All The Fantasy – Page 13 – FULL CONTACT NERD

Fantasy works and climate change – “Fire and Snow” (SUNY Press, 2018) – Marc DiPaolo interview

Dr. Marc DiPaolo is an English literature academic who likes to write on pop culture. We discuss his latest book deals with climate fiction as found in sci-fi and fantasy books and video entertainment.

1:26 – Marc talks about how he got into studying genre pop culture. He got into Game of Thrones and Narnia audibooks and noted how much they get into climate and environmental issues.

3:46 – Marc talks about how these environmental themes were connected between works and authors. He looked at Philip Pullman, Octavia Butler, GRR Martin, CS Lewis and others. He also considered the Inklings, Dr. Who, Mad Max and so on. He also gets into Star Trek and Star Wars.

6:55 – He didn’t want to just do books or popular culture. He wanted to bring everything together.

11:50 – Marc talks about the inclusion of religion in this climate fiction.

15:56 – Marc talks about he did his research.

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Marc DiPaolo

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, Game of Thrones, Narnia, Tolkien, Lewis, Mad Max, Octavia Butler, environmentalism, Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars

Dark Crystal and Star Wars actor – Hugh Spight interview

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Hugh Spight is a dancer and a “puppet performer.” He was a Mystic in “Dark Crystal” and a Gamorrean Guard in “Return of the Jedi.” He studied dance in London and worked in Germany before getting into the movie industry. I was able to speak with him at the 2018 Great Philadelphia Comic Con.

1:25 – Hugh Spight talks about he got into acting. He started as a dancer and then auditioned for Dark Crystal. He got the role to help develop how the creatures in that movie move.

4:36 – He actually learned how to gallop with a contraption that carried 60% of his body weight. When he finished at Dark Crystal, Return of the Jedi was being filmed close by and he was asked to do puppetry work on that.

6:20 – Netflix will be doing a prequel to Dark Crystal and they will be using body costumes again. People don’t react to CGI characters as much as they might react to real people in costumes. The industry might be swinging back to three dimensional characters.

9:32 – Passion is vital to succeed in dance or actor. Sacrifice is necessary to succeed in that.

10:57 – Hugh considers himself a Billy Elliot type when he got into dance.

13:58 – His first dance job after school in London was in Germany. When he started he was afraid to tell his parents.

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Hugh Spight

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, puppets, daleks, doctor who, gamorrean guard, return of the jedi, mystic, Dark Crystal, dance, Wales, Germany, Billy Elliot

Game of Thrones and Star Wars actor – Ian McElhinney interview

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Ian McElhinney has been a stage and screen actor for close to 40 years. He’s done a wide range of roles including acting in both the Star Wars franchise, Krypton, and in Game of Thrones as Barristan Selmy. We talked at the 2018 Great Philadelphia Comic Con about acting in general, how he got into it and how he does his work, and also about his work specifically in Star Wars and GoT.

1:30 – Ian talks about how he got into acting. He started at University trying to study something serious. He was getting a degree outside of Boston, Brandeis, and they had a theater degree. He decided he loved acting too much to not get a theater studies degree.

3:55 – He went back to the British theater and taught for a few years. Then he went back into the gaming game and had to get an equity card. At age 30, he went back to Northern Ireland to work as an actor in Belfast.

5:56 – He did a lot of screen work that reflected modern Irish politics and he was often put in a box. He had more freedom on the stage.

11:00 – Ian discusses what its like playing a character in sci-fi and fantasy including the Game of Thrones.

14:50 – Wearing a knight costume gave an Ian a different sense of movement. Wearing armor and wielding a sword gives one a new sense of weight and such. Props can give you a new sense of how you relate to others.

17:20 – Ian loves being on stage and getting the feeling of having connected with the audience. He’s also started enjoying rehearsing a lot more.

19:42 – Ian addresses how he approached his roles in Star Wars and Game of Thrones.

20:30 – Ian loves acting and will keep doing it as long as he can.

21:40 – He was in a Ken Brannaugh production and he met Jack Lemmon. He had always been a big fan of Jack and loved working with him. It was the only time he did a fan thing and he asked Jack for a favor.

24:50 – He had to give up science while in school because the system required one to choose science or the arts. But he really liked science and misses having learned it.

25:55 – He’s more of a fan of gritty dramas rather than sci-fi or fantasy. However, as a child he would have liked to be able to fly and enjoy the freedom and sensation of flight.

28:18 – Ian believes that apart from entertaining people, actors can help people think outside the box and to broaden their minds.

30:00 – Ian has a twitter account @serianmc

Links of interest

https://twitter.com/SerIanMc

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Ian McElhinney

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, art, artist, barristan selmy, game of thrones, star wars, rogue one, General Dodonna, sci-fi, acting, props, Belfast, Ireland, Brandeis, Krytpon, Superman