Happy Birthday Eddie Kaye Thomas!

Well, I think I'm ready to start working toward a movie. It would be stupid to do this whole trip, and have nothing to show for it. I'm not talking about wishful thinking; I'm starting to feel a movie.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Eddie Kaye Thomas! I maintained a fansite for Eddie for four years--until I lost interest and felt it was more important to tend to my own career. He turns 27 today. Yay Eddie!

On A Mission

Earlier this week, I read Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. So good, it made me want to go out and write my own feminist book. But that will be another time. At the very least, I was inspired enough to try and dig up my copy of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, which I started my senior year of college but never finished.

In more relevant news, my plan to get money to go down to SXSW is almost done, and should be ready within the next 48 hours. I just have to fix a few things and make a short intro video, and it should be up in no time.

Living Like A Genius

Today I had another "what am I doing?" moment, and I'm not talking about the book. I was preparing to do a video on Britney Spears, and what "she really wants"...attention.

Then I realized something. Is this really going to add to my career at all? It's not like I revise the text or rehearse it. I'm not sure what the point to doing a video like that is, other than expressing myself.

This is on top of another ephiphany I had last night. I decided that I NEED TO START LIVING LIKE A GENIUS. I'm talking about when I was in college, positively deluded that one day, I would be regarded as a great artist. I'm ready to start living the life I wanted back then, albeit with more responsibility.

Earlier this year, I read a book called Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. In the book, the author encouraged you to write a detailed plan as to how you will achieve your wealth and success. For most of today, I have been working on a new plan. I will continue to work on it tonight.

I ended up posting my sentiments on Britney in a Velvet Rope thread (click here and scroll down to "Miss Modular").

What Am I DOING?!?!

Last night, I made a video. As you know, for the past several months, I've been working on a book that critiques screenwriting books. Well, I shot it, edited it, and uploaded the result to YouTube:

Before I went to bed, something occurred to me. "Of all the things I could write about, and I'm writing about THIS. Compared to other matters, this seems so trivial. It's not about there having a limited audience for this sort of book. It doesn't seem quite as important to me as it did even a month ago. Besides, do I really want to be known for writing a book about screenwriting? As they say, "It's always the first book that defines you."

Maybe an essay will suffice.

ahhhhh....

Well, I'm starting to have visions about a movie, and I haven't even had to force myself to have them. It occurred to me last night not to worry about the "real" details--money, where I'm going to shoot it, even what format I'm going to shoot it on. Just write the script, and everything else will come to me on its own.

I'm thinking about getting a grant for equipment, though. There's a lot that I'd like to buy, but I need the money. Maybe the grant will help me buy it.

Fried My Little Brains

Sometimes when I think I'm done with this book, I'm not. I spent last week reading Lew Hunter's Screenwriting 434. Previously, I read the two books I took out on Interlibrary Loan. Over the weekend, I read two editions of the book that got me fired up about writing a book like this in the first place: Syd Field's Screenplay.

What bothered me about Field's book is his calvinist implication that all movies have three acts. Aristotle never said that drama had three acts; what he did say was that all dramas had a beginning, middle and an end. What Mr. Field is saying is entirely obvious, and worse, there are other gurus who takes it seriously! Another thing that struck me about the book is how quaint it actually is--the ideas are too basic, and compared to other manuals, not very thorough.

I've taken out a few more books on interlibrary loan--the remainder I had on my list. Then I'll let the books simmer for awhile, and take it from there.

Right now, what I'd really like to do is to get writing. Last night (Saturday into Sunday), I was googling information on Alison Mosshart, singer from The Kills, and I found this:

"The Kills are very little like Mr. Airplane Man, The Black Keys, or Modey Lemon, either. Those bands want to pay tribute to their record collections. The Kills are about right now, this moment.

I feel weird about saying this, but I find that quote very inspiring, and I think it defines the band's music completely. I want to keep this in mind as I write the movie. There's a Patti Smith quote in an Edie Sedgwick bio I read awhile ago, and it's very similar to the quote above.

Bedtime.

Jimmie Fidler's Personality Parade

Friday I was really compelled to upload this movie. I'm usually not into uploading this type of stuff (mainly out of fear of having it pulled due to copyright issues), but something told me I had to upload this video.

My favorite part of TCM (aside from commercial-free showings of old movies) is the old news reels and promo films they show between movies. The title of this movie is Jimmie Fidler's Personality Parade. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I had never heard of half these people (or Jimmie Fidler, for that matter) were until I saw this movie. Most of the stars that are profiled go back to the Silent Era, however at the end, Fidler pays tribute to Jean Harlow, who at that time had just recently passed away.

I think you will find this video intruiging. It runs about 20 minutes or so, but I broke it up into three parts.

Making a K-Turn

Tonight I tried to get started on writing the short script I thought I was going to write. I just couldn't find a point and couldn't get past a couple of lines.

Instead, I came up with an idea that I found much easier to execute and should be relatively easy to coordinate and shoot. I will work on it more in detail tomorrow.

Oh, and in driving class today, I managed to pull off a K-Turn. It was no where near as difficult as I remember it being before.

RIP Uncle Jim

I've been having trouble coming up with ideas for my short film, beyond what I said in the preceding post. Since the five hour course I was supposed to take on Monday was cancelled (I'll be taking it on Saturday instead), I'm going to take the time and watch the Funny Ha Ha DVD that I own for inspiration.

Remember that critique of screenwriting books I was working on? I've decided to write a screenwriting book that evaluates European Films. I will still be able to incorporate the research I've done, but it will be more constructive. I've seen plenty of European films already, so that part is taken care of. I think its an idea whose time has come.

In the meantime, I plan on making some new YouTube videos. I really lost interest in it for awhile, but now I have some fresh ideas.

On a personal note, my Uncle Jim passed away. I hadn't seen him since he moved to Arizona several years ago, but when I was a kid, we used to go up every Christmas to his house in Rochester. He and his wife, my Aunt Pat, took care of my Uncle David when my maternal grandparents died. His daughter Mary is my sister's godmother. I will miss him.

I Make Short Shorts

I've decided to make a short film to get acquinted with the process of narrative filmmaking. I have an idea of where I want to set it, shoot it, and how long it's going to be. I still have to figure out what I want to write, however. Hopefully I'll be shooting it within the next six weeks.

Right now, I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to read another book, or try to figure out what I want the movie to be about, and/or write it.

The Seminar Weekend, Part Two: Sunday

I got to the seminar at 10 of 8, and Gordy Hoffman showed up about 10 or 15 minutes later. Gordy has longish hair, and sort of looks like a burlier version of the guy who played the guidance counselor on Freaks and Geeks.

Basically, the day was spent reading and critiquing each others' scripts. When it came time to critique mine, I admit It was a little hard for me to articulate what it was about. It didn't occur to me to tell them that I brought it because I didn't have anything else to present. He asked me where I wanted to go with it. I hardly remember what I said. I'm not sure if I really want to continue with it, because as Gordy pointed out, the script was written as a means to express myself. Someone said it reminded them of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, another said Dr. Strangelove, Gordy said The Graduate.

During lunch break, someone asked Gordy what it was like to have a famous brother.

"I don't really look at him that way," He replied.

One thing about Gordy that I find an asset is that
he critiques from the point of view of a writer. I find that most script coaches/analysts write and work from the point of view of a story editor, and I find that many of these people berate the aspiring writer, whether they intend to or not. Rather than say, "Don't put that in there because the cinematographer wouldn't like that," he would say, "That detail isn't necessary. Delete it, and then you have more room for your movie." (Okay, he didn't say that exactly, but that's the crux of what he said.) As a writer, that makes more sense to me.

All in all, it was time well spent. Perhaps I'll sign up for another course when I actually do have new material.

I think the one thing I took away from the seminar is that I want to write screenplays, but I need to take things one step at a time. If I do write another spec, I'll pick a subject or story that I won't mind still working on in a couple of years.

The Seminar Weekend, Part One: Saturday

Saturday, I went up to my sister's house, since the seminar started at 8 O'Clock in the morning. I stopped off at the Apple Store in Victor, and saw this:

Slick is a software program that provides add-ons for IMovie. Some of the effects include psychedelic solarization, fake ratings screens, and documentary pans & zooms.

My mom, sister, and I met up with my brother for lunch, who recently got a job in Rochester, and was looking for an apartment. On our way to my sister's house, we stopped by at the apartment complex where my brother eventually put a down payment on an apartment. My brother's car was parked at the front office, and we thought that was funny.

Bill, my brother-in-law, my sister, and myself went out to dinner, then I watched the season premiere of SNL with LeBron James. The Mahmoud Ahmadinejad song with Andy Samberg and Jake Gyllenhaal was pretty funny, as was the High School Musical 3 sketch. Also, nice to see they brought back The Ambiguously Gay Duo for the sake of making fun of Senator Craig.