I've come to realize I have two main patterns in my creative aspects. The first is to just have fun. The second is to do an interesting exploration of certain topics.
"Summertime Blues," "Passion of Chris," "Life and Times of Igor," plus a few others are all in the name of fun. "Chris" does bridge the gap between both aspects, as it also serves as an exploration between Hollywood and the adult film industry.
Then there's the exploration ideas, like "Unbitten," "Interesting Times," and "Sweet Dreams: A Sandman's Story."
Now don't assume that these aren't fun, they just come from a difference place. "Sweet Dreams" is a light fantasy, "Interesting Times" is massive in itself, and "Unbitten" is a light exploration of the vampire culture, rooted in some history.
Then there's something new I came up with today completely by accident.
Since music is an important muse in my life, I often have something playing through my speakers. Today it was the old B-Side to an Elton John CD single from the early 90's entitled "Suit of Wolves."
It's a beautiful sweeping song that I have on the expanded and remastered edition of "The One."
And sometime, in the dark recesses of my mind, a legend I'm aware of and a song I'm hearing connected unconsciously and brought about a dark story I'm not certain I'd write or not.
I don't often deal with the darkness...simply because I don't like it. "Unbitten" had certain amounts of darkness in it, and this new story would have more than "Unbitten" would.
And yet I know, should I tell the guys over at Mania about it, they'd probably say WRITE IT!
I'll sketch out the basic idea for it, and see where it goes. Then I'll likely put it to the guys at Mania, because they can't seem to get enough werewolf and vampire movies, even though this isn't the standard werewolf movie project I've dreamed up, just like "Unbitten" is less about neck biting monsters and more about the tragedy within.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The Great Trek Throwdown - Aftermath
Okay so the dust needs to settle at mania.
My friend Hobbs posted a blog entry over there with spoilers of the new "Trek," and it prompted me to do a follow up.
His comes first, mine comes second.
The new and improved Star Trek??
Starlight's "Star Trek" Compromise
What do you think? I say, in "Trek's" universe, we can always undo such damage.
Abram's story has a tiny bit of wiggle room, so the next one should exploit it.
But read my "Compromise" for further details on that.
My friend Hobbs posted a blog entry over there with spoilers of the new "Trek," and it prompted me to do a follow up.
His comes first, mine comes second.
The new and improved Star Trek??
Starlight's "Star Trek" Compromise
What do you think? I say, in "Trek's" universe, we can always undo such damage.
Abram's story has a tiny bit of wiggle room, so the next one should exploit it.
But read my "Compromise" for further details on that.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Hunger
A week or so ago, someone at Mania (Xenomorph, specifically) sent me a private message, asking for my input in a story he wanted to write.
I prefaced it with the usual speech I give people: "ultimately, the best person to judge your story is you. You can ask input from outsiders, and in fact do so, but ultimately work on it until you can no longer find something wrong with it. Then, and only then, will be perfect shape."
I used the term "perfect" here loosely, because no one's perfect.
So after that, he sent a second message, detailing his story (which I won't reveal here for his out artistic confidentiality) and I wrote back to him what I thought not so much of the story, but the places he could look to enhance the story.
And that was it. He said it was a great help, and I hope it was.
Everything I write follows the above stated philosophy. I have a friend who has been right beside me reading everything I've come up with, good and bad, for a good decade now. We shared a few college classes together, we have similar ways of thinking, but we're also dramatically different in our styles.
I have her read anything I've come up with just to use her as a sounding board. She'll make a suggestion here, say this needs to be clarified there, and so on. For as often as I do take her advice, there'll be a lesser amount of times when I'll say "no, this is where I'm going with this."
For the most part, I cannot judge works "in progress," except my own and it's because I have a feeling for mine which states "there are no more rough spots to be smoothed out, now go work on something else, damn it, before you ruin it."
I tend to follow Sting's idea of artistic rule: it has to be a benevolent dictatorship. I wouldn't trust someone else to take over my material, but I also won't dip my toes in the world of someone else's material. I don't have the proper mindset to bring, say, "Twilight" to life on a screenplay.
And I've enjoyed the first two books in Meyer's series, as I'm crazy in love with the "Harry Potter" series, but I wouldn't make the attempt at bringing hers to life either.
The one exception to this is "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," which was ruined in the movie adaptation in the whole second act. Frankly the filmmakers could've expanded upon the back story of Deep Thought, how it was created, the Great Day of Unveiling, and all that. I also would've loved to see the philosopher's come in and start demanding to shut down Deep Thought instead of all that mucking about on the Vogon home world.
Now new readers to my entries may feel "damn, you're an arrogant son of a bitch, aren't you."
I'd say "no I'm not. I'm passionate."
Never confuse arrogance for passion.
Passion is in the blood, arrogance is in the head.
Passion is a hunger, a desperate ravenous need for whatever its seeking. You'll find it in the heartbeat of those that need to take flight, you'll hear it in the cries of those who swim into shining, fast moving currents of life itself, you'll know it when it catches of the sails of your ship and pushes you to tropical lands as your vessel seems to lift up off the water and soars into the mysteries before it much like Captain Hook's vessel could when given a touch of pixie dust.
Passion can seem like arrogance, I grant you that. I tend to do my own thing, and to hell with everything else because if I'm lumbered to others or certain guidelines I know I'll fail because I don't need barriers to hold me in, I need them to go crashing through while spectacular showers of glass rain upon the land while refracting the lights of above into serene patterns of light onto the lands below.
I know passion. I experience it whenever I go see a movie I want to see in the theaters. I get an electric chill in my spine that radiates through my body as I arrive at the local theater AN HOUR EARLY because I love the experience so very, very much.
Especially at these new all digital theaters.
But don't mistake the setting and the technology as what causes the hum and vibration. It's not.
I was at several movies, and they all had previews to "Speed Racer." There was absolutely no electric bite upon my skin when that was previewed, but then previews for "Nim's Island," and "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" would come on and, what do you know, the passion is back.
You gotta be receptive to passion. You also have respect it in order to let it flow and grow within you and around you.
I am NOT passionate about popcorn movies in general. To be honest, most of those I've seen since the mid-90's have really been instantly forgettable. To this day I still wonder what I saw in "Independence Day," "Spiderman," and "Armageddon."
Hype, most likely. Hype is artificial. Passion is absolute.
I've also been debating (some might say "arguing") my points with the rest of Mania over J. J. Abram's bastardization of "Star Trek," something he admits to not having been a fan of.
The man has no passion for 'Trek,' yet I do.
In great abundance.
A lot of movies (but not all) of today's movies are just over formulated. They lack passion, especially when quite a few of them have three screenwriters or more. It's just a job to them, one of counting out pages and plot points.
It lacks passion.
I once tried an experiment, to see if I could "run with the crowd," as it were. My friend (the one mentioned above) and I decided to write something together, which was a novel idea.
I'd also discovered Michael Hauge's screenwriting structure, and over the course of two weeks or so we stayed at it, night after night, and the end result was....terrible.
Absolutely terrible.
We'd sent it in to a contest that was happening that year, and got our review. The story and dialogue was just average (which was fair enough, we were new at this) but the format was excellent.
I turned to my friend and said "the format was excellent? It was as exciting as a goddamned aluminum ladder with just as much personality to boot."
"Well, don't do it anymore."
I tossed Hauge's proven formula out the window and went on to create, I feel, some truly wonderful things.
Formula's be damned.
This isn't math we're taking here kids. Leave the formulas at home.
My friends who have known me for a long time no you can reason with the passions I have for music, movies, games and ultimately debate, should it become necessary.
I don't simply "want" to hear the song "Thunder Island," I NEED to hear that song. This is a current, awfully potent passion I'm dealing with right now.
Thanks to my dad, my family has (at the very least) 5,000 LP's and EP's in the vinyl format.
And that's not including the hundred's of 45's or 78's.
"Thunder Island" is from the 70's, and guess what? They had records in the 70's! So my first trip is, not to Best Buy, but to the storeroom where the records are kept safe.
I've turned two boxes of 45's inside out as of an hour ago, and still haven't found it. And I won't stop until I've searched every single box and discounted them all as not having Jay Ferguson's dedication to loving a woman out there on Thunder Island.
Then I'll go to Best Buy.
You may argue "just go buy it and get it over with," and my response would be "I'll do that anyways, but I want to hear it and I may very well have it. If I do, I can feed the hunger to tide me over until my next trip to Best Buy."
Passions must be accepted. They must be fed...for if they aren't, it leads to starvation and death.
I'm always able to feed my passions...and if I can't right at this moment, I'll fight to claim the moment in which I can feed said passion.
I've been promoting to Hollywood nearly a decade now. They haven't called back yet...but the hunger is there.
It will always be there...and my passions are always fulfilled.
Always.
I encourage passion in those who come to me for advice, I encourage it in myself.
And I get pissed off when I find a lack of passion and vibrant vitality in modern day movies. There is less passion, less vitality, and less craftsmanship.
And that's how they sustain themselves - they lack the hunger.
And those that lack the hunger are easily satisfied.
Don't be easily satisfied. And never compromise your passion in anything you write, or do.
I prefaced it with the usual speech I give people: "ultimately, the best person to judge your story is you. You can ask input from outsiders, and in fact do so, but ultimately work on it until you can no longer find something wrong with it. Then, and only then, will be perfect shape."
I used the term "perfect" here loosely, because no one's perfect.
So after that, he sent a second message, detailing his story (which I won't reveal here for his out artistic confidentiality) and I wrote back to him what I thought not so much of the story, but the places he could look to enhance the story.
And that was it. He said it was a great help, and I hope it was.
Everything I write follows the above stated philosophy. I have a friend who has been right beside me reading everything I've come up with, good and bad, for a good decade now. We shared a few college classes together, we have similar ways of thinking, but we're also dramatically different in our styles.
I have her read anything I've come up with just to use her as a sounding board. She'll make a suggestion here, say this needs to be clarified there, and so on. For as often as I do take her advice, there'll be a lesser amount of times when I'll say "no, this is where I'm going with this."
For the most part, I cannot judge works "in progress," except my own and it's because I have a feeling for mine which states "there are no more rough spots to be smoothed out, now go work on something else, damn it, before you ruin it."
I tend to follow Sting's idea of artistic rule: it has to be a benevolent dictatorship. I wouldn't trust someone else to take over my material, but I also won't dip my toes in the world of someone else's material. I don't have the proper mindset to bring, say, "Twilight" to life on a screenplay.
And I've enjoyed the first two books in Meyer's series, as I'm crazy in love with the "Harry Potter" series, but I wouldn't make the attempt at bringing hers to life either.
The one exception to this is "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," which was ruined in the movie adaptation in the whole second act. Frankly the filmmakers could've expanded upon the back story of Deep Thought, how it was created, the Great Day of Unveiling, and all that. I also would've loved to see the philosopher's come in and start demanding to shut down Deep Thought instead of all that mucking about on the Vogon home world.
Now new readers to my entries may feel "damn, you're an arrogant son of a bitch, aren't you."
I'd say "no I'm not. I'm passionate."
Never confuse arrogance for passion.
Passion is in the blood, arrogance is in the head.
Passion is a hunger, a desperate ravenous need for whatever its seeking. You'll find it in the heartbeat of those that need to take flight, you'll hear it in the cries of those who swim into shining, fast moving currents of life itself, you'll know it when it catches of the sails of your ship and pushes you to tropical lands as your vessel seems to lift up off the water and soars into the mysteries before it much like Captain Hook's vessel could when given a touch of pixie dust.
Passion can seem like arrogance, I grant you that. I tend to do my own thing, and to hell with everything else because if I'm lumbered to others or certain guidelines I know I'll fail because I don't need barriers to hold me in, I need them to go crashing through while spectacular showers of glass rain upon the land while refracting the lights of above into serene patterns of light onto the lands below.
I know passion. I experience it whenever I go see a movie I want to see in the theaters. I get an electric chill in my spine that radiates through my body as I arrive at the local theater AN HOUR EARLY because I love the experience so very, very much.
Especially at these new all digital theaters.
But don't mistake the setting and the technology as what causes the hum and vibration. It's not.
I was at several movies, and they all had previews to "Speed Racer." There was absolutely no electric bite upon my skin when that was previewed, but then previews for "Nim's Island," and "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" would come on and, what do you know, the passion is back.
You gotta be receptive to passion. You also have respect it in order to let it flow and grow within you and around you.
I am NOT passionate about popcorn movies in general. To be honest, most of those I've seen since the mid-90's have really been instantly forgettable. To this day I still wonder what I saw in "Independence Day," "Spiderman," and "Armageddon."
Hype, most likely. Hype is artificial. Passion is absolute.
I've also been debating (some might say "arguing") my points with the rest of Mania over J. J. Abram's bastardization of "Star Trek," something he admits to not having been a fan of.
The man has no passion for 'Trek,' yet I do.
In great abundance.
A lot of movies (but not all) of today's movies are just over formulated. They lack passion, especially when quite a few of them have three screenwriters or more. It's just a job to them, one of counting out pages and plot points.
It lacks passion.
I once tried an experiment, to see if I could "run with the crowd," as it were. My friend (the one mentioned above) and I decided to write something together, which was a novel idea.
I'd also discovered Michael Hauge's screenwriting structure, and over the course of two weeks or so we stayed at it, night after night, and the end result was....terrible.
Absolutely terrible.
We'd sent it in to a contest that was happening that year, and got our review. The story and dialogue was just average (which was fair enough, we were new at this) but the format was excellent.
I turned to my friend and said "the format was excellent? It was as exciting as a goddamned aluminum ladder with just as much personality to boot."
"Well, don't do it anymore."
I tossed Hauge's proven formula out the window and went on to create, I feel, some truly wonderful things.
Formula's be damned.
This isn't math we're taking here kids. Leave the formulas at home.
My friends who have known me for a long time no you can reason with the passions I have for music, movies, games and ultimately debate, should it become necessary.
I don't simply "want" to hear the song "Thunder Island," I NEED to hear that song. This is a current, awfully potent passion I'm dealing with right now.
Thanks to my dad, my family has (at the very least) 5,000 LP's and EP's in the vinyl format.
And that's not including the hundred's of 45's or 78's.
"Thunder Island" is from the 70's, and guess what? They had records in the 70's! So my first trip is, not to Best Buy, but to the storeroom where the records are kept safe.
I've turned two boxes of 45's inside out as of an hour ago, and still haven't found it. And I won't stop until I've searched every single box and discounted them all as not having Jay Ferguson's dedication to loving a woman out there on Thunder Island.
Then I'll go to Best Buy.
You may argue "just go buy it and get it over with," and my response would be "I'll do that anyways, but I want to hear it and I may very well have it. If I do, I can feed the hunger to tide me over until my next trip to Best Buy."
Passions must be accepted. They must be fed...for if they aren't, it leads to starvation and death.
I'm always able to feed my passions...and if I can't right at this moment, I'll fight to claim the moment in which I can feed said passion.
I've been promoting to Hollywood nearly a decade now. They haven't called back yet...but the hunger is there.
It will always be there...and my passions are always fulfilled.
Always.
I encourage passion in those who come to me for advice, I encourage it in myself.
And I get pissed off when I find a lack of passion and vibrant vitality in modern day movies. There is less passion, less vitality, and less craftsmanship.
And that's how they sustain themselves - they lack the hunger.
And those that lack the hunger are easily satisfied.
Don't be easily satisfied. And never compromise your passion in anything you write, or do.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The Great "Trek" Throwdown Continues...
In case you haven't been paying attention, there's a sort of "Star Trek" civil war going on at Mania, and I'm one of the few leading the charge in the war against J. J. Abrams.
Follow the links, judge for yourself, and take it all in.
Ten Reasons To Be Worried About "Star Trek"
"Star Trek" Mania Review
DVD Shopping Bag -- The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Follow the links, judge for yourself, and take it all in.
Ten Reasons To Be Worried About "Star Trek"
"Star Trek" Mania Review
DVD Shopping Bag -- The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation
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