First of all, allow me to apologize for the lack of posts. I could say something here about being too busy to write anything, but I don't feel that's a valid excuse. I made a committment to maintain this blog, and I need to follow through on that committment even when I have other things going on in my life. I apologize, and I will endeavor to prevent lapses like this again in the future.
This leads me into my topic for this post. I've had a lot of thought about preparation and focus these past two weeks. They are both quite important to completing the goals that we set for ourselves. As I have many goals this year, I need to make sure I have the proper preparation and focus in order to be able to achieve them.
To have the best results, we have to make sure we are well prepared. A favorite quote of mine is "Proper planning prevents poor performance." I am the kind of person that likes to plan things out well ahead of time. This allows me to be more efficient. For example, I am in the process of writing a novel, but I have to make sure I have prepared the back story well enough to make the writing process easier.
Focus is just important, however. All the preparation in the world will not help if you cannot focus on the task at hand when it is time. You have to take the time to accomplish the goals you set forth and not become distracted by the outside world. When you lose focus, then tasks can be abandoned and never completed. This has been my experience in the past, and it is something I am trying to avoid moving forward.
I've two separate experiences in the last couple of weeks that have really solidified these ideas for me. The first experience was at a Magic tournament I attended February 7-8. This was the biggest tournament I've attended so far this year, and I have been looking forward to it for a few weeks.
I had moderate success in the event, but certainly not the level I have come to expect from myself. I played a deck that was very familiar to me, and I felt pretty good about my chances. However, a new set had just recently been released which changed some of the decks other players were playing. I did not take the time to adequately prepare for the new cards I would be playing against.
I might have been able to make different choices that would have allowed me to perform better, had I done the necessary preparation. I had alot of success last year playing Magic, and I let part of that go to my head. I allowed myself to believe that I didn't need to prepare as much. This turned out to be a mistake. I have since deflated my ego a bit and I'm currently preparing for another tournament that I will be attending at the first of March.
I learned my lesson in focus in the last couple of weeks in regard to my fitness goals. I have made the necessary preparations to be able to achieve my fitness goals, including buying better foods to eat and purchasing exercise equipment. Unfortunately, I have not focused on meeting this goal as well as I should. Between the Magic tournament I attended and a week of training at my job, I lost focus and let my willpower slip.
I did not focus on eating healthy and indulged in several meals that were quite delicious, but not altogether good for me. I have also not been using the equipment I purchased as much as I should be and that has shown. I have sadly undid all of the work I had made in losing weight, bringing me back to the weight I was at before starting this blog.
This really hit me hard when I stood on the scale and saw the numbers. I'm determined to meet my fitness goal possibly more than any other goal I have this year, but I am not really succeeding at this point. I know I have the ability to complete it, I just have to focus harder on completing it.
I also have to focus more on making sure I keep this blog up to date. I have enjoyed writing it, and I feel that is really beneficial for me. Just posting this has already helped keep me accountable for my goals. Once again I apologize for not keeping it on the schedule I set out, but I will endeavor to do better going forward.
-Eddie
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Media Crossovers
I just recently watched the first three seasons Game of Thrones. I have already read the books on which it is based. I loved the books, and I had heard good things about the series, so I decided to watch it. I was a little skeptical at first because I've been burned by bad media crossovers in the past. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The series is excellent, and I recommend it to anyone who can handle the copious amounts of sex and violence.
Watching the series made me start thinking about media crossovers. They are everywhere these days. It's not surprising when you think about it, though. You have a successful franchise, and you wonder how to make it more successful. You cross into another media. Not only will you generate more success from your existing fans, you also have the potential to reach new fans as well. Not everyone reads books, but they may watch a television series or a movie. They may play a video game. And once they've seen the movie or played the video game, they may go back and read the book. To me, anything that gets people reading is a good thing.
Of course, there have been many failed attempts at media crossovers as well. The people in charge assume that the strength of the original work will carry through to the crossover and make up for any shortcomings it may have. That's not always the case. Each piece needs to be able to stand on its own if it is to be truly successful. People should want to watch a movie because it is a good movie, not because it is based on their favorite book. The latter is just icing on the cake.
This is especially true with video games. You see so often where a video game is released along with a new movie. However, most of these games are terrible. They end up in bargain bins within a year of release. It doesn't make sense to me for companies to waste resources making the game if it is just going to fail. And the reverse is also true. There have been many successful video games that have been turned into movies. Unfortunately, most of these movies have been terrible.
Aside from making each entity good on its own, they still need to be closely related. When you start making major changes from the original work, you run the risk of alienating the existing fans, which can cause a negative backlash. You need to make sure the important characters and plotlines stay intact. It is understandable to make minor changes based on the new media, but you need to make sure it still mostly resembles the original.
Game of Thrones is one of the best examples I've seen recently of a successful media crossover. The books are very good and have quite a few readers. When HBO decided to turn the books into a series, obviously they had to make a few changes. There is too much information in the books to put into a TV series because there are different constraints in that media. However, they have been very true to the major characters and plot points in the books. There are certain events in the books that I expect to see when I watch the show and thus far I have not been disappointed.
However, Game of Thrones is also an excellent show on its own merits. If someone had never heard of the Song of Ice and Fire books, they would still be able to enjoy the show. This is obvious in the success the show has had. It is filled with a high quality cast and excellent writers. Of course, it helps that the author of the books has a direct hand in the show, even going so far as to write scripts for some of the episodes.
If any of my works ever have a media crossover, I would want to have my hand in it as well. I think this leads to the best product because it helps make sure the true vision of the original work stays intact. Maybe one day, I will get to see "based on the book by Eddie Walker" at the beginning of a movie. I can't even imagine what that would feel like.
-Eddie
Watching the series made me start thinking about media crossovers. They are everywhere these days. It's not surprising when you think about it, though. You have a successful franchise, and you wonder how to make it more successful. You cross into another media. Not only will you generate more success from your existing fans, you also have the potential to reach new fans as well. Not everyone reads books, but they may watch a television series or a movie. They may play a video game. And once they've seen the movie or played the video game, they may go back and read the book. To me, anything that gets people reading is a good thing.
Of course, there have been many failed attempts at media crossovers as well. The people in charge assume that the strength of the original work will carry through to the crossover and make up for any shortcomings it may have. That's not always the case. Each piece needs to be able to stand on its own if it is to be truly successful. People should want to watch a movie because it is a good movie, not because it is based on their favorite book. The latter is just icing on the cake.
This is especially true with video games. You see so often where a video game is released along with a new movie. However, most of these games are terrible. They end up in bargain bins within a year of release. It doesn't make sense to me for companies to waste resources making the game if it is just going to fail. And the reverse is also true. There have been many successful video games that have been turned into movies. Unfortunately, most of these movies have been terrible.
Aside from making each entity good on its own, they still need to be closely related. When you start making major changes from the original work, you run the risk of alienating the existing fans, which can cause a negative backlash. You need to make sure the important characters and plotlines stay intact. It is understandable to make minor changes based on the new media, but you need to make sure it still mostly resembles the original.
Game of Thrones is one of the best examples I've seen recently of a successful media crossover. The books are very good and have quite a few readers. When HBO decided to turn the books into a series, obviously they had to make a few changes. There is too much information in the books to put into a TV series because there are different constraints in that media. However, they have been very true to the major characters and plot points in the books. There are certain events in the books that I expect to see when I watch the show and thus far I have not been disappointed.
However, Game of Thrones is also an excellent show on its own merits. If someone had never heard of the Song of Ice and Fire books, they would still be able to enjoy the show. This is obvious in the success the show has had. It is filled with a high quality cast and excellent writers. Of course, it helps that the author of the books has a direct hand in the show, even going so far as to write scripts for some of the episodes.
If any of my works ever have a media crossover, I would want to have my hand in it as well. I think this leads to the best product because it helps make sure the true vision of the original work stays intact. Maybe one day, I will get to see "based on the book by Eddie Walker" at the beginning of a movie. I can't even imagine what that would feel like.
-Eddie
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