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How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

wired.com

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Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#31

Post by rvkennedy »

rsanchez1 wrote: post #20

I just see a Hollywood that ran out of ideas a long time ago and is desperate for a fresh story. The big movie pushes I've seen this year are John Carter, based on a character that first appeared a hundred years ago, and the Hunger Games, based on a book series that first appeared less than four years ago. Then I see a new Three Stooges film coming out that, among other crazy things, features an appearance of several…

Relying on literary adaptations is a symptom of Hollywood's decline from the golden age of The Maltese Falcon (1941 remake of a 1931 adaptation of a 1930 novel), Gone with the Wind (from the bestseller by Margaret Mitchell) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (way more than a hundred years old in 1938)?

The reason most Hollywood material is adapted material, is that a movie is a hell of an expensive place to try out new ideas. A book costs little to write, and takes one person to write it. And there are lots of them, succeeding, or failing, on the strength of their ideas, writing and storytelling. Cinema has never been the place to run a lot of flags up the pole and see which one the public salutes.

Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#32

Post by pbiggar »

javert wrote: post #14

With four or five ideas, Madhouse said hmm. Come on Wired, you can't use "hmm" as a noun - it at least needs quotes!! Twenty-five were immediate noes. I think that's also highly questionable. But I'm not certain. Of course, like any site that thrives on pseudonymity, Reddit attracts its share of the sick and the deluded. There’s a subreddit, MensRights, “for people who believe that men are currently being disadvantag…

It sounded to me like he meant the BeatingWomen subreddit, which I believe is not made in jest.

Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#33

Post by josephcooney »

martey wrote: post #27
josephcooney wrote: post #21

Does anyone else find it annoying/disconcerting the amount of time spent in the article describing what reddit is? If reddit truly is "one of the largest communities on the Internet" and wired is a technology magazine then is that necessary? Where do they stop? "Erwin was using a computer, kind of likea type-writer with a T.V. attached to it, probably not dis-similar to the thing you're using now to read this article…

Maybe it has to do with the fact that Reddit and Wired Magazine have the same parent company, Condé Nast? Space in the article spent promoting Reddit might cause interested readers to visit.

Excellent point, I hadn't thought of that.

Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#34

Post by wisty »

rsanchez1 wrote: post #20

I just see a Hollywood that ran out of ideas a long time ago and is desperate for a fresh story. The big movie pushes I've seen this year are John Carter, based on a character that first appeared a hundred years ago, and the Hunger Games, based on a book series that first appeared less than four years ago. Then I see a new Three Stooges film coming out that, among other crazy things, features an appearance of several…

Sequels just make more sense. They are cheaper, pull a large crowd, and help promote the franchise in general (i.e. sell more toy lightsabers and the "Special Edition box-set"). They are also more predictable - you've got a better idea of both the costs, and the audience numbers.

Hollywood has rarely had many great new ideas. Maybe a lot of good ideas get tested in TV series now. DVD sales of series are pretty big, and TV quality work is much better. You only really need movie-quality production for "awesome action scenes" now. Most TV production is good enough.

Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#35

Post by rmc »

javert wrote: post #14

With four or five ideas, Madhouse said hmm. Come on Wired, you can't use "hmm" as a noun - it at least needs quotes!! Twenty-five were immediate noes. I think that's also highly questionable. But I'm not certain. Of course, like any site that thrives on pseudonymity, Reddit attracts its share of the sick and the deluded. There’s a subreddit, MensRights, “for people who believe that men are currently being disadvantag…

Because to some people "mens rights" sounds like "white's rights", and the idea that men are now suddenly experiencing massive discrimination is about as believable as the idea that heterosexuals are now being systemiatically persecutre for the sexual orientation.

Also, for every 1 law (or societal norm) that are highly skewed against men, there are 10 that are highly skewed against women. (for "child custody law", I give you "access to contraceptives", "evidence during rape trials", "chance of suffering domestic violence", "chance of getting elected as a politician", "chance of getting appointed to a board", "chance of founding a start up", "frequency of being viewed as not a hacker/programmer", "risk of rape", "chance of being the victim of sexual aggression in the workplace", "chance of being the victim of unwanted verbal sexual attention on the street")

On average, men are still in a much more privileged position than women.

Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#37

Post by jonnathanson »

jacques_chester wrote: post #4

The brief version is: luck. The right idea was in front of the eyes of the right person at the right time. The idea is a staple of light sci-fi, but apparently has not crossed the desk of the right agents in the right mood. So: luck. Which is wildly underestimated as a cause of success.

Sure, but the hero of this story is Reddit.

In a world without Reddit, the role of luck would have been even greater. What are the odds that, had this guy simply written his ideas into a book or screenplay and tried to send it out to agents, he'd ever have gotten noticed? Or even read? Having worked in that world before, let me tell you: pretty close to zero. Absent any connections to the film world, it's almost impossible to break in.

The fact is, Reddit expanded the range of the sets "right place" and "right time." Without it, those sets would have been infinitessimals. People here like to talk of expanding one's "luck surface area," and to me, this is a perfect example of that concept.

Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#38

Post by AndrewHampton »

martey wrote: post #27
josephcooney wrote: post #21

Does anyone else find it annoying/disconcerting the amount of time spent in the article describing what reddit is? If reddit truly is "one of the largest communities on the Internet" and wired is a technology magazine then is that necessary? Where do they stop? "Erwin was using a computer, kind of likea type-writer with a T.V. attached to it, probably not dis-similar to the thing you're using now to read this article…

Maybe it has to do with the fact that Reddit and Wired Magazine have the same parent company, Condé Nast? Space in the article spent promoting Reddit might cause interested readers to visit.

A little pedantic, but Reddit isn't technically a division of Condé Nast anymore. It's now owed by Advance Publications, which also owns Condé Nast, so they're sister companies. More details here:

http://blog.reddit.com/2011/09/independence.html

Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#39

Post by ez77 »

jacques_chester wrote: post #4

The brief version is: luck. The right idea was in front of the eyes of the right person at the right time. The idea is a staple of light sci-fi, but apparently has not crossed the desk of the right agents in the right mood. So: luck. Which is wildly underestimated as a cause of success.

When we entered graduate school, the program director gave us this piece of advice:

  Success ∝ Ability * (Hard Work)^2 * Sqrt(Luck)
I think he was right.

Re: How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick

#40

Post by shareme »

rvkennedy wrote: post #31
rsanchez1 wrote: post #20

I just see a Hollywood that ran out of ideas a long time ago and is desperate for a fresh story. The big movie pushes I've seen this year are John Carter, based on a character that first appeared a hundred years ago, and the Hunger Games, based on a book series that first appeared less than four years ago. Then I see a new Three Stooges film coming out that, among other crazy things, features an appearance of several…

Relying on literary adaptations is a symptom of Hollywood's decline from the golden age of The Maltese Falcon (1941 remake of a 1931 adaptation of a 1930 novel), Gone with the Wind (from the bestseller by Margaret Mitchell) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (way more than a hundred years old in 1938)? The reason most Hollywood material is adapted material, is that a movie is a hell of an expensive place to try out new…

guess where trying out new ideas is somewhat low in costs as far as movies go? 2d Mobile Games :)
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