But Craft is Fun!

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In the screenwriting class I just finished taking, my teacher introduced us to an aspect of craft known (to him, anyway) as "Emotional Resonance." Basically, it's a way of creatively giving insight into the feelings of the characters without coming right out and saying it. A great example can be found in the script for Casablanca. It's happens in the scene where Rick is first meeting Lazlo and reuniting with Ilsa. I don't remember the line, but it looks something like this:

RICK
(but why is he looking at Ilsa?)
Blah blah blah, poorly delivered line.

It actually does make a world of difference in a screenplay, but as it was the first time I was introduced to the technique, I...well, struggled with it. While I can't destroy buildings like my superhero counterpart, believe me, the frustration was definitely there. Enjoy!

Meetup.com

One of the things that young artists have to realize is that they can't succeed in this industry alone. While just about everyone hears the terms "networking" and "connections," it's ambiguous what these actually mean.

The truth is, I don't really know either.

The League is based in New York (duh) and even though there are plenty of people working in and aspiring to work in the entertainment industry, they seem to be hidden in the woodwork, waiting till the rains come to wash them out.

I have no idea where I'm going with that.

The point might have been that you actually need to seek out like minds in this city. True, being actively involved in a lot of different things can bring you connections regardless (being an actor in New York and doing shows and films found in Backstage is a great way to do this), but as a writer, it's a little more difficult because your craft is so incredibly solitary.

But "network" you must. You must find the assistants, the upstarts, the people whose ambition meshes with yours and so I wish to mention one important, incredibly useful source:

meetup.com

It is exactly what it sounds like. It's a site that hosts communities of like minds whose goal is to MEET UP, to get together, to share ideas - to physically get bodies together in a room. The idea behind this site is nothing short of invaluable, and it's in every artist's best interest to make sure that it succeeds. So create your logos, get your business cards made, and start creating your own buzz among the people who will ultimately count most: your peers. The site and most groups are free to join. While there is a fee to form a group, there is nothing wrong with joining an already established crowd.

But naturally writers, while selling yourself, don't forget to keep writing.

(New York screenwriters! We're big fans of New York meetups, "NYC Screenwriters Meetup" and "SCENE NY Film and Media Industry Network." Check our links list for the pages of meetups we enjoy, and we just might see you there.)

Batman: Defenders of the OH MY GOD!

Arguably the single worst thing on the internet, there was no possible way I could NOT show this once it was brought to my attention.

Plus, apparently there's a whole superhero theme to this site. So I'm told.

And if you manage to make it to the end, check out this dude's blog. He gives a running commentary on the "film." Friggin brilliant.

Oh Mandy....

I wish this was some heartfelt, swooning post about a girl. That would probably mean that there was a girl in my life at this point in time who I was looking to have do more than just read my scripts. Alas, however, the only Mandy right now is Mandy.com, a site that a co-worker of mine directed me to today.

Mandy, or "the mand" as I'm going to call it, is an employment site for people specifically looking into careers in the television industry. Particularly, it helps people who are more interested in the production and technical aspects of it, though it does have postings for writers and office assistants wanted, as well. It's sort of like a glorified Craig's List employment section, as one can search by location and aspect of television entertainment. It's free to create an account and upload a resume, though I actually applied through the site without creating a profile first, which was a nice little time saver.

Many of the positions are for temporary employment. Though I searched for full-paying jobs --if you go to the site, you'll see that you an either search the part-time and low to no pay gigs or the full-salary positions-- most of them were still only for a few months long. Some of the gigs actually only last a day or two (has another opportunity to use "gigs" ever been more appropriate?).

But despite the short term aspect of most of the jobs, the site also offers some of the most interesting opportunities I've seen thus far in my increasingly extensive job search. Why, just a few hours ago, I applied to be an associate producer on a National Geographic special, to be a writer on what I can only imagine is a Middle-Eastern owned network called EbruTV in New Jersey, and an office assistant paying slave wages.

For anyone still looking for a job (and who isn't who is fresh out of college and pursuing a career in entertainment?), Mandy.com might be worth a search. And, by chance, if you know any cute girls between the ages of 18 and 26 named Mandy, be sure to direct them my way.

Edward Albee Article

The New York Times is running an article about Edward Albee that every writer should read. I know he's a playwright and all, but there are some writers that transcend mediums. He's one of them.

One Step Forward...

The New York Times had an awesome article in the Sunday Arts section about the new Broadway production, The Pirate Queen. It dealt with how the producers had to basically revamp the entire show after it got destroyed in a trial run in Chicago before arriving for its opening in New York...only to get...well, killed is too harsh, but perhaps mutilated by the critics works. I mean, let's face it, when words like uninspired and banal are used, in some cases in the same sentence, you may have a problem.

However, I bring all this up because the article focused on the producers and how they coped with having to make drastic changes to the show. Without giving away too much about the screenplay I'm currently working on, it would be fair to say that my premise is almost exactly that, only mine has the added flair that would, you know, make it worth being a movie.

The article was incredibly informative, and as I'm a graduate of the "only do as much research as you need to write a first draft, then do more later if you need to" school, reading it gave me some great things to consider and even a few ideas to immediately address some of my script's issues. Yay!

And yet there's that pesky task, which seems to have dragged out for at least the last month, of finishing my friggin rough draft. I'd been stuck over the weekend, and as most writers know, when you can't move forward, it's because your problem lies behind you. Needless to say, I wrote negative five pages yesterday. At this rate, I should be back to zero by mid-May.

(I'm frustrated. So there.)

Anyway, in tying up a few loose ends, there have been a few Spider-Man 3 reviews popping up here and there, most of them saying the same thing: the plot is stretched incredibly thin, the film seems to drag in places, many of the characters are hardly fleshed out, and yet the action sequences are incredible and at the end, everything is tied up and you feel...satisfied.

Given how ass-tastic X-Men 3 was, I suppose that's better than nothing.

(Of course, rumor has it that Spidey 3 cost almost 300 million dollars! 300 million?? Really? But then again, I saw figures that Sony stockpiled almost $1.6 billion on the first two films, so I guess they can do whatever the hell they want.)

Hopefully we'll have a short comic up by Friday. Expect part 3 of And So It Begins sometime next week.

Happy writing...

Best Scenes From "The Wicker Man"

Because everyone needs to understand that a man in a bear suit punching a woman is never, in any circumstance, anything but downright hilarious.