Just over a month ago I noted that I had finished a draft of a script. As I said, the script went out to my early readers. In that month I've gotten a reaction to reading part of the script from one person. The other two haven't read a word. To be fair, one of them had a heart attack during that time, so that person can (probably) be forgiven for the slow response. In general though, this has been frustrating. I really want to get moving forward and I'm stuck waiting for other people. Sigh. But, in the meantime, I have not gone back to older scripts to see if they needed any work. Instead, I started an entirely new script. Two disconnected ideas collided in my head. This is how my scripts generally start. I took those two ideas and quickly developed an opening scene. And then I paused and wondered what the actual story was. This too is how many of my scripts start. It also explains why I have so many incomplete scripts lying around. But this time I thought back to one of those incomplete scripts, my first actually, and realized I could put those two things together. And then yet another idea came sailing out of the blue so I jammed that into the mix and discovered the whole thing was starting to rumble forward and come to life. In my writing it seems that I need more than one idea to make the script move forward. I often take a singular idea and head off to the races. These usually collapse after 10-20 pages because that one idea can't drive anything. It takes a second idea to create some friction and develop some momentum. And the more ideas I can throw into the mix the better it moves. But things seem to really come to life when I start to hear the characters talking. Today I was walking to work and thought to myself, "Okay, what's going on in this scene?" And I put two major characters together and let them talk. And they did. All of a sudden they were chattering back and forth in my head, and it didn't feel like I was pulling the strings. They were saying what they needed to say, regardless of what I though. I'm aware that may make me sound like a crazy person. So be it. When I've developed characters sufficiently, they start talking. And they tend to develop personalities and styles at this stage. It's my favorite part of the writing process. It stops feeling like work for a little bit. And the characters often surprise me by what they say and do at this point, which makes the story theirs, not mine. So, if you are one of those early readers, don't feel guilty. I've found a productive way to spend my wait. I might not even notice how long you take right now. So don't worry about it. No. Worry about it. Seriously. You're killing me. My head is likely to explode if I don't find out if this damn thing is working yet or not.
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 I think this confirms that whole spring arriving thing. This grows in my backyard next to a small stream. It's always the first thing to bloom every spring and has done so for decades. It's actually been up for at least a week or two. I'm just getting around to taking pictures now.
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I finished a draft of a script last night. That's the fourth draft of my script She Hates the Idea. The third draft had not been well received by my early readers. They made it clear there were pretty major structural problems that kept them from getting involved with the story at all. Obviously I had made some mistakes along the way. I think my major problem was in prioritizing the rewrites. Usually draft one is just a mess. But I'm happy to have it done because now I have something to work on. The second draft is usually about strengthening the characters and filling plot holes. Third drafts are all about strengthening themes and making connections to make everything stronger. Or at least that's how I tend to think of the process. This time I seem to have skipped the part about filling plot holes. Actually, looking back at the process I just wrote out, I noticed that I never mentioned story. And that is why this particular script had big structural problems. I kind of forgot to tell a complete story. All those other elements were addressed and refined but the story itself got a miss and that meant that none of it actually worked. So this draft was all about story. Hopefully I've fixed it and it actually tells a story now. It's baffling to me that I failed to notice this through three drafts of work. Kind of embarassing actually. But that's why I have people read the damn thing before I let it out to meet the public. I'm fine with friends and family knowing I can be an idiot. Actually, I'd be surprised if it took reading my stuff for them to figure it out. Exposure to me should be enough. But I'm not comfortable with people that I want to take a professional interest in my stuff knowing that I can be an idiot. Since my script is the first impression they'll likely have of me, it had better be good. So now we'll find out. The script goes back out to my early readers. If that goes well, maybe I'll expand the circle a bit before sending it out to try and sell. In the meantime, I need to go over my other two completed scripts and see if they need any work. And of course somewhere in there try to work on the zombie thing.
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| Today I saw two solid signs of spring approaching. In the back of my yard there is a small stream. Next to it, by the fence that marks the edge of the property, there are small white flowers that pop up every spring. I'm not sure what they are called but they are consistently the first flowering plant to come to life every year. They aren't flowering yet but they are most definitely growing. The other sign is a spring training exhibition baseball game on TV. This afternoon was spent very pleasantly watching the Mets white wash the Florida Marlins 9-0. It's spring training so I put no importance on that win at all. I'm just delighted to see it. I love the start of spring training every year. I love the feeling of promise that comes with the start of a season. It seems like every team has a legitimate shot to win and you can take pure joy in just playing the game. Gives me a warm fuzzy it does.
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I feel obligated to write something about the Oscars, even though it was a few days ago and we had a live chat in which I said pretty much everything I thought about it already. So here's a quick wrap up. It was a pretty good show. Hugh Jackman made a fine host. I suspect those song and dance numbers play a lot better at the theater than on TV but he did them very well. I liked the stage set up a lot. It made the whole thing seem a bit more intimate. There were fewer montages than in previous years, which was good. The performances for best score and original song were nicely truncated. Usually those segments take way too much time. I wasn't that crazy about the presentation of the acting awards. Sure, it's nice to see all those great actors together but it took too much time and started to feel like they were handing out Nobel prizes instead of Oscars. It was too self important. But over all I give them credit for a good job over hauling the show. As for the awards themselves, my predictions were pretty shaky. My instincts are a little more accurate than my tastes but not by a lot. I was disappointed that Mickey Rourke didn't win best actor. Don't take that as any sort of slight on Sean Penn, who was phenomenal in Milk. I'm not complaining that he won, he deserved it. I was just rooting for Rourke because it made such a good story. I was genuinely startled that WALL-E didn't win more awards, particularly the sound awards. And I was genuinely annoyed that Werner Herzog didn't win best feature documentary for Encounters at the End of the World. But life goes on. I want to thank everyone who showed up for the live chat. It was a good time that is always better the more people get involved.
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| Here we go again kids. It's time to try and predict who those crazy Academy voters are going to pick as the winners at the Oscars this weekend. I can't actually claim to have seen all the nominated films, but that doesn't necessarily affect my picking skills. Personal taste is a lousy way to pick the winners. The years where I've made my picks based on my taste have shown me to be spectacularly out of step with Academy voters. Years where I've largely ignored my tastes and tried to read the tea leaves as it were, I've been pretty damn accurate. That approach is also a lot more time consuming, and time is something I just don't really have any of. So this year I will use a combination of personal taste and instinct. I expect this will make me slightly more accurate than working purely from taste. Got all that? Who cares. Let's go.
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There are certain traditions around this website. One is the abusive reception of newcomers to the forums. Another is the annual live chat during the Oscars, which incidentally we will be doing yet again this year, so if you plan on watching the Oscars, stop by for a chat during the big event. But the tradition I'm speaking of now is my top ten list, presented way later than any other critic in the game. Most critics do this in late November or early December. Me, I like to put my list out two, maybe three months into the next year. Last year's list is so late that this year's list will actually be out first. I could give reasons but let's face it, I'm simply a procrastinator. So before I start stalling, let's get right to it.
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The next two movies I review are both ones dominated by a single actor. One is The Wrestler, where Mickey Rourke gives a career performance in a movie completely wrapped around that performance for its structure. The other is The Reader, where Kate Winslet gives a remarkable performance that provides the movie's thrust and drive for the plot.
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is expertly crafted, well acted and highly ambitious in scope. And it is emotionally touching, particularly at the end. But despite all that it is a movie with a problem.
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A disclaimer is in order here. As an aspiring screenwriter who lives in the same county of upstate New York as writer/director Courtney Hunt, I'm more than a little delighted at her success. A few years ago I saw her at the FilmColumbia festival getting an award as an up and coming filmmaker. Now I find myself wondering if that award money went into the budget of Frozen River. Let me be clear though, I don't know Ms. Hunt at all. If my review seems gushing, that's because the movie is that good. I'm only mentioning this at all because I want to make sure someone from my neck of the woods to get every bit of respect she deserves for this work. And she deserves a lot of it.
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