Hi everyone!
Checking in about the art side this time.
What I'm Doing Now (Spring 2022)
- Jamming on stories with friends. Experiment and get the ideas out before they go stale! Maybe there will be some work to show by the end of it too.
- Practicing screenwriting at Script Anatomy.
- As ever, patching up foundations. Working on getting more specific with acting choices.
- Improv classes at work to stay fast and loose.
In 2020, I storyboarded a sequence about a girl named Jana.
She's a baker in a world where many are hungry. This sequence is from the beginning of her story:
More happens after this. That's what I'm working on right now!
Making the time for this project has been a challenge with a full-time job. I resisted putting hard deadlines into place until this year when my friend floated the idea of a remote story group. Meeting up with friends for check-ins has been helpful to keep the project on my radar, so fingers crossed!
Screenwriting practice
It's always stuck in my mind that Akira Kurosawa considers screenwriting experience to be the most important quality of a director.
After my friend Steph recommended Script Anatomy, I signed up for the Televisionary course this year. It's only been a week or two, but it's been valuable observing where I snag or flow while writing. I've told myself to put my ego aside and be okay with taking even the craziest route if it's the one that works the best for my brain.
I was also happy to notice a sense of clarity during a recent feedback session at work. Some of what I learned in an early class made it easier to pinpoint the note behind my own note, and better offer solutions during feedback.
Gestures and acting
Most recently, my head of story Heather advised me to simplify my observations of abstract shapes and how they change pose-to-pose. She said this works best when doing sequential poses, such as freeze-framing action-heavy videos.
Karl Gnass, who's been teaching at work, also mentioned grounding my gestures more by dialling up the sense of weight. I'll try to keep an eye on these in the near future!
Improv!
Among other exciting classes, improv lunch sessions have restarted at work recently. So far, I found that comedians tend to be great teachers – or maybe I just pay more attention when there's a joke thrown into lectures every 10 seconds 🤷🏻♀️
Still miss rolling around with everyone in person, but I hope that will be a reality again soon...
A wordy update, but excited to check in again at the end of spring.
See you next time,
