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Contents include: - Interview with Hugh Ellis
- Late in early out - learn from the soaps
- What's new on the site
Hi there
Heading up this week's newsletter is our new star interview, with
writer Hugh Ellis.
'Summer' is Hugh's first feature film and gets its UK release on
December 5. It just so happens that even before the film goes on
general release it has already won a number of awards and accolades:
- The Alicenella città Over 12 Prize for best film at the 2008
Rome Film Festival. The prize is €25,000 (about $32,000) and is
voted for by the youth jury of 13-17 year olds
- An Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) award -
Robert Carlyle won for best actor
- Two Scottish BAFTAs for best film and best director as well
as another best actor nomination for Mr C.
- The film was also selected as one of the Trailblazers at
the EIFF.
All in all, not a bad first feature!
Without giving too much away, the film is about Shaun who faces the
prospect of his best friend's imminent death. Shaun is spurred into
journeying into his past, finding the girlfriend from a
particularly happy summer during his troubled teenage years. It is
described as a "witty, poignant story about loyalty, friendship and
love".
Finding new success in film writing complements Hugh's career. He
started out as a playwright and then moved over to British TV.
In the audio interview with our own Sally Brockway, Hugh discusses
the realities of being a writer and how his journey has taken him
from writing what he calls "the most depressing, unfunny, turgid
play ever performed" to his current, considerable, international
recognition.
On the way he talks about:
- his slow, gradual climb up through the ranks
- how he never really gave up the day job completely
- the dangers of writing on a show that isn't right for you
- how precarious your career always is
- how being sacked isn't at all the end of the road and how
you get past that
- how you MUST realise that other people's failings can
damage you as a writer
- how you get through giving up the whole thing and find
your own voice
- the differences between writing on a particular TV show,
and writing your own original movie.
You can download the interview from the features section of
Screenwriting Goldmine here
Our congratulations to Hugh and thanks for sharing some insights.
We wish the film well.
LATE IN EARLY OUT - LEARN FROM THE SOAPS
If you look up Hugh on IMDb, there's a note that Hugh scripted the
episode of 'The Bill', in which his real life father, the actor
Peter Ellis, bowed out as Chief Superintendent Brownlow.
'The Bill' is one of the quality ongoing dramas on British
television, celebrating its 24th anniversary last month. On
December 9, another British TV institution 'Coronation Street'
doubles that achievement, celebrating its 48th anniversary.
Both series have nurtured some great writing talent over the years
and the quality of writing holds up despite a punishing filming
schedule. 'Coronation Street' normally has five 30-minute episodes
a week, and 'The Bill' has one or two hour-long episodes a week
One of the delights of a good ongoing drama is that storylines have
the space to build, explode, move on and then resurface, giving the
story arc a new lease of life. The seeds sown in one episode can
shape story lines for months and, in the case of soap operas, for
years afterwards.
Well, an hour-hour long episode of 'Coronation Street' this week
showed the power of the story arc. But there was also a great
example of that screenplay maxim about entering a scene as late as
possible and leaving it as soon as you can. It was a clear
demonstration about what tightly written scenes can achieve without
having to give all the back-story.
[Careful, spoilers ahead...]
A very brief synopsis of the episode: Becky is in court and is
relying on her friend and employer, Steve, to perjure himself by
confirming the alibi he gave her.
Of course, why Becky turned to Steve, who is engaged to someone
else, hangs on the fact they had a one night stand several months
ago - all part of the arc.
Where the writing technique gets interesting is the way the court
scenes were handled. For anyone who didn't know what crime had been
committed, the episode revealed nothing. In a way, the actual crime
had become a MacGuffin.
How many times have you seen a court drama open with the accused or
witnesses being sworn in? How many times have you seen the judge
tell the accused what the charges are? How often have you seen the
verdict being delivered? How many times have you heard "You stand
before me accused of ..." or "Members of the jury ..."?
Well, none of that hackneyed writing was necessary. Yes, there were
a number of scenes in the courtroom and around the courthouse, but
nowhere was the crime mentioned (and nor has it been for quite a
while).
Instead, the only shots of the trial were about the anxious wait
for Steve to turn up as he was called to give his short, perjuring,
confirmation. He lied convincingly about how the two have been
having an affair for the past year. That was news for Blanche, the
local gossip, who looked on from the visitors' gallery with her jaw
dropped and her eyes scheming.
The next scene was Becky, ecstatic outside the court room.
That was it. The six-week build up to the trial was over in a few
moments of screen time. There were no scenes of the charges being
read out, no challenging of evidence, no delivery of verdict, no
extraneous witnesses or police statements.
But it all worked. It didn't matter if you knew nothing about the
crime: the episode wasn't about the crime, whatever that was. It
was about a new phase in the relationship between Steve and Becky.
We didn't need the magistrate actually finding Becky not guilty,
all we needed was an over-exuberant Becky throwing her arms round
Steve outside the courtroom
That chapter was over and a new one beginning. The narrative had
moved on and the arc around the Steve and Becky relationship with
its long heritage has a new momentum. Already as the episode ended,
Blanche was teetering on the brink of a blackmail campaign.
Did I mention that Steve is the father of Blanche's great
granddaughter, whose mother is serving life for murdering her
boyfriend?
Brilliant.
BACK TO THE SITE
The next batch of Ask Phil questions have been posted. Questions
answered this week are:
- What is a story document?
- How do I get better at summarising my script?
- What length of summary is best?
- What should I do about protecting my work?
- Can I sell my movie from a treatment without writing the script?
On the forums, at www.screenwritinggoldmine.com/forum Lynn has
flagged up an online interview with Lowell Ganz and Bababloo Mandel
of 'City Slickers', 'A League of their Own' and 'Parenthood' fame.
The interview is on the Go Into The Story blog
For the Bond aficionados, DrBryan has recommended an interview with
two of the Bond writers, Neil Purvis and Robert Wade at, wait for
it, MI6.co.uk.
And talking of covert operations, what are your thoughts on the use
of pen names? Lynn has posed some questions to ponder.
Ben has posted a link to the trailer for the film of the new
graphic novel 'Watchmen', and asks for your thoughts on whether
using swear words in your screenplay is a good or bad thing.
He also has experience of pitching to Phoenix Pictures over the
phone, says get that pitch in fast - Hollywood closes down for
December. Why not get in touch so you could find out more and ask
him why he thinks film directors are the entrepreneurs of the
industry.
For all of you contemplating a filmmaking course, Sandyer has
posted an interesting comment about making a film short and
procrastination. You may want to find out more about the experience.
Should you happen to be in New York on December 9, Ben has also
flagged up the first annual screenwriters' party. It'll take place
at Second on Second, a bar at 27 Second Avenue at Second Street,
NYC 10003. To reserve a place at the party, you need to confirm by
December 4, at
www.meetup.com/NYC-Screenwriters-Meetup/calendar/9232628/
Take the F or the V.
Happy reading and good writing.
The Screenwriting Goldmine Team
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