A simpler time.

This weekend I watched a film about the life and times of Charlie Chaplin, from his vaudeville days to his time as a director and producer and owner of his own studio, and it got me thinking about the time in my life that I spent as a filmmaker. As much as I hate to admit it the reason I wanted to be a filmmaker more than likely started after I saw my second Star Wars film and became fascinated with the art of special effects. I would like to say that I had had more lofty inspiration than that, such as some of the greatest films of all time, but the truth is I wanted to play with space ships for the rest of my life. When I made it into film school I started to understand, and fall in love with, the art of filmmaking and it was at this time that I became acquainted with the works of Charlie Chaplin, as well as all the other legends of film, in my film history courses. As a kid I knew about Chaplin from my parents but only thought of him as an actor and comedian it was not until college that I found out that he was so much more.

In discovering and watching many silent films and I really began to understand how pictures and images could tell a compelling story without the use of words. Something that I think today’s Hollywood should try to rediscover. In the film I watched this weekend I was reminded that Chaplin held out on making talking pictures even though the technology was around and available to him for many of the years when he was producing films. One of the reasons Chaplin did not want to start making talking films was because he did not want to alienate his audiences around the world that did not speak English.

In some ways I have a similar philosophy about my children’s books. The words in my books can be translated into any language, in fact both of my current books (The Deep Black Pond and The Gray Garden) are available all around the world, but it is the photo illustrations that I hope will inspire children of all ages and of any nationality to want to read those words. I still love films and filmmaking, and I use many the techniques that I have learned when producing my illustrations, but I have gotten more satisfaction out of creating my books than I ever felt even on the biggest film or stage productions that I have worked on in the past. I think that could be because of the way that I work now is similar to the way of the early days of filmmaking. It is simpler and less complicated and a little more pure. I use just a camera, a stage, and a few lights to make my magic and I hope that, like the films of Charlie Chaplin, will appeal to a wider audience.

Good luck and keep writing.

Morgan

A week of heroes.

After the events of this past week I am forced to recall a thought I have often had. That thought being that our civilization still works mainly because people are basically good at heart and on the whole, honest. Even though there are some people, such as the Boston marathon bombers, who would like to see harm done to others they are a very small minority when you take into account the total world population. I know that will be of little comfort to those people who were hurt or to the families and friends of those who were killed.

In my children’s books I use the themes of friendship, the cooperation with others, and the kindness to strangers as vehicles to tell my stories of fantasy and fiction. This week the people in Boston proved that friendship, cooperation, and the helping of strangers are not just concepts for stories of fantasy but real human qualities that are alive and well and existing in us all.

It is my profound hope that the kindnesses and heroism that occurred in Boston will continue and thrive in our everyday life and not just manifest itself in times of extreme crisis, and above all that going forward we do not give into the fear caused by two extremists.

My muse is cheating on me.

Some times I feel as though my muse is cheating on me. I have always been blessed with creativity and imaginative thinking and numerous times through out my life I have had, what I thought, were brilliant ideas or inspiration only to find someone else had the same inspiration and produced their version of the idea faster or better than I could afford to.

The latest example of this is that I spent part of last year, along with my partner, creating a new children’s book based on the classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. We finished our project several months before the end of the year and we began shopping the manuscript around. Now if you pay attention to current films you will know that in the beginning of March there was a new film released called Jack the Giant Killer. My hart sank a little.

We, however, are not giving up on our project because it is intended for a much different audience. If we had not finished our project we may have abandoned it when we saw the news, but it does go to show that a good idea will always find its way into the light no matter who had the idea first. So my lesson out of this is, as always, you have to believe in what you are doing because if you don’t no one else will and that you need to act on your inspirations because someone else may have had the same inspiration.

Good luck and keep writing.

Less can be more.

A few weeks ago, after the holidays were over with I started the daunting task of taking down all my Christmas decorations. Because I love the holidays so much, each year I completely transform my home into a holiday showpiece. I remove almost all of my everyday nick knacks, pack them away, and replace them with the holiday treasures I have accumulated over the years. When I strip that all away my house looks like I am moving out, it is so empty. Each year this gives me the opportunity, when restyling my home, to edit those things that I have acquired over the past year and stream line the focus of the over all design. Part of this comes from my experience as a visual display artist and some of it is a need to keep from being burred under clutter.

When I was going through this process this year I realized that this is very much the same way that I edit my photo illustrations. When I begin a new project I start with the design of the puppets, or characters, then I move onto the set designs. I almost always fill my sets with so much detail that it would be impossible to show it all in one photograph. So when I am setting up the framing of a particular shot I have to decide on what is the most important aspect of that shot and what that plate will need to convey to the reader. I still find myself trying to capture as much detail as I can but that is where the editing process comes into play.

After the photos have been finished I sit down with all the frames and going through them one by one I select those that best enhance the story and will engage the readers imagination. Those photographs are not always the best technically, but they are the best for moving the story along. Sometimes all the detail and attention that I put into a set is lost to the readers eye but I feel that the essence remains and comes through the illustration as an atmosphere and translates into a feeling. So I guess that what I am saying is that sometimes it is not important to focus on something just because you did it (or have it) but to keep your eye on what is important to the story telling process. As the old saying goes, “Sometimes less is more.”

Good luck and keep writing.

Morgan

Thank You!

During this festive time of year, which I love, I do tend to get a little depressed being separated from my family and my closest friends. I, however, take solace in knowing that my work may bring joy to others and their families this season, and maybe, just maybe become part of their holiday traditions. I would like to think that my children’s books are under a few trees this year.

With that said, I would like to thank all of you that have supported my work over the years and wish you and your families the most wonderful and joyous Happy Holidays and to wish you all, all the best for the upcoming New Year. 

Good luck and keep writing.

Morgan

 From me to you Merry Christmas!!!

Disappointment; get use to it.

Recently some of you may have read that I had petitioned some bookstores to carry my books in their brick and mortar stores. Well I got an answer back from one of the largest booksellers in the world and basically their answer was no. What I was told was that since they already carried my books on their on-line stores and because they already stock some one million titles in their brick and mortar stores they did not feel that at this time they could add my books to their on shelf inventory.

I am perfectly OK with that response. The fact that I received a response in the form of a letter I see as a success. So many publishers and agents do not even afford that courtesy now a day.

A big part of trying to become an author is learning to deal with disappointment. I would guess that only about ten percent (or less) of my queries even get a response, but it is important to keep trying especially if you believe in your work. There are so many factors that go in to selecting projects, it can rang from timing to subject matter to marketability to talent or even what is happening in the pop culture and you may never know what some one is looking for at any given time. If you did know that it would increase your chances a hundred fold. But because most of us do not have a crystal ball we just have to keep trying. The important thing is to keep trying. There are things that you can do to increase your chances such as getting as much feed back as you can from friends, family, and even strangers. Have your work as finished as it can be. Use professional editors. Above all believe in yourself and your work and don’t let your disappointments get the best of you, because there will be disappointment but they will make the successes that much sweeter.

Good luck and keep writing.

Just a bit of a rant.

From my childhood on till today The Little Golden Book series has always stood for quality and innocents in children’s picture books. In fact I have recently started collecting old Golden Books, when I find them at antique shows, for their wonderful vintage illustrations and nostalgic sentiment. Yesterday I was looking at some new children’s books at a local store. Ever since my books were published I like to periodically check out the new competition as it is released and to my total surprise I saw a new Little Golden Book about, of all things, the Iron Man. Now I ask you  . . . The Iron Man? Really? What are they thinking? Comic books have their place and even though I have never been a reader of them I respect the talent it takes to create them, and like baseball cards they are a huge part of American culture but lets leave those characters as that. The Little Golden Books and Marvel Comics are not a good partnership. I know this is just my opinion but I don’t think that a toddler needs to be exposed to the story of Tony Stark as the Iron Man or indeed any super hero. Let a child be a child first.

End rant.