When A Celebrity Dies, Social Media Thrives

Celebrities used to die in threes, now they seem to die daily. That means that much of one’s time on social media is regularly spent reacting or simply observing the activity surrounding a famous fallen figure. In the days that follow, a consensus processing of the star’s demise can be witnessed. Here is the procedure presented day-by-day. You just may see yourself in it. 

Day 1: The celebrity’s death is a global event. Tons of people make R.I.P. posts on Facebook, Twitter, and every other social media platform. Some offer stories of loving the dearly departed’s work since childhood, others post YouTube clips, there are remembrances from folks who met them in person, memes, and photos galore. It all feels heartfelt, sincere, and we all seem to be on the same page about how this artist’s achievements made this a better world.

 

Day 2: The backlash. We wake up to posts by people who aren’t fans, who want to point out bad things the artist did, and tell us that the star wasn’t who you thought they were. Maybe the artist cheated on or was violent to their partner, or maybe their art was racist or sexist or offensive in some manner; whatever it is, internet posters want their objections to the previous day’s adulation heard.

Day 3: A mixture of the last two day’s sentiments. Though the posts about the famous deceased are less frequent, they still randomly appear as there are some people who didn’t hear about it until a considerable time after the fact, and are catching up. 

 

Day 4: The global event winds down. There still are tribute posts, but most people have moved on. Now, this applies mainly to A-listers, B and C-listers have a shorter online mourning period. Major stars like David Bowie, Carrie Fisher, Tom Petty, Prince, etc. are still getting tribute posts – hell, I just saw someone post likewise about George Harrison and he’s been dead since 2001.

 

The one thing that can quicken the life of this cycle is if some other beloved celebrity passes not long after the original famous person passed. Example: A week ago, trash rocker Meat Loaf died. Less than a day later, comedian Louie Anderson died. That means that there were people who were mourning overtime.

 

While writing this, I find out that Howard Hesseman just died. So, of course, folks are posting pictures and clips mostly of his iconic character, Dr. Johnny Fever from WKRP in Cincinnati. That’s what I did. Sadly, as much as I love the guy, he’s largely known to people of a certain age who watched him on TV 40 years ago so he’s not A-list, and his homage will be short lived. In a day or two, Hesseman’s demise will be put aside for the social media homage to the next famous fallen figure, and the cycle will restart.

 

I’ll end now with a picture of Dr. Johnny Fever that I drew 40 years ago. I think I was trying to capture him one of his greatest moments, his “Give it to me straight, Doctor, I can take it!!!” declaration from the show’s pilot.

 

More later...

Short Film Showcase: Adam Pyburn's “Thread”

A co-worker of mine at the Colony Theater in Raleigh, Adam Pyburn, who is also a talented freelance video editor, recently finished a short film called “Thread.” Pyburn posted the film on YouTube and described it on his Facebook profile as concerning “the last time I threaded a 35mm projector before the theater switched to digital projection.”

I was so touched by the nearly 5 minute short, of which Colony General Manager Denver Hill said was “part nostalgia, part how-to” (from the theater's Facebook page), that I wanted to share it with my readers. So here it is:

I asked Adam a few questions about his film:

Film Babble Blog: “Can you tell me how “Thread” came together; what inspired it?”

Adam Pyburn: “It was filmed July 12th 2013, right before the 9 o’clock showing of BEFORE MIDNIGHT that Friday night. It wasn’t the last time that projector was used before (or after) renovations, just the last time that I used it before the digital transition - and in all likelihood the last time I’ll thread a 35mm projector.

I had just gotten my first DSLR two month prior and had been meaning to put the projection threading process on video. I knew the end was near for 35mm, and it wasn't clear that we would keep even one film projector. So once we got the final dates on the digital renovations I picked a shift and brought my camera.

I just used available light, which is kinda harsh up there, but in black & white the contrast worked well, and created more of the bittersweet, timeless look I was aiming for. Though, admittedly I didn't plan the shoot as well as I would if I did it over again. All the set up, shots, and retakes took a little over an hour to film, and I spent about two days this week editing, tweaking the graphics, and adding music.”

FBB: Was the music you composed written for the film or was it something you had before?”

AP: “The chords had been in my head for the last few months, but I hadn’t found a context for them until this project. The credit music was just ad-libbed based on the main music. It was bittersweet to film and edit this video, but in the end I think the pieces came together just about the way I wanted them to.”

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Tweets, The New Grey Gardens, And The Unveiling Of The Wolverine Wax Figure

Just got back from a Vegas vacation! Two weeks of being blinded by either the sun or intense flickering lights, and it was a blast! On the trip I had noticed that Twitter had really blown up in the news so I decided to try it. Sure, it might be seen as lame and trendy to some, but I dived in because I can be lame, and trendy with the best of them!

I got the Twitter application on my Facebook account and attempted to get a steady stream going of trip tweets. Some of said tweets: "wished David Brenner didn't hog George Wallace's spotlight." "loves the looks people give him when he's wearing his Elvis sunglasses." "had a good time @ old downtown Vegas despite losing a little money. Now we are having some late dinner at Augustus Cafe @ Caesar's Palace" "full of Italian food again from that place (Battista's) that looks like a mob hangout with multiple Michael Landon pictures on the wall - that damn angel musta ate there a lot." "is watching Close Encounters on HDNet in this kickass Venetian suite." "just took a shower in a glass shower that looks like some kind of sci fi pod - thought I was going to be cryogenically frozen."

I mean my life isn't very interesting enough normally to constantly comment on but this trip was full of fun activities so, of course, my friends and family immediately knew when I was going to whatever show - Penn & Teller, the Cirque du Solei Beatles "Love" deal, "O" (also Cirque), George Wallace, etc.), where I was dining, when I met Mary Tyler Moore (@ NAB - Las Vegas Convention Center on 4/20) and, ahem, when I got married (around 8:00 PM 4/28). 

So now that I'm back my tweets will be less interesting (mostly just about what movie I'm watching I bet) but you're welcome to follow them. Just look up @filmbabble on Twitter and follow. We took a little time away from Vegas to drive to Sedona, Arizona, which was beautiful. after a full day of looking at art, visiting Montezuma Castle, and walking trails in the red rock country we relaxed in our sweet suite. After viewing too much reportage on the Craigslist killer through much channel flipping I was happy to see the new telefilm GREY GARDENS on HBO.

If you're not in the know it's based on the 1974 Maylses bros. documentary (also named GREY GARDENS) about Edith "Big Edie" Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale who were the aunt and first cousin of Jackie Onassis. Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, respectively, portray the ladies living in absolute squalor in their rundown mansion in Easthampton, New York. With flash backs to Little Edie's New York lavish lifestyle as an aspiring actress before being sucked into her Mother's Hell hole habitat we get little in the way of true insight but plenty of pleasurable kitsch.

I've often thought Lange brings an element of mental unstability often to roles that don't require it but here she that more than works in her favor. Barrymore hasn't quite matured acting-wise but since she's playing a bad misguided showbiz wannabe she seems to somehow pull it off. Jeanne Tripplehorn (Big Love) has a great understated cameo dead on as Jackie O. with Ken Howard (The White Shadow - oh, forget it, nobody remembers that show) and Daniel Baldwin filling out the small cast as the socialite ones that got away. 

While the new GREY GARDENS is an entertaining, and fairly moving melodrama. I must recommend seeing the original documentary first for proper context. A new Criterion version is available which contains the follow-up film THE BEALES OF GREY GARDENS (2006) which I have yet to see. A friend also recommened the musical, in which he said Christine Ebersole was awesome in (comments via Facebook status updates of course), so there's that too. 

On our last day in Las Vegas we decided to check out Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum. We knew it would be cheesy but we thought it would be fun to see all those famous likenesses; some of which were awful - Springsteen with blonde hair, and a highly unrecognizable Brad Pitt for a few examples. What we didn't know was that we walked in just in time to see the unveiling of the new Hugh Jackman Wolverine wax figure on what they dubbed "Wolverine Wednesday," a promotional event for the new Marvel movie, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. I filmed this happening, and since it was so delightfully stupid I decided to share it with you fine folks:

 

Now that's one way to start off the summer season which gets under way with X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE today. Hope the movie is better than that intensely unconvincing statue.

More later...