The Self-Publish Strong Podcast

049 Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, An Author’s Perspective

Andrea Pearson — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 08:03:43 +0000

Andrea, Nolan, and guest Joshua discuss professional websites (quick correction by Josh. Wix DOES have a way to measure distance, but it isn't relative. So, if you have two elements on the site, you have to eyeball measuring between them using the ruler at the top and side -- think microsoft word-- a very poor way of measuring and aligning important objects on a site.) They also discuss believability and research, "science" in a movie "work"place, unintentional comedy, scenes doing more than one thing, having pacing make sense, poor foreshadowing, bad dialogue, too much lucky coincidence, and having a proper reader's promise. Remember to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

048 The Maze Runner, Tips for Authors and Writers

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 07:30:22 +0000

Andrea and Nolan with guest Joshua discuss character roles, establishing normal, epic showdowns and gradual buildups, cliches, unnecessary characters, getting to know characters, and snakes in the glade. Remember to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

047 The Court Jester, Writing Breakdown with an Author

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 06:56:57 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss helping others, setting up a professional website, humor that lasts, deaths, tying up loose ends, keeping track of character plots, double roles, and being disappointed with skinny legs by skipping leg day. Remember to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

046 Return to Me, An Author’s Perspective

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 04:46:56 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss the amazon ads redesign, book repricing and price point testing, large character arcs, minor and major character flaws, cliche'd sidekicks, attractive characters but not too attractive, swoon-worthy romances, and starting a story with a heartbreak. Remember to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

045 Short Updates, Amazon Ads, Narrators

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 06:57:27 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss life events, language in audiobooks, and amazon ads. Remember to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

044 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein: Tips for Authors and Writers

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 05:52:45 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss Ads, audiobooks, titles that match the movie, brand recognition, character believability, good plot devices, great timing and pacing. Remember to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

043 Is Writing Right for You? Updates, Amazon Ads, Keeping Up With the Competition

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 06:25:49 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss updates, being prolific, knowing if writing is right for you, what you need as a fresh author, the importance of newsletters and an online presence, and how you can manage and scale your business. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

042 Stranger Than Fiction: Tips for Authors and Writers

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 10:02:08 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss the character relationships, interactions, and realism, characters vs reality, blending genres, breaking the 4th wall, breaking rules and having fun with it, and not always going for the obvious thing and knowing your audience. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

041 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Descriptions, Earl Nightingale

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 06:57:01 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss audiobook narrators, building confidence, characters fitting their roles, character challenges, introducing a character quickly, highlighting a character's strengths and weaknesses and finding unique ways to use them. NOTBLACKFRIDAY (Expires the 15th of December, 2018) Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

040 Avengers: Infinity War, Descriptions, Dave Ramsey

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 29 Nov 2018 09:38:45 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss character development, story predictability, character deaths, humor, villain power and how they can use it, rules of challenges, and series predictions. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "Cheery Monday" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

039 The Cutting Edge, Back Cover Details, John Wooden

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 22:31:10 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss industry news, emotions, strong personalities are great, trigger emotions, out of the ordinary events, and finding reasons to be with together in a romance. storybundle.com/nano Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

038 Takeaways from the Vegas Business Master Class

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 09:43:44 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss not putting things off because of the time commitment, adapting to the market, being open to change, planning for failure and success, learning how to invest in a series, and navigating Hollywood without getting ruined. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

037 General and Specific Writing Tips from Professionals at the Vegas Business Master Class

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 08:24:16 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss interviews with the Passive Guy, Mark Leslie LeFebvre, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kevin J. Anderson, Dean Wesley Smith, and Damon Courtney on topics such as writing prolifically, staying focused on your career, bookfunnel tips, the passive voice blog, finding inspiration, and working your social media.

BUNDLES: https://storybundle.com/nano https://storybundle.com/fantasy Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

036 Throw Momma from the Train with Bestselling Authors Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta

Andrea Pearson — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 08:35:33 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss Throw Momma from the Train with guests Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. Topics covered include creating quirky and strong characters, motivations of said characters, and pacing. Also discussed: trying until you succeed, writing successful back-cover copy, the importance of focusing on writing, when to edit and when to write, clichés, and steampunk laptops. Art with Nolan links: WIP: https://www.instagram.com/p/BpNxbjKn3qG/ Finished: https://www.instagram.com/p/BpQPEGDHfgT/ Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

035 Sticking to your Dream, Earl Nightingale

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 07:07:25 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss a quote by Earl Nightingale in depth, including topics like what sells, passion in your projects, being in control of your content, being consistent, finding your sweet spot, and keeping the course. The 2018 NaNoWriMo Writing Tools Bundle: http://storybundle.com/nano Nolan's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artwithnolan/ Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

033 So Undercover, Self-Editing, Zig Ziglar

Andrea Pearson — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 01:45:52 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss believable twists, probable and interesting action, romance, and an opening scene that fits the tone. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

031 The Martian, Guest Episode: Joshua, Editors: Sample Editing, Eric Hoffer.

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 04:35:34 +0000

Andrea, Nolan, and Joshua discuss interesting main characters, tragedy and a good way to handle it, doing proper research and following the rules you set, and bombs that always have to beep. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

030 Strictly Ballroom, Editors: the Cost of a Project, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 06:06:45 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss documentary styling, try-fail cycle, formulated stories, believable character relationships, and mullets and chest hair. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

029 The Meg, Finding Editors: Manuscript Swapping, Mark Twain

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 04:56:59 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss story plausibility, three act structures, book adaptations, and showering. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

028 Divergent Trilogy, Editors on a Small Budget, Amelia Earhart

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 05:42:10 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss plot points, good arcs, pacing and building emotions, movie adaptations, planning a series, character deaths, and design problems. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

027 Finding Forrester, Finding Editors in your Network, William Durrant

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 05:51:08 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss antagonists, character depth, character development, basically all things character, and Sean Cannery's eyebrows. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

025 Running Big Promotions Without BookBub, Earl Nightingale

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 06:23:52 +0000

Andrea and Nolan make some announcements and discuss promotions, Facebook ads, networking, and children. Get The Shade Amulet here: https://amzn.to/2MrsJhC Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

024 Quick Tip: Set Your Mind to a Specific Goal, Visualize, and Achieve

Andrea Pearson — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 00:15:12 +0000

Andrea and Nolan give a quick update and discuss a few good tips about things like goal setting, priorities, the key to success, and your attitude. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

023 Hunger Games, Email, Michael Jordan

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 05:51:48 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss realistic character reactions, politics and plot, great conflicts, character progression and emotion, great bad guys, story and flow, set up for sequels, outlines, and male cosmetics. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

022 Casino Royale with Author David J. West/James Alderdice

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 06:12:43 +0000

Andrea, Nolan, and guest David J. West discuss Casino Royale, covering topics such as James Bond as a character, boring and good romance, the makings of a good origin story, team playing vs going solo, and nail-gun wars. They also discuss good dialogue, foreshadowing, different types of action, and home decor. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

021.5 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom With Spoilers

Andrea Pearson — Sat, 07 Jul 2018 07:03:03 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss antagonists, believable events, animations and animatronics, alternate decisions to improve the story, and plausible dangers. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

021 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom No Spoilers, Cover Designs, John C. Maxwell

Andrea Pearson — Sat, 07 Jul 2018 07:01:26 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss things from the beginning of the movie and no spoilers! Some items discussed are characters, logic errors, character roles, and side kicks. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

020 Lars and the Real Girl, Book Covers: Best Practices, Earl Nightingale

Andrea Pearson — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 08:01:15 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss Ryan Gosling, proper inciting incidents, character progression, showing and telling, and symbols and emotion in your story. Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

019 Thor: Ragnarok, Book Covers: Finding Cover Designers, Zig Zigler

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 07:25:33 +0000

Andrea and Nolan make jokes and discuss engaging the audience, try fail cycles, Starcraft, pacing, hiring help, and understanding your own premise. Coupon Code: JustBecause Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

018 Marketing Tips: Launching and Relaunching Books

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 05:59:02 +0000

Andrea and Nolan go over some more marketing tips! Including: managing multiple pen-names, parenting techniques, AMS ads, offensive movie trailer aesthetics, and effective release timing Coupon Code: JustBecause https://selfpublishstrongcourses.com/ Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

017 Johnny English, Book Covers, Ernest Hemingway

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 05:53:40 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss proper explanations and character introduction, amazing hair, good dream sequences, difficulty of good comedy Find us in iTunes to leave a rating! Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

016 Jurassic World, Book Covers, Henry Ford

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 24 May 2018 05:29:38 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss rebooting a series, good foreshadowing, awkward dialogue, good opening scenes, and running serpentine. Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

015 New Moon, Suggested Tools, Shawn Manaher

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 17 May 2018 05:34:33 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss pacing, timing, character reintroduction, and workout routines while reviewing the second movie of the Twilight Series, New Moon. Credits: Theme music provided by: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

014 Skyline, Beta Readers, Thomas Edison

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 10 May 2018 05:10:37 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss consistent aliens, managing time and money for what is important in the story, fluffy cloud ships, and how to build tension properly. Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

013 Sweet Home Alabama, Beta Readers, Thomas Paine

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 03 May 2018 06:54:40 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss success, character history, plot building, dramatic romance tropes, and the importance of giving every character a reason to be in the story. Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

012 Jurassic Park 3, Guest Episode, Beta Readers, Mark Twain

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 05:25:09 +0000

Andrea and Nolan with guest Joshua discuss character development, dreams as plot devices, dressing appropriate for writing conferences, deus ex machina, quality writing strategies, and Alan. Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

011 RED, Guest episode, Beta Readers Part 2, Dave Ramsey

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 02:56:51 +0000

In this episode Andrea and Nolan with guest Joshua all discuss RED, a fun quirky action movie and the importance of keeping characters themselves, researching what you're writing about, and having interesting bad guys. Also, gun safety. Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

010 Megamind, Beta Readers, Benjamin Franklin.

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 12 Apr 2018 05:34:36 +0000

Andrea and Nolan discuss character arcs, good foreshadowing, atmosphere, and how these things, and others, are used to make Megamind a great movie. Tip of the day, beta readers. Quote of the day by Benjamin Franklin. Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

009 Quick Marketing Tips, Automation Sequences, Short-Term Roadmap, Mark Twain.

Andrea Pearson — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 06:16:17 +0000

Andrea and Nolan have a quick chat about their short term podcast roadmap, a quote by Mark Twain, the final bits of automation sequence tips, and how to handle door to door pest control solicitors. Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

008 Marketing Mistakes We’ve Made, AMS, BookBub, and Facebook Ads, What We’re Focusing on Now

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 06:32:21 +0000

Andrea’s marketing credentials Background – “in the blood” Nearly as passionate about marketing as about writing Guest posting on Joe Konrath’s blog Business master class – approached by several authors to discuss marketing, started inviting authors to chat, after only two days, every single meal was taken up by authors who had marketing questions. Questions in between sessions, at the end of the day, and before breakfast. Big-name authors asking Andrea questions. If you have marketing questions about your specific situation, support us on Patreon.com/selfpublishstrong and ask away. Am I Ready? Course – free. A great tool to teach you if you’re ready or not. 45 minutes of really good tips and tricks. To discuss: Goodreads Google ads BookBub (features) (ads) Facebook Ads (random images, bad copy, etc.) Group events (parties, book launches, mainly) Posting on my wall every single day Hanging around the newsfeed (only do it for ONE reason now: see ads from other authors) Twitter Not my platform of choice Have used it a lot in the past – not consistent enough Okay, going to transition to what we’re focusing on right now NOLAN: AMS ads Which have worked? Which haven’t worked? Which we aren’t sure on and need to test more Things we’ve noticed – delay, etc. What he’s doing with AMS ads now Cost per click – break down, depending on ad Currently spending $10-12 per day Things Andrea has done this week: Facebook lead gen ads – turned off the one at $0.41 per lead and created two new ones based on a lookalike audience from newsletter list Increased spend on box set ad to $10 Two new Shade Amulet ads. Ads running: Forsaken Prince ($0.29 per click), MC1-5 ($0.17. Fluctuates between $0.11 and 0.20, depending on spend), SA $0.19 and $0.20 per. Two lead gen ads aren’t doing anything yet – too new Currently spending $35/day Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

007 Lost World, Automation Sequences, Dr. Henry Cloud

Andrea Pearson — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 09:16:08 +0000

Show notes: In episode seven, Nolan and Andrea discuss Lost World, including their top three takeaways for authors. Andrea also continues her tips on automation sequences and gives a quote by Dr. Henry Cloud. (“There is a difference between patience and avoidance. Patience is waiting for a good reason. Avoidance is waiting out of fear.”) Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

006 Twilight, Automation Sequences, Thomas Jefferson

Andrea Pearson — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 02:26:14 +0000

Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

002 Jurassic Park pt 2, Enjoy Your Anonymity, Bob Goff

Andrea Pearson — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:37:02 +0000

In celebration of the launch of this podcast, all of Andrea Pearson’s book marketing courses are available at 50% off. Enter PODCASTLAUNCH – one word – at checkout. This deal expires March 24, 2018 at midnight. Go to selfpublishstrongcourses.com for information on currently available courses. Thank you. Transcription Andrea: Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Self-Publish Strong podcast. I'm your host, Andrea Pearson. I'm joined today by my husband. Nolan: Hi, I'm Nolan. Glad to be here today. Andrea: All right, we're going to get right into things today with our quote. You want to go ahead and read that? Nolan: “Don't wait for every door to be opened for you, get ready to kick a few down,” by Bob Goff. Andrea: I really like that quote because - and I'm visual so I have to actually read it. I'm taking it from him. Okay, so the best thing about being a self-published author is the ability to take things into our own hands and to put things into action. When you're with a traditional publisher, you can promote and promote and promote, but you won't know based on sales if your book is actually doing well or if your promotions are actually doing anything. So, as an indie author, we don't need to wait around for things to happen. We can actually go out and get things done. So that's our quote for today. My tip for today is, again, this actually could be to seasoned authors as well because we all go through phases where we're not getting as much attention as we like. When people don't know who we are, that's a really, really good time for us to make mistakes and to basically learn from our failures. The whole point is for us to enjoy our anonymity. One of the hardest things about publishing is watching books that we put all of our heart and soul into flop or not move as fast as we hoped they would. When we first started out with this whole publishing thing, I was very impatient. I couldn't handle the thought that people weren't finding me right now and reading me right now. I made a lot of mistakes. Like a lot of new writers, I was willing to take risks without anything to back up those risks. We suffered a lot financially and emotionally because of it. I mean, we spent how much money on Goodreads, AdWords, and AdSense and all that? Nolan: I have no idea. Andrea: He doesn't know. It was probably, I don't know, $500-$750 while we were trying to figure out how things worked. I honestly never tracked it because I had zero experience. Anyway, the good thing about it is you can do things when nobody sees you that you can't do when you've got a lot of readers watching you. So before you go big, get those mistakes out of your system. It's okay to actually make them because failure leads to success and it's better to fail now than later while there's thousands of eyes on you. Anyway, so that's the tip for today. We're going to get right into finishing up Jurassic Park. As we said, we are about 52 minutes into the movie last. I'm going to let Nolan take over. Go from where we left off. Nolan: Okay. Right around this time is when the park starts shutting down, right? Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: We haven't talked about Dennis Nedry at all. Andrea: Oh, Dennis. Nolan: They're not subtle with him. Andrea: Who's not subtle? The... Nolan: Him being Michael Crichton or whoever... Andrea: The screenwriters and all that. And Michael Crichton. Nolan: Yeah, I mean, the first time you see him in the movie he's a large man and he's stuffing himself silly at a restaurant. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: Then, when he starts the park shutting down, his excuse to leave is he wants to go get something from the vending machines. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: So that's his character, really. I mean, not his whole character, but you know. Andrea: When you see his desk, he's a complete slob. Nolan: Complete slob. Andrea: It's weird because in the movie, they turned him more into a villain than he was in the book. I mean, in the book, he was like that pretty much. If I remember right, but he becomes a villainous slob. The hard, the careless person, while in the book, it was actually Hammond who was careless and thoughtless about how things were going. He was hiding up things and covering. Yeah. Nolan: Yeah. One of the reasons it takes so long for everyone else to realize that the park is shutting down is because he said, before he left, Nedry, that parts would shut down. It would be normal. Andrea: Yeah, like a few systems would go off-line. Nolan: Right. Andrea: While he was rebooting and updating things. Nolan: So when that starts happening, they think it's fine until everything, like, really critical systems, start to go down. Andrea: And the whole park starts to fail. Nolan: Exactly. So that ups the ante. They see a problem, but they ignore it and then it just keeps escalating until he's too far away for them to find him and do anything about it. Andrea: Yeah. I did want to make a quick point about the character names that I meant to say yesterday but forgot. If you think about them – here, I'll just read off the main names. You've got Lex, Tim, Grant, Ellie, Hammond, Malcolm, Nedry, Gennaro - I always stutter on his name – Gennaro, Gennaro, Gennaro, Muldoon, Wu, and Arnold. One of the traits of a good author, and I'm not good at this yet. I still pick names that are way too.. anyway. Okay, so one of the traits of a good author is they're able to pick names that are unique, that start with different letters and end with different sounds, and they vary in length. I mean, you've got Lex and Tim, but you've also got Gennaro, you know. So he varies the sounds of the names, the letters they start with, and the letters that they end with, the sounds that they end with. I think that takes a lot of creativity because there's not a whole lot of variance in how names go. A lot of them end with, like, -uh for girls: Jessica and Sarah and all of that. One thing that I've been told before is that authors tend to name characters names that start with the same letter of their name or whatever and that's definitely true with me. I've really tried to move away from that. But, I mean, I've got Abel in the series I'm working on right now. I've got Azuriah, Austin Akeno, let's see... I've got... There's tons. I don't need to go through all of them. But I've tried to move away from that. But my conscious thought is always to names that start with A. It feels slightly narcissistic. Am I narcissistic? Nolan: A bit. Andrea: Anyway, so just pay attention to the names that you're using in your books and vary them. Readers are more likely to remember the characters if you give them names that don't sound exactly like all the other characters. Anyway. Nolan: Anyway, this is when the creatures start to escape. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: Most notably, the T Rex. There is two ways they show that he's coming... Andrea: Oh, yes. Nolan: ...before he's come. What is number one? Andrea: The sound. Nolan: The goat leg. Andrea: The goat leg? Well, they get the thump sound before that. Nolan: Oh, yeah, is that what happens? Okay. So they get the thump and they know something's up. You see the glass of water, was it? Andrea: Yeah, the glass of water. You know how they did the special effect to do that? They had a guitar string strung underneath the dashboard and apparently the foley artist... Nolan: Why did they have a cup of water in the Jeep anyway? Andrea: Because they're thirsty. Anyway, the foley artist... Explain what a foley artist is. Nolan: Foley artist is the guy that makes the sound effects in a movie. Andrea: So the foley artist... folly - I always said folly artist. But the guy who was in charge said that he spent several weeks trying figure out how to make that sound because Spielberg said, “I want it to do this,” and they said, “Oh, yeah, we can make it do that.” And then they were like, “Oh, crap, we don't know how to make it do that!” He said that it took him until the night before they filmed that scene to figure out that a guitar string. He had a cup of water on a guitar and when he plucked the guitar the water vibrated. So they finally got that figured out the night before shooting. I like movie trivia. Anyway, so, yes, the first thing you notice is the sound and then the water. I mean, the water vibrating with each step. Oh, I just love that. It just makes me excited every time I watch the movie. Is it my turn? Okay, so one of the things that I absolutely love about Jurassic Park is they use animatronics instead of relying on CGI. The CGI was really, really good. Especially, you know, even compared to today's standards. I mean, some CGI is still pretty bad compared to that one was. I know they had a huge budget for it, but they use animatronics instead and something - just a little bit of fun trivia. So they had problems with the T Rex animtronic. They said that it would randomly malfunction at very, very odd times. They were saying that they'd be sitting down eating lunch, and, all of a sudden, the T Rex would come to life. People would start screaming and freaking out and running and they'd be like, “Oh, wait. It's just malfunctioning again.” I mean, I can't imagine something of that size moving while nobody's in control of it. It would've totally freaked me out. But this scene, it's full of humor and terror. We've got Malcolm making these random comments all the way throughout while there's all sorts of freaky things happening. So, for example, you know, when Dr. Grant asked him if he's married, he says, “Occasionally.” He's “always on the lookout for future ex-Mrs. Malcolm.” That's one of the lines he says. Then he does this, you know, “When you gotta go, you gotta go.” Then he says, “Boy, I hate being right all the time.” There are several times throughout this movie where he's adding in that comedic, you know. Like later on when the T Rex is coming and they've got him in the back of the Jeep and there's an impact tremor. He's like, “I'm fairly alarmed here!” Just all sorts of little things added to lighten the mood, while still, you know, there's still that terror there. But, I mean, that's good storytelling right there. Nolan: Yes. Andrea: Your turn. Nolan: Okay, so when the T Rex does break out of the pen and comes for them. He doesn't just attack. He slowly probes the Jeep. Andrea: Oh, yeah, that's right, he's exploring. Nolan: Yes, exactly. They drag out the terror because you don't know when he's going to attack. Andrea: You don't even know... I mean, he might leave the kids, you know. You've got that hopeful, you know. Nolan: Then they turn the light on and he sees the light. You know, so it's not just an attack. He hasn't even attacked yet. He just doesn't know what a Jeep is. Andrea: No. Nolan: Or what a flashlight is. He's just trying to figure it out. Something that big, even if it were friendly, could kill you easily. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: Let alone something that... Andrea: I'm looking at you, Clifford the Red Dog. Nolan: I know. Yeah. So that happens. Then.. what? What exactly happens right after that? Andrea: I've still got comments on the scene itself. Nolan: Well, the Jeep falls. Andrea: Yeah, I'm still before that. So, really fast. There's a little bit of actual bad foreshadowing in the story. We've got Dennis Nedry leaving the huge gate open when he drives through. I remember the first time I watched it, I was like, “Crap! He left the gate open!” But they never returned to that. I mean, we know that the dinosaurs are romping through the park. I mean, you can assume they come in through other ways, you know. It's not just through that gate. They never actually returned to that and so I was a little bit disappointed by that the first time I watched it. And, then, another comment. We've got rain in this setting. You know, when the T Rex is about to attack, and the rain is setting the mood, but it's still very plausible for the island. So it's not out of the ordinary, but still sets the mood and so it doesn't feel like they are setting the mood even though they are. Nolan: Anything else? Andrea: Ouch! Yes, that was my elbow. I was just going to talk about the water in the cup, and then finally returning to the goat. We see the goat leg and that's a great way to return, you know, the goat's... Nolan: The one that wasn't eaten earlier. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: It's now eaten. Andrea: Yeah, exactly, and then the string's just dangling, like, where's the goat and then the leg lands on the top of the car. Just totally awesome. I know that's awful of me, but I love it. Nolan: Okay, the Jeep falling scene bothers me. Andrea: Oh, gosh, I'm glad you mentioned it because it's always bothered me. Nolan: This is one of my least favorite parts of the movie. The Jeep is in a tree. It falls over the side of the road, right? Andrea: Yeah. And they don't ever explain why there's this huge goalie right there. Nolan: Yeah, It falls into the top of the tree and they're farther down in the tree and it starts falling on them. Andrea: When he climbs up the tree to get Tim out? Nolan: Yeah, and it's just silly that it falls straight down and breaks a branch and it stops just long enough for them to escape and then falls down to the next branch and it never flips over until it hits the ground when it would've flipped over immediately. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: Or they could have just climbed to the other side of the tree that the Jeep isn't on. They would've been like two steps from being safe at any point. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: So, you know, that scene just bothers me. There you go. There's my one biggest criticism so far besides the... Andrea: My biggest is leaving the gate open. Oh, the lab? Nolan: The lab pencil scene. A travesty Andrea: Yes, well, that is so horrible. Nolan: Yes. Andrea: So, when Nedry loses his glasses, this is something I really like. He's the bad guy, but they give him a bit of humanity where you're like, “Ah, crap! He's lost his glasses.” You hope that he can find them and that he can actually get out safe. But, he doesn't, of course, you know, but we still want him to escape even though he's the bad guy. I don't know, maybe I'm unique. Nolan: No, I don't want him to escape. Andrea: Nolan's like, “No, I want him to die.” And I'm like, “Oh, I hope he escapes!” Well, actually, and then the other part of me was... I wanted him to escape because I would love that plot, that threadline, to go on to a different movie of him carrying the little embryos, little frozen things. I think that would've been a really fun thing for them to carry into future movies. Nolan: I always assumed they would find the embryos that were in the container and they never do. Andrea: Okay, so there we go, because actually it falls. Nolan: Yeah, and it gets buried under some mud. I just assumed that... Andrea: Something would happen from it. Nolan: Yeah. Andrea: That's also a little bit of foreshadowing that maybe they didn't plan on foreshadowing and then never followed up on. Nolan: Yeah, I don't know. It'd be impossible to find it, you know. And it's just chemicals that would die. You know, dissolve. So it's not... Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: Yeah, nothing's going to happen. Just die. The embryos or whatever. But, I always thought that something was going to happen in the second movie and it never did. I was like, “Did someone find the the shaving cream can? With all the dinosaurs in it?” But, no. Andrea: No, nothing happened. They all died. They reached room temperature. Nolan: So, yeah, you have the dinosaur that kills Nedry. The Delophosaurus is briefly mentioned in the recording during the early tour scene at the beginning of the movie so they tied that in. Andrea: Yeah, they introduced us to all the bad dinosaurs throughout the first part of the movie which is good story writing. Nolan: Yup. Andrea: It's not a surprise. We know what's coming, especially when the fan opens. Oh, and by the way, that's not the way Delophosauruses are. Spielberg added the spitting and Michael Crichton added the flares. So, I don't know what the Delophosaurus really did in real life. Nolan: I don't know. That's the picture that pops up on Google. Andrea: Maybe he didn't add it, but maybe they were inaccurate in their trivia. Nolan: Don't know. So, yeah, back to the Jeep scene. Grant has now saved the kids. Andrea: Yeah, he's stuck with the kids that he doesn't like. Nolan: Right, and then that just makes them more attached, of course. Andrea: Yes, they like him even more now. Nolan: Okay, so that's their first T Rex encounter and then the aftermath. Then they have the next one, right? The rippling footprint. Andrea: Oh, yes, yes, yes. Nolan: So now they know what that means. Andrea: Yes. It means, like, I'm fairly alarmed here. Nolan: They now know what a ripple in the water means and it's rippling in a footprint. Andrea: Which is awesome. Nolan: Yes. That's a trailer shot, I believe. That cue. They don't need to show the T Rex. They have that experience. Andrea: One thing, by the way. Okay, so I've got a couple comments on that part of the movie. But, Michael Crichton was paid $2 million for the rights to this movie and that's not including what he got paid as a screenwriter. That was the rights to the movie. They actually approached him before the book was even published because they loved the idea so much. That's very unusual. Just so authors know, you don't get $2 million for rights to a movie. The average I've heard is 50,000 to 100,000. Not even 100,000. I mean, I've heard of authors getting 10,000 for the rights to their movie. Anyway, he was experienced in Hollywood. He'd done screenplays already. Several already. Westworld was one that came out before this one. The Andromeda Strain came out before this one. And, so, he had experience so the producers knew him and they knew that he could do this, you know. They knew that he was a good writer and that the movie would do well. Plus, I mean, how many dinosaur movies had actually been done before this one? Nolan: A couple really bad ones. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: Stop motion and claymation stuff. Andrea: Yes, Gamera. Nolan: He's not a dinosaur. Andrea: I know, but he's a kaiju, kind of. Nolan: He's a kaiju. That's true. Andrea: Anyway, one thing that I love, and sorry Nolan, this is still in the same scene, but the objects in mirror are closer than they appear. Were you going to make a comment about that? Nolan: No. Andrea: Okay.. a good tell – sorry, as I stutter my way through this - a good sign of a good writer is someone who can incorporate clever things like that into their books, you know, so, objects in mirror are closer than they appear. That's something we all see every time we drive a car, but the fact that there's this huge dinosaur head coming at it and you see that, it's, like, you know, clever and terror again all in one. They do that very well in this movie. Nolan: Okay. Andrea: Your turn. Nolan: So, back during the Triceratops scene, Ellie takes a Jeep back to... Andrea: Get the kids. Nolan: No, she goes back to the main building on her own. Andrea: Oh, yes, yeah. Nolan: At this point, she's talking to Hammond, you know, about how dangerous everything is, and how control is an illusion. Andrea: Oh, yes, yes, yes, right. Nolan: They're eating ice cream and just chilling. Andrea: He's like, “The ice cream's melted,” and he tells this cute little circus flea story, and... Nolan: Yeah. Andrea: ...it's all lighthearted. Nolan: It's very calm like they're in their safe space. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: Right, and, you know, everything's fine there, and then... Andrea: Then the next time they go there... you've gotta finish your thought there. Nolan: No, that's it. It just sets that scene. It makes it feel like that place is safe. Andrea: Safe location. Nolan: So that means we have to wreck it. But, for now, it feels safe. Then, after that, we have a scene with Grant and the kids where he's, like, hanging out with them and joking. Andrea: Yeah. Oh, yeah! Nolan: Doyouthinkhesaurus and all that. Andrea: Tim is being set up as a little comedian because later on, you know, they are watching watching the T Rex and then the flocking dinosaurs. Grant's like, “They do flock. They go around in flocks.” And Tim's like, “They're flocking this way!” Nolan: They find the raptor eggs at this point. We mentioned that in the first episode. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: They're not supposed to lay eggs and now they're laying eggs and there's baby Velociraptor footprints everywhere. He's, like, in awe of it and then realizes that - he is Grant - realizes the implications of... Andrea: Yes, yep. Nolan: We know what that means. Andrea: Okay. Nolan: So then after that, we go to the computer room with Sam L. - Samuel L. Jackson. Andrea: Yes. You know what? This is really bad. I didn't realize Arnold was Samuel Jackson. I don't know how I missed that. I bet... I'm a huge fan of his. I've seen a lot of movies with him and I just... maybe because I watched this movie so long before I knew who he was as an actor, that I just never put two and two together. Nolan: Well, he's wearing some very bright pink socks. Andrea: Yes, yes. Nolan commented on that when we were watching it. He was like, “Look at those socks!” Nolan: No, go ahead. Andrea: I was just going to say the scene when - I don't know if this is where you are or not. Okay, so when they're climbing the fence and Ellie's trying to recharge. Is that where you are? Nolan: Yes. Andrea: Ellie's trying to recharge. Nolan: No, I'm not. That's ahead. Andrea: Go ahead then and I'll get to that. Nolan: So, the scene sets more tension. This is where they're in the computer room and they come up with a plan and they execute it. Right? They shut the breakers down and the system reboots, right? It worked. The plan worked. But, there's a complication, right? They have to go flip the breakers in the other room. Andrea: The other building. Nolan: The other building, on the other side of the compound. He's like, “I'll just go to the other side of the compound.” You know? Andrea: Yes. Nolan: “Flip the switch. It's no problem,” right? And then that sets that scene. So they have, like, a victory, but also a complication. Andrea: Yes. That's a good point. It's important to have your characters have victories, but the try-fail cycle. They've gotta be able to try, try, and fail and then every now and then have them succeed, but have complications in there because otherwise, if they succeed, and ultimately succeed, it's the end of the book. Nolan: So, next. Well, there's the scene that we talked about with the flocking this way. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: Then after that is... things are happening quickly now that's why we're... Andrea: Talking back and forth. Nolan: Yeah, so like the beginning there's all the set up and then you just, like, let all the parts go. And so that's what's happening now. So, things aren't being described quite as well, but there so much action happening. You know, the set up has paid off and we're doing the things that we set up earlier. Andrea: Yep, yep. Nolan: But, so this is the hunter guy, right? So... Andrea: Muldoon, yeah. Nolan: Muldoon and Ellie go to find out why Arnold hasn't flipped the... Andrea: The breaker things. Nolan: The breakers. We're pretty sure we know why, because all the dinosaurs are loose, but they don't necessarily... they don't know that. Andrea: She's like, “Something's wrong, something's wrong.” She's like, “Something's happened.” Nolan: Yeah. Andrea: They feel that something's off but they don't know exactly what. Nolan: They've all been there, they weren't out in the park with the T Rex and everything like that. They've been at HQ. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: So they don't know how bad things are out there. So that's when she goes in there and then she flips the breakers and then they run across some Velociraptors. Then... Andrea: Oh, yeah, Muldoon's hunting them. You've got to make your point about Muldoon. Nolan: I will. Muldoon goes to track down the Velociraptors while she... Andrea: Goes forward. Nolan: Flips the breakers. So they split up, which is usually never a good idea. He's the only one with a gun, too. She's got a flashlight. Andrea: Well, you can defend yourself with a flashlight against a gun. Of course, the gun didn't do him any good. Nolan: It didn't do him any good, no. But, anyway, she flips the breakers – hooray! And then she gets attacked by Velociraptors anyway. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: And finds Mr. Arnold's severed arm. They think there's a moment of relief from the pressure. “Oh, Mr. Arnold, I found you. Ah! It's not attached to you!” Andrea: And that's a spoiler. Nolan: It doesn't matter. Andrea: We're going to be giving lots of spoilers in these movies. Nolan: We're going through it like almost everything. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: By the way, if you haven't seen a 24-year-old movie then I don't really feel, like, sorry. Anyway, so that's just like a brief, like, tense scene. Relief, then more tension. Andrea: Yeah, no kidding. Nolan: So that's really good. Back to hunter guy, Muldoon. He described how Velociraptors hunt the very beginning of the movie where one of them draws you in and they attack you from the side and then that's how he dies. Andrea: Yeah and he's, like, falling for their trap. Nolan: Yeah, he explicitly says this is what they do and then he falls for it. What should have happened is he plans for that trap and they one up him somehow. Andrea: The velociraptors? Nolan: Yeah. Andrea: Just to show that they're intelligent. Nolan: Because he's, like, “They have problem-solving intelligence.” You know what I mean? Andrea: That would've made the movie so much longer, though. Nolan: Just one other trick . He's like, “Oh, I know. I saw you coming from the side, buddy,” and then they do something else. Like ones of them drops out of a tree. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: Something like that. And he's like, “Aw, crap.” Just something like that. It wouldn't have added more, but it's just like you literally explain the problem and then you die from the problem. Andrea: Yeah, no kidding. Nolan: So that's my other plot gripe, I guess. I like to think he wouldn't have fallen for that, given the fact that he... Andrea: Understands how they hunt? Nolan: Yeah, but there's literally something where he says not to do that. Anyway. That didn't feel ironic, it just feels sloppy to me. Andrea: Yeah. So, my thing with they've got every scene is doing two things at once. The one scene where she's charging and reconnecting the system, and while Grant and the kids are crossing the fence. We've got her and it just flashes back and forth so it's technically the same scene. It flashes back and forth really fast, but it is one scene doing two things. First off, watching the kids cross the fence would have been boring if it weren't for her pushing those buttons. You know, way down the perimeter fence, because we know that's were they are. The camera pans down so you know that's where the kids are. But having them cross the fence without her pushing the buttons or having her push the buttons without the kids crossing the fence. It doesn't have same tension, but you've got the two things happening at the same time and it ups the ante quite a bit. Nolan: One gripe about this scene is Grant tries to get Tim to let go of the fence because they hear the alarm. Now the fence is going arm - electric fence. He's like, “Jump! 1-2-3, jump!” When you see the picture of where Grant is relative to Tim, he's, like, 30 feet away. Andrea: Yes, “Jump! I'll catch you if you jump really far!” Nolan: Yeah, I know they had to frame the shot because they're aiming from, like, the top of the fence and that's how far Grant has to stand back for it to look right in the shot. But if Tim were to let go, he would fall to his severe injury if not death because Grant's not really that close, not like standing underneath and ready to catch him. He's, like, not even close. Andrea: Yeah. My biggest gripe for the movie is right here. Can I get my biggest gripe for the movie? Nolan: Sure. Andrea: Grant performs CPR on Tim. This is something Hollywood and TVs and writers get wrong all the time. I knew these stats because I've been CPR trained multiple times, but I looked them up again. Okay, so CPR, if you're in the hospital and you go into cardiac arrest, 40% of people in the hospital survive the immediate situation and only 10 to 20% survive long enough to be discharged. Out in the wild, outside the hospital, only 10% of people who go through CPR survive. Most people get broken ribs. They get punctured lungs. They get internal bleeding. The CPR ends up killing them. But, 10% of the time it does help them, so that's why they teach it. But, I mean, otherwise, those 10% of people would die. Nolan: It seems like it's a cure-all... Andrea: Yes. Nolan: ...like in movies and it works every time. Andrea: Movies, books, TV shows, everything. Nolan: Like, oh, CPR and you're saved, and then he gets up and runs around. He just got fried Andrea: He got fried. Well, they do show that his hands and feet... But, I'm like, the CPR, he's talking, he's breathing, he's moving. I mean, my brother broke a few ribs and he couldn't... he was in the ICU for how many days? Like five days? Nolan: Yeah. Andrea: I mean, you can't just have your ribs broken and not... yeah. Anyway. There's my gripe. Nolan: Yes, yes. But they do manage to get back to the park so the... Andrea: You mean back to the headquarters? Nolan: Headquarters. So now we've gotten our two groups back together again, right. Well, there was three, so Hammond stayed back at the park, right? While they went on the tour and the tour split up. Ellie went back to help with the Triceratops while everybody else was out there. Now we're getting the band back together again, right? Now Lexi and Tim are sitting in the same places that Ellie and Hammond were sitting eating. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: In a place that we feel is safe. And then what happens? Andrea: We see the shadow of a Velociraptor. Nolan: You don't see the Velociraptor, you see the shadow of a Velociraptor. Lexi's hands start shaking with the Jell-O flopping around on it. Then, hilarity ensues. Andrea: Hilarity? You mean horror? Terror? Nolan: Yes, then horror and terror. Then they run into the kitchen. Andrea: The kitchen scene's absolutely fantastic. Nolan: They're hiding and the Velociraptors are tired of them hiding, so they jump up on the counters. They kind of ratchet up that. They almost get caught because, like, trying to close the door. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: She hides in a cabinet and she can't close the door and then all that stuff happens. Andrea: So, okay, so one little thing, a note for writers. We've got the scene where the kids are sitting there eating and... I think it's when they're eating. Actually, maybe it's not when they're eating. Anyway, where they're like, “We're safe unless they figure out how to open doors.” And then they shoot immediately and you see the Velociraptor opening the door. So some foreshadowing does not need to happen, like halfway, you know, 300 pages earlier, you can have foreshadowing happen and then the next scene have it be built up on, followed up on. And then another little quick point right here. Velociraptors are supposed be smaller, like, the size of the dog, and even in Jurassic World they're bigger than they're supposed to be. But, Steven Spielberg was, like, he wanted them to be 10 feet tall. But it's funny because that's, you know, that's not completely accurate. But while they were filming, or when this movie was released, they actually dug up a raptor, it's called a Utahraptor, that was that size. I thought that was cool. Nolan: Not a Velociraptor, but Utahraptor. Andrea: They didn't know. Nolan: There is a raptor, something in the raptor family. Andrea: I don't know if you're moving on or not, but I still have kitchen comments. Do you have kitchen comments still? Nolan: No. Andrea: Okay. So, he already mentioned this a little bit, but it's one of my favorite visual effects in the movie. It's when she's trying to shut the... what is it she's sitting in? Like, a closet or cupboard and she's trying to pull down the metal door and you see a mirror image of her and it's not really Lex. It's totally one of those great things that some authors are able to do, is mislead readers. You want to be able to mislead them occasionally so that they feel like something's going to happen and it doesn't. Because that right there was misleading the viewers, you know. We see this Velociraptor running and then all of a sudden it crashes into the opposite side. Another little quick point. The ice on the floor. Timmy's legs not working. The Velociraptor. Don't be gentle on your characters. I mean, he's scrambling across ice on the floor, and he can walk right under normal circumstances, to get away from this Velociraptor, you know? You want to be... even in romance you can't be gentle on your characters. You need to make things tough for them, you know? The “This is a UNIX system.” As someone who has worked quite a bit in UNIX systems, it looks nothing like a UNIX system. Nolan: Well it did in 1994, maybe. Andrea: You're right. I wasn't working in UNIX systems in '94. I was only 11. Nolan: I like how they had to have, like, a 3D navigation. Andrea: “This is a UNIX system!” She's moving the mouse along. Nolan: We don't even use that now. Andrea: No. Nolan: Because it's dumb and computers back then would take so long to render each... Andrea: Oh, to render the 3D system. No. It would've been by code. It would've all been command prompt. Nolan: I'm pretty sure I was using a DOS prompt in '94. Andrea: Yes. But that's why it was, like, futuristic. “I know this! This is a UNIX system!” She's supposed be so cool and so advanced and smart. Let's see. Okay, so we know from watching the movie there's only two Velociraptors and they seem to be everywhere in that main room. Nolan: There's gotta be more than two. Andrea: They said there's only two. We've got the... Nolan: He says that? Andrea: Yeah, he says that. She says that I tracked one inside of the bunker where she turned the power on and they're like, “That leaves two.” I'd never noticed that before because it feels like there's tons. We can check that again, but it feels like there's tons of Velociraptors. But, anyway. Nolan: So then there's the big fight with the T Rex. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: And the Velociraptors. Andrea: You can make that comment about... Nolan: The T Rex is a ninja! This time they very much emphasized the vibrations of its coming. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: And then it's inside of a building. Like, a whole building. Got inside. Where's the door for that? Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: I don't think they really... he just kind of appears in the lobby. Andrea: He doesn't break his way in. Nolan: Yeah. Andrea: He was hiding in there. Like he said, he was a ninja. Nolan: He's a ninja. They have giant T Rex size doors and very soft carpet and he snuck up on... Andrea: Just to muffle his noise. Nolan: He snuck up on four people and a couple Velociraptors. Andrea: Hey, at least in Jurassic World, they go get the T Rex, you know, so we know where the T Rex came from. Nolan: Yeah. So that kind of bothers me as well. I don't understand it. There's two very iconic, pivotal scenes where they show the... Andrea: The vibration and then he doesn't... Nolan: The last one he just shows up. Andrea: Did you want to make a comment about the cables holding the bones up? Nolan: Yeah, the cables holding the bones up. So, at one point they escaped from the computer room up through the ducting and then come out through the ceiling in the main lobby with the giant T Rex bones. They're climbing on the bones and then the bones are falling down because they won't be held in the ceiling because they can hold a thousand pound, multi-thousand pound... Andrea: Fossil. Nolan: T Rex skeleton, but can't hold... Andrea: Timmy. Nolan: ...children apparently. So those fall. Andrea: They break out. Nolan: Yeah, so... Andrea: That bothered us. We were like, “Would that really, actually happen?” Nolan: I'm pretty sure they'd have them anchored well enough and it's, like, coming out of drywall it looks like. Andrea: Oh, yeah, that's right. It's not even anchored into, like, wood or anything. Nolan: Yeah, I don't know. That said, it's one of the other things at the end where it could have been executed differently, but it's a famous movie, it's a very good movie. Andrea: So, yeah, and then at the end, who ends up being the ultimate bad dinosaur? T Rex, right? I mean, the T Rex, he defeats the raptors. You know, I mean. And then the banner falling down, you know. He's like our hero bad guy. He's the ultimate dinosaur. Nolan: Which, yeah, yeah. I mean, he is the king lizard. Andrea: Yeah, I love T Rex. He's my favorite. Nolan: They have some bigger, better ones in the later movies. Andrea: But he is pretty awesome. Nolan: He still comes through for them. Andrea: We'll talk about that later. We're actually going to do one of these movies a month leading up to the release of Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom which I am so excited for. Nolan: Yeah, those movies are not as good at building tension. They're more explody. Andrea: Yeah, they are that. I mean, I don't know. Like, Jurassic Park was based on a novel and it was by a fantastic author and Lost World... for those who do not know, they actually kind of had to arm twist Michael Crichton into writing the book Lost World so they could base a movie off of it and it's not as good. He didn't want to do it. He doesn't like to write sequels. I mean, that's one of things. He doesn't do sequels. And, so, it didn't have the heart in it that Jurassic Park had. Nolan: Oh, remember that we watched the interview where they asked him, like, you know, like, “So, how good is this movie?” And he was like, “Well, it is what it is.” Andrea: Oh, that's right, yes, about Lost World. Nolan: Yeah, he's like, “Cha-ching, so there.” Andrea: He got his money. Two more comments. Malcolm, shirt unbuttoned still, at the end. He's our little am I allowed to say sex symbol on our podcast? Nolan: Yeah, you can say sex symbol. Andrea: I know. Yeah, he's our little sex symbol. So he's got to have his shirt unbuttoned. Then we've got that character development, the character growth, with Grant. He's got the kids with him in the end in the helicopter. Nolan: Yes. Andrea: So we see him go from hating kids to loving kids. Nolan: Yup, so that character arc paid off. You know, early, hates kids, right? When he meets the kids you know this specifically. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: And, then, they go through a couple trials. You know, the T Rex, the Jeep, all that stuff. At the end, they're friends. Andrea: Yeah. Who would you say is the main character? I mean, I kind of think Grant is because he's got the most growth out of everybody. Nolan: Yeah, he probably has the most screen time I wanna say, too. Andrea: I mean, the kids. They go from being happy to terrorized and happy. That's not exactly... Nolan: The trauma, the trauma. Andrea: Yeah. And Ellie doesn't really have a lot of growth, you know. I mean, Malcolm goes from skepticism to skepticism to skepticism and he gets attacked in the middle, but it doesn't actually change his character. He's... Nolan: Yeah, Grant's probably the only one with that arc, because... Andrea: Well, Hammond has little bit of an arc. Nolan: He doesn't learn. He's still... Andrea: That's true. Nolan: He's like, “Oh, yeah, site B. And, then, oh, yeah...” Andrea: Yeah, that's true. Yeah, yeah. So, Grant, I guess. Gennaro. No, it was Gennaro. He got the most. He went from being alive to being dead. That's about as drastic as you can get. Nolan: Yeah. Because the kids don't change. Andrea: No, they don't change. Nolan: Yeah. That's pretty much it. Yeah. There you go. Andrea: It's still a satisfying movie. I mean it's still one of my favorite movies, you know. For all the reasons we mentioned. That's the other thing. It's not like it's a romance, you know. The character development has to be there, but it doesn't have to be as involved as a romance, you know, where everything hinges on the characters. Anyway. Okay, so where can people find you online, husband of mine? Nolan: Nowhere right now. Andrea: K. Nolan, when was the last time you signed into Facebook? Nolan: I don't think people know I have a son. Andrea: And he's two-years-old. Nolan: He's two. Andrea: Yeah. He probably hasn't updated his posts since we announced we were getting married seven years or eight years ago or something like that. He hasn't updated Facebook. Nolan: I did. We're married. Andrea: Oh, yeah, we are married. Did you announce that we're married then? Nolan: Yeah. It says status: married. Andrea: Oh, that's right. Nolan: That's the big... that's it. Andrea: So if you want to reach Nolan you have to go through me and, like we said, his pen name is James Curwen and we do have a blog that's not well updated for him. And then, if you want to reach me, you can email me at andrea@selfpublishstrong.com and make sure you check us out on Patreon, patreon.com/selfpublishstrong. If you're not noticing a theme here, the podcast is Self-Publish Strong and my email and Patreon and all of that. Anyway, thank you for listening. Next time we are going to be talking about Twlight, we said? Nolan: Twilight. Andrea: We are so excited for Twilight. Twilight defines our relationship. Nolan: I don't think we should admit that to people. Andrea: I'm very excited about it. Okay, so Twilight with RiffTrax defines our relationship. Nolan: There you go. That I'll claim. Andrea: Yes. Okay. Thank you for listening and tune in next time for our next podcast episode. Bye. Nolan: Bye. "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

001 Jurassic Park pt 1, Finish Your Book, John C. Maxwell

Andrea Pearson — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 00:24:08 +0000

In celebration of the launch of this podcast, all of Andrea Pearson’s book marketing courses are available at 50% off. Enter PODCASTLAUNCH – one word – at checkout. This deal expires March 24, 2018 at midnight. Go to selfpublishstrongcourses.com for information on currently available courses. Thank you. Transcription: Andrea: Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Self-Publish Strong podcast. I'm your host, Andrea Pearson, and I'm joined by my husband, Nolan. We started this podcast for several different reasons. The first of which is I'm very passionate about marketing and being an author in books and I love teaching others how to be successful at self-publishing. But, we've got two little kids and actually getting out to conferences is really difficult, and so I've started doing things to simplify our lives including creating a self-publishing school and marketing classes. You can find information about those at selfpublishstrong.com. But that's the first reason. The second reason is publishing is exciting and fun and there's a lot of people that are kind of discouraging and depressing about it, who like to drag people down about the possibilities of being successful and even big authors who are successful, sometimes... I don't know if it's unconscious, but they sometimes get a little bit of a Debbie Downer attitude when it comes to new authors just trying out and we want to make things more positive and upbeat and uplifting than that. And the third reason is because my husband and I are huge entertainment buffs and the last segment of our podcast is dedicated to movies and board games and things like that. We plan on discussing popular and some not so popular movies and what they did right, what they did wrong, and we're going to tie everything back into writing and self-publishing. We believe that every movie has something to teach about being a good writer, and whether it's a good lesson or not, that's debatable. But, join us to discover your favorite movies all over again. And, like I said, we're also going to be hopefully doing board games. We play a lot of board games, mostly cooperative, with my brother and we comment all the time on the writing and on the artwork and things like that. We just thought it'd be fun to be able to discuss those in podcast format Anyway, just a little bit about me. I've been self-publishing since early 2011. I was offered a contract with one of the big five, but turned it down to self-publish. And 10 days after we got married, we decided to hit the road on our own. Since then, I've published over two million words under three pen names, including 35+ novels, several nonfiction books, multiple novellas and short stories, and over 100 articles for professional blogs and websites. And, I've been interviewed on a science fiction and fantasy marketing podcast and a bunch of others, including Rocking Self-Publishing and The Author Hangout, and I've guest posted on JA Konrath's The Newbie's Guide to Publishing blog. And, anyway, just a bunch of stuff. Basically, I love self-publishing and marketing and I do have some experience doing it. Anyway, that's enough of about me. Nolan... Nolan: Yes. Andrea: Yes, what about you? Nolan: What about me? This is actually super relevant to the movie that we're watching. There is a scene where I will go on a rant about something very personal to me that they get wrong in the movie and... Andrea: I think I know what you're talking about. Nolan: Yeah, but, anyway, I work in a hospital. I have a degree in biology, but I also started a degree in drawing, painting, and printmaking, and so I will be adding some artistic analysis to what were doing. In addition to a scientific rant in one of the scenes in particular. Andrea: Yeah, and we wanted to do this because we both have experience when it comes to writing, obviously. I mean, he's a huge reader and it's important for authors to get their facts right and things like that. But, what Nolan didn't say was he's actually a professional illustrator. He's done book covers for publishers and authors and he's illustrated a lot of books for me. He illustrates books for local schools and things like that. He's very talented and you can check out some of his art on his blog, jamesecurwen.blogspot.com, which we actually haven't updated in couple of years. Nolan: True. Andrea: If you want to see any of his art, you can always email me and say, “Hey, I want to see your husband's latest artwork.” Anyway. Okay, so the format we're going to follow for this blog is we'll first give brief updates. Nolan's smiling at me knowingly. Are you smiling... Nolan: You said blog, not podcast. Andrea: Oh, did I? All right, fine. Here's how the podcast will go. Thank you. We'll first give updates on our lives and our projects and then we'll give a shout out to our Patreon supporters and you can find out about the perks that we offered through our Patreon account which is patreon.com/selfpublishstrong. Going along with the theme of positive and uplifting, we'll also be sharing a positive quote, one per episode, just to kind of get you excited about being an author and ready to, basically, take on the world. Then we'll give a self-publishing tip and, like I said, my passion is marketing but we'll cover the entire gamut of topics self-publishing related. Then, like we've already said, we'll discuss a popular or not so popular movie. Just so you know, we don't compare notes before episodes because we want to have natural dialogue and be able to discover together what we're thinking. We're going to try to avoid spoilers, but we can't make any promises with that just because sometimes, with some of the movies, the ending ruins the movie and you've got to get this right when it comes to your books. You need to make sure that you're nailing everything and so we'll be talking about all of those things and if there's going be spoilers, we'll try to warn you. As an FYI, the microphone that we're using right here is my digital recorder that I use for dictating. We are in the process of building a house, and our nice microphone is packed away in the storage unit. Rather than unpack half the storage unit to find it, because we actually thought our house would be finished in November and we're at the first of February right now, we decided just to use my digital recorder. It picks up a lot of weird things like stupid drivers driving down the road really loud just a couple seconds ago. All right, so for our first episode, we're going to talk about Jurassic Park, which is one of my favorite movies. But before that, do you have any updates on projects you're working on right now? Nolan: My son stole my stylus for my drawing pad and I just found it yesterday, so I think that's probably the biggest update. Andrea: Awesome. My life has been revolving around nonfiction stuff. I love teaching. I'm very passionate about it, but I am a writer. I'm a fiction writer. I want to get back to my fiction writing and so, once we get all this stuff taken care of, I'm really looking forward to digging back into writing the third book in my Koven Chronicles. A lot of our time is spent wandering around the house cleaning up after two little kids. We have a five-year-old girl and a two-year-old son, who is very mischievous and pretty messy. Okay, so the motivational quote for the day. Nolan's going to read that. Nolan: “Dreams don't work unless you do,” by John C. Maxwell. Andrea: How does that make you feel? Nolan: Like I have to work a lot. Andrea: Yes. We picked that as our first quote because the theme of our podcast is to be uplifting and encouraging, but at some point dreaming needs to stop and working has to begin because if you don't put the work in, then your dreams will never come true. So, as John C. Maxwell said, dreams don't work unless you do. All right, is that everything? Oh! Self-publishing. The tip. The tip on self-publishing. We're going to get this down, I promise. If you're just starting out, some of the tips that I'm going to be sharing will be very overwhelming because I want to mix in advanced tips with brand-new authors tips. I'm going to try to alternate them and I'll have sequences of tips. You know, I don't want the tip section overtake the entire podcast, and so I'll be using the tips in sequences and some tips will stand on their own completely. But the tip today is for new authors just starting out. I just wanted to say that the most important thing for you is to get your book written. Don't worry about editing it until it's complete and that includes self-editing. So after you finish writing something, don't go back and work on it and work it over and over and over to death because the goal when you're first starting is to get the book finished. If you do not have a finished product then you can't actually start self-publishing. I think that applies even when you've got one or two books out because we tend to get distracted and the best way to get experience is by writing more. So, basically, start at the beginning and work your way forward with writing and marketing and everything. But, publishing, it can be difficult, but it's one of the most exciting, liberating things you will ever do for yourself. So, make sure you're enjoying the ride, too. Anyway. So, we've got free courses available through selfpublishstrong.com. If you go there, I think I've got a tab that says something about free courses. The first one goes over the basic automation sequence I used to build up my ARC team and it's been selling my books on autopilot for about two years now. Is that how long I've been using it? Yeah. Royalties have doubled, quadrupled. I mean, they've gone up quite a bit since I started using an automation sequence. It basically sells your book on autopilot. I also teach a little-known tip to increase productivity in that course and then a great way to get readers to download your books when you want them to and not whenever they get around to it. The second free course is called Am I Ready? It talks about everything you need to have in place before you really start digging into marketing because marking is difficult and if everything isn't set up correctly, the possibility of losing a great deal of money and time is really high, so make sure you got your ducks in a row first. Check those out at selfpublishstrong.com, like I said. And, now, we're going to talk about Jurassic Park. Do you want to go first? Nolan: Yes, let's talk about why we picked Jurassic Park. Andrea: Okay. Nolan: It's a movie most people have already seen. It came out in '94 I believe. Andrea: '93? Nolan: Something like that. A very popular book, very popular movie. And it's both so the author of the book was very instrumental in the creation of the movie. He wrote a book and then he converted it to a screenplay. He took a 25, 30 hour read and had to compress it into two hours. So the scenes that are in that movie are very important and were very carefully constructed. That is the kind of attention that you need to put into the scenes that you write in your book. Be very selective about what it's telling your readers. Andrea: I actually had a very similar comment about especially the opening scene. Everything in the opening scene, everything in every scene actually, they did a very good job with this movie of making sure every scene does two things: pushes the story forward and informs you of something. So, like in the first scene, we've got a dark forest and we've got the music and we've got the buildup. It introduces us to... is his name Robert Muldoon? I know his last name is Muldoon. Anyway, it introduces us to him and, basically, the Velociraptor, all you see is the eyes, so it's teasing you about what is about to come, while also setting the mood with music and everything. Nolan: The theme of the movie is control is an illusion. This is repeated over and over again and this scene starts out, the danger is in a box. There's a big, steel crate. You don't know what's in it. There's a bunch of guys with guns surrounding it. They look like they're taking every precaution they possibly can. Then, somebody get grabbed. In the classic horror movie style, he's drug on the ground towards this box that you can't see what's in it. Then something crazy happens. He gets lifted like 5 feet into the air, something completely unexpected. Andrea: Yes, that's right, I remember the first time I watched it, I was like, “How is that possible?” Nolan: And then you're like, “Whoa!” and then all you do see is the eye and they're shouting, “Shooter! Shooter!” as the guy slowly gets pulled into the box while they're trying to keep him from going in there. So, again, control was an illusion. They thought they had it, they did not. Somebody died. Andrea: Unfortunately, it was the minority who died. Nolan: Yes. Well, to be fair, they're in Costa Rica. A lot of the local workers would be Costa Ricans. Andrea: That's true, fair point. Nolan: So, that's the first scene of the movie. Andrea: Right. Nolan: So what's the second scene? Very similar. Scene two, instead of being a blue-colored night scene, it's a day scene. Andrea: Stark. Nolan: Bright. Andrea: Very dramatic. Nolan: And there's a guy in a suit in the middle of the jungle. It's kind of the opposite, right? Instead of the thing being a box, he's in the wilderness. Andrea: Open. Nolan: Yes, and he's getting pulled on a little raft to shoreline. It's the lawyer that nobody likes. Andrea: Gennaro. Nolan: Yes, he looks completely out of place, unprepared for the wilderness that he's in. He's wearing a business suit and nice shoes. Andrea: Carrying a briefcase. Nolan: Carrying a briefcase, walking through the mud. He doesn't have respect for what is going on there. Ultimately, they go into a cave and they find some amber and contained within that amber is the DNA that they used to create the dinosaur. So, again, the dinosaur is contained in the symbolic item. Andrea: Nice. I like that. We didn't talk about this ahead of time. Nolan: No. So, in the first two scenes, we've reinforced that multiple times. We've introduced two characters. The game's keeper and the lawyer. He'll end up being more pivotal later on in the movie. And, reinforced the theme of the movie two completely different ways that control's an illusion. Andrea: And one thing about Michael Crichton is that he is absolutely fantastic at with his books is he knew how to start a book with a hook that you could not ignore. And, I mean, I remember the first time I read Jurassic Park, the book, I was probably 11. The movie came out at that time and I had to read the book. An 11-year-old reading Jurassic Park, now I kind of cringe at that. But, that opening scene really caught my attention and it was the excitement and the thrill of future dinosaurs that kept me reading through what an 11-year-old would consider the boring parts. But Michael Crichton, everything in his book, even the boring, quote unquote boring, parts, were interesting. You know, he got really involved into the science behind things. I really liked that as even a teenager. But, going on to that theme of every scene doing two things. We get introduced to Grant in that scene where the lawyer's approaching the guy who gets the resin. I don't remember his name. The dude who gets the resin out of the cave. They're talking about Dr. Grant and how they're going to try to get them to go there and the guy's like, “Grant's like me. He's a digger.” And, so, that just was introducing us to Grant before we even meet him. So we kind of get this idea of who Grant is. Just a little bit of trivia. Harrison Ford was offered the role of Grant and he turned it down and after watching it, he was like, “Yeah, I made the right choice,” and I have to agree with him. I don't think he would've been good for the role. Nolan: Agreed. Andrea: I think that... is it Sam Neill? I don't remember his name. Nolan: Sam Neill. Andrea: Yeah, I thought he did a fantastic job as Grant. Okay, so then you get into the third scene of the movie, and we're not going to go scene by scene like this, this is just what was pulling out at me. Okay, so the first one sets the tones and the characters it introduces including the dinosaurs. It introduces the dinosaurs as a pretty big character in the story. And then the second one introduces even more of the danger because they're talking about how people have been dying while they've been working on the park. It introduces more characters including Grant and Gennaro, and then, of course, the mosquito in the resin. Then, in the third scene, we meet Grant, and they show us, rather than tell us, that he dislikes kids and they show us the danger of our main predator of the movie, which is the Velociraptor. Nolan: Which we were introduced partially in the first scene. In the first scene, there was the eye, and in the third scene there's a claw. Andrea: Yeah, the claw, and then the story about what they're capable of doing. Nolan: Exactly, yes. So they've indirectly started building tension around this creature you haven't seen very well. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: Yes, so the first scene was like a night scene. Second scene was a day scene in the jungle. And the third scenes contrasts... Andrea: In the desert. Nolan: Yes, it's in the desert. So, now, we're out in the middle of nowhere. Andrea: Montana. Nolan: Yeah, Montana. Andrea: Which is not the middle of nowhere! Nolan: Montana's amazing, but it is a desert. So they're out there in some - I don't know what you call it, technically - but there out there at this dig site and they have everything cordoned off. Right? Safely, scientifically, dissecting the site, collecting all their data on this thing that they are trying to understand. Right? And then who arrives? Andrea: The helicopter with Hammond. Nolan: The helicopter with Hammond, and that shows his personality because he's like a bull in a china shop. He arrives. Everything's done the way he wants it, he won't take no for an answer. Andrea: Doesn't care about the mess he leaves behind. Nolan: Exactly. He didn't have respect for the dinosaurs that they were digging up when his helicopter lands and blows sand all over their site. So, he didn't have any respect for the process for what they were trying to accomplish. Andrea: A little bit of the note on Hammond. Michael Crichton, and I don't know how many of you read the book, but Hammond was the bad guy in the book. He was not a good guy. I mean, Michael Crichton wanted him to be considered as a dark Walt Disney. So in the movie he's whimsical, upbeat, happy, but in the book he cut corners. He blackmailed Nedry, He hired one person to take over the entire security of the whole, entire park and then he blackmailed and low-balled him, didn't actually pay him well. Of course Nedry is going to try to find a way to make more money. And then, of course, he lied about the safety of the park. But, I mean, how would the movie have gone if Hammond had been that way? I really, actually, liked Hammond in the book just because he's a good villain, but I really liked him in the movie. The kind of clueless, idealistic, optimistic person, you know? Nolan: I'm not sure why they made that change. I think it works in the movie. I don't know how it would have been had they made him that way. Andrea: It's interesting. Nolan: Yeah, I'm trying to think of why they made that choice. I don't know. It works either way. They made it work both ways. Andrea: Probably because everybody in the movie is... they're all down on the park. Nolan: Yeah, they needed someone to contrast. They need somebody rooting for the park that we want it... Andrea: We want it to work, frankly. Nolan: Right, and we're sympathetic to him and the park, and why he was doing it. Andrea: One thing that I noticed throughout this movie is the tone in the settings. There are several scenes where, when you watch again, you know nothing's going to happen, but the first time watching it, you expect something to happen. I don't know, a good example of that would be when Timmy's walking through the grass. You expect something to pounce on him from behind. So they have all these little things. I hope you're okay with this, but I'm going to move on to when when they first see the big dinosaurs. They ask how fast the dinosaurs run and Hammond says, “We clocked the T Rex at 32 miles an hour,” and Grant and Ellie are both freaking out. “You've got a T Rex? You've got a T Rex?” Right there, that's showing us the importance of the T Rex to the story. Anyway, so, again, it's showing us the importance of these creatures. We've got the buildup to the Velociraptor, which, I don't know about you, but the Velociraptor, this was the first time I'd been introduced to a Velociraptor, while everybody knows what a T Rex is. He's nodding his head. Nolan: Yes. Andrea: In case you can't see him nodding his head, he is. Nolan: Yeah, so the first scene with dinosaurs, when they see the big whatever it is with the long neck... Andrea: Brachiosaurus or brontosaurus. Nolan: Yeah, whatever. It's 20 minutes into the movie before you even see a dinosaur. Andrea: Besides the eye. Nolan: Besides the eye and the scale. Andrea: Yes, yeah. Nolan: The first thing they do is introduce you to one that's gigantic. To get that sense of scale and awe, they went for that. Andrea: That was a fantastic scene. It was thrilling the first time I saw that. Nolan: And it still looks pretty good. Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: Almost 25 years later. Andrea: Yeah, the CGI is still believable. It's pretty awesome. Nolan: And they do stuff like they show a panoramic. They turn around and you see herds of them. Andrea: Or hair-eds as Grant says. Nolan: Hair-eds. Andrea: They do grow them in hair-eds! Nolan: Trying to stifle his British accent is only partially successful. Andrea: Poor man. I hope he never hears this. Nolan: He won't. Anyway, so, yeah, so, I mean, they do delay. You know it's a dinosaur movie going into it. Jurassic Park. But they're 20 minutes into a two-hour movie before you see a friendly-ish dinosaur, let alone the predatory ones. They start off with nice ones that you see fully. They don't show you... they mention a T Rex and they mention the Velociraptors, but you haven't seen those ones yet. Andrea: That's fantastic. I mean, that's one thing that, we're going to talk about this movie, but the new Godzilla that they did awful. They would tease and tease and tease and they never fully built on that. But Jurassic Park doesn't have that problem. They tease and tease, and they put mood in there, and then they actually, really, what's the word? Fulfill or complete that. Nolan: Yeah. Andrea: Teasing. Okay, so a little bit of trivia here. Or not even trivia. As I was saying earlier, Michael Crichton's books are really long. He puts a lot of detail into them and when I was first reading them, the first time I read it, I read the whole thing, but every time after that, and I've actually read Jurassic Park 11 times. I haven't read it since I was probably 18, but I read it all growing up. All the time in high school and junior high. But, in the movie, they take that little DNA cartoon, you know, John Hammond's little cartoon guy, Mr. DNA or whatever. They condense a ton of exposition into just a very few minutes and I appreciate that. I mean, it's fascinating, but they do take quite a bit and put into a couple of minutes. Nolan: Well, it's nice that they do that as part of a ride so you feel like, don't you hate it when characters explain the plot to you? Andrea: Oh, yes, yeah. Nolan: They did it by having something that would naturally do that to you. The ride, explaining. The attraction is the explanation so that they could put it in there, like, a lot of exposition stuff. Andrea: And it's good because the characters are learning with us. So it's not, you know, it wasn't like Maid and Butler where they're telling each other... Nolan: It's actually informing the characters in the movie and us at the same time. It is very nice. Andrea: Yeah, exactly. Nolan: And this is where I get to my science rant scene. Andrea: Okay, let's hear your rant. Nolan: What we're talking about is the scene where they're sitting down in the chairs and they're watching the video and it's moving on and they see the lab. Andrea: My husband works in a lab. Nolan: I work in a lab. And then it moves on from the lab and they're mad because they want to see the lab. So they break out of the ride and go into the lab where everyone else is wearing lab coats, but them, because I guess you don't need lab coats. Andrea: And they don't stop and make them put on... Nolan: They don't stop them and throw them out like anybody would if you had to have a lab coat in that area, which you would. Just saying... Andrea: I'm nodding. Nolan: You're nodding. But that's not the part that I hate. We are introduced to a dastardly villain. Andrea: Dr. Wu. Nolan: One of the most evil men I can conceive of in science. It's not just because we know in Jurassic World, the last, most recent movie, where he's... Andrea: He's available for hire for bad things. Nolan: He's the mad scientist and we know that later. I knew he was a bad seed from this movie because he has an eraser. He has a pencil and he's erasing something on a clipboard in the lab. I cannot tell you the heresy that he is guilty of. He should be drawn and quartered for that. Pencils, just so you know, pencils are absolutely not allowed in any reputable lab, which I guess they're not. Andrea: Their lab is not. Well, you know, John maybe couldn't have afforded pens so they only have pencils. Nolan: Okay. There's a lot of rules regarding notebooks and documentation in a laboratory. You never erase. You draw a single line through your correction so that your original data is still visible and you sign and date. There is a bunch of letter codes in our lab that we use to say why we made the correction. T is a transcription error, like you just copied something down incorrectly. So if you're seen with a pencil anywhere near, even if you're a student, you get that pencil broken in front of your face. It's thrown in the garbage can. Andrea: You mean you don't get fired? Nolan: You should. If you're using it to record actual data, you would be in pretty big trouble. But there are no pencils. None allowed. Andrea: No erasing. Nolan: There is no erasing. Andrea: And he actually, Dr. Wu actually erases. Nolan: He's actually erasing. The first scene you see him in, he's got his eraser. He's erasing. On a clipboard, on his notebook. And then he does it again at the end. He's, like, talking to them while he's flaunting his pencil. It's not right. Sorry. Andrea: All right We'll go on from there. So, basically, the moral of the story is get your research right or my husband will stalk you. Nolan: This scene's also important for some other reasons. This is the first time we see a complete Velociraptor. Andrea: And it's so cute. Nolan: Yes, and that made you sympathetic. Andrea: Oh, yes. It's innocent and weak. Nolan: It shows them in a disarmed manner. Andrea: Contained and breaking out of the containment. Nolan: Exactly. And he's holding it. He's holding it and he knows that this is bad, and he's just staring at it and doesn't know what to think or... he's conflicted. Andrea: Yeah, because when Dr. Grant's holding that baby raptor, they're like, “What is this?” He says, “This is a Velociraptor.” He's like, “You bred Velociraptors?” I mean, totally again, showing us what a Velociraptor, the importance behind it. By the way, a little bit of trivia. Did you know that they've discovered red blood cells and actual soft tissue in a T Rex's bone? Nola.: Interesting. Andrea: Yeah, that happened in 2005 and they still haven't followed up with actual cloning, but I'm hoping it will happen. Nolan: You can't clone from red blood cells. They don't have nuclei. Andrea: Well, mix it with the African bullfrog. Nolan: You'd have to know what genes are missing. You can't just put genes in there. You need to know what was missing. Andrea: This is why you work in the lab and I don't. Nolan: I specifically work in a molecular biology lab. I work with viruses and not genomics, but just so you know, I don't... Andrea: But a little bit of foreshadowing from this lab scene. It's fantastic foreshadowing because they're like, “The dinosaurs are only female,” and Malcolm's very skeptical about that. So that already foreshadows to us that there's a possibility that their plans are going to go awry, basically. Nolan: Yeah, and we can talk about that scene in the future real quick if you want. They do find eggs later that have hatched and Grant's reaction is the same wonder... Andrea: Yeah. Nolan: Then, dread. Andrea: Yeah, like, “Oh, Malcolm was correct!” and then... Nolan: He's like, “Wow, eggs, they hatched, look at all the little footprints... wait a second!” Andrea: “These are Velociraptor footprints!” Nolan: He has that conflict because he studied dinosaurs his whole life, and now he sees them, and now he realizes how little he knows about them and how dangerous they really are. Because he theoretically knew. He explained to the kid in the second or third scene of the movie how it can disembowel him with this giant claw, but the reality of what he's really studying... He just has that personality conflict between the wonder of seeing... The theme music parallels that as well. Andrea: Yeah, it does. Nolan: The theme music, which we all know, is not super tense. Andrea: No, and John Williams said that he wanted to be able to encapsulate and to pull us to that feeling of wonder in the music. Nolan: It's beautiful and it's dangerous. Nature is beautiful and dangerous. Control is an illusion. The theme song and all these themes tie together. Andrea: At this point they're still not showing... then we go and feed the raptors. We only see the cow going down and then coming back up with very little blood on the... Nolan: Surprisingly little blood. Andrea: We don't see the bad dinosaurs still. They're still not showing them to us. Okay, so one thing I noticed while they're in there. I just saw my note on here. While we were watching this, Nolan was commenting on Gennaro's hairy, hairy feminine legs. Nolan: No, I wouldn't say they were feminine, but they're very hairy legs. Andrea: When we get to the scene where they're watching the Velociraptors eat, Muldoon, and my husband's like, “And his manly thighs...” Nolan: Muldoon is much manlier than the lawyer. Andrea: He is. He's also pretty cool. I really like his character. I'm ashamed of him for how he died. Nolan: He's the one that really had respect and really understood... Andrea: What was going on. Nolan: How dangerous things could be. He didn't have that illusion. He's the one character, or at least the most, who really had respect for the creatures. Andrea: He's been working with them for so long. Nolan: And it's still not enough to save him. Andrea: Exactly, and yet it's enough to save everybody else. Nolan: Not everybody. Andrea: No, not everybody. Let's see, what was my next comment going to be? Okay. So we are introduced to the kids and one thing I'm sure you've noticed is that the kids are there. They're plot devices. They try to make us care for them. We are supposed care for them. Their plot device is to bring in that the innocent character to add tension and sympathy to us so that we are even more worried because once you throw somebody in who is innocent or in a position to need to be protected, it just makes it more dangerous, more thrilling, more freaky, more scary. Nolan: I just want to make one final, Hammond gives a speech about standing in the light of discovery and just when he says that, the projector behind him is, like, shining a light halo around him. Andrea: Oh, yes. Nolan: I don't know if they did that on purpose or not, but I thought it was nice. Andrea: Nice touch. Nolan: So, before the kids arrive they're having a discussion. He's like, “Well, what do you think of my park so far?” And they're like, “You're insane. This is the worst.” Andrea: All of them. Nolan: Every single one except the bloodsucking lawyer says this is an insane idea, this is dangerous, you need to shut it down. It's too much, we can't. They understand how crazy this is. And then the kids show up. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: So that ups the ante. They say no way on earth should we be doing this. Then, the kids. Andrea: Yeah, it's more contrast again. We get more and more danger and then innocent children appear. One thing that I'd never noticed until this time when we're watching is Timmy dresses like Dr. Grant. We know that he idolizes Dr. Grant, so it makes sense. He's got the blue button up. He's wearing khaki pants. He's got a neckerchief. I had to ask my husband, “What is that called? Is that a handkerchief?” My husband googles it and he starts to look at pictures of people wearing neckerchiefs. Nolan: And ascots. Andrea: I'm gonna get to that. So we're sitting there, we are all the way, let's see what part are we at? No dinosaurs visible. They get to the T Rex paddock and my husband has finally moved on to ascots. He's looking at pictures. He says, “Look at how happy they are!” Nolan: Everyone that wears ascots look like they're having a lot of fun. Andrea: Well, you did say that some of them look like they're smoldering. Nolan: Well, they're smoldering. It's fun to have a smolder. Andrea: Anyway, so we got that nice little touch there that shows us just how much Timmy just idolizes Dr. Grant and then, of course, Dr. Grant's like, “Ugh, these kids are driving me nuts.” So that just shows the beginning of Dr. Grant's relationship and his character development because by the end, we know that the kids in the helicopter, they fall asleep on him. Nolan: So, I have similar things to say about that. During the dinosaur tour, there's no dinosaurs. But what does that show you? It shows you that they're not cooperating, even by the absence of dinosaurs. Andrea: Yes. Nolan: They're showing they cannot be controlled. They don't show up when you want them to. Eventually, there will be entirely too many dinosaurs for them. At the moment, they're like, “Okay, now we want to see dinosaurs.” There aren't any. They're not going to play ball. Andrea: So when they're by the T Rex paddock, the goat comes up and it's.. I really love this because nothing happens with the goat, but then it's foreshadowing again. It's very, very light. They leave the goat there, and the goat is revisited later in a super awesome way. Nolan: True. Okay, so Triceratops. Andrea: Yep, go ahead. Nolan: The first dinosaur they encounter up close is helpless. It's sick. It's on it's side and Ellie has single tear. Andrea: Oh, yes, the single tear. Nolan: Single tear, which if we ever do The Lord of the Rings trilogy... Andrea: There's single tears like every five minutes. Nolan: There's a flood of single tears if you can imagine. Resolve that dichotomy. Flood of single tears. That's a thing that happens. But, their first real encounter with a full grown dinosaur is one where there's a bunch of other workers around it. Ellie is trying to figure out why it's sick. Andrea: It's not dangerous. Nolan: It's not in a state where it can hurt them at all. Andrea: Okay, so back to, I guess they're back on the tour, but a little side comment about the part where Malcolm's trying to explain chaos theory to Ellie and he's like, “You put a drop of water here...” and then he's like, “And then you wipe it off. And you put a drop of water here in the same spot, it'll go down...” I tried that multiple times and I never once got it to work the way he said it would. Nolan: It's true. I've seen her. Andrea: The drop of water always follow the same path. I mean, I cheated sometimes and tried to get it to go other ways. Anyway, by the way, their awkward flirting. Did you know that the two of them ended up hooking up for, like, two years after that movie was done? Nolan: Art imitates life. Life imitates art. Andrea: Yeah, but they were so awkward together in that movie. Nolan: It's because it was genuine. Genuine, awkward flirting. Not the fake kind. Andrea: I have to laugh that Ian Malcolm was put up, Jeff Goldblum was, like, a sex symbol back then because... Nolan: Did you see him with his shirt unbuttoned? Come on, now. Andrea: Yeah, he had his shirt unbuttoned the whole movie after he got injured. Nolan: It's half unbuttoned for the first half of the movie and then all unbuttoned for the last half. Andrea: Yes, Nolan had a funny comment about the part where, and I'm jumping ahead a little bit, when the Tyrannosaurus Rex, when they find him after he's been attacked and he was like, “He somehow managed to unbutton the rest of his shirt.” Nolan: He's horribly injured, and unbuttons his shirt for his leg injury. Andrea: Yes, and then the rest the movie there's a lot of open shirt scenes. They're like, “Behold! Jeff Goldblum.” Nolan: There's a lot of memes with him lounging like that. Andrea: Yes, yes. Nolan: They have gifs of him just laying there, breathing. It's pretty great. Andrea: So a little bit when they're heading up to the Triceratops, there's little bits where they're trying to trick you into thinking something is about to happen. So, for example, Lexi falling and, was it Dr. Grant that helps her up? And how she holds his hand. Well, they kind of zoom the camera in and kind of make it feel more than it is. I know that's partly because the next little bit when Timmy's walking through the grass and the camera's following his ankles. It's just to make you feel tension that something is about to happen. It's a fantastic mood setter. Nolan: They use how they frame the shot to change the mood of the scene. Andrea: Yeah, yeah and as an author, that's something that takes a lot of practice to be able to do because you put the reader's attention on a specific aspect of the scene of the story to give it more tension. I mean, it's part of telling the story. If you take it from a different emotion or something like that, it won't be as tense. It's something that takes some practice to be able to master. Okay, so I think we're probably going to end up having to do this as a two-parter. Nolan: Yeah, I'm only one, almost one and a half, pages. This is the set in the middle of the movie. We're getting to the big happening. Andrea: The exciting parts. Nolan: Yeah. So we're only halfway through our notes and halfway through the movie. Andrea: So we can continue this. Yeah, we'll continue this later in the second episode. What you don't know is that my husband has to get up at like four o'clock am to go to work and it's bedtime now. Anyway, tune in with us next time for the next episode, when we'll continue discussing Jurassic Park and we'll see you all later. Bye. Nolan: Bye. Credits: "On My Way" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/