"Priest" - My Thoughts

I'm going to take a time out from posting stories for a moment (for I have none to post...) to discuss a film that comes out today, "Priest".

I haven't seen "Priest" and I don't intend to, so this should all be taken with a grain of salt, but from what I've heard the film isn't all that great.  This is of great disappointment to me for several reasons, but mostly because I read an early version of the script when they were casting the Cam Gigandet role, and I loved it.  I have nothing against the casting of Mr. Gigandet, but a client of ours (I was working for a management company at the time) was also reading for the role and frankly (I'm biased because I love this guy) he was (is) amazing, and brought a whole different level of depth as opposed to what the character seems to have become.  And that is a microcosm of what I believe happened to "Priest."  Most of the promise was ripped away in favor of the flashy, high gloss nothingness, that happens to genre films when studios are trying to appeal to a mass audience (the four quadrants, if you will).  I believe this way of thinking to be incredibly flawed.

Skyforge

I have been absent for several weeks but return to you with the force of a locomotive....(?)

"Skyforge" is the story of the Mor'Gant family of Tegen Cove, the creation of a powerful sword forged from a falling star, and how it destroyed them all...

Another tale from the Perilous Woods.

Download Link:  Skyforge

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Skyforge

In a remote corner of the vast Perilous Woods lived a blacksmith of noble birth.  Fin Mor’Gant was from one of the most renowned families in all the Kingdom.  Unfortunately, the Mor’Gants of Tegen Cove had long ago lost their wealth, their land, and their people.  Now all that remained was a broken, sordid castle threatening to destroy itself at the slightest breeze, and of course, a famous name. 

            As the years piled themselves on top of one another and ages came and went, the Perilous Woods slowly, but with monumental force, reclaimed its lost land.  By the time Fin was born in a crumbling tower on the highest level of the Mor’Gant keep, it was the only part of his home not yet taken by the forest.  In fact, you could no longer see were the woods began and ended.  It was an unending sea of green leaves and black branches broken up by the chimney smoke of small villages that dotted across the horizon.

Wolfstone

The story of how the Dire Wolf became the Grey Wolf.

Download link: Wolfstone
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Wolfstone

The rain was falling heavily in the bleak night of the new season.  Lightening struck and thunder boomed as a pack of grey wolves took shelter in their den, high up on a cliff side, overlooking the vast and a perilous woods below. 

“Gather round younglings, for it is time to tell you of our heritage.”  The Den Mother with eyes piercing blue, gemstones that caught even the slightest light, nudged the young cubs into a circle around her.  “Do any of you know the tale of Wolfstone?”

“No, Mother,” came a cub, white as snow, eyes as her mother’s.

The Den Mother smiled, it was fate, she thought, that this pup would be the one to answer.  “Then listen close, little one, for you have been marked and will one day have the honor of telling the story I am about to tell you.”  And so she began…

Some Inspiring Stuff

I thought I'd take a break from posting stories and post some links to a few videos that have recently pulled at my heartstrings.

1.  Thoughts of You:  This is probably the most amazing, emotional animated scene I've ever seen, and it's done entirely without faces.

2.  Sintel:  An amazing short film created in an open source program called Blender.  Very sad.

3.  The Little Match Girl:  Anyone who knows me knows that I love Disney (when they're at their best).  In no place will you find more efficient, emotional, engaging storytelling.  If you haven't seen "Tangled" go see it now, it's amazing, it overcomes some very major story issues by sheer emotional involvement.  It's the most beautiful animation I've ever seen on the big screen and the characters are unbelievably endearing. *cough, cough* Back to The Little Match Girl.  Little do most people realize, Disney has been making animated short films for the past fifteen years and releasing them on special edition Disney DVDs as extras.  There are a few good ones but the best is this.  It's an adaptation of a Russian fairy tale and it's heartbreaking.

(It seems there is a theme of heartbreak and sadness in all these videos which may lead you to believe I'm one of those depressive sorts.  I assure you I'm not...)

4.  Destino:  Weird and wonderful.  Way back when Walt Disney tried to make a short film with Salvador Dali, filled with his iconic imagery.  Sadly it was never finished but, sixty years later, Disney decided to take all the concept art and storyboards and finish the project.  I saw this at the LACMA a few years ago and it was wildly entertaining (odd note:  Dali loved baseball, so you'll see a lot baseball imagery is this thing).

I feel like leaving this off at four videos is a bit auspicious, three is a much better number, but I wanted throw in Destino because I saw that it was finally up on youtube.

Peace and Love

The Twilight End: Prologue

Okay.  I thought I'd post the prologue of my novel for some feedback.  I'm currently on my third polish and getting it ready to send out but I've had a few problems with the opening and would like a broader range of criticism so I can nail down the problem and fix it.  But first a quick synopsis...

The Twilight End:  1914, the world is on the brink of what will be known as “The Great War”.  But, for affable rogue, Renaissance man, and wayward soul, Richard Grant, none of that matters.  He has been called to Sarajevo at the urgent request of his childhood friend and sometime accomplice, Jonathan Edges, on the eve of Archduke Ferdinand’s planned visit.  When Jonathan turns up dead at the famous Hapsburg Hotel, Richard finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy amongst the most powerful empires in Europe, at the middle of which is a device so powerful that it threatens to unravel the very fabric of civilization.

“The Twilight End” Features a cast of eclectic characters which include a beautiful and secretive Austrian pianist, a powerful German prince, a dangerous Serbian Captain, a jovial Englishman who may be more than he lets on, and two love-struck Russian youths, each with their own motives and back stories.  Navigating the intrigue, Richard Grant must also face the hard truth about how he has chosen to live his own life and the ingrained beliefs to which he so desperately clings.   

Most of the novel is from the perspective of the main character - Richard Grant (most easily described as a mash-up of Richard Hannay (from John Buchan's 39 STEPS and various other awesome works) and Indiana Jones with a liberal dosing of existential angst.  The Prologue is from another character's perspective that we never see again but its contents deal with one of the central focuses of the novel.

Where possible I tried to keep as many historical facts, timelines, and characters as true to life as possible.  So, as you read (hopefully), you'll be presented with a fictional happening through a factual world.

Download Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/52659103/Twilight-End-Prologue

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 Prologue:  Property of the United States Department of War

It was a cold winter’s night as George Scherff made his way through the elegant hallways of the Metropolitan Tower.  After taking the stairs to the Twentieth story (he never trusted a lift in sub-freezing temperatures), it was a welcome breeze that greeted him upon entering his friend and sometime employer’s office.  He dabbed his perspiring forehead as he locked the door behind him; best not to take the chance of Nikola laying eyes on his damp skin.  Knowing the man, he was sure to be sickened by the sight of human sweat, and that would just make the evening…more difficult.  The books had to be looked at, the numbers crunched.  Waydenclaff was hemorrhaging money, money that Nikola did not have.  Plus there was the move to consider.  The Woolsworth Building promised to be the tallest in the world upon completion, even taller than the Met, and Nikola always had to be in the biggest and the best.  The cost would be astronomical; still, if things began to turn around they might just be able to scrape by.