Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Deciding on my film...
So after doing our pitches yesterday, I have decided to go forward and the my script about the geeky boy, convinced by head cheerleader to kill her boyfriend. I really want to make their characters sort of a quirky spin off to film noir. I want to keep it modern day, but give it the voice over techniques coming from the voice of the main character Morty, and give Natalie the femme fatal look. I still haven't really established the way in which I would want Natalie's boyfriend to look like as of right now, because I'm still working on the two main characters. When thinking of who I would cast for the role of Morty, I was thinking about actors such as Colin Hanks, Topher Grace, Lucas Grabeel, Mitchel Musso, Steven Christopher Parker, or Michael Cera. For the role of Natalie, I would cast someone such as Kirby Bliss Blanton, Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale, Sophia Bush, Erika Christensen, or Leighton Meester. I want Natalie to be very sexy, but yet harmless looking in the film. When it comes to her boyfriend though, I think I want him to be an ideal jock, but also with a soft side, not scary looking per say. Someone like Channing Tatum.... but that's all I can think of at the moment. I definitely will have to get deeper into his character and characteristics before trying to think of someone to cast his part. But other than that, that is as far as I have gotten to far with my movie... still brainstorming!!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Blog Assignment : The Prestige...
I really did enjoy reading the script for The Prestige. When it comes to referring to it in relation to story in general, I see a lot of comparisons. The relationship with the two main characters, Angier and Borden, in my opinion, are the basis of the thought process. There are always two sides of a story, and many things left out, and brought back in the end. When writing a story it is all about the thought process. So you have two magicians that have all the tools to making their shows "the best" but they never really reach the ultimate Prestige. In order for you to really have a great script/story, you need to have it all come together. Someone can be obsessed with an idea, but if they so not realize where that idea can ultimately go, then it was useless from the beginning. This story teaches us how you really never know what is going to come out of anything unless you really think it through, and see all the outcomes. They repeat a lot throughout the script that Borden didn't have the "showmanship" that Angier ultimately had, but in the end, it was Algier that was defeated and did awful things to try to get to the point that Borden was. This relationship is the same in writing; someone can add a lot of special effects and fluff to a story, but without a core, it ultimately unravels and becomes "the one in the box, the one who disappears".
Friday, January 25, 2008
Ideas for my third pitch...
The main character I would like for my third pitch would go by the name of Veronica. Veronica is 18 years old and a freshman in college. While being in high school, she was top of her class, Prom Queen, and dating one of the most popular guys in school, Dale. She also received a free ride to the University of Alabama for cheerleading. Although this was her dream college, that meant that she would have to move from her hometown of Baton Rouge, LA and leave her high school sweetheart behind as well. They decided a long distance relationship wouldn't be a problem, and she went of the Alabama. The first four months for her in college were amazing. She had gotten A's in all her classes, and Dale visited her as much as he could, but there was something eating her up inside that she couldn't control. Since Veronica was little, her mother was obsessed with her being the "ideal weight". She put Veronica in beauty pageants since she was about 4 and also modeling. By doing this to her at such a young age, Veronica was raised thinking that her weight and looks defined the person she would become. All her life, she secretly was obsessed with this, and even became anorexic for sometime, although no one noticed. By keeping her grades up, and being involved in school, she used this as a tool to distract not only everyone, but her own mind. Although this had been working for quite some time, by the time college hit, and she was ultimately by herself, without her comfort zone back home, her walls finally crashed all around her. She became once again obsessed with her weight and became bulimic. Although she was in the best shape of her life, it wasn't good enough. She became so obsessed that even when Dale came, and saw how sick she had become and tried to get her help, she screamed in a fit of rage and made him leave. After about 2 months of this, he finally couldn't take it, and left her. The rest of the story would be about her journey of trying to begin again on her own two feet, and find the person she truly is. She finally finds that life being rail thin is not the life for her, and begins to see the beauty of everything around her rather than what her mother expects and magazines force girls to believe.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Other Characters for Another Pitch......
I have been thinking about other characters for my pitches and really became extremely interested on my character for the pitch about the alcoholic. My character's name is Brandon. He is 25 and recently graduated from college. As comes with most college life, he became somewhat of a "party guy" and learn very well how to handle his alcohol. As time progressed, he changed from being the guy everyone loved to hang out with at parties, to the belligerent drunk puking in the backyard. His friends had always taunted him about his drinking habits, and the stupid things he did the night before, but never really realized how much of a problem this was becoming for him. Brandon would spend hours out of his day curled up in his room crying because he felt that no one understood. He tried to be sober many times, and it seems like no luck. His friends never believed him when he tried to become sober, and would just taunt him and tell him he would be "wasted with them by the end of the week". This story will tell the tale of how hard it is to overcome something such as alcoholism, especially when you have no one to turn to, and no one to back you up. As much as everyone thinks Brandon will not succeed, you see him go through all of these stages of recovery; not only physically but mentally.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
An Idea for my Characters...
It has been a while since I have posted anything... but I did have a couple of ideas for some characters I wanted to use in one of my movies. The movie in which there is the nerdy kid in high school with his femme fatal, I was thinking on calling his Morty. Morty is in his Sophomore year in high school. He is about 5"7 and weighs 145 soaking wet. He is on the honor society, deans list, chess club, and a major Star Trekkie. His femme fatal is named Natalie. Natalie is in her Junior year of high school. She is 5"4, about 110 pounds and very athletic. She is head Cheerleader, Class President, Homecoming Princess three years in a row, and dating the captain of the wrestling team. This story will the show the relationship between the two of them, and how one's admiration will become an obsession. The ways in which one's own demons can take over someone's mind in order to achieve what they really think is "important" in life. In Morty's case, to win his dream girl.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Something to make someone smile...
My mom and dad usually send me a bunch of chain letters that i never even get around to reading, but for some reason this one caught my eye and I thought it would be nice enough to share with the class. It is about the natural high's in life. These are the moments when someone in genuinely happy for the little things that happen in their everyday lives... enjoy....
Natural Highs
Think about them one at a time before going on to the next one. It Does Make You Feel Good, especially the thought at the end of #44.
1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4. No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio..
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Milkshake (any flavor).
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
15. The beach.
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you
19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS
24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
26. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner).
27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
28. Playing with a new puppy.
29. Having someone play with your hair.
30. Sweet dreams.
31. Hot chocolate.
32. Road trips with friends.
33. Swinging on swings.
34. Making eye contact with a cute stranger..
35. Making chocolate chip cookies.
36. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.
37. Holding hands with someone you care about.
38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
39. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
40. Watching the sunrise.
41. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
42. Knowing that somebody misses you.
43. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
44. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.
Hope this made everyone smile, as it made me :)
Natural Highs
Think about them one at a time before going on to the next one. It Does Make You Feel Good, especially the thought at the end of #44.
1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4. No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio..
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Milkshake (any flavor).
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
15. The beach.
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you
19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS
24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
26. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner).
27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
28. Playing with a new puppy.
29. Having someone play with your hair.
30. Sweet dreams.
31. Hot chocolate.
32. Road trips with friends.
33. Swinging on swings.
34. Making eye contact with a cute stranger..
35. Making chocolate chip cookies.
36. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.
37. Holding hands with someone you care about.
38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
39. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
40. Watching the sunrise.
41. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
42. Knowing that somebody misses you.
43. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
44. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.
Hope this made everyone smile, as it made me :)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
My approaches to pitches....
I have been thinking a lot about what types of themes I wanted to use for my pitches. Although I do want to take into account the essay I wrote about what I believe in, I don't believe I want to use it as a main subject, but more as a muse. I want my protagonists to go though the journeys of finding themselves, and loving themselves, but in very different ways. I was thinking that my first pitch would be the journey of an alcoholic. I want to take this person out of the everyday stereotype of being either a "dead beat" or the butt of everyone's jokes. I want to show the trials they go through internally that many don't see, and that's why don't understand. Another pitch I was thinking about would be one in which the nerd in the school gets lured by the "femme fatal" popular to kill her boyfriend for her. I want the audience to see how much peer pressure and someone's low self-esteem can sometimes get them in the biggest trouble of their lives. How they try to do anything in their power to get someone to "love" them, without even thinking that maybe loving themselves in the most important thing they can do. The third pitch I was thinking about was that of the restless prom queen. A story about a girl that had everything in the world; a long time boyfriend, Prom Queen, great friends, and the attention of anyone she desired, but none of this meant a thing to her. The depression this girl had been one that could never be solved by fake smiles and fairytales, nothing was ever good enough. She comes to a point in her life that she can't take it anymore and is about to crack; her boyfriend moved on, high school is over, and she is all alone, and needs to find it within herself to move on from the lies and find the truth within herself. I hope someone can give me some suggestions. I mean these are just ideas that just came to me as I started writing, so please don't judge too critically... :)
Monday, January 14, 2008
About my belief....
I have been thinking a lot about my belief that I had posted yesterday, and how hard it really is to follow it. There have been many trials and tribulations in my life that would definitely go against the belief that there is a brighter side at the end of the tunnel. When listening to Prof. Gay today in class, he said how sometimes we use declarations, like our beliefs, as something that we force ourselves to believe in because of the fact that it is in fact the complete opposite of what we have experienced in our lives. This statement hit me to the core. It is easy to say that you can completely love yourself for who you are, but then there is that moment of vulnerability in which someone says one thing to challenge your existence that makes you feel just as empty as when you started. That one thing about your personality that you tried so hard to surpass and move on from, and drags it right back into existence without hesitation. As I said before, isn't so much easier to say the negative before looking at the positive in a person? When will they realize we are all here for the same reasons, to survive in this cutthroat world and have someone there to keep our head up, not help it fall....
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Loving yourself is half the battle.....
There are many things in life that are hard to explain; a lot of the times in which we feel we have hit a dead end, with no other way in sight. As much as we all feel that there is no way out, no "light at the end of the tunnel" I believe that this is mainly because we don't believe in ourselves to succumb these obstacles.
Relationships have always been one of the most complicated things surrounding my life. In my family’s culture, monogamy is not always an option. It seems that many people feel that regardless of what happens, you should always stand by the person you married, and never question what the other is doing. I, on the other hand, believe the total opposite. I believe that a marriage between two people should be only between those two people. That although there is temptation in the world, there is also the strength inside to turn the other way. The only way that I feel this strength can be successful is if you do in fact love yourself. If you can look yourself in the mirror and know that you are worth more than anything is the world, then the world will take notice and, for the most part, give you what you deserve.
Financial burdens are also a huge issue in my life. How many jobs can one person have until they are finally happy? This is a question I ask myself everyday, but at the same time I feel that until you do hit that point in your life, you should still look and never stop. Happiness is one of the most fundamentals things a person needs in life. To strive to get that job you've always wanted, or that apartment you couldn't afford until now comes from within when you finally realize that you really are worth better. Someone that walks into a building with their head held up high, usually receives a lot more glances than the person that looks down as if to become invisible to the world because they are not comfortable in their own skin.
Although all this is very easy to jot down in a blog, it is still something I too deal with everyday. It is easy to say you are genuinely happy with yourself until that one day when you look in the mirror and see you've gained a few pounds, or the person you liked for so long has found someone new, but I believe there are no dead ends in these stories, just u-turn's that lead to another journey. As much as it is easier to look down upon yourself, is how much we need to fight to look in the opposite direction. There are many problems in this world that we deal with on a day-to-day basis, but I believe that most of them can be resolved, or at least helped with a little self-encouragement within ourselves. The strength to know that we are stronger than we think, and we do in fact love ourselves with every flaw, and every issue. As they say “You cannot love someone else, until you love yourself.”
Relationships have always been one of the most complicated things surrounding my life. In my family’s culture, monogamy is not always an option. It seems that many people feel that regardless of what happens, you should always stand by the person you married, and never question what the other is doing. I, on the other hand, believe the total opposite. I believe that a marriage between two people should be only between those two people. That although there is temptation in the world, there is also the strength inside to turn the other way. The only way that I feel this strength can be successful is if you do in fact love yourself. If you can look yourself in the mirror and know that you are worth more than anything is the world, then the world will take notice and, for the most part, give you what you deserve.
Financial burdens are also a huge issue in my life. How many jobs can one person have until they are finally happy? This is a question I ask myself everyday, but at the same time I feel that until you do hit that point in your life, you should still look and never stop. Happiness is one of the most fundamentals things a person needs in life. To strive to get that job you've always wanted, or that apartment you couldn't afford until now comes from within when you finally realize that you really are worth better. Someone that walks into a building with their head held up high, usually receives a lot more glances than the person that looks down as if to become invisible to the world because they are not comfortable in their own skin.
Although all this is very easy to jot down in a blog, it is still something I too deal with everyday. It is easy to say you are genuinely happy with yourself until that one day when you look in the mirror and see you've gained a few pounds, or the person you liked for so long has found someone new, but I believe there are no dead ends in these stories, just u-turn's that lead to another journey. As much as it is easier to look down upon yourself, is how much we need to fight to look in the opposite direction. There are many problems in this world that we deal with on a day-to-day basis, but I believe that most of them can be resolved, or at least helped with a little self-encouragement within ourselves. The strength to know that we are stronger than we think, and we do in fact love ourselves with every flaw, and every issue. As they say “You cannot love someone else, until you love yourself.”
This I Believe "I Always Have A Choice"
I picked this essay simply because of how much it touched me. To know that there was someone out there that was suffering from such an awful disease such as ALS, and still finding ways to manage and enjoy life was amazing. We all complain of all the minor problems we have in our lives, and how awful our lives are because we can't afford the dress we want for New Year's, or because we can't go on the cruise for Spring Break, but no one ever takes the time to take a deep breath and appreciate the air around them. Her ways in finding "choices" that work with her complications instead of giving up are ones that I wish I could find in me to do as well.
This I Believe "Creating Our Own Happiness"
The reason in which I picked this essay is because I believe that it describes my personality perfectly in the aspect that I always try to find the best out of every situation. Money, power, and materials are very nice accessories to life, but they are not necessities. They might make our lives easier, but they do not really make us happy. Happiness can be found anywhere you go. In my opinion all bad things in life just make you stronger to keep going, and appreciate all that is around you that might not be amazing, but good enough to keep a smile on your face.
This I Believe "A Marriage That's Good Enough"
The reason in which I picked this article is because I believe that she has the right idea on how we look at life. People are so obsessed with the fantasy of being "perfect", that they do not realize how perfect and beautiful they are in their own way. There is no outline that shows people how they should live out their lives; there is no real wrong and right. There are only people trying to live out their lives as best as they can, and if we see the beauty and accomplishments we all achieve, instead of what we failed in, the world would be a better place.
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