Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

Why You Shouldn’t Keep Your Projects A Secret

As someone who works with intellectual properties, and someone who knows a lot of people who also work with intellectual properties, I can safely say that a lot of us like to keep our ideas to ourselves.  There is a fear that if your idea is leaked, then there’s a team of coordinated and efficient coding enthusiasts that will take your idea and do it faster than you.  Probably better than you too.  And they all wear sunglasses and matching black leather uniforms with lightning bolts...

Where was I?  Oh, right, the fear of being copied.  This fear has a less-paranoid-but-still-paralyzing twin: the fear of someone coincidentally doing the same thing as you, making you look like the copycat nonetheless.

My advice to you is to fight that fear and show off (or at least talk about) your works in progress.  There are several reasons why this will help you rather than hurt you.

Tales from the Ashcan: Meanwhile, Over at the DC Comics Disaster Circus....

Sometimes, when you're a major subsidiary of an entertainment behemoth, nothing ever seems to go right.  Such is the mess over at my favorite disaster circus of late, DC Comics.  First it was the pissing off of just about every member of fandom regarding their relaunch.  Then the controversy over their Zuda comics label.  Then it was the blatant sexism regarding the New 52 relaunch.  Then it was charges that DC no longer has a business strategy.  And now?  Well, let's just say that they're going for the Royal Flush (down the toilet.)

If any of you recall, a few years ago, there was a huge outcry over the changing of the DC "Bullet" logo to the current DC "swirl."  Well, get ready for the new new logo.

Lost in Translation - Recap 2 - Eclectic Boogaloo

Over the past ten weeks, I've looked at a mix of hits, misses, and cannonball caroms. What can we take away from the morass? Well, again, taking care of the original work plays an important part.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a sterling example of not only having the creator take part in the process but also finding the right people. In contrast, Johnny Mnemonic, shows what happens when the creator is left out of the loop. The former had Dr. Seuss involved at several levels, including producing and lyrics. The latter had an exec take the final product and recut it before sending it out to theatres.

Executive meddling can be an issue. Flash Gordon had producer Dino DiLaurentiis and his wife casting the leads and making deals for cross-promotions that could have torpedoed the movie. However, the director was able to cast for the supporting roles and brought in veterans who could hold their own and make the inexperienced lead look decent at the same time. Coupled with a kick-ass soundtrack by Queen, the movie survives as a cult classic. Sure, not a financial success, but the movie is remembered. Having the right people can save a movie.

As Steve pointed out, sometimes the best thing is finding the right fit for the work.  A Game of Thrones definitely fit best as a TV series over a movie. There is just too much happening that is too important to cut. The build up of the threats and conflicts required the time that a weekly episodic format allows for. Likewise, the weekly format is working for Once Upon a Time, allowing for the mystery of the story to be built properly. As movies, both would lose far too much in the translation.

Sometimes, going from TV pilot to cinematic feature causes problems. Star Trek: The Motion Picture was originally the pilot to a second Star Trek series. However, the decision was made to turn the script into a full-fledged feature film. Unfortunately, this required the script to be extended. Most of the filler came from loving shots of the USS Enterprise, as the camera flew around and over her. Long shots became the order of the day, giving the movie a far slower pace than a pilot would have. Compare Star Trek: TMP to "Encounter at Farpoint", the pilot for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Both are cerebral, but "Farpoint" builds up the action through character interaction and twists while TMP relies more on lengthy approaches in space.

What about works where the creator is either long gone or a corporation? Where the work is part of a larger franchise? For this, I looked at three movies.  Rookie of the Year adapted the game of baseball into a family narrative. The plays on the field were believable; in fact, there have been stranger in the game. The movie was faithful to the sport while telling its story. It is obvious that the writers, the cast, and the crew have been to a ballgame or two. The other two, however... Oi.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was, in short, a mess. It had several good scenes tied together with a plot a 3rd grader could find plotholes in. The promise of the opening scene - Cobra's assault on an US Army convoy - provided a glimpse of the potential that was never reached. Meanwhile, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li just really wasn't a Street Fighter movie. What happened? In the case of GI Joe, it looks like the license was available and was used with a quick script that did take into account the characters and groups but, well, forgot about cohesion.  Chun Li, on the other hand, felt like an available script was taken and had the Street Fighter aspects grafted on. Both movies had potential never realized.

And that leaves Dungeons & Dragons. The movie had decent scenes and a decent plot, but completely fell apart during execution. It seemed to be suffering from having the wrong people involved. It missed on what made the game D&D interesting and didn't have many of the game's iconic monsters. Unfortunately, many studios decided that the takeaway was, "Don't make movies off tabletop RPGs".

Overall, again, respect for the creator and the work heads the list of how to make an adaptation successful. Followed, though, is making sure the adaptation is in the right format. The right format can get the work's full impact; the wrong one can mute it or draw out the impact to the point where it's not felt at all.

Next time, year-end round up.

 

Skyrim: Dragons and Superheroes?

(Originally published at Comics Bulletin)

I'm playing the most awesome superhero game.

I'm a man with strange powers in a  troubled world.  As I journey around engaging in may battles, helping people, I can see my effect on the world.  My powers grow, I gain allies, and find disturbing truths.

I'm playing a wizard type character in Skyrim, the fantasy RPG that's the latest in the Elder Scrolls series.
After wandering around for gods-knows-how-many hours, I'm wielding massive powers as my character evolves beyond a simple wizard to a powerhouse.  Gameplay changes.  People in-game react to what I do.  It feels . . . a bit like being a superhero.

Tales from the Ashcan: An Interview with Brock Heasley of SuperFogeys

Since I'm at Anime USA this weekend (and if you're within reasonable distance of DC, stop by and say hi!), I thought I'd take a different tack this time around and put up an interview I did with one of my fellow webcomics creators: Brock Heasley, creator and writer of the series SuperFogeys.

The oldest of four brothers, Brock grew up in Fresno, the “road to everywhere/destination of no one” of California.  Growing up, he was a member of such prestigious organizations as “The Nerd Herd,” “The Last Picked for Teams” and “They Who Eat Alone.”  During high school, he drew cartoons for the school paper and then got delusions of grandeur and began writing articles as well.  After graduating from California State University Fresno with a degree in graphic design, Brock combined both skills to launch the online comic The SuperFogeys, published by Th3rd World Studios, in order to save the world.  Has the world ended yet?  No?  Then it’s working.  In 2010, Brock co-created the online comic Monsterplex, which went on to win DC Comics’ Zuda competition.  Brock’s greatest accomplishment remains tricking his gorgeous wife Erin into marrying him in 2000.  Together with their three daughters Elora, Campbell and Violet, they live in Fresno and enjoy Pixar movies, dancing in the living room to good music and eating breakfast for dinner.

I had a chance to talk to him recently, and here's what he had to say.

Lost in Translation 14: Adaptation of the Universe!

In 1934, Alex Raymond created a comic strip to compete with Buck Rogers in the newspapers. The strip, called Flash Gordon featured the titular hero, an athlete, caught up with reporter Dale Arden in an airplane crash caused by a sudden meteor showers, who is kidnapped by Dr. Hans Zarkov to travel by rocket ship to find the source of the meteor assault on Earth. The trio discovers that the meteors were sent by Ming the Merciless, rule of Mongo. Throughout the publication of the comic strip, Flash and his companions meet the peoples of Mongo and unite them to rebel against Ming to free the world from his cruel domination.

The comic strip had been turned into three serials, each starring Buster Keaton as Flash. The serials stayed to the core of the comic strip, though minor changes were made. Flash, originally a polo player in the comic, became a wrestler. Dale, originally a brunette, was played by Jean Rogers, who had her naturally dark hair dyed blonde to take advantage of the popularity of the hair colour in film. Still, the serials had a following and were the first science fiction serials produced.

In 1980, Dino de Laurentiis produced a screen adaptation of Flash, simply called Flash Gordon. Written by Lorenzo Semple and directed by Mike Hodges, the movie brought the comic strip to its core elements, showing Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov uniting the peoples of Mongo to defeat the forces of Ming the Merciless. Flash Gordon didn't do well in its initial theatrical run. Several problems plagued the film, mostly related to executive meddling. Sam J. Jones was cast as the hero after de Laurentiis' wife saw him on a game show. At the same time, de Laurentiis himself worked out an arrangement with Bob Guccione of Penthouse to have some of his models as extras. A decision was made to use bright colours at a time when realism was the order of the day for films.

However, the movie is considered a cult classic. What saved the film from the millstone of mediocrity and being tossed into the fountain of the forgotten was director Hodges being able to cast the supporting actors. He turned to veterans of stage and screen, people who could carry the film while the rookie actor Jones learned the craft. (And, yes, you can see Jones's acting ability improve as the movie progresses.) Max von Sydow turned in an understated performance as Ming the Merciless, bringing a subtle menace to the role instead of chewing the scenery as Raul Julia and Jeremy Irons had. Topol, best known from the theatrical and cinematic versions of Fiddler on the Roof, played the indomitable Dr. Hans Zarkov, delivering lines that would be cheesy under lesser talent. Timothy Dalton, who would go on to be 007, played Prince Bain of the Treemen. Richard O'Brien, he of The Rocky Horror Picture Show fame, played Fico, one of Barin's men. And Brian Blessed, veteran of many British productions, played Prince Vultan of the Hawkmen, bringing a boisterousness that defined the Hawk Prince. ("What? GORDON'S ALIVE?!")

Coupled with the supporting cast was the soundtrack. Written and performed by Queen, the music provided a strong rock beat that mirrored and accentuated the action on screen. Scenes that would cause massive eyestrain from the eyerolls became fun, if still implausible; scenes such as the football fight in Ming's court. "Flash's Theme" reached Top-40 radio stations.

Overall, the movie should have been a disaster. Executive meddling created many hurdles for the director. The visuals of the film went in the opposite direction of other movies made at the same time. The special effects looked more like a throwback to the serials than the cutting edge pushed by Lucasfilm.  Flash Gordon should have been MST3K fodder. Yet, the little things pull the movie up. The supporting cast was far better than the movie deserved. The soundtrack itself saved the film from being forgettable. Little details, lines added for humour (Barin to Zarkov while awaiting execution: "Tell me again about this man Houdini."), background gags ("All citizens will make merry upon pain of death" on a "space blimp" during the wedding), all of this added up to get people to watch the movie again. Success? Not really, few people go out to make a cult classic (Rocky Horror notwithstanding). Failure, then? Again, no, the movie is enjoyable and the problem spots start taking on their own charm.  Flash Gordon falls into a gap between success and failure - the movie has a following, but not for what the creators had hoped. It is a cult classic.

Next time, from action figure to action movie.

 

Tales from the Ashcan: Someone Else's Words

I actually had planned to write something here today, but got tied up with other stuff, yay, go rest of life.  In any case, I recently came across something I had to share from Erin Ptah, the creator of the webcomic And Shine Heaven Now.  While I don't agree with all of it, I found it interesting enough to share with readers.  Each creator's experience is their own, so take what she reads at face value and remember that not everyone has the same experience.  Lastly, while this obviously pertains to webcomics, it can in many ways apply to other media.

So read on after the jump, and I'll see you next month, hopefully with an interview!

What Fandom Has Given Me

This is the week of Speak Out With Your Geek Out, a time of celebrating fandom.  Because I am an active member of many fandoms, I couldn’t pick just one.  Therefore, I’m writing to you about all that my various fandoms have done for me.

Beyond The Loading Screen: August

Whoa, September first is tomorrow?  I've got to rush to King's Cross station to be at Platform 9 3/4 before 11 tomorrow morning.  But first, a review of the past month.

Launch or Be Lunch, Day 5 - Boom! Goes Our Sanity: Process Lettering, Part Two

Well, here we go: five days left, and things are not getting any easier.  Again, it's time to scream.