Friday, April 28, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
The Sight of Music
Today I've been listening to ITunes internet radio while putting together some media lists, and there was a block of eighties music on that really took me back. See, I'm the generation they tested MTV on. I graduated high school in 1981, and that was the same year that the Buggles said video killed the radio star.
Soon, there were all sorts of competitive shows for the MTV audience - Friday Night Videos, NightFlight, etc...and things were...experimental. There was a symbiotic relationship between sound and picture and editing that had never occured before.
(And yes, I know Scopitones were around as were performance pieces by bands on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, but there wasn't the merging of storytelling and music quite like there was in the eighties.)
Then, in 1983, while I was drunk off of cheap beer at my fraternity's house there was something else entirely that burst onto television screens - Miami Vice.
A hybrid of eighties rock/pop music and story. Each influencing the other to such a degree that to lose one meant you lost the other. Musicians Glenn Frey, Phil Collins, Sheena Easton and others guest-starred on the show. The look, the feel, the sound, the entire persona - it was the eighties wrapped up in a linen suit and no socks. Pure destination television that stopped parties in their tracks. People would pile into the House "den" and wait to see what happened next and what music the show would play that week.
Intense. Over the top. Aural pornography. The music was so integral it actually filled in some of the story gaps, and provided a narrative voice to the action. At the very least, it was the subtext, the inner monologue for the characters on the show.
It got me thinking... has there been another TV show of its type - meaning an intense hybrid of sound and picture? Has there been a TV show where to lose the soundtrack also meant you lost part of the story?
There have to be some other shows like that out there in the electronic ether....doesn't there?
For the life of me, I don't see them in my head.
Probably because the radio isn't on.
Soon, there were all sorts of competitive shows for the MTV audience - Friday Night Videos, NightFlight, etc...and things were...experimental. There was a symbiotic relationship between sound and picture and editing that had never occured before.
(And yes, I know Scopitones were around as were performance pieces by bands on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, but there wasn't the merging of storytelling and music quite like there was in the eighties.)
Then, in 1983, while I was drunk off of cheap beer at my fraternity's house there was something else entirely that burst onto television screens - Miami Vice.
A hybrid of eighties rock/pop music and story. Each influencing the other to such a degree that to lose one meant you lost the other. Musicians Glenn Frey, Phil Collins, Sheena Easton and others guest-starred on the show. The look, the feel, the sound, the entire persona - it was the eighties wrapped up in a linen suit and no socks. Pure destination television that stopped parties in their tracks. People would pile into the House "den" and wait to see what happened next and what music the show would play that week.
Twenty or so people crammed in a 10X15 room, spilling beer and food and sweating on one another. God forbid some stray partygoer opened the door at the wrong moment and wandered inside - he would likely be pelted with beer and popcorn and told exactly how harsh his punishment would be... once the show was over. We had to see and hear the show first.
Intense. Over the top. Aural pornography. The music was so integral it actually filled in some of the story gaps, and provided a narrative voice to the action. At the very least, it was the subtext, the inner monologue for the characters on the show.
It got me thinking... has there been another TV show of its type - meaning an intense hybrid of sound and picture? Has there been a TV show where to lose the soundtrack also meant you lost part of the story?
There have to be some other shows like that out there in the electronic ether....doesn't there?
For the life of me, I don't see them in my head.
Probably because the radio isn't on.
This Is What Those SciFi Original Movies Pay For:
From Cynopsis:
The SCI FI Channel has unveiled a full development slate of original programming. In addition, SCI FI will launch its new online broadband channel, SCI FI Pulse on May 8. Pulse will feature complete episodes of select SCI FI original series, original movies, behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes and more. Over the summer, Pulse will premiere its original content including a weekly news show, the return of the online film festival Exposure, webisode spinoffs of popular series, and user-generated programming.
The scripted series currently in development include:
Caprica – set 50 years before the events in Battlestar Galactica, the people of this society are dealing with a technology breakthrough that marries artificial intelligence with a mechanical body to create the first living robot, a Cylon.
Snap – a one-hour thriller about a Federal agent who uncovers a deep, growing conspiracy about the internet infiltrating every aspect of our lives manipulating humans toward some large unknown agenda.
Persons Unknown – several strangers find themselves in a deserted town with no recollection on how they arrived there with no escape.
The Bishop – a young slacker leading a charmed life discovers he has a supernatural power rooted in his lineage and his unknown father.
Blink – A group of Afterlife investigators try to help those about to make a terrible choice before their destiny is sealed forever.
Miniseries:
Chariots of the Gods – six-hour miniseries based on the novel by Erich von Daniken, Raiders of the Lost Ark meets The Da Vinci Code in this tale of extraterrestrial intervention of human evolution.
Reality Series:
Destination Truth – one man's search for the truth of the unexplained travels the globe. Each week host Josh Gates will visit a different mysterious destination, such as Fire Worm of Mongolia or he may be on domestic soil in search of Big Foot.
Late Night Series:
Ground Control – half-hour, news/talk show explores human interest and news stories relating to the world of science fiction and the unexplained, the paranormal and the supernatural.
Untitled Ministry of Unknown Science Sketch Comedy Series – a magazine show format that features mockumentary segments, commercial parodies and other comedy
sketches.
The SCI FI Channel has unveiled a full development slate of original programming. In addition, SCI FI will launch its new online broadband channel, SCI FI Pulse on May 8. Pulse will feature complete episodes of select SCI FI original series, original movies, behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes and more. Over the summer, Pulse will premiere its original content including a weekly news show, the return of the online film festival Exposure, webisode spinoffs of popular series, and user-generated programming.
The scripted series currently in development include:
Caprica – set 50 years before the events in Battlestar Galactica, the people of this society are dealing with a technology breakthrough that marries artificial intelligence with a mechanical body to create the first living robot, a Cylon.
Snap – a one-hour thriller about a Federal agent who uncovers a deep, growing conspiracy about the internet infiltrating every aspect of our lives manipulating humans toward some large unknown agenda.
Persons Unknown – several strangers find themselves in a deserted town with no recollection on how they arrived there with no escape.
The Bishop – a young slacker leading a charmed life discovers he has a supernatural power rooted in his lineage and his unknown father.
Blink – A group of Afterlife investigators try to help those about to make a terrible choice before their destiny is sealed forever.
Miniseries:
Chariots of the Gods – six-hour miniseries based on the novel by Erich von Daniken, Raiders of the Lost Ark meets The Da Vinci Code in this tale of extraterrestrial intervention of human evolution.
Reality Series:
Destination Truth – one man's search for the truth of the unexplained travels the globe. Each week host Josh Gates will visit a different mysterious destination, such as Fire Worm of Mongolia or he may be on domestic soil in search of Big Foot.
Late Night Series:
Ground Control – half-hour, news/talk show explores human interest and news stories relating to the world of science fiction and the unexplained, the paranormal and the supernatural.
Untitled Ministry of Unknown Science Sketch Comedy Series – a magazine show format that features mockumentary segments, commercial parodies and other comedy
sketches.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
From the What NOT to do Department:
I read this in a screenplay today, and nearly choked:
We feel there's something heroic hiding inside him.
(This was written as part of a character's description)
If I see this from any of you, I WILL rip your script in half right then and there.
From the Trades...
-- Apparently it was a somber affair last night for United 93 at Tribeca. Sobbing was heard after the screen went dark. Families of the passengers on the hijacked flight (I will not call them victims - they went down fighting) "expressed satisfaction" with the picture and the respectful promotion by distributor, Universal.
-- Will Smith has signed on for I Am Legend based on the Richard Matheson book. This will be the third time this movie has been made. The first being Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price, and the second being The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston. It was almost made ten years ago with Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Ridley Scott.
-- SciFi Channel has greenlit several new mini-series including Motel Man and Snap. They are using the mini-series model pioneered by The 4400 - 6 episode mini series followed by a DVD release and foreign sales. If interest is high enough they continue with an ongoing series. This is a business model we've talked about before on this (and other) blogs.
-- Will Smith has signed on for I Am Legend based on the Richard Matheson book. This will be the third time this movie has been made. The first being Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price, and the second being The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston. It was almost made ten years ago with Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Ridley Scott.
-- SciFi Channel has greenlit several new mini-series including Motel Man and Snap. They are using the mini-series model pioneered by The 4400 - 6 episode mini series followed by a DVD release and foreign sales. If interest is high enough they continue with an ongoing series. This is a business model we've talked about before on this (and other) blogs.
Monday, April 24, 2006
I'm Going to Pick Your Brains....
I have been offered the opportunity for fame and fortune (Shelly's words not mine) by writing an article for an upcoming issue of Scr(i)pt magazine after you folks graciously responded to our panel on DVD Extras.
So before I begin this massive undertaking - the overall subject of which will be writing for the DVD market - are there any questions on your mind that you want me to answer in this article?
Any specific how-to's? (titles, outlines, concepts, etc...)
Rules? (How many locations? How many roles?)
Experiences? (No sleep in two days and tonight we set a man on fire!)
What if scenarios? (what if it gets made?)
I have a good idea how I'm going to structure the article, I just want to make sure I'm communicating what you need to hear.
So before I begin this massive undertaking - the overall subject of which will be writing for the DVD market - are there any questions on your mind that you want me to answer in this article?
Any specific how-to's? (titles, outlines, concepts, etc...)
Rules? (How many locations? How many roles?)
Experiences? (No sleep in two days and tonight we set a man on fire!)
What if scenarios? (what if it gets made?)
I have a good idea how I'm going to structure the article, I just want to make sure I'm communicating what you need to hear.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Oh What a Beautiful Morning!
Light posting post- Scriptwriter's Showcase and other stuff. I am now starting to feel sick and flu-ish (the second time this year). I am indulging in Ny-Quill liqui-caps and orange juice. Hence the ramble of this post.
What's interesting to note however is that I now sleep under the stars here at the Secret Mountain HQ. Yes, I have a skylight open to the brisk night sky. This however was not intentional, but the act of one of my landlord's construction crew who have been working on the roof, and put his foot through the drywall.
A great view by the way.
I just hope the red-tailed hawks that fly by don't take to the opening.
Yes, I am still working on B.E.M.
And The Knightmare.
And Stacked Deck.
And Alienated.
And a reality TV show that could actually be worthwhile.
And a few (A few- try Six!) other projects that have all twisted themselves up around my sickness.
I am going to sleep now and get up when I feel better. Think Sunday.
Ladies, feel free to shower me in chicken soup and TLC. Sponge baths optional.
What's interesting to note however is that I now sleep under the stars here at the Secret Mountain HQ. Yes, I have a skylight open to the brisk night sky. This however was not intentional, but the act of one of my landlord's construction crew who have been working on the roof, and put his foot through the drywall.
A great view by the way.
I just hope the red-tailed hawks that fly by don't take to the opening.
Yes, I am still working on B.E.M.
And The Knightmare.
And Stacked Deck.
And Alienated.
And a reality TV show that could actually be worthwhile.
And a few (A few- try Six!) other projects that have all twisted themselves up around my sickness.
I am going to sleep now and get up when I feel better. Think Sunday.
Ladies, feel free to shower me in chicken soup and TLC. Sponge baths optional.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
An Open Letter to Tony Jordan, Simon Crawford Collins, Jane Featherstone and Anyone at the BBC Who's Reading...
Dear Hustlers,
I just wanted to express my profound love for your series Hustle and its cast and crew. Every season for six weeks, I have been amazed, amused and throughly entertained. Kudos to you! (pun intended)
My only regret is that 6 is too few episodes for a Hustle fanatic such as myself. Just when I am in the throes of ecstasy knowing that, "the con is on", it's over with, and I feel left holding the bag. Much like Eddie does when he balances his cash register every night, I wager.
If it is within your power to do so, I wish that you would up the series quota to at least 10 episodes per season - small enough to maintain the quality, large enough to add an overall series arc. You have done something similar with your Spooks and Life on Mars shows (both of which I am also a fan of, by the way) to great success.
Until next season,
Bill
Ps. Can I have Jaime Murray's phone number?
I just wanted to express my profound love for your series Hustle and its cast and crew. Every season for six weeks, I have been amazed, amused and throughly entertained. Kudos to you! (pun intended)
My only regret is that 6 is too few episodes for a Hustle fanatic such as myself. Just when I am in the throes of ecstasy knowing that, "the con is on", it's over with, and I feel left holding the bag. Much like Eddie does when he balances his cash register every night, I wager.
If it is within your power to do so, I wish that you would up the series quota to at least 10 episodes per season - small enough to maintain the quality, large enough to add an overall series arc. You have done something similar with your Spooks and Life on Mars shows (both of which I am also a fan of, by the way) to great success.
Until next season,
Bill
Ps. Can I have Jaime Murray's phone number?
Friday, April 14, 2006
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
"The Times, They Are A Changinnnn...."
Seems ABC has started to embrace the online model we had been discussing earlier - shows with commercials available online for free in addition to having pay downloads without commercials.
You can read about it here.
(Thanks go to Roger RmJet for the heads up!)
Edit: Rupert Murdoch also agrees with your mad pulp bastard as he initiates video streaming of Fox shows on his "other network", MySpace...
(and if you don't think MySpace is a network, you haven't been paying attention...)
You can read about it here.
(Thanks go to Roger RmJet for the heads up!)
Edit: Rupert Murdoch also agrees with your mad pulp bastard as he initiates video streaming of Fox shows on his "other network", MySpace...
(and if you don't think MySpace is a network, you haven't been paying attention...)
Monday, April 10, 2006
Scriptwriter's Showcase Coverage
I had a great time this weekend at the Scriptwriter's Showcase held at the Sheraton Universal. The activities started on friday and even though my panel wasn't until sunday, I decided to go down and attend a few of the panels. This whole writing is a learning process as well, and it never hurts to hear other writers' tales and techniques.
I got to hang in the VIP room which was a conference room on one of the lower levels. Bigwood grain and leather table with comfy chairs. Plenty of coffee and always someone to gab with. I had the pleasure of meeting both Stephen Susco (The Grudge) and Simon Kinberg( Mr. & Mrs. Smith). I was quite shocked when Fun Joel introduced us and Stephen said he read my blog. Both he and Simon were gentlemen, and said they would check out my blog for future posts. Simon has this perfect head of hair and an unnnatural affection for Miami Vice fashion and violence (not that he wears a linen suit and carries an uzi or anything), and Stephen watches everything on DVD. I mean everything. When I told him of some of the sets I've worked on his eyes lit up.
Both guys gave great panel along with Bill Martell and John Cox (currently writing the Sgt. Rock movie) on the elements of surprise and their conversation really gve us all something to think about. I got on the subway home excited about the upcoming panels. If they were all this good, I could really come away from this thing armed with some new perspectives and tools to get the script done.
Saturday, I dropped by to hear the videogaming panel. This is an interesting media that is ripe with opportunity, but it also doesn't have any rules set up like feature filmmaking does. It is the "wild west" of writing. I also started to get really nervous about my panel on Sunday - oy! I had better go home, brush up and polish my delivery.
Sunday, I got up early and got to the show just in time to hear Phil Morton and several others talk about pitching. Phil was great and he had them all rolling in the aisles with stories of how he has screwed up over the years and how he was there to make sure everyone learned from his mistakes. Wotta guy!
We had coffee later after the panel and chatted about life and writing and all that stuff. Phil and I, even though we have corresponded on the Scribosphere, have never met before. It was like meeting a long lost fraternity brother at a reunion - you pick right up at your last conversation.
Then it was time for my panel, DVD Extras. The moderator was Ray Morton, a writer for
Scr(i)pt magazine and my co-panelist was Dave Verini, their senior writer. We started off very well with easy questions and I launched into my spiel about how it shouldn't be called "extras" but "essentials" because they are part of the DVD experience. People understood where your mad, pulp bastard was coming from, and I began to relax. They weren't going to ask for their money back.
Tony Teofilo joined us and the panel really began to loosen up and field some good questions. We covered how we all got started in the business, how we broke in as writers, what was exciting about DVD, what the future held in store -- all those things that as writers we want to know about because quite frankly there are some days we think we're not going to make it.
I hope we put those fears to rest and gave people the confidence and the tools to not wait for things to happen, but get out there and make them happen. Things that we talk about here on the blog. All of us filed out for a lovely sunday lunch and coffee.
Later were several panels and people that I watched and enjoyed. One thing I came up against (and I say that not meaning there was a fight or anything) was a person on a panel who had it in her mind that there was indie film then there was that "cheap genre stuff on video". I didn't have the balls to stand up and take her to task then and there, because my parents raised me right, but perhaps I should have called her on her snobbery. Several people who knew me in the audience looked my way, but I let it pass. It wasn't the time nor the place.
That evening was the networking party where the attendees and the panelists mixed elbows and boozes. I met several very nice folks from all over the world so I'd like to give them a little shout out:
G. W. -- Dude, she's not going to sleep with you. You are way out of your league. Especially when she wears that top.
Gabrielle at ScreenplayLab.com -- I think a script reading IS in order.
Johnathan -I look forward to seeing the footage from that camera you bought. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.
Fox - oh, Fox. It was a distinct pleasure.
Susanna - also a pleasure.
Frank - thanks for the software. I'll put it to good use.
Scott - say "hi" to Denis McGrath when you get back to Toronto.
Michelle from Toronto -- I never got your card. I am crushed.
Karl -- cheers, mate!
Tiffany -- your smile lights up the room.
Aaron - I've got to check into this videogame thing.
Paul -- once the proposal is set I will send it to you.
EDIT: Fun Joel has a breakdown on the specifics of the two panels he attended that you will want to read here.
I got to hang in the VIP room which was a conference room on one of the lower levels. Bigwood grain and leather table with comfy chairs. Plenty of coffee and always someone to gab with. I had the pleasure of meeting both Stephen Susco (The Grudge) and Simon Kinberg( Mr. & Mrs. Smith). I was quite shocked when Fun Joel introduced us and Stephen said he read my blog. Both he and Simon were gentlemen, and said they would check out my blog for future posts. Simon has this perfect head of hair and an unnnatural affection for Miami Vice fashion and violence (not that he wears a linen suit and carries an uzi or anything), and Stephen watches everything on DVD. I mean everything. When I told him of some of the sets I've worked on his eyes lit up.
Both guys gave great panel along with Bill Martell and John Cox (currently writing the Sgt. Rock movie) on the elements of surprise and their conversation really gve us all something to think about. I got on the subway home excited about the upcoming panels. If they were all this good, I could really come away from this thing armed with some new perspectives and tools to get the script done.
Saturday, I dropped by to hear the videogaming panel. This is an interesting media that is ripe with opportunity, but it also doesn't have any rules set up like feature filmmaking does. It is the "wild west" of writing. I also started to get really nervous about my panel on Sunday - oy! I had better go home, brush up and polish my delivery.
Sunday, I got up early and got to the show just in time to hear Phil Morton and several others talk about pitching. Phil was great and he had them all rolling in the aisles with stories of how he has screwed up over the years and how he was there to make sure everyone learned from his mistakes. Wotta guy!
We had coffee later after the panel and chatted about life and writing and all that stuff. Phil and I, even though we have corresponded on the Scribosphere, have never met before. It was like meeting a long lost fraternity brother at a reunion - you pick right up at your last conversation.
Then it was time for my panel, DVD Extras. The moderator was Ray Morton, a writer for
Scr(i)pt magazine and my co-panelist was Dave Verini, their senior writer. We started off very well with easy questions and I launched into my spiel about how it shouldn't be called "extras" but "essentials" because they are part of the DVD experience. People understood where your mad, pulp bastard was coming from, and I began to relax. They weren't going to ask for their money back.
Tony Teofilo joined us and the panel really began to loosen up and field some good questions. We covered how we all got started in the business, how we broke in as writers, what was exciting about DVD, what the future held in store -- all those things that as writers we want to know about because quite frankly there are some days we think we're not going to make it.
I hope we put those fears to rest and gave people the confidence and the tools to not wait for things to happen, but get out there and make them happen. Things that we talk about here on the blog. All of us filed out for a lovely sunday lunch and coffee.
Later were several panels and people that I watched and enjoyed. One thing I came up against (and I say that not meaning there was a fight or anything) was a person on a panel who had it in her mind that there was indie film then there was that "cheap genre stuff on video". I didn't have the balls to stand up and take her to task then and there, because my parents raised me right, but perhaps I should have called her on her snobbery. Several people who knew me in the audience looked my way, but I let it pass. It wasn't the time nor the place.
That evening was the networking party where the attendees and the panelists mixed elbows and boozes. I met several very nice folks from all over the world so I'd like to give them a little shout out:
G. W. -- Dude, she's not going to sleep with you. You are way out of your league. Especially when she wears that top.
Gabrielle at ScreenplayLab.com -- I think a script reading IS in order.
Johnathan -I look forward to seeing the footage from that camera you bought. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.
Fox - oh, Fox. It was a distinct pleasure.
Susanna - also a pleasure.
Frank - thanks for the software. I'll put it to good use.
Scott - say "hi" to Denis McGrath when you get back to Toronto.
Michelle from Toronto -- I never got your card. I am crushed.
Karl -- cheers, mate!
Tiffany -- your smile lights up the room.
Aaron - I've got to check into this videogame thing.
Paul -- once the proposal is set I will send it to you.
EDIT: Fun Joel has a breakdown on the specifics of the two panels he attended that you will want to read here.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Check it out!
A friend of DISContent, Michael Alan Nelson waxes poetic about his two series War of the Worlds: Second Wave and X-Isle here at Comic Book Resources.
Give the guy some top love the next time you visit your local comic book shop, and pick up his books. You'll be glad you did.
See?
The Critics are Unanimous!
I was interviewed by the wonderful Diane Kristine of Blog Critics about my upcoming panel on DVD Extras at the Scriptwriter's Showcase.
Kewl...
Ps. Be sure to pick up the upcoming May issue of Scr(i)pt magazine featuring color commentary on breaking into the business by yours truly. Article by the blogosphere's Warren Hsu Leonard.
Kewl...
Ps. Be sure to pick up the upcoming May issue of Scr(i)pt magazine featuring color commentary on breaking into the business by yours truly. Article by the blogosphere's Warren Hsu Leonard.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Hang on!
Since many of you liked the Superman cartoon I posted, I thought I would continue this Saturday Afternoon Matinee with the first chapter from one of my favorite scifi cliffhangers from Republic Studios:
Radar Men from the Moon!
So climb into your atomic rocketpacks boys and girls, and hang on as we jet through the stratosphere to answer the challenge posed by the evil forces of Retik, Master of the Moon!
Edit: I just thought of this -- wouldn't these serials, cartoons and newsreels be considered "DVD Extras" today?
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Which One Are You?
Just got this via email from Matt Busch:
"There are three kinds of people in the world: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, "What happened?!"
Time to get back to work...
"There are three kinds of people in the world: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, "What happened?!"
Time to get back to work...
This Is Entertainment...
from the old school.
Imagine it's Saturday afternoon, 1940. You're a young kid, and you have a small thin dime clutched in your hand because you're going to see the movies with all your pals from the neighborhood. That ten cents will get you a box of popcorn, a newsreel, a serial, a short subject, a feature and this... pure entertainment come to life.
You don't get this kind of entertainment at the box office anymore...
and they wonder why people stay at home.
Imagine it's Saturday afternoon, 1940. You're a young kid, and you have a small thin dime clutched in your hand because you're going to see the movies with all your pals from the neighborhood. That ten cents will get you a box of popcorn, a newsreel, a serial, a short subject, a feature and this... pure entertainment come to life.
You don't get this kind of entertainment at the box office anymore...
and they wonder why people stay at home.
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