Screenwriting Manifesto

I just finished the first draft of my latest sci-fi action adventure screenplay.

I previously spent a year writing and fine-tuning a heart-wrenching historical drama — not my usual stuff. It was a story I had wanted to tell for a long time and I think it turned out swell. Still, that was new territory for me and while it was tremendously gratifying, the going was slow and painstaking.

When I was done, I felt a serious urge to indulge in all the stuff I’d set aside for a year — fast-paced adventure, wild rides, edge-of-your-seat action scenes, snappy dialogue and science fictiony-type stuff. Just so happened, I lucked on an idea that would let me indulge almost every sci-fi, fantasy and horror concept I had ever wanted to write — all in one screenplay.

Which might explain why it came out to 159 pages.

Yeah, I have a bit of editing to do.

Anyway, I can’t really get into the details just yet. But I’m taking a cue from We Love You So, a blog that highlights the many small influences that went into the making of the Where the Wild Things Are feature movie. Here, in no particular order, are some bits and pieces of things that became part of my DNA and greatly influenced me while writing this particular screenplay.

Six Million Dollar Man – The Secret of Bigfoot

As a child of the 70s, I was constantly getting the pants scared off of me by the barrage of In Search Of… type shows and Chariot of the Gods type movies that had me convinced Bigfoot lurked in the shadow of every tree and ancient astronauts were planning their return to Earth.

Probably the most memorable pop culture appearance of Bigfoot was on The Six Million Dollar Man1 as an android servant of a mysterious alien race that could only be photographed through Vaseline-covered lenses.

Loch Ness Monster

This one didn’t scare me like Bigfoot, because it lived on the other side of the planet. Besides, it was kind of cool to think there might be a “living dinosaur” out there somewhere.2

The Day of the Triffids

As movies B movies go, this one is a B-. The plot was so thin, they had to film an additional, almost unrelated B story to fill out the movie to feature length. Still, the idea of every single person in the world going blind and being stalked by murderous plants — yeah, it stuck with me. I invariably find a way to include a carnivorous plant in every screenplay I write, and I invariably end up cutting it in the rewrite. I think the plant might finally get its day in this screenplay.

Return of the Jedi

Until the prequels came along, this was the most maligned of the Star Wars films, and as the conclusion of the trilogy it was something of a  let-down. Though there is plenty to criticize, there are some things here that stuck with me — most notably the breakneck pace of the climax, cross-cutting between three story threads, jumping from one cliff-hanger to the next — Luke vs. Vader, Han vs. the Shield Generator, and Lando vs. the Death Star. There’s a hell of a lot going on. And I give Lucas props for delivering one hell of a final space battle.

Flying Saucers

Funny thing about “flying saucers” — the term was originally used by a witness to describe how boomerang-shaped objects were “skipping” through the air like saucers, not that they were shaped like saucers. Which pretty much invalidates every eyewitness claim of a saucer-shaped UFO since.

Still, there’s something so perfect, so right, about the saucer shape. It makes such sense, especially in the context of space travel, that the idea took hold. And I have to agree — there’s just something lovely and elegant about flying saucers.

Andromeda Strain

Every space station or secret government lab setting I’ve ever written is basically right out of Andromeda Strain. Right down to the catwalks, cylindrical core, curved walls, jumpsuits, and laser turrets. Why this rather dry movie made such an impression on me, was, I think, because the set designs didn’t feel like a stretch. This wasn’t some wild fantasy world, this was a believable government germ lab. Plain. Utilitarian. The computers had clunky interfaces. Even the lasers looked like lasers, not the glowing bolts of energy of so many sci-fi films of the time.

Them

My favorite atomic-age giant bug movie. And an influence on others besides me I’m sure. What sticks with me most? Fighting giant bugs in the sewer tunnels. That’s just so…primal. If you are writing about giant bugs, it’s hard not to fight them in sewer tunnels.

1. If you were a young boy in the 70s, you wanted to be Steve Austin. He was a superhero made from technology. I wasn’t born on another planet, so there was little hope I would ever resist bullets or fly so fast around the planet I could move time backwards. But if I was lucky, my limbs might actually be ripped off in an automobile accident and replaced with better, stronger, faster limbs. Better living through bionics.
2. By the way, I was a child in the 70s. A child. I’m a grown-up now. That means I do not believe in Bigfoot or Nessy or ancient astronauts or any of that other hooey. I write stories about pretend stuff. Pretend. I do think there’s a good chance life exists elsewhere in the universe. I don’t think any of it has visited us.