Category: Media

The Great Hollywood Disruption

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

From the buzz I continue to monitor coming out of the tech community, it seems clear that Hollywood may be about to be “Moneyballed” in the sense that a basic human element of the industry — writing — may be turned into a technology issue.

And while I totally support the current Hollywood writers’ strike, if it goes on as long as it probably needs to, the risk that studio executives will simply turn to AI to write very formulaic scripts will increase significantly. Given that at the moment you can’t copyright something done by AI, it’s possible that Hollywood bigwigs will begin to lobby Congress to change that particular situation.

All that has to happen is one AI generated script be produced and it be a success for the whole Hollywood creative ecosystem to be upended. Remember, the vast majority of Hollywood entertainment is formulaic, stale and, well, bad. So the first people to feel the pinch of any AI writing revolution would be hacks who have no talent to begin with.

I still think that once this entire process is complete that live theatre may return to a popularity it’s not seen since…the rise of movies. It could be that when 99% of all recorded entertainment is AI generated that audiences will want to return to the comfort of live entertainment that will have a human touch that our new bot overlords will not be able to provide.

It’s at least a possibility, I suppose.

It just seems to me that Hollywood as we currently know it functions on some very antiquated assumptions. Once LLMs are able to generate content that is just good enough to be watchable, then, that’s it, the revolution will be here and the entire Hollywood economy will be disrupted.

Day 32: Take It To The Limit

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Today has been a very productive day in more ways that one. I started the day by writing some scenes, then did some editing and then wrapped things up by figuring out a tentative sequence of scenes in the third act.

It helps that I have a lot of different things I can work on at any particular moment so it’s not as easy to grow bored or frustrated. I’m still on track to have enough slack in the chronology that I can edit the entire second draft a few times before I finally print it out and start handing it to people.

I really want to hand the second draft to people as often as practical because I feel a physical hand off gives the event more weight. At least, that’s the plan. Once I’m in the Beta Reader process, I’m going to start work on another novel of some sort, so I keep that momentum going.

I’ve been giving writing a screenplay a lot of thought, but…I also realize I’m just too old to successfully pull of that particular hat trick. Though, if I wrote a break out first novel, that might be enough to allow me overcome basic Hollywood ageism on that front.

Though, of course, it could be that by the time I am a published author — if that ever happens — that the very idea of being a professional writer of anything will have been totally revolutionized.

I try not to think about that.

Anyway, it’s fun to think that soon I’ll be in a totally different stage of this process.

I Don’t Know What ByteDance is Up To With Tik-Tok, But Something Curious Continues To Go On

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Ok, it’s completely bonkers to propose that CCP-avilated ByteDance might be able to read the minds of Americans via Tik-Tok. I get it. I sound like a crazy person. But how do you explain this: my teeth have been sore recently for some reason.

And, lo and behold, today I got pushed a video that had to deal with someone’s teeth hurting.

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. Given my age, etc, then the algorithm simply is guessing that someone in my demographic might have teeth issues.

Still curious, though.

2023 Met Gala Looks: Dua Lipa

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Dua Lipa is a real stunner. I’m impressed with how beautiful she looks in this outfit. Her long raven hair really pops relative to the white of the dress. The thing about Ms. Lipa is she is, in general, just a stunning subject. She looks good in pretty much everything and she just gets better looking.

2023 Met Gala Looks: Cara Delevingne

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I feel for Cara Delevingne because she’s bonkers like me, if even if her style of being bonkers is a bit more self-destructive than my type. But the looks I’ve seen of her from tonight’s 2023 Met Gala are really good.

I’m just a rando, but I just eyeballing what I see, Ms. Delevingne did a great job. She’s an amazing subject just in general and she came to serve tonight. She definitely has a timeless beauty to her.

There’s a reason why they pay her the big bucks, as they say.

2023 Met Gala Looks: Alexa Chung

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Please understand where I’m coming from — I’m bored and feel like letting off some steam by writing about the 2023 Met Gala because it’s value free content. So, please don’t get too worked up.

This is Alexa Chung tonight. For those of you playing the home game, you’ll know I’ve had something of a celebrity crush on Ms. Chung for some time now. I’m no fashion expert, so, please ignore my opinion, but I not impressed with this look on her.

Ms. Chung is a very attractive woman, but this outfit does her no favors. But I am just a broke ass rube living in the the middle of nowhere. So, lulz. I’m sure I’m missing something. I’m sure that in the eyes of high fashion this outfit is great.

Seeing Ms. Chung in this picture reminds me that we’re all getting older, especially me.

Could The Hollywood Writers’ Strike Be The Tipping Point That Sparks The AI Generated Writing Revolution?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m all for Hollywood writers getting a better deal from the studios, but to get that is probably going to require some industry-wide pain. The thing I’m worried about is that if the writers’ strike lingers longer than any of us might otherwise expect, there is a possibility that, lulz, AI-generated scripts could fill the gap.

Technology usually advances dramatically in times of crisis, so it’s reasonable to assume that it’s possible that if we find ourselves in month three or four of a strike that the major studios, in desperation, will turn to ChatGPT and other similar LLMs to write scripts.

And, remember, the vast majority of TV and movie scripts…suck. They’re formulaic and horrible and yet because of the economics of the industry they get produced. So, it’s very possible that there will at least be some experimentation in AI generated scripts.

That’s how progress happens in abrupt, unexpected ways, shit like a lingering strike. So, it will be interesting to see how things work out.

I’m of the opinion that given the capitalist imperative that Hollywood as we know it is careening towards an astonishing revolution. It’s just a matter of if it’s within five years or 10 years. The longer the writers’ strike lasts, the more likely that we’ll wake up in late 2024 to most of scripted entertainment being done without the benefit of ANY human writers.

I do think, however, that if such a nightmare happened, that we would see a significant increase in the popularity of live theatre.

Day 31: Bbali, Bbali

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

At day 31 of my final push to finish the second draft of this novel, I’m feeling pretty good. It’s at least possible that I may even have some slack in my projected chronology to the point that I can go through the entire draft a few times before I hand it over to other people to stress test.

So, in a sense, my ability to control the process is going to be reduced because I need other people to cooperate. And given that I have no friends and no one likes me, my ability to get someone to not only agree to read the novel, but to finish it and give me good input is probably pretty limited.

They say, of course, that if you want people to beta read for you, YOU have to be a beta reader. I’m totally prepared to do that, of course, but I probably need to get back into the habit of reading just in general so I can transition into reading other people’s second drafts a lot easier.

As it stands, I really struggle reading anything that I haven’t written.

At the moment, I have a series of scene summaries written out that I SHOULD be able to simply go through one by one and find myself at the mid-point. Once I’m at the mid-point I hope — HOPE — things will go even faster. I probably am going to do a once over on the “Fun & Games” part of the novel before I push forward into the second half of the novel.

But, in general, I’m very pleased with what I’ve managed to come up with. I feel like I’ve finally gotten my writing to something akin to professional. I feel that once I edit the second draft a few times, that by the time I hand the beta draft over to readers that they will be reading a novel that is equal to something they might find in the bookstore.

That, at least, that’s the goal.

If nothing else, the story I’ve come up with is really interesting and I could see if people really like it that I will have a base of support for the next novel in the series. But a lot — A LOT — could go wrong that will if not squash all my hard work, at least dramatically change the context in which it’s done.

But, anyway. As I keep saying, you have to work on what you do know, not on what you don’t know.

Magical Mystery Webstats

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I am completely consumed with studying my Webstats. This blog gets very, very few views a day and, in general, I’m just another rando drunk Internet crank. As such, for ANYONE to look at this blog for ANY reason gives me pause for thought.

Of late, I’ve been getting a trickle of traffic surrounding John Mulaney and his ex-wife’s struggles. I haven’t seen his latest special all the way through yet, so it’s doubtful he may any direct mention to the stuff I wrote about. It could be that people are just interested in what happened between he and his wronged ex-wife and so they endup at this dark corner of the Web.

Meanwhile, someone from Washington D.C. showed up in my Webstats this evening and they made a beeline to the posts of January 2021, which makes me think maybe they were curious about what I may have written about January 6th. Then they went back to the first month this blog was in existence. Very interesting and intriguing. The only reason why I even bring any of this is up is I’m a nobody and ANYONE giving my writing ANY interest for ANY reason is a big deal to me at this point in my life.

This is all very flattering unless it’s not. It’s flattering if some third party in the nattering nabobs of negativism class has made note of my political rantings here. It’s NOT flattering if, like, the FBI or NSA is aware of my existence and is keeping tabs on me.

Then there continues to be that one person in California who is fucking obsessed with me for some reason. I find this persons interest in everything I write starling because I’m just not that interesting. If Annie Shapiro was still alive, I would assume it was her, fucking with me. (She was known to do shit like that.)

Taylor Swift: A Modern Day Lesley Gore?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Let me be clear, despite all the breathless speculation on the part of any number of Swifties on Tik-Tok, I’m just not willing to take seriously the idea that Taylor Swift is some sort of modern day Lesley Gore.

Gore, as you my recall, was a huge ‘mo back in the Bad Old Days. She had a brief, spectacular career in the 60s.

Before I continue, I’m not any sort of Tay-Tay superfan, so I’m going to just give you what I know off the top of my head. This whole subject just isn’t that important to me.

Here goes nothing.

My current theory of the case is, given the available lyterical evidence, it’s reasonable to assume that it’s at least possible that Tay-Tay is “queer.” She’s not gay, but she has, on occasion, fooled around women and formed significant emotional bonds with these women that she has, in turn, written about.

Tay-Tay, being a heartfelt artist, uses these feelings to power her art. The reason why Tay-Tay keeps what’s going on so oblique and obscure is she wants be just another high powered, wealthy member of the elite who fucks who she wants to fuck without 10,000 word think pieces in The New Yorker about “What Does It All Mean That America’s Sweetheart is Gay?”

I don’t think we Poors properly understand how blase and accepted same-sex relationships — especially between women — are among the Elites. To even make note of it is gouache. As such, I suspect that within her small circle of friends, her “Squad” if you will, her bi-sexual proclivities are well known and never spoken of.

I will note a few things from Tay-Tay’s lyrics. One, it definitely SEEMS as though the song “Dress” is written about her wanting to fuck a woman — probably Karlie Kloss if I have my sequence of events right. Also, it is very interesting that Tay-Tay would make reference to “Lavender Haze” when the term “Lavender Aunt” is well-known euphemism for a gay aunt.

Very curious.

So, I think what’s going on is the whole “Gaylor” issue comes from a “lost in translation” situation between the Elites and the Poors. We rubes want to ascribe to Tay-Tay some of the meta elements of her potentially sleeping with the occasional woman which simply aren’t really applicable. There’s no deeper political or cultural element to what’s going on with her and women. She’s just a wealthy, culturally powerful woman who, on occasion, shares her bed with a person of the same sex.

If it’s even happening.