American Hustle, yeah, it's that good

So I saw American Hustle at the DGA last night. No, I'm not a director. But I know people and those people are directors. It was really cool seeing it there. I guess I'm just not jaded yet. I hope I never am, truthfully. I love this business and this movie is why. I went in excited to see it, not even so much because it was by David O Russell, but because from the trailers it just looked like it would be amazing. And in my opinion, it was that and then so much more.

I have some writer friends who said they weren't even interested in seeing it. I really think sometimes writers like to bash on things they weren't involved in. Jealous? Down on themselves? Whatever it is, they're missing out if they don't give this movie a shot. From the opening scene to the last, this movie did it all correctly. So what can I say to help myself and other newer writers learn how to really hit a home run script like this? Well, here's what I think I learned.

The opening scene really set up who our lead protag was. Balding, bad comb-over, trying to cover up a hopeless hairless situation. It made the audience laugh, it made us have sympathy for this poor pathetic lead, and it made us want to watch this story. Geez, if we writers can do that from the opening shot, we're on to something magical. The opening scene is so important writers! And this one nailed it. If we can accomplish this, we can with luck also get someone like David O Russell wanting to be involved in our movie along with A-list actors.

Then, from there, the movie used the technique of starting the story about half way through. The reason why this worked in this movie, is it set up the conflict right away. So again, as a writer, it's our job to get someone to read those pages, to stay with the story, and go along for the ride. I feel like this script did that. And talk about conflict, there was a lot during the whole movie. By the end the tension was palpable. So many things could have gone wrong for our protag, and as writers, that's our job! Put him in situations that it looks like he can't get out of. This story is and was about a scammer who dabbled in small time deals and by the end he is in so big he's taking heart meds like they're tic tacs.

And something I really loved about these characters were that they were all truly lovable losers that all had dreams of doing something bigger and greater someday, somehow. They all were fully-fleshed out characters with their own dreams and goals. And the way this writer parsed out the information was so genuine with such perfect timing.

Besides that the time period was just a blast to get a glimpse of. The clothes, the music, the dancing, the behaviors, the jacuzzis! It was just a fun ride to be a part of. That said, David O Russell is probably now my favorite director. Yes I loved The Fighter, loved it. But Silver Lining Playbooks, although good, wasn't my ultimate favorite all-time movie. But American Hustle, yeah, for sure, it just was such a fun, well-done movie. I don't know, maybe it deserves best film, best director and best screenplay. I'm just saying. And the acting, impeccable. I have a feeling a few actors will be winning for this too. They all shined, but Jeremy Renner, yeah, probably his best movie yet. A New Jersey Mayor, who knew it was his calling!

All I know, is I need to get a hold of this script now because I'm so curious to read it over and over and see what other magical gems I can learn from this story to become a better writer. Of course, I'd love even more if I could see the first draft. But I doubt I'd be lucky enough to stumble upon that. But seeing the movie was such a treat and I hope you all get to the theaters to enjoy it as much as I.

How to conquer fear in writing

So I like to listen to these podcasts by Audio Dharma. It's a retreat center in northern California and the talks are very uplifting and hippie-dippie. So today I listened to a talk all about thinking of events as comfortable, neutral or uncomfortable. So instead of turning a bad event into a bad event, maybe it's just something that's uncomfortable. Get it?

So it got me to thinking that when we as writers put ourselves into some event or moment that is going to make us grow as a writer, it can cause a moment of panic. Many tend to just give up, or put road blocks in our way, and just plain cop-out. But what if, instead of thinking we can't overcome these fears, we just noticed it was another moment of being uncomfortable. I mean, pitching to a high-powered producer is hardly dangerous. At least not usually! LOL So if we were to just acknowledge that yes, we are feeling stressed over a big moment in our lives, but it's just uncomfortable, then I think it would lessen the fear. And if we could lessen the fear then we could actually accomplish what we are trying to accomplish in our writing careers and move towards success.

I have mentioned before that I have seen numerous writer friends tell themselves lies why they can't be involved in a project or why they can't do a rewrite or why they are not right for a certain pitch project or development. And it just baffles me over and over how these talented writers can let fear get in the way of their success.

But now I get it. Now I see, we let this uncomfortable moment stop us in our tracks because we are labeling it as painful, as bad. And many would rather walk away then face their fear. But if we know it's just uncomfortable, we know that something that is uncomfortable will mostly soon become neutral or even comfortable once that event is over. And that my friends, is how we can face our fears and prepare for the next big writing moment in our careers. You put several of those moments together, over and over, and you've reached the success you've been dreaming of.

The nose knows

So for first time writers, or newbie writers, they will hear a lot of "it's on the nose" when people read their scripts. And when you're a new writer you're not always sure what that means. Recently, a new writer reached out to me in need of some explanation so I thought it might be a good post to help other new writers in this position.

I asked him to read as many articles on what "writing on the nose" meant. I also asked him to rewrite a scene of his once he thought he knew what it was to see if he had applied what he thought he learned. Even with that, it still turned out he was in the dark.

What I did notice is that he thought to fix writing on the nose meant to write everything shorter. Dialogue. Narration. Descriptions. Now sometimes yes, it can mean writing less. But not always. He cut out so much I no longer could tell what the characters were saying or meaning. So don't cut just to make things shorter. Cut to make things less obvious.

See, people in real life never say what they mean. So our jobs as writers is to not be so obvious. It's to play what is going on underneath what the characters are saying but leave things hidden and to let them come across in other ways. For instance, if a character has a bad day at work and that scene was written on the nose, we'd hear exactly what the writer intended. For instance, the character would come in from work and say it all, "I had a bad day at work! I don't like anyone right now." Wife, "Why do you have to yell at me for having a bad day at work?" Man, "I'm going to go sit at my computer and ignore you because I don't like myself or anyone right now". Yuck! Not a good scene is it? Now if it wasn't on the nose it could be written more like this...

He comes home but doesn't tell her, she kisses him but he just brushes past her, says he's not hungry for dinner and goes to hide at his laptop. Then when the wife asks if he's hungry after she's cleaned up the dishes, then he could snap at her so much that they get into a fight. But maybe he yells at her for the way she parked the car. And how she always parks the car that way and he can't fit in the garage. And then she's annoyed he keeps bringing that up so they fight over the car instead of what really happened at work. Then when going to bed, both ignoring each other it might finally come out, "Sorry I got yelled at by my boss for messing up. I guess I took it out on you." So that scene would be so much more interesting than the first. Don't you think?

If you need to write a scene really obvious the first time you write it, that's okay. But once it's on the page, ask yourself how else can I write this scene? Can I write it with no dialogue? What could I have that person do instead of what I actually intended him to do? Is there another character he could interact with that will show off the scene much better? Is there an object I can introduce to the scene that would make it less on the nose? There's many ways to hide what the character is thinking. But it's up to us, the writers, to figure out the best way it is to do that.

In honor of Syd Field

So there was news today of Syd Field passing this weekend at the age of 77. I never met the guy, but read his screenwrting books. And it wasn't till I heard he passed, that I realized I owe the man a lot. It was he and Robert McKee that taught me my very first steps in how to write a script. I remember sitting by my computer, with Syd Field's books open next to Robert McKee's as I typed what I thought would be the best thing ever written. LOL Okay, maybe I didn't. But I thought it might be worthy of something. Turns out it was only worthy of teaching me how to write a script. But we all have to start somewhere. And if it weren't for teachers like him, we never would have had something on the page to do our first rewrite, or to get comfortable enough in the craft to learn new styles, to learn our voice. So the news of Syd Field passing is a sad one for me. I wish I had thought of taking the time to thank him. I'm sure many will feel the same. RIP.

Do you take chances with your writing career?

When it comes to genres, we writers tend to get stuck in a type or genre of writing. Especially when it comes to film and TV. We hear that we need to form a body of work in order to sell and to have a career. But what if other opportunities present themselves? I'm one who believes that you just don't know where the next opportunity is going to come from. So I'm the last person to not try a new genre. So although comedy features were my favorite thing to write at first, I'm game to write just about anything! So when I found out someone wanted to read a sitcom from me, I partnered with a TV writer. I learned that I loved writing sitcoms and in fact it seemed easier to me than features! Then I found out someone wanted to read animation, so I partnered with someone who was good at this, learned how to do it. Now we're pitching animation shows and features. Then I found out someone wanted a sci-fi. This definitely wasn't my forte, so partnered with some sci-fi writer friends. So as you can see, it's okay to try new things. If worse comes to worse you find out for sure it's not your thing. But you grow as a writer, and there's nothing bad about that. We're writers. We're meant to be creative and try new things. There's nothing worse than seeing a writer stop themselves from success because they fear that can't do something new! In fact, I've seen it many times where a writer will have an opportunity and they say, oh yeah, I don't do that. In my mind I'm thinking, really? You could get a deal out of this, but you don't do that??? Just recently my new manager wanted to submit me for a TV show. Although it's something I love to watch, I wasn't sure I could write it. But I figured, why not? I was up for the challenge! So I told her yes, I could do it. And guess what, I've learned so much about myself as a writer. And I can already tell I can write this! Just because as a writer we haven't tried a genre, doesn't mean we are incapable of it. SO please, don't shoot yourself in the foot till you've at least tried! If someone is giving you the opportunity, do it! Take it! We only live once. So go for it! You just may surprise yourself.

"Come up" and come on down!

So writing my second review of the short films that I saw at the IFFCA film festival. I thought today I'd write about the topic, what if you're trying to do your own short film? Well, there's some things to consider first. Like knowing what is the best scenario and story to do for your film. I can imagine it's got to be a tricky thing for most writers/directors/producers, picking that one story. And a short one has to pack the punch of a feature, but quicker. For me, seeing what worked at the festival inspired me to want to do my own for sure.

Now I would say that there was no genre that was better over others, but what really mattered was if there was a story or not. There were a few short films, that I won't mention, that didn't really fit that bill and I felt suffered because of it. But the rest were great at being mini movies. So if you have yet to do your own short film and you're looking to try your hand at one, be sure you include the beginning, middle and end, with the goal and obstacles, just like any feature. And if you can, throw in a twist.

One of the short films that I felt did a great job at this was called "Come Up" directed by Christopher Boyd. It was a funny story based on an action film that happens on the set of an action film. A lot of the humor in this piece faired best with people in the industry, as you could hear them laugh the loudest during the film. Inside jokes, for sure, but that didn't mean people who hadn't worked on a set couldn't get enjoyment out of it. But I have heard from industry producers that movies about the biz don't do well outside of the group that makes them because regular movie-going folks just don't care or get the story as well. I think as far as doing a piece for a short film festival, doing a movie about the industry is perfect though. Because who else is probably going to see most of these festivals, but your movie biz peers? 

The people who created this film talked about how they figured this story out while on the set, which is another way to get your story ideas for shorts or any story you're writing. Write what you know, you know? Because when you do, the audience can tell and that comes across as a solid piece of film. 

IFFCA short film festival

So this writer actually got out of the house and stopped writing long enough to see a night of short films at the 2nd IFFCA short film festival. I'd recently become "online" screenwriting friends with a director, Amir Masud from Stage 32 connections. His friend was the creator of the IFFCA film festival and Amir was nice enough to invite me. It was held at the quaint ACME theater on La Brea. Being that that was my old neighborhood post-college for many years, I was more than thrilled to head back for a night on the town. I dragged along my talented ex writing partner, Andy Glickman, and he too was pleasantly surprised at the films we saw. I guess surprised might be the wrong word, because that connotes we didn't expect good films. But the thing is, you just never know what you'll see at a film festival. But this one had some really nice pieces. From humor, to horror, to sci-fi, to drama, to documentaries.

We made it to the last night of the film festival and since they were all really well done, I'm sorry now that I didn't make it to more. Amir swears I'll be invited every year and I'm hoping he sticks to that.

I think I owe it to each filmmaker to give a new post about each film, so tonight I'll post about one that I actually saw the next day, today. See, someone else I met from a film group on linkedin, William Hellmuth, got one of his short films into Thursday night's showings. When I saw his name on the festival lists I had to email him and say hey, maybe I'll see you there. But turned out we didn't get to go on the same nights.

William was nice enough to send "Attic" to me to watch after the festival was over. "Attic", a horror short about a young girl who hears noises in, yes, you guessed it, her attic. I don't want to give it away because you should watch it for yourself. But I will post the link in here so you can decide on your own what you think. But I'll give you my opinion, and let's just say, I was scared! I felt he had the right paces and tension to keep me wondering what was just around the corner and on the edge of my seat. I have since watched another short of his and I think he does a great job with casting and imagery to be a director I look forward to working with in the future. We've talked about it, but we haven't quite found the right project. Someday! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkeo4gtzPmA&feature=youtu.be