Netflix

I have no excuse

Maximum Z assignment, documentary, Filmsack.com, loglines, Lucy Steele, Netflix, outlines, plot, story, writing gigs

I was really bad about posting this week.  Only once.  That’s just wrong.

Part of the problem was frustration with the outline.  While I liked it, something seemed to be missing.  It also felt as if I had written myself into a corner, creatively speaking.  I had the set-up, but not the solution, which is not the way to do it.

So even though I told myself I wouldn’t do it, I started over.  All the way back to the beginning, which in this case means the logline.

Something about it just didn’t seem to click, so I noodled around with it and came up with 2 versions.  One was a little more…intense, and one was just different.

I sent them both to writer friends and got very helpful feedback.  Then I consulted with my most valued critic, aka K.  She liked what I came up with as well.  She also said how much she likes the idea and can’t wait to read it when it’s done.

So now I need to start a slight restructuring of the story itself.  Do I keep the sidekick?  Is there a way to simplify things, but also keep them moving at a steady pace?  These and many more questions I hope to answer in the coming weeks.

-Interesting follow-up to my short-writing experience from last summer.  Apparently all the post-production is finished, so the release party is in a few weeks.  But it’s on a Thursday night, starting at 8PM, which for a creaky odl traffic reporter like me, that’s kind of late.  And it’s at a dance club-type place, which is REALLY not my kind of environment.  Highly doubtful I’ll go, but you never know.

The director sent me a note a few days ago, saying he’s going to be working on a short documentary (approximately 12-15 minutes), and wanted to know if I’d be open to writing the script for it.  And he’ll have a budget, which means $$$ for yours truly!  Actually, more like $.

I’ve never written a docu before, but I love watching them, so I have a general idea of how to go about it.  The subject matter is something completely foreign to me: DJ school.  As in club.  Not radio.  Although the latter would be kind of cool, I don’t think they have those anymore.

I’m meeting with him on Monday to discuss it, so I’ll post how that went, along with the usual LUCY updates.

-Strong recommendation for a hilarious podcast about movies . filmsack.com.  4 guys talking about what they liked or didn’t like about the movie selection of the week.  All types of genres from various decades, but the 80s seem to get the most representation.

What’s really great is that a lot of the movies are available on Netflix via streaming, so watching them isn’t too much of a hassle, provided you have the time to watch.  Even if you haven’t seen the movie in a while, it’s still a blast to listen to.

Little by little

Maximum Z Netflix, outlines, plot, Raiders of the Lost Ark, screenwriting, westerns

School was back in session today, which let me get back to work on LUCY.

The first act is slowly coming together, emphasis on ‘slowly’.

My problem seems to be trying to fit scenes into the standard form.  And that might not work for this.

I’m concerned I’m throwing too much action at the viewer, rather than setting everything up so it can be paid off later.  Take RAIDERS, for example.  The opening sequence shows Indy in his element and all his expertise (and quite well, I might add).  Then we go to the college to show him in another element, followed by the expository scene where he (and we) learn about the Ark from the G-men.

Maybe part of my problem is I feel married to my original plot points and am trying to shoehorn everything in to make it fit, rather than be willing to bend a little and try to flesh out the story.

And I don’t have to do that.  For now, the plot points are guidelines and NOT written in stone. While I like the way the story is developing, it really feels like it needs more set-up and less “hey, check this out!”

It seems a bit daunting right now, but I bet the more I work on it, it’ll come together a little easier.  At least, I hope that’s what’ll happen.

Movie of the Moment: I don’t remember how it popped into my Netflix queue, but there’s this British pseudo-holiday miniseries called HOGFATHER from author Terry Pratchett.  It’s kind of an alternate universe where the Santa-like Hogfather is missing (possibly dead?), and Death takes over the job, while an aspiring assassin tries to off the aforementioned Hogfather.  It’s a mash-up of Dickens, fairy tales, Monty Python and Hitchcock.  It’s better than I expected.

I started watching it by myself, but V was intrigued and sat down about 20 minutes in.  She was quite mesmerized and we watched the rest of part 1 together.  We’ll see how it goes for part 2 tomorrow.

Goosebumps, I tell ya!

Maximum Z adventure, comic books, Netflix, outlines, plot, screenwriting, story, thrillers, westerns, WWII

I didn’t get to do much story development today due to time constraints, but what I did accomplish was the ongoing fleshing-out of the LUCY outline.

Last night before I went to sleep, I thought I hit on the right first act turning point and midpoint, but didn’t write them down!  Argh.  So the latter half of this afternoon involved trying to reach back into my subconscious and get them back.

I think I sort-of managed to do that.

I worked on filling in the blanks of my little ‘plot milestone’ sheet, and there were some spaces that remained empty longer than the others.

What I think my next step really needs to be is where I write down all the things I can think of that would be connected with the major plot elements of the story, and see if anything develops out of them.

I’m sure this will pay off; it usually has before.

The more I work on this, the more excited I get to do it.  I really think that when all the elements are in place, this thing will take practically no time to write up.

But I have to make sure it works from both the story and thrills perspectives. I want to keep the reader/audience enthralled.  That’s right.  Enthralled.  This is supposed to be a western-adventure that I would want to see; even pay to see, so it HAS to be good AND exciting.

I think I can do that.

-This past weekend was the Alternative Press Expo, or APE as it’s commonly called.  My friend Neil and I have gone for about the past four years, except last year (timing).

It’s a great mix of independent comic artists and writers.  Some are people who xerox stuff at Kinko’s, fold and staple the ‘books’ themselves, then sell them.  Others are people who actually have a publisher.

It’s a nice alternative (hence the name) to the biggies, like WonderCon and Comic-Con, which is kind of nice.

This year we had to take V, since K was unavailable.  While I’m sure a lot of the stuff was over her head, she took great joy in spotting things she knew, like sketches of Spidey, the guy who sold fuse-bead interpretations of Pokemon characters (which we bought one of), or the guy who does some awesome Clone Wars sketches ($20 for a head sketch, $50 for the whole body, neither of which were purchased by us).

I always feel  bad for the people who are hawking stuff that doesn’t appear to be interesting.  It’s so awkward to smile as you pass by, thinking “There is no way in hell I’m buying anything from YOU!”  But maybe they sell a few things, possibly even breaking even, and enjoying themselves.  What do I know?

Going back to the artists’ angle, there are always a ton of incredibly talented artists there with all this phenomenal art for sale, mostly prints, but sometimes the original.  Like I told Neil, if I bought every piece of art I liked at APE, I would have no space left on the walls, and no money left over; not to mention probably a less-than-thrilled wife.

So now the countdown to WonderCon begins.  Only 164 days left and counting!!

-My sister-in-law is visiting, so no Movie of the Moment tonight.  However, I did watch RIO BRAVO, which was okay, but a little long.  Two hours would have worked fine.

The next night was NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH, a pre-WWII British spy thriller with a very skinny Rex Harrison.  It dragged a little in the beginning, but got better as it went along.  It also had Paul Henreid as the bad guy, but I know him best as Victor Laslo in CASABLANCA, so it was an interesting contrast.

What was nice was it actually raised the question of “WOULD HE DIE?”  I won’t give anything away, but it keep you hanging on until the very end.

Nice.