One last bit before I'm off....

we'll upload it when its tweakedd to perfection tmrow

Oh hell yes.

Be Well,
Shane

I've been thinking about this whole project a bit lately (less than I used to, thank God) and it has become important to me that I am allowed to see the finished film before it is released with my name in the credits. From the changes made by Mitch and some of the changes I've noticed in the promo video, I just want to know if I even want to be associated with the film in the long run. I know, I'm just one in ten or eleven names on that list of writers, but if I see the final film and can't "find myself" in it at all... well, there's no point in me taking credit for something I didn't have anything to do with.

I'm not saying anything on the quality of the film, because I'm sure a hastily edited early-production promo video isn't representative of the final film. I'm just saying that at the moment, I'm not seeing a lot of me in the scenes I've just witnessed, and I know I was in there during the writing of the thing.

Mag, I might be able to help you out here. Maybe. Me and Kent originally wrote the scene they showed at the screening. Originally, as it was in my head, there was a drawn-out stylistic zombie encounter to top off the sequence as they were "field-testing" their makeshift weapons. The scene, as it exists on film, doesn't play out at all like the scene in my head. But I've come to accept we won't be able to find ourselves individually in the finished product. We have become a collective. So many inputs into one script, it will be impossible to find any one of us in any given scene. Even the one I mentioned above was tweaked by no less than three people before being filmed, then tweaked further by production crew. But now it is what it is, a truly collaborative effort.

Would I rather have my stuff filmed exactly as written? Of course. But given the nature and original goal of this project, I understand the need for the collective. I didn't at first and I still wish we had fewer writers, but for this particular project the collective became a necessity for the film to be what it was intended to be: The first massive internet film collaboration.

But... Our fingerprints are all over this thing, however small. For that reason, I'm keeping my name in the credits no matter what. But I understand why some would want themselves removed.

Be Well,
Shane

It's a bit easy for you to say that, Shane, as you were part of the group of people who wrote the script in the first place. Obviously, your influence will be there. Me and the other late-comers to the writing team are more or less "script doctors", so if everything I've doctored is to be moved away from, what's the point in my name taking up space in the film's credits?

And no, I'm not looking for specific bits of dialogue and I'm not expecting everything to turn out exactly how I saw it in my head. Do I really seem like that much of an ego-maniac? If I do, I'm sorry I gave you that impression.

haha No, dude. You didn't give that impression. And I'm sorry if I made light of what you were saying. What I was trying to say is I understand how you're feeling but you should really leave your name in the credits. I have a feeling this won't be your last film and it helps to say "yeah, of course I've worked on a film before". I don't want to see you lose that opportunity.

So, again, I didn't mean to make light. You know how I feel about your input. Take care, buddy.

Be Well,
Shane

All right, I hear ya.

In a few years' time, if all goes to plan, I'll have a bachelor and a few films wherein I've had a much more prominent role than one out of fifty writers of a draft that wasn't used, so it's not that important to me to have my name on it.

In any case, I think it would be nice for those involved to be allowed to get an advanced screening.

also this segment of movie didnt have much dialogue. it was mostly directorially influenced in order to make it more 'actiony'..
but im sure in the movie you may see your work in it more..cause all the dialogue will be used.
this was like 5% of the script

As if you didnt know, but I feel the scripting proccess has been dissapointing experience in terms of result. I could go and raise the same issues again but I'll refrain from doing so, but hey, its a learning experience, one of which I will be greatful for. However, the actual way of meeting up and discussing ideas and theories etc to bring ideas together for the final script was relatively successful.
Ofcourse we wouldn't neccesarily see our own individual work show through, but its more about seeing the work of the group show through, the fact that we worked together to bounce off ideas and get the final product - something that I thought was lost in the script being used right now.
But overall, it'd be silly to say the script proccess was bad, we had problems, but we (eventually) overcame them.

Now for World Wide Dead 2...