Looking Back, Going Forward
Introduction
Thank you for taking the time to read my document. I started writing screenplays proper in 2007 and since have written 11 of them, two of which have been archived.
Writing screenplays is exhilarating because one is creating emotional worlds that one day may be realised as immersive cinematic experiences for others.
From 2012 on, I’ve written several drafts of a 600+ page novel.
I see the differences between novel-writing and screenwriting as the former being precise and the latter concise. I also see one as being an individualistic art-form and the other as ultimately a collaborative art; one as solitary, the other collective.
Both are a means of expressing one’s desire to share fictionalised and (ultimately) uplifting experiences. I believe that while my films (or any film) may depict the vagaries and nastiness of life they must also reaffirm the joys and beauty of life. Audiences should walk away from a cinema feeling good about themselves and the world they live in. Why pay to feel worse?
I think it’s easier for producers to pick scripts in line with today’s tastes than it is to pick scripts for tomorrow’s fashions. Audience sensibilities change; the hard part is capturing the moment of change. Here, luck, intuition and shrewd observations of nascent phenomena play a role.
I, for one, cannot predict tomorrow’s tastes; I can make guesses, but that’s all. That’s why I write what’s in my heart and soul, regardless of today or tomorrow’s audience proclivities. It’s also why I respect those who can: so-called hacks who can write scripts that cater to fashion, who can write screenplays limited to one location, who can write screenplays within a $200,000 budget. These are professional writers – and admirable – and I hope they're rewarded with careers in scriptwriting.
In contrast I’m free-form screenwriter, who seemingly cannot abide by restrictions or imposed guidelines. I let my imagination go unrestrained.
However, over time, I’ve come to see things from a producer’s point of view: production- costs matter. My latest screenplay, • Howlingween 4: Beastly Mist, actually was written with a wish to limit the number of characters to the absolute essential. I did something I never thought I would. By the end of the first draft, I asked each of my characters: are you absolutely necessary to the story, can I meld your role into another existing character? Result: by the completion of the 2nd draft, two major characters were removed and minor speaking roles reduced to non-speaking.
Occasionally, thinking like a producer, when screenwriting, makes me feel more professional because creative thinking is involved in the process of de-cluttering screenplays.
I hope you’ll find the contents of the remaining document useful and a pleasure to read.
My Nine Active Screenplays are:
1. Splendid Isolation About a girl lost in the Alaskan wilderness. Set in Alaska. Selling points: ? sets up a location … a remote town, called Forbesberry, in Alaska that possibly invokes sentiments of America’s frontier days (please note, no native populations lived in or near Forbesberry, the story’s fictional town); ? provides opportunity for audiences to let the remoteness of the location to escape their own reality, which may be troubling them, into another (filmic) reality wherein instead the characters face the problems; ? contrasts the remoteness of the location, wherein the townspeople of Forbesberry are the community – wherein diversity exists but over-laden with a unifying oneness – with urban centres that are laden with bureaucracies and alienation and that have frictional diversity with no apparent unifying oneness.
2. On Board About an ex-detective on skid row who gets a second chance. Set on a cruise ship. Selling points: ? caters to many genres (mystery, young adult, romance, martial arts & more); ? comprises plot and four subplots; ? popularises uplifting theme of redemption; ? highlights Poirot-like dénouement.
3. Glorious Revolution About a girl conflicted by her allegiance to the establishment and to the rebellion. Set in a future world. Selling points: ? demonstrates love of nature; ? provides futuristic speculation; ? shows that power corrupts; ? ennobles human-caring principles.
4. Howlingween About a holiday turning nasty when organ hunters come after a family. Set in Australia. Selling points: ? taps into long-standing horror traditions; ? begins the misadventures of the Forran family; ? has the qualities of a road film; ? shows a child (Tracy) has two fathers, one of whom is a supernatural wolf; ? shows Tracy also being adopted by an Aboriginal tribe.
5. Howlingween 2: Clarry the Clown About holiday-makers trapped on an island with a seriously un-funny clown. Set on an island off the coast of India. Selling points: ? continues the misadventures of the hapless Forran family; ? depicts clown as spree killer; ? highlights the wonders of an island resort; ? intertwines two plots; ? depicts teenagers in trouble; ? ends with climactic fight between a supernatural wolf and a humanoid clown.
6. Howlingween 3: Red River County About a resurrected beggar seeking vengeance on uncaring townspeople. Set in Florida. Selling points: ? continues the misadventures of the hapless Forran family; ? set in Florida, allowing for dazzling sun-and-surf-rich cinematography; ? belongs to the horror genre, whose films comfort audiences by making them feel that no matter how anxious their own lives may be, hey, look at what’s happening to the characters in the film; life, you know, could be far, far worse; ? is based on a unique backstory; ? depicts wandering bikers as heroes; ? provides a backstory to the anti-hero, Jack O’Beggar; in other words, as a character he has clear delineation; he is zombie-like but unique; he is his own being and could stand side-by-side with Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees in the pantheon of fictional homicidal maniacs; ? provides another clearly delineated character, the old man, and as a foreseer of impending doom is a stock-character in horror films; however, he too is his own and has a unique backstory; ? raises moral questions when the town’s elders cover up Jack O'Beggar’s murderous crimes to ensure the survival of their harmonious, almost Utopian -- but tourist-dependent – community or is preserving this community, by covering up Jack O'Beggar’s misdeeds, itself evil; ? shows Wolf (Tracy’s other father) as duplicitous towards Jack O'Beggar; ? shows heroic eight-year-olds attempting to save lives and to stop Jack O'Beggar ? ends with a twist and the possibility of a branching sequel based in Red River County wherein Jack O'Beggar rises again.
7. Howlingween 4: Beastly Mist About a swarm of flesh-eating insects terrorising a small tourist town. Set in Florida. Selling points: ? continues the misadventures of the hapless Forran family; ? presents a swarm of flying bugs as the family’s greatest threat; ? depicts supernatural Wolf reverting to a mortal wolf; ? is apparently last instalment in the quadrilogy, thus providing the audience with the satisfaction of viewing the story – spread over four films – coming full circle.
8. Counterchance About an FBI agent prepared to do anything to save his family. Set in the Himalayas and in Florida. Selling points: ? has vistas of Himalayan mountains (if filmed on location in Nepal); ? speculates on the existence of yetis as encountered by the story’s five FBI agents; also speculates on a possibility as to why the existence of yetis is unknown to the world; ? explores the concept of justice; ? ennobles role of the FBI; ? depicts daring escape.
9. Once Young About teenagers in love in a world that’s hurt them. Set in Australia. Selling points: ? is a saga; ? showcases marriage-ending tension between parents who have divergent views about parenting, but rather than that being destructive to their daughter, Tracy, it makes her dynamic; ? explores young love, true love between Tracy and George; ? offers a nostalgic trip for older audiences to relive their teenage years; ? tells of unrequited love for those who have a longing for Tracy or for George; ? depicts Tracy as an absolutist in her principles (as taught by her father); ? hints at alienation; ? highlights the ongoing devastation wrought on loved ones of victims of homicide; ? reinforces the family as a social unit or family-like support structures; ? has Alice-in-Wonderland-like Darling Harbour sequence , wherein Tracy reaches out to: a) a French juggler, who comforts Tracy; b) a jilted girl, who has lost her boyfriend to a beautiful girl and takes it out on Tracy; c) an alcoholic old woman, who many years ago became a victim of unrequited love; d) a mean beggar-cum-scam-artist, who accuses Tracy of stealing; e) a women’s rights activist, who asks Tracy to join the cause; f) two police officers, whom Tracy shows appreciation towards; g) three army privates, whom Tracy shows gratitude to. ? revisits tangentially 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause (like Jim, Judy and Plato form their own family unit, so to Tracy and George; but unlike Jim, Judy and Plato, who wanted to escape their birth families, Tracy and George were deprived of their birth families); ? features magical reality when George meets his dead parents; ? has a mixed martial arts street-fight scene between George, a boxer, one of the killers of his parents, who is a UFC champion; ? is based on my 600+ page novel, thus has comprehensive backstory and rich reference points.
These are my nine active screenplays. It may be readily seen they reflect a variety of genres, themes, storylines and settings.
Mission Statement My reason for writing screenplays is to provide foundations, atop which may be produced engaging films, so audiences may vicariously experience life a little bigger than perhaps possible from the confinements of day-to-day existence and one’s immediate circumstances.
What I Have Achieved So Far in 2020: ? completed the third draft of Howlingween 4: Beastly Mist; ? revised Howlingween 3: Red River County; ? revised Splendid Isolation (formerly, White Days); ? revised Once Young, my 191-pager.
What I Hope to Achieve Before the Year is Out: 1. revise the remaining five screenplays with a view to 1.1 simplify descriptions 1.2 reduce plot diversions 1.3 rid inconsistencies 1.4 put in place double time in scene headings 1.5 reduce parentheticals 1.6 rid proofreading errors 2. write a new screenplay, possibly choosing one of two candidate storylines: 2.1 about an accidentally promoted detective who lacks shrewdness but nonetheless solves a complex murder; 2.2 teenage angst rises in a high school when new students arrive.
Concluding Remarks We all love engrossing films no matter from whose screenplays they originated. Every good film, I believe, takes us on an emotional journey that shakes us up a little. Again, thank you for reading my statement. May you enjoy success in producing films in 2020 and beyond.
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