#Film Writing

[s4w-yer]

when you're writing a script and get stuck, but then the magic of maladaptive daydreaming gives you a divine vision of an amazing scene.

[innocentlymacabre]

thinking about writing overlapping timelines, but specifically for the screen where you have to reuse old footage for half of the production. it adds such an interesting constraint to the way the story is told because all modifications have to be made within the new footage.

The new character has to consistently duck out of view of the old. If it wasn't planned in advance, you've got to very cleverly write out how little things from the old footage could impact the new footage. You can have the new character nod back to the old, but you can't do anything about the old one influencing the new.

it's just a lot of intricate careful planning and a very intriguing description that i'd quite like to play around with.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

The Cishet 1990s American Father-Son Movie, Good Omens triggered.

For those who are confused, @howmanyholesinswisscheese made a heartbreaking Good Omens post. Read it and weep.

The reblogs however degenerated into a Cishet Father-Son saga, since you maggots are all my adoptive parents. Here is a more polished version of my latest contribution to the hellsite.

[Opening credits play over highly saturated, sundrenched midwest farmland. Bob Dylan's Sara plays and the title appears as the camera slows to a halt in front of a sprawling house.]

[TITLE: Farewell, Iowa, We'll Meet Again, a Gus Van Sant film]

Art 'Greeny' Matthews, a man who does an honest day's work in the farm and is pretty darn proud of it, wanders through his house. His wife Darlene just left him (hence the opening song), and he is faced with the prospect of raising his only son, a ten year old lad Asmond 'Mond' Matthews, on his own.

Greeny takes Mond along with him as he works in the farm on holidays, riding in the tractor. Mond cries about Darlene, who didn't even leave a note, the hussy, and Greeny comforts him as much as he can. "It'll be alright, son," Greeny says on Mond's eleventh birthday, as they sit in the stable with a badly made cake on the wobbly stool. "Just you and me, eh? Not bad!"

"I hate chocolate," Mond whispers miserably, and the birthday party ends in more tears.

When Mond is thirteen, he starts to grow more closed with his emotions, just helping his dad around the farm. They're making a huge profit, and Greeny has business deals and free time, and makes an effort to bring Mond along to golf games and such. Mond is being bullied in school for being caught writing poetry, but he refuses to tell his dad why he comes home with a black eye every other week.

"I'm always here if you want to talk over a game of catch, son," Greeny tries one day. "No thanks, dad," Mond says, and wanders away into the stable. At fourteen, Greeny tries to bring him on fishing trips to discuss his feelings, as they used to do back when Darlene lived with them. Mond swallows, but shakes his head.

Finally, Mond can't keep it from him anymore, and when Greeny finds out, he goes into a rare fit of temper. "Just like your mother, boy!" he says, hand rattling his mug of ale. "A wanderer and a careless fool, that's what you'll turn out to be! There ain't no place in this world for people livin' in their heads."

Mond doesn't write poetry anymore.

As Mond grows, though, he helps out more with the farm, and they bond over hopes for future profit, and joking about golf, which they both find pretentious. "C'mon, champ, let's go play golf," Greeny says while they watch suited businessmen make their way to the house, out of place amidst the yellow-green farmland. "What's your favourite golf club?"

"That a literal club, or the thing they whack the ball with, dad?" Mond responds, and Greeny chortles. "I taught you better than that, son."

He has high hopes for Mond, he will take over the farm. Greeny is growing weary of his duties, he married late and had Mond even later.

[Montages of sunlight days ensue, intercut with shots of Mond, who always has a melancholic air about him. His mother was a dancer, and that rebellious spirit, so long dormant, is beginning to stir as he enters his twenties.]

On his twenty-first birthday, Greeny has baked him a cake, not chocolate. Mond barely sees it. His father doesn't know him. Not really. Not at all. When Greeny says he is handing over the farm to him, and starts to give him instructions about the responsibilities, Mond has had it.

He picks up the rucksack he's been storing by the umbrella stand for weeks, and shoulders it as Greeny pauses mid-lecture. "I'm sorry, dad," Mond says. "I'm going away to be my own man. This was your dream. Not mine."

Greeny is too frozen to stop him.

[Knockin' on Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan plays with another montage]

Mond travels the States, far from home and Iowa, and after a year of struggle finally publishes his first anthology of poetry. Hoping to make his dad proud, he sends a letter home asking if it imperative he return, since he's too ashamed to say he wants to. The reply is a brief but polite no from the housekeeper, saying his father wishes him well but does not require that he return. Assuming Greeny wants nothing to do with him, Mond stays away, bitter and homesick.

He is called home a few months later, and when he arrives, he is met not with Greeny, but with the housemaids and farmhands in black, and the housekeeper teary-eyed as she guides him to the back garden and a lonely gravestone. Greeny, heartbroken by his son leaving the same way Darlene his wife did all those years ago, declined in health, but he kept up the farm till the end, all ready for Mond should he want it after all, and for the head farmer if he didn't.

Mond, still carrying his book hoping to have shown his dad at last, stares in shock at the gravestone. He thinks even at the end Greeny did not know him, thought he would want the farm. Until he reads the inscription. Art 'Greeny' Matthews, friend to all, loyal husband, and most of all, proud father of a poet.

His father knew, Mond realised. His father knew what he'd been doing.

"Are ya proud, dad?" Mond whispers, dropping the book and kneeling down before the stone. "Are ya proud? It was all for you."

[The camera pulls back to show the farmland, scattered with people in black going about their work because business stops for no one, and a solitary figure by the gravestone. Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind plays as the end credits roll.]

"How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?

How many seas must a white dove sail, before she sleeps in the sand?"

The end.

@howmanyholesinswisscheese The challenge has been issued.

[pond-porridge]

one I'm working on. forgot to clarify in the original post.

[emma-dennehy-presents]

Since discovering my boss produced a creature feature (Shadow Creature) in the 90s Ive had the idea of putting a treatment together to show him. Getting my hands on a physical copy of his flick (available on Youtube for all you plebs that dont have the ins with our maintenance guy) lit a bit of a fire under my ass and Im to the point Im almost done with a stick figure storyboard to go along with it. I dont think that project will have legs, because i doubt hed let me use the property I based it around, but i do think it MIGHT interest him enough he could present me an alternative to work a new idea around.

Special thanks to @skinslip for always having the right movie suggestions. Helped a lot when putting this idea together.

[introspect-la]

QUERELLE POSTER FOR CRITERION BLU-RAY RERELEASE (2024)

Keeping Sex in the Movies

[tortured-demigods-department]

Hey guys! So this is not my typical type of post, but I wanted to share here because this is a very, VERY big deal to me. I’m currently crowdfunding for my junior thesis film project, “Murder at Bellamy Estate,” which I am writing and producing. This will be my first short film that I am the SOLE writer for, and I am collaborating with my dear friend Connor as director to bring this film to life.

This film is significant to both of us because of our desire to see more neurodivergent leads in different types of film. We do not see enough characters with autism represented in the film industry, and especially not in the student film industry. Connor has autism himself, and though I do not, both my younger brother and partner also have autism. We’re making this film not only to expand representation in film, but for ourselves and our loved ones. We are very passionate about this, and I am hopeful that by coming here, to many of you who have supported my writing for years, that you will be able to share in a part of my life that you do not know as much about.

Our reasons for crowdfunding are primarily for location and support for our crew. Our location is our biggest obstacle right now, as it will cost us well over $1k to rent for our 4-day shoot. We also plan to feed our crew well as thanks for them being a part of something so massive to us. Any donations you can provide will get us much, much closer to making this project and these goals a reality, and I am already forever grateful. Thank you so much, I love you all <33

[cronennerd]

“A decade before Airbnb persuaded homeowners to transform their homes into hotels, Netflix convinced its users to turn theirs into mini Netflix warehouses. Customers who held onto their DVDs for longer meant fewer shipping costs for Netflix, and fewer DVDs for the company to manage and store. Netflix tracked heavy users of its service — labeling them internally as “pigs” — and secretly throttled their deliveries. It didn’t matter if Netflix rented fewer DVDs than Blockbuster, because the company would keep collecting its monthly fee. The difference between Blockbuster and Netflix was this: Blockbuster punished customers for being forgetful; Netflix rewarded them for being mindless.”

- “Casual Viewing” by Will Tavlin for n+1

An insightful read on streaming slop & how it came to threaten the film industry as we know it

[fxnfaxale]

Welcome to Candlelit Prose! <3

Aka my personal literature blog 🎀

What you’ll expect here is novel updates, sample pieces of my writing, and reviews of books, tv shows, films and albums! I’ll also be writing fan fiction as a part of my blogs content, I love Maze Runner, Criminal Minds, and The Artful Dodger.

Here I get to share my passions & aspirations, and I hope you all do the same! 🤎 ☺️

[paytonmccartysimas]

-”’My Body, My Choice!’: Unpacking the Queer Subtexts of ‘Junior’ 30 Years Later”

[fuckitfireeverything]

got tagged in a year-end "best film writing" list on Twitter for my essay on Sean Baker's Tangerine, Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, and the subversion of the "road movie" genre in queer American cinema, so I figured I'd post it again here for anyone who missed it!

[moonsquaremars]

ok so i really wanna write a screenplay about my summer. i think it’d make a really good queer indie film. i’m more a visual person but i hate writing scripts. i might just make it a short story or novella first, but i think i am on to something. there’s too much creative energy flowing through me, i’ve been wanting to focus and write it for a while now.

the premise is two gay guys in the south and their following romance. i’m not sure how much i want it to be autobiographical. id say about 50% of it will be true or based on the truth. the details surrounding their personal lives aren’t too important. there will be character 1 & 2 and they are the primary focus. there might be a friend for the bear and the ex for the twink that will get some coverage. family for twink. maybe just sister for bear.

but the first scene of the film, the shot will see the ocean and then go down to a young blond twink eating at a hotel restaurant on the coast. hell be looking pensive then his older boyfriend will come to the table and greet him. like sugar daddy vibes. then it will be a flashback to the summer.

it will have the two gay guys — one a twink and one a bear — falling in love in the lower middle class / middle class urban south. there will be drug use, id specifically like to have mathematics in a scene or two. i know there’s not a lot of that in media and it also is common in the gay population in a way i think straights don’t realize. i know it’s not exactly palpable for the public, but it’s so common especially in the south, i think it needs its moment in the spotlight. i’ve considered just having molly or cocaine or maybe even LSD. G should also have a mention cuz that’s another gay culture drug. poppers are definitely a must. all that could be considered. but i think it deserves a mathematics scene.

there will be at least one scene of domestic violence. that would probably be the climax of the film. it doesn’t have to be graphic, but hey im not throwing that out the window either. it could stay true to the dull, slow indie rhythm. as long as there is an emotional intensity surrounding it. maybe a bloody nose at least.

i don’t want too many details about the boyfriend twink is with in the opening scene. but there might be a scene where he is in california about 1/4 into the movie, so the viewer remembers it’s a flashback. twink could just be walking around LA though. maybe a scene in SF where he kisses new boyfriend sugar daddy vibes.

and there should probably be a good sex scene or two. again, not enough bear - twink combo in media. the bear / twink combo is important cuz that’s not seen enough of.

that’s all i’ve got for now.

twink will just be exiting an unsatisfying relationship, (partner accidentally had sex with twink’s father), + he gets his onlyfans deleted. so bear is new summer romance. but then it gets ugly. i want the twink’s lack of finances to be emphasized. but also his work ethic.

but i want the viewers to fall in love with the characters like they are with them, falling in love with them. i want it to be heart wrenching, and believable. i want the viewers to feel the emotions of the actors.

[bradenthompson]

Diary-120: Clerks (1994)

Welcome, and happy 30th birthday to American Mumblecore classic, Clerks. In celebration of this little movie that could, the popularity it's maintained in spite of its humble ambitions, and the havoc it's wrought on my mind in the 20+ times I re-watched it to conceptualize and finish this project, I can think of no better film to christen the launch of my new essay series. Welcome to DIARY-120.

Exploring the personal relationship to specific films as experienced through the form of VHS tapes watched and rewound dozens or hundreds of times, DIARY-120 is a school of film criticism less concerned with how film as art responds to the greater culture and more how it responds to the self. The goal isn't to play the adjudicator; only the observer of screen and soul.

The entire essay collection is available for free and hyperlinked down below, section by section for a smooth reading experience. Read all of them! Read only the ones with funny titles! Read none of them!

Happy Birthday, Clerks. You terrorize my mind and the problem has only gotten worse.

Clocking In

Leonardo In Five Minutes

On RST Video

A Pilot

A Brief Makeout In The Closet With Mallrats

Dreaming of a Job

A Meaningless End to The Story

Congratulatory Letter to a Mr. Kevin Smith

[kjudgemental]

New Article

My latest piece of writing, 'Where to Start with Vincent Price', is now up on thefilmagazine. So, you know, go check your eyeballs on it? Maybe?

[introspect-la]

BIJOU POSTER (1972)

Keeping Sex in the Movies

[sareisnot]

Wall-E: The Best and Worst of Humanity on Display

For a children’s movie, Wall-E presents quite a dim prospect for humanity. Its two major settings, that being the ruined, trash filled earth, and the hyper-capitalist, hedonistic nightmare of the Axiom cruise ship, serve as quite blunt criticisms of modern society’s current trajectory. It anticipates a future in which our capitalistic systems propel towards our worst, most wasteful instincts, and reduce the planet to such a state that the best solution the corporatocratic government can come up with is, “just get out of dodge before it gets worse.” But old habits die hard, as the large-scale apathy, lethargy, and alienation seen on the Axiom proves. In WALL-E's very pointed opinion, our current practices, and the systems that foster those practices, only serve to further distance us from our humanity, preventing us from experiencing the true joys of life, and rejecting fulfillment for convenience.

The film’s thesis statement can be found in the words of the Axiom’s captain: “That’s all anyone on this blasted ship has ever done…I don’t want to survive! I wanna LIVE!” To simply pursue what best fosters your existence, the film says, is no way to move through life, at least not without sacrificing a bit of yourself on the way. Every character who helps WALL-E and EVE along, be they human or robot, has chosen to act on their emotional wants, rather than their objective drives. M-O and the other robots stray from their programming to help the couple, the Captain rejects Auto’s doctrine of survival, and even the gigantic WALL-A's stop collecting trash for a moment, to provide the heroes with some light. But in this universe, pursuing fulfillment is to fight against the tide. In this exaggerated version of our current capitalist, commercialized, proto-dystopia, there is no place for emotional drive, because it hinders practicality. At its core, WALL-E is a warning, that if we continue to chase this toxic instinct, then we will inevitably be relegated to a species of glorified dopamine receptors.

Despite this rather dreary warning, the film still maintains a boundless optimism. As a matter of fact, the film is bursting with hope, positivity, and most prominently, love. The film's emotional core, that being relationship between WALL-E and EVE, is also where one can find humanity's most redemptive quality: connection. The relationships that we forge, and the meaningful interactions that we have with others, are where the spirit of humanity is defined and fostered. All throughout the film, WALL-E and EVE, through their love, continuously bring humanity out of each other. At one point, EVE tosses away the plant, which had served as the film's primary motivator up to then, to communicate that she refuses to leave WALL-E behind. Their connection has inspired her to reject what is objectively best and choose love. This kind of choice is eventually what saves WALL-E, as EVE restores his unique personality in the end with a “kiss.” It is only through their love and connection that they find the motivation to finally return the plant and chart a course back to earth, saving humanity from slow decline. It is the culmination of the films several moments in which connection, compassion, and love are the motivators. “Define Dancing,” arguably the film’s most stunning scene, features WALL-E and EVE dancing with each other in space, for no other reason than to enjoy each other's company, and the life they have been granted. In turn, witnessing this scene is what causes John and Mary, the secondary human couple, to meet each other, and continue a dual arc of rediscovering their agency, which is initially sparked by WALL-E, but is maintained by their connection. WALL-E inspires EVE, who inspires The Captain, who inspires the rest of humanity, and eventually leads them back to their home. It is through this web of knock-on effects, the film states, that we can recover from even the direst of circumstances. We can never fully lose this aspect of humanity, even as we tread further into the seemingly inhuman future, because it is a quintessential, necessary part of our fundamental being. If connection is possible, the human spirit will endure, even if there are no more humans to carry it.