Ideas, Trailers, and posts

Okay I've done enough talking about ideas, and what I need and want to do, but I do get a lot of questions from students on what they should do. What idea should they write about? I hear constantly "Mr. B I don't know what to write?" I can't say I've had this problem because as far back as I can remember I always had ideas. Comic books, sci-fi novels, and TV , and movies kept my imagination fed. Now-a-days the average adolescent is bombarded with media of all sorts and it's any wonder they can form an original idea from all the nonsense kids are hit with. What I've noticed a lot is that "gaming" is very popular, and has taken hold of this generation in a strong way. I guess I can understand this since I loved playing asteroids, or missile command when I was a teen. But compare those old arcade games to what kids are playing now, and it's like comparing the stone age with the information age. The games kids and young adults play today are light years away from the old Atari games we once played. graphics are sharper, computers are more powerful, and interaction in games have become more and more personal. what one gamer experiences may not be what another one experiences.

When I grew up I read a lot. This generation does still read, but their gaming has kind of stunted their imaginations. Even movies are the culprits now. I've always complained that a lot of what Hollywood produces are games on film. These films have car chases, explosions, action tweaked to the ninth degree, and a lot of kids are robbed of their imagination. I've seen some creative writing teachers help in the idea department when a child is having a hard time coming up with an idea to write. It's a hard line to walk. On one hand you don't want to influence them with an idea of you're own while at the same time you want to cultivate their own ideas. Children don't realize that they do have unique stories to tell. A little coaxing and you would be surprised to see how well a child could write once pointed in the direction. Of course there are self censoring that some teachers do which are counter productive. I've never believed in censoring a child. If it is a story that I don't want to hear that's just too damn bad. Maybe there is a reason why the child writes what he or she writes. Not all is of wine and roses.

That's why I like film making. We are a visual culture and we pick up things fast, and we don't even realize that we've picked it up. Film making forces you to write. I think that everyday the newspapers are littered with stories to be told. Hollywood keeps playing back the same stories to us, and we buy it, but I'm hoping someday that regional film making will become more prevalent. Maybe what plays in the mid-west won't play in the east coast, but on the other hand it might, and maybe we might learn something about each other. It's the story that is of interest. with digital film making it doesn't take that much money to make a really good film. I see and hear about good films everyday, and am inspired. even at the old ripe age of 42. If it inspires me, maybe it can inspire a 16 year old boy or girl who feels alienated, but has something to say. There is ALWAYS an audience out there. You just have to find it, and elevate it to a new plateau & make others interested.

On a personal note I've been trying or working on a better trailer for my film. The one up isn't at all good, but it was done in haste, and it need to be reworked. Finding the time on the other hand will be the difficult part.

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