Christopher Preksta talks more “Blasto.”

Awhile back I interviewed creator Christopher Preksta about his superhero video web-series “Captain Blasto,” which was only a few episodes into its online premiere. Now the show has reached its planned end with episode eleven, and Chris so kindly agreed to take the time to answer some follow-up questions.

WITA: Hey, Chris! It’s been awhile since we last talked [...]. I’ve been following the series since then and man, it just kept getting better and better!

For those who haven’t seen the series, the main character, Colin, decides to change his mundane life by dressing up like his favorite childhood superhero, Captain Blasto. Tell us a little about the challenges that Colin and his group of pretend criminals face, and when it starts to go downhill. Also, over the course of the series, how does Colin grow as a character?

Christopher Preksta: I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the series.  We’ve been getting lots of emails and messages from our viewers, which has been fantastic.

The entire series is about the characters’ comical confrontation with adulthood.  Colin, who sees the humdrum monotony of his classmates and the quiet suffering of adults, decides to retreat into a fictional comic book world of his own making.  Not only does Colin and the rest of the crew grow to learn that maturity isn’t some evil to be avoided, but Colin also begins to take on the traits of the hero he was simply imitating: leadership (the crew), integrity (to stop the robberies), and above all, confidence.

WITA: What comment can you make about Colin and his foil, Evan—who plays the role of Blasto’s arch-nemesis? How are they alike and different, and what message do the two characters’ presence and interactions communicate, would you say? In other words, how do they contribute to the story?

Chris: I tried to take two characters that essentially came from similar circumstances (i.e. missing fathers) but turned out drastically different.  While Colin’s absent father led to his attachment to a fictional hero figure (based on the years my father was absent and my own personal affection for Superman), Evan’s led to darker addictions.  It’s an illustration on the power choice has in determining how we make it out of our circumstances.

WITA: For awhile, particularly near the end of the run, scenes were in monotone colors. Why, from an editing standpoint, did you decide to incorporate that style before switching back to full color for the majority of the finale?

Chris: The color scheme progresses throughout the entire series.  Colin’s boring life begins in dull muted colors and transforms into a bright and simple palette as he steps further into his comic book world.  The black and white is used in that scheme for two reasons.  First, I tried to incorporate several different comic book styles throughout the series, ranging from bright colors to the old Batman “Biff! Bam! Pow!” titles. The black and white is the old newspaper strip comics.  And second, the change to black and white is used to illustrate the change from fake to actual robberies.  There was always some moral gray area with the faked robberies because while they are technically illegal they are just harmless little shows.  But towards the end there’s no ambiguity, it’s just simple theft.  There’s no rationalization.  Or as the saying goes … it’s black and white.  And once Colin breaks free from the comic book world he’s trapped himself in, the color scheme reverts to a more realistic representation of his environment.

WITA: About halfway through the final episode, what’s going through Colin’s mind when he’s lying on the floor next to the Blasto figure? To me it was a really powerful moment and turning point for Colin; how would you describe it?

Chris: That moment is all about Colin’s fictional world/ideas coming to an end.  This statue, a symbol of adventure, heroism, and manhood, is literally trampled by reality.  Colin’s going to have to find out what it means to be a young man and live outside the pages of a comic book.  As a side note, that Blasto figure is based on a real statue of Superman I still have sitting next to me.  While I have many Rubbermaid bins filled with Superman memorabilia tucked away in the basement, that’s the one item that remains displayed.

WITA: In the end, it’s left up in the air how the various characters’ involvement with Blasto has affected them—whether, considering the impact on their personal lives, they consider the project to have been a positive or negative experience. I mean, we see a bit of each of them afterwards, but I don’t think it was enough to form a definite judgment about how they feel. But I love the way the series ends: for Colin there’s no doubt that it’s been a good thing, despite the bad. What are your thoughts on the conclusion? Can you shed any light for us on the way the show ends?

Chris: It was very important to me that it didn’t end with some tidy little “the rest of their lives will be fantastic” message.  Each character has to suffer some consequences and return to their adult lives.  But how do you take a little of that youthfulness adventure and incorporate that into the life of a working adult?  For Mike it’s about a different career.  For Daryl it becomes about focusing on his children.  For me it’s telling stories (especially ones where I get to dress up as a super-hero.)

WITA: In retrospect, what kind of effect has bringing “Captain Blasto” to the internet had on you and those involved with the show?

Chris: I’ve really fallen in love with this form of short episodic storytelling.  While people are lamenting the fact that stories are forced to be so short, blaming it on the audiences’ increasingly short attention spans, isn’t this just a return to what movies first started out as?  Going to the theater meant watching short serials, a cartoon, a quick news reel, a couple trailers, and finally a full length film … followed by ANOTHER full length film.  You were getting a whole buffet of stories.  Doesn’t that sound an awful lot like what we’re seeing in the web video world?

WITA: “Captain Blasto” was great, Chris. I adored it! Are there any plans for a DVD release?

Chris: We’re still on the fence for a DVD release.  I REALLY want to do it, especially considering we have nearly an HOUR of deleted scenes!  But the truth of it is we had a target number of weekly viewers to hit before we would do a run of DVDs and unfortunately we fell a bit short of that goal.  We are discussing some other merchandise ideas which, if those do even marginally well, we’ll reconsider a DVD release.

WITA: What’s next for you? Any future projects in-the-works that you can tease us about?

Chris: We’re currently in post-production on an entirely new series which I think—although I am a bit biased—is going to knock peoples’ socks off.  It’s a return of the classic cliffhanger serials but done in a modern way, without the cheesy effects and corny dialogue.  We’ll be releasing much more info in just a few short weeks, but in the meantime here are a few stills of “Blasto”’s Mark Tierno and Curt Wootton in the upcoming series “The Mercury Men.”

WITA: Will you be at either the New York or San Diego Comic-Cons next year, by any chance?

Chris: We’ll be a San Diego again this year for sure, hopefully kicking off the new series.  Not sure on New York yet.

WITA: Awesome! I’m hoping to get out there for SDCC this year with the girls of GEN, so if I’ll do I’ll keep an eye out for ya!

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions, Chris. It’s been a lot of fun!

Chris: Anytime.  Always a fan of GEN.

Make sure to check out the main website for additional information about the show. There you can download some cool wallpapers, the awesome soundtrack, and the whole series plus the trailer via itunes—all for free!

Related Posts:

• A little dash of Mercury
• Captain Blasto needs your help!
• Captain Blasto to the rescue!
• Comic Junkie: Week of 8-6-08