Progress

I’m making some great headway on my screenplay. For the last few weeks I was getting frustrated because I kept writing these meandering scenes that were killing the flow of the script simply because I was not clear on some aspects of my story and the characters. A week ago I watched the movie The Switch starring Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston and made some discoveries about what really makes a screenplay work. That movie was satisfying because it hit every marker required for a comedy to work. The characters can’t be flat. They have to have what some writers refer to as “the comic gap.” They have to have something funny about them. Are they a schemer? A control freak? A bum? Or like in the case of Jason Bateman’s character, are they a hypochondriac? Also, there are certain beats a comedy must hit to work. The main character needs to have an external problem that he is very much aware of as well as an internal problem that only the audience is aware of. Also, it is important to have two people after the same goal. This allows for the comedy to really work. There needs to be somebody in the story who stands as an opponent to the main character who is after the same thing he is. For example, in The Switch both Bateman’s character and another guy were in love with Jennifer Aniston’s character. This allows for tension to be built and comedy to follow.

After watching that I realized why I was frustrated with my screenplay and felt like I was writing in circles. Since my story and characters needed help I sat down with a good friend of mine and fellow writer, David Fredrickson, last Friday and we hammered out a solid story and came up with some good comic gaps for the characters. My main problem was my lead character needed some more flaws. He was too normal. The two of us bounced ideas around and were able to give this guy an interesting and entertaining personality. Now I’m working on the outline of the screenplay so I have a clear direction to go. (I guess those research paper writing skills I learned in school are really coming in handy.)

News in the Movies

Morning Glory

Having worked in television for over sixteen years, one of my big pet peeves is when movies come out depicting life behind the scenes of the news in the most unrealistic ways.  For example, the movie The Ugly Truth that came out in 2009 starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler drove me crazy!  It was so far fetched that it made me wonder if the screenwriter did any research on what it takes to produce the news.  They had news anchors wandering around the studio to locations that were never disclosed to the director and the cameraman following them like mindless zombies while the director and producer were screaming, “What are they doing?!”  Hello!  If the director doesn’t call the shot, guess what?  IT AIN’T HAPPENING!  An anchor can not just walk out the back door of the studio to something he set up outside that was never disclosed to either the producer or the director. They also had cameras capturing things in the most impossible places, like hundreds of feet up in a hot air balloon.  How was the camera guy able to fit in the basket?  And how were they able to send the signal to the live truck? Then in the control room the producer was calling the shots and the director sat below her next to the technical director and without question did what she said.  Excuse me, she’s the PRODUCER not the DIRECTOR!  She decides the content and runs all changes by the director who calls the shots!  To make matters even worse, the movie was supposed to take place in Sacramento, the television market in which I work!

Well, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised when I watched Morning Glory, starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, and Diane Keaton.  It became clear very early in the movie that the screenwriter, Aline Brosh McKenna, had done her homework.  Grant it, it wasn’t perfect, but it was true enough to the “spirit” of what goes on behind the scenes that the gaps were easy to overlook.  The film featured anchors and crewmembers half asleep when the early morning news was starting, mispronunciations on air, and incorrect graphics appearing on air and the panic to quickly remove them.  The director called the shots while the producers produced.  The relationships between the people were believable.  I thought Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford were perfectly cast as the hosts.  In fact, I think this was the most fitting role Ford has had in a long time.  He had the look and sound of an old “Tom Brokaw” type anchor and was quite humorous being the cranky old guy.  Plus, it was nice for once to watch a comedy with a female lead that although the movie featured romance, it wasn’t a romantic comedy.  So I give Morning Glory a “thumbs up” for good story telling that was well researched.        

Cultural Icons

Many people waited with great anticipation for the fourth Indiana Jones. After seeing the movie most people expressed that it was okay, but not great. But what was the problem with the movie? The story they developed for the fourth Indy movie broke one of the major rules surrounding the use of cultural icons. When a screenwriter decides to tell a story that is centered on an iconic figure, whether it’s Santa Claus, Spiderman, Zorro, or Indiana Jones, there are certain rules that must be followed. First of all, the rule the fourth Indiana Jones broke is that iconic figures are ageless. Could you imagine Spiderman as a middle aged Peter Parker balancing crime fighting with family and career? What about Parker paying a mortgage on a home in the suburbs? Of course not! Spiderman IS the financially strapped college student Peter Parker. To remove Spiderman from that setting is to undermine Spiderman. But this is precisely what the writers of the fourth Indiana Jones did to Indy. Now I realize many people so desperately wanted to see Harrison Ford return as the heroic archeologist, but the fact of the matter is he was simply too old to be Indy anymore. Indiana Jones, as an iconic hero, cannot age. Like Spiderman, forever frozen in time as the college student, Indiana Jones is locked forever as a fedora wearing middle aged bachelor college professor living in 1930’s who constantly runs into NAZI’s. Showing a weathered and aging Indiana Jones living in the 1950’s dealing with cold war politics, learning he has a son, and feeling compelled to get married shattered a cultural icon. I know the Harrison Ford fans out there won’t like this, but in order to do a fourth Indiana Jones they either needed to find another actor to be Indy or do a prequel with a younger Indy.

Another rule in dealing with cultural icons is that you can’t taint them with family problems. This was the problem with the second Zorro movie. Giving Zorro a wife and bogging him down with marital difficulties was like spray painting a stained glass window. Zorro is the picture of justice and the hero who fights for the oppressed. Seeing Zorro fighting with his wife and wandering around drunk out of fear of losing her was like giving Superman a heroin addiction.

Yet another big no-no in dealing with iconic figures is you can’t bring the problems of everyday life into the realm of fantasy. This was the big mistake made in the third Santa Clause movie with Tim Allen. Santa was living with Mrs. Claus in the magical land of the North Pole fighting with the in-laws and having marital strife. The North Pole is viewed as being a land of fun and fantasy. The whole excitement behind Tim Allen’s character being Santa was that he was taken out of our ho-hum world and got to live in the wonder and excitement of a world of childhood fantasy. The problems that occur in the North Pole have to be in keeping with the realm of fantasy. In other words, everyday problems don’t occur in the North Pole, rather the problems that occur there are also fantasy in nature. Jack Frost trying to take over Santa’s workshop is fine, but not marital problems. Those problems are only allowed to occur outside the North Pole in the real world.

The bottom line is that you don’t mess with cultural icons. You have to be true to who they are and the worlds in which they live.

The Lone Ranger





I just caught on to the buzz that one of my childhood favorites - The Lone Ranger - is being made into a movie by Jerry Bruckheimer. I hear the movie is going to be told from Tonto's point of view and they've already cast Johnny Depp in the role.  I've been combing cyberspace to find out who will be playing the masked man, but I have yet to find out anything for sure.  There is a rumor that they're considering George Clooney.  I personally think they should go with Josh Brolin or Christian Bale.  Western parts seem to fit Brolin like a glove while Bale is able to deliver that good-guy charm that is needed for the part.  I suppose they could even consider me for the part being that I have experience in the role, having dressed up as the Lone Ranger for Halloween when I was in third grade.

Bat Movie

Being that Christopher & Jonathan Nolan are among my favorite screenwriters (Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception) along with Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, The Big Chill, Silverado, The Body Guard, Wyatt Earp) and Ethan and Joel Coen (Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Lady Killers, No Country For Old Men, True Grit) I was excited to learn that the Nolan brothers have completed the screenplay for their third Batman flick called The Dark Knight Rises.  They tapped Anne Hathaway to play Cat Woman and Tom Hardy to play Bane.  Of course Christian Bale returns as Batman along with Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman.  The news that is generating a lot of buzz is that Christopher Nolan has entered into talks with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer, Inception) to come on board.  Originally people expected him to appear as the Riddler, but word has it that Mr. Nigma will not be appearing in this movie.  So the rumors of who Gordon-Levitt will play have included Robin, Dr. Hugo Strange, Deadshot, Azrael, and even the Joker.

Something very encouraging is that Wally Pfister, who is the cinematographer for the movie, read the script and responded by saying, “Plain and simple – He’s done it.  It’s a phenomenal script.”  He described it as being “the perfect trilogy” and said the opening scene will blow your mind.

New Season; New Direction

It is now time to kick my screenwriting into gear because I am officially done with school!  I now have a BA in Social Science.  I'm just waiting to receive my diploma and get official word on any honors I've been awarded.  In my previous post I mentioned that I was going to college in order to become a teacher.  Well, that has changed.  In my journey to become a teacher I realized that my real passion is screenwriting.  It's what I've always wanted to do.  I also realized I already like what I do, working for KCRA 3 as a broadcast operations technician.  So, I decided that since school got me so used to managing my time wisely in order to balance family, work, and school, I'm going to keep up the momentum and replace school with screenwriting.  I already have a file loaded with ideas that are waiting to be developed.  And I just purchased Final Draft professional screenwriting software with a gift card my step mom gave me for Christmas.  (Thanks Becky!)  So I'm ready and eager to get cracking! 


Now that my journey into screenwriting has begun I'll be posting here more often so you can ride along with me on this road.  I'm certain their will be plenty of challenges ahead, but the cool thing is I'm not doing this just to get rich.  I'm doing this because I love movies and I love writing them!  I've got a creative itch I simply MUST scratch or I'll go psycho.  I've heard it said that the most valuable land on Earth is the cemetery because of all the dreams that are buried there.  I don't want my dream to go with me to the grave like a song that was never sung.  I simply must write!  I am compelled to do so! 


I'm starting a screenplay right now...stay tuned!

Talent

Man!  It has been ages since I posted anything here.  I have been swamped with school.  I'm working towards becoming a teacher, with one of the main reasons being so I can write screenplays during the summer.


I've heard it said that screenwriting is a great way to make money but a terrible way to make a living.  I actually have no plans of getting rich screenwriting or making a full time career out of it.  I just want to do it because I love it!  In fact, I think the money trap is one of the nasty pits we all tend to fall into.  We all have God given talents but so many of those talents remain dormant because there is a mentality that something is only worth while if it will actually make us a buck.  But whatever happened to that child-like sense of adventure we all had when we were kids that made us willing to do something just for the love of it?  I'm convinced that some of the best musicians, artists, and writers go undiscovered.  But it does not make their work any less meaningful.  I happen to believe that what we do we actually do for an audience of one...our Creator, the One who gave us those talents.  I think the thrill we feel when we engage in what we love doing is actually us sensing His pleasure.


Recently I was looking back on times when I used various talents I have and recalled how satisfied I was.  But when I counted the dollars I made while using those talents it came to a grand total of...zero!  In fact, I have found that when I attempted to use my talents to make a buck, the pursuit of money often mutated what I loved doing into something that I despised.  For example, I've always enjoyed video production.  But I've enjoyed using video to make short movies.  When I attempted to turn my talent into a video production business I found myself hating life as I was shooting and editing corporate videos.  It wasn't that I was just being picky and insisting on doing things my way, rather, it was that creating corporate videos was such a distortion of what I enjoyed doing that it dried up the creative well within me and turned my love for video production into disdain.


That's not to say that we shouldn't use our talents to make a living.  I mean, good grief!  We have to eat and have a roof over our heads.  But I think a job is a job and we shouldn't look at that as being our only outlet for our talents.  I've heard it said that there are two types of people in the workforce: those who live to work and those who work to live.  I happen to fall into the category of work to live.  My philosophy is, "Love what you do, but don't get your identity from it."