Sleight of Hand
Fri, Dec 11 2009 12:32 PM
| Shameful Self-Promotion
| Permalink
I hate it when writers who write about writing resort to forced, labored, pretentious analogies to illuminate the mysteries of the craft. Whenever I read something like, “Writing, when you think about it, is as delicate and sacred a process as butter-churning,” I picture that poor bastard of a simile shackled at the ankles and marching across a rice field in southern Louisiana, a fat guard on a horse poking him (the simile) along with the barrel of a 16-gauge shotgun.
So I won’t, as a way to introduce the Gutshot Straight video book trailer, tell you that writing, when you think about it, is a lot like magic – an alchemical concoction of timing, misdirection, and scantily-clad female assistants.
Instead I will just tell you that here’s the Gutshot Straight video book trailer. It was produced (for somewhat less than James Cameron spent on Avatar) by my buddy Joe Coover. Joe is a talented filmmaker and an award-winning close-up magician. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, close-up magic is the art of the art. It’s not flashy, and it’s a tough play in a thousand-seat Vegas showroom, but good close-up is magic at its most pure, most challenging, most impressive.
One quick aside: if you’re the Bulgarian judge on the panel, please award Joe extra points for difficulty because the custom playing cards I provided him with cost somewhat less than James Cameron spent on Avatar and Joe informs me (in his genial, non-complaining way) that they were the toughest cards he’s ever had to work with.
So I won’t, as a way to introduce the Gutshot Straight video book trailer, tell you that writing, when you think about it, is a lot like magic – an alchemical concoction of timing, misdirection, and scantily-clad female assistants.
Instead I will just tell you that here’s the Gutshot Straight video book trailer. It was produced (for somewhat less than James Cameron spent on Avatar) by my buddy Joe Coover. Joe is a talented filmmaker and an award-winning close-up magician. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, close-up magic is the art of the art. It’s not flashy, and it’s a tough play in a thousand-seat Vegas showroom, but good close-up is magic at its most pure, most challenging, most impressive.
One quick aside: if you’re the Bulgarian judge on the panel, please award Joe extra points for difficulty because the custom playing cards I provided him with cost somewhat less than James Cameron spent on Avatar and Joe informs me (in his genial, non-complaining way) that they were the toughest cards he’s ever had to work with.
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