Watching movies is one of my most fav activities. The writer in me loves to see written scripts come to life on screen. As much as I love movies, I will not pay $10 to see just any movie, especially when trailers and reviews indicate that the film will have noticeable flaws that will cause me to huff, puff and mutter “you got to be kidding me.” Yea, you don’t want to be stuck near me during these moments.
Snobbery is Easy
So, Saturday I went to a friend’s house, and she had an independent film. My eyes lit up! I heart indies. And this film was Christian-based, thus I got doubly excited. I look at the cover (one eyebrow goes up). I scan the description (both lips cock to the side). As I am about to set it down and forget that I even saw it, something says, “Watch it.” Ignoring unctions is not on my to-do list, so into the DVD player it went. Maybe all my pre-judgments and presumptions are wrong, and this is going to be a mind-blowing storyline.
In the first 15 minutes (which is the hook time frame for a movie), I was convinced the movie was as I predicted: not worth my time. But again, I kept watching. The story unfolded, and 78 minutes later I determined that while the main plot was good, it lacked in development, originality and structure. I had learned a valuable lesson: not to let my film fall into the same traps.
Savvy Takes Training
I can look down my nose at other films, but what I can’t do is keep that stance and release my script into the world only to find out I made the same mistakes or worse. Training. It’s a great word with an awesome definition:
Definition of TRAIN
transitive verb2: to direct the growth of (a plant) usually by bending, pruning, and tying3a : to form by instruction, discipline, or drill b : to teach so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient4: to make prepared (as by exercise) for a test of skill5: to aim at an object or objective : direct <trained his camera on the deer> <training every effort toward success>
“As a writer, I love to welcome God into the process as my co-writer. I pray about what to write and how He wants me to write it. Sometimes I complain to God: “If You are helping me write, why do I have to rewrite?” I sense His smile with the reminder that I’m not writing Holy Scriptures. He shapes me through the rewriting process while I shape the work itself. Then, He prepares me to speak about the stories He’s led me to tell. (Can you say character development?)”
Tags: revising, screenwriting, writing
When I was a senior in high school, my best friend hung out with the theater crowd. At the time, he wanted to be an actor. He hung out with them.Therefore, I hung out with them as well. One thing I remember doing is being talked into seeing a Freddy Kruger movie. At midnight, no less. I’ve never been a fan of horror movies, let alone the kind that portrays senseless, gruesome killing.
What got me through that film was the fact that he talked me through the thing. LOL. “That’s not a broken bone, it’s the sound of celery stalk being chopped in half” or “That’s not blood, it’s just red dye and corn syrup.” He was looking at it objectively, as any theater student would. It was interesting, to say the least. Didn’t stop the nightmares, though. LOL.