Homework - Monday Night

Oct 6

  • NOTE: I had trouble with my website and wasn't able to get this assignment up until today. So we will complete the exercise in class for any of you who don't have a chance to do it. at home.
  • HOMEWORK: THE TITLE AND THE PITCH
    • Pretend you have a meeting with a big producer in 30 minutes.  You’re sitting in his office when you overhear the producer saying he’s not making any more movies like the one you came in to pitch.  Luckily, you got there early, so you have 30 minutes to come up with something new.
      • STEP 1 – Take 10 minutes to write 25 original and exciting movie titles.
      • STEP 2 – Pick one of the movies—take 10 minutes come up with a main character, and chart out the course of the film.
        • The NORMAL WORLD (what the character wants or needs)
        • The INCITING INCIDENT
        • The END OF ACT 1
        • The HUGE REVERSAL at the HOUR BREAK
        • The END OF ACT 6 where the problem is RESOLVED
      • STEP 3 – Take 5 minutes and come up with the most exciting 30 second pitch you can. This should be 1-3 lines max.
      • STEP 4 – Take your last 5 minutes to make any changes to your structure to make it as exciting as short pitch.

Sept 29

  • Read and watch THE BIG LEBOWSKI. You can link to a copy of the script HERE.
  • Write the scene you prepped during today's exercise. For those of you who were not in class, the exercise is below:
    • THE "NETWORK" EXERCISE
    • STEP 1: Write a rant. You can write in your own voice or in the voice of a character. But pick something specific (important or trivial it doesn't matter), and rant about it passionately and persuasively with all the passion you or the character can muster.
    • STEP 2: Now envision another character who has a DIFFERENT but equally passionate perspective on the issue. Write another rant in that characters voice and from his or her perspective. Even if you completely disagree, step into your character, see the world through your characters eyes, and find a way to get in touch with their perspective.
    • STEP 3: Chart a scene between these two characters, in which the issues the characters ranted about may or may not be discussed-- but which somehow reflects some aspect of their differing opinions. Make 2 columns, one for each character. Then answer the following questions for each: column. Remember to chart your scene in a way that creates conflict.
      • What info does the character want to convey
      • Primary motivation for conveying that info
      • Secondary motivation.
      • Where are they?
      • What are they doing when the other character enters
    • STEP 4: Write the scene
  • Write for 7 minutes a day.

Sept 22

  • If you haven't already, watch THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND. Break down the structure of the movie by first listing every scene as you watch, and then dividing them up among each member of the ensemble: for example, all of Leland's scenes, all of Pearl's scenes. Note the scenes that involve more than one main character: for example the scenes where Leland and Pearl talk would be listed under both Leland and Pearl's name and notated to show the overlap.

  • Riffing from the excercise in class, take an existing scene you're not happy with, and rewrite it in the following genres (Have fun! PLAY AROUND! Take no more than 15 minutes for each genre)
  • WESTERN
  • HORROR/SLASHER MOVIE
  • EROTIC THRILLER
  • DISASTER MOVIE
  • SOAP OPERA
  • Now come back to your scene, and without looking at the old version, rewrite the whole darn thing in the style of your movie. Notice what happens.
  • Write for 7 minutes a day.

Sept 15

  • Watch the United States of Leland. There is no screenplay available for this film, so our discussion will be based on the DVD only. Work through scene by scene and see if you can figure out the 7 act structure.
  • Find some area related to your screenplay to research. This research can be imaginative (see last weeks exercise), physical (go to a place, participate in an activity) or based on books or articles. Write down everything that this research stimulates for you in relation to your screenplay or characters no matter how tangential. Then write or rewrite a scene in which at least one thing you discovered in your research is integrated.
  • Write for 7 minutes a day.

Sept 8

  • Think about a place that was important to you as a child. What did that place mean to you? Imaging yourself in that place and looking out at it through your mind's eye, write down 5 things you see, 5 things you hear, 5 things you feel, 5 things you smell. Don't worry about picking cool stuff. That's not the point. Just write whatever you see-- even if it's boring or redundant. For example, sitting in my living room, I might list the following:

HEAR: the sound of my cat's purring, humm of the fridge, click of the clock, my own breathing, drip of my neighbor's air conditioner.

SEE: My couch, a bag of trash that needs to be taken to the curb, the white flourescent light of my kitchen, the shadow of my hanging umbrella, the orange brown color of my hardwood floor.

FEEL: The weight of my cat on my lap, the firmness of the floor beneath me, the softness of my cat's fur, the texture of my couch's fabric, the breeze of the air conditioner.ETC.

  • Now, take one of the scenes you've written, and repeat the process for the location you've set the scene in. Visualize the place in your mind, and write the things you see, hear, feel and smell all over again. Now, rewrite the scene, integrating at least 5 elements of the environment
  • Write for 7 minutes per day.
  • We'll begin class on Monday with the discussion of HAROLD AND MAUDE you've all been waiting for.

 

 

Sept 1

  • Continue the Harold and Maude exercise we started in class. Bring the scene between your two characters to a completion through which your main character either gets what he or she wants, doesn't get what he or she wants, or gets interrupted. Create a visual moment that reflects this completion. NOW: based on what just happened, write the next scene that would take place between these two characters. The scene may or may not be in chronological order-- in other words, they might meet again 5 minutes later, or they might not meet again until the last scene of the screenplay. But either way, the moment that you just created will inform their next interaction. How?
  • If you weren't in class, start by doing the Harold and Maude exercise. Write a profound question that you are truly interested in, to which you don't necessarily know the answer. Now create two characters who represent dialectically opposed ides of that issue. Jot a couple of notes about each character. Their name. Some details about them. What they represent. Now write a scene between the two characters, in which one character wants something from the other. The ideas they represent may or may not be discussed in this scene. The important thing is that each character is pursuing a clear want.
  • If you haven't read and watched Harold and Maude, please do both and be prepared to disuss the differences in structure between the film and the screenplay.
  • Write for 7 minutes per day.

Aug 16

  • This is an exercise adapted from Hal Ackerman: Write a scene between two people that takes place in bed. Who are these people? Who are they to each other? What is going on in their lives? What do they want from each other. After you've written a few pages, an ALARM or SIREN is heard. How does the alarm affect them? What do they do? Are they at cross-purposes? How so? Place ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances or extraordinary people in ordinary circumstances.
  • If you haven't already done so, read and view HAROLD AND MAUDE and see if you can figure out its 7 act structure. (you can download the script by clicking the orange link)
  • Write for 7 minutes per day.