My New DVD set

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  • My New DVD set

    I am hoping this can stay in this thread because I wanted to start a bit of a conversation. I am finishing up my DVD set but because of some technical problems, I am going to have to do two days of reshoots.

    The upside is that I can incorporate a few super recent examples like Argo or Skyfall. I have a couple of questions for all of you. Are there any really current movies that are worth looking at from a teaching/discussion standpoint?

    And are there any topics that seem like they never get covered in screenwriting instructional material? Now that the Expo is dead and the 40ish DVDs I directed in that series are not so fresh, are there non-book (transmedia?) resources that people are still using regularly. If so, I would like to hear about them.

    Also, I did this for the Expo DVDs back in the day. If there are people who would be interested in watching a section or chapter of the DVD set in exchange for writing a short paragraph or two about it (loving or hating it) here at the site, pm me. We can work something out. I can give you a list of chapters or topics if interested.

    Peace,
    Jim

    P.S. There is more about the DVD set and discounts in my current ezine newsletter:

    http://archive.constantcontact.com/f...858177967.html

  • #2
    Re: My New DVD set

    Hi Jim, best of luck with this!

    I'd suggest Looper if you're looking for a movie to discuss, as

    ***SPOILERS***




    it's got two worlds in two different time periods. Also the future version of the protagonist is also the antagonist for a section of the movie.

    ***END SPOILERS***

    Could be about what does and doesn't work there.

    With regards to stuff I don't see discussed in screenwriting instructional material, how about all the stuff writers are told not to do?

    Like don't use 'we see', don't use camera direction, etc. Books cover these topics by basically saying - don't use them. When questioned as to why, most say because writers nearly always use them wrong, so better to avoid them.

    But professional writers use them all the time, because they understand how and when to.

    Speaking as someone trying to become a screenwriter, it's frustrating to be told don't do something because you'll probably do it wrong.

    I'd rather learn how to use it right.

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    • #3
      Re: My New DVD set

      Anagram
      Thanks for input. I don't talk about language like We See that much, so I am creating an ebook in the bonus disk that is a practical format guide. But I do take that principle of stuff you are not supposed to do.

      For instance, I talk about "cheats" the things you can't see or hear....

      Wow
      He realized
      Bob is risk-taker at heart
      As action description for reaction shot: Oh, no you don't

      And I create a list of the 4 criteria a cheat must meet in order to be acceptable. I talk about the cardinal sin of cheats. (Longer version in the advanced concepts) It's a bit overkill but I wanted people to think about it.

      And for instance I talk about rhetoric, long speeches, monologues, exposition etc... in dialogue and how to do it well. People sometimes tell you to beware of this stuff. Frost/Nixon, The Edge, True Romance, Gollum/Smeagol, Lili Taylor Monologue in Mystic Pizza, Brando adlibbing over dead wife in Last Tango in Paris.

      Hmm. I have mixed feelings about Looper. As a paradigm for makeable film I think it's smart. Few Locations, cool concept (which it seemed to drop), castable. I have a lot of examples of foil characters which would be good topic. In the beginner's ebook, I talk about twins, doubles and doppelgangers and talk about a person hypothetically meeting a figurative version of their older self. I think I could throw the Looper Example in there.

      I talk about concept for about 30 minutes.

      I thought Midnight in Paris had one of the best CLOSING IMAGES in a long time theme-wise. It hits on a handful of levels a la opening of Midnight Cowboy.

      Thanks for your input.

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      • #4
        Re: My New DVD set

        Jim

        Didn't you say you were writing a book on scene writing? Was that you? What happened to that? I wanted to take a look at it.

        Compared to other aspects of SWing, actual scene work doesn't get written/talked about enough.

        "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

        ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

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        • #5
          Re: My New DVD set

          It's for Linden Publishing and I am behind on it. It's due at the end of January. Two years of production on a low budget feature I directed as well as two years on this DVD set killed me time-wise, so that's part of the reason it's delayed. (Five features, six-figures in debt, 10 thousand hours, a million F-You's, Malcolm Gladwell.)

          Are those numbers props or motifs? ;-)

          One of the things I do best in the world as a teacher is to analyze a scene as we're watching it and talking about it. I am trying to figure out how to get that into the book. I probably won't get it exactly but I am trying to capture the spirit of ir... helping people see things on a level they never knew existed. The best way to help someone jump from good to great is to show them clearly the gap. Then even if left alone, they have a better shot to get there because they know what they are aiming for.

          You should sign up for my 9 dollar online scene writing class. It's low tech but you get six essay/lessons by email and links to relevant scenes. It is fun and at your own schedule. It will have a lot of the concepts from the book with different examples before the book is even out.

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          • #6
            Re: My New DVD set

            Thanks for the info, Jim.

            "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

            ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

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