I mentioned at some point (God knows what thread it was) that I had written a short story that I had published online. I was contacted by a film student in the midwest who asked if he could adapt it for a short film.
I could go into the details, but there's no real reason. I let him make the film, and, as you could probably guess, it was a pretty thrilling experience for an amateur author such as myself.
Someone asked if they could see the film, and the answer was yes, it's available online...but I couldn't find the link. He's now supplied me with the link:
I don't expect anyone to sit and watch the whole thing, so if you're not interested, that's cool. But somebody (Adam?) had asked, so I figured I'd finally post it.
Also, if anyone DOES decide to buy the DVD for some reason, I do a commentary on the film. (Which, I should mention, is the only involvement I had at any stage in the production, by my own choice.) I should also mention that I was ridiculously strung out on cough medication when I recorded it, and make almost no sense as a consequence.
Wow it won a few awards, i haven't had chance to watch the film but did view the trailer & read the synopsis and it does look interesting.
I was curious to how closely the film follows your original story, how you feel about any changes made (ie. does it improve/take away from the original). Also is the story based on any personal experiences in life, 100% fiction or a mixture of the two.
When i have some spare time on my hands i will watch the full Philm (sorry)
Very nice, Mr. Brutus. I was indeed the one to request it, and now I have another request. Is the story it's based on available online, too? Or am I being too nosy?
It seems like it'd be better written down. The film short has a lot going for it, but I personally don't think internal dialog works well when sustained for that long. Seems contrary to the purpose of film, to show, not to tell. But still quite entertaining! The director has a good eye for interesting shots.
Honestly, Stevie, the stuff that works best in the film, in my opinion, is the stuff he either added or changed significantly. That's not to say that I don't like the other scenes, it's just that I don't think he's being as interesting when he's adhering to the original so closely. That MAY have to do with the fact that I know the original story so well (I spent a long time working on that one in particular), or maybe it's just a subconscious thrill at seeing the characters do things I never explicitly told them to do. It was interesting, to say the least.
Regarding the story, it's not really based on real life at all. When I write I tend to incorporate little details that have affected me personally (mainly because I'm comfortable describing them), or I'll name characters after people I know in order to help me think of the characters as distinct individuals with different lives, needs and goals (as opposed to just "a bunch of people I made up"). Beyond that, I don't tend toward the autobiographical.
The root of this particular story is, I say in slight contradiction, more autobiographical than usual, though, because I did have a friend who got a ping-pong table, and it was kept in his basement, and we would congregate their constantly to get way too upset over a game that doesn't matter. And it's also a slight parodic update of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. I think that covers all my bases.
Regarding the story being available online: it used to be, at my old blog, but that's been offline for about two years now. I could probably dig up the original file without too much trouble, if you're really interested, and post it somewhere to read.
I definitely do feel that the story is a stronger piece than the film, and you're right about the internal monologue...it befits a first-person story more than it does a film of any length, unless the narrator is Humphrey Bogart or something, and in that case you just accept it because if you don't, Humphrey will beat you up and have sex with your wife.
I can try to find it and let you judge for yourself. It's one of maybe three short stories I've written that I think is truly very good, so I have no hesitation showing it off.
Well, if you have no problems with it, show it off! But if it is too much effort to find, don't worry about it.
Also, the premise of one friend getting a new game and wanting to play until he lost amused me. It has always been sort of the opposite for me. All my old friends would play the heck out of whatever new game we had, but whoever owned it would eventually get much better than the rest because he could play it any time, and then no one would want to play with him. I don't know why I'm talking in third person. It was almost always me.
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