saltyunderpants

This is an interesting discussion. I’m primarily a writer and on the rare occasion I can convince a development exec to read my work, I sometimes get the note that I should get rid of my personal POV. Sometimes this means they think I should rewrite a screenplay to their POV rather than my own. But ... more >

This is an interesting discussion. I’m primarily a writer and on the rare occasion I can convince a development exec to read my work, I sometimes get the note that I should get rid of my personal POV. Sometimes this means they think I should rewrite a screenplay to their POV rather than my own. But I feel that a lack of POV in screenplays makes the film more bland.

Then again, the notes you get from one person may completely contradict the next notes you get. I got a rejection from a manager last week who said my screenplay was too dirty—that my project should be a four quadrant family film. That’s his POV that he wants up front, primarily because he sees a PG or PG-13 movie as a bigger moneymaker. A few hours later I got an email from a development exec who said his favorite moment was when the seven-year-old girl called her teacher a “fuckstick.” And that’s not just a funny word for a little girl to say, it’s a character moment that’s central to her family’s POV about authority figures.

Maybe the screenplay doesn’t work for other reasons, but removing POV is death to a writer. You know an Aaron Sorkin or Gary Ross or Trey Parker script by their POV and it’s one of the reasons those writers aren’t bland. Without it you may as well just write software manuals. Of course, the problem with having a strong or even a vague POV is that you have to find others who share a similar POV when you’re trying to sell the project.

I’m rambling now. I haven’t logged onto FOD in a month because I’ve been busy rewriting this screenplay and now I’m rambling endlessly on this thread about my script-selling woes. Sorry, I’ll shut up now and get back to that script.

Well, yes, I’ll admit that using the word testicles in the title was an experiment to see if that alone would draw views. In fact, the reason I made that video was basically a bet that a stupid groin-hitting video made in less than an hour would get more attention than the screenplay I’d been pourin... more >

Well, yes, I’ll admit that using the word testicles in the title was an experiment to see if that alone would draw views. In fact, the reason I made that video was basically a bet that a stupid groin-hitting video made in less than an hour would get more attention than the screenplay I’d been pouring so much work into at the time. But still, that was five months ago when I posted the video and the views all came in the last couple weeks.

I guess the lesson here is groin hits = views.

theretributioners said:

Maybe it’s because it has the word ‘testicles’ in the title???? That could do it.

I wish I had your luck. I get a lot of comments, but not a lot of views…...at least not yet. Tryin’...

I don’t think it was on the home page. Although, I hadn’t logged on recently, so maybe in the last couple days it was. But since there are no new comments, I think it must have been linked somewhere else.

Leothe2nd said:

more and more people join everyday. was your video on the home page at any po... more >

I don’t think it was on the home page. Although, I hadn’t logged on recently, so maybe in the last couple days it was. But since there are no new comments, I think it must have been linked somewhere else.

Leothe2nd said:

more and more people join everyday. was your video on the home page at any point?

saltyunderpants said:

Good point, Leo. It just seemed weird how the views came out of nowhere.

Leothe2nd said:

23,000 views thats awesome why are you questioning it?

Do you wonder who’s watching your videos? One of my videos suddenly has over 23,000 views. The last time I logged on a couple weeks ago that video was well under 8,000 views and it’s been online for five months now. There aren’t any new comments, so I assume it’s not FOD members watching the video. ... more >

Do you wonder who’s watching your videos? One of my videos suddenly has over 23,000 views. The last time I logged on a couple weeks ago that video was well under 8,000 views and it’s been online for five months now. There aren’t any new comments, so I assume it’s not FOD members watching the video. I wonder if it’s some sort of mistake.

Usually when my view numbers spike, I assume it’s because of my dad. Dad’s retired and he’s one of those guys who sends out jokes and links to everyone he knows ten times a day. And he’ll watch the same videos over and over again. But 23,000 is a lot more people than my Dad knows, and anyway, this video is pretty old. Weird.

Whoa, how did this video suddenly end up with 23,000+ views? I posted this video five months ago and it had way less than 10,000 views the last time I logged on, a couple weeks ago. Since there are no new comments, I assume it must not be FOD members watching it. Or maybe it’s just a software counting error.

Whoa, how did this video suddenly end up with 23,000+ views? I posted this video five months ago and it had way less than 10,000 views the last time I logged on, a couple weeks ago. Since there are no new comments, I assume it must not be FOD members watching it. Or maybe it’s just a software counting error.

I thought I had sentimental attachment to a videotape of a vacation in Puerto Rico from my college days. Then I watched a few minutes of the video for the first time in ten years and realized that it’s a lame video of a bunch of drunk college guys acting like jackasses. So I threw it out.

I moved tw... more >

I thought I had sentimental attachment to a videotape of a vacation in Puerto Rico from my college days. Then I watched a few minutes of the video for the first time in ten years and realized that it’s a lame video of a bunch of drunk college guys acting like jackasses. So I threw it out.

I moved two years ago and never bothered hooking up my VCR. I think I’ll just get rid of it.