6 thoughts on “Update: Open Forum questions”

1. Ma maaan, of cource I've got a question for ya. Has to do with the formatting of a pullover scene in "Crash," page 15-16, from the most recent "14 Days of Screenplays Challenge."

   Is this scene formatted properly?

   INT. SQUAD CAR — MOMENTS LATER

   As Ryan and Hansen climb in they hear:

   DISPATCHER'S VOICE
   Black late model Navigator, California plate: 4PCI315.

   THEIR POV

   A black Navigator passes, a 40ish blackman at the wheel.

   DIPATCHER'S VOICE
   Suspects are two black males, approximately 20 years of age, armed and dangerous.

   RYAN

   Pulls out to follow.

   HANSEN
   It's not it.
   (no responce)
   It's not the vehicle. The plates don't match, the driver's in his forties, and noboddy jacks a car and takes it to Studio City.

   Ryan hits the flashers.

   THEIR POV – NAVIGATOR ON RESIDENTIAL STREET AHEAD:

   A woman pops up in the passenger seat. She may have been napping in the driver's lap, or she may have been doing something else. She throws a look back at the cop car. Caught in the headlights her face looks chalk white.

   RYAN

   Sees her face and bumps the siren.

   RYAN
   They were doing something.

2. at what point should one consider going back to school for screenwriting? what do you think are the advantages/disadvantages and do you think it is necessary? thanks.

3. How far is too far when you're writing a horror script?

   While Saw and movies of that ilk seem to suggest that nothing is too far, I still wonder, are there areas that are off limits? Or is everything fair game when it comes to the horror genre?

   How careful do I need to be when dealing with difficult and potentially revolting subject matter?

   Any insights on this topic would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

4. Is there such a thing as a character beat sheet – specifically focusing on the arc of the protagonist? Are there any examples on the web anywhere?

5. Mr Scott..

   What made people like James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino and Chris Nolan make great films? They didn't go to film school. Yet they made great contribution to cinema.

   How did they made it? Is it their understanding of film or their unique vision? How to succeed like them as writers?

   I understand that James Cameron first script he ever written was Terminator which is a masterpiece. Also True Romance was the first script Tarantino wrote and it was excellent.

   How to have the talent or vision that they have?

6. Hope it's not too late to sneak one last question under the wire…

   Scott, I'm in the initial mapping/plotting stages of I guess what could be considered a traditional Hollywood blockbuster type movie. Y'know, tubs of nuclear-butter popcorn sold left n' right, THX audio to shake their fillings right outta' their skulls, eye popping 3-D that'll cause the middle rows to ralph out their Milk Duds across the theater…

   …the usual.

   All daffiness aside, when I say 'traditional,' I mean classic protagonist/antagonist design.

   Anyway, as I etch out my timeline, I find that the scenes/events that land on it and seem to guide me are the actions of the ANTAGONIST, since what this 'bad guy' (for lack of a better term) does drives what my PROTAGONISTS do. It doesn't seem to be too skewed a design since something like that little film last summer, you may have heard of it, THE DARK KNIGHT, functions very much in the same way. Let's face it, Batman would just hang upside-down in the batcave unless some arch villain didn't do some underhanded deed and get things in motion, right?

   Still… it looks weird not having my main character's name plastered all over my wipe-board, y'know?

   My question is, do I panic? Do I have that most foul of creatures called the 'reactionary' main character?

   Remember… this is a BIG movie intended to make some lucky studio BIG money!

   (heh heh… I'm, of course, being more than a little waggish with bold statements like that and yet…I've never really truly had a project like this before. I've always worked with the low to middle budget stuff, the quirky, the weird, the wonky. This is the first script I've ever tried that I could actually see, in my mind's eye, a giant cardboard standee for in the lobby of some 20 screen mega-multi-plex.

   Therefore, I'm panicking.)

   Thanks in advance, as usual.