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Anna Hrachovec knits a lot, but always in little quantities as you can tell from the pictures of her projects above. At one point, she challenged herself to make one tiny knitted project per week and since that point, she’s stayed on the schedule for two years straight. Over at Craftzine, you can read a great interview with her where she reflects on the project and on her cute creations. It’s a pretty fun read if you have time.
Interviewing is a skill and not everyone has it — but some surprising people do. Like William Shatner. Have you seen his Raw Nerve? Whatever faults he has, Shatner knows how to do a probing interview.
Where was I? Oh, yeah: Bert from Sesame Street is one of those people. “If you could be any sock from history, what would you be?” Brilliant. That‘s how you get inside someone’s head.
via Dan Lewis
We scored an exclusive interview with Sillof, the creator of these awesome handmade toys. He’s also making stop-action films now, which you can check out below.
DI: How did you first hit on the idea of creating Star Wars character toys but spinning them WWII or Samurai, for instance? I think it’s pretty brilliant!
Sillof: Thanks, I had customized figures for years starting as a child when I wanted a Bespin Luke with no hand. Over the years I did mostly Star Wars figures but I used to do traditional interpretations of characters. Over time it got a little boring doing someone else’s designs or annoying when I would spent a lot of time on a figure only to have Hasbro make the figure the next year. So I slowly began to think about the idea of putting my own unique spins on characters. My first line was a jumble of influences westerns, samurai, serials, etc. Then I began to break down the lines even further with one specific theme like Steampunk or WWII.
DI: Obviously, a lot of work goes into each figure. Can you talk about the process a little? Break it down, step by step.
Sillof:
Step 1: The ideas are usually just 1 initial spark – like the idea that George Lucas had wanted to cast Toshiro Mifune as Obi-Wan and then I think what would that have looked like.
Step 2: Then I just brainstorm out from there. What would Han, Boba Fett, and Vader look like. I really just think about it a lot on my way to work or before I go to sleep at night. Maybe I do a little research online for WWII soldiers, or Samurai, or whatever the theme is. But, this phase is 100% in my head.
Step 3: I make a list of what I am going for on each character. The new name, the backstory, the feel, and the actual look of each figure. I don’t ever sketch any part of the designs.
Step 4: I look through my various drawers of parts and accessories, also known as fodder, for parts that could be useful.
Step 5: I carve down the parts of other figures whittling them down to serve as a skeleton or armature and sculpt over them with a product called Aves Apoxie Sculpt and I let that harden.
Step 6: I cobble the parts together. So in the end the figure is a mish mash of old toy parts, old parts sculpted over, and completely originally sculpted parts. Some figures are just unique combinations of other figures and some are 100% made from scratch, it really just depends on what I want the figure to look like and what I have.
Step 7: I paint the figures with a special blend of paints I have created over the years for the right consistency and finish.
Step 8. I finish the figures with a variety of dry-brushing and washes to give it my signature weathered look.
DI: I know this isn’t your full-time job, but would you like it to be? Is part of the goal to attract enough attention that some manufacturer would let you mass-produce them or do you want to keep them as one-offs?
Sillof: I am actually a high school history teacher by profession, and I l love my job. But, yes I would be great to get a job in the movie industry or toy making field. I really just do this a hobby and have rarely sold things. I am getting ready to sell off whole lines or sets of figures. But, It would be a dream come true to see my designs mass produced and based on the e-mails I have gotten from fans I think the line would be successful.
DI: You’re also doing stop-motion films now with some of the figures. What’s
that about?
Sillof: When I was a kid I liked to make movies with my toys on my parents Super 8 camera. Of course they were “rough” to say the least. Then I saw a film years later done on VHS and I tried that but it was rough editing in the camera. Slowly over the years I made a variety of movie accurate dioramas. Now I have a production company and we have made a variety of short films for festivals and such. So with the technology and equipment that is available I began to think about going back to the project from my childhood. The movie is designed to be like the movies I made when I was a kid with my hand moving the figures in and out of shots and some rough stop motion. I also decided not to do any dialogue. It has a pure and simplistic quality but with really great dioramas and custom figures. I could have gone way overboard with it but I tried to make the movie I would have liked to have made as a kid.
DI: Of all the characters you’ve made, do you have a favorite?
Sillof: I don’t have a single favorite but some of the ones I would never sell would include the Steampunk R2 & 3PO, Steampunk Iron Man, Samurai Vader and Chewbacca, any Daredevil or Boba Fetts.
DI:What do your kids think of all this?
Sillof: If you mean my children, my daughter loves it. She recently turned 4 and has made her own figures. I have trays of parts and she picks a head, and arms, and legs and puts them together and paints them. If you mean my students, very few of my students know I have this as a hobby.
DI:What’s next for you? What can we expect in the next couple months?
Sillof: I have 4 more parts of my Toy Wars movie done, I am just slowly releasing them online. I also have 4 new lines in the works in various stages of completion and 2 more in the design phase. Most, but not all, are Star Wars based like the other lines I have done in the past but are completely new takes on the movies. Thanks for the questions, I enjoyed answering them and am glad you enjoy my work.
We have a nice treat today! An interview with Lev Yilmaz, the man behind Tales of Mere Existence. If you don’t know his brilliant cartoons, check out the vids below. Then read the interview for a chance to win an autographed copy his book “Sunny Side Down” (plus a DVD!), which you can also buy over on his site.
DI: Songwriters are often asked, which comes first, the music or the lyrics. How about you? Do you first come up with the story and then draw it, or does a doodle sometimes give you the idea for a story?
LY: A little of both. The series began like this: I had just moved to San Francisco, and I knew almost no one there. If you move from the East coast to the West, it takes a little time to adjust to how people relate to each other differently. I usually say, it takes forever to make a friend in Boston, but you will have that friend for a long time. You can meet your soul mate every fifteen minutes in San Francisco, but you’ll never see them again. Anyway, I was keeping these journals with me at all times, drawing and writing, just to keep myself company, just to have something to do. After a while, I started keeping track of what I was doing by drawing very crude, very mundane cartoons. I woke up one day with a hangover, and did a video version of one of the entries in my journal. It was basically verbatim, exactly what I had written & drawn. That one was called “Party”, about the party I had been to the night before.
Now that I think of it, I should try doing it that way again.
(Read on for your chance to score the book + DVD!)
The Huffington Post has called Soft Skull Press “The literary version of a punk rock label.” Neatoramanauts have a different expression for that: “a big bowl of awesome!” The good folks over at Soft Skull have been kind enough to give us a few copies of one of their latest, most awesome books, The Cult TV Book, edited by Stacey Abbott. All you have to do to win one is read our interview with Stacey below and then answer the two questions at the end of the interview. When you have your answers, send them to me: david ‘at’ neatorama.com. We’ll pick winners at random and shoot you an e-mail to find out where you want your book sent. Pretty easy, right?
—— Now, on with the interview!——
Neatorama: In the book, you talk about how cult TV was previously just for geeks (“socially awkward teenage boys”), but has now become mainstream. Just to cite one example, you show how fan conventions used to be thought of as freakish, but now they’re crucial for networks and studios. What’s changed?
SA: Television has changed. With the move away from the big networks to a much more competitive televisual landscapes with many smaller cable, pay, satellite channels all competing for audiences, the loyal niche audience is now very attractive to broadcasters and sponsors. Channels and networks aren’t necessarily looking for the big audiences (although they are happy when they get them) but rather a fairly affluent and committed audience who will keep coming back to watch their favourite shows on a weekly basis. This means that the fans of cult television are more important to TV now. This is why conventions have become so popular and new shows are previewed at events like Comic-Con. A successful preview of a TV show at Comic-Con provides a fantastic amount of great press for a show before it has even aired.
Neatorama: Later, you also argue that part of the change is merely the world’s perception, which has also changed. In what ways?
SA: Two major things have changed. First, many creators/producers of programmes that we would call cult are self-admitted fans of cult television. People like Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, Ron Moore, Russell T. Davies, Stephen Moffat to name just a few. The success of these writers/producers show that being a fan of cult television is not a dead end street but rather a potential path to success. These people have very successful lives and so the image of the fan with ‘no life’ is being gradually dissipated. The second thing that has contributed to this perception change is the internet. The internet invites online discussion of all TV shows so many people who would not, in the past, describe themselves as Cult TV fans are now engaging in many of the same practices. Fans of Sex and the City, The Sopranos, The Wire, Lost and Doctor Who contribute to fan forums, online discussion groups, and engage in detailed discussion and analysis of their favourite shows. The practices of the Cult TV fan are now quite common.
Neatorama: If, as you and your co-writers argue, audiences really want quirky, innovative programming, why do the networks continue to spend millions on cookie-cutter pilots?
SA: While audiences (some but not all) respond to quirky and innovative programming, it is difficult for the networks to anticipate what take off next with audiences. Networks don’t want to gamble too much so there is the desire to replicate success. Sometimes this works – Heroes definitely came on the heels of the success of Lost, and often it is not. Also, while, as we argue in the book, more audiences are interested in this type of cult programme now then ever before, some audiences are not interested in making the kind of commitment that it takes to watch Lost or Battlestar Galactica, so the networks do produce loads of series that are far more formulaic and therefore easier to dip in and out of.
Neatorama: How long before the networks and studios start paying attention to Webisodes and start sinking money into pilots online?
SA: Good question and no easy answer. At the moment Webisodes serve a purpose for the networks as an ancillary text and more and more people are watching TV and film online so this might change yet. But I’m not sure the networks feel confident in the internet in terms of finances. It is a gradual process I think, but will eventually go there.
Neatorama: I had a meeting at A&E recently with a woman about a show I was pitching and I said it would be perfect for the Web. The development person looked at me like I’d actually just said I wanted to copulate with her. Why have they been so reluctant to create content for the Web if that’s where the eyeballs are?
SA: That is a funny story. I think it is transitional. More and more people are watching things online but not everyone yet. And networks, even if they are aiming at niche audiences, want to target as large a proportion of that audience as possible. I think the perception is that the material will get lost online. But this will change, I believe. Most networks are cautious and they require creative people working for them to spear-head major changes.
Neatorama: You spend a lot of ink discussing the success of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and how ground-breaking it was. Of all the ground it broke, what do you think was the most significant in terms of influencing the future of TV?
SA: Did we talk a lot about Buffy. I did try and keep it balanced. But it is a key show particularly in many of the ways we have talked about above. It attracted people who would not necessarily call themselves cult TV fans and they began to engage with the show on a cult level. But to answer your question, I would say that it marked a key shift away from the episodic quality of much of TV toward asking your audience to engage with much broader and developing seasonal arcs. The characters on this series grew up, they evolved and the show grew up and evolved with them. The show has memory and it encourages the audience to share that memory not just move on from episode to episode and forget what came before. As much as I love The X-Files, one of the frustrations of the later seasons is that Scully still plays the skeptic despite everything she has been witness to. It is unbelievable that she would still be so resistant to the supernatural. On Buffy the characters reflect back on the audience and their actions often show how they have evolved as people. This is one way I think that Buffy has influenced TV. Now we see this type of memory in all types of shows.
Neatorama: Let’s talk about probably the most famous of the cult programs, Star Trek. Why did it take nearly 20 years for someone to hit on the bright idea to create episode number 80? (The original three seasons in the late ’60s were comprised of 79 episodes.) I mean, with all the fans, all the conventions, all the movies, etc. I’m just left scratching my head in wonder over this.
SA: I know what you mean. It does seem really ridiculous in retrospect. In the period where the show was building its audience in syndication, networks weren’t interested in cult television. This was a show that failed and while it did well in syndication, they weren’t going to be interested in another show that would generate smallish audiences. In the late 1970s when the fandom was really hitting its peak, they did begin to think of making another series but this then generated into Star Trek: The Motion Picture and once the franchise went into movies, no-one at this point would consider moving it back to TV. At that time, TV was the poor relation (this is changing now). By the time of Next Gen, Paramount was moving into television so transferring a successful film franchise seemed like a good move. It wasn’t just a question of returning to the original show. They were drawing in fans of the films as well.
Neatorama: Do you think Trekkies elevated the original series above and beyond? Was the drama that compelling? The action, that exciting? In short: were those 79 episodes really all that? (BTW, I grew up watching them, totally loving them, but never became anything remotely like a hard-core Trekkie.)
SA: I was a huge Star Trek fan as a child (probably my first cult TV experience although I wouldn’t describe myself as a hard-core Trekkie). I think that like any low budget series, the show has its strong and week episodes. 79 episodes in three years is a lot of television and so it is not surprising that not all the episodes are great. But it do think that at its best, the drama was compelling and innovative. This was a Utopian vision of the future that had a strong message about humanity. Some of the best episodes such as “Balance of Terror”, “Space Seed”, “Wolf in the Fold” and my personal favourite “City on the Edge of Forever” are very well written, with exciting action and in the case of “City on the Edge of Forever” are profoundly moving. Also, the focus upon the male friendship of Kirk, Spock and Bones was and is fresh and quite unusual.
Neatorama: If you could have lunch with only one, who’d you pick and why? Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner or Wil Wheaton?
SA: Leonard Nimoy – Spock is the most complex character on the show and his is the character who evolves the most throughout the entire TV series and films. Also, he directed some of the movies so his perspective would be very insightful.
Neatorama: Cult fan members never like it when something goes mainstream. Indeed, at least in the case of something like Borat, mainstream = certain death. But some cults become so big, like Trekkies, that they could be considered mainstream even though they’re cult-ish. Where do you draw the line? At what point is it no longer a cult?
SA: The nature of cult is changing. A show like Lost was huge initially but its puzzle like narrative structure and the mythology of the island invited cult engagement with the show so I would say it is cult. Similarly Doctor Who is a national obsession in the UK and is aimed at family audiences, but it has a huge cult following (and has for years). It is difficult to know where to draw the line but I would say that if a series generates cult fan response, ie. emotional commitment, loyal viewing, engagement with the series beyond just watching it on a weekly basis etc. Then it is cult or at least as a cult quality. But having said this there will always be those cult shows that are cult because the fans found them – Firefly, Wonderfalls, etc. And that will hold a special place in cult.
Neatorama: In many ways, the idea of “the power of the cult” sort of exemplifies the power of The Long Tail, as Chris Anderson calls it. Has the music industry been faster to recognize this power than the movie industry? If so, why?
SA: I think that Film industry is based on opening weekends box office. Get everyone to go out and see it right away and then bring it out on DVD in 3 months and continue to make money off it and the various ancillary products. If one were being cynical, you could see the film release as the promotion for everything that comes out afterward and cult doesn’t operate this way. It is often a small and slow discovery.
Neatorama: Talk a little bit about the process of collecting all these wonderful essays in the book. What was the process like?
SA: Thanks for saying the essays were wonderful. It was a great experience working on this book (and editing books isn’t always that way although I have been very lucky). People who write about cult television, while being scholarly and rigorous researchers, are also fans of the TV shows that they are writing about. So they are incredibly committed to the process. So for putting this book together began with numerous conversations with friends and colleagues about what topics and television shows should be covered in this book. Then I did quite a bit of research into who was working in this area. Many of the people I’ve worked with before, others I had read their work in relation to my research. In most cases I approached each other with a general idea of what they might contribute to the book, based upon their areas of expertise and what I thought would be necessary and useful for the book, and discussed what I had in mind and what they could deliver. In every case they came back with so much more than I could have imagined. The best way of describing this process was to think of it as a series of really interesting discussions and debates about cult television.
Neatorama: Were you ever tempted to write the whole thing yourself?
SA: I would have loved to but it is such a huge topic, it would have taken me years to just watch every TV programme sufficiently to be able to write about them. Also, I think the topic benefits from a multitude of voices and understanding of the subject. As the book, I hope, shows, there is no one definition of cult and having different people write about it drives that home I think.
Neatorama: What’s next for you? What can we expect to see?
SA: Well I am still immersed in television studies. I am currently co-writing, with Lorna Jowett who is a contributor to The Cult TV Book, a book about TV Horror. The aim is to try and unpack how the genre has evolved through television and what distinguishes it from literary and cinematic horror. Some have argued in the past that horror and television are incompatible and we are challenging that argument.
–
Question #1: You can probably tell that Stacey is British from the way she spells some words. Which words am I referring to?
Question #2: How many episodes of the original Star Trek series were made in total?
When you have your answers, send them to me: david ‘at’ neatorama.com.
Most Neatoramanauts know all about Ken Denmead’s Geek Dad blog over on Wired.com. But did you know Ken has a book coming out? Yep, in just a couple days you’ll be able to curl up with a pantload of geeky projects perfect for you and your kids. Some are ripped right from the posts you’ve come to love on the blog, but most are brand-spankin’ new. Ever think about flying a kite at night, rigged with lights? Or making a comic strip out of Lego pieces? Or constructing a fortress – out of cake?
Those are just some of the cool projects you’ll discover in the Geek Dad book, an easy to read, adroitly written craft book. And because Ken is himself a Neatoramanaut, he’s been kind enough to give us three, no more, no less, four we did not get, neither two, five is right out. But three, being the third number, is the number of books we have to give away in our contest! (We’ll leave the contest open until the book is officially published on May 4th!)
Want to win a copy? Here’s what you need to do:
1. Read the interview below!
2. Click the link at the end of the interview and answer the question you find waiting for you.
3. E-mail me the answer to the question (e-mail address found on the linked page).
4. That’s it! We’ll pick three random winners and send out your very own copies!
Enough rat-a-tat! On with the interview…
DI: Toward the front of the book, there’s a lot of discussion about the very word geek, how it has morphed over time, and the variations and various subsets. It got me thinking: When I was in high school, I was a band geek and a computer geek. Yet I also scored an extra part in Revenge of the Nerds 2, so some people called me a big ‘ol nerd. Yet I also infamously scored two points for the other team in a basketball game, so I fit right in with the dweebs who were picked last in gym. My question to you is this: Can a person be a geek, a nerd, and a dweeb? Is it like astrology where I’m really a geek dad (for those who don’t know, I have a toddler), but have a nerd rising? Shine some light, if you would…
KD: The point I make in the book is that the difference between geek and nerd if self-awareness about the anti-social nature of obsession over a hobby or pursuit. Obviously real people are far more complex that the labels that get broadly applied to them, and it’s perfectly realistic that you could be an overall geek (aware of your nerdish tendencies, but able to either embrace them with vim, or mitigate them through careful behavior), and yet be more nerdish or dweebish in certain circumstances or when pursuing specific hobbies.
DI: At what point in YOUR life did you come to the conclusion that you were a geek? Certainly before daddom, I’d imagine? Or…
KD: Oh, in high school certainly. I was a music geek, theater geek, I played D&D at lunch with my friends from AP Physics, and wrote science fiction stories during free periods.
DI: In the book you talk about how more and more females are categorizing themselves as geeks—that it’s obviously not just for a label for dudes anymore. Did you wind up finding a fem-geek to settle down with and, if so, would that make your kids über-geeks? Or do two geeks cancel each other out and produce jocks and politicians?
KD: My wife is a total geek, with a strong passion for science fiction movies and TV shows, and we love traveling to conventions now and buying each other show props. We’ve been very careful not to push our tendencies on the kids, though – and luckily they are absorbing them instead. Actually, our older son, who played baseball and basketball, but also loves D&D and video games, called himself a “gock” – half geek, half jock.
DI: The sub-head of the book is “Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share” – and some of the projects that stand out to me, the ones I can’t wait to try with my son, are: Build a Binary Calendar, Portable Electronic Flash Cards, Fly a Kite at Night, and Model Building with a Cake. Of course, some of these projects you already wrote up on the blog, but many were new for the book. Are there one or two in particular that you really enjoyed creating and writing about?
KD: Flying the video camera on a string of balloons was great to do because there was science and engineering required to sort it out; figuring out the volume of helium needed to provide sufficient lift for the camera package and then devising the best way to string them together.
DI: If you could have lunch with any geek dad from history, who would it be?
KD: That’s a tough question. My first instinct would be J.R.R. Tolkien, because he started the rich creations of Middle Earth as something for his kids. But he probably wouldn’t have considered himself a geek (indeed, at the time the word would have been an insult). So I’d settle on Gene Roddenberry. His influence on geek culture cannot be understated.
DI: Of some of the more famous fictional geek dad-figures, who was cooler? Or who would you rather spend time with? Dr. Emmett Brown or Dr. Newton Crosby?
KD: Naw, give me Doctor Quest, Reed Richards, or Mr. Incredible!
DI: Of all the geek-gadgets you own, which one would you take to the proverbial desert island if you only could take one?
KD: Assuming (as any good geek would have to), that there was free power and wi-fi available on this desert island, my iPad!
DI: What’s the worst thing about being a geek?
KD: Being socially outcast; really, having to live in an environment where no one “gets” you.
DI: Your day job is in civil engineering. What’s a typical day for you?
KD: In broad brush-strokes, just like anyone else. Up early, help get the kids ready for school, and head to work (stop and get coffee on the way). Work, work, work – sad to say, civil engineering isn’t as glamorous as everything thinks! Pick up the kids from school, get home, and do family stuff. And all in there, keep an eye on the blog.
DI: It’s 2120—is geek still in our vernacular? What’s the future hold for the geek as AI becomes more and more sophisticated in the future?
KD: By the evolved definition of the word I like to use, absolutely. Geeks aren’t just about technology. Of course, techie geeks will still be with us, because technology is driving our culture more these days than ever before, and the people who are obsessive about the creation and use of technology will always be needed. Just, by then, the geeks will be moving planets around.
DI: Let’s not even look down the road that far, what’s Ken Denmead doing 25 years from now?
KD: Semi-retired, overseeing the GeekDad media empire and working part-time at Disneyworld.
DI: Other than the blog, are you working on anything now you want to tell us about?
KD: There’s always the hope that the book will do well enough to spawn another. I’m involved in the development of a NPR radio show for dads that will hopefully get picked up. And we want to keep building GeekDad as a property. The great thing is that new opportunities pop up when you least expect them!
DI: Will there be any book signings or speaking engagements? Where can people find you after the book comes out?
KD: There certainly will, and I’m keeping track of all that kind of thing on the website we’ve built for the book: www.geekdadbook.com. I’m always lurking on Twitter, as well (@fitzwillie).
DI: Lastly, anything you wish I’d asked?
KD: “What’s the airspeed of an unladen swallow?”
N.B. – Please do NOT leave answers to our contest question in the comments below. We will delete your comment. Thanks for understanding! However, we DO want you to send us your answer, the details of which can be found, along with the contest question, right here! Good luck to one and all.
Special thanks to Ken, who jammed on turning around the Q&A within 24 hours so we could present the interview/give-a-way in a timely manner. As Crush, dad-turlte said so eloquently to his son Squirt in the Pixar film Finding Nemo: You SO totally rock dude!
In honor of our Big Bang Theory contest tonight, here’s an awesome interview from Geekerati (blogtalkradio.com) with one of the show’s writers, David Goetsch. (There’s a really awful ad you have to sit through, but eventually the interview starts… wait for it!)
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Newsweek interviewed five actors who played munchkins in The Wizard of Oz. They reminisce about the production of the movie and how it impacted their lives. Did you know that Toto got paid more than they did? You can read about the movie in Stacy’s trivia post.
via io9 | Run time: 5 minutes, 38 seconds.
Capybara owner Melanie Typaldos gave a great interview about her unusual pet on the Estatic Days blog. Her pet is named Caplin Rous as in Rodents Of Unusual Size from the Princess Bride. Some of her stories about walking Caplin Rous are priceless. Read the whole thing for some great fun, but here’s a few highlights:
“In a single word, I would describe him as needy. He always wants to be with me and can “eep” loudly if he knows I am nearby but he can’t get to me. He follows me around the house and the yard and expects me to watch him while he swims or grazes. He panics if he doesn’t know where I am. When he thinks it’s time for me to come home from work, he will go to the gate and wait for me.”
“When people hear him they are always amazed. His voice is often mistaken for a birdsong. When he’s nervous he sounds like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. When he’s happy he sounds like a Geiger counter.”
