Wednesday 28 October 2009

Fantastic Mr. Fox

As an avid Roald Dahl fan, you can imagine my excitement on hearing there would be a film adaptation of one of my most beloved children's books. Obviously, I was anxious to see how director Wes Anderson would translate the book onto film, and how the voice actors would measure up to how I imagined the characters. And when I finally did get to go see it, for lack of a better word, it was fantastic. It is filmed in stop animation, and you can see the sheer dedication that went into it. For those not familiar with it, stop animation basically means you shoot a frame, stop the camera, move the models, shoot a frame and so on. By no means is it the most modern technique (it was used in the filming of the original King Kong) and is certainly not one of the most popular techniques; off the top of my head I can only think of Tim Burton and the creators of Wallace and Gromit who favour it.

I of course knew that the film would have to be different from the book, which it was, the book afterall was less than a hundred pages long and aimed at small children. The plot became more complex and characters were added and existing characters were given much more depth. This is certainly an achievement for a film about a society of talking animals.

The cast, I felt perfectly captured the essence of the characters. Jason Schwartzmen's Ash Fox (son of Mr. Fox) portrayal of a boy who desperately wants to be like his father and feels inferior to his cousin Kristoferson provided both humour and emotion. I was doubtful about George Clooney for Mr. Fox but his cocky attitude suited the character perfectly. I felt everything was just as Roald Dahl would have wanted it, from Mr. Fox's study based on Dahl's own at Gypsy house, to the recurring 'bandit hat' gag to the three evil farmer's theme song adapted from Dahl's own poem. Anderson had wonderfully adapted the novel whilst adding his own spin on it.

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Twin Atlantic Exclusive

Since their start in 2007 Glaswegian rock quartet Twin Atlantic has always been the opening band, the support or that other band on the bill. For years they have toured across the UK playing with bands such as Funeral for a Friend and You Me at Six, playing music which they love both listening to and playing. Time and time again Twin Atlantic has proved they can win over any crowd with their relentless performances. This is one band however that seems unable to shake the comparisons to Biffy Clyro with their rough shaggy hair, energetic garage sound and blatant Scottish accents. As a band that have always shown they have potential Twin Atlantic silenced their critics in 2009 and proved their ready to take centre stage with their own tours , sell out gigs and a debut album on its way earning them prestige as a band that’s time has finally come. I recently caught up with Atlantic drummer Craig Kneale.

- Firstly how did Twin Atlantic start?
Sam and Ross were best friends from school and had been in other bands previously, after this they started Twin Atlantic in autumn of 2006. In January of 2007 they went on a UK tour with another Glasgow band called Piano Bar Fight who Barry was helping out on Cello. I knew Sam and Ross from their previous bands and had been to a couple of shows and really liked them. I told Sam's flat mate that I loved their band and it must have got back to him because not long after he asked if I wanted to try out on drums for them. Barry joined at the same time and the rest is (very minor) history.

- What contemporary artists would you compare yourself to or describe as an influence?
Mmmm, there's too many to mention! I wouldn't like to compare ourselves to a band musically, but I do agree with a lot of things that bands like Death Cab For Cutie and RX Bandits stand for. They purely make music for themselves and the joy of it, and have a really refreshing outlook on being in a band. If we could be considered in the same pool as bands like that we'd be very happy.

- You were recently involved in high profile gigs with The Lost Prophets and a tour with The Subways how important is support roles like these in the bands up rise or progression?
They are so important. I know that the first time I saw/heard of many of my favourite bands was supporting a bigger artist. That’s why when you have these supports you have to put as much into it as you would your own gig, perhaps even more. Usually, 90% or more of the crowd is not there to see your band so you have to fight for their attention. When it comes together you can actually see the crowd warming to you and some of these people can become real fans in that instant.

- How hard is it to create originality with your music in a city like Glasgow with such a fantastic music scene?
You try not to think about it! We have always tried to make the music that we wanted to make so we try not to think about what's going on in the scene around us. We don't intentionally try to be different either, I think a lot of the diversity in our music comes from the fact we're all from quite different musical backgrounds.

- How does it feel to be standing out from literally hundreds of bands as being a group with real potential and the chance of the big time?
Again, the minute you start thinking you’re bigger than everyone else is the second you lose track of what you started making music together for. We've all played in bands before where we never really got anywhere, and we do realize that our band has been very lucky and people seem to like what we're doing. We're just going to continue to keep doing what we're doing and see what happens!

- Finally what can fans expect from Twin Atlantic in the near future?
Hopefully a lot! We want to build on everything we managed to achieve in 2008, and just grow as a band. Expect an album, more tours, bigger songs, and more impressive shows - pretty much everything bigger!

Sunday 4 October 2009

Irrational Fears

My Irrational Fears.


When I was three I wandered off in a supermarket, I turned around and I couldn't see my parents around the huge shelves. I'd been abandoned! For a little while my heart jumped in my chest and my eyes searched frantically, of course a second later her smiling, if not slightly panicked face appeared round the corner and lifted me into the trolley. The panic was over, but for a minute I was scared.

I'm not a huge fan of cats. I have a horrible, irrational fear of them so when one morning I awoke in a friends house to a cat sitting at the bottom of my bed my mind screamed lion and my fight or flight instinct prepared me to run, screaming from the ferocious beast as it prowled hungrily for prey. Then of course "Fluffy" - what a name for such a monster - hopped off the bed in search for a more meager, smaller prey, most likely residing in her food bowl. But for a minute, I was scared.

It's not just cats that terrify me, dangerous though they are. Heights also turn me into a quivering wreck. It's very easy for someone safely on the ground to command gently 'just to jump' and ' not to look down' but that is not the case when you are battling vertigo infinite miles up. As the wind throws you off kilter and you sway alarmingly close to the edge, it's very hard not to peer slowly downwards to certain death on the black foam floor of the playground. Twelve year old you is convinced the thin, frail metal slide will bend and break beneath you. Leaving you in a tangled mess of limbs wishing you never did. But then of course some dare devil behind you, over anxious for their turn, pushes you and you speed down the death defying drop. As soon as you reach the bottom you smile giddily before pushing away the ridiculous desire to slide again. Your feet are now firmly planted on the ground - where hopefully they will remain for all time - but for a minute you were scared.

It is true that we all experience 'The Fear' but we are not all so united in this irrationality than in those few terrifying moments outside exam rooms. Stomachs clenching, sweating and becoming convinced that the last five years of education have been forgotten. What's your name again? What exam is this? Did you have breakfast this morning? Have you ever had breakfast? The important thing is, forgetting these questions and believing, or hoping, that scared as you are the teachers know what they're doing and that the test paper you receive isn't going to be an hour long riddle. It's walking in to the room, taking your seat and reminding yourself that as terrifying as that lion looks, it is just a big kitten!