In a world... with ten thousand guns... one man... makes one hell of a blockbuster movie

Ok, so the title of this post is best read with the "movie guy's" voice-- you know, the movie guy whose voice you hear all the time? I do a mean movie guy impression, but that is a digression I have to pull back on.

The title of this post is meant to invoke the formulaic tendency of the movie trailer. As a writer, I constantly wonder about form, and worry about formula. The spelling of the two are similar for a reason (maybe hotforwords should investigate?) because form is what happens when you are a disciplined writer using the tools of your trade and you succeed, formula is when your method is revealed too openly, too easy to see the "how" of your writing.

It is a tricky thing to have good form, and not just mere formula. It is a very fine-line that exists in between the two, but I think for the most part, what separates the two-- and warning for those thinking this will help you out on your next paper or blog or whatever, it will be far too vague to do so-- is sincerity. Writers and artists in general that work from the heart will always create more powerful works than those who write for money, or to a more forgiving place, power. I write for power in the respect that I write for the power of my story, to increase the power of my storytelling. I've done a lot over the years in order to ensure that my writing is as strong as possible-- including learning about filmmaking in order to ensure that my storytelling was as audiovisual as possible.

But I got lost in the "how" and it wasn't until I started to do the thing I do best-- writing instinctively-- that I started to feel like a writer again, instead of like someone filling out business forms or something (name of character:____ Character's occupation: _____ character's turning point in act two: _____ ).

I have been on somewhat of a hiatus while I get things sorted out in my life-- and for that I apologize. I'm a pretty scattered person in general, but I am getting focused in my old age. There are, hopefully, more works to come in the film vein, as I am hard at work writing a script for a new horror movie. Sadly, due to lack of production support and lack of time on my part-- it is difficult to juggle everything my life is offering right now, and I'm finding that I do need help in the production department moreso than I previously admitted) "Z" will have to be put on hold-- so those who wish to audition for zombie extras will have to wait just a little longer at least.

But it will come-- I haven't forgotten about "Z" I've just put it in the "to do" pile, lest my brain explode like in Scanners ; oh us Canucks do think up some pretty morbid stuff from time to time, and Scanners is deeply embedded into some pretty early childhood memories. Probably helped shape me for the disturbed individual I am today, and to quote a famous fast-food franchise, I'm loving it.

So yeah, stay tuned and I will try to balance things out-- one of the things I'm working hard is compressing my duties to free up time to my proper passions, which ironically I'm trying to do by getting a job IN my field so that I can have time to ... work more in my field in a different way. Two birds with one stone if you will. A bit hard to explain, but when I have more news to report, I'll fill you in-- I'm a bit too superstitious to spit it out now :p

At any rate, stay tuned, more to come, and as always, be nice to each other. Or else.

Become Zombified

In the spirit of all things competitive (and zombie), we at Monster Intern have started to discuss a potential contest. The details of the contest are still being worked on, but essentially, it will be a draw to be featured in the upcoming television series "Z", written by me and Mark Holmes.

The contest will start by taking applications. The application details are still being worked on, but they may include a "why I want to be a zombie" essay, and we may ask for an optional headshot-- with everyone who commits to a headshot receiving a free "zombified" mod of their headshot created in our offices from the original.

This is just the beginning, we should have more news on the contest soon.

Distracted by random distractions...

Ugh... I hate distractions. Seriously, if I could be a fully automated robot so that I coud achieve the productivity levels I so desperately desire/need... le sigh...

Anywho, I've managed to update the web page a tad. Working on developing a more nifty image scroller, but that won't be until I learn at least a tiny smidgeon of flash. Also, designed a few items in a store which can be found at http:/zazzle.com/monsterintern for those interested in awesome items. Other than that, been doing some research for a new script about a haunted asylum and BEFORE you say "I've seen that before," please take into account a few things I want to do differently with this project. The first thing is that it isn't an asylum haunted by insane ghosts, its a fully populated asylum with live patients that is haunted. Who will believe these poor souls? Well... no one. Which leads me to the second thing I want to do with this script, which is to hopefully expose the sometimes lonely world of the mentally ill, while also giving them life and respect. It isn't something I'm taking lightly, and I really want to make a project that doesn't just exploit mental illnesses, but shows the sometimes scary, sometimes lonely, sometimes unstable, and sometimes loving world these people exist in. We all have neuroses, and that is another thing I want to do with this script-- to really truly destroy the distinction between "normal" and "abnormal" not to belittle the illness, but to humanize its victim.

Also hard at work planning promotional material for "Z" (previously known as "Diary of the End"), the tv series which seems destined to be financed out of pocket... which... considering my pocket, is not going to be easy! But I have high hopes. The plan is to have almost all-- if not all-- the scripts for the first season ready for shooting so we don't have to take breaks in between filming episodes.

Whatever crew I develop will hate me for that. Or love me, I don't know, we'll see.

Also starting playing with twitter (my that sounds dirty). While on twitter, I managed to find this:

Which, needless to say, looks... awesome.

The still is from a movie called "Zombieland"... its a typical zomacolypse flick, but it looks like it has lots of character and energy, which are always good things when it comes to the walking maggot-bags.

In fact, the current uprising of the horror genre-- from Sam Raimi's triumphant return with Drag Me to Hell, to this, to Tim Burton's return to weirdsville with the awesome-looking Alice in Wonderland, has made me make plans on developing a podcast giving my thoughts on movies in general, probably with a bias toward the horror genre. Because really... who doesn't love the creepy crawlies and the splattered red stuff?

Ok, maybe I'm just a special case and somewhat of a cynic, but the horror genre is like a sibling to me. Granted, a festering, smelly sibling... and probably more prone to try to make me uncomfortable than my real life sibling...

ANYWHO I'm on rantsville now, so I will part by saying these things that need to be said: the things still on the agenda are more physical versions of marketing my goods-- need to hawk stuff in order to pay for production-- and to all beautiful and rich ladies, if you are looking for an adorible and awesome guy to encourage, love, and throw yourself and your money at... I am single.

There... I do believe I've pimped myself out about as much as I can for the time being. Until next time.

Here's another mockup.

Diary of the End Promo Material

Here is one of the first few mockups that I've been working on for the project.  The name may change, but the awesomeness shall not!

First Revisions of Diary of the End/World to Come

We've been working on the pilot script for a new television series for awhile now.  We are currently on our second revisions, and will be soon on the lookout for producers and financing-- thus begins the torturous and infamous pre-production hell!  

The script centers around Malcolm, a man who wakes up one day to find that the majority-- if not all-- the people he once knew are dead.  He is quite happy about this-- not because he's happy to see people dead, but because it means that he has the whole place to himself.

Of course, life isn't perfect for poor old Malcolm.  The dead eventually start getting up and trying to snack on him.  And they may not be the only threat-- but to find out more, you'll have to stay tuned. 

The revisions are going well-- we've had a few massive rewrites of the script, but for the most part, we're just integrating each of the scenes with better transitions, making sure the audience gets to see life through Malcolm's eyes, stuff like that.

As per the producer/financer hunt, at this point it is fairly early-- I essentially want the first script to be polished.  I have a handful of producers in mind.  Financing... well, that was never my strong point, so I hope to find a producer willing to help me on that front-- not out of pocket, of course, but one that is willing to back me on fundraising. 

In the meantime, I will be updating the websites, making sure promo material is as good as it can be, and I also plan on shooting some test footage.  A friend of mine-- the wondrously talented Morgan Oughton, special effects lady extraordinaire-- is visiting in the fall, and I hope to take use of her visit to shoot some tests.  

Outside of that... well... I'll keep you posted when news comes along!  Stay tuned!

Oh, and almost forgot-- keep an eye out on the monster intern website for more news!

The Secret Confessions of a Lying No-Good

What would you say to me if you knew it was the last time you would ever see me?  Would your words be any different?  Probably not.

There comes a point when you wake up and think to yourself, "how did I get this far?"  It doesn't matter how 'far' you actually are.  You could be broke, on the street, the question still remains... with everything that could go wrong, with no discernable difference between a stitched up corpse and a living human, it makes you wonder... with every particle in the universe, randomly bumping around, why is it that the ones that make up me... well... make up the person who I refer to as "me" at all?

And then there's the question of time.  After all, every moment we are conscious, every moment we can think and drink and fuck, is borrowed time, a gift.  We never made a conscious decision to exist, and it is an easy thing to rectify.  So why is it that we go on, living a life we never asked to be given?

The best I've ever come up with is merely "because."  Some people live to please their respective gods.  I would never take that away from them but I just don't get it.  Others live to please their families.  I can understand that-- my family is the only thing that keeps me pushing forward sometimes.  But still... how many people live life because they sincerely want to?  

Or an even more difficult question: what would that entail?  What would it look like to live your life because you want to?  Would it be egoism-- living life in order to make yourself happy, in order to ensure your own predispositions never become encumbered?  Would it be selfishness?  Sadly, I think that would exactly be the purest form of living.  To look at the world as a playground, a sand box for you to mold into your own image, to play god if you will and simply just... exist to exist and to force your existence on the world.

Sounds unethical somehow, but why?  Why is it that if I trick a person into giving me something I need, I'm a horrible person?  Why is it that if I manipulate my environment to be exactly what I want it to be, I'm an opportunistic, a selfish person with no values?  

Couldn't it be that I'm just human?