Stick with me on this one.
The year was 1982. Olivia Newton John aerobicized us with ’Physical’. British commandos invaded the Falklands. Unemployment in the good ‘ole US of A reached 10.8%. Ronald Regan was in the White House.
”First Blood” starring Sylvester Stallone as John J. Rambo in graced our multiplex:
In 2002, The U.S. Department of Justice reported that 797,500 children (under 18) were reported missing. That’s 2,185 kids reported missing every day for a year.
Like most government stats, it’s subject to interpretation. Google “missing kids” and you’ll stumble into the horrific facts yourself. Suffice to say that many kids simply disappear. Gone. Poof. Never to be seen again. Ever.
Ever.
Monsters walk among us.
Earlier this year, a guy named Jerry Joe Bradish admitted to raping and killing his 14 year old daughter in 1985 for the insurance money. Ten thousand dollars. This is Jerry Bradish:
He left her body at the side of the road so that it would quickly be found. When the body was found, Jerry identified the body as his daughter. This is Jerry’s victim, his daughter, Teresa Bradish:
Pretty good title, isn’t it?
Bald. Freaks. On. Main. Street.
I like that. But that’s it. I’ve got nothing else. I don’t know who the Bald Freaks are, why they’re bald, why they’re freaks, or why they’re on Main Street.
But still… good title!
I read a recent article that a good title speaks for itself. You basically know the story before you read it. The example was “Four Christmases”.
Hey… that is a pretty good title!
Without reading it, I think it’s about some sort of family-Christmas conflict. Maybe a comedy. And it happens either four times, four places, etc.
No, I don’t know the details, but I quickly put together some images and it intrigues me and (if I was into that sort of thing) it would make me want to pick it up and read it.
I frequently have problems with titles. I’ll write something and not know what the title is until after I’ve finished. My latest script does have (in my humble opinion) a kick ass title. It’s called ‘I WALK AMONG YOU’. Continue Reading »
Good news: 1st and 3rd act about done!
Bad news: bogged down in the 2nd act.
Good news: Already wrote the blog for next Friday!
Bad news: It’s predicated on finishing the damn script.
I should finish the script this weekend or towards the middle of next week. Yay. It’s not really “the feel good story of the year”. Anyway, more next week.
Option for Big Blue Meanie is done… verbally. I’ll sign the papers in the next few days, do a polish, get notes, do a re-write. Looking forward to it. Seeya next week.
Same bat time.
Same bat channel.
M A R K
I was talking to Don Jackson earlier in the week about how to format a certain scene. We were trying to do a flashback, but avoid using the word “flashback”. This led to future work, which led to outlines, which led to writing good outlines.
I explained to Don that my current outline was lacking. It was about 90% complete. Don mentioned writing outward from the key scenes, which was exactly what I was doing. Continue Reading »
Short and sweet:
Did some pick-up work on The Lost Tribe. Read Cambridge Film Classics critical analysis book: “The Films of Alfred Hitchcock” (whoa!). And then…
Last weekend, I went back and created the outline for the new material, breaking it into three crisp, clear acts, setting up each scene, the motivations, etc. etc. Then I went and re-arranged what I had already written to match the outline.
THEN… I found out that the outline, while being fairly detailed — was not detailed enough and this was messing with my page count. So my first 30 pages (the first act, which ends with a crucial event) was going to be 35 pages. It got me thinking that the level of detail throughout the entire outline was not detailed enough and I would run into the same problem over and over again.
NOTE TO SELF: Make outlines more detailed.
NOTE TO SELF #2: Page count doesn’t really matter.
Till next week.
Same bat-time. Same bat-channel.
M A R K
Dakota Fanning was 12 going on 13 when she made Hounddog.
At the end of the shoot, it suddenly leaked that young Dakota had filmed a rape scene and all hell broke loose.
Re-shoots, accusations, hot headed discussions about art. Stupid people saying stupid things. Smart people saying stupid things. Religious people doing their thing. Very few people have seen this movie. It played a few festivals. Continue Reading »
Notalotta this week, gang. Here’s the quick version and we’ll regroup next week:
1) Big Blue Meanie - working with a few interested parties on getting it optioned. Also working with Don Jackson on polishing.
2) Blind Eye - made a whole buncha changes. It’s much better now. But Larry had an excellent idea — add in a childhood rhyme about the killer. That’s a bad ass idea because of how it enforces the mythology. I’m getting this in next.
3) Blue Blood - Just did a heavy polish. Converted it from Word to Final Draft. First time I read it in more than a year. Still really tight. Still laughed and cringed in all the right places.
4) The Lost Tribe - I’m thinking the 6 minute teaser / promo thing should be out soon.
5) Two Guys - kicked around and finalized loglines with Alan and now he’s going to get it to the studios for some reads.
6) Working with Justin on “what’s next”. This should resolve itself in a few days and maybe sometime next week (if I’m not off into an enormo Big Blue Meanie rewrite) we’ll start bangin’ on the next one.
7) Venture’s still looking for money.
8 ) Pinky Promise is still looking for money. It was nice to see it appear on IMDB, though. Hopefully, the guys at New Daydream will get their flick ‘GRINDER’ in front of the cameras soon. If you’re into horror, this is one to keep an eye on.
Later.
M A R K
