Time to set up the Halloween tree!
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
Now THAT'S a fruitcake...
I'm not a big fan of cake, but I love fruits: watermelon, strawberries, blackberries, etc.
So for a recent special event, my particularly clever girlfriend presented me with this work of ingenuity...
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
Pics from Hamlet's Fool
A while back I'd promised some photos of Peter Cutts's show Hamlet's Fool.
Delivered at long last!
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
Making New Friends at the Midwest Haunters' Convention
Rows and rows of zombies, animatronics, giant spiders, and nice people.
A good time was had by all.
Check out their website for details on next years' event.
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
Write1Sub1 update
Accomplished a lot this week: wrote two stories and entered my first flash competition over at Liberty Hall, which was really fun. I also polished up a couple of older stories and I'm much happier about their structure now.
Considering all that, I was somewhat shocked to find that I hadn't submitted anything this week. I had a number of things ready to at resubmit-- I guess I just never actually put them out the door. But in all honesty I feel so good about everything else I got done that I'm okay with that.
Plus, it means that my report for next week should be all the more impressive...
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
Quote for the day
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
On the road again...
I'm currently in London, supporting the new production of Hamlet's Fool.
From the program:
Hamlet's Fool serves to give a voice to Yorick, whose skull is exhumed by the Gravedigger in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Known simply as 'The Fool', he is outwardly in complete control as the Lord of Misrule, but when a new fool is introduced to the court and adopted by The Queen, a sinister edge begins to emerge.
Production photos will be posted when I have them.
Meanwhile having a great time exploring, catching up, and making new friends.
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
Book of the Dead in Sculpey
I've been meaning to try out Super Sculpey, and inspired by some Necronomicon projects (both from Lovecraft and Evil Dead versions) I whipped this up.
This is coming in on the half way point-- it needs detail work and paint, but it was fun to get it this far.
I'd seen this version of the Evil Dead Necronomicon some time ago, and when I was doing research I realized that it had actually taken the place of the original in my mind. So I just embraced that and borrowed heavily from it.
If I were to to do it again (and I might) I would really play up the notion that it was erupting from the cover. I did pull back the faux leather, and the piece I included in the sculpt is nice, but it's not enough, and is really only noticeable up close. Also, I'd sculpt the teeth then wrap them with the excess leather I cut out, so that they would appear to be formed from the cover itself.
Meh, live and learn.
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
Write 1 Sub 1 update
Well, I fell off the time management wagon this week. I got a lot of words on paper, but they were scattered across a number of different projects, so none of them actually got done. A bit disappointed in myself, but I start fresh again tomorrow.
No action on my outstanding submissions. Looking forward to some rejections so I can do some editing; I feel like my craft is improving enough that pieces I sent out for submission a few months ago could be rewritten and vastly improved.
Still feeling like I'm learning & improving, just need to buckle down and apply it.
Write on!
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.
Brainstorming a Classic...
Not sure how long this has been floating around out there, but it's brand new to me.
During early pre-production of Raiders of the Lost Ark, director Steven Spielberg, executive producer George Lucas, and screenwriter Larry Kasdan sat down and talked through the plot. That conversation was taped, and the transcript can be found here.
The meat of the document is Spielberg, Lucas, and Kasdan spitballing ideas. It's fascinating reading; among the gems is the moment when the famous boulder dash from the intro is first conceived, and a ride on mine carts that didn't make Raiders but did appear in Temple of Doom. There are also misfires, such as a side trip to Japan where Indy would battle samurai.
The transcript is a really interesting look at how the look and feel of a film classic was fleshed out by three people who were comfortable throwing any idea on the table.
One of my favorite moments:
L — Do you have a name for this person?
G — I do for our leader.
S — I hate this, but go ahead.
G — Indiana Smith.
There is also a separate conversation between Kasdan, Philip Kauffman, and Debbie Fine which delves more into the background story of the Ark. Also interesting stuff, and good insight into the process of fleshing out the tapestry of the film.
I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.