|
|
|
|
Solving your writing problems since 1998! |
|
| |||||||||||
|
The Write Way 6 June 2003 Lights! Camera! Ummm ... Greetings, It's no secret that Raoul enjoys arty-farty films (even more than a trip to the theatre). He'll happily queue for hours outside a trendy cinema to sit through classics like The Snow, the Ice and Ivor MrTavish, an hilarious romp through the barren wastes of Siberia as our eponymous hero searches for his natural mother who abandoned him on the frozen steppes; Hot Stuff, the ribald story of forbidden love played out against the backdrop of a nuclear reactor in the hours before meltdown; and Mexican Alien Tomatoes, the story of an angst-ridden affair between two lovers who meet over a Petri dish while researching the life cycle of the fruit fly that threatens the livelihood of their little village ...
I don't know what you've found, but it's been my experience that there are some people who'd do well to remain observers, rather than commentators when it comes to their film-going experiences. There are those who can see a film or read a book and then pick out all the pertinent points in the plot and, in a succinct and logical way, tell you about it in ten minutes so you can decide if it's something that would appeal to you or not. Simply on the basis of what they've told you, you can ask sensible questions about characters' motives, plot matters and so on and generally have a jolly good discussion. And then there are those who can't. These are the people whose recollections are all over the place like a mad woman's knitting; they blurt out their most vivid memory of the movie, tell you what the people two rows in front of them were wearing, launch into an account of the ending of the film, back-track to the second scene because it was sort of important somehow ... tell you the first part of the best quote but can't remember the rest of it because the child in the seat behind was kicking his feet against the back of the chair ... Sadly Lavinia belongs to the latter category, so it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I accepted her invitation for coffee the following day so she could tell me all about it. As I intimated earlier, Lavinia has long had a soft spot in her heart (if not her head) for Keanu Reeves. She defends him vehemently against Raoul's derisive comments about his acting skills and maintains that, "He's a wonderful actor. He makes me laugh and cry!" And who among us, dear reader, didn't shed a tear over Keanu's portrayal of the villainous Don John in the aptly named Much Ado About Nothing? So I settled myself as comfortably as possible on the aluminium foil mesh café seats as Lavinia licked a tiny bead of cappuccino froth from her top lip and began to explain the film in her own pretty way. She enthused about the cryptic philosophical references, the striking similarity between Neo and the Chosen One, the fascinating presentation of Everyman's search for Nirvana, the universality of Merovingian's imitation of Buddha in a purple prayer shawl ... Persephone's trip to Zion ... Sheol's kung fu encounter with Santa's little helpers ... But I could see that she was getting drawn further and further into the vortex that is the Matrix and after 35 minutes that left me feeling more confused than a chameleon on a paisley tablecloth, she suddenly burst into tears and sobbed that the film made her head hurt so much she couldn't even remember if Keanu Reeves had taken his shirt off! Sigh - you know how she feels, don't you? In literature and mythology, from Ivor McTavish to Neo, from Hercules to the Hulk, there are certain elements that all heroes share. Writer, Crawford Kilian, lists the following points that should be on your check list if you're contemplating including a classic hero into your writing: "Mysterious or unusual birth Prophecy that he will overthrow the present order, restore a vanished order Secluded childhood among humble people in a pastoral setting Signs of the hero’s unusual nature Journey-quest: a series of adventures and ordeals that test the hero, culminating in a climactic confrontation Death: real or symbolic Rebirth Recognition as savior-king; formation of new society around him" There's more here. "Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people from coughing." (Sir Ralph Richardson) "I love acting. It is so much more real than life." (Oscar Wilde) This week's quiz: Have you ever stayed at the end of a film to watch the credits? Fascinating, isn't it? Apart from the fact that you wonder how any movie-maker ever makes any money, there are some wondrous job titles in there. Try your hand at matching up the terms with their meanings: segue, dailies, beat, mixer, looping, gaffer, cutter, dolly grip, best boy, breakaway 1. assistant to the electrician 2. specially designed prop or set piece which looks solid by shatters easily 3. electrician 4. screening of footage before it is edited 5. crew member who moves the piece of equipment that the camera sits on to allow mobility of the camera 6. chief of the sound crew; responsible for the quality of the sound recording on a shoot 7. transition from one shot to another in editing 8. single unit of action 9. person responsible for assembling the various visual and audio components of a film into a coherent and effective whole. 10.an in-studio technique matching, synchronizing voice to picture A 1st Assistant
Director, a gaffer and a camera operator find themselves marooned on a desert
island while shooting on location. As they trudge along the beach searching for
a place to set up camp, they stumble upon an ancient lamp. As the camera
operator is dusting off the sand, a genie appears, thanks them for freeing him
from his prison, and offers to grant each of them one wish. Last week's quiz: faction, tariff, constituent, populism, incumbent, pork-barrelling, referendum, cartel, coup d' etat, oligarchy 1. a formal organisation set up by a group of firms that produce and sell the same product for the purpose of exacting and sharing monopolistic rents - CARTEL 2. a person who is represented politically by a designated government official or officeholder, especially when the official is one that the person has voted into office - CONSTITUENT 3. a quick and decisive extra-legal seizure of governmental power by a relatively small but highly organized group of political or military leaders, typically by means of the unexpected arrest or assassination of the incumbent chief executive and his principal supporters within the government - COUP D' ETAT 4. term for a group of people banded together to seek some self-serving or "selfish" goal through the political process - FACTION 5. a current office-holder - INCUMBENT 6. any system of government in which virtually all political power is held by a very small number of wealthy but not necessarily skilled people who shape public policy primarily to benefit themselves financially, while displaying little or no concern for the broader interests of the rest of the citizens - OLIGARCHY 7. any of a number of political movements that demand the redistribution of political power, economic dominance and/or cultural leadership away from what are seen as corrupt, greedy, over-centralized, urban-based oligarchies in favour of empowering "the common people" - POPULISM 8. a vote taken by the general public to decide an important legislative or policy issue directly (rather than having the issue decided by a representative assembly or other legislative agency) - REFERENDUM 9. a tax imposed on goods imported from outside the country that is not imposed on similar goods from within the country - TARIFF 10. spending public funds by legislative assemblies for projects that don't serve the interests of any large portion of the country's citizens but are nevertheless vigorously promoted by a small group of legislators because they will pump outside taxpayers' money and resources into the local districts these legislators represent - PORK-BARELLING Thanks to Lilas Bond for pointing out that what you really dreamt about last night was Manderley, not Mandalay. I'll pass that note on to Sue Kendrick who wrote last week's article that appeared as our Little Something Extra. If you received this newsletter from a friend and you'd like to have your very own copy delivered to you on Friday, just click here: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and why not spread the word? Send your friends a copy and invite them to join our merry band - we number nearly 7,000 now. And here are some more theatrical terms that Sally found some time back and I knew I'd find an excuse to use eventually! Prop - a hand-carried object small enough to be lost by an actor 30 seconds before it is needed on stage Quality Theatre - any show with which you were directly involvedTurkey - every show with which you were not directly involved Monologue - that shining moment when all eyes are focused on a single actor who is desperately aware that if he forgets a line, no one can save him A Little Something Extra Our little something extra this week is an article by Canadian writer, Rukhsana Khan, that explores the use of symbolism in writing. She also provides some exercises you can use to ensure your symbols suit your subject matter. "Symbolism," she writes, "deals with the background of a story. It’s the wallpaper on the walls where the characters are having their scene. It’s not something you immediately notice (or at least it shouldn’t be or it’s too obvious) but it’s definitely there making its presence felt." Read the article here. Don't forget this excellent course to help you write your book. I've just been to have another read of some of the great comments you've left on the Map of the World: http://pub37.bravenet.com/guestmap/view.php?usernum=3170114826 ? You can read the previous 99 messages by clicking on the List button at the top of the page. NB - check to make sure your message hasn't been replaced ... if it has, add another! Word of the week: Piacular (adj) requiring sacrifice; atrociously bad Oxymoron of the week: for our Thespian pals ... patient director Here's a Latin phrase Lavinia can use if she ever happens to bump into Keanu: Licetne tibi mihi dare tuam subscriptionem? (Can I have your autograph?) [lee-KET-nay TEE-bee MEE-hee DAH-ray TOO-ahm sub-skrip-TEE-oh-nem?] Regards, Jennifer P.S. Want to donate to the upkeep of this newsletter? Here's how: 1. Pay by PayPal:
2. Click here to subscribe for a full year OR 3. Use your credit card on my secure order form: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm (You can also access the PayPal subscription link from this page if the link above didn't work for you. With PayPal, you can use your credit card, PayPal account or pay online using your own cheque account.) OR 4. Send a cheque: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm Click here to subscribe for the next year: To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: mailto:WritingTips-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com or go to the web site, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritingTips This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode. |
|
Home
| Contact
| Order
| Site
Map |Subscribe
Copyright 200 |
