Yours or Mine and Originality.
Yours or mine? That’s the question. Whose version is it going to be yours or mine?
You rightly ask, “In what context?” And that is indeed part of the abstraction behind the question. A few days ago I happened to see something posted on social media which prompted this train of thought.
Everyone is a critic and everyone is all too eager to interpret other people’s work. In the case of a professional critic it is their province. I am not a critic, but I am a teacher and I bring up the joke in the image, because first, it’s funny, and mostly because of its relevance to what we as writers do. Screenwriters write film scripts. So beware, because no doubt there are always many people ready to tell you what your script is about. Take my advice; do not show your work to all your friends, your significant other is perhaps inevitable, but your mother, your janitor, who happens to ‘love movies’ or whoever. Why, because you will get lost! Everyone will have a different opinion and if at all you want opinions, you want them from only those who know what they are talking about, i.e. experienced screenwriters, filmmakers, people who know their stuff.
On the other hand, you can never forget that filmmaking, more than almost any other medium, except theatre, which is close, is a collaborative endeavor. So by default you will be exposed to the opinions of your producer and or director. Hopefully they will be like minded people who have the same sensibility as you. And you will welcome those opinions. But now imagine another scenario, your sitting across the table from your producer or the person who is going to direct from the script you wrote, and, they may be saying things like: “Well here you really mean to be saying…dot, dot. “ Or, really mind boggling, your producer might say … “wait a minute what if we make so and so (your lead character) Chinese?” Darn, you know so well that your story, YOUR story, needs the character to be African-American (or whatever he or she is) because that’s what your story, YOUR story calls for, in order for the whole dynamic to work. Your producer however, could be thinking purely demographics, the change he or she thinks would reach a larger audience, ergo make more money. Yes you might find yourself listening and wondering if they are in fact reading your script or in erro, someone else’s! So if you don’t know very clearly why your character needs to be African-American for the story to work, or, needs to say such and such, the character might as well be Chinese and be saying anything.
The only protection you really have is to write a script that has a clear well thought-out progression and clearly defined visual and emotional logic. Then it won’t be hard for you to defend your choice. To quote my husband Irv, “If you can’t define your work, you can’t defend your work.”
What I am getting at is that you must write your story so that everything flows. So your choices are so clear, so germane, that the reader buys into your story without question, enjoying the ride all the way. This is why you need to be working your screenwriting muscles regularly. Be specific in your choices. Question your logic as you go along. Read your work over at intervals as you go along. Don’t wait to write the whole script and then read it and question it. If one day while writing and know you’re on a roll, it may be a roll that has pulled you away from the core of your story. Practice and experience. And knowing your craft. Essential. Like with everything from mountain-climbing, playing the violin, or cooking.
Speaking of work and working, for the last few weeks one of the students I’ve been working with happens to be a return student. Since there is already some familiarity, we’re doing the basic ten sessions at a more gritty, demanding level. It’s a lot of fun for both of us! However I see again and again, how hard it is for beginning screenwriters to NOT be derivative. To not try to write something that is like every movie ever made. It takes digging into yourself and your imagination to find your own voice, your own individuality. But dig you must. It taks time and also exposure to a lot of films, good and bad. Immersing yourself. So just keeping working at it. That is the way you will eventually bring originality to your work. And the Cannes Festval is less than a month away bringing us more films with hopefully original ideas to stimulate us and stir our emotions.
Being original is what brings me to tell you about a film I just saw. When a film stands out as particularly relevant from the writing point of view, I want to share my insights with you. The film I saw was Birds of Passage. What a terrific film. It’s a well-worn story. Drug trafficking. Columbian. Probably about Pablo Escobar, though I haven’t see that mentioned anywhere. So what, right? Another narco-thriller! No, not so. The filmmakers tell the story from a uniquely original point of view. They make an exhilarating and most unusual choice that takes the audience on a journey to another world. It is also incredibly visual. And no, it’s not all psychedelic and trippy.
It is a story rooted in the Wayuu tribe. Their rituals and customs, their tribal hierarchy, their spiritual beliefs, how the spirits of their ancestors (all of ours really) are a thread to our present. It a giddy visual feast, a mind opening exploration of ourselves through this remote culture. All the while telling a story that’s been told and retold in countless versions. And yes there is violence. But again you experience what is behind it from an altogether different perspective. If you haven’t seen it, go go go and see it. Preferably in a darkened theater. Always my preference. And even if you don’t manage to see it, hopefully you are already thinking in different more original ways.
In closing, this is worth a mention. Recently there was a piece I read in Screen International that said Netflix aims to employ 20,000 people including extras and freelance crew, in Spain alone, making it one of the industry’s biggest employers. Not that I am in favor of mega companies but I am in favor of writers getting work.
Currently the Writers Guild of America East and West Coast has 13,000 members. But considering that in the changing landscape of media and streaming there’s a whole world of opportunity out there, that is going to need more and more writers! Good content is in demand. Hone your craft, sharpen your skills and improve your chances of making a living as a screenwriter. Wouldn’t that be nice!
In the same context, there’s the Guild strike in Hollywood. Although at this point it may be relevant to only a few of you, you should read about it. Knowing all aspects of the world you aspire to participate in is a good thing.
One thing you must always, always remember…you stand out as a writer, a story-teller, because of what you, bring to it, how you, choose to tell your story, and how skilled you are, at telling it.
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See you next time!