I've only been on here sporatically lately, and had hoped to be on the last couple weeks.  Unfortunately, health issues have prevented that. (So much for the episodes I watched and took notes on to try and catch up with watching project.  .) Haven't read any posts in ages, and won't have time to read any tonight.  In a little over three hours I'm to be at the hospital for major surgery. (Before anyone gets worried, it's major, but not uncommon: an abdominal hysterectomy due to fibroids which are massive to the point of the dr wanting everything removed ASAP.)

Bottom line is between the surgery and hospital stay itself, plus the drugs I'll be on plus post surgery exhaustion, I can't predict when I'll be up to reading and posting (this is me: I won't be able to read without wanting to post about SOMETHING <G>).

I'll be back as soon as I have the energy and brain cells (people can make up their own minds whether that's a promise or a threat!)

Jeannie

That's a good point about the people who will go to this movie, Janet the Wicked.  One thing this made me think of, though, is that though the fandom itself is incredibly small as fandoms go (measured by people who define themselves as 'active fans", those who are casual fans, but will join something like a yahoo group, or go to a Fest, but are not  heavily into it, etc.) the movie would draw from a larger pool of people who are familiar with the show.  These are, of course, the babyboomers who were crazy for the show as kids.  Most may not have thought of the show in years, but there are a few things that would probably say Dark Shadows to them immediately: Barnabas,the opening credits of the rocks and the opening tag with the house.

Even my mother, who's never really watched the show (she says because she hates history stuff), knows EXACTLY who Barnabas and Anqelique are -- and recognizes the house.  And LOL it's NOT because she ever watched it with me.  She always worked (my Dad died when I was very small) and it was my GRANDMOTHER watched the show with me ( not to mention instructed me on  Joan Bennett's movies).

Jeannie

I wasn't around lately to get the heads up, so I caught this one by semi accident, even though I watch the show regularly.  Tuned to the station JUST in time to see the name in the closing credits, so stayed up for the rebroadcast -- guess there's an advantage, after all, to weird sleeping habits while waiting for surgery. 

LOL Midnite and Julia99 -- the slicked down hair and the ears were what struck me too.  VERY early 60s.  Of course, the show IS known for its accurate period details <G>.

 Pity it was another "blink and you miss him" role.  Then again, with Mad Men, you never know when or if a character might reappear.

Jeannie

Nicholas Hormann will portray Lincoln in the IRT production. He was Vorvon, the space vampire, on Buck Rogers. I see a pattern emerging. 

LOL.  Werewolf, vampire, what next?  Maybe some guy who played Frankenstein's monster...the height would be right.....<g,d,r>

Jeannie

Yeah.  Romantic.  That's always the vibe that's hyped when Barnabas is with Charity.  As I have said before, I don't get it.  It's always beautifully done - Frid and Barrett do a lovely job of it - but what does Barnabas feel towards Charity?  If it's love of any sort, why does he bite her?  I mean, granted that's how a vampire vents his love, apparently - but Barnabas knows it's harmful for the victim.  He desperately tried to avoid biting Josette - but he deliberately went to Charity's room, way back when, to bite her.  Is it simple vampire lust?  It doesn't come across that way.  Everybody throws fits about how Barnabas killed Carl - but his victimization of Charity bothers me much more.

Interesting point.  I hadn't thought of it that way before.  In running it over in my mind, I'm thinking maybe the victimization of Charity wasn't that noticeable per se is that its essentially the way he treats most of his female victims.  He targets the woman for whatever reason, sometimes spur of the moment, sometimes it seems thought out in advance.  But, once the decision is made, he seems to have precious little concern for the effect his involvement will have on THEIR lives -- it's all about HIM.

The approach with Carl seems part of the same pattern --perhaps it's more noticeable since this time it's NOT one of the SYTs?

Jeannie

Thanks to Selby D. Pierson for posting this.  Speaking as one of the lucky people who had the pleasure of visiting the house last week, it would be wonderful if we could get a campaign together to at least TRY and get it used.

A few thoughts occurred to me in reading everyone's posts.  Seriously dating myself as a Fanosaur here, but I do remember the first Save Star Trek! campaign, and most of the basic ground rules back then still apply.  

Don't have my copy of Star Trek Lives! to hand at the moment to recap the dos and don'ts, but one thing that did strike me was the mention of the petition sites.  Keep in mind that ANY petition, no matter HOW many signatures it has, is never counted as more than ONE letter.  When I inquired of people involved in other campaigns, such as the tobasco campaign for Roswell,and those for other shows in recent years, they confirmed that this has not changed.

The IDEAL would be to get the names of executives in decision making positions regarding the DS project. Email addresses would be great, IF they can be obtained; snailmail still works too, BTW.  If the latter, make sure you have a name, title and address.  Seems silly to point this out here, but many other DS venues are not as courteous and savvy of how things are done in the business world, so I have to say, please point out basics when you alert other groups and boards, using your judgement on the emotional maturity of the posters, not to mention the presence of trolls who would write nasty letters just to make trouble.

Basics:

Be respectful and courteous.
Bring out points about how the use of the house would build interest (read $$$$ in pocket).
Keep it short and concise.
IF using Snailmail, do NOT write "Dark Shadows" or Johnny Depp ANYWHERE on the envelope (unless by some miracle someone actually has an address for JD, and in that case I think they'd know for SURE not to share it).  Putting either of those on the envelope is likely to get it routed to the fanmail department, who probably wouldn't know what to do with the letter.
DON'T use a form letter
DON'T reuse the same letter template without changing it.  They can figure out its the same person or group of people, which would put a monkey wrench in them taking it seriously.

Thats all I remember at this hour.  

The suggestions about professional sites such as IMDB would also be good.  For most upcoming projects, studios or production companies have people cruising boards to get a handle on stuff like fan reaction, fan interest etc.  Actors and production people have also been known to lurk on boards connected to projects to scope out the fans, so keep that in mind when figuring out your individual approach on how to spread the word.

Jeannie

Oh, MB, if you do get the time to do your hunt for Collinwood candidates in England, you might want to check out Blenheim Palace.  Large, multiwinged imposing and spectacular, it's one of my favorite candidates.

Excellent, excellent post, Magnus. Really perceptive on how Trask's hypocracy and viewof himself and his actions actually function.

Every time I see this episode, it appears to me that Barnabas did not intend to kill Carl when he did.  Maybe he planned to kill Carl after making sure Carl hadn't spilt the beans to anybody - but that's speculative.  Of course Barnabas wasn't about to admit to Quentin that he had just made a stupid mistake, so he let Quentin believe that Carl's death was deliberate.

I really like this idea, Lydia.  I don't remember ever considering it in that light, but it works well to explain Barnabas' action without him having to be a complete fool.  As has been pointed out, it was a foolish thing to do before finding out who, if anyone else now knew.

Jeannie

Caressing her neck, caressing her (clothed) shoulders, caressing I can't remember what else...Trask isn't wasting any time, is he?

He sure isn't.  So much for respecting the LOOONG mourning period which was customary in Victorian times.  Considering what he was trying to do, you'd wonder about him moving so quickly that it could be called scandalous. We all know what extremes the Collins will go to in the name of preventing scandal.

Quote from: Midnite on June 09, 2009, 03:58:19 AM

That Gregory-- so devious and sure of himself (he sure pulled that gun out fast as soon as Tim showed his face!!) and quick on his feet at fabricating stories and coming up with a convincing argument.  Now I'm thinking that he probably used Tim's escape with Rachel as an opportunity to murder his own brother-in-law and frame Tim for it.

Ooh, perfect idea!

I like that idea too.  Its very devious and oh so in character for Trask.  He's quite the operator, and I could see him diving head first on such a tempting opportunity to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone.

Mind you, I have no complaints about the resolution we got.  It's wonderfully callous.

Thats why I love 1897.  Galloping inconsistancies not withstanding, they got the FEEL of the period spot on.  That kind of complete callousness varied with sentimentalism (not to mention the obligatory touch of jaw dropping hypocracy) is the Victorian era in a nutshell.

In another area of callousness, nobody's worrying about Pansy Faye's disappearance, as Carl points out.  I daresay the police think she left town when she found out that the Collinses were putting up a stiff opposition to her marrying Carl.  Or else they figure she went down to the docks for some extracurricular entertainment and met what is the usual fate these days of girls on the docks.  But there you are: nobody worries much about the disappearance of a lower-class girl.

Especially if that lower class girl can be self righteously written off as a "soiled dove" beneath the notice of respectable people.

Jeannie