Copyright vs. WGA Registration

Larry Zerner, a copyright attorney in LA, has laid out very clearly why you want to copyright your screenplay, not register it with the WGA.

The problem with the Script Registry is that many writers are using it as a substitute for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office. As a result, in the event that their work is infringed, the writer will almost certainly lose thousands of dollars. And, in many cases, a writer who only registered with the Script Registry will be precluded from filing a lawsuit because the economic realities of litigation.

Read the rest on his blog.

Linkbait, but...

Linkbait, but this is a pretty good list of 10 networking tips for people who hate networking. 

"It's not a good joke. But it's worthy of us..."

... Jim Henson used to say about the ancient-but-still-edible vaudeville schtick that was the heart of THE MUPPET SHOW.

According to the NY Times, Adam McKay, director of ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES, has replaced all 763 jokes in the movie so that the studio can re-release it. The movie was shot improvisationally, so he has the outtakes to make a new, raunchier (not, he says, necessarily better) movie with the same plot.

Post production has got orders of magnitude easier. It helps when your movie has already grossed over $123 million and you can afford it. But this sort of thing is only plausible when it takes only a few keystrokes to move a sound effect. When I was in film school, everyone spent months building their sound tracks for their short films. Now I go into a room with the mixer and we do the sound effects while we're mixing the movie.

One thing I learned shooting my last short, WINTER GARDEN, is just how good actors can be at improvisation. I had a cast of veterans, headed by Enrico Colantoni, and they did all sorts of fascinating things in rehearsals once we got through the script and got into improvs. It's easy to see that shooting with a digital camera gives you more takes. It's surprising and fun to see what possibilities that opens up. Additional takes are still not free -- the clock is still running. But if you can add a few more takes, that means you can shoot the script pages, and then fool around for another take or two. Sometimes you'll find something amazing. Something you might catch a really great moment. 

Role Play at RVCQ

I'm very pleased that my short film ROLE PLAY will be screening at the Rendezvous du Cinéma Québecois, at 21h45 on Friday, February 21. It stars Juliette Gosselin (right) and Kat Garcia. 

Fiat Flux

Did you ever write until 1 am, and then have trouble getting to sleep?

Not the "Flux" I'm writing about.

There have been assorted studies that show that the relatively blue screen of a computer tricks your brain into thinking it's daytime. In fact, at 6400K, your computer screen is even bluer than sunlight, which is about 5600K. So when you finally close the computer, you're still in daytime mode. It takes a while for your brain to get into night time mode.

The nice people at Flux have written a free app that will change the relative color temperature of your screen so it's warmer -- anywhere from 5600K down to the 2700K of firelight.

(It has absolutely no relationship with Aeon Flux, whose picture is to the right.)

I tried it last night. I only put the color temperature to 4500K because otherwise it seemed just a bit too orange. (The FAQ says it takes some getting used to.) But I did feel a whole lot less wired when I finally stopped working around 11 pm.

The only odd feature of the program is that it depends on your location to determine when to turn the lighting of your computer down to night mode. So the transition happens automatically at sundown. In the depths of winter, I don't particularly want to feel sleepy at 5 pm. But it shouldn't take long before they allow you to set the timer manually.

Check it out.

The Banner Saga

Hunter bought me Stoic's Banner Saga for Christmas. It is a lovely, lovely game. It's set in a Viking Fimbulwinter world where you must fight obsidian robots called "Dredge" as they swarm across the land. But there is a rich mythology behind them, and their invasion is not what you might think at first.

The game makes the most of its Kickstarted indie budget. (They asked for $100K. They got $725K.) The music is majestic, Viking horns and drums. The visuals are stylized. Outside of combat, you're in a 2.5D world. Cut scenes are stills of the characters. Travel is a tiny line of animated characters walking across a highly stylized landscape. The credits say the world is inspired by the artwork of Eyvind Earle (Disney's Sleeping Beauty), but I prefer it to his work.

The game has consequences. Characters can die because of your choices. Your daughter can die. Your whole world can die.

To keep your clan alive, you sometimes have to be a bastard. Trusting strangers can get your people killed. Not trusting strangers can get your people killed. Hard to know which is which. So you really feel like a leader of men.

Combat is turn-based tactics, à la XCOM. I love turn-based tactics. I like being able to think out my moves.

What makes a great indie game? Totally delivering the goods on a game that is conceptually fresh but of limited scope. Taking advantage of your limitations to do something new. The stripped-down art style -- the 2D, only half-animated travelogue, for example -- creates a mood that 3D might not have done.

The mythology in this game suggests that there could be a sequel. I'm ready.

I really enjoyed this game. (Thank you, Hunter!) $25 on Steam. Worth every penny.

My Promised Land

I reviewed Avi Shavit's book My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel on Goodreads. If you're interested in a new book trying to make sense of Israel, its peoples and the pickle it's in, by a prominent peacenik journalist, read my review. Nothing to do with screenwriting, so I won't post it here.

The Naked and the Dead

Q. I am writing to inquire as to how it would be possible to track down the complete series of NAKED JOSH in any visual media format, for purchase. The production company tells me that DVD release is, of course, driven by consumer demand. However in the absence of reruns, Netflix, or the like, it is difficult to see how the series might be brought to old and new viewers. It is one of the very best series produced in Canada of the past decade or so. Television for grown-up viewers. When one considers some of the schlock that's readily available via DVD, VOD, etc, it is unfortunate that a quality production remains in limbo. I'm only one viewer and consumer, but I for one would happily pay for the privilege of revisiting "Naked Josh." If you can offer any direction, I would be entirely grateful. I of course fully understand that much is out of your control even as creator.

Yes, marketing has always been one of the places that Canadian showbiz traditionally falls down. Maybe people would like the show if they knew about it, right? They certainly can't like the show if they don't know about it, can they? You could, for example, release the pilot on YouTube for free, and see what kind of views it go. Or you could release the whole thing on iTunes, which wouldn't cost very much. Or if Apple charges too much, maybe Amazon would be willing to put it up there. Certainly Netflix ought to be willing to do a deal. Or what if the network put all their archived content up on their own site, with ads? And then if something really got a lot of views, they could then have the proof of concept to license it to Netflix or sell it on DVD. One almost gets the impression that the Canadian networks would prefer if they didn't have to distribute any Canadian content at all. I don't know why you can't get NJ on Netflix or DVD. But thank you for pestering Showcase. Maybe you'll put a bug in their ear, who knows?