Script Collective

Ruby Born

2008-11-30T10:23:00Z

The blog has been at a halt for some time now, but for convenience i'm dropping in a few photos.

Ruby, fresh faced in the Hospital at one day old.

Mum with Ruby in our garden in Burt St, North Perth.

Daddy with Ruby in our livingroom.

Ruby in the Bath

Outline and Character Arcs

2008-03-24T12:23:00Z

This is the first attempt at the outline and character arcs for the Ravages screenplay. There are still gaps that i'd like help and suggestions for. Also if you have different scenes in mind or don't agree with the "twist" - main character death - lay it on me.

Hopefully I can create a link here:

The Ravages Outline v1.1

It is a fairly basic Microsoft Excel document at the moment. I'm happy to transfer to an open source (or at least free) spreadsheet program if anyone has any suggestions? Otherwise it should open in Microsoft Explorer too. Not intentionally supporting Microsoft here. In fact I far prefer and am currently using Firefox.

Feedback on the outline much appreciated.

tagline

Joanna Bio

2008-02-13T14:09:00Z

This post is really just to get my Joanna-VR picture on the web so I can link in ASOA. Maybe i'll back post some of the bio as I go.

Actually I don't want to overshadow my other post by going into the same group with this post. So I will start here.

Joanna, 42 years old. Had a rough upbringing in North London, breeding a strong survival instinct. Her father died in an industrial accident when she was thirteen. Six months later her mother committed suicide. Joanna was left to bring up a seven year old brother - Andy (Does he get a cameo?). As money ran out they were kicked out of the family home things were looking bleak. Joanna in desperation takes Andy to Kingsland Road. She tucks him down in an alleyway and tells him to stay put. Back on the main street she joins the other streetwalkers to tout for business. A humvee pulls up. A smartly dressed man steps fro the rear door. He waves Joanna in his direction.

The mans name is Alexi, he explains to Joanna in the back of the car that he has brought new technology from Russia into the UK. This technology uses fledgling VR technology to recreate and even amplify the sensations of sex. Wealthy early adopters of VR technology are already growing tired of virtual trips to Paris or the moon. They want the excitement of real contact... conquest. Would Joanna be willing to embrace technology and be a VR-hostes (VR-hooker really). She would have a place to stay and be fed. Andy? Well there may be a gopher type job that means he can stay also.

The youngest of the VR-Prostitutes in Alexi's employ, her young mind seems to meld naturally into the environment. Some of the highest profile customers only pay to be online when Joanna is available. As her reputation increases the coding that goes into her idol makes her ever more alluring and realistic. Bit like this perhaps?

As Alexi's prodigy she builds a business acumen that she now wields mightily post Ravages.

I wonder what happened to Alexi?

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Collaborative template

2008-02-09T05:36:00Z

There is some interest at ASOA in the design that I has started. So i'll take you through it:

The following picture is a little out of date, but was really to get a friend (good coder) interested in helping me out.

Key is the segmentation:
Script Level, sequence level, comments. Then there are links through to Character and Location. Using AJAX (program that Gmail uses) it would be possible to be web based, but would only need to refresh the column that you were working on after a submit.

Comments are easy, and would just join to any other section ie: comments on the script as a whole, one particular sequence, or character or location.

Sequences (Try to keep to a page or so each) would be written most likely by one person. The next person is able to start the sequence fresh or edit the last persons version. Their contribution would be noted with the % of changes they made. Different sequences are then voted on and the one with the highest score is considered the main section. Different sections can be brought up next to each other to help comparisons.

Bonus if you have a wide monitor, you can see say: script, two different sequences, comments on second sequence, and maybe the character column. Whatever helps your work flow.

Voting for each sequence focuses on 4 key areas: Script overall; characterisation and use of characters; emotion; and dialogue. These are the clapperboard, head, heart and dialogue icons. An algorithm in the background would judge the importance of each for this type of script and judge the best sequence accordingly.

The editing itself would have been very similar to Celtx.

The more you think about the process the more complex you realise the whole process is.

Interested on opinions.

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A Penny Drops

2008-01-12T06:12:00Z

Well, PlotBot certainly seems like a good enough collaborative writing system to negate development of another. So I'm putting it to use on some of the collaborative projects that I had envisioned for this site.

A Penny Drops [ Join the writing revolution]

Purpose of this piece is to create 10-30 second scripts that can be filmed on anything from a mobile to an HD camera. Minimal props and one or two actors if possible. The intention is that these will end up on YouTube or mobiles as an extended webisode.

The premise is as follows:

Mike stands on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. It is late afternoon and the sun is just setting. He has a penny clenched between thumb and forefinger. He draws back his arm in ultra slow motion... then snaps elbow, then wrist forward sending the coin out beyond the walls.

In the 10 seconds that it takes to tumble to earth a million separate stories play out in the big apple - here is a snapshot of life.

Collective writing

2008-01-09T13:32:00Z

The longer term purpose of this site was to build a web interface to enable collaborative script writing. At the time there didn't seem to be anything on the market that came close.

Until now...

I've since been directed to a site called Plotbot that while very different from the concept I had created, still does a respectable job of providing the collaborative environment.

Never mind. I'm actually having more fun writing scripts than I would have coding / managing a site. The fun part was coming up with designs anyway.

So anyway, ASOA will now have a go at using Plotbot for " The Ravages" script.

tagline

A Swarm of Angels

2007-12-30T07:03:00Z

A Swarm of Angels

" A revolutionary process to create cult cinema for the digital age. Help us invent the future of film, join the Swarm."

Phase 3 has opened on this inspiring project. For a £25 donation you too can participate in a piece of cinema history. By being a crowd sourced film it could well be the ultimate fan based movie.

Or maybe nothing will come of it. I think that it is worth the gamble that this may be a cinematic force into the future. We might have a million people give $30 each to help produce a $30m movie and get the completed film on DVD with producer credits reading:

Producer: Tim Calnan, with A Swarm of Angels

Producer of your own film for $30. Bargain. And to be frank it is highly unlikely to happen otherwise.

Anyway, I signed up and put money where my mouth was. I've nabbed the "tagline" moniker on the ASOA site too. Write me a hello if you visit.

tagline

Note to Celtx users: There is likely to be collaboration between ASOA and our favourite free screenwriting software. See the article on Swarm - Glitch into the Ravages.

Doctor, Doctor

2007-12-20T14:08:00Z

INT. doctor's office - day

DOCTOR

So how can I help?

MAN

I've got a bit of a sore throat.

DOCTOR

OK, lets have a look.

Doctor puts a tongue depressor in man's mouth.

DOCTOR

You do seem to be a little horse

Camera pans back to show that back half of man is a pantomime horse.

MAN

I'm actually feeling a bit fluey.

DOCTOR

Horse Flu maybe?

MAN

Yes, yes! I think that might be it.

So... think you can write me a note to get me out of the Spring Carnival?

DOCTOR

I don't think we want this to spread, so I'll write you a script. Come over to my desk.

Doctor walks across to his desk. MAN follows with a bit of a limp.

DOCTOR

Hey. Something wrong with your leg?

MAN

No, No! I'm perfectly fine. Just the flu.

The doctor bends down to take a closer look at the man's leg.

DOCTOR

I'm thinking you might be lame! We'd better just check you out...

You know that we might have to put you down if you are lame.

MAN

No, No. Ah, come on Doc, you don't have to do this.

Pleading look doesn't appear to be working.

MAN

What do I gotta do to get out of here, like I never was here?

DOCTOR

What can a guy like you possible do for me?

MAN

(conspiratorially)

Well, if you really want something juicy, I can tell you straight from the horses mouth that Donnie's Pride is a shoe in to win tomorrow in the third.

DOCTOR

Hmm. I don't know.

MAN

But he's 16 to 1! That's gotta be worth something.

DOCTOR

Hmm, sorry. Got a code to follow you know.

Doctor pulls out a great big (Pantomime size) hypodermic and give the man a shot straight into his horse's ass.

DOCTOR

And I like putting animals down anyway.

EXT. High street - day

Doctor looks in the window of the TAB, snorts his skepticism and continues. We watch the race unfold on the TV screen as Donnie's Pride wins.

Doctor flags down a cab.

DOCTOR

How much is it to Uptown?

TAXI DRIVER

$15 buddy.

The doctor sees he only has a fiver in his wallet. He sees an ATM across the street. As he goes to cross he is hit by a bus.

TITLES:

"Moral: Never look a gift horse in the mouth"

Structure and Outline

2007-12-18T13:04:00Z

This will be the master outline and structure document. Lets go a four act structure.

Gruesome intro with POV nurse and Hannah on the operating table setting the scene for Asylum
Annetta comes to the Asylum
Meeting the patients is bewilderingly strange but Freidrick appears kindly and knowledgeable
First meeting with Kim and the flicker of attraction
Kim warns of occult goings on, this frightens us away. He's weird.
Stumble onto Freidrick and Aboudja working evil magic on Hannah. She shrieks in terror as a nasty sprite is attached.
Turn to flee but captured by the imposing bulk of Torr [First Act turning point]
Come to chained in dungeon
Freidrick enters and tells us of his experiments, his large body of work that will imortalise him once he has gone.
Torr feeds Annetta and glows a little with the thanks
POV nurse drags Annetta into operating room. Scene 1 repeats in shot with Annetta on the table.
Come to chained in dungeon. Abdouja visits and points and prods his next victim.
Torr brings food. Annetta shrieks at the site of the hideous sprite attached to Torr.
Torr forgets to lock door as he leaves in confusion. Annetta manages to drag hands from chains, but not without scratching and bloodying her hands.
As we move through the labyrinths we see the hideousness that the sprites cause.
A call by Freidrick over the intercom tells nurses to search for Annetta as she has has a psychotic break and is a danger to herself and to others.
Annetta finds her way to the normal wards above ground.
Kim bumps into Annetta and draws her to safety as Torr lumbers past.
Kim talks to calm Annetta down from her mania. Her feelings grow for Kim a little.
Freidrick walks in. Kim has betrayed her by enabling the rooms intercom. He tells her it is in her best interest. [False Goal Act II]
Back to the dungeon.
Freidrick and Abdouja begin their evil magic to attach a frightening creature to Annetta. Torr looks on.
Torr finally surcomes to torment and guilt deciding to rescue Annetta. Jealousy that Abdouja takes Freidrick's attention also boils his blood. He crushes Abdouja as would a boa constrictor.
Annetta takes her chance at escape.
More patients and their scary sprites
She sees Kim considers calling for his help, but realises that he is practicing his own occult spell. Hannah is squealing on the table. Annetta runs off even more distraught.
Kim is in fact performing an exocism and banishes the sprite. Hannah is effectively cured - though can still see sprites.
Annetta caught by the POV nurse.
Freidrick explains he can do the spells himself anyway. In fact he can make them bigger and better
Annetta has the mother of all sprites attached to her.
Kim and Hannah come across a moppy Torr. They find out Annetta's predicament and rush to help.

Not sure quite what goes her yet, but in the end:

Freidrick's lifes work to go up in smoke. He freaks out. Dies gruesomly fighting Annetta.
Kim manages a spell that sends all the sprites to oblivion.

This is vaguely looking like a page by page summary. Sort of works. There is a fourth act remaining, and some relationship threads to sew in yet. That should make 90+ pages.

Cool,

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Characters

2007-12-16T13:50:00Z

This will be the up-to-date summary of characters. The invention and exploration of character will still happen in the blog entries proper, but I obviously need one account of the truth somewhere.

How much have the characters changed already!

ANNETTA ROSEN - Protagonist

Not the new head doctor now. Some more development required to get the best from the antagonists.

FRIEDRICK KERCHNER - Primary Antagonist - Action Line

Runs and operates the hospital.

KIM LAUTENS - Primary Antagonist - Relationship Line

Young Priest
Discovery of the supernatural has him obsessed with the occult. Moral clashes with his religion.
Smitten with Annetta. His attempts to help her drive her away as she initially thinks he is mad.
She almost comes around but seeing him casting spells she believes he is responsible for the horrors.
He is in fact helping and finally saves the day.

TORR - Antagonist - Action Line

Is a patient
Torr is Freidrick's right hand man (his POV)
Driven by raw emotion he could turn

ABOUDJA - Antagonist - Action line

A Haitian Priest who is in as a patient
Assists Freidrick in attaching Sprites and generally being spooky.
Poor relationship with Torr.

Other characters?

Sister?
Nurse in credits? - always in scary POV?
Other patients?

So then, characters are now beginning to take shape. They also seem to be falling into a semblance of a plot inside my brain. Next step is for a master outline to maintain and develop.

Not 100% sure that a blog is the right tool for this, but it is the concept of commentary and feedback that I hope will make it all worthwhile.

Outline

2007-12-13T08:29:00Z

OK, in as few words as possible some parts of the plot puzzle. This will be far from the finished script as motives, relationships and dramatic turning points have to meld into a workable structure. So take this as a bunch of scenes that seem to fit at this point.

Don't keep the ghouls in the audience waiting, straight to the blood in the opening credits.

POV nurse (may sound a little like Egor). Looks into terrified patients face. "Don't worry. The doctor is very good. He will make it all very much better for you".

Nurse then tightens the leather strap restraints around the patients wrist with a sharp tug.

Credits play over the shiny display of medical equipment. The nurse passes instruments to the doctor at his request and returns them dripping blood and gore back to the tray. Drilling and scraping noises should play at high decibels.
Doctor Annetta Rosen enters through the imposing gates of the Asylum. They locked behind her. She then walks down through the otherwise pleasant gardens to be greeted as the new Doctor in charge as she enters the grand old building.
The daylight exhibits a pleasant setting for employee and patient alike. A nurse takes Annetta on a tour of the facilities. First stop is the gallery of Head Doctors. She is told that she is to become a member of this esteemed group. The camera focuses on the last doctor...

I actually saved this post as a draft the other day. I've since realised that much of the authority and power that Freidrick requires is in his position as head of the hospital. Annetta therefore needs to have a different reason for being at the hospital, and for Freidrick to take a special interest in her. Freidrick is therefore not the last deposed doctor as I began to intimate.

One thought is that the poor patient in the credits ends up being the sister that Annetta was searching for. I'm just worried that Annetta will not have enough emotions to go around a nemesis, a love interest and a blood relative in danger!

Suggestions appreciated.

Two Characters and an Outline

2007-12-13T07:44:00Z

Two more characters to introduce then I can start getting the outline from brain to the page.

KIM LAUTENS - This meek patient has over time - with patience and calm - reduced their sprite to a minor irritation. They just want Annetta's help to get out of the asylum. Annetta just sees him/her as another deluded patient at this point. Kim needs to convince Annetta of the danger she is in before it is too late. Too late! Kim needs to help her out of the danger she is now in.

TORR - This behemoth of a man is never more than a shadow away from Freidrick. He is something like a Lenny in Of mice an men. He jealously guards his mentor - so maybe he is like Luca Brasi who ingratiates himself to Don Corleone in the Godfather. He is not too bright, and is driven by his emotions. He feels he is losing Freidrick's attention to Annetta which stokes a burning rage to a murderous crescendo.

So now we have a character who can fill Annetta in on back-story and explain some of the bizarre goings on.

We already have our main antagonist in the action line - Freidrick - who is driven by his intellect to understand and control these supernatural manifestations and get reinforcement of his genius from fellow doctor and scientist Annetta. Morality will certainly not get in Freidrick's way.

We now have Torr who can switch from child like naivety to brutal violence in a snap. Large raw emotion.

I was really going to start an outline with this thread but these characters needed to be posited first. (Don't you love it when a word like "posited" pops into your head unbeckoned - then you look it up in the dictionary to find the definition really did make it the perfect word. Definition).

So outline take 1 next post.

tagline out.

Asylum - working title

2007-12-12T02:00:00Z

I came up with this idea a while ago, that all those little aches and pains that just seem to persist are in fact the spiteful work of little elemental sprites. They are unfortunately (fortunately?) beyond the spectrum of our vision so despite numerous visits to doctors and specialists no one can help us.

Thing is, they don't have to be invisible. A relatively unutilised part of the brain, when activated, allows us to see these tormentors. There are witchdoctors and faith healers - not all of them are charlatans - that are able to see these demons and in some cases exorcise them. There are others who are able to see these sprites that are sent mad by the torment and specter of these beings beyond their comprehension.

I'm going with this story as:

The horror genre has gained a certain popularity at the moment
Supernatural has come back into vogue (The TV show of the same name for instance)
The horror genre is forgiven its low budgets and dodgy special effects more than any other style.
Computer graphics are now up to creating these sprites in an effective manner
For the four reasons above horror is popular with the indie crowd.

Seems logical to me.

So then,

The protagonist will be ANNETTA ROSEN - a psychiatric doctor who is taking a new job at an asylum. She is thrilled with the new appointment as being doctor in charge at such a young age is a rarity. Poor girl. She is in for a hell of a scary ride.

I'm thinking that the exclusion of her family and friends from the film will help with the sense of isolation that she and the audience will feel. I might change this if the evolving plot requires.

The primary antagonist will be FRIEDRICK KERCHNER - a charismatic patient who we later find out was the previous doctor in charge. After years of studying these patients whose persistent delusions just showed too many similarities, he became obsessed with seeing these for himself. He can now see these sprites after assisting an operation on himself to re-establish an unused junction between the Occipital Lobe (responsible for visual processing) and the Temporal Lobe (responsible for memory and perception).

Additional characters:

ABOUDJA - A Haitian Priest who becomes Annetta's savior. Will he be a patient? Nurse? External? There is even potential that he is the love interest.
Frederick's henchmen (patients he has following him). These are all affected by sprites. When we first meet these characters their ailments appear bizarre. Once we see the sprites it all becomes pretty clear why they act so strangely.

Others will come as the plot develops I suppose.

Any feedback hugely appreciated through this whole process. I'll have to get the wide world to come visit of course.

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A little constrained

2007-12-10T23:48:00Z

Writing has taken a siesta since a recent shoulder reconstruction. Having your right arm out of action is a fair inconvenience. I have a habit of loosing trains of thought - side tracked if you will - which is exaggerated when i'm slowed to one handed (left hand) typing. It also doesn't help that the pain medication seems to have the ability to clear your mind - useful as a Zen thing, but not from a creative POV.

I want to tell you about the procedure and the interesting hospital stay, but i'm getting cramps in my left hand already. A break is in order then i'll get back to it.

I've also promised to write a script through this blog and for said reasons above that hasn't progressed either.

We'll get there.

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Write something and stick to it

2007-11-30T12:43:00Z

I expect that this is a common problem, but as soon as i'm halfway through an outline I'll have a new an infinitely more interesting story idea come into my head. I feel sincerely bad that my newly created characters are left to fend for themselves in a partly developed never to be finished plot. I feel that perhaps I should give them a proper burial and not leave them in movie limbo. More to the point I should probably stick to something if I want to make progress. It maybe more fun to endlessly invent shallow unrealised plots, but I see it being ultimately unfulfilling. This kind of script writing I imagine is the definition of literary one night stands.

So, I think that I might begin the next piece in the cyberworld and post ideas and scenes and dialogue directly to this blog. Hopefully I get a little feedback and it might be an interesting approach.

Lets see how it goes.

tagline.

I feel like I might be metaphorically crossing the picket line by writing a spec, but I take umbrance from UNK who in this linked blog entry says that if you are a wannabe writer who is not a WGA member then you don't have to take a writing vow of celibacy - just don't be a scab and sell it to the majors.

I'd be glad if a youtuber wanted to film it; dream if an indie producer with a bit of kit wanted to give it a go.

Meet the Writer

2007-11-11T05:31:00Z

I'd like to be down in LA hauling around a picket sign, showing my solidarity with the industry. It sounds like there is a real camaraderie in action. Geography kind of rules out my attendance with Perth, Australia being almost directly opposite on the globe from California. If I should start to dig straight down from here I would surely not end up in China. If writing doesn't work out, then perhaps digging might be a profitable enterprise?

So anyway, can't be there in the flesh to meet and greet all the writers that I'd like to chat to. Closest I can get is vicariously through these great blogs: John August, Jane Espenson, Ken Levine and Joel Haber. Ken's need to write is particularly evident with his last post on the strike effectively being the script for half a Simpson's episode.

I'm reading these blogs and I'm particularly enjoying the famous writer name dropping. You get fed up with the actor name dropping and slightly less with the producer / writer name dropping so this is a breath of fresh air. It's about time that the writers got some airtime / column inches.

I'm just thinking now that an example TV guide for mid 2008 - assuming an ongoing strike - would be hilarious. I might mock one up later on if I can make time.

And now to finish off a completely scatterbrained blog entry I'll just mention that listening to local radio yesterday (Australian local) I heard the suggestion that a good chant for the strikers would be:

"Studios are wrong, we are Right...ers".

Blindingly awful, but at the end of the day it might be hugely amusing.

Cheers, tagline.

NB: By the way, everyone should be signing the petition at: WGA Strike Petition.

When Directors think they can be writers

2007-11-07T13:36:00Z

I've just had the grave misfortune of watching Spiderman 3. Self inflicted I know, but I just wanted a piece of light entertainment. Hey, the first couple of films passed the acceptability test, so why did the third have appalling dialog, irrelevant scenes, and convoluted storyline with insipid set pieces? Perhaps the protagonists character arc that started at boring geek moved to wanker then back to boring geek again was to blame? Perhaps because every plot element felt contrived and wholly improbable even in a comic book world?

So who is to blame? What changed? Lets see:

Same actors? Check.
Same Director? Check.
Same Budget or bigger? Check.
Same Writer?... Lets see:

Spiderman 1 - David Koepp
Spiderman 2 - Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Michael Chabon
Spiderman 3 - Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi (his brother)

Sam, you've a cool director, but leave off the writing. You may feel that you owe your brother a cushy writing job on a high profile project, but you should have left it to the real writers. Guys like David and Alfred just have a better feel for story and can get some real emotion from their characters. Some of the dialog in 3 was so inane and childish it was embarrassing to have to hear it.

Now thinking about this I am now dreading the impact of the writers strike. If you write for film, then you probably love to watch the odd film too. If the good guys have put down their pens I really am afraid of the result. I really hope that AMPTP come to their senses and shop a workable deal soon.

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WGA on Strike

2007-11-04T08:39:00Z

Now as an amateur screenwriter in Australia this issue seems a million miles away. Does this impact me in any way shape or form? Now i'm guessing that the hoards of other amateurs out there are probably only dimly aware of what is going on. They are still likely to be writing those spec scripts and sending them in to agents / studios / favourite directors and actors?

Should all writers in a stand of solidarity hold back on their scripts? It would be kind of funny to see hollywood try and make film and TV with no scripts at all - no professionals, no amateurs no nobody. And when you say: "Well what do you think reality TV is all about?" then think about the announcers, voice overs and all the scripted elements that make a story from the foolish one liners, arrogance, tears and anger.

Film started something like funniest home videos, with slapstick played by unemployable actors. Writer's gave them structure and emotion (then directors flounced them up as art or dumbed them down in to blockbusters). But somewhere along the way the writer as God (think Shakespeare) didn't take or ask for credit. The actor on the screen - a valid role that does deserve credit - took all the credit. We took a baby step back in the right direction when the dawn of the director as draw card came about with Scorsese, Spielberg and Lucas stepped on to the scene. But the time of the writer has come again. We have come full circle.

Maybe we haven't come full circle but by god we are going to get paid right for getting ignored for our creations (see how I make myself important by including myself in a group that i'm really not yet a part of )

So through all that waffle I was basically trying to say that I think writers are undervalued and like all undervalued industries (Go Teamsters) strike action is the only way to show how important you are. Now we'll see who the genius is when Letterman wings it for an hour!

All glory to the writer!

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Australian Film

2007-11-03T14:03:00Z

It has been a while since I have been blown away by an Australian film.

I think the first one that really stuck in my mind (Apart from Storm Boy - although that was really the book) was a great thriller piece called Dead Calm. (I almost spelled that Dead Clam . I don't think I realised that "real" films were made in Australia until I saw that. Tight drama that was heightened by the minimalist cast and locations.

There were some other classics like Bad Boy Bubby and Romper Stomper that showed we could make films with the best in the world. But that all seemed very short lived.

We then fell into a phase of pandering to the rest of the world. We made a nice little piece called Strictly Ballroom that was a good film, but light and fluffy. This became the template for all future films that would necessarily come out of Australia. So we worked to that form and there were some good films. But then the funding dried up for all but those type of films. And when the world tired of those sort of films the Australian film industry went all introverted and hasn't made a world wide hit ever since (Excluding kids movie Happy Feet).

Maybe it is the shame that comes from our little brother New Zealand turning out the Lord of the Rings Epic? Or maybe some failing of our film industry or the government sponsorship of such. Perhaps there can be some reprise? The government is putting forward new tax incentives for film and television production. This article tells us that: "The new measures include a tax rebate allowing producers to offset their investment against profits or get a refund. They can claim up to 40 per cent of production costs for film and 20 per cent for TV". Now that might be incentive enough if you are a script writer in Australia to get up and write that film you've been mulling over. There may actually be a chance that great idea gets made.

If this doesn't get more and better movies made in the Great Southern Land, then I might have to take up a more practical career like painting or sculpture!

Ratatouille - all the ingredients without the spice

2007-10-24T15:14:00Z

Ok, so not likely to be the be all and end all of movies. It is pixar though, and they have managed a few hits that follow structure to the letter and make the formula work. So this movie followed the structure, but the magic wasn't quite there.

I think the issue was that Linguine as a main character didn't follow a satisfactory arc. He began as a klutz, took glory from another without deserving it, showed amazing dexterity in a waiter scene that came out of no where and was unbelievable, then ended the picture as a no body. Hardly exhilarating.

I guess the rat story was supposed to be the core, with a reconciliation with the father. Thing is that story was sidelined so much that it felt flat and under developed.

Never mind.

Now if you read the script will you feel that half baked emotion? I'll have to try find it sometime. This is important as obviously many a project has looked good to the producers on paper, but turned into your proverbial turkey. There must be a method to see proof before the pudding.

Apologies for the many poor cliches you have just endured.

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