Here's an early scene from Touch the Bright and Burning Sun, the screenplay, I wrote a few years back. It's a scene I really liked. The dialogue was fun. The pace was snappy. And I managed to work in a little of Jean-Paul Sartre to boot. Alas, it would end up on the cutting room floor after I accepted that the story didn't really begin to take flight until page 47. It was a ruthless decision, but as a writer, one can never fall in love with a particular scene more than the story you're telling. Hope you enjoy it as I did.
HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY
It's the typical hustle and bustle between classes. Skylar walks along with books in hand. He is joined by DEREK, an entertaining and free-thinking classmate with his own individual style.
DEREK
You look like you're having a good day.
SKYLAR
Yeah, I suppose I am.
DEREK
So are you gettin' laid?
SKYLAR
No!
DEREK
All right now, be honest. You can tell Doctor Derek.
Derek pantomines a doctor examining a patient. Skylar plays along.
SKYLAR
I don't know doc. I think it started after calculus this morning with a general feeling of euphoria.
DEREK
Uh-oh. Educational delirium. This is more serious than I thought.
SKYLAR
Is it fatal?
DEREK
If not caught early, most assuredly.
SKYLAR
What symptoms should I look for?
DEREK
Well, are you feeling a delusional sense that school is good for you?
SKYLAR
Come to think of it, I am feeling an urge to do logarithmic functions.
DEREK
Catastrophic! We must operate immediately.
Derek performs a series of rapid-fire surgical moves on Skylar. They're momentarily parted by a wave of students--several of whom glance back curiously.
DEREK
Well, will the patient live?
Skylar checks himself over.
SKYLAR
It's a complete miracle, doc.
DEREK
Whew! That was touch and go. In the future doc recommends that you stay away from water fountains and door knobs.
SKYLAR
Huh?
DEREK
That's how they pass the virus, O Simple One! It's all part of the master plan. How the powers-on-high turn us into sheep.
SKYLAR
What? Derek, what are you talking about?
DEREK
I see your recent illness has affected your pitiful brain. So I will overlook your ignorance.
He stops to enlighten the uninstructed Skylar.
DEREK
It's all about indoctrination into the system. Teachers, bosses, the police, the government. Even parents. Before you know it, they got you joining the military pledging "allegiance to the flag..."
He parodies the salute and march of a soldier as he recites, then punctuates his words with a finger to Skylar's chest.
DEREK
But cloaked from reality you're just being brainwashed to uphold the whole goddamned oppressive system. It's all about maintaining control. Remember that.
SKYLAR
Obviously your capitalistic indoctrination hasn't taken hold.
DEREK
Ah, mock me if you will troglodyte. But when you find yourself one day in a widget factory wondering, "Why am I here?" Remember ol' Derek here warned you.
Skylar mimics the theme from The Twilight Zone.
SKYLAR
I better get to class, or I'll have to deal with one of those "Powers-On-High."
DEREK
Hey, it's good to see you lightening up a bit. You know when you first got here, you used to walk around with that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look all the time.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Volunteering at the GDC Online 2011 event
What a great time I had. Five days of meeting people from coast to coast. North and south (that is, North America). From all over the world (China, Russia, Germany). Not just attendees, but volunteers like myself. Volunteers who paid their own way across continents and country to work and be a part of this event.
Their reasons for attending were simple. They came out of a creative hunger; a passion to create. They came to network and find jobs. They came to be dazzled by the latest multi-million dollar games. Listen to honored trailblazers who've blazed the trail they themselves long to blaze. To acquire new arcane magics and knowledges and skills of the acolyte. Keep abreast of emerging trends, future trends and what's yesterday's trends. And to shake hands. Lots of them.
They came for four days of festive ritual. Four days of speakers and sessions. Video games and video game-makers. Creative artists and passionate players. Titans of industry and lowly minions seeking admittance into the kingdom. Private parties and after parties. Sales pitches and job pitches. And everywhere groups of twos and threes and milling throngs. In hallways and around tables. Huddled in corners and along stairwells. Lounging on couches and wide leather chairs. All to the constant buzz and hum of people mingling and intermingling. Tirelessly networking and hobnobbing and working their field. With drinks in hand and drinks near of hand. Forever ready to make that ubiquitous exchange of professional cards.
As for me, I came into this arena uncertain of what I would find. Hoping that I might find that I could belong amidst such a pantheon. Whether I could translate my skills as a writer into the gaming world. What I found were two things: how much impact the enthusiasm of those attending had on me. And how unready I was for this technically challenging and excitingly creative world. It was a Lazarus moment. A wake up call. I could feel the spark, but it needed to be plugged in. Needed to go the next step. That meant I had to do. Reach out to people I had met at the conference. Get advice. Join local industry groups. Attend meetings. Call companies. Learn. If I wanted to continue this great experience---what I had gotten out of the GDC, I had to take action. Live my passion. Surround myself with others who felt the same. And enjoy the journey.
Can't wait to volunteer again next year!
Their reasons for attending were simple. They came out of a creative hunger; a passion to create. They came to network and find jobs. They came to be dazzled by the latest multi-million dollar games. Listen to honored trailblazers who've blazed the trail they themselves long to blaze. To acquire new arcane magics and knowledges and skills of the acolyte. Keep abreast of emerging trends, future trends and what's yesterday's trends. And to shake hands. Lots of them.
They came for four days of festive ritual. Four days of speakers and sessions. Video games and video game-makers. Creative artists and passionate players. Titans of industry and lowly minions seeking admittance into the kingdom. Private parties and after parties. Sales pitches and job pitches. And everywhere groups of twos and threes and milling throngs. In hallways and around tables. Huddled in corners and along stairwells. Lounging on couches and wide leather chairs. All to the constant buzz and hum of people mingling and intermingling. Tirelessly networking and hobnobbing and working their field. With drinks in hand and drinks near of hand. Forever ready to make that ubiquitous exchange of professional cards.
As for me, I came into this arena uncertain of what I would find. Hoping that I might find that I could belong amidst such a pantheon. Whether I could translate my skills as a writer into the gaming world. What I found were two things: how much impact the enthusiasm of those attending had on me. And how unready I was for this technically challenging and excitingly creative world. It was a Lazarus moment. A wake up call. I could feel the spark, but it needed to be plugged in. Needed to go the next step. That meant I had to do. Reach out to people I had met at the conference. Get advice. Join local industry groups. Attend meetings. Call companies. Learn. If I wanted to continue this great experience---what I had gotten out of the GDC, I had to take action. Live my passion. Surround myself with others who felt the same. And enjoy the journey.
Can't wait to volunteer again next year!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
A Pivotal Moment
A number of you know that I wrote a screenplay a few years back. What a great experience that was! At some point I'll elaborate more on that. But for today, I thought I'd share a pivotal moment from that story. A moment, where the main character, is confronted by his phobia of running water (a result of being waterboarded). It's overcoming this crippling phobia that will lead him into a final showdown with the government/military forces bent on capturing him as a great totemic prize.
HIKING TRAIL
Skylar is once again on his own--and more alone than ever. He doesn't know where he's going. He's just following the trail.
AFTERNOON
Skylar stares ahead, eyes unfocused, shivering underneath a large Ponderosa pine. IT'S RAINING. Sheets and sheets of endless water pouring down as if nature were intent on drowning the whole world in a single hour.
He pays no attention to the cold dampness soaking into his skin. His shivering is a product of memories, not moisture. Memories that lock his lungs and his muscles and his mind in a replay of drowning.
FLASHBACK - THE INTERROGATION CELL
As before, Skylar is strapped to the table, looking up at the faucet through the mask of cellophane and running water. His terror is muted by the water drowning him.
PRESENT TIME
A bright flash of lightning precedes a DEAFENING PEAL of thunder. The resulting salvo triggers a synaptic thaw in his brain. More lightning/thunder. More thaw. And so his eyes slowly regain awareness. An awareness of the raging storm, and the violence of its present and past metaphors.
Then by some internal decision, he stiffly steps away from the umbrella of the pine and crosses over into a realm of furious wind and rain. He stops. Lets it cleanse him of past oppression. The weight of so many incubi. Then he begins his journey anew and is lost in the grey downpour.
HIKING TRAIL
Skylar is once again on his own--and more alone than ever. He doesn't know where he's going. He's just following the trail.
AFTERNOON
Skylar stares ahead, eyes unfocused, shivering underneath a large Ponderosa pine. IT'S RAINING. Sheets and sheets of endless water pouring down as if nature were intent on drowning the whole world in a single hour.
He pays no attention to the cold dampness soaking into his skin. His shivering is a product of memories, not moisture. Memories that lock his lungs and his muscles and his mind in a replay of drowning.
FLASHBACK - THE INTERROGATION CELL
As before, Skylar is strapped to the table, looking up at the faucet through the mask of cellophane and running water. His terror is muted by the water drowning him.
PRESENT TIME
A bright flash of lightning precedes a DEAFENING PEAL of thunder. The resulting salvo triggers a synaptic thaw in his brain. More lightning/thunder. More thaw. And so his eyes slowly regain awareness. An awareness of the raging storm, and the violence of its present and past metaphors.
Then by some internal decision, he stiffly steps away from the umbrella of the pine and crosses over into a realm of furious wind and rain. He stops. Lets it cleanse him of past oppression. The weight of so many incubi. Then he begins his journey anew and is lost in the grey downpour.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Strange How Life Works
Strange how life works to hem us in. The chains we forge link by iron link. Never perceiving how the decisions we make limit the vistas open to us in the future (which is to say, those open to us today). In the flower of our lives our world seems so wide...as wide as an open prairie. We merely need make our choice of destinies. Like so many delicious flavors. But life is so much messier---blind as we are. Blinded by desire and want. Blinded by false starts. By trial and error. And more error.
How many live the life they wanted? Picked the right line? I'm not speaking of those living the high life (what goes up, comes down), or those well off. Wealth has its own miseries (although I'd trade a few of mine for theirs). But truthfully, I've been around enough rich people to see they're no happier or more secure. But for those who truly blazed the right path for themselves; a life of genuine fulfillment, I envy them. Because that isn't mine.
On the contrary, this isn't the life I imagined: tied to an unrewarding, low-paying job. Boxed into a cubicle. Trapped in a city without car or the ones I love. Straining under a mountain of credit card and college debt...and the subsequent choices lost there. Few marketable skills...and fewer opportunities. Lord, this isn't where I meant to be. I was going to do something with my life. Make a difference. Burn a path through a bright blue sky. That however wasn't the reality I forged.
(Pondering what might've been) Given the chance, I'd most definitely opt for a re-boot as it were. A do-over. An opportunity to clean the slate; start afresh. Retake some of the key choices I've made; do this instead of that. But to start over in mid-life; relive a perfect imperfect is, I think, a dream I'm not alone in sharing.
That said, I'm not advocating such. Such is a life of regret and self-pity. I know, I do it all the time. No, rather it is my aim at this juncture in life to make the most of this imperfect bargain rather than waiting for "life" to find me. That is, to do my job well. Build friendships here. Seek the Most Beautiful One. Find some fulfillment that gives meaning. Which ultimately is the result of making good choices. Something which isn't so obvious until seen in the rearview mirror strangely enough.
How many live the life they wanted? Picked the right line? I'm not speaking of those living the high life (what goes up, comes down), or those well off. Wealth has its own miseries (although I'd trade a few of mine for theirs). But truthfully, I've been around enough rich people to see they're no happier or more secure. But for those who truly blazed the right path for themselves; a life of genuine fulfillment, I envy them. Because that isn't mine.
On the contrary, this isn't the life I imagined: tied to an unrewarding, low-paying job. Boxed into a cubicle. Trapped in a city without car or the ones I love. Straining under a mountain of credit card and college debt...and the subsequent choices lost there. Few marketable skills...and fewer opportunities. Lord, this isn't where I meant to be. I was going to do something with my life. Make a difference. Burn a path through a bright blue sky. That however wasn't the reality I forged.
(Pondering what might've been) Given the chance, I'd most definitely opt for a re-boot as it were. A do-over. An opportunity to clean the slate; start afresh. Retake some of the key choices I've made; do this instead of that. But to start over in mid-life; relive a perfect imperfect is, I think, a dream I'm not alone in sharing.
That said, I'm not advocating such. Such is a life of regret and self-pity. I know, I do it all the time. No, rather it is my aim at this juncture in life to make the most of this imperfect bargain rather than waiting for "life" to find me. That is, to do my job well. Build friendships here. Seek the Most Beautiful One. Find some fulfillment that gives meaning. Which ultimately is the result of making good choices. Something which isn't so obvious until seen in the rearview mirror strangely enough.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)