Black Swan Stunt Double Speaks Out

So Sara Lane a soloist with the American Ballet Theater spoke out about how Natalie Portman didn't really do much of the dancing in her film The Black Swan. Anyone could tell Natalie didn't really do most of the dancing. Half the times you couldn't see her face in the film. Looking at the time she was cast for the film, and when the movie was released.

There is absolutely NO FREAKING WAY she could have been a classically trained ballerina in two years, and the fact that Portman took credit for the dancing is astounding. What I find even worse is how the film didn't even give credit to Sara for the dancing in the film. I trained in classical ballet for years, and let me tell you something it takes years of training to develop all of those skills.

The only movie on dancers I ever really liked was Center Stage. The company used real professional ballet dancers from dance companies and didn't have to waste film time training dancers. Natalie Portman is just insulting to everyone who is a dancer pretty much stating you could be a professional ballet dancer in two years.


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Advice to Writers: Chuck Wendig

The Core of Every Good Story is a Character for Whom We Care

The core of every good story is a character for whom we care—and not just care a little, but care deeply. This alone is no easy task: Such a character must be likable, but not annoying. He must have virtues but remain imperfect. She must possess the potential for sacrifice, for selflessness, for selfishness, for evil. He may be funny, but not only that. She may be serious, but not only that. He comprises many dimensions but not so many that he seems unreal or unpindownable.

~CHUCK WENDIG

This truly is a good quote about characters. In writing, sometimes our characters are based off of ourselves, or someone we knew deeply. One contemporary story I wrote was similar to one of my past experiences. I wrote it as a way to reach out to teens but I'm hoping an agent will want to pick it up. As an author we want our characters to get remembered by the audience who is reading them. In an interview I saw on TV with New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer Wiener, she said something that clicks if you write in a contemporary setting. Jennifer said, "I write characters people can relate to." With a contemporary story, it makes sense to want the characters to be like everyday people. So they will be left breathless when they reach the last chapter of the book. You want the characters to be burned into the minds of the reader.