WRITING IN SECTIONS

I'm getting a huge kick out of writing in ten page increments. It's weird, yet whenever I have started to write in ten page blocks I become a bit less stressed out and the writing seems to get easier.

The only theory I can come up with is that instead of worrying about how to get a full 90 to 120 page script completed, I am just focusing instead on the small steps to get to that finish line. Ten pages at a time might be the way for me to go forward.

I might make a attempt at writing a few full length screenplays this way.

Stay weird!

EPISODE ONE HAS BEEN WRITTEN

I've just completed the roughdraft the screenplay to episode one of the spy serial that I am working on. So far this is what I've learned:

The target finish time for each episode is at ten pages, so I thus write have only a maximum limit of ten pages. This of course following the formula that each page equals a minute of screen time.

Like a good beef brisket, you need to know when to trim the fat and any other needless crap. As I wrote, I would just constantly take a few steps back and trim scenes down to their essence.

I then went over it and eliminated characters and dialog. The less the better. I only have ten minutes to thrill, even far less than that, really.

Now I am off to write episode two. Stay weird!

A LIGHT OVER AT THE FRANKENSTEIN PLACE

Well, things are looking up a bit. After a week or so of bad juju, I've had a run of good luck these past few days. Things are indeed going for the better and next year, if all goes well, will be a greater year for me.

For those stalking me: I have written ten pages and may shorten it or so to make it into a mini episode. The reason to do so is to make the film into a serial, as I've probably have mentioned that I am doing, and to have each episode cap out at ten minutes or less.

In doing so, I am hoping that I can then take a season's worth of episodes or two seasons worth and make film out of it which would result in a full length DVD. Fingers crossed.

A RUN OF BAD LUCK

I don't know why, but lately I've have had a run of bad luck. Really god-awful stinking evil juju bad luck.

It started last Friday when after a trip from Wal-Mart a 2 gallon milk jug exploded in the trunk of my car. Milk was everywhere you can imagine. It was on my food, household goods, and as I later would discover on the bottom of the trunk within the compartment where the spare tire is kept. A great big pool of milk.

Now one can imagine what can happen in the summer heat when you have a trunk full of quickly spoiling milk. You can remove vast amount of white liquid with towels and what not. You can even remove the trunk's upholstery. But somehow, someway. the milk finds a way to stink the car up to high heaven.

It's taken days now, using a rigid routine of coffee grounds, baking soda, laundry detergent, and airing out the car, to finally get the rotten vile smell out.

New rule of grocery shopping in my family: all dairy products are to be kept up front and not in the trunk during transport from and to home.

Yet, that is not the end of this tale. I had a flat and had to borrow money from my parents to get a new tire. A humiliating experience, to say the least.

There is more, but it would be a laundry list of one bad after the next. On the bright side of things, maybe this means something incredible will happen to me next week. I really hope so.

For those keeping score. I haven't written a word in my screenplay yet. But today I plan on writing a page or two. Baby steps and all that.

Until Monday (I'm taking a mini-break from blogging), stay weird!

NOT SO HIP

Been suffering from hip pains for the past several days now. I was lifting some weights, trying to get back in shape, and I guess I lifted too much too fast, and well...

The pisser to the whole thing is that I have had so many hip surgeries in the past, since the first grade, in fact. This only just aggravated pain that was already there.

The true downer part, besides extreme pain and no medical insurance, is that it distracts me during writing. I can't seem to sit for more than ten minutes at a time.

But the good news would be that I did find a few desert locations after all. Some of which are only a hour away or so. Not only that, but I may have someone who was in small bit roles in films such as DUKES OF HAZZARD (the remake) and a few more mainstream films including a Oliver Stone flick, interested in being in the film. I mentioned the zero pay and he didn't seem to mind, so far.

I may still include a snow and ice location just to add more exteriors to it. I will have to keep in mind the logistics of that one.

For those keeping score, the page count is now closer to ten pages. I am including a alternate opening just in case the desert locations don't pan out. My goal is to start filmming in October. The desert stuff being first.

Now I am going to sign off and take a few Advils and call it a day. Until next time, schlockheads.

Stay weird!

TRADING A DESERT FOR THE NORTH POLE

As I continue to write the Spy script I am, in between, searching for locations. The first five minutes or so opens up in a desert locale, something that resembles Roswell. Here in my home state there is some desert in the panhandle, but as far as locating the exact coordinates, that is the real trick.

Everyone around these parts say that it is either here or there, but can't say for sure exactly where. Not only can I not find it, I am not sure if I want to. You see, ever since I was a kid there have always been urban legends of sorts circling the pan handle.

A seventh grade history teacher of mine once commented that the panhandle was littered with mutant people and shelled burnt campers. The HILLS HAVE EYES always came to mind and the fear of the panhandle increased after the remakes were released.

I am not sure what to do next. I have been sending out messageboard posts, hoping that someone will tell me exactly where the deserts are and if they are what the urban legends describe. I

f not the alternative would be to shoot the rest of the film and the first opening sequence last. I would shoot that in the winter and just say that it's the North Pole or something. It would change the way the film is told, storwise, but may in fact be a better choice. Stay weird!

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO FAMILY MOVIES?

Let me rephrase the question. It should be more like, what the hell happened to low budget family movies?

There was a time when the mom and pop video rental stores had INVISIBLE MOM and REMOTE CONTROL, and I know they were not the best in terms of quality, but they were certainly far better than the crap that I see today.

What kicked off this rant of sorts, is when I rented a family movie, for my own family's movie night, and the plot centers around a group of kids who go on a ghost hunt. Simple enough premise, right? Plus as a bonus you have that whole spooky paranormal stuff which is like pulp for kids.

What ruins the whole experience is...well it's a laundry list, really. The first and foremost is the acting. The kids have have some leeway. I mean, after all, they are just kids.

However, the adults have no excuse. They should know better and gotten their acting chops a bit together. Yet the whole thing is like watching a really bad junior college play.

Then there is the dialogue. There is just too much of it. The amount of it is staggering. The script must have been huge. It's a wonder how the kids in the flick even remembered half of it. The old screenwriting adage, "less is more, was not paid any heed to here.

Story-wise, it should be a slam dunk. You start with a legend, then a small subplot, and then back to the legend and a ending. But in this flick, you have characters that almost have their own subplot that detract from the overall storyline and the main subplot which is predictable to say the least.

Then there is the camera work that went into it. Man, oh, man. Let's not even go into that. It would make for a whole new post and a longer rant. But you get the idea of how I felt about this movie.

I miss the days when Roger Corman, Fred Olen Ray, and even Charles Band would crank out kids flicks. At least there was some entertainment value in them.

WRITING TOTAL: 7-11-08

As I have done before in the past, I plan on updating my blog with page totals of my screeenplays. It keeps me both honest and acts a constant reminder to keep pushing that rock to the finish line.

At the moment, I have now written ten pages of a spy genre flick. It is funny how the script is progressing so far. It started, during the brainstorming phase, in one direction and now it has taken a unique and unexpected turn. So far, so good.

I wish I could reveal more, but I can't. Not yet at least. I can say though that I am aiming at a Summer 2009 target date and it will start life as a serial-for free! Nuff said. Stay weird!

KILLING YOUR IDEAS

I came across this interesting blog post and it struck a chord. Like most writers, I have several notebooks and a 3-ring binder filled with scribbles of one idea or another. Also, like most, I have found myself trying to work on a idea that in the end falls flat.

The reasons are far too numerous to mention, but I can say that one of more reoccurring one is that I will start a script, based on a one sentence idea, only to see it burn in flames after the first act. This is because some of my ideas are, sometimes, just not enough to carry itself through a whole three-act structured script.

I can understand fully aware of the desire, and almost obsessional state, a writer or any other artist has when struggling to make a idea work. In your heart you want to see it come alive but the logical side of the brain argues that it would be best to move on.

Anyway, take a moment to check out this post to possibly free you from whatever script is tying you down. Occasionally, it is perhaps best to step away from a idea to free yourself to go in another direction.

DOC SAVAGE VERSUS CLASSIC MONSTERS

Over at THE GROOVY AGE OF HORROR, blogger Curt Purcell, has posted some very cool mock book covers in a what-if series of DOC SAVAGE versus some classic monsters. The imaginary line-up includes Godzilla, Dracula, and more.

Check out the blog for more awesome pulp goodness. It's a shame that they are not real, though.

UPDATE: 7-8-08

Progress on the two scripts are going slower than expected. Summertime is here and there always seems to be something that needs to be done and with temps hitting the upper 90's and beyond, it tends to make things worse.

I've been researching spy genre flicks, and by researching I mean watching, and jotting down notes here and there.

Thus far the page count is at seven for the Spy Genre Flick and six on the sci-fi horror flick.

Stay weird!

HAVE A GREAT FOURTH OF JULY!

Just be sure to cool it with the boom-booms. I would hate to see anyone lose a hand, claw, or even tentacle over the weekend. Stay weird!

REMOVING YOUTUBE VIDS

As you may have heard Google, which owns Youtube, lost a case against Viacom and now have to turn over every Youtube viewer's IP address and viewing history. The info is to be used be used in a lawsuit against Google that Viacom has been pursuing for a year now. Full details can be found here.

As you may know I sometimes have vid clips from Youtube to showcase here, but due to recent events I am now removing all but indie vids off this blog.

UPDATE: 7-2-08

Thus far I am at close to page five on the spy script and have since added a page to the other project.

I've been trying out new "Jedi" mind tricks as I write including shutting off any nagging thoughts that try to creep in, and looking at the script with the eyes of a producer, constantly asking myself what would Sam Arkoff and Roger Corman do here. To be more mainstream; what would Robert Rodriquez do to film such and such scene.

So far the tricks are working and the work flow, though not as strong as I would like, is going far better than expected.

Stay weird!

PAUL BLAISDELL REMEMBERED

It's no secret that one of my favorite monster makers was Paul Blaisdell and his wife. In 2006 Bob Burns, who was a good friend of the Paul Blaisdell's, spoke on behalf of the two when receiving a Monster Kid Hall of Fame award in their honor. I came across the video clip of the event and thought that I would share it with you: