The T-Rex And The Stink Bug: A Love Story
I was at a church event last year at someone’s home and we did this get-to-know-people game where everyone shares their favorite animal and explains why. About thirty of us sat in a circle and went around one at a time. I was at the end of the circle, and I wanted to pick an animal that no one had picked (all the good ones were being taken), because I’m an adult and I take these games very seriously. So when it came my turn, I said, “Tyrannosaurus Rex.”
“Why?” Kevin said. Kevin is our pastor and the brilliant mind behind this activity.
“Because no one messes with a T-rex,” I said.
We completed the circle and then Kevin had us go around again. This time our second favorite animal.
So I’m thinking, come on Kevin. This is dumb.
All the good ones were being said, even the clever ones, and I was under a lot of pressure for something original. Finally it came to me. I had the perfect animal. No one would say this. It came my turn.
“My second favorite animal,” I said, “is the stink bug.”
The room shifted nervously.
“No, really.” I built my case. “Stink bugs are content and resilient creatures. They have a lot of character. I was at Starbucks once and I noticed one right next to me in the window sill. He had fallen over on his back. I watched him as he struggled to turn himself back over. When he finally did, he just kind hung around like it was no big deal. He was right there next to me for like three hours, just hanging out. By the time I left, I felt like we were friends.”
There were a few courtesy laughs. I’m pretty sure everyone thought I was really weird.
I was not prepared for what happened next. Kevin said, “this exercise has a reason behind it. There’s some psychology in this game. The first animal is how you see yourself. And the second, is what you look for in a spouse.”
Never Underestimate A Good Pen
True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!
-Edward Bulwer-Lytton
I have come to accept that most of my writing will suck. But for a few great ideas, you have to come up with a million. Hitchcock made a lot of mediocre movies. 90% of Emerson’s work was never published. Etc.
Most of us never read Emerson anyway.
Record ideas, lessons, trials, wins, losses.
Write tales. Write songs. Draw.
Remember.
Get a pen that inspires you. For me, gel ink, the kind that makes a mark with the lightest touch. None of this ball point garbage (but that’s just me).
Don’t be afraid to spend good money on a pen.
Choose wisely, and be careful not to lose it.
The Cocoon Of Doubt
A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it.
-Tim Keller
It is an experience I had been through before, but never to this extent. I had come off of a spiritual mountaintop. God had felt so close I could almost touch him.
And suddenly, he was gone.
I woke up one morning an atheist. My prayers felt like they didn’t reach the ceiling. Questions that once did not seem relevant to me were suddenly a plague, a stumbling block. I looked at the world around me and got angry, frustrated, exasperated. The circumstances of life seemed ridiculous. The sovereignty of God felt like a copout for the things we didn’t understand. Jesus the man became an unknowable figure, and the New Testament, incredulous. I became an outsider looking into Christian culture. None of it made sense to me.
I couldn’t put my finger on it. Was it something I ate? There had been shattered expectations, disappointment with God, emotional highs and lows. There had been conversations about science and religion. But it was none of those things. I had not been compelled by any arguments or even circumstances of life, but my own inner struggle. It was a feeling. A deep, unsettling feeling I could not escape. Like the Spirit of God had left me.
I echoed the cry of Job: “if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go the west, I do not find him.”
I read the Psalms over those months (sixty percent of the Psalms are laments). I related to them in ways I never have before. And through the doubt, I grew.
*****
Others were going through similar things.
Hiking on the Appalachian Trail with my old roommate Joel, I said, “you ever feel like God just disappears?” “Yea,” he said. “I’m actually there right now.”
My friend Val was going through it. And he had had conversations with others that were as well. People who had followed Christ for years, struggling with questions they had never considered before.
Then there was my friend Alyse who had become a part of our church community. She was a confessing non-believer, but seemed more passionate about truth than most of my Christian friends. She asked questions few had thought of. She wanted to believe Christianity was true, but had doubts she couldn’t overcome.
I knew there was something in the air when soon after all of this, Pastor Jon started a sermon series at church called Masterpiece. It was about doubting the Bible and it’s credibility.
I asked Jon why this topic. Maybe God had told him in a dream to preach on this subject.
He just said he’d been planning it for a while.
*****
If faith is a butterfly, then doubt is a cocoon.
I wish Christians would be more open about their doubts. I know that everyone has them. Many are ashamed to talk about them, feeling they’ll be judged. Others, out of fear, ignore their doubts completely.
But I believe if we embraced our doubts, it would yield a stronger and truer faith.
One may easily assume that doubt is the opposite of faith. But it’s not. The opposite of faith is unbelief. Doubt, on the contrary, is an evidence of faith.
There is a distinct difference between unbelief and doubt. Unbelief is a choice of will, a deciding not to believe. Doubt is an unsureness, a wavering, a skepticism. Doubt is a struggle.
And struggle causes perseverance.
I have come to believe that the deeper the faith, the deeper the doubt. Real faith takes risks, and to take a risk, one must have some doubt. Real faith trusts when it doesn’t always make sense. Real faith stares into the darkness and lives to tell about it.
Doubt is the cocoon that overwhelms our immature faith so that we can be reborn with the wings and colors of a truer, authentic faith.
Real faith doubts.
David Mamet on Writing Drama
How do you write compelling drama?
A memo written by David Mamet to his writing staff at CBS answers this question. This short, sweet document gives practical tips on how you can ask the right questions to analyze the scenes you write. It’s meaty, with deep insight on the nature of drama from a seasoned writing professional.
I have compiled highlights from the memo that summarize his central points, which are applicable to all writers. The original source of this is MovieLine.com.
______________________
QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL.
SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.
- WHO WANTS WHAT?
- WHAT HAPPENS IF HER DON’T GET IT?
- WHY NOW?
THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE LITMUS PAPER. APPLY THEM, AND THEIR ANSWER WILL TELL YOU IF THE SCENE IS DRAMATIC OR NOT.
______________________
EVERY SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. THAT MEANS: THE MAIN CHARACTER MUST HAVE A SIMPLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD, PRESSING NEED WHICH IMPELS HIM OR HER TO SHOW UP IN THE SCENE.
THIS NEED IS WHY THEY CAME. IT IS WHAT THE SCENE IS ABOUT. THEIR ATTEMPT TO GET THIS NEED MET WILL LEAD, AT THE END OF THE SCENE,TO FAILURE – THIS IS HOW THE SCENE IS OVER. IT, THIS FAILURE, WILL, THEN, OF NECESSITY, PROPEL US INTO THE NEXT SCENE.
______________________
THE JOB OF THE DRAMATIST IS TO MAKE THE AUDIENCE WONDER WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. NOT TO EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT JUST HAPPENED, OR TO*SUGGEST* TO THEM WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
______________________
START, EVERY TIME, WITH THIS INVIOLABLE RULE: THE SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. it must start because the hero HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS.
LOOK AT YOUR LOG LINES. ANY LOGLINE READING “BOB AND SUE DISCUSS…” IS NOT DESCRIBING A DRAMATIC SCENE.
______________________
REMEMBER YOU ARE WRITING FOR A VISUAL MEDIUM…
IF YOU PRETEND THE CHARACTERS CANT SPEAK, AND WRITE A SILENT MOVIE, YOU WILL BE WRITING GREAT DRAMA.
IF YOU DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF THE CRUTCH OF NARRATION, EXPOSITION,INDEED, OF SPEECH. YOU WILL BE FORGED TO WORK IN A NEW MEDIUM – TELLING THE STORY IN PICTURES (ALSO KNOWN AS SCREENWRITING)
THIS IS A NEW SKILL. NO ONE DOES IT NATURALLY. YOU CAN TRAIN YOURSELVES TO DO IT, BUT YOU NEED TO START.
I CLOSE WITH THE ONE THOUGHT: LOOK AT THE SCENE AND ASK YOURSELF “IS IT DRAMATIC? IS IT ESSENTIAL? DOES IT ADVANCE THE PLOT?
ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.
IF THE ANSWER IS “NO” WRITE IT AGAIN OR THROW IT OUT.
Pitching and Marketing in Independent Film
The following are notes from two panels I attended at SXSW: Financing in a Troubled Economy, and Finding an Audience for your Film.
What is your unique perspective and why does it work?
What is the story outside the story?
What’s the idea?
What are you selling? What does the poster look like?
Who are you trying to reach?
What will the website look like? Promo, network, etc…
You’re not just making a movie, but planning a campaign…
- it’s a business plan — executives are looking for a comprehensive plan
- be rigorous and critical – how much? how long will it take?
- how will you get the product to market?
- treat exhibitions like a client
- one option is to hire a publicist and pay for screenings (coupled with social media this could work)
Get ASSETS – during the shoot, get unit photography. Get a wealth of footage for promotional purposes (most common mistake with indies is lack of pre-production planning)
Website, logline, trailer, stills… you gotta think of everything
What executives are looking for (TOP ADVICE)
- what is the event? what’s the incentive? what will people get from it?
- get an attorney!!!
- It’s ART and COMMERCE
- anticipate how the film will get to the market place
- feed the crew!!!
- be teachable
KNOW YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH!
South By Southwest
Today I leave for SXSW in Austin, Texas.
My primary goal is to eat a breakfast taco.
I’m a newbie at SXSW, so I’m a little overwhelmed excited. But I have good company (riding on the plane with my friends from Out:think Group). My friend Dan tells me the conference is insane. That is the word he uses. INSANE. Though he’s never been before so he doesn’t really know.
Looking forward to seeing some old friends and meeting new people. I’ll be running a camera at this non-profit event, which is cool. I’ve never been to Austin before. It’s in the 70′s today, and sunny, which is, of course, also pretty cool.
I imagine I will be tweeting a lot. You can follow me, but if you only want one person to keep you up to speed about SXSW, follow this guy. Thanks, Abandon Films, for sending me on this trip. I will do my best to be where I am. I have packed some deodorant and Purell hand sanitizer, so I should be good.
The lowdown: South by South West is a trendy and cutting-edge convergence of music, film, and technology. I will be attending the film and technology conferences.
Carpet Factory Outlet TV Ad Wins Best in Broadcast at the Western Virginia Addy Awards
Abandon Films‘ CFO TV ad took home the Best in Broadcast over the weekend. Special thanks to Access Advertising for liking the pitch and giving us the chance to create the ad!
We had a lot of fun coming up with this spot. I wrote and storyboarded the project, and was slated to direct, but due to scheduling conflicts couldn’t be at the shoot. So my awesome partners in crime Justin Rossbacher and Won Novalis took the reigns and, along with Marc Hutchins, made the spot happen. Couldn’t have been more pleased with the outcome and am thrilled that the Ad community in the Roanoke Valley is recognizing it. Thanks again to all those involved!
Here’s the behind-the-scenes look at the production of the ad…
Shameless Self-promotion
I’m playing my guitar on Saturday. In public, which I always enjoy. First gig of 2010.
I was recently doing some research on Christian songwriting legend Steve Taylor (he makes movies now), and I came across this poignant statement from a 2008 interview:
I found it difficult as both a Christian and an artist to continually do stuff that’s centered on your persona. It becomes hard to reconcile it with your ego… …As you go on, it becomes hard to balance all that self-promotion with being a follower of Jesus. I appreciate those who are able to do it well, but it’s just something that can wear you down.
This is especially true for artists, but I think it applies to all God-fearing people in general. Right? Don’t all Christians struggle with reconciling their ego with their faith?
Taylor went on to quote a teacher, “…if you were a totally well-rounded mature individual, you wouldn’t need to get up on stage in the first place.”
Hmm…
That may or may not be true.
You should come to the show. Here’s the low down…
- What: a local show at a coffee shop. very cozy and communal.
- Where: @ The Muse in Lynchburg.
- When: @ 8pm on Saturday, March 6
- Who (the artists): Ivorywood (Jacob Russo and Harrison Peaks), Justing Snyder, and Set Sights North
Arclight
Hollywood is a dirty town. The windows are mirky, the sidewalks are filthy, and there are strip clubs everywhere.
But the Arclight is glorious.
The place has a standard of excellence that I have never seen in a movie theatre. They approach films with almost a religious reverence.
Before the movie starts, they play film scores on the speakers instead of pop music. They test the audio before each screening, with employees walking the aisles to make sure it is optimal. They only show one trailer (while they test the audio). There are no terrible cartoons with dancing candy. And, if you’re late for the movie, you have to wait for the next showing. They are warriors for the movie-watching experience.
I wish every theatre took movies this seriously.
Where the Wild Things Are and Being Human
Picture if you will, every person in your neighborhood running down the street, screaming at the top of their lungs, knocking down mailboxes and breaking windows. Instead of calling the cops, you decide to join them. You have so much junk bottled up inside and you have to deal with it. You bust down your front door, tear into the yard, and let the wild rumpus start.
Maybe it will need to come to this. Ancient people use to mourn by tearing their clothes and groveling in the dirt. They would do this for days. King David once refused to eat or bathe for a week, and spent all his time lying on the ground. Today, we surf the internet and eat ice cream.
It’s time for a rumpus revolution. As the great theologian (Bono) sings, “I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside…” We keep way too much to ourselves. We don’t know how to express, how to feel, how to love. Not like we should. Not like we need to.
That’s why Spike Jonze’ adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are is so important. It tells us something about what it means to be human.
Watching this film was therapeutic for me. An hour and a half of primal expression. Running, screaming, growling, climbing, destroying, building forts and throwing snowballs. Pure energy and imagination.
I was reminded of a time when I didn’t care. I was trick-or-treating and dressed like a bear. I would scratch with my paws at the neighbors door, hold out a bucket for the candy, and growl. And there wasn’t an inch of self-consciousness in me. I did it because I had to. There was something inside of me that I innately needed to express.
I forget how to express it now. I haven’t growled at anyone in a while actually.
Where the Wild Things Are is a simple story. Max, a lonely little boy from a broken home, runs away one night after a fight with his mom. Angry and confused, he spends an evening in the woods, conjuring up an imaginary world in which he takes a voyage to a distant land. He discovers a small tribe of creatures and proclaims himself king over them. Together they build a kingdom, implementing regimented diplomatic activity, such as running through the woods, howling at the moon, knocking over trees, building forts and then tearing them down. And fighting. Lot’s of fighting. Like Max’s own life, this family of creatures is extremely dysfunctional. They have no direction. They are angry and confused and don’t know why.
Each creature represents a part of his life. It’s his internal dialogue, dealing with the anger. While he wrestles with what he doesn’t understand, he is able to eventually channel his pain into a question (which is harder to come up with than an answer, really): How can I make everyone okay?
He puts a lot of pressure on himself. Like we all do at times. His sister is too cool for him. His dad is gone. And his mom has a boyfriend. He’s angry, and wants to fix things and make them right.
I can relate. I remember when I was eight years old being angry about my parents divorced. I remember thinking that I could fix it. Maybe I could confront them and set them straight, make them change their minds about the whole thing. But I couldn’t. I was only a little boy.
And so Max concludes the same thing. In the end, he realizes that he is not a king. He is only Max. He spent all this time running like a maniac through the woods, only to conclude what he already knew. And that is the most important thing. Sometimes we need to run wild and howl at the moon. I think this is a way of asking a question that we don’t know how to ask. We need to do it, not so much because we need an answer, but because we just need a good howl at the moon.
But for some reason we’ve forgotten how.
I wish I was more like King David, who once pretended to be insane in order to get out of pickle. I think I’m too self-conscious to pretend to be insane. I feel that there is a fundamental passion that is missing. We spend far too much time staring at computer screens with glazed expressions.
As for Max, we’ve probably seen him at Wal-mart yelling at his mom. Or heard him next door, declaring war on his back yard. We might have almost hit him with our car while he was riding his bike and not paying attention. His hyper-activity makes us uncomfortable. We find his behavior disturbing. We judge his parents. I think we need to stop and join him instead, grovel in the dirt a little and howl at the moon. There are walls to be torn down.
