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🌟 Internet FamousThe Mysterious Mr. Enter / Jonathan Rozanski's "Growing Around" - IndieGoGo Campaign Failed, John going off the deep end, "Turning Red" is ignorant about 9/11 (later retracted)
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Late as fuck but I've been busy trying to write this response.
Firstly, Nice typo Enter. I'm sure the kids Ryker Teachers would pick up on it.
Secondly I get Enter has a limited imagination but he could at least pick characters/things to ripoff that are somewhat memorable. As I've stated before Ryker is an obvious ripoff of Arthur Read's new music teacher, right down to the instrument he plays and grumpy attitude. The thing is that Arthur Read's new music teacher was not a popular character with the fanbase due to being a Squidwardesque character done incorrectly. I remember as a kid my friends and I hated the episodes he appeared in because they were a chore to sit through due to just how annoying, unlikable and forgettable the character was. It says something that I can still remember the name of Ratburn's mentor (Mr. Price Jones) but I can't even remember the new music teacher's name nor am I going to waste my time looking for it.
Perhaps not so ironically that's Enter biggest issue with Growing Around: It's arguably the most forgettable series I've ever seen. Despite following it for a year the only character I can remember is Sally Dunn the Main Character and the only plot I can vaugley remember is one where ripoffs of Dorothy Anne form the Magic School Bus and the boy from We're Back!: A Dinosaur Story do something with dinosaurs. Compare that to something like Ed, Edd n Eddy. I haven't seen any of the episodes in over five years but I can still remember things like Ed terroizing the Cul-De-Sac as a monster (The Day the Ed Stood Still) Double D dancing with Nazz at the Middle School Dance (May I Have this Ed) and Ed, Edd, and Eddy riding a runaway cart along a rollercoaster track (Gimme Gimme Never Eds). These are some of the many memorable moments Ed, Edd n Eddy had and I can do the same for the other shows.
After going on five years of effort Enter should really pack it in. It's obvious he's spinning his wheels and the only way Growing Around is going to be made a serious is if someone like Spazkid does a Sonichu: The Animated series style parody.
Late as fuck but I've been busy trying to write this response.
Firstly, Nice typo Enter. I'm sure the kids Ryker Teachers would pick up on it.
Secondly I get Enter has a limited imagination but he could at least pick characters/things to ripoff that are somewhat memorable. As I've stated before Ryker is an obvious ripoff of Arthur Read's new music teacher, right down to the instrument he plays and grumpy attitude. The thing is that Arthur Read's new music teacher was not a popular character with the fanbase due to being a Squidwardesque character done incorrectly. I remember as a kid my friends and I hated the episodes he appeared in because they were a chore to sit through due to just how annoying, unlikable and forgettable the character was. It says something that I can still remember the name of Ratburn's mentor (Mr. Price Jones) but I can't even remember the new music teacher's name nor am I going to waste my time looking for it.
Perhaps not so ironically that's Enter biggest issue with Growing Around: It's arguably the most forgettable series I've ever seen. Despite following it for a year the only character I can remember is Sally Dunn the Main Character and the only plot I can vaugley remember is one where ripoffs of Dorothy Anne form the Magic School Bus and the boy from We're Back!: A Dinosaur Story do something with dinosaurs. Compare that to something like Ed, Edd n Eddy. I haven't seen any of the episodes in over five years but I can still remember things like Ed terroizing the Cul-De-Sac as a monster (The Day the Ed Stood Still) Double D dancing with Nazz at the Middle School Dance (May I Have this Ed) and Ed, Edd, and Eddy riding a runaway cart along a rollercoaster track (Gimme Gimme Never Eds). These are some of the many memorable moments Ed, Edd n Eddy had and I can do the same for the other shows.
After going on five years of effort Enter should really pack it in. It's obvious he's spinning his wheels and the only way Growing Around is going to be made a serious is if someone like Spazkid does a Sonichu: The Animated series style parody.
Now that you mention it, Sonichu actually has more memorable moments in it. Sure, those moments came from Chris messing up somehow, but when he messed up the unintentional hilarity was there. When Enter messes up, it's just kind of sad watching him flounder and dig his heels in and keep proclaiming himself a wonderful writer.
I was watching Gravity Falls yesterday and in the episode where the kids are hunting down the lake monster, they run into a cave and it gets stuck in the hole and dies. Reminded me of the origin story for how kids came into power in Growing Around. Coincidence or did Enter rip that off too?
I was watching Gravity Falls yesterday and in the episode where the kids are hunting down the lake monster, they run into a cave and it gets stuck in the hole and dies. Reminded me of the origin story for how kids came into power in Growing Around. Coincidence or did Enter rip that off too?
True it turned out to be a robot and thus didn't actually die, but it's still an ancient looking dinosaur-like creature getting stuck in a hole after being lead into it by children and no longer being able to move.
True it turned out to be a robot and thus didn't actually die, but it's still an ancient looking dinosaur-like creature getting stuck in a hole after being lead into it by children and no longer being able to move.
God Enter is a re.tard. This isn’t s screenshot. The term “screenshot” implies it’s a screen from a video. This isn’t a video. This is a storyboard thumbnail at best.
When I took writing classes one of the things our professor said was that a good skill when writing dialogue is to find a voice that's close enough to the character and use that voice when writing. For instance if you're writing a story set in New York you might want to write dialogue that sounds like it came out of the mouth of Archie Bunker; if you're writing a story set in Northern England you might want to write dialogue that sounds like it came out of the mouth from Clegg from Last of the Summer wine. By having a particular character's voice in mind with writing dialogue you not only lessen the chance of it being extremely stilted, but you also give your characters something the audience can identify with.
The fact Enter doesn't know this means that the dialogue in Growing Around is incredibly stilted. Talula's dialogue at the end of the second part was so bad it gave me a migraine. If he's not going to make the effort to go outside and study people, he should at least base dialogue on the cartoons he watches
I'll leave @mooo and @LiquidKid to discuss Enter's terrible writing as that's more suited to their expertise. That said, It Girl: Part 2's description in and of itself is especially weird as it doesn't really talk about the script itself as much as it talks about what's coming in the "show's" future.
ZOMG, maybe I'm learning to finish what I started. And now here's the ending of the first arc. That doesn't mean there are no other "season one" episodes because there are. I've been writing basically the main structure episodes. The ones that help build the bones and determine the world and characters, etc. When those are done, I'll be able to make episodes that are just pure fun or simple.
And this was... the hardest script to write for sure. The whole It Girl... trilogy I guess. Even ignoring keeping the tone correct, I had to take Sally from angry at Max to the point she left Summerway to forgiving Max to being angry at Talula and running for mayor. But I think it's worth it, and I hope it answers the question of "why does this need to be a three parter." A lot of development had to happen.
I loved the ideas of game towns originally. I think that was one of the more memorable ideas that came from the series (relatively) early on, and I like the expansions that came up here. It makes a lot more sense of game towns to be essentially covered up, which of course gave Niall a pretty big role.
Now... here's the one thing that might be interesting. Kind of... spoiling the series... within the series itself. When writing, there's always a temptation to "show your hand" and foreshadow plot twists and such. But... I mean, anyone with any sense of analysis would probably predict that Sally would become mayor. From a storytelling standpoint, there's no reason to hide it considering that it's a very easy thing to guess. And it gives the better question - would Sally become a good mayor. After all, how would she have handled the Pixelotchi situation?
On top of that, it puts Talula in an interesting villain role. In season 2, she gets to be a villain that has nothing to lose. And of course, there's the old quote "a man with nothing to lose is capable of anything." She knows she's going to lose power, respect, her life's work, and nothing else is on her mind than... testing Sally. And by "test" I mean GlaDOS's definition. It should be interesting.
So let's take this one step at a time, shall we?
ZOMG, maybe I'm learning to finish what I started. And now here's the ending of the first arc. That doesn't mean there are no other "season one" episodes because there are.
Okay, here's a very important tip when writing any kind of long-form story: if you plan on ending an overarching plot in a series, and plan to have that be the first arc (never mind this show still being in its "first season") wherein major character changes and plot development happens? You save that shit for your season finale. Otherwise your actual finale that follows the aftermath of those events will be boring by comparison; don't blow your load mid-season unless you have something even bigger planned for the finale.
This would be like if Steven Universe had "Jailbreak" happen in Episode 19, and the rest of the season including the finale just focused on the Townies: the climax would be wasted, and every preceding episode would feel like a waste of time.
I've been writing basically the main structure episodes. The ones that help build the bones and determine the world and characters, etc. When those are done, I'll be able to make episodes that are just pure fun or simple.
I loved the ideas of game towns originally. I think that was one of the more memorable ideas that came from the series (relatively) early on, and I like the expansions that came up here. It makes a lot more sense of game towns to be essentially covered up, which of course gave Niall a pretty big role.
Enter doesn't seem to understand the meaning of being a showrunner whatsoever: they do help build the bones of the world and characters, yes, but they also don't write every single episode as well as the ideas and dialogue within each scene. That's why every show has a writing staff. That's why you write a show bible. When you try and do everything and anything save for art by yourself, you're not going to get anything done; you're restricting the creativity of anyone trying to work, to write character dialogue or impromptu jokes or whathaveyou, because everything needs to be this way because you said so.
You know what well-known showrunner did try doing that? John K. Difference was that that show worked in spite of John, not because of him. To the point where his own staff ended up taking jabs at his expense in said episodes.
Hell, going back to the SU comparison, even though Rebecca Sugar knew where her show was going to go from the outset, she at least let her team work and have fun with these characters in ways that still made sense to who they were. That's why people go into animation and work on shows: it's basically a central jam session of ideas and stories all thrown into a melting pot to make something fun that people'll want to watch.
It's a collaborative medium for a reason; this is just slightly higher-quality fanfiction, and even that's giving it too much credit.
And this was... the hardest script to write for sure. The whole It Girl... trilogy I guess. Even ignoring keeping the tone correct, I had to take Sally from angry at Max to the point she left Summerway to forgiving Max to being angry at Talula and running for mayor. But I think it's worth it, and I hope it answers the question of "why does this need to be a three parter." A lot of development had to happen.
This just in: writing your character like a emotionally schizophrenic wreck in a three part episode makes a story harder to write. More at 11.
Now... here's the one thing that might be interesting. Kind of... spoiling the series... within the series itself. When writing, there's always a temptation to "show your hand" and foreshadow plot twists and such. But... I mean, anyone with any sense of analysis would probably predict that Sally would become mayor. From a storytelling standpoint, there's no reason to hide it considering that it's a very easy thing to guess. And it gives the better question - would Sally become a good mayor. After all, how would she have handled the Pixelotchi situation?
*Big brained creator tries to meta-textually fuck with his audience and fails miserably.*
Holy fuck, my sides: trying to develop characters is not a plot twist! That's not even a narrative twist of showing your hand early, especially when your audience can see everything coming! Unless Games Town is reappearing or is setting up for Sally to reconsider her moral choices of how she'd handle bigger conflicts down the line, how she would've handled Pixelotchi doesn't mean anything, it's over and done with.
I also somehow doubt Enter has the proper writing ability and nuance to expand on her character like that considering in this very episode, Sally doesn't really learn anything by the end of this. AGAIN. She's still the same brat she always was. and nothing in this script (from what little I've read of it, at least) indicates character progression like Enter's trying to convey in the description: it feels like the script itself and the plans going forward are being written by two separate people! With neither of them knowing what the other's doing.
On top of that, it puts Talula in an interesting villain role. In season 2, she gets to be a villain that has nothing to lose. And of course, there's the old quote "a man with nothing to lose is capable of anything." She knows she's going to lose power, respect, her life's work, and nothing else is on her mind than... testing Sally. And by "test" I mean GlaDOS's definition. It should be interesting.
Either Enter really doesn't understand the implications of comparing Sally and Talula's relationship to Chell and GlaDOS, or Season 2 is about to become a whole lot more dark and sinister. Which, considering the dystopian implications that Growing Around likes to conveniently side-step, is quite the accomplishment.
EDIT: And all of this doesn't even begin to explain the sheer stupidity that is the "three-parter" aspect of this episode. This isn't a "three-parter". This ia a two-parter that got stretched into being three parts. That sort of shit doesn't even happen to actual shows that have a production cycle until late into their lifespans; how in the fuck Enter accomplished this in a script format, let alone in the first season of the show will forever remain a mystery.
Somebody in the /co/ thread right now mentioned that the theme song video is in 4:3 so it was probably edited by Enter himself since he's the only person in 2019 who still uses a 4:3 monitor.
But even with that he's got no excuse. He easily could have rendered it in 16:9 no issue unless his display settings are such that he's physically unable to (which is impossible, but still it is John we're talking about). But like his writing, I'm chalking that up to just plain old incompetence. Speaking of...
What the hell did I just read? Did Enter watch a bunch of Zombie films before writing this and thought the concept of those would work in his world? I mean I give him props if he was trying to go for the atmosphere and convolutedness of one if that was what he was aiming for. But it's just so confusing and leaves way too many holes in the plot that are never addressed. Like, where are the adults in these towns? Did they run away before the worst came to happen? Were they killed off? Do these "Game Towns" just not have any adults in them at all?
Furthermore, by what means is Enter going to do to butcher make Talula go after Sally? Is she going to attempt murder at one point? Because if so, that'd be an interesting way to do things. But knowing this world he's created and how poor of a writer he actually is, I doubt that's going to even be considered.
Furthermore, by what means is Enter going to do to butcher make Talula go after Sally? Is she going to attempt murder at one point? Because if so, that'd be an interesting way to do things. But knowing this world he's created and how poor of a writer he actually is, I doubt that's going to even be considered.
Talula is such a weird character. She's always supposed to have been the villain who does bad things for good reasons but Enter fucked it up. In the original drafts, she's just trying to protect the town from Sally who regularly causes millions in property damages but then she realizes Sally is going to win the election solely because Talula is getting old, so she decides to train Sally to become the mayor by putting her in tough situations that test her abilities. I guess Enter didn't like how she turned out to not really be a villain, so since then he's just been tacking on random breakdowns and unprovoked mean things for her to do in an out of character way.
