Going Off The Grid for awhile...

Due to the unstable world of publishing and the plethora of ebooks, Kemet Media is partnering with Amazon and we will be static for the next couple of weeks.

We apologize for any inconvenience and we look forward to returning with our line of artistic endeavors through hardback and ebooks sold through Amazon.

May the Angels walk with you in all ways and for always.

2010 - Charlie St. Cloud Film Review

Release Date - July 30 2010
Tagline - Life is for living
Plot
Charlie St. Cloud is a young man overcome by grief at the death of his younger brother. So much so that he takes a job as caretaker of the cemetery in which his brother is buried. Charlie has a special lasting bond with his brother though, as he can see him. Charlie meets up with his brother (Sam) each night to play catch and talk. Then, a girl comes into Charlie's life and he must choose between keeping a promise he made to Sam, or going after the girl he loves.
Title - Charlie St. Cloud
Like so many other stories, this is the name of the Protagonist.

Hero - Charlie St. Cloud
The Four Questions
Who is the hero? Charlie
What does he want? To keep his promise to Sam
Who's trying to stop him? Himself
What happens if he fails? He will spend the rest of his life playing catch with Sam in the cemetery (Social and Psychological Death)
Theme
Self-Exploration
Moral Premise 1
Virtue - Living in the present for Love
Vice - Living in the past for Love
Living in the past for love leads to neglecting your dreams and experiencing guilt, but Living in the present for love leads to fulfilling your dreams and experiencing love.

Moral Premise 2
Holding on to impossible promises shackles you to a life of regret, but Breaking impossible promises frees you to live your life.
Sequence 1 - Charlie is an Orphan because his brother Sam dies in a car accident, leaving him alone and unable to keep his promise.
Sequence 2 - Charlie is a Wanderer because his life's on hold and he's stuck living in the past.
Sequence 3 - Charlie is a Warrior because his romantic interest in Tess actually forces him to step outside of himself and make contact with her.
Sequence 4 - Charlie is a Martyr because he risks his life to save Tess.
Issues
(Structural Development)
He says goodbye to his brother on ship when he's looking for Tess, is it necessary for him to see Sam again?
Why does his mother disappear from the film after Sam's death?
Why isn't his co-worker part of his storyline instead of being pasted in?
The only problem with the Moral Premise is that Charlie's mother was living in the present for Charlie's future and all she got was Charlie totally ignoring his mother, I don't see how this is a positive trait for Charlie and this is a huge problem. Why isn't their relationship and her character arc resolved?
(Mixed POV)
Trying to show scenes from Tess's POV cripples his self-revelation and strips his power.

(Tess Character Development)
They build Tess' romantic interest in Charlie and at the end, her reaction is too weak.
They don't plant Tess' attachment to her father's grave.

(Subplot Development)
They could've strengthened the Paramedic's subplot being that he's the Booster Rocket and part of Charlie's spiritual development in the film.
(Long Ending)
The ending is drawn out and uses too many scenes for exposition and dialogue that could've been dispersed throughout the rest of the film.

2010 - Eat Pray Love Film Review

Release Date - August 13 2010
Tagline - Let yourself go this August
Plot
Liz Gilbert had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India; and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.
Title - Eat Pray Love
The title refers to Liz's journey; Eat (Italy), Pray (India), and Love (Bali).
Hero - Elizabeth Gilbert (Liz)

The Four Questions
Who is the hero? Liz Gilbert
What does she want? Inner Peace and Balance
Who's trying to stop her?
Main Protagonist (Her own self-doubt and criticism)
Main Minor Protagonist (Ketut)
Minor Protagonists
(Stephen - Ordinary World)
(David - Ordinary World)
(Delia - Ordinary World)
(Richard from Texas - India)
(Andre - Bali)
What happens if she fails? Death of her spirit and in her own words, "I feel nothing, absolutely nothing."

Theme
Self-Exploration
Moral Premise
Virtue - Living for yourself (Selfishness)
Vice - Living for others (Selflessness)
Living for others leads to a life of static unhappiness and disconnection, but exploring yourself leads to dynamic happiness and love.
Sequence 1 - Liz is an Orphan in the Ordinary World because she has a spiritual calling and yearning that cannot be quenched in her current situation.

Sequence 2 - Liz is a Wanderer and accepts Italy's freeform life, accepts herself, and learns to enjoy the small pleasures in life.


Sequence 3 - Liz is a Warrior because she learns to fight for insight into her own spiritual peace and she is constantly threatened by Richard from Texas, who as a Shadow Mentor, opens up to her and gives her a nickname symbolizing her past in Italy (Groceries).


Sequence 4 - Liz is a Martyr because she steals papers from Ketut and after copying them, she devotes her time and energy to following Ketut's spiritual practices for finding inner peace.

Formulating a one page cheat sheet

Good evening,

Spent the entire weekend combining and recombining different ways to explore storytelling a bit stronger.

Seems that Movie Magic Screenwriter may prove helpful after all, but give me time to deepen the question and see if it stands the test of time as well.

Scrivener, as you well know, still proves to be rock solid when formulating the story foundation and for writing, i’m stuck on tracking beats and storylines right now.

Outline 4.0 proves formidable, but only being available on the PC is a drag, tell me about it.

So when I get everything in gear, will reveal what truths I discover.

Until then, stay focused and remember...

Be SAFE...

Not SAF!!!

2010 - Inception Film Review

I reluctantly went to go see Inception today from peer pressure (My mother pushed and pushed and pushed...), but after watching it, I still take my initial reservations.

Was it mesmerizing to watch? Yes

Was it filled with wonderful effects? Yes

But the story, the story...

The story falters a bit for me because (I read this somewhere, don't remember), but it's been said that your movie's only as good as your antagonist.

And in Inception, the protagonist (Cobb - Dicaprio) is fighting against --- himself??? He feels guilt over his wife's suicide and by making this the antagonist, the film lacks true power and true balance. Honestly, the worst thing that can happen is that he never gets over the guilt (which he hasn't up to this point) and he gets stuck in limbo forever (in the dream world).

For me, I had reservations to see this because doing a movie about dreams is a bad thing because it's such a subjective realm of reality, if it can even be called that. The only way to approach dreams is through the mystical/metaphysical/magical ideologies at best and at worst you can try religion. For this reason, I think the film suffers being almost tranquil, soulless, or even emotionally sterile. The sad thing is that the actual raw emotion and power of the film happens before the film even starts, the story of Cobb and his wife's suicide. Had he started there, then we're REALLY talking about something deep and satisfying...

Inception is essentially a spiritual dream heist to stop the formation of a corporate conglomerate. The problem with this is that the motivation isn't there, it's just not there. The power lies in something global and apocalyptic.

• How about Cobb has to enter the mind of an angel to save heaven before God begins the Apocalypse?
• How about Cobb has to enter the mind of Lucifer to save heaven?
• How about Cobb has to enter the mind of the only guy with information about a global conspiracy and just as he tries, the guy dies and Cobb has to follow his spirit through all the realms of consciousness down the tunnel of light?
• How about Cobb has to enter the mind of a scientist who's solved all diseases in the world, but the guy's in a coma?
• How about Cobb has to enter...

My point is that Cobb's heist should be done for a POSITIVE reason:

• To save humanity
• To save the planet
• To save the galaxy
• To save time and our reality
• To save a nation
• To save a community

Many will argue that Cobb's motivation is to see his children and that is a honorable GHOST for him, but that's the STORY, the PLOT is about entering Fischer's mind, which is not at all honorable to me.

For me, the film is more powered as a pivotal film that will pique the interests of others and spark many to do these kinds of films, but to consider it groundbreaking, i think it's lacking somewhat in where it ventured.

Nonetheless, here's my information.

FOUR QUESTIONS

1. Who's the protagonist? Cobb
2. What does he want? To see his children
3. Who's trying to stop him? That's tricky, Circumstantially it's the Government, Emotionally it's his dead wife, Physically it's his guilt....
4. What happens if he fails? He can't see his children and/or he gets stuck in limbo forever with his dead wife.

MORAL PREMISE

Controlling Virtue

Forgiveness

Controlling Vice

Guilt

One word theme

*** I can't think of one word to summarize both virtue and vice at this time

Two word theme

Forgiveness vs. Guilt

Moral Premise

Holding on to Guilt leads to separation (sadness), but learning forgiveness leads to happiness.

Story versus Plot (Quote of the Day)

When we think about great stories, about great movies, we remember first and foremost about whom the story is told.

More than the twists and turns of the plot and the grand scale of the action and the stunts, we recall the character around whom all of the action swirls.

• Who is the good guy?
• Who is the bad guy?
• Who falls in love with whom?
• With whom did we fall in love?
• Who was most memorable?
• Who? Who? Who?

The answer to the question, what is your film about, is nothing if it's not about Who.

And that is the difference between story and plot.

• The plot is WHAT HAPPENS in the film.
• The story is what it does to the WHO it happens to.
• And, of the who and what of it, the who is far more important than the what.
• The what would be worthless without the who.

But, to be fair, the who wouldn't be much without the what, either.

We can also look at it this way.

The plot provides the ACTION: the film's MOTION.

And the story provides the REACTION: the film's EMOTION.

THE STORY IS THE JOURNEY FOR TRUTH.

THE PLOT IS THE ROAD IT TAKES TO GET THERE.

For more info, click here

Beyond the Hero's Journey

Like many writers, I've studied and studied the Hero's Journey, absorbed it, sucked on it, fondled it, and tried resurrecting myself before I realized.

Gotta die first, so that's a no go.

Despite these vain attempts, I was so relieved when I realized one of the mythological powerhouses, Pamela Jaye Smith, had already done an ebook on going "Beyond the Hero's Journey."

Beyond the Hero's Journey, was she really serious or was she trying to trick me?

Upon deeper reading, the truth exploded in the neural network, this woman was phenomenal, really deep and on point! And like all writers before me, I incorporated this woman's powerful knowledge into my toolbox, or as Jeffrey Schechter calls it, the idea shoebox.

I recommend reading this book to understand the power of Mythology and the different structural frames of story development, trust me, you need this book in your life.

For more info, click here