Transition, Part 3

(This is an ongoing series regarding the current state of media democratization and distribution practices. Parts 1 & 2 can be found in the December archives.)

This past weekend was the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV, and if you've kept abreast of the announcements and unveilings that have taken place, then you know it's been all about video. It seems that the secret is out, and video-on-demand is in. The future, if one were to believe the hype being generated by all the major technology players, is in allowing the media consumer to get what they want, when they want, and how they want it. Big screen high def video? Got it! Watch in on your ipod? Covered! Download from the internet? Go for it!

One of the biggest announcements included Google's new payed video download service. Seems that anyone with a bit of content, and the belief that somebody will buy it, can upload their video to Google Video and set their own price for download (with a minimum of .05 cents). The director of the film "Waterborne" reportedly (LA Times) turned down a $125,000 distribution bid so he could sell the film himself through Google for $4.99 a download. Will it pay off? If he can market it well by himself, then it just might. But that's where a distributor comes in really handy - in the marketing. If I wanted, I could start burning DVD's off my laptop and selling them out of my trunk, but without some clever marketing I don't think I'd get very far. Lets face it, I'm a filmmaker, not a marketing executive. But I do wish him the best of luck and I hope it works out. He's got some balls to do what he's done.

Could this be the beginning of a true democratization of the distribution process? Of course. Will it work? Only time will tell.

Again... to be continued...

Reading and Writing and Micro-stages

Whenever I'm in a serious writing mode (the kind I'd like to think I'm in right now), I spend a lot of time reading as well. All different sorts of things - newspaper articles, books, plays, whatever I get a hold of. I don't know why, but I always read more when I'm writing something than when I'm not. I think it's probably because I'm subconsciously looking for ideas on structure, character, plot... hell, anything and everything. Maybe I'll just see some words in some article that look great together and I can steal it.

I finished a draft A* of my feature script a couple of weeks ago, and I wasn't very happy with it, but that's the way first drafts go. They're never really that good. The only good thing that came out of it was that I knew exactly what had to be done and changed to make it much, much better. Now it's well on its way to being a somewhat presentable first draft. Now is just a matter of working on it every day until it's done.

I've gone through lots of writing methods to keep myself on track with completing a project, but none of them ever worked that well. They might work for one project, but not for another. Sooner or later, I'll come across a method that lets me get to the end, or I'll just let the project go entirely. I hate doing that, though. I'd rather finish everything I start, even if it turns out to be crap. But I'm trying a new method now that I think will work decently well. I'm writing in what I can "micro-stages." Basically, I'll write a minimum of 2 pages a day, and maximum of 3. It's fairly simple to pop off a couple of pages, so the task doesn't look daunting. And in theory, if I do this every day, I should have a 120 page script in, at minimum 2 months, and possibly at just over a month. I'm estimating it will probably be about a month and half.

Seems like a long time, I know, but I'd rather take longer and get something done than try to whip something out quick and give up on it before it's done because it's turning out crap. "It's turning out crap" is probably the top reason I quit working on my projects. These "micro-stages" give me a chance to really think carefully about the 2-3 pages I'm turning out on a given day. There's very little reason to just jot something down so I can have something on paper. I just need endurance to last through the course, but as long as I only take it one day at a time, I don't see why I can't.

*footnote: I called my first version of the script a 'draft A' because it really wasn't even a complete script. There was maybe 50 some-odd pages of formatted script combined with 30 some-odd pages of treatment and notes. Some scenes were completely fleshed out and others were one-line descriptions like "He comes in and talks about his truck" or something like that.

Time to Retire, the second

Those of you who have really stuck it out with me through "October 8, 1980 to Present" and now "The LA Chronicles" - well, what can I say? You're awesome. No, really... both of you. I've had a great time with all of you.

From now on, you can catch up on what's happening with me at the Night Train New Mercury Weblog. Just follow the links, and be sure and bookmark us when you get there.

The LA Chronicles has had it's day, and it's time to movie on, so this blog is retired effective... now.

50 Million Dollars in 24 Hours

That's how much money Star Wars Episode III, RotS has made. It's sickening, but for some odd reason well deserved. I just saw the movie last night, and I thought it was great. It really completed the trilogy for me, and I have a much greater appreciation for Episodes I and II now (even though I never really minded them to begin with). But by far, the new installment is the best of them all.

After the movie last night, I had a thought about the task George Lucas had at hand when he decided to create this prequel trilogy: it was a completely impossible task. At least, it was impossible to pull it off at the grand and sweeping level that the first trilogy was pulled off at. In the original trilogy, Lucas gave us characters that were new, mysterious, forboding, heroic, and unlike anything we'd ever seen before. We didn't know where they came from, only that they were larger than life. Even with everything those movies contained, it was up to our imagination to finish creating the universe we were given only a glimpse of in those films. With the new trilogy, Lucas is forced to live up to our imagination, which almost always fails. Nothing can compare to the unique and immaculate vision that you harbor in your head. Add to that: part of the great beauty of the original task was it's simplicity - good fighting to survive in a galaxy run by evil. The new trilogy, because it was expanding that particular storyline, inevitably would be more complex and more difficult to tell. It's always fun when you're creating the rules as you go (Episodes IV - VI), but it's much more difficult to be forced to live within those rules once they're created (Episodes I - III).

In the end, none of this can excuse the rough dialogue and cheesy direction of Lucas's films, but I'm willing to look past it to get more story out of one the great modern myths of our time.

I (heart) Burbank

A few days ago, I discovered why the area I live in is the most awesome place in the Los Angeles metro area to live. Where is this magical place, you’re probably saying to yourself right now. Well, Mr. Curious, that wonderful place is Burbank.

Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, WTF, yo?!

And I wouldn’t blame you one bit. It wasn’t long ago I wondered why my friends harped so much on this city either. But now it’s become so very clear. To be fair, however, I am talking about downtown Burbank. Some of the best things about the area are the fact that I live within walking distance of a dozen restaurants, the gym, bars, shops, movie theatres, etc, etc. I never have to drive if I want to go out, and if I walk I don’t have to worry about driving or calling a cab. Add to that the fact that if I want to walk home at 2 in the morning, I don’t have to worry about safety. It’s just not an issue here.

Now, that’s reason enough to love this place. But for the piece de resistance: Downtown Burbank is now offering free wireless internet to the entire area. Within 3 weeks every business, café, office building, and shop in the downtown area will be within range of the wireless internet. How great is that? Burbank is the first city in the LA area to offer this, and I for one couldn’t be happier. Ah, good stuff, good stuff.

Ridiculously Cute Picture of Fatty (aka Wiggles McGoo)

For no reason whatsoever

Since I'm on the Subject...

(originally posted at the Night Train New Mercury Weblog)

Of talking about things I don't get done at the rate I'd like, let's talk about writing. I like to consider myself a writer, but for some reason I think of myself as a fraud when I say that. Not a healthy thing, I know, but my writing has become so sporadic and infrequent, it's difficult to consider myself a "real" writer at this juncture. I know it's all hogwash, but when I think of a writer, I think of somebody who spends a little time every day and works on what they're writing, and has actually finished several things, and does exercises to improve their craft, and all that good stuff.

Well, I don't. Why, might you ask? Because writing hurts. But the people that do it, I suppose, present company included, do it because they have that burning need to tell a story. Even if it's bad.

And it's not that I don't want to write, because I do. It's just incredibly hard to have the discipline to sit down on a regular basis and put together a bunch of words into some kind of coherent order that tells a decent story. Part of it has to do, I suppose, with where you write. I can't write at home because there are too many things that I let distract me. It's hard to concentrate. Home is a place of relaxation and fun, not work. And writing is not relaxing and fun, at least for me. It's gruelling and painful, but in a good way (sort of). I've tried going to coffee shops, because that seems to be mecca for writers in this town. I've tried Starbucks, I've tried Peet's Coffee and Tea, I've tried the other Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble... but I can't get anything done there either. I think maybe because the places are so small, I feel cramped, and there's already a hundred other writers camping out and working on their masterpiece books and screenplays. I can't help but look around and wonder what they're writing instead of spending time working on my own pieces. It's silly, I know, but it almost feels like you're in a little race with the other writers, to see who can finish the most things the fastest, and still be the best. Also the tables in coffee shops are terrible for writing. They're tiny, and usually they wobble.

When I was in college in Dallas, and writing my full length play for my senior playwriting class, I remember going out to a little "greasy spoon" type diner to write. It was a Mom and Pop type joint, and it wasn't close by. I think it was in Addison or Richardson, or one of those suburban towns outside the city. But it was a nice place, never too busy, and I would order a piece of chocolate pie and a coffee, and sit at a booth with my pad and write. I actually got a lot done there. Probably because the tables were big and solid - bolted to the floor (you've got to have stability when you're packing away greasy diner food). I had room to spread out and breathe, and no one else was working on they're plays. I had no competition. Plus diners, unlike coffee shops, give free refills on coffee, and have tasty chocolate pie. So you can get good and hopped up on sugar and caffiene as your writing (which always seems to take some of the pain away).

There's a place around the corner of my house called Ben's Deli (and apparently their corned beef is the world's best) that sort of reminds me of the place back in Dallas I used to go to. I love going there for breakfast. Maybe I should try writing there some nights. I hope they have chocolate pie.