Eco-friendly, floating, movie theater is a mouthful, but it does exist.  Just off the Kudo Islands in Thailand floats one of the most innovative movie theaters in all the world.  A wooden platform created of recycled materials supports 60 theater seats – all positioned in front of a massive floating screen and sound system.   The remote ocean setting gives the feeling of being suspended in the dark of night.  No city light interference or traffic noise like the drive-ins of yesteryear. Can you imagine if this place existed in 1975 for the debut of JAWS? Baaadum, baadum, badum, badum, badum….

Read more via TheCoolest

Source: Future Boston Q

The new Starbucks concept store located in Amsterdam will be the first of many to spread across Europe in the near future. This multilevel and sustainable shop is a gathering place composed of elements natural to the Netherlands such as brilliant dutch oak. The unique and bold ceiling is covered by different sized wooden blocks that contribute the typically homey style decor of Starbucks.

Read more at TheCoolist

For what other reason are you writing if it's not to provoke an emotional response from your audience? Hint #1: If you're writing a comedy, people should be laughing when they read the script.  During one of our intense focus groups for the development of our LitPro application, we gathered together script consultants – some who have been reading scripts professionally for decades. All agreed that if the script doesn't draw you in emotionally, neither will the dramatization (movie) of the material.

As avid moviegoers, screenwriters and co-founders of LitCentral, we put a lot of emphasis on writing a screenplay that emotionally resonates with the Reader. In fact, the LitPro application will provide toolsets to capture a Reader’s emotional response (or not), and provide a graphically-driven interpretation of the E-Beat (Emotional Beat) of the script. If your script can move a Reader emotionally, then there is a pretty sure bet the movie will evoke the same emotional response from the audience.

Karl Iglesias has defined emotions in stories as being voyeuristic (allowing audience to experience a character) and sympathize with them), vicarious (allowing audience to empathize with a character and identify with them, and visceral (primal emotions such as anticipation, relief, dread, suspense). He has also written a screenwriting book called Writing for Emotional Impact available at the Writers Store or instantly as an e-book.

William C. Martell explains emotions perfectly in his blog post on Script Secrets – The Write Place for Screenwriting Information.  His “Monday Script Tip” goes in-depth about creating “Emotion Pictures” vs. “Motion” pictures. It is a great read!

Remember…

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon." ~ E.L. Doctorow

This is a brilliant ad for Mercedes Benz.

Left Brain Text:

Source: AdsoftheWorld

At the heart of any good movie is a great script, and a great script has one main ingredient pulsating throughout – solid story structure.  But writing scripts rich in content is not a microwave process.  It takes effort and collaboration to get the script right.

To expedite the process and lessen the risk, many Hollywood Executives are avoiding the strains of movie-making by producing sequels, adaptations and reboots (requiring much less effort than creating a great movie from scratch).  Judging by box office revenues [down to 1992 levels], that formula does not bode well as moviegoers are taking their coin elsewhere. According to the latest Huffington Post Blog titled: Stars Diss Hollywood: Clooney, Edgerton & More Swipe At Commercial Movie Bombs  A-listers are taking a stand too, and are backing their frustrations with lower paychecks and their own production studios – in exchange for better stories.

The good news is a change may be on the horizon and like everything else, it’s fueled by technology.  Here at LitCentral, we have been working on a solution for bringing Creatives and Execs together and story structure back to the script development process with our LitPro application.   Our company has been awarded two patents for quantifying feedback, tracking emotions and analyzing literary documents. 

In order to move a script to the screen Creatives and Execs must come together, with the latter having the final say.  Unfortunately, many Execs are not as familiar with the art of storytelling and the Creatives have difficulty in expressing and defending key components that must remain in the script. The LitPro application graphically displays the story structure of a script in the form of bar graphs, pie charts and numeric values – something everyone on the project can understand.   

When we built the prototype app we wanted to make certain it expedited the process of analyzing a script as well as reveal its quality. The challenge was the platform needed to expose story structure in a way that brings both the Creatives and Execs onto the same page and I think we’ve accomplished that – and more! 

But that’s not all… LitPro takes script analysis a step further by tracking the reader’s emotions.  When a writer creates a script it’s all about engaging the reader emotionally. For example, if a writer creates a comedy and the reader is not laughing there’s a serious problem.  Yet, there is nothing used by the industry to date that captures the extent of the reader’s emotional response.  

If you know the opinions and emotional response of one person reading the script, you know a little about its quality. But when you have the ability to merge the many opinions of Creatives and Execs alike into one visual display then you can really gauge the quality of the script.  This helps alleviate many of the problems associated with “development hell” and the effort it takes to quickly and efficiently move a project into production.

Technology has made some advances in the entertainment industry’s development process.  Writers have boosted their productivity with laptops, software and the internet, and the industry is beginning to read scripts electronically via e-readers, iPads, etc., but none of that does anything to improve the quality of movies.  LitCentral may very well be focusing its technology in the right direction. LitCentral is currently working with collaborative partners and forming relationships to bring the completed application to market.

Stand-up meetings are becoming a part of the culture at some tech companies.  The idea is to keep long-winded diatribes to a minimum lest the dogs (i.e. feet) start barking.

To accommodate this new phenomena in the tech world, Steelcase's sister company Turnstone has created an extra tall conference table called the Campfire Big Table.  Not sure tall tables (or short tables for that matter) have anything to do with quick, no PPT meetings, but hey, anything to ride the latest tech craze, right?

I'm more partial to the daily-team-meeting strategy vs. company meetings, but one thing is for sure, meetings are evolving along with corporate climate. That's a good thing.

Early Edition 2 is one of my favorite apps for the iPad.  It allows me to merge everything I want to read via RSS feeds into one single beautiful-looking newspaper.  Yes, there are lots of RSS readers for the iPad – tons in fact, but Early Edition 2 is just a cut above the rest in look, function and feel.  It's like having a custom newspaper with everything I'm interested in reading dropped at my front door every morning. Whatever your profession or hobbies, this app pulls your relevant internet info into one app and keeps you up-to-date in style.

Cost: Astronomical $4.99.

Check out the App A Day review below.

Video Source: App A Day

We originally started the LitCentral Founder's Blog to bring our readers the latest and greatest technology as it relates to writers.  Over the past 12 months LitCentral has evolved and now has vested interests in multiple vertical markets relating to analytics and analysis. To better represent the interests of LitCentral, we are changing the focus of our blog to – Technology, entrepreneurship and everything in between.  Over the years we have learned a lot about both topics and are anxious to share the knowledge with our readers.

Stay tuned…

“Remembering that you are

going to die is the best

way I know to avoid the

trap of thinking you have

something to lose.”

                       – Steve Jobs

We told you about the ANA Alliance for Family Entertainment (AFE) first ever writing contest back in October. The results are in and  Megan Angelo, a journalist and aspiring screenwriter, took home the winning prize of $5,000 plus the opportunity to be mentored by TV icon John Wells for her script, O’Connell for Congress.

O’Connell for Congress features Tim O’Connell, a self-described “high school screw up" turned failed businessman. Still, he has a party emporium millionaire wife, two rambunctious teenage sons, a child detective daughter and a new plan: to run for public office. But when Tim attracts the sudden interest of some powerful political strategists with their own motives, the O’Connell family is thrown into a world that they are not prepared to handle.

Angelo honed her skill by writing stories for publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Glamour, Business Insider, Philadelphia Magazine and BRIDES. Megan has been writing scripts for several years, entering contests regularly looking for her first break.

Congrats!

$24 – Write drunk; edit sober. Digital illustration 13" x 19"

Obvious State – Original Illustrations by Etsy man Evan Robertson
 

In 2012, the lack of outlets in a Barnes & Noble is a criminal act against humanity.  In fact, in this age of technology, the lack of outlets to power our devices is just plain immoral.

Mophie hears our pain and is making the world a better place for smartphones and tablets needing juice to survive.  Juice Pack is a slim, sleek extended battery pack that easily slips in your bag or pocket, but packs a hefty 4000mAh of battery power.  In short, the Juice Pack offers quadruple the battery power of an iPhone. Yes, it works with BlackBerry and Android devices as well.

Boarding a flight from LA to NY?  Three-day camping trip in the near future?  Road trip to Vegas?  Half your life spent in book stores or coffee shops?   Bring your Juice Pack along for the ride and you'll be able to use your iPhone or iPad up to 4X longer.

If you prefer to tote just one gadget and don't care for the external Juice Pack, Mophie has also created an extended battery that envelopes your iPhone called the Juice Pack Air.  It also doubles as a shock resistant carrying case.  Depending on how much juice you want,  you can get the whole kit and kaboodle for $79 or $99.  The latter offers an additional 8 hours talk time. This is a really great deal considering you're likely to spend $30 on a decent shock resistant case, the extended battery life is just $50 – $80 more respectively.

Juice Plus Air

Update:

One of our dedicated readers sent us an image of her newly purchased Mophie Juice Pack – small package, lots of power. Perfect.

All stock images courtesy of Mophie.com

Check out our new website and have a stunning New Year!

A few months ago Blue Ant Studio's blog dedicated a weekly area to shine the spotlight on creative spaces. Some photos are of famous folk, some not. Check it out – the collection is growing and inspiring.

1.iPad 2 - Whether they use it for writing or not, writers will figure out how to embrace this gadget and include it in their daily lives.

2. Other tablets – I would consider the Kindle Fire or the Nook simply because unlike other tablet makers (HP, Motorola, etc.), these two brands will be around for a long time and offer solid support.  Droid tablet makers that have the ability to offer content will be the victors of the "tablet wars" because they can sell their products and make the money on the back-end while offering the device at an ultra low price.

3. iTunes gift card – The iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone are fairly useless without the apps that make them great.  An iTunes card gives writers the chance to fill their gadgets to the brim with geekd'm.

4. Macbook Air is simply one of the best, if not THE BEST laptop for writers. It has all the power a writer will ever need, a responsive keyboard, ultra portability and decent screen real estate.  Did I mention the portability factor? Writers can carry this on their person and have absolutely no excuse for not having time to write.

5. Lenovo Thinkpad X220 must include the OneNote software. Click here for a thorough review.

6. Extended monitor – Give the gift of tech real estate (i.e. extended monitor).  Remember extended monitors aren't really about making one application REALLY BIG, it's about viewing multiple apps at the same time.  Therefore, I would advise a minimum of 24".  Dell makes a great product and leads the market by keeping costs down.

7. Noise cancelling headset is the greatest gift you can give a writer – silence – or at least the ability to tone down the white noise. Bose's QuietComfort have been around forever but Studio Beats by Dr. Dre have become one of the top rated noise canceling headsets on the market. Top 10 Reviews click here.

8. Etsy sells unique handcrafted jewelry and trinkets tailored to writers:

• HauteKeys
  
• Lettershop
  
• Risky Beads
  
• QA Create

9. Etsy's handcrafted Journals and Pen Holders

• Lapapeire
  
• Bound by Hand
  
• jodysvetegerard
  
• leatherExpressions
  

10. Vintage Games by Restoration Hardware -   There's something wonderfully warm and comforting found in Restoration Hardware's Vintage Game Collection. And what writer doesn't appreciate a good old fashioned game of Scrabble?

Creativity flows through us in many different ways. For some it is writing, for others it is music and for me it is photography.  I acquired my love for photography as a child, following in the footsteps of my dad.

My parents divorced when I was 10 years old.  Twice a month (with overnight bags in tow) my sister and I would head to dad's. Weekends with dad included four-wheeling in his jeep, camping at Bolsa Chica State Beach (in “Old Betsy” – a very old, rusted, copper colored camper) and photography.  Lots and lots of photography.

My sister and I would spend countless hours posing alongside rocks, logs, water, plants… you name it, we stood by it, and dad would “shoot” away.  It wasn’t long before I was asking to stand behind the camera instead of in front of it… and that is where my love for photography began.

I actively pursued photography as a young adult, working jobs from portrait studios to Little League to owning a mobile studio to my favorite photographic role of “mom”.  However, several years ago I put still pictures at bay and moved towards moving pictures with my entrepreneurial venture of LitCentral.

Over the past few years I have followed many photographer’s blogs and viewed umpteen websites, anxiously awaiting the next great image.  There are many whose work I love (and admire) and here are just a few….

***

 Alison Turner , who travels the country with her tent, dog Max and camera, renders photographs on the scale of Norman Rockwell.  Alison focuses on everyday life here in the US – and her work is raw, realistic and sometimes deliciously raunchy (as seen in her Last Self Portrait). 

Alison’s Bingo Culture was recently featured on Aline Smithson's blog, Lenscratch.  She has also been featured on Salon.com – "My Brilliant Second Career". Here Alison shares her brave move of leaving a six-figure salary in pursuit of finding her “Creative Soul”.  I LOVE her work. Check out her gallery, I'm certain you will quickly become a fan.

***

Sharon Montrose has some of the cutest, sweetest, cuddliest subjects of all!  I (joyously) stumbled upon her website and I adore her work. Look at her new Little Darlings  collection and tell me you don’t want to own a few of these prints for your wall!  Simply perfect for a baby's room or a brightly painted morning room – where you can enjoy these images with your favorite cup of coffee.  Too cute for words!

***

Heather Waraksa’s work is beautifully artistic and is full of magic.  My favorite aspect of her photography is the storytelling in her wedding galleries.  From capturing the couple snuggling in bed the morning of the big day, to the flower girls waiting to be dressed, to that quiet moment at the end of the celebration, Heather is sure the memory for each couple is complete.

***

Lindsay McCrum's new photo book Chicks With Guns is a work of art.  Statistics derived from polling research and gun-sale statistics estimate 15 to 20 million women in the United States own and use firearms. Who knew? This collection is bold and sexy.  A must have for the coffee table!  "Pull!"

  ***

Every photographer has a story to tell with their images.  Perhaps some of these brilliant photographer’s work will inspire YOUR writing.  Whether it be an idea for your next script (Alison Turner’s Bingo Culture), an inspiring character (Lindsay McCrum’s Chicks with Guns) or a timeless love story (Heather Waraksa’s story tale weddings), the art of photography can be intertwined and interpreted into rich, creative writing.

As for me, I am once again venturing back behind the camera.  Stay tuned…

~Michelle

Ever try to personalize a letter written on a computer by choosing Lucida or some other hokey script font? And did the letter look hokey?  I thought so. 

It's a simple seven-step process to be able to type letters and documents using your very own handwriting. Fontifier will first present you with an ABC template.  Fill it out in caps and lowercase, then scan, save and upload.  Fontifier will use your handwriting to then create a font that can be downloaded and installed in the font folder on your computer.  Once installed, your handwriting will be as accessible in Office or iWork as Times New Roman.  Frontier points out this is also a great way to preserve your child's handwriting.

If you prefer to create an international font (non English), they have templates for that too.  One of the best features of Fontifier is their new digital signature. Program it (signature) to insert into documents by stroking a simple key from A to Z.

Cost?  Brace yourself… It's a whopping $9. Maybe I should reconsider the $300 House Industries fonts.