Sunday 26 January 2020

Movie Tone News January 2020

Hello & welcome to this months news, its a Newyear & as is always the case Mr Panama the studio owner is looking for new ways to push boundaries of the movie making business, to give you the fee paying public even more bang for your buck.

To find out more we've sent Penny Bond over to interview the chief script writer Doug Mitten, Over to you Penny.
Thanks guys,Hi Penny Bond here & today I'm talking with Doug Mitten about some new ideas that N&D will be trying out over the next while.

Penny" Hi Doug & thanks for taking the time to talk to us."
Doug" Not at all Penny I'm only to happy too."
Penny"There's been a lot of talk around the studios these last couple of weeks about some big changes in how things are going to be done & it seems the script team are going to have a big part to play in it, would you care to give us some details on whats going on ?"
Doug"Certainly Penny, as you know Mr Panama runs a very tight ship around here & with been a small studios we don't have the budget power as some of the bigger ones, this often brings the script team & Mr Panama to loggerheads over things like why do we need a whole city block to shot in when were only using part of the street & a couple of alleyways."

Doug"Were also looking at what we call the two P's to help things out, the two P's by the way stand for possible & probability, but look as there at the moment trying these out over on one of the sets why don't we head over & see how things are getting along."
Penny"Good idea Doug, I always love watching the stars playing out their roles, but to be honest I'm a little scared of director Max Rolf"
Doug"Fear not Penny you'll be safe with me, the old guys bark is a lot worst then his bite you know."
As Doug & Penny arrive there's plenty going on with director Max Rolf telling Derek Green who plays the part of Chip Spud how he wants him to play out this take, while over to her right Penny spots Mr Panama watching from behind the cameraman.
As Derek Green heads back into the building, Max walks over to join Penny & Doug calling out" Quite on the set & action" they are also joined by Mr Panama.
As Chip step out onto the street, Doug explains to Penny in a hushed voice how this all works.
Doug"Like I told you Penny whats happening here is based around the two P's, this scene is taken place at a little after 1pm so there's a high probability that the street will be busy, if it was 1am then the probability would be that the street would be deserted, there's also the possibility there an enemy on the street waiting for Chip"
As Chip heads down the alleyway Doug continues " There's now a possibility that there's an enemy waiting for him but as we can see the alleyway is empty"
With Chip now in the alleyway Max calls out "Cut" & turns to the group,as the camera crew now have to relocate for the next couple of shots this gives the group a bit of time to talk.
Mr Panama" Well young Penny are you slacking off work to come in here & watch ?
Penny startled "Ah no sir I'm here with Doug as part of a report on the new way of doing things for Movie Tone News"
Mr Panama with a smile on his face" Relax Penny I know all about it just pulling your leg, exciting watching such talented people at work isn't ?" & then turning to Max "Well Max what do you think ? I thought it went well so far"
Max" Ya but its to early to say & while Derek is doing a great job given that he been kept in the dark about a lot of things the real prove will be when we release our first movie made this way"
Doug" Well to be honest I've great faith in this new way & think its going to work out just fine"
"Here here" agrees Mr Panama"
With the camera crew now ready they all move around to another side of the set, Max gives out a few instructions & filming starts again.
Chip has now reached the back-alley & is about to head over to his garage to get his car. 
As he reaches the door two thugs who unbeknown  to Chip that have followed him down the alleyway call out to him "Hold it right there we want a word with you"
Max" Cut"
Doug explains to Penny how this all happened "You see Penny as by the time Chip entered the back ally the probability of an enemy shown up had risen & once it was decided that they had indeed turned up there was a couple of possibility's, they could have been in the back-alley waiting for him or they like as happened here followed him"
Penny" Wow Doug that really is interesting but what would be likely to happen next ?
Doug" Well that would be decided by the two P's"
Penny" That's it from me back over to you guys"
Well that's it for this months news, so its a goodnight from me & a goodnight from him. :)

Designers note, Well that was a fun little post to do, but the whole point of it is was something I've been trying to nail down for a long time & had even started other posts about it but felt they just weren't right.
As a solo player I find rules that are even designed for solo play just don't tick all the boxes for me, I might add that's not the games fault but mine as what I want is very niche, now those of you who play THWgaming will most likely have noticed the similarity between what I done above & the use of PEF's.
While I always like the idea behind the PEF I was never happy with how it would work for me, so what I've done it use it like it would be used in a RPG which at the end of the day are run a lot be probability & possibility, also what has really help me with what I want was coming across Larger Then Life, a set of rules for pulp gaming by THWgaming & while I will not be using the rules in full it will add certain thing to my games.

One of the great things about solo gaming is that nothing is set in stone & that gives great freedom but that freedom (at least for me ) comes at a price as I'm no games designer but I think (hope) that by using parts from a couple of different set of rules I'm if not there then very close to have what I'm looking for :)

The other point of the post was table size & lay out but that's something I'll go into in another post.

Well that's it for this post as always my thanks foe dropping in & if you'd care to leave a comment it would be welcomed :) 
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21 comments:

  1. Great way of showing how your new system is going to work. I think it's great that you've adapted several rule sets to get what you want, it's far to easy to just say I can't be bothered, and just use one set.Shall watch with interest on how this develops

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    1. Thanks Dave, I could have just written about it but I find doing it this way more pleasing & fun tbh plus its a reason to get the models out :)
      One of the joys of solo gaming is the freedom to mix & match different rules, sure its a bit of bother but worth it imho.

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  2. Sounds intriguing. Look forward to the movie!

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    1. Thanks Simon, hopefully it won't be to long in coming :)

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  3. I find it is always a good read, going through others through processes and understanding where they're going with their/our hobby.
    I have always favoured my own rules, or the rules wiof others with some of my own modifications and ideas.
    THW rules are a great source of inspiration for rule -writers (except their firing systems) as are many other sets.
    good luck getting your rules working the way you want them to too.!

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    1. Thanks Joe, its good to hear that & I know from reading post by other on the issue it can be helpful.

      I wouldn't go about trying to write my own rule set, but am more then happy to try altering others & doing a little mix & match :)

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  4. Great stuff Frank (and please pass on my thanks to Penny for her insightful reporting) - I certainly "got my 2p's worth" :-)
    The sets are looking top notch and I'm really looking forward to learning more of your new system!

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    1. Thanks Greg, I'll let Penny know :), the buildings I used I've been working on for a while & while their not finished they are usable so it was nice to set them up.

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  5. Interesting ideas Frank, I think you might have been reading Gregs game reports on the Cupboard site, if not he did had some thiughts on a dice system for decision making that was along similar lines to where you're going with this.
    Your sets look as good as always because the camera man gets the right angle for his shots. Look forward to seeing you continue this theme.
    Cheers

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    1. Thanks John, yes I did indeed read Greg's reports on the Cupboard & very thought provoking they where, for a long time my thoughts have been running along these lines trying to work out away of doing it, what I done was simple enough, in THW you split the board into 9 parts & role for where to place the PEF, instead of placing the PEF in an area as you would normally do I rolled a dice when Chip entered each part, if the dice roll was equal to or less then the numbered part the PEF would appear.

      That's what he get pay big money for :) the whole set was only about 20 inch's square but by placing other buildings in places off board & taking the shot from certain angles it gives the impression that the area is bigger.

      Now I know like myself you have for a long time been trying to work out away of playing a detective try of game, based around clues & what might happen should you fail to solve one, so stay tuned mate I think the answer will interest you ;)

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    2. I'll be interested in your thoughts on the Detecting, I'm just writing up a game I played using 221a Baker Street for the Detecting part of it. It worked Ok and gave me an answer to the clue solving but I'm not totally convinced by it so open to any other suggestions.

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    3. Does that mean there will be a movie release soon ? if so I look forward to it :)

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  6. This was interesting. I'll have to give this a bit of thought, because I see lots of potential for my own solo-games.
    My special thanks for Penny, for the great interview.

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    1. Thanks Joakim, glad your interested because its with solo gaming in mind that its about, after you thought about I'd be interested in hearing what you come up with.

      All this prise for Penny has me worried that she'll be looking for a pay increase :(

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    2. Don't show her the comments!
      Well, she is working for a master, that should be enough. It will look good on her resume (if you ever let her go, that is)

      I think I will try something out in my next installment. Much to ponder.

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    3. She's a reporter & you know what their like :)

      Ponder on I wait with baited breath.

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  7. A really good intro for the Year and clever way to explain your thinking. Looking forward to all of it.

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    1. Thanks Will, its a killing two birds with the one stone kind of post tbh as as you know N&D is a real life studios with larger then life characters ;) so as well as getting my point across the viewer also gets to know something about those not in front of the camera, things like what the studio owner Mr Panama looks like :)

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  8. Great stuff Frank! Good to see N&D still plugging along 😀 I've been without internet access for months now so trying to play catch up with the blogs I follow.
    Am I spotting several new buildings on the lot? And I can tell you Frank I completely understand your dilemma with solo rules, I'm in the same boat - but I really like where you're going with the RPG elements!

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    1. Thanks Ivor & good to see your alive & kicking :)

      Yep you did there not finished yet but close enough to be used.

      I think there's a lot for us solo gamers in RPG's & games like the THW ones that used lots of charts that can be easily combined with other rule systems.

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