Written by:Alan Ball (Author), Alan Ball (Screenplay)
Script Synopsis:Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
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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.
Seth Rogan is one of the few comedians who have skyrocketed to success following the success of the film, 40 Year Old Virgin (2005). The film, which starred many now-famous actors such as Steve Carrell and Jonah Hill, was an original masterpiece that changed the path of comedic films.
Judd Apatow, the writer of the 40 Year Old Virgin, reaped enormous fame and success following this film, and continued to work with Rogan in other features such as Pineapple Express (2008) and Knocked Up (2007). The repeated film successes gave Rogan the fame and reputation that he needed to start his own career as a writer.
Following the success of Knocked Up, Rogan wrote a film that became a national sensation, spurring on the careers of even more film actors including Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. That film was called Superbad (2007). Since this film, Rogan has become a household name. On IMDB.com, he is on the top 500 list of celebrities and he is only climbing upwards from there.
Screenwriters may have noticed the types of comedic trends that have been brewing in Hollywood lately, spurred on since the release of the nearly-moral yet raunchy 40 Year Old Virgin. Despite the dirty humor that occurs, popular comedic films have also added on a sentimentalism that is downright endearing. Behind the crude humor are deeper issues that many people deal with in their lives.
By employing moralistic elements and endearing characters, comedic films have been able to bridge the gap that has forever divided them from classic dramas and romances. Long gone are the tasteless, ill-prepared lobotomies that once cursed the comedy genre. Now there is realism and sentimentality that could just make comedy a respectable genre… perhaps even an Oscar winner!
‘Tis Oscar season and for those of us looking for scripts on the internet it’s a bonanza. The studios, in their quest for nominations and awards, made their candidates’ scripts available (and in PDF no less !)
Script Synopsis:Filmen er en humoristisk og bevægende fortælling om mennesker der tænker med hjertet og føler med hjernen. Vi møder TV-journalisten Mille (Lisbeth Lundquist) som er meget optaget af at frigøre sig. Hun lever sammen med John (Baard Owe), som har et gammeldags og romantisk gemyt. Hun omgi'r sig af veninden Suzanne (Annika Hoydal), der er biseksuel, vennen Uffe (Holger Juul Hansen) og massagepigen Lise. Vi stifter også bekendskab med en tåbelig jurist (Ulf Pilgaard), som Mille forelsker sig i. Hovedpersonerne er mennesker, som man kan finde dem rundt omkring i hverdagen.
Violets Are Blue... Script Resources:
Violets Are Blue... Script PDF - 10/5/84 FINAL at Script City ($)
