I flew to L.A. on a Wednesday in mid-January to see my producers ("J" and "K"). Our mission: to discuss the screenplay of the first Gappy movie, which encompasses books one through three. Most of our business can be handled over the phone but it's nice to meet face-to-face once in a while.
K very kindly made her apartment available, and our first meeting took place on Thursday afternoon. K and I spent most of the time reading the script out loud to J in a monotone so that she could picture the scenes unfolding in her imagination and not be influenced by someone else's vocal expression.
The reading took a long time because there was a great deal packed into those 128 pages: over-long descriptions of actions, settings and characters and wordy dialogue. Generally one page of script equals one minute of film. I did the bulk of the reading aloud and felt quite "bogged down" as I waded verbally through the densely-printed pages. Three hours later I finally pronounced the final word.
Slightly dazed from screenplay overload, we all took a break to relieve our parched throats and ears. There wasn't much time left for discussion that afternoon but a few of the suggestions J and K voiced were quite major ones. It was nice to hear that K's young granddaughter -- who'd listened in for a while -- had enjoyed the scenes where Gappy went to summer camp to learn about his magical vampire powers.
K's granddaughter aside, I returned to my hotel feeling quite depressed. The task of editing such a cumbersome screenplay while incorporating all of the changes, additions and possibly new story lines seemed totally overwhelming. I went down to the hotel exercise room and put in an energetic hour on the treadmill to gain steps for my Fitbit challenge.
The next meeting took place on Saturday afternoon. It lasted four hours, and I took copious notes. "More exciting," "More dramatic," were the phrases mentioned most often. Then Janet dropped a bombshell.
"Doesn't book four continue on with the villain who first appears in book three?" she asked.
"It does," I answered.
"And the situation with the villain finishes at the end of book four?"
"It does."
"Well," J concluded with a determined-looking nod, "we have to add book four onto the end of the movie."
Groaning inwardly, I knew that she was right, but the thought of adding a whole other book onto the end of the screenplay that was already more than two and a half hours long was daunting. I also had to come up with a way of transitioning book three into book four, since that adventure takes place months later. Feeling my pain, J instructed me to write book four's screenplay first and then we would tackle the editing of the first one.
"Deadline?" I asked. Much though I love writing, I have a slight procrastinate problem when it comes to starting a project. Having a deadline helps. We set a date for three weeks. Twilight loomed in the Californian sky as J drove me to LAX. My red-eye flight was scheduled to take off in six hours. I spent the wait-time mulling over the meetings in my head.
Back home, I spent the first two days continuing to mull -- as I said, I have a hard time starting. Unlike the first screenplay, which I wrote ass-backwards, I was determined to tackle this next screenplay the correct way. Deciding I could do with a refresher in screenwriting technique, I pulled out my Screenwriting for Dummies book and opened it to page one. Yellow highlighter in hand, I started to read.
Two days later, I finished the book with a renewed sense of confidence and enthusiasm. I could do this. I spent the next day typing out all the points I'd highlighted and grouping them into categories in logical progression. Then I printed out my 14-page cheat sheets for quick reference.
At last I felt ready to start writing the screenplay of book four. Two weeks to go til submit-to-producer time!
To be Continued . . .
K very kindly made her apartment available, and our first meeting took place on Thursday afternoon. K and I spent most of the time reading the script out loud to J in a monotone so that she could picture the scenes unfolding in her imagination and not be influenced by someone else's vocal expression.
The reading took a long time because there was a great deal packed into those 128 pages: over-long descriptions of actions, settings and characters and wordy dialogue. Generally one page of script equals one minute of film. I did the bulk of the reading aloud and felt quite "bogged down" as I waded verbally through the densely-printed pages. Three hours later I finally pronounced the final word.
Slightly dazed from screenplay overload, we all took a break to relieve our parched throats and ears. There wasn't much time left for discussion that afternoon but a few of the suggestions J and K voiced were quite major ones. It was nice to hear that K's young granddaughter -- who'd listened in for a while -- had enjoyed the scenes where Gappy went to summer camp to learn about his magical vampire powers.
K's granddaughter aside, I returned to my hotel feeling quite depressed. The task of editing such a cumbersome screenplay while incorporating all of the changes, additions and possibly new story lines seemed totally overwhelming. I went down to the hotel exercise room and put in an energetic hour on the treadmill to gain steps for my Fitbit challenge.
The next meeting took place on Saturday afternoon. It lasted four hours, and I took copious notes. "More exciting," "More dramatic," were the phrases mentioned most often. Then Janet dropped a bombshell.
"Doesn't book four continue on with the villain who first appears in book three?" she asked.
"It does," I answered.
"And the situation with the villain finishes at the end of book four?"
"It does."
"Well," J concluded with a determined-looking nod, "we have to add book four onto the end of the movie."
Groaning inwardly, I knew that she was right, but the thought of adding a whole other book onto the end of the screenplay that was already more than two and a half hours long was daunting. I also had to come up with a way of transitioning book three into book four, since that adventure takes place months later. Feeling my pain, J instructed me to write book four's screenplay first and then we would tackle the editing of the first one.
"Deadline?" I asked. Much though I love writing, I have a slight procrastinate problem when it comes to starting a project. Having a deadline helps. We set a date for three weeks. Twilight loomed in the Californian sky as J drove me to LAX. My red-eye flight was scheduled to take off in six hours. I spent the wait-time mulling over the meetings in my head.
Back home, I spent the first two days continuing to mull -- as I said, I have a hard time starting. Unlike the first screenplay, which I wrote ass-backwards, I was determined to tackle this next screenplay the correct way. Deciding I could do with a refresher in screenwriting technique, I pulled out my Screenwriting for Dummies book and opened it to page one. Yellow highlighter in hand, I started to read.
Two days later, I finished the book with a renewed sense of confidence and enthusiasm. I could do this. I spent the next day typing out all the points I'd highlighted and grouping them into categories in logical progression. Then I printed out my 14-page cheat sheets for quick reference.
At last I felt ready to start writing the screenplay of book four. Two weeks to go til submit-to-producer time!
To be Continued . . .
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