The Raven... uh, ok.

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  • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

    And they completely missed the point yet again. That's visually interesting for a few minutes, but what part of it screams feature film?

    Even Futurama only used that storyline for an anthology episode where it shared space with two other short stories.

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    • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

      THE ROCK

      is

      THE RAVEN
      (shotgun click)
      Nevermore.
      (boom)

      In theaters may 18th, this film has not yet been rated.

      Comment


      • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

        Originally posted by Slappynipsy View Post
        THE ROCK

        is

        THE RAVEN
        (shotgun click)
        Nevermore.
        (boom)

        In theaters may 18th, this film has not yet been rated.
        "I was dreamin' when I wrote this, forgive me if it goes astray." - Prince

        Comment


        • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

          Originally posted by Sinnycal View Post
          And they completely missed the point yet again. That's visually interesting for a few minutes, but what part of it screams feature film?
          I'm amazed that this bothers you so much. You have no stake in this. You don't have any idea what's going on behind the scenes with this.

          Seems like a total waste of energy on your part, but if it makes you feel better to constantly complain about Hollywood deals you know very little about nor have any vested interest in... then more power to you.
          Last edited by prescribe22; 05-13-2010, 12:10 PM.

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          • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

            Pixels is a very cool concept. NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM with classic video game characters.

            Years back there was a project in development where famous brand characters like Mr. Clean and the Pillsbury Dough Boy would come to life and have all-out-war inside a supermarket. It fell through, but I always thought it was a fun concept.

            Bottom line, I don't think anyone was interested in this because of the special effects.

            Looks like Happy Madison went after concept to me.

            Congratulations to the people behind the short film! Great concept!

            Comment


            • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

              Yeah, the concept is cool.

              It was one of my favorite one-thirds of an episode of Futurama.

              And it's been some pretty funny YTMNDs, I think.

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              • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                Too bad you didn't think of it. Then you'd have a real reason to be upset.

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                • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                  I'll ask the same question I asked (and you avoided) before.

                  Do you think a writer would get the same response to this concept as a logline?

                  Comment


                  • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                    Well, then I first must apologize. I apparently missed your question. I didn't avoid it.

                    While I'd love to give you a simple answer... I can't.

                    If the logline went before the right people... it could very well accomplish the same thing. I'm pretty sure the "Food Wars" example I offered was a logline at one point.

                    In any event, the benefit this PIXELS short had is that it became an internet sensation. It was viewed by millions. Giving it a better chance to get before the *right* people. Happy Madison in this case.

                    Producers happen to be people. They watch internet videos just like you and me.

                    And just like you and me, they are inspired by events they come across in life.

                    We develop our own spec screenplays through events we come across, do we not?

                    Maybe a video we might see on the internet...?????

                    In this case, someone at Happy Madison was inspired by what they saw in PIXELS.

                    It triggered a feeling they could take that concept and develop a movie.

                    And whether you want to accept it or not, that is EXACTLY how it works for every logline or pitch.

                    It either piques the interest of someone who can MAKE a movie. Or it doesn't.

                    This did.

                    Either get over it, or swill away in your own putrid jealousy.

                    Comment


                    • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                      Your "jealousy" talking point is just getting inane by this point.

                      The only thing separating Pixels from countless THOUSANDS of equally clever photoshopped images and animated gifs on the internet is the production value. Every week cracked.com has a themed photoshop contest and I bet you could find a dozen comparable concepts in every batch. In fact, pour through the internet and I bet you'll find this exact concept pop up a few hundred times. In fact squared, I think cracked has used "video games in the real world" as a theme on more than one occasion. It's not remotely noteworthy, except that it looks really cool.

                      That's it.

                      That's what they're responding to.

                      They didn't buy the concept. Hell, why would they even need to? I've seen the concept on a popular tv show before. I've seen it on countless joke photoshop images. It's nothing new, and certainly nothing the filmmaker could claim to own. On top of that, I doubt that he owns the rights to any of the video games he used in the short. So why is anyone bothering to pay him for the rights to a short that consists of 1) a ubiquitous idea and 2) video game properties he doesn't own?

                      Why? Because the short looks neat and they're sort of stupid.

                      Turn it into a logline and you get this:

                      "Arcade icons invade a city and turn things into pixels."

                      The idea that any amount of saturation would possibly draw a sale or option from that logline is preposterous. The absolute best you could hope for is that maybe someone, somewhere would request the script out of morbid curiosity. Good f*ckin' luck telling them you don't have a script but are willing to sell them the cocktail napkin you wrote the logline on.

                      Comment


                      • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                        Originally posted by Sinnycal View Post
                        Your "jealousy" talking point is just getting inane by this point.
                        Actually, your jealousy is getting "insane".

                        Get over it, dude.

                        You'll be happier.

                        Comment


                        • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                          Inane isn't a typo.

                          But I'm going to assume that "Get over it, dude" was supposed to read "I have no answers to any of that, so please take this as my tacit concession."

                          Comment


                          • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                            Originally posted by Sinnycal View Post
                            Inane isn't a typo.
                            Once again, you're reading too much into things.

                            But I'm going to assume that "Get over it, dude" was supposed to read "I have no answers to any of that, so please take this as my tacit concession."
                            There's nothing to answer to. Your post is just circular logic you're hoping will somehow distract from the jealousy issue.

                            You're complaining about someone else's rights deal (that you know very little about), purchased with someone else's money.

                            You can either congratulate the people who managed to sell the rights, or you can throw a hissy fit.

                            You've chosen the latter. Which I'm sorry to keep pointing is the epitome of jealousy. Plain and simple.

                            Nothing wrong with it. It's a natural human response. We all go through it.

                            Still, if and when you manage to cut a script and/or rights deal of your own, I sincerely hope others take the higher road and congratulate you rather than lobbing out petty complaints.

                            Comment


                            • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                              Originally posted by Sinnycal View Post
                              Your "jealousy" talking point is just getting inane by this point.

                              The only thing separating Pixels from countless THOUSANDS of equally clever photoshopped images and animated gifs on the internet is the production value. Every week cracked.com has a themed photoshop contest and I bet you could find a dozen comparable concepts in every batch. In fact, pour through the internet and I bet you'll find this exact concept pop up a few hundred times. In fact squared, I think cracked has used "video games in the real world" as a theme on more than one occasion. It's not remotely noteworthy, except that it looks really cool.

                              That's it.

                              That's what they're responding to.

                              They didn't buy the concept. Hell, why would they even need to? I've seen the concept on a popular tv show before. I've seen it on countless joke photoshop images. It's nothing new, and certainly nothing the filmmaker could claim to own. On top of that, I doubt that he owns the rights to any of the video games he used in the short. So why is anyone bothering to pay him for the rights to a short that consists of 1) a ubiquitous idea and 2) video game properties he doesn't own?

                              Why? Because the short looks neat and they're sort of stupid.

                              Turn it into a logline and you get this:

                              "Arcade icons invade a city and turn things into pixels."

                              The idea that any amount of saturation would possibly draw a sale or option from that logline is preposterous. The absolute best you could hope for is that maybe someone, somewhere would request the script out of morbid curiosity. Good f*ckin' luck telling them you don't have a script but are willing to sell them the cocktail napkin you wrote the logline on.
                              Of course people wouldn't buy a logline, that's ridiculous. But they might buy the script, if it were fantastic--the real problem is the rights issue. Now I can guarantee, if you had rights to feature the game characters all locked up and you just had a logline, you would have a shot.

                              The reason Pixels got so much interest is because it's a great concept and the execution of it was frigging amazing. The purchase was an investment in an idea that could be a movie, and a relationship with very talented filmmakers. Maybe it doesn't go anywhere because of the rights issues, okay, you find something else to do with the filmmakers. But I bet they didn't pay very much money for this, and the upside could justify the initial investment.

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                              • Re: The Raven... uh, ok.

                                Originally posted by SBScript View Post
                                Of course people wouldn't buy a logline, that's ridiculous. But they might buy the script, if it were fantastic--the real problem is the rights issue.
                                That's my point.

                                A writer can't sell a concept. There was a time it was possible, so long as you were already a hot commodity named Joe Eszterhas or something like that. A writer spends tons of energy building and nurturing story concepts and most have at least a handful filed away that maybe haven't been fully worked into scripts, but nobody wants to hear about them and certainly nobody would buy them. As a writer, you have to flesh out every aspect of the concept and PROVE that you can turn it into a viable feature before anyone will even look at it.

                                And if you do that and it is fantastic? Maybe they'll toss it in a drawer and hire you to write Slinky: The Movie.

                                But if you can make neato digital effects on your Macbook, suddenly Hollywood is into throwing money at concepts?

                                Where's the disconnect?

                                It boggles my mind that any writer would be thrilled with Hollywood moving in yet another direction that marginalizes writers and the spec script. First it was the endless remake obsession, and then all the adaptations of storyless properties like View Master or Erector Set, and now they're busy snatching up every shiny tech-demo that goes viral.

                                It's like Hollywood is run by kittens and writers are the only people without laser pens.

                                The reason Pixels got so much interest is because it's a great concept and the execution of it was frigging amazing. The purchase was an investment in an idea that could be a movie, and a relationship with very talented filmmakers. Maybe it doesn't go anywhere because of the rights issues, okay, you find something else to do with the filmmakers. But I bet they didn't pay very much money for this, and the upside could justify the initial investment.
                                It's a nifty concept that countless people have come up with before this guy used it in a short. It's not remotely original, so I don't see why you would need to buy the rights to the concept from him if you wanted to be the 276th person to use it.

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