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Discussing Panya: The Mummy's Curse with Chris Roberson

Chris Roberson and I did a deep dive into Panya: The Mummy's Curse. I really enjoyed this one.

#Panya #Panya: The Mummy's Curse #Chris Roberson #Hellboy #Hellboy Universe #Mike Mignola #Christopher Mitten #Dark Horse Comics #Interview

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The Lovesome Hunters – Volume 1 library edition is coming this October

Details over at Rue Morgue.

#comics #Tyler Crook #The Lonesome Hunters #Dark Horse Comics

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"Read Banned Books" a new full page cartoon essay published in The New York Times Arts & Leisure section today.

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Last Week Tonight, March 16, 2022

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I really wish I had Blu-ray of Midnight Mass. It's one of my comforts viewings, but I often put off watching it for several months because there's nothing else I'm interested in on Netflix. It's something I would love to be able to put on at a moments notice. And I'd love to have a bunch of special features too. I'd also just like to let the credits roll without Netflix telling me to watch something else.

Any news regarding the possibility of a Midnight Mass physical release?

It will only ever happen in Netflix radically changes its internal policies regarding physical media. At the moment, there is no possibility, despite years of effort while we were working there.

#Midnight Mass #Mike Flanagan

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I definitely recommend picking these up. Firstly, the blacks look better on disc than they do on Netflix, and secondly because The Haunting of Hill House has extended episodes, and once you've seen the extended versions, it's impossible to go back to the Netflix cuts. Plus there are audio commentaries, which I love so much.

Hey Mike, seeing as we will probably never get physical copies of your shows like Midnight Mass or Haunting of Hill House, what's your stance on people ripping and burning a physical copy for personal use?

There are absolutely physical copies available of HILL HOUSE and BLY MANOR; they've been available for a long time. Because those shows were co-productions with Paramount TV, it was Paramount who put them out on Blu-ray and DVD.

Here's a link to the box set

And there is a link to the individual series releases

#The Haunting of Hill House #The Haunting of Bly Manor #Mike Flanagan

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Concept art for Turning Red (2022) by Jason Deamer

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 9

Here's a link to Part 1.

I know some people dislike that Ming chose not to keep her panda, but I think it's worth considering that at the end, her panda is sealed away in Meilin's pink Tamagotchi. The colour shift from a red object to a pink indicates she more at peace with her decision.

Grandma Wu however...

But I like seeing Ming happy here. The red panda is something she plays with now, and she likes it. Plus it's an object directly connected with her daughter, and an object associated thematically with bonds of care and love.

And note that Mei isn't all red and pink either. She retains that teal hair clip, which thematically ties into Ming's hair motif. That's still a part of her.

And she isn't all panda. Unlike earlier in the film where a partial transformation was an ominous sign that she was about to go full panda...

...or a sudden burst of panda as she loses control...

...at the end it's just different degrees of self expression. Sometimes she's just bits because that's what she wants to be.

Turning Red isn't a binary teal bad / pink good. It's about each character feeling free to find the level of self expression that's right for them. Both mother and daughter retain their colour identities at the end of the film, but now they are able to recognise and respect their differences.

Long story short, I love Turning Red and the only way I know how to express that is to get hyper specific.

#Pixar #Turning Red

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 8

Here's a link to Part 1.

And then red panda Ming (Mingzilla) shows up. Mei's mother is now literally and figuratively a monster ruining her life at this point. Also note that her fur is shaped like flames.

In the final action sequence, Wu and the aunties free their pandas to help out.

Just like Ming jumping over the car at the beginning of the film, when their family needs them, they become action heroes. We even get a sky beam.

When it comes to the aunties and Wu resealing their pandas at the end of the film, I want to note how much less painful it is for them at the end of the film to tuck their pandas back away again. It doesn't feel like the panda is being torn from them like it did for Meilin.

For Ming, it's different. Here, we return to one of my favourite visual motifs in the film, Red surrounded by teal, but this time instead of a single spot of red, there's two. This is Ming reverted to her teenage self, and we get a sense of how much she was struggling just from her outfit—a dull, teal uniform. She's feeling the pressure to be the person she's expected to be.

And then we get my other favourite motif, Ming's hair is loose.

And Mei listens to her and brushes her hair back behind her ear.

It's the first step to her mother pulling herself back together again.

Then we get this scene, where Ming grows up, and we see her get her hair under control and the teal of her clothes become more vibrant. As they travel, the shadows become less harsh and warm light spills in.

It doesn't look easy. The look on Ming's face says it hurts.

When Ming separates from her panda, we don't get pain like we saw with Mei, but instead we get sadness.

This backward glance from Ming's panda calls back to the backward glance Mei's panda gave her back when she was trying to separate from it.

And we get this image, literally showing the generational divide.

And when Meilin again chooses to keep her panda, but this time with the acceptance of her family, instead of explosively exiting the ceremony like last time, she soars up into the sky where she again finds acceptance with her ancestor Sun Yee.

Again, I love when flying is used to convey the emotion of a scene. This moment is truly ascendant.

One more part to go...

#Pixar #Turning Red

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 7

Here's a link to Part 1.

Visually, the push and pull between pink and teal is shown as we go back and forth between Mei and Jin.

As we enter the the final act of the film, this dynamic becomes much more intense as red and teal are brought in direct conflict with one another. Here the ceremony to seal the panda away is clearly coded teal. It is very much associated with what is expected of Mei.

And then we get this fantastic teal bamboo forest to tuck the panda away in. And when Mei tries to seal the panda away, it looks painful.

And what awaits Mei on the other side of this separation is darkness. And she chooses to be stay connected to the red panda, explosively exciting the ceremony in a burst of pink.

And Ming watches all of this.

And her hair is out of place.

And she comes apart.

Meanwhile, with Mei accepting the panda, she finds it more fully apart of herself, changing back forth at will, literally flying through the air along with her emotions. I love when flying scenes echo an emotional reality. It's something cinema can do like no other medium.

We get the apology scene with Mei's friends. Obviously they're all hurt, but Miriam especially so. I really like how Miriam can't fight with her, she just shuts down, her face flushing red.

Again, this is why Miriam is green. She rarely directly speaks her mind, choosing instead to use a more tactful approach. She has every right here to yell at Mei, but she chooses restraint.

And then the pink Tamagotchi goes off and suddenly words don't need to be said. Where the friends are involved, pink is kind of a barometer for how well their friendship is going.

And then we have this moment when they see Tyler is 4*Town fan. (Purple lighting again...) And they embrace him as one of them.

And the 4*Town concert begins. It literally starts off with all of them in cages, which they immediately break out of to triumphant cheers.

And Tyler screams, "Z! I love you, man!" while bathed in saturated purple light.

I know they never say Tyler is gay, but c'mon, he's totally gay.

I love how you can see how much this means to all of them here. Look at the awe on those faces.

To be continued in 8...

#Pixar #Turning Red

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 6

Here's a link to Part 1.

To the party! I like that this character who gets Priya in a way that no other character does just happens to be coded with the purples from Priya's introduction...

And, it should come as no surprise that when Tyler's party kicks off, it's vibrant purple.

Meanwhile, red is taking over Ming's world. Look at how she's kept in the red portion of the scene until she decides, once again, to do what is expected of her and crosses into the teal portion.

And then Ming goes into Mei's room and discovers what she's been hiding from her. It is no coincidence that this secret self is once again under Mei's bed and this scene is utterly red. Also note the foreshadowing of Ming breaking the picture of her and Mei as this relationship is about to fracture.

This is the same bedroom from a few seconds ago, but look how the red lighting transforms it.

It seems funny, since Mei is hanging out with her friends, that this scene is dominated by teal. But she's avoiding her responsibilities at Tyler's party, and as the scene progresses it's clear she still intends to seal her panda.

Very importantly, this scene draws attention to her pink Tamagotchi, an object that will be used to tap into important themes later.

As the scene progresses, the two versions versions of herself are put into conflict and the teal becomes intense.

Then we have the moment of betrayal.

And Mei takes her mother's hand and moves away for the colour of her friends into shadow.

This scene in the car, with Ming holding Mei's hand, is so cold.

All the colour is far away and behind Mei. And ahead of her is much more plain.

This scene around the dinner table is all in red, showing the intense feelings just beneath the surface in Wu, Ming, and Mei.

Then we get this moment with Jin in the basement. Look at the contrast in these two shots...

...and how the lighting on Jin's face has shifted to pink.

And I like this moment with Jin and Mei. The red lighting starts off capturing Mei's growing anxiety about the ceremony, but it becomes a positive thing as Jin talks to her. The shadows soften. Red is not a negative colour; it's a lucky one. Plus, they're discussing Ming here, so there is appropriately a lot of teal in the scene, but it's lit warmly.

To be continued in Part 7...

#Pixar #Turning Red

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 5

Here's a link to Part 1.

Now look how this scene changes as Ming's mother enters the scene. It's just her voice, but there's a massive shift.

I love the intensity of Grandma Wu's introduction. This tight shot with the scar given to her by Ming dominating the scene is extremely purposeful. She has a single stray hair in her eyebrow, which she promptly removes. This is what matters to Wu and this builds on the language of hair and why Ming's hair is always perfect. And that idea is linked with the scar here.

Back to school. In this scene Mei loses her temper at Tyler... and it's on the basketball court, the space frequently associated with him.

There's no way that's an accident. And look, the gym uniforms are green, because Mei's supposed to be the restrained version of herself... but she fails.

I love how this bathroom scene uses scene direction to control colour changes. The first two pictures are reverse shots at the beginning of the scene. Both are teal dominant, Mei's with a splash of purple in the tiles behind her.

But watch how the colour of the scene changes by choosing different angles. Suddenly the primary colour identity becomes pink.

When they find a room for their hustle, they leave the teal of the school hallways and enter a warm classroom.

And look how much pink appears in this scene.

Even the Canadian flag, which I'm told has red on it, sure looks pink here!

And here's an important scene with Tyler. Note how much he's covered up here. His identity becomes grey. He really feels the need to fit in and be accepted, and he does that by covering up who he is. Notice he and Mei are in the same space, but she's framed in the light, while he's framed in shadow.

When we are properly introduced to the aunties and Grandma Wu, notice how while they are all primarily identified with teal, they have splashes of other colour to break it up. Likewise, look at the items we're shown that hold their pandas. None are completely red like Ming's. None of them police themselves to the degree that Ming does.

You have to wonder, why is it Ming and not any of the others that took on the responsibility of the panda temple? So much of Ming's identity is tied up with what is expected of her to a degree that the others are not.

I like the way this tuft of fur here is shaped and lit to look like fire. Such a nice touch.

To be continued in Part 6.

#Pixar #Turning Red

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 4

Here's a link to Part 1.

As Ming tells Sun Yee's story, it begins with green dominant and shifts to reds and ends on peaceful pinks.

And then Ming tells Mei about how this side of herself can be sealed away and the film draws our attention to the one bit of red on Ming, the object with that side of herself sealed away. There is no teal. It's completely crimson.

At this point in the film, we haven't seen any other of these pendants, so the colour makes sense. It seals away the red panda, therefore it is red, right? But as we see others, you'll note that none of them are completely red. This is an extremely important part of Ming's character.

OK, back to Mei as her room is emptied of anything she might damage until the panda is able to be sealed away. The pinks are almost completely gone now, the lighting is high contrast, and it's really going hard on the werewolf imagery.

And here's where we are reintroduced to something right from the beginning of the film. Mei, as a child all in red. This isn't just a new development, it's just a part of her expressing itself in a new way. It has always been a part of who she is. Really young Mei is always red.

And of course she's all in red as a very young child! She hasn't learnt to filter herself yet! This is why when I hear people talking about this film purely as a lens to discuss puberty, I feel like they're missing the bigger picture. Puberty is just part of a larger idea.

God, I feel Mei so much in this scene, feeling trapped in her own home... and then her friends come along and look at the colour they bring with them! Look at the light they bring to Mei's room!

And Mei comes apart in front of her friends and they just let her feel it, no shame, and accept her.

Look at the light spilling in from the window—it's pink. And that pink consumes the teal on the walls. And when they see the new Mei with red hair, they love her. They make her feel happy to be her.

When Mei hears her mum coming, she makes her friends leave, and here we get another hint as to why Miriam is green. Even her curated self doesn't meet Ming's standards.

Here, Mei's parents are testing her. I love little Mei in a moment when she did not want to be her restrained self absolutely surrounded by green, while she is an island of pink and red.

This scene really shows the flexibility of the home location. Mei is being herself, and she's in control, so the camera is tilted down so that the pink of the table dominates the space. By making the pink an object in the scene, the reverse shot on Ming and Jin can have a different colour identity.

And, of course, Mei's calming space is calming, powdery pinks.

I've just gotta say, someone working on this scene clearly watched Seven.

What's in the box?

What's in the box?!!

Look how warm Mei's mother's acceptance feels here...

...and look how cold her rejection is.

Notice how the props here are selected to heighten the contrast in the lighting in the second scene. Visually Mei and Ming are on opposite sides, their shots contrasting strongly with each other.

To be continued in Part 5.

#Pixar #Turning Red

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 3

Here's a link to Part 1.

I want to jump back a bit her to show how pink Mei's outfit is on her way to school and then how red it is after she's had her private drawings exposed by Tyler.

And again, the way the reds build here are fantastic!

Earlier, when I mentioned how important hair is to the language of Turning Red, you probably thought I was referring to Mei's hair turning red. And, yeah, that's part of it, but I want to draw attention to Ming's hair because there's something very interesting happening here. Ming's hair is perfect. We've seen her have some wild moments so far, but even in those, not a single hair is out of place. At this point she's fighting with school security and yet somehow her hair remains perfect. This isn't an accident; it's extremely deliberate.

And then we get this moment. Obviously the pads are gonna be pink and teal, especially considering the role puberty plays in the film.

Masterful. And I know it's maybe the smallest thing in a scene where a lot of big things are happening for Mei, but my heart really feels for Ming in that last picture.

As Mei runs in the school halls, we get this...

I love these shots with a red spot right in the centre of a teal environment. There are so many in this film. It's a wonderful dynamic.

Hey, Pixar. Visually tell me that Mei is feeling awkward in her body.

This film is not subtle (and that's a good thing).

Importantly, when Mei needs her, Ming goes all out. The heels come off, she leaps over the bonnet of her car...

...and for the first time, at the end of this sequence, her hair is out of place.

This is an expression of her priorities. She's almost completely defined by teal, the colour of the curated self... but Mei comes first.

As for Mei, she's returned to that teal blanket again, brushing her cheeks with a teal brush. Note the high contrast lighting in the scene to emphasise the heightened emotion.

Back to the temple. Note how previously the temple was teal and red, but in this moment as the panda is explained, the location is specifically all red, the spots of teal are very muted.

Continued in Part 4.

#Pixar #Turning Red

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 2

Here's a link to Part 1.

Now look at this fantastic shot. The left is pink, the right is green, and throughout the shot, Mei awkwardly edges from the green to the pink. Then she rolls under the bed like a goblin...

And now the concealed self emerges. Red takes over the palette and it gets more and more intense as the scene builds. Note too how we've shifted away from pastels into high contrast lighting.

Aaaaaaand then Mei's mum arrives. The tension in the lighting here is great as we bounce back and forth rapidly between the external and interior world. Here the film starts to introduce the language of horror movies. Turning Red is a bit of a werewolf movie.

The primary light source in this scene is Mei's bedside light, so as the intensity of the conflict between Mei and Ming builds, that light is framed behind them to motivate more high contrast lighting.

Back to the Daisy Mart! Here's where the teals identity starts to make sense, because in this space, in this moment, Mei only wants people to see the curated version of herself, and it distorts into this nightmarish green. Her mother's colours take over the space.

And then after that embarrassing moment, after everyone has seen such an intimate aspect of Mei, her lighting returns to reds. This is the catalyst that unleashes the panda.

And notice how sickly the teals have become in her bedroom when she comes home.

When Mei goes to sleep, we get the panda dream. Do I need to explain these colour choices? Sickly, nightmarish green and heavy reds.

In the morning, we get the bathroom scene. Comedy gold! The overall identity of the room is teal, but there's this pink curtain Mei's hiding behind, and on other side of that curtain, it's RED. Note that Ming adopts some pinks for this scene—that's rare for her.

And look at how this divide is expressed visually! I love it!

And then when Mei tries to shut out the panda, she goes to her bed, a place of comfort... which is, of course, teal because she wants to get back to the restrained self.

And then we have this great moment... Even when she's not the panda, the red aspect of Mei is a part of her.

And then Mei's back at school. Note how the outfits of the kids and the signage takes on a stronger teal identity now.

More than previously, this is an environment where Mei is policing herself and fearing the judgement of others. And look how that makes her friends POP.

I just love this. The pink and sparkles previously reserved for 4*Town are spilling out as Mei starts see boys differently.

And I again have to call out how great it is whenever this film momentarily switches to the cinematic language of horror.

To be continued in Part 3.

#Pixar #Turning Red

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The colour of Turning Red – Part 1

Turning Red is among my favourite Pixar films. This weekend I finally got to see it on the big screen and I just want to talk about something I really love about it—the way it uses colour to communicate its story. The key colours to watch are red, pink, and teal. Red is the colour of the panda, the unrestrained self. Pink is a muted version of this, a lightly curated version of the self, and teal is the restrained version of the self. This is how Meilin is introduced, all in pink; she's comfortable with who she is, but there's still a level of curation.

Did I say all in pink? Not quite. There is conspicuously a teal hairclip restraining her hair. And that's very important, because the hair is very important in this film too... but we'll get to that later.

Very early on, the film starts to establish teal as a kind of "responsible" colour, with Mei bragging about being practically an adult as she boards the bus, which is predominantly teal, and then she sits down to do her homework.

Note how in that second image how the bus's seats are pink, but all of them are up or hidden in shadow except for Mei's. She a hotspot in the centre. Also note that her homework book is teal.

At the opening title, Mei's by herself and unrestrained, so obviously the lighting is pink.

When Mei arrives at school, the overall palette is teal, but with pops of colour. This is a place where she has to curate her identity a bit, but there's still room to be a freer version of herself.

And here are her colourful friends, Miriam (green), budding goth Priya (yellow), and Abby (purple).

You'll note that Miriam is green, very close to teal, but distinct from it. There's a good reason for that and it speaks to her relationship with Mei. She's Mei's best friend, but she curates herself for her. After all, she thinks Mei's a little brainwashed, but she wouldn't say that to her face.

And then there's Tyler, coded purple, which is not traditionally a masculine colour, a hint about the self that he's hiding from everyone, and why he's jealous of someone like Mei who can be a fuller version of herself. Note that the basketball court, the space most associated with him at the school, is also heavily defined by teal.

OK, on to the flute scene!

This is the scene where I fell totally in love with Turning Red. The energy here is fantastic. Note how saturated Mei's pinks are here. They are so close to red.

Here's Mei leaving school...

...notice how pink begins to dominate the palette more. She's freer here, more herself when she's alone with her friends. Now's a good time to point out the gentle pastel lighting in Turning Red. It's a comforting look, and the contrast gets ramped up in moments of heightened emotion.

When we get to the Daisy Mart, we see Devon. This character is a budding story element, so the interior is teal, because it's a place where Mei would curate herself more, but we get pops of pink on Devon, a hint at how this character is going to evolve in Mei's eyes. (But mostly this location is coloured teal because of the role it plays later.)

OK, this is off topic, but I love this face.

4*Town fantasies are obviously very pink and very saturated for obvious reasons. Fun fact: Domee Shi calls this scene "Man Mountain" (from the director's commentary).

Another aside, but I love the way Miriam, Priya , and Abby often move as a unit. Each has their own distinct visually identity and quality of movement, but in most scenes they function almost like a single character, expressing slight variations on a central emotion.

How could anyone not love the lighting choices when Mei is presented with the 4*Town's '99 Australian Tour CD?

Now we get to the panda temple, and I love this because it's a combination of red and teal. It's important to understand that teal is not a bad colour in Turning Red. It is a perfectly valid way to express yourself, but it's not right for everyone.

The temple also is a space where Mei is curating herself for her mother and visitors to the temple, but in she can also let other aspects of herself come out, and we see that in the way she has fun with her mum while sweeping. It's a really cute way to express this duality.

Note the mirrored colours in Mei and Ming. Mei is all pink with a hairpin that's teal, while her mother is all teal with a red pendant... That red pendant is a really big part of Ming, but we'll go into that later. (Also, I love the round shapes of Mei against the sharper lines of Ming.)

Now we go to Ming's home, which is a mix of teals and pinks, but it's mostly white. This means that it takes on the colour of the lighting, so that in different scenes this space serves different functions. Jin, Mei's father, is likewise predominantly white, reflecting his mild character and role as a neutral party.

Then we have Mei in her bedroom doing her homework. Note that this is her room and yet it is almost completely teal. There as just a few spots of pink, like the heart, the discman (which is playing 4*Town music). This is an environment where she's the ideal good kid doing her homework.

This is also a good time to note the relationship between the music and the colour, because all the self-expression here comes out in how her movement is defined in relation to the music. But she's wearing headphones. This aspect of herself is internalised.

The animation in this shot was the best animation I saw in 2022. The little jaw movement from Mei before she says "fine" is so great. You can see the competing versions of self as confronts a side to her that's unfamiliar and intense.

Notice the shift in the lighting here. Warm lighting coming up from the page. It makes no sense literally; it's completely subjective lighting.

And I'm bumping up against the image limit, so to be continued in Part 2.

#Pixar #Turning Red

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I was a guest on Bookclub Member Comics to discuss Harrow County #17–18 by @cullenbunn, @carlaspeedmcneil, Jenn Manley Lee, and @mrelephant

#comics #horror comics #podcast #harrow county #cullen bunn #tyler crook #carla speed mcneil #jenn manley lee