Developing A Screenplay | The Athletic Nerd

Screenwriting In A Pool

WRITING A NEW SHORT FILM REQUIRES
A CHANGE OF SCENERY

I came up with an idea for a new screenplay during a particularly strong rain storm. Essentially, I was looking out my window 32 stories above the ground and it hit me. A single image that spawned a story that could only be told in animated form.

By the time I snapped out of my day dream, I had a new short film concept, a main location and a couple unique characters. I’m now writing what I hope will be an imaginative and entertaining cartoon.

Since a lot of the film takes place underwater, I decided to work on the story in my building’s pool. During the day, the pool is normally empty which is pretty amazing. I love having a giant pool to myself for 45 minutes each afternoon. I begin by swimming laps then I spend some time treading water. Finally, I simply float.

I’ve been using my floating time to work out the new story. It’s not everyday you can literally immerse yourself in the development process. Diving underwater and listening to the quiet sounds of the pool is pretty inspiring considering how pumped I am to write this story.

Sometimes, a specific screenplay demands a different routine. Normally, I do my development work at home or on my iPhone while I’m on the bus. Heading down to the pool was a fantastic idea. I now look forward to my daily swimming adventures even more. Once I finish writing this cartoon, I think I’ll return to the pool again and again to think about my next idea.

What’s the strangest place you’ve ever worked on a screenplay?

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Screenwriting: My Main Character Isn’t Very Good… Yet

December 9th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Screenwriting - (2 Comments)

Since I finished my last feature length screenplay, I’ve been working furiously on my new creation.

The story is heavy on the action but loaded with issues that I’m really excited to explore.

The previous sentence is about as general as it gets but the tale is still in the infant stage.

I still have a lot of work to do.

Step One: Killer Concept

I’m confident in the premise of this new script.

Your story is doomed if you don’t believe in it right away. If you’re going to invest months and months of work into an idea it has to at least inspire you.

You should wake up every morning thinking about all the ways to deliver something unique and entertaining.

I’m beyond pumped about my new project. The concept takes the superhero genre and flips it upside down. (Literally actually)

I’m not going to get too far in to it but needless to say, I believe in this concept with all my heart.

Step Two: The Main Character(s)

I’m not as confident when it comes to the man who will drive my story.

I’m extremely proud of the world I’ve created around him and his back story/motivation is something I’ve never seen before.

But he’s flat. He has no personality yet.

There is a big difference between knowing their a character’s past and knowing how it makes them feel.

I still have to get to know this guy.

What’s he like?
What makes him happy?
What angers him?
What makes him tick?
What inspires him?

I find it interesting to think about what inspires my characters. It usually brings out some interesting traits.

I’m not there yet with ‘Evan’.

Even that name is boring. I can do better than that!

The other day I was actually considering writing a scene or two. I could have written a fight scene or a chase but those have to be motivated by character.

You can’t do that if you don’t know who your characters are.

It has to MATTER to someone in the story.

I’m determined to make every single decision with character in mind. My favorite action stories involve fascinating main characters.

My main character will be better. It has to be better. I won’t stop until it’s better.

Back to work.

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17 West Short Film Story Meeting

September 8th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in 17 West | Filmmaking | Producing | Screenwriting - (0 Comments)

There is nothing more exciting to me than developing a new story to be crafted into a screenplay.

New projects are always exciting as they challenge you to evolve as a screenwriter. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this new project is NOT my idea. Normally, I’m used to coming up with a concept and developing it myself.

This time, it’s Producer/Director Eric’s concept.

So we got together and spent a lot of time working out what the story should be. Eric already had a rough outline done so we focused mostly on details. This is my favorite part of developing a story. It’s the time when you really work out what the world will be like, who the characters are and the overall style of the movie.

I’m extremely happy with the results. This new tale we are developing is certainly ambitious but what excites me is that I’ll be writing in a genre I’ve never attempted before. It’s a completely different type of story than I’m used to which makes it equal parts intimidating and fun.

The idea is to chip away at the script throughout the next few months and hopefully have a workable draft by the end of the year.

It will be one of 3 projects we are developing in addition to Strings which we are co-producing.

From there it’s all about planning, scheduling and budgeting.

To quote one of my favorite movies:

“The board is set. The pieces are moving.”

I’m loving our new direction of planning for multiple projects. We don’t have any solid plans to shoot anything soon but that doesn’t mean we can’t put in the work.

At the end of the day, it’s all about creating entertaining films that people will enjoy. You won’t get anywhere unless you put in the effort and meetings like today are a part of that dedication.

It also helps that I love movies, screenwriting and independent film.

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Story Mondays

June 8th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in 17 West | Filmmaking | Producing - (0 Comments)

I run 17 West Productions with my business partner and fellow director (better director I might add) Eric.

When we wrapped The Climb, it became clear that we would have to change our approach to producing short films. In the past, I would write scripts and every once in a while, we would pick one to be made. However, in the last 2 years, we’ve only produced 3 shorts. Playing Through, Tactics and The Climb. That’s not too bad but only one of them had a substantial budget.

It’s time to expand.

We had a big meeting a few weeks ago to discuss a more efficient way to evolve our company. The answer we came up with is to develop and line up dozens of stories and truly have a slate of shorts waiting to be budgeted and filmed.

We can then schedule and produce them with a set goal in mind.

What’s the goal?

To produce more films and keep increasing our companies awareness. Every small company wants to gain enough credit to gain funding for a feature film. We’ve reorganized with that central goal in mind.

What happens now?

On my end, I’m currently developing 2 new shorts with totally different styles. (I also just finished a new one!)

I try to write as many shorts as possible so that Eric can choose from a variety of stories to direct. Even if he doesn’t spark to the material we can still put the story on the shelf for another day.

At the same time, Eric is developing stories on his own that he can pass to me to write.

We recently added our third and most exciting option:

Story Mondays

We now force ourselves to pitch a concept to each other once a week. It doesn’t need to be a fully developed idea by any stretch, just a good starting point. These ideas are random and usually based on a single aspect or idea.

These stories have already sparked a few solid ideas for future shorts. One of the pitches has even made it to scene by scene descriptions and looks like it may be a fully formed script in the near future.

The point to all this is to always have at least one project that we are actively producing. Right now, we are still involved with the upcoming musical Strings as well as two ambitious projects that Eric will direct. I’m officially liking the direction our company is headed!

What I’m excited about is that we basically launched a story department. A way to continually challenge ourselves to come up with better stories and films.

PS: Yes I call it the Story Department! I don’t care if it’s super nerdy… I really don’t feel bad either…

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Screenwriting In A Pool

WRITING A NEW SHORT FILM REQUIRES
A CHANGE OF SCENERY