ConspiRaider
Writer of Nothingnesses
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2006
- Messages
- 11,156
I usually stall a bit, cracking into Page 1 of a screenplay because I never really know if I'm ready. It's been that way for the 3 previous scripts and for this new one too. It's the beginning of a journey, a temporary stepping off into a new world, like taking a cross-USA road trip. You fuss around, making sure the gas jets on the stove are turned off, rechecking the lights on/off timer, testing that all the windows are closed and latched for the dozenth time - you know. Stalling your butt off. But then you finally get in the car, pop some beef jerky in your mouth and boogie.
Then there's a reluctance on the other end of a screenplay's first draft. You don't want to leave. You've spent many weeks and typically months creating people out of thin air, getting to know them, putting them in situations with themselves, with each other, moving through a series of plots and conflicts and situations. You're with them. You are in their world, pushed along by a self-sustaining energy. I remember one writer put it like this during the initial writing phase. She said: "I can't wait to see what happens next!".
This is a thriller / sci-fi, quite different than my first 3 (murder mystery, comedy, Western). A very wide appeal commercial film, big budget, lots of special effects, fast-paced, many action elements thrown into the story. I've typically liked to spend more time with the characters in earlier scripts, but here I'll have to shoehorn the characters into the action. I can't say what it's about because there are at least 3 big original concepts in the film and you can't give those concepts away. Someone better positioned can come along and scoop those new ideas of yours up without even saying please or by-your-leave.
So, it's back to the opening scene then...
Then there's a reluctance on the other end of a screenplay's first draft. You don't want to leave. You've spent many weeks and typically months creating people out of thin air, getting to know them, putting them in situations with themselves, with each other, moving through a series of plots and conflicts and situations. You're with them. You are in their world, pushed along by a self-sustaining energy. I remember one writer put it like this during the initial writing phase. She said: "I can't wait to see what happens next!".
This is a thriller / sci-fi, quite different than my first 3 (murder mystery, comedy, Western). A very wide appeal commercial film, big budget, lots of special effects, fast-paced, many action elements thrown into the story. I've typically liked to spend more time with the characters in earlier scripts, but here I'll have to shoehorn the characters into the action. I can't say what it's about because there are at least 3 big original concepts in the film and you can't give those concepts away. Someone better positioned can come along and scoop those new ideas of yours up without even saying please or by-your-leave.
So, it's back to the opening scene then...
