Archive Seventeen
July 2, 2006 -
Screenwriting Stuffing -
A unique blend of in and out, up and down, left and right,
subjective and objective, a duality in action and retreat ...
As I
approach the midpoint of this draft, just some random thoughts on
screenwriting ...
While the
characters partake of their dramatic journey through the story,
the screenwriter takes his (or her) own journey through their own
psyche ...
Worldly
tension blocks the flow of inner creativity. You must find a
way to relax in order to work out the creative kinks. Do
relaxation exercises, physical exercise, meditation, whatever
works, or your subconscious depth won't be released. In
other words, get above, or out of, your mind for this short period
(of course, without totally going out of your mind).
Sometimes your mind is a wonderful tool, other times a real
barrier ...
Make time,
every day if possible, for reflective moments and allow the free
flow of unbridled consciousness to fill the moment. In fact,
try to spend this time to totally live and be in the moment.
Remember, Be Here Now? Find strength and purpose in
that moment, and then pass it off to your characters, for they
will need it on their journey ...
Screenwriting involves both left and right brain activity.
Allow each its place. Don't fight one to impose the other.
Some days you will be very specific about left brain stuff like
shot headings, locations, time, plot points, etc., while on other
days right brain stuff like subtext, character layers, hidden
motives, dramatically poetic moments, etc. will dominate.
And on normal days, you will alternate between both, hopefully for
a unity of purpose ...
Directing
your own script is probably a crazy thing to do. For me,
when I write I start thinking about how I'm going to direct it.
When I read a directing book, or take a directing class and
actually direct some scenes, I think about how I should rewrite
the script. Back and forth like this. Probably not the
most stable way to create a film, but who said this was a stable
process? If you want stable, go sell insurance or become an
accountant ...
And yes,
do let your characters talk to you, just don't let them take over
the whole project. You serve each other, but you're still
the boss, at least at this phase (or possibly you have a God
complex - which is okay for now) ...
And
finally, as far as where I currently am in the process. I
have a sneaking suspicion that I am on the cusp of a very big
revelation about my script. One I only have an inkling of.
I think it goes to the very core of what this story is trying to
really be about. Burrowing deeper is what I need to do, but
I can't force it or it will dissipate right before me. A bit
like grabbing the wind. How do you do that? You don't.
You only let it touch you and then allow it to pass on to you what
it's trying to communicate, and then you in turn pass that along
...
Magic can
happen, but you can't force it, just do your homework, set the
stage and allow it to happen ...
J-Alden
July 9, 2006 -
Learning Curves -
Back to schooling, doing and hoping to create more ...
This past
year and a half while trying to sharpen my directing skills, I
thought I'd pass along some books I've found useful in one way or
more. Of course, actually directing trumps the bookworm
stuff, but at least they help give you a foundation for what you
need to experience;
Cinematic Motion,
Cinematic Storytelling,
Directing Actors,
Directing Feature Films,
First Time Director,
Setting Up Your Shots,
Shot by Shot,
The Film Director's Intuition,
The Working
Director. Yes, these certainly cover a lot of bases.
Also, I'm going to check out some editing books as well ...
And on
this ongoing education front, I'll be doing a couple more
workshops, the next couple months.
Writers Becoming
Directors put on by Mark Travis (author of one of the
above books) and Frederick Johntz is a two-part affair on July
28-30 and Sept. 8-10. And then August 20-28 I'll be doing
Shoot Camp, put on by Filmmaker's Central School of
Cinema, where we'll be shooting a feature and rotating different
crew positions, as well as directing scenes ...
And to
exercise my directing chops even more, my plan over the next
several months is to get a few actors together, a cameraman, take
some scenes from my other scripts and shoot them just for the
experience. Plus, once the script for this project is ready
go, I plan to workshop it with actors, film some scenes and tweak
it even more. Hopefully this will better prepare for the
production marathon that certainly awaits me ...
Okay,
okay, I know. Back to the script ...
J-Alden
Comments --
Blogging -- 7/13
Whereas, I have not really been much into
following blogs, I have to say I really love yours. Just
being a film buff and not someone working in film I find yours
refreshing and informative. And at least I don't have to
check it every day. Once a week or every other week works
just fine. I look forward to when you
actually go into production and can see how that goes. Keep
it up!
Grant Boyle
July 15, 2006 -
Breakthrough -
I see
the light, beaming, shining, sparkling and revealing ...
The last
couple days have been marvelous, as the fullness of the second act
of this screenplay draft has finally revealed itself in stunning
clarity. I don't know why I didn't see it before.
Forest for the trees? ...
Even
though this screenplay is the fourth draft of the 17th script that
I have written, I have written this one completely different than
the previous 16 scripts. How is that? Early on all my
scripts were plot-heavy. I grew up really loving the work of
Hitchcock and Serling. And although they were deeply steeped
in tone and style and had quirky characters with ironic twists,
they were very plot-driven. And that's what interested me.
What was going to happen next? ...
I didn't
even attempt my first screenplay until I was 28. I had taken
a long sabbatical from college, to which I had I returned by then.
But I had seen something of the world, having already worked as a
bartender, taxi driver, chimney sweep, oil rig worker and salt
mine laborer. Also, I had returned from some long, exciting
motorcycle trips (my transportation of choice in those days);
across Canada, from Vancouver to San Diego, then to Texas, and
numerous points in between. So when I started my first
screenplay, I had seen and done a few things in the world, and met
some intriguing people as well ...
During the
process of several years of writing scripts, and even though they
were still heavily plot driven, my characters began to develop
more, finally finding their place in the firmament of my
imagination. By the time I started the process of my current
script, the characters had totally taken over, and I decided to
let them. Now I am finally laying a plot over the many
character layers already in place, which is a totally different
way than I've ever written before. How exciting that I get
to do this! ...
I truly
believe that if I hadn't taken the time to experience the things I
did and meet the people I met, there's no way I could have ever
written what I wrote, and of course continue to do. A few
words of humble wisdom to all you new or aspiring wordsmiths --
Imagination may be the fuel, but experience is the vehicle ...
J-Alden
Comments --
Characters -- 7/17
I think in many ways, characters determine
plot. Once you really know your characters, you will know how
they react to different circumstances. Also, some of the plot
will be the reaction to other characters.
Good luck as always,
ML
Comments --
The Angry Filmmaker's Fall & Winter Tours -- 7/18
Well it's that time again. No, not time for
picnics and trips to the lake. It's time to start booking the
Angry Filmmaker's Fall and Winter Tours. I know it seems like I
just got back home, (and I did), but this road show must go
on. So if you want me to come to your School, College,
University, Media Art Center, Theater, or even over to your house
for dinner, now is the time to act!
In the last year I have driven 27,000 miles, flew to the UK, gave
over 100 lectures and work shops, screened my work 74 times,
talked to hundreds of students, eaten my weight in patty melts and
club sandwiches, drank a swimming pool full of gas station coffee,
(okay maybe a wading pool...), and ate three cases of Tums. The
tours have been great and I want to thank all of those people who
have already asked me back again this year. Moses and I are
looking forward to being on the road again.
I am starting the Tour in mid-September on the East Coast (the
Baltimore/DC area). I'll be heading north towards Philadelphia,
New Jersey, Boston, New York State, over to the Great Lakes
region, down thru the mid-west, to Memphis and the deep South,
Missouri, Texas, Arizona and then back up the West Coast to
Portland and home. I plan on being on the road until the second
week of November.
Check out
http://www.angryfilmmaker.com and I promise this year I will
be posting the correct information on the tour part of the site as
I book things.
Talk later, Kelley
July 22, 2006 -
The Bear Facts
A
call of the wild, and nature has its say ...
Being out
in here the country (near Mt. Shasta) certainly has its benefits,
away from the crazy hustle and bustle of coronary culture being
one of the more obvious ones. But every once in a while the
reality of nature can kick you a swift one. Of course, we've
seen our fair share of critters wondering around; mice, rats,
squirrels, chipmunks and deer, as well as all types of the flying
variety, blue jays and hawks being the most common with an
occasional owl or oriole. Then farther up the food chain are
the bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions and bears. At one time
or another my wife and I have seen all of these creatures
wandering (or flying) around up here ...
A few days
ago in the late afternoon with only the stillness of nature as
background noise, I was upstairs banging away on my laptop and
making great progress on the script. Then all of the sudden
a cacophony of squirrels in the dozen or so trees within sight of
my window started chattering up a storm. I mean they were
loud. Apparently there were some pretty high level
discussions going on. I tried ignoring it, but the
screech-ness of its timbre finally got to me. So what the
hell, I stood up, leaned to the window and yelled at the top of my
lungs. Little did I know. That only served to fuel the
situation, as if a battle cry into the wilderness. The next
thing I know there are at least a dozen of them hopping from limb
to limb, tree to tree, chattering up a larger storm. And not
only that, more of them begin arriving hopping from trees farther
away to the ones close to the house. Oh my, and the volume,
I could not believe. I was in Times Square in the wild.
Okay fine, but I wasn't going to give up that easy. I went
downstairs, outside and on the deck on that side of the house, and
looked up at the masses of squirrels gathered in the large trees.
At least a couple dozen by now. And I tried pleading, but
they would hear nothing of it. Not knowing what to do, but
just leave it alone, I shrugged, started whistling and headed back
in. Then as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. Uh?
And when I stopped whistling, it started back up. Say what?
I started whistling, and they stopped. So in comic fashion,
I yelled out to them, "Hey, if all you wanted was a tune, you
could have told me." On second thought, maybe they had been.
As an aside, yes when spending days in the woods not seeing or
speaking to humanoids, it is possible you might start speaking to
the animals. And if they start speaking back, whistle them a
tune, or see your therapist ...
Yes,
there's more. Another nature story. A couple days
later, a bit later in the day, I was pounding away again, and I
hear something fairly substantial moving in the woods. At
first I ignore it, as I'm pretty deep into the scene I'm working,
but it's obvious this creature is awful close to the house.
Curiosity grabs me, so I get up and move to the far window.
Oh my, a black bear coming up the dirt driveway, very leisurely as
if he (or she) owns the place. In a sense I guess he does.
I haul downstairs to grab my camera and back upstairs to get
better shots. I watch him go by the SUV, the basketball
hoop, by the small dwelling next to the house and then to the
fenced-in garden, shooting all the while. Then I go back
downstairs and watch him for a while. I notice he's grabbed
something through the fence and is eating it. Turns out it's
some packaged fertilizer/compost we'd bought for the garden.
Yuck. Anyway, I got to thinking it probably wasn't a good
idea to let him get used to eating stuff around here, so I figured
I needed to run him off. Like a real braniac I noiselessly
slide open the screen door and sneak up to him, hidden by the
wheelbarrow between us. He's lying on the ground chewing
away and I'm moving closer, armed to the teeth with my digital
camera. Right. Finally in position I hop out and snap
a shot. Wow, I have never seen anything move that quick.
I must have totally freaked him, cause he lit out like a gazelle.
I mean he was quick and agile, and gone in the woods before I
could shoot anymore. Jeez, I thought, it's a good thing he
went that direction and not the opposite. I never would've
known what hit me. Well, at least I didn't have to sing to
him. And if he'd have started dancing, well, it would have
been time for the therapist. What's that you say? Yeah
right, back to the script ...
J-Alden
Comments --
L
Magazine's Summer Series -- 7/24
Just wanted to let you know about The L
Magazine's Summer Screening Series at McCarren Park Pool in case
you or your readers are interested. You can find out all of the
info at the link below. Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Amy Sather
http://www.summerscreen.org/
July 29, 2006 -
This and That
A
couple tidbits in the wringer ...
Currently
I'm camped up on Mt. Shasta (at about 6500') and searching out
locations for the shoot, so this will be a quick one. I've
actually found two places on the mountain were I feel we can shoot
two pivotal scenes, and two other possible locations for several
other scenes. Being up here, I'm thinking that possibly I
might have the cast and crew camped up here for the scenes that
take place up here, approximately one-third of the script.
And I'm also concerned about the logistics of people and equipment
getting to some of the higher altitude locations (up from where
I'm camped). Plus, the forest service may not be as
accommodating as I'd like. But we'll see ...
On another
note I've gotten a few requests from some other websites to do
movie reviews, but somehow being a filmmaker and doing reviews of
other people's films doesn't sit quite right with me (as it should
not, right?). Anyway, I don't necessarily have great respect
for reviewers in general, even though I know they do provide a
service, as well as some self-ingratiation and self-promotion
along the way. These reviewers ought to try and make a film
themselves. Yeah, take the path Truffault did, as he did
start out as a reviewer and then became a filmmaker. Plus,
been there done that. I wrote movies reviews for the college
newspaper and that was quite enough ...
More
later, as the Internet cafe here is shutting down and I need to
head back up the mountain ...
J-Alden
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