Conlang film in production, comments requested Posted by Anonymous on Mon 16 of Jun, 2008 06:01 GMT Use this thread to discuss the Conlang film in production, comments requested page.
Posted by Anonymous on Mon 16 of Jun, 2008 06:01 GMT FOR WIDE DISTRIBUTION - PLEASE FORWARD See: http://www.spinnoff.com/zbb/viewtopic.php?t=28210 for original message & more details O fellow conlangers: This is about the short film "Conlang" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFc3CvMMY48> - that is just a test for the real thing, set to begin production in two weeks. We would like to give them as much support as we can in this. Your (very prompt) comments, suggestions, jokes, revisions, etc. (in addition to the specific items mentioned below) would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, if you have items you could lend as typically conlangery props to use in the film (e.g. themed tshirts, books, & other paraphenalia) please let us know. Please DO forward this email to anyone who would be interested. If you have comments that you would like to discuss publicly, please post them on the ZBB thread linked above. For all other comments, please use the emails below. Thanks, Sai Emrys President, Language Creation Society P.S. Please copypaste this line to your 'to' when replying: baldvinkari@gmail.com, davemaulbeck@gmail.com, mam@swandivefilms.com, lcs@conlang.org Salutations! My name is Baldvin and I'm an Icelandic graduate film student at Columbia University in New York. I've always been very interested in languages but was first introduced to the magic realm of conlangery through my boyfriend, whom you ZBB folk probably know as "vecfaranti". On a side note, vecfaranti's very own "Uscaniv" plays an important role in the movie as the main character's conlang. Anyway, I've written a short film, CONLANG, that is to be filmed in New Jersey in about two weeks - and we need your help. The story is about Carl Tedesco, an avid 26-year-old conlanger who has a chance of becoming the president of his Conlanging Club, as the current president is going away to work on a new Star Trek movie as Chief Klingon Adviser. But before he can accept the presidency, he is challenged by another club member, a power-hungry Esperantist by the name of Kip (who plans to turn the club into an Esperanto League). The winner is to be decided in a "Herculean Tournament", as described in the Club Laws. Carl and Kip will compete for the presidency in a series of gruelling linguistical trials that include etymological and phonetic challenges, a Klingon crossword puzzle and a Scrabble game in Sindarin. I don't want to give away the ending, but lets just say that the greedy Esperantists with their evil plans for world domination and the abolishment of true artistic conlanging get their just deserts. But in spite of our honorable intentions, the fact of the matter is that we lowly filmmakers (however talented in other areas) need the talent and expertise of real conlangers to make this thing work in a believable way. If any of you are interested in helping out with any of the following, we would be very grateful and would of course acknowledge your unvaluable contributions in the film's credits. I should mention that this is a comedy, so we are willing to bend reality in favor of humor, but preferably without breaking it. What we need: Trial #1: An etymology of the Jive term "catch you on the flip side". (Note: I must confess I'm not sure if "etymology" is the right word here, since it's a phrase, not a single word. But this phrase was deemed more interesting and funny than the original challenge of tracing the word "tooth" to it's Indo-European origins.) Trial #2: A phonetic account (IPA) of the American National Anthem as sung with a Southern accent. Trial #3: A couple of (dirty) limericks in a well-known conlang of your choice. Trial #4: The Gettysburg Address translated into "hip hop slang" with generous use of the suffix "-shizzle". Trial #5: A giant Klingon crossword puzzle. (Note: An actual, functional crossword puzzle would be great, but this is a movie so a "fake" one that looks real would suffice.) Again, any help is greatly appreciated. Also, if you want to tell us about something that is "totally awesome and just has to be in the movie or otherwise it can't even call itself a conlang movie", please feel free to share. Someone has already tried to tell me about a left-handed, gay Lithuanian with a red beard or something, but I never really got that joke. Thank you all in advance! To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to lojban-list-request@lojban.org with the subject unsubscribe, or go to http://www.lojban.org/lsg2/, or if you're really stuck, send mail to secretary@lojban.org for help.
Posted by Anonymous on Mon 16 of Jun, 2008 06:02 GMT FOR WIDE DISTRIBUTION - PLEASE FORWARD See: http://www.spinnoff.com/zbb/viewtopic.php?t=28210 for original message & more details O fellow conlangers: This is about the short film "Conlang" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFc3CvMMY48> - that is just a test for the real thing, set to begin production in two weeks. We would like to give them as much support as we can in this. Your (very prompt) comments, suggestions, jokes, revisions, etc. (in addition to the specific items mentioned below) would be greatly appreciated. Additionally, if you have items you could lend as typically conlangery props to use in the film (e.g. themed tshirts, books, & other paraphenalia) please let us know. Please DO forward this email to anyone who would be interested. If you have comments that you would like to discuss publicly, please post them on the ZBB thread linked above. For all other comments, please use the emails below. Thanks, Sai Emrys President, Language Creation Society P.S. Please copypaste this line to your 'to' when replying: baldvinkari@gmail.com, davemaulbeck@gmail.com, mam@swandivefilms.com, lcs@conlang.org Salutations! My name is Baldvin and I'm an Icelandic graduate film student at Columbia University in New York. I've always been very interested in languages but was first introduced to the magic realm of conlangery through my boyfriend, whom you ZBB folk probably know as "vecfaranti". On a side note, vecfaranti's very own "Uscaniv" plays an important role in the movie as the main character's conlang. Anyway, I've written a short film, CONLANG, that is to be filmed in New Jersey in about two weeks - and we need your help. The story is about Carl Tedesco, an avid 26-year-old conlanger who has a chance of becoming the president of his Conlanging Club, as the current president is going away to work on a new Star Trek movie as Chief Klingon Adviser. But before he can accept the presidency, he is challenged by another club member, a power-hungry Esperantist by the name of Kip (who plans to turn the club into an Esperanto League). The winner is to be decided in a "Herculean Tournament", as described in the Club Laws. Carl and Kip will compete for the presidency in a series of gruelling linguistical trials that include etymological and phonetic challenges, a Klingon crossword puzzle and a Scrabble game in Sindarin. I don't want to give away the ending, but lets just say that the greedy Esperantists with their evil plans for world domination and the abolishment of true artistic conlanging get their just deserts. But in spite of our honorable intentions, the fact of the matter is that we lowly filmmakers (however talented in other areas) need the talent and expertise of real conlangers to make this thing work in a believable way. If any of you are interested in helping out with any of the following, we would be very grateful and would of course acknowledge your unvaluable contributions in the film's credits. I should mention that this is a comedy, so we are willing to bend reality in favor of humor, but preferably without breaking it. What we need: Trial #1: An etymology of the Jive term "catch you on the flip side". (Note: I must confess I'm not sure if "etymology" is the right word here, since it's a phrase, not a single word. But this phrase was deemed more interesting and funny than the original challenge of tracing the word "tooth" to it's Indo-European origins.) Trial #2: A phonetic account (IPA) of the American National Anthem as sung with a Southern accent. Trial #3: A couple of (dirty) limericks in a well-known conlang of your choice. Trial #4: The Gettysburg Address translated into "hip hop slang" with generous use of the suffix "-shizzle". Trial #5: A giant Klingon crossword puzzle. (Note: An actual, functional crossword puzzle would be great, but this is a movie so a "fake" one that looks real would suffice.) Again, any help is greatly appreciated. Also, if you want to tell us about something that is "totally awesome and just has to be in the movie or otherwise it can't even call itself a conlang movie", please feel free to share. Someone has already tried to tell me about a left-handed, gay Lithuanian with a red beard or something, but I never really got that joke. Thank you all in advance! To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to lojban-list-request@lojban.org with the subject unsubscribe, or go to http://www.lojban.org/lsg2/, or if you're really stuck, send mail to secretary@lojban.org for help.