ITC 28. Intentionality
Monthly Recommendations
Welcome to In The Cave once again. This one is mostly focused on some recommendations that I hope you enjoy! (Note→ If you’re new here or wondering why you’re receiving this: I’m Raúl and you’re receiving this email because at some point you signed up to the In The Cave Substack newsletter).
→ Reflections
I was recently talking with some friends about the fact that, over time, the vast majority of people have lost the habit of listening to music. I mean listening to music attentively, thoughtfully, intentionally.
Not as a semi-ignorable background noise while you work, not as something you access with a couple of clicks to listen to this week’s hit song. But as deep listening. Giving the music the importance it deserves. Listening to every subtle texture, every little production trick, every nuance in the voice.
This used to be more common in times of less global overstimulation. Those times when owning a CD by your favourite band meant saving the money, a mindful trip to the record store, enjoying the design and content of its packaging or booklet… and simply immersing yourself in it when you got home, lying down with your eyes closed.
Some of my favourite bands and albums belong to those times. Maybe because the (my) level of attention, involvement, and connection with them was infinitely greater.
Perhaps it’s unfair to today’s creators that people no longer pay much attention to anything in particular, due to over-saturation. Not to good writing, not to a good drawing, not to a good song.
I’ve recently been re-listening some of my favourite albums from the late ‘90s and early 2000s, and they bring me back the almost forgotten feeling of truly engaged listening. Here are some semi-random suggestions for you to enjoy with your eyes closed 😌
Sketches
Starting this one with some recent sketches. 45 of the 60 pages of the sketchbook are ready, which will include (approx.):
25 pages of line-based sketches
7 pages with coloured illustrations
8 pages with character design samples
8 pages with sketches for commercial illustrations
4 pages of notes and comments
5 pages of reflections and introductions
Hardcover with some cool production finishes
Any favourite sketch this month? More soon!
🔖 This month’s recommendations
1 → A book: Paprika Storyboard Book
I’d been wanting to get my hands on one of Satoshi Kon’s highly regarded storyboard books for a long time, ever since I read how the master had drastically reduced the overall cost of some productions by personally producing his storyboards with a level of precision and perfectionism that left little to the imagination, accelerating and simplifying production.
They didn’t just describe the shots and camera movements; he literally drew each shot in detail. A monumental task that has been preserved in these highly specific books. He wasn’t just a director with a unique vision, but also a gifted draftsman.
Almost 700 pages of impeccable storyboard work by master Satoshi Kon. Especially interesting if you speak Japanese and/or, of course, if you loved Paprika (2006).
2 → A game: Dread Delusion
Dread Delusion is one of the strangest, most unique, and most fascinating indie RPGs of recent years. Almost a sister project to the great Lunacid, both featuring Akuma Kira as one of the developers.
Although Dread Delusion is a relatively small project and deliberately retro in its execution, its universe is full of interesting characters and concepts that will delight any fan of the old Elder Scrolls games, with which the project has been associated on numerous occasions (I’m not sure if fairly, because I truly believe DD does its own thing, with an inimitable lore and style). The good news is that after its PC release, it will arrive on consoles in a few months. Fitting for a game featuring PSX-style graphics :-)
3 → A reflection: Log off
I’ve talked about Tobias many times in the past, and I’ve shared some of his quotes and reflections because we tend to agree on points of view. Lately, some of his reflections have taken on a dramatic and pessimistic tone (which I also share), although seasoned with an approach that tends towards a potentially positive paradigm shift:
I think long term, the best solution is to just log off.
The only people remaining online in the future will be shells of themselves, browsing transformer feeds like hopeless addicts... scrolling through content that’s been optimized and A/B tested and algorithmically tuned to keep them there just a little bit longer.... just a lil bit longer.
The rest will just send their agents online to do some basic chores or milk the chronically addicted dry, extracting value from people who can’t look away.
And maybe that sounds dramatic but I’m not entirely sure now if it is, or if we’re already halfway there and just haven’t admitted it yet.
The people who figured it out early will be fine. They’ll use the internet like a tool, send their AI to handle the noise and then disappear back into real life. Everyone else will still be there, hypnotized by the blue light at 2am. Maybe that’s you, maybe that’s me. We will see.
Original tweet by Tobias van Schneider here.
4 → A music video: Do The Evolution (Pearl Jam)
María Latorre suggested the possibility of recommending interesting music videos and I thought it was a great moment to talk about an art that I feel (perhaps I’m wrong) was much stronger in past decades.
Pearl Jam’s animated video for Do The Evolution, produced by Todd McFarlane Entertainment, was extremely impactful then. I remember eagerly waiting for the video to appear on one of the TV music channels, back when the internet was still a very basic thing.
Not only was the visual style very tied to the best American comics at the time, but everything was tinged with a sarcasm and violence that fit well with the lyrics of the song. Dark and exciting. Humorous and stark. The pace and its continuous scene changes give the viewer no respite.
If you’re interested, some years ago Joe Pearson wrote a book (Pearl Jam: Art of Do The Evolution) precisely about the making of this music video, and full of graphic samples, storyboards and much more.
Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, he's my clone
This land is mine, this land is free
I'll do what I want but irresponsibly
It's evolution, baby!
5 → A series: Ōsama Ranking
Ranking of Kings, as we know the series out of Japan, has become my favourite animated series of the last few years. Based on the manga by Sōsuke Tōka, a salary man that decided to abandon his former life and become a manga artist at age 41.
Ranking of Kings is a fantastic combination of multiple Fantasy tropes, that are quickly twisted. A series in which the kings of the underworld are dignified people, the fairytale-like stepmothers are full of pride but also love, the beautiful and powerful heroes are imperfect and treacherous (but with room for repentance), serpentine monsters are just and wise companions, and so on. In this story, nothing is what it seems, but everything is ultimately bathed in light and compassion, something the author himself has acknowledged.
The story follows Prince Bojji, who was born deaf and extremely weak, despite being the son of two giants. His struggle for the royal succession with his brother Daida sets in motion a series of events that will lead him on a spectacular journey of self-discovery.
Endearing and extremely beautiful from a visual perspective, with a style that owes much to the great masters of manga and anime of the 60s and 70s.
6 → An artist: Gastón Pacheco
Gastón is one of those artists who inspires others to want to draw. And I think that’s because he conveys a very particular feeling: that of thoroughly enjoying what he does at every moment. The constant playfulness of his shapes, colours, and compositions, along with his sense of humor, is a delight for the senses. He’s more active on Instagram.
7 → Music: Arabesque No.1 by Isao Tomita
For those born in Spain in the 1980s, this musical piece is legendary, bringing with it hundreds of indelible memories, some undoubtedly altered by time and fascination. This version of Debussy’s Arabesque No. 1, created by the pioneer of electronic music Isao Tomita, was used as the theme song for the children’s program Planeta Imaginario (1983-1986). A unique and irreplaceable one, brimming with a sensitivity, talent, and artistry difficult to explain in these times.
Theatre, performance art, music, literature, and visual arts came together in countless pieces that kept us glued to the television, filling our minds with strange stories that would bear fruit in time. Those were the days when imagination was everything.
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See you soon!
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I love all the recommendations, specially "Ranking of Kings" (the sweetest anime ever!) and the music video because, you know, I adore Pearl Jam :-D
Interesting selection! You always reconnect me with meaningful things, like the artists you keep hidden behind secret recommendations, or you pique my curiosity, as is the case with Dead Delusion, which I've added to my wishlist, waiting for its console release.
And speaking of curiosity: for me, few musical pieces connect with that concept as much as Tomita's Arabesque No. 1. It must be precisely because of the connection you mention with Planeta Imaginario, a wonderful space for the imagination.
The sexy orc steals the show this time, R., but I'm particularly in love to the little magic android, which will undoubtedly save the weird warrior when things get tough.