Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Better day

I took ownership (isn't that the current phrase) of my inability with that friggin' shipping program and had someone who knows it backwards and forwards show me how it goes, again, step-by-step as I took notes and finally figured out where I'd screwed up. I started on the "quote" page, since that had all the information I needed on it, instead of starting on the "pickup" page and letting the system fill everything in seven steps down the line. Logic need not apply in this instance.

I hate PCs and the programs that love them. They do their best to totally destroy any self-confidence you might have the second they're given the opportunity. I'm still nowhere near comfortable with this, but I now have three pages of instructions on how to do it and only have to worry about all the occasions where none of this applies.

So the hell with it -- I'm putting POS off till Saturday and watching me some Hitchcock, tonight. I got "The 39 Steps" from Netflix because I left my DVD in SA, and I'm doing it on a double bill with another Hitchcock film they're streaming online. He's the reason I got into film to start with, so the bastard owes me a blank mind and fun time for leading me down the garden path so casually. I may even do some sketching, since I know these movies inside and out.

Y'know, I have a script I wrote where the injured hero is off to face the powerful bad guy, and the lead-up to the confrontation has the hero exiting the sheriff's office and walking up to and entering a church. In my head, I can see this as a single shot where near the end of it, the church begins to grow and seem to approach the guy as he nears it, almost daring him to "bring it on." No one seems to get that, no matter how I describe it, and to me it's so simple. The shot starts as the hero appears then the camera tracks back as he heads down the street. He walks past the camera as it keeps tracking with him, then the camera follows him as he approaches the church. Finally, the camera stops and zooms after him, keeping focus on him, then the camera begins tracking back as it continues to zoom in. And voila -- a Hitchcock shot mimicked by Steven Spielberg in "Jaws" and a million music videos.

But I'll never have a chance to try it out. It'll stay in my head, forever.

Such is the fate of those who still wait for friends to debate the too perfect state so you won't hesitate or hope fear will abate and your mind then vibrate with a world to create before it's too late.

Think about it....

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