snagle.net

Just discovered a couple of nice screenwriting sites.

In today’s New York times is a nice article describing a blog run by screenwriter John August.

One of his posts refers to another site, The Artful Writer, which at first glance looks intriguing.

Also, I discovered today that IMDb actually has a section called Ask a Filmmaker, with screenwriting, directing, and cinematography columns.

DVD Fest is an annual student film festival held at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. All films must be made using only Apple’s iMovie software and must be no longer than five minutes. All films must be shot within a 2-week window prior to the festival. Carleton provides the iBooks and DV cameras to Carleton students.

This year 26 films were subitted.

Check out the 2004 winner, The Fates. Or view all the entries to the 2004 and 2005 fests.

Each spring, shortly before graduation, the Stanford radiology residents and faculty gather for a last night of fun as a group. After dinner, the 1st year residents present a video lampooning the attendings and the department.

This event is called “DRAB.”

I was the editor of Drab 2004 and directed some of the sketches. Here are some clips out of the sections I directed:

Introduction (low res 3.3 MB) (high res 7.6 MB)
“Radiology & the Farm” (low res 13.6 MB) (high res 31.0 MB)
Commercial Break (low res 3.6 MB) (high res 8.1 MB)
Defecography (low res 5.4 MB) (high res 12.2 MB)

Just watched my 2nd film since joining netflix: Chinatown. I had seen this when taking an undergraduate media studies class on film noir. Liked it then, but had pretty much forgotten about it until reading Story by Robert McKee, which itself should be the subject of another post.

On 2nd viewing, WOW! Incredible writing and character development, both for Nicholson’s Gittes and Dunaway’s Mulwray. Very nuanced acting by both as well. Knowing the major plot twist as I went into this viewing brought a deeper understanding of the characters’ choices in the 1st two acts. HIGHLY recommended!

Discovered Ratchet Up, John Schott’s blog. Interesting posts on media, writ large.