12.24.2011
12.15.2011
One of my best
Did this Tuesday evening at our open sketch group with the Oklahoma Art Guild. I was so impressed with myself, I was giddy and excited after completing it. Fun to be able to draw well.
11.02.2011
Tonights Charcoal Drawings
I haven't made any charcoal drawings lately. In class tonight I had a difficult time, but finally warmed up and got to make some decent ones.
Kinda getting warmed up.
This one's got some dynamics and strength.
Everybody in class loved this last one for the night.
8.23.2011
8.21.2011
More chick sketches
Sketching from imagination, continuing using techniques from my figure drawing class. I feel i'm trying to do too much instead of less.
8.19.2011
Sketches
Done in Sketchbook Express and an Intuos 3. This is a really great sketching program, smooth and easy to use.
8.18.2011
Tonight's quick sketches
Just trying stuff out. The influence from my life drawing classes is showing a definite improvement in my sketches here. Starting with gesture and filling it out.
8.10.2011
Life Drawing Class
Tonights better drawings. Had an out of body experience during part of the class. Euphoria is a nice feeling. Experimenting with vine charcoal, it's smooth and flows onto the newsprint.
8.03.2011
Life Drawings
Some new life drawings from an open session and class this week, about 20 minutes each.
7.24.2011
Economics of value
Do what you are passionate about and enjoy doing. That's the best thing any person can do for themselves, organizations and society at large. Help others and you help yourself.
3.04.2011
Storytelling -- not screenwriting -- STORY -- got it?
Things are clicking together on the screenwriting front. But I should say storytelling front. The pieces are falling into place, the foundation is almost finished, and it'll be about time to begin writing the treatment and getting to the fun stuff of designing the look and feel. I have been misled greatly into the Bad Woods and am now treading down a new path that I hope leads to the Good Woods.
I have taken the Tim Ferris approach of selecting three experts (with a bonus extra) that has kept information overload to a minimum and allows much more focus and clarity on creativity and a targeted approach to writing. In the past, I have been all over the place with writing, instead of getting down to basics and seeing what works. Now I'm more like a house builder or manufacturing plant that is seeking to streamline production. A proper, disciplined method is what I've been searching for, but didn't know it.
The bad news really is -- I already know everything there is to know about screenwriting. So what could any "experts" offer a genius like me? After all I've never sold anything. Never written anything anybody thought was great. Nobody ever paid me for my work. It's obvious -- there is nothing any experts in Hollywood or filmmaking could offer a genius like me.
-- Right.
I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what. I had no choice except to turn to experienced elders, people in the know, those that have gone before and treaded the path, forging ahead so that numbskulls like me can pay good money to take the high road with an experience hunter instead of getting lost in the jungle. And so it is. Desperate men turn to desperate measures.
In my quest to find proper guides, the experts I chose were based on a need to find some way to get my ideas in to a story. There's the catch. I'm great at filling 120 pages full of perfectly formatted, eloquently written, interesting verbiage and witty dialogue in a screenplay. But that's not what we go to see movies for. We go to see stories. I didn't know what a story was. Dumb mistake number one.
Then it hit me like a porcupine tail (thanks mom). I had been writing on instinct alone and looking to idiots on the internet as good advice. After all, most advice you hear from friends, family and colleagues is "just sit down and write it" or "write three scenes a night and you'll have a script in three months." On the internet they say, "just make sure that your first ten pages are dynamite if you want to sell your script." Dumb mistake number two.
Writing on instinct feels great, because I can just write random scenes, whatever pops into my head, and then begin to find ways of putting them together to make a whole. I have written some scenes that I just feel "wow! I can't believe I wrote that, this is so cool!" But then, where to put that scene within 120 pages of script? It kept me wanting to stab my eyes out with an icepick. I was lost at sea, telling myself that land was going to come into sight any second now. Dumb mistake number three.
In the attempt to stop being a complete stupid fucking moron, I picked these guides for my journey to a script sale and directing a feature film worth something other than scratching my artistic itch.
Screenwriting Goldmine
On a whim, I bought the materials online from Screenwriting Goldmine. Philip Gladwin is a veteran writer from the UK and has developed a step by step approach of what to work on, when, and in a very specific order. This has been a godsend. The challenge for me is actually following the steps and not jumping ahead too soon until the story is hammered out. The temptation for me to go back to just writing full on scenes is huge, but I've been good and not done that near as much. A great map to follow on the journey, so far. A wonderful insight into writing scripts that sell. Unfortunately, he does not seem to be very active with his website for the last year.
STORY
Next up was my old friend Robert McKee. I first heard about him from the film "Adaptation" written by Charlie Kauffman. In the story, Robert was featured as a screenwriting guru in hollywood, brutally honest and doesn't take any crap about the importance of a great story. Kim and I watched that movie many times and made lots of fun of McKee. But this guy qualifies as an expert, so I'm all in and bought his hefty book. I was, and still am blown away by McKee's insights into life and bringing those insights into your story. There is hardly any screenwriting talked about here. It's all about story. Actual Script work comes dead last in this race.
The Writer's Journey
Drawing from all of the classic stories throughout history, this book shows a form, a shape, a mold from which to craft story that all the greats have in common. Beautifully written by Christopher Vogler, he draws on the work of Joseph Campbell, the man that revolutionized Hollywood stories in the late forties with his book "Hero with a Thousand Faces." Vogler's book is an idea generation mill. Whenever I read through it randomly, pictures pop into mind of what may work as a piece of my own story. It also offers brief glances into the structure of stories from the greatest films ever made, such as "The Wizard of Oz." A real gem.
Those are my three experts that I have latched onto in the hope that their experience and knowledge will lead a clear path into storytelling.
Oh yes, what about my bonus extra? It's not a book, does not add to information overload, is a great daily reminder that you're a story writer and offers good story structure, character and situational ideas to apply to your own stories...
The 510+ Stage Hero's Journey
It's a long title. I was super skeptical, there's not much of a track record with this one I could find. But Kal Bashir, the guy that puts this expensive information out also has a free daily tip through email. The tips are short, relevant, and directly applicable to screenwriting and story development. I love it. I may buy his materials some day, but haven't wanted to spend the cash since I'm broke. Could it be a big mistake not purchasing? Perhaps. I really like what this guy brings to the table, and so I certainly would like to add it to my arsenal in the future. But I have my big three, and I'm sticking to them.
Will these experts make any difference in the quest to create a story worth filming? Producers spending millions of dollars on? That people will be falling over themselves to pay $15 bucks to actually watch? Who knows? The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. We'll wait and see, but I truly believe that with the help of these men that have put their knowledge and expertise out there to hopefully help a clueless writer like me, maybe a classic story can come out of it.
As Egon Spengler put it "There's definitely a very slim chance that we'll survive."
I have taken the Tim Ferris approach of selecting three experts (with a bonus extra) that has kept information overload to a minimum and allows much more focus and clarity on creativity and a targeted approach to writing. In the past, I have been all over the place with writing, instead of getting down to basics and seeing what works. Now I'm more like a house builder or manufacturing plant that is seeking to streamline production. A proper, disciplined method is what I've been searching for, but didn't know it.
The bad news really is -- I already know everything there is to know about screenwriting. So what could any "experts" offer a genius like me? After all I've never sold anything. Never written anything anybody thought was great. Nobody ever paid me for my work. It's obvious -- there is nothing any experts in Hollywood or filmmaking could offer a genius like me.
-- Right.
I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what. I had no choice except to turn to experienced elders, people in the know, those that have gone before and treaded the path, forging ahead so that numbskulls like me can pay good money to take the high road with an experience hunter instead of getting lost in the jungle. And so it is. Desperate men turn to desperate measures.
In my quest to find proper guides, the experts I chose were based on a need to find some way to get my ideas in to a story. There's the catch. I'm great at filling 120 pages full of perfectly formatted, eloquently written, interesting verbiage and witty dialogue in a screenplay. But that's not what we go to see movies for. We go to see stories. I didn't know what a story was. Dumb mistake number one.
Then it hit me like a porcupine tail (thanks mom). I had been writing on instinct alone and looking to idiots on the internet as good advice. After all, most advice you hear from friends, family and colleagues is "just sit down and write it" or "write three scenes a night and you'll have a script in three months." On the internet they say, "just make sure that your first ten pages are dynamite if you want to sell your script." Dumb mistake number two.
Writing on instinct feels great, because I can just write random scenes, whatever pops into my head, and then begin to find ways of putting them together to make a whole. I have written some scenes that I just feel "wow! I can't believe I wrote that, this is so cool!" But then, where to put that scene within 120 pages of script? It kept me wanting to stab my eyes out with an icepick. I was lost at sea, telling myself that land was going to come into sight any second now. Dumb mistake number three.
In the attempt to stop being a complete stupid fucking moron, I picked these guides for my journey to a script sale and directing a feature film worth something other than scratching my artistic itch.
Screenwriting Goldmine
On a whim, I bought the materials online from Screenwriting Goldmine. Philip Gladwin is a veteran writer from the UK and has developed a step by step approach of what to work on, when, and in a very specific order. This has been a godsend. The challenge for me is actually following the steps and not jumping ahead too soon until the story is hammered out. The temptation for me to go back to just writing full on scenes is huge, but I've been good and not done that near as much. A great map to follow on the journey, so far. A wonderful insight into writing scripts that sell. Unfortunately, he does not seem to be very active with his website for the last year.
STORY
Next up was my old friend Robert McKee. I first heard about him from the film "Adaptation" written by Charlie Kauffman. In the story, Robert was featured as a screenwriting guru in hollywood, brutally honest and doesn't take any crap about the importance of a great story. Kim and I watched that movie many times and made lots of fun of McKee. But this guy qualifies as an expert, so I'm all in and bought his hefty book. I was, and still am blown away by McKee's insights into life and bringing those insights into your story. There is hardly any screenwriting talked about here. It's all about story. Actual Script work comes dead last in this race.
The Writer's Journey
Drawing from all of the classic stories throughout history, this book shows a form, a shape, a mold from which to craft story that all the greats have in common. Beautifully written by Christopher Vogler, he draws on the work of Joseph Campbell, the man that revolutionized Hollywood stories in the late forties with his book "Hero with a Thousand Faces." Vogler's book is an idea generation mill. Whenever I read through it randomly, pictures pop into mind of what may work as a piece of my own story. It also offers brief glances into the structure of stories from the greatest films ever made, such as "The Wizard of Oz." A real gem.
Those are my three experts that I have latched onto in the hope that their experience and knowledge will lead a clear path into storytelling.
Oh yes, what about my bonus extra? It's not a book, does not add to information overload, is a great daily reminder that you're a story writer and offers good story structure, character and situational ideas to apply to your own stories...
The 510+ Stage Hero's Journey
It's a long title. I was super skeptical, there's not much of a track record with this one I could find. But Kal Bashir, the guy that puts this expensive information out also has a free daily tip through email. The tips are short, relevant, and directly applicable to screenwriting and story development. I love it. I may buy his materials some day, but haven't wanted to spend the cash since I'm broke. Could it be a big mistake not purchasing? Perhaps. I really like what this guy brings to the table, and so I certainly would like to add it to my arsenal in the future. But I have my big three, and I'm sticking to them.
Will these experts make any difference in the quest to create a story worth filming? Producers spending millions of dollars on? That people will be falling over themselves to pay $15 bucks to actually watch? Who knows? The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. We'll wait and see, but I truly believe that with the help of these men that have put their knowledge and expertise out there to hopefully help a clueless writer like me, maybe a classic story can come out of it.
As Egon Spengler put it "There's definitely a very slim chance that we'll survive."
2.04.2011
Writing Process
So, there's books and guides to tell you how to write a screenplay. The thing about a script is it's a wrangle with snakes. Everything seems to be slithering everywhere, slippery and not easy to grab hold of the little bastards.
I've rewritten the first act story and structure about ten times, I feel it's beginning to get clear and make sense and that a possible story is emerging. But there's always a nagging doubt, is this going to be any good? What is good? Would I know good when I see it on the page? I know, I know. Screenwriting is a mystery, an adventure, finding the ark and opening it, hoping there isn't only dust inside for your reward.
Of course, I can't tell you what the story is unless you meet me in a secret location and sign an NDA. You know i'm joking, because I'm a writer who has never sold anything, never written anything that's worth anything to anybody, and there are no guarantees that this script is going to be anything different. But you may tell it to someone else who may write a great script who may give it to a great producer who may hire a great director who makes a terrible movie that only makes one million domestic and fifty million overseas. I'd be pissed off, too.
The only thing that is in my favor is I have a mentor, a guide, a plan, a structure that will help get this script into the form of a real story that some producer, someplace in time will want to help me make.
Perhaps I'm venting. I'll go tap into the courageousness of the heroes that have been before us and kill these fucking snakes.
I've rewritten the first act story and structure about ten times, I feel it's beginning to get clear and make sense and that a possible story is emerging. But there's always a nagging doubt, is this going to be any good? What is good? Would I know good when I see it on the page? I know, I know. Screenwriting is a mystery, an adventure, finding the ark and opening it, hoping there isn't only dust inside for your reward.
Of course, I can't tell you what the story is unless you meet me in a secret location and sign an NDA. You know i'm joking, because I'm a writer who has never sold anything, never written anything that's worth anything to anybody, and there are no guarantees that this script is going to be anything different. But you may tell it to someone else who may write a great script who may give it to a great producer who may hire a great director who makes a terrible movie that only makes one million domestic and fifty million overseas. I'd be pissed off, too.
The only thing that is in my favor is I have a mentor, a guide, a plan, a structure that will help get this script into the form of a real story that some producer, someplace in time will want to help me make.
Perhaps I'm venting. I'll go tap into the courageousness of the heroes that have been before us and kill these fucking snakes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)