See the Fangrrl Squee

Good reading, despite everyone being almost completely cold (er, in the acting sense, I mean). Definite issue with folks adopting their I'm reading a script! voice (higher pitched, rushing through the words) but, for fuck's sake, I'm dealing with cheerful amateurs and I should cut them some slack. So I did. Next time? Not so much but, next time, I expect to have two of the three proposed cast members reading together.

Moreover, hearing other people reading the script aloud positively identified some spots where I need to cut down/break up the dialog. When your talent has to gasp for breath in the middle of a sentence, something is wrong.

So, a good night. It would have been nigh-perfect if I could pull this frackin' footage off my camera. As it is - martini time!

I might have a sound person for Doctor Who And The Locusts of Time.

Whee!

I might as well bite the bullet whilst I'm still bubbling with enthusiasm and start the shot-breakdown for the fanscript.

Problem is, I keep getting the giggles whenever I pick up the hard copy and see the cover page. It's just your basic, bog-standard screenplay title page, but it still makes me giggle.

Clearly, I'm very easily pleased, these days.

I'm sure that the aggravation of re-learning narrative photography will bring me back down to earth with the proverbial thump.

I've gotten some v. helpful feedback from the betas - confirming certain thoughts I had about some things and forcing me to re-examine others. Excellent!

God help me if I actually get this to the point of being produce-able...

Lessons learned today:

- So what if someone has done it before? As long as you're not engaging in plagiarism, get on with it and have some fun.
- Sometimes, the characters insist on standing around and talking. Just frakkin' write it already, and worry about fixing it after you finish the first draft.
- I'm going to fan-writer hell for at least three reasons: the name of the antagonists, the manner of how the plot unfolds and how the Doctor saves the day.

But! The first draft is done. There are many things wrong with it, of course, but it's got a beginning, a middle and an end. That'll keep me going through the revision process.

Crikey. All this to produce footage for a class I might or might not take in the autumn...

And now I'm going to pour myself a small cold celebratory something. My first completed, if not finished, script in *mumblemumble* years!

PS - final page count: 30 (edit: 29, I just cut out a superfluous character and fixed a major problem w/Lucie in the process). Estimated running time 15 - 17 minutes, which is a bit longer than anticipated, but not by much.

The silly fanscript has a name!

"The Locusts of Time"

No, I don't care if it sounds reeeeeeally obvious or just too old-school for words. I might think of a better name, later, but this will work for now. I felt all weird and flappy, trying to work on an unnamed project.

Well, ain't that a turnup for the books?

I figured out an ending for the as-yet-untitled fanscript outline, so now I can get to work on the actual script part of it.

I'm too-often stymied by the final third of a story idea, so forgive me if I'm unreasonably chuffed about the situation.

It's not a great ending, granted, but, honestly, the point of writing the script isn't fanac, but a means of producing footage for the Final Cut Pro class in which I'm hoping to re-enroll, this autumn. So I shouldn't lie awake at night about it. It's got a beginning, a middle and an end, and there's every chance that I won't even film the entire thing, just enough of it to produce 2 - 4 minutes of finished footage. So I need to quit fussing and just bloody do it already. :)

Also, I received a rather nice compliment from someone I hold in high regard (something along the lines of having Stephen Hawking asking you to help him with his maths, although I am exaggerating just a tad) and so that's made me feel happier than I've any right to feel at the moment. I'd explain further but, er, I can't. Ask me in six months, as it could all fall apart in the meantime (although I hope it doesn't!).

So, from a fannish point of view, today is a surprisingly good day!

This weekend, I've nothing significant planned, so I think I'll sit down, re-watch a few fanvids and write some proper reviews. I might as well take advantage of all these writer gluons (or whatever you fancy calling them) while they're whizzing around the atmosphere.

A good night's sleep (and how!) has restored some of my equilibirum.

More to the point, the chucked-out idea has been retrieved from the waste-bin, smoothed out a bit and is being re-examined. I think there could be a fun little 15 minute story in there, after all. Possibly.

But I know my limits. I need a collaborator - someone to bounce ideas back-and-forth with, to bring me back down to earth when I go bonkers and to help me recognize the wrong tree when I start barking up it, and vice-versa of course.

The rumpled-up idea is making squeaky noises at me about being a Eighth Doctor story, although I can't make up my mind if it's Charly or Lucie in tow - stop laughing!

I've got a setting, a conflict and a general idea of how it'll all resolve, but it's frightfully bland at the moment. Hence the need for collaboration. I work a lot better with a co-conspirator - as my past larp writing has proven.

If you're interested, I've a couple of cavaeats:
- Be familiar with Doctor Who in general, and the post-TVM story of the Eighth Doctor in particular.
- Be in the San Francisco bay area. I much prefer face-to-face talk for such projects, rather than email or even the phone. I'll provide the sugar water/coffee beans of choice and can meet at a mutually agreeable location.

(I'll be reposting this over on the G1 forums, later today...)