I don't want to see John Woo or the like, but I seriously doubt they aren't going to punch up the action for the script.

Neuromancer wasn't a sci-fi action book, but I'd be willing to bet the script is.

Both fair points. I would much prefer implied violence in the perfect Neuromancer film, but I'm with UberDog in putting money on an actual, eventual script bigging up the tussles. They'll probably add some new ones. Otherwise, by Hollywood standards, what happens? You'll have lost the Matrix generation within 10 minutes.

What's needed is a bored billionaire with a healthy contempt for the entertainment industry to give us all a go.

No, all you need is someone in charge who isn't suckered in by prevailing industry "wisdom" which is anything but.

They don't know what the fuck they're doing.

They keep making the same mistakes. They plan in the same fashion drunk people throw darts.
They're all endangered and don't even seem to realize it.

The whole business will be radically different in ten years and a lot of them won't survive the shift. Just like what's happening in music right now.

And, just like the music industry, they are closing their eyes and plugging their ears and signing: "I can't hear you! I can't hear you!"

Revolution - the act of going in a circle. Once you get to that critical mass point, everything has to change. I bloody well hope so. Entertainment in the C21st is a joke.

The music industry hasn't long to survive in the way that it's going. I have a personal vested interest in ensuring they don't. There are these two dreadful people off the telly who strut around immensely full of themselves cos they think they everything about the industry. They now have their own show on Kids TV teaching children how to make pop records. Presumably, this is:

a) dress like you're selling it, and
b) buy an Autotune

Problem is that prevailing industry "wisdom" is built firmly on a foundation of smug egocentricity and it's enormously hard to buck the trend. As Kahn said in that interview, the film industry is riddled with it. Unless you carry serious weight already, you haven't a hope of getting through without your project being fiddled with. WG said that's what happened to Johnny Mnemonic, I think. Everyone's gotta know better.

It must be about to change, though. The biggest marketing tool on the planet is now firmly established, and we're using it to share opinions. Why aren't more artists using it to listen to the fans, the devotees, and then cater primarily for them instead of trying to find a common denominator? Somebody has to release the aural and visiual arts from the prison of such unimaginative commercialism.

Well, more and more are. The self-publishing music trend is gathering momentum, and it's about time. I do Audiobooks, another industry seemingly without any imagination, but I intend to change that. Producers need to listen to the fans, to the devotees. There will always be a market for films which just fill up the telly screen while bored couples munch a pizza on a Friday evening, but someone needs to take a chance on actually appealing to the audience who make a concept successful enough to warrant a film in the first place.

And Simon Cowell will be the first with his back against the wall...

quote:

It must be about to change, though. The biggest marketing tool on the planet is now firmly established, and we're using it to share opinions. Why aren't more artists using it to listen to the fans, the devotees, and then cater primarily for them instead of trying to find a common denominator? Somebody has to release the aural and visiual arts from the prison of such unimaginative commercialism.

It isn't the artists, it's the producers and the studios that are keeping the form (film) shackled.

There is the seeming necessity (mostly true) for the artist to make somehting "marketable" in the eyes of a studio.

Otherwise they don't get to "make" anything.

But, as the distribution chain begins to fragment, costs come down and investors outside the industry see money can be made without the studios, well, the tether the studios have held will disappear.

If theaters get downloaded content rather than expensive reels of film and funding comes from other sources while costs go down and artists are able to directly get their art to the audience, the studios will be left behind.

Whenever an industry realizes it doesn't need the middle man, the middle man is usually tossed out.

What do you do with audiobooks?

Yup, you're right. And I think we are seeing the first real signs of that happening. It seems that finally, the technology is becoming widespread enough that the distribution chain will go: Artist - Producer - Website - PC - Home Entertainment Hub, or something. Cinemas will suffer, of course, but I've always hated them.

I'm in the Audiobook industry because, after looking into it, we can really up the game for not a lot of money now that iPods and the like are so ubiquitous, and software is gearing up to support the integration of media and player on a new level (specifically, see Songbird which I'm really excited about). I left the BBC to start a small company to produce what we call Dynamic Audiobooks, an initiative to increase the artistic impact of audiobooks through clever dramatic and audio techniques. We wanted to start small, with aspiring and developing authors, but we've got a bit of interest from quite a hefty, non-mainstream multimedia publishing company and now I think possibly we could think about launching with something bigger. If our profile is bigger, we can better help out the new talent, and maybe I could get to produce some of my favourite books...

...which is half the reason I'm here.

I used to love audiobooks when I was a kid. All those cool children's stories. I remember I had a He-man audiobook, it was hilarious, it was like having He-man right next to me... It's a cool thing.

I don't know how NM should be, fighting scene wise and so on, but I hope they manage to make it look both 'cool' and 'believable' just like Matrix was.

It must be a cool movie, watchable, also deep and the fighting scenes must be eally quality scenes. Oh, I hope they don't ruin it... C'mon, Scott, Proyas, Wachowsky.. Hear us..

quote:

Originally posted by Neo:
I used to love audiobooks when I was a kid.

When you hear this noise... turn the page!

Yeah, I truly believe audiobooks are a fantastic medium, for kids, adults, everyone. There just hasn't been a lot of innovation. My company is even looking at resurrecting the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books in audio format!

/<

quote:

Originally posted by Sense/Gnat:
Yup, you're right. And I think we are seeing the first real signs of that happening. It seems that finally, the technology is becoming widespread enough that the distribution chain will go: Artist - Producer - Website - PC - Home Entertainment Hub, or something. Cinemas will suffer, of course, but I've always hated them.

I'm in the Audiobook industry because, after looking into it, we can really up the game for not a lot of money now that iPods and the like are so ubiquitous, and software is gearing up to support the integration of media and player on a new level (specifically, see Songbird which I'm really excited about). I left the BBC to start a small company to produce what we call Dynamic Audiobooks, an initiative to increase the artistic impact of audiobooks through clever dramatic and audio techniques. We wanted to start small, with aspiring and developing authors, but we've got a bit of interest from quite a hefty, non-mainstream multimedia publishing company and now I think possibly we could think about launching with something bigger. If our profile is bigger, we can better help out the new talent, and maybe I could get to produce some of my favourite books...

...which is half the reason I'm here.

What books have/are you doing?

Can you tell me how they are "enhanced?"

Those choose your own adventures would be cool.

quote:

Originally posted by Neo:
I used to love audiobooks when I was a kid. All those cool children's stories. I remember I had a He-man audiobook, it was hilarious, it was like having He-man right next to me... It's a cool thing.

I don't know how NM should be, fighting scene wise and so on, but I hope they manage to make it look both 'cool' and 'believable' just like Matrix was.

It must be a cool movie, watchable, also deep and the fighting scenes must be eally quality scenes. Oh, I hope they don't ruin it... C'mon, Scott, Proyas, Wachowsky.. Hear us..

I was watching The Matrix yesterday and it occurred to me, again, if perhaps they named Neo for the Industrial/Goth club of the same name that's been here in Chicago forever.

I know it means new and is an anagram for 'one.' But they're from here and likely hung out there...

Plus the movie music is right out of Neo. the club... not Keanu. But, you know, he might have an MP3 players up his but, who knows?

Sure, UberDog. OK to email you on the address your profile shows? It's a bit off-topic...

Concerning Neo, as far as I can tell, The Matrix is chock-full of little references, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if they've referenced the club.

Sense/Gnat,

That's true, it is for eveyone for sure. I'd love to experience The Matrix as an audiobook. Or J. Mnmonic or The Dark City. But I think it must be really really tough to do that.

UberDog,

You might be right about that club thing.

BTW, what do you guys think about Larry? Did he really become Lana and had a sex change op? Joel Silver says that it is untrue and that he is still credited as 'Larry' in Speed Racer. I was just wondering, what do you guys think about that?

Well, to me he really looks like a female, not sure if he had that operation though

quote:

Originally posted by Sense/Gnat:
Sure, UberDog. OK to email you on the address your profile shows? It's a bit off-topic...

Concerning Neo, as far as I can tell, The Matrix is chock-full of little references, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if they've referenced the club.

Yeah, email me there.

quote:

Originally posted by Neo:
Sense/Gnat,

That's true, it is for eveyone for sure. I'd love to experience The Matrix as an audiobook. Or J. Mnmonic or The Dark City. But I think it must be really really tough to do that.

UberDog,

You might be right about that club thing.

BTW, what do you guys think about Larry? Did he really become Lana and had a sex change op? Joel Silver says that it is untrue and that he is still credited as 'Larry' in Speed Racer. I was just wondering, what do you guys think about that?

Well, to me he really looks like a female, not sure if he had that operation though

I'm not at all sure baout the veracity of his sex change. Could be true, could be part of their reclusive myth.

Speed Racer looks lame though.

He looks generally quite feminine in the Wikipedia article on them.

They can often be a bit lame. Bits of The Matrix were very lame (the zion rave and that hideous sex scene spring to mind). What's the general opinion on V for Vendetta.

UberDog, email sent.

Hey, no part of The Matrix was lame at all!!! But, uhmm, yeah that sex scene was a little weird, but it was ok.

I personally liked V for Vendetta very much. I know that Alan Moore wasn't pleased with the script at all. But I think it was great. The Wachowski's knows exactly how to do an adaptation for the screen I think. It was a great film to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Sense/Gnat:
He looks generally quite feminine in the Wikipedia article on them.

They can often be a bit lame. Bits of The Matrix were very lame (the zion rave and that hideous sex scene spring to mind). What's the general opinion on V for Vendetta.

UberDog, email sent.

And replied.

The first Matrix film was good. Interesting ideas, good action.

After that it went down hill. The ideas became too talky and circuitous, the action lagged, they didn't reveal anything new.

I remember a girl in one of my philosophy classes kept calling the original: Decartes for the Masses.

The sequels essentially for a spot on the legacy of the film itself.

V for Vendetta was... competent. Not nearly as good as the book, but not bad.

I think The Matrix was geat (it is my fav movie since 99), but the sequels were great too. I mean as sci-fi movies, they were top notch. But of course at times they were kinda weird, not as good as the first Matrix. But they are great though.. The first was the intro, the second the bridge and the third the final. It all worked for me.

Yeah that Descartes thing is very true.. The modern Descartes

I think Reloaded is actually my favourite. It posed some very interesting possibilities, none of which, sadly, materialised in the very substandard finale. I still think the Matrix is the best super-hero concept there is, for people like me who are OCD about plausibility. Power through knowledge and awareness of your surroundings... brilliant.

What I really love about The Matrix is the universe - a really fresh new playground for sci-fi - but, as with many Wachowski projects, they seem to keep it within their grasp. They control everything that has anything to do with it - even the MMORPG is pretty rigid, as far as I can tell.

I have a nice concept for some Matrix fanfic which I'm toying with: it follows a group of academics who are recruited by the machines to code new areas of the Matrix and address the human issues that the machines don't, or can't, understand. Why would they want to live in Zion, when they have the power to create their own surroundings? They see the Zionites as terrorists, the Zionites see them as traitors, but really, everybody's just made their own choice.

I'd like to go somewhere with that, but I have this feeling the Wachowski's wouldn't like it that much.

Interesting idea Sense/Gnat, sounds cool, go for it..

The intro of Reloaded was awesome. Where Trinity jumpes off the motorcycle and falls onto the ground with a sexy position, and the motorcycle blows the building away.. the camera angles and stuff.. Just brilliant. The Wachowski's are really good on camera angles. This is something that comes from their love for comics I guess.

Ohh I gotta watch the trilogy again, soon.. ıt's been a long time.