Pulling Back Just a Smidge

As writers or creators, we can sometimes go a bit too far, and one of the best things we can do is recognize when that's happening in our work. For the below video, I looked at the final lightsaber fight in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. There are a couple of places…

Your Soul… er, Edit… is Mine!

Catchy title, eh? Anyway, I have a new Quick Change video up on my YouTube channel, Reel Busy Editing. If you want to see how a few small edits can make a big difference in a scene from the 1995 film Mortal Kombat, then click the play button on the video below. Enjoy! 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFqUZsIhEQA

Would This Character Say That?

Sometimes, I read a book or watch a movie, and a character will say a certain line of dialogue that will pull me out of the experience because I'll be scratching my head over why that character would say that line. That's definitely something we, as writers, have to be careful of: not allowing a…

Taking the Clown Out of Finn

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post concerning what I referred to as The Tragedy of FN-2187. In that post, I talk about the poor execution of the character Finn in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. In the first of my Taking the Mary Sue Out of Rey videos, I touched on…

Writing and Editing Tips: About Impression and Flow

Hey! Would you look at that! I actually posted a new video to my new YouTube channel, Reel Busy Editing! In this video, I offer some writing and editing tips by analyzing a few scenes from the 2007 film Transformers. I hope you enjoy the video, and as always, any and all constructive feedback is…

My First Video Trilogy Is Complete

I finally found the time to finish my third video, which is the last in the series about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I hope you enjoy it, and I welcome any and all feedback. Also, I hope you like this idea I have to offer writing and editing tips through a study and criticism…

Second Video is Up!

A little more than a month ago, I re-uploaded my first video. Now, my second video is finally up and running. You can watch it below. Remember that, as always, any and all feedback is both welcome and considered. Happy viewing! 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CeB1suWR30

Mortal Kombat (2021) and Where It Fell Down

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR MORTAL KOMBAT (2021)!!! Ready to read? Okay, here we go. In terms of action and fighting, Mortal Kombat (2021) is an okay movie. In terms of everything else, though, it ranges from inconsistent to plain bad, not the fun sort of bad, like 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, but the plain bad…

Now Re-uploading Videos!

A couple of months ago, I posted my first video to YouTube and wrote a blog post about it. A couple of days ago, I re-uploaded the video after receiving some helpful feedback and doing some re-writing and re-editing. I'm actually okay with the result, so I'll finally be moving on and will record the…

Now Making Videos!

I finally did it. After far too long, I finally uploaded my first video (linked below), and it accomplishes what I’ve been vowing to do: show, not tell, how even small alterations in the editing of a scene can result in better flow, stronger energy, and improved storytelling. The reason I’ve wanted to do this…