MorrisonFilm

Burn it down

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:43:49 -0500

As the writer, you need to burn down houses. You need to push characters out of their safe places into the big scary world — and make sure they can never get back. Sure, their stated quest might be to get home, but your job is to make sure that wherever they end up is a new and different place.

SUCCEED Blog

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:37:46 -0500

SUCCEED Blog:

“A collection of the world’s most epic, awesome, mind blowing Succeeds.” This is awesome. Succeed!

Dammit or Damnit?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:26:21 -0500

OK, I’m not really asking. I think “dammit” is far superior to “damnit.” “Dammit” is phonetic and looks like it sounds. When I see “damnit” I always pronounce the “n” even though I know better. Yes, “dammit” is slang for “damn it” but when you glue them together into one word I strongly suggest “dammit.” I got to thinking about it when I saw John August use “damnit” in a recent post and thought it was a strange choice for a professional screenwriter. Maybe there’s something I don’t know?

(For what it’s worth, Merriam-Webster and American Heritage both have entries for “dammit” but I can’t find any dictionary with an entry for “damnit” so maybe it’s not a matter of style after all.)

This is the perfect day to wear your brand new Yankees hat

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:59:27 -0500

This is the perfect day to wear your brand new Yankees hat

"Like if Dylan tweeted, “I saw the hottest chick in a tube top. tube tops FTW!” I would..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:43:15 -0500

“Like if Dylan tweeted, “I saw the hottest chick in a tube top. tube tops FTW!” I would just probably kill myself.”

- Matt, on the disillusionment of celebrity Twittering.

I’m such a sucker for these scale demos. The amoeba...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:15:45 -0400

I’m such a sucker for these scale demos. The amoeba actually looks relatively large, no?

Solutions To Important Problems #427

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:11:00 -0400

It seems that we’ve decided as a society that it’s OK to leave your dog’s urine on the sidewalk. This seems to be the state of affairs. It’s not OK to leave your dog’s shit, but go ahead, leave little golden puddle treasures all over the place for me to step in. No worries at all! You know cause dog poo is super gross, but urine is fun and fresh! Leave it where it is! It’s liquid mardi-gras beads all over my city!

Well I’m going to go out here and say, I think we need to end this.

We don’t make this distinction with our own bathroom habits. It’s not like we say “Please do your shitting in the company restroom like a civilized person, but go ahead and pee in the lunch room sink if you feel the urge.” Could you imagine if we were fine peeing anywhere like dogs? You’re walking to work and Andre from accounting is peeing on a fire hydrant? The streets would run gold the second we got permission to do this as a society.

So here’s my solution. The next time you walk your dog, bring along a turkey baster and an empty soda bottle. Use the turkey baster to siphon the urine into the bottle and bring it with you. You’re already carrying a bag full of shit, a bottle full of piss isn’t going to make it any worse.

Me? Worry?

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:01:00 -0400

I was reading a fascinating NY Times article about anxiety and finding myself vibrating with anxiety the more I read it. Maybe this isn’t ironic at all and makes perfect sense. Or maybe it’s October and that’s just how I’m wired to feel this time of year whether I’m reading about anxiety or dog biscuits.

I’ve never read anything about dog biscuits, but it just occurred to me as I read entirely too much about the upcoming post-season that I actually have no reason to worry whatsoever. I mean, yeah, when Game 1 of the Sox’ ALDS starts I’ll be clenching my fists so hard my hands will bleed and I may or may not punch some pillows, invent new swear word combos and curse every religion’s god, but when all is said and done, I have no reason to worry.

The Sox have a great team. If we can’t win a World Series with this team, you gotta give credit to the team that beats them and move on. I can’t think of a single “If only we had…” for this club. It’s worthy.
It’s a scientific fact that the Yankees are going to win it all. At least, that’s what’s supposed to happen. You pump enough money into a team (1.8 Billion since 2000 to be exact) and you’re eventually going to poop out some championships, even if Jesus is rooting against you. And as Matt said, if the Yankees don’t win, well then that’s just gloriously delicious gravy.
My team has won it all twice in the last five years. They’ve been competitive five times in the last six. Things are pretty great. I have friends who are Orioles fans and Mets fans. Trust me, things for me are pretty great. I can sit back and enjoy this team play and enjoy what happens.

It didn’t occur to me that I had the option of not worrying until just now.

What a novel idea.

In Event of Moon Disaster

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:14:40 -0400

In Event of Moon Disaster:

William Safire’s just-in-case speech for Nixon in the event that the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the moon. (I assume this is real.)

Last night Sara and I suffered what can only be described as the...

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:56:35 -0400

Last night Sara and I suffered what can only be described as the worst thing that can happen to a human being. You’re probably thinking murder. Or rape. Or some form of torture. WRONG. I submit to you something even worse:

A COCKROACH IN MY BED!

There isn’t a font size large enough to communicate the complete devastation of this occurrence. We are still in shock, trying to pick up the pieces of our shattered lives. I mean we’re clean people! We wash. We launder our clothing and sheets weekly. We don’t eat in bed dear god we don’t eat in bed why?? WHY?!

I can still feel it on my leg, shocking me into full adrenaline soaked alertness. Leaping out of bed and screaming like Jack Bauer and hammering with a running shoe. Hammering until there was nothing but goo on the floor and tears on my pajamas.

But there is no running shoe that can smash away the nightmares that will haunt our dreams for the rest of our lives.

(Or at least until next Tuesday when we forget all about this.)

Forever's Not So Long Recap

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:27:01 -0400

Last week was an eventful one in the life of my short film, Forever’s Not So Long. In the span of 7 days Garrett and I went to two cities on opposite coasts, collected 2 awards and appeared in 3 newspaper articles.

We won the Grand Jury Prize for best narrative at the SIFF 1 Reel festival. This was an amazing and unexpected win and it’s really been the highlight of the entire experience so far. Then on Sunday we won an audience award at the DC Shorts festival, one of the best, most filmmaker centric festivals we’ve attended. I want to make a new short just to go back to DC Shorts next year.

We were reviewed in two papers, the Seattle Times and then in the Washington City Paper. Tessa Moran of City Paper wrote:

This apocalypse narrative reaches beyond the genre’s typical gloom with well-placed humor. The take-home: that once past the superficiality of initial courtship, spending one’s life with someone can happen in only a number of hours: the unglamorous yet pleasing sex life; the simple but precious experience of reading together; the quarrel over a little too much spice in the stir-fry.

Tom Keogh of the Seattle Times wrote:

A couple of films at Bumbershoot have end-of-the-world themes. The best is Shawn Morrison’s drama-comedy “Forever’s Not So Long” … about a man and a woman, strangers to one another, who hook up for the last four hours of Earth’s existence and look as if they’ve lived a lifetime together.

I was also interviewed by a capital hill magazine Roll Call about my film and DC Shorts. I enjoy this one most because, well, I’m selfish and the article heavily features my quotes.

As if all this wasn’t enough, the buzz surrounding our win in Seattle generated over 16,000 views of the movie on Vimeo since September 5th (a span of about 2 and a half weeks) bringing the total Vimeo views to over 55,000. That number really smashes our expectations for the film. Not so much from a success standpoint as simply pure views. That the feedback is still so overwhelmingly positive (I can count 4 or 5 negative responses out of hundreds) is just so encouraging for us.

But it’s not over yet. We’d like to try our luck at a few European festivals (we hear the Euros love depressing arty shorts) and maybe some kind of DVD release. We’re not sure yet. I’m still taking in the last 2 weeks and enjoying the moment.

I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:48:54 -0400

I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script

Tarantino Trunk Shots: A Retrospective Inglorious Basterds...

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:00:00 -0400

Tarantino Trunk Shots: A Retrospective

Inglorious Basterds seems to have marked an end of an era for Tarantino. Unless my eyes and memory deceive me, there wasn’t a single trunk shot in Basterds. Yes, plenty of extreme low angle shots such as the ones where Lt. Aldo Raine is carving swastikas in foreheads. But no genuine trunk shots. Therefore, let’s take a moment and appreciate the legacy via this montage of screen shots.

Weather Report

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:06:59 -0400

Me: Luckily (FINGERS FUCKING CROSSED) it looks like next weekend the beach weather is supposed to be fantastic.
Shawn Morrison: Uh oh... I always take week-out forecasts to be the opposite of what they say.
Shawn Morrison: Sunny? Rainy. Rainy? Sunny. Foggy? Rape Gangs.
Me: Yeah, that last one always makes for such awful weekends.
Shawn Morrison: Yeah, well if you're not in the gang.

Vote for "Emperor Norton" as Best Original Song

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:34:57 -0400

Vote for "Emperor Norton" as Best Original Song:

maniacalrage:

Robert Andersen’s amazing song from our short film Forever’s Not So Long is nominated for Best Original Song at the DC Shorts Festival. Please head over and vote for it and show your support for his awesome work.

Agreed. I am totally serious when I say the success of our film is 50% Robert’s music. (45% is what Garrett and I did. The remaining 5% is because of the pro-Libertarian subliminal messages I added.) But seriously, go vote for this awesome song and give credit where credit’s due!

Credibility issues

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:20:50 -0400

Jess: you know
Jess: i think some of our customers have credibility issues
Shawn: you mean when they post pictures of their company halloween parties?
Jess: no thats awesome
Jess: i mean like having crap sites that make me feel like my eyes just had diarrhea

Feud

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:49:19 -0400

Matt: fyi - Garrett's D90 is now in my hands
Shawn: Sweet
Shawn: Now the next step is very important
Shawn: Smash it on the ground.
Matt: oh good, i was worried you wouldn't be happy that i did that already
Shawn: PHEW
Shawn: You are just a pawn in my centuries long feud with Garrett. Sort of like Jacob and that other dude in Lost, except much less interesting.

Birdfeed

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:05:54 -0400

I knew Buzz Anderson was making a Twitter app for the iPhone. When the months rolled on and Tweetie came out and Twitterrific got better I really wondered how the hell Birdfeed was going to compete in the crowded marketplace. I figured that out within a few seconds of launching the app. Birdfeed competes by being excellent. The word that keeps popping into my head is “fluid.” The experience is so fluid and so smooth. Everything works exactly as you’d expect. The interface is so clear and unambiguous, there is no wondering how something works or what an icon means. New tweets automatically load when you get to the bottom, fulfilling my next request a priori. I never realized how clunky other Twitter clients were until I tried Birdfeed.

I also wish more developers lived in New York City like Buzz. I can only guess that the tweet caching feature was at least partially inspired by the fact that most of us New Yorkers find themselves with a lot of idle time on a train underground and therefore off the network. It’s amazing how many apps become utterly useless without a network connection.

Add to all this the fact that Birdfeed is lightning fast, especially on launch, and it’ll take a lot now to make me switch back to anything else.

(Oh and the icon is just wonderful too.)

My Tumblarity is way too low, so I thought I’d post an...

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:59:25 -0400

My Tumblarity is way too low, so I thought I’d post an inspirational and very deep message. Those seem to be quite popular.

Losing Award Rage maniacalrage: This depicts our recent...

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:53:56 -0400

Losing Award Rage

maniacalrage:

This depicts our recent nomination but no award moment at the Hoboken International Film Festival, where the short that won also started with the word “Forever.”