I've completed my version 5 (tenth rewrite, approximately) of Behind Suburbia and finally submitted it to a few contests. I got the notes back from Script Pimp but I did not find them nearly as helpful as the previous set. I saw that I did solve all of the previous problems except for one though (which version 5 rectified) ... but I still received a "pass" rating because of it. Aside from that one helpful hint the rest of the notes were something along the lines of "you need more horror movie conventions but don't make this a conventional horror movie."
All righty.
Needless to say I did not follow them as closely this round and now it's time to see what some contest judges have to say about it. I submitted to the PAGE Awards and something else I can't quite remember off-hand. Regardless, if this places better than "perfect ending" I'll know that I've improved and will feel pretty good about myself. If I won I'd feel awesome... but anyway, I'm happy with the script.
I'll be sending out some query letters soon to get some feelers out there to try and find a producer or an agent. I have two solid scripts and several more in the works so I'm building a decent base to work from. Hopefully I'll get some decent responses and I'll write an entry about query letters soon.
In the meanwhile I've had two good ideas come to the surface. One is a reworking of a comedy script I wrote when I first got interested in screenwriting. I enjoy that version but the overhaul I'm envisioning would have me start over from scratch. The second idea was a modern-day sci-fi movie, i.e. takes place now but has futuristic elements the common populace is not aware of. I've already started the character backgrounds and the outline, and I think it has a lot of potential. I'm just tired of being so serious.
My first set of notes compared my dialogue to Woody Allen and Kevin Smith. Not to toot my own horn but I have a knack for observational and conversational humor, and I really want to do something where I don't have to kill off a bunch of characters. I know, what fun would a slasher flick or murder mystery be without the dead bodies... and the premise of my sci-fi film would require some killing. Not a lot, mind you, but a few. Plus it would be a serious film.
The comedy would be fun, so I'm actually thinking about working on both at the same time. Then I can alternate my entries between comedy and sci-fi genre conventions and explore two things at the same time. Mind you that would entail me watching a ton more movies to cover both genres, but hey, I think it's a task I'm willing to undertake. I don't think I'd be able to WRITE both of them at the same time, but I can certainly do all of my outlining and pre-planning.
So, that's fun. I'll keep you all updated as things move forward. If anyone is curious to read "Behind Suburbia" feel free to e-mail me. Especially if you are a producer looking for a writer/director ... I'd really be up for that.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Friday, May 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Resubmitted and Moving Forward
Just a quick update, I've resubmitted "Behind Suburbia" to the Script PIMP development service, I've requested the same reader so they can see the progress I've made and that I actually paid attention to their suggestions. I got tired of waiting for my editor to read the latest version, but I think I caught all of the errors throughout. Structurally it's sound, I'm, sure on that.
I also noticed I've been rather antsy lately, kind of restless and agitated. I was just going with the flow until last night, when I was just in a very agitated state. It took me until this morning to realize that it's because I haven't worked on anything new in awhile. A writer has to write, no?
I've been up to my ears in slasher movies for the past six months, and I've been been rewriting the same piece of work since mid-February. I think after the results come back I'm going to just make some minor adjustments (it's never perfect) and then submit it to the Script PIMP contest and the Nicholl Fellowship. If I can make it to the later rounds at least I know I've improved a lot since last year.
As for the writing bug, well, I think I'm going to be moving on to a comedy. I've killed enough people in my last two screenplays, it's time for something lighthearted where people aren't allowed to die, though I can hurt them for comedic effect so long as they can stand up and say, "well that sucked!"
So expect a thorough analysis of the comedy genre in the coming months as I analyze what works, what doesn't work, some of the genre conventions and my own insights into the characterization of an amusing, albeit identifiable character.
I don't mind rewriting, mind you, but after staring at the same characters for the past few months I need someone new to mess around with. I'm proud of Behind Suburbia. I think it's come a long way since the first draft, and I think this draft has some real potential. I think that even if the development service gives it a "pass" (it's a 50/50 shot) I think I'll still send out some query letters and try to get it into the right hands anyway.
I mean come on, if the last few movies that have been released in the horror genre are any indication, I think my script should be able to stand up just fine. Maybe.
I'll have an update with the results later or next week, as for now it's time to break out my trusty composition notebook (I was using yellow legal pads but the ones I buy have lousy binding) and get crackin'!
I also noticed I've been rather antsy lately, kind of restless and agitated. I was just going with the flow until last night, when I was just in a very agitated state. It took me until this morning to realize that it's because I haven't worked on anything new in awhile. A writer has to write, no?
I've been up to my ears in slasher movies for the past six months, and I've been been rewriting the same piece of work since mid-February. I think after the results come back I'm going to just make some minor adjustments (it's never perfect) and then submit it to the Script PIMP contest and the Nicholl Fellowship. If I can make it to the later rounds at least I know I've improved a lot since last year.
As for the writing bug, well, I think I'm going to be moving on to a comedy. I've killed enough people in my last two screenplays, it's time for something lighthearted where people aren't allowed to die, though I can hurt them for comedic effect so long as they can stand up and say, "well that sucked!"
So expect a thorough analysis of the comedy genre in the coming months as I analyze what works, what doesn't work, some of the genre conventions and my own insights into the characterization of an amusing, albeit identifiable character.
I don't mind rewriting, mind you, but after staring at the same characters for the past few months I need someone new to mess around with. I'm proud of Behind Suburbia. I think it's come a long way since the first draft, and I think this draft has some real potential. I think that even if the development service gives it a "pass" (it's a 50/50 shot) I think I'll still send out some query letters and try to get it into the right hands anyway.
I mean come on, if the last few movies that have been released in the horror genre are any indication, I think my script should be able to stand up just fine. Maybe.
I'll have an update with the results later or next week, as for now it's time to break out my trusty composition notebook (I was using yellow legal pads but the ones I buy have lousy binding) and get crackin'!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Motivation. AKA: Please don't kill me, I have to feed my fish!
I've just finished the 3rd rewrite of "Behind Suburbia" today based off of the notes I received from Script P.I.M.P ... I wrote the 2nd version immediately after receiving the notes and have spent the past week and a half pondering if the changes really had the desired effect. After having someone re-read it yesterday (and being helpfully super-critical)... no, they didn't.
Hence my 3rd rewrite. As mentioned in the notes it's important to show the reader (or viewer) the genre of the film in the first five or ten minutes. If they're in a horror movie, it's best that they know it soon, otherwise they'll learn to like the characters too much and be really upset when some guy starts hacking them apart. It's also important that all of your characters have significant motivation.
What is motivation? I always though that in a slasher film, it was the desire to live. It's your life! What more is there than that? Well... lots. I gave my characters a semblance of depth in my first version but now I have "raised the stakes" so to speak. Living is one thing, but having a reason to live is a whole new ballpark, and a whole new level of story telling as well.
Let me give an example of what I mean by this:
Fred is 23, fat, watches a lot of television and is an unfortunate college dropout. He is a recently unemployed copy machine repairman, lives in a cheap apartment (he thinks he's too good for mom's basement) and has frequent midnight runs to Wawa for a meatball sub. This, in Fred's mind, is the pinnacle of life. He comes and goes as he pleases, doesn't have anyone to answer to, sleeps late and has no drive to fix any of his flaws.
Johnny is 22, average build, and a senior in college, class of 2008. He is majoring in microbiology and plans to go to graduate school. Doing so would make his parents proud but, more so, it would make Johnny proud of himself. He hopes to one day settle down with a nice girl (or guy), but that's in the future, and he'll take one day at a time as he works towards his goal.
So... what's the difference between these two guys? On the superficial level, Johnny is goal-oriented and Fred is a loser. Johnny has purpose in life and Fred just kind of bumbles along taking whatever comes. Johnny has a reason to live and it's obvious to everyone around him, and no one would miss Fred except Fred's goldfish.
Poor Fred, right? Not so fast.
We're just superficially looking at these people, they're fairly one dimensional as described. To make a true character they need to have depth and complex relationships... as I've mentioned in previous entries they must be multi-dimensional.
If we put both of these characters into a story I think Johnny might sound a little boring at first. He studies, goes to bed early and is pretty cookie-cutter. But what exactly is Johnny researching at school? Is he studying under a professor (Dr. Ezra) that is actually working for the department of defense, making a new bio-weapon with the unwitting Johnny as his loyal lackey? That adds quite a bit of depth, no? Let's take it a little farther. What if Johnny stumbles on his professor's notes and figures out what he's working on. If he takes a stand against this, Johnny has transcended into protagonist, and someone we want to know... what's his ultimate decision?
Now Fred is bumbling through life, as I've mentioned, but he has a lot of free time. What if one night he sees a panicked young man at the Wawa, suffering from some sort of terrible illness? Fred, although a little self-centered is not a complete bastard, and stops to ask the man if he's okay. The man thrusts a small vial into Fred's hands and tells him that this is the only known cure, and that he has to take it to... Dr. Prentiss in Walla Walla, who will know how to replicate it and make sure that no one gets hurt. Dr. Ezra's not evil... just... not well... and the poor man drops dead at his feet, leaving Fred holding the vial.
Fred receiving the vial is the first scene of Fred's story. All of the other stuff mentioned about Johnny and Fred is their past, it's what makes them who they are... but what we want to know is, what does Fred DO with the vial? Suddenly this loser has the fate of the world in his hand and the question becomes not only will he do it... but CAN he do it? Fred on the top level has the world in his hands, but his is actually a story of redemption, to prove to everyone, and especially to himself, that he's not a loser after all.
Knowing where your characters are coming from is important in understanding the decisions they make at that crisis moment... and it was that little bit of background that was lacking from a few of my characters in "Behind Suburbia" which I believe has now been fixed.
These characters have to want more than the live, they have to have something to DO with their lives should they get to keep it! That's what makes them interesting, dynamic and of course... watchable.
Whew. I'll be resubmitting as soon as I talk my editor into looking for all the tiny little errors I seem to miss. Stay tuned.
Hence my 3rd rewrite. As mentioned in the notes it's important to show the reader (or viewer) the genre of the film in the first five or ten minutes. If they're in a horror movie, it's best that they know it soon, otherwise they'll learn to like the characters too much and be really upset when some guy starts hacking them apart. It's also important that all of your characters have significant motivation.
What is motivation? I always though that in a slasher film, it was the desire to live. It's your life! What more is there than that? Well... lots. I gave my characters a semblance of depth in my first version but now I have "raised the stakes" so to speak. Living is one thing, but having a reason to live is a whole new ballpark, and a whole new level of story telling as well.
Let me give an example of what I mean by this:
Fred is 23, fat, watches a lot of television and is an unfortunate college dropout. He is a recently unemployed copy machine repairman, lives in a cheap apartment (he thinks he's too good for mom's basement) and has frequent midnight runs to Wawa for a meatball sub. This, in Fred's mind, is the pinnacle of life. He comes and goes as he pleases, doesn't have anyone to answer to, sleeps late and has no drive to fix any of his flaws.
Johnny is 22, average build, and a senior in college, class of 2008. He is majoring in microbiology and plans to go to graduate school. Doing so would make his parents proud but, more so, it would make Johnny proud of himself. He hopes to one day settle down with a nice girl (or guy), but that's in the future, and he'll take one day at a time as he works towards his goal.
So... what's the difference between these two guys? On the superficial level, Johnny is goal-oriented and Fred is a loser. Johnny has purpose in life and Fred just kind of bumbles along taking whatever comes. Johnny has a reason to live and it's obvious to everyone around him, and no one would miss Fred except Fred's goldfish.
Poor Fred, right? Not so fast.
We're just superficially looking at these people, they're fairly one dimensional as described. To make a true character they need to have depth and complex relationships... as I've mentioned in previous entries they must be multi-dimensional.
If we put both of these characters into a story I think Johnny might sound a little boring at first. He studies, goes to bed early and is pretty cookie-cutter. But what exactly is Johnny researching at school? Is he studying under a professor (Dr. Ezra) that is actually working for the department of defense, making a new bio-weapon with the unwitting Johnny as his loyal lackey? That adds quite a bit of depth, no? Let's take it a little farther. What if Johnny stumbles on his professor's notes and figures out what he's working on. If he takes a stand against this, Johnny has transcended into protagonist, and someone we want to know... what's his ultimate decision?
Now Fred is bumbling through life, as I've mentioned, but he has a lot of free time. What if one night he sees a panicked young man at the Wawa, suffering from some sort of terrible illness? Fred, although a little self-centered is not a complete bastard, and stops to ask the man if he's okay. The man thrusts a small vial into Fred's hands and tells him that this is the only known cure, and that he has to take it to... Dr. Prentiss in Walla Walla, who will know how to replicate it and make sure that no one gets hurt. Dr. Ezra's not evil... just... not well... and the poor man drops dead at his feet, leaving Fred holding the vial.
Fred receiving the vial is the first scene of Fred's story. All of the other stuff mentioned about Johnny and Fred is their past, it's what makes them who they are... but what we want to know is, what does Fred DO with the vial? Suddenly this loser has the fate of the world in his hand and the question becomes not only will he do it... but CAN he do it? Fred on the top level has the world in his hands, but his is actually a story of redemption, to prove to everyone, and especially to himself, that he's not a loser after all.
Knowing where your characters are coming from is important in understanding the decisions they make at that crisis moment... and it was that little bit of background that was lacking from a few of my characters in "Behind Suburbia" which I believe has now been fixed.
These characters have to want more than the live, they have to have something to DO with their lives should they get to keep it! That's what makes them interesting, dynamic and of course... watchable.
Whew. I'll be resubmitting as soon as I talk my editor into looking for all the tiny little errors I seem to miss. Stay tuned.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
So What Do I Hope to Accomplish?
So What Do I Hope to Accomplish?
I get asked this question a lot. It's phrased differently every time but it essentially comes down to "why bother?"
Short Answer
I love movies
Long Answer
I really love movies.
Actual Answer
The first movie I clearly remember going to was The Little Mermaid shortly after I turned seven way back in 1989. I stayed home from school that day for some reason and my mom and I went to see it. It was then that my love of movies really started. It's just seeing something on the screen, getting involved with the story, investing emotion in the character, wanting/waiting/dreading the outcome, for the better or the worse.
Even though this is cliched answer, said by people over and over since the Greeks were putting on matinee showings Antigone, it's still true. People go to the movies and they want to care about what happens to the characters on the screen and they want to have a good time. They want their emotions played with without actually having to do anything besides sit in a chair.
I've seen thousands of movies, some excellent, some stinkers, but I can honestly say that I've always had a good time. As my movie knowledge base expanded and with the advent of DVDs I began watching the behind the scenes features. The how of the movie. It was there that I fell in love with what I saw. The people involved, the work, the thought, an randomness, the structure, the creativity and the sweat that, when combined and shaken well, put out movies that can boggle the mind and heighten the senses.
Haven't you ever come out of a movie saying "Maybe I should learn to do that" or "I can't believe that happened!" You're a changed person after every movie you see. Everything you take in changes you, sometimes imperceptibly, but it does, and that is what I want to do.
I know I've tiptoed (charged) back into cliche answer territory, but hey, it's the truth.
So What's the Plan?
The plan is that I want to get my name out there, get a screenplay optioned and eventually direct a movie. This, of course, isn't an easy task at all, but it's what I want to do. I hope that this blog will help me in that direction, but I also hope that it's a way for me to look back and take stock of what I've done, and what I should do to move me forward.
I get asked this question a lot. It's phrased differently every time but it essentially comes down to "why bother?"
Short Answer
I love movies
Long Answer
I really love movies.
Actual Answer
The first movie I clearly remember going to was The Little Mermaid shortly after I turned seven way back in 1989. I stayed home from school that day for some reason and my mom and I went to see it. It was then that my love of movies really started. It's just seeing something on the screen, getting involved with the story, investing emotion in the character, wanting/waiting/dreading the outcome, for the better or the worse.
Even though this is cliched answer, said by people over and over since the Greeks were putting on matinee showings Antigone, it's still true. People go to the movies and they want to care about what happens to the characters on the screen and they want to have a good time. They want their emotions played with without actually having to do anything besides sit in a chair.
I've seen thousands of movies, some excellent, some stinkers, but I can honestly say that I've always had a good time. As my movie knowledge base expanded and with the advent of DVDs I began watching the behind the scenes features. The how of the movie. It was there that I fell in love with what I saw. The people involved, the work, the thought, an randomness, the structure, the creativity and the sweat that, when combined and shaken well, put out movies that can boggle the mind and heighten the senses.
Haven't you ever come out of a movie saying "Maybe I should learn to do that" or "I can't believe that happened!" You're a changed person after every movie you see. Everything you take in changes you, sometimes imperceptibly, but it does, and that is what I want to do.
I know I've tiptoed (charged) back into cliche answer territory, but hey, it's the truth.
So What's the Plan?
The plan is that I want to get my name out there, get a screenplay optioned and eventually direct a movie. This, of course, isn't an easy task at all, but it's what I want to do. I hope that this blog will help me in that direction, but I also hope that it's a way for me to look back and take stock of what I've done, and what I should do to move me forward.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Heya!
Heya!
Hello, welcome, thanks for dropping by. I just started this blog so I thought I'd provide a little primer on who I am and what I'm trying to accomplish, as well as a few interesting anecdotes to liven things up... which essentially is what everyone else with a blog does, but different!
Who I Am
Well, I'm Mike.
More Specific
Since you're at least a little curious, I'll provide some quick snippets just to give a general idea, if you're really curious I suppose I could answer questions, but just go with it for now.
I'll be turning 25 this year. I have my BS in Biology from Philadelphia University, I'm a med school dropout, I work in the adhesives field fixing problems with industrial glue (why yes, it is a sticky situation) and I'm engaged to a supportive girl, May.
So... Screenwriting?
It's not just screenwriting, I want to direct what I write, see it come to life. At the moment though I want to break into the industry as a screenwriter. I'm not against seeing someone else use what I write, in fact I'd love it, which is why I started this blog, to help get my name out there along with the people that took all the good blog names.
I started writing as a lark in medical school. I say a lark because I did it during class and kind of stopped paying attention to what was going on. It's kind of a good indicator that what you thought you wanted to do really isn't what you wanted to do when you can so easily entertain yourself doing something else during it that in turn is what you actually want to do (no, really). I just wish I hadn't taken out a $50k loan to find this out, but hey, these things happen. So in early 2005 I left school and tried to find a day job to support myself while I worked on my writing.
Thing started off kind of shaky, since being a Biologist I really had no training whatsoever in anything having to do with writing. My first draft of a screenplay more or less looked like a list of what I wanted to happen as opposed to anything coherent. I mean, I could have made a movie from it but it would have made Eraserhead look normal if anyone else picked it up.
So, over the next year and a half I wrote several screenplays, rewrote a few, then I actually started researching how to write an actual screenplay. Since I wanted to direct them I wrote them as shooting scripts, which of course is a silly mistake in retrospect, but hey, what did I know?
I had entered the screenplays in a few contests to unanimous results that they were improperly formatted, so I bit the bullet and bought a few books. The first one was The Screenwriter's Bible which really showed me that I had no idea how to format a speculative script, and Story by Robert McKee which showed me that I also had no idea how to do a coherent narrative.
A few months later and two books under my belt I was ready to rewrite my scripts into usable formats. I started first with Vengeance, my mystery/thriller story that I particularly enjoyed. I finished the second draft a scant few hours before the March 1st deadline for the Bluecat Screenplay Competition and sent it off. I also signed up to attend Robert McKee's Story Seminar at the end of the month, so hopefully that will go well.
That about sums up where I am now, and this blog will track what happens next. I hope you stick around.
Hello, welcome, thanks for dropping by. I just started this blog so I thought I'd provide a little primer on who I am and what I'm trying to accomplish, as well as a few interesting anecdotes to liven things up... which essentially is what everyone else with a blog does, but different!
Who I Am
Well, I'm Mike.
More Specific
Since you're at least a little curious, I'll provide some quick snippets just to give a general idea, if you're really curious I suppose I could answer questions, but just go with it for now.
I'll be turning 25 this year. I have my BS in Biology from Philadelphia University, I'm a med school dropout, I work in the adhesives field fixing problems with industrial glue (why yes, it is a sticky situation) and I'm engaged to a supportive girl, May.
So... Screenwriting?
It's not just screenwriting, I want to direct what I write, see it come to life. At the moment though I want to break into the industry as a screenwriter. I'm not against seeing someone else use what I write, in fact I'd love it, which is why I started this blog, to help get my name out there along with the people that took all the good blog names.
I started writing as a lark in medical school. I say a lark because I did it during class and kind of stopped paying attention to what was going on. It's kind of a good indicator that what you thought you wanted to do really isn't what you wanted to do when you can so easily entertain yourself doing something else during it that in turn is what you actually want to do (no, really). I just wish I hadn't taken out a $50k loan to find this out, but hey, these things happen. So in early 2005 I left school and tried to find a day job to support myself while I worked on my writing.
Thing started off kind of shaky, since being a Biologist I really had no training whatsoever in anything having to do with writing. My first draft of a screenplay more or less looked like a list of what I wanted to happen as opposed to anything coherent. I mean, I could have made a movie from it but it would have made Eraserhead look normal if anyone else picked it up.
So, over the next year and a half I wrote several screenplays, rewrote a few, then I actually started researching how to write an actual screenplay. Since I wanted to direct them I wrote them as shooting scripts, which of course is a silly mistake in retrospect, but hey, what did I know?
I had entered the screenplays in a few contests to unanimous results that they were improperly formatted, so I bit the bullet and bought a few books. The first one was The Screenwriter's Bible which really showed me that I had no idea how to format a speculative script, and Story by Robert McKee which showed me that I also had no idea how to do a coherent narrative.
A few months later and two books under my belt I was ready to rewrite my scripts into usable formats. I started first with Vengeance, my mystery/thriller story that I particularly enjoyed. I finished the second draft a scant few hours before the March 1st deadline for the Bluecat Screenplay Competition and sent it off. I also signed up to attend Robert McKee's Story Seminar at the end of the month, so hopefully that will go well.
That about sums up where I am now, and this blog will track what happens next. I hope you stick around.
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