Inspiration

[Frapalino]

I was sitting here doing a paper for my film class and I got to thinking about why the heck I even want to make films. The good thing is I have a long list of reasons. A big reason I want to make films is because of films that have inspired me. I can really nail it down to two films that absolutely decided for me that film is what I want to do for life. It wasn't so much as I decided this is what I want to do but more like this is what I have to do. It had infected my body. Since, I was young I always wanted to tell stories but it wasn't until I saw these movies that everything clicked. Signs and 28 Days Later were those films. They will forever have a special place in my heart and I will hold them in higher esteem than they deserve.

Anyway, I was just wondering if there was any of y'all that had a moment similar to mine or if there is a work of art that makes you want to live. I'm just curious to hear some different stories. It seems most of my film/music friends have the same type of story.

 

[Friday]

I was sitting here doing a paper for my film class and I got to thinking about why the heck I even want to make films. The good thing is I have a long list of reasons. A big reason I want to make films is because of films that have inspired me. I can really nail it down to two films that absolutely decided for me that film is what I want to do for life. It wasn't so much as I decided this is what I want to do but more like this is what I have to do. It had infected my body. Since, I was young I always wanted to tell stories but it wasn't until I saw these movies that everything clicked. Signs and 28 Days Later were those films. They will forever have a special place in my heart and I will hold them in higher esteem than they deserve.

Anyway, I was just wondering if there was any of y'all that had a moment similar to mine or if there is a work of art that makes you want to live. I'm just curious to hear some different stories. It seems most of my film/music friends have the same type of story.

28 Days Later? Really? I can see signs but I'd be interested in hearing how 28 Days Later moved you.

I think I'm moved most by a movie when I can't see the ending coming. I'm one of those people who have seen too many movies/read too many books. Very little surprises me anymore. I'm not even allowed to talk about a movie if I'm watching it with friends, just to let them know when i know how it ends, so when I don't see it coming I get extremely excited. Then I normally re-watch it looking for the clues I missed because I'm a bit obsessive. Well, very obsessive.

Still, the last movie to really get me like that was Sympathy for Mr. Vengence. Its an amazingly beautiful film (The cinematographer outdid himself) made up mostly of static shots with heavy motion in them. The story is about a mute man trying to get a kidney for his sister, trying legitimate means, illegal means, and eventually resorting to the kidnapping of his ex-employer's daughter. And this only encompasses about half the film.

 

[Frapalino]

when i saw 28 days later it was in a near empty theater. and the part where scarecrow is walking around the empty london was just so powerful and real to me. it was shot on digital, it was empty and dirty, the sound design in that scene is amazing, it looks beautiful. it was just such a massive feeling. like i was walking around the city. at that point i knew that someday i wanted to make some kid feel the same way i felt right then.

i just moved Sympathy for Mr. Vengence to the top of my netflix. or right behind 400 blows.

Originally Posted by Baxter
I think I'm moved most by a movie when I can't see the ending coming. I'm one of those people who have seen too many movies/read too many books. Very little surprises me anymore

i'm the same way. the more stories i read, hear, watch, the less suprised i am. i always loved being shocked by a film, it's getting harder and harder to do. sometimes i try not to think and just take the movie it. with me now, it is less about plot and more about character interaction. a story can have a normal mundane plot but fasinating characters and i'm hooked. i guess that's why love stories are often the best of films.

 

[saintpetesam]

Anyway, I was just wondering if there was any of y'all that had a moment similar to mine or if there is a work of art that makes you want to live. I'm just curious to hear some different stories. It seems most of my film/music friends have the same type of story.

Excellent question!

The Forever War made me want to write a novel. A Farewell to Arms made me want to Be A Writer.

I read Joe Haldeman's The Forever War in 9th grade while my classmates were reading A Tale of Two Cities (I'd already read the latter twice). I'd been reading science fiction since I read my first Heinlein book in 4th grade (note: a ten year old, no matter how precocious, should not be allowed to read A Stranger in a Strange Land) but for some reason, Haldeman inspired me to write a detailed, 20 page outline for my own epic science fiction yarn.

Then, the next year, I read A Farewell to Arms. While it wasn't Hemingway's best novel (he never topped The Sun Also Rises, IMNSHO), its depiction of the futility of war was even more evocative than Haldeman's. Even more importantly, Frederick and Catherine were so well-drawn that they felt like real people to me. It was the first book to ever make me weep.

Oddly enough, I've never re-read either book. I have a copy of Farewell that my mother gave me for Christmas the year I finished grad school, but it's a first edition and I'm afraid to open it. I suppose I'll pick up a paperback copy next time I'm at the book store.

y'all

My favorite Southernism and one that I consciously use because I think it should be part of standard English.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

There was never any movie moment I had that made me want to write, it was more of a 'hey, I'm actually good at this' moment.

It was in my Humanties class Senior year in High school, and the teacher assigned us an essay, two to three pages about a common saying. We all picked a saying from a hat, then we had to do research/write a creative story behind the saying.

Everyone else in the class did research on the saying, I was the only one who attempted a story. I wrote, for about five pages mind you, a story of a Captain, and his Sergeant, trying to use a catapult and shoot two birds with one stone. The two of them bickered back and forth about the logistics behind being able to hit the two birds, when finally they decided to stop trying, and instead, use one bird in the hand, to get two more in a bush.

The story earned me an A+ in that class, and from that moment on I knew I had a talent. Too bad it took me until the end of college to go after it. Oh well, science loves me too.

But, whenever I see a good show, like Firefly, where the writing is excellent, I get inspired to write even more.

Blairwood people, it rules.

 

[darkspider]

I've never been truly inspired by a movie that I can think of.

One of the main things that started my love to write was 2-3 years ago, so maybe freshman year in high school. We had an english class, and the assignment was to write a short story, or the beginning of a longer one, maybe 2 pages long.
So I write mine, and the teacher reads it to the class, and once he finished, there was a huge silence. I thought I screwed up big time and it was stupid. Then some kid asked who it was and I said it was me. Everyone just turned and looked at me, then clapped their hands and said it was awesome, etc...
Of course, I still need work, but I do think I'm getting better.
But one of the main sources of inspiration for me is history. Mainly ancient/medival times. There is so much one can do with all of it. It;s amazing.

 

[Random]

The two films that really got me inspired was The Fellowship of the Ring and the Matrix, because those were some of the few movies that left me just saying, "wow". I never read a lord of the rings book and I haven't seen a fantasy type that kept me interested, but I was so into it didnt matter it was 3 hours long, I was at the edge of my seat. Those two movies really wanted to get me into film making which I never did as much as I would like to.

But for my flash cartoon, I've done a few crappy things than I saw stuff by Legendary Frog and I was very impressed by what he could do I stepped it up to do a show based on me and my high school friends. I didnt expect to continue the series in college but I saw College University and that motivated me to go forward.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

I love Legendary Frog

 

[saintpetesam]

Everyone else in the class did research on the saying, I was the only one who attempted a story. I wrote, for about five pages mind you, a story of a Captain, and his Sergeant, trying to use a catapult and shoot two birds with one stone. The two of them bickered back and forth about the logistics behind being able to hit the two birds, when finally they decided to stop trying, and instead, use one bird in the hand, to get two more in a bush.

That totally rocks.

Blairwood people, it rules.

I'm working on it. I've read most of the first episode, but reading in script format takes more effort, so it's slow going. I can say that much so far: I'm intrigued enough to keep reading.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

That totally rocks.

It did

I'm working on it. I've read most of the first episode, but reading in script format takes more effort, so it's slow going. I can say that much so far: I'm intrigued enough to keep reading.

No worries, after the first one, it goes into prose.

I need to do a Character Listing, so people stop getting confused by the many characters

 

[saintpetesam]

I need to do a Character Listing, so people stop getting confused by the many characters

Consider a wiki. It makes keeping track of things very easy. I've put one together as a series bible for Gulf City Guardians and I've also created one to use as a general writer's notebook. Both have made my writing life a lot easier.

 

[moonmaster]

For me, writing was just a natural extension of art. I've been drawing for as long as I can remember and trying to produce comic book art just led me towards wanting to be a comic book writer. Honestly, I can't remember a specific moment when I decided though. It just seemed natural to suddenly decide that I want to be a writer. There was no big epiphany because it just kind of felt like something I was supposed to be doing all along.

 

[Frapalino]

moonie,

have you actually made a comic?

saintpete,

do you write or are you attempting to write for a living or trying to get stuff published.


it really upsets me when people have dreams and instead of pursuing them they meet some chick or guy and fall in love and think they need a job w/ benefits that will have decent pay. and for the rest of their life they are borderline miserable.

i'm afraid that i will get sucked into that. i'd much rather be a failure than a quitter. if i try and find out i just suck then i'll guess i'll be okay with that. i'll just be a teacher or fire fighter.

 

[saintpetesam]

saintpete,

do you write or are you attempting to write for a living or trying to get stuff published.

Writing is both my vocation and my avocation. About 75% of my day job involves some form of technical writing, which I enjoy nearly as much as creative writing. I write fiction for the pure enjoyment of the act and the art (see the link in my sig for one example). I write poetry (a little). I write about writing with my grad school office mate who is now a professor of English. I spend about 20 hours a week of my non-work time on creative writing-related activities.

As for getting published--not right now. I've been published, and some day I'll seek publication again. But for now, success = completing the act of writing itself. Getting published is an entirely different activity and one for which I currently have no patience.

 

[moonmaster]

moonie,

have you actually made a comic?

The problem is that I don't think I'm a good enough artist to do the kind of stories I want to tell, so drawing something of my own seems like kind of an unlikely idea. Since any script I write will probably never be fully realized, I've kind of stupidly held back on actually writing comic book scripts and instead done some prose and poetry (I write comic reviews and editorials for my school newspaper too).

But I'm finally buckling down and getting into scripting. Just to test the waters and have some fun, I'm writing some Global Frequency stories, since their extremely self-contained, simple, and inventive. I'm writing one right now. It's coming along much easier than I thought it would.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

it really upsets me when people have dreams and instead of pursuing them they meet some chick or guy and fall in love and think they need a job w/ benefits that will have decent pay. and for the rest of their life they are borderline miserable.

I hear ya

i'm afraid that i will get sucked into that. i'd much rather be a failure than a quitter. if i try and find out i just suck then i'll guess i'll be okay with that. i'll just be a teacher or fire fighter.

You are my new favorite poster. I feel exactly the same way. If the person you fell in love with squashes your dreams, then they are not the person for you

 

[Frapalino]

Originally Posted by Ultimate Houde
You are my new favorite poster.

too bad i can't say the same for you, because i believe science has been the downfall of man.

i hate smilies. i can't believe i just postered one.

 

[Random]

i hate smilies. i can't believe i just postered one.

I use to be like that, but no one ever got that I was joking

 

[Joe Kalicki]

I use to be like that, but no one ever got that I was joking

Yeah, I often have the same problem. Maybe not here though, because everybody seems to "get it" for the most part. Or they just think I'm a huge serious jerk.

But I started using smilies very recently, not necessarily to show I'm kididng, but because I think they help with a lot of visual jokes and things that get lost in text-only exchanges.

Now, if we could just get a nodding smiley we'll be all set.

 

[Planet-man]

Now, if we could just get a nodding smiley we'll be all set.

The other big forum I post a lot at, Superman Homepage, doesn't have an eyeroll smiley. It drives everyone crazy. That's the one smiley that you can't express with a keyboard.