The Silent Knights

Blog: Happenings

2010-10-15T06:00:00.015+11:00

What's happening with
the Silent Knights?
And why should I care?

Well to answer the second question first: I have no idea. In fact you probably don't.

But in the interest of maintaining proper blogging etiquette, we should announce to you faithful that the Silent Knights are living up to their name and embarking on an 'indeterminate hiatus.'

In what really shouldn't have come as a surprise, we have found that starting a small business takes an awful lot of time and effort. But just what is this so-called business? Well, we are matching our passions for filming, writing, animating and education into one glorious monstrosity of a project; creating educational films for schools.

We've got a HD camera, proper audio equipment, editing and animation software and almost unlimited access to a professional studio - as well as three guys all eager to get started.

This means now to the end of the year will be taken up with business plans, meetings with the accountant and solicitor, and filming of a pilot episode. And if that all goes alright, then it's a year's hard labour filming, living off savings, and getting a website up and running. It's lucky we're passionate about it, or we sure as heck wouldn't be bothering.

Of course, all this leaves little-to-no time to do anything as indulgent as writing blogs - which is a pity as we've learned so much in doing it, over the last year and a half. Talking to others about the mistakes and lessons one has discovered, has been an invaluable method of really learning from it. And of course having lively discussions and interesting comments and questions from you guys is just another thing we will be sorry to lose.

Of course there is always the chance we'll be back again in a months time, significantly less wealthy, if the business crashes and burns - so we can always hope...

Sincerely,
Luke & Mutt

For further information, or just a sticky-beak feel free to visit us at:
www.inkspire.com.au
(Currently just a face page)

Blog: Ugandan Animation

2010-09-10T06:00:00.005+10:00

There is no post this week, due to the sheer amount of stuff happening at the moment.

For a start we're in the middle of possibly starting up a Media company. And it looks like we've already got our first project.

It's a short educational animation for a missionary run curriculum in Uganda, who teach family planning and sanitation as well as other life skills.

Did you know that an average Ugandan family has seven kids? And it's a lot higher in poor regions. This is called the poverty trap, and once you have more than four or five kids there is literally no way out of it. Orphanages and other care and aid agencies do help families here and there, but in that time many more may slip into poverty. That's what this group is trying to fix - educate people, and help them avoid the trap altogether. This animation will hopefully help visualise some of that.

These are just some style experiments. I've been studying African art, which is really interesting - and almost exclusively depicting women for some reason. It's full of huge ear rings, head wraps and really tall, elongated people.

We have a much more ambitious project coming up, but hopefully we can keep this blog going through it all...

Oh, and what do you guys think of the name 'Inkspire Media'. Any good?

"Email me if you're interested in supporting this foundation."

Bad Practices: The Chattering Monkey

2010-08-27T10:00:00.001+10:00

One of my greatest flaws is my big fat mouth.

I could go on forever about film and philosophy and even longer about any of Mutt and my ideas. Seriously, no one I know ever asks me about them anymore because they know just a hint of curiosity starts me maundering in a disjointed, euphoric manner reminiscent of a small boy recalling how "the most awesome thing just happened".

In essence this passion is a favourable attribute, but not so much when it fails to translate into action.

It is only in the last year I came to understand. Action trumps talk. Period. You could be the most ostentatious wordsmith alive, but the guy who manages to manifest his talent into a finished product will always win in the end.

It was a recent meeting with a very industry-savvy friend that really cemented the fact. We were so hung up on aesthetics and production values that we were holding back all our best cards until 'the time was right'. Now it is clear that such a time only ever arrives if you are moving forward, actively, towards it. In this case moving forward means manning up and making something.

It's about overcoming the fear that it will not live up to what I have in my head, and replacing it with the fear that is will not live at all. How's that for motivation?

Personal flaws: they're a laugh and a half, eh?

Top Ten: Commentaries and Making-Ofs

2010-08-13T06:00:00.005+10:00

So tell me, are you the kind of person who enjoys watching Behind-the-Scene documentaries and listening to audio commentaries?

Well if you're not, here's a free heads up; you are probably going to hate this blog, as it's pretty much a diluted, conjectural and mostly plagiarised version of that.

The best Making-Ofs (M.Os) are goldmines of experience: sharing mistakes and solutions, inspirations and methods, tips and tricks. But they're not all like that. There are also bad M.Os, glorified production company ads or the briefest of vignettes - lasting only long enough to confirm that yes, a composer may have been hired.

The Silent Knight's
Top Ten Commentaries and Making-Ofs

This is a list of the Making-Ofs we found the most useful. A collection of what we thought were the most interesting and educational bonus features we've found. I'm sure if you've listened/watched any M.Os, you will have already seen a few of these. Hopefully there will be a few new ones - and if your favourite one isn't listed below, please drop a comment so everyone can find a copy.

#10
The Mummy
Commentary

They rip into their own film. On their own DVD commentary. Brilliant. Definitely worth checking out just to hear film makers being honest about their work and it's shortcomings.

#9
Lion King
All bonus features

This is one of the most perfect movies ever made, and there are lots of lessons to be learned from this. The one that stuck with me the most was how they really simplified down the story, while maintaining such rich detail. It was also a joy to hear how they came up with the music and Rafiki and all the twists and turns.

#8
Kung Fu Panda
Commentary

The people behind this film care so much about every little detail - you'll realise layers you never knew were there, and how to add them to your own ideas. They also talk in great depth about how to really nail a theme.

#7
Frost/Nixon
All bonus features

A brilliant movie that should not have worked, but did. The bonus features and commentary really expand on exactly how a documentary about a political interview could be turned into a fast-paced subtext-ridden Hollywood nail-biter, and not feel wrong. It also explores how actors can really make or break a movie.

#6
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Behind the Scenes feature

No matter what you think of it, Atlantis really aimed for the stars - and as such it was plagued by a range of strange and unique problems. Their cast were so varied and ambitious each had their own obstacles - one was animated overseas in a different style, and another was covered in intricate tattoos. They were still struggling with 3D and how exactly to use it. The expensive opening scene was abandoned and the story naturally turned into two separate movies, that constantly fought for attention. Of course, all that made for a much more interesting Making Of.

#5
The Matrix Collection
All bonus features

The Matrix Revisited is definitely right up there in showing that the Brothers Wachowski really fought for their dream and gave 110% to get it made. Now, that alone would be interesting, but then we really get an incredibly rare insight into why the sequels didn't work so well. How? They let critics do their own commentaries and pick it apart. Wow. This alone demands your hard-earned cash.

#4
Futurama Series
Commentary

Filled with humorous stories by interesting people who really care about their craft. As of two years ago, Luke now officially quotes the commentary more often than the show.

#3
Star Wars Original Trilogy
Empire of Dreams documentary

A compelling documentary explaining how Star Wars, a franchise that changed so much, came to be. And more interestingly, how it almost didn't come to be.

#2
The Incredibles
All bonus features

One thing Pixar Making-Ofs excel at, is showing how far from the finished product they start. Watching the M.Os for Finding Nemo (2003) or Monsters Inc. (2001) is terrifying, because it isn't until almost the very last moment that it all pulls together. However it is The Incredibles M.O. that really stands out, because in addition to this it also contains eye opening views on design and extremely applicable writing dos and don'ts. I am always referring back to how Brad Bird dealt with the scene ‘Snug’s Death’.

#1
Lord of the Rings Extended Edition
Appendices

Could anything else be on the top of this list? Now I think the LotR trilogy is easily one of the greatest trilogies ever made, and even then... I almost think that the Appendices are better than the films. It is the most complete account of the journey of making films we've ever seen - by the end of it, you really feel you were part of it. Extremely interesting all the way through, and that's saying something - just look how much that is:

________________________________

Of course ten is a pretty arbitrary number, and we have a few more that we really learnt a lot from. Other great Making Ofs to check out are:

Benjamin Button - So many unique considerations
Back to the Future - We take most of those movies for granted
The Star Wars Prequels - Always interesting
King Kong - PJ sure knows how to do Making Ofs
Gladiator - Extended Edition commentary
Fawlty Towers - Super insightful interview with John Cleese
Horton Hears a Who - How do you adapt Dr. Seuss?
And E.T. is supposed to have a great Behind the Scenes

We'd love you to share with the group any good ones you've found.

Article: The Vicarious Sequence

2010-07-30T10:00:00.002+10:00

Movies are opportunities to experience the impossible.

If I write a script where characters can control the elements (ahem), then I need to empower the viewer to feel what that would be like. I owe it to each and every one of them to have a sequence that is purely about the wonder and magnitude of it, to suspend the impossibility of it and make it utterly real.

Often it's these sequences that become the most treasured, especially in the hearts of younger viewers. Why? Because we want to be them. We want to feel the fantastical as tangible, and if you believe that then giving the viewer something to experience has the potential to be everything.

The Vicarious Sequence

Or "Why Can't I Ride A Dragon?"

Vicarious Sequences are sequences deliberately designed to be these pure experiences of an emotion, exploring a key element of your universe that exists outside of the boundaries of the normal world. It could generate excitement, wonder, joy, sadness, horror, just about anything. Here are a couple of great examples of more obvious Vicarious Sequences.

The "Test Drive" Sequence (How To Train Your Dragon)

I freaking love this scene. It, better than anything I've ever seen, captures that feeling of blissful flight we've all dreamed about more than a few times. In this sequence we are Hiccup, and Toothless is our dragon, and it's awesome. It also taps into that primal longing, that at least us guys have, to tame and share a special, near-psychic connection with wild beast. That's two seriously powerful things it has going for it.

But it's more than that. If that's all it took to create such a sequence we'd have a million of them by now. So what is it? Well, here's my guess; It's also a 'HOW TO' sequence.

If dragons did exist and they could be flown... how would you do it? This sequence is full of fleeting details that ground the whole thing in a reality that makes that feeling of joy all the more potent. He had to design the saddle, he had to work out he needed the tether... he had to learn it's fatal flaw.

It was these details that took the sequences from us watching some kid flying around on a dragon to being that kid. It was real to the viewer.

The Dojo Fight (The Matrix)

The above shot, an improvised moment on set, sums up this sequence flawlessly. He was an ordinary nerd trapped in an ordinary life with nothing going for him. Now he knows kung fu... instantly. Awesome.

This is how the viewer feels as Neo; Smug, sure and on top of the world. He just got what every little boy would kill for and he's ready to kick some ass. But even better than that is, believe it or not, the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar.

Not only did Neo just get mad kung fu skills, but he's got an audience primed to see if he's The One. This taps into the viewer's desire for fame and recognition, and very powerful desire to draw from. That, and the fight scene was really well choreographed. Without that, none of it would have worked. But because of that, it worked so much better as a Vicarious Sequence.

---

I chose these sequences because they embody the most commonly used emotions; excitement and joy. If you wish to see an example of how to utterly fail at this sort of Vicarious Sequence, give Astroboy a rent (actually, that film is worth seeing for finding a way to fail at just about everything).

Inception is another really good example of giving the viewer a unique experience. When Ariadne (Ellen Page's character) first enters a dream consciously (paradox?) she immediately starts flexing her metaphysical muscles and changing the world. Come on, wouldn't you?

Yes, you would. Don't lie.

These sequences have the potential to be the most impactful, the most powerful, the ones that can stay with a younger viewer the rest of his or her days. When you get so caught up in the rules and the structure of storytelling... it's the Vicarious Sequences that can be the most easily forgotten.

What are your most loved Vicarious Sequences?

Link: 'Is Spoof Dead?' by Craig Mazin

2010-07-02T06:00:00.002+10:00

Just a short post this week - an old article by Craig Mazin, a very talented and insightful role model of mine.

The Friedberg & Seltzer 'phenomenon' has of course well and truly died down. And thank goodness. With each film they released, it felt as if society was decaying before our eyes.

But with the grave of F & S's career, so too lies the grave of the Spoof genre. With distance, I felt it was about time to stop celebrating at the funeral of the former, and participate in the autopsy of the latter. Of course, in an autopsy analogy Luke and I are but 'medical interns', and it was invaluable to have the experienced hands of a professional Pathologist. As a writer for Superhero Movie, this guy was there - fighting in the trenches while all this went down. He knows.

Is Spoof Dead?

We too, now hope for the eventual return of the humble Spoof.

(EDIT: Friedberg & Seltzer's reign of terror has died... or has it?!)

Rule Of Thumb: Summing It Up

2010-06-11T06:00:00.006+10:00

When Mutt and I first started out as writers... we were idiots. I don't just mean your regular breed of idiots, I mean the kind of idiots who storyboard an entire script then don't write any of the dialogue or action down. Imagine our surprise when we rediscovered it only months later and had no idea what the heck was going on.

While that appears an obvious oversight now, the real ones we have to watch out for are the errors in judgement you can justify.

A while back Mutt and I would have said that true art has nothing to do with marketability. More than that, we believed they were at odds. Let the soulless money-grabbers worry about over-simplifying our work, let the artists create art, right? Well, if there's one thing an embarrassing meeting with someone taught us it's that we were being idiots all over again.

Eager to convey the sheer quantity of quality concepts we had up our sleeves, one day we decided to wow them by breaking down one of our ideas.

What followed was perhaps the most long-winded, unoriginal-sounding pitch containing a heck of a lot of "but done really well" and "it's better than it sounds". It was excruciating. We knew it was awesome, but we couldn't even sell it to someone who was already on our side.

During a seemingly eternal tram ride back to the train station we went over it again and again and had a horrible epiphany. It doesn't matter how brilliant an idea is if it isn't pitchable.

We always thought summing things up in a mere sentence was about dumbing down perfectly good concepts to maximize marketability, but we missed the point entirely. From what we've gathered, there are two key reasons why it is essential.

1) It helps to focus an idea and makes it stronger.

Slapping the word 'art' on a mess doesn't stop it being a mess. Concepts need structure and purpose, and a log line really forces the writer to find the spine of the story and keep it under control.

Think about the simplicity beneath of surface of movies like A New Hope, Toy Story, even The Seven Samurai. It extremely clear what each is really about and the fact that you could produce a remarkably succinct log line for any of them only calls attention to their genius.

Think about The Great Escape: When the Nazi Military puts all the greatest escape artist P.O.W.s in the same camp, they join forces to enact one of the most daring and ambitious escape plans in history.

Sounds great, right? Well, the movie was great too and it certainly wasn't lacking in any loving detail.

2) The easier a concept is to comprehend, the easier people can get into it.

This one is the real clincher. We love our ideas. We want other people to love our ideas. Why would we make it hard for people to love our ideas??

Let's face it, this is the real world we're talking about. No one is handing us our big chance on a silver platter, so we don't really have the luxury, or the inhumanly eccentric genius to play hard to get.

Now, if you'll excuse me Mutt and I have to run off and continue our idiocy in new and exciting ways.

"For further reading on the topic, this article gives some history."

Rule Of Thumb: Story Needs vs Author Wants

2010-06-04T06:00:00.005+10:00

The more I write, the more I believe ideas are alive.

I used to think, in my young naive way, that I was somehow in control of my ideas. That it was I who was Lord and Master of my little worlds; that on a whim I could bring both happiness and destruction to my characters, should I wish it.

But the world was quick to show me my foolishness, as it always is - and I was forced to "cast my own small golden sceptre down." Ideas are alive; they each have personality and know exactly how they want to be told.

When I come up with the first seeds of a story, be it book or film, it usually starts its life deceptively versatile. Like a newborn, it is full of potential and options; and it is completely dependant on your guidance.

Then as you raise it from its infant state, annoyingly it starts to develop its own personality; like a teenager, it will eventually become discontent with its blind obedience to you. It starts rejecting scenes and details you try to add. Suddenly it doesn't want to work in the family business - it has its own plans.

It will start to suggest plots and characters, themes and directions all on its own - and unlike a teenager, it's always right. I'm learning the hard way that a lot of good writing is simply being able to listen to these 'suggestions.'

By way of example, a few years ago we were planning out a series concept, and for the longest time we had decided to kill off a main character's brother. The story needed a dramatic catalyst, and the brother's death was both dramatic and catalyzing, and it was the one we wanted. However the story had it's own thoughts about this, and the the death refused to sit right.

For months we argued and struggled trying to fit in his death, to no avail. It wasn't until we yielded, and listened that we made headway. The story demanded that someone else entirely should be killed, someone we thought couldn't possibly die - but sure enough once we'd done that, everything just clicked and the whole story fell into place.

This lead us to finally realise what I believe to be one of the most important writing rules:

Give the story what it needs, not what you want.

I've found this usually means a lot of heartbreak.
Sometimes it means removing 'Tom Bombadils' from adaptations.
Sometimes it means murdering my darlings.
Sometimes it means giving the audience what they want.
And sometimes, it means not telling the story I first wanted to tell.

Practically speaking, I find this means really exploring the natural limits of ideas. Anything outside of those limits needs to be cut, and anything inside should perhaps be explored. You can't include science-fiction concepts in most realistic dramas, and you usually can't have pop-culture jokes in fantasy setting - no matter how much you want it. A show set in the White House usually needs politics, and kid shows need to be bright and visual - no matter how much you don't want it.

There are many different forms of these limits. I remember watching Man of the Year (2006) which had such a great premise, but it got bogged down in a very science fictiony B-plot about electronic voting 'what ifs'. This is something I would describe as 'out of limits' for a comedy based on real life.

And Sky High (2005) also had a brilliantly simple concept: The son of famous superheroes is sent to superhero school... but he doesn't have any super powers. The movie naturally explores this by having the people with weaker powers being treated unfairly. If that's your foundation, then your theme has to be 'it's not about your powers, it's how you use them' or 'it's not what's outside, but what's inside that counts' or even 'people without are just as valuable as people with' or any of the endless variations. The movie ruins this by giving everyone super powers by the end of it, even the bus driver - the main character gets two! Now the message is 'you're only worth something if you have powers'.

And there are large blanket limitations as well. For example, we've found that you can't have aliens in an idea not completely about aliens. Just look at all the negative feedback Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Knowing (2009), The Forgotten (2004) and even Tintin and Flight 714 (1968) got when the last ten minutes suddenly sprung 'aliens' as the mysteries solution.. Aliens really have to be heavily hinted at before the Inciting Incident - and it's the same with time travel.

Audiences seem surprisingly sensitive to these conditions being broken - even if they often can't articulate them.

Bad Practices: The Card-Stacker

2010-04-10T15:18:00.020+10:00

Time for a new type of post: Bad Practices deals with all the strange flaws and habits we've found in ourselves... and mostly overcome. Everyone has their own specific problems: Maybe you have trouble starting to write - forever planning. Maybe you have trouble writing too soon - never planning. Whatever problems you face it's important to notice these habits and deal with them, and in aid of that we'll be highlighting some of our own Bad Practices.

To start with, here's a deceptive trap we fell into early in our careers:

The Card-Stacker

The Card-Stacker is a writer who builds his narrative very tightly, very delicately, and with every piece arranged in carefully balanced coordination. That doesn't sound so bad, right? It didn't sound bad to us either.

What we discovered is that, come time to make the inevitable rewrites, changing anything would result in the whole House-of-Cards falling down. The smallest addition or subtraction would result in an avalanche of changes, a chain-reaction of consequences. It was so precarious it had lost all flexibility.

These overworked ideas were like lines of Christmas tree lights: If one bulb was removed, all the other bulbs would die.

Each beat relied so heavily on the one that preceded it, that should one be changed - ten more needed drastic alteration. Scenes defied length adjustment, the smallest of characters were entangled in plot, and all optional details had somehow become inextricable.

We had to learn to under-plan some things, to not be afraid to have non-vital elements and that simplicity meant stability. While in some ways it was good writing, like most things in life it was a matter of finding balance.

Inspiring Idea: Before The Box

2010-03-26T22:00:00.000+11:00

If there's one thing Mutt and I really love doing it's watching old films.

In the earlier days of the film industry storytellers were far more ready to take risks. There were no established rules and no one knew what worked and what didn't. As a result, you find all kinds of unexpected originality and gold in older films to draw inspiration from.

So... lacking inspiration? Go and rent a bunch of really old films, the older the better.

Harvey, Mr Deeds Goes To Town, Bridge Over The River Kwai; all of these are great examples of really strong characters in very unusual stories that you don't really see anymore. Not exactly the secret of the ages, just great examples of thinking outside the box that we've so cleverly created for ourselves in these modern times.

You guys got any great ones?

Rule Of Thumb: Complain Complain Complain

2010-03-12T06:00:00.003+11:00

Out of all the characters Mutt and I have created, Hedge would have be my favourite.

He's a realist trapped in an unrealistic children's cartoon, constantly getting dragged into increasingly illogical and life-threatening situations by his 'friends' who, in typical cartoon form, always make it worse.

For the longest time I was having so much fun writing him that I couldn't see the big problem with his personality... he was a complainer.

It was only when I finally stepped back that I saw that, in the context of an entire episode, he spent 90% of the time whining and being generally unlikeable. Bewildered that I didn't see it before, I realized that just because a character is fun to write, doesn't mean they're fun to watch.

It applies to more than just complainers too. Sakura from the popular manga/anime Naruto attracts a lot of hate from fans because all she ever seems to do is cry about some guy who is clearly a complete ass and never even liked her in the first place. When all she does is cry it gets really old, really fast.

But one character that keeps beating the same drum over and over again yet works is Bender from Futurama. Every episode we can count on him to be the biggest possible jerk to everyone around him for no good reason... it should make him unlikeable. But then I realized that he's more than that. Beneath his jerky exterior he's like a child, vulnerable and completely helpless. This additional quality makes him endearing and cancels out his otherwise detestable traits, making him likeable.

So it wasn't that Hedge couldn't be a complainer, it's that he had to be more than a complainer. In Hedge's case the solution was in emphasizing his passion for boring, safe things. Where before being trapped in a cage could only ever result in him complaining, now he might become fascinated by the rare type of knot used to hold the cage over a volcano. It prevents him from becoming too repetitive.

I guess you could say I learned that adding dimensions to a character makes them multi-dimensional! See Mum? I'm learning!

Top Ten: 'Best of the Worst' Films

2010-02-19T06:00:00.050+11:00

One thing Luke and I really enjoy is watching a really great bad film.

We love them to the point of becoming almost connoisseurs of the genre. It's a very enjoyable and healthy mix of Hilarity and Film Theory.

The following are our favourites; movies that walk a delicate line between 'Bad' and 'Soul Crushingly Bad' to - miraculously - become good again. These movies aren't to be enjoyed alone, so grab some friends and strap in:

The Silent Knight's

Top Ten 'Best of the Worst' Films

This list is dedicated to Golden Turkey Award winner Edward Davis Wood - who without his pioneering we might never have cultivated such a love.

#10
Sinbad (1993)
And the entire Golden Film Animated Classics Archive (1991-1993)

Attempted Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Synopsis: Surprisingly, this is the only animation on our list. In the early 90's Golden Films decided to take Disney head on. The best way to do that, apparently, was to under-fund 14 full feature films over three years. Three years.

Sinbad's launch was sandwiched between Aladdin's release and The Lion King's (arguably two of Disney's greatest) which may have put a damper on its prospects. Never-the-less it battled bravely on through a lack of budget, talent and storyline with admirable persistence.

Clever and original money saving techniques were pioneered and are proudly on display. For example, every time something was animated instead of just playing it once like a sucker, they looped each animation seven or eight times.

Another clever trick they employed to save time and money was simply not fix any problems.
Have characters that look aggressive instead of happy?
Have something drawn that is entirely the opposite of what you need?
Have some of the most insane, hypocritical dialogue ever written?
Not a problem: Leave it in there!

Critical Reception:

These movies are an untapped goldmine.

Watch For:

The opening 90 seconds totals 15 original frames - Most animations will have over 2000.
The lack of credits after the movie - it's telling when no one wants to put their name to it.

#9
Street Fighter: The Movie (1994)

Attempted Genre: Action

Synopsis: This movie is the height of campy, over theatrical action. It's terrible, but it seems to realise how bad it is and embrace it. Because of that, it becomes... almost charming in it's own way.

Although one could say that any movie that contains colourful costumes, bulging muscles, tear-jerking speeches, American flag tattoos, eye patches, top quality ham-acting, deranged dialogue, World Wrestling inspired action and Jean-Claude Van Damme - was always destined for greatness.

Critical Reception:

IMDB: 3.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 13%
"A dreary, overstuffed hodgepodge of poorly edited martial arts sequences and often unintelligible dialogue."
Stephen Holden

Box Office Mojo: C

Time: #9 Worst Video Game Movie

Watch For:

Bison's plan ("Every Bison dollar will be worth five British pounds. That is the exchange rate that the bank of England will implement after I kidnap their queen!").

#8
Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (2000)

Attempted Genre: Sci-Fi/Adventure

Synopsis: This movie is sheer nonsense.

In it John Travolta plays the falsetto villain, Terl, who's about as threatening as a butter knife. Trained in conquering galaxies, and a self proclaimed strategic genius, one of Terl's plans involve releasing some human slaves into a barren, desolate ruin - to see what they eat (there is no food there) - so he can bribe them (they are completely under his control anyway).

This plan is ineffective, inept, unnecessary, mundane, misguided... and in a way, charitable. He is an anti-villain.

But he's not the only one with terrible plans. Barry Pepper's character plots to defeat the aliens by training cavemen to fly complex fighter jets in a matter of days. Fighter jets that 1000 years ago (when they were newer, tuned up by professional mechanics and flown by proper pilots) had already failed to defeat them.

To add to this, every scene is shot on crazy angles. It's as if the camera man had one leg shorter than the other... and was wearing his custom-made height adjustment shoes on the wrong feet. Personally I didn't notice, simply because I thought the whole first act was shot on the side of a mountain.

Handy fact: If you angle your television, the movie is 30% less terrible.

Critical Reception:

IMDB: 2.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 2%
"Ugly, campy and poorly acted, Battlefield Earth is a stunningly misguided, aggressively bad Sci-Fi folly."

Box Office Mojo: D-

Razzie Awards: The film won Razzie Awards for Worst Movie of the Year, Worst Actor (Travolta), Worst Supporting Actor (Pepper), Worst Supporting Actress (Preston), Worst Director (Christian), Worst Screenplay (Mandell and Shapiro) and Worst Screen Couple (Travolta and 'anyone sharing the screen with him').

It was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actor (Whitaker) and Worst Picture of the Decade (result pending).

This tied Showgirls for highest number given to a single film. Battlefield Earth was later awarded an eighth Razzie for Worst Drama of Our First 25 Years.

D-FW FCA: Received 'Worst Picture' award, 2001

FilmCritic.com: #8 Least Effective Movie Villains

Watch For:

A rebel attacking the aliens by inexplicably throwing a wheel.
Pepper running through six consecutive panes of glass.

#7
Dungeons and Dragons (2000)

Attempted Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Synopsis: Luke and I have a rule for fantasy movies that hasn't failed us yet: Either they're really good (LotR/Colour of Magic) or they're really bad (Knights of Bloodsteel/In the Name of the King). Dungeons and Dragons definitely falls into the latter category.

The characters are badly done archetypes, and the plot is desultory - to the point where I cannot actually remember what it was. Something about crystal balls... and dragons? There were dragons in it. I guess any movie based on such a well-travelled concept such as D&D (which is basically just a collection of other people's work anyway) is expected to be a little... cliché. But it goes beyond that, because it doesn't even copy the good parts of anything. It feels like someone made a movie from the unwanted scraps off Terry Pratchett's cutting room floor.

This movie is so dreadful that it even makes Jeremy Irons look bad. There's this hilarious 'Extras' scene on the DVD which distinctly shows him off camera, with an expression that yells "If my manager hasn't found a LOOPHOLE to get me out of this ATROCITY... heads will roll!"

Why would they include this on the DVD you ask? Apparently in the crowd, four rows back, in a face concealing outfit, Gary Gygax was making his one and only cameo. That's right - they cut his only scene in the whole movie. But that's not the funniest case of bad planning this DVD has to offer.

To get into the Extras menu, you have to answer four or five questions about the movie. Even we, who had just watched it, had to try several times to get into it. Okay, that's not the worst design in the world - but it gets better. You see, the language options are in the Extras menu.

Yes - it's just as bad as you think it is; Foreigners have to answer obscure questions, to a movie they've never seen, in a language they don't speak, just to watch the damn thing! I'm not going to even mention the spelling mistakes on the back cover, or the racist controversies surrounding one of the worst cases of 'token black person' I've ever seen. It's just an all round great bad movie.

Critical Reception:

IMDB: 3.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 10%
"TV-trained performers yelling at each other, second-rate computer-generated graphics failing to conjure up an enchanted world, and Marlon Wayans doing what can only be called a heartfelt tribute to Butterfly McQueen..."
James Sanford

Box Office Mojo: D+

Watch For:

The 'that's-more-confusing-than-the-rest-of-the-movie-put-together' final scene.

#6
Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002)

Attempted Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Have you ever watched Jaws and thought "If only it didn't have any of those pesky redeeming qualities?"

Yes? Well then, are you in for a treat!

Critical Reception:

IMDB: 2.4/10

BD Horror News: #6 Cheesiest Horror Movie One-Liners

Watch For:

The most blunt pick up line ever uttered on screen - (N.S.F.W.)
A crusty old sailor dubbed over by a 20 year old doing an old man voice..

#5
Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (1984-1996)

Attempted Genre: Children's Movie/Adult Horror (an obvious pairing)

Synopsis: Roughly speaking, Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders was supposed to be a film about Merlin and his wife trying to bring a little joy and magic into people's lives.

What it ended up being about is a grossly incompetent wizard who completely ruins innocent people's lives, and never fixes them.

Let's see if I can describe just how much of a mess this movie is.

It centers around two short films - neither of which have anything to do with the other - and neither are any good. There's no real way to fix that, but the film is sure as heck going to try. It attempts to link the two films together with a framing device about a 'friendly old wizard' and his wife. I'm sure in retrospect they regret choosing to dress up the producer's grandparents at the last moment.

The second film feels particularly disjointed, considering it was a pre-existing short film that was shot over ten years earlier. The difference in visual quality alone is very obvious. More obvious than that, however, is the way they've tried to edit Merlin into it - and how spectacularly they failed at changing the ending from a horror one, to a happy one. For a start, you can still faintly hear the audio of the poor family screaming in pain and terror. Hilarious stuff.

The makers must have (rightly) thought that it still wasn't working, so instead of scrapping the project - they added a SECOND framing device about Ernest Borgnine acting as poorly as possible. That's right, a framing device for a framing device. Listen to how clumsy this IMDB summary sounds:

"Two creepy 'horror' films joined together by Merlin's Shop which is, in turn, introduced by a Grandpa telling the story."

Merlin's Shop is a great example of transplant rejection, and why sometimes it's better to give up.

Critical Reception:

IMDB: 1.6/10

MST3K: Featured in Season 10 of Mystery Science Theatre 3000

Watch For:

The journalist pulling a book case onto himself for no reason.
The sudden change in eras.
Merlin being world-threateningly incompetent.
The budget being 'whatever coins we had in our pockets at the time'.

#4
Starcrash (1979)

Attempted Genre: Space Opera

Synopsis: The story goes that the Italian film maker, Luigi Cozzi, saw Star Wars and decided "Hey... I could do that." And thus was born Scontri Stellari Oltre la Terza Dimensione (Stellar Clashes Beyond the Third Dimension).

The plot runs something like this: A wise old man asks a talented pilot to destroy a planet sized weapon, and stop an evil Emperor. Sound familiar, right? In many respects it flat out plagiarises Star Wars.
But here's the twist; Nothing makes sense.

It raises so many questions. For example: After a long, gruelling journey the main characters finally find the hidden weapon planet. Suddenly, the same man who sent them turns up and rescues them - By bringing his entire fleet with him - And somehow freezing time...
Then why, WHY did he go to great lengths to recruit strangers if he could get there easier, faster and with reinforcements of his own?!

And how is the shamefully dressed woman with the vacant personality supposed to be a modern, feminist main character, when she spends the movie hiding behind the male characters and being rescued by them?

And how did the character pictured above suddenly develop over-powered, contradictory, inconsistent and unaccountable god-like abilities? Which are never explained? And why didn't he use them on several occasions, even when they would have saved his life?

And why didn't they just freeze time again during the final battle? Did they not want to win instantly and without casualties?

And how is David Hasselhoff in this movie?

And when...?

...what?!

Do yourself a favour and find a copy online somewhere.

Critical Reception:

IMDB: 3.2/10

Watch For:

A 25 second sequence of people slowly strolling towards a console.
David Hasselhoff. Fighting stop-motion robots. With a lightsaber. In space. I'm not even joking.

#3
The Wicker Man (2006)

Attempted Genre: Horror/Thriller

Synopsis: Nicholas Cage mopes about being angry and confused, until he is called to a mysterious island filled with women. It is there that he decides to mope about being angry, confused and inexplicably violent for the remainder of the movie.

It tries to be scary, it really does; offering attempts such as a loudly ringing phone, laughably creepy Elderly Twins, and a swarm of bees to which he's allergic.

Allergic to bees? Really? Joe said it well: "I don’t care if you are allergic to bees. If you are allergic to bees, don’t go near BEES. Problem solved."

After a slow start, the insanity builds until the screen is filled with one hilariously bewildering moment after the other.

Critical Reception:

IMDB: 3.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 15%
"Puzzlingly misguided, Neil LaBute's update The Wicker Man struggles against unintentional comedy and fails."

Box Office Mojo: D+

Razzie Awards: Nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Cage), Worst Screenplay, Worst Remake, and Worst On-Screen Couple (Cage and his Bear Suit).

Cult Status: Achieved

Watch For:

The final insane twenty minutes.
Nicholas Cage punching a defenseless woman... while wearing a bear suit.
"How'd it get burned?"

#2
Troll 2 (1990)

Attempted Genre: Action/Horror

Synopsis: This bizarre low-budget assemblage is cheesy horror at it's best. Featuring vegetarian goblins, guys drowning in popcorn, oddly calm people being turned into trees and kids urinating on magic banquets at the request of dead grandfathers - all through the filter of some of the worst acting you'll ever see.

And not featuring any trolls. Not one. Seriously, the word 'troll' isn't mentioned once.

It's over run with silliness. Such as when goblins, in human form, were completely unable to enter a house (apparently breaking a window or entering one of the many unlocked doors was beyond their capabilities). Once they do finally get in, they eagerly demonstrate their ability to TELEPORT.
Teleport instantly. And to anywhere.

Like from outside the house to inside it, for example?

Definitely worth hiring.

Critical Reception:

IMDB: 2.0/10
Ex-Title holder for the Worst Film of All Time

Rotten Tomatoes: 00%
"It's rare to find a film with such an ignominious reputation actually living up to the hype."
Nick Schager

Has its own documentary.

Cult Status: Achieved.
This video shows exactly what is so great about bad films.

Watch For:

The 'Popcorn Scene' and its 'Non-Resolution'.
The grandfather teaching his grandson how to use a Molotov Cocktail... on his family.
The main villain being defeated by a kid eating a normal hamburger - context doesn't help.
This famous scene.
The brilliant, poetic ending.

#1
The Room (2003)

Attempted Genre: Drama/Tragedy (...black comedy?)

Synopsis: This is it, folks. The holy grail of bad movies. Written, directed, produced, starring and entirely funded by Tommy Wiseau, The Room is a relentless assault of the worst acting, the worst writing and the worst everything ever - super concentrated and completely straight-faced. Tommy Wiseau really thought he was creating a tragic masterpiece but instead he gave us what is quite possibly the greatest unintentional comedy performance ever put to film.

The best part about The Room, however, is how transparent it is. The whole film is clearly a giant 'up yours' to an ex-girlfriend (N.S.F.W.) in which Tommy is portrayed as the perfect, selfless boyfriend and her as evil incarnate against all logic and reason. This transparency extends to every aspect of the film.

There's a recurring framed picture of a spoon that's clearly the picture that came with the frame. Or whenever Tommy writes himself into a corner the male characters just toss around a football... which is just another corner so then he injures one of them and the scene ends. It's comedy gold at every turn and it's earned its cult status.

Get some mates together. Watch it. Love it.

Critical Reception:

Cult Status: Achieved. Double achieved. Triple achieved.

Watch For:

The mother-in-law's bad news.
The infamous spoon painting.
The flower shop scene (a.k.a the most pointless scene in history).
THE WHOLE MOVIE

________________________________

And that's our list. However if you're anything like us, it's only going to take you about a month to work through these - so we've added the other movies that didn't quite make it onto the list, but are worth watching anyway.

Great Bad Films:

Half Past Dead ('02) - Excellent Steven Seagal foolishness
The Legend of Chun Li ('09) - The mentor dies like three times
Titan A.E. ('00) - Worst romantic arc BAR NONE
The Adventures of Pluto Nash ('02) - Aimed at children... or sailors?
The Avengers ('08) - Like two smug robots talking in monotone at each other
Plan 9 from Outer Space ('59) - The classic
Aeon Flux ('05) - If Jackie Chan vomited on a VHS tape
Benchwarmers ('06) - Rob Schneider trying to be cool and successful
Trumpet of the Swan ('01) - Some real competition for Golden films
Holiday Special ('78) - A wookie watching a cooking show. Canon...?
Catwomen ('04) - Winner: Worst Picture, Actress, Director, Screenplay 2005

Films we're yet to see:

Basketweave ('06) - A must read review
Frankenstien Island ('81)
Son of the Mask ('05)
Robot Monster ('53)
RoboGeisha ('09)
The Roller Blade Seven ('91)
Manos: The Hands Of Fate ('66)
For Y'ur Height Only ('81)
The Giant Spider Invasion ('75)
Surf Nazis Must Die ('87) - Thanks for this suggestion Zack

And anything on these lists: MST3K episode list, IMDB lowest rated, Wikipedia's 'Movies considered the worst' list, Bad Movies.Org, RT 25 Movies So Bad They're Unmissable... more to come.

We also recommend any film by Uwe Boll, and any animated Disney sequel (except Rescuers Down Under, and Mulan 2 - which were something approaching good).

Please share your favourites, and any we've forgotten.

Link: The Phantom Menace Review

2010-02-05T06:00:00.004+11:00

You know how sometimes you'll watch a film and something doesn't quite feel right? Well, here's one of those nerdy guys on the internet that has the uncanny ability to tell you exactly why.

I love those guys.

So today's link is a video review of The Phantom Menace by a demented individual named Mike. It's extremely insightful, clever and often quite humorous. It's also seven parts long. It's also totally worth it.

Just be warned, the guy has a pretty abstract sense of humour and there is some swearing.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

PART 6

PART 7

Of course, he exaggerates how bad it is for comical effect, but he does raise many excellent points. Still, I think Mutt and I will continue to enjoy The Phantom Menace because... well, it's still Star Wars.

Rule Of Thumb: Character Blind Spots

2010-01-29T19:38:00.013+11:00

Sensible, well intentioned characters are a pain.

I mean they're fun to write, they can add real meat to an idea and can help rope in a wild cast - but they rarely do what you want.

For example, in Arrested Development the writers are always creating intricate reasons to keep Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) from very sensibly leaving his family forever.

We had this exact same problem with one of our main characters - Hedge. He was a logical, boring and pragmatic character in a loopy, cartoon world, and it really made the whole show 'click'.

But every now and again we would need Hedge to be a little loopy. Otherwise he just stayed at home and never did anything interesting (which admittedly was almost always the smartest choice).

The question was: How do you force a character to do something out of character, and still have it in character?

As it turned out, one answer was to find some kind of leverage to exploit.
A 'blind spot,' if you will.

In Arrested Development, Michael has a Blind Spot where his son, George-Michael, is concerned. So let's say Michael is once again about to leave - Not a problem; the writers just have his son mention how important family is. BAM. Michael stays for his son's sake.

Hedge already had a weakness for anything 'boring'. Boring hobbies, boring collections, boring activities - whatever it is, he's a sucker for it.

All we had to do was play that passion as a Character Blind Spot, and suddenly we could get him to do the most ridiculous things - as long as it allowed him to 'find his lucky lederhose' or 'complete his cork tile collection' or even 'get back in time to tape the ads'.

You can see how useful it is. Simply find or create a Blind Spot, and then even the smartest character can become stupid, single-minded... and malleable.

Once we knew the rule, we started seeing it everywhere:

Think about how reckless the very responsible Marty McFly becomes when someone calls him a chicken.
And how quickly Jim Hacker compromises his inflexible integrity as soon as a loss of votes is hinted at.
Or Uchiha Sasuke, who would do anything for revenge.

The writers behind these examples are having their cake and eating it - all while adding depth to the character.

For further reading on the topic, this article might be helpful.

Rule Of Thumb: It's Gotta Suck First

2010-01-22T06:00:00.004+11:00

My single greatest struggle as a writer is a fear of failure.

For the longest time this fear stopped me from writing what I really wanted to write. I kept lying to myself, believing that as long as I never actually put it to the page then I could never be disappointed in myself. As long as I never tried I couldn't fail.

That's when I learned the most important thing I feel a writer can ever learn. We suck.

Yes, that's my rather unoriginal point. Like all human beings we screw up way more than we ever succeed, and the only thing that's gonna decrease the number of times we screw up (which never stops being a lot) is to learn. If we don't write a pile of crap we'll never write a mountain of gold.

All the most valuable things I've learned as a writer, and I really mean all, was from trying my hardest and utterly failing. It's like poison to the ego, but it was what I needed. Because it was only then that I could see my weaknesses as a writer and work to smooth them out.

Mutt is always watching time-lapse videos of people painting awesome artwork and a few weeks ago he made a really cool observation. The greatest artworks always look terrible at the beginning, but slowly grow into something incredible. The less impressive and forgettable works usually play it safe the whole way through, never daring to chance looking disappointing.

An obvious point, I know, but sometimes it's the things right in front of our faces that we need to be reminded of the most.

Blog: Holiday Intermission

2009-12-22T06:00:00.003+11:00

So that marks 40 posts for our first year. From everyone here at Silent Knights; Merry Christmas and thanks for reading. We will be back in a month with hopefully some new lessons learned.

To finish the year, here is an intriguing interview with the ever insightful Brad Bird about Fostering Innovation.

Answer: Character Profiles & The Spark

2009-12-11T09:03:00.028+11:00

Jen, an up and coming film maker and turndown girl, asks:

"Can The Silent Knights do a post on character development? I find I struggle with consistency.
Do you give your characters back stories?
Do you have them on a cork board with a profile?"

Now the first step to consistency is to understand your character. A popular way to start is using a Character Profile.

This is a generic one I made, but over time I find I use it less and less:

Character’s Appearance:
Name, Age, Tics and other Visual/Auditory notes

The Good:
Strengths, Skills or Talents

The Bad:
Weaknesses, Problems or Difficulties

Character’s External Identity:
Hobbies, History, Career, Back-Story, Relationships

Character’s Internal Identity:
Personality, Prejudices, Grudges
Reactionary Devices (Shown as Obsessions, Habits, etc)

Character’s Thematic Identity:
Goals, Arc, ‘The Question to be Answered’

However, these lists come with a warning: They tend to lead towards shallower characters. From top to bottom, my list currently runs from most obvious to least obvious, but in some strange irony it also runs from least useful to most useful.

Knowing a character’s eye colour or blood type is useful only up to a very limited point, but it is fun and easy to choose. When I use the list, I try to force myself to work from the bottom up.

A thing to note is that we’ve found over time that the better the character, the harder to summarise. Some of our best characters became so ‘alive’ that their Profiles ended up looking more like essays. It’s a good sign that you’re ready for the next step: Prediction

If you really understand your character, you should be able to pick exactly what he or she would do in any given situation. I like to pick a variety of situations such as working in a group or being in a stressful or dangerous position, and write a little excerpt of the reaction.

I find these mini-stories summarise a character better than any Character Profile. I know if I’m having trouble writing a particular character of ours, I just recall this hilarious little jailbreak example we came up with for him. Helps me ‘get him’ every time.

One final piece of advice for coming up with a character:
Look at the larger context
That’s what the posts Reactionary Devices and Cast Templates were all about. The character you just created is going to have to spend an entire book or franchise together with the other characters, and (to some degree) serving your plot. Make sure they can earn their screen time by being whatever they need to be.

We had to replace our beloved badger character in Stumped recently, a character who had been there from the start, simply because he didn't add enough to the series. There is nothing worse than that.

Well... except famine.
Or rape.
But you get the idea.

"I want to develop my Ben character but I don't know where to start. I get overwhelmed with all the possibilities of what kind of person he can be."

Nothing crushes creativity like too many possibilities; time to enforce some limits. One concept Luke and I have used before is the idea of 'The Spark'.

What first inspired you to make Ben? Was it his appearance, mindset or some physicality? Was it perhaps an interesting back story? Or even just the name?

This is The Spark and we find it often exerts powerful influence over most of our characters and ideas, even if we didn't realise it was there. Once you have identified it, there are four common (but not definitive) scenarios to move onto:

1. The Spark is a Strong Core Idea - Embrace it
What you want to do is consciously make that your starting point, and let it guide the rest of the ‘fleshing out’ process.

Let’s say our Spark is 'wanting to write a character with little, to no imagination.' Then we can ask questions such as “What kind of job could we give him?”

Now that would lead naturally to making him an accountant or statistician, or you could choose a more contrasting angle and make him an art curator, or a worker at a circus. This doesn't help with everything, but I find that if my Spark ever had legs then I should be able to discern some kind of direction from it.

2. The Spark is a Weak Core Idea - Re-evaluate it
Be harsh. A good idea doesn’t always equal a whole character. Sometimes a Spark can be transplanted to another character, and sometimes a Spark just never had the potential for fire. Sadly this is one thing I am experienced in.

3. The Character is Strong but The Spark is Holding It Back
Sometimes the Spark starts out in one place, then over time the character develops its own momentum and becomes its own thing. Because of this, sometimes it’s The Spark that is holding back the character from developing.

Brad Bird (bless his cotton socks) describes this as an emotional kidney stone that is painful to get rid of, but allows for a healthier finished product. The Incredibles (2004) had changed so much since he first started work on it, that he had to remove the scene ‘Snug’s Death’ which had been with him since the start.

4. The Spark is 'Basing a Character off Someone You Know'
This is a very broad and complicated Spark, just as broad and complicated as an actual human being. Unless they have incredibly forceful and unsubtle attributes this can be hard.

I recommend making a list of the, lets say top 10 things that interest you about them. From that I would try to choose the one or two big things (usually a personality trait) that can sit at the core of the character - then work your way outwards.

________________________________

Now what I know about Ben from your blog, you have created lots of details and 'moments.' You do this better than most people and it's what makes your work unique and magnificent I think. It's why I can never tell if they're real, or if you just made them up.

The next step is to find that 'core idea', and The Spark is a good place to start looking. From the little I know of him, I would guess it's something to do with his misanthropy, or his mysterious past. Don't forget the larger context - Either let a story come from him, or adapt him to a story.

But then again, you were always able to find a story in things I never could have. Trust your instincts.

________________________________

I hope that makes sense and helps you in some way. Cheers Jen on inspiring the first Q&A post. I look forward to others.

If you're still struggling with Ben, feel free to post some specifics and maybe we can brainstorm something.

Inspiring Idea: Film Fixing

2009-11-27T06:00:00.005+11:00

Mutt and I do this all the time and it's an excellent way to refine your understanding of good storytelling.

1) Find a friend who is really into storytelling. If you can't manage that, modify a Tickle Me Elmo to artificially replicate human sentience.

2) Either rent or go see a movie. Now, your choice of movie is important. It can't be a complete joke or it defeats the purpose of the exercise, and it can't be practically perfect either. Find something that's pretty flawed but has potential.

Now your mission, should you feel obligated to give it a go, is to do it better.

Deconstruct it, discuss what worked, why it worked, what didn't and why it didn't. Then discuss how you would fix up the bits that don't work and improve the bits that are already there. Pretend you've been asked by the studio to perfect the film and that you have all the resources you need to do it.

Why? Because if there's one thing Mutt and I have learned over the years it's that you learn a heck of a lot more from the films that get it wrong than the ones that get it right. It's like gravity; If it's doing it's job right then you don't really think about it.

This exercise helps to build up your problem solving abilities and expands your knowledge of pitfalls to avoid. That and it's really, really fun to do. I think Mutt's version of the Felix Felicis sequence from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will go down as one of my favourites in Harry Potter history... even though it never actually happened.

Just remember, it's really easy to find faults in the finished product, especially when you're coming at it from the outside. It's not so easy when it's your own work and it's in development, so be nice.

Article: Cast Templates

2009-11-20T06:00:00.038+11:00

Recently, one of our Adventure Series had progressed to the stage where we could finally plan out our main cast.

We were expecting that creating interesting characters would be the problem. We were wrong. The problem came when there were no limitations - where any and all of our ideas could fit. I was determined to find some gauge, some touchstone from which we could narrow and mold our selection into a dynamic and workable line-up.

My Cast Template
Broad Brush-Strokes through Precedent

In many ways this post is a spiritual successor to RoT: Reactionary Devices, however this post is a lot more general, and focused on the cast as a whole. To create my template, I scrawled long unintelligible lists of details about my favourite main casts, from both shows I liked and didn't, in an attempt to see some linkage or pattern between them.

Naturally I began by matching characters to various collections of Archetypes, and while these pre-fabricated stand-ins are great for inspiration (with a shout out to my homies Theophrastus and Joseph Campbell) it was still too limiting. The Hero, The Damsel and The Big Guy Who-Seems-Tough-But-Actually-Has-A-Heart-Of-Gold are all great up to a point, but I felt my template still needed more flexibility.

Instead, I eventually decided upon three broader Character Attributes: Appearance, Mindset and Ability - each with three levels of strangeness in relation to whatever the 'norm' is in that world.

APPEARANCE - How the character appears. (Shape/Colour/Details etc)
A good cast is usually varied, showing the range of that world from the ordinary to the most ludicrous possible in the idea. And not just in shape and colour, but the sound of their names, or voices or even just their stance

Normal is usually a proportional Human - should still have interesting scars, or clothes
Unusual could be a Human with vampire teeth, or covered with tattoos or even a Half-Elf
Completely Alien could be a giant blue Dragon or an ewok

MINDSET - How the character thinks. (Personality/World-View/Priorities)
For more on balancing personalities, see RoT: Reactionary Devices

Normal is usually a reasonable person concerned with ‘the Plot’ - should still have interesting back stories, or quirks
Unusual could be a King who sees everyone as servants and cares for ‘the Plot’ only when it suites him
Completely Alien could be a bureaucrat from an alternate dimension who cares nothing for this world - like a Fixed Character, think Dr. Manhattan or even a young Buzz Lightyear!

ABILITY - How the character can act. (Physicality/Powers/Possessions)
I wasn't going to include this - however not only do most shows have at least one character with an interesting Ability, but it becomes such a strong source of inspiration that soon that's all they write about (see Voyager with '7 of 9' and The Doctor)

Example of how easy a scene is to write with a good Ability

Normal is usually a standard Human with basic capabilities of that world - should still have useful and interesting traits
Unusual could be an alien with different dietary needs, or an insanely powerful warrior or even a very rich person
Completely Alien could be a superhero robot ghost - who is also an omnipotent werewolf

Of course, in your idea Dinosaurs might be Normal, and hence having a Human in your main cast would be Completely Alien. You must scale the idea for each idea. It might be a realistic drama, and a Completely Alien Appearance might only be a wheelchair - or tall, fat or even in some ideas I've seen: Simply female.

With most shows I looked at ranging from about 3 to 5 characters, and getting progressively more out-of-the-ordinary as they go on - I've averaged it out into the following template, ordered by how central they are, with Character 1 being the Main Character and so on:

Character 1
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Character 2

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Character 3

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Character 4

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

So anyway that is the Template that I use and even though none of our ideas end up matching this - they always take on a life of their own - it has proven extremely helpful so far.

Here are a few of the ideas I looked at, and I look forward to people challenging it. I'd also love to hear what you think constitutes a good cast.

Red Dwarf

Lister
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Rimmer
(His Ability of course being a Hologram)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Kryten
(Has Appearance and Ability of a Robot)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Cat
(Catlike Humanoid who is so self-centred he barely notices the plot happening)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

- Holly is an Ancillary Character

Futurama

Fry
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Leela
(Appearance: Cyclops)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Bender
(A: Robot, M: "The What Room? The Bath What? The What What?", Ab: Robot)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Zoidberg
(M: Finds strange things normal, and vice versa - often unconcerned with plot)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Professor Farnsworth
(A: Old, Ab: Extremely Fragile)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

- Hermes and Amy are Ancillary Characters

Family Guy

Peter
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Lois

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Brian
(A: Dog, P: Dog)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Stewie
(A: Baby, M: Megalomanic, Ab: Dirty Diapers)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

- I believe Meg and Chris are Ancillary Characters

The Mighty Boosh

Vince Noir
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Howard Moon

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Naboo
(A: Strange Dress and Really Short, M: Not from this world, Ab: Magic and Knowledge)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Bollo
(A: Gorilla, M: Slavish Animal Familiar)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

- Bob Fossil is an Ancillary Character

South Park

Stan
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Kyle
(Ab: Jewish - I'm not racist, it's listed here because the show often makes use of this)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Eric
(A: Obese, M: Often portrayed as an antagonist)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Kenny
(A: Hooded and kind of Mute, Ab: Even though he is technically immortal, the show doesn't use this)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Aang
(Ab: Assuming being a Bender is Normal)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Katara

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Sokka
(Ab: Not having powers is Unusual in this world)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Toph
(Ab: Blind, rich and with some unusual Bending abilities)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Labyrinth

Sarah
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Hoggle

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Ludo

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Sir Didymus

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Fantastic Four (The Movie, as the Comic varies too much)

Mr Fantastic
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____

The Invisible Woman

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____

The Human Torch
(A: Drawn in flames, M: Focused on Women and Fame)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____

The Thing

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____

Pirates of the Caribbean

Will Turner
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Elizabeth Swann

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Jack Sparrow

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Star Wars

Luke Skywalker
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Leia Organa

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Obi-Wan Kenobi

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Han Solo

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Chewbacca

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

- C-3P0 and R2-D2 were more like Narrators or Looking Glass Characters

The Princess Bride

Westley
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Buttercup

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Inigo Montoya

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Fezzik

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Top Gear

Jeremy Clarkson
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Richard Hammond

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

James May

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

The Stig

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

The IT Crowd

Roy
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Jen

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Moss

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Richmond

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Fawlty Towers

Basil
(A: Taller than everyone)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Sybil
(M: Often some sort of antagonist)

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Polly

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Manuel

_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______

Article: Filler Episodes

2009-11-06T06:00:00.006+11:00

Nobody likes filler episodes. No, your friend lied to you. He hates them. Also, he hates you, but this article isn't about how everyone you've ever known feels about you. This is about filler episodes... which nobody likes.

But here's the kicker: Filler episodes are a necessary evil. It's about clearly establishing the ordinary so the extraordinary feels exactly as exciting as it should be. Phrased more poetically, you cannot comprehend a storm's power if no calm precedes it. So through gritted teeth, here are a few different ways I've found to make filler episodes not feel like filler episodes... even though they are.

And your friend still hates you.

Filler Episodes

Or "How To Stop Your Viewers From Noticing That Nothing Is Happening"

1) Draw On Your History

The Problem:

A self-contained story is the biggest giveaway that it's a filler. It's so disheartening when you realize that you could have just skipped that entire episode and not missed a beat.

The Solution:

Tap into the pre-existing mythology of the universe. Bring back small-time (or big-time) characters or storylines that were either resolved or forgotten about in an unexpected and exciting way. You can even leave it open ended for future filler use.

Why It Works:

It's not a new story out of nowhere, it's the continuation of the much-loved canon and it can retroactively add more importance to what might have been a forgettable older episode or arc.

2) Do Something Special

The Problem:

Fillers are called fillers because they're those annoying gaps in the otherwise kick ass season arc. So, basically, we need an episode that doesn't screw up the surrounding story but doesn't bring down the season either.

The Solution:

Don't hide that it's a filler. Revel in it and create the most awesome one-off episode you can conjure up! Consider 'The Interview' from Season Four of the hit series M*A*S*H, where the show transforms into a documentary looking into the life of a M*A*S*H unit. Also there's Stargate SG:1's '200', where the writers spend an hour hilariously poking fun at their own show.

Why It Works:

It rewards fans for watching a show and has the potential to go down as a favourite episode. Whether it be exploring ideas outside of the normal universe or just plain fan service, it's taking advantage of the gap and filling it with something otherwise impossible in the primary season arc.

3) Savor The Slow Down

The Problem:

With all the action and story going on episode to episode, character moments and the little things that fans love can get lost in the mix or forgotten altogether.

The Solution:

In this case the filler is the solution. With no story commitments fillers can slam on the brakes and just be about the characters for a while, get back to basics and re-discover the universe. I'm a big fan of 'The Beach' from Season Three of Avatar: The Last Airbender which placed the villains of the story in very mundane teenage situations and we got to see just how hilariously messed up they really were.

Why It Works:

Assuming the characters are actually likable, it gives the viewers a moment to step back and realize just how much they love spending time with the characters. It allows them to remember just why it is they watch the show.

---

There is one more way to fix up a filler, but this one is only for the most daring...

MAKE IT GOOD!!

Don't treat it like a filler, treat it like an opportunity! No writer should hold back perfectly good material just because it's a filler! It's still canon and whether we like it or not it's gonna air eventually so we might as well make it good.

How about you? Do you have any tricky tricks for turning a filler into a winner?

Project: Captain Pisces

2009-10-30T06:00:00.002+11:00

Phew, it has busy week.

After meeting with the lovely and accommodating Emma, we decided upon our next goal: To create a pitch document for one of our ideas - Captain Pisces in the 21st Century!

Both the text and the images were a great challenge, but they turned out pretty much as we'd hoped.

We can't say too much about the details, but hopefully the images might speak enough about the tone.

Another thing we've been working on is the Stumped Bible - a new, much more professional looking version. For that we've enlisted the help of Timothy Jack, a super talented and all round nice guy.

And this is supposedly just a super rough work-in-progress!

Link: Mario Brothers

2009-10-16T06:00:00.005+11:00

No, The Silent Knights has not devolved into a video game blog like millions of other blog across the interwebs. We are firmly committed to remaining a writing blog like millions of other blogs across the interwebs.

Every now and then when surfing Newgrounds or You Tube you come across something very different and very, very special. This is one of those somethings. It's a five act story simply titled Mario Brothers from crazy genius Alexander Leon, who used the graphics from the original Super Mario Bros. video game to tell a tragic tale of Shakespearian proportions. Check it.

Mutt and I have always been fascinated by the inspiring yet terrifying power of storytelling to beautify anything. This is one of the greatest proofs of this we have ever seen. It transforms a simplistic and even absurd video game into something dark and powerful that made us completely forget that we were watching a collection of featureless pixels. It makes you wonder what other things stories can make seem beautiful in spite in reality... or already have.

You'll want to watch all five acts of this masterpiece.

Inspiring Idea: Idea Archival

2009-10-09T06:00:00.002+11:00

Both Luke and I spend quite a decent amount of time Documenting and Archiving our ideas, be it character concepts or simply a line of dialogue. As a result, it surprised me to meet writers who don't keep any of their ideas at all. Not documenting my ideas seems to me like a carpenter who throws out all his tools after every job - or a squirrel not storing nuts for the winter.

Of course, it is their prerogative, and in fact one of our revered mentors told us himself that he doesn't really keep notes. But if you'll indulge me I'd like to put down not just my How, but my Why.

Why

As writers, our careers at their basic level seem to be almost entirely based on two things:

1) Our ideas, and 2) Our ability to convey them.

To talk about them in reverse order: The second one, Conveyance, is about Skill, Instinct, Study, Experience, Flexibility and so on - things covered in the majority of articles both here and on other sites. If I were to over-simplify the principal, I would call it the Quality.

The first one, Ideas, is about Inspiration, Productivity, Creativity and Brain-Storming Ability. Roughly speaking, it is the Quantity. People always tend to sneer at Quantity, but if you only have one idea every 10 years, it really doesn't matter how good that idea is.

Now if I was blessed with such a mastery of the Quantity that I always had a solution to this or that script problem, or could instantly come up with the perfect original gag on the spur of the moment then hot dog, that would be dandy.

However, if you're human like me, you will have your off days, you'll draw a blank or maybe you'll just be plain ol' bashing your head against a wall. Well, it's on those days that your Muse is visiting an Aunt, that Idea Archival comes to the rescue - think of it as a Quantity supplement. Years of un-copyrighted material ready for the picking.

Winter has come and you have a hollow full of nuts. Delicious.

How

MacJournal
I have, as of two years ago, completely digitized my notes. I use MacJournal, created by the wizards at Mariner Software - and yes, for all of you brave people still battling through the murk of certain other Operating Systems, there is a version for you. (EDIT: It is now available for iPhone and iPod Touch)

This is probably my most invaluable writing tool... directly under actual scripting software of course.
Voice Recorder
Luke has made better use of this than me (mainly because I don't have a voice recorder, and he does) but not only is it more portable and easier to record the more complex ideas, but it captures the feel and energy of the original creation.

For the longest time we didn't use voice recording simply because it was too hard to store them, or to find the right note. However, ever since finding that MacJournal holds audio (not to mention pictures and video), it's been a simple matter of pasting it in and writing a simple descriptive caption.

Dream Journal
This one might just be me, but it's a free and constant source of uncontrolled creativity. I've gotten some very interesting visual ideas over the years that I would have never come up with myself, as well as even some potential short films.

Not to mention disturbing glimpses into my raw psychotic innermost.

End

So they are some of the ways I record my ideas. In passing I'm also going to mention the Image Archiving post, even though it's more about Inspiration rather than actual Ideas.

I'd love to hear your methods for documentation. Take a screenshot of your Folders and post a link in the Comments section - Or copy down your MacJournal layout - Or even take a picture of that tattered cardboard box with the reams of unsorted A4 poking out from under your bed. Whatever you have, let's share it with the group.

Rule Of Thumb: Battle Fatigue

2009-10-02T06:00:00.003+10:00

Back in 2002 when Peter Jackson was editing the climax of The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, he discovered this very useful rule of thumb.

No matter how many epic shots and awesome action he kept adding to the sequence it was never as exciting as the shorter, initial edit.

He worked out that he had passed a magical line at some point where the action stopped adding to the sequence and started diminishing it. Apparently we can only take so many explosions before we need a break or lose interest. I know! Impossible, right? Explosions are sweet! I mean, they explode. How could that ever get old?

So, desperate to avoid making this mistake myself, I decided to compile a list of possible solutions.

1) Less Is More

In the words of Nigel Powers: "It's not the size, mate, it's how you use it." Making an action sequence longer and larger doesn't make it better. In fact, usually the opposite is true.

Remember the Burly Brawl from The Matrix Reloaded? 100 super-powered Smiths verses Neo, The One. That thing went for over five minutes but it didn't hold a candle to the shorter and oh so sweeter Dojo Fight from it's predecessor which, funnily enough, only had two guys in it. It was more creative, more fun and it left you wanting more... in a good way.

The longer the action sequence goes for, the greater the risk of losing the viewer to boredom. The larger scale the action sequence is, the greater the risk of the viewer not investing in it's outcome.

2) Personality, Personality, Personality

Action = Good. Action + Character = Good... er... More Good.

While Brad Bird was working on The Incredibles he adopted the phrase Character-Driven Action. Basically, never take your character's personality for granted, especially during action sequences. Figure out what makes your characters and your whole universe unique and use it to make a unique action sequence!

The Sand Wall Sequence from The Mummy, the Mall/Aqueduct Chase from Terminator 2, the 100 Mile Dash from The Incredibles, all of them factored in the personalities of their characters and the unique qualities of their universes to create truly memorable sequences. They kept the viewer engaged.

3) Take A Break

Pfft, dealing with fatigue by taking a break? Like that'll work.

You see this one all the time. The hero and the villain are dueling to the death and it keeps cutting away to the damn comic relief character trying to complete some stupid secondary objective. In reality, this is not only providing the viewer with a much needed breather, but it's secretly helping the main fight seem more intense by comparison.

In The Two Towers PJ kept cutting, quite deliberately mind you, to the slowest and most boring characters imaginable during the battle of Helm's Deep. He also dotted the whole sequence with quick visual interludes. Geographical shots, spectacular extras fatalities, anything to mix it up and break up the action.

---

Also, it helps if the action sequence isn't completely pointless. Not that we'd target the Burly Brawl twice in one post... *cough*

Article: Tips for Creative Disagreements

2009-09-25T06:00:00.009+10:00

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a good Argument. Actually, who am I kidding - I love bad Arguments, I love irrelevant Arguments, and I love impractical, hypothetical Arguments that have no impact on life. I've played Devil's Advocate for so long that even Satan must be sick of it.

But regrettable and blasphemous rhetoric aside, I've jotted down a few tips that help me keep 'Argument' in it's proper, prominent and productive place.

Here I have compiled three blog posts, which I have placed in what I have taken to calling 'Randological Order,' on the topic of:

Tips for Creative Disagreements
Without spiralling into fisticuffs maybe!

In a creative partnership, such as the one Luke and I mutually tolerate, the butting of heads is both necessary and, in some controlled degree, encouraged. Which brings me to my first, and central point:

The Argumentative Mindset
A Code of Conduct for an Aggressive Arguer

No doubt, to the less quarrelsome of you, some of the following advice will seem insultingly obvious. I inscribe it here for my own sake, and for the sake of people like me - who will often mistake the means for the ends where Debate is concerned.

1) The Strength of Compromise
In the beginning when I would have one idea (pure gold, of course) and Luke would have his own, these ideas would be in competition like two snarling dogs in an arena. I naïvely thought it had to be one idea or the other, and that any compromise would produce nothing but an unhappy, diluted farrago; true to neither and helpful to no one. Compromises were, in my book a desperate lose-lose settlement - a last option reserved for sissies who couldn't stick to their guns long enough for the other side to give in.

Of course, in practice it turned out to be the complete reverse. The dogs would still stalk the arena, occasionally taking large chunks out of each other - but somehow at the end of it we would be the joint owner of a sleek, and powerful panther. Our compromised ideas, jokes, and characters are usually our strongest - and maybe if I had compromised on the 'dog/arena' metaphor, even that might have worked.

2) Its Real Purpose

What is Argument's real purpose? Well, for the longest time I stubbornly held to my definition of 'proving oneself righter than one's opposition,' simply because that was more enjoyable - and more satisfying. However, once I forced myself to treat Argument as a method for finding the best option regardless of who's option it is - a method of exploration rather than competition - I found it a much more rewarding experience. Obviously.

3) Never Make It Personal

I've worked in lots of groups, and there's usually one guy, while we're planning our plans, who says to himself: "You know, I could win this disagreement by reminding everyone how the other person's last idea was terrible" or "...how So-And-So still wets himself." NO. Not cool. This information, while technically useful and occasionally hilarious, is irrelevant and could potentially discredit a superior idea.

On the reverse side - and this is always hard - when someone argues against your perfect, revolutionary and ingenious idea, don't take it personally. Be unbiased about your own ideas.

Argument Devices
It's All Fun and Games Till Someone Loses a Debate

I have here three 'devices' we employ from time to time to fix certain problems inherent in Argument - as you'll see, they're a little less obvious than the 'take a breath' or 'take a break' devices.

1) Ten Second Rule
This is one we employ quite a lot - very useful for putting an end to knee-jerk reactions. Sometimes you have an idea you just know the other person is going to be all like 'Say what?' But you also know it's going to be so great. Simply invoke the almighty Ten Second Rule, and say your idea. The other person is henceforth forbidden from making any comment either negative or positive for ten seconds, in which he is encouraged to try with all his might to see the idea's potential.

2) Shoes
You have probably seen this mentioned before, but swapping sides in arguments is really a great way to see it from someone else's point of view. I do this as often as I can remember. I wish I'd remember more often.

3) Music
Sometimes things will get too serious, and you may need an Arguing Medium other than mere talking (Read: Shouting).

Now this is going to sound ridiculous, so I'm going to invoke the Ten Second Rule here. Simply put on a piece of music with a strong melody that everyone knows (movie themes work well) and take turns Arguing to the Tune. Not for everyone, obviously - but the few times we've done it, it near instantly ruins any sour moods with it's sheer absurdity.

How's this for strangely specific, but the best piece of music we've found for this so far is 'Hinata vs Neji', from the Naruto - Season 2 OST. It's subdued but also melodious, with a strong and repetitious beat. Sorry, the best piece of music I've found - better not indict Luke in such nerdy madness without asking permission.

Sometimes You Just Can't Win
Three Options for 'Victory'

Now just to be a little more serious here for a moment - Personally I find it absolutely central to Arguing to remember the three reasonable circumstances in which I may convince someone of an idea they're unsure about:

1) Precedent
Find a movie, series, book or anything relevant where someone has done something similar (preferably from something they like). Movies are your evidence, and Critical Reception is your witness. I try and do this with all my ideas anyway, just so I know who's done it right and how.

2) Vision
Try your best to make them really feel it. Create for them the atmosphere, and really sell it with volume, actions, sound effects, music and pauses - the whole pitch. Or if you're so inclined, (and have the time) perhaps whip up a storyboard or two. Make them see what you see.

3) Trust
This is that last resort where you say 'Hey, I know it's never been done before, and I know you can't see it yet - but I know this can work.' Obviously you want to be pretty sure, cause if you get it wrong, you can probably never pull this move again.

It's useful to know which of these three angles you're going for - and if none of them are relevant.. well, then maybe the idea just wasn't meant to be.

Of course, you probably don't want to work with anyone easier to convince than that.

If All Else Fails...

1) Spiral into Fisticuffs
Cause after all, you're right and they're wrong.

Rule Of Thumb: What Do They Normally Do?

2009-09-18T06:00:00.027+10:00

I was reading Bleach a while back, you know, that infuriatingly flawed yet infuriatingly addictive manga? No? Well don't check it out... It will kill you. I'd quit but I need to know what happens next! It's like a drug! I'm so weak. Anyway, to the point!

All locations, characters and props must have a clear function outside of the immediate story in order to be plausible.

In the Bleach universe there are these warriors called Death Gods that live in Soul Society (a spiritual realm) and patrol the mortal realm keeping evil spirits called Hollows from killing us humans. Early on they make it quite clear that the average low-ranking Death God is more than capable of handling this job, yet they have thirteen insanely powerful Death God Captains who only seem to exist so our heroes can fight them later. They don't even govern Soul Society, a council of ordinary guys do that, so what did they do before our heroes rocked up?

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry, Ron and Hermione must win a magical game of chess to move forward to, well, the stone in question. This chess game is supposed to be a security system designed to keep people out, but no wizard in their right mind would have put it there. That is, unless said wizard thought he was the only one in the wizarding world who knows how to play wizard chess.

There is a fantastic sequence in Galaxy Quest where Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver must weave (heh heh) through a labyrinth of dangerous engine machinery that serves no purpose other than to crush and maim them. If you haven't seen this movie I seriously recommend it, it's full of so many great moments of satire like this.

Mutt and I are currently tackling this problem in one of our concepts. We have a protagonist and we have a story, but we haven't nailed down what he does when he's not adventuring. It doesn't matter that we probably won't see him much outside his adventures, it's necessary to keep the universe plausible. Besides, you never know how it might come in handy later.

Can you guys think of any examples of this?

Article: How to Spice Up That Dull Old Scene

2009-09-11T06:00:00.017+10:00

You are watching two people talk in a living room. It doesn't really matter what they're talking about, it's boring. Someone arrives at a hotel, and books a room. Boring. But, sometimes you need it.

Every script, in its early stages, has at least one of these scenes. Sometimes called Plot Scenes, Filler Scenes, Set-Up Scenes or even Exposition Scenes - they need to be there, but they are duller than Ben Stein's voice.

Bad movies are filled with them, but even the best script can end up with one or two unavoidable 'pauses'. I'm not talking about how to save those scenes that should probably end up on the cutting room floor, I'm talking about the scenes we can't get rid of - so we might as well make good.

I've had to 'Brainstorm the Spice-Up' so many times that I've assembled this list to kick-start my own Brainstorm sessions. Hopefully you can use it too. Once again, this is not even close to a definitive list, just some Starting Points.

How to Spice Up That Dull Old Scene
With things lying around the house!

Let's start this with an example.

There's this boring, trivial scene in The Empire Strikes Back when an Imperial Officer comes into Darth Vader's meditation chamber, and tells him about the Millennium Falcon or something. The scene was important, as this information was needed for later - but it was so forgettable.

Oh wait, no it wasn't. That was the scene where Darth Vader's helmet drops from the ceiling. It has actually become one of the most iconic science-fiction moments. Why?

It should have been insignificant - they should have rushed through it. But it wasn't, and they didn't. This is an excellent example of successfully spicing up a scene. In fact, it uses all three items on my list.

In order of most usually successful, from least to most (depending of course on the idea):

Change to Interesting/Contrasting Location

Have to have two people giving exposition? If they're talking about taking risks and living on the edge, then maybe have the conversation while skydiving. The opposite works well too - If they're talking about slowing down, waiting and biding their time - then set it next to a busy street with the zooming of cars and planes and such. I save the contrast 'gag' for particularly boring scenes.

If there's nothing particularly thematic available, then play up the interest. If it's at all possible, set the scene on the side of the Volcano. Or at the bottom of a well, or a skyscraper scaffold, or on a beach, or with wild animals playing and foraging in the forefront, or even in front of a vibrant, and comically relevant painting if you don't have the budget.

The Darth Vader example did this by setting it in the previously unseen Inner Sanctum, inspiring Curiosity in the viewer and Apprehension in the Officer.

Add Interesting/Conflicting Item, Event or Character

Item:
Ever wonder why there are so many scenes where characters are throwing a baseball to each other? Or playing cards? It instantly lends a dynamism to the scene, an extra level. Still lots of room for new, creative uses here: What about talking while trying to work out how to use a lawn mower? Or carving a pumpkin?
Event:
Two people talking in a living room: Boring.
Two people whispering at a funeral: Interesting.
Two people yelling over a battle, while talking about vegetarianism: Interesting.
Character:
Of course, this really depends on how good your characters are, and how interesting their interactions are. But if you've done them right, try pulling in someone who shouldn't be there and see if that fixes the scene. Let them do the work for you.

I don't care what you think of Red Dwarf, this is a great example:

(Skip to 9:40, watch till 10:14)

Since the Cat didn't really need to be there, in a worse script that scene might have just been Lister and Rimmer:

LISTER: "So, what is it?"
RIMMER: "It's a time hole."
LISTER: "Ah. I completely understand."
End scene.

Mix it with Another Scene or Reveal

Luke and I have this unwritten rule never to settle for just 'what's passable', even when that means a sleepless night banging our heads on walls and yelling at each other; This last one has saved us more than a few times.

Now when I say mix with another scene, I don't mean incorporate this scene into another better one - the whole problem with these scenes is they don't really fit anywhere else. Sometimes there will be other scenes with lots going on, and it will be possible to steal material from it. For example I could easily imagine Vader's Head Reveal being at a more pivotal time in the movie, perhaps with Luke - but it was needed more in the small insignificant scene.

We often have many minutes of hilarious deleted material for each script, that simply isn't relevant enough to fit. Having a scene that needs spicing up is a great opportunity to try and 'transplant the hook' from one of these. I like to look at scenes like music. If you look at the absolute best pieces of music, there are usually enough interesting melodies and beats and sounds to make at least two normal songs out of - but it works as a harmonious whole.

We're simply trying to find another melody line to insert.

---

Of course, as I said before these are not the only ways - just the first three ways I experiment with. For example, House MD and The West Wing (and many other TV series) use the 'walk and talk' film technique to liven up Exposition Scenes.

How do you know it's ready?

These are our own Rules of Thumb that we judge each of our scenes by. If they don't match up, then we re-think them - possibly by running them through the above three ideas.

Before writing a scene, we try to find it's clicking point - its hook.

"This is the ______ scene."

Sometimes a scene will need to be this or that, but often it still needs that angle. Finding the clicking point makes it easier to write also.

After writing, and maybe this is just me, but to be happy I ask myself this question: Could it be parodied or quoted? Often only the most iconic, creative and unique scenes can be parodied.

Or to put the question another way: Would someone upload it to YouTube? Regardless of your thoughts on Copyright, and theft - if someone loads it up to YouTube it means that both they think highly of it, and that the scene has enough of a hook to be semi-self contained.

Anyway, that's how I approach scenes.

Link: Elizabeth Gilbert On Nurturing Creativity

2009-09-04T06:00:00.010+10:00

I absolutely adore this talk.

Part of being a writer, I've found, is trying to understand how the human mind works both for use in storytelling and in knowing how we work best. I still don't know why I write better when I'm surrounded by people quietly enjoying themselves and not distracting me. Heck, it's a pretty significant paradox, but that's just how my brain works.

In this talk, Elizabeth explores the perception of creativity through the ages and perhaps why so many modern writers struggle in their work.

When I watched this for the first time it blew my mind. Is this accurate? Does this approach to creativity have further implications to the needs of human beings? How does it reflect on the writer's responsibility? Is it all just a bunch of airy fairy crap?

What do you think?

Article: The Looking-Glass Character

2009-08-28T06:00:00.023+10:00

Like any partnership, over time we have accumulated unique sets of words and phrases - and in some regrettable instances, noises - each with their own complicated explanation.

This post is the story behind two of our phrases we have found invaluable.

The Looking-Glass Character

And The Fixed Character

For the longest time, we were developing a show concept, and though the idea was solid and the characters interesting, something wasn't working. The show hinged on it's main character, yet it didn't matter how much we polished, perfected, balanced and fleshed him out - something didn't click.

Don't get me wrong, I think this character is one of the most intriguing, watch-able characters we've created but while the show was interesting... it wasn't engaging.

This didn't come as a complete surprise, to be honest. We were trying something we hadn't tried before and that is hardly regarded as a foolproof strategy.

You see: Our main character is what we now call a Fixed Character.

The Fixed Character

Now, the Fixed Character concept is a tricky one to explain, but I'll have a go:

In most movies, characters undertake a journey in which, along the way, they grow as a person - Fixed Characters have already reached the end of the line, for better or worse.
Most characters are aware of their flaws on some level, or at least have the capability to realise something isn't working - Fixed Characters have no flaws, or if they do they aren't treated as flaws. They are larger-than-life and are who they are and cannot be anything else. They are often the Christ-Like figure, who is there to teach, rather than learn - such as Gandalf or Tin-Tin.
Most characters adapt and compromise according to their situations - Fixed Characters seem to adapt the situations to themselves. They have no ability to compromise their own personality in any way but are still able to make it work.

In The Incredible's making-of, director Brad Bird was describing the character of Edna Mode when he said she had the 'strongest sense of self' of any character in the movie. She is what I'd call a Fixed Character - one who has already completed their journey, perhaps in some earlier unreleased film, and is completely comfortable with herself.

Imagine 'E' having a character arc in The Incredibles, learning a lesson or changing in any way - it just wouldn't have been 'E', darling. It would literally be out of character to change.

It's the difference between the two Willy Wonkas portrayed in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). The original's Willy Wonka was a Fixed Character, and the latter's was not.

In the original, Wonka was this eccentric, compelling and unknowable character - the only thing he learnt in the whole movie was whether or not Charlie was worthy. It is about people's reactions to him, not about his reactions.

In Tim Burton's 2005 remake, Wonka is still eccentric but he is knowable. He is an interesting, yet relatively normal character. He also knows he isn't yet perfect, even if it is only on some unconscious level. In the end he asks Charlie for help, and Wonka's character arc is completed by reconciling with his father.

Now this isn't a judgement between the two, but watching the 1971 version was the first time I had ever witnessed such a strong and intriguing character. I find Fixed Characters are desperately tricky to come up with, desperately tricky to fit and balance and just as hard to summarise once I do - but used right, I think they can often be the single most memorable thing about a show.

So what's the problem?

We had established that Fixed Characters done properly are fantastic, and we were 99% sure that our character was done properly - but still, something wasn't clicking.

The problem was arising, we found, from him being the main character. Our theory is for most shows, audiences need to look through a character's eyes - to find that grounding point, that character who has the lesson to learn, to find that one person they can identify with. Apparently a technically flawless, larger-than-life character is hard to relate to. Most Fixed Characters have a kind of 'distance', a mystery and unpredictability about themselves makes them great to watch from the outside but never 'lets you in'. Our main character was no different.

The following problem was that the whole show revolved around him and his actions, and that 'demoting' him from that central position would literally collapse the idea.

It had to be possible to keep him as he was! We could think of many examples where it had worked:

- Doctor Who (mainly during the Golden Tom Baker years) was a Fixed Character, and the whole show was named after him
- Asterix, Willy Wonka, Bernard Black and Tin Tin were also titular Fixed Characters, as well as the BFG
- Early Superman was both a Fixed and Main Character
- 'prot' was both a Fixed and a Main Character
- Rorschach was both a Fixed and a Main Character
- Elwood P. Dowd was both a Fixed and a Main Character
- Chance the Gardener was both a Fixed and a Main Character
And they were only from things I'd read/watched recently. They were just the tip of an iceberg.

That settled it, there had to be some trick or balancing act we were missing.

Now in a 'eureka moment' we did eventually work it out - but it wasn't until I read an article, The Subtle Hero, by the embarrassingly insightful and knowledgeable Craig Mazin that I fully understood why our solution had worked.

The Looking-Glass Character

You can read the article yourself, but basically Mr. Mazin was working on adapting Harvey, and running into an eerily similar problem. Even though Elwood P. Dowd was "...the man who is in every scene of import [and] the man who delivers the big monologues..." focusing on him as a main character didn't work. The solution was to treat the doctor who cares for him as the main character - a character with a tenth of the lines!

Our solution was to introduce a 'Looking Glass Character.' A Main Character who is flawed, relatable, and basically needs what our Central Character is selling. A Frodo to Gandalf's wise leadership, Sophie to the BFG's confuddled benevolence, an Elizabeth Swann or Will Turner to Captain Jack Sparrow's wildly unconventional plans, an Alan Shore to Denny Crane's hilarious arrogance or even a C-3PO to everyone else's selfless heroics.

Back during the time of Tom Baker, Doctor Who would take its audience on this crazy adventure every week, and each week The Doctor would handle it with his usual calm flippancy and knowledgeably fix the situations. He is one of my favourite characters of all time, but I have to admit it wouldn't have worked if it was only him - He wasn't relatable, and he shouldn't have been. He was interesting to watch because he wasn't relatable.

You can't ask an audience to both feel as if they're travelling to places out of their depth AND like they're calm and in control. So the show always had a Looking Glass Character, in the form of an assistant. It was the assistant's job to scream at the monsters, to be confused at the technology and to learn the lesson at the end - everything the audience was meant to feel.

Since then, we’ve witnessed other ways to make it work. For example, fairytales often seem to keep the audience at a distance - encouraging them to be objective observers - hence the recent movie The Tale of Despeiuroueaix (or however you spell it) was able to have a Fixed Character as the Main Character. Or Star Trek, full of enlightened humans teaching aliens about love and creativity, which is very almost a cast of Fixed Characters put into strange and morally ambiguous situations. District 9, with its documentary style could have had any kind of character it wanted, as I don't think it really needed a main character at all.

But the Looking-Glass Character worked wonders in our idea, and I hope to use more Fixed Characters in the future.

Inspiring Idea: Feel The Music

2009-08-21T06:00:00.005+10:00

If your brain immediately leapt to highly abstract and suspect places upon reading that title, then we share something in common.

A while back Mutt and I started a group called Ink Harvest. This group was made up of several budding young writers (ourselves included) who were looking to flex their creative muscles. How, exactly? We would take it in turns playing a piece of instrumental music from our respective collections and then spend the next ten to twenty minutes transcribing whatever imagery it inspired.

Usually we'd try to write a cohesive scene from a larger story that we'd never get to read, but sometimes it would only be an abstract image or a vague story outline that came out. Whatever it inspired we would share with the group without fear of criticism or judgement. Here's something I wrote one time (pretty try-hard poetic, but sometimes the music warrants it):

It's a remarkably liberating experience and it really helps you to find your natural groove and style. I've learned so much over our Ink Harvest sessions about how I write and little things I fall back on when I'm being lazy. Even better, it helps stretch you as a writer. There's nothing like a little healthy competition amongst writers and Ink Harvest was no exception. Although whenever Tim would attend he would automatically win... stupid jerk.

You can mix up this formula too. Here are some variations we've come up with:

1) Choose an image instead of a piece of music and try to write the potential story behind it.

2) Draw or paint an image instead of writing what is inspired by the music.

3) Come up with an unusual, slightly ambiguous sentence, then try to write a story around it.

What are you waiting for? Flex those creative muscles!

Rule Of Thumb: The Writer's Responsibility

2009-08-18T06:00:00.000+10:00

This isn't technically a rule of thumb, but this seems as good a place as any for it.

A writer should be fully aware of what message their script is sending and take full responsibility for it.

Now obviously this is delving more into the realms of personal philosophy, but read on and see if you agree with me.

The instant anyone puts what's in their head to paper with the intention of selling it, they lose the right to absolute artistic freedom. Whether they like it or not, their work is no longer just for them... there is a bigger responsibility now. If any individual wishes to keep their artistic freedom, they should not attempt to have their work published.

My reasoning for this seemingly unreasonable claim is that art, commercial art, has a big impact on those who witness it. It inevitably influences them to some degree. So if I were to write and sell a film that glorified rape, I could not then proceed to deny responsibility for those that took the message on board.

The fact is that all films possess both constructive and destructive elements that impact the world for better or worse, so as a writer it is my job to sift through my work and ensure that I am communicating as few destructive messages as possible.

Now, let me be clear that I am not suggesting that we all start writing sickeningly perky tales with flawless protagonists that work at homeless shelters and save drowning puppies in their spare time. Heck, the number of writer suicides would skyrocket if that happened. No, I am suggesting that we look at our own work and carefully examine what we are really glorifying and what we are really vilifying.

In that scene where the psycho killer was torturing that vulnerable girl, was the act appropriately vilified? Or, really, did the scene exist just to satisfy and feed some perverse quality in the heart of the viewer?

In that scene where the student really stuck it to his teacher with that hilarious monologue, was the teacher acting destructively enough to justify it? Or, really, did the scene just promote rebellion purely for rebellion's sake?

They can be small messages contained subliminally within single scenes, or even be the whole point of the script. Regardless of their prominence or relevance, writers needs to ask themselves what they are saying and what effect it's having on their audience.

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Of course, messages can always be misinterpreted in ways unintended by the original author, but assuming the original author did all they could to be clear it cannot be helped. You can only take responsibility for what you've actually written.

So, did you find yourself nodding as you read this? Or were you shaking your head with a furrowed brow? Let's hear your thoughts!

Article: The Climax

2009-08-14T06:00:00.001+10:00

Hey, do you guys remember that awesome scene from Stargate where Daniel Jackson stands on the threshold of the portal and dances his fingers upon it's rippled surface it in glorious wonder? No? Well, nobody does because it wasn't in the best part... the climax!

What? You've never seen Stargate? Oh... well... it's a pretty good movie. I mean... I liked it...

What was I saying poorly? Ah yes, the climax! It's the pinnacle of a picture and, if done right, leaves you re-entering the real world on a real high. Are there any common threads between the best of them? Let's find out!

Climaxes

Or "Villain Exploding + More Explosions + Hero Striking A Pose = Awesome"

Every great story needs a climax. While it's form can alter dramatically from film to film, it will always serve the same purpose; to bring the heroes journey to it's penultimate peak. The following list is my attempt to boil the best climaxes I've observed down to their base elements.

It is no doubt incomplete, and I would love to hear any corrections or additions you might have to contribute. And remember that in writing there is no such thing as an unbreakable rule. Let's begin.

1) The Calm Before The Storm/Setting The Stakes

In A Nutshell:

If the audience doesn't know that they're watching the climax, it's game over. It's vital to milk the tension and the atmosphere, make the viewer feel the weight of what's coming before it hits. Most movies do this by having a 'here's the plan'/suiting up sequence followed by a quiet moment with the main characters dramatically emphasizing how they "don't have a choice", in the process establishing just how steep the odds are, the cost of failure and exactly what their objective is. It helps to at least hint where the finish line is as early in the movie as possible.

Example:

Flyboys is a perfect example of how not to do this. Never once in the movie is it clear what the story is building up to or what the protagonist's goals are. Worse still, there is a big zeppelin attack sequence that feels like a disappointing climax... but then the movie keeps going. Almost immediately the real climax begins and they don't tell the viewer. Afterwards, the movie just ends. It's messy stuff, folks.

2) Change Of Plans

In A Nutshell:

You know the plan? The one the heroes were banking on to win? Yeah, throw that out the window, it's no good here. Having the heroes plan fall apart is the best possible way to raise the stakes. Suddenly all bets are off and they have to wing it. Anyone could win! Well, the heroes are probably going to, but now it's off their sheer will and cunning!

Example:

In A Bug's Life, the plan is the bird. Once P.T. Flea is thrown in the mix, however, and he lights that sucker on fire the whole plan is shattered. What follows is a new plan that wasn't... well, planned, but it provides a surprisingly superior poetic solution to the problem.

3) The Villain Gets Serious/The Hero Gets Awesome

In A Nutshell:

These are two (or more) moments that, to me, always make the difference between a good climax and a great climax. First, the villain's calm and cool composure vanishes and they suddenly understand that the hero is a real threat. It adds serious cool points to the hero and raises the stakes because the hero no longer has the advantage of being underestimated. Second, the hero has to warrant that level of reaction. Launch their cool points into the stratosphere and make them kick ass and look cool doing it. If only for a moment, make it appear as though evil never stood a chance. This also applies (to a lesser degree) to secondary hero characters.

Example:

To use another Disney example, I refer you to The Lion King. That moment when Scar first saw Simba atop Pride Rock thinking he's Mufasa and that lighting struck, Scar was ready to head for the hills. Better yet is the moment when Simba corners Scar and starts closing in on him. Scar, the cunning and clever, is actually cowering and Simba never stops giving him that dangerous look. Awesome climax.

4) Exhaust Every Option

In A Nutshell:

Let's see, am I at the end of the climax? Check. Are my heroes clothes still neatly ironed and their face nice and clean? Yes. Wait... that's bad. The hero needs look look like they've been to hell and back in order to win. Beat them to within an inch of their life, make sure they've used every last option available to them (the more callbacks to previously set up gadgets or tricks the better) and hopefully, if done right, the hero will literally collapse after delivering the final blow. Same goes for the villain. If there's a line he would never cross, have him not only cross it, but go way, way beyond.

Example:

Speed Racer. He literally races that car to death in the climax. When it grinds over the finish line, it's dead. The tires have melted, the super high-tech engine is obliterated and the paint work on the car is scratched like no tomorrow. He gave 110% and earned every last bit of that sweet, sweet victory. Mutt said I should also mention The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, another excellent example.

5) The Hero's Poetic Victory

In A Nutshell:

In 99.9% of stories the hero wins, so the question is... how do they win? Usually simply knocking the bad guy out isn't enough. However the final blow is dealt it must reflect in some way on the hero character and the themes in the story. Perhaps it's something as simple as self-sacrifice, in which case the hero could lay down their life to win the day. It all depends on what the respective theme or themes are.

Example:

Another animated movie, Kung Fu Panda. The whole film was about Po thinking that in order to be worth something you had to have some secret ingredient, then learning the truth... there is no secret ingredient. As a result, Po defeated Tai Lung in the end using his master's ultimate technique. Not very thematic, right? Well, it would be except that he was never taught how to do it. He figured it out for himself, thus fulfilling the movie's theme.

6) One Last Strike

In A Nutshell:

There is no such thing as a climax where the villain doesn't try for one last "nuts to you" before kicking the bucket. It might literally be the villain getting back up after the hero thought he was down for the count and delivering one final cheap shot out of spite. In most movies, however, it's something the villain leaves behind. Usually, after killing the bad guy, his evil plan will still be in effect and thus the final hurdle is not the villain himself, but his plan. Another possibility is that both the plan and the villain are dead, but his evil fortress starts collapsing. I'm always fighting to be original with this one, because the less you see it coming the more awesome it is.

Example:

How about Scream? Sure, it technically wasn't a hurdle to overcome and one of the characters actually predicted it, but that's the point. Scream took a classic climax trick and turned into a really iconic moment. Also, it was a horror movie, so the 'one last strike' only had to be a scare.

7) Glory

In A Nutshell:

I hate it when any movie rolls the credits the instant the climax is over. I don't care what they say, the movie is not over yet and people are not getting ready to leave. You've gotta play the beat of basking in the glory for a bit otherwise it just feels... anti-climactic. We won! That's awesome! Whether there's a huge crowd celebrating, the hero collapses onto his back and laughs or the hero realizes that he gets all the bad guy's treasure, no matter what you've gotta have that beat!

Example:

Any good movie. Seriously, just scan your collection and skip to the end. How did they handle it?

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Of course, this is all assuming you're not writing some deeply internalized personal drama set in suburbia. If that's you, good luck with that... cause I'm too stupid to be of any help in that department. Still, if you've got an addendum or a favourite climax to share, post away! We love our film discussion.

Oh, and we know it's a big call, but Mutt and I reckon Speed Racer has the greatest climax of all time. Feel free the flame the heck out of us for that one, but we're more than ready to defend our choice.

Rule Of Thumb: Reactionary Devices

2009-08-11T06:00:00.007+10:00

For me, balancing a cast of personalities is hard work. And though creating a strong line-up of characters that bounce off each other is really satisfying, I still find it a frustratingly... instinctual process.

Without writing half a dozen episodes, I find it an uphill battle to tell a) If they're working and b) If they're not, what's missing. The only thing to do is to 'feel it' - to play with the characters over and over in my head and judge it by instinct.

'Feeling it' I believe to be a vital part of creating - but I also find it can be the most untrustworthy. I try whenever possible to partner it with some kind of flexible rule, tick list, or template to fall back on. For me, that is why I find 'rules of thumb' important - it's about balancing the right side of the brain with the left, and creativity with structure.

In some ways, I picture writing like journeying through a dark cave, feeling your way by instinct and talent, and navigating through a knowledge of structure and formula. I find having rules of thumb to be like having emergency flares, able to light a small bit of the cave and make sure I'm on the right track.

While balancing a cast's personalities, instinctually I could outline some vague ideas about contrast, overlap and conflict but for this post, I thought I'd copy down the only solid light source I have for balancing personalities: The Reactionary Device.

Let me give you some examples of a Reactionary Device from a kid's show we're writing:

Character #1 is monumentally stupid but also sweet, naive and child-like.
That's his personality.
He is always eager to help, but he usually makes things worse - often by helping the wrong side.
That's his Reactionary Device. It's a reaction I can use in most situations if I need it.

Character #2 is boring, grouchy and safety conscious.
That's his personality.
If something doesn't make sense he'll complain about it, ignore it, or try and fix it.
That's his Reactionary Device. Very useful in a world based on silly cartoon rules as I can use it to both drive him towards something, or drive him away from something.

Now imagine all your main characters are in a situation not unlikely in your idea: They've just found out one of them is a traitor, or a Doctor has just told them someone died, or even a genie has just given them one wish each.

A character without a Reactionary Device would act very predictable, either being suspicious of the others being the traitor, or reacting with shock at the death, or simply making a wish. I believe a cast of characters that all react the same way to an event is not only boring to watch, it's hard to write. Once or twice while I've been writing a scene and I need to get my characters from A to B, I'll realise that none of them would push the others to 'B' because I had no Reactionary Devices to exploit.

Now obviously not everyone can react unpredictably to everything, that would be insanely hard to create and be very strange to watch but in every situation I aim to have at least one person act interestingly.

The Cat's crippling narcissism, Toby Zeigler's love of debating, or even Marty McFly's inability to cope with being called yellow are all excellent Reactionary Devices because they allow the writer to 'control' the character.

Arrested Development is one of the best study cases for this. Every time something happens, one or more of them will react in a plot altering way, be it the mother's need to manipulate, or Buster's need to prove himself or even Michael's need to fix everything. Imagine if the characters from Arrested Development found out one of them is a traitor, or if a Doctor told them someone died, or even if they all got a wish.

They almost write themselves.

EDIT: I came across this old Homestar Runner cartoon: 'Homestar's Pumpkin Carve-Nival' - what it does well is illustrate how having a well defined, non-overlapping cast writes itself.
If you had to write a scene/short/episode where all your characters carved pumpkins, would your characters alone give you enough material?

Blog: Intermission

2009-08-07T08:32:00.006+10:00

Normal posting shall resume on Tuesday next.

All 95 of the sketches for the book are done, and we have finally entered Phase 2.

Admittedly I am kind of making this up as I go along, but while Phase 1 was Surveying and Sketching, Phase 2 consists of Continuity and Context.

It's a pretty important phase. For example, I found 11 separate pictures in which I forgot to draw the main character with pants. 11.

It basically means putting all the pictures in a row and making sure they all line up with proportions and detail, as well as putting them in the book and seeing how they do in context - which is a long and tedious job. It is also a job I fully intend to get out of the way by the end of the week.

Phase 3, for the curious and the alliteratively inclined, is Improving and Inking.

Inspiring Idea: Image Archive

2009-07-31T06:00:00.011+10:00

"Hey, Donald," I hear you yell at an unnecessarily high volume, "is that your name?"

"No," I reply in a voice that is so deep and manly it makes lumberjacks cry, "but I will tell you about the value of keeping a folder full of imagery that inspires you!"

"So... you're not Donald?"

"No."

"You just... you look like Donald."

"..."

"Sorry."

Anyway, this Inspiring Idea is pretty straight forward. Any time you comes across an image that inspires you in some way, save it to your hard drive! It might give you an idea, it might look a lot like something you already have in your head, you might just like the image, whatever the reason; add it to your collection.

Here are a few images from my image archive.

I love sketches. It's like getting a glimpse of something the artist never intended to show you, something done without concern for whether or not it would work. This one in particular grabbed me because of the crying girl grabbing her arm. Hollywood seems have this misguided idea that if you put a speck of dirt on a girl she'll somehow become repulsive, so most female protagonists never get truly roughed up. Does she look repulsive? No, she looks human.

Look at that face! What a great face! So full of personality! Man, I could write a whole novel about that face.

In case you don't get what's happened in this picture, a flood has washed a bunch of houses away and they all stopped dead when they hit a train-line bridge. Truly a horrible event, but boy does it get the creative juices flowing! Imagine a chase scene across floating houses! Or imagine a neighborhood so over-developed that in order to navigate it you have to climb through other people's houses! There are all kinds of fantastical ideas here.

Unusual architecture? Hell yeah! I can't get enough of these "big boys tree house" sorta images. Mutt and I have a couple of concepts that really explore architecture like this and in this particular case it's done very well.

This is a simply beautiful painting, powerful and profound. Like a good bit of music, this can be excellent for tapping into an emotional mindset when writing war or death related materials, and it certainly helps in better understanding something you may not have ever experienced yourself.

The fact is, you never know when this stuff will come in handy later on. One day you might find yourself struggling to explain something or in the midst of a creative drought, then this folder might save your life.

Rule Of Thumb: The Consistant Extra

2009-07-28T06:00:00.011+10:00

I had this great moment recently when watching Band of Brothers. The writers had for whatever reason needed to start the episode with a small group of background characters walking through a meadow. I didn't know their names, they had had no dialogue that I could recall and for all intents and purposes they were nobodies, but they were familiar.

Because of the non-fiction nature of the show, mere 'extras' were able to be cast with names, personalities, and real consistency, so that subconsciously their faces had soaked into my subconscious. It made that universe real.

It's like school years, when you really only knew your friends and teachers by name, but as you walked the hallways, you could recognise with some familiarity all the unknown faces. If you were to go to a new school, yes everyone there was strange... but they weren't your strangers.

Background characters, if visually interesting and consistent, breed sub-conscious familiarity and depth in the world.

Now, I'm not talking about a large supporting cast like The Simpsons - think more Nurse Kelly from M*A*S*H. Unlike a supporting character, she never had her own Episode, theme, back story or even a full conversation - but she was consistently there, in the background. I like the idea of making an audience feel like there's a world beyond the 'Regulars'.

And of course, if as a writer you need someone new down the track, you already have a range of familiar characters, warmed up and ready to go.

Why, after watching the first Season or two of Voyager, there were times where I bet they wished there was a more interesting cast of 'nobodies' to draw upon. You always knew when there was an Episode coming up about a 'new Ensign', as they'd start setting them up two or three episodes before. It was always really obvious, as normal episodes would lead you to believe that there might only be ten people on the whole ship, and suddenly here was Ensign Ricky having his 15 minutes. But hey, at least they set them up.

Personally, I think there is some untapped potential using the idea of The Consistent Extra in animation, where I really haven't seen it used that much.

I just have to make sure I use it in a world where it is actually likely that characters will reoccur.

Rule Of Thumb: Trailer Lines

2009-07-24T06:00:00.013+10:00

It took me some time before I was willing to accept this one.

When writing a script, always look for ideal moments to insert dramatic, comedic or expositional lines designed to make great sound bites for trailers.

It pains me to say it, but the marketing gurus are right. A great trailer can be the difference between a hit and a flop, so make sure it has all the sounds bites it will ever need. Here are some samples of great dramatic trailer lines from over the years:

"The end has come." - The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King

"Why so serious?" - The Dark Knight

"Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy." - Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire

"Every second we stand here is a second lost!" - Valkyrie

"We have all our rotten eggs in one basket. The objective of the operation? Blow up the basket." - Inglorious Basterds

All of these lines serve a different purpose. One is to give a sense of finality, another to convey a chilling madness, another an ominous feeling, another extreme tension and another to sum up the film in a punchy nutshell. They don't just work in the trailer, either. The good ones work great in the film too.

It must be said that this also applies to the visuals. A script should provide some interesting visuals to explore or unique scenes that naturally intrigue and invoke curiosity.

I highly recommend checking out all of the above trailers as they are full of excellent examples.

"For further reading on the topic, this article might be helpful."

Link: Validation

2009-07-21T06:00:00.001+10:00

It seems increasingly rare these days, what with the sheer number of film makers throwing their respective hats into the ring, to find a short film that has a truly unique voice. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this diamond in the rough.

It was written, directed and even composed by an up and coming talent power house named Kurt Kuenne. Seriously, I don't think I could adore this film any more right now. But I'll let it speak for itself.

I think what makes this so amazing is how it makes a profound statement about life that is both accurate and not depressing. It takes a truly gifted storyteller to be able to do that, because it takes that much more talent to shine a light on the good in the world.

Link: Tony Martin Talks To Robert McKee

2009-07-17T06:00:00.001+10:00

Do you enjoy extended dialogues about obscure films and the storytelling finesse employed to kindle the viewer's enthrallment? No? Then what are you doing here?!

To those... one of you remaining, here's a gem of an interview between two greats that the vast majority of people won't even know. Still, it contains a wealth of information and wisdom and is well worth checking out.

One catch. It requires you to download the entire episode of Sunday Arts in which it features. Totally worth it! You'll find it at the 41:17 mark.

WMV Format MP4 Format

One of the things touched upon in the interview is how a good comedy knows when to put the plot on hold and go on a tangent. The old Marx Brothers pictures only took 10 minutes to tell the inciting incident, the first act turning point, the second act turning point and the climax. The other 75 minutes were given over to sheer madness.

Another excellent subject brought up in the interview is the common misconceptions of the likable hero, but perhaps that's best saved for another time.

Rule of Thumb: One Step Ahead

2009-07-14T06:11:00.012+10:00

Here's an extra beefy Rule of Thumb just for you guys.

This post is a spiritual successor to the Rule of Thumb: Fleeting Details posted by Luke - addressing methods of creating a world of depth, one that viewers could lose themselves in for a couple of hours or even half an hour a week. Hinting at behind the scene stories and showing realistic everyday foibles are two excellent ways to flesh out your universe.

I think I have another to add to this hopefully growing list.

Have a look at this teaser for I Am Alive, a game to be released August this year:

This could have easily been a forgettable post-apocalyptic rehash, but there was one thing about it that drew me into the world: They are desperate for drinking water. Of course they would be! Instantly I believed that these people lived there, that they had real struggles and real needs. The writer's were one step ahead of the audience. Details like this say to an audience "Trust us, this is a living, breathing world."

Recently, watching Prince of Thieves (1991) reminded me how effective use of this method can be in a movie, and how much it strengthens the Creativity Pillar.

Prince of Thieves constantly took me places I couldn't have anticipated. For example, Morgan Freeman's character Azeem stopping to pray towards Mecca - or Kevin Costner's confusion, having never used a telescope before. Or even the classic 'Robin-fighting-Little-John-on-a-bridge' scene, which they chose instead to have on a ford. A strange yet interesting and plausible choice.

And they don't have to be actions. In one scene, Alan Rickman has to be alerted to some trouble. I would have just had some messenger poke his head in the door, but they had a bell connected to strings running throughout the castle. If you lived in a large castle like that, you would use such an item. It feels like people actually live there.

Unfortunately, this can work in reverse as well. We've all been in a movie and thought, 'Surely they would do this instead' or 'Surely, in this world it wouldn't work like that.'

I remember watching a short film about a toy monkey that kills people and as this Dad runs around frantically trying to save people, Luke and I could think of several much better and really obvious ways to fix his problems - and just like that, we were one step ahead of the writers. There's really no situation I can think of where a cynical audience is a good thing.

Really, it's about smart unpredictability. I know to some people these might seem like obvious points, but I like to write these things down anyway, so I can use them like a check-list.

For more examples of One Step Ahead, read all of Order of the Stick.

Inspiring Idea: The Long Drive

2009-07-10T10:00:00.002+10:00

Struggling to shape that sequence? Straining to sum up that scene? Stirring to... uh... symmetrical? Well, s-words aside, it sounds like you need to jump into a car with your best mate! No, not the back seat to take part in suspect activity, the front two!

A year or two ago Mutt and I drove down to a dock a couple of hours from our respective places to see this awesome missionary ship before it got decommissioned. Having nothing else to do but let the car do all the work, we started talking about our ideas... as we always do. What followed was perhaps nothing short of the best brainstorming session we'd ever had.

See, it turns out that a long car trip is like crack for your creativity. You have a sense of purpose in trying to get somewhere, but that doesn't require much concentration. So you're free to brainstorm free of distractions, or just to sit there and mull over things quietly with no pressure to talk. Andrew Stanton and Bob Peterson of Pixar fame would do this when they were stuck on Finding Nemo, driving all the way down to L.A. instead of flying.

So if you've got a creative mate and you're stuck for inspiration, pick an ice cream parlour a good few hours away and start driving. Just... be sure you can afford the fuel.

Article: Forced Romance

2009-07-07T06:00:00.005+10:00

People who know me, know I don't get passionate about much besides James Horner and creamed corn. And there's near nothing I get passionately angry about.

I do, however, have a 'thing' when it comes to Forced Romance. You will have seen it many times - Two people who dislike each other and/or are not looking for any kind of relationship, instantaneously and often miraculously develop a deep, energetic love for each other.

I, uh... well, you wouldn't call me a fan.

It's become so frequent in films recently that many of my friends have come to believe I am not a fan of romance at all. Pure slander of course, but an understandable impression as the Romantic Sub-Plot has become more obligatory than credits.

True, it does appeal to the female demographic. And yes, it often provides boyfriends with the 'and they fall in love' argument - allowing men the world over to see films their better-halves would never normally agree to.

These are both noble pursuits, but luckily that doesn't mean the Romance has to be a pinned-on optional accessory. It doesn't really do anyone any favours in the long run; not the females, not the boyfriends, not better-halves and certainly not the film.

So, now I'm working under this self imposed Either-Or, and invite one-and-all to join me:

1. The Romance is planned from the beginning, to be an integral part of the story and to be relevant to both the characters and the themes.

2. There is no Romance.

That way, hopefully we may avoid such 'resolutely unlikely' partnerships as in Titan AE where the two Romantic leads (who had met only once before and irrationally hated each other) magically knew the other's name as they made out at the end. Or the quite supernaturally out of character one-night stand in Gabriel.

Or, you know... maybe it's just me.

Rule Of Thumb: Tonal Consistency

2009-07-03T06:00:00.002+10:00

This one is extremely difficult to get a handle on.

When writing any script it is essential to flesh out and understand it's tone and keep it consistent throughout.

Hancock suffered from a severe case of tonal identity crisis. For the first stretch of the movie it was a satirical comedy centering around an alcoholic superhero, then abruptly, and with no transition, it becomes a deadly serious drama about a superhero who doesn't know who he is. For the rest of the movie it continues to abruptly switch between the two tones without any blending.

Ghost Town on the other hand knows exactly what it is. It perfectly balances a comedy about a self-centered jerk getting a wake up call with a touching character drama. Even the most absurd comedy scenes had some nice subtle dramatic touches, and the most dramatic scenes had careful comic touches to prevent it from taking itself too seriously.

Really, it just comes down to smooth segways between tones and not abandoning the one you start with. Give Mutt's article on The Three Pillars a look for more on genres and tones.

Inspiring Idea: Randomizers

2009-06-30T06:00:00.029+10:00

Sometimes my mind goes blank. Not just about a name or a date or something trivial like that, I mean about everything.

Imagine that white, empty expanse in The Matrix, but instead of Laurence Fishburne laying down some serious exposition, it's just nothing.

Peaceful, but not very helpful. Especially unhelpful when you're trying to come up with, or finish an idea.

That's why, occasionally, I need to get others to think for me. Specifically, I'm talking about The Internet. You may have heard of it; that shrine of all human knowledge and achievement. That amazing, omniscient gestalt - raining down brilliance and filth upon us all.

Ahhh - Refreshing.

"But who are you..." I hear you say, "to harness such a wild, dynamic and untameable force of nature?"

Well for one, I am someone who can hear what you're saying over the Internet. Pretty damn impressive. For two, I am one who has mastered the use of 'the randomizer'.

"But what is a randomizer?" I hear you interrupt again, "And why are you using the American spelling?" Well, I'll tell you.

A randomizer is simply a list. A list of ordinary, everyday things that the computer will pick and mix arbitrarily.

"But that sounds boring" I hear you say. Seriously though, can you stop interrupting? You're ruining this for everybody.

But in reply, may I say this: They are kind of boring.

But in an exciting, helpful way! They 'greenlight' without discretion. They labour tirelessly to present endless arrangements of stochastic splendour. Without concepts of what makes sense - they often invent things that no mortal was meant to know.

I've found randomizers for everything, and I list them here for your convenience. If you know of any others, just shout them out. I know you don't have a problem with talking out of turn.

Writing Prompt Generator
Useful for getting an idea started - but I use it as a noun randomizer.

3CH
A topic randomizer - My personal favourite.

Quick and Dirty B-Movie Plot
The next big hit
Random-Generator: Character Concepts
Random-Generator: Character Quirks
For quickly filling out those Ancillaries, or even expanding a Main

Random-Generator: Multi-genre Plot Randomizers
To kick-start that framework

Rinkwork's Name Generator
This name generator is like an old friend.
Fake Name Generator
Give tedious details to characters with a click!
Batch Name Generator
Got a crowd? Need to write a list of names?
RPG Random Name Generator
For extensive lists of name 'flavours' - not just Fantasy
DnD Name Generator
Good high-fantasy sounding names

Random Word Generator
Quick and Simple
The Random Pairing Machine
Just keep clicking, and eventually something will click.
The Random Verb/Adverb Machine
Your character walks into a room and '...'
The Directors Bureau Idea Generator
A really nice looking match-up randomizer

Random-Generator: Super Powers and Origins Randomizer
Just as a starting point, of course

Buzz Phrases
Writing something set in an Office? Here's your punchline
Elsewhere: Band Name Randomizer
Works better than you'd think
Elsewhere: Post Modernism Generator
Pseudo-Intellectual Gibberish
Elsewhere: Badly Written Angst Poetry
Just in case you can't do it yourself
Elsewhere: Brag Generator
Personally I find this this works best as Insane Dialogue
The Video Game Name Generator
Just to get the brain working
Authentic Tweet Generator
Just to stop the brain working
Internet Rubbish Generator
WARNING: Do not look directly into it
Fantasy City Encounter Generator
Can be easily converted to other genres

Flash Face
Sometimes to write a character, you just need to see them.

Tone Matrix
And this a Music randomizer, just because it's so much fun.
I challenge someone to make something that sounds bad with this.

And these three are specifically designed for Role Playing, but still useful:
Green Box Generator
Random-Generator: Treasure
Your characters open a box, what do they find?
Random-Generator: Crunchy Bits
Random-Generator: Descriptions
Add background details - I especially recommend the Benign Encounters in 'Crunchy Bits'
Magic the Gathering Search
Struggling with a monster or event? Magic cards are great inspiration. Just don't plagiarise.
Gozzy's Random Map Creator
Skeleton Key Dungeon Generator
Location randomizer - Where are the exits? Where can they hide? Good for planning out complex choreography.
Insanity Generator
For that special idea - Unfortunately it is only military themed

Have A Slogan
Hilarious slogans

And there will be something for you here:
Seventh Sanctum
Creativity Tools
Random Generator

Updated: 15/11/09

Inspiring Idea: Items & Imagination

2009-06-26T10:00:00.004+10:00

Can you tell I'm a fan of alliteration?

If you're a writer like us and find yourself lacking in inspiration like we all-too-often do, then here's a neat little challenge Mutt and I came up with when at a swanky café the other day.

There was a section of the café that had all sorts of neat little things you could buy to decorate your house. This challenge was made better by the fact that they were very eccentric items. We started taking it in turns picking up items and then coming up with stories based around and inspired by them.

It turns out this is a blast to do, forcing you to stretch your creativity and it's hella fun trying to out-do your opponent. So if you're ever feeling a need for inspiration then grab a creative friend and drag them to a local antiques shop or trinket store. And should one of the items really inspire you, buy it! We did. Behold!

You guys have no idea how many awesome ideas we got from holding this giant key in our hands. The hand in the photo is for size reference.