A True Master Has Gone

Sven Nykvist, 83, a Master of Light in Films, Dies - New York Times (free registration required)

Having started out as a cinematographer at AFI, Sven was a hero to me. He, James Wong Howe, Greg Toland, Vilmos Zsigmond, Michael Ballhaus, and Gordon Willis made up my cannon of painters of light.

Sven's elegance, I think, is what set him apart from others. Every frame portrayed an almost Dutch Master-like quality, giving the actors an elegance and dignity that surely made their performances more believable.

In so many of his films, you could just grab a random frame and hang it on your wall as art. There's an understated majestic quality that elevates everything that his lens captued. It's no wonder that he was a favorite of everyone from Bergman to Allen to Jewison. All directors who clearly understand the visual elments to story telling.

Wherever he is now, I'm sure the light is just right.

Link

There's Always a Challenge

My outlines are not going as well has I want. My treatments are weak and unfulfilled. My scripts simply are not being written.

Why?

Wife. Children. Day job. Confidence. Inspiration. Soccer. Yard work. Football on TV. And everything else.

After redicating myself to the pursuit of a writing career after years of pursuing another one, I'm in a slump. I'm still reaching my goal of 3 new ideas in the idea book every week, but not much is happening after that.

My note cards are afraid that I'm angry at them. My pens are suffering from seperation anxiety. Final Draft has forgotten what I look like.

And now I waste even more time by writing this post, right? Wrong. At least I'm writing. It's not inspired, particularly funny, or possessed of any special insight into the human condition, but at least I'm writing.

Always write something. Even if it has nothing to do with what you really want to write. Writers write and that's what they should do at every opportunity. So I write this post knowing that I put a couple of hundred words down today even if I get nothing else the rest of the day.

The writing is what matters. The challenges melt away when you refuse to be blocked, when you write something, anything that puts words down somewhere.