My First Entry

In Syd Field's book on screenwriting I'm reading for class, he references films like "Fellowship of the Ring," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and "Thelma and Louise."  Pishaw, I say.  Yeah, these are great films, but I know that Syd's techniques are true beyond these films because of how well they ring true with one of my all time favorite movies, "Pee Wee's Big Adventure."  The thing that Syd stresses the most (at least in the first five chapters) is how everything pretty much revolves around how the protagonist must have a goal.  Then, the movie is about how a bunch of crap happens to them that makes it more difficult for them to reach their goal.  Pee Wee's goal is to get back his stolen bike, and the whole movie revolves around his misfortunes and misadventures when trying to do so.  For me at least, this example really exemplifies how simple yet important this rule in screenwriting is.

In other news, I watched my professors' film "Quality of Life" about a week ago now.  I really enjoyed the fact that I was able to get caught up in the story even though I don't fall into the niche market of graffiti artist the movie aims at.  I think I'm going to enjoy the DVD commentary even more, because what I find really interesting (pretty much with all films) is the story behind the making of the movie.  And for a DIY (do-it-yourself) film, I think the making of could be especially educational.  Glad I'm taking a class on it!

More to come.

Happy Days.