Gold Rush and Hunger Games

Hello Blogworld, this is Jon.

Hopefully there are still some Mythik Readers out there ;) So here's the deal: April has slipped away in the blink of an eye, just like March did, because my schedule has been extremely busy. I did finish a screenplay for a paranormal thriller and have been doing multiple re-writes. Writing for the silver screen is a bit different than writing a novel, of course. The rewrites aren't just for plot or characterization, but also fall along the lines of "our special effects department needs more info to make the blank" or "we can't afford to do that" etc. But it is definitely fun.


The movie is called Gold Rush and is a high-tech paranormal thriller about a team of experts who investigate the Sunshine Mining Camp, a location with over 100 years of haunted history filled with mystery, murder and curses. It takes a headlong plunge into the depths of the nature of belief, reality and the powers of the human mind. It's in pre-production now, and shooting will begin in June. I'll be posting updates here, and soon it should have it's own blog. It's pretty exciting, because it will be using special cinematic techniques to produce a very cool "look" to emphasize the story and characters.

In other news, I've been very busy at the day job. Among a ton of projects (including one of my favorites, Breaking Bad Season 4) I just wrapped up encoding the HD video for the Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3D and 2D Blu-ray discs. The directors Neveldine and Taylor (who also did the Crank series and Gamer) always come up with innovative filming techniques. The special commentary on the 2D version is really cool and shows just how they accomplished a lot of the stunts and effects.

My schedule is going to get crazy again for the upcoming Blu-ray release of The Hunger Games. I know, it's a pretty obscure little movie that nobody has heard of ;) I must admit, I am one of less than a dozen people on Earth who hasn't read the books, but I did really like the movie. Much better than the usual Hollywood Blockbuster Adaptation. Coming to the story blind, I thought they did a good job setting up the world and characters. I dug the whole retro-future look of it all. The train ride was cool: "That is mahogany!" So, there you have my 10-second review. The Blu-ray should have a lot of great stuff on it.

Finally, in between the movie stuff, I am determined to get the next Mythik Imagination out. I'm only almost a year behind schedule ;) Oh, and Land of Lor is coming along nicely. And by "nicely" I mean "mish-mash of Sword & Sorcery, High Fantasy and something-punk, with crazy minor characters coming out of the woodwork and creating chaos." Ah, the joys of the writing process.

And I pledge to be a better blogger...