John August

QandA

Generating ideas

QandA, Writing Process

Do you have a method to generate your ideas?

–Dean

Not really. I’ve never found it particularly hard to generate ideas. Most
of the time, I have far too many different things I want to write, and
the challenge is deciding which ones are actually worth the investment
of time and thought. So I don’t really have any methods for generating
ideas. I don’t brainstorm. I don’t draw mind-maps. I only outline if
I’m concerned about fitting the pieces together.
In fact, 90% of the time, I’m trying to find methods for shutting competing
ideas out, so that I’ll actually get my work finished. Or get to sleep.
I’m drawing a distinction here between coming up with new ideas (“a biker movie in space”) and figuring out how to solve specific problems with a story or scene (“how should the villain capture the Millenium Harley?”).
Obviously, every writer is going to have to find ways to get over these hurdles
when they come up. A few techniques that often help include:

  • figuring out what the outcome needs to be, then working backwards;
  • deciding what caused the problem in the first place, and whether it can be changed or cut;
  • looking at the moment from another character’s perspective;
  • quickly writing several different solutions, then judging whether one or a combination of several best address the problem.

For all the talk of high-concept comedies or big-idea action tentpole movies, a screenwriter’s daily life is almost entirely about coming up with the “little” ideas that help get the story told.

Good writing vs. the idea

Film Industry, QandA

If your screenplay is good enough will that guarantee it recognition or is
it more in the selling of the idea?

–Brett

A screenplay that is "good
enough" won’t get any recognition at all.
Unless it has an ingeniously compelling (and marketable) idea, a script has
to be ungodly well-written to attract much attention. Of course, the best scripts
have both a brilliant idea and brilliant execution, but that’s not your question.

Let’s say you decide to write a family drama. Unless it’s about a family of
killer robots, the "idea" of the story is not what will make it sell.
So you better have some fantastic writing in there to make it compelling.

On the other hand, the family-of-killer-robots script could conceivably sell
even with some sub-par writing, if it does a good job presenting the idea and
studios happen to be in the market for killer robots with a twist. Here’s the
big difference between the two kinds of scripts: if you write a extremely well-written
script that no one buys, you’ve still written a great script. On the other
hand, if you write a crappy script (even with a great idea) and no one buys
it, all you have to show for it is a crappy script.

11-year old film fan

Education, QandA

I have an 11-and-a-half-year old who seems to watch movies
and TV shows more as a writer or director rather than as a viewer. She’ll second-guess
the plot,
for example; and also sometimes think that shots should be made in a certain
way. Do you have any suggestions for such a young aspiring filmmaker?

–Wordwitch

First off, kudos for recognizing her interest. By far the most helpful thing
a parent can do is to encourage their kids to explore what they like, and to
appreciate what they’re able to create. Her talent is like a tiny flame. It’s
your job to keep supplying the kindling she needs to burn, but avoid the temptation
to throw on too much too soon. You risk overwhelming her if she’s not ready
to move on to more sophisticated things.

If she has a favorite TV show, try taping an episode, then transcribing it
together. She’ll probably be fascinated to see what scenes look like when they’re
written down on paper. She may have ideas for her own scenes that are better
than the originals.

Likewise, you might help her find some fan fiction on the internet for her
favorite shows or movies. A lot of fan fiction is terribly written – and some
of it is very X-rated, so you’ll want to pre-screen – but if it inspires her
to write her own, fantastic.

If you happen to have a Mac and a DV video camera, iMovie is a no-brainer.
She can make little movies to her heart’s content, especially if you’re willing
to help when asked.

If she’s more interested in the design side of things, like costumes and sets,
try to get her involved with a children’s playhouse, or even a local community
theater. There are lots of jobs she could probably do, even at her age. Personal
bias, but I don’t think enough kids learn how to hammer or sew these days.

And keep in mind that her school district might have special drama or creative
writing programs. Ask her if she’d like to join one. Just remember: always
support, but never push. At some point, all kids rebel against their parents,
and if they associate you too strongly with the activity that gives them happiness,
there’s a chance they might walk away from it altogether.

The essentials of adaptation

Adaptation, QandA

From the perspective of a screenwriter, what is essential in creating an adapted
script? Is it possible to keep the true essence and theme of a piece of literature
when translated to film? Can literary techniques be directly transformed into
cinematic terms? Should the two even be compared?

–Jeremy Vandiver

Sure. Books and movies should be compared, if only to understand what each
does well.

Using words alone, a good book manages to evoke images and emotions in the
reader that add up to a coherent story. The best writing makes a reader feel
like he’s seeing, hearing and touching what the character experiences, putting
you "in his shoes." Of all the literary tools available to the writer,
the most valuable may be insight. The novelist can choose to tell the reader
what the character is thinking, or fill in extra details, or sketch out relationships,
that have nothing to do with the current scene. In fact, the novel doesn’t
need to have "scenes" at all. Moments and observations can float
freely in space and time, arranged in whatever order best suits the story.

A movie — and by movie I mean what’s actually projected on the big screen
— has basically the same goals as a novel. It wants to transport the viewer
into a different place and time, making him feel like what he’s seeing and
hearing is real. A movie has many advantages over a novel. Not only are there
concrete visuals, but you hear the characters speak and watch them fight.
It’s an exaggeration to say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but it
would be very hard to capture the essence of THE MATRIX’s bullet-time on paper
without having seen if first, or the feeling of a John Williams soundtrack.
But this efficiency comes at a cost. With rare, art-house exceptions, movies
have scenes. The viewer is seeing and
hearing something that is taking place at a specific time and location. Movies
move relentlessly forward at 32-frames
per second, and the viewer cannot choose to stop and think about something,
or flip back a few pages to catch something he missed.

Most importantly, movies lack insight. Aside from an occasional voice-over
or narrator intrusion (done recently, and effectively, by AMELIE and Y TU MAMA
TAMBIEN), a movie can’t communicate anything to the viewer beyond what is seen
and heard. Since a movie can’t flat-out tell you what the hero is thinking,
it has to be very specific with its images and sounds to let you know what’s
going on inside a character’s head.

Now for the terrifying truth: a screenplay is the worst of both worlds. It’s
a work of literature that has to conform to all the limitations of a movie,
yet without any of cinema’s special abilities. That above all else is why screenwriting
is so hard.

In terms of adaptation, the screenwriter has to look for ways to take ideas
that "float" in a novel and tie them down to specific moments, locations
and times. Sometimes this means simply repurposing internal thoughts as dialogue,
but more often it involves a fundamental rethinking of the structure, storyline
and characters to achieve the goal.

I think one reason that many adaptations rely on voice-over is that the filmmakers
never found a way to externalize the essence of the novel they were adapting.
Instead of making a movie that could stand on its own, they created the cinematic
equivalent of a book-on-tape. To me, these movies always "feel" written,
a huge limitation.