Da'Von Brown

Many would suggest writing is essentially the only acceptable form of schizophrenia, I would conclude there’s substantially wrong with those that would make that statement. There’s a love/angst (as opposed to hate) relationship I personally have with writing.

The Love:

Seeing the blank canvas and transforming it into descriptive frames of action, animated dialogue among various characters, delving deep into the troubling psychological implications of witnessing a loved one’s death at the hands of a freak of nature, fighting through degrees of oppression and hatred to make it to your soul mate, traveling through the universe in hopes of establishing a new civilization not realizing that it’s human nature that destroyed the old one.

There’s a substantial amount of love to transform the blank canvas into something that many can interpretate on their own, there’s a personal passion to see one’s litany of words transformed and acted out on a screen or stage. Essentially the love of a blank canvas allows you to tell your version of a horror film, your version of the ethos of the universe in science fiction, your version of love and romantic encounters, your version of dramatic tension, of the pursuit of an adventure.

Being able to give your version of a specific topic or a combination of the two or three is to say the least satisfying, a sense of accomplishment for transforming said canvas into something entirely different with some added substance.

The Angst:

The read-through of the finished product, the meticulous edits and lack of alignment of purpose along with the character that’s supposed to drive said purpose, or essentially not realizing that the character driving the originated narrative is not the problem at all, it’s the writer finding issue with something minute and changing the canon entirely.

Some fear the re-write but it should be a welcome challenge, grow from the first and establish something stronger in the second, in other words step up and deal with it, tackle the challenge and move forward. Yet the re-write still has it’s exhaustive aspects that make the challenge cringe worthy, the possible deviation not knowing if it’s the right path to travel, or the character literally transforming into a different set of ideals which usually lead to the story changing and morphing into something…new…or more refreshing, more refined, or more concrete than the first draft, causing the exhaustive aspects of the re-write to be well worth it.

The anxiety picks up and you may develop an intense desire to see your words, your vision, essentially your world transform into more of a visual medium, but it’s also important to let go and move on to the next challenge, the next story, to see what can be done to the next blank canvas.

In the end the love for the craft will and the desire to transform a blank canvas into something new, rare, and original essentially prevails as it’s driven by the angst.

I’m not going to go in-depth and provide details on the film but wow, a rundown on how the film stands;

• Writing = Excellent
• Story = Well Paced
• Directing = Great
• Acting = Solid
• Liam Neeson = Kicks A** (Never expect less from him)

Now I’m not suggesting at all that this has any chance at a 2013 academy award or any golden globe but this was a fun adventure/survival film with balance that make it stand out. By all means if you haven’t seen or heard of this film, go out and see it, you definitely won’t be disappointed.

Hollywood will NEVER do this, it seems more and more that they could care less about the consumer.

They resort to SOPA & PIPA two of the worst ideas in a very long time.

INT. MAGGIE’S DINER

Abigail hurries into the diner with Maggie standing and looking at the clock.

MAGGIE

Runnin late darlin’

ABIGAIL

I know Maggie I’m so sorry, I just got a little caught up with a few things.

MAGGIE

Always an excuse sweetie…you gotta get here on time we can’t keep bein understaffed here.

ABIGAIL

I’m sorry Maggie I promise I’ll work on it.

MAGGIE

Hurry up darlin we got customers waitin.

Abigail looks around at the fairly empty diner.

Time passes by as she stands at the main counter waiting to serve her next customer. Looking out of the window, Abigail becomes caught in a day dream.

The mystery of what happened when she was a little girl continues to haunt her. A customer enters while she remains in her own world. Maggie nudges Abigail to tend to the new customer as he sits down.

This may or may not be better than the original. After taking a look at the atrociously thrown together first draft that essentially wasn’t thrown together at all but written with care and consideration going back to the drawing board, reading through notes developing a polished outline, and slaving over the second draft one could possibly think “alright finally“, though the draft seems stronger, better, and more…complete, the truth is a writers work will never be just right…to the writer at least.

But the second draft is stronger characters are more developed and now the next phase…the pitch. Should be an interesting process as I usually think of this film (which I truly enjoy) when I think of the various phases of finding producers nuts or genius enough to fund your film. Either way during the pitch process a third draft will be in the works, because simply put the rewriting process can take on many forms, though one has to understand when to take a step back and move on to the next story.

Now…I just need to hope for someone in the film industry to give me a shot, and this may require luck, hope, and finding a specific grain of sand in the thickets of a forest (imagine for a second and you’ll understand the complexities I’ll likely face).

I’ve watched this as a kid growing up, and yes was scared as hell, however the films still holds up to the excitement throughout and what’s amazing as looking at the original trailer (though the movie was made before I was a simple thought) where nothing is given away  it makes you wonder why so many film trailers today damn near give away the major plot-points of the film.

Now Ridley Scott has always been an inspiration to me in terms of a very gifted filmmaker and to say I’m looking forward to him going back to his roots in Sci-Fi is an understatement. Prometheus looks like the kind of Sci-Fi film everyone has been waiting for in terms of simply being on the edge of your seat. And as enjoyable as it is to see the trailer borrow from it’s roots it makes you wonder is this or is this not a prequel? Because apparently not even the studio wants to admit it. Regardless the trailer tells us “yes this is a prequel” and I’m actually fine with that the cast looks great and Ridley looks like he’s put together one helluva film.