Today I begin writing the script pages proper for a new spec screenplay. I’m calling it “Codename: Northwestern” for blogging purposes. This is after almost three months of prep work.
Prep work is stuff like researching the subject.
Watching a bunch of movies in the same genre and taking copious notes (like writing down everything that happens in a movie, in 30 second blocks), then organizing those notes, observing story structure, scene length and generally trying to figure out why and how certain movies work.
Writing character histories and biographies (often starting with grandparents or great grandparents and leading up to the day before our script starts).
Making notes and outlines and 3×5 cards and more notes and writing treatments and getting notes and so on.
Stuff like that.
I always find the prep work very difficult. The research can be super interesting (depending on the subject) but there’s this nagging feeling that if I’m not generating script pages, then I’m not being productive. It can be a tough thing to get past. When I feel unproductive I start to get depressed too. Depression decreases productivity. The vicious circle turns, and it can become a downward spiral, usually involving alcohol, Taco Bell and sometimes firearms.
So?three months of that.
Thank God it’s mostly over and we (and by we I mean “me, myself and I”) can start writing pages now. Writing pages has the opposite effect. There’s the illusion that I’m being super-productive when I’m writing pages. Sure, some of those pages will be moved, rewritten whittled down or beefed up until they don’t really exist any more.
Still, each page is a tangible and measurable step towards the goal. Watching the page count rise is like ticking off the mile markers on a long car trip.
“Codename: Northwestern” is a project that found its way to me late last year. Like my previous spec script, one exciting aspect of it is the people I’m working with on it. Not naming names, but one would be familiar to any comic readers out there. The other will, within the next ten years, be familiar to most every film buff out there. The third is a new acquaintance that seems really cool in addition to having invaluable experience for us to draw from.
Codename: Northwestern: Now underway?
Excellent. Congratulations. Now get back to work. And keep us posted — process junkies like me eat this stuff up.
Do you have all the scenes mapped out on index cards, too?
keep plugging away. all that history and reasearch will look nice as the bonus material on the DVD.
Thanks, Zim.
Augie: I don’t do scenes on index cards. I use index cards early on and usually if I’m having problems brainstorming the general flow. But I find them annoying to deal with. After I get the basics down I work in a format called ’32’ (learned from my pal Hans Rodionoff…I don’t know if he invented it, but he’s the only other person I know who uses it).
Basically, the ’32’ is the entire movie told in 32 beats, representing approximately 3 mintues of screen time each. I do my 32s in spreadsheet, so I can visualize the various structural elements with highlighting and horizontal line dividers and stuff.
So far, the 32 in a spreadsheet works best for me at working out the story action for the movie. You can move cells in a spreadsheet around almost as easily as 3x5s.
Of course with 3x5s it’s easier to work stading up, outside, pacing around the table, acting out, dancing with the cat and all that fun stuff.