I think I actually enjoy writing.
I read a few articles about writing where respected authors moan about going through the process. Some feel that the end result is the only good thing, others don't even like that despite having written masterpieces.
Of course a script is not a finished product until it is filmed, which means it can forever be process, you could indefinately be on a journey and Ulysees can forever have more brave tales. And so Jerusalem twists and reforms itself anew.
When you have a cool idea or even better, manage to implement that cool idea in to a serviceable form, it spurs you on and dialogue and narrative spill out before you uncontrollably and soon you have a whole new scenario you hadn't intended. Which means you have to retro fit everything else you've written to accommodate this new direction.
That's the point I'm at now. The bulk of my screenplay works, but I've recently set about retooling the first act (which is so much better now) and subsequently have to modify the later stages to fit in with this new start. There is a problem of balancing tone. We start out with quite a light hearted set up which gives way to quite violent action later. The audience needs to be eased into the later stages of the script and at the moment everything just seems to 'kick off' without warning. Some good scenes are going to have to sacrificed to keep things smooth.
I have to keep reminding myself that I'm trying to make a simple yet effective straight forward thriller/action movie. I want to write something that I can then feasibly then go and make. But when I watch films like 'Martyrs' I immediately think I should change direction and create something of such staggering beauty and vileness, something that will leave an indelible mark on film making as that film does. I of course have to learn to walk before I can run and walking's an Olympic sport so it can't be that bad. If I can make a decent genre script then I'll tackle something greater, but for now I'll content myself with smuggling a few 'mondo' moments in to a seemingly standard story.
One final problem I can anticipate is never knowing when I'm done.
EDIT: If you intend on watching 'Martyrs' make sure you know nothing more than what is contained in the teaser I linked to. This film goes places that are unexpected.
Monday 16 March 2009
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Rewriting whilst rapelling down a building
I've got a pretty good idea what to do with the script now. Comments from various people all point towards what I'd suspected all along: the first act is too slow.
Or rather, too long. The script takes a while to get to the kicking off point and while there is plenty of incident in the first thirty pages most of it can easily be relocated to the second act. I've changed a character as well. Originally he was a very dark person who by dying instigates the 'Bad Day' of the title. He's a lot more funny now and doesn't cut up his girlfriend's corpse (ha!). Tiernan, for it is he, is now an amiable oaf who is still dispatched in much the same way he was before but now we have a lot more sympathy for him. Changing this character also modifies the the whole tone of the first half of the film: it's a lot more jokey now and a lot more fun which will contrast more with later events when things get a bit out of hand. Of everything I've written so far about forty pages have been excised from the first act, which is quite preposterous if you think about it. The rest of the script has stayed pretty much intact throughout but it's the set up which seems to be the hardest part to get right. My instinct is to give as much time to characters and atmosphere as possible - the lead role had at one point an entire thirty page backstory - but it's really not nesesary in this kind of film. Cut to the chase is now my mantra. Scenes start half way through and end early. If we need to round out a character it'll be done at the same time as they're rapelling down the side of the building (not that this actually happens in the film).
Another thing that's going to change is the emphasis on who the main character will be. At the moment it's a bit open as to who is the hero of the whole thing, it's the Magnolia of survival horror when it might be better if it where the Last Boy Scout of survival horror. From the start there's been a buddy movie dynamic between two of the characters - this will now take a more prominent role.
It's odd how many variations there have been to this story, there are innumerable ways to essentially tell the same basic tale. Tweaking things here and there can bring certain elements to the fore and totally skew the feel of the film in a different direction. I recently wanted to make it incredibly dark and add feral children in to the mix (still do) or maybe make it more hyper-kinetic like Run Lola Run.
Perhaps wisely I've settled on a more realistic slant, a kind of Shane Meadows type of film that just happens to become an out and out action-horror half way through.
The break I've had from writing has allowed me to come at the problems in the script with a fresh perspective, I can see what needs to be done and where to do it.
Or rather, too long. The script takes a while to get to the kicking off point and while there is plenty of incident in the first thirty pages most of it can easily be relocated to the second act. I've changed a character as well. Originally he was a very dark person who by dying instigates the 'Bad Day' of the title. He's a lot more funny now and doesn't cut up his girlfriend's corpse (ha!). Tiernan, for it is he, is now an amiable oaf who is still dispatched in much the same way he was before but now we have a lot more sympathy for him. Changing this character also modifies the the whole tone of the first half of the film: it's a lot more jokey now and a lot more fun which will contrast more with later events when things get a bit out of hand. Of everything I've written so far about forty pages have been excised from the first act, which is quite preposterous if you think about it. The rest of the script has stayed pretty much intact throughout but it's the set up which seems to be the hardest part to get right. My instinct is to give as much time to characters and atmosphere as possible - the lead role had at one point an entire thirty page backstory - but it's really not nesesary in this kind of film. Cut to the chase is now my mantra. Scenes start half way through and end early. If we need to round out a character it'll be done at the same time as they're rapelling down the side of the building (not that this actually happens in the film).
Another thing that's going to change is the emphasis on who the main character will be. At the moment it's a bit open as to who is the hero of the whole thing, it's the Magnolia of survival horror when it might be better if it where the Last Boy Scout of survival horror. From the start there's been a buddy movie dynamic between two of the characters - this will now take a more prominent role.
It's odd how many variations there have been to this story, there are innumerable ways to essentially tell the same basic tale. Tweaking things here and there can bring certain elements to the fore and totally skew the feel of the film in a different direction. I recently wanted to make it incredibly dark and add feral children in to the mix (still do) or maybe make it more hyper-kinetic like Run Lola Run.
Perhaps wisely I've settled on a more realistic slant, a kind of Shane Meadows type of film that just happens to become an out and out action-horror half way through.
The break I've had from writing has allowed me to come at the problems in the script with a fresh perspective, I can see what needs to be done and where to do it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)