tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post5748903382447164583..comments2023-11-05T07:45:02.082-05:00Comments on Mystery Man on Film: The Completely Visual ScreenplayMystery Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-10902025856687999372010-05-03T04:13:39.364-04:002010-05-03T04:13:39.364-04:00Sohbet Siteleri | Chat Siteleri | Sohbet | Mynet S...<a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">Sohbet Siteleri</a> | <a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">Chat Siteleri</a> | <a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">Sohbet</a> | <a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">Mynet Sohbet</a> | <a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">Sohbet Odaları</a> | <a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">iStanbul Sohbet</a> | <a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">iStanbul Chat</a> | <a href="http://www.chatbul.net" rel="nofollow">Chat</a> | <a href="http://www.askainat.com" rel="nofollow">Mynet Sohbet</a> | <a href="http://www.idealsohbet.org" rel="nofollow">Sohbet Odaları</a> | <a href="http://www.sohbetsev.net" rel="nofollow">Mynet Sohbet</a>sohbet odalarıhttp://www.sohbetizm.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-20605285245402475842010-02-08T05:30:34.617-05:002010-02-08T05:30:34.617-05:00Sohbete inananların bulustugu yere gitmek için bur...Sohbete inananların bulustugu yere gitmek için burayı<a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">Sohbet odaları</a>Turkiyede Chat'in gercek adresine gitmek için burayı<a href="http://www.chatbul.net" rel="nofollow">Chat</a>istanbullularla sohbet etmek için ise burayı<a href="http://www.sohbetizm.net" rel="nofollow">istanbul sohbet</a>Eger aşkla ilgili bişilere bakacaksanız burayı tıklamanız yeterli olacaktır.<a href="http://www.askainat.com" rel="nofollow">Mynet Sohbet</a> thanks you very much.sohbet odalarıhttp://www.askainat.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-77246970630002442462009-02-10T22:01:00.000-05:002009-02-10T22:01:00.000-05:00I love it! I had seen that before, but I think I'...I love it! I had seen that before, but I think I'll post it on my blog as part of my Unproduced Hitch series.<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-21207472690162778742009-01-25T02:55:00.000-05:002009-01-25T02:55:00.000-05:00MM! Hitchcock agrees with you! Woo!Great interview...MM! Hitchcock agrees with you! <A HREF="http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ydvU64L758c" REL="nofollow">Woo</A>!<BR/><BR/>Great interview.Karimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02566110996161916380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-42276752421802786762007-11-11T20:31:00.000-05:002007-11-11T20:31:00.000-05:00Ya know, I'm very sorry, Josh. I really am. I wa...Ya know, I'm very sorry, Josh. I really am. I was WAY too harsh.<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-66927958224809463632007-11-11T20:24:00.000-05:002007-11-11T20:24:00.000-05:00"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the gl..."Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass..." ~ Anton ChekhovLaura Deerfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06481017193764065233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-73622962034802939492007-11-11T10:54:00.000-05:002007-11-11T10:54:00.000-05:00Rats. I missed the knock-down, drag-out.Bob has a...Rats. I missed the knock-down, drag-out.<BR/><BR/>Bob has always had a good eye for visuals. His image of the drop of blood and the broken plate in Trinity is very powerful.<BR/><BR/>One of the things that struck me about screenplays when I first got into them was how visual writing can be used to inspire the cameraman. <BR/><BR/>I'm not talking camera angles. The cinematographer probably has enough skill and experience to figure out when to use a close-up or a head-shot. But visual description that can make a visual artist begin thinking of palette, of light and shadow, of how to use reflective surfaces, and perhaps how to juxtapose characters to compare and contrast them.<BR/><BR/>In my Cape Fear breakdown, I pointed out how in the first meeting between Cady and Sam, one is standing and one is sitting in a car. Next time they meet, their positions are reversed, yet Cady maintains his position of power.<BR/><BR/>If you go back to where it all started, who decided to pose the characters like that? It was the writer. Or it should have been the writer.<BR/><BR/>As writers, we have the power to make these kinds of choices and thus influence the course of our story.Mimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11590214841424958129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-29267468562545743402007-11-10T09:21:00.000-05:002007-11-10T09:21:00.000-05:00Anyone who hasn't seen Kieslowski's Blue should wa...Anyone who hasn't seen Kieslowski's Blue should watch it as an example of a film that uses dialogue sparingly and relies on visuals to build a complex and rich story.Laura Deerfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06481017193764065233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-2559788821568669802007-11-10T03:28:00.000-05:002007-11-10T03:28:00.000-05:00MM, I humbly accept the zen slap offered and nod i...MM, <BR/><BR/>I humbly accept the zen slap offered and nod in thanks . . .Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-6152182636020965462007-11-10T02:13:00.000-05:002007-11-10T02:13:00.000-05:00Josh, this article was not about dialogue but visu...Josh, this article was not about dialogue but visual storytelling, which is just one aspect of many about screenwriting / filmmaking. I can't believe you've just twisted this entire discussion away from visual storytelling to talk about dialogue. Are you so weak when it comes to thinking visually that the best thing you can contribute to this discussion is "wah-wah-wah, dialogue gets dumped on, and screw visual storytelling, because a bigger challenge would be to lock a few characters in an enclosed space and let them talk endlesly for 120 pages." Are you kidding me? <BR/><BR/>A screenplay is not 120 pages of dialogue. Period. You should know the difference between a play and a screenplay. And these (few) readers and executives who you believe only read dialogue will sure as hell put down your script if it has NOTHING BUT dialogue.<BR/><BR/>Let's face it. Your comments are not really about the craft, they're about you. They're about your total unwillingness to step out of your playwright comfort zone, quit leaning on this weak crutch of excessive dialogue in screenplays, and embrace visual storytelling. Despite what you think, this is a sensational creative exercise that everyone should try at least once.<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-69605958529385541902007-11-09T22:43:00.000-05:002007-11-09T22:43:00.000-05:00"I just wondered why this is thought to be better ..."I just wondered why this is thought to be better than a film WITH dialogue"<BR/><BR/>I don't think it is necessarily thought to be better. The idea of the exercise is to develop one's skills at using visuals to tell a story. The result may or may not be better. Many writers simply don't think of how much an image can express in and of itself. <BR/><BR/>By focusing on one aspect of the medium, you will find more ways to interpret and utilize it, and thus enrich your visual vocabulary.<BR/><BR/>Better? Not necessarily. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"there isn't anything you can do in a film that one cannot do book or a play"<BR/><BR/><BR/>I disagree there.<BR/><BR/>In a play, you can't direct the eye and hold on an image in the same way as on film. You can't focus on a coin on the ground, or on an actress's eyes. <BR/><BR/>A woman sitting at her vanity, brushing her hair. In a play you can highlight her with lights - you may even put a wall with a window in front of her and frame her... but it gets trickier when you are talking about, say, watching her from the house across the street. Or noticing that she picked up the red lipstick instead of the pink, and showing the choice so that you can understand it to be significant. Or that the hairpin she is using is the one that another character was wearing earlier in the story.<BR/><BR/>You can't edit images and thus control what an audience sees in the same way. There is a difference between seeing two characters speaking and reacting, and between cutting from one's speech to the other's reaction. <BR/><BR/>Certainly most action movies can be understood more or less without understanding the dialogue... this is actually something that some studios strive for, because it means they can market the movies in Asia without worrying about subtitles. But telling a story well, creating nuanced characters, revealing motivations and internal conflicts, without relying on them explaining it verbally is a worthy challenge.<BR/><BR/>I also think that the limited location, limited character idea is worthwhile - but why not write a play? Not saying such a story has to be a play but certainly there should be something about a screenplay which makes film the best medium for the story.<BR/><BR/>(I won't even comment on the things you can't do in a book that you can do in screen, because it's such an entirely different experience - reading versus watching... Peter Greenaway is a director whose work immediately comes to mind when I think of strongly visual films that would resist interpretation in a literary form.)Laura Deerfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06481017193764065233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-11854725592255375852007-11-09T15:24:00.000-05:002007-11-09T15:24:00.000-05:00I know Copenhagen, great play . . . These days we ...I know Copenhagen, great play . . . <BR/><BR/>These days we can do anythting on stage that one can do in a movie . . . there's even a stage production of POINT BREAK, which I never got to see but it supposed to kick ass. <BR/><BR/>I have nothing against cutting unnecessary words, be they dialogue or other . . . <BR/><BR/>My point is simply that we cannot forget character is above spectacle in Aristotle's Poetics . . .Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-82563951710391186732007-11-09T13:32:00.000-05:002007-11-09T13:32:00.000-05:00First off- thanks for the good words MM! This was...First off- thanks for the good words MM! This was a good exercise for me, and really challenged me to find other ways to get my points across. <BR/><BR/>It's not anything I'd ever expect to sell, but I kept imagining that Johnny Depp could do some great stuff with my character of Albert. <BR/><BR/>Regarding your comments JJ, I'd say 60 percent of my script took place in one apartment, but he spent a lot of time looking out on the outside world, so it wasn't really a single location. I think you could have a movie set in a single room if there was enough conflict within that room. For one, Breakfast Club came very close to that and they could have easily kept the story to that library. I'm sure you're familiar with a play called "Copenhagen" that features a conversation between Niels Bohr and Walter Heisenberg, where Heisenberg is trying to justify his involvement in nucelar weapon research for the nazi's to his old friend; and at the same time trying to solicit Bohr's help despite Bohr's overwhelming objectionst to the development of an atomic bomb by the nazi's. It's a compelling and conflict ridden conversation that I think would play beautifully on screen and in one room.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537155200839804221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-67333367856642740862007-11-09T13:01:00.000-05:002007-11-09T13:01:00.000-05:00Firstly, this isn't a comment on the script, which...Firstly, this isn't a comment on the script, which I havent' read but I'm sure it's good, if you liked it. So congratulations to the author on that . . . <BR/><BR/>Now then . . . <BR/><BR/>You know, MM, I recall you made the same challenge to me at some point, which was to write a movie without dialogue . . . and actually, I've done that with a short screenplay already . . . and I am pretty sure I could do a full length script WITHOUT dialogue, I'm just not sure it would be worth the effort, on my part, simply to prove a point. <BR/><BR/>And I just wondered why this is thought to be better than a film WITH dialogue . . . <BR/><BR/>I wanted to engage you in the discussion at that time, but I got swamped, so I'll drop it in on you. now <BR/><BR/>When the industry began, all movies done without dialogue, silent movies, as we all know . . . <BR/><BR/>You get a guy being chased or chasing after someone and you've got the beginnings of a silent movie . . . add some cement trucks, some bad guys, a damsel in distress and some feisty kids on skateboards and there you go . . . you got a film that's all action and no dialogue. <BR/><BR/>(as an aside, I remember when Stallone's CLIFFHANGER came out and my then girlfriend, a Chinese film student, pointed out that we could have watched the whole film WITHOUT anyone speaking and still followed it . . . it would have been just as good . . . not that it was good to begin with, but it wouldn't have lacked for the non-talking . . . actually, with Stallone, it may have improved . . . but I've digressed). <BR/><BR/>One issue is, how will it read? <BR/><BR/>Quite a few readers, producers and directors don't even read action lines . . . they read the dialogue most of the time, and depend on the characters to give them a sense of place, time and action . . . I'm not saying its right, I'm just saying that's how many do it. <BR/><BR/>A screenplay without dialogue would also be hard to guage timewise for action . . . it wouldn't be one page equals one minute, right?<BR/><BR/>And lastly, dialogue gets dumped on a lot because a lot of bad writers write a lot of bad dialogue, it's true, but I don't think that the solution is to simply not write dialogue.<BR/><BR/>I think a bigger challenge would be to write a movie with a small number of characters in one room (or one enclosed space) and STILL have it involving and engaging, still have first act tags and third act discoveries . . . THROUGH CHARACTER . . . like LIFEBOAT or 12 ANGRY MEN . . . <BR/><BR/>I think THAT would be a larger challenge for a writer. To construct characters who, as themselves, are discoveries, what they reveal about themselves unwillingly . . . the key is in making characters who live and breathe . . . <BR/><BR/>Most dialogue that sucks comes from writers who don't think about characters as people, therefore what they say doesn't ring true or even necessary . . . and that's the problem, I think. <BR/><BR/>So the focus should be on creating people who look, sound and feel real . . . put them in a room for ninety minutes and then you'll know . . . if they bore you, they'll bore me, and that's the problem, right?<BR/><BR/>Okay, I know it's about making movies visual . . . which always felt like a bit of an oxymoron, because we're watching it, therefore by its very nature, it's already visual, right? <BR/><BR/>But I get what you're saying . . . <BR/><BR/>The idea that movies are more visual than books or plays is, to me, kind of a bit of a dodge . . . there isn't anything you can do in a film that one cannot do book or a play . . . <BR/><BR/>And most of the time, they're just stunts without a decent story . . . I thought Eternal Sunshine had some fucking awesome visual tricks within it (and it did, when the house fell apart in his memory) but what stuck with us on that story is the people within, trying and failing to forget they love each other. <BR/><BR/>On the other hand, that Russian Arc movie (the title escapes me) that was shot, the whole thing, in one single take for ninety minutes, no one can really remember anything about it, except that it was a stunt and it got boring after fifteen minutes of the same trick over and over. <BR/><BR/>Okay, I'm ranting and hijacking your thread. <BR/><BR/>But here's another challenge . . . can you tell a visually stimulating cinematic story that takes place in JUST ONE ROOM? With the same characters?<BR/><BR/>There you go . . . heh-heh. <BR/><BR/>Damn, I just got up, I'm sorry for the long rant. Edit it if needed.Joshua Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239067667651048280noreply@blogger.com