Thought Bubble - Filmish: Edward Ross in Conversation

Filmish: Edward Ross in Conversation

I was really looking forward for this talk, I knew that this would help me with my dissertation through the film theory that Ross reconsiders, applies theory and applies to new compositions within comic panels. I loved this concept and felt that it would bring a new light to my research project. Unfortunately the panel wasn't what I was expecting, Ross didn't really go into detail about the theories he used and how he would apply his own theories to his work, he talked about how he came up with the concept and his life. It was interesting listening to how he created Filmish but it only stuck to this topic, he didn't talk about theory at all, apart from a short example on architecture in the film The Shining. I wanted to ask him a question about storyboarding within the film industry, what his thoughts on theory would be towards this process, however when he was talking about why he chose comics, he made it very clear that he detested storyboarding which made me feel uncomfortable asking a question. This is why I am using this panel talk as research for PPP module rather than COP3. 

Having said the above, I did like his concept on retelling film theory in the form of comic books, I just wish they were easily accessible to the public. Here are my notes on the Panel:

+ Ross always wanted to be a film maker, influence by Terminator and Alien, as well as other films at a young age.

"Films are something more then just something than you watch"

+ Passion switched from making films to understanding them and learning from them, finding unusual ties and ways to think about them.

+ Structure of these essay comics - Always starts with the topic first, made as essay comic on Die Hard after a friend sent him a film essay on it. Started to read into this, what is it about, started to think 'What is this?', 'What technology is used?', 'How is this portrayed?'.

"It's a detective journey."

+ Ross doesn't make a script, or visualise an image, tries to get everything down first and goes from there. Reads against Representation as it is outdated, we are 20 years behind, online discourse states we should be further ahead. His audience is himself, writes for himself. Loves film genres of horror and sci fi.

+ Architecture in film - Theories on The Shining, the set of the hotel did not align with actual exterior of the hotel. This makes the spectator disorientated. They wonder where they are, where the corridor leads which works with the horror genre.