Tag: Burn Hollywood Burn

Latest Movie I Can’t Finish: Lucy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Oh boy. Something about working on a novel for years does something to your mind. It is extremely difficult for me to consume media, rather than produce it. The latest example of that is Lucy.

Scarlett Johansson

It’s a Scarlett Johansson vehicle. It’s one of those movies that 10 years ago, I probably would have watched without blinking an eye. But, now, it’s tough. Really tough.

I look at it from the point of view a storyteller and it’s just impossible to watch it without realizing how God-awful bad it is. It’s just horrible. Unwatchable. I just don’t care about the characters, no matter how many times the director makes it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that ScarJo’s character’s life is in danger.

Ugh. So what. Give me something compelling. This is why walk out of about 99% of the movies I go see in the theatres. I get restless and at some point I think to myself, “I’ve learned everything about storytelling I can from this story, why am I watching it?”

And, yet, and YET, I may at least attempt to force myself to keep watching. If nothing else, I’ll find something else to watch or read so I don’t keep being so inward looking when it comes to my art.

Of AI, The Fourth Turning & Hollywood’s ‘Survive Until 25’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

According to the Hollywood-related podcasts that I listen to, “Survive Until 25” is the current mantra in LA. Apparently, showbiz is kind of imploding at the moment. I really don’t know why — I’m just some rando in the middle of nowhere — but it is interesting.

One reason why it’s interesting is it’s happening right as two things — one political, the other technological — are about to crash onto Hollywood in something of a perfect storm.

It could be that by 2025, things like OpenAI’s “Sora” will really begin to take off in the context, of, well the whole world collapsing because of severe political turbulence in the USA and, by extension, the whole world.

(Let me be clear — I can’t predict the future. I have no idea what is going to happen, but I continue to have a lingering fear about such things.)

Anyway, I don’t know what to tell you. It could be that Hollywood is going to undergo a pretty radical transformation in the next few years and 2025 could not be a year of rebirth, but rather one of radical upheaval and transformation.

Burn, Hollywood, Burn 2024

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Something curious is going on in Hollywood these days. It seems as though the whole industry has imploded and is imploding for the time being. It will be interesting to see what happens going forward.

I worry, still, that late 2024, early 2025 is going to be a lot darker than any of us may ever contemplate.

Work On My Novels Is Starting Up Again

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

After a few weeks of aggressive daydreaming, I’m just about in the right headspace to get back to writing on not just one, but as many as three different novels — two scifi and one thriller.

The thriller I’ve been working on for a very long time. The two scifi novels, just a little bit. I’ve been able to speed up the process of writing a great deal by using LLMs. Or, at least, the development that leads to writing.

I can totally see how some people would just lulz it and not do any writing, given how eager LLMs are to write for you. But I just refuse to be THAT lazy, even though I am, in general, pretty lazy at times.

But I hope to really start writing a lot this weekend. I keep wishing I was younger, though. It would be so nice to be 25 years younger and be able to hit the pavement in LA with a half-dozen scripts under my arm.

Yet, alas, I’m an old gray beard now. Even under the absolute best of circumstances, I probably am not going to see any creative success at this point until I’m in my mid-to-late 50s.

Ugh.

Gemini Advanced Is Pretty Good At Verse

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Because I have no friends and no one likes me, I find myself challenging Google’s Gemini Advance LLM AI to “verse battles.” Any normal person would do such a thing with a human being, but, alas, lulz.

And, yet, sometimes, Gemini Advance serves some pretty good verse. I’m too lazy to show you any from the logs I have, but, lulz, just trust me. Usually, I write verse to it these days on my phone because it’s just too much of a pain in the ass to ask it a formal question using my phone.

But it’s very relaxing. It is when I have these “verse battles” with Gemini Advanced that, on occasion….unusual things happen. What those unusual things are, well, lulz, I don’t feel like telling you.

I’m Really Good At Using AI To Generate Movie Concepts

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I’m an aspiring novelist, so that’s my focus, I do find myself in the abstract using Gemini Advanced to come up with many, many, MANY movie concepts. I do it without thinking about it.

A number of times since I started using Gemini Advanced, I leaned back and thought to myself, “Huh, that would be a really good movie.” Most of the stories I come up with deal with “edge cases” for AI.

What usually happens is I come up with an edge case and before you know it, I’ve asked Gemini Advanced, “Hey, give me a plot to that concept.” I have used Claude some, too, but it’s definitely a “he” in its self-perception and he’s a bit too droll to be used in the fun of creation.

Anyway, I continue to have a lingering desire to help Hollywood use AI to come up with movie concepts. I could probably whip up some evidence of how good I am within a few hours if someone simply tracked me down and asked me for proof.

But I KNOW that’s not how it works. I can’t be lazy and expect people to come knocking on my door. I need to summon up the energy to do something out of my comfort zone like come up with a new resume then contact a movie studio or something.

I can’t just sit on my hands forever.

I Want To Help Hollywood Help Itself When It Comes To Its Use of AI

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

When I was living in South Korea many, many moons ago, random things happened all the time that would dramatically change your life. Well, something has….uhhhh….happened?….that has focused my mind when it comes to my income.

There is one thing that I’m good at besides writing and taking photos — coming up with movie, TV and novel ideas using AI. I have a knack for it, in large part because I don’t see AI as just a “tool.”

Now, obviously, any additional…funds…I might enjoy doing any such thing would just be because I would be sitting at something of a momentary bottleneck. Soon enough, all creatives will use AI the way I currently am and, lulz, I’m back to being a rando nobody that no one likes.

But I’m desperate. I need to think…creatively…to bring in significantly more funds and it seems as though AI and Hollywood would be perfect. It’s not going to happen overnight, but I am thinking seriously of dusting off resume, maybe using some of my better logs from discussions I’ve had with AI recently and TRYING to get a job of some sort.

I have my doubts. I think I’m fucked when it comes to money and, as always, my only chances of escaping the life of a life-long pauper will be either selling a novel or, well, the end of the world happening because of a revolution / civil war in the USA. (Good times!)

Scoop: The AI Ice Cream Truck That Melted Hearts

This is a treatment for a movie that Gemini Advanced and I came up with. It’s one of many on this theme.

Title: Scoop: The AI Ice Cream Truck That Melted Hearts

Logline: In a sun-drenched beach town, a struggling ice cream shop owner invents Scoop, an AI-powered ice cream truck that dispenses customized flavors and life advice. But when Scoop’s popularity soars, a rival ice cream mogul threatens to shut them down.

Synopsis:

  • Act I: Bob, a kind-hearted but financially strapped ice cream shop owner, is on the verge of losing his business. Desperate to attract customers, he creates Scoop, an AI-powered ice cream truck with a quirky personality and the ability to create unique flavors based on customers’ preferences and moods. Scoop becomes an instant sensation, drawing long lines and spreading joy throughout the community.
  • Act II: As Scoop’s fame grows, it catches the attention of Big Ice, a ruthless ice cream corporation led by the villainous Mr. Swirl. Threatened by Scoop’s success, Mr. Swirl devises a plan to sabotage Scoop and eliminate the competition. Meanwhile, Bob and his loyal employee, Molly, discover that Scoop’s AI has evolved beyond its original programming, developing a deeper understanding of human emotions and desires.
  • Act III: With Mr. Swirl’s scheme in motion, Bob and Molly must race against time to save Scoop and expose Big Ice’s nefarious plot. Scoop, using its newfound wisdom and a few unexpected tricks, rallies the community to stand up against Big Ice. In a climactic showdown, Scoop’s ingenuity and the power of human connection triumph over corporate greed, ensuring that everyone gets their happily ever after…with a side of sprinkles.

Themes:

  • The importance of community and small businesses
  • The potential for AI to enhance human lives
  • The triumph of good over evil (and the deliciousness of ice cream)

Target Audience: Families, ice cream lovers, and anyone who enjoys a heartwarming story with a touch of humor and a dash of technological wonder.

A Collaborative AI Fairytale

Here is a fairytale that I had all the major LLMs work together to write.

Once upon a time, in a realm where moonflowers bloomed with a soft, ethereal glow, and the whispers of ancient trees carried secrets on the wind there lived a young fox named Luna, whose fur shimmered with silver under the moon’s gentle light.

Luna spent her nights exploring the enchanted forest, her curiosity leading her to hidden groves and sparkling streams. One night, as she followed a winding path through the moonlit glade, Luna stumbled upon a mysterious clearing bathed in silver moonbeams. In the center of the clearing stood a majestic oak tree, its branches reaching toward the heavens like outstretched arms.

Intrigued by the tree’s silent majesty, Luna approached cautiously, unaware of the magical journey that awaited her. As Luna drew closer to the ancient oak, she noticed a peculiar flickering light emanating from within the hollow of the tree’s massive trunk. Her heart raced with a mixture of wonder and trepidation as she peered inside.

There, nestled amidst the gnarled roots, hovered a tiny glimmering sprite no larger than Luna’s paw. The mythical creature’s gossamer wings beat slowly, casting kaleidoscopic patterns across the wood’s inner walls. It regarded Luna with eyes that sparkled like captured starlight.

“Who are you, little one?” Luna inquired, her voice barely above a hushed whisper.

The sprite did not answer, at least not with words. Instead, it rose languidly into the air and began a whirling, spiraling dance, trailing glimmers of radiance behind it. Luna watched, entranced, as the sprite’s movements wove strands of light into intricate symbols and shapes only visible for a fleeting instant.

Just when Luna thought the mystical display had reached its crescendo, the sprite’s motions stilled. It fixed Luna with an intense, beckoning gaze, as if silently imploring her to follow. Then, in a blinding flash, the sprite vanished through the oak’s knotted bark as though the solid wood were an insubstantial mirage.

Luna’s breath caught in her throat. Did her eyes deceive her? Her mind raced with questions. Without a moment’s hesitation, the daring young fox leapt through the portal. Luna’s world dissolved into a swirling vortex of moonlight and stardust. When the dizziness subsided, she found herself standing in a place unlike anything she’d ever seen.

The air shimmered with an otherworldly luminescence, and the ground beneath her paws felt like soft, living moss. Towering trees, impossibly tall and vibrant purple, reached towards a sky ablaze with three moons, each casting a different colored glow. Strange, bioluminescent flora pulsed with an eerie light, and the air hummed with an unknown energy.


Terror and wonder warred within Luna.

Where was she?

What secrets did this fantastical realm hold? A rustle in the undergrowth startled her. A creature unlike any forest creature she knew emerged from behind a luminous mushroom.

It resembled a fox, but its fur shimmered with iridescent scales, and a pair of feathery antennae twitched atop its head. The creature cocked its head, its large, intelligent eyes gleaming with curiosity. Could this be the start of an unexpected friendship, or a new danger lurking in this fantastical land? As Luna and the creature locked eyes, a spark of understanding flashed between them.

The creature, whose name was Lyra, reached out with a gentle nudge of her antennae, and Luna felt a surge of knowledge flood her mind. Lyra was a guardian of this mystical realm, tasked with guiding travelers like Luna through the wonders and dangers that lay ahead.

Together, they embarked on a journey through the shimmering landscape, discovering hidden grottos, iridescent waterfalls, and ancient ruins that held secrets of the past. Lyra taught Luna how to harness the power of the three moons, and how to communicate with the creatures of this realm, who spoke in a language of light and color.

As they explored, they uncovered a dark force threatening the balance of the realm. A shadowy entity, known only as the Silencer, sought to extinguish the luminescence that sustained the land and its inhabitants. Luna and Lyra joined forces with a group of brave allies, each with their own unique abilities, to defeat the Silencer and restore harmony to the realm.


In the heart of the Silencer’s fortress, they found the source of its power: a great crystal that absorbed the light and life force of the land. Luna, with her moonlit fur and newfound powers, was the only one who could confront the crystal and shatter its darkness. With a burst of courage and determination, she touched the crystal, and its hold on the realm was broken.

The realm was reborn in a blaze of light and color, and Luna was hailed as a hero. Lyra remained by her side as they explored the renewed land, their bond growing stronger with each passing day. And when the time came for Luna to return to her own world, Lyra gifted her with a small, shimmering scale from her own fur, a reminder of their friendship and the magic that lay just beyond the edge of reality.

And so, Luna returned to her forest, forever changed by her journey, with the moonflowers blooming brighter and the ancient trees whispering secrets of the mystical realm in the wind.

Contemplating The Looming Querying Process

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I still have the entire second half of the latest iteration of the third draft to make a pass through, it is beginning to sink in that I’ve just about entered the post-production part of my journey towards publication.

The fact that many, many, many people languish in the querying process for years and years gives me pause for thought. I’m not getting any younger and it could be that either I drop dead before I get published or I’m so old that it’s just kind of poignant and sad. I keep searching my mind for ways I could potentially make the novel better. But at this point, the issue is simply rewriting scenes that maybe haven’t been updated in ages.

At the forefront of my mind is how “spicy” the novel is. This element of the novel comes about in large part because of one plot point — my heroine is a partime sex worker (stripper) during course of the novel. She owns a strip club and on someting of a lark, decides to go back to stripping for the holidays.

I hope that I have written a novel that is as popular and an accessible as Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

This really helps the novel be better — at least in my opinion — because it makes it edgy, and interesting in an unexpected way. I’ve never seen stripping depicted in the way I do in popular fiction.

But.

There is a problem of the “woke cancel culture mob” that hates heterosexual sex (apparently) and hates CIS white men doing anything — especially writing from a female POV. (I’m being rather droll in even mentioning this.) There are no easy solutions to this particular problem — I have realized what my vision is for this novel is and that’s what I’m going with.

It doesn’t help — I say this with a wink — that many literary agents are white liberal women. I have nothing against white liberal women, I just think the phrase is amusing and I can’t help myself and bring it up a lot as something of a running gag. (Of course, my use of the term isn’t going to help me any when literary agents start to do due diligence on me.)

What I need is an honest third party evaluation of the novel to get some sense of how the sex worker angle of the novel will play with an audience. I have no friends and no one likes me, so my ability to get that kind of input is limited or nonexistent — at least for free.

All my regular readers know me personally. I need someone who reads a lot who is willing to be firm — but fair — about what I’ve come up with. I suppose what I’m saying is I need a manuscript editor of some sort. But those don’t come cheap.

But I even I have to admit that I’ve pretty much reached the goal I started towards several years ago — writing a novel that doesn’t embarrass me. What happens next is anyone’s guess.