Black List

A mini-saga in editing

Maximum Z Black List, editing, screenwriting
A little bubbly for a little milestone

In only a little less than four hours, I managed to complete a pretty strong rewrite of the first half of DREAMSHIP.  Even better, I was able to cut enough to take it from 62 pages to 55, which is much more acceptable.

Being able to really trim the fat not only helps the script flow better, but also improves your writing.  The more you can say with fewer words, the better.

It was surprisingly easier than expected to manipulate the scenes to get the most out of them.  Maybe it was drastically cutting whatever wasn’t needed, or finding a way to cut a scene by half, or combining two scenes into one.  No matter what was needed, I did it.  This included cutting a line I absolutely loved, but it had to go.  Besides, I can always use it later.

I especially liked getting rid of a drawn-out sequence that was too similar to something earlier in the story and reworking it so it was shorter, different and made my protagonist be more active and help drive the action.  Good things all.

But that’s enough high self-praise. Time to move on to the second half.  If I can be as strategic in the initial writing phase as I  am in the later editing, AND I can do a healthy output of pages per day/week, then this thing will be ready to go sooner than anticipated.

No complaints.

-I haven’t been able to read many scripts lately, especially those from the Black List.  For the most part, I’ve been underwhelmed by a lot of this year’s selections, and ScriptShadow has been covering a lot of them.  I’ll go over the list again and see if anything catches my eye.  Any suggestions?

As a bee

Maximum Z Apple, Black List, screenwriting, writing gigs
the result of growing up in the 80s

Hokey smokes, is there a lot going on this week!

Might as well get the bad/not-great news out of the way. After all that time I spent slaving away on the outline for the short, the director got back to me within an hour saying that while he could “see” my story, it wasn’t what he wanted. While my first immediate thought was “you arrogant bastard. Of course this is what you want. You’re just too thick to realize it,” I had to remind myself that ultimately it was his movie and I should be a bit more flexible about it.

He wants something a bit more…traditional, in terms of a mystery. For the most part, most of the pieces are there.  I just need to rework them.  Shouldn’t be too hard.  I’m talking to him again tomorrow night. Should be interesting.

-Since I’m still learning how to use a Mac, I got both jack and shit done on both LUCY and DREAMSHIP during my cross-country flights this weekend.  My sister put it rather succinctly: When you’re so used to working on a PC, making the switch to a Mac forces you to learn a completely new way of using a computer. So while I may want to do something the old PC way, I can’t do it exactly the same and have to figure out how it works in the new Mac way.  This is going to be a work in progress.  I still have to schedule my one-to-one meeting with somebody at the Apple store.  My list of questions has been steadily growing.

-Really, really hoping to get back on track with both LUCY and DREAMSHIP. I hate these big gaps in productivity, but you do what you can.  For the most part, any concept of a target end date has been thrown out the window.  My goal now is to finish them. No matter what.

-I’m currently working on a project for a client that requires me to put together a short video script.  This has been quite a challenging experience.  I knew a video script was completely different in appearance from a film script.  I really thought my screenwriting program would have something for it, but doesn’t appear to.

So for now, it’s been manipulating a Word document with two columns.  I don’t mind the work. It’ s been fun.  But again, quite the challenge.

-The 2011 Black List came out today. I skimmed through it, but nothing seemed to really jump out.  The friend who sent me last year’s batch has offered to do it again.  I’ll look through it again and try to pick about 12-15.  Of the ones I selected last year, I think most, if not all, are being made.  Not a bad record.

Don’t count me out just yet

Maximum Z Black List, Dreamship, screenwriting

Really nice progress on the DREAMSHIP rewrite today. While I like what I had to begin with, what I came up with today is quite an improvement.

I also realized I was taking my ScriptQuack notes too literally.  I don’t have to accept everything they suggest.  While some of their comments definitely have merit, it’s ultimately MY script, and I can pick and choose which of their suggestions to use.

If I can keep up this kind of pace between now and the end of the month, I may make that deadline after all.  I’m not saying it’s definitely doable, but the odds are slowly working their way back in my favor.

-The stats feature for WordPress tells me what categories are leading readers here.  Several of the more recent ones are connected with some of the Black List scripts I reviewed earlier this year.  This reminded me I have about another 12-15 to check out.

I’d forgotten what great reads they can be, but they’ll have to wait until after the rewrite.  Time for a nice cup of GET BACK TO YOUR SCRIPT.

Closing in*

Maximum Z Black List, Last Son of Isaac Lemay, Lucy Steele, Movie of the Moment, outlines, screenwriting

*This was intended for Thursday, but was delayed until today due to my child’s soccer practice, followed by a hockey game. Suffice to say, I was wiped.

Really good progress today. I managed to get through that gap that was hindering me over the past few days, so there are about 4-5 scenes left until I hit the end of Act 2. And since I did that ‘working backward’ thing last week, the basic blueprint is ready and waiting. All I have to do now is flesh it out a little.

Then I move on to Act 3, and voila. An outline is born.

It’s no understatement to say I’m quite psyched as I get closer to starting down the home stretch.

-I got to read Black List script THE LAST SON OF ISAAC LEMAY, a very dark Western by Greg Johnson. I call it dark because there is a tremendous amount of violence in it, which I didn’t have a problem with because it really emphasizes the brutality of that time.

Issac is an aging outlaw roaming the West in search of his numerous progeny, convinced that since he is evil, they must be as well and therefore must be eliminated. We see him kill a good-natured son, and in a daring move, a 5-year-old girl (offscreen, of course).

But as if to justify his quest, there’s Cal, who has no qualms about shooting somebody. You know these two are going to have a showdown before this is over, and it’s going to be a bloody trail while we get there.

There are also subplots involving a half-breed Army lieutenant searching for a stolen Gatling gun, a stepfather out for justice and a whore who never seems to leave her room. (That last one is my only complaint about the story; the character is a key story element, but it seems like all she ever does is stay in her room and wail.)

What I liked the most about this script was how Johnson says so much with so little. His use of just the right handful of words paints a clear mental picture. I also enjoyed how all the characters, even down to the minor ones, are developed so as to really give each one a personality. All of this really helps keep things moving at a good clip.

Even though I’m also working on a Western, mine is a little lighter in mood and leans more towards adventure, whereas this is more of a thriller and a lot more violent. Always room for diversity within a genre.

I couldn’t find any record of this being bought, but it is listed for potential release in 2013.

Movie of the Moment: THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Since I haven’t seen THE KING’S SPEECH, I can’t determine which was the stronger Best Picture candidate. But I can see why this one was.

I’m still trying to determine if Mark Zuckerberg is supposed to be the protagonist or the antagonist. Either way, he makes for a fascinating lynchpin connecting all the subplots together.

This may have been the fastest 2-hour movie I’ve ever seen. Aaron Sorkin’s script really zooms by. Easy to see why he won Best Adapted Screenplay. As a co-worker put it, he took a boring subject and made it interesting.

Exhiliration & frustration

Maximum Z Black List, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Last Son of Isaac Lemay, Lucy Steele, outlines, screenwriting, westerns, Wondercon

Definite progress today.  Still not to the end of Act 2, but the gap is closing.

I like what I came up with, but am already trying to figure out whether it’s the perfect fit.  For now, it works and will help me move ahead.

One particular scene starting getting too silly and seemed very out of place, so I scrapped it and started again.  The benefit being I now know what NOT to use.

I may actually have semi-normal hours tomorrow, so I can work on it a little longer than I have been.  I’m really hoping to be done with the whole outline by the end of the month, or at least before Wondercon, which is also rapidly approaching.

I also plan on reviewing the Black List script THE LAST SON OF ISSAC LEMAY, a gritty Western. Lots of blood and gunfire seem to be the two main focuses.

Movie of the Moment: MICMACS, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who also did AMELIE and THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN. Off to a very whimsical and entertaining start, but that means cutting this short since I have to pay attention to the subtitles.