Part 75: Nobody Knows Nothin'!
Geno Scala
Exec. Director of Academy Awards; "The Script Mentor"; "Ghostwriter to the Stars"; Creator of "The 20 Day Screenplay";
Screenwriting Myth: “NOBODY KNOWS NOTHIN’!”
?This may be one of the most spoken, often misspoken, statements regarding the entertainment business in history. It is a quote from the great screenwriter, William Goldman (All The President’s Men; Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid) explaining how, in the business of moviemaking, nobody can REALLY predict what will work and what won’t, what films will be successful and which films would fail miserably.
?This is true- to a point. There are thousands of factors that go into the production of a movie, and only some of these factors are controllable. For instance, the 1962 film “Manchurian Candidate” was predicted as being a highly successful film, starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, about the brainwashing assassination of the President.
However, the film’s prolonged impact and place in history was derailed when President Kennedy was shot in Dallas, and out of deference to his memory, distribution of the movie was pulled by Sinatra himself.
It’s hard to say just how popular “The Dark Knight” would have been had Heath Ledger not died immediately after its filming and six months before its release. While his performance was stunning, surely his death at such a young age had to have an effect on the Academy Awards voting, which he ended up winning (deservedly) for Best Supporting Actor.
More to the point is that these are some issues that are out of control of anyone in the production and executive circles; they cannot be planned for, but can, ultimately, have an impact on the success or failure of said film.
?At times, a writer or performer comes along and alters the cycle of moviemaking just enough to start a new trend. Quentin Tarantino is often cited as one example of this phenomenon with his film “Pulp Fiction”, although we saw it to a lesser extent in his earlier release of “Reservoir Dogs”. With “Pulp Fiction”, QT wove a tapestry of several different stories interconnecting in a climatic ending. At the time, this was groundbreaking stuff.
Comedic actors like Jim Carrey, Steve Carrel and Will Ferrell have come along with their hilarious genius, beginning a string of successful movies, albeit very formulaic, in an attempt to highlight their individual talents.
?However, just because there is that occasional blip on the screen, a flashing spark of greatness, doesn’t alter significantly the bigger picture, and that is:
“What makes for a successful movie?”
?Surely, it begins with story, or the script; the concept, the premise. Once a high concept is devised- one that is marketable (four-quadrant marketing), one that is easily understood by the masses, one that is unique, fresh and original, the rest lies in the writing of the script. There are formulas frequently bantered about- the STC beats, The Hero’s Journey, the Mini-Movie Method, and countless of others- and they all work to a certain extent.
?But, there are “rules” to writing a screenplay, especially if you are an undiscovered, unproduced writer of spec screenplays. These rules need to be learned and adhered to at all times, or at least up until that time where you can write a non-conforming screenplay and still generate reads (Shane Black, Joe Eszterhas). Knowing that these rules work, and knowing what these rules are, seems to belie the statement “Nobody knows nothin’ ”.
Clearly, if you have a strong concept (see above), a degree of writing talent, and you know the rules to writing a spec screenplay and follow those rules, you will be discovered at some level.
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It won’t be by accident, but rather destiny.
Someone will read your screenplay and become your strongest advocate and supporter and get that screenplay into the hands of someone who can ultimately affect that destiny (very likely, me). Be it through networking, or contest wins, or blogs or social media, that screenplay will eventually work its way to the surface. Those that deny such rules exist, or worse- acknowledge that they do exist but are compelled to disregard them, will forever fall short of this goal.
Let me repeat that last line;
Those that deny such rules exist, or worse- acknowledge that they do exist but are compelled to disregard them, will forever fall short of this goal.
?Nobody may know nothin’ when it comes to determining hit movies, but some people certainly know somethin’ when it comes to writing strong(er) and more marketable screenplays.
Discover who those people are in your circle and learn from them.
This Week's Promo: SATAN'S ARENA by Christopher Chance
?This book is the most appalling of true-life prison story that chronicles the events of years Mr. Chance spent in Spanish prisons. It highlights the fact that much international crime is planned in prison and how prison is the villain’s job center.
This harrowing book is prison writing in the raw and is not for the squeamish or politically correct. The anti-Spanish and anti-French sentiment is solely the author’s undiluted emotions at the time of writing due to the treatment he received at the hands of his jailers.
Welcome to the brutal, ugly and dangerous corridors of Satan’s Arena where Chance’s pen and fists worked doggedly whilst all around him was chaos.
SATAN’S ARENA - Strand Publishing UK
Gate Gourmet - Author - Screenwriter
2 年It seems what's important for a novice is not what a screenplay has to me to make a hit movie but what a screenplay has to be to get someone who wants to make it into a film.
Writer, Editor, Ghostwriter, Author
2 年Another quote you might like is, "I don't have time to distinguish between the unfortunate and the incompetent." ~ US Air Force General Curtis LeMay.
Intelligence Specialist
2 年I suppose the movie-making business is like a game of chess. Before you can get one movie out, someone else has already made a leap for the trophy with opposing and often false Intel. Here recently though, we can see that there are many who are producing movies that have absolutely no basis in fact and are being exposed for it. This is what I specialize in.
Now part of SOLARIS SOUND AND VISION
2 年Oh sorry to double up on my own reactions but it is very true that POPULARITY is no sign of longevity, this has been true in literature for many decades. Standing the test of time often means not appreciated until after whatever time a work appears in. This is true in art as well, famously Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime and so on and so on. Don't ever let anyone beat up your own opinion of something based on how popular it is/was.