The next time I read a v.o. of the phrase "That's me" I will beat the living smack out of a tree.
You wouldn't hurt a tree, would you?
This was played out by the time 'An American in Paris' came out and even they upped its originality by first showing someone else's face. Fifty odd years later it still needs something else to make it work.
This has been used in some good scripts, but it's also abused in a metric ton of bad ones. Tread carefully here and remember:
When in doubt cut it out.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Use It or Lose It
Apparently, the sleezier you are the nicer your car.
Is this happening in real life? Does some asshabidasher laugh at a little girl's spilt ice cream and the next day find Bimmer keys in his mailbox?
That would explain a lot about the scripts I'm reading. And life in gen.
But I doubt it.
This isn't a search & destroy tip. Just know that as soon as you have a nasty piece of work driving a nice piece of chrome I'll assume the rest of your script will be just as predictable. Remember the ol' theatre rule: Never put a cannon on stage you don't intend to fire.
If Ferris' bff is going to have a turning point when they can't get the miles back off the car, fine. If not, leave it for Top Gear.
Is this happening in real life? Does some asshabidasher laugh at a little girl's spilt ice cream and the next day find Bimmer keys in his mailbox?
That would explain a lot about the scripts I'm reading. And life in gen.
But I doubt it.
This isn't a search & destroy tip. Just know that as soon as you have a nasty piece of work driving a nice piece of chrome I'll assume the rest of your script will be just as predictable. Remember the ol' theatre rule: Never put a cannon on stage you don't intend to fire.
If Ferris' bff is going to have a turning point when they can't get the miles back off the car, fine. If not, leave it for Top Gear.
Don't Play that Funky Music
♫ Hey mister, hey mister writer, you're not a DJ. Turn the music down! ♪
Times mentioning a specific song is allowed:
1. Karaoke scenes
2. Dichotomy (a happy song over a fight scene, etc...)
And even then you should use 'a song like...' This lets potential producers and directors know what's going on in the scene without locking them into an expensive song.
Even better for you, it lets them know you're a professional who will not crazily think the script must be your 'vision.' It's the producer and director's vision, it's just your script. (Even if you don't believe that, that's the company line. Learn it well.)
Writers who are delicate about their 'children' don't get called back. Writers who insist that the song on the radio must be The Jam's "Waterloo Sunset" may have good taste in tunes, but will also have a bad rep with their reader.
Yes, established writers break this rule. But they got to be established by proving they weren't fussy, helicopter-parents. So tuck it back in your pants.*
*and by 'it' I of course mean your iPod
Times mentioning a specific song is allowed:
1. Karaoke scenes
2. Dichotomy (a happy song over a fight scene, etc...)
And even then you should use 'a song like...' This lets potential producers and directors know what's going on in the scene without locking them into an expensive song.
Even better for you, it lets them know you're a professional who will not crazily think the script must be your 'vision.' It's the producer and director's vision, it's just your script. (Even if you don't believe that, that's the company line. Learn it well.)
Writers who are delicate about their 'children' don't get called back. Writers who insist that the song on the radio must be The Jam's "Waterloo Sunset" may have good taste in tunes, but will also have a bad rep with their reader.
Yes, established writers break this rule. But they got to be established by proving they weren't fussy, helicopter-parents. So tuck it back in your pants.*
*and by 'it' I of course mean your iPod
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Bit with the Dog
Does your script have a bit with a dog?
'The Bit with the Dog' is a shortcut to getting your audience to identify with a character. Usually it has no relation to the plot, but it shows us they're kind, down to earth, nice to animals, etc...
Well known 'Bits with the Dog':
* "You've Got Mail" put theirs in their commercials (just in case we didn't already like Tom Hanks)
* "Iron Man 2" gave theirs to an antagonist, Ivan. His fondness of his pet bird helped us not feel turned off when he was on-screen, even if he was acting against Tony Stark. (They also upped his cred by showing how Stark respected his work)
* I've heard *Sideways* used a lead's handling of grapes on the vine as their bit, but I haven't seen it recently so YMMV
* "Con Air" did a rare reverse-bit between Malkovich's character and the rapist. By insulting the rapist the film gave its audience permission to identify with the cons and their goal of escaping captivity
(This could lead to a discussion of 'people/plots we engage with even if we don't want them to succeed,' but that's another post...)
* The bit in "State of Play?" Debatable, but I say.... The Cheetos. Usually the bit shows a character is kind, but when a lead is smart-with-a-capital-S it's used to show they're normal. By showing the lead throw back a Cheetos bag at a red light we know we're allowed to identify with him. He may be brilliant at his job, but he's still 'like us'
* "Jurassic Park" did this with Alan Grant and the computer. No matter how many letters come after his name he still can't get near a computer w/o futzing things up. We get that
* (Acceptable alt for "Jurassic Park" is taking down the snotty kid without raising his voice. We immediately knew we liked this guy - plus it was a non-infodump way to introduce the terror of the raptors)
* In "The Taking of Pelham 123" (remake) the bit was when Garber spilled his coffee. Did he cuss? Shoot nasty looks at the applause from his co-workers? Nope, he just laughed it off. This showed that despite his meteoric rise in the company he still had little ego and a sense of humor
* My favorite is from Independence Day. It comes when the president hears someone use a snarky Dickens reference to attack him. "That's quite clever," he replies. Like the Pelham example, this shows a lack of 'preciousness' and a refusal to take things personally
NOTE: The bit SHOULD NOT be its own scene unless it's part of a montage of life before the inciting incident. Remember: it's not something we need for the plot. It's there to engage us with the characters.
You may have noticed these occur early in their films. If we already don't like a character then by the time you wedge this in it may be useless.
(Or you could be hinting that the character is not what he seems. Dead handy, isn't it?)
'The Bit with the Dog' is a shortcut to getting your audience to identify with a character. Usually it has no relation to the plot, but it shows us they're kind, down to earth, nice to animals, etc...
Well known 'Bits with the Dog':
* "You've Got Mail" put theirs in their commercials (just in case we didn't already like Tom Hanks)
* "Iron Man 2" gave theirs to an antagonist, Ivan. His fondness of his pet bird helped us not feel turned off when he was on-screen, even if he was acting against Tony Stark. (They also upped his cred by showing how Stark respected his work)
* I've heard *Sideways* used a lead's handling of grapes on the vine as their bit, but I haven't seen it recently so YMMV
* "Con Air" did a rare reverse-bit between Malkovich's character and the rapist. By insulting the rapist the film gave its audience permission to identify with the cons and their goal of escaping captivity
(This could lead to a discussion of 'people/plots we engage with even if we don't want them to succeed,' but that's another post...)
* The bit in "State of Play?" Debatable, but I say.... The Cheetos. Usually the bit shows a character is kind, but when a lead is smart-with-a-capital-S it's used to show they're normal. By showing the lead throw back a Cheetos bag at a red light we know we're allowed to identify with him. He may be brilliant at his job, but he's still 'like us'
* "Jurassic Park" did this with Alan Grant and the computer. No matter how many letters come after his name he still can't get near a computer w/o futzing things up. We get that
* (Acceptable alt for "Jurassic Park" is taking down the snotty kid without raising his voice. We immediately knew we liked this guy - plus it was a non-infodump way to introduce the terror of the raptors)
* In "The Taking of Pelham 123" (remake) the bit was when Garber spilled his coffee. Did he cuss? Shoot nasty looks at the applause from his co-workers? Nope, he just laughed it off. This showed that despite his meteoric rise in the company he still had little ego and a sense of humor
* My favorite is from Independence Day. It comes when the president hears someone use a snarky Dickens reference to attack him. "That's quite clever," he replies. Like the Pelham example, this shows a lack of 'preciousness' and a refusal to take things personally
NOTE: The bit SHOULD NOT be its own scene unless it's part of a montage of life before the inciting incident. Remember: it's not something we need for the plot. It's there to engage us with the characters.
You may have noticed these occur early in their films. If we already don't like a character then by the time you wedge this in it may be useless.
(Or you could be hinting that the character is not what he seems. Dead handy, isn't it?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)