From Zagreb to Midgard (via Paris)
Picks from the bins of the global village
Greetings carbon-based lifeform,
Here are 7 items I came across recently that seemed worthy of passing along.
Sift through. Click into what you like. Skip the rest.
Zagreb Film (European admirers of the American UPA animation studio) has been a great source of joy. Last year, their entire catalogue went up on Youtube, restored. After a few months of hiatus, they started sharing works again from the 2000’s. I’ve seen all of them now. Became a fan. Two favorites are Slike iz sjećanja and Dnevnik.
1980’s... new wave… gig posters... Hungary! Similar (ly amazing) collection to what I wrote about earlier, but different time and place. Available only in this online version but easy to flip through and expand The Reference Folder.
Possibly my favorite book of the year - though I re-read more than read anew in 2023. Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act. It’s so precious to me that I’m afraid to recommend it. It’s one of the three books I hold dear about creative work. Will probably write about the other two in the coming Fridays.
This is not a fun one. Writing about audience capture, youtuber life, mukbang.
Newsletter recommendation. Typing this third edition, it’s time to reveal my source. Where the idea for this came from. Who I’m stealing it from. In case it wasn’t obvious from the first edition, then subscribing is necessary. He has 10+ years of experience with it; Austin Kleon.
Aphantasia: the lack of visual imagination, keeping the person from picturing things in their mind. Heard about it first from (drum roll) Austin Kleon a few weeks ago. But then bumped into this discussion: what about animators who have it? Leading me to an interview with the director of God of War, discussing how he compensates for it by pulling an insane amount of references.
This interview with David Fincher’s returning editor, Kirk Baxter. Largely in relation to The Killer. “Still to this day, I begin going ‘I don’t know what the fuck to do’. But I’m going to learn the footage. I’m going to start working out what pieces are essential. And what bits can I definitely make decisions around. […] It’s just massaging and sticking to it.”
+1 …which reminds me of the Ethan Coen quote, “People think it’s about, like, self-expression or something, and it’s not about that. You do it because it’s involving and stimulating and you like the process of doing it.”
Until another Friday soon,
Gergo