[A Pleasurable Headache] Nowhere to Hide
Everything is in increments now. My head still hasn’t fully switched from writing before baby to the current reality. It’s getting there though.
As ever, the keyword I’m focusing on is consistency. If I can get a little forward traction each day with a project that’s a win. Concentrating on volume is a fool’s errand at this point. I have learned this the hard way. If my head can remain in the world and narrative I’m creating, and the story can be inched forward, that’s a win.
Links
“Don’t Shoot Too Many Takes”: Walter Hill on Dead for a Dollar
https://filmmakermagazine.com/117043-interview-walter-hill-dead-for-a-dollar/
Walter Hill (no relation) is one of those film makers whose work I always check out, despite the often varied and mixed results. His scripts are often shining examples of minimal stark prose and dialogue. I still maintain his script for The Driver is one of the best examples of saying a lot with very little.
This interview, at Film Maker Magazine centres on his newest film, another Western. It’s a short interview but there’s a lot to take away there with using the tools and resources you have at your disposal to make the best thing you can. I hope I’m still cranking out the work at his age.
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The oral history of Andor’s prison, one of Star Wars’ most frightening creations
https://www.polygon.com/star-wars/23447904/andor-episode-10-prison-break-toilet-oral-history
SPOILERS for ANDOR ahead
I have been proselytising a lot about how good Andor has been since it’s first episode a few months ago. Gilroy and co. have widened the scope with each episode taking a good hard look at just what a rebellion entails, the difficult decisions, the compromises, the sacrifice.
Not only that it has also cast it’s gaze on the workings of the Empire itself, the hidden labour, the way power corrupts, the banality of evil, the pettiness of it, all of it’s in there and examined week to week.
If Vader, Luke, Leia and Han are the figureheads, Andor examines those who made it all possible in the first place, from the subterfuge of Mon Mothma to the drones in the Imperial intelligence apparatus. Andor excels in showing us the margins and the gutters.
The latest arc mostly deals with a prison break. This piece at Polygon deals with the genesis and production of that episode. It’s telling that in the writer’s meeting for every episode the production designer is also present. After the green screen shenanigans of The Mandalorian and the sequel trilogy it feels good to have a Star Wars show feel so lived in.
As a bonus there is also this piece by Film Crit Hulk on the writing on the show during the prison arc. Check it out.
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A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON BRITISH SHORT HORROR FICTION
https://crimereads.com/a-roundtable-discussion-on-british-short-horror-fiction/
I thoroughly enjoyed this roundtable discussion at CrimeReads on the current state of short British Horror Fiction, as well as the talk on exactly what purpose said fiction performs.
” It means there is nowhere to hide. Fiction which unsettles, terrifies or shocks needs to touch core human instincts. Telling a horror story in a few thousand words disciplines writers to focus on those core elements. Horror short stories can still be complex and ambitious, but, when done well, they also pack a punch which is often lost in the longer form.”
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Best-Selling Author Jeff VanderMeer Finds That Nature Is Stranger Than Fiction
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/fall-2022/best-selling-author-jeff-vandermeer-finds-nature
Sticking with writing (kind of) this piece on the Audobon Society of America‘s website is a look at Annihilation author Jeff VanderMeer’s efforts to rewild his back garden.
VanderMeer’s love of nature comes through in most of his work, but it’s great to see how he created this little strip of nature.
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The End of the Road to Serfdom
https://doctorow.medium.com/the-end-of-the-road-to-serfdom-bfad6f3b35a9
A great piece by Cory Doctorow the changes in social mobility from postwar to the modern hellscape we find ourselves in today.
“Today, almost all the gains from the thirty glorious years have been transferred back to aristocrats: our public schools and hospitals are now “public-private partnerships” run by elite hedge funds. Our defined benefit pensions have been replaced with sagging 401(k)s that put us at the mercy of a market controlled by our bosses. Our houses have been stolen during the financial crisis, or burdened with unsustainable mortgages, and whatever wealth they represent is spoken for several times over, to pay for our old age, our kids’ student loans, and our medical debt.”
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Home invasion
https://www.hughrundle.net/home-invasion/
Finally, many of you reading this may have made the jump over to Mastodon this week after Chief Twat’s antics since taking ownership. I created an account back in 2017 that I dusted off recently.
The vibe over there is significantly more chill and laid back. The post above, from Hugh Rundle, sums up the differences between the two platforms nicely. He also expands on the different feelings existing and new users of Mastodon may be feeling, as well as some of the nuances Mastodon has over Twitter (Twitter was a lot of things, but never nuanced).
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Right, I’m off to move this baby from chair to crib like a golden idol in a Peruvian temple. See you in two!