Movie Lovers Only

If you don’t already know, I’m directing and co-producing a short film from one of my original scripts, entitled Absolution.  I’ll give periodic updates on this blog to give everyone an inside look at the process of making this film.

Selling an Idea for Free

It sure would be nice if all potential screenwriters could submit their scripts directly to Hollywood, and various directors would sort through them one by one, looking for the masterpiece they could buy for $1 million and turn into a blockbuster.  The reality is that getting a masterful script into the hands of Steven Spielberg is a little more involved than that.  I’m going to need a strong resume of Hollywood films, and for that, I’ll need to get my screenplays filmed, and for that, I’ll need representation, and for that, I’ll need some successful background in film, and for that, I’ll need to make something that works.

Which leads me to where I am now.  Without any of that.

In February, I went to the 24 Hour Film School in Columbus and was advised, like all the other attendees, that the best way to get experience at this stage is to make a short film.  You have locations (your house, your friend’s house, and where you work), you have equipment (community television cameras are free), and you have actors (yourself and your buddies).  Everything you need, and anything you don’t have can be obtained on a Wal-Mart budget.

So I wrote a short film.  To be completely honest, it’s a page-one rewrite of an idea I had in college, with the advantage of my education over the past two years.  That took no time whatsoever, and I was pretty happy with the finished product.

Next, I told my friends about it and found out what my options were.  I have friends who are willing and able to help with camera work and editing, which was encouraging.  At this early stage, I only added one person to the team: my friend, Abby, to co-produce by helping me organize and coordinate the whole process.

Then, I went to a mixer for the Southern Ohio Filmmaker’s Association (SOFA).  Apparently, there’s a rather large and healthy underground film community here in Cincinnati, and I made contact with people who do everything, from actors to production assistants to editors.  People started to read about my script and get excited about it, and suddenly, it looked like my little personal project might have more potential than I thought.

Early Pre-production

One of the first people to read my script was a cinematographer I met at the first SOFA mixer I attended.  At the same time, I posted an ad on CraigsList on casting and decided to get the ball rolling, with or without any more help.

The morning of the auditions, the cinematographer called back, having read the script and been pleasantly surprised at how much he liked it.  (I shared his surprise.)  Suddenly, I had another person on my team, an experienced person who was willing to help me through directing my first short film.

A word of advice:  Plan auditions well in advance.  I had been in contact with probably six people who were interested, and only two showed up at the scheduled audition time.  We ended up having people schedule auditions at restaurants throughout the next week in order to get enough people to read for each role.  The environment was less than ideal, but it gave everyone an opportunity to audition on their own schedule.

We’re still in the midst of auditioning, but I feel good about what I’ve seen and about who I’m going to see.  There’s something surreal about hearing people read the words I wrote, and I can’t wait to put it all together and see what my cast can do with it.

All in all, I don’t think I could be more encouraged by the reactions I’m getting to the script:
“I read the script, and I think it’s great, to be honest”
“I just read the screenplay and I REALLY liked it!”
“I really respond to your writing”
“I was really thrilled with the script”
“It sounds like a fantastic project to work on”

Thanks to everyone for being so encouraging.  I hope the film reflects all the good things in the script and everything the actors bring to it.

We’ve got a lot of work to do.

A few years back, Guinness Draft beer ran a popular ad campaign featuring two scientists talking about their discoveries and inventions.  One scientist will say something like, “Maybe we shouldn’t drink six beers at the same time,” and the other guy will say, “Not drink six beers at the same time?  Brilliant!”  Being in college at the time, I saw these commercials regularly, and “brilliant!” became something of a short-lived catchphrase.

Now, as I read and study screenplays, I find myself repeating these conversations in my head rather often.  I’ll be examining a concept, like 3:10 to Yuma (a failing rancher guards a fast-talking villain on his all-important trip to prison), and wonder how a seemingly mediocre or barren concept can be turned into a satisfying, original full-length film.  In this case, it was director James Mangold’s unique approach that made the film work so well: “Presenting an old-west showdown story as a buddy drama instead?  Brilliant!”

This isn’t just a gimmicky nod; it’s an entire method.  As a writer, I’m always looking for how to keep my ideas fresh and smart without alienating the audience.  I’ve found the best thing to do is to have a conversation with myself:  one side of me represents the filmmaker, creating this movie in my head and committing it to paper so others can share the same vision, and the other side represents myself as an audience member, hoping to be enthralled, entertained, impressed, or simply drawn in.  The first side (the scientist who’s always on the left) says something like, “Instead of having the cop follow the killer in a linear story, we’ll have the cop go forwards in time and the serial killer go backwards, so that when the cop figures it all out, the killer is back at his origin point as well.”  The audience member side of me (on the right) replies, “The cop goes forwards while the killer goes backwards, and their stories resolve at the same time?  Brilliant!”  Then, I know I have something.  If the audience member can’t wrap his head around it enough to say it out loud, or it sounds like he’s describing an existing movie I’m already familiar with, it probably still needs some work.

The Dark Knight is a textbook example of this practice at work.  The film runs at 152 minutes, but Christopher Nolan’s rapid, jump-through-time style packs this film full of characters, locations, and varying situations, always running the risk of feeling rehashed or cliched.  To avoid this problem, every single scene or story arc has an extra twist to it that makes it totally unique to the film it’s in.  (WARNING: Minor spoilers ahead.)  “The bank robbery has each man betraying a teammate one by one until the Joker betrays them all?  Brilliant!”  “Batman flips an 18-wheeler vertically in downtown Gotham?  Brilliant!”  “The climax of the film hinges not on a fight scene, but on the drama of a moral question set to everyday people?  Brilliant!”  That’s just scratching the surface.  Nolan’s body of work is a masterclass in taking a concept and adding a twist that makes the entire experience completely original, but The Dark Knight takes the cake.

One of my main goals is to apply this concept to all of my work.  The best way to write is to write something that no one else can; being idiosyncratic is the ticket to Hollywood success.  I want people to know that the only way to get an Adam Thede script is to get it from Adam Thede.  And to be glad they did.

Few films spark the kind of discussion and intrigue of Watchmen.  The mysterious trailer debuting in front of The Dark Knight, the sudden realization of the classic status of the source material, the incomprehensibility of the explanation of the narrative from a Watchmen fan to a lay person, even dainty girls wondering if they’d be able to stomach it – all these things begged the big question: will it translate to a successful film?  After three weekends in cinemas and rapidly-dropping box-office results, it would appear that Warner Bros. will be lucky to break even after marketing is factored in.  Not quite what we expected from a property at the center of a high-profile legal battle between two studios.

But here’s a better question, which is the only pertinent one now: does the movie work?  Oddly enough, the people best equipped to answer the question are not the fans.  Watchmen is not a franchise; it’s a stand-alone graphic novel using all original characters in a story and structure unlike any superhero adventure ever created, with a potent political message and way more complexities than could ever fit on a movie screen in a reasonable amount of time.  Therefore, those who have read the graphic novel, by their own admissions, are unable to judge how the movie holds up simply as a film.  Fans are actually looking to the average moviegoer to judge this for them.  Well, my friends, as it happens, I have not read Watchmen.  Yet.  I’m a fan of comics and their movies, but I haven’t gotten around to this one yet, which puts me in a rare position in which to judge this film.

And now, my verdict:  It doesn’t work.

I’m told by countless sources that the Watchmen film stays very close to the course material, even down to specific angles and dialogue.  It’s the same way the director, Zach Snyder, made Frank Miller’s 300 two years ago, and how Robert Rodriguez made Sin City.  I would argue that such an approach fit both of those works, but doesn’t really work for Watchmen.

First of all, the original graphic novel is over 400 pages, complete with flashbacks, a 40-year timespan, and an ensemble of characters in three (four?) different incarnations.  And that’s just scratching the surface.  That’s an awful lot of heft for a commercial film, especially since it also has to establish an alternate 1985 timeline (kind of like Back to the Future Part II, except… well, nothing like it at all).  The unfortunate result is that, even with an opening montage that’s designed to fill us in, the audience spends more time trying to make connections and understand what’s going on than they do understanding the characters and investing in their lives.  Notable exceptions are Rorschach, who is a little too badass until his mask comes off and Jackie Earle Haley is given the chance to really shine, and Dr. Manhattan, whose fantastical story and unique plight actually make him easier to relate to.

Some fans and nonfans alike claim that the film is incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with the graphic novel.  I don’t think that’s true at all.  There are obvious places where the narrative is incomplete for time reasons, but the overall story and themes remain intact and don’t quite leave the viewers behind.  However, when removed from the pages of the novel and not given time to grow, the characters still lack a certain depth, especially Nite Owl and Silk Spectre II, which is a shame considering their centrality to the narrative.  The movie tells the audience how to feel about these characters rather than evoking a response, which leaves viewers in their seats instead of drawing them in.

This inability to pull viewers in is deterimental to the entire experience, and author Alan Moore would likely agree.  The Watchmen graphic novel is a watershed comic because it portrayed “superheroes” doing things people weren’t used to, like killing indiscriminently, swearing at each other, and engaging in all manner of sexual escapades.  This isn’t lost on the filmmakers, but when these scenes are translated from illustrated panels to moving images, the results just seem gratuitous and over-the-top.  The audience is so far removed from the characters and events that much of the shock value, on which the entire climax hinges, is nonexistent, even with 163 minutes of running time.  After watching the whole movie, with all its expensive effects, huge ensemble cast, and unique storyline, the reaction it induces is an underwhelming “…meh.”

What could they have done differently?  Frankly, the only way to save the film would have destroyed it.  The graphic novel just isn’t structured to be a film; it’s structured to be a graphic novel.  The entire thing needed a fresh approach with a completely different storytelling method than the book provides.  One way to do it would have be to frame the whole story within the entries of Rorschach’s journal, streamlining and focusing the entire story.  Another solution would have been to just tell the story linearly in chronological order, starting in the 1940s, although that would likely made the whole experience rather bland.  What I probably would have done is remove the flashbacks and let the entire backstory be filled in with exposition in the first Act, save for a couple pivotal moments, such as the rape scene and Dr. Manhattan’s origin.  Everything else could be explained via dialogue and pictures and a variety of other methods a clever filmmaker could use.

I’m of the opinion that the best way to do a novel justice is to make it into a great movie.  Inevitably, certain plotlines will be sacrificed and certain methods changed, but all in the name of making a great theater experience.  (I could run this point into the ground with example after example, but that would take all day.)  But had Watchmen been tampered with in the adaptation process, the fans would have cried foul, and you can bet there would have been at least an attempted boycott.  The only other solution?  Just don’t film it.  The only way to experience a graphic novel is to read it.  You won’t find it in a movie.

In the end, Watchmen succeeds in sticking close to its source material, but in doing so, the classic “unfilmable” comic sinks its own film.  Just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its movie.

Okay, I owe you an explanation.

I’ve been missing from this blog for two months straight, not a peep out of me unless you’ve been watching the chat box on the main site.  Not a very good way to launch a redesigned website.  And not a great way to inspire confidence after I abandoned the last format because I wasn’t keeping up with it.  So I’m starting this post at a considerable disadvantage of my own making.

But I can explain!

Here’s the short version:  Shortly after my first post, I started plans to propose to my girlfriend, which I did at the end of January.  She said yes, and that’s no small responsibility.  In addition to requiring both of us to start thinking ahead and considering things we hadn’t thought about before, I started wondering if a little extra money couldn’t hurt.  I recently picked up a couple of freelance web design jobs for local clients.  Nothing elaborate, but these things take time.  But there’s more good news, and this actually has something to do with the site:

A few weeks ago, I went to an event called the 24 Hour Film School in Columbus.  It’s basically a panel where aspiring filmmakers and actors get the chance to ask questions of Hollywood producers, directors, and writers.  Afterward, I got to talk to one of the panelists who wrote for Smallville, among other things.  He was excited to hear that I was working on a Superman spec script and asked to see it.  From that point on, I worked furiously to finish it quickly and hone the entire screenplay to make it presentable to an industry professional.

Just today, he read it and emailed me expressing his happiness with the script and wanted to read more of my work.  I’m very encouraged by his comments and I’ll be working hard to finish what I have so I can send more to him.

So, naturally, I’ve been extremely busy, and though things have slowed down a bit, I’m still in high gear for the next few weeks at least.  The best part about this is that I’m still able to keep my friends and family as top priorities, so even though I’m the busiest I’ve been in years, it’s pretty much all good news.

Thus ends my post about why I haven’t been posting.  As a result of all this craziness, I think it’s best if I don’t finish the 2008 year-in-review I’ve started.  I like what I have, but it’s after the Oscars now, and if I try to finish it, I’ll only fall farther behind.  Let’s just leave it at what it is and move forward.

I’ll be back shortly with some more news and a couple movie reviews.  See you all in the chat box!

I’m supposed to put an introduction here, but I think the title is sort of self-explanatory, so I’ll just jump right in.  I trust these two sentences are padding enough for those of you who crave intros.

Well, 2008 was supposed to be the biggest year for movies in a long time, but a combination of factors changed a lot at the last minute.  As the big ball in Times Square dropped and we all marveled at how devoid of franchise films 2007 was, we were supposed to see the releases of Indiana Jones, Batman, James Bond, Harry Potter, and Star Trek films within the same year.  Each of these films was highly anticipated, either due to the dormancy of the respective franchise for a long time or the wild success of the previous entry… or, in Indy’s case, both.  Not to mention some major contenders for the box-office crown, most coming from comics pages (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II), with the exception of the ultimate chick flick, star-studded Mamma Mia, which would somehow become a phenomenon despite opening against juggernaut The Dark Knight, but I’ll get to that.

But I digress.  Star Trek, anticipated largely due to J.J. Abrams’ name in the trailer, was bumped to May 2009 for the likely and legitimate reason of avoiding competing with proven lucrative franchises, as the fate of the entire Star Trek universe hinges on its performance.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was eventually knocked from the holidays 2008 to July 2009 for reasons that change depending on who you ask.  Warner Bros. initially claimed that they needed the extra time to polish the film due in part to delays of the Writers’ Strike.  That’s probably the last dying gasp of a studio executive who got used to blaming the writers for everything, probably just bitter about having to settle for a 6-disc changer in his Jaguar instead of a 10-disc.  The slowed economy rears its ugly head.  But I digress again.  The fact is that the claim of the strike affecting the film doesn’t make much sense, since that statement was made after principle photography was completed and months prior to the release of the film.  The more likely reason was probably two-fold:  Between parties celebrating the massive success of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. execs sobered up and realized that the upcoming Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, could do to Harry Potter what The Dark Knight did to Hellboy II.  Knowing that they’d still turn a profit, but fearing that the revitalized Bond franchise might be a bigger box-office force than it seemed, they chose to bump the movie to the relatively franchise-free summer of the following year to maximize profits.  The second reason was eventually admitted by one of those very execs, and while annoying to Potter fans, it makes good business sense:  “We just needed a summer movie.”

(Sidenote:  I’m making reference to things I’ve read over the course of the year, so I don’t have links to prove my references.  You’ll just have to take my word for it at this point, and to anyone it concerns, no copyright infringement is intended.  Feel free to stake your claim in the comments.)

And so it was with quite a bit of studio drama and four opening paragraphs that 2008 began.  The Writer’s Strike was in full swing, and probably the best case for adequately compensating writers came with Abrams-produced Cloverfield.  A narrative diamond in the early 2008 rough, Cloverfield is creative, engrossing, and altogether very satisfying to watch.  Generally, the only films of high quality available in january are Oscar contenders from the previous year (indeed, that’s when I saw Atonement and There Will Be Blood), which makes a strong entry like Cloverfield very refreshing.

Unfortunately, I was let down by the major releases for the next few months.  The best-looking comedy, Be Kind, Rewind was little more than watchable, and attempted actioners Jumper and 10,000 B.C. fell flat, with extra contempt reserved for the latter.  Even sexy, well-acted The Other Boleyn Girl managed to be bland and unsatisfying.  About the only film that at least met my expectations was rom-com Definitely, Maybe (there sure were a lot of commas in those movie titles, weren’t there?), which was adequately charming and less predictable than most of its kind.  My favorite surprise of the pre-summer season was Horton Hears a Who, which was flawed but fun, and does the source material justice with its visuals, narration, and both Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell in top form.  Not to mention that any movie that animates a mouse to look like Seth Rogen somehow is worth the time.

Still, there wasn’t a whole lot worth seeing – until May.  And that, my friends, is where we’ll pick up in the next installment.

Next time:  Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Narnia, Indiana Jones, and the crown jewel itself, The Dark Knight.  Plus, the triumph of animation in 2008.

Welcome to the FanOfFilm.com Official Blog.  This is a separate entity from the main site, but you can read all my movie reviews and industry analyses here, then create a username to leave comments and discuss.  All are welcome!  My first full post will follow.