Chris, Mike, and Oren discuss what a good beginning should accomplish. They analyze their favorite and least favorite openings, and describe different opening techniques. Mike raves about military scifi, Chris rants about unnecessary framing devices, and Oren actually defends something from criticism.
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Opening and closing theme: The Princess Who Saved Herself by Jonathan Coulton. Used with permission.
Show Notes:
Establishing and Transitioning Atmosphere
Starship Troopers (Book) vs Starship Troopers (Movie)
The Keys to a Great Opening Scene
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Hellboy and Hellboy II
Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades
Regarding the different openings for the Starship Troopers book and movies, the director of the movie was Paul Verhoeven, a dutch man who was a child during WWII.
In interviews, Verhoeven said he tried reading the book but could not get past the first few chapters without becoming bored and depressed. So rather then play the story seriously, he decided to completely flip it into a satire of fascism and play on some of his own personal experiences from his childhood
I had not heard that particular story, that Verhoeven found it too boring to read.
“We want you to turn this well known book into a movie!”
“But the book is terrible! Fine, I’ll make you’re movie, but I will mock and subvert the source material at every turn.”
Hilarious, thanks for sharing!
I knew I remembered that from somewhere!