Star Trek – Page 2 – FULL CONTACT NERD

Sci-fi and archaeology – “Excavating the Future” (Liverpool University Press, 2018) – Shawn Malley interview

Shawn Malley is a Canadian professor interested in the Victorian period. We talk about his latest book that discusses the intersection between archaeology, science fiction and spectacle.

1:45 – Shawn talks about how he got into writing on science fiction. He’s a Victorianist by trade.

4:09 – Shawn talks about how he divides the book and what the three parts are about.

8:04 – We touch on steampunk and Victorian tropes.

11:00 – We discuss Superman and archaeology.

21:04 – We discuss how Shawn chose what works to research.

25:45 – Shawn talks about analyzing tv and film media.

27:45 – Shawn is also interested in the technologies used to create sci-fi film and tv and what those say about how we approach sci-fi.

45:00 – The book has about 45 stills and Shawn wanted many more.

48:29 – Shawn’s work can be found in University libraries. He has a page on Bishop’s University of Quebec.

Links of Interest

Excavating the Future https://liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/products/108267

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: Shawn Malley

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, archaeology, babylon, iraq, smallville, Manticore, films, Stargate, Ancient Aliens, Indiana Jones, Crystal Skull, Superman, cyborgs, Battlestar Galactica, cylons, Star Trek, Transformers, District 9, ISIS

Disney animation history – “Drawing the Line” (University Press of Kentucky, 2006) – Tom Sito interview

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Tom Sito has been a film animator for decades and has worked on some of Disney’s biggest films. He’s written a book on Disney history based on interviews with Disney animators who were working there during the 1941 strike and we spoke about the book.

2:15 – Tom Sito talks about his animation career with Disney Studios. He explains how he ended up writing this book on the Disney strike of 1941.

4:00 – Tom talks about the layout of the book and how animation works.

7:03 – The book covers labor issues from the early days through modern day.

9:00 – The labor movement in animation caused changes in how animation was produced. UPA represents some of these changes.

15:14 – Tom talks about animators approached being in unions.

20:20 – Tom used 75 first person interviews and archives for the book research. He also knows the Disney family and they liked the book.

22:30 – The history involves the mob and communists. The Disney strike was one of the few without violence.

24:30 – The most dramatic day of the strike was the first day the picket line went up. The depression was still happneing for many people on that May 1941 day.

32:45 – The studios would use off-duty LA police to break up strikes. The mob coulnd’t make inroads into LA because the LA police would rough up mobsters who came into town.

38:00 – Tom talks about Don Bluth and how he left Disney and formed Don Bluth Studios in competition with Disney.

41:44 – Tom talks about Jakob Kirtzberg who left animation after a strike and went into comic books under the name Jack Kirby.

42:54 – Tom talks about the importance of the book among animators.

49:24 – Tom talks about the animation revival in the 1980s and 1990s.

50:35 – Tom talks about computer animation and its early development and rise. Flight simulators were a big part of this development.

57:30 – Tom talks about special effects used in 2001.

1:01:26 – He has a website at tomsito.com.

Links of interest

Tomsito.com

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: Tom Sito

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: art, artist, animation, Disney, los angeles police, mobsters, mob, communists, UPA, studios, Hollywood, Snow White and the seven dwarves, Don Bluth, Don Bluth studios, marvel comics, Jack Kirby, Paramount studios, Star Trek, Genesis effect, 2001, special effects, cookbooks,

Science Fiction and religion – “Religion and Technology into the Future” (Lexington Books, 2018) – Sam Gill interview

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Professor Sam Gill has studied dance, religion and science fiction for decades. He’s written books on the subject and here we discuss his latest book on religion and artificial intelligence.

1:50 – Sam Gill talks about how he got into writing about science fiction.

2:57 – Sam talks about the book. He wanted to study the obsession with artifical intelligence. He looked at ancient philosophy all the way to modern thought and pop culture.

5:56 – Sam talks about his own interest in dance and the importance of movement, singing, religion with female artifical intelligence. He talks about embracing our fundamental human biology.

8:00 – Sam uses history, philsophy, and biology to provide his thoughts on where artifical intelligence should go.

10:30 – Sam posits that humans don’t learn as much in school as they do through the sharing of movement and physical expression.

13:17 – SPOILER POINT: Sam talks about how he chose movies and shows as examples. He talks about Ex Machina and its ending.

14:24 – SPOILER DISCUSSION ENDS

16:22 – Sam talks about how surprised he was to find historic connections between the first writing on female robots to modern films. He has found a very interesting common thread.

19:41 – SPOILER POINT: He tried to understand the role of violence in these films and tv shows. He talks about Westworld.

21:37 – SPOILER DISCUSSION ENDS

24:00 – Sam has found a small group of philosophers who have talked about the idea of biology being an important part of being human.

32:30 – Sam has studied dance across the world and people always want to teach others the way they dance.

35:25 – His website is sam-gill.com where people can find his writings on dance and science fiction.

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

Links of interest

www.sam-gill.com

Guests: Sam Gill

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, writer, nonfiction, Data, Star Trek, Westworld, Ex Machina, Blade Runner, dance, religion, movement, robots, artifical intelligence, scarlett johansson, movies, tv shows