Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

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  • #31
    Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

    Originally posted by emily blake View Post
    I saw that episode. The reason was because Peter bumped into the chicken at a party when he went back in time and the chicken held a grudge for years until he saw him again.
    That was the first thing I thought about when I read that as well.
    "Only nothing is impossible."
    - Grant Morrison

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    • #32
      Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

      emily, emily, emily... where is your memory?
      it wasn't a chicken. they don't live that long and have sh!t for brains. it was an elephant. and it was b/c that elephant sat on peter's wife. but she didn't get squashed. she went right up his poop shoot and came out soiled when that elephant stood up. and it was her best party dress.

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      • #33
        "Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?"

        It gives them an excuse to post the rest of their writing in the "One on One" forum at Done Deal.
        JEKYLL & CANADA (free .mp4 download @ Vimeo.com)

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        • #34
          Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

          Originally posted by wcmartell View Post
          I can't tell you how many times I've had meetings where the Devos slammed specs from one particular 3 letter agency as being the worst crap they've ever read.

          - Bill
          Bill -

          I suspect I know which one of the three-letter places you're referring to. And I'm perversely relieved to have it confirmed that DODs are as frustrated as I am with this practice.

          Having said that, the smaller agencies and managment companies are where the majority of the crap seems to come from. At least in my experience. It feels like there's a lot of "let's throw this at the wall and see if it sticks." One such agent kept sending one of my old bosses any script that dealt heavily with Jewish themes merely because the producer himself was Jewish. The problem? All the scripts were dramas - mostly period dramas - and my then-boss lived strictly in the action-thriller genre. Not exactly the guy you'd send a "Diary of Anne Frank" spec to, no?

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          • #35
            Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

            Because they suck.
            sigpic

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            • #36
              Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

              How did this conversation get this far without anyone quoting the Dunning-Kruger effect?

              Also known as the 'Incompetent but unaware of it".

              See: http://tinyurl.com/this-only-applies-to-others

              To quote: "[Incompetent people] failed to gain insight into their own performance after seeing the more competent choices of their peers. If anything, [they] tended to raise their already inflated self estimates"

              ie: Incompetent screenwriters will read good scripts and hate them. In fact, even if you give them good scripts to compare with their own incompetent scribblings they'll just decide that their scripts are even better !!!

              But there is a very good reason - that is particularly true in the case of screenwriting:

              One puzzling aspect of our results is how the incompetent fail, through life experience, to learn that they are unskilled.
              ...
              [One reasons is that] even if people receive negative feedback, they still must come to an accurate understanding of why that failure has occurred.

              For success to occur, many things must go right: The person must be skilled, apply effort, and perhaps be a bit lucky. For failure to occur, the lack of any one of these components is sufficient. Because of this, even if people receive feedback that points to a lack of skill, they may attribute it to some other factor
              How many times have we seen a writer dismiss negative feedback with 'you are stuck in the old 3 act structure so your feedback doesn't matter' or 'I've seen this exact sequence in hundreds of films, so your feedback that I shouldn't do it because it's a tired old cliché doesn't count' (Yes, that last one is genuine)

              And, worse still, how many times have we done it ourself ?

              Mac
              Last edited by Mac H.; 04-04-2010, 11:41 PM.
              New blogposts:
              *Followup - Seeking Investors in all the wrong places
              *Preselling your film - Learning from the Experts
              *Getting your indie film onto iTunes
              *Case Study - Estimating Film profits

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              • #37
                Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                How did this conversation get this far without anyone quoting the Dunning-Kruger effect?

                Also known as the 'Incompetent but unaware of it".

                See: http://tinyurl.com/this-only-applies-to-others

                To quote: "[Incompetent people] failed to gain insight into their own performance after seeing the more competent choices of their peers. If anything, [they] tended to raise their already inflated self estimates"
                As your citation referenced in its abstract, this is what educators & psychologists call "metacognition," the sense of knowing that you need to know. Until that door opens (and sometimes it never does), it's futile to try and stuff facts, figures and concepts into a person's head. The result will be encyclopedic at best.

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                • #38
                  Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                  It's the "Final Draft Syndrome", they think because they have screenwriting software, they'll give birth to a brilliant screenplay. Most of the time, however, all they push out is one huge Hershey turd, as my late brother was fond of saying.

                  One of the worst scripts I ever read had Eddie Murphy attached. It was about giants in diapers. Another dog had Jim Carrey slated to play the lead role. More recently, I read another sp that sold for megabucks. The opening scene was so horribly of tone, I couldn't gather the courage to waste another hour of my life on it, not when I could be working on my own stuff.
                  http://www.pjmcilvaine.com/

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                  • #39
                    Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                    Little dogs have no clue how little they are.
                    "Take the thing you love, and make it your life"--Californication. [email protected]

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                    • #40
                      Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                      Whoa, whoa, whoa. Jaco Bean, I don't know you and this isn't me passing a judgement but you SOUND like a douche bag with this post. Hahaha, no you don't, I actually think it's hilarious.

                      Well, allow my schizophrenia to emerge, I'm 50/50. I feel like people who suck at writing (me a year and a half ago) can get better if they put their mind to it (me now). However, I've had a narrative voice inside of my head since I was five years old. So I feel I was destined to be a writer. I feel like the people who have been around here for a while has a voice. Perhaps they haven't figured out how to convert it on the page.

                      Anything is possible.
                      Last edited by VanHanswyk; 04-11-2010, 01:46 PM.

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                      • #41
                        Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                        Why don't we put tomatoes into a fruit salad?

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                        • #42
                          Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                          Originally posted by Banjaxed View Post
                          Why don't we put tomatoes into a fruit salad?
                          Why don't we put Clay Aiken into a fruit salad?

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                          • #43
                            Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                            Who's Clay Aiken? Is he a vegetable?

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                            • #44
                              Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                              I have read stacks of scripts over the years, and few (1 out of 30 at best) stand out as memorable. What made them memorable is a solid command of English, and the ability of the writer to make the story visual - like I'm watching the film in my head. No way is that as easy as it sounds, or as common as many a writer are so certain they have accomplished.

                              A good vocabulary is so essential for a writer. How many times have I seen 5 or more words used to explain something when one, carefully chosen word does a better job? About a hundred times a day.

                              Next of course is that the story must be clear enough in the writer's head to make it clear in the reader's head. An overwhelming majority of screenplays ramble in incoherent circles because the writer is disorganized and unclear about who is who, where these characters are and why, lack of a back story, and no real direction the whole thing is moving.

                              It's like this - Oh, and then Mary goes over to the place where they wash the stuff and sets the glass down being like super careful not to get seen by the other people who are watching her. Then this mystery dude comes over and puts the glass in a plastic bag and sneaks away cuz he's a detective working on the case. His name is HARRY, and wears dark clothes and a hat so we can't see his face.

                              Yeah, like that. Incoherent gibberish. An endless supply.

                              My fave, without a doubt, is the use of text-ese in a script. LMAO.

                              MARY
                              R u 4 real?


                              Christ! Must be the same folks that frequent the You Tube comments.



                              aw

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                              • #45
                                Re: Why do people without the ability to write, write screenplays?

                                Very simple, because when you write a script, you can do this.

                                INT. CAR - NIGHT

                                Character A drives.

                                Character A
                                So let me tell you about my cool life

                                When you write a novel, you have to write LOTS OF MORE WORDS and it's too daunting to many people.

                                People are under the false assumption that screenplays are easier to write than novels. They don't understand that, screen wriers need to get the most across with the least amount of words. Unlike say Stephen King who says "screw it" and writes 1500 page novels.
                                Screenplay Questions & Answers - http://screenplayqa.com

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