December 2012 - Chris Ullrich dot net
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December 2012

Back to Work

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Looks like I’ll be starting a new project next week to kick off 2013. I can’t say too much about it except that it’s a movie, it’s written/directed by a good friend and I’m looking forward to working with him again and to helping out in any way I can.

Other than that, mum’s the word. That said, expect some updates over the next few weeks/months as we gear up to do this thing and actually, well, do it.

Also, that pic above, from Starship Troopers of course, is actually a clue to the identity of the mystery friend. Although, in truth, probably not a great one. Still, if you know much about me, you might be able to figure it out.

Okay, enough of that. Now the real work begins.

Some ‘Avengers’ Behind the Scenes Fun

As always, when I see something cool I bring it to you. This time it’s a very interesting video showing how (and why) a particular shot was accomplished for The Avengers.

Cool stuff indeed.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZsEwUuBjio?rel=0&w=500&h=281]

Christmas Aftermath

In a nutshell, I’m tired. Christmas has come and gone and it was a long, long day. And we don’t have any kids and didn’t have to fly anywhere.

I can’t imagine how my parents did it or, for that matter, how other parents do it today. it must be exhausting, especially if you have to travel a long way and keep some young ones entertained.

As for us, we had a very nice time with H’s parents, her brother and my Mom. Just the six of us in the comfortable environs of Ventura eating lots of food and opening a metric crapload of gifts.

We may have even had one or two drinks too. Good times all around.

Out of the many, many gifts, we all got some really nice stuff. I will probably even keep the vast majority of my gifts. . . Probably. Nah, they were all great. I’m keeping ’em.

That’s a pic of our tree. Pretty nice, huh? I think so.

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Hope you all had a very good day. Now, to the nap chamber!

Merry Christmas

We are about to hit the road and head to H’s parents’ house to celebrate Christmas. Naturally, we’re taking a few gifts.

And yes, even though I didn’t ask for anything, one or two of these are for me. Have a great Christmas everyone.

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Happy Holidays

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Yes, it’s that time of year again. The holidays are upon us. Because I’m a certain type of person, I’m going to go ahead and wish you all a Merry Christmas.

I occasionally use the more PC “Happy Holidays,” (like in the title of this post) but I just don’t feel like it this time. So there we are. That said, if you choose to use it, feel free. I won’t hold it against you.

I hope you have a great couple of days, spend quality time with those you love and get everything you asked for from Santa. If you’re still on the fence about what to get me, or even trying to decide if you’re going to get me anything at all, I’ve already taken the liberty of spelling it all out for you.

I like to make things as simple as possible . . . for all of us.

The Live-Action ‘Star Blazers’ Movie Is In the Wild(Star)

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When I was a kid, I used to watch an animated TV show called Star Blazers in the morning before going to school. It was a great show and I really enjoyed it. Well, it was great to me at the time anyway.

Later, I learned it was actually called Space Cruiser Yamato in Japan (the Star Blazers title attached to it in the States to capitalize on the popularity of Star Wars no doubt) and in the years since I first watched, it has become quite popular in Japan and spawned several animated movies and seasons of TV.

More recently, they made a live-action version of the series. I posted a trailer for it awhile back. It was released last year in Japan and has now found its way online.

It’s also available on DVD and Blu-ray, if you can find it. I managed to order a copy from Amazon. We’ll see if it actually arrives.

Until then, there’s always YouTube (or the eventual American remake supposedly being written by Chris McQuarrie).

Enjoy. I did.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iissssJnq4M?rel=0]

No Good Trailers Today, Some Writing Tips Instead

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Yep, that’s right. No good movie trailers were released today. Or, at least not for movies I’m interested in. So there.

On the other hand, I did get a lot of writing done, so today wasn’t a total loss. In fact, I think I’ve finally figured out some problems with a script I’m working on, which is always a good feeling. Of course, fixing some problems can often lead to finding others . . . And so it goes.

Speaking of writing, screenwriter (among his movies is Big Fish, one of my personal favs) and snazzy iOS app developer John August has a great podcast (co-hosted by Craig Mazin) for all you aspiring screenwriters out there. I’m sure I’m late to the party on this and you’ve all been into the podcast from the beginning, but I’ve listened to almost all of the episodes now and I’ve learned a great deal.

Yes, I can still learn. So can you. Come on, you can do it.

Mr. August offers a lot of other advice at his website as well as several examples of his writing work for your reading pleasure. It’s a great resource and one I recommend highly.

I’m not alone in this, of course, but I’ve always believed one of the best ways to learn to write something like a screenplay is to read a lot of scripts. It helps to read good ones, too, as Mr. August’s are. No, that’s not brown nosing. They’re just very good and I don’t mind saying it.

In truth, I’m a big fan of reading in general. I guess if you’re reading this, you probably are too.