Film Fest - Finally - Oblivion and The Hobbit

There's been a dearth of film crit here lately... mostly because there have been few movies I wanted to see.  But here are the recent viewings:

Oblivion - An absolutely gorgeous film!  The visuals - production design, costumes, photography - are reason enough to see it.

The story?  Well, without Spoiling, there is one enormous logic hole: why do these invading aliens... No.  That would spoil it.  Rephrase: why is Tom Cruise alive?  An explanation is given in the film, but after a minute's consideration the viewer has to conclude, "Bunk."  Nonsense.  Okay, second hole.  Why (assuming Tom Cruise lives), why does his maintenance-man character get such deluxe digs? That gorgeous pool?

Every maintenance man lives like this.  Oblivion.

But the real flaw to the film, for me, the real Invasion, is not by scripted evil aliens, but by Hollywood Star Power.  Used for evil.

The Tom-Cruise-is-a-Star thing invades every aspect of what could have been an effective sci-fi film.  Cruise (barely his character) is built up in every possible way: he gets not one but two adoring and beautiful women who hang from his arm and his every word, lips trembling, tears glistening; before the end you see Cruise getting the obligatory adoring child too.  Of course he earns the respect of the doubting Rambo-style second-in-command cliche' and even of Morgan Freeman (who once played God, remember?).  Freeman's rebel leader calls Cruise "our best," our referring to the entire Earth, naturally.  The plan to save Earth that Freeman's character begins can, of course, only be completed by Our Hero Cruise through heroic self-sacrifice.  He's the Star.  Also, he's Such A Darn Hero that he actually performs a coupla miracles along the way: one, a small miracle of handymanhood with a stick of gum ('cause he's our all-American Joe at heart), the other in showing up for end credits.

And did I mention the women?  The attraction of Cruise's aw-shucks heroic sheer manliness is such that, in the most tasteful way, both women throw themselves at him.  The pool comes in handy.  Plus there is an I-kid-you-not actual crotch-shot of Cruise with a sleeping woman in the background.  I haven't seen such a HINT OF SEX since Captain Kirk put his boots back on.  So shameless and corny I had to choke on my popcorn in the theater.

But I'll watch Oblivion again on DVD for the gorgeous world created.  Plus, at home I can point and laugh.

Phew!  After that the story-telling and ensemble of The Hobbit make a refreshing change.  Loved watching this in the theater, loved  rewatching it on DVD.  I'll buy the expanded version that's due out in the fall.  But even if you're not a rabid Lord of the Rings fan, as I am, the film is old-fashioned in the right way - it builds a beautiful fictional world in which to tell a good story in an entertaining way.  Unencumbered by Star Power.

My earlier post on The Hobbit HERE.

Excitement!

I'm going to a seminar on set design in New York City this year.

Broadway designers talking about their work...  Should be very very interesting.  (Plus I get to see NYC again, always a plus.)  I'll be seeing the show Matilda for sure - not sure yet what else.

Public domain image from Wikimedia

Stumble-Through

It's always interesting for a designer to see what the actors are up to.

Last night was an early run-through (hence "stumble-through") for Se Llama Christina.  The actors were almost off-book, the first blocking had been established on the taped-out floor plan of my set, and rehearsal furniture had been pulled.  (Including a sofa I think we'll use for real.)  With a little imagination - much less needed than when reading the script! - I could begin to see what the final production will be like.  I'm excited about it!

Such run-throughs are helpful for the lighting designer too, who can begin to see where what will happen and for the costume designer, who can assess how physical the actors will be in their costumes.  For the set designer, it's a matter of making sure nothing is required of the set that you hadn't anticipated and making sure the set isn't somehow getting in the way of the performance.

The production meeting afterward is time to confirm agreement on, for instance, using that rehearsal sofa in the final production and agreeing that the "found" crib, though different from the first design thought, is okay.  Adding window mullions instead of using glass.  Adding a certain cool effect (through carpenterly means) upstage.  Thinking through the requirements of lighting and projections as they affect the set.

The normal tug and adjustments of developing a show.

Public domain image from Karen'sWhimsy

Meanwhile... gotta finish construction drawings for Miracle on South Division Street!

One of the Perks of Freelancing...

You're already home to wait for repairmen.

Royalty-free clip art

Reading Playscripts

Lately I've been helping read new play submissions.

For those who plan on submitting your work to any theater company for any competition, here are a few suggestions - just personally, from me to you, as a help - but let's call 'em "Rules" because that sounds so much more important:

SUBMISSION FORMAT:
1)  Follow competition rules: the deadline is the deadline.  And if the theater says they recycle rather than return submissions, don't include a SASE.  (Stamped And Self-addressed Envelope.)
2)  Don't print in funny-color ink.  Just black.  No hard-to-read-fonts.  Go for neat and legible.
3)  Even if it sounds cool, don't publish your playscript in magazine or book form or as a music video.  Or illustrate it.  A plain ol' paper script is best (or a PDF if that's requested or whatever).

Public domain images messed with.

THE SUBMISSION:
4)  Weirdness might hurt you.  Not that you can't submit a good, weird play - please do!  But naming characters all numbers makes a hard read.  Dressing a character as a toaster had better, you know, work.  Your MS is being pulled from a pile of weird-and-terrible competition - you see the danger?
5)  Don't bore.
6)  Or disgust.  This play could be performed by real people for real people.  Impossible-to-perform or impossible-to-watch scenes of sex, violence, or nastiness makes your script impossible.  Like treating puppies or little children badly.  (Real kid, remember?)  Not that you can't be edgy...  But edgy theatre is different from icky theatre.
7)  The merely physically impossible might be... possible.  But easy to stage is a plus.
8)  My personal corollary to Rule # 6: don't try to shock the reader.  By the time they get to your MS, the reader has read pretty much everything you can think of (and then some!) and is no longer shockable.
9)  It's nice if you write a play.  You know, maybe a plot, dialogue, action, a beginning, a middle, an end... and a point.  Characters.  (Nice if these differ from each other and are, perhaps, something like real people.)  Extra points if it's more like a stage play than a movie.
10)  Write a good play.

All rules can be bent to accomplish Rule # 10.

Play Writing

Yesterday  I took part in a play-writing workshop led by Vicki Cheatwood at the MAC.  (The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, for those of you who haven't yet visited its art galleries or theatrical performances.  Whatcha waiting for?)

This was my first writing workshop.

I've been part of writers' groups before, including the Dallas Screenwriters' Association - a great group, truly helpful and welcoming, with good speakers and resources.  (Alas, I decided I'd never develop a thick enough skin for the movie biz.)  But yesterday was my first time actually writing in the same room with other writers.  Fun.  Educational.  Oddly comforting to see others trying to do similar things.  Vicki's voice-of-experience was useful.  She had good advice especially on the utility of using writing prompts which, till now, I'd always ignored just like the questions at the back of the chapter - you know the ones.

Vicki gave us a series of suggestions to kick-start short writing exercises.  My favorite was probably the one where each of us wrote a sentence about ourselves; from these sentences, we each chose someone else's to spark a monologue.  (I'll stick my result on at the end of this post in case you're curious.)

Writing from any (fairly random) suggestion gets the creative brain in gear.  By the time I left I was bubbling with ideas!  As soon as I got home I had to sit at my desk.

Mind you, what I actually created there was drawing and architecture, rather than progress on The Big Writing Project...

Believed public domain image.  If it's yours, please let me know!

But that's a personal problem.

There are more play-writing sessions coming up - join in!  Info HERE.  My best-of-session writing?  (Please keep in mind, this was written quickly and I'm not tidying it up.) (Much.)

Monologue:  

143, 144... Boring, boring. Boring. Copying. What's the copier say? 147, 148... Of 300. And that's just the fourth page. Of 25. Oh what a...

No. Not boring. Glorious. Outside this soulless white(ish) copy room it is a glorious spring morning. Wouldn't you think there could be a window in here? But no... 

Yet it is a wonderful morning.

(Begins to sing.)"Oh!What a wonderful morning!

Oh! What a wonderful day!

I've got a wonderful feeeeeling...  

(Begins to dance.) Everything's going my..."

Shit. Hi, Steve. Sure. You can run your copies. 

297, 298, 299, 300.

I talk to myself and sing and dance in the copy room... and I'm usually interrupted.*

*Thanks to the anonymous fellow workshop attendee who wrote this sentence.  I had fun with it.  If I knew who you were, I'd gratefully credit you.  Thanks also to the organizers of this workshop and its leader!

Obsessed

Kinda ironic that my last post was on clearing your design thoughts...  (Last post HERE.)

Because for me that spring-cleaning "fresh idea" thing worked almost too well.

Ever since that refreshing little break I've been completely buried deep into a new design for a project I really just don't have time for right now.  It wasn't on the schedule.  Nevertheless...  I've been drawing like a fiend!   Obsessed.

Now I've exhausted that spurt of creative thought and need to rest again.

Back up on the roof?

Photo from publicdomainpictures.net

Up on the Roof

Spring Cleaning: lets fresh air in... in every way.

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day.  A day to open up the house to the breeze.

A day to clean up the garden.  Mostly pruning.  Clipping low stuff, weeds and escaping vines, pruning middle-height shrubs, and even hacking at the high stuff: out came the tree saw on its long wobbly pole and, inevitably, the ladder.  Soon I was up on the roof for overhanging tree branches, but also vigorously scrubbing at the greenhouse roof over part of my studio with the hose and a broom.  Water everywhere.

I'd forgotten how wonderful it feels to be up on the roof!

Looking down on new-leafy trees; the scent of lime blossoms carried by the spring breeze up over the roof ridge; the bird's perch view!  Seeing the neighborhood - more like toy houses from here - laid out in a secret-map of interlocking yards.  An eagle's view.

Wonderfully refreshing - blows away mental cobwebs.

Need a break in your routine?  Feel stale and need to freshen your designing?  Try up on the roof.

Public domain image from publicdomainpicture.net

James Taylor singing "Up on the Roof  HERE.

It's nice to have a cleaner skylight again.  I get a better view of the sky now  (and also of the under-carriages of birds and squirrels).

(ADDENDUM:  A follow-up post HERE.)