Bagels & Roles Production #2

“Bagels and Roles”, the short film I wrote and produced this summer, is now in the editing phase. Aside from the obvious editor-type stuff, (sound design, color corrections, etc.) this project has the potential to be an ongoing effort. Ongoing, as in forever. I’ve worked on the first sixty seconds of it for two days, moving titles and credits, changing speeds and viewpoints, and hoping that what no longer makes sense to me will make sense to others.

I could do this forever.

Once I got past the opening, (which I’m sure I’ll go back to sooner or later), I moved on to my storyboard book. This, beyond all things, will keep me from losing myself in endless tweaking and bumping.

I storyboarded each scene quickly, using little more than stick figures and arrows. It gave me a sense of what to shoot while we were on set, and now provides me with a feeling of safety. Even though I didn’t have a shot list, (which I know I should have made, but I didn’t), and I forgot to get a shot or two, (third and fourth viewpoints mostly), I know what I’m supposed to do as long as I follow the book.

I have the first scene just about done. If I can resist the temptation to go back to the opening and putz around with the music and title some more, I’ll move on to scene two. My goal is to have my first rough cut done by the end of the week, and the final version, ready to debut for the actors and their families by the end of the month.

I hope to have all of the actors and their families come to see it. My first thought was to have them come to my house, but there may be too many people… where the heck will I put twenty or so people? I’ve held showings in our local move theater in the past, (it takes some doing, but it can be done), but the film should only run 15-20 minutes. Hardly worth the effort to get it up on the big screen. I’ll have to figure something out, though. I think a game of Quelf is in order after the big premiere.

I’m trying to stay on task and not look ahead to film festival deadlines and packaging. So far, so good…

The Best - That's Right, I Said It.

I saw an ad for an independent book awards web show thing. “The Best Indie Books” available, or something like that. My first thought was “How do they decide what’s “best”? Is it the number of sales? The amount of money made? Anyone who has read any of the most “popular” books out there these days can attest to the fact that the books that are the most popular, or the books making the most money aren’t necessarily the “best”.

Best written? Okay, still subjective, but, there are certain criteria one can point to as indicators of high or low quality work. To do so, however, threatens to come perilously close to the “Best Edited” category. The other part of being “Best Written” becomes subjective because it is based on the reader’s emotional response to the work. Few would argue that George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones isn’t a piece of really well written work, (ok, I know someone has to pipe up now and say they hated it), but to someone who really dislikes the genre, or doesn’t read much to begin with, or only reads magazine articles or whatever, it may be simply another drafty castle epic. Hardly the “best”, in their eyes. They may be able to appreciate the quality of writing, if they read it, which they won’t, so it doesn’t matter.

The same goes for “popular” music and the other things that get dragged along with it, like late night TV appearances, Greatest Hits collections, comeback tours by guys that look more like my dentist than the rock stars I grew up with, etc.

In the past, the song that sold the most 45’s, (kids, ask your parents), was declared the Number One Hit, and received more radio airplay because people obviously liked it, which in turn caused more people to buy it. This didn’t last long, though. The public would soon turn its attention to the next big thing.

Today, the next big thing is hyped months in advance, marketed as a smash hit single, book, TV show or movie long before anyone outside of the focus groups has seen it. Its earning power is secured by front screen splashes on iTunes and clandestine promotion by “fans” throughout social media. It has to truly and wholly suck out loud to stand against the machine that demands it make money. And, even then, it’ll cover the spread overseas.

The marketers have decided for us. “Best” equals “most money made”.

Independent authors, and those who read and review their work, haven’t made it there yet. They haven’t been completely corrupted by the system that demands a high percentage of the population‘s favor be indicative of value. Aside from the occasional review of one’s own work under an assumed name, and the pay-for-stars game that has sprung up now that Amazon has all but defined success for indie publishing, it’s still real. The people who read and review indie books are doing it because they love new and undiscovered talent. They love literature and they love the idea of being respected as a source for quality work. They put together these hit parades of “Best of Indie Publishing” because they want to build their own credibility by promoting quality work.

And that’s a good thing.

So, check out the recommendations you see on the web. Take a chance on an indie author and read and review them honestly. Soon, your friends will be coming to you for your recommendations. Who knows, you may be posting your own “Best of Indie Publishing” awards soon.
If you do, don’t forget where you got the idea. I’ve written a book you’re going to love. I haven’t sold many copies, but that doesn’t mean it’s not great, right?

Dead? I Don't Think So

I wrote a one hundred thousand word novel on my phone.

Seriously? No. Of course not. Can't be done.

Now, I realize that as soon as I wrote that sentence, someone will have already written a two hundred thousand word book on their phone, and will soon be appearing on Ellen, the View or some other TV show. All in the effort to drag out the familiar, "The Desktop is Dead!" song.

Just as the previous generation wondered out loud, "Why would anyone need a computer?", some people of my generation wonder how anything meaningful can be done with just a phone or a tablet. Granted, many parent-aged people are living just fine with checking their mail, downloading apps and watching movies on an eleven inch screen. Even more are enjoying turning their barely reasonble photographs into Polaroid-like shitty ones with Instagram. But, some of us have work to do, and like the familiar feel of sitting down at the same location
"Slaves!" the modern hipsters cry, (are they still called hipsters? I don't know, I'm... well... not old, really, but...). "I can take my devices anywhere! Be connected wherever I go! Stay in touch, see the world and have lots more fun than you because I'm not chained to a desk!"

Bite me.

I do lots of creative-type stuff. When I'm not editing video, I'm working on a novel. When I'm drained of that, I work up sketches and color models in Photoshop for paintings. I might be building a website, or doing maintenance for those I've built for clients. I just wouldn't like doing any of that while constantly turning from the sun, trying to avoid eye-contact at Starbucks or going back inside, again, for any of the hundreds of reasons that crop up each day.

Years ago, I began my design career at IBM. Hence, I have PCs all over my house. I have three in my office, along with two laptops, (one of them is a MacAir, which is nice, but the software is too expensive and doesn't do anything more than the PC versions... sorry). The only time I use the laptops is when I have to go out and pitch a client, or I go on vacation. Both of these scenarios are rare.

So, when Microsoft released Windows 8, declaring, yet again, that the desktop is dead, I get a little perturbed. I don't need Windows 8, (truthfully, I was fine with NT, thanks very much). I don't need more cost for less functionality. I just want to sit at my computer and create. Oh, the Metro look is okay, I guess. But, what does it do that I can't do now? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But, the companies that control stuff like this are going to move us all, kicking and screaming, into a world of watching more and doing less, until we all look like the people on the spaceship in Wall-E.

There are many good, solid reasons for desktops to be the staple of the workflow. Most have them have been written about in depth, to the point of being sick of hearing about it.

But, few things make me happier than the click of the keys as I type. I'm a terrible typist, by the way. My wife calls me Schroeder, because I keep my head down, staring at the keys as I hunt for the next one. I never learned to type because someone once told me that if I learned to type, then that's what I would end up doing all day. Gah! I said at the time. Not me! And now, if I don't find time write via keyboard each day, I just don't feel whole.

So... No, I say. You can't have my desktop. I'll buy into your e-readers, your smart phones and streaming entertainment. I'll pay my monthly fees and consume like a good little puppet. As long as I can boot up my machine at night, when the house is quiet, and get a few thousand words down, I'll be happy.

But, if you come for my desktop, beware! Beware my impotent rage! I may be so pissed off that I'll... I'll... I'll blog about it!

Yeah, that'll show 'em!

I Just Want to Kill Him

Is that so wrong?
I’m working on a novel. It’s a follow up to my wildly successful first effort, “The Seeds”, (and by ‘wildly successful’, I mean ‘not really’ but I like it so I’m writing another one). I’ve finished the first draft of the first chapter, and I gotta tell you… I really want to kill this guy. Not because I don’t like him… I do, it’s just that... well…

It’s fun.

It’s a blast to kill off a character. In the world of “The Seeds”, where the characters are only a foot tall, there are lots of ways for people to die. In the first book, they died in droves. Bee stings, battles, war… the list is endless. I put together an unending stream of nameless people to get gobbled up by the environmental hazards they faced. Not to mention the damage they did to each other.

In the second book, the one I’m planning now, there is to be considerably less killing. The drama will come from the interactions, the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that the characters piss each other off, make each other happy and generally get through to the end, (in which I reserve the right to kill off somebody!). It’s ridiculously interesting to me to explore these characters and find out what makes them who they are.

Like Angus. Angus is the eyes of the reader. It is through him that the reader gets to experience this world. He’s a good guy, a bit conflicted, but generally a decent sort. I can’t kill him. He saw so much death and destruction in the first book, it’s a wonder that he hasn’t committed suicide, (Hey! There’s an idea!)

No. I tell myself. You can’t kill Angus.

As an author, the feeling of playing God over this world is intoxicating. With just a few key strokes, I can invent an insurmountable enemy, and wreak havoc at will. It’s almost like being an Olympian god, coming down to screw with the lives of the little people whenever I get bored or the mood strikes me. Then, after I’ve surveyed the carnage I’ve wrought, I can drift back up to the mountaintop and await my next whim. Maybe toss a few lightning bolts in the interim. It’s quite a kick for us mortals to engage our own minds in this way.

Logic dictates that there must be a story. A beginning, a middle, an end. That’s an amazing part of the craft as well. One in which an author can learn much about themselves and the world around them. This is how one engages a reader, draws them in and creates a fan of one’s work.

No one likes an incoherent rambling treatise of characters being bumped off at every turn. But, oh man… that would be fun to write!

What about you? Do you play God with your characters? Dangle a carrot and then pummel them with the stick? Tell me about it!