#Film Writing

[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.

[arrowmoose]

SCENE EXCERPT

Sometimes I get random movie scene ideas that don’t even have anything to do with the plots I’ve come up with. Here’s an example of one of those :)

Any critiques or advice is greatly appreciated, since this is my first time scriptwriting haha

EXT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

Detective RIGBY HARPER and Detective HENRY RIMES enter the motel room. RIMES sits in a chair in the corner as HARPER shuts the door behind them and looks around. 

HARPER (Loudly) Miss Langford?

A woman comes out of the bathroom on the far end of the room, wearing promiscuous clothing. She is tying a robe around her, then sees HARPER and RIMES and stops in her tracks. RAMONA LANGFORD (surprised) Oh, hello.  HARPER gives a polite nod, indifferent to her attire.

             HARPER Miss Langford, my name is Detective Rigby Harper, and this here. . .

He gestures towards RIMES as he speaks, who gives a small wave.

             HARPER . . .is my partner for this case, Detective Henry Rimes. We came here to discuss a previous client of yours who came by here earlier tonight.

HARPER moves towards the bed and sits, one leg folded while the other off the edge. He motions for LANGFORD to join him. LANGFORD moves across the room hesitantly and sits across from him. 

             HARPER Now, is this the man who visited you earlier?

He takes out a photo of a man, who we will later come to know as ROBERT STAIRE. LANGFORD shakes her head.

            LANGFORD (Bluntly) Sorry, I don’t disclose anything about my clients.

LANGFORD begins to snake her hand up HARPER’s leg. HARPER glances down, but pays no mind.

              HARPER Miss Langford—

LANGFORD places a finger on his lips, shushing him. After he is quiet, she takes her hand off his lips and resumes running her hand up him.

             LANGFORD Please, call me Ramona.

HARPER is unfazed as he nods. As he speaks, he takes LANGFORD’s hand off of his crotch while maintaining eye contact.

             HARPER Ramona, I’m sorry to impose on your client confidentiality, but we have a warrant out for his arrest. So if you would please tell at least where he went after he visited you, then this will be a lot smoother for the both of us.

LANGFORD huffs when she is denied, and sits more at attention, her hands clasped in her lap.

             LANGFORD (Thoughtfully) Well, he said he was going to meet an old friend at some restaurant. I think it’s called Lucky’s Diner? I don’t know, it’s over in the next city. But he was kind of a weird guy, to be honest. . . He was fine up until he was getting ready to leave, and he kept spouting some bullshit about how “it was all her fault” and “she asked for it”. I don’t know.

HARPER and RIMES exchange glances, and HARPER stands.

               HARPER Well, I think that’s all the information we need. Thank you, Ramona—

LANGFORD stands abruptly and interrupts him.

            LANGFORD Wait!

LANGFORD places a hand on his neck and kisses him. HARPER is close-mouthed and unresponsive, but not repulsed. She sits back on the bed and smiles at HARPER.

            LANGFORD Give me a call if you’re ever back in town, okay?

HARPER nods politely with a smile as RIMES opens the motel door.

              HARPER Sure thing. And thank you again, Ramona.

HARPER and RIMES exit, leaving LANGFORD there on the bed.

[introspect-la]

BIJOU POSTER (1972)

Keeping Sex in the Movies

[paytonmccartysimas]

On November 26th, my first book, One Step Short of Crazy: National Treasure and the Landscape of American Conspiracy Culture, is coming out via The Brooklyn Rail and Autonomedia! It's a deep dive into the complex ways Americans engage with conspiracy theory, from memes (like stealing the Declaration of Independence) to political violence (like storming the Capitol). I couldn't be prouder to be sharing this work!

[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

[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!

[dippydippycritiques]

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (A Reworking of an Abominable Script.)

Does anyone remember this fan poster from, idk, four of five years ago? Yeah, this was the movie I thought we were getting, but didn't get. Someone hunt down this person for false advertising! Haha, haha, ha, ha...

Anyways, I was doing some thinking about how M.O.M could have been rewritten differently and I thought I would share my ideas with you. If anyone is down to give this a read through, I would love your feedback so that I can also better my own writing skills when it comes to building character development. So yeah, don't be afraid to send a message, I would love to hear from you!

Just a fair warning to those who are reading this. I am writing the proposal to what this script could have been at 10PM at night. I have no idea why I decide to work on my projects late. I guess that's the time I am able to get my thoughts out. So if there are typos or if anything feels like it doesn't read correctly or make sense. I will be sure to comb through this post again tomorrow.

With that out of the way, here is what I would have proposed for M.O.M.

In the comics (from the ones I was able to read) Strange has had a side job as a detective/paranormal investigator involving creatures invading his world. This is something I would have introduced immediately in the film as it would give Strange more depth when it comes to how he lives his life daily on a regular basis (which we have seen very little of.)

The next thing I would change is America Chavez. Not the dynamic however. I think Strange having a Tony/Peter dynamic would be a really good thing for him...but since Strange erased everyones memories of Peter. It would be kind of tough to do that. However, I do play with the idea of Peter coming back into the story later. Instead of a young America Chavez...how about a young Rogue from the X Men? If you do this, you can set up the X Men movies, have Strange be a mentor or a father figure to her, AND you can heavily play up the idea that Rogue is mistreated by society and Strange is one of the few people willing to accept her. I don't remember EXACTLY, but I THINK there was a Doctor Strange comic a while back that played with the idea of him training students who weren't able to understand their powers. I almost like the idea of the Sanctum Sanctorum being like a safe haven for mutants or other characters with powers that were mistreated by society. This is a very surface level description (I think) of what I am trying to describe. The point is the character that Strange starts to become close with didn't have to be Chavez, it could have been someone fans haven't seen in years and connect THAT character to future films. Now with that being said...

You don't need Chavez to hop through dimensions because the god damn sling rings exist which ALREADY DO THAT. I however, DO think exploring the idea of hopping between dimensions is a must, but it needs to be done it good taste. I will admit that I have a very basic level understanding of how dimension hopping works in the MCU outside the information that was given to me by their own films, but I believe if you build the relationships right, especially between Strange and Rogue, you can make hopping through dimensions not only suspenseful, but with the right plot, you can heighten that tension as well. Here is how I would do that.

For the third act, I would have Rogue be taken by Mephisto and write their dynamic in a "well if you don't belong there, perhaps you belong here" kind of way (again, I'm writing this at very surface level cause it's late.) This would prompt Strange to start hopping through dimensions in order to search for her. I also think the conversation between him and Mephisto and how there are people on Earth that accept Rogue already would be a really interesting conversation to have. Obviously, I think Mephisto would be full of shit and try to use her powers for his own personal gain...or maybe he would sympathize with her (I haven't read enough Doctor Strange comics with Mephisto in it to know if this would bastardize the character, but giving him some semblance of sympathy would be an interesting idea I think.)

Now instead of adding...sigh...the illuminati. I personally would rather have pushed Peter Parker back into the story so that Strange and Peter can rebuild their relationship that was erased from No Way Home. There are a lot of ways you can go about this that I feel could really engage audiences. I personally like the idea of Peter biting off more then he can chew when it came to stopping criminals. So when he is seriously injured and (funnily enough because the No Way Home writers shot themselves in the foot because of this) he can't go to the hospital because no one can identify him (since no one remembers him). Peter instead goes to Strange for help and has to try to jog his memory about why he forgot him.

Ok, I'm starting to get really tired now. So, I'm going to try to wrap some of these last points up.

I haven't figured out what to do with Wong quite yet. I almost kind of want him to lean more heavily into his comedic side, though admittedly, I think he wasn't like that in the comics. I would probably write him to be the guy Strange would go to for a second opinion (as I think should of been the case already in M.O.M, which it's not) and try to get Strange and Wong to banter a lot more since Benedict and...Benedict (hysterical) have really good chemistry. This is something I would try to expand on a lot more.

As for Wanda, my instinct would be NOT to make her a villain, and instead have her train under Doctor Strange like she did in the comics. If she ever became a villain, I would have wanted that to be waaaay later down the line of movies as I felt she still had a lot of growing to do with her powers in particular. You can also potentially set up a mother daughter relationship with Rouge since they BOTH are associated with the X Men in the comics and you can tie this to those films later down the line. That's what I would do with Wanda anyway.

I would have dropped Christine entirely with M.O.M as I felt she served her purpose in the first movie and there was really no where else for her to go character wise. Especially since it seems she will not be present for any other film later down the line.

Introducing Clea half way into the film when they have to start searching for Rouge can also be a good idea. She could be almost like a tour guide for Strange and the others, and to top that off. We can get Clea's backstory about the strained relationship between her and her father (I actually think Mephisto is her father, though I don't remember off hand. I will look into that another day, but if he is. That literally adds a whole other layer to this movie that you can explore.)

Alright, I am done.

There is probably a lot more I could go over with this re-write...but I am SUPER tired. So please forgive me as I go rest for the night so that I can look back on this tomorrow.

If you made it all the way through. I salut you, I'll try to write shorter pieces....eventually...

[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.

[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?

[agirlnamedbone]

“The eyes on promotional posters and videocassette boxes are in the great majority of cases threatened, frightened eyes--commonly a woman’s eyes reaching in horror at a poised, bloody knife, an advancing shape, or something off-poster or off-box. ‘One of the most frequent and compelling images in the horror film repertoire,’ writes J.P. Telotte, ‘is that of the wide, staring eyes of some victim, expressing stark terror or disbelief and attesting to an ultimate threat to the human proposition.’ A standard moment in horror is one in which a person is caught by surprise--her vision assaulted--by the sight of things she does not want to see. Laurie in Halloween, for example, who looks into a closet only to see the dead body of her friend staring her in the face. And as Telotte points out, the effect is maximized by the reversal of the normal sequence in such a way that the reaction comes first. Over and over, horror presents us with scenarios in which assaultive gazing is not just thwarted and punished, but actually reversed in such a way that those who thought to penetrate end up themselves penetrated.”

--Carol J. Clover, from Men, Women and Chainsaws (1992)

[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.

[introspect-la]

QUERELLE POSTER FOR CRITERION BLU-RAY RERELEASE (2024)

Keeping Sex in the Movies

[traceamountsoftimetravel]

Dune (2021) was 1.) top-notch, from someone who hasn’t read any of the books and 2.) something I sincerely wish I had caught on a large-format screen. Its color palate is so bleak for a movie shot in color, that maybe they should have tried a black and white cut for the hell of it.

That being said, its stirring visuals are its “weakest”point; Dune could not have asked more of its cast or of Villeneuve. Personally, I wasn’t engrossed in the story on a first watch, but everything else makes for a pretty solid viewing experience.

Also, props to the guy on Letterboxd who referred to the infamous sandworm as “The Forbidden Butthole.” Now I can’t take those dry, chapped monsters seriously.

[sadsadmag]

BFI Flare: Horseplay

A group of straight Argentinean men hang out in a beautiful home with barely any clothes on, while playing pranks on each other and sending compromising pictures to various WhatsApp groups.

The supposedly decades long bond between these characters is totally unsketched outside of their apparent need to test each others' sexual boundaries. The film therefore functions only as a homosexual fantasy of what straight male bonding looks like, while purporting to levy the critique that – shock! – there may be a homophobic streak latent within their homoerotic horseplay.

That this is the most simplistic possible thought on the subject does not stop the film taking two hours to make its point. And that the Gay Viewers' arousal at this implicitly homophobic milieu is the sole source of the films libidinal quality – and marketable appeal – goes lamentably unaddressed.

The mens' interactions are well observed in places, but the film is largely dull and dishonest, and aims to horn up its audience into looking past the redundancy of its content.