Pinky Miranda Productions

Pinky Miranda is just starting off, and in the future I’m planning several things to change about the site:

• More media: I’m going to be posting more video and more pictures as time goes on. Pictures are much more interesting than text, right? Who knows, maybe I’ll get to the point where one post is all video and pictures!
• Reviews: book reviews by me may be in your near future.
• More Rules of Thumb: I’m trying to put together a screenwriting reference section entitled ‘Rules of Thumb’ where I post my very own rules of screenwriting.

I know it’s a very short list, but it is going to be expanding along with the site.

~Rika

When done right, music videos can boost sales of the song dramatically. Remember the Viva La Vida commercial? I think the song’s success was due, in part, to that video. OK Go’s Here It Goes Again music video (on treadmills) brought them fame and glory.

Here’s 10 quick tips on creating memorable, creative music videos:

1. Use color: Have the band wear colorful clothing, decorate the sets with splashes of color, or add color in post.
2. Sync it! Make sure that the video is controlled by the rhythm of the song.
3. Keep it different: try and distance your music video from the rest. A couple creative ideas of the past include a music video in an animated paper doll style and the Pork and Beans music video spotlighting viral Youtube videos from the past.
4. Tell a story: not all videos have to tell a story, but sometimes even a loose plot can add to the video.
5. Chose your sounds: if the filming of your music video takes place in front of a busy street, it may be best to cut out the traffic sounds. Chose selective sounds, like a band member slamming a door, to keep in the final cut, but don’t include everything. Balance is important when it comes to audio- obviously you should work to showcase the song, but a few added noises can help.

~Rika

Writer’s block is always an issue. Here are some quick ways to get inspiration!

• When trying to name your main character, it’s hard to get that really great name that audiences will remember. I suggest using some sort of random name generator that comes up with first and last names based on gender. Flip through baby naming guides, family trees, anything you can get your hands on. Make sure that if you’re writing for a specific time in history that you research popular names- there probably wasn’t very many Brittanys in the medivel era.
• When trying to define your plot, you need to chose certain obstacles to put in your character’s way. Think of your own experiences, or even use a random plot points generator to help give you ideas.
• Flip through inspirational pictures or quotes that you can find on the internet.
• Listen to music.
• Draw from your own experiences

Remember, the process of screen writing is, for the most part, rewriting. Once you get through your rough draft, it’s all down hill from there.

~Rika

Anyone can write and film a sword fight. It takes creativity to film a sword fight that people care about- one that contributes to the storyline.

There are two routes screenwriters take. One kind of person writes “a car chase ensues”, and the other writes every little detail of said car chase.

Planning your action sequence helps the story seem more realistic, helps the character’s motivations become more clear to the audience, and is more entertaining. Every action scene should bring the story further, should help develop the characters.

The whole point of a story is to get you to care about the characters, right? And we care more about the main character being blown up in the car crash than if some average joe was in the same car crash, right? Character development is essential, and there is no better time than an action scene to do that.

With all that said, the action sequence should be a turning point, or a milestone at the least. It’s not the amount of the budget expended that makes it a good scene. It’s how much has changed because of that scene. If nothing changes or is revealed to the audience, then there’s no point!

Make these scenes more meaningful and you’re on your way to a better story.

-Rika

Since when has it been a natural law in the universe that all evildoers in the movies are bald?

Think back to the last movie you watched. For me, that happened to be Ironman, and in that movie there was not one, but TWO bald baddies.

Hollywood must have something against hair loss.

This is proof that no movie is unique, each is just a combination of several different ideas all mushed together and topped off with a Lex Luther or Dr. Evil.

So next time you go watch a movie, take note of the amount of hair on the character’s heads. If they have little to no hair, they’re either bad guys or good guys gone bad. (Like in Ironman with Obadiah Stane- he was bald, so we all knew he was going to turn against Tony Stark!)

-Rika

There are good movies, great movies, and movies that are just plain dumb. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 are unjustly placed in the wavering subcategory of ‘only O.K.’ and ‘boring’.

You guessed it. I’m raging my own personal war against the critics of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. I don’t comment on harsh articles about the trilogy, but you can be sure that I am silently sending thought-daggers to all those reviewers.

Now I am not some long devoted life or death kind of fan. I was dragged to the Pirates of the Caribbean 2, in fact, even though I didn’t see the first one.

Now here’s how I see it: it’s all what you compare the movies against. Pirates of the Caribbean 1 was incredible, a work of art. It easily created its own category of “Fantastic! Movies” (and trust me, a category with its own exclamation mark is pretty special). Then audiences rushed to Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and felt disappointed. Why? Because it wasn’t good as that ‘Fantastic!’ movie that they had walked into the theater remembering.

I walked out of that theater annoyed at the producers for a different reason- I’d have to wait a whole six months for the next movie.

The difference in reactions is simple; I had seen a lot of movies- all of which were worse than Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Compare it to the first one and it’s not so special, compare it to most of the movies out these days and you have a great second installment to the series.

I’d like to question all those critics out there who said that the second one was too confusing- after all, I watched the movie with no idea who these characters were and what was going on and I caught on pretty quickly. (All movies are pretty easy to figure out- just look for the bald bad guy and you’re good!)

The third one was under fire yet again because it was too complicated. What’s so complicated about a bunch of pirates going to save Jack Sparrow and then going to war? Sounds pretty easy to understand to me.

Yes, there was flaws in these movies. But it seems like Pirates of the Caribbean-bashing was about to come an official sport.

I bet half of those people calling Pirates of the Caribbean a failed series are as excited for the fourth as I am.

My advice to those critical critics? Appreciate a good movie when you see it. I know you’re getting paid (most of you) but would it hurt to be even a little positive?

-Rika