Getting it Done

Not sure about any of you, but sometimes I feel like I have so many ideas that I end up not doing anything: writing, editing, developing, etc. It is so easy to just think about things than it is to not ever get started. If you haven't heard it before I am here to say, "Get Started!" Sometimes the best thing to do is to just start writing, start editing, start brainstorm, just start doing something.

I am part of a writers group and in the spring we all set deadlines and tossed some money into a pot. If we met our ultimate deadline by the end of the semester we got our money back, if we failed then the money went to a big party for the group or something like that. Needless to say, $20 is a lot of money to me so I finished a 105 page script in roughly four months time. I tried it again the following month but only got an outline and 30 pages written, now I have 2 more ideas and have been more thinking about them then actually doing something about it.

Post-production on a movie can sometimes have the same effect. It gets tedious after a while, watching the same thing over and over, fine tuning the edits. You can easily let it sit around for years at a time, or you can start working your butt off to get it done so you can move on to the next project.

I have determined that if I don't push hard to the end of a project, whether a website, script or a movie. Then I will have a really hard time getting anything else done. I was inspired again this month when I found out about National Novel Writing Month, http://www.nanowrimo.org. My brother was participating and he has been hammering out an insane amount of pages and is looking to finish 50,000 words this month. He also introduced me to another organization, Script Frenzy, http://www.scriptfrenzy.org. Now I am hoping to have three scripts written by June so I can participate in the Script Writing Month and not have these other scripts hanging over my head.

So to end it a quote from something I am not quite sure I know where it is from, "Get 'er done!"

It all starts with story: Part 2.

It happens more often then not that I get to a scene in a script and begin writing only to discover that I wrote dialogue and actions for a character end up breaking character. It is important to know your characters before you try telling their story.

I have spoken with many people who do not like to outline their scripts because they want to discover the characters as they write. I am very wary about believing this to be a good way to write. If you don't know where your story is going then you don't know what needs to be told and what doesn't, often time creating an inconsistant through line for your characters.

Outlining a script is one thing but is it does not tell you who your characters are and how they are going to react to situations. The outline is usually a list of key events that need to happen to create a compitent story without plot holes, but an outline is not going to tell you how a character speaks to someone or responds to a comment or even their speach patterns. You may have some idea of how your character interacts with other people, but you won't know the core of the character by an outline.

There is a way to not get stuck in the situation of breaking character. A complete biography of your character usually will help. This is where the challenge comes in, many times I have started to write a character biography and after about 1 page, sometimes 2, I figure I have written enough and can move on. This is where you need to force yourself just to write, let the words flow and don't worry about grammer or spellin -- just write. Repeate things you have already mentioned get everything down to the last detail: where he/she was born, when was he/she born, where did they go to school, their friends, family, hobbies, fears, boyfriends/girlfriends, jobs, were they ever fired, did they quit, their grades, were they liked, etc.

Any and everything you can think of write it down. Again you may only get to page 2, force your self to write to at least page 5. Write more if you like. The idea behind creating a biography of your character is to get to know how they will react to people, how they will talk, what they can talk about, etc. Your dialogue will run smoother and your characters will be speaking with meaning rather than made up circumstances.

Unfortuanately and fortunately it doesn't stop there. After the biography is done you'll have another set of things you can do to prepare yourself to write the script.

It all starts with story: Part 1.

It is a given that without a script you can't make a movie. Well how hard is it to write a script. Obviously we are not all screenwriters but for those of us who are, what makes it so hard at times.

I have always found that writing act 2 is the most difficult part of a screenplay. It is normally the part in a movie that gets really slow and sometimes boring. How do you make act 2 easier to write and more interesting. Well, I was watching a DVD put together by Syd Field, the author of the book "Screenplay" and numerous other works about screen writing. He gave a very good example that helped me greatly.

Some of you may remember the video series from the 80s and 90s "Where There's a Will There's an A." Well in that series about how to get good grades the professor talking mentioned the idea of study times. He suggested the idea that if we study in long lapses of time we are more likely to forget the majority of what we study. He used a diagram showing a dip in attention from when we start to when we finish. The start and end having the best attention span and the middle, being the bottom of the dip, having the worst amount of attention thus resulting in a loss of recall.

His recommendation was to break up your study period into 10 or 15 minute periods so that you are less likely to forget what you study. It's funny how this applies to screenwriting as well. Syd Field mentioned that he finds it easier to write in 30 page segments, so that would cause a problem considering that act 2 is normally closer to 60 pages.

Syd Field proposed the idea that you split your act 2 into two sections the Mid Point being the divider. The result is you are now working in 30 page segments again. The only problem is you still have the issue of keeping act 2 interesting. Field mentioned a few other tricks. He posed the idea of have what he called a Pinch and the 1/4 mark of act 2 and the 3/4 mark of act 2. The 2/4 mark or 1/2 point being the mid point. The Pinch is another element that helps to drive the story forward. The last thing that was mentioned was splitting each half up into 14 points. When I started doing this I realized how valuable splitting the two halves of the act up into 14 points was.

You first have to make sure that the order of points or key events are in sequence with your movie so that things make sense, but once that is complete it becomes much easier.

In an interview I read with Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, I believe it was on the moviefone.com website, the two fantastic writers of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy mentioned that they work on their script in 2-3 page segments. They mentioned it was easier to manage the story and not get overwhelmed with the entire scope of the script.

With the 14 point idea you technically only need to write about 2 pages per point, you may go over 2 pages on some you may go under 2 pages on others but if you average 2 pages per point you get nearly 30 pages per half of act 2 thus achieving a 60 page act 2 and only having to work on it in 2-3 page segments.

Next is learning the best way to edit act 2 of your film after it's been shot. Also what I consider the hardest part of editing a film.

What's next?

When talking with numerous amounts of people about my first feature the comment or stories that were constantly brought up was what's next? What is next on the plate for the aspiring writer/director or writer or director? I was told by many people stories of people who finish their first feature and begin to shop it around the market and the questions that always arise are, "do you have anything else?"

I tend to wonder if these questions are because they don't like what they see. Although we often times may assume this result I believe that it is for a different reason. Filmmaking is an art but whether you like it or not it is also a business. Producers, distributors, finaceers want to know if you are going to be a good business investment. Are you a one time fling or can you build a lasting relationship with these people to continue making movies?

So what is next? I may be more fortunate then some in the fact that I feel like I have a limitless supply of ideas; some may be good others may be horendous. I have learned, though, that I don't know if they are any good unless I write them down. I have heard tell that the great horror/suspence writer Stephen King writes his ideas down and puts them in a drawer, if he still is thinking about it a year or so down the line then he decides it is at least worth a try in writing it. This may not be true but the idea helps me tremendously. I have found that if I can just put something down on paper then I at least have it out of my head and can move on to something else. Often times this is how I am able to determine if the idea is good or not. If I only get a few pages into the script and reach a block the forget about it the I am not always inclined to continue.

I have about 10 scripts in a folder on my computer that I have started, some completed 1st drafts others one or two pages long other are the entire 1st act. One thing I have discovered is that if I have an idea in the middle of another story I am working on, it may interfere. My conclusion normally ends up where I write down my idea and then go back to what I should be working on.

Every artist has their own method of writing, directing, composing, acting, etc. But the key is not necissarly in the process but owning your method and making it work for you as best as possible. So what's next? You don't neccisarily have to have the script, it is a good idea to at least have some clue of an idea. In this business you never know who you'll meet or who you will be able to pitch to, so always be ready and always have some options for what's next.

The Catch 22

It is often said that to get money for your film you need to have names attached to it and to get names attached to your film you need to have money attached to it. The good ol' catch 22, right? Well maybe there is a way around that. In the preliminary stages of Bounty I learned a few things that I did not realize until after I had completed production. Budget, funds and attachments are often times suggestions before they are ever realizations.

For the next project I can say I will do quite a bit differently. First being with the budget. When creating your budget, don't undercut yourself - you don't have to be realistic when creating the 1st draft of the budget. Think of it like script writing, there will always be revisions. The budget is to help you determine how much money you will need, it is not necissarily saying how much money you have. I would suggest putting in the full price of everything when creating the budget, save the deal making for your prep month/week. Put your crews wages at union standards, locations at full amounts, every permit that you will need. You may even want to put your talent at around $5,000 a day - who knows you may get that A-list actor attached.

Once you have completed your preliminary budget start calling up the talent and crew you want to have involved. A good place to be able to get in contact with these people is by subscribing to the website, WhoRepresents.com, this will give you access to an exahustive database of talent and who they are represented by. Start calling up the agents and managers of the talent you want to work with. In the little bit of experience I have had, I would recommend talking with the managers as opposed to the agent - agents are looking at the dollar value while managers are more open to the project/idea. This is where your budget comes into play. Often times you will be asked what your budget is; now if you were realistic when creating your budget, believing you would only get $500,000, the response you may get is that it would be a waste of their time. Imagine the difference if you told them it was a $10mil budget. They would be more interested in the project, right? Well your first thing is to be able to send a script their way and you would only be able to do that if they let you.

So by making your budget with everything at full price you may be able to tap into that talent that you want to get attached. Once they have an expressed interest, turn around and start using that to raise funds. Go to the studios, go to distribution companies and tell them what you have. It worked for Snakes on a Plane, didn't it?

What's there to lose? I am in the proses of giving it a try so if it works I will deffinately share my experiences.

Communication is Key

One of the most important things in filmmaking is communication. Filmmaking is a collaborative art form, one of the few. You have so many different aspects and positions in filmmaking you must be certain that as a director you communicate your vision clearly.

A danger in this thought is not learning to delegate. There is a team of artists behind you that are experts in what they do, so you do not need to tell them every little thing that needs to be done. Communicating your vision clearly is far from telling other department heads exactly what to do. This is an element that takes practice and often times the effectiveness of your communication is not discovered until you reach the edit suite.

I learned this on the current film I am making. There is an amount of freedom that you need to give people who are under you, but that freedom can only be given if you have properly prepared and communicated your ideas to those department heads. Preparation leads me to another point about communication. If you have not done your homework in pre-production you risk the chance of slowing down your production and ultimately not getting what it is you want.

Pre-production is much more than just figuring out how you will be directing the actors but involves creating a shot list, blocking and, what I am finding to be a huge assistance in prep, storyboards. Film is a visual medium and shot lists and overheads of your scenes still leave a lot of interpretation to an individual. If you have an exact mood or emotion that you want to come across in you picture you can't always expect a DP or Art Director, etc. to know exactly what it is you want. This is where storyboards can become a valuable tool. Even a stick drawing can convey an idea if you are not an established artist.

Communication is key and once that line of discussion is cut, your project is doomed. You can't do it alone so don't try, but make sure your team knows what your intentions and ideas are or it is not much different that trying to do things alone.

The Moment it Clicks

While directing the feature film, BOUNTY, I discovered a lot of things that are important when directing actors. Not only do they help in creating memorable performances but they help the over all through line of the story, connecting story elements in a way you may not have thought of before.

While working with the actors in one scene I was noticing that something was just not clicking. Don't get me wrong, the performances were great but there was something that was missing from the scene. Between each take I would talk with the actors to discuss the scene. Often times I try using the technique given by Judith Weston in her book, Directing Actors, about giving action verbs to help make quick adjustments to the scene. I felt that this was not the moment to use that technique. The performances were fine it was something that the actors needed to discover. After further discussion the lead actor came upon something that I could not have done myself, he made a discovery about his character. We did the scene again and the missing element was found.
Often times I see directors wanting to dictate exactly how each moment of the film happens but to truly have full creative control over how you direct a film you need to be willing to let the actors discover things for themselves. If I had told the actor that this was the moment in the film where his arc was complete and that he learned he truly loved the girl the performance could have come out flat and stale, but instead I was able to talk the actor down a path of discover. Our discussion was not one of me telling him what was happening but was me asking him what he felt was happening. I was able to give suggestions that lead him right to where we needed to be. When he told me that this was his moment of discovery I thought for a moment he was talking about himself as an actor, but what he meant was it was the scene that his character made a discovery. I am almost certain that whatever way he meant what he said it applied to both the actor and the character he was playing.

It is important to not only help an actor discover something for himself but also to understand where a character is coming from, what causes certain things to happen and why their responses are the way they are. The moment it clicks for the actor is when you are on the verge of an incredible performance.