Posts Tagged ‘reality’
3 items.
Since it’s been a popular device as of late, today’s incentive sketch is a continuation of today’s strip. Click here to vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix and to get another dose of some hard facts you don’t want to hear…
Today’s comic was pulled directly from the “It Happened To Us” file. Cami and I had gone to the early matinee of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and emerged into the blinding sun to discover an advertisement affixed to the drivers side rear-view mirror of my car.
The pisses me off for a myriad of reasons. Partially because I just got out of a movie where I was held as a captive audience to commercials for Coke and Calvin Klein jeans projected on-screen before the trailers! But mostly I’m irked because finding this piece of paper on my windshield means SOMEBODY TOUCHED MY CAR!!!
You don’t touch another man’s car. That’s common knowledge.
Actually, what cheeses me off the most is that when you’re first walking out of the theater, you’re on a bit of an emotional high. If the movie was good, that is. You’re strolling into the parking lot, talking about what you just watched. Laughing at lines in the movie you found funny. Generally reflecting on the good time you had.
Then you walk up to your car and it’s… “Huh?! Lose weight now… ASK ME HOW?!”
It yanks you right out of that happy place and puts you right on doorstep of Life’s petty annoyances. The things you went to the movie theater to ESCAPE FROM! And thus, this is why – in my universe – Reality is depicted as a bitter, old man waiting for you to turn around so he can slap you square across the face.
Of course, my first reaction is to dial the number left behind on the garishly pink slip of paper and to bitch out the first person who picks up the phone.
But then cooler heads prevail and reason starts to take hold. That’s when it dawns on you that – legally – these advertisers don’t have the right to leave things on your car without the permission of the property-holder. In this case, the charming Wynnsong theater.
So now your second reaction is to storm back into the theater and cram the piece of paper into the mouth of the first manager you’re put in front of.
But then you think about all those outstanding warrants you have and decide, “Eh. Probably for the best if I don’t add another one to the list.”
Ultimately, in a subtle form of protest, you toss the piece of paper on the ground like so much litter for some overworked, underpaid 15 year-old to sweep up on a slow day.
I don’t understand why this is an acceptable way to treat your customers. It’s like they are actively trying to find new ways to put more advertising in front of us like it’s some kind of test. “How long will it take before they snap?” I swear, if I’m in the men’s room and they sneak a vinyl sticker advertising the next Hillary Duff movie under the toilet seat, you can bet I’m pissing all over it in a form of protest.
Maybe I’m taking all of this too seriously, but I view movie houses as temples. Shrine to pop culture. It upsets me to see these venues and their customers treated so shoddily. ‘Makes me long for the doe-eyed simplicity of a movie house like the one in The Majestic. One theater. One screen. Martin Landau is the projectionist that lives in an apartment above the venue and the theater is operated by a kindly cross-section of quirky individuals.
[ No Comments ]
Today’s buzzComix incentive sketch really has nothing to do with today’s comic. It’s just a bit of still life I did while watching Truman sleep. Click here to view it.
I don’t know why I was compelled to draw it. I guess I’m trying to evolve my style a little bit. Looking at stuff like the Sketch Dump over at Penny Arcade is pretty good motivation. Incidentally, congratulations to Mike and his wife on the birth of their son Gabriel. The pictures are great and I thought Jerry’s introduction was very heartfelt and mature.
But back to the comic at hand…
We’re in the middle of a storyline right now. If you’d like to go back to the beginning of the arc, just click here and it will whisk you a way to a week ago when all this tomfoolery first started. Do you have any opinions on the story so far? You know you can always leave your comments in the THorum. I hang out there quite regularly, so I’m pretty sure to see them.
As things are shaping up, I don’t think I’ll be able to cap off this arc by Friday. So it’s likely that the story will extend into next week. I know that might divert my coverage of up-and-coming movies, but I’ll still talk about the new releases in the blog. So watch this space for updates.
 |
If you’re noticing a slight refinement in the look of the strip, that’s intentional. Over the weekend, I bought Ben Caldwell’s Action! Cartooning and I’ve been putting some of his tips to good use.
If you’re an artist working in this medium (web comics, print comics, napkin doodles, what have you) I strongly suggest picking up this book. Unlike most “How-to’s”, Ben’s book actually SHOWS you how to with some very helpful instructions. This as opposed to showing a picture and saying “Copy this.” He really does a good job walking you through it. The book is less than ten bucks, so it’s well worth the money.
I originally had my eye on the book over at Amazon.com, but came across it at my local Barne’s and Noble, so you should be able to find it there in case you’re the immanent type and can’t wait for something to be shipped to you.
I guess I picked up Ben’s book to try and introduce a little more polish to my artwork. My overall goal is to start getting the characters to look a little less like each other and more like individuals. I think it’s going to be a slow transition. Partially because I’m still learning and partially because I don’t want to make any design changes so jarring that it sours your taste for Theater Hopper. I’ll leave that to the clumsy writing and occasional political grandstanding.
At any rate, it’s the direction that I’m going…
In slightly movie related news, Cami was channel surfing last night and came across a documentary on A&E called Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. Incidentally, this is the same documentary that will be appearing on the supplemental disc when the Star Wars trilogy is released to DVD on September 21.
I have to admit, the documentary was really good. They spend the first 45 minute detailing the difficulty bringing A New Hope to screens in the summer of 1977 and a little less time on the subsequent movies. But they did a really good job uncovering some facts that I wasn’t already aware of as well as getting interviews with the entire cast and high profile figures on the production side.
I was excited that the original trilogy was finally making its way to DVD, but I wasn’t planning on being the first in line September 21. I mean, I still haven’t picked up the Indiana Jones trilogy yet!
But now I’m kind of rethinking my position. Part of my apprehension was the cost, the hype and the fact that I’ve seen these movies dozens of times. I’m ready to see a cut with better picture and sound of course, but I was in no big hurry.
Seeing this documentary on Sunday night has lead me to believe that the supplemental materials could be worth the price of admission alone. If the other goodies they’ve packed into the boxed set are half as good, I’ll be satisfied.
You should really keep an eye on A&E in the coming weeks and try and catch a repeat Empire of Dreams. If you were a little on the fence about things like I was, it’ll definitely remind you about why you fell in love with Star Wars in the first place.
[ No Comments ]
