tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post3228425652832764971..comments2023-10-17T05:09:58.097-07:00Comments on William Gallagher: Self Distract: Special powersWilliam Gallagherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13315381474957511300noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-52146545842930627142008-11-22T17:00:00.000-08:002008-11-22T17:00:00.000-08:00Well, I'm 40 in a few days but weirdly I'm perfect...Well, I'm 40 in a few days but weirdly I'm perfectly happy with that and have no desire to be any other age. Mind you, I'd pay good money to be able to watch SW IV, V and VI with the same fresh, open mind that I had all those years ago.<BR/><BR/>Interesting what you say about the scripts. They're clearly just one ingredient in the recipe. I started my (as yet unsuccessful) writing career with novels and short stories before moving into scriptwriting, so I tend to expect the words on the page to express <I>everything</I>. Not the case with scripts. They're more like scaffolding describing the shape of the visuals, I suppose. <BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what I want more badly: my name on the cover of a novel or a script of mine acted out on the screen. <BR/><BR/>Hm. Both, actually.laurence timmshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04366127170754753612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-80576901755605481682008-11-21T09:42:00.000-08:002008-11-21T09:42:00.000-08:00I don't have the script to that episode but I've r...I don't have the script to that episode but I've read many others in the series. And the answer is... neither. Lines are short and long throughout, definitely in a rhythm but there's no obvious difference between the studio, control room and outer office scenes.<BR/><BR/>And the gap between speeches? None. Ever!<BR/><BR/>The scenes are typically slugged INT. CONTROL ROOM/STUDIO, i.e. both at the same time. There's no description on the page of where people are in the two rooms and nothing at all about whether, for example, Casey is in the same room as Dana or whether they're talking over headsets. <BR/><BR/>It makes the scripts hard to read, I think, until you've seen the shows enough. Normally I'd think that was a bad thing, which just shows how much I know.<BR/><BR/>But I do insist I know one thing: girls are older than boys. Your six-year-old is the perfect age, she can enjoy the real Star Wars and not be too wounded by the dreadful second trilogy.<BR/><BR/>Oh, to be that young.<BR/><BR/>WilliamWilliam Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13315381474957511300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-19934805297156636442008-11-21T08:41:00.000-08:002008-11-21T08:41:00.000-08:00I will watch more. I need to watch more; I've real...I will watch more. I need to watch more; I've realised that I just don't watch enough, be it film or TV. It's not that I avoid watching things because I think I'm going to unwittingly plagiarise stuff; it's simply a case of too much to do in too little time.<BR/><BR/>It'd be interesting to transcribe the script of those moments where the studio buzz builds up. I wondering whether the sentences get shorter or the gaps between the pieces of dialogue get smaller. <BR/><BR/>It's no one single thing, though; it's about where everyone is in the studio through those two minutes, their body language, what they are saying, what's going on in the background. <BR/>Even though I just know the Chinese swimmer wasn't going to make the lead story I still found myself wondering whether she was going to change her mind at the last minute.<BR/><BR/>So yeah, it was as great for someone seeing the show for the first time. <BR/><BR/>My daughter (6) saw Star Wars - the first one, the one that blew my 9-year-old socks clean off - for the first time at the weekend. She's a Disney Princess fan. I asked her afterwards whether spaceship films or fairy films were better. She likes spaceship films now. Especially ones with Wookiees. I do wonder whether I should have made her save her Star Wars cherry until she was old enough to <I>really</I> appreciate it, though :)laurence timmshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04366127170754753612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-34667421428166854142008-11-21T08:17:00.000-08:002008-11-21T08:17:00.000-08:00Now that's another thing I'd wondered about until ...Now that's another thing I'd wondered about until I wrote that blog: whether the two of them speaking would seem as great to someone seeing the show for the first time as it did when you were very used to their opening spiels.<BR/><BR/>But watching the clip back I see now that it really cleverly prepared you for it: it told you what they normally do, it told you what they were planning to say, but it did so without seeming like exposition. And so cleverly that I didn't notice they were telling me things I already knew, setting up things I knew. Setting me up for that great pay-off.<BR/><BR/>I love, simply cherish and love the live broadcasts: I've worked in radio and felt some of that - even today I was in a kind of radio studio and it had the same buzz. I think it's remarkable how they capture that special type of excitement: this is not actually a big, new event, it's a show they've done every night for ages so there can't be an artificial panic or hype, but Aaron Sorkin gets you feeling that mounting thrill that a live broadcast does. And he gets you feeling the same way about time, too: how you relax when someone calls out "two minutes back", as if two minutes is a long time.<BR/><BR/>So pleased you watched: I hope you get to see more.<BR/><BR/>WilliamWilliam Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13315381474957511300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-38973587800884233002008-11-21T01:32:00.000-08:002008-11-21T01:32:00.000-08:00I've never seen Sports Night, so I got to watch it...I've never seen Sports Night, so I got to watch it for the first time. Dead smart. I realised there was no dialogue for some time but I was just as involved in the scenes as if there had been. The nightclub scene with the glass screens was very neat indeed.<BR/><BR/>The build-up to the live broadcast just spun things up like a flywheel and the pay-off was ace. Very very clever indeed. Wonder how many takes it took to get the two of them talking in utterly perfect unison?laurence timmshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04366127170754753612noreply@blogger.com