Cabin Fever
Nearing the end of my first trip in Canada’s North. This was a 4 day trip but now because of the weather we’re on day 7. Hopefully the final day.
We’re all packing for the (fingers crossed) last time and heading to the local gravel strip in about 20 minutes.
In the meantime I starting snapping pictures so I didn’t start snapping at people. Here’s what the day looked like so far:
Does film trump myth?
Have a look at Simon’s IS Blog. Here’s my response to his latest post about whether film kills imagination. Reply to this or comment on his blog to join the conversation.
Agreed that viewing a film is largely… umm… post-imaginative. That is, the imagining has been already done by the creative team. The viewer’s job is to sit back and take it in. That’s what makes viewing easy – no huge investment necessary.
That’s also its strength – it’s an escape, a vacation from the immediate world. Sometimes this can lend us strength, and sometimes the shock of reality afterwards saps us.
Visual storytelling simplifies things for the viewer. It says “Out of the one million things I could have shown you, I’ve chosen the following 3. Now enjoy.” In that way it is maybe the most focused medium, the most efficient. The assembly line of creative input.
But as a filmmaker, what could be as magnificent/terrifying/fulfilling/frustrating/godlike/childlike as taking the visions in your head and making them reality?
For the watchers I think yes, Film does inflict a few wounds on Myth (though Myth makes it out alive) but for the makers it straps wings on Myth’s back and says “flap baby, flap”.
Celluloid wings. Sounds like the name of a hair band…
Terry Gilliam on early mornings
From the book “My First Movie: Take Two” which I’m reading at the moment.
“What I hate about directing is getting up early in the morning. I hate it! I mean, getting up at dawn is the most awful thing. It’s just something that I’ve always hated. It’s a killer. It’s also that sense you have every day about not getting it as good as you thought it would be, and then you’ve got to carry on with this growing desperation that just gets greater and greater.”
I can relate to this man…
Video blogging the MyCharityConnects conference
I was just in Toronto for MyCharityConnects, a “Philanthropy 2.0″ conference, with a few coworkers. Paul and I ended up doing a handful of videos about it, sharing our vast wisdom with the world at large. Our Vimeo channel is here: http://vimeo.com/channels/46802
At the opening session we met James Ip from Chase Communications. He blogged throughout the conference at http://chasecomm.com/blog/ and we even got a mention, which is pretty cool =)
Have a look at the videos and let us know what you think. We do realize this will be, like, the most revolutionary material you have ever watched…
Progress vs. Life
On Wednesday I was listening to the Filmmaking Central podcast (yay for David Basulto) and heard about the Blue Cat Screenplay Competition. Got myself into a tizzy for when I found out the submission deadline was Friday at midnight and I was like “oh man I have to rush and finish my first draft and submit it because this comp actually gives feedback on each script and wow that will be amazing ooh lah lah”.
Then reality hit.
Instead of 60 pages of genius… I changed diapers, made dinner, worked my real job to pay some bills etc etc. (I did manage to write about one more page of dialogue, so, hey, you know)
This week I’m feeling a bit more realistic. I do realize it will take more than a few days to go from 30 pages to 85. My story is stuck in a few spots so I’ve sent it off to a few respected individuals for their feedback, and in the meantime I’m taking care of the regular stuff. On the weekend Sarah and I caught up on sleep, went for walks with the little girl, and ate good food together – all of which ultimately makes me a much happier person – and therefore, a better writer. Oh, wait a second – aren’t writers supposed to be addicted to at least 3 things, stay up all night, be extremely lonely, and try to kill themselves every few weeks? Well, maybe, but then my script would be very short.
I’ve decided not to go to the 5-day CSTC screenwriting workshop this month. Instead I’ll cut the grass, pay the bills, hang out with people, and “take meetings” (aka go for a beer with script buddies and talk shop). I’m also planning a couple trips to TO for some conferences and more meetings with production people.
All this to say that, while sometimes a crazy deadline is what gets me ticking, usually it’s the slow-and-steady tortoise-like approach that is more realistic. How poetic.
And it’s better than being crammed into a high-school desk in Gatineau for 5 days…
On the rocks
Know a few people whose marriages are on the rocks, or on hold, etc. Wonder why this affects me so much and why I feel so desperate for things to end up rosy for them. Like if they don’t work things out I’ll be devastated or it’ll take a chunk out of my own marriage.
I realize it has something to do with my blissful childhood and the fact that my parents are still together. They’ve had their rocky patches and challenges, sure, but they’ve been solid for us all these years and that’s made a difference. My wife’s parents are a similar kind of story. As a kid divorce was something that happened to the parents of my school friends, or maybe the odd aunt or uncle, but not anyone very close to my everyday life.
So today I pray for these couples and thank my parents and in-laws for the hope they give me.
How do you see marriage – useless institution? divine calling? somewhere in-between the two?
Spending $1k on my script
Here’s my dilemma this week – I’m thinking of going to a 5-day screenwriting workshop with CSTC (http://www.cstc.ca/sift/sift-screen.asp#1) as a way to give myself a hard deadline for having a solid draft, and to hobnob with some experienced folks and fellow writers. By the time I pay for the workshop and miss a few days of work, it’ll cost me about $1k. (Last year I took a directing workshop with CSTC but I got in for free so it was all good)
I’m wondering if I can make better use of that thousand dollars in a way that will still propel my movie to greatness. For that amount I could:
- take a week off work to write full-time for a change
- spend a few days in Toronto picking the brains of some industry contacts
- buy a truck-load of jelly beans with which to feed my scriptwriting monkey slaves for a month
- purchase some tasty gadgets or a nice suit that will show everyone how good of a writer I am
- hmmm, that thousand would almost buy my Hong Kong plane ticket for pre-production next spring.
I think I’m leaning towards saving the $$ so that I can lock myself in a room for a week, while still providing for my wife, daughter, and scriptwriting monkey slaves.
Now please, my 4 faithful readers, it’s your turn – what would you do with $1000 in pursuit of some artistic dream of yours?
More fun avec le television Quebecois
So guys, I need some help. Tell me about the good Canadian tv shows that move you. The English end of things is not doing it for me these days. Anybody agree, or am I just turning on my own?
Rick Mercer has gotten quite boring and sterile. Wild Roses is a good show story-wise but the shooting is borrrringly normal. This Hour Has 22 Minutes stopped being very funny 5 years ago, but the re-runs are still everywhere. Rex Murphy is the strangest looking man on television.
In lieu of writing anything overly intelligent or analytical, here’s 2 shows on Quebec tv that are/were more interesting to me:
Les Étoiles Filantes - series (good stories and cast, and looks sooooooo good but these shooting stars died out in December after only 2 seasons so I gotta get the dvds)
