Artsy Monday's a little late today, but it's still frakking Monday, all right?! :)

This week, we're focusing on the writer/director of the much-loved and commented-upon Cylon 7 commerical, Jordan Cannady. Take it away, Jordan...

1) If you had to choose ONE, what's the most important thing people should know about you?
I have an incredible passion for stories dealing with what happens to humanity when technology overtakes us.  Not so much robots killing people.  But what happens when the human mind can be copied like a computer file.  If I were to find a way to make a perfect digital copy of myself, is it me?  If a machine can be just as intelligent and aware as a human, does that machine deserve the same rights as us?  So far there are a number of books that sort of deal with it.  But Caprica was one of the few to deal with it to such an extent, along with the recent Joss Whedon series Dollhouse, which I finally recommend.  But who needs shows like that when we can have reality shows and wrestling?

2) What do you enjoy about fan videos as an art form?
Having to work while being limited.  The process of making the set was planned out over a few days and was based on what we had around us.  I love the whole process of putting it together with no budget.  It may not be the best looking set, but I feel we did a decent one.  Yes, you can do absolutely amazing things with even a decent budget and some computer software.  But having to create a lab out of a corner of a room, a treadmill, and various sound equipment was a great experience and was a very different creative process than the process of writing it.

3) Least favorite/most difficult thing about making fan videos?
Having a little more time to work on them would be nice.  Cylon 7 had a tight deadline, it had to be filmed and edited rather quickly.  I believe it was nearly a week or so.  I also wrote and directed a Dollhouse based video at the same time.  Although with it, I regret filming outside.  It lead to a lot of problems dealing with the background noise and the camera itself.  If I had the time, I would have filmed it again, probably inside a building.  Cylon 7 was the easier of the two to film, besides a certain Cylon who became a diva when stardom went to his head.

4) How do you decide on an element to focus on? Is it motivated by characters you enjoy, a storyline you enjoy, both?
Well with Cylon 7 I focused on robots and how they are almost certain to turn on humanity as soon as they get the chance.  While that is not why I enjoyed Caprica, the rest of it can't be played for laughs.  I have a few ideas that focus more on them, but nothing close to ready to film right now.  That I managed to find the humor in a society doomed to extermination has to be some small success.  Even if it limited to a robot killing my friends on camera.

5) If the technology were available, would you want to be resurrected as a skin-job cylon?
Of course, I'm not a big fan of the whole dying thing.  Having a back up waiting to go would be great.  Although I'd likely go through back up copies of myself like tissues.  I'd be incredibly reckless, probably even using it as a way of getting out of situations I don't like.  Say I was stuck in traffic or feeling sick, I'd just take myself out and then climb out of the goo bath.  Although having to interact with other copies of myself would be weird.
 


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