I have about five different screenplays that I've begun writing, but I get stuck in the middle, because I'm afraid that all the characters talk like I do or I'm missing something that I should be writing. I wish I had a writing partner; I don't want the basic essence of the piece to change, but I do want someone else to be involved. So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give brief summaries of the films I've started, even upload the celtx document, and if you want to look it over, let me know.
These first few manifested from my love for John Krasinski and his beard in Away We Go. Quite a few of my films stem from me thinking in what kind of situation would someone like me end up with someone like that. I'm not sure that that is the way to come up with story lines, but that's just what's happened with these.
- This first one I think was also inspired by "Hide and Seek," the Imogen Heap song, which I went through a phase of listening to a lot last year. So far, the script barely reflects it. it also has influences from experiences I've had, not that I've been in a relationship with a guy in his thirties or anything. Anyway, Ben and Annie has taken form in two different scripts actually. As a girl, it is difficult to write anything that doesn't have a "chick flick" feel. The balance between that and a raunchy testosterone fest is difficult to achieve. Anything with a guy who is nice to a girl because he likes her is a chick flick. It annoys me. I don't want my main guy to be a jackass. I digress. Here is version one and here is version two. Like most of these scripts, it's only a few scenes in. Unlike most of these scripts, I'm not sure how I want it to end. I know I want it to have a skinny love sort of thing going on, though, sort of love that is falling apart, wasting away toward the end, and neither know what happened. (Not like 500 Days of Summer or Annie Hall.)
- Here is the second one that I envision bearded John Krasinski as my main character; it is pretty dark though. I'm not going to try and explain it, but as for the end, he is going to be strong, let her pay off her debt early and let her go. Control
The next few can be grouped together by the main actor I've envisioned as well. Now, I am just going to come outh it, film snobbery be damned. I love SethRogen, and I could get into it, but I won't. If you ever want an explanation, just ask me someday and I will tell you. These next ones were written mostly with Seth Rogen in mind.
- RoundTwo is basically a comedy in which a struggling married couple undergoes a complete transformation when the wife hits her head on a cabinet and gets amnesia. The audience knows as much as she does, so as she discovers what her marriage was like, so do they. She finds out that she had been cheating and that she really wasn't good to her husband, etc, and the husband has the epiphany that he gets to fall in love with his wife all over again. I've barely started, so, sorry about that. It's in its baby stages.
- Bad Cops is about two people who dress as police officers to "confiscate" drugs from dealers that they hear about. Then, they end up in a situation where they need to step up and be heroes. All the while, there is and obvious romantic tension between them, but the girl is dating some jackass whose grandfather invented Fig Newtons. I also wrote a trailer, and, like all the other scripts, if you don't get something, it might not be explained well enough or maybe you need me to read it with the right inflection. Let me know.
- Aunt May's is about a girl who kills someone and forces a truck driver to let her hitch a ride on his route to get far away from town. And she's originally a stripper. And they end up falling for each other because they get snowed in somewhere in North Dakota and have to stay in this bed and breakfast together for two weeks because there are no normal hotels and the whole county only has one snow plow and there is nothing at all in North Dakota basically.
be nice
If you feel like your characters are talking like you, then you need to actually go into an acting exercise! Figure out who your character are. What in their past makes them like they are today? What makes them tick? What do they truly want in their lives. When you answer these question and get into these peoples heads then it should be easier to figure out what they would say. You are always going to put a part of yourself into your characters but that is not a bad thing! By connecting to them you make them real!
ReplyDeleteHope that helps a little.