The Proof is in the Putting

The interesting thing about actually trying to be disciplined in developing a screen play is that you don't really get away with BS-ing yourself. It's amazing how much I gloss over in the log line, the pitch, the outline, the treatment the summary. I can't get away with the gloss over in the biography of the character. And I realized as I had another stuck in a story moment this evening, that this kind of exercise is exactly what left me floundering to start writing my first script. There was so much I hadn't decided about my characters, that finding the right experiences and decisions seemed impossible. Because they could be like this person or like that person. But now, creating the bio of my main character's father, I'm already seeing that it has to be one story all the way through.

So my response to that short coming was to write a story that didn't dwell on the characters but rather focused on the action. And this was the weakness of that script - as I re-read it and think about editing and changes, additions to the story line. It becomes clear because I'm taking more time to think about the story before the camera's showed up and I wrote FADE IN.

In other news, I am now certain that comedy is not the way to go to be in the top grossing movies. it's the age old conundrum that most people have the same fears and hang ups and worries, but not everybody is going to laugh at the same things.

So it's not surprising that the top movies of all time *adjusted dollars include such master works as Jaws and The Exorcist. (I mean pretty much everyone is afraid of sharks and green pea soup!) You have to get to the 30th film before you get a comedy - Shrek 2 if you can believe it. A case of the sequel surpassing the original. And even then I don't really consider Shrek a comedy as much as a family comedy. If you will indulge my particular slant that family comedies don't count in the same way because they get the "kid bump" Take your kids to see a movie and you don't want to pull out your hair... go twice...

Then you have to get to number 39 and "Beverly Hills Cop" for the first true comedy. Ahh Eddie Murphy, how the mighty have fallen.. though I must admit I did go see "Imagine That" It was cute. But, it's a good thing movies are cheap around here or I would have complained.