On-Screen: Into The Future

The future is only a Hyperspace jump away- but just what does the future hold for On-Screen?
When we're faced with a time such as this so rife with entertainment news and a flurry of major releases, it's inevitable that we as consumers, readers and writers (in my case) place an inherent focus on the present rather than what's coming around the corner in the future. Today, I want to simply clarify a few of my intentions for this blog going into the months ahead.

First and foremost, do not despair or worry that On-Screen is about to bite the proverbial bullet. Quite to the contrary, I can see the blog only continuing to flourish as we're offered up big titles such as Grand Theft Auto V, Batman: Arkham Origins, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Thor: The Dark World, Doctor Who, Agents of SHIELD, Sherlock and Anchorman: The Legend Continues throughout the remainder of 2013. Naturally, we'll have previews, features and reviews aplenty on each of these big releases, and that's something that I can promise without a doubt that won't fade away anytime soon.

However, the format of dealing with each of these releases and the plethora of other big titles coming to stores, digital retailers and auditoriums between now and December may differ from what you're used to. From September onwards, our focus at On-Screen will be on heightening the personal and opinion-based nature of the blog, with more 'Opinion' features utilized to deal with all of the big news developments, and more reviews and previews used to cover TV episodes and other regular releases. This isn't to say that we won't bring you all of the latest and greatest news coverage, rather that this will occasionally be achieved in big news round-up features rather than singular fast-paced articles on such a regular basis as they're arriving in your social network inboxes right now.

At first, this may appear a daunting prospect to those of you who have become accustomed to more than 100 posts arriving at On-Screen every month. That kind of number is not out of the question by any means, and I fully expect to keep it up towards the end of 2013, particularly in September and December with college/university holidays coming around. All the same, I thought it wise to at least alert you to the fact that while On-Screen will remain alive and thriving throughout 2013 and beyond, its format of posts may differ depending on my workload with other sites and other commitments. Naturally, my coverage of my exterior work at Thunderbolt Games, Non Specific Action, WhatCulture and Doctor Who News Page will continue without fail, and from time to time you may see an increased emphasis on these outer projects.

2014 in particular could be quite a formative period for On-Screen, as I develop an idea of where the blog will head in the future and what direction its format will take. Again, there's absolutely no need to fear on this front, as everything that's done to change On-Screen's direction will be for its benefit rather than my own materialistic ease. Believe me, successful features such as 'Opinion', 'Coming Up This Week', 'Best of Who Awards', 'Top Five/Ten All-Time Greats' and of course our annual 'Advent Calendar' will all remain in full force in days to come, and I hope to keep them running throughout the months to come.

As much as I wish that I could simply ape Dr Brown (a man who'll feature in another 'Classic Film Retrospective' in the days ahead- look forward, or rather backward, to that!), returning from the future to promise a long and immortal future for On-Screen, such is the nature of linear time travel that we're going to have to discover the journey together, one day at a time. That's not a negative process by any means, yet of course it does mean that the future for now is somewhat ambiguous, the clouds only set to clear as we enter the aforementioned days to come. In 2013 and 2014 at the very least, On-Screen is going nowhere other than upwards and onwards, and quite frankly, I'd be amazed if any situation aroze anytime soon that forced me to close the blog's doors. Now, let's get that DeLorean running at 88mph, and create the future for ourselves...