Scriptwriter
Alex Wiebe at the ever-reliable The Editing Room has gifted the world with my favouritest ever zombie movie description:
INT. APARTMENTS
Everyone heads up the STAIRS but then ZOMBIES AIIEEEE STAIRS RUSH ARRRGH BRAD DAUGHTER RUN ENOS LOOK OUT FLARE MIREILLE RAAAARRRGH SCREAM CRASH KEEP GOING HISPANIC AIIEEEE PITT ZOMBIES NOOOO FIGHT CHOMP ARRRRGH
ZOMBIES NOOOOO FIGHT CHOMP ARRRRGH, indeed.
— writers got some television-love: there’s a new show called The Writers’ Room that’s about – you guessed it – TV shows’ writers’ rooms.
Yah, bring it.
Last month, Auckland Theatre Company‘s Literary Manager, Philippa Campbell, invited the Goodbye My Feleni crew to join ATC’s 2013 Making Scenes programme. We accepted, of course. What this means is we get a two-day workshop with a public reading on Thursday 25 July 2013, 6:30pm at ATC, Mount Eden War Memorial Hall, Lower Ground Floor, 487 Dominion Road, Mount Eden.
Shadon & Amelia will be directing, Jenni is producing, and yours truly will be on hand to eat the actors’ morning and afternoon teas. Speaking of which (cue shameless name-dropping), assisting us with this stage of Goodbye My Feleni‘s development are:
After 2012’s rather ho-hum happy-anniversary, how do I feel this year?
Not bad, thanks!
Pretty good, actually!
It feels like I’m beginning to get the hang of this writing thing!
Ever since I naively put together a soundtrack for my first screenplay, music has been a big part of my world building – sketching in the where, when and how, throwing in some characters, and seeing/writing what happens next. My iTunes has numerous project playlists – and they’re synched to the iPod so that I can get into that project space whilst driving or running.
I have difficulty in hearing the lyrics of a song on first listen so having a playlist at my fingertips allows me to figure out what the words are. Sometimes the selection of a song whose title seems like a good match is a wash. Other times, repeated listenings reveal lyrics that really speak to the project.
Take Skyblue: originally developed as a television show, it’s set in a kind of prison so it was important that there be a ray of hope for its occupants. Then I heard this whilst trying out Fly My Pretties:
Something about the opening guitar work made me add it to the playlist. Then I noticed the title of the song. Then I heard the lyrics. It was win-win-win for me.
It’s very unlikely the playlists I have will survive through to production but that’s okay: until then, they’re a comforting companion on the journey.
SKYBLUE, winner of the Best Dramatic Production in the 2013 New Zealand Radio Awards, returns to the airwaves this Sunday 16 June at 3:04pm.
Set in a forensic psychiatric unit, the one-hour drama spends a day at the sharp edge of New Zealand’s mental health system.
The cast includes Tess Jamieson, Jamie McCaskill, Nigel Collins and Mick Rose. SKYBLUE is produced by Jason Te Kare, engineered by Phil Benge, and brought to you by Radio New Zealand National.
The scene is familiar: our Hero Detective’s supervisor – a lieutenant in an American show or a superintendent in a Commonwealth show – having had his arse chewed out by his superior, seeks out our Hero Detective in the bullpen.
Spotted recently on the box:
INT. DETECTIVES’ BULLPEN – DAY
Detectives are scattered about the open-plan office, a hubbub of conversations throughout.
Our Hero Detective’s supervisor, THE SUPERINTENDENT, strides through the entrance:
THE SUPERINTENDENT
Where’s Hero Detective?
RANDOM DETECTIVE
He’s on a call, sir.
THE SUPERINTENDENT
(fumes)
Get him to see me when he comes in.
RANDOM DETECTIVE
Yes, sir.
As The Superintendent heads for his office, the Random Detective turns to a colleague:
RANDOM DETECTIVE
(sing-song)
Someone’s in trouble!
I was like, WTF? What happened to this oldie-but-goodie:
INT. DETECTIVES’ BULLPEN – DAY
Detectives are scattered about the open plan office, a hubbub of conversations throughout.
Our Hero Detective’s supervisor, THE SUPERINTENDENT, strides through the entrance:
THE SUPERINTENDENT
Where. The fuck. IS HE?
The bullpen is silenced, its occupants afraid to move or speak.
THE SUPERINTENDENT
I want him in my office NOW!
The bullpen springs into action as --
-- The Superintendent continues to his office and SLAMS the door behind him.
Sure it’s a cliche that’s been parodied endlessly, but at least it doesn’t look and sound like a bunch of school kids hearing that Mr So-and-So is on the warpath.
At the end of Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli’s Daredevil: Born Again, our hero, broken in the first act of the story and now painfully reconstituted as a stronger, more focused, more realistic hero and human being, walks into the figurative sunset with the love of his life.
I stopped reading the series at that point. I knew if I continued, it would just go on and on and on: there would be more villains, more life-obstacles – more of the same, but different.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever been a big fan of ongoing serials. My comic collection is made up largely of one-off’s, mini-series and trade paperbacks. As for the viewing library, even though I was a massive fan of Law & Order, it’s taken quite a conscious effort to get myself to buy up to the sixth season of the show, as opposed to the complete runs I have of The Shield, The West Wing, and The Wire.
I think real life is exciting and ongoing enough, thank you.
Spotted recently on the box:
INT. POLICE INTERVIEW ROOM – TIMELESS
Our HERO DETECTIVE studies his SCUMBAG PERPETRATOR from across the METAL TABLE.
SCUMBAG PERPETRATOR
... Okay. I’ll talk.
Our Hero Detective reaches across to the RECORDING DEVICE and pushes the ‘Rec’ button.
HERO DETECTIVE
I’ll just record this.
In a post-Law & Order age – in the too-small shadow of the short-lived Interrogation, even – shouldn’t that scene have played like this?
INT. POLICE INTERVIEW ROOM – TIMELESS
Our HERO DETECTIVE studies his SCUMBAG PERPETRATOR from across the METAL TABLE.
SCUMBAG PERPETRATOR
... Okay. I’ll talk.
OUT ON our Hero Detective pushing the ‘Rec’ button on the RECORDING DEVICE.
The Goodbye My Feleni team have acknowledged and thanked those who’ve helped make the production a reality.
But there’s been a group missing from all our backslapping – the following list is not complete:
Those marked with an asterisk ‘*’ are those who are known to have served but are not in official records.
Goodbye My Feleni is for those who went before us.
