Out of the Ashes...

Just another entry...

My research into converting my book into a screenplay has begun. I started with the obvious: reading other scripts. Seems the average page count for these is about 150, which I can do in my sleep. Geez! What a racket that is...writing for films.

So anyway, the first one I read was written by Kubrick ... yeah, STANLEY Kubrick. It was a good read. 155 pages, took about 2 hours to read. And yeah, it did seem as if I was watching the film.

Which film? Well, I liked the thing so much I went and checked to see if I could grab up the movie, just to compare it to what I envisioned. Turns out ... the screenplay I read was a project Kubrick never got off the ground. Napoleon ... never made the film. Hmmm...

Well, anyway, I also read Dark Night (one of the NUMEROUS Batman films). That one was about 120 pages, or so, and actually matched what I saw in the film itself (which was actually pretty good).

Ya know what? I can EASILY write one of those script thingys. It ain’t gonna be hard at all. So, I’ll get it done, slowly, and then give it to Cam ... to READ. I will resist the second part of his request - to get it filmed. Screw that. The last thing I need is to commiserate with Gomorran scum (entertainment folks in general). That’d be pretty icky to have to do THAT again, so - um - no.

Anyway... The research is pretty much done. Yeah, it’s that easy - for me, anyway. So while I wait for my book editor to kick it into gear, I’ll start converting my novel. That should take - oh - 3 to 6 months tops. After that, Cam should have something to read out loud to fulfill the reading requirement of 30 pages per DAY (forced upon him by the eeeee-vil trio of myself, his mother, and his step-dad *snicker*).

Come to think of it, reading movie scripts of films he’s watched (over and over again) might be a great way to teach him something that I seemingly can’t otherwise (so far) - how to envision what he reads. Connect what he sees with his eyes to the imagination and logic centers of his brain. Yeah - they’re that easy to read. So, this could be seen not as a waste of time to fulfil part of his request but as an educational tool. After all, if I wrote it, especially at his request, he WILL read it (dang it). *blink blink*

So, okay. Fine, son, it’ll be done. NYAH!

As I close this entry, I do want to suggest a couple of OUTSTANDING films I had the opportunity to watch Sunday: Knowing and Taken. Both are thrillers.

Knowing is pretty suspenseful with a lot of easy to follow plot twists. You may think you see what’s coming at the end, but it turns out a little different. I almost guessed it...but not quite. It has a heavy religious undertone without being preachy (not in the least). I actually thought “Oh, wow” at the end. Ya gotta see it ... even if you don;t like Nicolas Cage, you will probably like it.

Taken stars one of my all time fav actors - Liam Neeson. He;s supposed to be American, but one can hear the heavy Irish accent in key parts. But that’s very easy to ignore. It revolves around a storyline of him using skills from a previous career to save his daughter, who was kidnaped from a Paris apartment while he was listening. From that point, it’s a heck of a ride as he travels about to save her. It’s a hell of a film and deserves every bit the accolades it received. In fact, it deserves more.

Both are available for rental ... so go get ‘em and enjoy!