John August

Archives for 2004

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory teaser up

Charlie, Projects

The [teaser](http://mp3content01.bcst.yahoo.com/bmfroot02/BMFShare02/yahoomovies/4/10140065.mov) for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is now up at Yahoo!, for those who are interested. It should be attached to movies beginning this weekend.

One good thing about a movie like this is that you don’t have to worry about the trailer spoiling the movie, because the story is already familiar to most people. If you go through the teaser frame by frame, you can match up pretty much everything with events from Roald Dahl’s book. That’s not to say there aren’t some surprises in the movie, though.

Thanks to reader Steve for pointing out the link.

Formatting a reality show proposal

Formatting, QandA, Television

How should a proposal for a reality show be structured? My research to date suggests that reality shows have been evolving towards a more “scripted” format, although I understand that writers don’t get credited (yet).

I have an idea for a reality show (doesn’t everyone, eh?) – so how should it be presented to a producer? An overall description of the premise, and ideas for several episodes? What level of detail is needed (or not needed)?

— Jedd
New Orleans, LA

There are already too many reality TV shows, which are taking jobs away from writers. So I won’t answer your question.
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Okay, I will. But you have to promise your show will be something inspiring like the [Amazing Race](http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race6/) and not soul-destroying like, well, anything that starts with My Big Fat Obnoxious Dot-Dot-Dot.

There’s nothing approaching a standard format for something like a reality TV show, or, surprisingly, a scripted show. In the [Downloads](http://johnaugust.com/library) section, you’ll see my initial write-ups for The Circle. The format seems pretty standard and straightforward, but I wasn’t trying to match any template. I just wrote what I thought needed to be explained.

For your reality show, I think the proposal would need to include:

1. The premise
2. The people (host, contestants, whatever)
3. The tone, including some sample dialogue/narration if appropriate
4. The reward or outcome
5. Structure of a typical episode
6. Future episode descriptions

I think you need to present enough detail so that the producer really understands what the show is, and how it differs from anything else on television. If you have a background in physical production, you might include more detail about shooting days, crew or locations, but if you don’t know, don’t try to fake it.

Getting sidetracked by other movies

Psych 101, QandA

I have this problem of losing my momentum when I’m writing due to shifts in my mood. I’ll be working on a pretty heavy dramatic piece and I’ll see something like a Wes Anderson film. If the film moves me enough, my overall mood will become whimsical (in this example) and I’ll lose that dramatic edge.

Does this ever happen to you? If so, what do you, outside of sealing yourself off from outside artistic influences (which may not be a bad idea)?

— Brandon
Los Angeles

Yes, this happens to me, and just about every writer I know. The problem is that screenplays are simply so long, and take so long to write, that it’s impossible to remain in one emotional state from start to finish.

All I can offer are some tricks to help you get back in the right mood.

1. Be an actor. Scene by scene, day by day, actors have to project emotions that they’re not naturally feeling. How do they do it? Well, you could and should read up on it — even taking a class is a good idea. But the short version is that they simply pretend. If you’re feeling glum and depressed as you sit down to work on your elephant-mating comedy, pretend you’re having a great day, and that you’re surrounded by people who think you’re funny. On the other hand, I wrote the finale for BIG FISH by deliberately bringing myself to tears before I started typing. Call it method screenwriting.

2. Create some triggers. While I don’t usually write with music playing, I often build an iTunes playlist of songs that feel right for a certain project. For instance, Ennio Morricone’s Hamlet soundtrack has a very spooky song that I used over and over when I needed to get properly freaked out for my never-to-be-made zombie western.

3. Acknowledge what it is about that Wes Anderson film you liked so much, but stop comparing it to what you’re writing. You know what? Wes Anderson goes to see movies, too, and probably feels the same kind of self-doubt when he sees something brilliant. But he gets over it. So get over it.

4. Re-read what you’ve already written. Nothing feels more like your movie than your movie.

5. Finally, do consider barricading yourself for a week or two if outside influences are keeping you from finishing. There’s a lot to be said for keeping other voices out of your head.

Back to work

News, Projects

After the [trip to Miami](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/off-to-miami) for the Urban Challenge, and an extended Thanksgiving weekend, it’s finally back to work. That is, if I can avoid the life-destroying forces of [World of Warcraft](https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/).

For those who are curious, I’ll eventually get the full write-up of the Miami race posted. The short version is that we crossed the finish line #31 (of 104), but DQ’d on a soccer question that was many teams’ undoing. Damn those corner kicks. We didn’t win the $50K, but after more than four hours running, there was simply no way we could have competed in the second race. So we were more than happy to drink our free beers and watch much better teams wrap it up.