Thursday, April 09, 2009

The Art of Anticipation: Carnivàle

I recently heard about a guy who owned a copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall when he was a kid. He would sometimes consider the gatefold, but he very rarely played the album. It was just too overwhelming an experience.

I'm having a similar difficulty with Carnivàle, the first season of which I found on sale for $12. I find the art on the box to be, frankly, overwhelming. I've got it up as my OS wallpaper. When I'm between tasks, I often find myself staring at it and imagining the stories behind the characters. At this point I can't quite summon myself to start watching the shows because the experience is almost certainly going to be a let-down.



I've done a little internet digging to see who's responsible for the art. It's tough to say, but I'm guessing the box art is done by A52, the folks responsible for the opening title sequence.

6 comments:

Rob In Victoria said...

It won't be a let-down.

Well, until you get to the end of season two and realize that there isn't any more... THAT'S a let-down.

Otherwise, Carnivale is fantastic. Dammit, man, watch it!

Tom said...

I only watched the first season, and was quite impressed. Crack it open and enjoy!

Whisky Prajer said...

Getting there ... slowly ... getting there!

Cowtown Pattie said...

Oh, yes, I LOVED Carnivale! It was one of the best series in recent history - right along with Deadwood.

I miss them both. Great acting, great scripting, and terrific imaginative scenes.

Hey, I should buy it, come to think of it.

Did you ever watch Twin Peaks?

Loved that too, so maybe I am somewhat of a freak show aficionado.

Whisky Prajer said...

I watched Twin Peaks into its second season, then lost interest when it stopped feeling creepy and just felt strange. I understand Lost went off the rails in a similar manner, too.

You've got me re-thinking my "kill it after three seasons" rule. We've been watching The Wire, and we love it. Very tightly controlled story arc: five seasons is perfect. Battlestar Galactica, on the other hand, could have been improved had they trimmed it by a season.

Cowtown Pattie said...

I left Lost for a season, then got hooked this season.

The whole time travel thing has gotten quite convoluted, though.

Still, the characters are loveable; Hurley and Sawyer being my favs.

Started watching Harper's Island (the goofy commercial with the voice of the weird tiny lady from Poltergeist flatly toning "...one by one...".

It's not toobad. Just that I expected more. And as is expected, to have sex is the kiss of death in these slasher films.

At least you don't have to be wearing a red shirt...