A good movie succeeds for its own reasons, but most bad movies tend to fail in the same ways. When the movie has an enormous budget, the actual creative mistakes become more clear: there can be no excuse of “we couldn’t afford it.”
Friend and composer Alistair Cooper turned me onto the 70-minute Phantom Menace, and having seen it, I think it’s a quintessential example of learning from a big-budget mistake. It should be required viewing for any storyteller.
You don’t have to have seen Phantom Menace to understand most of this, but it would help. It begins as an overview of the story and characters, and then delves deep into a beat-by-beat analysis of the film. Some of the later sections address specific character concerns (Qui-Gonn is a drunk), but there’s still enough important storytelling theory to make it worth anyone’s while.
(There are some “You Suck at Photoshop” author-as-character moments interspersed within the review, presumedly to break up the rhythm, so be ready for some weirdness. I can tell you the review is worth it. I also find it funny how the author has an excellent grasp of story structure and theory, and yet his own works ends with an awkward anticlimax. Nobody’s perfect.)
Rian Johnson (director of “Brick” and “The Brothers Bloom”) did a great interview on MakingOf.com, where he puts into words something I’ve been formulating for awhile.
Key excerpts of his quote, and the full video interview under the cut.
“True Stories” is a series of videos examining the thoughts and feelings of artists as it relates to their art. I produced this series for the Layman Group, featuring select members of the board of directors.
I thought Rachel White’s comments were especially on-the-mark. Listen close when she starts talking about “being the right puzzle piece.”
Stranger Things fans will also recognize Rachel as Madeline from Disconnect.
In the confusion of heading up to Pennsylvania (for some quality time with @GoZombieGo and the Zombielets) I forgot to post the next Horror House project I did with Scott Sigler for Mevio.com.
This time we featured Messengers II: The Scarecrow, a new movie from Ghost House Pictures, available in stores and on Amazon.com. (I get no kickbacks for the link, I’m just helpful like that)
New upgrades to look for:
We added some fun “interview cutaways” for fresh takes on Ghost House and their new flick (featuring novelist J.C. Hutchins in Episode One, Messengers screenwriter Todd Farmer in Episode Two, and me)
Moving cameras! I wanted this in the first series, and there just wasn’t time to develop it. Now the camera cruises constantly as Scott lays out the dirt on Messengers II. Groovy.
Post some comments, thoughts are welcome. I want to smooth out the cameras in the next version, and I’m looking to revamp a few other things too.
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago at 2:51 pm. Add a comment
In my spare moments this week, I’ve been working on a logo animation for Strange RSS, LLC (the company I started to create Stranger Things).
At fourteen seconds, this is a bit longer than I want. I’ll end up cutting a few seconds out of the middle for the “long version” (8-10 seconds), and fading to black at 4-5 seconds for the short version.
I could also chop it in half and have two options for an animation.
I’ve done a lot of VFX insertions into live footage, but this is my first attempt at completely artificial photorealism. Color choice seems to be everything in photorealism. Nothing is ever true white or true black, it’s a lot of grays and irregularities and asymmetrical details until it looks right.
MakingOf.com has an interview with John August about his screenwriting process. As always, John August demonstrates his knowledge of the craft by breaking down concepts into relatable terms, and sharing really original insight into the craft — no respun Syd Field here.
Normally I’d embed the video here, but MakingOf.com has some weird Iframe code going on, so I’m just providing the link.
Most of my DayJobVu business comes from word of mouth, but as things get tighter in the economy, we all have to reach out farther for new clients. In order to be successful, you need a good demo reel.
I haven’t cut many demo reels before, but I’ve been an editor ten years, so it didn’t seem impossible to learn. So I spent a few days researching great demo reels, reading up on tips, and somewhere in there, it clicked. 48 hours later, I had this.
I sent that out to ten potential clients this morning at 5am. Today, at 2PM, I already have one contract offer and one request for more information.
