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[bryant]

Weird idea, while drifting off to sleep:

A Lexicon of Lost Hollywood. Each entry is a movie review of a movie that was never made; each movie review must refer forward and back to other movies. You can make up actors and directors and screenwriters if you like, but they cannot be entries: they will always be defined only by the reviews of their movies. Or, if you wish, you can use the stars that we know.

The slots are not alphabetical: they are chronological. 1940-1945; 1945-1950; 1950-1955; 1955-1960; 1960-1965; 1965-1970; 1970-1975; 1975-1980; 1980-1985; 1985-1990; 1990-1995; 1995-2000. 12 slots. The secret history of Hollywood (and Bollywood, and the BBC, and Hong Kong) is revealed slowly as the needle of time moves forward.

Comments

[editswlonghair.livejournal.com]

Why start at 1940? I'd say start at the beginning... with Melies' 1896 snuff film "Theatre des Vampyres."

[gentlyepigrams]

Having just watched a DVD of early Melies, Pathe, Edison, etc., I think this is a great idea.

[bryant]

Is that the Kino one, or something else?

[gentlyepigrams]

It's this one: http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=7773937

Having sent it back, I don't have it to look at, and it's not clear to me from skimming the page. I would assume so, because I don't think there are a bunch of series of early film shorts running around.

[bryant]

You'd be surprised! That's one from Image -- I was thinking of this one: http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?film_id=735

The DVD has been such a gift to film historians it's amazing.

[editswlonghair.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Kino does some amazing work and has a fantastic library.

[editswlonghair.livejournal.com]

Isn't Melies great? And I dig the idea of in his 'secret history' his first film was of a performance of the Theatre des Vampires from "Interview with the Vampire." That'd really set the stage for his later fantasies which, on their surface, are so sweet, innocent, and childlike, but like most fairy tales have an edge to them (the moon getting shot in the eye, a Turkish eunnuch getting sliced in half, etc).

Yeah, I'm going to have to participate in this lexicon if I have time.

Oh, and if you are a gamer who is also into silents, let me point you in the direction of a 24-hour rpg I did last month: 'Lights! Camera! ACTION!' I still haven't had a chance to actually run a playtest witha group, and I've thought of changes and revisions I'd like to make, but I'd love to get feedback!

http://homepage.mac.com/editswithlonghair/FileSharing15.html

[gentlyepigrams]

OMG, that's so cool! I am going to have to see if I can't get some people to play that!

[editswlonghair.livejournal.com]

Sweet! Thanks! If you do get to play, let me know how it goes!

And if I can get those revisions done in the near future, I will send you the updated rules.

[robotnik.livejournal.com]

How did I never see this before? Very cool. Off to read...