Your Creative Contribution

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Those of us who want to create want to have an effect. We want to reach people, inspire people shock people, to somehow change people. We’re catalysts, producing change (and perhaps being changed by the interaction).

But we must also remember that we creatives have different effects. This is important as we can become obsessed with having one kind of effect, and forget the many others. If we focus on having a specific type of effect, we loose our chance to be much more, or be who we are.

Think of all the different ways you can effect people with our creativity. Imagine life as a building – where does your creativity come in?

We can be foundations. Our creativity can provide people something to build on in the world, giving them something solid on which to make more. We’ve all read that good novel that made us go “yes, and now.” We’ve all seen that documentary that said “I get it, and now see where to go next.” You can be that solidity that lets others grow.

We can be pillars. We can create that work that is seminal, that people refer to for years, decades, or centuries. We can stand as an example people rally around. This may seem challenging, but if you’re a specialist in your area, no matter how minor, you may be a pillar. That novel you wrote that is very specific may truly be the best of its kinds for a hundred years.

We can be the roof. Our work my be that which protects people, creative stories that heal the soul or provide comfort. It is these works that restore and heal, that shield the mind against despair and hopelessness.

We can be the alchemy. Our works can interact with the creativity of others, to simulate them into thinking and growing. Your story, your advice book may explore and challenge ideas, and thus lead others to think deeper. Such works inspire new ones, and create even stronger creative results.

We can be the decorations. A light and frivolous film is fun, and fun is important to cheer us and to inspire us and relax us. We may create something that is inspiringly artistic, a monument to what can be done. We can enhance the experience of others, such as when a story explores common tropes in a new way.

Your creative results may be one of these – or perhaps one I haven’t come up with in these simple metaphors. You may aim to achieve a specific kind of creative result, which is laudable. Focus is important for success.

But keep in mind that your creative path may lead you to other areas. The epic novel you write to stand the test of time may turn out to be more comforting to others, and that is still an achievement. The light short story we created can turn out to be timeless, a pillar which rallies others. Be open to your creative work having different results than intended.

But as always, keep creating and keep seeking the best results for others.

Steven Savage

A Worthy Remake

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

A meme I’ve seen going round repeatedly can be best summed up as “don’t remake good films, remake bad films” with the idea that you should give good ideas badly done a chance.

Now first, despite having good friends that study remakes, I do get a bit tired of them. But there are also times remakes are a good idea, and I think this may be one of them.

So when is “it was bad but it could be good” a good reason to remake something.

Is There Something There?

There are quite a few films and shows out there that may not have been good but have some seed elements that are actually interesting. Think of all those bad movies or cheesy shows or not-great-but-interesting novels that we may critique but somehow like. We connect with it, there is something in there that’s worth it.

Now just because we like it, it doesn’t mean it’s remake-worthy. But if a story of some kind has good seeds, we should ask if these are things worth sharing. Would a remake bring benefit to others if we made it?

If you’ve ever tried to explain the “magic” of a not-really-good thing to someone, you get the idea. Imagine if something could be remade so the magic comes out!

The Artistic Value

When remaking something there’s little value in just doing it the same. Just updating a film or rewriting a book is really more polishing something. It may be good to bring out the magic, but I think more value comes if there is some artistic challenge or improvement.

Change Of Media: Maybe a bad book is better as a comic or movie.

Change Of Style: A poorly done movie might be better done if there’s a change in genre or shooting style.

Change Of Sequence: A bad TV series could be better as a movie to tell the whole story – or a TV series might be better done as a serial show.

The Challenge: A good writer or actor, giving a flawed but interesting work or remake, may grow if given that challenge. So a remake of a bad piece of work could bring out the skills of others.

A Few Examples

Finally, a few remakes I’d like to see – most of them courtesy of Rifftrax/MST3K

Manos: The Hands Of Fate – This infamous cheesy film had a certain charm, mixing cult fears, horror, and some occult/eldrich god stuff. That’s an interesting mix, and I think a remake could do something with this.

Space Mutiny – The oft riffed film is interesting for two reasons. One, there was clearly some larger storytelling there that got shuffled around due to the many crises on set. Secondly, it rested on the easygoing charisma of Reb Brown. A remake as a miniseries, with the right lead, and a retro sensibility would be fun – and allow name recognition to promote a good lead.

Gamera – Gamera, the famous Godzilla ripoff, got a remake as some darned good kaiju films. But I feel that it actually could be redone one more time – as a TV series. There are some continuing plot elements in the film, and a story of people ant their relationship to this protective/destructive kaiju would be incredible.

So there you go folks. What would you remake?

Steven Savage

Covid-19 Thoughts And Outreach

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

So it looks like the US lockdowns at best gave us a plateau of Covid-19. We’ve got opening up going on, Covid-19 spiking, and pretty much we were on hold. Now we’re not, and the virus is surging again.

I think we’re going to see increased cases, obviously. We will likely see increases of deaths to come (hopefully less as we know more). There’s almost certainly under-reported deaths and under-measured infections. Basically, here we go again.

This means inevitably, we’re going to see more lockdowns and returns of lockdowns. Even places that won’t lockdown are gonna see a lot of people locking themselves down to be safe. This also means more disconnection, lonliness, and sadness.

Sorry to be a downer. But also, there’s something I am finding helps – I spelled this out in my post on ruggedizing geekdom, but wanted to go into detail.

Simply, I started a video channel on Discord so some of us could watch TV and movies and videos together. I invited some friends and folks from writing groups – and it worked.

We quickly got a rythm going of one “known film” and one weird/odd/obscure/unappreciated movie. One night it’s “Knives Out,” next Friday it’s something like “The Man Who Stole The Sun.” This was a lot of fun, and people from various groups, areas of the country, etc. started coming together to watch and chat.

People who’d never have met otherwise, reaching across the world and from their various clubs and groups to connect.

This kept growing. We’ve now got someone streaming a forgotten TV series. I’m hosting virtual fireworks on the 4th. I’ve started posting this meeting in writing groups and social groups, and more people keep meeting each other.

And watching people connect is amazing. People with 15 year age gaps finding they have similar interests. People living alone during this mess connecting with people. Folks in other countries meeting each other.

So right now things are awful. But if you have that one social group, that one social thing, you can use it to bring people together. A Discord channel, a Zoom, a Blog, something. Use it.

We’re gonna lock down again. We’ve got months of being cautious, and months upon months until we have preventatives and vaccines. We need each other.

But you probably already have the tools to do it.

Steven Savage