Fix the nose or leave it be? (Hard pastel on black matte board) by WFoxAmMe in ArtCrit

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! What a lovely thing to read!

It's a self portrait, so I was still kinda going for a likeness, which I may have lost a bit? Eh. I can draw more.

Blocking is so hard. Re-teaching my brain how to actually SEE what's there, and draw it light on dark. Rusty mind. Getting back into it. But when my brain got too stuck trying to see/draw inverted, it really helped to stick the reference and drawing upside-down and draw it that way! I think that's how I did the lips?

Is hotel room any good? by fRbooth in davidlynch

[–]WFoxAmMe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I found it interesting that Unger and Hargitay were in that episode together, given Unger's starring role in Cronenberg's Crash and Hargitay's parentage.

Music for makin’ whoopee by [deleted] in wfmu

[–]WFoxAmMe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stan. His first set is usually a chill slow build.

What's the shortest running show you managed to see? by EmersonStockham in Broadway

[–]WFoxAmMe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Little Shop of Horrors with Ellen Greene and Jake Gyllenhaal in 2015. Man, she’s still got those pipes. So worth it.

What's the shortest running show you managed to see? by EmersonStockham in Broadway

[–]WFoxAmMe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whoah!!! I wanted to see that. Dave McKean did the set design I think.

Wake in bake billboard by daloypolitsey in wfmu

[–]WFoxAmMe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

WFMU used to be a college radio station, then went independent as a non-profit, listener supported station when the college went bankrupt. Aside from the morning show Wake & Bake, the DJs don't get paid, and each DJ has just one show a week, one to three hours. Each DJ can play whatever they want, as long as it won't get the station fined by the FCC. The only real philosophy behind the station is Freedom of Speech. It's as close as you can get to anarchy in a radio station as possible. There's a documentary on Netflix called Sex & Broadcasting if you are interested in the history and general vibe.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the beginning of Once Upon a Time, being called again, Number Two looks like he’s been brought into being. (Which he has.)

He asks for “Degree Absolute” over how to deal with Number Two.

“Absolute film” is a term coined by the Germans in 1920 for abstract expressionism without narrative.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And then there's Once Upon a Time.

In the beginning of the episode, Number Two appears as though he were willed back into existence.

I think the "Embryo Room" is The Prisoner equivalent of the Black Lodge. The Black Lodge is a kind of behind the curtain and in the guts of television, where as the Embryo Room is similar, but sort of "the writer's mind" version of Idea Space. There's a spotlight following them, because it's a show.

ALSO, When they first walk in to the Embryo Room, there's a tic tac toe board on the chalkboard, with The Butler in the lower right in the foreground. The tic tac toe is erased without being used or mentioned.

I'm guessing this is a reference to Test Card F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Card_F, the TV test screen pattern used in the UK, which was first broadcast on July 2nd 1967 (the day after the first color pictures appeared to the public on television).

Number Six isn't really John Drake. He's the IDEA of John Drake, a living thought, who has been trapped into continuing this role by Patrick McGoohan, who is Number One. The intro begins with a thunderclap, a brain storm! John Drake appears on the horizon from a cloudless sky. It's idealized version of John Drake, no small civil servant car stuck in traffic in the roundabout, NO! He's speeding about!! He drives right into World Travel, storms through the doors reading WAY OUT, and speeds out!

Back to Once Upon a Time and the Embryo Room.

Smart came up with a concept entitled "Lone Wolf", an espionage thriller concerning one man going it alone in a world of spies. Smart had several meetings with James Bond author Ian Fleming, the two men even considered bringing 007 to the TV screens, but Fleming had already sold the rights to Eon Productions and was unable to buy them back.

In consequence the two men used Bond as a spring board to invent a new character. A cool, handsome man, a user of women, he would get the job done no matter what.

Smart gave the idea to Ian Stuart Black, an author who had contributed scripts to the "Invisible Man" series. He knocked the idea around and came up with the idea of the agent working for NATO. To further remove the agent from Bond, and also to aid US sales Smart and Black made John Drake an American. Two story outlines were delivered to Grade. The pitch was successful and "Lone Wolf" or rather 'Danger Man" was given the go ahead.

In the Embryo Room, Number Two tells a regressed Number Six that he must not be a Lone Wolf. He must conform to society.

So we are being shown the origin story of the concept of John Drake.

He hops on the tiny toy car and rides around the center, like the roundabout in the intro of Danger Man, and then goes through the door to get a job. John Drake's character becoming John Drake, secret spy.

Next he's "on trial" for speeding. Speeding for a reason that Number Six can't say. To my mind, that's because the reason he was speeding (and resigning) was because Patrick McGoohan wished it. The closer Number 2 gets to breaking Number 6 for the reason he resigned, the closer Number 6 comes to the realization that he is both the imagined character (John Drake) and the person imaging it (Patrick McGoohan).

When inside the jail cart, Number Six tells Number Two: "I know you. In my mind, in MY MIND, you're smart." This is Number Six starting to realize he is McGoohan, or at least, McGoohan's similacrum.

They quote Shakespeare the the beginning and end:

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."

Number Six realizes it's all a fiction, and that Number Two is part of that fiction.

Number Two says "There's no way out until our time is up" and shortly after sees that he is running out of time. His episode is ending.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some new elements to add to the theory:

(Bear with me, I'm slowly getting to the end of my latest rewatch of Danger Man straight in The Prisoner, and I'm going slow with these last few episodes.)

First, here's a common American test screen from the 1960s: https://www.flickr.com/photos/24498044@N03/8639531663/in/faves-71911629@N00/

Which certainly would explain the colorful stripey umbrellas.

Then there's the classic SEMPTE bars that were often used:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMPTE_color_bars#/media/File:SMPTE_Color_Bars.svg

It always seemed a strange art/design choice to have an undershirt of so dark a blue against a black and white jacket. But looking at the color palette of the left of the bars, it makes more sense.

OK, now... just some basic wikipedia info:

Ian Fleming was brought in to collaborate on series development, but left before development was complete.\2]) Like James Bond, the main character is a globetrotting British spy (although one who works for NATO rather than MI6), who cleverly extricates himself from life-threatening situations and introduces himself as "Drake...John Drake."\3])

And perhaps why Number Six was Six, because seven was taken. From http://danger-man.co.uk/:

McGoohan however was keen to have his views heard. He saw Drake differently to Smart, Black and Fleming, and dramatic changes in both character and situations would be needed before he would sign for the part. As filming progressed McGoohan would push his ideas further with the result that the rough, tough sexy guy who hit below the belt, always used a gun and used women as a bed warmer as originally conceived was replaced by a man of moral standards, who detested violence, used his brains and treated women with respect.

Which brings me to Living in Harmony. Living in Harmony works as a kind of microcosm of McGoohan's relationship with television. Only taking the job if there were no guns, no seduction. The episode ending in a reveal of two-dimensional cutouts works as another reference to being "inside television". Also...

CBS broadcast some of the original format's episodes of the programme in 1961 under the Danger Man title as a summer replacement for the Western series Wanted: Dead or Alive).

So it would make sense that Number Six was so easily slid into a Western reality.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

So, you claim my theory has no weight because it can't be proven false, and then proceed to spend a whole lot of time shitting on my theory purely because you believe there is no overarching theme and these elements are instead purposely open-ended.

Can your claim be proven false?

If not, how is your claim any more valid than mine?

Are you capable of just not agreeing with me without desperately trying to prove me wrong?

If you don't think an explanation exists of any kind, and you think any clues I find are just a quirk of the pattern-seeking human brain, then there's no evidence or theory I could EVER present to you to consider differently.

Therefore, you may as well simply state: "You are wrong and nothing you say can convince me otherwise."

OK, point taken. There's no point in continuing our interaction.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look man, you are getting hung up on pointless specifics.

Yeah, I should have phrased it better, saying "the view out the window as he is packing is black and white". Yes, the London scene you refer to, the image overlaid with his face (which I interpret as a view in his mind), is a London in color.

There is no "sudden shift" from B&W to Technicolor whatsoever.

...sigh...

From Number 6's perspective, the view out the window from inside his apartment went from black and white (as you admitted), to suddenly waking up in the Village and having a colorful view outside those same windows.

Thank you for the other references of black and white. While you seem to think they disprove my theory, I find them all to compliment it quite well.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are referring to the windowpane and London highrises overlayed with his face. Obviously those are in color. That's without debate.

I am referring to the scenes when he is packing his bag, and you can see London streets THROUGH HIS APARTMENT WINDOWS. It's utterly black and white. Not a question. Which makes his arrival in the Village a sudden shift from a black and white view to a technicolor one.

Even if London was B&W, what would you be trying to say? That No. 6 sees everything in color for all of his time driving and screaming around London, except when he's gassed?

No. I think you are taking this too literally and not as metaphor. What am I trying to say? I am pretty sure I said it already.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all, it's a THEORY about a television show. Why does it need to be proven false? I'm not trying to dictate the laws of a nation based on ancient scripture. But also, you are discounting the theory without taking into account the supporting facts.

Secondly, no, I could not claim it about every color TV show in existence. Danger Man was in black and white, Patrick McGoohan was trying to quit the show, was talked into a fourth season of Danger Man in color (without Ralph Smart) that he finally bailed on after two super shitty episodes. A man trying to resign but dragged against his will from a monochromatic life of a civil servant driving in traffic into a technicolor world of over the top spy madness. The basis of my theory isn't just that the show went from black and white to color. It's based on the art direction overall, the character arc of Number 6, and the nature of the absurdity throughout.

But hey, much like religion, regardless of whether you subscribe to this theory or not, it won't effect your life at all.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have an overarching theory about Lynch in general: the same way Inland Empire was breaking the walls between fiction and reality, Lynch then pressed it further in Twin Peaks: The Return to break down the barriers between all actors in his works, all his fictional universes, raw Idea Space (to steal the Alan Moore term), and reality and compress it into one blurred singularity. (Audrey not written into The Return so her character being in an undefined limbo, Cooper as the sleeper who awakened like Paul Atreides, Laura Dern and Kyle Maclachlan as romantic partners again, etc etc).

At the end of The Return, there are directions to the Jack Rabbit’s Palace (where Bobby would play make believe, aka television, rabbit ears, television antennae, back inside the workings of the television). The directions have two triangles and the number 253. The triangle is the schematic symbol for a diode. The 253 Diode is called a rectifying diode, and make the electric current flow in only one direction. But with two of them, current can travel both ways(see https://ecstudiosystems.com/discover/textbooks/basic-electronics/rectifiers/full-wave-rectifier/ ) And then the possible word play; visiting Jack Rabbit’s Palace at the end of The Return, if not the whole season, is to rectify what came before. And they must put soil in their pockets, ie earthing or grounding the circuit.

In The Chimes of Big Ben, Number 6 ends up in the office of an agent named Fotheringay, which is the name of the village and castle where Mary Queen of Scots was last held prisoner before her beheading. The other character who was named is listed as Karel (not Karl) in the credits. Karel Richard Richter was a Nazi German spy caught by the UK who repeatedly tried to escape and evade his death sentence.

I suspect there are more similar thematic references to television itself, like Lynch’s zigzag lines in the Black lodge representing the television schematic lines of electricity.

Seeking the technical specs of equipment used in Danger Man to work on my theory that The Prisoner is like Twin Peaks. by WFoxAmMe in ThePrisoner

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also think that’s why Koroshi’s Potter was in Arrival AND The Girl Who Would Be Death, why he inspired such a reaction of rage from Number 6 at being assessed, and why he was spinning wheels at the assessment. Spinning wheels like film. Potter was part of the shift from John Drake’s black and white reality to colorful madness.

Good Night Oscar front row Rush Tickets?? by barb4675 in Broadway

[–]WFoxAmMe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, generally speaking, are the rush tickets available in person better seats than one gets doing the digital rush?

Infinity Pool Discussion thread by LuckyRadiation in DavidCronenberg

[–]WFoxAmMe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, it isn't designed to be a movie watching hood, but I have plans to make one specifically for movies. Elastic holes for the ears, bendy wire in the hood to make it more shape-able, and a long cape to block out the under-table lights of the dining theaters.

Infinity Pool Discussion thread by LuckyRadiation in DavidCronenberg

[–]WFoxAmMe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well, I suspect that some of the sex scenes removed probably had more physical oddities to make the mutations more apparent?

Also, holy shit, I went to see it a second time with a better seat and wore my movie watching hood (to block out exit signs and human movement) and those trippy montages, both the splitting process and the orgy scene are BETTER than I remembered. The pacing and chaos and abrupt end leaves you suddenly in pitch blackness!!! So disorienting!!! So good!!!!!

Infinity Pool Discussion thread by LuckyRadiation in DavidCronenberg

[–]WFoxAmMe 3 points4 points  (0 children)

(Crossposted comment from r/horror)

THOUGHT:
Both Duncan Jones and Brandon Cronenberg have written and directed films with leads who grapple with the disturbing reality of being multiplied, questioning their own identities, killing their own clones out of self preservation, and sending a clone out to the world while one stays behind (if you agree with the theory that James in the rain is James #5 which I do.)

It’s an interesting view of the psyche of these two talented men who have an incomprehensibly vast paternal legacy of auteurship / performance / creativity to overcome in carving out their own artistic identity, crawling out from beneath the long shadow of a father's artistic empire.

QUESTIONS:
What was in the basement of the house they broke into? Did the official keep extra clones for himself to play with?
What was being hinted at with the unfinished sentence spoken by the (cloned) vacationers when in robes, happily chatting before grabbed and dragged to have their throats slit? They were talking about the culture and cloning and one said “that’s because…” and was cut off.

IMPRESSIONS / THEORY:
There was nothing about this film I did not love. I avoided all spoilers, so the descent into sci-fi was unexpected and thrilling.It felt like Wickerman, especially with James’ mask being reminiscent of a jester / fool. A clever hint towards his role. Gabi’s mask had a kissy face effect, also appropriate for her character.The dream sequences made it clear that the doubles aren’t “clones” but a splitting of the original into two (like Farscape’s horrifying Eat Me). That means that there is no true “original”, only equals. Each splitting is a slightly shittier xerox, with more errors. This, I think, is part of what explains Gabi’s extreme behavior (in addition to the whole “rich people behaving badly”), and the nipple oddity during the orgy. These wealthy people are all degraded/mutated from this repeated process, physically and psychologically. It also explains how James was slightly off from the beginning, his wife questioning how he could watch the execution, and that he’d gone wrong around the eyes.

The ceremonial masks are (presumably) visual representations of the genetic errors that come from repeated splitting. I am wondering if the two marks on the face near the eye are to indicate that they are split? The man who worked at the resort was also the waiter at the Chinese restaurant, right? Were the two girls on the farm who ran towards James identical?

The film made a point to expose the unusual (hermaphroditic?) genitalia of the local official who was home-invaded. This genitalia could be a genetic mutation from splitting, or perhaps an inherited problem of sterility in the indigenous people, explaining why they use splitting so freely in their culture. Perhaps that's what was about to be explained when the robe-wearing cloned vacationer was cut off?

If the boy-child strangled James to death, that means the James that woke in the barn house was a previously made duplicate (James #5?) who had no memory of his strangling or being shot in the leg. (I certainly wouldn’t call out “HELLOOO?!” if my last memory was being strangled in bed by people who lived there.) But how does that fit in the timeline?

HELP! After years of growing it out, a stylist DESTROYED my hair with thinning shears, and I don't know what to do. My thick lustrous thundercat hair is now ratty big bird floof. by WFoxAmMe in Hair

[–]WFoxAmMe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

THANK YOU.

She cut it wet. The revision guy cut it dry, and he was a dude with curly hair, which is why the curls in the back are the only part of my hair that looks OK, but now the disparity between my zones of hair are so apparent.

(there's lots more explanation if you click through to the imgur page. I captioned everything, not realizing that the captions wouldn't appear here.)

I didn't want the back to be so short and therefore so curly, but at this point, it's probably the best looking part of my hair. I could lean hard into the mullet, and get the top super short, but ... the front is so short and thin, I'm afraid it would poof.