Adrean Mead's one day course on The Insider's Guide to Writing TV on the 17th March in London is now fully booked up. They are running a reserve just in case they get any last minute cancellations. If anyone is interested about the course or future classes, then send them an email and they'll keep you in the loop.
I've never met Adrian but he seems like a quality guy, judging from the articles/guest posts he sends me, and sure, they're a free plug for his course, but he offers sound practical advice, and it keeps the blog going while I'm distracted with deadlines 'n stuff. In this post, he compares writing with learning karate. Um, I'll let Adrian take it from here:-
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If you have received any info from me in the past I'm sure you will be familiar with my favourite saying-
"If you keep on doing what you're doing, you'll keep on getting what you're getting."
You can apply it to every aspect of life, especially writing and karate. Okay, that might seem like an unusual combination but the challenges for writers and karate students are remarkably similar.
When I started training in karate in 1976 it was the boom time for Martial Arts. Bruce Lee and later "The Karate Kid" had launched a tidal wave of wannabe Black Belts. Every night was like the training scene from "Enter The Dragon" with 80 people lined up in rows punching, kicking and screaming their lungs out. It was the same all over the country.
Of course for many people it was just the latest fad to try, and the drop out rate amongst white belts was about 50% after the first few months. However, the next and most baffling statistic was the drop out rate amongst brown belts. These were the students who were just one step away from achieving the much coveted grade of Black Belt. Roughly 90% of them quit before taking the exam, despite having put in years of effort to reach this point. Thirty years later I know of only one of my original classmates who is still training and I regularly run into ex karate students. They always say exactly the same thing, "I wish I'd kept it up. I was almost a Black Belt" .
This got me thinking about the huge numbers of people who are now signing up for screenwriting classes. What are you going to be saying in thirty years time? Will you have achieved your dream of becoming a professional screenwriter. Will you have created a body of work that you are proud of and a still have whole raft of exciting and challenging projects ahead of you. Or will writing be just another thing you eventually quit?
Are you going to end up as a brown belt writer?
Let's time travel and jump ten years into the future. We find you at home clearing out a cupboard. You come across your old karate brown belt, you always promised yourself you would go back one day, maybe with the kids. Then you find the data stick containing all your writing files. To reach the level of brown belt you must have shown plenty of determination and mastered lots of basic skills. And look at all the stuff that you created! So why did you quit both of these things after all that hard work? As I said earlier, the challenges are remarkably similar -
1. You suddenly realised you would have to seriously increase your efforts in order to go up to the next grade. The problem was you just couldn't see how it would be possible to commit more time. So you quit, promising to get back to it next year. But somehow.....
2. Instead of sparring with the same friendly faces you saw every week at the club you realised you were going to be pitting yourself against a huge pool of hungry competitors. They all seemed so much younger/talented/dedicated. So you quit.
3. Everyone was telling you how tough it is to make the next grade. Your efforts were going to be ruthlessly critiqued and you weren't sure if you could face the humiliation of failing. Best to quit rather than get hurt.
4. Finally, there was the realisation that even if you succeeded it was only going to continue to get tougher. You would then be expected to train with the REAL Black Belts. What if you couldn't cope? You never got to find out because you quit.
Okay, now let's return back to just one year in the future, the point where you are standing at the fork in the road. This is the moment where you made the decision that would decide your future. What's it to be? A professional screenwriter? Or spending the rest of your life doing your current job?
You'd come this far carried along by good feedback from a producer who had read your script or the thrill of seeing your short film screened at a festival. It had finally seemed like things were going to start happening for you. However, that was a couple of years ago and despite your achievements so far you have started to realise that NOTHING IS ACTUALLY CHANGING. You remain stuck just where you are.
This is because your efforts and strategy were good enough to get you as far as you have come....but only this far. You are a brown belt, you've put in lots of hard work and gained some good basic skills but that isn't enough. Now it's decision time. Are you going to take the quitter's road or are you going to get serious and achieve your goal of becoming a professional screenwriter. Remember -
"If you keep on doing what you're doing, you'll keep on getting what you're getting.
In order to pass "The Writer's Black Belt Exam" you now need to examine each element of the formula for success. The formula reads like this.
TALENT + EFFORT + STRATEGY = SUCCESS
TALENT - You need to work on improving your skills. There is masses of info about screenwriting but in order to get better you need to WRITE. Are you writing every day?
EFFORT - Human beings are naturally lazy. Let's face it everyone looks for the short cut and the quick fix. Yet the reality is there are no shortcuts to becoming a professional screenwriter. The only way to do it FASTER is to do MORE over a shorter period of time. However, to achieve this you need the next element.
STRATEGY - People will tell you that getting your break is partly about luck. I don't believe in luck. All the so called lucky people I've met have the same tale to tell. They worked very hard, visualised where they wanted to be and planned how they were going to get there. They were ready to make the maximum use of the opportunities that arose.
SUCCESS - Getting a couple of your first short scripts made is great but it doesn't pay the mortgage. The next step up to actually becoming a professional screenwriter seems huge, confusing and a lot of hard work. However, with the right INFORMATION and ATTITUDE you can do it. Without it you might just end up as one of those thousands of brown belts...who almost got their black belt.
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Rabu, 28 Februari 2007
Selasa, 20 Februari 2007
Development Co-Ordinator
"Working Title Films, the UK's premier film company, seeks a smart, hardworking person to join the development team. Ideally you should be a graduate with one to two years experience in film development or television drama. You will need to display excellent administrative skills and strong creative instincts.
Email applications not accepted. Closing date, 2nd March 2007.
Please send your application in writing to include your current cv and a short review of a recently released film you have seen (no more than 100 words) to the following address:
Recruitment
Working Title Films
76 Oxford Street
London W1D 1BS"
This is a great opportunity as these positions are so rarely advertised, and much sought after, so go for it! Their Action! scheme is closed for applications on Friday, so if you haven't applied for that, hurry up.
I'm lucky enough to be one of their readers, so who knows, if you see the add on the blog, and then apply and get the job, we could be exchanging scripts and jokes in no time...!
Email applications not accepted. Closing date, 2nd March 2007.
Please send your application in writing to include your current cv and a short review of a recently released film you have seen (no more than 100 words) to the following address:
Recruitment
Working Title Films
76 Oxford Street
London W1D 1BS"
This is a great opportunity as these positions are so rarely advertised, and much sought after, so go for it! Their Action! scheme is closed for applications on Friday, so if you haven't applied for that, hurry up.
I'm lucky enough to be one of their readers, so who knows, if you see the add on the blog, and then apply and get the job, we could be exchanging scripts and jokes in no time...!
Senin, 19 Februari 2007
Guest Post: Stephen Gallagher
A lot of reading and writing on the go at the moment. Sometimes you're wondering where the work will come from and the next minute you're snowed under trying to fit it all in before the various deadlines. All of which means that I don't have a post lined up for the blog so writer/director Stephen Gallagher has kindly stepped in to offer a guest post for your enjoyment.
Stephen Gallagher is a novelist, screenwriter and director specialising in contemporary suspense. Last year, he created and wrote Eleventh Hour for ITV, which starred Patrick Stewart as an investigating scientist who works for the Home Office. His latest two-hour supernatural drama, Life Line, has just finished filming in London and moved into post-production for broadcast later in the year for the BBC.
Take it away, sir...
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Danny has kindly invited me to contribute a guest post, but has concluded his invitation with that most generous of terms, “anything on any subject that you care to discuss”.
If there was ever a provision more guaranteed to clear a chap’s mind and leave him incapable of choosing a direction, it’s the thought of such a menu of infinite possibilities. Choice isn’t always such a great thing. Sometimes it can just paralyse the will.
There’s a restaurant on Marylebone Lane in London that offers no bill of fare whatsoever; the waitresses merely ask you how you’d like your steak done, and then disappear, later to return with salad, bowls of ribbon fries, and perfectly-sliced chateaubriand. No choice at all, and the place is always crowded out. Which is fine if you’re okay with steak. If you’re a vegetarian, then I suppose at least you get to do most of the talking.
It’s good for meetings because there’s never any of that ordering-related stress you have when you’re trying to make an impression (don’t want to look greedy/naïve/picky/sit here with my chin dripping spaghetti). Towards the end of my work on a long-running show in the ‘90s (BUGS, if coyness irritates you) I was taken to somewhere very like it by the show’s producer.
He had a proposal for me. It was, I have to say, the kind of thing that every writer dreams of hearing. He wanted me to write him a thriller, a feature film. Nothing specified, no restrictions, just the invitation to come up with a subject and a story of my choice. He’d commission it, and we’d take it from there.
Well, I have my small portfolio of ideas and proposals, the kind of thing I’ve always got cooking and am looking for any opportunity to advance. But he didn’t want one of those. He was looking for something that had no form, no previous development... maybe it would make a franchise, maybe it would be a one-off. But once again, it could be anything, anything at all.
You’d think I’d leap on such an opportunity like a Lord Mayor at a finger buffet. I’d have thought so, too.
But it would be another four years before I could go to him and say, “Brian, I think I’ve got something.” Four years! To capitalise on a dream invitation!
It was a nice idea when it finally came, a little three-hander of a thriller – man, woman and child. A massive injustice to drive the plot, and oodles of psychological damage to be overcome. A hint of contemporary issues, just enough to crank up the excitement and not enough to make everything worthy. Romance, intrigue, mystery and scenes of physical peril.
And it came, not from any struggle to respond to the opportunity, but from a five-line story in a newspaper.
He liked it, and we were rolling. Next up – where to set it? Brian’s initial exploration had revealed the usual temerity one gets from UK investors, especially when the project in question is ambitious, expensive UK product. Everybody was interested in a small piece of something that already had enough investment attracted to be viable, but nobody was prepared to go to the casino and bet their house.
This time I wasn’t going to take four years to come up with an answer, because now I had place to start.
I’ve heard writers trying to emphasise the universality of their story by saying “This could be taking place anywhere at any time and happening to anyone”. What this ought to mean is, “its values are timeless, its conflicts familiar to all.” But it usually translates as “Everything’s negotiable if you’ll only give me the money to make something”.
I’d kind of been thinking Sunderland. But I was going to have to research this.
So I said San Francisco.
I wrote a rough first draft, and the next thing I knew, I was on a Virgin Atlantic plane with an appointment at the San Francisco film commission and a list of research issues that I needed to explore. Once there I hooked up with Erik Neldner, fresh from a stint as location manager on Nash Bridges and with a detailed knowledge of the city from every angle. We drove all over, hit some nice restaurants, and blagged our way through the high perimeter security of the government facility on Coastguard Island, just off Almeda.
(Not as impressive as it sounds. They were having an Open Day).
To date the film remains unmade. It’s a neat tale, but it never quite benefited from that mixture of chance, preparation and the ideal combination of the right people’s whims that are needed to make any project take off. Or maybe it just wasn’t as great as we thought it was. But I got paid for the script, and I got a trip to California, and I’m still friends with everyone involved, so I count this as one of my happy stories. Would that all my failures went so well.
But I digress. The reason I launched off into that story was to demonstrate that total freedom’s all very well, but to get creativity started you need to throw some grit into the oyster, give your ideas something to fasten onto and grow around, give yourself something to react to instead of just sitting there wondering what kind of action to take.
I often find myself thinking of a story told about the choreographer George Balanchine. He saw one of his assistants sitting in the auditorium stuck for ideas while the dancers waited around onstage for instructions.
“At least do something,” Balanchine said to him. “Then we’ll have something we can change”.
In my case, the grit in the oyster was the newspaper cutting that sparked my imagination. Four years of nothing and then suddenly I had something that I could start to change. I’ve heard it suggested that the best way to do something original is to steal an idea, develop it, and then throw out the part you stole. That may not be great for your ego, but if you do a decent job of it and end up with something good, who’s going to care how you got there?
We none of us create from nothing. We all take what has affected us and reassemble it into new forms that we hope will affect others in a similar way. Bad artists simply reassemble the art they’ve seen. Reach that little further into your own life and perceptions, and what you add will give the ring of truth that makes work startling and memorable.
So to throw some grit into this particular oyster, to act as the dead donkey around which this particular sand dune might start to form, I suggested to Danny that he could maybe ask me three questions to get me going. Which he kindly did.
Unfortunately, I don’t seem to have left any room to answer them now. Maybe next time, Danny?
---
Maybe you should start your own blog! Thanks a million, great stuff.
Stephen Gallagher is a novelist, screenwriter and director specialising in contemporary suspense. Last year, he created and wrote Eleventh Hour for ITV, which starred Patrick Stewart as an investigating scientist who works for the Home Office. His latest two-hour supernatural drama, Life Line, has just finished filming in London and moved into post-production for broadcast later in the year for the BBC.
Take it away, sir...
---
Danny has kindly invited me to contribute a guest post, but has concluded his invitation with that most generous of terms, “anything on any subject that you care to discuss”.
If there was ever a provision more guaranteed to clear a chap’s mind and leave him incapable of choosing a direction, it’s the thought of such a menu of infinite possibilities. Choice isn’t always such a great thing. Sometimes it can just paralyse the will.
There’s a restaurant on Marylebone Lane in London that offers no bill of fare whatsoever; the waitresses merely ask you how you’d like your steak done, and then disappear, later to return with salad, bowls of ribbon fries, and perfectly-sliced chateaubriand. No choice at all, and the place is always crowded out. Which is fine if you’re okay with steak. If you’re a vegetarian, then I suppose at least you get to do most of the talking.
It’s good for meetings because there’s never any of that ordering-related stress you have when you’re trying to make an impression (don’t want to look greedy/naïve/picky/sit here with my chin dripping spaghetti). Towards the end of my work on a long-running show in the ‘90s (BUGS, if coyness irritates you) I was taken to somewhere very like it by the show’s producer.
He had a proposal for me. It was, I have to say, the kind of thing that every writer dreams of hearing. He wanted me to write him a thriller, a feature film. Nothing specified, no restrictions, just the invitation to come up with a subject and a story of my choice. He’d commission it, and we’d take it from there.
Well, I have my small portfolio of ideas and proposals, the kind of thing I’ve always got cooking and am looking for any opportunity to advance. But he didn’t want one of those. He was looking for something that had no form, no previous development... maybe it would make a franchise, maybe it would be a one-off. But once again, it could be anything, anything at all.
You’d think I’d leap on such an opportunity like a Lord Mayor at a finger buffet. I’d have thought so, too.
But it would be another four years before I could go to him and say, “Brian, I think I’ve got something.” Four years! To capitalise on a dream invitation!
It was a nice idea when it finally came, a little three-hander of a thriller – man, woman and child. A massive injustice to drive the plot, and oodles of psychological damage to be overcome. A hint of contemporary issues, just enough to crank up the excitement and not enough to make everything worthy. Romance, intrigue, mystery and scenes of physical peril.
And it came, not from any struggle to respond to the opportunity, but from a five-line story in a newspaper.
He liked it, and we were rolling. Next up – where to set it? Brian’s initial exploration had revealed the usual temerity one gets from UK investors, especially when the project in question is ambitious, expensive UK product. Everybody was interested in a small piece of something that already had enough investment attracted to be viable, but nobody was prepared to go to the casino and bet their house.
This time I wasn’t going to take four years to come up with an answer, because now I had place to start.
I’ve heard writers trying to emphasise the universality of their story by saying “This could be taking place anywhere at any time and happening to anyone”. What this ought to mean is, “its values are timeless, its conflicts familiar to all.” But it usually translates as “Everything’s negotiable if you’ll only give me the money to make something”.
I’d kind of been thinking Sunderland. But I was going to have to research this.
So I said San Francisco.
I wrote a rough first draft, and the next thing I knew, I was on a Virgin Atlantic plane with an appointment at the San Francisco film commission and a list of research issues that I needed to explore. Once there I hooked up with Erik Neldner, fresh from a stint as location manager on Nash Bridges and with a detailed knowledge of the city from every angle. We drove all over, hit some nice restaurants, and blagged our way through the high perimeter security of the government facility on Coastguard Island, just off Almeda.
(Not as impressive as it sounds. They were having an Open Day).
To date the film remains unmade. It’s a neat tale, but it never quite benefited from that mixture of chance, preparation and the ideal combination of the right people’s whims that are needed to make any project take off. Or maybe it just wasn’t as great as we thought it was. But I got paid for the script, and I got a trip to California, and I’m still friends with everyone involved, so I count this as one of my happy stories. Would that all my failures went so well.
But I digress. The reason I launched off into that story was to demonstrate that total freedom’s all very well, but to get creativity started you need to throw some grit into the oyster, give your ideas something to fasten onto and grow around, give yourself something to react to instead of just sitting there wondering what kind of action to take.
I often find myself thinking of a story told about the choreographer George Balanchine. He saw one of his assistants sitting in the auditorium stuck for ideas while the dancers waited around onstage for instructions.
“At least do something,” Balanchine said to him. “Then we’ll have something we can change”.
In my case, the grit in the oyster was the newspaper cutting that sparked my imagination. Four years of nothing and then suddenly I had something that I could start to change. I’ve heard it suggested that the best way to do something original is to steal an idea, develop it, and then throw out the part you stole. That may not be great for your ego, but if you do a decent job of it and end up with something good, who’s going to care how you got there?
We none of us create from nothing. We all take what has affected us and reassemble it into new forms that we hope will affect others in a similar way. Bad artists simply reassemble the art they’ve seen. Reach that little further into your own life and perceptions, and what you add will give the ring of truth that makes work startling and memorable.
So to throw some grit into this particular oyster, to act as the dead donkey around which this particular sand dune might start to form, I suggested to Danny that he could maybe ask me three questions to get me going. Which he kindly did.
Unfortunately, I don’t seem to have left any room to answer them now. Maybe next time, Danny?
---
Maybe you should start your own blog! Thanks a million, great stuff.
Senin, 12 Februari 2007
Q&A: Gordy Hoffman
You may have seen a few Q&As with Gordy Hoffman around the scribosphere recently. It's a pretty smart move to target screenwriting blogs to promote the BlueCat Screenwriting Competition, which Gordy founded in 1999.
For those who might raise a cynical eyebrow or scoff at the free-promotion for the contest, BlueCat does seem like a genuine opportunity to kick start your career. It's got a cool cash prize, $10,000 (US), plus all entrants get feedback, and the last couple of winners have gone on to get their scripts into production.
It's definitely worth checking it out as it might be the contest, and opportunity, for you. Also, Gordy is a writer/director in his own right, and this is what he had to say when I threw him a few qs, UK style-ee.
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Hello!
How did your love affair with writing begin?
I wrote a very tiny story when I was seven. It was an assignment from a teacher. She was a great influence on my life, simply by asking us children to do a creative writing assignment. I still remember that discovery the morning of nothing short of the human imagination.
After you graduated, and you wrote your first staged play in 1990, what was it like in those early years of trying to find your voice, keep writing scripts, and earn a crust at the same time?
There was nothing else I wanted to do, so that was a blessing. It took me a long time to figure out what I needed to do to allow myself to even produce. We ourselves create all the obstacles to our success. To this day, I try to stay out of my way.
A background in theatre such as yours would suggest a passion for character and emotion rather than any kind of rigid storytelling technique: do you think this kind of approach is more beneficial than what is recommended by the story gurus of the modern screenwriting market (which isn’t to say that they don’t have useful advice)?
The benefit of the theatre background is the patience you have for developing a piece through readings. You remember actors will eventually be reading the lines of dialogue you’re writing. I don’t think playwrights have a monopoly on character or emotion. But they are aware of the audience perhaps. Reading a script aloud for the purposes of development is automatic in the theatre. It seldom happens in screenwriting.
What was your first break in screenwriting - how did you segue from theatre to the screen?
I nearly completed a screenplay before I set out to write LOVE LIZA. It took me 18 days to write the rough draft. I knew something drastic had to happen, so I forced the change, and stayed in the chair. I think about writing plays all the time. Shortly, I will again.
It must have been a real buzz to have your brother star in a movie that you’d written. What was it like when you were kids - was Philip always the acting type, were you the shyer guy?
We are both very proud of LOVE LIZA. It was a special experience. We both learned so much. Who would’ve thought we could pull that off? It will be fun to work with him again someday.
Give us the pitch for Coat of Snow, your writing/directorial debut.
A girl takes her video camera to her cousin’s bachelorette party.
Is it getting a UK release?
Not at this time! :{
Why did you set up the BlueCat Screenwriting Competition when you had not yet established yourself as a screenwriter?
I had experiences with screenplay contests, and I was inspired to start my own. I wanted to have a competition that served writers. This is our focus today at BlueCat. What a ride! I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn’t started it. I’m so happy I did.
What’s next for Gordy Hoffman?
I’m working on a spec comedy script and my next directing project, which has a war theme. It will be shot on digital video.
---
Thanks, Gordy.
For those who might raise a cynical eyebrow or scoff at the free-promotion for the contest, BlueCat does seem like a genuine opportunity to kick start your career. It's got a cool cash prize, $10,000 (US), plus all entrants get feedback, and the last couple of winners have gone on to get their scripts into production.
It's definitely worth checking it out as it might be the contest, and opportunity, for you. Also, Gordy is a writer/director in his own right, and this is what he had to say when I threw him a few qs, UK style-ee.
---
Hello!
How did your love affair with writing begin?
I wrote a very tiny story when I was seven. It was an assignment from a teacher. She was a great influence on my life, simply by asking us children to do a creative writing assignment. I still remember that discovery the morning of nothing short of the human imagination.
After you graduated, and you wrote your first staged play in 1990, what was it like in those early years of trying to find your voice, keep writing scripts, and earn a crust at the same time?
There was nothing else I wanted to do, so that was a blessing. It took me a long time to figure out what I needed to do to allow myself to even produce. We ourselves create all the obstacles to our success. To this day, I try to stay out of my way.
A background in theatre such as yours would suggest a passion for character and emotion rather than any kind of rigid storytelling technique: do you think this kind of approach is more beneficial than what is recommended by the story gurus of the modern screenwriting market (which isn’t to say that they don’t have useful advice)?
The benefit of the theatre background is the patience you have for developing a piece through readings. You remember actors will eventually be reading the lines of dialogue you’re writing. I don’t think playwrights have a monopoly on character or emotion. But they are aware of the audience perhaps. Reading a script aloud for the purposes of development is automatic in the theatre. It seldom happens in screenwriting.
What was your first break in screenwriting - how did you segue from theatre to the screen?
I nearly completed a screenplay before I set out to write LOVE LIZA. It took me 18 days to write the rough draft. I knew something drastic had to happen, so I forced the change, and stayed in the chair. I think about writing plays all the time. Shortly, I will again.
It must have been a real buzz to have your brother star in a movie that you’d written. What was it like when you were kids - was Philip always the acting type, were you the shyer guy?
We are both very proud of LOVE LIZA. It was a special experience. We both learned so much. Who would’ve thought we could pull that off? It will be fun to work with him again someday.
Give us the pitch for Coat of Snow, your writing/directorial debut.
A girl takes her video camera to her cousin’s bachelorette party.
Is it getting a UK release?
Not at this time! :{
Why did you set up the BlueCat Screenwriting Competition when you had not yet established yourself as a screenwriter?
I had experiences with screenplay contests, and I was inspired to start my own. I wanted to have a competition that served writers. This is our focus today at BlueCat. What a ride! I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn’t started it. I’m so happy I did.
What’s next for Gordy Hoffman?
I’m working on a spec comedy script and my next directing project, which has a war theme. It will be shot on digital video.
---
Thanks, Gordy.
Jumat, 09 Februari 2007
Story Vault: Original Voice?
A bit snowed under this week, pardon the pun (although it's just wet on the coast), so here's a post from the past (August 2005, when the blog was just beginning) about what the hell 'original voice' actually means. Laters.
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People in the industry are constantly asked what they look for in a script; what makes a special script stand out? Quite often, they express preference for a script that has an ‘original voice’ or a story ‘that has something to say’. To some, this might sound frustratingly vague and a safe excuse for the industry’s latest rejection of your script but it’s an important consideration before you set out to write FADE IN for the very first time. So, what does it mean exactly?
Screenplays are an unnatural form of writing. While they are similar to stage plays in their depiction, their stories are not as accessible (to the casual reader) because of the format’s particular demands. On the plus side, screenplays are written in the present tense and use simple language to express the visual and audio action that is meant to be taking place on screen. Screenwriting training has become big business and people are far more familiar with the screenplay format and the basics in structure. Armed with an ‘I can do better than that’ attitude after a Friday night at the flicks and a ‘How To’ book under their arm, they endeavour to write their first script. However, most fall into an immediate trap of familiarity and cliché, or worse, bad writing. They won’t realise it of course because they think that the scripts they’ve read in research (usually about two) share the same qualities as their own, so it must be good right? Or at least industry standard. Right?
Not really. The problem with the speculative screenplay market is that all scripts read the ‘same’. ‘Same’ in the way that they are described, in the way the characters are presented and in the way the story is developed. There is no ‘original voice’. The writer has ‘nothing to say’. The writer will blind himself into thinking that his story is different and special but will unfortunately offer the reader/exec the same characterisation or visual description he’s read a million times before. So when you next hear someone important talking about ‘original voice’, they’re talking about how a script is written, how you decide to tell your story. How it was different from the others, how it grabbed their interest with its visual and literary touch, and how it compelled them to the very last page with its three-dimensional characters and unpredictable story.
Off the top of my head, here are two examples of an ‘original voice’. Christopher & Jonathan Nolan’s script for Memento, and Andrew Kevin Walker’s script for Se7en. Christopher McQuarrie’s Usual Suspects also comes to mind. More from the UK would include Richard Curtis (that’s right) and Frank Cottrell Boyce. They tell special stories (please no debates about Curtis’s work; like him or loathe him, no-one does it quite like him and with such international success), and they’ve got a particular point-of-view that they want to express in their tales. They’ve got ‘something to say’.
New writers make a lot of common mistakes that could easily be avoided. To elevate your script from ‘samey’ to ‘interesting’ takes just a little bit more effort in how you express your words and story. A lot of scripts in the spec slush pile are awful, just awful. And a lot are mediocre. A little more attention to basic narrative description can make your script stand out like a literary bomb amongst the reader’s pile. And if you can follow this through with well rounded characters and a thematic or satisfying resolution, then you’re going to earn high praise in the script report.
Most scripts are littered with lazy description, or phrases that have become accepted screenplay shorthand. “John walks down the street, clearly drunk” is plain lazy but commonly used. This is where the advice of fewer words and making your description short is misunderstood. What the script should describe about John being drunk is him stumbling down the street, singing a song, bumping into a police officer and grinning impishly. With this kind of action, there would be no need to mention the word ‘drunk’ in your description because it would be evident from John’s behaviour. Readers, and the audience, love to figure things out for themselves, even if it’s a very basic part of the story.
I suppose what I’m getting at is making every word of your screenplay count. Not enough writers take the time to be visually arresting about the most basic parts of their narrative description. Which would you prefer to read: “It’s cold and wet” or “The roads glisten from a recent downpour. People huddle themselves into their coats as they stride down the street.” What you want to do is SHOW YOU CAN WRITE and alert the reader to your ‘original voice’ on EVERY PAGE. It takes a little bit more effort, and of course talent, but is instantly recognised and appreciated by the people who have to wade through a sea of poor scripts every day.
It’s not just how you tell your story that makes your ‘original voice’, it’s also how original your story’s subject is (concept) and how you present new and interesting characters to express the ideas behind your story. Scripts with originality and something to say usually win screenwriting contests and/or get you on the first rung of your career ladder. It’s worth the time and effort to give your all-action cop thriller a little bit more thought and creativity before you start sending it around town...
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People in the industry are constantly asked what they look for in a script; what makes a special script stand out? Quite often, they express preference for a script that has an ‘original voice’ or a story ‘that has something to say’. To some, this might sound frustratingly vague and a safe excuse for the industry’s latest rejection of your script but it’s an important consideration before you set out to write FADE IN for the very first time. So, what does it mean exactly?
Screenplays are an unnatural form of writing. While they are similar to stage plays in their depiction, their stories are not as accessible (to the casual reader) because of the format’s particular demands. On the plus side, screenplays are written in the present tense and use simple language to express the visual and audio action that is meant to be taking place on screen. Screenwriting training has become big business and people are far more familiar with the screenplay format and the basics in structure. Armed with an ‘I can do better than that’ attitude after a Friday night at the flicks and a ‘How To’ book under their arm, they endeavour to write their first script. However, most fall into an immediate trap of familiarity and cliché, or worse, bad writing. They won’t realise it of course because they think that the scripts they’ve read in research (usually about two) share the same qualities as their own, so it must be good right? Or at least industry standard. Right?
Not really. The problem with the speculative screenplay market is that all scripts read the ‘same’. ‘Same’ in the way that they are described, in the way the characters are presented and in the way the story is developed. There is no ‘original voice’. The writer has ‘nothing to say’. The writer will blind himself into thinking that his story is different and special but will unfortunately offer the reader/exec the same characterisation or visual description he’s read a million times before. So when you next hear someone important talking about ‘original voice’, they’re talking about how a script is written, how you decide to tell your story. How it was different from the others, how it grabbed their interest with its visual and literary touch, and how it compelled them to the very last page with its three-dimensional characters and unpredictable story.
Off the top of my head, here are two examples of an ‘original voice’. Christopher & Jonathan Nolan’s script for Memento, and Andrew Kevin Walker’s script for Se7en. Christopher McQuarrie’s Usual Suspects also comes to mind. More from the UK would include Richard Curtis (that’s right) and Frank Cottrell Boyce. They tell special stories (please no debates about Curtis’s work; like him or loathe him, no-one does it quite like him and with such international success), and they’ve got a particular point-of-view that they want to express in their tales. They’ve got ‘something to say’.
New writers make a lot of common mistakes that could easily be avoided. To elevate your script from ‘samey’ to ‘interesting’ takes just a little bit more effort in how you express your words and story. A lot of scripts in the spec slush pile are awful, just awful. And a lot are mediocre. A little more attention to basic narrative description can make your script stand out like a literary bomb amongst the reader’s pile. And if you can follow this through with well rounded characters and a thematic or satisfying resolution, then you’re going to earn high praise in the script report.
Most scripts are littered with lazy description, or phrases that have become accepted screenplay shorthand. “John walks down the street, clearly drunk” is plain lazy but commonly used. This is where the advice of fewer words and making your description short is misunderstood. What the script should describe about John being drunk is him stumbling down the street, singing a song, bumping into a police officer and grinning impishly. With this kind of action, there would be no need to mention the word ‘drunk’ in your description because it would be evident from John’s behaviour. Readers, and the audience, love to figure things out for themselves, even if it’s a very basic part of the story.
I suppose what I’m getting at is making every word of your screenplay count. Not enough writers take the time to be visually arresting about the most basic parts of their narrative description. Which would you prefer to read: “It’s cold and wet” or “The roads glisten from a recent downpour. People huddle themselves into their coats as they stride down the street.” What you want to do is SHOW YOU CAN WRITE and alert the reader to your ‘original voice’ on EVERY PAGE. It takes a little bit more effort, and of course talent, but is instantly recognised and appreciated by the people who have to wade through a sea of poor scripts every day.
It’s not just how you tell your story that makes your ‘original voice’, it’s also how original your story’s subject is (concept) and how you present new and interesting characters to express the ideas behind your story. Scripts with originality and something to say usually win screenwriting contests and/or get you on the first rung of your career ladder. It’s worth the time and effort to give your all-action cop thriller a little bit more thought and creativity before you start sending it around town...
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Selasa, 06 Februari 2007
MySpace Movie Mashup
"MySpace is launching MyMovie MashUp, the world’s first user generated feature film in partnership with Vertigo Films and Film4. MySpace users will be involved in every stage of the filmmaking process from finding the director, casting, editing the script and marketing. The project unfolds in 10 acts:
Act One - Director Search
The first stage of the project is to find the film’s director. MySpace is asking budding directors to submit a short film via the website before 27th April, 2007. MySpace, Vertigo and Film4 will select their top 10 entries and put them forward to pitch one of five professional scripts to a panel of judges. The judges include actors Sienna Miller and Ashley Walters, director Kevin McDonald, producers Andrew McDonald and Nick Love, plus Christian Grass, Executive VP 20th Century Fox, Europe.
Act Two – Director Final Selection
The panel will shortlist three finalists; the final decision is then down to MySpace users who will vote to choose the ultimate winner. The lucky winner will be announced in late May, with the director immediately beginning production of their £1million movie.
Act Three - Title Search
Next we have to name the film. Following the selection of a director, a synopsis of the chosen film script will be posted on MySpace for people to dream up the film’s title. Name choice falls to the director, with the author given credit in the film. At this stage, a MySpace profile will also be created so people can start to contribute and interact with the film.
Act Four – Interactive Script
In early June, key scenes from the script will be posted on the film’s MySpace profile alongside a synopsis of the script. The MySpace community will be invited to suggest edits for the script by leaving comments on the profile. The director and scriptwriter will review all the suggestions and incorporate the best into the script. Successful contributors will be credited on the film.
Act Five – Online Casting
Once the script is in place, the director will ask MySpace users to audition for parts in the film. Aspiring actors can audition for parts by posting their audition videos as comments on their chosen character’s MySpace profile. Auditions are expected to be open from beginning of July to the early September.
Act Six - Production Crew
The director will need the support of a strong production crew, so MySpace is teaming up with Shooting People to hire people for lighting, set design, make up, costume as well as recruiting a number of runners. Those wanting a job on the set must apply through the film’s profile on MySpace.
Act Seven – Production
Filming will begin in October. The film’s profile will be constantly updated with news from the set including a video blog from cast and crew. Friend’s of the profile will have the chance to win a visit to the set.
Act Eight – Soundtrack
Great films are often defined by their great soundtrack. MySpace will tap into the hundreds of thousands of unsigned bands already using MySpace to uncover new music for the film.
Act Nine - Mass Roots Marketing
With the film in the can, MySpace will switch on the power of the world’s biggest lifestyle portal to create awareness and noise around the film. Just as MySpace has supported big studio movies like Borat or X-Men 3, so this user generated first will enjoy the full support of MySpace’s marketing efforts. The film is scheduled for its worldwide premiere at Cannes 2008, with the UK Premiere planned for the London Film Festival 2008.
Act Ten – Distribution
In the final act, MySpace users will be asked to submit poster ideas, music for the trailer and other merchandise possibilities. Check out the website for full details."
Act One - Director Search
The first stage of the project is to find the film’s director. MySpace is asking budding directors to submit a short film via the website before 27th April, 2007. MySpace, Vertigo and Film4 will select their top 10 entries and put them forward to pitch one of five professional scripts to a panel of judges. The judges include actors Sienna Miller and Ashley Walters, director Kevin McDonald, producers Andrew McDonald and Nick Love, plus Christian Grass, Executive VP 20th Century Fox, Europe.
Act Two – Director Final Selection
The panel will shortlist three finalists; the final decision is then down to MySpace users who will vote to choose the ultimate winner. The lucky winner will be announced in late May, with the director immediately beginning production of their £1million movie.
Act Three - Title Search
Next we have to name the film. Following the selection of a director, a synopsis of the chosen film script will be posted on MySpace for people to dream up the film’s title. Name choice falls to the director, with the author given credit in the film. At this stage, a MySpace profile will also be created so people can start to contribute and interact with the film.
Act Four – Interactive Script
In early June, key scenes from the script will be posted on the film’s MySpace profile alongside a synopsis of the script. The MySpace community will be invited to suggest edits for the script by leaving comments on the profile. The director and scriptwriter will review all the suggestions and incorporate the best into the script. Successful contributors will be credited on the film.
Act Five – Online Casting
Once the script is in place, the director will ask MySpace users to audition for parts in the film. Aspiring actors can audition for parts by posting their audition videos as comments on their chosen character’s MySpace profile. Auditions are expected to be open from beginning of July to the early September.
Act Six - Production Crew
The director will need the support of a strong production crew, so MySpace is teaming up with Shooting People to hire people for lighting, set design, make up, costume as well as recruiting a number of runners. Those wanting a job on the set must apply through the film’s profile on MySpace.
Act Seven – Production
Filming will begin in October. The film’s profile will be constantly updated with news from the set including a video blog from cast and crew. Friend’s of the profile will have the chance to win a visit to the set.
Act Eight – Soundtrack
Great films are often defined by their great soundtrack. MySpace will tap into the hundreds of thousands of unsigned bands already using MySpace to uncover new music for the film.
Act Nine - Mass Roots Marketing
With the film in the can, MySpace will switch on the power of the world’s biggest lifestyle portal to create awareness and noise around the film. Just as MySpace has supported big studio movies like Borat or X-Men 3, so this user generated first will enjoy the full support of MySpace’s marketing efforts. The film is scheduled for its worldwide premiere at Cannes 2008, with the UK Premiere planned for the London Film Festival 2008.
Act Ten – Distribution
In the final act, MySpace users will be asked to submit poster ideas, music for the trailer and other merchandise possibilities. Check out the website for full details."
Kamis, 01 Februari 2007
Spec Notes
The general consensus about spec scripts seems to be that if you engage the reader on an emotional level, then your talents as a writer are going to be noticed above your genre ambitions to blow up cars and kill aliens. Character-driven stories are what grab the attention of readers, script editors and execs. This isn’t to say that genre scripts are excluded or frowned upon but a lot of these wannabe scripts are vacuous and empty; a shameful rip off or hotchpotch of a hundred genre films before it. If you’ve got a genre script that tells a ‘new’ story and shows off your talents for craft and character, then you’ve really got a spec hit on your hands.
For the most part, however, readers, editors and execs are looking for something fresh and original. They’re tired with the cops, serial killers, bounty hunters, gangsters, guy ‘n girl love affairs or plain stories about nothing in particular. Everyone is writing these scripts, so the spec pile can get a bit boring and predictable. The common perception of readers is that when they pick up a script, ‘they really want to like it, that they really hope that this is the one’. This isn’t entirely true. More often than not, when a reader picks up a script, he just wants to get through it. He hopes that it won’t make him work too hard in figuring out who the characters are and what the story is about. And that it won’t take too long to read so he can get on to the next script.
The consistent humdrum nature of spec scripts generates this ambivalent approach. However, after the first few pages of the script, the reader gets a sense of the writer’s style and talent, and if it’s good, then the reading chore can become an enjoyable and effortless passing of time. The reader zones out of his responsibilities and awareness of the writer, and instead simply gets engrossed in the ‘story’. This is achieved when a spec script provides the reader with something ‘fresh’ and ‘original’, often combining character-driven stories with some required familiar elements to create a new take on the genre.
But are there any specific areas or subject matters that make a good spec script? A lot of new writers ‘write what they know’, which can be hit and miss, so if they took a step outside their own experience and researched some unfamiliar territory of psychology, history or society, then this can provide a spec script with that added spark and interest. Here are a few topics/areas that are worth considering but rarely seen as spec scripts:
Biopics. Recount the life, or significant period, of a famous figure (that preferably hasn’t been done before) or tell the story of a historic character that shows what impact and significance his/her life had for his time, or for us in the present.
Political Backdrop stories. Look at an interesting period in any nation’s history, and create a story within that context, using the backdrop to provide subtext, drama and theme.
Period Drama. See biopics/political backdrop stories, or simply create a new romance/comedy/whatever set around a defining or visual period.
Modern Adaptations. A modern and clever take on well known stories, such as Shakespeare etc, can be effective, and you don’t need to pay for the privilege too because many of the stories are out of copyright.
Unfamiliar Locations. A lot of specs are set in anonymous modern cities. Setting can play a large part in a story, especially with regard to the above areas, so think about a story set in Ontario, or Cape Town, or Cairns, or Wellington, or Berlin, or Moscow, or whatever, and bring it to life on screen.
Specific Area of Research. Get to know an unfamiliar topic or subject better than anyone else on this Earth. And then write a script about it. Not it per se, but a story around that world.
Quirky Premise/Offbeat Story. A quirky premise will always be fun, but the offbeat story that follows should be carefully crafted in terms of character and story. Don’t try to be funny for the sake of it; tell a story that’s funny. A lot of comedy specs in America are sold because of their offbeat and quirky charms, and consequently attract interest from actors and directors.
Most of these areas require research. However, research should inform the story not overwhelm the reader. A lot of scripts with a particular area of research try to show off how much time the writer has spent getting to know every last bit of detail they’ve gleaned from their study. Research helps credibility and authenticity with regard to premise, plot and characters, when the story requires it, so no need to hit us over the hammer with a lot of inconsequential detail, no matter how interesting it may seem.
So, go on. Be different than the rest. Write an original script that doesn’t follow the typical route of most specs. It will get you noticed, get your recommended, help you nab that meeting, win that commission and before you know it, you’re in the trades with news that you’re about to start principal photography. Getting a spec script optioned, sold and made is difficult, no question, but it’s not impossible and if you’re telling the right story, then a lot of people will want to take notice, especially readers.
For the most part, however, readers, editors and execs are looking for something fresh and original. They’re tired with the cops, serial killers, bounty hunters, gangsters, guy ‘n girl love affairs or plain stories about nothing in particular. Everyone is writing these scripts, so the spec pile can get a bit boring and predictable. The common perception of readers is that when they pick up a script, ‘they really want to like it, that they really hope that this is the one’. This isn’t entirely true. More often than not, when a reader picks up a script, he just wants to get through it. He hopes that it won’t make him work too hard in figuring out who the characters are and what the story is about. And that it won’t take too long to read so he can get on to the next script.
The consistent humdrum nature of spec scripts generates this ambivalent approach. However, after the first few pages of the script, the reader gets a sense of the writer’s style and talent, and if it’s good, then the reading chore can become an enjoyable and effortless passing of time. The reader zones out of his responsibilities and awareness of the writer, and instead simply gets engrossed in the ‘story’. This is achieved when a spec script provides the reader with something ‘fresh’ and ‘original’, often combining character-driven stories with some required familiar elements to create a new take on the genre.
But are there any specific areas or subject matters that make a good spec script? A lot of new writers ‘write what they know’, which can be hit and miss, so if they took a step outside their own experience and researched some unfamiliar territory of psychology, history or society, then this can provide a spec script with that added spark and interest. Here are a few topics/areas that are worth considering but rarely seen as spec scripts:
Biopics. Recount the life, or significant period, of a famous figure (that preferably hasn’t been done before) or tell the story of a historic character that shows what impact and significance his/her life had for his time, or for us in the present.
Political Backdrop stories. Look at an interesting period in any nation’s history, and create a story within that context, using the backdrop to provide subtext, drama and theme.
Period Drama. See biopics/political backdrop stories, or simply create a new romance/comedy/whatever set around a defining or visual period.
Modern Adaptations. A modern and clever take on well known stories, such as Shakespeare etc, can be effective, and you don’t need to pay for the privilege too because many of the stories are out of copyright.
Unfamiliar Locations. A lot of specs are set in anonymous modern cities. Setting can play a large part in a story, especially with regard to the above areas, so think about a story set in Ontario, or Cape Town, or Cairns, or Wellington, or Berlin, or Moscow, or whatever, and bring it to life on screen.
Specific Area of Research. Get to know an unfamiliar topic or subject better than anyone else on this Earth. And then write a script about it. Not it per se, but a story around that world.
Quirky Premise/Offbeat Story. A quirky premise will always be fun, but the offbeat story that follows should be carefully crafted in terms of character and story. Don’t try to be funny for the sake of it; tell a story that’s funny. A lot of comedy specs in America are sold because of their offbeat and quirky charms, and consequently attract interest from actors and directors.
Most of these areas require research. However, research should inform the story not overwhelm the reader. A lot of scripts with a particular area of research try to show off how much time the writer has spent getting to know every last bit of detail they’ve gleaned from their study. Research helps credibility and authenticity with regard to premise, plot and characters, when the story requires it, so no need to hit us over the hammer with a lot of inconsequential detail, no matter how interesting it may seem.
So, go on. Be different than the rest. Write an original script that doesn’t follow the typical route of most specs. It will get you noticed, get your recommended, help you nab that meeting, win that commission and before you know it, you’re in the trades with news that you’re about to start principal photography. Getting a spec script optioned, sold and made is difficult, no question, but it’s not impossible and if you’re telling the right story, then a lot of people will want to take notice, especially readers.
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