Year: 2010

At long last…

Maximum Z screenwriting

I have written a script, and somebody gave me money for it.

Okay, it’s a 10-minute student film and I earned all of twenty dollars, but this really represents a milestone for me.  I’ve been working at this for 11 years with some real near-successes, but this is the real deal, as they say.

I know my writing isn’t perfect.  Far from it, but I still consider it better than most.  I still like to think I have a shot at making this actually happen.

I read the sale write-ups and the script reviews.  There is some really good stuff out there.  Stuff that is totally unlike anything I could do.  But I highly doubt these same writers could do the stuff that I do.

In some ways, that works to my advantage.  Now I just have to make it work.

It was interesting meeting with the director today.  He liked the 3rd draft, but did have some questions and comments.  Nothing too serious, but also nothing that required yet another rewrite.

I mentioned that if any of his friends need help with their scripts, to send them my way.

His agenda involves meeting with the production designer today, meeting with the producers and taking care of pre-production in the next week or so, then casting.  Shooting is in September, editing and post through October, then completion in November.  I get a copy of the finished film and script when it’s all done.

While part of his plans include submitting it to festivals and competitions, he also plans to move to LA in January.  He hopes to find work soon after that, and also wants to work on a feature film.  He said there was a good chance he’d be in touch for help on that as well.

As I’ve said, I wish him the best of luck.

As for me, it’s time to dive back in on BABY LIKES JAZZ.  As much as I’d like to go back and apply some of the group’s comments, I’d rather plow ahead and get the draft done.  This is late-mid-August, so if I do 3 pages a day during the week, that should take me to about the end of September or so.  That would be good.

Then the rewriting begins.  Again.

Movie of the Moment:  A double-header, so to speak.  It took me a few days, but I got through HIGHLANDER.  It was…okay.  But I think that’s mostly due to really lousy sound.  While the sound effects were loud and emphasized, a lot of the dialogue was muffled or just hard to understand.  I like the concept a lot, yet have no desire to see any of the sequels or the TV show.  It was also pretty hard getting past the ‘hey, this was made in the 80s!’ look.  Also cool that Clancy Brown played the bad guy.  I’m curious to know how old he was when he made this.

The other movie, which may have been mentioned here before, was JAWS on cable.  I never get tired of watching it.  I’d like to know if the documentary about it (THE SHARK IS NOT WORKING or something like that) is available.  Or is it a book?  Either way, bet it’s great.

A sort-of new beginning

Maximum Z Uncategorized

This is going to be a short one again. The less-than-expected members of the writing group just left. It’s too hot to think and I’m tired, so bed awaits.

They had some very constructive comments re: BABY LIKES JAZZ. I’m not sure if I’ll go back and incorporate the ideas now or wait until I finish the first draft.

I watched a little more if Highlander earlier. Pretty good, but the sound on this disc is awful! Lambert’s dialogue is tough enough to follow, but sporadic fading in and out makes it harder.

And why again is a Frenchman cast as a Scotsman while the Scottish actor is cast as a Spainiard?

Home stretch!

Maximum Z craigslist, screenwriting

The director has the 3rd draft.  I’m supposed to meet with him in a few days, where hopefully I will receive my payment (the whopping $20) for services rendered.  I like to think of this as the first small step of a long career.  Ambitious, yes, but I got nothin’ to lose.

When I sent the draft over the weekend, I wasn’t sure what to expect from him, comment-wise.  Amazingly, there were none.

He also mentioned something about getting a copy of the final draft when post is finished, or something like that.  Seeing as how his timeframe had the finished project being done around Thanksgiving, I wonder if I’ll be able to recoginze which parts are mine and which are his when it’s all done.

-I think I mentioned I had sent to a manager in Vegas following the recommendation of a blogger based out of Boston.  I sent her the loglines for WOK & ROLL and DREAMSHIP.  She didn’t seem interested, but made a good point regarding the former.

All this time, I’ve been promoting WOK as a romcom, when in actuality, the romance is just one of the subplots.  Overall, I suppose you could call it a comedy.  So that’s how I’ll start pitching it.  I thought about asking her if she’d still like to read it, but think my chance is over.  Ah well.  I’m still skeptical about this whole Vegas angle anyway.

There was also another screenwriter listing on Craigslist, but this one actually claimed to be willing to pay.  BUT.  They wanted somebody with credits, more or less.  As we all know, I ain’t got none, but I think my letter made a good effort in presenting me as a good candidate.  Still haven’t heard, nor do I expect to, but you never know…

Not only that, but there was ANOTHER listing on Craigslist, but this one was looking for somebody who would collaborate on a script about a dancer who’s had it rough.  I think it also mentioned something about ‘showcasing the rough and tumble world of professional dancing’ or something like that.  Definitely not me.

-The writing group is scheduled to reconvene tomorrow chez moi.  I sent the first act of BABY last week, so I’m looking forward to hearing the thoughts/feedback of those who plan to attend.  I know it’s rough, but still hope they like it.  A little validation never hurt, right?

Almost-Movie of the Moment: HIGHLANDER.  Yeah, I know.  How can me, of all people, not have seen this yet?  Never got around to it, that’s all.  Once V is in bed AND asleep, I’ll start.  Highly doubtful I’ll get through it all tonight.

The plan tomorrow is to catch a matinee of SCOTT PILGRIM.  I’ve been seeing articles all over the internets about why it’s a bomb.  Since I haven’t seen it yet, I can’t answer that.  Maybe tomorrow.

I’d like to try and catch INCEPTION later in the week, but I need to train for my race next week, and we’re in the middle of an intense heat wave round these parts.  As appealing as passing out from heat exhaustion in the park sounds, I’d rather wait until it cools down a bit.

Well, maybe a little run.

He’s in for quite a shock

Maximum Z Uncategorized

I refer, of course, to the director I’m still working with, and what kind of reception he’s going to get if and when he breaks into the industry.

So we met today to discuss the script.  I went in thinking that he was going to try combining his version and mine.

Not necessarily.  He took my 2nd draft and made notes.  Some of them were valid, but it took quite an effort on my part to not let my eyes roll completely out of their sockets on some others.

I can understand the need to spice up some of the characters’ dialogue, and the need for an extra scene at the end to wrap things.

But…

Having characters react by doing something does not constitute an ‘action film.’

It is possible to try and jam too much symbolism into a movie.

You don’t tell the writer to ‘come up with a catchphrase’ so people remember the movie.  And you especially don’t say you want one so it will help with ‘getting the word out’ about it.

If a certain phrase reminds you of Mission Impossible 3, you really need to see more movies.

Unless your movie is about something scientific, the scientific community is NOT going to thoroughly analyze it.  And if something was done a certain way in a certain megahit (I’m looking at you, INCEPTION), you DO NOT base parts of your story on that.

I’m skeptical about the claim that people always associate the hero of the story with a prop or action.  The latter is part of the former.  Luke is more than his lightsaber.

Your audience is smarter than you think.  Don’t feel like you have to explain everything to them.  They don’t like it.  Making them think is a GOOD thing.

If an actor can’t read the script and figure out why their character is supposed to be upset, either the writing is really bad or they’re a bad actor.  I like to think my writing is pretty good.

That’s all I can suggest for now.  In the meantime, I’m approaching this (final) rewrite as a good exercise.  How can I improve on it?  Not only do I want it to meet my standards, I want this director to ‘get it.’  I want the writing to show what he wants to say.  We’ll see.

I forgot to mention that I’m getting the exorbitant salary of $20 to do all of this.  As K said to me, “What’s that work out to?  About 50 cents an hour?”

Yeah, something like that.  But my mantra throughout all of this has been “you’ll have a finished film with your name on it.”  That’s the important part.

Another shorty

Maximum Z Uncategorized

Another packed day, another collapsing with exhaustion at the end.

I got an email from the director. His computer’s busted, so he’s writing out his draft by hand. And since I’m seeing him tomorrow, that’s when I get his version. I really have no idea what to expect.

Once again, not much writing accomplished today. However, V fell asleep during her reading homework, and an early evening nap usually means a later bedtime. And that ain’t good for me or K. Fortunately, she got her work done, albeit at a truly glacial pace.

I foresee one of our many projects during this school year.

With K’s almost-monthly trips to Belgium, she’s started bringing home Tintin books for V. They’re fun and oh-so charming. The deal is that V reads what she’s supposed to, then I read a portion of the Tintin story at bedtime. Hers. Not mine.

But tonight’s story involved a ‘haunted’ mummy coming to life. Despite our efforts, she was confident he was hiding in her room. Even though I explained that this was probably the same setup as a Scooby Doo villain (“it’s old man Johnson!”), she was still scared.

Dad to the rescue!

To ease her fears, I sat next to her bed while she got to sleep and worked on one of my next scripts. I looked over my notes, which could be over a year old. At least.

I gotta say, there was some good stuff in there. It inspired me to try and think of other scene ideas and potential plot points. I’d even go as far as to say there might even be more chances for comedy than I originally thought.

It does a body good to make that kind of discovery. The funny thing is I’m still undecided whether to work on this script or the Monster Hunter one when BABY LIKES JAZZ is done for good.

So we’ll see.

For now, I just want this short project to be done so I can dive back in to BABY. Someday I will finish that.

I just want it to be good.