The Inconsistent Writer

--DISCLAIMER-- Please Be Advised: While I will do my best not to reveal any spoilers within this series of posts, I cannot 100% guarantee that it will not happen. --READ AT YOUR OWN RISK-- "You're the smartest guy I ever met, and you're too stupid to see he made up his mind 10 minutes ago." – Hank Schrader 5. A Limited Budget Can Be Extremely Freeing The average Hollywood budget for a 2 hour feature film is $80 million (and this is somewhat low, considering that most big budget blockbusters -- or potential blockbusters, I might emphasize -- are closer to $150 million or higher). With a show like  Breaking Bad , you get more show, more character development, more New Mexico desert, and a more compelling story (over 720 minutes, just for season 5) for considerably less. The writers of Breaking Bad were limited in budgetary sense, but what they may not tell you is that hearing the words "no, we don't have it in the budget" can be ext

--DISCLAIMER-- Please Be Advised: While I will do my best not to reveal any spoilers within this series of posts, I cannot 100% guarantee that it will not happen. --READ AT YOUR OWN RISK-- "As to your dead guy, occupational hazard. Drug dealer getting shot? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's been known to happen." - Saul Goodman The next two elements below that make Breaking Bad better than most movies really go hand in hand. Anyone who understands the entire process of filmmaking knows that the Director's best friend is the Cinematographer. (I've gone into more detail about the importance of cinematography here .) The images that Breaking Bad has been able to produce has raised the bar in what a television show can look like and really makes the big blockbusters churned out by Tinseltown pale in comparison. 3. The Direction The basic definition of a film or television director's job is to bring to life what is on the written

--DISCLAIMER-- Please Be Advised: While I will do my best not to reveal any spoilers within this series of posts, I cannot 100% guarantee that it will not happen. --READ AT YOUR OWN RISK-- "I have spent my whole life scared, frightened of things that could happen, might happen, might not happen, 50-years I spent like that. Finding myself awake at three in the morning. But you know what? Ever since my diagnosis, I sleep just fine. What I came to realize is that fear, that’s the worst of it. That’s the real enemy. So, get up, get out in the real world and you kick that bastard as hard you can right in the teeth." Walter White People have complained about the subject matter or thematic elements of  Breaking Bad , but I would imagine the hardest reality to accept is that a majority of what takes place in Walter White's world  strikes a little too close to home . It's not surprising, either. When a friend was recently recommended to watch the show, her reaction

--DISCLAIMER-- Please Be Advised: While I will do my best not to reveal any spoilers within this series of posts, I cannot 100% guarantee that it will not happen. --READ AT YOUR OWN RISK-- "Chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change ... It's growth, then decay, then transformation." Walter White On the eve of the  Breaking Bad  series finale,  my wife  and I began to discuss her recent disinterest in movies. Whether it was going to the theater, or selecting a DVD rental off of the wall at our local  Hastings , we've generally become dissatisfied with most recent releases. Her interest has waned considerably because character development and story has taken the backseat to car chases, explosions, high octane action, comic book franchises, and special effects. As I began to rack my brain over my first 'hit' of  Breaking Bad  (bad pun, I know), it made me start to wonder why it is that  Breaking Bad  was better

--DISCLAIMER-- Please Be Advised: While I will do my best not to reveal any spoilers within this series of posts, I cannot 100% guarantee that it will not happen. --READ AT YOUR OWN RISK-- Prologue. "Watch this," is all he said as he slapped copies of season one and two into my hands. "You'll thank me later," he then said, with a brief pause followed by a wry smile and a reassurance of, "trust me." His final words resonated as I exited his house, looking down and seeing the dad from Malcolm in the Middle standing in front of an RV, missing his pants and holding a gun. That's peculiar , I thought as I got into my car and tossed the DVDs onto the passenger seat. Little did I realize, that what I would soon watch, would change the way I looked at television forever. I knew that television had come a long way in its ability to tell good stories. Most of them, however, were not on Network TV. The first ripples of this change came wit