Chronicles of the Dead - First Draft Issues

I wrote the first draft of the first episode of Chronicles of the Dead's season two. It wasn't complete crap. I was able to cram in every single thing I needed or wanted, but as John pointed out, the dialogue is off.

Characters rarely say exactly what they're feeling because real people don't either. I can't even count the number of times I had a thought and kept it to myself. But why? What keeps us from saying what we really feel? I can only think of two reasons.

1.) Telling the truth could mean hurting someone. Then you have to deal with having that on your conscience. People don't like to feel guilty or cause pain, so it's easier to say nothing.

2.) Once something is said, it can't be un-said. There are no take-backs. Plus, speaking the truth will force everyone to acknowledge whatever it is. Ignorance is bliss.

So I have fix the conversation Vanessa and Omar have. 

The only reason Vanessa was with Omar was because she wanted to hurt Winston back for all the times he cheated. It worked. She hurt him, but she hurt herself too. She doesn't share the same feelings that Omar has and she's responsible for leading him on. Thinking about what she did makes her sick and she wants to end things.

In the meantime, Omar is in love. He thinks that he can be the man Winston wasn't. And although he probably could, Vanessa won't let him. He feels used and it hurts him more than he'll admit.

In this episode, the world is falling apart because we open with a death. The characters are guilty and feel responsible for each other's pain. Winston is forced to choose between living under Roman's protection or death. Vanessa is shown a world she didn't know existed and Omar is forcibly dragged to the dark side but later realizes he likes the dark. 

The characters have to change and grow and develop. They are my clay. I must mold them.

 

Get off Your Ass and Get Shit Done!

I need to make a video but I haven't done it yet. I was supposed to do it yesterday, but I let Resident Evil 6 consume my day. I also work six days this week. Today is my only day off.

I was supposed to do the video today but I've been putting it off. In fact, I should be making the video right NOW, but I'm writing this blog instead. I'd rather be doing a million other things than making that video. I think I've been avoiding it all day. I can imagine a conversation between me and my camera...

CAMERA: Hey...are you gonna make a video today? It's Thursday.

ME: Uh, yeah sure. I haven't forgotten. I just need to do some other things first.

CAMERA: Like what? I know you have the day off. 

ME: I'm just tired, ok? Let me rest for a while.

CAMERA: Tired? From what? You haven't done a single stressful thing all day. You just watched a stupid movie that you didn't even like just so you wouldn't have to look at me. I feel like you're avoiding me.

ME: I'm not avoiding you...I'm just working on some ideas.

CAMERA: Oh, so that's it. You don't have any ideas and now that you've waiting until the last minute, you just want to bail. You can't bail.

ME: I'm not bailing! Relax!!

CAMERA: You want me to relax? No! That's why you're in this mess in the first place. All that relaxing has finally caught up. You made a promise that you would make a video EVERY SINGLE THURSDAY and you're screwing it up.

ME: No one will notice if I skip a week. Nobody watches my videos anyway.

CAMERA: And with THAT attitude, no one ever will.

Ouch.

This conversation never happened, of course, because inanimate objects can't talk. But if they could, I bet people would be in a LOT of trouble.

What "Chronicles of the Dead" taught me

Lovely actors from our pilot: Christopher Gutierrez, Kasia La'Rae Smith and Gabriel Tanguay

I don't know everything there is to know about film or making a web series...but that's the fun part. No amount of books you read or classes you take can prepare you for the real experience. It's all trial and error. Here is an incomplete list of what Chronicles of the Dead taught me.

1.) People who care about your project as much as you do will never let you down. I was fortunate enough to work with some of the best people ever. 

2.) Rewrites are a must. Sometimes I watch episodes and cringe at the dialogue. Gee wiz...did I really write that?

3.) Kill your babies! I think that's how you say it. Anyway, you can't allow yourself to become attached to an idea or a scene or anything. Everything can be improved. 

4.) There's never a bad time to say thank you. So many people have helped us with this project. Everyone from the actors, to the people nice enough to let us into their homes to the staff writers from newspapers who interviewed us. I appreciate every single person.

5.) You don't have to be perfect. Although we wanted to be. Perfection shouldn't always be a goal, but we wanted to create something new and different. Something that people could enjoy. 

I know what mistakes I've made and I'm fully ready to face season two head on! John and I are working on the rewrites now and we want to film in the summer of 2013. Wish us luck, we need every drop!

And if you still haven't seen Chronicles of the Dead, SHAME ON YOU! Click here.     

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My 2nd Job that Doesn't Pay

I got a nice surprise today. It seems that a zombie blog has featured our article from the local newspaper AND liked our page. Awesome. You can check it out here.

Next up, my novel. I haven't worked on it except a few notes. Enough said.

Next, videos! I have a few in post production right now and a few new ideas that I cooked up. Tomorrow I get to do a book trailer with Witness Pictures, which should be fun. And maybe I'll even get the chance to snap some photos! Maybe.

I found an inspiring story on Yahoo today (they are few and far between!). A young girl on YouTube who used to get bullied and felt insecure about her acne is now modeling. How cool is that? I had seen her video a few weeks ago and I didn't know who she was and no she's walking runways. That's awesome. Read it here.

Is anything else cool happening? I don't know. Will anything else cool happen? God, I hope so!! In the meantime, I've got vids to edit. Watch Chronicles of the Dead and I'll be back later! 

 

Inspiration & Validation

Today should be a happy day because a lot of great things are happening. We just released Episode 3 of Chronicles of the Dead, a new m0bRYa video is out,  I work a FULL shift tomorrow and I get to do a little film work on Saturday for which I will be paid. Awesome.

 

I've been browsing Twitter a LOT lately and I found some interesting people to follow. One of those people in Dallas Travers. This woman is an Actor's Advocate and she gives great advice to people like me who want to make it in the acting world. I've been watching her videos and reading her blogs and she gives a lot of tips and inspiration. She doesn't ask for money in return which I can appreciate. I'm sick of casting directors and other people who are less qualified to teach than my college professors asking for big bucks. Check out this video where casting director Billy DaMota puts the crackdown on shady casting agents and pricey workshops that do little for an actor in the long run. 

The saddest news I have is that I didn't write anything last night. I sat down with my laptop with every intention of writing, but as I said before it's a struggle. I couldn't organize a single thought for my life! It was awful. I can take comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one. JK Rowling had a TON of issues as far as being suicidal, but look how things turned out for her.

I always get a little dose of reality when I see someone on YouTube who reveals a ton about themselves in a video, whether they meant to or not. When I was first getting started on YouTube, a girl came to my channel and left a comment. It was basically a small gesture saying that she liked my videos and she wanted me to check out her channel as well. I did just that. Although they were a little weird at times, I could see that she was really trying hard to make something of herself and she really did. Then, she posted this video a couple of weeks ago and it kind of made me sad because I can relate to it. It's nice to get a little reminder that everyone is still basically human.

That's all I have right now but there's more coming later!

 

I Struggle to Write

Have you ever watched a mystery movie? You get pulled in right from the start and before you know it, you're trying to piece together all the clues to figure which character committed the horrible act. 

I feel like my novel is swimming around my head like that. It's a big mass of confusion. All the clues are telling me where to go, if only I could get there. I have everything I need, I just need to organize it in a way that would make sense to a reader. 

I've read plenty of books that ended in ways that made me want to curl up and die. How did those people get published? I used to whine to myself about it. There's obvious weak parts and everyone can see them but somehow they go on to be best-sellers and blockbuster hits! 

This is the part where I stop and realize I'm jealous, and why wouldn't I be? I'm perfectly capable of putting a story together just like those other people, but I just have to do it. I get my motivations from one scene in Limitless. Bradley Cooper has just taken the drug and after cleaning his apartment, he sits down and writes his novel. The. Entire. Novel. All in one sitting. That scene blew my mind.

I don't want to take drugs. I've learned from my dad how bad they are, but I do want to be able to get out of my way and tell myself to shut up and do what needs to be done. I would love that.

So I'm going to work on it now. Yes. At 2am, I am going to go write and see how long I can go. I'm going to work until I can't work anymore. Fuck sleeping. I'll sleep when I die.