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Screenwriting Inspiration In Photoshop Magazines

February 8th, 2012 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Design | Featured Posts | Screenwriting - (0 Comments)

Screenwriting Inspiration In Photoshop Magazines | Screenplay Blog

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS AN UNLIKELY SOURCE OF INSPIRATION

Every couple months, I pick up a couple new Photoshop Magazines to learn some new tips and techniques.  My absolute favorite is Advanced Photoshop.  Every issue is packed with design inspirations, interviews with passionate artists and incredible images crafted inside Photoshop.

But the latest issue struck a cord for an entirely different reason I did not expect.

Screenwriting Inspiration In Advanced Photoshop Magazine

In an interview with Vasava, founder Bruno Sellés says:

“The thing is, when you do something for the first time you get really excited and you experience lots of fun.  When you do it twice it’s cool because you do it better, though the amount of amusement reduces.  If you repeat this process over and over you really get bored, and you enter the safe zone, where you’re confident although not excited at all.  We like to evolve our styles and techniques in order to get on with every new project.  We don’t like to get stuck in one recognizable style and live in this safe zone.”

It’s an interesting take on design that can easily be applied to screenwriting.

“Writing is a journey into the unknown” (Adaptation 2002)

If you don’t challenge yourself to try new things you will undoubtedly get comfortable and bored.  My new screenplay is different than anything I have ever done because it’s based on deeply personal subject matter.  I find myself constantly second guessing whether I’m making the right choices.  I’m uncomfortable writing it.  It’s interesting that I came across that quote the day I resumed writing after a month away from the script.  It put things into perspective.  I’m supposed to be scared of the unknown.  Working outside of my comfort zone has been both terrifying and liberating at the same time and it’s absolutely normal.

I hope the uneasiness I feel results in a script that’s honest.  There’s a lot of work to be done until the day I type fade out.  I’ve got some emotional hurdles to leap before I get there but that’s all apart of evolving as a screenwriter.

Screenwriting Inspiration In Advanced Photoshop Magazines | Screenplay Blog

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ROUNDERS, Poker, Cribbage & An Emotional Short Screenplay

November 28th, 2011 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Featured Posts | Movies | Previously Viewed | Screenwriting - (0 Comments)

ROUNDERS, Poker & Screenwriting

LISTEN, HERE’S THE THING…

” If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.”

ROUNDERS is THE poker movie.  When I first saw the film, I had never played a real game of Texas Hold’em.  It was late so I busted out a deck of cards and practiced on my own.  A few days later I purchased a set of chips from the dollar store and got a couple games together.  I discovered very quickly that my friends were also discovering poker for the first time and they also LOVED Rounders.

I still remember what it was like when poker exploded onto sports networks everywhere.  For a newly obsessed poker player, it was easy to catch it on television and learn some new tricks… In college, we held tournaments with more than 20 people focused on the 200+ dollar ‘winner take all’ purse.  (In college that pays for 2… maybe 3 entire nights at the bar!)

But…  Here’s the thing.

I SUCK AT POKER…

ROUNDERS, Poker & Screenwriting

I remember one hand specifically in the last ‘big’ tournament before I eventually lost interest.  We were down to the final 5 and I was definitely 5th.  I had a shot to double up with ace king.  I stuck around, bluffing a remarkable hand but I had nothing.  It wasn’t until the river that my ace appeared.  I went all in.  I was already spending that 200 bucks.  The chip leader called my bet and turned over pocket aces.  He was a much better poker player than I was.

He even quoted a famous scene from Rounders as he collected the remainder of my chips…  and dreams…

“So… You hef my maaney?”

All Time Best Movie Character With An Accent

My interest in poker fizzled after I graduated but Rounders is still staple in my annual movie routine.  Any movie that deals with passionate characters inspires me.  I love a good story where someone with talent goes for it.  It’s even more entertaining when the character is up against a villain like Teddy KGB!  Beyond that, I loved Rounders because it was about a game I barely knew and ignited an interest in it’s subject matter.  To me, that is impressive storytelling.

XTRA | All Time Best Movie Character with an Accent

ROUNDERS INSPIRED A SHORT SCREENPLAY

The Athletic Nerd Screenwriting Blog

The idea of taking a game that the main stream didn’t embrace at the time and propelling it into the lime light fascinated me.  I started thinking about games I loved and how I could make them relatable in a story.  I focused on Cribbage.  It’s my family’s GAME.  It’s a game my dad and his father played non stop when Grandpa came to visit.  The two of them had so many epic battles it was impossible not to learn and adore the game.  Skunking someone in my family is like a badge of honor!

“15-2, 15-4, that’s all the rest don’t score”

Not long after a viewing of Rounders, I had written the first draft of a screenplay based on my families love of Cribbage and to this day, it’s one of my favorites.  My grandfather passed away when I was 10 years old.  I never got my chance to play him.  So I wrote the story from the point of view of a 10 year old boy who gets to play his grandfather for the first time.

It felt like a true story as I wrote it and I cried when I typed ‘THE END’.  When I finished that screenplay, I knew what it was like to sit down with my grandpa and play a game we both loved.  I wrote that story for me.  I included all of his catch phrases and smiled as I relived those precious childhood memories.

All that from a poker movie?

You never know when inspiration will strike.  I’ll always be thankful that I discovered Rounders when I did.  It inspired me to write a story that means the world to me.  Before I saw Rounders, I never got to play Cribbage with my grandpa.  Now I feel like I have and that’s a wonderful thing.

This is an image I made in my early Photoshop days.  I taped it on the wall to the left of my computer so it was always in sight as I wrote my screenplay.

ROUNDERS, Poker, Cribbage & An Emotional Short Screenplay

WHAT GAME WOULD YOU WRITE ABOUT?

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The Screenwriting All-Nighter

October 12th, 2011 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Featured Posts | Screenwriting - (1 Comments)

The Screenwriting All-Nighter | Screenplay Blog

Recently, I came up with a concept for a horror short but nothing really came of it.  There is, after all, a big difference between a concept and a fully developed story.  Still, I loved the concept and thought long and hard before I found that one ‘key’ element the idea was missing.  Within an instant I had a main character and a setting.  I had a story…

This sudden rush of creativity happened at 3 AM.

It’s an interesting dilemma when you come up with something exciting in the middle of the night.  Do you risk forgetting your ideas?  Do you write yourself a note and return to it in the morning?  Or do you seize the moment, get out of bed and write?

In this particular case, my horror concept actually freaked me out to the point where I wasn’t going to sleep regardless…  So I got out of bed and fired up Final Draft.

Before I began writing the screenplay, I took a moment to appreciate the atmosphere I created for myself.  It was the middle of the night, I kept all the lights off in my office and it was cold.  A perfect setting to write a horror script.

Writing in the middle of the night used to be my favorite time to write.  I used to set alarms for 4 AM, write and then head back to bed for a nap before school.  Over the years, I began to appreciate sleeping more and the middle of the night became a distant memory.  It made this new screenplay that much more exciting.  I was back in my element and before I knew it, it was 7:45 and I was putting the finishing touches on a 5 page first draft.  I was full of energy and there was officially no hope of falling asleep again.

So I gathered some images and created a poster for the project.  When that didn’t tire me out, I wrote a few posts for this site.  (This post included)

All in all, I was pretty proud of myself for getting out of bed and writing that morning.  I may have regretted it when I got to work that evening but it was worth it.  Sometimes all it takes is the will to get out of bed, sit down and write.  I have a feeling I haven’t seen the last of the screenwriting all-nighters.

When do you like to write?

Click here for more SCREENWRITING posts.

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Batman Begins A Screenwriting Rewrite

June 1st, 2011 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Movies | Previously Viewed | Screenwriting - (0 Comments)

Batman Begins A Screenwriting Rewrite | Screenwriting Blog

I was channel surfing the other day and I stopped the second I spotted The Dark Knight. One of my favorite movies of all time.

XTRA | The Athletic Nerd’s Movie Power Rankings

With The Dark Knight Rises officially shooting now, I was definitely in the mood for Christopher Nolan’s version of The Caped Crusader. Then it occurred to me that I hadn’t watched Batman Begins in a while and so I crawled into bed and put on the DVD.

I was instantly reminded of two things. First, Christopher Nolan’s brilliant film is still on of the best comic book movies ever made.  Second, it reminded me of a page one rewrite the film inspired way back when it first debuted in theaters.

PRINT YOUR SCREENPLAY.  START OVER.

Batman Begins A Screenwriting Rewrite | Screenwriting Blog

I was in in college studying Broadcasting and an unfinished feature length screenplay was weighing heavily on me.  I started it in high school and it was painfully obvious I had.  The characters came across as immature and there was a glaring plot hole in my story.  Yet, I wouldn’t allow myself to write anything new until I finished it.  This caused a problem because I couldn’t find the motivation to work on it.  In those days, it was easier to just go out and have fun then stay home and write.  Procrastination can be a dangerous habit to break.

The story was called Behind Max and it was about a high school basketball star desperate to find the support he needed to go for his dreams.  When I finished the first draft I really rushed to the end and this resulted in a very weak final act.  But really, the entire screenplay needed work.  What I needed was a spark.

That spark was Batman Begins.

Christopher Nolan’s incredible interpretation of Batman taught me a very important lesson. It taught me to step back and look at my own films in different ways.  To open my eyes to new approaches and directions to take my stories.

I distinctly remember humming that unbelievable theme all the way home.  That night, I stayed in, printed out my script and read it start to finish.  I find you resist stopping to rewrite and tweak your script when it’s on paper.

Once I was finished reading the screenplay, I got out my notebook and got to work.  What is my story about?  What am I trying to say?  What have I said already?  How can I say it better? By the end of that night, I had outlined a much better approach to Behind Max and I felt alive.  Things changed for me that day.  Making the choice to go out to the bars was more difficult given the work I desperately wanted to finish at home.

Batman Begins A Screenwriting Rewrite | Screenwriting Blog

Two days after that magical night, I went and saw Batman Begins again and it had the same effect on me.  It was such a unique and realistic take on Batman.  Who knew you didn’t have to have incorporate a high level of cheese just because it’s based on a comic book. What Nolan did was treat the material as if it could be real.  A different approach and one that certainly entertained and inspired the hell out of me.

After I saw the film a second time, I sat down with my outline and my old script and started from scratch.  It took me two weeks to finish the screenplay and I haven’t touched it since.  It was exactly the story I wanted to tell.  I was proud of what I had accomplished.  Proud to be a screenwriter.

Finally, it was time to move onto new projects.  I have Batman Begins to thank for that.

So when the DVD ended, I dug up Behind Max and read it again.  Holding that screenplay always gives me chills.  As I read it, I actually found a couple typos but it doesn’t matter.  Writing that screenplay taught me how much I loved to write.  I haven’t looked back since.

XTRA | Director Wars: Nolan vs Shyamalan

XTRA | Movie Hype: The Legend Of Inception

Batman Begins A Screenwriting Rewrite | Screenwriting Blog

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The Inspiring Screenwriting Email To Yourself

May 3rd, 2011 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Featured Posts | Screenwriting - (1 Comments)

The Inspiring Screenwriting Email To Yourself | Screenwriting Blog

WRITE NOTES.  WRITE EMAILS.  WRITE SCREENPLAYS

I’m notorious for emailing myself updates on my screenplays.  My ’312′ folder is full of emails about stories I want to write, stories I’m writing, stories I need to rewrite and plans for stories I’ve completed.

XTRA: Click here to find out why I call my screenwriting folder ’312′.

Even though I can write screenplays almost anywhere these days thanks to my iPhone and apps like Celtx, it’s still difficult to truly get in the zone some days.  So what do you do when you can’t find a couple hours to fill up the blank pages?

THE SCREENWRITING EMAIL

Personally, I find these emails to myself invaluable when it comes to planning my writing schedule, solving story problems and brainstorming new ideas.  My emails usually fall into 1 of 3 categories.

  1. Project Recaps
  2. Story Trailers
  3. Pitches/Summaries

I find each of these three types of emails inspire and keep me motivated in useful ways.

1. PROJECT RECAPS

These emails are basically lists of all the stories I’m currently working on.  These lists vary in size and detail but they give me a good idea of the work I have ahead and how much fun it will be. They are usually formatted like this:

Story Name | I use the word name instead of title because I sometimes hold off on titles in the early stages of development.
Genre | It’s nice to step back and see a little diversity in my writing.  I try to challenge myself to take on new genres often.
Stage | I have 4 stages. Idea, World, Development, Script

The ‘idea’ stage is straight forward.  At this point, I’ve got a concept I’m excited about but nothing more.  The ‘world’ stage is all about characters, setting and the major details of the story.  This is the stage where I try to find an overall tone and voice for the story.  The development stage is self explanatory.  I try to iron out every single detail of the story leading to my first outline in point form.  Stage 4 is screenwriter’s favorite.  Time to write the screenplay.

Target | I number my projects 1-5 with 1 being the top priority.  Ties are allowed.  This number is accompanied by a target completion date.  A date I normally never hit but it keeps me moving forward.

2. STORY TRAILERS

I actually adore writing these.  Once a script is deep in the development stage, I like to write trailers for my scripts.  They aren’t formatted in any particular way but I think it’s important to try and describe the exciting elements of a story.  I don’t necessarily write a trailer I intend to see someday but it’s my first real shot at selling the movie to myself.  If I don’t believe in it, why would anyone else?

3. PITCHES/SUMMARIES

These emails are made up of pitches, log lines and synopses.  (Synopsiseses?) These emails encompass all my undeveloped story ideas.  They are usually very brief and only serve as introductions to new material I may or may not develop someday.  These emails can lie dormant for many months before I return to them but it’s vital to make sure I don’t forget.

You never know when a story idea will come back and inspire you.

THE GIGANTIC SCREENWRITING EMAIL

Every once in a while, I write an enormous email to myself that covers all three categories and truly summarizes my writing adventures.  It’s my way of keeping track of my progress and making sure I’m constantly challenging myself.

I wrote one last week that included a few goals I’m hoping to reach soon.  Now all that’s lacking is the passion and dedication to reach those goals.

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