Inneresting 57
issue 57
June 25th, 2021
The Supercut as Art Form
Max Tohline released a feature-length documentary on the supercut, sharing a detailed academic interpretation of how the video style suggests a new way of understanding entertainment: as a database.
Michael Zelenko interviewed several supercut creators to learn about their process and favorite examples.
Sample Supercuts: Entertaining and Instructive
Supercuts are fun in and of themselves, but they can also give writers ideas to apply or avoid in their own work.
The more times you see the line “You just don’t get it, do you?”, the harder it hits home that it’s a cludgy placeholder slowing down whatever scene it’s used in.
A person getting hit by a bus can create a completely different audience reaction depending on context and setup.
The line “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance,” is frequently served with a heaping side of cheese, but it ties into the universal feeling of recogizing the consequences of inaction.
Seeing a collection of (almost exclusively) men shouting “Let her go!” draws attention to how frequently stories make a plot point out of threatening women’s lives while removing their agency.
Highland How To: Tracking Tropes to Avoid
Highland 2’s sidebar features the sometimes overlooked Scratchpad. It’s a quick place to keep a static note you can pull up with a quick keyboard shortcut (⌘ Command + 5).
For example, you can use it to keep a list of clichés you found in supercuts that you want to pull out or replace when you revise your script.
It can also be:
A list of characters
A motivational quote
A note to yourself about the scene you want to write the next time you open your file
Anything else you want as a frequent quick reference
For more information on how to get the most out of Highland 2, check out our Knowledge Base!
Other Cool Things
Katie Hawkins-Gaar writes about choosing when to share her status as a widow, and controlling the narrative of her grief.
If you’ve ever wondered where Star Trek gets their futuristic furniture, glasses, etc., Star Trek + Design shows the real life sources for many of the final frontier’s props.
Turn on YouTube’s subtitles and auto-translate and you’ll learn the man in this video “coexists” with this adorable domesticated fox and doesn’t consider her a pet.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Educating Audiences on the COVID-19 Vaccines
A Summit for Film & TV Writers
Tuesday, June 29th
5-6PM PST / 8-9PM EST
Online Registration
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