Think It Over
Sundays are funny. I get a mixed sensation to not do a thing (rest) and to do something creative. I already have a sense of direction and purpose in regards to story structure and direction. I have a pal who challenged me to write something in a weekend. An off the cuff joke for a science fiction disaster screenplay. With that in mind I have a lot of stuff to get done. On top of that new upsets to the fold, which will be handled.
This Monday is off. I must admit my sleep pattern has gone haywire and I’ve been sleeping later than usual and staying up late. I’m a mess. Some good has happened. I turn the TV off often. I like my mornings with either some music or silence. I don’t know how productive I will be, but I hope I keep up a decent pace. I need my hot tea. Did I mention I gave up coffee? It’s a shocker. I don’t need it.
Wuss. . .
OK, I’m being very chicken shit right now by not choosing the screenplays I need to complete for my portfolio. I get like that sometimes, mentally congested. It’s not writer’s block. I know I can write, but when I get too wimpy about the decisions I know its time for one thing, and that’s a new blog post.
Today is the day I decided to get to writing, and if that means I have to write twenty blog posts to get the juices flowing, then I will. I admit I do love science fiction/fantasy then immediately shied away from it because I fear everyone’s reaction to the material. OK. I just lost one big battle without even trying. That’s beyond fail. That’s just a sad state of affairs.
I’ve decided to go back to a few projects I created a while back and will develop them irregardless of how insecure I feel now. They are already strong concepts that need direction. It’s my duty to make these screenplays shine.
So now I have my four screenplays. They come at the top of my development list. I will work on others after these. For the record, the genres are contemporary fantasy, superhero, comedy, and comedy-horror. Don’t care what’s trending. These guys are at the top of my list. Suck it indecision!
Now onto TV scripts. I originally wanted two, but I feel a need to ambitiously try three. For those I have science fiction, horror and comedy shows to develop. Now to commit more to the project.
P.S. This in no way diminishes the time and energy placed into my thesis. If I have to write a blog post to keep up the groove on a daily basis I will.
Thundarr The Barbarian: Old School Animation Goodness
I got myself Thundarr the Barbarian on DVD, which was created by comics writer Steve Gerber as a Saturday morning cartoon that ran from 1980-82. The series only lasted two seasons, but it was the stuff of my dreams. This is very old school animation entertainment full of strengths and weaknesses.
Thundarr, Ookla & Ariel don't take that mess off of tyrants.
Thundarr exists in a post-apocalyptic Earth after a runaway planet passes between the Earth and the moon. As the shows says, “unleashing cosmic destruction.” After 2,000 years the world is now populated with magic, super science, mutants, and humans. Thundarr, along with his friends Ookla the Mok (mutant), and Princess Ariel (sorceress) travel this new world and help humans and friendly mutants against wizards, pirates, etc. Thundarr tells many of his foes he “bows to no wizard,” and often disposes of them by the end of the episode.
When looking at many of the wizard’s one can see a parallel between some large corporations who use people and spit them out. For example, many humans were fodder, pawns, slaves and insignificant to wizards in the hierarchy of schemes. Several humans lived in ragged conditions while wizards lived with style and well-constructed strongholds. Wizards always hold all the knowledge of old Earth and the bulk of super science. There are two exception to this rule where the wizards are on very low end of the spectrum. You know times are tough all over when the economy wrecks a wizard or two.
Wizard Gemini says, "Bring it on."
Some of the cons to this show is continuity errors, some bad perspective in spots, and the occasional plot logic errors that I often scratch my head about, even as a kid. It does not outweigh the good.
One of the good points of this show is many of the character designs. Comics/Animation legends Alex Toth and Jack Kirby worked on this series. Toth designed Space Ghost and characters for the Super Friends cartoon. Kirby, has an equally fantastic legacy in comics. His creations for Marvel, DC still exist in current continuity. Kirby’s style is clear and strong in several of the characters and vehicles. Many of the antagonists bear Kirby’s style. It’s good to see Toth and Kirby’s work in animation to have an extended life.
Sound plays a high role here as well. Several of the wizards have a creepy metallic voices that adds to their supernatural presence. The sound effects for the time were distinct enough to reinforce the more exotic elements of the show.
The future looks mighty bleak, but entertaining.
Some of the episodes, “Mindok The Mind Menance” (bodiless wizard) “The Brotherhood of Night” (werewolves), “Stalker From the Stars” (alien in search of humans as food), and “Island of the Body Snatchers” (witch who steals Ariel’s body) were creepy and made them a little bit more memorable to me.
The DVD is bare bones, and with a mislabel on dic three as to episodes. I wish there were some liner notes or interviews that were either preserved or started so that we could hear from the surviving creators of the series. It’s a slice of animation history that I’d love to see get a little more fanfare.
BSG: Caprica
When last I checked the Syfy network section of my Comcast OnDemand service, the channel was spelled “Sci-Fi,” and Comcast were charging people, I think, $0.99 per viewing. Needless to say I didn’t do any re-watching of Battlestar Galatica (BSG) at the time. Likewise NBC shows were charging the same amount. No “The Office” or “Heroes” for me either via my OnDemand feature.
My only solution was that I could check the shows out online via Hulu without being charged. However, I preferred to see many of the shows on my TV. There were other channels Comcast offered free viewings for, so I forgot about Sci-Fi Network, NBC, and the games they played with my desire to see the programs I liked.
Today I peeked through my Comcast OnDemand section. For grins and giggles I looked up the SyFy section. I saw Caprica and it was free to view. I remember Caprica being released on DVD first.
Mind you, at the time I had a very soured relationship with BSG and Sci-Fi. BSG had its seasons broken into parts and shown at different times of the same year. Also the ending of BSG left me very, very cold. Now I had to pay for Caprica before seeing or knowing what it was about. It was worth not bothering with, until now.
For the record, I can see several aspects of BSG story structure in Caprica (no surprise). The main theme seems to be about cheating death and the differences in religion. A monotheistic faith verses polytheism. Elements of terrorism initiate the tragedy of the story. We see the world initially through the heroine’s eye. We also the tragic failures of her father, who really doesn’t want to let go of his daughter.
It is interesting to see the birth of a second generation of Cylons on Caprica. The unfolding story feels very frightening, sad, and intriguing. The end of the planet Caprica comes from the overwhelming desire to cheat death. Tragedy begets more tragedy, as Zoë’s description of her father being able to rationalize anything shows us his true flaw. One man’s ambition and inability to compromise his own viewpoints leads to the end of the world.
Noting history here, as through BSG we discover the truth about the legendary 13th colony, which are first generation Cylons. Their story’s been long lost to all who believe the 13th colony leads to human salvation from genocide.
As a world, Caprica looks beautiful. The tech is highly advanced, and on the surface looks utopian. One look past the wonderful surface, and we see that the world is incredibly racist, and unwilling to budge from that stance.
Note the lack of space travel or some battles in this series. Clearly there’s an attempt to not repeat to the stylish space elements of BSG.
