Fail

Of course, I failed Script Frenzy.

It's my fault. I'm not going to blame the new job, or the marketing for CAGES, or all the other crap I'm doing, or the fact that writing a screenplay is goddammit seriously hard. It's my fault.

Still, I really like what I've written. Enough that I'll keep going and finish the damn thing, some time, at some point in the indeterminate future. This I swear.

By the way, I'm writing the script using Zhura.com, and I really like it. Don't let the silly social networking look of it put you off -- the in-browser script editor is robust and powerful. If you'd rather not download a copy of Final Draft for whatever reason, this is your best alternative.

The reviews are in for CAGES, and people like it. They really like it. This makes me happy. I'm also soon to be doing a phone interview thing for CAGES, which is bound to be embarassing.

So I guess Cubans can buy computers now. And they run fucking Windows XP. Look, I don't want to sound crazy here, but if the Cuban government wants to shield its people from the grasping talons of corporate capitalism or whatever, well, why not go open source?

I can't believe I never heard of this before: Lego's free Factory program that lets you build your perfect virtual Lego model, then delivers all the required bricks to your door. How cool is that?

Also, I own the film Iron Man an apology. Here goes: Iron Man, I'm sorry I pre-judged you and said bad things about your trailer after San Diego last year. You are actually really awesome. Let's be friends.

Finally, I leave you with this parting image, which I'm pretty sure I saw on a gilded mural within the hallowed Duomo of Florence.

Frenzy!

So what do you do if you're knee-deep in a half-written novel and about to start a new job that'll most likely consume your writing time?

Well, if you're me, you start writing a feature film for Script Frenzy.

What's Script Frenzy? Why, it's a NaNoWriMo spin-off project wherein participants write a 100 page script in the month of April, that's what. And I'm really, super-duper happy with my idea, and with the 16 pages I've written so far.

And yet, pride cometh before the fall. Let this post stand as a digital signpost of my writing hubris, precursor to the inevitable Halfway Through The Script Crisis. I give it, oh, a week and a half.

Oscars for Dummies

Is it just me, or are the Oscar nominations really bloody awful this year? For Christ's sake, the list includes Surf's Up, Transformers and Elizabeth.

And fucking Juno got nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay?

Look, I've seen Juno, and that screenplay deserves to be fired into the sun, not nominated for an Oscar. Transformers may have been a shit film, but at least the script didn't jump out of the actors' mouths and clobber you over the head with its desperate relevance. Juno is basically a poor man's Knocked Up, except that Knocked Up was actually, y'know, funny.

At this point I'm sort of hoping the strike holds on until just after the Oscars. That way I won't have to suffer the craven image of ex-blogger Diablo Cody on my TV screen.

On a cheerier note: Holy shit, Brendan McCarthy now has a blog. The man's a stark raving genius, and you should check that link out right now. I mean, seriously: unicorn chicken eyes!

Shout-out numero deux goes to my friend Luke's new blog, soon to be full of designy goodness. Welcome to the blogosphere, mate.

Right. Less than 24 hours until I get on the plane. Mel and Austin: Save me one of those minty hot chocolates.

Cloverfield = Actually Pretty Good

I saw Cloverfield today, by virtue of some strange planetary alignment that caused the film to open here before it opens in the United States. This almost never happens, and I'd just like to take this opportunity to lord it over my American readers. Take that, Yankees.

The thing is, I followed JJ Abrams' ridiculous marketing campaign for a while. I got caught up in the totally-unfounded Cthulhu speculation. I even carried a tiny flame of hope for the film's script, written as it is by Drew Goddard, who did amazing work on Buffy and Angel back in the day.

But come today, I walked into that cinema with my expectations resolutely lowered. I shouldn't have worried. Turns out Cloverfield is actually a well-written, traditional monster movie, notable mainly for what it lacks.

It doesn't have a message. It's got nothing to say about war (pro or anti), humans ruining the environment, the horrors of science, or shadowy government conspiracies.

It doesn't feature a heart-touching scene where, as the monster lies dying, we empathize with the poor, noble, misunderstood beast.

It doesn't glorify the US military. They don't ride in to save the day, guns blazing, flags waving, cliches spouting. Instead they tell the heroes to fuck off because, sorry, they can't help them. As one character says, "Did you see their faces? They don't know any more than we do."

And, remarkably in a film about the destruction of New York City, it never once invokes the tear-jerking emotional cattle prod of 9/11. Somewhere in the first 10 minutes, I think somebody in the background mumbles the word 'terrorist'. That's it.

In short, Cloverfield is about terrible shit happening, and normal people trying to survive it. It's a tight, clever film, and it's way better than it has any right to be.

So for that, JJ (if that is your real name), I tip my hat to you. Just this once.

Looking Forward

2007 was a 'transitional year'. And that's about the nicest thing I can say for it.

I got a lot of promising projects started, almost all of which have yet to come to fruition. I also started a lot of things that fell over and died horribly. Certainly, 2007 holds the undisputed record for Most Formal Rejections, Most Broken Promises, and Most Exciting Projects That Disappeared Down A Black Hole Without Any Word Of Explanation.

It was a year of hoping, trying and waiting, and there's still a lot of waiting left before I find out whether all of it was worth it.

On the other hand, I went to San Diego Comic Con, I got offered real work doing something I love, I wrote more short fiction than ever before, and I completed NaNoWriMo. I also made a few good friends in both the film and comics spheres -- a bunch of altogether excellent people who I know I can count on. You know who you are.

2008 is definitely not going to be a transitional year. No more hanging around waiting for something to happen. Quite the opposite, in fact. As most of you probably already know, I'm moving to Vancouver in a month's time.

Why Vancouver?

Well, I have friends who are also going, and the (vaguely-defined) plan is to rent a big old house together.

It's a big city, and the prospect of living in a big city is starting to sound pretty good after five years in the least cultural place on Earth.

It's within flying distance of the USA, without actually being in the USA. And there's huge opportunities there for freelance writers, or so I'd like to imagine.

But mostly, when I get right down to it, it feels like the right thing to do.

Here's to 2008.

4 Good Reasons To Be Happy

1. Gutsy Gibbon (a.k.a. the latest version of Ubuntu) has been released, and unlike many poor, unfortunate souls, I manged to update without completely borking my system. It's running very nicely, in fact. So if you're thinking of getting onboard the happy Linux train, now would seem to be a good time. Remember, Nelson Mandela wants you to. You wouldn't let old Nelson down, would you?
2. A film I wrote is currently shooting. I elected not to visit the set, as that would have required sleeping three nights in a small, hot room above a pub in the middle of the desert, along with ten other people. Still, I'm sure they're having fun without me.
3. Interestingly enough, we're the first film in Australia to shoot on a RED camera. This is, I suspect, a big deal. The DP is certainly happy about it.
4. The excellently-monikered NaNoWriMo begins next month. It's a competition (that isn't really a competition at all) in which contestants try to write a 50k word novel in 30 days. I plan to continue, and with any luck finish, the novel I started last November. I've already geared up to the required daily wordcount, so come November 1st, I should be able to hit the ground running.
   

I'm Alive, Plus Link

I made it back from Outback Queensland, more or less in one piece.

Here are some quaint, lovely images from Wolf Creek Crater... er, I mean Clifton, where our film will be shot in about six days.



See? Quaint.



And by 'computer', they mean 'abacus'. Hah, just kidding Clifton. You're alright.



A dog in a ute -- the quintessential Australian image.



An intrepid trio of filmmakers.



Mm-mmm. You can really taste the fun.

Also! I was particularly taken with this recent post from the excellent Cabinet of Wonders, not only for its admirable sentiment and sexy, sexy historical facts, but for the wonderful closing image of Cory Doctorow as a digital John the Baptist, shouting in the desert, preparing the way for the Second Coming of Internet Jesus.

I just have one question: When he's out there in the desert... does he wear the goggles?

Over the Hills and Far Away

Today I'll be travelling to the middle of the god-forsaken wasteland that is the Australian Outback to look at shooting locations for the short film.

If I don't come back, tell them to look for my sun-bleached bones at these coordinates.

Writing Drama -- A Great Resource for Writers

This is a capsule review/recommendation of Le Clown & L'enfant's Writing Drama, written by Yves Lavandier. Full disclosure: They were kind enough to send me a free copy all the way from France, so I thought the least I could do was talk about their book.




First, let's talk about what it isn't.

It's not a Hollywood handbook, full of insider gossip and tips on how to survive pitch meetings. It's not a how-to guide for people with no idea how to format a script. It's not a small book (in fact, it's almost 600 pages of fairly small type). And it's not a book for everyone.

It is, however, incredibly worthwhile for the intermediate-to-experienced writer, or anyone interested in the craft of dramaturgy. It's an unashamedly thorough and serious book, containing hundreds upon hundreds of well-researched examples to back up the author's opinions -- which are of course prominently on display.

The first few chapters are full of bold assertions and opinions, as if Lavandier were getting it out of the way early to allow time for the naysayers to leave the room. He sets up very quickly that he believes in dramatic rules, has little time for fuzziness and divine inspiration, and dislikes the Auteur Theory (a common tune, but his takedown of it is actually very readable -- complete with swipes at Godard). He's big on the idea that conflict lies at the heart of life, and that drama is life.

He then goes on to the real nuts and bolts of drama: the protagonist and his relationship to the objective; the idea of obstacles -- what's effective and what's not, how melodrama works, whether tragedy is really dead; how to properly use deus ex machina and Macguffins.

Further chapters deal with Characterisation (where we learn why even minor characters require objectives, and Lavandier takes a humorous jab at the male Rescuer character, as embodied by DiCaprio in Titanic), Structure (mostly the usual stuff: inciting incident, Act 2 twist, death and rebirth of the protagonist), and Unity (where things all go a bit Aristotelian). We also get informative chapters on Dialogue, Character, and Exposition (and how to place it so it doesn't suck),

Then we get to the more unique chapters. There's one on Preparation, for instance, in which Lavandier discusses proper foreshadowing and how not to tilt your authorial hand, or cash all those (metaphorical) chips too early. There's a fantastically in-depth chapter on Dramatic Irony, which includes many, many examples and explanations, and just might be the highlight of the book. And there's a whole section on Comedy, which Lavandier argues for and champions as one of the most versatile and powerful forms of drama.

The book is rounded off with some toolbox-y tips on authorial intention, the work process, writing for children, writing short films, and the right ways to read a script.

If I'm making the book sound dry or overly academic, it's not. Lavandier has an easy, conversational-intellectual style, and he likes to deviate into interesting little alleyways: Why a car is not a character, for instance, or a full-blown defense of caricature as a form of comedy.

There's really only one big problem I could see: The book is mostly about film, but the author likes to toss in the occasional reference to plays or comics, just to spice it up. While he's obviously incredibly knowledgeable on the first two subjects, I often felt like comics were given the short end of the stick. He tends to talk only about bandes dessinees, and then only about old staples like Tintin and Asterix. This is sort of the equivalent of pointing out the flaws in Golden Age Superman comics -- quaint, but ultimately a bit pointless.

Other than that, it's an extremely useful and informative book for anyone who wants to learn the rules of drama... and for professionals who think they know everything under the sun. I've had it for a while now, but I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. It's certainly something I'll be going back to, and I plan to put it on my Shelf of Usefulness, next to Strunk & White, Scott McCloud, and John Gardner. Frankly, I'm not one for screenwriting books, but if I had to pick the most advanced, most comprehensive, and generally most helpful book on the subject, I'd pick Writing Drama.

If you want to know more, there's a good interview with the author at his site. And if you'd like to buy a copy, you can order it straight from the publisher (strangely, Amazon don't stock it).

Grindstone

I've finally knocked out Cages Chapter Three. On the whole, I'm extremely pleased with it; far more so than with the previous two chapters.

And so my Work List of Doom becomes a little shorter. It now only includes, for the next two months:

• A new issue 1 script (22 pages),
• A possible two more comics scripts (22 pages each),
• A ~30 page feature film treatment (due soon),
  
• An outline and treatment for a webcomics idea,
• An outline and script for a TV pilot collaboration (45-50 pages),
• More notes on a friend's feature film script, and of course,
  
• The novel, which has been hovering at 20k words for over 6 months and really needs an infusion.
  

Interesting times...

Teaser

Austin Andrews (director, photographer, raconteur) just sent me the link to the teaser page for the 10 minute short film I wrote about a month ago.

Check it out, why don't you?

It's a dark comedy about boys being boys in a little Outback town, and the stranger who crosses their path. We shoot it in early October, with a budget of around $35 thousand. So that's all very exciting.

Mind you, I'm not exactly sure what I'll do on set. I've always wanted to be the kind of writer who scribbles helpful dialogue corrections on set and hands them to the director. Like, between takes. Directors love that, right?

Watch. Now.

ATTENTION -- If you watch any two YouTube clips from Comic Con today, please make it these two...

The Iron Man footage.

Neil Gaiman kisses a man at the Eisners.

Live Blogging the Joss Whedon Panel

Ripper is greenlit at the BBC!

Writing new original horror film with Drew Goddard: 'Cabin in the Woods'.

Goddard to write arc of Buffy Season 8.

Oz to return in Season 8!

Writing a new comic, 'Sugar Shock', with Fabio Moon.

Writing a ballet for Summer Glau!

More Fray to come, plus a new Serenity ongoing comic, and Buffy will go to Season 9.

Day Two

Keeping this one light, because I have work to do today.

• The Warner Brothers screening filled Hall H -- you know, the one that seats 6 thousand people. Get Smart looks great. Zack Snyder had nothing to show from Watchmen, but instead sat down and politely talked the audience through his hopes and fears regarding the project. It was certainly a novel approach, and I hope it pays off for the film.

• The con floor was sheer, screaming madness, and it'll only be worse today.

• Hung out with a couple of friends who were down from LA for the day. We somehow obtained tickets to the Dark Horse Luncheon, which turned out to be an ultra-classy affair in a very nice restaurant, attended by a bunch of executive-looking people from Dreamworks, Disney, Tokyopop, etc. (oddly enough, I saw no one from Dark Horse). But hey, free food!

• The Vertigo panel was nice. Karen Berger is certainly on message, and a good salesperson, which is probably why she's been doing it for 14 years. The big news -- for me, at least, and probably no one else -- is that Josh Dysart has a new title called The Unknown Soldier.

• I met a bunch of people from the Engine forums for drinks and greasy food at Dick's Last Resort, a themed bar/restaurant where the theme seems to be that the waitresses insult you and the music makes your ears bleed. The company and conversation, however, more than made up for it.
  

Photos!



Worst crossover idea ever.



Hmm. Well played, Dark Knight.



The Get Smart panel with Steve Carell and The Rock.



Roaming pairs of Battys and Prises (and some Rachels and Zoras) advertised the new Blade Runner DVD release.



He's a long way from Hyrule...



The weird-looking SciFi Channel booth.



The Engine meet-up. Would you believe that drink Rachel is holding is called a 'Razzberry Dickfizzle'?

And here's your horrifying thought for the day: Last year, Comic Con sold out one day -- Saturday -- for the first time ever in its 30+ year history. This year, they sold out Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Right. The biggest meeting of my comics career is in 4 hours time. Wish me luck.

Cloverfield

So JJ Abrams revealed nothing but a new poster. And it's not Godzilla.

Sweet Zombie Jesus

It just took me 25 minutes of solid walking to find the end of the line for the Paramount screening. I wish I was kidding.

A Chance To Begin Again

Hi. My name’s Xander Bennett, and this is my work blog.

You may know me from such failed blog experiments as Chained To The Keyboard, a screenwriting advice blog which ceased operation over a year ago. I pulled the plug on that one, mostly because I felt hypocritical dispensing ‘professional’ writing advice when I myself was toiling in obscurity.

Flashforward to one year later, and I’m now a writing superstar. Alright, not really. But I do have a lot of irons in the fire, and I need me a blog for work purposes. Ergo: here we are.

What have I been up to for a year? I’m glad you asked!

I have an original graphic novel coming out early next year, published by Insomnia Publications and illustrated by the wildly-talented Melanie Cook.

A short film I wrote is being produced in September. The as-yet-untitled project will be shot on location in sunny Outback Queensland. A feature film will follow.

I’m developing 3 different comic book series with the phenomenal French artist David Montoro.

Along with 6 other writers, I’m contributing weekly short fiction to the burst culture site Elephant Words.

…Plus a couple of role-playing game projects, a quirky little festival film, and a few more things that I’m not yet contractually allowed to talk about

Welcome to my mind. We hope you enjoy your stay.