Just in time for the 2009 Script Frenzy I’ve updated the Report Card. It’s more or less the same version as the one from last year, with just the dates adjusted.
This is an modified version of some of the report cards from NaNoWriMo to suit the needs for Script Frenzy.
First of all, I quit my job at NNIT. This Friday is the last day at work.
This upcoming Monday I’m starting as a Project Manager at the design company 1508 A/S, which I’m looking forward to as a little kid is waiting for Santa to swing by on Christmas Eve.
1508 is located smack in the middle of central Copenhagen, which also means that my commuting time will be cut in half (NNIT is located around 14 km north of Copenhagen).
The last 6 months or so, I’ve been longing more and more to work in a creative environment again. And I think I can claim without hurting anyone’s feelings that there are very few creative people employed at NNIT. This is a good thing for them and their services. However, it just wouldn’t cut it for me. I need people with crazy ideas and urge to draw and create and try out new approaches. Even as a project manager I’m much more comfortable in these kinds of environments.
It’s also a direct extension of the topics covered in my master thesis, and the kind of roles I’ve previously held in the entertainment business (movies and games).
In a time of financial crisis and the entire world collapsing around us, the sensible thing to do would be to stay with one of the larger IT companies in Denmark with solid profits and growth, but my parents always thought me to follow my heart in all matters in life. Lately my heart has not been with me when I was working at NNIT.
Nevertheless, I’ve liked working there, now was just the time to move on and try something new (or something old, depending on your view).
On another note of change, we have also sold our 3 room apartment, and will April 1 be moving into a huge 5 room rented flat that seriously defines description. Even if you look at the images on their website, you really do not get a full understanding of how nice these flats are.
No, seriously, I hate ‘em. I’ve said it before elsewhere, I think they are fundamentally flawed.
They are slow, expensive, confining and proves overall a huge hinderers for how the human mind works.
Mind you, this is not a Windows vs. Macs vs. Linux kind of argument. I hate ‘em all equally.
There really is something wrong with the way computers are designed. The basic premise of computers is that they’re meant as a way of assisting you in your work. But compared to other objects, computers are very sensitive and extremely dumb. Further more you need quite a level of knowledge to operate them properly.
They offer very little in the way of real assistance. You have to learn their language and their way of seeing the world. And even though that multi-touch interfaces are a huge step in the right direction I still feel that computers are designed wrong.
Remember this is coming from a guy with a master degree in computers. Not to flaunt my feathers, but I’ve been dealing with computers for the better part of 20+ years and even make my living by consulting others about their organizations and IT systems.
Compared to (paper) notebooks, there is very little knowledge required in order to use them. Heck even my three year old son have been using pen and paper for most of his life.
The very notion that computer can “crash” is just wrong. My pen and paper don’t crash. I can ruin them by spilling water all over them, but then it’s my own fault and I would expect that spilling a cup of coffee all over my notebook would render it unreadable. That’s “My bad”.
But computers crash and even have the audacity of sometimes tell me that “An Unexpected Error Occurred”. Fuck yeah, it was unexpected! I paid $2.000 for this piece of crap and I was actually working on something important, so yeah, it was fucking unexpected.
If my computer crashed because I spilled coffee in it, so be it. That would be expected. But just crash, because you fell like it, or because I did “An Illegal Action” that is not fucking okay. Okay?
I think it’s truly sad that the modern world is so assimilated by computers, when they’re working so badly. Any other tool we use in our everyday life would never survive two days if they worked as bad as computers. But for some unexpected reason computers have.
I’m ranting and rambling here. Nobody will properly listen anyway, but I just had to get if off my chest. There.
… although I’m not really feeling any better. So I’ll just sing along with Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie; Every OS Sucks.
If you by any chance would be looking for the proudest person in Copenhagen at the moment, look no further, because here I am.
I just uploaded my latest1 version of my feature length screenplay Downfall to the wonderful website TriggerStreet.com2.
It has really been a learning experience to write this screenplay. I loved the month of April when I was witting the script as part of the Script Frenzy event, but was so exhausted afterward that I had to leave it alone for some weeks before looking at it again.
And when I finally did, I found a screenplay in need of some serious rewriting. And that is what I’ve spent most of my free time doing for the past months.
The structure of the story is somewhat unchanged, but the pacing, the dialogue, the descriptions have all been changed, corrected or rewritten completely.
Even some of the main characters where merged into one to keep the entourage down to a minimum.
So now, all I have to do is wait for the hungry review vultures of TriggerStreet.com to rip it to pieces and tell me why and where I need to revise the script.
But right now I’m happy as a lark and above proud. Very proud.
This new installment in the Story Trick series1 is not even written by me.
For some time I’ve been reading up on Joseph Campell and his Monomyth theory and how it could be applied to modern storytelling. Christopher Vogler2 has written an excellent introduction on how to apply it to screenwriting.
There is no need for me to write about this when David has already written such a good and explanatory article. Be sure to check out some his other articles on his newly launched website. It’s all great stuff.
The wonderful site Teknokratiet has accepted my article on multi-touch interfaces, so for all the Danish reading people out there I proudly urge you to go and read my article and some of the numerous others at the site.
Today is the birthday of my son Carl. He’s three. He’s one of the big boys now.
He has developed a great sense of humor; the other day we’re reading some books sitting in the couch and he suddenly curled up and said “I so so teeeerrible sad” and looked away. I of course asked him what was wrong and he just started to giggle and turned around to face me again and to show me that he had taken two pacifiers in his mount. “I’m double sad” he said smiling from ear to ear. That, of course, could only be cured by 10 minutes of intents tickling.
Oh, and he laughs at my jokes as well. I’ve been waiting quite a few years for a fresh audience.
It’s been a long time since Story Trick #2 and this time it not about a trick in any specific movie but more about the lessons learned from April’s Script Frenzy.
So, that was 30 days of script writing, and what did I learn from that (apart from being able to write a first draft feature length screenplay in less than 30 days while holding down a full time job and being a caring family man)?
One thing: Outline. Outline. Outline…. and… outline.
I know that many big time screenwriter and directors don’t outline at all. The Coen brothers have said in numerous interviews that they never outline, but for the rest of us, I truly believe that outlining is the way to go.
When I sat down the work out the storyline for my script Downfall I looked at what the “masters” of screenwriting said about structuring the story.
Listed below are the fundamental structure I’ve complied from all of these and for me at least it worked really well and always kept my writing on track and moving forward.
(Please note: The beats below are structured after a 100 pages script. If you plan to write a short script just take the page number and divided by 100, e.g. point of no return on page 50 is 50% of the script lenght).
The beats:
Page 1: Opening Scene: Setting up the main character. Hard to do, but just think of what you want to viewer to see first when sitting down to watch your film.
From page 1-10: Setting up the story: All the main characters (protagonist, antagonist, supporting characters etc.) are introduced here. The audience must know or at least have some basic idea of what kind of people they are.
Page 10: The 1st Turning Point: Something happens here that give the story a completely new direction. Someone dies, wins the lottery, the aliens attack, the long lost father returns home… you get the idea. This is the thing that sets the entire story in motion. Up until now we where just getting to know the characters, now the real story starts.
Page 10-25: The new situation: Okay, so something happened on page 10 and now everything is up in the air. What should the protagonist do? What is it all about? Should our hero embark on a journey to solve this new situation or should he/she just do nothing? Try to write down reasons to go and reasons to stay, and work with this conflict.
Page 25: The 2nd Turning Point (sometimes also called the Plot Point 1, but it’s the same thing): The start of Act 2 is all about going into the great unknown. The situation that started on page 10 is now going to be dealt with. The plans that the hero had for his/her situation in page 1-10 is now being changed completely. Some talk about going from the Ordinary World to the Special World.
Page 30: If you have a subplot (you don’t always need one) now is the time to introduce it. Be it a love story or something.
Page 25-50: First half of Act 2: The situation develops and the hero is slowly but surely moving forward in a positive way toward solving the situation.
Page 37: The symbolic scene: This is where the main character really commits to the journey. The audience might have known for a long time that this was the case, but this is where the main character expresses it clearly in some way, like taking charge of the search & rescue team. Can be very dramatic or almost unnoticeable.
Page 50: The 3rd Turning Point: The Point of No Return: This is where things can’t get any worse or any better depending on your story. The journey is almost over and the end is clearly in sight. Maybe the hardest part of the screenplay to nail completely, and also one of (if not the) most important points in the structure of the story.
Page 50-75: The 2nd half of Act 2: The plot thickens: The antagonist return. The antagonist has already been very much present in the story, but now the “attacks” becomes more frequent and clear. The complications and the stakes involved in the journey increases very much. Before the life of the protagonist maybe wasn’t at stake but not it most certainly is.
Page 65: The moment of regret: Maybe taking on this journey was a bad idea after all. Maybe we should just all go back. It’s not working out anyway. The hero of some of the supporting characters clearly states that they feel bad about doing what they are doing. Maybe we should just do what the antagonist wants us to do?
Page 75: The 4th Turning Point (also called Plot Point 2): All is lost. Major setback. One of the dear supporting characters dies, or the lovers are separated for good (it would seem), etc. The main characters are ready to give up. This is rock bottom it can’t get any worse than this so why even continue.
Page 75-100: Act 3: The race against time to finish the journey. The part where the protagonist solve the main conflict.
Page 85: The aha moment: “So this is how it works!” Aha. This one is not always used but good to get the third act some momentum. Could also be used to introduces a time-lock: They must get out of the building before the bomb explodes in 5 minutes, etc.
Page 85-100: The final push. All or nothing. Part of the third act where the main characters give all they have to complete the journey. Often the hero must face three tests that becomes more and more difficult in order to continue.
Page 9x: The 5th Turning Point: The Climax: Somewhere between page 90 and 99 the conflict is resolved. The antagonist is neutralized. The protagonist made it. The lovers reunite. The maniacl killer is captured
Page 9x-100: The aftermath: Use these pages to show the protagonist riding out into the sunset or whatever suits the story. Tie up any loose ends.
There you have it, 17 beats that make up more or less a typical movie. Use them at will; many really good movies (and Oscar winners) did not use them, not even close. But when you’re, like me, still new at this game, they help a lot more than hinders your story.
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