tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3816075755902555378.post9023185905522042004..comments2024-03-22T05:09:57.169+00:00Comments on Cloud 109: Acquisitions, Apps, Reindeer and a Girl Called EmmaPeter Richardsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15566601617123798061noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3816075755902555378.post-37711845280034947852010-04-22T13:22:23.597+01:002010-04-22T13:22:23.597+01:00One of the glories of children's TV and litera...One of the glories of children's TV and literature during the 1950s and 1960s was the way in which writers and artists such as Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin were able to create wonderful characters on a kitchen table - single handedly producing the sort of films, books and comics that would today have to go through an army of middlemen to reach screen or print. What's more with nothing but magnets and meccano in a garden shed they managed to create ready made stop-motion animation of a quality that would probably cost a modern studio something in the region of a thousand pounds a second to make.<br /><br />A long line of series like Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog, Pogle's Wood and Bagpuss ensued, entertaining generations of British children who have never forgotten them, but they all came to a sudden end on the day a BBC commissioning committee informed Postgate that his style of storytelling was no longer 'appropriate' for their target audience. I'd be willing to bet that there was an Emma involved in this decision somewhere along the line!<br /><br />In the light of this I can't help but welcome new publishing media such as Apps which promise to cut through those stultifying bureaucratic layers that have grown up between the creator and his art. However, speaking as someone who doesn't even own a mobile phone I do worry that these technological developments might at the same time be tending to exclude a certain section of the population from the creative process altogether. The fact is that most of the American comic artists of the Golden and Silver Ages grew up in New York during the Depression, when a pencil and paper were all they required to learn their craft and lift themselves out of poverty. Today, by contrast, I wonder if their equivalents will ever be able to gain a foothold in any illustrative field if they can't even afford the basic computer and software that middle-class children take for granted...?Phil Rushtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11115717268103349676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3816075755902555378.post-51001619763566149212010-04-22T12:46:29.248+01:002010-04-22T12:46:29.248+01:00I think the potential of this revolution is huge. ...I think the potential of this revolution is huge. I too have had years of frustrations with greedy, bullying publishers, who often make daft "Emma" decisions. (Hm, guess we should be careful about turning the name "Emma" into a term of abuse! I know a few Emmas who have nothing to do with publishing!). What's annoying is that over the years the PC mad thought police have actually started to condition my thinking. When I consider new ideas for books I'm already watering them down in anticipation of those tedious committees. This isn't to say I'm planning axe murder tales for 2 year olds, but many ideas I know boys would enjoy are effectively crushed at birth. In the world of the app it's hard to see what value at all a publisher can bring. Even marketing it would be cheaper to employ your own marketing firm than rely on a publisher doing it. I say, "Viva la revolution!".Leo Hartashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14417174942647091006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3816075755902555378.post-27669669882452664242010-04-22T12:34:22.813+01:002010-04-22T12:34:22.813+01:00My own experience with established publishers has ...My own experience with established publishers has been that they are too distracted by trying to force their old content onto iPhone, etc, to see the new opportunities. The one exception has been Kate Wilson at Nosy Crow, who is initiating a lot of exciting new apps for kids.Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.com