Warm Bodies and the end of the Zombie invasion

Recently, I watched the movie "Warm Bodies", the latest of the zombie craze movies.  And while I really enjoyed it, and thought it brought something new to the genera, I wonder if it represents a tipping point in this current fad.

I've said before that I think we're about to reach our saturation point with zombie movies.  We've already seen it happen with vampire movies, hitting its nexus with the Twilight series.  Again, its not that I think the movie was bad: it was a basic retelling of the "Romeo and Juliet" story, the movie even going so far as to name the main characters "Julie" and "R", and just in case subtlety isn't your thing, "R's" best friend, played by Rob Cordry, was named "Marcus".  The cinematography was quite stunning, and the two leads delivered admirable performances.

But, this film really went out of its way to play it safe.  (Spoilers) Everyone, including "R's" best friend "Marcus" survived to the end.  For a zombie movie, it never felt like the stakes were ever that high, not nearly "post-apocalypses" high, in any case.  But, never the less, the film makers pulled this off without making the film taste overly saccharine.  It really played as a movie about alienation, and resolved itself leaving you with a feeling of hope.

It was a zombie movie that just happened to hit a "main-stream" vibe.  But now that that box has been opened, it gives the green-light for more of its ilk, a prettied-up vision of the undead, to be made, and made without heart.  And that's when you know you've come to the end of a cycle, when the rawness is completely forsaken for things that are pretty and unoffensive, when the risk of alienating anyone with things that are too dark or too scary is replaced by things that are lukewarm and average.

I want to say again, I really liked warm bodies.  It was a movie with heart and soul.  And perhaps if it had been released a bit earlier in this generation of zombie films, I might not see it as the prophesier of doom for the genre itself.  But we've been heading here for a while.  I think the undead still have a few more chances to bring us some bite this cycle.  I would compare this one to the "Underworld" series in terms of timing: marking only the beginning of the end, which, as you know, in Hollywood time can be stretched out for quite some time.

I love me some zombie flicks, and even if this cycle is about to return to the underground, I know it will be back someday.  After all, isn't that what being a zombie is all about?

Cody Hobbs

Taking away the blue

Ever have one of those photographs that looks like it was shot 50,000 leagues under the sea?  It's something I see a lot of in amateur photography, and luckily with the right tools, it's a pretty simple fix.  In the photo below, notice how it has a blue tint, and the colors, especially in the reds and the yellows look washed out.

In Photoshop, using the color balance tool, I first took down the cyan by adding red, then used yellow to push back some of the blues, and make the color palate appear a bit more vivid.  To strengthen the skin tones, I replaced some of the greens with magenta, but be warned, it's easy to over do it and give your picture a "magenta shift".  You can also use this technique to give your photos a nice stylized touch, so don't be afraid to play around with this tool.

If you want to kick it up a notch, play with the individual color saturation, and tone down the reds to give the skin tones a cool look.  I'll be posting more photo-enhancement tips later on, so stay tuned!

Will the Marvel bubble ever pop?

In a recent interview with Wired Magazine, Marvel movie overlord Kevin Feige casually tossed out the idea that there are movies planned up to 2021.  So of course, the internet has done its usual internet thing and completely crapped its pants.  We have a pretty solid idea what the next couple of years will be filled with: "Thor: The Dark World" comes to us this November, and the Cap is stepping out next year in "Winter Soldier".  And let's not forget the 2015 tent-pol mash up, "Avengers 2".

And all of these are movies that I'm excited to see.  But with Marvel releasing two films a year like clockwork, I have to wonder, will this incarnation of the Marvel universe ever get old?  I think that's a tough question to answer.  People who are complaining about the "over saturation" of comic-book movies are getting a bigger spot light, but does that really mean that they accurately represent the movie-going public?  As I've mentioned before, "Avengers", and more recently, "Iron Man 3" pulled people in droves, and early buzz for the next installment of the "Avengers", slated to be released two years from now, are giving no indication of anything slowing down.

On the other hand, "Iron Man 3" did get some softer reviews than its two predecessors, and "The Wolverine" may not become this summers next steaming box-office turd, but it didn't bring in the "buy your own private island" return that I'm sure its financial backers had hoped for.  Maybe people really are just becoming worn out on this generations iteration of Marvel heroes, or comic-book movies in general.

While I definitely think this current trend of movies will pass, or at least go through some massive change-ups in the future, I think some of the Nostradamus-ing going on right now is forgetting to take the individual movies into consideration, in favor of being the one say that they were the ones who predicted the big crash.  Shane Black, taking over the helm of Iron Man, made a different Iron Man movie than his predicessor Jon Favreau, and some of what he tried just didn't work out -- it wasn't that I was too tired of comic-book movies to enjoy it, it just wasn't as good of a movie.

I think the future of Marvel film universe is going to depend on its ability to keep making quality movies; ones that speak to its current generation of audience.  When the studios stop allowing their films to grow and progress naturally with the times will mark the bursting of the current Marvel bubble we're currently caught in.  The re-booting of the Spiderman franchise, and the new direction the X-men movies have taken with "First Class" and the upcoming "Days of Future Past" are good examples of how to keep things fresh.

And over at DC, allowing Nolan to focus on making good movies that just happen to include the caped crusader was the perfect formula.  I think looking at trends can only tell us so much, and is more useful in telling us where we've been than where we're defiantly going.  As for me, I'm more interested in seeing good movies, in whatever shape they may take.

Cody Hobbs

Memories of being a turtle liker

Once again, I am making a post from my iPhone, so please forgive the shortness.

 One of my earliest childhood memories was receiving my first tmnt a action figure for my 3rd birthday. It was Donatello, and probably the coolest thing I'd ever seen in my life, up to that point at least. I started watching the cartoon with a near obsessive fervor. When I was in middle school orchestra, I learned how to play the theme song on my viola.

 I remember seeing the original movie in theaters, and coming out a changed man; it was my first moviegoing experience where I watched something from a cartoon universe become real before my very eyes. And now, over two decades later, a whole new generation of turtle likers (I made my mom write "Cody is a turtle liker on all of my notebooks when I was in kindergarten) will get to have that experience for themselves. But times have changed; children are growing up in a different era of cinema from when I was young.

There isn't even a teaser out for Michael Bay's rendition of our favorite "heroes in a half shell" yet, so I'm going to refrain from jumping on the band wagon of trashing a movie that I haven't seen a single frame of yet. And in a way, it's no longer my generations movie, this one belongs to a new audience. But it is nice knowing that a fresh helping of nostalgia-pie is coming.

Cody Hobbs

How to shine a turd

Sometimes you get involved with things that just suck, you know.  As I've been looking for inspiration for a new weekly (or, if I'm being realistic, maybe bi-weekly) video project, I've been going over some of my older efforts.  Up to this point, I think everything I've done has been for practice -- learning a bit about lighting, editing and the work that can go into even the simplest of projects.  Up to the point that I made the video that I'm presenting you, dear internet, with below, I had mostly worked on "vlog" type projects, and I wanted to do something a bit more complex.  Now, I had started shooting a full-length feature about a werewolf, but I think I'll save that story for another day.

So a friend of mine had written a short scene, and suggested that we use that as practice.  It was written simply as a practice project, and came off that way.  But we ended up pouring quite a bit of work into it, even going so far as to use a sound studio (Lake Sound studios in Lake Elsinore) to do some ADR.  After cutting the initial cut of the video together, I felt like I wanted to do something more with it, and later decided to film a mock interview where I played film-maker Bodi, partly intended as a spoof on the real-life "film-maker" Tommy Wiseau.  Here is how it turned out:

An iPost

Today I'm meeting up with long-time friend/co-writer Andrew (some of you may know him as Tank, so I'm writing this post from my iPhone, sitting in a parking lot. So I hope you can forgive this being a shorn post, I'm still just a "Thumb War" Padawan.

I've done some research into Kickstarter, and it's biggest competitor, indieGoGo, and I'm sure I'll be sharing some of what I dug up with you, dear Internet, in the upcoming week.

I've also been putting some thought into finding a snazzier way to present some of the scripts I'm sharing-- simply put, it's a lot of text, and be honest, you don't want to read a script, you want to see them brought to life. I don't have the resources yet for a full on production, but I am planning on filming a "table read" for one o my next releases. I'm not sure how long that's going to take, as even that brings with it it's own needs.

And that's what I have on my table for the upcoming few weeks. Before I close out this post, I'd like to say thank you everyone who has read and enjoyed this blog. I hope to provide you with ever better content.

Generation Z: the Pilot

 Thinking over a few of my favorite shows, I think I've started to notice a growing trend in serialized T.V.: it's forgotten how to tell stories.  Now sure, the networks, and some cable stations are still full of hour-long reset programs, like NCIS, or any one of the hundred incarnations of Law and Order, and by all measures, they rank among the most popular, but I'm talking about the "Losts", or "True Bloods" that gain a bit more of the cult following status.

In its earlier seasons, every episode of "Lost" told a whole story, one with a recognizable beginning, middle and end.  But as the seasons rolled on, the individual episodes stopped providing these single-serving stories, and became more and more a random collection of scenes leading to the next cliff-hanger.  Now don't get me wrong, I love me some long, season arch-y goodness, but when each episode starts to serve the whole at the sake of itself, the experience of sitting down for that weeks adventure becomes less and less memorable.  Heroes fell into this trap even earlier than lost.  And with a 22 episode season to fill, by the time you got to the end, it felt like the season had lost its direction.

And here is where I'm going to break form, and not just talk about what I mean, but lay down an example from my own library of what I'm taking about.  Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to roll out three of my favorite episodes from two web-series I've written (and hope to someday produce!!)  Not just a scene, but three full, beginning to end, finished scripts.  I'm going to start with the pilots from each, then include my two favorite episodes.  So without further adieu, I present you with the pilot for "Generation Z".

________________________________________

Generation “Z”

Here we are...

TEASER

INT. BOMB SHELTER (USE GARADGE) - NIGHT
The POTUS is standing before a large black curtain, hands
firmly clutching the sides of the podium. The POTUS waits
for a signal that the cameras are live.
A crew-member signals that they’re on in five, four, three...
The POTUS looks over his speech one last time with the
knowledge that this will be the last time that he, or any
other President will ever address the nation...

POTUS
My fellow citizens of The United
States, and my fellow citizens of
the world, I imagine this will be
the last time that I will ever make
a formal address... so I come to
you, not as President or Commander
in Chief, but as an ordinary man...
(getting chocked-up)
a man who is frightened of an
uncertain future... as I’m sure
many of you are. And, like all
other men, I am flawed... and I
have made many mistakes...
(beat)
But, I think today, regardless of
your faith or lack there of, it’s
clear that we are at the end of
days...

FADE TO BLACK.
END OF TEASER

ACT ONE
EXT. VAN - NIGHT
We push in on a van with bright light spilling from its
windows. We can hear the muffled sound of chatter coming
from a small television-like speakers.

INT. VAN - CONTINUOUS
Inside the van, we see Ardi (short for Bernard) and Si (short
for Simon - he’s obese) watching a webisode of “Waiting for
the Code” on a mini-portable DVD player, plugged into a
cigarette-lighter.

ARDI
Ah, the holy miracle that was
illegal downloading.
(beat)
I remember the internet like it was
yesterday.

SI
Dude, it practically was. Our
zombie overlords haven’t been in
charge for that long.
(beat)
Shh, shh, this is my favorite part.
Both of them turn their attentions to the screen, and are
quiet for a moment as they watch.

ARDI
It’s kinda beautiful; it’s like,
even after the apocalypse, they’re
still waiting for their friend.

ANGLE ON: WALKIE-TALKIE
A burst of static erupts from it, and the faint sound of a
woman’s voice.

ANGLE ON: ARDI AND SI
Ardi and Si pay no attention and continue watching...

EXT. ALLY - CONTINUOUS
We see a young woman, Brigit, ease into frame. A loud growl
echoes from the distance.
In one fluid motion, she raises the walkie to her face.

BRIGIT
Guys, I’ve got action, copy.

No answer.

BRIGIT (CONT’D)
Uh, guys, you there?

INT. VAN - CONTINUOUS
We see Ardi and Si laughing at “Waiting for the Code”.

EXT. ALLY - CONTINUOUS
Brigit lowers her walkie, defeated.

BRIGIT
(shakes head)
Fucking Ardi.

Brigit jumps when she hears a clatter in the not-far-off
distance.
We see a male zombie, dressed in Mormon-misisonary attire.
He eyes Brigit, and lets out an inhumane howl, then shuffles
toward her.
Brigit turns and eyes the zombie.

BRIGIT (CONT’D)
There you are.

(holdsters walkie)
Come to mamma.

Brigit gives a look as if to say “did I really just say
that?”
The zombie clumsily holds up a tattered “Book of Mormon”. We
can see that his fingers have clutched onto it so tightly his
nails have clawed deep into the cover.

BRIGIT (CONT’D)
(mockingly)
Oh look mr. Missionary man, I’m a
poor defenseless woman who’s
wandered herself out of the
kitchen, what ever shall I do?

The zombie continues to slowly shuffle to Brigit. A little board,
Brigit takes a step closer, positioning herself in front of a
pitch-black corner.
Brigit rolls her eyes, and pulls a gun from her waistband,
and aims.
3.
BRIGIT (CONT’D)
Eat this mother-
Another zombie jumps from the darkness and grabs Brigit, and
pulls her into the dark. She fires randomly to no avail.

DISSOLVE TO
WHITE:

INT. HALLWAY - EVENING
POV: MARIA
Maria (Brigit’s younger sister) is stalking down the hall
toward Brigit’s door.

M.S. HALLWAY
Maria listens for a moment, and can hear Brigit softly crying
from her room. Maria takes a deep breath, then knocks.

MARIA
Brigit.

No answer. Maria knocks again.
MARIA (CONT’D)
Sisko, can I come in?

BRIGIT (O.S.)
Go away!

Maria shakes her head, then opens the door and marches in.

INT. BRIGIT’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Maria closes the door behind her. Hesitantly, she takes a
few steps to her bed.

MARIA
(weak smile)
Treve sisko.
Brigit is sitting on her bed, wiping away her tears.

BRIGIT
God, why did I think I could do
this?

MARIA
(as she sits)
Because you’re like a bad-ass?
(beat).
And I swear I’m not just saying
that because I’m your sisko.

BRIGIT
(forced smile)
Kitos.

Brigit runs her hand trough her hair, then looks at it.

BRIGIT (CONT’D)
(crying harder)
What if they cut off all my hair?
(sob, sob)
I can’t do this!

MARIA
So what? Then you’ll be just like
Demi Moore in G.I. Jane, and wasn’t
she like uber hot in that movie?

BRIGIT
(lightens up)
Okay, only like totally.
(long pause)
They’re saying that I could ship to
Afganistan right after basic.
(looks down)
My recruiter said I’ll only get
like a week to... say good-by and
stuff.

Maria hugs Brigit.

MARIA
I love you sisko.
(beat)
Just don’t forget why you’re doing
this.

Brigit nods as:

DISSOLVE TO
WHITE:

EXT. ALLY - NIGHT
ANGLE ON: BRIGIT’S GUN
It skids away.

ANGLE ON: BRIGIT AND ZOMBIE
Brigit fights the zombie off of her, then moves away to give
her some distance. After she feels she has enough space, she
looks around for something she can use.
She eyes a short 2X4, and grabs it.

BRIGIT
I guess we’re kicken’ it old
school.

The zombie starts to slowly move toward her, then stops. He
looks down to his legs, then back to Brigit. After a beat,
he full-on runs at her.

Brigit is shocked and terrified for a moment.

BRIGIT (CONT’D)
Shit.

Brigit takes off running. She un-holdsters her walkie, and
screams into it:

BRIGIT (CONT’D)
Hey, meal-on-wheleels, DO YOU
COPY!!!

INT. VAN - CONTINUOUS
Ardi picks up the walkie. We pull back to reveal he is in a
wheelchair.

ARDI
Dose she have to be so mean?
(into walkie)
I think someone forgot the magic
word...

INTERCUT: ARDI AND BRIGIT

Brigit has lost the zombie, for now...

BRIGIT
(out of breath)
They’re getting faster.

ARDI
Faster... would you say they’ve
gone from a shuffle to a saunter,
or is it more of a jaunt?
Brigit sees the zombie in the not-too-far-off distance.

BRIGIT
(urgent)
They’re running!

STOP INTERCUTTING: WIDE ANGLE INSIDE VAN
Ardi is suddenly panicked.

ARDI
Be right there.

Ardi tosses down the walkie.

BRIGIT (O.S.)
I lost my gun... hurry

ARDI
(to Si)
Help me down. I’ve gotta get to
her.

SI
Wait, dude, I should totally be the
one who goes after her.

ARDI
What? Okay, one: you’re fat. And
two, someone has to drive the van
over, and...

Ardi gives Si a “well duh” look.

SI
Whoa, dude, not cool baggin’ on me
for my weight. First, yes, I’m
fat, but check it, I survived the
zombie apocalypse. Not an easy
task. And I’m wicked strong bro;
like I can lift things that are...
really heavy, and I can hit stuff
pretty hard. And I know how to aim
a gun!
(beat)
But you’re totally right about the
van thing.

EXT. VAN - CONTINUOUS
Si jumps out, and runs to the back. He opens the door, and
attaches the ramp.

SI
(helping Ardi down)
Good luck dude.
Just find a really steep hill,
they’ll never catch you.

ARDI
Just... Hurry.
Si runs to the van, and starts it. Ardi rolls off.

EXT. ALLY - MOMENTS LATER
The zombie has Brigit cornered. She clutches her 2X4. The
zombie falls backward as Ardi crashes into him. Ardi
struggles to hold his mouth shut.
Brigit knocks out the zombie from behind.
Ardi smiles shyly at Brigit - he has a crush on her.

ARDI
(nervously)
Nice hittin’ stick.

BRIGIT
(with a smile)
Lost my gun. Had to improvise.

ARDI
“Who’s Line is it Anyway” for the
post-apocalypse, ladies and
gentlemen.

Brigit gets serious again.

BRIGIT
We’ve got one more.

Brigit walks forward, then turns to Ardi.

BRIGIT (CONT’D)
Missionary type bastard.
The zombie appears behind Brigit.

ARDI
Uh, white shirt, tie, bible...
Behind you!!!

Brigit swings around hitting the zombie in the chest. He
falls to the ground.
Brigit stalks over him.

BRIGIT
Gee, not so tough now.

(raises 2X4)
This is for always interrupting
dinner!

Brigit beats the zombies body.
The van pulls into the ally. Brigit doesn’t stop.

ARDI
Uh, Brigit.

Brigit stops for a moment.

BRIGIT
(panting)
And this is for prop 8!

Brigit smashes his head with the 2X4, then drops it.

BRIGIT (CONT’D)
(to Ardi)
Lets go. We should be able to
gather some supplies from this area
now.

Brigit rolls Ardi to the van as we:

DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. VAN - LATER
The van is driving down a deserted road.

SI
So when do you think the human race
is going to... you know, make a
comeback?

BRIGIT
(from back of the van)
Never.

SI
So we’re totally like the dinosaurs
in “Jurassic Park”.
(to himself)
Cool.

Ardi wheels closer to Brigit.

ARDI
(fake smile)
You weren’t killing a zombie back
there, were you?

BRIGIT
Decaying flesh, vacancy sign,
hunger for brains; I’d say he
qualifies as the postmortem.

ARDI
No, I mean your aggression. You
weren’t killing zombie-him, you
were killing him-him, or the him
you thought he was, any way.

BRIGIT
Say what?

ARDI
You can’t tell me that there isn’t
a tincy-wincy little part of you
that’s using this zombie buffet as
an excuse to go to town on the
people you didn’t like... before.
And if that’s the case, what makes
us different than them?

Brigit shakes her head, then stands to move to the front of
the van.

BRIGIT
(sarcastic, bitter)
Just what I needed to hear right
now.

Brigit climbs into the passenger seat.

ARDI
I didn't mean... fuck.

ANGLE ON: BRIGIT
End of episode one