EXECUTIVE DECISION

So I've made an executive decision - no more work in progress will be shown until Fathoms is nearing completion. [secrets]

Instead I will continue to focus on more conceptual entries related to progress, storytelling, life and art.

The big deal is that I have two major projects to complete by the end of 2010. Both are unrelated to Fathoms. After that I can fully focus on pre-production, and I have scheduled summer of 2011 for production time. I am still working on Fathoms in the mean time, but it has to go on the back burner until I finish more pressing obligations.

So, in summary:

2008 was the first attempt at production for Fathoms v1.0.

2011 will be the second attempt to be made for Fathoms v3.7.

I will get the software out of beta and onto store shelves!

Also, if anyone (someone) has any technical questions, I'm happy to answer. I'm not a fan of tutorials, but I'll probably make a few when the film is complete.

WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?

Fear is paralyzing.

Fear is demotivating.

Fear is isolating.


Or...

Fear is your greatest motivator.

Fear is a cheerleader, pushing you, shaking and sweaty, back onto the stage.

Fear is an epic equalizer.

Fear is something we all experience. It's not about being fearless, it's about facing the fear, embracing it, and pushing through. It's like waves on the beach. They are intimidating, but they are not impossible to wade, swim, and dive through...they can even be fun.

Part of this is about safety, familiarity, comfort zones. Doing new things means escaping predictability, which leaves uncertainty and fear...room for failure. But it's really the oppurtunity to find new invention, and even genuine success...of course failure is possible, but, failure is still a win if we learn something and apply it to future challenges.

We have access to the tools now, we have the time. It's all about who does the thing, who finishes (first), and then who does it better, fresher, with more humanity.

Fear raises the stakes.

Fear intrigues us. What are we really afraid of? Ourselves? Success?

I'm working hard to let go of the things in Fathoms that are not critical, and only embellish what's important.

I have to remember that "If everything is special, then nothing is special."

I'm making some compromises, but, if I don't finish, how will anyone know that it's a (hopefully) great film?!

WHO AM I DOING THIS FOR?

I'm making Fathoms for two people:

My father, and myself.

I am very much my father's son, for better, and for worse.

He died when I was 17.

So I have a very personal story to tell, and it relates to my father. Fathoms is part of my growing and healing process, to share my story. This is not the only influence, so, it colors the story, but it's not literally a story about a father and son.

In regards to anyone else, it's nice to have their approval, but, sorry, this story is not (expressly made) for you. This is a story I hope you can, and want you to enjoy, and relate to, but it's not for you. This is my art therapy.

LEVELING-UP IN THE REAL WORLD IS HARD

From the ever brilliant Seth Godin:

Are you a bullfrog in a china shop?

They make a lot of noise but don't break anything.

They're annoying but not dangerous.

They create a swirl but no impact.

They don't ship.

I hate to say it, but, unfortunately, I have been, and still am a bullfrog. I have shipped on some things, but my greatest works, I have not yet to ship. BUTTTTT, in my defense, I'm working on the shipping part.

I don't know if I care about being dangerous...though I do understand it as a tool to turn heads/get attention/etc.

I would say I'm in the middle of the ocean, I've made a lot of progress, but, it won't matter if I don't reach the other shore.

Where are you?

PS - I think it's important to talk about failure and doubt AT LEAST as much as success and positive motivation and victory. I would say I fail 80-90% of the time....it's so strange to me that our society doesn't acknowledge that most wins are built on the experience gained from tons and tons of failure....at least the meaningful ones.

DIALOGUE AND SUBTEXT - KEYWORD: BETRAYAL

Subtext is amazing, it's a very naturalistic/realistic thing that is very easy to recognize, but for me, difficult to consciously (and tastefully) create.

Subtext is our tell, the true face behind our mask. Subtext is like beams of light from our id flickering out through the cracks in the boarded up windows of our Super Ego. Our true feelings, our darkest desires, etc.

It's like when you ask a good friend if he is over his ex and he replies

"I was never really that into her"

or he volunteers before you even ask "I'm so over my girlfriend!"

Subtext. His words betray him. Betray his truth.

The first response shows that he is really trying to sooth his pain by downplaying the importance of her to him...which would might infer means he was very much into her. The second response shows that she's already on his mind and he has to fight his own feelings of regret or melancholy with a public rebuttal (against his inner monologue) of anger and denial.

There are much more subtle and playful ways to create subtext, not just in dialogue, but with imagery, and action, but, this is a good example of everyday subtext.

Sometimes a light is just a light, and this is not here.

FAILING UPWARDS

"The way to solve the perfect problem is to make it imperfect.
Don't just bend one of the constraints, eliminate it.
Shut down the factory.
Walk away from the job.
Change your product completely.
Ignore the board.

If the only alternative is slow and painful failure, the way to get unstuck is to blow up a constraint, deal with the pain and then run forward. Fast."

~Seth Godin


Getting over the hump is difficult. The speed bump grows to an impregnable mountain as our fears feed the beast.

Sometimes it's writers block, sometimes it's technical limitations, sometimes it's plain fear of completion.

My biggest fear is not of the inability to complete something, but rather, completing something and hating it, or worse, feeling nothing at all (meaninglessness).

NATURAL EVOLUTION

Limbo is probably the best game I've played in years. It's beautiful, and it lets you wade into it's world, without hitting you over the head, or doing lots of hand-holding.

The story is very minimal, but the world is so fantastic that it's just as fun to watch as it is to play. We need more unique voices singing different and interesting songs like this.

Ranting on, if every story is a heavy metal opus or poppy dance drone, we will go deaf, or at least be really really bored. It's the Michael Bay problem, if everything is exploding, then it's like nothing is exploding (think about it).

WHERE I HAVE BEEN, WHERE ARE WE GOING

The final *quadruple crosses finger* script is done. There are a few lines of dialogue to be tweaked/worked out, but, it's pretty much done-done! Fathoms is finally starting to shine, and I feel really confident about it. I feel very competent about the actual production side, so, feeling good about the story means there's a great chance at Fathoms coming out tops!

So what now?

I'm working on re-finalizing the character design for Sam. I may still put up a vote for which face people like/sympathize with more.

I'm also writing the shot list and starting storyboarding again.

Also, some design elements will need to change to fit the story now...including the Scavenger Arken, which I will be turning to master mechanical designer Mike Doscher to help with, seriously, I can't say enough good things about his work.

More sooner than later!

SERVICING THE THEME

Now that I know what I want, thematically, I can cut the fat.

It's much easier to see what's important, and that everything else exists solely to enhance and support the theme.

The core of this story-planet is super hard and solid, unwavering, and pure. Everything around it is a swirling, morphing vertex of supportive energy. Like harmonies in a really catchy tune, they pull you further into the melody.

Why we do the things we do

Art is therapy (for me).

I love creating things with my hands.

Things real, and things unseen.

If my hands are static, I feel hollow.

Fathoms is a dream about a story from a time when I lost my father and about the ghosts of the past that follow us through empty warehouses of the future.

This is not about monetizing my name into gold silicon wafers in the interwebs, or in the side door of a trendy vinyl toy store in SoHo.

This is about

Finally delivering on my promise (to myself) that I am a real storyteller, proving to myself that I can do it, and be satisfied (happy) with the story I tell.

Dealing with the past, expressing it on my terms, remembering it how I want, as skewed as that perspective may be.

Telling my story, for better or worse, I do have something to say (we all do, some of us have one story, some of us have many).

It's about rising above my humanity while simultaneously embracing it. This isn't the first or the last story I will tell...but so far, it's the most involved. So keep on swimming.