The Long Tail of the Italian Spiderman

One of the more exciting things about the Internet is how it expands a potential audience (and market) from the local to the international. In pre-Internet days, only companies with the resources for extensive marketing could hope to break into other markets.

These days, almost everyone can. Especially if what they're offering is some kind of data -- audio, video, text. Take the case of the "Italian Spiderman."

This five-minute video was created as a project by some Australian film students at Flinders University. "Italian Spiderman" pays homage to Italian action movies of the late 1960's and early 1970's.

In the pre-Internet world, the video would have been shown once or twice at Flinders University, and that would have been it. And perhaps a few others that the director, Dario Russo, would have sent the video to as a demo.

Instead, the "Italian Spiderman" was placed online -- and it found an audience.





The example above I pulled from YouTube, where it's been viewed almost two million times. It also has a MySpace page (250,000 views) and is available at many other sites. So now this student film has turned into something else.

Russo and his company Alrugo Entertainment have starting filming the movie in installments, and posting them weekly YouTube. And the soundtrack is now available for sale.

Now the really remarkable part of the story is that "Italian Spiderman" only appeals to a very small niche audience. Most of the people I've talked to who've seen "Italian Spiderman" don't like it (many didn't make it through the first few seconds). The few who did appreciate it were fans of Italian late 1960's cinema, such as spaghetti westerns or spy movies.

How well does "Italian Spiderman" nail its subject? As you can see from the trailer for the real 1968 Italian spy film "Danger: Diabolik," they come very close. The quality of the film stock looks right, the gestures are right, the closeups on the eyes are right, -- even the Euro-groovy soundtrack is right.



Statistically, people who are familiar with late 1960's Italian genre cinema make up a small part of film fandom. And if "Italian Spiderman" had only been shown in Australia, it would have faded into obscurity. But because Alrugo Entertainment could make "Italian Spiderman" available internationally, they've been able to connect with enough of that niche audience to start monetizing their creation.

I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't offer a DVD of the film once they post all the installments.

I'd buy it.

- Ralph

Day 16 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Another view of the Rowling Harvard speech

NPR recently ran a story on J. K. Rowling's commencement speech at Harvard. Apparently, some of the graduating seniors were less than enthusiastic about the choice of speakers. Taken at face value, the comments of the graduates may seem like those of callow youth (or the excessive snobbiness of newly-minted Harvard alumni).

"I think we could have done better," shrugged computer science major Kevin Bombino. He says Rowling lacks the gravitas a Harvard commencement speaker should have.

"You know, we're Harvard. We're like the most prominent national institution. And I think we should be entitled to … we should be able to get anyone. And in my opinion, we're settling here. "

I think there's something else going on here, though. I've noticed an increasing preference among my colleagues to read non-fiction rather than fiction. Alex Lindsay, host of "This Week in Media" has said several times that he reads for information, and watches video for entertainment.

While I can't find any specific citations for it, my perception is that fiction is considered inferior, and perhaps irrelevant to today's society. After all -- it's just made up stuff, not concrete information that has practical value.

Look again at the quote above -- and the major of the speaker.

"It's definitely the 'A' list, and I wouldn't ever associate J.K. Rowling with the people on that list," says senior Andy Vaz. "From the moment we walk through the gates of Harvard Yard, they constantly emphasize that we are the leaders of tomorrow. They should have picked a leader to speak at commencement. Not a children's writer. What does that say to the class of 2008? Are we the joke class?"

For Mr. Vaz, et al. that "A" list would include political leaders, captains of industry and perhaps a Nobel prize winner or two (there's some overlap with the first two groups). It's not a unique viewpoint.

It's funny that I should get this story from NPR. Over the past decade, public radio has been abandoning music for increased news/talk programming, catering to the audience's preference for facts over fiction -- or rather the creative. NPR itself has undergone quite a transformation. At one time it produced many quality music and arts programs. Those departments have long been dismantled, the programs canceled or handed off to other companies.

And the focus of NPR news has shifted as well. Arts coverage continues to decrease, while political and business coverage expands. Don't blame NPR -- it's what the audience wants.

So I wonder if the reactions of the Harvard students was just another example how we value (or don't) the creative. It's pretty cavalier to dismiss J. K. Rowling as just "a children's writer." She's sold over 400 million books worldwide and went from poverty to amassing a personal fortune of about 1.1 billion dollars purely on her skill at her profession. If that's not "A" list material, then I don't know who (outside of God) would make the cut.

And the importance of the creative in one's life was at the core of Rowling's address.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I wonder if Kevin Bombino and Andy Vaz chose to listen.

- Ralph

Day 16 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Cantor Responds!

Back on May 20, I wrote Eric Cantor, my representative about the Internet Radio Equality Act. I received a response today, in a letter dated June 17 (I can't say anything -- when I get slammed my turn around time tends to slip, too). As promised, here's Rep. Cantor's reply to my correspondence.

Dear Mr. Graves:

Thank you for contacting me in opposition to increased royalties imposed on internet radio by the Copyright Royalty Board. I appreciate hearing from you and having the benefit of your views. [Good start -- it's not a form letter.]

The Copyright Royalty Board is composed of three Copyright Royalty Judges [that would be Moe, Larry and Curly] within the Library of Congress who determine rates and terms for the copyright statutory licenses. On March 2, 2007, the Copyright Royalty Board announced its decision to increase the royalties internet radio broadcasters pay to copyright holders for the use of their songs. [I know -- that's why I wrote. But I'm glad Cantor's up to speed.]

The Internet Radio Equality Act (H.R. 2060) would nullify the CRB's decision to raise rates for webcasters and would establish a royalty rate-setting standard for all radio. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Judiciary Committee. To date, no further action has been taken on this matter. You may be assured that I will keep your opposition to increased royalties in mind should this legislation come before me in the House of Representatives. [Well, not quite. I don't disagree that the rates should be raised -- just not higher than anyone can possibly pay. Close enough, though.]

Again, thank you for contacting me. For your convenience, you can receive further information from me on issues important to the 7th District at http://cantor.house.gov. [Yep. And I can do so through OpenCongress.org as well.] Your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

And there it is. Of course, there's one thing I'm still not quite sure about. And that is where does Rep. Cantor stand on the issue? Hmmm. Perhaps it's time for another e-mail.

So is Cantor for or against the Act? Vote in the poll on the left. Maybe collectively we can correctly parse this correspondence.

- Ralph

Day 15 of the WJMA Web Watch.

John Dickson Carr - Man of Media

I started this series about John Dickson Carr by sharing a conversation I had with a colleague. She didn't care much for Carr's "locked room" mysteries -- they're decidedly not au courant.

And it turns out that Carr can't get respect in any media.

In addition to being a prolific author, Carr also wrote a number of radio dramas in the 1940's. Some were adaptations of his short stories, and others original to the media -- and I've been hard pressed to find any recording of them.

In 1956, his series of short stories about Colonel March and Scotland Yard's Department of Queer Complaints (as in "unusual," OK?) became a syndicated TV show starring Boris Karloff. I shared the single episode available at Archiv.org with a friend who's a real video enthusiast. He didn't like it -- he prefers videos he can watch while doing other things. Mysteries that require some concentration aren't for him.

And that's too bad -- because "Colonel March" is a very entertaining show. And a darned good mystery that's true to Carr's love of impossible crimes.

The series makes Colonel March a little less serious than he is in Carr's stories. Here's the opening with an unusually jovial and friendly Boris Karloff.



And while March is an astute detective, he's not quite as suave as he likes to think. Here he tries to engage a gambler in conversation -- twice.



The crime is pure Carr. A young American wiped out at roulette in a French casino, is promised money if he goes to the address he's given. It's a doctor's house at the end of a blind alley. As he approaches, he sees his mysterious benefactor standing at the door. A fountain in the alley momentarily blocks his view (the "Silver Curtain" of the title) as he walks, during which time his mysterious friend is stabbed with a knife. The door is unlocked and opened when the man screams. Two policemen hurry down the alley. And another impossible crime has happened.

No one was behind the American -- the gendarmes who blocked the alley's entrance can attest to that. The door was locked, so the killer couldn't have stood in the doorway (and the woman who opened the door is not the murderer). So how was the man killed? And why?

As a favor to Garon, the inspector in charge of the case, March offers to go undercover to investigate. The results aren't quite as March anticipates.



As with Carr's books, I found the Colonel March program enjoyable, although for slightly different reasons (Karloff's performance slightly against type is really good). All the clues are presented to the viewer, who's challenged to solve the mystery.

So if you're interested in a story that requires a little engagement, Colonel March (in either print or video incarnation) might be your man. He's never let me down.

- Ralph


Day 14 of the WJMA Web Watch.

John Dickson Carr - Man of Mystery

In my last post about John Dickson Carr (one of my favorite mystery writers), I conceded that I didn't really do the author justice. The concept of the "locked room" mystery has somewhat fallen out of favor, and so many potential readers may not know quite what I'm talking about.

While almost all of Carr's novels center around some sort of impossible crime, I think his novella, "The Third Bullet" would be the one I'd suggest a prospective reader start with. Over the course of this 80-page story (in the paperback edition), Carr throws out a dizzying array of plot twists and curves that keep the reader guessing. And yet, in the end, all is explained in a logical, straightforward fashion.

Gabriel White, recently released from prison, vows to kill Judge Mortlake who put him there. Since he used to date the judge's youngest daughter, there's a question of the judge's motivations in sentencing him. Inspector Page and another officer are called in and arrive at the estate mere minutes after White. He's seen charging towards the little two-room pavilion where the judge regularly retires to work on his memoirs.

Mortlake, hearing the commotion, comes to the window. White enters the room and shuts and locks the door. The policeman is right behind him, begins breaking down the door. Page makes for the open window. Two shots ring out seconds before he comes through the window.

The door gives way and the other officer rushes in. White stands in the middle of the room with a smoking gun. The judge lies dead, felled by a single bullet. There's only one door into the room (which the police came through). Two of the four windows are locked and shuttered, rusted shut and undisturbed. The other two face the front. Page came through one and had the other under observation the entire time.

The small room is immediately searched, and there's no one hiding anywhere (such as behind the door), nor are there any secret panels. With the only two ways out being physically blocked by police, the room is effectively sealed.

And yet the gun in White's hand didn't kill the judge. White says he heard a shot behind him, and a second recently fired gun is found in an urn next to one of the boarded up windows. A reenactment confirms for the police that someone could have stood in the corner unseen -- but how did they get out?

The coroner confirms that Mortlake died around the time of the shooting (so he couldn't have been murdered earlier -- besides, the officer saw him come to the window).

And then things get complicated.

The first bullet from White's gun is nowhere to be found. The second bullet from the discarded gun is buried in the wall. And then the topper -- the third bullet (of the title) that killed the judge came from the gun that Mortlake kept in his desk.

Who fired the second gun? And who killed Mortlake? And how did this impossible crime happen?

There's a lot more to this story then I've outlined (because I don't want to spoil it), but hopefully, you get the idea. The surprises and plot turns come fast and furious until the very end. And by the third page, you have all the information you really need to solve the crime yourself. If that is, you can find it amid everything else that's going on in the story.

With Carr, the puzzle's the thing.

Old-fashioned? Perhaps. But great fun, nonetheless.

To me, the real mystery is why any mystery lover wouldn't want to give Carr a try.

- Ralph


Day 13 of the WJMA Web Watch.