Had Hal's class today and we had to present a synopsis of our script. My synopsis showed flaws, such as folks were unclear as to where the story was going. Not too good. But that's what this is for. I look at each session as molding my clay project. So I'm going back over and throwing some stuff out, changing the direction in other ways, and then coming up with a better reason for telling the story in the first place. One thing though. I'm loathe to criticize the work of others unless I truly believe what I have to say helps. So, although I didn't say it today, I feel like some of the work read was a bit literary, when I am trying to move in the opposite direction. When I say literary, I mean a lot of description that could be action. I see some of the works as novels, but I'm going to be interested in seeing how they translate it to a script. My strategy is to take each and every description I write in a script and see if it can best be done as an action instead. So my descriptions aren't as long or flowery. Three words are my goals. Describe characters in three words. But make them good words.
More movies watched:
Mystic River
Catch Me if you Can
Wonderland
Projects to finish:
1. Revised synopsis and then continue working on Act One of Hal's Project X.
2. Work on the treatment for the Sloan Foundation: Due November 18th
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2 comments:
Wonderland is a really good film. *smile*
You may be right for Friends With Benefits, but you are wrong about the script. A novel is designed so that the reader is told the inner feelings of the characters. A movie is about the external. Everything in a script is about action and not talking about the internal. Either the actor will do her job and create that internal or the director will use techniques to show the internal. But as a writer, my job is to only give the information that is necessary to move the story forward and absolutely nothing else. It seems odd, especially when you'd think more information is better, but in scripts, the more spare the better. As one of my professors says, you want nothing on the script page, including periods, dashes, etc. that doesn't have to be there. So that's why a three word description is better than a paragraph.
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