#I think I could script and I would if I were collaborating with someone and they needed a script but working by myself? no need

[deoidesign]

where'd you draw inspiration for T&TA and how long did it take you to comprise a legible script [a fellow, curious- and pretty young writer]

The most immediate inspirations for Time and Time Again were Jaws, Quantum Leap, and Psych. I grew up watching a ton of detective type shows and so there's a lot of background radiation in my brain taken up by those. I tend not to take much stock in inspiration though, and generally am comfortable just powerhousing through things (it's kind of what I went to school for). Inspiration happens when it happens, but if it doesn't, my work still needs to get done!

It took me about 7 months to write the first season, which is 4 complete stories. To be clear, though, I don't script! I outline major character events, and then I make about 100 more detailed outlines until I get to one that hits all the development points I want and feels interesting to me. This takes me weeks of writing sometimes 10+ pages a day, putting together boards with strings, etc. until I feel I've got an outline of events that I'm happy with!

I actually get to writing and finessing dialogue while I'm making thumbnails, and 1 episode can take me anywhere from a day to 2 weeks. The longest ones are when they're arguing, and I'm struggling with the minutiae of the implications of their words, where I want them both to be sympathetic without making their dialogue feel unnatural.

So, one complete arc takes me about 4-6 months from start to finish, I think.

My writing is at its best when I get to plan everything up front, and it's at its worst when I'm forced to deliver week-to-week and I can't see the whole story as it is. But, I've also been writing for a long time and I know myself and my process pretty well! Every writer is different, and some people need a lot more time than others. Let yourself relax, don't try to do things "the right way" because there is no right way. Just make stories! Make the process fun for you, and your skills will grow the more stories you tell. As long as you're having fun, the stories are serving their purpose.

[good-beanswrites]

I talked about my Milgram actors theory earlier, but @amugoffandoms reminded me I also have a little emotional support au version of the idea I’ve been meaning to chat about! It's actually not a typical actors au -- the canon events still happen, but are staged by the in-universe Milgram organization.

(Edit, now with a fic!)

Just like in canon, the organization has a mysterious/supernatural ability to identify and track down ten specific people at their breaking point. In this au, though, it's ten people who could have committed crimes soon. They discreetly reach out to these individuals, requesting for them to be actors in their experiment. They say there will be someone playing a prison guard, and explain the premise. With a bit of coaxing or bribing for a few, they all accept.

Milgram ensures these newfound “prisoners” don’t need to change many details about their lives – the less lies to keep track of, the easier it would be for these ordinary people to pull off such an extensive con. 

Some of them are exactly as they were right before their murders, such as Yuno, Fuuta, Muu, and Kotoko. Haruka, his sister, and Amane did go through traumatic abuse, but it was Milgram that pulled them out of the situation before they resorted to murder. Mikoto is/has been aware of his alters for a while at this point.

Some of the others are taken from their lives after things that could have ended fatally turned out alright: Shidou’s family got into an accident but all recovered; Milgram picked up on his private realization that he would have done anything to save them, were the damage worse. Mahiru and Kazui’s partners attempted/considered suicide, but did not succeed. In Mahiru’s case, they reached a friendship despite breaking up. I still don’t know enough about Kazui’s wife, but I like to think they’re pretty separate now. 

The ten prisoners weren’t allowed to meet beforehand, but they individually collaborated with the Milgram team to write the lyrics for their t1 songs and film their videos. I'll mention more about the other actors later, but the filming process is a lot of fun. Though the topics confront them with some unsavory thoughts about themselves, it's a good time singing and acting and getting the giggles on set and everything.

Milgram pulls Es from wherever they were for whatever reason, wipes their memory, and drops them into the prison. The prisoners are unaware that Es didn't come willingly, as they all did.

Once the experiment begins, everyone’s interactions that we’ve seen to this point are genuine. The prisoners get to know each other, while they come to terms with the fact that themselves and these others all had murderous potential. Their personalities, behaviors, and stories from their lives are all true. In the interrogations, they speak honestly to Es about their values and choices. The only faked things are the actual references to the murders, and the “invisible force” that they pretend to hit when acting in violence. Mikoto is instructed to use a bit of violence during his interrogation, though Kotoko sneaking in wasn’t scripted – she genuinely had her concerns about his character and acted accordingly. 

While Es sleeps after T1, the prisoners are treated the same regardless of verdict. They provide the team with their genuine thoughts about one another to decide what the staged incidents should be. Kotoko doesn’t actually hate the guilty prisoners, but she recognizes she would’ve wanted to take justice into her own hands in a real situation. Amane is very upset but Es' verdict, but the team helps her dramatize her transformation a bit. Haruka and Muu genuinely get that close. Yuno does wish to be left alone.

They film their second trial videos, now allowed to be around the other prisoners as they do so. They also invite people in their life to come in and play their victims. Yes, it’s just as awkward as it sounds. This is where the prisoners do their real reflection – they think about Es’ verdict for them and what they could have been capable of. There’s a bit of relief from both parties knowing that things will turn out alright now that Milgram intervened (ironic, I know, but this is my fix-it hehe). Shidou’s kids are excited to be filmed, not really understanding the context. Haruka once again works with an actor playing his younger self, a bit put off by how similar they look and the memories he bring back. Haruka’s mother, Rei, and Amane’s cult members (if they appear) are some of the only characters played by strangers, though they do look strikingly similar to the real people. Fuuta’s victim is also played by a stranger. Things are still tense with Hinako, but she agrees to appear. 

The team helps the prisoners fake injuries with lots bandages and slings. Then they wake Es. The same is repeated for T2/T3.

Now, I’ve played out a few different paths depending on my angst tolerance at the moment – sometimes Es goes through with the third trial verdicts and is forced to watch the executions (not realizing they're cleverly staged). Sometimes they refuse, finding a way to stop the whole experiment. Sometimes the prisoners realize that Es has been an unwilling participant, and bring the experiment to a stop themselves. Sometimes someone jams a wrench in the mv machine and try to blow it up in order for everything to end before final verdicts.

Because of limited details, the ending can play out however one wants. But my go-to is that Es wake up sometime afterwards in a clean facility filled with scientists. They’re brought to an interrogation room – this time on the other side of the questioning. They’re asked about their motivations, actions, emotions, choices, verdicts (or the reason they rebelled at the very end). A few doors down, the prisoners are being asked similar questions of self-reflection and morality. 

Es demands to know what’s going on, while the team tries to assure them that the prisoners are all fine. Es doesn’t buy this, though. They know what kind of mind games the experiment has tried to pull, and can’t tell what’s truth or lie anymore. Things get heated as they demand to see the prisoners. Meanwhile, the prisoners are getting worked up asking about Es. If they haven't already, this is when they learn that Es was an actual prisoner there the whole time. The last time they were together the situation was very intense, and they’re all incredibly worried about them. 

In the end, they manage to break out of their rooms and reunite in the middle of the facility, and Es is shocked. All ten are alive and well, even those they may have seen die. No eyes or limbs are missing. They’re all laughing and getting along, no matter what kinds of fights they got into between trials. Even more shocking is when the victims join them later – also all alive and happy. 

The ending has a bit of unavoidable angst since Es would be pretty fucked up by the whole experiment. They’d struggle with trust issues and knowing what’s reality. However, it’s still an overwhelmingly happy ending. They get to befriend the prisoners and their families outside of the painful context they met in. Regretting their ignorance of the situation, the prisoners decide to make up for lost time and spend a lot of positive, quality time with Es. The kids are finally allowed to play, and the they finally let the adults act a bit protective over them. This is when the found family completely kicks in lol. Es gets to sleep easy knowing they are all alive and happy, they receive all their memories again, and they get to return home to their own family.

I added it to a reblog but editing with @/qrevo's tags because this is what I was looking for but couldn't quite pin down to make it healing for Es too:

[j3ankimorit4]

Goldenheart headcanon about how sexual interest awoke in Ambrosius xd (This is cringe, I warn you)

Ambrosius has just turned 18 and companies are taking the opportunity to propose more "mature and adult" projects and collaborations.

One of them is an advertisement for men's perfumes. Where they wanted to imply how he had become a handsome and strong man. Ambrosius isn't comfortable with this and hates the idea, especially after reading the script where he says he literally has to be in his underwear posing and subtly touching another person. He was someone reserved in that kind of thing and in sexual matters he had never gone beyond a passionate kiss with his boyfriend.

His mother, Lady Goldenloin, likes the idea, plus they would pay him very well and it would be a very interesting controversy that would keep them in the media. Ambrosius goes against it and confronts his mother (the woman ignores him because she sees it as "a tantrum")

Ballister supports and comforts him. But inside he feels a bit jealous and uncomfortable thinking about how his girlfriend would be flirting and touching someone else. He knew it was just acting and he wouldn't be serious, but the feeling was still there. Ambrosius felt the same way, he thinks that he would surely be unfaithful to Bal without wanting to.

This situation stresses Ambrosius too much, to the point that he only talks about it with Ballister all week. One day, fed up with his mother only reminding him of the commercial, he yells at Ballister:

- I DON'T WANT TO HANDLE AND TOUCH DEEPLY ANOTHER PERSON OTHER THAN YOU!

The latter instead of making Bal blush and angry, gives him an idea and he decides to audition for the role. On the other hand, Ambrosius dies of shame for the barbarity that he had just said and apologizes a thousand times. Meanwhile Ballister was thinking about how to get that part.

Luckily he gets it, the company wanted controversy, so why not put the future first commoner knight alongside gold back? This would blow up all the media and social networks. THEY WOULD BE TRENDING. Above all, the paper would do him good since it was a tribute to the commoners who prostituted themselves in the 19th century.

This made Ballister feel uncomfortable and even slightly offended, especially when he remembered that he had to be almost half-naked in front of many cameras. But he didn't give it much importance, he would do anything for his beloved boyfriend. He decides not to tell him anything and surprise him.

The day of the shoot arrives and Ambrosius couldn't be more angry and uncomfortable. He hopes that Bal is in the studio supporting him, but he can't be found anywhere, which makes him even more depressed. It wasn't until he walked into his dressing room that he found Ballister sitting in his chair, cross-legged, flushed, wearing only black boxer shorts and a sweet fragrance smelling all over his body. Seeing all this, Ambrosius's embarrassment multiplied a thousand times, almost fainting from love and lack of blood in his nose when he saw his boyfriend.

Anyway, he took a few hours to film the scenes. Both young men were very shy and did not dare to touch each other so thoroughly. But they couldn't be happier and more in love, they couldn't stop looking at each other and throwing passionate glances of desire.

As expected, the commercial was a success and the perfumes sold like hot cakes. Not to mention the comments and controversies that were on the internet for a long time.

After that, Ambrosius became obsessed with the commercial and watched it in private whenever he could.

[kajaono]

Why Douglas leaving doesn't mean we will see a drop in quality

I see many people worrying that Douglas leaving will effect the quality of the show, in a negative way.

I would like to take Shadowhunters as an example. Here the showrunner changed after season 1. Todd Slavkin, who took over the psotion, then functioned as a showrunner, co-producer and writer. So i think it is fair we now pretend its kind of the same as a change of the director. One main role of a director is: "They collaborate with actors, read and develop scripts, and motivate the cast and crew to deliver their best performances. They also make critical decisions regarding set locations, budget management, and artistic execution."

This means the show can go downhill with a wrong director. Unmotivated crew, shit locations, rejected script, wrongly managed budget... or it can also have a positive impact.

In Shadowhunters Todd Slavkin sweet talked Freeform and Netflix to give the show 22 eps instead of 10 eps, and got rid of a lot of bad CGI, costumes and lightning.

Costumes:

Swords:

You get my point.

You may say: But GO is already perfect. How could a new director make it even better?" Well I also don't think they will, but they can add their own vision to it. That doesn't mean it has to be bad. Just different.

But will we like those changes?

Well... i can not answer this question, but remeber that the course of season 3 is already set. Jesus 2.0, Zombies (?), Supreme Arc Angel Aziraphael, a garden, the cottage. And Neil is still head writer. There will be no sudden changes. They will also not cast a homophobic asshole... hey, maybe they will cast a queer person who can add their own queer accents to the story?

This show is openly queer, they will not cast someone who is against a queer version of the show.

Yes this person will handle the budget differently, they will connect with DT, MS and Neil differently, but why does that has to be bad thing? Douglas vision was amazing and I am sad he left, but there are many amazing directors out there. And just because they join later, doesn't mean they do not understand the story. See Todd, we had an amazing time with him. He even published a BTS book about his time and how friendly the fandom welcomed him. In the end he intergrated a lot of fan wishes into the show and was really open to critique of the queer community.

Why can't we have the same for GO? Why does everything has to be bad? I know we have trust issues, and i can totally understand that not knowing who will come next is scaring, but just this times I wnat you all to focus on the positive things. We are also still talking about Prime. They don't want to blow this up either.

And Neil and Terry were always so protective of GO. they made sure that only someone who understood their vision was allowed to adapt GO into a show/movie and rejected multiple offeres who felt untrue to the story. You think Neil suddenly agrees to give the story away to someone who doesn't respect it and wants to change it to something bad... more Tom Cruise like? (little joke)

And we already had a change in tone and lightning of the show.

Many liked it, some hated it. But nevertheless, it worked.

The only thing I want is that Neil does not take over Douglas position now. This show is a two person story. Terry and Neil, Douglas and Neil, Azi and Crowley.

TL.DR: The husbands are in no danger. A director change will influence the show but why does that have to be a bad thing? Neil is as protective of the show as we are. He will not suddenly give it away to someone who wants to make drastic changes or who rejects all of his script ideas.

[thephantomcasebook]

I really doubt either Cooke or D'Arcy would be promised to have creative control of their characters, they had to be executive producers for this and not even all popular actors can get that deal, and definitely not someone like Emma who was a complete unknown before the show. These kinds of roles in popular projects are a gift for young actors, it's HBO and its Game of thrones brand, why would they need to be promised anything?

One must understand the air around "House of the Dragon" when it was being produced and shot ...

No one - and I mean no one - wanted any part of it. After Season 8 of "Game of Thrones" the entire franchise was dead. HBO approached several showrunners and no one wanted it. In the end they came to Sapochnik - who famously hated ASoIaF, GRRM, and especially the fans - and they begged him to do it. And it was after promising him complete creative control and a blank check that Sapochnik agreed to take on "House of the Dragon".

This is important, because, Sapochnik looked at Condal and GRRM's scripts and, basically, didn't like any of it. He and his wife were interested in telling a socio-political story that was relevant to today, not something in a timeless historical fiction. And so they ended up gutting a good majority of the original treatments and rewriting on the fly during shooting - which is why there is a ton of deleted scenes that will never be seen.

Nobody believed in "House of the Dragon" ... they all thought it would be one and done because of the apathy toward the franchise.

This is all relevant, because, from this irreverent and dismissive attitude toward source material and fandom was when Cooke and D'Arcy were cast with the sole purpose of being political activists not the right actors for the job. D'Arcy was cast for her gender identity and Cooke for her activism. Sapochnik and his wife were interested in pushing a political message and using the ASoIaF brand - which was dead - to do it. And part of that was collaborating with Sapochnik and Sara Hess to craft this ridiculous feminist and leftist narrative about Patriarchy and closeted lesbians - and fucking with established canon to get their bullshit out.

There was no written agreement, it was simply promised, upon casting, in the entirely personal relationship developed with Sapochnik, his wife, and Sara Hess, that they'd get a voice in the narrative going forward.

But when Discovery bought Warner Brothers and they fired all of the previous heads of HBO, the entire thing changed. Discovery is and has been interested in making money, not pushing political narratives, especially when said political cause is deeply unpopular and garners little to no ratings or income. And so, when Sapochnik submitted his season 2 treatment, the new heads of HBO sent it right back - saying they weren't going to produce his outlines. Sapochnik threw a tantrum and left, along with a lot of people that came with him. Thus, new producers - old ones from Early "Game of Thrones" - came in and began retooling the show.

When this happened, the verbal agreement with Cooke and D'Arcy went out the window. Cause, like you said, no producer in their right mind would ever let two actresses have a say in how the show or a character is going to be developed. And now, no one is listening to Cooke nor D'Acry's wants or opinions. This apparently has set off many tantrums from Cooke, D'Arcy, and Matt Smith, who, before, could adlib or change a scene on the fly and now are hammered down in a conventional production.

It is incredibly foolish and self-important to think that they could go over the showrunner's heads to the HBO front offices and basically threaten them with a scandal if they didn't get their way. And as a result, whether, they got their way or not, they can kiss their career's goodbye. No one - NO ONE - will ever trust Cooke in a major production again.

For her sake, I hope that rumor isn't true ... but it seems so.

[worriedvision]

Reminiscing over fireworks (part 2) - Gorou

Part 1 here! Gender neutral reader, Yae miko teasing is prevalent here! Part 3 will have jealous Gorou, and more teasing from Yae Miko.

--

"Lady Ningguang, I'm sorry I left without saying a goodnight. The fireworks were nice, but..." You trail off.

"I see. Did they remind you of a special someone back in Inazuma?" She asks, you nodding your head. "You must be homesick - you've been in Liyue for half a year."

"It's not that...it's that I've realised I hold fond feelings for someone who wouldn't be able to indulge in them." You explain, Ningguang not convinced by your words. "Do you have any work, say something with inventory, that I could take on?"

"I suppose I could start a job for you. You have proven your skills, after all." She hums out, you're hoping to stay in Liyue and start to move on. "I have a condition, however. Because of my duties, I am unable to enter Inazuma. Guuji Yae has been collaborating with me, however I cannot simply send my final script by it's lonesome. You will be my representative."

You can't help but gawk, fully silenced as you realise you were going to have to enter Inazuma once again. She can't help but giggle at your expression, walking back to her Jade Chamber to collect the manuscript before sending you off.

-

Yae Miko, oh god. You heard many horror stories from Gorou after he returned from his trip into the city. She was known for teasing and being unreadable. You didn't know many other things about her, simply knowing Gorou quivered every time someone mentioned her in any way.

Here you were, walking towards the Grand Narukami shrine, and you were dreading the inevitable teasing. She no doubt knew about your unrequited feelings for someone in Inazuma, perhaps she would request for you to write a poem book showing your hurt.

To your surprise, she shows concern for you.

"Aw, is Ningguangs adorable assistant going through something? I can see it on your face." She pouts, crossing her arms. She hands you a slip of paper, around the size of a small page. Enough for a letter. "We have run out of wishing paper, however I have blessed this piece of paper. Write upon it, and a good friend of mine, Miss Hina, will provide you the advice you need."

Looking at the paper, your rationality of not knowing who this Miss Hina is out the window. You just needed someone to tell you to stop clinging onto that small bit of hope that Gorou was that comfortable with you that the idea of loving you did not scare him. Filling in the paper, you fold it before eagerly handing it to Yae Miko.

"While you're here, you are as well enjoying your last journey in Inazuma. I have requested one of Lord Kamisato's assistants to accompany you while you wait for the letter." She states, pointing down towards the Kamisato estate.

--

Gorou had been told specifically by Kokomi herself that he was needed by Yae Miko. She stifled a laugh when he let out a whine of protest, but he went with it. After all, it was her excellency herself that requested this.

His arrival was a strange one. Yae Miko was waiting right at the dock, a familiar smell he could detect that wasn't hers. Perhaps you had a perfume or deodorant she knew of, or maybe it was how much he had been thinking of you playing on his mind.

"There's the doggy general." Yae Miko purrs. Gorous about to turn back, just jump onto the boat and go back, but the scent of you grows to be intense. He turns, expecting to see you sheepishly hiding behind Yae Miko. He realises it comes from the paper, and he's slowly walking towards Yae Miko, extending a hand to snatch it and take it to a discrete place to sniff and read. He's beet red as he hears Yae Miko giggling when he sprints off.

Looking around and seeing nobody, he starts to indulge. He starts sniffing the paper, then proceeding to inhale the scent. It felt like your scent was not decreasing, it just stayed there. Gorou was a hybrid, and it's moments like this that highlight it. After he grounds himself, your scent calming him, he suddenly wants to read the letter.

_-_-

'I have been in Liyue for the past 6 months. At first, I was able to cope, but with time I started to think of someone I like. During the lantern rite this year, the fireworks reminded me of him. Problem is, he doesn't feel the feelings I do. The beautiful golden red matching his hair, the blue that matches his eyes, and the white sprinkled in that remind me of the accents in his hair. I write this letter to you, requesting you provide me some advice on how to move on.'

_-_-_

Gorou was shocked. It sounded like a description of him, it smelled like you - the person he held these deep feelings for. However, this letter implied you thought he didn't feel these things for you. Knowing you were most likely still in Inazuma, he makes it his mission to find you.

His instincts told him it wasn't too late, and he had a hunch that both Yae Miko and Kokomi were prominent with their assistance in the orchestration of this. With his paper to comfort him (and for him to discretely sniff in the name of 'searching for clues'), he begins his search.

[avelera]

oh yeah, omg, that's the worst! I didn't know that was what happened. The not telling the actor thing too is the same thing marvel does, ugh. thanks for explaining!

I think it really shows when creators and writers don't trust actors as collaborators and fellow creatives.

Now, on the one hand with Marvel, I could understand if Tom Holland's "loose lips sink ships" propensity to blurt out spoilers, when people are spending a LOT of money to not have certain plot twists revealed, might be a unique case where you try to limit his knowledge of the script. HOWEVER, as a fellow creator, he should still know things his character would know, when his character would know them.

For all other MCU actors, who have even a modicum of self control? Yeah. They should know. We all know the good guys are going to win in a Marvel movie, it's absurd to treat some of these spoilers like they're a big twist to the point where the actors can't know their own story.

But back to Broadchurch, yeah. The creator struck me as someone who didn't really understand the genre of Mystery or the pleasures that are promised when one picks up a mystery. He just saw "how difficult is it to solve?" as some sort of mark of quality that mattered over and above the coherency of the story itself. I find that unforgivable. Especially when he leaned on the audience's expectations of there being clues they could follow and then used their confusion over the fact they still couldn't figure it out by the penultimate episode as some sort of thing to crow about as a mark of quality. It's not! People were baffled not because of the quality but because you didn't actually create a mystery, you just told them it was a mystery. They didn't solve it using the clues given because there were no clues baked into the story. No wonder everyone was confused! Even the killer didn't know he was a killer, even though you invited us according to the tropes of the genre to analyze the micro-expressions of all the actors while their character was being interrogated! That's such utter bullshit, I was in actual disbelief that no one called him on it!

Gah. Anyway. Never forgive, never forget. It's so outrageous.

[womanexile]

Lol, I was watching the ‘17 HS carpool karaoke segment and the bit about how he gets away with fashion (kinda like Daylight mv ref bit) & his knowledge/dialogue depth of romcoms (Notebook, Titanic, Notting Hill) was funny (female influence growing up perhaps). I guess he digs that type of “Cinema”. Even Nicholas Sparks wants to book him. The duet of Endless Love “Two heart beating as one” reminded me of his Two Ghosts song. (Shania Twain also did duet with Lionel Ritchie for EL- LOML also has that 80s love ballad vibe). Hopeless romantic? He even added “I will always love you” in Keep driving. TS did karaoke with the WH version.

TS also uses a lot of romcom tropes. Examples love triangle, best friends to lovers, forbidden love, historical romance, older, bad boy, doomed, unrequited, etc. Both are known readers & TV/film buffs- theatrical too. His music is a little more abstract while hers is built more like a book or script at times- but visually, lyrically & musically they hook people in- especially the videos. Their curiosity about details of others is noted- shakes hands, personal introductions, gifts. I think in his audition he mentioned possibly wanting to study sociology, business & law. Her scholar interests were English, history, finance & marketing- but she did learn a bit of Latin in HS too. Another thing, sometimes I feel like they’ve referenced Dirty Dancing (Time of my Life, She’s like the wind). Lol, even Ed Sheeran’s mv had that dance ref. Shivers? It’s just a pop culture thing to draw from the past and spin it to recreate a new story- just something done in music & media- TV, books & film. Sidenote, I was watching TS’s CMT skits & vlogs. Lol, Thelma & Louise (w/ Shania) & “Dreams” segments -Star Trek (JJ Abrams film), NFL, Thug story (w/ T-Pain). I kinda think the TS’s CMT & HS LLN bits and their music video performances worked better than the SNL ones & films. Both are funny- but I guess critics would say both may not always deliver. I wonder how they would have done with Screwball romcom films? Superhero films kinda fill that space now.

Lol, sometimes the Haylor narrative fits the Friends-to-Lover trope. Like When Harry MET Sally (it even has a New Year’s day bit). Especially the catalogue. Cornelia Street, You are in Love, Cruel Summer, New Year’s Day, Glitch, Maroon, Keep Driving, Little Freak, Meet me in the Hallway, Two Ghosts, Long Story Short, Illicit Affairs, Cowboy like me, Kiwi, Night Changes, You & I and so on… so many pieces- and that doesn’t even mention covers, collaborators or influences (playlist). Just the other day I mentioned to someone that Jackson Wang’s recent stuff made me think of them.

Even in a way Begin Again fits ”But you start to talk about the movies/That your family watches every single Christmas”. Both have mentioned Love Actually- includes Joni Mitchell song. Also one of Niall’s team auditioned with it. He’s another mutual link between them. Lol, both of them are so embedded in pop culture lately- media brings up TS music or news and even HS gets brought up (by Prince Harry, the president, etc.). Their story is Stranger (or Sweeter) than Fiction. Soap opera w/ plot twist & cliffhangers.

Yea you can tell they both have the same influences. I love that Harry loves rom coms. Not many guys will enjoy watching a rom com with you. I was reading Beach Read last week and I thought Harry and Taylor could play these characters in a movie. I would love to see them in something like Daisy Jones & the Six. And yea they are the music industry right now.

[handsingraphite]

BOC 2023 Projects Lineup Thoughts

I'm waiting for more translations to come in post-event, but I think it's starting to show that BOC definitely cannot produce a stream of shows. They can only do 5 major projects with airing dates in Q2/3:

The Hidden Character reality show - would take some planning but minimal production prep, plus a hint on a possible new series being written for the "couple" this show would generate. NGL, it could be a very bomb ass concept OR the worst idea. Depends on how they handle it. Plus I had the impression the other 16 actors on their roster can audition for this new horror/thriller series.

Wuju Bakery (JBC series) - This was the actual surprising reveal of today for me. I thought they might pair Barcode with someone else. But they get some slack production wise on this because it's in collaboration with a Korean production company.

4 Minutes (BBB series) - They were being very vague about the premise, and while Sammon is on it, I get the feeling it isn't quite fleshed out yet beyond a just-about-written script.

Man Suang (Movie) - I wanted an updated teaser at least, but it seems they scrapped the original storyline hence why (I think) they don't have one yet. I understand it likely is the biggest production out of the lineup, but I'm also concerned that they're shooting for the stars so much, they cage themselves into paralysis mode. In any case, I suppose the point was to showcase the tour de force behind the movie production as it seems to be where a number of resources are going.

KP 2023 and KP WTF: From what Pond said, Vietnam is their last stop, the tour isn't profitable (🤣😭) and the cast are doing this because they want to give back to fans. So I'm not going to make any complaints lol but seems the 2023 one will have 60-70% different content, and WTF will have them exchanging roles/performances (?) The exchanging is what I'm interested in tbh

Not a major project but MA will be on Woody FM so looking forward to that!

Other thoughts:

I kinda wasn't super banking on a KPTS S2 because of rights purchases etc and I at least didn't have to be let down by not hearing about it 🤣 it could still happen though

I did want a new MA series but given earlier release of the movie than they originally estimated (now in August 2023) plus the character and production prep they have to do, I'll be grudgingly understanding about them not committing to any other project yet; from what I can tell the movie will get lion's share of resources for 1H 2023

I did not fail to see that most filming work would be done by end Q2 and so I am predicting a 2H 2023 lineup announcement (optimistically) or we get a world tour resumption (hopefully with other stops); I would prefer the former over the latter

Hopefully Pond gets work for the rest of the roster, though, because there are 8 other actors without projects unless they're slotting them into the JBC and BBB shows (but wouldn't they announce that?)

This also partially confirms to me that MA's other projects may be more around brand deals, advertising work, etc.

As an introvert I do want to say this event could have been compressed, less dragging; in fact could have been an EMAIL (slash video teaser) so there is that. I think they met my minimum expectation aka that they wouldn't have enough resources for a whole bunch of shows, but I'm still allowed to feel disappointed that I'm not getting a new MA series.

I'm just going to have to hope they'll produce a great film I can... watch on torrent or smth with fansubs kabdiebxie

[eisforeidolon]

Fan Question: So I asked this question six years ago at Nerd HQ, [Jensen explains what Nerd HQ is and agrees with the fan those were good fun panels] - I asked you from the start of Supernatural to now if you had anything that you could add to your resume. COVID, it's been years, is there any special talents or anything that you think is funny that you could add to your resume?

Jensen: Like 'special skills'? [someone in audience says tap dancing] Yeah, I guess I could add tap dancing. [fans laugh] Didn't ever expect to ... be able to add that but I guess I can now. Um, I don't - yeah, I'll say one that I'm kind of proud of. And I'm only saying this because I've been told I can say this, not because I'm like, 'Yeah! [fakes puffing out chest]'. Fight coordinator - fight choreographer. That literally came from John Koyama who's stunt coordinator of The Boys. We had those - for those who have seen The Boys [audience wooing] - there's some substantial fight sequences and action sequences and that. Because it's such a big show and has the budget, we got to rehearse those for like weeks in advance - which you never get on Supernatural or even Big Sky. Network television's a little different than a streamer. So we got to get in there and like [mimes along as he says] work out the movements and like figure out how we, y'know okay we're gonna do a punch here and then he's gonna grab y'know you and throw you into the wall and stuff. And I just, I just made suggestions because I've done punchy punchy scenes a few times. And I enjoy them. And so after we did - there was a big one in episode six, and the we had another big one in episode eight, and Koyama is a [gestures upwards] highly decorated stunt coordinator and one of the best I've ever worked with. He was like, 'Dude, I feel like I need to give you fight choreographer credit on this show.' And that was one of the biggest compliments I've ever gotten. And it was just like, 'Okay, lemme see that again? Alright.' And my stunt doubles would show us what they had worked out and it was like, 'Okay, what if I like did this [mimes fight movements as he talks] and then rolled into and was like and boom and then the elbow' and he's like, 'Ohmygosh, yeah, I love that, do that!' So it was very - I loved that, one of the great things about doing what I get to do is collaborating and creating with just insanely talented people? I love that. Not just fighting, but like even doing a scene, you know? Jared and I would sit down and we'd always find these little moments that weren't in the script and that just - it's awesome. I love that. So. Yeah, I'll take fight choreographer. Throw that on the 'special skills' list.

[yors-truly]

Hello! This is your friendly inquiry to answer this ask with whatever you'd like to talk about right now! Whether that be a story you're working on, something you're excited or worried about, or just something random you happen to know.

All the love,

~ toribookworm ❤️

Ah, I guess I've been more on the lower side these past few days, so I'll spill the beans.

I've been slightly if not highly insecure about the progress of Beyond Time and Space recently. Things haven't really been stable since my family's been in the process of moving and, in the midst of that, losing Nygaard (my phone holding all of my important notes).

The things I want to use are all packed away in a storage miles from here, which includes my sketchbook, my stylus, and many more (which, as an artist who often gets art block, it's very frustrating when the inspiration hits and you can do literally nothing about it).

Then there's the insecurity surrounding my age. I'm a teenager. With my birthday coming on the 20th, that status won't change. Maybe it's just the mindset of "kids wishing they were grow ups" or whatever, but as of very recently, it's been getting to me. I've been motivated and inspired by other indie projects like mine, who have all of these incredible people behind them, helping make a vision into a visual. I would love to do that! I'm already doing that!

The thing is, though, is that I lack connections. I'm pretty much going solo in this. As someone as young as myself (who also has diagnosed SAD and possibly ADHD, little to no experience in such a collaborative environment, zero experience in running a project, and lacking the money and tools actually needed), I'm worried no one will be willing to work with me to bring my thoughts to an audience, let alone allow me to help bring theirs to one. I've been trying to start out small, posting what I enjoy and hoping to make friends along the way, as it would be a dream to work alongside friends more than anything, but it's been doing my mental health more harm than good, in the way that me having SAD cranks my anxiety with in-person interactions to 200% with online interactions. For the longest time, I forgot social media existed (still do sometimes, and I think that's also an anxiety response: repression or something like that? involuntarily forgetting the things that make you anxious), so my activity hasn't been the best anywhere anyway, to begin with.

I guess all of this sums up to me saying "I wish I could do things on my own" in a slightly desperate way. If I had the money - heck, if I had a way of transferring money, because people have been questioning about commissions too (at least they used to; idk where my audience is now, since I've been so inactive) - that would be so useful! I want to be able to receive funds for my own hard work, and give funds to others for theirs! It's all so frustrating X[

(on an unrelated note: now that I've moved, I'll probably end up having to celebrate my birthday with my family instead of the people I love most.)

So, yeah, that's pretty much it. Beyond Time and Space is nowhere near finished, and I guess, in a way, I'm kinda glad I don't have extra hands at the moment. I'd like to have the entire first season written before making any progress on visuals (besides... you know... the ones I already have). It's just gonna take a little longer than I wished, and with everything moving so quickly, it's kind of overwhelming me a little qwq A beta reader or two (besides my brother who kind of just lazily reads through it most times) would be nice, though, but I take forever to write scripts so maybe not XD

Thanks for the opportunity to rant on! I really needed to get this out, I think, and this ask couldn't have been timed any better :star-emoji:

[mitzvahmelting]

its not innocuous she was literally banned from manila also she follows white supremacist ivanka trump on instagram and stars in a deeply racist series homeland where she is called the 'drone queen' for bombing middleasterners

this is in reference to my comment on this post. for the record, i'm only doing this because i love conflict. but i acknowledge that this is a very silly and pointless conversation for us to be having. nevertheless, let's address each of these in turn:

"she was literally banned from Manila" yup she sure was! and, like, rightly so. she sure did shit on Manila in Vogue Magazine in 1998, and newly elected president (and former movie star himself) Joseph Estrada made a point to call her out on that and encourage the Manila City Council to ban her. All that said, on the scale of "racist things an ignorant american might have said in 1998", the particular set of comments isn't nearly as bad as, like, slurs or mask-off racism. They read more like "ignorant wealthy American putting foot in mouth when describing how shocked they were that poverty exists." Which, like, it was bad, but in an ignorant way, not a malicious way. And she apologized (again, in 1998. Which, again, was 25 years ago.) Like, idk, the ban from Manila feels like political theater. Cool for Estrada's publicity to get quoted defending the capital city from famous Americans saying rude things about it, but like. Hardly evidence that Claire Danes is an irredeemably evil person or anything. If she was, there would be more than just one incident in the past quarter century to reference. Also, Estrada was embezzling money from the government. So. idk, maybe Claire Danes was not the worst person in that particular news cycle.

"she follows white supremacist ivanka trump on instagram" yeah, i'm not even engaging on this one, buddy. i just never believe that "who you follow on social media" is sufficient evidence of someone's character. consuming content is not a political act. curating your following feed is not a political act. if she donated money to Trump, then we could talk. but following Ivanka on instagram is a nothingburger.

"stars in a deeply racist series homeland" okay so there's actually 2 parts to this. the first part is where you're saying "starring in a racist television show makes you a bad person" which means that every broke New York actor who ever guest-starred on Law & Order is persona non grata. That would be preposterous. The actors do not write the scripts. There might be individual cases where a role is so deeply harmful that you could argue the moral responsibility rests on the actor themselves (for example, blackface or yellowface, or unscripted television where the actor volunteers a racist sentiment without a script) but if we're talking about a major network television drama watched by millions of people, I think we're falling way short of that level of severity. the second part is where you're saying that Homeland is deeply racist. which, again, we're talking about a major network television drama watched by millions of people from 2011-2020. [as an aside, holy shit that show went on longer than i realized!!]. do i imagine the show has some major issues with its portrayal of brown people, just, like, based on its plot and provenance alone? absolutely. do i think that makes the show 'deeply racist'? i don't know, buddy, i don't think it's more racist than other shows and movies in the same genre. here's a good article about how Homeland fits into the media landscape of 2014, where the author concludes that it's certainly a problematic show, but its problems aren't unique. "Early on in the show’s run, they had a better grasp on how problematic the notion that the U.S. has to police the world is. But as the show has gone in different directions, they’ve occasionally forgotten that." (this is a really good moment to interject that writer's rooms are collaborative, and there's way more than just one voice in the pot.) speaking of -

"[in Homeland] she is called the 'drone queen' for bombing middleasterners" boy howdy, that sure sounds like a plot point about how drones are bad, and to remind the audience that it's chilling and wrong that the character Carrie is being congratulated in such a way!! not sure how you could possibly take that at face value as if it's a good thing. anyway, in the relevant episode, after being cheered as "the Drone Queen" by her colleagues, it is revealed that the drone strike which precipitated this offensive nickname actually killed forty civilians attending a wedding, a gruesome reminder of how drone strikes are an ethical shitshow. now, I'm not gonna comment on whether or not the show handles this topic well, because I'm pretty sure I only watched like half of season 1 or something, but at the very least, anon, whatever buddy-cop comedy TV-strawman setting you imagined the line "good job, drone queen!" took place in is clearly not at all the content of the actual television show you're talking about.

anyway, in conclusion, given the evidence presented, i don't get the impression that Claire Danes is any more racist than the median white american actress of her generation. (obviously i'm not going to say she's not racist, because we live in a Society, and most antiracist activists will tell you that it's not helpful to think of 'racism' as an outgroup that "Good People" are excluded from. rather, i'm just saying that she doesn't seem to be any more racist than the median white american actress of her generation.) anyway, thanks for giving me the opportunity to think critically for 45 min while writing this post. i sure miss doing that. fuck i should go back to school 😭

[401bmma4]

𝙲𝙷𝙰[𝚃] 𝙷𝚄𝙸𝙳[𝙼𝙴]: MY JOURNEY IN WRITING IN NEW MEDIA BY: HUIDEM, CHARIS

PODCAST 🎙 PODCAST SCRIPT 📝

Podcast Script: My Journey in "Writing for New Media"

[INTRO BGM]

CHA[T] HUID[ME]: MY JOURNEY IN WRITING IN NEW MEDIA

= INTRODUCTION =

HOST: Hello! Hello! and welcome to CHA[T] HUID[ME]! I'm your host, DJ Cha, and today I'm excited to share my personal journey in the course 'Writing in New Media.' In this episode, I'll talk about the fun times during our class sessions, some of my memorable experiences that changed my view on new media platforms, and my thoughts on how I can contribute to this evolving field. So without further ado, let's get started!" [insert: music transition]

TOPIC 1: Fun During Class Sessions Host: Let me start by telling you guys about our class sessions. Our schedule for this subject, If I remember correctly, was from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM, which, as you can imagine, is a pretty tiring time for most of us. By that time of the day, most of us had already been through a full day of activities—whether it's attending other classes, working, or just dealing with daily life. It's pretty easy to feel drained and mentally checked out. But despite the long day, our class was always lively and engaging. One thing that really stood out for me was how some of my classmates would crack jokes in the middle of discussions. It was like an unspoken tradition—we'd be deep in a serious topic, maybe discussing the history of new media or analyzing a case study, and suddenly someone would make a witty comment or share a funny meme related to the topic. It never really failed to lighten the mood and keep everyone awake. Moments like these created such a positive and enjoyable atmosphere, making the learning process a lot more fun. These light-hearted interactions not only made the class more bearable but also helped us bond as a section. Moreover, our professor encouraged this kind of interaction. She believed that learning should be engaging and that a good laugh could enhance our creativity and collaboration. She would often share her own stories and experiences in the new media industry, sometimes funny, sometimes challenging, but always insightful. And I think these stories gave us a real-world perspective and made the class discussions more relatable." [insert: music transition]

TOPIC 2: Memorable Experience Impacting My View of New Media Host: Now let’s move on to our next topic which is one of my memorable experiences that changed my view of new media. A specific experience that had a significant impact on my view of new media platforms was a performance task where we had to create a vlog. My group and I decided to visit a famous bakeshop called 'Primablend' in San Mateo Rizal. We spent an entire Sunday planning and the next day which is Monday filming the vlog. It was a beautiful day, perfect for a little adventure. We started our day early, meeting inside the school after class to discuss our plan. We brainstormed different segments for our vlog—introducing the bakeshop, and of course, tasting some of their best pastries. Each of us had a role to play: 2 of my classmates were the hosts, me and another member were in charge of the camera, and the others handled the other stuff behind the scenes. The energy was high, and we were all excited about the project. When we arrived at Primablend, we were welcomed with the sweet aroma of freshly baked goods. We set up our camera and started filming. My classmates who's the main vloggers, introduced the bakeshop, describing its cozy atmosphere and the variety of pastries on display. The highlight was definitely the taste test—we sampled a variety of pastries, and I can tell you, they were absolutely delicious. But the real eye-opener came after we posted the video online. To our surprise, it received a lot of comments and interactions from people who didn't even know us. Seeing strangers engage with our content, sharing their own experiences with Primablend, and even asking us for recommendations was incredibly rewarding. It was a heartwarming experience that made me realize the power of social media. This interaction made me think about how new media, particularly social media, can create connections and foster a sense of community despite physical distances. This experience showed me how new media can bring people together, allowing us to connect and engage from, basically, anywhere in the world. It was a sincere realization that social media is not just about sharing content; it's about building relationships and creating shared experiences. It emphasizes the potential of new media platforms to impact lives in meaningful ways, and it strengthened my belief in the positive power of digital communication."

[insert: music transition]

TOPIC 3: My Contributions to the Course Host: And now on to the last topic of this episode, let's talk about my possible contribution to the course 'Writing in New Media.' This will not be long as I will just be basing on what I experienced and learned throughout my journey. Based on the experience that stood out to me, our Task Performance which is the Vlog, as a multimedia student, I think my possible contribution to this course is creating a personal vlog, so that I could start a platform where I regularly post my projects, reflections, and experiences throughout my journey not just in this course, but also to other related subject. This not only gives me a platform to showcase my work, but also helps me build an online community and share my learnings with a larger audience.

[insert: music transition] = OUTRO =

Host: To wrap up this episode, my journey in “writing in new media" has been both enlightening and enjoyable. From the fun class sessions to the memorable or should I say “meme-morable” experiences, and my aspirations to contribute to the course, I’ve learned so much about the power and potential of new media. This is your DJ CHA, and thank you for tuning in today’s episode CHA[T] HUID[ME]!. If you enjoyed this episode, please share your thoughts through the comment section. Until next time, again, this is your DJ cha, signing off.

[OUTRO BGM]

[firespirited]

The creator

Review: Overwrought and shallow, style over substance. Brilliant actors sidelined by a gazillion, mostly unnecessary, excruciating death scenes of mishmash asians™ treated like props.

Tell me why I am supposed to care about a man who lived among sentient life for years unwavering in his belief they were unfeeling and unworthy of life? A guy who takes 75% of the movie to see a child as more than an informant machine? Where are the supercomputers and non-bipedal robots? Their evolution and salvation is dependent on a single genius human: what is this?

Why is a british-punjabi actor playing a thai super-cop? Don't get me wrong Amar Chadha-Patel is a scene stealer who is going places (if they'd made him the new Witcher, people would be gagging for the next season).

Who overrode the editors: 135 minutes and 90% of it rote action junk instead of letting us bond to anyone? The double fridging: are you kidding me??

It looks amazing of course, Thailand is stunning and "otherworldly" since we rarely see it on film. But for goodness sakes, this thing needed a script doctor, a writer's room, anything but "ya boy made a good film this one time, let's let him single-handedly make another because auteurs are magic".

Top-notch ending but you literally could gut a whole hour of "action" from this film and it'd be more effective... mostly because we wouldn't spend that hour wondering why the main character has had no growth.

At some point you have to trust your actors to do more than deliver lines which means either working on fleshing out their characters with a team or letting them have some input and then putting that in your film: these are people who embody stories for a living and are very talented at it. Instead, we get to watch some brilliant character actors moved around like set pieces and attempt to give some texture to the paper thin character they've been handed. It's insulting.

Editing to add that: yes it's visually incredible, just beautiful, every design element (aside from the physics of explosions) was crafted with care, these are clearly people who love worldbuilding.

I happen to love stories above all else even if the sets are cardboard and the robots made of tin foil.

And also think it's the height of arrogance to not have your storytelling vetted (by people who'll be honest) or handed over to others when that's been a critique before. You created a collaborative piece of art that respects all the designers which is great but not the actors, and of course the audience who are there for spectacle but also an emotionally resonant experience. There is no shame in knowing when to get the right people for the job.

This kind of design and film work deserves a solid story skeleton and there are many brilliant sci fi writers whose work deserved that fantastic design treatment. I'm harshest on movies with great wasted potential.

This could have been mind-blowing with someone else's script.

[ba-hons-film-blog]

Film Project - Critical Essay

Project Title

Connection

Project Team

Alex McNeill - Director/Editor/Sound Designer

Jack Weir - Producer/Co-Writer

Ben Anstruther - Cinematographer/Co-Writer

James Stevenson - Production Designer

Yathin Lee - Sound Recordist

500 Word Proposal of my Intentions

After a hugely positive and rewarding experience directing The Tragic Ambitions of Steven Brown back in second year, I am very excited to be back in the director's seat for Connection this semester! This film focuses on a scammer forming a connection with the elderly man he is scamming. Hardly the most likeable protagonist, but that was precisely what drew me to the idea. He is selfish, he is morally corrupt, and he is… ultimately just a broken man who desires the most human of things: company.

The idea of taking a seemingly deplorable character and peeling back the layers to reveal the humanity in them was a very tantalising prospect - taking someone the audience should probably despise and seeing if we can make them feel even the slightest bit of sympathy. I liked the idea of portraying this person without judgement and just letting him exist, warts and all, feeling the film would be more complex and nuanced without feeling the need to box him into any kind of generic category. Some influences would be Mikey Sabre in Red Rocket and Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems, flawed people who nonetheless have humanising traits.

Said traits will be brought to the forefront when he meets the weary but still upbeat Robert. This elderly man is in need of connection just as much as Brandon, and the two form a genuine relationship. The sympathy the audience had towards this elderly man and seeing the positive effect Brandon is having on this lone widower, will be key in influencing their opinion of Brandon and to help them see this true character that has been corrupted by the nature of this environment, which will be highlighted by scenes involving Brandon in other social scenarios. Creating these feelings towards the character is a scary but invigorating challenge as a director and I look forward to collaborating with whomever we cast to bring this multifaceted character to life.

Something I am drawn towards in my work, in films such as Steven Brown, is visual storytelling, and how we can tell the story without exposition. The setting of Leith, this world in which Brandon lives, will be instrumental in informing the audience about who this man is, and why this is the life he leads. Setting the film in Leith is also very enticing from a purely visual perspective, as its industrial nature will give the film a distinctive look and feel. The characters and setting will also help tie the film into real social issues of poverty and social isolation experienced by many groups in Leith, which will help give the film more importance than just a piece of entertainment.

(Taken from the Pitch Document, and adaptly slightly in response to feedback to the pitch. This has not been changed to reflect the final film.)

Critique of Process

Pre-Production

Having two writers was sometimes not the best, concerning some disagreements on the script, although over time the duo became more unified with their intentions. Another positive was, if one person hit a brick wall, there was someone else who could look at their work and keep going.

I think, looking back, each subsequent draft unintentionally took us further from our original objective to humanise our scammer. One thing we were keen on is avoid anything too heavy handed - over the top reactions, blatantly obvious exposition - all being stripped away with each new draft. The only exception is the final scene between the two characters, with Robert’s dialogue being a little on the nose. While subtlety is all well and good, I think we went too far, meaning there is a lot in the film that is difficult for the viewer to decipher, and a lot of ideas weren’t as well realised as they could have been.

Production

On this project, almost my whole team were the co-writers, meaning everyone had contributed to the story and consequently they had a lot of strong thoughts on the film, which is very understandable. For the most part they respected me to direct the actors, although often piped up with suggestions. This was by no means a bad thing - far from it, as they had strong ideas I may not have thought of and were for the betterment of the film. Occasionally though, I felt our opinions were somewhat contradictory and for this reason maybe we should have had some more discussions prior to the shoot, but I think some of this was each person having a subtly different idea of the character in their head. However, we were always able to come to any agreement, so this never presented a big issue.

I think having a small crew worked nicely, especially as none of the locations were too big. There was one occasion where having additional people would have been good for blocking out sunlight, but otherwise it all went well.

Post Production

Working as both director and editor may have been to the film's detriment. This isn't to say that I did a bad job, only that it may have been better to have another opinion. While Ben and Jack brought a fresh pair of eyes, they were obviously very familiar with the story, so it would have been good to get someone with no knowledge in to let us know what worked and what didn’t.

A key thing that needed more attention was the sound design, which is rather minimal and was done by me, someone who is not specialising in sound. I never envisioned the film having overly complex sounds like some of the other films, but i think if we had an actual sound designer onboard, we could have had discussions about this that would have led to us coming up with ideas I would not have thought of otherwise.

I think one obvious thing we moved away from was the more social realist feel we pitched early on. With the majority of the film taking place in quite nice homes, the film just isn’t really in line with the works of a Ken Loach type film. This isn’t a bad thing, but means certain traces of the original idea jar with our finished product - we’re trying to convey a sense of place of Leith, an area most of the film doesn’t connect to, so elements with the walking shot or the sunset montage seem at odds with the serene nature of Roberts’s home.

Critique of final work:

The film received mixed feedback. Here I will discuss the feedback, our original intentions, and how we could address the feedback so those ideas could be conveyed more accurately and effectively.

CHARACTERISATION

A key issue was the characterisation of Brandon. From the earliest stages I had worried about how the central character would be received - while many films focus on flawed characters, those characters are not often exploiting vulnerable elderly citizens for their own gain. My worry was people would not be able to get past this.

The actual issue that people had was they did not understand the character and why he was doing what he was doing. Is it the only way he can survive or is it a conscious choice not to pursue an honest career path? Our thinking was it would be the latter, with him looking down on his “friends” in the bar who all have honest jobs. I was initially keen to keep including more of the characters backstory (nothing overly expositional, just through not responding to certain comments and such things, perhaps with some more concrete answers in the final scene, although still through the salesman facade) but after several discussions we decided not to go this way, being keen to define him by what he was doing in the present, as opposed to fixating on his past. The discussion about his thoughts on his life are still in the film, with the answers about BT really being responses to feelings on his scams - I suppose this makes clear his feelings on his scams, but still does not clarify why exactly he is scamming in the first place. Similarly, the dynamic between him and his friends is somewhat confusing in the bar scene (more on that later) meaning his view of scamming compared to 9-5 jobs is not clear.

Other notes we received were

"There is a disconnect between the protagonist and the environment, particularly the shots around Leith" - The scenes with Robert were intended as an escape from this life, but its hard to make that case when 90 percent of the film is set in Robert's house. I think we still could have had these Leith scenes, but we needed to highlight the depravity of his life in Leith instead of just having them featured in a few shots to transition between scenes. The point of these shots was also to show how Brandon is moving away from the centre on Leith for his scams. This was something that would have been reflected in the gradually calming sound design (going from loud industrial sounds to more distant sounds of activity and birds chirping). However, on the first day, we found a location that gave us a shot idea, panning down from a Leith flat, to show Brandon heading off to “work”. Our thinking was, as we had removed any scenes of Brandon's home, this could be a way to show where he lives without adding anything to the script. Of course, for this to work, this would have to be the first shot in the sequence, being that that sound change didnt work as well. Plus, we probably needed more shots anyway to make the sound change more gradual.

“Main character lacked depth” - This is the same as above, we had the backstory in our head, but in our fear to avoid spoon feeding the audience, failed to convey enough of it to help them understand Brandon.

“More conflict between him and the scam” - As it starts, the only scene involving this is the final scene, but even that is perhaps too underplayed. An obviously example could have had a scene with him counting the money and pausing for a moment, conflicting in his actions before continuing.

“The dynamic between him and his friends is unclear/More information on friends” - As a group we agreed his “friends” all have honest jobs - but with them all in similar football clothing, this is quite hard to figure out. It might have been better if they all wore work clothes, with Hibs scarves, and if Brandon wore something darker or more casual to contrast this, although that might seem odd. Or this could have been in the dialogue, his “friends” could talk about their uninteresting week at their respective jobs, while Brandon looks on from the side and laughs to himself about how these guys make minimal money following the rules, whilst he uses his initiative to score big. Maybe it would have been better to have more interaction with the group, to show how well they gel with each other, and make clear how Brandon differs from them, as opposed to just one guy speaking and only interacting with Brandon, in a way which could be read as a casual disagreement between two friends. The lack of clarity with regards to this scene could also have been an issue of sound (more on that later), but I think regardless of that the beats of this scene needed revising

At the beginning of the project, our mission was to create a disillusion, unlikable character, and make the audience understand them. I think we achieved the first part, and gave them hints of nuance, but ultimately, the audience didn't have the relevant background information to understand why Brandon was a scammer, and for that reason, we fell short of our objective. We even came up with the backstory too, but most of this is not in the film, and i think we could have gotten this in without seeming too expositional.

ACTING

People liked the acting and enjoyed the scene where the two characters were together, which was good to hear. People liked Ross’ performance but some wanted to see him being more weasley - particularly in the opening scene were he is scamming Lesley. Again, we wanted to avoid any cliches, like him drooling over the sight of Robert's money, but there could have been another way to tackle this. Maybe making him overly charming to the point of seeming unnatural. Or having him interacting with people in a more horrible manner outside of his scams, to highlight the difference between his real and fake personalities. They are some touches to show his dubious nature - like this disgust towards the beggar and a moment to rolls his eyes of Robert (during their first meeting, when the older man seems uninteresting in keeping his internet) - but I would agree we needed more of his and to make this thought process in those scenes clearer, whilst not going overboard with them. The main worry, in making him more charming or more weasley, would be going to far, and making the character unbelievable, but I’m sure there would have been a perfect middle ground.

WRITING

“Generally good interactions but sometimes the dialogue was on the nose” - This was a worry of mine when I read the scene interaction with Robert, but I figured it might sound more natural coming from an elderly man trying his best to speak to a disillusioned person in need of guidance. Especially contrasted to the more muted Brandon, who largely responds with single sentences and shrugs. So perhaps there was a more subtle way to pull this off.

“More of central duo, less walking” - we kept the walking shots for the sense of place, but i agreed, regardless of the social realism film we originally envisioned, perhaps those shots didn't work for the film we actually had

EDITING

The editing was criticised for being very pacy in places, with people mentioning it could have been wise to have someone who was solely the editor, to bring the fresh perspective the director may lack. During the editing, I was conscious of this and made sure to get Ben and Jack’s opinions but it might have been wise, even if I was still the editor, to bring in a fresh pair of eyes to give some feedback on how the film played to them not knowing the plot or our intentions. I also should have made more use of the lecturers, but as I was pressed for time with the edit and other work, I worried I would fall behind schedule if I took too much time out. Other key points were:

"Slower introduction to Brandon’s scams" - at 45 seconds, the opening scene is very speedy. This scene was originally a little longer and played better that way. But I cannot blame the brief, so to keep in time and let each scene breath, maybe we needed to change the latter scenes to accommodate its, or just start with Brandon meeting Robert, and have the pub scene take place after their first or second meeting, to start cluing the audience into his hollow life outside these scams. Another idea would be: scrap Connor. Just have Brandon charming over Lesley and leave with her money. It would be much more disturbing, him stealing from this vulnerable woman without anyone to save her, and would make the next scene where he uses her money to buy booze quite sickening. Whereas, establishing their dynamic, then bringing in Connor to shake it up, then having Brandon need to flee, may have been too much for such a short scene, whereas just having this smaller interaction would work nicely in 45 seconds. I did think of this idea during pre-production, but given most of the film involved one on one interactions, I didn't push for this very hard, as I liked that this scene would be different to the rest. Also, I figured this might raise the issue of “why doesn't he just go back to scam Lesley again, if it went off without a hitch?” Either way, it's a very rushed scene with a key purpose (establishing the main character's occupation) that needed more thought.

"More on discovery of Roberts football past" - the reaction shot we have in the film goes on from a little longer, with Brandon giving a more sizeable grin before walking off - sadly this was something that was cut for time, but if we do a longer cut, it will be added back in. Again, I cannot blame the time limit, so maybe I should have directed Ross to do a take where he gives this sizable grin earlier rather than later.

The shots of Leith were remarked on as being consistent with our original pitch but out of place with the decor of the rest of the film, and the exterior cutaways were out of place. Again, this is a good point and an example of focusing on the film you do have and don’t the one you don’t. Alternatively, having more scenes in Leith and more shots to show how he is going from one distinct location to another might have improved this.

“Its unclear who Brandon is staring at in the bar” - Maybe we needed a clearer shot of the Beggar, with regards to being slightly closer to him and maybe being a bit brighter. With regards to showing his reaction to the Beggar (with our intention being to show how he looks down on him), this could have been improved with a different take, maybe a more visible shake of the head, although that might have been too obvious and a bit unnatural. Maybe if the shot of the Beggar was clearer then this reaction would have made more sense.

The passage of time is something that was not commented on, but I think this is something that is not too clear either. The character's hair does change, with him getting a haircut around the midpoint of the film, but it just goes from quite short to slightly shorter. When I mentioned this to my flatmate on showing him the film, he remarked he had not noticed this. I think we could have had bolder costume changes, such as Brandon having a noticeably different jacket, as opposed to just changing ties.

Also, we could have gotten more two shots - visually we preferred the single shots, and to a certain extent, we were saving the two shots for the end of the film, trying to have a continual progression with the distance between the two slowly, from them sitting opposite each other in the beginning to side by side in the final scene. However, regarding the final conversation Ben found out the two-shot was too dark to be used in the colour grade, so it had to go, although we did have a nice over the shoulder shot on Brandon that worked to show the proximity between the two. In general, I agree it would have been nice to hold more on certain shots, but there were a lot of key subtle reactions I wanted to get in and we didn't have a lot of shots where the characters shared the frame, meaning I ended up cutting a lot. For this reason, a fresh pair of eyes may have been nice, as I'm sure there was a solution that would have meant the film was more reasonably paced.

SOUND

The sound was remarked on as being bare but decent enough. The main issue was the bar scene - in addition to the unclear dynamics of the scene, people struggled to understand/hear what was happening. I should have mixed this different, making the characters dialogue a little louder and the atmos/other sounds a bit quieter

OTHER

There were some annoying export mistakes, which were not a good look. We had a lot of issues exporting the film, which often tried to export as a 360 video (???), but finally managed to get it fixed shortly before the crit, meaning we weren’t able to quality check it to the level we should have.

In Robert and Brandons’s first discussion (after meeting at the door) there is one shot where the tripod was set up on the table and it noticeably shakes when Robert moves. While I had noticed it in the edit, it seemed very slight and as that was the best performance, I decided to keep it. It was only when we saw it on the big screen that I realised what a bad call that was, and how noticeable the shake was viewed on something other than a laptop. If we reedit the film, I will find another take for this - the main reason we had to use this was in many of the takes, you can see the crew in the reflect in Ross’ glasses, something we only released after a fair few takes. But I am sure one of the other takes will have a usable section.

Final Thoughts:

Ultimately, there is a lot I am proud of in this film, and I think we worked well as a group, with everyone more than pulling their weight. I think the main area where we felt short was the characterisation - I think we had some good discussions and good ideas, it's just that not all of them quite came across in the finished project.

I think I will re edit the film in the come days, as why not? Any opportunity to practise editing is always good and with the feedback from the crit regarding the pacing (and now being able to edit without the same time constraints) I will hopefully be able to make the film flow better. But the story issues will be more difficult to address, although the lessons we have learned from those issues and the rest of our feedback will be invaluable to take forward to the graduation film.

[lycantranny]

2023

Well, it’s over, and we move onto the next course. This year has undoubtedly been the greatest of my life. That might seem like a bold statement, but I can assure you of the genuine sentiment I’m trying to express. I finally had a year that didn’t entail a brief period of glory followed by a swath of dark ruin, or an entire year of emptiness with some brief moments of well needed (if selfishly taken) joy. The development and direction of Heart, my first short film, was absolutely life changing, and I hope it served as a similarly valuable experience for my cast and crew. The folks I worked on that film with are among the greatest of the world as I see it, and I love them with all that I can love with. My journey into therapy and my transition both have played a role in saving my life, actualizing the changes I made at the end of last year, and ultimately giving me this new, fresh chance.

At the start of the year, I was coming off of an experience that reinvigorated my love for film and storytelling, after 2 hard years of losing sight of that and becoming lost. I had met an idol, and I had written my first feature length script. I set out for work to save up a budget for a film called “What Day Is It?”, which later became Heart. Over the next 8 months, I felt more like myself than ever before, I was doing what I loved, and I knew for certain by this point that my life would become meaningless if ever decided for a moment to not dedicate it to storytelling. The people I either met or got to know better by collaborating with them and letting them learn as much as I was learning made me like people again, made me care once again about pathos and human connection. Right after that, I started my transition, and this holiday season has been a great cyclone of emotions. I feel so much more than I did prior to HRT, more than I’ve felt since 5 years ago. Smiles are easier to not have to fake and I’m interacting with the world with one less layer getting in the way and softening impacts.

This isn’t to say there were never spiritual, emotional, or physical challenges. There were, and I want to list them here. Around when the weather began to warm up, I entered a period of extreme anxiety that was spurred solely by the nature of my social life at that stage, and this led me to attend therapy, where I was diagnosed with PTSD. In the summer I had an experience on the set of Heart that is responsible for the final product in every way, because it was the first time a shoot had spiraled out of my control, and I was feeling as spiritually damaged as I could the day after. To everyone that was there, your criticism brought our film to something greater than it would’ve been otherwise. I eventually made a realization about someone I briefly considered a like-minded friend. I experienced a litany of physical predicaments that were completely miserable. Re-realizing that I was transgender, in a lot of ways, only made my dysphoria worse, and in that gray space between coming out to myself and actually transitioning it was often debilitating. But for the first time in so long, these struggles were never anhedonic, they were always truly emotional experiences that I actually felt things over. More than anything, I hate feeling like I’m being bled out by circumstances that I can hardly even figure a cause for, and I’m so glad to be able to say that didn’t happen this year.

As I write this, I’m packing up my bedroom to head off to Olympia to attend The Evergreen State College. I personally count Heart as a full year of college experience, and I think its existence is part of what got me in. I can recall thinking about Evergreen a lot during creative peaks during high school, so here’s to hoping that it goes well.

Thank you everyone. Here’s to 2023. :)