BUT FOR HOW LONG?
As far as length, the goal was fifteen to twenty minutes. A very convenient coincidence is that, as a rule, you can expect one page of script to equal one minute of film. By the time I felt I'd covered everything of value in the treatment, the draft was twenty-nine pages long.
This is great because now I can trim and tighten it, rather then rack my brains for additional content to jam into what is already there. This isn't to say that no new content will go into the next draft, but it's nice to know there isn't a metaphorical gun to my head. Though some people fall so in love with their words that they have trouble removing anything, I guess I've reached that point of humility where - if it improves the story - I can quite happily cut out anything. Besides, truly good lines can always be chucked into a bucket for some other, future project.
Another nice thing about working on later drafts is that now I have all the different scenes and sequences fleshed out in greater detail than a scribbling in my notebook, wedged in-between "Find a dentist" and "Find precious context for Metro Gnomes", I can play with the order of events a lot easier. "Logically" it should be the opposite, since now the scenes are seemingly entangled with one another by various transitions and various devices that rely on a certain scene or shot following another. But I just find it too abstract to label a bunch of index cards and then swirl them around on my desk, as Syd Field strongly suggests in his book.
That was a segway, people. I'm a WRITER, DAMMIT.
SFL: Oliver Finally Gets to Yelling About the Syd Field Book
Finishing this book became a bit difficult near the last third or so. Frankly, I just feel that if I'm having to draw upon pure willpower to propel me along the pages then maybe I should be reading something else? But ah, I had spent money for these words.
Upon finishing it I still felt a tad ambivalent, but I made a point of pausing to really think about why. I'm generally a very pragmatic person who prefers to have a clear structure to work through any given process - even if I'd just strung the structure together but a minute prior. Yet when it comes to that which I proclaim to be my main talent, writing, I really object to their being anything resembling a ten step IKEA assembly guide for people to follow. If everyone could write then what in the bejesus am I worth? What could I possibly do to save myself from a never ending, sisyphean series of jobs performing rote office work with no reward other than cash?
It's classic insecurity, as alarming as it is implausible.
So okay, maybe there is that part of me that wants the writing process to be special, unique and to generally be fuelled by a mysterious alchemy of pixie dust and unicorn farts. But I think there is a legitimate critique or two, as well as some praise to be lavished.
The entire book is written as if you are being privately tutored by Syd, sitting in comfortable chairs and having no great rush to go anywhere else. It's a relaxing tone, but it can sometimes make it hard to take him seriously. This is particularly because he often flips between saying "There is no one way to do X" and "This is the right way to do X" but "You gotta work out your own way to write" yet "This is how you write if you want your script to get made".
I guess those who want to simply write scripts and then put them on the shelf, would be okay with that last one. I have, of course, yet to meet anyone of that nature.
He also has some turns of phrase, the implications of which I find perturbing. The one I'll use for an example is when he cites a scene in Magnolia where Tom Cruise's character has a heartfelt, cathartic moment with his father - who lay dying of cancer. He says that in that scene Tom Cruise completes the relationship (between him and his father). I realize that I have a knack for semantics at times, but how do you complete your relationship with anyone? Is that the goal, then?Yes, you could very well say that Cruise's character does finally address numerous issues of trust and frustration with his father in reaction to the events of their lives which preceded that moment. But after his father is in the ground, is his relationship to his father over? Would he not still think of him, allow his interactions with him to influence his own behavior from time to time? You could also choose to say that this scene brings a conclusion to the story being told within the film (Cruise barely shows up after this scene, as I recall). But that's now how Field chooses to put it and he repeats the phrase too many times for it to have been a fluke choice of words. Thus we come to my other irritation that I could feel at the back of my neck while reading this guide, Syd's frequent mixture of script and life knowledge can often come across as his preaching not only how to write but how to interpret life itself.
Maybe if I had a religious bone in my body, I'd not be so bothered by that. Ah well! Enough with the moaning, already. The book had some good parts too!
One is that instead of referring to dozens and dozens of films, Syd sticks to roughly the same eight pictures which anyone has a decent chance of having watched. This provides an enjoyable sense of continuity between the different chapters and lessons, making it easier to see how one technique leads into the next. He also makes use of just the right amount of specific film terminology to instruct while not obscuring the lesson with incomprehensible jargon. Thus the book is what it should be, something that anyone can read and understand.
One thing I personally found useful was how he stressed the differences between writing a novel and writing a script. One thing that amateur script writers, including myself, often do is write very dense and colorful scene descriptions which help create a mood but are not strictly necessary. Writing a script, it is tempting to flesh out every detail because in your mind you see a complete movie - not just words on a page. But, unless you actually are taking on multiple job titles, it's vital to remember that Set Designers design the settings, Directors will dictate what facial expressions the Actors should aim for and even then it is often left to the Actors to decide how to express an emotion. Similarly, Syd Field points out a lesson that I learned a couple of years ago but which I still did need to learn - use camera directions sparingly.
As a director it can be really annoying to read through a script and feel that the writer is telling you precisely how to shoot everything. It is, basically, telling the director that he doesn't know how to do his job or that his interpretation of the work is not wanted. True, while writing you will sometimes feel that there has to be some direction for the director in order to get the feeling you want. This is why Syd Field gives a very handy bit of advice in that you should be a bit vague and at least avoid specific shot terminology.
An example from the draft which I just finished is where I have a bead of sweat roll off the main character's chin and then land along the dotted line of a contract which is being offered to him. This is the absolute last image of the script and so I wanted to make sure that MySpace Man at least had a higher probability of interpreting it precisely as I had written it. Yet it would have been obnoxious to write something like....
--------------
HIGH ANGLE, MEDIUM SHOT
A bead of sweat begins to roll off Eric's chin.
CLOSE UP
The bead of sweat falls through the air...
EXT. CLOSE UP
...and stains the contract, right on the dotted line.
---------------
It's backseat driving, is what it is. So instead I just put in one shot direction and put it this way.
---------------
Eyes wide, Eric looks back at the contract. A single drop of sweat rolls off his chin and
falls
ANGLE ON CONTRACT
---------------
By putting the word "falls" as I did, I'd like to think it leads the reader to a similar focus on the bead of sweat passing through the air as if I had put a specific shot direction. The one shot direction I did give still allows a lot of leeway. WHAT angle on the contract? How tight is the focus? These are questions I've left for MySpace Man to answer as he sees fit.
So in the end, I'd say that the Syd Field book is worth reading but perhaps not worth buying. I also would heavily suggest that if you want to take a stab at scriptwriting, then try writing a short script or two BEFORE you pick up any guide whatsoever. This will help you to get an idea of how you want to envisage stories, thus when you pick up this guide or any other then you will be able to pick and choose what advice you feel helps develop your own style - instead of just taking their template and using it as your own.
Meanwhile!
*Check out Scroobius Pip's MySpace page, where you can hear four other tracks by him. The man is basically a beat poet with an appreciation for both freestyle jazz and hip-hop. You can download the MP3 from the video I posted here. If nothing else, I recommend hitting the first link and listening to "1000 Words", which I myself have just finished looping for the eighth time.
*This all reminds me of a thought I had while out at a "rock show" in south Islington, Friday night. As the young band finished their set and said their goodbyes to the crowd, they plugged their MySpace page. I thought to myself "There will come a time when kids at shows will wonder what it was like before bands plugged their web pages". At the tender age of twenty-four I seem determined to feel out of sync with youth culture before I get my first wrinkle or grey hair.
*Oh and I didn't end up doing that Zombie walk thing. Why? Because when I got the route map emailed to me, I realized the whole thing would consist of maybe twenty minutes walking....followed by sitting in a chain pub, drinking the day away. Call me crazy, but it struck me as a tad lame. I was hoping for at least an hour and a real trek across the City, not a short walk across the Thames into a Soho pub. Sorry to disappoint!
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