Day of the Writer
Mar 6th, 2009 by Ashley
what i learned…
先從最後一項開始說, Diablo Cody 的座談會, 由UCLA的教授, 在編劇被眾多人 (包括 Alexander Payne, Steven Spielberg 等) 尊崇的老師 Lew Hunter 主持. 差點變成一場完全的災難.
首先, 你找一個以教人家怎麼樣作一個成功的編劇為志業的成名老先生訪問一個沒有受過專業訓練, 第一次嘗試寫劇本就拿到奧斯卡原創劇本獎, 甚至在 Juno 還蠻上映前就各個寫作的邀約源源不絕, 成功的原因除了天份之外有一部份要歸功於運氣(這一點也不是壞事, 不靠任何運氣就能夠成功的人實在是太不可思議了)的小ㄚ頭, 這不是像叫一個胖子訪問一個怎麼都吃不胖的人怎麼減肥一樣讓人難堪嗎? 算我小人之心吧, 面對這樣一個我行我素運氣又好到不行的”年輕人”, Lew Hunter 心中多半有些嗤之以鼻, 一些不屑與不平衡. 而更丟臉的是, 活到這麼大把年紀也不知道要遮掩一下.
座談會一開始, Lew 不停地講關於自己的事, 自己的書, 然後自己笑得很開心. 只給 Diablo 一點講 yes or no 的機會, 然後繼續講自己的事. 是的, 你在編劇(教學)屆受人景仰, 我相信你的講座也很多人喜歡聽, 但是今天這是 Diablo Cody 的座談會, 你仗著年紀喧賓奪主會不會太過份了. Lew 如此無發無天地進行了大約十來分鐘, 聽眾們終於忍無可忍了, 開始有人在下面大喊 Ask some questions! Let her talk! 騷動斷斷續續地持續了約五分鐘, 他才終於讓 Diablo 講話. 說真的, 做人做到這種地步, 讓人家連看在你的年紀上都無法尊重你, 不覺得很可悲嗎?
還好場面後來轉向, 而觀眾們踴躍地提問, 感覺都是有備而來, 除了一兩個笨蛋問了她本名跟她的兄弟姊妹這種你用手機上一下wiki就可以查到為什麼還要浪費大家的生命的問題之外, 大部份的提問都很有趣.
Diablo 說, 她喜歡跟朋友一起寫作. 不是合作, 只是一起在同一個空間寫作, 當有人不小心逛上網路或是查email的時候, 另一個人可以把他拉回來, 另外, 也可以即時地交換一些點子以即得到回覆. 另外, 有的時候寫不出東西, 她會帶著筆電到外面, 在背景有活人走動, 有不太可分辨的對話聲的地方比較能刺激她靈感. 她也覺得 The Wrestler 是去年超棒的一部電影, 有人問她會不會想寫個類似主題但是以女性 (也許是過氣女星) 為主角的劇本, 她說會, 不過她沒有講出她心目中以誰為藍圖. 休閒的時候她喜歡看 Reality show, 任何有一群絕望的女人搶一個不怎麼樣的男人的實境節目她都愛看, 反之亦然. 在製作 Unites States of Tera 的時候幾乎佔掉她所有時間, 她無法同時做別的 project. 她希望有朝一日能跟 Robert Downey Jr. 合作 (dream movie star), 另外她也希望有一天能夠拍 The Beach Boys 的 Bruce Johnston 的故事 (dream project). 她媽媽從小就告訴她, 沒有人真的靠寫作賺錢的. 但是她的國小老師有一天叫她到旁邊, 對她說, 你將來會成為職業作家. 對她來說, 有mentor的鼓勵非常重要.
剩下, 在兩個講座 UCLA 教授 Hal Ackerman 與 Richard Walter 以及由 De Anza 教授 Barak Goldman (也是前兩位教授的學生) 主持, James Dalessandro (1906), Felicia D. Henderson (Fringe, Gossip Girl, Everybody Hates Chris ), Scott Kosar (The Machinist, The Amityville Horror and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Brian Larsen (Clone Wars) 參與的 panel, 我的筆記:
最重要的事: make a (realistic) writing schedule and STICK TO IT.
“Personal“: write something you’re passionate about.
formulating a story, there are two aspects:
premise of the story which is the “art”, it come within you,
structure, which is “craft”.
when you start, NO “theme” in mind, have “DESIRE” instead.
(after you finish it, you’ll realize it’s a coming of age story, it’s a story about this and that, but not before you write it.)
Desire = what does your character want.
What does he want, what will he do and how far he is willing to go?
Intimacy trumps morality.
you can get people sympathize with/root for your protagonist by making them feel what the character feel.
(make people root for your character even if he’s going to do something immoral. e.g. Michael in Godfather, the killing; William H. Macy in Fargo, kidnapping.
one of the ways is to make the other characters even worse.
e.g. other mafia want to sell heroine; William H. Macy’s cruel father in law.)
It’s all about perspective.
(audiences sympathize with the bird being shot down in a documentary about bird migration. audience sympathize with the shooter in a movie about people trapped and starving.)
Experience
“show” it instead of “tell” it. let the audience “experience” it.
– avoid bar, restaurant, telephone scene where “nothing happens”, except… when it’s “integrated”. (detail later)
Ackerman Scenograph.
3 acts.
first, the “expositive” to set up the world, the character.
who is he? – setting up the character. using secondary characters to shine lights on different faces/angles on the character.
then an event that propels into action.
at the end of each act should have something that happens: a point of no return(event), character hit the lowest point (event)
keep your character in “jeopardy” (physically or emotionally).
inevitable but unpredictable
every scene has one purpose: move things forward.
– put two characters together, each has he’s own objective which opposes the other’s (conflict).
– objective: urgent and specific.
(even if it’s just “he is going to get a glass of water”.)
-every scene has to have conflicts to get the audiences involved.
write characters’ objectives, not writer’s objective.
deliver your objective through character conflicts.
Integration
everything is ok if it’s integrated.
your character description should be gender and name only.
everything else should be integrated with scenes instead of being stated.
each scene should expand our knowledge of the character and move things forward.
don’t write “feel, realize, think”… write what the audiences “see” (things happening)
Lie through your teeth
– notion of truth often slow down the movie. (e.g. the way people talk in reality: boring)
notes:
research
run ideas by people
outline (some people do it, some people don’t. suit yourself.)
writer’s block? usually it really means you don’t have good stuff to write. So, write the bad stuff, you can always change it later. Just keep writing.
補充:
Panel 中除了 Brian Larsen 之外都是從小就知道自己要當作家的, 只有 Larsen 還做了幾年朝九晚五的上班族之後, 媽媽幫他報名個 Stanford 的短篇小說班, 才開啟了他的寫作志業之路. 但還不是很確定自己會不會得回到朝九晚五的上班族身份. 這時, Dalessandro 插話強調了他之前提過的一點重點: “wife with a stable income”.
我一直在心裡想, husband.
好讚的筆記!由writing schedule 開始!
光是看你的筆記就覺得是一場讓人很有收穫的座談會
你們竟然認真的看了筆記… XD
Diablo 的部份我認真的寫因為fmodem說要看報告, 筆記的部份我只是想把今天聽到的東西用我看得懂的方式記下來說 XD
我覺得關於writing schedule那部份很棒!
另外那個座談會的引言人也太糟糕了,
不過倒是可以拿來當作一個閒聊時的精采小故事。 :p
就像李安的妻子一樣.嗯,單身作家日子比較難過…
我很同意寫東西一定要發自內心.我覺得讀者是可以看得出作者的用心程度的.
“inevitable but unpredictable”-我爸說過類似的話,說故事的人要記住意料之外,情理之中的第一要訣。