It’s no wonder why the new Avengers (2012) movie is getting so much hype. After several years of films coming out based on individual characters that make up the Avengers team, they are finally bringing them all together for one action packed adventure.
The thought and care that went into the prior films are now made evident in the way that they complement this new film, filling in plot holes and bringing closure to the previous five movies.
Needless to say, screenwriters must have had a very difficult time putting together the scripts for each individual movie. Not only did the scripts have to be entertaining and true to the original content, but it also had to match up with the other five films!
Reading the scripts of these films is a must-do for any person who wants to be a screenwriter. The intricacy and care that was put into each script is something that is rarely seen in Hollywood- not since the days of the Back to the Future saga. Make sure to take time to read these scripts- they are full of wisdom that will help any screenwriter in their profession.
Joss Whedon is a supernatural and sci-fi writer that has finally gotten his big break. With his co-writing credit in the new hit movie, The Avengers (2012), Whedon is bound for stardom and may be getting more blockbuster work in the future.
Whedon’s career has been a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transition between film, television and then film again. He is responsible for such famous scripts as the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and Toy Story (1994) while also working on several television shows including Buffy the Vampire Slayer: the Series (1996-2003) and Angel (1999-2004).
Again, Whedon is trying to enter into the film industry again with his first comeback film script being The Cabin in the Woods (2011) which was just released recently. With his move back into the film industry, it will be amusing to see what he has learned over the years and has to show the movie going public.
Playwrights and screenwriters can take note of Whedon’s career to see how diversifying work can often prove to help a person find writing success. If one industry pays off then it is only natural to work in that industry. But if for some reason it stops paying, then it will benefit a person’s career to try again in a different venue.
William Goldman is not just a screenwriter, despite the fact that he has had enormous success in the field. Goldman is a writer of all sorts- novels, non-fiction biographies and even how-to books that have sold in record numbers. He has received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his astoundingly touching screenplays and for the ideas that he created that changed cinema.
As a novelist, Goldman was responsible for writing at least two of the most widely respected and loved stories of the American people. One is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) which inspired the love that America still has with Westerns. The other was The Princess Bride (1987), a complete 180 for Goldman to do. From the desert landscape of the Western film, he jumped to the classical enchanted surroundings of a fairy tale.
As far as screenplays go, Goldman has shown his flexibility in adapting to different genres with ease. For the horror movie fans, he was responsible for the Stephen King adaptation of the novel Misery (1990) which is still emulated and joked about to this day. He diversified into the romance district when he wrote such films as Hearts in Atlantis (2001) and Year of the Comet (1992).
Without a doubt, Goldman is a prime example of a writer who did not put himself in a box. Unlike other writers who generally stick to one genre or another, Goldman gave himself the freedom to experience worlds from all different perspectives.
Screenwriters should take note of Goldman’s actions and realize that screenwriting is an art of experience. The human life is full of ups and downs, and this effects what the screenwriter thinks like and writes about. This is not something to be ashamed of, but is an opportunity to grow in different directions as a human being and as a writer.
Screenwriters can often be seen as men and women “behind the mask.” Despite the fact that they create worlds that are presented to the world in movie form, they are often forgotten by the public and left to anonymity outside of professional film makers in the field. A good example of an anonymous, yet profound, writer is Paul Schrader. Most people who have seen the film Taxi Driver (1976) associate the film with its director, Martin Scorcese.
In all respects, Taxi Driver does represent many of the qualities that have distinguished Scorcese as a director. However, the film was written by Paul Schrader. The mental workings of this creative genius are apparent when looking at a few other scripts that he has written. Raging Bull (1980) was a profound drama about a boxer who goes through much tumultuous inner struggles before coming out on top in the end. The same thing goes for Taxi Driver.
In addition to these two films, Schrader is also responsible for the adaptation of one of the most controversial films in recent history. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) is among a few select films that have defied conventional morality in the retelling of Jesus Christ.
It goes without saying that Schrader has had a positive career in the industry, simply by knowing that he had a part in the making of the previously stated three films. However, his career has not been perfect. For every successful film script he wrote, there were a few flops that were considered weak. Some of his scripts became films that remain in anonymity to this day!
The most important lesson for a screenwriter to learn when writing a script is to have faith in their writing ability regardless of how an audience interprets one script. No matter how good a writer is, there will always be a time when he or she simply cannot express an idea in a way that an audience accepts wholeheartedly. Sometimes it takes years or decades for people to even start appreciating the work of one writer. However, he or she must not give up and continue to write; for each writers’ experiences are important and are worthy to be expressed, no matter how the rest of the world depicts it for a moment in time.
What constitutes a romance film? For many mainstream audiences, a romance film consists of a pretty general theme of a man and a woman falling in love. They usually go through certain ups and downs, inspiring love even more than when they first met. Eventually they realize that they were meant for each other (and live happily ever after) or… one of them dies, leaving the other to suffer lovingly for their lost partner.
However, the world is a very bizarre place, and not all people fall in love the same way that the “average” person does. In a world with diverse people, there are bound to be romantic stories that just don’t fit into that traditional “boy-meets-girl” theme. That is where the following list comes into play.
The films below deal with love stories that defy mainstream expectations and, sometimes, even societal norms about morality. Many of the films below have stirred up controversy; frightening members of society who just aren’t willing to accept such a disturbingly different representation of love. However, many of the following films have also (eventually) been reveled as cult classics or even Hollywood blockbusters, owing to the fact that they touched on a controversial subject long before it was financially rewarding.
Script writers who plan to write love stories can learn a lot from reading the following scripts and/or watching romance movies that push the mainstream boundaries. The best love stories come from a person who knows love. If a person is limited to understanding love on a strictly conventional standpoint then what does he or she have to add to the millions of romantic movies that already exist?
Love is far more complex than anyone can imagine. It can happen anywhere and at any moment to any person in the world. The screenwriter who can truly understand love will not only write romance scripts with ease, but he or she will be able to communicate those messages to a world that constantly seeks to understand the cryptic subject of love.
Blonde haired and beautiful, Naomi Watts is, at first glance, just another pretty actress. She is well mannered, sophisticated and is considered one of the more respected Hollywood actresses in the industry. However, upon viewing some of the films that Watts has starred in, a different woman appears that is far more complex than could be imagined.
Despite her ability to play a pretty girlfriend or a love interest, Watts has defied conventional stereotypes to play intelligent, frightening and bizarre characters. In Mulholland Drive (2001), Watts played a struggling young actress overwhelmed with bitterness over her lover’s rejection of her. The rejection causes her to behave erratically and imagine things that are not quite real.
In Funny Games (2007), Watts is a quite normal character. However, when a pair of sadistic young men break into her house to play deathly mind games with her, she is transformed from a pretty housewife to a desperate, three-dimensional character.
Watts has climbed the ladder to stardom and is now considered a quite respectable mainstream star. However, she did not start out that way. Her film history is littered with independent films that have helped her build up the reputation that she needed to succeed.
As an actress, Watts provides a great example of how important it is for actors to choose their roles wisely. Not all independent films are good, and an actor or actresses must protect their new reputation by choosing the best roles possible for themselves. If an audience leaves a film feeling good about themselves and their experience, then they will associate the actor with good things as well.
Same thing goes for screenwriters. If a screenwriter cannot write characters that are interesting and three dimensional, then he or she will handicap the script from attracting great up and coming actors/actresses. Nobody wants to ruin their reputation on a terrible script. To ensure the success of a film, a writer must make sure that they create characters that actors would kill to play.
The 1990’s were a great time for the horror genre in terms of originality and evolved technique. During this period, films such as The Blair Witch Project (1999) terrified audiences and rocketed the “found footage” genre that is now popular today. Other films, such as Cemetery Man (1994) and The Exorcist III (1990) are considered ground-breaking even today, in terms of technique and plot.
With all of these intense horror films that came up during this period, it is easy to forget the less appreciated and more formulaic teen horror movies that were also being ground out on a regular basis. However, as time goes by, these teen horror films are beginning to stand apart for their own unique reasons.
The 90’s teen horror film brought up many teen issues which, before, would seem untouchable. For instance, Scream (1996) had a protagonist who suffered the death of her mother the year before. However, by the film’s end, she finds out that her mother was the town slut and had been murdered for that reason.
Disturbing Behavior (1998) was another film that focused on the depression that many kids dealt with during the emotionally-dead grunge era. The film is introduced with a teenager trying to cope with the suicide of another teen. These types of issues, once considered off-limits for teen films, were now being expressed. Not only that, but the plots were well accepted by the teen communities that flocked to see it.
Every generation of teens have problems that the previous generation did not have. Until a decade ago, the risk of a teen committing suicide over being cyber-bullied on the internet was slim to none. Nowadays, it is quite commonplace. Sex scandals with teen boys and adult teachers have become overwhelmingly popular in the modern day, despite the massive backlash by the public. A screenplay writer must take this into consideration when writing a movie aimed at teenagers. If a film maker wants to make a film aimed at teens, he or she must know the problems that they face in the modern day and implement these ideas into his or her script. By doing this, he or she will not only grab an audience, but will also help young people feel that they are being accurately represented and understood by the movie industry, which is crucial for making them life-long movie goers.
Despite the popularity of American Western films in Europe and other nations, the genre has had waning success with American audiences. Some of the best Western films were not even made in America, but were redesigned by foreign filmmakers, such as Sergio Leone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)). With few exceptions, the Western has all but died with most mainstream American audiences.
However, there are people in the United States who still aspire to the classic American westerns that graced the screen prior to 1980’s. The nostalgic filmmakers who remembered the cowboy dramas of their youth were not so quick to throw the genre aside.
However, in order to make a living, filmmakers had to ensure that audiences would not dismiss their films as just another Western. A twist needed to be added to capture the short attention spans of a new, computer-aged generation.
Thus the creation of the sci-fi western films. By improvising a bit of the storyline and adding new twists, filmmakers were able to capture the attention of young audiences and lure them into the theaters for a western in disguise. Instead of having villainous Indians or cattle rustlers, audiences were amazed to see villainous robotic castle rustlers and giant aliens living beneath the surface of the towns.
The creation of sci-fi westerns can easily be seen as a noble attempt by writers to introduce their childhood heroes and stories to a new generation. The writers could have sat on noble high horses and refused to adapt their beloved Westerns of the past to a new generation. However, by mixing the Western themes of the past with the technology of the future, they instilled a place for Westerns in the hearts of children for years to come.
Screenwriters who hold on deeply to nostalgic films of their youth can take a lesson from sci-fi westerns. Regardless of how great a story is, it will not be a success unless it adds something new and different. Remake films are often failures because they try to regurgitate the same story in a higher resolution film. To reach a wide audience, a nostalgic script writer must be able to compromise their classic ideals with the new trends of the present.
Judd Apatow has been credited with producing and writing some of the funniest films of this generation. However, it was only recently that he was able to accomplish this. He started his career in the film industry in the mid-90’s, producing and writing comedies such as Heavyweights (2005) and The Cable Guy (1996). Neither of these films were mainstream successes, despite The Cable Guy’s all star cast. Apatow was stunned that The Cable Guy wasn’t a monumental success. He believed that it would be just the thing to jump start his career.
The problem with The Cable Guy was really more of a timing issue than anything else. In the 1990’s, people were not ready for the type of dark comedy that Apatow presented. Comedies were distinguished from other genres by their lack of a poignant storyline. The Cable Guy was crossing genre boundaries, which may have led to its monumental disaster.
Apatow continued working and attempting to write films that would be successes. His big chance came when he wrote The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005). His timing was perfect. Film studios had been getting lazy. Instead of trying to create new ideas, comedic writers were settling for regurgitating the same old jokes under different packaging (i.e. Epic Movie).
The film was an outstanding success, making millions of dollars worldwide. Apatow’s writing style, once believed to be too quirky, proved to be a template to a new type of comedy. Seth Rogan’s Superbad (2007) followed the Apatow template and made over $100 million dollars. The template, which uses moralistic messages mixed with humorous antidotes and raunchy sight gags, have projected the comedy genre into a whole different field. In this field, comedic films are not restricted by their genre. They can incorporate seriously dramatic elements, horror and romance in a way that touches peoples’ hearts as well as their funny bones.
Some screenwriters are beyond their time and will not be appreciated until later in life. This should not stop them from writing though. Screenwriters will do themselves a favor by learning from Apatow and refusing to give up on their ideas or toss them aside as “unmarketable.” A few years from now, who knows what the public will be attracted to?
No one gets famous simply by being talented. The music, film and art industries are all fueled by socialization. If a person is well connected, then he or she has a greater chance of succeeding with less talent than someone who has a lot of talent minus connections. In the case of Jonah Hill, connections to the industry have been one of the major tools that helped skyrocket his career to the record high that it is at now.
This is not to say Jonah Hill is not talented. The 28 year old producer/director/actor/writer has wowed audiences with his unique comedic style and adorable personality. From his first major role in Superbad (2007), Hill captured America’s heart in his realistic depiction of a desperately hopeless teenage boy trying to buy alcohol on a Friday night.
However, if it wasn’t for his connections, Hill may not have known, let alone had the chance to audition for the now-famous role. The real start of his career occurred when he met the children of Dustin Hoffman, who were present at one of his small time gigs. The kids loved his acting and introduced him to their father who helped jump start his career with a role in I Heart Huckabees (2004).
Since then, Hill has ridden the waves to fame and fortune in comedic films such as Get Him to the Greek (2010) and the upcoming film, 21 Jump Street (2012). Needless to say, Hill has a great future ahead of him as long as he continues to wow audiences with his remarkable acting roles.
Hopeful actors may take a note from Hill by remembering the importance of establishing connections in the industry. Script writers and directors would also do well to seek out talent and inspiration in small clubs and performing arts districts. There are plenty of talented people and stories in the world that never make it to Hollywood simply because of a lack of connections. A person who can sift through and find the gems will be justly rewarded for their efforts.
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