🐜Insectachella

Bugging out with a music video edit.

Every episode of Into the Storymaze = writing ideas or writing-in-progress; something creative I’m excited to share; a highlight from my comic book writing; and a quote that’s worth a think.

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Storymazes come in all forms, and I've more than once found my way into one thanks to Lumafusion — the phenom mobile video editing app I've name checked before. Their recent music video contest got me thinking. First thought was, “I don’t have time to shoot any footage!”

That was probably quickly followed by, “I don’t have any real rhythm, so who am I to edit a music video?” But somewhere between those, I’d stumbled into the storymaze and started ricocheting between various “What if…?” and “Why not…?” scenarios?

What if…the motions of various insects could be cut to a beat? Why not…do a search for stock footage of bugs in motion. (Lumafusion provides an add on subscription to a huge library of stills and videos for exactly my type of “resource challenged” creativity.)

With an energetic beat even I couldn’t miss (another stock subscription search) I found myself dragged back to the screen again and again to string together “just one more” flapping wing and twerking carapace. The utter ridiculousness of it probably helped to motivate the edit, too.

At the end of the contest I did NOT win. (“I was wronged!”) But whenever you can lean into a creative tool with a mission in mind, you learn more than you expect — which will serve your next tale to tell. This was also a a good lesson in finding a story — however loosely you want to define that term in this case! — even where I didn’t  expect.

(For the record, I still hate ladybugs above almost all else on the planet. But it was the perfect planet-sized zoom in shot, so I seized the moment — and comforted myself with the thought that its evil little dots were crushed just seconds later.)

Sammy Davis Jr. loomed large when I was a young consumer of media. Beyond numerous guest spots on TV dramas and comedies, variety programs and talk shows, he also carried an imprimatur as a singer, a dancer, and an overall "performer." He was also the crooning voice of the Beretta theme song, with its wise advice of “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.”

While he was clearly a part of Hollywood and entertainment royalty, he never seemed as big a persona or star as fellow rat packers Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin — at least in a way I fully understood. Or maybe better to say fully appreciated.

One thing that always stood out for me in relation to Sammy was him being an offhanded joke in This is Spinal Tap. As a limo driver espouses the power of Sammy’s autobiography — "Yes I Can" — the mockumentary's title band disses the driver (and by extension Mr. Davis) with a disdainful raising of the partition glass between the front and back of the vehicle.

This is Spinal Tap…in the back of a limo

I admit I laughed at Sammy’s expense. That should have been the end of it. But for whatever reason I found myself now and again looking for his book. Nothing in the used book stores. Never at the garage sale tables. Not to be found at the local library shelves, real or virtual.

When writer Mitch Horowitz cited as a particularly strong example of manifestation — it’s right there in the title, isn’t it? “Yes I Can! — I redoubled my efforts for discovery. Why? I suppose the essence of the storymaze: to lead you in and let you find out for yourself.

When I finally found a banged up copy via an Amazon book seller, it was a beaten down thing: the ragged page edges of a book club edition, no dust jacket, a broken spine. Everything to downplay its appeal. When I finally got up the energy to crack the cover (“Careful! It’s barely attached…”) it was as if by overcoming all the barriers I’d proved myself worthy of the read.

Was it worth it? Unbelievably so. Instead of the glib celebrity bio I was mostly expecting, this was a in depth self-analysis of self-achievement. From how to win over an audience (starting at the age of 3) to overcoming imposter syndrome to setting his sights up high and far ahead, Sammy is a life-lesson in honest, authentic storytelling.

Even more unexpected: the unflinching accounts and page count given over to the chilling racism that this performer — regularly lauded as the "greatest living entertainer in the world” — was subjected to at almost every turn.

For a book written in a “more innocent time” Mr. Davis turns a harsh light on the horrific labels, protests and deep prejudice he was subjected to because of the color of his skin. It’s shocking to read — although in light of today’s resurgent rascists, perhaps not so shocking after all.

(Fair warning, Sammy’s prose is populated by any number of “mans”, “babes”,  “dolls” and “groovies” throughout — but that’s Sammy’s character and of the time, so roll with the read, as it were.)

Here's a bit of a kicker, maybe even a manifestation-motivator: the book ends at the birth of Sammy's first child in the sixties. The last page marks an already very, very full lifetime of  incredible success — with much, much more to come in the pages yet to be lived. There’s no doubt this was living up to the title of his book: “Yes I Can”. Now…what about us?

Readers of my words might mistake the outstretched ghoulish arm and detached torso as belonging to Terror — the bogeyman mercenary-for-hire of Terror, Inc. But at this point in time he is still Shreck. Not the Smash Mouth grooving ogre Shrek, but another incarnation of the German word for terror — in this case the primary villain of St. George in Epic Comics’ Shadowline.

This moment is especially important as it’s where the buttoned-up bad guy trades in his trademark cool for a personal vendetta. And that kind of shift is what you want for all your story’s players, to keep it interesting for you, for the audiences — and I believe for Shreck himself.

I’d like to take some credit for that storytelling transformation — but I’ve become increasingly convinced over the years that we were as much channeling this character as we were creating him.

All things considered, I’m just looking to stay on his good side. Whatever part of him that happens to be at the moment…

“I have thrust myself into this maze,
Haply to wive and thrive as best I may.”

— William Shakespeare

Amazing Times

Thanks for taking a break from the dark web to check out this share-out of projects I’m working on, plus things that have me jazzed. I’m D.G. Chichester. If that’s too much, feel free to just call me “Dan.”

I earned my word-cred writing comic book titles like Daredevil, Terror Inc., Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, along with digital widgets in the world wide web of advertising. I keep my storytelling cred by trying new things —  this is one, with more on the way. I like weird tales, so if things here bend that way — now you know why!

Folks seem to like the comic book adventures I’ve written, so if you haven’t checked one out — please do. Many are now available in fab collected editions.

For the lonely moments between these emails…

@dgchichester — 280 characters from the Twitterverse

@dgchichester — images + context via Instagramland