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Something From NothingI've got a question for you. What do you do when you audition someone for your film and they tell you they will be willing to participate in your project...IF, you make major changes to the script? Do you sit there like I did recently and humor the person into pretending their version of your story is remotely interesting?I have to say, I'm proud of myself. So very proud of the fact that I maintained my composure and allowed the actor to go on about the fact he has never done a role that asked for what it is my script asks for. Nor would he consider it now. Let me say that I respect the fact he would not waver from his moral high ground to portray a character so seemingly evil as the one I have written. That I can completely understand. What I don't understand is the audacity to suggest that the script be changed and the spin he put on it, insinuating that it would not work the way it is written. So I sat there, listening to him ramble on with suggestions for changes until it became painfully clear to me: This man had not digested the entire script. Once he was confronted with a topic that he so vehemently abhors, he tuned out. Forget about the humanity that the character portrays when confronted with his sin, or the regret over his past mistakes. This actor decided this was an area he did not want to touch, which I would assume, as an actor, this would deny him everything that acting should be about. Discovery...understanding...within ourselves and the outside world. Immediately, I was validated in my desire to make this short film. Only confrontation can lead to understanding. I knew then that I had written a "powerful piece". (as can be witnessed by the actors who are eager to participate, one of whom has labeled it as such) So I listened to the man and what he had to say, hoping that somewhere in the maze of scarmbled words I might find a jewel of wisdom to further me on my path of filmmaking. What I found instead was resistance and denial, hidden behind a false aura of arrogance. A beautiful character reference for a later work. But that's another story... You see, the universe does truly give if you are willing to shut up and listen. - J. No Inspiration Without PerspirationEver have one of those magical moments where your scenes seem to write themselves? I had one of those last night. I didn't exactly know where it was going when I wrote it. I simply took it line by line and let the words lead me into whatever direction they saw fit. What I ended up with is a new opening for a screenplay that is only now starting to take form. Very juicy dialogue, intriguing set up, foreshadowing... I love it when inspiration comes together.Which leads me into the title of this latest blog. How can we expect to be inspired if we don't write? I used to think I couldn't control those inspirational flows of creativity. As if they were gifts sent from an evasive muse to sprinkle the page before disappearing as quickly as they came. Feeling as if some sort of ritualistic seance (sorry, e without the accent) had taken place, I would be too exhausted to write for the rest of the week. I would pray to be "visited" again so that I could write some more. What I've learned is that inspiration comes only when we condition it to do so. As strange as it seems, the more consistent I became with a writing schedule, the more inspired I would become while wrestling with the infamous writer's block. At this point in my early writing career, I find that I am constantly inspired. Everything around me has a story in it, and it's no coincidence that I manage to squeeze out a good 2 hours per night working at my craft. My goal at this point is to get to 4 hours a day. I've read this is the least you should commit if you're thinking about a serious career in writing. Having noticed a significant change in my productivity, I believe it wholeheartedly. So remember, we'll never be inspired if we don't spend the time writing through any uninspired moments. It's nature's way of rewarding us for our efforts. The more you write, the more you will find that your creativity never left. And you'll find yourself like me; dying for the hours to tick by so you can sit again in solitude and create something from nothing. What could be better than that? - J. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindThis has to be, hands down, my all time favorite screenplay. When I first saw the movie, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Then I started to analyze it. Then I began to like it. I analyzed it some more. I began to love it. And so on, and so on...Is it just me, or when a movie deviates from the everyday Hollywood formula, is it difficult to digest at first? This story broke timeframe, reality, and imagination and shattered them into pieces of a puzzle, that when looked at from afar, form a beautiful kaleidoscope of a love story. What resonated with me most is that Joel (Jim Carrey) musters the courage to try again at his previously failed relationship, knowing that there is a good chance it will crash and burn. He does so because Clementine (Kate Winslet) has awakened in him, a spirit that has been dormant for what we can assume has been his whole life. Throughout the story, Clementine shares so freely and openly all of her feelings and memories with Joel, while pleading with him to do the same. But for whatever reasons, Joel has a problem unlocking the padlock on his past, prohibiting him from sharing himself with Clementine, and ultimately, leading to a doomed relationship. Without delving too deeply into the crux of the plot, Joel is faced with the fact that he will forever lose his darling Clementine, having decided to erase her from his memory permanently. ( A procedure she already had done.) But what happens in the final moment of his procedure is what true romance is all about. Joel refuses to lose her. He fights to retain what little memories he has left, by holding onto Clementine in his mind as she urges him to hide her somewhere that they'll never think to look. Somewhere deep... And he takes her, racing against time, into the most embarassing memories of his childhood. Those that affected him most, and it would seem were largely responsible for molding him into who he is now. Anal, paranoid, introverted...all the things that one would never associate with a hero. But he is a hero...because in the face of lost love, Joel chooses to fight. To stand up and take a chance. To feel free again, if only for a final moment. To hold on to the woman he loves. Even though it is only in his mind. But isn't that where our biggest battles lie? And at the end, he makes the conscious decision to try again, having learned from his past. Leaving us to believe there is hope for the future. Damn! What a movie. If you haven't seen it you're missing out. Charlie Kaufmann's screenplay takes conventional timeframe and turns it upside down. And it all works beautifully. Everytime I see the movie, I get inspired. Hopefully someday, one of my screenplays will affect someone in the same way. Until then, keep writing. - J. Reality BitesGood news: The industry is similar to a bank. If you want a loan
the bank needs to be guaranteed that you are worthy of an investment.
Bad news: The industry is worse than a bank. Why? Because breaking even or little profit in Hollywood is not good enough. You need to take someone else's money...albeit a ridiculous sum of money...and return a huge profit to become a legitimate player. It's just what it is. Why take a chance on your unconventional script, when I can spend money on a guaranteed (recycled) story and see immediate and large profits? My advice would be similar to what I'm trying to do. Cover all bases. Write your Hollywood scripts and your independent and very personal ones. Try to get the indies made yourself, and try to market the Hollywood ones for sale. A true writer writes. So get cracking and cover all your bases. - J. Lean and MeanI realize it's been a while since I last posted, but I can happily say I've been hard at work prepping for my next short film to be shot this Fall. The title is Repentance, and the logline is as follows:Logline: A mysterious wanderer seeks the confession of an old priest, whose ultimate secret turns out to be his greatest sin. The challenge for me will be to capture the visions that I see in my head on film. (Or in this case miniDV) Which leads me into what I'd like to talk about. Description. How much should we describe as writers without going over the top with our description? From my brief experience, I believe we should capture just enough to allow the reader a glimpse into the world of our story. Not so much that we lose sight of the story, but just enough that it allows the reader a freedom to add their own details to the mix. In short, readers are the directors of our stories. They should be left to feel as if they are the production designers of our words. Often times I'll use descriptive words to convey a mood. (i.e. the dark curtains, rather than the black curtains) Anything that will enhance the experience and thrust the reader into the atmosphere that we are trying to create, but will also allow them choices to expand upon what we have laid before them. Another example of too much description is the infamous direction of actors. There's nothing worse than a play by play description of what the actor should be doing on screen. Actors must feel as if they too are free to play and make creative choices when interpreting our words. A screenplay with too much direction (as in Alex pauses. Shrugs his shoulders. He squints at her for a moment. Takes a deep breath. "I don't know.") tends to drag and oftentimes can be simplified by the dialogue without the excess direction. So try to be lean when writing. Give just enough that the story moves forward at a nice clip, but provide enough that the reader understands the setting and is drawn in to the world of your story. This in another of the perennial battles we must face in the creation of a solid screenplay. But hey, nobody said it would be easy. Good luck, stay up, and keep writing. - J. The Beat SheetJust thought I'd take a minute to discuss a method that I find works for me when developing my plot structure. For anyone that's heard of a beat sheet, I use my own variation to flesh out the events in my story.I start out with a document highlighting the very basic of story concepts. The Beginning...if known, the End...if known, and I work from there. I step out everything in between these two ideas little by little, expanding the document with every action on its own separate line. Ex: Minority Report Pre-crime Arrest Jon Anderton sees his future - Murderer Set up by boss Anderton proves his innocence etc., etc. I'll add to each moment the more I begin to flesh out every concept. For instance, I ask myself, how does his boss set him up? When I come up with my solution, I step it out and add extra beats to the list. Pre-crime Arrest Jon Anderton sees his future - Murderer Turns out his boss erased ECHO/Minority Report Hired someone to lie about killing Anderton's son Anderton proves his innocence You get the idea. After I step out what I feel is a strong plot for my story, I mark the top of the list as Page 1 and the end of the list as Page 120. (or page 90 depending on my aspirations) From there, I mark the halfway point as Page 60. I then use this as a page count guide so that I don't stray too far from my goals. I even go a step further and break up the first half at the Page 30 mark, and the second half at the Page 90 mark...etc., etc. At this stage, I allow myself to include any dialogue that comes to mind. I don't want to stifle myself when creativity strikes. I often find myself writing what the subtext of the scene will be, allowing me to come up with the dialogue during the actual writing phase. Doing this allows me to fly through the writing process later on, having already done the bulk of the story work in the storyforming phase. I hope this makes sense. This technique has allowed me to develop several stories at once, knowing that upon completion, the screenplays will write themselves, so to speak. Try it if you ever feel stuck on a story. Let me know if it works for you. Good luck and keep writing. - J. Balancing the Rat RaceSomeone wrote this as a comment on one of my earlier blogs...in reference to screenwriters."We're the cutting edge of economic natural selection when it comes to surviving in dollar land (USA) with a suckling dream keeping us from their rat race." - Anonymous I'd like to offer my take on this. Keep in mind this is coming from the consummate artist. I used to think this way. "F" the establishment, and all that smack. It took me a very long time to realize that the establishment is in fact not the enemy. (shocker) In a profession like screenwriting, we have to ask ourselves, what is it we are looking to accomplish? Recognition? Praise? Financial gain? No one would be toiling away, trying to master the craft if they answered "no" to any of these. I used to lie and tell myself "I just want to tell good stories." But that's bullsh*t. I can tell good stories, possibly even great ones, but what good will it do if they just sit there on my computer, or in a drawer for no one to ever see? The point of embracing your calling as a storyteller is to share your stories with others. Whatever the motivation may be, the purpose remains the same. We share a piece of ourselves, and because of that, our writing becomes intensely personal. Sometimes painful. Often times therapeutic. But in the end, we want to reach as many people as we can. We want to be told that our writing has moved someone. We want validation for what we are doing. Hollywood is the machine. Hollywood is in essence, the rat race. Distributing our stories to a larger demographic requires the very thing that we are hoping to attain, whether we are aware of it or not. MONEY. Where there is money to be made, the rats will follow. The sooner we as writers embrace that concept, the more stable we will be in our pursuit of the cheese. You want to write a killer spec script? Better have that hook! Without it? You will undoubtedly have a great story...having read numerous books on the art of storytelling and screenwriting. Some of you have gone so far as to pay for seminars and workshops and classes...bachelors degrees, and masters degrees...and student loans...and...get the picture? The point is, the rat race is all around us. The question is, how involved can we be while trying to maintain as much of our dignity as possible along the way? My advice to the anonymous writer above is to embrace this rat race that you are seemingly trying to avoid. Maintain as much of your dignity as you can in the process. But understand this: A screenplay is the blueprint for a product that will be manufactured, promoted, displayed, and distributed for consumption amongst the masses. You can bet that it won't be done for free. SO keeping that in mind...think of your hook, your marketing concept, your theme, before you even begin to sacrifice 6 months to a year of your life creating something so precious as a reflection of your innermost soul. Balance is the key. As with anything in life. Finding that balance...that will be the perennial battle until the day we no longer write. - J. My inspirationJust a free journal I wrote last night. Trying to write more every day. Sorry to my boys if this comes off as soft, but so be it. Sue, baby, this one's for you.I'm getting married son! Never thought I'd say that with such conviction. The day is approaching rapidly. And the funniest thing about it all is that it can't come fast enough. I love this woman. We've come so far together. And the most important thing in all of this is that I know we'll grow even more as every day passes. I owe her so much. I don't think she understands what she means to me. I started writing again when she loved me. And not just writing for the sake of writing. For the first time in my life, I began writing with a purpose. She inspired me to do so. It was as if I felt so good inside...had forgiven myself for the first time in my life for all the sabotaging acts I committed against myself. I didn't doubt myself anymore. I believed in me. All because she saw something in me. And she's beautiful. Not only in the traditional sense of the word, but in every way that evokes my senses. I see her and I want to breathe her. I want to take her into me and fill my insides with everything that she is. I want to breathe out and feel as if my body is intoxicated with her essence. That she is truly a part of me, physically and spiritually. I saw something in her from the beginning. She laughs when I say it, but I helped her become what she is today. Not that I changed her in any way. But I helped her to allow herself to embrace who she really is. I helped her to let down the barriers of self-doubt, and fear. And by doing so, I allowed her to do the same for me. I'm getting married son! Not in the traditional way, but in the most meaningful of ways. A way that shows what is most important is our love for one another. A respect that grows every day. That is strong enough to say I will marry you wherever, whenever, and however we feel is right. With the courage to believe we will create something that no one before us ever has. A family that supports each other. Respects each other. Believes in each other. A foundation that exists because of she. Because of we. I'm getting married son! Not in the traditional sense, but in a way that shows her I will love her eternally, as no man has ever loved a woman before. Fully and unquestionably real. I promise to love you, hold you, respect you, nurture you and protect you. To believe you, breathe you, see you, and accept you, for everything that you are, and everything you will become. And children! She wants many. At first, I was afraid to say yes. Afraid of the repercussions that would imply. Selflessness. Sacrifice. Struggle. Everything that she has helped me overcome. I see no reason why she won't heal me again when that time comes. She wants children. Many. And so do I. I want every child to remind me of her. Every look. Every glance, and dance, and laugh, and cry, to remind me of her. I want to create something so perfectly imperfect as a child with her. To see them grow together with her. And to hold her and thank her for already giving me so much. I'm getting married son! What could be better? Site Beyond SightThought I'd stop through and holla at everyone that is out there with their noses to the grindstone. It's not easy doing this writing thing as a part-time passion. Luckily for me, I work in the security field on an overnight shift that allows me to write and get paid to do so at the same time. (Don't tell my boss.) That confession being told, I am currently finishing up the touches on my first revision to my feature-length screenplay. I will be posting some samples in the near future to get a gauge as to what some of you might think.As a side note, I thought I'd share a site with some of you that you may not be aware of. www.johnaugust.com Good site. Great talent. He wrote Big Fish, which, incidentally, only furthered my desire to get involved in this machine of moviemaking that is Hollywood. Check the site if you've got a minute. But let it be no longer than a minute. You've got writing to do. Later. - J. First Off...Don't know how long these rants will be, though I assume that, from time to time, I will have an occassional inspiration of brilliance. I'd like to say WHUDDUP? to anyone out there looking to network with like-minded individuals who are serious about their craft, and the direction in which they want to pursue it. I myself am an artist, first and foremost. Been this way since a young'n and never really stopped. Don't suppose I ever will either. Life's too short for me to not try and create something that will last long after I'm gone from this plane of existence. I've been through many phases of growth as an artist. From a writer, to an illustrator of comics, to a storyboard artist, then back to a writer, and now...ready for this? The culmination of all these... A director. There. I said it. It's taken me two short indy films, shot on DV, for me to actually feel comfortable with the mantle. But I'm finally here. I write my own stories and with the help of my production partners, we make it happen. It's a very humble venture at this stage, but a venture nonetheless. One that continues to grow in leaps and bounds from one project to the next. More on that later... For now, feel free to hit me up at any time, whether it be to bash my work, praise it, or to claim indifference. As long as we interact and continue to give rise to new ideas and stories, then we can validate our purpose here on this planet. And maybe...just maybe, tell some wonderful stories in the process. Stay up, J. |
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