July 22, 2024

Of Gods and Monsters and Fjords

This is Finish Your Monsters, a weekly blog/newsletter/blogletter about the creative process. I'm sharing adventures in art and life as well as setting CLIFFHANGER goals for myself, so--

--DID I MAKE MY GOAL?

Last week, I committed to making some progress on my indie horror feature film while traveling.

And thanks to this nebulous and poorly defined goal, I totally nailed it. While on a cruise ship in a fjord, I got a great email from a potential collaborator on the film, answered some insightful questions from an investor, and I did some important research.

While I was writing the first draft of the film’s script I had a character describe taking a cruise ship excursion in a small boat and having a creepy encounter in a remote island off the fjords. This week, I took a cruise ship excursion and saw remote islands off the fjords. Luckily my only creepy encounter was a friendly but slightly tipsy man who wanted to explain “how deep some Norwegian rocks go.”

ADVENTURES OF THE WEEK--

I write to you from north of the Arctic Circle in Tromsø, Norway. It’s about 7:30 am, the sun did not set, and the birds have not stopped screaming. That doesn’t sound like a great blurb for a travel guide, but this place is fantastic.

I’m very lucky to be here. I feel gorged on beauty. There is something spectacular, funny, weird, or interesting around every bend. A lot of my ancestry is Norwegian and Scandinavian so this has not just been a trip into the fjords, but a trip into my VERY SOUL.

I’m being melodramatic, but I do think environment shapes cultures and it’s intriguing to think how much of the fjord-carved culture was passed down to me through a trail of Minnesota-bound immigrants.

Because I’m drawn to the creative and romantic, I keep thinking of trolls and Thor and vikings. I kept pointing to a particular set of misty hills stabbing the sky and telling my wife, “those are THOR mountains!” More than anything, every time I look at one of the sprawling vistas, I keep thinking, “How could you look at this and not dream of gods and monsters?”

Being in nature (and the 9th floor lounge) are great ways to get creativity flowing. I’ve been jotting down notes for my stand-up set in my birthday show (tickets here!), working on a rough outline for another feature film script, and having a blast filming things for a quick little travelogue horror short I’m going to make called DEEP INTO NORWAY.

But my favorite creative adventure has been sitting in the lounge, looking out at the everything, and doing quick sketches. (Thanks to my niece for providing the sketch paper!) I’ve been scrawling rough and wild little fantasy drawings while she’s been crafting beautiful watercolor vistas! A great way to process the trip.

We’re headed to the Troll Museum then on to Oslo to stare at Munch’s The Scream so I need to keep this blogletter short. Which means it’s time for—

MY GOAL FOR THE WEEK--

I’m tempted to say that I want to get home without losing any of my books, pants, or tech cords, but I want to stay focused on the creative goals. So this week I’m going to write a revised task list for the feature film. Always in motion is the future and film pre-production doubly so. It’s an important and reasonable goal to reset once I get home.

YOUR GOAL FOR THE WEEK--

I would absolutely LOVE to hear what you're working on this week in the comments below. What's your goal? Is it creative? What are the challenges? What makes you dream of gods and monsters? How can I help you finish your monsters?

LIGHT PLUGS—

AWOOGA! NOW AVAILABLE FOR LIVESTREAM!

This comedy/variety show celebrating a big birthday is also going to be LIVESTREAMED! It’s called HORROR YEARS OLD and tickets are live here! Friday, August 16th at Lyric-Hyperion or viewable anywhere with an internet connection. I would love a packed house (and friends watching from afar) so if you’re interested, grab the tickets now!

I also wanted to share about Vote Forward—it’s a program where you sign up to write letters to voters. There’s a typed form and you add a personal message about WHY voting matters to you, nothing partisan. The org has done follow up studies and it really works to increase voter turnout. My goal this year is to write 200 letters. I’ve written 40 so far. If you’re interested, you can find out more by visiting Vote Forward!

Our short horror film, THE NIGHTMARE ADORABLE, has now been accepted in 19 film festivals. Screenings coming up in the Houston, Missoula, and more! Details on my website!

A LITTLE SKETCH--

Here’s one of the sketches I worked on while floating through the fjords. A curious troll may or may not eat us all. So it goes. Hope everyone has a wonderful week!