Author Archives: Damien Walter

Star Wars : beyond the hero’s journey

Part Three of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: writing the 21st century myth Star Wars changed cinema forever, introducing the would to the “scifi blockbuster” that has dominated box offices for the last four decades. To create his masterpiece George Lucas employed an ancient structure of mythic storytelling discovered by Joseph Campbell – the Hero’sContinue reading “Star Wars : beyond the hero’s journey”

2001 : how Stanley Kubrick rewrote science fiction

Part Two of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: writing the 21st century myth It’s more than a little ironic that the motion picture widely called the “greatest science fiction story ever told” was made by an artist who hated science fiction. Stanley Kubrick thought science fiction was a failure at myth making, and set outContinue reading “2001 : how Stanley Kubrick rewrote science fiction”

The Wheel of Time gets rolling…and nothing happens

The Wheel of Time hits streaming screens worldwide…and people everywhere fall asleep. $100M is an impressive sum of money to spend on something this boring. So, how did we get here? The answer begins with Lord of the Rings, American book pirates and the birth of Epic Fantasy…and ends with the ultimate commodification of theContinue reading “The Wheel of Time gets rolling…and nothing happens”

Frankenstein : the first science fiction novel

Part One of Advanced Science Fiction & Fantasy: Writing the 21st century myth Two hundred years ago Western civilisation was gripped by a revolution. Science was tearing down religion, and changing how we saw reality. Religious myths had given us answers to eternal questions. Who are we? Why are we here? What does it allContinue reading “Frankenstein : the first science fiction novel”

Can Apple’s Foundation be salvaged?

The worst thing any adaptation of a science fiction classic can do is be less intelligent than the original. Apple’s FOUNDATION is dumbed down so far that readers of Isaac Asimov’s original novels can barely recognise it. But can rewrites, reshoots and some smart recasting help Apple recoup some of the $500M the show is reported to have cost?

00:00 Apple’s Foundation is dumbed down
03:48 The Science Fiction podcast with Damien Walter
05:09 $500 million is a lot of money
08:15 The most expensive flop in tv history
09:21 Could Foundation be salvaged?
10:42 Get rid of David S Goyer
11:52 The central character of Foundation is…Foundation.
14:11 Foundation is SOCIAL science fiction
16:16 The Empire is a technocracy
18:19 Hari Seldon – a prophet of science
19:34 Cast Lee Pace as Salvor Hardin
22:52 Hire science fiction writers
25:25 Culture is the intelligence of human civilisation
27:02 We are in a Seldon crisis

Follow the Science Fiction podcast: https://damiengwalter.com/podcast

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Read Asimov’s original novels: https://amzn.to/31RVA7W

Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com

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Why do we like the Roys?

Succession season 3 reveals the thematic heart of HBOs hit show. We don’t love to hate the Roys. We like the Roys. Because the Roys are like us. “There is no line. Everything everywhere is always moving, forever. Get used to it.” HBO’s hit show Succession reveals its thematic heart with this line from LoganContinue reading “Why do we like the Roys?”

Stephen Wolfram’s challenge to science fiction

The great project of science fiction has been the translation of science and its discoveries into our shared understanding as human beings. But what happens to science fiction if and when the science itself…changes? We’re in the midst of a paradigm shift in the understanding of physics driven by computation. And at the cutting edge of this new kind of science is Stephen Wolfram. In a recent podcast interview with Lex Friedman, Wolfram wondered if science fiction was the way to understand what it would be like to be a ‘cellular automata’. Is science fiction ready to answer the challenge?

Listen to the full Lex Fridman podcast with Stephen Wolfram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-SGpEInX_c

Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com

Enroll on Udemy:
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Fiction Writing 101

Learn to write like YOUR favorite writer. You don’t learn to write fiction just by taking classes. You learn to write by reading the writers you love. Fiction Writing 101 is an introduction for beginner students new to writing and for those struggling to get published. This short and simple course shows you powerful techniquesContinue reading “Fiction Writing 101”

I’m glad they didn’t turn Paul Atreides into a girl

It’s notable looking at the beautiful Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya side by side at Dune photocalls that they are near identical in height and build…and beauty. “We all admire toxic masculinity when it’s being played out by a young woman” It would have been all too easy to gender-flip their roles. Have Zendaya knife trainingContinue reading “I’m glad they didn’t turn Paul Atreides into a girl”

The most powerful scene in scifi cinema Blade Runner’s Tears in Rain

Rick Deckard is a Replicant. And Rick Deckard is also not the hero of Blade Runner…but is the villain. But the obvious questions about Blade Runner are also the least interesting. Empathy is the core of the Blade Runner story. Why we feel it, who we feel it for, and who we choose to exclude from our empathy. Blade Runner is an empathy test…for the audience…to see if you and I are human. All too often, we fail the test.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qWpLcC7QaSA

Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com

Enroll on Udemy:
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The Green Knight wants you to die

It’s interesting to realise that audiences today for The Green Knight, director David Lowery’s adaptation of the medieval poem, struggle to understand a story that would have been clear and obvious to audiences seven centuries ago. For all our knowledge and science – or perhaps because of them – the epic poem created by an unknown author as a kind of Arthurian fanfic now seems cryptically mysterious to us. But the deep meaning of The Green Knight is exactly why the movie has become a surprise hit. More than ever modern audiences are hungry for the gift of The Green Knight – death.

Follow the full course in Writing the 21st Century Myth : https://damiengwalter.com

Enroll on Udemy:
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