Movie Maker Magazine

Chapter 3

was as helpful and practical.  The article on what a direct does was inciteful and listed a lot of things that were good to keep in mind.  I particularly liked the section about how to start each morning on the set.

Movie Maker Magaizine

Chapter 2

The check-by-check breakdown of what you spend a $200,000 budget on was extremely helpful.  It was nice to see a clear view of where all that money goes, how much is a reasonable amount to pay the people that are working for you, etc.  It gave me a better idea of what I'll need to shoot for in the future.

The section on the pitch and sending out the first 10 pages is the kind of advice that is so helpful because it gives a specific solution.  The section on marketting your movie and building this target audience into the movie was cool too.  I like the idea of building in trailer moments...because they look good in trailers and probably are good for your movie too.

Blake Snyder

Chapter 4 of Blake Snyder

I remember that upon reading this chapter I got so angry at the first page that I had to put it down for a moment.  Surely an unnecessary overreaction, but nonetheless indicative of how I felt.  I had always had issue with the Blake Snyder method, going through the steps to guarantee that you can make a hit, and make a movie that people know they want to see.  I think that's fine, and I know his advice is helpful, but there are a couple things that bothered me about this chapter.

I don't like how he's now positioned himself as the reader's master:  "Itching to start writing your screenplay?  Will I let you start writing your screenplay?....Keep itching!"  That sort of bothered me.  And, his line, "You've polished your one-line and pitched enough 'civilians' to know you've got a good one" bothered me too.  I absolutely think input from people is critical, but I also feel that the movie-making process should be motivated by the movie you want to make, not just finding out what people want to see and making that.

Also, I feel that many movies probably sound horrible in pitch, but in execution are magnificent, and I feel that should be kept in mind at least somewhat when asking people what they think.  His beat sheet is something cool to keep in mind, but I also prefer to feel these things out rather than constraining it immediately.  I feel like when I write I can tell if something is slow or boring, or if nothing is happened yet, and I don't want to make my movie fit his schedule.  And his disrespect toward Memento comes off to me as more jealousy...even if it's not the greatest movie of all time, there's probably a reason it's a film that people teach in classes and talk about, and why most people don't remember Blank Check.  Congrats to you Mr. Snyder, but I'll keep my slow-paced existential dilemma films.

Kitty!

So as I've been doing the reading, I've been particularly interested in "Save The Cat" and it's whole philosophy.  It's well put together, and I get the sense that Blake Snyder knows or at least certainly thinks he knows what he's talking about.  So far I have mixed feelings about him.

It's more than likely the pretentious film major in me, but I'm somewhat resistant to take what he says to heart when he openly admits that he wants to write essentially just to sell the script.  That is something that I completely respect and think is fine...my father likes to tell me the story of the time he took a screenwriting class from someone well known (possibly Syd Field? I can't remember and neither can he probably) and the teacher asked on the first class "How many of you want to move to Hollywood and be hack writers and punch out mediocre scripts?"  And, of course, my father raised his hand and explained that he wanted to make hits and money.

The teacher  said he respected his honesty.

So, I think that's fine, and of course I would certainly love to write a hit movie and make lots of money, so that's not my problem at all.  My only problem is deciding from the outset that you are going to make a conventional movie that clings to pre-set structures.  For me, I have to at least keep a part of me thinking that I'm going to try to do something different, otherwise I don't see it as being worth my time.

Snyder does address this in his breaking-cliche section, which I appreciated.  I liked his analysis of why Tomb Raider 2 was terrible, and I think it's an important examination to do.  I also agree with what he said about researching movies in the genre you're working.  If you're creating something new, you should know what's come before because everything will be judged against the things of the past.  So, it's clear that he wants to see good movies made with some originality, which made him a like-able, if partially flawed, character to me.

My favorite part of the reading so far was his explanation of exactly what "Save The Cat!" means.  Upon reading the explanation, I realized that I LOVE characters that save the cat.  I still haven't figured out why I got so excited about that concept, but I think I really do just miss that sort of thing in movies.  The Al Pacino example was perfect, and after reading what Pacino's  character does for the man and his son, I too was absolutely ready to follow Pacino wherever he went and always wanted him to win.  It made me realize that I want my main character to save the cat, and I've been brainstorming about a believable and fitting way for my main character to do that.

People who risk their own safety to compassionately help others are instantly liked by me.  And in the case of Pacino's character, it even defines his character as a cop who clearly wants to uphold the law and catch criminals, but who also understands that neither life nor the law are black and white.  He is a reasonable character that makes up his own mind about things without sacrificing his beliefs, and I immediately respect that.

The rest of the book so far has definitely been helpful, and like Snyder says, it's nice to know the "rules" so that you can break them.  I think for me, personally, I will always try to do the one idea that doesn't quite fit and isn't completely backed by a guaranteed structure.  I've found that for me, watching movies where characters walk around overtly trying to solve problems is just frustrating now.  All I see when I watch most movies, and about 99% of TV is the structure at work, and it makes it nearly impossible to enjoy anything.  Thus, I continue to want to make movies that hide their structure, because that is the kind of movie that I enjoy.

To speak more generally, I think the class is going really well and I am really enjoying it.  Last class had a very good exercise I thought, and Brant's critiques were very helpful in driving home the point--which is important when we only meet once a week.  I look forward to discussing the best movie ever (well, sort of) today, as I happen to be a pretty large Star Wars fan.  That movie is essentially why I am here, doing what I'm doing with my life.

...why do it?

"If it's not impossible, why do it?" has always been a kind of motto of mine.  I don't like to do something unless I know its a challenge and that I'll be accomplishing something I didn't know I could do before.  Thus describes this quarter.

I am in Film 196 this quarter, which is the final film production course here at UCSC, and because I am insane I have decided to make a mini-feature for my project.  I've been working on the script for a long time and I'm excited to go into production, and I cannot wait until it is done.

I am also looking forward to looking at this film through the lens we're being given in this DIY class, because this is the first film of mine that I want to be copyright-free so I can send it to festivals and try to get it circulating some.  I think this class will be amazingly helpful, and I'm very excited about it.

In the meantime I'll be scheduling, storyboarding, writing, freaking out, begging, stressing, laughing, planning, filming, editing, not sleeping and occasionally doing some school work on the side.  It sounds like it's going to be tough, but if it's not impossible...