New Beginnings

[Nicholas_Snowden]

Hi all.

Found this forum the other day and didn't hesitate one second to join up. I've always been facinated by movies and everything that goes into makig them.

I have currently been working on a project for quite some time now, and i've been running back and forth with it.

So i'm hoping to reach out and get the opinions and advice from anyone and everyone who is willing to help.

At work at the moment, so I'll post at a later time the project and the specifics of what it entails.

Thanks.

 

[Nicholas_Snowden]

Ok, sorry about the brief and lack luster intro, had to be quick about it while being at work. I'll go a bit more into detail about what I've got going on.

Where to start.

So, around six or seven years ago my brother and I came with a idea to do a short based on some thematic visuals from a fighting game. So I grabbed my camera and we went out and shot a few scenes. Later that weekend I put all my footage onto my computer and jumped into my editing software.

Then It hit me.

I didn't have anything, aside from a few shots of us being retard and trying to make a crazy unreal fantasy battle. lol. I had nothing. and by nothing, I mean, I have no idea who these characters are and why they are fighting.

I stared thinking about why would these two characters be fighting.

So I stopped editing and started writing. I created a quick background for each of them and the lead to a general plot began to form itself.

I kept writing and more and more characters began to join the ranks of these characters.

That's a brief overview of how it started.

My problem is I don't know when to stop evolving the plot. I'll get half way through a draft and a new bigger and bolder idea forms inside my mind and it changes everything and then what I have written doesn't work anymore.

I've changed this story so many times from characters to plot to motives to realm to everything.

I don't know what to do with it anymore. I'm afraid to continue working on it because its been six years, i don't have the confidence to even attempt to finish it. But I know I have to. It's just working up the courage to sit down and attempt to conquer something like this is daunting.

So i'm here seeking encouragement. I need it. I'm tired of not being able to write. I'm tired of it not being done. I need it to be done.

Help me, please.

 

[Nicholas_Snowden]

So, I've made a decision. After a serious lack of commitment from being umotivated and uninterseted, I have decided to say screw it.

I'm going to finish this project no matter what gets in my way!

This weekend, my grandparents have given me their lakehouse for my own use. This is the perfect opportunity to clear my mind of all the junk that has been clutering it lately, mainly relationship issues. But I had to make a choice and my sceenplay was it, because you only live once, right?

So i'm going to get some writing done this weekend, mainly focusing on character development. I am bringing my website back to life to, not that it had much of a life before, but now I can't see a way not to fill it with content. If your interested, check it out, but keep checking back because it's about to explode with contet! http://facebook.com/pages/Snowden-Productions/143382854345

I feel reinvigorated and have a very proud sense of freedom - nothing can hold me back except myself, and i'm sure he's onboard with all this.

So wish me luck.

 

[Kim Welch]

Many people miss the bus of success waiting for the bus of perfection. Perfection is the enemy of good.

 

[Wendy]

Hmmmm, hmmm, hmm.
I would like to throw a wrench into the mainstream of thinking in terms of how films should begin.

When I was an avid reader of many genres, I would always read the last chapter of a book, first.
If I was impressed I would continue reading from chapter one as any normal person would do.
But, I wonder if perhaps that's something to consider when planning out one's film from beginning to end.

It's only by accident and not very often that I may see the end of a film before I watch it in it's entirety but, i wonder if the same unnatural order of things is something to consider carefully and very intently when deciding on the most powerful beginning.
It may well be the power of your beginning that should be reflected in your ending...or vice versa.

To Be Noted:
I am not a filmmaker.
I just like to watch films that are made with passion and integrity.
And, I think a great screenplay is paramount to the making of any good film.

Hope you enjoy being on this Forum, Nicholas!

 

[Lisa Talley]

Did your weekend at your grandparent's lake house help you get closer to your finished screenplay?

Rewriting and writing in more characters, layers and plot lines seems to happen when you don't have a concrete climax/pivotal moment in your story. Having that portion, along with your beginning and ending, help keep things on track. It's easy to come up with different scenarios if there isn't a definitive climax to keep the story in check. Beginning, climax and ending are like bullet points on a powerpoint. Everything in between those bullet points is your story, the scenes that move your film along. The best way to find what that climax ought to be is to discover what your character's need is.

Maybe finding those things within your story structure might help. I've been guilty of "chasing the rabbit" i.e. leading up to some magnificent point that never quite gets made, and I found that the aforementioned method works for me. Hopefully, it helps you too.