Jul 30

1209

The number 1209 has been haunting me since birth and especially for the past two years when I turned 21 (scary: 12+9 = 21). Wherever I look, 1209 has been somewhere, anywhere. It has stopped a couple of months ago, until this changing event today. I went shopping, bought two folders for organizing my writings and a DVD. I had one 48 cents coupon with me. When the cashier scanned the items, the amount was nothing special, but then he scanned the coupon and the total sum jumped to 12.09 EUR. It has to mean something. ;)

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Jul 29

Movie Review: 1408

Logline: Based on a short story by Stephen King, a man who specializes in debunking the paranormal checks into the infamous room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel, only to discover… the terror is real.

Review: 1408 is a thrilling one man show outstandingly performed by John Cusack as the writer Mike Enslin in the lead. What at first sight comes as a mostly cliched and massed spectacle of quick-acting thrills and blood spills, transforms into a horrific mind game the audience is forced to take part in a great surrealistic journey wrapped in a small hotel room, where the room reveals a character of its own. Witholding any kind of a spoiler, I can only say that the end is one of the most nerve-racking endings I’ve ever seen — in a good way. Just when you think the story is walking toward its happy ending, your mind gets it’s a** kicked right in time to discover the nightmare is not over, yet.
This movie turns your living room into room 1408.

Rating: ★★★½☆

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Jul 29

D.U.M.P.S.

Directing Unsuccessful Motion Picture Shorts shows a list of true chliched filmmaking. It’s fun to read, because it’s soooo common among student films. I’ve seen it many times before. Funny thing is, I’ve been watching 1408 a couple of minutes ago. The film uses most of the clichés, but can get away with it pretty well.

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Jul 29

Writing has me again

Writacy is back online, and I think it’s slowly turning into a blog than an advice giver. At the moment I’m not running one of my own themes though I should as a part time webdesigner, but the WordPress loop is giving me a hard time, and I was too lazy to fix it… hey at least I’m honest. No, I rather spend the hours writing on my latest scripts, because writing has me again.

I’m currently developing a fantasy drama and eagerly working on dramedy which was formerly known as the project “Birds And Bees”, which has been renamed into “Me And Gee” — it’s fun to write and hopefully a good sign that I can laugh my own a** off while writing it; fully packed with irony, sarcasm, screwed people and love-hate-relationships.

So what happened back in the meantime while Writacy was on hiatus? I managed to open my own portfolio website. You can visit it here — having your own name in the domain has nothing to do with self-gratification, but it makes it look kinda offical.

My latest feature script got a lot of logline views on InkTip. It’s also been fully downloaded once and few others downloaded its synopsis. I still can’t say if InkTip is the right way to go, thus I tried to contact a few actors, who might consider an attachment.

I’m not working as a film supervisor anymore, but in October I’m going to start my Bachelor studies in Digital Filmmaking, so I’ll spend the rest of the months with my scripts. I’ve been thinking a lot about my future living as a writer lately. Here are my truthfully intended options afterwards:

a) Find a job in either the United States or Canada
I’ve always wanted to go to the US, but Fort Knox seems like a joke compared to the immigration conditions of the land of free (?). I take part in the annual Greencard lottery, but also that is a minimum chance of getting there. After doing research, I found out that moving to Canada is an easier endeavor, so I might try it there — Vancouver area, which is also great for film. If anybody can help me out in finding a job there, I’d really appreciate your support — I’m fluent in German, English and some Spanish. :)

b) Master of Arts in Screenwriting
If a) works out, I intend to do an M.A. in screenwriting. But since education is quite expensive in North America, I’d have to…

c) …sell a script…
…first.

If everything else fails…

d) Join the German Army
I’m not kidding. They have a division called Operative Information(en), which offers well paid trainings in media design. Unfortunately, I won’t make it to the Air Force due to hyperopia in my right eye.

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Jun 10

Show, don’t tell!

Every book on screenwriting repeats it like a mantra: Show, don’t tell!

While browsing one of those large online stores, I stumbled across the English DVD and German book cover of The Soloist and thought it would match the criteria.

Have a closer look at the picture above. It obviously shows you the same scene, but brings across two different meanings, created by the varying distance between Foxx and Downey in both pictures.

Eventually, this example shows you that showing is enough to get a message across. :)
Which of them do you think is the better choice for the movie?

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