I’m going to gather up some of my posts in chronological order about Tenebrous and re-post them here for everyone to read, then include some hindsight material, with close to year behind me.

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

It has taken almost 11 years of my life, but it has finally happened. A screenplay I wrote is now in the middle of pre-production here. I can now safely talk about this after getting permission from the producers. As I write this, it is being submitted to IMDB as well.

And so it begins. The last month of my life has been surreal, busy, tiring, and fun, all rolled into one. Imagine feeling all of those things at the same time. That comes close to describing it.

I have been working closely with the director on the rewrites for the production script, which will be locked down by the end of the week. A web site devoted to the film will also be up soon, but I will also post my own thoughts and feelings as I get the time here.

The cast assembled for this astounds me. The special makeup f/x guy, an Academy Award nominee, said this was one of the best scripts he had ever read. I am truly humbled and honored to be working with such a great group of people.

I will post more here in a little while as more information is vetted and made public.

Did I mention I drove a movie star around in my car today? Surreal…

In hindsight…

Yeah, it was a bit surreal. I was a little starstruck, didn’t know some of the process all that well, and it was something new and exciting. As far as the “vetting of information”, there wasn’t much I couldn’t talk about because I was also a producer (although that part didn’t come into play until later.) Common sense told me what I could and couldn’t do, so that played out later.

Locking down the production script took a bit longer than to the end of that week. We were doing some scene-specific rewrites right up to the end of pre-production, mostly coming from the director and as locations were locked down. We were very lucky that most of the places I wrote about actually existed, and they were more than happy to let us use them for filming.

Stay tuned for more…

—–

Devin and other professional writers teach at 4screenwriters Institute.

When Chris set up this blog and asked me about posting to it, I honestly couldn’t come up with anything for a few days about what to say. A writer, with nothing to say? That’s anathema!

Don’t worry, I got over it. I thought about all of the various topics I’d discuss on here, and I think I’ve got enough material to keep you guys and gals out there in Screenwriterland (a small country bordering Belgium) occupied for awhile. I have quite a few blog posts from my old blog that I’ll put up here first regarding Tenebrous while it was shooting and comment further about those events with hindsight well in play.

So for now, I’ll sign off by saying hello and stay tuned for more. More about Devin…

BY CHRIS WEHNER

Yesterday I talked about attitude and its replacement of characterization (character development).

Well in today’s Variety they have an article that is just now pointing out the so-called new trend of alternative (fractured) narrative structure in screenwriting. (I wrote about this several years ago.) More and more films are cutting lose from Syd Field and all of the other gurus. No longer is the 3-act structure sacred ground, no longer is it sacrilegious to have a character not change (no arc) throughout the movie, no longer does the antagonist have to be a counter-balance to the protagonist.

Today’s youth - remember movies are specifically marketed to the 14-20 demographic - are A.D.D. scatter brains, a disorder that is constantly being reinforced by all of the fast paced and on demand gadgets we create for their amusement.

You want a movie to succeed? It better look like 300 or have “fragmented, time-jumping intrigue” that will sustain the energy drinking and jittery adolescents that drive the movie market right now.

Not encouraging words for those of us who still value subtly, characterization, and depth in our stories. Hence, to be an adult in today’s movie market means we must either give up, or get in touch with our inner child.

————————–
(C) Chris Wehner is a professional writer and author who teaches screenwriting at the 4 Screenwriters Institute. For more information or to take a class click here.

It seems like every generation of movie critics bemoans the films that were made during their generation, while also looking back reflectively on the past. Pauline Kael did it, Roger Ebert does it, and so have I done it. I believe it is a fallacy that screenwriting during the 1950s or 1960s, whenever, was somehow better and more crafted than today. There are some exception writers doing incredible things.

One of my favorite films to have come out recently is Doug Jung’s CONFIDENCE. His noir crime thriller screenplay ranks with the best that ever has been in my opinion. In an effort to highlight some of the more than 3000 pages of content we have buried in this site, I wanted to pull from the archives my interview with Mr. Jung from just a few years ago.

Take some time and read the interview,  then read his first draft of the screenplay, and then maybe even rent the movie. Look at how the movie was changed from the script. Scenes re-ordered, tweaked, removed and added.  Also, focus on his plot development. With crime thrillers and twist endings, narrative structure is very key for the writer.

 Enjoy!

 Chris