scriptwriting

I’m currently reading Tales from the Script by Peter Hanson and Paul Robert Herman.  It’s a great read that I would recommend to anyone who is a working screenwriter or who is hoping to someday become one.  The book has numerous interviews with professional screenwriters and shows each of their viewpoints on the craft of screenwriting and how screenwriting fits into Hollywood.  The let downs of being a screenwriter is consistent with every one of them, no matter if they’re selling screenplays for $1 million or $20,000. 

One of the things I think screws me up most is expectations. I expect family to react or to be a certain way. In relationships, I’ve had issues with girlfriends who turned out to be different than I thought they’d be - all my fault. It’s not them, it’s me. Me and my stupid expectations.

The film business is no different. We hear stories, we read articles and books - we expect it to be a certain way. And we’re almost always wrong.

Yesterday was the last day of a much-needed vacation.  I spent the entire week enjoying LA with my girlfriend and daughter.  Yesterday we went to a water park and as we were leaving I received a phone call from my brother-in-law.  In his lawyer tone of voice he told me that I received a rejection letter from West LA College.  Earlier this summer I had applied to a full-time tenure track film professor position.  I thanked him for informing me and then went on with my day completely unscathed. 

My latest screenplay is finished. It’s been spelling and grammar checked, reviewed by some trusted people, registered with the WGA. It is currently the best it can be. It is unique, has mass appeal, and the potential is obvious. I think so, anyway. The next step is a tough one – I need to get a producer to read it and to do that I need to pitch it to him/her with a high concept logline and synopsis.

Okay, that’s cake. Simple. Just come up with a single one-liner that will capture a producer’s attention with minimal word count and maximum impact. Then have a tight but descriptive synopsis as a follow-up.

*WARNING!!! NERD ALERT!!! I PROBABLY WON’T GET ANY ACTION WITH THE LADIES FOR A WHOLE YEAR FOR WRITING THIS ARTICLE!!!
 
If anyone were to ask me what my favorite videogame system of all time is, I would have to pick Super Nintendo. Super Nintendo, in my opinion, had the greatest role-playing games (better known as RPGs) ever consistently released on a single platform. Some of those great classics are: The Legend of Zelda A Link into the Past, Final Fantasy IV-VI, Secret of Mana, Dragon Quest I & II, Secret of Evermore, Chrono Trigger, Shadow Run, and many many more. 
 
For those of you who don’t know what a role-playing game is (in other words, for those of you who were getting laid in high school), a role-playing game is a huge adventure that can

My office overlooks the street in front of my condo. I enjoy watching people pass while I work - mostly. When the words are tough to come by, nothing amuses me, period. I growl at everything. Tweeting birds hear it from me for being too damned loud; garbage collectors (why do we need seven on every block) must think I’m certifiable since I’m standing in front of my glass doors screeching at them or the gardeners with those insanely irritating leaf blowers.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a talk on archetypes in film led by Jim Curtan, an ex-Hollywood talent agent whose portfolio of clients included John Travolta, Geena Davis, and Willem Dafoe among other big names. One of the questions that Jim brought up for the sake of discussion was: What is it about some movies that attracts or touches so many people?

I was complaining to a friend of mine at my martial arts dojo one time about this business. After listening to my whining for a few minutes he looked at me and said "No one forced you to become a screenwriter." A bit harsh perhaps but he was right. My life, my choices.

My mistake was trying to express my frustration to someone who doesn't understand and work in this business. Had I complained about taking countless breakfalls or sore wrists or two separated shoulders and many dislocated joints from years of doing martial arts, I'm sure I would have gotten a more sympathetic response and then, of course, his list of injuries.
 

Stop saying - "I could have written a better movie" and do it!

Mark Sevi, 19+ produced movies and credits, teaches scriptwriting through Irvine Valley College. 

Classes offered:

BEGINNING (INTRO) SCRIPTWRITING will take you from knowing little or nothing about scriptwriting to writing pages on your script in eight (8) weeks.

Thursdays
Jul-15-2010 - Sep-02-2010
6:30PM - 9:30PM

MORE INFO HERE

INTERMEDIATE SCRIPTWRITING is for those who have a work in progress or have a basic understanding of scriptwriting.

Tuesdays
Jul-13-2010 - Sep-14-2010
6:30PM - 9:30PM

MORE INFO HERE

Both classes feature a guided workshop and breakdowns of movies with discussions on technique and the reality of Hollywood.

Our YouTube Channel HERE 

Our Vimeo Channel HERE

The Screenwriters Workshop will be screening the Edda nominated documentary Alfred Eliasson & Loftleidir Icelandic. Writer/director/member Sigurgeir Orri will join us to talk about the process of making the film and answer questions.

This event will take place at Orange Coast College. Arts Center Building off Parking Lot D. Room 216.  You can buy a Visitor parking permit at the Arlington entrance or park in metered space.

Non-members do not need to RSVP for this event.  More Information can be found here: http://www.meetup.com/SoCal-Screenwriters-Workshop/calendar/12997221/

"Winners never quit and quitters never win." Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers during their initial ascension in the early days of the NFL is credited with that phrase. And Vince knew that from personal experience - he was 45 before he became a head coach and that season had only a 7-5 record. The next year, however, he led the Packers to the NFL championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. They lost that year (1960) but he never lost another post-season game while coaching the Packers.

Winners never quit - I also know this from personal experience.

I will admit that I am harder on scifi movies than any other genre.  Being a huge fan, having read it since I was a kid (starting with Tom Swift Jr.,) I know the scope of incredible themes, characters and concepts available and possible.  Scifi can be anything any other story can be - romance, actioneer, comedy - and still deal with dystopian and utopian futures, post-apocalyptic scenarios, aliens, microscopic worlds, uni-sex planets...the range is breathless.

"Repo Men" is a clever scifi concept looking for a decent story.  It tries and fails to visit a possible future where artificial organs are de rigueur and financing for those organs has become a business run by "The Union."  (Begin psuedo-future-societal scifi bullshit with that vaguely threatening and totally implausible corporate name.)  If you can't pay you're visited by the Repo Men section of The Union and they cut their pastdue merchandise out of your body on the floor of your living room, public bathroom, or wherever else you're unlucky enough to be if you're 96 days past due.  No extensions possible. 

And yes, most likely you will die after they complete their gruesome task because they don't use anesthetic, care about hygiene or really anything but getting said organ back to the shop.

At one point in his career, Jerry Seinfeld could have sold ice to a penguin; sand to a camel; smoke to a fire.  Then came the short-lived Microsoft ads that he did with Bill Gates and suddenly it was anathema to be seen with him on film.

"Cop Rock?"  Really, what was up with that show, Steven Bochco?  A drama-musical-whatever hybrid that nearly wrecked Mr. Bocho's career after the genius of  "Hill Street Blues," and more quality television writing than you can imagine.

 I’m going to commit a bit of heresy here and make the suggestion that if William Shakespeare was alive today he would have been a screenwriter.  Not just any kind of screenwriter but a genre screenwriter - a really good "B" movie screenwriter but nonetheless, he'd be writing "Die Hard" and "Terminator"  and "The Lookout" - those kinds of genre films.

• "Laugh while you can, monkey boy."
• "The Future Begins Tomorrow."
• "No matter where you go, there you are."
• "History is made at night. Character is what you are in the dark."
• Buckaroo: "It's like driving a truck."
   Alien John Parker: "Good. What is a truck?"

Reitman Vs. Sheldon Turner Controversy: We Compare The Two 'Up In The Air' Scripts

This is an interesting comparison of the versions of the script that got made into the film "Up In The Air."  This after the LA Times printed a piece suggesting that Jason Reitman wasn't giving credited co-writer Sheldon Turner his due on the awards circuit.

link

The climax of our story has arrived. The road of trials has left our hero scarred and battered but still standing. The stakes are now, at last, clearly defined. Failure means the loss of their galaxy … their country … their loved one … their cat, Sabrina … or whatever treasure the characters are after. Only the villain can stop our hero from succeeding. 
 
Will good triumph over evil or will the bad guys win? 

At the opening of Held, we find a man held prisoner in a small room. He wakes up from being knocked out and discovers several sharp nails protruding through the wall. Each day, A cloaked captor slips photographs under the door showing a mysterious woman. This was a great film. It got me watching until the end and gripping the chair arms. A bit fearing at times but I kept seeking the end. All in all bravo editing,filming and Believable acting. ***** five stars! Bravo! Wanting to see more of the actor's work!

"The Hurt Locker" is a film about a bomb squad in Iraq during a time when IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were rampant. There isn't much to spoil in this film because there is no real story. The film basically follows a 3-member team toward the end of their rotation - they have about 30 days left and their leader gets himself "blowed up good." A new team leader, in the form of a "Wildman" (Jeremy Renner) comes in, proceeds to run rampant and no one cares except the team members be puts into jeopardy.

That's it. Really.

There's car bombs, suicide bombs, body bombs (OMFG!) and

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Imagine you’re only able to tell a story by singing it. But then someone tells you can't  actually use any lyrics and you can chart your tale only by using the rise and fall of the chord progression to get people involved and engaged.

What am I talking about and how does it relate to scriptwriting? The genius of Lady Gaga, that’s what I’m talking about. But what does she have in common with John Sayles, Lawrence Kasdan, Phillip Kaufman or Christopher Nolan?