How to eat an elephant

I've made some personal decisions over the past week or so that I'd like to share here.

After going through a good bit of personal struggle, I've decided that I'm just going to give up writing fiction. There are reasons for this decision that I'm not going to go into right now, but it's the best way for me to go.

I'm going to concentrate on films now. For the next few months I'll be working on writing screenplays and treatments. During the next year or so I'm going to begin accumulating the equipment and software I'll need to start shooting and producing my own films.

Which means I'm about to get into directing, which is something I have no clue how to do. I'm going to start small, maybe shooting a short film or a music video or something, and hopefully work my way up to bigger stuff.

Until I start investing in this rather expensive new hobby, though, I'm going to educate myself as much as I can.

I've got a lot to learn. I don't have a great deal of time. Most people who get into this do so when they're a lot younger than me--most filmmakers at my age at least have a ton of short films under their belts by now. I'm going to take it a little at the time. I used to have a manager at my day job who was fond of saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at the time." Which means, even if the task is monumental, it can be done if you just break it down into smaller, more manageable, tasks.

For example--I'm working on a screenplay for a crime drama, and the plot is going to be a bit complicated. There's a mystery at the heart of the story and those are always tricky.

So, I started by breaking it down into broad, basic statements that outline each act. Then, I develop each of those a little more, giving a bit more info, and going into some detail about the ending. This is the treatment, and having the basic outline is very helpful. Just remember not to go into too much detail unless you must--you need to spell out the ending because that's what any producers who are interested in the project will want to see, but a lot of the smaller details of the plot can be referenced broadly or even omitted entirely.

To give you an example, here's my own outline for a movie I know you're familiar with, my personal all-time favorite, Alien:

• Act I: The commercial towing vehicle Nostromo lands on the planetoid LV-426 to investigate the origins of an alien radio transmission. One of the crew is infected with a parasite. Back on-board the ship, the parasite erupts from the crewmember and escapes onto the ship.
• Act II: the parasite has grown to enormous proportions, and it begins grabbing members of the crew and taking them away for reasons unknown.*
• Act III: Warrant Officer Ripley escapes the Nostromo using the emergency shuttle, and blows up the Nostromo in the process, after the creature kills the two other remaining crewmembers..
• Act IV: Unknown to Ripley, the parasite has taken refuge on the shuttle, too. She manages to expel it. She makes an entry into the shuttle's log before climbing into the stasis tube to go back to suspended animation and hope someone finds the shuttle.

See? Of course, there's a helluva a lot more than that, but this is a pretty decent summation, I think. Now you can take each act and expand it, giving more detail, working out the plot. It should be no more than a page or two when you're done. Then, you start writing the thing itself, where you finally start worrying about the details, but only for the particular piece you're doing.

Easy peasy, right? Well, it helps. I'll be taking the same approach toward learning my new hobby, directing, too. One bite at a time.

So, that's what's going to be eating up all my time and money over the foreseeable future.

*To get a pretty good idea what the xenomorph actually did to Dallas and Brett see Ridley Scott's 2003 director's cut. You owe it to yourself.

My top five film list

I'm planning to get quite a bit of work done on this screenplay thing this weekend. So, right now I'm indulging in a time-honored tradition of all writers, everywhere--I'm screwing around with something trivial to put off getting into something important.

So, I decided to post my top five films, along with my thoughts about each. I will reiterate that, on my list, while numbers 2 - 5 will change positions depending on my mood (but it'll still be the same five films), #1 has consistently been #1 since I first saw it in the theater in 1979, and I don't see any upcoming films that have the potential to dethrone it.

So, here you go:

1. Alien. There. I said it. Anybody who knows me will tell you I'm obsessed with this movie, and they'd be right. The sequels--not so much, really. Why? Because the characters are relatable, the setting looks and feels authentic, the creature is terrifying. It's a film that has an agenda--to scare the hell out of its audience. It succeeds. It's a perfect organism, with no fear, no remorse, no delusions of morality. Everything about it is perfect--the film score sort of puts the viewer in a place of unease from the opening titles, the soundtrack is disconcerting throughout. The pacing is perfect. The cast doesn't spend any time winking at the camera like in so many other horror movies--they take it seriously, allowing the viewer to buy into the idea that the stakes are life-and-death. And, yes, this is a horror movie, with science fiction trappings, but still, its primary bloodline is horror.
2. The Sixth Sense. People seem to consider this a scary movie, or a horror movie, and I don't really see why. Sure, there are ghosts, but they aren't very scary. It's actually a touching, beautiful story of a young boy and his mother adjusting to life after his father leaves them. I watched this with my eleven-year old goddaughter recently and she didn't find it scary, though she loved it. She also got to see me cry, as I always do, at that scene near the end, with the boy and his mom in the car. When he says, "Grandma says she saw you dance," the waterworks switch on for me. Dammit. Every time. One reason I love this movie is because it's even better when you watch it after you already know the big surprise at the end. Watching it again, knowing the big secret, will reveal a lovely, sad, touching story of a woman mourning her husband, unable to move past his murder. Beautiful performances all around. I know he has his detractors but I like Bruce Willis in a role like this. He was wonderful. As was everyone else.
3. Citizen Kane. This is the only movie on my list that I don't actually have in my collection. I realized that yesterday and promptly ordered the 70th Anniversary edition on BluRay. Considered by many critics to be the best film ever made--I wouldn't go quite that far, but it's a damned fine effort, especially considering it was Orson Welles's first feature film. Welles knew nothing of making movies when he got the gig with RKO to make five of them, so he was learning as he went. He and his brilliant cinematographer, Gregg Toland, found a way to shoot a deep background shot where both the foreground and the background are in focus. The screenplay, by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, tells a compelling story of Charles Foster Kane, a man whose life story bears a striking resemblance to that of William Randolph Hearst. It's not one of those movies that'll put a spring in your step and a song on your lips--it's kind of a downer. But it's one of those that, if you say you love movies, you have to see at least once.
4. Casablanca. Yeah, another black-and-white movie. This one mixes a dark sense of humor with a gripping story. When you watch it, remember the context of the time in which it came out--it was 1942, and the war in Europe was far from decided. Keep that in mind in particular during the "La Marseilles" scene in Rick's café. That one scene is my favorite in any movie anywhere. It'll get your blood to pumping. It's also an example of an economical scene, too--it shows why Victor Laslo's followers are willing to die to protect him, why the Germans were so afraid of him, and why Ilsa was so in love with him. It's also a dramatic f@ck you! to the Nazis. My god, I love that scene so much.
5. The Godfather. A great example for writers to use when learning their craft. How much exposition to you absorb during the first, say, ten minutes or so? You aren't even aware of it, even though quite a few times you have a character who is just explaining what's going on. It's so interesting you don't care. Brando's performance shows why he was considered one of the greatest actors ever. Duvall was wonderful, as always. Pacino was great, able to handle the dramatic evolution of Michael from an honest citizen and war hero to the head of a major crime family--trust me, there aren't many actors out there who could pull something like that off. Diane Keaton turned in a performance of great subtly, too, as a deeply religious woman in love with Michael, even though he becomes someone she considers a monster before the end. I'm not as big a fan of the sequels, though the second one is very good, but see this one, anyway.

Okay, I think as soon as my copy of Citizen Kane gets here I'm going to have a film festival!

So, what would your list be?

Progress report and randomocities

I've decided what I'm currently doing with my screenplay Yod-17 shouldn't really be considered a first draft.

Yes, it's a screenplay, and a draft per se, but I know that the final draft will have little resemblance to what I'm doing now. All I'm doing is telling the story in screenplay form. Basically, I'm just laying it out, and when I'm done I'll write a treatment for it, since I'll finally know where the story is going. After that I'll begin the first rewrite, which I will then consider the first draft.

To me, this is the most organic, natural way to do it. Others may have other methods. This is what works for me. I'll do a rewrite, let it mellow a while, then do another one. Then another one. Usually after four rewrites, maybe five, it'll be in good enough shape for me to consider letting other people look at it. I hope to be at that point by the end of the year, maybe early next year.

There isn't any hurry, really. Any timetable I have is one I'm imposing on myself.

One reason I'm doing this is to have a script I'm completely satisfied with available to submit to contests, or to use as an audition for any screenwriting jobs. I have a couple of others but both of those have strings attached to them so I can't be sending them out willy nilly for people to look at. The only other script I had was a pilot for a TV show that I've mentioned here in the past--a series I'm calling Strange Aeons. I just submitted that one to a screenwriting contest, so it's kind of tied up right now, too, for a while. Anyway, it'll be nice to have some finished work available that I can actually show to people if I want.

Here's an example of a writing exercise I indulge in sometimes, just for your amusement. I went out to breakfast this morning, taking with me the Orson Welles biography I'm currently reading. At the IHOP I made eye contact once or twice with the gentlemen sitting at the booth next to mine--he was also eating alone. He had his newspaper, I had my book, to keep us company.

In another booth across from us sat another man, also alone. He had no book, nor did he have a newspaper. When I first noticed that I thought maybe he was waiting on someone, but no. He placed his order and the waitress brought his food, which he ate, looking straight ahead as he did so.

For some reason I find this fascinating. I usually have to be doing something while I'm eating--reading, doing a crossword puzzle on the app on my phone, watching TV, something is keeping me company. To me, this is only natural, and I think most other people are like this, too.

Am I wrong? What do you think this man's story is?

On being critical

I've ordered a couple of books that should serve as an introduction to film and literary criticism.

This is in keeping with my decision to educate myself with the language of filmmaking, to fill the gaps in my knowledge of the art and practice of writing and making movies. It should be interesting, and give me some needed perspective on my own efforts to write screenplays.

We'll see. At the very least I will have learned something. In the mean time I'm still working through my two volume biography of Orson Welles, fascinating in and of itself. Welles is still a young man at this point--I'm still pre-Citizen Kane--and I bet he was an exhausting little scamp to associate with when he was that age.

My first draft for Yod-17 is still coming along. I'm almost halfway through it now. When I finish it I'll put it aside for a while, and work on another project I'm pretty excited about. The new project is a novel I'll be co-writing with my best friend. She's crazy busy but hopefully she'll be able to find the time to contribute to the project. She's a very good writer herself, and she's also a forensic psychologist, so hopefully this will turn into something we can convince someone to publish.

We'll see. In the mean time I'm going to keep reading, writing, and watching. And hoping.

Yod-17

I'm going ahead and giving you the working title for my latest screenplay (above) because it'll tell you absolutely nothing about what it's about.

Yes, I hate the title, but it was all I could come up with and I have to call it something. So, I settled on this.. Hopefully something better will suggest itself to me as I get deeper into the first draft.

It's basically a ghost story set on a space ship--which, I am well aware, is also an apt description of my favorite film of all-time, Alien. This is sort of an homage to that film, without being a rip-off of it. It is to be hoped, anyway.

The first draft is coming along pretty well, I'd say. I'm almost at the end of the first act, which is almost the point at which I can say I'll probably finish it.

It's unabashedly a horror story with science fiction-ish trappings. The basic, underlying motivation for this is to scare the ever-loving shit out of the audience. That's really all I want to do with this bad boy.

What else have I been up to? I've been indulging myself in another, new passion, and that is film.

Yes, I know I write screenplays, but I've never spent much time thinking about the language of film, the history, the context. Over the past few weeks I've developed an obsession about this subject, and I've been working to fill the gaps in my knowledge.

To that end, I watched the entire series, The Story of Film, on Netflix, and I heartily recommend it to you, too, if you are so inclined. I'm also planning to watch some classic films I haven't seen--today it was Taxi Driver. And I'm going to make an effort to see some newer films, now showing at my local theater--last week I saw Trainwreck, which I enjoyed a great deal and also recommend to you.

Reading material is Simon Callow's two-volume biography of Orson Welles, someone I've always found fascinating but knew very little about. I'm sure my library will contain several more books on influential filmmakers or history and critical analysis of films ere much longer.

I'm having fun, and seeing possibilities, getting inspiration from what I'm learning, and finding all sorts of interesting material to use to bore the hell out of anybody unlucky enough to be in close enough proximity. I'm sure I'm about to become a major hit at parties. If I ever went to any.

Anyways, that's what I've been up to, over the past few weeks. How about you?

Soggy 4th of July randomocity

Looks like we're going to get a little rain today. By 'a little' I mean three or four inches in an hour or so. Yes, the downpour is a comin' . . .

Which means it'll be a while before I can go out and pace around the neighborhood while I ruminate over this new project I've given myself.

This is going to be a horror/science fiction thing--see how I put 'horror' first? That's because it'll lean more in that direction than the other. It's going to be a screenplay. I won't got into detail except to say it's kind of a monster movie/haunted house story set in space. Kind of like Alien--it's going to kind of be an homage to that movie, actually. As well as to all those 50s monster movies that helped to warp my psyche into it's current shape.

A couple of things I need before I can get started, though:

• an ending
• a title

It's weird but I at least need to have an idea of what the ending will be before I get started. And I have to call it something. I've got an idea for a working title that I'll probably use--I hate it, but hopefully something better will suggest itself when I start banging away.

Which still leaves me without an ending. I suppose the best thing for me to do is to start working on a treatment and worry about it then. In fact, that is what I'm going to do. Or at least get started on today, in a little while.

That's my plan for the holiday--working on a treatment, and laundry. And hoping not to get washed away with the persistent downpours headed my way.

It's been a while since I've posted, so I want to say congrats to all my gay friends who can now legally marry in this country. It's a long time coming. There's still a long way to go but it's a good start, I guess.

So, stay dry if you're in my area today, have fun, and create something today.

It's been kind of a rough week

There's very little more depressing than discovering that one's heroes are mortal after all.

Two people I've admired for years, and who are at the heart of many a good memory in a long and dark time for me, have died this week.

One is Christopher Lee. Seeing his movies when I was a kid made quite an impression on me, and led me down the path I've been following ever since. He awakened a love of horror in me, one that is still strong and healthy to this day. I didn't know until years later about the incredible life the man lived. Look it up, if you're unaware. You wouldn't believe me if I went into it here and if you hadn't heard already.

The other is Dusty Rhoades. Yes, that Dusty Rhoades, the pro wrestler, real name Virgil Runnels. Yes, there was a time when I was a devoted wrestling fan, and Dusty--aka The American Dream--was at the heart of a lot of fun memories I have from that time. I know people disparage wrestlers, but I have a lot of respect for the ones who reach the top of that game and stay there for a prolonged period. That requires a strange mixture of charisma, verbal skills, and athletic ability.

Granted, the Dream wasn't an impressive athlete, but he was a master at manipulating crowds. Give him a microphone and an audience and he'll have that audience doing whatever he wants them to do. If he'd ever gone into politics he'd be a force to be reckoned with. He had a way of connecting with ordinary people, a way of communicating that he understood the struggles the common people have to go through to live their lives.

And he was all too aware of how people perceived him, and used that for some of the funniest moments I've ever seen on TV.

Anyway, one of those men dying, followed quickly by the other, was a one-two punch that I wasn't ready for this week, and I've been kind of down in the dumps for a few days. Of course, there are other factors at play, too, but you don't care about those.

I've managed to keep banging away on the first draft of this novel, too. I may be onto something with it--there are aspects that I find very interesting. At this rate I should be done with the first draft by the end of the year. Maybe even sooner, if I get on a roll.