What's so yippee about Robert McKee?

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  • #31
    Re: MCKEE

    Hear hear!

    I LOVED the Swamp Ape in the original script.

    And, strangely enough, I never heard anything about Robert McKee being the guy who forced its removal. And I heard a lot about the decision making behind all those changes to the third act.

    In the article, McKee also claims he "chose" Brian Cox to play him in the movie. The way I heard it was that McKee recommended Brian Cox, who is a friend of his, but that Spike Jones made the actual decision to cast him. I was told that Jones didn't know Cox's work, but was impressed when he met him and looked over his previous work.

    And as for McKee insisting on the addition of a "redemption scene" for the McKee character -- that scene was in the original script. It was part of the very structure of the story. For him to say that is just silly.

    Now, I've got nothing against Robert McKee. I enjoyed the way he was portrayed in the movie, which wasn't really negative at all. His character has that great scene in which he yells at the Kaufman character about how if he can't find gripping drama in everyday life then he doesn't know anything about life.

    But, reading those claims in the article made me think that, at best, McKee plays fast and loose with the truth and isn't shy about trying to make himself seem more important and involved than he is.

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    • #32
      Re: MCKEE

      But, reading those claims in the article made me think that, at best, McKee plays fast and loose with the truth and isn't shy about trying to make himself seem more important and involved than he is.
      Ah, yes, what is Hollywood coming to? I remember back when... never mind.

      First McKee's portrait in The New Yorker, and then the arbitration article in the Hollywood issue that followed. Being a screenwriter is a long and hard slog, innit?

      IMO, the gist of McKee's opinions was that if you didn't have it, you shouldn't bother to look for the IT that would turn you into a screenwriter in the first place. Which begs the question why he bothers to hold those seminars, but then I checked what they cost, and my question was answered.

      I missed the swamp ape - it's hinted at in the movie, but never developed, and instead we end up with crocodiles as deus ex machinae.

      The ape would have fit in with the adaptation theme of the entire story, and been a better wrap-it-upper than what we got. I'm a big fan of Adaptation, and I understand that the price of getting a nod from McKee was him having a say in the casting of who played him, etc. - but he is taking a gilt brush to himself in that article.

      So - anyone seen the film/TV-series he worked on? ABRAHAM and KATE LOVES A MYSTERY? Or are there any scripts he's written that can be downloaded?

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      • #33
        McKee in The New Yorker

        For those who didn't get the magazine, you can read the McKee article from the New Yorker online:

        www.newyorker.com/fact/co...020fa_fact

        It looks like the complete article. Pick up the magazine if you can get it (though I think it's off newsstands now, so you'll probably have to get it at a used bookstore). The article on credit arbitration is also very interesting.

        As for my thoughts on McKee... I bought his book, and I read about half of it. It was pretty dry and techinical, though I'm sure I'll give it another crack eventually. I can't really imagine paying the $500 to see his live seminar. I'm sure it's interesting, and I'm sure he's a great public speaker, but that's waaaaay to much money for me to spend on 3 days, especially when you can get the book for 1/10 of the price. I saw on his website that day #3 is a six hour shot-by-shot analysis of Casablanca. That might be interesting, but I'm not sure it's necessarily going to make you a better screenwriter. At $166 per day, that's an expensive movie ticket.

        Bob

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