3.8 Rod Serling, Writing, and the Clear Stage

Rod Serling — A gift to all writers — Worked hard all last year — Gift to myself — The 60th anniversary Blu-ray set of The Twilight Zone — The best presentation of this material ever made — Serling himself never got to see it in this astounding quality — Lighting, filming, sets, costumes — Super quality — A treasury for any creative person — Creative insight — Keys to creativity — Apologies to my friend Maren — Incredible amount of extras — A complete, self-sufficient masterclass for any writer — The episodes themselves — Studying them to learn about every aspect of filmmaking — Short films — Acting, lighting, cinematography, staging — Two ways to learn — Personal curiosity — The extras — Serling’s pitch to the sponsors — Even greater treasures — Serling’s lectures on writing — Taught writing — Insight — Commentaries — Martin Landau — Serling’s comments on his own work — Razor sharp — Thank goodness for these recordings — He did so many things right — Great respect for the craft and those who practice it — His perfect style of narration — Just saying it — Norm Macdonald’s similar approach — His style on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update — Stripped to the essentials — Something every creative person needs to do — Becoming yourself — A common theme with many of my favourite creators — Samuel Beckett — Philip Glass — Clearing the table — Getting rid of all the baggage — A completely free stage — The best starting point — John Cage — Starting from the very essentials — His book Silence — The lasting value of The Twilight Zone — Serling’s works and words — One of the best writers as well as teachers of writing — More awake