John August

QandA

Index cards

QandA, Words on the page

Do you use the "index card" method when preparing
to write a script and if so do you find that your screenplay fleshes out
in the same order as
you wrote it in the index cards?

–Ruble

For those who don’t know about index cards, it’s a technique a lot of screenwriters
use. Each scene or sequence is given its own card. Then the cards are laid
out, pinned up or otherwise arranged to figure out the best structure for the
movie.

While I always outline scripts, for me it’s 50/50 whether I use index cards
or not. For the CHARLIE’S ANGELS sequel they were a big help in pitching the
movie, partly because each card had funny stick figures (e.g. "Car Wash
Angels get the evidence"). I also used different colors for different
types of sequences: action was always on purple cards, while narrative was
blue. When you looked at the whole movie layed out on the table, it was easy
to see the pacing. In discussing an individual
scene, you could point at it.

For a lot of scripts, particularly those without action sequences, index cards
might be a waste of time. A better bet would be to write up an outline or a
treatment that lets you get a sense of the feel of the movie, not just the
big beats. Whatever technique you use, remember that scripts develop their
own logic. Use the cards or the outline as a map, not a Bible.

To live and die in LA

Film Industry, QandA

In your opinion, does a feature scriptwriter need to live in the Los Angeles
area to be fairly active in the business and sell work?

–K. Strom

Yes. As much as I want to believe that a fledgling screenwriter in Scranton,
PA, can take the industry by storm, the majority of writers working in studio feature films live and work in Los Angeles, at least in the early stages of
their career.

Could you do it in London? Sure. New York? Probably. Could you just commute
back and forth to LA, spending most of your time somewhere else? Maybe.

The real question is should you, K. Strom, move from wherever you live to
Los Angeles? That’s the $1000 question, and one that’s been raised at least
half a dozen times in the three years I’ve been writing this column. Basically,
if your life’s dream is to become a giant Hollywood screenwriter, then you
need to live in Hollywood. If you have different goals — indie films, for
example — your options are much more open.

Movie quotes

Film Industry, QandA

It has always bothered me that screenwriters are left out
of the credit for famous quotes. For instance "Here’s looking at you kid," or "Put
your lips together and blow," are almost always credited to the actors
or even referenced as the movie directed by "so and so." Even worse,
some movie theatre chains throw quotes from famous films up on screen prior
to the previews
and NEVER credit the screenwriter.
Where is the screenwriter?! Do you have any
feelings about this? Does the
Writers Guild of America take a position on this?

–Robert

Although I am not an official spokesperson for the WGA in any way, I can safely
say they’re against it. They’re probably even outraged. But in the whole pecking
order of guild priorities, it’s certainly quite low.

Personally, I feel it’s always wrong to quote an author without giving credit.
It’s also wrong to bring a four-year old to an R-rated movie, but it happens
so much I’ve given up being angry about it. For better or worse, I’ve become
complacent about a lot of things that used to really piss me off.

If you feel like becoming an activist for this issue, you might direct your
first missive to the good folks at National Cinema Network (www.ncninc.com),
the company that actually creates and markets most of those pre-show slides
you see. While you’re getting them to properly attribute their movie quotes,
would you also get them to make their jumbles harder? It’s a little insulting
to have to decode a famous movie star when given "M O T S A N K H."

Past mistakes

Psych 101, QandA

Now that you look back on your career, what was the single biggest mistake
or wrong assumption you made early on that someone else could learn from?

–Damion

From the moment I got to Los Angeles, I felt I didn’t deserve to be here.
I was never a classic movie buff; I didn’t have a favorite director; my Honda
was rusting out, but not in a glamorous, beauty-in-poverty way.

I felt like a fraud, an imposter. Worse, I was taking up a slot that some
genuinely deserving person should have gotten. Working in Hollywood was never
my childhood dream. It was almost a flip-of-the-coin decision. For all I knew,
the next Spielberg was stuck flipping burgers in Wichita because I had taken
the last available opening.

Honestly, I felt this way for about three years. I kept waiting to get found
out and sent back to the Midwest.

Thinking this way was easily the biggest mistake I made. When you don’t think
you deserve to be in the room, no one else will, either.

But the truth, which took me an embarrassingly long time to realize, is that
all of the smart, confident people I was meeting really didn’t know any more
than I did. Okay, I had never seen Terrence Malick’s BADLANDS. But I had seen
every episode of "Bewitched," and that was just as valid.

And I could write better than most of them. That seems like an egotistical
statement, but considering I was marking myself lower in every other category,
that lone bright spot was a beacon of hope.

It’s hard to synthesize this advice without making sound like insipid pabulum, "just
believe in yourself." Perhaps it’s best expressed in the negative: "you’re
no stupider than everyone around you."