John August

Archives for 2011

Wishing Pixar were braver

Genres

Watching the [trailer](http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/disney/brave/) for Pixar’s new film Brave, Theresa Couchman [sighs](http://theresacouchman.com/post/12924506307/keeping-up-with-my-self-imposed-duty-to-blather-on):

> [It] would’ve been nice if a studio that’s known for creative and original storytelling had decided to do something more interesting with their first female protagonist (in SIXTEEN YEARS) than make her…a princess. Who’s cool because she’s good at “boy” stuff. How fresh and exciting! Ugh. Granted, Tangled was one of my favorite movies from last year, but it was also an adaptation of a classic fairytale. Pixar had the opportunity to do *anything* with this, and they’re just rehashing the same old, same old.

> Sadly, “girl struggles against restrictive society” is still a very relevant theme, but it would be awfully nice to see a story about a regular person who has adventures and, oh yeah, also happens to be female. And who maybe likes to read or do needlepoint instead of or in addition to kicking ass, because *there is nothing wrong with those kinds of things.* I’ve always found the tomboy ideal so prevalent in fantasy fiction and film particularly irritating, sometimes more so than the passive damsel ideal, because it’s still presenting traditionally masculine pursuits as superior.

I had the same reaction as Couchman. I love most of the Pixar movies (well, *all* of the Pixar movies that don’t feature anthropomorphic vehicles) and found myself shrugging at this trailer, hoping it doesn’t represent the actual movie. While the Highland setting looks compelling, the heroine’s setup feels disappointingly stock.

Sure, gender roles can be restrictive — but so can these rebellious-princess tropes. “A lady pursues elegant pursuits,” her mother chastens. “Show a little decorum!” her father grouses. We don’t see her getting squeezed into a corset, but we get all of the other requisite beats: bored by ceremony, shooting a bow, escaping on horseback.

Studios grumble that boys won’t go to see movies featuring female protagonists, and I think this is why: the trailer shows a frustrated daughter rather than an adventurer.

Link via [Faruk Ateş](https://twitter.com/#!/kurafire/status/149417988624367616).

What do producers do?

Episode - 17

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News, Producers, Scriptnotes, Transcribed

Craig and John explain what producers do — at least, what they’re *supposed to do* — and discuss the myriad subclasses of producers that litter the opening titles of many movies.

Which is the more impressive credit — producer or executive producer? In film, it’s the former. In TV, it’s the latter. But whatever the title, producers are integral to getting a movie or TV show made.

Craig feels producers can be either anxiety buffers or anxiety conductors. John breaks down four essential roles you find producers filling:

1. **The general.** This producer keeps things moving forward and protects the production. She forces you to make decisions.
2. **The diplomat.** This producer makes sure crazy people feel respected, even when they’re being giant pains-in-the-ass. He talks the actress out of her trailer.
3. **The creative.** This producer reminds everyone what kind of movie they’re trying to make. She performs quality control for the production.
4. **The bulldozer.** This producer will smash down a phone booth to help the director get his shot. (This actually happened.)

Some producers can fill multiple roles (like diplomat-creative), but you’ll often find these qualities spread out among several people on a production, regardless of the size.

Who’s that fat cat, and how did he afford such a fancy cigar? Find out on episode seventeen of Scriptnotes.

LINKS:

* [Producer credits and what they mean](http://johnaugust.com/2004/producer-credits-and-what-they-mean)
* [Producers Guild of America](http://www.producersguild.org/)
* [Kelly Manners](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0543128/) on IMDb
* INTRO: [The Weebles](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy4lfHYDWt4&feature=related)
* OUTRO: [What More Can I Say (Falsettoland)](http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/what-more-can-i-say-falsettoland/id251490303?i=251490410) performed by the San Francisco’s Gay Men’s Chorus

You can download the episode here: [AAC](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/scriptnotes_ep_17.m4a).

UPDATE 1-4-12: The transcript of this episode can be found [here](http://johnaugust.com/2012/scriptnotes-ep-17-what-do-producers-do-transcript).

Observations on the evolution of screenwriting based upon reading one script from 1974

Formatting, Words on the page

Last week, I needed to read a screenplay written in the early 1970s. I think it’s the earliest-dated script I’ve read that wasn’t reprinted in a book.

It had clearly been typed. As in actually typed on a typewriter. Corrections had been made with a pen. I couldn’t smell cigarette smoke on it — this was a photocopy — but I definitely got the sense that an ashtray had sat beside the typewriter as it was written.

On the page, it looked largely like current screenplays — elements had roughly the same margins — but there were some noticeable differences:

* ANGLES (especially POVs) were called out and given their own scene numbers in ways we never would today.

* Locations got much less writer attention. In this script, a kitchen is a kitchen. In today’s scripts, every location gets at least a color line (“stainless steel and subway tiles, with an $8000 convection oven that’s never been used.”)

* There were a lot of “AD LIBBED goodbyes” and such scattered throughout the script. You don’t see that much today, even in projects that use ad-libbing. If a character has a speaking part, you write the lines.

By “evolution,” I don’t mean that screenwriting has gotten better, by the way. It’s just gotten different, the way fashions change. Modern screenplays work very hard — too hard? — trying to make everything a fun read.

This script, at least, seemed much more interested in just getting it done:

Tom looks Barbara square in the eye. Barbara looks to Norman. After a beat, Norman stands and leaves.

PAN BACK to Barbara. She returns to her knitting.

It’s not thrilling, but you know what you’re going to see. There’s a lot to be said for that.

Intercutting within a musical sequence

Formatting, QandA

questionmarkI’m adapting (or rather adopting) a fairly well-known Broadway musical. I’m starting to use a similar convention in a number of the songs. For example, in one song the action takes place in four locations: an apartment living room, an apartment bedroom, a boxing ring and a wedding altar. I have specific bits of action for each time we change location in the screenplay.

I’m sure when it’s shot and cut together those specifics will be thrown out of the window, as they are just a blueprint.

Question: How do I format for this without making the song twice as long as it should be? Can I set the locations with an initial slug line / scene heading and then use just a simple line of action to state when we return to that location?

Bigger question: The majority of the story takes place within this one apartment. Do I need a slug line/scene heading for each room or part of the apartment as the scene shifts from one to another? If not, the core of the screenplay will be one extremely long scene.

— Cory

Musical numbers are a lot like action sequences: you’re trying to convey how it’s going to feel in the final movie, not beat out every little moment.

The first time you cut to a new location during the song, use a full scene header to establish it. After that, call in your best friend INTERCUT. You may also find yourself using straight cuts to sell the shifts:

GLEE KIDS

And we hope you’ll sing along!

INTERCUT BOXING RING

HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP

I ain’t singing.

COACH

Script says you gotta!

HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP

Nope.

A long pause. Music STALLS. Finally...

CUT TO:

EXT. RODEO ARENA – DAY

MUSIC RESUMES as COWBOYS dance with lassos.

For your second question: Yes, break up the apartment into smaller areas for the sake of the script — and the sanity of everyone reading it.

In plays (and musicals), readers are accustomed to staying in one scene for countless pages. For screenplays, readers get antsy if any scene goes on longer than three pages. Even if it ultimately plays as one long sequence in the movie, let us experience it as smaller moments in the script.

Try to keep characters moving, and use scene headers to show when they’re in a new space — even if it’s a corner of the room just slightly offset from the other characters.