This is the hard hitting journalism I come to Webworm for. ... that sounds sarcastic but I do love these niche deep dives. Also, I'm glad you're not going to die of rabies, David. 💕
Uhm, imma be the annoying wise ass that has to point out that this guy, awesome as he & his underwater photography is, had literally less than 0.00001% to do with Spider’s dreads on screen.
I know it’s meant to be a fun / fluff piece but it should be acknowledged somewhere that the heroes are the actual artists who made those awesome dreads (let’s ignore any issues around cultural appropriation some may have, which is another Pandora’s Box for another day/article), starting from the hairdressers who kept tidying them for years, to the wig maker who made not just one of these amazing props which would have taken years of skill to learn and 1000s of hours to craft, to one of my close friends & his many colleagues in the effects industry who slave many 10,000s of hours as “digital hairdressers” creating the most difficult bit of movie magic - how to make millions of hairs move realistically in every single frame, especially underwater. Any one of them contributed a million times more to the Spider dreads, and imma point this out cause it annoyed me & them, and David usually investigates more & gives voice to the underdogs.
The FX & movie industry sucks for those thousands of workers who slave away unseen at great personal cost, and who never get the acknowledgement they deserve - not least cause the sociopaths who run the industry force them to sign ironclad NDAs. Rant over. I still love your work, David!
Haven't seen Avatar yet, not something that usually would appeal tbh, but a best mate has been working on the costumes for the past many years and I'm excited to see what she's made and it'd almost be rude not too!
I had long tentacles of dreadlocks for many years. Recently (a year ago, lol) wrote a short personal essay for a perzine project on my relationship with my dreads and getting them gone. If you wormies are interested here's a link
Avatar is so weird to me. It makes so much money and yet is so forgettable. It's hours long and yet you can summarise it pretty comprehensively in about a minute. It's at the absolute forefront of visual effects but the story of the movie is very much done before. It feels like its success should say something about what resonates with people but I have no idea what that is.
Just pitching in (more like bragging, actually) to say I have worked with Brett a few times as a model and also as an assistant when he’s been in Wellington. It is such a cool experience seeing Brett work (he’s the absolute man!) Also...quite fitting that his hair ended up in a movie called ‘AVATAR: The Way of Water’ lol 😂 it’s such a small world.
Hey, this just reminded me of the time I met Brett Stanley! It would have been about 10 years ago at a tattoo convention in New Plymouth, I think he was running a photo booth or something? Hell of a nice guy. He may have even had dreads then!
In other news, the original Avatar is one of the least memorable and most boring films I have ever seen (what even was the dialog in that movie??). The thought of seeing the new one with 3D glasses makes me shudder in a bad way. I doubt technology has advanced much from 1987 when we all got 3D glasses from KFC and sat down at home to watch 'Gorilla at Large'. Very underwhelming.
I'm not a huge Avatar fan (I know, I know, I'll show myself out) , but i loved learning about those dreads! I 100% love your enthusiasm and curiosity 😊😊!! It's what makes reading (and listening to) your work so wonderful!! Things I would've never thought twice about (i.e. random dreads in Avatar, shower curtains on Flightless Bird), I find myself fascinated to learn more about! Please never never stop being so curious. It is contagious! 🤩🤩🥰🥰
I still see dreads all the time. But u do live in West Auckland, so it's not unexpected.
There's a guy who lives near me, a middle aged white guy, with a big beard and dreads down his back. I always see him wearing denim short shorts and a cowboy hat, taking his tiny, fluffy white dog out for a walk... What a legend.
Spider dreads, Spider dreads
hanging off of the Spider's head
This is the hard hitting journalism I come to Webworm for. ... that sounds sarcastic but I do love these niche deep dives. Also, I'm glad you're not going to die of rabies, David. 💕
“Permanently matted into our culture...” I see what you did there and it made me chuckle
3 weeks living in the bush and trying to catch up on the mundane happenings of the world zzzzz
Thank you for sharing what I really want to know about 😁
Such a random and cool story.
I remember cutting my dreads off 20 years ago and someone thought the pile of dark brown was a possum haha
Happy new year and hope th 25th was special. 40 is amazing ❤
Nothing like going back to your roots David (see what I did there...).
Uhm, imma be the annoying wise ass that has to point out that this guy, awesome as he & his underwater photography is, had literally less than 0.00001% to do with Spider’s dreads on screen.
I know it’s meant to be a fun / fluff piece but it should be acknowledged somewhere that the heroes are the actual artists who made those awesome dreads (let’s ignore any issues around cultural appropriation some may have, which is another Pandora’s Box for another day/article), starting from the hairdressers who kept tidying them for years, to the wig maker who made not just one of these amazing props which would have taken years of skill to learn and 1000s of hours to craft, to one of my close friends & his many colleagues in the effects industry who slave many 10,000s of hours as “digital hairdressers” creating the most difficult bit of movie magic - how to make millions of hairs move realistically in every single frame, especially underwater. Any one of them contributed a million times more to the Spider dreads, and imma point this out cause it annoyed me & them, and David usually investigates more & gives voice to the underdogs.
The FX & movie industry sucks for those thousands of workers who slave away unseen at great personal cost, and who never get the acknowledgement they deserve - not least cause the sociopaths who run the industry force them to sign ironclad NDAs. Rant over. I still love your work, David!
Really enjoyed this deep dive!
Haven't seen Avatar yet, not something that usually would appeal tbh, but a best mate has been working on the costumes for the past many years and I'm excited to see what she's made and it'd almost be rude not too!
I had long tentacles of dreadlocks for many years. Recently (a year ago, lol) wrote a short personal essay for a perzine project on my relationship with my dreads and getting them gone. If you wormies are interested here's a link
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cKN3DVqBsXWcFGR-6AFXQ4iCqbGNmLFz/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=106572993792953191070&rtpof=true&sd=true
I called it 'White girl with dreads'
....And yes...I still have most of them in a bag! Recently used some for a costume but not as dreadlocks...as dags 🤣 felt weird to toss them out.
Avatar is so weird to me. It makes so much money and yet is so forgettable. It's hours long and yet you can summarise it pretty comprehensively in about a minute. It's at the absolute forefront of visual effects but the story of the movie is very much done before. It feels like its success should say something about what resonates with people but I have no idea what that is.
It's funny how much he looks like Spider
I feel a little Karl Pilkintonish saying this but, multiple Avatar movies.... do we need em?
And much more pressing, will we be hearing more from flightless bird soon? there’s quite the void in my podcast life.
Just pitching in (more like bragging, actually) to say I have worked with Brett a few times as a model and also as an assistant when he’s been in Wellington. It is such a cool experience seeing Brett work (he’s the absolute man!) Also...quite fitting that his hair ended up in a movie called ‘AVATAR: The Way of Water’ lol 😂 it’s such a small world.
I sort of view avatar as more of a technology showcase of [insert release year] than actual movies.
Hey, this just reminded me of the time I met Brett Stanley! It would have been about 10 years ago at a tattoo convention in New Plymouth, I think he was running a photo booth or something? Hell of a nice guy. He may have even had dreads then!
In other news, the original Avatar is one of the least memorable and most boring films I have ever seen (what even was the dialog in that movie??). The thought of seeing the new one with 3D glasses makes me shudder in a bad way. I doubt technology has advanced much from 1987 when we all got 3D glasses from KFC and sat down at home to watch 'Gorilla at Large'. Very underwhelming.
I'm not a huge Avatar fan (I know, I know, I'll show myself out) , but i loved learning about those dreads! I 100% love your enthusiasm and curiosity 😊😊!! It's what makes reading (and listening to) your work so wonderful!! Things I would've never thought twice about (i.e. random dreads in Avatar, shower curtains on Flightless Bird), I find myself fascinated to learn more about! Please never never stop being so curious. It is contagious! 🤩🤩🥰🥰
Only place I’d argue that you can find bigger dreads is on Ezekiel in The Walking Dead. And I have all of your exact questions for that production 😅
I still see dreads all the time. But u do live in West Auckland, so it's not unexpected.
There's a guy who lives near me, a middle aged white guy, with a big beard and dreads down his back. I always see him wearing denim short shorts and a cowboy hat, taking his tiny, fluffy white dog out for a walk... What a legend.