The problem with doing a lot of really great work is that it doesn’t leave much time to update your reel. Took care of that problem today.
Watch it fullsize here.
Motion Graphics Reel 2010 from Earl Newton on Vimeo.
Just a quick update to let you know my recent silence has been work-related. The move to LA has precipitated a lot of work, and while that’s good, it’s forced me to go into the production submarine a bit more than I’d like to.
I have an interview yet to post, as well as several essays I’ve been fiddling with.
I’m also toying with the idea of posting finished screenplays here (released under a C.C. license) for others to examine, and possibly produce. Thoughts?
After news of these magical DSLRS with the powers of Movie inside them, I decided I had to find out what the fuss was about.
So yesterday, I bought this.
And yesterday, slightly later, I started shooting a short film, and it looks like this.
Will post the film when it’s done.
Maybe not in those words, but basically, yes.
I found this terrific video from the WGA about the way the Internet can enable writers to break beyond the written page to take control of their own work and how it’s seen. (I touched on this topic of writers in The End of the Screenwriter ).
Boingboing.net is hosting a terrific manifesto by Craig Adams (AKA Superbrothers). It speaks about the narrative experience of video games, but storytellers of all sorts can find something here.
Here are a few excerpts to whet the appetite:
When there’s just a little bit of talk…it has a peculiar, haunting, poetic effect. It tickles the intellect just enough for it to stir, but not enough to irritate it.
An entire generation seems to have become used to experiences …choked by voice acting, mangled by incongruent narrative…These elements serve to undermine the aesthetic coherence of the work — they can dilute the magic, they can interrupt the flow, they can disrupt the basic audiovisual communication, they can break the spell.
Find the link to the whole manifesto below.
I read a blog post from Bill Cunningham tonight about an Uma Thurman film that made less than $200 on opening weekend. Bill blamed the lack of an interesting story, I agree. Read his whole post for some hard truths about the movie business that indies can’t ignore.
The natural question arises: how do you tell if your story is interesting?
Shortest answer: if people are interested when you tell it.
In LA, you never know where the day will take you. Sometimes, for example, it takes you back to the East Coast. Today, I learned Patrick McLean (most notably the author of How to Succeed in Evil) is bringing to a close his award-winning podcast “The Seanachai.”
At 9PM Eastern on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010, Patrick McLean (with help from P.G. Holyfield) will host a live event on Stickcam.com. It’ll feature the final Seanachai story (Patrick is shot twice with one bullet) and a few special guests (including, it seems, me).
I first remember hearing Patrick McLean when he took a decidedly difficult website (TheSeanachai.com) and, with the help of his zombie friend Bob, created one of the most quietly-outstanding promos in podcasting, in my opinion.
Quietly outstanding is a good way to describe Patrick’s work. I think that’s why I like him so much. We both prefer to speak softly and carry a big idea.
So if you like Patrick, or me, or good writing in general, make plans to swing by Stickam.com/patrickemclean at 9pm next Wednesday. If I have anything to do with it, there’ll be quite a bit of drinking going on.
I have read a number of instructional screenwriting books, but I can’t really think of anything useful I’ve taken from them. Most of the sources that inform my screenwriting aren’t about it at all.
Here’s the advice I refer to whenever I’m writing:
Today, Marc Scott Zicree related the description of story theory I’ve ever heard: “You start with a character with a problem. You continually throw shit at him in Act Two, until he is in the deepest shit possible.
“If it’s a tragedy, he doesn’t escape it.
“If it’s a happy ending, he or she figures out their problems and succeeds. That’s it.”
Were you looking for something more complicated?
Would-be professionals: take “writer” and put “director / actor / editor,” etc.
Matt Wallace’s Top 10 Points for Professional Writers
adaptation apple creativity demo reel disconnect editing interview j.c. hutchins layman group marketing matt wallace mevio mur lafferty patrick mclean pure love real problems from fake people sci-fi scott sigler screenwriting script secret project storytelling Stranger Things twitter video games
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9 or better.
