Well said!

Josh,

I actually read the original 3 horror comics, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT so I am familiar with the story and that’s kinda what I didn’t like about the movie.

The concept: Vampires descend upon Barrow, Alaska — the northern most point in the United States where once a year, the sun doesn’t rise for 30 days.

Or something along those lines…

The comics allowed us to know the vampires. The comics exploited the fact that vampires don’t do well in the extreme cold. The leader of the vampires goes to Barrow to end the feeding frezny because he’s still trying to keep vampires a secret.

I could go on and on actually but unfortunately, all the story elements that make this story a WINNER failed to show up in the movie… Which would have been fine if the movie had been 90 minutes or so… But clocking in at over 2 hours?

It all filtered down to a bunch of vampires we don’t know, feeding on unsuspecting residents of Barrow because the sun is down for a month.

They KIND of touch upon the vampires trying to destroy incoming/outgoing communications but I really felt those scenes were weak and really didn’t set up the big picture.

In the end? Substitute zombies for the vampires and you got a zombie story.

But hey… It’s kewel.

Unk

Nick

I felt the same way about 300, which didn’t seem to be to be much of a movie, it felt more like a video game with cool graphics . . .

And it got made becuz it was a graphic novel, and idea of what could be visually was right there in front of the suits . . .

One thing I was talking about with another writer friend was that, for all people talk and talk about how movies are visual and books and plays are not (complete bullhocky, but that’s what is said) and how we’re supposed to write visually, the screenplay format is quite possibly one of the worst formats for communicate visual ideas – really, it’s bad . . . you’re not supposed to write more than four lines of description, etc . . .

Not that it cannot be done, it can . . . but the screenplay format (half technical document, half stage / radio play) isn’t really the best vessel for commucating it.

Which is why suits leap on short films and comics, where they don’t actually have to read anything, heh.

I’m spitballing, and off-topic, I just realized. My apologies.

The nooks and crannies that research opens up do fire the synapses, as Unk said, and lead to more ideas that make the story compelling.

Additionally, if my aim is to be true to the story and honor the characters, then I have a responsibility to know their business inside and out. For me, this obligation also extends to real people who are in the same profession: I honor them and what they do everyday in the fine details of the story. I think one’s merit as a writer and storyteller is proven in his or her ability to turn out something that is not only imaginative, but true to life. That’s why excellent writing resonates on a universal level.

Great post, Unk. As always. Hope you’re doing well.

Pamela

Good point… I cannot tell you how many screenplays I keep reading where almost every scene is derivative of some other scene I’ve seen before in some other movie.

It’s been pieced together like Frankenstein… LOL. And to be honest, I don’t mind that so much as long as the story isn’t derivative and something I’ve seen before. By all means — go ahead and follow someone else’s structure but come up with a different story, story elements, different scenes, etc.

I just came back from watching 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. I had been told by those IN THE KNOW that this movie was different than any other vampire movie I’d ever seen.

And I guess it kinda was…

But it sure as hell wasn’t that different from a lot of the zombie movies I’d seen. LOLOLOLOL.

In other words, exchange the vampires to zombies and you have a fuckin’ zombie movie.

I will admit that the 30 DAYS OF NIGHT in Barrow, AK was a different twist but shit… They kept skipping through the days and nothing major was really happening till the end. And did I mention that they had 2 hours and 5 minutes to do something different?

Geez.

So what’s my point? My point is that sure, you can write derivative screenplays — get lucky and sell ‘em but if you go ahead and take the extra INITIATIVE and insure there is absolutely no derivation, you’re gonna go places ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL.

MaryAn,

Can’t tell you how many fact inconsistencies I read all the time… If a would-be screenwriter would just make sure those are all taken care of as well as the typos EVEN if the script is something we’d pass on, we’d probably be willing to read other stuff from them. Believe it or not, most scripts never pass this simple baseline.

Again — great comments.

Danka.

Unk

Fact inconsistencies tick me off worse than typos because if that little effort is given to research, I assume that the script will be sloppy and hurriedly thrown together.

All of us draw our stories from somewhere… they don’t just pop out of the ether, and 90% of the stuff I read from other screen writers, it’s obvious that their only research was other people’s films. Which automatically means their work will be derivative at best and a pure rip off at worst.

What research does is give you a completely unique perspective on an issue or a situation. That alone will make your screen play a better read, but more importantly an easier pitch.

In fact, I’ve reworked my logline formula to take this into consideration… before it used to be: what makes the protagonist unique, what throws them into a new world and what happens to them as a result of that

Now, it’s: a unique and interesting fact about the world, where the unique qualities of the protagonist bring him/her into conflict with this fact and how the protagonist changes on the journey.

You can have a pretty fun evening finding random interesting facts, figuring out what kind of person could have really, really bad day connected to that fact and guessing how they might resolve their dilemmas.

And as Unk said… this kind of research begets more research.

It may not be much consolation but for me, research from a book and the net allow me to start making a list of EVERYTHING that I might need to know about my story. Then, I start making phone calls and sending emails to those people that are experts in whatever field I need to know more about. The good news? I’ve never once been turned down… In fact, everyone has always been really flattered that I came out of the woodwork and picked THEM for my research.

The flipside to that is that as it turns out, many of the people I’ve interviewed for research over the years ended up having their own contacts in the business. A cousin. An uncle. You know the drill. I never asked these people if they knew anyone in the business — they always volunteered that information and proceeded to put me in contact with those people which simply enlarged my own personal network.

Not only that but taking the step to interview someone can often lead to you FEELING like you’re in it to win it.

Blake… AGREED!

Steve,

Everybody’s different. My point being that IF someone WASN’T feeling the same passion after the draft is completed, an alternative method might be in order. My advice is ALWAYS do what it takes to keep the initial inspiration, motivation, and passion.

Besides, the last time I ate at McDonald’s, burgers were a dime.

Christian,

I did some research on SEALs once… LOL. A lot of people totally discount research when it comes to screenwriting and this shows up ALL THE TIME when I read screenplays. Having said that, when a guy like me, asks a screenwriter, “What’s it about?” — much of that information comes from research AND the story and I can tell. By the same token, if what they tell me comes totally from the story, I can tell that too. Research simply makes EVERYTHING STRONGER. Your screenplay. Your pitches. Your loglines, taglines, and meetings.

Good comment!

Moviequill,

LOL. That’s EXACTLY what I’m talking about! How hard would it have been to change those numbers to 383? Shit, you can go to fuckin’ eBay and get that kind of research. And trust me… Producers get set off exactly the same way which is always a good reason to even perform a little research on the producer you’re giving your script to… If he’s a classic car nut, you better make sure if your screenplay has any classic cars in it that the info is perfect.

Great comments… THANKS!

Unk