In 2004, I was living in North Hollywood, California, the "NoHo arts district,"
and my soon-to-be-wife was teaching English at North Hollywood High. I had been
working on and off as a boom operator on various low budget movies since 2000,
but the lulls between jobs were getting longer, and I needed something "serious"
to do that would leave me free to work on movies when I could, and justify my
argument that I shouldn't be getting a nine-to-fiver myself when I couldn't.
So I started this website, The Frantic Flicker, pimped it a little in various
places, and started sending out this weekly e-mail newsletter for free to anyone
who signed up for it. The idea was simple and interesting, if not altogether
brilliant: I would write original stories with the same TITLE as movies that had just
come out on DVD, and then try to get you to buy (mostly movie-related) stuff
through my website. In practice, I enjoyed writing the stories, but rarely tried very
hard to get anyone to buy anything, and I'm not sure anyone ever really did.
A typical issue of the Frantic Flicker would contain an introduction to the week's
topic, talk about why I liked a particular director or genre, and set up the story.
Next came the story itself. Since I wrote a story a week, they were all effectively
first drafts, but a bunch of them are still really good. After the story came a little
column called "All You Have to Do is Ask" where I'd make up a ridiculous answer to
any question I was asked. Then for the "Superatomic Giveaway of the Week," I'd
give something away, usually a DVD, to a random person who emailed me a
sentence using a secret word I revealed.
This was a fun project to do, and I learned a lot from doing it, namely that
once you get into the habit, you can write a short story a week without much
trouble. I did these pretty much weekly from January to August of 2004, then
stopped when I started working as a temp, I think. I know Angelique & I were
getting married in Vegas in November that year, so money was extra tight. Art
and commerce. Someday I'll figure out how to put those two together.
A note: if you're going to read some of these, please don't start at the beginning. The later
issues are generally better than the earlier ones, and the first couple of stories in particular
are not as good as I'd like.
and my soon-to-be-wife was teaching English at North Hollywood High. I had been
working on and off as a boom operator on various low budget movies since 2000,
but the lulls between jobs were getting longer, and I needed something "serious"
to do that would leave me free to work on movies when I could, and justify my
argument that I shouldn't be getting a nine-to-fiver myself when I couldn't.
So I started this website, The Frantic Flicker, pimped it a little in various
places, and started sending out this weekly e-mail newsletter for free to anyone
who signed up for it. The idea was simple and interesting, if not altogether
brilliant: I would write original stories with the same TITLE as movies that had just
come out on DVD, and then try to get you to buy (mostly movie-related) stuff
through my website. In practice, I enjoyed writing the stories, but rarely tried very
hard to get anyone to buy anything, and I'm not sure anyone ever really did.
A typical issue of the Frantic Flicker would contain an introduction to the week's
topic, talk about why I liked a particular director or genre, and set up the story.
Next came the story itself. Since I wrote a story a week, they were all effectively
first drafts, but a bunch of them are still really good. After the story came a little
column called "All You Have to Do is Ask" where I'd make up a ridiculous answer to
any question I was asked. Then for the "Superatomic Giveaway of the Week," I'd
give something away, usually a DVD, to a random person who emailed me a
sentence using a secret word I revealed.
This was a fun project to do, and I learned a lot from doing it, namely that
once you get into the habit, you can write a short story a week without much
trouble. I did these pretty much weekly from January to August of 2004, then
stopped when I started working as a temp, I think. I know Angelique & I were
getting married in Vegas in November that year, so money was extra tight. Art
and commerce. Someday I'll figure out how to put those two together.
A note: if you're going to read some of these, please don't start at the beginning. The later
issues are generally better than the earlier ones, and the first couple of stories in particular
are not as good as I'd like.
| Copyright 2004 Eric Henderson. |
The Frantic Flicker its own self:
The reason this site is called The Frantic Flicker
The reason this site is called The Frantic Flicker
Produced Weekly for Your Enjoyment: (scroll down for archive)