Times UP

So the plan was to have a script in hand by today.  Well today is almost over and there is not a script in my hand.  As a matter of fact, I haven't done a damn thing in the last week, why?  Vacation. As much as I wanted to work on the script, I just haven't had time.  Why is it people are always so busy on vacation, you need a vacation from your vacation to recover.  Oh well, so now what?  Well it's a new year in about an hour and 20 minutes, so maybe by the end of next year I'll have a script? 

I've definatly got my work cut out for me, but this doesn't end here.  I will come back renewed and get a script done.  Maybe I won't be setting any deadlines, but just say it's time to get the script finished.  I should set a deadline, but then again, that didn't work out so well for me this time.  Maybe I'm so stubborn, when someone tells me to do something, I prove to them I don't have to, did I do the same thing to myself?  Or am I just lazy?  Both most likely.  Time to break the habits, it's going to be a year of change.  I say that every year, but honestly, this year feels different.  Time will tell, but it's time to make some changes. 

Is there going to be a Superman in this Superman Movie?

Can you have a Superman movie without a Superman?  If so, then great headway was made on the script tonight.  I have read a lot of posts stating we do not need another origin story, but I disagree.  This is a retelling, it goes along with the comics to an extent, but adapted to fit the giant screen at your nearest cineplex. 
This is all about the inbetween, the stuff you haven't seen before, which means before he gets his suit.  We'll have a Supersuit be the end of the movie, but do you think it's too radical of an idea to have almost an entire movie sans secret identity?

Walk the Pattern Into Chaos

It happens every time.  I make a lot of noise, make big plans, just to watch the deadline fly by in a crash and burn.  I am no where near having my script finished, only have about half of the story complete and that can probably be ripped to shreds with all the holes that need filling.  My interest has wandered, other projects come to mind.  Just tonight I found myself reading about Ghostbusters 3, and wondering about the possibilities and what I would do on a new script. 
I lay in bed trying to focus, trying intently to think about my script, the story that I'm currently working on, Superman.  It needs to be finished.  It needs the attention that I want to pay, just can't seem to find the motivation.  I'm passionate about the story, I love the ideas in the script, so what is stopping me?  Same thing that has b een stopping me for the last 15 years, so how do I change that?  What is going to make this time any different? 
When motivation weins it's time for a new push.  Only one way to motivate me and that is to just not lose any more focus.  Think about the big picture, the scenes that just get me excited to "see" this movie.  120 pages is all it takes and I'll have one hell of a script. 

Smallville and the Man of Tomorrow

I’ve been watching Smallville again from the beginning.  It’s nice to watch because now my girlfriend has gotten into the show as well and she’s hooked.  We are trying to get her up to speed again, but it gives me the opportunity to watch the show from a fresh perspective. 

***** SPOILERS, well maybe, but just in case you haven’t seen the show, take care in continuing *****

Smallville starts off Clark’s freshman year, he’s fast and strong, but as for the rest of his powers, they are MIA, which is fine by me.  The whole premise of Smallville was how did Superman become the man he is.  What was his world like before his big move to Metropolis? 

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the show when I first started watching it, I mean, “Meteor Infected” supervillains each week, same formulaic show one after each other.  Then after I thought about it for a while, I realized it’s not a bad idea.  It kinda follows the comics, in a way, and it’s a new medium, a new story.  It happened with Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, each telling of the story was different because it has to be.  The story has to change to fit whatever device is being used to tell it.  I mean, how boring would it be to watch a movie directly translated from a book?

Wait, was I going to make a point here?  RIGHT!  Smallville, I said once before that the intro no longer fits the show.  It’s new moody broody take on the Man of Steel is a long ways away from the Light hearted jovial goings on of his youth.  Even visually, it’s just a dark show now.  Ok, points were made before, so why this entry?

It’s not really about What’s happening in the show, but what is NOT happening in the show that is bugging me.  This season, though I do like the episodes, bother me, as did last season.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I realized Clark isn’t changing.  Nothing new is happening with him and he seems to be at a standstill.  Ok, so he left everyone and went to the Fortress for an episode or two, but he’s right back where he started, still not able to fly, still helping people in his ridiculously stupid black suit.  First the Blur, now this?  You guys have a problem with the blue tights?

I want to see Superman.  The show has been stuck in Smallville, stuck in the premise of the show from 10 years ago, the show has change, accept it, embrace it, move FORWARD.  Hell, change the name of the show even, do something radical to breathe new life into a dead and well beaten horse.  I liked the show cause as it was starting to be the same thing, they added something to it, now it seems all they are adding are more characters.  I don’t watch the show to see Hawkman or the Green Arrow, I watch the show because I am a fan of Superman.  I like the addition of other characters, but not to the expense of the reason I enjoy the show in the first place. 

From this point, can you even turn Clark into Superman?  Have you taken it so far away from the mythos of the character that there can be no return?  Stop toying with the Glasses and put them on already!  No one is going to suddenly see Clark in glasses and accept that he isn’t this guy without glasses they have been looking at all these years who now appears to have \super powers.

Smallville is over, I don’t want to see the show end, I want to see the show evolve.  Enough with the Blur, it’s time for Superman. 

More and more and more

I know I should be sitting here working on my outline, with a few breakthroughs I made last night, it should re-energize me to get the damn thing finished, but it’s hard damn work. I spent the evening with a couple good friends of mine playing the New Super Mario Brothers and laughing my ass off. That game is certainly prime for hilarity.

So this weekend was another media overload weekend. Unfortunately that does NOT include The Superman: Secret Origins comic. I didn’t realize it was coming out this last week, so I guess I’ll just have to wait until Monday.

So, like I was saying, media overload. I bought a couple games, a bunch of TV shows and movies on DVD, yeah I went shopping on Black Friday for myself. I even bought a new keyboard and Windows 7. SO MUCH STUFF! I need to calm things down a bit. Why is it I always sabotage myself with new crap when I have work to do?!

Ok, so instead of doing the responsible thing and working on the script tonight, I will watch another episode of either Supernatural or the new show I just bought, Farscape. Been looking for that for a while, finally found the entire series on DVD for cheaper than they used to have one season. As much as I want to watch the rest of Farscape, Supernatural is going to win out as it’s already in the DVD player.

Don't blink or it's going to be Christmas

So how did it come to be the closing days of November already? Seriously, I'm freaking out here as I have a TON of work to do and now it appears only about a month left to do it. Why a month? DEADLINES PEOPLE! I gave myself to the end of the year to finish the first draft of this first Superman script and I have to get it finished before Christmas as I'm going with my girlfriend to Montana to visit her family.

Ok, so here goes a new push, I have done my research, I have studied my comics and I have a LOT of material to digest. Life has been very complicated lately as happens for everyone, but does everyone have a keyboard that sticks? I'm not sure if I just type too fast for the keyboard or what, but several of the keys don't want to respond unless I push straight down, that makes typing rather difficult as I either have to type very hard, or make sure to have a very good spell check. Wait, did I just get sidetracked AGAIN?

Ok, so where was I? Right, FINISH MY OUTLINE! I can get a script written in the span of a week if push came to shove, but I would really rather have at least a couple. So that puts me at 5 weeks to finish my outline, go over the edits for the outline and write the script. Normally I get about half way through a script and realize where my plot holes are, what just outright isn't going to work and I can go back to the outline, make the changes, completely break the entire story and spend the next year ignoring the whole project because I just don't want to think about the details that I missed the first dozen times around.

Ugh, that's what this project is all about. It's not necessarily about having a perfect script the first time around, but a script. Something I can look at and say, yeah, that's pretty damn good, needs a bit of work, but it's complete. You can't have a final draft if you don't have a first draft.

Smallville to Superman

This was the episode I was looking for. Tonight's episode of Smallville got back to the root of what Smallville needed to be. I have been watching the show over from the beginning and it has changed a lot over the years. I wasn't sure how I felt about the recent turn, all the heavy handed, dark and gloomy drama infested season this one started off as.

***** SPOILERS *****

There are moments in the series that just give you shivers, the first time I heard the Superman theme mixed into the show, the episode where Dr. Swann, played by the late great Christopher Reeve (which I think was from the same episode), the first time Lois Lane appears, When the Justice League came together to stop Lex's 33.1 experiments, Seeing Clark's cape flying to infinity when Jordan touched him, the creation of the Fortress of Solitude... there are a lot of them, I have to admit. What are your favorite moments of Smallville?

So with those, tonights episode was one of them for me. The entire episode revolving around Lois on the verge of Learning Clark's secret, seeing "the Blur" step up and be the symbol of hope and stepping into the role of the symbol of hope and the push for others to take on the quest. And the best part of it all, the glasses. It's been a long time coming and I really hope he starts wearing them all the time.

I'm finally glad for this season, I am very much looking forward to seeing a shift from Smallville to Superman.

Halloween 2009

I love Halloween.  It's my favorite Holiday of the year, though I'm also a big fan of Christmas, but that's another show.  So it was a huge push to get the costume finished, but I did and I think it came out extremely well.  I had a minor hickup with my beard though.  As I went to trim up the beard my vaccum powered beard trimmer, I realized it was not working.  So I take the guide comb off and clean it out.  Back to trim it up and...I forgot to put the guide comb back on.  So out goes this nice wide strip out of my perfectly produced thick beard I had going.  It took some creative editing, but I was able to clean up the beard so it didn't look too bad, but still not the full beard I wanted to have.

The real tough part was creating a lightsaber for the costume.  There are  a lot of them out there that are really cool looking, but also really expensive.    I don't have that much money, so it's time to make one.  I spent 2 weeks looking for parts at every store I could think of, Lowes, Home Depot, Ace, True Value, Walmart, anywhere you would think to find hardware.  I didn't find much, so I eventually found the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  Searching through the place was very rewarding as I found most of the parts I needed. Combine that with some creative discoveries at my dads house, use of a grinder, spray paint and pliers, I made myself a lightsaber. 

So all that was left was the costume itself.  Can't really walk around with nothing but a lightsaber, I think I'd get arrested and I know my friend (who was having his wedding rehearsal on Halloween as a costume party) would definatly not appriciate it.  Thanks to my awesome mother who helped modify and sew up the costume itself.  I think it came out rather good.  So here it is, my costume from Halloween this year, Obi Wan Kenobi. 

So last but certainly not least, my friend, who I have mentioned as being the person I collaborate with on all my stories, got married this weekend.  I have known the guy for 25 years and never thought he'd get married.  I'm not a big fan of weddings, I have always found them uncomfortable and overproduced, but I have to say, I had a blast.  His wedding was beautiful and simple.  He asked me (On Saturday I might add) to be his best man for his wedding on Sunday.  I didn't have much time to prep my speech, but I think it came out alright.  Truth of the matter, I think he waited so long to ask me to be his best man because he didn't want me in charge of his bachelor party, LOL.  I don't drink, I'm not interested in strip clubs, I have no business being a best man.  I was honored to be asked though.  There are 5 of us who have been hanging out since high school, but we've all known each other since elementary school.  I couldn't ask for better friends. 

Now that I'm down a month and a half, it's time to get a real push on Superman.  Hopefully all the excitement of everything else going on will calm down now. 

Time slips away

So perhaps my deadline of the end of the year was a bit optimistic.  I have so much going on, one of my best friends is getting married in a few days, Halloween is coming up very very quickly, then the last week of December I will be in MT visiting my girlfriend's parents.  Throw in a dash of Thanksgiving and a splash of work and it's zooming quickly toward the deadline. 

This is not an excuse, just a statement of fact.  I did in fact set that time frame so come hell or high water, I will have a script.  Just have to keep rminding myself why I am doing this and what it is all for.  Work stuf this week, detox next week, then I have a good solid month and a half to get the outline done and script written.  Man time goes too fast.

So much to do, so lazy

It's time to stop playing around.  I have a lot of work to get done.  I have read a LOT of comics lately and avoided doing any actual work on the script or the outline.  I'm going to lose the next two weeks too, due to my paperwork for work and trying to put together my Halloween costume.   I just bought the fabric for it today and have a couple days worth of sewing, but it shouldn't be too bad. 

So tonight I watched Stargate Universe and the question asked, what would happen to a group of people facing eminent death?  It's a question asked in many shows, but this one brought the questions closer to mind. 

Successful party, gotta love those.

Today was one of the most beautiful days I have seen in a very long time.  Not that the days leading up to today have not been beautiful, but my job keeps me inside, so I don't get to see the outside world much, but today, I threw a party.  It was a party in the park and I invited anyone who wanted to come.  Though not many people showed up and I have more food than I know what to do with, it was an awesome day.  The few people that did show up got treated to my over abundance of food.  Chicken, brautwurst, chili dogs, apple crisp, home made ice cream, (mind you the chili and the apple crisp were also home made), all kinds of fantastic food.  It really was excellent. 

A friend of mine also brought Bocce ball and Croquet.  We played bocce ball for a couple of hours and it was a blast.  Today was a farewell to the wonderful weather, so I'm glad it stayed with us for at least one last weekend.  I think I'm going to have to make this an annual event.  Actually, probalby bi-annually, at the beginning and the end of the nice weather.  Now, for one last little snack before bed, to start a new work week. 

Media Overload! Gotta Love It.

Sanctuary, Stargate Universe and Smallville, it must be Friday night!  Well, technically I guess it's Saturday morning.  Oh and I also went to see Where the Wild Things Are.  Pretty good night.  So here is where I talk about Smallville, so if you have not yet seen the show, you may want to stop now. 

*********Possible SPOILERS Beware*********

After the opening sequence I realized something, the show doesn't really work with their title sequence anymore.  The show is so different than it was when it started, but the title sequence hasn't really changed, not really anyway. 

Ok, so when this seasons started I had strong feelings that they should have changed things around last season and ended it there.  They could have ended the show very easily and I think extremely well last season.  I'm starting to enjoy this season though.  There are elements that do bug me, like the fact that the Red Blue Blur isn't red or blue anymore.  I do like the change in Jor-El, though they could have made it a bit more subtle, like more of a battle between Clark and Jor-El. 

I'm tired of Chloe playing the same role in every episode.  That disappointed, overwhelmed, but always comes through girl that never smiles.  She's a beautiful woman with an amazing light and smile, she really can light up the TV.  I do like the dance they have Lois and Clark doing, and this episode seemed to take the show close to it's roots, at least closer to the last couple of seasons. 

I know they aren't going to bring back Lex Luthor, but I wish they would.  Lex and Clark had such a dynamic and come on, you can't have Superman without Lex Luthor.  I agree that he might have been a bit played out in the show when he left, but if they could somehow bring him back, dude. 

Overall I liked the show.  I'm still not sure what to think of last weeks show, I mean really, Zombies?  Apparently I'm in the minority though as I see lot's of positive stuff on Twitter.  It was an interesting episode don't get me wrong, but I don't really think it had much to do with Superman, at least not as they had set it up.  It ended well though. 

Alright, enough random ramblings.  It's time for bed. 

Oh yeah, and my foot still hurts. 

Changing what's next

There are some movies, some TV shows that change everything that expected afterwards.  I wish I had the forsight to realize it at the time, but I later came to find out Firefly was one of those shows.  It's as close to a perfect show as I could ask for.  I've watched the entire series half a dozen times and I never get sick of it.  The characters are brillinat, the dialog is,  well Joss Whedon is know for his dialog and you will not find a person better at it.  I would love to be able to write like that, and maybe someday I will. 

I study movies, I study TV shows trying to figure out the dialog, the way it works, and in a lot of cases, the way it doesn't work.  I've never been that great with dialog, one of the reasons I've always debated on doing a novel instead of a script.  But movies fascinate me, dialog, interactions, the arch and visuals of a movie or a tv show fascinate me.  I have close to 500 DVD's, 150 seasons of tv shows, near 100 HD movies (bluray and HD DVD) and with all that selection, there are a few that I still gravitate back to. 

People always ask, what's your favorite movie, but how do you pick one above all others?  Maybe someday I'll come up with a favorite, but for now, I'll just have to say the script I'm working on is the moive I really want to see. 

Predicting the past.

On May 25th 1961 newly elected President John F. Kennedy stood in front of a joint session of Congress and declared, sternly and sincerely, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

In October 1959 Superman #132 was published stating that in 1965 2 earthmen and a stowaway Lois Lane were on their way to the moon when their rocket missed their target and ended up on Krypton instead.   Now the dates are a bit off, but the fact that it was that close, that the comics mentioned a trip to the moon a year and a half before America declared that a new mission, I just find that amazing.  Makes me wonder, did JFK ever read a comic book? 

Now I know there had been talk about trips to the moon long before Superman came around, but what a time to be alive.  Still recovering from an unbelievable war and heading into a new one, the prospects of sending a man, for the first time into space, onto another celestial body, the changing of segregation laws, there was a lot going on!  And what a time to set a movie like Superman.  A world divided, how would they react to a being from another planet? 

Aging memories

Are we going to look back in 10 or 15 years and see TV shows that we love and find them campy and corny?  I used to love MacGyver when I was a kid, doesn't even seem like that long ago, but then again it seems like ages.  It was a few feet ago, I remember the height of the TV much different.  Actually, I remember being smaller, one of the few times I can remember specifics of my childhood. 

I started watching MacGyver again a few years ago, and though I still love to watch it, it's really bad.  Kind of like The Greatest American Hero, now THAT is a dated show.  I didn't watch a lot of TV as a kid, but I did watch a little bit and I remember enjoying it a lot.  The shows have changed, times have changed.  I still have to wonder though, what are we going to think in another 15 years of the shows today. 

The best and the worst of people...

"He learned to his delight that he could Hurdle skyscrapers...leap an eighth of a mile...raise tremendous weights...run faster than a streamline train...and nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin!"*

Krypton was a planet of super developed humans, millions of years of evolution to take them to peak physical perfection.  This is the man of steel, this is why he has the abilities he has.  No flight, no X-Ray, laser vision, super hearing, no travelling at near the speed of light and having nothing to do with powers from a yellow sun.  It wasn't long before that changed, before he gained flight, before he gained a lot of other silly powers that no one really talks about anymore. 

Fascinating comics, really truely amazing to read from the 30's and early 40's.  One comic caught my eye, where Superman flies to Germany and captures Hitler, takes a quick pit stop to Russia to pick up Stalin and a quick hop leap and jump to switzerland to drop them off in Geneava where a trial is held for "unprovoked aggression against defenseless countries..."  Superman came into existance shortly a year before the start of WWII, the first Superman comic just a few months before the official accepted declaration of the World War. 

Imagine a man during that time with abilities like that of the original Superman.  Imagine the difference he could have made in a war.  Also imagine the mentality of people back then and think about how the world would have actually reacted.  I think it would not have gone so well and he wouldn't have been accepted like he is in the comics. 

I would love to write that story, to write that movie.  Superman arriving on the scene in 1940, allowing the events that shaped the world of today to change with the addition of a Super Man.  The visuals of a Superman movie set in the early 40's, during a War stricken world are amazing. A retro-futurism aftermath, building a Utopian Society with his help.  I'm not talking about something completely hookey and campy, but something more real, leading up to something more like the Superman cartoons I've seen. 

An exciting prospect, but I think the world wants a more modern twist.  They want to see what Superman would really be like in our world, in life as we currently see it. Would a man always known to have such virtue and moral fiber be able to stand for justice in our world?  Drugs, violence, political and religious wars, gangs, disease, people who would rather walk by a person in desperate need because they are too busy trying to get to the grocery store so they can get home in time to fight with their spouse.  That's an awefully cynical view of the world, well I did work in TV news for 5 years.  The world needs to take a good hard look at itself and ask itself, why? 



* Superman #1 June 1939 Copyright DC comics. 

How about them deadlines?

Time slips away so quickly.  This weekend has flown by in the blink of an eye.  It was a very busy weekened, with my foot, trying to track down inserts and all kinds of other stuff, I didn't have time to do any work on the script.  I didn't even really have a chance to read any comics.  As much as I want to, it's time for bed.  Hopefully this week will provide some more fruitful inspiration. 

I have other projects coming up that are going to be pulling me away from this as well, so I have to find the time.  A few friends of mine want to make a movie and it looks like the movie that will probably be selected is one my friend and I wrote (mostly him) several years ago.  We were actually going to shoot it back then, but there were complications as life always provides.  It will be good to finally see it being made and something that we make for ourselves.  We've worked on many movies, but always for other people.  It's time for us to do something for us.  This 3 month deadline is racing by.  I need to have the outline done by the end of the month and need to get the script at least started by the beginning of November. 

Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Perry White smoking a stogey?

It was a different time, a different lifestyle.  Poeple smoked, not because it was cool, but because it was expected, it was something to do.  Women were not treated as equals, but as cute little fashion objects to make the men feel like they have someone to protect. 

Going through all the old comics it's surprising how different of a world we live in.  It makes me wonder, did that world really exist?  Then I take a look around and realize, as much as we've changed, we've stayed exactly the same.  What changed is what is in print.  People don't write stories, or at least not as often about people getting super powers from smoking a stogie or about pulitzer prize winning journalist who are put on the "ask cupid" beat cause the other lady is out of town.

Ok, well perhaps I'm wrong, but the complexity of the stories has changed at least.  Long gone are the movies about a small produciton company trying to make the transition to a talkie while their main lead actress struggles with her obscenely annoying voice.  Now we have movies to look to like "The Matrix" where people can have debates for years about what it really means.  A movie that even tonight as I watch it again, I catch things I haven't caught all the times I've watched it within the last 10 years. 
I'm at least glad I live in a world where the secretary isn't always played by a woman while the rest of the real jobs are run by men.  I still see a lot of that kind of mentaility around still, but not as much.  Take a look at comics over the last 70 years and life just seems a bit more complicated than it once was.  Then again, comics used to be for kids right?

To run again soon, that is the hope.

*******Superman Content below (Look for the stars)********

For those of you following along I have Plantars Faciitis.  I went to the Podiatrist today and that's what they said.  They gave me three options, ice and ibuprofen, which I may take tomorrow, physical thearpy or a Cordisone shot.  The last being the most extreme and the quickest.  I chose the shot.  I'm not one who is afraid of needs except in 2 major places.  My armpits and the bottoms of my feet.  This was not a small needle.

It was like unsheathing a sword, shing sound and all.  A freezing spray to numb the pain, in goes the needle.  Ouch, didn' thurt as bad a I thought, but I still cringe just at the thought.  He pushed the needle in several times, not completely taking it out each time and injected the stuff.  Not a fun experience, but hopefully a rewarding one.  Hopefully this will solve my foot problems and a combination of that and the stretching exercises and some new shoes and I'll be back on my feet, literally. 

*********Superman stuffs, no more talking about my foot as it may make some queasy)**********

Now, as for the suggestion of an exerpt from the script, that will happen.  I can't write this blog and just end it with all kinds of jabber.  I'm not sure how much of the story I will reveal, but for those of you who follow along, I may send out a few copies of the script.  I want feedback, that's what part of this is all about.  So I may not have anything quite just ready yet to post, but stay tuned and you'll get your wish.  Send me ideas. Send me suggestions.  Send me your ideas, Send me what it is that would make you want to pay your 10 or 15 bucks to go sit down for 2 and a half to 3 hours and watch the man in blue.  What do you think the story has been missing? 

Not just another fanboy

The last few weeks I"lve been having problems with my foot.  This has put a real hamper in my weight loss goals.  Well tomorrow I'm goign to a podiatrist to get my foot checked out.  Hopefully they have good news and it's something easily fixed.  Either way I'll have a good amount of time to sit around and read. 

There are a lot of people out there coming up with stories, wanting to write the next great Superman script.  I don't want to be that guy.  I don't want to just be a fan saying, "oh yeah, I'm working on a script."  This is serious business for me.  It's not just another script, it's been a very long process getting to where I am and this blog represents the last legs of my journey to a complete script.  I've mentioned before that my dream is to have someone read it, but that I don't really expect anything from it.  That's not true.

The Death of Superman is the most read comic of all time, at least the last time I checked.  It's an amazing story and needs to be made into a movie.  It needs to be treated with care though as a direct copy will not work.  I've spent a long time studying movies as well as these comics.  It's not finished, I still have a lot of work to do, but I honestly believe I have the best script out there.  It's not just a matter of coming up with awesome visuals and a lose interpretation of the comic.  It's about tying everything together.  It's about having everything in the movie turn back in on itself and pull the audience into the story in every aspect.  One of the reasons it's taken so long is all those lose threads that have to be woven back into the storyline to make it cohesive. 

I'm not smarter than anyone else, I'm not the biggest fan either.  What do I have to bring?  A thirst to make sure it's the most complete storyline around.  This is the way I am with all stories I've worked on.  My friend who I work with on pretty much any story I work on, he's the same way.  When I avoid the problems and choose not to see them, he points them out, and vice versa.  This is going to be a story that will make any movie fan, any Superman fan proud.  Help me make that happen. 

Late to bed, early to rise.

I have to be at work early tomorrow and I completely forgot.  On top of that, I don't really have anything for breakfast, or really anything for lunch.  It's tough to change your schedule like that when you have a set schedule and then just a half hour earlier, or 40 minutes earlier really. 

I've been so stuck in a work mindset that I haven't had the time to devote to Superman that I want.  To make matters worse, I was just given a project that I have one month to complete.  So as much as I want to be sitting here reading comics as research, I am stuck researching something else. 

Well, I guess it's time for bed, maybe I can squeeze in a comic or two on the way. 

Spiraling toward oblivion and beyond

This is the point where it all falls apart.  I just read an article  stating "In an email to the Superman Homepage Wednesday, Warner Bros. Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications Scott Rowe revealed, "Superman is an important member of our family, but because of on-going litigation we cannot announce any concrete plans at this time. That said, at some point in the future, you're likely to see a new Superman. So... have no fear.""*

What does this mean?  It means that they DO have plans to make a Superman movie, but they just can't announce anything.  So if they already have plans, what hope do I have?  Well, this is what has been happening for the last 15 years.  I get my hopes up, get a really good outline going, as I'm polishing up the final details, right before actually sitting down and writing the script, they make an announcement. 

So this leads me to two questions, if I had such a great outline before, why am I writing a new one?  And What's the point in finishing this script if my chances of actually getting someone to read it is as near to zero as one could see? 

There have always been problems.  If you spend that long working on a story it's going to change, even if you have everything nailed down and it's perfect, 2 years later the world changes, other movies come out that redefines what a movie can be, the climate of society changes so that what people want is different.  I mean 10 years ago September 11th was just another day and if you were to do a movie that saw the destruction of the World Trade Centers, people would have probably thought it was an interesting visual.  Now, even just writing that down was tough. 

My point is, the world changes, so too do ideas.  What worked 10, 5, even 2 years ago, doesn't work as well today.  So the other point, why finish for no good reason?  Why finish if no one is going to read it and WB's is already probably working on something?  I guess it's just time for me to finally accomplish what I set out to do.  Write the script that should be made.  Whether or not it gets made is not up to me, but it will never even stand even a lotteries chance if it isn't put down on paper.  This is not just the fantasy of writing a script and trying to get them to produce it, this is about seeing the story, letting other people see what could be, what should be.  And if they come back and say, dude, what the hell is this, at least I tried.  At least I came up with something more than just a complaint about how they ruined the genre this time. 

I've done a lot of talking, now it's time to get something accomplished.   


*http://www.newsarama.com/film/090917-superman-movie-no-plans.html

Changing Outcomes

I've read scripts, I've seen ideas being pitched for radical reinterpritations of Superman.  I havne't read it yet, but Superman Red Son is a prime example. There are a ton of Elseworld comics and other tellings of what would happen if Superman DIDN'T land in Kansas.  As much as these work in comics, this is not what people want to see on the big screen.  If I am wrong, comment, debate me, tell me why you disagree. 

As for now, I will say people want to see Superman.  They don't want to see the perfect happy teen who struggled with hiding his powers so he could keep his secret identity secret and go off to become Superman and be immediately accepted by the loving hords.  Face it, if you were standing in the street and saw a man pick up a car you would freak out.  You wouldn't run up and clap, well probably not anyway because anything that might actually be seen in real life would be some sort of stunt. It would be a guy who would make a big deal out of it and everyone would gather around and watch.  No, this is something else. This is a disaster narrowly averted by a mysterious person whos motives are completely unknown to you.  This is a man that can do anything he wants and there is not a damn thing you can to to stop him or protect yourself if he decides to walk up to you and say, "Give me your wallet."

A man who suddenly shows up out of the blue, who has powers beyond comprehension is a man to envoke fear.  It's not an exciting, who is he, where did he come from, what does he stand for?  It's more of a, what is he going to do next, what would happen if he didn't like something I was doing, what if he makes a mistake, who CAN hold him accountable? 

I love Superman, but I will be the first to admit, if someone showed up on my world that could do half of the things that Superman is capable in the comics, I would freak out.  I would beyond freakout and seeing how people react to other events, even the positive events, I know half of the world would be buying guns and locking doors. 

So how does a man of extraordinary ability show the world that he can be trusted, without showing the world who he is?  This is the story that interests me.  The parts inbetween, the parts of the story that are not shown.  Those parts are fewer and far between with all the retellings of Superman, but they exist.  They will make a fascinating movie and THAT is what the audiences want to see.  THAT is what I want to see. 

Replace what's been lost

It was a long day today and I want to say it was productive, but I'm not sure what exactly was accomplished  Yes, I did manage to get my suit for my friend's wedding.  We had a conversation, a good long one about Superman, but didnt' really come up with a whole lot of groundbreaking ideas.  More like tore out some stuff that just didn't quite work. 

Now we just gotta find something that DOES work and we'll be set.  Another big push on the outline tomorrow, then again, I have a ton of other stuff to do, but at least gotta make progress.  Short post tonight, I've got to get to sleep. 

Turning Point

I finished reading through Superman: Birthright and I have to say, it's not entirely what I expected.  For those of you who might not have read the comic and plan to, I feel it important to give you a giant Spoilers warning, so here it goes.

********** The following information may include spoilers to the Superman: Birthright comic, you have been warned.  **********

So I see where my friend came up with a lot of the ideas for the script.  Well, I shouldn't say a lot, but there are many elements that we decided to use that I recognized.  Clark heading off into the world trying to do right, but being forced to leave because of his special abilities.  Imagine you came across a man who could uproot a tree with his bare hands and fly, you'd be freaked out.  Admit it...ADMIT IT!  There, the best thing you can do for yourself is tell yourself the truth, don't you feel better now?

Most of the comic made complete sense, no suprises until a chunk of kryptonite with kryptonian symbols on it?  Ok, that's new.  A portal into, not only the past, but the past of another world, krypton?  The ability for Lex Luthor to somehow build a GIANT spider looking thing with the S symbol on it's chest.  Wait, huh? 

Lex is a genius, got it, smarter than anyone on earth, ok, cool.  Is able to singlehandedly build a robot the size of several city blocks and about as high as all the sky scrapers in Metropolis, ok, that might be pushing a little too far.  I know, it's a comic, but still, couldn't you have save SOMETHING for the sequel?  

I loved what they did with the Lex/Superman relationship, each trying to discredit the other, so many elements play out in so many different versions of the Superman legacy that a lot of the stuff I was thinking of doing in my script, just seem to fall into place.  Oh and sequels after the 4 scripts that I'm working on?  Didn't think I was going to be able to do it, but sure enough, plans are being formulated.  I could do a 7 movie deal and have each one be interesting and fascinating on their own, but show an arch through the course of the entire series. 

Alright, lets not get ahead of myself, I'll keep my story archs to the 4 movies and if by some miraculous occurance I actually DO get someone to read the scripts and get luckier than I would need to be to win the lottery and actually have a chance to have them made into actual movies, well then I shall push on.  I've worked on this for so long, but have never been this energized by it.

Slow news day.

Today is one of those days that dragged on and flew by at the same time.  I don't understand how parts of it just seemed liek it would never end, but now it's 10:25pm and I didn't get anything accomplished that I wanted to. It seems work takes up too much time, getting there, doing the job, getting home.  Then eating afterwards, only left with a couple of hours before it's time to start thinking about bed. 

Combine all that with the fact that I haven't been working out because I screwed up my foot, makes for a very sedentary lifestyle that robs one of energy, motivation and interest in anything except trying to find time to relax cause you are too damn tired from sitting around all the time.  Exercise will take up a huge amount of time too, but at least then I can feel like I'm being double productive as I'm thinking about my Superman script. 

An hour earlier, and time for sleep.  I wonder if I can catch up by the weekend and start again fresh. 

And I get my wish

Today I got in the mail Superman For All Seasons and Superman Birthright.  It's a tough call which to read first, but I think For All Seasons wins out there.  A bit more light hearted of a story, at least in appearances so far.  On top of that, I just got my copy of Superman Batman Public Enemies on Blu ray.  I supported HDDVD when it was around and have quite the collection (which came cheap as everything HDDVD went on sale for like 3 bucks after they decided to stop making them), but since blu ray won out, I will move forward with the HD revolution and find new ways to spend even more money.

So now I own everything, including a busted xbox which is on it's way back to Microsoft for a little TLC and hopefully a quick return.  Perhaps it is a blessin, it has given me time to read comics, study Superman and focus on my script, even though I am dying to pick up my Guitar controller and rock out to one of the dozen games that have come out in the past few years.  I don't have them all, but I have most of the Guitar Hero and Rockband games.  I think my last count was 9 different games and maybe another one on the way, once I get my Xbox back.  I just wish there was a way to throw all the songs into one big list and play. 

So I just finished Superman For All Seasons, this blog took a short distraction in the middle to finish up the comic.  It's an interesting storyline, some great elements that I hope to use in my own story.  Maybe I'm too in tune with moviedom, but the comic just seemed to focus on the wrong part of the story for a lot of it.  I was actually kinda depressed and felt a little mopey along with the Man of Steel.  Guess it's not too far off from some elements I've seen before, stuff that will be brought into my version as well, but it seems a little overboard.

So here's a twist, bedtime, an hour and a half earlier than normal!  Maybe I'll be able to stay awake through work tomorow. 

More more more

I'm getting antsy, I need to get my hands on the comics that I ordered.  I remember now the joy and frustration of getting my hands on that latest new comic that you've been waiting for for an entire month!  So far it's all about Superman, but there are hundreds, THOUSANDS of other storylines out there.  So what is good?  What is worth taking the time and money to get the monthly subscription?

As goofy as the older Supeman comics were, I am in no way sick of reading it.  I laugh a lot about them, but it's all in good fun.  The new stuff is amazing. The artwork, the serious turn in the storylines, I love it!  I need more of it! 

Though at some point, I need to stop reading and continue my outline, finish my script.  I should probably set a deadline.  So I need to have my Outline finished by the end of October?  That gives me 2 months to write the script.  Perhaps a month for a first draft, and another month to polish the script to the right length.  I remember my first abysmal draft of the Death of Superman script I wrote years ago ended up being something like 35 pages.  I jumped through a lot of stuff and paid most of my attention on the fighting scene.  I've learned a few things since then, so I expect this version to be a bit more well rounded. 

More comics, then bed.  I wish I had more time to devote to the reading, but sadly I have a day job, ask me about it sometime. 

Superman: Secret Origin

It's been a long time since I've collected comics.  Probably looking close to 15 years now that I think about it.  I think I might get hooked into it again though.  The last series I really collected was the Marvel 2099 series and I loved them.  I stopped collecting after a while, as at the time I didn't really have much of an income.  I eventually collected all of the Spiderman 2099 comics, but I didn't get the rest of them.  I would still like to get the rest, but we'll see how that goes.  For now I have higher priorities...Superman

I just found a copy of Superman: Secret Origins #1 today.  I didn't think I was going to be able to find it.  I checked with 5 different places before I finally found a place that had ONE.  Well, technically they had two, but the other was the alternate cover edition which was a bit more than I would want to spend right now, think I'll have to see if I can find it online somewhere. 

So I sat in the parking lot and read through half the comic before I had to head home as dinner was ready and waiting.  I still ended up reading through the comic before eating my slightly room temperature dinner, but it was worth it.  It truely is a great comic, looking like they pulled from many different origins to build a new beginning.  Now, if I could only get ahold of the rest of my comics, but they haven't come yet.  Maybe tomorrow. 

Slow start

I had a lot of plans this weekend to get some work done on the outline.  I'm not sure what my timeline is going to be just yet.  I've given myself til the end of the year to finish this script, but at what point do I need to say, my outline is perfect time to start the script? 

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I would have liked, as a matter of fact, I didn't get anything done on the outline.  I did however get through some great comics, some realling interesting stories that line up very well with what I have down on paper as it is.  I really wish I could incorporate certain elements of the history, but as I've said before, certain elements of the story just have to be adapted for film. 

So what DID I do this weekend?  Well, I went to the Dixon Apple Orchard and bought some amazing apples.  I made apple fritters for breakfast, which were awesome, if not a little too salty.  Read some comics and did some research.  So now its' time for bed, and more comics. 

New Season of Smallville

So I am sitting here watching the season 9 premiere of Smallville and wonder, what the hell is going on?  As far as I was conserned, it could have ended last season, they could have written a storyline involving doomsday that finished the series.  Allow Clark Kent to become Superman by the end of the season and head into movie territory. 

Don't get me wrong, I am very interested to see what turns they take with the show.  It has been changing and this seasons has taken a dramatic turn in the look of the show.  This episode also seems to take a dramatic change in the storytelling.  I'm all about complex involved storylines, but this is getting a bit excessive.  The episode seemed very short, I think because there are so many different things happening.  Come on people, the great thing about TV is you have nearly 16 hours to tell your story, you don't have to introduce them all in the first episode. 

Most good shows out there move forward in such a way that you can't really jump into the middle of the show, but some find a way to strike a balance at the turn of each season.  I guess as I think about it, usually the season ends in a cliffhanger, then the second episode starts up fresh and is a good jumping in point.  We'll see how this one turns out, but so far, you might as well not have had any break as it picks up almost exactly where last season left off. 

Most of the people I know who watch the show feel done with it after last season.  I hope it picks up and brings them and me back around.  I look forward to seeing Superman finally in costume, the arrival of Clark Kent as the secret identity.  Cause right now, it's all a jumble. 

Bad Movie Night

My friend's and I have a ritual, we get together at each other's house (rotating through each person's home) have dinner, put on a bad movie and prepare ourselves for a night of painful hilarity.  It's a great learning experience for a writer.  They always say you learn from your mistakes, so why not learn from other's mistakes. 

Tonight's was a doozy, "Tequila Body Shots" staring Joseph Lawrence.  I think it was supposed to be a horror film, but 30 minutes into it, still no sign of horror, or plot.  I'm not sure how long it was before we hit the "15 minute point" the point of no return where the lead character is sent on his quest with new purpose.  I honestly think that point hit about 15 minutes before the end of the film. 

So what did I learn from tonights events?  Don't make a bad movie. 

What the hell goofy crap is that?

Comic books have ridiculous storylines.  Especially older comics.  I guess if you have one alien, you can have several, but that doesn't work so well in movies.  I've been reading a lot of the older comics and it's amazing the difference between comics from the 30's and 40's and current comics. 

Though there are some elements that I wonder why they were abandoned.  Originally Superman could mold his face using his superiour muscle control to look different.  So when he was Clark Kent he looked different than when he was Superman, it wasn't just a matter of putting on a pair of glasses and combing his hair differently.  Seems like that is one of the main points of contention for people who are not fans of Superman. 

It's been over 60 years since that was a viable power, so I don't think modern audiences would buy it.  Nice thought though. 

Who is this guy?

So who am I?  What gives me the gall to think I could write a script about Superman? And on top of that 4 scripts?!  Am I the worlds biggest Superman fan?  Have I devoted my life to the study of Superman?  Do I know everything about all the comics, can I resite dates and all of the goofs over the years?

Well, the answer to most of those is No.  Some of them No doesn't really fit as an answer, "Who am I?" "No"  See, just doesn't quite seem to fit. 

I am just a guy, someone who watched the movie so many years ago and fell in love with the idea presented before me.  I came across comics later in life, probably when most people do, I don't have an exact date, but I believe it was 1991, or within a few years prior.  I wasn't a big fan at that point, but I did love comics.  I love the artistry and the ridiculousness of the storylines.  There was nothing like it I had come across before.  Movies, TV, novels, there is nothing quite like a comic book. 

I really got into comics around the time the Death of Superman comics came out, which is also around the same time the Spiderman 2099 series came out.  I was hooked on the 2099 comics and I would still love to finish my collection.  I have all the Spiderman 2099 comics, but not many of the rest of the series.  It was not exactly easy for a 13 year old to make enough money to support a comic habit as my parents were never real big on giving an allowance and didn't think much of comics. 

I admit to getting very angry at writers who write stories based on something that they are completely unfamiliar with.  I've seen it happen a lot and I will not mention names or scripts.  There was a movie that I saw fairly recently that seemed very much like that.  It seemed the writer interviewed a group of fans, they bounced all over the place, telling the main story, but throwing in the little extras that only a true fan would know.  Then the writer goes off with his notes and puts together a script based on what he heard, all of these not quite right inside jokes.

I've also seen movies that stay so true to the story that they shoot themselves in the foot, it just doesn't make sense or is so far out there that you lose all but the true fanboys. 

Back to my original point though, I am a fan, not the biggest, but I know enough to hopefully do this project justice.  I continue my research to show respect, but as a movie lover, I must find the story to tell in movie format.  This is my passion, not to just write the movie that I want to see, but the movie that I need to see. 

Information Overload

I need to find a way to organize my thoughts.  There are 7 decades of information  on Superman.  All the different mediums, the different stories, there is so much out there.  How do you organize all those thoughts down to a few short movies. 

Superman is an alien from another planet, a planet that, before it exploded, was also full of aliens.  In the comics, there are many other beings from many other planets floating around.  There are hundreds of other Superheroes running around.  So what if you take a movie and fill it with aliens, other Superheroes, beings from other dimensions, how much would that detract from the movie.  It's something you can easily get away with in comics, that never have a set end. You can even throw that stuff into a TV series, 21 episodes a season, 45 minutes per episode, that's a good investment in time that you can allow to other ideas. 

In a movie you have 2 hours, 3 at the tops to tell an entire story.  You can get away with a Trilogy, so you can up that to a wopping 6 hours, or even 9 hours in the ultimate extreme cases.  So you really have to pay attention to every detail that you put in a script.  You see it in movies all the time, extra bits that are thrown in because they are funny, cute, interesting, kinda random and really having nothing to do with the storyline. 

So this is my task, the task I given to me by myself, make everything fit within a tightly wrapped bundle. 

Origin stories

There seem to be as many origin stories as there are people that have worked on Superman.  In case you aren't familiar with the many writers and artists who have added their name to the list, its a lot.  And to add another to the Mix, Superman: Secret Origin, a series I'm looking forward to reading.  I wish I had done a little more research into the origin stories before I went to the comic shop today.  I realized the series I decided not to buy in favor of many older series of comics, was actually another origin story. 

I am familiar with many of the origin stories, but I want more, I want to find out what has happened through the years, who influenced the Superman, what stories developed and how people have touched the character over the years.  So begins a new level of research, it's not just about the story, but about the journey, about the changes, the history, how to show the respect to everyone involved, not only to the writers, painters, drawers, film makers, voices, everyone connected with creating a legend, but with the readers, the fans and everyone who had the symbol flash through their head for more than half a second. 

Forceful beginnings

I had always been a fan of Superman from when I was very young. I watched Superman with Christopher Reeve and believe a man could fly. Seeing a man run faster than a train, stop a bullet, lift into the sky and catch a falling helicopter all while rescuing the damsel in distress. It was not to be believed, but there it was, right on the screen, they caught it on film!

Then in 1992, this superhero who had been drawn on the pages of comics since 1938, died. A creature of such ferocity, filled with nothing but hate, with rage and Superman fought him to the bitter in. In Lois's arms he dies while trying to stand up to check on Doomsday, to check to see if the foe like he's never known, the one creature he wasn't sure he would be able to stop.

Several years later I worked with a friend of mine on a class project, to make a movie based on a book. Nothing fancy, but hilarious and fun, so then began my interest in movies. I always loved movies, but the idea I could write a script and actually make my own movie! Wouldn't it be awesome if I actually wrote a script based on those comics, I could do a trilogy!

So we started, probably 15 years ago, worked on script after script. Still to this day, it is not finished. The idea would come up from time to time, but fall to the side when life gets too busy or other ideas crop up and decide to interrupt the process of trying to figure out problems.

One of the main problems was how to tell the story. You can't just jump straight to the middle, you can't just jump straight to the death of a hero. So the story needs to start earlier, it needs a prequel. So our Trilogy became a Quadrilogy. It begins with a reboot to the Superman franchise. A twist on the story to make it fit to a more modern crowd. Nothing too radical like the script JJ Abrams was writing.

I am a fan of Superman and I want to keep within the tradition of the stories, just made for a movie. I respect all the work of what was done, some amazing storylines, such brilliance needs to be shown respect. But I want to make it my own, make it something I want to see.

So here begins my journey again, and here is a way to keep me on track. I will blog about my journey from beginning to end. I want to set a deadline, but that will have to wait for another time.