There was something oddly comforting about watchingFifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson having an awkward mother-daughter spat with mom Melanie Griffith on the Oscars red carpet. When asked if Griffith had seen the film, in which Johnson plays an oft-nude virginal initiate into the world of BDSM, she said no and that she didn’t need to see it to know her daughter was a good actress. Cue a familiar eye roll and a few fed-up expletives from a bratty Johnson.read article
Specifically, “one that doesn’t fall apart two days later.” He said this in a speech back in 1978, but, like his fictional universes, this article’s wisdom is still standing:
Our kind of guy
by Philip K. Dick
First, before I begin to bore you with the usual sort of things science fiction writers say in speeches, let me bring you official greetings from Disneyland. I consider myself a spokesperson for Disneyland because I live just a few miles from it—and, as if that were not enough, I once had the honor of being interviewed there by Paris TV.
For several weeks after the interview, I was really ill and confined to bed. I think it was the whirling teacups that did it. Elizabeth Antebi, who was the producer of the film, wanted to have me whirling around in one of the giant teacups while discussing the rise of fascism with Norman Spinrad… an old friend of mine who writes excellent science fiction. We also discussed Watergate, but we did that on the deck of Captain Hook’s pirate ship. Little children wearing Mickey Mouse hats—those black hats with the ears—kept running up and bumping against us as the cameras whirred away, and Elizabeth asked unexpected questions. Norman and I, being preoccupied with tossing little children about, said some extraordinarly stupid things that day. Today, however, I will have to accept full blame for what I tell you, since none of you are wearing Mickey Mouse hats and trying to climb up on me under the impression that I am part of the rigging of a pirate ship.read article
Seriously. Here’s how to do it. Because there may be times when you actually want to create a ‘cardboard’ villain, one who is ‘hilariously’ even one-dimensional. There are times…
On the other hand you might want to go 180 degree turn and actually create a villain who has some moxie, some real reasons for villainous behavior.
You may have seen it yourself: the scene a while back in which James Gordon and Dr. Leslie Thompkins stand in front of their police department colleagues getting very well acquainted. It happened during an episode of Gotham and although the television Leslie wasn’t the Leslie Dick Giordano and I introduced in Detective Comics #457, I didn’t mind. I know that television shows are not comic books: they have different techniques, strengths, weaknesses, and that the story being told there on the tube wasn’t our story and that serialized characters have to evolve if they are to survive for decades, as Leslie has.
In the weeks since the television Leslie was introduced, we’ve seen her become her own person – witty, intelligent, feisty. Independent. I’d happily watch her if her name were Honorifica Flabdiggle, especially if Bertha, like Leslie, were played by the talented and truly lovely Morena Baccarin.
She was created – Leslie, not Honorifica- to serve the plot of the particular story we were working on, to supplement Bruce Wayne’s biography, and to add an element to the Batman mythos.read article
Adventures of a Web Series Newbie – Chapter 94 by Leesa Dean
This week I went to a workshop that was part of series called Build Your Channel and held at and run by YouTube in their NYC offices. This event had been previously scheduled a few weeks back but they had to change the date because of the blizzard. The series is intended to help creators broaden audiences and this one specialized in Channel and Video Optimization. It was packed.
Since I’m planning on releasing a series later this year and promotion and audience building is what my main focus is this days, I was chomping at the bit to check this out.
Turns out a friend, Robin, who’s in the process of upgrading her site was also going so we met and went together. They took us a few flights down to a special classroom, set up just for these workshops. Which was pretty impressive. They had refreshments and about 120 people were there.read article
with mom Melanie Griffith on the Oscars red carpet. When asked if Griffith had seen the film, in which Johnson plays an oft-nude virginal initiate into the world of BDSM, she said no and that she didn’t need to see it to know her daughter was a good actress. Cue a familiar eye roll and a few fed-up expletives from a bratty Johnson.
This week I went to a workshop that was part of series called Build Your Channel and held at and run by YouTube in their NYC offices. This event had been previously scheduled a few weeks back but they had to change the date because of the blizzard. The series is intended to help creators broaden audiences and this one specialized in Channel and Video Optimization. It was packed.