Cocooning After Christmas

Well, I've slated to take off five days at Christmas. We're closed on the 25th, and I requested the 26th through the 29th off. And I have one goal: to get something written.

A script for the movie I want to shoot, hopefully. With my job, it's been hard to make a long term commitment to any project. To go from relative solitude to the chaos of working at a supermarket can be very jarring. Working front end register can be intensely stressful. Hopefully, I'll have my driver's license soon, and from there on out, things should be full speed ahead.

But I'm getting off track. I feel it's a little weird to be working on the script already. For too long, I've been trying to figure out where the money's going to come from, but right now I don't care. I have a feeling that once I have an idea for a movie, in place, the rest will fall into place. I'm actively thinking about the kind of things I want to write. I need to stop worrying about fitting into any mold, drop any pretension, and just WRITE. The audience will be there.

ahhhhh....

Well, I'm starting to have visions about a movie, and I haven't even had to force myself to have them. It occurred to me last night not to worry about the "real" details--money, where I'm going to shoot it, even what format I'm going to shoot it on. Just write the script, and everything else will come to me on its own.

I'm thinking about getting a grant for equipment, though. There's a lot that I'd like to buy, but I need the money. Maybe the grant will help me buy it.

Making a K-Turn

Tonight I tried to get started on writing the short script I thought I was going to write. I just couldn't find a point and couldn't get past a couple of lines.

Instead, I came up with an idea that I found much easier to execute and should be relatively easy to coordinate and shoot. I will work on it more in detail tomorrow.

Oh, and in driving class today, I managed to pull off a K-Turn. It was no where near as difficult as I remember it being before.

RIP Uncle Jim

I've been having trouble coming up with ideas for my short film, beyond what I said in the preceding post. Since the five hour course I was supposed to take on Monday was cancelled (I'll be taking it on Saturday instead), I'm going to take the time and watch the Funny Ha Ha DVD that I own for inspiration.

Remember that critique of screenwriting books I was working on? I've decided to write a screenwriting book that evaluates European Films. I will still be able to incorporate the research I've done, but it will be more constructive. I've seen plenty of European films already, so that part is taken care of. I think its an idea whose time has come.

In the meantime, I plan on making some new YouTube videos. I really lost interest in it for awhile, but now I have some fresh ideas.

On a personal note, my Uncle Jim passed away. I hadn't seen him since he moved to Arizona several years ago, but when I was a kid, we used to go up every Christmas to his house in Rochester. He and his wife, my Aunt Pat, took care of my Uncle David when my maternal grandparents died. His daughter Mary is my sister's godmother. I will miss him.

The Seminar Weekend, Part Two: Sunday

I got to the seminar at 10 of 8, and Gordy Hoffman showed up about 10 or 15 minutes later. Gordy has longish hair, and sort of looks like a burlier version of the guy who played the guidance counselor on Freaks and Geeks.

Basically, the day was spent reading and critiquing each others' scripts. When it came time to critique mine, I admit It was a little hard for me to articulate what it was about. It didn't occur to me to tell them that I brought it because I didn't have anything else to present. He asked me where I wanted to go with it. I hardly remember what I said. I'm not sure if I really want to continue with it, because as Gordy pointed out, the script was written as a means to express myself. Someone said it reminded them of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, another said Dr. Strangelove, Gordy said The Graduate.

During lunch break, someone asked Gordy what it was like to have a famous brother.

"I don't really look at him that way," He replied.

One thing about Gordy that I find an asset is that
he critiques from the point of view of a writer. I find that most script coaches/analysts write and work from the point of view of a story editor, and I find that many of these people berate the aspiring writer, whether they intend to or not. Rather than say, "Don't put that in there because the cinematographer wouldn't like that," he would say, "That detail isn't necessary. Delete it, and then you have more room for your movie." (Okay, he didn't say that exactly, but that's the crux of what he said.) As a writer, that makes more sense to me.

All in all, it was time well spent. Perhaps I'll sign up for another course when I actually do have new material.

I think the one thing I took away from the seminar is that I want to write screenplays, but I need to take things one step at a time. If I do write another spec, I'll pick a subject or story that I won't mind still working on in a couple of years.

Nothing's right, I'm torn!

At the end of last week, I placed interlibrary loans on two books as part of my book project. Yesterday, I copied a bunch of articles at the Warren Hunting Smith Library, mainly because my dad was escorting me around and I had time to kill.

Last night, I was looking at two books on narratology, thinking that their ideas can help me out for my book. But at this point, I'm torn. On one hand, I'd like to read these books, for the reasons I mentioned previously. At the same time, I'm starting to feel like I'm carrying around dead weight--that to read these books would be a regressive act, at least for the time being.

I spent the last couple of days reading Joe Eszterhas' book, The Devil's Guide to Hollywood: The Screenwriter as God!, and after reading his book, coupled with the upcoming Gordy Hoffman seminar I'll be attending, I really just want to get writing.

In other news, I've been driving to work. I feel comfortable with it.

Why?

For the last week and a half now, I've been digging up academic journal articles, and copying book excerpts that primarily deal with Joseph Campbell and Aristotle's Poetics in preparation to write a book (or something) that criticizes screenwriting books and their dogmatic views on storytelling. Earlier tonight, I believe I was thinking about digging out more articles at the libraries at Cornell, when I had to stop and think.

WHY AM I DOING THIS?!?!?? It's not that pursuing such a project would be futile (though it might be). My question was more like, "Do I really care enough to do this?" Undertaking a book length criticism requires a lot of energy, and I might be better off channeling that energy in more constructive ways. I don't even have a proper thesis! Why do I want to do this, and why do I care?