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GET OUT Analysis Part Three: Integration of Theme
Spoilers: Get Out (of course!)
After considerable delay (sorry), I'm going to conclude my three-part analysis of Get Out (written by Jordan Peele) by discussing the use of theme. The movie has been widely praised for its exploration of race relations in America. It's unusual to hear people talk about theme in a genre movie. We typically think commentary on social issues as being the opposite of entertainment. But Get Out uses racial issues and tension to provide a context for the dramatic horror story events. This allows Peele to both make more sophisticated comments on race relations and to use those relations to deliver twists and thrills for the main horror plot.
The most overt aspect of race relations in the plot is the idea of Chris, as a Black man, going to the very white world of his girlfriend's upper-class family. The very real and understandable anxiety this causes Chris helps to establish the creepy tone that I discussed in my first post on the movie. The act one encounter with the traffic cop, who asks for Chris's ID even though he isn't the driver, adds to the sense of danger (more about this scene in a bit).
But initially the white people are mostly not played as racists. In fact, they seem very self-aware about the situation and about the optics of having Black servants. Rather, we are given a look at the more subtle aspects of race relations. It's easy to say racism is bad. Peele wants us to examine the insidious way it works even when white people are well meaning.
This context also helps create story points and dramatic scenes, which can then illuminate thematic issues. Consider when Chris's TSA buddy, Rod, goes to the police to report that Chris is missing. He talks to a Black detective, who then brings in other Black detectives to hear Rod's theory about a white sex slave ring. We assume that they will believe him – but it turns out they think he's a nut job, which gets a laugh.
What Peele is doing here is playing with audience expectations. This is a form of dramatization. Rather than talky pontificating on the theme, he is finding ways to show us how race works in our society. He achieves this by considering what the audience will expect. Our expectation is that the Black cops will believe Rod's theory… because they're all Black. In order to reinforce that, Rod clearly shares this belief. By undercutting our expectation, the scene causes us to examine why we believed it to begin with. And from an entertainment perspective, it creates an obstacle for one of our heroes, heightening the drama – we establish that no help is coming from the authorities.
We see this approach again in one of the big twists at the end. When Chris is choking Rose and the police car pulls up, we immediately assume the cop is going to believe Rose, and that Chris will be arrested. We are primed for this belief because of Chris's treatment at the hands of the cop in act one. So when Rod gets out of the police car instead of a racist white cop, it's a complete surprise, even though it's also completely plausible – we knew Rod was looking for Chris. This is a great example of building a twist with the kind of planting and payoff I discussed in the second post in this series, but layering in thematic expectations to create a red herring for the audience.
Another way to explore theme in a movie is through the supporting characters. Not everyone in Get Out expresses the same attitude toward race. Rose's parents are well meaning but also a little condescending. Rose, meanwhile, expresses shame about her family's behavior when she and Chris are getting ready for bed at her parents' house. This is a particularly subtle scene because the subtext is that Rose is delighted to be able to feel superior to her parents. And of course we later discover this was all an act (Rose is a classic shape shifter in the mythology structure archetypes).
Other characters with different thematic perspectives include Rod, who warns Chris not to go to the white people's house, the wealthy people who think being Black is "cool," and the blind art dealer who buys Chris not because of his race, but because of his photographic skills. This last one is particularly interesting because the movie has set up a slave auction conspiracy where Black people are only valued physically, but one of the most frightening characters is actually one of the least concerned about race. Again, Peele upends our expectations and makes us think.
It's easy when discussing theme to get into a literary theory mode, but I try to make this a practical, how-to blog, so let me refocus a bit on some of the techniques I'm discussing here. If you want to do a story with a strong exploration of theme, these are some of the things you should consider:
Build a context for your story that allows you to dramatize thematic ideas rather than have characters talk about them.
If you really want a thematically complex story, avoid binary thematic approaches ("racism is bad") in favor of nuance. Present contrasting ideas that challenge a binary interpretation.
Consider audience expectations and undercut them to create entertaining twists that also cause the audience to think.
Give supporting characters different attitudes on the theme.
Most importantly, tell a dramatic story about a real character with a relatable dilemma, and create entertaining scenes. Get Out succeeds because it's suspenseful, emotional, and funny. The thematic elements heighten the entertainment value rather than bogging the story down. And the audience is open to thinking about the thematic elements because they are enjoying the experience of watching the movie.
Labels: film analysis, Get Out, screenwriter, screenwriting, technique, Theme
Get Out Analysis Part Two: Planting and Payoff
(SPOILERS: Get Out – of course!)
This week I continue my analysis of writing techniques in the horror movie Get Out (written by Jordan Peele) by looking at the use of planting and payoff. Planting and payoff is a powerful tool for screenwriters that can serve many purposes.
First, it helps make story points believable. In the third act of Get Out, we discover that the character of Dean is doing surgery to transplant brains from one body to another. We believe he is capable of that because in act one it was established that he is a neurosurgeon. If we got to act three and someone said, "Oh, by the way, Dean's a neurosurgeon," it might seem arbitrary and convenient, a cheat by the writer. But planting it earlier makes it part of the reality of the story.
Planting and payoff can also build trust in the audience that the things they are seeing have meaning. It's helpful to plant something and then pay it off early in the film to build that trust. For example, Rose tells Chris that her father (Dean) would have voted for Obama a third time if he could've, and then Dean tells Chris the same thing shortly after they meet. And on the drive up, Rose throws Chris's cigarette out of the window, and then Dean notices Chris's nervous hand and asks if he's a smoker. Chris replies that he's trying to quit.
These little early connections between scenes are particularly useful in Get Out considering the long build up to the more explicit horror elements that I discussed in my last post. Because we know the things we see aren't just random and will pay off in the story, we stay patient, trying to unravel the clues we're being given, trusting that there is something to unravel.
Planting can also serve to establish a fact that can be used later for dramatic effect. For example, in act one we learn that Rose's grandfather was an Olympic caliber runner. We later learn that his brain has been put in the body of Walter, the groundskeeper, who we saw running at night. So when Rose says, "Get him, Grandpa" to Walter, we know that Chris probably won't be able to outrun his pursuer.
Similarly, we learn in the party scene that a camera flash can temporarily restore the original consciousness to a victim. Chris then uses that knowledge to get out of a predicament at the end of the film.
One of the most satisfying things in a story is when the character is put in a seemingly impossible predicament, and then cleverly – and believably – gets out of it. Get Out has a particularly brilliant example of this at the end of act two. Chris is tied to a chair in the basement of the family house as they prepare to operate on him. He's been hypnotized so that he passes out whenever someone taps a teacup three times with a spoon. He appears completely helpless.
But then Chris turns the tables on his captors by putting cotton in his ears and feigning unconsciousness when the teacup is tapped. And this moment is made possible by two excellent uses of planting and payoff.
One is Chris's habit of scratching at the arm of a chair when he's nervous. We learned earlier that this stems from when he was home alone as a child and his mother didn't return as expected. It's reinforced when we see Chris scratch at the chair as Missy (Rose's mother) asks him uncomfortable questions. So we aren't surprised when we see Chris scratch at the arm of the chair he's tied to at the end of act two. But it is this scratching that exposes the chair's cotton stuffing that he uses to plug his ears.
The average viewer may not appreciate how carefully the writer set this up. Almost certainly, Peele had the idea of Chris stopping up his ears with cotton from the chair first, and then went back and planted the scratching behavior to make that plausible. Peele established the behavior so we don't question it when it happens.
But by setting up the behavior, Peele also distracts us from the twist. We assume the scratching is in the scene merely as a sign of Chris's anxiety and don't anticipate how it will save him. When you want to have a twist, you need to lay the expositional groundwork to make the twist believable, but that risks giving it away. By giving the plant another purpose in the scene, you misdirect the audience.
The other great use of plant and payoff that is critical to this scene is the tapping on the cup. The tapping trigger and its effect is established in the hypnotism scene (we actually get a foreshadowing of it when the family is sitting on the deck after Chris first arrives.) It first pays off when he's trying to leave, and Missy taps the teacup to incapacitate him. We now fully understand the rules of the device.
This device can then be used when Chris escapes from the chair. When we see the teacup in the video, we know what will happen. And when Chris pulls the cotton from his ears later, we understand how he foiled the villains without needing some clunky explanation in dialogue.
The device pays off one more time when Chris encounters Missy on the way out of the house. Both their gazes go to a teacup on the table. They both lunge for it. Chris gets there first and knocks the cup to the floor. Missy is foiled. By establishing the device for the audience, the writer can use it to create interesting drama in later scenes.
Planting and payoff also help establish and explore the racial themes that made Get Out a movie with cultural impact. I'll explore that more in my next post.
Check out my novel that I'm serializing online:
In many ways Alex MacDonald is a typical 1987 high school senior. He pines for Jennifer, the most bodacious girl in school. He wants to go to awesome parties. He wants to avoid the school bully. In short, he wants to be popular. Unfortunately, Alex is not popular. He tries – dressing like the pop stars he sees on MTV – yet somehow his only real friend is Roger Kruger. Meanwhile, Roger desperately wants to beat his nemesis, Heidi, in the science fair. But when Alex and Roger's experiment goes awry, they accidentally open a wormhole – a portal that leads thirty years into the future, to the year 2017. Alex sees this as his big opportunity: if he knows the future, maybe he can find a way to win Jennifer's heart. But what Alex and Roger find out about their older selves shakes the boys to their core. What's more, they slowly realize someone in the future is trying to secretly influence them. Will the knowledge they gain in 2017 allow them to change their fates? Will Roger finally best Heidi? And most important of all, can Alex find a way to convince Jennifer go to the homecoming dance?
Posted by Doug Eboch at 8:57 AM No comments:
Labels: film analysis, Get Out, screenwriter, screenwriting, technique
"Get Out" Analysis Part One: Building and Maintaining Psychological Horror
In the spirit of Halloween, I'm going to do several posts analyzing some of the writing techniques that made the horror movie Get Out (written by Jordan Peele) so successful earlier this year. How successful? It made more than $175 million on a budget of less than $5 million… and that's just the domestic box office! It also scored a stunning 99% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps more significantly, it became part of the cultural conversation due to its integration of themes of race in America.
One thing that I found interesting about Get Out was that for most of the movie, the main character, Chris, was only vaguely aware of the danger he was in. He sensed that creepy thins were happening, but mostly chalked it up to being a Black man entering a very white world. (This added thematic depth to the movie, something I will discuss in a future post.) The audience experienced the story primarily from Chris's point of view and was thus also kept in the dark about what was truly going on until well past the halfway mark.
Yet this was a horror movie. The desire to save twists for later in the film posed a challenge for Peele: how to provide the kind of scares that the audience was expecting while believably maintaining the façade for the character that this was simply a visit to his girlfriend's parents?
One of the first techniques the script employed was using a prologue to set the tone. We see a scene of a young Black man walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Soon a car starts to follow him. He tries to avoid the car, but ultimately he is jumped and abducted. This abduction connects to events later in the film, but from a plot standpoint, we don't really need to see it. However, without this scene, the movie would seem more like a character drama for a good thirty minutes. Using a prologue establishes for the audience that this is a scary movie, and that colors how we read later unsettling events.
There are a few jump scares scattered throughout the movie to keep us on edge – some admittedly a bit cheap. One good one, though, comes about ten minutes in, when Chris and Rose are driving to her parents' place and a deer jumps in front of the car. This event leads to an encounter with a cop that sets up the danger to Chris in this community. By associating the scare with a relevant story point, it feels integral to the film, as opposed to a cheesy gimmick.
Other moments are designed to make us feel that something sinister is going on at the house. For example, the groundskeeper running at Chris in the middle of the night, and the fact that Georgina, the maid, keeps unplugging his phone while it's charging and starts crying inexplicably when apologizing to him about it. This sense that there is a secret conspiracy in the house is expanded in the scene when the party goes silent after Chris walks upstairs, and the scene of the strange auction.
The two creepiest moments in acts one and two come at major structural points: At the end of act one, Missy hypnotizes Chris against his will, sending him plummeting into the floor. When he wakes up, he can't really remember this clearly – allowing the writer to have his cake and eat it too. The audience knows what Missy has done, but understands why Chris doesn't take action. This serves the purpose of act one by locking Chris into the story – we know he can no longer leave without dealing with whatever's been done to him.
The next big structural point is the Midpoint, and this comes when Chris tries to take a picture of the young Black man at the party. The flash does something to the man, and he tells Chris to "Get out!" Now things start moving a little more quickly. Chris decides he wants to leave the house, though that will not prove as easy as he expects. The threat finally comes into the open when he discovers the pictures of Rose with a parade of other Black men, revealing she is in on the secret plot. The danger becomes even more explicit as we move to the Act Two Turning Point – when Chris wakes up tied to the chair and a video reveals what's in store for him. From there, things unfold more like most horror movies.
It is important to deliver on the genre promises of your stories. And it's important that you deliver on the genre throughout the film. Peele wanted to save the real suspense and action for act three, so he had to find ways to create and build tension as he was building to that point. He walked a careful balance between keeping the psychological horror present without giving away the twists.
It's important that most of the creepy, inexplicable moments scattered through the first two thirds of Get Out end up paying off in Act Three. They aren't just random scares created for tone; they grow out of the story. This kind of planting and payoff is one of the strengths of the script. I'll delve into that topic in part two of my analysis.
Labels: film analysis, genre, Get Out, screenwriter, screenwriting, structure, technique, Tone
Abuse in Hollywood
The Harvey Weinstein scandal is appalling, not just because of the sleazy things he did, but because most everyone recognizes it is not an isolated case in Hollywood. There's even a slang term for it – "casting couch." There has been a lot of focus on how willing Hollywood is to look away from bad behavior if the villain is successful. Unfortunately, that's often true, at least as long as the villain is helping your career. (Hollywood is also well known for schadenfreude, and I'm sure many people are secretly delighted to see Harvey fall.)
But I think there's an even bigger root cause to the problem: the fact that far more people want to be actors, writers, directors, or producers than there are acting, writing, directing, and producing jobs. This gives those with power to grant those jobs an incredible weapon for abuse. You don't dare speak up for fear of damaging your career.
And this does not just come into play in sexual harassment. We've all heard stories about verbally and physically abusive executives and producers. It also causes pressure on production crews to keep their mouths shut when working conditions become abusive. If you complain, you could be out of a job. Even worse, you could be branded a "troublemaker" and have difficulty finding another job.
This can have horrible consequences. A stuntwoman was killed on the set of Deadpool 2. The investigation is ongoing, but apparently a crewmember had warned producers that the stuntwoman was not qualified for that particular stunt, and the warning was ignored. Recently an actor from Riverdale got into a serious car accident driving home after an extremely long day on set. He was okay, but more than one crew person has been killed or seriously injured in the last few years because they fell asleep at the wheel after a marathon shoot.
Writers also face abuse, though typically with less serious consequences. It comes in the form of things like free rewrites – when the writer has been contracted for a draft, but the producer demands multiple rewrites before they will "accept" the draft and trigger final payment. The writer can refuse, of course, and if it's a WGA contract, the producer must pay up. But then you might get that "troublemaker" label.
How do the abusers get away with this behavior? They know there's always someone willing to step into your place and take the abuse.
At this point I want to state very clearly: Anybody who tells you they can destroy your career is lying. Many people may be able to cost you a job, though in the scheme of your career, that job is probably not going to make much difference (and as you rise through the ranks, the number of people with that kind of power will decline). There are a handful of people who can do serious damage to your career, but really only about a dozen in the whole industry (Unfortunately, at one time, Harvey Weinstein was on that list).
The reality is most people who make those kinds of threats are bluffing and counting on you being too afraid or naïve to doubt them. I once saw a third-rate reality TV producer tell a roomful of tape loggers they would "never work in Hollywood again" if they revealed secrets of the show. It was all I could do not to laugh. Unless their career goals were to log tapes on niche cable reality shows the rest of their lives, there was not much this producer could do to them. But I noticed one kid who looked terrified – this was his first job and he believed her.
So what can we do about abuse in Hollywood?
First, stand up for yourself. I wish I could say this came without costs. If nothing else, you probably won't be able to work for the abuser anymore (though perhaps that's not such a bad thing). And Hollywood is a small town – word spreads, and people can damage your reputation if they choose. Fortunately, as people like Harvey Weinstein and Roger Ailes discovered, we've reached a point where the victim of sexual harassment may have just as much power to destroy the abuser's career. From now on, if you reject a power figure's sexual advance and they threaten your career, I would just say the words, "Harvey Weinstein." I imagine they'll change their tune very quickly.
In other areas, like pressure on stuntmen to do stunts they aren't comfortable with, or pressure on writers to do free rewrites, the more people who stand up for themselves, the harder it becomes for abusers to just fire someone and move on to the next willing victim. This is hard, because it takes individual courage in hopes the collective will back you up. But if you don't stand up for yourself, then how will things ever change?
That brings me to the second thing we can do: stand up for each other. When you see someone being put in an unacceptable situation, back them up. Be the person who spoke up on the Deadpool 2 set. If someone refuses to do something dangerous, or complains about a production running over legal working hours, join their complaint. Sometimes AD's and producers and so on really don't intend to endanger people, but their job is hard. It's easy to dismiss one person as a whiner, but if multiple people speak up, it just might cause that supervisor to reconsider what they're asking.
Third, we should look to the unions. Unions have working rules to prevent most kinds of abuse, but they do depend on members reporting that abuse (see "stand up for yourself.") IATSE has rules about working hours and turnaround times. The WGA has rules about free rewrites.
Of course not all productions are union. A lot of times you have to do non-union jobs in order to reach the point where you can join the union. I would suggest that if you are going to take a crew position on a non-union production, you ask that the crew deal memo specify that the appropriate union's workplace rules apply. The union won't be able to enforce it, but at least you'll establish expectations, and you'll have some legal recourse if the contract is violated.
Back around 2006, a message board called "Writer Action" formed. It was for WGA members only, but was not part of the WGA. Part of that message board allowed members to anonymously rate the behavior of producers, agents, and executives, including on things like "Did they demand free rewrites?"
Many producers and executives freaked out when they heard this. They did not like the idea that they might be held accountable for their behavior. They called in "unfair" - which is hilarious, when you think about it.
Maybe all Hollywood unions should institute public databases of complaints. Allow members to register complaints anonymously on anyone they work for. Then post a database of those complaints online that anyone could check. One or two complaints against someone wouldn't have much effect, but if you saw that a producer had dozens of complaints against them, you might think twice about working for them.
Also, many union members are responsible for hiring and supervising other union members. Cinematographers generally pick their own camera operators and gaffers, for example. Showrunners hire their writing staffs. So when someone files a complaint, the union could look to see if there was another union member who should have been protecting them. Then they could send that person a friendly reminder note of the union's rules and the obligation of supervisors to protect the rights of those they supervise.
It won't be easy to change the culture in Hollywood. But as Harvey Weinstein's fall shows, it is possible.
This book is therapy for anyone having trouble wrapping their head around the technique of pitching. I wish I had Doug and Ken's wisdom earlier in my career.
Eric Heisserer (writer, "Arrival," "Lights Out," "Hours")
Labels: Agents, independent film, Managers, My Experiences, screenwriter, screenwriting, Television Writing, The Business, Writing Life
On the Beginnings of Scenes
Screenplays are a very formal type of writing with a highly specific format and rules. This is because they are not just a way to tell a story, they are blueprints for making a movie. Sure, spec scripts are sometimes more sales tools than blueprints – designed to interest executives, directors, and cast in making the film. But they still have to look like a plan for production of a movie. After all, that's the ultimate goal.
With this in mind, today I want to focus on what the screenwriter must do when they open a scene. I read many scripts that fail to do this properly. Let's start with the very first part of the scene: the slug line.
First, I should address when you need a new slug line. It can be more complicated than it seems. The simple answer is that you need a new slug line any time the location changes or there is a jump in time. This indicates a new scene. Occasionally, this can get tricky. What if the characters are walking from the bedroom of their house to the living room, talking continuously? Is this a new scene?
In order to make these decisions, it's important to understand the purpose of a slug line. The slug line is really there to help the production manager schedule the shoot. Movies are often shot out of order. The production manager decides which scenes to shoot on which days, and they identify these scenes by slug line. So any time the crew might move to a new set, there should be a new slug line. Since the bedroom and the living room might actually be in different locations, moving from one to the other indicates a new scene.
Slug lines have three parts:
Part one is whether they are interior (INT.) or exterior (EXT.). Again, this is to help the production manager decide whether they require a location or could be built on a soundstage. Sometimes, of course, exterior locations are built on soundstages and interiors are shot on location, but this is not the screenwriter's concern. There is also a designation (I/E.) for when the scene takes place both inside and outside at the same time, such as someone looking out their window into the yard.
Next is the location. Try to call the same location by the same name throughout the script. This not only makes the production manager's job easier, it makes it easier for the reader to follow the script. So don't call a single location SAM'S DINER in one scene, DINER in another scene, and THE COFFEE SHOP in a third scene.
Finally, slug lines indicate whether it is a day shoot (DAY) or night shoot (NIGHT). Again, this is for scheduling. Sometimes writers get cute here and say something like MORNING or 3 P.M. But how will we know what time of day it is on screen? Besides, like I said, the real purpose of the slug line is scheduling, and all the production manager cares about is whether it's day or night. It is acceptable to use CONTINUOUS if we are moving from one location to another without a break in the action. And if you must, you can identify SUNSET or SUNRISE or GOLDEN HOUR – just be aware you are making the crew's job hard, since they will have to film the scene in a very limited time frame!
You may read some scripts that don't follow all the rules for slug lines. Perhaps they drop DAY at the end of the slug line until they change to NIGHT, for example. In a selling script, you might get away with that (it will be fixed for the shooting script). But if you are not an established screenwriter, I recommend sticking to proper slug lines. It shows that you know what you're doing.
Next we have the description of the location. While perhaps not technically a rule, it's generally considered a "best practice" to open every scene with some basic description of where we are, even if you're just cutting back to a scene in progress after a cutaway. In those situations, put in something simple like, "Alicia and Kim continue their discussion."
When describing the setting of the scene, you want to be brief and evocative, creating a picture of the room with a minimum of words. Here are some tips:
Don't repeat information that's in the slug line. If the slug line is INT. ITALIAN RESTAURANT – NIGHT, you don't need to start your scene with, "Fatimah is sitting in an Italian restaurant.
Don't describe everything in the room. Instead, pick one or two details that give the reader (and the production designer) the flavor of the setting.
Be specific. Like almost anything else in writing, specific is better than general or vague.
If possible, open with action – a character doing something that reveals the space. So rather than saying, "Fatimah is sitting at a table with white tablecloths and candles," say, "The hostess seats Fatimah and lights the candle on the table, brushing a stray crumb from the white tablecloth."
Probably the most common mistake I see is writers failing to identify who is in the room. Consider this scene opening:
INT. KITCHEN – DAY
Alicia enters with a tray of used breakfast dishes. She loads the dishwasher.
How did Dan like his breakfast?
Cleaned the plate.
Good. I told you that recipe would work.
I still think you should have made French toast.
As you read along, you might be thinking, "Wait, where did Kim come from? Wait, Steve's there too? Who else is in this kitchen?" The scene may be clear in the writer's head, but the reader will feel confused, and if it's someone to whom you're trying to sell your screenplay, you've probably just lost that sale. Always establish all the characters in the room at the start of the scene, and indicate when someone comes and goes.
This goes for unusual objects, too. If at some point in the above scene Kim uses a toaster, the reader won't think twice. But if she hops on a riding lawnmower, the reader will be thoroughly confused. If there's a riding lawnmower in the kitchen, you need to tell us up front!
This doesn't mean you have to cram everything into the first paragraph. Especially when you are going to introduce characters for the first time, you might spread out the introductions. But they still shouldn't come as a surprise. You need to indicate there are other people in the room. Here's an example that would be okay:
INT. LOCKER ROOM – DAY
Arthur and Ali enter the locker room. Various boys are showering, changing, snapping towels at each other.
Arthur and Ali make their way to their lockers. Begin changing.
A skinny sophomore approaches. This is HOWARD.
Do you guys have any extra clothes?
Someone stole mine.
Since you've established there are other boys in the locker room, there is no need to specifically mention Howard until he becomes important.
When your polishing your last draft, it pays to ensure your scene openings follow these guidelines. It will help the reader follow your story and show that you know how a screenplay works. And if your film should go to production, the production manager will be very grateful!
The Three Important Questions Your Story Should Answer
(Spoilers: Gravity, Little Miss Sunshine)
In my book, The Three Stages of Screenwriting, I describe what I refer to as the "Dramatic Question" of the story. This is the question that is asked by the Catalyst (also known as the Inciting Incident) and answered in the Resolution. At its most basic, the question is some form of: "Will the main character achieve their goal?" This question defines the scope of your story. On an unconscious level, the Catalyst lets the audience know what the plot is about by posing this question. The audience knows the story will be over when they get the answer.
The Dramatic Question relates to plot. When I ask my students to define the Dramatic Question of their screenplays, they sometimes give me an answer along the lines of: "Will Keisha overcome her fear of intimacy?" Now, this could possibly be the Dramatic Question of a story, but usually this kind of internal question relates to the character arc, not the plot.
Other times a student will give me an answer like: "Is humanity worth saving?" This is also not really a Dramatic Question. It's a thematic question.
I demand the students form their Dramatic Questions in relation to the plot because they will be using this question to structure their story. The act breaks and other structural beats will be related to this question. Since this is film, it's important to make it external and measurable. And I encourage questions with a yes or no answer because it's easier to figure out what should be happening at each structural beat.
But I've been thinking lately that the other types of questions the students provide are also important, just perhaps not to structuring the plot. After all, the best stories typically have strong character arcs and deal with powerful thematic ideas. So maybe we should really be looking at defining three different questions in our stories:
The Dramatic Question
The Character Question
The Thematic Question
One of the films I use as an example in The Three Stages of Screenwriting is Gravity (written by Alfonso & Jonas Cuaron). The Dramatic Question in that movie is "Can Ryan make it back to Earth?" This is a good dramatic question that drives the plot, and the movie ends when we get the answer. So let's consider what the other questions would be and try to determine how they work in the story.
The Character Question in Gravity would probably be: "Can Ryan find the will to survive?" This question is set up when Ryan tells Matt about the death of her daughter. We see that she has lost her reason for living. This happens in the beginning of act two. It comes to a head near the Second Act Turning Point when Ryan decides to give up and turns off the oxygen in her capsule. It is resolved when she has her vision of Matt and he asks if she wants to live or die. She chooses life, and figures out how to solve her problem. This coincides with the Epiphany stage of the structure.
Building from this, I would say the Thematic Question of Gravity is: "What keeps us going in the face of death and danger?" Though there is an answer to this question in the story, I will note that this is not a yes or no question. Perhaps that is what makes a thematic question different than the other types of questions. Maybe good Thematic Questions have more complicated answers.
Let's consider another film I use as an example in the book: Little Miss Sunshine (written by Michael Arndt). The Dramatic Question of Little Miss Sunshine is: "Will Richard enable his daughter to win the beauty pageant?" (Richard is the main character of Little Miss Sunshine. If you want to know my justification for this statement, read the book!)
The Thematic Question of Little Miss Sunshine has to do with winning and losing. Richard's first words are, "There are two kinds of people in the world, winners and losers." And when deciding whether to take Olive to the pageant, Richard asks her if she thinks she can win, because, "there's no point in entering a contest unless you think you can win." The themes of winning and losing are set up early in the script. And near the Midpoint, Olive confides in her grandfather that she fears Richard won't love her if she doesn't win. Of course, in the end she doesn't win… but Richard has realized it's more important to support his daughter no matter what.
And that reveals the Character Question of Little Miss Sunshine: "Will Richard support his daughter even if she doesn't win?" And of course the answer there is "Yes." Here that character question is established at the Catalyst and again answered at the Epiphany when Richard jumps up on stage to join Olive in her crazy dance.
I realize I never proposed an actual Thematic Question for Little Miss Sunshine. Let's go with: "What is more important – being a winner or having people who love you?" You might notice that all of the subplots about the supporting characters involve that question in some way. Exploring the theme is a common use for subplots.
So from these two examples, the Character Question seems to be important to the Epiphany of the film. This makes sense. We want the character arc to affect the plot, and the plot to cause the character to change. And the Thematic Question seems to be the result of what it means to place this specific character in this specific plot.
As you may gather, I don't yet have a fully formed theory about these three questions. But I will be watching for them in movies I study in the future, trying to figure out how they work. Stay tuned… there will be future posts on this topic!
Labels: Character, screenwriter, screenwriting, structure, The Three Stages of Screenwriting, Theme
Television Writing Insight from Comic-Con 2017
This year I once again attended Comic-Con in San Diego. One of the panels I went to was "Introduction to Television Writing" moderated by my friend Spiro Skentzos (Arrow, Grimm). The panelist were Keto Shimizu (Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow), Sera Gamble (The Magicians), Ryan Condal (Colony), Terry Matalas (12 Monkeys), and Karen Horne (NBC Talent Development executive).
The first question was about what they look for in sample scripts when staffing shows. The list included flawed heroes and new worlds we haven't seen on television – not necessarily fantasy worlds, but environments or workplaces. The panelists want to see a point-of-view on the page and that the writer has mastered the rudiments of writing. Typos are bad, and they like to see a lot of white on the page – in other words, be economical with your stage direction. Ryan Condal emphasized the importance of tone, saying it "had to be singular and you have to have consistency of tone."
The panelists confirmed that they now prefer to read original pilots rather than sample specs of existing shows. This is a fairly recent trend in the industry and is the result of there being so many shows these days that showrunners often aren't familiar with the show you've spec'ed and have difficulty judging your work. Karen Horne revealed that though NBC's talent development program requires submission of specs of existing shows, they are soon going to start asking finalists to provide an original pilot, so you better have one ready.
Everybody stressed the need for good characters. Sera Gamble said that the nature of a character is the defining force for what they do next. Do they fight or fly in the face of a challenge? And when it comes to writing characters well, she says, "Specificity is the most important thing."
Keto Shimizu pointed out that, "Plot points will feel empty if there's not emotional stakes attached."
The subject matter is not really that important. Sera Gamble said, "What I like to see is a simple idea executed really, really well." She also emphasized the importance of staying true to your voice: "You have to be clear what is your thing and do that thing." Rather than trying to write for any show, aim for the shows that fit your point of view.
As Terry Matalas stated, you should write material you love, because "if you're not excited to tell it, it will come through" in the writing.
They also pointed out that they may not have time to read the whole script, so your first five pages have to be fantastic and seduce the reader. They will know what kind of writer you are from those five pages.
During the Q&A section, the topic of diversity came up. The panelists acknowledged the reality that "isms" (racism, sexism, ageism) exist, but encouraged writers to ignore them and fight to be heard. As Sera Gamble put it, "It's easy to try to shut people up. It's really hard to speak." But you have to speak.
Certainly the diversity of the panelists suggests excellent writing can break down the barriers.
You can follow these fascinating panelists on Twitter at:
Keto Shimizu
Sera Gamble
Ryan Condal
Terry Matalas
Karen Horne
Spiro Skentzos
Also, if you're a WGAw member, Spiro is running for the board and would be an excellent pick.
Labels: Comic-Con, Television Writing
The 10 Best Written Movies of 2016
It's time for my annual list of the ten best-written movies of the last year! Keep in mind, this is a list of the best written movies, not necessarily the best movies or my favorite movies.
My usual disclaimers apply: I see a lot of movies, but I haven't seen everything. For example, I haven't yet seen Moana or Jackie, though I'm anxious to correct those oversights. I may in the future discover other movies from 2016 that would bump some of my selections off the list. Last year, Room probably would have made the list if I'd seen it earlier.
Also, some movies age better than others, and because many of the films on my list are awards season movies, I've seen most of them pretty recently. My opinions could cool over time. Looking back at last year's list, all the movies hold up pretty well, though the order would change – Sicario would be lower and The Martian higher today, for example. And though I'm happy to hear your opinions in the comments, this is my list. If you don't like it, you're welcome to make your own!
So without further ado, here is my list of the 10 Best Written Movies of 2016:
1. Arrival (screenplay by Eric Heisserer) – This was a smart, absorbing, and emotional screenplay with a high degree of difficulty. Heisserer did a great job making linguistic analysis edge-of-your-seat tense. Less heralded, he played with audience expectations to deliver some clever twists that gave the story wrenching thematic depth. Both entertaining and thought provoking, this was a movie unlike anything I've seen before. (Full disclosure: I know Eric socially.)
2. Deadpool (written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick) – This screenplay deserves a lot of credit simply for bringing a fresh spin to the saturated superhero market. But on top of that, it is witty and clever, and delivers raunchy humor that is smart rather than degrading. The action and suspense are also good, and the characters are more complex than in most movies of this genre.
3. 10 Cloverfield Lane (story by Josh Campbell & Matthew Stuecken, screenplay by Josh Campbell & Matthew Stuecken and Damien Chazelle) – This is an intense suspense thriller with great characters, tight plotting, and well-designed set pieces. It builds its twists and turns well to keep the audience on the edge of their seat. Plus, it felt fresh and original for the genre.
4. Hidden Figures (screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi) – The story is fairly straightforward – you know what you're going to get going in. But it stays engaging by putting three well-drawn characters at the center of things – characters not just defined by their race or their job. Those characters each have distinct voices and enough personal stakes to engage the viewer emotionally. This carries us through the predictability and makes this the best feel good movie of the year.
5. Manchester by the Sea (written by Kenneth Lonergan) – This was a hard movie to watch at times, but it is undeniably well crafted and affecting. It has incredibly complex and believable characters and a good sense of place. The dialogue is naturalistic and distinctive for each character. The flashback scenes are well placed to unveil the story without seeming manipulative. And though it is extremely sad, it has enough hope, humor, and human connection to keep from drowning in its subject matter.
6. Hell or High Water (written by Taylor Sheridan) – This is another well-crafted screenplay with distinctive characters and a strong sense of place, plus it had a lot on its mind thematically, yet is never heavy-handed.
7. Moonlight (story by Tarell McCraney, screenplay by Barry Jenkins) – And yet another screenplay that takes us into a very specific world through well defined characters. This one has the added benefit of a fresh point of view. There are strong tensions within the scenes, but the story meanders at times and I did think it was a touch predictable. But there are characters here that defy expectations in glorious ways.
8. La La Land (written by Damien Chazelle) – This is the second-best feel good movie of the year. As a movie, it would be ranked higher on this list, but many of its better qualities (charming performances, wondrous visuals) do not come from the writing. It's a bit uneven – it drags in the second half of act two, and it could use more original songs considering it's a musical – but it gains points for reinventing a classic genre in a fresh way.
9. Captain America: Civil War (screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely) – It's easy to write off these big popcorn movies, but they are not easy to execute well, and this one was especially difficult given the huge number of characters that needed to be serviced. The movie is tight and enjoyable (with enough momentum to paper over a few logic holes) and each character is given a distinctive personality and voice. As a result, this is hands-down the best tentpole movie of the year (I'm not counting Deadpool as it was more of a lower budget B-movie than a tentpole).
10. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta, screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy) – Again, these movies are more difficult to pull off than they appear (witness Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones). This one was a lot of fun with well-drawn characters and some unexpectedly deep thematic elements. It gave good fan service without becoming weighted down with the franchise mythology. It did drag a bit at points, but overall this was an excellent script.
Looking at my list as a whole, this was a year with a lot of competent screenwriting but only Arrival, Deadpool, and La La Land felt necessary and memorable. The other films on my list are all well written, with a mix of intensely personal stories and well-executed entertainment. That actually made it rather hard to order them, so after one and two, I would almost call it an eight-way tie.
I also typically pick a "worst written" movie of the year – though I actually mean a movie that had no business being as badly written as it was. I'm less inclined to do that these days, but for tradition's sake I'll call out Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer). The movie was just a mess, with vague characterization, confusing motivation, wild coincidences, and plot holes you could drive a batmobile through. And I realize I'm hardly the first to point any of this out.
And now I'm off to the theater to see what 2017 has to offer!
"Get Out" Analysis Part One: Building and Maintain...
The Three Important Questions Your Story Should An...


June is upon us and that means the training wheels are officially off for the 2016 season. After a couple months of rapid fire baseball, and wide-eyed excitement with the new season, its summertime. That means more focus on division races, more trade talk, more drama. Two months from now, the trade deadline will hit.


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Q: Auto-layout and resizing views in Mac OS X I'm trying to make a design with auto layout for Mac OS X 10.7.
My app has a window with a fixed width/height.
What I really want to do is resize the controls in the window.
For example, I have a search field, which should expand & collapse if it's clicked.
I position a NSPathControl at the left, which should shrink if the NSSearchField expands, so they don't collapse.
Now, it works if I resize the window, but if I set the frame of the view in code, it doesn't.
Autolayout simply ignores this.
I'm simply doing [[this animator] setFrame:newFrame];.
Is there something I have to enable in autolayout, or do I have to set the frame differently in code?
EDIT
I got the constraint working by setting self.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = YES; in the search field.
I'm not sure if this is a great idea.
Furthermore it gives me the following log:
2012-12-12 19:41:30.958 Expanding Search[1428:303] Unable to simultaneously satisfy constraints:
(
    "<NSAutoresizingMaskLayoutConstraint:0x101a0d800 h=&-- v=&-- H:[ITSearchField:0x10011bb20]-(1)-|   (Names: '|':ITPathbar:0x10190a670 )>",
    "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x10190c520 H:[ITSearchField:0x10011bb20]-(2)-|   (Names: '|':ITPathbar:0x10190a670 )>"
)

Will attempt to recover by breaking constraint
<NSLayoutConstraint:0x10190c520 H:[ITSearchField:0x10011bb20]-(2)-|   (Names: '|':ITPathbar:0x10190a670 )>

Set the NSUserDefault NSConstraintBasedLayoutVisualizeMutuallyExclusiveConstraints to YES to have -[NSWindow visualizeConstraints:] automatically called when this happens.  And/or, break on objc_exception_throw to catch this in the debugger.
2012-12-12 19:41:32.835 Expanding Search[1428:303] 74
2012-12-12 19:41:32.854 Expanding Search[1428:303] Unable to simultaneously satisfy constraints:
(
    "<NSAutoresizingMaskLayoutConstraint:0x101a0d800 h=&-- v=&-- H:[ITSearchField:0x10011bb20]-(14.5)-|   (Names: '|':ITPathbar:0x10190a670 )>",
    "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x10190c520 H:[ITSearchField:0x10011bb20]-(2)-|   (Names: '|':ITPathbar:0x10190a670 )>"
)

Will attempt to recover by breaking constraint
<NSLayoutConstraint:0x10190c520 H:[ITSearchField:0x10011bb20]-(2)-|   (Names: '|':ITPathbar:0x10190a670 )>

Set the NSUserDefault NSConstraintBasedLayoutVisualizeMutuallyExclusiveConstraints to YES to have -[NSWindow visualizeConstraints:] automatically called when this happens.  And/or, break on objc_exception_throw to catch this in the debugger.

A: My solution

I got it, I published it on Github right here.
I also asked another, more specific question, which was solved here.

The thing is that you actually shouldn't call setFrame: when you use autolayout. You should get the right constraint and alter that. It makes it a lot easier, you can simply set the width and the frame origin is handled for you automatically.

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August 9th is Book Lover's Day, which is well-worth celebrating in my opinion! Here are some fun ideas for making the day special in your house.
I am doing this with my daughter, Monkey. We're taking turns reading a book out loud to each other and recording our readings. We can then play the story later for my youngest daughter (who is 2), or Monkey can play it back for herself later. She likes to listen to music or stories as she falls asleep, and recording your own books is usually cheaper than purchasing audio books.
If you want to get really into it, perform different voices or add your own sound effects!
We did this a few times when I was a child. Pick a book that you want to re-create, and bring it to life with food, clothing (if you can convince your family to dress up), activities, and anything else you can think of. If the book has a movie, watch that together as a family. If you need food ideas to go along with your book, my favorite site to use is Food in Literature.
I love the look of rainbow bookshelves. We've had our books arranged into a rainbow for a few months now, and it is surprisingly elegant. I love looking at it. At our house, we get to re-arrange the shelf every 2-3 days as our two-year-old loves to remove all books from the shelves for fun.
Old paperbacks can be transformed into so many fun crafts (I usually use old historical novels). We've personally made a book page wreath, book page banner, and a book pumpkin, but there are hundreds of other things you could make using old book pages.
The best celebration of all for Book Lover's Day is to visit your library (or bookstore if you want to get really crazy). If your children don't have library cards yet, today would be the perfect day to start a lifelong love affair with your local library. We all love visiting the library and picking out new books to read!
Make a book quote shirt.
Collecting book quotes is one of my favorite hobbies. I love shirts with book quotes on them, but most commercial shirts are $20 or more. Luckily, craft stores sell inexpensive t-shirts and fabric paint, so you can make your own quote prints for a fraction of the cost and include quotes that have personal meaning to your family.
Are you and your kids book lovers? With enough recognition, maybe we can get Book Lover's Day added to the government holiday list! What ideas do you have to add to my list?
Loved the nook cake idea!


Greek mountain tea is in fact the dried flowers, leaves and stems of the native Sideritis plant. Rich in antioxidants, flavonoids and polyphenols it is known for its anti-inflammatory action, it supports the immune system and it is particularly effective at colds, respiratory problems, digestion and mild anxiety.
Break 1 or 2 stems into thirds. Fill your briki (or a pot) with water and turn heat to medium.
Place tea stems in the water and let boil.
Once boiling, remove briki from heat and allow tea steeping for about 7 min.
Pour tea into cup using a strainer to catch the tea stems. It is excellent plain but also pairs very well with honey.
And for a refreshing alternative, it makes a great iced tea. Just make a larger pot, put it in a pitcher in the fridge and enjoy it throughout the day.


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Oslo, NO
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Gothenburg City Library
Gothenburg City Library receives over one million visitors every year. It is a natural meeting place and a strong cultural institution, which over the years has grown out of its premises from the 1960s. After a major conversion, the library has now been extended and has been given a new, more open façade. The library has obtained new wings and more room for meetings, learning, culture and work. LINK architecture is the interior designer for the tenant and the millions of visitors to the library's nearly 13,000 sqm.
In March 2012, the library was closed for complete renovation and extension. Since then, the exterior walls have been demolished and a glass façade was constructed. All internal engineering and interior fittings have been replaced, and a 3,700 square metre extension has been added. In addition to the expanded library area, a new entrance, new group and meeting rooms, a lecture room, a balcony, a terrace café, an open auditorium and a youth section have been added.
The library will be a source of inspiration that evokes curiosity and will be an accessible and lively meeting place for everyone. "Meetings" has therefore been a key word for the interior design assignment. Visitors will be treated to inspiring rooms, designed with great care, in which a clear logistical lay-out makes it easy to find what you are looking for. The interior takes advantage of the building's intrinsic character and simultaneously caters to present and future needs. In close collaboration with our clients, we worked with the venue's structure and organization in order to ensure that media and spatial experiences, combined with the needs of the visitors and staff, are the focus of the library.
In the interaction between the old and new surfaces, historical recognition meets an understated interior that prioritises literature and media, including through the use of themes around different subject areas and a meeting place at each corner. The interior is dominated by tones of yellow brick and wood, colours that are inspired by the exteriors around Götaplatsen. Durable and stylish supplements have been added, with many specially designed elements. A backbone of bookcases in ash and white proudly bears the library's treasures. The shapes in the sections for children and youths are softer, the scale is smaller and exciting spaces have been created between the curved shelves.
The modern library serves an important and complex social function. The project required a pragmatic and structured process with sensitivity and that we work closely with the tenant and with other consultants. The library is also a workplace for approximately 130 employees, who have had new ways of cooperating introduced in connection with the conversion. Providing 70 workplaces for 130 employees requires a flexible solution, without dedicated places but with a personal storage space for each person. The open plan office, with its workstations equipped differently according to the work situation, creates an environment for openness, communication and a creative community.
The new city library was opened on World Book Day, 23 April 2014.
Location: Gothenburg, SE
Firm Role: Interior architect
Additional Credits: Ersèus Arkitekter
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Science-Fiction Weekly – The Avengers: Endgame Theories
by Andrew Reiner on Mar 15, 2019 at 02:49 PM
In the final moments of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos snapped his fingers and half of the population in the universe turned to dust. That grim conclusion set up a hell of a final act for over 10 years of interconnected films. Theatergoers were left dumbfounded, and to this day, I still haven't seen a fan theory that gives a believable scenario for how The Avengers will take down Thanos AND resurrect all of the lost souls in the process. The Infinity Gems could be the solution, but to get them, Thanos must fall, and, well, how do you topple someone with god-like power that can't even be located?
Yesterday's trailer for Avengers: Endgame hints at something crazy, and for the sake of SPOILERS, you may want to duck out of this Science-Fiction Weekly now.
I emphasized the color red in my text because I think that's the key thing we need to be focusing on in that trailer. Red is featured prominently in all of the black and white flashback scenes, which seem to be there to show the hardship the heroes have undergone already, but may server a greater purpose. Some people out there, myself included, have said that all of the footage in the trailers leading up to this one is likely taken from the first 15 minutes of the film. I believe the new trailer shows us much more, including some of its final moments. Final moments that may get erased halfway through the film. Confused? You should be.
One short in particular screams of a conclusion, and it doesn't make much sense. We see Clint (Hawkeye/Ronin) standing in a field with a female teenager with a bow. People online are speculating that this is Kate Bishop, a character that eventually takes up the mantle of Hawkeye for the Young Avengers, or it could be his daughter. I won't rule either out, but I think our focus needs to be on the background. We see other people there, and the setup certainly appears to be a family picnic. Is Clint's family alive and well? We assume he becomes Ronin as a way to mourn the loss of family, but we see him here with his old haircut and he's clearly serving as a teacher for this mystery person. If I had to guess, we're seeing a shot of what happens after Thanos' snap is undone. The trailer hints at key moments from the past that could be changed. If the heroes find a way to change history, why not undo other things that went wrong? Temptation will be hard to resist with that power. Almost all of the red shots highlight things that the Avengers would want correct. The deaths of Peggy Carter, Odin, and the destruction of Asgard. All of that is in the trailer.
What does red mean? I'm guessing the Avengers use the reality stone, which is red, to trick Thanos into losing his grip on the other stones. I have no idea how they will do this, but the red in the trailer is likely referencing that stone. Black Widow's hair is also red again in some shots. Why? I haven't the faintest, but she's red in sequences that clearly take place before they confront Thanos again.
We hear Peggy Carter say "None of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes, the best that we can do, is to start over." This quote screams of time manipulation or time travel. I think we're going to see the Avengers go back in time. The flashy white suits they are wearing at the end of the trailer appear to be modified Ant-Man suits that will allow them to travel to the Quantum Realm. From there, I'm guessing they will be able to mess with either Thanos or time.
I think we're going to see significant time passage in this film before the Avengers figure out that one solution that Dr. Strange said would be the only one that could work. That could explain the different styles of hair we see on Widow, but also could hint at various time reboots that end up failing. In one timeline, she may not have blonde hair. There's a chance she may need to change her hair color if she is going back in time to change something.
We only have a month to wait, people. Please leave your theories in the comments below, and try to figure out what that red color means. It has to be significant to the story.
Andrew Reiner's column, Science-Fiction Weekly, is focused on exploring the latest developments in science-fiction video games, movies, novels, and toys. It runs weekly on Tuesdays.
Andrew Reiner
From weekly trips to arcades to owning every system that hit the market since the Atari 2600, Andrew has dedicated his life to video games.


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SubTopic Analytics
How predictive maintenance can transform industrial IoT
Erick Dean
Three predictive capabilities that move the needle ... – IoT Agenda
Wind power: A $27 billion opportunity readymade for ... – IoT Agenda
Five ways to accelerate predictive maintenance – IoT Agenda
A Quick Guide to Navigating the DevOps Journey –NetApp
Using Drones to Make Our Railroads Safer –TechData - HPE
IoT Use Cases: Remote Alarming –TeamViewer
McKinsey forecasts that the potential economic impact from IoT systems — including consumer surplus — could reach $11.1 trillion per year by 2025. Given the ongoing surge in IoT adoption, it's no surprise that many industrial companies are rapidly seeking to introduce IoT data into everyday operations. While IoT has already proven itself to be invaluable for its ability to collect data from entirely new sources, it truly shines when that sensor data can be correlated and analyzed.
By adding a new dimension to existing IT information, sensor data is making it easy to predict and identify issues before they occur, and enabling organizations to make decisions in real time.
At most industrial organizations today, the lack of real-time visibility into critical industrial systems causes a reactive approach to managing operations. Problems are often solved via intuition, rather than embracing a data-driven approach. In these environments, unplanned equipment failure and system downtime costs a manufacturer millions of dollars in lost revenue and business opportunities.
As an example, let's look at a wind farm using a reactive versus proactive maintenance for its wind turbines. Using a reactive approach, the wind farm's strategy is geared around fixing problems instead of preventing them. By choosing to forgo a proactive, data-driven strategy, the wind farm could lose millions of dollars from failures and unplanned maintenance. One estimate is that 1% to 3% of turbines require blade replacement annually, and according to an NREL analysis, the cost of each blade is approximately $150,000. If 100 blades were replaced each year, the cost would be around $15 million. In reality, that loss of revenue is higher due to the cost of blade installation and possibly hundreds of other asset failures to address.
Because most IoT systems use real-time machine data, analytics can be used to calculate equipment health and efficiency, so organizations can predict and prevent failures before they happen. Machine learning and customized statistical models enhance predictive maintenance efforts by diagnosing alarms and anomalies in real time, accelerating issue response time without affecting production.
Getting a simple view of complex industrial data is priceless. It takes away the hefty price organizations pay for maintenance and unplanned downtime. By taking an analytics-driven approach to maintenance and integrating data across disparate industrial control systems, sensors and applications, organizations can eliminate data silos and shift from a reactive to proactive method for managing operations.


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This monthly course provides help and support for experienced painters to become confident in establishing and sustaining a good regular working practise and a flow with their work. Both Emily and Julian focus on ways of inspiring a creative energy by giving talks, creating helpful exercises, giving demonstrations and one to one tutorials. Working as a group and individually each artist is helped to put more intensity and content into the work. Artists are given strategies to prevent hesitation, being stuck or bored. Artists need to bring their own subject, studies and on going work to each session. Being part of a group of like minded artists, and attending this course regularly over the year, will help each artist produce a strong and significant body of work, build confidence, independence and trust in their own creative abilities and intuition.


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Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14
Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13
A tough, brilliant senior resident guides an idealistic young doctor through his first day, pulling back the curtain on what really happens, both good and bad, in modern-day medicine.
Director: Amy Holden Jones, Hayley Schore, Roshan Sethi
Actors: Bruce Greenwood, Emily VanCamp, Jane Leeves, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Manish Dayal, Matt Czuchry, Morris Chestnut, Shaunette Renée Wilson
Studio: 20th Century Fox Television, 3 Art Entertainment, Fuqua Films
Networks: Citytv, FOX
A sitcom about three divorced men sharing an apartment across the hall from their female divorce attorney, who is also their landlord.
When Buy More computer geek Chuck Bartowski unwittingly downloads a database of government information and deadly fighting skills into his head, he becomes the CIA's most vital secret. This sets…
A successful defense lawyer at a boutique firm becomes romantically involved with a client who may or may not be guilty of a brutal crime.
A dramatic thriller that explores the demons lurking beneath the surface of a contemporary American family. The Rayburns are hard-working pillars of their Florida Keys community. But when the black…
Black Ink Crew New York
Reality series chronicling the daily operations and staff drama at an African American-owned and operated tattoo shop in Harlem, New York.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Crime, Drama
MasterChef Australia is a Logie Award-winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by Shine Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and…
When Marcus Lemonis isn't running his multi-billion dollar company, Camping World, he goes on the hunt for struggling businesses that are desperate for cash and ripe for a deal. In…
A Lie To Die For
The latest true crime docuseries from Oxygen, 'A Lie to Die For,' explores how far people will go to protect their secrets.
Go deep into the clandestine world of the legendary brotherhood of warrior monks known as The Knights Templar.
Drama following the lives of a group of midwives working in the poverty-stricken East End of London during the 1950s, based on the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth.
Doll & Em is a British comedy series starring real-life friends Emily Mortimer (Em) and Dolly Wells (Doll), filmed in the style of a reality TV show. After a breakup,…
Transporter: The Series is an English-language French-Canadian action-adventure television series, spun off from the Transporter film series created by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It is co-produced by the…
The misadventures of a group of friends as they navigate the pitfalls of work, life and love in Manhattan.
A mysterious woman is perched between the harsh legacy of World War II and the hope of a new life in Australia. A sweeping romantic drama set in 1950s rural…
Britain is in the grip of a chilling recession… falling wages, rising prices, civil unrest – only the bankers are smiling. It's 1783 and Ross Poldark returns from the American…
Four women juggle love, careers, and parenthood. They support, challenge, and try not to judge each other as life throws them curveballs. Whether it is an identity crisis, a huge…
Ghosts of Morgan City
There's something strange happening in Morgan City, Louisiana and Travel Channel's latest paranormal team is ready to get to the bottom of it.
Follow the lives of a group of students at what is possibly the world's worst community college in the fictional locale of Greendale, Colorado.
Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a…
A relevant, timely and distinctive coming-of-age story following a half dozen interrelated characters in the South Side of Chicago. The story centers on Brandon, an ambitious and confident young man…
Greenhouse Academy
When teen siblings Hayley and Alex enter an elite boarding school, they find rivalry, romance and a mystery related to the recent loss of their mom.
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Home Commentary Why does North Carolina need a partisan elections board anyway?
Photo by Donald Lee Pardue via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Why does North Carolina need a partisan elections board anyway?
It's easy to get bogged down in the politics right now as N.C. Democrats and Republicans battle over control of the State Board of Elections.
I do it, too — the most recent Longleaf Politics email focused on the power struggle. I even called it "kind of sophomoric." [Note: If you're not signed up for the weekly newsletter, you really should be.]
But let's set that aside for a moment. What is actually the best way for the elections board be governed?
If you do think of it that way, maybe the state GOP majority is onto something after all.
First, how we got here.
The N.C. State Board of Elections is in charge of the state's elections process and campaign finance, plus oversees the 100 county elections board. They make all sorts of decisions around early voting rules, election recounts, polling place equipment, and disputes and protests in the course of our electoral system.
For several decades, these were the rules for how the board was appointed.
The Governor shall appoint the members from a list of nominees submitted to him by the State party chairman of each of the two political parties having the highest number of registered affiliates as reflected by the latest registration statistics published by the State Board of Elections. Each party chairman shall submit a list of five nominees who are affiliated with that political party. No person may serve more than two consecutive four-year terms.
In plain English, this means that there were 5 members. Three came from the governor's party, and two from the minority party.
Things changed in late 2016 when it became clear that Republican Gov. Pat McCrory had lost his re-election bid against Democrat Roy Cooper.
The General Assembly pushed through a bill that changed the composition of the State Board of Elections to this:
The State Board shall consist of eight individuals registered to vote in North Carolina, appointed by the Governor, four of whom shall be of the political party with the highest number of registered affiliates and four of whom shall be of the political party with the second highest number of registered affiliates, as reflected by the latest registration statistics published by the State Board.
This makes it an 8 member board — 4 from the governor's party and 4 from the minority party.
Shortly after taking office, Cooper sued. Just a few weeks ago, the case was decided in his favor. The N.C. Supreme Court found that this arrangement violated the separation of powers part of the state constitution by keeping him from executing his duties1This is kind of a weird finding, but I'm not a lawyer. It's worth noting that Democrats control the state Supreme Court. The court said the governor needs "enough control" over the elections board to implement his policies.
So in early February, the state legislature introduced a bill2The bill also added to pre-K funding, eased K-3 class size rules and took a pipeline "slush fund" away from Gov. Cooper. that changes the composition of the State Board of Elections yet again.
Here's the new language:
The State Board shall consist of nine individuals registered to vote in North Carolina, appointed by the Governor, as follows:
(1) Four individuals registered with the political party with the highest number of registered affiliates in the State, from a list of six nominees submitted by the State party chairs of that party.
(2) Four individuals registered with the political party with the second highest number of registered affiliates in the State, from a list of six nominees submitted by the State party chairs of that party.
(3) One individual not registered with either the political party with the largest number of registered affiliates in the State or of the political party with the second-largest number of registered affiliates in the State, from a list of two nominees selected by the other eight members of the State Board.
That's a 9 member board with 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans and one member who's neither.
The bill containing this provision passed both houses and headed to the governor's desk Tuesday.
This is Gov. Cooper signing a completely unrelated bill last May (via Twitter)
Let's face it — the Republicans look bad here.
It's a bad look to start stripping away powers from the governor once you know he's going to be from the opposing party. It plays handily into the narrative of the "big bad GOP" here in North Carolina.
It looks almost as bad to tweak the law just a bit once you lose in court.
The Justice Building in downtown Raleigh, home of the N.C. Supreme Court. Photo by the North Carolina Judicial Branch via Facebook.
But do we really want a partisan elections board?
We can all agree that the integrity of our state's elections is important. Maintaining impartiality at the agency charged with overseeing elections feels like a big part of that.
Some decisions they have to make are inherently are political.
Rules on early voting carry a partisan split: Democrats generally favor expanding the number and hours of early voting sites, while Republicans favor reducing them.
The State Board of Elections had to decide whether to extend voting hours in Durham County in 2016 after software glitches slowed things down. And the Durham County board split on party lines on whether to look into McCrory's claims of miscounted votes.
Downtown Durham. Photo by James Willamor via Flickr (Creative Commons).
It's pretty clear that governors do not need a partisan majority to run elections.
Plenty of other states have the bipartisan model — New York and Illinois are two prominent examples.
A poll from the conservative Civitas Institute3I don't know how the question was framed, which is a key part of polling integrity found that 79 percent of likely voters in North Carolina favor a bipartisan State Board of Elections, split equally between the Democratic and Republican parties.
N.C. Democrats are crying loudly for nonpartisan redistricting.
I think the State Board of Elections is in the same category. It might sting a little for N.C. Democrats to sit this fight out, but it feels like the right thing from an intellectual honesty perspective.
While the political theater might make us queasy, this bipartisan arrangement is likely the best for North Carolina.
Homepage photo by Donald Lee Pardue via Flickr (Creative Commons).
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Jeff February 14, 2018 at 5:33 am
It appears that the Republican party has done the right thing…eventually.
Let us not forget, however, that the original bill that was ruled unconstitutional was very much partisan in their favor. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing.
I do believe that the net affect of this is going to be negligible. The NCGOP will pass laws restricting what power and policies the NCBOE will be able to enforce and carry out if they suspect the board will do anything that they do not agree with. If they lose an election they thought they had pre-engineered to win, look out. More changes will be coming.
Mark Sanders March 25, 2018 at 4:27 am
Is there any movement for a bill that would call for both non-partisan or bi-partisan re-redistricting and Board of Elections commissions?
Andrew Dunn March 26, 2018 at 12:34 pm
I haven't seen any bills to that effect — but I think that would be great!
john July 10, 2018 at 3:54 am
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Wednesday's News & Notes
Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitcher
Syracuse Won, 13-4 vs. Gwinnett,
7:00 p.m. Craig Stammen (9-6, 4.62) vs.
Julio Teheran (12-2, 2.18)
Harrisburg Lost, 4-3
(12 inn.) @ Akron,
7:05 p.m. Tanner Roark (7-8, 5.38) vs.
T.J. McFarland (9-6, 3.75)
Potomac Won, 6-3
(11 inn.) @ Kinston,
6:30 p.m. Evan Bronson (4-3, 3.47) vs.
Francisco Jimenez (3-2, 3.66)
Hagerstown Won, 10-2 vs. Lexington,
7:05 p.m. Stephen Strasburg (rehab) vs.
Luis Cruz (3-2, 4.18)
Auburn ALL STAR
BREAK vs. Aberdeen,
7:05 p.m. Christian Meza (1-1, 7.36) vs.
Phil Wilson (0-0, 2.00)
GCL Nationals OFF DAY vs. GCL Cards,
12:00 p.m. Jack McGeary (0-0, 0.75) vs.
Chase Reid (0-1, 4.50)
DSL Nationals Cancelled
@ DSL Yankees1 @ DSL Mets1,
10:30 a.m. TBD vs. TBD
Syracuse 13 Gwinnett 4
• Maya (W, 2-8) 5⅓ IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 0BB, 6K, 2HR
• Zinicola (H, 2) ⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Lombardozzi 3-5, 3R, 2B, BB
• Marrero 2-4, R, 2B, 2RBI, BB
A seven-run 6th featuring a pinch-hit grand slam was more than enough to help Yunesky Maya win his second game for the Syracuse Chiefs in a 13-4 beatdown. Four Chiefs homered and six collected multiple hits, with Steve Lombardozzi leading the bunch with a 3-for-5 night. Maya gave up two solo shots, four runs total, on seven hits over five and a 1/3rd innings with no walks and six strikeouts. Zech Zinicola stranded two baserunners and finished the inning to earn the hold just before the big inning. The win was the third straight for Syracuse, which is now 55-65, 13½ games behind in the I.L. North.
Akron 4 Harrisburg 3 (12 inn.)
• Martis (ND) 6⅓ IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 5BB, 6K
• McCoy (H, 11) 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Davis 2-5, BB
• Pahuta 2-5
The "Martinísimos" will be dismayed to learn that Rafael was off last night in Akron, blowing the save in the bottom of the 9th as the Akron Aeros went on win in 12 innings, 4-3. Shairon Martis got the no-decision with two runs allowed on four hits, five bases-on-balls and six strikeouts over six and a 1/3rd innings pitched. Veterans Leonard Davis and Tim Pahuta both went 2-for-5 as the Sens were held to ten hits total. The Sens' loss was a missed chance to gain some ground on the Baysox, which lost its third straight to stay one game behind while The Flying Squirrels got back to within 2½ games in the E.L. West.
Potomac 3 Kinston 1
• E Davis (ND) 7IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 4K
• Smoker (W, 5-2) 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 4K
• Souza 3-5
• Soriano 2-4, R, RBI, 2BB
• Perez 2-4, 2R, 3B, RBI, SB (35)
A Bad News Bears moment in the 11th gave the P-Nats an opening that they exploited for a 6-3 win. With two outs, Sandy Leon chugged in from second base on what appeared to be an inning-ending popup by Francisco Soriano that was headed just behind the pitcher's mound. It fell to the ground foul, Leon scoring the go-ahead run while Soriano took second in the confusion. Jeff Kobernus followed with an RBI flare to second base, and Destin Hood got the killshot with a double. The three-run rally made a winner out of Josh Smoker, who pitched the 10th and 11th with just a hit and a walk allowed and four strikeouts. The wins also kept pace with Frederick and Lynchburg, as Potomac trails the Keys by five but leads the 'Cats by six, and its elimination number is 15 while its magic number to clinch is 13.
Hagerstown 10 Lexington 2
• Ray 3IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 4K
• McCatty 2⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Keyes 2-3, 3R, 3B, HR, 4RBI, BB
• Martinson 2-3, R, HR, 3RBI
The Suns put this one away early, scoring eight runs over the first three innings to win their sixth straight over the Legends, 10-2. Kevin Keyes sunk the dagger in the first with a three-run bomb, then iced the cake with an RBI triple in the 8th. Jason Martinson also went 2-for-3 with a homer, driving in three. Robbie Ray was lifted after three (most likely an opportunity to taper, as neither the team release nor the beat guy referenced an injury) after allowing a hit and a walk while striking out four. The win was the Suns' sixth straight as Kannapolis fell last night, cutting the Intimidators' lead to two games in the Sally North.
Auburn Doubledays — ALL STAR BREAK
The National League defeated the American League in the 2011 New York-Penn League All-Star game, 7-3. Bryce Ortega (SS), Hendry Jimenez (2B) and Matt Skole (DH) all started for the National League, with Ortega going 0-for-2 with a walk, Jimenez 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Skole 1-for-3, with walk, a run scored, and an RBI.
GCL Nationals — OFF DAY
Just nine games remain on the schedule, so it's a watch now for picks to show and perhaps a couple of guys to get a bump to Auburn for a longer look.
DSL Nationals — CNCLD
Rain has apparently struck once again, cancelling the final meeting between the D-Nats and the D-Yankees1 squad. Just four games remain on the slate before the season wraps up on Saturday.
We're Now One Of The Usual Suspects
Projecting The AFL Guys
15 Commments
Sec 204 Row H Seat 7 says:
Looking forward to seeing Lombo and Marrero at NATS Park in September. Some posters discussing the recent draft brought up McGeary as how things do not work out. Hopefully, his start tonignt will show there is still hope for him.
Mark L says:
Sec 204 — Agree on McGeary. Hey, pitchers break down, that's part of the game. That doesn't make signing him a bad deal at the time, and he's looked terrfic so far. I sure the only reason they've got him in Vera is to keep on eye on him; expect to see him maybe in Potomac next year.
TBRFan, Wally, and Elliot — you guys ready for the circus coming to town tonite?
Who is the guy using Kevin Keyes' name and raking in Hagerstown? The guy hitting a ton this year. Anyone know any history here, like did the Nats' hitting coaches have any input or did Kevin make an adjustment on his own? He didn't seem to have a stellar hitting record at Texas, if I recall correctly. I'd be interesting to read an analysis of the Nats organizational approach to hitting and their coaches in the minors and whether that benefited Kevin.
Sue Dinem says:
You folks are in luck. I found a pre-draft video on KK as well as something more recent take from Dave Gershman at the Penn League Report.
Obviously, I hardly ever see the guys straight of college, but last season in Vermont looks like the classic "get the aluminum out of his swing" that we hear about so much, though he has had some experience in the Cape Cod League.
Good stuff, Sue. It's said it takes 600 AB's to get the aluminum out of a players swing.
It sure will be interesting to see what he does at Potomac next year.
ckstevenson says:
What's considered a good SLG at the AAA level for a 1B prospect? IE, is Marrero's season SLG of .471 good? He's slugging .740 in August, and has season his SLG increase each month of the season (.407, .424, .450, .461, .740).
Also, I think from time to time people reference how a certain ERA at a certain level translates to the MLB, anyone know what those are? And is there a hitting equivalent?
Most folks would want it over .500 but it's not bad.
As for translating stats, there is just such a beast called the Minor League Equivalency calculator, located here.
Since inquiring minds will want to know… Marrero's line of .310/.387/.471 translates to .266/.333/.394 with 11HR and 54RBI — according to the tool.
NG says:
Here are some comparable numbers for recent 1B prospects that have played full seasons or close to full seasons at AAA (BA/OBP/SLG):
Chris Marrero (2011 – Age 23) 310/387/471
Brandon Belt (2011 – Age 23) 320/461/528
Anthony Rizzo (2011 – Age 21/22) 355/431/703
Freddie Freeman (2010 – Age 20): 319/378/521
Yonder Alonso (2011 – Age 24) 296/374/486
So, Marrero has basically been a wash with Alonso (since moved to LF, not an option with Marrero), and if he keeps up this pace could catch up with Freddie Freeman. The optimistic view would be that he's generally improved every year, both level to level and from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. The pessimistic view would be that he's still too low on power for a glove-second 1B
Sec 314 says:
McGeary is still young and he's now had the requisite TJ surgery.
Elliot says:
gonna be there and gonna have a beer or two its thirtsy wed
Hey Mel just looked at the STATS for manno at high A, man he is for real 9 ip 18k 2 hits 0 thats right ZERO ERA
GO MANNO GO
jeff550 says:
GO MANNO! Still trying to decide if I would trade Manno for a Comp pick(Goodwin)
BinM says:
I'm really pleased that Manno is still doing very well within the CIN system, but it continues to harden my conviction that Rizzo gave up too much in the trade for Gomes. A semi-blocked OG (Rhinehart) & a promising LhRP (Manno) for a platoon LF who might bear a "B"-level draft pick; Gg-rrrrrrrrr.
BinM, they tried to treat him like an OG, but he just wouldn't cooperate. I echo the GRRRRR
TBRFan says:
I'm grrrr'ing here too. This trade is going to come back to haunt us….


Newton has a rare opportunity to legally acquire public access to the top of the Sudbury Aqueduct from the MWRA. The MWRA Trails program would allow Newton then to formalize the current off-road walking trails through Waban and Newton Highlands. Not all of the land above the aqueduct is owned by the Authority, but most of the frequently-used parts are. The MWRA is not charging for this access, but does require some trash pick-up and path maintenance.
The Waban Area Council has discussed the aqueduct at two meetings, and supports the city's moving forward on the permit for the Sudbury. It would give residents an off-road walking alternative through our area, and could connect us via linear park to Needham, Southborough, Natick and Framingham.
The MWRA has an FAQ as well as online maps.


text:
India Briefing, 1987
Marshall M. Bouton
This annual review of major events, issues, and trends in Indian affairs presents an authoritative and insightful assessment of India in 1986. Interpretive essays illuminate the causes and consequences of a tumultuous year, as leading specialists discuss Indian politics, economy, society, culture, and foreign relations. The contributors examine such important developments as the breakdown of the Punjab accord, the resurgence of militant communalism, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's faltering leadership, the dramatic heightening of Indo-Pakistan tensions, the growing resistance to economic reforms, and the impact of the video revolution on Indian culture. Filling an important gap in the literature on contemporary Indian affairs, this book will be invaluable for students and scholars of South Asia as well as for journalists, policymakers, businesspeople, and serious travelers who wish to understand current and future developments in India.
Preface -- Rajiv Gandhi: A Mid-Term Assessment -- Politics: The Failure to Rebuild Consensus -- Religion and Politics -- The Economy -- Society -- Culture -- Foreign Relations: Elusive Regional Security


text:
media.defense.gov
SpaceX Raised $1.2B, Amended Filings Show
Francesca Billington
Francesca Billington is a freelance reporter. Prior to that, she was a general assignment reporter for dot.LA and has also reported for KCRW, the Santa Monica Daily Press and local publications in New Jersey. She graduated from Princeton in 2019 with a degree in anthropology.
09:30 AM | April 14, 2021
Elon Musk's SpaceX just secured another $314 million, bringing its most recent round to nearly $1.2 billion, according to paperwork filed on Wednesday.
The Hawthorne-based company that wants to bring humans to Mars by 2026 added to their $850 million raise in February. Musk is in the process of developing a next-generation rocket, Starship to do that. And he has also set its sights on bringing high-speed internet to the masses with Starlink, a constellation of satellites.
The latest round comes as investors are pouring money into late-stage companies, according to first quarter data from Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association.
SpaceX Under DOJ Scrutiny For Alleged Hiring Discrimination - dot.LA ›
SpaceX Raises Its Biggest Round Yet, $1.9 Billion - dot.LA ›
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spacex equity raise venture capital space
https://twitter.com/frosebillington
francesca@dot.la
Sarah Favot
05:20 AM | November 01, 2021
Rachel Miller, founder and CEO of Closegap, has always been interested in helping kids who did not win the "birth lottery," as she calls it.
She is one of them.
Growing up, her mother had schizoaffective disorder, but did not take medication for it. Miller often stayed at strangers' houses or with family and friends because her mother had a hard time keeping a job. As a result, she often found herself exposed to others who were using drugs.
One night when she was 9, Miller thought she would have to sleep on the streets, but she and her mother received a last-minute motel voucher after standing outside a welfare office for hours.
It was in education that Miller found refuge. She'd often bounce around to several different schools in a year, but often was surrounded by teachers she saw as "guardian angels" who cared about her and her situation.
The support propelled her to attend Los Angeles Pierce College and then USC's Marshall School of Business before getting a master's degree in entrepreneurship at the University of Amsterdam. Drawing on an entrepreneurial spirit, she started a donation platform where people could gift specific items to disadvantaged families. It ultimately failed but something else bloomed.
"I learned so much and actually realized that I don't want to try to eliminate the adversity that kids experience," she said. "I want to optimize the support that they get from the adults around them and teach them the coping skills they need."
She launched Closegap in 2019. The web-based app used by schools lets students check in daily with their emotional well-being by answering questions like: Are you feeling worried or are you feeling like you are worth less than others. The questions are tailored to different age groups and teachers and counselors get results for each student. It tells them whether a child hasn't had breakfast that morning or is experiencing suicidal ideations.
For years, Miller was reluctant to share her story. She had a difficult childhood, one that she often didn't feel comfortable talking about. But she came to understand that it was that pain where her passion for disadvantaged kids comes from.
About 2,100 schools across the U.S. use the Los Angeles-based nonprofit's app, as well as schools in 25 countries. Students have completed about 2.5 million "check-ins."
When COVID hit, the app went from reaching 10,000 students to 140,000 students in two months, Miller said. That number has now reached about 160,000 students.
It's no coincidence. The American Psychological Association's Stress in America 2020 study shows that 43% of Gen Z teens, aged 13 to 17, say the level of stress in their life has increased over the past year. And a UNICEF report on the mental health of children globally found that 1 in 7 adolescents is estimated to live with a diagnosed mental disorder.
School districts across the country, and here in Los Angeles, are hiring school psychologists and psychiatric social workers to address the need.
Closegap targets schools because that's where Miller thought it would be most effective. "Not all families are created equal," she said. Community resources often fall short. She thought Closegap could help students make a connection with at least one adult.
"If we can optimize for that, if every kid had at least one trusted adult, our entire society would look different, that would literally change everything," she said. "That's why Closegap really focuses on that check in and getting them in contact with school counselors and teachers," Miller said.
The app has a free version that's more focused on the connection with an individual student as well as a recently launched paid premium product that provides aggregated data to school districts.
dot.la
"The idea is to create a safe digital space, where they feel comfy sharing, so it's not just a survey," she said. "It's really this moment where you get to check in with your emotions, your somatic sensations, your energy level and then you get to share if you have any challenges."
There are then activities on the app that students can do if they choose, like deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation and therapeutic shaking.
When it comes to student data privacy, Miller said it's something she takes seriously and part of the reason she founded the organization as a nonprofit.
So far, the only time Closegap will intervene is when a student reports ideas of self-harm or suicide. They will follow-up with the school to ensure an adult has been in contact with that student. She said all of the students who have reported self-harm or suicide on the app are receiving treatment.
Miller has relied on philanthropic donations to fund the app so far. She has several investors, rather than a single one -- much like a startup backed by venture capitalists would have.
The company is now working on integrating pieces into the app that orient children to the future, rather than living in the here and now. Students who experience trauma are often stuck in their present situation, in survival mode, she said.
"What I want to work on next is really making sure that all students, regardless of the circumstances they find themselves in, have some concept of the future and can start to at least a little bit visualize what their lives might look like after whatever it is they're in," Miller said.
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How Educators can Support the Emotional Health of Their Students ... ›
Closegap ›
edtech medtech women in tech closegap wellness
Favot is an award-winning journalist and adjunct instructor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She previously was an investigative and data reporter at national education news site The 74 and local news site LA School Report. She's also worked at the Los Angeles Daily News. She was a Livingston Award finalist in 2011 and holds a Master's degree in journalism from Boston University and BA from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.
Vertex Ventures US Partner Dom Perri on the Firm's New Fund Focused on DevOps and Infrastructure
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currently under construction at 1443 Island Avenue, San Diego. The development is scheduled for completion in 2019. Pinnacle on the Park - Phase II has a total of 472 units.
Your inquiry will be delivered to the developer / builder of Pinnacle on the Park - Phase II, who will send you more information about this development.


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Home / World View / What Area Code Is 976?
What Area Code Is 976?
By Staff WriterLast Updated Mar 27, 2020 7:32:13 PM ET
CSA Images/Getty Images
The area code 976 has not been assigned to a city or state as of September 2014. It is an area code that is designated to the United States.
There is a list of area codes that have been created but have not been assigned to specific areas. These are created for future purposes when an area gets so populated that a new area code is needed. A person can look up the city and state an area code is assigned to online through a number of web pages. As of 2014, AreaCode.org is one of these pages that is both accurate and up to date.