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.