The X-Files Lexicon Interviews JKM

The X-Files Lexicon has just published a very in-depth interview that Christopher Irish conducted with me on the subject of The X-Files, and my book: The X-Files FAQ.

The interview is called "Belief and Skepticism" Part I, and you can check it out at the following link:

http://www.x-fileslexicon.com/exclusive/muir_part1.html

I would like to thank both Christopher and Matt Allair for featuring my work (and opinions) on the site.

I hope everybody enjoys the interview!

The X-Files Lexicon Reviews The X-Files FAQ

Christopher Irish at The X-Files Lexicon has written a review of my latest book, The X-Files FAQ. The review is titled "The Old World Falls Away."

Here's a snippet and the url: (http://thex-fileslexicon.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-old-world-falls-away.html)

"Overall, the book was very useful and I enjoyed reading it. It covered a lot of subjects that influenced the show, as well as the show itself. Muir's writing conveys that he is a big fan of the show, not to mention an expert on the subject. This is a good book that any fan would benefit from owning..."

Check out the full review here!

At The X-Files Lexicon: "The New Associate"

As X-Philes eagerly wait for episode three of the series revival -- "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster" by Darin Morgan -- they can pass the time till Monday night with a new interview from Matt Allair at The X-Files Lexicon.

This time out, Allair profiles a new face behind-the-scenes: revival producer Garfield Whitman.

Here's a snippet, and the url (http://www.x-fileslexicon.com/exclusive/whitman.html )

"I'm the associate producer or co-producer on post-production. The production manager typically is on the production side, so it's a slightly different term, but the post producer, that person's responsibility is to shepherd everything after camera films, so that's the budget, the schedule, editorial, the editors, the editorial machines, the sound, VFX, color timing the moving of media between all of the departments for what we call "turnover," which is essentially turning over media so each department can begin their work. You turn over to sound, you turn over to your on-line facility, visual effects, color. It's a lot of fun when you get everybody working together..."

Read more at The X -Files Lexicon.

At The X-Files Lexicon Blog: Why We Believe

Matt Allair, blogger and X-Files scholar who recently interviewed Homeland show-runner Howard Gordon for Den of Geek, has a new post up at The X-Files Lexicon Blog, titled "Why We Believe."

He writes:

“At the beginning of America’s involvement in World War II, Hollywood produced a series of news reels titled “Why We Fight” to contextualize its importance. I have taken the same liberty while mulling over why this new revival, with six new episodes to start airing in January, is so important, and the ways that fans have demonstrated a faith that mirrors Fox Mulder’s faith.”

The whole piece is worth reading, and comes at a juncture that is no doubt one of the most crucial cross-roads for The X-Files franchise.  I hope we're headed for some great days, and a resurgence of the series.

When I'm not writing, I teach college communications courses, and all my students (most of them born in 1997, 1998, or 1999...) raise their hands with recognition when I ask them about The X-Files. 

They love it, and discovered it on Netflix (which is weird to think about, at least for a 45 year old like me...).  The series has undergone a journey similiar, in some ways, to what happened to Star Trek in syndication  A new generation has found it outside of original run (and years later...), and unlike my generation with syndication, these folks had the entire episode catalog at their finger-tips to explore at their own pace and desire.  So I think the audience is there, and primed for a return of X-Files storytelling.
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Anyway, food for thought as we move into yet another new era. I can't wait till the revival begins in January (and you can bet I'll be blogging every episode as it airs.)

The X-Files Lexicon: Interview with Vince Gilligan

Matt Allair, writer and scholar at The X-Files Lexicon has just posted a lengthy and informative new interview with writer/producer Vince Gilligan, mastermind of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.  

Here's a snippet, but please check out the whole interview!  The following passage suggests just one source of inspiration in the Chris Carter series that Gilligan took to his own work:

Another way that Breaking Bad is similar to The X-Files is that Chris always went into each episode by saying, “What’s the visual element of this episode?” Chris is a very visual thinker, and a very cinematic thinker. Cinema is important to him; that’s why The X-Files was the first show I can think of, that really felt like a little miniature movie every week. It was very important to Chris that The X-Files look like a movie and feel like a movie, and tell the story cinematically. In other words, not rely strictly on dialog. There was a lot of good television, but a lot of it felt like a stage play, like a lot of talking heads, they would tell their story through their words, through their dialog, and Chris really wanted a different kind of show than that. He wanted a dark, a moody, a cinematic show in which a lot of the story came across through images rather than simply words. I have taken that idea and run with it, because I, too, love cinematic story-telling, and so much of that was inspired by Chris. On Breaking Bad and now on Better Call Saul, we always think in terms of the image – what are we seeing, what we looking at?