Monday, February 15, 2010

"The S from Hell" - Part Two - The Phenomenon of the "Screen Gems" Branding

Before I continue from the last post I want to clarify something. Quoting what I had written: "This isn't a parody or comedic presentation. The documentary is legitimate and so is the film maker, Rodney Ascher, who has also produced an acclaimed gospel presentation based on a Jack Chick comic." What I mean is that the short movie is what it appears to be. The things said by the people interviewed are genuine and the impact of this logo and multimedia animation is legendary. There is nothing further to be read into what I wrote. The film maker is not generally considered as having evangelistic gifts or agendas  and I'm making no blanket endorsement of his character or work. He states his objective for the film on the Web site for "The S From Hell")

"Not an exhaustive historical documentary, THE S FROM HELL is a subjective film whose aim is make the audience feel the same fear and confusion as the children who were first confronted by the vexing, unfolding sights and mournful, dissonant sounds that hid in the cracks between their favorite TV shows."

Making people feel that same fear and confusion is not a commendable goal, in my estimation, yet the work is simply what it is claimed to be. The response generated by the work is mostly foolishness, yet the documentary film is still legit. I personally have a reverse speech video on YouTube that is popular and especially so amongst the foolish mockers and scoffers. Yet, the work around which the controversy continues to grow is legit.

Consider the following excerpt from this riskybusiness.blogs.thr.com page:

"Before the screening, the festival screened Rodney Ascher’s nine-minute nonfiction short “The S From Hell.” There’s really no way to describe the oddball joy that comes from listening to grown men and women describe the terror they experienced from a Screen Gems logo introduced in 1964 — and its accompanying spooky Moog synthesizer jingle — that popped up at the end of episodes of “The Flintstones” and “Bewitched” when they were little kids.
After the screening, Ascher described how he had found this bizarre community, which also occasionally refers to the offending logo as The Personification of All Things Evil. “Yes, it’s real,” Ascher told the audience of the people heard speaking in the film. “Yes, it’s really real.”"

The "acclaimed gospel presentation based on a Jack Chick comic" was acclaimed for its artistic prowess, not because it spurred a religious revival of any sort. The point I want to make is that the film maker has been recognized for his professional abilities in presenting a legitimate documentary, even one faithful to something so incendiary as a Jack Chick gospel comic. Consider the following: from BBtv -- Jack Chick, animated: "Somebody Goofed," by Syd and Rodney

We reached out to the filmmakers for some thoughts on this amazing piece of work, 10 years after its creation -- Rodney Ascher tells us...

Making Somebody Goofed was 50% art experiment and 50% self-designed AfterEffects tutorial. It was the first digitally animated project for both of us (I think...). It took at least 6 months to make the thing, maybe close to a year. I was running a Powermac 7500 (Syd's always had a model 1 or 2 levels faster than mine so he was probably behind the wheel of an 8500) and we got a gasp during a Q and A when we explained that rendering some of the QuickTimes took more than a day or two and transporting the uncompressed files demanded about 12 Jaz cartridges!

It was designed to be something of a Rorschach test: we followed the original comic as rigorously as we could, resisted any temptation to change things around (for pacing, content, whatever) and allowed the audience to interpret however they liked. During its premiere at DFilm, the audience was mostly quiet and thoughtful but at a screening at the SFMoMA it played pretty much as a spoof with a lot of appreciative laughter. On the other hand, when it was shown at a screening for the Television Commercial Industry, the awkward, confused, slightly hostile silence was deafening. Happily enough, we've gotten very nice responses from both Chick Publications and The Suicide Girls.

So, take his work at face value, Rodney is presenting what he has for just what it is. It's not a spoof or a parody. It's not intended to be comedic or farcical.  Don't let any of the noise it generates from viewers distract you from the fact that the Screen Gems logo and promo has been well documented as having a significant and lasting negative impact.   Search the web for "The S from Hell" and see for yourself. The foolish mockers and detractors serve a deflection/distraction agenda. It can be said that where there's fire, there's usually smoke.

Now I'd like to pick up where I left off, addressing three more features of occult symbolism present in the visual imagery. The dot in the circle at the center is an eye, the all seeing and unblinking eye. This is the third eye of Luciferian enlightenment. It's related to the CBS logo and features prominently in Masonic and other occult imagery. It's the eye found on the reverse side of the great seal of the U.S. These are the eye of Horus/Osiris, the one who was and is not, yet will be.

Another feature of the logo relates to the so-called S that should be identified as the signature three-legged thunderbolt of Zeus, aka the serpent and Lucifer. The red serpentine S, the thunderbolt of Zeus, the eye of Osiris; these are all picked up in the Masonic themed Superman Action Comic cover that should now be familiar to regular readers of this blog. The eye imagery is a creepy element in many logos and signs. Keep an eye out for it! :)

The last visual elements of the Screen Gems logo I want to point out are the two deltas in the negative space, one pointing up (sons of god) in the upper right, balanced by the one pointing down (daughters of men) in the lower left.

These add to the other features mentioned in the last post to form a very powerful symbol that is far more than just a superficial representation of the things signified. Demonic entities are invoked through this portal, which is why it has such a fearsome effect on some. It is a recruiting agency for the antichrist beast, wielding powerful influence over some for the purpose of preparing them as hosts who will accept the mark of the beast and be transformed in their DNA.

I've noticed that more than one person has described the S from Hell as reminding them of the fallout shelter sign. Artistically, there's some similarity because of the dot inside the circle and deltas in the negative space. With regard to their symbolic meaning and effect these are very closely related! The fallout shelter symbol has the male/female procreative bindu in a circle plus three "daughters of men" deltas and three negative space "sons of god" deltas inscribed within the magical protective circle! This imagery has been used to condition children and adults, to equate it with safety, a safe and protected place. Kinda sneaky. Evil!

To be continued, Lord willing!

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