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infamous
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« on: October 15, 2013, 07:06 PM » |
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Evening,
Thank you, fellow writers who tuned in to my posts - humbling - forever valued.
Re: Slugs and action
Ditto to number 3 side street example.
Laboured thud: “...go with the former.” An apology to Pitchpatch, and to anyone else, for any inadvertent ambiguity on my part that might have higgledy-piggledy labyrinthed them to the same section. I can't help but wonder, had I armed you up front with more character detail, there might have been no mistaken turn. I saw no need at the time. I rather wish I had.
It has plagued my conscience that, as someone who takes all aspects of writing seriously, I could have made such a blunder (not double proofreading before sending). What would a reader have made of it (along with my questionable punctuation) - a definite pass. To save myself from possibly being sent to forum-Coventry, for my faux pas, I hope the following will redeem me:
Yardstick's slight stature and build landed him his nickname. In sharp contrast to Yardstick, the crony is a whacking big overweight lug of a heavy. I felt that the villain’s tower-block build would be understood immediately by his larger-than-average shoe size. I was obviously mistaken. Perhaps it would be simpler to just up shoe size thirteen to... (?), before he becomes fully visual.
Yes, indeed, Yardstick is being hotly chased.
Pitchpatch's train of thought gave me food for thought. Considering that since Yardstick is already seen active in the first visual of the sequence with no sound cue beforehand, could it then not follow that featherweight Yardstick's tread is cotton wool, no matter what his condition?
Puffed out, the humongous henchman slows, feeling himself cumbersome, heavier-footed, hence 'laboured' thud. As much as I like ‘laboured,’ I would happily reconsider in favour of a wiser, compatible alternative.
Re: Acronym/s in dialogue
I pray this doesn't become a screenwriting habit, but again I failed to clarify how the problematic situation arose. During online screenwriting research: 'No acronyms in dialogue.' (Vera says ECT twice in the same scene).
So, then, if that’s the case, for ECT do I write e-c-t or...ect. Whichever, it still appeared an acronym. That’s what the "problem" - now solved, thanks - was at the time.
Re: 3-Act structure vs. 4-Act structure
The idea of four-act structure is certainly appears more appealing than the three act. IMO.
We all know the need for act breaks in theatre, but I had no idea act breaks stretched to their inclusion in screenplays, let alone the importance of them, other than facilitate ad breaks. Keeping within the realms of any recognised act format might have proved difficult for me anyway.
When I resume work on the rewrite of my current screenplay spec script draft, I have a mind to focus primarily on plot and story for my opening pages, before the anxiety of conforming to vital structure.
If Aristotle invented three-act structure, who devised four-act, and when? Are both paradigms acceptable in the movie world?
+++++++
Still a newbie to forums, I remain unfamiliar with protocol, jargon, abbreviations, etc. Nevertheless, a couple of handy ones I have learnt through this screenwriting forum: IMO, BTW. But there are one or two I cannot decipher - my own interpretation could be totally wrong (daft, embarrassing even) - for example “PM”? I do, however, look forward to picking up more useful short forms as I bob up and down on board this forum’s ghost ship, hopefully not all alone - so easily spooked..
We have a tendency - could be genetic - to rise up from mildly unpleasant or horrific life experiences, with effortless buoyancy, when youth prevails - water off a duck’s back, moving on… and on and on and on, all the time in the world to fix hangovers from the past. But, further down the line, it can become more a case of heave yourself up, before a fleck of dust can settle, march on, head held high, until again someone knocks the wind out of your sails, floors you flat out on your face.
Just received an annual subscription reminder from my writers’ organisation.
Not long before I came across this screenwriting forum, I was in need of help. Where in the slug to place the name of a new city? No writers in my circle, who better to turn to than an ally, the writers’ organisation to which I belong. Left my first ten pages to ring them. I found myself the Petitioner in Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s The 55 Dramatic Situations, pg. 103.
FIVE MINUTES INTO MY “MAYDAY” TELEPHONE CALL:
POWER IN AUTHORITY: (V.O.) Does it have to be a different city?
PETITIONER: As I’ve already explained, the protagonist’s life depends on it. He doesn’t want to die. Can you tell me where in the master scene heading to put the name of the new city, please?
POWER IN AUTHORITY: (V.O.) It doesn’t have to be a different city.
PETITIONER: (staying calm) His life’s at stake. He has no choice but to flee.
POWER IN AUTHORITY: (V.O.) Not easy for you.
PETITIONER: Allow me to worry about that. I don’t mind a challenge. Can you please answer the question for my first ten pages, which you must know are crucial to get right?
POWER IN AUTHORITY: (V.O.) You’re making it difficult.
PETITIONER: (biting tongue) I can handle it. Are you interested in writing,at all?
POWER IN AUTHORITY: (silence)……………….
PETITIONER: Are you there?
POWER IN AUTHORITY: (silence)
POWER IN AUTHORITY: (V.O.) (suddenly) Be quick, I have people to contact!
PETITIONER: (feeling less than human) You’ve changed the subject. No disrespect, but I don’t think you’re being very helpful.
POWER IN AUTHORITY: (V.O.) I’m trying to help.
PETITIONER: I’m sorry, but I don’t think that you are. I don’t sense you on my side. I really have to press on - I still have to research the place that my main character is running to, but first I need to sort out where in the slug to put the new city name, his preferred place to escape to and for his own motives - I do know the city name sits within a parenthetical. I called you because there is no-one else to help fill in the rest, and I don’t want to get it wrong, my punctuation might let me down as it is.
POWER IN AUTHORITY: You can’t write about a place you’ve never been to.
PETITIONER: I’m going to ring off now, before you upset me further. Goodbye. (hangs up)
*The above is how the awful “finger wagging ‘no-no’” spewed forth from the raw tip of my virgin-to-screenwriting-criteria-research lingua, which phrase I declare will no longer be used, especially as the reminder only serves to punch me in the face again.
Nevertheless, the recollection of, now renounced, FWNN, still beggars belief. I was itching to get back to my rewrite, before making that call. Now, as my current lot of research draws to a close, days, days, days, even more days have passed since I left my first ten pages to call “Power In Authority”, who felled me. Shortly after the call, the letterbox creaked as it gave way to their annual subscription reminder.
I’m still scraping myself off the floor like some cartoon character flattened by goliath force - splattered across every white space on the pages of my first ‘ten’ pages, if not the whole script - block-black the lot.
Sorry to end on a blue note. I’m not wallowing in self-pity - never been one to let life’s downs pull me in the same negative direction…well, maybe not for more than five, ten seconds.
But, seriously, I do know the dread that I have to overcome when I return to continue my screenplay rewrite, the first few pages, in particular writing the new city name in the slug - it will all come back to haunt me, this “Petitioner”: can there be a dry eye left in the house? LOL. (Hope it stands for what I think it might.).
Left none the wiser, I had to make an educated guess regarding the slug and placement of the new city name, so I need to ask, is “LOL” correctly placed? Or should it be: “Can there be a dry eye left in the house, LOL.”?..smiley face. I don’t know how to produce one.
Best,
infamous
Quill flow…
Before the character journey, comes the writer’s journey - yours, mine, be it good, bad or so-so. As we write, strive to write, the quill flows, forever traversing the wordsmith’s treacherous terrain, turning every rock thrown into a stepping stone, crossing every rejection in every optimistic stride, until again the unforeseeeable crashes you to lie - mighty quill force-wrung dry.
Intrepidmouse aka Infamous
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