Nigh Journal

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Clarity & ‘The Box’

Hmmn? Oh yeah, I supposedly write a blog, don’t I. It’s been a very hectic few weeks that’s seen me trying to stretch my puny brainstem around several script projects simultaneously without getting them muddled up. As such, this post is really about two things but I’m going to try and be clever and blend the two together. Fingers crossed.

An upcoming film I’m really looking forward to is Richard Kelly’s ‘The Box‘ in which James Marsden and Cameron Diaz are given a mysterious box with a button on it. If they press the button, they’ll receive one million dollars but someone they don’t know will die. The couple spend the film trying to find out who gave them the box whilst dealing with the temptation. 

Sounds kinda hokey? Well, yeah. And it probably won’t surprise you that this is based on short story by Richard Matheson (who wrote ‘I Am Legend’ - the excellent book not the film) and has already been adapted before into an episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’. Want to see the trailer?

Did you watch? Whether you did or not probably depends on what you thought of the pitch above. Even if you think it sounds crap, you can’t deny that that premise is clear. The movie poster’s tagline of ‘Could you end a strangers life…to change your own?‘ pretty much sums up the thematic question. And for the writer-director of the barmy Donnie Darko and the chaotic Southland Tales to be so clear in his storytelling shows he has perhaps learned a lesson. 

Something I badly need to learn too. The reason the last few weeks have been a bit of hard time is, while all of the projects I’ve been writing have had cool scenes, interesting characters and some nice visuals, I couldn’t really sell them to you. And by that, I mean tell you what the hell actually happens. In particular, a feature film idea of my own and a short film idea of the director have been causing strife.

Both ideas have seen me trying to take vast collections of cool shots, fancy notions and story fragments and lasso them together with a nice catchy plot. But my lasso keeps snapping

If you find this happening, try going back to the beginning. Sum your story up in three sentences. Beginning, Middle and End. Then when I’ve done that, I try and sum up my idea in six sentences (to expand the middle bit) by answering these questions:

These might sound awfully simplistic, but honestly, I’ve been tearing my hair out so it’s good to go back and make sure you’ve got a firm grasp of what you’re actually trying to do. I wrote back in June about working with directors so think it’s always good to get your collaboraters (directors, producers, co-writers etc) to do the same experiment. It’s always interesting when you start comparing your answers!

So the point is, I’ve been struggling with some messy plots and am looking forward to seeing ‘The Box’. All clear? Lovely