Fictional Skies

" Every single Pixar film, at one time or another,  has been the worst movie ever put on film.  But  we know. We trust our process. We don't get scared and say, 'Oh, no, this film isn't working.'"  - John Lasseter    A Day in a Life  Bringing Inanimate Objects to Life 

I look at my read/write/watch routine on a weekly basis and often identify a common thread: I write more than I watch and watch more than I read.  Writing overshadows them both by some way which I think it should. But have felt that reading less than watching could be a weakness and imbalance in my routine. Should we be reading more than we watch?  Balanced Reading  I often read a script on my day off which is two days a week, but note, I do say 'often' because other things can get in the way and sometimes I miss the chance to get one script in a week. My desk and writing environment with two whiteboards chock-full with notes screams " Writing! Writing! Writing! " whenever I am there or nearby. But not so much " Reading! Reading! Reading! " Of course, if we are to write well - we must read. However, not to the extent that if you wanted to impress a producer - instead of doing so with your excellent script you reveal that you've read 2...

Two and a half months in and things are progressing nicely. Project Spacebound has a first draft and soon-to-be-announced Project Nightingale has an outline for its pilot episode. I found myself working on the first draft of Project Spacebound for three days during the week. Then at weekends developing and doing the prep work for Project Nightingale. I prefer prep work at the weekends because it's more relaxed and there's more time to give. Plus the prep work should be developing quicker than the script draft. So it worked out nicely. Adapting to Change  As previously mentioned , I have three projects set aside for the year and two of those have already begun. But I've decided not to bring the third one into the mix just yet. Again, like discovering the stacking projects method at the last moment, this decision was much the same. I'm comfortable with two projects going at once and really enjoy it. But feel I need to gain experience with two projects and see...

This book has taught me a lot. In fact, I taught myself screenwriting with the third edition before going to university to study it, as a result: didn't learn anything new on the craft for the first two years. Luckily, I wasn't going there to be taught the craft. This is a  great book for beginners and is there to prevent you from rushing into things and suffering the potential side effects: Start writing a feature screenplay of Roman epic proportions: get stuck four pages in and give up.  Jump straight into theory/methods from intermediate + material from Syd Field, Blake Snyder, Robert McKee, John Truby, etc: get a headache, overwhelmed, and possibly get writer's block before you even start.  Religiously follow professional screenwriter blogs and websites for advice, how to info, craft insight, competitions, success stories, agents, spec sales, box office, and so on: feel worse off, more insecure, develop a severe migraine and/or inferiorit...

By Tate Taylor. Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett. This screenplay has been on my to read list for a few months and caught my eye after seeing its trailer. It looked like an interesting and moving story of a black maid who spent her life serving others. To this: I wondered what hardships she must have faced and how did she get through it. So with interest and hopeful expectations. Did it deliver? The verdict is: Yes and no. Well, it depends... The story takes place in South America in Jackson, Mississippi during the civil rights movement of the sixties and centres on black maid, Aibileen, in her fifties, as her dutiful and oppressed routine is disturbed when an aspiring author wants to enlist her to expose the hardships local maids face at the hands of their white employers. Aibileen is coy on stirring up trouble and doesn't want to rock the boat, although, raw feelings within her find the offer tempting. The screenplay was enjoyable, often dramatic, good-humoured...

Love to be creative? Love to support a cause? Have a twitter account? Then you can be one of the three hundred and sixty five authors contributing to this  amazing project and campaign to raise money and awareness for The Teenage Cancer Trust . The 3 hundred and 65  project is a public authored graphic novel where twitter users reserve a story tweet date and subsequently tweet a continuation of the story in 140 characters which artist  Dave Kirkwood then turns into an illustration. All story tweets and accompanying illustrations are published on the website ,  facebook page  and newly released app  through iTunes for all to experience and enjoy. The story project will run all year round, although, currently there are only a few months worth of unclaimed story tweet dates left. One of which could be yours. Hurry as they are going fast! Even Stephen Fry knows this that's why he's picked Wednesday 23rd May as his sto...

" Nobody tells people who are beginners, and I really wish somebody had told this to me.... is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it and we get into it because we have good taste. But there's a gap. That for the first couple years that you're making stuff, what you're making isn't so good. It's not that great. It's trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it's not quite that good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, your taste is still killer  and your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you're making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get passed that phase and a lot of people at that point they quit. And the thing I would just like to say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste, and they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as the...