Quick update

I have to apologise for the lack of posting lately; things have been a bit hectic.

I went down to our company's London office last week and used the time to get back into the writing swing of things (train journeys and a night in a hotel are ideal tools to help with that).

I've taken 'Only in Dreams' into act two and can actually see a path through to act three and the end. This can only be bad news as this screenplay should NOT be that easy. I'll plug away to the end and see what I come up with. I'm still unsure about this as a concept, so when I am finished I may need to get some notes on it.

I'm sure I'll have more confidence in the script when it is finished, or at least be able to see what needs fixing :)

In other news I have applied for a job in our London office. I have no idea if I will get it, but I am in with a good chance (and have an interview). It won't require me to move down to the city, but I will mean I have to travel down there for two days a week. I know that sounds a pain, and it is, however my wife is okay with it and you have to take your opportunities when they arise. I guess there will be lots of train journeys for me to keep my writing going.

Anyway, I have an interview I need to swat up for.

Later

C

Big Brother is Watching You!

You really can get some good information out of Google Analytics.

Following up on my last post where someone searched for "Chris Parr" (that's my name folks), I looked at what Google could tell me and it turns out that the person doing the searching was located in (or near) Madison, Wisconsin, USA. I can even tell you the operating system they used, screen resolution, type of internet browser, number of colours their computer was running with, and a ton of other information.

It shows that person has only stopped by that one time, but if you come again, say hi.

Oooooh, all this information makes me feel powerful. Aint' big brother great! :)

Google Search Terms

So most people in the scribeosphere do the Google Analytics thing and have a laugh at the searches that bring people to their blog.

I signed up and waited for strange searches like "ham and cheese anal water sports" (hey, its the strangest I could come up with of the top of my head: analyse that!), so I could create a humorous post about it, but alas nothing remotely along those lines.

There are lots and lots of searches for unlock codes for screenwriting software (you naughty, naughty people you. Yes you!), but the strangest search was "how to write birthday call". I've no idea what they were looking for.

Anyway, to the point. One of the searches was for me "Chris Parr". Who are you? Were you looking for me or someone with the same name as me?

Show yourself dammit!

How do you know me? Are you friend or foe? Animal, vegetable or mineral? Skeleton in my closet? Man, woman, alien? or all of the above playing with my mind?

I may never know.

Increased Momentum

Today I've discovered a new drive for 'Only in Dreams'.

I spent this lunchtime writing out a new beat sheet and I'm now really excited about the script again. My excitement comes from the fact that I'm sure this is something totally new that no one has done before (at least not that I've seen). Now there could be a reason for that (i.e. the concept just doesn't work), but I've managed to map out a story from start to finish so that can't be bad. I've no idea if I can pull this off and I think it is really going to test my ability to write, but I'm up for the challenge.

I'm also going down to London for two days on business next week so there will a train journey each way and a night in a hotel to really get my teeth into it. I hope to be at least 40% into it by the time I get home on Tuesday night.

Anyway, got to get back to work (don't you just hate it when you sit next to your boss?).

Later

Chris

Changed my mind

Okay, I've removed the Snap link previews.

They don't work exactly as they should with blogger so I've removed them and I'll tweak them on my test blog.

Sorry if you wanted to see how they worked, but you can go here and visit the Artful Writer who has them implemented correctly.

Chris

New Blog Feature!

If you hover over any external link on this site (try it on my blogroll) you will now be shown a little window giving you a preview of the target site. There is supposed to be a little icon next to each link that has this feature but it doesn't seem to be working at the moment.

If you want this for your blog go to Snap. The only downside is it slows page loading down a little (please feed back if this is a problem).

If anyone with a new style blogger blog adds this and gets the little icons next to their links working, please let me know how you did that.

Enjoy

Chris

Life on what?

So is 1973 the afterlife?

Step away/walk into the light Sam. That ending was just silly.

You must know what I'm going on about.

EDIT 11th April:

Okay, after thinking about it I won't go as far as silly. I'm just disappointed they didn't do more with it.

Sunshine - You won't need your sunglasses.

I saw Sunshine on Friday and it wasn't a very bright film.

If you forget that little known fact that anything attempting to go into the Sun will melt; then the theory is bright (oxygen gardens, sun shields etc…), but that is about it.

The film was just a mess. Was it a horror? Not really. Was it a slasher? For about two minutes. Was it a thriller? I can't say I was thrilled.

SPOILERS!

Now call me stupid, but I knew what the film was about (the Sun is failing etc…) and I guessed they were going to fix it in the end, so the film wasn't going to impress me by achieving that goal. How the film gets to the end was going to be my bit of entertainment for the afternoon.

The build up was okay. A bit of techno-explaining dropped in here and there to make things interesting, then they find the first (presumed lost) ship they sent on the same mission 7 years earlier. They go after it and Captain is killed correcting the result of a mistake made by a crew member (very heroic), and they loose their oxygen so they can't make it to the Sun. People must die to save oxygen, and whilst on the other ship (which his broken so they can't use the oxygen there), two more crew members are killed. Only one more and they will have enough air to breathe, so remaining members decide to off the guy who screwed up and is now on suicide watch because his mistake killed the Captain, but he has committed suicide (wey hey!), no we don't see a difficult choice followed through.

Then we have something like:

Crew Member: "Computer; Isn't is great we now have enough air to get to the Sun"
Computer: "No you don't"
Crew Member: "Yes we do!"
Computer: "No you don't"
Crew Member: "There are 4 people, we have enough air for 4 people"
Computer: "There are 5 people on board, you don't have enough air."

Then we have a two minute slasher movie, where for some reason that is NEVER explained, the Captain of the first ship has survived and tries to kill everyone so they can't defy God's will by 'saving' the Sun.

Now, all of that should make a pretty exiting film, but what was presented in the cinema missed the boat by a mile. There was never a single point in the film when I thought "how on earth are they going to do it now?". Even when the Captain from the other ship started killing people the worst I thought was "well that's inconvenient". No explanation given as to how he survived exposure to the sun (he is burned almost to a crisp, but can still walk, run, talk and kill), and 7 years in deep space. Is he a ghost, alien or God's agent? Who knows?

Then we get to the end where they fly a big bomb into the Sun without it melting to complete the mission (well, apart from the getting home because they are all now dead).

Visually it was great, but pretty poor otherwise. It was a toss up between Sunshine and the Will Farrell ice skating thing. I wish I'd chosen the ice skating option.

Oh well.

C

Crikey! I'd better post something

Crikey. Well there's a word I don't often use, it's so... Well I have no idea.

Life seems to be getting more and more hectic and I'm writing nothing at the moment. I applied for a new job at work and the very next day I convinced my boss to apply for a higher position. Now I'm torn as it's his job I really want, but his won't become free until he gets the higher position (that's if he gets it at all).

In other news my wife has gone back to work. That means I have to look after a baby for 13 hours when she wont take milk from a bottle and refuses to sleep unless she gets her milk in the way nature intended (I'm ill equipped for that I'm afraid). Oh yeah, I also have to keep a four year old entertained at the same time. Life is fun :)

I hope my muse finds me soon.

C