I had wanted to speak of this earlier, but I had to have a personal conversation with E.B. before I made it public. I obviously wanted him to hear it from me instead of through here, or from another friend. The good news is; he's fully supportive of my decision. The better news is; I'm almost half-way done the first draft of Episode IV.
I've renamed the episode, changing its direction dramatically. It was previously titled "Nostos", which comes from the Greek for a return journey in a story. The episode was meant to be about Derek's return to Toronto to face the consequences of all that had happened and prepare himself for the trials ahead. I've abandoned the need for him to return to Toronto to accomplish those things.
The episode is now titled "Burn the Fleet", which is a song by Thrice, but inspired by the story of Hernan Cortes. Cortes was a Spanish explorer who first travelled to what is now Haiti as a teen and gained favour with the local governors. After amassing a small personal wealth, Cortes sought to travel to Cuba and Mexico, but his personal relationship with the governors was waning. He disobeyed orders to travel Mexico and was labelled a mutineer. Aware of his situation, he ordered the ships his crew had arrived in destroyed to rally his men to arms. What followed was one of the most bloody and well-fought campaigns of the Spanish Inquisition, leading to the acquisition of much land in the Mayan-held Yucatan Peninsula.
While Derek isn't going to burn Riley's van to the ground to motivate his crew, it illustrates the desperation of his cause. With the entire band fugitives labelled from the law, the hopelessness of their situation is what drives them forward. There is no turning back for them. Their return journey can not happen yet. This puts the crew on a roadtrip East to St. John's, Newfoundland, seeking evidence against conspiracy mastermind, Danielle Parsons.
The plot in Toronto hasn't been abandoned. Episode III saw the beginning of the alliance between Derek and Dana Steele, Nathan Davis' former partner. With someone on the inside of the investigation, Derek manages to stay one step ahead. Furthermore, safely inside the city, Steele can attend to the things Derek can not - including warning Eveleigh Dawn to leave town.
With the police closing in on both Derek and Eveleigh, Steele races against the clock to get Eve to safety before she's caught by Parsons' agents.
The episode is flowing wonderfully so far. I've struggled with starting Episode V without a concrete ending to IV. The dialogue is flowing naturally and the situation with the main crew confined to the van for most of the episode provides an excellent opportunity for the viewer to get to know these characters. Episodes III and VI have higher budgets, but this episode requires few sets, and no special effects or fight choreography - thus, its a necessary cheapy.
With the characters firmly established, this is essentially the time to switch gears, allow for some character interaction and let background characters take the reigns for a while. Though never the intention, this is turning out to be Steele's episode - and I think it's absolutely perfect that it merged in this direction. Steele's not necessarily going to make it to the very end of the series, but her contributions to the story are going to be some of the more important ones of any character besides Derek and Danielle Parsons.
There have been lots of jobs popping up on media job search canada so I'm remaining optimistic about finding a full-time position in a reputable production company. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Winter's approaching fast and I'm living in denial. It's hard to face the fact that it's just going to get colder and darker from here on out. Here's looking forward to March. I hope you're all having a great week, and I'll be talking to you all soon!
Showing posts with label Episode 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Episode 5. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Ready Three, Take Three
You say the title of this post a lot when you direct a show - which I've been doing a lot of lately. It's pretty fun, though a little overwhelming. It requires a tremendous amount of concentration and the ability to hear selectively. You also have to communicate with a team of about six people. Some of the people at Rogers TV make it look easy, but trust me, it's not. I now have a new found respect for directors.
I've been doing quite a bit of writing on Episodes 4 and 5 but their progress isn't coming along nearly as fast as 1 through 3's. I feel like I have something to explain there. I didn't just sit down one day and write the script for an idea I had. It came from a tremendous amount of scribbles and notes. The first three episodes exist in pencil and paper form dating back to April of 2008. Episode 6 is rather fleshed out as well, but these two bridging episodes were always pretty vague. It's taken me a lot of time to try and formulate something that would be a substantial contribution but also allows for me to connect the first three episodes to the finale. The finale is what conceived the idea of Soundtrack and everything before that is just the path. Episode 5 has its direction, but it doesn't have the substance yet to be anything but a bridge right now. It needs work. Needless to say, there now exists a large pile of paper notes that detail the progression of Episode 5.
An idea I've been struggling with lately is the concept of freedom. What is true freedom? Are we really free to do whatever we want? Though it wasn't my deliberate intention to do so, I feel like this theme is very present in Soundtrack. Riley and Cain both struggle with the notion to be free. Riley eventually has to deal with the fallout of her adventure with Derek in her personal life. Cain, though a powerful man, wasn't free to do whatever he wanted and now has to deal with the consequences of his new found self-liberation. Does freedom always come with a cost? Hunter S. Thompson said that without the freedom to commit suicide at any time, he would always feel trapped. He later committed suicide in his study with his family in the next room.
Danielle Parsons/Lidless represents the other side to this argument. Through clairvoyance, she yields to determinism and makes no attempts to stop things from happening - only turning them to her advantage. Following determinism, Parsons has found herself within reach of becoming Prime Minister, while Rhett, walking the free path, is slipping into the underworld of his city.
To be honest, I think it was great to find this unintentional theme in the subtext of the show. In episodes 4, 5 and 6, the characters are going to have to face the decisions they have made so far. I'm hoping that it will feel like an honest transition when some of these characters resolve to change the way they're living.
Anyway, a friend of mine is leaving for the West coast tonight so we're having a goodbye party for her. I hope you all have great weekends and don't let the bad weather get you down.
Dustin
I've been doing quite a bit of writing on Episodes 4 and 5 but their progress isn't coming along nearly as fast as 1 through 3's. I feel like I have something to explain there. I didn't just sit down one day and write the script for an idea I had. It came from a tremendous amount of scribbles and notes. The first three episodes exist in pencil and paper form dating back to April of 2008. Episode 6 is rather fleshed out as well, but these two bridging episodes were always pretty vague. It's taken me a lot of time to try and formulate something that would be a substantial contribution but also allows for me to connect the first three episodes to the finale. The finale is what conceived the idea of Soundtrack and everything before that is just the path. Episode 5 has its direction, but it doesn't have the substance yet to be anything but a bridge right now. It needs work. Needless to say, there now exists a large pile of paper notes that detail the progression of Episode 5.
An idea I've been struggling with lately is the concept of freedom. What is true freedom? Are we really free to do whatever we want? Though it wasn't my deliberate intention to do so, I feel like this theme is very present in Soundtrack. Riley and Cain both struggle with the notion to be free. Riley eventually has to deal with the fallout of her adventure with Derek in her personal life. Cain, though a powerful man, wasn't free to do whatever he wanted and now has to deal with the consequences of his new found self-liberation. Does freedom always come with a cost? Hunter S. Thompson said that without the freedom to commit suicide at any time, he would always feel trapped. He later committed suicide in his study with his family in the next room.
Danielle Parsons/Lidless represents the other side to this argument. Through clairvoyance, she yields to determinism and makes no attempts to stop things from happening - only turning them to her advantage. Following determinism, Parsons has found herself within reach of becoming Prime Minister, while Rhett, walking the free path, is slipping into the underworld of his city.
To be honest, I think it was great to find this unintentional theme in the subtext of the show. In episodes 4, 5 and 6, the characters are going to have to face the decisions they have made so far. I'm hoping that it will feel like an honest transition when some of these characters resolve to change the way they're living.
Anyway, a friend of mine is leaving for the West coast tonight so we're having a goodbye party for her. I hope you all have great weekends and don't let the bad weather get you down.
Dustin
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Watchmaker
It's already August 9th; the table read for Episode 3 is this coming Saturday and this week is all about getting that prepared.
I'll be reviewing the script tomorrow through Tuesday, getting final numbers for attendance and then getting prepared for the dinner itself later in the week. Believe it or not this is going to be a ... long week.
I've been filming a bit more for Rogers TV recently. Saw the Barrie Baycats beat Kitchener and move on to the Intercounty Baseball Semi-Finals. Also did a Celebrate the County shoot in Heritage Park. Apparently Barrie has a small Carribana festival, and a steele drum band was playing in the park. It's actually quite a nice area and depending on how the footage is edited, you might see one of the better-kept areas of Barrie. I believe it's on Saturdays at 5pm on Rogers TV, which is channels 10 and 53 on cable. Barrie OHL starts up soon too, and I think there would be something challenging about filming hockey, so I'm excited to be signing up for that. Plus, it gets me into every Barrie Colts home game this season.
I've been writing Episode 5 lately, and have been wrestling with the idea of combining Episodes 5 and 6 together. I'm not confidant that I have enough material to actually make a 45 page script for Episode 6, but I'm sure that overlapping the plots of both would come out to longer than 45 minutes. It's actually been quite the dilemma that hasn't exactly been resolved.
Episode 5 is coming along great so far. It's the first opportunity I've had to characterize Danielle 'Lidless' Parsons as a tragic villain. I had always intended to her to be ruthless, yet sympathetic. Furthermore, the 'plot' of the show has always been about her political machinations, which are revealed in Episode 5. Though it's fun to write, there's also some critical thinking that has to go into this script that isn't exactly present in its predecessors.
Been doing some local travelling lately; was up in the Blue Mountains last weekend and managed to catch the sunrise from a particularly nice view. Was also doing some very-local sight-seeing at the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, located in Oro-Medonte. I mention these because I think there's a lot of potential in showing the natural resources of this area in the show. Though there's plenty of shows filmed in and around this area, very few shows take place here. I think it would be fun to try and incorporate the Blue Mountains into the narrative of the show somehow, maybe further down the line, just to have an excuse to go out and film there.
I had intended to have August be my big month for blogging, but in full compliance with the law of economics, as a recently laid-off individual, I enjoy spending money I don't have on things I don't need. This involves a lot of unproductive days. I'll do my best to get a full eight blogs out over the next 23 days and see if I can't make that goal of having August be the most productive month for the blog.
Think that's gonna wrap things up for tonight. Hope you all had good weekends despite the return of the wet weather.
I'll be reviewing the script tomorrow through Tuesday, getting final numbers for attendance and then getting prepared for the dinner itself later in the week. Believe it or not this is going to be a ... long week.
I've been filming a bit more for Rogers TV recently. Saw the Barrie Baycats beat Kitchener and move on to the Intercounty Baseball Semi-Finals. Also did a Celebrate the County shoot in Heritage Park. Apparently Barrie has a small Carribana festival, and a steele drum band was playing in the park. It's actually quite a nice area and depending on how the footage is edited, you might see one of the better-kept areas of Barrie. I believe it's on Saturdays at 5pm on Rogers TV, which is channels 10 and 53 on cable. Barrie OHL starts up soon too, and I think there would be something challenging about filming hockey, so I'm excited to be signing up for that. Plus, it gets me into every Barrie Colts home game this season.
I've been writing Episode 5 lately, and have been wrestling with the idea of combining Episodes 5 and 6 together. I'm not confidant that I have enough material to actually make a 45 page script for Episode 6, but I'm sure that overlapping the plots of both would come out to longer than 45 minutes. It's actually been quite the dilemma that hasn't exactly been resolved.
Episode 5 is coming along great so far. It's the first opportunity I've had to characterize Danielle 'Lidless' Parsons as a tragic villain. I had always intended to her to be ruthless, yet sympathetic. Furthermore, the 'plot' of the show has always been about her political machinations, which are revealed in Episode 5. Though it's fun to write, there's also some critical thinking that has to go into this script that isn't exactly present in its predecessors.
Been doing some local travelling lately; was up in the Blue Mountains last weekend and managed to catch the sunrise from a particularly nice view. Was also doing some very-local sight-seeing at the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, located in Oro-Medonte. I mention these because I think there's a lot of potential in showing the natural resources of this area in the show. Though there's plenty of shows filmed in and around this area, very few shows take place here. I think it would be fun to try and incorporate the Blue Mountains into the narrative of the show somehow, maybe further down the line, just to have an excuse to go out and film there.
I had intended to have August be my big month for blogging, but in full compliance with the law of economics, as a recently laid-off individual, I enjoy spending money I don't have on things I don't need. This involves a lot of unproductive days. I'll do my best to get a full eight blogs out over the next 23 days and see if I can't make that goal of having August be the most productive month for the blog.
Think that's gonna wrap things up for tonight. Hope you all had good weekends despite the return of the wet weather.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Show Stuff and Thrice
I suppose it's been a little while since my last entry - but rest assured, the time has been spent productively.
Earlier this week, I sat down and crunched some numbers for production. It's going to cost me about $20, 000 to build the sets for Episode 1 and store them for a month. Three weeks will probably be dedicated towards construction alone, so I'll probably need the studio space for two months which brings it up to $25, 000.
I feel its a rather liberal number, but I researched market trends to give myself a fairly accurate estimate. To be honest that number also doesn't worry me. If I can pace prouction accordingly, I can budget costs based on when grants become available. The pilot has to be finished for June 2010 and I think that's absolutely doable at this point.
I was talking to a friend with a business degree, M.B., who's starting his own financial company in the next few weeks. We're going to talk later about how he can go about helping me start the production company - so I've found the only 'business consultant' I can afford. As boring as that paragraph sounds, it's actually very, very good news because I was admittedlty intimdated by this process as a whole. I realize that although I understand basic aspects of business, economics, etc., I am definitely not prepared to proceed into this alone. It pays to have good friends.
E.B. is writing Episode 4. He'll possibly be contributing a writing commentary when he's finished his work on the script. I hope it's going well for him, but there's not much more I can speak on about Episode 4, so you'll have to wait for E.B. on that one.
Meanwhile, I've also been writing Episode 5 - 'In Media Res'. This is perhaps going to be the funnest episode for me to write, because I haven't worked out a lot of the minutia of the plot so far. But I do find what I've already written has worked out very well and I'm happy with the spontaneity that I seem to be demonstrating in this particular script.
I'm by no means winging it - this has been the most important episode in the back of my head. This is the reveal of Lidless' intentions. Somewhat. I came up with my McGuffins today (a term referring to a plot piece created specifically to drive the plot forward), and I think it ties in perfectly with the world I've set up so far. I had never had a specific motivation for Lidless kidnapping Davis besides the obvious uses of his intellect - but a specific reason came into my head today that doesn't necessarily need to be revealed in the miniseries to still be satisfying.
This episode takes place almost entirely from the perspective of Eve's kidnappers and the people responsible for orhcestrating it. We see the levels of power that Lidless has influence in. We see the both the tenacity and consciences of her associates. Furthermore, the episode foreshadows a weakness in her precognitive abilities that won't be revealed until Episode 6's conclusion.
Though I try and keep the content Canadian on this blog, I'd like to talk about the latest Thrice album for a number of reasons.
Thrice is a foursome band from Irvine, California and broke onto the scene in 2001 with their debut album, Identity Crisis. They've managed to evolve their style from hard-rock to experimental and still maintain a devoted following. Their latest album, Beggars (2009) was recently leaked through a mishap over at Vagrant Records. The album leaked nearly three months early, and I'm sure was a devasting blow to not only the band, but the production team behind the album.
I'll be honest - I downloaded it and I'd like to give it a short review at the end, so if you're looking for that, scroll down.
Free downloading (I won't call it illegal because it is simply - not) has had a devasting impact on the CD industry. I say specifically the CD industry because I do believe the music industry as a whole is doing fine (recession considered). The point is, owning a CD has absolutely no physical value anymore. If I were to buy a CD, I'd only want it for the sentimental value it holds. I want 'that' CD. Adding incentives to purchase the CD that can't be provided through the internet is what will revive the recording industry - which is exactly what Thrice will be doing with their latest album.
The album will see a digital release on August 11th through iTunes, shifting from its original release date of October 13th. Their statement was somewhere along the lines of 'releasing a CD earlier than planned is easy, changing a marketing strategy isn't'. Thus the band is going to release the album with bonus extras that would not be available through the promotional leak on its intended release date.
I was going to buy the album anyway. Thrice is one of those bands that I liked to own the CD, I don't have many of those but I definitely have a sentimental attachment with actually owning those albums. Seeing it on a computer screen isn't enough for me. I probably won't even listen to the CD itself, but I just like to have it. The record industry will survive on that alone - it will just reform into a smaller market. Movies hated TV, Radio had cassettes - media changes - get over it. Go make money off your Blu-Ray concerts, Rock-Bands and Ring-Tunes - all products established well after the internet caused damage to falling record sales. Thank you for waiting until your money was at risk to get innovative.
The fact is, and I could expand on this for far too long, so I'll keep it short; the increasing availability of affordable recording equipment is ending the record industry - not the internet. Thrice recorded this album in the basement recording studio of guitarist, Teppei Teranishi, largely on instruments that they constructed by hand. There is no problem with the music industry, there is only a solution - it's called artist independence and its happening more every day.
But alas, the album - reviewed.
Though its hard to say where Thrice peaked so far, I think the last album I was genuinely enthusiastic about was Artist in the Ambulance (2003). Vhessiu (2004), and The Alchemy Indexes I-IV (2008) were excellent demonstrations of their talent for creating refined music - but it had lost that hard rock feel. They didn't have many 'rocking out' opportunities.
Thrice returns to their hard-rock roots with three albums' worth of melodic experimental music behind them - combining the two for one of the most innovative, yet solid rock albums of the 21st century. The shear talent this band represents is just ridiculous compared to other bands that are gaining exposure these days. This album brings some of the most elegant, industrial notes a guitar can produce and finds them in a home in a rock album that is as bar-setting as it is purely enjoyable.
Of note, the tracks, All the World is Mad, The Weight, Circles, At the Last, In Exile, Talking Through Glass and Beggars are worth checking out even if you're not familiar with the band. So check out Beggars (2009) and hopefully introduce yourself to a band that's continued to impress for nearly a decade.
Hope everyone had a good weekend, and that you enjoyed this monster of a post!
P.S. I met someone this weekend who thought Thrice would be a more appropriate boys name than Thrace. I've been put in a quandry.
Earlier this week, I sat down and crunched some numbers for production. It's going to cost me about $20, 000 to build the sets for Episode 1 and store them for a month. Three weeks will probably be dedicated towards construction alone, so I'll probably need the studio space for two months which brings it up to $25, 000.
I feel its a rather liberal number, but I researched market trends to give myself a fairly accurate estimate. To be honest that number also doesn't worry me. If I can pace prouction accordingly, I can budget costs based on when grants become available. The pilot has to be finished for June 2010 and I think that's absolutely doable at this point.
I was talking to a friend with a business degree, M.B., who's starting his own financial company in the next few weeks. We're going to talk later about how he can go about helping me start the production company - so I've found the only 'business consultant' I can afford. As boring as that paragraph sounds, it's actually very, very good news because I was admittedlty intimdated by this process as a whole. I realize that although I understand basic aspects of business, economics, etc., I am definitely not prepared to proceed into this alone. It pays to have good friends.
E.B. is writing Episode 4. He'll possibly be contributing a writing commentary when he's finished his work on the script. I hope it's going well for him, but there's not much more I can speak on about Episode 4, so you'll have to wait for E.B. on that one.
Meanwhile, I've also been writing Episode 5 - 'In Media Res'. This is perhaps going to be the funnest episode for me to write, because I haven't worked out a lot of the minutia of the plot so far. But I do find what I've already written has worked out very well and I'm happy with the spontaneity that I seem to be demonstrating in this particular script.
I'm by no means winging it - this has been the most important episode in the back of my head. This is the reveal of Lidless' intentions. Somewhat. I came up with my McGuffins today (a term referring to a plot piece created specifically to drive the plot forward), and I think it ties in perfectly with the world I've set up so far. I had never had a specific motivation for Lidless kidnapping Davis besides the obvious uses of his intellect - but a specific reason came into my head today that doesn't necessarily need to be revealed in the miniseries to still be satisfying.
This episode takes place almost entirely from the perspective of Eve's kidnappers and the people responsible for orhcestrating it. We see the levels of power that Lidless has influence in. We see the both the tenacity and consciences of her associates. Furthermore, the episode foreshadows a weakness in her precognitive abilities that won't be revealed until Episode 6's conclusion.
Though I try and keep the content Canadian on this blog, I'd like to talk about the latest Thrice album for a number of reasons.
Thrice is a foursome band from Irvine, California and broke onto the scene in 2001 with their debut album, Identity Crisis. They've managed to evolve their style from hard-rock to experimental and still maintain a devoted following. Their latest album, Beggars (2009) was recently leaked through a mishap over at Vagrant Records. The album leaked nearly three months early, and I'm sure was a devasting blow to not only the band, but the production team behind the album.
I'll be honest - I downloaded it and I'd like to give it a short review at the end, so if you're looking for that, scroll down.
Free downloading (I won't call it illegal because it is simply - not) has had a devasting impact on the CD industry. I say specifically the CD industry because I do believe the music industry as a whole is doing fine (recession considered). The point is, owning a CD has absolutely no physical value anymore. If I were to buy a CD, I'd only want it for the sentimental value it holds. I want 'that' CD. Adding incentives to purchase the CD that can't be provided through the internet is what will revive the recording industry - which is exactly what Thrice will be doing with their latest album.
The album will see a digital release on August 11th through iTunes, shifting from its original release date of October 13th. Their statement was somewhere along the lines of 'releasing a CD earlier than planned is easy, changing a marketing strategy isn't'. Thus the band is going to release the album with bonus extras that would not be available through the promotional leak on its intended release date.
I was going to buy the album anyway. Thrice is one of those bands that I liked to own the CD, I don't have many of those but I definitely have a sentimental attachment with actually owning those albums. Seeing it on a computer screen isn't enough for me. I probably won't even listen to the CD itself, but I just like to have it. The record industry will survive on that alone - it will just reform into a smaller market. Movies hated TV, Radio had cassettes - media changes - get over it. Go make money off your Blu-Ray concerts, Rock-Bands and Ring-Tunes - all products established well after the internet caused damage to falling record sales. Thank you for waiting until your money was at risk to get innovative.
The fact is, and I could expand on this for far too long, so I'll keep it short; the increasing availability of affordable recording equipment is ending the record industry - not the internet. Thrice recorded this album in the basement recording studio of guitarist, Teppei Teranishi, largely on instruments that they constructed by hand. There is no problem with the music industry, there is only a solution - it's called artist independence and its happening more every day.
But alas, the album - reviewed.
Though its hard to say where Thrice peaked so far, I think the last album I was genuinely enthusiastic about was Artist in the Ambulance (2003). Vhessiu (2004), and The Alchemy Indexes I-IV (2008) were excellent demonstrations of their talent for creating refined music - but it had lost that hard rock feel. They didn't have many 'rocking out' opportunities.
Thrice returns to their hard-rock roots with three albums' worth of melodic experimental music behind them - combining the two for one of the most innovative, yet solid rock albums of the 21st century. The shear talent this band represents is just ridiculous compared to other bands that are gaining exposure these days. This album brings some of the most elegant, industrial notes a guitar can produce and finds them in a home in a rock album that is as bar-setting as it is purely enjoyable.
Of note, the tracks, All the World is Mad, The Weight, Circles, At the Last, In Exile, Talking Through Glass and Beggars are worth checking out even if you're not familiar with the band. So check out Beggars (2009) and hopefully introduce yourself to a band that's continued to impress for nearly a decade.
Hope everyone had a good weekend, and that you enjoyed this monster of a post!
P.S. I met someone this weekend who thought Thrice would be a more appropriate boys name than Thrace. I've been put in a quandry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
