Act Two

Since I've decided which story I'll be turning into a screenplay during this term and the next, we've completed a rough outline of the whole movie as well as a scene-by-scene breakdown of the first act.  I am greatly encouraged and have high hopes for "The Cynic."

The rough outline and Act One scene breakdown both benefitted from a reading and critique in our workshop.  There were definitely points in the plot where, like a sloppy contractor, I filled in the gaps quickly and without care.

Some cinematic tropes come all too readily to our mind, and one of the jobs of the writer is to resist their temptation in order to strike more accurately at the truly unique aspects of the story we are birthing.

How easily the wheels of our wagon settle into grooves in the road... and we find ourselves in places painfully familiar.  Worse, the spark of genuine inspiration that set us out on our journey has long been snuffed out.

My task this week is to create a scene-by-scene breakdown of my Second Act.  To all concerned this is readily evident as the most difficult part of a movie to craft well.  How often have you watched a movie that started out fine and then "fell apart" during the middle?  Boredom is the chief evil here.

Given characters and a plot set forth in the first act, we may well guess what occurs in the third act.  If the first act is well laid out, we have clearly have a protagonist, a goal, the suggestion of complications to come, etc.  And by simple extrapolation we can easily guess what the third act will contain.  So much so that if our expectations are not met, we leave the theater with a sense of disappointment and incompleteness.

Why is Act Two so tricky?  It's the longest part, as long as the first and third act combined.  But it's length is not the reason.

It's the toughest to craft effectively because it is, compared to acts one and two, essentially a blank slate.  It's a vast wasteland where our only signposts are vague... we know that things must go well for our hero(es), we know there must be complications, we know that all must seem lost.  Beyond that, our only dictum is that we be original and entertaining.

But in difficulty lies challenge, and if this is where poor screenplays are lost... perhaps it is also where great screenplays are made.

The Cynic

I've officially decided which screenplay I will be working on for Fall and Winter terms.  Pretty exciting!

In our eight-person workshop group, which meets once a week for three hours, we all pitched three different loglines to the class.  After the loglines were read, we had the opportunity to answer questions from our classmates.  This served to clarify things like plot, tone, theme, etc.

The whole class voted on which of our three loglines they would like to see us write into a full script.  Our instructor Tim Albaugh weighed in too.  I'd say about half the voting results were pretty unanimous, and the other half were between two.  So, I think the system worked well.

I definitely learned something from the process.  For my three pitched loglines, I chose two projects that I have been developing for YEARS.  The other pitch was one that I came up with just a few days before.

Guess which one won?  The brand new one.  And you know what?  For some reason, that's the one that excites me the most.

I came up with the idea with absolutely no preconceived notions, other than a theme I wanted to explore.  It comes from a quote by Oscar Wilde.  So, I started with a bare foundation of a character who is afflicted with a certain myopic way of looking at the world.

Given this, the plot suggests itself as the story of this character's journey to correct this deficiency in outlook.  Of course, good storytelling dictates that his conscious goal throughout the story is very different.

I think sometimes in life we hold onto ideas and concepts for a long time, and they become dear to us.  The longer we hold onto things, the harder it is for us to look at them objectively.  They can grow moss and barnacles, and lose their vitality and relevance.  I still like my old ideas... and plan to get them done eventually.  But maybe it's smart to listen to and engage in what is fresh and new and vital to me NOW at this very moment.

Initially I was disappointed that the two stories I had been holding close to my heart for years didn't garner more interest.  But perhaps the fact that my latest idea is my "best" is an indication that I am growing.

Shouldn't any artist hope that his latest work is his best?

Reader Poem

This young blog already has its first reader contribution, a wonderful poem from Kit in Chicago:

"O regal eagle,
So mysterious and majestic,

What secrets are shrouded in your soul?

The flaps of your wings,
So powerful and whirling with featherdust,

How can we know the brutal gearing of your ways?

The stones of Tomorrow
and the compass of Truth
Soar into consciousness -

The mountain goats of my mind
Cower as you swoop and shriek.

Oh bird of destruction, what goats will you snatch today?"

Stunning, isn't it?  The powerful imagery reminds me of William Blake's "The Tyger."

Kit also included a link to this video by way of inspiration or accompaniment.

Workshop Group

In the UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting, once a week for three hours we meet with our workshop group.

Lajos Egri

That's where actually be writing our screenplays - two full features over the course of the academic year.  The group consists of a professor and 8 students.

Our professor is Tim Albaugh, who graduated MFA from UCLA's Screenwriting program in 1992.  Tim seems like a good guy who is friendly, knowledgeable and fun.

My groupmates also seem like a good bunch, some are fresh out of college and some have other careers already.  There's a couple very young people, a couple older ones, a couple in the middle (like me).

There's homework every week; the first week we reread Aristotle's "Poetics" and now we're working through Lajos Egri's "The Art of Dramatic Writing."

I was not familiar with this work; I have since learned it is a legendary piece and I am quite enjoying it.  Apparently Egri lived and taught private courses in Los Angeles until his death.

Hello World

I'm three weeks into my new Professional Program in Screenwriting at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and TV so I figure I better start now if I'm going to be keeping a blog about it.

Our course lasts over the whole academic year (three terms) and we meet once a week for a large lecture and once a week in a small workshop.  Seems like a good format because you get the macro and micro scale of things.

Our lecturer for the large group is Hal Ackerman.  So far he's been great.  He's got a great sense of humor and also recognizes that writing is a lot about heart and emotion.  He's from New York and started as a playwright.  I'd say he's in his 70's.

The first day of class he ended by playing a Tom Waits song about a hooker in Minneapolis, with the lights off and lyrics projected on the board.  Can't get much better for a screenwriting class than that.

He also told us how his (latest?) wife left him via text message.  That rules.

In the third class he told us "sometimes you get what you need, remember that Stones song?"

I sung it on the walk back to my car.