Month: March 2011

Working my way forward & backward

Maximum Z Let Me In, Lucy Steele, Movie of the Moment, outlines, Raiders of the Lost Ark, screenwriting

That’s how the development of the last quarter of LUCY’s Act 2 is working out.  I had the beginning and the end, and am slowly filling in the blanks from each end.  So far, so good.

Once again using RAIDERS as a template, I’m trying to ramp up the action while also making sure it ties in with the story, rather than just having it for action’s sake.

It’s also letting me test my screenwriting muscles by forcing me to find the best possible conflict in each scene.  Always a good idea.

Late hockey practice last night, so we’ll work on finishing LET ME IN tonight.

The reverse-engineering approach

Maximum Z District 9, Let Me In, Lucy Steele, Movie of the Moment, Netflix, outlines, screenwriting

I’m not calling it writer’s block, because I have a general idea of what I want to put on the page.  Problem is, I need to come up with something I like AND that works for the story.  There are blanks that need to be filled in and the challenge is finding them.

I’m thinking of starting at the end of Act 2 and figuring out what happened before that.  How did Lucy & Co get to where they are?  Since I know what happens in Act 3, I can try to piece together the events leading up to it.  Or at least try to.

Time to break out the idea list again and see what my brain can come up with.  That seems to always trigger something.  Hope it can do it again.

Movie of the Moment: a 2-for-1 day!

While my computer was being stubborn again earlier today, DISTRICT 9 was playing.  I saw it on the tail end of its theatre run about a year and a half ago.  What a great movie.  An intelligent original alternate take on a sci-fi staple.  See it if you haven’t already.

I remembered parts of it, but what was pleasantly surprising was the filmed footage portion of the beginning.  I didn’t realize these were taking place after the main portion of the story.  It was also great to see how the stakes kept getting raised in each scene, and for the most part, how every scene led into the one following it.

I really hope they don’t make a sequel.  It doesn’t need one.

The second movie is LET ME IN, the US remake of the Swedish vampire flick LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.  K and I liked the latter and we’re still working on the former, but so far it’s not too bad. It’s hard to not keep going back to the original while watching this.

Some of the scenes are a little slow, but it’s that kind of movie. And because I know what’s going to happen, that heart-quickening sense of anticipation isn’t as strong as during the original.

Put both on your Netflix queue, but watch the Swedish one first.  With subtitles.  It’s better that way.

Streamlined and ready for action

Maximum Z Lucy Steele, outlines, screenwriting

Nice progress on LUCY over the past few days.  First and foremost, I’ve reached the page 75 twist, so all that remains is the rest of Act 2 and all of Act 3.  Not surprisingly, the former is more daunting than the latter.  I know what to put into Act 3; it’s what comes between where I am now and there.  But I’ve made it through seemingly impassable impasses before, so I’ll keep reminding myself to be patient and sally forth.

I also decided I had too much going on, so I took what I had and started hacking and slashing what wasn’t absolutely necessary to the story.  I took out more than I expected, including a sequence I really liked, but went against everything Lucy herself represents.  I think that section is a little stronger for it.

It also helped reduce the number of scenes per quarter in Act 2, so now it doesn’t seem as cluttered or drawn-out.

What’s really great about this kind of rewriting process is that while I may get rid of something I thought fit perfectly, I try to figure out what would also work, possibly even better, in that same spot.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.  As long as the script is better for it.

Movie of the Moment:  Western fan that I am, I was hoping to take V to see RANGO this past weekend.  She wanted to stay home, so we ended up renting DIARY OF A WIMPY KID.  V really liked the books, and the commercials upon its theatrical release were all over our TV at the time, plus she had a 6am hockey game earlier that morning, so I figured I would sleep during the show.

No such luck.  The movie was fun, especially the younger you are.  It adhered to the general tone of the books, which is basically that the main character is a selfish but well-meaning jerk during his first year of middle school.

If you have pre- or tween-aged kids, or want to relive the hell that was junior high, then you should probably give this a try.

Double, double, toil and trouble!

Maximum Z adventure, Black List, screenwriting

I didn’t get to do any work on LUCY because I was busy reading another Black List script: THE LAST WITCH HUNTER by Cory Goodman.

I admit that part of the reason I wanted to read this was because it sounds kinda-sorta like a future script of mine, the difference that mine is about a monster hunter.  And mine is more comedy-adventure, whereas this is fantasy-adventure.  With a vengeance.

The story starts 400-some years ago in Europe.  Witches are a horrific plague on mankind.  Brave warrior Kaulder seeks venegance for the death of his wife and child by leading a fearless band into a witch’s nest to kill as many witches as they can.  A thrilling battles ensues, ending with Kaulder being cursed with immortality.

Jump ahead to the present day.  Witches still exist, but are secretly part of everyday life.  They hide in plain sight.  But one witch in particular, Belial, thinks it’s once again time for witches to reign supreme over humanity.  But Kaulder, now working in conjunction with the Church, has basically become a living weapon and relentlessly seeks to stop him.

If my prose seems a little overly purple,  that should give you an idea of what Goodman’s writing is like.  He takes a sentence and wrings as much out of it as humanly possible.  Somebody doesn’t run down the stairs; they THUNDER as they CHARGE into the fray!  I bet his CAPS LOCK key really got a workout while this was being written.

Goodman also seems to subscribe to the Shane Black School of Screenwriting in that the wide margins are almost a character unto themselves, full of comments directed at the reader.  This continues throughout the whole thing.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it gives off a “too cool for the room” kind of vibe, and becomes a little distracting.

In an effort to really create the world of this script, Goodman includes objects and artifacts relevant to the story, like Kaulder’s witch-killing gun, a certain type of knife, or a ghost warrior (comparable to Harry Potter’s Dementors).  All of these have inventive names WHICH ARE NEVER IDENTIFIED BY THE CHARACTERS.  So if you were watching this, you’d never know Kaulder’s gun is called the Purifier, because while it’s constantly mentioned in the wide margins, HE NEVER CALLS IT THAT.  You’d probably just call it his big-ass gun.

While I enjoyed reading it, it was hard to ignore the unfilmables peppered throughout, including the description of what something smelled like (!), or how ‘the camera slingshots’ around during a fight scene.  Fortunately, there weren’t a lot of moments like that, but it would still work without them.

The whole time I was reading this, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it seemed really familiar, including plot points and characters.  Then it hit me.  This is HELLBOY without the makeup.  Sure, there are a few differences here and there, but for the most part – same story.  Don’t be surprised if they to get Ron Perlman.

The script was picked up just under a year ago by Summit Entertainment with the apparent intent to start a franchise.  Timur Bekmambetov (again?) slated to produce and direct.  IMDB lists it as having a tentative 2012 release date, but that seems a little optimistic.

I shall not be deterred

Maximum Z Aint It Cool News, Lucy Steele, screenwriting, scriptshadow, Tarantino, westerns

I’ll get to today’s LUCY update in a second, but there’s something I feel compelled to address.

I read today on Aint It Cool that Tarantino has written a western.  I’m not sure how I feel about that.  My first thought was “oh crap.” I’m busting my ass to get mine done, and his will probably wrap up production by then.

But his will no doubt be talky and violent.  Mine won’t.  I’m shooting for more of a RAIDERS-type vibe.

Will this mean nobody will want to read another western?  Highly doubtful.  The Coens did TRUE GRIT. THE BRIGANDS OF RATTLEBORGE was a recent in-demand spec script that got its writer noticed.

So there’s hope for me yet.  Just got to get the damn thing finished.

Speaking of which, I went back to the old rule of “kill your darlings” today when I realized that a mini-subplot I loved developing in Act Two would have to be completely eliminated.  As much as I love it, it slows the action down and unnecessarily bulks up that particular sequence.  So out it goes.  But in the long run, it’s for the best, because it drops the number of scenes for that stretch of Act Two down to around 20, which is much more acceptable than 25 or 26.

I also discovered some notes I developed last week I had completely forgotten about, and they may solidify the subplot I started on yesterday.

Since I’m working extra hours all this week and possibly next week, getting to the end of Act Two may be pushed back until next week, which is fine.

Movie of the Moment: EASY A.  I’d heard this was a smart high school comedy.  I’d agree.

Emma Stone plays Olive, a girl who inadvertently starts a rumor that she’s lost her virginity, which is a complete lie, and as a result starts to gain the reputation of a slut.

The school sees Olive in a whole new light.  People who had ignored her in years past suddenly are paying attention to her. She embraces her new persona with relish, but doesn’t act on it, or at least in the way you’d think she would.

From there it really delves into a clever, well-written look at the power of the spoken, or rather, texted & emailed word. One subplot involves her friend, who everybody assumes is gay, which he is.  He enlists her help to spread a rumor that he’s not.  This involves providing the meant-to-mislead soundtrack to a rousing closed-door session of hot sex at a party.

While some of the characters fall into cliche territory, it was nice to see some of them have layers, or at least a little more depth to their personality than just who they’re supposed to be.

I was also surprised at Thomas Haden Church’s teacher character.  I was certain something bad was going to happen involving him.  And it did, but it was the complete opposite of what I expected.

I’m not surprised this wasn’t a bigger hit than it should have been, considering the subject matter, but it’s smart and doesn’t treat the viewer like a moron.

Which is how all movies should be.