(no subject)

[cleolinda]

So, finally: Braveheart is finished. I think a lot of the hold-up was trying to figure out how to make some of the death and the violence and the suffering and all funny. You'd think I'd have figured this out after Titanic, but apparently it took me one more movie to get the process down, which is this: don't make it funny. I mean, I know that sounds obvious, but it's a lot harder in practice, and I've ended up handling each instance differently. But mostly it involves sidestepping things, or focusing on a side element, or downplaying something, or having it happen "offscreen," so to speak. I'm just hoping I've got the technique down definitively enough that I can get through Gladiator without all this wibbling. (Think of the beginning of the movie in particular, with the emperor and the wife and the son and all. Yeah.)

I have two weeks left. It's Come to Jesus Time, as my mother would say. You may not see me around much for a while. I'll try to check in with any linkspam that comes my way, but... yeah. I'd like to do Sin City in Fifteen Minutes, but we'll have to talk about that once the book is turned in.

Comments

[brachiosaurid.livejournal.com]

Congrats on getting Braveheart finished! :)

[girlfrom10thave.livejournal.com]

Yay that you finished Braveheart! Good luck finishing the rest of it! You can do it! I totally believe in you.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

I totally believe in you.

Me to. I may have to post here occasionally with encouraging remarks.

[fanofall.livejournal.com]

OMG Two weeks! EEEE!!!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Eh, don't get too excited. You guys are still gonna have to wait a minimum of six months (I think) to see it. ; )

[ayn-rand-fan-13.livejournal.com]

Good luck with your deadline! Yeah, Gladiator is really heavy, but I guess compared to the melodrama of Titanic it's not so much.
*early comment jig*

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Congrats.

Also, your sitemeter claims you had over three thousand visitors today, which, wow.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I know, man--I used to use those for my other sites or blogs, whatever I was doing at the time, and I broke more today than I did in months anywhere else. I can't believe I didn't think to do it before, but I decided I wanted to be able to give publisher/editor types some numbers as to daily visitors.

I will admit, however, that those stats account for all the 15Ms (even on the m15m comm) and the Lost recaps, because I manually stuck counters on those. Not just the front page here, in other words.

[jekylls-bast.livejournal.com]

Congrads on conquering 'Braveheart' and good luck with 'Gladiator'. And with the "heaviness" of those two movies in mind, ever give any thought on "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"? Now don't go throwing thigs at me, I am just curious, and as much as I try to keep up with all the movies you are and have done, sometimes little movies get lost in the din of others....
Again, good luck mate!

~Sarabi

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, the book selections have been nailed down for a while, spanning 1993-2003. Going into summer movie season, once the book is out of the way, I'm probably going to be focusing on new movies just hitting the theaters.

[jonnydark.livejournal.com]

Right now that emoticon is more pig than guinea i think.

The rating i find works best for humor is - Telling the truth (be it obvious or overlooked) in such a manner that it invokes laughter instead of saddness.

It works 80% of the time. And something like a pun or slapstick with their much lower rating of 45% can actually invoke a strong reaction of laughter when skillfully pulled off.

[deoridhe.livejournal.com]

Did you know that 92.68% (SD 0.45) of all internet statistics are made up? Also, adding an extra decimal point adds 32.60% (SD 3.48) more authenticity, each, and adding standard deviation adds 75.89% (SD 1.47) more authenticity as well as raising your interweb popularity score by 7.52% (SD 50.41).

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

You may not see me around much for a while. I'll try to check in with any linkspam that comes my way, but... yeah.

*waves bye, bon voyage, and au revoire*

(And I'm looking forward to the new, less-stressed you. Seriously, I can hear the hair tearing through the internets.)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh. Actually, Braveheart was pretty low on the actual stress; it just took FOREVER.

[(Anonymous)]

Good luck sweetie. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you.

[ernie-lundie.livejournal.com]

I can't wait til the book comes out. I'll order it, where can order it by the way?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I have no idea at the moment--I would assume that Amazon will carry it, as I've seen even small, self-published books there. It's a good six months off, so trust me, when it's available, you won't be able to get me to shut up about it. : )

[elbales]

Congrats, good luck, don't worry about Sin City in 15, just get your stuff done so you can relax.

[elendiari22.livejournal.com]

Good luck! I can't wait to read your book.

[shesnotallthere.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad my mother isn't the only one who says "It's Come-to-Jesus Time".

Don't worry 'bout us...we'll entertain ourselves somehow while you're MIA.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Seriously, *mine's* not the only one?

[gabsy.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!!!

And good luck on Gladiator!

Too bad i'm one of the only French-speaking readers of your LiveJournal, or I would have shared my oh-so-amazing joke about Gladiator (Seriously, be glad you don't have to hear it!)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hey, I was a French minor. Try me. : )

[mcfeste.livejournal.com]

Ah, Braveheart. The Irish dude is my favorite. "The Almighty says he can get me out of this, but he's pretty sure you're fucked!" Snerk.

Congratulations, another one down.

So, is Gladiator all that's left?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Uh... no. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

[ambiguousreason.livejournal.com]

So, in the next two weeks.. how much book are we talking about having to write? A lot? More than half?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

More than I really want to talk about, lest I freak myself out. Yeah.

[msilverstar]

You Can Do It!

Yay for working through Braveheart. Your thing reminds me of Mad Magazine takes on movies. I never did feel any need to see Jaws or Towering Inferno, I just let the Mad version be my version.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Quick question - when is the book due out?

*waits eagerly*

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, not for another six months, at least.

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I personally found Braveheart to be unintentionally hilarious (when I wasn't seething over historical inaccuracies), but that can make it even hard to make it funny in satire form.

Good luck with Gladiator!

[http://users.livejournal.com/lorien__/]

wiiiiiii on braveheart...
and not to worry... we'll keep ourselfs busy with the lost recaps and m15m...
hope gladiator will go smoothly... ;)

L.

[dramedy.livejournal.com]

WAY TO GOOOO!!!!*woot woot**woot wooot* Go Cleolinda!
I am a horrible procrastinator(like this morning when i woke up with 15 minutes to dress, put in contacts, do makeup[it was to hang out with friends],eat breakfast and go to the bus stop. I made it;)), so i would totally take a week off, and then just have a week left and panic(I've also been known to do essays the night before they are due, having not reasearched anything)...
Congrats, and I hope I'll be able to (get my mum to) buy it in Oct-Nov.
Oh, and remember, when this is aaall over, you can watch The Gift!

[yarha.livejournal.com]

Focus, focus, focus.

Yarha, Focus Pocus

"Stay on target...
Stay on target...
YeeeEEAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
-Gold Leader (or somebody) from Star Wars IV "A New Hope", aka *the* Star Wars movie

[adoresixtyfour.livejournal.com]

If you can't post every day, I'm sure everybody'll understand. Best of luck finishing the book, Cleo...

[punkiejeannien.livejournal.com]

woot, Braveheart icon!

You can do it! Keep on truckin', Cleo!

That way the rest of us can say we know someone famous ;o)

Seriously, though, you can do it! Good luck!

Maybe if you'd stop posting on Snarkfest so much...

[minkairship.livejournal.com]

...I KID. Seriously.

Muchos congrats on finishing as much as you've done so far, and break a leg/a brain/whatever on finishing the rest! I can't wait to see the final product, which I know will be absolutely hilarious.

Re: Maybe if you'd stop posting on Snarkfest so much...

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Eh, I just post on my breaks. Besides, I used the Sin City thread to get a vital piece of information for Braveheart. : )