John August

Film Industry

Virtual Sundance

Film Industry

parkaIt’s quiet in Hollywood this morning, because a large percentage of the town in is Utah for the [Sundance Film Festival](http://festival.sundance.org/2006/).

For those who’ve never been, let me give you a quick impression of what it would feel like if you were there.

* First, imagine everyone you’ve ever worked with, both good and bad.

* Next, put them in parkas and boots.

* Arrange them all in a long line stretching down the sidewalk. It’s very much like the queue for a Star Wars movie, except the film in question is a vulgar Hungarian “comedy” about three generations of masturbators. (Note: I actually saw this film.)

* Add a Weinstein.

* Call in favors to get on the list for the secret Beastie Boys show.

* Somehow get into the secret show, only to realize that a room packed with two hundred people in parkas is pretty miserable.

* Go to sleep, wake up, then see a few movies you probably wouldn’t bother watching on cable.

I’m not at the festival this year, partly because I just got back from the “other” Sundance: the [Sundance Screenwriters Lab](http://institute.sundance.org/jsps/site.jsp?resource=ffp_labs_home&sk=FRw0Izzi1EWn3eSo). I was an advisor this year, helping five filmmakers work on their upcoming features. The projects were all terrific.

Two of my advisees have films in the festival this year. So Yong Kim’s film [In Between Days](http://www.soandbrad.com/) is intimate and amazing, and a perfect example of why digital filmmaking allows for new kinds of storytelling.

Photographer [Carter Smith](http://www.artandcommerce.com/AAC/C.aspx?VP=Mod_AlbumPages.Portfolio_VPage&L4=2U1XC55BVJW&L5=2U1XC5J9RTV) has his short film [Bugcrush](http://bugcrush.net) in the festival. Looking at the [trailer](http://bugcrush.net), you’d think, “Hmm. That looks disturbing.” Trust me: the film is so, so much more disturbing than that. In a good way. Mostly.

Unless you have a thing about bugs.

Interview with me at DVguru

Film Industry

Ajit Anthony over at DVGuru.com has a [two-part interview](http://www.dvguru.com/2005/12/28/interview-with-john-august-part-one/) with me up on the site, in which I sound remarkably coherent. That’s probably because the interview was done over IM; my fingers are generally more eloquent than my mouth.

The downsides of an IM interview are considerable, however. You end up typing a lot. You can’t blame misquoting, so the mistakes you see are probably my own. And I recall entering a sort of [fugue state](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state) by the end, so God knows what I wrote in the as-yet-unpublished Part Two.

Anyway, you can see for yourself [here](http://www.dvguru.com/2005/12/28/interview-with-john-august-part-one/).

Set lingo for the clueless writer

Film Industry

Craig has a very good post about all the special vocabulary used on film sets, much of which is bewildering when you first encounter it. Read it [here](http://artfulwriter.com/archives/2005/11/set_lingo_for_w.html).

Avoiding AD mistakes

Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkHow do you avoid the possibility of a line producer or AD misinterpreting what you wrote?

Do you get to meet with them and say, “These two characters are the same guy, I just wanted to make him a mystery in the beginning. So don’t schedule two actors for this.” Or, “This location is just a different name for INT. JIMMY’S HOUSE on page 10.”

Josh
Philadelphia, PA

Since many readers may not be familiar with the process, one of the first steps in pre-production is to break down the script scene-by-scene, making a list of characters, locations, vehicles and other production concerns. Usually, this task falls on the assistant director (AD), with a lot of input from the director and line producer, along with other department heads. The goal with a good breakdown is to have all the information nicely structured, so the AD can build a good shooting schedule.

The first rule of breaking down a script is to read through the whole thing first, so you really understand what’s going on. And most AD’s are pretty sharp, so they’ll catch these simple mistakes themselves.

But yeah, it happens.

I can’t think of a good example from features I’ve written, but on my first television show (D.C.), we ran into a couple of situations where the breakdown didn’t reflect reality.

A common mistake is not including a character who should be in a scene. It’s easy to overlook a character who doesn’t have any dialogue, and therefore has no words on the page to acknowledge his presence. (Note: If you have a character who doesn’t do or say anything in a scene, your first question should be, why is he here at all?)

From the screenwriter’s perspective, the best advice is pretty simple: introduce yourself to the AD.

This is unfortunately rare.

Since the AD spends most of her time on the set, and the writer spends almost none of his time on the set, their paths don’t otherwise cross that often. The AD’s primary relationship is with the director. She won’t think to pick up the phone and call you with a question, unless you already have some kind of rapport. So introduce yourself, and make it clear you’re on call to answer any questions, 24/7.

Once you have a relationship with the AD, she’ll ask, “Could this scene be day rather than night?” And if it doesn’t really matter, say you’ll be happy to change it. Consult with the AD about how she likes her scene numbers; there are several philosophies about how you add a scene between 94 and 95, and it’s important to be consistent.

And as soon as the first one-line schedule is published, read it. Go through the script page-by-page and make sure nothing’s been left behind.