Josh and I have been writing screenplays since I started taking film classes in 1999 – we’d work on my homework together. Before this time, the short films we would do were always on the fly. “Now say – ‘You will die like dogs.’” Basically just kids recording their play time on video.
We starting writing features when I graduated in 2004. Over the last 7 years, we’ve learned a lot about screenwriting and have picked up many tips and tricks. But one of the best things we ever did to improve our craft and our output was to join a Writers Group.
At first we weren’t too keen on the idea of paying to be in a group of people who we didn’t know and weren’t too sure of their “ability.” What if we were the smartest people in the room? (We screenwriters can be so naively arrogant.)
But after our first meeting, we were hooked.
The way our group works is this: every week one member of the group brings in a project they are working on. It can be a full screenplay or only a partial. It can be a treatment, an outline, a TV pilot, a pitch, etc… We assign characters to the room and then read the script aloud. Afterwards, we spend about an hour giving feedback and spit-balling ideas on where to go.
And I’m not talking about the “that was good” or “I didn’t like it” kind of feedback but really helpful and constructive tips on how to improve your writing. These people speak the language of cinema.
We’ve brought in our script 4 times over the last 7 months. The first time was the first act, then the first half, then the first two acts, and just recently we brought in a complete draft. (To call it a first draft is inaccurate since we’ve rewritten 50% of the script about 30 times.)
The benefits of joining a group are huge.
1. Honest feedback
Your Mom and your spouse love you too much to tell you that your work is anything but brilliant. If we listened to them, our latest script would have been sent out to the town with only the first ten pages written because it was SO brilliant that no one needs to read more than that. They’d pay us to finish it. Uh huh. Moms and Spouses can be naive too. But we love them for it. We need someone in our lives who makes us feel like we are brilliant.
Your friends have too much at stake to tell you the honest truth. I try to give honest feedback when a friend passes me his screenplay but it is really hard. I don’t want to hurt their feelings.
A writers group provides you with a room full of strangers to tell you the truth. They have nothing to lose by telling you how terrible your script is. (Though our group is very nice about it.)
2. Deadlines!
Every 10 weeks, we have to schedule when our next reading will be. Because we don’t want to waste the time of these people we’re in the room with or waste our own money, we want to bring in something drastically improved. Having a deadline and incentive to improve does wonders to keep us writing.
3. Guidance
I couldn’t imagine trying to get something “industry ready” without honest feedback from people who know what industry ready IS. We’re usually way to close to a project to look at it objectively. A writers group full of professional writers (or hopeful writers who have been doing it for years and years) is a sure way of double checking your work. They make you ask the hard questions. Is this the best that it could be? Because if it is not, no one will notice you or your script. The odds of selling a spec are tremendously against us. I don’t want make it harder by sending out a mediocre screenplay.
4. Overall improvement
Every week, we hear screenplays and then listen as 10-15 writers give their thoughts on what worked and what didn’t. THIS IS SO VALUABLE! I can’t stress enough how much we learn by listening to these writers talk about how to fix a problem with the structure, characters, dialogue, etc… It is so true what they say about who you surround yourself with. It rubs off.
It is also incredibly valuable to share our own ideas in the group. This can be incredibly intimidating. What if it’s a crappy idea? So what. We hope to write for TV one day. We’ll have to get used to quickly throwing ideas into the pot. Bad ideas can lead to good ideas.
Looking at someone else’s script that has problems and trying to solve those problems helps us to improve our own problem solving skills and use that in our own scripts.
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I highly recommend joining a Writers Group. It will cost you money. But it is incredibly worth it. Make sure it has a mentor leading the group – you don’t want the loudest person in the room to dominate. Having a mentor/leader keeps everything on the right track. Our mentor has been in the business for over 30 years and is incredibly smart and talented. Make sure to sit in on a group before you pay the money so you know what you are getting. If you ARE the smartest person in the room, find another group.
Join a group!
And – Put your BUTT in the SEAT and start writing. EVERY DAY. Check out the post I wrote on this subject last year around this time. It sure paid off. We’re nearing a completed script that is almost “industry ready.”
It’s a New Year and a time for a New Direction.
Josh and I are getting ready to launch a brand new film review blog aimed at those of you who have precious little time in your lives and don’t want to waste it on “bad” movies. We want to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming list of movies you “should” watch by pairing it down into lists of those you’ll enjoy, those you’ll learn from, and those you’ll probably be bored with.
Stay tuned for more news on that.
As for Dawsbrothers.com, we’ll keep it around to be more of a personal blog about our experiences pursuing this crazy dream in this crazy city. We spent six weeks back in Georgia for the holidays. Boy, is life in the south different from life in Los Angeles. I had almost forgotten.
But we’re back in L.A. now and bound to have many more ADVENTURES in 2011. Stay tuned!
Recently, Josh (my brother and writing partner) and I took Josh’s son to a science museum in Los Angeles. As we walked around I noticed something very interesting. Josh gravitated to the science exhibits and I was completely bored. When we came to historical exhibits, I was enthralled and Josh wasn’t terribly interested.
This reminded me of our writing process. Josh is more interested in the nuts and bolts of how our story works (the plot) while I’m more interested in the moments in time that our hero is experiencing and his emotional reaction. It’s weird how that worked out.
We compliment each others’ strengths. It makes for a perfect partnership. If you are looking for a writing partner, make sure he or she is a good fit. I love the fact that where I’m weak as a writer, Josh is strong. And vice versa.
For me one of the highlights of TCM’s first annual Classic Film Festival was the premiere of the extensively restored version of Fritz Lang’s 1927 Masterpiece. Now you get to see why, because the same restoration will be airing this Sunday, November 7th at 5PM (PST). Metropolis is an iconic example of German expressionism and really shows the misunderstood genre off to its best. The use of extreme (and sometimes surreal) set design relies upon black and white cinematography to show it off in a way that color just can’t, and the marriage between the two elements here is nothing short of stunning. The visuals alone are worthy of viewing in absolute silence.
Set in the future, the story revolves around a society where there exists only the extremely privileged and the over wrought working class that maintains the city. The some-what Romeo and Juliet story tells a good love story, while offering a virtual treaty on the state of humanity and man’s ill treatment of his fellow man. In general, Metropolis will give you an appreciation for the art of the silent film drama, and entertain you in a way you did think possible. Don’t be surprised if after viewing this gem you start watching more and more of the great Silents (which happen to be on TCM every Sunday night).
This Sunday, TCM is spending a good part of the day focusing on the many comedies of Alec Guinness. That’s right. In case you don’t already know it, Alec Guinness made quite a few comedic films in his day, and most of them are down right brilliant.
My favorite among the lot showing at 5:00PM PST (8:00PM EST) is “Kind Hearts and Coronets”. It’s the story of an ambitious young man around the turn of the century in England who sets out to kill everyone who stands between him and a family fortune.
In this case Alec Guinness plays every single one of those family members, including the female. One might think it a challenge to portray so many distinct personalities, but sir Alec does it with ease and is truly hysterical in the process.
If you don’t know Alec Guinness as a comedian than this is the day for you to sit in front of the TV and let TCM show you what you’ve been missing.
Number 88 on the AFI Top 100 list is Howard Hawks’ screwball comedy, Bringing Up Baby.
TCM.com gives this synopsis:
A madcap heiress upsets the staid existence of a straitlaced scientist.
I have a confession to make. I hate watching Bringing Up Baby. In 5 minute chunks, I can take it. It is a beautifully crafted comedy – probably one of the best ever written – but it exhausts me. That’s why it has been so long since my last AFI Top 100 blog post. I just couldn’t bring myself to watch it again.
Howard Hawks even said that the movie had a fatal flaw that hurt it in the box office – there are no sane characters in the movie. I whole-heartedly agree. I love screwball comedies but Bringing Up Baby for me turns into white noise of zaniness and the jokes lose their effectiveness.
Don’t get me wrong – I laughed out loud several times while re-watching this film. But just like in What About Bob?, I just get so annoyed at the catalyst character. But with all my complaints, I still believe the film deserves to be on the top 100 list. It is a part of cinema history and you all should see it.
Take particular note in the direction and cutting. Hawks let the actors play the comedy and rarely used a cut to emphasize a joke. Wider shots and longer takes…
The Peter Bogdanovich commentary on the 2-Disc DVD release of the film is especially good. Be sure to give it a listen. And rent Bogdanovich’s film, What’s Up Doc? which is a loving homage to Bringing Up Baby. He admittedly stole a major portion of the film.
What did you think of Bringing Up Baby?
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
Helen Keller
I saw The Social Network over the weekend.
Go see it.
Trust me. Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher have crafted a great film.
It works on two levels.
1) It’s a cool nostalgic look back at my college years. I remember when my friend Dan Grillet told me about this thing like Myspace but only Georgia State University students can access it. I thought it was kinda cool but it wasn’t until a few years later when Facebook had dropped the exclusivity that I actually started using my account. (It is so much easier to stalk people now.)
2) It fits in alongside films like The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Wall Street. You know the type of films I mean. The ones that make you wish you were more cocky, smart, out-going, ruthless, cunning, rich, etc… but by the end of the movie, you’re thankful that you aren’t any of those things and just glad to be you because all of those things end really badly for the main characters. (I love those kinds of films.)
There are so many stand-out elements in this film that I can’t even mention them all. But I have to mention the writing. Oh, the writing!
Plus, there are some powerful actors in this film. All young. Hearing Sorkin’s dialogue delivered by Timberlake, Garfield, and Eisenberg was a delight.
Regardless of how true the story really is, I think it captures the spirit of what happened. The legend. And that’s good enough for me.
Go see it. Now!
I wanted to bring your attention to a filmmaker who I just recently discovered. I don’t know how I missed him in all my years in film school. His name is William Castle (pictured above left.) He’s the poor man’s Alfred Hitchcock and he’s made some classic horror films.
Check out what TCM.com says about him -
Eccentric director of routine low-budget horror films, with a flair for self-promotion. Castle’s standout efforts include the B thriller, “When Strangers Marry” (1944), with Robert Mitchum in his first important role and the camp gem, “House on Haunted Hill” (1958). Like latter day P.T Barnum, upon whom he modeled himself, Castle lured audiences to his chillers by appearing in their trailers and psyching the audience up to be scared. Most of his films included outrageous gimmicks such as an insurance policy against death by fright for “Macabre” (1957), skeletons that whistled over the audience in a process called “Emergo” during critical scenes in “House on Haunted Hill” and his most audacious stunt, “Percepto” which literally shocked the audience by wiring selected seats in the theater with electricity and administering mild jolts during moments in “The Tingler” (1959). Castle is also noted as the producer of the psychological thriller, “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968).
Look him up on Netflix and add all of his films. The only ones I’ve seen so far are The Tingler, Homicidal and Mr. Sardonicus.
When I was a kid, my mother (of all people) made us watch Mr. Sardonicus. She said she remembered it from when she was a kid – it gave her nightmares for years.
I guess she wanted to pass on the tradition.
This past week, I listened to the audio book of Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up. The audio book also happens to be READ by Steve Martin.
Born Standing Up is Steve Martin’s recounting of his stand-up days and it is both heartbreaking and inspiring. In the book, he tells his journey from working at Disneyland’s magic shop all the way up until he was in his first film, The Jerk. He explains why he ultimately turned his back on stand-up forever – the very thing that made him a star.
What surprised me was his intelligence. I know that sounds awful but one doesn’t think of comedians as being cultured and extremely literate. But Steve Martin is both and that comes through in his insightful writing.
He’s also a true professional. His dedication to his craft is incredibly inspiring. He put his all into becoming one of the funniest people of all time and once he had achieved that – he walked away.
My biggest take-away from the book was Steve’s obsession with originality. He firmly believed being original was the ONLY way he’d stand out.
We must have that same obsession. Josh and I have already started implementing that in our screenwriting. If a scene feels familiar to other films, we cut it and start over (unless we did it on purpose as an homage to a classic film.)
I highly recommend you LISTEN to the audio book. Hearing Steve Martin tell these stories from his own mouth is priceless.
If you are at all interested in stand up comedy or studying how one professional became a professional, stop what you are doing and order it. You won’t regret it. I’m tempted to turn around and listen to it again right now.
Here’s a link to order it on Amazon. Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life
