I’ve moved

Well, I’ve gone and done it.  Follow me to http://www.coylothrop.com/

!!!

I’m not a quiter.

Second Draft

I guess I need to get better about posting. 

Writing:
I’m hot and heavy into the second draft of The Wendigo.  A new Opening and a Main Character switcharoo, I’m digging the rewrite so far.

I’m overhauling some dialog and adding some new short scenes that should help make the characters more endearing.  When watching Jaws, a classic monster movie, it’s the character development that really sales the movie. So, I’m trying to highlight  the characters more.

Reading:
As for reading, I’ve had my nose in some Lovecraft and Poe short stories this week.

Watching:

• Sunshine   -  This movie totally rocked.  Incredibly original sci-fi flick that hooks you early and takes you for a fantastic ride.  I loved this movie.  Great action with a mix of horror.  I marveled for days over how original the design of this movie was and how everything, even down to the starship’s smallest details, played into the story.  I can’t believe this show didn’t do better at the movies.

I Promise I’m Not Dead

…seriously.  I’ve just been busy with work and family.

Reading
Currently, just doing some research on Antarctica, Human cloning, and Microbiology.

Writing
Still struggling (as it were) with Wendigo.  I find myself wrestling with the core storyline – should it be a real monster or should it be a twist on psychosis and cannibalism?  Should the main character be a male or female (romantic sub-plot)?

I did pass the first of the rewrite to a good friend, Elizabeth Ditty, who gave some great advice and actually fired up my engine to get back to the desk.  Thanks Izzi!  She really helped me see some glaring issues I was trying to force on the reader.

So, back at it.  I’m going on vacation for about 11 days, so I should be able to get some serious work done if I can just mentally settle on what I want to do.  As a creative, it’s my biggest stumbling block.  I’m open to suggestions from anyone who reads this.

Watching

• Wendigo (2001) - Snoozer.  All talk, no action.. literally. This horror(?) movie was a dialog fest.  And when the monster was finally shown, it was a cruel parody of a puppet made of sticks.  Sad.
  
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - A 50′s western about gold prospecting and the inevitable greed that comes with it.  Pretty fun ride of adventure and paranoia.
  

That’s it.  It’s been a month of life outside of writing unfortunately.   Hopefully, July will work out better.

Weekend Update

Well, not alot to add really.

Like I had mentioned in a previous post, I was filling the month of May with pursuing educational material.  I purchased and read a few books, have watched a whole cache of movies, and read several screenplays all with the purpose of learning as much as a I could for 30 days.

…and it’s paid off.

Reading
I’m currently reading ‘Save the Cat!’ by Blake Snyder and loving it.  It’s really opened my eyes.  Simply written, honest, and loaded with good information and methodology, you really can’t go wrong picking this book up if you want to learn about writing screenplays (or any story for that matter).   I’ve also burned though Syd Field’s ‘Screenplay’, a masterpiece in and of itself.

Writing
I’ll be honest, it’s been slim.  Between Syd Field and Blake Snyder, I’ve been limited to writing only treatments, character bios, general notetaking.  Following Blake Snyder’s Beatsheet system, I have plotted out my entire rewrite for The Wendigo, my 2009 ScriptFrenzy piece.  Simultaneously, I’ve been building beatsheets for two other concepts – I have gone through a mountain of index cards to say the least.

If all goes well, I’ll be writing the macro rewrite of Wendigo this weekend.

Watching
It’s late and I have to work tomorrow, so no reviews, just notes…

• Neverwhere Series - Interesting content and ideas, but didn’t jive well with me, maybe alittle too much weirdness for my taste.  Maybe it’s because it’s a TV show and shot in 90s.
• Stardust - Like Neverwhere, a Neil Gaiman piece.  Wonderful movie.  Watched it twice back to back.  Beautifully written and shot.
• Behind the Mask : The Rise of Leslie Vernon – A fun mockumentary about a very likable serial killer.  Lots of good comedy and slasher movie mechanics.  Really fun in my opinion.
• Outpost – A creepy monster in the house type flick, except with Nazi’s in an underground bunker in Eastern Europe.  Some interesting characters, but could have been pushed further.  Typical horror flick.  I enjoyed it, a guilty pleasure.
• The Condemned - Stone Cold Steve Autin film.  Sigh.  Kind of embarrassed I watched it.  Just a ‘man’ movie.  Kill or be killed, prisoner style, akin to Running Man.  Big boobs.  Gore.  Waste of time.
• Fido - Now this was a real winner.  A zombie flick that really did something different.  If you like zombies and have not seen this… watch it, watch it soon.  Great comedy piece.
• 30 Days of Night - Good show, bad ending.  Held true to the trade paperback.
• Masters of Horror : Dreams in the Witch House - Lovecraft short gone feature.  Spooky enough.  Didn’t get to finish the film due to my kids.  I’ll wrap it up this week.
• The Hunt - Horror tale with a twist.  Weak acting made it near torturous  to me.  Not enough moments that make you like anyone.  A chain link fence was more interesting than the leads.

“V” Makes a Return to Television

…and I can’t wait!  Plus, it has LOST‘s Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) in a lead role.

Dogfork

Just a quick update since it’s been awhile since I have checked in.

Writing

I’ve been fast at it, reading anything I can get my hands on in regards to screenwriting and storycraft.  It’s been an enlightening month.   Two books came highly recommended; Save the Cat by Blake Snyder and The Hollywood Standard – Thanks Izzi!  I’ve picked them up.

I’ve also started a new screenplay, while Wendigo percolates for a season, and I am having a blast working on it.  Basically, it’s an idea spawned by my kids and their antics when we take our nightly walks around the neighborhood.

A little setup.  We’ve recently moved into a new house.  This new house is part of a new neighborhood, built into a stretch of undeveloped woodland save some winding 3-wheeler trails.

Some evenings, depending on what route we take, our walks take us past a darkened stretch of wood.  The road is rougher here and several streets terminate along the path, unfinished and crumbling, consumed by the forest’s dense understory.  Anyway, every time we pass through this gauntlet of spooky darkness threatened by the gnarled tangles of old trees and brush that seem to press in toward the newly laid road, my daughter (8) and son (4) start getting worked up.  They imagine all manner of creatures lurking just out of sight, waiting to snatch them up and carry them away.  Their little hands grip mine just a bit tighter, sometimes  they just cling to my clothes and I pull them along.

So one night, while we’re walking, I begin to think… What if my kids are right?

Thus, the idea behind Dogfork was born.  Dogfork being a fictional naming of the town where the story takes place.

I’ve sketched out a beat sheet of 15 major sequences and written up a 5 page treatment so far.  I hope to start the script this weekend.

Reading

I’m currently reading Terror by Dan Simmons – a historical horror story about an expedition to Antarctica gone wrong; and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – a somewhat morbid, but enjoyable, childrens’ adventure tale.

Watching

Watched several movies over the past few weeks…

• The Uninvited (2009) – Much better on the second viewing.
• Teeth – Kind of a sad, darkly humorous horror story.  A slow starter, but it’s quite a ride.  Made me cringe several times.
• The Damned Thing (Masters of Horror) – Curious concept that later lost me.
• Splinter – Although critiqued harshly for it cinematography, I really enjoyed this simple horror story.  Very interesting.
• The Last Winter – A retelling of Blackwood’s Wendigo, it was worth a watch.  Ron Perlman makes just about any movie.
• American Zombie – I really enjoyed this mockumentary on zombie culture.  A fresh look at an overdone genre.
• Neil Gaiman’s Short Film About John Bolton – Slow to get going but fun.  Very similar to Lovecraft’s The Pickman’s Model.
• Chalk – Really funny mockumentary about teaching high school.  Well acted and true to life.  I’m a teacher.  I can relate.
• The Neverending Story – A  childrens’ classic.  Had to share it with my little ones.
• Star Trek (2009) – For me, a fail.  For others, a wild success.  I guess I’m more of a Trekkie than I thought.  Butchered the characters in my opinion.

Even Death May Die

At the risk of being called a quiter, I’m shelving the sitcom script.  Seeing that I’ve just begun to study the craft, I’m going to focus more on educating myself for the month of May, rather than try to cram mechanics and technique for an early June finish on a medium (TV writing) that I’m really not willing nor able to commit to (relocating, etc…)   Thus, I am going to be spending this month learning how to write treatments and properly structure stories for feature films, and bone up on openings, characters, and the first 10 pages.

Who knows, someday maybe I’ll pull Living Dead out of my ‘graveyard’ folder and give it a go.  For now though, R.I.P.

Working on New Sitcom

I spent this weekend brainstorming up a new sitcom pilot for the NYTVF (Fox & Procter & Gamble) Comedy Contest.  Thanks to Larry, Lucas, Kristah, Zach, Mom, and my incredibly supportive wife for the counsel.

Honestly, I’ve never had any desire to write comedy – a true horror fan here, but as I penned outlines of potential first episodes into my red spiral, the notion of mixing my passion for horror and the humorous qualities that come from not fitting in (grade school was a vivid tutorial in this), I felt that I had something I could work with.  There’s always room for zombies, right?

I have always been an avid fan of all things undead.  My mom (Happy Mother’s Day) did me right by letting me watch all those horror movies growing up and supporting my video gaming habit.  Also, the zombie phenomenon has seemed to explode as of late with the appearance of the wildly popular trade The Walking Dead, shows like Dawn of the Dead (2004), and the video game masterpiece Left 4 Dead.   Armed with passion and a hungry public, pun intended, I’m going to try my hand at bringing zombies to the world of the sitcom, and hopefully, if all writes well, to a small screen near you.

I won’t go into the exact concept until I’ve completed the script and submitted it.

Comedy Script Contest

Just heard through the internet grapevine that Fox Broadcasting Company and Procter & Gamble Productions are running a contest this month for a new comedy pilot.  They aim to offer aspiring TV writers the opportunity to win $25,000, a development deal with Fox, and the possibility to have your script be produced as a network TV pilot!

How cool it that?

Well, I’m in.  I probably won’t win, but I’m sure going to give it my best shot.  If anything, I’ll learn more about the craft of writing and familiarize myself with screenwriting for the small screen – which comes with all sorts of it’s own challenges I’m sure.

Looks like Wendigo rewrites get pushed to June, and May is a month of situational comedy.

Sounds like fun.