How To Write An Action Scene

    October 7, 2006 – 9:55 am ·

    I’m working on the finale of BLOOD & GLASS. In fact, it’s the finale of the whole trilogy. The epic, final battle scene unfolds in a downtown Los Angeles high-rise. It’s gonna be huge, like DIE HARD in a … well, in a building.

    But wait,we have to break it down. What’s really going on? We have Lauren and Speck and Elan (Team A) in the elevator, ready to draw blood. Sandrine waits for them at the party she’s throwing on the top floor. She paces and grinds her teeth and flexes her hands because really, this is her big moment. Nick’s there, too. He’s in good shape, in spite of having been kidnaped. In fact, he’s having a cocktail, unaware that his heart has literally become a ticking time bomb. Then there’s Team B in the elevator shaft, blissfully unaware of Team A, though Sandrine’s aware of them both. Slake will try to tackle Team B. The fight needs to be harrowing. And we’re gonna lose somebody. Should it be Andre? Makes more sense to lose Elvis. But who’s going to survive the battle on the top floor? And when exactly do they show up? We have to give Team A a chance to make an impact. Then Team B can save the day, which is something no one expects them capable of, since they go to high school.

    Lauren and Sandrine have to have their moment. Sandrine can say something unique and powerful like, “Ha ha, now at last I’ve got you right where I want you!” And Lauren could say something like, “Oh yeah? You and what army?” And Sandrine plays her hand and shows Lauren that she does, indeed, have an army.

    …At which point the party guests attack with teeth (oh, did I mention there are vampires?) That should keep Speck and Elan occupied. At some point Nick gets bitten himself. Should that happen before or after Team B shows up? And then how do we get Annette and Owen to face Sandrine? Because Sandrine needs to stab Annette at some point. And then Gene’s taser needs to fall into Owen’s hands somehow so that they can get on with spiriting Sandrine off to the desert for the final battle. And at what point is the army actually unleashed? Because once the floodgates open, the survivors need to get to the roof where they can get on with their last stand.

    Oh, hell, maybe we should go to the flowchart for this one:

    flowchart

    By will | Posted in screenwriting | Comments (1)

      Without A Parachute

      October 4, 2006 – 8:00 am ·

      Deadly fall?

      Bookmark this link on your Blackberry.

      Okay, now if you’re ever swept out of an explosively decompressing airliner at 35,000 feet, you’ll have plenty of time to research how to survive the fall.

      …

      You know it occurs to me now that we’re always talking about “surviving the fall” when we talk about those times when there’s not enough material between our feet and the ground, but I think we shouldn’t worry so much about surviving the fall. What should concern us is surviving the impact.

      By will | Posted in check it out, internet, wordz | Comments (1)

        Fun With Ebay

        October 3, 2006 – 10:28 am ·

        eBay fraud

        Speaking of eBay, which I sorta did a couple posts ago, I’m at work on Friday, checking my email in between attempts to tweak some actor headshots for use on the Argentum website, when I get a cluster of emails. “Congratulations,” they tell me, “you have successfully listed you item for bid on eBay!”

        Say what?

        I immediately log in and discover that according to them I’m now offering complete series of Sex & The City, The X-Files, Seinfeld and Ally McBeal on DVD. There are about fifteen auctions in all, with Buy It Now amounts ranging from about fifty dollars to a hundred dollars. Shipping is listed at forty bucks apiece. They’re coming from Amherst, Mass. And the auctions are single-day affairs, meant to be over by this time on Saturday.

        Very clever. Not sure how it happened, but someone guessed my eBay account number and then created these bogus listings on my account. it’s a quick and dirty scam. The items are clearly pirated sets. In fact, Ally McBeal is so mired in music rights issues it’s not even on DVD. The scammers are counting on someone’s taking the Buy-It-Now option, sending THEM the money and then coming to ME when they don’t get their product. And since they were listed on my account, I’m supposed to pay the listing fees.

        Luckily, the credit card on my account is out of date (eBay’s been trying to tell me this for a while.) I immediately send eBay an email and let them know what’s up. Then I start altering the auction listings to read, “Bogus Listing!” which gets tedious, so I just remove the listings altogether. Then I change my eBay password, and then the password for my main email account in case whoever it is has access to that and tries to get eBay to send out the new password (although admittedly, that’s a long shot.) The I change my eBay password again for good measure.

        Of course, it takes some time for eBay to get the fact that I’d been hacked, so in that time I get emails from them saying, “A few of your auctions, entitled ‘Bogus Listing!’ have been removed for the following reasons(s): misleading auction title.” And then I another email from them saying that the rest of my auctions have been removed because some anti-piracy watchdog over at Fox was hip to the fact they weren’t legitimate DVD releases and sqwawked about it.

        Geez.

        Finally, on Saturday, I get an email from eBay:

        Thank you for writing to eBay in regard to your ebay account.

        Your account was accessed and taken over by an unauthorized person in order to list items without your authorization.

        The person who did this may have changed the email address on the account so that you wouldn’t receive notification of the listings. We have now restored the correct email address on your account.

        Buyers may contact you regarding these listings. Briefly explain to them what happened and have them contact us using our Help pages. Any negative Feedback linked with these auctions will be removed on your request.

        I want to point out that information used to bill accounts, including credit card and bank account information, is stored on a secure server and can’t be viewed by anyone.

        Also, all fees associated with any unauthorized listings should have been credited to your account.

        So there. Problem solved. This series of tubes is back in business.

        By will | Posted in internet | Comments (4)

          Cobalt Kitty

          October 2, 2006 – 11:15 am ·

          A few weeks ago I wrote about finding a name for my new web design venture. Cobalt Kitty, you might remember, is the name we came up with. So I then set about looking for an image or a logo, a mascot for the site. I searched the web looking for white cats. there are a zillion of them on Flickr. And a Google search reveals another zillion. But it was this on, which I found on the stock photo site, istockphoto.com, that clinched it. I mean, how perfect is this?

          Cobalt Kitty

          By will | Posted in daily drift, internet | Comments (4)
          • space invaders

          Invader on Ebay

          September 29, 2006 – 8:27 am ·

          Holy cow. I have one of these. I wonder if I should sell it?

          By will | Posted in space invaders | Comments (0)
          • Hollywoodland
          • Music

          Massive

          September 28, 2006 – 10:43 pm ·

          Massive

          It’s late and I have a thirteen hour work day ahead of me. Keir’s next to me. He’s got a five hour drive ahead of him. He’s got to go back to Sacramento tonight because he has an 8:30 orientation to attend, where he’ll be getting himself…uh, oriented. For that reason, we’re both drinking water, which is weird, because there’s free booze on two sides of us and everyone else is having some. We’re at the afterparty for the Massive Attack show, courtesy of Stasy and her friend, Clint. Kyp Malone of TV on The Radio is having his photo taken with a fan. David J walks by. Stasy points him out, and then we return to our conversation about the show.

          I thought it was good. It was very good. It’s a few songs longer than their gig at Coachella was, and almost every bit as potent. I suppose the only thing that keeps me from saying it was great was the absence of Daddy G. Apparently, he’s on paternity leave. Which is interesting. I mean, at least he’s living up to his name, so we can’t hold anything against him. But though Massive Attack is a collective now, at least on stage, the interplay between him and Robert Del Naja is one of the things that make them great. Still, one can hardly complain. Elisabeth Fraser gives us “Teardrop.” Horace Andy croons through “Angel.” And though Shara Nelson’s not part of the team, Deborah Miller is more then up to matching her on one of the highlights of the evening, “Unfinished Sympathy.” Good stuff.

          My fave cuts? “False Flags,” is one of the best show openers I’ve ever heard. And “Safe From Harm” simply tears the sky open.

          Anyway, I’m reluctant to leave the party. It’s a beautiful night, we’re all still buzzing from the concert, and, well, let’s face it, I’m talking to Stasy, who is my own biggest reason for wanting to stay, but Keir has to hit the road. So we slink out past the security guard and drop back down to Highland for the walk home.

          By will | Posted in Hollywoodland, life in hollywood, Music | Comments (1)
          • Hollywoodland

          Blood on Santa Monica

          September 23, 2006 – 8:44 am ·

          blood on the sidewalk

          I’m walking to work. This usually means I head down Martel to Fountain, cross to Fuller, drop down to Trader Joe’s on Santa Monica, where I get that fantastic pear and gorgonzola salad, a couple bananas (organic, yes) and maybe a protein bar. Then I swing back out to Santa Monica Boulevard and shoot East to Seward, hand a left and climb to Sunset, where lies Argentum Photo Lab.

          Today I realize that somebody’s left a trail for me to follow. And follow it, I do, down Santa Monica to Formosa, where the trail cuts left, right past Jones. I follow it almost all the way up Formosa before it swings out across the street towards one of the houses there. I can’t tell which one. I’m a little disturbed, because the trail is a series of bloody footprints. Yes, it’s blood. Blood turns deep cabernet brown when it dries. And between the footprints (right foot only, it appears) there are numerous drops that imply the hiker who left them was bleeding rather profusely.

          I’d like to think that the author of these weird, bloody stanzas simply fell off his bike, perhaps, or tripped over a piece of scrap metal and was walking back to patch himself up. But this is Hollywood. And I know the truth. By day, it’s a peaceful place. Sure there are the occasional crazies, those people who shuffle down the street claiming to be Jesus or God or Henry Kissinger, and maybe one of them even has a knife. But by and large, it’s peaceful. The night, I fear, is where the real danger lies.

          Because at night the hapless pedestrian risk running afoul of — yes — the dreaded urban mink weasel.

          Man, those critters are nasty.

          By will | Posted in Hollywoodland, life in hollywood | Comments (1)
          • Music

          Musiquiz: Elysian Fields

          September 22, 2006 – 10:00 pm ·

          Jennifer Charles

          Jennifer Charles is the voice. Oren Bloedow is the music. Elysian fields is the band. “Bleed Your Cedar” is the album. Allmusic sez:

          The band’s sophomore album Bleed Your Cedar was produced by Steve Albini, but during this time the band’s creative throws began its downward spiral. The label criticized them for sounding too dark and harsh, forcing Elysian Fields to sever ties with Radioactive in 2000.

          It’s dark, but not dreary. Drop it on the turntable (you have one, right?) light some candles, close the windows to keep out the rain and pour yourself some wine.

          Elysian Fields – Hearts Are Open Graves (224kps mpthree)

          By will | Posted in mp3, Music, musiquiz | Comments (0)
          • Music

          Musicquiz Vol. 3: 1996

          September 22, 2006 – 1:11 pm ·

          JC

          I can’t remember how I discovered today’s Mystery Band, but when I dropped their debut cd in my player, it was like a giant overstuffed pillow had smacked me from behind. It might have been a listening station at Morninglory music in Santa Barbara, but then I might have heard it at a coffee house. I dunno. But they have a slow, smoky, speakeasy style drenched in breathy vocals and spare bluesy guitars the likes of which I haven’t heard since. They’ve released stuff since, though they’re hardly prolific, and while the newer albums have been good, they haven’t quite matched this one for sheer sexiness.

          name that tune

          As usual, check back after 10 o’clock tonight for the answer. (And no, it’s not Curve, though looking at the picture, there are obvious similarities.)

          By will | Posted in mp3, Music, musiquiz | Comments (0)

            The Return of Le Chic?

            September 22, 2006 – 8:00 am ·

            FJ

            There are blogs, and rumors of blogs. Stirrings in the wind. The scent of perfume. Could it be? Is Le Chic Chick really back? God, let’s hope so.

            By will | Posted in check it out, internet | Comments (2)
            • Hollywoodland

            Police Man

            September 21, 2006 – 11:40 pm ·

            Mr. Copeland

            When I get in to work there’s a silver-haired guy standing in the far corner of the Mezzanine. Another guy trains a camera on him as he talks and gesticulates and looks really important.

            “Who’s the star?” I ask.

            “Some guy from The Police,” someone says. It’s Steward Copeland, I realize, and I spend the next hour working diligently within the camera’s field of view as he strolls around the mezz and tells stories into the lens. As I’ve said before, there aren’t many people who make me star struck, but Mr. Copeland just joined their ranks.

            (Excellent photo by Jodi.)

            By will | Posted in amoeba, cool pics, daily drift, Hollywoodland | Comments (1)

              Too Many Users

              September 20, 2006 – 4:27 pm ·

              Nice to be back. For most of the day, the database servers at my hosting company have been slammed too much traffic. Not certain what caused it, but it wasn’t me. I swear.

              I’m typing this in a Vicod!n blur right now. I paid a visit to the dentist and the orthodontist on Monday. It’s my third visit to the dentist in ten years. My second visit to the dentist in ten years happened back in May. I had a cavity then. On Monday the dentist finds that cavity’s mirror image in a molar on the opposite side of my mouth. It’s a deep cavity. It’s so close to the nerve that when he finishes drilling he can see its pinkish flank through my enamel. But he fills it and sends me, drooling, on my way.

              Last night I awake in a cloud of pain. There’s so much pain that I can’t even tell where it’s coming from. Whereas all my other teeth are content to hum quietly to themselves, this particular molar is bellowing Mozart’s “Barber of Seville” as loud as it can. I sit up on my couch and watch Mystery Science Theater 3000, which to me is like the pop culture equivalent of Mom’s Chicken Soup, and wait for the Aleve to take effect. It helps, but damn that Mozart is loud.
              So today, Vicod!n.

              By will | Posted in daily drift | Comments (5)
              • keefe
              • Music

              Michael Keefe Reviews: August

              September 18, 2006 – 10:14 am ·

              I’m a bad blogger lately. It’s already the 18th and I haven’t even mentioned what some of you may have noticed: the latest installment of music reviews by staunch Oregonian, hell-raiser and teller of outrageous tales, Michael Keefe, has been up in the review column to the right for a couple of weeks now. I can’t help it. I’ve been distracted by a profound pain in one of my molars. But I’m going to go take care of that today, so perhaps I’ll be a little more talkative later in the week.

              Enjoy, and go out and track down some of those cd’s.

              Allison Moorer

              By will | Posted in keefe, Music | Comments (0)
              • space invaders

              Invader redux

              September 12, 2006 – 1:56 pm ·

              This just warms the heart. Invader’s back in town. And he’s replacing some of his stolen works.

              Invader 1

              invader 2

              Invader 3

              By will | Posted in hollywood, space invaders, street art | Comments (3)
              • Words

              Rejection #187

              September 8, 2006 – 3:17 pm ·

              So I get a little item in the mail yesterday. It’s from the Austin Film Festival. Remember this? I sent them ELEMENT because I could really use the prize money and it’s the world’s greatest unproduced script. I won’t provide you with the entire text of the letter, just the part that counts:

              Rejection!

              To summarize, “blah, blah, blah, blah, REJECTION! blah, blah, blah, buck up li’l Cowpoke, blah, blah, blah…”

              But as my neighbor says, “At the end of a string of rejections is a YES. You just have to wait for it to arrive.” My neighbor also doesn’t allow whistling in her apartment because it upsets the spirits there.

              By will | Posted in screenwriting, six in 2006, Words | Comments (3)