We haven’t even made it through the submissions sent in for the early bird deadline and I have watched the same movie four times. Not because they were the same film submitted multiple times, but four films that each had nearly identical plots: a group of dysfunctional people must travel back to their hometown to…Read more
writing resources
Lessons I’ve learned from the film festival
For the last couple of years I’ve been an associate programmer for the Florida Film Festival. It is a great gift, because I get to study a wide array of films from all over the world. And while every film made is a miracle, every film is also a lesson. For the last three years…Read more
Vanity Fair’s Notes on a Scene: Naatu Naatu
This is such a wonderful scene and the song deserved all the praise. I was very interested to learn more about his process, and how he is very hands off with his cinematographer and set designer. It shows a great deal of trust in your team, and I wish I had that sort of easy…Read more
Public Domain Goodies: Miracle Mongers and Their Methods, by Harry Houdini
God bless Project Gutenberg, and all who maintain her. I’ve been doing some research for a project about fraud mediums and I came across a beautiful gem of a book. Harry Houdini wasn’t an outright skeptic in the internet, YouTube way that we think of today. He was open to being convinced of a life…Read more
Watch “Nothing But Trouble is a Very Weird Movie” on YouTube
Deus ex Bullshit: Tragic characters don’t get happy endings
Okay, so I am back on the watch a bunch of movies and critically analyze them job and I am noticing what pearl-clutchers would call a Disturbing Trend. Over and over and over, I’m watching movies with a tragic narrative structure that flinch at the last second and try and give it a happy ending….Read more
Story Inspiration: The Dolphin House via Atrocity Guide
I made the mistake of starting this forty-five minute long video on my lunch break at work, and it started off strong and then only became more intense and bonkers from there. I think this is a master class in how something can make sense from a personal perspective, while looking like absolute madness from…Read more
The Night Mind Index
I am a huge fan of the YouTube channel Night Mind. I would never be one of those people that would go all “I was following these guys before they were cool,” I’ve been a follower for a long time. I love to see the care and that they put into their videos and analysis….Read more
If I don’t care about the character, the story is meaningless.
–Dean Koontz