Two Things That Are Making Me Happy, Happy, Happy

Now, for those of you who have been counting down the days until "300" is released on DVD, there is only 4 - count 'em - 4 more days until you can toddle off to your nearest place of commerce and procure one of these babies.

For happy, happy me, my husband has brought it home a week early as he brings home all new releases early. I got to watch one of the battle sequences last night before I dropped off to sleep. Talk about sweet dreams!






And how did I watch the "300" highlight? On the media player option, in our new Windows Vista set up, on our new computer we bought on Wednesday! As you may have noted, I've been soldiering along on a wheezing, ancient triple hand-me-down computer. For which I have been grateful, believe me.

But things have been steadily improving for Brad and me, and when one of my Bus Buddies mentioned she'd just got herself a new computer at Staples, where they're selling off older models, I got the Indiana Jones/standing with the special pole/ beam of light moment. I told Brad, "It's now or never, honey."




We got a wonderful Xplio tower with a new keyboard and mouse thrown in. That alone is such a sigh of relief, as our mouse had a signature hit-and-miss style all its own.

I'm in the starry-eyed infatuation stage with our new set-up, and I hope this loving feeling stays warm and fuzzy for a nice long while.

Countdown to "300"

To say I'm having trouble concentrating today is putting it mildly. In the first place, my cousin tried to buy tickets ahead of time but they aren't putting them on sale until it opens on Friday. So the tension of not knowing if we'll even get in is unbearable.

Then the long, drawn-out effect of The Day Before is excruciating. I've been waiting for this film to come out since the October before last, meaning 17 months. October 2005 is when it went before the lens. And I'm not exaggerating to say that I've been waiting for it every single day since then.

The torment! The exquisite torment!

I'll just have to distract myself tonight with "Who's Afraid of Happy Endings?", a documentary on the romance industry airing tonight on Bravo at 9:30 my time. My friend Kelly Boyce is one of three writers profiled, and I know it's going to be great.

How Comics Will Change Film

Graphic novels are to mass market publishing as romance novels are to commercial fiction. Comics, sniff the literati. Trash, agree the chattering class.

Multibillion-dollar industry, crow DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics and Fantagraphics Books. Back at ya, cheer Avon Books, Pocket Books, Ballantine Books, Bantam Dell Publishing Group and the Grand Mammy of them all, Harlequin Enterprises. Comics fans and romance readers are far too enthusiastic about their favorite artists and writers to care much about naysayers. While romance continues to dominate 50% of fiction sales, its reputation is undergoing a bit of a shift with the emergence of women's fiction as a genre.

So too with the graphic novel. If the uninitiated were to pick up a graphic novel, the level of 'graphic' and the darkness of the novel would make most people fear for the children. Until they realized that this 'comic' was never meant for children. Graphic novels are more like the storyboards for a film. As with shots composed for film, each story panel must stand alone as a means of telling the narrative, showing mood, developing character. Unlike film, the story panel is a static, two-dimensional surface, which encourages comic artists to create the sensation of movement, depth, energy and mood in a rectangular frame.

Which brings me to the excitement of the upcoming "300". This is the second film based on Frank Miller's graphic novels. "Sin City" was the first, and that captured the look and feel of the graphic novels to the degree that it took film in a whole new direction. So many of those shots set-ups pulsated with originality and a completely fresh way to inhabit the frame. Even before the edits, the images tumbled off the screen and roared over the seats, hopefully into the minds of filmmakers everywhere. And now we have "300", which faithfully utilizes significant story panels and recreates them precisely for the screen.

Directors Robert Rodriguez and Zack Snyder have made the first footprints in the snow. I'm hoping many other filmmakers will take a second look at the way comics see the world. Cinema is a visual medium, after all. There are infinite ways to shoot a script, so many more than long shot, medium shot, close-up, tracking shot. Studying graphic novels gives me more colors for my palette. Since I tend to see the world in vivid technicolor, I welcome any ideas that can translate my narrative into an almost physical experience for the viewer. Of course, being Frank Miller stories, "300" and "Sin City" are not for those who wouldn't welcome the sensation of being kicked in the gut.

I think any story would benefit from heightened visual dynamics, even a love story. Especially a love story. Perhaps the new frontier of romantic film would be akin to feeling a kiss form on a viewer's lips. Dynamic visuals would do that. Let's pull some other shots out of the bag, directors. The 50% share of fiction buyers who love romance would translate into an awful lot of coin at the box office. But we want to feel that lover's breath on our necks, not watch another lucky someone and see her sighing responses. Anyone willing to step up to the plate?

"300"

Last night as I sat on my couch, eating my supper, my dog curled up beside me, a voice broke through the howling windstorm outside and I looked up. His voice is unmistakable. Since I use this actor as the model for the vampire book I'm currently writing, you could safely say his voice rumbles through my head on a daily basis.

But last night it came from outside of my internal creative program. At least, I hoped that's why it sounded so commanding, compelling me to look up. Maybe I'd finally crossed it, that fine line between creativity and madness. But no, it was the commercial for Gerry Butler's upcoming "300", based on Frank Miller's graphic novel.

Because I'm a rabid Gerry fan, I've already seen one promo piece online. But this one had new footage in it, plus I could hear his voice finally, as opposed to reading his lips on the speaker-free work PC. "Spartans - this is where we fight. This is where we die."

Ooo! Shivers of delight! March 9th, all who would take this journey into the ancient world. Lots of swords, chiseled men, and extremely visceral cinematography, based exactingly on Miller's dynamic story panels. Only a few weeks to go. Waiting for a film I know I'm going to love is like exquisite foreplay. Can I take it? What other option do I have?