Mad Genius, Pt. 1

11/1/2018 11:49:27 PM,

All Saint’s Day

The Day After.

The Day Of.

The Day Before The Day After.

A 5 Day.

So, here we are looking back once more. I’m not sure where exactly tonight took the turn, but it has landed us here.

Hoagie was here earlier and we got on a WTML jag. Well, I got on the jag. The project is grabbing hold of me again. The more I look at it, review it, the more I realize just how precise it has always been. It has never been perfect, but then, it is, “a living storyboard, if you will.”

Over the years, the video segment of WTML became very important. They were never perfected. But, then, I suppose, they were never meant to be.

Hoagie and I got to talking about the characters that have developed over the years. There have been quite a few of them that have taken form. – whether they are characters along for the ride, such as Walt and Johnny, or characters from my stories, such as The Russian. So, I turned to a video that I knew had some of the characters [and their development] within.

Mad Genius has always been one of my favorite episodes. I was trying to bring everything together. I was going out on limbs and pushing limits. Looking back, I realize I didn’t quite get there. But, still, the effort shows.

I had developed the characters by this point. Of course, everyone knows Walt by now. He’s still a lil rough around the edges, but he still has his spirit. If I remember correctly this is Johnny’s second appearance. [I have to try to figure out when his first was.] The dialogue was fun to write. Difficult to perform, but fun to write.

With Mad Genius I was trying to bring together all I had toyed with to that point and at the same time set the stage for moving forward. I was using the scripted dialogue. I inserted FeedBack as an official segment. And, I even had the official ‘Intro.’

As always the episode itself needed to be broken down into smaller parts. This is more because of uploading limitations than anything else. This is nice because it gives the viewer much smaller pills to swallow, and at their own discretion. However, something is lost in the flow of things.

There are a couple of things to know about the videos. First – there is usually the same set of segments – The Prelude, The Intro, The Opening, The Body, Clips and whatever else comes in between before we reach The Closing and the Outtakes. IN a later episode, Moments of Freedom, I actually make the effort to mark them out, giving the viewer almost a legend to following along.

Second – always included in the description of the video is a section titled, In This Episode. This is like a key to that particular video. It always marks the moment I deem significant…or sometimes easy to follow. I mean, I do always want you to know where you are.

These sections can seem very vague, but they are actually very telling. I suppose they are like guideposts, marking the place in time in the video itself. For instance, in this one, under In This Episode, ‘Inspiration’ takes place around 5:44. It may seem random and unimportant. Nothing is actually said. The viewer merely sees the moment happen. It is the inspiration for the 3 way dialogue between our main characters.

Admittedly, The Intro is a bit too long. What can I say? I liked the song and found it difficult to cut it at any one point.

There are certainly times when things drag on a bit. When you might think you have lost total interest. But, I promise you, if you stay tuned and suffer through, there is plenty of information and fun to be had along the way.