Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

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  • #16
    Re: Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

    Originally posted by EdFury View Post
    And they all captured audiences before becoming screenplays. Every single one of them. Name one in the last five years that was an original spec script. And there you have the reality.

    The people who would put mega millions into a film demand that pre-sold audience to justify the cost. You don't get that with a spec no matter how good you think it is. It's still a gamble they are not willing to take.

    But hey... it's your script and your writing and your decision.
    That's the upshot of my argument (in bold), Ed... That is, these franchises were conceived without the constraint of screenplay production budgets, which gave their creators the freedom to create amazingly rich worlds that captivated audiences long before the properties were bought by Hollywood.

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    • #17
      Re: Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

      If I kill my accountant who will explain to the IRS all of those tax deductions for "research" at legal brothels in Nevada?

      I think scripts like SOURCE CODE which look huge but are written to be made on a budget can be the answer... and I did an article in Script Mag in the 90s about writing movies that looked huge but were written to be made cheap.

      Just a note: writers were hired to write those huge films, based on specs (or some career that started with a spec). So CHALLENGER was not written for a budget, but lead to a gig writing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

      Bill
      Free Script Tips:
      http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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      • #18
        Re: Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

        Originally posted by goldmund View Post
        It's not mere coincidence that they were books and video games, not movies.

        Edit:

        For one, I really like budget-conscious writing. I like many things which limit, because by setting limits, they also give direction.

        What is the result of writing cheap? Writing intelligent and clever.
        I don't disagree. However (and I think you'll agree), the corollary to your premise, (i.e. "writing expensive" leads to unintelligent, inept scripts) is not necessarily true.

        My big-budget script may cause producers to deadbolt their doors, but, for now, I'm having fun posing as a novelist who's running amuck in screenplay land.

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        • #19
          Re: Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

          There are differing ways to film potentially expensive scenes and those decisions are far after a script purchase.


          If you are filming Key Largo...

          1940s...a wind machine, shutters on windows closed and sound effects for the hurricane

          1990s...studio exec asks if they can build the 50 million dollar set in the path of an actual hurricane?

          2010s...CGI hurricane scenes mean 1/3rd of the dialogue must be cut out of the final version.

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          • #20
            Re: Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

            KEY LARGO is the kind of script that can be made with all of that CGI and still come in on a budget. Limited locations, limited cast.

            But a script that "travels" from location to location (like NORTH BY NORTHWEST, which just had a birthday) with a large changing cast... you can't make that film cheap even if you have zero CGI.

            Bill
            Free Script Tips:
            http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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            • #21
              Re: Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

              So true about NxNW.

              My only point is that production decisions outside of the script can also be a budget driver.

              North by Northwest could go on location to a corn field in Indiana, or they could go two hours out of LA to Bakersfield. They can use more interiors and close shots (The auction, the restaurant with the mother). The Long Island drunk driving scene is mostly old fashioned version of green screen. Van Dam's house could have been in California. They could not film on the face of Mt Rushmore, so that is a set, but I think they did go to South Dakota and filmed at the Rushmore Visitor Center...although this scene also could have been accomplished with a studio set in Hollywood.

              A little green screen, some exterior stock footage and some photography positioned cleverly can make a lot of scenes feasible on the sound stage.

              Now, Cecil B. DeMille is another level of expense..."with a Cast of THOUSANDS!" James Cameron is another one who has been getting away with bloated budgets due to his historic box office performance. (Let's just build a replica of the Titanic).

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              • #22
                Re: Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

                It's not just the location of the cornfield, it's the number of location that adds big time to the budget. Every time they move from one location to another they have to break down all of the equipment, load it in the trucks, drive the trucks to the new location, unload all of the equipment, and set it all up. That's a lot of (union) manhours that cost the film a bundle and don't show up on screen. Even moving from one room to the next in a house costs the film money.

                Bill
                Free Script Tips:
                http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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                • #23
                  Re: Kill the Accountants (while you're writing)

                  Originally posted by RogerOThornhill View Post
                  There are differing ways to film potentially expensive scenes and those decisions are far after a script purchase.


                  If you are filming Key Largo...

                  1940s...a wind machine, shutters on windows closed and sound effects for the hurricane

                  1990s...studio exec asks if they can build the 50 million dollar set in the path of an actual hurricane?

                  2010s...CGI hurricane scenes mean 1/3rd of the dialogue must be cut out of the final version.
                  Now, that's funny!

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