I'm on a quest. A mission. A purpose - find the structure behind a screenplay. Not just any screenplay, but great screenplays that make great movies. All the analysis and people that have researched scripts talk about the structure behind the story, the step by step journey of the character that makes a compelling, interesting, fascinating journey that we are willing to go along for the ride.
It really hit me last week, that writing a feature length script without a guide, a roadmap, is screenplay suicide. Now certainly, there are very strange movies that have been made, the oddballs that you watch and go "what the fuck is happening here?" and those movies get made. That's just not my style. I like things to be right, and just winging it and putting random scenes in a script won't get the job done. I want to know that I've just written a great fucking story that's going to make a great fucking movie. So that's where story structure has come into it.
It's been said if you're going to build a house, better have a plan. And that plan is the structure that holds the details of the house. If you want a house that looks mediterranean, or dutch, or southwest, those are themes built ON TOP of structure - not the structure itself. You can take any old house and redecorate it to look like a beach house in Brazil. The STRUCTURE of the interior just needs to be stable and hold up the details. That's how I'm looking at a script. Get the structure built, then it can be all the sci-fi, action, romance, adventure or drama movie you want.
In my previous efforts at writing, I could feel that I just didn't know what I was doing. Where is the story? What are the characters up to? What the hell should I write here, now, at this point in the story?
Syd Field. Everyone has read his book, or was told to read his book if you're in screenwriting. I loved reading and see the beginning structures of a movie script, but it only took me so far. First act, second act, third act. Great there's three parts to write, but I've got 25 scenes in Act I, 58 in Act II, and 19 in Act III. What the hell should happen in those scenes? My dillema.
I have some books that supposedly crack the code and have a structure to create a script on. I'll report back when I find some answers and what the results are. I've been doing some research this week, and I feel the beginnings of seeing the matrix and what a script can be if you know the secret.
If anybody has intimate secret society knowledge of these scriptwriting secrets, email me.
11.30.2010
11.23.2010
Screenwriting
I'm working on my second full-length feature script. The first was Voir Dire, which I banged my head against for a couple of years. It was a learning experience and getting committed to finishing a script that I started. I rewrote it about six times, it's been in development for so long, many people have offered opinions and suggestions to make a good script better. Even now, Kim is rearranging and adding some extra touches of her own before it gets sent out to Hollywood.
Now, the new story I'm drafting is a radically different idea, as all of my story ideas tend to be. Kim and I were talking last night, and the funny thing about writing is -- letting the story come out. It's inside, but I'm always wanting to second guess and challenge it. If it's easy to write - there must be something wrong - it can't be good if the scenes just spill out on the page without all the struggle and debate of "is this really any good?" Kim tells me that a partial script I wrote years ago is really great, but I tell her that I wrote it over a weekend, it can't be any good. That's the benefit of allowing other people to read stuff. Get feedback and see if it's going anywhere. So I'll be experimenting with just letting the images come into my head and writing the scenes. I'm always up for trying new things, and easier is better than difficult -- but is it any good? Perhaps that's not for me to decide.
It's been fun to write some of the smaller short stories, like "All I Ever Hear Is Crabcakes!" That script was written in a couple of hours and then put on the shelf. When Kim and I were looking for a story to create for the Trail Dance Film Festival short film competition, Lexi kept asking when we were going to make that movie. After all, she's the star, it's her story, and she wants to be famous.
So, we dusted off the script, Kim rewrote it and got it into a few pages. We went and shot it, and after getting in the cutting room, I realized there was no way in hell it was going to fit into one-minute. Yet, through the magic of editing, I ruthlessly cut out every second that didn't have a purpose in telling the story, and managed to squeeze it into 60 seconds. It turned out to be very cute and funny. The kids all did great and it's satisfying to see a story come to life and watch other people enjoy it.
You can check Crabcakes out at the Trail Dance Film Festival website. They are having a competition - go vote for it (yes, you have to!) Click the link HERE.
For me, screenwriting is such an internal affair. When I wrote Contactee, it was the first story I crafted with the intention to direct. It was subject matter I knew about in depth, but I still struggled with the writing. It took a couple of months to get 20 pages written. Contactee turned out well and is doing good at the local festivals and will be playing at Trail Dance in January.
I would like to expand Contactee into a feature story and the concept Kim and I came up with is different in it's scope and much more tragic. If I get the chance to write it, the exploration into that world again will be an interesting journey. I love UFO's and the paranormal, and that's something I always want reflected in the stories I tell. The fantastic tales.
Now, the new story I'm drafting is a radically different idea, as all of my story ideas tend to be. Kim and I were talking last night, and the funny thing about writing is -- letting the story come out. It's inside, but I'm always wanting to second guess and challenge it. If it's easy to write - there must be something wrong - it can't be good if the scenes just spill out on the page without all the struggle and debate of "is this really any good?" Kim tells me that a partial script I wrote years ago is really great, but I tell her that I wrote it over a weekend, it can't be any good. That's the benefit of allowing other people to read stuff. Get feedback and see if it's going anywhere. So I'll be experimenting with just letting the images come into my head and writing the scenes. I'm always up for trying new things, and easier is better than difficult -- but is it any good? Perhaps that's not for me to decide.
It's been fun to write some of the smaller short stories, like "All I Ever Hear Is Crabcakes!" That script was written in a couple of hours and then put on the shelf. When Kim and I were looking for a story to create for the Trail Dance Film Festival short film competition, Lexi kept asking when we were going to make that movie. After all, she's the star, it's her story, and she wants to be famous.
So, we dusted off the script, Kim rewrote it and got it into a few pages. We went and shot it, and after getting in the cutting room, I realized there was no way in hell it was going to fit into one-minute. Yet, through the magic of editing, I ruthlessly cut out every second that didn't have a purpose in telling the story, and managed to squeeze it into 60 seconds. It turned out to be very cute and funny. The kids all did great and it's satisfying to see a story come to life and watch other people enjoy it.
You can check Crabcakes out at the Trail Dance Film Festival website. They are having a competition - go vote for it (yes, you have to!) Click the link HERE.
For me, screenwriting is such an internal affair. When I wrote Contactee, it was the first story I crafted with the intention to direct. It was subject matter I knew about in depth, but I still struggled with the writing. It took a couple of months to get 20 pages written. Contactee turned out well and is doing good at the local festivals and will be playing at Trail Dance in January.
I would like to expand Contactee into a feature story and the concept Kim and I came up with is different in it's scope and much more tragic. If I get the chance to write it, the exploration into that world again will be an interesting journey. I love UFO's and the paranormal, and that's something I always want reflected in the stories I tell. The fantastic tales.
11.10.2010
No Lie Films
The new website is up and running for our production company. No Lie Films. Our aim is to push the cinematic and storytelling limits here in Oklahoma to create great products for clients, either commercial, promotional, or music video. We're also developing feature film projects. We've got some fantastic stories coming along and great scripts.
Kimberly Noe is Producing projects while I am directing and we've been assembling a fantastic team of talent that loves what they do.
You can also visit our Facebook page! Check it out.
www.noliefilms.com
Kimberly Noe is Producing projects while I am directing and we've been assembling a fantastic team of talent that loves what they do.
You can also visit our Facebook page! Check it out.
www.noliefilms.com
Fire Embers and Smoke
Uploaded this to Vimeo. I've been experimenting with fire simulations in After Effects. I have to create the individual planes to make it look right. The smoke is a little to dark.
Fire embers and smoke from Jeff Leyerle on Vimeo.
Working with particle effects simulating fire in AE.
11.05.2010
No Lie Films
The new production company is gaining momentum as we put the word out there. We have a great team and so much talent for filmmaking. Lots of projects in development, stories, scripts, commercials and more.
Kimberly Noe is producing projects for us and she's making things happen. We've set our sights high and know that expectations are everything when it comes to creating high quality projects.
Stay tuned for more. Check out our facebook page, too! ----->
Kimberly Noe is producing projects for us and she's making things happen. We've set our sights high and know that expectations are everything when it comes to creating high quality projects.
Stay tuned for more. Check out our facebook page, too! ----->
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)