Linda Maye Adams's Blog, page 44
October 25, 2018
Star Trek and Space: 1999 Mashup
Comet TV has been showing Space: 1999, a British import that starred Martin Landau and Barbara Bain (he passed away a few years ago; she’s now 87). In the series, an explosion blows the moon out of orbit, and with it, the people on a base on the surface. It’s a little like Star Trek Voyager, in they have a never ending supply of shuttles (called Eagles).
I’ve only seen a few episodes, so I’m not sure what to think of it some 40 years later. Here’s the theme from the first season (which changed drastically for season 2). It looks like an inside joke or Easter egg for those who know the career of the two leads. The “This episode” sections mimic what Mission: Impossible did. I find the opening introducing Martin Landau and Barbara Bain quite striking.
And here’s a mash-up of Star Trek’s “Tomorrow is Yesterday” to the same music.
October 23, 2018
Fiction Writers, as Seen on TV
Sometimes I wonder what Hollywood writers actually think of fiction writers. We’re all writers, and yet, there’s some appalling characterizations of writers floating around TV.
A Badly Written Best Seller
The most common is the writer writing a book that populates the story with thinly veiled characters based on the people he knows. The book is horribly written and somehow he strikes gold when he plops it in the mail and it becomes a best seller. Pretty much, it’s a winning the lottery fantasy.
In NCIS, McGee makes it about his team, gives slight name changes to the characters, it turns into a best seller, and he gets to ride in a limousine to a party. Girls hang off his arms.
The truth? A local writer in Washington DC area wrote a book with thinly veiled characters based on county board members. It did get attention…and really not the attention he probably wanted.
A Writer Who Never Writes
The next most common is the person who is a writer and never quite seems to actually do any writing. Granted, it’s pretty hard depicting a writer’s job on TV. He or she sits in front of a computer and puts black marks on the screen.
Looks kind of well, dull.
So we end up with Castle and Jessica Fletcher, wandering all over fighting real life crimes. Both are best selling writers, but when exactly do they write?
Writer as an Misfit
Hollywood also seems to think that fiction writers are hacks. They type one word on a sheet of paper in a manual typewriter, then tear it out, crumple it up and toss it into a full trash can. Writer then types the SAME WORD on the next piece of paper and repeats the process.
The writer will type all this on an old Royal manual typewriter (which in real life he probably can’t get any ribbons for). McGee is the perfect example of this. He’s a computer nerd, talks processor power, and yet writes on antique technology? Even Jessica Fletcher wrote on an old manual typewriter. Computers were around during the run of the series, but the technology was pretty new–the electric typewriter wasn’t I suppose there was something to showing the keys hitting the page, but still….
I guess typing on a computer and putting black marks on screen doesn’t look very exciting…
Edited to add: I just saw an advertisement for a Melissa McCarty movie. She’s a writer in the movie. The trailer clearly shows she has a manual typewriter.
October 21, 2018
Godzilla of the Stars
Much of my childhood was spent watching monster movies. That was in the days when the TV stations aired everything, including anything in black and white. Within about ten years of that, all the black and white films and shows starting disappearing. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea had one season in black and white and three in color, and suddenly it was hard to find the first season. And the movies that I watched every Saturday that came from the 1950s and 1960s started disappearing. Even the color movies have largely disappeared now.
There were many films about the fears of what atomic power would do or our push into scientific fields. Them! had giant ants roaming the sewer systems of Los Angeles (with James Arness of Gunsmoke). The Creature From the Black Lagoon had an underwater creature stalking people (Ricou Browning did the underwater stunts without diving gear). The Fly, which starred David Hedison (though he was then using his first name, Al), had a scientist experimenting with transporter technology and ending up part man, part fly.
A few really scared me. There was one involving rats in a basket being put over someone’s head (no clue what the title is). In another, shockingly for the time, a man’s arm got torn off on camera (I believe that was The Brain That Wouldn’t Die).
And then there was Godzilla, and all the monster movies that came with it like Rodan and Monster Island. I think I saw the original only once or twice. It had a very different tone, more suited for the fears of science gone wild, so the local channels may have passed on it in favor of the other movies. Those were just plain monster-destroys-Tokoyo, and Godzilla even became a good monster with children
In 1977, NASA named the first space shuttle after the starship Enterprise of Star Trek. Now Godzilla has a constellation named after him.
And if you’ve never seen this, Bambi Meets Godzilla. It’s an early fan produced film that I saw at a con in the 1970s.
October 18, 2018
Space Cats
Because, well, space and cats.
October 16, 2018
The Shaky Camera
Every now and then I run into a show where the director used the “shaky camera” filming technique. It’s where the camera is hand held or simulates hand held. The camera might be focused on one actor, and it jiggles and moves around.
It probably originated from The Blair Witch Project. According to stories at the time, the camera was so shaky that people got ill from motion sickness.
I think some directors use it because it creates a sense of urgency. You get all this camera jiggling–pay attention! Pay attention!
It also evokes a sense of realism. If you film a home movie, it’s going to have the same shaky effect.
For me, I don’t like it, except maybe very sparingly. I could see it in a big action scene where things are moving fast because it fits there. One of the things producer Irwin Allen did was what was called The Seaview Rock and Roll. He banged a metal bucket, the camera would tilt, and the actors would all lurch to the left, or even fall to the deck. It was a very effective special effect.
The shaky camera works here because it’s only a few minutes, and then goes back to the normal stable camera shots.
As an entire episode or movie? No.
One of the problems with the shaky camera is that if used in excess, it constantly disrupts the suspension of disbelief and reminds us that is a film. I know that the new version of Battlestar Galactica is highly praised, and I’ve been able to watch it. Just a few minutes in of shaky camera and I was paying more attention to the camera movement than the story.
Sometimes less is better.
October 13, 2018
Fall Library Sale Spoils and Con News
This week, we went from hot, humid and uncomfortable to cold and windy. We got the very edges of Hurricane Michael, which meant lots of rain. I was in my car, waiting for the light to change. Rain started to come down so hard that I thought it was hailing!
We didn’t get any damage, though we always have a problem with flooding. There are a lot of streams in the area, including one that marks the boundary of George Washington’s property. I might take a short hop over to that one and see how bad it is. But it really is cold enough to be uncomfortable, and my heat is not yet turned on.
But I did manage a trip to the county library sale this week.
I like looking for research books rather than fiction. I also try for writing craft books, but I appear to have exhausted the supply (I suspect the ones I got two years ago have been waiting for a home for a long time). I look for:
Hollywood (TV and 1940s)
Space
Ocean
The last two are generally hard to find. There are books, but not necessarily ones that will be useful for me.
In no particular order, this is what I got:
The Andy Griffith Show by Richard Kelly (I can’t seem to help it after going to Nostalgia Con. I just want to find out more).
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach (an interesting find in the science section)
Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Series and Events that Made Us Who We Were, by Steven D. Stark (and somewhat dated by current events; Cosby Show is listed, but it’s likely the show will never been seen again).
Ethel Merman by Brian Kellow
The Star Trek Compendium by Allan Asherman
Red Star Over Hollywood: The Film Colony’s Long Romance with the Left by Ronald Radosh and Allis Radosh
Warner Presents: The Most Exciting Years–From The Jazz Singer to White Heat, by Ted Sennett
And some other news. I mentioned that I was appearing as a panelist at Chessiecon. I now have the panel names!
How Not to Get Published
Real Life Military vs SF/F
The Effect of Catastrophic Events on Literature
Time Management for the Overachieving Creator
Put a Pretty Face on It – Cover Design in the Age of Digital Art
From Wesley to Wheaton: Celebrities Who Broke Type
How and Why People Create Self-Publishing Communities
When did Sci Fi Become so Political?
October 9, 2018
Gender Swapping in Films
I’m not a fan of these shows where they do a reboot and change the gender of the character (usually a woman). Like the suggestion here to do James Bond as a woman.
(Shudder.)
But first things first: I’m all for having great roles for women characters in films, TV, and books–and a range of ages. The Wonder Woman movie was huge because it was an iconic character and they did it right. Some TV shows on now that work:
The Orville. Huge cast with a lot of women. They’ve dressed all the women in the same uniform as the men (Star Trek: The Next Generation, I’m looking at you!). And the roles are good for all the actors.
The Good Place. I don’t want to say too much about this one because if you haven’t seen it, it’s way too easy to give the story away. Again, the whole cast–men and women–have good roles.
Onto my issues with the gender-swapping…
Characters are not interchangeable.
If a reboot switches out a character with another type of character, it’s going to change the story in fundamental ways and, likely break something that people liked about the original.
Some roles don’t fit the opposite gender
And I know there’s a group of writers out there who think the genders are interchangeable. But there are some roles where if they were flipped, it would not look good on that gender. I’d like to do a story about a woman lone gun like Jack Reacher, and I’m having to really think about how to do it properly so people enjoy the story, not hate the character.
It disrespects the old show or movie.
It’s like saying, “It wasn’t good enough because it didn’t have this type of character.” There’s been a lot of that conceit from all these reboots, where it’s obvious the studios only saw the title as a moneymaker and made no effort to understand why audiences liked the original. I still remember discussion about the Fantasy Island reboot where the studios said they wanted to “improve” it by making it darker. They entirely missed the point of the original show, and it got cancelled pretty fast.
Finally…
Why can’t they create new original works?!!
Seriously. We don’t need gender swapping in reboots or ongoing franchises. Create new stories with the characters they want and make new films and shows that might be one day be loved the same way.
October 7, 2018
Escaping the World
It’s not been a good two weeks because of all the hysteria and nastiness in the media. And it’s toxic, especially for my creativity. After reading the book Your Happiness is Hacked (and highly recommended!), it was very eye opening to how we’re being manipulated by social media.
But the book also mentions that people spend their time on their SmartPhones and don’t get out in nature much any more. So I thought a trip out to have some fun was in order. Nature is one of the greatest things for refreshing me.
I found Occuquan Regional Park. It’s a park with boating ramps and some nice paths following along the Occuquan River.
This is a view of the river. Though it looks like it’s about to storm, it never did. I’m still waiting for some rain. And it’s humid!
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Some fall colors. We’re still about a month off from all the trees turning, so these are some early birds. I think these are oaks.
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And a historical sighting. This is called the Beehive Kiln. Some of the history is here.
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October 1, 2018
The Wrong Lessons on Marketing
Marketing has become big news, partially because it’s not working any more. No one can figure out how to compete with the internet. A local K-Mart is closing down. Barnes and Noble can’t figure out their market.
And TV…?
They keep cutting more of the shows to add more commercials.
Most notably, the show’s opening credits.
Why is that bad?
Well, if the music catches on, it can provide word of mouth advertising for the show (and by virtue of that, the sponsors).
L.A. Law is one of those where the theme music hit the radio stations and was everywhere. I still hear it sometimes today. Show seems to have faded into obscurity now. But the show was enormously popular, and people were talking about it. The license plate in the opening credits belonged to a Los Angeles lawyer, and the crew filmed it every year.
One for The Greatest American Hero. This showed up on radio stations all over, and still can be found on the radio today. The impact on the show? Not as much. I think Steven J. Cannell (the producer) tried to make it cops with a superhero costume. They weren’t able to pull it off, and the show had some retooling going into its second season. Wasn’t helped by the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan either…the character’s last name was the same as the assassin, so there are a bunch of episodes where his name changes, then changes back.
And a very iconic theme, Mission: Impossible. I think it’s so iconic that Hollywood couldn’t not remake it, except into movies. The show also used as part of the validation at the end (the validation tells us the episode is over). In the final minutes, the team comes back together and walks away as the music plays and we know they were successful.
Now? There are no more opportunities because Hollywood wants more commercials. Seems like they learned the wrong lessons.
September 30, 2018
Cursed Planet
Who knew ghosts could exist in heavy gravity?
Hope Delgado, the galaxy’s only alien ghost expert, confronts her toughest challenge on S.C. Kangjun’s latest mission.
The local aliens, 49ers, blame the humans for a ghost. And they hide a deadly secret. A secret they will kill to protect.
Hope must make a desperate last stand against the aliens and the ghosts—if she fails, her friends will die. A science fiction novel of deep space thrills and adventures.
Pick up Book 3 in the GALCOM Universe series on Amazon!
