Demonic Barbery

[tealin]

Just when you thought I was never going to post another drawing again:

   

I've been working on designs for these two for yet another ridiculous crossover gag, but as I don't know when I'm going to finish that I thought I should at least toss these to the ravening maw of the Intarweb. Mrs Lovett came pretty easily as I went to school with someone who could have been her brother and a caricature language was established by those more clever than me. Mr Todd was more of a challenge ... I had a design I liked a few days ago, which I hated last night so I did some more and got one I liked better, which did not satisfy me this morning. I fiddled around with it in Photoshop, tweaking things here and there, and got what you see up there, which is fine for now but will probably change tomorrow. I'd like to implement the small epiphany I had regarding his awesome but baffling hair, among other things, but on top of this I have a nagging feeling that I'm making the whole process way more complicated than I need to.

By the way, what aid is there for a poor soul who is addicted to the soundtrack? Ever since I found it on someone's playlist at work I haven't been able to stop listening to it despite giving up soundtracks for Lent (so weak! So, so weak!). Is it better to quit cold turkey or limit myself to one song a day? It doesn't help that 'Joanna (Reprise)' is so fun to whistle while walking to the line test machine...

Comments

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

The only thing I like on the Secret Garden soundtrack is the song about the house on the hill... the rest of it is all too ballad-y and sweet for me.* It probably doesn't help that even though I've read the book my favourite interpretation so far is still the 1993 film with its beautifully bleak cinematography, awesome creepy house, and wistful soundtrack.

See, this is why I am very glad I'm out of high school and don't have many female friends; I was forced to watch Armageddon about sixteen times and have a deep aversion to Leonardo diCaprio thanks to the 1990s. Lucky for me I could come at the Sweeney Todd movie more or less objectively, having accrued two or three years since knowing a Depp fangirl. The trouble is that in studying his performance (what's available on YouTube anyway) for the caricature, I've gained a real respect for his acting skills, and experience has taught me that in the world at large few people can draw a distinction between 'respect for' and 'crush on.' :P I still don't see what people find so sexy about him, especially out of character, but this goes for most movie stars so nothing's new.

Is the Concert DVD starring George Hearn? I've seen some his clips on YouTube and ... well, okay, his character is so different it's basically apples and oranges, but he's too operatic and not sympathetic enough for my tastes. This probably has as much to do with the director as anyone else. Someday I'll watch the DVD and get a better comparison/contrast of the two interpretations but I'm supposed to be working. ;)

*Though 'Lily's Eyes' is an amusing HP crossover, heehee.

[floramir.livejournal.com]

LOL You've pretty much outlined exactly what I thought of Depp before I watched too much of him. I still don't get what it is about him that is so attractive, and unfortunately I've managed to retain very little of the respect I used to have for his acting. I'm also glad I'm not the only one who suffered during the 1990's with Leonardo DiCaprio...

Wow! "The House on the Hill" was my favorite part too...

I did mean the George Hearn concert, and I feel compelled to mention that I don't encourage anyone to watch/listen to Sweeney Todd because I very strongly object to the bad language in it, among other things. That probably sounds strange, but I've made a resolution not to recommend things to other people when I know them to have offensive elements. I've done it in the past and regretted it very much, so please just allow me to say that I don't approve of the musical in its entirety (even though I like many of the songs).

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't worry; animators have some of the dirtiest mouths I've encountered so I'm pretty inured to it ... Assassins has bad words spread though it pretty thickly too and I love that one regardless. It is still kind of weird to hear swearing in a musical though...

I think most of my newfound respect for Mr Depp comes from being an animator ... he has such detailed control of posture, motion, and facial expression that he's fascinating to watch. Not necessarily realistic, but very clear and expressive. I like to think this is why Tim Burton casts him so much, because he started off as an animator. Just 'Epiphany' has so much material in it, from the way he stands with the razor at the beginning to the expressions when he's stalking the streets snarling at people. A big part of the fascination is knowing I would never have thought of drawing it that way, and trying to figure out how I would draw it as so many of them involve tensing various facial muscles that would be impossible to capture in line, at least at the skill level where I am now. And the mouth shapes! This probably doesn't make him a 'good' actor, by actors' standards, any more than the masters of pantomime in the silent era were 'good,' but it sure is exciting to watch. Kind of in the same way as the actors in Web of Caves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnP_BB_9fMs) - horribly overblown by acting standards but SO FUN to WATCH. I think my favourite part is when Mark Gatiss says 'What do you want?' and at the end of that line he raises the lower eyelids just a little ... it's a more precise expression than just a plain old squint and even though it's really hard to see in this low-res clip it seems to add an extra dimension to the line; a sort of visual subtext. There's lots of that sort of stuff in Sweeney Todd but I should probably save my raving for a post someday.

[floramir.livejournal.com]

I just looked up Carmina Burana and I am addicted now.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

:D It's a shame 'O Fortuna' gets all the fame, because that whole work is chock full of AWESOME.

[floramir.livejournal.com]

Where can you buy it? Is there some video version, or just audio? I know nothing about it, except that I love it, so I'm sure I sound very ignorant. Of course, by the time you tell me, I will probably have thoroughly researched it and rendered help unnecessary...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

It's a classical piece, like Handel's Messiah or Mozart's Requiem, usually performed in concert though I know there's also a ballet adaptation. I got my copy at Best Buy where they had three different recordings, all under $10. I would advise NOT getting the 'composer approved' recording which I think is issued by Deutsche Grammophone ... I bought that off Amazon a while ago and was very disappointed. Mine is from Seraphim Classics and is performed by the Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra under Riccado Muti. It's pretty good, the sound is nice and the soloists are excellent, definitely an improvement, though my favourite so far is the one my former roommate had where you could actually hear the diction (even if they did pronounce 'c' like 'ts' rather than 'ch'). I don't know who performed it but it had a black cover with colourful text and, I think, a red wheel ... or the colourful text in a circle around the wheel... something like that.

[floramir.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I was overwhelmed with the 20+ results that came up when I searched it. O___O