“Sharkbiter” and “Some Days . . .” Updates 2012 October 28

I wanted to do something more to promote my video Make ’ em Squirm: The Sharkbiter Way video. A couple months ago, I split it up into a dozen or so shorter segments and posted them on YouTube. That didn’t generate the kind of interest I had hoped for.

This week I decided to pull a small (18-second) clip out of it and post it on YouTube as a sort of promo: Billionaire Orville Sharkbiter's plan for election reform. My idea was that people are more likely to pass along a short clip. Then, I hope, some people would go to watch the full video. So far, I haven’t had a lot of response to it. I think I will need to promote it more.

I have started to wonder if my time would be better spent on a new project rather than promoting an old project.

I began work on my new film Some Days . . . for the $100 Film Festival. I made it originally for last year’s festival, but wasn’t happy with the image quality. I went over the materials I had prepared last year this week. Some of my plan notes had gone astray, so I had to recreate those. I also fixed problems with some of the images I want to use.

Some Days . . . is a very short film, so I won’t need the whole 100’ roll of 16 mm film to shoot it. I came up with some ideas for shots that I might be able to use in another film later. Unfortunately, since it snowed last week, and it isn’t likely to melt away any time soon, I can’t do those shots.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

What Do I Work on Next?

Now that I have finished and posted the video version of Contingency, I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. I’ve got many projects I want to finish. If you have some time, I would like to hear your opinion.

When I wrote my New Years Blog, I planned to do updates April 1, July 1, and October 1. I did one update in late March, but did nothing in July. I missed October 1, but now should do.

Some Days . . .

I tried to make Some Days . . . for last years $100 Film Festival, but wasn’t happy with how it turned out. I bought some new film and plan to redo it for next years Festival. The submission deadline is December 1, so I can’t dally over this one too long.

My Most Difficult Case

I should have finished this one and sent it off long ago. There are times when I almost feel afraid to touch it. It shouldn’t take much work, but since it has already taken so long, it is hard to think I am almost done. It seems like I have a million excuses to put it off until another time.

The Crying Lady

I’d written and published this as a short story. I wanted to turn it into a movie with Xtranormal. Partly this was to experiment with Xtranormal to see if I could use it as a tool to develop a project more before I made a real movie. I haven’t done anything on this, but I did something similar with my Make ‘Em Squirm video. Lately I’ve wondered if it would be better to use Then the Phone Rang for my experiment. I think it may be easier to do.

Bright Freedom

I wrote this as a script, but wasn’t happy with it. Over the summer, I converted the script into a novelette. I have a first draft done, but decided to leave it for a while before I do a second draft. I’ve come up with some ideas for the revision and I started to review what I have for revision. The story does need more research before I can finish it, but with a better second (or third) draft, it should be easier to get feedback from other people. The main character is a woman, and since I am not, I really feel I need to get a woman’s perspective on the character.

Heat Wave

This is an idea I had quite some time ago, but didn’t start on it until August. It is a science fiction story. I got about half of the first draft done. I did all the parts where I had clear ideas what I wanted to do. The rest of the story will be harder to do.

Felix

This is another science fiction story that I developed. I reimagined an H. P. Lovecraft story. I think its connection to Lovecraft may be quite obscure by the time I’m done. I wrote some notes, ideas and outlines, but I haven’t started to write the story itself. The end of the story has been a challenge to me. The one in the Lovecraft story doesn’t make much sense after the other changes I made.

The Gladstone Barrier

I wanted to turn one of my transportation planning stories into a novelette, or maybe even a novel. I’ve done some work on how to do that, but I don’t feel particularly inspired by the idea these days.

Web Magazine: The Journal of Transportation Fiction

I still want to do more on my transportation planning stories. The challenge is to come up with an approach that works. When I looked for a place to submit my science fiction story, Pete’s Plan, I came across some on-line science fiction magazines. I thought that might be a way to get some help with my transportation stories. I did get some people express interest in writing stories when I first promoted my stories, so I think it might work.

I find that if I work on too many projects at a time, I never get any done. I don’t like to put projects aside though. Some Days . . . has a clear deadline, so I think it needs to be my first priority. What else I should work on, I’m not sure.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

“Contingency” Now On-line - Please Have a Look

I finally got my film Contingency posted on-line. Please have a look at it and let me know what you think.

I made Contingency for the twentieth $100 Film Festival in 2012. It is a contemplation of how the festival came about. The film won the Best of Alberta Award at the festival. It is a departure from my earlier films.

I put in on YouTube (at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79sPbUoD9zM ) and on my own website (at http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/contingency/ ). I will post it on Vimeo later.

The film could be quite opaque to someone who isn’t familiar with my previous films. Since some people may be interested, I wrote an article that explains where each element came from, and why. You can read the article here: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/contingency/an-explanation-of-contingency/

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

“Contingency” Update 2012 October 14

I worked on Contingency this week, but didn’t accomplish as much as I had hoped.

I reviewed the video again. I had thought I would need to tweak the images somewhat, but I was happy with the way it already was. I think I might adjust the contrast on a couple of shots.

Some of the comments people made about the film made me realize that the film won’t make much sense to someone who isn’t familiar with my earlier films. I decided to write an article to post with the film that explains in some detail what each shot and sound is and why I picked it. That took me longer than I expected. I’m still not done.

I still need to decide what to include in my descriptions. In the stuff I’ve done so far, I don’t mention the names of the people who appear. I think I should do that.

I hope to get the film posted in the next few days.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

J. J. Harper, Rob Cross, and O. J. Simpson

I just started to read a book called Cowboys and Indians by Gordon Sinclair Jr. It is the story of the killing of J. J. Harper in Winnipeg back in 1988. J. J. Harper was an aboriginal leader. He died after a policeman shot him. The case was national news and resulted in a special inquiry.

I’ve thought I should read this book for some time, but put it off for years. I went to school with Rob Cross, the policeman who shot J. J. Harper. I didn’t know him well. I can only remember talking to him once.

It is a new and strange experience to come across people I know when I read a book. That never happened to me before. Cross’ wife was in my class in junior high school. The author interviewed another person I knew. It also turned out that J. J. Harper went to the same high school I did. Although, he had graduated by the time I started there. I find this story very disturbing.

One of the reasons I read books like this is to get a better understanding of people, so I can use it in my own writing. When you know the people involved, it is much easier to empathise with their feelings. It makes me very uncomfortable when I read this book. I worry that I might trivialize people’s emotions.

That empathy for the real people makes a true story so much more compelling than any work of fiction can. Many years ago, I, like millions of others, sat for hours and watched O. J. Simpson drive along a freeway. I would never do that for a fictional character.

How can fiction compete with reality? I believe that the real story can be too painful for many people to contemplate. In my own work, it is easier for me to write a fictional version of a story than to relate the true story. I suspect that it is in this ability to create a distance from the full intensity of emotion where fiction has its value.

Most of us as children played games like “cops and robbers” and “cowboys and Indians”. These games allowed us to experience the idea of conflict with out the danger of conflict. Fiction allows us the same opportunity with a wider variety of experiences. We can watch a detective show and get an understanding of what it is like, but then within minutes, we can move on to other things. If we were involved with a similar event in the real world, it might take us years or decades to recover.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog