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.