You Actually Believe The Light From The Moon Originates From The Sun?

Having just seen "The Wolfman", the new movie produced by Sean Daniel, a person I've referenced many times in the past, I was disappointed only by the fact that I saw nothing that I could point to as clearly having anything to do with me, something I'm generally able to do with Sean Daniel movies.

Sean Daniel's previous movie, "Mummy 3", contained elements that were very clearly intertwined with a movie that came out around the same time, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", which was directed by Daniel's old friend, Steven Spielberg. And that same "Indiana Jones" movie was very clearly intertwined with my 1993 "Mall Man" video (as I document in my 12.26.09 video, "Steven Spielberg and the 'Mall Man' Factor"). Thus, significant interconnectivity. And usually the interconnectivity in Sean Daniel's work to my work is considerably more direct, such as the fact that Daniel produced "Mallrats" two years after I made "Mall Man", two clearly similar movie titles.

In addition to being the first person from whom I learned of the school I attended, CalArts, Sean Daniel has also "been there" numerous times when my work has made its way to the public through others. Including when I sent him a demo of my song about "breaking the spell" to forward to his friend Paul McCartney to work with me on it (McCartney being another person whom I have frequently influenced), which clearly led to a song on McCartney's then next album that contained the line, "I would never break the spell" (my song, "Different" can be found on my "Enough To Eclipse", a CD I posted at CD Baby in 2005 prior to McCartney's album, my song included there in both its demo and finished form - which tends to reinforce the idea that I attached special significance to the demo part of that song's process).

So did Sean Daniel "break the spell", and allow some form of authorship on some author's part to "eclipse" the idea of throwing into "The Wolfman" this or that reference to my work? (Something I would consider totally valid, authors certainly shouldn't be made to compromise the integrity of their work for the sake of having to make references, unless of course their work possesses that kind of flexibility and they should feel so inclined.)

Though I did happen to notice two or so things in "The Wolfman". No, I cannot authenticate these things for those out there who were not eyewitnesses to that of which I speak, I cannot prove to non-eyewitnesses that I am not making these things up. But if you believe I make things up you haven't bothered to study the evidence I often do have the opportunity to present regarding other matters of equal consequence. I also recognize that the similarities I am about to note do not necessarily signify anything - however, as the context is that I do have cumulative, similar experience of this variety, I do not consider it too bold to entitle myself to see something that others would miss or have difficulty accepting.

The following two things notwithstanding, who knows, perhaps when the next Steven Spielberg movie comes out, couldn't it wind up bridging me to "The Wolfman" in the same way that the 2008 "Indiana Jones" movie bridged me to Sean Daniel's 2008 "Mummy" movie?

Thing Number One
There was a moment in "The Wolfman" when a wolfman finds himself alongside of a statue while atop a building, at which point he stands there. Statues on rooftops are rare enough, to me anyway, that it struck me as something one might legitimately associate with the idea of one of the gargoyles atop the Cathedral of Notre Dame. There is also a very strong significance in this movie to a particular father-son relationship, which I am not saying merely because this is among the countless movies that feature fathers and sons - and that is all the spoiling I intend to do absent the words "spoiler alert". I point these things out because, back in 1971 when Sean Daniel was the silkscreen counselor at Buck's Rock camp and I was a happy camper, Mr. Daniel assisted me, on the day my parents and sister came up for a visit, in making a photo silkscreen from a photograph my father took of gargoyles atop the Cathedral of Notre Dame. So therefore, when I flashed on gargoyles at that point in the Sean Daniel father-son movie, my father was momentarily brought to mind, as was Sean Daniel, for the reasons just-described. This same sense also happened to me a little bit during Sean Daniel's previous movie, "Mummy 3", which had very much to do with ancient Oriental culture - as another photo silkscreen we did was from a photograph my father took of a Buddha statue in Japan during the late 40s/early 50s.

Thing Number Two
The opening shot of "The Wolfman" features tree branches with the moon in the background, from which we pull back. This gives off a sense of being pulled out of a feeling of "not seeing the forest for the trees". This is the exact reverse of something contained in something I did in 2004 - I once made a 30-second TV spot in the hope that it might interest the company enough to air it. The VP had said to keep working on it, maybe they would (at which time I would get paid!!!). I involved someone I knew at CalArts, Richard Greene, aka the "That Was Easy" (Staples) voice, aka lots of other voices on lots of other TV spots. He knew there would be no money unless the company took it to the next level. I did everything but the voice in the TV spot, including write the copy.

As always happens with everything I touch, pieces of it were immediately used by others for this and that, with no credit or money to me. Progressive Insurance used something from an earlier version, for example. TCM (Turner Classic Movies Channel), which often makes use of my material in their little segue montages, was also among those who used it (another time they used something from my "Whatever Happened" music video; as well as other stuff I've done).

In addition to my never-aired TV spot having that tree branch thing that's the reverse idea of the opening shot of "The Wolfman", it's also the only thing I ever did that brings you up close to the image of a vicious lion, in fact, you even get to hear him roar, which is very close in spirit to "The Wolfman". Actually, for the lion's roar I used the sound of the roar of thunder, though most in the audience don't notice such things. I'll even bet I'm the only one in the audience who noticed the correlation between my May 2004 TV spot and the opening shot of "The Wolfman" - unless Sean Daniel also happened to notice it?



My other reason for seriously weighing the possibility that "The Wolfman" used this spot is that, far more often than not, when my stuff is used, it is used in a prominent place. Such as the opening shot of a Sean Daniel movie. Or the opening logo on every DreamWorks movie of a bob on a water surface, which correlates to the opening shot of my 1994 "Gosk 1" video after the opening credits - something I would overlook if not for my generally being super-important in relation to Steven Spielberg's work.