Are there TV series or films that have influenced your writing? I posed this question on Facebook in a BooksGoSocial post:
Was just thinking how I watched exactly one television series (True Detective) last year while winnowing my literary craft. During the early years of writing Arisugawa Park, I was more in tune with visual media trends & incorporated a number of film and TV influences. One was the unique pacing and editing techniques found in Japanese terubi dramas (Trick and others I do not remember the names of).
Another influence was Lost. In particular, the way in which apparently unconnected storylines were connected in quick-paced succession (this was altered in later drafts to an extent, at the urging of perplexed readers). There were also faint childhood memories of the Shogun TV series.* Within these more-or-less traceable influences, I had a basic impression of the thriller trope engrained in my DNA - recollections of dozens of guilty pleasures, from James Bond to The Usual Suspects.
On the perceptual level, I had a particular affinity for the B&W film noir/bebop sensibility. (Recollection of a cinematic scene in Kerouac's Visions of Cody, describing 3am Times Square + laying on cool tatami listening to Miles Davis' Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud after a blurry night in Roppongi gave the book direct impetus.
My core question is whether television and movies (in particular HBO-type extended series) have evolved to a point where they acceptable as key influences on literary writers.
* Never read the James Clavell novel - I finally got around to its cousin Noble House (picked up at a guesthouse or hostel I'm sure) a couple years ago and was underwhelmed.
Was just thinking how I watched exactly one television series (True Detective) last year while winnowing my literary craft. During the early years of writing Arisugawa Park, I was more in tune with visual media trends & incorporated a number of film and TV influences. One was the unique pacing and editing techniques found in Japanese terubi dramas (Trick and others I do not remember the names of).
Another influence was Lost. In particular, the way in which apparently unconnected storylines were connected in quick-paced succession (this was altered in later drafts to an extent, at the urging of perplexed readers). There were also faint childhood memories of the Shogun TV series.* Within these more-or-less traceable influences, I had a basic impression of the thriller trope engrained in my DNA - recollections of dozens of guilty pleasures, from James Bond to The Usual Suspects.
On the perceptual level, I had a particular affinity for the B&W film noir/bebop sensibility. (Recollection of a cinematic scene in Kerouac's Visions of Cody, describing 3am Times Square + laying on cool tatami listening to Miles Davis' Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud after a blurry night in Roppongi gave the book direct impetus.
My core question is whether television and movies (in particular HBO-type extended series) have evolved to a point where they acceptable as key influences on literary writers.
* Never read the James Clavell novel - I finally got around to its cousin Noble House (picked up at a guesthouse or hostel I'm sure) a couple years ago and was underwhelmed.
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