The Other Side
School of Visual Arts - MFA Computer Art
© 2002 Scott Antifonario
Gary Leib
Table of Contents
Vision………………..……………...4
Exposition…………………………...5
Nostalgia………………………..…...7
Intuition………………………...…..12
Finale…………………………….....16
Inspiration……………………….….18
Rant…………………………………26
Artist’s Statement……….……….…30
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Vision
Computer animation artist Scott Antifonario discusses his work in progress, What Goes
Around, Must Come Around, a tribute to the late Rodman Edward Serling’s The Twilight
Zone with the use of digital technology in order to recreate his version in 3D animation.
His study investigates Rod Serling’s point of view in television and why his show was so
successful.
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Exposition
“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another
dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension of light, a dimension of mind. You’re
moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just
crossed over … into the Twilight Zone.” – Rod Serling
Everyone knows these very familiar words, the words of a genius, or to some,
a madman. Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone entertained you, touched you, and left its mark.
The television show debuted in 1959 and ended in 1964, attracting an average weekly
audience of close to eighteen million people. Today, these numbers have multiplied,
adding a huge cultic viewing whenever reruns are aired.
The Twilight Zone had to live up to its opening promise, since it was different
from the comedies, the westerns, and the cop shows that the viewing audience was used
to like Gunsmoke and Gilligan’s Island. It uncovered a vista of realities not weighed
down by the merely probable. The Twilight Zone offered us a universe of possibilities and
options. It dealt with ordinary people with ordinary lives: bank clerks, teachers, petty
hoods, salesmen, executives, on the rise or decline. It declared to us that what could
happen to these characters just could happen to us.
In the next several pages, we will take a look at how Rod Serling’s The Twilight
Zone dazzled so many people. It was the look that startled us, and the story that
frightened us. The objective of my thesis is to examine and remake the admired television
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show The Twilight Zone with an original and relevant contribution to my field of study
through creative, conceptual, technical, and written investigation. I will entertain humor,
excite, and inspire the individual who is exploring what I have created in this short film.
Digital art is being used in a wide array of possibilities in order to explore our future in a
way unimagined 50 years ago. With my skills in the technology of the digital art world,
I will rejuvenate his famous television show in 3D but maintaining his unique style.
In doing this, I will honor the late Rod Serling and his accomplishment with
The Twilight Zone.
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Nostalgia
It began in 1959, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, the television series that won’t
go away. Despite the fact that most of its 156 stories have, over the years, become clichéd
at best and trite at worst, the show has had enough of a loyal core following to have kept
it alive, first in syndication and then on the Sci-Fi Channel, virtually since it left the air in
prime time more than a generation ago. This series of tales, some comic, some tragic,
with supernatural overtones featured many now-famous actors early in their careers,
including Robert Redford, Dennis Hopper, Bill Bixby, William Shatner, Ron Howard,
Cliff Robertson, Charles Bronson, Elizabeth Montgomery and James Coburn. The
episodes often reflect the wicked sense of humor of its narrator and host Rod Serling.
Born in Syracuse, New York, on December 25, 1924, Rodman Edward Serling
grew up in Binghamton as the son of a simple wholesale meat dealer. By his own
account, he had no early literary ambitions, though from an early age, he and his older
brother, Robert, immersed themselves in movies and in shows like Astounding Stories
and Weird Tales. Although he had no ambitions to become a storyteller at this early age,
little did he know he would become a world renowned writer.
Rod Serling was confused in his teenager years in what he really wanted to do.
So eventually on the exact day he graduated high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army
11th Airborne Division paratroopers. After basic training (during which time he took up
boxing and won 17 out of 18 bouts) he was sent into combat in the Philippines and
wounded by shrapnel.
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In 1946, Serling was discharged. He applied for college at Antioch College in
Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he soon majored in Physical Education. Eventually he
switched to Language and Literature, and began writing, directing, and acting in weekly
productions on a local radio station. “Grady Everett for the People,” was the name of his
first sold television script.
Later on Serling met a breathtaking woman he would soon marry, Carolyn Louise
Kramer in 1948. They would eventually move to Cincinnati, where Serling would take on
the hard long road of the entertainment business. He would freelance write and send out
script after script, only to be rejected one after another, forty in a row. He joined the staff
as a freelance writer for WLW radio and after that is when his fortune would change.
Once Serling began full-time in 1951, more than seventy of his television scripts
would be produced, garnering both critical and public acclaim. This is when he began to
produce the script, “Patterns.” In early 1955, the production of “Patterns” won Serling his
first six Emmy awards. Critics had deemed a “creative triumph”. MGM was the next
company Serling would go on to and write for. He crafted ninety-minute dramas for
Playhouse 20. This would make Serling critical and financial success. That is when he
left to make a television show called The Twilight Zone, his Playhouse 20 fans were
very disappointed.
CBS network was the lucky station to air all 156 Twilight Zone over the next five
years. With Serling writing ninety-two of them, it went on to be one of the most widely
recognized and beloved series in television history. Immediately, the television show
achieved a permanent place in American pop culture with its instantly recognizable
opening, theme song and charismatic host, Rod Serling himself. The Twilight Zone
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eventually became a gateway for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, such as Robert
Redford, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper, and more.
In January 1964, production of The Twilight Zone ended. Although, Serling’s
career would not end here. He continued to write for film and television series and
movies, and another one of his own productions, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, which soon
would be hosted by a nineteen-year-old Steven Spielberg. He co-wrote the screenplay for
the movie Planet Of The Apes; He appeared in several shows including: Rod Serling’s
Liars Club, Ichabod And Me, Match Game, The Jack Benny Show; he made a guest
appearance for an episode of Ironside (he was Thyros, the magic shop owner) and he was
the narrator for Jaques Cousteu’s Undersea Adventure. (Zicree 3)
He would soon return to Antioch College as a professor and enjoy lecturing at
college campuses across the country. Politically active, Serling spoke his views out about
many things:
“There has been progress made in the quality of television programming, but
some of the industry’s worst problems, like censorship by advertisers, remains,
television lacks guts ... it’s afraid to be different. But even this program, which is
supposed to be a satirical review that holds nothing sacred, is almost certainly
subjected to ‘pre-censorship.’ The TW3 performers decide beforehand which
subjects to deal with, and shy away from controversial ones. The program has
made very few cogent comments on some of the tough problems of the day. The
most daring comment the program has made was to show a skit linking cigarettes
to lung cancer. This was particularly brace because cigarette companies provide
fourteen percent of the entire television advertising budget. Another major
problem in television that has remained is the high cost of production and the
resulting reduction of writing and rehearsal time.” (Binghamton Press & SunBulletin)
Also, Rod Serling talks about his view on television compared to magazines and
newspapers. How the television industry has been made the target of a national skeet-
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shoot and is being held accountable for everything from payola to what appears to be a
lapse in national morality:
“There seems to be a propensity in our time to lump current social evils into a
large glob so that both identification and assault can be handled in a simple,
single process. Hence, the television industry has been made the target of a
national skeet-shoot and is being held accountable for everything from payola to
what appears to be a lapse in national morality.
These same newspapers, it is interesting to note, showed considerable verve in
condemning television for everything from defunct quiz shows to unpalatable
deodorant ads. National news magazines have taken up the cudgel from time to
time with comparable alacrity and identical fervor; from the pinnacles of each of
their own private Mount Olympus’s, they continually shoot down bolts of
righteous wrath.
Newspapers and magazines continue to run inordinate coverage of sex and
violence, highly suspect advertising, not to mention overt editorial slanting that
is not confined to their editorial pages. And once again we see that strange
phenomenon of a sacrosanct condition in which television can get stuck up on
nails while the daily press goes on a daily garbage-strewn pathway of amber
journalism, unchallenged and unjudged.
Television rates a public paste in the mouth for many of its faults, but if the
American public is intent on doing some analytical soul-searching in the areas of
mass communication, let newspapers and magazines stand in line for their
legitimate share of culpability. When you talk morality, decency, taste and ethics,
there can be no double standard! What is sauce for the television goose should be
the same sauce for newspaper and magazine ganders.” (Serling, TV Guide)
He also opposed the Vietnam War in the late Sixties and early Seventies.
Rod Serling died on June 28, 1975 in Rochester, New York, due to the complications of a
heart attack. But he dies with many things under his belt: A seasoned WWII veteran and
was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. A paratrooper and served in the
511th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the Pacific theater. A victim of Japanese antiaircraft artillery. He shot and killed a Japanese soldier who was standing on third base at
Rizal Stadium’s baseball diamond. A tester of experimental parachutes for the U.S. Army
at $500 per jump after WWII. The most honored writer in television history. Among the
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awards he achieved were three Emmy Awards for shows written and produced long
before The Twilight Zone was created, three Writers Guild of America Awards, two
Sylvania Awards, Golden Globe Award, George Foster Peabody Broadcasting Award,
Television-Radio Writers’ Annual Award, Harcourt-Brace Award, and the Look Magazine
Annual Television Award. He will never be forgotten.
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Intuition
“Let’s not kid ourselves about Twilight Zone. A lot of luck was involved in
selling that to anyone. It was a show no one wanted to buy.” – Rod Serling
But CBS productions did buy it if not for a man named Bert Granet. A man who
produced pedestrian dramas such as Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse and motion pictures
such as Berlin Express and The Marrying Kind now had a new challenge. This was to
lend prestige to a television show that had no pretensions to great art. He would do two
things to meet this challenge, hire big-name film actors and hire the top writers at the
time, such as Rod Serling. This was the launching pad for The Twilight Zone.
The facilities of Universal International Studios were chosen for the first shooting
of the pilot in 1959. It was very expensive. “My impression is that the budget was
somewhere around $75,000,” says producer William Self, “which in those days was very
high for a half-hour pilot. Today, a half-hour pilot’s like $225,000 to $250,000, so it
seems cheap by today’s standards.” It took a total of nine days, three to edit, six hours to
sell. On March 8, 1959, it was signed with CBS as the primary sponsor. It would then be
produced by Serling’s own production company, Cayuga Productions.
Mike Ferris, an amnesiac in an Air Force jumpsuit, finds himself in a town
strangely devoid of people. But despite the emptiness, he has the odd feeling that he’s
being watched. As he inspects the town’s café, phone booth, police station, drugstore and
movie theater, his desperation mounts. Finally he collapses, hysterically pushing the
“walk” button of a stoplight again and again. In reality, the “walk” button is a panic
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button, and Ferris is an astronaut-trainee strapped into an isolation booth in simulation of
a moon flight. After 484 hours in the booth, he has cracked from sheer loneliness. His
wanderings in the vacant town have been nothing more than a hallucination. (Zicree 23)
“No one could know Serling, or view or read his work, without recognizing
his deep affection for humanity ... and his determination to enlarge our horizons by
giving us a better understanding of ourselves.” – Gene Roddenberry
One of his favorite story lines involved some weakling who sells his soul to the
devil. The character usually wants something–generally something petty–and he will do
anything to get it. The devil eventually appears in one form or another to make a
tempting offer. At first, Satan is sympathetic. He might even insist that the character
actually deserves to have whatever it is he wants. “It is only right,” the devil might say.
Though they use various details and plot twists, these stories always end the same
way. The character gets what he wants, becomes miserably unhappy, and tries to get out
of the deal. Too late. The devil never relents. The hour always arrives when he comes to
collect what’s his. (Compare that to the old “Saturday Night Live” skit: A big-time
corporate executive sells his soul, but when the devil comes for him, the guy calls
security guards and has him thrown out of the building. Well, I thought it was funny.)
Another one of Serling’s favorite themes centered around a selfish, self-righteous
little jerk who wishes the worst for everyone else. For example, “Time Enough at Last,”
an episode about a man who wants the public library all to himself. One day, much to his
delight, everyone else in the city is killed in a huge explosion. Only he and the library
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survive. Gleefully, he runs over and glories among all the books. But in his excitement,
he drops and breaks his very thick glasses, and can’t see well enough to read. (Grayson)
Elayne Rapping discusses the television programs, The X-Files, and Dead at 21
and her first reactions to these programs:
“Why not retrieve the pop culture of the 1950s, after all? It was a time, like ours,
when social realism–especially on political and social issues–was very much out
of fashion and subversive and otherwise unorthodox thoughts and theories were
not likely to surface except in the metaphoric guise of sci-fi schlock fiction.
Everywhere you looked in those days, ‘things’ were coming at you ‘from outer
space,’ mutant ‘creatures’ were ‘eating’ or otherwise destroying urban centers,
‘blobs’ of unnatural substances were abducting or absorbing your loved ones.
Of course, most cultural commentators of the day dismissed such stuff as brainmelting nonsense. Parents–mine certainly–tried to lure offspring away from it,
and toward the more respectable, then ubiquitous, boxed sets of ‘Great Books’
and encyclopedias, containing the eternal truths of established authority, which
lined the walls of most suburban dens.
The X-Files and Dead at 21, while on the surface dealing with similar matters,
couldn’t be more different intone and attitude. Here, too, we have strange,
‘unbelievable’ occurrences that are hidden away from public view, in archives of
government and scientific authority. But the similarities end there. For one thing,
unlike the ‘reality-based’ shows, they have no godlike voice-over narrator to
explain and authorize the bizarre events for us. The point of view of the show is
always that of the outsider who stands alone against the forces of law and order
and military force. Where the reality shows idealize figures of authority,
presenting them as noble and fatherly, these shows demonize such figures,
presenting them as shadowy forces of evil and mendacity. Sergeant Friday
meets Dr. Strangelove, you might say, as these two competing models of sci-fi
convention do battle for hearts and minds.” (Rapping 34)
The Twilight Zone also has a great astounding look for its day. Today people love
the look of the television series because of its sense of style and spareness. The contrast
between lights and darks are amazingly used in each episode to present its character in a
different unique way. Each episode was black and white due to the television technology
during the time period it was developed. Even today, the show is still aired in black and
white to keep its original look that worked so well. Serling was able to give an attractive
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look through his portrayals of lights and darks in each television show. Illumination can
make a huge difference of character in a scene. The motion picture screen play is divided
into sequences, each of which is made up of a number of scenes. From the point of view
of illumination, a scene consists of sets, props, and people. (Alton 18)
What would Rod Serling have done with the technology of the digital realm if he
had been born 15 years ago from today? With my skills in technology of the digital art
world, I have recreated his famous television show The Twilight Zone in 3D animation.
It’s very simple, only a three-and-a-half minutes long and very science-fiction-like
evolving around mystery. I have created it in 3D using Maya. Sound is very important to
me. Therefore, using Sound Forge and Magix software in the process, I focused very hard
on the sound by creating effects, home-made follies, and a mind altering soundtrack. The
lighting and shading is very critical in order to make an effective tone. Therefore I
digitally composited the final picture in After Effects and Photoshop to get the full effect
of the old show.
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Finale
If Rod Serling were to write a Twilight Zone episode today, would he write about
the new political and moral issues of today? A reporter said, “This is typical of the
argument of the media liberal: to take up these issues of abortion, contraception, and
homosexuality at all is to take the liberal position on them. Anything else constitutes a
purpose to ‘evade.’ Thus Father Ray may not be orthodox, but he is ‘hip,’ which is the
orthodoxy of the dominant faction of media moralists and critics. To be hip you do not
have to be as outspoken as Vice President Gore about homosexuality. In fact, you only
need to be as outspoken as Bill Clinton, whose speech to a homosexual dinner in
Washington in November took place at the same platform where Ellen DeGeneres spoke
after the president had left without his supper. Clinton consciously echoed Harry
Truman’s words when Truman became the first president to address the NAACP in 1947,
but Clinton never mentioned ‘Ellen’ He had to think of his ‘legacy.’” (Bowman)
Some people think that today’s shows are a lot different. Lewis Grossberger says:
“The X Files often has been called The Twilight Zone of the ‘90s for the obvious
reason that both exploit the supernatural and the unearthly. But Media Person
rejects this comparison out of hand, whatever that means. The Twilight Zone was
fun. It was short, snappy, edgy, a bit cartooney and it loved the O. Henry twist.
The scary aliens from outer space always turned out to be American astronauts
who had landed on a planet where everyone else was much bigger or smaller, so
the monsters were really us, see. Kinda made you look at things from a different
perspective, even though you could see the twist coming a mile away.”
(Grossberger 30)
I’d like to conclude with a few points made by Rod Serling about television. On
1959, in a 60 Minutes interview, Mike Wallace asked Rod Serling, “Is television good?”
He said, “Some television's wonderful. Some television is exciting and promising and has
vast potential. Some television is mediocre and bad. But I think it has promise, Mike.
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I think this conceivably can be a real art form. And I stick with it for the reasons I said
and because I think it can only improve and can improve tremendously and I think aims
toward that.” (Wallace)
When asked, what does the television industry need most? Serling answered,
“People in positions of decision with guts and courage and a respect for other people’s
creativity and less timorousness about what they assume is going to be popular. If all
three networks on their own decided “Oh, what the hell, we won’t follow what is the
current rage, we won’t stick on private eyes because they happen to be successful. Some
guy comes in with a marvelously brilliant notion of a contemporary piece, let’s try it, let’s
see what happens.” (Brevelle) Rod Serling tried it, and he saw the result of a brilliant
successful career.
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Inspiration
Books:
Alton, John. Painting with Light. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
This book explains the job of the cinematographer and explores how lighting,
camera techniques, and choice of locations determine the visual mood of film.
Provides an overview of Alton's biography and career and explores the influence
of his work on contemporary cinematography. It gave me a great explanation for
how light is set up and why in motion pictures and photography.
Birn, Jeremy. Digital Lighting & Rendering. Indianapolis: New Riders Publishing, 2000.
This book contains strategies for lighting design that are relevant to any digital
artist. It presents an awareness of computer lighting models, how they differ from
real-world lighting effects, and how to approach 3D lighting projects differently
from practical light. I was able to use this book as a guide for my 3D lighting in
every scene of my animation.
Katz, Steven D. Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing From Concept to Screen.
Stoneham: Michael Weise Productions, 1991.
It concentrates on the 'storytelling' school of filmmaking, utilizing the work of the
great stylists who established the versatile vocabulary of technique that has
dominated the movies since 1915. This graphic approach includes comparisons of
style by interpreting a 'model script', created for the book, in storyboard form.
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Kerlow, Isaac Victor. The Art of 3-D: Computer Animation and Imaging, 2nd ed. New
York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000.
Addresses the newest techniques and latest technology in the rapidly changing
field of 3-D computer animation and imaging. Talks about the entire process of
creating a fully rendered 3-D still image or animation. Combines traditional
animation concepts with new 3-D computer animation techniques.
Zicree, Marc S. The Twilight Zone Companion, 2nd ed. Beverly Hills: Silman-James
Press, 1992.
This book gives a great description of each show in the series. It made it possible
for me to see each episode in great detail. For example, it contained plot
synopsis’, all of Rod Serling’s narrations, a critical commentary, behind the
scenes stories and anecdotes from the original artists who created the series.
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Internet:
www.rodserling.com
A great web site with the history and background of Rod Serling’s life. It’s
founded by the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation whose pledge is to educate
the public about Rod Serling's genius and his passion, hoping that they will
understand and appreciate his mastery of the creative arts, his unique
understanding of human relationships, his esteem as a writer, his generosity
as a speaker in and around Binghamton, and his uncompromising commitment
to quality.
www.rodserling.com/newsprint.htm
This web site gave me a great resource for finding more information on Rod
Serling and The Twilight Zone. It has everything from newspaper articles to Rod
Serling Appreciations to suggested books to read.
www.nightgallery.net/index.html?title.html&0
This web site contain articles and stories from the old television show, Night
Gallery. It was a great resource for pictures, episode guides, and much more. It
gave a great history description of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery.
www.scifi.com/twizone/twilite.html
A great web site containing an understandable episode guide, in-depth
information about Rod Serling, a picture gallery, and even listings of when the
program was going to be on television again.
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Videos:
“An American Masters Special.” Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval. Prod. Susan
Lacy. PBS. WNET, New York, 1995.
PBS TV documentary that originally aired in 1995. The 6-disc DVD set includes
rare photos and clips, and interviews with Serling's friends, family, and
colleagues. Also includes 19 original episodes:
Vol. 1 – “The Invaders” (1961, Ep. 51) – “Night of the Meek” (1960, Ep. 47) –
“Nothing in the Dark” (1962, Ep. 81).
Vol. 2- “Time Enough at Last” (1959, Ep. 8) – “The Monsters are Due on Maple
Street” (1960, Ep. 22) – “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (1963, Ep. 123) –
“The Odyssey of Flight 33” (1961, Ep. 54).
Vol. 3 – “Steel” (1963, Ep. 122) – “A Game of Pool” (1961, Ep. 70) –
“Walking Distance” (1959, Ep. 5) – “Kick the Can” (1962, Ep. 86).
Vol. 4 – “Mr. Dingle, the Strong” (1961, Ep. 55) – “Two” (1961, Ep. 66) –
“A Passage for Trumpet” (1960, Ep. 32) – “The Four of Us are Dying”
(1960, Ep. 13).
Vol. 5 – “Long Distance Call” (1961, Ep. 58) – “I Sing the Body Electric” (1962,
Ep. 100) – “The Lonely” (1959, Ep. 7) – “Probe 7, Over & Out” (1963, Ep. 129)
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Interviews:
“Roasting Rod Serling.” Interview. By Mike Wallace. 60 Minutes, 1959.
An interview conducted on September 22, 1959, on the 'eve' of Twilight Zone's
network premiere. It was a time where censorship flourished in the Fifties as an
outgrowth of the Cold War. Paranoia was in the National Interest, and Sponsors
ruled the "new medium" called Television. They paid the bills and felt within their
rights to suggest program content. Rod Serling was this new medium’s most
decorated writer, and it’s most controversial.
“Rod Serling: The Facts of Life.” Interview. By Linda Brevelle. Writers' Digest
Magazine, 1976.
It was Rod Serling’s last interview. Conducted on March 4, 1975, not knowing
that he has less than four months to live, Rod weighs in eerily on awards,
prejudice, censorship, compulsion, immortality, (not) planning ahead ...and
crying.
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Speeches:
“Rod Serling Rips TV Censorship, Even TW3 Suffers, Tech Audience Told.”
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin 1 May 1964.
Rod Serling spoke at Broome Technical Community College in a program
sponsored by the college's convocations committee on May 1, 1964. He described
interference he had experienced as a writer and producer of television dramas
over the last 15 years. Serling talks about the television industry’s worst problem,
censorship by advertisers.
Serling, Rod. “Controversy at Moorpark College.” Moorpark College. Moorpark,
3 Dec. 1968.
Rod Serling spoke at Moorpark College on December 3, 1968. It applies, not only
to young and old, conservative and liberal (including both extremes), but most
importantly to that vast middle-of-the-road group, a group comprising the
backbone of America. He rips loyalty oaths, the Vietnam War, and social inequity.
Journals:
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Antifonario, Scott. My Journal. New York. 2001.
A record of my actual research and learnings throughout the year. Also, a
compilation of sketches, concepts, schedules, production materials, notes from
meetings, and my own comments and reflections about my thesis project.
Bowman, James. “The Morality of the Wasteland,” New Criterion Dec97: Vol. 16,
Issue 4.
Discusses about morality in the television industry. Impact of Vice President Al
Gore's approval of the openly showing on television the sexuality of television
character Ellen DeGeneres; Evaluation of the television character Murphy Brown;
Great moral issues in media; Television as an instrument to bring about social and
political change.
Grayson, Mary. “The Twilight Zone.” H&HN: Hospitals & Health Networks 20 May
1997: Vol.71, Issue 10, p9.
Editorial. Presents the author's view on the stories done by Rod Serling. Serling as
a writer; Serling's favorite story lines and themes; Story based on Serling's style
about health care.
Grossberger, Lewis. “The ZZZZZ Files.” MediaWeek March 1995: Vol. 5, Issue 11, p30.
Comments on the growing popularity of the television program, The X Files.
Exploitation of supernatural themes; compares it with The Twilight Zone.
Rapping, Elayne. “Cult TV with a Twist.” Progressive Jan 1995: Vol.59, Issue 1, p34.
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Discusses the television programs, The X-Files, and Dead at 21. The author's first
reactions to these programs; Compares it to the plots to the 1950s The Twilight
Zone or The Fugitive; Thoughts about retrieving the pop culture of the 1950s; The
lack of political realism in the 1950s and in 1994; More.
Serling, Rod. “WHY IS TV THE WHIPPING BOY?” TV Guide 18 June 1960.
Rod Serling talks about his view on television compared to magazines and
newspapers. How the television industry has been made the target of a national
skeet-shoot and is being held accountable for everything from payola to what
appears to be a lapse in national morality.
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Rant - Thoughts from an artist or a writer?
January 13, 2002
What is a fine artist? Even better, what is a fine artist studying 3 dimensional computer
art? sounds like it kind of contradicts itself, fine art equals Picasso and van Gogh, but 3d
computer art equals toy story and "world wide web". i am an illustrator studying the fine
aspects of 3d computer art. I ask myself if its okay for me not to know. I look through my
journal and read all of the stuff i've been documenting since last year. Stuff i've learned
and stuff i already knew. do fine artists know how to build a computer and install the
latest operating system? this one does. so now i have to write a 30 page thesis about the
stuff i know and don't know. or do i just bullshit for 25 pages and make sense for 5. when
i get out of sva, i'll have this great film and i'll have this 30 page paper, which one is more
likely to collect dust? gee, let me think. i am not a writer, i like to express myself visually
through my style and creativity of my work. yet, you can either like it or not, it really
doesn't matter to me. and it probably doesn't matter to you either. let me share with you
an excerpt from my journal:
November 20, 2001
"Today I had class and thought about a lot of things. Before I had no idea of my paper,
scared, nervous, worried, and stupid. But I realize that we have to have this thesis to
"show" not "tell" what we feel in our thesis. Is it bullshit? Can I bullshit? What's the
point? Is there one? Why is this important? What's the difference between me and
somebody else? Uniqueness, individuality, feelings, thoughts. What is it all about? Who
am I, what am I? Am I blaaah boring? Why should you listen to me? You don't! What
makes my paper valid? What makes anything valid? Maybe I'll never know who i am or
who i can be, maybe i will. but i'm not gonna sit around waiting for it. Everyone and
everything has its own place in the universe. We should all learn to accept everyone and
everything for who and what we are!"
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anyways, i don’t think i'll ever understand why we have to write a paper explaining
ourselves of why we do things the way we do them. what if its just to entertain and make
people smile or laugh or cry? does that matter? do i have to pretend that with my thesis,
i'll be trying to cure aids, no. i really just wanted to make a great film that will make
people smile, not to shock them. i could talk about the technical aspects of my project but
who the wants to hear that? i sure as hell don't, nevermind writing about it. i'm not a
teacher, so i am not gonna teach it to you. its really that simple. when i first realized i
wanted to go to sva, it was to be able to learn 3d computer art and film animation. learn
about the past, present and what holds for us in the future. right now i am making my
short film and i want it to be great. and its going to be. at the beginning of this paper
i told you about rod Serling and his twilight zone series and why it was great. now you
can read my paper then watch my movie, and judge me however you like. but what i'm
thinking is, am i going to take this paper and put it as an insert in the videocassette or
dvd. and put it on the shelves at blockbuster for people to read? how many people do you
think would actually care about what i have written. my mom, my wife, my dad, maybe?
probably just my mom n wife. and you know what? it doesn't even matter to me.
because all i want to do is entertain people, make them laugh, cry, scared, confused.
emotions, isn't that what film is all about? so is this my insight? is this all i have to offer
you, i hope your not disappointed, maybe you are. i don't care. but what i do care about,
is that, "did you like my movie?"
February 26, 2002
The reason or inspiration for my wanting to create this film or project? Well I guess it’s
that my whole life I have been so intrigued with media and entertainment, and just ways
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to escape reality. I mean, I didn't have a messed up life, it’s just that who wouldn't like to
get away for an hour or two, by watching a film or reading a book. It really is so exciting,
that’s why it’s loved by so many people all over the world. And I also guess that’s why I
chose to do a take off on The Twilight Zone. A show based upon the reality and beliefs
and disbeliefs of ordinary people like you and me. I wouldn't relate myself to the man in
the short film (Philip Huely, exterminator) but maybe the person who is doing this to him
(deciding his fate for him, a human farm). I'm not calling myself a god but I guess we
give ourselves that power when we chose to direct a piece. Directors have the choice to
make the viewer or listener feel a certain way they want them to feel, if he or she is
successful. It was very exhilarating for me to make this short film and complete it mostly
by myself. I wanted to know what its like to make each part of a short film. It was
definitely very difficult, and I can't imagine how hard it must be to make a 2 hour film.
But it definitely was loads of fun, with a great learning experience. I feel lucky to have
been given this opportunity to do this. I studied famous animators and watch great
movies to learn everything I could in order to make my film the best I could.
April 16, 2002
now i feel that writing has taken over me, changed me. i love to read, what the hell
happened to me? i mean its more interesting to me that it was before. i guess i can say in
a way now that reading other works has inspired me to read. i've read The Hobbit,
Fellowship of the Rings, Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys, and now Infiltrator. just in the
last few months, i haven't read that much in my whole life. yeah, i've read manuals and
tutorials, but those are just instructions. does this make me a fine artist? or does it make
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me a better bullshitter. well I think it makes me happier, more cultural, and more
interesting, isn't that important. hey, maybe that’s what fine art is.
“Every adult is the result of a child. My own signature, that identifying scrawl required
by parcel postmen and valued by a handful of comic-book fans, that signature was
devised by a thirteen-year-old boy who thought I’d want to seem important one day. I am
stuck with it. My life is the result of that boy’s dreams and limitations, and of the
company that boy kept a long time ago, back when things could still happen for the first
time.”
- Chris Fuhrman, The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys
Emotions are a major inspiration for almost everyone. my sources are myself but its
really common sense that makes that true. the twilight zone was all about the shape of
your emotions and imagination. mix ‘em together and you’ll be drunk for eternity. i know
and realize that after i finished my creative project. emotions are what drew Philip Huely
to the other side, where his destiny lied; trapped in a human farm with all the
exterminators, suffering from their fate they so desperately deserved. WOW, listen to me
now, what a difference than a year ago. maybe this is writing, does this make me a
writer? well, i have to admit my emotions have definitely produced my thesis and i feel
that that’s what steered Serling to his writing for TZ. Thank you for reading this, whoever
you may be, and i don't mean to be so cliché but, let your emotions run wild, you might
learn more about yourself than you think you really know, because if you don't, you
might just end up on... The Other Side.
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