thoughts and opinions by author s. andrew swann
S Andrew Swann | September 22, 2010
Over at Mighty God-King we have a critique of the new series, The Event. Now, I haven’t seen the show, and from what I’ve been reading about it, I don’t have any desire to, but MGK’s post brings up some very good points that are not just applicable to series television, but to fiction generally. [...]
S Andrew Swann | September 10, 2010
I put these on Facebook, but I figured they also rated a spot on the blog.
S Andrew Swann | June 21, 2010
Back a couple of years ago I wrote about “Five Things Lost Can Teach Us About Storytelling” and I thought I’d add to that list now that the series is complete. Here’s a few more things I think Lost did well: In writing a prolonged series, keep in mind how long your plot arc is: [...]
S Andrew Swann | June 14, 2010
There’s a marvelous post over at Io9 that you really must read. It’s titled, “Inside the writers room: Top scifi TV writers reveal tricks of the trade,” but it really isn’t about genre writing, and it really isn’t about tricks of the trade. What it is, is an in-depth exploration on exactly what the working [...]
S Andrew Swann | June 2, 2010
I can see why a lot of people would hate it. But then, again, there are certainly arguments for what they did end up doing. Me, I teared up during the episode, had a bit of a WTF when Christian opened up his mouth at the end, and spent a good long time afterward thinking [...]
S Andrew Swann | October 28, 2009
It’s when the corporate stuffed shirts suddenly figure out what “hip” entails and backpedal like crazy. Short version: Microsoft attempts a advertising coup by sponsoring a sellout very special episode of Family Guy, then someone at Microsoft watches the episode, are they are shocked at the presence of (gasp) risque and off-color humor. Perhaps someone [...]
S Andrew Swann | October 27, 2009
I think the general audience for fiction, judging by current pop culture, is developing a more resilient suspension of disbelief. This occurred to me as I watched the last episode of Flashforward. Now several years ago, a series like that would place the universe changing event at some (probably indeterminate) point in the future. Major [...]
S Andrew Swann | October 8, 2009
Via the wonder of the internet, I’ve caught up with both episodes of Flashforward so far. I can say that I’m enjoying it, and I hope it avoids the fate of another similarly time-twisting series ABC tried during Lost’s absence, the show Daybreak . Like the prior effort, it has a contemporary setting using the [...]
S Andrew Swann | May 26, 2009
The long weekend allowed me to finally catch up and watch the season finale of Lost. I thought it was impressive, not only in the elaborate head-trip they managed to pull, but in the way it provides, like the last two finales, not just a wrap-up of the prior season, but as a setup for [...]
S Andrew Swann | May 12, 2009
Just caught myself up, and I am still in near awe of how meticulous Lost is with its continuity. Not just in how the writing itself doesn’t slip into the stupid contradictions that almost every TV show slips into after a few years, but how they choose to reveal stupid little things that lesser shows [...]
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