I have more of the below stairs cat servants to share with you. Some have debuted (wow, that spelling looks wrong - "deybyood" is what I mean, in case it is) already on the arCATecture
Facebook page, and all of them are already for sale as prints on
etsy.
I'm still fiddling with some of the descriptions for them in different places, and so they're just slightly all out of sink with themselves, if that makes any sense.
I've also opened a shop on
Zazzle, and the same is true there. It will take me a good while to get it all stocked up. I'm making each product one.at.a.time, since I have to place the art on each phone case, pillow, mug, tile, shirt, etc. etc. individually, to insure the best size and correct placement. So its my life's work now, basically.
In the last post I said I was determined to figure out how to do these all digitally. Well. I tried. I really did. But what I finally figured out is my 'ideal formula' for these kitties, as well as my other work, is to do 90-99 percent of it with colored pencils, then come in, if necessary, with some digital 'polish' to enhance areas that may not be quite strong enough with pencil alone.
I just can't get the same look of 'real' colored pencil by doing it all digital. The 'polishing' I do though is with a special colored pencil texture brush I made for myself, so it still looks like pencil. The combination works for me, and I'm thrilled to finally have this figured out.
I may take all these over to their own blog, and eventually their own website. (Even though I'm still lagging waaaaaay behind on the re-do of my own main website! which is half done, but not published, and yes, I was one of those kids who didn't finish one thing before starting the next, which drove my parents nuts. Some people never change.)
I think this may be all of the below stairs staff - at least for now. I supposed I could do an under butler, more footmen, housemaids, kitchen maids, scullery maids, hall boy, nanny or nurse (although she would technically be kind of in-between up and downstairs), groundskeepers, and a few other assorted folks. For now though, I need to get these ones all caught up with themselves in all the shops, then I'll move on to something else. I have lots of ideas for other characters, too!
By Kathryn Kalinak
This year’s slate of contenders includes established pros (John Williams, Thomas Newman, Alexandre Desplat) along with some newcomers (William Butler and Owen Pallett, Steven Price). This used to be a category where you had to pay your dues, but no longer. The last three winners had never been nominated before. So the real surprise winner in this category would be Williams.
William Butler and Owen Pallett: Her
Click here to view the embedded video.
Butler and Pallett already have a pocketful of awards and this is just the kind of “outsider” score (Butler and Pallett’s first nomination) that Academy voters love: remember Reznor and Ross winning for The Social Network? A win for Butler and Pallett makes the Academy seem hip and edgy and cool, not unimportant to an aging votership. Gravity is the favorite to win here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the statuette goes to Her. Its use of acoustic instruments (that piano!) brings coziness to the sterile interiors and even the electronic instruments radiate warmth. The score is crucial in helping us to understand the characters in the film and feel for them. This wouldn’t be the same film without the score.
Alexandre Desplat: Philomena
Click here to view the embedded video.
Desplat has done some remarkable work in the last few years (Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, The King’s Speech, The Queen, Harry Potter, Fantastic Mr. Fox—a personal favorite) and he’s the go-to composer for films about England and now Ireland. But he’s perennially overlooked by Academy voters (he’s lost five times in the last seven years and for some amazing work—come on, Academy)! I don’t think this is his year. Philomena doesn’t have a high enough profile in the Oscar race. I would LOVE to be wrong about this. Desplat deserves an Oscar for something and why not for Philomena—it’s a heartfelt film with an equally heartfelt score.
Thomas Newman: Saving Mr. Banks
Click here to view the embedded video.
Newman has twelve nominations and no wins but I don’t think this year is going to change that. Saving Mr. Banks was almost completely overlooked by the Academy (this is its only nomination) and Newman’s style of big symphonic scoring hasn’t found favor in recent years with Academy voters. (See John Williams below).
Steven Price: Gravity
*clip from film includes “Debris” from the soundtrack
Click here to view the embedded video.
Gravity is the front runner here. The trailer’s tag line reads “At 372 miles above the earth, there is nothing to carry sound.” Except the soundtrack…which is filled with the score. Big, noticeable, dare I say it—intrusive, this is the kind of score you can’t fail to notice…even if you try. John Williams meets Hans Zimmer.
John Williams: The Book Thief
Click here to view the embedded video.
This is Williams’ forty-ninth nomination—but The Book Thief doesn’t have the visibility of other films in this category and Academy voters of late have failed to embrace the kind of big symphonic scores, like this one, that routinely won Oscars back in the twentieth century. Lush, melodic, memorable—vintage Williams. Like Newman for Saving Mr. Banks, Williams would be an upset.
Will win: Steven Price for Gravity
Should win: William Butler and Owen Pallett for Her
Kathryn Kalinak is Professor of English and Film Studies at Rhode Island College. Her extensive writing on film music includes numerous articles as well as the books Settling the Score: Music in the Classical Hollywood Film and How the West was Sung: Music in the Westerns of John Ford. She is author of Film Music: A Very Short Introduction.
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The post Best Original Score: Who will win (and who should!) appeared first on OUPblog.
Where did July and August go?
Computer Woes. First, my server has been wonky for the last two weeks–apologies. If you have any difficulty getting to pages, please send me an email so I can straighten it out (darcy at darcypattison dot com).
Travel. For me, this summer included a great two-week trip to China. Our friend of ten years was getting engaged and invited us to the engagement party. Wow, what a great trip. So much to see and do–and we did all the usual things. Beijing in July was very smoggy. But we had a couple clear days to climb the Great Wall and see the Forbidden City. My favorite part was wandering the streets, as you’ll see in this video of a street vendor blowing a caramel-sugar pig:
Research (NOT!) After China, I did research (NOT!). My friend, Dori Butler won the Edgar award this year for the best children’s mystery for her series, The Buddy Files. (IF you haven’t read them, you need to!) She’s working on a new mystery–duh! And doing research: she’s recently shot a Taurus 380 and a Glock 22.40.
Why can’t I do cool research, I wondered? So, I went and had my throat slashed. Well, technically, they called it minor surgery as they took out my thyroid. But I now have the personal experience to go with Dori’s to write that mystery thriller. Hmmm. Maybe I don’t like research so much.
Back to Normal. But all it well here in the mid-South. And I’m back in the saddle with lots of plans for fall!
Plans for Fall.
Random Acts of Publicity: By Wednesday, I’ll have the complete info posted on this fun week when it’s “All About Your Friend’s Book.”
And I’m planning a September series on the Writer’s Voice.
So, how was YOUR summer? Any interesting trips, research, writing? Please share your good news!
In response to a Baby Center Toddler Bulletin entitled, "How To Raise A Reader", I'm revisiting a post I wrote in May, entitled "Once Upon A Time" I hope you enjoy both articles!
5/16/07
Once Upon a Time ...
Billy's eyes filled with tears, as he plop down.
He wiped back the tears, but still wore a frown.
His face felt hot, he was mad as could be.
He could not believe Mom took his T.V.
She said, "Billy, you will not watch T.V. during the day."
"Now, go read a book, or go out and play."
(from my manuscript Billy Board and the Reading Glasses)
When my son was born , I was a scared young person, who hadn't the slightest idea what to do with a newborn. In fact, if it hadn't been for a copy of Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes, from a friend; his first night at home would have been a disaster, since it was the rhythm of the words that helped get him to sleep.
I read him his first book, two days after he was born, and then introduced him to a more grown up group of friends in Peter Pan, Wendy, and Winnie the Poo. We read about countless characters, in a variety of books, every year until he was old enough to read himself to sleep. I kept him on a routine, and read to him every night, as well as many times during the day; reading was one of our favorite pastimes. If you have not begun to read to your child, it is never too late, and there are many reasons why you should began. I'm glad I did.
One of his first books was, Goodnight Moon, crafted by means of Margaret Wise Brown’s elegant prose, a text that puts children and adults alike right in the mist of the story. I read Goodnight Moon every night during his entire colicky period of infancy. The years followed with Dr. Seuss, P.D. Eastman, E.B. White, and Old Yeller’s, Fred Gibson. Even after he was able to read on his own, I still read to him. He began to comfort himself with books, and rely on them to cope with many difficult situations. The characters and events in a good book are great examples of what to do and how to act in every situation. Teaching children that they are not alone, that we all experience similar situations, and that it is in the ways we react, that we differ.
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