To be or not to be (a screenwriter)?

I caught the flu yesterday, so I was feeling completely inept to exist, let alone write something mindful, honest and captivating.

I don’t truly believe that captivating, or even good writing can come from the first work we ever write. There are honest exceptions, to whose authors I congratulate wholeheartedly, since they have the true talent to make a story happen.
Writing, just like anything else, must come through hard work, showing up more often than not and always seeking out inspiration.

When I was in 2nd year of college, I found a bunch of my old notebooks from 8th grade (the years 2006-7). They were safely tucked in my drawer, and I opened them out of curiosity and for the sake of nostalgia.
What I found in there was a made-up premise for a story about a bunch of scientists and their assistants who are going to take a private plane to the Amazon rainforest and research the dying species to see if they can find the cause. But then, their plane crashes due to bad weather and they end up in the core of the forest. They need to work together so that they can survive the harsh conditions of the forest, and they meet up with strange insects, animals, and even tribespeople who are more or less willing to eat them.
In 2013, Eli Roth made a movie with an insanely similar premise, called “The Green Inferno” and when I saw the trailer I froze, because maybe a week before seeing it, I had gone through my notebook of ideas.

Can you imagine that? I guess it happens more often than anyone would think, especially with professional screenwriters, but to someone so plain as me, this looked like a mind-blowing coincidence – if Eli Roth could think of it, and he has both the funds and the ideas to constantly make films, then my ideas may not be as bad.

In that 8th grader’s notebook, there were at least 5 other stories with a premise, character’s names, plot, ending and locations all incorporated into it. I was blown away by how detailed and creative I was back in the day (nowadays, growing up takes more out of me than anything else) and I thought I could use some of those ideas and create a screenplay.

I pondered it and realized that I really enjoyed those days, and when I started writing again, I felt as happy as I could be. Even writing this now, you can’t tell how happy I feel just by doing this.

Everyone usually fantasizes about being an actor, some sort of face at the foreword of the movie industry but I know I am hella bad at being in photographs. I was once declined because of my bad photogenic skills despite giving a nice performance at an audition.
I didn’t even care about that. My camera shyness would have gotten the better of me anyway. My ultimate dream is to direct, to be the pilot and get my vision safely from one part of the world to another.
But more than directing, I truly believe that writers can give a story its true meaning and its life. I read a bunch of screenplays on the awesome website The Blacklist and the latest one I read was “Gone Girl”; I fell in love with Gillian Flynn since I love the movie very much, but more than that, her concise writing of the action sequences and the spontaneity and charm of the dialogues made me read the whole thing within a day, an hour maybe.

Every time I read a screenplay, I think – “God, I wanna do that! This is who I wanna be.” and it’s stronger each time. I’ve taken a ton of courses for screenwriting, I’ve written a screenplay and I even took a directing class. I am ready.

I don’t think it’s easy. I don’t want it to be easy. I want it to be rewarding. I want to write a story that will have life breathed into it, no matter how bad or good. The sheer joy of seeing something mine get into the world and leave a mark or a scratch is what I hope for.
A good writer can do so much for an actor, as well as a good sandwich can make someone come back to the restaurant which made it, which seems like a dumb comparison but it is kind of true – you get good food, you come back, you felt nourished, you were satisfied, and the ingredients were fresh, well combined with each other and healthy, for the most part.
That’s how a writer, and then a director too, I guess, can make an actor feel: nourished, taken care of and respected.

There are more important things in the world, but the discovery of film changed its history for the most part. The industry has evolved so much that moviemakers have the power to convey the struggles of people all over the world, as well as inspirational stories and messages. That is why I want to write. The movies can be our best friends, too.

‘Til next time.

Anja

 

The case of the TV series

My last post was two days ago, despite saying that I’ll write every day.
It was difficult to promise that because I am super busy every day, but I am also trying to give this blog some direction.
After my top ten movies, I considered making more lists, but I find it very sudden to enter the universe of specified lists, such as ‘My favorite Robert de Niro roles’ or ‘My favorite German movies’, for example.
There’s nothing wrong with being specific, I just feel like I should explore myself and my possibilities before entering such an unforgiving, detail-oriented territory. And I don’t have a list of favorite German movies, either.

I wanted to talk about television dramas, instead, since I feel I should mention that the blog will be about that, too.

It’s no secret that even the most hardcore moviegoers have been letting themselves have some (guilty) pleasure in watching television dramas.
Who could blame them, since TV dramas have become very eloquent, detailed and attention-drawing.

Marvel has explored its possibilities greatly by joining forces with Netflix, with the presentation of “Marvel’s Daredevil” being my favorite one, although “Marvel’s Jessica Jones” and “Marvel’s Luke Cage” are chasing after it rapidly with, lesser but still stirring, success.
HBO have been at it for years – let’s talk “The Wire”, “The Sopranos”, “Game of Thrones” and my personal favorite, “Boardwalk Empire”; they love it all gritty, hands-on and with shock value at the core of some, if not all of them.
And Netflix made everything into a binge by releasing all its series in full.

I thought I could explore this case of the TV series through the drama series “Narcos”.

I put a picture of Wagner Moura portraying Pablo Escobar in “Narcos” above; this dramatic series has taken over a lot of minds and even hearts, but why is it so great?
For me, it’s the authenticity of the cast, the chance for Latin American actors to shine (and how darn well they all do) and most dialogues being spoken in Spanish. I talked about my special appreciation of authenticity in my number 9 movie on the Top 10 list, “Apocalypto”, but I know it’s not only me. The factor of many Latin American names is pretty great, but how many binge watching fans can name more than ‘that guy from Game of Thrones who got his head smashed in’ in “Narcos”? Doesn’t matter! It still works for everyone, because the actors are good, the show was filmed in its original location of Medellin, Columbia, ‘the guy from GoT’ (actually named Pedro Pascal, a brilliant human and talent)  and Boyd Holbrook actually met the men they’re playing, and Wagner Moura had to gain 20 kilograms to be the best Pablo there ever was.

“Narcos” doesn’t just work on Wagner Moura’s weight gain, but its fuel is his talent. I was extremely happy to see Moura in there, because I loved him in a few Brazilian movies and also because a few years ago I had a dream that he played a narco in a movie (I really, really did).
Most importantly, he did a job so well that people who never knew who Escobar was now imagine him as the guy. Despite a few mistakes in the historical and character accuracy, everything tailored to them worked out really well for the series.
I LOVE the aforementioned fact that there aren’t many faces that we can see so often; Boyd Holbrook has a big career in film without many people even knowing it, and so does Wagner Moura, but otherwise, they are only two out of a sea of characters (there are a few more Latin American actors who have very long careers behind them, but I am not IMDB *sorry*)

Writing is really, really important, especially in a long-running series; if it waivers even for a moment, it can make the watchful eye of the binge watchers open their paranoid notebooks and start to analyze what exactly happened there.
Writing in “Narcos” stayed pretty consistent and gave every occurring character some meaning that led to him meeting his or her fate in the end  – whether it was somewhat good or bad.
So a screenplay is the backbone of the television drama.

Look what happened to “Downton Abbey” – although the show was quite good all over, I couldn’t get over Fellowes’ need to write up highly unlikely stories for characters just because the people, or even he, wanted them back. As a writer, I love all my characters, but when one needs an ending – they will get it no matter what. A detached love is the key phrase, despite it being kind of ironic.
“Narcos” could never ever end with Pablo Escobar fleeing and staying alive, because it was based on a real drug kingpin’s life, so that was the difference between these two series. But, even if Escobar was fictional and beloved, his ending needed to come. All that rises must fall.

The special case of writing in the TV series is important; a long-running series can explore the dark and light parts of many characters, while a movie can’t; there’s more room for authenticity and improvement in writing. “Breaking Bad” got better in time, “Marvel’s Daredevil” flourished in its 2nd season, and it was all because of the inevitable passage of time.
While a great movie usually focuses on one single message (get the main guy to get the girl, get Max to break free, get Frodo to Mordor), a series focuses on a character, and more episodes give us freedom to understand a character. Movie can be a character analysis, but a movie almost always requires action in the form of at least three acts.

I can’t really say which one is better – my personal preference is a movie because I don’t need to take out hours or days to be impressed but I love a good TV series, too, especially if it explores something human and full of both error and success.
Which series do you like? Do you like “Narcos”? Let me know!

‘Til tomorrow (I guess)

Anja