2009 June | Ninja vs Penguin

The Intern Project: Scene Breakdown

Penguin June 29th, 2009

We just finished the first draft of the scene breakdown for The Intern Project. A scene breakdown is just a outline of every scene in the script focusing on who’s in it and what the central action is.

We had come up with the major story beats first, so we wrote up the breakdown for that. There was still a lot more stuff that we need to write to fill in all the gaps leading from beat to beat. So we just brainstormed for each episode, seeing what would be interesting or funny.

Then we started plugging the scenes that didn’t necessarily have to do with the overall plot into the scene breakdown. We were working over GoogleDocs, which made the process really hard. It was tough to see where the story was front heavy, back heavy, or just had holes.

Even though it took some time, we printed out the whole breakdown, cut it up into strips so we could move everything around physically. This was a great way to visually see how the story was progressing and what areas needed addressing.

We took notes and went back to the GoogleDoc and manually synced it to the strips. Then we went through and addressed all the notes we came up with.

This was the first time I’ve done a scene breakdown before and thought it was a great way to think through the entire script. Invariably, we started moving into some expanded scene breakdown territory with some of the more complicated scenes.

Now we’re going to go through and work on the expanded scene breakdown. This should take a few days, then we can finally get started on the script. We gave ourselves a deadline of July 7th, but I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to make it. It’s a lot of work between here and there.

I’ll keep you posted.

- Penguin

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Tags: Projects, The Intern Project

I never said I love you: Process 5

Ninja June 29th, 2009

Good morning!

Long story short, I royally messed up the original painting. So I stripped off all the varnish and gave the guitar a through sanding and started over again. It’s the same concept, just a different, softer pose.

Happy painting,
Ninja

Art , Posts by Ninja , Process , Projects
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Shepard Fairey’s process

Ninja June 26th, 2009

I’m always fascinated by an artist’s process!

Check out this video (directed by Felipe Lima) of Shepard Fairey working on pieces for an upcoming show.

TGIF, ttfn,
Ninja

Art , Posts by Ninja , Process
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Dr. Strangelove’s Lost Ending

Penguin June 25th, 2009

It’s always a blessing to be able to peak into the master’s process. And Kubrick is one of the great masters. In this snippet, Glen Kenny talks to Anthony Harvey, who edited Strangelove, about the ending over at The Auteurs’ Notebook.

Harvey, who had also cut the director’s prior film Lolita, recalls the press screening, which happened to occur on or around November 22, 1963, the day of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. “There we are. I was showing it to the press, I remember, around that time. We canceled everything and we all trudged on to Grosvenor Square, stood in shocked silence as the news unfurled. That’s the date. And some weeks after that, I believe, the film was going to be released.

Columbia Pictures were very nervous about anything to show the president—any president—in that state, as it should be…That ending, how it started, the George Scott character threw a custard pie to the Russian ambassador, and it missed and hit the president. And then all hell broke loose. And it was like there was about two minutes when, after this brilliantly constructed film, it devolves into a kind of silent Mack Sennett sort of thing, with everybody getting hit by custard pies.

[S]omehow they were very worried, the studio, about releasing it. They found it might be offensive or something. So Stanley took it out for the moment, and then the film opened and he just didn’t feel like putting anything back. So that remained in the cutting room floor. But it was a brilliant piece of work. Who knows? I certainly thought it was. But I think when you get to a point in working on a film for almost a year, and this sort of sudden pressure comes in as a result of what happened to Kennedy, it’s a sort of clear-cut situation. So that was removed. And it never went back.”

While stills of the footage exist, it’s still unclear as to whether the scene survived the loss of the original negative, or exists in Kubrick’s archive. Despite the hopes of some cinephiles, it is not, finally, included on the new Blu-ray disc of Strangelove.

I find it interesting that the serendipitous cut was what made the Strangelove ending the way it is. Usually, the work of masters is meticulous with every detail being purposeful and reasoned. Granted, there was a reason behind the cut, but not to serve the work.

Via: In Contention

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Tags: Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick

Glasvegas’ Geraldine

Ninja June 25th, 2009

A friend recently shared Glasvegas‘ Geraldine; I think this is an absolute beauty with totally heart-wrenching lyrics. If you missed any due to James Allan’s broad Scottish accent, here are the lyrics.

Enjoy,
Ninja

Music , Posts by Ninja , Videos
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Terrible Yellow Eyes

Ninja June 25th, 2009

Illustrator, Cory Godbey started the blog, Terrible Yellow Eyes, in May 2009. It features a wonderful collection of paintings inspired by Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are. Please check out the other artists here.

Here’s a small sampling:

Peter deSeve

Writing Great Characters

Penguin June 24th, 2009

ScriptForSale has 3 videos has an interesting take on writing great characters. I personally like defining who my characters are before doing any plotting. I just find that it’s easier for me.

The video talks about 3 ways to discover your character

Creating them, by using a profile before you start any writing
Creating the profile as you write
Pitch the character to a friend and have them fill in the profile

The Character Profile consists of 4 required elements:

role in the story
age & description
core traits – how the character presents themselves
character subtext

The core traits are broken down into 4 categories:

external
emotional
intellectual
subtext

There are also 7 optional elements that compliment the required elements.

flaw
character arc
world view
want/need
motto (saying, catch phrase)
mission/agenda
what makes the character unique

I personally always have a flaw that comes from their want/need. This is how I establish the character’s motivation.

Nice simple template that gives you a starting position.

You can find the videos below.

Via: Filmmaker IQ

Posts by Penguin , Screenwriting , Videos
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Amy Sol’s trampoline and dust wings prints

Ninja June 24th, 2009

Amy Sol will be releasing two new giclée prints this Saturday, June 27, 2009, at 2:00 pm Pacific Time. All prints are signed and numbered and include an embossed watermark. You can purchase them from Amy Sol’s online shop.

trampoline
Edition of 100
15″ x 18″ image on 17″ x 20″ sheet

dust wings
Edition of 300
8.5″ x 11″ image on 10.5″ x 13″ sheet

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Tags: Amy Sol, Glicee, Prints, Shopping

Art , Posts by Ninja , Shopping
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Illustrator: Chow Martin

Ninja June 23rd, 2009

Chow Martin uses ink and charcoal on mylar to create mythical, muscular creatures and type. You can check out the rest of his work here.

The 50 greatest Simpsons movie references

Ninja June 23rd, 2009

I know I’ve posted about The Simpsons homages in the past, but Total Film offers some additional Simpsons‘ winks at classic film moments (complete with detailed descriptions about the film reference and corresponding Simpsons episode). Below are a few of my favorites. You can see the top 50 greatest Simpsons movie references listed here.

Requiem For A Dream (2000)