The last couple of days have been pretty productive, and I've managed to get out the second complete draft of the As-Yet Unannounced Animated Musical (AYUAM or AM for short) script. It's probably even less fun to read about an unannounced than it is to write cagily about it. Sorry. Here on the weblog, I've been trying to come up with thematically consistent and entertaining links and clues over the last few weeks, creating a scattershot mosaic of references that, if pieced together, should amply prepare you/pump you up for the actual story. In fact, though, I count on the short attention span-weblog format to keep the dots unconnected. (For better or worse, I don't have an army of decoding gamer/readers, a la that secret A.I. promotion a couple of years ago).
Where it stands: The story, plot and action are all in place and pretty tight. The present/future/flashback narrative structure makes sense, too. At least as much as it's gonna. In addition to our (anti-)hero (it's based in part on a true-crime story, remember), there are 3-4 other major characters, depending on how you count. Of these, I'm still only fully satisfied with the characterization of two of them. The other three are close, but not done. It's a combination of action/reaction, dialogue, and how they change/reveal themselves over the course of the story.
Global issues:
[For an example of how a script can change by bringin' in the big musical guns, check out this draft of South Park, which predates some of Marc Shaiman's contributions.]
"Mormon cinema on a mission for profits", an article that causes me a crisis of faith, frankly. Like to know more? Check out LDSfilms.com, a good old-fashioned portal, with Mormons I knew/knew about (Aaron Eckhart, Neil LaBute, Walter Kirn) and Mormons I didn't know about (Tom Hanks, Matthew Modine). No obligation, and no one will visit your home.
