Yesterday while watching a trailer for Frost/Nixon, I suddenly wondered whether this movie would have been made if we still lived in the Clinton era. Or if Bush had rocked our socks, and we didn't all secretly wish someone would interview him for 28 hours and get an answer.
A while back, Onyx gave me a list of criteria he thinks should be involved in judging a screenplay. Pretty much everything's on the list: story, (a lot falls under story, originality, conflict) structure, execution, dialogue, etc. However, I wanted to throw "current interest" in the list. Onyx, for good reasons, said that's up for debate. Obviously there will always be romantic comedies and action movies, but even those follow the trend of our time. An article in the New Yorker pointed out how the typical romantic comedies nowadays star the slacker dude who needs to learn responsibility and the hot go-getter girl who needs to loosen up, when a few decades ago the typical was the serious goal-oriented man's life is turned upside down when the bright sassy girl shows up. As for action movies, cars continue to blow up, but the depiction of the villains are now more PC and racially diverse.
On the other hand, being about a too-current event can hurt too. A while back a friend of mine was screening NYU's dramatic writing grad program's portfolio, when she came across a script that was about the victims of Katrina. She immediately rolled her eyes since it came off as a script fishing for sympathy with its subject. As it turns out, it was one of the best script in the pile, but my friend was obligated to read every script to the bitter end. If she was an agent that gave every script 15 page chance, this one might have not made it.
Cake Man recently posted about the possible slow demise of historical movies, and in the comments Onyx says that Westerns might need to reinvent itself to stay alive. There was some debates on that. Perhaps they need to do what romantic comedy does: keep updating. The story will always be the same: get the girl/guy, people can expect that comforting thought going in, but it certainly keeps itself up to date with the times.
A while back, Onyx gave me a list of criteria he thinks should be involved in judging a screenplay. Pretty much everything's on the list: story, (a lot falls under story, originality, conflict) structure, execution, dialogue, etc. However, I wanted to throw "current interest" in the list. Onyx, for good reasons, said that's up for debate. Obviously there will always be romantic comedies and action movies, but even those follow the trend of our time. An article in the New Yorker pointed out how the typical romantic comedies nowadays star the slacker dude who needs to learn responsibility and the hot go-getter girl who needs to loosen up, when a few decades ago the typical was the serious goal-oriented man's life is turned upside down when the bright sassy girl shows up. As for action movies, cars continue to blow up, but the depiction of the villains are now more PC and racially diverse.
On the other hand, being about a too-current event can hurt too. A while back a friend of mine was screening NYU's dramatic writing grad program's portfolio, when she came across a script that was about the victims of Katrina. She immediately rolled her eyes since it came off as a script fishing for sympathy with its subject. As it turns out, it was one of the best script in the pile, but my friend was obligated to read every script to the bitter end. If she was an agent that gave every script 15 page chance, this one might have not made it.
Cake Man recently posted about the possible slow demise of historical movies, and in the comments Onyx says that Westerns might need to reinvent itself to stay alive. There was some debates on that. Perhaps they need to do what romantic comedy does: keep updating. The story will always be the same: get the girl/guy, people can expect that comforting thought going in, but it certainly keeps itself up to date with the times.
3 comments:
Movies tend to hit on themes of our times, (we can all name movies that echoed sentiments of 9-11) so "current interest" has to be a factor. I think you're right and it's something to look for in a script, but I still think it's a strange criteria for judging exactly how good a screenplay is. Wish I could put it in better words. But our conversation centered around the judging for academy award winning screenplays, and I'd be very interested to hear to what extent they consider something like current interest.
Back on the Westerns. I think it's a bit tricky, because you can be so much more flexible with a romantic comedy. But a western is played out in a distinct, fixed setting. If it's not a small town, your action is going to play out on the plains or trails of the unmolested country. It's a bit harder to update when so much of what defines the genre is set in stone in terms of setting, period, and theme.
I thought about how Westerns can reinvent itself too, but when it comes down to it, Western is a time period and a general area. Obviously how people talk, dress, and general technology have to be accurate, but during any time and place, there are a wide range of people, conflict, goals and desires. I really think people just didn't explore all the possibilities yet. If someone said to you, adapt James Bond, or the Rock, or Die Hard 3 into a Western, it'd be hard, but you can see it happening.
Your observation re: romantic comedies is really interesting, and it hadn't occurred to me... does that say something about the modern American Joe Schmoe? I was at a wedding this weekend and was surprised to see the guys diving for the tossed garter - when the girls lined up to catch the bouquet, it ended up hitting the floor while they all stared at it. (Probably unrelated, sure, but an observation.)
When did this start, do you think? When did the guys become the aloof, nutty ones in the rom-coms?
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