The idea of writing a screenplay speaks strongly to me, for reasons I've yet to put my finger on. Yet I've never gotten far trying to write one. So I try to pull Tiberius into it with me, because I know he has strong feelings about film, and I hope his partnership will help motivate me and make the process more enjoyable and the product better. But one must point out that he, too, has not written a screenplay, and my attempt to lure him into my scheme have only succeeded in fits and starts, usually at least a year apart. And we both are quite busy with "better" things to do. Should I abandon the idea of this screenplay? Should I just let it come when it comes? Is Tiberius merely humoring me? Am I merely humoring myself with unrealizable fantasies?
When some people hear a good song, they really respond to the bass or the drums or the singing. Does that mean they should devote time to practicing it, or should they just listen and enjoy? When I see a film whose writing speaks to me, I feel, "I could do that. I want to do that." Not for a career. I just want to do it.
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2 comments:
The problem with our screenplay, my dear Dave, is that it doesn't include a story. True, we have a theme, and a tone, and constraints on the narrative structure, and such pregnant snippets of dialogue as "Rightly so." and "Even so." Nevertheless, unless we are updating Un Chien Andalou for the post-9/11 age (and sweet God I hope we're not) we need a story to tell.
The other problem is that screenplays need to be written. By a writer. Which we aren't. I'm a scientist, and you're an usurer. We can come up with original ideas, but we can't write dialogue. We're barely qualified to write this blog.
Ah, but your resistance has only emboldened me. I propose that we could, for example, start exchanging small snippets of scenes that might take place in the world of our movie. Perhaps the first scene will make us think of another scene involving the same characters, or only one of the characters, or acquaintances of the character(s), or similar characters, or the same characters when they're younger/older. In this way, we'll slowly build a substantive world with substantive characters with (pieces of) substantive life histories. And once we've got that, we need only cherry-pick the parts of that world/those characters that interest us most to find our story. And once the characters and their world have substance, the dialogue and story may more or less write themselves.
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