Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Ideas Start to Come Readily, When You Let Them
My first movie short was about mercenaries out to find Darth Vader and kill him before he could destroy the whole world.
My second movie short was about a band of Pirates who set sail to find the fabled "Lost Guitar of Lazarre," a musical instrument that gives magical musical abilities to anyone who wields it.
I'm quite cognizant of the fact that with these 2 movie scripts I'm missing out on the other half of the children population.
So I'm working on a "princess" script -- a character that (I am told) is a staple of every little girl's playtime imagination (I have 3 young boys, so I wouldn't know).
My first iteration of this princess script ended up with only 4 characters -- something that won't play well at a birthday party... because most parties have at least 8 kids in attendance and my goal is to put everyone into the movie.
While trying to adapt the script for 8, I came up with another movie idea which I promptly scribed. It's a short movie about animals in a wildlife preserve that become mysteriously sick. The children portray the caretakers and veterinarians who care for them and solve the mystery. I'm going to dress the kids up in pith helmets, safari shirts and use the abundance of stuffed animals that have survived my 3 young boys as props.
It's a neat story, quite appealing to little girls, and a little nearer to my own heart in that one of my earlier screenplays is about a man-eating tiger in British colonial India. (I was an aspiring Hollywood screenwriter at one point).
Anyway, the point is, there's a seemingly endless resovouir of ideas and creativity inside each of us. I help kids tap into that pool through my movie shorts. They, in turn, help me tap into mine.
What fun.
My second movie short was about a band of Pirates who set sail to find the fabled "Lost Guitar of Lazarre," a musical instrument that gives magical musical abilities to anyone who wields it.
I'm quite cognizant of the fact that with these 2 movie scripts I'm missing out on the other half of the children population.
So I'm working on a "princess" script -- a character that (I am told) is a staple of every little girl's playtime imagination (I have 3 young boys, so I wouldn't know).
My first iteration of this princess script ended up with only 4 characters -- something that won't play well at a birthday party... because most parties have at least 8 kids in attendance and my goal is to put everyone into the movie.
While trying to adapt the script for 8, I came up with another movie idea which I promptly scribed. It's a short movie about animals in a wildlife preserve that become mysteriously sick. The children portray the caretakers and veterinarians who care for them and solve the mystery. I'm going to dress the kids up in pith helmets, safari shirts and use the abundance of stuffed animals that have survived my 3 young boys as props.
It's a neat story, quite appealing to little girls, and a little nearer to my own heart in that one of my earlier screenplays is about a man-eating tiger in British colonial India. (I was an aspiring Hollywood screenwriter at one point).
Anyway, the point is, there's a seemingly endless resovouir of ideas and creativity inside each of us. I help kids tap into that pool through my movie shorts. They, in turn, help me tap into mine.
What fun.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Goodbye Corporate America... Hello, Spastic Children's Parties (or What Have I Done?)
I'm in deep. Real deep.
Last December, after my wife's mother passed away unexpectedly, my 2 young sons and I were futzing around the yard. It was strangely 65 degrees outside and a few weeks before Christmas. Not your typical Chicago weather. We were blue. So I asked them if they wanted to make a movie.
I've had a non-linear editing system for several years, and always dreamed of making some sort of indie film. But never did. I decided I'd make one now. Well... a five minute movie short. With no written script. No professional actors. And no costumes, budget or props.
I grabbed a couple neighbor kids to star with my own and then grabbed my digital camcorder. They grabbed their toy guns and brought lots of enthusiasm, and I started feeding them lines. I made up a story of bounty hunters searching for Darth Vader (we had one prop -- a Star Wars Darth Vader helmet). I shot it in sequence to make editing easy. And 60 minutes later, I had a finished DVD with sound effects, music and a theatrical menu.
My neighbors were flabbergasted at the premier. And it occurred to me that this frustrated Hollywood screenwriter finally had a way to make money doing what he loved most: writing movies and filming them.
After putting my entrepreneurial thoughts into it, I created a Web company called www.LightsCameraBirthday.com, bought a ton of equipment (HD camcorder, lights, computer, software, duplicator, cargo trailer and thousands of dollars of props, costumes, electronic equipment...) Within a month I had filmed a couple of demos, one of which is posted on my Web site.
I started making DVDs of my demo and gave them away like candy. I had ambitions of doing at least 2 or 3 parties a month. I worked with my local Park Districts to arrange Fall workshops, and even advertised on Google and in Chicago-specific parent magazines. I had lots of inquiries, lots of "Wow! What a great idea!"
Well, in early September, I finally had my first gig. My business model was to get in and get out in 3 hours... filming, editing, scoring, adding sound effects and burning DVDs of the movie for all the children at the party in just 3 hours.
I was there for 5 and a half. Only 1 child stayed long enough to get his movie. The rest left with promises to get their DVDs later that evening.
I'm chalking this up as a success. The parents were extremely happy, and the kids couldn't believe that they were in a "real" Hollywood movie (it had opening credits, and bloopers at the end and everything!)
The father couldn't believe the quality of my Canon high-definition camcorder. Frankly, I couldn't either. You simply can't get this kind of picture quality with *anything* you buy at Best Buy.
Well... that's what's happened so far. In less than 2 weeks I'm being shown the door from my marketing job at a Fortune 100 company due to downsizing. I have to admit, I'm a little stressed. And my wife, who's a stay-at-home-mom, is torqued up a little tighter than me. Still, I have confidence in my abilities. And God's providence, of course.
I mean... if you're gonna spend 1/3 of your life (or more) doing something, it might as well be something you love, right?
Thanks for listening.
Last December, after my wife's mother passed away unexpectedly, my 2 young sons and I were futzing around the yard. It was strangely 65 degrees outside and a few weeks before Christmas. Not your typical Chicago weather. We were blue. So I asked them if they wanted to make a movie.
I've had a non-linear editing system for several years, and always dreamed of making some sort of indie film. But never did. I decided I'd make one now. Well... a five minute movie short. With no written script. No professional actors. And no costumes, budget or props.
I grabbed a couple neighbor kids to star with my own and then grabbed my digital camcorder. They grabbed their toy guns and brought lots of enthusiasm, and I started feeding them lines. I made up a story of bounty hunters searching for Darth Vader (we had one prop -- a Star Wars Darth Vader helmet). I shot it in sequence to make editing easy. And 60 minutes later, I had a finished DVD with sound effects, music and a theatrical menu.
My neighbors were flabbergasted at the premier. And it occurred to me that this frustrated Hollywood screenwriter finally had a way to make money doing what he loved most: writing movies and filming them.
After putting my entrepreneurial thoughts into it, I created a Web company called www.LightsCameraBirthday.com, bought a ton of equipment (HD camcorder, lights, computer, software, duplicator, cargo trailer and thousands of dollars of props, costumes, electronic equipment...) Within a month I had filmed a couple of demos, one of which is posted on my Web site.
I started making DVDs of my demo and gave them away like candy. I had ambitions of doing at least 2 or 3 parties a month. I worked with my local Park Districts to arrange Fall workshops, and even advertised on Google and in Chicago-specific parent magazines. I had lots of inquiries, lots of "Wow! What a great idea!"
Well, in early September, I finally had my first gig. My business model was to get in and get out in 3 hours... filming, editing, scoring, adding sound effects and burning DVDs of the movie for all the children at the party in just 3 hours.
I was there for 5 and a half. Only 1 child stayed long enough to get his movie. The rest left with promises to get their DVDs later that evening.
I'm chalking this up as a success. The parents were extremely happy, and the kids couldn't believe that they were in a "real" Hollywood movie (it had opening credits, and bloopers at the end and everything!)
The father couldn't believe the quality of my Canon high-definition camcorder. Frankly, I couldn't either. You simply can't get this kind of picture quality with *anything* you buy at Best Buy.
Well... that's what's happened so far. In less than 2 weeks I'm being shown the door from my marketing job at a Fortune 100 company due to downsizing. I have to admit, I'm a little stressed. And my wife, who's a stay-at-home-mom, is torqued up a little tighter than me. Still, I have confidence in my abilities. And God's providence, of course.
I mean... if you're gonna spend 1/3 of your life (or more) doing something, it might as well be something you love, right?
Thanks for listening.
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