I recently submitted a proposal to produce a program on Rogers TV titled Underground Talent or Underground Local.
I also happened to drop the address of this website on the proposal, so with that in mind I'm dedicating a post to the Rogers TV program I hope to produce someday.
Underground Local
My name is Dustin Bell and I have lived in the Barrie area for all but four years of my life which were spent at Carleton University in Ottawa. I’ve seen this city’s population quadruple in my lifetime, but haven’t gotten a sense of the city itself becoming bigger. The city has plenty of shopping malls, but few local businesses, less industry and a virtually unheard of arts scene. The local musicians, artists, poets, comedians and creative peoples of all sorts have never had an accessible forum to showcase their talents to the city. I propose that Barrie Rogers TV develop and produce a low-budget once-a-week program that would feature aspiring artistic entrepreneurs.
Underground Local would be a half-hour weekly program that featured local bands doing a one-to-three song set, artists of all types showcasing their work, comedians performing a short routine and theatre troupes enacting short scenes from locally produced plays. The show would also be a forum for local poets, fashion designers and photographers.
It would be produced in-house, running primarily on volunteer efforts. A host would introduce the show, each guest and then close the program. It would require three videographers, a sound technician, a producer and a director. I would happily serve as either of the latter two.
As a volunteer at Barrie Rogers TV, I am familiar with the studio-setting and have always had a passion for television production and local talent. The Barrie Rogers TV studio already has the resources necessary to accomodate the show, including a stage, multi-channel soundboard and dedicated volunteers.
I've often talked on this blog about the potential that Barrie has to become something more than a suburb. There are more than enough people who believe this is possible - but I feel that this is one step that will bring us closer to that dream.
I sincerely hope that we want the same things for Barrie and I can't thank you enough for your consideration.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Nostos
episode IV is going to be a little bit different than the previous episodes so far.
'nostos' is a latin word that roughly translates to 'the journey home', and that's exactly where Derek and the band find themselves in episode IV.
the journey home never goes quite as planned. some of the greatest stories ever told are about the journey home (i'm looking at you, the odyssey and star trek IV). there are certain moments in the show that i look back on and say "did i know this when i wrote that?" - i think that moment where we try to associate ourselves with a familiar anchor in time or space is where we really start to notice how far we've come. realizing that home, and that anchor no longer exists is going to be the pivotal point of no-return for the band.
on a side note, i'd like to start properly referring to the protagonists of the show as 'the band' or 'derek and the band'. buffy had the scoobies, derek has his band. i hope the affectionate nickname catches on.
i'm going to try and involve you all in my writing process for this particular episode. i try and approach every episode with a question and answer session. there are naturally looming questions from the previous episode and i try to tear apart the script to find what needs to be resolved. what follows is what i've worked up for episode iv so far.
i hope that gives a satisfactory preview to the next episode without spoiling the whole bit.
i make constant notes on the details of the episode and i try to keep everything i write down. there's actually a folder with soundtrack notes that date all the way back to april of 2008. though i can never shake that feeling that i'm on the right path and this is my passion - it's great to look back on all the hard work and thoroughness that actually went into it.
though the scripts are the product of all that hard work - that file folder represents the shaping of a story. i'll be sure to hang on to it for as long as possible.
hope you're all having a great week everybody!
'nostos' is a latin word that roughly translates to 'the journey home', and that's exactly where Derek and the band find themselves in episode IV.
the journey home never goes quite as planned. some of the greatest stories ever told are about the journey home (i'm looking at you, the odyssey and star trek IV). there are certain moments in the show that i look back on and say "did i know this when i wrote that?" - i think that moment where we try to associate ourselves with a familiar anchor in time or space is where we really start to notice how far we've come. realizing that home, and that anchor no longer exists is going to be the pivotal point of no-return for the band.
on a side note, i'd like to start properly referring to the protagonists of the show as 'the band' or 'derek and the band'. buffy had the scoobies, derek has his band. i hope the affectionate nickname catches on.
i'm going to try and involve you all in my writing process for this particular episode. i try and approach every episode with a question and answer session. there are naturally looming questions from the previous episode and i try to tear apart the script to find what needs to be resolved. what follows is what i've worked up for episode iv so far.
Q: where did we last leave off?
A: following a semi-successful rescue of Nathan Davis, Derek's band has found itself the target of unwarranted police investigation. Davis makes contact with officer Dana Steele and asks her to help Rhett whenever she can with the investigation. Derek, Eddie and Riley are all wanted in murders they didn't commit and Steele catches on that at least Eddie and Riley are innocent. following Davis' death, she makes the decision to warn Rhett of the danger of returning to Toronto and helps him stay one step-ahead of the investigation.
Q: what needs to be addressed this episode?
A: the most important event in this episode is the kidnapping of Eveleigh Dawn by Lidless/Parsons. Eddie's been leafing through Davis' files and comes across information that suggests Evee is the fifth, final and most powerful superhuman. while Eddie scours files which were meant for an intelligence much higher than his own, Steele reluctantly takes Derek into the city to extract and protect Evee from Danielle Parsons.
Q: what is Riley doing this episode?
A: Riley is hit hard by the news that she's now a wanted fugitive. i'd like to think she was initally carefree, but the toll of her actions is now dawning on her. retreating from the centre of attention, Riley lets Derek and Steele run off on their adventure while she tries to put her life back together. upon contacting her employer and landlord she finds out she's been both fired and evicted as a result of the murder charges. by episode's end she realizes she walked away from that life and reaffirms her commitment to the new one with Derek.
Q: how does the episode end?
A: in broad daylight, Evee is kidnapped from Derek's protection by Lidless' associates. severely beaten, Derek watches as Evee's kidnappers speed away until Riley shows up unexpected and the chase commences.
Q: what is Eddie doing this episode?
A: As a philosopher, Eddie finds himself deeply immersed in the wealth of knowledge Davis left behind. among his findings are; chemical compounds that shouldn't exist; advanced research on pathology; alchemical formulae; and most importantly files on five superhumans currently residing in Canada. these files are to form the foundation that everything in the series will be based on. hidden within the tomes is information that will eventually assist Derek in his vendetta against Lidless. not only that, but these files are the only lasting legacy to Davis' intelligence - and Eddie will grow from that legacy.
Q: what is Cain doing this episode?
A: Derek delegates Cain to sorting through all the equipment found at Davis' lockup. i think by this point Cain's sorted through his personal shit and has more or less resigned to helping Derek for the moment. Cain may not be at Derek's side by series' end, but for now, he's a fully fledged member of the band.
Q: the Timeline of the Episode:
A: Picking up two days after the last, we find Cain, Derek, Eddie and Riley eating breakfast in a small dinner when Dana Steele walks in. Awkward conversations and mistrust aside, Derek and Steele immediately establish a repoire after he agrees to accompany her to Davis' grave. At Davis' grave, she decides she will honor her dead partner's wishes and help Rhett stay a step ahead of the police.
Q: how do they get Evee out?
A: first and foremost Eveleigh is most likely unaware that she harbors anything extraordinary about her at all. her power has been manifesting in ways that could be explained by any number of other phemoneon. though this is the reason that Eveleigh isn't initally inclined to do superhuman things, it's also the reason she's avoided Parsons' attention in the past. ultimately getting into Toronto and making contact with Eveleigh is the episode's plot and needs some work.
i hope that gives a satisfactory preview to the next episode without spoiling the whole bit.
i make constant notes on the details of the episode and i try to keep everything i write down. there's actually a folder with soundtrack notes that date all the way back to april of 2008. though i can never shake that feeling that i'm on the right path and this is my passion - it's great to look back on all the hard work and thoroughness that actually went into it.
though the scripts are the product of all that hard work - that file folder represents the shaping of a story. i'll be sure to hang on to it for as long as possible.
hope you're all having a great week everybody!
The Dustin Bell Guide to Productive 4am Web Surfing
hello wonderful people and welcome to what may come off as an oddity amongst the rest of these posts.
it's 4am. u've just come off a three hour binge of the wire and let me be the latest to tell you, that shit is tight.
but i don't come here to talk about other television shows! i come here to talk about me!
building good networks is probably the most crucial step to success. in my books at least. it's also good to stay informed.
i'm going to let you all in on a some of the websites i try to hit up at least once a week to stay in-the-know and to capitalize on any opportunities i know aren't coming my way.
the ontario media development corporation; to think your tax dollars do nothing for you is ignorant. wanting to write and produce television is a very specific goal and the government has done nothing short of hold my hand through the process. the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government provide immeasurable assistance to those trying to do almost anything. this specific website, the OMDC is dedicated towards keeping filmmakers informed on provincial grants, tax incentives, amazing market research and almost most importantly; all programmes currently in production, updated weekly. your tax dollars at work people. i rate this website 4 dustins out of 5.
media job search canada; fuck craigslist, monster, workopolis, etc. and try to picture an employment database filled with jobs that cater towards your specific career. now picture a lot of people knowing about that website and participating in it. this is MJSC. so many gems that would otherwise go unnoticed. anyone in that broad industry i call 'media' should check this website out (that includes you, english and journalism grads). in the words of tracy jordan, i love MJSC so much i'm gonna take it behind the middle-school and get it pregnant.
twitter; i knew it, you think i'm a monster now. ow, i'm not. i'm not a tweeter. it's not really my thang. i find it's a little bit more about celebrity gossip than anything. i mean as much as i love to know the second tina fey has a humorous anecdote about mcdonalds - i thought the whole thing was supposed to be geared towards expanding business networks. instead i just find a bunch of porn. i mean, i'm not complaining, and it's not liked i've stopped going on it... i'm just not enthusastic about it. besides, you have to spend a lot of time developing your networks to get anything worthwhile out of it - so take it with a grain of salt.
linkedin; was referred to this through B.B. thought it was a neat little program to network with people who share my professional interests - but with any social networking site, it takes time to build up any meaningful networks. i'm from the plug-and-play generation, not the plug-and-work.
artistic tendency; this is a great website run by a friend, B.B. these are the kind of websites that i like to read about online. B.'s taken some of the best young artistic expressions from the local area and put them out there for the world to see. i've ranted before about how barrie doesn't seem to have the resources to rise above anything than a bedroom for the nation's largest city, but the only resources it needs are people like B. and the people she's showcasing. i know a lot of you support your local artists and musicians, but if you haven't been, which i'm recently guilty of - at the very least, being aware of them, is enough encouragment to keep these struggling entrepeneurs going.
so 32 minutes later and i'm still not any more tired.
i still haven't decided what's worse; the heat, or the noise my neighbors' air conditioning makes. it's like irony slapping me in the face.
i used to play around with websites a lot when i was younger - like, ten years younger (it scares me to think i've been using the internet for ten years). the point is, i learned a lot about HTML and the basics of web-based programming languages. you may have noticed that there are clickable links in this post and i just wanted to point out that it wasn't any fancy 'link' button - it was good old fashioned '< a href = 'http://www.mymemoryfuckingrocks.com' >, with a little < /a > for good measure. i try, people!
3 minutes later and i think another episode of the wire is gonna serande me to sleep.
sweet dreams and lullabies my faithful readers.
P.S. i'm coming to toronto this weekend - so mothers lock up your daughters.
P.P.S. i'm actually just going to ribfest so maybe you should just tell them to avoid that areA
it's 4am. u've just come off a three hour binge of the wire and let me be the latest to tell you, that shit is tight.
but i don't come here to talk about other television shows! i come here to talk about me!
building good networks is probably the most crucial step to success. in my books at least. it's also good to stay informed.
i'm going to let you all in on a some of the websites i try to hit up at least once a week to stay in-the-know and to capitalize on any opportunities i know aren't coming my way.
the ontario media development corporation; to think your tax dollars do nothing for you is ignorant. wanting to write and produce television is a very specific goal and the government has done nothing short of hold my hand through the process. the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government provide immeasurable assistance to those trying to do almost anything. this specific website, the OMDC is dedicated towards keeping filmmakers informed on provincial grants, tax incentives, amazing market research and almost most importantly; all programmes currently in production, updated weekly. your tax dollars at work people. i rate this website 4 dustins out of 5.
media job search canada; fuck craigslist, monster, workopolis, etc. and try to picture an employment database filled with jobs that cater towards your specific career. now picture a lot of people knowing about that website and participating in it. this is MJSC. so many gems that would otherwise go unnoticed. anyone in that broad industry i call 'media' should check this website out (that includes you, english and journalism grads). in the words of tracy jordan, i love MJSC so much i'm gonna take it behind the middle-school and get it pregnant.
twitter; i knew it, you think i'm a monster now. ow, i'm not. i'm not a tweeter. it's not really my thang. i find it's a little bit more about celebrity gossip than anything. i mean as much as i love to know the second tina fey has a humorous anecdote about mcdonalds - i thought the whole thing was supposed to be geared towards expanding business networks. instead i just find a bunch of porn. i mean, i'm not complaining, and it's not liked i've stopped going on it... i'm just not enthusastic about it. besides, you have to spend a lot of time developing your networks to get anything worthwhile out of it - so take it with a grain of salt.
linkedin; was referred to this through B.B. thought it was a neat little program to network with people who share my professional interests - but with any social networking site, it takes time to build up any meaningful networks. i'm from the plug-and-play generation, not the plug-and-work.
artistic tendency; this is a great website run by a friend, B.B. these are the kind of websites that i like to read about online. B.'s taken some of the best young artistic expressions from the local area and put them out there for the world to see. i've ranted before about how barrie doesn't seem to have the resources to rise above anything than a bedroom for the nation's largest city, but the only resources it needs are people like B. and the people she's showcasing. i know a lot of you support your local artists and musicians, but if you haven't been, which i'm recently guilty of - at the very least, being aware of them, is enough encouragment to keep these struggling entrepeneurs going.
so 32 minutes later and i'm still not any more tired.
i still haven't decided what's worse; the heat, or the noise my neighbors' air conditioning makes. it's like irony slapping me in the face.
i used to play around with websites a lot when i was younger - like, ten years younger (it scares me to think i've been using the internet for ten years). the point is, i learned a lot about HTML and the basics of web-based programming languages. you may have noticed that there are clickable links in this post and i just wanted to point out that it wasn't any fancy 'link' button - it was good old fashioned '< a href = 'http://www.mymemoryfuckingrocks.com' >, with a little < /a > for good measure. i try, people!
3 minutes later and i think another episode of the wire is gonna serande me to sleep.
sweet dreams and lullabies my faithful readers.
P.S. i'm coming to toronto this weekend - so mothers lock up your daughters.
P.P.S. i'm actually just going to ribfest so maybe you should just tell them to avoid that areA
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Dustin Versus Episode Three
I return to you with Episode 3 ‘401’ complete!
That’s the big news for today, but since it’s been some time since the last entry I think there are a few things that I should talk about.
I’ve learned a few things this past week. I’ll start with deadlines.
At the end of April, I had initially set a deadline of May 15th for ‘401’ to be completed. That didn’t come anywhere close to happening. It wasn’t due to laziness or a lack of inspiration – I had just found myself committed to too many other things. Volunteering, working, trying to maintain some sense of a social life. I didn’t have a lot of time left to exclusively write.
I believe it’s been eleven days and twenty-two pages since the last entry. Most of the writing was done over three days, today being the most beautiful of them and thus a lot of it got done outside.
The writing process went smoothly for pages 22-36. The words and actions of these characters fell off my hands and onto the page. 36-42 I had a little bit of trouble wrapping up this specific episode as it dealt with a lot of issues.
I had initially decided that Dana Steele was to remain an adversary until the season finale where she assists Derek escaping from the law. The way things worked out, Dana ended up helping Derek remain one step ahead by the end of Episode 3.
One of the other things I learned this past week was about the relationship and communication issues between the director and videographers. I’ve mentioned the ongoing difficulty I’ve had dealing with ‘DAYTIME’ director, D.M. This past week I reached a point where I couldn't feel comfortable with the director any longer and it wasn't worth souring my day every morning to meet the demands of a very difficult woman.
As a communications student, I obviously studied the act of communicating. I could go on for a while about Locke, Payne, Chomsky or whomever but I think the general message I walked out of that area of study with was that a good vocabulary is essential to good communication. An understanding of the terms and cues in the industry that are known by both camera crew and production team is essential to effective communication.
So what did I LEARN? To communicate EFFECTIVELY. To use the best words possible to describe the exact motion, speed and angle of the shot wanted in the calmest and most reasonable voice possible. You may think it’s simple, but believe it or not, some directors think that yelling louder will actually increase your ability to read their mind. I luckily no longer have to deal with any directors of that sort.
I did a casting call this past weekend for the Rogers TV program “IT’S ELEMENTARY” produced by T.L.. T. was great to work with and definitely provided excellent input into the personality and behavior expected to be projected towards the public. Working with T. was a great experience and though the audition was for a younger part, I think it was absolutely worth my time.
So many things I do at Rogers seem so simple, but just being able to do them is a great experience and such an eye-opener. The more I learn there, the more I’m excited about proposing a show to produce while SOUNDTRACK goes through development.
Episode 3 is still tabled for a July 18th or July 24th reading, so I’ll be working on the second draft of that episode (i’m already halfway done the second draft) and preparing a facebook event guestlist. Hopefully everyone can make it out, as the last two have been absolutely great experiences for both the project and just having a great time.
It’s dinner time and I’m still in my pyjammas, so enjoy the rest of your Sunday, wish your fathers a happy father’s day, and have a great afternoon!
That’s the big news for today, but since it’s been some time since the last entry I think there are a few things that I should talk about.
I’ve learned a few things this past week. I’ll start with deadlines.
At the end of April, I had initially set a deadline of May 15th for ‘401’ to be completed. That didn’t come anywhere close to happening. It wasn’t due to laziness or a lack of inspiration – I had just found myself committed to too many other things. Volunteering, working, trying to maintain some sense of a social life. I didn’t have a lot of time left to exclusively write.
I believe it’s been eleven days and twenty-two pages since the last entry. Most of the writing was done over three days, today being the most beautiful of them and thus a lot of it got done outside.
The writing process went smoothly for pages 22-36. The words and actions of these characters fell off my hands and onto the page. 36-42 I had a little bit of trouble wrapping up this specific episode as it dealt with a lot of issues.
I had initially decided that Dana Steele was to remain an adversary until the season finale where she assists Derek escaping from the law. The way things worked out, Dana ended up helping Derek remain one step ahead by the end of Episode 3.
One of the other things I learned this past week was about the relationship and communication issues between the director and videographers. I’ve mentioned the ongoing difficulty I’ve had dealing with ‘DAYTIME’ director, D.M. This past week I reached a point where I couldn't feel comfortable with the director any longer and it wasn't worth souring my day every morning to meet the demands of a very difficult woman.
As a communications student, I obviously studied the act of communicating. I could go on for a while about Locke, Payne, Chomsky or whomever but I think the general message I walked out of that area of study with was that a good vocabulary is essential to good communication. An understanding of the terms and cues in the industry that are known by both camera crew and production team is essential to effective communication.
So what did I LEARN? To communicate EFFECTIVELY. To use the best words possible to describe the exact motion, speed and angle of the shot wanted in the calmest and most reasonable voice possible. You may think it’s simple, but believe it or not, some directors think that yelling louder will actually increase your ability to read their mind. I luckily no longer have to deal with any directors of that sort.
I did a casting call this past weekend for the Rogers TV program “IT’S ELEMENTARY” produced by T.L.. T. was great to work with and definitely provided excellent input into the personality and behavior expected to be projected towards the public. Working with T. was a great experience and though the audition was for a younger part, I think it was absolutely worth my time.
So many things I do at Rogers seem so simple, but just being able to do them is a great experience and such an eye-opener. The more I learn there, the more I’m excited about proposing a show to produce while SOUNDTRACK goes through development.
Episode 3 is still tabled for a July 18th or July 24th reading, so I’ll be working on the second draft of that episode (i’m already halfway done the second draft) and preparing a facebook event guestlist. Hopefully everyone can make it out, as the last two have been absolutely great experiences for both the project and just having a great time.
It’s dinner time and I’m still in my pyjammas, so enjoy the rest of your Sunday, wish your fathers a happy father’s day, and have a great afternoon!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
$thirtyfive/$/fourty$
i'm going to open this up with a promise. i am going to have Episode 3 "401" finished by the next time i post. it's been too long without finishing it and i feel like i'm just putting it off. i have ideas, i know what happens. i know who has to be where when and how they get there. i can make excuses, but the bottom line is it should be done right now and there's only one thing i can do about that.
i'd like to take a few minutes to talk about convocation. i don't know what i was expecting, but i can't even begin to display the mix of emotions from beginning to end of that ceremony. let me see if i can try to recall them in order;
that took longer than i expected, but i tried to be concise and comprehensive. did it work? either way, very impressive ceremony. not much i can say to describe it if you weren't there, but i know some of you were, so hope you liked it as much as i did. though i was bored through most of it, i appreciated the outstanding efforts of everyone involved, and if it wasn't quite redundant i'm sure i would have enjoyed the keynote speech. i'd also like to give a special shoutout to W.O. who won a very prestigious award and she should be very proud of herself. when all was said and done i rate the whole experience... $35 000 / $40 000.
everything else i had to talk about was show-related. one thing i like to avoid doing here is posting spoilers. but wait! i do have news. i'm going to bold this.
JULY 18th 2009: EPISODE THREE: '401' - STARRING CORN ON THE COB AND CHICKEN WINGS AS DINNER
be there or be square. you can get the de(tails)eets from me through dustin.dbell@gmail.com or through my facebook account, or twitter @eddietucker if you're following me there.
that is all. when you see me next, i'll not just be a graduate, i'll be a graduate with three out of six episodes in his breakout miniseries finished.
have a great week everyone!
i'd like to take a few minutes to talk about convocation. i don't know what i was expecting, but i can't even begin to display the mix of emotions from beginning to end of that ceremony. let me see if i can try to recall them in order;
8:30: getting cap and gown - looming boredom
8:45-9:15: lining up - the boredom sets in
9:20: preparation to enter - anticipation
9:25: pre-entry - nervous awe (i cured the nervousness by thinking of the final scene in 'Star Wars' when Han, Luke and Chewie get their medals)
9:27: entry - awe (loved the music)
9:29: pre-seating - relief (bottles of water!)
9:30-9:35: seating - back to awe
9:36: sitting - giddyness
9:40-9:42: Oh Canada! - surprisingly bone chillingly awesome, everyone just kinda mummed the words and the room vibrated
9:43-10:45 - speeches - blah blah blah BORED
10:46: pre-stage entry - complete and utter nervousness.
10:46-10:52: lineup for stage entry - kept telling myself "don't trip, don't trip, don't trip"
10:53: stage pre-entry - a complete mix of pride, relief, awe, and of course nervousness
10:54: stage entry - see above, minus nervousness
10:55-10:56: diplomacy - cucumber: as in; 'cool as a;'
10:57: stage exit - RELIEF
10:58-12:00 - BOREDOM (with the exception of friends)
that took longer than i expected, but i tried to be concise and comprehensive. did it work? either way, very impressive ceremony. not much i can say to describe it if you weren't there, but i know some of you were, so hope you liked it as much as i did. though i was bored through most of it, i appreciated the outstanding efforts of everyone involved, and if it wasn't quite redundant i'm sure i would have enjoyed the keynote speech. i'd also like to give a special shoutout to W.O. who won a very prestigious award and she should be very proud of herself. when all was said and done i rate the whole experience... $35 000 / $40 000.
everything else i had to talk about was show-related. one thing i like to avoid doing here is posting spoilers. but wait! i do have news. i'm going to bold this.
JULY 18th 2009: EPISODE THREE: '401' - STARRING CORN ON THE COB AND CHICKEN WINGS AS DINNER
be there or be square. you can get the de(tails)eets from me through dustin.dbell@gmail.com or through my facebook account, or twitter @eddietucker if you're following me there.
that is all. when you see me next, i'll not just be a graduate, i'll be a graduate with three out of six episodes in his breakout miniseries finished.
have a great week everyone!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is the name of this post because it's the band that sings that ultra-emo 'Graduation' song - and that's what I'm doing Wednesday morning!
I am going to receive my Bachelor's of Arts in Mass Communication. The degree focuses on the relationship between the audience and the media, as well as a critical interpretation of all sorts of media from radio to the internet. I've spent the last four years of my life studying; film; law; history of media; economics; the audience; language; philosophy; ethics; nationalism; symbolism; foreign policy; literature; myth; religion; news media; advertising and the music industry. I spent every single moment learning about something I had a deeply vested interest in. I feel like I've come out of university with no specialized knowledge in anything, but with a very general and well-rounded sense of the world I live in.
I also met some of the greatest people a man could hope to meet. To all my friends, who are too many to name and too great to be insulted by an exclusion from any list - a toast. You turned a crappy cinderblock palace and a city far away into a home for me. Thank you all.
Along the way, the students of Carleton's Mass Communication program lost someone great. Paul Atallah, the professor of MCOM 1000, who welcomed first-year students to university like no other professor could, passed away in late 2008. I'd like to take a moment to express how influential Professor Atallah was in my university career and how much he will be missed by myself and countless others.
For today, I'll forget about every complaint I've had towards you, Carleton. It's been a privledge and an honour.
I can say that Soundtrack is without a doubt the product of the broad and generalized education I received at university. I've already listed the range of courses I took over my four years, but I can't begin to explain how influential every single one of them were on the show's development.
Though at times I feel I want to create something entertaining and commercially appealing, at others I feel I should strongly be incorporating in-depth themes and motifs to the narrative. Lidless and Soundtrack's rivalry is what drives a majority of the themes explored through the show. The miniseries only explores the origin of this rivalry and so I feel like I've lost an opportunity to explore a lot of the more in-depth issues I'd hope to address through the show. Though I feel story comes first - the true reason I hope for a full season after the miniseries is to explore these themes.
So I'll bid you all farewell. I hope you all have a great week and say goodbye to you as the last time, a university STUDENT!
I am going to receive my Bachelor's of Arts in Mass Communication. The degree focuses on the relationship between the audience and the media, as well as a critical interpretation of all sorts of media from radio to the internet. I've spent the last four years of my life studying; film; law; history of media; economics; the audience; language; philosophy; ethics; nationalism; symbolism; foreign policy; literature; myth; religion; news media; advertising and the music industry. I spent every single moment learning about something I had a deeply vested interest in. I feel like I've come out of university with no specialized knowledge in anything, but with a very general and well-rounded sense of the world I live in.
I also met some of the greatest people a man could hope to meet. To all my friends, who are too many to name and too great to be insulted by an exclusion from any list - a toast. You turned a crappy cinderblock palace and a city far away into a home for me. Thank you all.
Along the way, the students of Carleton's Mass Communication program lost someone great. Paul Atallah, the professor of MCOM 1000, who welcomed first-year students to university like no other professor could, passed away in late 2008. I'd like to take a moment to express how influential Professor Atallah was in my university career and how much he will be missed by myself and countless others.
a moment
For today, I'll forget about every complaint I've had towards you, Carleton. It's been a privledge and an honour.
I can say that Soundtrack is without a doubt the product of the broad and generalized education I received at university. I've already listed the range of courses I took over my four years, but I can't begin to explain how influential every single one of them were on the show's development.
Though at times I feel I want to create something entertaining and commercially appealing, at others I feel I should strongly be incorporating in-depth themes and motifs to the narrative. Lidless and Soundtrack's rivalry is what drives a majority of the themes explored through the show. The miniseries only explores the origin of this rivalry and so I feel like I've lost an opportunity to explore a lot of the more in-depth issues I'd hope to address through the show. Though I feel story comes first - the true reason I hope for a full season after the miniseries is to explore these themes.
So I'll bid you all farewell. I hope you all have a great week and say goodbye to you as the last time, a university STUDENT!
Friday, June 5, 2009
The Beautiful People (that's you!)
you're all such patient, beautiful people and so i've decided to try and win you all over with another blog entry.
the warm weather has arrived and i think it's here to stay. i couldn't be happier. i love the summer and everything associated with it.
been spending a lot of time filming. did celebrate the county today, doing the barrie baycats double header tomorrow.
tuesday or wednesday night i put on a pot of coffee at 10pm and wrote until 2am. took everything i had for episode 3 "401" and turned it into 24 pages of concrete script that i am absolutely thrilled with. i realize i'm almost a month behind on my initial deadline for "401", but I made that list before I had committed myself to work and volunteering, and honestly, I don't think it's been wasted time. I'll wrap up "401" as soon as I can, but "Nostos", "In Media Res" and the season finale will have to wait until I can make more serious advances in production of the pilot.
i've tasked someone with getting all the applications possible for grants, funding, etc.. so it looks like DBell Ink [or Dbell Productions, which is better?] has its first staff member. speaking of the production company, i'm still sticking to my deadline of having the company founded by the end of the summer. rome was not built in a day, and all great things take time. though i don't spend every waking hour working on this project, i think i've set realistic deadlines to accompany the demands of life as well as my passion for the show.
i've been concentrating a lot of effort into developing the character of Riley. She's turning into my favorite character in the show because I know where she ends up in episode 24. we may never get to episode 24, but it feels so natural for her to be at that place at the end of the series. 24 episodes is what most television programs have in one season, but i'd like to tell the entire series in 4-5 arcs spread over 24-26 episodes. i've all but decided the fates of Derek and Eddie, but it's Riley's character arc that i feel deserves the most attention.
the show had always started based on Derek's love for a character based on K.M., but the further this show goes the more I'm happy I decided Eveleigh's fate early on. i've had trouble lately finding a girl that i'd like to start a relationship with and thus people ask me what i want in a girl. as i continue to write these episodes, i realize i am shaping Riley out to very much be the kind of girl i'd like to be with. ultimately i identify with all my characters, male and female alike, and generally try to imbue them with some sense of my own moral attributes. where Eveleigh represents the superficial and obvious qualities i look for in a girl, Riley represents that partnering and true personality i'd like to connect with. similarily, i think Eddie will personify some of the qualities i'd find appealing about myself for a woman, but Derek represents the more natural, careless and negative way I carry myself with women.
i always try and make a point to recognzie when i'm too freudy and psychoanalyzing myself. this is it, and thus i'll bring this to a close. i hope you all have wonderful weekends, and i'll be talking with you soon!
the warm weather has arrived and i think it's here to stay. i couldn't be happier. i love the summer and everything associated with it.
been spending a lot of time filming. did celebrate the county today, doing the barrie baycats double header tomorrow.
tuesday or wednesday night i put on a pot of coffee at 10pm and wrote until 2am. took everything i had for episode 3 "401" and turned it into 24 pages of concrete script that i am absolutely thrilled with. i realize i'm almost a month behind on my initial deadline for "401", but I made that list before I had committed myself to work and volunteering, and honestly, I don't think it's been wasted time. I'll wrap up "401" as soon as I can, but "Nostos", "In Media Res" and the season finale will have to wait until I can make more serious advances in production of the pilot.
i've tasked someone with getting all the applications possible for grants, funding, etc.. so it looks like DBell Ink [or Dbell Productions, which is better?] has its first staff member. speaking of the production company, i'm still sticking to my deadline of having the company founded by the end of the summer. rome was not built in a day, and all great things take time. though i don't spend every waking hour working on this project, i think i've set realistic deadlines to accompany the demands of life as well as my passion for the show.
i've been concentrating a lot of effort into developing the character of Riley. She's turning into my favorite character in the show because I know where she ends up in episode 24. we may never get to episode 24, but it feels so natural for her to be at that place at the end of the series. 24 episodes is what most television programs have in one season, but i'd like to tell the entire series in 4-5 arcs spread over 24-26 episodes. i've all but decided the fates of Derek and Eddie, but it's Riley's character arc that i feel deserves the most attention.
the show had always started based on Derek's love for a character based on K.M., but the further this show goes the more I'm happy I decided Eveleigh's fate early on. i've had trouble lately finding a girl that i'd like to start a relationship with and thus people ask me what i want in a girl. as i continue to write these episodes, i realize i am shaping Riley out to very much be the kind of girl i'd like to be with. ultimately i identify with all my characters, male and female alike, and generally try to imbue them with some sense of my own moral attributes. where Eveleigh represents the superficial and obvious qualities i look for in a girl, Riley represents that partnering and true personality i'd like to connect with. similarily, i think Eddie will personify some of the qualities i'd find appealing about myself for a woman, but Derek represents the more natural, careless and negative way I carry myself with women.
i always try and make a point to recognzie when i'm too freudy and psychoanalyzing myself. this is it, and thus i'll bring this to a close. i hope you all have wonderful weekends, and i'll be talking with you soon!
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