New Structures in Scriptwriting with Linda Aronson

Scriptwriting guru Linda Aronson will be presenting a seminar on "New Structures in Scriptwriting for Film and TV" at the Australian Film and Television Radio School (AFTRS), which will be particularly apt for advanced comic book writers. The two-day masterclass on advanced theories and techniques for creating original story design routinely provokes standing ovations from acclaimed and experienced film writers all over the world. Linda explodes the conventional screenwriting theory which assumes that structures means only one hero on a linear chronological journey. Instead she takes on and provides practical writing guidelines for writing flashback scripts, Pulp Fiction structures, multiple storyline films and fractured forms. Linda demonstrates how 18 of these modern forms work to predictable patterns, and provides practical templates for writing them.

Don't leave it till too late. Last time Linda gave a class in Australia the event was booked out and lots of people couldn't get in.

Sydney 
Date: Saturday 22 to Sunday 23 February 2014
Time: 9.30am to 5.30pm (16 hours total)
Venue: Australian Film and Television Radio School (AFTRS)
Cost: $495 / $445.50 GST exempt

Melbourne
Date: Saturday 1 to 2 March 2014
Time: 9.30am to 5.30pm (16 hours total)
Venue: Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)
Cost: $495 / $445.50 GST exempt

CLICK HERE for further information and bookings.

More Mermaid Trends [UPDATED 03/08/13]

In October 2012 we wrote a post called "Mermaids Trending"... Well a lot has happened since then so here is a quick look at the next wave of mermaid trends.

Firstly, Netflix has just released a new children's TV series called Mako Mermaids, which is a sequel to the Australian produced H2O. The show is not only being promoted through news and entertainment media such as the LA Times "'Mako Mermaids': when does it start pulling teens to Netflix" but also the investment community. Venture Capital Post gives the show a write up in "Netflix new show 'Mako Mermaids', premiers Friday". This may be less about the mermaid content and more about watching how well Netflix builds its subscriber base, as well as checking out how well it performs when releasing an entirely new TV series in one go rather than serialising it once a week like conventional TV. 

Similarly, the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch did a story on it "Netflix hopes to make a splash with 'Mako Mermaids'". The rather non-imaginative and stern Business Insider's Australia give Netflix a little wrap over the knuckles in "Netflix Newest Original Series is Beyond Weird". Weird perhaps for a money-man (we like the alliteration but the more politically correct term is "money-person"!) but completely okay with pop culture audiences and mermaids lovers. BGR gets it right in "Crazy like a fox – Netflix now  bets on teen mermaids" when it identifies that audiences want niche projects and offerings (just have a look at the scope of romance subgenres in bookshops and you'll understand what we're talking about). 

Just so you know what it's about, Mako Mermaids centres around three teenage mermaids who are the guardians of Mako Island. Their names are Lyla, Nixie and Sirena. They fail to stop a 16-year old hunky boy named Zac from falling into the sacred Moon Pool, Zac turns into a merman with special powers. The guardians must grow legs, walk on land and attempt to get this power back. The trailer looks as if it has more action and humour than its forerunner and the underwater sequences look pretty good from where we are sitting. The first 13 episodes are out now and there will be more to come in September.

Mermaids are also featuring in the beauty industry. Mermaid Minerals has been around for a few years and is a favourite with mers. Some mainstream brands are now putting together special lines. For example,  The Daily Varnish covers a new sparkly mermaid nail polish "Under the Sea" range in "Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale". Lots of pretty pics over on that blog post.

We explored the fashion fusion of mermaid and futuristic punk in our previous post "Seapunk Fashion" and we've seen the Black Milk mermaid leggings on some of our fans but fashion bloggers are now doing stories on fashion trends inspired by the aquatic world. Check out "60 Mermaid Fashion Statements" on Trendhunter.com. Here we see Gothic Mermaids, Golden Disco Mermaids, Fish Scale Fashion,  Sci Fi Mermaids, Knitted Barnacle Bling, Deep Sea Hair Decorations, and so much more.

There's even a faux Vogue cover featuring "Couture Disney Princesses" including Ariel from The Little Mermaid swinging her tail-less hips down a runway with dangling fish skeleton jewellery and a cover story called "The Gills of Glamour". 



Even the airlines are getting into the mermaid spirit – American Airlines' magazine American Way recently featured Hannah Fraser (AKA Hannah Mermaid) in a lovely two page article "A Modern Mermaid Tale". Hannah is the pioneer of all things mermaid – her photo shoots and fashion sensibility is legendary. What's more, Hannah represents the true essence and spirit of a protector of the sea – she swims with extraordinary marine creatures and is an aquatic eco warrior who puts herself on the frontline to save our sea life. There may be lots of faux Animal Planet documentaries but Hannah is the real deal and we've included the trailer from her upcoming documentary series which also features Philippe Cousteau Jr as something to watch out for in 2014. The Huffington Post who is at the forefront of covering mermaid trends also did a great interview with Hannah on her mermaiding activities – you can read it here "Dolphins, Sharks and Mermaids, Oh, My! Interview with a Real-life Mermaid and Ocean Activist".

Finally, we cannot explore mermaid trends without the latest lot of hoaxes. We covered the news style interview Mermaid: The New Evidence on our "New Mermaid Footage" blog post a few months ago, but we have a new and very "blurry" doozy for you right here too. It's called "Amazing Mermaid on the Rock". The Animal Planet name is attached once again... fancy that! 



Tears of a Mermaid Movie Trailer from NINETEEN87 on Vimeo.

Australian Comic Book Heroes ABC TV Documentary

Wolfgang Bylsma, Skye Ogden and the Gestalt Publishing crew have been busy of late. They are the subject of an upcoming documentary screening on the ABC on Tuesday 13 and Tuesday 20 August 2013 at 10pm. Filmed over two years in Tokyo, Perth and San Diego, Comic Book Heroes tells the inside story of some of Australia's most ambitious comic book creators and their struggle to conquer the US market. The film is produced by Little Star Productions. Check out the Comic Book Heroes Movie Facebook page or Little Star Productions for up to date information.

Mermaids Trending

For those amongst you who inhabit the "mer" community or subculture, what we're about to say is not new. But for the landlubbers who haven't tweaked to the fact that mermaids are trending... please read on.

Mermaids started to come out of the water – so to speak – last year. Firstly, the Mer Network mades its appearance—this is a community that discusses issues such as tail-making, monofins, pods, mer fashion, tail swimming, mer gatherings, mer photography and videography, marine biology and oceanography, modeling and performing, and going professional. Then several Facebook groups and pages popped up such as "Mermaids of Facebook", Mermaids are the Best", and "Mermaid's Lair". There are also mermaids galore with their personality-based pages who operate under both their human name and their mermaid name. Indeed, one of the most famous mermaids in the world is Australian born and who now resides in the USA. She is little known in her homeland but is hugely popular in North and South America. Her name is Hannah Fraser AKA Hannah Mermaid. 

We also saw the beginnings of mermaid blogging: two favs are "I Am a Mermaid" and "Cynthia Mermaid's Blog". The first mermaid event – MerCon and the inaugural World Mermaid Awards – were held in Las Vegas in August 2011 and attracted participants from around the USA and even some Aussies. Weeki Wachee held a mermaid camp last year at its Florida base, and Mid Atlantic Mermaids are hosting a Retreat in Virginia in 2013. And we mustn't forget Mer-Palooza, (you can see pretty pics here) which was held in August 2013 in Orlando, Florida, and which attracted all manner of mermaids from around the world.

We've also seen the launch of the strikingly sumptuous Mermaids and Mythology Magazine from the UK, and Tail Flip from the USA, and we have seen the rise of the mermaid entrepreneur—check out Shimmerbaby Mermaids and Mermaids Dreaming in Australia, and the mermaid art gallery The Mermaid Studio in the USA. There is also a new network starting soon called Mermaid Wishes (the website will be up in 2013) that helps charitable foundations provide mermaid experiences to children who may not be in the best of health. I have it on good authority that Mermaid Wishes already has a database of 30+ mermaids from around the world who will help in any way they can.

Mermaids have also featured prominently in media recently, Firstly, the Huffington Post, which is famous for trend-spotting, recently published a series of mermaid-themed articles. Brenda Peterson reported on Mer Palooza in "How to Become a Real Mermaid", and very clearly spells it out for us: 

"Mermaids are an alluring mythic tradition that calls its siren song to many women then—and especially now. In the last few years, mermaids are surfacing as a hot, new trend, rivaling vampires."

Huffington Post also covered, "Real Life Mermaids in Florida Aquarium (VIDEO)", and is also boldly asking "Mermaid Body Suits The Hottest Trend of the Season?"  It also published "Real Mermaid Facts"and we vaguely remember somewhere some time, asked whether Ariel (as in The Little Mermaid Ariel) had ever received plastic surgery.

The rise in the interest in mermaids is also paralleled with a rise in mermaid hoaxes such as the badly photoshopped mermaid skeleton that was supposedly dug up in Bulgaria of all places. You can see all the photographic evidence on this Dateline News article But most famous of them all was an Animal Planet documentary / mockumentary depending on who you speak to... also, you guess it, covered by the Huffington Post ("'Mermaids: The Body Found' on Animal Planet Argues Mythical Sea Creatures are Aquatic Apes" and the denial "Mermaids Don't Exist: NOAA Confirms 'No Evidence of Aquatic Humanoids Has Ever Been Found'. NOAA stands for National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, in case you're wondering.  The jury is still out on that one... For many mers out there, it's fact not fiction. You can find more on the Animal Planet speculative television show here. 

The Mermaid Theory – How I Met Your Mother

Jozef caught this clip on his mermaid material fishing hook before I did. He showed it to me the other day at a BMP meeting and I loved it. I wonder whether guys in real life (rather than Barney the theorist) actually believes this notion. I have witnessed it but have another name for it – a proximity crush. Anyway, we thought all you landlubbers out there might get a laugh out of it.

Downton Abbey Mermaid

Loved this Downton Abbey parody when I watched it on YouTube last night but didn't expect to encounter a mermaid ... watch carefully and you'll spot her about half to two thirds of the way through during the greeting the "maid" scene. Great cast – Kim Cattrall, Simon Callow, Jennifer Saunders...

 

Graphic Novels on Aussie TV!

Journalist and publisher, Jennifer Byrne, host of the "First Tuesday Book Club" on ABC TV (Australia) is talking comics! Her program "Jennifer Byrne Presents: Graphic Novels" has been scheduled for Tuesday 9th November 2010, at 10:05pm on ABC1. It will be repeated the following Sunday 14th November at 6:30pm on ABC2. The episode will feature Bruce Mutard, Eddie Campbell, Sophie Cunningham and Nikki Greenberg.

Marge Simpson Poses for Playboy

Read it in the Sun Herald last weekend so it must be true – in the Simpsons' 20th anniversary year Marge Simpson has posed for US Playboy magazine on both the cover and in the centrefold with an accompanying interview entitled "The Devil in Marge Simpson". Hilarious but sort of upsetting at the same time as Marge (along with Lisa) seem to be the only Simpsons with a little bit of commonsense. Don't know whether a nude spread establishes her as an independent woman with a naughty streak or whether it will complete ruin her reputation and street cred. How can we talk about her in this way? Well, the Simpsons are as real to us as Dame Edna Everage whose purple hair is as famous as Marge's blue bouffant. The magazine hits newsstands on 16 October 2009.

Supernatural Comics Creator Prophet

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Anyone catch last night's Supernatural episode called "The Monster at the End of This Book"? We're not regular viewers but when we read the setup we just had to check it out. Here's how the Sunday Telegraph TV guide summarised the plot:

While visiting a comic shop as fake FBI agents investigating a possible haunting, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are mistaken for fans of a cult series of books entitled Supernatural about two hunters who also happen to be called Sam and Dean.

Intrigued, they buy the full collection and find that each novel accurately details their demon-hunting lives.

The brothers soon track down and confront the reclusive author Chuck Shurley (Rob Benedict) who shows them a draft manuscript of the next book which describes future events ...

The episode was half tense and half tongue-in-cheek, especially when the Chuck comics creator character discovers that he can psychically predict what happens to the two brothers and then pronounces himself to be a god.  However, he turns out to be a divinely protected prophet instead. Also LOVED the idea that the Winchester brothers will get their own Gospel of Winchester in a future edition of the Bible. We liked the spin on the entire episode and are interested to see how the producers and writers handle the rest of the story line. More info, trivia and episode quotes on tv.com and the Supernatural Wiki. 

We're BAAAACK! (to be said in Heather O'Rourke's Poltergeist voice)

This has been the longest period we've been away from our blog but we'll be making up for lost time in the next few days. Jozef still has the whooping cough and will probably be coughing for another two months until the infection runs its course. The doctor told him it hangs around for about three months, but that could be a negative suggestion. If it departs his body sooner it will be a good thing. He's finishing off his Business Activity Statement (BAS) for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which most working Australians have to pay every three months (he has a bit of catching up to do) and then he's on to painting the Hyfus with dolphins and sharks cover. The last three weeks have been fractured for me too – two interstate trips, Easter, guests, more feral kittens to catch and more feral females to trap, spay and return to their territory. A good thing is that we are in a non-rating TV period at the moment which coincides with school holidays, so there is nothing on television but repeats (except for Lost, 24 and Dexter which are maintaining continuity). I have FINALLY managed to finish watching the first season of the teenage mermaid story H20 which Jozef lent me a number of months ago, as well as catching up on old Babylon 5 episodes I haven't seen.  I also finished about three hours of ironing that I had accumulated so way to go, Julie! Probably got about a day's work left on BMP tax and then everything's back to its normal rhythm.

Special Effects Makeup Course

We had a flutter of personal emails and FaceBook posts from friends and colleagues intrigued with our previous posts on our friends Nick and Paul's movie make-up effects company so we thought we'd spread the word. After constant requests to start up a make-up course, Nick and Paul have added another string to their business bow in the form of the Make-up Effects Group Master Classes, now considered to be the best professional makeup school in Sydney, Australia. The place is fantastic – very inspiring. We can see their commitment to quality and perfection throughout the facility (and we're both coveting the make-up kit that students get as part of their tuition!) The full-time course includes make-up, sculpting, air-brushing and SPFX make-up. Check it out at MEG or on the MEG blog.  

Makeup Effects Madness

I had the good fortune to catch up the other evening with my talented friends Nick Nicolaou and Paul Katte who run Makeup Effects Group (MEG) in Sydney. I LOVE going to their studio, which is filled to the rafters with larger than life samples from their film and television credits. There's a treasure of prosthetic makeup around every corner. Both Nick and Paul love zombies, vampires, monsters, you name it. They've worked on movies such as The Island of Dr Moreau (there aren't many people who can claim they've worked with Brando!); Babe; The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe; and The Matrix Trilogy. Nick is also an emerging script writer, graphic novelist and director in his own right. Paul in turn is fabulous designer and artist. Anyway, they gave me permission to post some pics of their work so be impressed .... be VERY impressed. Many of you may recognise the first pic as the baby from The Matrix.

About Face on H2O

A few months ago, Jozef wrote a blog post on his general dissatisfaction with the teenage mermaid television series H2O, which is filmed on the Queensland coast. At that time he had seen one episode out of order and didn't particularly like what it had to offer. However, to be fair, he purchased the entire first season, watched it in its entirety in one sitting, and then promptly rang me to say he had changed his mind and, that after seeing the episodes in context, he thought the series was pretty good all round for young girls and mermaid lovers like himself. Then he lent me the DVDs, which have since been sitting on my bookshelf gathering dust for around three months because I have been so busy. He has hassled me about watching them and I finally got to the initial four episodes the other evening.

My first impression on checking out the cast of girls was that there was one brunette, book-ended by two blondes. I would have preferred to see a red head or a black haired girl in the mix, but obviously had to accept the producer's decision and go with the flow. The chemistry between the three actresses was excellent, so I am presuming that that was one of the major criteria in casting.

The girls turned out to be quite engaging and exceptionally photogenic, albeit terrible actresses in the first instance. I'm sure they will improve the further into the series they and I get. My second impression was that the brunette character Cleo (played by Phoene Tonkin) looked like a slightly younger version of the exotic and gorgeous-looking Shanina, the first runner up in the Australian version of Make Me a Supermodel. 

In terms of story, the plotting was kept quite simple compared to evening television, but of course this is a half hour show shown in an afternoon time slot and aimed at young girls – I am not the target audience. However, the episodes dealt with "refusal of the call" issues, the discovery of water-directed superpowers, and relationships with bullies and allies. I was most intrigued by the mysterious woman who spoke to the Cleo character in the Sea World sequences, so that whetted my appetite for more. 

I thought the locations were terrific and I loved the look of the golden scaled mermaid tails with matching bras. I found this on the Wikipedia site, but caution to anyone who goes there as it contains many spoilers.

The mermaid costumes took six months to build, with the tails made from body casts and comprising individually hand-crafted scales. the finished products weighs between 12 and 15 kilograms (26 and 33 lbs). Once in costume, the girls have to be lifted into the water... 

There are three different types of tails: the tails the girls swim in, the "floppy tail" used for bath and shower shots and the "hard tails" for stunts.

Four episodes in, 48 to go to get the real story arc. At this point of time, I am looking forward to more underwater and mystery island sequences. The tails are what have really won me over!

Greenlighting Comic Book Pilots

Top Cow Productions, Marc Silvestri's studio and a comics publishing imprint/partner of Image Comics, has hit upon a fabulous business idea that invites fans to participate in publishing decisions.

According to an ICv2 website article:

For the second year in a row Top Cow has uploaded the first issue of six different comic series to its Website, emulating the TV networks that greenlight a number of different TV series pilots–with the big difference being that the decisions on which "pilots" to pick up for a full season (or in the case of Top Cow, to publish) are made in Top Cow's case by fans who vote on which of the six comic book pilots they would like to see become regular series, whereas in the world of TV it's the network executives who get to decide, not the general public.

This sounds like a great opportunity for emerging comic creators. We'd love to see the day when there's such a thing on television or the comics press as American Comics Idol!

Fringe Benefits

Saw the first episode of Fringe last night which has been fast-tracked to Australia from the USA. WARNING: semi-spoilers ahead!

Anna Torv is fabulous! Gorgeous and thoroughly believable. I love her in close-up. Although she's Australian she was not on my radar and I can't remember the McLeod's Daughters episode in which she appeared.  I really like her and I really like her character Olivia Dunham who I am ready and willing and able to follow through the greater story as it unfolds. 

Great to see the gnarled character actor John Noble back on the screen after his riveting performance as the crazy and cruel Denethor in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King who was quite prepared to condemn his unfavoured son Farimir into the flames of a funeral pyre in a murder-suicide bid. This time John plays crazy as well, but a benevolent kind of crazy who might just save the world after being locked up in a psychiatric institution for 17 years.

I was a devoted viewer of Dawson's Creek while it was on, although I missed the last season because it was buried away at some god-awful late hour and even in a lunchtime slot on Channel 10 after the show had been cancelled in the US. Have no idea who ended up with who but was told the other day that Joey got together with Pacey. Don't know if it is true or not but will eventually have to rent the DVDs and find out for sure. Here is the segue into Fringe ... nice to see Joshua Jackson back on the small screen. Liked him as Pacey and like him as the darker brooding genius Peter Bishop in this one. He looks great in his long tailored coat.

I don't know much about Lance Reddick except for his appearances in the brilliant Lost. He is very striking and just commands the screen. His character is intimidating. I would have crumbled from his glare, but then I'm not a heroine in any other story except my own.

Intriguing pilot episode about a virus that brings down a plane and dissolves all its occupants into gelatine and bones. It has an X-Files sensibility with its master conspiracies, and the FBI and Homeland Security called into to investigate a mysterious and spooky corporation. Undoubtedly we'll see more science experiments gone awry in what looks to be like a possible bid for world domination within the realms of  "the Pattern". I am also interested in the almost sci-fi exploration of the human mind and its potential. Hated seeing animals in cages and cows in the lab but at least we were given impressions rather than full on stomach churning and emotionally upsetting scenes (although I have to give the director credit for that one amusing shot of the human characters sitting down with Jean the cow poking her head through as part of the coterie). I won't comment much on the story. You'll have to find out for yourselves. But I will say that JJ Abrams is up to his old tricks and if Lost is anything to go by then I'll be hooked on this one too. Here's the trailer for those of you who missed it.

H2O: Just Add Water – Random Episode

I don't really watch TV – the exception (with commitment) to that (atm) is Desperate Housewives – nothing comes between it and me. So I often miss out on new series. Julie does her bit to encourage series to view that she has either heard are worthwhile, or has tested herself.

I also have a friend who has kindly dogged me to watch a series about mermaids, but each time it was on, I was nowhere near the TV. I also don't have a video recorder, so I constantly missed it. This wonderful friend then saved an episode to his hard drive, and burnt me a copy.

With excitement he delivered this to me to view. Because I was busy and kept forgetting to put it on, I got around to it about 2-3 weeks afterwards. But I did finally watch it. Thank you so much good friend for doing this for me, and dogging me to watch it.

The series is called H2O: Just Add Water. Four seasons have been released on DVD. It was filmed in Queenland, Australia.

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I watched this totally random episode, and got the gist of the story pretty quickly. The opening and closing credits have some lovely mermaid scenes, and there are a few mermaid moments that occurred in this episode, but the mermaid aspect in the story did not feel too comfortable in context – partly due to the very pedestrian high school story that worked around it with somewhat questionable acting. The swim sequences of the mermaids are like torpedos, and no tail or graceful movement is portrayed beyond the opening credits ambled swim. Superficial... for sure, but I know what I want to see in a mermaid. So I loved the idea of it and the fact that there are mermaids in it, but did not like the execution or the mermaid story or the acting. However, this was the response to an episode out of context, and when I first saw my first episode of Seinfeld, I was not impressed or liked it either, as I didn't know the characters and had no idea of the unique comedic rhythm of this series. Later, I ended up watching the series, and loving it as one of my all time favorites.

So with that in mind, I've purchased the four seasons of H2O: Just Add Water, and will see if I will connect with the series. I have hope. If it's good, I'll inform Julie and the Black Mermaid Blog.

CSI Darkness

I've been an avid fan of CSI for many years and have been loyal to the franchise since its first screening. CSI Miami is my favourite because I love Horatio and the team and because the storytelling in the Florida landscape is terrific. CSI New York got off to a slow start in its first season possibly because it was shot in a cold colour palette of steel blues and greys (perhaps to mirror the perceived stone coldness of the city itself, although I am going on the record to say I LOVE NY). I am exceedingly suggestible and can honestly say I would sit there shivering through the NY episodes. Apparently the first season didn't do too well despite the casting of Gary Sinise who I think is a bloody terrific actor. The producers must have taken note of viewers' feedback because the second season looked and felt different. Now it is one heck of a classy show with original storylines. But what gives with the latest dark episodes in the CSI Vegas series? 

The other day I semi-watched an episode of the upmost cruelty involving dog fighting. The instigator of the crime in question got her comeuppance, but that denouement wasn't good enough for me – I had to channel-surf through some exceedingly distressing moments and come back for the climax to solve the mystery of who had killed our master villain. This was not an isolated episode – I've gradually been switching off CSI Vegas for a while because it is increasingly becoming more difficult for me to suspend reality and try not to let this supposedly fictional content about evil people doing evil things, affect my psyche. 

A couple of years ago, I ghostwrote a biography about an Australian man who had fought in World War II. When he came home in 1945 he refused to talk about his experiences in the Middle East or in Papua New Guinea, simply because he didn't want to imbed violent images that would never be able to be shaken away into the minds of his family and friends. 

I also remember listening and talking to a Hollywood screenwriter named Eric DelaBarre at a Mark Victor Hansen writing and book marketing event a couple of years ago. DelaBarre (who incidentally was a writer on Law and Order) talked about how he would go to parties and all he would do would be to scout the location obsessively looking for potential murder weapons he could use in violent scenes in his upcoming television work. Recognising that there was something amiss with this scenario and that he wasn't honouring his spiritual self, he did what Hollywood insiders would consider to be the unthinkable – he left his job on the crime series. 

What Eric demonstrated was the power we have to choose a path, so I am taking a stance now –  I am saying goodbye to CSI Las Vegas and unfortunately even the beloved Gus Grissom isn't enough of an incentive for me to stay.