The Blog I Want To Be When I Grow Up

by William Speruzzi on 07/12/2007

One of my recent favorite stops on the interweb has been Mystery Man On Film. I like the fresh perspective that he brings to the table. A self-proclaimed student of screenwriting, Mystery Man is a forward thinker, looking for a better understanding of storytelling without drowning in the sea of books on the subject. Even though he does reference the works of Robert McKee and others he recognizes that story is about seeing a bigger picture. He makes a statement in this meme that I think sums up what film bloggers have probably subconsciously known for a while:

I believe that aspiring screenwriters could learn more from film scholars (aka “film bloggers”) then they would from most screenwriting gurus.

Analysis, reviews, food for thought and the invaluable script breakdowns via Miriam, this site recognizes the importance of balancing a well-rounded, fully developed screenplay with a good understanding of visual storytelling. It represents why I think the blogosphere serves a filmmaker’s need to explore the multi-disciplined craft of filmmaking but at the same time doesn’t just drink the Kool-Aid served up by the “gurus.”

Thanks Mystery Man, whoever you are.

There are 8 comments in this article:

  1. 07/13/2007Dante Kleinberg says:

    Agreed! I love analysis. I recently did an analysis of Ratatouille on my blog, and I had so much fun I’ll probably do a lot more. And I’d love to read more from others.

  2. 07/13/2007William Speruzzi says:

    I hear ya Dante. You really learn a lot from dissecting other people’s work. I think you can learn just as much from breaking down an awful film as you can from a brilliant one. I like the name of your weblog. Some days it just feels like that.

    I see you rock the XBOX. At 40, I just got one and I just destroyed General RAAM in Gears of War.

    I’m officially addicted.

  3. 07/13/2007Dante Kleinberg says:

    General RAAM is a tough hombre. If you want to send me a friend request to DanteBK, feel free. But be warned, I own almost no games, I rent them all online from Gameznflix.com, so I only have 2 or 3 games in my house at a time. I sent back Gears of War a month or two ago.

  4. 07/16/2007William Speruzzi says:

    I only have a few games myself. The GTA series and Gears of War. I’ll probably get Halo3 and Madden ’08 when they come out in September. I checked out Gameznflix.com but I noticed they don’t have a page that just tells me what kind of plans they have without signing up first.

    Gamefly has plans from $16/month for 1 rental to $23/month for 2. The online gaming rental options seem a little expensive. I can pay $60 for the game and just own it outright. That might be the option for me considering that I probably won’t be buying a lot of games anyway.

    I need to be careful. It can be a real time suck.

  5. 07/16/2007Mystery Man says:

    At the risk of sounding… oh, screw it. I love you, man.

    Hehehe…

    I love your mixture of film and screenwriting bloggers. That’s SO great! I’ve added you to my sidebar. I’ll be happy to check back here when I get the opportunity. If you’re interested, we’re starting a new study on Exposition. Would love to hear your thoughts.

    Thanks again.

    -MM

  6. 07/18/2007Dante Kleinberg says:

    Gameznflix is a TON cheaper than Gamefly. I decided to pay $250 for the one-year plan, which is six games at a time. The $250 averages to $20 a month and I’m a happy camper. Only thing is the selection is always as good as Gamefly. They USUALLY have what I what, but they don’t have Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition, which irks me a bit.

  7. 07/20/2007j.j. murphy on independent cinema » On Screenwriting: Drink the Kool-Aid at Your Own Risk! says:

    [...] manuals. William Speruzzi, in fact, gave an enthusiastic plug of Mystery Man’s Web site over at [This Savage Art] the other day. Speruzzi writes: “Analysis, reviews, food for thought and the invaluable script [...]

  8. 07/20/2007Lynden says:

    Dante! Good luck with a one-year gnf subscription. Their stock price presently sits at zero, that’s “0″ if you didn’t catch that the first time, and their president resigned in in May.

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