New Structures in Scriptwriting with Linda Aronson

Scriptwriting guru Linda Aronson will be presenting a seminar on "New Structures in Scriptwriting for Film and TV" at the Australian Film and Television Radio School (AFTRS), which will be particularly apt for advanced comic book writers. The two-day masterclass on advanced theories and techniques for creating original story design routinely provokes standing ovations from acclaimed and experienced film writers all over the world. Linda explodes the conventional screenwriting theory which assumes that structures means only one hero on a linear chronological journey. Instead she takes on and provides practical writing guidelines for writing flashback scripts, Pulp Fiction structures, multiple storyline films and fractured forms. Linda demonstrates how 18 of these modern forms work to predictable patterns, and provides practical templates for writing them.

Don't leave it till too late. Last time Linda gave a class in Australia the event was booked out and lots of people couldn't get in.

Sydney 
Date: Saturday 22 to Sunday 23 February 2014
Time: 9.30am to 5.30pm (16 hours total)
Venue: Australian Film and Television Radio School (AFTRS)
Cost: $495 / $445.50 GST exempt

Melbourne
Date: Saturday 1 to 2 March 2014
Time: 9.30am to 5.30pm (16 hours total)
Venue: Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)
Cost: $495 / $445.50 GST exempt

CLICK HERE for further information and bookings.

Sydney Powerhouse Museum Collects Esther Williams Cozzie

The Sydney Powerhouse Museum has acquired an Esther Williams swimming costume for its collection.

For those who don't know who she is, Esther Williams was an MGM movie star in the 1940s and 50s, and the closest thing to an onscreen and real life mermaid you could get. In fact, Clark Gable was the first film actor to famously call her a mermaid.

Esther Williams was a champion swimmer who qualified for the summer Olympics, which unfortunately were cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II. She went on to feature in countless magical Hollywood musicals and romantic comedies. She was most famous for her underwater ballets in a movie genre that was developed just for her – "swimming movies". These included Bathing Beauty, Neptune's Daughter, Dangerous When Wet (which featured her swimming with Tom and Jerry, Jupiter's Darling and many more.

The swimming costume in question was:

A one piece woman's swimsuit designed by Helen Rose and made of coral satin finish (silk). The bodice has a princess line neck with Zigzag pattern extending over the bust. The suit is panelled to be tight fitting and has a short skirt made of diamond shaped panels. A sewn-in fabric label has the handwritten words '1567 EDITH MOTRIDGE'. The number refers to Million Dollar Mermaid being MGM's production number 1567. Edith Motridge worked for MGM as Williams' swimming double. She was a member of the US swimming team at the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games. It is likely that Williams would have worn an identical costume rather than this one.

Million Dollar Mermaid was a biopic about Australia's turn of the 19th century vaudeville swim star and actor – Annette Kellerman – who is thought to have revolutionised the sport and art of synchronised swimming. She also scandalised the establishment and was arrested in the USA for daring to wear a one piece swimming costume to the beach. 

Kellerman lived a fantastic life. Here is an excerpt from her Wikipedia page:

In 1916, Kellerman became the first major actress to do a nude scene when she appeared fully nude in A Daughter of the Gods. Made by Fox Film Corporation, Daughter of the Gods was the first million-dollar film production. Like many of Kellerman's other films, this is now considered a lost film as no copies are known to exist.The majority of Kellerman's films had themes of aquatic adventure. She performed her own stunts including diving from ninety-two feet into the sea and sixty feet into a pool of crocodiles. Many times she would play mermaids named Annette or variations of her own name. Her "fairy tale films", as she called them, started with The Mermaid (1911), in which she was the first actress to wear a swimmable mermaid costume on film, paving the way for future screen sirens such as Glynis Johns (Miranda), Esther Williams and Daryl Hannah (Splash). She designed her own mermaid swimming costumes and sometimes made them herself. Similar designs are still used by The Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids, including her aquatic fairy costume first introduced in Queen of the Sea (1918).

You can read more about the swimming costume on the Sydney Powerhouse Museum website.

Here is montage of Esther Williams' movies from That's Entertainment. See if you can spot the swimming costume in question in one of the later sequences.



Sadly, Esther Williams died earlier this year. If you want to read more about her, go to her Esther Williams website or to Wikipedia.

World Premiere of Australian Graphic Novels Documentary

The world premiere of feature documentary Graphic Novels! Melbourne! by filmmaker Daniel Hayward and comic book maker Bernard Caleo is happening in Melbourne later this month.

The film took a year to shoot and edit. It examines the amazing Melbourne comic book culture, and features Nicki Greenberg, Pat Grant and Mandy Ord. The film also features interviews with international comic book luminaries Scott McCloud, Paul Gravett, Dylan Horrocks and Shaun Tan. The soundtrack is by Martin Martini and the poster is by the incomparable Pat Grant. 

The film premieres on: 

Date: Thursday 22 November 2012

Time: 8.30pm for 8.45pm speeches and a 9pm film start

Place: Tyne Street laneway next to Readings bookshop 309 Lygon Street Carlton

(if it's a wet night, then the movie will move to Cinema Nova).

Price: FREE.

Bookings: Book through Readings on (03) 9347 6633 or events@readings.com.au

Movie Mermaids 5 – Hugo

Okay, we don't want to lead you down the garden path and tell you that this movie – set in Paris in 1931 – features definitive underwater mermaids. But we can tell you that there is a mermaid sighting in the silent movie sound stage scene where Neptune and his sea maid entourage appear. If you check out the trailer, you'll be able to see what we mean at the 1 min: 53 second mark. If you watch the movie, you'll be able to see the scene at around the three quarters mark. Mermaids or not, we highly recommend this magical Academy Award-winning film.

Support The Deluge and Other Black Mermaids

We've occasionally been asked questions about the existence of black mermaids and whether they feature in reality and in mythology. You can read such a blog post here: A Letter to Black Mermaid Productions About African Mermaids. Well we've stumbled on an intriguing exploration about the idea —not in comics but in film.

This is an IndieGogo project that needs funding to the tune of US$25,000. As of this date the writer/ director/producer – Nijla Baseema Mu'min – has raised $4000. The cut off date is 14 June 2012. Here's a snippet on the film's premise:

Deluge is a short film that explores African American’s relationships to water, informed by such traumas as The Middle Passage, the BP Oil spill, and Hurricane Katrina, through the lens of main character Tiana, and her introduction to an aquatic underworld.

After witnessing the mass drowning of her friends and struggling with the decision not to jump in, 14-year old Tiana must decide if she will join the order of black mermaids that protect the oil-drenched waters of Lake Pontchartrain where her friends rest. This film is inspired by the 2010 mass drowning of six black teens in a Shreveport, Louisiana sinkhole. None of them could swim. The film blends coming of age drama, magical realism, and psychological suspense to explore traumatic memory in a post- BP oil spill New Orleans.

You can be a Goldfish donor for $5 right up to an Angelfish donor for $5000. If you want to help, just go to the IndieGogo Deluge web page.

Movie Mermaids 4 – Pirates of the Caribbean

Okay, we haven't seen it yet and we know this is old news for many of you ... but there's been a lot going on in our personal lives recently. Without being flippant in the least, Jozef's father's died two weeks ago and Jozef's looking after his mum on weekends and teaching during the week, and I'm farm-sitting so can't get away to the movies. But the poster and the trailer say it all ... Pirates of the Caribbean is chock full of mermaids. Aussie model, Gemma Ward, plays one of them. In some ways I'm too scared to see the movie because I don't like the idea of capturing or hurting or sacrificing a mermaid, but my understanding is that they give as good as they get so that's some consolation. And they have sharp man-eating teeth! Anyway, can't wait ... we hope the story isn't as messy as the other two sequels. No matter what, we're seeing it.

Shaun Tan Wins Oscar for Best Animated Short

Congratulations to Australian illustrator / animator Shaun Tan who won an Academy Award today for his 15-minute animated film The Lost Thing. To read more about Shaun, his original book the film was based on, as well as the film please read our previous post or check out The Lost Thing website.

Australian Graphic Novelist and Illustrator Nominated for an Oscar

The wonderful Shaun Tan, Australian illustrator and graphic novelist, has been nominated for An Oscar for Best Short Film (Animated). The nominated film is called The Lost Thing and is based on his picture book of the same name. We introduced the film in a previous post. All we can say to Shaun is a big hearty CONGRATULATIONS! We'll be watching on the night and cheering from our lounges. The Oscars screen on Sunday 27 February 2011 (US time).

To read what the major papers and Australian media had to say go to: SBS, OnePerth, The Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald. In the meantime, here's another look at the trailer.

CONGRATULATIONS – MEG!

A big fat hearty congrats and a big fat hearty hug go to our friends Nick Nicolaou and Paul Katte of the Makeup Effects Group in Sydney, whose SFX makeup on the recent horror film Needle has won not just one but TWO international awards! The first award was for "Best Make-up" from Screamfest LA, one of America's biggest horror film festivals. The second was the "Best Special Effects" award at the British Horror Film Festival. Not quite sure what to make of the movie poster – it looks great but gruesome!

Movie Mermaids 3 – Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

Okay, the lead "mermaid" character is more a goldfish girl but people are still classifying her as a a mermaid. This Japanese animated feature was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (he of Oscar winning Spirited Away fame). Some say it's a modern take on Hans Christian Andersen's  The Little Mermaid. For a detailed plot summary go to Wikipedia. The English language version has the following talent amongst its voice cast – Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin and Tina Fey. There was a great article by Justin Norrie published in the Sydney Morning Herald (Arts & Entertainment section on 15-16 August 2009) entitled "Swimming against the tide" but unfortunately we can't find it online. It tells us that:

Although Miyazaki has experimented reluctantly on some of his movies with light touches of digital and computer-generated animation, he was determined this time to do things the old-fashioned way. The result is 170,000 hand-painted cells that give the picture a lush quality and subtly flowing movement not usually seen in feature-length animated films.

Amazing work all round with genuinely brilliant storytelling!

Jane Austen Monster Classics to Become Graphic Novels

Jane Austen books are reaching a new  audience and attaining cult classic status – they've been re-conceived as the most playfully bizarre parodies we can think of in the form of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters both published by Quirk Books. There are a whole other bunch of copy cats out there in book market land but it's our understanding that these two titles started the trend, with P & P & Z hitting #3 on the New York Times Best Seller List. We haven't read them yet ("yet" being the operative word) but they sound like a hoot and Seth Grahame-Smith who contributed his 15% of zombie fiction to Austen's 85% original content should be congratulated for thinking outside the box and making us laugh at the mere notion of the title. Ben H Winters is the contributor to S & S & SM.

The good news is that the books have become bidding material for Hollywood producers, and there is to be a graphic novel in the work for P & P & Z to be adapted by Tony Lee, illustrated by Cliff Richards and published by Del Ray. Can't wait! In the meantime we may never be able to watch any BBC television adaptations in the same way again.

Movie Mermaids 2 – Miranda & Mad About Men

Miranda is a British movie made in 1948, starring a young Glynis Johns (who also played the mother in Mary Poppins and more recently Elsie in While You Were Sleeping). It's the story of a doctor who hooks a mermaid called Miranda while he's out fishing one day. She pulls him underwater into a cavern and proceeds to blackmail him – she will "let him off her hook" so to speak if he will show her London. He brings her back to his house, puts her in a wheelchair and disguises her tail with a blanket much to the chagrin of his wife. Trouble ensues when Miranda's flirty style gets all the menfolk to pay more attention to her than their wives and girlfriends. The incomparable Margaret Rutherford who is privy to her secret plays the nurse/mermaid-sitter.

The film was followed up by its sequel in 1954, which was called Mad About Men. Miranda the mermaid returns to land and swaps places with her cousin Caroline (a human – don't quite remember how that works) while on holiday and creates havoc in Caroline's love life.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

The character designs in the upcoming Alice in Wonderland film are simply stunning. Helena Bonham Carter as the "off with your head" Red Queen and Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter are our personal favourites. Tim Burton films are must sees for us. Not all of them work story-wise (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory being one of them) but they're all visual feasts. Can't wait till 2010.

Movie Mermaids 1 – Hook & Disney's Peter Pan

Found this footage from Hook the other day – the clip contains just the mermaid scene. We'd forgotten about it up to now possibly because the coquettish Peter Pan animated mermaids made the stronger impression on us, simply because we saw then first when we were kids. Anyway ... enjoy!

MUST READ ARTICLES: More on Superhero Movies Based on Comics

Lynden Barber, the freelance journalist who published the article "Triumph of the Fan Boys", in the Weekend Australian, which we referenced in a previous blog post, has expanded on the subject matter by publishing an edited interview on his blog with US academic Dr Peter Coogan, director of the Institute for Comic Studies. 

Coogan cites several reasons for the rising popularity of the superhero genre in film – one is the development of CGI technology and the second is that film producers love pre-developed brands with a built in audience. The third and most insightful observation for us for the intensification of film productions and the strong audience response is the following:

... the primary difference is respect – respect for the material. The main difference between Batman and Robin and Batman Begins is that Joel Schumacher doesn't respect Batman, but Christopper Nolan and David Goyer do. Superman 1 and most of Superman II were good because of the accident of Richard Donner being a fan – the Salkinds didn't know he was a fan, they hired him because of the success of The Omen.

But look at the scenes he filmed for Superman II and compare them to Richard Lester's – the difference is respect. Hollywood has somehow learned to give superhero movies to directors who respect the material and most oftens are fans themselves – one can say that the inmates have taken over the asylum, but it turns out they're crazy about running the place, not just crazy.

Go read Part I and Part 2 and "Mythic Archetypes and all that Superhero Jazz" NOW! Then let us know what you think.

Fanboy Trailblazers & Online Art Avartars

We spotted two newspaper articles that may be of interest to you. The first is "Triumph of the Fanboys" by Lynden Barber in the Weekend Australian (27-28/12/08) which examines the influence of comic book fans on popular culture, especially the movies. Here's the intro:

WHEN Hollywood studio Warner Bros announced recently it was planning to make fewer movies, it added an all-important proviso: of those it did make, a bigger proportion would be based on comic book characters. Which raises the question among those not yet won over to the essentially teenage appeal of superheroes: What exactly is it about movies about men in facemasks and tight underpants that has Hollywood salivating?

Hmmph. All the long-time comics and graphic novels aficionados out there have known the answer for years – engaging characters and fabulous storytelling we can relate to and get emotionally involved in. We've been defending comics for years and now we feel absolved from the 'supposed' crime of having worked in such a medium of disrepute as judged by the literary set. We've both faced the scorn and derision from several of our contemporaries in publishing circles who just did not get it. We're glad the general populace is embracing these movies and also discovering the original source material. Do we have a slight chip on our shoulders? Yep! But it's rapidly turning to splinters and sawdust in the wake of this new acceptance of comics and subsidiary product.

The other article talked about the new business of online art galleries and even avatar buyers – does eBay count? Here is a link to "Online Galleries Are Go", which featured in The Sun-Herald (28/12/08).

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

See you on the morrow.

Turkey Sues Batman

Okay, is it just us or is this too ridiculous for words? The mayor of "Batman", a city in southeast Turkey, is suing Warner Brothers and Christopher Nolan, director of The Dark Knight over the misappropriation of the city's name. Never mind that Batman, the comic book series created by Bob Kane (artist) and Bill Finger (writer), has been in print since 1939 and that the intellectual property has had lives in other media including radio plays, television series, animation series, and of course, the Tim Burton directed movie from 1989 and its sequels. 

The story according to an MSNBC article goes:

In his lawsuit, Hueyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of Batman, is accusing Nolan and the studio of using the city's name without permission ...

Among the charges are a claim that the use of the Batman name is to blame for several unsolved murders and a high female suicide rate, based on the psychological impact that the film's success has had on the city inhabitants ...

Oh, and in case you were wondering, titles do not fall under copyright protection! We don't think town names do either.