the memory of Writercon
a recent post in coffeemakers has brought to my mind a memory of one Writercon 200 panel that I always wanted to write about, but always forgot. Now, though, I have an ulterior motive to do it - and nothing pushes me better.
so, two years ago at Writercon 2006, there was a panel I don't remember a name of. or who was there, besides me. sorry about that. on that panel we discussed the relationships between the setting and the story being told. I raised a question of setting in BtVS - how setting reflects the story, and more importantly, Buffy's state of mind. Buffy comes from L.A. to a "one-Starbucks' town". It does not matter how many Starbucks are there and why (didn't sacrifice enough virgins? lost the best spot to Sunnydale High?). Vancouver after Moscow felt to me as a "one-Starbucks' town", even though Moscow doesn't have any Starbucks to my knowledge, and Vancouver - quite a lot. it's all about the feeling inside. Sunnydale grows over the first years, together with Buffy's world and her interactions with it, reaching its largest size, I think, in season four with a shine bright huge campus. Then, in season 5 it starts shrinking and in season 6 we hardly see anything but cemetery, house, Magic shop and DMP. and we don't notice the absence of the world, not really. In season 7 the world forcefully reminds us about itself - here are we in England, here we are in Berlin, Istanbul, etc - and here is the whole world comes crushing to a small house on Revello drive, giving us a slightly claustrophobic feeling. This centripetal motion ends up with the big explosion, giving Buffy the whole world with that wonderful last shot.
the thought itself was not too original or super-amazing, but it gave start to a curious discussion: a lady got up and said that that claustrophobic feeling was due to shrinking production values and not higher creative considerations. I actually don't remember what was said after and by whom, but my perfect answer as always came to me later. here it is: thank you, and we also know that vampires and slayers don't exist, but we still discuss their relationships and meanings.
so, two years ago at Writercon 2006, there was a panel I don't remember a name of. or who was there, besides me. sorry about that. on that panel we discussed the relationships between the setting and the story being told. I raised a question of setting in BtVS - how setting reflects the story, and more importantly, Buffy's state of mind. Buffy comes from L.A. to a "one-Starbucks' town". It does not matter how many Starbucks are there and why (didn't sacrifice enough virgins? lost the best spot to Sunnydale High?). Vancouver after Moscow felt to me as a "one-Starbucks' town", even though Moscow doesn't have any Starbucks to my knowledge, and Vancouver - quite a lot. it's all about the feeling inside. Sunnydale grows over the first years, together with Buffy's world and her interactions with it, reaching its largest size, I think, in season four with a shine bright huge campus. Then, in season 5 it starts shrinking and in season 6 we hardly see anything but cemetery, house, Magic shop and DMP. and we don't notice the absence of the world, not really. In season 7 the world forcefully reminds us about itself - here are we in England, here we are in Berlin, Istanbul, etc - and here is the whole world comes crushing to a small house on Revello drive, giving us a slightly claustrophobic feeling. This centripetal motion ends up with the big explosion, giving Buffy the whole world with that wonderful last shot.
the thought itself was not too original or super-amazing, but it gave start to a curious discussion: a lady got up and said that that claustrophobic feeling was due to shrinking production values and not higher creative considerations. I actually don't remember what was said after and by whom, but my perfect answer as always came to me later. here it is: thank you, and we also know that vampires and slayers don't exist, but we still discuss their relationships and meanings.