westerns

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.

Cowboys and soldiers are MY kind of crap

Maximum Z anime, I Blame Ninjas, Miyazaki, movies, Netflix, Veronica, westerns, WWII

Through some miracle unbeknownst to me, my Adobe reader at work was up and running, so I was able to read through Patrick Sweeney’s GHOST TRAIN.  Due to time constraints, I got halfway through, then finished it at home.  I want to read it again because I’ve got some questions that a second read may answer.  Comments will be posted Monday.

In the meantime…

K is out of town for the week, so while it may mean the usual readjusting of child care and a slightly different menu (my dishes tend to run simpler when it’s just me and V), it also means I tear through the stuff I put on Netflix I know she won’t watch.

Which usually means westerns, WWII flicks and cheesy recent releases.  Not so much of the first two categories this week, but some of the stuff I’ll be watching over the next few days includes: GI JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (which looks really, really stupid, but I can’t help myself), THE LOSERS (mixed reviews), and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (I read the book, but don’t have any desire to see the upcoming American remake).

I regret not being able to do much with LUCY this weekend, but this whole parenting thing is quite time-consuming.

Speaking of which, V got HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON for Hanukkah.  She loved it when we saw it in the theatres, but I think I’m more interested in watching it again than she is.  Which is okay.

She’s really into Miyazaki films lately.  HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE. KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE.  She wants to see MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO.  Tonight’s feature is CASTLE IN THE SKY.  I saw it when she was really little, but don’t mind having it in the house again.

I don’t know which is more fun to watch.  The movies or her reaction to watching them.

Someday she may even want to watch STEAMBOY, which is just wicked cool.  It was made by Katsuhiro Otomo, the same guy who did AKIRA.  While AKIRA is cool to look at, the story just gets too confusing.  At least for me.

What’s playing at your place?

And that was the easy part!

Maximum Z Harry Potter, movies, outlines, plot, Richard Curtis, screenwriting, story, train, westerns

I must have gotten more done on the first act of LUCY last week than I thought, because I didn’t have to spend much time on it today, and for the most part, it’s done.

Hooray for me.

While I’m extremely happy with the way everything’s working out so far, I’ve also been mulling over what happens in Act Two, aka the vast wasteland.

It is somewhat daunting to be starting on the bulk of the story, which is why I’m really glad to be fine-tuning everything now.  I can figure out what works and what doesn’t.  I’m also really glad I set up those plot point milestones, which will help me get where I want to go.  That western and train checklist has also come in handy.

I’ve started plotting out what happens as Act Two gets underway, but still need a plausible way to get to my page 45 twist.  Somewhere in there I’d like to introduce my bounty hunter character (and I already have his name ready).  What would be even cooler is to somehow tie him in to what we’ve already seen, but I think I can do that too.

Movie of the Moment:  I took V to see HARRY POTTER 7 yesterday.  A little long, but seems like a nice start to wrapping the whole thing up.  I remember when the book came out, a reviewer commented on “HP and the never-ending camping trip.”  Which was on full display.  Despite the occasional question (“What did he say?,  What does that mean?, etc”), V seemed really enjoy it.  I’m sure we’ll see part 2 next summer.

There was also the requisite GREEN LANTERN trailer, which V was very excited about.  I am also guilty about that, despite Ryan Reynolds still being better for the part of Barry Allen rather than Hal Jordan.  But that’s what they get for not asking me.

I did watch PIRATE RADIO earlier today.  It was a blast.  I didn’t realize Richard Curtis wrote and directed it; he wrote FOUR WEDDINGS & A FUNERAL, NOTTING HILL and wrote and directed LOVE, ACTUALLY.  After I learned that, I could see similarities between some of the films.  Multi-character storylines with one main character tying the whole thing together.  And he collaborated with Rowan Atkinson on some of the later Blackadders, so you know his comedy skills are top-notch.

But getting back to PIRATE RADIO.  Lots of funny stuff, most of it possibly true, and just a fun story.  It also had the requisite happy ending, but I won’t say how.  Suffice to say, what led up to it was unexpected, but it all fit together very nicely.

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.

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.