London-based graphic designer Erica Dorn also believes that branding has the ability to drive character development. “A lot of products and fictional brands are associated with characters,” she says. “In a way, they’re character accessories that help establish who that person is.”
That’s from Ayla Angelos, speaking with designers from film and TV to learn about the qualities an imaginary brand needs to connect with an audience.
Lizzy Saxe explains the generic food labels in Repo Man, and what it means for the film to create a world without brands.
Tyler Knudsen points to the corporate products and knick knacks used in Alien create a satirical undercurrent that shows how Weyland-Yutani is more dangerous than any xenomorph.
Gwynne Watkins talks with the creators of Brigsby Bear about the fake Brigsby Bear media empire created inside the movie’s story, and the influences behind the off-kilter children’s show made to entertain just one child.
And even if the product itself is a real thing, like a hula hoop, it can still have a fictional origin story. Patrick (H) Willems dissects a montage from The Hudsucker Proxy directed by Sam Raimi to point out the techniques it uses to create the infectious energy of the hula hoop fad:
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⏱️ This write sprint is brought to you by Finder Spyder
Each week we post a comment thread for writers to meet up, cheer each other on, and put some words on the page with a Write Sprint.
What’s a Write Sprint?
John wrote up an explanation, but here’s the short version: Set a timer for 60 minutes, close down all distractions, and do nothing but write until that timer goes off.
Sometimes that’s all it takes to get some momentum going with your writing: You set aside this time for writing and nothing else, so you’d better use it!
Shout out to Anne Marie Cruz, Mark Leiren-Young, Elyse Moretti Forbes, Aimee Link, and Brian Matusz for sprinting with us last week!
Previously on Inneresting…
In case you missed it, in last issue’s most clicked link Jocelyn K. Glei considers the intersection of capitalism, productivity culture, and the wellness industry in an episode of Hurry Slowly called “You are already that which you yearn for.”
What else is inneresting?
Adam Mastroianni categorizes the types of mental bogs people get stuck in and explains what keeps them from pulling themselves out.
Tasha the Amazon gives you some nightmare fuel with a clip about the Humongous Fungus in the Pacific Northwest that is technically a single organism larger than 1800 football fields.
Monica Beletsky condenses her TV Drama writing process into a handy infographic.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.
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🗣 Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Reach out to Chris via email at inneresting@johnaugust.com, Mastodon @ccsont@mastodon.art, or Bluesky @ccsont.bsky.social