Scenario, Story, Moral, Plot and "Faust" Eddy Brock.

So I got this idea for a movie.  A journeyman (re: average) major league baseball player (Ed Brock) gets on a hot streak and subsequently announces to the media that the streak is the result of his selling his soul to the devil (thereby becoming known as "Faust" Eddy Brock).  Theres a few other wrinkles involved (an opposing star player who loses his skills as part of the deal, a city going wild for the man who was willing to sell his soul for their pennant hopes, religious nuts, ect).  Its a solid idea.  I pitch it to my wife.  She says, "good scenario but whats the story"?  I says "huh"?  She says "whats the moral?  Why would I watch it?"  I says, "cause your my wife". Chuckles ensue.  


Its true though.  Too often I got a good scenario but a story it is not so much.  Will have to think this one through.   It's times like these I wish I had a good collaborator.

The New (well...1980s new) Flesh, Easy Beach Reading and Incubus

Heres a rather interesting essay on Cronenberg and the Postmodern from the Art and Culture of Movies blog.  I would expound deeper on my thoughts of postmodernity but I'd rather show you a little screencap of something Ive been playing around with as an idea for an Iclone short (which has absolutely nothing to do with the postmodern...or does it?).  This is just a cap from sketchup but its easy to see where I'm headed.  Easy beach reading....get it?   Cause they are words.

Finally here's Incubus from Chatnoir studios.  Well written, expertly shot and edited. Skills.  How does this movie not have more comments. Sigh.

Gawping and Film Essays

After your done gawping at my brand new blog design (stunning aint it) you should head over to the Criterion Collection Online Cinematheque to check out some very well written essays on movies you probably haven't heard of.  Yes, 90% of the criterion collection is old, arty or foreign language (or some combination of the three) but thats no reason to miss out on some fine film critique and expand the old horizons..

Heres a few of the more recognizable subjects that I enjoyed:


Why we feel icky watching Peckinpah's Straw Dogs  


A boozy, winding but interesting reprinted discussion (or is it a monologue) from Robert Mitchum


An insiders look at why Wes Anderson is awesome 


A look at the genius/insanity of Guy Maddin

More Map Fun, LoC Tour, Without Words

Another excellent Map, this time in the Gothamist.  Here someone has used geo-tagged photos to delineate NYC locals from tourists to produce a tourist hotspot map. OK, realistically I don't need a map to avoid areas with throngs of tourists but it is an interesting idea and a groovy looking map.


Next up, Without Words from ToxicMenges.  A little creepy, cool SL Machinima.  Good narration, great visuals.  This is the second time TM has impressed me with Second Life (Princess and the Pea was the other).  


Finally, heres a tour of the Library of Congress digital archive process.  Ive mentioned my love of the LoC before and if you like geeky digital archive things this is a very fun read.


Also, a brief mention about a very brief (4 pages) writeup about "how Pixar works" in the latest issue of Wired.  You would think it would be a bit more hefty given its the cover story but theres a pretty cool set of pics that goes from storyboard concept to actual movie scene still.  Worth thumbing through in your local newstand.

Summertime, Graeme Mitchell

Amid the sunshine and the cookouts and the walks to the park or trains to Coney Island and the late nights playing Texas Hold'em in Red Dead Redemption (almost like having friends..hehe) it is hard to work on Machinima or even interact so much with the computer.  Now that the 2010 Machinima Expo is officially accepting submissions I have a new deadline of August 31st to complete Monsters.  Wish me luck - or perhaps a cold rainy weekend.


Ran across this very cool site featuring the photography of Graeme Mitchell.  Lots and lots of NYC in wonderful black and white making everything look like its 1970s and making me want to pull out the old 35m. Man, when is the last time I took a picture with something other than my phone?

Kid Millions makes a debut, Rarebit Fiends

Dinnertime VOs led to this little quickie.  

Surfs Up! from thebiz on Vimeo.

Something to show the fam and nice to work on something not involving a man in a monster suit.  And speaking of which, Im realizing I wont meet the July 1 deadline for Monsters of the Atomic Age and so the RL Scifi contest is out for me.  A recent re-interest in Fallout 3 and an urge for Red Dead Redemption are making me wonder if it will ever see the light of day.  I've thought a lot about cutting it into two parts as I could finish the first half in a couple of weeks and take a break (probably would be a good thing to clean out the cobwebs) before diving into the second part. However, this would leave both parts lacking and much less than their summation.  Decisions, decisions.


In other idea news, a recent preview of Wolf's second scifi pack has me reconsidering another attempt at  HG Wells Lord of the Dynamos (especially the pic in the first post...thats the set I wanted to build...hmmm) and a recent blog entry from Matthew Barry has me thinking a lot about Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend (not just the Porter short but also the running comic serial - kind of like a turn of the century twilight zone).


And I almost forgot, I got my first five star review of a sketchup model (to go along with the only other review Ive recieved - one star..hehe).  The oscar stage is ok but I think this snow sled is the best thing Ive done yet.  Certainly not professional but not bad.

Maps and Digital Voodoo

Been busy lately with both real world and Iclone work.  Not looking too promising on me getting Monsters completed by my self imposed July deadline, though I am making progress and will continue to try.  I have no idea how folks pull off these big projects in so little time.  Hindering some of my efforts is the fact that about 1 in every 5 times I open up my HP laptop, the laptop fires up but the screen remains blank (there are three loud beeps - one long, two short).   Ive already sent the laptop back to HP for a new motherboard about a year ago and now the (already extended) warranty is up.  So Ive done a bunch of research on the issue and found out that  if I wrap the laptop up in a blanket and let it overheat before rebooting then I get it too work again.  Talk about weird voodoo computing.  Just hoping to finish this production before looking at something from Dell.  No more HPs for me.


And now for something completely different, here's a pair of interactive maps from the New York Times.  Im a bit of a Geographic information Systems kinda guy so I'm a sucker for a good old interactive map.  Plus points for demographic info.


New York Times Immigration Explorer - Watch how the foreign born settled into the U.S from 1880 forward.  Tell me it aint cool.

Taxi cab pickups in Manhattan (below 60th street) by day and hour - Like blood circulating through the city.  Watch those late night weekend location to see where the drunken revelry happens.