anne With an E, based on the girls’ classic Anne of Green Gables). But women in genre niches are, unfortunately, still the exceptions.

Social themes haven’t entered female-driven blockbusters in the same way, perhaps because of the higher economic stakes and studio oversight. But the fact that Patty Jenkins directed the summer’s biggest hit, Wonder Woman, may be more relevant than the movie’s content (even though the film sends an empowering message to girls). And DuVernay made a strong unspoken statement with A Wrinkle in Time simply by using a multiracial cast, including Winfrey, Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling. That both women have made films with $100-million budgets is progress.

But television continues to offer greater opportunities. As their ancestors did in early Hollywood, women are using their power dynamically, connecting television to the ever-more-urgent realities of the world today.

#Critics #FemaleDriven #Matters #Notebook #TV

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promomagazine · 7 years ago

Text

Charles H.Traub has an Eye for Everyday Beauty

By: Anna Hilderman

Charles H. Traub’s oeuvre spans decades of street portraiture and multi-disciplined visual projects. His recent publications include Lunchtime, a vivid, sunlit assortment of 1970’s lunch-goers, and No Perfect Heroes: Photographing Grant, an interactive iBook that combines black-and-white stills with audio excerpts of the president’s memoirs. Herein, true to his body of work, Traub explains his motivation.

Q: Your photographs, particularly in your Lunchtime, are known for being up-close snapshots of pedestrians who are rather eccentric on their own. Do you photograph your subjects with your own dreamt-up character in mind for them?

A: The times were slightly different in the late 70’s. People were less guarded so one could approach them fairly openly. I photographed people because I was genuinely curious about who they were and I delighted in the projections they made. I was guided by the famous book, Presentations of Self in Everyday Life by the sociologist, Irving Goffman. My premise was and still is that people pretty much are what they are on the surface. I’m referring to a line now by Oscar Wilde: “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible…” What one finds in the real world is as magical and probably more fanciful than anything anybody could dream up. The coincidences and ironies of the real world are perhaps more enigmatic than anything one could fictionalize. Frankly all photographs are a kind of fiction, what I call a taradiddle: a little white lie, a little absurdity. Like life itself, we fake it til we make it.

Q: How does shooting on the street in the late 70’s compare with today, when people go out with the expectation of being captured by street style photographers? Was there more room for the photographer’s vision?

A: There may be more room in making of what we call a “social landscape” image. But being able to go up to people with the question, “Can I take your picture?” may be more difficult. People are in a rush and are more sensitive about being exploited. You have to be honest in your approach! There’s a famous story I’ve often told; standing in 1979 at the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street, across the street at Tiffany’s was a gaggle of paparazzi surrounding a limousine. I was on the other side, sort of aloof, telling people I’m not with them. So who walks by, the most famous woman in the world, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, who stops in front of my camera and says, “If you need to take my picture, please be quick.” I said, “Mrs. Onassis, I’m not here for that purpose, thank you very much.” I’m laughing at myself and all those paparazzi across the street going after Charlie’s Angel Jaclyn Smith getting her wedding ring. So no sooner did that happen than John Lennon and Yoko Ono walk by and do exactly the same thing. I didn’t take their picture either…The truth is that everybody wants to be noticed, wants to be photographed. They have that coat and tie on for a reason and a sloppy dress that is more consider red than not. I believe, what’s worn is a deliberate decision. That’s what I’m interested in, the social fabric of the human condition.

Q: Is there an image of yourself that you hope to project?

A: I try as best I can to be put-together and, at the same time, I think people probably say: “He does something interesting, he’s a creative person” from the way I look. Consciously or unconsciously, I think we all dress in a manner that anticipates how we want to be perceived.

Q: How does the photographer-subject paradigm shift between shooting in Italy as an outsider vs shooting in Chicago or New York as an American?

A: If you’re really making serious observations through the camera, you have to always be an outsider, because the minute you try to be an insider, you’ve lost some kind of perspective on the subject. You’ve got to stay outside of it. Though I can try to express sympathy and empathy, I still have to remain objective about what I’m seeing.

Q: Our next issue is themed to unexpected perceptions. When revisiting your collections from the 70’s and 80’s, what stands out to you as “unexpected”?

A: I think the unexpected are the performers, the by passers. A photographer of my type has the means to acknowledge people and to give them a kind of dignity, a timelessness. There’s a certain baroque quality to my work. I like that; today I more consciously look for that kind of configuration, and I see it in the posing of people all the time. The character, the role-playing of people is what interests me. There are such things as stereotypes. My work aims to make collections of such and in order to create a body of work that tells us that something close to true.

Q: As the Chair of the Photography, Video and Related Media department at of The School of Visual Arts New York, how do you keep an eye towards digital innovation?

A: When I started the program almost 30 years ago, we were the first digital program anywhere. Frankly, all lens and screen arts education has to be digital. Aspiring creative image makers have to be multi-talented, transdisciplinary, and able to work in the dialogue and the management of the imagery that is constantly engaging us. I totally believe in the digital, in the idea of being an image manager, somebody who rethinks what an image can say: what I call a creative interlocutor. Using imagery as data, computational photography and understanding these means not purely in the technical sense or in the scientific sense but in their potential as a creative form of expression is the concern of the artist.

Q: What would you say to a visual arts student who lacks the resources to travel?

A: The cost of higher education is pretty ridiculous and hopefully a better government will help students find the resources to do something about their loans. Everything we do in the world is influenced by the lens and screen arts. We need to train a generation of people to be adept at it. If you are engaged in the creative possibilities of the digital, you have the ability to be employable. Young students who come from all over the world seem to manage the travel pretty well. Maybe the short answer is you can travel pretty much anywhere through everyone else’s pictures. The corollary to your question is that a lot of students are caught up in the personal world. The self, the memories of my childhood, and all of that overly preoccupy young students. This is a little bit narcissistic: “Oh, I have to explore my desktop.” I wish they would step out into the real world a little more. To give witness. I’m not sure they want to. It is not just the cost of travel, it’s the lack of curiosity and interest in the other.

Q: You can, as you said, stay in other people’s photography, stay so insular your own room exploring the computer and taking still lives of your own possessions.

A: Yes, I think people are more insular because the world is more complicated and threatening than it once was. The lack of curiosity comes from somewhere else. For example, if you make a reference to a student and later ask them about it, they often say: “I haven’t looked it up yet. “ Ironically, because it’s so easy to do in the realm of the circuit, they sort of slough it off or forget to actually do the research. What I’m talking about is a kind of generational slacking. Of course, I’m generalizing and perhaps acting a like an old fart.

Q: It’s certainly an excuse not to go further. Are there any old, unpublished collections of yours that you would like to see released?

A: There are several. There’s one called Bowery though I’m changing the name to Skid Row. It is a collection of portraits I took in the Bowery in New York and uptown in Chicago in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Then there’s a whole body of digital work, Still Life in America and several iterations of Taradiddle, which have yet to be published. I’d like for Still Life in America to be in a public space where people can interact with it and keep adding to it. I would do it both ways [digital and analogue]. I think working with big screens and having people be able to work with the images themselves is where we should be at, because everyone has their own dialogue and their own means of how to arrange it.

#artist #art news #New York #news #interviews #inspiration #photography #Promo Magazine #fine art

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