Nowheretosleepbuthetrains

Zachary McDonald (BFA Student page)

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

Three college bears rent a cabin in the woods, throw a party in an attempt to relive their friend of his virginity.

ZACHARY MCDONALD - BLOCKBUSTER BLOG TASK

[atomickittenwrangler]

I ended up not focusing on the humor as much as I wanted to so it’s not very funny but hey it’s a scene.

Context: Klaus attempts to kill Stan to marry Francine. Stan makes his way home in plot B. This is the final scene.

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

You nailed the comedic style of American Dad completely - Encapsulated perfectly in the gag with the ‘Nicaraguan boy’ (”In many ways he was my home and I his”). LOVEEEE ITTTT 

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

An excerpt from a crack I had at American Dad fan fiction - 

CONTEXT: Roger and Klaus have a child together and attempt to raise it. Stan intervenes and decides to take it upon himself to instil American, Christian values in the child. He kidnaps him and heads for the most American, Christian place he could think to take the boy -

(The Child is ‘Wally’)

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

PSW: Mood-board for existing film - ‘Shutter Island’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVN1B-tUpgs

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

PICS, SOUNDS,  WORDS - SCRIPT TO MUSIC 

[beingemmasuits-blog]

Industry Perspectives: Week 8

Brief plot outline.

Norah is a young girl living the quiet life in a suburban town. Her divorced father, a man who she absolutely adores, has recently acquired a new girlfriend. This new love interest is a veterinarian and makes life for Norah less-than-pleasant. Norah is used to her father’s constant affection, but due to his attention being shifted towards his new girlfriend, she is left feeling lonely and unappreciated. One day at school, Norah is forced to dissect a frog by her science teacher for an assignment. For the first time, Norah feels in control of a situation, and experiences joy bringing pain to the very thing that her dad’s new girlfriend loves most- animals. Norah begins murdering the neighborhoods pets: dogs, cats, hamsters and even goldfish. She buries them in her backyard, behind the shed. Norah figures that if she kills all the town’s beloved pets, her Dad’s new girlfriend will run out of clients, and be forced to relocate her veterinary business. To Norah’s horror, a tornado rips through the town and lifts the dirt off the graves of her victims, swirling the dead animals through the sky. In an act of despiration, Norah pins the murders on the girlfriend. Under investigation, it is discovered that the girlfriend runs an illegal fur-trading business, and is also wrongly found guilty of the animal murders by default. Norah has succeeded in eliminating the girlfriend from the picture. 

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

Wow that did not go where I was expecting it to! I love the twists and turns and god knows I love a psychopathic protagonist (American psycho, Nightcrawler etc) especially when it’s a child! Tiny detail to maybe fix is the “experiences joy bringing pain...” - How could she bring pain to a frog if it’s dead? Which I assume it would be if they’re dissecting it in class? Anyway - Love the concept and would hundred percent pay to see it - especially if you were going the psychological horror route rather than the slapstick horror route! Love it!!!

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

‘Nocturne’ - Plot Outline

·         

Arthur - 15 years old

Clara - Mid-thirties 

Arthur’s mother - Mid-forties 

Set-up

Arthur is a prodigal, classical pianist training under an expert instructress (Clara) who sees in him the makings of an immortal master of the craft - the likes of Arthur Rubenstein.  But his playing has hit a plateau - he is distracted by having to care for his terminally sick mother and is unable to bring anything new to his playing to push him that little bit further toward greatness. Clara runs out of patience and her tactics to push his playing further become relentless.

·         Inciting Incident

Arthur is in the midst of learning a solo-rendition of ‘Fantasy Overture’ a romantic-climactic piece from Romeo and Juliet but is unable to bring the romanticism to his playing required to bring it to life. In an un-orthodox attempt bring the romance to his playing, a late-night practice rehearsal becomes heated. Clara flirts with Arthur and toys with him to bring sensuality to his playing, in response he comes onto her the two have a sexual affair.

·         Protagonist’s action taken in response to Inciting Incident

Arthur’s playing is drastically improving and fast. He plays with romance and feeling and has begun shedding the previous ‘frigidity’ of his playing. He auditions for an orchestra and is accepted and asked to perform in a recital of Romeo and Juliet’s ‘Fantasy Overture’.

·         Obstacle #1 encountered in the course of taking action

Arthur’s mother is put into palliative care – She has no-one else and not long left to live.

·         Protagonist’s response to Obstacle

Arthur spends every-night after his orchestra rehearsals by his dying mother’s side – sacrificing the time he would usually be ‘practicing’ with Clara.

·         Obstacle #2 encountered in the course of taking action (if appropriate)

·         Clara is distraught – desperate to feel wanted and make him feel like he needs her to become great. He cannot ignore her because their relationship has grown to have more to it than sex - he has come to care for her deeply. Comforting his dying mother and managing his relationship with Clara takes a grave toll on his playing. It becomes a reality that he could be replaced by another pianist for the performance.

·         Protagonist’s response to Obstacle

One night with Clara, unknowingly to her, Arthur records him and her having sex and sends it to the police – Clara is arrested and her reputation is destroyed.

·         Story ending – Reward or Reversal? And why?

Reward and Reversal - Arthur is told by his mother’s carers that she may only have hours left to live but it is the night of the concert and he must perform – Just before he takes to the stage he is informed that his mother died alone in the hospital. Solemn and realizing the lengths he has gone to achieve greatness he takes to the stage, playing alongside the orchestra with a masterful brilliance and receiving a standing ovation.

Arthur is forced to sacrifice the things he cared for in the pursuit of greatness – His mother and Clara - Absolute perfection requires absolute sacrifice.

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

Plotting Illogically

How did Sylvia get inside the home of a secret agent so easily?

Ignoring core character traits, (in this case being Bond’s vigilance), for the purposes of furthering the plot has the capability of throwing believability completely out the window – such is this example of Sylvia breaking into Bond’s home.

Sylvia’s character in the film is that of the cliched, ditsy, sexual interest for the protagonist – whom he had flirted with over an earlier game of poker at a casino. A character of her nature wouldn’t have the ways or means of breaking into someone’s home so casually, let alone the home of a secret agent. The first way this implausibility could have been remedied was by changing Sylvia’s character to one that’s more capable (which wouldn’t have had much consequence because she wasn’t exactly central to the plot).

Alternatively, the writer could have expressed, through dialogue between Sylvia and Bond when he finds her in his apartment, that the door was open. This would have linked up with the reveal that ‘Dr No’ had been spying on him and suggest that someone had been sifting through his apartment.

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

10 - 12 page short script pitch

Fourteen-year-old Arthur, A morbid and reserved classical piano student, is subject to relentless hours of practice every day under the tuition of an eccentric and short-fused instructress. With his demanding Father having pushed him every step of the way since infancy, Arthur is on route to becoming a virtuoso and an esteemed celebrity of his craft. He accumulates praise from all except his emotionally barren mother who, at best, treats him with a courteous detachment. After a long night of intense one on one practice with his instructress a moment of passion between the two sparks a sexual affair and a relationship between the them develops, quickly spiralling out of control. His playing and performances begin to suffer and his father’s temper begins to rouse over the unexplained lapse in his son’s focus. Unable to confide in anyone his situation, Arthur struggles to deal internally with his confusion and the complexity of his desires. To make matters worse, his mistress reveals to him that she is carrying his child forcing him toward the inevitable public reveal of their perverse affair.

The story is similar in vein to films the likes of Damian Chazelle’s ‘Whiplash’ and Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Black Swan’.  

Theme: The need for affection is a hindrance to success 

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

An artwork I did a while agoo

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

BLOG POST WEEK 5

My Hero: Arthur Laius

Flawed Belief:

“If I work harder and become successful my mother will be forced to never ignore me again”

Irrational fear:

A mother’s love is supposed to be the most granted and un-conditional of all forms. Without it, Arthur fears he will never experience real human affection.

Deeply held longing

Arthur’s deeply held longing is to feel loved by someone.  He is starved of human connection and knows deep down that all he does, and ever will do, will be void and meaningless without it.

Through what means will the audience empathize with Arthur?

Sympathy – The unjust and heartless treatment of Arthur by his mother will override the audience’s temptation to judge him for his uncanny temperament. Uncomfortably, Arthur’s obsessive demeanour is understandable – To some extent or another we all seek to understand the reasons for our neglection.

What other methods will be used to strengthen empathy?

Arthur will appeal to the universally human use of voyeurism as a means of providing escapist relief.

Thematic Idea:  Love and human affection…

Transformative action: even with persistence and work

Manifestation of result: cannot be ‘earnt’.

‘Love and human affection, even with persistence and work, cannot be earnt’

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[rubidavis]

building blocks of character - Jack.

Jack

Name : Jack Walker

Age : 26

Gender : M

Appearance : Scruffy, light brown hair. Wears suits that are slightly too large for him. Not conventionally attractive but not ugly (his humour and makes him attractive to those who meet him).

Personality  -

Intelligence : Highly intelligent - law degree. Witty, sarcastic, quick.

Emotional Makeup : Cynical, but determined. Low patience for his best friend Todd’s stupidity. Quiet but not shy, just waiting for the right time to say something witty. May come off as  standoffish to those who do not know him well.

Role  -

Job : Works crappy office job - unfulfilling. Performs comedy at night at underground comedy clubs (never a paid gig though).

Family : Has an estranged relationship with his parents. Maybe sends the occasional email, but they are disappointed in his career of choice.

Friends : Best friends with Todd, mostly just acquaintances with others.

Finances : Financially stable but unhappy with his job.

Religion : Agnostic.

Domestic Arrangements : Roommates with Todd’s brother, who is never actually seen so he basically lives alone.

The Goal/Want Actively Pursued: “To Win”. Jack’s goal is to become a successful comedian. Although he has never been well received, he continues to perform as he hopes to one day have a career in stand-up.

The Wound : “Rejection/Failure”. Although Jack is highly intelligent, his parents have never accepted him or his dream to become a comedian, believing it to be an unreliable and unstable career. Jack went to university and completed a law degree just to appease his parents, yet they still weren’t proud of him. Now actively pursuing a career in comedy, his parents could not be more disappointed or disconnected from their son. Jack now feels he has to be successful to prove them wrong, but that’s starting to look more and more impossible everyday…

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

I get the impression of a zainy, dry-humored character with some hilariously dark views of the world. I felt the description of your character was much stronger than his context (not putting down the creation of your characters world but the character was particularly strong in comparison). You seem to a very clear understanding of your character. Very nice!

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

BUILDING BLOCKS OF CHARACTER - Arthur

Name: Arthur Laius

Age: 14

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: White, Western. As white as they come – A complexion derived from a long lineage of Brits

Appearance: He takes no pride in his appearance commonly sporting long dark overcoats over a plain brown or grey vest and pants. He harbours dark features - Jet black shoulder length hair, a ghostly white complexion and a Wiry build.

Job: Apprentice concert pianist (Romantic/classical)

Friends: No significant friendships – When still in school he maintained a small group of friends, mostly fellow introverts, but lost them when he was forced to begin his intensive musical studies

Affiliations: Wealthy family lineage, Prestigious music instructor

Abilities: Highly skilled pianist. He is a masterful stalker - following persons of interest, eavesdropping and observing with a voyeuristic eye. 

Finances: He comes from a very wealthy family whom he still relies on completely

Religion: Protestant

Domestic arrangements: He lives with his two parents in a grand terrace in London

Intelligence: Book smart and introvertly emotional. His social intelligence leaves a lot to be desired.  

Emotional make-up: Arthur is Highly empathetic - he understands people well which confuses him at times because he struggles so deeply to communicate with them. He is a neurotic personality and is highly conscious of everything and everyone. He is calculated and introverted

Family: He has no siblings, only a middle-aged mother and father (late 30s). None of the family members are close. His parents sleep in different bedrooms. His father is extremely stern with him and, at his worst, is also violent – he struggles to display emotion. Despite this his father holds Arthur as the centrepiece of his existence – everything he does is for him and he loves him deeply. Arthur’s mother is indifferent toward him – she rarely holds  a conversation with him that has any sort of depth/significance. She feeds him, she clothes him, she does all that she must do for him and nothing more.  

Wound:

Rejection. Arthur’s mother’s indifference toward him since infancy has denied him the ability to establish emotional connection and communicate with the others. He longs, more than anything, for her affection in ways that, sometimes, creepily crosses the line between conventional parental love and lust. His relationship with his parents is his biggest trauma – highly reminiscent of Freud’s Oedipus complex.

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[wentocolesandstolemeat]

ZACH

PAINTING THE WORLD FOR MY ‘PICTURES, SOUNDS, WORDS – NON-VERBAL SHORT SCRIPT’

Original World:

A pair of thick callous hands wring the neck of a young woman (20s). She isn’t struggling anymore – only the requiem of her faint gurgles and wisps of air before she draws her final breath. Pull back to reveal TIM, a wiry man (30s) with dark features remove his hands from her neck. The interior of a filthy working class cottage.  Swastika’s and NAZI propaganda posters cover the walls of the living area.  A barrel-chested man with a shaved head (30s) lays dead on the other side of the room sitting slumped against the wall – a massive shotgun wound to his chest.  Apprehensively, Tim gets to his feet and flees from the house into the night. He runs through the streets of the working-class neighbourhood that sits on the city’s limits.  Abandoned houses, factories, migrant families smoking and drinking in their front yards. It begins to rain heavily – The Swastika and ‘Aryan brotherhood’ tattoos that cover his arms begin to run with the moisture and fade - They’re fakes.  

New World:

A pair of slender, feminine hands wring the neck of a middle-aged man (30s). He isn’t struggling anymore – only the requiem of his faint gurgles and wisps of air before he draws his final breath. Pull back to reveal Teresa, a petit woman (20s) with snow white hair remove her hands from the dead man’s neck. The interior of a public bathroom. A stoic, older man (40s) with dark features sits slumped over the toilet seat – dead with multiple stab wounds to his back and chest. Elevator jazz music plays. Teresa presses the green button to open the door and the sound of the toilet flush is heard as the door opens – she sprints into the night. A thick layer of snow blankets the inner city streets of an Asian city. Prostitutes and triad members scatter the streets.

LW3u᷿��k

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

Title: ‘Theodore’s Muse’

[beingemmasuits-blog]

Industry Perspectives Week 3: Scene based on an artwork.

Chosen Artwork: ‘Untitled (Devoe Money, Jackson, Mississippi)’ by William Eggleston

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

You’ve managed to reveal a hell of a lot about Delilah’s character in such a short space. The big print is sexy and clear too. Only thing I found sort of ‘clunky’ was the flashback because I was unsure what it was in the scene with her neighbour that triggered her to recall that specific incident with the morphine. ANYWAY - The writing is lovely and sweet and clear and you’ve revealed and interesting character. (Nice choice of artwork too)!

[vivaciousignatius-deactivated20]

This is the latest inspirations task from the NGV!

inspired by Catfish and Turtles by Trent Parke!

[wentocolesandstolemeat]

INTeresting choice of artwork! You’re writing is very clear and this piece is particularly imaginative and, despite being so far out, is quite easy to visualise - even without referencing the artwork. Is it a charcoal piece? Do you remember?