Centurian Post

I started this blog on 12th November 2008 and this post marks my 100th entry. That's a fair few blogs and I'd wager if you added up every word I've written here, you'd find it's more than every single exam I've ever taken. And ironically, this post falls on the date of an exam - my last day at uni until September. What does that mean? Well a) I'll probably fail the exam and b) more time for writing.

I'd like to thank everyone who's read my blog over the last 6 months and I intend to keep on going for years to come. I've got a lot of things I want to say about screenwriting and I love sharing my experiences with the whole world (or should I say - the few people who actually read this). But technically it's open to the whole world.

So thank you for reading and since I'm in a happy mood, please feel free to tell me about your own blogs (be they screenwriting and otherwise); I'm always eager to find new people out there to share ideas with.

Happy writing, readers!

INSiDE - amazing short

I came across this short film and was completely blown away. It is, without a doubt, the best short I've ever seen. The premise is brilliant and truly haunting - it'll stay with me for a long time. If you like psychological stories, you'll love this. And I mean love!

The writing and direction are very impressive and acting from Jeremy Sisto is very involving. Also, the supporting cast are awesome!

Enjoy and comment.

INSiDE (2002)
Written by: Eric 'Giz' Gewirtz & Trevor Sands
Directed by: Trevor Sands

#@!£&£!!!

WARNING: VERY STRONG LANGUAGE AHEAD. STOP READING NOW IF YOU'RE EASILY FUCKING OFFENDED

I was wondering the other day about swearing in scripts. Before I became a writer, I had a bit of a "you don't need to swear" opinion. But that's changed. Yes, you do need to swear! Why? Because everyone does. Even if you're not the sort of person who slips the F-Bomb into every sentence, you're not telling me that when you stub your toe, you don't think "SHIIIIIT!" And if you are telling me that, you're probably thinking "Fucking idiot! Thinks he can fucking tell me whether I fucking swear or not?!"

People swear. Characters swear.

Obviously, depending on the medium and audience, certain language is going to be outlawed. You're not going to tune into TELETUBBIES and see Tinkywinky walking round asking Po to give him a fucking break!

You are, however, going to get a healthy amount of strong language in Mr Quentin Tarantino's work. This is a man who gave Samuel L Jackson one of his greatest lines -

"I'm a mushroom cloud laying motherfucker, motherfucker!"

One of the only things that's bothered me about Joss Whedon's work is the lack of swearing. You're walking down the street in good old Hellmouth Central Sunnydale, when a bloodsucking fiend jumps out from behind a tree. You don't say "Oh my God!", you say "Holy shit!" Spike is a badass character, but the extent of that language-wise is uttering the odd "bloody", "bugger", "wanker", "piss" et al.

Anyway, I can get over this because a lot of the time, Whedon uses other ways to have the same effect as swearing. Like in FIREFLY, they swear in Chinese. There's no way they could get away with half the bad language were it in English.

On that note, I've noticed more and more swearing on TV. Shows DEXTER, TRUE BLOOD and SONS OF ANARCHY use strong language on a regular basis.

The thing is - is it justified?

I've mentioned above that people swear and that if you're in a terrifying situation, you're going to cuss with the best of them. Swearing can also be a powerful tool for character development.

If you have a character who never swears, then one dark day, he does, what does that mean? Surely it highlights the severity of the situation? It can have a huge impact.

For example in BUFFY's season 5 finale - 'The Gift', the gang are having a heated debate about the possibility of killing Dawn (Buffy's sister) to save the world. Buffy says they're not talking about this. Then Giles screams in with "Yes we bloody well are!" Giles never swears. Since his hell-raising Ripper days, he's become proper; far too civilised and educated for such language. So when he drops "bloody" into his line, we know things are serious.

It's just something I was pondering on the other day, after reading through the MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION script. There's a healthy amount of "fucks", "shits", "twats" and even some "cunts" in there for the actors to deal with. Some of the language is overused and I think that's the issue - use bad language if it's justified and sparingly. The more you use it, the less impact it has. Save those powerful words for a really serious situation to highlight the impact.

Whedon's Alien

Here's a very interesting article and analysis of ALIEN RESURRECTION. Joss Whedon receives writing credit, but the final cut of the film is far from his original vision. Here, "Big Ross" talks about the differences between Whedon's script and the film that was made.

He really goes into great detail, charting characterisation, development and the ending.

Whedon himself has said of the film, "It wasn't a question of doing everything differently...it was mostly a matter of doing everything wrong...They did everything wrong that they could possibly do...it wasn’t so much that they’d changed the script; it’s that they just executed it in such a ghastly fashion as to render it almost unwatchable."

Personally, I don't think ALIEN RESURRECTION was that bad. I was bored by the first movie (although respect the ideas and storytelling), thought ALIENS was overrated and only just enjoyed ALIEN 3. I'm not saying that ALIEN 4 is the best film, but it is one I enjoy. That's mainly because of the brigand crew that spend the entire film escaping said acid-blood. And if I'm perfectly honest, it's my belief that if you cast Ron Perlman, the film can't be bad. Even HELLBOY 2 was watchable.

So basically, I don't think ALIEN 4 was as bad as Joss says above. However, I haven't actually read his original draft. I'd really love to, because the way "Big Ross" (yes I am uncomfortable referring to someone as "Big Ross" without using quote marks) describes it, it seems pretty gorram, good.

So if anyone out there has access to Whedon's script for ALIEN RESURRECTION, please do let me know so that I can hate the film as much as everyone else.

On another note, Big Ross' (note the lack of quote marks - I've become more secure - grown as a person!) in depth analysis has really made me think about my own writing. I have a fair few films in my DVD cabinet that are utter shite, so maybe I'll do an analysis of those - once you learn what makes bad storytelling, you can learn what makes good storytelling.

Happy writing, fellow bloggers and/or non-bloggers.

Massacre Breakdown

The other day, I wrote a 3-page breakdown for MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION. I wrote the final few scenes of the film - the massacre where Michael loses it completely and guns down his entire office. Writing the scene breakdown was very interesting. Usually, I write a breakdown and use that to create the script, but this time it was the other way around.

When I wrote the screenplay, I was thinking purely creatively. Whatever made the scene better went in. The result had bullets flying left right and centre, table crashing and the SWAT team busting in and shooting up the entire office. The office we'll be using is actually someone's work. Once we're done there, people will need to carry on with their jobs. So it's not exaclty practical or nice to completely destroy the place. So the breakdown needed to be different.

Bullets still fly (about 50 from Michael's pistol alone) but there is minimum office damage. No-one crashes through tables and windows don't get shattered into a million pieces like before.

I also had to keep in mind that Nicky Modlin (Michael) has no previous action training. MR isn't the sort of film with high flying kicks anyway, but if it were, that would have to be thought through.

The breakdown is now in the hands of Action Director Chris Jones. Once he's gone through that, I'll be visiting his gym and we'll choreograph the scene. I spoke with Alex yesterday and he reinforced what the scene should be about - emotion. So all the way through choreography, I'll be keeping in mind what the scene should focus on. I'm going think of every instant emotionally - what effect would this have on the viewer? Similarly, if there's anything in the scene that would take away the sense of emotion, it'll have to change. While the scene is brutal as hell, he emotion is what counts. The whole film spends time allowing the audience to connect with Michael so for the final scene to take them away from that would ruin the whole thing.

So in about three weeks' time, I'll be going to see Chris and we'll work out the scene. Before then, I'll probably end up going to Toys R Us to buy one of those cheap kiddie guns to use in the planning. From there, I'll be off to London at the beginning of filming in June. Hopefully I'll have storyboard sketches and some video footage of the action. I'll show this to everyone involved and if anyone has any other ideas/suggestions, we'll incorporate them in. Then I'll run through the scene with Nicky and make sure he knows exactly what the scene entails.

I'm doing this as early as possible because if there's anything in the scene that Nicky (or anyone else involed) is uncomfortable with, we have time to sort it out. Also, we will have just one weekend - two short days - to shoot the 20 minute massacre action scene. I've never filmed anything before but I know it won't be easy. Everyone will be running around like mad just to get things done on time. We also have to clear everything up on the Sunday night before everyone turns up. I'm not sure they'd appreciate it if they turned up for work on Monday morning and saw the remains of a bloody massacre! It'll be emotionally and physically draining for everyone involved, so the the sooner I can explain the scene, the more time people have to get a grip on it before shooting.

Since we're going to be so busy that weekend, if there's anyone out there who would like to come on set and get drinks and food for people, you're more than needed! Seriously! I'm not joking! Email me - neilbaker27@yahoo.co.uk

We're heading into a crazy couple of months - I'm excited as hell and shitting bricks at the same time. They're excited bricks!

Wish me luck.

Scene transitions

This is something that I've been thinking about over the last few days. A good scene transition should flow well. Here's some examples from my own work. They're simplified, cutting out description and such.

LOKI
You coming?

Loki and Rider stand up and head inside.

INT. SHOP - DAY

NIX
What is it with you and that amulet, Hannon?

HANNON
It's Captain by the way (more dialogue)

Loki and Rider walk into the shop.


This is a good example because we join the scene while Hannon and Nix are in mid-conversation. It creates a sense of realism and takes you right into the story. It also flows well as the two previous characters enter - we know where and when we are.

The next example isn't so much a scene change but there is a transition to speak of:

REMY
You know I wouldn't, Alex. Must be that woman's instinct thing. You know how they are; all emotions and feelings. And you can never get them to shut up.

At the back of the group, Loki and Nix are in deep conversation, but it's a little one-sided.

LOKI
All I'm saying is if the fucking Yanks can't beat these bastards down, what chance do we have?

Nix has a desperate 'heard it all before' look stretched across her face but Loki doesn't notice.

LOKI (CONT'D)
It's been what...over a year since we lost contact with 'em? I mean, when are they going to charge in all guns blazing?

This transition has two purposes:

1) Exposition - I needed to explain more about the world my characters are living in and its state - hence the mention of the Americans in my zombie story.
2) Character development - from this transition, we know that Remy is a bit of a sexist pig (although he is joking, so is he really?) and that Loki is a thick-skinned jerk.

I think the transition works for one simple reason. I have a character comment on how women never shut up, then cut to a conversation where the man won't shut up. Just a bit of comedic irony to keep the audience smiling.

Here's another example that helps the scenes flow together well. It also lets the audience know exactly where and when each character is:


Tonya sees the Slayers moving slowly across the street below and bangs on the window. Then she sees a table across the room.

EXT. HOSPITAL - DAY

The Slayers creep across the road. Suddenly there's a loud CRASH as a table smashes out of the window above.


A common scene transition in television is to use a voiceover leading into the next scene. Let's say your characters have just said something and are now pondering on that thought. Then the sound of the next scene starts as we hang on the previous moment. We get audio before visual. Like so:


Jack and John stare at each other, contemplating.

JILL (VO)
We're doomed.

INT. BEDROOM - DAY

Jill and Ben sit at opposite ends of the bed.

BEN
What do you mean we're doomed?

JILL
Like I say.

See what I mean? A little transition to do several things - keep the audience gripped, not have too many long silences and cut time down while not skimping on the contemplating moment.

These are just a few examples of what I think are good scene transitions. I don't think people think about them enough, but the way you move through your story is very important - get that wrong and the flow of the script can be lost. Think about it.

Happy writing!

MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION - say hello.

In recent weeks, we've all been working our asses off over MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION. We held some casting sessions a bit ago and now we're certain we have the right guy for Michael.

This is a short promo featuring Nicky Modlin as Michael. It's nothing official but just to give people an idea of what the character will be like. Meet Michael:

I also decided to put a slide show together featuring pictures of our lovely cast. Take a look and let me know what you think:

In other news, I've been organising details regarding the final action massacre of MR - we've got a 20 minute sequence (which I wrote) where countless people are killed. I'm going to be travelling to London in the middle of June to help choreograph and direct the action. It's going to be an exhausting shoot as we have just 2 days to film 20 minutes of action. So wish us luck!