Earl Newton.com » creativity

Req’d Viewing: 70-min Star Wars Review

Earl Newton — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:28:04 +0000

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.)

Part 1/7:

Part 2/7: Story

Part 3/7:

Part 4/7:

Part 5/7:

Part 6/7:

Part 7/7:

If you like the tone of these reviews, you can find more at RedLetter Media.

Juggling Real Life and Writing

Earl Newton — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:00:21 +0000

Mur Lafferty (author of Playing for Keeps and the Heaven series, amongst other celebrated works) posted a terrific article about the problem of juggling “real life” and writing*.

Welcome to Real Life

* replace writing with drawing, composing, editing, dancing; whatever your particular passion is.

Unquiet Desperation: The Creative Process (interview)

Earl Newton — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:19:37 +0000

Chris Miller should get extra points for having this interview posted before I’d had time to even compose the blog post linking to it. We literally recorded this interview two hours ago. Madness.

In this piece, Chris and I talk about the creative process, about what I’ve learned since starting Stranger Things, and what’s gotten me into blogging regularly (short answer: a beautiful woman).

While you’re poking around Chris’ site, check out my favorite episode of his: Conversion, about a Southern Baptist preacher who converted to Judaism. Fascinating stuff, and his interview subject is very well-researched.

John August: Breaking Storytelling Conventions

Earl Newton — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:42:10 +0000

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.

John August on Breaking Storytelling Conventions

And, as a screenwriter, you should already be a regular visitor to JohnAugust.com.

Ira Glass on Creativity

Earl Newton — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:20:50 +0000

Ira Glass is the host of arguably one of the most popular programs in radio, This American Life.

Over four segments of an interview (presumably for Current.TV), Ira basically lays bare the nature of storytelling, the difficulty of it, and what it takes to make it.

It took me years to figure out what he explains in a few minutes. It’s something every creative person should hear. Here are the rest of the segments:

Ira Glass Part Two (Finding a Decent Story: Be Brutal)

Ira Glass Part Three (On Good Taste, And Sucking Major)

Ira Glass Part Four (Two Common Errors of the Beginner)