A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Photo Illustration by Lukas Bieri via Pixabay “The script is what you’ve dreamed up– this is what it should be. The film is what you end up with.” – George Lucas Well, as I reported yesterday, Ronnie and the Pursuit of the Elusive Bliss has entered the last stages of post-production. Up in New York City, my friend and creative partner, Juan Carlos Hernandez and his wife Adria K. Woomer-Hernandez are putting what we hope are the finishing touches on the comedy-drama that I conceived and wrote for their Popcorn Sky Productions, in different iterations, between late spring and early fall of 2019. We had hoped to make it during the summer, but Juan, Adria, and their son Anthony were only able to start principal photography a few weeks ago. As a result, the film that I wrote with the title  Happy Days Are Here Again as a 21st Century tip of the hat to Norman Lear's topical comedies of the 1970s (especially All in the Family and Maude ) morphed into a M*A*S*H- like dark comedy

Habemus Titulum! Photo Credit: Juan Carlos Hernandez. © 2020 Popcorn Sky Productions Hi, there, Dear Reader, and welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the no-reviews, no-politics section of A Certain Point of View where I talk about writing, random stuff that crosses my mind, and other things that don't fall into the reviews or politics categories. It's Tuesday, February 3, 2020, and as I write this it's pretty late in the afternoon. If I were working at an office on a 9-5 schedule, I'd be less than an hour away from my daily "going home from work" time. Presently, the temperature in my nook of Florida is 74℉ (23℃) under mostly sunny skies, and that was the forecast "high" for the day. The low tonight is expected to dip to 49℉ (9℃), and as the week progresses, we'll be experiencing a warming trend as the temperatures begin to rise up to more Florida-like levels. Well, it looks as though the second complete screenplay that I

Image by Lukas Bieri, courtesy of Pixabay Well, hello again, dear friends and Constant Readers! Welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the no-reviews, no-politics zone of A Certain Point of View. It's Sunday, February 2, 2020, and as I write this, it's early afternoon in my corner of the Sunshine State. Presently, the temperature in the area is 62℉ (17℃) under sunny skies. According to the local forecast, this is as warm as it will get; the low tonight will reach 46℉ (8℃), but unless I go out for a walk and somehow get locked out, I don't have to worry about that. As you can see from the post's title, I received another text from my filmmaking partner Juan Carlos Hernandez about the progress of our comedy-drama. Today, Juan and his wife Adria K. Woomer-Hernandez are busy doing ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement) work, which is recording the actors' voice performances and editing them seamlessly into the digital video. This technique is also called loo

Photo Illustration: Pixabay Hi, there, Constant Reader, and welcome once again to Bloggin' On, the no-reviews, no-politics space of  A Certain Point of View. It's Saturday afternoon in my corner of Florida, and as I look out my study's window, it's a grey and somber day. Presently, the temperature outside is 64℉ (18℃) under mostly cloudy skies. That's not too bad; it reminds me of late fall in Sevilla (Seville), Spain when I was a participant in the College Consortium for International Studies' Semester in Spain program almost 32 years ago. However, I was hoping to go out on the front porch, a book in one hand and my Amazon Fire tablet in the other, to get a bit of fresh air and sun while reading for a bit. If it was sunny I'd still try to do that now, but the skies are dark and the sunlight is thin and dim, so I think I'll just stay in my cozy study. Juan Carlos Hernandez, my friend from high school and the actor-director with whom I collaborate a

Hi, Dear Reader, and welcome to another installment of Bloggin' On, the blog-within-a-blog where I don't write reviews (at least, not full-blown ones) or delve into politics. Think of this section of A Certain Point of View as the department of "stuff" or "miscellaneous essays" touted on the blog's home page. Well, I usually write my blog posts in the morning, but I'm off to a late start today. Right now, it's mid-afternoon here in my corner of Florida; the temperature outside is 65℉ (19℃) under partly sunny skies, which isn't too bad, all things considered. It's nice and cool without being bone-chillingly cold, although it is advisable to wear long-sleeved button-downs or light jackets if you're going to venture outside (I hardly ever do, although I should) on days like this. If I do decide to go out for a stroll, I need to do it before the sun sets; as the day's light dies and gives way to night, the temperature will dr

Illustration Credit: Pixabay Hello there! Welcome to another installment of Bloggin' On , my blog-within-a-blog where I don't write reviews or dabble with political commentary. It's early afternoon on this Monday in my little corner of Florida, and the weather outside isn't frightful; the current temperature is 66℉ (19℃) under cloudy skies, and the low tonight is expected to reach 55℉ (13℃). It was supposed to rain this morning, but there's no evidence outside that any precipitation fell here, so that part of the forecast was off. My friend and filmmaking partner Juan Carlos Hernandez updated me over the weekend about the progress of our film Ronnie and Her Two Nincompoops. (That's the working title Juan chose; I don't know what he and our producer - and Juan's wife - Adria K. Woomer-Hernandez will choose.) The "shooting" (principal photography) phase is over, now Juan, Adria, and their son Anthony are doing post-production work: editing,

Portrait of the Screenwriter As a Young Man, circa 1986. (Photo Credit: Peter C. Townsend) Hello, there, Constant Reader, and welcome once again to Bloggin' On, the blog-within-a-blog section of A Certain Point of View where I don't "do" reviews or the occasional bit of political commentary. It's Wednesday, January 22, 2020, although because it was a three-day weekend due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, it feels oddly like it's Tuesday...and a spectacularly cold Tuesday at that. Right now (it's mid-morning as I write this) the temperature outside is 36℉ (3℃) under sunny skies, although the wind chill lowers the feels-like temperature to the freezing point. The temperature will rise a bit as the hours pass; the forecast calls for a high of 60℉ (16℃) and some cloudiness, but overall, by Florida standards, it's going to be  c-c-c-cold out there. Yesterday I got (via text) an update on our comedy film project from actor-director Juan Car

My current "author's photo" as it appears on my Amazon author's page and the back cover of Reunion: A Story. I need a more "writer-like" picture, though. Photo Credit: L.C.H.  Well, hello there, Constant Reader, and welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the blog-within-a-blog section of A Certain Point of View where I write no reviews nor political commentary and just chat about life, the Universe, and almost anything that interests me (besides writing reviews or talking about today's toxic political environment, that is). Today is Sunday, January 19, and it is a gray, gloomy morning here in my corner of Florida. Presently, the temperature outside is 72℉ (22℃) under partly sunny skies (although over our house, it's cloudier than it is sunny). Per the forecast on my Weather app, we can expect rain and maybe a few thunderstorms in the evening, and the temperature is expected to drop to 45℉ (7℃) in the evening hours. (Hmm. Sounds like a

Screenshot from Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 showing dialogue from Happy Days Are Here Again. © 2019 Alex Diaz-Granados Hey, there, Constant Reader! Welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the no-reviews, no-politics zone of A Certain Point of View where I talk about (or, if you're literal about such things, write about ) topics that do not fit neatly into those categories. Today is Friday, January 17, 2020, which by coincidence is the 29th anniversary of the start of Operation Desert Storm (the U.S.-led military campaign to liberate Kuwait from its Iraqi occupation) back in 1991. It's already early afternoon here in my corner of Florida, and it's a nice day outside. Presently the temperature is a mild 77℉ (25℃) under mostly sunny skies; the forecast for the area says that's as warm as it will get today, and the low is expected to reach 62℉ (17℃). For those of you who are following the progress of Happy Days Are Here Again, Juan told me yesterday that he

My current author's photo as it appears on the back cover of Reunion: A Story.  Hi, there, Dear Reader! Welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the blog-within-a-blog feature where I don't review anything or inject any politics and just write about life, the Universe, and (almost) everything else. Today is Wednesday, January 15, 2020, and as I start writing this post, it's not quite noon in my small corner of Florida. Presently the temperature outside is 80℉ (26℃) under partly sunny skies. The forecast for the area calls for a high of 82℉ (28℃) and no change in the cloud/sun mix, while the low tonight is expected to reach 63℉ (17℃) under mostly clear conditions. Well, yesterday Juan Carlos Hernandez, the New York-based actor-director who sometimes asks me to write screenplays for his Popcorn Skies Productions company and long-time friend (from our days as drama students at South Miami High), texted me a short update on our new film, Happy Days Are Here Aga

© 2013 Great Voices Film Company and CDK Films/CDK Productions Hi, there, Constant Reader, and welcome to another edition of Bloggin' On, the reviews-and-politics free zone of A Certain Point of View where I talk about this, that, and the other things in life. Today is Thursday, January 9, 2020, and as I write this in my corner of Florida it's a cloudy early winter morning. Right now, the temperature outside is 64℉ (18℃) under mostly cloudy skies. We're beginning a warming trend: the high for today is expected to reach 76℉ (24℃), while the rest of the day might be a bit less gray and somewhat sunnier. According to the latest information from the U.S. Postal Service, my Blu-ray of Great Voices Sing John Denver will be arriving sometime between 1 and 3 PM today. It was shipped from Los Angeles late last week, and it reached this section of the Sunshine State late Tuesday night. Because the main distribution center is nearly 25 miles away, and because it handles man

Photo Credit: Pixabay Hello and welcome once again to Bloggin' On, the blog-within-a-blog section of A Certain Point of View where I don't do either reviews or political commentary. It's Wednesday, January 8, 2020, and it's morning here in my corner of Florida. It's a cool morning; the temperature outside is 52℉ (11℃) under partly sunny skies. The forecast for today calls for a high of 66℉ (19℃) and partly sunny skies; the temperature will probably drop tonight to 51℉ (10℃) with no precipitation. According to one of our local TV stations, this will be our last cold day this week because a warming trend starts tomorrow. Well, Happy Days Are Here Again just finished principal photography; most of the acting-heavy scenes have been shot, especially those involving Anthony Hernandez and his father, actor-director Juan Carlos Hernandez. Anthony is available only for a short time because he has to go back to college soon, so (per what Juan tells me) all of his scene

Screenshot from Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 with a page from A Simple Ad. (Photo Credit: Alex Diaz-Granados. ©2019 Alex Diaz-Granados) Hello and welcome once again to another edition of Bloggin' On , the blog-within-a-blog where I post stuff that doesn't fall under the reviews-or-political commentary content categories of A Certain Point of View. I'm glad to see that you're reading and I hope that you are enjoying my blog. Right now it's early evening in my corner of Florida; right now it's 66℉ (19℃) under cloudy skies. A line of thunderstorms and strong rain showers passed through the area earlier, so our outing to rewatch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was canceled and we stayed home instead. My Significant Other has been busy doing household chores while I - at her suggestion - took most of today off to, as she says, "sloth." Rainy days almost always sap the energy out of me, so I didn't argue and sat on the couch in the common room and

Hello, everyone! It's Friday, January 3, 2020, and the first weekend of the new year (and new decade) is nearly upon us. In my corner of Florida, it's almost noon, and it's another cool early winter day. Right now the temperature outside is 78℉ (26℃) under mostly cloudy skies, so the light that strains to stream through the window is dim and gray. The high for today is expected to reach 83℉ (28℃) when the clouds recede later, and the forecast says the afternoon weather is going to be almost summer-like. Well, for those of you who are wondering whatever happened to Happy Days Are Here Again, a screenplay I wrote last year for Popcorn Sky Productions, I have an update. My friend Juan Carlos Hernandez, who I met when I signed up for Drama I at South Miami High School in my senior year there, texted me earlier this week and said that he and his team (actress-producer Adria K. Woomer-Hernandez and their son Anthony "A.J." Hernandez) started filming Happy Days Are

Image by  Lukas Bieri  from  Pixabay   I was going to take the rest of Sunday off, but I received a series of encouraging texts from my New York City-based collaborator and friend, Juan Carlos Hernandez, about my recently-completed screenplay for Happy Days Are Here Again.  Juan and I have been working on our most ambitious collaboration to date since he and his wife Adria completed the post-production phase of A Simple Ad in May. As I've said in previous posts, Juan had originally asked me for a comedy rather than what he got in A Simple Ad, which was a brief but poignant rumination about loss and grief. And although Juan and Adria liked the script well enough to devote time and effort into making it into a short film, they still wanted a comedy script from me. This time, though, Juan wanted a longer, more elaborate screen story that included a part for his son Anthony, who is studying drama in college up in New York State. I eventually settled on a situation comedy-

Photo Credit: Pixabay I could be just a writer very easily. I am not a writer. I am a screenwriter, which is half a filmmaker. … But it is not an art form, because screenplays are not works of art. They are invitations to others to collaborate on a work of art. – Paul Schrader After a couple of days of anxious waiting, I finally heard from my friend and writing partner, actor-director Juan Carlos Hernandez, about the revised screenplay for Happy Days Are Here Again.  Juan sent me a couple of texts yesterday; they were not very long or detailed. but overall they were rather encouraging. Basically, he said that he had spent several days breaking the script down to determine how to best interpret it. At first, he had a bit of difficulty trying to understand the third act, but he added that after a second read-through, "I finally got it." I don’t think screenplay writing is the same as writing — I mean, I think it’s blueprinting. – Robert Altman Juan is a guy of few

Map of Cuba. (Credit: Wikipedia) “Film’s thought of as a director’s medium because the director creates the end product that appears on the screen. It’s that stupid auteur theory again, that the director is the author of the film. But what does the director shoot—the telephone book? Writers became much more important when sound came in, but they’ve had to put up a valiant fight to get the credit they deserve.” – Billy Wilder This week has been a busy one for me; since Monday, my focus has been on making revisions to my second original screenplay of 2019, a comedy-drama titled Happy Days Are Here Again. Happy Days Are Here Again is a project that I started working on almost as soon as my filmmaking partners Juan Carlos Hernandez and Adria K. Woomer-Hernandez finished post-production on my first produced short, A Simple Ad. As with that project, Happy Days Are Here Again (no relation to the 1970s-era sitcom) began as a request for a comedy script; however, A Simple Ad ended up be