tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74614038072684057182024-03-14T03:35:32.266-07:00Into the BlackBxxDaniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-24087550622377586922012-08-16T17:58:00.001-07:002012-08-16T17:58:19.842-07:00This is What Transmedia Looks Like<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The luxury of time has afforded me and my creative partners the opportunity to take a long objective
look at the results of our little narrative experiment, Bxx: HAUNTED.
In doing do, we’ve come to a number of conclusions, the main take-away
being that, like most experiments, the result we were seeking has been utterly
eclipsed by another that we discovered quite by accident. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Our original intent with Bxx was to
create a non-linear narrative that could be accessed by the user at any point
in the story and viewed in any order. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In order to execute the concept, we
needed to produce a 32 hour scripted drama in real time—an unprecedented task
which presented a number of unique technical and human challenges. Though, as one would expect, the technical
aspects were tough (particularly on a miniscule budget), far more demanding
than the hardware were the flesh-and-blood issues, as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">How
do we script a 32 hour drama, much of which is being performed
simultaneously in different locations?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">How
do we rehearse the actors?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">How
do the actors sustain a role, uninterrupted, for days at a time?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Nevertheless, after much
trial-and-error, we devised (although “reinvented,” may be the more accurate
term) solutions to writing, rehearsal and performance—techniques we immediately
recognized as proprietary insomuch as they are highly </span><span style="line-height: 23px;">counter-intuitive</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and
would prove virtually impossible for a competitor to replicate or
“reverse-engineer” by simply viewing the end-product.</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Much as the Apollo missions gave birth
to calculators, adult diapers and Tang, our little experiment yielded a number
of incidental discoveries in support of its ultimate goal. One of those “incidental discoveries” not
only overshadows the others, but arguably the entire experiment itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">There is a project management axiom
that is ruthlessly applicable to the production of filmed entertainment,
distilled into the famed “Euler Diagram,” which you will no doubt recognize as
follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdlI-kqM2Jpf0nNSvRh3ylEp2uHfapL-5Fa21fuz4UPSLPETIBYZN75_gMw7WL5ewOMU-0ncJCHJXdpUXjF-IcbwZ9B-Qb97UZwXHPiGUHi3tIBUfu9Y_jWsJgRe7cue5x2GOsO8WbVoME/s1600/euler.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdlI-kqM2Jpf0nNSvRh3ylEp2uHfapL-5Fa21fuz4UPSLPETIBYZN75_gMw7WL5ewOMU-0ncJCHJXdpUXjF-IcbwZ9B-Qb97UZwXHPiGUHi3tIBUfu9Y_jWsJgRe7cue5x2GOsO8WbVoME/s1600/euler.png" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The axiom states that one can only achieve
two of the three aspects within a project.
For instance, if speed and quality is desired, the quest will prove
expensive. Likewise, if one has a small
budget but takes enough time in execution, the results can be good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The box-narrative format, however,
obliterates this paradigm by virtue of the <i>sheer
volume</i> of material captured within the time-frame. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The production of Bxx: Haunted, for
instance, yielded almost 600 hours of video, hundreds of pages of notes logged
by the characters in journals and investigatory forms and dozens of audio
samples. Our budget was less than
$20,000, including the purchase of 16 IR cameras and a custom DVR system. Though one may argue that much of the
material we captured—empty rooms, sleeping actors, lulls in action—is unexciting,
the same decidedly cannot be said once its entirety is distilled into its most
compelling fraction of a one percent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In short, the box-narrative format can
deliver a full season, twelve episodes of compelling commercial television
content, for the price of a single episode using traditional methods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And unlike a traditional production in
which the unused takes are discarded, every second of every shot, every journal
entry made by a character, every notation in a log, piece of correspondence, file,
report, recording and photograph is available on the web to support the
television series. Whereas traditional
film production is marked for its bloat, waste and grotesque inefficiency, a
Bxx production rapaciously attacks and renders the narrative into hundreds of
hours of entertainment content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Consequently, the stunning efficiency
of the box-narrative presents a unique opportunity to the private
investor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Though it has long been possible to
independently finance a single theatrical film, series television has remained
out of the private investor’s reach due to its huge costs and protracted
contractual requirements for cast and crew. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The box-narrative production format, however, decisively smashes
both these hurdles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">For the cost of a single low-budget
film, Bxx can deliver an entire 12 hour episodic series. Assuming it commands even the most conservative, "reality show-level" licensing fees on a basic cable network, profits from domestic distribution
<i>alone </i>will exceed production costs and generate a profit. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Add foreign distribution, internet advertising
and potential subscription revenue from its online component, as well as
additional sources of monetization such as merchandizing and software, and the
potential ROI of Bxx is self-evident.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Of course, all this is just theory. Which is why we produced our proof-of-concept, Bxx: HAUNTED. But can such an unorthodox production generate content that can be tamed into a traditional media a standard narrative format?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">To answer this question, we culled footage captured during the 32-hour production of Bxx: HAUNTED and edited them into a standard feature-length.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Judge for yourself:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/n0SjRi_Ivx0/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/n0SjRi_Ivx0&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n0SjRi_Ivx0&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/bbBpTjihZz0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ygNMDktDDY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/tofbqeqCHsE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/yaihw_nEvJE/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yaihw_nEvJE&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yaihw_nEvJE&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/gIRhdquCCMA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Keep in mind, Bxx: HAUNTED was accomplished with a micro-budget (under $50,000 US) and <i>severe </i>technical limitations. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Our next project, Bxx: MARS, will utilize over 70 high-def cameras, state of the art tech, studio-grade design and production values, first-rate digital FX, and twice the real-time shooting length, </span><span style="line-height: 23px;">yielding over 5,000 hours of raw internet content and twelve 1-hour television episodes. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">Our budget? $5.6 million (US). </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Our intent was to turn the Hollywood paradigm on its head, to restore creative control where it belongs</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;">—</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">in the artist's hands. Our journey has led us to a format that offers strong potential returns at a relatively low risk to independent investors.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Oh yeah. This changes <i>everything</i>.</span></span></div>
Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-30999819414634785292012-08-10T17:09:00.001-07:002012-08-10T17:09:38.719-07:00A Spoonful of Reality Helps the Medicine Go Down<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Before
you roll your eyes and say, “Great. Just what we need. Another Hollywood
big-mouth weighing in on a controversial subject he knows dick about,” a word
about my creds: Before I joined the circus, I spent 20+ years making a living
as a benefits consultant to dozens of private and public sector employers. So I
<i>do</i> know a thing or three about how
the current system works (and doesn’t work).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL1GbhpCCmPhrp4jxeYjlZ-29x3B5b4PLyvxisTAdSPXKq0-GliIe96fMGyBiJN-okcj3ks4GADUMt7h-0cGipVOyuTg7R_JkioT9Wsur5APY9ePyy-3Cm95KSbe9DkijyJMYk6aMX1e0/s1600/medicine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL1GbhpCCmPhrp4jxeYjlZ-29x3B5b4PLyvxisTAdSPXKq0-GliIe96fMGyBiJN-okcj3ks4GADUMt7h-0cGipVOyuTg7R_JkioT9Wsur5APY9ePyy-3Cm95KSbe9DkijyJMYk6aMX1e0/s320/medicine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">That
said, it seems to me that whenever the subject of health care reform comes up,
two opposing forces go totally Medieval on each other; the Left shrieks for a
government-funded single-payer system while the Right bellows in defense of the
current system of Medicare, Medicaid and employer/union-sponsored private payment
plans. While both these approaches offer certain advantages and I could give
you an exhaustive list of pros and cons to each, neither addresses the core issue,
and that is the screaming runaway train of medical-inflation we’ve witnessed
over the last four decades, a rate well in excess of three times the Consumer
Price Index.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">So how did the system
get so screwed up? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In the 1940s, employer-sponsored
medical insurance was introduced as a "perk" to get around federally
mandated wartime wage-freezes (yet another silly idea) to attract and retain
skilled labor. What started as a snappy little benefit that cost only a few
dollars per employee has since spiraled out of control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Now imagine for a
moment if, rather than offering medical reimbursement plans, employers had
opted to pay for some other basic expense—clothing, for instance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">At first, there wouldn’t
be much of a change. But it wouldn’t
take long before plan participants would begin to upgrade their wardrobes. Why opt for the no-name generic crap when you
can fill your closets with <i>haute couture?</i> After all, if there is no cost differential
between “adequate” and “the best,” who in their right mind would choose cotton
over silk underwear? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, retailers
would burn all those ugly “Spring Clearance SALE” signs because nobody would
care about discounts. In fact, the term “discount”
would soon become synonymous with “substandard.” And as prices became increasingly irrelevant
to their customers, clothing stores would steadily <i>boost</i> them in order to maximize profit. To counter this, insurance companies would
establish benefit limits tied to “usual and customary” prices. But since those prices would be pegged to the
actual claims submitted, they would continue their upward creep. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Designers would soon
jump on the bandwagon, abandoning seasonal lines for <i>monthly</i> lines. Again,
insurance companies would respond to the increase in claims by incentivizing the
purchase of generic brands over designer duds.
However, it would soon be pointed out that there <i>is</i> no generic equivalent for the triple-vented pleated sport-kilt
in Ralph Lauren’s Mid-October Collection.
Furthermore, there <i>won’t be</i>
for the foreseeable future since Ralph holds a patent on the pattern. So in order to placate their policy-holders
and remain competitive, insurers would agree to cover designer-brands “until
such time as a generic equivalent becomes available.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Then, some whiz-kid in
Contract Services would negotiate a sweetheart deal with a network of clothing
retailers, dub it a "Haberdashery Maintenance Organization" (HMO<sup>®</sup>) and
the insurance companies would structure their plans to pay enhanced benefits to
those employees who choose to exclusively shop at participating stores. Employers would be weighing the advantages of
Wal-Mart-Plus versus Target-Net. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">It
would rapidly become apparent, however, that the HMOs themselves have become <i>de facto</i> bargaining units for their member
merchants, who would unilaterally increase contracted rates with the knowledge that
few employers have the intestinal fortitude to order their workforce to—gasp—<i>change retailers!</i> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">So, again, insurance companies would be forced to bite
the bullet and pay the piper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Oh, yeah</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">and pass the
costs on to their <i>clients</i>, who would pass the costs on to their <i>customers</i>, further
increasing <i>an invisible but steadily growing and onerous sales-tax to everyone
who buys goods and services.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Still doubt all this
would come to pass if the cost of clothing was borne—and corrupted—by the
intrusion of third-party payers? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Granted, there are a number of additional factors that
drive up medical costs such as an aging population, technology and malpractice
claims. But consider the case of Lasik
eye surgery, the average cost of which has plunged from $2,200 per eye in 1998
to just north of $1,000 per eye today <i>despite</i>
a 98% increase in medical CPI over the same period. Like every other medical procedure, it is
subject to the aforementioned inflationary factors. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">However,
Lasik is <i>not covered</i> by the majority
of insurance plans, Medicare or Medicaid.
The <i>sole</i> reason the procedure
defies economic gravity (or, rather, is subject to it) is due to the power of the market, supply and demand,
and competition between providers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Sure,
third-party payment seems like a great idea, especially when you're the
recipient. But consider this: The two components of the economy which are
largely paid through third-parties—health care and college-level education—have
seen costs skyrocket over the last four decades, <i>far </i>outpacing inflation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Why? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Because
third-party payment schemes <i>grossly</i>
distort the market forces of supply and demand. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">More importantly, third-party payment eliminates incentives for consumers
to exercise even baseline prudence, such as comparison shopping, negotiating
prices and rendering judgments regarding cost vs. value. The resulting
"super-inflation" has little impact on consumers who qualify for
third-party benefits—medical plan participants or schola</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">rship/financial aid recipients—but is
positively <i>catastrophic</i> for those who
don't. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">This distortion, btw,
occurs whether the third-party payer is the government or private insurance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">So why, when
discussing “health care reform,” does everyone in the government, the health
care industry and insurance companies insist on quibbling over irrelevant
details like who will pay for what and who should be covered? Why do they continue to ignore the third-party
elephant in the room? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Because, kiddies, with
that <i>tsunami</i> of dough flying back and
forth, they are making <i>boat-loads</i> of
bank! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">For example, rate
increases on employer health insurance plans are based on what is called “claims
experience” (i.e. actual medical charges plus medical inflation). The insurance company’s “administration”
(i.e. overhead) and “retention” (i.e. profit) are bundled together and charged
as a percentage of “claims experience.” Now
tell me, what company wouldn’t just love to peg their profit to the single most
runaway component of the Consumer Price Index?
Oh, and by the way, you can <i>bet</i>
they aren’t “spreading the wealth” to the rank-and-file schlubs who actually
administer claims either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The same is true of
the medical industry and big-government.
The status quo guarantees each their measure of profit and/or power. They distract by politicizing details of what
and who will be covered, of what and who will foot the bill, all the while
ignoring the underlying problem of runaway costs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Everyone is a winner
except for the consumer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The solution is
clear. It is long past time third-party
payment of medical care was acknowledged for what it is: A ruinously failed
experiment. As such, it should be banned.
Only then will consumer forces (and sanity) be returned to the health care
market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">True, because powerful
business and public-sector interests are so utterly invested in the <i>status quo</i>, such a radical overhaul
would generate unprecedented fear-mongering and doom saying. But as counter-intuitive as it sounds, the
key—the <i>only</i> key—to meaningful healthcare
reform is to ban third-party payments altogether until such time that the
patient has completely exhausted his or her personal financial resources. Though
it may seem that such a scheme is cruel and radical, consider the fact that
until the 1940s, this is *exactly* how Americans paid for their health care and,
somehow, everyone retained access to the system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 10.2pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-82130909580024447842012-07-16T18:41:00.002-07:002012-07-16T18:41:55.585-07:00And Now, Time for Our Feature Presentation...<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">First of all, the entire team at Bxx
would like to thank everyone who helped build our brave little transmedia
experiment or logged on to check it out. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Bxx: HAUNTED was immensely challenging, and, though it started out as a “proof
of concept,” it turned out to be quite a bit more than that, with over 30,000 visitors,
a third of which staying on 30 minutes or more, with a total of over 4 million
hits. And all this with zero public
relations and hype other than the interest we could drum up on the social
networks.</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Yay us.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Yay you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We’ve since taken a long, objective
look at the results of our little narrative experiment. In doing do, we’ve come to a number of
conclusions, the main take-away being that, like most experiments, the result
we were seeking has been utterly eclipsed by another that we discovered q</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">uite by accident.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Our original intent with Bxx was to
create a non-linear narrative that could be accessed by the user at any point
in the story and viewed in any order.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In order to execute the concept, we
needed to produce a 32 hour scripted drama in real time—an unprecedented task
which presented a number of unique technical and human challenges. Though, as one would expect, the technical
aspects were tough (particularly on a miniscule budget), far more demanding
than the hardware were the flesh-and-blood issues, as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">How
do we script a 32 hour drama, much of which is being performed
simultaneously in different locations?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">How
do we rehearse the actors?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">How
do the actors sustain a role, uninterrupted, for days at a time?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Nevertheless, after much
trial-and-error, we devised (although “reinvented,” may be the more accurate
term) solutions to writing, rehearsal and performance—techniques we immediately
recognized as proprietary insomuch as they are highly counterintuitive and
would prove virtually impossible for a competitor to replicate or
“reverse-engineer” by simply viewing the end-product.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Much as the Apollo missions gave birth
to calculators, adult diapers and Tang, our little experiment yielded a number
of incidental discoveries in support of its ultimate goal. One of those “incidental discoveries” not
only overshadows the others, but arguably the entire experiment itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">There is a project management axiom
that is ruthlessly applicable to the production of filmed entertainment,
distilled into the famed “Euler Diagram,” which you will no doubt recognize as
follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7z6C7cjBtP4riZ19usMNLTxxFKDS7Ig9Vv8o7M5KpjXKQXMIUZlYDR07-NFrxi-EC-qMr1lAujQYyEHmrDTajSCqBmXqM3rqwV4G3JMkJEOT8W-Il-blq9_d0r980PmVixH8HxxjZWYw/s1600/euler.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7z6C7cjBtP4riZ19usMNLTxxFKDS7Ig9Vv8o7M5KpjXKQXMIUZlYDR07-NFrxi-EC-qMr1lAujQYyEHmrDTajSCqBmXqM3rqwV4G3JMkJEOT8W-Il-blq9_d0r980PmVixH8HxxjZWYw/s200/euler.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The axiom states that one can only achieve
two of the three aspects within a project.
For instance, if speed and quality is desired, the quest will prove
expensive. Likewise, if one has a small
budget but takes enough time in execution, the results can be good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The box-narrative format, however,
obliterates this paradigm by virtue of the <i>sheer
volume</i> of material captured within the time-frame. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The production of Bxx: Haunted, for
instance, yielded almost 600 hours of video, hundreds of pages of notes logged
by the characters in journals and investigatory forms and dozens of audio
samples. Our budget was less than $50,000,
including the purchase of 16 IR cameras and a custom DVR system. Though one may argue that much of the
material we captured—empty rooms, sleeping actors, lulls in action—is unexciting,
the same decidedly cannot be said once its entirety is distilled into its most
compelling fraction of a one percent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In short, we surmised that, given
adequate resources, the box-narrative format can easily deliver a full season
of compelling commercial television content, for the price of a single episode
using traditional methods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And unlike a traditional production in
which the unused takes are discarded, every second of every shot, every journal
entry made by a character, every notation in a log, piece of correspondence, file,
report, recording and photograph is available on the web to support the
television series. Whereas traditional
film production is marked for its bloat, waste and grotesque inefficiency, a
Bxx production rapaciously attacks and renders the narrative into hundreds of
hours of entertainment content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And so, in order to test our theory, we
endeavored to see if we could wrangle the vast amount of raw footage and
archival material into something that resembling a traditional feature
film. So our intrepid editor, April,
culled the scenes that conveyed our original story and assembled them into a
110 minute feature. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">The results surprised and delighted us.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/0j_9XGNQhpA/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0j_9XGNQhpA&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0j_9XGNQhpA&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">We plan on presenting BXX: HAUNTED – THE FEATURE on YouTube on August 1st. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">That’s right, kids. Free.
All you need is an internet connect and at least one working eyeball to
see it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">So subscribe at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/bxxweb">http://www.youtube.com/user/bxxweb</a>
and be among the first to see the show. We’re
certain it will inspire you to explore the rest of BxxWeb (if you haven’t
already).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And if you’re a venture-capitalist or an
entrepreneurial type, and you’re interested in helping a motley crew of artists
and miscreants take Bxx to the next level, drop us a line. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-63231673472440813072012-05-17T13:38:00.002-07:002012-05-17T17:28:52.255-07:00DIALOGUE 1.0<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I've cornered
the market in the bubble-bursting department, I might as well sharpen my
ice-pick and address the very important/not at all important issue of writing
dialogue.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my previous
rants, I've committed the heresy of putting forward the humble proposition that
you must have talent to write a good screenplay (operative words there,
"talent" and "good.") <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An example of this
is the writing of dialogue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having an ear for
dialogue is analagous to having natural rhythm. Either you can dance, or you
can't dance. You can't "learn" how to write good dialogue any
more than you can "learn" to tap your toe in beat with a song. It's
either comes naturally, or it doesn't come at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure, even if you're
a spaz on the dance floor, it's possible to sit down, one eye on a metronome,
and, after hours of patient practice, learn to tap your foot along with one
song. But you're screwed the moment the next tune comes up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's like the drunk
who steps up to the bar. "Iwannashnwad," he says. The bartender
refuses, "Listen up, pal, if you're too blotto to order the cocktail,
you're too blotto to drink it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The drunk staggers
outside, stands in an alley for an hour and practices. "I wannashodgenwad.
I wanna shcodgenwad. I wanna scotchenwadder..." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He goes back into
the bar, orders his drink. A regular Laurence Olivier: "I want a scotch
and water."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bartender gives
him a look, says, "You want that straight-up or on the rocks?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The drunk thinks
about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Iwannashnwad,"
he says. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess that what
I'm getting at is you can "learn" to craft one good line.
Unfortunately a piece of dramatic writing usually has a shitload of good lines,
all coming from different characters, with different backgrounds and different
ways of speaking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you can't
"hear" what they're saying naturally—automatically—and you have to
intellectually ponder each and every line, you're not just at a
disadvantage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You're totally
screwed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you <i>do</i>
have an ear for dialogue, congratulations. But that's just an admission ticket
to hone your talent. Knowing how "real people talk" is handy, but it
doesn't have a whole lot to do with written dialogue. Just listen to those two
“real people” in the next booth at Denny's. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NO! Not <i>them</i>,
numbnuts! The <i>other</i> booth. Listen...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> REAL PERSON #1<br /> So I go down to the Sears an'...<br /> (takes a big bite of<br /> French toast)... </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">mish guy, ya know—</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">R</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">EAL PERSON #2</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Which guy?</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">REAL PERSON #1</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The guy, you know. That one with the </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">eye.</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">REAL PERSON #2</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Oh yeah. I know that guy. Ricky somethin, </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">right? He's </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">a dick.</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">REAL PERSON #1</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Fuggin-A. So I'm standing there, waiting, </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">and, like, </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">there's this music, you
know, </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">like playing. You know </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">that song...<br /> (</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">sings)</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Dee-deet-du-dee-dee-dee—</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">REAL PERSON #2</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">They </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><i>always</i></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><i> </i>play that in there! I was </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">there, shit, I </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">dunno, I was there
and </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">they were playin that then,</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">too. I swear </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">to God. It's like, what do they
got? One </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">tape? Jeez...</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 300px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 18.75pt 0in 18.75pt; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Had enough?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure, it sounds
"real." That's the way real people talk. The only problem is that <i>real
people don't say anything!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there's the
other end of the spectrum: Characters who say <i>exactly</i> what they are
thinking or feeling at any given time. Just turn on the television. It's like a
pox.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">JOHN</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">You're empty inside, Debra. You're </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">incapable of love.</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">DEBRA</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">That's not true, John. I <i>do </i>love you. </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">do</i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">! But you're </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">too blind
to see it. </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">It's not easy to open up to a man </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">after </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">you've been repeatedly
sodomized by a </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">satanic</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">cult of outlaw bikers!</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">(sobs)</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">But I'm </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">trying</i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">, John. You </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">must</i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> know that!</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">JOHN</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I do, Debra. I <i>do!</i> But a man has needs.</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Can't you see </i><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">this is tearing me apart?!</i></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 1.1pt; mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 57.76%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 37.5pt 0in 37.5pt; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OH MY GOD!!! Stop!
My head's about to implode!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People are simply
a.) not that self-aware and b.) even if they were, they don't just blurt out
their deepest feelings, darkest secrets and greatest fears. Except, of
course, in hack screenplays. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Oh, and by the
way? The <i>only</i> place where John calls Debra “Debra” and Debra calls John
“John” in every other line is on bad television. In real life, we rarely use a friend’s name
while speaking to him in a conversation.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A close corollary to
this brand of bullshit is "THE BUTTON."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bxxweb.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56b04ccfKyQWvL9-G8fp6dn1KcUBNMkftfNSh-IkIkgxbeKUq_JmFaThJcEoAN1zVhlfDAtW9UagRbJrrYv0Fn5ObWgPGuesILj6BLGxZEilVpNunJaYFQU6zyqh4WcI2hjIDkhjRPDOQ/s400/Banner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Button is a BIG
LINE that one character says at the close of a scene that is so powerful— so
absolutely <i>right</i>—that it leaves the other character(s) speechless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">DEBRA</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Tearing <i>you</i> apart. <i>You</i>, John. That's</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">what this relationship is
all about,</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">isn't it? That's what it's</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">always</i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> been </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">about! </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">YOU!!!</i></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 59.0%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">John stares at her, the bitter truth of her words sinking in. She coolly
regards him, then turns and exits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When was the last
time an argument ever ended that way for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for me, I've
dropped some absolute <i>atom-bombs</i> on
my wife in the course of arguments, yet none of them have <i>ever</i> rendered
her speechless. Why? <i>Because she has her
own thermonuclear arsenal.</i> Everyone does. The truth is, in real life, John
would look at Debra and say:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">JOHN</span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><i>Really?</i> You really <i>think so?</i> Well, </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">you wanna know what <i>I think?</i> I think </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">you <i>liked </i>being sodomized by those </span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">outlaw bikers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Screenplay1">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 58.0%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" width="100%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's called Mutual
Assured Destruction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you really want
to see how people behave in a toxic relationship, check out WHO'S AFRAID OF
VIRGINIA WOOLF? Burton and Taylor are like a binary star system, each locked in
orbit, feeding on each other in this beautiful, ghastly, absolutely brilliant
death-dance. You can't take your eyes off it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, we can't
all be Edward Albee. But we don't have to be hacks, either. And believe me, using
"THE BUTTON" is a hallmark of hack-writing. In real life, human
beings simply do not relate to each other this way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And they shouldn't
in your scripts, either. So next time you write a nice, pat little scene that deftly steps down to a pithy little button, do yourself a favor and write the next line. Because, as in the JOHN and DEBRA example above, that's where things will begin to come alive and get interesting.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Characters are a bit like dogs. You can snap the leash and make them heel or cut them loose and watch them run down rabbits. The former may be nice and safe and satisfying to the person walking the dog, but the latter is far more entertaining for the rest of us.</span></div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-23261317582457294632012-05-15T11:33:00.001-07:002012-05-17T17:27:47.972-07:00HOW TO BE A SCREENWRITER IN THREE EASY STEPS<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anybody can learn to
write a script, and there are a number of books and sites and seminars that will teach you how. What
the the books and the sites and the seminars <i>don't </i>tell you is that you'll probably never be much good at it, no
matter how slavishly you follow their rules.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You'll notice I said
"anybody can learn to write a script." This is analogous to
saying "anybody can sing." Unfortunately, simply because one has the
ability to execute a task, it doesn't necessarily follow that one will <i>excel </i>at
said task. <br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sure, if you really practice, work long and hard at any given undertaking, you may become fairly competent. That said, blowing them away at Applebees on Karaoki Night doesn't make you some kind of Sinatra.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Any artistic
endeavor requires craft and talent. The more you have of one, the less you need
of the other. It's sort of like state college entrance requirements. If
your SATs are great, your GPA can kinda suck (and vice versa)
and you can still get in. <br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, if you want
to go to Harvard or Yale, more people are competing for fewer spots, which
means <i>both</i> your GPA <i>and</i> your SATs have to be pretty damn
good. Real damn good. Plus, having a relative who's a big
wheel in the Alumni Society doesn't hurt either.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(Hey, this is
turning out to be a better analogy for the movie business than I thought!)</i><br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So if you want to
make it as a screenwriter, the sad fact is: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>You must have talent.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
There, I said
it. The ugly truth. And it gets uglier: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Talent, no matter what anybody tells
you, <i>cannot be learned</i>.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I say
"learned," I mean it in the normal sense, as in out of a book or in a
classroom. I can't teach you how to be a great writer. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nobody can.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bxxweb.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56b04ccfKyQWvL9-G8fp6dn1KcUBNMkftfNSh-IkIkgxbeKUq_JmFaThJcEoAN1zVhlfDAtW9UagRbJrrYv0Fn5ObWgPGuesILj6BLGxZEilVpNunJaYFQU6zyqh4WcI2hjIDkhjRPDOQ/s400/Banner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I <i>can
</i>tell you how to be a good screenwriter—or at least better than you are now—in three easy steps.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Step One:</b></div>
<br />
Stop writing screenplays.<br />
<br />
<b>Step Two:</b><br />
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Start
reading poetry;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Read
more poetry;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Write
poetry;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Lots of
poetry;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Stop
talking;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Listen;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Read;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Masturbate
like a doomed lab-monkey;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Write
more poetry;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Shoplift
food;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Work at
a series of meaningless jobs;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Get
betrayed by someone you cherish;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Be
afraid;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Watch
THE SEVEN SAMURAI without reading the subtitles;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Pray for
forgiveness. Mean it;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Read
your poetry out loud to an unappreciative audience;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Get
stoned;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Contemplate
suicide;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Help someone
for no reason;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Hitch-hike;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Get
angry;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Read
Bukowski, Fante, Vonnegut and Ellison;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Drink
coffee all night;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Be true;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Fall in
love (at least twice);<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Observe;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Get
fired for hitting your supervisor;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Doubt
yourself;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Flip
back and forth from A&E Biography and The History Channel until you're sure
Tammy Wynette built the pyramids;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Drop
acid;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Throw an
ashtray through the television set;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Have
kids;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Quit a
job without giving notice. At lunchtime;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Fail;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Listen
to music. Very loud;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Toss and
turn;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Understand
nobility and treachery, practice both, favor the former;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Make
passionate love to someone you don't even like;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Tilt
windmills;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Get
evicted;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Suffer
pointlessly;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Pay
attention;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Be
foolish;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Go to
jail (at least once);<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Survive
all the above, but imperfectly.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Incidentally, the entire laundry-list of tasks I've listed above can be boiled down to one word: <i>LIVE!</i> Live as greedily and aggressively as you can. Make every heartbeat count for something. Surrender yourself to as wide a range of human experience and emotions as you can without ending up in jail or a rubber-room. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because no matter what they tell you in film-school, nobody wants to see a movie about a movie written by somebody who's only seen movies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once you have lived a decade or so past your teens, you may move on to...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<b>Step Three: </b><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Write a
screenplay;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Write
another screenplay;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Rewrite
the first one;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Write a
third screenplay;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Rewrite
the second one;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Burn the
first one;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span>Repeat
the above instructions indefinitely.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because here's the deal: Writers write. They don't talk about writing. They don't strike poses in front of open laptops at Starbucks. They don't whine about being blocked. They don't piddle around in workshops. They don't argue about the comparative virtues of Final Draft 5 versus Final Draft 8.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Writers. Fucking. <i>Write.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So go for it. If you're lucky and you have talent, you just might make it. But even if you don't, know this: Trying is its own reward. The very fact that you are willing to chase a dream
makes you better than 99.9% of the humans on planet Earth. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even if you're not
very good at it.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-62537176781489695062012-04-04T16:09:00.000-07:002012-05-17T17:25:28.780-07:00"It's alive! It's ALIVE!!!"<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On April 11, at 5:00PM Pacific Time, all the passwords come down and the first box-narrative ever produced, Bxx: HAUNTED, will be available to The World. Check us out at </span><a href="http://bxxweb.com/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">http://bxxweb.com</a></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">First,
from everyone at Bxx, a </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">huge</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> thank all our pre-Launch registrants for their patience with the current site.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Your feedback and suggestions have been invaluable, and you guys have
really helped us track down the bugs in the machine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Despite
the technical issues, the Twitter feedback and emails we’ve received indicate
that you’re having a good time burrowing into our nasty little pile’o’narrative. According to our stats, about 18% of you
guys have spent an hour or more exploring Bxx: Haunted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Second,
we’ve decided that Bxx: HAUNTED will remain 100% free to anyone who wants to
explore it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Third,
we’ve added some very cool upgrades to our interface controls which will soon be
available (April 11) by toggling your dashboard into ADVANCED MODE:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Set Viewer Default Size</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> - Oh my gosh, these
viewers are opening too big/small for my teeny-tiny/monster-ass monitor
and I keep having to manually adjust them after they open! <i>Gaaah!
Gaaaahhh! Every nerve-cell
in my carpal tunnel has torn open a mouth and is shrieking in agony!</i> Wait… what’s this button marked “SIZE?” Oh, hey, look… now all my monitors are
opening as big or as small as I want!
Cool!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Default AutoPlay </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">- Oh my gosh, every
time I select a clip, I’ve got to click “Play” to get it started! <i>Gaaah! Gaaaahhh! The sheer stress and redundancy of the excess
clicking is eating a hole in my stomach-lining!</i> Wait… what’s this button marked “AUTOPLAY?” Oh, hey, look… now all my viewers
automatically start playing as soon as I open them! Cool!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Improved Timeline Interface</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> - Oh my gosh, this
timeline won’t behave! Why can’t I
just enter a day, an hour and a segment number? <i>Gaaah! Gaaaahhh! Massive carbuncles are erupting all over
my body!</i> Oh, hey, look… they
fixed that! And even though the
slider doesn’t work (yet) on my tablet’s touch-screen interface, I can control
it by entering the info in the fields above it! Cool!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Twitter Feed</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> – Man, I just
found an awesome clip that <i>totally</i>
explains who stole the coroner’s report, but I have to leave Bxx to lay claim
to the find and lord it over all my tweeps! <i>Gaaah! Gaaaahhh! I’m having a gran-mal seizure!</i> Oh, hey, look… a Twitter feed right
there on my Haunted dash running a stream of Tweets hashtagged #bxx. Cool!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Stack</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> – Oh my gosh, I’ve got all these
damn monitors open and they’re all over the screen. I can’t see the video or get to the
controls! <i>Gaaah! Gaaaahhh! Steaming cerebral fluid is leaking from
my ears!</i> Wait… what’s this
button marked “STACK?” Oh, hey,
look… it just stacked all my viewers nice and neat down the right side of
my monitor screen! Cool!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Overlap</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> - Oh my gosh, now
I’ve got all these damn monitors stacked up and I’ve got to scroll down
into the Ninth Ring of Hell to see the one on the bottom! <i>Gaaah! Gaaaahhh! My eyeballs are bleeding! </i> Wait… what’s this button marked “OVERLAP?” Oh, hey, look… it just overlapped them
lust like mama does with my French toast and all I have to do is click on
their headers to bring the picture up to the top! Cool!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And,
by very, <i>very</i> popular demand…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">SyncStart </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">- once you’ve opened
multiple viewers and lined them up all pretty-like using the Stack or
Overlap buttons, you will be able to <i>simultaneously</i>
start them all with <i>one lovely
little button</i>. Ta-da!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Keep in mind, SyncStart
</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">only<i> synchronizes the initiation of multiple
clips.</i> Maintaining synchronous video
play is dependent on a variety of factors beyond our control, primarily your
internet connection, your system configuration and the vagaries of your ISP’s
performance at any given time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now
onto the coolest news of all..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Since
the pre-launch, we’ve been slaving over final touches on the transmedia
component of the Bxx experience—<i>hours</i>
of hand-held video and <i>dozens</i> of digital
stills captured by our cast during the investigation, audio files featuring EVPs,
diaries, journals, newspaper clippings, police reports, autopsy findings,
videotaped interrogations...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You
get the idea.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bxxweb.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBVgexG8neveJz-l8v2XRGmRiwJv1LTFmlX_p68VUfuuuwO3g-2xaXaZXUEBYdqM43RhzF3RWxZNuUq1O38Bxt5W40gyol_Nt8g2QgKI_P3EurH6wxg6PFsiGS5ndUFin0PHIidRetJCQ/s400/Banner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If
you’ve checked out the BACKGROUND section, you’ve even had a taste of the
material and how it deepens the overall Bxx experience. For instance, the incident logs have helped
some of you find some pretty dramatic incidents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Once
the passwords come down and we go public, this enhanced content will be locked
to Guests. Their access will be strictly
limited to the clips on the Dashboard and a few files in the BACKGROUND
section. Nor will they be
able to activate <i>any</i> of the Advanced
Mode controls outlined above.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Once
registered, however the freshly-minted Bxxr will receive instant access to the
MY EVIDENCE file and the Advanced Mode controls. However, much of the enhanced content will remain
locked, <i>and may only be accessed by
opening specific clips. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For
instance, if registered Bxxrs view a clip that features, say, a character
discussing a document, they will receive on-screen notifications that they have
“unlocked” the video and it’s been copied to their MY EVIDENCE file.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(Incidentally,
Did I mention Bxx registration will be free?
I did? Sorry…)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">If you decide to join us, you may find the concept of experiencing the first non-linear narrative a little odd. Daunting, even. Like a toddler who's no longer being spoon-fed, the best way to deal with it is to play with your food. Get messy with it. Gobble it up. Choke on it and spit it out. Rub it in your hair. Throw it at your brother, Frankie. Spill it on the cat. In almost no time, you'll get the hang of it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just remember, there is NO WRONG WAY to experience a box-narrative. Just pick a moment, find a scene and take it from there. Backward, forward or sideways</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">it's all good. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">All that said, the box-narrative isn't once-size-fits-all. Some people just don't connect with it. And that's good, too. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But beware, those that do connect with it do so in a big way, so don't open the Bxx unless you're prepared for a whole new kind of addiction. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And all this giddy fun, by the way, is completely </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">free</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. You don't even have to deal with banners, pop-ups, roll-ins, roll-outs or any other damn -in thing advertising booshwah. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We
only ask one favor in return:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tell
your friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Twitter
it, Facebook it, embed it, shout it from the highest roof-tops. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bxx:
HAUNTED is, in many ways, a crude prototype.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We
have plans. Big plans. Lots more stories; bigger, better and more
complex; captured by more cameras in HD.
Plus, we’ve learned <i>gobs</i> about
the technical hurdles incumbent in capturing a drama in the box-narrative
format, and look forward to tackling each and every one the next time
around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But
the only way we’ll be able to raise the budget necessary to put wheels on Bxx
is to demonstrate to the bankers that we can deliver eyeballs. And as you know, Bxx is not a big Hollywood
studio. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bxx
isn’t even a small Hollywood studio. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We’re
just a dozen or so scrappy artists working in a garage in Pasadena.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">So
please help us out. Be our P.R.
department. Send us eyeballs! Lots and lots and <i>lots</i> of pretty, juicy eyeballs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Yum!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-52038554946297221612012-03-08T15:51:00.000-08:002012-03-08T18:40:01.066-08:006% of the Package<br />
The last three or four days have been a blur. Suffice it to say, my little howl kicked up a lot of internet activity, much due to the "man bites dog" nature of the whole thing, but an even greater measure attributable to the profound sorrow Andrew's passing has engendered on the political blogosphere, left and right.<br />
<br />
Though he was beloved and respected by conservatives, I think the true measure of his integrity and generous, irrepressibly charming and feckless spirit is evidenced by the vast number of "I-didn't-agree-with-him-but" posts I've read on all but the most vile Left Wing sites.<br />
<br />
The overwhelming majority of the responses I've received have been positive--a huge, collective embrace that I never expected, the memory of which, I'll always cherish. You folks really helped me through a dark moment.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, there has been an all-but-complete absence of haters.<br />
<br />
While this has been encouraging, it's also been a source of anxiety analogous to those tense moments when the drumming suddenly stops, and the jungle goes very...<br />
<br />
very...<br />
<br />
quiet.<br />
<br />
Everyone knows what happens then: The twitchy guy in the unit--usually a dude with a nickname like "Shakes" or "Motormouth," loses his nerve, suddenly bolts up from his foxhole and, white-knuckling his rifle, the cords standing out on his neck, shrieks, <i>"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, GODDAMNIT! COME ON OUT, YA YELLA BASTIDS! SHOW YASELVES AND FIGHT!"</i><br />
<br />
That scene usually concludes with the crack of a sniper-rifle.<br />
<br />
Final score: Shakes - 0; Darwin - 1.<br />
<br />
The winner? The audience. Because Shakes was a pain in the ass, a complainer, a braggart, and he was always writing checks the rest of the boys in the unit had to cash.<br />
<br />
Fuckin Shakes... poor, dumb, date-stamped Shakes.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, I had my Shakes-moment the other night. Fear writhing in my belly, unable to take the silence any longer, I went on Twitter and started kicking the wasp-nest.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Tgp7xNiksbT-12EqFfSZKRrnSaRlOV2JUdltmiJw1uKll5ToX_ahBG6kZ4l2ulldSJw2K5wmtRjC4l8AA9_olVwFCfczIoKDT4WIaajZlE-yXLj-p0YJGvfWq-9fn7zchMQUfUFwOL_J/s1600/Cap0.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Tgp7xNiksbT-12EqFfSZKRrnSaRlOV2JUdltmiJw1uKll5ToX_ahBG6kZ4l2ulldSJw2K5wmtRjC4l8AA9_olVwFCfczIoKDT4WIaajZlE-yXLj-p0YJGvfWq-9fn7zchMQUfUFwOL_J/s400/Cap0.PNG" width="355" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Luckily, before I made <i>too </i>gigantic an ass of myself, a grizzled Sergeant tweeped the equivalent of <i>"Get back in the hole, Shakes. That's no way for a soldier to conduct himself!"</i> (I can't reproduce his tweet here; alas, I didn't screen-cap it in time but, whoever you are, thanks.)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And so I just chilled and did the usual stuff I do on Twitter, which is reaching out and having silly conversations 140 characters at a time with people I've never met, usually about pop-culture, film, and random stuff.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We were in the middle of a running stream over our favorite John Hughes movies, when the first hater popped in, calling me a "fucktard" and a "nationalist." I got my jollies RTing him Breitbart-style, though I should add that, as both, a patriot <i>and </i>a card-carrying fucktard, I could hardly quibble with his assessment of me.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Plus, I remembered how unutterably boring politics are, and how futile it is to argue issues. Plus, I'm not terribly good at it.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We moved on to the music in Hughes films and a number of other subjects when another tweet popped up, its tone a good deal less judgmental than the first:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Zq9pS1JVO3_hwD3uckedWLhuYkoaWPWgLaXqtkBphBTXUj3aizwLwi9eCbZqhyphenhyphen4PufHkoajbj6BSD1USFW1ixrqxb7gftuMFKkktVB_jcNQIoK6b7N-x3hyphenhyphenko73I8dLpXR-YSh6AMFuD/s1600/Cap1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="55" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Zq9pS1JVO3_hwD3uckedWLhuYkoaWPWgLaXqtkBphBTXUj3aizwLwi9eCbZqhyphenhyphen4PufHkoajbj6BSD1USFW1ixrqxb7gftuMFKkktVB_jcNQIoK6b7N-x3hyphenhyphenko73I8dLpXR-YSh6AMFuD/s400/Cap1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Now this, as Monty Python might say, was something completely different. What do I do with that? RT it? I tweeped back:</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZV4vP0wE94uvArHClowmTWX4kq3DzgA8AE0Ct3LQBJM5sSwwatVl2HyGn2CADIyKpbwXb-DOADapez3oGee0JZRmiDztl_poo6qstVoJSoSTc6dvAMl3aNRRxXLf8ZYK5xEiykcvcuUS/s1600/Cap1A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZV4vP0wE94uvArHClowmTWX4kq3DzgA8AE0Ct3LQBJM5sSwwatVl2HyGn2CADIyKpbwXb-DOADapez3oGee0JZRmiDztl_poo6qstVoJSoSTc6dvAMl3aNRRxXLf8ZYK5xEiykcvcuUS/s400/Cap1A.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
But something still nagged at my gut. This guy was slapping a political label on me for doing something that had <i>nothing </i>to do with politics. Oppression and bullying are just plan wrong, no matter what side of the ideological fence they come from. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So I added in a DM:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ZwDHvDhXHzR4vZMdh6DnxIMcTJPWn4nmSbq9-7CY5bvNRnaK_4vhtNXF_2SpuXD6eqHCVsSPNKEvVc7b1mqsZjsT5NroiluTCrUoDam_flIMr71mrVIsxxVJzIMJTLmwFJBO4Sz-9dPG/s1600/Cap2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ZwDHvDhXHzR4vZMdh6DnxIMcTJPWn4nmSbq9-7CY5bvNRnaK_4vhtNXF_2SpuXD6eqHCVsSPNKEvVc7b1mqsZjsT5NroiluTCrUoDam_flIMr71mrVIsxxVJzIMJTLmwFJBO4Sz-9dPG/s400/Cap2.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Which led to the following exchange:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6CZFUE5EHJo8gBoS9-2lMRnkg-P6ByrZMPvt6TD0uT5Tb3VhS6v6xMRriL8sNSgt0NFpaEOQkeP0iu7eUP4UBa8kKka100EoHMGCA86zeplRnhfzpfNdIltjgKMtfukp97le-16eN5P0/s1600/Cap2All.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6CZFUE5EHJo8gBoS9-2lMRnkg-P6ByrZMPvt6TD0uT5Tb3VhS6v6xMRriL8sNSgt0NFpaEOQkeP0iu7eUP4UBa8kKka100EoHMGCA86zeplRnhfzpfNdIltjgKMtfukp97le-16eN5P0/s640/Cap2All.png" width="222" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This was followed by the folowing public tweep:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EVSuwlo4TH_kJo8zDGxQjDtcQ-IFcjAQPITssHK9XCJnw2K51HTMF5dVjKTS-afrgvSch2DElZQXw8b86Sd-ytkWACBn2bPtIxvnp0PKhKr47LTzyDf8H5s9Lh7AplgzC1FfzfVL0YZK/s1600/Cap3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EVSuwlo4TH_kJo8zDGxQjDtcQ-IFcjAQPITssHK9XCJnw2K51HTMF5dVjKTS-afrgvSch2DElZQXw8b86Sd-ytkWACBn2bPtIxvnp0PKhKr47LTzyDf8H5s9Lh7AplgzC1FfzfVL0YZK/s320/Cap3.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
So there. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There it is.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
"6% of the package, and we agree on most of that stuff, too."</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
That takes the differences between your average Liberal and your average Conservative down to the range of the difference between human and chimp DNA. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And when I say "average," I mean, like, 90% of us.<br />
<br />
As for the other 10%, they're just assholes.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Yes, politics are important. Yes, there are some folks whose beliefs and opinions are downright stupid and toxic. Yes, if you believe in liberty, you must fight for it. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'm not advocating a let's-just-get-along-and-keep-it-civil-at-all-costs (which, apparently, to many Liberals, is synonymous for "shut the fuck up"), and I <i>certainly </i>don't think it's a good idea to seek "compromise" as if it's some kind of Holy Grail; there is no acceptable "compromise" for instance, between liberty and oppression, only a slippery, increasingly steep slope from the former to the latter, and a torturous, incomprehensibly arduous and mortally dangerous climb from the latter to the former.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
All I'm saying is that it doesn't hurt, every once in a while, to give a passing nod to the humanity of one's ideological opponents; to at least attempt to talk <i>with </i>rather than <i>at </i>one another--something, by the way, no one did with more style, honesty and aplomb than Andrew Breitbart.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
On roller-blades, no less.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
One last quick note:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
A number of individuals have asked me if I'm going to "encourage" other Hollywood conservatives to step out into the light. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I am in a unique position. I came to the party very late in life, and the decades I spent toiling in "real" business rather than "show" business (or, more accurately, show "business," as most of the entertainment executives I've met wouldn't survive five minutes working in the corporate world) enabled me to develop a very broad entrepreneurial skill-set.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I also have worked hard over the last year building my company, Bxx.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So, unlike my peers, I not only have alternative means by which I can make a living, but a place to land after the dust settles from this brouhaha and the Hollywood jobs dry up (and they will, of that I am fully confident--the mean kids are just biding their time at the moment. Then I'll be labelled "difficult" and <i>pfft</i>).</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So, to all my brothers and sisters in the business, hang tight. It'll only get safer as more of us break cover.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And when your time comes, and you can follow me without depriving your children, I will not welcome you into the sunlight asking "What took you so long?" but "So soon? Are you sure?"</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
God bless all of you.</div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-12545749319390610452012-03-04T21:57:00.000-08:002012-03-18T09:59:41.813-07:00Chasing Andrew<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ouB151UpH9d2_LX95lGnsY5qsr08EJm1ef6_Vtmc_3Z9Ks5XnC-sH7syjmnNabivsolN3VA-LM1JpYwmqavG8-A5BCCXx3_sA08RJySazobxzkPyQdQR51ljdOuE3luc3glus8glkPEo/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ouB151UpH9d2_LX95lGnsY5qsr08EJm1ef6_Vtmc_3Z9Ks5XnC-sH7syjmnNabivsolN3VA-LM1JpYwmqavG8-A5BCCXx3_sA08RJySazobxzkPyQdQR51ljdOuE3luc3glus8glkPEo/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
In 2000, something astonishing happened to me.<br />
<br />
I was running an insurance brokerage by day, setting up and servicing health, dental and disability plans for a book of clients in the private and public sectors, from around 5 to 5,000 employees. Off hours, I was writing screenplays.<br />
<br />
For a hobby, I was doing okay. I'd sold a couple scripts, even seeing one, <i>Blind Justice</i>, go into production in 1992. As my very droll brother, Paul, once put it, "Not bad. Nobody's paid me a dime for playing a round of golf." (Now, to get an idea of just how droll Paul is, you need to imagine Robert Wagner in his prime, only an octave lower in his delivery)<br />
<br />
I'd promised myself when I started writing that if I didn't achieve a very specific level of success with writing screenplays by the time I was 40, I'd hang it up and try something else. Novels, maybe. After all, everyone knows that show-business is is a young man's game, and nobody (except for Charles Durning, maybe) breaks in after 40.<br />
<br />
In any case, things had dried up on the writing front, and I was coming up on four decades, so my promise to call it quits and hang up my spurs was fast-changing from an oh-yeah-whenever kind of thing into an uh-oh-looks-like-I'm-really-gonna-have-to-admit-I-failed thing.<br />
<br />
Now here's the thing you need to know about us Knaufs. We are sore losers. We are tennis-racket-smashed-on-the-clay losers. We are take-all-my-fucking-chips-I'm-outta-here losers. We are fuck-you-and-your-stupid-hotel-on-Boardwalk-I'm-flipping-this-fucking-board losers.<br />
<br />
Or, as my brother Paul puts it, "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser."<br />
<br />
In any case, I decided to give myself a reprieve. Though I had spent literally thousands of hours honing my craft over the prior ten years, I'd spent maybe ten minutes marketing it. Rather than throwing in the towel, I decided to give it one more big shot. I decided to create a website on which to post all the first acts of all my unsold babies--sort of an online clearing house for writing samples.<br />
<br />
When prompted to name it, I decided to go with "unmovies.com." That was, after all, what all my work was--well, at least <i>most </i>of it.<br />
<br />
So up went the scripts and, cutting quickly to the chase, about a year later, I was meeting with a young producer, Robert Keghobad, to discuss developing <i>Carnivale </i>as the next TV project for his boss, director (and all-around terrific guy) Scott Winant.<br />
<br />
I was now officially in The Belly of the Beast.<br />
<br />
I should state right here that when I first started off on my Grand Hollywood Adventure, I was a socially left leaning, moderate fiscal conservative, proudly independent, ignoring party affiliations and casting my ballot for whoever I thought was best for--or, in any case, would do the least damage to--my beloved country. <br />
<br />
Had I been born a generation earlier, I would have described myself as a Kennedy Democrat. As it was, I suppose the Libertarian tag might fit, but I've always borne a healthy suspicion of anything that smacks of an "ideology."<br />
<br />
All that said, I was pretty much apolitical. The closest I came to studying issues was to pick up one of P.J. O'Rourke's books for a giggle or two. But then, I also got a kick out of Michael Moore's first film, <i>Roger and Me</i>. Politically, I was the proverbial wise-ass kid with a permanent seat in the rear of the classroom where I could safely heckle the nuns without collecting too many stripes across the back of my knuckles.<br />
<br />
Then, on September 11th, 2001, everything changed.<br />
<br />
I remember watching the collapse of the first tower and feeling--literally <i>feeling </i>the breath just leave my lungs, my chest filling with a terrible, ghastly void; a sense of distant screams in a windswept wasteland and loss loss loss oh my God all those people all those <i>people </i>they <i>murdered </i>all those <i>thousands</i> of <i>people</i>...<br />
<br />
Though it was but seconds, it seemed minutes, many long minutes before I could draw a breath. I quietly excused myself and hurried to the bedroom to spare my young children the memory of seeing Daddy collapse helplessly into a series of horrified, aching, gut-wrenching sobs.<br />
<br />
As soon as I'd composed myself, I rejoined my family. I really have no memory of the ensuing hours, only that my wife and I decided I should go to work, that we'd try to keep the kids calm by maintaining our normal schedules. Only God knew what the future held...<br />
<br />
I was working my first network series gig as a staff writer on a show called <i>Wolf Lake</i> while <i>Carnivale </i>was in development at HBO.<br />
<br />
Like every American that morning, I was greeted by coworkers in various states of shock, portable TVs turned to the news in all the offices. Over the days following the attack, like every American, I was approached by a number of colleagues who wished to vent and commiserate.<br />
<br />
But unlike every American, <i>my </i>coworkers expressed little or no anger toward the terrorists who had committed this <i>atrocity. </i>Rather, they directed their vitriol towards American Imperialism, American foreign policy, American arrogance, American warmongering, American racism and, most of all, our American President, the evil, unfathomably stupid, idiot-Christian, bumbling Texan oaf, George W. Bush.<br />
<br />
And what did I say?<br />
<br />
Nothing.<br />
<br />
Not a damn thing.<br />
<br />
I was just shocked silent. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.<br />
<br />
Were these people <i>crazy</i>?<br />
<br />
At one point, one of my fellow writers must've noticed that I wasn't expressing my state-mandated, required ration of Bush-hatred, and confronted me like some rabid Dominican at the height of the Spanish Inquisition,<br />
<br />
"So what do <i>you </i>think?" she hissed, eyes narrowed, scrutinizing me, as if vetting me for any possible variance from the accepted party ideology, "What would <i>you </i>do if <i>you </i>were the President?"<br />
<br />
"If I was President, I would make a speech before a joint session of Congress, demanding that Bin Laden be delivered within 48 hours to the steps of the White House--alive, dead or just his fucking head in a burlap bag, I don't care. If not, then I suggest that all you assholes in Kabul lather up with some SPF 5,000, strap on some welding goggles and take a gander to the East, because we're gonna fire a little 400 kiloton shot over the bow, so to speak. And that's where the sun's gonna rise--out there just East of your capitol, in a relatively uninhabited patch of shit you call a country. Let's call that a preview of coming attractions, shall we? Because if another 24 hours passes after the deployment of our first missile, and I'm not trading bon-mots with your boy's head here in the Oval Office, we will fire another, and this time it will be targeted to explode, oh, about 200 meters above the center of the rat-hole you call a capitol. Which is why I'm really, really glad that I'm not the President, because I'm pissed-off crazy as Hell."<br />
<br />
Actually, I didn't say that.<br />
<br />
Well... not <i>all </i>of it.<br />
<br />
What I actually said, after a bit of hemming and hawing and averting of the eyes, was, "I'm just really, really glad that I'm not the President, because I don't know <i>what </i>I'd do."<br />
<br />
<i>(NOTE: Deliver the above in a Goofy uh-huh-yuk-yuk dopey-aww-shucks drawl to appreciate the full "Who, Me? No Ma'am!" gutlessness inherent in the speaker.)</i><br />
<br />
She glared at me for a moment, as if attempting to x-ray my soul to determine whether I was a fellow-traveler, or something... <i>else</i>. Finally, she walked out to go write a check to PETA or shit herself over Global Warming or something. I was, for the moment anyway, safe.<br />
<br />
Over the ensuing years, I continued to remain silent whenever confronted by the toxic, batshit-crazy, knee-jerk, anti-intellectual, when-in-doubt-blame-America Leftism that pervades Hollywood. I saw what happened to others if they spoke up or disagreed with the party line. I actually witnessed one writer, who foolishly expressed his support for the war in Iraq, set-upon and viciously <i>berated </i>by no less than six crew-members for almost 20 minutes straight.<br />
<br />
That night, he found his car had been keyed in our secure lot.<br />
<br />
Hmm... must've been a random vandal.<br />
<br />
Incidentally, though he had a storied career, an amazing list of credits and is one of the most versatile, talented writer-producers I know, the jobs gradually dried up for him and now he can't, as they say, get arrested in this town.<br />
<br />
Toadies in the MSM assert that there is no Blacklist in Hollywood.<br />
<br />
And they're right.<br />
<br />
It's not necessary because Hollywood is a very, very small, very, very ruthless town, where a few key words spoken in the right ears can absolutely wreck a career--code-words like "difficult," "high-maintenance" and "uneven." When you can obliterate a fellow professional with a few well-chosen phrases, why maintain something as crude and inelegant as a Blacklist?<br />
<br />
How <i>dare </i>anyone even <i>suggest </i>that there's a Blacklist against conservative artists and performers? <br />
<br />
Blacklists are for mouth-breathers.<br />
<br />
Blacklists are for knuckle-draggers.
<br />
<br />
Blacklists are so... so... <i>Republican</i>.
<br />
<br />
And so I kept my mouth shut. And a funny thing happened: The longer I was forced to withhold my opinions and beliefs, the brighter they burned in me. Funny. Oppression has a way of doing that to the oppressed.<br />
<br />
Ask any Soviet defector...<br />
<br />
For years, I bit my tongue, nodding and making non-committal sounds while listening to the most virulently noxious Leftist spew imaginable: Explicit rape-murder fantasies directed toward Palin, Coulter, Malkin and Ingraham; blithely expressed wishes of cancer, assassination and mutilation of Bush, Cheney and Limbaugh; the snide denigration of "civilians" (i.e. anyone not in the entertainment business) in the "flyover states" (i.e. everywhere except New York and east of the Golden State Freeway--Pasadena, for instance is a "flyover state"); and, of course, the endless venomous, profanity-laced screeds against the Tea Party.<br />
<br />
Even more shocking was the rampant hypocrisy, the endemic corruption, the casual thievery--from producers ordering custom built doors and windows for their homes from the construction department, to having their Beemers and Benzos topped daily with gas by transpo. All on the studio dime.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, any actress, female writer or exec can tell you that the Casting Couch is alive and well in contemporary Hollywood. And it's absolutely <i>fascinating </i>just how many male producers and execs time their set-visits to coincide with nude-scenes...<br />
<br />
And forget about "diversity."<br />
<br />
Visit a set, and you can't help but notice that the overwhelming majority of the crew is male and white. It's even worse above the line. Any bank, chain restaurant or box-store that exercised such brazenly monochromatic patterns of hire would have been sued and fined into oblivion decades ago.<br />
<br />
And, by the way, it helps to be under 40. Or <i>look </i>under 40. Or at least affect the breathlessly chatty verbal affect of a 17 year old, Ritalin-amped high-school kid.<br />
<br />
And through it all, I kept my head down. Every day, I grew more disgusted by my cowardice. But the most intolerable aspect of living under a self-imposed gag order by far was the loneliness, alienation and isolation.<br />
<br />
Then I met Andrew Breitbart.<br />
<br />
Andrew introduced me to others--<i>lots </i>of others--in the industry who shared my belief in the exquisite beauty of the American Constitution, my love for this country and my firm conviction in its exceptionalism.<br />
<br />
Not dozens of people, mind you. Not even hundreds.<br />
<br />
There are <i>thousands </i>of us.<br />
<br />
But there are <i>tens </i>of thousands of <i>them</i>.<br />
<br />
So we keep a low profile, quietly taking heart when the Gary Sinises, the Patricia Heatons, the Lionel Chetwynds, the Adam Baldwins achieve a degree of success so solid, so bulletproof, that they can step out into the light and openly express their opinions without fear of crippling reprisal from the Trolls. Not that they don't pay a price--imagine how much more famous and wealthy each would be if they were strident Liberals.<br />
<br />
And God help them if they stumble in their personal lives. Safety-nets and PR shields are strictly reserved for the Obama-Loving-Fur-Is-Murder-Christians-Are-Evil-Bush-Lied-Truther-OWS-Fuck-the-Teabaggers set (if you don't believe me, compare and contrast: Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson).<br />
<br />
I only met Andrew three or four times.<br />
<br />
The last time we communicated, it was through Twitter. I publicly wished him a Happy Birthday. In subsequent DMs, I joked about him "dragging another Hollywood guy out of the closet." Misunderstanding me, his reply was one of concern for my professional welfare. I assured him that I was just kidding and signed off.<br />
<br />
When he died, my first thought was, <i>"Oh my God. What're we gonna do now?"</i><br />
<br />
We are in the middle of a War of Ideas. At stake is nothing less than the principles of inalienable rights and freedom upon which the United States was founded.<br />
<br />
And Andrew Breitbart is dead.<br />
<br />
Since the Wilson Administration, the Socialist Left has sustained a slow, inexorable push toward a Big Government, by the Government, for the Government, by transforming a once-free people into a whining, needy nation of suckling dependents.<br />
<br />
And Andrew Breitbart is dead.
<br />
<br />
Corrupt European and Canadian socialism is touted as a shining exemplar. Hustlers, gold-brickers, union thugs and corporate moochers have hijacked the system. Half of us pay no tax at all. The other half pays more onerous rates than those levied by Medieval Lords on their serfs.<br />
<br />
And Andrew Breitbart is dead.
<br />
<br />
A seated President is openly demonizing our best and brightest, stoking the embers of class-envy, courting mob violence and racial animus, ruling by fiat, bypassing Congress, brazenly defying court orders, and publicly expressing admiration for the "efficiency" of totalitarianism.<br />
<br />
And Andrew Breitbart is dead.<br />
<br />
Such were my thoughts last night as I was having a quiet drink at the Huntington Langham Hotel. I saw the hashtag thread #IAmAndrewBreitbart and drew some cheer from it. I mentally debated whether to add to the thread and thought, "Ahh, to hell with it. One tweet. Nobody'll even notice."<br />
<br />
Besides, I had no choice. The tag was a play on the signature line from Spartacus, and I was a writer-producer on the first season of <i>Sparatcus: Blood and Sand</i>. It seemed preordained.<br />
<br />
And thusly I tweeped:<br />
<br />
"I wrote Spartacus, and #IAmAndrewBreitbart"<br />
<br />
I got a response. Clever stuff. Typically mindless Leftist-style zombie-chant:<br />
<br />
"HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIED HE LIED AND HE DIEDHE LIED AND HE DIED"<br />
<br />
Stupid stuff. A bullshit schoolyard taunt designed to get a rise out of me. Wouldn't have phased me any other night.<br />
<br />
But last night, something snapped.<br />
<br />
12 years of silence. 12 years of cowardice. 12 years of humiliating self-censorship. 12 years of hiding what I think, who I am and what I believe in order to protect my livelihood.<br />
<br />
And Andrew Breitbart is dead.<br />
<br />
It all just started bleeding out of me, white hot, 140 characters at a time. All my rage. All my indignation. Like the jetting pulse from a slashed carotid, for the whole world to see.<br />
<br />
Then came the emails. And the Follows. 1,000 in about an hour. My jaws clenched, tears blurred my vision as I typed (as they blur them now as I type): My hero is dead. Andrew Breitbart is dead.<br />
<br />
Long live Andrew Breitbart.<br />
<br />
#IAmAndrewBreitbart.<br />
<br />
<br />Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com173tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-34168146473171833252012-01-04T14:41:00.000-08:002012-03-14T18:47:58.101-07:00The 1 Thing<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's that one thing. You know the one; that thing that triggers a change. The wafer-thin-mint-moment in Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aczPDGC3f8U">detonates Mr. Creosote</a>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mine occurred this last pitch-season.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've been working on this series-project, 1, for the last four years or so. That's right. 1. As in the numeral "1." It's the story of Stella Carter, a very smart, resourceful, imaginative 17 year-old girl who has survived a pandemic that has wiped out 99.9999999999% of everybody. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">As far as Stella knows, she is the only person left on earth. She survives the crushing loneliness by creating a complex community of imaginary friends. In the pilot, however, she realizes she's playing with fire, that this psychological life-preserver is a potential mill-stone that could very well plunge her into a state of utter delusion and, inevitably, death. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">You see, in Stella's world, where the difference between life and death can be as small as an infected toenail, the delusional don't do terribly well.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In "1," I put it all out there. It was my answer to all the grim, unimaginative crap on that passes for series television these days--the soulless CSIs, the everything-but-scary vampire/zombie/ghost shows, the instantly forgettable pablum designed not to succeed, but merely not to fail. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">1 was my love-note to anyone who has driven down a dark, dark tunnel and emerged on the other end; sometimes bloodied, sometimes beaten to a pulp, but alive.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In other words, 1 was my love-note to everyone.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I brought Scott Winant, a brilliant director/showrunner, onto the team. Scott Winant, the guy who discovered Claire Danes and ran MY SO-CALLED LIFE. Then we roped in Wyck Godfrey, the brilliant producer of the TWILIGHT movies. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Sounds like a fairly attractive package, no? Let's check with the marketing department...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">From the creative minds behind CARNIV<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Á</span></span>LE, MY SO-CALLED LIFE and TWILIGHT:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ziiJ_zj0odY/TwTM6XRCDDI/AAAAAAAAADk/08jsfZ4BMD8/s1600/1ad.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ziiJ_zj0odY/TwTM6XRCDDI/AAAAAAAAADk/08jsfZ4BMD8/s320/1ad.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And even better, heavy-hitters like Wyck and Scott would have the juice to watch my back and defend me when the notes came in.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Going out with 1 was scary. The material was fragile. It walked a very thin highwire between working and not working. One mistep in its execution would tip it into serious shit. If it was going to survive development, I would have to fight like a bastard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And I even knew what the fights would be over. Does she have to be a 17 year-old girl? Does she have to be by herself? Wouldn't it be cooler with zombies? Blah blah blah.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So I girded for battle and Scott, Wyck and I went out and pitched.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And guess what?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">1 was a non-starter.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Not one market we approached was willing to even go so far as set up a development deal, much less commission a story...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Or a script...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Or the production of a pilot. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So my fears were unfounded: Not only <em>wouldn't</em> there be a baby for the useless fuckers to strangle in its crib, but the useless fuckers <em>didn't even want to fuck</em>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In other words, my little show had not only failed, but failed beyond my wildest dreams.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Too dark, they said. We don't get it, they said. Not right for our network, they said. Too much other stuff in the development pipe, they said.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So here it is, folks. Next time you waste an hour watching a piece of unengaging eyeball-wash on the tube and think, "Wow. That was shitty. I can't even imagine how shitty the stuff must be that <em>doesn't</em> make air."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://blackbxx.com/12r2.pdf">This</a> is what isn't on T.V. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It will <em>never</em> be on T.V.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And even if it somehow made it on T.V., you wouldn't recognize it by the time the fuckers got finished with it. That is, u</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">nless there's someone out there with 20 to 30 million burning a hole in his/her pocket/pocketbook who, just for giggles, wants to deficit-finance the first season. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">If so, feel free to write me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And that, boys and girls, was the wafer-thin mint that made <em>this</em> Mr. Creosote explode. I just can't do this anymore. Not this way. These children do not play well with others, and they're playing a game I cannot win.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And so I will make my own game. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It's called Bxx<a href="http://bxxweb.com/">http://bxxweb.com</a>.</span>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-86802200662292881912011-11-27T22:36:00.000-08:002011-11-27T22:36:03.957-08:00A Very Public Thank You Note to Our Kickstarter BackersI just wanted to thank all 143 of you guys for your support. The Kickstarter campaign was a lot of work, and I appreciate everything you brought to the party, from your encouraging comments to your feedback on our interface design to the heavy-lifting, emailing, posting and tweeting you did to promote the BlackBxx: HAUNTED fundraising.<br />
<br />
We Knaufs are an obstinate tribe, spoiled-sports every one of us. As my brother, Paul, says, "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser." <br />
<br />
As the clock wound down on KS, Team BlackBxx was already discussing options. It boiled down to a) making another crowd-funding run with KS with more hoopla, hype and publicity; b) another crowd-funding run with another site with more hoopla, hype and publicity; c) accept a loan in order to direct the proceeds to closing the gap to our fundraising goal in order to collect the $25,000 already pledged and call it a day; or, d) just call it a day and move on.<br />
<br />
As options a) and b) meant allocating more time, human resources and creativity to fundraising rather than post-production, I decided against another crowd-funding run. As for option c), though we are strapped and it was tempting, and it wasn't technically a violation of KS rules, it just didn't pass the smell-test for me. Here I am, ragging on the studios and networks over their ham-handed, shady business practices, and I go ahead and scoop up all that dough by exploiting a loophole in KS's ToS. <br />
<br />
Nah, don't think so.<br />
<br />
So we opted for d) move on. That way, we could direct promotion and PR efforts into drumming up interest in the merits of the project itself (where it belongs) rather than the means by which we were financing it. <br />
<br />
So, suffice it to say, the show WILL go on. If you're still interested in supporting us and staying inside the creative loop, as well as getting updates and first-looks, drop us a line at info@blackbxx.com. <br />
<br />
Even better, if you want to renew your pledge, you can do that as well <a href="http://blackbxx.com/Support%20BlackBxx!.htm">here</a>, at the Official BlackBxx Web Site And while you're there, you might want to check out the rest of the site. Oh yeah, and bookmark it. That's where we'll be launching HAUNTED.<br />
<br />
And, finally, whether you decide to renew your pledge or not, in return for your early support and encouragement, every single one of the 143 of you will be receiving a free invitation and password to the premiere, as well as lifetime Founding Member status once we launch. But in order for us to do that, we'll need your actual, non-KS email address, so just give us a ping over at info@blackbxx.comDaniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-31717738523093326032011-11-07T14:46:00.000-08:002011-11-07T15:09:33.097-08:00On Icebergs and Jellybeans<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve been following online posts—especially that on the amazing <a href="http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/CarnivaleHBO/">Yahoo CarnivaleHBO</a> BBS, and I’ve noticed some misconceptions and concerns regarding what a <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> narrative is. Mainly, that as an “interactive” format, it might not be satisfying if a viewer chooses the "wrong" path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This concern harkens back to the creaky old days of “dial up” and the biggest stumbling-block of so-called interactive fiction of the 70s and 80s<br />
<br />
In those first attempts, such as the original "ZORK" series, the creators based their models on a "decision tree" in which each branch split into two with every yes/no option, then into four, then eight, until the whole magilla would have to be inelegantly muscled back to the main "trunk" when it became too unwieldy.<br />
<br />
While interesting, those early attempts were ultimately unsatisfying, as their form required so much manipulation that they were impossible to deliver without the author's hand being made glaringly visible (and, thus, "gimmicky"). Though text-based RPGs enjoyed some success, they ultimately served as a brief stop in the evolution of what ultimately became MUDs and MUSHs and, finally, online gaming environments such as World of Warcraft.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a>, however, completely negates the possibility of following the "wrong" path by dispensing with the path altogether. Because, like the medium for which it is designed, the internet, <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">non-linear</i>.<br />
<br />
In more metaphorical terms, a standard, traditional narrative is a trail of jellybeans, while a <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> story is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jar</i> of jellybeans. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The former is experienced in a specific order; the latter, in whatever order the jellybean aficionado chooses (and, yes, I am a lifetime subscriber to "Jellybean Aficionado" magazine). If one chooses to eat only purple jellybeans, the experience will be wholly different from (and, incidentally, no less satisfying than) that of another, who eats all the beans except those nasty root-beer-flavored ones.<br />
<br />
By now, you might be thinking, "That's not a story! That's just a big, messy pile of random events," to which I would reply that sometimes—MOST times, as a matter of fact, in real-life at least—that is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exactly</i> what a story is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only in retrospect that we glean meaning from what seemed, at the time, a jumble of unconnected incidents.<br />
<br />
Likewise, a <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> narrative is not parsed, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">discovered</i>—much like the story of ancient Egypt. Is that story any less compelling because archeologists aren't digging up artifacts in their "correct" order? Take, for instance, that bas-relief of two Egyptians holding what looks like a giant light bulb. One may (and many do) argue over whether it is indeed a light bulb, or a symbolic representation of Ra, or a bathtub with a snake in it. But there is one thing upon which <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everyone</i> can agree: It is intriguing as Hell and warrants more digging.<br />
<br />
And that is why there is no "wrong" way to experience a <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> narrative.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some writers are story-spinners, while others are world-builders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fall into the latter camp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when world-building, I stick by the iceberg rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because while the audience may never see the 90% that's underwater, they nevertheless have a sense the weight of it supporting the parts they could see.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In a <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> narrative, my job as a writer isn't to "tell" you a story, but to build a world that supports a broadly defined story and make sure all the elements included are germane to the plot and the characters. The only difference is I am not the final arbiter of what will be seen. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You are.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here's how it will work:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When you arrive at the <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted">BlackBxx: HAUNTED</a> site, you will be presented with a page that looks like this:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJQvdXFT0-FBjs8bPeGTvFpTF5xZkjvnOPf2cQfkN1h3JNi-a3mDzP66BVOg0lDmMjoqGPK-J8IKADAO1xnFzqtpWQk4I_0BXNfHhXbaKEryJDGpdKE1RNFbEcT8ne4e3lS00c3kh0EOY/s1600/Home3-Page2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJQvdXFT0-FBjs8bPeGTvFpTF5xZkjvnOPf2cQfkN1h3JNi-a3mDzP66BVOg0lDmMjoqGPK-J8IKADAO1xnFzqtpWQk4I_0BXNfHhXbaKEryJDGpdKE1RNFbEcT8ne4e3lS00c3kh0EOY/s320/Home3-Page2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">You then choose a time segment on the slider at the bottom of the page:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWzvajE3l5nKdur2wOVcZ0sBfYuZi4jK_WO-qfBTcSK-DeQE_eLqvGHRVGeU8Rtk1lUDFvB9w6u97WcJjZ5zwz64Z8L-s-8L1A6yAKHdYRylGoV1CFYBZ-Ut5CWabvM346orOdr_Zv85c/s1600/Time-Slider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="74" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWzvajE3l5nKdur2wOVcZ0sBfYuZi4jK_WO-qfBTcSK-DeQE_eLqvGHRVGeU8Rtk1lUDFvB9w6u97WcJjZ5zwz64Z8L-s-8L1A6yAKHdYRylGoV1CFYBZ-Ut5CWabvM346orOdr_Zv85c/s320/Time-Slider.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You then click on a camera icon to watch what that camera captured during the selected time segment:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecSAvv3w56uQlzCYEUX1P-clkpCDgh36Qe68_NERXm8kF3n0Yyw2OsQ7u7ZUSIx_K7Ww5oip321MlWYQkd2mZuGsc7A3cOVv7M2W95V5szW0sZlo-Na1OzNaYnfUPBcyzNC3JiF2wNhAI/s1600/Media-Control.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiecSAvv3w56uQlzCYEUX1P-clkpCDgh36Qe68_NERXm8kF3n0Yyw2OsQ7u7ZUSIx_K7Ww5oip321MlWYQkd2mZuGsc7A3cOVv7M2W95V5szW0sZlo-Na1OzNaYnfUPBcyzNC3JiF2wNhAI/s320/Media-Control.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
Easy-peasy, right? And now that you've seen one segment, based on the current running time of thirty-two-plus hours for HAUNTED, times sixteen cameras, you've only got 6,143 other segments left to check out, each one adding to the depth of the story.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You'll be able to open as many viewers as your system can handle in whatever order that floats your boat. You can watch two (or three, or whatever) different rooms displaying what happened over the same time segment, or one room during two (or three, or whatever) different time segments, and toggle between each for audio.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As the gecko says, it's so easy, a <em>caveman</em> could do it!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You'll also be able to review all kinds of cool story-related files containing documentary info, video police interviews, on-site FLIR footage, journals, newspaper clippings, character bios, police reports, crime-scene photos, EVPs, etc.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, that's assuming we meet our fundraising goal at <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted">Kickstarter</a> which, right now, stands at a steady and very discouraging 30% of what we need to pull this thing off. So if you want to come and play, help make it happen by clicking the widget below.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="380" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted/widget/card.html" width="220"></iframe></div></div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-6729823314401915802011-11-05T17:43:00.000-07:002011-11-06T12:33:44.822-08:00Why Another Freaking Paranormal Deal?<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It occurred to me from some of the comments that I’ve been reading around the net on <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> (alarmingly few of them!) that some folks, particularly CARNIVÁLE fans, seem a little disappointed that I would choose to build my story around a paranormal investigation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hardly original, I’ll admit, but it was more out of necessity than choice.<br />
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You see, when I conceived <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a>, I knew that financing it would be extraordinarily difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the form is unprecedented, it was impossible to develop a business plan projecting whether it could be done, and how large and what kind of an audience the concept would draw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Not only that, but because there’s nothing like it, the concept of <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> is difficult to convey. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I imagine that when Edison invented the motion picture projector, he had similar challenges explaining it to potential investors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Gentlemen, I am going to print a series of photographs on a strip of acetate, each slightly different than the last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will then train a powerful beam of electric light through it to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">project</i> the photographs upon a screen in very fast sequential order, which will present the illusion that the subject in the photographs is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">moving!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t that just <em>splendid?</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have decided to call my invention the Vitascope!”<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Odds are this was gibberish to prospective investors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some point, Edison probably got tired of talking it up and just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">built</i> the damn thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> splendid!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As one journalist present at Edison’s first public demonstration of the Vitascope (funny, that name didn't stick) at</span><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Koster and Bial's Music Hall on Broadway</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">put it, <em>“</em></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><em>A view of an angry surf breaking on a sandy beach near a stone pier amazed the spectators.”</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hardly a harbinger of AVATAR, but a</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">t that point, the actual film Edison exhibited was clearly secondary to the means by which he was exhibiting it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Our first BlackBxx project, <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted">HAUNTED</a>, is similar to Edison’s first big boffo box-office hit, ANGRY SURF BREAKING ON A SANDY BEACH in that it is primarily a demonstration of a new means of storytelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Since I had no idea whether <a href="http://www.blackbxx.com/">BlackBxx</a> was technologically feasible, I decided to create a story that would suit the format without presenting too many production challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And since I’m financing the project out of my own pocket, it had to be delivered at a cost that wouldn’t bankrupt me if it failed to draw an audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Thus, the simple tried-and-true ruled the day, and I chose to write a paranormal investigation story to test the concept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted">BlackBxx: HAUNTED</a> is, by every definition, a beta version of the BlackBxx storytelling format, created simply to determine whether a.) it is possible to do; b.) there is an audience for it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We’ve already answered the first question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We shattered a lot of significant obstacles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, I needed a scripting format which would support a number of different scenes, many performed simultaneously, over a 48-hour period of time (try finding <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> one in your version of Final Draft).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we had to formulate a means by which we could rehearse the cast, which involved no less than an entirely new way to approach the characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we had to build a reliable multiple camera system that would not only deliver picture and sound over the full two days, but output the content in an editable format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And about a hundred other equally difficult challenges.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Nevertheless, we managed to get the picture in the can, though I still wish we could have shot HD (maybe next time).<o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">As for the second question, we won’t know whether anyone will watch until we premiere it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I <em>can</em> tell you, though the raw picture and sound were far from top notch, everyone who was on monitors in that RV was completely mesmerized by the content we were capturing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I remember a few minutes in, saying to one of my producers, Douglas, “This is oddly compelling.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">An hour later, we were completely hooked, bouncing from one camera to the next to get audio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">As one of the few people on earth who has actually <em>seen</em> what the BlackBxx format can deliver, I can tell you it is utterly immersive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You literally cannot take your eyes off it! Friends and family who popped by the RV “for a minute or two” found themselves hunkered down and watching for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hours</i>. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">We weren’t directing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We weren’t producing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">watching</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And believe me, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> is something that rarely happens on a film-set.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">And when it does, it’s magical.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">This was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">way</i> more awesome than </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">ANGRY SURF BREAKING ON A SANDY BEACH!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/H1fgKrD5-hc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So if you’ve decided not to back <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted">BlackBxx: HAUNTED</a> because you’re disappointed in the subject-matter, consider this: You are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> helping me make HAUNTED...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">… you are helping me make BlackBxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Even now, my mind is spinning with the potential stories that could be told once the format is a proven success—BlackBxx: MARS; BlackBxx: IRAQ; BlackBxx: 9/11; BlackBxx: TITANIC; BlackBxx: ZOMBIES; BlackBxx: IWO JIMA; BlackBxx: ASSASSINATION. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">BlackBxx: (dare I say it) CARNIVÁLE?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted">Kickstarter campaign</a> got off to a great start—$20,000 raised in just the first 4 days—but it appears to have stalled out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We only have 14 days to reach our funding goal, so if you haven’t made a pledge, please, please <em>please</em>, take a leap and help BlackBxx happen right now by clicking on the widget below</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="380" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted/widget/card.html" width="220"></iframe></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">By the way, the morning after Edison’s fabulously successful demonstration of the Vitascope, the following appeared in the New York Times:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">"[Mr. Edison] has bought, for about $5,000, two ancient, but still serviceable locomotives and a several dozen flat cars. He has built about a quarter of a mile of railroad track in a secluded spot, not far from his laboratory. In a few weeks he will start a train from each end of the track, and will run them to a crash... all the incidents of a train wreck will be caught by machines stationed at short intervals near the track."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Ooh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BlackBxx: HEAD-ON…</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-76282405012344802032011-11-02T23:03:00.000-07:002011-11-02T23:05:13.185-07:00And away we go...<span style="font-family: Arial;">Just recovering from the shoot. My God, what a journey...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Spent three days setting up the house. We mounted six high-end/IR videocams in locked positions covering a 3 bedroom suburban home at an undisclosed location. Permits? Hah! Permits are for straight-arrows. This was a guerrilla operation from top to bottom.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We wired the cams to our custom-made DVR (aka "The Monster"). This baby's cutting edge; we actually had to push our start date due to the Japanese tsunami! Seem this monster requires a very rare, very specialized graphics board in order to process all that content streaming through the pipe without dropping a single precious frame. Probably should have checked the unit for radiation...</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAqRl3dFW_hghhrDA9goSIeGEjKd_eUsDGbFvGxUC9JXpqUtgzGDKF2lfbc805ye1X4Et1dJHHuvEe5RFz0VG9YAcDf6bl03_WTLoxkmvdYUO8K4OEOuOAL2XfWM5x7mNmjVPYEDSPxZ-/s1600/BBxx1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAqRl3dFW_hghhrDA9goSIeGEjKd_eUsDGbFvGxUC9JXpqUtgzGDKF2lfbc805ye1X4Et1dJHHuvEe5RFz0VG9YAcDf6bl03_WTLoxkmvdYUO8K4OEOuOAL2XfWM5x7mNmjVPYEDSPxZ-/s320/BBxx1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Sound was always a challenge. We decided to go with mics covering every camera and channelled through a big ole stack o' graphic equalizers. Once we were under way, babysitting the levels would be impossible, but Bryant, our audio wiz, figured if it was dirty on one mic, he'd have 15 other tracks to choose from to clean and filter it in post.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We then hardwired the whole ball of wax to monitors in this gigantic RV we had parked out front. Very comfy and stocked with goodies. That is, until we found out we couldn't jack into the house-current. Freaking rental company forgot to throw an adapter in the cup-caddy. No A/C unless we ran the generator. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Did I mention we were shooting this thing out in the freaking desert?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The cast arrived late Thursday. We all sat down at a local Mexican place for an early wrap-party, as it was a dead-cert we'd all be too destroyed for a proper wrap-party <em>after</em> the shoot. Everyone was jacked; terrified and excited at the same time. Who's crazy idea was this, anyway...?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Oh, yeah. Mine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We briefed the cast on all the dos and don'ts--at least all the ones we could think of. Kind of tough to consider every contingency when you're doing something that's never been attempted before. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">At 6:00 PM PST Friday evening, Cliff would be calling "action," and two days later, on Sunday, he'd be calling "cut." Barring a catastrophic technical failure or medical emergency, the cast would be playing the story for as much as 48 hours without interruption. There was no such thing as "off-stage," unless you counted the hall bathroom, which we had rigged with a little cardboard flap for privacy (sorry, folks, you'll have to wait until the Germans do this if you had your hearts set on watching actors poop).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">What if the cops showed up while we were shooting? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">My producing partner, Art, had a stroke of genius (or was it just a stroke?). He told the cast, "If the cops drop by, just stay in character and brazen it out; remember, you're a paranormal investigative team testing new equipment. We've got a note from the homeowner that says as much. Hopefully, we'll be able to intercept any po-po before they even make the front porch."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We all went to the hotel and tried to sleep. Yeah, right. I tried counting sheep, but I ended up counting all the things that could go wrong...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The actors would be preparing all their own meals and eating on set, so the next morning, I doled out cash like George Jetson to all the actors so they could grocery-shop for the food their characters would eat. The crew went up to the house to board up all the windows, finish painting our "additions" to the interior and put final the touches on practical effects with our FX-guy and all-around renaissance man, Jon. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">At 5:00 PM, we were still having issues with the FX, so we called the cast and told them to hold on. At 7:00, we shuttled them up. But damn if those pesky effects weren't giving Jon trouble until 11:00 PM. Cliff was getting very hot; his actors were losing focus, becoming "too comfortable" in the house. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Finally, at 11:30 PM, Cliff called "action."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Then, it was a trip down the rabbit-hole. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">24 hours in, it occurred to me that I might be killing my actors. I <em>knew</em> I was killing myself. The trailer looked like a meth-den, cluttered with fast-food containers and Styrofoam 7-11 coffee cups. My crew and I had gone slightly mad. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Between the SFX and practical FX, the cast was fully engaged and delivering my story-beats like clockwork, but the intensity of the effort was burning them up. I started redlining stuff out of my 2nd act and frantically delivering direction via text-mail, where it became a game of telephone as the cuts and schedule changes were discreetly relayed among the actors.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGgXGa_kepQZBZ3uUropdl8TCDLhcIbPgymHwHkEyIlPp8_KRdFERtZMw6fxbzX2YIcCoLtMgahcUm45OmjuzsWXalelzm3GHX28KiH6n6Yb9_nMnrz9iWPZAGJVmKOMNaDvskbGQzMKbl/s1600/BBTest1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGgXGa_kepQZBZ3uUropdl8TCDLhcIbPgymHwHkEyIlPp8_KRdFERtZMw6fxbzX2YIcCoLtMgahcUm45OmjuzsWXalelzm3GHX28KiH6n6Yb9_nMnrz9iWPZAGJVmKOMNaDvskbGQzMKbl/s320/BBTest1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Then there was the weird stuff: Objects moving and SFX that we hadn't rigged. For instance, the cast was mightily impressed when we made a pot fly off the counter. Only "we" didn't make a pot fly off the counter. With all the energy crackling in that house, I wouldn't be surprised if the cast had generated some parakinesis. I haven't been able to check the tapes, though. Maybe they hallucinated it...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Right.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anyway, it was around 11:00 AM Sunday morning when Cliff called "cut." After over 30 hours of continuous shooting, we only had to do one pick-up because of a blown lighting FX cue. Unbelievable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A handful of pros captured something incredible. Now it's on to the crucible of post to see what we got...</span>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-56896608393522610892011-10-25T14:11:00.000-07:002011-10-26T12:23:41.399-07:00A Word About Aerodynamics and Rolling Donuts<title>Untitled 1</title>
<style type="text/css">
p.MsoNormal
{margin-bottom:.0001pt;
punctuation-wrap:simple;
text-autospace:none;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
margin-left: 0in;
margin-right: 0in;
margin-top: 0in;
}
a:link
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
}
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
I am officially humbled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
When we started the Kickstarter campaign for <i>
<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted">
<span style="color: blue;">BlackBxx:HAUNTED</span></a></i>, I had to come up with
some rewards. I checked out what other artists had given away and followed suit,
beginning with a sincere thank you and warm thoughts for a $1.00 pledge and
continuing up to an Executive Producer credit for $10,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Though the high-dollar rewards were fun to write, I never thought anyone would
take us up on them. I mean, who would pay a grand for a dinner out with me, or
$3,000 for me to fly out to their house and do live commentary for their
favorite episode of <i>Carnivále?</i> I figured the highest pledge we’d see
might—<i>might</i>—be the $500 Skype call. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
So when the first big-dollar pledge rolled in, I was stunned on several counts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
To begin with, when we initiated the campaign, I sent emails to everyone I
knew—friends, colleagues and family—asking for their support. I’ve worked with
some fairly heavy-hitters in the course of my TV career, so I assumed the pledge
must have come from one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
I was wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
The pledge came from Steve Bertolino, a <i>Carnivále</i> fan who lives in
Middlebury, Vermont. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
It seems I’ll be flying out to his place, hanging out with him and his friends
and commenting on his favorite episode (or, as my lovely daughter, Mary, who has
long-suffered my yammering every time she tries to watch one of her shows, so
gracefully put it, “You’re <i>kidding! </i>Some guy paid $3,000 for you to come
out and wreck <i>his </i>show?”).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
I’ve never been to Vermont, so I’m really looking forward to checking it out
with my newly-minted Associate Producer, Steve. From what I hear, I better bring
a warm coat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Then, just as I was picking my jaw up off the floor, Rebhi Barqawi, a nice young
man from Dubai, UAE, pledged <i>$10,000</i>! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
I’ve never met Rebhi. I called everyone on the BlackBxx team, and none of them
had either. I emailed him a thank you, and learned from his reply that, like
Steve, Rebhi just loves my work and wants to do what he can to help me make <i>
BlackBxx: HAUNTED</i> happen. And I can say with some measure of confidence that
Rebhi will be the best Executive Producer I’ve ever worked with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Then <i>another</i> $3,000 pledge came in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
This time, I’d be flying out to Mahwah, New Jersey to chill with my new
Associate Producer, Brian Deysher, yet another </span><i>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Carnivále </span></i>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
fan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
At this point, we’ve raised $19,191 from 41 backers. To get an idea of where the
pledges have come from, I created this handy-dandy pie-chart:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoP9ECvcMRyKbmAUPMgOGntrC5FmvkVOPmnEUXvBGwi6Z8MmLfmYrFmN3xo4_4EWbVGsIVBrjf-GzZxLeFA002htK5ngEZ9OH3EERP37Z-N3TgeZjTipKMJQizKtABlPHkFfKodYpK6Jj/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYoP9ECvcMRyKbmAUPMgOGntrC5FmvkVOPmnEUXvBGwi6Z8MmLfmYrFmN3xo4_4EWbVGsIVBrjf-GzZxLeFA002htK5ngEZ9OH3EERP37Z-N3TgeZjTipKMJQizKtABlPHkFfKodYpK6Jj/s400/Untitled-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />As you can see, the vast (and I mean <i>VAST</i>) majority of the contributions
have come from patrons I’ve never met before. Meanwhile, of all my big-shot,
money-burning, cigar-chomping Hollywood buddies, only one has come through: My
friend, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0491706/">Tom Lavagnino</a>, who
does not smoke cigars and is not particularly wealthy (unless you count his
wife, Hope, who is a treasure).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
So if you’ve already gone to the site and said to yourself. “Sure, normally I’d
pitch in five bucks, but this guy is an established Hollywood writer. I’m sure
he has all kinds of rich friends who can afford to give him bread. He doesn’t
need my support,” I’m telling you right now, you couldn’t be more wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Sure, we’ve raised 25% of our goal, but we only have 25 more days to raise over
$50,000, or we won’t collect a single thin dime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
So if you’re reading this, and you haven’t already made a pledge, please go
check out our project page on Twitter. I know times are tough, but even if you
can only afford a dollar, it will take us $1 closer to our goal. <o:p></o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Also, the goal of the Kickstarter campaign is not just to raise production
funds, but build an audience. Not that those big-dollar contributions haven't
been appreciated, mind you, but at this point, we'd rather have a hundred $5
pledges than one $1,000 pledge, because the <i>last </i>thing we want to do is
play something as extraordinary as <i>BlackBxx: HAUNTED</i> to an empty house.
Even if you’re totally strapped and can't support the project financially, you
can help out by leaving an encouraging comment (we can <i>certainly</i> use
those), embed the widget (below) or video on your social network page or link to
us on Twitter. <o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: center;">
<o:p><iframe frameborder="0" height="380" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fboffo/blackbxx-haunted/widget/card.html" width="220"></iframe></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Oh, yeah. And as for my rich Hollywood “friends…?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Like my Dad used to say, as far as I'm concerned, they can all go take flying
fucks at rolling donuts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt; punctuation-wrap: hanging;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
Power to the people, baby…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8pt;">
<br /></div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-65349126679929633612011-10-03T13:37:00.000-07:002011-10-03T13:37:30.749-07:001% Inspiration, 99% Desperation
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I’m sure some of you have wondered what I’ve been up to since CARNIV</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">ÁLE. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Believe it or not, I’ve
been insanely busy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason I say
“believe it or not” is because only a small fraction of my subsequent body of
work has made it to air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Though some of you are aware of the episodes I’ve written or produced for
shows such as SUPERNATURAL, FEAR ITSELF, MY OWN WORST ENEMY and SPARTACUS:
BLOOD AND SAND, only I and a few guys in suits have seen my pilot for DARKFALL,
postulating a future in which technology fails and magic becomes operative, or
THE ORDER, about an ancient monastic sect whose sole mission for the past
millennium has been to prevent the Apocalypse and now runs counter-occult
black-ops from a basement deep below the Vatican, or CRUZ, my offbeat take on
the P.I. genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nor have you seen my odd dark comedies like HONEY VICARRO, WHERE THE
HART IS and my favorite, DEARLY BELOVED, a FAWLTY TOWERS-style farce set in a
small-town funeral home in the rural South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then there are my long-form adaptations of DRACULA and THE INVISIBLE
MAN.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A voluminous body of work that, for reasons over which I’ve had no
control, has not been produced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, I’ve got an ego, but I’m not a <i>total</i> megalomaniac; I
suppose it’s always possible that those projects sucked rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But since my long-suffering agent, Pete,
continues to successfully use them as writing samples to get me more gigs, quality
doesn’t seem to be the issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So if not quality, then what? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Figuring out the answer to that question is not only unproductive and
debilitating, but also a one-way ticket through Poor-Me-Land to Crazytown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Suffice it to say, the planets simply haven’t aligned and, if there’s
one thing I’ve learned in the past half-decade or so, it’s how impossibly,
fantastically, insanely lucky I was to get </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">CARNIV</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">ÁLE on the air and keep it there for two years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">To a major extent, the only difference between my career Before </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">CARNIV</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">ÁLE (B.C.) and after the show’s Abrupt Death (A.D.)
is that now I get <i>paid</i> for writing stuff nobody wants to produce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This would be just ducky (as Sofia might say) if financial remuneration
was the reason I create.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I was
making a pretty terrific living as an insurance broker before I got into this nutty
business, thank you very much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reasons I write are legion, and I would
continue to do so whether I was being paid or not, produced or not, published
or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard-wired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s who I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, how else can I pay forward all the
great moments gifted to me by my betters, Ray Bradbury, Ernest Hemingway,
Charles Bukowski, Anne Rice, Mark Twain, Dennis Lehane, John Milius, Elmore
Leonard, Gertrude Stein, Stephen King, Robert Crais, Alexander Dumas, H.G.
Welles, Poppy Bright, William Goldman, Jan Fischer, Dashiell Hammett, David
Mamet, Robert E. Howard, Rod Serling, Robert Towne, H.P. Lovecraft, John
Steinbeck, Ursula LeGuin, Shane Black, John Fante, <i>et al</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But I can’t pay <i>dick</i> forward if I don’t have an audience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And among all my motives to create stories—sundry, silly or
splendid—you decidedly <i>will not</i> find a burning desire to impress the shit
out of a handful of entertainment executives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I suppose there are writers who,
once paid, are perfectly happy to move on to the next project, but I am most
decidedly not one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I create, I do so with
unconditional passion, pride and dedication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whether the results are worth the effort may be debatable, but what is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> debatable is the cold hard fact that
I love every one of them as I would my own child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To see them locked up, languishing on a dusty
shelf rather than woo and thrill and seduce and move an audience is
intolerable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Worse, I have grown increasingly
impatient with playing Mother May I with a bunch of timid, arrogant punks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Every good writer and showrunner
I know is absolutely <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">miserable</i> in the
current production environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Virtually no creative decision—no matter how trivial—can be made without
being second, third, fourth and fifth-guessed by terrified rabbits. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To resist or discuss—much less <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">argue</i>—the validity of a network note is
tantamount to career suicide; if one doesn’t immediately and cheerfully comply
with even the most egregiously bad “suggestion,” one risks being branded difficult
and suffering years of unemployment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Meanwhile, development—always a
crucible—has mutated into a babbling, raging, giggling, blood-drenched
chamber-of-horrors in the deepest, most dank basement of Bedlam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Drafts that initially delighted
the network, that they assured the writer need “just a few tweaks,” are
endlessly rewritten, restructured, reimagined and hopelessly twisted out of
true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They take the parable of the Blind
Men and the Elephant to its most extreme, most absurd degree by giving the
blind men absolute and incontestable authority over a team of extraordinarily
talented but docile surgeons to repeatedly carve up the elephant and stitch it
into any configuration that pleases them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Suffice it to say, the elephant
rarely survives the procedure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are only two kinds of
writers that thrive in contemporary Hollywood: Those few giants that have a
long, unbroken run of monster hits who frighten the Blind Men, and the many
attractive, charming hacks who shamelessly flatter the Blind Men with their eager,
affable subservience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Regrettably, I am neither.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s not to say I’m some kind of Howard
Roark; I am perfectly ready and willing to resort to flattery and blandishments
in order to feed my family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s simply not my strong-suit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Such was the State of the Union, so to speak, when, two years ago, I came
up with my weirdest and, perhaps, most audacious idea to date.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I called it BlackBxx.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-3042798555359438792011-10-03T13:36:00.000-07:002011-10-03T13:36:02.665-07:00A Pet Peeve
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It started with a pet peeve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s always bugged me how dismissive and dumb the entertainment
industry has been when it comes to the internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They regard it as a novelty—at best the distant, bastard-cousin of
television: Tough to monetize, good for promo and not much else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently, they utilize it with all the
vision and ingenuity of a real-estate agent slapping a big picture of his
grinning mug on the back of a bus-bench.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Occasionally, they’ll attempt something “creative.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone in some swanky conference room says
something like, “This internet-thingy, I understand the kids like to play games
on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We gotta do that—something, ya
know… <i>interactive!</i>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they
spend a couple million on a lame online game nobody plays, or a lame app nobody
uses, or a lame BBS nobody visits, or a lame <i>webisode</i> (now <i>there’s</i>
a tautology!) nobody watches.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">More often than not, they simply upload their movies and T.V. shows—<i>unaltered—</i>to
the web and rechristen it as “content.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The studios and networks don’t bother to adapt the source material to internet
for one simple reason: They don’t regard it as a true, unique and distinct
medium in its own right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They see it as
simply one more dot on the unbroken timeline of the human tradition of
conveying a narrative; from a story told in a cave, to a play performed on a
stage, to a manuscript written by a scribe, to a book printed on a press, to a movie
projected in a theater, to a broadcast over the radio, to a broadcast on television,
to <i>voila!,</i> a website on a server.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But there is a difference between the internet and all those other
media.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A <i>profound</i> difference.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A difference the entertainment industry can’t, or won’t, or doesn’t
seem to be able to recognize and comprehend. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An <i>intrinsic</i> difference that not only makes the internet a
legitimate, distinct medium in and of itself, but one that utterly <i>shatters</i>
the fundamental paradigm of narrative storytelling.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And that is this: We <i>use</i> the internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We don’t “use” books or magazines, televisions or movies, radio or
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We read; we listen; we
watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author <i>actively</i> transmits
his or her narrative, and the audience <i>passively</i> receives it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The internet, however, requires the <i>audience</i> to become active—we
click on links, we read, we view, we cut-and-paste, we research, we review and
share and tweet and blog and friend and favorite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, we do all these things <i>simultaneously</i>
in an environment designed for multitasking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because if we choose to simply sit and “watch” the internet, <i>it
doesn’t do anything</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now that I’ve finished explaining something in exhaustive detail that
is so obvious, so conspicuously self-evident (save, of course, to the
peripheral-visionaries who finance the production of entertainment), back to
the subject at hand...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I thought, given that the internet is a wholly distinct medium, a
medium at least as dissimilar as, say, motion pictures are from books, how do
I, the storyteller, adapt my narrative to exploit that medium?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First, I had to define exactly what characteristics are unique to the
internet, which are, in turn, a reflection of how the audience uses it (so
much, in fact, that they call us “users”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are as follows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The internet is pan-media</span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> – Content may be transmitted
through text, videos, blogs, photographs, audio, interviews, or even biometrics
such as EEGs or lie detectors;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The internet is multitasking</span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> – We rarely have one
page, tab or media player open at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise, we may be performing several
activities at once;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The internet is impulsive</span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> – A click of a link
instantly takes the user to content of interest;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The internet is concise</span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> – Tell us about your life
in 140 characters or less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not as
much about short attention spans as it is about all that <i>interesting stuff</i>
we can see/hear/read with the click of a mouse;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The internet is social</span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> – We chat, we blog, we
tweet, we post, we share content with others with similar interests;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And, most importantly…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 6pt 0.25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The internet is non-linear</span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> – We unravel content by
impulse, not chronological order, clicking through instantly to what piques our
interest, skipping what’s not.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When it comes to storytelling, this
last characteristic is the game-changer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a writer, I am accustomed to structuring
my story in the order I feel will be most effective<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I</i> determine what elements
are relevant or superfluous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> decide which characters are worth
following.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For instance, let’s say I’m
writing a movie about a kidnapping for ransom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If DELIVERY BOY drops coffee and Danish off at the FBI office, the only
reason I will write what happens to him after he exits the scene will be if it supports
the central story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DELIVERY BOY might do
all kinds of interesting stuff—win the lottery, pull orphans from a burning
building, murder his boss—but if I decide it doesn’t serve the plot, you’re not
going to see it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But what if you were curious
about DELIVERY BOY?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What if you could follow him
back to the shop, see him interact with friends and family, lie, love, cheat,
hate, suffer defeat and savor victory?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
mean, DELIVERY BOY is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">way</i> more
interesting than that square-jawed lummox, AGENT HOOPER, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s my ball and my rules and my
playground, and AGENT HOOPER is the protagonist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m the author; you’re the audience; STFU and
eat your popcorn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But the internet is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> traditional media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the internet, you not only should
be able to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">follow</i> DELIVERY BOY, but
keep an eye on AGENT HOOPER in a separate window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only that, but you’d have access to
material as varied as the ransom note, MRS. HOOPER’s recipe for meat-loaf, the kidnapper’s
behavioral profile and vacation snapshots of DELIVERY BOY’s kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you stumble across anything unexpected or
interesting, you’d be able to download it, share it with your followers on
Twitter, or imbed it on your Facebook page.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Each medium gives the audience
access to different set of windows into a narrative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A novel can exploit all five
human senses as well as the characters’ thoughts, opinions and points-of-view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A film is limited to what we can see and
hear, but its impact on those two senses is much more intense than that of a
novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A play cannot offer the action, breadth
and scope of a film, but compensates with the energy of a live performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Narratives can be (and often
are) adapted from one medium to another, but the success of the adaptation is
inversely dependent on how thoroughly the source material exploits the
attributes of its original medium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Works
such as Alan Moore’s WATCHMEN and Ernest Hemingway’s THE SUN ALSO RISES, for
example,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are so perfectly conceived and
crafted to suit their mediums that an adaptation can only pale in comparison.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Likewise, a narrative conceived
and crafted for the internet should defy adaptation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I concluded that the acid test
for a narrative developed for the internet could be distilled into the
following question: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Does it so exploit
the unique characteristics of the internet so thoroughly that its full telling
would be otherwise impossible?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So I devised a narrative format
that would pass that acid test.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In short, the concept is as
follows: Capture an event of limited duration with a defined beginning, middle
and end that features an ensemble of actors performing scenes—often
simultaneously—in separate locations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Story-related material is conveyed in a
variety of media—text, photographs, audio files--and captured in on video in
real time with multiple cameras from multiple angles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The end result would be a
complete record of every incident and character interaction that occurred for
the duration of that event—literally hundreds of hours of written, audio and video
content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every moment and background
detail related to the event would be instantly accessible to the user in any
order he or she wishes to view it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Separate scenes—or separate angles of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">same</i> scene—could be selected and played simultaneously in multiple
windows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Inspired by the concept’s
similarity to the function of airline flight recorders, I christened it
BlackBxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over the following months, I ran
BlackBxx past all fellow net-savvy artists—a trusted circle of actors,
directors, designers, FX artists and other industry professionals I’ve worked
with over the last decade or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
only did they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">get</i> it, but they were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">stoked</i> by it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a authentically brand new, absolutely
unprecedented form of dramatic narrative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Virtually every one of them eagerly offered to attach themselves if I
could get the project off the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So enamored was I, so <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">thrilled</i> with my fresh, bold, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">revolutionary</i> idea, I could hardly wait
to present it to the powers-that-be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surely, they would be impressed with my ingenuity and gleefully shower
me with the money I’d need to realize my vision!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I called my agent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was time to set up some meetings and sell
BlackBxx.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461403807268405718.post-72401151109485527802011-10-03T13:34:00.000-07:002011-10-26T13:19:49.630-07:00Red Light Green Light<title>Untitled 1</title>
<style type="text/css">
p.MsoNormal
{
margin-bottom: .0001pt;
punctuation-wrap: simple;
text-autospace: none;
font-size: 12pt;
font-family: Calibri;
margin-left: 0in;
margin-right: 0in;
margin-top: 0in;
}
a:link
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
}
.style1 {
font-family: Calibri;
}
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So there I was, out and about, sitting on the edge of a dozen
or so uncomfortable sofas in a dozen or so posh network and studio offices,
pitching yet another crazy, freakish idea to men and women who vociferously
preach the Gospel of Originality while worshipping at the Altar of Banality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The response was a thunderous, enthusiastic and unqualified,
“Huh?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It wasn’t that they didn’t
like BlackBxx as much as they couldn’t even comprehend it. My
lips were moving, words were spilling out and they seemed to be listening, but
nothing was landing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mind you, they didn’t
admit that they didn’t get it—like you and me and everyone else,
entertainment executives don’t like to appear stupid and will fake comprehension
when necessary—but there were those unmistakable, nonverbal clues.
Some would seem to get it, but then ask a question that betrayed their utter
mystification. <em>“So,”</em> they’d ask,
<em>“what happens when nothing’s going on?”</em><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If the room
is empty, we’ll continue shooting it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span class="style1"><em>“Who
in the world would want to watch an empty room?”</em></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Almost no one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span class="style1"><em>“Almost
no one?</em></span><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There would be a few people who are patient and dogged enough
to watch an empty room for hours on the off chance that something interesting
might happen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span class="style1"><em>“Why?”</em></span><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Because then they’d have bragging rights as the first person
to find that moment. It would be
their discovery. They could share it
with their friends, post it, imbed it on their Facebook page…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span class="style1"><em>“But
they</em> do <em>have to watch the scenes in chronological order, right?”</em></span><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Wrong. They can
watch them in any order that pleases them.<o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span class="style1"><em>“But
then they’ll be able to see the end!</em>”</span><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes.<o:p> So What?</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span class="style1"><em>“So
what’s the point of watching something if you know how it ends?”</em></span><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To see everything that happens
before the end.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I think you get the idea, although the above conversation is a
greatest-hits compilation of half a dozen.
In real-life, things never got even remotely that far in depth.
Had my goal been to find a cure for entertainment executives who can’t
get their eyes to glaze over, I couldn’t have been more successful.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Worse, I could not offer them—or any other potential investor,
for that matter—the slightest scintilla of
proof that there would be an audience for it.
For I had sailed far into the vast, unexplored Sea of
It’s-Never-Been-Done, and I had no model upon which I could extrapolate a return
on investment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Then I remembered my circle of net-savvy artists who had
offered to help out if I could get the project green-lit.
And it occurred to me that if they might be willing to defer their
salaries in exchange for a percentage of any profits (not Hollywood
monkey-points, mind you, but a legitimate piece of the action), I might be able
to finance the project myself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Damn,
I thought, I don’t need them to
give me a green light. I can
green-light my own ass!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There would be, of course, unavoidable hard-costs.
Actors would have to be paid, equipment would need to be purchased, sets
would need to be built, a location would have to be rented and a website
designed. Nevertheless, with prudent
oversight, some crowd-sourcing, and a sizeable personal investment (sizeable for
me, less than a pittance by studio-standards) I could produce a version that
would test the viability of BlackBxx and its potential to draw an audience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I decided to begin with a story that didn’t require too many
expensive elements, BlackBxx: HAUNTED, a supernatural thriller about a
disastrous paranormal investigation.
The cast would be limited to seven characters, and the action would take place
on location in a suburban home. We
would cover the entire drama with 16 fixed cameras.
Additional footage would be captured with two handhelds operated by the
cast when and if it suited the story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="style1">After rehearsals, we would place our cast
inside the house, start the cameras, call
action</span>…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="style1">… and 48 hours later, after the last
scene was played, we would call cut</span>.<o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the meantime, the cast would be living their roles, playing
scenes, performing tasks, reacting to supernatural events all over the house as
defined in the script. Scenes and
action would be occurring simultaneously within the various rooms.
The actors would eat, sleep and dream in character for the duration of
the shoot.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So I founded a company, recruited my team, and began writing
lots of checks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Which brings me to the present, three weeks out from
production, on a wing and a prayer and in the finest tradition of the American
Entrepreneurial Spirit. The elements
are coming into place; the expenses, incurred and growing.
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If we succeed, a small group of artists will have invented nothing less
than an entirely new form of entertainment.
We’ll be able to go on to produce additional BlackBxx projects, each more
complex and ambitious than the last. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If we fail, it will be written off as a harebrained experiment
by the miserable few who see it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh, yeah. And my
wife? She’ll murder me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hopefully, Kickstarter will accept this project and I will be
able to crowd-source it to offset some of the costs.
If so, your contributions will earn you a boatload of cool rewards (one
of which will be a personal visit to your home to watch your favorite episode of
</span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><em>CARNIVÁLE</em></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
with you and your friends).</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgTUZgbN_1cy0NDJrmZb5ZB1k7apu8tMR693mLlcVn1ivaaltEc4FctLTMgMNh07l6Ko4xjUA9iNBjxK4sYqrj7zqJw4lnV5ZelakzAAQb5UkDCk1_z-mpA__XhNrK1WVIR4F_2psUjQ6/s1600/BBGirl3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgTUZgbN_1cy0NDJrmZb5ZB1k7apu8tMR693mLlcVn1ivaaltEc4FctLTMgMNh07l6Ko4xjUA9iNBjxK4sYqrj7zqJw4lnV5ZelakzAAQb5UkDCk1_z-mpA__XhNrK1WVIR4F_2psUjQ6/s320/BBGirl3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ll be counting on you guys and other fans and friends of </span><em>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">CARNIVÁLE</span></em><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
to help pitch in and make this thing happen.
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you choose not to, however, remember that my blood will be
on your hands.</span></div>Daniel Knaufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10460283850576817296noreply@blogger.com0