While I was working on my previous script, I’d created a character who was only supposed to be a cantankerous old man with some important information for the main character. When I actually reached the step of writing this character’s lines, he began saying things that I hadn’t expected of him, and doing things I hadn’t planned on him doing.

In a way, he was becoming his own person, and all I could do was stand back and watch it happen.

The same is true of a story’s flow. I wrote out a plan for my current movie and it seemed perfectly solid. As I take a second pass at the outline, expanding it, preparing to write the scriptment, the story has evolved into something rather different. The setting for most of act 1? Changed. The big chase scene at the end of act 2? Gone. The batch of characters that were supposed to be in most of the movie? Dead before the end of act one.

I like these little surprises when they happen; it makes the story feel like one I’m experiencing, rather than one I’m simply telling.

Question

Forbes magazine recently released a list of the 10 Most Trusted Celebrities (according to Americans). Which celebrity would you add to the list? Anyone on there you think shouldn’t be?

Their list:

1. James Earl Jones
2. Tom Hanks
3. Michael J. Fox
4. Mike Rowe
5. Morgan Freeman
6. Sally Field
7. Ron Howard
8. Will Smith
9. Bill Cosby
10. Denzel Washington

Answer

The trouble with these lists is that they usually factor a celebrity’s star power and their likability on screen, verses what kind of person they’ve shown themselves to be off-camera. When I think about whether or not I trust a person, I think about what kind of person they’ve shown themselves to be when they think nobody’s watching, and how open they’ve been with their shortcomings.

First of all, why is there only one woman on this list? I’d knock Will Smith in favor of Oprah, and Denzel Washington for Maya Angelou.

I’m also not too sure what Mike Rowe has done to be on this list, other than crawl around in crap for a few years on the Discovery Channel, so I’m going to knock him in favor of Steven Spielberg.

If I were to spend time compiling my own list, it would likely be completely different, but all in all, this isn’t a bad list.

(Questions are taken from the Vox question of the day.)

A few years ago, AOL inadvertently leaked quite a bit of search data.

After that happened, we all had a lot of fun going through the search logs and pondering the people behind those searches.

Hell, I even wrote some haiku based on it.

I thought about that AOL leak today while I was doing some research for my zombie movie on how fast the human body decomposes under normal conditions, and what changes happen at what times. Then, of course, I thought about all the other searching I’d done today along similar lines.

Let’s just say, the FBI would probably be at my door and digging up the yard about 10 minutes after a Google search data leak.

Question

Whom from your past would you like to reconnect with? What’s stopping you?

Answer

Nearly 10 years ago, I dated a guy online, then visited him a couple of times at his home in Canada. I was way too fucked up for that relationship, but I would love to get back in touch with him and see about becoming friends. He was such a great guy. I don’t suppose anything in particular is stopping me, I just don’t know if he would want to reconnect with me.

(Questions are taken from the Vox question of the day.)

So far, the biggest challenge has been just trying to figure out the logistics.

For instance, if a victim is completely ripped apart by a pack of zombies, then will the pieces of the victim reanimate? Because a zombie lacks a functioning digestive system, how much can a zombie eat before they simply exploded? What percentage of the brain needs to be destroyed to kill a zombie? And why is it important to destroy the brain if it doesn’t have any electrical impulses?

Let’s just say, I’ve had to think about things while writing this movie that I never thought I would have to think about, and hope to never think about again.

One of the very colorful women in my life calls smoking “sucking the devil’s dick” and so that’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this anti-smoking ad.

via:// The Bilerico Project

A friend of mine was telling me about an insane building project going on in the Raleigh-Durham area last night. Apparently, it’s going to be an 8,500 square foot house, equipped with it’s own 3,000 square foot ballroom.

“Why would anybody need a 3,000 square foot ballroom in their house?” I asked, quite frankly flabbergasted by the idea.

“He needs a place to have intimate gatherings with friends. Besides, Colonel Mustard needs somewhere to murder Professor Plum with the lead pipe.”

I’m sure you’ve seen this already, but I think it’s worth repeating.

Question

How often do you watch TV shows or movies on your computer? What determines whether you watch on your TV versus your computer?

Answer

This is an easy one. I don’t watch TV shows or movies on my TV because I don’t have cable. I gave it up after getting burned out on 24-hour news during the last election cycle. You might ask yourself, then why don’t you just keep cable, but not watch the news? Because I’m a new junkie and I can’t help myself.

Besides, I like the convenience of watching my favorite shows on my schedule instead of theirs. Plus, I have a 24-inch iMac with a fantastic screen.

(Questions are taken from the Vox question of the day.)

If you know anything about me, then you know I’m not terribly fond of my home state of Alabama. This is why it will knock you flat on your ass to learn that I’ve voluntarily planned a trip home a week from this Thursday.

I know, right?

It all started with a dream I had the night before. I don’t remember much about it now, just that, in this dream, I was home and doing something fun with my mom. I woke up possessed with a crazy need to make a visit.

It seems like every time I tell someone, they look at me suspiciously, like they think I’ve been taken over by a pod person.