[arg_discuss] Personal Influences/Antecedents

[Jay Bushman]

Just getting around to answering this one:

Orson Welles - not just War of the Worlds, which is the obvious  
antecedent, but his entire body of work, especially the stage  
productions he did in the 30s which were based all around magic and  
misdirection.

Stanley Kubrick (esp. Clockwork Orange and Doctor Strangelove) - my  
first introduction into the film style that I'd later learn was called  
Realism - long takes and deep focus means that the filmmakers are  
letting you watch all the bits of the image and not telling you what  
you should be looking at.  An early form of interactivity, in a sense.

Mike Leigh (esp. Naked) - when I was in film school, I did all of my  
projects using Mike Leigh's style - we had no script, and we'd spend  
weeks in rehearsal improvising characters and situations until a story  
emerged, then we'd boil that down to a written script.

The Clash - the DIY aesthetic

Ian Svenonius (Nation of Ulysses, Soft Focus) - read The Psychic  
Soviet - a mind blowing book that shows how you can take a story or  
event that everybody agrees happened in the same way, and retell it  
completely differently.

David Simon (Homicide, The Corner, The Wire) - the most brilliant,  
bracing, arrogant writerly credos ever = "We don't give the audience  
what they want.  We give them what they need."  "Fuck the reader."

I guess what most of these people have in common is they aren't bound  
by the conventional "rules" of storytelling.

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On Jan 13, 2008, at 10:31 AM, Michael Monello wrote:


> A question for y'all!

>

> Who/what are the people/projects that have exerted a great influence  

> over your work, but might not be considered part of the ARG or ARG  

> like history to date?

>

> I've been thinking about this a lot after reading a draft white  

> paper that Brian Clark is writing. While I think we can all point to  

> things and people that are commonly considered to have influenced  

> the genre, I'd like to know what or who has particularly inspired  

> YOU. This will likely be a very personal response, but I'm  

> interested to see if there are any common threads to be found.

>

> I'm working up a post for my site on one of many of my idols/sources  

> of inspiration, so I'm going to hold off answering until later  

> tonight but I thought I'd get the ball rolling now!

>

> Best,

>

> Michael Monello

> Partner, Campfire

> 62 White Street, 3W

> New York, NY 10013

> 212-612-9600

> http://www.campfirenyc.com

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