Sunday, January 20, 2013

Idea story boards, reminders... and the like.


In advertising and writing, on occasion, one might write an outline or post items on a story board to try to make some ideas gel. Albeit, mostly done B.C., meaning prior to, ‘BEFORE COMPUTERS’. I can remember when I did a short stint in promotion that is how the commercial concepts were begun and even for the one music video I had the pleasure to work on. The commercials I was asked to help cast, Old Milwaukee beer, was my most notable, a national one, filmed on the beach in Daytona using a ‘60’s battered Volkswagen bus. I and the cinematographer spent the evening perusing local bars trying to find that unique realism in the clientele’s faces that the California film company asked for. In the end we found quite a few, and it had been my job to question the prospects as he filmed. We rushed to get the clips to their hotel and we got there just in time. I also recall they did want some professionals, which I chose from our models list of pictures, it’s been too long, so I cannot recall the correct name for those cards that had their poses of them on them... Any-who, they requested a couple and on such short notice all I could come up with was, a short interesting faced African American man and a beauty statuesque woman, also an African American. I was hopeful that they would use them both, since their experience was quite vast and oddly enough I thought they made a very nice couple. They contacted them by phone and they were both available and they thanked me, saying it was a wonderful look, just what they had thought of and those two became the stars of the shoot. (In those days shoot meant, filming! This was over twenty-years ago.) On others like local commercials for the tourist bureau I was the make-up gal to the models. Nice memories of that and the music video filmed on what appeared to be an island with dunes, in Daytona, that had been scouted by the cinematographer for this certain Columbian singer, who I don’t know to this day whatever happened after. All I remember was that our boat was used to get to the destination with the people and equipment… so long ago. I did that clap board thingy and was basically a gofer on that one, but still it was fun, Hubby was the boat captain. Later on, much later on I started writing my novellas, and although I did not use story boards or outlines since all those stories appeared to magically come out of me…10,000 words a day! It was as if I were possessed. Sadly, I never did get them published, although, I did have an offer from an obscure publishing house in the mid-west called, Gardenia. I stupidly investigated them after I was invited, all expenses paid to go up there and meet with the owner of the publishing house at that time, she loved my writing and stories and did want to publish them. I contacted one of those professionals who told me not to do it and said they were not on the up and up and so I basically, stupidly did not do it. Why stupidly? Because they were on the up and up and this person just did not realize that, she was untrusting that I was that good and found a publisher that fast. I told her what the other person said, which was probably what black balled me from the field… since I did try other major publishing houses. And so I gave up. That was nearly sixteen years ago and my discs are on floppies and my floppy part of this computer does not work for the last few years and even that publisher was helping to edit them as was one of my local friends who is too ill now. She had moved and came back very, very ill. Professional editors want dollars on the pages too expensive for my pocketbook then and now. Plus they are all rather dated with current events from that period. It would be a major mess to revamp the whole five books even if I could gain access. I know, I appear to be talking myself out of it…bad me. I did write a few by-lines for the local newspaper over the years since then and wrote radio commercials for our business up north before… and this blog keeps me feeling, gosh like I can do something besides contemplating my navel… On that note of some hope or not much, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know who and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?!

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