Brian, one of the writers of "Whale Farts" came across my blog (presumably by typing "Whale Farts" into Google) and left a few comments regarding "Why Whale Farts?" and the answer, in short, was "buzz."
The title needs to draw the reader in, in his own words, "...believe me, we wrestled with it for ages. In the end, we threw out the banal, expected, commercial titles and opted for one that we thought would at least make a potential reader wonder, "Hmm, I wonder what the heck this is about." Gotta say, seems to have worked." I will say it worked on me. I picked his title at random from a field of about 300 in the Scriptapalooza semi-finals (quarter finals?) and decided to extrapolate my own story from it.
Even so, in my previous entry Brian backpedaled a little saying, "Don't throw in the towel. I think the lesson is that it's the material, not the title that matters." Which I would agree with (even though he still hasn't revealed what "Whale Farts" is about) but what about the initial hurdle of getting the reader interested in what lies beyond the cover page? That's where a razzle-dazzle title will come into play. Then again Brian has left me with one small nugget of wisdom, "Of maybe the lesson is that 'fart' equals big bucks. I'm still not sure yet." And to that I have to agree. Fart appeals to the lowest common denominator, and looking at the majority out there, that's who you need to impress.
Let's look at the title of the script I've been entering, "Vengeance." Perhaps that's a little too high-brow for some people. Maybe they don't know what the word means? I can scale it back and re-title the script, "Revenge" ... but vengeance means violent revenge, more specifically infliction of injury, harm, humiliation, or the like, on a person by another who has been harmed by that person. It's exactly what my story is about. I could title it "The Revenge" and just go with a word that everyone knows what it means, but to me it's just not powerful enough. Revenge is to exact punishment or expiation for a wrong. Kind of run of the mill... people seek revenge for a stolen pen. Vengeance is an entirely different league or revenge. It's Revenge plus. That's a good title, "Revenge Plus" ... or I could change a few scenes to a wedding reception and call it "Revenge Plus One" or even a restaurant, "Revenge: Part of Three" since that would also encompass the three characters the story focuses most on.
I could also go the silly route as "Whale Farts" has done. I could call it "Junkies in Lust" or maybe "Killing Sam." Both of these sound intriguing, there's a specific topic that comes up, it makes you wonder, "what kind of junkies? "how are they going to kill him" and more importantly, "Why?"
I could also just go really silly and call it "Cock Goblin" and somehow incorporate a rooster or maybe a penis into the script. Maybe both, no? The goblin part really has nothing to do with anything but it sounds funny.
All in all though, Shawn from Nuke It From Orbit went the extra mile and helped me out. I must say, a little tweaking to a back story here, a line there and the title could have real meaning. It screams out bad 50's B-horror/sci-fi movie (mainly because he told me it did) and I think in all honesty, I'll pick a contest and random and enter it with this title. What's thirty dollars compared to seeing this:
Finalists
"Sam and the Junkies in Lust VS. The Cockgoblin of Ft. Bledsoe!" by Michael
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
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4 comments:
Anybody who doesn't know what Vengeance means probably can't read your script anyway.
That might be the inherent problem with the script readers then :p
*fart*
bwahahahaah! hahaha! hahahahahahah... heeeeeee
whew
I was looking for a plot summary for “Whale Farts” and stumbled upon your site. I am a reader (for a studio and a production company, not contests) and thought I would chime in. This is a long one, but I don't have a blog, so I will piggyback on yours.
Every studio reader I know has at least one Master's Degree and getting one of these jobs is very difficult. Studio reading is a bit different than contest reading, as studios have a specific set of guidelines aimed at getting the type of movies that fit their business plan. For instance, a studio looking for a good horror film may tell readers to be a little more generous with horror scripts, meaning the studio may be willing to take a weak script and develop it if the concept is great. My breakdown, which matches up to other friends who are readers, is about 75% Pass, 20% Consider, 5% Recommend. However, the first rule given to all readers is: if the script is good, forget everything else. Even if the script is the exact opposite of what a studio or agency thinks it wants, if the script is good, it will move up the line. It is rare that a great script is passed over. More likely (and perhaps equally frustrating) is that a mediocre script that has a great premise or the right genre may move farther up the line than it should. Complaining about those scripts is like complaining that someone else won the lottery. Your best bet is to work hard and rewrite until you can't rewrite anymore, eliminating all of the reasons the 'evil, dumb' readers will have to say no to your script.
I talked with another reader friend this week about this, and we both agreed that a 'Recommend' script has one factor: it feels like a movie. What I mean is, when I am reading a script, I try to visualize sitting in a theater (or at home on DVD) and watching this script as a film. You would be shocked at the number of scripts that come through the door, from both beginning and Oscar winning screenwriters, that feel like a script but not a movie. They hit certain beats and drive the story, but there are usually glaring holes. The story is tight, but one of the main characters has no purpose. The dialogue is great, but the characters have nothing to do or define them. For a script to seem like a movie, all of the major points have to be hit at least somewhat. Enough people will eventually read your script that you can't rely on them all to miss a glaring hole in the script.
Here are a few points that are likely to bug a reader and might help any screenwriters out there:
LENGTH: Try as I might, I have a great deal of difficulty looking forward to reading scripts over 130 pages. Even though I get paid more, it is rarely worth it. That isn't to say that some exceptionally long scripts haven't won me over, but that is rarely the case. I have never read a script over 130 pages where I thought the script couldn't stand to lose some pages. Before you bring up a 130+ script that is a masterpiece, I am talking 130 pages in a non-shooting script. Camera directions and notes drive any script well over the 130 page limit in a shooting script. Also, I am sure there are dozens of scripts over that length that are masterpieces. However, show me one masterpiece and I will show you a dozen sitting on the bottom of an agency recycling bin for being overwritten. Brevity is always your best bet.
ACTION DESCRIPTIONS: Writers tend to get a bit crazy with the descriptions. It is basic screenwriting 101, but only tell in descriptions what can be shown. Do not use descriptions to fill in character backstory. Do not put camera angles into you script unless it is absolutely necessary (as in, you have to use a camera angle to describe what a character sees or does not see). Do not overly describe the location or objects in the location. If you spend a paragraph describing a totem in the main characters bedroom, the reader will expect that totem to be of importance later on. If you did that description just to add flavor to a character, you will have one disappointed reader. Actors, cinematographers, and directors are paid a great deal of money to do their part in a film and are likely to get very annoyed when the screenwriter tries to do their jobs for them.
DIALOGUE: There is debate over this, but I can say it bugs me and it bugs everyone else I know. Do not write dialogue phonetically. That is, if a character is a habitual stutterer (or has an accent, or has any other vocal affectation), put it in the character introduction or in parenthetical when they first speak (ex., STUTTERS THROUGHOUT). Only write the words phonetically when the misspoken word is key to the plot (someone mishears the word and thinks the wrong thing). You have to remember, your script is designed to be read first and making it confusing and hard to read only hurts you. Once again, the affectations will come later, when actors get involved.
GRAB THE READER: There is this legend, like Bigfoot or Pop Rocks and Soda, that readers will put down your script after 15 pages if you don't grab them. This is false. No reader would make it very far or keep their job for very long if they did this. If you don't grab the reader in the first act, only one thing will happen: they will be very bored. In the first act, introduce the major characters and set the tone. If it is a comedy, have people laughing right away. If it is a drama, make them care about (or at least take an interest in) the main character by the end of the first scene.
As for the title, I know I personally don't really even look at the cover page until I am done reading the script. I can't say I have ever judged a script either way based upon the title. However, I know from a practical stand-point that I remember bad scripts with unusual and distinct titles better than scripts that are fine but have generic titles. I know that in my time as a reader, I have come across at least a handful of scripts named Vengeance. It is 100% true that quality of the script trumps all over points, but if your script is lucky enough to be in the top 25%, distinctness never hurts. That being said, give the readers some credit. I am sure they now what Vengeance means and I imagine your script was not selected for any number of other reasons that will probably be equally annoying to you. Just keep on writing and I am sure you will have your day yet.
Hey reader reader,
Thanks for the lengthy reply to the script reader/naming situation.
Just for reference's sake, I was talking about the contest readers, not the industry readers, two entirely different animals as you've pointed out.
I've only been going through the contest circuit in order to garner the attention of a person such as yourself and find some sort of in to the industry.
I've read several screenwriting books, attended Robert McKee's seminar on story writing, and watched a lot of movies and read their scripts to see what works and what doesn't work. I'm not going in blind and I know what to avoid, so I'm trying here. Vengeance is staying as-is for now and I'm going to go through a development service to see if they can help me see anything I've missed. In a previous blog entry I copied in the response from the readers of the Bluecat competition. That problem there was they were looking for touching and emotional stories, whereas mine was a psychological thriller (whoops!).
This blog was also commenting on a previous comment from the writer of "Whale Farts" about how he thought his title was all he had going for him at first (which may or may not be the case, he rescinded that in a later comment). Even so, the title caused you to look up a synopsis, so that must mean something.
I'll start thinking up a new, distinctive title for Vengeance and get back to the grind on some other stories in the meantime. Thanks for your comment!
And hey, if you want to read Vengeance, just let me know
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