The big re-read!
It’s strange, as I was sitting at my computer reading through the post-Apocalyptic spec in its third incarnation, I had the most fleeting sensation of hating the words before me, not because they are dull or unmoving, but because they might still not be the final words in the final draft. The feeling passed nearly as quickly as it came, but the sense of being ready to be done with this project and the uncertainty of whether that will be the case this go around.
I like the project a lot. I think it’s something that can certainly appear on screens across the country (and, dare I say, world). Even in its first draft stage, I felt that way – but that’s mostly due to the universally low quality of a lot of movies out there. (Mine wouldn’t have been that low, I’d hope, but it would have been flawed.) With this draft, though, after so many late-night pow-wows and extended discussions over pints throughout the city, I’m not sure anymore. I doubt whether the script is working, but that’s because I’ve restructured it, which I didn’t really do in any previous re-writes. I’ve simplified some things, streamlined others (both of which I needed to do), but I worry they might have lost something vital to them in earlier drafts. I tried to play up the themes more, but in doing so, I wonder if I made them either too blatant or too separate.
All those questions, alas, are why I’m doing the big re-read. Well those, and the fact that I jumbled things around and changed this and that so much that I need to make sure nothing appears twice or lacks consistency, because I thought I’d added a scene that never made it in. This is certainly the slowest read through I’ve done. That’s probably because I’m looking at every scene, every line, every single word for things I can cut. I’m a street sweeper, and I have no idea whether the road ahead is paved or mud. Somehow, I’ve got to drive to the other end and make it spic and span. The League might just have to get out and push if I sink into a pothole.
It’s strange, as I was sitting at my computer reading through the post-Apocalyptic spec in its third incarnation, I had the most fleeting sensation of hating the words before me, not because they are dull or unmoving, but because they might still not be the final words in the final draft. The feeling passed nearly as quickly as it came, but the sense of being ready to be done with this project and the uncertainty of whether that will be the case this go around.
I like the project a lot. I think it’s something that can certainly appear on screens across the country (and, dare I say, world). Even in its first draft stage, I felt that way – but that’s mostly due to the universally low quality of a lot of movies out there. (Mine wouldn’t have been that low, I’d hope, but it would have been flawed.) With this draft, though, after so many late-night pow-wows and extended discussions over pints throughout the city, I’m not sure anymore. I doubt whether the script is working, but that’s because I’ve restructured it, which I didn’t really do in any previous re-writes. I’ve simplified some things, streamlined others (both of which I needed to do), but I worry they might have lost something vital to them in earlier drafts. I tried to play up the themes more, but in doing so, I wonder if I made them either too blatant or too separate.
All those questions, alas, are why I’m doing the big re-read. Well those, and the fact that I jumbled things around and changed this and that so much that I need to make sure nothing appears twice or lacks consistency, because I thought I’d added a scene that never made it in. This is certainly the slowest read through I’ve done. That’s probably because I’m looking at every scene, every line, every single word for things I can cut. I’m a street sweeper, and I have no idea whether the road ahead is paved or mud. Somehow, I’ve got to drive to the other end and make it spic and span. The League might just have to get out and push if I sink into a pothole.
2 comments:
A street sweeper? How about a mine sweeper, and your script is a deadly mine field? You've got to get to the other side, but you can be blown up at any minute, so you need your buddies (league) to help you scan (read) for mines (errors). There will be casualties, but you'll make it.
I don't know man. It sounds like you're close to getting "too close" to it (as Paul Selig might say). Perhaps you should take a month off and try not to think about, then come back with fresh eyes.
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