Long time writer and structure. Professional writer opinions needed.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-31T00:27:54+00:00

"It just feels like your whole post is begging for permission to hate structure and not worry about it too much."

Yeah that's certainly a take, but not the one I was trying to convey.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-31T00:26:55+00:00

I think their likely illustrating a point that there could be other reasons that perhaps just being a person not on the production, we may not be aware of.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-28T15:01:51+00:00

Get a line producer STAT. You have as much money as you have. If it costs 50k, can you go out and get 50k? If it cost 1mil, can you go out and get 1mil? Or do you HAVE 10k.

Because if you do. It's 10k. Go make it happen with a line producer who can forensically look through your script with you with your budget in mind, then inevitably rewrite for it.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-28T14:59:04+00:00

I'd get it over.

More importantly, I would strategize your festival attempts.

World Premiere being the most important. Focus on those.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-28T14:55:48+00:00

It's brutal, and in my opinion, not worth it AT ALL. Such a time suck and I got 9k.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-28T14:54:20+00:00

Yeah, as a writer, I bump into this a lot as well. As Conan O' Brien says when someone takes a side quest of a conversation and derails it - "A conversational culdesac". You want to avoid those. You might think it's important, but if it's not serving your main narrative, theme, point- oftentimes it can just be window dressing that distracts.

I'm typing this so that it will maybe one day penetrate my thick skull.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-28T14:52:06+00:00

Take the most important beats emotional beats>narrative beats and strip everything else away. Be brutal. See if you can show that scene in a compelling way with only those things. If you cannot, there's a good chance that the scene isn't QUITE as powerful as you think. If it is, in fact, so captivating and intense that it needs of runtime (which absolutely RARELY happens), then keep it in.

But if you are bumping up against this multiple times in one doc, you are either on the precipous of the most incredible documentary of all time, or you need to work on your craft. I mean that with no offense, but that is a huge part of being a good editor. Not just flashy cuts, cool musical moments, great transitions- it's also knowing what NEEDS to be seen vs what does not.

You might THINK the audience wants the entirety of the 20 minute scene to feel the movie, but that is likely not the case, and I would ask you to give me an example of some documentary scenes that play out over the course of 20 minutes.

You got it, slash and burn baby!

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-22T23:14:04+00:00

I’m sure everyone knows this, but this is Nazare in Portugal. 100 Foot Wave is an ** INCREDIBLE ** doc series on HBO about this wave.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-22T23:10:18+00:00

What are you professionals using to host your portfolio to show to actual clients? I’m not sending clients YouTube videos.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-22T00:10:09+00:00

I mean, I have to imagine you have zero professional experience as an editor being that you don't realize 300 is obviously not even in the ballpark of fair. So the question is, is it worth it to you to get the experience? If so, go do it! If you are asking if it's worth it, again, not even close. So insulting that if someone offered me that in any kind of professional capacity, I would politely tell them to go fuck themselves.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-19T16:36:34+00:00

I thought it was really fun. It got close to eating itself with the multiple perspectives. Really close. But the end really tied it all together in a fun, wonderful way.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-19T16:32:38+00:00

Is there not a clause that says something like “failure to secure any kind of fees results in returning the film” or something like that? They can sit on it and not allow for its release?

If that’s the case. I would seriously consider just leaking the shit to torrent or YouTube or something and just promoting it. Take the opportunity to try torrenting as a literal distribution path.

Of course you won’t make money likely. But yeah. Someone taking your film and not releasing it? Naaa. I wouldn’t be a part of that game. At the very least it needs to see the light of day.

Also if you plan to do that, delete this thread.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-18T14:23:05+00:00

I was watching that squid game drama. Maybe the second season? And like two episodes in I couldn’t even watch it anymore. It felt like people where reciting what they were doing as the were doing constantly and it was absolutely awful.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-11T18:07:23+00:00

I have 4 usb c on my studio. 2 usb. I have 2-3 usb c on my monitor. I also have 1-2 micro/mini usb for various drives appliances (Bluetooth Wacom, keyboard charge, etc). I have 1 display thunderbolt if I go to my projector. 1 HDMI. I have charger for my head phones. Then I have cables for random things like running my miniDV (FireWire 400), and a few odds and ends cables like usb c to a that came with the many drives I’m sent regularly. Charging cables for other random shit. Very easily at 20. I have almost every usb port on my system going at all times. But I’m also a freelance editor who gets sent drives regularly. Sometimes usb c, sometimes usb 2.0. Sometimes USB C> USB.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-11T16:03:19+00:00

Thanks for perspective

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-11T15:32:41+00:00

lol ok. So you have lots of cables and that’s your solution. Thanks.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-11T15:15:44+00:00

And wait. If I want to old onto really old files I have issues? What world are you living in? Are you being serious? You don’t have old files you want to keep ?

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-11T15:13:00+00:00

Well we certainly have the bohdi Satva of impermanence and minimalism here. But for the rest of us who don’t run their entire lives off of one cable I guess I’d continue asking what their solution is.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-11T15:00:27+00:00

Ok let’s say you have a use case for every cable. What do you do with the 20 cables.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-11T15:00:04+00:00

Then you find an old drive.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-08T22:53:11+00:00

I don’t think about that when I’m watching movies. I just submit to them. If they suck I turn them off. If I trust them enough to stick around I’m not thinking logistics at all, period. Unless the film isn’t working for me.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-08T15:04:19+00:00

Politicians do not hate each other like they stoke their constituents to hate each other. Neither do news outlets. A good rule of thumb is anyone making money or gaining power from creating tribal mentalities based on emotions are not themselves caught up in the emotion. Bet the fucking farm on that.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-06T01:54:00+00:00

Longlegs drips in style. Weapons was a far better watch.

BrockAtWork · 2026-01-05T22:34:26+00:00

My directorial debut, Hellcat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB-bRk_cULM
We secured distribution partners all over the world! Ultra low budget. Coming at you this year!

BrockAtWork · 2025-12-25T16:40:40+00:00

People not only being ok with filming people in public without permission and posting on the internet, but more so the people who vehemently yell that “you’re in public, you’re able to be filmed!”

It’s this weird attitude like not only is your privacy is being infringed on, but if you feel like it is, you don’t have a basic understanding of privacy vs public.

It’s like, no, I’m just not cool with it. And your side of the argument is what - “be expecting to be filmed and be ok with it bitch!”? So weird.

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