➸Make a Movie: Discover Artemis Eternal and join us as an official Wingman!
➸More Dailies: On days that I don't update here, you can catch me on Twitter @JSto. Wingmen Are Swift! April 14, 2012
When I log on for the first time each day, I'm hoping to find something interesting. Quality media that captures my imagination. Bold news stories or community movements. Bursts of activity in our project web spaces. Essentially: Signs of life.
Typically, it's business as usual.
Today, however, HOO-RAH! Patriots are out in full force!
My original intention in testing the Amazon KDP program was to see if it was possible to publish screenplay. Unfortunately it is not: The formatting does not work. At this time it would work as an app, but those cost too much to produce and promote. It wouldn't be worth going that route right now.
Usually when I write, I write first and think about publishing afterward. I generally work with the understanding that writing "for" something begins to compromise the work.
A MILLENNIAL PROPOSAL was no exception. Upon finishing, I realized the essay was highly unlikely to be published by literary or news outlets, which are competitive to begin with. The essay is suited best to presentation without comment, probably through a newspaper platform.
Given the argument involved, I realized that it was unlikely that appropriate op-ed sections would publish such a thing. I mean, think about it: These guys sit around pontificating about the economy every day and then - BOOM! - I swoop in and solve the whole thing out of nowhere.
Once again, I knew I was on my own. I thought about what the nextgen version of literary political pamphlets might be and decided to try the essay as a single for Kindle via Amazon. Of course I am never fully on my own, because of you Wingmen. Evidence:
A couple days later…
"Not all will like her ideas, but they should be seriously considered. This book is going viral in my circle of Millenial friends."
I don't know which of you wrote the reviews populating the page. All I can say is that you are true patriots doing the US of A an important service.
"As a millennial myself, I found plenty of interesting and useful advice on how to make a place for myself in this world."
Via A MILLENNIAL PROPOSAL, together you and I are working to save our country. Thanks for reading. With your techie digital political pamphlets and in-universe reviews, you all are Swiftians from the future!
"I cannot believe what this book is proposing! Any parents out there should be aware! If you see your child reading this stop them!"
Monies to go toward the scifi-fantasy film project ARTEMIS ETERNAL, obviously!
What you get: + 1. You get one of the last first-edition copies of the hardcover book Aidmheil, personally inscribed to you by director/author Jessica Mae Stover (that's me). This means that I write you a dedication note on the inside cover. Here's the official book page and the most in-depth overview.
+ 2. You become an official ARTEMIS ETERNAL WINGMAN at the $100 Aurum-level!
- Aurum with your personal link (shiny!)
- Your name in the film's end credits
- Added to the 'Who's In' official site Wingman list
- Wingman street cred/officially part of our community
- Periodic e-mail updates, project invites and adventure opportunities
- Independent high quality cinema and experimental media production: You're a part of it, in the mix, making it happen, no wimps!
+ 3. OMG! You will be added into a drawing for one of four high-quality artisanal prizes! (see below)
In the notes section please indicate who exactly you want me to inscribe the book to. If there is no note, I will assume you do not want me to inscribe your copy. If you have any difficulty specifying then please e-mail me at jessica [at] jessicastover [dot] com.
You can also purchase a BAM!♥ for a friend as a gift. All you need do is specify the details in the notes section on the order form. Your giftee will receive a direct Wingman welcome e-mail from me, which I will coordinate with you.
In addition, everyone who buys a BAM!♥ Wingman package will be entered into a drawing. Since this is a limited run, the odds of winning are NICE! Plus, I reserve the right to add even more prizes.
The four prizes: ♥. A superbly limited edition ARTEMIS ETERNAL art print numbered and signed by artist Christopher Shy and filmmaker Jessica Mae Stover. Only five of these are being printed. In the fraternal spirit of Wingmanliness, one of the concept art funders (Sean S.) has graciously contributed his print to this cause. It was completely his idea, and I'm happy to honor it. He is also contributing a limited TSL print...
♥. A BAM!♥ package (personally inscribed Aidmheil and Wingman Membership) for a BAM!♥-ing friend of your choice. If you wish, you and I can conspire to send this directly to them as a surprise. I will coordinate this with you.
♥. A 30-minute video chat with filmmaker Jessica Mae Stover (that's me), a Wingman t-shirt (for your wearing pleasure!) and a super awesome handknitted scarf made just for you by my mom. You customize the color. No kidding!
Progress Report, Captain's Log, Stardate, Supplemental
Next ARTEMIS ETERNAL production and line items: - Printing art prints for funders
- Just renewed our domain fee for the year ($11.76)
- 2012 Biz taxes (est. $160)
- 2011 Accounting fees (est. $300)
- Film storyboarding! (sexy! $ tbd - still receiving proposals from artists)
- REDESIGN! (we are overhauling the entire experience, our new home is going to be better organized, engaging and, of course, beautiful!)
If you are a BAM♥er, we hope you'll make it official and take advantage of this unique package by becoming an Artemis Eternal Wingman today!
Throwback '70s & '80s, less CGI-focused, primary-color palette, electronically-scored independent science fiction is becoming a trend. Of the handful of trailers and footage I've seen thus far, BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW boasts the most professionally confident and curious example. (Although, I could do without the lens flare.)
It's less expensive to shoot this way, so that's attractive to indie tinkerers who dream of genre. But the audience is also onto that notion. So if you're going to shoot this way as a sci-fi artist, you have to have a story and plotting that motivates the design and form. That should be true for all movies, but certainly it's more true for low-budget genre, which is challenging and cannot be glossed over with cash (as the studios do with their faire). I can think of many low-budget genre movies that merely aggregate and knock off sci-fi tropes, are too thin in development, under-budgeted, or fail in other ways, and few that succeed. Most of the latter are not American films. (If indeed RAINBOW is successful storytelling, the laurels will go to Canada.) What are your favorite examples?
If the production budget recorded in the trade listings for this picture is accurate, then ARTEMIS ETERNAL will ring shy of a third of the price, yet this is a feature and ARTEMIS is a short. DOCTOR HORRIBLE cost more than a third but less than half of RAINBOW, and is about half the length. ANOTHER EARTH, a feature, cost just over a quarter of what RAINBOW prices (although Searchlight may have put post-production sweetening money into that picture after acquisition).
WANTED: Rich Feminist
Employer: W.O.M.E.N.
Start date: Immediate
Location: Virginia
Details: W.O.M.E.N., Women Organized Monitoring Equality Neutrality, is a group representing the physical, emotional and psychological health of 4,121,171 patriot women accounting for 50.9% of the population in the Commonwealth of Virginia. By extension, we also represent the interests of their families, employees, doctors and all supporters of the Constitution of the United States.
Females, who are neither a minority nor inferior in any intellectual quality, hold just 1% of the world's wealth, hold less than 3% of clout positions in US media, less than 17% of Congress and at current rates will not achieve parity in the lifetime of even the youngest citizen alive today. Throughout history this disparity has been crafted, enforced and exploited across cultures and societies, most recently in America by groups who, in their pursuit of power, forgot that part of agreeing to the premise of American citizenship includes a separation of church and state. For instance, in an obscure case in 1973, the United States Supreme Court deemed abortion a fundamental right under the United States Constitution. Currently, a political movement self-styled "The Grand Old Party" has a religious "social conservative" cell south of the Mason-Dixon Line that meets in Richmond, Virginia. This group has publicly declared themselves a threat against the rights of the population identifying as W.O.M.E.N., engaging in such legislation to that end.
In preparation of just such a threat and societal relapse, we have developed an innovative program to address the assault on W.O.M.E.N.'s rights and are currently in need of a Rich Feminist to begin immediately.
Qualifications: 1. Personhood*
2. Rich
3. Considered legally sane to write a check
Job Responsibilities: You will give us money and then we will use the money to complete the following three initiatives.
PHASE ONE: THE SEXODUS Your funding will put into action the mass exodus and resettlement of Virginian women who are fleeing the most draconian state laws in existence, as well as funding the escape of their supporters, to the socially progressive state of Mississippi, which unlike Virginia recently ruled in favor of women's health, defeating conservative measure No. 26.
We have already spoken personally with every Mississippi resident and they are eagerly awaiting the surge of women to their state. Our plan continues thus: In the first year of The Sexodus, Mississippi will become the first state to have a 75%-to-25% female-to-male ratio. By year two, Silicon Valley, an area with the opposite sex demographics, will sense possible incentives to keep their in-house talent and will relocate to Mississippi. Under this pairing, and in addition to its new, highly-ranked family health statistics, advancements by female entrepreneurs and traditional local catfish farming, the state will be noticed for its high-quality singles culture, lowest instances of "Forever Alone" grumbling, incredible wireless infrastructure and a burgeoning economy climbing international rankings.
With boosts to preventative planning and education and access to contraception and healthcare, Mississippi will soon boast the highest health rates and the lowest abortion rates on the planet, and through the next cycle of local elections will become the first state to have parity in public leadership.
By year three Mississippi will have reached economic ownership parity between men and women, as well as the lowest unemployment rate per southern state and the highest GNH "gross national happiness" index in the history of the United States of America, leading to a time known as "The New Golden Era of the Deep South". In a historic instance, the state will be forced to close its borders due to an unsustainable influx of new residents.
Although it will be difficult to say goodbye to the beautiful, rolling blue hills of the Shenandoah Valley, the rushing white roar of Great Falls, the monuments to dead patriarchs of Virginia and the constant battery on legal contraception and women's rights; our Virginia scholars and entrepreneurs are ready to stroll through downtown Jackson with friends and family, hike and fish along the Mississippi River while surfing our advanced smart phones and, as new Mississipians, together usher in this age of Golden opportunity as we escape Virginia and embrace the superior intellectualism and social progressivism of the Magnolia State.
PHASE TWO: REPRODUCTIVE EQUALITY Meanwhile, back in Virginia, during The Sexodus, your funding will continue the work of our award-winning lab which is situated on the retired and rennevated USS Freedom landing ship formerly owned by the US Navy and currently positioned in the waters off of Jamestown. After Gloria Steinam's well-documented discovery of the DBAG gene, our W.O.M.E.N. scientists have had great success with male pregnancy in mice, rats and sheep, and are growing close to making it possible for DBAG gene carriers, typically old, rich white men from Virginia - widely acknowledged to be those incentivized most by involvement with the southern GOP cell - to become impregnated via remote Wi-Fi.
It's time that these men had the opportunity to, at their own financial cost, be penetrated in at least one sensitive orifice against their wishes for no medically useful reason in a potentially scarring way by a legally mandated transvaginal ultrasound wand shaped like male genitalia.
We believe it is important for these DBAG lawmakers to have the same advantages as the women they once legislated over. Thus, as an olive branch extended from Mississippi, W.O.M.E.N. will not rest until the following, perfect level of equality is acheived for any Virginia men carrying the DBAG gene.
After a DBAG mutation is introduced to the Virginia public water system via chemical runoff from various paper factories that return to the US from China after the GOP's erosion of the EPA makes domestic manufacturing cheaper, Virginia's crumbling Wi-Fi infrastructure will be used under protection of the Patriot Act to track DBAG carriers. Each carrier will be mailed a password which is required to activate and access their reproductive ability. Like all advanced systems, this password can be hacked. Also the password is "nomeansyes". If an impregnated carrier seeks an abortion for any reason, they will legally not be able to say "no" to their orifices meeting with a transvaginal wand, as will their doctors be unable to say "no" without breaking the law, an experience many influential Virginian men have apparently longed for. An external ultrasound will also be forced at their cost, even though at that early stage of pregnancy an external ultrasound shows nothing but muscle, yet another forced, expensive experience these particular men have been deprived of for too long.
In the wake of The Sexodus, we have also arranged for some women to return to Virginia as a part of our equality squad that will reverse the wage gap with DBAG carrying men at the disadvantage, introduce a mutation to increase breast cancer in DBAG men, limit access to reproductive planning and education, healthcare, and legal contraceptives for DBAG men as well as create an atmosphere of general misandry in order to gift the full experience women have for so long enjoyed while men were forced to go without.
PHASE THREE: MISSVIRGINISSI Four years into our plan, the wealthy state of Mississppi will annex Virginia, which, surprisingly, will have become a woman-less, doctor-less, economically broke, polluted and depopulated graveyard, in order to form the new state of Missvirginissi. With the annex of more land, the state's borders will be reopened.
While we dismantle the facades of the heroic legacy DBAG carrying lawmakers tried to build for themselves so they wouldn't be forgotten prior to driving The Old Dominion into a cultural and economic apocalypse - including the demolition of the bronze statue former Governor and DBAG Bob McDonnell had built of himself accompanied with engraved words "I will sign it " - you will be called for a photo shoot!
In recognition of your contribution to W.O.M.E.N., the state flag of Missvirginissi will feature you as Virtus, the genius of our reinstated joint-Commonwealth, dressed as an Amazon, heroically signing a check with your right hand and holding in your left hand a sheathed transvaginal wand. Your left foot will pin the form of Tyranny: Former Virginia GOP House Majoirty Leader Delegate C. Todd Gilbert, who died a year prior of complications and shame while attempting a self-abortion with a coat hanger after being remotely impregnated by "Anonymous". Above you and within the flag's border shall be the word, "Missvirginissi" and in the space below, on a curved line, shall be the motto, "Sic Semper Tyrannis!"
C. Todd Gilbert dies in 2016 after being impregnated remotely by Anonymous
Applications will be reviewed under strict confidence. Apply today and secure your space in history just in time for March: Women's History Month! W.O.M.E.N. is an EOE.
*"personhood" defined as being a human or Super Pac, i.e. not a zygote
Jessica Mae Stover is a Virginian (for now) and the director of the forthcoming scifi movie ARTEMIS ETERNAL.
I don't hate this song, I find her vocal arrangement vaguely interesting, so I want to show you something: How systemically cliché factory youth music is. Movies also have these issues in dialogue (and visually and in plotting...). However this entry is not a critique of the video and performance direction, although I'm sure you can imagine how I feel about the execution. In general she'd do well to find a director who can show her how to translate her introverted melancholic hangover to stage and camera.
As a rule, professional writing should not contain clichés. Songwriting gets away with breaking the rule more than any other form. So where is the line? Here are the lyrics:
Feet don't fail me now (cliché) Take me to the finish line (cliché) All my heart, it breaks (cliché) every step that I take (cliché) But I'm hoping that the gates
They'll tell me that you're mine
Walking through the city streets
Is it by mistake or design?
I feel so alone on a Friday night
Can you make it feel like home, if I tell you you're mine
It's like I told you, honey
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough (cliché) and the road gets tough (cliché) I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long (cliché), we carry on (cliché) Try to have fun in the meantime
Come and take a walk on the wild side (cliché) Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain (this visual is cliché) You like your girls insane
Choose your last words
This is the last time
Cause you and I, we were born to die
Lost but now I am found (cliché) I can see but once I was blind (cliché) I was so confused as a little child (cliché) Tried to take what I could get (cliché) Scared that I couldn't find
All the answers, (cliché) honey
Do good songs sometimes contain clichés? Sure. But they don't contain many, unless said song is making a statement about clichés, using appropriate character language or some other tactic that proves to be a strong choice in context of the song's premise. Exceptions are exceptions. For contrast, look at the more complex language in 'American Pie' or, on the other hand, the simple language in Coldplay's best songs.
This song would be strong if someone had highlighted these lines and challenged the writer to revise most of them. No one did, which puts the lyrics at about high-school level and sinks them into melodrama. Does it work? No. It sounds silly when you actually listen to the lyrics against the cinematic musical arrangement.
Her previous single 'Video Games' works better. Inserting a modern idea (video games) into a more classical-haunting love song make for a curious contrast that has an element of truth to it, especially in context of the hipster SoCal flavor that permeates the track's language. That song contains less clichés.
In our example at hand, the final verse is especially obvious. Thus the dire love song "Born to Die" becomes a romance-novel rehash when it might have been more. This is the status quo though, so Lana Del Rey is merely one example and hardly the worse offender. At least she managed to be involved with one pop song that doesn't contain the word "baby".
Label-produced-top-40-radio-targeted pop music is generally worse than this example because it's heavily overproduced on top of writing issues: It's made to last 90 days for a short term marketing blitz and heavy Clear Channel rotation and then be forgotten in the plastic graveyard of cheap auto-tune and high-volume sound engineering. Essentially? It's born to die. On repeat.
Congratulations to our digital designer Greg Martin whose work was surfed on the telly, and to all Wingman whose support (and faces!) appeared on screen today. It is not at all crazy to me that when we launched we had nothing but big ideas, blank space and a lack of infrastructure and now? BOOM! Significant amounts of tangible success and progress, all while staying true to our ethos, which is unprecedented. I knew we could do this. The first Wingmen knew we could do this. I prepped hard with strong support from colleagues, you took a leap with me and together we've continued to push forward despite the incredible obstacles that mar the media landscape. It's worth noting, and you should all be proud. Go team! No wimps!
And thanks to anchor-personality Angie Goff & her crew for digging into what we're all about. If you're new here, click "begin", load the map and add your fire to ours! This movie does not happen unless you make it official and become a Wingman. And hey, right now you can take advantage of the limited edition BAM!♥ new Wingman opportunity just below!
Sunday morning I'll be on NBC Washington live to show & tell about ARTEMIS ETERNAL with anchor Angie Goff at 9AM.
Also, check it: the ARTEMIS ETERNAL map (click "begin") moved forward a step! Even though we are redesigning and therefore holding most updates for the new launch (the current map stop is incomplete, for example), I wanted to share the progress. Wingmen and crew should all be proud. Art and visual development is on the plate now (storyboarding!).
Permanent Link | RSSBattlestar Galactica: Best Episodes January 5, 2012
The mini-series Pt. 1 (discover the 12 Colonies)
The mini-seires Pt. 2 (fallout from nuclear holocaust)
33 (this will be a show about grey areas and tough decisions)
You Can't Go Home Again (the Adama family episode)
Kobol's Last Gleaming Pt. 2 (holy shit--no one is safe)
Home Pt. 2 (turning point of the series, heavy exploration of series mythology)
Pegasus (presents a foil to the Galactica and a picture of the road not taken)
Resurrection Ship Pt. 1 (military protocol and a major Colonial operation put fleet leaders to the test)
Resurrection Ship Pt. 2 (karmic washout from treason and torture)
this trilogy introduces many of the best and most dramatic musical themes from the series' score
Exodus Pt. 2 (humanity invaded and occupied, rebels attempt an ambitious rescue)
Maelstrom (destiny, death and dying, final Adama-family-centered episode)
The Oath (insurrection in the fleet, mutiny on the Battlestar)
Blood on the Scales (a resistance force attempts a reckoning)
Never forget: In the middle of the Iraq war, the most thoughtful discussion on suicide bombings came by way of a science fiction show.
Reasons we can't cover your newsworthy film and media project:
"The holidays are coming and my outlet says I have to cover holiday programming. Let's talk after the holidays are over."
"It's Hollywood award season. (I get to go to parties and talk to celebrities in Hollywood!) Let's talk after award season is over."
"It's festival season. (I get to go on trips and talk to celebrities abroad!) Let's talk after festival season is over."
"It's summer blockbuster season. (I get to go to premieres and party with drunk celebrities and Michael Bay!) Let's talk after summer season is over."
"We only cover Hollywood releases and narratives."
"You aren't throwing a multi-million dollar event and inviting me for free."
"You aren't throwing a press junket, providing me with media production and assets and flying me in to the Four Seasons Beverly Hills."
"You aren't an A-list celebrity."
"You aren't the relative or spouse of an A-list celebrity."
"You aren't wealthy."
"You haven't made a sex tape or gone on a reality show."
"When I said that the state of movies is terrible and that Hollywood needs to improve I didn't actually mean I'd write stories about the people and projects who are changing things."
"The editor who assigned me the topic has moved on to another outlet."
"The conglomerate that owns the studio you're criticizing owns my outlet."
"I don't like how you know more than I do about my own beat."
"Seriously do you want me to lose my free access to expensive parties?!"
1. Well-made and solid across the board in terms of story craft, dramatic craft and technical/film craft.
2. Explores its premise and resulting themes with new insight and/or techniques (usually the result of having a strong point of view and sense of authorship).
What do you think makes a film great? What qualities have you noticed that your favorite great films have in common? Post your thoughts and I'll gather together a consensus!
Comments (2)(Last Comment: 1/23/12 4:13 PM) | Permanent Link | RSSBBC Breaks Internet Monotony With Deathcicle November 23, 2011
I'm constantly looking, but despite mass over-production of "content" (mostly parasitic parroting), daily blogs, newspapers, multi-media... despite numerous 'Arts' and 'Culture' and various 'Entertainment' verticals, despite everything, for months I haven't seen anything on the Internet that's captured my imagination or proved impressive*. I'm glad that the New York Times for example is crafting more multi-media packages, but frankly I wish they were better and innovative.
Today, the BBC has broken the monotony with an online feature:
Congratulations to the production team on an astonishing scene, which becomes even more impressive in context of the production setup and knowledge required to capture it.
The bizarre aspect of this process is well-plotted: It appears as fantastic and other-wordly in picture as I can only assume it must live. Professionally I'm curious about the seemingly heightened sound design. Were the ice sounds captured in the field? Or entirely during post? Are they foley?
Update: Thanks to cameraman Doug Anderson, BBC producer Kathryn Jeffs and sound designer Tim Owens for coordinating a reply regarding the sound design. Tim e-mailed me:
"All of the sound on that sequence was created by manipulating ice and other
materials like plexi-glass and then altering the pitch and speed of the recordings
and layering the sound for depth, we did shoot some foley to picture for the smaller
detail. These films come to us in a mute state so all the sound is added in post."
*Aside from our work on Artemis Eternal, of course ;-)
One year ago this Saturday I rallied for Sanity on Halloween. I took some snapshots at the time. I should probably post a photo essay.
Consider this a placeholder!
Hope you like parody signs, crossdressing, tennis and vodka.
Permanent Link | RSS2011 Coming Soons to Be Curious About (Updated/Redux) October 23, 2011
Myth/genre-driven dramas. Links are trailers:
The Tree of Life (Highly recommended. Simply one of the best films produced and distributed in years. Keep in mind that this is an experimental film with narrative elements and not vice versa. See this film in a good theater and give yourself the rare gift of the experience and the opportunity to love or hate it. Seriously it is worth traveling a couple of hours for a showing. Don't read anything about it, check out the trailer and go!)
Sleeping Beauty (Almost a solid literary film. The filmmaker needed to revise small portions of context during the screenplay's body in order to make the last scene fit and achieve her theme, much less give it the intended punch. As is, the film is subtly interesting yet frustrating. Afterward your mind will work to fill in the gaps for what was not adequately presented in hopes of deciphering a coherent intention.)
Melancholia(Highly recommended. As with 'Tree', here is a film that is larger than the rest of this year's offerings. The title coupled with the tagline, "A beautiful movie about the end of the world" is accurate. To contrast the romanticism of the setting and design, the director filmed the majority of the film handheld. So if films with swishy pans make you motion sick, be prepared. I'm sensitive in that regard, and yet I will watch this film again. Sad and lovely with a sense of freedom for some and loss for others, and, as with most films on this list, you do yourself a favor in seeing it at a good cinema. The opening Phantom cam overture is hauntingly awesome.)
Another Earth(Recommended. "Another Earth" means "Another Chance" in this independent drama-romance. The scifi aspect is thematic and poetic, much like in 'Melancholia', instead of a plot-driven. The film is therefore terrestrial. It's a keen fit for a sleepless night and the ending is just right. Although scientifically a stretch, repeating visuals of Earth II in the sky makes the hanging globe a character in itself, and one of the more memorable filmic images of the year.)
The Sleeping Beauty
Plus, a drama with hints of magical reality and a comedy with hints of fantasy:
The Future(A lonely drama with hints of magical reality about borderline dysfunctional adult adolescence and narcissism. Young Adult, also out this year, addresses similar themes. Miranda July is always quirky and it's clear that she's making choices, but in the case of this film, I can't say that I always find those choices to be the best possible or the most persuasive.) Midnight in Paris (Highly recommended. Charming and surprisingly--well, I won't say too much. The trailer is wonderful. It piques interest and is true to the film but gives nothing away. Best trailer I've seen in years. If you read reviews you will be spoilered.)
If a Tree Falls (Recommended. A look at motivation, protest and the relativism of the term "terrorist". Battlestar Galactica raised these ideas via fiction. Here we see them prompted and questioned in real life.)
General Orders No. 9
You'll recall that we are also interested in fresh offerings related to art production and media analysis:
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop(Recommended. A look at Conan's recovery from being shafted by the NBC/corporate media conglom culture. In my own way I can identify with his desire to always be "on" and there for audiences, while at the same time being exhausted, which is a struggle.) Page One(Highly recommended. A focused look at news, the editorial process and original, high-quality creation in the age of digital parasites and aggregators. The information here is both accessible and important. Did you know that production on a Pulitzer-worthy investigative journalism project costs around an estimated 400k? Typically those are the news pieces that save communities and lives, and confront corruption.) Miss Representation
Additional films of any genre which may prove solid enough:
Young Adult(Dark comedy-drama, slightly quirky, depressingly accurate movie about narcissistic adult adolescence. Trailer contains most of the funny parts.) The Artist Shame Martha Marcy May Marlene Pina(Two days before production on a documentary about her work, choreographer Pina Bausch died. Her dancers convinced director Wim Wenders to continue with the film. Was the result the most technical and creative memorial service in existence? I don't know. But it's crafted for film; intimate yet public. Criticism I've read says the uncomfortableness of her work was left out in favor of lighter, dance-driven performances. I'm not familiar enough with her work to confirm, but I did note that the edgy-ness and boundary pushing that typically elevates artists like Bausch was missing. Perhaps this kind of editing is human nature when remembering a loved one. This is an easy first taste of modern dance crossed with physical acting for those unfamiliar, especially as the movie shows short segments of longer performance pieces. 3D was technically fine and subtle, but unnecessary. The trailer is representative of the movie.) The Descendants(Recommended. By now it's old news that this film is solid. It also happens that I liked the film far more than I'd have guessed. Avoid the trailer as it gives away too many of the film's setups.) Drive(Stylish, moody anti-hero drama-actioner. The heist story is nothing new. You'll get no twists or epiphanies, and replacing the already well-liked cast would make the flaws more glaring. There's nothing audacious here. Yet the film craft is keen and cool, and the character study interesting and defendable. Useful recommendation for expanding the tastes of folks who mainly watch garbage studio action and comic-adaptation blockbusters.)
A Separation
Sunlight skims surface mists, grazes endless electric blue swells... calm, moody seas.
Still. No--too still. Too quiet. The surf isn't moving... It's not water, it's...
Our vision tilts, our orientation flips--the sky is carpeted in waves of CLOUDS.
They stop just short of the mountain line, the gap between filled with furious gold light as the sun claws the hills, sinks into the night. The ceiling of clouds recedes up, up, further and further away from our fingertips--WE'RE FALLING...
Through the mist, past the gold cut, crossing the mountain line--THE DARK LANDSCAPE RUSHES UP TO MEET US--
CUT TO:
(one-minute writing exercise first posted to Twitter)
Permanent Link | RSSProtest Chants for Wall Street Bankers October 20, 2011
We're Fannie Mae, we're Freddie... why isn't my limo ready?
Double double Federal trouble regulation caused the housing bubble!
Agency Capture is fair game, just like Rove and Valerie Plame!
Moody’s, Standard & Poors and Fitch, our plot went off without a hitch!
Eliminate all corporate tax, for job providers like Goldmann Sachs!
Hippie, hippie, 1-2-3, if you've never tasted a good chianti while sailing off the coast of St. Tropez, then you can't possibly understand!
Let them eat Nestle cake and other Fortune 500 products.
Annotated below is what I see when met with a promotional image like this, as I frequently am:
click image for a larger version
Superficially this still from the movie, which is being used to market the project, makes sense. ...Until you think about it. Then, no, if you stop to look, this isn't gritty or dark or badass: It's the producers dutifully completing a checklist of cartoonish, cliché choices.
In an essay, Tolkien argued that if a story is great then the audience doesn't have to worry with suspension of disbelief. It is only after the world of "second belief" is violated within the work that the audience has to suspend their disbelief in order not to notice the lack of consistency in the inner reality of the world created.
Even without the clichés, cutting from a grounded exterior, such as a real city street, to a fabricated set interior can quietly jar viewers from that world. Transitions must be accomplished seamlessly inside the established visual design of the film. Then again, perhaps all holes in walls naturally occur perfectly center and comfortably to the proportions of the person fated to step sexily through them.
By the trailer, the entire film is go-to teal and orange, and full of fashionable assassin catsuits, emaciated power-punches and thoughtfully strewn bricks. And yet it is not meant to be campy or a comedy.
Bonus points if you find me a still from a movie with a wall/scene that runs counterexample to this one.
This is a visual tone poem. You may have heard that term recently as some film critics have used it when describing and applauding THE TREE OF LIFE.
There exists quite a lot of cinema that you likely haven't encountered despite that it's wonderful, powerful, interesting and relevant to your interests. Koyaanisqatsi, as you can see, is experimental, which is a broad term that covers a variety of practices that differ from commercial mainstream tactics. Experimental film has always made sense to me. Much of the vocabulary is related to techniques that I've written into a screenplay, learning later from whence they derived. This is because experimental techniques blend well with genre and mytho-poetic writing and have organically found their way into heightened, mainstream works. And if you've viewed Adam Curtis' eerie and poignant news archive films, for an additional, recent example, then you have seen how experimental film makes sense for documentary, too.
In the theater, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that THE TREE OF LIFE is emphatically experimental in an early sequence as well as overall in a more lyrical sense. The lack of typical narrative structure was a turnoff for some viewers. I'm not sure what they expected or why, in some cases, they found the form painfully unrecognizable. The trailer for TREE, with its montage, music, voice over and the bell sound, is exactly representative of the film. I cannot see a studio touting, "An experimental film!" in advertising however: Most people do not know what "experimental" means despite seeing elements that qualify as such so very often, and praising films that use experimental techniques! Without an investment in breaking the terminology into mainstream consciousness, audiences would likely avoid something that sounds pretentious (but actually isn't in itself). To be clear: Striving to do better and to innovate is not pretentious or arrogant, as some movie reviewers have suggested. I tire of anything ambitious and intelligent being penalized. Of course something experimental could also be pretentious, but the former does not imply the latter.
Experimental film is simply transcendent and often weighty. It's also underfunded and usually relegated to short form and documentary, which is one reason why TREE is somewhat of a unique picture. Quite frankly, most of the people making decisions in the studio system are unable to evaluate and envision this level of work while it's in the stages of screenplay and development. They are unqualified.
You enjoy experimental film techniques in narrative filmmaking and other formats more often than you realize, I bet. The thematic title credits for TRUE BLOOD, award-winning music videos and the now-cliché style of perfume commercials (experimental filmmakers - see David Lynch's Obsession campaign - directed the first versions of those ads). Via those ads, perfume companies used experimental film techniques to draft olfactory sensibilities with imagery while also creating an arthouse, prestigious (implying luxury), European-bent for their brands. Soon those commercial styles became a rather pretentious standard, then, a cliché. Countless parodies followed and are still being created (for example, the 'Christ Cologne' parody by Totally Sketch). Recent KY ads use the same idea comically.
To quickly explore experimental phrasing, let's invent an example. In a narrative picture I could:
1. Have character B say to character C (i.e. tell the viewer) that character A is crazy. Then show character A in a straight jacket in a cell or something else recognizable.
2. Show a string of images and scenes (character A is at the beach, later that day, character A tells her psychologist that she hasn't been to the beach in a long time, character A takes all of the stuffing out of her mattress and wraps it as a present, gives it to her neighbor, character A calls her sister the next day crying that someone broke into her house and trashed her mattress) and let you the audience draw the conclusion that character A is crazy.
3. Use experimental techniques and unrelated imagery to take you inside the mind of character A, to convey what she is seeing, which may be different from reality, as well as how she is experiencing the world and feeling. Remember that creepy video from THE RING?
Now imagine the techniques employed in that creepy RING video used with more depth toward exploration of a film's premise. I.e. showing seemingly unrelated footage to address a question like, "Can love conquer death?" or (more related to our example) "Are the seemingly insane actually in better touch with reality?". Together those seemingly unrelated images prove related in revealing an argument. That is the level of depth and poetry TREE OF LIFE is playing at.
Each step listed above increasingly improves a picture (and usually adds more to the budget). #1 by itself is as a rule weaker and what you'll find in more stilted, heavy-handed mainstream faire. I don't mean to say that dialogue isn't high-brow: Play-like movies make this work by nature of committing to their format. There are ways in talky pictures to say what you mean without ever having a character actually say it: Great dialogue writing against context achieves as much.
#3 by itself could be too disjointed and incoherent, especially in a long form film. On the other hand, used wisely, disjointed and incoherent frenetic cutting could work perfectly in our example. Choices and exceptions of course hinge on what the story needs and what the filmmaker desires to convey. Most great films general audiences are familiar with blend these levels in skilled form. Darren Aronofsky's first three films come to mind. Aesthetics vary. For a music parallel, #2 leaning on #3 is like a Pink Floyd album. #1 alone is like listening to a Ke$ha single.
Experimental films are dependent on execution (it's often said that most great cinema is) vs. something like THE SMURFS movie which is dependent on leveraging existing awareness, manipulating nostalgia and a hyper-expensive un-ignorable marketing campaign. The studio system trains their executives to function only in the SMURFS model, which they invented. See how that goes? Their model is #1 in the basest, easiest form, as is most television.
Prestigious narrative film that proves popular, at its very, very best, often contains the techniques relevant to #3 in smaller doses or certain sequences. Can you think of examples?
As to techniques, some of the visual effect options you find in your iMovie suite have roots in experimental film, whose avant-garde artists first developed those techniques by experimenting with their physical film stock. Truly, experimental film's influence is all around you!
Sure, pure experimental cinema is a more extreme endeavor compared to that of narrative. Some attempts push filmcraft into new realms while others are out there and don't thread. The purpose of an experiment is discovery and, despite best practices, trying something new can lead to failure. In practice experimental film can be like modern dance in that, when it's bad, it's really terrible, boring and inaccessible. But when it's good, it's soul blowing and fascinating, and provides the opportunity for what is always, as a writer and viewer of film, my top priority in audience experience: EPIPHANY. Meanwhile, using experimental elements adds a level of depth, psychology and philosophy to a narrative picture that is otherwise difficult to achieve.
Do not fear the frontiers, dear viewer. You already know and love experimental film in blended forms. Give yourself this weird opportunity: Try upping your dosage and expanding your mind with a long-form film that's more experimental than narrative.
Somewhere between city and wilderness lay the suburbs: a strip-malled artists' purgatory bland with the matching-everything style of enforced mediocrity.
SELECT NOTES FROM A NEWS REPORTER ASSIGNED TO COVER COMIC-CON FOR A DAY DESPITE THAT HE COULD GIVE A F--- ABOUT GENRE FICTION
Awaiting my press pass at the sign-in area. Already have noted numerous clowns in purple suits with distorted face makeup. Did their red smiles melt to frowns in the summer heat? Something to do with Slipknot?
Teens wearing school uniforms with burgundy and gold lion insignia. Uniform tops consist of wool sweaters: too hot for San Diego. Field trip from out of town? English accents indicate yes. The Gandalf shepherding them along offered me a jelly bean. Bizarre. Did not eat as was gray. In my day we went to museums.
On the exhibition floor. Loud. What is a "Sideshow Collectible"? Imagining the bearded lady and conjoined twins from a circus freak show. Almost excited.
Alas, no fire-breathing performers or human giants. Instead, expensive plastic sculptures of elves in glass cases with crowds observing them. They don't even move.
A person just walked by on stilts. For no reason.
Witnessed a Costume Play, or "CosPlay", Ball. Involved a parade and competition of homemade costumes. At least fifty more disturbing clowns. Best costume however went to a young man dressed as Han Solo toting a model of the disc-shaped Starship Firefly.
A man from a magazine was given a microphone to read sentences like this aloud, "Chris Hemsworth plays the huntsman who has been training the young Snow White in the art of war." Worse, a crowd of people applauded.
Apparently they don't allow alcohol here.
Another clown. Shock bands have too much influence over today's youth.
Press tent. A fellow press member asked me if I liked the song, 'Ice and Fire'. Having not yet heard said song, I politely asked the singer's name. The stunned silence that followed recalled the time I asked my niece who Jason JaRuleo is. Probably a pop song. Nothing to do with Robert Frost? Oh I'm so surprised! Read a book. Idiots.
Still in press tent. If I collected little plastic dolls in the image of politicians, I would be declared unfit to report on the Washington beat. You have an action figure of Scarlett Johansson? No problem, here's an interview.
Considering assignment headline, "Entertainment reporters: less mature than tweens? You decide!"
I should be covering the debt ceiling.
Searched the program guide, but no mention of a Slipknot appearance and yet, more melted clowns in purple suits and green, stringy hair. Perhaps the appearance is off-site? Are clowns "plants", i.e. promotional? Inquired about such. Young woman nearby in motley catsuit scowled and jingled at me. Slipknot fans are everywhere, scary.
I still don't know the answer to the question of where blogs (I refuse to say "content", which is a marketing term) should live nowadays. My work lives here on an independent platform which I own and publish. I don't post blogs in their entirety on social networking sites because I don't enjoy doing so. I'm not sure that there's any benefit involved to counter that lack of enjoyment. Per my comment/blog, it's sometimes frustrating to balance creative independence with going where the people are and a desire for wider discussion and discovery.
You know a dramatic television show has exceeded its shelf life when the characters have all dated one another. With True Blood, it's rape. Everyone has been casually raped. Now what? ...Episodes featuring plot inertia, uninteresting panthers and Sam's annoying brother. Oh and more rape.
Speaking of rape, does every neighborhood have a busybody who comes calling to tell you when a sexual predator is renting a room down the street? Now I don't have to trouble myself to type the street name and zip into one of those crime map websites. Have been thinking about the film Little Children all day. Thanks for that.
Speaking of plot inertia, and rape, I finished A Dance With Dragons.
My schedule says I'm supposed to be typing website redesign direction but instead I posted this.
I've also been writing on a new screenplay, which I will not be adding more rape to. Sorry.
Do you have an e-Book reader? Which model do you use? Are there limitations that bother you?
It's writer JSto who asks. Theoretically, if I were to publish something solely electronically, would you be cut off from the work? Or is this how you're already reading books?
"In a culture increasingly defined by...the “constant demands to collect (friends and status), and perform (by marketing ourselves),” just being a United States congressman isn’t enough."
Certainly this thought rings hyper-true for artists in the online space, especially performance artists such as actors.
Twitter seemed to live in a minimalistic tier somewhat above the LOOK AT MEEE! struggle for attention at first, and was more focused on writing than profile-oriented and video sites, so it is the one social media platform I have used (usually with amusement). Despite my curated and culled feeds however, for a long while now Twitter has increasingly felt a part of that numb "hall of mirrors" the writer concludes with.
"Particularly celebrities who seem to be showing off by talking to each other in public. If I want to tell a friend, famous or otherwise what I had to eat this morning, I'll text them."
On a daily basis I know I'm judged by how many followers I have and how much traffic I can move. I have followed referral links to our projects to find strangers evaluating our work based on such items. None of this behavior has anything to do with quality, and is why I very rarely look at website statistics! :-D
It's hot, Jungle Hot, despite a pair of violent afternoon thunderstorms accompanied by a brief torrential downpour. And of course it's humid, of course, despite it being 9PM. That southern air. Those lightning bugs. Teenagers congregate everywhere. Around cars in the coffee house parking lot, atop platforms of playgrounds. Walking the suburbs, sitting on curbs, talking about pools and jobs and boys and girls and anything but school next year hey man it's still only June don't speak to me of any Septembers. The town's closing. 10PM. But where to take the rebellion? There's nowhere to go but Out. There's nowhere to get but Free. Pavement steams, broken by scattered trees. Oh what did you do before you could afford a nice dinner? Oh what did you do before you had your own place? It's gorgeous, so they walk. And the night symphony sings.
We used to be like that, a few years back. Before we locked ourselves up in air-conditioned boxes, alone, to text-strategize about when is comfortable to meet up with friends who dwell under a mere handful of miles away. Maybe three weeks from now, are you available then?
We roved.
...stumbling in giggling clumps through the woods by the light of cell phones, crafting inside jokes and dynamics and mini-rebellions that would inspire a dozen indie films, should any writer get wind of What Happened in Virginia. We turned parking lots into dance floors and papered houses into two-ply art installations. We quested for cases and six packs and pints and conjured bonfires from the rotting wood of abandoned houses. We spent four hours throwing pieces of brittle shingles at a rusty paint can just to see who was best.
And there was no one to call or text or Facebook because, in June, by 10PM, the whole world was right there.
In prelude to the ARTEMIS ETERNAL redesign picking up speed, this is a brief shout out to our digital team: Greg Martin and Iain Edminster. We've a new collaborator, too, named Isaac, whose work will get a Wingman pumped!
Yeaaaah boy, this is what a first mockup of a website looks like. Impressed?
In many ways, re-launching our web experience, which has evolved into something rather deep, is more work than making the actual film. It involves storyboarding, wireframing, design, original asset creation... . I do plan to publish more about our approach to web production. Sometimes I overlook how much knowledge we have that we haven't yet shared.
As the digital team is the backbone of ARTEMIS ETERNAL, I wanted to take an entry-moment to recognize them, especially since we are currently spread out across the US and working remote. Production could not advance without them, and Greg has contributed significantly to the art department of the film as well, which you'll eventually see although you probably won't notice immediately as production design is seamless like that. Over the years he and I have become fantastic collaborators. I don't want to imagine my creative life without his involvement. Greg is a huge hero of this project.
In addition to his precision coding, Iain has won my deep affection for how patient he is in building publishing tools that suit my needs and always furthering my understanding of programming (i.e. addressing all my nitpicking concerns). We are so lucky to have these two. Our digital team is boss. They shoulder large creative parts of the project and execute their moves in ways that constantly surprise and impress me. On the web, together, we can make anything. And that is WOW.
Well, have a nap. THEN FIRE ZE MOCKUPS!
You, dear Wingman, have built this with us. But you and I would never have met without Greg and Iain (as well as previous JSDC Webmaster The Gunn) there to craft our connection.
Once, we simply had a project page. Now? We have a deep, multi-faceted, substantial, high-quality, increasingly successful production center and dream project that involves thousands of people!
If I had the Photoshop skill, I'd create an image of a tankard of ale that bears the Wingman symbol. See how much we need Greg? And I wouldn't be writing here without Iain. You'll just have to imagine the tankard in your mind--raise 'em up--
In context of moving beyond what teen and young adult girls are marketed, and discovering depth...
Eight semi-recent films for young ladies:
The Virgin Suicides
An Education
Whale Rider
Winter's Bone
Amelie
Pride & Prejudice
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Rachel Getting Married
Spirited Away
Estimate the production costs for each of these wonderful, well-made movies and combine them: The total is far less than the cost of just one Transformers or Sex and the City flick. :-D
Enjoy!
Update: Whew!--this entry is receiving a lot of hits. Welcome to new folks as well as previous lurkers. Always a pleasure. Visit us at our production center sometime soon, too!
Update #2: For those writing me to say they've seen all of the above, three more titles: Maria Full of Grace, I Capture the Castle and Bend it Like Beckham. If you liked Spirited Away, look into director Hayao Miyazaki's other wonders, such as Ponyo and Howl's Moving Castle.
*Promotional film stills are copyright their respective production companies
Comments (5)(Last Comment: 5/25/11 8:39 PM) | Permanent Link | RSSProtect Your Eyes From Harmful Red Cards May 18, 2011
Jessica: ...you know how players get when the ref is bad. Understandably.
Kid: Oh yeah I do, I get so mad when the ref is bad. That's why my mom got me transition lenses--So no one can see my emotions!
I just had a smash of a time judging a film festival. I'll share more about the experience soon. In the meantime, below is a radio spot about my role and how it relates to our work here.
I chatted with Wingman Dave recently and he reiterated a question that I'm receiving quite a lot lately.
If you are an official Artemis Eternal Wingman, naturally you want to help the project as much as possible. That is the spirit of Wingman. So the question you're asking is, "What else can I do?"
If I could get all of you in one room to get organized, then we'd make huge leaps forward (and would have a crazy fun time doing so!). We're worldwide, however. Still loads of fun, and yet organizing solely online is extremely challenging despite what web revolution mythology tells us.
If you are a Wingman, here is all I need you to do:
Find one more Wingman.
There are about 300 of your now. 300+300 = 600. When those 300 find another Wingman, that's 900. Easy.
Artemis Eternal is not a hard sell. Or rather I refuse to do a hard sell. People have begged me to, but being pushy is not what we're about. This project is geared for a certain type of premium audience member. Thus, a person does not become a Wingman.
A person is already a Wingman. They simply need to know the project exists, check it out and make it official, then together we create a world and a movie that takes place inside it, while positively influencing the professional industry our work touches.
So if you are a Wingman but haven't made it official, then make it official.
If you are an official Wingman, then find one more Wingman.
That's it.
Rock your shirt, talk about the project both in real life and online, share your passion, link it, like it...
Meanwhile my job is to communicate the project as awesomely as possible via ArtemisEternal.com and so on. The forthcoming relaunch will prove yet another milestone in how we continue to advance and up our game.
The beginning of art collaboration is always bare and basic, especially in a new collaboration. Here we go with early Artemis Eternal sketches from our artist Christopher Shy. These are all development on solely one piece of art.
Firming up a concept via pencil sketch allows for us to ensure we're on the same page before we advance into detail. The point is to avoid wasting time backtracking on a work that has already seen days of painting. If you're a director, this behavior will save you money and make it easier for top-tier artists to work with you. It will also keep your talent from hating you and making infographics about how much you suck at feedback and workflow. Designers will especially thank you for this.
I'm not sure what you see when you look at these lines. For my part, I can imagine the final and potential for the emotion each might bring and how it plays into the context of the film's story and aspects that will aid me in developing the production aesthetic, as well as conveying more of the story to you at this stage. Depending on how visual and imaginative you are or experienced with development, you might begin to get some emotion from basic sketches. Of course they might look like extremely early work to you and very bare, which they are: One reason why sketches aren't usually aired and especially not out of context of a finished work. Of course we're making an exception here. No benefit of hindsight for you this time!
The last sketch probably evokes something familiar to you, likely because it's contextual to your previous experience with genre art and film advertising in that it recalls "montage" comic and anime covers.
We scrapped all of these.
Also discarded are the ones not pictured. None of this is a waste, however: the feedback about what was working and what was not moves us forward. Chris began to splash color into his next round of sketches while exploring a new take on blocking and composition. The following are still very early sketches, but more advanced in developing palette and a sense of mood.
We scrapped all of these.
Also discarded are the ones not pictured. None of this is a waste, however: the feedback about what was working and what was not moves us forward. We're working on the final piece now.
Each stop on the Artemis Eternal production map is unbelievably complex. Sometimes noticeably so due to the work involved (often times involving new experiences). Sometimes, however, the complexity is not noticeable because it's workflow I've done for years and I don't comment on what comes second nature. Most of my work within the art department falls under the automatic category. However, for those who will benefit from detail, here is the workflow on concept art:
- luck out at SDCC and bump into an artist whose work seems ideal (saved time on research)
- meet-and-greet with Chris, discover it's a fit
- estimate costs for art
- further budget research
- create budget
- pre-order style fundraising - fundraising met (Wingmen Francis, Ben, Sean, M.Sto!)
- materials sent to Chris (reference images, relevant scripting, short description of what I'm looking for in the piece, relevant notes from the Bible of the world)
- series of pencil sketches delivered
- feedback and discussion, Chris has a feeling about a different take
- series of color sketches delivered
- feedback and discussion, brainstorming, Chris suggests a different composition, I fill in the idea with details from the world
- color sketch
- approval to move forward on new direction: we both like it
- more defined color painting on final piece
- feedback
- more-defined color painting of final piece
- more-detailed feedback
…And so on until all notes have been addressed and the final piece is finished and delivered. This is essentially how concepting and building costume, props, set design, web design etc. flows, with different nuances depending on the leg of the project.
Greg and I usually work a little faster since we've been collaborating for a while now.
Paced and incremental success is something I embraced years ago: As opposed to the instant gratification of the Internet and blogging, deeper, long-form storytelling and specifically filmmaking in general is a long endeavor. Pace works for us because we don't have a steady staff and overhead bureaucracy budget (thus I do more myself and delegate less throughout dev and preparation). Incremental successes allow for us to grow steadily and for me to get to know you, the core community, in a manageable and meaningful way. I also have more time to familiarize production talent with Artemis, which is useful in recruiting on a project that isn't the biggest payday in town.
For ambitious, youthful filmmakers working at visual, genre narrative without corporate backing: Make peace with pace. Although, I'm certainly happy as the pace quickens. Production will zoom by once it arrives. Plan well.
All of the limited t-shirts have been shipped to you!
I have a few left.
Styles/Colors/Sizes available:
Mens'/Unisex Heather Black Large Mens'/Unisex Black Aqua xtra small
Mens'/Unisex Asphalt small
Mens'/Unisex Heather Black small
Mens'/Unisex Black Aqua small
Womens' Asphalt small Womens' Heather Black small (crossed out shirts are no longer available)
Prices:
$25 flat for US domestic (includes shipping)
$30 flat for International (includes shipping)
E-mail me if you want to snap one up and I'll send you a special order link.
So far working with Skreened has been terrific and they enable us to offer more designs. Plus, you can customize your shirt style!
Digital shirts have a different feel: It's like the ink is a part of the shirt. These are printed ethically (labor regulated). The price is higher due to print-on-demand. On the other hand, you have loads more flexibility in styles, fabric and color for each design. We'll keep the store up and will periodically add new designs (feel free to request a variation) and retire old ones. So if you need a rad tee, or sweatshirt, then you know where to go. It will be easy to find once we launch the new site as well.
I'm not big on product licensing, but coming from a sports background I've always had a soft spot for teamwork and t-shirts and additionally enough Wingmen were asking for new shirts that I decided to give this a fair share of attention. Pro tip: @skreened on Twitter sometimes tweets discount codes.
Working with Skreened means that they handle everything. This means they take most of the cut, but I don't mind that one bit since the way they do business is like-minded and partnering with them leaves me free to focus on the film.
Wingman Sean rocks his B&W shirt
Have fun, create some shirts and definitely send me more photos so that I can make a gallery!
"... a stake in the heart of independent content production is now very real."
I'm an independent director, the youngest veteran of the AOLTW acquisition fallout and constantly involved in innovating the film and media landscape. Comcast has now acquired NBCUniversal. Commissioner Copps' dissenting statement [PDF] describes the landscape accurately. Just so you know what we're up against.
Not that filmmaking should be a win/lose game. Or a competition.
Distribution control is the real concern here. We've known that. But conditions just got worse and I expect them to continue to deteriorate.
Beginning with Artemis Eternal, the point of our productions is and will continue to be to independently tell great film stories.
Actively disrupting concentrated influence by executing on a counter example? That's nothing but gravy.
Thank you, Gordon Cox, for researching and writing about this topic. It's interesting to see where other people's heads are at in terms of the technique. I have to admit that I've never loved the buzzword "crowdfunding" (originally coined by Wired). What we're doing is continuously architected to be much greater than that. In due time, of course.
If you get a sense that this idea is viewed as rather playschool by the industry, then you're correct. It is not a progressive business and most filmmakers don't have the experience to do something like this at a caliber and strategic level.
There's a mention of success meaning "funded" in terms of using third-party sites. I don't consider "funded" to mean success in filmmaking. Whether it's extremely low 10k amounts quick-and-blind funded online or multimillion-dollar Hollywood threequels funded by hedge funds, we know cash isn't a useful metric of story quality or community advancement. It's not meaningful.
That being said, when I spoke to the reporter, we were both aware of only one other crowd-funded film that has raised as much or more than ours. I was not surprised to learn that the other has a religious bent as a call to action.
In the meantime, this article is a good overview of the landscape, which seems to have been hijacked by a small group of third-party sites that did not exist when we started. I continue to urge filmmakers to think long term and cultivate their own independent web presence and community instead of building up template gatekeepers who reserve a fee without adding anything unique or long-lasting to your equation or our eco-system. There is no shortcut to building a career and a defining production company and there is nothing vanguard or artistic about training audiences to rely on another middle-man.
I say that with great passion and affection because, beyond making great films, the proof of concept we're contributing will end with great value and be useful to others. In due time, of course. So we're committed to the toil and effort with alacrity as we face and solve the same challenges.
Finally, whenever I speak to other filmmakers or to press, I'm proud of Wingmen: you are savvy, great partners in both adventure and movie-making. If I were another filmmaker who was trying to fund a film in a similar way, I'd be talking to you first vs. general audiences. You're just that good, and discerning, and that is meaningful.
1/9 Update: After a few confused letters and comments from you about the usage of the term "legit" in the article, allow me to explain that as an industry trade this publication uses slang and jargon. Legit is actually a term used (mostly in NYC) to describe theater! So no, via use of the word legit Variety was not making a comment on the professionalism of any of the film projects listed. From their site:
"legit -- legitimate (live) theater. The term seeks to differentiate serious theater (think Shakespeare, think O'Neill) from vaudeville or burlesque; 'Choreographer Michael Kidd distinguished himself in legit before working in pictures.'"
In related news, my personal favorite theater slang continues to be "corpsing".
This is a cellphone photo (a scanner wasn't handy) of what I sent to Greg to start the ball rolling.
I am not known for my drawing ability, so I also included a digital folder of medical symbol reference material and images of curled up 35mm film stock. Assuming he doesn't think the idea sucks, once Greg understands the concept, he takes everything I've sent along and begins to bring it to life better than I imagined. Then we go back and forth on the phone and online choosing the best models and making changes. Finally, he sends me the deliverables, puts up a "do not disturb" and plays some well-earned Halo while I write you a blog.
Nothing we do is simple, but compared to much of our work this is a simplified example, and yet you can see how drastic the change is from initial concept to completed design!
ain't no map but a man's mind, gal
I might be able to see it on satellite or GPS...
he growls
rocks back and forth twice before answering
just enough to make me wonder
just enough to let me know
technology is no substitute for experience
I've been up to sky level before
not this place, he says, standing
but aren't the best outlooks already setup
for tourists and such?
no
oh
they aren't on the line, they don't set em up
too expensive
tourists are too lazy to go off the line
he taps the napkin map
places it on the counter between us
and writes "entry"
you ever seen some powerful lights
go marching down the valley?
I'm not sure what you mean
you get up at mountain on the last day of fall
right as them leaves bout to jump off them trees
last day of fall before the freeze
don't be late, it turns on a dime
ya can watch em march from that horizon
all the way down to you toes
right out of the sky they come
washin right over you
then they vanish
they put on a show
the sky flashes
swear them clouds move faster
ya'll see it's all a'changed like at
he snaps
then points to a purple cushion
ya like pink?
I like pink
might even be some pink
then black, black everywhere
they put on a show
then them lights go out like poof
mighty powerful
then they come back on
and everything looks damn normal
like it never happened
regular ol end of day sunlight
end of at day'll catch ya off guard
it just goes black after that
black... dark?
he nods
this valley has its own religion
this ain't coal country
they ain't slayed our mountains yet
a man can feel free up ere
even if he never does witness the march
but if he does...
I consider the pencil scrawls
against what land I already know
that doesn't seem so hard, is it that the hike's hard to find?
it ain't so hard, gal
now that I told ya
but then ya gatta come back down that mountain
...and it will be darkening, I realize aloud
he refills his pipe
at's only if ya find your way
on the right day
he slides the napkin across to me
finally giving it over
and don't go tellin no outsiders about the march
don't tell em how to get up ere
they don't respect places we already let em at
I scoop up the rough drawing he made
on a thin napkin
with a gnarled pencil
sharpened with a knife
I'll find it
take some kin with ya
case else ya don't come back
and go see the clog dancers on your way out
Comments (5)(Last Comment: 11/20/10 4:48 PM) | Permanent Link | RSSMocking Mockingjay Book is Mocking August 26, 2010
WARNING The Hunger Games SPOILERS ahead.
And now, a short review of Mockingjay.
This book, the third in the series of Hunger Games is depressing and brutal, as it should be. But not in the good, cathartic, profound way that the first book touched upon. Character development is sadly lacking. Things happen to the protagonist, but she doesn't actually do much.
In one scene, the author has to have supporting characters remind me of why I liked the protagonist in the first book. Seriously, they sit around a table brainstorming on the matter in attempts to remember why they, and I, should care. For a recent popular comparison, JK Rowling manages Harry so beautifully through six books that it's hard to watch this author grope to make something of Katniss as she drowns in the blockbuster plot. The first book is enjoyable, but the second and third were too quickly and assembly-line made and are not up to snuff.
To examine the story in a larger sense, the author has optioned the books to Hollywood. Thus, in years to come, we can look forward to a manicured, underage actress propped prettily in a director's chair as phony reporters from meaningless tabloid outlets lob her questions and she promotes exactly what the first book so excellently and intensely detests.
This is incredible given that the final book takes the time to spell out the idea of "bread and circuses" for the reader.
Here come the "Team Gale!" t-shirts and fast food ads. Delivered straight from Districts 8 & 11. Viva la Capitol.
In line with Artemis Eternal, I authored a guest article for Nonpretentious.com about modern trends in movie scoring. In the version they published this morning, they included an introduction to the article which takes a look at Artemis, too. Read, watch and listen...
. . .
The subject I receive the most mail about—not solely from the population involved with the project, but from civilians, too—is my plans for the scoring of Artemis Eternal. A selection from the latest letter, for example:
“So many scores are awful or by one of the same three composers and they all sound the same. I don’t know what your plans are, but music is an integral part of film so I hope you’ll take it seriously.”
Seriously, serious fans are serious. And, greatly concerned! While it’s amusing that they’d tell me something that every professional filmmaker ought to know (and act upon), they’re absolutely right about the importance of music in a motion picture and the fact that studio scoring is often predictable while independent film scoring is sometimes sub par.
Thus, in harmony with those interests and concerns, I thought it wise to create a mix tape themed around the techniques found in modern film scoring and soundtrack.
The majority of these songs were on the playlist that I listened to while writing the screenplay for The Silver Legacy (the exceptions being those that were not yet released at the time of writing), as well as Artemis Eternal. Other compositions are points of study and frustration, or curiosities in cinematic trending that attracted my attention. Headphones on, if you please, and off we go!
45 minutes away from where I currently lay my head each night I found a scene between two brothers that invoked something out of a magical reality/fantasy movie the likes of THE GOONIES or ET.
Imagine the younger is Walter, shrugging his shoulders under the weight of his over-sized backpack as Kevin, the older, tells him exactly what he thinks about... Pirate maps? Having an extraterrestrial in his room? What do you think they're saying? What's the plot, and what does this scene mean dramatically?
If this were my screenplay, it's likely the red tree would mean something. In general the color red probably would be a theme. Take a closer look at the set for this shot, which is in front of their house. I don't need to tell you the costly lengths normally gone to in order to contrive such a composition as you understand already via following ARTEMIS and probably through production notes on other films. See the fall color palette, the prominent red tree, the red wardrobe of the kids and how they are given equal weight in leading colors, the way the mountain fills the frame and how it works with the incline of the walk, what the picket fence adds as information to the scene, how the brother making his point is positioned higher (dominant) on the threshold of the walk and what the space between our two "actors" says... . The only way it could have been better as created naturally is if Kevin were lit a little stronger in order to bring him out from tree more and at the same time to bring the green tree out from the b.g. of the mountain and add more depth. And if I had caught Kevin with his arms fully extended in the height of his shout(!)ing down at Walter.
If I had had an SLR on me, I might have been quick enough to get basic coverage on the scene (close ups, et al). And of course if I had been shooting film the shadows would have looked nicer. I'm wary of photographing other people, especially kids, however. I'm sure parents don't find it normal for people to enthusiastically photograph their kids on the side of the road. Couldn't let this one go, though.
Take a look again and realize why I've planned to shoot ARTEMIS ETERNAL not in Los Angeles, but in much more vibrant place. A place where even the front yards are more lively and epic.
Nomadicus Jessicus: This is dog Latin for “I just put all my LA possessions in storage.”
Let’s do that obnoxious thing that audiences tolerate wherein I show you the present, and now we go back in time to show you how we got here. Subtitle: “Thirty days earlier.”
I know, I know usually it is “one day ago” or whatever but come on I am not practiced in this type of playschool script trick.
Seeking five individuals to represent role of Artemis Eternal WINGMAN. Epic imagination, loves sci-fi, fantasy and genre art/film. Is prepared to be so famous on a billboard and the Internets. Savvy. Fun on set. Team player. Non-wimp.
Crimson Level Extremely limited: Only 5 Wingman slots available. First come, first serve. (If you are new to the project, then you can become a Wingman via this tier.)
Contribution price: $6,000.00 USD
Example: Multi-character, genre billboard Hogwarts-style, foreign
You will receive:
- Crimson Aurum Wingman status on the Artemis Eternal site (Aurum on the site with link, name in online credits, insider e-mails and credit in the Artemis Eternal film).
- A role in the Wingman cast of 5, meaning we will design character, wardrobe, makeup et al around you as you become part of the final composited Wingman art and story.
- A fully produced still-photography shoot (the cast will be shooting together all in one day in a Los Angeles studio) staffed by professional artists and crew.
- A high-res version of your fully produced Wingman character art/final image (solo - just you) for personal use
- You will appear in the final composited artwork, which will be featured on an ARTEIMS ETERNAL billboard in Los Angeles, CA for at least one month. You will also receive a high-res version of this image for personal use.
Please make a reservation by inquiring via direct e-mail. Serious inquiries only. Once I have five people, we will book out with you with at least one month's lead-time. I will work to accommodate as best I can. More details:
Outdoor advert: Death Eaters on the London tube
Casting Requirements You do not need to be a model, weigh 105 pounds or look like anything cliché to Hollywood. REALLY. You will essentially be a character doing the job of a character actor and we will design around what is unique to your personality and look. It is fine if you have zero camera experience and it is just fine if you are shy. This is still photography so obviously you don't have to worry about speaking. The shoot will be a "safe space" and we will have a blast. All I require is that you are flexible and trust me. I'll have an amazing team around us, so that's all I need from you in order to create something epic and amazing around YOU.
The concept will be based on looking urgent, badass and wielding an Aurum in some way.
You may be required to interact with a horse or sit on top of horse under the supervision of a professional wrangler in a controlled setting. You do not need to have any experience in this regard. There will be a wind machine and the environment, while cheerful, will be fast-paced. Any unique requirements such as these will be on the waiver prior to payment. Lunch will be provided. If for any reason you are unable to perform something required for the artwork, then this opportunity will not be an option for you. If you're unsure, then please inquire as I don't want anyone to miss an opportunity and of course we'll do what makes sense to incorporate who you are into the character and composite of the piece if at all possible. We reserve the right to refuse this opportunity to anyone.
Emo
Slightly less emo (but still ridiculous)
Single character
Get Ye to LA! You will be responsible for getting to the shoot in Los Angeles. The price does not include your airfare, room, board or personal expenses. The shoot will be on a weekend, we will confirm the date with you prior to your sending a check. Please keep in mind that you will need to arrive a full day before the shoot and will not be able to leave until the day after as it will be a full day with possible extension.
Billboards, Art & You Celebrated Artemis artist Greg Martin will be handling the post production on the images as well as collaborating with me to design your character and the artwork prior to the shoot. Artemis lead Todd Soley and I will appear on the billboard with you and four other Wingmen. The full art will be composited, meaning we will shoot you one at a time against a green screen, then do post production on your image, composite you into the final shot against a matte painting-style background. You may bask in the glory of Greg’s work here, here, here and here.
Completely CGI, but FF does a better job than most
LOTR-style
I will use the images to promote the ARTEMIS ETERNAL project, production company and The WINGMEN community. Obviously your image will be used for the billboard and online art, and otherwise as the project enables. I will have a waiver for you to sign prior to payment.
Billboards are a major part of the culture in Los Angeles, and are mostly centered on movies and entertainment.
For example, when HP6 came out, the city was plastered. The advert on the left is probably the best of what I've embedded.
Examples of multi-character genre billboards are embedded in this entry above. I welcome comments to some of your favorites.
The idea is more epic in scale vs. something simpler we've done in the past such as this photo of me (seen here and here.)
Greg and I have a certain philosophy and aesthetic that is echoed by the entire crew. Many of the billboard examples I included above contain poor technique such as badly photoshopped hair for windy effect, uneven lighting or scaling: essentially these images have continuity errors. We will be working to avoid production errors and the cutting of corners that studios commit when they mass advertise. Most genre billboards are too emo and fakey for my taste: Not to mention over-produced and we won't be participating in any of that head tilted-down-hero-look-to-camera cliche. What I like about the Ginny/Ron HP6 advert (the one where they're on brooms) as opposed to the others is that it reads closer to an organic moment from a scene.
The Meaning of 6k After I have five cleared reservations, I will get in touch with waivers and more booking information, and then you will send a check or money order. If a bank transfer is required, fees will be your responsibility. You will be required to have a professional tailor take your measurements (USA measurements) and I will need you to send them to me for the costume designer.
The majority of your money will be put toward the production and distribution of these images and artwork, which is comprehensive, technical, original, highly-professional and, therefore, pricey. The value and return on investment here is higher than I've demonstrated so far: The artisans involved are professionals who work with me on a rolling basis and therefore the deals involved are incredible as we have a business-history together and I bring them ongoing work. Staging something like this for yourself independently would make the cost far higher, if you could book these levels of artists in the first place. This is a once in a lifetime sci-fantasy experience that we're very excited to be offering! Together we will be further crafting The WINGMEN story and character, and challenging the status quo of the Hollywood narrative.
Profit will be put toward Artemis Eternal concept art and pre-visualization materials we have planned alongside the new website redesign, making you a hero in terms of moving our cast, crew and community one step closer to production and helping create more art and put more talented artists and technicians to work in the name of telling great stories.
Please help this information reach the ideal Wingmen by Retweeting, blogging and sharing. I appreciate your assistance in circulating this opportunity throughout our genre communities.
Taking Woodstock premiere. You know I love '60s music and movement. And Ang Lee's work. Thus was delighted to be invited (and to support Ang Lee's head via forced perspective).
At the party I unexpectedly had the opportunity to talk with Catherine Hardwicke about this article, which you may recall I get asked sometimes during interviews. Example. (Often the question doesn't make the final cut, but I am frequently asked about the lack of female directors issue. Usually this article is cited. Sometimes I cite it myself.) CH is smart and youthful. You know I have no interest in Twilight. More so, in the moment (and now that I've met her), I was/am interested in her as she's quite... well there's only one word for it: Cool.
As context I should disclose that I have only met two female directors in all of my time working in the industry (having talked to dozens and dozens of well-established film directors). The other female director was completely rom-com uninteresting. Glad it came to pass that CH & I were both in the same place at the same time. Wish I could sit down and talk with her further, really. There are next to no working female directors around, much less interesting ones. Maybe three or four. Catherine directed Thirteen & Dogtown, and managed to land a major fantasy film with a useful budget. I dug her fashion tonight and how fit she is, too. Just really impressed, actually: And you know how difficult it is to impress me. If it were permissible in life to do honest things like call someone up and say, "Hey let's go on a director's date and talk about how fucked this industry is and how the hell you managed to pull off having a career in the land of boys clubs and Michael Bay," well, I'd call her. Again you know I don't say shit like that lightly and that that particular statement happens to be very unexpected in this case.
Briefly spoke with Ang Lee early on, who made one of my favorite films (Crouching Tiger) not to mention other obviously great and celebrated films: Brokeback comes to mind. He's adorable. Directors' intros can get old when you do the screening thing regularly, but his introduction to the film was genuine. He cheerfully mentioned his approach to Ice Storm as being "a hangover from the '60s" and shared a story about desiring to depart from his habit of directing tragedies. When you see him, you get the urge to hug him, however his formidable talent gives you cause to restrain yourself and simply enjoy the happiness of his sphere.
Also met new Focus guys and girls, who miraculously managed to be rad despite pulling a 14-hour day with the event. Focus is a picky production company, which is commendable. They remind me of Searchlight in that they always at least try to create something great and high-minded. They often succeed. Also met Richard Kidd, an EFX supervisor who, like Catherine, I could have easily talked to for ages if the party weren't wrapping up. His production-teamwork mentality is kindred to ours. Look up his credits, and you'll see how welcome that perspective is given the level at which he operates. So came and went tonight: Another fun experience in hanging with our pal Francis, talking about serious hats, watching ArcLight movies and chilling at Boho. The Paparazzi chased someone down outside (this is disconcerting to witness) but otherwise the evening was spirited and flawless. All of this occurred two miles from my house. Most of the time LA is terrible, but sometimes it is extraordinarily kind. And so it is, my friends, that time now flies.
Wingman Sean rocks his B&W shirt
