One Year Later – By Ben Clemmer.
Well that flew by.
I don’t know if I can properly convey how happy I am that Storytelling Breakdown has been out for a year. Caleb and I planned the podcast for a year and a half before the first episode dropped on September 16, 2020. It still hasn’t been out for as long as it was planned. I’d like to look back on our first season as we reflect this week. This is a good segue, “let’s wind the clock back a year”* to our first episode.
What are your thoughts looking back on this episode?
John Dawkins maintains that we should have given more love to Caesar Romero and he’s right. I credit Batman ‘66 with being the reason multiple generations of my family are Batman fans. I’d also say we were a little hard on Jared Leto given we now also have the Snyder Cut to pull from when referencing his Joker. The character lends himself to so many colorful portrayals and Leto’s is perhaps most fitting for an apocalypse.
Planet Of The Hyper-Realistic CGI Apes
How did this episode setup what Storytelling Breakdown has become?
It was the first time one of us had the other one watch something to prepare for the podcast. Caleb had seen the Planet of the Apes trilogy and he shared the trilogy with me before we shared the episode with our audience. I’ve since shown Vertigo to Caleb. He was the first person to tell me to watch Bo Burnham: Inside. Sharing a piece of media with a friend is a great way to start a conversation, hence our Someone On The SB Team Hasn’t Seen blogs.
The thing that still floors me about this episode is in watching the Planet of the Apes trilogy for the first time, it’s mind blowing to watch the technology get better with each film. That’s not to say the first film is bad at all. It’s very good and the second and third films are both unbelievable. Even if you feel like Planet of the Apes wouldn’t be your thing, I strongly encourage you to watch the trilogy once. Then you can listen to our podcast.
How To Make Movies The Marvel Comics Way
What made the experience of recording this episode so special?
Caleb and I learned so much from watching the film with Autumn. This was the first time, and again we’ve since replicated the process, where we consumed a piece of media and then immediately went to record the episode. Autumn knows so much about animation and she’s a phenomenal artist. All of that was on display here and it was so great to realize we loved Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse even more once we did a deep dive into it.
Episode IV: The Foresight To Retain International Merchandising Rights
Do you appreciate the prequels more after recording this episode?
Yes. The amount of detail that went into Young Jedi is unbelievable. It’s the perfect blend of cinematic trivia and an approachable card game for a novice to learn quickly or a more experienced gamer to learn live on a mic. We had as much fun with John Kaufeld on this episode as we had with Autumn before. I learn something about games everytime I talk to John.
Denny O’Neil: Legend Of The Dark Knight
How did this episode inform where SB went in the future?
If I’m remembering right, this was the last full episode we tracked of the first season and it marked the last time we went into our recording sessions with full scripts. Now, we use question lists, outlines, and some scripted parts for intros and outros, but this was the last time we wrote a complete script and then brought that to record. Denny O’Neil’s impact cannot be overstated and on some level I still feel like we only scratched the surface.
I’ll keep this one simple. If I enjoy comic books or media featuring their characters in other places, should I visit The Hall of Heroes?
Yes. Everyone should at least once in their lifetime. I look forward to going back.
*read in the voice of Heath Ledger’s Joker, but you probably don’t need me to tell you that.
Storytelling Breakdown 