The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Another Thursday rolls around and as daffodils warily peek out from below the still chilly soil and wonder if it’s worth coming out yet, here’s our own herald of spring tidings, Alex Fitch, with details of the shows he’s involved with for the next week; as ever check the Panel Borders site for more details and links to podcasts of previous shows:

Strip!: Yetis, ghosts and other things that go bump in the night!, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM, podcast after transmission at Panel Borders

Continuing children’s book month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to two creators of atypical titles for kids, which are being published by Walker Books. John Dunning is the writer of Salem Brownstone: All along the watchtowers, a Graphic Album in the European format which combines his script in the style of American horror writers H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe with Nikhil Singh’s elegant artwork, reminiscent of Victorian illustrators such as Aubrey Beardsley. Salem Brownstone was originally serialised in the small press anthology Sturgeon White Moss and Alex talks to John about the process of creating this unusual title.

Alex Milway is the author of The Mousehunter trilogy of pirate novels for young adults and in his new series of books – The Mythical 9th Division – which tell the tales of a trio of crimefighting Yetis who work for the British government, he is pioneering a new kind of storytelling in which every chapter of the books segues from sequential art into more traditional text. The two Alexs talk about the first of the Yeti books – Operation Robot Storm – which is being released in June and how comics can be used as another device to get kids into reading.

Clear Spot: Directing low budget Science-Fiction films, on Resonance FM on the 17th at 8pm, first segment now online at SciFi London

In an hour long panel discussion recorded live at last year’s London Science-Fiction and Fantastic Film Festival, Alex Fitch discusses the many aspects of creating engaging and convincing SF scenarios on film with a quartet of eminent low budget film directors – Marc Caro (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children), Stuart Hazeldine (Exam), Cory McAbee (Stingray Sam), Gerald McMorrow (Franklyn) and Richard Jobson (A Woman in Winter). The panel was sponsored by The Directors Guild of Great Britain and Mr Caro’s translator was Virginie Selavy.

Recent podcasts:

Panel Borders: Robots of various sizes

Starting Children’s Books month on the show, Alex Fitch talks to two artists who have inadvertently found themselves making comics for younger audiences. Joe List is a graphic designer and animator who, with his first collection of comic strips inspired by Saturday morning cartoons – Freak Leap – has compiled a whimsical series of adventures starring pirates, monsters and giant robots with spindly legs suitable for all ages. Paul Collicutt is a children’s book illustrator who has previously been engaged in fully pained artwork for traditional picture books but now, as the creator of a series of Robot City Adventures, is telling tales of a Retro Sci-Fi future where robot Private Detectives and coastguards mix with humans and sea monsters alike.

Lucky Cat podcast: The films of Park Chan-Wook

Episode 4.6 of Resonance FM’s Asian culture show presented by Zoe Baxter. This episode is a Park Chan-Wook special to coincide with the UK DVD release of the Korean auteur’s vampire film Thirst. Zoë Baxter is joined in the studio by Mira Stout (author of bestselling novel “One Thousand Chestnut Trees”, playwright, and film critic) and Alex Fitch (broadcaster and assistant editor of Electric Sheep film magazine) to discuss Thirst and Chan-Wook’s oeuvre.