The seed of inspiration for Cherry Blossoms, admittedly stretches back to my Senior year in High School, when my English teacher at the time tried to show several Japanese live-action stories that were told without words. One, whose name I didn't bother at the time to commit to memory, took place between a man and woman amidst falling cherry blossoms, with some allusion to life and death... and well, I was more impressed with the visuals than what was (in my opinion) an attempt at story telling. Still, for whatever it was worth, the visual stuck with me.
Cherry Blossoms as it has become, and is becoming, didn't start to truly take shape until I was watching the behind-the-scenes of Blade 2. I'm a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro, particularly his storytelling sense. It was in the behind-the-scenes where he made an emphasis on trying to have a "realistic" vampire, or anti-vampire in that particular movie. It also married one of my favorite artists, Wayne D. Barlowe with Guillermo's style (which would happen again for both Hellboy movies). For all of the faults of the movie (particularly if you're a Donny Yen fan and wanted a substantial fight scene), there are moments in it which keep my attention, and those moments began the idea of what would become Cherry Blossoms.
It's always been odd to me that anyone would look at vampires as a desirable way to be, and or become. There have been modern attempts to dash that idea, but still the popular vampires seem to be very sexual, aggressive, and make it seem like being a vampire is truly desiring. I've never seen it that way though. It's always been, to me at least, a horrifying curse, something that dehumanizes the person that becomes a vampire and forces a type of life that can't be desired. I'd liken it to a plague or aggressive STD rather than something anyone would actually want.
So for me, the idea was less "cool vampire," as it was a journey into life of someone who was forced to become a vampire, and the life they had to give up as a result. I know I will fall short of that lofty goal in the end, but I think I can still craft a story that will be the seeds for another, better author, to explore it and fill in the gaps/correct the mistakes I make in my personal attempt.
Eventually, a basic story formed though, and with the visual from that Japanese short in mind, I started trying to learn about Japanese cultures and legends, specifically the less talked about aspects. Samurai and ninjas are fine, but I'd rather let that be done by someone who has a better affinity for it, and more knowledge on the subject. To me, it's more fascinating to go into the roots of a culture and find a few items that rarely, if ever, get discussed. For me, it's less to create a fantasy Japan, as much as it is a fantasy world based around some Japanese culture, with my own twists to suit the story. The trick, of course, is trying to avoid putting too much emphasis on Japanese iconography and keeping the eyes on telling the story.
I'm nearing completion of chapter 8, which will bring to an end Part 2 of the story. As it stands, Cherry Blossoms is moving quite fast and is quite short. I do believe that it will expand more in the rewrites/edits, but I've always known it was going to be a rather short story overall. To me the issue will be pacing more than anything else. If the pace doesn't get too fast or too rushed, I think I'll do just fine. I'm averaging about 10 pages a chapter, which should increase during Part 3 as it reaches the climax, so it should easily get over the 200-page mark. Subsequent rewrites will likely get to 250, maybe 300. Regardless of it's length, I do believe it will be all it needs to be. And even if it's a quick read, that's still a good thing.
David Barentine
www.wotps.com
No comments:
Post a Comment