Marvel Thanksgiving Parade Float, 1987
Feb 15Marvel’s next film project should be an adaptation of this:
The Dying Art of Visual Effects
Feb 15Caught a link on the Orlando Sentinel that Peter Ellenshaw has died.
Ellenshaw is the big name that always comes up when one talks about matte artists, those who practiced a dying (if not long-dead) visual effects artform for film. Basically, they’d paint detailed background scapes that would be inserted into a shot where one wanted to, say, depict Victorian-era London but not build a mock city on a backlot somewhere.
(He won an Oscar for Mary Poppins, by the way.)
Whenever matte painting comes up, like a good lil’ nerd, I always think of Star Wars. Those old vintage making-of specials feature the occasional glimpse of the matte artists–I seem to recall attention paid to the matte used of the Death Star shaft where the Emperor died, and another one of that gorgeous shot of Endor at night with the Imperial Shuttle flying into frame and landing.
Anyway, whether because of retirement or lack of work, Ellenshaw’s last recorded work on IMDB was uncredited mattes for the 1990 version of Dick Tracy. That seems to jibe well with the early dawning of digital effects, so ILM’s busy elves were probably already scurrying about to find ways for computers to do the work that artisans had once done by hand.
I’m no anti-CG absolutist–it’s an art form, just as practical visual effects were an art form–but it remains far more exciting and mysterious for me to watch classic visual effects. Even when you know how it was done–when you have seen the man behind the curtain painting his beautiful mattes–it draws me completely in.
Bullshit, Sir!
Feb 14This is going to sound incredibly petty, but…
What the fuck is up with online fandudes calling each other “sir” in message board posts?
It’s like some strange, archaic, INCREDIBLY nerdy form of “respect.” Like when two geeks are going at it in a thread, and then one points out a fact that the other hadn’t noticed, so the one with egg on his face says:
“You are right. My apologies, sir.”
Is it just me, or is that weird as all hell? I can always hear the nasally nerd voice saying “Sir” in my head.
It’s even more annoying when it’s used to address “celebrities” like comic book writers or actors when they post online. “Terrific issue of Nextwave, Mr. Ellis! My congratulations to you, sir.”
THIS ISN’T ENGLAND CIRCA 1860. CUT IT OUT WITH THE FAKE “SIR” CRAP. IT’S ASS-KISSY AND LAME.
(I also think it’s a subtle way in which the male-oriented chauvinism of fandom plays out–like us “sirs” are all talking to each other in some civil way, excluding the females entirely. But that’s a reach, I know.)
"Put that on your perv tape."
Feb 13If someone hasn’t sent this to Sarah by now, they probably should have. I’ll do it! In fact, if you haven’t seen it yet, watch soon, as I wonder how long it will take before it’s yanked prior to the season 3 DVD release. On the other hand, it’s so full of odds and ends that would normally require various permissions outside of a wrap party, that it may never make it to DVD. Which means all the more reason to watch it now.
Besides the excellent use of old footage of the vetran cast (watch for Colonol Tigh in 1978’s High Ballin’ – hoooly shit) there’s an insane amount of editting love put into this blooper reel. Like, heads and shoulders more than you usually find. Blooper footage and final takes are editted together to even greater effect. There are a handful of musical montages. And what I thought was going to be the BSG equivalent of The Farting Preacher turns into film evidence that the cast, particularly Edward James Olmos, have occasionally played havok with the air quality on a closed set. If you know what I mean.
Go. Watch. Now.
Let's Kill the Prestige Format
Feb 13When Young Matt first got going in the realm of collecting ye olde comicke bookes, playing with formats was all the rage.
Remember the “New Format”? Slightly better paper, slightly higher price tag? Wasn’t there a “Newsstand Format” too, which was basically “Same Old Crappy Comic Book Format”? And of course, WAY back in the day, the Baxter Format, whatever that means.
Part of me misses the format fun, especially since today’s comics seem to arrive with haphazard formats that have nothing to do with anything. One month, you get glossy paper and a so-so cover; the next month, it’s matted paper and a cardstock cover.
One thing I do not miss–one thing I think the Big Two especially need to stake through the heart–is the Prestige Format.
You know of what I speak. Heavy stock cover, high-end paper, square bound spine, but not so many pages–like 48 or so. And a hefty price tag to go with its name.
Back in the day, the Prestige Format made sense. Trade paperbacks were the exception, not the rule. Comics needed a format to tell a more evolved story with longer chapters. It became–dare I say?–a more ADULT format, at first. Then it just became an excuse to sell crap at a high price.
Today, paying $5.99 for just one chapter in a longer story, and a short chapter at that, is a RIP-OFF and exploitation. Plain and simple. For $6.99, I can get a Marvel digest with four complete issues. For $7.99, I can get a bigger digest. Add just four more dollars–$9.99–and you’re in the range of a low-end trade paperback, or if you shop online, a $14.99 price-point trade at a discounted price.
And then, when the prestige books are collected, how do you price that? Is it like $19.99 for a four-issue series? I guess that’s not too bad…but who would actually bother to buy the “floppies” (which actually don’t flop all that much, thanks to the heavy stock cover) when they could just wait for the trade?
The Prestige Format: Lacks the value of a trade, with a higher price tag than your average monthly book. SUCKY.
