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panelshowsource · 7 months

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could you make a post about all the books from comedians you own/have ordered and which are your favorites I want to buy all of them but don't know where to start ++++++++ would love to know if you know of a way to order a signed copy of David's book if I don't live in the UK

you know, in a stroke of what may be relevant information, i'm actually an editorial director by day and even used to be a literary agent here in nyc — none of which is obvious on account of my billion rushed typos and...just...general existence :) (i promise i'm supremely carefully handed in my editing!!! and have a lot of resources, at my job hahahahaha oh god maybe i shouldn't have mentioned this!!!) — but i'm really no book critic and have no idea how my tastes stack up against what a lot of you are looking for. i'm happy to share some of my general, poorly articulated internet thoughts but it may be more worth checking out goodreads or talking with others who have more experience with autobiographies (which a majority of these types of books are)!

to begin with a disclaimer, one of my friends texted me recently, "why do you only watch sad movies?" i love sad films, sad music, i love to cry, catharsis, sentimentality which is always a little self-indulgent. it's a bit ironic, because this is a comedy blog and you guys know me as someone who loves to find things to laugh about and i fill my life with so much silliness through his huge, life-long hobby, but, all the same, that is only one side of me, i guess. i'm saying this now because you're about to hear me talk briefly about a few somewhat-to-incredibly sad books and be like "oh i didn't know this what i was getting into" 😅

books i do recommend:

just ignore him by alan davies — this isn't a book review but i am self-conscious about just how i describe this book, because it's so sensitive and i carry a lot of respect for alan. at the time of publication, alan actually didn't want any of the press to know and/or discuss the most tragic elements of the book, so readers wouldn't be influenced in any direction before confronting it themselves. (it's okay to talk about now of course, and anyone should know there are major trigger warnings for death, child abuse, sexual abuse, and pedophilia.) it is a sad book about his earliest years: the complexities and nuances of male power and manipulation, of unimaginable loneliness, of a lost child. alan said it wasn't cathartic to write—that is was indeed very painful—but the vulnerability, the commitment to shirking himself of the painful silence he endured for most of his life, is exceptionally moving. alan's writing can be quite thorough, even flowery, in creating vivid places and images, so so much of the heaviness feels piercing and even disturbing. if you read other comedians' books, a decent majority of them are written in the style of standup or, say, a ted talk — with performance in mind, specific structures and beats that mimic how they'd tell these stories on stage. i would argue this is quite different to that, that while the writing is in a style and structure that benefits being read aloud this is a very different alan to alan the performer. and, very honestly, i'm really not an audiobook person, not to mention listening is a wholly different experience to reading — but the audiobook for this is phenomenal: alan narrates and, while of course it's his story so he'll tell it best, he is a very gentle, thoughtful storyteller. this will be you by chapter 4:

moab is my washpot + fry chronicles by stephen fry — the first and second of his three autobiographies covering some of the most sensational times (stephen is willing to admit) of his childhood and teen years + his rise to fame through the cambridge footlights. these are good reads for 1) stephen fry fans duh and 2) people who can enjoy the inspiration of auden, waugh, wilde, wodehouse, quintessential english writers who inform the foundation of stephen's relationship with literature and appreciation. stephen is painfully honest — and often sorry for it, apologising for what he perceives to be his shortcomings — and you can't help but feel, even early on in the first book, that his view of his own world is somehow even more subjective than everyone else's views of their own worlds. maybe it's because he's so judgmental, maybe it's his oscillating mental health, maybe it's the shocking thrust with which he was confronted with the wideness of the world...i'm not sure, but stephen's life through stephen's eyes is so very stephen-y. i think that's why we love him‚ though i can see some people loathing the less admirable sides of him, which he does show, so don't read this if you want to maintain some image of him that helps you cope or keeps you perfectly entertained. if you're not british, the fry chronicles is an especially good read to scratch some of your anglophilic interests (lotsss of namedropping and backstage chat)!

delicacy: a memoir about cake and death by katy wix — one of my recent faves and another book that isn't thoroughly funny. told in 21 vignettes either centered around or vaguely related to cake, katy talks about her school life, grief and loss, self-esteem and body image, misogyny — in ways that are just...matter of fact...opposed to lessons learned or things she's working on through therapy. she's accepted a lot, but she's also afflicted by a lot to this day; she's capably honest about where her reality stands. for this reason, it can be a bleak and certainly very raw read. i listened to the audiobook for this one, which was nice, but i much recommend the actual written book as the vignettes are in different formats (short story prose, letters, email exchanges) that often anchor time and place, intention, even the little peeks of light of comedy. katy's writing is very lovely, both my heart and mind were touched.

back story by david mitchell — a mildly vulnerable, moderately insightful, and quite humorous exploration of david's up-and-coming years. i really appreciate the premise — due a bad back and sciatica, he begins taking very long walks every day, and these walks trigger memories and anecdotes as he passes certain places — that really doesn't come off as a gimmick. it's a very easy read (or listen) and what i'd consider an uncomplicated, unproblematic bio, but it would be difficult to enjoy if you're only a casual fan of david mitchell or only like him in his most recent dad years, as it was written in his peep show heyday and is so much about those years of his life, his relationship with robert webb, etc. a good intro-to-the-genre book and the very first britcom book i read way back in 2010!

i also really enjoy graham norton's books — especially for the goss, but he's a great writer and his debut fiction novel got quite good reviews! — and tim key's books of poetry, though you really need to be a fan of tim key to read tim key :')

books i do not recommend:

before & laughter by jimmy carr — this book is much less of an autobiography (details are scant and anecdotes are few; it's cute when he refers to karoline as "my girl") and much more a collection of 1) jimmy's interpretation of contemporary comedy and what it means to be a comedian, and 2) how that journey, and his evolving attitudes, shaped him + became advice he would offer to others. this is why he calls the book adjacent to self help & motivational speaking. i don't think it teaches you anything new about him — literally or as an writer — so i don't recommend reading it, though the audiobook (where he's truly performing the writing like a ted talk) is an easy listen. a lot of people will not understand that jimmy is overwhelmingly sincere in regards to all of the topics and personal philosophies the jimmy nearing 50 espouses. he's someone with very studied, thorough personal philosophies (if you've seen him on podcasts talking about his life and career then you'll know just what i mean) and he explains them deftly, but they can feel a bit...how should i say this...flat to people who have heard a lot of it before, in hollywood movies or from their own parents or wherever. he didn't write this just for another stream of income — he is passionate about these conversations and that counts for something. overall i already knew a bit about the guy and didn't need this.

my shit life so far by frankie boyle — i have never read one of frankie's fiction novels (crime is really not my thing, so someone needs to let me know if richard osman's book series is a smash because i'm only going to check them out if i'm convinced to), but as a long-time fan of his, knowing how much of a wordsmith he is, and how intentional he is in everything he says, i was surprised by how dull i found this. his shit life was just that — uninteresting, meandering. his anecdotes may have worked better aloud than on paper, but they didn't grab me. you learn a bit about his young adulthood, but like jimmy he's intensely private and i could feel that distance between us even while reading an autobiography. it didn't work for me, super sad about it :(

can everyone please calm down? by mae martin — instead of criticising this book, i'd rather just make a disclaimer or two. if you are already engaged in queer discourses and dialogues, you are not going to learn very much from this book. both the descriptive writing and presentation of research is "accessible" to the point i'd call it more adjacent to YA than adult literature; if you prefer more creative, complicated, and/or signature writing styles, this book is not for you. if you are a big fan of mae martin and would appreciate an overview of their journey on the identity spectrum (going so far as to even rejecting it, in some capacities) in one place, then this may be convenient — but even then, at this point, it's somewhat outdated. imo a well-intention skip.

phil wang and tom allen are two more i think don't convince me with their writing, but i'm still making my ways through a couple of books and could probably talk more about this later!

i have never made this kind of non-fiction bio a priority on my long reading list, so i still have a lot of exploring and catching up to do, but i'm finding that i do prefer the books that explore the events of comedian's past as well as those that walk the reader through experiences in the comedy & tv industries. there are a lot of books about mental health and identity, which may be more of what many of you are looking for (sara pascoe, fern brady, jon richardson, and more).

okaY PHEW SORRY i always type too much 😒

first, as for david mitchell's new book, you can order it signed from waterstones as they ship to the usa — and it's currently half off!!!!! if you want to buy it unsigned from a usa retailer amazon is cheapest and target & bookshop are the cheapest non-amazon options :) an audiobook is coming out as well, so i do believe i will be able to add that to googledrive before too long, but no guarantees on a good time frame!

you can go here to download any of the ebooks & audiobooks i have on my googledrive!

#a #long post

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focsle · 2 years

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being a lil salty about the perceived creative value of certain storytelling mediums and I’ll probably delete this later cos it’s a Bad Look and I am incredibly biased in my opinion but…

I really do wish that like…In General people realized HOW much work webcomics are.

I.e. the replies on that ‘feeling of making a long form webcomic’ post I reblogged a couple days ago were filled with people being like ‘you mean writing anything lol not just webcomics’ and it’s like…..yes there is a lot of work that goes into making anything long form and that particular post was absolutely broadly relatable when it comes to so many ways of telling a story because telling stories is hard! But long form webcomics are SO so much work. As someone who’s also written a novel, the novel is easy peasy compared to a webcomic. A picture’s worth a thousand words becomes a meaningless sentiment when you have to draw a thousand pictures. When crossing a room takes a sentence to write but hours to draw. It takes me months of work to narratively get to what I could get in like, 5k of writing.

It’s having to take every skillset one would use in crafting a narrative through any other media (including forms of media that have entire teams of people working on it rather than one person) and putting it together. And when I list these things I’m definitely not saying I am a pro in any of them but they’re still considerations that have to be made. Depending on the style and function of the piece, making comics involves being a writer, an artist, an actor, a director, a camera. One has to draw the same people over and over again consistently, has to think about visual compositions not just for one illustration, but for every single panel, and then how every single panel works to form the composition of every single page, and ideally (though less of a thing with webcomics) how the spread of two pages alongside each other work together compositionally as well. How to make everything visually coherent and readable. One has to learn how to draw so many things from so many angles so many times. How to keep a consistency in how different characters carry themselves, how they move. Costume changes. Set design. All of it. And webcomics are almost always a solo affair. I'd say this has a lot of similarities to animation BUT it's a lot rarer for someone to be doing like...a full length animated film just by themselves. So I still think webcomics are very unique in their demands.

I love writing scripts, and I love love love when the pages are done. It’s such a rewarding way to tell a story. So I’m not complaining exactly but…idk I wish the volume of the work that goes into them was appreciated more as a specific craft that is one of the heavier lifts to make when it comes to telling a story. It’s absolutely not the same as writing a novel. And it has challenges that are very unique to the medium that I don’t think many people fully appreciate or acknowledge.

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princessamericachavez · 1 year

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No but actually I can’t stop thinking about that costume meta post by @canonicallyobserving911

Having both Buck and Eddie mirror their therapy clothes in 6x15 is such a LOUD choice.

Like, you could call it an accident on Buck’s side (though it feels unlikely) but then Eddie is literally repeating his therapy hoodie?? From Dumb Luck???

I was just talking to a friend the other day (who doesn’t watch 911 but lovingly puts up with my ranting and hyperfixations) and she was like “I can see a lot of the stuff but the clothing colors thing feels far fetched to me” and I just… like, I get it if you’ve never worked in filming/productions, but as someone who studied film and worked at several short films, you have no idea how hard costume departments go!

There’s a show bible. There’s a set of rules. There’s an aesthetic and color palette for each character. There’s a meaning and symbology behind what the characters wear and how and why they wear it. And this was only student/amateur level productions, sure, but we learned this process from professionals who had been working on the medium for decades! It’s the normal, expected, and DEMANDED practice!

Furthermore, there’s color theory. The director and the person you have behind the camera, they are looking at the whole scene and trying to tell you something through: framing, lighting, blocking, timings, music and color. Warm colors! Cold colors! Greens for hope! Blues for sadness or peace! Red for passion and love and wrath and violence! There’s an industry standard that works in film and tv because the audience is already used to subliminally making those connections (it’s psychological!!) and they are part of the language creators use to get the story across. You don’t have to know or notice them for it to be effective.

My point is that costume and make up departments put a lot of thought on what characters look like, down to their earrings and rings and other little details, and they are storytellers as much as the actors and directors and writers are.

So yeah, the costume meta for 6x15 showing Buck and Eddie in their “therapy clothes” is making me crazy right now.

#buddie #911 fox #Evan buck Buckley #Eddie Diaz #god I love publishing but some days I miss film

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herebedragonsbooks · 7 months

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Storyteller of the month: October, Alice Oseman

Every month from now on I will be publishing a post talking about a storyteller (a writer, director, musician… mostly all kind of artists) who I admire and/or whose works I deeply enjoy. This is a mere way of spreading some online positivity, give some content recommendations and show my love for the people that bring to live the worlds I adore to get lost in. For the first post of this kind, I will be talking about Alice Oseman. Hope you like it 🫶🏼

Alice Oseman is a British writer, illustrator, and screenwriter who is known for their graphic novels Heartstopper and their standalone novels Solitaire, Radio Silence, Loveless, and I was born for this, among others. Their books are an incredible accurate portrait of adolescence at the same time they talk about deep themes like bullying and mental health problems. And of course, we can’t forget that they played an important role in how the LGTBQ+ community has won more representation in YA literature and TV in recent years.

I thought that starting with them would be a good option, since I have just finished watching Heartstopper first season and I recently read Solitaire and Radio Silence. Yeah, I am in my Osemanverse era, and I am going to make it everyone’s else problem 😅 So, without further ado, here is why I love their work so much.

I was introduced to this fandom in a completely unexpected way, through finding a cute picture drawing of Charlie and Nick hugging each other with the words “I want a relationship like theirs” edited above it on Pinterest. I didn’t think much about it, I didn’t even know anything about the books nor the series back then. I just smiled, said to myself that the art style was really cute, and keep scrolling through the app. After that, many Heartstopper related drawings appeared on my dashboard, and I finally decided to give it a try and read it online. Now, I can say without exaggerating that Oseman’s stories are some of the most heartwarming I have ever seen.

Finding myself enjoying this type of content was really strange for me at first, why for? Because until a year I whole heartily believed that I hated romance books (except classic literature ones) just because I felt they were nothing like how imagined being in love would be like for me (Sugarcoat relationships between plain main characters? Thanks but no 😓). That was my first mistake, Heartstopper is not your average romance novel. Yeah, ofc it talks about love but not only romantic love! Loving yourself (with your quirks and little imperfections) your family, your friends… They are also important topics in the Osemanverse, that I really needed to read and learn about.

Alice's books taught me that everyone deserves to be accepted and cared about. That even when anxious thoughts creep inside my mind, there will always be someone to listen and help me go through it. That I could learn to love myself if I tried. That sooner or later I will be end up finding my people. It also made me more aware of the LGTBQ+ community around me, and it was incredibly helpful to tear down some stereotypes that media or other people have made me believe about queer people.

For some personal reasons I related in some aspects to three characters since the begining, Charlie, Tori and Aled. It may sound weird, but seeing them overcoming their problems and finally being able to grow up as the wonderful people they were meant to be was so touching for me. I am really thankful to the author for telling their stories, because no one could have talked about these topics and have reached as many readers as they did. Reading these books made me realize that I was not alone and that I could do it too. So thank you from the bottom of my heart Alice Oseman, really

To finish with, I will say that I recommend their books to anyone who wants to have some new comfort characters on their list or enjoy this fluff, hurt/comfort type of literature. Give it a try, you won’t regret it!

Thanks for reading, until next month! 👋

#Storyteller of the month #author appreciation #Alice Oseman #osemanverse #heartstopper #solitaire #charlie spring #oseman tag #Osemanverse books

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pacificwanderer · 1 year

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Soooooo what are your thoughts on the Rey film?

Hey Nonnie,

I have a lot of feelings LOL. None of my ire is directed at you, and I'm trying not to get too worked up given that we know who the director will be and that Daisy will be in it (everything is meant in a general sense, and it's just my feelings on the matter so whatever). Also, given their track record with directors and writers.... we'll see how it all ends up going!

As far as story, well...

So this is such a coincidence, given that I just saw Su//zume and was thinking that if anything that follows up TRoS ISN'T at least thematically similar to that movie, I don't want it. It still holds.

This is my interpretation, and if others don't agree. That's fine. I'm not really looking to argue with anyone or win anyone over lol. People are allowed to have different interpretations of media, but for me, TRoS didn't work. Both as a fan of the ST and as a lifelong fan of SW. And I don't know how they plan on moving forward with that fucking albatross weighing them down! I really don't!

My problem was and remains that TRoS IS NOT REY'S STORY or really any of the ST characters, it's all focused on the past and that's not a great way to build a point to go forward from. Hell, it's not really even a story so much as characters moving from one set piece to another in an effort to disguise how it's a movie that's basically serving one purpose: address and make up for prior criticism (mostly from re//ddit and prolific you//tubers).

I could go point by point about how that film was set up to make up for "disappointing" certain fans with how TLJ went, but I don't have the time rn for that (I have a lot of work to do in the next few days and not much time, but here i am on tumblr lol). I'm sure it's been done to death, anyway, but people far more eloquent than I.

That film is and was and ever will be is a reactionary film that was made to be an answer to very specific criticism from a very specific subset of the fandom, and it failed. Not only to address their criticisms but to stand on its own as a film. That story takes Rey, takes her character and her story, and reskins her to be Luke 2.0.

But they didn't want that. Those fans didn't want her to be a stand-in for Luke. They didn't want her to symbolically be a Sky//walker, they wanted her to BE one via BIRTH (Luke's daughter or whatever). What we got was insulting to those fans and to fans of TLJ. It's one of the more blatant examples of pandering that I can think of (even if it's badly done), and I really don't know if I'm ever gonna get over it entirely lol. Like I've mostly moved on because there are storytellers out there busting their ass telling stories that deserve to be told, so I have other things to focus on.

Rey's story needs to be her own, and I don't know how they're going to accomplish that given what's happened in TRoS. She's not her own character anymore. She's just... a vessel. Fuck I hate that. I hate saying that! I HATE IT! But that comes from the creators themselves! I love Rey! I wouldn't have written like three-quarters of a million words of fanfic about her world otherwise! AND THEY DID NOT. AND IT SHOWS.

And it's personally offensive to me that they took a character that I loved THE WAY SHE WAS and tried to make her fit for people who were committed to hating her from the start!!!! How dare they! And not just her, but what they did with the rest of the ST characters makes me so fucking angry i have a hard time being chill about it lol.

Anyway, I have some reservations about their ability to craft a tale that's going to honor her character and not just be some sort of way for Luke to jump in and take over the narrative again. As he's done before and will do again (hi there, man//do, nice luke you got there for no fucking reason).

Anyway, I very much try to keep to my own corner of the fandom because I just don't have the energy for much these days, so I'm sure other people have different feelings about it all. I hope it goes well! I doubt it will! Like Andor was great, but Tony is a great storyteller, and I don't think the person they've tacked on to finish the Rey script is capable of doing her justice (sorry bro, PB is good, but it's tragic, do I want that for Rey??? no).

Storytelling should be the first and foremost thing they're focusing on, and... I don't really trust them in that regard anymore. The SW ip is too all over the place, and there's a certain note of cynicism that just seems to infect everything these days. I'm fucking tired of the american monomyth, i'm tired of campbell redux (with no deeper thought or criticism of the aforementioned, just shallow retelling to tick of fucking plot points and NOTHING MORE).

It just... feels like they're trying to find their way without really thinking about what got them to this point. I hope it doesn't suck, but if it does, then there's always fanfic.

PERSONALLY idgaf about rebuilding the gd jedi temple, so i hope THAT changes because it's been done and they fucked up REPEATEDLY like how many movies do we really need of that!!!?? God, there's a whole wide sw universe out there, and they make it feel so small.

So fucking small. What a waste.

TLDR:

Anyway! Hope it works out for anyone who's interested. If anyone's really interested in how I'd like a post-tros narrative to go, please go see su//zume. i fucking adore it to bits and pieces.

Cheers, Nonne!

#post tros speculation #rey nobody speculation #sw negativity #i'm not looking for a fight anyone lol #long post #text #asks #asks and answers #ask pacificwanderer

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an-obsessed-cactus · 29 days

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Ello ello ello!

honestly not sure yet what this page will be about(i do know i just don't want to admit to myself it'll be a random stream of consciousness à la James Joyce) but i thought I'd make a kind of introductory post about myself at least so here goes.(fandoms are listed at the bottom cuz at the heart of it tumblr is a place for obsessed freaks like myself). also I'm new to tumblr so its ways and etiquette are still unknown to me. but i will learn promise. anyway.

Name's Dorian/Bree(still deciding so take your pick and I'll see what sticks). I'm omnisexual and go by she/her tho atm whole gender identity is kind of a mystery to me so that could change.

I'm finishing high school this year so my life'll be a bit hectic for a while(was for the last 4 years tbh). Cause I'm interested in one thing too many and can't make decisions to save my life and also cause I'm an anxious mess who can't relax, I'm taking a gap year. I'm planning on getting some rest to get back what remains of my mental health (which sadly ain't much but such is life). I'm gonna go travelling around a bit(rn pretty sure about Norway, UK, France & myb Japan) and honestly if I make any friends on here it'd be sick if someone joined me so that's always open.

Then next year, when I finish my soulsearching, I'll prolly go study sth cuz that's how the world works. I'd love to be either a writer or film director (or myb a therapist). My dream is to study film in UK(as a career writing and filmmaking is pretty much a tie, but filmmaking sounds just a tiny smidge more stable. Not giving up on writing in the least, but I feel like studying is more necessary for film than writing?) I love watching series and films not only because of the story, but because of the way it's told. I love to overanalyze the storytelling, the characters and different dynamics between them(and honestly just everything about the film) or read others' post overanalyzing it, so a film/series(does that exist?) critic sounds like an awesome job as well. But I'd like to be in the middle of the making and tell my own stories. Cinema's a bit sad in my country (non-existent more like) so studying abroad sounds like the only real option if I wanna make it in the industry. It's also an opportunity to meet more people interested in the stuff that I am so hopefully it works out. Fingers crossed 🤞🤞

Obviously, if one's obsessed with cinema, you can hardly avoid falling down the rabbit hole that are the fandoms. I'm currently fixated on Good Omens and would love to find some humans I can discuss it with cuz my irl friends(tho I love them with all my heart) just don't go temporary insane over fandoms the way I do.

I get random moments of revelation about other fandoms as well, so here's a list:

Good Omens

MCU(pls no spoilers post Wakanda Forever. I'm kinda runnin a bit late but I'll catch up I promise)

Sherlock

ATLA

MLB

Star Trek

TOH

Lucifer

Megamind

Umbrella Academy

BBC Merlin

Hannibal

Stranger things

Witcher

TVD(was my first real fandom so it still persists even tho I'm not really into it much anymore)

myb some more that I forgot

I'll prolly be adding stuff here as I figure out what I wanna talk about, but one of the things I'm working on is getting rid of perfectionism so this is it for now. I tried to keep it brief but that obviously hadn't worked out lmao. Could be worse(much, much worse)

#introductory post #intro post #introduction #about me

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melliotwrites · 1 year

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Hi! I just stumbled onto you two while browsing the Sondheim tag, and it's awesome to see other musical writers on tumblr! I have one that is currently being workshopped, which is super exciting (it's also dark academia coincidentally!)

Anyhow, I was wondering, do you have any advice on letting go? I have a cast and director for the workshop, and they are BRILLIANT, but I still struggle sometimes with them taking my work and running with it. Inherently I know their choices are awesome and will make the work greater than I could make it alone, but it's still really hard to put that in others' hands- even though I'm incredibly thankful for their participation and help, it's this weird dichotomy. I'd appreciate any words of wisdom you have to share!!!

Hi!! Great to see and meet other musical writers on tumblr (I love Frankenstien and Dracula, so your show sounds right up my alley!) This is also a really good question- we'll try to do it justice! I'm also going to be talking mostly about Adamandi, because that process is fresher in my mind and was more akin to a professional rehearsal process (with a longer timeline, bigger budget, etc).

Speaking as Mel, the practice of collaborating on the book and lyrics prepared me a little bit for creative compromises in the rehearsal room (I know you said elsewhere you work better on your own, which is very valid- I just know for sure now that I don't). I had already experienced the joy and excitement of seeing Elliot's ideas enhance my own (and, honestly, seen concrete proof of how much better my work got when I let other people into my work as collaborators!) By the time Georgina Escobar became our director for Adamandi, I was prepared to step back a little bit more- and also knew I would have to, because I totally had that personality trait that makes me put inflection indicators on all my lines and grind my teeth when something is staged differently from how I envisioned it. Adamandi was still a learning process for me in that regard, but I think my couple of tips would be:

Respect other people's skills- AND ask for yours to be respected. Especially as a student writer, I've sometimes experienced people (who aren't the director) giving us unsolicited feedback on the writing of the script, which I hated until I realized I sometimes accidentally did the same to my collaborators- I still cringe thinking about giving really picky notes to our sound designer, or asking our lighting designer to change One Singular Light (tech week is an altered state for us all 😔). It's helped me to remember your director, your actors, and your designers all have specific, highly specialized skills in what they do, so make sure you're not telling your director how to direct, your actors how to act, etc. Vice versa, you are the writer because you have skills in storytelling that they don't (or that they are not being asked to bring to this project)- so own that! Defend the story to your last breath, but let your opinions on how that story is specifically delivered go (e.g. you can't say "make that lighting cue blue because I always imagined it as blue," but you can say "The tone of this scene is really somber because xyz character has to realize y- do you have any ideas on how that could be reflected in the lighting?" or "the pink polka-dotted spinning light cue gave me the impression this scene was really upbeat and cheery- could you walk me through why you chose that one?" Bonus points that the latter two can help you realize something about the work- or how the work is perceived- that you didn't know before!) ~Mel

Everyone has incredibly different lived experiences, and trust in the ability of your collaborators to see and add depth to your work that you had no idea was there. Whether this is an actor coming up with a culturally specific backstory for their character or a director noticing a fun parallel between scenes that you didn't originally intend, it's always exciting to see how others are analyzing your work (to which you can go "Oh, yeah, I totally thought of that!" etc., etc.) It's like adding layers to a painting. For example, I (Elliot) am a Chinese-Canadian gay man. Working with collaborators, I gained valuable insight (and revision fodder) through how actors connected to characters' stories through their nonbinary identity, or how our director as a bisexual woman envisioned a tender moment in our sapphic plotline, or how certain configurations of actors could mirror paintings of Catholic saints -- all things I could've never realized, understood, or articulated as well on my own. - Elliot

Trust your director (and ask your director!) to ask you questions. (For example, on the flip side of #2, your team might not share the lived experiences you brought into your writing, so trust in them to ask for your expertise when they need it!) This really depends on the structure of your rehearsal room- Georgina is also a playwright, so her process was super inclusive of us as the writers. She allowed us to be there every rehearsal and would ask us questions when she wanted our input on a staging choice, an acting choice, or a bit of table work- and not ask us questions when she didn't, which is equally important! Often I discovered something new about a scene (or found out that a bit of writing needed to be edited) when she wanted to try something out that I wasn't quite sure about (the spooky underscoring under the pyre scene was all Georgina's idea, for example!) This dynamic was established before we even entered the rehearsal room, when Georgina asked us about the timeline (fast) and about how much input we would have on the final vision of the show (which ended up being lots). I'm also excited to have future collaborations where I get to step back more, but it was the right thing for the project timeline and a workshop process. Deciding early on what our communication would look like, and really trusting that she would ask us when something could compromise the story, made it easier to sit back and watch everyone play around and experiment in the reho room without biting my nails. - Mel

If you have the chance to be in the rehearsal room, put yourself out there as a resource! You created this world, so you're there to share if someone's confused or curious about your artistic intentions. You're also there to get excited about others' ideas and give them Word of God approval! A good collaboration doesn't have to be wholly relinquishing your writing into others' hands. If you feel a little helpless, talk to your director to see if there's a way y'all can be communicating better, or running rehearsals differently, etc. - Elliot

Use your vetos sparingly. Sometimes something just... doesn't work. The scene is playing as romantic instead of predatory. That really cool extra special costume piece is falling off the actor's head every two seconds. The lighting cue that you personally suggested to create a spooky ambience really just makes it hard to see anything. And everyone else seems to love it! As the writer, IF something is in your lane, IF it is significantly impacting the story, IF it's too important to just let slide for this production, AND people will think it was your choice... you are within your rights to put your foot down. But this should only happen as an absolute last resort, and in my opinion you don't get more than 3 a production, so really think about whether that jacket-that's-a-little-more-red-than-blood-orange is worth wasting one. Having a rule for the maximum number of these helps me be more generous and chill out a little if something's not exactly right. -Mel

As a last resort- hit the bricks! This isn't my ideal collaboration structure, and it depends on what your director wants out of you, but if watching someone take apart your script in rehearsal is too stressful, it's been good to remember I can also leave. Sometimes it's hard (but good) to internalize that once your show is up on its feet, you're not strictly necessary anymore- you're vestigial, or mostly there to collect data, like a scientist. Occasionally some of my own experiences that I wrote into Adamandi would get too intense for me to watch in rehearsal(I might talk about that some other time- wild experience), or struggling to figure out a scene hit me with the good old "am I a good writer" fears. Having a co-writer like Elliot who was comfortable taking over in those moments- as well as a director-SM team who understood this about me and would come find me if something was dire- allowed me to step out for a few moments and recover my sense of perspective. It's just theater. For Princes, we weren't in the rehearsal room very much at all, and it still turned out lovely and very close to our vision- with the added bonus of delightful surprises we hadn't written in! In these moments I like to imagine all the old playwrights revolving in their graves like dynamos over all the productions of their work nowadays that cut it down, rewrite it, and abridge it- and consider reinterpretation a compliment. ~Mel

Hope this helps! Break a leg with your workshop!

#musical theater #musicals #answered #musical theatre writing #cashthecomposer

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themosleyreview · 1 year

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The Mosley Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed a master storyteller achieve something that is increasingly rare these days. When a director has a set vision and direction he wants to take a story, it is harder nowadays to succeed in executing it without studio interference. From what I can tell, writer and director James Gunn fully had his hands on the reins and he delivered a much darker, topical and emotional story that I haven't seen in the MCU since the first 10 years of Marvel. The tone of a ragtag, dysfunctional and yet functional family has continued throughout their films and in their mini adventures in other appearances in other MCU films. What I loved about this film is that it lets you know right away that this was gonna be a different tale of pain, love and growth. The first film was all about the group getting together. The second film was about Peter Quill's origins and now this film pays off the many illusions to a certain characters' traumatic past to say it lightly. The trademark comedy, soundtrack and action is all their and it is even more exciting and brutal than ever before and the stakes are actually high. I actually feared that at anytime the characters could die which is a safety net that needs to be pulled more often in comic book films. All the events these characters have been through and the effect it has on all of them is on display in the most devastating and sometimes heartwarming ways.

Chris Pratt returns as Peter Quill/Star Lord and he is more depressed and heartbroken then ever. I liked seeing him take on the fact that he was falling apart with the love of his life gone, but her younger self if is alive. The insane emotional turmoil within him was refreshing and matured the character to another level. When his family is under attack, you get to see him fully unleash his killer rage. Zoe Saldana returns as Gamora and she is more blood thirsty and more in line with how she was in the first film before she met Peter. Zoe takes the character in a much harder edged direction and she created a new identiy to the character that was tough to watch. Her scenes with Peter were truly heartbreaking as he would express his love to a woman whom has no idea about their past. Karen Gillan was exceptional as the constantly irritated Nebula. She tends to take the lead at times and I liked her tenacity. The growth this character has had truly pays off in so many subtle and abrasive ways. Dave Bautista was just as fun and loveable as Drax the Destroyer. He may be a big goof most of the time, but this film speaks to the heart of the character and how he has grown away from the vengeful spirited fighter to a loving father figure. Pom Klementieff was so much fun as Mantis and more involved this time around. She turned into the voice of truth in the family and their is a particular scene where she lets it all out. Her, Drax and Nebula together have the biggest fight in the film between each other and it was rough to watch, but important. Families have their fights and arguments and that was an important moment for this crew to have. Nathan Fillion was fun as Master Karja, an orgosentry and I loved his comedic timing in the middle of an otherwise tense scene. Vin Diesel as Groot was good and I loved that he had some of the most badass and intense action scenes. Elizabeth Debicki returns as Ayesha and I liked seeing her fulfill her mission from the end of the second film. Will Poulter was fun as Adam Warlock and I liked that he insanely over powered, but he wasn't the typical antagonist. He may have had the mentality of a child, but throughout the film you get to see him mature. I'm curious to see where he goes from here. Sean Gunn was great as Kraglin and I loved that we get to see him fully embrace his talents as a leader and how he handles the needle given to him by Yondu. Maria Bakalova was fun as Cosmo and I loved her scenes the most with Kraglin as their chemistry grows throughout the film.

Like I said before, the first 2 films had a center point, but this film had a central focus on one of the most complex characters of the family and that was Rocket Racoon. Bradley Cooper gives a heart shattering performance as the character and his backstory is fully explored. If you could not tell from the trailers, this was going to be something so much more personal and it truly was. The amount of experimentation, physical, emotional and psychological torture Rocket was subjected to was on full display and was not for the faint of heart. His story broke me in a way that I haven't felt since the original 1987 film Robocop. You see where his brilliance and inventiveness was created, but it is full of sorrow. His friends were the heart of him and I loved their scenes together. Asim Chaudhry and Mikaela Hoover were adorable as the voices of Teefs and Floor. Their character designs as the heavily experimented on walrus and rabbit were horrific, but their personalities were sweet. Linda Cardellini was amazing and heartwarming as the otter, Lilah. Her kindness out shined their harsh reality and I loved her chemistry with Rocket the most. Their love story was so engaging and beautiful and will bring tears to your eyes. Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary will go down as one of the best villains of the MCU. His performance was truly brilliant and unhinged as he perfectly portrays a monster of a zealous man with an insatiable God complex. He is the new definition of a mad scientist and I hated him the moment we saw his creations. He was a smart man, but cruel and unrelenting. His scenes with Batch 89 and especially with Rocket were truly the most soul crushing parts of the film.

John Murphy's score was out of this world and emotionally charged. It was big, operatic and enhanced the sadness and dread of Rocket's scenes and all the emotional turmoil of the Guardians. Even listening to it now, as I type this review, it brings tears to my eyes and joy as we get to hear the "Guardians Theme" once again in epic fashion. Visually, the film has its trademark colorfulness and inventive cinematography. The action in this film is bigger than ever and there is an epic one take corridor action scene that was insane. Writer and Director James Gunn had made a promise to deliver a personal and engaging story for the final film in his trilogy with the Guardians and he did just that in the most epic way possible. The studio truly gave him carte blanche to his vision of how it will all end. No matter how intense, violent and soul crushing it may be. This is hands down, from start to finish, the best Marvel film I have seen in a VERY long time. Yes there have been good films in the recent state of the MCU, but this film shows that you can focus on story first instead of spectacle and it will work. There are 2 credit scenes and they're both fun in their own special way. This was definitely one of the best films of the year and I highly advise parents that this film isn't the kid friendly tone of the past films. Its more mature and bring a lot of tissues. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

#guardians of the galaxy vol 3 #Chris Pratt #zoe saldana #Bradley Cooper #dave bautista #karen gillan #pom klementieff #vin diesel #will poulter #linda cardellini #sean gunn #nathan fillion #Chukwudi Iwuji

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leverage-commentary · 1 year

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Part One of: Leverage Season 3, Episode 14, The Ho Ho Ho Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

Hi friends! So quick mod note here. The Google Doc for this transcript was 51 pages long, and when I tried to paste this over, Tumblr told be that there can only be 1000 'blocks' in a post? Which I'm assuming means lines/each person speaking here. So I am splitting it into two posts. Here are the first 25 pages of the transcript; I will post the second half in just a sec.

Marc: Hi, I'm Marc Roskin, director of this episode.

John Rogers: I'm John, executive producer.

Michael: Michael Colton, co-writer of this episode.

John Aboud: Aboud, co-writer and talented half of this episode.

Michael: Woah.

Chris: Chris Downey, executive producer of this episode, The Ho Ho Ho Job.

John: Our first holiday job, cause it’s the first time we aired in December around Christmas. Colton and Aboud, preferably Aboud-

[Laughter]

Michael: He was sorta the primary writer of this-

John: Why don't you tell us how-

Michael: I was like, shotgun.

John: Why don’t you tell us what really started this episode.

Aboud: The origin of the episode-

Michael: You said, “Can we find the most cold hearted writers and see if we can warm their hearts by making them write a Christmas episode?”

John: It was, it was a way to make you personally transform.

Michael: Yeah.

Aboud: Failed utterly.

John: For the show.

Aboud: Failed utterly.

Michael: If we can get a Jewish writer and a Jewish director-

[Laughter]

Michael: To make a Christmas episode.

Aboud: To bring Christmas to life.

John: There you go.

Michael: What did we start with? It was-

Aboud: We started with the idea of Christmas Eve, what is a job that they could pull on Christmas Eve. And that led to-

Michael: Well who is-

Aboud: The mall.

Michael: Who is-

Aboud: Who is your bad guy.

John: Yeah.

Michael: Started with- we wanted to have Santa be the client.

John: Yes.

Aboud: Yeah.

John: That's right. And then all the attitude sorta came out of that. And then the other two things were, we were hacking around with the bad guy once you guys had come up with the crime, and then it was a chance to bring back Wil Wheaton's character Chaos.

Aboud: Absolutely.

John: Because the idea of Wil Wheaton as the Grinch Who Stole Christmas made me laugh for maybe seven minutes straight.

[Laughter]

John: And then of course Eliot in a Santa suit.

Michael: Yes.

John: This is a great take by the way. That's a lovely- and that's Mark Lewis as Santa.

Marc: That's Mark Lewis, famed storyteller of the pacific northwest.

[Laughter]

Chris: Would you show rack on tour?

Aboud: Troubadour!

Marc: Rack on tour.

Aboud: Troubadour.

Marc: Yes, he's actually wearing the beard and wig from Evan Almighty.

[Laughter]

John: Really?

Chris: Wow.

John: I did not know that.

Aboud: Oh god!

Marc: Yes, because he had a beard but Dean said it wasn't-

Chris: That is a pop up video worthy effect.

Marc: Wasn't big enough, so we flew in the beard and wig!

Michael: And this episode cost about as much.

John: Just like Forbes used to do. And thank you!

Marc: Exactly! Yes.

[Laughter]

John: Just for you. Yes, and the chance to make Nate be cranky and pissed off for Christmas was awesome.

Michael: We were worried actually that Christain was not going to be happy being in a Santa suit the whole time, but he was kinda giddy on the set. He was actually like “I get to wear a Santa suit!” He was excited.

Aboud: Loves it.

John: He loves this stuff.

Chris: The Santa fight, I mean think they were sort of key elements of this.

Aboud: Spoiler warning! Spoiler warning!

[Laughter]

John: They usually watch it first, John, and then come back later.

Aboud: Oh is that how this works?

John: Yes, exactly.

Aboud: Gotcha.

John: And great fellow Canadian Dave Foley, Kids in the Hall.

Michael: Yes.

Aboud: There he is.

John: Being unctuous which is really one of his great skills is unctuosity. Unctuosity-?

Aboud: We love- one of the early appeals of the story was having his character be redeemed.

John: Yes.

Aboud: In a kind of Scrooge type of way.

Michael: Yeah well we even called him-

Aboud: Eben Dooley.

Michael: Eben, there was one reference to Ebenezer.

Chris: There was a fair amount of debate about it, and it was- I think the challenging part was having it- was earning it early enough in the episode so that we have room for the heist.

Aboud: Yeah, right, right.

John: Exactly. It's tough to do that double turn with the bad guy, because we are 42 minutes and 30 seconds.

Chris: Yeah.

John: But this one is plotted really tightly. This one really flies.

Michael: It's very well written, it’s extremely well written.

[Laughter]

Aboud: Pretty well.

Michael: It's probably the best written-

Aboud: Half of it! Half of it!

John: Plotting is from Chris and I.

Aboud: Yeah, half of it.

John: You just fill in like mad libs, the script really.

[Laughter]

Marc: This is the second party we've had in McRory's. One was a celebration for the death of the owner, his funeral.

John: Yeah [laughs] and the other is a drunk unemployed Santa Claus.

Marc: John McRory's, yes. And then a drunk and unemployed Santa Claus.

[Laughter]

John: What were the challenges in directing this particular one, Marc?

Marc: The challenge was directing Christmas in the summer.

Michael: Christmas in July?

Chris: Yeah.

Aboud: July.

Marc: Christmas in July. So I threw the idea to Colton and Aboud, the idea that let's not try and hide it. Let's address it, that Parkers bummed because there is no snow.

John: Nice.

Marc: And we just address that in dialogue, so when you see exteriors with no snow it wasn’t something we'd have to try and cheat with snow blankets, or-

Michael: Which then led to the ending, which turned out to be sort of the best ending we could have.

Marc: Yeah it's fantastic.

John: Yeah, really sweet. And then the mall was tough.

Marc: The mall was tough.

John: Cause it’s a real mall.

Marc: It is a real mall that was open and-

Michael: Jansen Supercenter.

Marc: Yeah, Jansen Supercenter; they were very helpful.

Aboud: Jansen Beach.

Michael: Jansen Beach. Named for the Jansen Swimwear Company.

Chris: Wow.

Aboud: Good tribute.

Marc: We were able to use some of the storefronts and you'll see that Becca, our production designer, built about four or five different storefronts as well.

Chris: Now can I just say something-

Aboud: Oh wait Regency Square Mall, I should add.

Chris: Oh Regency Square Mall.

Aboud: Regency Square Mall. Becca Molino the production designer-

Marc: And there's a lovely family!

Aboud: Look at that! Who’s that!

Michael: Lovely family, horrible actor!

Marc: That’s the director right there! His hand on an elf!

[Laughter]

Marc: My kids! My wife!

Michael: Do they get residuals?

John: Wait, that's not the woman I see in Portland all the time.

[Laughter and Jeers]

Aboud: Woah, wait a minute.

John: Now I'm confused!

Chris: That's the Portland wife!

John: Oh, the Portland wife, alright.

Chris: Yes.

Marc: And our evil Santa is Charlie Brewer, famed stunt coordinator, who was the stunt coordinator on our pilot, and on season-

John: On season one, yeah.

Marc: Season one.

Chris: No, I was gonna say one of the things that amused me the most [laughs] about this episode was we had to come up with fake mall stores.

Aboud: Yes.

Michael: That was fun, yeah.

Chris: I think you guys made a page of fake mall stores.

[Laughter]

Chris: Do you remember any of them?

Aboud: There was an email that like- from Carrie Glover, one of our producers, who said we need names for clearance. This email- Mike was- you were busy with something with family so you said you know, we gotta generate this-

Michael: I didn't wanna do it.

Aboud: Didn't wanna do it. We gotta generate some names. I said, “OK, no problem.” I think twenty minutes later I sent you fifty-nine names.

[Laughter]

Michael: They were great!

[Laughter]

Michael: The worst puns.

Aboud: And you just, you wrote back “Jesus, you had fun with this.”

[Laughter]

Chris: That's an assignment you don't wanna give to a writer.

[Laughter]

Marc: What was the name of the one- not linens and things but the other one-

Chris: A recipe for disaster.

Aboud: Towels and Such.

John: What's amazing is how many of them didn't clear.

[Laughter]

John: It’s like hackiest possible names, going with stores like- nope it’s a real store, nope it’s a real store.

Aboud: All real.

Michael: Oh yeah, there was a frame shop that had some pun and it turns out in Portland-

Chris: I've Been Framed.

[Laughter]

Aboud: I’ve Been Framed, can't use it. But I was just gonna add that Becca Molino, the production designer and I, grew up moments from each other, and about fifteen minutes from the Regency Square Mall.

Chris: Ohh.

Aboud: In Richmond, Virginia.

John: So that was a little shoutout.

Aboud: We had a bit of a chuckle over that.

John: [Sarcastically] Tough scene for Christian, always tough. I don't know how he motivates himself through these scenes.

Chris: He soldiers through.

Marc: Yeah it’s very difficult.

John: Yeah, he does, he's a brave man. And again a real challenge to figure out different moveable objects that we can cram Beth Riesgraf into.

[Laughter]

John: We've put her in a lot of things over the course of three years of the show.

Aboud: What other means of conveyance can she hide herself in?

Chris: Now I'm pretty sure that I had a poster on my wall of Cheryl Ladd in this outfit?

[Laughter]

Michael: I like it! It's almost like Sergeant Pepper.

Chris: I may be dating myself here, but she kinda had hair blown back.

[Laughter]

John: Nice.

Michael: You had a poster of Mae West, didn’t you?

[Laughter]

Aboud: You know, on a plot level, this is a very heavy Nate and Eliot episode. They do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of stopping our bad guy. But spiritually this is a Parker episode.

John: Yes.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Yeah, she's carrying the emotional weight pretty much all the way through.

Aboud: Very much so.

Michael: The childlike innocence who believes in Santa, and in God, really.

[Laughter]

John: Really?

Michael: What? Did I say that?

Aboud: You just said that.

John: I didn't really get that. This is also interesting. It's amazing the stuff that we come up with in research. There are these mall consultants, these people go through and do consulting on malls on flows, on security, and it's an enormous amount of research we wind up blowing on a character that we never actually repeat in the entire episode.

Aboud: Right, right.

Michael: Well we named him Anton Underhill because there's a shopping consultant named Pacco Underhill?

Aboud: Pacco Underhill.

Michael: But several people said “Hey, I love that reference to Fletch.”

[Laughter]

John: Oh?

Michael: Yeah, so I said sure, yes, it's a Fletch reference.

Aboud: Fletch reference, why not.

Marc: Who came up with Tela Ricos?

Michael: I think that's like the name of a-

Marc: Check out the sale at Tela Ricos.

Michael: Some comedy writer.

Aboud: He’s a writer friend of ours.

Michael: It sounds like some place that would sell, like, denim jackets.

John: Yeah, it's a comedy word.

Chris: That’s the Nate cranky seat. When he's cranky in a briefing, that's where you put him.

John: That's where he winds up.

Marc: And he wanted to be eating soup!

Aboud: He was very specific.

Michael: And reading the New York Times book review.

Aboud: Yeah.

John: It's very grown up, that's the thing.

Michael: Yeah.

Aboud: He's the dad!

John: Oh, the great bit, this- the fact the ornaments were valuable objects, I really love this bit. Where did we- cause we were talking about Sophie had her little hideaway, and the idea that Sophie keeps them for the future and Parker just takes things she likes.

Aboud: Yes.

John: And her entire- the thing we introduced in episode five, with Richard Chamberlain, the big warehouse of stuff.

Aboud: Yes.

John: There's probably 20 million dollars worth of crap in that warehouse.

Aboud: Right.

John: Just lying around like paper weights.

Aboud: It's a fun, organic way of showing their different approaches to what they do.

John: Yeah.

Michael: I was actually surprised we got in the line ‘Happy Birthday, Jesus,’ I just thought you couldn't mention Jesus.

John: You absolutely can.

Chris: No, you can't exclaim it as a-

Aboud: Can't use it in vain.

Michael: You can't say, “God Damn and Happy Birthday Jesus”?

Aboud: Oh that just got censored.

Michael: Ohhh god damn it.

John: No, I know-

Michael: Oh, again!

John: I know you had a hard time, we passed out the liberal media rules for-

Aboud: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

John: For Christainity, but you gotta look at the specific clauses. It's interesting, everyone- you know the great phrase ‘idiot ball’? Everyone passes the cranky ball in this episode; everyone’s got a little Christmas crank going all the way through.

Chris: Yeah.

Aboud: Just like real life.

[Laughter]

Michael: Just like the movie Christmas with the Kranks.

John: That is an angry eating of soup.

Chris: He really did.

Aboud: He's grinding it.

[Laughter]

John: They're almost- Christain almost loses it there, there's really-

Aboud: Yeah.

Marc: Yes.

John: Beth can manage to get everyone to laugh, and actually having shot a bunch of them late night, Beth and Christain are the worst combination. There- he gets her more often than not. And then a crying baby.

Michael: It took a while to get here.

Marc: Crying baby!

John: What did we do to the baby to make it cry? Did we poke it?

Marc: Baby wouldn't cry in rehearsal, baby wouldn't cry in rehearsal, baby wouldn’t cry. Finally I had mom walk away from baby during the shot.

Chris: Ohhh.

John: Wow, nice.

Aboud: Does it every time.

John: Nice, that's actually a psychological experiment.

Chris: I mean, you didn't have to backhand her; I mean, that was the next step.

Aboud: Yeah.

John: For those of you for child welfare in Portland the number is 173-

[Laughter]

Michael: This kid was great.

Marc: This kid was good.

John: This kid was really great. It's tough, you know what, Portland child actor, right? Portland actor.

Aboud: Yeah, yeah.

Michael: No, no, no Portland- that guy’s 34!

John: Really?

[Laughter]

John: Wow!

Chris: He's got that disease.

Michael: That's not a child actor.

Chris: Oh that's great, that works really well.

Marc: I haven't seen Scott Baio in a long time.

[Laughter]

Aboud: Casting him was fun because you realize- now this kid, not twerpy enough. This kid, not twerpy enough. Oh this guy’s a jerk.

Marc: Oh, yeah.

Aboud: This is the one.

John: Yeah, in the season finale when we have a little boy point and scream, it was very weird in casting to just keep telling moms: “Have your kid point at me and scream.”

Chris: Yeah.

John: Scream louder!

[Laughter]

John: Mean it!

Michael: I like Beth's elf voice in this, that was her improvisation.

Marc: Yeah, respect the suit.

[Laughter]

John: And Lucille 2.0.

Chris: Yeah. That was another thing that came in, his love of Lucille. Wasn’t that something that sort of evolved during the filming?

Aboud: Well, it-

Chris: It became a character, right?

Aboud: It built through the season actually, yeah.

John: Yeah, because what was great was when we shot the season finale, the way he dug in on Lucille the van, the first one-

Chris: Yes, that's right.

John: Was really unexpected, because he really gave the van death scene a true pathos.

Aboud: Right.

John: And then of course that created a little improv where when they were getting ready to blow up the van, Beth kissed it.

Chris: Yeah.

Aboud: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

John: And so the idea that it was like his dog that you are affectionate to, yeah it really turns into something big.

Marc: I don't know, I mean, I've seen Gina in lots of dresses and she's a knockout in everything, but there was something about her in this limo driver suit and tie.

Michael: I think that says something about you.

[Laughter]

Aboud: It's the British thing.

Chris: The Cato

Marc: The Cato, nine and half weeks, I don't know what that was.

John: This is very Miranda Zero that's what this was.

Chris: You can leave your hat on, right?

John: It's very Miranda Zero. And then the EM gun which shows up, which was planted by Albert Kim.

Aboud: In Boost.

John: Reinforced here and then pays off mighty in the season finale.

Michael: Does he get prop payments?

John: He does not get prop payments.

Chris: No, you don’t get that.

John: No, like all writers, we ruthlessly steal his intellectual property and then use it to our own whim.

Aboud: Next negotiation.

John: Yeah, but he's on another show he's on Nikita with- so he's got girls in short shirts with EM guns, so he's doing fine.

Aboud: He's fine.

John: Yes, exactly. And we trap another man to suffocate slowly to death in a limo.

[Laughter]

John: Really, I feel- we really do horrible things.

Aboud: The chauffeur- I mean obviously his audio is cut, but he was saying things obviously during the shooting and he sounded so genuinely sad to be locked in the car, he was crushed that he couldn't get out of his car.

John: And what is that-

Michael: That's good acting.

John: What is that character's thing as he's looking and seeing the sexy British chick pick up his client, is he like “I guess this is some sort of role play thing, I don't know.” I was like where is-

[Laughter]

John: I always am fascinated by these secondary characters' internal monologue.

Aboud: Right, right.

John: Tough shot, what- did we do trays here?

Marc: This was all greenscreen.

John: Okay.

Marc: This was shot in the-

Chris: Oh, looks great.

Aboud: Parking lot.

Marc: Parking lot, outside the stage with the green screen and plate shots.

John: Driving is a pain in the ass.

Marc: We had to make all the plate shots- we turned all of the green, brown.

John: What?

Marc: So it didn't look like green trees.

John: Oh alright. Oh, of course, ‘cause it's winter.

Aboud: Wintertime.

Marc: Cause it's winter.

John: There you go.

Marc: Christmas in summer time.

John: And how did we do the crash here?

Marc: Um, the crash we did-

Aboud: With difficulty.

[Laughter]

Marc: Yes, with difficulty.

John: I always ask when I know something’s gone wrong, it gives the people listening to the DVDs something to hear other than me drinking.

Marc: Done practically, and we did it outside the exterior of the sanitation plant while we were underground filming, Charlie Brewer and company crash the car.

Aboud: Took multiple attempts, and the car’s getting more and more bent.

[Laughter]

Aboud: But the barrier that it's supposed to move is not moving at all. [Laughs] It was deflecting off.

John: It’s amazingly hard- it's difficult to crash a car.

Aboud: You wouldn't think.

John: You know what, safety standards have really ruined the ability to have the good 1970s fireball that we’re so used to.

[Laughter]

Marc: That's right.

Chris: You know, I just watched The Blues Brothers last night, but you should mention it, they wreck cars.

John: The car rolls down the hill-

Chris: They know how to wreck a car back then.

Aboud: Tore that car up.

John: Also the sinister seatbelt unfastening button, available at the SkyMall magazine.

Aboud: Here we go.

Michael: Boom!

Aboud: Finally, yes.

Chris: There we go!

Marc: Yeah.

John: Finally. Isn't on that approach actually the bumper is already detached?

Aboud: You can tell, yeah.

Marc: Yeah, from take one.

John: And that's not Dave actually, that is-

Michael: That’s Mark McKinney, one of the other-

[Laughter]

John: We actually flew a different-

Michael: He's off in the- he’s double for Foley.

John: Yeah, exactly.

Michael: I have never seen Dean Devlin, our boss, so amused as on the set hearing Dave Foley tell the origin stories of Kids in the Hall's skits.

John: Yeah.

Michael: To Dean.

Aboud: Big fan, big fan.

Chris: He's a big fan.

John: Yeah, everyone’s a big fan, it's a great, really great great group of guys and the new thing is good. There's Charlie!

Marc: Charlie Brewer first acting lines.

John: No, no- is this his first acting gig?

Marc: Not the first, but with us, I mean.

John: Oh, yeah.

Marc: Normally Charlie’s, you know, coordinating stunts.

John: No, the vague hostility here. And this was fun actually, coming up with the- where was the origin of the credit card scam? Cause we’re coming into the crime story now.

Michael: Well it is real that in the last few years, like, the Salvation Army takes swipes.

Aboud: Yes.

Michael: Which just seems like a crime waiting to happen.

John: That's how you wind up thinking on the Leverage writing team. You get something that helps charity and you go: “How can this be corrupted?”

Aboud: I know, I know, exactly.

Chris: The great fake fact, and I know for those of us who- those of you listening to these before we talk about some of our fake facts, but my favorite fake fact is that on Christmas Eve, the traffic in credit cards over the line is so heavy that they can’t keep track of fake transactions.

Aboud: They just let everything go through, in the logic of the episode, they just let the transactions go through because the volume is so high, they can’t, you know, flag everything that's suspicious.

Chris: Right.

Michael: That's our logic, but it sounds credible.

Aboud: That's our logic.

Chris: That's our logic, but sounds utterly convincing, and makes-

Michael: Well you would think on Christmas Eve.

Aboud: With all the last minute transitions.

John: That's a legend.

Michael: No, it's a very well written show.

[Laughter]

Michael: No holes.

John: No holes, it's seamless.

Michael: And it makes you think.

John: And, by the way, it does speak to the casual cruelty with which we treat the characters in this world, that this entire- that we have put a man in a car crash, given him head trauma, and now we’re going to heavily medicate him.

Aboud: We’re gonna dope him!

Marc: With morphine.

Michael: And now we’re-

Chris: No, no, he's medicating himself!

John: No, no, later on.

Aboud: True.

Marc: Later on.

Aboud: She pushes the button later.

Michael: We gaslight him.

Chris: Oh that’s true.

John: We gaslight him with the fake Santa. It's not as bad as in the finale, we actually take the one honest man in a small European country and corrupt him to the point where he can be evil enough to become president.

Marc: Even Christain dressed as Santa gets to hit on extras.

[Laughter]

Marc: Unbelievable.

John: Unbelievable.

Aboud: Yup, yup.

Michael: I wanna point out there's a hat shop in the background that gave discounted hats to the entire cast and crew.

John: Oh that’s nice, that’s very nice.

Michael: Marc Roskin in fedora. The Jewish Sinatra.

[Laughter]

Marc: There you go.

John: Now this RFID thing is cool, we’d done a lot of research on RFIDs because, you know, right this year we were working on this stuff, that guy had built that great device where he could drive around the city and pick up peoples passport information.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Off the RFID in their passport just in his car, and then the latest big hacking conference, a guy built a device he could bring up on stage with him and read all of the RFID in the audience.

Aboud: Right, right.

John: So yeah, most people have no idea there's a web of invisible information. Bruce Sterling calls them spines.

Michael: You're basically telling people not to give money to charities.

John: Absolutely do not give money to charities, you'll be brutally ripped off.

[Laughter]

John: No, no.

Aboud: Well the thing about the RFID is like, it's in your debit card now.

John: Yeah.

Aboud: You had no say in the matter, they didn't ask you if you wanted it, you have it.

John: And that's why you should give out- we should go back to the gold standard and people should repeal the seventeenth amendment.

[Laughter]

Chris: Oh back to this!

Michael: Only took 15 minutes to get to the gold standard.

Aboud: Mark it! Mark the time.

John: [Sarcastically] Get your dry beef stroganoff and get a shack and move into the shack!

Chris: Ohhh.

Aboud: Welcome to the survivalist podcast.

[Laughter]

John: [Sarcastically] Obviously Santa Claus and Christmas are a plot to deprive you and get information about you for the corporation that will rule the world.

[Laughter]

John: This is a great- this is a four-hander. this is always-

Aboud: Yeah, a challenge.

John: This is one of the things we discovered during the course of the season, it's always easier to go to a four-hander cause you do two and two. The five handers - just that one extra human being the-

Marc: One extra is just-

John: Brutal bit of coverage.

Marc: So this is fun part of the script where, you know, the plot is-

Aboud: Oh they're all fun parts.

Marc: The plot is changing.

Michael: Yes!

John: This is the bit where we realize it's a totally different con. I mean this is- it's a standard thing in every episode where the episode turns into a different episode, or a different crime or a different con right in the middle of the second or third act.

Aboud: Right.

Michael: The bigger than we thought.

Aboud: Bigger than we thought moment.

John: Bigger than we thought, yeah. Is that- there you go.

Aboud: And she doses him.

John: And Gina's kind of really sexily, brutally, coldly ruthless as she fills this man with morphine.

Aboud: There is a dominatrix vibe at work here.

John: No kidding.

Chris: And you know-

John: This is great.

Michael: I love this, the random Christmas footage we have on the screen, it's just a sleigh going across.

[Laughter]

Michael: That's all it is!

Aboud: There it is!

Chris: That’s good! I didn't even notice that till now.

John: Why?

Aboud: He’s apparently watching some Rankin/Bass specials.

Marc: Rubbery Robby!

Michael: Rubbery Robby.

John: There you go. How long did it take to come up with that toy that would clear?

Michael: Not to be be confused with Stretch Armstrong.

John: No, legally not to be confused with Stretch Armstrong.

Aboud: No, no.

John: Stretch Armstrong is perfectly safe while Rubbery Robby is filled with toxins.

Michael: That was John's nickname in high school.

Aboud: Rubbery Robby.

John: Try saying that too many times. Yeah this is a great- we don't usually give guest stars this big a scene, but you know Mark and Dave Foley were pretty great.

Michael: Well, troubadours.

Aboud: They did it.

Marc: They were fantastic.

John: Yes, exactly.

Chris: And again, you're playing off the idea that Santa knows when you've been naughty, I mean-

John: Yeah.

Chris: You know, it doesn't take that much morphine for you to buy into this.

John: And we relentlessly dump it into him.

[Laughter]

Aboud: Oh, yeah.

John: The entire city, dead.

Aboud: High pressure [unintelligible] morphine.

John: There are world war one soldiers who look more together than he does right now.

[Laughter]

John: There are dudes off Flanders Field who don't have that much morphine in them. Make the call!

Aboud: Make the call.

Michael: Make the call, he’s-

John: We haven't even introduced Wil yet, this is insane!

Michael: Right now look, he gets the phone and he says-

John: It's an incredibly dense-

Marc: He wants to talk to you!

John: He's calling Woodstock, Apollo Storm has picked up and then Jonathan Coltan’s on stage.

Aboud: Jonathan Coltan, not to be confused with this Colton.

Michael: Yes, very different. He's got a u.

John: And a following.

Michael: Ohh!

[Laughter]

All: Ohh!

Michael: Oh.

John: He wants to talk to you, that's great. It was- there was a nice turn here by the way guys, he really-

Marc: Yeah, he wants to talk to Sophie Deveraux.

John: You really plotted the hell out of this. And the-

Chris: Here's our big reveal, there we go!

John: The reveal.

Marc: That guy.

#Leverage #Leverage TNT #Leverage Audio Commentary Transcripts #Audio Commentary #Transcripts #Parker #Alec Hardison #Elliot Spencer #Nate Ford #Sophie Devereaux #Season 3 #Episode 14 #Season 3 Episode 14 #The Ho Ho Ho Job

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yourstreetserenade · 2 years

Text

Continuing my horror movie marathon I decided to revisit At The Devil's Door, starring our girl Naya Rivera.

youtube

One of the things I've always said is I like when artists and actors try really different things, even if it's sometimes a miss. As someone who appreciates art and music and storytelling, it's interesting to witness a progression, an evolution. There's nothing more boring to me when a band makes the same album over and over or when someone plays the same kind of character over and over because it's safe. That doesn't challenge the artist and that doesn't challenge the people consuming the art (not that all art is required to be challenging but there is such a thing as creative stagnation.) Anyway.

Which is why I really love that Naya took a huge step away from Santana by starring in At The Devil's Door.

At The Devil's Door is a cerebral horror following three women. Ashley Rickards as Hannah, Catalina Moreno as Leigh and of course Naya Rivera as Vera.

When Hannah makes a deal with an otherworldly being that takes her life it sets off a domino effect, drawing sisters Leigh and Vera into the web. When Leigh dies suddenly and under mysterious circumstances artist and loner Vera is left to investigate what Hannah encountered on that dirt road, why it then came after her sister Leigh and why it has now set its sights on Vera herself.

The film has some flaws yes, I'd say the editing causes it to feel a little bit fractured in some places. Although I wonder if that's intentional to some degree. It isn't doing anything wildly inventive, but there's an atmosphere and tone here that I really do think works to make for an engaging watch. It isn't your traditional horror movie filled with gore and violence, the horror here is in the shadows, in the quietness, in the unknown. This movie isn't going to spell things out for you.

In the DVD commentary writer/director Nicholas McCarthy states that the way he wrote Hannah, Leigh and Vera is the exact opposite of how you usually write characters in movies, horror or not. Our three leads tell their stories using very little dialogue, so much of it is internal and so much of it is about expression. Using their faces to convey things to the audience.

Vera as a character is so wildly different from Naya's most famous role. Gone are all of the Santana-isms. I've always said that Naya uses a specific voice for Santana that is not quite her own. She does something, there's a tone and an infliction there that she put on for Santana. That's gone here and what is here is something more dry and distant.

''I had never seen Glee before but it was my editor who said 'you gotta look at this girl' and I watched her on Glee and knew instantly that she would be perfect for this role. Naya has a strength, a kind of toughness that you can't act...you could stand there and put a camera in their face and you feel that.'' ---- Writer and Director Nicholas McCarthy

At The Devil's Door isn't scary, instead I'd say it's unsettling. If you walk into it understanding that this movie isn't going to give you traditional horror movie tropes but rather a deep sense of unease and eeriness I think you'd find it enjoyable.

I'm really glad Naya had the chance to do horror and step outside of the comfort of Santana and try something different. While At The Devil's Door wasn't a runaway hit, it was a step outside of the box for her and I love when great artists and actors do that. I love when they challenge themselves and I love when they challenge their audience and I think Naya definitely did that here in this role.

I'm really glad she had the chance to play a final girl.

#naya rivera #santana lopez #i watch stuff

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singularattitudeofasafetypin · 1 year

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Oh oh tell me about Dance Magic Dance because I think about that fic a lot

Really??? Oh yay, I’m so glad! The coolest thing ever as a writer, as I’m sure you know, is to hear that someone’s been thinking about your work after they’ve read it!

I hope you’re ready for an essay! You don’t know what you’ve unleashed!

Wow so where to start? I freaking LOVE this movie! My mum showed it to me when I was really young, just randomly remembered it as a film she used to like and bought it to show me and my sister. I was enchanted!

Sarah the main character is really like me. Loves dressing up and theatre and dramatic, emotional storytelling, and I also found my little sister really annoying at the time. Perfect, right?

I also loved watching all the behind the scenes stuff on the special features! The practical effects were so so cool and I love the way the set designer was like just cover EVERYTHING in glitter!

So when Eddie Munson burst into my life in all his fantasy-loving, dungeon master glory and I realised the movie came out in 1986, what else could I do?

I was listening to the song ‘Dance Magic, Dance’ on the bus to work which then prompted me to watch the movie again after ages. Midway through I just had this vision of Eddie bursting through the door with a look of horror on his face uttering the words, ‘Are you watching our movie without me?’ The fic kinda spiralled from there.

Listening to the same song a few days later and I thought, Eddie is 100% the type of parent to try and throw his child in the air like David Bowie.

The flashback with Eddie asking Reader on a date is honestly one of my favourite bits to write! It was short and sweet and practically wrote itself. I pictured Eddie, still fragile, only just healed but having harboured a crush for so long. His recent brush with mortality having hit home that there’s no time to lose but in the moment getting flustered and reader having to finish the sentence for him.

I wanted to keep the playful nature I’d already established with their relationship largely to convey how young they both are and how not much time has really passed yet they’re still moving on and finding new life and happiness with each other.

Happy endings are just it for me and while I do enjoy a good tragedy every now and then, I always prefer it all to turn out right.

Now the masked ball scene! Oh this scene! Phantom of the Opera has quite literally from birth been my favourite musical of all time (but that’s another story for another time!) so you throw anything remotely resembling a masked ball into a piece of media and I will go wild! Add in ‘As The World Falls Down’ sung by the one and only David Bowie himself while dressed in a jacket literally encrusted with sapphires and I’m sold!

Also, as a cosplayer/fashion history/theatrical costume enthusiast, THE DRESS!!!! Aaaagghh!!! That dress is the dress of my dreams! I’ve always wanted a wedding inspired by this scene from Labyrinth so thus, reader got one!

The most romantic thing in the world in my humble opinion is dancing together! Even more so if it’s in a domestic situation!

I really feel like Eddie Munson is the one to make everything feel magical. I know I crave adventure and romance like in stories and I really think he does too! I really wanted to show him as a person who brings that fairytale feeling even after coming home from a hard day’s work with nothing more than a song and a memory. Ultimately, it’s my absolute dream to find someone like that in real life, but until I do, I’ll settle for writing him!

Oh my gosh that was long! Sorry if it was too much. Again, I’m so pleased you liked this one. I’m always afraid when I write something so specific to me that it’ll be too niche or personal that no one else will enjoy it but I’m learning that often the more personal a work is, the more people resonate with it because it has heart.

Like how Taylor Swift’s music works! It’s so personal and true to her yet it connects with so many people on such a deep level. I can only dream of being as good a storyteller as her one day.

But anyway, that’s it I think. Sorry it was long, my high school English teacher had to force me to stop rambling in my essays but here we are!

Thanks for asking about this one and thanks for reading if you got this far!

Fanfic Directors Cut

#fanfic directors cut #I love getting to talk about my writing so much!#thank you zoe!

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essskel · 1 year

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I think my point was not as 'fare' to Roche and Ves's character, since they were created in the second game. I was trying to make an argument on how Cdpr's writing is dogshit, so I should show the other example, but in the game where they make their original appearance. Sorry for disturbing you again, english isn't my native language, so it's really hard for me to articulate my thoughts properly. I put more brainpower into sounding smart. But anyways, back to the point.

In tw2, there's one thing that absolutely fucking destroyed my brain with how stupid it is. And that thing - is the genocide of vrans. The devs really said: "The elves are oppressed and all, but we kinda made them too good, we need to make the situation more grey. Hm...UH YES, let's make them guilty of genocide!! They're actually as bad as humans! See, player!! Don't feel too bad for them!"....why, Cdpr, WHY?! Sapkowski shouldn't have sold his books to these morons...

So yeah, I really-really doubt, that Cdpr wanted us to perceive Roche and Ves as some kind of metaphor.

Okay, I hear you, and I'm never going to come on here and defend CDPR's writing as a whole. They treat women like hell, they've tried to equate genocidal military forces with minority freedom fighters (your example with the elves), they've been explicitly racist with the way they framed the Ofieri people in hearts of stone, there's antisemitic tropes used in the added vampire lore from blood and wine, and on and on, sometimes stuff just literally doesn't make sense, I could go on forever.

They're a corporation, they selling a pop culture franchise product, of course it's a mess when it comes to social commentary sometimes.

But there is still a team of professional writers behind it. They're aware of concepts like archetypal characters, mirroring between two story lines or people, theme, metaphor, tone, and social commentary.

continued with sources below:

You mentioned the Bloody Baron in an earlier ask, I agreed with you, I also can't stand his quest. I think it's badly written, it reads way too much as a centrist stance on domestic abuse and that's useless, he'll never be a sympathetic character to me. And yet here's an interview with Paweł Sasko who wrote the quest:

The roots of Family Matters can be traced back to Sasko’s childhood, growing up in a poor village in the Polish mountains. “I saw families destroyed by alcoholism and violence,” he says. “I saw parents fighting with each other and beating their kids, but they were also in love and loyal to their family.”

“The Baron was created as a parallel to Geralt,” says Sasko. “They’re two fathers who have lost their loved ones; two men with blood on their hands; they both have personality issues; they’d do anything for their families.” (Link to full article)

The whole interview is really interesting, I still think it's a bad quest, I think Sasko failed to write the nuanced story that he set out to tell, but regardless, he was trying to tell a story. He considered real life examples, he attempted to created a character parallels, he approached social issues, cultural links, he DID want us to view this character as a metaphor for something, something from his own community and childhood - and I really doubt that he was the only writer at the studio who at least tried for similar depth, or that the Baron was the only side character who was written with similar considerations in mind.

Here's story director Marcin Blacha on the writing choices in the witcher games:

“We want to talk about serious problems, about complex situations, about things that, sometimes, make the player uncomfortable. Choices must then be crafted in such a way that they do not simplify the world, but instead, have the player think and interpret it.” (Source)

Again with this emphasis on more complex levels of storytelling and the inclusion of heavy themes. When they write a character who does something super racist like a militarized hate crime, it's safe to assume that yeah, they're probably trying to address or at least touch on racism here, or misogyny, or nationalism, or something kinder like the difficulties of fatherhood. Maybe you disagree with the way I interpret a certain character or story line - good! normal! - but the writers still intend for us to interpret, to discover our own real word links, to challenge our own views.

Here's a link to a (way too long) presentation by two quest and level designers from CDPR about how they approach narrative and tone in a video game -> If you jump to minute 32, they discuss how even something as benign as choosing where to place food items was done with a narrative in mind, with the intention of enhancing setting, atmosphere, relatability, ect.

There's also a great interview with CDPR writer Karolina Stachyra who talks about how she got hired, why she loves the witcher, how some scenes (specifically in hearts of stone) pay homage to classic polish literature, and she also says: "We make sure to establish [the characters in TW3] as real people, so they are not just there to advance the plot." (source)

I'll stop cause this is getting long, but there's also this interesting interview with writers from TW2.

What I'm trying to say here is, yes, CDPR has a lot of bad writing going on, I'll never defend that, but there is a still a clear attempt at genuine storytelling - a process of narrative, framing, metaphor, ect. I fully expect you or anyone else to disagree with my personal opinions of what a character may stand for, but do you really believe that these characters therefore were meant to stand for nothing? I'm sorry that there's a language barrier here, I hope I'm addressing the core of your ask, but this the best response I can give you right now.

disclaimer: really don't want to excuse any of CDPR's failings either. I'm not saying: aw, but at least they tried, that's better than nothing! And actually, in a lot of cases, the intent makes things worse. When they do something like approach the harsh realities of misogyny in military settings through Ves' character but then just write more misogynistic shit by having her enthusiastically jump into a sexy cutscene with geralt.....yeah now you guys made it WORSE???

#ask #anonymous #double shot

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