The Art of Stagecraft by Wikipedia!

Stagecraft is the technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and recording and mixing of sound. Stagecraft is distinct from the wider umbrella term of scenography. Considered a technical rather than an artistic field, it is primarily the practical implementation of a designer's artistic vision.
In its most basic form, stagecraft is managed by a single person (often the stage manager of a smaller production) who arranges all scenery, costumes, lighting, and sound, and organizes the cast. At a more professional level, for example modern Broadway houses, stagecraft is managed by hundreds of skilled carpenters, painters, electricians, stagehands, stitchers, wigmakers, and the like. This modern form of stagecraft is highly technical and specialized: it comprises many sub-disciplines and a vast trove of history and tradition.
The majority of stagecraft lies between these two extremes. Regional theatres and larger community theatres will generally have a technical director and a complement of designers, each of whom has a direct hand in their respective designs.

History

Greeks were the earliest recorded practitioners of stagecraft. "Skene" is Greek, translating roughly into "scene" or "scenery", and refers to a large scenic house, about one story tall, with three doors. On the audience-side of the Skene, what are now known as "flats" could be hung. Flats developed to two-sided painted flats which would be mounted, centered, on a rotating pin, with rope running around each consecutive pin, so the flats could be turned for a scene-change. The double-sided-flat eventually evolved into the periaktoi (pl. periaktos).
As well as flats, the Greeks also used such machines as the ekkyklema, essentially a platform on wheels, and the deus ex machina, a hand-cranked lift to be used to lift a character/scenery over the skene. Over 20 such scenic inventions can be traced back to the Greeks. No light but that of the sun was used; plays started at sun-rise and continued until sun-down.
Plays of Medieval times were held in different places such as the streets of towns and cities, performed by traveling, secular troupes. Some were also held in monasteries, performed by church-controlled groups, often portraying religious scenes. The playing place could represent many different things such as indoors or outdoors (plain-an-gwarry (theatre)). They were played in certain places so the props could be used for the play. Songs and spectacles were often used in plays to enhance participation.
More modern stagecraft was in developed in England between 1576-1642. There were three different types of theaters in London - public, private and court. The size and shape varied but many were suggested to be round theaters. Public playhouses such as the Globe Theatre used rigging housed in a room on the roof to lower and raise in scenery or actors, and utilized the raised stage by developing the practice of using trap-doors in theatrical productions. Most of the theatres had circular-design, with an open area above the pit to allow sunlight to enter and light the stage. It was a penny admission to stand in the pit. Prices increase for seating. Court plays were used for holidays and special occasions.
Proscenium stages, or picture-box stages, were constructed in France around the time of the English Restoration, and maintain the place of the most popular form of stage in use to-date, and originally combined elements of the skene in design, essentially building a skene on-stage. Lighting of the period would have consisted of candles, used as foot-lights, and hanging from chandeliers above the stage.
Lighting continued to develop, first with the help of the English, in an effort to accurately map the coast of England, would triangulate cliff locations by using flame, and two ships at sea. Due to extreme fog, limestone had to be burned in order to see the light from the ocean. English sailors, propagators of many modern stagecraft practices, brought the use of limestone as a light source into the theatre for the purposes of spotlighting, hence the phrase "limelight". To control the focus of the light, a Fresnel lens was used.
Originally intended to replace large, convex lenses in lighthouses, Dr. Fresnel sectioned out the convex lens in a series of circles, like tree-rings, and keeping the angle of the specific section, moved the section much closer to the flat side of the convex lens.
After candles, came gas lighting, utilizing pipes with small openings which were lit before every performance, and could be dimmed by controlling the flow of gas, so long as the flame never went out. With the turn of the 20th century, many theatre companies making the transition from gas to electricity would install the new system right next to the old one, resulting in many explosions and fires due to the electricity igniting the gas lines.
Modern theatrical lighting is electrically-based. Many lamps and lighting instruments are in use today, and the field is rapidly becoming one of the most diverse and complex in the industry.

Sub-disciplines

Stagecraft comprises many disciplines, typically divided into a number of main disciplines:

• Lighting: Lighting design, which involves the process of determining the angle, size, intensity, shape, and color of light for a given scene. Hanging, focusing, procurement and maintenance of lighting and special effects equipment, aspects of show control
• Make-up/Wigs: The application of makeup and wigs to accentuate an actor's features.
• Mechanics: Design, engineering and operation of Flown scenery or flying of performers and mechanised scenic elements and special effects.
• Production, comprising stage management, production management, show control, house management and company management
• Scenery, which includes set construction, scenic painting, theater drapes and stage curtains, and special effects.
• Sound design, which can include musical underscoring, vocal and instrument mixing as well as theatrical sound effects.
• Theatrical property, or props, which includes furnishings, set dressings, and all items large and small which cannot be classified as scenery, electrics or wardrobe. Some crossover may apply. Props handled by actors are known as hand props, and props which are kept in an actor's costume are known as personal props.
• Wardrobe: costume design, construction, procurement and maintenance.
• Video (or Projection) is a relatively recent field of stagecraft which is gaining recognition. As well as being a discipline in itself, its role may also be taken on by the Lighting or Scenery disciplines.

Music Workstation by Wikipedia!

A music workstation is an electronic musical instrument providing the facilities of:

• a sound module,
• a music sequencer and
• (usually) a musical keyboard.

It enables a musician to compose electronic music using just one piece of equipment.

History

The concept of a music sequencer combined with a synthesizer originated in the late 1970s with the combination of microprocessors, mini-computers, digital synthesis, disk-based storage, and control devices such as musical keyboards becoming feasible to combine into a single piece of equipment that was affordable to high-end studios and producers, as well as being portable for performers. Prior to this, the integration between sequencing and synthesis was generally a manual function based on wiring of components in large modular synthesizers, and the storage of notes was simply based on potentiometer settings in an analog sequencer.
Examples of early music workstations included the New England Digital Synclavier and the Fairlight CMI.

 

Key technologies for the first generation

Low-cost computer hardware

Leveraging the technology of personal computers, adding a microprocessor enabled complex control functions to be expressed in software rather than wiring. In 1977, the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and other polyphonic synthesizers had used microprocessors to control patch storage and recall, and the music workstations applied it to control sequence storage and recall as well. The Fairlight used a dual Motorola 6800 configuration, while the Synclavier used a mini-computer called the ABLE.

Digital synthesis

While it was possible to create a music workstation with digitally controlled analog synthesis modules, few companies did this, instead seeking to produce new sounds and capabilities based on digital synthesis (early units were based on FM synthesis or sample playback).

Disk-based storage

Again leveraging the technology of personal computers, music workstations used floppy disks to record patches, sequences, and samples. Hard disk storage appeared in the second generation.

Control devices

In a music workstation, the keyboard was not directly connected to the synthesis modules, as in a Minimoog or ARP Odyssey. Instead, the keyboard switches were digitally scanned, and control signals sent over a computer backplane where they were inputs to the computer processor, which would then route the signals to the synthesis modules, which were output devices on the backplane. This approach had been used for years in computer systems, and allowed the addition of new input and output peripherals without obsoleting the entire computer. In the case of the music workstations, the next output devices to be added were typically computer terminal displays (some with graphics), and in the case of the Fairlight, the next input device was a light pen for "drawing" on the display screen.

The result was that music workstations evolved rapidly during this period, as new software releases could add more functionality, new voice cards developed, and new input technologies added.

 

Second generation music workstations

By 1982, the Fairlight CMI Series II represented another advance as it now offered more RAM-based sample memory than any other system with an improved sample rate, and in the Series III (1985) changed from 8-bit to 16-bit samples. The Synclavier introduced hard-disk based sampling in 1982, storing megabytes of samples for the first time.
Other products also combined synthesis and sequencing. For instance the Sequential Circuits Six-Trak provided this possibility. The Six-Trak was a polyphonic analog synthesizer, which featured an on-board six-track sequencer.
Still other products focused on combining sampling and sequencing. For instance the E-mu Emulator models, first introduced in 1982, combined sample memory (read from floppy disks) with a simple sequencer in the initial model, and an 8-track sequencer in later models.
The biggest change in the industry was the development of the MIDI standard in 1983 for representing musical note sequences. For the first time, sequences could be moved from one digitally controlled music device to another.
In the late 1980s, on-board MIDI sequencers began to appear more frequently on professional synthesizers. The Korg M1 (released 1988) was the first widely known and popular music workstation, and became the world's best-selling digital keyboard synthesizer of all time. During its six-year production period, more than 250,000 units were sold.

 

Key technologies for the second generation

MIDI

As mentioned above, MIDI data represents pitches, velocities, and controller events (e.g. pitch bend, modulation wheel). MIDI information could be used on the backplane that linked the elements of the workstation together, connecting the input devices to the synthesizers, or it could be sent to another device or received from another device.

Display technologies

Music workstations adopted the most effective input/output devices available for their price range, since there were complex control settings to display, complex waveforms, and complex sequences. The lower-end devices began to use LED displays that showed multiple lines of characters and later simple graphics, while the higher-end devices began to adopt personal computers with graphics as their front-ends (the Synclavier PostPro used an Apple Macintosh).

Large memory banks

Music workstations soon had megabytes of memory, located on large racks of cards.

Modular software

Music workstations had software that was organized around a set of common control functions, and then a set of options. In many cases, these options were organized as 'pages'. The Fairlight was known for its "Page R" functions which provided real-time composition in a graphical form which was similar to that later used on drum machines such as the Roland TR-808. The Synclavier offered music notation.

Digital signal processing

This enabled the music workstation to generate effects such as reverb or chorus within its hardware, rather than relying on external devices.

SMPTE

Since the primary users of the high-end workstations were film composers, the music workstations added hardware and software to generate SMPTE timecode, which is a standard in the motion picture industry. This allowed one to generate events that were matched to scenes and cuts in the film.

Third generation music workstations

Although many music workstations have a keyboard, this is not always the case. In the 1990s, Yamaha, and then Roland, released a series of portable music workstations (starting with the Yamaha QY10). These are sometimes called walkstations.

 

The concept of the workstation mutated around mid-1990s by the emergence of groove machine-concept birthed in mid-1980s - a keyless version of a workstation, still with a self-contained sound source and sequencer, mostly aimed at dance. Again, nowadays they also feature a sampler. The groove machines were realized in 1980s (ex. Linn 9000 (1984), SCI Studio 440 (1986), Simmons SDX (1987), well known E-mu SP-12/SP-1200 (1985/1987) and Akai MPC60 (1988)), and finally the concept have been widely accepted. Then in mid 1990s, Roland entered to the hype, with the MC-303, and also Korg and Yamaha followed suit. Korg created the much-used Electribe series.
Akai developed and refined the idea of the keyboard-less workstation, with the Music Production Center series of sampler workstations. The MPC breed of sampler freed the composer from the rigidity of step sequencing which was a limitation of earlier grooveboxes.

 

Key technologies for the third generation

Low-cost, high-capacity memory

By 1995, a music workstation might have 16 to 64 megabytes of memory in a few chips, which had required a rack of cards in 1985.

Sample libraries

While a second-generation workstation could be sold with just a few sounds or samples and the ability for the owner to create more, by 1995 most workstations had several additional sample sets available for purchase on ROM, and an industry had been created for third-party sample libraries. In addition, there were now standard formats for sound samples to achieve interoperability.

Battery power

Since music workstations were now used by wide range of performers, down to individual dance music DJ's and even street performers, portable designs avoided power-intensive components such as disk storage and began to rely on persistent memory and later flash-memory storage.

Interoperability with personal computers

Initially through custom interfaces and later USB standards.

Modern music workstations

Yamaha, Roland and Korg now have sampling as a default option with the Yamaha Motif line (introduced 2001), the Roland Fantom series (introduced 2001) and the Korg Triton (introduced 1999), Korg OASYS, and Korg M3 Workstations have a fairly large screen to give a comprehensive overview of the sound, sequencer and sampling options. Since the display is one of the most expensive components of these workstations, Roland and Yamaha initially chose to keep costs down by not using a touch screen or high-resolution display, but have added such in later models.
Another path of music product development that started with the feature set of music workstations is to provide entirely software-based products, using virtual instruments. This is the concept of the digital audio workstation, and many of these products have emulated the multitrack recording metaphors of sequencers first developed in the music workstations.
Open Labs introduced the Production Station in 2003, which changed the relationship of the music workstation and the personal computer from a model where the music workstation interfaces to the PC into one where the music workstation is a PC with a music keyboard and a touch screen display.
A variation on Open Labs' approach, Korg released the Korg OASYS in 2005. OASYS housed inside a keyboard music workstation housing a computer running a custom operating system built on the Linux kernel. OASYS was an acronym for Open Architecture SYnthesis Studio, underscoring Korg's ability to release new capabilities via ongoing software updates. OASYS not only included a synthesizer, sampling, and a sequencer, but the ability to digitally record multi-track audio. OASYS was discontinued in 2009, and Korg Kronos, an updated version built on the same concept, was introduced in January, 2011.

 

Evaluation of a music workstation

While advances in digital technology have greatly reduced the price of a professional-grade music workstation, the 'time cost' of learning to operate a complex instrument like this cannot be underestimated. Hence, product selection is critical, and is typically based upon:

• Ease of use
• Number of tracks in the sequencer
• Expansion options and modularity
• Size of user and support community
• Support for standards such as MIDI, SMPTE, Internet, etc.
• Reliable functioning
• Adaptation to most requirements of music production.

WebTV by Wikipedia!

Web television (abbreviated web TV) is original television content produced for broadcast via the World Wide Web.
Web television content includes web series such as Husbands (2011–present); original miniseries such as Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008); animated shorts such as those of Homestar Runner; and exclusive video that supplements conventional television broadcasts.
Some major distributors of web television are YouTube, Myspace, Newgrounds, Blip.tv, and Crackle.
Some examples of web television production companies are: Next New Networks, Vuguru, Revision3, and Generate LA-NY.
In 2008, the International Academy of Web Television (an organisation headquartered in Los Angeles) formed with the mission to organize and support web television authors, actors, producers, and executives. The organization administers the selection of winners for the Streamy Awards.
In 2013, Netflix made history for earning the first Primetime Emmy Award nominations for web television web series House of Cards, Arrested Development, and Hemlock Grove at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards.

History

1994 to 2000: Pioneers

In 1995, New York advertising creative Scott Zakarin convinced his employers Fattal and Collins to finance an online television drama along the lines of the contemporary television drama Melrose Place. The Spot became the first episodic fiction website, the first web soap opera. Fattal and Collins asked their Vice President, Sheri Herman, to obtain venture capital to finance it, because it was draining the resources of this boutique agency. Herman raised 7 million in a round led by Intel. She brought in advertisers including Visa and Apple to sponsor both The Spot and additional pieces through via banner ads and product placement. This was the first time advertising sponsored novel fictional content on the web. The Spot featured beautiful actors in a Santa Monica, California beach house called “The Spot”. The characters authored what would be later termed blogs, with movie clips and photos of their current activities. Viewers could post to the site and email the cast to offer advice and became part of the storyline. Audience opinion was used by the writers to shift the plot-lines around.
According to Zakarin, at its height the site received over 100,000 hits a day. The site earned one of the original Webby Awards. However, the business was unable to generate sufficient revenue The site had competitors such as The East Village. Zakarin sold his interest in 1996 to investors who formed American Cybercast and was later fired. Zakarin produced another comic soap, Grape Jam, before returning to television and film (notably producing the Shatner-Nimoy dialogue Mind Meld before returning to the Internet with Soup of the Day and Roommates. The Spot continued alongside other American Cybercast web series, notably the first sci-fi series Eon-4 and The Pyramid, until the company fell into bankruptcy in 1997.
In January 1999, Showtime licensed the animated sci-fi web series WhirlGirl, making it the first independently produced web series licensed by a national television network. A month later, the series, created by David B. Williams and produced by his Visionary Media studio, premiered on Showtime in a first-ever simultaneous web/telecast. The WhirlGirl character went on to appear occasionally on Showtime, hosting a “Lethal Ladies” programming block, for example, but spent most of her time online, appearing in 100 webisodes.
In 1999, Santa Monica based Television Internet premiered the eight-minute weekly series Muscle Beach. It was a sitcom, news and fitness program in one, viewable for free with the just introduced Windows Media Player. The series lasted three seasons.
In 2000, The Raven started Daytona Beach Live. The station showed video about life, events, and attractions in the Daytona Beach area for up to 17,000 viewers.
Other early web television pioneers included Harold O'Bryant Jr., who was inspired by a CNN interview with Ted Turner that sparked the creation of webcentraltv.com in 2002, as well as icebox.com, Digital Entertainment Network, Shockwave, pop.com, and cyberserial.com.

2000 to 2005: Streaming

As broadband bandwidth began to increase in speed and availability, delivering high quality video over the Internet became a reality. Web Central TV, YouTube, Vimeo and DailyMotion launched their services to deliver original video. Shows such as Rocketboom appeared and post-dot-com-bust video networks such as ManiaTV!, iSTATION TV and the Ripe Digital Entertainment networks launched. In 2003, The Spot executive producer and head writer Stewart St. John revived the brand for online audiences with a new cast, and created a separate mobile series to air on Sprint PCS Vision-enabled phones. St. John and partner Todd Fisher produced over 2,500 daily videos of the first American mobile phone soap, driving story lines across platforms to the web counterpart, The Spot (2.0). By 2005, St. John-Fisher created and launchd the first online half-hour scripted drama, California Heaven.

2006: Independents

In mid-2006, several independent Web series began to achieve popularity, most notably lonelygirl15 (created by Miles Beckett, Mesh Flinders and Greg Goodfried),Soup of the Day (Zakarin and Rob Cesternino), California Heaven (St. John and Todd Fisher) and SamHas7Friends (Big Fantastic). These series were distributed independently, often using online video portals YouTube and Revver. All series acquired audiences in the millions, led by lonelygirl15s over 100 million views during its 26-month run. The series was so successful that it secured a sponsorship deal with Neutrogena. Soup of the Day was later re-crafted and edited as a feature length film, making it the first web series distributed on disc by distribution company Echo Bridge Entertainment. SamHas7Friends was nominated for an Emmy and temporarily removed from the Internet when it was acquired by Michael Eisner. March 2006 also saw the debut of Goodnight Burbank (created and (Hayden Black) as a "webisodic" series. The original series was named one of iTunes best podcasts of 2006. Also hitting the scene during the summer towards the end of the year was Feed Me Bubbe which ended up showcasing that even a Grandmother and Grandson can achieve internet celebrity status.

2007: Expansion, interactivity and social networking

In 2007, Beckett and Goodfried followed up their lonelygirl15 success with KateModern, a series which debuted on social network Bebo, and took place in the same fictional universe as lonelygirl15. Big Fantastic created and produced Prom Queen, which was financed and distributed by Michael Eisner's nascent online studio Vuguru, and debuted on MySpace. These web serials highlighted interactivity with the audience in addition to the narrative on relatively low budgets.
In contrast, the web series Sanctuary, starring actor/producer Amanda Tapping, cost $4.3 Million to produce. Both Sanctuary and Prom Queen were nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award. Award-winning producer/director Marshall Herskovitz created Quarterlife, which debuted on MySpace and was later distributed on NBC. Meanwhile, IronSink produced Roommates, the second original series hosted by MySpace. Roommates ran for two seasons, was sponsored by companies such as Ford, and was known for its sophisticated product placement. Felicia Day created and starred in the independent comedy web series The Guild, which won the 2007 YouTube Video Award for Best Series.

2008: Hollywood

The Internet continued to grow as a marketing tool and outlet for independent creators to display their work. Web television continued to improve in quality, rivaling network television. Online viewing was becoming less foreign to viewers and creativity flourished. Independent producers gained popularity, demonstrating that web television was a legitimate medium, and that web series would be more than a passing fad. The major networks and studios took notice of the trend, and began to debut their own original series. ABC started the year with the comedy web series "Squeegies," created by Handsome Donkey and produced by digital studio Stage 9. NBC debuted Gemini Division, a science fiction series starring Rosario Dawson, produced and created by Electric Farm Entertainment (the creators of the cult web series Afterworld). Warner Bros. relaunched The WB as an online network beginning with their first original web series, "Sorority Forever", created and produced by Big Fantastic and executive produced by McG. With the rise of studio based web series, MTV announced a new original series created by Craig Brewer that brought together the indie music world and new media expansion.
Established creators also started producing high profile original web series in 2008. Joss Whedon created, produced and self-financed Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog starring Neil Patrick Harris and Felicia Day. Big Fantastic wrote and produced Foreign Body, a mystery web series that served as a prequel to Robin Cook's novel of the same name. Beckett and Goodfried founded a new Internet studio, EQAL, and produced a spin-off from "lonelygirl15" entitled "LG15: The Resistance". Dedicated media coverage of the web television space debuted with organizations such as GigaOm's NewTeeVee and Tubefilter News. Mainstream press also began converate. In the UK, KateModern ended its run on Bebo. That site also hosted a six-month-long reality/travel show, The Gap Year, produced by Endemol UK, who also made Kirill, a drama for MSN.
Australia emerged separate market for online series. Most notable was the made-for-MySpace series the MySpace Road Tour produced by FremantleMedia Australia. The first series, which ran from July to October 2008 drew the MySpace audience and the show received positive press. During MipCom in October 2008 MySpace announced plans for a second series and indicated that it was in talks with cable network Foxtel to distribute series 1 on network television. Additionally MySpace spoke of their plans to produce versions of the MySpace Road Tour in other countries.

2009: Network interest

The International Academy of Web Television formed in 2009, followed by the first awards program for the web television industry, called the Streamy Awards.
The emerging potential for success in web video caught the attention of top entertainment executives in America, including former Disney executive and current head of the Tornante Company, Michael Eisner. Torante's Vuguru subdivision partnered with Canadian media conglomerate Rogers Media on October 26, securing plans to produce upwards of 30 new web shows a year. Rogers Media agreed to help fund and distribute Vuguru's upcoming productions, thereby solidifying a connection between old and new media.

2010-2011 Cross-channel distribution

In the last eighteen months web shows have been picked up by networks, including Childrens Hospital, Sanctuary, Web Therapy, and Goodnight Burbank.

2012-present: Taking steps into the mainstream

With the advent of shows such as House of Cards and the revival of Arrested Development on Netflix, the number of sitcom and children's show introduced Amazon.com, and brief revivals of the long running soap operas All My Children and One Life To Live on Hulu and iTunes before the shows were cancelled again a short time later. Despite these momentary setbacks, the future of web based television series otherwise looks brighter and brighter. Time will only tell if free online services such as Amazon.com, Hulu, or iTunes will sooner or later produce or distribute an original dramatic series of network primetime or basic cable quality with 250,000 viewers and 100 episodes or more to become profitable and have web based series finally break out into the mainstream. One answer might be more cross-platform storytelling involving a cable series.

Production and distribution

The rise in the popularity of the Internet and improvements in streaming video technology mean that producing and distributing a web series is relatively cheap by traditional standards and allows producers to reach a potentially global audience who can access the shows 24 hours a day.

Methods used for distributing online television

• Streaming from a single or multiple websites.
• Downloadable media, in the form of video podcasts or individual files
• Peercasting

Technologies

• Dirac
• HTTP
• RSS
• RSS enclosure
• RTSP
• SMIL
• WTVML

Contact Theatrical Trailer!

The Elysium Movie of Hollywood!

In 2154, a minute number of people reside on a luxurious space habitat called Elysium and the vast majority on an overpopulated and devastated Earth. While those on Earth are policed by ruthless robots, Elysium's citizens live in absolute comfort and regularly use medical devices called Med-Bays to cure any disease and injury.
Max Da Costa (Matt Damon), a former car thief and parolee, lives in the ruins of Los Angeles and works at an assembly line for Armadyne Corp, a company which supplies Elysian weaponry as well as the robots which police Earth. After being accidentally lethally poisoned by radiation, Max has only five days to live. Meanwhile, when a caravan of illegal immigrants from Earth attempts to reach Elysium and its Med-Bays, Elysian Secretary of Defense Delacourt (Jodie Foster) orders a sleeper agent, Kruger (Sharlto Copley), to shoot down the shuttles. Elysian President Patel (Faran Tahir) reprimands her and dismisses Kruger from service. Delacourt, vowing to protect Elysium and her own power, bargains with Armadyne CEO John Carlyle (William Fichtner) to create a program that can override Elysium's computer core to give her the Presidency. Carlyle neurally stores the program for transport to Elysium and encrypts it with a lethal denial system.
Max knows his only chance for survival is a Med-Bay and seeks help from a smuggler named Spider (Wagner Moura) and his friend Julio (Diego Luna). Spider agrees to get Max to Elysium if he steals financial information from Carlyle. To assist him, Spider's doctors link a powered exoskeleton to Max. Max, Julio and a team of Spider's men intercept Carlyle's ship, and Max downloads the program to his suit's neural implant, but realises that the encryption makes it unusable. Delacourt secretly deploys Kruger to rescue Carlyle and recover the program. In the ensuing firefight, Carlyle and most of Max's allies are killed, while Max himself is wounded. He heads to the house of his childhood friend Frey (Alice Braga), whose daughter Matilda has leukemia. Frey begs Max to take Matilda to Elysium so that she can be cured, but Max refuses. While Kruger hunts for Max, Delacourt orders an airspace lockdown over Los Angeles to buy enough time to recover Carlyle's program.
When Max returns to Spider, they realize that the program can be used to make all Earth residents Elysian citizens, but they can't leave the surface of Earth due to the lockdown. Instead, Max bargains with Kruger to be taken to Elysium, not knowing Kruger has Frey and Matilda held hostage. During the journey, a fight ensues and Kruger is horribly injured by a grenade blast. After Kruger's ship crashes on Elysium, Max, Frey and Matilda are arrested and taken to Delacourt, who orders the download of the program despite the fact that it will kill Max.
Having been healed by a Med-Bay, Kruger kills Delacourt after being chastised for his recklessness and plans to steal the program for himself to rule Elysium, and his men kill most of Elysium's leaders. Meanwhile, having escaped his confinement, Max realises that Med-Bays only work for Elysian citizens and resolves to use Carlyle's program to give everyone citizenship. He heads for Elysium's core but is ambushed by Kruger, now donning an exoskeleton superior to Max's. In the ensuing fight, Max manages to disable Kruger's suit but Kruger tethers himself to Max's suit and arms a grenade with the intent of killing both of them. Max rips off the tether and hurls Kruger over a ledge to his death.
Spider and Max reach Elysium's computer core where Spider realizes that the program's activation will kill Max. Max personally activates the program, having spoken a last time with Frey via radio. As Max dies, Elysium's computer core reboots and registers every Earth resident as an Elysian citizen. President Patel arrives with security but the robots refuse to arrest Spider whom they recognise as an Elysian. Matilda is cured by a Med-Bay, and Elysium's computer dispatches a fleet of medical ships to Earth to begin medical treatment of the new Elysian citizens.
(Source Wikipedia)

Νυχτερινές Επισκέψεις, Εσωθέατρο

 

 

 

 

Με τα μάτια του σκηνοθέτη

Αυτός ο Γερμανοελβετός συγγραφέας, γνήσιο τέκνο του Γερμανικού εξπρεσιονισμού καταφέρνει με αυτό το συγκλονιστικό μονόπρακτο να μας μεταφέρει σε ένα σκοτεινό κόσμο γεμάτο βία, απειλή, ειρωνεία και απέχθεια βάζοντας να συγκρούονται με μοναδικά ευρηματικό τρόπο το πνεύμα με το σκότος, η ανθρωπιά με την απέχθεια, το δράμα με την κωμωδία. Οι δύο ήρωες του Ντύρενματ αντιπροσωπεύουν τις δύο πλευρές του Ανθρώπου, του Καλού και του Κακού. Το σύστημα που πάντα καταδυναστεύει ανάλογα με τις συγκυρίες τον ανυπεράσπιστο πολίτη και τον οδηγεί με μαθηματική ακρίβεια στο θάνατο. Έτσι, η σύγκρουση των δύο ηρώων είναι μια σύγκρουση που παίρνει τη μορφή αλληγορίας υποδηλώνοντας ότι όταν το σύστημα, το κατεστημένο λειτουργεί ανεξέλεγκτα στήνει πάντα αγχόνες, μαχαίρια, κρεμάλες και κάθε λογής φονικά εργαλεία. Το πνεύμα πάντα, όσο κι αν αγωνίζεται, δεν μπορεί μόνο του να βγει νικητής μπροστά στη βία και στον τρόμο. Ο συγγραφέας κρούει τον κώδωνα και μας λέει έμμεσα ότι η μόνη σωτηρία του ανθρώπου είναι η έγκαιρη γνώση και αντίσταση κατά της βίας και του τρόμου.

Περιέργως και το μονόπρακτο του Γκούντμαν «Η σκόνη του δρόμου» κινείται στα ίδια μήκη κύματος. Μόνο που εδώ οι ήρωες του έργου, το ζευγάρι που έχει καταχραστεί τα χρήματα, έχουν εντελώς αλλοτριωθεί και προσπαθούν με κάθε ψεύτικη δικαιολογία να αρνηθούν την πράξη τους. Την στρεβλωμένη συνείδησή τους θα την μεταστρέψει με δεξιοτεχνία ένας νυχτερινός επισκέπτης που με καθαρό πειστικό τρόπο και λόγο θα τους αναγκάσει να βγάλουν από τα βάθη της ψυχής τους τον καλό τους εαυτό και να δεχτούν στο τέλος το «έγκλημα» τους. Τα χρήματα που έχουν καταχραστεί θα τα επιστρέψουν στον δικαιούχο και μάλιστα με τόκο. Η εξιλέωσή τους θα τους επαναφέρει στον κόσμο της χαράς και της συμπόνιας.

Δύο μονόπρακτα λοιπόν, με πολύ χιούμορ, συγκίνηση αλλά και καλό θέατρο. Το ΕσωΘέατρο ξεκινάει με καλή πυξίδα και προοπτική.

Γιάννης Μόρτζος

Η παράσταση

Το ΕσωΘέατρο ανέβασε από τον Δεκέμβριο του 2005 μέχρι και τον Μάρτιο του 2006, την παράσταση «Νυχτερινές Επισκέψεις», παρουσιάζοντας τα μονόπρακτα:

    «Η σκόνη του δρόμου» του Kenneth Goodman και

    την τραγική κωμωδία «Νυχτερινή συνομιλία με ένα απεχθές πρόσωπο» του Friedrich Durrenmatt.

Ο Γιάννης Μόρτζος υπέγραψε την σκηνοθεσία και έστησε μία ιδιαίτερα ατμοσφαιρική παράσταση, επιμελούμενος προσωπικά και τους φωτισμούς.

    Τους ρόλους ενσάρκωσαν οι Τάσος Προύσαλης, Στέργιος Ιωάννου και Ανδριανή Δαμιανού.

    Τα σκηνικά και τα κοστούμια σχεδίασε ο Κοσμάς Πανωρίδης,

    ενώ η μετάφραση των έργων ήταν της Ναταλίας Τζήμα.

    Τη μουσική επιμελήθηκε η Χρύσα Διαμαντάκη, η οποία εκτέλεσε και χρέη βοηθού σκηνοθέτη.

Σκέψεις για την Μορφή, το Περιεχόμενο και την Εκφορά του Λόγου στο Αρχαίο Δράμα

Από το βιβλίο του Τ. Προύσαλη «Το αρχαίο δράμα για φυγόπονους σπουδαστές υποκριτικής»

Τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες παρατηρείται στην υποκριτική τέχνη μία στροφή σε μια ακραία λιτή, πιο καθημερινή, όπως λέγεται, εκφορά του λόγου. Το κύριο χαρακτηριστικό αυτής της εκφοράς, που αποτελεί και το πρόβλημα, είναι η παντελής της αδυναμία να νοηματοδοτήσει σωστά ένα κείμενο, ώστε να γίνει πλήρως κατανοητό το περιεχόμενο των σκηνικών του δράσεων. Εάν η τέχνη αντανακλά την εποχή της, δικαιολογούνται να συμβαίνουνε τούτα διότι η εποχή που ζούμε είναι αλήθεια εντελώς πεζή, στείρα και αβαθής, με επόμενο και ο σύγχρονος δραματικός λόγος, ενταγμένος σε ένα τέτοιο περιβάλλον να έχει ανάλογο ύφος, ποιότητα και ήθος.

Ωστόσο, ο θεατρικός λόγος οφείλει να λαμβάνει υπ’ όψιν του, όχι μόνο το σήμερα, μα πιότερο την χωροχρονική συνθήκη που επιβάλλει η τέχνη γενικότερα αλλά και το ίδιο το έργο ειδικότερα. Και εξηγούμεθα. Στο θέατρο συμβαίνει μια μετακίνηση μέσα και πέρα από τον χρόνο και το ζητούμενο είναι, αυτή η μετακίνηση να συνεπάρει τους θεατές, να τους συν+κινήσει, ώστε να ταξιδέψουν από το σύγχρονο στο διαχρονικό και από το διαχρονικό στο άχρονο. Αυτό το ταξίδεμα μπορεί να συμβεί, όταν ο λόγος δονείται, πάλλεται όπως επιβάλλει η ιδιοσυχνότητα, ο εσωτερικός ρυθμός του κάθε θεατρικού είδους. Στην περίπτωση τώρα του αρχαίου δράματος, ο λόγος, ο αναγκαία μεταφρασμένος στην νεοελληνική, καλείται να εκφράσει μια εποχή που είναι εδώ, που πρέπει να είναι εδώ• μια εποχή ηρωική, μεγάλη, οπότε πρέπει να λάβει τέτοιες διαστάσεις και χαρακτηριστικά. Γίνεται επομένως αντιληπτό πως η μετάβαση από το ένα θεατρικό είδος στο άλλο, πέραν της χρήσης της γλώσσας και του ορθά δοσμένου περιεχομένου της, επιβάλλει την χρήση διαφορετικού φάσματος υποκριτικών μέσων. Και είναι σημαντικό για τον σπουδαστή της υποκριτικής τέχνης, όχι μόνο να ασκηθεί στην ανάπτυξη ποικίλων και πολλαπλών εκφραστικών μέσων, αλλά και να εντρυφήσει στην διάκριση και επιλογή των κατάλληλων και ταιριαστών -ανά περίσταση- τρόπων.

Στο Αρχαίο Δράμα και ειδικότερα στην τραγωδία, ο ηθοποιός οφείλει να «ενδυθεί τα γιορτινά του» εκφραστικά μέσα. Κι αυτό, γιατί πρόκειται για κείμενα διαχρονικά, με λόγο συμβολικό και κορυφώσεις που αγγίζουν το αρχετυπικό. Αν ο  υποκριτικός λόγος εκφέρεται «πρόχειρα», καθημερινά,  και δεν είναι αντάξιος μιας (μίμησης) πράξεως σπουδαίας και τελείας -κατά τον Αριστοτελικό ορισμό της τραγωδίας-, το τραγικό δεν αποδίδεται• και η Μήδεια για παράδειγμα, από τραγικό σύμβολο υποβιβάζεται σε ζηλότυπη απατημένη σύζυγο, από τραγική ηρωίδα, καταντά χαρακτήρας που χρήζει ψυχαναλυτικής προσέγγισης και ερμηνείας. Άρα, όταν ο λόγος μέσα στη σκηνική δράση δεν είναι μεστός, διαυγής και πλήρης όγκου, όταν στερείται κι απογυμνώνεται απ’ ό,τι σπουδαίο, μεγαλειώδες και ηρωικό, τότε η έννοια της τραγωδίας παύει να υφίσταται.

Δυστυχώς, στις μέρες μας, ερχόμαστε συχνά αντιμέτωποι με μια απολυταρχική ιδεολογία στο θέατρο, η οποία προσπαθεί να επιβάλλει τον απέριττο, καθημερινό, «κινηματογραφικό» λόγο, όχι μόνον στα σύγχρονα θεατρικά έργα, αλλά ακόμα και στο αρχαίο δράμα. Όμως, αυτού του είδους ο εκφερόμενος λόγος, είναι εντελώς ακατάλληλος για την ερμηνεία αρχαίων δραματικών ρόλων. Γιατί αλήθεια, πώς είναι δυνατόν, ένας λόγος π ε ζ ό ς  να υπηρετήσει  και να ανταποκριθεί στις απαιτήσεις της δραματικής π ο ί η σ η ς; Πώς το «λιτό» μπορεί να αποδώσει το μεγαλειώδες; Η προαναφερόμενη ιδεολογία απ’ όπου κι αν προέρχεται, συντηρεί και συντηρείται, από ένα καθεστώς «θεατρικής ορθότητας», που βαφτίζει έναν ηθοποιό με πενία υποκριτικών μέσων,  που άλλοτε θα χαρακτηριζόταν «αχαμνός», ως άμεσο και λιτό, μετατρέποντας έτσι το έλλειμμα σε προσόν. Την ίδια στιγμή, αν ένας καλά εκπαιδευμένος στην τέχνη του ηθοποιός, χρησιμοποιώντας τα πλούσια εκφραστικά του προσόντα αποδώσει τον πρέποντα όγκο στον λόγο και στο παίξιμο του εν γένει, τότε είναι πιθανό να χαρακτηριστεί «βέκιος», υπερβολικός. Είναι γεγονός βέβαια ότι ένα υπερπαίξιμο σε ένα σύγχρονο έργο φαντάζει φτιασιδωμένο. Όμως, γιατί δεν στηλιτεύεται εξίσου η χρήση στην αρχαία τραγωδία ενός λόγου τόσο απλουστευμένα καθημερινού, που καταλήγει να είναι εύκολος, αβασάνιστος, άχαρος, επίπεδος έως και χυδαίος;

Στην πραγματικότητα, η μειονεξία είναι αμάρτημα (με την αρχαιοελληνική σημασία του όρου) εξίσου με την υπερβολή. Σε κάθε περίπτωση, ζητούμενο είναι το μέτρο. Και το μέτρο στην εξωτερίκευση της υποκριτικής δύναμης είναι άλλο στον κινηματογράφο και άλλο στο θέατρο, διαφορετικό σε ένα μεταμοντέρνο δράμα με αποδομητικό λόγο, αλλιώτικο στο αστικό δράμα, και τελείως διάφορο στην αρχαία τραγωδία, που χαρακτηρίζεται από ιεροπρέπεια και συνιστά  τελετουργική μυσταγωγία. Σ’ αυτήν την μυσταγωγία, ο θεατής πρέπει να οδηγηθεί σε μια ψυχοπνευματική διέγερση και τελικά στην κάθαρση και λύτρωσή του. Για να συμβεί αυτό, πρέπει να επιτευχθεί ο συντονισμός• η μέθεξις. Ο συντονισμός ηθοποιού-κειμένου, θεατή-ηθοποιού και δρώμενου.

Όλα τα εκφραστικά εργαλεία του ηθοποιού, η φωνή, το πρόσωπο, ολόκληρο το σώμα, πρέπει να λειτουργούν αποτελεσματικά.  Ανάμεσα σ’ αυτά τα «εργαλεία», ο ρόλος του λόγου κρίνεται καθοριστικός. Κάθε δραματικό είδος αξιώνει μια ξεχωριστή αριστοτεχνική ποικιλία και ευελιξία ρυθμού, έντασης, όγκου, ύφους και  χροιάς του λόγου, γιατί ο από σκηνής αποδιδόμενος λόγος είναι και μουσική. Κι έτσι, θα πρέπει να απαγγέλλεται και να αποδίδεται με όλα εκείνα τα στοιχεία, τους όρους, που θα συναντούσαμε σε μια μουσική παρτιτούρα π.χ. presto ή andante για την ταχύτητα, piano, forte και άλλοτε crescendo για την ένταση, ή επισημάνσεις του τύπου allegro ή allegro ma non troppo σχετικές με το ύφος και τον ρυθμό.

Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι στο θέατρο οι εναλλαγές αυτές επιβάλλονται, όχι μόνο από το είδος, αλλά και από τον χώρο που εκτυλίσσεται το δρώμενο. Έτσι, για παράδειγμα, όταν ένα έργο παίζεται π.χ. στην Επίδαυρο, είναι αναγκαίο ο λόγος να μεγεθυνθεί για να ακουστεί και να φτάσει, μέχρι και τον τελευταίο θεατή του τελευταίου διαζώματος, ενώ αντίθετα, σε ένα μικρό κλειστό θέατρο, ο ηθοποιός αρκεί και μόνο να αρθρώσει τον λόγο σχεδόν στις πραγματικές του διαστάσεις. Η χρήση μικροφώνων  που παρατηρείται τελευταία σε παραστάσεις αρχαίου δράματος, ακόμα και στο θέατρο της Επιδαύρου, με την γνωστή εκπληκτική ακουστική -με το σκεπτικό ότι ο ηθοποιός, απαλλασσόμενος από την προσπάθεια να διατηρήσει σε δεδομένη ένταση την φωνή του, θα καταφέρει να γίνει πιο εκφραστικός- δεν συμβάλλει διόλου στην επίτευξη της μέθεξης. Απεναντίας, η προσπάθεια τεχνητής κατάργησης της απόστασης ηθοποιού-θεατή, επιφέρει τελικά αποτέλεσμα αντίθετο από το επιδιωκόμενο. Τα μικροφωνικά ηχοχρώματα δεν είναι κατάλληλα για να ενεργοποιηθούν οι θεατές και να γίνουν συμμέτοχοι, ούτε είναι ικανά να θραύσουν τον «τέταρτο στανισλαβσκικό τοίχο».

Αυτές οι πεποιθήσεις, απηχούν την διδασκαλία που λάβαμε ως παρακαταθήκη από τους δασκάλους μας στο θέατρο και ειδικότερα στο αρχαίο δράμα• και θα είμαστε πάντα ευγνώμονες, γιατί στην πράξη αποδεικνύεται ολοένα και σωστότερη. Στον δρόμο τους πορευόμαστε, πιστοί στις ιδέες αυτές, προκειμένου να μεταφέρουμε αυτούσια την γνώση εκείνων, στους δικούς μας μαθητές.
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[1]: Γι’ αυτό  «ο μεταφραστής πρέπει να είναι όχι μόνο ποιητής, όχι μόνο γνώστης βαθύς και της αρχαίας και της νέας γλώσσας αλλά και φωτισμένο πνεύμα που αντιλαμβάνεται ποιο είναι το πέρα από τις εποχές στοιχείο του αμήχανου κάλους…  …Ο ποιητής σαν μεταφραστής πρέπει ν’ ανήκει μονάχα στην σχολή της αδιαίρετης ομορφιάς. Και δεν υπάρχει αμφιβολία ότι μια ευλογημένη γνώση του στοιχείου αυτού αθανάτισε την αρχαία Ελληνική Τέχνη.» Από τα «Θεατρολογικά» του Τάσου Λιγνάδη, σελ 173.

[2]: Πρόκειται για τον ιδεατό τοίχο , που χωρίζει την σκηνή από την πλατεία και αναφέρεται σ’ αυτόν ο Στανισλάβσκι, όταν μιλάει για την ποθούμενη επικοινωνία του ηθοποιού με το κοινό.

Από το website του Εσωθεάτρου!

Some wakeup moments at The Beach!

Do you really want to be a Screenwriter? ISA

By Michael Hauge

Almost every writer and every serious film fan at one time or another has at least considered writing a screenplay. Lured by the power of the big (or small) screen, and by stories of all the fame, success, awards and big, big money that other screenwriters have achieved, they get seduced by the fantasy of Hollywood.
Now no doubt some of you reading these words have already achieved a career in the industry. But my guess is that most of you are still at the 'breaking in' stage and are wondering if writing for movies or television is a silly pipe dream -- or is truly worth considering. I'd like to help you answer that question by discussing some of the realities of the movie and television business and offering both the right and the wrong motives for pursuing Hollywood.

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Screenwriter?

I've been teaching screenwriting classes and seminars for more than fifteen years, and I've worked with thousands of movie and television writers at various stages of their careers. But, whenever I'm with a group of would-be filmmakers hoping to launch their careers, I encounter two different myths about the Hollywood obstacle course that both lead to disappointment.
The first misconception is that Hollywood is an easy path to fame and fortune. Perhaps a writer watches some brainless TV show and concludes that anybody with the I.Q. of corn could write drivel like that. Then she reads about how Joe Esterhasz sold a spec script for slightly more than the gross national product of Portugal, while she's wondering how long she can get by on her $25 check from 'Big Rig Monthly' for her article on mud flaps. And then some polite, but chicken-hearted, publisher tries to let her down easy by saying that her 873-page manuscript about the Millard Fillmore White House years would be much better as a movie. So before you know it, she's typing 'FADE IN.'
She has fallen victim to the erroneous belief that writing a movie is no harder than watching one. She thinks that everybody who sells a script will be a millionaire and that because movies and TV shows are plentiful, relatively short and frequently mediocre, there really are no rules, standards or professional skills to worry about. In other words, that screenwriting is easy.

Not True.

The other, more destructive, myth about screenwriting is just the opposite: a writer hears about the thousands of unproduced, unsold, unoptioned, unread and unopened screenplays floating around Hollywood and decides that his dream is absurd. Friends, loved ones and failed screenwriters will be happy to reinforce this belief with loads of anecdotes and statistics: everybody in Los Angeles is working on a script; it's not what you know, it's who you know; every writer in Hollywood gets ripped off; you have to live in Southern California; you have to be a young white male; and even if you could break in, writing movies is obviously a ridiculous, pointless, demeaning and hopeless pursuit for any serious writer to consider. In other words, screenwriting is impossible.

Not True Either.

The first myth described above ignores the years of pain, struggle and failure that precedes (and sometimes precludes) success for most working screenwriters. But, the second myth ignores the fact that about a hundred and fifty feature films, plus more than fifty TV movies and seventy weekly series are produced each year by the major studios and networks. And, for every film produced, an average of at least five scripts are developed and paid for. And these figures don't include non-primetime and cable television or the numerous markets for independent, educational, industrial, religious and adult movies and TV. Somebody must be writing all those stories.
Screenwriting, like any other form of professional writing, is a specific, learnable craft that requires study, talent, training, practice and an immense level of commitment. It is at various times frustrating, exciting, fulfilling, exhausting, lucrative, unfair, depressing, ego- gratifying and fun. And, it has a clearly defined set of standards, rules, parameters and methods for achieving both artistic and commercial success.
So, to decide if you want to commit your life to this particular path, ignore both the fantasies of wealth and fame and the prophets of doom and, instead, ask yourself exactly why you want to write movies or television.

The Wrong Reasons to Want to Be a Screenwriter

Screenwriting is not a wise career path if you're choosing it for any of these reasons:

1. The Money

Pursuing screenwriting because an occasional spec script sells for a million dollars is like studying hotel/motel management because Donald Trump has a big yacht. Starving screenwriters are no happier than starving poets, and if the big bucks are your only goal, by the time (if ever) you get there, the trip won't have been worth it.

2. You Want to Weave Magic With Words

If your love of writing is based on the beauty, texture, breadth and majesty of the English language, you'll be much happier as a poet, novelist or essayist. Screenwriting 'style' is much closer to that of ad copy, comic books and the sports pages than it is to great literature.

3. You Want the Respect that Comes with Being an Acclaimed Artist

Dream on. Once you sell your screenplay, it probably will be re-written by someone else (often several others) until it's unrecognizable. You're usually persona non grata while the movie is being shot, and neither the status nor the financial reward given the average screenwriter is anywhere close to proportionate to his or her contribution to the film. If you want real respect in Hollywood, become a maitre d'.

4. You Have a Strong Visual Sense

I'm not even sure what this means, but I hear it all the time, and, if anything, I think it's detrimental to successful screenwriting. Sure you want to picture what is going on on the screen, but the important talent is the ability to turn action into words. If you think only in pictures and are very right-brained, pursuing a career in production design, cinematography or directing might make more sense.

5. You Want to Adapt Your Own Novel (or Play or Life Story)

This is hard to accept, I know, but trust me: if your novel or play wasn't published or produced in its original form, it's extremely unlikely it's going to work as a movie. And, by now, you're much too emotionally attached to your original story. You will never be objective enough about it to make the numerous changes necessary for it to become a commercial script.
The same holds true for your own life experiences (or those of your grandparents). Yes, your life has been thrilling, painful, passionate, moving and glorious for you. But, I'm afraid the mass audience really isn't interested.
(It's fine to draw on your own experiences, but only to provide an arena for a fictional story. And if you want to be both a novelist and screenwriter, choose separate stories that are best suited to each medium. Just don't mix the two until someone offers you money to adapt your work into script form.)

6. You Want to Improve the Quality of Movies

If you don't like the stuff that's coming out of Hollywood nowadays, and you find yourself gravitating to foreign films and Fred Astaire festivals at the local Cineplex, or if you don't see at least one current American movie a month, then screenwriting probably isn't for you.
I don't think you'll ever be very happy pursuing a career in an industry you don't like. And you won't be able to change Hollywood. The most you can hope for is to write the best screenplays you can within the parameters of the system. Or else blaze your own trail outside the mainstream arena with low budget, independent films. But success there, which is even tougher to achieve, still requires a basic love for the movies.

The Right Reasons to Want to Be a Screenwriter

1. The Money

Yes, I know I just said that untold wealth is the wrong reason for pursuing screenwriting. But if money isn't your only motive, and you know you want to write, then you can probably make more as a steadily working screenwriter than with any other form of writing. Just remember that it's a package deal, and all of the other rules and obstacles are included.

2. You Get to Tell Stories

If creating unique, captivating characters and taking them over seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve visible, bigger-than-life goals is the kind of writing that thrills you, then you should consider movie writing.

3. You Love the Movies (and/or Television)

You not only love seeing them, you relish the challenge of staying within a rigid formula and creating a visual story that is original, thoughtful and emotionally captivating.

4. You'll Reach a Huge Audience

More people saw last week's episode of 'The West Wing' than have read 'Gone With the Wind'. Makes you stop and think, doesn't it?

5. You Love to Write

Screenwriting may not employ all the big words in the dictionary, but you still get to spend your day lost in the power of language.

In summary, if you're wondering whether to begin (or continue) your pursuit of screenwriting, forget both the defeatist statistics and the dreams of glory and riches. And omit the word 'easy' from your vocabulary entirely; there is NO form of professional writing or filmmaking worth pursuing because it's easy. Instead, ask yourself if your joy will come from within the process of sitting every day at your computer and creating a story for the big or small screen.

If the answer is truly 'yes' and your motives match those listed above, then close the door, fire up your computer and start writing.

Menelaos Gkikas Entertainment Time!

Opening Of Titanic