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Hrvoje Bubić: SEAN BRANNEY INTERVIEW
Hrvoje Bubić
Sean Branney je jedan od osnivača i članova H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, koja se bavi ostavštinom čuvenog pisca H.P.Lovecrafta. Za Solin Live govori o udruzi, kao i o samom piscu
To begin with, could you introduce yourself to us and tell us something about yourself?
I’m Sean Branney, one of the founders of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. I’ve spent the last forty years immersed in the world of Lovecraft. I’m a writer, producer, director and actor. For fun, I play ice hockey a couple of times a week. I also enjoy travel and have visited many wonderful places around the world. I have two dogs and a pet chinchilla.
Could you tell us a little about the H.P. Lovecraft Society, the motivation for starting it, and the people behind it?
Back in the 1980s, I met Andrew Leman doing a play in Colorado. We got on well and I invited him back to my house to try this game with a strange name: Call of Cthulhu. We had a lot of fun playing it and roped some of our other friends into joining us. Most of us were theatre kids and we thought it would be fun to try something new – instead of sitting around a table and rolling dice to play the game, we put on costumes and went and hid clues out in the real world. We developed our own form of LARP gaming. Everyone thought this was a lot of fun and soon we were in contact with people in different parts of the world (this was long before the internet) asking about how we did this. We decided to form an organization and we published a little magazine about our experiences. Fortunately, the internet came along and we were able to bring our Society onto the web and share the fun with even more people.
Among the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, you run the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon. Could you tell us more about it?
The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival is an event we attend but we’re not the people who put it on. That’s Brian & Gwen Callahan of Psycho Graphics. They’ve produced that event in Portland, Oregon for many years now. The festival was originally started by Andrew Migliore but Brian & Gwen run it now.
H.P. Lovecraft is undoubtedly one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Please tell us more about the writer himself.
Wow, where to begin? Lovecraft was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island as an only child in an affluent New England family. Health problems kept him from finishing school, but he had a great intellect and was an avid reader. He loved the weird tales of Edgar Allan Poe and was also very interested in science, particularly astronomy. He was very reclusive in his youth but then became involved with amateur journalism. In that community, he made a number of friends and it stoked his interest in writing. He went on to write his own weird stories in his unique style and those stories came to reshape horror fiction in the 20th century. While he never enjoyed commercial success during his lifetime, his fame and influence in modern pop culture are huge. His works have become a catalyst to other authors, musicians, filmmakers, visual artists and others. HPL also wrote more letters than anyone else in the history of the USA. It’s estimated Lovecraft penned 90,000 letters during his lifetime.
Of all the many projects you’ve done, I’d like to mention Shoggoth On The Roof most; a musical featuring Lovecraft’s creations. How did you actually come up with the idea?
Back in the early days of the Society, we used to write Lovecraftian lyrics to popular Christmas songs and go out to sing them in the streets. We joked about what it would be like if there was a Broadway musical that had Lovecraftian lyrics. Around 1999 Andrew and I got the idea that it would be fun to make a mockumentary film about a failed production of just such a musical. So we expanded the songs and got folks like Stuart Gordon and Chris Sarandon to join in and we made a short film which we submitted to the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. The film showed there and we started getting email from people who thought that the show was a real thing. Rather than telling them it was something made up for the film, we wrote a full libretto of 11 full musical numbers for A Shoggoth on the Roof. We were surprised to find that it turned out to be pretty good. So we gathered some actors in Los Angeles (where we are based) and we recorded a cast album. It too turned out to be pretty good. Then we started getting requests from theatre companies interested in producing the show. Eventually it had its premiere in Stockholm, Sweden.
In addition to associations mentioned, do you cooperate with any other association? And if so, could you tell us something about them?
We work with our friend Niels Hobbs at Lovecraft Arts & Sciences in Providence. He produces NecononmiCon Providence, the world’s biggest Lovecraft convention which takes place in HPL’s home town every other year. This year we were delighted to receive the Costigan Award from the Robert E. Howard Foundation in Cross Plains, Texas, recognizing our adaptation of Howard’s story “The Black Stone” as part of our Dark Adventure Radio Theatre Series. Lately we’ve been doing quite a lot of work with Chaosium, the publisher of the role playing game Call of Cthulhu. That collaboration seems to be working well for both them and for us. We are the largest Lovecraft organization in the world and the Society now has members in more than 50 countries.
Lovecraft, as an author, was often screened (Reanimator, From Beyond, Color From Outer Space) or served as an influence and inspiration (The Thing, In Mouth Of Madness, Cthulhu), so I was interested in your opinion on the screen adaptation and films with his influences.
The HPLHS made the motion pictures “The Call of Cthulhu” and “The Whisperer in Darkness” so we of course have our own thoughts about what makes a good Lovecraft movie. There have been a great many HPL stories that have been adapted to motion pictures and while some of them have been successful, many of them have not. Making a movie is a difficult and expensive process and we salute anyone who’s able to get a movie made. Lovecraft was not a dramatist and the stories he wrote, while awesome, are not often not well suited for being a movie. But lots of people (including us) keep trying in the hope we can capture the same spark of genius that makes Lovecraft’s fiction so extraordinary.
Lastly, what are your future projects? What would you recommend to our readers?
We have lots of things going on right now. We have just released a series of books on Lovecraft’s letters called Miskatonic Missives. We also just released our 28th audio drama Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Shunned House. We will soon be announcing a new collection of props for people who play the role playing game Call of Cthulhu. And of course we have secret, unmentionable horrors that we cannot and must not tell you about.
If your readers are not familiar with Dark Adventure Radio Theatre, I’d recommend it to them. The audio dramas are like a movie with no picture. Each features a cast of professional actors, original orchestral music, thrilling sound effects and a rousing good story. And unlike a movie which shows you everything, audio dramas work on your imagination, letting YOU picture the frightening imagery that Lovecraft is so good at conjuring. But we have a lot of interesting stuff on our website. Come by hplhs.org and have a look around.
HRVATSKI PRIJEVOD
Možete li nam se za početak predstaviti i reći nešto o sebi?
Ja sam Sean Branney, jedan od osnivača H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. Proveo sam posljednjih četrdeset godina uronjen u svijet Lovecrafta. Ja sam pisac, producent, redatelj i glumac. Iz zabave igram hokej na ledu nekoliko puta tjedno. Također uživam u putovanjima i posjetio sam mnoga prekrasna mjesta diljem svijeta. Imam dva psa i kućnog ljubimca činčilu.
Možete li nam reći nešto o H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, motivaciji za njezino pokretanje i ljudi iza toga?
Davnih 1980-ih, upoznao sam Andrewa Lemana dok je imao predstavu u Coloradu. Dobro smo se slagali i pozvao sam ga da se vrati u moju kuću da isprobam ovu igru čudnog imena: Call of Cthulhu. Bilo nam je jako zabavno igrati je i natjerao sam neke od naših prijatelja da nam se pridruže. Većina nas bili smo kazališna djeca i mislili smo da će tako biti zabavno isprobati nešto novo – umjesto da sjedimo za stolom i bacamo kockice kako bismo igrali igru, mi stavljamo kostime, te bi išli sakrivajući tragove u stvarnom svijetu. Razvili smo vlastiti oblik LARP igranja (vrsta igre, op.prev.). Svi su mislili da je ovo jako zabavno i uskoro smo stupili u kontakt s ljudima u različitim dijelovima svijeta (ovo je bilo davno prije interneta) pitajući kako smo to učinili. Odlučili smo osnovati organizaciju i objavili smo mali časopis o našim iskustvima. Srećom, došao je Internet zajedno i uspjeli smo dovesti naše Društvo na web i podijeliti zabavu s još više ljudi.
Uz H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, vi vodite H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon. Možete li nam reći nešto više o tome?
H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival je događaj u kojem prisustvujemo, ali mi nismo ljudi koji ga organiziraju. To su Brian & Gwen Callahan iz Psycho Graphics. Oni su rade taj događaj u Portlandu, Oregon dosta godina. Festival je izvorno pokrenuo Andrew Migliore, ali Brian & Gwen ga sada vode.
H.P. Lovecraft je bez sumnje jedan od najutjecajnijih pisaca 20. stoljeća. Molim te reci nam više o samom piscu.
Vau, odakle početi? Lovecraft je rođen i odrastao u Providenceu, Rhode Island, kao jedino dijete u imućnoj obitelji iz Nove Engleske. Zdravstveni problemi spriječili su ga da završi školu, ali je imao veliki intelekt i bio je strastveni čitač. Volio je čudne priče Edgara Allana Poea i također su ga jako zanimale znanosti, posebice astronomije. Bio je vrlo povučen u mladosti, ali se onda upleo u amatersko novinarstvo. U toj je zajednici stekao brojne prijatelje i to je potaknulo njegov interes za pisanje. Nastavio je pisati vlastite čudne priče u svom jedinstvenom stilu i te su priče preoblikovale horor fikciju u 20. stoljeću. Iako nikada nije uživao u komercijalnom uspjehu tijekom svog života, njegova slava i utjecaj u modernoj pop kulturi golem. Njegova djela postala su katalizator drugim autorima, glazbenicima, filmaši, likovni umjetnici i drugi s. HPL je također napisao više pisama nego itko drugi u povijesti SAD. Procjenjuje se da je Lovecraft napisao 90.000 pisama tijekom svog života.
Od svih mnogih projekata koje ste radili, najviše bih želio spomenuti A Shoggoth On The Roof; mjuzikl s Lovecraftovim kreacijama. Kako ste zapravo došli na ideju?
U ranim danima Societya pisali smo lovecraftovske tekstove za popularne božićne pjesme i izašli bi pjevati ih na ulice. Šalili smo se kako bi bilo da postoji Broadway mjuzikl koji je imao lovecraftovski tekst. Tijekom 1999. Andrew i ja smo dobili ideju da bi bilo zabavno napraviti mockumentary (lažni dokumentarni film , op.prev.) o neuspješnoj produkciji upravo takvog mjuzikla. Tako smo proširili pjesme i natjerali ljude poput Stuarta Gordona i Chrisa Sarandona (američki filmaši, op.prev.) da se pridruže i napravili smo kratki film koji smo predali H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. Tamo je prikazan film i počeli smo dobivati e-poštu od ljudi koji su mislili da je predstava prava stvar. Umjesto da im kažemo da je to nešto izmišljeno za film, napisali smo puni libreto od 11 punih glazbenih brojeva za A Shoggoth On The Roof. Iznenadili smo se kada smo ustanovili da je ispalo prilično dobro. Pa smo okupili neke glumce u Los Angelesu (gdje nam je sjedište) i snimili smo glumački album. I to se pokazalo prilično dobrim. Zatim smo počeli dobivati zahtjeve od kazališne kuće zainteresirane za produkciju predstave. Na kraju je bila premijera u Stockholmu, Švedska.
Osim navedenih udruga, surađujete li s još nekim udrugama? I ako je tako, možete li nam reći nešto o njima?
Radimo s našim prijateljem Nielsom Hobbsom u Lovecraft Arts & Sciences u Providenceu. On radi NecononmiCon Providence, najveću svjetsku Lovecraft konvenciju koja se održava u HPL-ovom domu gradu svake druge godine. Ove godine smo bili oduševljeni primiti nagradu Costigan od Robert E. Howard Foundation (zaklada koja se bavi ostavštinom pisca Roberta E. Howarda, op.prev.) u Cross Plainsu, Teksas, prepoznajući našu adaptaciju Howardove priče The Black Stone kao dio naše radio kazališne serije Dark Adventure. U posljednje vrijeme radimo dosta posla s Chaosiumom, izdavačem role playing igre (vrsta igre, op.prev.) Call of Cthulhu. Čini se da je ta suradnja radi dobro i za njih i za nas. Mi smo najveća Lovecraftova organizacija na svijetu i Society sada ima članove u više od 50 zemalja.
Lovecraft je kao autor često bio ekraniziran (Reanimator, From Beyond, Color From Outer Space) ili je poslužio kao utjecaj i inspiracija (The Thing, In Mouth Of Madness, Cthulhu), pa me zanimalo vaše mišjenje o ekranizaciji i filmovima s njegovim utjecajem.
HPLHS je snimio filmove The Call of Cthulhu i The Whisperer in Darkness tako da mi naravno imamo svoje mišjenje o tome što čini dobre Lovecraftove filmove. Bilo je mnogo HPL priča koje su prilagođene filmovima i dok su neke od njih bile uspješne, mnoge od njih nisu. Snimanje filma težak je i skup proces i pozdravljamo svakoga tko je u mogućnosti snimiti film. Lovecraft nije bio dramaturg i priče koje je pisao, iako su super, često nisu prikladne za film. Ali mnogi ljudi (uključujući i nas) nastavljaju imati nadu se da možemo uhvatiti istu iskru genija koju Lovecraftovu fikciju čini tako izvanrednom.
Za kraj, koji su Vaši budući projekti? Što biste preporučili našim čitateljima?
Imamo mnogo stvari koje se trenutno događaju. Upravo smo izdali seriju knjiga o Lovecraftovim pismima nazvane Miskatonic Missives (Miskatonske Poslanice, op. prev.). Također smo upravo objavili našu 28. audio dramu Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Shunned House. Uskoro ćemo najaviti novu kolekciju rekvizita za osobe koje igraju role playing igre Call of Cthulhu. I naravno, imamo tajne, nespomenuve strahote koje ne mo枡mo i ne smijemo vam govoriti.
Ako Vaši čitatelji nisu upoznati s Dark Adventure Radio Theatre, preporučio bih im ga. Audio drame su kao film bez slike. Svaki ima postavu profesionalnih glumaca, izvorna orkestralna glazba, uzbudljivi zvučni efekti i uzbudljiva dobra priča. I za razliku od filma koji vam pokazuje sve, audio drame rade na vašoj mašti, omogućujući VAM da zamislite zastrašujuće slike u kojima je Lovecraft bio tako dobar u čaranju. Ali imamo puno zanimljivih stvari na našoj web stranici. Dođite na hplhs.org i razgledajte.
