Lately I've been watching the original Twilight Zone series. I'm still early in the series. I watched it as a kid, but there are a LOT of episodes I've never seen. Of course, the Twilight Zone is in my bones just because it's so much a ...

The More Things Change
Banes at 12:00AM, April 18, 2019A Short List of Writing Tips
Banes at 12:00AM, April 11, 2019I watched a great series of interview clips with a writer/producer/teacher named Dr. Ken Atchity on the Film Courage channel. He talks about screenwriting, and productive creativity in general. Great interviews from a guy who I find quite inspiring, and in a down-to-earth kind of way.
Here's ...
The Status Quo
Banes at 12:00AM, April 4, 2019
“Don't worry, Bart. It seems like every week something odd happens to the Simpsons. My advice is to ride it out, make an occasional smart-aleck quip, and by next week, we'll be back to where we started from, ready for another wacky adventure. ”
-Lisa Simpson
In most series ...
It's All You
Banes at 12:00AM, March 28, 2019
You
Creating something new is daunting. Where do you start? I know if I'm putting something together, at some point I get anxious about how it will be received by people who read it. Will it make any sense? Is it good enough? Is it just terrible? Irrelevant? Boring ...
Stuck in the Middle
Banes at 4:43AM, March 21, 2019
Stuck in the Middle - Midpoints
I've often found the Midpoint of a story difficult to find and difficult to write.
It's one of the big three pillars in story structure, and it's the
most subtle.
The Midpoint doesn't have the “dragged into a new world” of ...
Gag Orders 2
Banes at 12:00AM, March 14, 2019
Gag Orders 2 - Gag Harder
Last week we touched on the outcry over Captain Marvel's marketing campaign, and the shutting down of the ‘Interested-Not Interested’ section of Rotten Tomatoes.
At the same time, a somewhat-related hammer hit YouTube creators when channels were demonetized or limited and told that unsavory ...
Gag Orders
Banes at 12:00AM, March 7, 2019
With how fast everything is moving now, I'm a week late on this post - but the underlying subject is still relevant and will continue to have effects on movies, fandom, and culture in general.
Last week, the Rotten Tomatoes review site shut down its “Interested/Not Interested” section, where ...
SHAPES and Character
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 28, 2019
CHARACTER SHAPES
I remember hearing about this notion some time ago, on the dvd special features for an animated movie or show. I don't remember which one.
Characters derived from basic shapes can give a very strong impression of their basic personality type. This can help the audience feel ...
Cupid is as Cupid Does - Romance
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 14, 2019
Romance
I don't know much about the Romance Genre. I've never read a romance novel. Not that I recall, anyway.
Of course, I've seen a fair number of romance-focussed movies, and have consumed HUNDREDS of stories with a love subplot. Love is still the most common subplot ...
Salvaging the Antihero and the Art House Hero
Banes at 12:00AM, Jan. 31, 2019
Over the holidays I watched a couple of programs that made me think of “non-traditional heroes”
We've talked about antiheroes multiple times around theduckwebcomics.com of course.
One of the programs was a series called ‘Happy!’ and the other was the movie “Inside Llewyn Davis” by the Coen Brothers ...