SCREENWRITING WITH CAKE

by Gina Sestak

Given the date, I probably should be writing about a Christmas theme but, seriously, don't you think there's enough Christmas stuff going on already?  I'm not quite as tired of it as I usually am this time of year, but that's probably just because I'm still procrastinating on the present-buying part.

So instead of obsessing about the approach of Christmas, I'll obsess about the approach of something else:  the December 31, 2010 deadline for entering the 12-minute screenplay contest sponsored by Steeltown Film Factory.

I'm working on an entry which is, as of now, an 8-page long incoherent mess.  Let's reserve judgment on that one.

I'd rather write about a different planned entry.

The critique group I participate in decided to write and submit a screenplay.  While a few of us have written screenplays before, most of us are working on fiction and/or memoirs, so putting together even a short movie is a stretch.  We'd been knocking the idea around for weeks until someone suggested an overnight writing session, which we've been calling a retreat and/or a pajama party.  [Actually, everyone stayed fully clothed in day-garb for the writing sessions.  It wasn't that kind of party.]

Several of us met Friday evening at one member's home and, fueled by Chinese take-out, cake and cookies, worked on the screenplay until 2 a.m., then got up Saturday morning and worked on it some more.   We got a lot done, and the collaboration was amazing.  Ideas flying all over the place.

Plus it was fun.  Did I mention cake?  Take a look at what our hostess provided:

In case you can't tell, the little writers around the cake, sitting on cupcakes, are made of icing and holding tiny books on screenwriting - it's hard to read the titles, but those are real covers on those little booklets (the only inedible part of the arrangement).

Throw in some wonderful home-baked cookies, a smidgen of wine, and coffee as necessary.  What a recipe for creativity!

MAKING THE MOVIES

by Gina Sestak

Well, I did it again. I signed up for another labor-intensive class at Pittsburgh FIlmmakers. Keep in mind that I'm still striving to get my regular fiction published, not to mention recovering from recent surgery, holding a job, and taking a few other short classes for fun. A rational person would focus on polishing all those manuscripts and stories cluttering up my house, or on locating an agent. Instead, at the age of 59, I'm studying screenwriting. You can go into any bookstore and see the huge number of novels that are published every year. Compare that to the much smaller number of movies made and the even smaller number that actually get distributed. I have to be nuts.

Making movies is a different world. When we write novels, we are on our own, sitting alone in front of a keyboard and a screen, creating stories out of nothing. In contrast, it takes a village to make a movie - dozens if not hundreds of creative people acting, directing, dressing sets, designing costumes, operating cameras, recording sound, editing, etc., etc., not to mention financing the production, scouting locations, feeding the cast and crew, etc., etc. Instead of having to convince one agent or editor to accept your work, you have to hope to excite a multitude!

For anyone who is unfamiliar with Pittsburgh Filmmakers, I recommend a visit. The very building itself manages to convey an atmosphere of technical proficiency and creativity combined. Just being there is stimulating. And the classes are hard, with weekly assignments and in-class critiques -- not for the weak of heart.

Last fall I studied Introduction to Screenwriting, which required writing a short script every week, to be read aloud and critiqued in class. The following semester I took two core classes: Introduction to Digital -- yes, I am technologically challenged, but I learned to use Photoshop and Final Cut Express to make posters and short films -- and Motion Picture Fundamentals, in which i created or collaborated on several short films, including writing, filming and editing.

The biggest thrill, though, was when I story-boarded an idea that was made into a short film by an enthusiastic group of classmates.

This term, I'm taking a more advanced screenwriting class, Script Development, from which I hope to emerge with a competed screenplay. Please wish me luck.

SPEAKING AS AN EXPERT

by Gina Sestak

One week ago today I had the unnerving experience of speaking to our local chapter of Sisters in Crime on the subject of screenwriting. I say unnerving because I know practically nothing about the subject. My claim to expertise comes from a lifetime of movie viewing and one (one!) class, an introduction to screenwriting taught by Lorraine Heidekat at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Still, I was willing to share the little bit I know.

Screenwriting is very different from novel writing. You don't need to tell nearly so much. In a movie, the audience can see what Scarlett O'Hara's dress looks like. The costume designer will figure that out, so you don't have to write a detailed description. Nor do you have to spend pages developing characters -- the actors do that, using your words. In a book, you tell the story your way, and maybe an editor or two suggests revisions. In a film, dozens (and sometimes hundreds) of skilled people stand between the screenwriter and the finished product. I like to think of the screenplay as a seed from which a movie grows.

Screenwriting is different from playwriting. In a movie, you can see the Eiffel Tower; the characters don't have to tell each other they're in Paris. And a monologue that might hold your attention in a theater can be deadly boring on the screen. A movie needs more action while most plays consist mainly of dialogue.

Screenwriting is an art and, like most arts, it helps to view the work of other artists. I'm not just talking about watching films. I'm suggesting reading screenplays. There is a website where links to the screenplays for hundreds of movies are posted: simplyscripts.com. It's fun to watch a film, then go read the screenplay and see how the writer(s) put the action and dialogue down in words. Try it and tell me what you think.

MAKING MOVIES

by Gina Sestak


I've always liked movies. Ever since I was a little kid. I like to watch, but even more, I like to know about how they are made.



You may remember that one of the first posts I wrote for this blog [way back on September 23, 2006] concerned my glamorous job as a movie extra in George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
I call it glamorous because my make-up was professionally desitned and applied -


so what if it was matte gray skin and red eye shadow! It looked cool.
A few years later, I was an extra in an even weirder movie -
Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh.


So what's that got to do with writing? you may ask.

I'll tell you.

This semester, I've been taking a screenwriting course at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. After years of being a highly unsuccessful fiction writer, I've decided to broaden my horizons. Henceforth, I plan to be an unsuccessful screenwriter as well!