Mermaids by Flight of the Conchords

This is kinda cute and quite on mermaid topic. The Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand comedy group. I occasionally catch them on one of the cable channels shown at the gym. Jozef the music lover, however, is the one who heard the song then tracked down the YouTube clip. Enjoy the mermaid tails!

National Library of Australia Comics/Graphic Novels Initiative

Had a great chat with Debb Cox, a library technician at the National Library of Australia, who is currently working on a project to build up the Australian graphic novel, comic book, manga and zine collection. Deb is going to be emailing us some information soon and we'll be posting it on this blog, PulpFaction, FaceBook, and letting the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Comics/Graphic Novels Portfolio members know. In the meantime, if you want a head start check out Deb's Fringe Librarian blog or at Hayase! Australian Comics Wiki.

The Online Poll Results Are In

We recently asked readers to vote for their Elf~Fin title preferences and we've got the results. In all, 58 pollsters registered their votes  – 45 (78%) of you voted for Story/plot-based titles and 13 (22%) of you voted for Character name-based titles. Jozef and I also took into account some of the commentary that came through on our blog, DeviantArt, FaceBook and by email and we have consequently made our decision. All titles, except for the first book which we are currently working on, will be story/plot-based so in all likelihood it looks like the second book in the series will be called The Wells of Shekimminon. Some of you didn't like The Shuddering as a title for the first book so we're sticking with Hyfus and Tilaweed which seems to resonate with most of you who are familiar with these characters. For those of you who will be meeting the characters for the first time, well we're sure you'll be fine with it as duo name titles are consistent with the conventions of love stories. Thanks for all your feedback – it has been extremely helpful from a creative and business perspective and it has been great fun for us as well to see where your opinions lie.

 

Copenhagen's Little Mermaid Out on Loan

Came across an online story the other day – Denmark's most iconic tourist attraction, the harbourside sculpture of The Little Mermaid sitting on a rock, will disappear for eight month on loan to Expo China in 2010. Sculpted by Edvard Eriksen and unveiled in 1913, it is said the model for the statue's face was prima ballerina Ellen Price and the model for the nude body was Eriksen's wife Eline. The sculpture has a tragic history of being beheaded, defaced, and mutilated by loonies on many occasions. Each time we've heard about another act of vandalism we've shuddered – she's not a political figure, she's a symbol of innocence and sacrifice from a beautiful Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. You can read all about her on Wikipedia, where we were happy to find out that the original has been kept out of circulation in some secret repository. Still ... we know the one in the harbour has been restored several times but it's quite sickening to know there are individuals and factions out there targeting her and undoubtedly planning their next attack.

Speaking of Hans Christian Andersen, we don't know whether you're aware of a movie about him starring the wonderful Danny Kaye, which I (Julie) used to watch as a kid and now own on DVD. It featured a wonderful ballet sequence at the end with ballerina Zizi Jeanmaire in The Little Mermaid role. I've tried to find an intact clip for you but was unsuccessful – the opening mermaid sequence has been cut. However, the dancing is still wonderful and I like the fact that the heroine in this case is a brunette while the interloper is a blonde. Here are a couple of other clips from the movie (non mermaid related) but which showcase Danny Kaye's warmth and talent. 

Creative Commons Licences 2

Following on from our previous post on Creative Commons (CC) Licences, there are four types of permissions you need to know about:

(1) Attribution – Licensees can copy, distribute, display and perform the work in question, as well as alter or transform the original work into a derivative work, provided they acknowledge the work's original author/licensor and any credits or specific information that is stipulated in the agreement.

(2) Non-Commercial – Licensees can copy, distribute, display and perform the work, as well as make derivative works based on the source material, provided it is for non-commercial use only (they do not get paid).

(3) No Derivative Works – Licensees may copy, distribute, display and perform only verbatim copies of the work and cannot manipulate any component of it.

(4) ShareAlike – Licensees may distribute derivative works provided that the licence replicates the conditions in the original licence that governs the source material.

There are sixteen possible combinations of licences but only six regularly used licences in Australia that have been mixed and matched. They are:  Attribution, Attribution-ShareAlike, Attribution-NonCommercial, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Attribution-NoDerivativeWorks, and Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivativeWorks.

For more information, as well as licence templates go to Creative Commons,  Creative Commons International or Creative Commons Australia. 

Unlocking and Accessing the Darkness Within Article

Colleen Doran asked me recently to be a guest writer on her blog. Here is the result: Unlocking and Accessing the Darkness Within: 7 Keys for Comics Creators. The article discusses practical ways in which you can channel your own dark side into your writing. Here's a taste:

The actual argument in favour of it [introducing darkness into storytelling] is threefold:

– Without going into abject darkness how can a character experience the light in forms such as love, joy and redemption, which invariably accompanies traditional happy-ending plots?
– Without understanding the evil lengths an antagonist and his/her allies will go to in order to fulfil their objectives, how can we create obstacles and conflict for the protagonist’s journey?
– And without these stark contrasts, how can we get readers/viewers to identify with the lead character/s and in the process give readers a visceral experience that evokes a large range of feelings and emotions (which is one of my success measurement tools about whether or not a work translates into a rich reading or filmic experience)?

Go check it out!

Elf~Fin Issue #1 Cover Revealed!

Been a long time between blog posts – hope it's worth the wait. Here's the first cover – the one you voted for – all bright and colourful and purty. It brought a tear to my eye when I saw it. Jozef is about to start a Tilaweed companion piece today but no pencilling reveals on that one – you'll have to wait for the surprise unveiling.