My episode reviews of Lost Season 1 continue. I took down some notes for the end of the season back in January, and I'm just getting round to transcribing them now.
CB1: Claire's having a baby.
CB2: Kate'll have to deliver the baby. These are oddly oblique commercial breaks.
CB3: They have to amputate.
CB4: Boone dies.
Yep, this is the episode where we contrast Life vs. Death. Baby vs. Boone. You can see it in all of the CBs, and the end of the episode contrasts the new baby being presented to the tribe with people bury Boone.
It's very much an episode exploring Jack's character. He has to make a choice between which patient to treat (Boone or Claire), and he chooses the hopeless case. "I am gonna save you," he says. Jack is defined by his need to take responsibility, but he also questions himself and has doubts.
Three script-writer notes:
1, Jack's "Don't tell me what I can't do!" mirrors Locke.
2. Jack worked a miracle on his wife (who had a similar injury to Locke), therefore the script makes us believe he can save Boone.
3. There's no comedy in this episode.
4. Next episode promises a Jack vs. Locke smackdown ... and see how we're really getting into follow-on continuity now?
Some other character notes:
We're seeing Charlie as father - he's seeking redemption via creating a family. Charlie is also the new Boone - a wannabe hero.
Jin knows a lot about healing for a rich girl.
Man, Daniel Dae Kim is an awesome actor. He was good-ish in Angel, but he's knockin gthis out of the park.
I love how the crisis of Claire's pregnancy forces Jin to talk to Sun.
Observations:
Water, running, everywhere - it means a lot of ADR, but it's an easy way to create motion in the background.
Flashbacks in non-chronological order reflect the truth of being human - we can learn a lesson and then be in trouble again; we have patterns that we fall into.
Notes that I've written down and have no idea what they mean:
This is different from pregnancy ???
Sawyer helped Kate, twice.
Community, despite language barrier.
And a question:
How'd they get he cargo container up to the caves? Maybe it was addressed in an earlier episode, because it seems implausible to me.
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Thursday, June 01, 2006
48Hours - The Screening
It went bloody well.
Monster Hunter IV: Beyond Repair is what our film's called. MHIVBR, for short. What stood out for me was how it didn't waste time - the work me, Sean and Morgue did in compressing the story meant that it compared favourably to the other films in our heat, in terms of being tight and solid.
Also, the screening confirmed that a 48 Hour film doesn't need to be an out and out comedy - the objective is to have a film that has lots of moments that really 'get' the audience, and big laughs aren't necessarily the only way to do that.
So, in last night's heat, I felt our film was probably the most solid and true to genre.
Optimistic Prime, a Based on a True Story black comedy with a barbershop quartet Greek chorus, was the most entertaining.
The Longest Wait - B&W puppet movie - was the most ambitious and moving.
Honourable Mentions to Driving for a Bargain and to Let it Go, the musical. Man, musical is tough.
**
Oh, and the process of rewriting the script in my head continues. The final lines (to me) are now:
Monster Hunter IV: Beyond Repair is what our film's called. MHIVBR, for short. What stood out for me was how it didn't waste time - the work me, Sean and Morgue did in compressing the story meant that it compared favourably to the other films in our heat, in terms of being tight and solid.
Also, the screening confirmed that a 48 Hour film doesn't need to be an out and out comedy - the objective is to have a film that has lots of moments that really 'get' the audience, and big laughs aren't necessarily the only way to do that.
So, in last night's heat, I felt our film was probably the most solid and true to genre.
Optimistic Prime, a Based on a True Story black comedy with a barbershop quartet Greek chorus, was the most entertaining.
The Longest Wait - B&W puppet movie - was the most ambitious and moving.
Honourable Mentions to Driving for a Bargain and to Let it Go, the musical. Man, musical is tough.
**
Oh, and the process of rewriting the script in my head continues. The final lines (to me) are now:
Robin and Diana look at the monster's corpse.
DIANA
Some things are too damaged to survive.
Robin stares up at her.
ROBIN
What about us?
There's a long look between them, as Diana considers him.
DIANA
... Let's find out.
She drags Robin to his feet. They stagger away, together.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
48Hours - Day 2
We've just heard that our runners are AT the Embassy about to drop off the finished version.
THE TAPE HAS BEEN DELIVERED!
16 minutes, 58 seconds before the deadline.
I'm very happy with the final result. It's a monster movie with attitude, it's a romance, it's a story of a beast alienated from society. And the team didn't lynch me - which is also a result I'm happy with.
Editing was great - Norman and Matt working together, editing separate scenes, which really saved our bacon. Learning to use Adobe Premiere was the best decision Matt made this year as far as I'm concerned. And I remembered how much I enjoy editing - that's an environment I'm really comfortable with.
I got to direct an action sequence - and it cut together really well, with many spectacular stunts.
All in all, we had a WAY harder shoot this year, but getting it in is making it all worth it.
Champagne now. Then much sleep. And maybe some food.
Oh yeah, and maybe some admiration and love, but that'll probably happen over at our forum, nzrag/jennisangels.
THE TAPE HAS BEEN DELIVERED!
16 minutes, 58 seconds before the deadline.
I'm very happy with the final result. It's a monster movie with attitude, it's a romance, it's a story of a beast alienated from society. And the team didn't lynch me - which is also a result I'm happy with.
Editing was great - Norman and Matt working together, editing separate scenes, which really saved our bacon. Learning to use Adobe Premiere was the best decision Matt made this year as far as I'm concerned. And I remembered how much I enjoy editing - that's an environment I'm really comfortable with.
I got to direct an action sequence - and it cut together really well, with many spectacular stunts.
All in all, we had a WAY harder shoot this year, but getting it in is making it all worth it.
Champagne now. Then much sleep. And maybe some food.
Oh yeah, and maybe some admiration and love, but that'll probably happen over at our forum, nzrag/jennisangels.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
48 Hours- Day 1
It's mid afternoon of the first day - very cloudy, been lightly showering and cold for most of it.
So, of course, we've written a movie where all of our cast and crew have to stand outside for the entire script.
I am hoping that they find it a bonding experience, rather than an incentive to lynch me.
Our genre is Monster Movie. This is awesome. We've got a couple of monster hunters who are romantic rivals in a John Carpenter/Predator hunt through the jungle buddy movie thing.
What I'm really happy about with the script is the pacing and the attitude. We're currently waiting for the first footage to arrive - so that we can see how the script's been interpreted. So weird to not be on set for this part. I think our cast is pretty damn good, actually but it makes me realise that it all comes down to how the director and actors'll work together, as to whether it'll come across broadly comedic, deadly serious, wryly amusing ... and all of that affects the music that I'm currently listening to Svend select.
Yeah, I'm not on set because I was up till 5.30 finishing the script. Jenni made me sleep and forbade from coming out there until I was fresh. Three catnaps later and I think I'm there.
So, we'll be shooting more tomorrow. We have professional stuntpeople doing the 'everyone gets killed by the monster' thing. Hopefully we'll also have a rough cut of stuff by tomorrow too.
More later.
So, of course, we've written a movie where all of our cast and crew have to stand outside for the entire script.
I am hoping that they find it a bonding experience, rather than an incentive to lynch me.
Our genre is Monster Movie. This is awesome. We've got a couple of monster hunters who are romantic rivals in a John Carpenter/Predator hunt through the jungle buddy movie thing.
What I'm really happy about with the script is the pacing and the attitude. We're currently waiting for the first footage to arrive - so that we can see how the script's been interpreted. So weird to not be on set for this part. I think our cast is pretty damn good, actually but it makes me realise that it all comes down to how the director and actors'll work together, as to whether it'll come across broadly comedic, deadly serious, wryly amusing ... and all of that affects the music that I'm currently listening to Svend select.
Yeah, I'm not on set because I was up till 5.30 finishing the script. Jenni made me sleep and forbade from coming out there until I was fresh. Three catnaps later and I think I'm there.
So, we'll be shooting more tomorrow. We have professional stuntpeople doing the 'everyone gets killed by the monster' thing. Hopefully we'll also have a rough cut of stuff by tomorrow too.
More later.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Limit - Interesting times
David emailed me, hoping that the Limit was going better.
Yeah it is. My last big post about it was just a demonstration of a writer getting emotional about what he wrote. That's cool; I expect ups-and-downs now.
At the moment, I actually feel pretty confident about the script. Everyone's feedback works together & ... more importantly to me ... I feel like the script is now 'telling' me what it wants to be. Adjusting scenes feels like a natural process now, one that doesn't require that much thinking about it. It's like there's an ideal version of this draft that I'm chiselling the unnecessary material away from.
Downside: I'm focusing on the 48 now, so not so much time to really dig into the writing and get into a groove.
Yeah it is. My last big post about it was just a demonstration of a writer getting emotional about what he wrote. That's cool; I expect ups-and-downs now.
At the moment, I actually feel pretty confident about the script. Everyone's feedback works together & ... more importantly to me ... I feel like the script is now 'telling' me what it wants to be. Adjusting scenes feels like a natural process now, one that doesn't require that much thinking about it. It's like there's an ideal version of this draft that I'm chiselling the unnecessary material away from.
Downside: I'm focusing on the 48 now, so not so much time to really dig into the writing and get into a groove.
The Writing Table
Really fun session with the 48 Hour writing team auditions last night - a nasty little silent film thriller - and a valuable demonstration for me about what I want from a writing table (the group that sits around breaking a story ... and for more on what's entailed in breaking a story, read this blog post by Jane Espenson).
Simply: I like writers who listen. At its best last night, our group was having a fun, considerate, reflective, other-adjectives-that-mean-we-were-grooving-off-each-other's-ideas time.
A conversation without ego, with everyone willing to accept the best that each other has to offer. That's a writing table I can feel comfortable around.
Many well-functioning groups fit that description; it's just nice to have it illustrated for me.
Simply: I like writers who listen. At its best last night, our group was having a fun, considerate, reflective, other-adjectives-that-mean-we-were-grooving-off-each-other's-ideas time.
A conversation without ego, with everyone willing to accept the best that each other has to offer. That's a writing table I can feel comfortable around.
Many well-functioning groups fit that description; it's just nice to have it illustrated for me.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Next for me
I've had a great and productive week – working 3 days at Women's Affairs and 2 days on The Limit. I'd like that to become my new routine. However, there are 2 things coming up that are going to take priority and I'm going to have to focus on.
First there's the Innovation Initiative – a New Zealand On Air project to get shows that deal with more challenging material onscreen. I've got one that fits the bill – in fact, I've been working on it on and off for about 3 years - so I have to work that up into a proposal by 18 May.
Aside: I don't think I mentioned, I put another proposal into TVNZ as part of their comedy initiative. It's called “The Whanau”, and I should hear back about that and The Improvers this week. The fun thing for me about The Whanau was that I came up with the idea on the night before the deadline and threw the whole thing together in about 4 hours. It was low stress and fun to work on.
Secondly, there's the 48 Hour Film competition. I'm Head Writer again this year, and I'm going to have to select the (very small) team for the Friday night script session. That'll have to take place either this week or next – and the actual competition itself is in 3 weekends time.
So with all that, finishing the feature script may start to slip in priority.
Hopefully though, I'll finish up this new proposal on Tuesday – and with that cleared, I can continue to split my focus in 3 or 4 directions at once.
And on a personal note – a great week of coffees, work drinks, double 30th parties, and Singstar victories on Dido's 'White Flag' and Frankie Goes to Hollywood's “Power of Love” (my performances on “Material Girl” and “Let's this Party Started” shall NOT be spoken of again).
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Mission Impossible 3
Why is Mission Impossible 3 so good?
And make no mistake - it's not only the best of the series, my new list of favourite Action Movies now reads:
The Matrix
The Terminator
MI3
Die Hard
Why?
- I admire how the first scene gives you the structure of the entire film to come
- The first 10 minutes makes me care about the relationship (which is pretty vital to the film working)
- Keri Russell turns into an action-goddess the second she gets a gun in her hand
- Italy
- every single Tom Cruise/Philip Seymour HOffman conversation
- I like Ethan Hunt as a character (and anyone who's heard my 'I nearly vomited during MI2' story will appreciate how much of an achievement that is)
- the entire supporting cast is fun to watch (and sexy too!)
- it had real plot twists
And most importantly, it played action the way I think it should be played. The heroes fail at every turn + the writers ask at every point "What would make this situation worse?" That's the rhythm I like from my films.
It falls apart a little towards the very end - but not in any real way that messes with my appreciation of it.
Go see!
And make no mistake - it's not only the best of the series, my new list of favourite Action Movies now reads:
The Matrix
The Terminator
MI3
Die Hard
Why?
- I admire how the first scene gives you the structure of the entire film to come
- The first 10 minutes makes me care about the relationship (which is pretty vital to the film working)
- Keri Russell turns into an action-goddess the second she gets a gun in her hand
- Italy
- every single Tom Cruise/Philip Seymour HOffman conversation
- I like Ethan Hunt as a character (and anyone who's heard my 'I nearly vomited during MI2' story will appreciate how much of an achievement that is)
- the entire supporting cast is fun to watch (and sexy too!)
- it had real plot twists
And most importantly, it played action the way I think it should be played. The heroes fail at every turn + the writers ask at every point "What would make this situation worse?" That's the rhythm I like from my films.
It falls apart a little towards the very end - but not in any real way that messes with my appreciation of it.
Go see!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
How to TV - Story decisions
If it's a tie between which option will create the most interesting situation, go for the one that causes the most pain/problems.
Case in point: Veronica Mars, the election result.
Case in point: Veronica Mars, the election result.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Update on the Limit
I've thought a lot about whether I should post this, but given that I'm trying to keep a full record of my writing process I think I have to go through the last fortnight.
Two Fridays ago - DBS gave me feedback on the script. Much of it was good, some of it was really challenging. I enjoyed the session a lot.
Two Saturdays ago - I finally read through the script myself. My emotions went through two phases:
Two Sundays ago - acted in the Wasps. My character was supposed to receive utterly devastating news to his ego. I drew on the memory of just having read the script.
I took a week off, where I couldn't face reading or thinking about the thing. I drew some solace from a book on script-editing where another writer was described as adopting the fetal position for two days, curled up in bed with a hot water bottle. I was not that bad.
Last Saturday - Morgue and Pearce described how Clive Barker reads his books aloud when he finishes writing them. I resolved to do that with this script.
Last Sunday and Monday - I forced myself to read through the script, taking notes. While most of them were pretty specific, what I was really trying to do was get an understanding of the big picture.
Today - just read it aloud, and it really gave me a clear idea of why certain scenes (like Peter deciding to take revenge) weren't working. I'm feeling better about the script.
So the big picture changes are:
Act 1 - tighten up the family stuff
Act 2i - clarify Peter's motivations and restructure the mid-points.
Act 2ii - make sure the action scenes relate to characters. Possibly put Tracy into a much darker place, emotionally.
Act 3 - focus on the three main characters, plus handle the exposition 2000% better.
Now to look at everyone else's feedback and see where they and I agree.
Two Fridays ago - DBS gave me feedback on the script. Much of it was good, some of it was really challenging. I enjoyed the session a lot.
Two Saturdays ago - I finally read through the script myself. My emotions went through two phases:
- 1) the actual reading, where I thought that the script was terrible. Unrealistic, badly motivated, lame writing. It totally didn't live up to the ideal in my head and I was pretty much devastated by the end;
- 2) drawing the whammo chart - my graph of how interested I was in the script. This revealed that many of my problems lay in the first act but that the middle of the script still wasn't as strong as I hoped. Two reasons for that were that it was unclear what Peter wanted to achieve in his first intense conversation with Forster, and that Tracy's midpoint is misplaced. So, I was slightly lifted by that. Slightly.
Two Sundays ago - acted in the Wasps. My character was supposed to receive utterly devastating news to his ego. I drew on the memory of just having read the script.
I took a week off, where I couldn't face reading or thinking about the thing. I drew some solace from a book on script-editing where another writer was described as adopting the fetal position for two days, curled up in bed with a hot water bottle. I was not that bad.
Last Saturday - Morgue and Pearce described how Clive Barker reads his books aloud when he finishes writing them. I resolved to do that with this script.
Last Sunday and Monday - I forced myself to read through the script, taking notes. While most of them were pretty specific, what I was really trying to do was get an understanding of the big picture.
Today - just read it aloud, and it really gave me a clear idea of why certain scenes (like Peter deciding to take revenge) weren't working. I'm feeling better about the script.
So the big picture changes are:
Act 1 - tighten up the family stuff
Act 2i - clarify Peter's motivations and restructure the mid-points.
Act 2ii - make sure the action scenes relate to characters. Possibly put Tracy into a much darker place, emotionally.
Act 3 - focus on the three main characters, plus handle the exposition 2000% better.
Now to look at everyone else's feedback and see where they and I agree.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Gilmore Girls creators quit
I heard about Amy and Dan not being able to renegotiate their contracts to their satisfaction. This is a full interview about their situation (link goes to TV Guide, spoilers about Season 6).
Filed in: tv
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Normal service should resume
Hey gang,
I've been busy at work and settling in to the new flat. This weekend's the first time I've really started to feel back on top of things - hence the post.
So, there should be some upcoming stuff about script writing soon, but in the meantime things are good. Talked to the head of development at the Film Commission, sent in a submission for a sitcome to TVNZ and I'm about to start back up on the Limit. In fact, I already have - the groundwork of finishing up getting feedback is being laid.
So I'll try and ease myself back into the blogging with a couple of posts a week.
In other news
Lord of War - 50% a good film about arms dealing, 50% a slightly obvious character drama.
Me, You and Everyone we know - a way quirky, almost uncomfortable love story that ends just before the first date. Loved it.
I've been busy at work and settling in to the new flat. This weekend's the first time I've really started to feel back on top of things - hence the post.
So, there should be some upcoming stuff about script writing soon, but in the meantime things are good. Talked to the head of development at the Film Commission, sent in a submission for a sitcome to TVNZ and I'm about to start back up on the Limit. In fact, I already have - the groundwork of finishing up getting feedback is being laid.
So I'll try and ease myself back into the blogging with a couple of posts a week.
In other news
Lord of War - 50% a good film about arms dealing, 50% a slightly obvious character drama.
Me, You and Everyone we know - a way quirky, almost uncomfortable love story that ends just before the first date. Loved it.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Thoughts on Lost, Season 2
After watching much Lost in the weekend, here's what I can conclude:
- The Others are the new Hatch.
- The writers are really taking some risks with the status quo and audience sympathy.
- The big thing that the show will probably be trying to do in the next season is start reconciling the mystical elements of the Island with the rational explanations that are developing.
- The Others are the new Hatch.
- The writers are really taking some risks with the status quo and audience sympathy.
- The big thing that the show will probably be trying to do in the next season is start reconciling the mystical elements of the Island with the rational explanations that are developing.
New Futurama!
Looks like it's happening, folks. According to AICN, who quote Billy ('Fry') West, they're "hammering out the deal now."
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Did you know ...?
we have a government department to defend New Zealand against cyber-attacks?
The CCIP.
They are my new heroes.
The CCIP.
They are my new heroes.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Aeon Flux
It isn't a version of the cartoon - Aeon Flux the movie doesn't capture its unique mood or sense of movement at all.
There is lots of great colour and nifty details, and one interesting idea that leads to a heartfelt moment. But the storytelling is lacking - quite often the script leaves the audience adrift as to exactly what they're supposed to be caring about.
I've listened to the director, Karyn Kusama (Girlfight) at a panel. Extremely intelligent, very capable. I think she did as well with this Hollywood version of Aeon Flux and I can't wait for her next project.
Cool sidenote: Stuart Dryburgh, the Kiwi who shot In My Father's Den, was the DOP.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Writing Gilmore Girls
Jane Espenson discusses the 'lifelike rhythms' of Gilmore Girls episodes at her blog.
She talks about how the big events that would be the Act Breaks of other TV shows seem to fall randomly, sometimes halfway between two commercial breaks:
We're approaching the start of Season 5 on the TV2 5.30pm repeats.
She talks about how the big events that would be the Act Breaks of other TV shows seem to fall randomly, sometimes halfway between two commercial breaks:
Stories unfold along curly lines, they sometimes end long before the end of the episode, with other stories starting late; they involve long, long scenes with long speeches and long exchanges that don't further the story, and sometimes with important action happening off screen. All of these things break rules.
We're approaching the start of Season 5 on the TV2 5.30pm repeats.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Nude Oscar Actresses
James Berardinelli analyses how many Oscar nominated actresses have done nude scenes during their careers, so you don't have to. His conclusions so far:
over the last three years, here are the totals. In the Lead Actress category, 12 out of 15 nominees have done nudity during their careers (80%). All three winners have done career nudity. (Since 2006 was a sweep, it doesn't matter who the winner is.) But only 5 out of 15 (33%) did a nude scene as part of the nominated performance. In the Supporting actress category, 10 out of 15 nominees have done career nudity (67%). One of three winners has done career nudity (33%). And 5 out of 15 (33%) did a nude scene as part of the nominated performance.
Filed in: film
Adaptation
(scr. Charles & Donald Kaufmann, dir. Spike Jonze)
"Adaptation's a profound process. Figure out how to thrive in this world."
Just rewatching one of my favourite movies. What's this, the fifth time? And I'm beginning to understand the overall conflict of the film. It's the struggle between what we are and what we want to be. The struggle to adapt to the world as it is.
How is this illustrated? Almost every scene in the A-plot (Charlie vs. himself) is Charlie constantly self-sabotaging his ideal life. Examples: "I could write this scene" vs. "I could have another muffin"; "I could stay out with Amelia & kiss her" vs. "I have to go home and brood about the script."
It's the conflict between just one person and the implication of what his life could be. And I think this interpretation's supported by having Donald as the counter-point to Charlie, effortlessly achieving everything Charlie can't.
Susan Orlean represents one part of Charlie's ideal life - the effortless writer. But she too desires an ideal life that her repression prevents her from achieving; she "longs to feel passionate about something" and so she too is in conflict with herself. John Laroche is her counterpoint- a man who knows how to adapt, dropping passions when they're no longer useful & picking up new ones.
Characters in conflict with something that's almost entirely implied via subtext. I like it.
"Adaptation's a profound process. Figure out how to thrive in this world."
Just rewatching one of my favourite movies. What's this, the fifth time? And I'm beginning to understand the overall conflict of the film. It's the struggle between what we are and what we want to be. The struggle to adapt to the world as it is.
How is this illustrated? Almost every scene in the A-plot (Charlie vs. himself) is Charlie constantly self-sabotaging his ideal life. Examples: "I could write this scene" vs. "I could have another muffin"; "I could stay out with Amelia & kiss her" vs. "I have to go home and brood about the script."
It's the conflict between just one person and the implication of what his life could be. And I think this interpretation's supported by having Donald as the counter-point to Charlie, effortlessly achieving everything Charlie can't.
Susan Orlean represents one part of Charlie's ideal life - the effortless writer. But she too desires an ideal life that her repression prevents her from achieving; she "longs to feel passionate about something" and so she too is in conflict with herself. John Laroche is her counterpoint- a man who knows how to adapt, dropping passions when they're no longer useful & picking up new ones.
Characters in conflict with something that's almost entirely implied via subtext. I like it.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Failed Dates (No. 407)
INT. THE OCCIDENTAL -- NIGHT
Me: You know, this'll obviously not work out long term.
Her: ... Why?
Me: Well, your first name's Nikki.
<She stares at me.>
Me: If we got married, you'd be Nikki Hickey.
Her: Why did you even bother ringing me up then?
<Mockery of date continues for another 32 minutes.>
Me: You know, this'll obviously not work out long term.
Her: ... Why?
Me: Well, your first name's Nikki.
<She stares at me.>
Me: If we got married, you'd be Nikki Hickey.
Her: Why did you even bother ringing me up then?
<Mockery of date continues for another 32 minutes.>
Filed in: personal
Friday, February 24, 2006
Where am I?
OK, I admit it. I haven't been blogging lately.
This week I got a job at the Ministry of Women's Affairs (starts on Monday) and I'm now looking for a flat with as much of the rest of my time as I can spare.
And just a few minutes ago, my speech recognition software started going hay-wire. According to Brewer's, 'haywire' is an American phrase probably arising "from the difficulty of handling the coils of wire used for binding bundles of hay, which easily became entagled and unmanageable is handled unskilfully." That's a concept that lacks application to my day-to-day life. Might be time to look for a new turn-of-phrase.
Online, I've been enjoying reading Jane Espenson's blog - she has much fame from her writing credits on Buffy, Gilmore Girls and many other shows. 90% of her entries deal with the practicalities of writing for TV. The rest centre around what she had for lunch.
And on Kung Fu Monkey, John Rogers - co-writer of The Core, which I really enjoyed on Monday night (and see his defence of its scientific accuracy here) - is breaking down the process of being a freelancer and writing a episode for TV. The show in question is the still in development Eureka, about a small town composed entirely of super-geniuses.
More later, as I get the chance.
This week I got a job at the Ministry of Women's Affairs (starts on Monday) and I'm now looking for a flat with as much of the rest of my time as I can spare.
And just a few minutes ago, my speech recognition software started going hay-wire. According to Brewer's, 'haywire' is an American phrase probably arising "from the difficulty of handling the coils of wire used for binding bundles of hay, which easily became entagled and unmanageable is handled unskilfully." That's a concept that lacks application to my day-to-day life. Might be time to look for a new turn-of-phrase.
Online, I've been enjoying reading Jane Espenson's blog - she has much fame from her writing credits on Buffy, Gilmore Girls and many other shows. 90% of her entries deal with the practicalities of writing for TV. The rest centre around what she had for lunch.
And on Kung Fu Monkey, John Rogers - co-writer of The Core, which I really enjoyed on Monday night (and see his defence of its scientific accuracy here) - is breaking down the process of being a freelancer and writing a episode for TV. The show in question is the still in development Eureka, about a small town composed entirely of super-geniuses.
More later, as I get the chance.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Sad to go, Glad to be home
Back.
It was the best holiday ever.
Great for my family, great for me.
Highlights and a more detailed report should follow, but for now:
Shrek 4-D
Snorkelling above a coral reef
Asking Shiralee to dance after sneaking in to the VIP lounge of a wet-tshirt competition
The Wedding
Dad
The Obliteration Room
The Girl at Mind Games
Learning first hand about the good & bad of having a global culture
Seeing Wellington at night
Family.
It was the best holiday ever.
Great for my family, great for me.
Highlights and a more detailed report should follow, but for now:
Shrek 4-D
Snorkelling above a coral reef
Asking Shiralee to dance after sneaking in to the VIP lounge of a wet-tshirt competition
The Wedding
Dad
The Obliteration Room
The Girl at Mind Games
Learning first hand about the good & bad of having a global culture
Seeing Wellington at night
Family.
Filed in: personal
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
See ya real soon!
I'm in Australia till the 16th for my sister's wedding.
There is much to blog about, but it'll have to wait.
There is much to blog about, but it'll have to wait.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
The Limit - Done for now
Inquiry letters have been sent to producers. My awesome reader-volunteers have all hopefully received their copies of the script.
Now all I have to do is work on my website & get ready for Australia.
Oh, and as I said, I'll be looking for a flat when I get back (for around March 3). So if anyone knows anyone who's looking for a tidy, reliable, pretty quiet flatmate for the city or the inner suburbs ... well, that's me!
Now all I have to do is work on my website & get ready for Australia.
Oh, and as I said, I'll be looking for a flat when I get back (for around March 3). So if anyone knows anyone who's looking for a tidy, reliable, pretty quiet flatmate for the city or the inner suburbs ... well, that's me!
Friday, February 03, 2006
Lost - something that bugs me
Re-watching the 'Destination Lost' special on Wednesday night gave me quite a surprise. There's something fundamental to the show - its soap opera character backgrounds - that bugs me.
Now I like Lost and what the writers are doing - but part of it's appeal is that it originally seemed to centre on ordinary people, trying to survive. The beginning of the special certainly reinforced this. These are normal airline passengers, it stated, who through extraordinary circumstances are forced to learn more about each other and rely on each other. I've said before that I think this was the basis of Lost's initial appeal. Its universality; it's "what would I do in that situation?"
However, where that theory breaks down is that the main characters are a paraplegic mystic, a possibly psychic child, a drug addict from a famous rock band and a wanted criminal. And all of them seemed to be bound together by forces of fate or science that are greater than themselves.
Yes, this is good series design - it gives you lots of nice personal stories to play out over the island & (again) lets you contrast to people were before and after the crash. But it's certainly not 'universal'.
And I believe a good show could be made out of characters who are just ordinary people, possessing no particular soap opera conflicts to begin with - and the drama would come simply from watching them react sensibly to incredibly difficult situations. In fact, our brainstorming group is working just such a show at the moment.
*I think this is something that Chris pointed out to me many months ago, but I've only just noticed it for myself.
Now I like Lost and what the writers are doing - but part of it's appeal is that it originally seemed to centre on ordinary people, trying to survive. The beginning of the special certainly reinforced this. These are normal airline passengers, it stated, who through extraordinary circumstances are forced to learn more about each other and rely on each other. I've said before that I think this was the basis of Lost's initial appeal. Its universality; it's "what would I do in that situation?"
However, where that theory breaks down is that the main characters are a paraplegic mystic, a possibly psychic child, a drug addict from a famous rock band and a wanted criminal. And all of them seemed to be bound together by forces of fate or science that are greater than themselves.
Yes, this is good series design - it gives you lots of nice personal stories to play out over the island & (again) lets you contrast to people were before and after the crash. But it's certainly not 'universal'.
And I believe a good show could be made out of characters who are just ordinary people, possessing no particular soap opera conflicts to begin with - and the drama would come simply from watching them react sensibly to incredibly difficult situations. In fact, our brainstorming group is working just such a show at the moment.
*I think this is something that Chris pointed out to me many months ago, but I've only just noticed it for myself.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
The Limit - Home Stretch
The draft is coming into the home stretch. Less than 20 pages to go. Decisions are easier to make now. Dialogue is coming to me like I’m overhearing the conversations from a distance.
After this, a short break to organise stuff for my sister’s wedding and the flat, then a sweep through the script to tidy up descriptions and format dialogue.
One mechanical thing I found useful on this draft was to put the script feedback into ‘endnote’ format, so that all the potential edits are together on one page. I put each Endnote under the Scene Heading, so it’s very clear what needs to be worked on.
Contacted readers yesterday. Good response so far. Also started working on letters to producers. Very excited.
After this, a short break to organise stuff for my sister’s wedding and the flat, then a sweep through the script to tidy up descriptions and format dialogue.
One mechanical thing I found useful on this draft was to put the script feedback into ‘endnote’ format, so that all the potential edits are together on one page. I put each Endnote under the Scene Heading, so it’s very clear what needs to be worked on.
Contacted readers yesterday. Good response so far. Also started working on letters to producers. Very excited.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Looking for a flat - while writing
I’ve said it before: I always take a long time to ramp up to full-writing-speed when I start a new draft. One of the causes (I’ve just discovered) is that it takes me a while to regain the confidence to make rapid decisions about the writing – as I start getting back into it, I’d prefer to fluff around paralysed by the choices I could be making rather than commit to something & lock it down.
**
I enjoyed Brainlord last Wednesday. We started developing a TV series set in (if I have my history right) pre-colonial NZ. Its working title is Hellhole – and it’s all about the demythologising.
**
More stuff is happening, but I’ve got to get back to the writing now. However, I will be looking for a flat when I get back from Australia in mid-Feb … so, it’s going to be a busy next couple of months.
**
I enjoyed Brainlord last Wednesday. We started developing a TV series set in (if I have my history right) pre-colonial NZ. Its working title is Hellhole – and it’s all about the demythologising.
**
More stuff is happening, but I’ve got to get back to the writing now. However, I will be looking for a flat when I get back from Australia in mid-Feb … so, it’s going to be a busy next couple of months.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Dirty Virgins and restarting the script
I playtested Dirty Virgins on Tuesday night (due to a couple of players not showing up for Buffy & me forgetting the most vital ingredient for the game ... Tequila! ... ah, I mean character sheets). I've posted about the DV experience here, at the Forge, but the short version is: the fun of the game was in narrating all the dirty stuff the virgins were doing, while the voting didn't seem to work. At all.
Them's that played the game with me, feel free to comment here or there about the night.
In other news, I've been cruising on a post-Kapcon buzz for about 4 days, checking out lots of blogs and posting muchly. That has to stop now. I've got to focus on this next draft of The Limit (for at least the next week).
Them's that played the game with me, feel free to comment here or there about the night.
In other news, I've been cruising on a post-Kapcon buzz for about 4 days, checking out lots of blogs and posting muchly. That has to stop now. I've got to focus on this next draft of The Limit (for at least the next week).
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
If you played Lucky Jones ...
If you played Lucky Jones over the weekend, I have started a thread at the Forge. It'd be great if you could contribute your thoughts ... particularly whether you found keeping track of your Bonuses/Penalties/Rerolls to be a pain or not.
The thread is here. Alternatively, just comment here.
The thread is here. Alternatively, just comment here.
Filed in: rpg
Kapcon 2
Inspectres. I won’t try to summarise the madness. Let’s just say that final mission, from The City to the Lightning-King’s Castle … and finally coming to rest on a beach in Mexico,was my favourite game of InSpectres ever. It’s also inspired me with two thoughts:
1) Play a hard core, grim in tone series of missions.
2) Our Tuesday night group should play three or four or five game-nights in a row of our ongoing Inspectres Wellington game. Let’s see what this puppy can do.
Then it was time to wrap up and hang out with Gino while we looked at all the amazing costumes. I thought Debz’ dress was awesome, while the Invisible Man seemed like the biggest crowd pleaser. I also regreat not seeing Nick Pitt in his Puck-horns.
I thought might get a good night sleep by not going to the LARP, and but instead Helen and Sean came round and we had a great time hanging out, drinking wine. I decided to get up early and do my prep – but it all went horribly wrong & I ended up having to sprint to the convention in order to make it to the morning presentations.
The second session of Lucky Jones turned into American Pie-meets-24. We had sleazy sex comedy coupled with an increasingly serious work situation that eventually involved the FBI and terrorists. We only got through one episode that session - and it was during those 3 hours that I finally started to get some understanding of what was and wasn't working with my game.
Things that surprised me:
- Lucky Jones is so much about the ephemeral moments of comedy. The system seems to encourage players to make jokes, introduce zany characters or one-liners & then to move on.
- There is an intuitive continuity to episodes - even while timelines were being stretched hard, they never broke. For instance, one player had a plot set over one night while another player's plot spanned a couple of weeks. Through judicious flashbacks and weavings, everything seemed to make sense. In fact, when things got quite tricky to connect, the whole table got together and collaborated to figure out a way to make it work.
- There was a fantastic moment when someone broke the PG-rating we were (implicitly) creating, another person yelled "Cut!", there was a little bit of discussion as if we were on the set of the sitcom while it was being shot and then I yelled "Take 2 " and we were back in the game.
- Even though the rules were a bit broken, I'm now convinced there's a really fun game in here.
There's an AP thread about it at the Forge.
In terms of rewrites, I found the second session extremely valuable. During that first game, I was just trying to wrap my head around presenting the rules and then watching it play. In the second session I was able to step back & ask myself questions about what was working or not. In fact, about halfway through that session, gameplay kind of disintegrated for a while as we actually analysed the process & pacing that Lucky Jones was creating.
Biggest discoveries:
The game takes too long to play. Ideally, I'd like there to be two episodes in a session with the first episode coming in somewhere between 45 to 90 minutes. Right now it's more like two to three hours. Restructuring the way you swap between tracks should go a long way to fixing that.
However, I have also discovered that there could be a long-term reward cycle (in the form of Penalties) operating in the game. Penalties are earned by failing to get what you want by the end of an episode. If I adjust how Penalties are used, so that you can either use it on yourself (giving yourself a slight disadvantage) or pass it to another person (giving yourself a slight advantage), then I think this will create a Fruitful Void.
That's the first time I've ever been able to sense what a Fruitful Void would feel like, so I'm quite excited! Basically, I think that being able to trade Penalties between players will force them to ask the implicit question "What sort of family are we?" Are they a group of individuals who'll crap on the people around them for some medium-term gain or will they suck it in and make sacrifices for each other?
I like that.
… Next Post: Universalis, a conversation with Morgue and Mike, prizegiving.
1) Play a hard core, grim in tone series of missions.
2) Our Tuesday night group should play three or four or five game-nights in a row of our ongoing Inspectres Wellington game. Let’s see what this puppy can do.
Then it was time to wrap up and hang out with Gino while we looked at all the amazing costumes. I thought Debz’ dress was awesome, while the Invisible Man seemed like the biggest crowd pleaser. I also regreat not seeing Nick Pitt in his Puck-horns.
I thought might get a good night sleep by not going to the LARP, and but instead Helen and Sean came round and we had a great time hanging out, drinking wine. I decided to get up early and do my prep – but it all went horribly wrong & I ended up having to sprint to the convention in order to make it to the morning presentations.
The second session of Lucky Jones turned into American Pie-meets-24. We had sleazy sex comedy coupled with an increasingly serious work situation that eventually involved the FBI and terrorists. We only got through one episode that session - and it was during those 3 hours that I finally started to get some understanding of what was and wasn't working with my game.
Things that surprised me:
- Lucky Jones is so much about the ephemeral moments of comedy. The system seems to encourage players to make jokes, introduce zany characters or one-liners & then to move on.
- There is an intuitive continuity to episodes - even while timelines were being stretched hard, they never broke. For instance, one player had a plot set over one night while another player's plot spanned a couple of weeks. Through judicious flashbacks and weavings, everything seemed to make sense. In fact, when things got quite tricky to connect, the whole table got together and collaborated to figure out a way to make it work.
- There was a fantastic moment when someone broke the PG-rating we were (implicitly) creating, another person yelled "Cut!", there was a little bit of discussion as if we were on the set of the sitcom while it was being shot and then I yelled "Take 2 " and we were back in the game.
- Even though the rules were a bit broken, I'm now convinced there's a really fun game in here.
There's an AP thread about it at the Forge.
In terms of rewrites, I found the second session extremely valuable. During that first game, I was just trying to wrap my head around presenting the rules and then watching it play. In the second session I was able to step back & ask myself questions about what was working or not. In fact, about halfway through that session, gameplay kind of disintegrated for a while as we actually analysed the process & pacing that Lucky Jones was creating.
Biggest discoveries:
The game takes too long to play. Ideally, I'd like there to be two episodes in a session with the first episode coming in somewhere between 45 to 90 minutes. Right now it's more like two to three hours. Restructuring the way you swap between tracks should go a long way to fixing that.
However, I have also discovered that there could be a long-term reward cycle (in the form of Penalties) operating in the game. Penalties are earned by failing to get what you want by the end of an episode. If I adjust how Penalties are used, so that you can either use it on yourself (giving yourself a slight disadvantage) or pass it to another person (giving yourself a slight advantage), then I think this will create a Fruitful Void.
That's the first time I've ever been able to sense what a Fruitful Void would feel like, so I'm quite excited! Basically, I think that being able to trade Penalties between players will force them to ask the implicit question "What sort of family are we?" Are they a group of individuals who'll crap on the people around them for some medium-term gain or will they suck it in and make sacrifices for each other?
I like that.
… Next Post: Universalis, a conversation with Morgue and Mike, prizegiving.
Filed in: rpg
Monday, January 23, 2006
RPG - My Big Weekend
Filed in: rpg
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The Limit - reading with fresh eyes
Updated:
Just taken my first look at this draft of The Limit. My overall impression is that the script's a great read now. Really fast. Pacing seems about right. And I was continually interested. I had a couple of plot issues, but that’s about it. I've got a meeting about it with AB tomorrow, where I'll bring up a few specifics:
I don’t think the first 15 pages quite set up the story or the characters – it needs a little room to breathe after the trial & a little more focus on the Peter/Taine relationship.
First half is pretty effective, with some nicely shocking moments. Second half of Act 2 seems a little samey. Most of the subtler emotional changes need to be communicated more clearly. But I was getting a little punchy from reading at that point.
(It's odd. That second half used to be the unequivocal highlight of the script; now it seems weaker than the new material. I hope that's a good sign.)
I have a weird feeling, thinking about the script now. A feeling like, for the first time with the Limit, I'm not that sure what edits I'd like to make to it. I've had that feeling before - with other scripts - and it's usually indicated that further tinkering tips the story over the edge and starts to break it.
It's also weird to me that to me the film will be quite slow and deliberate with lots of breathing space, whereas the script tends to read like two deformed hillbilly truants attacking you relentlessly with sledgehammers. That might turn out to be a problem, too.
Just taken my first look at this draft of The Limit. My overall impression is that the script's a great read now. Really fast. Pacing seems about right. And I was continually interested. I had a couple of plot issues, but that’s about it. I've got a meeting about it with AB tomorrow, where I'll bring up a few specifics:
I don’t think the first 15 pages quite set up the story or the characters – it needs a little room to breathe after the trial & a little more focus on the Peter/Taine relationship.
First half is pretty effective, with some nicely shocking moments. Second half of Act 2 seems a little samey. Most of the subtler emotional changes need to be communicated more clearly. But I was getting a little punchy from reading at that point.
(It's odd. That second half used to be the unequivocal highlight of the script; now it seems weaker than the new material. I hope that's a good sign.)
I have a weird feeling, thinking about the script now. A feeling like, for the first time with the Limit, I'm not that sure what edits I'd like to make to it. I've had that feeling before - with other scripts - and it's usually indicated that further tinkering tips the story over the edge and starts to break it.
It's also weird to me that to me the film will be quite slow and deliberate with lots of breathing space, whereas the script tends to read like two deformed hillbilly truants attacking you relentlessly with sledgehammers. That might turn out to be a problem, too.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sorting out goals
On Sunday, I worked through this 5 Day Strategic Plan posted over at Just for Small Business by Denise Berry. Try it, if you feel like your life's drifting a little. Without going into details, it revealed
I'd been ignoring a whole bunch of important stuff.
I'd been ignoring a whole bunch of important stuff.
Lucky Jones is ready
Lucky Jones is the game I've been writing that's based on TV sitcoms. I've just finished refining the playtest draft & I'm running two sessions of it at Kapcon. I'll post a link to it later once I've figured out how to upload it to my site.
Also, My Name is Earl starts tonight. Who could resist a lead character called Earl Hickey?
Also, My Name is Earl starts tonight. Who could resist a lead character called Earl Hickey?
Behind the Scenes of our Buffy game
Just posted a description to our forum of my process for setting up a roleplaying game. This talks about getting the players to determine the stories they're interested in - and then how to slowly crank up the tension on those stories.
The link is here.
The link is here.
Filed in: rpg
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Some more graphic novel reading
Planetary - this could end up being my favourite comic book series ever. At first glance it seems like a glossy, superficial geek-out of stand-alone action scenes and high concepts where nothing much happens in any particular episode ... and it is, but it's also an epic story of how pop culture has given us a twisted representation of the real history of the world (via icons such as Superman, Godzilla, the Fantastic Four and Hong Kong action heroes), its pacing is getting increasingly intense and its emotions deepening.
Invincible - neat plainly told superhero fun. I love Kirkman's zombie epic "The Walking Dead" (volumes 1 & 2 available in the library) and I'll be checking out the other three Invincible graphic novels real soon.
Animal Man - It's a Grant Morrison comic that goes meta. It also examines some of the same themes as The Filth, but in a more simplistic and ultimately more moving way.
Invincible - neat plainly told superhero fun. I love Kirkman's zombie epic "The Walking Dead" (volumes 1 & 2 available in the library) and I'll be checking out the other three Invincible graphic novels real soon.
Animal Man - It's a Grant Morrison comic that goes meta. It also examines some of the same themes as The Filth, but in a more simplistic and ultimately more moving way.
A couple of game reviews
I played a few computer games over my holiday. Here's the short and simple:
The Neverhood - it's a claymation puzzle game. Loved it.
Hapland 2 - still working on it. You can play it for free, here.
Tiger Woods Golf 2003 - would you believe me if I told you that a golfing simulator was riveting? Well it is. And the depths of its challenging gameplay are hidden at first glance. It appears to simply be a 'whack the ball around the course' game. But playing in Career Mode, where you take a golfer from his first $10 amateur match all the way up to the PGA tour gives you a lot of variety in the types of matches you play, taking on challenges from other golfers & having to plot the best way around course before you play a match there. It's so detailed it's almost like work, but still - best game I played on holiday.
The Neverhood - it's a claymation puzzle game. Loved it.
Hapland 2 - still working on it. You can play it for free, here.
Tiger Woods Golf 2003 - would you believe me if I told you that a golfing simulator was riveting? Well it is. And the depths of its challenging gameplay are hidden at first glance. It appears to simply be a 'whack the ball around the course' game. But playing in Career Mode, where you take a golfer from his first $10 amateur match all the way up to the PGA tour gives you a lot of variety in the types of matches you play, taking on challenges from other golfers & having to plot the best way around course before you play a match there. It's so detailed it's almost like work, but still - best game I played on holiday.
The Ceremonies, narration
The Ceremonies by T.E.D Klein was a really satisfying read. It's a long nasty novel about a dark god rising in a small village 80 miles out of New York.
My major insight from it is that descriptions in novels really work when they are taken from the POV of a character. Omniscient narration always reads a little flat to me. Narration from the point of view of a setting (to get across the rich atmosphere of a fantasy world, for instance) can be engrossing or annoying depending on the writer. But narration like this:
"Holding her breath, she entered the kitchen, rinsed out a few glasses - no sense letting the repairman think she kept a dirty house - and wiped off the counter. In the living room she fastened back the curtains, wondering if it was safe to leave the old TV set unguarded and decided that no one would want it anyway."
The whole novel is constantly providing character through implication. Each character's narration has certain motifs that are repeated through the novel - Carol (above) is neurotic,
a romantic dreamer and easily scared. Jeremy Friers, the extremely unlikeable hero is repulsed by nature, a lazy intellectual & sexually frustrated.
In fact implication is a big thing for Klein. The narration from above continues:
"She notice several strands of black hair on the rug near the foot of the couch. There's always something of Rochelle's here, she thought as she picked them up between two fingers and released them out the window. They drifted downward on the summer breeze, floating like a spiderweb."
That's paying off a nasty moment earlier in the book. And The Ceremonies is filled with stuff like that. Violence is not seen - it's alluded to and its effects are only glimpsed and hinted at much later via TV reports and gossip. For a book that features some of the gross-out horror it does, it's pretty subtle stuff.
My major insight from it is that descriptions in novels really work when they are taken from the POV of a character. Omniscient narration always reads a little flat to me. Narration from the point of view of a setting (to get across the rich atmosphere of a fantasy world, for instance) can be engrossing or annoying depending on the writer. But narration like this:
"Holding her breath, she entered the kitchen, rinsed out a few glasses - no sense letting the repairman think she kept a dirty house - and wiped off the counter. In the living room she fastened back the curtains, wondering if it was safe to leave the old TV set unguarded and decided that no one would want it anyway."
The whole novel is constantly providing character through implication. Each character's narration has certain motifs that are repeated through the novel - Carol (above) is neurotic,
a romantic dreamer and easily scared. Jeremy Friers, the extremely unlikeable hero is repulsed by nature, a lazy intellectual & sexually frustrated.
In fact implication is a big thing for Klein. The narration from above continues:
"She notice several strands of black hair on the rug near the foot of the couch. There's always something of Rochelle's here, she thought as she picked them up between two fingers and released them out the window. They drifted downward on the summer breeze, floating like a spiderweb."
That's paying off a nasty moment earlier in the book. And The Ceremonies is filled with stuff like that. Violence is not seen - it's alluded to and its effects are only glimpsed and hinted at much later via TV reports and gossip. For a book that features some of the gross-out horror it does, it's pretty subtle stuff.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Holiday - Day 4 & 5
Yesterday I goofed around with Gino playing lots of Playstation. Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 3 are both excellent. Singstar is fun, Katamari Damarcy is fun & looney & I-toy games (especially Antigrav) are the future of gaming for me.
Today I accidentally set up a basic accounting system for my script writing, editing and game design activities. Cashbooks, receipt folders and detailed step-by-step lists to tell me what to do (along with reminders to tell me when to do it). It was a fair bit of work, but should be pretty simple to maintain.
Today I accidentally set up a basic accounting system for my script writing, editing and game design activities. Cashbooks, receipt folders and detailed step-by-step lists to tell me what to do (along with reminders to tell me when to do it). It was a fair bit of work, but should be pretty simple to maintain.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Lost 1.19
This was not the episode where we find out how Locke was paralysed. Instead, the story on the island is the story of Locke having his faith tested, while his flashback shows him losing his faith and (presumably) tipping his anger management problem into high-gear. Here are the commercial breaks - all of them solidly focused on Locke's Island story:
CB1: Locke has a (fantastically delivered) bad dream/vision-from-the-Island. He knows where to find the plane.
CB2: Locke and Boone discover the pilot ... therefore, the dream is real.
CB3: The plane is real.
CB4: Locke can walk again BUT Boone is horribly injured in the plane fall. (Aside: Karmically, what happens to Boone could be seen as payback for what he did to Terese.)
Some scattershot observations:
It'll be interesting, on the next viewing, to see what emotions each scene is creating - how those emotions correspond when switching between the flashbacks and events on the Island. What emotions the Commercial Breaks go out on (and how they are underlie, reinforce or work against the plot).
Let's look at what happens to the show when the writers introduce the plane. I've already talked about tying a secret to every new element that you introduce into the story; with the plane, it looks like a similar rule was adopted - every new element you introduce must create a problem for one of your characters. The plane is full of drugs, which will become a source of temptation for Charlie in later seasons.
People seem to experience the Island as a personal metaphor. For Locke, the Island is a mystical experience. In fact, this is a defining episode for demonstrating Locke's mystical approach to the Island - and for him, the stories the Island presents him with are about healing (both his legs and his anger). For Jack, it seems to be about pain, suffering and responsibility. Note that these stories are different (although related) to relationship subplots. The Jack-Locke subplot is almost always framed as 'faith vs. reason' (or, as I've stated before) Red State vs. Blue.
The first scene, with the game of Mousetrap, illustrates what's going on in the whole episode and what's going on right at that very moment.
Locke's anger management problem is also consistent with his childhood, living in foster homes.
Amusing things:
Well, the Sawyer plot was played for laughs this week.
Jack (ab)using his power as a doctor to spoil Sawyer's chances with Kate. Sawyer in glasses.
This episode (as ever) raises a few questions:
Did the crashed plane resemble Kate's toy one?
Now Locke has a gun - which seems important. When is it used again?
Who answered Boone's transmission? ...
... and did they say "We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815" or "There were no survivors of Oceanic Flight 815"?
The flashbacks are creating questions we want answered - & interesting backstories that we want to see resolved - in their own right. How was Locke paralysed?
In fact, I'd say Boone was eliminated as a character because his story doesn't raise any of these interesting questions. Certainly not for performance reasons; I think Ian Somerhalder was doing fine work in the show; I guess that Boone hadn't proven compelling enough, so he was the logical choice to eliminate in order for the writers to demonstrate that life on the Island is ugly, brutish and short.
CB1: Locke has a (fantastically delivered) bad dream/vision-from-the-Island. He knows where to find the plane.
CB2: Locke and Boone discover the pilot ... therefore, the dream is real.
CB3: The plane is real.
CB4: Locke can walk again BUT Boone is horribly injured in the plane fall. (Aside: Karmically, what happens to Boone could be seen as payback for what he did to Terese.)
Some scattershot observations:
It'll be interesting, on the next viewing, to see what emotions each scene is creating - how those emotions correspond when switching between the flashbacks and events on the Island. What emotions the Commercial Breaks go out on (and how they are underlie, reinforce or work against the plot).
Let's look at what happens to the show when the writers introduce the plane. I've already talked about tying a secret to every new element that you introduce into the story; with the plane, it looks like a similar rule was adopted - every new element you introduce must create a problem for one of your characters. The plane is full of drugs, which will become a source of temptation for Charlie in later seasons.
People seem to experience the Island as a personal metaphor. For Locke, the Island is a mystical experience. In fact, this is a defining episode for demonstrating Locke's mystical approach to the Island - and for him, the stories the Island presents him with are about healing (both his legs and his anger). For Jack, it seems to be about pain, suffering and responsibility. Note that these stories are different (although related) to relationship subplots. The Jack-Locke subplot is almost always framed as 'faith vs. reason' (or, as I've stated before) Red State vs. Blue.
The first scene, with the game of Mousetrap, illustrates what's going on in the whole episode and what's going on right at that very moment.
Locke's anger management problem is also consistent with his childhood, living in foster homes.
Amusing things:
Well, the Sawyer plot was played for laughs this week.
Jack (ab)using his power as a doctor to spoil Sawyer's chances with Kate. Sawyer in glasses.
This episode (as ever) raises a few questions:
Did the crashed plane resemble Kate's toy one?
Now Locke has a gun - which seems important. When is it used again?
Who answered Boone's transmission? ...
... and did they say "We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815" or "There were no survivors of Oceanic Flight 815"?
The flashbacks are creating questions we want answered - & interesting backstories that we want to see resolved - in their own right. How was Locke paralysed?
In fact, I'd say Boone was eliminated as a character because his story doesn't raise any of these interesting questions. Certainly not for performance reasons; I think Ian Somerhalder was doing fine work in the show; I guess that Boone hadn't proven compelling enough, so he was the logical choice to eliminate in order for the writers to demonstrate that life on the Island is ugly, brutish and short.
Kong
The 187 minute movie is really good.
The 16 minutes of ads in front of it nearly had the audience rioting.
Today I want to look at pacing - the art of showing the audience what they want to see, when they want to see it.
I loved the first half of Act 1: New York, setting up the characters of Ann and Denham & the race against time. All great stuff.
Once the SS. Venture (the ship transporting back the T-Rex in Jurassic Park 2 had the same name) set sail, I felt the ship should have reached the island about 5 minutes earlier than it did. This feeling started just before the happy-happy Ann dancing a jig while engines pump montage. What I'd do - cut the Jimmy/Hayes stuff with the library book, cut the montage, look for other extraneous bits to trim.
However, just after they set foot on the island, I actually forgot that Kong was about to show up. I was utterly absorbed in what was happening on-screen, rather than what was going to happen next.
Second big pacing problem for me - I felt that Jack should reach Kong about 5 minutes earlier. Isolating the moment that I started feeling this is a little harder, as is finding material to cut or trim (after all I've only seen the movie once). However, I'm pretty sure there are some Jimmy/Hayes moments that could go.
The Jimmy & Hayes relationship has its problems. The main one is that their relationship is never given an interesting shape. Towards the end of it, I caught the hint of Haye's having a paternal love and protectiveness for his surrogate son. If that's the subtext the writers were playing with, it could have been made clearer and more engaging.
Second problem is that The Heart of Darkness stuff is never followed through as a thematic device. It's raised, discussed but never really shown dramatically (as far as I can tell - again from a first viewing). It does give the writers the opportunity to slip in a fantastic line of meta-commentary about the film itself ("It isn't an adventure story, is it?") but I don't think that justifies the material's existence.
However, Jimmy and Hayes provide a source of conflict on the Venture, confronting Denham about his plans. The script is right to do that & Jimmy and Hayes are good characters to do that with. So I'm not arguing for their removal; just a more effective portrayal of their relationship.
I have other - tinier - problems, but that's enough of that. Next post about Kong, I'll talk about the many, many things I loved. To start with - the loneliness of Kong. Yes, I cried during *that* scene in New York. I was really happy that the big ape had finally found happiness.
The 16 minutes of ads in front of it nearly had the audience rioting.
Today I want to look at pacing - the art of showing the audience what they want to see, when they want to see it.
I loved the first half of Act 1: New York, setting up the characters of Ann and Denham & the race against time. All great stuff.
Once the SS. Venture (the ship transporting back the T-Rex in Jurassic Park 2 had the same name) set sail, I felt the ship should have reached the island about 5 minutes earlier than it did. This feeling started just before the happy-happy Ann dancing a jig while engines pump montage. What I'd do - cut the Jimmy/Hayes stuff with the library book, cut the montage, look for other extraneous bits to trim.
However, just after they set foot on the island, I actually forgot that Kong was about to show up. I was utterly absorbed in what was happening on-screen, rather than what was going to happen next.
Second big pacing problem for me - I felt that Jack should reach Kong about 5 minutes earlier. Isolating the moment that I started feeling this is a little harder, as is finding material to cut or trim (after all I've only seen the movie once). However, I'm pretty sure there are some Jimmy/Hayes moments that could go.
The Jimmy & Hayes relationship has its problems. The main one is that their relationship is never given an interesting shape. Towards the end of it, I caught the hint of Haye's having a paternal love and protectiveness for his surrogate son. If that's the subtext the writers were playing with, it could have been made clearer and more engaging.
Second problem is that The Heart of Darkness stuff is never followed through as a thematic device. It's raised, discussed but never really shown dramatically (as far as I can tell - again from a first viewing). It does give the writers the opportunity to slip in a fantastic line of meta-commentary about the film itself ("It isn't an adventure story, is it?") but I don't think that justifies the material's existence.
However, Jimmy and Hayes provide a source of conflict on the Venture, confronting Denham about his plans. The script is right to do that & Jimmy and Hayes are good characters to do that with. So I'm not arguing for their removal; just a more effective portrayal of their relationship.
I have other - tinier - problems, but that's enough of that. Next post about Kong, I'll talk about the many, many things I loved. To start with - the loneliness of Kong. Yes, I cried during *that* scene in New York. I was really happy that the big ape had finally found happiness.
CBIP
One thing I like about it so far is how all the characters are vaguely unlikeable. They don’t have serious character flaws, but I can see how the quirks they do have could blow up under pressure.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Lost 1.17 & 1.18
1.17
Here's a breakdown of this Jin-centric episode of Lost goes to commercial break (reviews of previous episodes are here)
It looks like Jin set fire to the raft. (CB1)
Sawyer captures Jin. (CB2)
Sun speaks English (Jin feels betrayed) (CB3)
Jin leaves Sun. (CB4)
This episode is really about giving us the key to Jin's character and why he comes across as so unpleasant. He's torn apart by what he's done for Sun's father and by keeping the knowledge of what her father is from Sun.
Two favourite moments from this episode: when Jin is captured, the scene plays from his POV and all the English that the castaways are yelling at each other comes across as gibberish. Maybe about a minute later, Locke gives a fantastic speech about how they're not alone on the island and how The Others are probably the arsonists. It's a nice bit of mis-direction on the part of the writers ... & if we assume that Locke ALREADY KNOWS who really burnt the raft, then it's an elegant way for him to heal the community, save an innocent man and prevent attention falling on the real arsonist (who he wants to protect).
Plus it allows the viewers to vicariously vent a bit of their frustration about why the castaways aren't doing more exploring ... a moment that'll be echoed by Hurley in the next ep.
Jin and Sun are becoming the great romance of the series. And there's still the question of what's up with these watches he was supposed to be delivering
1.18
I really disliked this ep on first viewing - and really liked it on the second. That comes from a complete misreading of what the writers were trying to do with Hurley's flashback. I thought they were going for comedy, slapstick comedy ... but there's something much more serious at work. By the end, when he learned that the numbers were cursed, I was moved by his relief.
Here's how the act breaks break down:
Hurley's new house is on fire, meaning there's a strong case for the money or (as he finds out immediately after we come back from commercials) the numbers being cursed. (CB1)
Lenny, an insane ex-Navy operator, repeats Hurley's numbers over and over. (CB2)
Jack and Sayid blow up Rousseau's base. (CB3)
Hurley delivers the battery, like a hero. (CB4)
And we end with Hurley's numbers on the side of the hatch.
Those act breaks seem a bit messy, like they don't follow a clear emotional path for Hurley - but it's probably just the fact that the danger Jack and Sayid are in has nothing to do with Hurley's quest for meaning.
Aside: I'll have to look back and check whether Hurley's numbers have appeared before. There also seemed to be an in-joke in the script that Hurley owns shares in the box company Locke worked for.
Hurley's luck seems like a device the writers are using to ask questions about fate, but also about the broader meaning of why these particular castaways have been stranded on the island. Is it random or is there meaning behind it? Could it have been anyone who crashed with Hurley or ONLY these specific characters?
How far does Hurley's bad luck extend? Is he responsible for the plane crash? Solely responsible? Is he responsible for Charlie's addiction? Is he an albatross to the rest of the group, even now?
Aside: Ethan's 'team' is still a mystery. Are they part of, or separate from, The Others? What did they want with Shannon?
Here's a breakdown of this Jin-centric episode of Lost goes to commercial break (reviews of previous episodes are here)
It looks like Jin set fire to the raft. (CB1)
Sawyer captures Jin. (CB2)
Sun speaks English (Jin feels betrayed) (CB3)
Jin leaves Sun. (CB4)
This episode is really about giving us the key to Jin's character and why he comes across as so unpleasant. He's torn apart by what he's done for Sun's father and by keeping the knowledge of what her father is from Sun.
Two favourite moments from this episode: when Jin is captured, the scene plays from his POV and all the English that the castaways are yelling at each other comes across as gibberish. Maybe about a minute later, Locke gives a fantastic speech about how they're not alone on the island and how The Others are probably the arsonists. It's a nice bit of mis-direction on the part of the writers ... & if we assume that Locke ALREADY KNOWS who really burnt the raft, then it's an elegant way for him to heal the community, save an innocent man and prevent attention falling on the real arsonist (who he wants to protect).
Plus it allows the viewers to vicariously vent a bit of their frustration about why the castaways aren't doing more exploring ... a moment that'll be echoed by Hurley in the next ep.
Jin and Sun are becoming the great romance of the series. And there's still the question of what's up with these watches he was supposed to be delivering
1.18
I really disliked this ep on first viewing - and really liked it on the second. That comes from a complete misreading of what the writers were trying to do with Hurley's flashback. I thought they were going for comedy, slapstick comedy ... but there's something much more serious at work. By the end, when he learned that the numbers were cursed, I was moved by his relief.
Here's how the act breaks break down:
Hurley's new house is on fire, meaning there's a strong case for the money or (as he finds out immediately after we come back from commercials) the numbers being cursed. (CB1)
Lenny, an insane ex-Navy operator, repeats Hurley's numbers over and over. (CB2)
Jack and Sayid blow up Rousseau's base. (CB3)
Hurley delivers the battery, like a hero. (CB4)
And we end with Hurley's numbers on the side of the hatch.
Those act breaks seem a bit messy, like they don't follow a clear emotional path for Hurley - but it's probably just the fact that the danger Jack and Sayid are in has nothing to do with Hurley's quest for meaning.
Aside: I'll have to look back and check whether Hurley's numbers have appeared before. There also seemed to be an in-joke in the script that Hurley owns shares in the box company Locke worked for.
Hurley's luck seems like a device the writers are using to ask questions about fate, but also about the broader meaning of why these particular castaways have been stranded on the island. Is it random or is there meaning behind it? Could it have been anyone who crashed with Hurley or ONLY these specific characters?
How far does Hurley's bad luck extend? Is he responsible for the plane crash? Solely responsible? Is he responsible for Charlie's addiction? Is he an albatross to the rest of the group, even now?
Aside: Ethan's 'team' is still a mystery. Are they part of, or separate from, The Others? What did they want with Shannon?
Zombies!!! Some Thoughts about Gameplay
Zombies!!! is a board game where you build a map of a zombie-infested town & compete with the other players to survive. Last week I played the game for a second time and discovered I had some issues with it.
As a game, it works - creating cutthroat competition and a desire to survive & win - but it's uninspired. Every player's turn is a succession of placing map tiles & zombies, moving your piece, fighting any zombies in your way and then collecting the resources necessary to survive. At any point, other players can play cards against you. The game finishes when a player either kills 25 zombies or climbs aboard the last helicopter out of town.
The gameplay lacks variety. It's basically the same from start to finish - and this repetition is (to me) both boring and, for some reason I haven't yet been able to articulate, counterintuitive. Players in both games I've played have had to keep asking what order they do things in - even after an hour or two of play. There are quite a few elements to keep track of in a single player's turn. Perhaps that's the reason.
Also, as soon as one player gets close to fulfilling the victory conditions, the game becomes a slog to win as other players team up to stop you from succeeding. This is both a problem and a benefit. It significantly increases the time to play but also adds a real element of excitement and means that, as a player, you can finally make meaningful decisions about how you want to try and win.
In general, Zombies!!! takes ages to play & I'm not yet convinced it's worth it. I'll post more about it later.
As a game, it works - creating cutthroat competition and a desire to survive & win - but it's uninspired. Every player's turn is a succession of placing map tiles & zombies, moving your piece, fighting any zombies in your way and then collecting the resources necessary to survive. At any point, other players can play cards against you. The game finishes when a player either kills 25 zombies or climbs aboard the last helicopter out of town.
The gameplay lacks variety. It's basically the same from start to finish - and this repetition is (to me) both boring and, for some reason I haven't yet been able to articulate, counterintuitive. Players in both games I've played have had to keep asking what order they do things in - even after an hour or two of play. There are quite a few elements to keep track of in a single player's turn. Perhaps that's the reason.
Also, as soon as one player gets close to fulfilling the victory conditions, the game becomes a slog to win as other players team up to stop you from succeeding. This is both a problem and a benefit. It significantly increases the time to play but also adds a real element of excitement and means that, as a player, you can finally make meaningful decisions about how you want to try and win.
In general, Zombies!!! takes ages to play & I'm not yet convinced it's worth it. I'll post more about it later.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
[RPG] Awesome Dirty Virgins Feedback
Remember my game, Dirty Virgins? Medieval maidens trying to avoid being sacrificed to a Dragon? Ron's feedback on it is here at the Forge. Some highlights:
Yep, having received comments from 3 different people, we'll keep it as Dirty Virgins.
Ron's idea about 'dropping the voting phase' is completely out of the blue (it's been part of the game for me since the beginning), but I can see his point. And I actually had been thinking about converting it into a card-game.
Does anyone have a copy of Give Me The Brain? What other card games should I play?
So, I have lots of options. I could:
(I think Ralph Mazza's essay on game design, Shooting the Sacred Cow is also a relevant read, here.)
Anyway, those are just options. What I'm excited about is that other people are as excited about this as I am. Hell, I'm on holiday at the moment. I think I'll spend some time right now thinking through the ramifications of Ron's feedback.
... a stupendous Game Notion which lit up the eyes among my group members at first mention.
You have here a perfect and wonderful idea for a custom card game, along the lines of Give Me the Brain or Uno.
You're almost there! You almost have it! Dude, this could be the knockout card game of GenCon 2006 if you breathe deep and see what you have instead of what you intended to have.
Finally, don't change the name! What are you thinking?
Yep, having received comments from 3 different people, we'll keep it as Dirty Virgins.
Ron's idea about 'dropping the voting phase' is completely out of the blue (it's been part of the game for me since the beginning), but I can see his point. And I actually had been thinking about converting it into a card-game.
Does anyone have a copy of Give Me The Brain? What other card games should I play?
So, I have lots of options. I could:
- Playtest what I've got and figure out its pros & cons, or
- Make the voting process work, or
- Immediately start developing it along the card-game route, or
- Keep it as is & hope I don't come to the conclusion 6 months down the track that the voting doesn't work (which has happened to me several times writing scripts when I've gotten feedback from people who know what they're talking about).
(I think Ralph Mazza's essay on game design, Shooting the Sacred Cow is also a relevant read, here.)
Anyway, those are just options. What I'm excited about is that other people are as excited about this as I am. Hell, I'm on holiday at the moment. I think I'll spend some time right now thinking through the ramifications of Ron's feedback.
Filed in: rpg
Thursday, December 29, 2005
[RPG] Sunset, Season 2
I've started a thread over at rpg wellie about the new game I'm running set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
It's a 'by-popular-demand' sequel to a game from 2 years ago. Back then, all the plot-craziness created a game about personal responsibility, about choosing between what's good for you and good for other people. Seems like that'll be the starting point for this one, but I suspect it could skew more AO than our earlier game.
Everyone helped set up the situation & what's emerged is - to me - an exciting metaphor about the War on Terror, with the Slayers in the role of the terrorists.
It's a 'by-popular-demand' sequel to a game from 2 years ago. Back then, all the plot-craziness created a game about personal responsibility, about choosing between what's good for you and good for other people. Seems like that'll be the starting point for this one, but I suspect it could skew more AO than our earlier game.
Everyone helped set up the situation & what's emerged is - to me - an exciting metaphor about the War on Terror, with the Slayers in the role of the terrorists.
Filed in: rpg
[The Limit] Draft D Done
Reduced from 115 pages of puffiness to a lean 93 pages of action, the script's ready for Andrew to read through it. Then we'll decide whether it needs any more radical rewrites. I'm hoping not.
Couple of things I learned during this redraft:
1. There's always more stuff you can take out.
I adhere to Stephen King's rule, that the 2nd Draft = the 1st Draft - 10% (except in my blog posts). This time round, I discovered moments within a single scene that duplicated each other, moments that didn't make any sense because they referred to previous versions, simple spelling mistakes ('streaks' became 'steaks').
In fixing all this, I took out beats I was fond of but thought distracted from getting to the story. Mostly those were slightly jokey moments or actions I wasn't 100% convinced by.
2. I always have a warm-up period where the writing doesn't come easily.
It'd be great to figure out a way around this - where it comes from and how to deal with it. That would increase my productivity.
3. I'll feel whatever I'm writing about.
That's the only way it seems to work for me. And, with this script, a lot of good's come out of it. I used to be afraid of feeling angry. Now I understand it more: the way it's powerful and it feels good - but how I nearly make bad decisions under its influence.
4. I have a new benchmark to aim for.
Earlier this year, I locked on to something new to explore in my writing - being aware of a script's central conflict and making sure every scene hooked into that. I'm still learning how to do that but now I have an even more demanding goal to reach for.
You see, I read a script and rate how engaged I am with it (out of 10) on every page. Next script, I want to aim for 10 out of 10 for all of it. I don't even know if that's achievable but there is definitely no harm in trying.
**
That's the great thing about writing: the process is still fun (even when it's frustrating and heart-breaking), but the benchmark for my satisfaction keeps moving.
Couple of things I learned during this redraft:
1. There's always more stuff you can take out.
I adhere to Stephen King's rule, that the 2nd Draft = the 1st Draft - 10% (except in my blog posts). This time round, I discovered moments within a single scene that duplicated each other, moments that didn't make any sense because they referred to previous versions, simple spelling mistakes ('streaks' became 'steaks').
In fixing all this, I took out beats I was fond of but thought distracted from getting to the story. Mostly those were slightly jokey moments or actions I wasn't 100% convinced by.
2. I always have a warm-up period where the writing doesn't come easily.
It'd be great to figure out a way around this - where it comes from and how to deal with it. That would increase my productivity.
3. I'll feel whatever I'm writing about.
That's the only way it seems to work for me. And, with this script, a lot of good's come out of it. I used to be afraid of feeling angry. Now I understand it more: the way it's powerful and it feels good - but how I nearly make bad decisions under its influence.
4. I have a new benchmark to aim for.
Earlier this year, I locked on to something new to explore in my writing - being aware of a script's central conflict and making sure every scene hooked into that. I'm still learning how to do that but now I have an even more demanding goal to reach for.
You see, I read a script and rate how engaged I am with it (out of 10) on every page. Next script, I want to aim for 10 out of 10 for all of it. I don't even know if that's achievable but there is definitely no harm in trying.
**
That's the great thing about writing: the process is still fun (even when it's frustrating and heart-breaking), but the benchmark for my satisfaction keeps moving.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Restarting the Limit, Professionalism & the End of the World
I've restarted work on (hopefully) the final draft of The Limit. So far, there are 3 main problems: that the setup's too long - it feels puffy, repetitive, boring; there's also a subplot that I've recently introduced that's destroying the script's momentum; and last, the ending has too much exposition in it & not quite enough emotion. Overall, the script's a little too long - 115 pages where I think it should be 90-100 at most.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed reading it. The story has a dread & tension to it that I found riviting, and finally the third act is starting to play the way I've always wanted it to. So, there's a bit of work ahead of me if I'm going to finish this before New Years, but I do think it's possible. This thing could have stopped dominating my life within the next 10 days.
**
I invoiced my first script editing client last night. Ah, professionalism. So satisfying.
With that in mind, here's a link to a synopsis of Robert McKee's book on script-writing, Story. Saves me the work of doing it myself.
**
And the world is ending. Read about the death of virtual world Asheron's Call 2 in Wired, and the melancholy that's settled over the players/customer there. Sample quotes from Clive Thompson's article:
On the other hand, I really enjoyed reading it. The story has a dread & tension to it that I found riviting, and finally the third act is starting to play the way I've always wanted it to. So, there's a bit of work ahead of me if I'm going to finish this before New Years, but I do think it's possible. This thing could have stopped dominating my life within the next 10 days.
**
I invoiced my first script editing client last night. Ah, professionalism. So satisfying.
With that in mind, here's a link to a synopsis of Robert McKee's book on script-writing, Story. Saves me the work of doing it myself.
**
And the world is ending. Read about the death of virtual world Asheron's Call 2 in Wired, and the melancholy that's settled over the players/customer there. Sample quotes from Clive Thompson's article:
What struck me immediately was how creepy the world had become. "Being in-game is like walking around a ghost town," I was warned by Amy Gilson, a 31-year-old from Philomath, Oregon. "You can almost see the tumbleweeds pass you by."
But I couldn't get past the sense of existential emptiness. At one point, a non-player character assigned me a quest of killing all the burrowing beasts in a nearby canyon, to save her town. I'm like, save the town? Lady, the whole damn world is about to end!
Now as the final days click down, the last denizens of Asheron's Call 2 are wrestling with a question that historically faces all displaced peoples: Where next? Thorn says many in his guild have emigrated to World of Warcraft, a game that is now so hugely popular -- and so overcrowded, with migrants fleeing to other games -- that it has become a virtual version of 19th-century America: A hallowed land of opportunity, where everyone can have fresh start.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
[TV] The Chappelle Theory
OK, here's a link to a conspiracy theory: The Chappelle Theory - that postulates that a group of prominent African-American leaders (including Oprah, Cosby, Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton) drove comedian Dave Chappelle to financial and psychological ruin because they didn't like the way Chappelle was portraying African-Americans in his sketch show.
Now I've believed in quite a few conspiracy theories in my time, but this one had me veering between 'that sounds reasonable' and triggering my bullshit detector about every 2 sentences. Here's one example:
Now I've believed in quite a few conspiracy theories in my time, but this one had me veering between 'that sounds reasonable' and triggering my bullshit detector about every 2 sentences. Here's one example:
On Tuesday, while watching an episode of the Oprah Winfrey show, Chappelle recalled being completely stunned when Winfrey turned to the camera in the middle of interviewing Tom Cruise and said "Dave Chappelle, you should be ashamed of yourself for airing that Niggars sketch on your show this week, I'm going to make sure you never work in Hollywood again."If stuff like this (and Bill Cosby as an intimidating kingpin) were true, I reckon Chappelle should have just turned every attack on him and his family into more sketches.The image, allegedly taped by Winfrey, and transmitted to Chappelle's house under the direction of Robert L. Johnson who called in some favors with Chappelle's local affiliate station manager, terrified Chappelle.
Filed in: tv
Sunday, December 18, 2005
[Script] What do characters fear?
I really like this quote from Sid Field's Going to the Movies. It's Robert Towne (Chinatown) about creating characters. He first asks himself, What is this character afraid of? In other words, what is his or her deepest fear?
In Chinatown, Jake Gittes, a private detective specialising in "discreet investigation," has a certain reputation to uphold, so he does everything to make a good impression. He dresses immaculately, has his shoes shined everyday and has his own code of ethics. Gittes' deepest fear is not being taken seriously.
Filed in: script
Saturday, December 17, 2005
[TV] Unsubstantiated Futurama rumour
I saw absolutely nothing in this Read Sydney Morning Herald article to support Groening & Cohen's belief that Futurama is coming back, but after watching all 4 seasons this year I believe a show that's this smart deserves it.
Friday, December 16, 2005
[TV] Breaking the Story
Rasah, over at Procrastinatey, had the good fortune to attend a seminar about writing for TV led by Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly, The X Files, The Inside, Wonderfalls). Her full report is here.
Executive Summary of how they do it over at Team Whedon:
Take multiple pitches for story ideas.
Choose one. In the seminar, the idea chosen was for an episode of Angel:
Map out the general emotional arc.
Generate ideas for the main A story.
Executive Summary of how they do it over at Team Whedon:
Take multiple pitches for story ideas.
Choose one. In the seminar, the idea chosen was for an episode of Angel:
Lonely Cordy finally meets the man of her dreams, only to realize that he's Dennis the poltergeist, who's chosen to become corporeal for one day just to be with her, but his trade-off is that he must go away forever after his day is over.
Map out the general emotional arc.
Tim used the term emotional arc in contrast to plot moves, as in, he was interested in the characters' emotional beats more than fancy plots and mysteries. He was not so much interested in the details of the plot, and when someone brought up an intricate plot idea, Tim would say, "That could be interesting, but it doesn't matter. What's the emotion underlying the moves?" Following the characters' emotions was more important than "Well, what happens next? How does Angel manage to beat the baddie?"See where certain beats would hit at certain points.
First act break, Cordy meets the man of her dreams. Second act break, finds out he's, um, not-alive. Third act break, finds out the guy is Dennis. Fourth act, Dennis must go away.
Generate ideas for the main A story.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
CBIP
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein.
So far, this is the best 300+ page novel by Heinlein I've ever read. Political revolution on the Moon. A great narrator's voice, an exciting & epic scale to the events and violence, a well-worked out and unique social system. AIs, VRs, mass-drivers, libertarian philosophy and marriage clans - and many other gimmicks.
I'm a huge fan of The Puppet Masters but this is far more advanced.
So far, this is the best 300+ page novel by Heinlein I've ever read. Political revolution on the Moon. A great narrator's voice, an exciting & epic scale to the events and violence, a well-worked out and unique social system. AIs, VRs, mass-drivers, libertarian philosophy and marriage clans - and many other gimmicks.
I'm a huge fan of The Puppet Masters but this is far more advanced.
Monday, December 12, 2005
[The Limit] Dialogue Draft finished
I now breathe a sigh of relief.
Yesterday was fun. I wrote an intense action sequence about a man trying to find a roll of toilet paper, watched Frenzy for inspiration, and was just generally on a slow-moving yet relentless roll towards finishing the script.
Now, some formatting, printing out and feedback from Andrew. Then the final tighten and polish (and rigorous proof-reading - my favourite part!). I suspect after that, I'll be asking 5 people if they want to read it, just to get a final idiot-check on the whole thing. 'Idiot' in the sense of 'did I write anything totally stupid (continuity errors & such).
Anyway, now I'm going to get back to that sigh.
Yesterday was fun. I wrote an intense action sequence about a man trying to find a roll of toilet paper, watched Frenzy for inspiration, and was just generally on a slow-moving yet relentless roll towards finishing the script.
Now, some formatting, printing out and feedback from Andrew. Then the final tighten and polish (and rigorous proof-reading - my favourite part!). I suspect after that, I'll be asking 5 people if they want to read it, just to get a final idiot-check on the whole thing. 'Idiot' in the sense of 'did I write anything totally stupid (continuity errors & such).
Anyway, now I'm going to get back to that sigh.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
[The Limit] Writer's Beard shaved
Quite often when I'm starting a dialogue draft, I won't shave until the story has quickened and the dialogue is coming naturally and rapidly out of me. Yesterday (which was also my 33 1/3 birthday) I was able to shave the beard - which had grown very uncomfortable and was stopping me from sleeping well - and see Serenity (my estimation of that movie has gone way up on a second viewing).
So, I'm going to duck away now and keep writing ... hopefully reaching the 3/4 mark by this evening.
Edited to add: Two fun links that have a lot of applicability to the writing I'm doing. Here's John Rogers on action sequences, and Josh Friedman on sex scenes.
So, I'm going to duck away now and keep writing ... hopefully reaching the 3/4 mark by this evening.
Edited to add: Two fun links that have a lot of applicability to the writing I'm doing. Here's John Rogers on action sequences, and Josh Friedman on sex scenes.
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