W.F.T.M. Post 9

Be creative! So we talked about creativity in the last class. I also came to a personal realization that most of my work exists in the initial stage of creativity which unfortunately happens to be the most derivative. Now I know how to shape those ideas and cultivate valuable and unique works. So after you get your initial idea, mess around with it, reverse it, play with it. Next you let it stew. Put it away for a bit and come back to it later with fresh eyes. Then when you have your Eureka moment bring the idea back and do it. This may be why I have so much faith in my senior thesis. I've spent the time to step away from it and spend more time on it rather than just pursuing the initial, derivative idea.

Patched Together

So I joined a new network called Patched Together. It's like Threadless but instead of t-shirt designs, you submit designer toy designs. I have a few characters up in the voting stage so GO GIVE THEM A GOOD SCORE!!!

http://www.patchtogether.com/designs/designs/view/id/1786


please :)

WEBSITE!!!!!!

Hey everyone. My website is up and running so I'll be posting all my work there. I will continue to use this blog for my Writing for the Media class and less proffesional posts but my website will be where my best stuff goes. Here it is

http://evantedlock.com/

W.F.T.M. Post 8

Dialog is really hard to write. These are the things I've been learning in my writing for the media class. It's really embarrassing and just plain difficult to write realistic dialog and then have to perform it for people. Though it's probably a good thing that we have to work on it because it seems like a difficult task to grasp. Everyone's gotta start somewhere. Sticking to the guidelines can only help here; use contractions, avoid stereotypes, and never use slang. All dialog should produce an introduction, contain an exchange of information, show a moment of realization, and follow with a conclusion. DIALOG!!!

Evan, Tedlock, Dialog, Writing, For, The, Media, KCAI, Joel, Jenkins

W.F.T.M. Post 7

Listen Listen Listen. Our parents always tell us we'd better listen to them when they're talking and our teachers in school would give us bad grades if we failed to pay attention in class. But what is so important that we would get chastised for failure to listen. Why not place this blame on the speaker for not dictating in an engaging manor. All the grownup bashing aside, listening can be a powerful tool. It takes practice and a well exercised brain to pick up on the root of what people are actually saying. Take for instance when a person says, "I look so fat in this dress". Depending on the situation, tone, and many other factors of communication, this person could actually mean that they do in fact look fat, or on a more involved level they could mean that they want you, the listener to disagree with them and give them a compliment. Even one step further they could be saying, "Pay attention to me". Listening is an underestimated part of conversation that can be much more important than even speaking itself. *The more you know*

W.F.T.M. Post 6

Talk talk talk talk talk. Talking is a major part of everyday life so it only makes sense that dialog would play a big role in modern storytelling. I myself do not yet trust my recording skills or my writing skills so I have yet to attempt to tackle the beast that is dialog. I feel more confident now that I have some guides to help me stay away from poor dialog.

W.F.T.M. Post 5

To build a story one must start with a message. It's interesting how I'd never thought about that before. In retrospect I can see that most of my stories message is ,"Laugh". What I find so intriguing about this is that even if a storyteller or film maker is unaware of this story building structure, they tend to follow it. First you start with your message then you build the universe, next you create your characters, then your conflict and on and on. It seems that these steps of story building are derived from the common practice of professional story tellers.

Frank Work

Here is some recent work on my senior thesis 'Frank' I feel like I have a solid story now that is realistic and exciting. Stay tuned.


A possible Title Card


Frank Turnaround.

W.F.T.M. Post 4

It seemed that the last class was focused on coming up with a good paring blank VS blank to establish a conflict. Within each paring, Boy vs Girl, parent vs child, there seems to be a preset conflict that a story teller could draw from and expect that a majority of the audience would be able to connect. Allow me to again apply these ideas to my own story. Franks conflict seems to be more internal but I feel that I can pit him against everyone in his town. He's a sad lonely man who has no friends or social skills. So to Frank, his enemy is confronting other people, even if those people's friendship is what he desires most. So maybe Franks greatest enemy is his self. 'Frank' is a story of Man vs Self as he try's to overcome his personal fears in order to achieve happiness. That seems to be a common thread in a lot of current stories.

Changes a comin!

Big news everyone. My Frank story as it existed is now kaput. I'm still doing a film about Frank drawing friends to life but this one is a little more manigable and is structured much more clearly. I'll throw down the new idea as soon as I get it nailed down myself. Peace...

Writing For The Media Post 3

Today was a very informational class in which I learned some kickass ways to develop characters. A character goes way deeper than merely their outward appearance. A character is instead defined as what is revealed when the character is placed under pressure. We also applied the Abraham Maslow Hierarchy to the character development process to test out situations in which a character is under pressure. Basically everything boils down to one of two choices. In the worst of times does a character selflessly give and sacrifice or does it take in order to preserve itself.
After learning about these tools I again want to put my thesis under the microscope. Frank has a fear of being alone forever, this is his inner turmoil, his motivation. Acting against his nature to be lazy Frank invests his time into making these companions so that he won't have to face his fear of solitude. Frank has not achieved enlightnement as far as the Maslow Hierarchy is concerned. I would place him in the middle. He has his existence and security taken care of but what Frank now seeks is love or acceptance by at least one person. So my story is about Frank in pursuit of friendship, but does my story follow the 3 act structure? A few posts down is my animatic as it stands right now. I really want to get this story solid before I start production. Let me know what you think.