Archive for April, 2008
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Commission: Out of
I’ve been in the black for the last little while.
With Axe creating a new Panda Girls structure, I’ve been trying to make a new treatment of it happen in record time. Truth be told, I’ve been sandbagging the last year, it’s bullshit that it takes me so long to get our work done. A big reason for that has been a lack of love in my work.
I’ve always loved writing, but when it became a job, I got bent outa shape too easy. I lost some of my faith in just having fun while bashing out words, and more importantly, I lost my zeal for just giving ‘er shit. Stream of consciousness writing isn’t always the best, because inherently it relies on your latent intelligence to get you over some of the logical gaps in whatever subject you’re working on. If you haven’t noodled out some of those gaps, you’re going to crash when you hit them.
But we’ve been thinking about Panda Girls for 2 years, working, talking, structuring, writing, re-writing, crying like assholes. So it was time to quit being cautious.
When Axe got the new structure done, only one thing came to mind.
“In the immortal words of the Doors: The time for hesitation is through.”
Fucking A.
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
In front of the camera
I haven’t done a Vlog (video blog) in a while.
Like…6 months. In fact I think THIS is the last one. There’s been a lot of shit flying around since then, and it’s also frustrating that I’m still where I was then. The treatment of the film. Ugh.
Axe and I have to fight a lot to not become depressed with our progress on the movie. The fact is that we’re not classically trained in screenwriting or script development…anything. We taught ourselves. So there tend to be a lot of pitfalls that somebody has already managed to fall into when they were back at Juilliard or whatever hell they attended.
As such we tend to run into walls, and then backtrack, all the while time keeps on ticking. Well…yesterday we realized we’d finally run over a huge hump. Axe recently did a new draft of our structure, and he took some long strides. His new structure pulled together some character arcs in a really tight package, and gave answers to a lot of our logic questions. They aren’t perfect answers, but they’re a good footing to launch from. And then I stepped up.
And crushed the bitch. After a little while with the new structure, I essentially pulled the rest of the story together, and last night when I explained it to Axe, he did some backflips. The rest of this week, our Production Hours will concentrate on Treating the new structure, and by the end of next week, it should be completed.
We’re close.
Sunday, April 20th, 2008
Ninja Script
A lot of writing pundits suggest setting aside time to write. I agree, it’s really handy to have a specific block of time each week/day/whatever to work. That’s great if you’re a pro, and writing is the only job you have. Sadly I started out my working life in a slightly different path, and now I’m working towards the professional writing gig. So… a lot of the time I have to sneak writing into my work day.
When I worked in an office, it was easy. I’m sitting at my computer typing anyways, I just got really fast with alt-tab, and could shift in between my work and my writing easily. Hell, my job was so simple that I often could just blatantly be writing and nobody would say anything. I could do 5 hours of writing in a given day and have no qualms.
Now I work in a bikeshop. And while it’s my brothers, and he’s fine with me writing during down time, there isn’t a lot of down time to be had. Now my window for writing at work is a lot smaller. Sometimes it may be a few minutes, sometimes a single minute. So I ninja in some of my work during the day, slipping into my gdocs and dropping little word-shuriken whenever I can. It would be great to write as my day job, so I could have the time to seriously work on a topic or project, or storyline. But I may suck at this, the determination has yet to be made.
So if there’s any advice I could ever give about transitioning from Dog Catcher to Writer, it’s to cherish the small times you have to write. If you do have the opportunity to set aside a block of time, do it, it goes a long way. If you don’t, well, that can be even better sometimes. When you have 5 hours to write something amazing, you spend 4hrs 34mins trying to work it out.
When you have a single minute, procrastination has no foothold. You become like a revengeful ghost.
“If a samurai’s head were to be suddenly cut off, he should still be able to perform one more action, with certainty. If one becomes like a revengeful ghost, and shows great determination, though his head is cut off, he will not die” - Hagakure
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
InterNepotism
The above title is the worst pun I’ve ever made. I hope each of you was prepared to be sullied by it. if not…too bad.
My colleague, and wheel-man, Axe, is a ninja with a pencil. When the film, Panda Girls, first started up it was because Axe had a cool idea, and needed some muscle to kick its ass. I was working a brain dead job, and pretty much inching towards a fantastic homicide/suicide scenario. I didn’t plan to kill anybody, but when you think about the most magnificent suicide the world will ever know, there’s bound to be some kind of collateral damage. Sorry everybody, no harm, no foul.
At any rate, I had contacted him about a plan we’d barely formulated a few years earlier in a 20 minute conversation we had in the corner of a loud party we were both uncomfortable at. We thought, perhaps, that we would make a comic. We were unsure of how to distribute it, but that is a mediocre concern in this day and age; producing it was the clincher. The plan had fallen through, and we hadn’t really spoken to one another since. On a lazy afternoon, during my planning session, I chanced to ask him (since he was on MSN) if he’d thought about giving it another go. He hadn’t really, he was far too busy, but he wanted me to have a look at some work he’d done.
Specifically the work he’d done on some pages for the Army of Darkness comic. I was stoked. I’ve always had a place in my heart for Ash, and his troubles. He was my kind of hero: not a hero, but ready to fuck shit up when he was pushed. I checked it out, and it was cool. Axe does awesome work. It lead, inexorably, into our meeting about another idea he’d had (re: Panda’s). Those first couple meetings were interesting, loud, sometimes angry, and often full of cool ideas. In the end, of the four who began the meetings, two remained. Us. One didn’t believe in the concept, the other was too busy. But sometimes I think it might have been Fate.
Now Axe works on OUR comic (there’s only a few done so far, we were mostly beta testing the idea. It failed somewhat), Panda Girls concept art, Axe and Crom concept art, and the new adventure: Painting.
He’s broken it down into 500 posts he plans to do, and coincidentally it’s called: http://500posts.com/
If you’re into painting, an aspiring artist, or just like cool shit, you should keep an eye on what he’s doing. He’s the real talent in this operation, I’m just the organ grinding monkey.
Sometimes literally.
Monday, April 14th, 2008
Facebook Apps.
Jesus. Is there even anything that needs to be said?
I get hit with them like crazy. Requests out my ass, and it has to stop. I don’t give a shit about whether my friends fit into a stock portfolio, or roleplaying a vampire via text; these are all things that were around in the days of the BBS, and I got sick of it then.
That was 1994. Holy Shitz.
TO the people who keep writing these fucking things: Stop. You’re just making us all look like shit heads.
Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Reading Rainbow Update
So what is lurking on my nightstand? Aside from my alarm clock, which is a heartless bitch…
Here’s what I’m reading right now…
The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler - Axe threw this one my way. Originally published in the middle sixties, Koestler took on the insane task of articulating the process of creativity, focusing on humour. The read can feel like wrestling sometimes, but Arthur always tries to keep it as simple as the concept will allow. Whenever I delve into these meta concepts I always feel a little punch-drunk afterwards. The flavor reminds me of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but slightly less mind bending. For anyone who wants to be a creator, I recommend tasting this one.
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins - Dawkins is a raging asshole. Bottom line. The book has some interesting flavor, but I am often disgusted by the unilateral bullshit that Dawkins unleashes on everything. I cheer anytime somebody takes the Christian Fundies to task, but trying to relate the nature of an asshole, by being an equally loquacious asshole, does not make sense. Dawkins has excised anything spiritual in his life, and holds anyone who hasn’t done the same to be a fucking retard. Sorry Rich, but you don’t get my vote. That road is the death of hope.
Things I would LIKE to be reading now: System of the World - Neal Stephenson (read the first two, gotta get in gear), The last Wheel of Time novel (it hasn’t been written yet….excuses!), Hagakure (I had a copy a few years ago, but somebody dropped it into a sink of soapy water).
Catch you on the flip side.
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
The spectacle.
I refuse to watch Cloverfield.
I will go to my grave without watching that movie. If I wake up some morning, and a paramilitary group has kidnapped me, and plans to force me to watch the movie, I will swallow my own fucking tongue.
I watched the trailer with apprehension, because I hate JJ Abrams and all things associated with him. The trailer angered me, as have all his works. It began with Alias (I was never a fan, but I understood the appeal), and then transfered to Lost.
Fuck Lost. I can’t stand the abuse of the “gap”. It’s a crutch, and even if he’s using it like the ancient techniques of the master, Hitchcock, he fails to close the loop with anything near the same flair and intelligence.
But let’s return to the current object of my scorn: Cloverfield. There are two important points that must be noted about movies like this, and their failure.
#1: Like the above example, you cannot fail to close the Gap. He set up the mystery for us “What is it?”. That mystery at the beginning of the story is paramount. You must have it. Lewis Black, the comedian, talks about the gap in his pseudo-autobiography “Nothing Sacred”. In the book, he discusses his first forays into the world of Stand Up Comedy (capitalization makes it MORE important!), and in a particularly shitty bar, following a punk rock band, the room was deafened. Black lamented the murmur of the crowd, roar of bikes outside, and pinball machines in the corner. Why?
Silence. It’s an essential component of public speaking, because in silence, you find the tension (re:gap). And tension is what the Gap is all about. Whether its a joke, a thriller movie, a mystery novel, everything is a slave to the tension. What people who don’t rant about this all day call “suspense”. First, the tension must build, and then, when the moment is right, it must be released. As Axe is known to say “You can’t show a gun, without it going off”. That is why I want to kick Ol’ JJ in his dick: he doesn’t turn the tension. There’s no release. You leave the theater, or turn off the tv, and you are frustrated. And because the Television nation is constantly anesthetized, they confuse that frustration, with emotional involvement.
Dear TV Nation: You are being tricked. Please stop giving this asshole your money. It enables him to continue shitting on our lives.
#2: The camera. Fuck. I thought they had learned the lesson when they made Blair Witch, but apparently whoever greenlit that piece of shit, somehow made an impression, and producers still think it’s A-Ok. Let me explain something to the people who make movies (and why am I the one having to tell YOu this? What the FUCK):
We know they’re fake. yeah, I know this comes as a shock to you, but the viewing public understands that they’re seeing a movie. The reason the Blair Witch managed to pull anybody into their little game, was the hoax surrounding the footage. They told us IT WAS REAL. With that assumption in hand, we made our way to the screen, and some of us were pulled in. BUT… The rest of us were too busy thinking the same thing “Jesus christ, hold the fucking camera still”. The effect in BW and the effect in Cloverfield yields the same result: I am so aware of the camera moving, that I can no longer focus on the narrative of the story. You have broken the spell, so that quality or quantity of the content you are presenting means nothing anymore. My emotional wall is back up. You fail.
The bottom line is that film is a visual media that requires a very specific look to tell a specific story. The thought “hey, what if we made this look like handheld footage!” is a novelty, and has some juice. The problem arises in that novelties have the annoying tendency to wear off. Anybody old enough to remember He-Man is well aware of this fact.
Mahalo
Sunday, April 6th, 2008
Random Crap Vol. 1
Are you bored?
Are your days filled with nothing but reruns and clap on commercials?
Well perhaps, instead of killing yourself, you should check out Julia Allison’s blog. She’s an editor for Star magazine, and a writer for Cosmo, Maxim, Men’s Health, etc…
Living in a male centric media complex like North America, we often find the female perspective presented to us in a way that is Half Howard Stern, and Half Emily Clark. A schizophrenic mixture that leaves most guy’s feeling like a FedEx truck full of Northanger Abbey copies just ran them over. She’s an interesting gal, with a solid interest in the welfare of humanity (I aspire to that myself, but I am often waylaid by my desire to kill other motorists). While the content can range into areas that most guy’s don’t give a flying shit about, you should weather the storm, and enjoy.
The above paragraph assumes that little to no women read this blog.
I think I’m safe on that one.
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Holy Blogtastical Blogging, Batman!
Holy fuck.
I haven’t written anything here in too long. I apologize. Axe and I have come up with a new plan to actually get anything done at all, the Production Hour. It’s a clever name that isn’t that clever, for something that everybody does already. I honestly think that the world at large should consider this concept for all office style business.
When I worked in an office, I probably managed the Peter Gibbons level of work each day. The fact was, that after sitting in my tiny cubicle for about 30 minutes, I was no longer able to think. The process literally halted. I don’t know if there’s some alchemical effect from the stuffy air, constant murmur of voices, and brain crushing fluorescent lights, but it felt like they combined in a mental version of Devastator and rampaged through my psyche, leaving a swath of destruction. By 1pm everyday I was useless. Utterly.
I couldn’t even summon the power to overcome the thought-miasma that hung in the air. If I was asked a question, I would honestly deflect it with verbal jujitsu. Or, I would claim ignorance, which didn’t really work, because I was well known for my bizarre memory.
I firmly believe that this way of working should be removed, and the Production Hour or whatever synonym people use (hour of power, go time, etc.) should replace it. The Production Hour for us is simple: we arrive at a coffee shop with everything in hand that we need to work. The clock starts, and we have one hour to get as much completed as possible. We can bounce ideas off each other, but we absolutely do not stop to talk, debate, brainstorm, or shoot the shit. It’s easy to think you’re getting things done when you brainstorm, but most people don’t know how to do it well. That’s another story.
It’s easy when you’re at home to jerk around, and not get things done. There’s distractions galore, but more than that, it’s the place you WANT TO RELAX. There’s a million distractions, AND you often think about doing things around the house. It sucks. If you do work out of your home, I’ve found that I MUST have a place that I go to in order to work. That’s it. It’s the only thing I do when I go to this place (my pit), and if I feel the need to do something else, I leave. You cannot treat it like a hobby, I have and it’s burned me. Don’t follow my foolish footsteps…alliteration!
The Production Hour could be a ticket to ride, but we’ve only just implemented it, so time will tell on the success rate.
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
Nice review….
Have you read an Anime review online lately? Here’s a sample :
When it comes to clarity and making sense, this volume is kind of a mess, but what a dramatic and beautiful mess it is.
….What?
Let’s talk about something here for a minute. It’s going to seem like a tangent, but I assure you, it is part of this whole mess. We all like shitty movies. Not as a group, but each of us probably has a list of movies, that we KNOW people think are shitty, that we love. We don’t care that they’re shitty, in fact we almost wear it as a badge of honor. This is the movie that’s OURS. In all it’s Shitglory. Whatever, it’s no big deal. Here’s the thing…
Almost all the reviews I’ve seen for anime film and television, have a sentence, similar to, if not almost exactly the same as the one quoted above. Which leads us to conclude something…There’s a lot of shitty anime being made.
Now the people in the peanut gallery are going to be shouting at me “there’s a lot of shitty movies in hollywood made each year fucker!”. And, they would be correct. In 2007, conservative estimates say that about 200 movies received major release from the land of make believe. Of the one’s I saw, maybe two of them weren’t disappointing. (Juno and Hot Rod; Juno was so clever it cut the roof of my mouth like Cap’n Crunch, and Hot Rod was one of those “so retarded it’s funny” kinda deals)
However, the average that Hollywood is running seems to be much better than the Anime crowd is pumping out. The number of seminal Anime films, with I take to mean that anybody who likes Anime agrees they’re awesome, can be counted on one hand. let’s do it kids!
Akira (duh), Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke….my example goes to pieces here, the votes splinter. But they don’t splinter that far.
Is Anime generally shittier? Or, perhaps, do anime fans have lower expectations?
These reviews beg some questions. If something is a mess, it’s a mess. And being “ok” with the fact that it is a mess, strikes me as a lazy approach to pushing for improvement in the art form. Especially if they plan to let us Western Dogs into their playground. We’ll burn it down man…we don’t know any better.