Welcome to my internal dialog.

Between doing some photo editing and flash development last evening, I stumbled upon the pilot episode of Deadwood.  This is the first time I’ve had the chance to watch this episode in about a year and I was blown away all. 

After watching the pilot again I was shocked to see that this laid the groundwork for the next three years of TV viewing.  Everything was presented, and if you had watched the series, go back to re-watch the pilot just to see how developed the story was at this time.

Deadwood was one of my all time favorite dramas.  I thought the acting was superb, the writing should have been award winning and the attention to detail was amazing.  When the show was cancelled before it completed its run, simply due to the fact that it was costing roughly 5M to produce a single episode, I was crushed.  So, when word came out that David Miltch was bringing “John from Cincinnati” to HBO (as a cheaper alternative to Deadwood) I was very please to see an “alternative” was available.

As of now, I am unimpressed.  Highly unimpressed.  Supremely unimpressed.  Unimpressed beyond reproach… What’s going on?  Where is the story going?  Are people actually this dysfunctional?  Really, I am 100% unimpressed,  but I am still giving it a chance.  Why? Because when Deadwood first hit the air I was unimpressed.  The very first time I saw the pilot, I almost felt let down.  By the third episode, however; I was hooked. 

No doubt, much like Deadwood, the multitude of story lines have been presented by Milch and crew in the first and second episode.  Let’s see where they take it… assuming the show turns out to be a bomb, let’s hope the two Deadwood movies that were promised are actually produced.

Posted by: salvia at 02:09 PM | Creative | No Comments | Add Comment
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At what point does an artist “sell out”? If an artist creates something (music, painting, what have you) and they are paid for doing what comes natural – or from their soul – are they selling out? From my point of view, no, said artist is simply being true to himself or herself and someone else happens to enjoy their creation for what it is. When a producer tells the artist “this is what’s hot” or “you should target…” and the suggestion is not true to the creation – that is selling out.

When I read articles about artists who decide to not compromise their creation, I think there is hope for the creative process as a whole.....

The latest example is how the Matt and Mike Chapman, the creators of Homestar Runner, reject two TV offers in order to retain the essence of the original idea.

_{“There was a brief flirtation with Comedy Central and Adult Swim," Matt said. "The whole TV thing seemed creepy. They wanted to plug it into their model -- that all comedy was gag-related, not character-driven. They left the door open, but we liked what we were doing and kept doing it online."}

And

_{"What they do works for them, but if we were doing our show there, we’d still have producers telling us what to do, what to change, what to write, etc. We love the control and the immediacy that writing and creating cartoons on the website brings us. As the ideas come, we can do whatever our whim is that week."}

I understand the “sell out” discussion can be taken further, such as pitching product, but that is a talk for a different time and place. My focus was simply on having the ability to remain true to your self.

Congrats, Matt and Mike.




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Posted by: salvia at 05:06 PM | Creative | No Comments | Add Comment
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