Reading Pen Farming｜Special Notes: VAF ╳ AMA・Yelang's Writing Mind, Video Life and Death

Today, I participated in the AMA lecture held by Fanggezi. The speaker is Mr. Yelang , a creator who has practiced pen for more than 20 years. Talking about writing, talking about videotapes, talking about the ups and downs and evolution of the film industry...notes are organized and shared.

■ 20-year mental journey of practicing pen

• The motivation for writing is to spread my point of view so that more people can hear it.
• It was originally written on traditional media , such as online community message books and major security paper film reviews, and it was a one-way transmission.
• The appearance of Pinguo Daily was a major turning point for the "film review column" - a large number of realistic pictures, sensational headlines - the space for seeing "words" was crowded out and compressed.
• Continuing, I had to start thinking about what else I could write? I just got tired of the rhythm of life at that time... I finally decided to start with the standards of "not writing the present moment" and "long essay". From old texts, to dig some little-known unique viewpoints, cold knowledge, and cultural context.

■ How to do theme idea?

Slowly tame digital tools.

1. 【Data collection stage】
   ◍ Train Flipboard 's algorithm to deliver exactly what you want to watch.
   ◍ Use Instapaper to store articles from the web.
   ◍ Rely on Pocket to assist in data analysis.
2. 【 Note stage 】
   The software currently in use is Google Keep . This software is very "stupid" and has a character limit. It is often forced to interrupt halfway through writing; but it also provides an opportunity to "stop and review" and tell myself not to add any more. It's time to start doing "concentration" subtraction.
3. 【Outline stage】
   It took a lot of time to adjust the outline, because the story to be described is "old and long" and needs to be well conceived, and a boring topic can be drawn in an interesting way to draw readers in.
   ◍ Beginning: A clear opening trailer like "007".
   ◍ End paragraph: Punch Line like "The Sixth Sense".

■ Your source of information?

Tuning an algorithm is an interesting process.

• I highly recommend the “ news-gathering app ”, the kind that can be tamed, and after continuous training, the delivery will become very accurate.
• Find the " KOL on a specific issue " and secretly observe where his source of information comes from? What website did he look at? Take it for your own use, and adjust your information cloud regularly.

■ A day's writing process

Thai spent half the time fighting anxiety.

• I used to like to write in a coffee shop, and I can use the "noisy ambient sound" to offset my anxiety.
• On top of that, since Covid-19, the old work habits have been interrupted, and the writing has been changed from home; the new challenge is to "constantly change seats" to combat anxiety.
• New insight: Write the first sentence and you win .

Put the ideas in your head first, don't care too much about the order, and write it intuitively first. It may only take 1-2 hours, so that you can buy yourself the next 2-3 days and have plenty of time to adjust the structure.

When you are "finished", you will be in a "third-person" state from now on. This perspective change is very useful , and you can view and revise the "finished" article objectively.

• A word of advice to creators who are determined to write film reviews: " Seek honesty first, then style ." In this field, honesty is a very scarce product.

■ What is your source of income (writing for a living)?

• Most of the time, there is other income.
• The good news is that writing is a common ability in the workplace (many jobs require this craft).
• Make sure to build your mentality.

Writing income is very similar to "star". It is a very cruel game. The key point is that there must be "sufficient" audiences.

If you can't make a living by writing, it's not because you are not good enough/hard enough, there are too many external conditions that have nothing to do with "writing level".

• Pandemic creates new trends

A "mobile" occupational state. You are very lucky to be born in this era, you no longer need to follow the rhythm of traditional media. Now there are many new media that are not defined. In other words, you can define it yourself.

• For new mediums, don't be preconceived Say No

For those new mediums that have not yet been defined, don't reject it immediately, try to tame it , and make the new stuff a suitable narrative stage for you.

■ The theme concept of the column "Video Life and Death"

Perhaps, pirated movies reflect people's thirst for content and are a way of life.

• One day I re-watched "Seven Nights" by chance, and I was surprised to find that the true meaning of this film is to use a form of fear to spread the image of "hatred of piracy" continuously.
• Following on from the above, I began to think about a series of writing themed projects based on "video tapes" and "pirated films".
• Taiwan's unique culture in the world: MTV, karaoke (open hall), KTV (small box), the evolution of this type of business has a lot to do with video tapes.

For example, the design of "Singing Ring" is to remind those who are showing "video tapes" in the background, in the era before fully automated computer monitoring.

■ Does this video history have anything to do with me?

• Before videotape, you could only arrange your life according to (subject to) the TV schedule .
• After the videotape, you took the power back.

Now you can " own " a movie, and there is a " pause " button to use, so you can freely arrange your own pace of life without being forced to adjust.

• Continuing from the above, video tapes also create "Easter Egg Culture", because of the "pause" button, it is too convenient to dig out the details of the video; but with the launch of various media of Web1 and Web2, some people have finished sorting out the Easter eggs, and one is missing to take the movie home reason.
• Continuing on, the advent of DVD was a response from the industry. It mainly focuses on "additional" content that cannot be seen in various movies, such as the collection version, behind-the-scenes footage, director's commentary, etc., giving you a new set of reasons.
• About the Oscars 1
  Sending a large number of videos to the judges changed their viewing experience. The best picture award is no longer about being in a "movie theater".
  
• About the Oscars 2
  Social media's two-way interaction, bringing viewers closer to their idols, killed the selling point of Oscar-winning telecasts. In the past, only at this annual event did we have the opportunity to see the true temperament of directors and stars "beyond the big screen" revealed.

■ What do you think of the impact of video streaming platforms?

• The death of cable TV is a foregone conclusion.
• As long as the streaming platform wins the two territories of "live news" and "live sports events", it can fully receive the viewing experience of cable TV. For the latter, it takes several years for the franchise fee to be signed, and the migration speed is relatively slow, and it is estimated that it will take 5 to 10 years to transform.
• The cinema will not disappear (example: the opera house is still there), but it will continue to appear in our lives in another form, and it must readjust its service type.
• For the film and television production industry (content interpretation side), this is a golden age that has never been seen before, and so much money has never been invested in this industry.

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