My friend Scott Allen from the Cleveland area sent me a link to a video the other day. It was an animation of a song from Steven Wilson, a British progressive rock musician who is the lead singer for Porcupine Tree. The song is titled The Raven That Refused to Sing and Scott said that he felt reminded by it of my Exiles/Outlaw series, both in tone and imagery.
It’s a dark and sad storyline that runs through the video as an old man deals with the grief of loss and memory. But I could definitely see the parallels that Scott had
observed , especially in certain scenes. For example, the scene where the old man sits in his bed in front of the windows ( shown above) instantly reminded me of my characters as they peer out their own windows with that same haunted look. Perhaps their fear is much like this old man’s grievous fears.
The video was made by British animators Jess Cope and Simon Cartwright who have a real knack for incorporating this type of dark and mysterious subject matter in their works. Their The Astronomer’s Sun is a much celebrated short in the same poignant vein. It’s definitely worth a look, as is this video. Thanks, Scott.
Redtree Times 