A Continuation

I don't know where I am now. I was supposed to finish my Masters degree this past May, but I have been meeting some resistance from my panel chair. Now, he is not even sure if I can finish this December. It is really frustrating. I realize that this blog was created as an assignment for my class, but I am going to transform it into a personal examination of life, art, education, writing, and music. This page will now begin to feature updates about what I am doing in order to further my own artistic education as I attempt to move away from the world of academics. I always thought I would be a teacher, but the idea of the academy literally sickens me. There is too much ego in there for my own. I have to take control of my own destiny, and I want everyone there to watch me as I progress.

Hopefully I won't be decapitated

Semester complete. This is the last bit of work I have left for James Dolph's screenwriting class. I have to say...this was quite an experience. Four months ago I had never done a creative writing piece in my life, and now I have thirty pages of a screenplay turned in for grading. There are parts of the script that I am happy with and other parts that I would still like to work on a bit more. The addition of more self-reflexive attributes would need to play up, but I was trying to remove this notion of origination. Obviously, an unknown source of zombies ties in with the existing mythology, and by giving the viral-like attributes an origin, it really limits the scope of how grand the entire film could be.

My favorite part of the script comes within the last fifteen pages or so. This is where the zombies actually come out and begin wreaking havoc. There is very little dialogue in these pages because there is a lot of build-up with the scenery and a lot more action. The first half of the first act lacks this action.

The opening dorm room scene still needs a lot of work. I just can't get it right in my head right at this minute. I polished the dialogue a bit more in the scene, but the flow is still off especially with the addition of the cut-scenes to black screen with the narrator.

All in all, however, I can say that this class has been quite a journey, and I plan on continuing to work on the script. Who knows? Someday, I might even get it made.

Horror Classics

Perhaps now is a better time than any to discuss some of my inspiration. Those that have known me for quite some time recognize that I have always been influenced by the visual arts. My likings tend to be of the more obscure artists usually centered around Surrealism and Dadaism. For some reason, works in these styles have peaked my interest because interpretation is key to enjoyment of the piece. Regardless of authorial intention, a viewer can place any number of meanings on such works. Even while teaching Freshman Composition classes, the importance remains to be a key part of many of my lessons. I guess in my creative writing practices this is much the same way. Writing a horror film may not have been my first choice for a screenplay, but it is what I know the best. The genre is often overlooked because of simple entertainment quality, but I have always enjoyed taking it a bit further with that. Regardless of what spin I put on the script, someone else will walk away with a completely different experience than what I had originally intended. So some of the films that inspire me write horror would include _The Exorcist III_, any Romero film, the early work of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson and the exploitation-style films of Tobe Hooper from the mid-1970s.

I seen so many of these films multiple times, and still to this day, I am able to walk away with a different understanding. For instance if they are put in the contexts of contemporary popular culture, the interpretation of the text completely changes. I think that this desire to understand multiple meanings has put a fire under my hearth of knowledge when it comes to cinema.

Revamping the zombies...I guess this pun doesn't really work unless there are vampires involved (damn)

After reworking the beginning of the script, I have decided that the whole script needs to change. It is very sad that such an epiphany comes to me so close to my deadline for class. For one-after reading through my classmates' work, I know that not many others are attempting this completely self-referential style of film. I find myself intrigued by taking a genre that was reformed in 1968 and attempting to put my own spin on it. Not only that but I also feel that being able to reference other works that have come before will be beneficial because it is going to make the material accessible to a range of audiences. At first, my target audience might have been too narrow. My perceived audience would have been someone like me-a horror fanatic. Someone that appreciates the importance of exposition and finds gore utterly distasteful, but perhaps, appeasing a larger audience would find itself more beneficial. More on this. As you were, soldier.

Mutations can be freaky...especially when they begin

Here is the revamped opening of the script:

SERIES OF SHOTS:
1. VOLCANE ERUPTING
2. LANDSLIDE
3. HURRICANE

NARRATOR (V.O)
(Over series of shots)
For years, man has dealt with great struggles. Man versus Nature. Man versus Man. Each time, Mankind has proven itself to rise against the odds regardless of how grim the circumstances may be.

SERIES OF SHOTS:
1. ARMIES MARCHING IN NAZI GERMANY
2. MULTIPLE IMAGES OF CONCENTRATION CAMPS
3. IMAGES OF THE VIETNAM WAR

NARRATOR (V.O.)
(CONT’D)
Even through these struggles, man’s greatest threat is his own person. Can one man rise from the ashes and prove to be a hero? Can one man rise up to defeat mankind’s greatest foe? It’s former remnants.


SERIES OF SHOTS
1. LONG SHOT OF A GRAVEYARD
2. LONG SHOT OF A VOODOO CEREMONY

FADE TO BLACK

FADE IN
We see a dark room with a spotlight. Within the spotlight, a young man (aged 24 wearing a white t-shirt and scrub pants) walks into the spotlight. The camera circles the young man as he stands still.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
(CONT’D)
Say hello to Josh Carpenter. Josh does not yet know that his entire world will collapse around him. He is a normal enough young man, still in college, wants to
become a nurse, and is still unsure of his abilities with women.

SERIES OF SHOTS:
1. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
2. MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION ON ANIMALS
3. CIVIL UNREST

NARRATOR (V.O.)
(CONT’D)
Josh will have to decide if he will rise to the occasion and become the savior of mankind, or will he fall under the pressure. We will soon find out.

FADE TO BLACK

Frightful beginnings

The beginning of my screenplay began originally with a significant origin. This comes in opposition to other filmic representations of zombies. After careful consideration, perhaps this is not the best opening. If I want this film to be accepted into the mythology of the contemporary zombie, the beginning of the zombie apocalypse needs to remain ambiguous. It is difficult to really rethink this sub-genre of horror that has been so defined since the late 1960s. Thanks, George A. Romero. I guess I should really reconsider whether I want to view this as a completely isolated incident or a global apocalypse. Maybe I will try this to see if it reads better.

Now it gets really frightening

With less than two week remaining in the semester, it begins to look bleak. After three weeks, we finally read through the screenplay, and the consensus was that not many enjoyed the delayed point of attack. I still don't feel as though I am completely sold on this. Other zombie films (including the apex of NOTLD) tend to shove the zombies right down the throat of the audience, and the other problem was the gore factor. Maybe I'm too old school for the gore. Contemporary audiences have grown accustomed to an excess of gore to substitute for actual fear. This is painful for me to witness. I am just not a fan of films such as the _Saw_ franchise. There are not enough subtle horror films out there. Who knows, I might give into the calls of the class, but I might just stick up for a dying art of horror construction.