After waxing poetic about my antique typewriter, I got a message from a fellow here in Toronto who makes me look like the real piker I am.
Martin Howard is a collector of antique typewriters and has even gone so far as to have a beautiful, custom display cabinet made to show off his stunning collection:
You can (and should!) check out his website — the Martin Howard Collection at www.antiquetypewriters.com.
Why was it that I simply HAD to own this typewriter when I saw it at the antique mart? It’s old, yet incredibly still works perfectly (needs a new ribbon).
I wrote one, 120 page script on a typewriter and the subsequent several dozens of thousands of pages since were all done on computers. I joke — at least I think I’m joking — that if I had to go back to a typewriter again, I’d quit screenwriting and go to medical school. Using typewriters only served to make me NOT want to use typewriters.
So why did this typewriter need to be mine? Maybe, as I get older I feel a link to those writers who came before me and the tools of their craft. Maybe as get older I get swept up in useless sentimentality.
Maybe it’s a reminder to me of an age when writing was a physical activity. Each letter was deliberately pressed. An accidental brush of a key cap and the Model 12 will hardly know that you’re alive. You wanna “b?” You had best press that key like you mean it!
And even the exclamation mark required effort. You feel like shouting your point? First you hit the single-quote key ( ‘ ) located on the Model 12 as SHIFT 8. Then you hit the backspace key and add a period under the quote. Voila! An exclamation mark.
On a computer shouting’s as easy as whispering, so why whisper? Not so with the Model 12. You wanna make a point? You better wanna MAKE that point cause the Model 12 is going to make you work for it. Four keys worth of effort; it better be good.
Ahhh…I’m sure I’m romanticizing, and maybe that’s the point. The clack-clack of a manual typewriter holds an appeal. The sound means that someone is doing something. Not the soft little “squish-a-chiclet” of a computer keyboard. It’s a primal sound, like something out of the iron age. Something transformative. Like dozens of little hammers pounding hot ideas on the anvil of the platen in the hope that something beautiful will be beaten onto or out of the blank sheet.
Until I figure out the appeal, there my Remington Model 12 sits between my Epson RX680 and my Brother DCP7080. One can’t help but feel a tad sorry for my Epson and Brother for they can’t appreciate the real significance of this ancient piece of writing magic that’s now at rest between them; what the Model 12 is really saying to them: “Boys? When you’re time is up and your technology is abandoned, nobody — NOBODY — will love you the way I am loved. I may be from 1926, but it’s your days that are numbered.”
Love it or hate it, WATCHMEN is now out on Blu-ray and DVD. Running out to get the Blu-ray version, I discovered it contained the absolutely coolest, most jaw-droppingly great feature: Maximum Movie Mode.
Watching the film with MMM turned on, you are treated to countless seamless transitions from the film to a variety of additional information, all in context. More than “pop-up videos”, the film shrinks down to a picture within the picture and director Zack Snyder walks on and offers commentary on what’s going on. He’ll often pause the movie (playing behind him on single and double screens) to point out interesting and amusing production details and anectdotes. And when he’s done, the picture-in-picture readjusts and you’re back to watching the movie once more.
Beyond this, you frequently get a timeline view of “Our World” and “Their World”; what was happening for real at various times compared to the alternate reality of Watchmen’s time.
Capping it off are invites to watch production videos as they become relevant to the story, and frame-to-scene comparisons between the film and the graphic novel. All seamlessly presented.
Maximum Movie Mode is definitely NOT the way to watch the movie the first time around, however for a second viewing where one wants to dig into the mind and craft of the filmmakers in a more contextual way than the typical “making of” videos, MMM is worth running out and buying a Blu-ray player for.
Just wanted to say WELCOME! to everybody who’s gotten on board with MY STORY CAN BEAT UP YOUR STORY! so far.
In particular, special thanks to Yan Krupnik for helping us reach over a THOUSAND TO-based film and TV peeps with news of the seminar. Check out the trailer for Yan’s new feature “Drink Tea Outside” at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdMcTs6AMb8
It’s official…Contour for Windows officially goes on sale Monday, March 30! Pre-sales are going amazing, and there will be a discount available for registered owners of the TotallyWrite Development Suite. If that describes you, keep your eyes on your inbox for details.
Thanks again to the great gang at Mariner Software for all of their hard work. EXCELSIOR!!
I love this! It demonstrates how the brain is hardwired to make sense out of story. You may have bits and pieces of a story inside your head, but if you don’t know how to structure it properly you’ll never be able to make it make sense…and one of your friends might just make a video about you.
It’s called the Storitel Beat Machine and it’s a new spin on an old idea about randomizing ideas. I’m not sure how useful it is, but as far as the implementation this thing ROCKS! CLICK HERE to check it out.
UPDATE (March 30, 2009) — Looks like the Storitel Beat Machine has been taken down. I saw something about “legal action” being threatened! I’d love to find out what happened, and if I do I’ll do another update. Stay tuned…
This blog looks at films -- current and past, in the theatres and on DVD -- and analyzes how they measure up to the Four Questions and Four Archetypes; two components of Mariner Software's new story structure program CONTOUR. Invariably, in each analysis there will be SPOILERS.
If I may suggest...please see the movie first and then read the analysis on this blog. Or don't. But don't say I didn't warn you!
-- Jeffrey Alan Schechter
4 QUESTIONS? 4 ARCHETYPES?
Not sure what these terms mean? These are important concepts you'll need to know in order to understand these posts.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeffrey Alan Schechter and CONTOUR AT THE MOVIES with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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Why was it that I simply HAD to own this typewriter when I saw it at the antique mart? It’s old, yet incredibly still works perfectly (needs a new ribbon).
Maybe it’s a reminder to me of an age when writing was a physical activity. Each letter was deliberately pressed. An accidental brush of a key cap and the Model 12 will hardly know that you’re alive. You wanna “b?” You had best press that key like you mean it!
Watching the film with MMM turned on, you are treated to countless seamless transitions from the film to a variety of additional information, all in context. More than “pop-up videos”, the film shrinks down to a picture within the picture and director Zack Snyder walks on and offers commentary on what’s going on. He’ll often pause the movie (playing behind him on single and double screens) to point out interesting and amusing production details and anectdotes. And when he’s done, the picture-in-picture readjusts and you’re back to watching the movie once more.
It’s official…
