Raiders of the Lost Ark

Set up, pay off

Maximum Z Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, rewrite, screenwriting
Yep. It HAD to be snakes.

I’ve said before how BACK TO THE FUTURE is one of, if not my absolute favorite script.  One of the many amazing aspects of it is practically the entire first act is setup, with the payoff throughout the second AND third acts.  I think it’s safe to say the story may be practically impenetrable, if you’re talking in terms of looking for a flaw in the armor that is it’s story.

While I’ve been working on both DREAMSHIP pages and the LUCY rewrite, I’ve been paying special attention to certain aspects in each to find out if there’s something that can be set up early, leading to the resulting (and satisfying) payoff later.  Hammering out story details during the outlining process has been extremely helpful.  It’s a lot easier to figure things out when you’re working with a scene of 1-2 sentences, rather than 3 whole pages.

As a result, planting story details throughout the first act hasn’t been too difficult, mostly because I know how I want them to play out as the story progresses.

Reading scripts over the past few weeks has been an eye-opener in terms of seeing who knows how to do this effectively.  Consider this yet another argument of why writers should read them. You should be able to see setup and payoff in action. It’s especially good when you don’t even realize it’s happening.  And take the time to think about whether the setups and payoffs in your script are just as effective.

I get by with a little help from…

Maximum Z Raiders of the Lost Ark, screenwriting, writing group

I had a good talk today with a friend of mine from our old writing group.  The new group hasn’t met since February, despite word from the organizer that “she’s working on it.”  So my friend and I reconnected, and it was nice.

We each described what we were working on; me and the rewrite, her and her new story idea.  Then we talked about what we’ve seen lately, and talked about possibly bringing back another former member.

I don’t know how many writers like me take part in a writing group, but if you don’t, you really should.  And if there aren’t any around, try starting one.  Craigslist is a good place to start.

It’s like a support group made up of people just like you. The skill levels are for the most part equal, and confidence levels adjust with each meeting.  Being part of one has been incredibly beneficial to me.  I get feedback on my work, and give feedback to others.  It’s really played a significant part of helping me become a better writer.

-I worked the midday shift yesterday, and was making some good progress on the rewrite, but then there was a fatality around the halfway mark, so I kind of had to focus on all that work stuff.  Which was probably for the better.  Especially with the GM constantly coming in to ask questions.

I also made the decision to cut out a part of the story I still love, only because it  wasn’t really working in the overall scheme of things.  On a positive note, this forces me to think of an alternative idea, which will most likely be more effective than before.

-Question time! Is 8 1/2 too young to watch RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK? Today was the last day of school, and K suggested we celebrate by watching it as a family.  I wasn’t sure if it would be too scary.  Your thoughts?  Experiences?  And let’s avoid the ‘depends on the child’ argument.

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.

So long, rules!

Maximum Z adventure, jobs, movies, outlines, plot, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Roger Corman, screenwriting, story

One of the first things I learned about screenwriting was when something had to happen.

Page 3 is statement of theme.  Page 10 is your inciting incident, and so on and so on.

I mention this because today was about reinforcing what I already have for the first act.  I opted to start with my thrilling opening sequence.  All I had written down was ‘rousing action sequence,’ which really doesn’t grab you.  So I jotted down some notes about what I wanted to happen and got to work.

After a few false starts, it started to come together.  I keep going back to RAIDERS, with Indy and Alfred Molina in the temple, followed by the escaping-the-natives/introducing-Belloq sequence.  So much info and detail about each character in a space of minutes. Incredible!  Could I pull off the same feat?  Maybe.

It’s a little different when your main character is a train engineer.  What can they do besides drive a train?  One of many things I had to figure out.  But then the mental reminder that this is still the first outline, so things will change down the line.  But for now, she can drive a train and is pretty good with a gun.

As I worked on ramping up the conflict, I couldn’t help but notice that this was growing well beyond the original 3-page limit I had set up.  It was reaching at least 6.  Possibly 7.  And all of that would really mess up having the inciting incident on page 10.  Yikes!

But the more I thought about it, the less it mattered.  I was trying to have a thrilling introduction to my main character (plus her sidekick), and if it went beyond 3 pages, then so be it.

I’m also trying to figure out how to end the whole sequence.  I have a pretty good idea of what it will be.  It’s working out the details that’s the hard part.

-Something somebody at the writing group said last week also struck a nerve, and I’m really glad I wrote it down:  What’s at stake if Lucy fails?

This has been bothering me ever since.  What WILL happen?

What I have now under the ‘what she wants’ label is: to catch the real thieves.  Which is okay, but seems like it should be bigger.  Something a lot of people can relate to.

Again, working out the details is pain in the butt.

No Movie of the Moment tonight, but we did watch the original DEATH RACE 2000 the other night.  Wow, was that cheesy.  Once you suspend disbelief about everything going on, there are some funny moments.  Unfortunately those were few and far between.

As K pointed out, it was more interesting during the race and less when they were off the road.  Interesting early performance from Stallone.

All things being equal, we may put the Jason Statham-starring one on our Netflix queue.  For purely academic curiosity, of course.

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.