Thanksgiving Aftermath

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

I'll tell you, it's been hectic these past few weeks. We haven't gotten much new writing done recently, but we've been pushing one another to get re-writes of earlier things done. It's actually been quite helpful for me. There's a project I've really enjoyed working on in the past (and is the thing I've spent the most time on, over a year and a half).

Still, it's not something that I felt I was ready to jump back into yet. I believe I posted back in March about having listened to a particular song, which put me in the mood to attack this script again (if I didn't write that, then I felt it nonetheless). Despite that motivation, I never got back to the script.

However, Onyx and others pushed me back into it. I wouldn't say that I was reluctant, but it wasn't first on my mind. They put it there, and I have to say, I'm very grateful to them for that. I'm pleased with the end result (as much as I can call it the "end" for now) and am still psyched up about it.

Sometimes, I guess others know what's best when you're stuck. I'm not saying that's something we should go by all the time, or that I plan to do that. But I wasn't sure what I was going to write; The League suggested strongly that I work on this particular thing, and I think it turned out well.

...Oh, and enjoy the comic.

Good Question

I was reading an article on CNN.com yesterday about movie theme songs. The article was basically pointing out the fact that movies used to have theme songs: "Titanic" had "My Heart Will Go On," "Top Gun" had "Take my Breath Away." Now, the article claims, filmmakers tend to select old, tried and true songs to heighten emotion rather than seeking out new songs, which would be eligible for the "Best New Song" Oscar and gain radio play.

But that's not what I'm concerned with here. What caught me about the article was the following sentence:

"'What movies used to do,' [Jesse Harris, the Grammy-winning songwriter of Norah Jones' hit "Don't Know Why,"] said, is 'create a nostalgia that was specific to the film itself, and the only way to do that is to use original music.'"

I really liked this quotation. Not so much the notion of using original music to achieve the goal he talked about -experiencing something in the context of the fil alone and not on a larger pop culture scale- though that is important, but the sense of a "nostalgia...specific to the film itself." (I had to use the exact phrasing again because I thought it so poignant.)

Think about that, defining your film in terms of emotions and sentiments belonging entirely to itself. That, to me, seems to be the ultimate goal when creating a film. Yes, you want it to be part of Hollywood legend, perhaps. You want it to be an essential part of the box set that bears your name years from now.

But you want it to stand alone.

At least I do. I don't really want to write "just another action flick." I want to write something that can be compared to others in its genre, but also has such a life and feel of its own that it can last apart from the crowd. To me, "Last of the Mohicans" stands apart. It has a look, a feel, and yes, a sound to it that no other film does. It affects me in a way, stays with me in a way that no other film does.

I hope, when my career is passed, people will look back and say of me, he "create[d] a nostalgia that was specific to [each] film itself."

Strike!

I'm sure you're wondering--I like to think we have readers who think about our opinions on things--what we think of the strike.

Frankly, we find it complicated. At least I do.

The Guild is an incredibly valuable union for writers. It is nearly essential for people who plan on making their living doing what we want to do.

But, there are so many regulations and stipulations that I cannot even begin to explain or fully understand that the issue, for someone in my situation, is difficult to completely and honestly wrap one's head around.

I support the Guild, of course. I support anything that gives writers more of what they're due, anything that reminds people how important writers are.

As a non-member, it is difficult to figure out exactly where I fall or how I am affected, if at all. I do not want to cross the picket lines or work against the Guild. However, the logistics of it all are such that I would have to sit and think much longer (and at an earlier hour) to be able to formulate a more concrete position on and understanding of the matter.

So until then, the picture holds a thousand words...