Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

The Oscar Bump

Whhhaaaat!?!  The movie I'm in didn't make as one of the NINE Oscar finalists for best picture of 2017?

Nope.  Sorry, porg.  You, sir, were snubbed.  Unjustifiably by me.  I LA-OVED the movie you we're in.  But let me warm up the audience before we get to that point.

Well we're a little over a month away from the 2018 Oscars as I type this post.  And I must admit this year I think the Academy of Arts and Sciences really DIDN'T pick the most deserving, 9 best movies of the year.  I think I've only seen two of the 9 nominated movies for best picture in 2018.  You know what that means right, gotta get out to the movie theater and see the other 7!

Have you ever wondered why so few movies released earlier in the year don't make the top 9?  Always seems to be a picking of movies from the fall of that year.  

I JUST got back from seeing "Lady Bird" which is up for best actress and best movie of the year.  Now, though, Saoirse Ronan did a fine job as title character from which this movie derives its name, this is a very boring movie.  Totally undeserving of being one of the 9 finalists.  

E.C. was praying like this during my movie for the boredom to end" 

One other movie that I recently looked up and watched the trailer for that was for best picture of the year was "The Phantom Thread".  

"The Phantom Thread" stars Daniel Day Lewis who is probably the greatest actor of all-time.  Yeah, he's THAT good.  But the trailer that I watched for "The Phantom Thread" was DREADFUL.  Now a movie trailer is SUPPOSED to a favorable first exposure that makes you wanna see the movie.  Not so with turd of an idea, film.  Holy Shit was the trailer for "The Phantom Thread" bad.  Apparently it's about a tailor who is very good at his job, but has a hard time experiencing love.  I think it's set in the 1950s.  The trailer was just awful.  I don't think I bring myself to go see a movie like that.  I have the same kind of bias feeling that feel toward "The Post", which to me looks like newsroom political witch hunt movie.  PASS.

Other Oscar contenders look bad too.  Neither of the Word War II movies make me want to see them.  And "Get Out" (written and directed by Jordan Peele), which I think a suburban horror tale that involves a mixed race couple going to dinner a strange house.  PASS.  

Why wasn't my favorite movies of the year in the final 9?  

To me the best movie of 2017 was "The Last Jedi".  That movie was GREAT!  Worthy of being in the final 9.  Like "Wonder Woman" too, though not as much as "The Last Jedi".  Okay, so those two movies were big, budget tent-pole movies.  Should that negate them from the best picture award?

No!  In my opinion it shouldn't.  

But since they're not nominated, I gotta come to grips with why.  Sure, grading out a movie is a subjective thing.  But I think they're something else at play here.  I think what's really going on a subtle attempt at box office manipulation by Hollywood.  I call it the Oscar Bump.

E.C. Henry defines the Oscar bump as Hollywood's attempt to draw attention to a select group of smaller movies and boast the box office sales by putting them up for special awards 

I fallen victim to this scam, and sometimes its not so bad.  A few years seeing the "Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" was nominated and make a run BACK into the theaters, I actually went to see it because of that, and was pleasantly surprised.  

Huge fan of the Oscars, because I love the movies, and love seeing truly talented people be honored for their fine work.  My gripe comes at the snubs of the more deserving that suffer on account of people who don't really vote for the best, but rather cast their vote to rending financial assistance to other movies.  

"I think it's time I put my belt of truth on this E.C. Henry fellow, I think he likes my movie--because he thinks I'm hot!!"

#shesright

When it come to the Oscars, I wanna see the best.  And I don't think we're getting that this year in their top 9 nominated best pictures of the year.  I think I'm right on this issue; to the Academy it's more about money than honoring the deserving.  And that bothers me.  I value truth.  Sure it's all subjective, but are you telling me "The Last Jedi" doesn't deserved to be in the running for best picture of the year.  It was my favorite movie of the year--by a lot.  Besides "Wonder Woman" I also like "The Disaster Artist" (staring James Franco) and "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri", though it wasn't really the story but rather the acting in those two stories that won me over.

I think awards should mean something.  In my mind the dynamic that I see in play here, the deserving aren't being honored they way they should.  And that cheapens the award and what it means to win.  If I was nominated for an Oscar I would want it to be a TRUE representation of me being the best.  

Sam Rockwell in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" as best supporting actor is a worthy pick

So will I watch the 2018 Oscars?  Probably, but anytime the best picture of the year talk comes up, I'll listen while silently grumbling.  Believing that the Academy of Arts got it wrong.  The didn't pick the best and most deserving films of 2018, but rather watered down their votes in hopes of getting a bit of an Oscar bump in money so some other films.  And to me, that's sad.  

If I was in charge of picking the best movie of 2017 and give the Oscar to the talent that made it that Oscar would go to:

Index Cards

Index cards.  Some screenwriters use 'em, some don't.  Me, I LOVE them!

Why?

Because I'm a proponent of ANYTHING that helps the writing and ISN'T on a 8 1/2 X 11 sheep of paper.  To date I've used at least 2 index cards on every story I've written to date.  Super colossal #1 was the one that I used the least, two; and that was because I'd already sent three years of my life in that story and didn't need index cards to know that I wanted to write.  Super colossal #1 was the easiest script I ever wrote--and probably my best too.  But I digress... because currently I carding up a new story.  Something different.  Unlike anything else I've ever written... a heist script with a unique E.C. Henry angle...  

Index cards are used to summarize scenes or capture something interesting that the writer thinks they'll use in their story. Index cards are like scaffolding.  They're used in the construction of the building (story) but then the building (story) is complete the scaffolding is taken down and seen no more.  

Stories and movies are made up of scenes.  Most times I use 1 to 3 index cards to rough out what I want to see accomplished in a scene.  But I also will record dialog in there IF I think it makes the scene memorable.  

One of the BIG benefits of using index cards is being able to see where they all fit within the three act structure.  ACT I being all setup, which ends at the ACT I breakpoint where you definitely have set up the obstacle that you protagonist has to over come.  Then in ACT II there is typically double the scenes as action takes place that brings you to your ACT II breakpoint.  Then ACT III is roughly the size of ACT I, only now you're coming down the stretch and will end answering obstacle facing your protagonist, and draw to a close all plot lines.  

I love complexity and lots of things happening to the characters in my story.  Typically I DO NOT write simple stories.  They're boring to me. Index cards help identify plot points that drive a story forward.  I really spend a lot of time in the outlining/pre-writing stage TRYING to work out story problems and missing spots.  

Index cards also serves as ISLANDS that your story is trying reach then leave on route to the next one.  Sometimes scenes move, and the order of them can be changed.  Laying out your scenes on a corkboard is a good way of seeing your story in whole, and identifying the spots that need work.  

I DO NOT believe in keeping it all in your head.  I like an easier form of brilliance.  Index cards help make my stories as stong as I'm capable of writing, in my opinion; they a help not a hindrance in the creative process.  

I also believe in color coding your index cards.  I lot of times I keep track of the love stories in red.  Blue for twists.  Green for story plants/set-ups and payoffs. Orange for theme.  And purple for master sequences, though that's normally used in the outline.  But you see my point? You can use color to spruce up a stories outline and track developments better.  Remember, storylines develop over time.  If you're missing a certain color for a prolonged period of time, maybe that's your cue to tweak the story and call in a new development along that line.  

I'm all for making writing easier.  A joy.  You wanna have so much material ready to roll when you write--so you DON'T get stumped.  No story writes itself.  Rather, a writer has to slave over it, pay dutiful attention and give it the best "justice" that he or she is capable of doing.  Index cards are a necessary component to give the writer confidence that they can do it.  Their is a path through the story.  The trail of index cards proves it! 

Hey E.C., follow this!

Yes sir!  Whatever it takes to get a draft that's coherent, logical, and good.   

And hey, index cards help me get there.  No, you don't see them in the final product: a finished screenplay or a novel; BUT they are an intrical part of the building process.  A tool that if used the right way will help a skillful builder make a better product.  And that's what it's all about:

Writing made easy!

Time to Turn the Page

It's a new year people.  Are you feeling optimistic pessimistic about your prospects in 2018?

Movie-wise I thought 2017 was a real good year.  Thought "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" was the best movie of the year.  "Wonder Woman" was good, followed by "3 Billboards Outside, Ebbing Missouri" and "Disaster Artist", which stared James Franco rounding out my top 4.  Will 2018 be as interesting?  At the outset it doesn't look like it.  I mean Jamie Lee Curtis is doing ANOTHER "Halloween" installment.  I guess after 40 YEARS Michael Myers STILL hasn't given up the chase.  Now in his 60s, better get her THIS time or it just may be too late for him.  #ridiculous.

In the news front I AM working on a new spec. script.  It's going to be a rural, bank heist movie.  Still working on expanding the character and outlining the plot, BUT I am making progress on it, and hope to have it done by May...

Still hard at work editing the 2nd book in "The Legend of Thars" series.  The progress has been spotty.  Hope to have that done soon.  Then it's on to the 3rd book in the series, and starting the 2nd script adaption.  

To be honest with you, in 2018 I'm going to put less emphasis on creative writing, and more emphasis on self-improvement.  #1 goal will be reading God's word everyday.  I have a Gary Wilkerson daily word guide that insures I read at least ONE scripture a day.  Not sure what else I'm going to do to improve my spiritual heath.  But that's a start.  I know I need to do more.

Going to start exercising with the goal of 45 minutes a day: Nordic track will be my emphasis, but I'm also going to start weight lifting and stretching as well. Going to weigh myself before I go to bed, and try to lose 10-15 pounds...

I'm going cut back on my alcohol consumption as well.  It's just not fun anymore.  That should be an easy change.  

Around the house I'm going to start 2018 by getting my dad's Kabota's front loader reattached.  He took it off, then over Thanksgiving break couldn't get it back on.  I would LOVE to by something more robust for the property, but I don't have that kind of disposable cash.  

The BIG project that I'm going to take on sometime during the spring is selling my dad's boat.  He's too old for it now, and I just don't have enough interest in to justify keeping it around.  With God's help we'll sell it sometime late in the spring of 2018 or in summer.  It's just time to sell it.  

Besides that I gotta clean up our garage.  Wish my dad would have run power to it when he built it.  So now it's just really a glorified storage shed.  I'd like to run power to it, but I don't have that kind of $$.

Other projects I'd like to do in 2018 is getting rid of two pick-up truck canopies we have, and finishing the tear down of my old motorcycle shed.  Still need to do some smoothing of our yard too.  Never a dull moment.  Wish I had help, but there really isn't any to be had.  My dad very little interest in doing anything other than golfing, and my brother is kind of oblivious to everything yard and work related.  

That's about all I have to say for now.  No BIG vacation plans on horizon like I did in 2017 going to the U.S. Virgin Islands with my mom in late April.  Will probably take a week's long writer's vacation to Long Beach in April if my current day job holds true.  Will also try to attend the 2018 Pacific Northwest Writers Conference.  Time to follow through and read my daily scripture, then hit the Nordic track for 30 minutes or so, then end with some stretching.  

Sorry, that my blog posting kinda fell off towards the end of 2017.  Will try to be more active in 2018. With the goal being a post a week, then later I hope to expand that two 1 content post, and 1 smaller post per week.  So thanks for visiting my blog and reading my posts.  I wish you all nothing but God's best in 2018.

Sincerely,

E.C. Henry

Best charter I saw in the movies in 2017?  Easy, Sam Rockwell in "3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri".  Steals the show from Frances McDormand