Author: Maximum Z

Little by little

Maximum Z Netflix, outlines, plot, Raiders of the Lost Ark, screenwriting, westerns

School was back in session today, which let me get back to work on LUCY.

The first act is slowly coming together, emphasis on ‘slowly’.

My problem seems to be trying to fit scenes into the standard form.  And that might not work for this.

I’m concerned I’m throwing too much action at the viewer, rather than setting everything up so it can be paid off later.  Take RAIDERS, for example.  The opening sequence shows Indy in his element and all his expertise (and quite well, I might add).  Then we go to the college to show him in another element, followed by the expository scene where he (and we) learn about the Ark from the G-men.

Maybe part of my problem is I feel married to my original plot points and am trying to shoehorn everything in to make it fit, rather than be willing to bend a little and try to flesh out the story.

And I don’t have to do that.  For now, the plot points are guidelines and NOT written in stone. While I like the way the story is developing, it really feels like it needs more set-up and less “hey, check this out!”

It seems a bit daunting right now, but I bet the more I work on it, it’ll come together a little easier.  At least, I hope that’s what’ll happen.

Movie of the Moment: I don’t remember how it popped into my Netflix queue, but there’s this British pseudo-holiday miniseries called HOGFATHER from author Terry Pratchett.  It’s kind of an alternate universe where the Santa-like Hogfather is missing (possibly dead?), and Death takes over the job, while an aspiring assassin tries to off the aforementioned Hogfather.  It’s a mash-up of Dickens, fairy tales, Monty Python and Hitchcock.  It’s better than I expected.

I started watching it by myself, but V was intrigued and sat down about 20 minutes in.  She was quite mesmerized and we watched the rest of part 1 together.  We’ll see how it goes for part 2 tomorrow.

Urgh

Maximum Z blog, outlines, screenwriting, Veronica

K left the country today, and with California short of money, V had no school, which meant she was home.  All day.

She did her reading homework, we played Monopoly Junior, we watched some TV (including the Giants winning the World Series – yay!), but what it also meant was I didn’t get any writing done.

And I don’t like that part.  The Dad part I love.  Not writing, I don’t.

But I get the rest of the week, so that should work out okay.

-Movie of the Moment: Season 1 of MODERN FAMILY. Very funny.  I can see why it won the Emmy for Best Comedy.

-I just realized.  This is November, which means I’ve been doing a fairly passable job of keeping this thing going for almost 4 months.  While it was hard in the beginning, I actually look forward to it now.

Next up – more readers!  Somehow.

And he’s off!

Maximum Z outlines, plot, screenwriting, story

I managed to start putting together Act One.  Even though I only have approximately five scenes, and each one is basically a sketch of an idea, that’s more than I had yesterday.

And that’s nice.

Is it wrong for me to say the more I work on this, the more I look forward to working on it?  While I rack my brain trying to figure out what should come next, I keep referring to examples of what I’m trying to accomplish in each scene.

The opening where we meet our hero?  See the introduction of Indiana Jones in RAIDERS.  Is the villain a badass (Chigur in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN), or incompetent fop (not sure about that one)?

How many members are in the gang?  Should there be a love interest?  Can the proposed bounty hunter be likable or a complete mystery?

Questions to be answered for each scene, more into each sequence and none of it is easy.  Part of the fun of the writing is figuring things out.  At least it is for me.  I also like trying to stay ahead of the reader/audience so they can’t figure things out too easily.

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it here, but just in case, here it is again.  BACK TO THE FUTURE is my gold standard.  To me that is a perfect screenplay.  You can go on and on about CHINATOWN, which is also mega-impressive, but to me, BTTF is what I aspire to.  There really is nothing unnecessary in it.

Everything that is set up has a payoff, no matter how big or small.  I’ve read that co-writer Bob Gale worked super-hard on making sure everything worked.  And boy, does it.

THAT’S what I’d like this be like.

Will it?  I was about to say ‘probably not,’ but something tells me there is a slight, remote, kind-of possibility it could.  Maybe.

And that would be, of course, AWESOME.

But first I need to get past page five.

Nice

Maximum Z adventure, Cat Ballou, characters, Hollywood, movies, plot, screenwriting, script doctor eric, story, treatment, Uncategorized, westerns, writing group

Do you remember the very last Calvin and Hobbes?  I don’t have it handy, but it talks about all the possibilities that await you/us out there.  How metaphoric.

That’s how LUCY is starting to shape up.  The more I think about what I could do with this, the more positive it feels.  To quote Steve Allen, this could be the start of something big.

No, really.

The writing group came over last night.  If we were able to stay a little more focused, we’d get a lot more done.  But I digress.

There were only five of us, and everybody ‘checks in,’ which means they give a little update as to where they are with their material.  A status update, I guess.

So when it came to me, I explained how I was abandoning BABY LIKES JAZZ because of my inability to write comedy, then explained how I came up with LUCY STEELE.

It got a positive, enthusiastic response.  Which was awesome.  They liked the concept, the story (such as it was) and the potential.  All of which I am also excited about.

I started compiling a list of everything that could possibly be connected with this story, including whatever I could think of regarding westerns, trains, post-Civil War America, and so on.  Not surprisingly, the list keeps getting longer.  Although I don’t plan to use everything, a lot of it could factor in somehow.

I feel like I’m on the cusp of having a plot-point outline done; still needs some fine-tuning.  Once that’s ready, I’m hoping a lot of it falls into place.

I’ve also been trying to figure out supporting cast, but I really want to have fun with this, so I may let my imagination run wild on this.  For some reason, the idea of a medicine show huckster-type character popped in and won’t go away.  That could work.

And a bounty hunter.  And a handsome authority-type figure (US marshal/cavalryman/etc).  Still working on those.

I’m also reminded of how much I enjoyed CAT BALLOU, which is also one of K’s favorites.  An often-overlooked western-comedy with the surprisingly-funny Lee Marvin and a catchy theme song.  I think I’ll have to watch that again to get a better sense of a female protagonist up against tremendous odds.

Once I get started, I suspect writing this may be as fun as DREAMSHIP was.

Not to get ahead of myself, but maybe this could be THE ONE that does it for me.  And that would TOTALLY AWESOME.

Of course, I have to write the damn thing first.  Well, one step at a time.

-Once again, I did not win the logline contest.  Ugh.  I’m seriously considering giving up entering.  Or at least giving it one or two more tries, THEN giving up.

Dad to the rescue!

Maximum Z adventure, movies, outlines, screenwriting, story, Veronica, writing group

I did hardly any writing today, mostly because my wonderful child was feeling under the weather and stayed home.  Ergo, writin’ was at a minimum.

That’s not to say I didn’t think about plot points for LUCY.  They’re still a work in progress.  Still digging the idea, too.  Although I’m a bit concerned what the writing group will think of it.  But that’s not until Sunday, so I’ll delay my anxiety for now.

I do find these kinds of days to be almost introspective, because when I hit a lull, I tend to surf the internets, and occasionally go back to one of a handful of screenwriting websites/blogs.

One in particular has the ability to be inspiring and oh-so-frustrating at the same time.  And it’s called scriptshadow.

A lot of the scripts there are really impressive; some of them not so much.

But the ones that are, are really well-written.  And that’s intimidating.

I like to think I’d be able to write something of that quality and caliber, but I also know I need to keep working at it.

I also need to remind myself that some of the scripts there are written by established, or at least experienced, writers.  Which I am not on either count.  But again, still working on it.

I liked the sci-fi script I read last week.  Tomorrow I’m checking out the “Green Arrow in a supervillain prison” one, which sounds promising.  The western was overrated. The guy living on his front lawn was okay. The ‘time travel’ thriller was pretty good. The social misfit junior high girl one was also pretty good.

It’s hard to determine what criteria the handful of reviewers use.  Everybody has different standards.

I think they still review one amateur script a month, which is a really good idea.  Twice a month would be better.  I’ve submitted DREAMSHIP twice, but nothing.  The guy behind it all doesn’t seem to care for that genre.  Too bad.

Way back when I may have mentioned something about letting some of the higher-profile bloggers about this one, just to see about getting the word out.  Now that I’ve been doing this for a few months, I’m more comfortable in letting more of the outside world see it.

Movie of the Moment: THE BLUES BROTHERS, but only because it’s on Encore right now.  As much as I love watching it, I’ve got RUNAWAY TRAIN from Netflix and really should watch that instead.  It’s not like Encore won’t show Belushi and Aykroyd again.

I remember seeing the trailer for it when we went to see THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in the theatre.  The first time.  Can’t get over how thin Aykroyd was – 30 years ago.  God, I’m old.