Saturday, March 10, 2007
TWO OF MY FAVORITE MOZART ARIAS
OK, OK, I know cartoonists hate opera but you can't hate ALL opera, that doesn't make sense. What's there not to like in this beautiful song by Mozart, "Voi Che Sapete?" I love songs that make an argument, as this song does. With a little time I might be able to articulate what that argument is. Reading the lyrics will probably be slight help. The content of musical argument usually has more to do with subtext than with formal story points.
Too bad YouTube didn't have Elizabeth Schwarzkopff's version of this song.
This (above) is from Ingmar Bergman's version of "Magic Flute." It's not the best aria in the film, that would have been the one that's sung earlier in the story when the queen is first introduced to the knight, but this is still pretty good.
Radical feminists hate this song because it portrays the heroine's mother as crazy, or at least lacking balance, and sets up the case that the father would be a more fit guardian for the daughter because he's more...what's the word...philosophical. I'm not taking sides here, you be the judge!
Friday, March 09, 2007
WELCOME TO THE MIKE PLAYHOUSE
Tonight Theory Corner relinquishes its bandwidth to my friend Mike's TV show, also called Mike's Philoprogenetive Playhouse. Here you'll encounter the celebrity artist's fav actors, musicians and lechable women. First on the bill (above): Spike Jones with Perez Prado.
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Mike's a big Soupy Sales fan. Here's (above) an excerpt from the famous early 60s kids'show.
Hang on because it starts to get weird here. Mike is a big Sophia Loren fan. He watches the films endlessly, waiting for the nude scenes which, in the era these films were made in, never came. I have to admit Sophia looks pretty good here.
Now things REALLY get weird! Here's Annette Funicello (above) singing "Lonely Guitar, There is No One to Love Us." Mike drools rivers over Annette and probably cries over songs like this one.
Here's another Annette film called something like "Swingin' Pajama Party." Actually Mike isn't in love with the Mouseketeer Annette but rather the older Annette shown here. I don't get it. Annette was a cute kid, no doubt about it, but she didn't age well. I can speak candidly about this because I'm safe at home at my computer. If I said this infront of Mike who knows what would happen?
Last but not least, a sample of the awesome (according to Mike) acting ability of Shirley Temple. I saw "Heidi" with Mike and had to endure endless tear-filled replays of Shirley returning grumpy old men's vitriol with sweet, little moppet charm. Now if only Shirley had sung "Lonely Guitar..."
Thursday, March 08, 2007
YOUR NEXT BACKYARD PROJECT
Of course this probably requires a stone mason at a trillion dollars an hour.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
FASCINATING WOMEN
Above, Edith Piaff. When will we see her like again?
Jeanne Moreau, infinitely charming.
Marlene Deitrich. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't like this song.
Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit." John K turned me onto this.
My namesake, Ella Fitzgerald!
Monday, March 05, 2007
IT'S EASIER TO WRITE FUNNY
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw55JFiz-24phmfCgQWstccJN3JIXsB7fyagO20QLDNPiF3Vanh6NWCxFiWw5NB_yy1v1xjiIZ-JcSIwYc8y_qKRvWlgW9XCOadG0adXQmeh33nvkzP-hXnJAbLEd5b-yBdqocfg/s640/57i.jpg)
On the other hand, maybe they're right. The kind of shows they come up with defy funny writing. How do you come up with a laugh-out-loud funny story for a typical writers' series premise like: "Six grade school friends (the skateboarder dude, the minority computer whiz, the perky intelligent girl, the over-eater, the inventer and the beautiful Bratz-type girl) solve problems in the school by making their fellow students aware of the importance of being themselves"? Is it even possible to write a funny story for a premise like that?
I do have advice for writers (hopefully artist/writers) who are lucky enough to work on short cartoon projects where humor is at least possible. If you need to write quickly then:
BUILD YOUR STORY AROUND A FUNNY SITUATION.
One character accidentally sits on another's hat and crushes it. He tries to apologize but the situation strikes him as so funny that he laughs instead. Believing the first guy is unrepentant the owner of the hat grabs a pair of scissors and cuts the other's tie in half, The two retaliate against each other in ever escalating steps till they're demolishing each other's houses. That's a funny situation, stolen from Laurel and Hardy. "King Size Canary" was about a funny situation. Funny situations are easier to write than plots, and they can easily be extended into stories. All you have to do is figure out how to get your characters into the situation and that's easy.
What some writers don't realize is that comedy isn't there just to get a laugh...
COMEDY IS AN ORGANIZING TOOL.
If you commit to writing a funny cartoon it's amazing how many story structure problems just vanish. In the example above the set-up is obvious: two friends meet in a kitchen and declare their undying affection for each other, an affection that would surely stand up to any test, no matter what. They then proceed to wreck each other over an accidentally crushed hat. If you have a good situation (sketch) idea the set-up practically writes itself.
In other words...
YOU CAN WRITE FASTER BY COMMITTING TO COMEDY.
A funny series premise is easier and faster to write for than an unfunny one. Complicated, writerly series premises are inefficient. They cost more to make and they're harder to write for.
BTW, I don't mean to imply that all stories should be written exactly the way I described here. There are lots of ways to go.
THE MOST NAKED COUNTRY IN EUROPE
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_yaQmsuYYnSe4UTXXWS4zPxwf5FLchoPUKUrTgKS_nUFbQIlBkBmvQySObQ9-ZgJP5evaJasDFHzP30MslLk1hOqwrof1bRH9zZrpZUTI0_w91HxH7c7JOqn6jZuCpxpkgFCTzQ/s640/58f.jpg)
Every other European nationality can only lay claim to "National Geographic" nudity, which is somehow chaste and wholesome. Only Scottswomen, who live in a damp, bleak and overcast country, and whose excrutiatingly delicate skin rarely sees the sun, can claim nudity which is gloriously filthy and dirty.
Why aren't Scotswomen more sought-after by men?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheu2T6OHYniIpJ1cAao2LLrP1T7nNJFcmHWSUYzS3NeXPud1LHCu6nIJ_TBaWRtNmTOdpbSWOwTLCLJNJf1sgutHekuTrwwkJwLXiuHlFyrnLTbgFtBtrXUhPmVRn1xnGKA7vmXg/s400/58e.jpg)
Sunday, March 04, 2007
YOUR GREAT, GREAT GRANDCHILD'S HOUSE: 2200 A.D.
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