I wish talent was communicable. I wish if you could just be close enough to a person, their genius could travel through ions and particles and zap you into similar levels of ingenuity.
I was in the presence of Aaron Sorkin today.
I got a tip that he was going to be doing a lecture for the film students today. I asked for details. Found out time and place 20 minutes before the Q&A started. It's wonderful to be an alumnus. At which point I jumped in my car, found a parking spot, and walked like a flat footed crazy person to the lecture hall. I was NOT going to miss this opportunity. I was ready to park illegally and suffer a ticket if I had to.
I saw two professors, a couple old classmates, oh, and did I mention AARON SORKIN? I was twenty feet away from Aaron Sorkin. Breathing was... difficult. Not only was Aaron Sorkin there, but so were Jesse Eisenberg and Armie Hammer. There was a showing of The Social Network last night [aw, which I missed], and today they were doing a Q&A [which I managed to get myself to]. They all were so excellent.
A lot of the discussion focused on the movie [which I will probably go see now], but Aaron [oohh, he told a student to call him "Aaron" not "Mr. Sorkin." There's nothing as thrilling as when someone you really admire tells you to call them by their first name] did mention that he watches ESPN to procrastinate just as much as the ordinary writer, that the final draft varied little from the first draft [effective prewriting, maybe?], and that Mr. Fincher did 99 takes of the opening scene.
Oh man. Aaron Sorkin.
I was in cloud nine all day long. Screenwriters are really the loveliest people. I still maybe can't process the fact. Aaron Sorkin. Me. [100 other people.] Same room.
If you are interested in MY take on Facebook, check out the short I made -- Join This Group?
For anyone who's following my celebrity count I've got Pamela Gray, Tom McCarthy, Aaron Sorkin, David Koepp, Ed Helm, Carrie Fisher, Anne Hathaway, Sam Waterson, George Lucas, and the back of Joshua Jackson's head. Well, maybe about that last one. I wish they were trading cards.
I watched Castle tonight. I'm thinking about spec-ing it. Castle hosts a poker game with three other blockbuster writers. James Patterson included. They bust his chops for only putting out one novel a year. I wish I hosted poker games and cocktail parties with famous writers who would ruthlessly tease me into productivity. Wish I knew James Patterson.
Showing posts with label I name drop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I name drop. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, November 09, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tom McCarthy
One of the aspects of the film program that drew me to the University of Michigan is their Gindin visitor series, where they bring in working writers to give guest lectures open to everyone and then workshop specifically with the master screenwriting or TV writing class. Past visitors have included Spike Lee, Nora Ephron, Lawrence Kasden, Jeb Stuart, Kurt Luedtke... I could go on (of course, these are all visitors previous to my years at the university).
So the goal of any student interested in screenwriting here is to get into the master class, 1. because it's small and selective and intensive and 2. because the visitors workshop with you and then you go out to lunch with them to pick their brains nearly one on one.
Our first visitor this semester was Tom McCarthy, actor/writer/director. He recently wrote and directed The Visitor, which got Richard Jenkins an Oscar nomination. It was his first time doing anything like this at a university, and he was excellent, both professionally and personally. When we went out to lunch, I started out a question by addressing him as Mr. McCarthy, and he immediately said, "Please, call me Tom." I may have blushed.
I took about three pages of notes between his lecture and his workshop. He was an incredibly intelligent, talented person to listen to. He has a very distinct character-driven, minimalist approach to writing. I'm sharing what I thought were the highlights. I think they're best understood after reading his scripts, at least The Visitor. He has a very distinct style, and his advice reflects that.
- Make sure your characters are compelling enough to watch in their own right, regardless of what is happening in the plot of the story.
- You can overwrite, but you'll never be done rewriting.
- We overwrite. People don't trust actors and silence and the inner character moments. But you have create authentic characters.
- The Visitor was supposed to end with a quote (from the Statue of Liberty, I think). Tom decided not to include the quote so that the audience could have the liberty of drawing their own conclusions.
- Action lines are for checking in.
- Humor comes from when characters come together and interact, not the plot situation.
- Audiences have seen a lot of movies and know a lot of characters. You might have to give them a different take on a character we already know.
- Stay ahead of the audience. It's difficult. They've seen a lot of movies. Cut dialog to move quickly. You're aiming for the moment when they realize that they'll never get ahead of you - and they're satisfied with that.
- This is not a literary medium. You want the reader to see it and feel it, not to make them marvel about your writing skills.
- You can overwrite in your first draft to explore - then cut it.
- All your answers should be in the first few pages.
The winter term master class usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to Gindin visitors. Who do you know who wants to come to Michigan in the middle of the winter? If we do get a writer out, it's often a TV writer. However, my master class had the exceptional opportunities of not only having Tom McCarthy but also Pamela Gray. Two accomplished screenwriters.
J. likes to remind us how lucky we are (and I agree). After lunch with Tom McCarthy and dinner with Pamela Gray, he said, "This is what you guys came here for. You guys are very lucky. Only once before in my years of teaching here have we had two Gindin visitors during the winter term."
And I'm very self-centered about this. Every time I want to reply, "Well, J., it's God rewarding me for my faith." But I don't. They already think I'm a crazy religious person.
So the goal of any student interested in screenwriting here is to get into the master class, 1. because it's small and selective and intensive and 2. because the visitors workshop with you and then you go out to lunch with them to pick their brains nearly one on one.
Our first visitor this semester was Tom McCarthy, actor/writer/director. He recently wrote and directed The Visitor, which got Richard Jenkins an Oscar nomination. It was his first time doing anything like this at a university, and he was excellent, both professionally and personally. When we went out to lunch, I started out a question by addressing him as Mr. McCarthy, and he immediately said, "Please, call me Tom." I may have blushed.
I took about three pages of notes between his lecture and his workshop. He was an incredibly intelligent, talented person to listen to. He has a very distinct character-driven, minimalist approach to writing. I'm sharing what I thought were the highlights. I think they're best understood after reading his scripts, at least The Visitor. He has a very distinct style, and his advice reflects that.
- Make sure your characters are compelling enough to watch in their own right, regardless of what is happening in the plot of the story.
- You can overwrite, but you'll never be done rewriting.
- We overwrite. People don't trust actors and silence and the inner character moments. But you have create authentic characters.
- The Visitor was supposed to end with a quote (from the Statue of Liberty, I think). Tom decided not to include the quote so that the audience could have the liberty of drawing their own conclusions.
- Action lines are for checking in.
- Humor comes from when characters come together and interact, not the plot situation.
- Audiences have seen a lot of movies and know a lot of characters. You might have to give them a different take on a character we already know.
- Stay ahead of the audience. It's difficult. They've seen a lot of movies. Cut dialog to move quickly. You're aiming for the moment when they realize that they'll never get ahead of you - and they're satisfied with that.
- This is not a literary medium. You want the reader to see it and feel it, not to make them marvel about your writing skills.
- You can overwrite in your first draft to explore - then cut it.
- All your answers should be in the first few pages.
The winter term master class usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to Gindin visitors. Who do you know who wants to come to Michigan in the middle of the winter? If we do get a writer out, it's often a TV writer. However, my master class had the exceptional opportunities of not only having Tom McCarthy but also Pamela Gray. Two accomplished screenwriters.
J. likes to remind us how lucky we are (and I agree). After lunch with Tom McCarthy and dinner with Pamela Gray, he said, "This is what you guys came here for. You guys are very lucky. Only once before in my years of teaching here have we had two Gindin visitors during the winter term."
And I'm very self-centered about this. Every time I want to reply, "Well, J., it's God rewarding me for my faith." But I don't. They already think I'm a crazy religious person.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
On the shoulders of giants (and lesser people)
When Tom McCarthy came to work with us, he told us how he was working on a script with a friend of his who was a lawyer. It's the first time he's worked with a non-writer on a script, and he seems to be enjoying it. I decided to walk in his footsteps and write a screenplay with my roommate.
(Actually the two things are pretty unrelated. I found the parallels all after the fact.)
D is not really a nonwriter. She is in a creative writing class this semester (to which I responded with extreme jealousy, until I remembered that I was signing up for my third screenwriting class) and is just an excellent and intelligent writer and reader overall. We came up with the idea when we got trapped in an elevator. That is actually a lie. The elevator shuddered. It didn't even stop. But we both looked at each other then burst out laughing, and as we exited the building, the most wonderful idea began to form. I'm pretty sure D was the first one to mention it, but luckily, I'm the one who knows how to format a screenplay.
Tonight I did some prewriting work on the idea. It's a delightful story, with the style of "The 4:05" but just enough more humor that I'm concerned my comedic abilities will fall short (again, it's wonderful to collaborate). And all the characters are likeable, which is apparently something I have a problem with (the Hopwood results are in again, but we'll talk about that later). I can't tell you more, of course, but I will say that John Francis Daley and Zooey Deschanel will be getting their scripts shortly.
D read the treatment that I had written so far, and we spit balled on some name ideas. That quickly disintegrated into trying to name our female lead after dead authors and types of food. But it was nice to sit there brainstorming, knowing that while D may not know the purpose of the midpoint or Act II break yet, she knows a good story. I'm not really sure which I appreciate more - the enthusiasm and new perspective of a nonscreenwriter or the creative input of a well-read, intelligent mind. Luckily for me, I get them both.
(Actually the two things are pretty unrelated. I found the parallels all after the fact.)
D is not really a nonwriter. She is in a creative writing class this semester (to which I responded with extreme jealousy, until I remembered that I was signing up for my third screenwriting class) and is just an excellent and intelligent writer and reader overall. We came up with the idea when we got trapped in an elevator. That is actually a lie. The elevator shuddered. It didn't even stop. But we both looked at each other then burst out laughing, and as we exited the building, the most wonderful idea began to form. I'm pretty sure D was the first one to mention it, but luckily, I'm the one who knows how to format a screenplay.
Tonight I did some prewriting work on the idea. It's a delightful story, with the style of "The 4:05" but just enough more humor that I'm concerned my comedic abilities will fall short (again, it's wonderful to collaborate). And all the characters are likeable, which is apparently something I have a problem with (the Hopwood results are in again, but we'll talk about that later). I can't tell you more, of course, but I will say that John Francis Daley and Zooey Deschanel will be getting their scripts shortly.
D read the treatment that I had written so far, and we spit balled on some name ideas. That quickly disintegrated into trying to name our female lead after dead authors and types of food. But it was nice to sit there brainstorming, knowing that while D may not know the purpose of the midpoint or Act II break yet, she knows a good story. I'm not really sure which I appreciate more - the enthusiasm and new perspective of a nonscreenwriter or the creative input of a well-read, intelligent mind. Luckily for me, I get them both.
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