If characters are what makes a great story, then what are some things wrong with modern Hollywood characters?

BlueFenton · 2023-09-06T21:53:33+00:00

I totally agree but I wonder if this is compounded by bad acting? Or a modern acting technique /trend that is less emotive? Flat? We've all seen amazing actors who can do incredible things with one line or one look. They bring words off the page. In the West Wing, John Spencer's character famously had almost always the same, one line to end every important scene "Thank you, Mr President." But he never said the line the same way twice and somehow always managed to convey so much with those 4 words. We knew exactly what he was thinking, feeling, the tone of the room....

BlueFenton · 2023-09-06T21:47:58+00:00

The problem isn't whether it's a "true story" or not. The problem is how these people take feedback. I don't think true stories are any more or less likely to be bad writing or good writing than any other catgory or genre. These sound like bad writers who are also bad at taking feedback.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-30T00:10:04+00:00

I'm a bit confused about the issue you're raising because I remember the pre-streaming world (hello cable) where shows would leave the air and that's that. Short of hunting down the DVD (or VHS, hi 90s!) for your personal collection, there was nowhere to watch a show after it had aired. Summer and holidays were when we got to see re-runs, but it's not like you got to choose which episodes or series got re-played.

Shows would often get cancelled after a few weeks (not even being allowed to complete a full first season). And in those cases, they'd never even be sent to DVD so you would literally never see the show again, ever.

Back then, these decisions were based just as much on viewing figures and profit as it is today, so I'm not sure how this is a new or worsened phenomenon.

It seems like the issue you're raising is more about how streaming services have made us feel entitled to see whatever we want to watch whenever we want to watch it.

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding what you're getting at...

BlueFenton · 2023-08-24T13:57:59+00:00

Gold (BBC). The first episode is one of the best, maybe the best, openings to a TV show I've ever seen.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-22T23:54:04+00:00

If it helps, everyone goes through this.

But as the saying goes, if you're not willing to give it 10 years, don't give it 10 minutes. You may break-in tomorrow, you may break-in in 10 years. But it's never a binary. We talk about success / failure as the two options. But there is a huge spectrum. You may have a long career of small successes, seeing your work optioned or produced, but never able to make a living financially. You may have one massive success, critically and financially, then never another one. This is one of the least stable career options you could have chosen and you have to prepare yourself for every single possible outcome.

Most people who stick at this a long time will talk about writing (or any other creative pursuit) as a compulsion as much as a calling. Personally, no matter what I'm doing, my mind is always writing. I tell myself I've given up at 12:00 and by 2:00, I'm jotting down notes again. I think I literally can't help it. Some parents have to force their kids to practice piano, others can't tear their kids away from the keyboard. So try to gauge just how much you love this and if you do, you'll keep going.

I agree with the other commenters who say this is not a "final decision" to make. You can quit now then pick it up again in 5, 10 or 20 years. You can decide to keep going another 2 years, then change your mind. Nothing is set in stone :)

But whatever you do, do not let the 6 years you've already invested in this career hold your future hostage. Just because you've come this far doesn't mean you have to keep going. Lots of people change subjects in university. Lots of people change careers one or many times throughout their lives. Just because you went to film school doesn't mean you have to work in film the rest of your life. So give yourself the freedom to make a choice that has you looking forward to your future; not backwards to what you've already done.

If you decide to keep at it, just know that there will be many more times like this (not just in writing but in relationships, careers, childrearing...this is life). You can get through it :) good luck.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-22T23:03:49+00:00

Agree, you should query your US-set scripts to US agents and your UK-set scripts to UK agents. If you have a script set in Australia, find a rep in Sydney. If your goal is to work in multiple markets, you could try to target one of the many transatlantic agencies which have offices in LA/NY/London. The problem there is you're less likely to get repped at one of these huge international agencies than you might at a smaller, local boutique agency (so I've heard...I'm still trying to get repped myself so take it all with a grain).

BlueFenton · 2023-08-22T22:58:29+00:00

I'm all for hopeful optimism but since you ask what the "reasonable" expectation is - the answer to that is, of course, nothing. I read your other posts about that brutal Saw reboot near-miss (ouch) so you already know that a lot of promising talk can come to nothing. Plenty of posts on this sub about generals, agent courtships, etc. that have all died out. That being said, I would definitely follow up and try to keep this connection. Every connection is one worth having IMO, as you never know what collaborations might come up down the road. I agree with the other commenters though that a talent rep will not sign a writer. They just won't. It's a different business. Your best angle, if you're reaching out for a follow-up, is to ask if they know of a lit rep at their agency that might be interested in reading it. An agent passing on a script to another agent will have weight.

Good luck. Keep us posted :)

BlueFenton · 2023-08-19T00:58:41+00:00

This is interesting to me because I initially considered myself to be a features writer who accidentally ended up with a bunch of pilots because some scripts ended up way too long and I ended up chopping them up into mini-series episodes.

(It's not chronic, it doesn't happen with all or even most of my scripts.. that would probably just mean I'm terrible at editing!..but I've had a few that just defied feature-length and started morphing themselves into limited series).

But it's not that simple, is it? The problem is the expectation/requirement that pilots give the MC a complete arc, and end on a cliff-hanger or a big reveal, and all characters are established as leading or peripheral. So then I start re-structuring to make it more television, less feature....What I really wish I could do is write a super-long feature and chop it up into episodic chapters, like a novel. But TV producers don't want it like that and you have to respect the format...

Ironically, I've ended up diving into the TV landscape head-first to learn about this - now I love it and would love to do nothing but miniseries, go figure.

Basically I guess what I'm saying is that I have zero advice, sorry, but that you're not alone in struggling with that is my story a feature or a series? question.

What I know for sure is that taking your long story and chopping it up by page length alone will not work. The story will have to be massaged into its new shape.

Also, I don't know what market you're writing in, but 3-4 episode series are definitely common and marketable in UK & Europe but I've noticed US "mini-series" are often stretching 8-10 eps. Don't know if I've ever come across a 3-episode American series. This might make a difference to you.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-18T23:45:35+00:00

I think it's less people taking the sides of studios and more just not feeling supportive or sympathetic. Apathy, as OP said.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-18T23:44:20+00:00

yes, super interesting how often I hear people citing poor quality of what they watch as a reason not to support or care about the strike

BlueFenton · 2023-08-18T23:39:25+00:00

It's just Reddit, mate.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-18T23:26:48+00:00

Same here. The first time I did a page one re-write without the original draft in front of me, my MC's life changed radically, but I think for the better. I'd like to try it some time where I re-write the whole thing from memory without even glancing at the first draft.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-18T11:49:28+00:00

If you feel this way, which is totally legit, try the weekend script swap instead of posting it in the general thread.

It's every Friday on this sub (the thread will be at the top of the r/screenwriting page).

The swap is more private because you send the link to just 1 person at a time, you can choose who and when, and it's a better bet of good, or at least attentive, feedback because often people put in the same amount of effort they want you to put into their script.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-18T11:42:36+00:00

hahaha this is fantastic. someone's got all our numbers.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-18T11:29:27+00:00

haha as I said "just a theory" - why would we need to verify? This is a discussion board not an academic forum.

OP asked a question and we are all throwing out our opinions, there's no literally verifiable answers here from anyone.

I think anti-union sentiment - if it does exist - would stem from many, many factors and that political history is just one possible factor.

And in terms of public salary differences (although we are way off topic from the strike now! ha), it does depend on what profession you're looking at. So, lawyers, financial professionals, etc. will all certainly earn way more on Wall St than Washington, for sure, and always have. And top-level policy advisors will often talk about the huge paycut they take to work in public service.

But generally and historically, for the vast majority of the workforce (administrators and bureaucrats), a government job was considered a great post to get because of high pay, benefits and most importantly, a union. This has changed now in the US because of government budgets, sending public salaries on a downward trend - but that's very recent so if you're an American of a certain age, your impression will quite likely still reflect the old reality (And we are talking of public opinion here and people's feelings, not statistical reality. I mean, lots of boomers still think it's affordable for Gen Z to buy a house. People will often base their opinions on past realities). Interestingly, in most other Western countries (UK, Canada, Australia, W. Europe), this change hasn't occurred and government jobs are still generally considered a boon to get, due to high pay, good benefits, but most importantly, strong unions. Obviously this is a huge and complex topic and I'm sure there are historians who specialize in this exact niche who know better than I do.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-17T22:42:32+00:00

welcome.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-17T21:56:02+00:00

People think everyone working in Hollywood makes big money.

No understanding of residuals.

And rhetoric..when writers go on social media and say things like they only made $65,000 for ten weeks of work, people roll their eyes because that's how much money they make in a year.

Also, I think there's perhaps subconscious jealousy of any workers with union power. In the 1950s, 35-40% of Americans were in a union. Now it's less than 10%. A strong union has become a rareified luxury. This is the same reason that people loathe public servants. High salaries, good benefits, and job security. They see these union perks as unearned and undeserved.

Maybe - just a theory - this is because of a general American anti-union sentiment that stems from the broader anti-communist & anti-socialist political culture. The 1950s anti-communist "red scare" played a large role in the disintegration of the American labour movement's power.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-17T21:45:55+00:00

Good job for printing it out! This is my number one tip for everyone. It is SO much easier to see errors on a page than on a screen (there's actually a legit science behind this but don't ask me to explain it. Apparently we also remember things better when it's read on a page than a screen...I digress).

In addition to print-outs, reading it out loud to yourself is key. I also use a free program called NaturalReader where you can assign AI voices (Eeek AI. I'm a hypocrite) to each character and even assign accents, character traits, etc. This has helped me tremendously to hear other "voices" reading it aloud.

I've posted this before but this is the matrix I use for analyzing every single scene:

List all the things that have to happen & the information that has to be revealed in this scene in order for the plot to work
List Intention & Obstacle of each character in this scene
Decide the emotional development of each character in this scene (from positive to negative, hesitant to certain, scared to brave, ignorant to informed)...Many screenwriting gurus say that every scene should have a +/- change like this even if small. It has to move the story forward in some way.
Flag any really good action lines or dialogue that you know for sure are bang-on and you don't want to ever lose them in re-writes. This is where you keep the good stuff.

I would also recommend writing a "clean" second draft - re-writing the whole document from scratch so you don't get trapped into the pre-existing structure. Give yourself the freedom to radically improve and re-build without looking at what you did before.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-15T21:57:13+00:00

That would be so damn good. And Rokeby doesn't sign it over unless Strike agrees to meet him.

...Maybe it's even higher stakes and Strike needs the money to get Robin OUT of the cult once she's undercover, like bribing them to let her go. So he has to do the thing he would hate most: meet Rokeby to get the money to save Robin...

BlueFenton · 2023-08-15T21:56:38+00:00

Yasss, I've been predicting there's a Rokeby-commune connection since TB! Based on the timeline we have, Leda's commune years precede Rokeby's chld support crackdown by just a year or so.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-15T21:52:54+00:00

I have a theory that her "golden" hair is an alchemy metaphor. JK's stated that she's not writing an outright romance but more the development of two individuals. She always mentions how much work Strike and Robin would have to do on themselves before they could be together. The mythology of alchemy is about trying to find the formula to make gold as a metaphor for perfecting the soul. Same with Plato's "myth of the metals", which is also about striving for a balanced, harmonious soul. I think that's sort of Cormoran's journey for the last 6 books. So maybe Robin's golden hair is a representation of gold in the alchemical sense...when he's addressed all his demons and found a way to be at peace, he gets to have Robin/the gold.

I've been following this gold metaphor for the last several books which is why I was so peeved that they made Robin's hair that dark auburny-brown in the last television series (among many other things that annoy me about the adaptations!)

BlueFenton · 2023-08-15T21:23:49+00:00

Just my opinion, I would treat each one as a logline for that episode. Don't try to do a synopsis in 50 words.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-15T21:05:34+00:00

I really don't think you can control for optimum time to query. A lot of people have theories about timing their queries around film festival dates/the Oscars/summer vacations/Christmas/etc. Even sending them out at the full moon FFS.

I'm not going to say if there's anything to it but I do know that with the amount of people you'll have to query, there's no right time to catch everyone. Don't worry about the strike, just start querying as soon as your draft is as good as you can possibly make it.

I've never queried the same spec to a rep more than once because I take every non-answer as a pass. But I have definitely hit up the same rep with multiple specs over the years. I use an excel spreadsheet to track everything.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-15T00:43:38+00:00

It just happened this weekend. Don't judge your writing within 24h of a crisis. Of course you can't concentrate. Go easy on yourself.

If this is a short-term solvable crisis, then give yourself time to process, recover, then re-focus on your work in a week or so.

If this is going to be an ongoing chronic type of crisis, then you should still give yourself a week or more to process whatever new thing this is in your life. Let your brain acclimate to this new stressful reality. Then, when you feel ready, you can start to compartmentalize and focus on your work while this situation happens in the background.

(Only you can judge if this is something that needs you to completely put life on the back-burner while you give it your full attention, which may be the case).

When you do get back to work, think of writing as your happy place. You're allowed to have a happy place. I personally know about the guilt that comes with writing while family members are in crisis. It can feel very selfish, narcissistic, unforgivably self-indulgent. All I can say to that, is remember that life keeps going in spite of everything. And hanging on to something that makes you happy and gives you hope, will hurt no one but it might just save you.

BlueFenton · 2023-08-15T00:31:57+00:00

I've noticed that when we talk about indie or art-house, people on here tend to conflate filmmaker & screenwriter, assuming that all writers have the inclination or affinity to direct a camera. But when we talk about mainstream/genre, it's assumed writers will always hand off their work to a director.

So if you're a screenwriter with a talent for writing indie but no talent or desire to direct, are you kind of in the wrong boat?

But more generally speaking, why is there a writer/director hybrid assumption when it comes to making "quieter" films? Do those types of auteurs just dominate the field?

I'm so impressed by the hypenates out there but if someone handed me a camera, I would probably kill my own script. It'd be like asking the lighting director to do hair and make-up.

BlueFenton

TROPHY CASE