a brief scene from the temple

The Man of Wonder

"My death was the only thing that had some redeeming quality to it."

synopsis: The movies of Eric Stoltz inspire Adam Olson of Walnut, Iowa to create a religion known as the Wonderful and a nation follows.

Here is a brief scene.
Adam the religious leader has just finished a major speech from the balcony of a theater that has been converted into a temple. He has retreated behind the curtain away from the crowds exhausted.

I/E. WALNUT IOWA TEMPLE BACK FROM THE BALCONY

Adam turns from the balcony walks behind the curtain and collapses into one of his counselors arms. A moment of clarity passes over Adam.

ADAM

(obviously exhausted)

This is insane what am I doing?

Thomas kneels down to speak with him.

THOMAS

Its just the pressure your a messenger and it is a heavy

burden carrying ERIC 's message

ADAM

What is the message what am I saying?

Thomas stands up in slight disgust.

THOMAS

You are saying nothing it is ERIC . ERIC is the one talking.

You are just a person who has been able to see it first.

ADAM

What if I am wrong? Did you see all of those people.

CHIEF OF POLICE

(trance like)

How could you be wrong its not you who

we are following,(beat) it is ERIC.

Adam forced by fear of his own creation pushes out any rational thoughts and agrees with his zombified followers. Adam is only able to nod his head. The room begins to blur and Adam passes out.

This is where I will end. I'm running a high fever not unlike ADAM and need to crawl back into bed. This story clocks in at 102 pages and is going through a grammar edit right now. I would post more but I'm really sick

Wanna see my spaceship ;)

Ok so I’m sick. But I did get some things done. I have my DVD Jackets. Man you have to give yourself so much time. Don’t think your going to just run down and get these things printed off while you wait. you have to wait 24 hours, that is of course unless you were born on a distant alien planet and have super troubleshooting skills, along with charm powers, which I happen to have. YES! I circumvented the 24 hour wait and here I sit with my DVD jackets all pretty and in their cases. I’m all done loading Chaointe versions on the web for Richard to work from. Tonight I have to burn more copies of Merlot to put in my shiny new cases and mail them out. I have screened Chaointe with 3 people to get some reactions and so far everyone has liked it more then Merlot. Which makes no sense to me Merlot took longer so it has to be better right? The production values are definitely higher and the story is more straight forward. I think I just like confusing stories that have unanswered questions. Or do I?

Did I say the 23rd

When I'm productive I dont have time to outline what I'm working on and that is really when I need to be writing notes so I can refer back to them. I have been spending a lot of time wrestling with converting Chaointe into a managable size .mov for a temp track I finally was able to complete that task and now I just have two more things left get my nice DVD jackets printed off for more festivals and really....really make a conscience thought on wether or not I want to submit "The man of wonder" Since I dont have an answer I will post a small scene.

3rd thoughts

I have a finished script I wrote about actor Eric Stoltz. I’m not a fan of his and I'm not, not a fan. I just have a twisted sense of humor. At any rate its done, save a grammatical edit taking place. I was going to use this as part of an application to be part of the northwest screenwriters guild but have suddenly become hesitant. My latest scripts are incomplete but already show major improvement in style and understanding of execution. Not sure if I should submit or not. I will post by the 23rd if I did and give a sneak peak at the script if I do.

She moves in Mysterious ways

Many many things here at the acadamy.
Ok so I had such a blast with Dez and Melissa. However, I was totally out of it. Just out of synch with the ocean and the universe. I used a trail version of software called Sure thing from download.com to manipulate the DVD graphic artwork. I also learned a bit from a talented graphic designer and will apply those to the final design.
When you type for promotions or even books you dont need to double space after periods. Like that. Also when ending a paragraph, do not end with a single
word.

That is called an orphan.

He gave me some great direction for areas I wasnt sure what to do with. I'm always excited to meet new people and he seems cool. I also have several wonderful people who have offered to help edit scripts and letters I send out. Since I'm a dangling participles, run on sentance madman. I will finish up my list of things to do by Friday and start my Chekov list on Fridays. Its easier that way going from Friday to Friday.
Dont forget October we are having a release of Chaointe the last weekend in October on Capital hill at the Capital Hill Internet lounge and eatary, We will be playing along with Snow day Bloody Snow day and I'm sure one or two other local flicks.
Well my favorite U2 song is now over.

Tuesday to Tuesday what did I get done

Send 10 copies to festivals
Nope. Instead I created DVD graphics for the jewel case, inserts and DVD. This will look a lot nicer when submitting to the festivals.
Send Copies of merlot to Robert Susan, friends and family and ezines
Done, Done and done. My Cd Burner is on fire.
Find out if its Ok to send alcohol in the mail
It is not ok and its kind of a lame idea anyway
Send a letter and a copy of Merlot to Terry Gilliams Manager
Done. Whatever Terry is my favorite Director he will probably never get it or watch it but a guy has to try right.
Send a Synopsis to Eric Stotlzs Agent
Not only did I do this I had it professionally edited since you all know I sucketh g greatly at grammar.
Have a Final Cut or very close of Chaointe sent to Richard
This had to be rescheduled.
Meet with Dez for Melissas Painting
This was so much fun and yes its done. We met at commencment bay in Tacoma. Dez and Melissa tolerated my butting in I kept forgetting it was about Dez, getting the shot for the painting. I just kept seeing great shots and scenes. After Dez got all the pictures. We took a different shot of Melissa so I can start on Promotionals for Sans Vie.Man I’m excited about this one.
Find out as much as I can about Vulcan
I probably didnt find out as much as I can but I found out enough. They seem approachable but you have to have all your squirrels in a row.
Update my top 100 movies with 5 new ones
That was easy.

Getting Closer DVD art

I'm off to the store my printer ran out of ink. I have been using it for testing.

something not on the list

I made a Jacket or insert for the DVD to spice it up a bit. I'm not done yet. It's a start. It looks like a lot of DVD lables and TM for mockstreet but thats the way it is on all of the DVD's when you fold it it doesnt seem as much. Next I will do the insert for inside and then the DVD graphic who knew trying to be a writer I would learn some 101 graphic design.

Spock was a Vulcan

Wow two Star Trek references in a row. Ok well I did my homework, They have done some documentaries, a Comedy show 5 features and up and coming soon a short. I think they are accessible but like Dom commented I will have to knock on thier door with my package as pro as I can make it and hope they like what they see. Probably wont be doing that anytime soon. But its nice to know they are right down the street.
Iam scrapping the booze idea. So that is easy to Check off. On my way to the rest of the list. I did spend a freakin ton of time on scriptwriting websites. I just want to be locked in a room with christmas lights an endless supply of pizza and chocolate milk and a blank screen for me to fill up with pretty ideas stuck in my brainium. oh yes and an editor someone that consumes bad grammar for breakfast and asks for more.

Lt. Pavel Chekov

I will try to make some checklists of what I want to do for the week and then see what I get done.
This week I want to mail out 10 copies of Merlot to festivals
Send Copies of Merlot out to Robert, Susan and family members that have been waiting patiently.
Find out if its ok to send alcohol in the mail.
Send a letter and a copy of merlot to Terry Gilliams Manager
Send a synopsis of the man of wonder to Eric Stoltz’s agent
Find out as much as I can about Vulcan studios
Have a final cut or very very close final cut of Chaointe sent to Richard Temple for sketches
Meet with Dez for Melissa’s Painting.
Add 5 more movies to my top 100 movie list http://matthewstop100.blogspot.com/I will report back as to how things are going.

Everyday is a getting faster going faster then a rollar coaster

Yes! Eric and I have been working on the final rough cuts. Chaointe is super super super close. Its wierd not editing. I'm not a demanding person so its hard for me to ask for things. I think the best thing to do is look at it and just make a list of ways you think it would be better but at the same time be open for others feedback. When I edit I am in total control but I suck. Eric is great but the control is indirect its wierd. I think I suffer from mild OCD that is probably why its hard I had the same problem in music. At any rate he has been giving me cuts and I have been making a list of things that are in my head and it has been going smooth like buttah.

Richard Emailed me and temp tracks, whew. I don't have to buy a keyboard I just need to find music that I think sounds right. So I just bust out my abba CD or Neil Diamond(which by the way I have sung Neil Diamond Drunk on the streets of Reno with two very good friends a moment I think is wonderful in my life) so I grab my Tesla CD and find a song that I think fits. Easy Cheesy. Ha ha.

Reading the trade mags
I have been reading a ton of Filmmaker, Hollywood Reporter, and Variety I also finally registered as a IMDB pro user man I should have done that a year ago. I have burned 15 copies of Merlot. Today I plan on getting 15 press kits ready and sending 5 out to mags and 10 out to festivals. Wish me luck. I think like I said I suffer mild mild mild OCD but it really surfaces around mail. I don't like sending mail because I suck horribly at grammar and the content can aways be better. So I don't like mailing anything its so permanent.
I need to start making notes I almost forgot tip I picked up on. Submit your dialogue and your scripts to the assitant anything.... Assistant agent, producer, publicist. Because more then likely one day they want to be the big gun and if you find a good one to believe in early on then that makes things nicer for you. If I am wrong feel free to let me know.

What the heck have I been doing?

Not a whole lot! I did some soundwork on Merlot. I am wrapping up my re-write of "The man from Wonder" I am a silly man that script makes me laugh in places and I am not one for laughing at my own jokes. Say, if you know Eric Stoltz tell him to give me a call. I started recording a list of my top100 movies That is not as easy as it sounds. I have many things I should be doing but the biggest one is what I am doing right now taking a restful break until craziness starts up again. I cant wait to shoot Sans Vie!!!!! for many reasons. One is I dig the story and two that frees me up to write! and pursue a feature. Coming up I am checking out the screen writers guild. Wrapping up editing on Chaointe with Eric. Reconnecting with Dom and Jessica about the October party and Submitting merlot to Sundance. um yeah good luck right. Its a good flick but like one festival said Sorry we werent able to watch all the movies submitted.....Thanks for your money though. Oh not all festivals are evil only the ones that dont play us :)
"Merlot is a captivating short film, suspensful enough to keep you guessing, with twists that keep you engrossed from start to finish. "STIFF