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wshaffer

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For anyone thinking of submitting a short story for the Big Finish Short Trips thing, here's some advice from Simon Guerrier, based on the stuff he saw when he read submissions for a previous Short Trips anthology. (Point #11 is kind of interesting in light of "The Waters of Mars", but in general I the advice holds up well.)

Meanwhile, the blog Sociological Images offers this hilarious video on cliches in news reporting taken from the British TV show Newswipe. Newswipe is one of the reasons why I wish Americans could watch BBC TV on iPlayer. I'll have to go see if there's more of it floating around on YouTube.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-02-11 04:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] omniguy.livejournal.com
OMG I love Newswipe.

I have all of the episodes aired last year and this year on my PC if you would like me to upload them somewhere for you.

Let me know, it is just amazing TV. Charlie Brooker is genius.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-02-12 03:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wshaffer.livejournal.com
Thank you for the offer. Happily, I've discovered that all the eps are up on Youtube, in reasonably good quality, even. I watched the first episode of season 1 last night, and relived those early days of the financial crisis. Even all these months later, it's still very funny.

(no subject)

Date: 2010-02-12 01:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therinth.livejournal.com
Oooh...i'm kinda curious about doing that now. (I'm up to Martha Jones' arrival in the new Who...)

The Third Series

Date: 2010-02-12 07:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] obadiah.livejournal.com
That's an awesome series. Just wait till you see "Blink."

BTW, Torchwood Series 1 = Doctor Who Series 2.5, and Torchwood Series 2 = Doctor Who Series 3.5, in terms of interlocking, timing, and spoilers. You Have Been Warned. :-D

Re: The Third Series

Date: 2010-02-12 07:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] therinth.livejournal.com
Ha! That is good to know! Thanks Cliff -- we were just about to dip into Torchwood yesterday. Perfect timing :D.

Torchwood

Date: 2010-02-12 06:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] obadiah.livejournal.com
Enjoy! In my opinion, Torchwood keeps getting better from series to series. My favorite is Children of Earth (sort of an abbreviated Series 3).

Also, there's the targeted-for-kids Sarah Jane Adventures, if you want to go there. It can be a bit much sometimes, but it can also be a fun romp. SJA Series 1 takes place around 3.5 of Doctor Who. Definitely watch DW Series 3 first. I haven't seen SJA Series 2 yet. That's it for spinoffs ... at least so far. :-)

A Note on Guerrier's Notes

Date: 2010-02-12 07:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] obadiah.livejournal.com
All very good points, including some pretty subtle ones. Nice of him to take the time to post 'em too.

But there's one really scary line:

Some ... told stories that had been done before in books or comics or audio plays.

Wow. That's a standard: study and remember every single Doctor Who book, comic, and audio. Has anyone in the world actually done this? Anyone at all? Even the rabid fans? If you had managed the feat, how could you even be sure? To whom would you expound?

Seriously, though, it's totally daunting even as a Gedankenexperiment.

For my script pitch, I made sure it didn't follow the plot of any Big Finish 5th Doctor story (so far). It also didn't follow any of the TV episodes (all 30 seasons + specials) or the audios, books, and comics I happen to have consumed, including quite a lot of BF audios, actually. But wow, trying to note the plots of them all? Eep! That'd drive you madder than would an endless percussion loop....

Re: A Note on Guerrier's Notes

Date: 2010-02-12 03:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wshaffer.livejournal.com
I don't think there's anybody who's read/heard/watched and remembered everything. I don't even think anyone who works for Big Finish has read/heard/watched everything, although collectively they might have everything covered. I'm just hoping that my brain is warped enough that I wouldn't accidentally independently re-invent somebody's idea. ;-)

I suspect a great deal also hinges on how you interpret "stories that had been done before". I'm pretty sure that the Doctor has met Shakespeare at least once in every possible medium (certainly in comics, TV, and audio - not sure about books), and I still don't think that that would prevent you from doing a story in which the Doctor meets Shakespeare. But if it involved aliens manipulating the writing of a lost Shakespeare play to take over the world...you might be out of luck.

Re: A Note on Guerrier's Notes

Date: 2010-02-12 05:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] obadiah.livejournal.com
True. Likewise you'd probably be safe inventing an explanation for the Loch Ness Monster.

Better yet if you could invent several different ones in one story.

Hmmm.... I'm starting to get ideas. ;-)

Re: A Note on Guerrier's Notes

Date: 2010-02-12 06:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wshaffer.livejournal.com
"It's a wee bit crowded oot here in the loch..."

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