Month: February 2011

Ink: a review

Maximum Z Netflix

For some reason, I was really exhausted today, so didn’t get any work done on the outline.  But the ideas are neatly organized in my noggin, so hopefully it won’t be too difficult to get them down on paper tomorrow.

But I finally managed to finish watching INK, courtesy of Netflix. I can’t remember how it popped up in my recommendation list, but it looked interesting. Something about it seemed vaguely familiar.

The description reads: Late one night, a lost soul named Ink snatches 8-year-old Emma (Quinn Hunchar) into the world of dreams. There, he hopes to use her soul to join the ranks of the evil Incubi. In the real world, Emma lies comatose, to the despair of her father, John (Chris Kelly). But the Incubi’s benevolent opposites — the Storytellers — rally to help Emma, motivating John to wage war for his daughter. Jessica Duffy co-stars in this dark fable.

Hmm. Forces of good and evil, dreams, a child. Where have I heard that before? Getting a little too close to DREAMSHIP territory for my taste. But I didn’t have to worry.

While my story is more action-adventure, this one is more…artsy. I went into it expecting a straightforward kid-oriented story, but it wasn’t. Not by a long shot. It’s almost adult in nature, seems a little too cerebral in some parts, and some story elements were never really explained. Or if they were, I missed them.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s well done. I get the feeling they had a limited budget, and did a great job in getting the most out of it. The special effects also fit in nicely, not drawing too much attention to themselves, but just enough to support the story where necessary.

There’s a fascinating 10-minute video diary of how this film was put together, ranging from the writer-director documenting the assembly of the business plan they were going to present to potential investors, to the cast’s audition footage, to choreographing the fight scenes, to filming in a wide variety of locations around Denver.

Even more fascinating is that the filmmakers couldn’t get a distribution or studio deal, so they pitched it to independent theatres and handled the video aspect of it by themselves. After it’s release, it became one of the most downloaded movies on file sharing torrent sites, which resulted in higher video sales.

One of the things Jamin Winans, the writer-director says in the making-of segment is that they started out with no money, but didn’t let stop them from moving forward. Good for them.

INK is available on Netflix’s Instant Queue. Check it out.

Where exactly do you put a 300-pound Irishman?

Maximum Z characters, Lucy Steele, Netflix, outlines, screenwriting

Not the set-up for a joke, but a question that will be answered shortly.

I took yesterday’s work on the outline and inserted it into the main one today.  Still have some gaps to fill in, but it’s coming together nicely.  This is really turning into a rip-roaring adventure story, let me tell you.

But I couldn’t help but notice one thing about everything I had worked on last week, especially those scenes from page 45 to the midpoint.  There were a lot more than I remembered writing.  While it should be somewhere around 15-18, this was more like 27.  Way too much!  Some emergency editing was necessary.

As much as I hated to do it, I was going to have to get rid of the scenes involving a character I really like.  That would be the somewhat rotund fellow in the title of this post.  He and his flunkies would have to go.  One of the many rules of screenwriting: Kill Your Darlings.  So I did.  The end result is still satisfying, but not as much as it was when I had two sets of double-crosses in the works.  Now it’s back to one.

But all is not lost.

Since I’m now focusing on the next set of scenes, the midpoint to around page 75, part of those involve a mine.  I don’t know what kind, but originally it was going to be abandoned.  Not anymore.  I’m working on turning it into a kind of hideout where this nefarious band of ruffians is currently holed up, thereby increasing the level of conflict in the story.

It keeps surprising me how writing something one day, and maybe jotting down a thought or line, even just on a whim, can really pay off somewhere down the line.  I really like when that sort of thing happens.  It’s almost a kind of self-vindication.

I’m hoping to have a Movie of the Moment for tomorrow.  I haven’t had a lot of spare time lately, so I’ve had to spread my film-watching out over a few days.  Surprisingly, parts of this film are eerily similar to DREAMSHIP.  Crazy, huh?

To EW or not to EW?

Maximum Z Aint It Cool News, Entertainment Weekly, Hollywood Elsewhere, Netflix, Roger Ebert

A little more progress into the second half of Act Two of LUCY today, thanks yet again to the creative energy that abounds in the midday traffic studio.  I see a lot of potential in the scenes I came up with today.

When I got home, I couldn’t help but notice the short but growing stack of unread Entertainment Weekly magazines next to the bed.  I think there’s at least 3, possibly 4 there right now.  Yet I don’t feel compelled to read them.  Maybe the Oscar nominees issue, but the rest?  Meh.

Over the weekend I got the subscription renewal notice.  My subscription ends in August, and I’m not really sure whether or not I’ll follow through this time.  I can zip through an issue in about 30 minutes, and after that it seems like a waste of money.  (Except for the seasonal Movie preview issues.  Those are always worth it.)

I’ve been getting EW for around 15 years or so.  During that time, the content has, to me, made a gradual downward turn in terms of quality and relatability (which I’m not sure is even a word, but it’s the best I could come up with).  A lot of the articles are based more on style rather than substance.  And the way they hype non-celebrities to the upper stratosphere is getting nauseating.  I don’t care about no-talent nobodies who are famous for being famous (yes, Kardashian family and cast of JERSEY SHORE.  I’m referring to you, amongst others.)

Maybe it’s a sign of my age/demographic that I don’t know or care who a lot of the new batch of celebrities are.  To me, a lot of these actors and actresses look exactly the same.  They’re interchangeable, and honestly, not that talented.

But I will commend EW for their coverage on films, TV and books.  I don’t always agree with the grades they give, but at least they’re not ignoring smaller films.  But I can also get better reviews and information online.  For film, I’d go to any number of screenwriting blogs (see list on the right), Roger Ebert, Ain’t It Cool or Hollywood Elsewhere.  Even Netflix can yield better results.

I’ve never really been into the music scene, but I could read ROLLING STONE for that.  And if I want to read about something on Broadway, I’ll check out THE NEW YORK TIMES or ask my parents, who seem to see just about everything.

I used to get Movieline way back when, like when it actually focused on film.  It had a definite vibe that said “this was written by people  bitter at Hollywood for not making them the successes they thought they should be.”  Which contributed to the fun of reading it.

Then they started pimping stuff like clothes and restaurants, and I lost interest.  I kind of see that happening with EW.  What are the stars wearing?  Who cares?

Is getting Entertainment Weekly really worth it?  A few years ago, I would have said yes.  Now I’m not so sure.

Now entering Euphoria. Drive safely

Maximum Z Lucy Steele, outlines, screenwriting

I am in what can definitely be considered a state of giddiness. Sheer and unmitigated joy. The heavens have opened and are shining down upon me.

For today, I hit the halfway mark. And it feels freaking AWESOME!!

But it’s more than just reaching that point in the story. It’s also about how I got there. Yesterday I was concerned about the page count from where I left off. Today I was determined to reach the Point of No Return no matter what.

I had my characters in an already dicey situation, but needed to keep making it harder for them to come out ahead. A minor story point from earlier this week paid off in spades in terms of establishing more conflict. I saw an opportunity to insert another character that would create still another obstacle. The ideas were coming in fast and furious, to coin a phrase.

Sure, some of the scenes need to be fleshed out a bit, but they WORK! And at no time whatsoever was I ever concerned with page count. I knew what I wanted and needed, and followed through accordingly.

It felt absolutely incredible to fill in the blanks for something I was really stressing over just a week ago.

It would be even more incredible if I can make this kind of progress now that the latter half of Act Two is here. A little intimidating, but really quite exhilarating.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m having an absolute blast, and the best really is yet to come.

Time to put on my editing hat

Maximum Z Lucy Steele, outlines, Pixar, plot, screenwriting

Nice progress today on the outline.  I’m getting close to the midpoint, with only a handful of scenes left to fill in.  But it also looks like I’m going to need more scenes than I expected to get there.

I’m a bit concerned I may try to jam too much into that handful.  The first quarter of Act Two is approximately 16-17 pages, and I’m nearing the end of that second quarter.  I know what I would like to happen in those pages, but worry it may run around 20 pages, or even more.

I’m trying to keep things nice and tight, but don’t want to skimp on moving the story forward.

I may go the “get it all on the page” route, and then edit the hell out of it.  I could also probably shrink down that first quarter-section by at least 1-2 pages.  I suppose the important part is it’s getting done, period.

I’m also a little surprised about how productive I’ve been over the past few weeks.  When I first started this a few months ago, I had a very basic idea of what I wanted.  But the more I worked at it, the harder it seemed to keep things moving.  The self-doubt started to creep in, but I had a good feeling about this and was determined to keep going.

I noticed that when I would read what I had written, some of it would come across in a different way than I originally intended, which really triggered the creative process.  A lot of “What ifs?” and “How abouts?” just bubbled to the surface, paying off immeasurably more than I could have expected.  So far, that feeling returns just about every time I sit down to work.

No doubt about it.  I am a creative dynamo when things are clicking.

What’s also really cool about working on LUCY is I’m really enjoying it.  I worked on BABY LIKES JAZZ for two years, and was never satisfied with it.  As much as I enjoy comedy, it just ain’t my thing.  In contrast, the spirit of adventure that runs through LUCY is quite liberating, and dare I say it?  Energizing.

Hopefully people (and Hollywood) will feel the same way when it’s done and ready for public consumption.

Movie of the Moment: RATATOUILLE. V and I watched the first half the other day. This is one of Pixar’s underappreciated gems, and I’m not just saying that because I love Paris.  And food.

It’s a clever, original story, told with the usual Pixar flair.  My one complaint is the number of chefs in the kitchen.  It was hard to keep track of who was who, and it’s Linguini’s story anyway, so when they all left, things were much easier to follow.