Time jumps and oil drilling
I’m writing a movie that makes a time jump about 90 pages in, meaning at the beginning I’ve got a couple of 10-year olds who’ll be about 18 at the end. That’s not my problem though, since the jump is unavoidable and casting different actors actually makes sense in this case.
My question is: What’s the best way to label the new characters/actors? I checked your Big Fish shooting script in which you used terms like “YOUNG EDWARD” — but do I have to do this, if the older (or younger) characters never turn up again? Because “ADULT CHRIS” or “ADULT GINA” sounds a bit stupid in German. Could I just keep the original name after pointing out the leap in time or would that cause confusion?
Might sound like an insignificant detail to you, but it’s been bothering me for some time now.
– Fabian
Germany
Yes, you need to label them differently, because people will actually get confused. They might not when they’re reading through it from page one, but when they’re going back through the script looking for a specific scene, they will need to know immediately whether they’re looking at an 18-year old or a 10-year old. And if you do make it to the production stage, that chance of confusion increases exponentially, because scenes will be scheduled and shot out of order.
Given where your time jump occurs, I’d label the adult characters as such, or give them slightly altered names. (The young version of CHRIS becomes CHRISTOPHER as an adult, etc.)
. . .
A two part question: I’m currently writing a spec script, a legal thriller set in Washington D.C. While I started it over a year ago — outlining, making notes, character sketches — I shelved it due to other work demands. Now I find that the subject matter (domestic oil drilling) is gaining topical currency in a way that I didn’t anticipate when I started out. Which is both good and bad.
A) Should I continue to write it, knowing that there is a strong possibility that it may be old hat by the time I finish (6 months to a year for a passable first draft. I have a day job!)? Or should I forge ahead in the hope that it may still hold some topical currency by the time I’m finished? And…
B) Since much of the story has to do with the law, and the subversion of a particular piece of legislation, how do I go about acquiring some fluency with legal protocol without enrolling in Law School? I’m a naturalized American citizen, so there is still lots I don’t know about the American justice system. If you were to approach material like this, where would you begin in order to make it at least plausible? Would you line up a couple of friendly D.C. lawyers and try to get some interviews? Try for an internship at the Dept of Justice? This material needs to be very well-executed for it not to be laughable (I’m after The Firm, not Pearl Harbor), and I’m anxious that the plot details at least make sound legal sense.
– Mark
New York
Yes, write it. No, don’t take an internship at the DoJ. But you’re going to need to hang out in D.C. to get the answers you want.
The kind of research you need to do will be an ongoing part of the process. You research; you find something that helps your story; you hit a roadblock; you do more research. You’re looking for believable dialogue, but more importantly, a believable approach to the situation you’re presenting in your story. That’s why you need to find someone (better yet, a couple of someones) who approximates the kind of characters you have in your story.
When I was writing the pilot for D.C., I wandered around Capitol Hill introducing myself to young staffers, and got them talking about their jobs. A few were interesting enough that I kept up with them via email, and could easily ask them a question about their lives on or off the clock. The show wasn’t staggeringly realistic — it had roughly as much verisimilitude as Felicity — but the characters were doing and saying the kinds of things they would in real life. (Just faster, and with better hair.)
From what you’re describing, it sounds like you need attorneys and staffers who handle energy legislation. You can find them. If you know anybody working in Washington, you’re probably two degrees of separation from someone in that job. And if you don’t know anyone there, hop on the train and head to the Hawk n’ Dove bar at happy hour. Two beers in, you’re likely to meet someone who knows someone.
Filed under: Dead Projects, Projects, QandA, Television, Words on the page, Writing Process
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August 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I have a related question to the first one above. I’m working on a superhero script, where characters have secret identities. Should I consistently use the same name for the same individual, or use different names when they are in and out of costume?
August 6th, 2008 at 10:35 am
@Mark
As someone with a day career myself, I can tell you that with a dedicated hour and a half of writing each weeknight and one day a weekend dedicated to writing (and all the naps and snacks that help break up the work) it’s very realistic to think you can get to the end of that rough draft in three or four weeks. If you’re worried about beating the interest of reporters, it might be just the catalyst you need to make that kind of commitment to your writing! Use your fear - in this case of missing the boat - and you can make it into a strength.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
with regard to labelling older or younger characters, I came across a similar problem with my own script very recently. To tell my story it was neccesary to employ flashbacks. I had gone through many drafts just labelling the flashbacks in the Scene Heading, thinking it would then be obvious (in the story) we were looking at younger versions of the main characters throughout those particular scenes.
I soon realised though that people reading it only gave the Scene Heading a cursory glance after a while, especially if were are ‘into it’. Confusion began to arise when people missed the flashback markers and then had to go back and check to see if they had missed it elsewhere, taking them out of the story. Not very desirable. In the next draft I labelled all the characters in the flashback scenes with ‘YOUNGER’, ie, YOUNGER NICOLAS or YOUNG DAVID - in the Action as well as the Character.
It looked really cumbersome on the page to me but for others it worked like a dream.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Hold on - Felicity wasn’t realistic?
August 6th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Hello John, I can’t believe The Nines has been out for a year and no one has recommended it to me until today! I created a project called Imagining the Tenth Dimension which went live in July 2006 and has attracted an audience of over 3 million unique visitors, and much of that has been due to an eleven minute animation about the nature of reality which can be viewed at http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php or at various video streaming sites like revver, youtube, and so on.
Your movie is so wise and plugged into the same ideas about the nature of reality that I have been promoting, that I will be recommending it strongly to all of my audience. In my book which accompanies this project, I suggest that there are many things about how our reality is knit together which my project discusses that could be used as a guide for creative writers wanting to plug into those “big picture” ideas. Your project is so clearly part of the same set of memes that I have been promoting that I have to take my hat off to you: your project is a work of art that will live for many years to come.
Kudos!
Rob Bryanton Imagining the Tenth Dimension
August 6th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I had a similar need for some expert legal opinion for a project a couple of years back. A little googling threw up the names of some law firms that handled the area I needed to research. I emailed the first guy whose profile sounded like my character, setting out the kind of information I wanted to pick his brain for. I figured if I was organised enough I’d need maybe an hour of this guy’s time to get what I needed, and I offered to pay a fee for his time (this is a lawyer, remember). The guy emailed back and we set up a meeting. He was fantastic - gave me exactly what I needed and was more than happy to do so free of charge. I guess to him it made a nice change of pace from his usual daily grind. It’s amazing how many research problems can be solved with a well-directed and polite inquiry.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Thanks John! :)
August 7th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
John/Mark, the trouble with DC is that dramatically (at least for those outside the Beltway), it’s dull as dirt. The processes, the loci of power, the vernacular — are all meticulously crafted and preserved to maintain distance between DC and the rest of society. If someone actually made an accurate portrayal of what goes on on Capitol Hill or on K Street (and I used to work on K Street), audiences would pass out from boredom. Which is why most successful political stories are less about the process and more about good old fashioned drama.
For instance, does anyone really remember what bit of legislation caused Mr. Smith to launch his record-breaking filibuster on the floor of Congress? No. It’s not important to the story; only the motivations of Stewart’s character and the power behind the performance.
Sure, you can dig up tons of information about energy policies and legislations, but the real challenge will be how to take that information and make it dramatically compelling. I think even if you look at very Beltway-centric productions, such as “The West Wing” or “Michael Clayton”, they go into just enough detail to make the story compelling. And not collapse under bureaucratic weight.
Finding someone who works in the energy sector can be a good idea, because like John says, you’ll get a sense how they talk, how they think, in essence what motivates them to do their jobs.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Maybe I’m bitter but I feel like nobody wants topical or anything pertaining to relevant issues, i.e. the war and probably the economy and probably oil. I was working on a Blackwater-like security contractor script (they were the villains) and then it hit big in the news. So I finished the script and thought this might be good for me.
I sent it out. Got reads. People liked the writing but have no interest in making a war movie or anything set in Iraq. Or Afghanistan. Or Whateverstan.
I know your script is not war, but that might be as much of a “downer” as a mortgage crisis movie. I bet everyone will say they don’t want to be reminded of what’s going on.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:07 am
I don’t think it’s because topical issues are downers. But rather, notions like “bad big oil” or “bad private security companies” or even “bad war in Iraq” have become tropes. It’s expected.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Tropes sell. Downers don’t sell as readily during down times. However, Iraq, Afghanistan and related films are on the outs right now not so much because of “overused tropes” (since when does that stop anyone?) or being depressing, per-se. It’s more pragmatic than that. The poor box office returns on films like Rendtion ($19M), Stop-Loss ($10M), In The Valley Of Elah ($7M), and Redacted ($65 thousand) have stopped any more of those films from being picked-up rightn ow. None of those listed films made back their investments.
I’ve written two Iraq related scripts. I’ve been told to sit on them for until the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been over for 3-5 years, and try again then. Nobody’s buying films about a subject matter that is seen as having tanked at least four films and, according to some, brought down New Line (though to be realistic, they did have at least three other major flops that had nothing to do with Iraq).
August 11th, 2008 at 9:47 am
There’s no way to time it right. It is true that now is not an especially good time for heavy political fare, but then it never really is. If this is what you love, write it. Worse case scenario, it’s a useful writing sample.
Btw, Eric Roth’s The Good Shepherd was ten years getting to the screen and he has long had a robust career. And Michael Clayton — which isn’t a Beltway movie, but is an example of the kind of serious movie that’s hard to make — got made because of George Clooney’s involvement. Traffic was based on underlying material and had Soderberg. Syriana was from Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan. Etc… So many things factor in. If people only made scripts that “they” “want to make” all we’d have are summer tent pole movies and broad comedies.
August 12th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Cool! Thanks for that broad-ranging, very thoughtful and intelligent set of comments. I think topical films can be relevant and entertaining. In the Valley of Elah and Michael Clayton I thought were two good recent examples. Steve Gaghan has done pretty well for himself mining some of this turf. Anyway, I appreciate the all the comments and advice here. The main thing is to keep writing. And if I fail? “Fail again, fail better.”