The Social Network

A subject we all have come to know and love, Facebook.  It’s founder Mark Zuckerberg the protagonist in the film.   Here’s the official trailer.

It’s out but I haven’t seen it yet.  Though from the reviews it sounds a bit odd.  It is often compared to classics like Macbeth or The Great Gatsby.  Most agree it is not a flattering portrait of Zuckerberg.   Even he wants to distance himself from it.

Because I haven’t seen it I won’t go into a review here but will instead link you to a couple I’ve found. This one is from the Geeks of Doom  and here is one from Screen Rant. 

Being that it was directed by David Fincher, who was also responsible for Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac, and Curious Case of Benjamin Button – it’s likely this will be an excellent movie. 

My biggest question is, after I see this film will I feel differently about using Facebook?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Trailer

Ok well, it isn’t exactly about screenwriting but HP was a very successful franchise.  I, for one, will be happy to see it finish up.  And from the trailer it looks like it will go out with a bang.

The interesting thing is they are going to show this movie in two parts, according to the trailer.  I’m pretty certain that has been tried before, but I can’t remember the movie name and I’m pretty sure it was a failure.  Hopefully, this will be a bit better. 

The other is that it will be in 3D, big surprise (that was sarcastic) but It probably was not shot for it.

This is my least favourite of the books however, it has a fun though predictable ending.  I suspect the movie will do well.     

The horror of having your short screenplay filmed

It’s been a while, but I’ve been busy. I know we all say that at one time or another but it’s true…I’ve been busy.

However, I wanted to share with you a short post about having one of my screenplays filmed by someone else. I’ve been through this situation before but I’m a fringe author so it doesn’t happen too often.

Anyway, this film was made from a short script I wrote called The Honeymoon is Over. I wrote the script for a web series script call because my log line was chosen. However, the log line was supposed to be for a finished script. So when they asked me for the script I only had a few hours to produce one. I wrote this in 6 hours.

The web series never seemed to get off the ground as so many of them don’t. Very soon after I finally gave up on the series, the director of this film asked if he could produce it.

After all the agreements were signed it took nearly forever for the film to be completed. Or at least it was very late compared to the schedule given me. So late that I actually gave up trying to find out if it was finished.

Then one day while going through my email I came across my last email to the director and decided to ask him one last time before I made the script available again. To my surprise he replied that it was done and gave me a link which I could use to view it.

He did a good job with the film, I couldn’t really complain. He changed my script a bit without asking but nothing I couldn’t handle. But then the credits flashed by. I was all ready and excited to see my name in white at the end -- but it never happened. There was no writing credit for me in the film.

At first I was furious, I posted a few angry posts in forums. I figured it was likely that I wouldn’t get him to add the credit and the film would have to be forcibly removed from the web. But if I approached it with all the anger I was feeling, then he would respond with anger and it would definitely end with the film being removed.

So, I calmed down and wrote him a gentlemanly email asking if he would correct the oversight. Which he did, surprisingly quick and he apologised profusely for forgetting to put the credits in. There’s a valuable lesson in there somewhere but I’m not sure exactly where.

So without further ado, here is the film. Give Anniversary (yes he changed the title) a watch and let me know what you think.

To ComputerGirl

In response to your blog post.

While it is true that I mispronounced syllogistic logic during our meeting, I do know what it is.

There was a reason behind my madness, and that reason was to prove a point.  The point being that the average person would have so little clue as to what syllogistic logic is to the point where they would not even be able to pronounce the word.  Nor would they have any interest in learning about syllogisms, especially when you start quoting Aristotle.  They would not  watch a show about it.

Documentaries, while they are appealing to some, are usually shown only on public funded stations. There is a reason for that,  it’s because only a small portion of people watch them.

Whether you want to admit it or not (and the statement must have made an impact because you quoted it),  people want to see drama.  They want conflict.  They want to laugh.  They want to cry. They want to be entertained without having to think too much about what they are seeing.

You want people to watch your show, right?  Didn’t Sally ask me for my help because you wanted to put yourself “out there”?   I’m offering to do just that and I’m offering to incorporate your ideas into the show as well but you have to give a little too. 

I’ll tell you what,  do at least the first show with me and we will discuss doing the documentary on logic.  This way you can have the best of both worlds.  What have you got to lose?  Say yes.

xtranormal

xtranormal is a site where you can make a movie just by typing in some text.   It’s seriously very easy.   I created this movie in about an hour and most of the time was spent figuring out what to say. 

The interfaces looks like this.

You simply type into your script and drag and drop all the effects you want to use, where you want  to use them.

And while you could spend a bit of time looking at all the soundtracks, animations and backgrounds.  If you have an idea in mind you could probably get through it rather quickly.

For the bloggers, this is perfect for that video blog you wanted to do.  And for screenwriters this is perfect for listening to that dialogue you had some trouble with.

Enjoy!

Shiva

Shiva is our latest screenwriting game/exercise. It is turn based, each of the players/authors has a character they hope will last until the finale. Because it’s fun and game-like we are trying to use this technique as a way of creating collaborative scripts. The aim is to create an off the cuff rough-draft script that can be fairly easily turned into a first-draft. We’re finding that it’s difficult to give the script structure but we are working on it.

Our rough draft of Shiva is finished now and we are on the rewrite phase. You can have a look at the rough-draft we came up with but bear in mind that none of it was plotted and that there were 12 active collaborators that’s 12+ active characters and a hefty page count. The dream sequences can get a bit bizarre but they have no bearing on the story so you can pretty much skip them if you like.

The story is basically as follows:

A virulent airborne form of rabies decimates the human population and leaves the animals mad. Some people band together into tribes to try to survive in this strange new world but they are plagued by visions and dreams of a creature both frightening and comforting at the same time. It's calling them to it and they have no choice but to obey the call -- no matter how dangerous the journey may be.

Three tribes start from a different location: New York (New York), Detroit (Michigan) and Ottawa(Canada). They head for a startling climax at Niagara Falls where they meet up with the creature from their dreams: some want to kill it, some want to worship it. Whoever survives the dangers of the journey will write the ending.

We are having a contest to see who can come up with the best rewrite. Anyone is invited to participate. Deadline for the revision is May 15, 2009. Send the revision to me.

And we are planning some new game/exercises in the next couple of months, stay tuned for details.

In the second place

My script A Doll’s Life took second place in Movie Poet’s It’s Better to Give than to Receive contest.  I’m pleased about it.  My score was as follows:

It would have been nice to have taken first place.  The guy who did take first place is a formidable opponent and a nice guy and he deserves the win, though it was really close.  Here’s his score:

As you can see, only a 5% swing between Good and Very Good determined the winner.  The purple highlight on Very Good means that’s the vote I gave his script.

I wonder what I could have done with my script to change that swing vote.  I wonder if I should even worry about such silly things.

Anyway, thought this might be of interest. Cheers.