As you know if you've been gracious enough to read my previous ramblings, I've been going on about a Three Day Thriller that I've been working on. Turns out that the idea has evolved, thanks to some of my Tweet-Buds @robertcarroll (blog here) and @hollywoodjane (blog here) and @sambanova. We've morphed the Three Day Thriller into a Five Day Feature to encompass more than a single genre, and given ourselves between now and Sunday to complete it, choosing the five days that work best for us to write.
I've realized that I've painted myself into a bit of a corner here, as I am leaving for a two week hiaitus on Friday at 5:30AM and between now and then I am scheduled to work every day at the bill paying job. So, I have a small confession to make. I'm going to be cheating ever so slightly. I am planning to transfer my Three Day Thriller into the Five Day Feature. I have currently already worked on the thriller for three sittings, which would give me two more sittings to finish it. Since Thursday is a total write off due to holiday preparations, I figure I'm not cheating too badly, and am hoping my tweet-family won't excommunicate me too easily. I'm Thirty-one pages in, which still leaves me quite a feat to accomplish around my work days. I'm extremely excited to have some moral support from other (read: better) writers who are forging on along the same timelines.
Check this blog for updates, or follow along on Twitter. You can search #5dayfeature for Twitter info. Happy writing to my compatriots.
Showing posts with label Screenplay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Screenplay. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
How Early Is Too Early to Want It?
Recently we pitched for the Crazy8's Film Festival here in Vancouver. The idea behind this festival is to make a short film in 8 days with an $800 budget (plus an exorbitant amount of production services) and then to show the film at a screening in front of industry professionals and the public alike. This is meant to showcase new talent, and create a calling card film that can be submitted to the festival circuit, as well as on a demo reel. We did not get in. We did, however, attend the screening for the six films that made the cut. Five out of the six were comedies, and the one drama blew them all out of the water. "Mike Inc." created by Jose Pablo Gonzalez and Paal Wilhelm Nesset was an incredible feat, especially considering the time constraints.
We went into our pitch with a project called "Grocery Confessions" (which we will incidentally be shooting this summer. Tell your friends and rich uncles!!) Though we pitched it as a dark comedy, "Grocery Confessions" has a lot of dramatic elements and is not slapstick by any means. As our first major pitch, we felt pretty good about our efforts, and received some positive feedback from the jury, despite the outcome. I suppose if rejection felt like cookie dough ice cream and kitten snuggles it would be a very different world we live in. What I'm getting at is that after attending the screening, I felt better and a little worse.
BETTER:
Looking at the types of films that were chosen, it was apparent that comedy was a major theme throughout the chosen films. I don't mean comedy in the "Darjeeling Limited" or "Oh Brother Where Ary Thou" sense, we're talking knee-slapping, guffawing, SNL-type comedy. Some of which succeeded, and others that may do better on YouTube. This made me feel slightly better about our story, if only because I can now convince myself that they weren't looking for our brand of story, as opposed thinking that despite the positive feedback we may have botched the pitch.
WORSE:
I feel worse, because the guys who made "Mike Inc." are clearly well on their way to amazing careers in the film industry, and were able to buck the system and create a mini masterpiece within the constraints that were thrown at them. It is inspiring and discouraging to witness their success. That is the nature of the beast, the good the bad and the ugly all in one California Roll and dumped on a peice of lettuce. Chew on it! Coming out of the event, I have several new ideas to flesh out, and much more networking to do.
MY QUESTION:
What I want to know is; when is it too early in your career to be picky about what you will and won't do? When are you allowed to avoid something that isn't up your alley, even if it may further your career in some way? Is there a right time to say "I will not compromise"? I ask because we could have pitched a comedy of the slapstick variety, and possibly made it into the festival, but we didn't. We chose to pitch a story we're passionate about, in a genre that we love, in a format we can get behind. Was this a bad move? I still say we did the right thing. Thoughts?
Also, since i was a delinquent on Logline Friday, perhaps I will try to achieve one line a day the rest of the week.
*disclaimer* I save all my best loglines for my idea log, in case someone decides to borrow the mediocre ones I post for their own gain. This exercise is merely to stir the molasses that is the right side of my brain. (On that note, if you've never done the right brain/left brain test, you should check it out. I ALWAYS see the dancer turning clockwise and it takes me forever to see it the other way - what do you see?)
Here is today's Logline:
A chef in the city is fired when he is wrongly accused of harassing his female co-workers. He exacts his revenge by paying customers to complain and send their food back.
We went into our pitch with a project called "Grocery Confessions" (which we will incidentally be shooting this summer. Tell your friends and rich uncles!!) Though we pitched it as a dark comedy, "Grocery Confessions" has a lot of dramatic elements and is not slapstick by any means. As our first major pitch, we felt pretty good about our efforts, and received some positive feedback from the jury, despite the outcome. I suppose if rejection felt like cookie dough ice cream and kitten snuggles it would be a very different world we live in. What I'm getting at is that after attending the screening, I felt better and a little worse.
BETTER:
Looking at the types of films that were chosen, it was apparent that comedy was a major theme throughout the chosen films. I don't mean comedy in the "Darjeeling Limited" or "Oh Brother Where Ary Thou" sense, we're talking knee-slapping, guffawing, SNL-type comedy. Some of which succeeded, and others that may do better on YouTube. This made me feel slightly better about our story, if only because I can now convince myself that they weren't looking for our brand of story, as opposed thinking that despite the positive feedback we may have botched the pitch.
WORSE:
I feel worse, because the guys who made "Mike Inc." are clearly well on their way to amazing careers in the film industry, and were able to buck the system and create a mini masterpiece within the constraints that were thrown at them. It is inspiring and discouraging to witness their success. That is the nature of the beast, the good the bad and the ugly all in one California Roll and dumped on a peice of lettuce. Chew on it! Coming out of the event, I have several new ideas to flesh out, and much more networking to do.
MY QUESTION:
What I want to know is; when is it too early in your career to be picky about what you will and won't do? When are you allowed to avoid something that isn't up your alley, even if it may further your career in some way? Is there a right time to say "I will not compromise"? I ask because we could have pitched a comedy of the slapstick variety, and possibly made it into the festival, but we didn't. We chose to pitch a story we're passionate about, in a genre that we love, in a format we can get behind. Was this a bad move? I still say we did the right thing. Thoughts?
Also, since i was a delinquent on Logline Friday, perhaps I will try to achieve one line a day the rest of the week.
*disclaimer* I save all my best loglines for my idea log, in case someone decides to borrow the mediocre ones I post for their own gain. This exercise is merely to stir the molasses that is the right side of my brain. (On that note, if you've never done the right brain/left brain test, you should check it out. I ALWAYS see the dancer turning clockwise and it takes me forever to see it the other way - what do you see?)
Here is today's Logline:
A chef in the city is fired when he is wrongly accused of harassing his female co-workers. He exacts his revenge by paying customers to complain and send their food back.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Its That Time Again: Logline Extravaganza!
Its a rainy Friday morning and I'm basking in the 1.5 hours of online bliss before I head in to work. I've decided to revisit my previous exercise of five loglines to keep me busy. Perhaps I'll make this a weekly thing. Five Logline Friday has a nice ring to it (though it sounds highly ambitious one cup of coffee in). Visit this PREVIOUS POST to compare and contrast today's ideas with the previous. Here goes:
1. OVERSHARE: Jane, a seasoned commuter, passes her time eavesdropping on the transit passengers around her, listening to their phone calls and imagining their lives. One morning she hears the private intentions of a passenger who has plans to kill herself that night. When the passenger disembarks suddenly, Jane feels compelled to go after her and keep her from her dark plan.
2. UNDEAD EVOLUTION: It is 2027. The human race have been subject to a violent plague and all have become the walking dead. Starvation is imminent, until one zombie child develops an awareness, an understanding of her surroundings. The need to feed becomes secondary to the need for survival, and the evolution of the undead begins.
3. THE SWAP: Bored with their domestic responsibilities, a group of housewives in the fifties start a program where working women can experience the domestic life for a day, and they will take over the office responsibilities. Breaking the barriers between career woman, and domestic goddess, the role sharing results in comedy, and an awareness to a new kind of life.
4. CHARISMA: Some people are simply too charming for their own good. Ellie is one of those people. Every time she opens her mouth, she makes a new friend. Her advice is highly sought after and her phone is always ringing. When Ellie begins a new job, her new admirers begin to cross the line from over-friendly to over-bearing. Ellie decides to take a vacation, only to be hotly pursued by those who want a piece of her, and they will do anything to get the piece they want.
Wow, those took longer than I had anticipated, and I only got four. Remind me next time that this exercise is not conducive to the morning. I will edit post when I can extract the fifth one from my brain. On another note, I'm aware that these are not my best work, but it is worth the posting humiliation to stir the creative molasses into gingerbread.
1. OVERSHARE: Jane, a seasoned commuter, passes her time eavesdropping on the transit passengers around her, listening to their phone calls and imagining their lives. One morning she hears the private intentions of a passenger who has plans to kill herself that night. When the passenger disembarks suddenly, Jane feels compelled to go after her and keep her from her dark plan.
2. UNDEAD EVOLUTION: It is 2027. The human race have been subject to a violent plague and all have become the walking dead. Starvation is imminent, until one zombie child develops an awareness, an understanding of her surroundings. The need to feed becomes secondary to the need for survival, and the evolution of the undead begins.
3. THE SWAP: Bored with their domestic responsibilities, a group of housewives in the fifties start a program where working women can experience the domestic life for a day, and they will take over the office responsibilities. Breaking the barriers between career woman, and domestic goddess, the role sharing results in comedy, and an awareness to a new kind of life.
4. CHARISMA: Some people are simply too charming for their own good. Ellie is one of those people. Every time she opens her mouth, she makes a new friend. Her advice is highly sought after and her phone is always ringing. When Ellie begins a new job, her new admirers begin to cross the line from over-friendly to over-bearing. Ellie decides to take a vacation, only to be hotly pursued by those who want a piece of her, and they will do anything to get the piece they want.
Wow, those took longer than I had anticipated, and I only got four. Remind me next time that this exercise is not conducive to the morning. I will edit post when I can extract the fifth one from my brain. On another note, I'm aware that these are not my best work, but it is worth the posting humiliation to stir the creative molasses into gingerbread.
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