0

Tag: scriptwriting

Calgary Airport Baggage Claim
Jul242019

Dinosaurs in the Airport

Calgary Airport Baggage Claim

Have you ever been to the Calgary Airport? They have my all-time favourite baggage claim in the world: a display of dinosaurs completely tearing up luggage and their contents.

Now, what do dinosaurs (and this exhibit) have to do with filmmaking? It’s a story about what the general public never see:

Behind-the-scenes.

In story, we have the opportunity to – and we really like to – go to places we don’t have access to in every day life. How many shows are behind-the-scenes in hospitals, police stations, morgues, space? How many of us have been behind the rubber flap doorway in the airport into where the luggage transfers from passenger to plane to passenger again? Not many… but I bet any image that comes to mind for you comes from the movies: “Die Hard II,” “The Terminal,” etc. So if you’re writing, go behind the scenes!

And if you’re working in fiction, you don’t have to stick to every day logic. You could have some dinosaurs help you move that luggage… although I think the Calgary Airport got it right. I’m not sure they’d be much help!

Cheers & happy imagining to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

Deborah (Deb) Patz is the author of Write! Shoot! Edit! for teens and Film Production Management 101 for the industry – both books are published worldwide by MWP. She’s also part of the editorial board for Prism International and loves, loves, loves to travel.

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
July 29 – Aug 2, 2019 – UFVA Conference: Land of 10,000 Stories, Minneapolis, MN – Panelist
July 31, 2019 – The Future of Story – Panel & Social Hour, Minneapolis, MN – Panelist
Aug 25, 2019 – MWP Author Summit, Hollywood, CA

WHERE TO FIND DEB’S BOOKS?
Paperback or eBook: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, direct from the publisher and from plenty of other great bookstores worldwide.

Feb202019

The Oscars are Coming, the Oscars are Coming!

Love movies, do ya? Well then ya gotta love the Oscars!

In prep for the Academy Awards on Sunday, are you seeking out and watching the nominated films? Well, how about some different kind of prep this year to add depth to your Oscar experience this year…

 

1. Read the Oscar-nominated screenplays. You can find all the links you need on Slate.com to read them for free:
https://slate.com/culture/2019/02/oscar-academy-award-screenplays-scripts-buster-scruggs-star-born-reformed-beale-spider-man.html
Doing so, not only will you experience the noms in a whole new way, you’re bound to absorb a tip or two about how to write a better screenplay or story.

 

2. Attend the MWP Online Pre-Awards Bash at 2:30pm PST on Friday for predictions and excellent conversation about the Academy Awards. Great studying up for your Oscar Night ballot!
https://www.facebook.com/events/907078086129557/

 

3. And – of course – host or attend an Oscar Watching Party on Sunday. Dress black tie or creative black tie (this is an artistic industry after all!), have plenty of nibblies, bubbly beverages (they don’t have to be alcoholic), and Oscar ballots. Perhaps even buy a strip or square of red carpet so you can strut your stuff on the red stuff yourself.
https://www.oscars.org/oscars // https://twitter.com/TheAcademy
Above all, have fun!

Cheers & a great awards show to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

Deborah (Deb) Patz is the author of Write! Shoot! Edit! for teens and Film Production Management 101 for the industry – both books are published worldwide by MWP. She’s also part of the editorial board for Prism International. She’s walked the red carpet at a few festivals, but not at the Oscars… yet. 🙂

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
July 2019 – UFVA Conference, Minneapolis, MN

WHERE TO FIND DEB’S BOOKS?
Paperback or eBook: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, direct from the publisher and from plenty of other great bookstores worldwide.

Script page hanging from washing line
Feb142019

Laundry Writing

Script page hanging from washing lineI not talking about dirty laundry… okay, I kinda am.

Think you don’t have time to write? Well, if you can fit laundry into your schedule, then you have at least some time!

Scenario 1: The Laundromat.
Heave your loads to the laundromat. Dump the dirty garments into a row of machines and get them started. Now pull out your journal and pen (or open up your computer) and off you go! Write away the waiting time until it’s time for the transfer to dryers. That’s a good 30 minutes of timed writing! Use it as a warm up if you must and plan what to do when your laundry is in the dryers – because the drying cycle is longer; you’ll have at least an hour of focussed writing time. Cool, eh?

Okay, then there is…

Scenario 2: Laundry at Home.
Even better. You don’t have rows of machines to do all your laundry at the same time. Load #1 into the washer gets you 30 minutes of timed writing… the “Laundry Writing Warm-up.” The bell on the washer tells you it’s time for the transfer to dryer. Load #2 into the washer at the same time. Now you’ve got a good hour of focussed writing time. The washer’s bell is a mere warning sound; it’s the dryer’s alert that tells you it’s time for the transfer/re-load break. To delay folding until the end of your writing session, lay out the clothes loosely on the bed to minimize wrinkling… the deal is to get back to your writing as quickly as possible. Use the laundry to schedule writing sessions.

So there you go! I’ve just gifted you some time for writing that screenplay or novel, short story or poem that you’re itching to write. Celebrate the time you have – the time you can carve out your busy life – and use it well.

Cheers & happy laundry-writing to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

Deborah (Deb) Patz is the author of Write! Shoot! Edit! for teens and Film Production Management 101 for the industry – both books are published worldwide by MWP. She’s also part of the editorial board for Prism International. She’s kinda looking forward to piles of dirty laundry now… how odd is that?!

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
July 2019 – UFVA Conference, Minneapolis, MN

WHERE TO FIND DEB’S BOOKS?
Paperback or eBook: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, direct from the publisher and from plenty of other great bookstores worldwide.

Nov222018

Diving Into The Three Wells at Tea & Ink Writing Club

I was requested to mentor again at the Tea & Ink Writing Club and happily agreed. To do something a little different, this time I brought Matthew Kalil’s book “The Three Wells of Screenwriting” (a wonderful new MWP book on my bookshelf). It’s a book to get the inspiration juices flowing.

From the book, I introduced the group to Matthew’s three wells of creativity, and then we ran through the exercises to dive in and explore each one. Let me share a bit with you:

#1 – The External Sources Well –
The ideas and thoughts here are from external sources, like movies and books, etc. and from the writing exercises we noticed they were primarily visual. Tapping into this well was by far the fastest. Thoughts and ideas related to this well we found were very close to the surface and easily accessible.

#2 – The Imagination Well –
Wild and crazy ideas happened here. Some in space, some not. Wonder and personal philosophy inspired the ideas from this well, but it did take more focused thought to push past the external sources well to reach this well of uncharted imaginative ideas.

#3 – The Memory Well –
Finally, this well was the deepest and most personal. It triggered tender and teary emotions as well as memory of smells. No doubt it is from this well that we write most closely to the human experience, and it was clear that we required more thoughtful time than the previous two wells in order to access these memories honestly.

Gosh, we only tapped the start of Matthew’s book. He also highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each well so you know how far to wade in, that book goes on from there.

Now, in my book, “Write! Shoot! Edit!“ I see the creative process in three stages:

(1) Wild Inventor Brain (inspiration), followed by:

(2) Dr Structure Editor (the structural – but still creative – edit), and followed again by:

(3) Nitpicky Copy Editor (polishing)

As Matthew’s book is all about the inspirational stage of the creative process, you can (and we did) use The Three Wells to point one’s Wild Inventor Brain in a rough direction of where you want to go for a writing session and through freewriting explore, reveal and discover.

It was a wildly successful Tea & Ink session, and the range of writing from the participants was vast. No surprise there, as the group includes poets, novelists and short story writers.

So, if you need some inspiration to get yourself writing – or writing again – or if you have an active Wild Inventor Brain that needs a little direction in order for you to productive, dive into the three wells yourself.

Cheers & happy inspiration to you,
Deb

– – – – – – – – – –

Deborah (Deb) Patz is the author of Write! Shoot! Edit! for teens and Film Production Management 101 for the industry – both books are published worldwide by MWP. She’s also part of the editorial board for Prism International. As well as writing, she LOVES tea.

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
Nov. 29-30, 2018 – Whistler Film Festival
Feb. 9, 2019 – Author Participant with Biz Books at Digital Media Youth Expo, North Vancouver BC
July 2019 – UFVA Conference, Minneapolis, MN

WHERE TO FIND DEB’S BOOKS?
Paperback or eBook: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, direct from the publisher and from plenty of other great bookstores worldwide.

Nov102018

Date Stamping A Movie Scene… Creatively

So you want to suggest what time of year it is in a movie scene? Sure, there are the standards:

  • blossoming flowers = spring
  • green leaves on trees = summer
  • coloured leaves in piles = fall
  • snow = winter

Beyond location weather, you can – of course – use clothing to signify weather and time of year. All useful but rather ordinary, no? Well, how about going a bit more creative and using bus signage?

If the bus says:

… you gotta know it’s the first two weeks of November!

So, exercise the creative brain of yours. How else might you date-stamp (or location-stamp) a scene creatively?

Cheers & a creative scene building to you,
Deb

P.S. Oh yeah, and if the bus says “Sorry…” you’re probably in Canada. 🙂

– – – – – – – – – –

Deborah (Deb) Patz is the author of Write! Shoot! Edit! for teens and Film Production Management 101 for the industry – both books are published worldwide by MWP. She’s also part of the editorial board for Prism International. She thinks that Remembrance Day is probably the most important holiday of the entire year.

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
Nov. 18, 2018 – Guest Author – Reading Event at Tomes & Tales, Pitt Meadows BC
Feb. 9, 2019 – Author Participant with Biz Books at Digital Media Youth Expo, North Vancouver BC
July 2019 – UFVA Conference, Minneapolis, MN

WHERE TO FIND DEB’S BOOKS?
Paperback or eBook: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, direct from the publisher and from plenty of other great bookstores worldwide.

Mar262017

INK: Table-Cloth Plotting

In honour of the completion of my thesis novel, I have to tell you about my table cloth.

“Really?” you may ask.

“Really,” I say. It’s an awesome table cloth: red with yellow stripes in its pattern. It’s my Plotting Table Cloth.

tbclthWhen it comes to planning out a story, writers use all kinds of tools from scriptwriting software to journal books to index cards. Yes, I pull out scraps of paper, pencil, index cards, and most importantly, my Plotting Table Cloth.

The yellow stripes are spaced in such a way that there end up being four divisions on the dining table: Act 1, First part of Act 2, Second part of Act 2, and Act 3.

Step 1 – using scraps of paper, I scribble story bits or character bits on a small scrap and place it about where in the story’s timeline I think I’ll want to reveal the information or play out the event. I’m not restricted to A-Z planning, and face it, the creative brain rarely thinks a story completely in order.

Step 2 – as the many scraps of paper populate the table, I gather than transfer the information to index cards – each card representing a scene. Because the table will be covered in paper scraps, again, I’m not restricted to building scenes in start-to-finish order. I can jump in an hone any part of the story I want.

Step 3 – Now I look at the story in order, and bring my analytical brain into action to evaluate and better the entire shape of the story, its characters and events.

… and it all started with a table cloth.

How do you approach story building?

Cheers & happy plotting to you,
Deb

————–

Deb Patz is the author of “Film Production Management 101” and the upcoming “Write! Shoot! Edit! A Complete Guide to Filmmaking for Teens” both published by MWP Books. Her family is very patient when she takes over the dining room table to plan out a story.

WHERE IS DEB? (upcoming events and appearances)
Jun.3-7 – Guest instructor – PEI Screenwriter’s Bootcamp, Charlottetown, PEI
Jun. TBA – Book launch for “Write! Shoot! Edit!”
Jul.30-Aug.3 – UFVA Conference, Los Angeles, CA