Showing posts with label film school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film school. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Justification
Screenwriting from Iowa has an excellent post about screenwriting in Michigan that was posted around the time the tax incentives were taking off. We have quite an illustrious literary history.
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, January 13, 2009
How to be a Screenwriting Master
Actually, I don't know how to do that.
But I do know how to be a student in a master screenwriting class. Sorta. We had our first class on Wednesday, and I think it might have been one of the more terrifying moments of my undergraduate career. I had calmed down from my will-never-have-a-job-and-will-probably-starve rant of earlier, but I was still feeling the expectations. We had to pitch our ideas to B. and the rest of our classmates, and the first person to pitch has been working on her idea since she started filming it as a short this past year (this is the film I'm coproducing, actually). And I get really nervous summarizing my ideas, especially since it's so completely opposite of what I wrote for V. and B. this past year. But I pitched it, and even with its shaky start, B. liked it. Talking it out actually helped me define it a little more, and B. got to go on a few theological soapboxes. A good time was had by all.
We had to write 5 page treatments for today, and that was difficult. I actually don't remember if we had to write treatments for our previous screenplay; I think we just did step outlines. I've never written an action movie treatment. The second act of course got muddled, and so there were paragraphs like "So and so and evil person fight." I just didn't mention the theological discussions at all. It's only supposed to be five pages, right?
But I'm really excited about this Current Draft. I think I'm going to be able to delve into a lot of spiritual issues. I just want to be able to handle them with tact and craft. And though this will be my first action script, it will be my fifth screenplay, and I already have the feeling that it will be my best yet. And this will be the script that I give to David Koepp. : )
And the feedback so far on the second draft of "Collapse" has been pretty good. I'm submitting it to our most prestigious university competition in Febuary, and am hoping to get a third draft done before then. I'm just trying to decide if I want to continue with the changes I made for B. or create a completely different plot line that I might like better personally.
It just dumped snow on us the other day and it's stuck. And its completely beautiful, but it makes me wish I had my 1940s short ready to shoot, because this is exactly the type of weather I imagined for it. But then again, as my friend pointed out to me, no one really wants to shoot outdoors in the middle of the winter in Michigan.
But I do know how to be a student in a master screenwriting class. Sorta. We had our first class on Wednesday, and I think it might have been one of the more terrifying moments of my undergraduate career. I had calmed down from my will-never-have-a-job-and-will-probably-starve rant of earlier, but I was still feeling the expectations. We had to pitch our ideas to B. and the rest of our classmates, and the first person to pitch has been working on her idea since she started filming it as a short this past year (this is the film I'm coproducing, actually). And I get really nervous summarizing my ideas, especially since it's so completely opposite of what I wrote for V. and B. this past year. But I pitched it, and even with its shaky start, B. liked it. Talking it out actually helped me define it a little more, and B. got to go on a few theological soapboxes. A good time was had by all.
We had to write 5 page treatments for today, and that was difficult. I actually don't remember if we had to write treatments for our previous screenplay; I think we just did step outlines. I've never written an action movie treatment. The second act of course got muddled, and so there were paragraphs like "So and so and evil person fight." I just didn't mention the theological discussions at all. It's only supposed to be five pages, right?
But I'm really excited about this Current Draft. I think I'm going to be able to delve into a lot of spiritual issues. I just want to be able to handle them with tact and craft. And though this will be my first action script, it will be my fifth screenplay, and I already have the feeling that it will be my best yet. And this will be the script that I give to David Koepp. : )
And the feedback so far on the second draft of "Collapse" has been pretty good. I'm submitting it to our most prestigious university competition in Febuary, and am hoping to get a third draft done before then. I'm just trying to decide if I want to continue with the changes I made for B. or create a completely different plot line that I might like better personally.
It just dumped snow on us the other day and it's stuck. And its completely beautiful, but it makes me wish I had my 1940s short ready to shoot, because this is exactly the type of weather I imagined for it. But then again, as my friend pointed out to me, no one really wants to shoot outdoors in the middle of the winter in Michigan.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
It's Started
My last first day of undergraduate classes starts tomorrow. And up until about forty-five minutes ago, I would have told you that I was actually looking forward to it, that I'm even a little bit excited for my classes. It's past that time now, and everyone else has gone to bed, even my slightly sniffly roommate, which is a huge disappointment. Because I was going to stand on her swively desk chair to get eye level with her on her loft bed and unload my sudden change of feelings onto her. Here's the problem:
I seriously feel sick, and I think I stopped breathing for a minute while I was brushing my teeth.
Not in an "I'm actually feeling ill" sort of way. More in a "I just realized my imminent death is approaching" sort of way. Because here's the thing about a film degree. Sooner or later, you realized that you're qualified to do --
Absolutely nothing.
My roommate and I watched The Nines tonight (we really enjoyed it, Mr. August, and I hope to be able to expound on it more thoughtfully when the possibility that my head is going to explode passes). Mr. August's blog is one that I check fairly frequently, so I decided to do a little post-viewing research about The Nines. Poking around his blog led me to this post about a young grad who went to LA to make his mark on the world. He gets around making contacts, PAing, and writing what he hopes to be his directorial debut. This is all great, this is all wonderful, this is what we, as young film grads, expect out of the world. Until it hits me, once again, that I am qualified to do --
Absolutely nothing.
Adam Davis wrote and directed several shorts while at college, had John-freaking-August as a recommended contact, and had plenty of experience to flesh out his resume. And for all his hard work, he gets very short term PA jobs for indies and shorts. Yes I know we all have to pay our dues and yes I know that clearly some how it's paying for the rent and yes I know that those jobs will lead to bigger things. That's not why I'm panicked. I'm panicked because Adam did a lot before he graduated. He was experienced. I have done nothing. Okay, so this is not entirely true. I have PAed, I have written and directed my own (video *gasp/shudder*) short, I'm coproducing a film. But to be honest, because of my short time at my second uni and my pursuit of screenwriting, I have basically zero technical knowledge. Who is going to hire me to be a PA if my only credits are a two day PA gig for a student film and a coproducing byline? They could probably pick up someone from Circuit City who has just as much technical knowledge as I do!
Perhaps this wouldn't concern me so much. Perhaps I wouldn't feel so sick. I have been talking recently about how I feel that I've received such a good education as far as my writing is concerned that I'm not even sure I need an industry day job while I'm practicing and writing and rewriting, waiting for my big break. However, now that I'm in the master class, now that I've gotten an email from my first screenwriting professor about my class standing (which was p-r-e-t-t-y good, apparently), I am petrified. I have never been at the top of the game. I have always been second best or second choice. Top ten material but never first place. I don't know how I got here or what to do next or how to even stay here. That's part of the terror of creating, I think. We never really know how good it's going to be until we make it, and we're never really certain if we'll be able to do it again. Even if I do have some shred of talent that will eventually turn into a writing career for me, what am I going to do while I'm still working on getting there? There is no way I'm going to have a marketable script before I graduate. What do I do in the meantime?
It's the graduation panics. It makes my stomach feel three times smaller, my breath come in short shallow spurts, and my eyes roll up toward the back of my head. It's the question of how am I supposed to survive after my last class is over? What am I going to do? How am I not going to starve? Who's going to hire me? And how can I fool them for as long as possible until they realize they've made a mistake and hire the blithering fool they mistook for a real film graduate? What happened to that large 3-person box from camp I planned to live in?
It's in moments like these that I wish I would have chosen a sensible major, one that actually qualified me to do things, that I could have gained quantitative knowledge from. Or at least a shred of confidence.
Please excuse me while I go curl up into a fetal ball.
I seriously feel sick, and I think I stopped breathing for a minute while I was brushing my teeth.
Not in an "I'm actually feeling ill" sort of way. More in a "I just realized my imminent death is approaching" sort of way. Because here's the thing about a film degree. Sooner or later, you realized that you're qualified to do --
Absolutely nothing.
My roommate and I watched The Nines tonight (we really enjoyed it, Mr. August, and I hope to be able to expound on it more thoughtfully when the possibility that my head is going to explode passes). Mr. August's blog is one that I check fairly frequently, so I decided to do a little post-viewing research about The Nines. Poking around his blog led me to this post about a young grad who went to LA to make his mark on the world. He gets around making contacts, PAing, and writing what he hopes to be his directorial debut. This is all great, this is all wonderful, this is what we, as young film grads, expect out of the world. Until it hits me, once again, that I am qualified to do --
Absolutely nothing.
Adam Davis wrote and directed several shorts while at college, had John-freaking-August as a recommended contact, and had plenty of experience to flesh out his resume. And for all his hard work, he gets very short term PA jobs for indies and shorts. Yes I know we all have to pay our dues and yes I know that clearly some how it's paying for the rent and yes I know that those jobs will lead to bigger things. That's not why I'm panicked. I'm panicked because Adam did a lot before he graduated. He was experienced. I have done nothing. Okay, so this is not entirely true. I have PAed, I have written and directed my own (video *gasp/shudder*) short, I'm coproducing a film. But to be honest, because of my short time at my second uni and my pursuit of screenwriting, I have basically zero technical knowledge. Who is going to hire me to be a PA if my only credits are a two day PA gig for a student film and a coproducing byline? They could probably pick up someone from Circuit City who has just as much technical knowledge as I do!
Perhaps this wouldn't concern me so much. Perhaps I wouldn't feel so sick. I have been talking recently about how I feel that I've received such a good education as far as my writing is concerned that I'm not even sure I need an industry day job while I'm practicing and writing and rewriting, waiting for my big break. However, now that I'm in the master class, now that I've gotten an email from my first screenwriting professor about my class standing (which was p-r-e-t-t-y good, apparently), I am petrified. I have never been at the top of the game. I have always been second best or second choice. Top ten material but never first place. I don't know how I got here or what to do next or how to even stay here. That's part of the terror of creating, I think. We never really know how good it's going to be until we make it, and we're never really certain if we'll be able to do it again. Even if I do have some shred of talent that will eventually turn into a writing career for me, what am I going to do while I'm still working on getting there? There is no way I'm going to have a marketable script before I graduate. What do I do in the meantime?
It's the graduation panics. It makes my stomach feel three times smaller, my breath come in short shallow spurts, and my eyes roll up toward the back of my head. It's the question of how am I supposed to survive after my last class is over? What am I going to do? How am I not going to starve? Who's going to hire me? And how can I fool them for as long as possible until they realize they've made a mistake and hire the blithering fool they mistook for a real film graduate? What happened to that large 3-person box from camp I planned to live in?
It's in moments like these that I wish I would have chosen a sensible major, one that actually qualified me to do things, that I could have gained quantitative knowledge from. Or at least a shred of confidence.
Please excuse me while I go curl up into a fetal ball.
Monday, December 29, 2008
And in other good news...
We have three screenwriting classes at my university. The first one you write a screenplay, the second one you re-write that screenplay, and in the third one you write a new screenplay. They're all competition based. Half of the students in One get into Two, and half the students from Two get into Three. I finished the second class this semester and was waiting with bated breath for an email one way or the other on the third class. Out of the twelve students in our class, only five would make it into Three for winter semester. Christmas Day I opened my email to find a congratulatory email from my professor - I got into the third class! One step closer to my dream of being a real, working, money-making screenwriter.
Now a decision to make : do I write the children's fantasy Neverwhere meets Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium or the action-adventure Da Vinci Code meets The Matrix?
Now a decision to make : do I write the children's fantasy Neverwhere meets Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium or the action-adventure Da Vinci Code meets The Matrix?
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Tales of a Student Producer, Part 2
That's not really my job. I'd love to just do slate all weekend, but usually I only get to play with the slate when we're short crewed.
We're about a third of the way done with shooting. We ran into some frustrating location issues for this weekend and, long story short, had to cancel the shoot. I hate doing locations. The place we were hoping to shoot wanted to charge us $40 an hour, both for overnight shooting and during business hours. We understood that we'd probably have to pay some for the overnight because most businesses like to have an employee there - but who is getting paid $40/hour at a coffee shop? Or even 20?
I've worked on one other senior honors thesis. I only PAed for just two days, but I learned some interesting things and got a little bit of a feel for the way it ran. It ran a lot different from the way we run ours. And for a while, I really struggled with that. The project is already pretty stressful for me, and having that comparison made it more difficult.
Until I put things into perspective. The other thesis film was produced and directed by a team of senior film students who had done a project of similar length and scope the previous year. So it wasn't their first time around the rodeo. Our project's director is talented and knowledgeable, but it's her first time directing some of this scope. Our producing team has never before produced anything of this length and are relatively early in their film training. And we're running on a very talented but limited crew.
Basically, I realized that the two different films I worked on were, in fact, two different films. And I should treat them as such. And that helped a lot. Realizing that I didn't have to live up to some standard that didn't actually even compare made me feel a little more at ease with the job. I was talking with my screenwriting professor the other day about how producing was probably making me more stressed than all my classes, he sort of raised his eyebrow as if to tell me that I needed to rethink something. And he reminded me that everyone in everything has a learning curve. I think the goal is to just maintain your course on that journey and not let yourself be overwhelmed by the mistakes and challenges that are inherent in improvement.
Sure, it's a lot of work and it's stressful sometimes. But I have no doubt that this film is going to be great. Our crew members are so talented and skilled that I can't imagine it coming out anything less than stellar. And they're amazingly fun to work with too. And that keeping that perspective helps me realize what an enjoyable experience this is.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Tales of a Student Producer, Part 1
This year I'm coproducing a senior honors thesis, titled "Grace," for one of my friends. Not going to lie, having two other producers makes the work load pretty light (even if having three coproducers might be a bit excessive), but this is still the major cause of stress in my life right now. The senior honors thesis films are supposed to be the most advanced, well done films our department produces. Our ability to produce will be reflected in the finished product - very clearly.
Since none of the producers have ever produced anything of this caliber, I sorta feel like the first month our meetings consisted mostly of, "Soo... what now?" We're not doing too badly, though, and now we're much more in the full swing of preproduction, with our first shooting weekend in a week and a half.
So this is what's happened so far and what I've learned:
- You can't produce until you have a locked copy of the script from the director. I got a draft of the script as soon as I signed onto the project (I'm just trying to sound professional. I didn't actually sign anything). However, we knew upfront that this was not a final draft. Since we didn't know how much the script was going to change, we found it difficult to pursue elements like casting and locations since we didn't know if they were going to stay in the script or not. The director gave us some pointers about which elements were stone (like the main character), and we went after those. And having seen a more recently draft this weekend, I was relieved to see that most of the changes made the script simpler, with fewer locations and characters, not more complex. Which made me glad that I hadn't pulled up my old undertaker's assistant contact to try to secure a funeral home location.
- Ask for help. One of the things I did a couple of weeks ago was set up a meeting for all of "Grace's" producers with a recent grad from our school who was the producing guru when he was a student. He gave us a lot of information and a few challenges, but it's better to be overwhelmed with information about things you have to consider and watch out for and plan around than get caught in the moment wondering what the crap you do now.
- Budget and schedule are paramount. I know our production designer is concerned about how much of the budget can go toward set dressings and props. The producers want to know if we'll have enough money to keep plenty of good food and coffee around. Because the honors thesis films operate on grants, we don't know how much money we'll get yet. We'll start shooting before we have any real ideas. Because of our meeting with our producer friend, we have some idea of what to expect when it comes to the grants, and some ideas of how to raise some more money. Scheduling is tricky for a student production because it comes down to the talent and the locations. Our crew is either large enough or well trained enough so that if someone can't be there, it will still function. However, we might have talent coming in from out of state. And we're looking to shoot in a department store and a coffee shop. We'll only be able to shoot when these elements say it's ok. I'm in charge of location scouting, and I'm finding it to be one of the most stressful parts. Maybe it's because I don't have a car. I don't feel like I can approach a location until we have a date set of when we want to shoot, or at least a few dates, but I don't feel like I can ballpark a range until I know what sort of schedule the director and cinematographer want, how long they think they want at each location, how much time, etc. etc. And we'll probably be shooting around the hours of the businesses. Shooting day-for-night is possible. But can you shoot night for early morning, even if it's indoors?
- Auditions. We held our first auditions on Saturday. Our casting process is going pretty well. Two of our producers posted casting calls on a few websites, got a ton of responses back, and we went through the headshots and resumes with the director during one of our meetings. She picked out who she was interested in, and we called them in for auditions. Ok, I'm not going to lie, it was fun being a producer in the auditions. First of all, producer in the real world carries a whole lot more weight than in the student world. In the real world, they're actually running the show (with their money). In the student world, they're running errands for the director. But at auditions, I got to introduce myself as a coproducer, then sit there not saying anything as I operated the camera, looking good in my blazer - but not like I was trying too hard (oh yes. You have to look like the part you are playing). Auditions are actually pretty tolling on those who are auditioning, which the director expressed to me afterwards. We have to hear the same scene fifty times.
Something I found remarkably interesting was the fact that most actors played the scene the same way. On one hand, this reflects well on the writer, that their intentions are so clear that most every actor can pick it up to a general degree. But I saw very few actors taking risks. Maybe it wasn't the fact that it was the intent and character were clear but that it was just the easiest, safest take on the character. One of the activities I always did with my drama classes up at camp was to have them say the same sentence over and over again with different intentions (yeah, Stanislovsky). I kept thinking about David Lynche's Mulholland Drive, which I saw recently for class, and the two different ways Betty plays the audition. The first time, when she's rehearsing, she plays it the way most people probably would have played it. But the second time she totally changes the character and, essentially, the scene, and makes it three times more engaging. It's an interesting thing to note if you want to write or direct (or even act). Is every scene predestined to play a certain way if it's written clearly enough? Or is every scene just a template onto which an actor or director force their own vision?
Since none of the producers have ever produced anything of this caliber, I sorta feel like the first month our meetings consisted mostly of, "Soo... what now?" We're not doing too badly, though, and now we're much more in the full swing of preproduction, with our first shooting weekend in a week and a half.
So this is what's happened so far and what I've learned:
- You can't produce until you have a locked copy of the script from the director. I got a draft of the script as soon as I signed onto the project (I'm just trying to sound professional. I didn't actually sign anything). However, we knew upfront that this was not a final draft. Since we didn't know how much the script was going to change, we found it difficult to pursue elements like casting and locations since we didn't know if they were going to stay in the script or not. The director gave us some pointers about which elements were stone (like the main character), and we went after those. And having seen a more recently draft this weekend, I was relieved to see that most of the changes made the script simpler, with fewer locations and characters, not more complex. Which made me glad that I hadn't pulled up my old undertaker's assistant contact to try to secure a funeral home location.
- Ask for help. One of the things I did a couple of weeks ago was set up a meeting for all of "Grace's" producers with a recent grad from our school who was the producing guru when he was a student. He gave us a lot of information and a few challenges, but it's better to be overwhelmed with information about things you have to consider and watch out for and plan around than get caught in the moment wondering what the crap you do now.
- Budget and schedule are paramount. I know our production designer is concerned about how much of the budget can go toward set dressings and props. The producers want to know if we'll have enough money to keep plenty of good food and coffee around. Because the honors thesis films operate on grants, we don't know how much money we'll get yet. We'll start shooting before we have any real ideas. Because of our meeting with our producer friend, we have some idea of what to expect when it comes to the grants, and some ideas of how to raise some more money. Scheduling is tricky for a student production because it comes down to the talent and the locations. Our crew is either large enough or well trained enough so that if someone can't be there, it will still function. However, we might have talent coming in from out of state. And we're looking to shoot in a department store and a coffee shop. We'll only be able to shoot when these elements say it's ok. I'm in charge of location scouting, and I'm finding it to be one of the most stressful parts. Maybe it's because I don't have a car. I don't feel like I can approach a location until we have a date set of when we want to shoot, or at least a few dates, but I don't feel like I can ballpark a range until I know what sort of schedule the director and cinematographer want, how long they think they want at each location, how much time, etc. etc. And we'll probably be shooting around the hours of the businesses. Shooting day-for-night is possible. But can you shoot night for early morning, even if it's indoors?
- Auditions. We held our first auditions on Saturday. Our casting process is going pretty well. Two of our producers posted casting calls on a few websites, got a ton of responses back, and we went through the headshots and resumes with the director during one of our meetings. She picked out who she was interested in, and we called them in for auditions. Ok, I'm not going to lie, it was fun being a producer in the auditions. First of all, producer in the real world carries a whole lot more weight than in the student world. In the real world, they're actually running the show (with their money). In the student world, they're running errands for the director. But at auditions, I got to introduce myself as a coproducer, then sit there not saying anything as I operated the camera, looking good in my blazer - but not like I was trying too hard (oh yes. You have to look like the part you are playing). Auditions are actually pretty tolling on those who are auditioning, which the director expressed to me afterwards. We have to hear the same scene fifty times.
Something I found remarkably interesting was the fact that most actors played the scene the same way. On one hand, this reflects well on the writer, that their intentions are so clear that most every actor can pick it up to a general degree. But I saw very few actors taking risks. Maybe it wasn't the fact that it was the intent and character were clear but that it was just the easiest, safest take on the character. One of the activities I always did with my drama classes up at camp was to have them say the same sentence over and over again with different intentions (yeah, Stanislovsky). I kept thinking about David Lynche's Mulholland Drive, which I saw recently for class, and the two different ways Betty plays the audition. The first time, when she's rehearsing, she plays it the way most people probably would have played it. But the second time she totally changes the character and, essentially, the scene, and makes it three times more engaging. It's an interesting thing to note if you want to write or direct (or even act). Is every scene predestined to play a certain way if it's written clearly enough? Or is every scene just a template onto which an actor or director force their own vision?
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Being dramatic tends to cause problems.
The heart of a story is conflict. Really. There's nothing we like to watch better than people dealing with their problems. We don't watch real life (minus Italian NeoRealism) because there aren't enough problems to entertain the audience.
If you're looking to add drama to your script, why not try to add it to your life first?
I can give you a few pointers. You know those people from high school who were always have teary meltdowns in the hallway? Don't do that. The key is to be just a smidgen more dramatic in the things you do, the way you do them. For instance, when I came home from my day, I walked into my room and thought about how it seemed unreasonably stuffy. So I walked over to the window. But did I just open it, dear reader? Of course not! I grabbed it from the top and flung it open. Not in an outrageous tear the window off manner; more like a Disney push open the shutters and sing sort of way. However, by my mildly dramatic action of grabbing the window and flinging it open, I caught my finger between the two panes, smashed it, and ripped it right underneath the cuticle. I'm fairly certain the nail will be black tomorrow.
Drama and difficulty work together in such wonderful ways.
I'm in a rewrite class this semester. It's one of the reasons that my uni has such an exceptional screenwriting program - they teach you how to rewrite, which is where the real writing gets done. Not many unis do that. One thing my screenwriting prof guaranteed us is that, without even reading our scripts, he knew that we didn't have enough conflict in them. He knew a lot of interesting stuff about our screenplays without even having read them yet.
If you're looking to add drama to your script, why not try to add it to your life first?
I can give you a few pointers. You know those people from high school who were always have teary meltdowns in the hallway? Don't do that. The key is to be just a smidgen more dramatic in the things you do, the way you do them. For instance, when I came home from my day, I walked into my room and thought about how it seemed unreasonably stuffy. So I walked over to the window. But did I just open it, dear reader? Of course not! I grabbed it from the top and flung it open. Not in an outrageous tear the window off manner; more like a Disney push open the shutters and sing sort of way. However, by my mildly dramatic action of grabbing the window and flinging it open, I caught my finger between the two panes, smashed it, and ripped it right underneath the cuticle. I'm fairly certain the nail will be black tomorrow.
Drama and difficulty work together in such wonderful ways.
I'm in a rewrite class this semester. It's one of the reasons that my uni has such an exceptional screenwriting program - they teach you how to rewrite, which is where the real writing gets done. Not many unis do that. One thing my screenwriting prof guaranteed us is that, without even reading our scripts, he knew that we didn't have enough conflict in them. He knew a lot of interesting stuff about our screenplays without even having read them yet.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Acta non verba
I love my desk.
It's about to get packed up, but the collection of things on it is - well, so amazing. I'm finally using the bud vase I painted in Chicago last year to hold two beautiful pink roses. My worn copy of the Princess Bride, recently returned from another convent, is sitting onto of my hardcopy of my script from screenwriting class. On the cork board leaning against the back of my desk is a sheet of those inch wide stickers with your face on them of me and my best friend up here when we were at a pinball place. 8 mm film hangs from my pencil holder. And I have pictures of the people who are my life are plastered all around.
I'm done with school. It's over. How quickly the year went by. I might wax reminiscent, but another time.
We edited today (I feel like that's a really annoying word to say in real life: "edited." It's because there are three "d/t" sounds in it) and got a rough cut of "Join This Group?" done. We actually didn't watch it all the way through, but the audio - which was what I was concerned about - came out ok. I didn't realize, though, that some of the facilities start closing soon. I'm recording the voice over with the talent tomorrow (we'll see how I do with the equipment all by myself), and we'll layer that on and work on the fine cut Wednesday. My editor is great - she's so familiar with Final Cut.
I went to a showcase of films made for classes over the past semester. It was really cool seeing what some of the other students have been working on. I especially liked the use of locale in one, and I hope that one day - if I have time - I can just wander around and take pictures and let the creative juices flow. In order to choose between a typical location and a unique and interesting location, I need to know where the cool locations are.
I was eavesdropping in feminist film class the other day and heard another girl talk about how our screenwriting program chair had advised her not to move out to LA yet. Among one of the reasons was that when everyone gets out there, they all write the same stories. You can see that here sometimes, people writing the same stories. We have limited resources and are going through similar life issues, which can make it seem dull in this context. But I think there are a lot of opportunities for unique stories using those same resources. It just takes an extra little digging trying to find them.
I realized the other day that I've only stayed awake for one out of class movie this entire semester. I watched all of Vantage Point - barely, I barely made it through the movie. All others I've fallen asleep during.
My Screnzy script - does not exist. I have the six pages I wrote way back when, and that is all. I may be could do it, if I wasn't working long hours this week, working on "Join This Group?", cramming in those last few memorable hours with friends, and suffering from a complete lack of motivation. I hate being this unbusy. It drains my energy and motivation like nothing else.
But I shouldn't whine. I think I'm just annoyed that all my friends are leaving. Really, as much as I wanted to spend as much time with all of them as possible, I should have left as soon as I was finished. Now instead of one good bye for me I have to say good bye multiple times to multiple people. And one of my closest friends is graduating this year, so ever time I walk through the Diag and the sea of 30,000 folding chairs there, I suffer a mini heartbreak. Sometimes I struggle with the balance between letting go and holding on, between running away and carrying useless torches. But you know what? I'm ok with being sad about the end of the year. Because all it really means is that I love this place and these people so gosh darn much.
It's about to get packed up, but the collection of things on it is - well, so amazing. I'm finally using the bud vase I painted in Chicago last year to hold two beautiful pink roses. My worn copy of the Princess Bride, recently returned from another convent, is sitting onto of my hardcopy of my script from screenwriting class. On the cork board leaning against the back of my desk is a sheet of those inch wide stickers with your face on them of me and my best friend up here when we were at a pinball place. 8 mm film hangs from my pencil holder. And I have pictures of the people who are my life are plastered all around.
I'm done with school. It's over. How quickly the year went by. I might wax reminiscent, but another time.
We edited today (I feel like that's a really annoying word to say in real life: "edited." It's because there are three "d/t" sounds in it) and got a rough cut of "Join This Group?" done. We actually didn't watch it all the way through, but the audio - which was what I was concerned about - came out ok. I didn't realize, though, that some of the facilities start closing soon. I'm recording the voice over with the talent tomorrow (we'll see how I do with the equipment all by myself), and we'll layer that on and work on the fine cut Wednesday. My editor is great - she's so familiar with Final Cut.
I went to a showcase of films made for classes over the past semester. It was really cool seeing what some of the other students have been working on. I especially liked the use of locale in one, and I hope that one day - if I have time - I can just wander around and take pictures and let the creative juices flow. In order to choose between a typical location and a unique and interesting location, I need to know where the cool locations are.
I was eavesdropping in feminist film class the other day and heard another girl talk about how our screenwriting program chair had advised her not to move out to LA yet. Among one of the reasons was that when everyone gets out there, they all write the same stories. You can see that here sometimes, people writing the same stories. We have limited resources and are going through similar life issues, which can make it seem dull in this context. But I think there are a lot of opportunities for unique stories using those same resources. It just takes an extra little digging trying to find them.
I realized the other day that I've only stayed awake for one out of class movie this entire semester. I watched all of Vantage Point - barely, I barely made it through the movie. All others I've fallen asleep during.
My Screnzy script - does not exist. I have the six pages I wrote way back when, and that is all. I may be could do it, if I wasn't working long hours this week, working on "Join This Group?", cramming in those last few memorable hours with friends, and suffering from a complete lack of motivation. I hate being this unbusy. It drains my energy and motivation like nothing else.
But I shouldn't whine. I think I'm just annoyed that all my friends are leaving. Really, as much as I wanted to spend as much time with all of them as possible, I should have left as soon as I was finished. Now instead of one good bye for me I have to say good bye multiple times to multiple people. And one of my closest friends is graduating this year, so ever time I walk through the Diag and the sea of 30,000 folding chairs there, I suffer a mini heartbreak. Sometimes I struggle with the balance between letting go and holding on, between running away and carrying useless torches. But you know what? I'm ok with being sad about the end of the year. Because all it really means is that I love this place and these people so gosh darn much.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Another one bites the dust.
I. I forgot my favourite part of filming last weekend. I got to "act" (being the trained actress that I am). "Join This Group?" is a mockumentary, and we take an investigatory spin at one point, "chasing" our uncommunicative subject down. So it's Saturday, just before noon, and we're at the intersection of two of our busiest streets in front of our uni's Union. There's a huge fundraiser going on across campus and an annual marijuana party called Hash Bash in the Diag and it's the nicest day we've had all spring, so there're probably double the people around than usual. Because the camera movement was a little tricky, we probably did about twelve to fifteen takes of me running after my friend, screaming, "Can you talk with us? Why won't you stop and answer a few questions? Hey!" I'd chase him into the Union, and then we'd stop and laugh and walk back outside. One time we came out of the Union and a woman was waiting there, looking confused, until she saw our camera. She said, "Oh, I see - you're shooting something." It was so much fun, filming out in the real world with people who had no idea what was going on.
II. I used the word "uber" in class discussion the other day, in my most academic class, in front of my most respected professor. I kept talking quickly hoping that she wouldn't notice, but I think some of the other students did.
III. This week I had two very polarized screenwriting experiences on Wednesday:
1. I submitted "The 4:05" to a contest here at school. I would like to win contests because I would like to pay for school. I got an email the other week saying that while it hadn't won, it had gone to "nationals" (what does that even mean? It was a university award - how do we go "national"? I think we figured out that it just meant top 10 or something) and if I picked up my manuscripts I would have comments from the judges. Well, that was kind of cool because at least I was getting feedback. So I went and picked them up and took a minute to read the comments.
I've never read such negative comments about most people's work, let alone my own.
I'm a little surprised my script didn't come back with holes in it from the judges' laser eyes. One woman went on and on about how my characters were weird and boring and my dialogue was stiff and force and the plot as paper thin and how the reader is left wondering why this story needed to be told. I'm really not sure what other negative things she could have said - I'm half convinced that she went to the thesaurus from the start.
I'm not really fussed, though. It made me a little hesitant about letting my screenwriting professor see it, but when I thought about it, sure this story needs a lot of work, but I'm willing to do that. Because, unlike that judge, I do see a story worth telling. And I'm the writer, so I get to make that call.
2. I finished my Current Draft for screenwriting class. I also found a better title. I can definitely see how I've improved as a screenwriter since "The 4:05" and all the lessons I've learned. We all stood up at class and dropped our scripts on the table - ah, the sound of completion. My screenwriting professor suggested taking the entire summer away from this script, but I just don't see the time. I am taking at least a week and a half away from it, maybe two weeks. Then we'll see.
And there's Script Frenzy to be thinking about.
IV. Apparently I'm a music sell out because my favourite song is "Drops of Jupiter."
II. I used the word "uber" in class discussion the other day, in my most academic class, in front of my most respected professor. I kept talking quickly hoping that she wouldn't notice, but I think some of the other students did.
III. This week I had two very polarized screenwriting experiences on Wednesday:
1. I submitted "The 4:05" to a contest here at school. I would like to win contests because I would like to pay for school. I got an email the other week saying that while it hadn't won, it had gone to "nationals" (what does that even mean? It was a university award - how do we go "national"? I think we figured out that it just meant top 10 or something) and if I picked up my manuscripts I would have comments from the judges. Well, that was kind of cool because at least I was getting feedback. So I went and picked them up and took a minute to read the comments.
I've never read such negative comments about most people's work, let alone my own.
I'm a little surprised my script didn't come back with holes in it from the judges' laser eyes. One woman went on and on about how my characters were weird and boring and my dialogue was stiff and force and the plot as paper thin and how the reader is left wondering why this story needed to be told. I'm really not sure what other negative things she could have said - I'm half convinced that she went to the thesaurus from the start.
I'm not really fussed, though. It made me a little hesitant about letting my screenwriting professor see it, but when I thought about it, sure this story needs a lot of work, but I'm willing to do that. Because, unlike that judge, I do see a story worth telling. And I'm the writer, so I get to make that call.
2. I finished my Current Draft for screenwriting class. I also found a better title. I can definitely see how I've improved as a screenwriter since "The 4:05" and all the lessons I've learned. We all stood up at class and dropped our scripts on the table - ah, the sound of completion. My screenwriting professor suggested taking the entire summer away from this script, but I just don't see the time. I am taking at least a week and a half away from it, maybe two weeks. Then we'll see.
And there's Script Frenzy to be thinking about.
IV. Apparently I'm a music sell out because my favourite song is "Drops of Jupiter."
Thursday, April 03, 2008
I looked really chic in the coffee shop --
-- until I pulled my computer out of a plastic Old Navy bag. My friend once called me a rich hobo, because I carry my really nice computer around in a plastic bag. I swear, I'm going to go buy a proper carrying case tomorrow.
I wanted to post "Swallowed in the Sea" lyrics, but I just posted them in the past few months. So why don't you just go listen to that song for a couple of minutes and then come back?
In feminist film theory class today, we talked a lot about how the "happy ending" for women in films most often comes in the form of a stable heterosexual relationship, even for women who are portrayed as independent and anti-patriarchal. We used the example of Sex and the City, about how the entire show is supposedly about these four women with fabulous girl friendships, fabulous shoes, and fabulous independence from men. But at the end, they all end up in some sort of "satisfying" heterosexual relationship. It started to worry me at first, because, not being in a relationship right now and not having marriage on my list of immediate post-graduation plans like my best friends (I really am *so* excited for their weddings - they're almost too far away), I've had to think about my life plans in a slightly different way than I used to. I want to make sure that what I do after college is something that I'm passionate about, something that I feel is in God's will, something that makes a difference. Just because I'm not in a relationship doesn't mean that I need to feel like I'm missing anything - but I think many girls fall into the trap of thinking about their lives as what they do - until they get married. As if post-graduate life is a happy, eventful, but empty Act II until they finally meet Prince Charming, have their fairy tale wedding, and live in their happy ending.
So we're talking about this in class, and even though we talk quite a lot about how women are defined as "the other" in relation to men and how we're the dependent in this patriarchal society, for some reason today more than other days I was seized by this sudden fear that I would define my life by the waiting for and hopefully marriage to some amazing man (he will be amazing, just in case you were wondering). And my defensiveness kicked in - I don't want my life's happiness or importance or fulfillment to be defined by anyone, not a man especially, even he will be my husband. I don't want to feel like my pre-marriage years were any less fulfilled because of the lack of a man. And my independent nature started to question whether I want to be held back at all by any relationships, so as not to define a life well lived by the influence of anybody else -
And this is where something else kicked in. It isn't having a man, really, that makes life worth living - but it is the relationships. Yeah, they're scary and they mean being vulnerable and I can try to get defensive about needing them, but I do. I can't even imagine a life where I didn't have the close relationships I have now. One of the main reasons my life is so different than it was a year and a half ago is because of the openness and intimacy I've had with my friends. Everywhere I look and everything I've learned has reinforced that loving others is a secret key to life. More than my career. More than my comfort. More than my independence.
So yes, I do want my life to be defined by others. By their needs, by their love, by their friendships, by their lives.
Still, until that last love story is written, I'm not living any less.
Why are there strawberries on the Equal sweetner packs?
I wanted to post "Swallowed in the Sea" lyrics, but I just posted them in the past few months. So why don't you just go listen to that song for a couple of minutes and then come back?
In feminist film theory class today, we talked a lot about how the "happy ending" for women in films most often comes in the form of a stable heterosexual relationship, even for women who are portrayed as independent and anti-patriarchal. We used the example of Sex and the City, about how the entire show is supposedly about these four women with fabulous girl friendships, fabulous shoes, and fabulous independence from men. But at the end, they all end up in some sort of "satisfying" heterosexual relationship. It started to worry me at first, because, not being in a relationship right now and not having marriage on my list of immediate post-graduation plans like my best friends (I really am *so* excited for their weddings - they're almost too far away), I've had to think about my life plans in a slightly different way than I used to. I want to make sure that what I do after college is something that I'm passionate about, something that I feel is in God's will, something that makes a difference. Just because I'm not in a relationship doesn't mean that I need to feel like I'm missing anything - but I think many girls fall into the trap of thinking about their lives as what they do - until they get married. As if post-graduate life is a happy, eventful, but empty Act II until they finally meet Prince Charming, have their fairy tale wedding, and live in their happy ending.
So we're talking about this in class, and even though we talk quite a lot about how women are defined as "the other" in relation to men and how we're the dependent in this patriarchal society, for some reason today more than other days I was seized by this sudden fear that I would define my life by the waiting for and hopefully marriage to some amazing man (he will be amazing, just in case you were wondering). And my defensiveness kicked in - I don't want my life's happiness or importance or fulfillment to be defined by anyone, not a man especially, even he will be my husband. I don't want to feel like my pre-marriage years were any less fulfilled because of the lack of a man. And my independent nature started to question whether I want to be held back at all by any relationships, so as not to define a life well lived by the influence of anybody else -
And this is where something else kicked in. It isn't having a man, really, that makes life worth living - but it is the relationships. Yeah, they're scary and they mean being vulnerable and I can try to get defensive about needing them, but I do. I can't even imagine a life where I didn't have the close relationships I have now. One of the main reasons my life is so different than it was a year and a half ago is because of the openness and intimacy I've had with my friends. Everywhere I look and everything I've learned has reinforced that loving others is a secret key to life. More than my career. More than my comfort. More than my independence.
So yes, I do want my life to be defined by others. By their needs, by their love, by their friendships, by their lives.
Still, until that last love story is written, I'm not living any less.
Why are there strawberries on the Equal sweetner packs?
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
April Fool's Day!
I feel like the end of winter semester is so much longer than the end of fall semester. We've been "ending" ever since the week or so after Spring Break, I feel. I don't like it, or the massive amounts of work I've been dealing with. Therefore, I blog.
Script Frenzy started today. Whoops. I sorta know what I'm going to write about, though. I would have some time this weekend to write, but I'm shooting. I would have time next week to write, but my screenplay is due, I would have time next weekend to write, but the following week I have two 8 page papers and three exams. Maybe the weekend after that. Yes, maybe by the 18th I'll have started my screenplay for Script Frenzy.
One of my biggest pet peeves is knowing that I had things I wanted to blog about but forgetting what they were once I actually sit down to write.
I found out a couple of weeks ago that one of my friends might be moving out to LA after December graduation. That would be kinda fun, having someone I knew out there that will be familiar with the area.
I finally got my fourth main actor for "Join This Group?" committed. Of course, it means pushing up the shooting time on Sunday, like we had to on Friday as well. But hey, we've got the actor. Whew. I can't even hardly think about shooting because of all the academic stuff I have due this week. There's still a lot to do - hey, let's not even think about post yet, m'kay? I was going to have a whole week after exams finished to sit around campus and do nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was going to write and watch movies and edit. But I thought over things more practically and realized that it would be better if I worked that week instead of during exams. So now my post exam week will be all about working, watching movies, and editing. I will probably get too lazy to write.
I took a nap this afternoon and woke up with a crease that ran from above my eyebrow to the corner of my lip. I had class in ten minutes. I did not manage to get the crease to go completely away.
I'm reading the screenplay of Garden State right now (it's like research and learning... but also relaxation!). I love this movie. Lost it. The more I watch it and read it and study it, I just fall in love. Brilliance. If you disagree with me, I pretty much will dismiss you - as a person.
Sometimes I want the old studio system back. You know, when talent would contract with a studio for a length of time, not for individual projects. Maybe it's the sense of stability that appeals to me. Really, I think I just like the collaborative nature of that system, always working with the same people. I would love to have that here on campus, a group of film students who all work together and are committed to each other's projects. There's a loose sense of that. We'll openly call for help with productions. And I'm lucky enough to be close enough friends with a couple of other film students that we can shoot a 6 minutes short on the weekend no problem. But what I really want, what I really think would be cool, would be to have a group of 8ish students who are all committed - no washing out - to a project that spans a semester or even a year. A group of people who've caught a vision together. And the pursuit of that vision is not a chore or a job or work. It's a desire.
I'm not a very practical person, though. I'm the one who'll come up with the big idea, get really excited, and may eventually lose momentum, especially if I'm on my own. I'm not always that good at sharing my big ideas either. But maybe, maybe we'll try with this. We'll see.
So much babbling. I wonder sometimes how you put up with it all.
Overheard in a Screening (Christopher Strong):
"Courage conquers death."
"But not love."
Script Frenzy started today. Whoops. I sorta know what I'm going to write about, though. I would have some time this weekend to write, but I'm shooting. I would have time next week to write, but my screenplay is due, I would have time next weekend to write, but the following week I have two 8 page papers and three exams. Maybe the weekend after that. Yes, maybe by the 18th I'll have started my screenplay for Script Frenzy.
One of my biggest pet peeves is knowing that I had things I wanted to blog about but forgetting what they were once I actually sit down to write.
I found out a couple of weeks ago that one of my friends might be moving out to LA after December graduation. That would be kinda fun, having someone I knew out there that will be familiar with the area.
I finally got my fourth main actor for "Join This Group?" committed. Of course, it means pushing up the shooting time on Sunday, like we had to on Friday as well. But hey, we've got the actor. Whew. I can't even hardly think about shooting because of all the academic stuff I have due this week. There's still a lot to do - hey, let's not even think about post yet, m'kay? I was going to have a whole week after exams finished to sit around campus and do nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was going to write and watch movies and edit. But I thought over things more practically and realized that it would be better if I worked that week instead of during exams. So now my post exam week will be all about working, watching movies, and editing. I will probably get too lazy to write.
I took a nap this afternoon and woke up with a crease that ran from above my eyebrow to the corner of my lip. I had class in ten minutes. I did not manage to get the crease to go completely away.
I'm reading the screenplay of Garden State right now (it's like research and learning... but also relaxation!). I love this movie. Lost it. The more I watch it and read it and study it, I just fall in love. Brilliance. If you disagree with me, I pretty much will dismiss you - as a person.
Sometimes I want the old studio system back. You know, when talent would contract with a studio for a length of time, not for individual projects. Maybe it's the sense of stability that appeals to me. Really, I think I just like the collaborative nature of that system, always working with the same people. I would love to have that here on campus, a group of film students who all work together and are committed to each other's projects. There's a loose sense of that. We'll openly call for help with productions. And I'm lucky enough to be close enough friends with a couple of other film students that we can shoot a 6 minutes short on the weekend no problem. But what I really want, what I really think would be cool, would be to have a group of 8ish students who are all committed - no washing out - to a project that spans a semester or even a year. A group of people who've caught a vision together. And the pursuit of that vision is not a chore or a job or work. It's a desire.
I'm not a very practical person, though. I'm the one who'll come up with the big idea, get really excited, and may eventually lose momentum, especially if I'm on my own. I'm not always that good at sharing my big ideas either. But maybe, maybe we'll try with this. We'll see.
So much babbling. I wonder sometimes how you put up with it all.
Overheard in a Screening (Christopher Strong):
"Courage conquers death."
"But not love."
Monday, March 31, 2008
Ad absurdum
I realized the other day that my posts had gotten deeply personal and a little sentimental. Ew. Let's get back to real business.
School is getting irritating. I'm so far beyond this semester and the drama it's caused. But really --
We turned in our Act IIbs in screenwriting class this week (20 pages in one day, baby). We workshopped mine, and I got reamed a little bit about de-conflicting my Act II turning point. I would agree that something was not quite right, but I'm not sure that it's what everyone was telling me. I have a tendency to want to drain scenes of their overt conflict - especially if it's not relational conflict. In my screenplay there's the real story about relationships and the conflict there, and then there's the subplot about legal proceedings and such. So for every turning point/midpoint in Current Draft, I have scenes for the relational/emotional plot and the "physical" subplot. The "physical" subplot is really only there to create momentum for the plot points and make them easier to distinguish, so really those are the only times it shows up. So for my Act II turning point I have an emotional/relational turning point and a "physical" subplot turning point. Because the latter is less important, I drained it of its conflict. And that's where I took the fall. It's definitely something I'm going to want to think about. I agree with my classmates that there's a lot of potential in those scenes - but that's not where the story is, so I'm not sure how much importance I want to give those scenes.
I feel sometimes like the story in Current Draft is growing beyond my control, like a puddle of water.
In a week and a half we'll turn in the completed screenplay. So far I like Current Draft, much better than my last two, which is good, because I pretty much went to my professor early on in the semester and said, "I've sucked at the last two screenplays - if I don't do well with this one I'm going to radically rethink my decision to be a screenwriter." I feel like I'm back in the game, though.
I shoot my mockumentary short, "Join This Group?" this weekend. I'm stressed. We only have two crew members for our first shoot (including me), the one that I got the professor that I'm in awe of to act in. First shoot, only two people, and I'm going to blubber around her anyway. Oh no, I can already feel my brain start to fog up and my throat getting sticky. I'm still looking for a fourth actor to shoot on Sunday. I think I would already have one, but it's taking a while for people to get back to me with their answer. Otherwise, I think it's going to be a lot of fun, not too stressful, and I'm excited for both the process and the finished project.
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to write a series of websoides this summer. I've got another idea for a series of websoides, but it would require tricking a whole lot more people into being involved.
April is going to be crazy. No, really. Besides school finishing (two 8-10 page papers and three finals, with a few presentations, quizzes and short papers thrown in for extra spice), I'm shooting and editing this short, doing Script Frenzy, and hopefully pulling Current Draft through a full edit in time for the Nicholl. The only way this is remotely plausible to think about is because of the fact that after April 18th I will have no obligations whatsoever to anything. Nothing. No more school obligations, no more church obligations. Pure, clear freedom. It's like a shining moment I look forward to. I wish you guys could see my Google calender to compare the next few weeks in all their multi colored jam-packed glory to the complete emptiness of the week after April 18th.
Google calender went out for like 5 hours on Friday and I almost had a meltdown. No joke, there were noticeable panic feelings.
Anyone writing anything for Script Frenzy? I'm trying to decide if I want to write something that's been percolating for a while or go with something completely different. I have an idea about Sierra Leone that I really like, a very plot-based, socially concerned piece. Or I have the vaguest idea for a more anti-structure, romantic piece that will explore some questions I'm thinking about right now. Any suggestions? What are you writing?
School is getting irritating. I'm so far beyond this semester and the drama it's caused. But really --
We turned in our Act IIbs in screenwriting class this week (20 pages in one day, baby). We workshopped mine, and I got reamed a little bit about de-conflicting my Act II turning point. I would agree that something was not quite right, but I'm not sure that it's what everyone was telling me. I have a tendency to want to drain scenes of their overt conflict - especially if it's not relational conflict. In my screenplay there's the real story about relationships and the conflict there, and then there's the subplot about legal proceedings and such. So for every turning point/midpoint in Current Draft, I have scenes for the relational/emotional plot and the "physical" subplot. The "physical" subplot is really only there to create momentum for the plot points and make them easier to distinguish, so really those are the only times it shows up. So for my Act II turning point I have an emotional/relational turning point and a "physical" subplot turning point. Because the latter is less important, I drained it of its conflict. And that's where I took the fall. It's definitely something I'm going to want to think about. I agree with my classmates that there's a lot of potential in those scenes - but that's not where the story is, so I'm not sure how much importance I want to give those scenes.
I feel sometimes like the story in Current Draft is growing beyond my control, like a puddle of water.
In a week and a half we'll turn in the completed screenplay. So far I like Current Draft, much better than my last two, which is good, because I pretty much went to my professor early on in the semester and said, "I've sucked at the last two screenplays - if I don't do well with this one I'm going to radically rethink my decision to be a screenwriter." I feel like I'm back in the game, though.
I shoot my mockumentary short, "Join This Group?" this weekend. I'm stressed. We only have two crew members for our first shoot (including me), the one that I got the professor that I'm in awe of to act in. First shoot, only two people, and I'm going to blubber around her anyway. Oh no, I can already feel my brain start to fog up and my throat getting sticky. I'm still looking for a fourth actor to shoot on Sunday. I think I would already have one, but it's taking a while for people to get back to me with their answer. Otherwise, I think it's going to be a lot of fun, not too stressful, and I'm excited for both the process and the finished project.
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to write a series of websoides this summer. I've got another idea for a series of websoides, but it would require tricking a whole lot more people into being involved.
April is going to be crazy. No, really. Besides school finishing (two 8-10 page papers and three finals, with a few presentations, quizzes and short papers thrown in for extra spice), I'm shooting and editing this short, doing Script Frenzy, and hopefully pulling Current Draft through a full edit in time for the Nicholl. The only way this is remotely plausible to think about is because of the fact that after April 18th I will have no obligations whatsoever to anything. Nothing. No more school obligations, no more church obligations. Pure, clear freedom. It's like a shining moment I look forward to. I wish you guys could see my Google calender to compare the next few weeks in all their multi colored jam-packed glory to the complete emptiness of the week after April 18th.
Google calender went out for like 5 hours on Friday and I almost had a meltdown. No joke, there were noticeable panic feelings.
Anyone writing anything for Script Frenzy? I'm trying to decide if I want to write something that's been percolating for a while or go with something completely different. I have an idea about Sierra Leone that I really like, a very plot-based, socially concerned piece. Or I have the vaguest idea for a more anti-structure, romantic piece that will explore some questions I'm thinking about right now. Any suggestions? What are you writing?
Saturday, March 22, 2008
8 inches of snow and then 40 degree sunshiney weather results in flash flood conditions
Movies I need to buy: Moulin Rouge and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Money I have available for buying movies: $0.37. No,but really, I was thinking about how I'm going to have to go hardcore on budgeting next year with living in a house and going to school part time and paying for most of my monthly expenses by the month instead of a huge chunk in the beginning of the semester, and it's going to take a little tricky planning. That's ok, though, because getting better at keeping track of my finances was one of the things on my 1001 list (which needs revising, I've decided...).
I'm terrible at storyboarding. I've figured that out - well, today. I think I always knew that my inability to draw and mentally visualize proportions curtailed my storyboarding skills, but today it became quite evident. I thought about putting the storyboards for each production up on the Lives Agape website, but I don't want to embarrass myself *too* much.
We turned in Act IIa for our screenplays last week (yes, the marathon writing that I did). My professor emailed me back saying that it was coming along very nicely and that he didn't have any major notes. Which is great and all, but I'm going in to office hours next week and demanding that he give me deep, critical notes. And I'm also going to ask him to read my other screenplay that I like and give deep, critical notes. It may be time to rake it through another draft. And I'm thinking about sending Current Draft to the Nicholl this year, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to wring a second draft out of it before that. I should have enough time, because the last half of April will be post school empty, meaningless days.
And Script Frenzy starts in April. Screw.
I think I've reached my teenage years as a writer. All those axioms and heart mantras seem, well, a little constraining. I mean, does a story really need 20+ rewrites to be great? Italian neorealism films hardly had a bloody script (granted, I also hate Italian Neorealism, but that's counterproductive to my point). And I feel that that structure is a little irrelevant as long as you have a good story. It's really marvelous, though, because there were two incidents that happened recently that I found amusing with my whole rebellious writer phase:
1. Mystery Man on Film wrote this post about "the storytelling debate," an obvious rip on McKee (at least I hope it is, because that's what I interpreted it as, and I just called it obvious). Rules can be great, sure, but some of the most beautiful pieces come when a person breaks the rules. I think we call them visionaries, no? There's just a bit of snarky rebellion in MM's post that I feel I can snicker with.
2. I got to explain act structure to one of my friends. I think I was referring to my 26-page marathon and realized the phrase "Act IIa" might not mean anything to him. So I broke it down, explained what happened in each one and how the plot points worked, and how long each one took, roughly. His response was along the lines, "You guys really think about all that stuff?" Not four days later, I got to refer to act structure with another friend who was equal unawares. Clearly, act structure is very important. It's a natural rhythm for storytelling. And I'm sure if the act structure in a movie was completely off and we sat my two friends down in front of it, they would realize at least that *something* was wrong.
I'm not sure what it is. I don't think I've written enough screenplays to feel bored with the traditional rules yet. I don't think I've "mastered" traditional forms yet. I think I just start feeling restless when I look at the rich history of storytelling and think about all the stories to be told because all the rules are just as insistent. Maybe we need a different approach. Maybe writers need a chance to experiment with their own voice before being confronted with the traditional rules. I know, I know, they've been tested, they've been tried, and rules that create structure free some part of your creativity or something. Maybe that's true. Maybe I'm being lazy. Maybe I'm being a rebellious writer in her "teenage" years.
But maybe it's time to try something else.
I'm terrible at storyboarding. I've figured that out - well, today. I think I always knew that my inability to draw and mentally visualize proportions curtailed my storyboarding skills, but today it became quite evident. I thought about putting the storyboards for each production up on the Lives Agape website, but I don't want to embarrass myself *too* much.
We turned in Act IIa for our screenplays last week (yes, the marathon writing that I did). My professor emailed me back saying that it was coming along very nicely and that he didn't have any major notes. Which is great and all, but I'm going in to office hours next week and demanding that he give me deep, critical notes. And I'm also going to ask him to read my other screenplay that I like and give deep, critical notes. It may be time to rake it through another draft. And I'm thinking about sending Current Draft to the Nicholl this year, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to wring a second draft out of it before that. I should have enough time, because the last half of April will be post school empty, meaningless days.
And Script Frenzy starts in April. Screw.
I think I've reached my teenage years as a writer. All those axioms and heart mantras seem, well, a little constraining. I mean, does a story really need 20+ rewrites to be great? Italian neorealism films hardly had a bloody script (granted, I also hate Italian Neorealism, but that's counterproductive to my point). And I feel that that structure is a little irrelevant as long as you have a good story. It's really marvelous, though, because there were two incidents that happened recently that I found amusing with my whole rebellious writer phase:
1. Mystery Man on Film wrote this post about "the storytelling debate," an obvious rip on McKee (at least I hope it is, because that's what I interpreted it as, and I just called it obvious). Rules can be great, sure, but some of the most beautiful pieces come when a person breaks the rules. I think we call them visionaries, no? There's just a bit of snarky rebellion in MM's post that I feel I can snicker with.
2. I got to explain act structure to one of my friends. I think I was referring to my 26-page marathon and realized the phrase "Act IIa" might not mean anything to him. So I broke it down, explained what happened in each one and how the plot points worked, and how long each one took, roughly. His response was along the lines, "You guys really think about all that stuff?" Not four days later, I got to refer to act structure with another friend who was equal unawares. Clearly, act structure is very important. It's a natural rhythm for storytelling. And I'm sure if the act structure in a movie was completely off and we sat my two friends down in front of it, they would realize at least that *something* was wrong.
I'm not sure what it is. I don't think I've written enough screenplays to feel bored with the traditional rules yet. I don't think I've "mastered" traditional forms yet. I think I just start feeling restless when I look at the rich history of storytelling and think about all the stories to be told because all the rules are just as insistent. Maybe we need a different approach. Maybe writers need a chance to experiment with their own voice before being confronted with the traditional rules. I know, I know, they've been tested, they've been tried, and rules that create structure free some part of your creativity or something. Maybe that's true. Maybe I'm being lazy. Maybe I'm being a rebellious writer in her "teenage" years.
But maybe it's time to try something else.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Lives Agape Productions
We didn't even let you get settled into our new blog address and title before we connected to the new endeavor - Lives Agape Productions. As I've started working on projects independent of class, I thought it would be fun to have a website for them, not only to showcase them when they're finished but to have a blog tracking their production and other fun features I'm sure I'll think of later. Really, this is playing at having a production company, but it's good fun anyway. I realized that I haven't really mentioned the short I've been working on that will be Lives Agape's first project. It's a short mockumentary called "Join This Group?" about the (over) importance of Facebook in a collegiate setting. I'm excited about it. It should be fun, but it's going to be a whirlwind of a production. We have three crew members, myself included, and we're hoping to pull it all off in three days of shooting. Hopefully, the interview style that dominates the script will help cut down on needed shooting time. Once the short is completed, there will be a link to that as well as to the Lives Agape Production Blog.
The reason I chose the name Lives Agape for the production company played largely on the meaning I want my stories to carry (ok, so maybe a mockumentary about Facebook is not the clearest example of what I want to demonstrate in my movies). I like to think that "lives agape" can mean open lives or lives of love. I think that by crafting stories that openly examine life, we can learn how to live lives of extreme love, which is, perhaps, the only way to live.
I read Galatians and Ephesians the other night for my Bible study, and I came across a verse that I had read and liked before, one I think people will find very little to argue with. Galations 5:6b, "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
Lives agape, lives of love.
The reason I chose the name Lives Agape for the production company played largely on the meaning I want my stories to carry (ok, so maybe a mockumentary about Facebook is not the clearest example of what I want to demonstrate in my movies). I like to think that "lives agape" can mean open lives or lives of love. I think that by crafting stories that openly examine life, we can learn how to live lives of extreme love, which is, perhaps, the only way to live.
I read Galatians and Ephesians the other night for my Bible study, and I came across a verse that I had read and liked before, one I think people will find very little to argue with. Galations 5:6b, "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
Lives agape, lives of love.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
I don't like ordering anything "creme de menthe" because it sounds like "creme de meth" and I don't do drugs.
One of my friends once asked me what was the most effective way to approach a random girl and successfully come back with her number. After careful thought and personal, if reluctant, experiments, I have my answer:
There is none.
That situation never works out like it does in the movies.
Lost last night was amazing. I had to miss last week's because of Valentine's Day, and streaming wasn't working when I tried to watch it which made me probably a little more upset than warranted, but this week's episode was way worth it.
The madness is finally over and I'm able to breathe. School is not all it's cracked up to be. However, as charged up as I was to start my ten day, two state, three stop, five friend spring break tour, all that charged adrenaline that comes from having to hurry back from work, finish packing, grab lunch and stop at Border's to get a book (it's hard to find a cheap one these days), and then lug an immensely packed duffle bag across town came crashing down and then froze out when it was announced that our bus was two hours delayed. After sitting in an hour in the freezing, stuck in the 70s one room bus stop with a guitar-playing pseudo Canadian, one of those overly friendly woman who just comes across as a middle aged flirt, and the guy sitting next to me reading Neil Gaiman and blasting opera from his headphones, I realized that I had rested enough from my initial trek out and that I might be able to make it to a coffee shop for warmth and the appearance of middle class yuppy normalcy for a while. One of the chains that proliferates campus is just a couple of blocks from the station, and I've found it to be much chicer than the undergraduate versions as the floor is carpeted and I'm sitting at a cute little round table (they're mostly square on campus) drinking Ruby Fruit tea out of a real mug and listening to the soundtrack of Chicago delightfully playing in the background. Probably because it's on "Main Street."
I went it for extra advice on my screenplay because I had to present my inciting incident (doesn't that seem redundant to you, "inciting incident?" However, you can't just say, inciter or incident. It wouldn't make sense) and I wanted to make sure it was really good. Also, my screenwriting class is competition based to get into the next level, so a little extra advice is warranted now and again. He did have some helpful suggestions that definitely made the pages stronger. I also got to drop it in there that this will be my fourth completed first draft. Of course, that could come back to bite me if it proves that after writing three other screenplays, taking one through a second draft, I still can't write or structure, but I hope instead that it will prove to him that I'm dedicated to this craft and want to pursue it.
While I'm on break I'm hoping to spend one of my luxurious lazy days in Florida thinking about my future in the industry. Not that I'm set in entering it (it's just what I tell people), but if I do, I have bigger plans than the be a script reader-sell a screenplay-slowly make connections-make a short-go to grad school, all culminating in the getting paid to stay at home and write dream. Not that that wouldn't be great, I just have some... different ideas.
Over break I'm also going to scheme a way to get one of my shorts made before the end of the semester. Find a crew, find a cast, hammer out a production schedule, draft another version of the script, etc. etc. If it works, I finally might have a reason to get that website my brother's been trying to convince me that I want just so that he can design it.
I've also decided to explore the idea of writing a short "season" of websoides. It sounds challenging and therefore fun. How to add that on top of writing a feature screenplay, directing/producing a short, and the most draining academic semester I've had? Maybe I'll let the idea percolate for a little while.
I have to change buses in the nearby metro "city." People talk about this city being scary, and, having been homegrown on the West Side of Manhattan myself, I've always disparaged such comments. However, bus terminals in general are just a bit sketchy.
Here's to hoping I find some good stories, just not any life threatening ones. More updates from the airport/train station/retired persons community club coming soon.
There is none.
That situation never works out like it does in the movies.
Lost last night was amazing. I had to miss last week's because of Valentine's Day, and streaming wasn't working when I tried to watch it which made me probably a little more upset than warranted, but this week's episode was way worth it.
The madness is finally over and I'm able to breathe. School is not all it's cracked up to be. However, as charged up as I was to start my ten day, two state, three stop, five friend spring break tour, all that charged adrenaline that comes from having to hurry back from work, finish packing, grab lunch and stop at Border's to get a book (it's hard to find a cheap one these days), and then lug an immensely packed duffle bag across town came crashing down and then froze out when it was announced that our bus was two hours delayed. After sitting in an hour in the freezing, stuck in the 70s one room bus stop with a guitar-playing pseudo Canadian, one of those overly friendly woman who just comes across as a middle aged flirt, and the guy sitting next to me reading Neil Gaiman and blasting opera from his headphones, I realized that I had rested enough from my initial trek out and that I might be able to make it to a coffee shop for warmth and the appearance of middle class yuppy normalcy for a while. One of the chains that proliferates campus is just a couple of blocks from the station, and I've found it to be much chicer than the undergraduate versions as the floor is carpeted and I'm sitting at a cute little round table (they're mostly square on campus) drinking Ruby Fruit tea out of a real mug and listening to the soundtrack of Chicago delightfully playing in the background. Probably because it's on "Main Street."
I went it for extra advice on my screenplay because I had to present my inciting incident (doesn't that seem redundant to you, "inciting incident?" However, you can't just say, inciter or incident. It wouldn't make sense) and I wanted to make sure it was really good. Also, my screenwriting class is competition based to get into the next level, so a little extra advice is warranted now and again. He did have some helpful suggestions that definitely made the pages stronger. I also got to drop it in there that this will be my fourth completed first draft. Of course, that could come back to bite me if it proves that after writing three other screenplays, taking one through a second draft, I still can't write or structure, but I hope instead that it will prove to him that I'm dedicated to this craft and want to pursue it.
While I'm on break I'm hoping to spend one of my luxurious lazy days in Florida thinking about my future in the industry. Not that I'm set in entering it (it's just what I tell people), but if I do, I have bigger plans than the be a script reader-sell a screenplay-slowly make connections-make a short-go to grad school, all culminating in the getting paid to stay at home and write dream. Not that that wouldn't be great, I just have some... different ideas.
Over break I'm also going to scheme a way to get one of my shorts made before the end of the semester. Find a crew, find a cast, hammer out a production schedule, draft another version of the script, etc. etc. If it works, I finally might have a reason to get that website my brother's been trying to convince me that I want just so that he can design it.
I've also decided to explore the idea of writing a short "season" of websoides. It sounds challenging and therefore fun. How to add that on top of writing a feature screenplay, directing/producing a short, and the most draining academic semester I've had? Maybe I'll let the idea percolate for a little while.
I have to change buses in the nearby metro "city." People talk about this city being scary, and, having been homegrown on the West Side of Manhattan myself, I've always disparaged such comments. However, bus terminals in general are just a bit sketchy.
Here's to hoping I find some good stories, just not any life threatening ones. More updates from the airport/train station/retired persons community club coming soon.
Friday, February 08, 2008
The Proof is in the Pudding - what does that even mean??
Brett has posted about his fifth day of the Nicholls ceremonies. Mm, I love living vicariously.
Yesterday I got a chance to see a sneak preview of Forgetting Sarah Marshall (and really, I did think to myself, a movie I get to see before Billy Mernit??). The director, Nicholas Stoller, came to present it to us and hold a Q&A afterwards. It was a great screening. Maybe I don't go to enough horrifyingly embarrassing comedies, but it's been a lot time since I've sat in an audience that's laughed together so much.
In one sense, I don't like talking about what I think about movies. I think it's because, as a film student, I feel like I'm supposed to have a different opinion than everyone else - a more educated, analytical opinion about movies. And some part of me does that when I watch movies. I do analyze, I do look for turning points and structure, and sometimes, especially in an academic setting, I enjoy it. But in general, when I watch movies, I do it for personal enjoyment. My friend asked me once what my top five favourite movies are. I think I have the list floating around here somewhere, but I can tell you, it wasn't a list full of obscure cinematic classics. I'm pretty sure Lord of the Rings was on there, recent Oscar nominee Walk the Line, and standard cult classic Fight Club. There are movies that I enjoy, in a strictly personal sense. I once used the phrase "in my professional opinion" when talking about a movie, and it was a joke when I said it, but it held a little bit of tension for me. You expect people who study poli sci to have stronger, more educated opinions about politics. You expect someone who's a doctor to be able to use their medical knowledge outside of the hospital as much as within. So when people ask me what I think about a film, what do they expect me to say? I know my friends don't expect too much, because they consistently joke about my major, but one day I'm supposed to be a professional in this field.
I'm just going to blame it on my terrible memory. I just don't feel like I can talk analytically about a movie after just seeing it once. : )
Screenwriting class is progressing. We're done with prewriting and are supposed to turn in our first five pages next week. We turned in step outlines last time. We talked about the first five minutes and what you can tell about character and story through the scene. We watched the first five minutes of Lost, and our guru asked us what we knew about Jack from the scene. I most definitely said, "That he's hot!" Ok, I said it more quietly than that. Then we watched the first five minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean. Am I noticing a trend here?
Giving up something for Lent? I sort of am (I came up with it a day later, too). It's more like an experiment, really. We'll see how it goes. : )
Yesterday I got a chance to see a sneak preview of Forgetting Sarah Marshall (and really, I did think to myself, a movie I get to see before Billy Mernit??). The director, Nicholas Stoller, came to present it to us and hold a Q&A afterwards. It was a great screening. Maybe I don't go to enough horrifyingly embarrassing comedies, but it's been a lot time since I've sat in an audience that's laughed together so much.
In one sense, I don't like talking about what I think about movies. I think it's because, as a film student, I feel like I'm supposed to have a different opinion than everyone else - a more educated, analytical opinion about movies. And some part of me does that when I watch movies. I do analyze, I do look for turning points and structure, and sometimes, especially in an academic setting, I enjoy it. But in general, when I watch movies, I do it for personal enjoyment. My friend asked me once what my top five favourite movies are. I think I have the list floating around here somewhere, but I can tell you, it wasn't a list full of obscure cinematic classics. I'm pretty sure Lord of the Rings was on there, recent Oscar nominee Walk the Line, and standard cult classic Fight Club. There are movies that I enjoy, in a strictly personal sense. I once used the phrase "in my professional opinion" when talking about a movie, and it was a joke when I said it, but it held a little bit of tension for me. You expect people who study poli sci to have stronger, more educated opinions about politics. You expect someone who's a doctor to be able to use their medical knowledge outside of the hospital as much as within. So when people ask me what I think about a film, what do they expect me to say? I know my friends don't expect too much, because they consistently joke about my major, but one day I'm supposed to be a professional in this field.
I'm just going to blame it on my terrible memory. I just don't feel like I can talk analytically about a movie after just seeing it once. : )
Screenwriting class is progressing. We're done with prewriting and are supposed to turn in our first five pages next week. We turned in step outlines last time. We talked about the first five minutes and what you can tell about character and story through the scene. We watched the first five minutes of Lost, and our guru asked us what we knew about Jack from the scene. I most definitely said, "That he's hot!" Ok, I said it more quietly than that. Then we watched the first five minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean. Am I noticing a trend here?
Giving up something for Lent? I sort of am (I came up with it a day later, too). It's more like an experiment, really. We'll see how it goes. : )
Monday, January 07, 2008
And other stories...
I'm changing the name of this blog, as soon as I figure out how. I figure after four years we could switch up a little more than just the layout and color scheme. It's funny how, when I started it, I liked to go on political/cultural rants. Remember how when you're little(r) you think you know a lot about that sort of stuff? Today my uni city was all in uproar for primary election day, people passing out papers, buses driving by with slogans painted on them, a sheet of paper in my office with a run down of all the candidates and their positions - on everything. And as I slipped through all the political festivities, in my head I was silently saying, "Na na, I'm not voting today!"
Yes, I know. I *am* part of the problem.
I had my first screenwriting class the other day. Yes, the big day finally arrived. Our teacher seems nice and intelligent and willing to be open about the craft. Our class is quite full with some pretentious people (yours truly included. At least I know what my faults are). And the first day went a little slowly, but every class does. We're working on our loglines this week, and V. gave us some great things to include in them, so I feel like this is one of my strongest loglines ever (umm, actually, when was the last time I seriously worked on a logline? I'm not one of those preplanning writers, ok?). However, I have four protagonists of equal weight, making for what *I* feel like is a very general logline. Or maybe that's the result of writing a drama. I'm not sure. We'll see how it flies. Next week we're going to have to turn in character charts. As long as they don't make me decide what my characters' favourite colors are. That has nothing to do with development at all.
The other day it was raining, and even though the bus was pulling away from the stop way before I got there, the driver pulled it over again when he got to me and let me jump on. Rare form for a uni bus driver. And he said to me, "This must be your lucky day! You should buy a lotto ticket." So I did. I thought it would have made the greatest story ever if God had answered my prayers for money for school a year later in the form of a lotto ticket. However, this did not happen. My friends and I agree that it's because I bought a scratch lotto ticket and not a real lotto ticket. I'll know better for my next lucky day.
Yes, I know. I *am* part of the problem.
I had my first screenwriting class the other day. Yes, the big day finally arrived. Our teacher seems nice and intelligent and willing to be open about the craft. Our class is quite full with some pretentious people (yours truly included. At least I know what my faults are). And the first day went a little slowly, but every class does. We're working on our loglines this week, and V. gave us some great things to include in them, so I feel like this is one of my strongest loglines ever (umm, actually, when was the last time I seriously worked on a logline? I'm not one of those preplanning writers, ok?). However, I have four protagonists of equal weight, making for what *I* feel like is a very general logline. Or maybe that's the result of writing a drama. I'm not sure. We'll see how it flies. Next week we're going to have to turn in character charts. As long as they don't make me decide what my characters' favourite colors are. That has nothing to do with development at all.
The other day it was raining, and even though the bus was pulling away from the stop way before I got there, the driver pulled it over again when he got to me and let me jump on. Rare form for a uni bus driver. And he said to me, "This must be your lucky day! You should buy a lotto ticket." So I did. I thought it would have made the greatest story ever if God had answered my prayers for money for school a year later in the form of a lotto ticket. However, this did not happen. My friends and I agree that it's because I bought a scratch lotto ticket and not a real lotto ticket. I'll know better for my next lucky day.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
My Sweater in the Trash
I actually stole that from a friend who was talking about how random and irrelevant CD titles often are. The thing is, as I was pondering this and how I was going to plagiarize it for a blog post, I realized that there is a *huge* difference between "My sweater in the trash" and "A sweater in my trash." Possession of either the sweater or the trash creates a whole different story. Sure, probably only an English major (former English major, really) would pick up on the emphasis created by the possessive. However, any good story teller would pick up on the difference.
I flew home the other day. During my trip I thought of several things to blog about. With a computer finally in front of me, my mind is rather blank. And it's a crying shame, too. I keep telling myself that while this blog is instructional to no one, some people might find the adventures of a undergrad film student mildly entertaining. But how few those adventures have been. Next semester, I say, when I finally take a screenwriting class, what I am supposedly at school for, when I write and direct my own short, when I am more immersed in the program than I've even been before, then, *then* I will have some stories. But I find myself anxious still.
Does anyone know whatever happened to Julie?
I got to visit the Apple store today. They really need to rename it the Happy Store. Anyone else see the advantage for an emerging filmmaker to have an iPod video, or at least one of those adorable little new Nanos that have video on them too? Why yes, I have made a short - in fact, I have it right here in my pocket.
I've been having acute episodes of Paranoid Writer's Syndrome. I'm not even sure what about, really. One hit me in Borders today as I was flipping through various books about writing. There are so many great quotes from writers, but often times I read them, especially those that absurdly try to define who a writer is or what they do, and something cold squeezes around my heart when I realizes that, whatever kind of person they're talking about, they're not talking about me. Those writers who talk about how writing is like breathing for them and they can't imagine being happy doing anything else and how a writer is someone for whom, I don't know, writing is like picking flowers, just as happy and joyful, they make me want to throw those books to the ground and run away. It's not that there aren't also a plethora of quotes about how writing is hard work and how most writers do everything they can to avoid writing and how writing is like picking up a pen and scratching until it inks out blood. It's just that I'm afraid that those are not the really writers. What if the reason that writing is so difficult for some of us is that we're not really meant to be writers? For every quote about how beautiful writing is, I need three of how painful and hard it is to reassure myself. It's a painfully scary business, writing. If you don't know exactly how thermodynamics work, you can learn it through studying. If you can't understand how to tell a good story, well, all you can do is keep chasing after the lightning. There's no guarantee you're ever going to get it.
On the flip side, while I was hanging out in the airport the other day I made a quick list of all the ideas I have for feature length scripts. Within two minutes I had a list of five or six ideas, and any one of them I would be happy to pick up and start working on right now. In fact, the difficult thing come the beginning of my screenwriting class is going to be deciding which one I want to pursue. It will be my fourth script, so maybe we'll finally be approaching on something good. Really, I'm excited, albeit a little nervous, about finally taking a screenwriting class. I've waited a whole year to take this class (stupid prereqs). Hopefully it will teach me the discipline that I've completely lost since this summer, and I will finally be able to work in a peer-review environment. I'm ready for this.
I really am in love with that Snow Patrol song. I love songs that encourage people, even if there is a somber note in it. It's a beautiful bittersweetness. "Have heart, my dear."
I flew home the other day. During my trip I thought of several things to blog about. With a computer finally in front of me, my mind is rather blank. And it's a crying shame, too. I keep telling myself that while this blog is instructional to no one, some people might find the adventures of a undergrad film student mildly entertaining. But how few those adventures have been. Next semester, I say, when I finally take a screenwriting class, what I am supposedly at school for, when I write and direct my own short, when I am more immersed in the program than I've even been before, then, *then* I will have some stories. But I find myself anxious still.
Does anyone know whatever happened to Julie?
I got to visit the Apple store today. They really need to rename it the Happy Store. Anyone else see the advantage for an emerging filmmaker to have an iPod video, or at least one of those adorable little new Nanos that have video on them too? Why yes, I have made a short - in fact, I have it right here in my pocket.
I've been having acute episodes of Paranoid Writer's Syndrome. I'm not even sure what about, really. One hit me in Borders today as I was flipping through various books about writing. There are so many great quotes from writers, but often times I read them, especially those that absurdly try to define who a writer is or what they do, and something cold squeezes around my heart when I realizes that, whatever kind of person they're talking about, they're not talking about me. Those writers who talk about how writing is like breathing for them and they can't imagine being happy doing anything else and how a writer is someone for whom, I don't know, writing is like picking flowers, just as happy and joyful, they make me want to throw those books to the ground and run away. It's not that there aren't also a plethora of quotes about how writing is hard work and how most writers do everything they can to avoid writing and how writing is like picking up a pen and scratching until it inks out blood. It's just that I'm afraid that those are not the really writers. What if the reason that writing is so difficult for some of us is that we're not really meant to be writers? For every quote about how beautiful writing is, I need three of how painful and hard it is to reassure myself. It's a painfully scary business, writing. If you don't know exactly how thermodynamics work, you can learn it through studying. If you can't understand how to tell a good story, well, all you can do is keep chasing after the lightning. There's no guarantee you're ever going to get it.
On the flip side, while I was hanging out in the airport the other day I made a quick list of all the ideas I have for feature length scripts. Within two minutes I had a list of five or six ideas, and any one of them I would be happy to pick up and start working on right now. In fact, the difficult thing come the beginning of my screenwriting class is going to be deciding which one I want to pursue. It will be my fourth script, so maybe we'll finally be approaching on something good. Really, I'm excited, albeit a little nervous, about finally taking a screenwriting class. I've waited a whole year to take this class (stupid prereqs). Hopefully it will teach me the discipline that I've completely lost since this summer, and I will finally be able to work in a peer-review environment. I'm ready for this.
I really am in love with that Snow Patrol song. I love songs that encourage people, even if there is a somber note in it. It's a beautiful bittersweetness. "Have heart, my dear."
Friday, November 30, 2007
Brent Forrester and My Office
The only thing the two have in common is an actual office.
Brent Forrester, former writer for the Ben Stiller Show, the Simpsons, and King of the Hill and one of the "current" (well, they're not working right now, are they?) staff writers from the Office, was gracious enough to come out and chat with me and my fellow screenwriting students last night. I'm not a television or a comedy writer, but he still had a lot of interesting things to say.
He said a couple of really insightful things about situations. He quoted Charlie Chaplin who said, "A man falls into a manhole; that's slapstick. A man steps over a manhole and gets hit by a bus; that's irony." And it's so much more creative and complex, too. The Obvious doesn't always make a bad story, but the Unexpected always makes a story better (the justified Unexpected. Can't be throwing random, unmotivated things in everywhere. We call those stories "Films that frustrate film students because their professors will teach them not to do such things then show 'classic hits' that do just that." But I digress). Or he used an example from the Simpsons of when Bart was running away from someone (I'm not up on my Simpsons lore, obviously) and ran into a room, looking for a place to hide. There was a huge fish tank that he ducked behind - making his head ten times bigger. A solution that just ends up being a bigger problem. The other thing he mentioned was that when he was just starting in comedy writing, a comedy writer who was his friend's mother gave him the advice of writing about what is difficult, maybe even a little painful. His first script to get attention drew on some of his personal experiences and feelings about his brother which were difficult for him. Comedy isn't silly, he said. It really isn't just about getting a laugh. It's about good story telling, and those principles can be applied no matter what you're genre.
On characters, he suggested that when we write, we think about what a character does in an attempt to conceal himself and how that reveals the character. How does your character try to portray himself and how is he actually portrayed? I think this is a fascinating concept for either comedy or drama, because it's so real. I try to be a really honest person, an open book, and even this week I realized how much I wanted people to think I am a certain way when I emotion/word vomited all over my poor friend. But then again, I may be a little biased, because I think the risk/gain aspect of relationships is one of the most film worthy things around.
Perhaps the funniest moment was when he was talking about how he gets hired to comedy "punch ups" on films and his contributions to one particular movie, and he said, "I don't know if any of you have seen Office Space?" Does he not realize it's a collegiate cult film?
In my own office, I do a lot of mailing, data input, and it's always fun to look at the names of our participants. I finally came up with a good last name for a character today (I have particular trouble with last names). I once mailed off a package to a Prick. The other day I found a "Vondermark," which sounds suspiciously like "Voldemart." And today I stumbled across the worst possible name ever - Horst Bormann. Why would you ever do that to your child?
The most embarrassing last name I've come across? I'd blush to tell.
Brent Forrester, former writer for the Ben Stiller Show, the Simpsons, and King of the Hill and one of the "current" (well, they're not working right now, are they?) staff writers from the Office, was gracious enough to come out and chat with me and my fellow screenwriting students last night. I'm not a television or a comedy writer, but he still had a lot of interesting things to say.
He said a couple of really insightful things about situations. He quoted Charlie Chaplin who said, "A man falls into a manhole; that's slapstick. A man steps over a manhole and gets hit by a bus; that's irony." And it's so much more creative and complex, too. The Obvious doesn't always make a bad story, but the Unexpected always makes a story better (the justified Unexpected. Can't be throwing random, unmotivated things in everywhere. We call those stories "Films that frustrate film students because their professors will teach them not to do such things then show 'classic hits' that do just that." But I digress). Or he used an example from the Simpsons of when Bart was running away from someone (I'm not up on my Simpsons lore, obviously) and ran into a room, looking for a place to hide. There was a huge fish tank that he ducked behind - making his head ten times bigger. A solution that just ends up being a bigger problem. The other thing he mentioned was that when he was just starting in comedy writing, a comedy writer who was his friend's mother gave him the advice of writing about what is difficult, maybe even a little painful. His first script to get attention drew on some of his personal experiences and feelings about his brother which were difficult for him. Comedy isn't silly, he said. It really isn't just about getting a laugh. It's about good story telling, and those principles can be applied no matter what you're genre.
On characters, he suggested that when we write, we think about what a character does in an attempt to conceal himself and how that reveals the character. How does your character try to portray himself and how is he actually portrayed? I think this is a fascinating concept for either comedy or drama, because it's so real. I try to be a really honest person, an open book, and even this week I realized how much I wanted people to think I am a certain way when I emotion/word vomited all over my poor friend. But then again, I may be a little biased, because I think the risk/gain aspect of relationships is one of the most film worthy things around.
Perhaps the funniest moment was when he was talking about how he gets hired to comedy "punch ups" on films and his contributions to one particular movie, and he said, "I don't know if any of you have seen Office Space?" Does he not realize it's a collegiate cult film?
In my own office, I do a lot of mailing, data input, and it's always fun to look at the names of our participants. I finally came up with a good last name for a character today (I have particular trouble with last names). I once mailed off a package to a Prick. The other day I found a "Vondermark," which sounds suspiciously like "Voldemart." And today I stumbled across the worst possible name ever - Horst Bormann. Why would you ever do that to your child?
The most embarrassing last name I've come across? I'd blush to tell.
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