1) You've spent the last couple of years immersing yourself in "underground" books and comics. What elements of non-mainstream literature would you most like to see successfully infiltrate the mainstream?
Simple, tight stories that say something. Not every story has to have fifty plotlines converging and criss crossing all over the place, I dont need to be shocked by the death of every other superhero or character in the Universe. One of my biggest issues with so much of mainstream storytelling is this tendency to be told stories by a child with ADD; like the plot was written on two Rockstars and a bag of pixie sticks in one long run on sentence. Give me one character to follow, and a concrete plot, and story that knows the point its trying to get across.
2) If you could be sure the result wouldn't suck, what comic would you most like to see adapted for the screen?
MADMAN would certainly make me squeeee (I heart'chu Frank!), wooo, or Moebius' ARZAC or AIRTIGHT GARAGE (which would be nigh impossible, but I can dream can't I?). SANDMAN would be an obvious choice. HELLBLAZER too, since the first one failed my expectations as far as an actual Hellblazer movie goes... So many to choose from!
3) If practicality wasn't a factor, what field of study would you most like to pursue other than the visual arts?
Farming or forestry of some form or other has always intrigued me. Something that would let me work with earth, hands in the dirt and all. Otherwise, something on the ocean, something on a BOAT traveling around and tying knots in bits or rope, hanging from rigging, grog, ocean, big sky, danger, etc. etc. I just want to be outside these four walls and seeing the sky and the land, seeing real spaces and not just cardboard interiors.
4) Which items in your artistic toolkit could you absolutely not do without?
My senses, and my hands. Can't do much without either of them.
Otherwise I couldnt live without a pencil and a bit of paper. I'm easy.
5) What medium not in your usual repertoire would you most like to explore?
Film. The moving image is a fascination to me, false life created on strips of celluloid told over time. There are so many ways to tell stories through films and so many mediums within this medium. Hopefully some day i can save up and get myself a nice camera and try my hand at the surreal form of moving image. Done right, theres a chance you can record your dreams in light. I love that.
4 comments:
you updated your blog THREE TIMES in a row. Great!
Interesting points you have there....the comic I would like to see adapted for screen is Invisibles or Transmetropolitan, even tough im aware its absolutely hard to do so.
I knew your cat was evil.
hugs
Have you seen the movie version of Enki Bilal's 'Immortel' (and the comic)? It's quite trippy and unlike any other comic adaptation (on the other hand, the comic itself is trippy).
Single plot stories are a dying breed, just like single issues. I hear good things about the new Blade series, though.
I suppose the effect of movie trilogies like LotR and the Matrix, and series like LOST and Prison Break (where episodes actually end with a "To Be Continued") have given a vindication of some sort to comics who were already using plots that took years to complete.
Everybody loves an epic. Every comic book writer is trying to make the next Watchmen, and that doesn't mean actually coming up with a good plot and interesting characters, it just means they pack in a dozen plot lines and make everyone introspective, because on the surface that seems to have been what Watchmen did.
Of course, in a world where people live and die on the size of their peni--er, epic crossover series, it's just a lame way to force people to come back for more (the promise being that you aren't paying for a piddly short story).
You can still do a fantastic ongoing series with a single issue structure, which is why Planetary, Transmetropolitan, Tom Strong and Fables worked so well. It just takes a hell of a lot more skill to weave in your 'mythology' into an independently satisfying, self-contained story.
While I too would like a spiffy HD video camera, I'd settle for a still camera that can take good or decent enough video right now. Does your digicam have video? It's worth experimenting.
Oh, and also, while I know I'm probably piling this up....
...Interview me.
(working on the site's backend, hence no updates for a while. Please don't comment there or I may lose it when I switch.)
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