Podcast: The art of Sean Phillips and Duncan Fegredo

Panel Borders: The art of Sean Phillips and Duncan Fegredo

Alex's half hour long interview with Sean Phillips and Duncan Fegredo about their work in comics and their art collaborations - originally broadcast as the second half of yesterday's Strip! on Resonance FM...

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com (mp3 format, 30 mins, 28.6mb)

Tonight...

...there's no episode of "I'm ready for my close-up" broadcast on Resonance FM, due to the station's live coverage of the London Music Collective's 16th Anniversary...
(in case you were wondering)

Today's show: Comics for girls and (Hell) boys part 2

Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4FM - Strip!: Comics for girls and (Hell) boys part 2


The first half of today's show is continuing Resonance FM's coverage of the London ComICA festival - the second half of a discussion held at the Comica festival that we started broadcasting a couple of weeks ago - in which a variety of critics discuss their love of and the cultural impact of British Girls' comics, introduced by Paul Gravett. Writer and performer Stella Duffy; Jane Purcell, author of the Radio 4 play 43 Years in the Third Form; Unskinny cartoonist Lucy Sweet; Nina Myskow, former editor of Jackie and others relish the heydays of Girl, Bunty, My Guy and more and reflect on their lessons and legacies. Hosted by Dr Mel Gibson (not that one). Please note: this discussion will not be podcast, so please tune in if you want to catch it.

In the second half of the show Alex Fitch talks to artists Duncan Fegredo and Sean Phillips in a conversation recorded at the Birmingham International Comics Show. Duncan and Sean have recently collaborated on an art book in which they start and finish each other's drawings, which spills over into their conversation style! Duncan's work includes Jay and Silent Bob - Chasing Dogma, Enigma and (to justify the title of this week's show) Hellboy - Darkness Falls. Sean has worked on Hellblazer, WildCATS, Marvel Zombies and both artists worked on the offbeat superhero comic Kid Eternity.

N.B./ As featured on last week's show: Jim Mahfood and Bill Shag's exhibition is still on at Dreamspace Gallery 'til tomorrow...


Links: More info about ComICA at www.ica.org and www.paulgravett.com
Article on I love girls' comics at newsarama.com
Hellboy.com
Wikipedia pages on Kid Eternity, Enigma, WildCATS, Marvel Zombies and Hellblazer
Website promoting Duncan's art book "Stuff"
2000 interview with Duncan at Sequential Tart
Sean's website
Interview with Sean at Forbidden Planet International
Splash Page Art pages on Duncan and Sean

Podcast: Animation - Great British Cartoons

I'm ready for my close-up -
[Animation month] Great British Cartoons
Partially broadcast 22/11/07

Yesterday's show is now available to download now...
(mp3 format, 28.5mb)

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com

Another apology...

This is starting to seem like a trend, I'm afraid...
Needless to say, Resonance failed to broadcast tonight's I'm ready for my close-up again (!) except for the first five mins at the end of the half hour slot (after I rang the studio and asked what was going on).
I'm grateful for the engineer putting on the short extract of my show, but not for claiming it had been delivered late. Here's my receipt from yousendit:



Sorry that the e-mail addresses have been redacted, but as angry as I am - no, angry isn't the word, livid is closer, in fact let's go for incandescent with rage - I don't want Chris or Richard to end up with spambots sending them pornomail.

That said, should anyone wish to send an old fashioned letter of complaint to:
Resonance FM,
144 Borough High Street,
London SE1 1LB
be my guest...

Anyway, tonight's IRFMCU featuring my interview with Grant Rogers will be podcast tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Alex

Podcast: The art of Jim Mahfood

Panel Borders: The art of Jim Mahfood

Alex's half hour long interview with Jim Mahfood about his career in comics so far and imminent exhibition at Dreamspace gallery (+ Alex's short chat with gallery coordinator Chloe Brooks) - originally broadcast as the first half of today's Strip! on Resonance FM...

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com (mp3 format, 29 mins, 28.0mb)

Tonight's show: Animation - Great British cartoons

10.30pm Resonance 104.4FM: I'm ready for my close-up [Animation month] - Great British cartoons

Alex Fitch interviews former animator Grant Rogers about his work on classic childrens' cartoons such as Father Christmas, Grandpa and Tales of Beatrix Potter - made by legendary production company TVC - as well as his work on international shows such as DuckTales and Dogtanian and the three Muskehounds.

Links: Grant's website
Wikipedia pages on Dogtanian, DuckTales, Beatrix Potter and Raymond Briggs
Animation World Network articles on TVC and Disney investing in UK programming

Today's show: Comics in galleries

5pm Resonance 104.4FM: Strip! - Comics in galleries

To coincide with Thanksgiving, Alex Fitch talks to two American 'indie' comics artists who have had work exhibited in galleries this year. A couple of days before Jim Mahfood and Bill Shag have their fine art collaborations displayed in Dreamspace Gallery in London, Alex talks to Jim about his comic book career so far, the cross-over between fine art and comics and his own artistic influences. Alex also has a brief chat with Dreamspace coordinator Chloe Brooks about the gallery.

In the second half of the show it's the first broadcast of an interview previously podcast as an episode of "I'm ready for my close-up", Alex talks to Jacob Ciocci from the art collective 'Paper Rad' about the exhibition of their video art displayed at Sketch gallery in August which combined sampled images, video games and comic book iconography.

The show you may have expected this week - Comics for girls and (Hell) boys part 2, featuring the second half of ComICA's panel on Girls comics plus Alex's interview with Duncan Fegredo and Sean Phillips - will be broadcast next week as Alex wanted to strike while the iron was hot regarding Jim's exhibition.

Special thanks to Joe Gordon @ FPI for the info about Jim & Bill's show...

Links: Information about Jim & Bill's exhibition and Dreamspace gallery
More info on Jim's comic book company 40oz comics

Video Podcast: Malcolm McDowell & Lindsay Anderson

I'm ready for my close-up - Malcolm McDowell & Lindsay Anderson
(video podcast) Audio version partially broadcast on 14/11/07 on Resonance FM

You can download now the video of Alex Fitch's interview with Malcolm McDowell & Mike Kaplan about their film Never Apoloigise - a personal visit with Lindsay Anderson.
There are a variety of versions of the video available to download at archive.org including 256kb & 64kb streams and downloads as well as the original 3.8Gb video. For more info and to see jpg screen grabs and an animated gif of the video, please visit the home of this podcast (vodcast / vidcast?) at archive.org

Links: Book tickets for Never Apologise at the BFI
Info on Never Apologize (sic), Lindsay Anderson and Malcolm McDowell at the IMDb
Info on Malcolm McDowell, Lindsay Anderson and The Whales of August (produced by Mike Kaplan) at wikipedia.org
Official website: neverapologize.com

Podcast: Animation - Editing cartoons

I'm ready for my close-up -
[Animation month] Post-production and editing of cartoons
Originally broadcast 15/11/07

Yesterday's show is now available to download now...
(mp3 format, 28.5mb)

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com

Podcast: The work of Mike Mignola

Panel Borders: The work of Mike Mignola

Alex's half hour long interview with Mike Mignola about Hellboy, Hollywood and Horror Comics (sorry, couldn't resist the illeratation) - originally broadcast as the second half of Strip! on Resonance FM 15/11/07...

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com (mp3 format, 32 mins, 30.6mb)

Tonight's show: Animation - Editing cartoons

Tonight at 10.30pm on Resonance 104.4FM: I'm ready for my close-up - [Animation month] Post-production and editing of cartoons

Continuing IMFRCU's look at animation, Alex Fitch talks to editor Carin Anne Strohmaier (Beowulf, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Salvador Dali's Destino) about editing cartoons and the variety of post-production work needed to finish aninimated movies. Carin Anne worked for Disney on such projects as Bambi II and Lilo & Stitch II and with Robert Zemeckis on half a dozen films including the Back to the Future sequels and Contact.

N.B./ If you're planning to see Beowulf because you're a fan of the co-writer Neil Gaiman, you can listen to my interview with him about Stardust now and if you tune into the World Service over the weekend you can hear the BBC Radio adaptation of his novel Anansi Boys on Saturday at 8pm & Sunday at 9pm.

Links: Official Beowulf movie site
IMDb pages on Beowulf and Carin Anne Strohmaier
Wikipedia pages on Beowulf (movie), the original epic poem, 'motion capture' (mocap), director Robert Zemeckis and Disney's Destino
My interview with Carin Anne's husband about Cinerama
Cartoon Brew - one of the most authorative blogs on animation on the 'net

Today's show: Comics for girls and (Hell)boys

Today at 5pm on Resonance 104.4FM - Strip!: Comics for girls and (Hell)boys


The first half of today's show is continuing Resonance FM's coverage of the London ComICA festival - the first half of a discussion held at the Comica festival last month in which a variety of critics discuss their love of and the cultural impact of British Girls' comics, introduced by Paul Gravett. Writer and performer Stella Duffy; Jane Purcell, author of the Radio 4 play 43 Years in the Third Form; Unskinny cartoonist Lucy Sweet; Nina Myskow, former editor of Jackie and others relish the heydays of Girl, Bunty, My Guy and more and reflect on their lessons and legacies. Hosted by Dr Mel Gibson (not that one).

In the second half of the show Alex Fitch talks to Mike Mignola about his career from his inauspicious start on comics such as Rocket Raccoon and the Chronicles of Corum to his work in Hollywood on Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula & Guillermo del Toro's Blade II and his popular Hellboy franchise that has spread into prose novels, movies, cartoons and video games.

Links: More info about ComICA at www.ica.org and www.paulgravett.com
Article on I love girls' comics at newsarama.com
Websites on Hellboy - comics, movies and cartoons
Wikipedia and IMDb pages on Mike Mignola

Podcast: Art as Play part 2

Clear spot: Art as play part 2

The second of a two part look at the exhibition 'Play' which is currently on at the Cello factory near Waterloo. The exhibtion mixes established British artists like Jake & Dinos Chapman and Bob and Roberta smith with up and coming artists such as Natasha Kissell and Peter Harrop. The exhibtion is about the nature of play and playful activities and how gallery visitors interact with works of art on display.

In the second instalment, Alex Fitch is talking to three of the artists who have work displayed in the exhibition: Neil Zakiewicz whose piece is an electric guitar in the shape of a giant artist's pallette and pain brush, with the amplifier disguised as an abstract painting, Natasha Kissell about her 3 dimensional painting that combines countryside painting with architects maquetts to create a fantasy landscape in a perspex box and Sarah Baker who has made a mixed media scultpture challenging the perception of fashion in art. (mp3 format, 13.8mb)

N.B./ The exhibtion is appointment only - please phone 020 70340699 or e-mail cellofactory (at) aol.com

For more info and a variety of formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this podcast at www.archive.org

Links: Listen to the preceding instalment
Info on Play at (contributing artist) Peter Harrap and Bear Space's websites
Map of The Cello Factory in Waterloo
Natasha's website
Info on Neil and Sarah at www.re-title.com

Today's show: Malcolm McDowell & Lindsay Anderson

Wednesday 5.45pm - Micro Clear spot: Malcolm McDowell and Lindsay Anderson

Today's clear spot is Alex Fitch's interview with the presenter / star (Malcolm McDowell) and the director (Mike Kaplan) of the new film Never Apologise - a personal visit with Lindsay Anderson currently showing at the London BFI Southbank. Alex discusses with Malcolm and Mike the experience of working with their mentor on a variety of projects on stage and screen, focussing on If... and O lucky man!.

Links: Book tickets for Never Apologise at the BFI
Info on Never Apologize (sic), Lindsay Anderson and Malcolm McDowell at the IMDb
Info on Malcolm McDowell, Lindsay Anderson and The Whales of August (produced by Mike Kaplan) at wikipedia.org
Official website: neverapologize.com

Podcast: Animation - Creating great cartoon characters

Last thursday's I'm ready for my close-up is now available for download...
(mp3 format, 28.6mb)

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com

An apology...

If you're one of the visitors who come this or Joe's blog for info about the shows I co-produce on Resonance and then tune in to the station to listen to them, I apologise that Monday's Clear Spot went out on tuesday lunchtime and that Thursday's Clear Spot and Friday's I'm ready for my podcast repeat were replaced by entirely different shows.

I delivered my shows to Resonance on time this week (sorry about both of the previous thursday's shows being a couple of mins late) and expected them to be broadcast. I don't work at the station but have a full time job elsewhere, so other than tuning in to check that the show is actually being broadcast and then phoning the station to complain when it isn't, I have no control over what is or isn't broadcast on Resonance FM.
Hopefully this won't happen again. At least (with the exclusion of the ComICA talks) all the advertised shows are podcast, so at least you can listen to them at your leisure if not on your car radio...

Today's show: Larger than life part 1

Today on Resonance 104.4 FM at 5pm I'm ready for my podcast - Larger than life part 1

The first of two shows looking at the largest of large screen cinema. In part one, Alex Fitch interviews David Strohmaier, director of the documentary Cinerama Adventure which looks at the rise and fall of the seminal 1950s big screen format from its initial use as a military application, how the revolutionary three camera and projector format was used for nature documentaries and feature films to its disuse and legacy in other large screen formats.

The follow up to this episode which is Alex's interview with Dennis Laws, the technical and general manager of the BFI London IMAX cinema, about the eclectic mix of films shown at the IMAX cinema will be broadcast in two weeks time, following a special episode next week which I'm not going to jinx by mentioning just yet!

This show was originally podcast on 26th July 2007 during Resonance's summer hiatus...

Links: IMDb entry for Cinerama Adventure
David's website
Wikipedia page on Cinerama
Info about Bradford's Cinerama and 70mm cinema, the National Media Museum and the next screening of This is Cinerama

Tonight's show: Animation - Creating great cartoon characters

10.30pm - I'm ready for my close-up [Animation month]: Creating great cartoon characters

In a show recorded 'live' in front of a studio audience, Alex Fitch interviews former Disney animator Vincent Woodcock about working on such films as The Tigger Movie and DuckTales: Treasure of the lost lamp as well as writing a book on creating cartoon characters. This is the start of animation month on IRFMCU and was recorded live at last month's Hectic Peelers event at the Roxy bar and screen...

Links: Buy Vincent's book from amazon.co.uk
Wikipedia pages on The Tigger Movie/, DuckTales the movie and Bimble's Bucket
Cartoon Brew - one of the most authorative blogs on animation on the 'net

Today's shows: ComICA coverage continues

Today on Resonance 104.4 FM we have two more talks culled from the ComICA archives...



5pm Strip! - Achtung! Commando!; The Art of War Comics
Gung-ho but blood-free, the pocket-sized Commando has been winning the war for over 4,000 issues. Experts Steve Holland and David Roach consider the artistry and evolution of war comics with those who created them.

8pm Clear Spot - Posy Simmonds @ ComICA
Continuing Resonance FM’s coverage of the London ComICA festival: In a conversation with Lisa Appignanesi, Posy Simmonds discusses and draws characters from her very fine new graphic novel Tamara Drewe, serialised in The Guardian and reworked into a book from Jonathan Cape.


N.B./ these talks will not be podcast, so make sure you listen to them while they're being broadcast as I don't know when the repeat may be...

Links: More info about ComICA at www.ica.org and www.paulgravett.com
Buy Tamara Drewe and Commando Graphic Novels at Forbidden Planet International
Steve Holland's blog
Download Tamara Drewe from The Guardian website
Wikipedia pages on Posy Simmonds and Commando Comics

Tonight's event: Happiness of the Katakuris

Screening at the Roxy Bar & Screen: The Happiness of the Katakuris 7.30pm

It's time for this month's Hectic Peelers Cinema Club, so why not come down to the Roxy Bar & Screen on Borough High Street and watch Miike Takashi's delirious horror musical The Happiness of the Katakuris which mixes The Sound of Music, Psycho & The Evil Dead to great aplomb. A remake of the Korean black comedy The Quiet Family, ...Katakuris is one of Miike's most popular films (after Audition) and there will be an introduction and post-screening Q&A by Electric Sheep Magazine critics Richard Thomas, Virginie Selavy & Alex Fitch...
Doors open at 6.30pm.

Links: Roxy Bar & Screen
Electric Sheep Magazine
IMDb and Wikipedia pages on The Happiness of the Katakuris
Listen to Joel Karamath & Virginie Selavy's presentation of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song at September's Hectic Peelers

N.B./ October's presentation of Belleville Rendezvous by Alex Fitch and Vincent Woodcock will be broadcast as this thursday's I'm ready for my close-up

Podcast: Art as play part 1

Originally broadcast Monday 05/11/07 4.30pm -
Clear spot: Art as play part 1

Today's Clear Spot is now ready to download...
(mp3 format, 13.8mb)

For more info and a selection of different file formats you can download or stream, please visit the home of this episode at www.archive.com

Today's show: Art as Play part 1

Monday 4.30pm - Clear spot: Art as play part 1
The first of two micro clear spots looking at the exhibition 'Play' currently on at The Cello Factory near Waterloo. Alex Fitch interviews curator Julia Alvarez & art collector Sara Pierce about the exhibtion which celebrates ineractivity and playfulness in art, there's an extract from Doug Fishbone's conceptual video Footprints in the sand and some music by The Heard, a local community choir who performed at the opening night.

(Next week - interviews with artists Natasha Kissell, Sarah Baker & Niel Zakiewicz)

N.B./ The exhibtion is appointment only - please phone 020 70340699 or e-mail cellofactory (at) aol.com

Links: Info on Play at (contributing artist) Peter Harrap and Bear Space's websites
Map of The Cello Factory in Waterloo
Article on The Heard from The Guardian
The Heard's myspace page

Forthcoming shows: ComICA & LFF

Too much work means I can't do a proper blog update for the next couple of days - check out Joe's blog at FPI for info about Resonance's ComICA coverage (N.B./ tomorrow's Clear Spot is at 2pm) and I'm ready for my close-up continues it's look at the LFF today and tomorrow at 10.30pm & 5pm as per... with James DC, Mark Stafford and Tom Geens...
Normal service will be resumed next week!