Blade Runner 2049 is a great film, and you should definitely go and see it. It's visually stunning, explores a lot of interesting ideas, and deftly guides the audience through the story, with a good balance of intrigue and information. If you haven't seen the original Blade Runner, though, I recommend you do that first, or you won't understand some of what 2049 has to say. That said, the sequel has a great relationship to its predecessor- it leads on from it and ties to it, but has its own story, and allows us to get involved with the new plot and characters before bringing in the old ones, almost teasing us with the mention of Deckard and the others. The old characters are relevant but not overpowering- it's not Deckard's story any more, and he is demoted to the status of supporting character (despite obviously featuring prominently in marketing)- a good thing, because it's been 30 years since the last film, and it's a new and fresh story being told for a new and fresh world. This film actually reminded me of the book that serves as Blade Runner's source material, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, even more then the original. While I thought Blade Runner focused too much on action sequences at the expense of really exploring the interesting philosophical ideas brought up by Dick's book, this film brings some of those ideas back to the forefront. It's not afraid to slow down and think. It also reflects today's society and favoured narratives, which is what I'm going to talk about now. If you haven't seen the film and don't want spoilers, stop reading, but if you don't mind spoilers, even without having seen the film I think you'll find this interesting. SPOILERS FOR BLADE RUNNER 2049 AHEAD!
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The first three are my top three, but other than that there's no particular order here: The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle ZevinThis book centres on A.J., an isolated bookstore owner from the fictional Alice Island who ends up taking in a toddler named Maya who is mysteriously left in his shop. At the start of the novel, A.J. is dreary and has cut himself off from the world a bit after the death of his wife Nic, who had been the social face of the bookshop, but over the course of the novel (thanks to Maya and other characters) learns to open up and enjoy life again. It's a novel that celebrates books and reading; each chapter is named after a well-known novella or short story, and the delight that the characters take in reading is infectious. The turns in the plot and the personalities of the characters are really compelling. It's very emotional, too, and makes you care so much about all of the characters. Wicked by Gregory MaguireThis is the book that I usually cite as my favourite, and I think it's brilliant. It tells Maguire's imagining of the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, and was the basis for the hit musical. Though make no mistake, the book and musical are very different- I love them both, but the tone and plot of each are extremely dissimilar because of the form and the potential audience. Maguire's world-building is thoroughly impressive- his Oz is complex and layered and political and feels real, and I love the complexity of the characters and how far reaching the plot is in terms of time and place- it covers Elphaba the Witch's life from before her birth to the immediate aftermath of her death, and cleverly weaves in other well-known characters from its source material. It's definitely one for adults and mature teenagers though- I first read this book aged 15, and I think I was only just ready for it. Radio Silence by Alice OsemanOseman is an author I hugely admire. Her first novel, Solitaire, was published when she was only 19, and in the very few years since then she has published Radio Silence, written two Solitaire-character-based e-novellas and created her webcomic Heartstopper. I'm a big fan of all of her work. But I love Radio Silence in particular because of how funny and heartfelt it is. It's the most realistic novel about teenagers I've ever read, as well as the most diverse in terms of both sexuality and ethnicity, and tackles the issue of pressure on teenagers to go to university even though it may not be right for them. There's always aspects I forget about and then remember and go 'oh yeah, that was cute/funny/clever!' I highly recommend it, whether you're thinking of going to university, definitely not going, already there, or just living adult life. Oseman is incredibly talented at creating developed characters, and it's a joy to read. Little Women by Louisa May AlcottI can't remember reading this book for the first time. I think I must have been 9 or 10, but to be honest I don't know. But since then I've read it over and over again- I've read its sequels too, but nowhere near as much- and although I haven't read it in years it holds a special place in my heart because of how comforting I found it throughout my childhood. It (I'm referring to the first volume) was first published in 1868, and centres on a group of four sisters- Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth- as they deal with growing up and morality. Landline by Rainbow RowellAs with Oseman, I'm a big fan of Rainbow Rowell, and love all her books, which include Attachments and Fangirl, but if I'm pushed to choose I think Landline is my favourite (possibly because it's the most recent one I read). You can click here to read my full post on Landline. Read it if you want a book that's funny, contains just a hint of magic, explores different kinds of relationships from friendship to siblinghood, and takes a realistic look at long-term love. Jane Eyre by Charlotte BronteI read this for A Level English Literature, and since then I've come back many times to it not to fully reread, but to read my favourite chapters over again- those chapters being those featuring the relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester. I can't really explain why I love those two so much simply because it's hard to defend Rochester having read Jean Rhys' counter-novel Wide Sargasso Sea, which acts as a prequel to Jane Eyre looking at it from a critical postcolonial perspective. The truth is I think Rochester is an interesting and complex character, and Jane is more than a match for him. I've watched several adaptations of the novel, my favourites of which are the 1983 BBC miniseries with Timothy Dalton as Rochester and the webseries The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, which transports the story to modern day Canada, and poses Jane as a vlogger who is a fan of Lizzie Bennet (of the Pride and Prejudice-based webseries The Lizzie Bennet Diaries). In The Autobiography I do have a favourite episode, and it just consists of Jane and Rochester being cute with each other. Sue me, I like this couple. They're both really compelling characters. The Name of the Star by Maureen JohnsonThis is the first book in the Shades of London series, which is currently awaiting a fourth novel, and centres on Rory, an American teenager who comes to London to go to boarding school and do her A levels. As a mysterious killer emulates the murders of Jack the Ripper, she becomes caught up in the investigation after being the only person to witness the prime suspect at the scene of the crime. It's a supernatural thriller that also has a lot of humour and character development, dealing well with serious topics, and across the series the psychological impact of events on Rory isn't ignored, which is interesting. It's a clever, suspense-filled book, and I can't wait to reread the series and then devour the next book.
Have you read any of these books? If you have, what did you think? Or have I convinced you to pick them up... I'm writing this blog post for a number of reasons. One, I'm losing steam with reading a bit- I've returned to university, although term doesn't start until next week, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with my reading list. Two, you reading this may find some recommendations in a few different genres here. Three, I want to hold myself accountable and return to this list in a couple of months, so I can finish these books before the end of the year. It's yet another reminder to myself to prioritise reading for fun, not just for my course. So let's dive in- I'm only including five books here, although I aim to read more for fun and will need to read even more for university. 1) Turtles All The Way Down by John GreenIf you're a John Green fan or even just a Young Adult Fiction fan you're probably aware of this book. Green's new novel has been highly anticipated in the five years since his last, the wildly popular The Fault In Our Stars, and it will be released into the world next Tuesday 10/10/17. It centres on teenage protagonist Aza Holmes and her search for a fugitive billionaire, as well as her obsessive compulsive disorder. This is an illness Green himself deals with, so I'm looking forward to seeing an 'own voices' portrayal of this. I'm a big fan of Green's from both his previous novels and his YouTube channel vlogbrothers which he created with his brother Hank, so I've preordered Turtles to pick up at my local Waterstones, and will be reading it in probably very few sittings over a couple of days. 2) Life Moves Pretty Fast by Hadley FreemanI've actually already started this book, but because of its nature I've been dipping in and out of it. The tagline of this book is 'The lessons we learned from eighties movies (& why we don't learn them from movies any more)', and it's structured with an introduction, an epilogue, and in between many different chapters focusing on different eighties movies and different themes, from Dirty Dancing and abortion to Ghostbusters and masculinity to Ferris Bueller's Day Off and social class. The vast majority of my favourite films were made in the eighties: Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller..., The Blues Brothers, The Princess Bride and more, with my all-time favourite film Pride and old favourite The History Boys also set in the decade. My approach to this book has been watch the film/s, read the chapter, in order, which is why it's been taking me a while. The tone of this book is delightfully enthusiastic and friendly. I'm learning to further appreciate films I already love, and I'm hopefully going to discover some great eighties classics I haven't seen and will love. 3) As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes and Joe LaydenSpeaking of eighties films I love, The Princess Bride is one of my favourite films. I recently had to 'pitch' it to a couple of friends for us to watch, and had a really hard time because it's difficult to explain why exactly it's so good without going on a massive rant. My pitch ended up being simply 'romance, sword-fights, funny', which sold them (and they loved the film.) So when I found out there was a book written by Westley himself about the making of the cult classic, I knew I had to read it. I've read that it describes an unusually harmonious filmmaking experience- whether that was the case or not remains to be seen- so I won't be basing my perception of the film industry off it too much, but I'm excited to read it. I think it'll be interesting. 4) Heart of Darkness by Joseph ConradI will hold my hands up and admit that I should have read this already. It was a text on my university course last year, but for a number of reasons (got bored, didn't see the need to finish it after the lecture, overwhelmed by reading list) only read half of it. However, it has cropped up on one of my modules this year (my favourite one) in comparison with the film based on it, Apocalypse Now. So I figured the universe was telling me I needed to give it another shot. Heart of Darkness was written in 1899, and features a frame narrative around the story of a journey up the Congo River. It's discussed a lot in terms of race and postcolonialism. 5) Save the Cat!I've just finished the first draft of my first feature-length screenplay. Now it's time to breathe and completely ignore it for a month, after which I'll go back to it and edit with a fresh mind. During this month, however, I want to learn as much as I can about the craft of screenwriting, which means reading as many screenplays as I can, reading online articles, and reading this book. Snyder knows the industry well, is a successful spec screenwriter, and focuses not just on how to make your work good but how to make it marketable. I've read a chapter and I've already learned so much! Really looking forward to this one, I've read great things about it online. Have you read any of these? Are you looking forward to Turtles All The Way Down? Let me know.
It's a well accepted fact that talent rarely makes a good writer by itself. No one immediately bashes out a perfect first draft, and even if a misguided writer thought they had and did no further work on it, I imagine it would be difficult to find an agent, publisher or film studio that would take on that piece of work. Today I want to take a look at some factors other than a good instinct for writing that help to create great pieces of writing- not just acceptable first drafts, but great finished pieces. PracticeLet's start with the cliche: practice makes perfect. It's another well accepted fact that writing a lot makes you better at writing, so I won't labour the point. Whether your initial aptitude for writing is high or not, practice will develop it. LearningThis one I am a huge, huge advocate of, and it's one people don't think about a lot. 'I've read a few novels, so I could write one.' True, you could. But would it be the best you could do? You'd do infinitely better if you were to learn about the craft first- by reading online articles, maybe doing an online course, and yes, reading lots of books, but also analysing them and figuring out exactly how they do what they do. If you want, you can go on your instincts to write your novel or other project, then do your learning and use your newfound skills and knowledge when you're editing. I'm currently midway through a two-week online Intro to Screenwriting course on FutureLearn, and I would highly recommend this sort of thing. Screenwriting is a totally new area to me- most of us don't read screenplays in our free time, after all- and the course has so far helped me to get to grips with not simply what a screenplay is and does, but the actual craft of what goes into one- what makes a good one, how to create plots and characters, how it differs from other forms of writing. Yes art is a form of expression, but skill goes into it as well, and those skills have to be learned. Not all writing is the same- if you've written 26 bestselling novels but don't know anything about screenplays, you won't be able to write the latter straight away without learning the craft because they're completely different. It's important to know the difference. So if you're trying a form of writing that's new to you, pick up a book on it, or try an online course. Take responsibility for your own learning, because it's writing, and you write because you enjoy it, right? PlanningI'm a meticulous planner. I never start writing a project until I have some basic character outlines and a plan for a plot, however vague and hole-filled. For the screenplay I'm currently writing, I've become a big fan of index cards with scene details written on blu-tacked in order and covered in post it notes with extra things I've thought of. However, some people prefer not to make initial plans, and that's fine. Different people work different ways. But when it comes to editing, that's when I believe plans really come into play. Structure is an integral yet often overlooked aspect of storytelling, especially when it comes to screenplays, and nothing beats a plan to try and work out how best to use it, even a plan made in hindsight. Editing, editing, editingThis is my favourite bit- the part of the writing process where you start to craft your creation into something great. My favourite saying (credited to several people including Robert Graves, although I found it in Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld) is 'there is no good writing, only good rewriting' and it's something I remember every time I get downhearted about my writing when working on a first draft. The initial writing is only the first step- it's filling up the sandbox so you can make the castles later. Stocking the fridge so you can cook something.
Editing is where you stop creating and you start crafting- you pull in all that learning you've done and use it to your advantage. You start to be meticulous and careful- everything in your work needs to be on purpose. 'Good enough' doesn't matter anymore, you make everything the best it can be. This is also where your plan comes in again. Have you stuck to it? Could it be improved? If you have no plan (or the draft differs from the plan significantly), make (a new) one! This will help you to plot character arcs, see which characters are getting most of the action, look at your pacing, the amount of locations you have... There's no end to how many editing thoughts you can gain from looking over a plan. I'd just like to reiterate my point from earlier: art is a form of expression, but as with drawing and playing musical instruments and other forms of art, writing has craft to it, and different forms of writing have different requirements. Learning the craft is not only fun, but necessary in order to create a great piece of work. I love YouTube. In fact, before making this blog I considered using YouTube as my platform instead, but didn't for a number of reasons. Who knows, maybe that's something for the future. But today I want to talk about some of the channels that inspired me to think about doing that and in fact to create this blog; specifically ones that focus on film, since it's a visual medium which lends itself to being talked about through video. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive list, I'm sure there are plenty I haven't discovered, but these are some of my favourites. The titles are links, so check them out! 1) Lessons from the Screenplay
I'm currently writing a film, and one of my best friends is writing a play. The other day, we sent each other our opening scenes to give feedback. Another of my friends is writing a short film, and she recently sent her draft to our group chat to ask for our opinions. This all got me thinking about the concept of getting feedback from friends (and family), and there's a couple of questions in particular I want to discuss this week. Part 1: Why is friend-feedback so hard to ask for?Because it really is! And there's a lot of factors that go into that. Firstly, it's scary to put ourselves and our work out there at all- what if it's bad? what does that say about me?- but when it's to a friend there's usually added pressure because their opinion matters a lot to us. We don't want their belief in us to be proved misguided, or for them to look down on us for our work, or simply for them not to like it. Because if even your best friend doesn't like your work, that must mean it's crap, right? Obviously this isn't the case. No one project can appeal to everyone and just because it's not their thing doesn't mean other people won't like it. But the idea easily worms its way into our heads. Another factor is that creative projects are often very personal; we take emotions that we've felt, aspects of people we've met and situations we've been in and we use them to create something. Not only is it easy to feel embarrassed or scared about being vulnerable and exposing ourselves in this creative way, but our friends have usually been around us through these events, and sometimes can connect the dots of 'oh, so that situation in your writing is a bit like that thing that happened to you a while back that made you feel bad.' They'd never say it, but you'd know they knew where you got that from, which heightens the vulnerability. There's also a sort of stereotype about getting feedback from friends which is that they don't tell the truth and just say it's great no matter what. If you ask the right friend, they won't do this- even if they don't love your project, they'll point out why or why it's not for them in a constructive way, or just focus on the bits that they honestly liked. Even worse, we can think that we're imposing on our friends by making them read or look at our work, because we can convince ourselves that they don't care. Obviously, even though all these hurdles are valid and scary, they are pretty much irrational, and completely worth getting over. Part 2: Why does it even matter?Getting feedback from friends is so important for just as many reasons as it is difficult to ask for. One of the most important yet undervalued reasons is the simple encouragement and validation it brings- seeing your friends complimenting your work or congratulating you on your dedication to your project is wonderful, and seeing them get excited about something you made is one of the best feelings. This can help reinforce your belief in yourself and your work, and increase your enthusiasm for it; it proves to you that what you're doing is worthwhile, it isn't silly or a waste of time, and it's real. Discussion is also a great result of friend-feedback; when I showed my friend my opening scenes of my film, we had a chat about the setting of one of the scenes (it was in a coffee shop), and whether it was right for the characters, and for that matter precisely what kind of coffee shop we were talking about. It was fun, as was talking about various aspects of her play- lines I liked, and asking her plans for certain characters- and helpful for my writing. Talking about your project helps to clarify your vision and work through any issues you're having, and is also practice for if you ever have to pitch your project to professionals. Finally, if you're writing a film or book etc., find a friend who you think would like it if they saw it on Netflix or in Waterstones, and have them read it to get some target-audience-reaction. I have a friend who doesn't write, but has a similar taste in films to me, so I'll be asking her to read my screenplay when it's finished.
What have been your experiences with giving or receiving feedback to or from a friend? 'Wednesday's growing up so fast. She'll be Thursday before you know it!'Yesterday I went to The Lowry Theatre in Salford to watch The Addams Family: The Musical Comedy. For those of you that don't know about it, the musical is based on the original cartoons by Charles Addams, and in this story Wednesday Addams has become a teenager and fallen in love. She also has a secret, which she entrusts to her father Gomez (who has never kept anything from his wife Morticia before.) Wednesday's boyfriend Lucas and his parents- a typical, cheesy American family- come to dinner at the Addams Family Mansion, and a clash of two natures ensues. Will the darkness of the Addams family be too much for the Beinekes? This musical is so much fun. It's absolutely hilarious, with the jokes ranging from physical comedy to innuendos to puns that take you a minute to appreciate. A few of the jokes are clearly from the original Broadway version and don't translate brilliantly- a joke about healthcare falls a little flat in a country with the NHS- but those are very minor instances. Going into it I was a bit worried that the story would be quite cliche and predictable, because after all these are well-loved characters that aren't exactly well-known for being deep and emotionally complex. Or, you know, emotional. But that wasn't the case-- Wednesday, having become a teenager and fallen in love, is naturally more emotional and animated than in her previous incarnations. Morticia and Gomez have a really touching plotline. Even Pugsley gets some depth as he's scared of losing his sister. And none of this seems odd because they're not characters on a TV screen, they're actual people right in front of you-- the immediacy and intimacy of theatre means they seem more real, come alive from the cartoons and screen incarnations. So of course they have emotional journeys! Also it's a musical, and musicals have to have emotions to sing about. So the show turns out to be not just hilarious but really touching, about family and relationships and love and honesty-- with no unpredictable cliches. I've seen complaints that the story is weak and the stakes aren't high enough. I disagree. It doesn't have to have incredibly high stakes and unbelievable suspense because it's not that kind of story. It's very much relationship-based, and makes the Addams Family human and relatable, while still preserving their weirdness and darkness in its usual inexplicably charming way. No spoilers there, hopefully. Let's talk about the cast specifically. Overall I thought the cast were all just so perfect. The ensemble really impressed me- there's a lot of group dance numbers, and all members of the ensemble showed such an incredible amount of energy in everything, even 4 months into their tour. Carrie Hope Fletcher (who I've been a fan of for years through her YouTube channel and writing career) was amazing as Wednesday; she has such a uniquely powerful voice, which you can hear singing my favourite song from the show here. Dickon Gough makes a great Lurch, with spot on comedic timing, and Cameron Blakely makes an excellent Gomez, charming and a bit dotty. He works very well with Samantha Womack, who plays a morbid but caring Morticia. Oliver Ormson plays Lucas well but with a slightly cringey American accent, which only adds to the intentionally cheesy portrayal of him and his family. In the performance I saw Lucas' mother Alice was played by understudy Rhona McGregor who I thought was excellent in both distinctive acting and powerful singing. The production value of the show is wonderful. The set is deliciously grim, and strangely beautiful when the sky and moon are visible. There's lots of smoke, of course, for the creepy Addams atmosphere, and the lighting struck me as absolutely gorgeous at points. After the bows, the stage was left with the outline of the Addams Mansion around the stage and a purple sky behind, and it was beautiful. The costumes are very well designed, especially those of the ensemble, who play various Ancestors of the Addams Family and portray a wide variety of origins in both time period and geography. If you like dark humour and relationship-based storytelling, I highly recommend you go see this show. It's a lot of fun, and I wish there was a cast recording because the music here is very catchy and displays some wonderful vocal talent. Enjoy! *click click* The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy is currently on tour in the UK, with future dates in Sheffield, Belfast, Glasgow and more, and will finally be travelling to Singapore in November. For tour dates, click here. Image from https://tickets.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06ZZ5HFBT/the-addams-family Or; Not Treating Your Audience Like Idiots, But Not Confusing the Hell Out Of Them Either |
Bit of a contrast, I know. But can anyone who has seen Legally Blonde honestly say that Reese Witherspoon's Elle isn't a badass? She starts out the film as quite a stereotypical frivolous blonde sorority queen, and then gradually starts to allow herself the possibility of being more than that. When she learns to see herself as more than a stereotype and to believe in herself, she realises that she's an intelligent, capable girl, and doesn't have to sacrifice her femininity to be so. Sometimes girls and women need reminding that we can be successful without it being 'in spite' of our femininity, because femininity doesn't have an effect on success! There can be a lot of pressure to be either girly or smart, and Elle Woods is reassurance that we can be both. |
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