Mental hurdle number one, taken care of. I just sent out the first two episodes to be reviewed by some of my closest friends. This is the first time my silly little idea will be read by anyone but me (yeah, that includes my wife). I am excited and scared all at the same time. I read it through a few times and it makes me chuckle and puts a smile on my face, so I guess that is all that really matters right now.
Where did the second episode come from you ask? Episode 1.1 proved to be massive once I put it into a real screenplay format, so I basically got episode 1.2 for free. That was a nice little bonus. After a little editing to disect it into two pieces, I stumbled onto some good ideas for episode 1.3. That really helped as my outline was a tad vague on episodes two and three. The rest of the season was already pretty much mapped out, but getting all of the characters introduced was giving me an unsually difficult time.
On a planning note, I am starting to think I may need the whole season written before I start actually putting people in front of a camera. I don't like that idea as I would like to get to that as quickly as possible, but it may be the best thing.
Regardless, this feels like a milestone. So I plan to celebrate with a little video game time tonight. Yeah, livin' large!! :)
Competing script editors. Ugh. :(
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Monday, January 25, 2010
I've known for quite some time that my script, currently kept in Google Docs, wasn't exactly in the "official" screenplay format. It never bothered me as I knew I would slam it into some screenplay editor at some point so I could ship it for review. Well, that day as come, and it brings some bad news.
As I copied my dialog (it's a very dialog heavy script), into the screenplay editor Celtx, I started making edits along the way. I didn't think anything of it as I was in sort of a groove. Luckly, I caught myself as I was proof reading some of the new stuff and realized the mess I just created. Two slightly different versions of the same script in two different files and two different formats. And to think, as a professional in the software business who has dealt with version control software since day one out of college, I let this happen. Very sad.
So, here I sit, trying to figure out which tool to use. On one hand, I have the slick screenplay-specific editor of Celtx that makes formatting an afterthought. You just type, and it gets out of the way. On the other hand, Google Docs gives you ultimate portibility. I can read and update my script, in its ugly and unofficial format, from anywhere in the world (even on my iPhone). Yuck.
I hate points in a project like this that require you to make a decision that you know you will get wrong. Not only do you know you will undoubtedly choose the wrong technology, but you know that you will spend countless hours trying to covert everything to the techonolgy you should have originally chosen. Oh well, I'll sleep on it and see what happens...
As I copied my dialog (it's a very dialog heavy script), into the screenplay editor Celtx, I started making edits along the way. I didn't think anything of it as I was in sort of a groove. Luckly, I caught myself as I was proof reading some of the new stuff and realized the mess I just created. Two slightly different versions of the same script in two different files and two different formats. And to think, as a professional in the software business who has dealt with version control software since day one out of college, I let this happen. Very sad.
So, here I sit, trying to figure out which tool to use. On one hand, I have the slick screenplay-specific editor of Celtx that makes formatting an afterthought. You just type, and it gets out of the way. On the other hand, Google Docs gives you ultimate portibility. I can read and update my script, in its ugly and unofficial format, from anywhere in the world (even on my iPhone). Yuck.
I hate points in a project like this that require you to make a decision that you know you will get wrong. Not only do you know you will undoubtedly choose the wrong technology, but you know that you will spend countless hours trying to covert everything to the techonolgy you should have originally chosen. Oh well, I'll sleep on it and see what happens...
Kicking it out of the nest
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
I have sufficiently coddled episode 1.1. It's been re-written, re-worked, re-everythinged as I am, as discussed in a previous post, insanely paranoid about not setting the world on fire with our first outing. So, in order to force my hand in getting this web series off the ground I am committing to getting an initial review next week from some friends. The key is picking the friends that I can trust to be completely honest with me. It won't do any good if folks just nod, and say "Yeah, that was great!" when it may just be a big steamy load. All in all, I am really excited to see what folks think, good or bad.
On another note, I read an interview by Felicia Day where she says "My hope is also to be producing other people's web series, and other people's content, because I feel like there haven't been enough web series to break out..." I wonder what I need to do to get on her radar of promising web series. One episode shot and on the web might be a good place to start, eh? If your reading this Felicia, sign me up!!! :)
On another note, I read an interview by Felicia Day where she says "My hope is also to be producing other people's web series, and other people's content, because I feel like there haven't been enough web series to break out..." I wonder what I need to do to get on her radar of promising web series. One episode shot and on the web might be a good place to start, eh? If your reading this Felicia, sign me up!!! :)
Decisions, decisions...
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Alright, so I am making progress, but I am certainly struggling with a couple of things as I write these first few episodes. Here are my top two:
What rating do I aim for? - Yeah, I know web content isn't exactly regulated, but I want to have some sort of target that I keep my writing in. It really boils down to PG-13, R, or NC17. Based on just my sense of humor, the dialog ends up in the upper end of that rating list, but do I dial it back, just a little, to make it more palatable for the masses? If you forced me to make a call right now, I would tend towards R. Maybe I should go clean up a few "fucks" in my scripts... :)
Is it all or nothing with episode 1.1? - I'm quite worried that if I can't hook people with the premier episode, that all is lost. On the other hand, if I keep tweaking and re-writing just the first episode, I will never get this thing off the ground. And so the balancing act continues, eh? Maybe I give myself one more week before I put episode 1.1 in front of a few folks and get some feedback.
Thoughts?
What rating do I aim for? - Yeah, I know web content isn't exactly regulated, but I want to have some sort of target that I keep my writing in. It really boils down to PG-13, R, or NC17. Based on just my sense of humor, the dialog ends up in the upper end of that rating list, but do I dial it back, just a little, to make it more palatable for the masses? If you forced me to make a call right now, I would tend towards R. Maybe I should go clean up a few "fucks" in my scripts... :)
Is it all or nothing with episode 1.1? - I'm quite worried that if I can't hook people with the premier episode, that all is lost. On the other hand, if I keep tweaking and re-writing just the first episode, I will never get this thing off the ground. And so the balancing act continues, eh? Maybe I give myself one more week before I put episode 1.1 in front of a few folks and get some feedback.
Thoughts?
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