Madmind

Thanks to Kevin Koch and his blog post I not only got reminded of those various awards (BAFTA and Oscar anyone?) going on but he also delivered a list of all nominees this year. Of course I am talking about the animation categories at the moment. I sadly didn’t write anything about animation at all in the last few weeks (with the exception of my personal 3D short). So I take this good chance to, well, write something about the nominees and some that are missing.

Kevin already mentions it in his post but it is nevertheless interesting that each animated short is listed only once throughout the awards. I guess this is partly due to the politics and reasoning. One example is the short THE PEARCE SISTERS with

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(Spoilers ahead)

It seems to pay that I have read several books about screenwriting several times, especially STORY by Robert McKee. Because, while watching TALK TO ME, I suddenly switched to my Analysze Mode and realized that this movie is a constant ongoing conflict on many levels.

The Movie

Okay, what is TALK TO ME? TALK TO ME (2007) is a drama/biography that tells the true story of Petey Greene, a successful and popular radio show host during the 60s and 70s who once was an ex-con. Although it might sound cheesy a little bit this movie is nevertheless really good. Besides the interesting characters and the ongoing sparks of humor it is the constant conflict that sets this movie apart.

TALK TO ME, STORY and the use of conflict

Well, anyone who reads STORY …

This part continues the analysis of the second part of “The Dawn of Man” in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick. It covers all scenes and sequences that take place on the space station Dr. Floyd was flying to during the space waltz sequence (and which was discussed in the last part). Besides a visual analysis this part will also mark the first one that will take a look at the dialogue spoken by the characters.

(Note: All images are copyright Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) and used solely for the purpose of analyzing 2001.)

After the space waltz sequence finishes with a close-up/fly-by of the exterior of the rotating station, Kubrick cuts right to the arrival of Dr. Floyd at the “reception” of the station.

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Exactly one week ago I had an idea for my 3D short movie. An idea that seemed too good to be true because it almost fit everything (as you can read here).

Now this last week I had a bunch of other things to do (as also hinted by the lack of the newest 2001-Post) and I used this chance to let my feelings cool down towards this idea again – I let the initial hype go away.

And you know what? I still like the idea I had.

And you know what this means? I can finally move on! Well, not really, but I can go from the sketch phase of the story design to the actual story design process. In other words: I now can lay out all the major

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If you have read my last post, you know that I decided to put some of my story ideas for my 3D short movie, especially the ending, to rest in order to find new possibilities and conclusions.

You know what happened? After flushing down the old ending down the toilet I began my thinking process…

And it took me only 10 minutes to find something. 10.freaking.minutes.

But you what is scaring me? The idea I have seems to be perfect. It fits the overall story, it fits the main character. It even fits the backstory I have written about. It seems to fit everywhere. But – more importantly – it seems to add the feelings and emotions I am constantly after. It would tell a touching story. And it would have an ending

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