Infinite Elephants in D

Someone posted this on twitter recently. It's been out there since the end of last year, but this is the first time I've seen it.  Science *and* Art...mix gently, allow to cool and serve with lime Fabulous! The video was created by a woman named Vi Hart who does math and music and unique pariings of the two. Similar videos can be found on her website And if you've never heard Pachelbel's Canon played on a music box.... Same website What a wondrous tool for sharing this internet be.

Peachout, yo.
(it's like peaceout...but fruitier)

Buck in a Day

This evening I read a blog post that made me think about one of the best films I saw at this year's TrueFalse Film Fest and I realized I never wrote down anything about that film or this year's fest. Generally speaking, my part of  TF11 went pretty smoothly. The only hiccup was losing our primary panel videographers (and their cameras) a week before the fest. I ended up finding someone and had to borrow Kat's camera, but there was a recording head malfunction and we lost all the footage. Well, I suppose that's not entirely true, I have 20-30 seconds of every minute recorded. so really, I have 6-7 hours of footage, right? .... le sigh.

One of my main goals this year was to actually see some of the films as I was so busy last year, I didn't see a single one in it's entirety...just bits and pieces as I was moving through or setting up skypes. This year we had, I think 5 or 6 Q&A skypes with directors who couldn't make it. Actually I think I'll go into detail about that in another post as there are certainly things I'd like to commit to text sos I have a record for the future.

One of the best films I saw was our opening night film Buck...about a Horse Whisperererer. And I'm thinking...okay, I don't really care anything about horses..or their whispererers. But I trust David and Paul and they consistently choose some really great films so I might as well see it. Also, I'm going to be there anyway as our first skype is with the director of Troll Hunter and that's right after Buck. Anywhoo, here's the trailer:

And It blew me away, it's a beautiful and powerful film. Buck is such an interesting and passionate person...and his story is so well told there were tears in the theatre that evening. For it to be directed by a first time filmmaker is just amazing. It's also a perfect bookend with our closing night film Life in a Day:

which is impressive in it's own right...there's a powerful montage towards the end that brought me to tears - it's amazing what the right music can do. But really, what I liked most about both of them is they did what all great stories do, show us a truth about ourselves or the world around us. Buck showed us what it meant to be human, to really connect with others, even if they're on 4 legs. He showed us how we're all connected..to each other, to the land and how our actions can affect those around us and it forces us to take responsibility for those actions. Life in a Day took that to a broader scope. It showed us a world that was connected through the actions we all took on one single day. Every day people are born and die and get married and play in the park and suffer and try to just survive, and so we can close our eyes and try to imagine that it's only us in our little bubble ranting at the idiots on TV and slowly dehumanizing those who don't agree with us. Or we can see the world as it truly is...made up of people, doing great things, doing horrible things, but people none the less doing things for their own reasons. Both films show us our own humanity through different lenses, and ultimately, I think both are films of hope...and that's something we can always use more of.

Trailer Clowns

Speaking of music and trailers, I found this a while ago, left a message for myself and then forgot to give me the message. The editor chose great music. I didn't hear about this film, but it's out there somewhere....fascinating, I'll have to go In Search Of.

The Man Who Never Cried - Teaser Trailer from The Man Who Never Cried on Vimeo.

Many trailers today give away too much for my tastes. To the point where for some films, I just have to skip the trailer altogether (as opposed to the films I skip after seeing the trailer). It does make it all the more interesting when, after seeing the film, I get to experience the trailer for the first time. Come to think of it...I still haven't seen the Super 8 Trailer.



okay, well now I'm even more glad I didn't see the trailer beforehand. While it started off strong and I liked the fact that it built up the mystery, it still gave away too many visuals for my taste. Now I kinda want to see the film again.

But the 2011 "thank you for not giving too much away" award goes to Midnight In Paris

Now frankly after seeing this trailer, I'm not sure it would've convinced me to see the film, but I love the fact they didn't give away the magic, better to let us discover that in the theatah. I also don't think the people who are keeping Woody Allen in business care too much about the trailers. In the end MiP rates right up there with Bullets over Broadway. And he's not in either of them hmmmmm...

Nein!

It wasn't that long ago when the film "9", much like "2001", did not lend itself to being searched for on the internets. And now, lo and behold, all you have to do is put in the numeral and google will send you to the right place. They grow up so fast....

I was really really excited to see this film, the trailer is amazing, it gets me interested and excited with fantastic visuals, pace, tone and an above all, music. I learned way back in my KMOS days how important music is for any edited piece. I discovered this truth around the same time I discovered my love of film scores and composers...then I discovered Eric and many moons were spent driving to KC to see double features with talk of all things film - there, back and everywhere inbetween. The music for the trailer sets the perfect tone and is used in exactly the right way.



One of the great things about this trailer is it doesn't give too much away. The music is Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria


In the end, I enjoyed the film the same way I enjoyed Tron or Cowboys and Aliens...it was a fun ride but the structural and plot issues completely took me out of the film at times to the point where I really don't need to see it again. Which is sad because all three of those films are ones I was really excited for and had high expectations for. Which, I suppose, might've been the main issue...I just wasn't able to settle for mediocrity in the way I am for some films. Oh well. The short that 9 was based on is most excellent and well worth watching again and again...in full screen mode if you please (as with the addition of Parmesan cheese, it just makes everything better)

Inspiring action

Back from a wonderful vacations with many many thoughts on the script. It's gone from a feature to TV Pilot. BA works so much better as an episodic show anywhoos. I've restructured things somewhat so I don't lose what I've written, but can head in a new direction with additional characters. To meet my goal I have to write at least 3 pages a day, which is doable as long as I have the scene in mind the previous night...or, y'know, not. I feel pretty solid up until the halfway point and hopefully by then I'll have figured out the rest.

Anyway, Kat had a few TED talks playing in her car as we were driving about. I liked one so much I thought I should post it.
Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

Blood on the Robert McKenzie

...ew...what sort of a title is that?

I've been thinking recently that I need to get back into the blog thang. My void online is really a symptom of other things. My writing schedule's been shot, I keep plugging away on the script every other day, but not in any organized fashion. Work is more stressful than normal, I'm producing 2 shows and am responsible for the technical side of a few more so that's certainly affecting things. I feel like I'm flailing about in the dark and it's time for that to end. I would say it's time to make stress my bitch instead of the other way around. However, I can't think of a non-misogynistic way to say that and not have it sound hokey...it just takes more words, which is sad. I blame the booze...and my gender bias for which I feel honest shame.

The other night I went to bed early expecting to get a full night's sleep. Around midnight I decided to abandon that plan as folly. So, I got up..read a bit, played some L4D (perfect bedtime entertainment!) (what?) And then I saw this (for god's sake, hit the embiggen button):

Blood On My Name from Whitestone Motion Pictures on Vimeo.

On second thought, don't embiggen it, go watch it on Whitestone's web page, it's a higher resolution version and much better experience. Also bonus features!

I loved the feel of it at the beginning, the music, the color tint, the dialog and accents, the Dread (I'm a sucker for civil-war era malevolent entities) and then the music hit. I love it on it's own, I love it in the context of the film and I love the folklore aspect. I totally believe this could be a song handed down generation to generation over a fire.

I love the realism that works in the world of the film-the costumes are perfect for the dread. It really makes me want to go back to my Civil War Superhero script as it gives me new idears...but I can't touch anything until I finish this one.

Mostly, it just energizes me and gets me excited about film again. About writing...about creating. My first instinct was "oh I so need to post this" So it's great on it's own, but it's also great in that it did that thing that all art should.. it inspired and touched me...but not in the I-need-a-trusted-adult way.

Also, I think it's the folk/storytelling aspect...but it makes me think of Paul Gross:

Sequels and Zombies

Today, I discovered 2 things...one, the script I'm writing is actually a sequel. I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I suppose it's good to realize that early on. I'm not entirely sure if the first film will ever get written, but I think it's good for a script to know it's mother...even if she'll never exist.

The second thing I discovered was a trailer for a videogame titled Dead Island. I don't know much about the game and the trailer certainly doesn't help in that regard...outside of the fact it's about zombies on an island. However, the trailer in and of itself is pretty durn cool...if you're into that sort of thing.



One of the aspects I like so much is it's non-linear nature. It tells a story and pulls you by making you question what you're seeing and who the people are. Plus it uses slow motion and sound very well. But that wasn't good enough for some people who cut it up and put it back together in chronological order. (thanks to Seth for the linky)


And when you watch it that way, it's a little "meh"..standard story.. zombie meets girl, girl runs screaming, zombie bites girl, girl bites daddy, daddy throws girl through window...just like you've seen a hundred times over. So really, it's a one trick pony, but that just reinforces the notion that It's All In The Execution 'cause that one trick? It's dynamite.

Youtoobing about youtoob

I'm going to give up on trying to post anything but videos until midmarch. I was busy writing...or outlining at the very least, but now all of that time is being taken up with TrueFalsing. Coming soon to several theatres near you. And can I just say, I love the design of this year's website.

So I'll try to post a video every so often, just to keep in the swing of things..but my nights of sleep are slowly slipping away.

Here's a fascinating anthropological introduction to YouTube on YouTube appropriately titled An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube. It's a presentation made to the Library of Congress by Michael Wesch who apparently has no fear of disrupting the time/space continuum by going all metayoutooby.

Nuturing Creativity

Haven't posted here in a bit since I've been getting a lot written. 8-10 pages over the past few days, depending on what I want to count. I'm feeling good about it.
Anywhoo, I'm just going to post a great TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert about creativity and leave it at that.
Cheers

Crazy Heart

I was going to be all productive tonight but I got sucked in by a moovie...I love it when that happens. I've had Crazy Heart sitting around for a week and popped it on during dinner. I had every intention of turning it off after I was done eating and doing some actual work...but I just couldn't. It was such a beautiful story so well told...Jeff Bridges as Bad gave such a great performance that I only saw the singer...I only saw the character. It's rare when that happens...the film just hooked me and I couldn't not watch. And I'm not a country fan..not at all, but I loved the music and will probably buy the soundtrack. I was even more blown away when I found out that Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell sang their own songs. He sings, he dances, he's a photographer...really his website says it all.

Here's a clip of Bridges singing the main theme song written by Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett. If you haven't seen the film, don't watch it here. It'll mean so much more when you see it in context.



And here's a link to Ryan Bingham singing the same song.

Shapeshifter

Most productive lunch evah! So I went to Shakes today because the lunch I brought had turned a ridiculous color. Just glad I saw it before I ate it. Well, generally speaking, I'd prefer to see my food before I eat it rather than after. Regardless, going to lunch alone gave me time to work out a kernal of an idear I had last night as I was trying to get to sleep. That blossomed into a storyline which pulls together the best elements of the of the plots Dave and I had been throwing around. And then I worked on it most of the evening. Imagine how much I'd get done if I didn't have this rather obnoxious urge to, I don't know, feed and clothe myself.

As for today's bit of video wonderfulness, This is the piece that turned me onto Charlex to begin with. Fantastic animation, theme, visuals, music, pacing...and hey, Gabriel Byrne...I mean, you can't go wrong with that combo.

ShapeShifter from Charlex on Vimeo.

They don't say who directed it, so I assume it was a group effort. And I can't tell you how thankful I was a car logo didn't pop up at the end.

One Rat Short...

A visually impressive CGI short film that will make you care about rats. Unless you do already in which case, kudos, very progressive of you.

It was directed in 2006 by Alex Weil and created by Charlex Films

One Rat Short from Charlex on Vimeo.

Indie Shorts

I can't see Harrison Ford in shorts...it just doesn't compute in my head. He's not a short man....more of a pantman. And now I have the 60s Batman theme in my head which makes me think of today's XKCD strip. This post needs to start charging for it's association and get to the point.

After a discussion with Barb about the useful merits of dialog writing exercises, I have decided to forgo the matter entirely. Okay, that's a lie for which I feel shame. Her point, which was well made, is that I should be spending my time writing the damn script (which I shall henceforth abbreviate WTDS) 'cause any time not doing that is *not* WTDS, which, y'know doesn't help anyone, least of all the TDS. I do like the concept of a writing warm up that will have the effect of weaning me off the crap dialog of which I now spew and moving me more towards the Little-better-than-crap-dialog which will hopefully improve every day....except today when I didn't get home until "it's how late?!" that's okay...I make lamb.

Yesterday the following links popped up on many a site across the interwebs, but I gacked them both from Metafilter. Both films have a consistent look and feel so I think they both achieve their objective, whether or not viewers find that style to their liking. I also find both entertaining in their own ways. They were produced on the cheep and it's amazing what the filmmakers did with their limited resources. It's good to be reminded that making a film isn't a herculean task. It's hard and I have no doubt these filmmakers worked a lot, but they turned out decent films based on their own vision.... and the sweat and tears of their friends. When no one is getting paid, the only reason to do this is because it's a work of love, and I think that comes across in both films.

Lazy Teenage Superheroes - By Michael Ashton (dir, co-writer, prod, FX, etc)
This has the feel of a bunch of kids in the barn putting on a movie....except it has a quirky comic book feel and fantastic effect that feel natural and work withing the film world they construct.


This next piece started off as a fan-film in the Half-Life world which was then cross pollinated with Left4Dead. I was enjoying it on one level and then...wait, is that a bile jar? The whole film was consistent stylistically, has great pacing and high production values for the price of a 92 Buick.
Beyond Black Mesa - Director: Brian Curtain

Link to filmmakers
Beyond Black Mesa from Brian Curtin on Vimeo.

Counterpoint

You take the good, you take the bad.....
I've decided to take the practice dialog and work on little self-contained shorts...1 location, 2 characters, something simple that I can pound out in one sitting and then throw away or dab up the coffee you just spilled. Who knows, I might even post them here. I need to get more okay with the concept of putting my work out into the world and letting it, I don't know, percolate with the fishes. I'm contemplating theme weeks, or perhaps I'll go back to Dave's idear a years ago of basing an art piece a week around one word. Katrina got a whole quilt out of Pentimento...all I got was this lousy joke.

Brief aside..Tron's soundtrack still rocks.

I think I need to talk to folk and get them to come up with random words or scenes. Or I suppose I could use one of many random plot generators out there, but it doesn't have to be too detailed, the goal is dialog and lots of it. While I named the subject of this post "Counterpoint" based on the following videos, I think perhaps that's what we'll base next week's short on. Who knows what we'll get...probably a script about closet quilters.

Random aside: Today I saw a mouse uterus. It would be safe to say I didn't anticipate writing that when the day began.

Anywhoo, onto the videos. I like the idear of short films....2-5 minutes doesn't feel like a long time to tell a story, but it's amazing what you can accomplish in that span of time. The next 2 films are 1:47 and 3:00 respectively and while rather simple in story, they both have a depth of meaning that makes them quite powerful and entertaining. Once again it's all about the execution...and as with most films, they're better in full screen.

After You - Written/Directed by Adam Linzey



I really enjoyed the next film - great music, great editing.

Ribbons - Directed by Brodie Rocca

Ribbons from Brodie Rocca on Vimeo.

Monsters and...

I keep coming across these animation shorts...I think they must be student final projects from a foreign animation school. I'm not sure where they're from but they're all rather fun and very well made.



Since we received 6-8 inches of snow I took a snow day. I try to take one ever winter just because I enjoy the snow...perhaps I'm trying to reclaim my youth. I don't know. Regardless, I spent the first half going through old scripts I had written, some short, some not so short. And the one thing I noticed is that my dialog has gotten really rusty. It used to be so natural, I could whip out 5 pages of folk talking about nothing in particular, although it was obviously much better when there was a point. I think I had a good cadence and delivery that wasn't overly expository. I'm still amused by what I wrote (I mean, some of it's only suitable for wrapping, but that's to be expected). What I do know is that I can't write like that now...I've tried. I'm sure part of it has to do with just taking too much on last year what with the docs and classes and TF...I did all of it badly and felt really sorry about letting some people down. So I haven't really concentrated on that for a few years...and like any muscle, if you don't use it, it goes to fishwrap.

I also got a lot of work done today on the script, I'm hoping to have enough of an outline so that I can get some words down after next Saturday's meeting with Dave. But I think I also need to get these people talking...so maybe we'll start early...and start watching Sports Night. Nothing gets me in the mood for good dialog like Sorkin.


From the episode: Ordinance Tactics - written by Aaron Sorkin and Paul Redford

These boots were made for walking...in circles

Today I came across NPR's Vimeo page and encountered one of this planet's most ancient mysteries...


A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight? from NPR on Vimeo.

I don't know if this was always intended to be animated, but I think the animation adds a great dimension to what's already a very interesting piece.  One of the commenters made a good point when he asked if it wouldn't be all the more astounding if we could actually walk in a straight line while blindfolded.  I don't have a good answer to that...perhaps it's in our nature to be mysterious...or at least drawn to mysteries.  Maybe that's why there are so many conspiracy theories or why people are attracted to confidence and chutzpah.  Is it because people with those traits seem like they have all the answers?...or is it possibly because people like that are often surrounded by chocolate? It's true, look it up. There's a proportional rise in world-wide cocoa production that matches the rise in global cults and y'know dictators. You can't make that up...

3 Minutes

Today I came across a fun 3 minute film, appropriately titled.



it's even bigger on their website.

Why? Who knows...Is it a prequel? A sequel? I sure hope not...I love the mystery and I can't imagine this getting better by us finding out who the old man is or what's his schtick. It's kind of like Tron...it's fast, it's fun and much better if you don't think too hard about it. Overall, I enjoyed it...and not just because it had lightsabers.

Random Music Makers

After yesterday's post, I kept thinking more and more about the individual artists who create music just on their own.  Music is such a powerful force in terms of storytelling, it's impressive when people can shape it on their own. I haven't participated in a 24 hour filmmaking contest in a while, but I always thought it would be interesting to take a piece of really unique locally made music and have that be the bed for the contest. What would people come up with?

One instrument that just calls out to have a short film built around it is the hang. I came across hang musicians a few years back and was intrigued by their unique shape (the instrument, not the musician) (it's like a musical UFO) and the amazing assortment of notes you can get out of them. Here's a piece by Dante Bucci.




Sometimes you need more than just one instrument. A man named Claudia Montuori proves you can make music out of anything you want. I seriously love the fact that people like him are out there making the world a stranger place for the rest of us.




A musician who calls himself Mystery Guitar Man is also proficient with video/editing/motiontracking so of course he combines all of them to create some fantastic pieces. I can't imagine how long it takes to edit these together. He'll seriously make music out of anything. It's impressive.




And of course, we have to end with the always fabulous KT Tunstall who does it all in camera.

Random Art

One of the things I love most about this world is randomly encountering individuals creating art.  I'm sitting in bed checking email and a friend sends a short story. I'm walking in DC and come across paperclip bikestands


It adds such a sense of wonder and magic to the world.   A lot of the art I find randomly come from the ever so random internet.  The following bits have all been around for a while, but I post them here because the artists aren't working in a  medium most of us would expect to see lying in museums or darkened basements.

I'm not sure if I'd call it art or animation, but Kseniya Simonova does some funky things with sand:



And while many people make shadow puppets, Raymond Crowe brings them to life and makes them sing Louis Armstrong. If only Frankenstein had gone that route....


On the streets of New York, Josh Allen Harris does some awesome and creepy things with trashbags.



And speaking of creepy, self-proclaimed kinetic scultor Theo Jansen makes these creatures that move with the wind. They're so cool, I have to post a couple of links

Here's a TED Talk which goes into greater detail as to how they're made.


All in all, these folk are out there making magic and art because they just can't help themselves. I think the world would be a much more interesting place if more people shaped reality from their dreams instead of the other way around.

Is this the Tron I ordered?

I saw Tron Legacy over the weekend.  I have to say, being a huge fan of the original I was incredibly excited for this new one.  I'd close my eyes every time a trailer came on because it was great music and I didn't want to ruin any of the visuals.  I was trying not to see it in 3D (erroneously thinking it was a 2D post job) and since it's only playing 3D in town, my viewing pleasure was a touch delayed.  Really, it took Ben saying it was a great 3D experience to get me to see it.   The benefit of seeing it so late was hearing many folk say...."eeehhhhhh" or "meh" or "hold onto your optimism" as my cousin Mark put it. This lowered my expectations immensely to the point where I actually enjoyed the film.

I kept waiting for it to get to the bad place everyone else thought it did and that never really happened. It had a great feel, great tone, great visuals and a fantastic score.  Those were enough to keep the film flowing and the fridge logic at bay.   Overall, I really enjoyed it but in the end there were many structural/story issues that kept it from being great.  Spoilers after the trailer.



Basic plot courtesy of the wikignomes

My main issues:
There were massive parts of the backstory that were handled with exposition:
What happened to the Grid
What the ISOs were.
How the ISOs died
Where CLU came from
Why CLU went evil.

In so many situations, there was no dramatic reason to care. Looking back I have to really stretch to find an answer to "why does it matter?"
Rinzler's redemption
Clu's getting to the real world
Zuse and the End of Line Club
ISOs and their genocide.
ISOs in general - sure they're self-creating programs, that's impressive. What does it mean for the world?
Quorra's motivations
Flynn's damn light cycle "fasted on the grid"...at least Sam's ride in didn't take long. Too bad he traded it for...what?
The Grid - isn't it now just a disconnected world running in Flynn's Basement?
Why are the games important? In the last film, it was a game company.  Why are they still playing? 'cause it's what they've always known?
I can come up with an explanation of these things in terms of story logic...but really, they still didn't matter in the grand narrative scheme of things. They were dramatically arbitrary.

And then there are the things that make no damn sense: (so either they make NDS or I just missed something which wouldn't be hard to buy)
What is Clu going to do when he gets to the real world? He's going to be forced to fight a *physical* battle...against the US Military? That's a completely different film/tone/genre/whathaveyou. It's just diff'rent, man.  And this is his main dramatic goal? That's his thing? Get outside?

If it's a closed system and Clu can't make new programs, where are all of the other programs coming from? Why didn't Flynn give Clu the power to make programs?   What if Tron was able to access the internet and was pulling programs in.
How does Clu contact Alan in the real world from a disconnected phone line? Okay...that's just nitpicky...ignore I said anything.

This next bit is a bit of a geekout, so I apologize in advance. I was going to be working on a throwaway script every day, but I think this qualifies for today's quota. It's been so long since I've actually written consistently, I wasn't going to stress myself out initially by trying to write something marketable, or, y'know good. I just wanted to write something fun.  And this qualifies. Anywhoo...


I'm always a sucker for epic storytelling. Co-ed Naked Epic Filmgoers! - we do it big and in a theatre....wait, what?  I think, in the end, the film wasn't big enough for me. What were the characters primary motivations?  Sam wanted to get off the grid so he could delete Clu and be with his dad. Flynn wanted to preserve the grid and just be...man. Clu wanted to get out...to take control of...the world? I mean, I'm all for dreaming big, but what was he going to do with his army on the outside? Take on the US Military? Maybe I'm missing something, but it seemed like that was his Main Schtick. Okay, granted he wanted to make everything work perfectly...by getting off the grid?  Quorra? You got me...

What I wanted were 2 films.  I thought this one started out great...the first act set the tone, the visuals, the feel. JJ's mystery boxes were all around and I was hooked. Where was Flynn?, what was he working on? Holy crap, what happened to the grid? What's the game play now? Dude,  love the recognizer redesign.

But what I really wanted was Rinzler to be the Big Bad of episode I.  Clu is still the ruler, we'd still have the Clu/Sam scene. We'd need to show that Rinzler is the Head of Security and the enforcer.  Pretty much everything could be similar with Rinzler switched with Clu  for the cycle event to the point right after Quorra saves Sam.

Then she takes Sam to a band of ISOs who are hanging in the outlands.  The purge is the same, but it didn't get everyone. The rest are in hiding and searching for any trace of Flynn, who gave them his disk when he was going to confront Rinzler who he knows is a corruption of Tron.  Nobody knows what happened after that, only  that he hasn't been seen in a long freakin' time. Flynn holds the key to their escape from the grid to the internet.  They know Sam is important and see him as the chance to get to Flynn.  So they train him to fight with his father's lightsaber..I mean, uh, lightdisk and through that training he learns of the ISOs, learns that they repopulate themselves and that they're not programs because of this some of them have special powers, who knows what? And yes, this get's really close to Muad'ib and Dune, but it's all I've come up with in 24 hours.   So at the end of this he has a band of fighters who all want the same thing, to find Flynn.  So they raid the castle.  Rinzler sees them coming. We could even have the End of Line club with Caster having info on Flynn, who knows? Okay, this is getting too detailed.

Main points, Sam and his band of merry monks fight towards Rinzler's stronghold where he has Flynn stashed.  Along the way they find that Clu doesn't know Rinzler has Flynn, also CLU didn't kill the ISOs off, he is reprogramming them to fight in his Army.  They free Flynn, (group hug), except Flynn is really out of it (sticking with the zen thing) then Flynn and Son (tm) run off to take Rinzler and CLU down whist Quorra and Crew run off to free the rest of the ISOs that haven't been rewired. Big battle, actual conversation with Rinzler who is then redeemed (he didn't tell Clu he had Flynn because he still was protecting the grid - dueling directives which corrupted Rinzler.)(maybe he's reprogrammed by Flynn), becomes Tron again turns on CLU who has a similar conversation with Flynn as he does in the actual film. "I only did what you wanted, why isn't that good enough?" I loved this facet of his personality. Again he can't kill or harm Flynn and perhaps he even saves him from getting killed.  Clu reveals that's why he wants to get online, because then he can fulfill the mission that Flynn gave him.  But then Clu takes his toys and Flynns info disk and runs away.

Tron reveals that Clu has indirect access to the internet (he sent the page) but has been getting closer to a direct connection and the disk is going to get him the rest of the way there. Once Clu is online so to speak, he'll easily be able to use his Army to repurpose many of the worlds' interconnected systems. However then we get skynet or the matrix and nobody really wants that now, do they?  Well, we must stop him, our heros say. Huzzah! roll credits fade to black.

Episode II.
Clu still retains control of most of the grid.  However, due to the fact Tron went to the other side, and as chief of security he had a lot of control, the grid is slowly sliding towards corruption. This is also affecting Clu and he's getting more erratic.  Things are breaking down, chaos is slowly creeping in. Before tackling Clu, they have to restore order. Although, if they just let things disintegrate, that would take care of Clu. But that's not cool, man. Anywhoo, that's the first big climax...but that gives Clu the time he needs and also makes him right in the head. At the end of the first act the Grid is secured, but Clu gains access to the global internet and streams through. All is lost! Woe is me! *back of hand to forehead!* Flynn, Tron, Sam and Quorra with their small band of superIsos chase after them, coconuts well in hand.

The internet is a crazy mixed up place. I wonder what that looks like? I don't have enough technical knowledge for the next bit of the story...I don't know where a rogue program would go to try and get the most control. Google? Dept. of Defense? Financial traders? Whereever that is, that's where goes. Our heroes have some time because first Clu needs to breach their defenses. This gives our heroes a chance to join the other side...but the other side would probably see them as a threat as well. That could be interesting. Anywhoo, throughout this Flynn teaches Sam how to program on the fly to alter the world around him. We start to understand that Flynn can do things no one else can.  Big battle ensues. Clu is defeated, but not completely, his Iso's have infected whatever he's fighting, but no one really knows what that means. That can wait for a later film...or not. Also, the second and third act need more, we have the main climax, but the whole thing needs a few more levels of drama and action.

Anywhoo, now that the Iso's have seen the world outside there's no way they're going back to the grid, so they run off to see the world...not so sure that's a good idear, but how much harm could they cause?
Flynn reveals he can't leave the grid, he's been without his disk for so long he's integrated into the grid...perhaps he gets weaker the further into the internet they get. Maybe it's Clu who realizes what's going on and actually saves him...I don't know, it's late. Anywhoo, he has to stay, Tron will help him rebuild a new better world. Quorra becomes the leader of the Iso's. She goes with Sam for a quick dip in reality so she can see the sunset and better understand what it means to be human...or tired, do you know how early sunrise is? Sam has a choice whether to stay outside and fix Encom or stay inside.  Okay, there's a bunch there that doesn't make sense. It's possible this is all crap.

Anyway, that's end of this bit. 
Peace!