John August

QandA

Bob Marley

QandA, Rights and Copyright

Why has no one ever considered making a movie of Bob Marley ?

–J. Quin

They have. Back when I was a terrified assistant at Oliver Stone’s production
company, one of the executives was negotiating for the rights to "Catch
a Fire," Timothy White’s biography of Marley. I know there were several
Bob Marley projects in development at some time-I’m sure at least one had Denzel
Washington attached-but none of them have made it to the screen yet.

Making a bio-pic of a musical icon can be tough for a few reasons. First,
you have to get the artist’s music rights, because without the recognizable
songs, what’s the point? Second, you need to find an actor who can pull off
the role, which for Marley could be tricky.

Finally and most importantly, you have to figure out what the cinematic story
is. Sadly, people’s actual lives don’t break down into three convenient acts with rising action and a winning combination of humor and pathos. (For that,
see "Behind the Music," which shoehorns everything into the same "…and
then drugs came into the picture" template.)

Real life is messy and tangled, with false starts and contradictory motivations.
Assuming you died today (a safe bet, since most rock stars die young), how
would your ghost write the story of your life? I suspect it would be hard to
pull out any overall themes or structure, and you know yourself better than
you know Bob Marley.

Despite these obstacles, I’m certain someone will figure out how to make a
Bob Marley movie. Maybe it will be you.

Various locations

Formatting, QandA

Can you tell me what is preferred/correct for this situation? Mabel is moving through a house (and, if necessary, outside):

INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY

Mabel searches for the cat.

INT. KITCHEN – DAY

Mabel searches for the cat.

EXT. STREET – DAY

Mabel searches for the cat.

Et cetera. Thanks very much.

–Arnold Sable

Yeah, that pretty much sucks, Arnold. Unless you are repeating the sentence for some effect, perhaps showing how intensely single-minded Mabel can be, almost anything else would be better.

The simplest choice would be to use a different scene heading that encompasses all needed locations, such as:

INT. HOUSE – VARIOUS ROOMS – DAY

Or, if you do want to show each location, try varying your descriptions of Mabel’s search so that they don’t repeat.

Finally, you could consider using a montage format:

MONTAGE as Mabel searches for the cat:

— She pulls open the dryer in the laundry room.

— Checks the kitchen cupboards.

— Searches under the porch with a flashlight.

— Pokes the broom under the sofa.

— Rechecks the kitchen cupboards again.

What format you choose really depends on the situation, and how much information you need the reader to know.

Western’s out?

Genres, QandA

Are western’s out?

–Mark Barragar

Yes. So write one if you feel like it. By the time you’re finished, they’ll
probably be in again, and you’ll be ahead of the curve.

Generating ideas

QandA, Writing Process

Do you have a method to generate your ideas?

–Dean

Not really. I’ve never found it particularly hard to generate ideas. Most
of the time, I have far too many different things I want to write, and
the challenge is deciding which ones are actually worth the investment
of time and thought. So I don’t really have any methods for generating
ideas. I don’t brainstorm. I don’t draw mind-maps. I only outline if
I’m concerned about fitting the pieces together.
In fact, 90% of the time, I’m trying to find methods for shutting competing
ideas out, so that I’ll actually get my work finished. Or get to sleep.
I’m drawing a distinction here between coming up with new ideas (“a biker movie in space”) and figuring out how to solve specific problems with a story or scene (“how should the villain capture the Millenium Harley?”).
Obviously, every writer is going to have to find ways to get over these hurdles
when they come up. A few techniques that often help include:

  • figuring out what the outcome needs to be, then working backwards;
  • deciding what caused the problem in the first place, and whether it can be changed or cut;
  • looking at the moment from another character’s perspective;
  • quickly writing several different solutions, then judging whether one or a combination of several best address the problem.

For all the talk of high-concept comedies or big-idea action tentpole movies, a screenwriter’s daily life is almost entirely about coming up with the “little” ideas that help get the story told.