The Writing Week part 34

Not much writing this week. At all.

I started working on a short for that Hotel Guignol thing earlier this week, but as I was relaying my idea for it to Onyx )damn that Onyx) he told me that it sounded exactly like that movie 1402, or whatever that Sam L. Jackson thing was. I've never seen 1402 beyond the trailers, and I didn't know much about it - I think I knew it took place in a hotel. Other than that, I knew bubkes about it. Apparently, I also knew everything about it, as, little did I know, I was pretty much writing the condensed version of it.

It's funny how that can happen - all of a sudden, your great, original idea is not so original, and perhaps not so great. The basic premise behind my post-Apocalyptic spec, much to my horror, my just used as a spoof trailer in a comedy. The fact that it was a spoof was discouraging on two levels: 1) people were making fun of it, undercutting the seriousness with which I treated it, and 2) it was my "original" idea, my hook, my big break. Now, not so much. To top that string of unfortunate discoveries off, Onxy (damn you again, Onyx) had to remind me of a script a mentor of his is lending him to read, which essentially rips two of my ideas from me. Two scripts now "been done" by this, as-of-yet -unmade movie.

Ok, ok, that's a bit dramatic. Ideas get done, they get repeated. Afterall, aren't we taught that there are only like 10 real stories anyway? The point, though, is that what I thought to be my hooks suddenly aren't that unique. I know it's to be expected, but, come on, this many of them? All at one time? I can still take solace in the knowledge that I came up with these ideas on my own, uninspired by any of the - what skeptics might call - "source material." It still sucks, though, and I can't help but wonder if I've just gone back to Go without being able to collect my $200.

Trailer Trash VIII: The Video Dead (1987)

"Don't you find it a little creepy, living in the murder-house?"


Watching this trailer, you have to wonder if the makers of the original "The Ring" saw this, with all of the scenes of monsters crawling out of televisions? I can't imagine this would have ever been exported to Japan, though, but who knows. I'm sure Japan appreciates stupid as much as we do.

The movie itself is just as bad as it looks in the trailer. A demonic TV is delivered to a house - it only shows a gory zombie movie when it's turned on, and if you leave it on too long the colorful cast of zombies will come out of the TV and after you. The zombie bride is probably my favorite, though there's no explanation of why she's wearing a wedding dress.

I'm going to give away a few spoilers here, because the ending is so priceless that it's worth mentioning. A few teenagers, trapped by the zombies at the very end of the movie, throw a dance party to show the zombies they're not afraid of them. The zombies, dismayed by the teenagers' lack of fear, give up their rampage and go back into the TV. Yes, that's really how the movie ends. I haven't seen this movie since I was maybe 13, but the ridiculous ending remains burned into my memory.

Favorite moments:

At 0:40- No, no - don't open the washing machine! AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!
At 1:05- Zombie David Bowie?

"[It] may change the way you feel about your televison... forever!"

Korean Film Fes!

For all you living in the New York City, it’s time for the

2008 New York Korean Film Festival!
August 22-31
Cinema Village and BAMcinematek
http://www.koreanfilmfestival.org/2008

They will be playing 14 feature films that cover everything from horror-romance to sports drama to chefs facing off and good old bare-knuckled action flick. They are also showing 3 short films program. So, if you got a few hours to spare the next two weeks, come and join the fun!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go....

Some time back in March or April I was suddenly inspired to write a fantasy romance action movie. My main goal was to write something that'll appeal to the pre-teen/ teen girls. I wanted to create the same feeling girls get after seeing Kate & Leopold, except instead of "sigh...I want a 19th century Duke as a boyfriend", change that to "sigh...I want a thief from a distant land as a boyfriend."

Both the rough draft and first draft got very positive response from my female readers, but they also pointed out that it's a total mess. The structure was in shambles, lots of things didn't make sense. I got some bones but didn't have the flesh. But, through the murky disorderly script, they saw something they liked. Some scenes created the reaction I wanted. That was really all that mattered, since I don't mind fixing up a script as long as it has appeals. The worst that can happen is to write a perfect script, and no one wants to read it. Or just no one wants to your script, period.

The next draft I clarified a lot more of the world. Like writing any fantasy, I pulled out my hair trying to figure out how to get the logic in my head to make sense on page. Or figure out which of the logic in my head doesn't actually make logic sense. I wanted to create a Greek pantheon universe, where the people don't view the gods and rituals as a "religion" but as a way of life. Even after setting up clearer rules and putting in the god's story, my fellow leagues still pointed out a lot of things that didn't make sense, but more than that, I had to fix up my structure. The inciting incident was happening on page 50. Disaster.

I am now on the third draft of the script, and it seems to be the only thing that's going well currently in my life. The inciting incident is happening on pg 15. The end of first act at pg 37. Much closer to the mark. I've really strengthened my antagonists, and I have a clear view of where is this going scene by scene (for the next 30 pages anyway...). On the other hand, I look back and realize that, much of the rough draft is gone. The scenes that I originally wrote for the squeal factor are almost all tossed out to make way for plot-focused scenes. That, or maybe there're still there, I just no longer see it objectively. (I have a bad habit of hating all my jokes after reading it 3 times.) Sometimes I'm afraid that while making it a clearer, better, more professional script, I'm also butchering it. And maybe, the 4th or 5th draft what I have to do is to go back to the very beginning, the original goal, and have my focus for that draft be to make it young and fun again. Not that, er, it's not young and fun now.

The Writing Week part 33

I did something this week, which I’m not sure how I feel about. Long story short, a literary manager in L.A. had contacted the League a while back. I sent him my “Sin City style” spec in response to his query, and he claimed to really like it. Flash forward about six months, and nothing really came of it. Since a few of us are on the verge of sending out queries, I figured I’d drop him a line, a sort of pre-query burst query to someone I already have a bit of history with. So, Wednesday of last week – following a League meeting that left me feeling pretty comfortable with the state of my post-Apocalyptic spec – I let him know I had another script. He asked me to send it over.

While I say that I left our last League meeting feeling good about my script, that does not mean that there was nothing left to be done on it. There were some (mostly minor) rewrites that I had to do. There was no timeline for contacting this manager, but for some reason, I was itching to drop him a line as soon as I could. After sending him the email on Wednesday, and getting such a rapid response from him, I felt obligated to get him the material ASAP. That is why Wednesday night I worked for nearly 4 straight hours toughing up my script. It is also why I woke up and spent another hour doing tweaks before work on Thursday.

All told, I think that the end result was successful. My hesitation to feel 100% comfortable with it, though, comes from the last minute nature with which I did the revisions. Normally, I like to be able to re-read every draft I write from start to finish, no matter how little has been changed. I didn’t get to do that this time, and even though I read the specific scenes I had changed a half dozen times apiece, I still went to work on Thursday feeling as though I’d missed something. I don’t know that anything actually did escape me, but my inability to read all 105 pages straight through this time unsettled me. It still does a bit.

At any rate, we’ll see what happens. This week will be dedicated to going through the post-Apocalyptic spec once more and writing short horror scripts. For anyone interested, visit http://mandy.com/1/jobs3.cfm?v=29272782 to find out a bit more about Hotel Guignol, a web-based series, akin to The Twilight Zone, that needs 5-10 minute horror shorts set in a hotel room. It could be good short screenplay writing practice, as well as a fun way to pick up 100 bucks.

Woody Weekend

Woody Allen's annual new film opens this weekend. The reviews I've seen so far for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" all seem to be relatively positive thus far, but I'm still a bit skeptical. His new movies movies have always been an annual outing for me, but they've become more and more of a chore. I have to see them, even if they'll inevitably disappoint. The buzz around this new one, though... I hope it's true. I guess I'll know when I get around to seeing it this week. Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz will help.


I hope I'm posing for photos like that when I'm his age. Hell, I'd take now, even.

A few links for this Woody Weekend (heh, heh):

Scott Tobias posted a recent interview he conducted with Woody Allen this week.

I know there are a few die-hard Woody fans (heh, heh) in our audience and in the league. (Backer - are you out there?) For those of you who aren't, here's a pretty good starting point:The Onion's Primer to the Woody Allen canon.

And a few promising reviews of the new movie: The AVClub, Time Out New York, The New York Times, and USA Today.


I'm surprised how many critics have danced around the Johansson/Cruz "lesbian liplock" (thank you, Page Six), considering all the hub-bub there was around it earlier this year. At the very least, dear readers, you know I'LL be blogging about it.

On the pointless remake front...

Hey, it's been a while since Hollywood had pointlessly retreaded old ground, and we've got a week to go before the next big, pointless remake hits theaters. In case you're feeling like you're having withdrawal:

MTV is remaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Why? Whyyyyyyyy?



Anyone wanna take guesses now for the casting?