Age of The Nerd
First things first. I don’t want to sensationalize an article or write a story simply for the click bait headlines that far-too-often derail our attention. Having said that, something is absolutely haunting my video footage of Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgård. We recently had the chance to sit down with Skarsgård at New York Comic Con to discuss his work on the upcoming Hulu original series Castle Rock, based entirely in the universe created by Stephen King.
Skarsgård was the nicest guy imaginable. The sit-down was a round-table press interview where instead of simply sitting down and saying hello, Skarsgård introduced himself and shook everyones hand at the table. It’s hard to imagine someone as popular as the guy who’s in the biggest grossing horror movie of all time could be so down to earth. But he was. That only adds to the fact that something about this video footage is off, and it’s not the actor. So what exactly is off or wrong with the video footage? Let me explain.
At this point of my career, I am by no means a professional editor. Having said that, I know my way around a little editing. Shooting on SD cards, transferring data on to my computer, and working my way around cleaning up audio and visuals in an aesthetically pleasing way is something I can do. I recorded around 20 interviews for this years New York Comic Con, and maybe 80 in my four years of covering the event. Along with that, I’ve edited other videos along the way with ease and simplicity. Sure the early videos, and even the current videos are amateur, but I had no problems working on them. However, the newest interview with the Pennywise actor gave me many complications.
I want to again reiterate that fact that I had no problems with any of the footage from the 2017 New York Comic Con. Even other interviews from not only the same press room but SD card were 100% problem-free. At first, the Skarsgård interview was like the rest of them. I watched it. I edited it. I saved the file on my desktop. It was your typical press room. An awkward 10-15 minutes of your typical “how does your character…” type of questions. And as stated before, Bill was an absolute gentleman. The problem arose when I tried to make the video public, which in many ways, goes against the spirit of Pennywise.
Pennywise’ power comes from the spread of fear and believing in said fear. Like a Freddy Kruger, the more people who are scared of him and believe in his power, the greater the entity of Pennywise becomes. Which is why it seems contradictory that the “spirit” or whatever you may call it, of Pennywise, would want to prohibit me from putting out content that has to do with his likeness to the public. Wouldn’t they…or…IT want the exposure? Failed attempt after failed attempt to make the video public on our AOTN YouTube got my frustration levels high. I even went back into my editing software and re-cut the interview. Again, to no avail. Doesn’t Pennywise want the fear to be real, and in this era of social media, exposure could come at the click of a button.
This brings up many interesting questions. Is this the spirit of Pennywise shutting down my attempts to upload the interview with Mr. Skarsgård who portrayed him? Or, and not to speak out of turn, is this this spirit of Tim Currey disapproving of the new incarnation of Pennywise? You may be asking yourself “what the f*ck are you talking about” guy? Well, I suppose I can show the video and deconstruct from there. And just to be clear, you don’t have to watch the whole video. Skip ahead if you’d like. The footage gets funky around the 5 minute mark. The audio is clear all the way through, but much like when Pennywise is seen on screen in IT, the video is….
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/BO4LkTV2ugA”]I would describe the Interview video as, shaky at best. I don’t get what is happening here. It is off, I don’t think think it’s simply a corrupted file, but a corrupted spirit. While watching IT, my only real qualm was the choppiness of the video when it showed Pennywise. This above all was more evident when he was attacking a victim. The Georgie scene in the beginning was terrifying, that is, until Pennywise lunged at Georgie and the video became somewhat choppy. I was immediately pulled out of the terror and reminded that I was watching a silly movie. Silly aesthetic… or so I thought. Was Pennywise shutting down my video from reaching the public eye because I thought it was somewhat goofy how they chose to shoot certain things in IT? It’s possible.
Attempt after failed attempt to upload the video to the AOTN YouTube page had come and gone, I began to think of other options. Of course, my first thoughts weren’t a Pennywise possession. That’s silly. But am I silly? I have no idea. Was Tim Currey Silly? Sure. But he was also scary. Am I silly? I don’t think so. But maybe to people with some sort of investment in my life, like my parents, I may be. Junk bonds, Peter ‘junk bonds’ Towe. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it means you should take this article very, very, very seriously. So where do I go from here?
Well, one thing may be clear. I’m quite possibly losing my mind. Why would I jump to such ridiculous conclusions? Wouldn’t Pennywise taughnt me in a way that I would think I am crazy? I don’t know and while I’ve certainly been experiencing otherworldly dreams and surreal moments in my day-to-day, there must be a rational way to confront this demon that is Pennywise. I’m buying new editing software as soon as I type my last word. I’m gonna re-upload and re-edit this video until it works. I’m also going to seek council from my fellow co-workers here at AOTN, and find out what the next step should be. If you don’t here from me again, god bless. I’ve lived a great life. However, if you do here from me expect a full report. If a bunch of punk kids can outwit Pennywise how powerful could he be? I’m certainly stronger than it….
