Listen up you maggots!

B

brianluce

Carbonite Member
If some guy with an camcorder posted this here I'd probably flame him because it's blasphemous. But an A list screenwriter posted this--it's like cake baking advice from Betty Crocker if Betty Crocker was a guy and her cakes actually tasted good.

In a Sept. 20th post titled "Whole New World," pro Terry Rossio wrote
on his Wordplay site: "It's a different game out there than it's ever
been. If I was a screenwriter just starting out today, I would lean
heavily on visuals, rather than 'just write.' ..."
http://www.wordplayer.com/forums/scripts/index.cgi?read=151496
 
It's depressing isn't it? I wonder what period of time in the future will be the Grand Awakening of film, in which we suddenly collectively realize that in pursual of stimulating eye candy and complex visuals we have mostly sacraficed story, character, and content.
 
"We live in a post-literate world. The opportunities are shrinking, the competition is harder than ever before, and the ability of people to appreciate good writing over bad is disappearing."

So sad, but so very true. Pretty soon, we'll have to submit scripts made entirely of stick figures, otherwise the Hollywood producers won't be able to read them.
 
SeanEmer said:
It's depressing isn't it? I wonder what period of time in the future will be the Grand Awakening of film, in which we suddenly collectively realize that in pursual of stimulating eye candy and complex visuals we have mostly sacraficed story, character, and content.
Click to expand...
I believe the date was in 1978...
 
I should have finished the thought with "... and revert back to the old ways"
 
I think you're all misinterpreting his words. He's not saying don't focus on the script. He's saying that the game is very competitive and in addition to a good script it helps to pitch it in other mediums.

I agree with him, shooting a trailer or a short film pitch for a larger project isn't a bad idea. Come on, let's not twist his words...
 
It's worth remembering, like Brody said, SCRIPT HAS TO COME FIRST, then the 'visuals'.

I can only imagine people now reading that article and ditching their 'script time' for 'visual time' and putting for more effort into something that won't hit the screen anyway.

EJ
 
Isaac_Brody said:
I think you're all misinterpreting his words. He's not saying don't focus on the script. He's saying that the game is very competitive and in addition to a good script it helps to pitch it in other mediums.

I agree with him, shooting a trailer or a short film pitch for a larger project isn't a bad idea. Come on, let's not twist his words...
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is twisting words. They're just making the deduction that diversifying your skills will ultimately lead to compromising the script. I think it was Charli who pointed out that it's tough to compete against people who "just write scripts". Everyone now wears all these hats, writer, shooter, editor, etc. You can't be great at everything
And also that there's a supply and demand thing here. If Hollywood decreases demand for quality scripts, the supply will also decrease.
 
marketmd said:
Matrix.....Sin City.....300......Post-Literate
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I thought Matrix was a great script actually. But I also heard an anecdote that Hollywood got that script and said something like "We're not sure what this is about, but we know it's cool and we know we want it." That sounds post literate to me.
 
"To make a great film you need three things - the script, the script and the script."​

Alfred Hitchcock​

...​

"With a good script, a good director can produce a masterpiece. With the same script, a mediocre director can produce a passable film. But with a bad script even a good director can't possibly make a good film."​

Akira Kurosawa​

...​


I tend to trust those two fellas. :)​
 
marketmd said:
Matrix was sold by a 2 minute clip of the first scene
Click to expand...

That's not exactly true. They shot and edited approximately the first 5 minutes and sent it back to the executives who loved it and promptly fully funded the project.

The Matrix was sold way, way before that.
 
The *real* story, is Bound, which was made by the W Brothers to sell themselves as film makers...before taking on The Matrix.

I still think Bound is their best film, so far.
 
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