I'm not a writer, not really. And I knew that. Part of picking BU was that they had screenwriting MFA students that I could befriend. That hasn't quite gone as planned yet. I only saw them in my film studies class last term and that wasn't the kind of class where you get to know people, it was all just lectures. And now they aren't in any of my classes so I'm not sure how to find them.
The problem is when I try to write I'm not quite getting across what I'm intending. The thing is with a script you can only write what can be seen. So for example in the scene (link here) I had to write for my first Production 2 assignment. I had a section in it where there was a bit of a misunderstanding between the couple.* When I ran it past friends they weren't sure about it so I explained. When I turned it in to Sam he said this isn't working take it out. (In nicer words.) But clearly he's right because it wasn't working for anyone. The thing is that little bit was going to work or not dependent entirely on the delivery. In my head Mike goes into this conversation thing the long term result is going to be a divorce and so he's really sad about having to deliver this news. But the script can't really say that. I find that so frustrating. And ultimately I think it's why I'm here to be a director rather than a writer. I can work with the actors. I can tell them this conversation is the end of the world for Mike.
In the meantime though I need 3 ideas for new scripts by next Wednesday for Thesis Prep. We will talk over everyone's ideas and then suggest/pick which one each of us should pursue for the term. Sometime around the middle of the semester we'll workshop the scripts. By the end of the term we will (maybe) have a script viable for our thesis proposals. That's the idea anyway. I asked if we could use the script we developed in screenwriting last term. Mary Jane said no. Even if that one turns out to be the better script and the one we want to use for our proposal more writing is better. Get all the bad ideas out of your system now, or else have more good ideas in your pocket at graduation. I approve of this thinking in general except now I'm faced with needing 3 new ideas by next Wednesday.
I think for one of them I want to use Grandpa's Getaways. And I think I'm going to approach it as just an idea. I can always go back to that finished script later, I liked that version. But one of the things I learned from Debbie is that it's ok to start from scratch and see what comes out of it. If it doesn't come out better I'll go back to the other version. But knowing more about screenwriting now maybe I can take the images of the film that are in my head and write them better.
That still leaves me with two more ideas that I need. Mary Jane says it doesn't need to be a formal pitch, and it certainly doesn't need to be a teaser/log line. It just needs to be an idea that we can talk about and decide which idea is best to flesh out. But then I also need an idea that will fit well under 8 minutes for Prod 2. That script will need to be finished much earlier than anything we develop in Thesis Prep, and also is shorter than I think the thesis films are meant to be. Really that 8 minute script would be great if I could find a screenwriter that happens to have one, but that brings me back to the start of having no idea where to find them.
So anyway, throw ideas at me. Fake ideas, half-baked ideas, dumb ideas, serious ideas, funny ideas. Anything that can get my brain sparking is welcome. You don't even have to own up to your ideas, anonymous comments are allowed.
* if you click the link for the script you won't see the misunderstanding. I've taken it out already. This is the script I'll be shooting with.
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