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July 22, 2010
Charlaine Harris, Lover of Strong Women with Flaws, Speaks at SDCC
Charlaine Harris did an incredible job creating a completely entertaining, bright Southern world of of a mind-reading barkeep and the vampires she loves. Sometimes, especially early in the series, I got annoyed at the poorly developed characters (particularly the lack of depth in any character of color). But over the years, it's become my biggest guilty pleasure. Listening to her at ComicCon gave me new respect for her career and for the strong heroine she created.
Favorite quotes: when asked if the actors in True Blood look like the characters in her head, she acknowledged that Anna is a beautiful woman, but she's a small thing. And she said, "I know this wouldn't fly in Hollywood, but Sookie is a woman with curves. She's a big girl."
Her last quote of the day: "I love strong women with flaws." And I love the strong women she creates. I only wish Alan Ball will change his focus and allow the women in his series to show their strength. Follow the jump for some verbatim note-taking.
Since Angelina Jolie is here, I didn't expect to attract so many of you. But my editor says we attract different crowds.
I'm sure that you know that you know that tomorrow i'll be here with the cast. A few years ago, I was laboring away in obscurity. It came to me that it was time to change my career. It came to me that instead of writing conventional mysteries, it seemed a good idea to write a book with supernatural people.
As a fan of Anne Rice.
Gradually I built up the character of Sookie Stackhouse and she became more and more real to me and I wrote Dead Until Dark. After two years, it found a editor. A lot of people couldn't understand the combination of blood, sex, and tears and humor. I'm thinking that you can go line up at the microphone.
I revere Anne. Anyone who wrote Interview with a Vampire deserves their own icon. At the time, it was staggeringly original. You can't imagine how amazing that book was when it came out. One of the first messages I got on Facebook was from Anne Rice. Anne messaged me and told me what a big fan she was of the show. And so I said, then you should try reading the books. And every now and then we'll message each other.
How did you come up with the name? My grandmother's best friend's name was Sookie. It's an old Southern name that had fallen into disuse. It seemed to be a good name for a girl with old fashioned Southern values. Stackhouse, I think I got it from the phone book. I didn't realize how hard it would be for people with fangs to say. You spit when you try to say 's' with fangs.
I'm curious what role your religion has in your writing? I am constantly amazed at how many books don't mention a faith, whether the absence of it or the presence of it. I think how you think about God and the universe is so important to how you think. I did worry a long time, I was discussing this with my guest relations escort, I did wonder for awhile, if I was doing the right thing. People were wondering how I reconcile what I write and my faith and I don't see a problem because I've heard from so many people who have found happiness in my books. And I feel really good about what I do.
Wondering if you were going to bring some of things Alan has created into your books? No. To me, they're separate entertainment vehicles. The show has its own world and its own writers. The characters are somewhat sorta the same and sorta different, but that's okay. I know it can get confusing for people who read the books and then read the show. I think Alan's got a great group of writers and they're super writers and they have ideas of what will make great entertainment on the screen and that's not information that pertain to writing the books.
When you introduce a new character do you know their arch?
Truthfully the way I write is a disgrace. I'm a pancer – that means I write by the seat of my pants. I create characters as they're needed. The subsidiary characters are the fun ones – you don't have to care if they live or die. It's a lot like playing paper dolls, in the literary way. I like creating those characters, but at the end of the day they all have to carry their load.
Do you have any influence on the direction of the show?
My control has consisted of picking who to give those rights to. And with Alan Ball, I believe I gave those rights to the right person. Truly, sometimes I watch the show [with my hands over my eyes]. As far as control, no I don't have any.
Are characters in the book based on people you know? Yes and no. I save descriptions, character traits, bits of dialog. Writers will follow you around in the mall to hear the end of the story. And the punch line was “and that's why she became a lesbian.” and I so wanted to ask her to tell me the beginning.
Why did Bill levitate in the first book and never again? And why is he the only one who could teach Sookie how to use her gift? I just haven't needed it. I guess if you needed him to dust high shelves. I haven't had a good answer for the second question. She already understood her gift, he just taught her how to use it for a different reason.
Have you always wanted to be a writer? Yes, I have always wanted to be a writer and aren't I the luckiest person in the world? I've read writers all my life that have captured my attention, starting with Edward Allen Poe and Charlotte Bronte.....Ray Bradbury, and the late great Shirley Jackson and is one of the best American short story writers ever. It would be impossible to point to any one and say that is the source of my creative energy. I think if you're bitten by the bug to be a writer, you may succeed, but I think you have to be born to it.
Having read the series going on the third time now, when do you plan for the next book to come out? If it's May, it's Sookie. Sookie comes out it May every year. Also there will be a short story about Sookie, and Pam and a stripper pole in a compilation of short stories the first Tuesday in August. The Sookie Compendium will be out in February. Featuring a novella written by me having Sam and Sookie going to Sam's brother's wedding and Quinn is in it.
You finished the Shakespeare series and finished the Oral Tea Garden series and you finished Harper Connelly. Anything new? I think so. I'm going to work with Chris Goldwin on a graphic novel. I do have several other ideas. I love writing Sookie and I haven't run out of her and I have a contract for three more.
Did you want to write any of the scripts? I know this sounds lackluster of me, but no I didn't want to. I like what I do a lot and I guess I haven't been bitten by the script writing bug.
Explanation I give for very random hearing of vampire thoughts – of course they're dead, their brains don't fire, but every now and then their brains fire correctly and Sookie can hear them.
Why did you make lemons poisonous to fairies? I had to make something poisonous to fairies and I thought, why not make it something totally ridiculous.
Did you see the people who were cast for the show? Do they look right? A few look exactly right – like VanSantaan who plays Pam, Chris Bower who plays Andy Bellfleur. God bless Anna, she's so small. Sookie is definitely curvy. I know that doesn't fly in Hollywood, but she's a bigger gal than that.
As a pancer, do you do research? Oh yes, I do a lot of research. S. J. Rosanne is a wonderful writer and she used to be an architect. She was very willing to help and I find that most people really like to talk about what they do, especially people who work in the death industry. I do research and I try to find out as much as possible. I've gotten to know a lot of Wiccans and witches in research for the Sookie series.
I'm a passive aggressive neat freak. I wish everything was clean and I don't find the time to make it so. I love a clean house. Yeah, that's sorta a wish fulfillment thing.
Advice for new writers? I've been published for 27 years. I would go the traditional way. I think you'll find out a lot about how the publishing industry works and perhaps what is wrong with your work. I am no authority on the publishing industry now, that's just what I would do.
It seems like Sookie is toying with the idea of becoming a vampire?
Sookie will never become a vampire.
Are you team Eric or team Bill? They're both my babies and they're both part of me. This division into teams is not useful to me.
Why did you set it in Louisiana? Anne had done such a great job making southern LA so romantic, I thought why don't I take northern LA, no one has taken it.
How did you decide to put Bubba into the books? He's going to be in the next book. It just came to me in a flash – you know that scene in Men In Black where they see all the supposed humans who are really aliens. It just made such perfect sense to me.
When I went to Portugal a few months ago, they had just published book five there. All the readers there were brimming with questions and I didn't remember that book. I had to really scramble to answer their questions.
Does Eric want Sookie to become a vampire? Eric would definitely like her to become a vampire, in fact he says that in the book I'm writing now, because he thinks it's the next logical step. And Sookie's not interested.
There had to be some kind of tension between the fae and the vampire world and there had to be a reason they avoided each other.
One of the things I like about you is that you're down to earth and not arrogant.
Oh in private life, I am totally arrogant.
Alan was the most impressive and I knew he could bring the emotions to the screen because he's done that quite well. In some respects it was a no brainer and in some respects it was pretty nerve-wracking all the time.
Is Sookie's fae blood related to her telepathy? No. See I knew the answer to that one.
When Niall said that vampire really loves you, did he mean Eric or Bill? I am not here to spell everything out for you, you lazy people!
Posted by cj at 05:58 PM | Comments (0)
Danny Elfman at ComicCon!
The answer that I needed to hear - why won't there be an Oingo Boingo reunion?
I hate rock and roll band reunions. Unlike the world of zombies, when you're dead you should stay dead. But also, unfortunately the real clincher, I sustained some significant hearing damage from the 17 years . The last 4-5 years of the band took 10-15 years of hearing from me. I think you'd probably agree that this is a wise decision, knowing what I'm up against.Check out the rest of my rough notes from the session in the extended entry.
Do you and Tim Burton have similar obsessions?
When we first met, I was in a rock band at the time. To make a long story short, I hadn't considered scoring films. Learned that this young kid was making a movie of PeeWee Herman. We both grew up in Los Angeles and grew up on horror films. I saw two science fiction fantasy, horror, and sometimes adventure films a weekend. When I saw the day the earth stood still, and learned that there was a name associated with music. Vincent Price and mine was Peter Laurie (the tortured and the torturer)
What would you say was the toughest project so far? I'm sure every new one was hard.
That's an easy one. By far the toughest thing I've done in my life was Batman, the first Batman. The studio and producer definitely didn't want me on the movie. I had to prove myself over and over. Wanted Michael Jackson to write Batman's theme, Prince write Joker and George Michael to write some other theme.
What was the most rewarding? I have a cold right now. It's a luxury not having to cancel any shows. If I had to pick a favorite child, maybe I'd have to say Edward Scissorhands, it was small and nobody was interfering with us at all. And probably Nightmare Before Christmas – because again there was nobody looking over us. Edward, I actually thought I was screwing up the movie by doing music that didn't fit at all until the end of the movie. Nightmare, we had no scrip and Tim had these drawings. I wrote all the songs in 30 days with Tim. He had some lyrics sketched out. I don't think anything I've done before or since has been as easy and seamless or organic in that kind of way. What I love about Nightmare before Christmas, you're actually the star of the movie.
You mentioned Alice and I think it's one of the best scores you've done for Tim Burton. With all the crazy imagery in the movie, you could have done a bizarre score and it has a feeling from some concerts you've done. Well Tim and Alice, he wanted to keep it grounded with the music. The more weirder the movie is, the music needs to be more grounded. He still leaves me a long enough leash that I can have my fun. I've never seen him more nervous than him working on Alice. Only Tim Burton would bother to build a chocolate waterfall and chocolate boats. In the end, it came out great. Not the relaxed experience that say Edward Scissorhands was.
You have worked in a variety of styles but there is a recognizable element in your music. You musical personality is associated with your work with Tim Burton. I've had many more opportunities to express myself with Tim. First I was the comedy guy, then I became the quirky guy, the I could do big movies. He was allowing me access to everything, which is always what I wanted. Tim has allowed me to move around quite a bit. There's been quite a bit of ground I've been able to cover with him. He's allowed me to write and open up more doors for me.
Audience question: do you hear music in your head? Yes, unfortunately I hear it all the time and I get loops in my head all the time. Sometimes it's what I'm working on and sometimes its jingles from a
Kerry Hatch to Tom Ob
Between the Mystic Knights – we had 25 players go through there. There were a lot players running through Oingo Boingo. Reissues, I don't know? It's not up to me. We pretty much released every tune we ever recorded. Two big confident I don't knows.
What is your favorite song? That's also a hard one because I tend to hate every song I've ever written. I never listen to any of my own soundtracks until I have to do a compilation. If I had to pick a song that sticks with me, maybe I'd have to say Jack's Lament from Nightmare.
If there was a taste or flavor with the notes, they'd all be bitter. I know, I've read that people see color...it's more like digging in mud searching for precious stones and then just settling for whatever's solid.
I love percussion instruments, even though I played guitar for years with Oingo Boingo and use piano for scoring.
I was just grabbing onto things that just popped up into my head. I was always taking characters and popped up into my head. Whether it was the right wing guy talking about capitalism or the guy talking about quasi-molestation. Often things were popping from the newspaper. I was out to offend everybody.
Anything that Tim draws, I love.
I love Mars Attacks and I was wondering if it was easy or hard to write the score?
When I saw the rough cut in the screening room, I heard the score in my head and ran out to record notes.
Does anyone know what a theromen is?
I was wondering if you were going to put out a DVD with Oingo Boingo videos on it?
One of the problems is that it's 3 different record labels.
I'm working on The Life of Huidini. Broadway shows are extremely tumultous things. I don't know how things will go, maybe it will happen, maybe it won't.
As a composer, the big wham bang moment was when I was 16 and got to high school and a friend turned me onto the Rite Of Spring by Travinsky. I had already been a fan of Bernard Herman. I was excited and thought it there would be something extra. Bernard Herman made me aware and a fan of movie music and Tranvinsky who rocked my world.
Who animated insanity? A really wonderful guy Fred Stir. He was wildly talented and sadly he's not with us any longer.
Do you miss the ability to write lyrics and communicate with people verbally? For 10 years I did both things simultaneously and every time I was doing one I would be desperate to do the other. If there's lyrics to write, I will but not necessarily. I'm always interested in hungry, fresh things.
Sometimes a piece of music gets trashed and I don't care because I store it away and use the melody in other things. When you're writing 80-90 minutes of music, most of the stuff you come up with
Is there a possibility of an Oingo Boingo reunion? Why not?
I hate rock and roll band reunions. Unlike the world of zombies, when you're dead you should stay dead. But also, unfortunately the real clincher, I sustained some significant hearing damage from the 17 years . The last 4-5 years of the band took 10-15 years of hearing from me. I think you'd probably agree that this is a wise decision, knowing what I'm up against.
Wrote a ballet, rabbit roke and hoping to get it recorded. Writing a piece for an 80 piece orchestra and trying to get it recorded. Pieces for percussion and chamber orchestra that I think are going to be really fun.
My question is, when you were a child did you know you were going to be a composer? As a kid I only thought about science. I wanted to be a radiation bioligst. Sent away for free radioactive sand.
What was the first song you wrote?
chettranian national anthem – chettranyia was a place made entirely of cheddar and we wore chettranian outfits.
How long does it usually take you to do a score? There's always a deadline. The ideal amount of time is 12 weeks. On the Hulk I only had 5 weeks to re-score. The 5 got extended to 6, but even still it was incredibly difficult.
My wife is Bridget Fonda. Right now she is enjoying being a mom to our 5 ½ year old and every now and then I see her reading scripts, but she doesn't like the ending. She's very comfortable in the her own skin.
I feel like all of my film scoring training was watching movies. I'm the worst one to talk to – don't do it like I did and study.
Posted by cj at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)