Nick Sagan Online

Why We Fight

Nick-the-novelist continues to work away, but for the past few days Nick-the-screenwriter has been on strike.  I'm sure this strike is going to hurt a lot of people before it's over, but it's for a good cause, and I'm proud to stand in solidarity with my fellow TV and film writers.  If you haven't seen it already, here's a handy YouTube primer on the issues of the strike, what's at stake, and what the WGA is fighting for.

Film 383: Screenwriting

Open up the Cornell University course catalog for Spring 2007 and here's a class you'll find...

FILM 383 Screenwriting
Spring. 4 credits. TR 2:30-4:25 CT 124 Limited to 12 students. Prerequisite: Completed application and permission of instructor. Students must go to 225 Schwartz to pick up application. N. Sagan

Yes, starting next month, I'm Mr. Chips. The Cornell film department was looking for a new screenwriting instructor and a friend of a friend thought I'd be perfect for it. And I decided what the heck, I'll apply for the spot. One interview later, I'm on the faculty.

I've guest lectured at colleges before, but this will be the first time I've taught my own class. Brand new experience! It could be a lot of fun, and I like the idea of giving back; teaching strikes me as a good way to honor the instructors who nurtured and inspired my craft.

On the other hand, will this interfere with my writing? That was my concern about taking the job, and I have to admit I'm juggling a lot these days. But a few hours a week isn't going to break me, and I suspect the time spent talking about the process might even help me past writer's block when I encounter it. Hope so, at least, and I'm looking forward to finding out.

Weirdly, the child part of my brain is having an identity crisis because it's convinced the universe only has one Professor Sagan who teaches at Cornell: my father. And now these adults are giving me an office, access to the faculty lounge, and even a cornell.edu email address. What's up with that?

Ultraviolent Adaptations

Violent videogames make me happy. I can't explain why exactly, but I remember spending vast amounts of time playing Mortal Kombat II back in the day, making one set of pixels do horribly unpleasant things to another set of pixels. Combine this love with my love of movies, and I'm quite the happy camper...

I'm not at E3 this year, but I've been following a little of IGN's coverage, and three games have captured my curiosity. This is largely due to how notoriously bloody the movies they're based on are--I'm very interested to see how the developers adapt the source material. And these are three films that happen to be on many critics' best lists. We've got Tarantino, De Palma and Spielberg in play...

Reservoir Dogs is touted as a counterpart to the movie--we've seen the planning of the heist and the aftermath, but not the heist itself. Here's a chance to do the crime as the character of your choice (Mr. Blonde, Mr. Brown, Mr. Pink, etc.) Mostly a shooter with some driving gameplay thrown in, which only makes sense for a heist.

The hostage taking strikes me as an interesting game dynamic:

If you want, you can make it through the entire game without killing a soul - very professional for a thief. This will require you to use some other game mechanics such as intimidation and hostages. You can take a hostage and hold them for when the cops come in. If the cops don't immediately put their guns down, slamming your hostage's face into a table or through a window might do the trick.

Next up is Scarface, which will doubtless cause thousands of gamers to yell, "Say hello to my little friend" at their TVs in terrible Cuban accents. It's another shooter augmented with driving, but this one apparently allows you to "gain balls."

Starting out with Tony blasting away at baddies in his mansion like at the end of the movie, the demo went on to detail the balls and blind rage modes, front management features, and some brief driving sequences. As you shoot foes and drive dangerously in Scarface, you'll gain balls, which fills up a meter in the bottom right of your screen. When maxed out, you can initiate blind rage mode, which switches you from third to first person perspective, regenerates your health, and gives you unlimited ammunition to wipe out anyone around.

Finally, there's Jaws, which is neither a shooter nor a driver. It's a snacker. You play the shark.

Though Jaws can blindly bite whoever's in his path, he's also capable of more precise feasting. Not only is Jaws capable of targeting specific enemies, but also specific parts of enemies. Chomping down on a hand, foot, or leg will result in a severely maimed but still living enemy. You'll need to be aware of what state of disrepair enemies are in after you've feasted, lest you get hit with an unexpected harpoon.

Now I don't know if I'll purchase these games, but I'll definitely check them out. If only someone would adapt Stanley Kubrick's movies. A Clockwork Orange game, anyone? Full Metal Jacket? Dr. Strangelove? I'd buy those in a heartbeat.

Thoughts From Heathrow

I'm writing this blog entry from a "HotSpot" Wi-Fi access section of Heathrow Airport. The flight from Philadelphia wasn't too bad; I'm a bit rumpled but not worse for wear. In the window I have before I must catch my connecting flight to Lisbon, I thought I'd share a few things:

1.) Hollywood movies on intercontinental British Airways flights don't appear to be edited. That's a refreshing change from domestic U.S. flights which tend to censor and reedit everything. Apparently, the flight back will be showing Wedding Crashers; I've heard that's worth seeing, and it will be nice to see it in its entirety.

2.) Heathrow is impressive and absolutely huge.

3.) I've found three WH Smith shops here in Terminal A, and they all had Idlewild and/or Edenborn in stock. That's always a treat for me, because I never expect to find my books in airports. The selection is usually far smaller, so it's never certain that you'll make the cut. It's an especially gratifying feeling for me to have copies here, because in the years after my parents separated, I spent many trips flying back and forth between Ithaca and Los Angeles as an unaccompanied minor, and the saving grace for those long flights came from whatever I happened to find at the airport bookstore.

4.) The iPod is ideal for long flights.

5.) Today would have been my father's 71st birthday. That's really not that old, 71. Seems like he should be here. I've been a bit down over the past 24 hours or so, and I'd assumed it was stress from the rigors of travel, but of course it's just me missing my dad. November 9th usually doesn't sneak up on me like this. In a way, it's very good that I'm on this trip; it's something active I can do to fight the wistful feeling. By the time I reach Lisbon, I should be considerably less blue.