Terry Gilliam Interviews

I've always liked Terry Gilliam's films.   One of the first adult films I ever watched in the cinema was The Fisher King which had a big impact on me.   I loved the combination of reality and fantasy which is a theme that runs through many of Terry Gilliam's films.  

For christmas I got a book of Terry Gilliam interviews over the last 30 years from my girlfriend.

This book covers each of his films and animations from the very early Monty Python days, through to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.   The fact is that it is incredible that Terry Gilliam manages to make the films he does in Hollywood.   His whole life has been a continual battle to keep hold of the control of the films he makes.   He has a bad reputation but this is mainly due to the fact that he doesn't mind pissing off executives if it means that his films are kept the way that he mean't them to be seen.

It opened up to me many ideas and misconceptions about Terry Gilliam and his films.   For instance, Barron Muchausen is always known as one of the biggest flops of all time.   The fact is that the distribution company only distributed 117 prints of the film throughout America.   Compared to about 400 for an arthouse release, this film was always going to fail.   I think that Hollywood has a problem with him due to the fact that it is almost impossible to figure out if one of his films will be successful.

The fact is that Terry Gilliam is a sharp witted and deep person who just likes to make a specific kind of film.   He is interested in imagination and seeing the world in a different way.   His films are like parallel universes that he uses as a reflection of our own.   He uses them to emphasise what he does and doesn't like in the world.

At an early age, he vowed never to do a job that he did not like.   This mean't that he was very poor for periods of time, but also mean't that everything he did was moving him in the direction he wanted.   I think that this is incredibly clever, if you can pull it off!

Overall, Terry Gilliam is a really likeable guy, that has a good laugh all the time which makes reading his interviews really enjoyable.   His is strongly opinionated but is never full of himself and is also an inspiration from a creative point of view.

After reading this I think I'll have to go and see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus!

Waiting for Godot

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Theatre Royal Haymarket to see 'Waiting for Godot'.   This is one of the first real plays that I've ever seen so it was a real novelty.   Ian McKellen and Roger Rees were very good in the main roles.

The story centres around two apparently homeless men waiting around in a desolate area.   They are waiting for someone or something called Godot throughout the whole play.   

I thought that this play was going to be much heavier than it was.   I think that was partly to do with the performers injecting quite a bit of humour into it.   Really, the story is about the two characters trying to entertain each other as they wait.   They need to entertain each other or they start to dwell on their lives and existence.

Also, 2 other characters appear.   A rich upper-class man and his servant.   They are tied together and through the first act the rich man abuses his servant.   Through the second act the rich man is blind and is now lead by his servant.   The roles are reversed and is some kind of metaphor of the class system and the dependencies between the classes.

I suppose that if you read into it, its about the wait through life and the pointlessness of existence.   This said, I think that there is a light hearted side with alleviates the heaviness of the subject matter.

Will definitely be up for going to see another one of this types of plays.

Ava's Photobook

Over the last year I've been working on an ongoing project for my niece Ava.   This is actually the biggest photo project that I've done so far.   I've been taking photos of her just about every month since she was born with the idea of making a book of them.    Well, I've finished it and I think its came out pretty well.

I used Blurb Books to make it.   You download software off of their website which allows you to construct a book.   You can lay out pictures and put in text.   Its pretty basic software but if you spend a bit of time you can get round any limitations the software imposes.   I did the sleeve and some of the pages in Photoshop to give me a bit more flexibility.   Once you finish making the book, you can then send it off to get printed.   

Heres some shots of the final result:

Was really happy with the results and the printing came out excellent.   I used the premium paper option which was a bit heavier than the normal paper.   I chose the dust jacket option for the cover, which I think is nicer than the image being printed directly on to the hardback.

The binding and quality of the final result was pretty much professional and the 160 pages made a reasonable sized book.

I had a bit of hassle with the book disappearing in the post.   I got it delivered using normal post which was a massive problem over christmas.   The book never appeared, so I got in touch with Blurb and they just printed off and sent me a new one!   Great service.

Would definitely recommend making a book with Blurb.   I'm in the process of planning my next one!

It you would like to have a closer look or buy the book, you can go here:

BUY THE BOOK!

You can also view a preview in there if you want by clicking on the cover.

I hope that she enjoys this book later in her life and its not too embarrassing for her!