Phill Barron

25 July 200821 December 2012

Point & Click

Ah, winter. That time of year when staying inside with as many DVDs as your video library memberships will allow would be So Right…

Ah well.

There’s a new Kiwi screenwriting blog: at The Truth is Out There, the Daily Screenwriter uses the web’s silent peer pressure to track their progress. Any writer who’s not afraid to say that they’re not writing on any given day because it’s Sunday or like, ’cause is one to follow. (Fedora-tip: Ben Reid.)
Prior to To’ona’i, all the tech-geek-speak in this youtube clip would’ve gone straight over my head. Now that a little knowledge can be dangerous, upon watching this appropriation of a scene from Downfall, I laughed so much I almost soiled myself. (Fedora-tip: Lynden Barber.)
Since my ~~email leak~~ previous post, I’ve found Phill Barron‘s post on giving feedback rather reassuring.
And speaking of [cough] development, I heartily recommend screenwriting neophytes read Lucy Vee‘s current series on common – persistent? – script mistakes.

(Courtesy of Mr Tripuraneni, The Goddess and I have been ripping through his copy of Battlestar Galactica Season 3. Such focus might be at the expense of the excellent Mad Men but that’s what VCRs are for.)

(And riffing on things television, I’m looking forward to tonight’s premiere of The Jacquie Brown Diaries, from those freakishly talented BunkerMedia boys.)

18 May 200818 September 2013

Point & Click

I’ve got three, no, four, posts that I’m having trouble getting over the finish line, so it’s lookee what i found! time:

My awareness of the New Zild screenwriting blogosphere has just increased by 33%: Shortland Street scribe Edwin McRae blogs about his process at Fiction Engine. (Fedora-tip: Mr Reid.)

Mr Barron – whose feature is shooting as I type this – was thrown a curly one recently: he was asked to rewrite the scene in which his hero meets his love interest – but without the love interest-to-be actually in it.

Fast, Cheap and Under Control author, John Gaspard, has started putting snippets of his interviews on his blog, Fast, Cheap Movie Thoughts. See where the heck Miranda July is coming from with Me and You and Everyone We Know. Read how easy it was for John McNaughton to score a hundred grand to make his first feature, hahaha. (Fedora-tip: Alex Epstein.)

Someone went to the trouble of typing in each and every title listed in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Hollywood screenwriter John August has read 38 of them but would’ve scored higher if non-fiction was included. I scored 41 but would’ve scored higher if they included more comics. The Goddess, a enthusiastic avid voracious reader, scored 115. (Fedora-tip: John August.)

1 December 20075 August 2012

Point & Click

This week, in lieu of my usual witterings, I offer you:

At The Editing Room, Rod Hilton writes ‘abridged scripts’ of popular films – but in an indecently irreverent spirit that harks back to web classics “movies in a minute” and “movies with bunnies”. Behold his takes on The Bourne Ultimatum, The Departed and Ronin.

Bang2Write head script-reader, Lucy, is oft-name-checked in the UK scribosphere – and for good reason: her Write Here, Write Now blog has gems aplenty to offer, like no, your script idea has not been nicked, Worst. Feedback. Ever., and The List. (Collective fedora-tip: Messrs. Barron, Clague and Stack.)

A mere twelve months ago, Severance scribe James Moran listed seven reasons why his beloved horror genre can sometimes suck ass. Read. Memorise. Avoid. (Insta-fedora-tip: Write Here, Write Now.)

Former Paramount Theatre manager Dan Slevin used to throw together the best – the best, I tell ya – weekly e-newsletters. I may have been in the wrong city at the time (Christchurch, then Dunedin), but the reviews, descriptions and one-liners were a pleasure to read, and welcome heads-ups on what might (eventually) hit the South Island. He’s now the Capital Times film reviewer – and generously reprints his reviews at his blog, Funerals and Snakes.

And for something different, try killer-fact.com where literary quizzes (what novel opened with “Call me Ishmael”?) gleefully rub shoulders with polls like which Spice Girl to eat first when all the food has run out on your desert island. (Fedora-tip: NZBC.)

Update: the killer-fact.com page now says “This account has been suspended – please contact billing…”. Guess you’ll have to take my word for it.

12 October 20075 September 2012

Point & Click

So many things to post about. So few braincells to spare. Meantime, I give you these wonderful links to enjoy:

Alan Moore is interviewed about his career and latest work, Lost Girls.
Jeremy Slater has same cry-out-loud posts (here and here) about Heroes creator Tim Kring. Mm… maybe not for Heroes fans.
Phill Barron is writing a feature screenplay in one week. The man is insane. Virtual rubber-neckers can follow his progress so far: Day One and Day Two.
It’s that wonderful time of year when the Vidiots hold their annual Dead Pool competition. They may only be in it to see which newbie show karks it first, but for me it’s a good indicator of what to look forward to in the near future. Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money seemed to pass muster; here’s hoping The Bionic Woman and the long-silent Josh Friedman‘s The Sarah Connor Chronicles do the same.
Stephen Fry – yes, that Stephen Fry – has a blog. Nuff said, mm?

21 September 20072 August 2012

Point & Click

Oooh, a few minutes of exposure to broadband at a hotspot and lookee what I gots for you:

almost forty years ago, Storytime was launched into the world by a certain Terry Gilliam; see it, believe it, baby (fedora-tip: The Goddess and mentalfloss.com):

I was going to riff off Phill Barron‘s posts about people who think they can write when John Rogers threw this up;

I recommend Cine-City for well-written – and -thought – essays about films and cinema in general (fedora tip: WGGB Blog);
and finally, get your weekly fix of the life of a studio reder with Studio Reader Stan – feel the pain (fedora-tip: Complications Ensue).

This post-dated post – and possibly the next – is because the Mamea aiga are off to Melbourne for a week (yesss). Play nice now.

12 August 200731 July 2012

Flat Out

Been flat out with work this past week. Not even enough time to throw together a Point & Click. I’ve more of the same this coming week.

Meantime, try Phill Barron‘s blog on the scriptwriter’s life in the shallow end – ask him about his supercool new laptop.