Script Deadline Day, Inspiration for Writing

Blog Mar 16/07

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by”
--Douglas Adams

My self-imposed deadline for having the scripts done, March 15th, has come and gone. Are the scripts ready? Nope. But I have started 4 more since the last blog entry, so I’m still, sort of, on track to get to my goal of 12 scripts by March 15th. I have 11 first-draft scripts done.
Did I slack off? Not much, but with a live appearance, our first 30-minute gig, an impending move, a stubborn chest cold… the scripts fell by the wayside. The gig has renewed our interest in doing live shows again, so after we see how San Diego is going, we’re adding a variety show to the list of things to do.
Meanhwile, with the shorts, I’ve had several sources of inspiration in the last couple of weeks. First, I’ve been rewatching my small collection of Laurel & Hardy shorts. Second, I bought a book, DV Rebel’s Guide, by Stu Maschwitz. Third, I’ve been reviewing my favourite videos online, particularly Channels 101 and 102.
The L&H shorts are great, and it’s been instructive to see how they build a gag, top it, top it again, and then build to the next gag, forwarding the plot as they go. If there’s anything that seems dated by today’s standards, it’s the pacing, but comedies even 10 years ago aren’t as fast as they are now, much less those from the 1930’s.
The DV Rebel’s Guide is designed for the no-budget, “action flick” filmmaker, but most of it applies to any no-budget filmmaker. It’s a solid book, and I realize I need to buy AfterEffects given all the enhancements Maschwitz explains you can do to a DV short with AE –there goes the postproduction budget…. I’ve been stumbling through Apple’s Motion lately, but I do have an ancient copy of AE 3.0 I got to know when I first got into video. That AE 3.0 has followed me from my original Mac, an 8600, through my G4 and now in my trusty G5. Good thing I still have Classic mode and didn’t go for a new Mac yet again.
In any event, DV Rebel’s has inspired a space capsule script called “Space” (I’m maintaining our tradition of keeping to one-word titles, although the eventual title will be Miller & Mullet in Space, should it be one of the lucky scripts put into production, so the one-word working title keeps it easy).
The videos I’ve been watching from the wonderful world of the internet are mostly from Channel 101 and Channel 102. From 101, I rewatched the Cosby shorts, Laser Fart, the ‘Bu, Classroom, Yacht Rock, Fire Guys, the 2 Magic Touched Me series, and Ringwald & Molly, plus the various David Hartman shorts (Magick Haus being my favourite).
From 102, I’ve downloaded Gemberling, Cakey, and Jesus Christ Supercop, among others. Channel 102 has a higher rate of attrition than 101, and the shows are much more uneven from month to month –101 is more consistent with 2-3 really good shows each month. Maybe 101 benefits from the concentration of writing/performing talent in L.A., but I’d think that New York could match them in no-budget video. But, if our shorts turn out as well as they do on either 101 or 102, I’ll be happy.
One problem I’ve run into when trying to write is that I just don’t want to, at some level, write for a character that was developed largely through improv and clown techniques. I’ve never mastered memorizing lines, and I usually have flashbacks to horrid French classes where I struggled to conjugate and translate… by trying to memorize.
So, now armed with self-knowledge and some renewed inspiration, I have blocked out some new plots. Despite being behind schedule, I’m only pushing into time I’d set aside for preproduction, which means rewriting.
The weather’s still too unpredictable (and cold) to shoot outdoors, so we’ll likely end up shooting in late April, May, and June. I’ll need July to do post and put the DVD together, which is okay because shooting in July in Toronto means trying to shoot in the hot muggy weather that plagues Great Lake cities in the summer. Our interiors are easy enough to schedule, and I think I recall thinking we should shoot one in March, but Mullet’s still slaving away on the script for issue 2 of the comic book, so it’s probably best that we don’t go until April.
As of last night, I had 11 scripts, all first drafts. For the next 2 weeks, I’ll be writing, rewriting, and polishing (hopefully turds into diamonds, or something like that).