The adventures of a professional screenwriter and sometimes film festival jurist, slogging through the trenches of Hollywood, writing movies that you have never heard of, and getting no respect. Voted #10 - Best Blogs For Screenwriters - Bachelor's Degree
Lancelot Link Monday! Have you ever seen a Nudist Actor presenting an award on the Oscars show? Have you ever seen a movie with a Nudist character? I'm not talking about a character in a nude scene, I'm talking about let's say a scene at the Police Department in an action film where one of the two rival cops is a Nudist? Or a Western with a Nudist Cowboy? Or ever a romantic comedy where the Best Friend is a Nudist? Okay - the last SHERLOCK HOLMES movie had Mycroft as a Nudist... but the least represented people in movies are Nudists. That's the real problem that everyone is ignoring.
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...
7)70 Awesome Frames From Movies. (I don't know if these were collected from One Perfect Shot on twitter, but if you don't follow him, DO IT NOW! @OnePerfectShot
10)NOT Hot At Sundance This Year! (note: in the past many Sundance film have not been picked up for any sort of distribution, including DVD and prisons. The reason why there is a Sundance Channel and Sundance video label is due to *winning* films often not being picked up. That helps explain the remark about not being enough commercial films this year.
THRILLER Thursday is returning in February! Until then, a couple of rerun blog entries.
From December of 2012...
SIGHT & SOUND Interview With Spielberg On His LINCOLN Movie.
Spielberg: Tony Kushner's screenplay was kind of slow and meticulous, and when we came to the ending I sensed a problem. It wasn't just a complete downer, the hero was also ultra passive. He just sits there in a chair watching a play and gets killed. Not the way a story like this should end.
Sight And Sound: But that's what actually happened.
Speilberg: If the rest of the screenplay had been more exciting and engaging, that ending would have maybe worked. But I felt we needed something more exciting and entertaining, so I brought in David Koepp for a punch up.
Sight And Sound: He wrote "War Of The Worlds" for you?
Spielberg: And "Crystal Skull" and "Jurassic Park" and I've brought him in to punch up other scripts, too. So, I told Dave what I wanted and he wrote the new ending.
Sight And Sound: How extensive was his rewrite?
Spielberg: After Booth shoots, Lincoln draws a gun and returns fire... while Mary Todd looks on from her seat in terror. There's a huge shoot out in the theatre between the two, Lincoln and Booth having to reload several times, and then we have a great roof-top chase sequence where Lincoln chases Booth from Ford's Theatre across the roofs of Washington, ending with a final confrontation between the two which ends with Lincoln using this great catchphrase I came up with for "Crystal Skull" that George vetoed, always wanted to use that line, and then shooting Booth dead.
Sight And Sound: That's unbelievable.
Spielberg: Isn't it great? But it doesn't end there. Lincoln realizes that if he's dead, he's a martyr... so he and Secretary Of State Seward, played by the excelled David Strathairn, cook up a plot to fake his death. There's a really touching scene where Lincoln says goodbye to Mary Todd and Tadpole (his son, played by Gulliver McGrath), I'm sure the audience will cry like the end of my "E.T.", and then Lincoln goes to live the rest of his life in Bolivia.
Sight And Sound: Did Bolivia exist as a country in 1865?
Spielberg: That doesn't really matter, does it? It's one hell of an ending, and a great ending for a hero. Heartbreaking and emotional. I guarantee people will be talking about it when the film comes out on November 16th.
I'm re-running this blog entry from a several years back, for two very good reasons: It's still an important message, and I screwed up and don't have a blog entry for today.
When I was a kid in school, Gym Class was graded by participation and performance - whether you attended class every day and gave it your best shot, and what was accomplished with that best shot. If you were a fat uncoordinated kid like me, the best grade you could probably get out of Gym was a C, which was passing. I was there every day and I always did my best - which was not very good. Now, if I really wanted to I probably could have focused on one or two events or sports and really worked my butt off (figuratively *and* literally) and ended up with a B... or maybe even an A if I proved to be good at whatever I had selected. But I really didn’t care about Gym - just showing up and doing my best was about as much Gym as I could take. Which meant I would always be a C Gym student.
I often run into new screenwriters who think they should be graded only on participation... yet in the real world no one cares about participation - they only care about performance.
First, let me say that just finishing a script is a major human accomplishment. Finishing *anything* is an accomplishment. I always advise people who have just written Fade Out to treat themselves to something - like ice cream. Or go out to dinner someplace nice. Or do *something* to reward yourself. A dog gets a treat for “sitting pretty”, a screenwriter ought to get something for slaving over a script for a few months until you reach Fade Out. That's a big thing!
And every time you finish another script, treat yourself. I will tell you, there are many people who talk about writing a script and do nothing, many who get halfway and quit, and even many who write one screenplay... But fewer who write two, and the more scripts you write the fewer other writers out there who have done the same. So maybe with each new script you ought to treat yourself to something bigger and bigger - the Michael Bay Explosion Theory Of Screenwriting Treats.
Even though I will tip my hat to you for writing ten screenplays - that’s absolutely amazing - the industry doesn’t give a damn about participation. They are all about performance. And if you write ten stinker scripts, those are still ten stinker scripts. If you write ten okay scripts, that is still not good enough. You need to have a script that cuts through all of the rest - a script that people read and talk about. You need a script that *performs*.
I always use the Basketball Analogy. Right now there are probably tens of millions of kids playing basketball on some school ground or in the driveway after dad spent a full day trying to figure out how to install the hoop and backboard to the garage roof. Out of all of those kids, a fraction will play basketball good enough to make the High School Varsity Team. Out of all of the High School players, a fraction will play at the level that gets them on a college team. Now, even on a college team there are those who play at a level that gets them on a *good* college team and those who just play on teams that only play local teams. Now let’s look at those players on the good college teams - the ones you watch on ESPN. Only a fraction of those basketball players will make it to the pros. And even those who make it to the pros may be pro bench warmers - on the second string that only plays if a bomb wipes out the rest of the team. Now we have this small, finite group of professional basketball players... and even then, we have players who are stars like Kobe and players you have never heard of (but are pros and play in most of theor team’s games). Here’s the thing - as screenwriters, we have to be in that small percentage of pro players... and most of us will not be a Kobe or a Shane Black. Most of us will be those guys whose names you do not know and who do not get endorsement deals or date supermodels.
Here’s where things get rough for many new writers - they finish a screenplay, eat their amazing colossal ice cream sundae, and then nobody in the industry gives a damn about their script and they become angry because they worked so hard and got *bad coverage* in return. Bad coverage! Their reward from the industry? A slap in the face! Ef Hollywood! Ef them all!
But the business side of this (the part where you get paid and can quit your day job) does not care about how hard you worked on the script - they only care about the results. Is the script playing at that professional level? That’s tough to deal with, but you will have to deal with it.
There are some writers (I’ve met a few) who don’t give it their best shot, who don’t work very hard or don’t spend the time thinking about their stories and characters, and finish a script and expect to be rewarded by the world even though their script just plain sucks. It is *not* the best that they can do. Well, here’s the thing - and it is brutal - nobody cares how hard you worked if you did the work wrong. There is no reward for screwing up. You may have put in the hours, but if you didn’t put in the brain power and put in the heart and put in the actual stretch-yourself effort; you have failed. All of those hours were for nothing. If you “just crap out” a script, it will be crap. There is no reward for crap. If you spend 40 hours a week for 6 months and turn in crap, it is still crap. The results are what counts - the *performance* not the participation.
Nobody cares how hard you worked on the script if it's crap. They care about performance, not participation.
But here’s the thing - for the majority of you reading this, if you push yourself you will get better with every script you write and will reach that level of performance where people in the industry notice you. I am a strong believer that hard work is more important than natural talent. Somewhere there’s a kid on a playground who can close his eyes, throw the ball, and get nothing but net. Some sort of Spidey-sense going on there. But that kid is a freak. The rest of us have to work our tails off to get anywhere. And if we do work hard, and stretch our abilities with every script, and get better, and *care*, we will make the team. We will be playing pro, even though our natural talent may be nowhere near that freak kid’s.
But don’t expect the *industry* to buy you that amazing colossal ice cream sundae until you are playing at that pro level. Until then, you have to treat yourself.
Why pay $510 for a used version of the 240 page 2000 version that used to retail for $21.95? (check it out!) when you can get the NEW EXPANDED VERSION - over 500 pages - for just $9.99? New chapters, New examples, New techniques!
"SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is the best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read." - Ted Elliott, co-writer of MASK OF ZORRO, SHREK, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and the sequels (with Terry Rossio).(ie; 4 of the top 20 Box Office Hits Of ALL TIME.)
Lancelot Link is taking a three day weekend (Holiday here in the USA), so here is a list of this year's Oscar Nominations...
What and who should win? What and who got snubbed?
BEST PICTURE
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Carol
The Martian
Room
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario
DIRECTING
Adam McKay - The Big Short
George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson - Room
Tom McCarthy - Spotlight
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Anomalisa
Boy and the World
Inside Out
Shaun the Sheep Movie
When Marnie Was There
COSTUME DESIGN
Carol
Cinderella
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Amy
Cartel Land
The Look of Silence
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Body Team
Chau, Beyond the Lines
Claude Lanzmann
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Last Day of Freedom
MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Revenant
ORIGINAL SONG
"Earned It" - Fifty Shades of Grey
"Manta Ray" - Racing Extinction
"Simple Song #3" - Youth
"Til It Happens to You" - The Hunting Ground
"Writing's on the Wall" - Spectre
ANIMATED SHORT
Bear Story
Prologue
Sanjay's Super Team
We Can't Live Without Cosmos
World of Tomorrow
SOUND EDITING
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Martian
The Revenant
FILM EDITING
The Big Short
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Spotlight
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Embrace of the Serpent
Mustang
Son of Saul
Theeb
A War
ORIGINAL SCORE
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Hateful Eight
Sicario
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
VISUAL EFFECTS
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Dramatic proof that Luke and Leia were brother and sister: Donny & Marie played them on TV...
And the (real) hit disco version of the STAR WARS theme...
I have danced to that in real life! It seemed like *every* movie ended up with a hit disco version in the late 70s. Here's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS...
I never danced to that... never danced to STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE disco version, either...
And, of course, SUPERMAN...
All of these seemed to come from one guy - Meco Monardo - who managed to do a disco version of every movie theme at the time, and when I was searching for these on YouTube, seems to still be around and having fun doing disco versions of PHANTOM MENACE and other flicks. The STAR WARS disco version was a #1 hit and both the single and album went platinum. Before STAR WARS, he was a pretty big musician and producer of disco albums for stars like Gloria Gaynor.
Lancelot Link Monday! You would think that THE FORCE AWAKENS was all about Jar Jar Binks from the backlash against the film. Though I think it has all kinds of problems - most of the same problems that other J.J.Abrams movies have - but is still enjoyable and much better than those three prequels. Which is why I don't understand why there is some movement to get Lucas to direct the next film in the series. I mean, WTF? If you could get the Lucas from STAR WARS and AMERICAN GRAFFITI that would be fine, but unless you have a time machine and some cloroform, we'd just end up with more endless scenes where the Senate discusses taxes like in the prequels. I think the best bet is to switch it up - and let someone else direct (Colin Trevorrow is currently signed). Remember how good EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was *without* Lucas? Though Trevorrow seems to have the same "original film sampling problem" as Abrams... is there anyone in Hollywood who will fight for originality?
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a baker's dozen links plus this week's car chase...
Get an Amazon Gift Card over the holidays? Maybe have some Christmas Cash eating a hole in your pocket? How about buying some ebooks? Even if you don't have a Kindle device, Amazon has a FREE Kindle Reading App that works on any device (well, not your Mr. Coffee). FREE. So you can read any of these ebooks on your laptop or notepad or iPad or Upad or WePad or... well, just about anything. I have the app on my phone, in case I get stuck in some line at the DMV or something. So these ebooks are great for you or any of your friends... or even your enemies.
I would love to begin 2016 with a huge spike in book sales! And I would love to have the new TERMINATOR book be #1 on Amazon Screenwriting before the end of the month!
So please help me spread the word by telling your friends, those folks in your writers groups, those people you argue with online, folks on screenwriting message boards, strangers on the street, that person in the public restroom to your left, and remember to include it in that email before you accidentally press "respond all". Anything you could do would be great!
I am busy working on HITCHCOCK: MASTERING SUSPENSE, which should be done sometime in January... and then its on to the DESCRIPTION BLUE BOOK and the STRUCTURE BLUE BOOK and a book on writing Low/No Budget Movies that you might make yourself.
So help me, help you!
Learn how to write movies from a professional screenwriter: Buy a book!
"SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is the best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read." - Ted Elliott, co-writer "The Mask Of Zorro", "Shrek" and "Pirates Of The Caribbean".
"William C. Martell knows the action genre inside out. Read and learn from an expert!" - Mark Verheiden, screenwriter, "Time Cop" and "The Mask", head writer on "Smallville" and "Constantine".
"This book is dangerous. I feel threatened by it." -Roger Avary, Oscar winning screenwriter, "Pulp Fiction" and "Killing Zoe".
"Bill Martell is one of Hollywood's best action-adventure writers, with 19 produced films to his credit. His "Blue Books" on the art of screenplay writing are legendary and "Secrets of Action Screenwriting" is the best." - Best selling novelist Dale Brown.
"My only complaint with SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is that it wasn't around when I was starting out. The damned thing would have saved me years of trial and error!" - Ken Wheat, screenwriter, "Pitch Black" and "The Fly 2".
"There's an art to writing for guys like Chuck Norris -- thanks to Bill Martell's book, I was prepared." - Genia Shipman, screenwriter, "Walker: Sons of Thunder".
"Finally a screenwriting book written by a working professional screenwriter. Bill Martell really knows his stuff, showing you how to write a tight, fast screenplay." - John Hill, screenwriter, "Quigley Down Under" and "Closed Encounters Of The 3rd Kind".
THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL! *** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Kindle! *** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Nook!
Why pay $510 for a used version of the 240 page 2000 version that used to retail for $21.95? (check it out!) when
you can get the NEW EXPANDED VERSION - over 500 pages - for just $9.99? New chapters, New examples, New techniques!
"SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is the
best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read."
- Ted Elliott, co-writer of MASK OF ZORRO, SHREK, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and the sequels (with Terry Rossio). (ie; 4 of the top 20 Box Office Hits Of ALL TIME.)
Contained Thrillers like “Buried”? Serial Protagonists like “Place Beyond The Pines”? Multiple Connecting Stories like “Pulp Fiction”? Same Story Multiple Times like “Run, Lola, Run”? This book focuses on 18 of Hitchcock’s 53 films with wild cinema and story experiments which paved the way for modern films. Almost one hundred different experiments that you may think are recent cinema or story inventions... but some date back to Hitchcock’s *silent* films! We’ll examine these experiments and how they work. Great for film makers, screenwriters, film fans, producers and directors.
Films Examined: “Rear Window”, “Psycho”, “Family Plot”, “Topaz”, “Rope”, “The Wrong Man”, “Easy Virtue”, “Lifeboat”, “Bon Voyage”, “Aventure Malgache”, “Elstree Calling”, “Dial M for Murder”, “Stage Fright”, “Champagne”, “Spellbound”, “I Confess”, and “The Trouble with Harry”, with glances at “Vertigo” and several others. Over 77,000 words, under $5!
He's back! The release of "Terminator: Genisys" (now on BluRay) is set to begin a new trilogy in
the Terminator story... 31 years after the first film was released. What draws us to these films about
a cybernetic organism from the future sent back in time? Why is there a new proposed trilogy every few
years? This book looks at all five Terminator movies from a story standpoint - what makes them work
(or not)? What are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? How
about those secret story details you may not have noticed? Containing a detailed analysis of each of
the five films so far, this book delves into the way these stories work... as well as a complete list of
box office and critical statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just
fans of the series.
Price goes up on January 1st!
Only $2.99 - and no postage!
Should really be called the BUSINESS BLUE BOOK because it covers almost everything you will need to
know for your screenwriting career: from thinking like a producer and learning to speak their language,
to query letters and finding a manager or agent, to making connections (at home and in Hollywood) and
networking, to the different kinds of meetings you are will have at Studios, to the difference between
a producer and a studio, to landing an assignment at that meeting and what is required of you when you
are working under contract, to contracts and options and lawyers and... when to run from a deal!
Information you can use *now* to move your career forward! It's all here in the Biggest Blue Book yet!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 400 pages!
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
Your story doesn't get a second chance to make a great first impression, and this book shows you a
bunch of techniques on how to do that. From the 12 Basic Ways To Begin Your Story, to the 3 Stars Of
Your First Scene (at least one must be present) to World Building, Title Crawls, Backstory, Starting
Late, Teasers and Pre Title Sequences, Establishing Theme & Motifs (using GODFATHER PART 2), Five Critical
Elements, Setting Up The Rest Of The Story (with GODFATHER), and much more! With hundreds of examples
ranging from Oscar winners to classic films like CASABLANCA to some of my produced films (because
I know exactly why I wrote the scripts that way). Biggest Blue Book yet!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 100,000 words - 312 pages!
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
What is a scene and how many you will need? The difference between scenes and sluglines. Put your scenes on trial for their lives! Using "Jaws" we'll look at beats within a scene. Scene DNA. Creating set pieces and high concept scenes. A famous director talks about creating memorable scenes.
12 ways to create new scenes. Creating unexpected scenes. Use dramatic tension to supercharge your scenes. Plants and payoffs in scenes. Plus transitions and buttons and the all important "flow"... and more! Over 65,000 words!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 210 pages!
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
Expanded version with more techniques to flesh out your Supporting Characters and make them individuals. Using the hit movie BRIDESMAIDS as well as other comedies like THE HANGOVER and TED and HIGH FIDELITY and
40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and many other examples we look at ways to make your Supporting Characters come alive on the page. Includes Story Purpose of characters and Subplots.
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 150 pages!
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
This book takes you step-by-step through the construction of a story... and how to tell a story well, why Story always starts with character... but ISN'T character, Breaking Your Story, Irony, Planting Information, Evolving Story, Leaving No Dramatic Stone Unturned, The Three Greek Unities, The Importance Of Stakes, The Thematic Method, and how to create personal stories with blockbuster potential. Ready to tell a story?
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 85,000 words - 251 pages!
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
Expanded version with more techniques to help you through the desert of Act Two! Subjects Include: What Is Act Two? Inside Moves, The 2 Ps: Purpose & Pacing, The 4Ds: Dilemma, Denial, Drama and Decision, Momentum, the Two Act Twos, Subplot Prisms, Deadlines, Drive, Levels Of Conflict, Escalation, When Act Two Begins and When Act Two Ends, Scene Order, Bite Sized Pieces, Common Act Two Issues, Plot Devices For Act Two, and dozens of others. Over 67,000 words (that’s well over 200 pages) of tools and techniques to get you through the desert of Act Two alive!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 208 pages!
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
Show Don't Tell - but *how* do you do that? Here are techniques to tell stories visually! Using Oscar Winning Films and Oscar Nominated Films as our primary examples: from the first Best Picture Winner "Sunrise" (1927) to the Oscar Nominated "The Artist" (which takes place in 1927) with stops along the way Pixar's "Up" and Best Original Screenplay Winner "Breaking Away" (a small indie style drama - told visually) as well as "Witness" and other Oscar Winners as examples... plus RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 200 pages!
Only $3.99 - and no postage!
GOT IDEAS? *** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Kindle! *** YOUR IDEA MACHINE *** - For Nook!
Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Your screenplay is going to begin with an idea. There are good ideas and bad ideas and commercial ideas and personal ideas. But where do you find ideas in the first place? This handbook explores different methods for finding or generating ideas, and combining those ideas into concepts that sell. The Idea Bank, Fifteen Places To Find Ideas, Good Ideas And Bad Ideas, Ideas From Locations And Elements, Keeping Track Of Your Ideas, Idea Theft - What Can You Do? Weird Ways To Connect Ideas, Combing Ideas To Create Concepts, High Concepts - What Are They? Creating The Killer Concept, Substitution - Lion Tamers & Hitmen, Creating Blockbuster Concepts, Magnification And The Matrix, Conflict Within Concept, Concepts With Visual Conflict, Avoiding Episodic Concepts, much more! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 175 pages!
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MOVIES ARE CHARACTERS! *** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Kindle! *** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS *** - For Nook!
Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! A step-by-step guide to creating "take charge" protagonists. Screenplays are about characters in conflict... characters in emotional turmoil... Strong three dimensional protagonists who can find solutions to their problems in 110 pages. But how do you create characters like this? How do you turn words into flesh and blood? Character issues, Knowing Who Is The Boss, Tapping into YOUR fears, The Naked Character, Pulp Friction, Man With A Plan, Character Arcs, Avoiding Cliche People, Deep Characterization, Problem Protagonists, 12 Ways To Create Likable Protagonists (even if they are criminals), Active vs. Reactive, The Third Dimension In Character, Relationships, Ensemble Scripts, and much, much morePrint version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 205 pages!
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DIALOGUE TO DIE FOR! *** DIALOGUE SECRETS *** - For Kindle! *** DIALOGUE SECRETS *** - For Nook!
Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! How to remove bad dialogue (and what *is* bad dialogue), First Hand Dialogue, Awful Exposition, Realism, 41 Professional Dialogue Techniques you can use *today*, Subtext, Subtitles, Humor, Sizzling Banter, *Anti-Dialogue*, Speeches, and more. Tools you can use to make your dialogue sizzle! Special sections that use dialogue examples from movies as diverse as "Bringing Up Baby", "Psycho", "Double Indemnity", "Notorious", the Oscar nominated "You Can Count On Me", "His Girl Friday", and many more! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 160 pages!
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FREE DECEMBER 26 - 30th!
ADVICE FROM #2 SCREENWRITER!
*** VINTAGE #1: HOW TO WRITE PHOTOPLAYS *** - For Kindle! ***
Screenwriting books have been around as long as films have. This series reprints vintage screenwriting books with a new introduction and history, plus new articles which look at how these lessons from almost 100 years ago apply to today’s screenplays. Anita Loos book is filled with information which still applies.
In addition to the full text of the original book, you get the full screenplay to Miss Loos' hit THE LOVE EXPERT, plus several new articles on the time period and women in Hollywood.
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These links all lead to the USA store, if you are in some other country and want to write a review for your country, go to your Amazon website.
Lancelot Link Monday! Out with the old year, in with the new. How can 2016 top 2015? Last year had some great films, some fun films... and a few dreadful films. But we broke all sorts of box office records, and I noted right after summer that we were looking at a record breaker before that STAR WARS movie was released. Of course, that STAR WARS movies tanked at the box office - no one wanted to see it! And now one wanted to see it a second or third or tenth time... Okay, maybe that's not what happened. I have seen it twice, now, and wonder how Mark Hammill gets 3rd billing when he's in the film for only about a minute. Does this mean I can get a paycheck and a credit for writing a single page of a screenplay?
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a baker's dozen links plus this week's car chase...
Box Office Mojo reports that at this time STAR WARS:TFA has made $740.2 million after only 17 days of release, making it the fastest film to cross $700 million domestically, making as much in 16 days as it took Avatar to make in 72 days. TFA is currently the 6th highest grossing movie worldwide with $1.51 billion, and will be in 4th place by tomorrow night. Disney spent $4 billion on LucasFilm's rights - and it looks as if that was a great investment. If you are counting the days until the next STAR WARS movie comes out, you may not need to take off your shoes or drop your pants - ROGUE ONE opens 12/16/16, Episode VIII opens 5/26/17, HAN SOLO opens 5/25/18, Episode IX comes out in 2019, and BOBA FETT comes out in 2020. Oh, and INDIANA JONES 5 is in the works with Harrison Ford returning. The Disney Machine is working overtime to keep the geek drugs coming!
Each year the Library Of Congress Film Preservation Board selects 25 films to be deemed National Treasures and included in the National Film Registry. Here are this year's entries...
BEING THERE (1979)
BLACK AND TAN (1929)
DRACULA (SPANISH LANGUAGE VERSION) (1931)
DREAM OF A RAREBIT FIEND (1906)
EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE, ZOOPRAXOGRAPHER (1974)
EDISON KINETOSCOPIC RECORD OF A SNEEZE (1894)
A FOOL THERE WAS (1915)
GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)
HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO (1944)
HUMORESQUE (1920)
IMITATION OF LIFE (1959)
THE INNER WORLD OF APHASIA (1968)
JOHN HENRY AND THE INKY-POO (1946)
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)
THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920)
THE OLD MILL (1937)
OUR DAILY BREAD (1934)
PORTRAIT OF JASON (1967)
SECONDS (1966)
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)
SINK OR SWIM (1990)
THE STORY OF MENSTRUATION (1946)
SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM: TAKE ONE (1968)
TOP GUN (1986)
WINCHESTER '73 (1950)
I could not find a BluRay for THE STORY OF MENSTRUATION, but maybe now Critereon will start to work on one. SECONDS is one of my favorite films, and if you haven't seen it you should check it out. I am also a huge fan of the Spanish version of DRACULA, made at the same time and on the same sets as the Lugosi version. They would shoot the English language version by day and the Spanish language version as soon as they finished the day on the English version. The Spanish version is more sexual, with Dracula as a romantic figure that no woman can say no to. Also, the women in this version show a lot more cleavage. I figure you have all seen TOP GUN and SHAWSHANK, so I focused on the others. Oh, and if you don't know who Eadweard Muybridge was - he invented movies with his experiment to see if race horses ever had all four feet off the ground at the same time (to win a bet with Leland Stanford). Muybridge began his experiment... then had to put it off for a few years when he went to prison for murder! When he was released, he finished - using a string of still cameras to photograph a series of stills of horses racing which lead to the idea of moving pictures (and persistence of vision). A fascinating character.
Lancelot Link Monday! Is an episode of a TV series fair game to swipe the plot of and use it for your movie?
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...
1) Weekend Box Office Estimates: 1 Force Awakens.................. $153,522,000 2 Daddy's Home.................... $38,800,000 3 Joy (no almonds)................ $17,500,000 4 Sisters (no DePalma)............ $13,880,000 5 Road Chip (no Ernie)............ $12,700,000 6 Concussion...................... $11,000,000 7 Big Shorts...................... $10,520,000 8 Point Break..................... $10,220,000 9 Hunger 3,2........................ $5,300,000 10 Creed............................. $4,600,000
HATEFUL EIGHT opened out of the Top Ten, but it's still the movie everyone is talking about this weekend - because it's either that or DADDY'S HOME!
This year *has* broken Box Office records, as predicted.
Lancelot Link Monday! All of my friends were excited about the new movie opening over the weekend, and those who saw it said they laughed and cried and it was so great they forgave the previous three crappy movies... so I went to see ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP! Kind of disappointed. You stand in line for hours, you'd think it would be worth the wait, right?
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a baker's dozen links plus this week's car chase...
STAR WARS record breaking $238m opening weekend... and when you include foreign it's hit $517m so far. First weekend. People online are saying they are going to see it a couple more times... which means it will continue to make a ton of money. Also - because so many showings have been sold out, and there are lines and crowds, many people are waiting until later to see the film. This was already a great box office year *before* STAR WARS. I suspect this will end up the new record ticket sales year in the USA.
For me, part of writing is figuring out what my damned subconscious is up to. I am a planner by nature. Part of my outline process is trying to find the parts that go together and why they go together so that I can make sure to highlight that in the screenplay. Our minds are mysterious places. They connect things that may not seem to be connected on the surface. When I'm thinking about my story before writing it, all kinds of strange elements may pop into my noggin that don't seem to be part of the story... but my subconscious is way ahead of me. Often in outline stage, I discover the connections... sometimes I can't see the connections and either leave the weird stuff out or leave it in for the first draft hoping that I will figure out where the heck that idea came from as I am writing, and make it work in the next draft.
That's kind of what happened on the spec I'm working on now. There were 3 subplots, and though all were connected to the story on the surface, I had no idea how they were connected to the story on a deeper level. One subplot had to do with the character's problems in school. One subplot had to do with the character's father's problems at work. One of the subplots had to do with a specific type of sidekick and that sidekick's background – also specific. Now, there was some reason why my subconscious selected that sidekick with that background... but I didn't know why when I began writing the screenplay. I've read many screenplays where it seemed like characters and incidents were picked blindly from a hat and just jammed into the script arbitrarily. That's what I try to avoid at the thinking-about-it stage and the outline stage – I try to find the connections. But on this script? Not a clue.
But why did my brain pick these specific elements? There is always some reason, and the trick to a good screenplay is to know the reason so that it can be communicated to the audience in the film and not just some weird thing that only makes sense to you. Screenwriting is communication – and if for some reason you just know that the character is left handed, part of the job is to figure out why they are left handed and why that is critical to the story and make sure the audience understands these things so it's not just some whim that the character is left handed.
So, a few days ago I was writing a scene... and had this flash. Suddenly, I could see what my subconscious was getting at! I knew the why for these subplots. I knew why there was only one choice for type of sidekick and background of sidekick – no other version would have worked as well. No other version would have illustrated the theme. No other version would have shown the protagonist's emotional issues as well. And that sidekick was connected to the two other subplots in ways I'd never seen before. Connections that were always there, that my subconscious could see, but I had not been able to see before. This allowed me to write a scene that was about one of the subplots but also addressed the two other subplots on the sly... so that all three subplots could make sense as part of the story to the audience. Now, those subplots made sense to me so I could write a scene so that they'd make sense to the audience. My subconscious knew these were the best subplots for this script before I did.
The trick is to listen to your subconscious, but also to find the way through that wall between right brain and left brain so that you understand what the heck your subconscious is up to and get that stuff on the page in a way that the reader and viewer can understand as well.
- Bill
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Protagonist's Job - How your protag's job is part of the story and important to the story... using the new movie WIN WIN as an example. Dinner: Subway sandwich. Pages: Dang - fell off the horse! But I did get a couple of pages written. Bicycle: Mostly short rides. Movies: WIN WIN - great little movie by the writer-director of THE VISITOR and THE STATION AGENT.
Lancelot Link Monday! I can't figure out why people are surprised that Ron Howard's new film is bombing. If you had pitched me that script, I would have passed on it... How many people want to see a remake of MOBY DICK, based on a famous novel? Okay, now divide that by 100 because this isn't based on the famous novel, it's based on the true story that inspired the novel. Snooze! What *dream* of the audience does this film fulfill? And it's not even "cultural" like some movie based on MOBY DICK (which allows you to sound as if you maybe read the book, when you just skimmed the Cliff Notes in High School). How did *anyone* think this would make money? Oh, and the title SUCKS!
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...
1) Weekend Box Office Estimates: 1 Hunger Games 3 Part 2............ $11,300,000 2 Fart Of Sea...................... $11,005,000 3 Good Dino........................ $10,497,000 4 Creed............................ $10,120,000 5 Krampus........................... $8,010,000 6 Spectre........................... $4,000,000 7 Night B4.......................... $3,900,000 8 Peanuts........................... $2,650,000 9 Spotlight......................... $2,508,853 10 Brooklyn.......................... $1,975,000
Lancelot Link Monday! Some of this week's links are to Best Films Of 2015 Lists... and this year isn't even over! This is worse than Christmas decorations and music before Thanksgiving! Hey, most of the big Oscar movies will be released just before Christmas, so how can you know what the best movie of the year is when a whole bunch of really good ones haven't even been released yet? Did they use a crystal ball? Did they call one of those TV psychics? What if some movie that hasn't been released yet is better?
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...
Lancelot Link Monday! This week's links not only have the first photo from the WONDER WOMAN movie, also a swell article on the Women In Hollywood... oh, amnd the #1 film this weekend stars one of those women we speak of. Yes, there should be more of them working in the business, so let's do something about that!
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...
Though part 2 of MOCKINGJAY opened $20m below part 1's opening, but foreign brings it up to $247 million... and it's days before Thanksgiving and 2 weeks after SPECTRE... with STAR WARS around the corner. Some of the estimates were $100m, and it made $101m, so it's not a failure. Heck, it made a pile of money in the first 3 days! Total box office for the year is still 4% over last year... with STAR WARS on the horizon.
Lancelot Link Tuesday! A day late and a dollar short... so if all of you could send me a dollar, I'd appreciate it. Sorry this is a day late - but weather in Los Angeles on Sunday (and Monday) was cold and windy, so I decided to skip work and stay home near the heating vent and drink cocoa and watch TV and relax. I actually wrote a couple of pages on my short story, but not enough to matter. Some times you just need to take a day off. By the way - what does a cat do on it's day off? The opposite of what it does every other day?
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...
1) Weekend Box Office Actuals: 1 Spectre......................... $33,681,104 2 Peanuts......................... $24,013,538 3 Love The Coopers................. $8,317,545 4 Martian.......................... $6,712,171 5 The 33........................... $5,787,266 6 Goosebumps....................... $4,633,112 7 Bridge Of Spies.................. $4,268,772 8 Prem Ratan Dhan Payo............. $2,425,585 9 Hotel Transylvania............... $2,314,063 10 Last Vin Diesel Movie............ $1,482,463
Box Office is 4.4% ahead of this time last year... and STAR WARS hasn't opened, yet. Oh, and the last HUNGER GAMES movie comes out this weekend. Looking to be a good year.
Another thing that happened while I was doing the 13 Films Of Halloween was the Raindance Film Fest gave out their awards.
** denotes the winner in the category.
Best International Feature:
Fires On The Plain
**Alice In Marialand
Chorus
Happy 140
That’s It
Echoes of War
Best British Feature:
**Kicking Off
Love/Me/Do
Mile End
The Return
Swansong
God’s Acre
Best Debut Feature:
Le Dep
**Princess
Bob And The Trees
Racket Shelter
Out of My Hand
Best Documentary Feature:
Sila And The Gatekeepers Of The Arctic
Digital Dissidents
**Gored
The Arms Drop
Horizontes
Broken Land
Best International Short
**Home
Winter Light
Chute Fighter
Shabu Shabu Spirit
Harry & Judy
A Hole In My Heart
Best UK Short
Into The Surf
Dating Eliza
**North
The Earth Belongs To No-One
Just Desserts
Strange Weather
Best Animated Short
N0-A
**Palm Rot
The Mechanical Waltz
The Alchemist’s Letter
Nowhere Line – Notes from Manus island
Last Day Of Freedom
Best Documentary Short
I Thought I Told You To Shut Up
Transmitting Thought: The Maimonides Dream Lab
The Champion
Rattle The Hocks
Rock’n’Roll Island
**Walking Through Havana
Feature Film of the Festival All features in the festival are eligible. It is awarded to the film that best embodies the spirit of Raindance.
**Datuna: Portrait of America
Short Film of the Festival* All shorts in the festival are eligible. The winner of the Short Film of the Festival award will be eligible for Oscar consideration.
** Winter Light
Special Jury Prize for a Short** All shorts in the festival are eligible. The winner of the Special Jury Prize for a Short will be invited to pitch for next year’s festival trailer.
**The House Job
Best Music Video All music videos in the festival are eligible.
**Stealing Sheep – Not Real
The new BREAKING IN Blue Book has not even gotten close to beating THE CAT on Amazon! How can that be? The previous Blue Books had all battled SAVE THE CAT for the #1 position on Amazon by this point and won... for a day or two. THE CAT always returns to the top spot!
So how about helping me BEAT THE CAT?
If you want the new Blue Book and haven't bought it yet - BUY IT FRIDAY (11/6/15). If enough people buy it on the same day, it can battle the CAT for #1!
But *why* should you buy the BREAKING IN Blue Book? It's 419 pages long! That's like *2* books worth of material! Did I charge extra? Nope - still only $3.99. (But look for all of the Blue Book prices to go up a buck sometime next year... there are $5 screenwriting "books" on Amazon that are under 50 pages...) The problem was, the old paper version of the Blue Book was (and is) only around 40 pages of material, so it could only focus on the very basics of getting your script out there... nothing about making connections and networking, nothing about assignments, nothing about meetings, nothing about options, nothing about contracts, nothing about side doors into the business, nothing about *most* of the aspects of the business. Once I typed the words:
"Though this book is titled “Breaking In” that is kind of a misnomer, because it should be called the Everything About The Business Blue Book. There will be much more involved in your screenwriting career than selling screenplays, so I covered as much as I can. It's really the BREAKING IN AND HAVING A CAREER AND STAYING IN Blue Book.
I knew I was in trouble, because now I'd have to address all of those things! I'd have to go beyond query letters and look at all of the things that happen once your career begins, and you need to know all about meetings and assignments. Things you need to know in order to make connections that get you into the business. All of the back doors and side entrances into the business... what about contests? Pitchfests? Hey, what can you expect when you do a round of meetings and where will they make you park? How do you find a manager? Do you need a lawyer? There are so many aspects of the screenwriting business that I know even at 400 pages I have left things out... but eventually you have to type Fade Out and release it into the world. So here it is...
Should really be called the BUSINESS BLUE BOOK because it covers almost everything you will need to
know for your screenwriting career: from thinking like a producer and learning to speak their language,
to query letters and finding a manager or agent, to making connections (at home and in Hollywood) and
networking, to the different kinds of meetings you are will have at Studios, to the difference between
a producer and a studio, to landing an assignment at that meeting and what is required of you when you
are working under contract, to contracts and options and lawyers and... when to run from a deal!
Information you can use *now* to move your career forward! It's all here in the Biggest Blue Book yet!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 400 pages!
Other countries check your Amazon websites... it's there!
Seriously - TEN TIMES larger than the paper version (still on sale on my website)! That's just crazy!
The next 3 Blue Books will be DESCRIPTION, STRUCTURE, and BLOCKBUSTERs (all 3 in 2016 I hope). Everyone wants the OUTLINES Blue Book, and I've promised it for the past couple of years, but the problem is I don't have enough ideas for new chapters, yet... and I want to get it up to 200 pages. I hope that over the next year I'll come up with some new chapter ideas and get that out at the beginning of 2017.
Lancelot Link Monday! Halloween candy is 50% off and every store has their Christmas stuff up. Couldn't we create homne decorations that switched from scary Halloween to fun Christmas with the flick of a switch?
While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...
Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...
1) Weekend Box Office Estimates: 1 The Martian..................... $11,400,000 2 Goosebumps...................... $10,210,000 3 Bridge Of Spies.................. $8,060,000 4 Hotel Tranny 2................... $5,830,000 5 Burnt............................ $5,038,000 6 Last Vin Diesel.................. $4,750,000 7 Pair Of Normal................... $3,450,000 8 Our Brand........................ $3,430,000 9 Crimson (not Twin)............... $3,110,000 10 Jobs............................. $2,580,000
Some folks have been making a lot out of BURNT and OUR BRAND IS CRISIS - two star driven vehicles - not making piles of money this weekend. Those people are morons. Both films are not commercial vehicles, but "Oscar bait" movies - and I don't think anyone expected them to make a lot of money. They expected them to get good reviews and be remembered when the Oscar nominations are announced. Halloween is traditionally a dead weekend - people are Trick Or Treating and going to parties - not the movies. So it's the perfect time to release a film that is not expected to sell a lot of tickets. Hey, both ended up in the top ten...
Starring: Vincent Price, Elizabeth Shepherd, John Westbrook.
Written by: Robert Towne (CHINATOWN).
Directed by: Roger Corman
Produced by: Roger Corman
Still in England, but this time with some amazing exterior locations including Castle Acre Priory and *Stonehenge*! Though this film is also a little aloof and cerebral, it delivers many more old fashioned scares than RED DEATH, and makes my list of great mock-Hitchcock films. That’s probably what makes this film most interesting to me - that Corman and Towne seem to have put VERTIGO and REBECCA in a blender and come up with this Poe inspired story. 1964 was the year that Hitchcock released MARNIE, and this cheapo Corman film is a much better “Hitchcock film” than the Tippi-hair-fest.
In a strange twist on REBECCA we have a second Mrs. Fell dealing with a husband who is still obsessed with his first wife and keeping some deep and dark secrets about her death. As she tries to deal with her husband’s peculiarities, a seemingly haunted house, a dangerous black cat and solve the VERTIGO like mystery of Ligeia and her death (?) (which has echoes of the Mad Carlotta); the second Mrs. Fell moves from Wuthering Heights style costume drama to Edgar Allan Poe terror. Hey, there’s even a fox hunt like in MARNIE! And hints of a make over like in VERTIGO. And Ligeia ends up having something in common with Mrs. Bates. This really has the feel of a Hitchcock film.
Speaking of Wuthering Heights, once again these films give Vincent Price a chance to play a different and interesting character. From the sadistic Prince Prospero in RED DEATH to this, almost exact opposite character, as kind of a hunky brooding Heathcliff type whose spell our leading lady falls under... but does he have ulterior motives?
1821: Ruins. A funeral procession carries a coffin to a waiting grave... with a Priest chasing after them, “You can’t bury her in consecrated ground. She was not Christian!” Her husband Verden Fell (Vincent Price) insists. They have a little religious debate about whether the ground cares where she is buried, then a black cat yelps and jumps on to the coffin... and Ligeia’s eyes pop open! Fell opens the coffin and touches her - still dead. A nervous contraction. He closes her eyes and the coffin lid.
A fox hunt. A dozen men in red coats and black top hats ride horses chasing the hounds which are chasing the fox. Christopher (John Westbrook) and Rowena (Elizabeth Shepherd) leave the group - she’s found something far more intriguing... the Ruins. Rowena rides up to Ligeia’s grave... the ground in front of the headstone carpeted with fresh red flowers ... and that black cat snarls at her, causing the horse to rear up and buck her off. When she gets to her feet, a dark figure stands next to the massive headstone - Fell in Dark glasses. She screams and passes out. Christopher hears the scream and catches up... ends up introducing Rowena to Fell. Sparks of attraction - this is a “meet cute” in a graveyard. Fell *carries her* back to his house to take care of her injuries, while Christopher watches.
In his rambling old estate, Fell lays her down on a sofa and sees to her ankle... something sexual about removing her boot and stockings to apply the bandage to her sprained ankle. But Fell is cold, distant when she flirts with him. Christopher arrives with Rowena’s father Lord Trevanion (Derek Francis) who would rather show her the dead fox from the hunt than inquire as to her injury. Trevanion shows Fell the fox and asks if he’d ever seen one with these markings... and ends up getting a mini-lecture on the specific species of fox. It’s an Egyptian fox... and was the pet of his dead wife Ligeia. Trevanion is a moron. When they prepare to leave, the fox’s body is gone. How is this possible? The fox was dead. “The cat was not. It appears that the cat has made off with the fox.” They say their goodbyes, and Rowena’s flirtation is met with coldness again. But Rowena is hooked.
Days later a letter for Fell ends up at Christopher’s by mistake, and Rowena decides to deliver it. In the darkness of the house (Fell’s eyes are light sensitive) he mistakes Rowena for his dead wife and grabs her. Realizes his mistake and yells at her never to come to his house unannounced... insists on making her a cup of tea as an apology. “Does she look like me?” “Who?” And we’re in VERTIGO territory... Rowena continues flirting and he thaws for a moment. He is a permanently heartbroken man - after his wife died, he has been alone. His wife was so full of life that without her...
Rowena takes his face and brings him in for a kiss... when the black cat attacks her, leaving a scratch on her cheek.
That’s when Christopher shows up at the door. Fell leaves Rowena’s wounds to his butler Kenrick (Oliver Johnston) and goes to see Christopher... and asks him for some romantic advice. They take a walk through the grounds, ending at Ligeia’s grave. Someone has removed the date of her death from the headstone. Vandals? Christopher asks where is the date of her birth? “I never knew her age.” Fell believes this vandalism is prophetic of Ligeia’s *return*.
Meanwhile, Rowena asks butler Kenrick what Ligeia was like.
Rowena returns to the great room, sees that black cat guarding her hat and Fell’s dark glasses. She grabs her hat without incident, but the cat takes off with the glasses. She gives chase into an old spider-webbed passageway - dark and spooky and unused. Up a dark and dusty staircase... to the bell tower... more shades of VERTIGO! Where the black cat skitters across a very narrow ledge to the other side of a massive clock’s bell. Rowena carefully moves across the narrow ledge, carefully bends down to snatch the glasses from the cat’s mouth. But the cat bolts, and she almost falls.
At Ligeia’s tombstone, Fell wonders who would posses the skill to remove the date from the headstone... aside from himself. Then he sees the marble dust on one of his hands... did he remove the date himself? Without knowing? Has he gone crazy? Then the clock bell begins ringing - but it is not an even hour. What’s going on? Fell and Christopher run to find out.
In the bell tower, Rowena is trapped on that narrow ledge as the bell echoes around her. Plug her ears or hold on for dear life? She chooses to hold on. Fell carefully walks across that narrow ledge, rescues Rowena.
At 35:00, Bells continue to ring: Fell and Rowena’s wedding. Christopher watches the carriage take them away.
Rowena and Fell walk along the rugged coastline, and we’re in some version of REBECCA while they tell stories of their past Fell decides to sell the estate, and start his life again with Rowena... but until the estate can be sold, that will be their home.
After their honeymoon they return to the rambling old estate, where Kenrick has hired a cadre of servants who greet Rowena exactly as the servants greeted the new Mrs. DeWinter in REBECCA. Hey, new wife in the house haunted by the dead first wife? Rowena goes to bed that night and sees a strange reflection in the mirror - Ligeia? Her hairbrush has *black hairs* in it, like Ligeia’s. She runs into Fell’s bedroom - which is empty. In the middle of the night?
Welcome Home Dinner with Lord Trevanion and Christopher and some other guests. Christopher tells Fell there is a problem with the sale of the estate - the deed is in Ligeia’s name, and there doesn’t seem to be a death certificate for Ligeia (which would pass the estate to her husband). Fell says there never was a death certificate, so what now? Christopher says there will have to be an inquest into her death, so that a certificate can be issued. Perhaps the body will even have to be exhumed. Fell says that no one will go near Ligeia’s grave. Christopher explains that *legally* Ligeia is still alive, still Fell’s wife. The dinner conversation turns to hypnotism and regression therapy - uncovering blocked or forgotten memories... Fell says he knows how to administer hypnosis.
After dinner, Rowena grabs Christopher and whispers that Fell seems to vanish at night... strange. Then Fell calls Rowena to be his hypnotism subject. She remembers nothing about her mother, who dies when she was 3 years old. He hypnotizes her... and she remembers her mother singing to her as a baby... and then is *possessed* by Ligeia - speaking in a strange deep voice, repeating passages from Ligeia’s diary which she has never read (but a passage that Fell read to the Priest in the opening scene). “I will always be your wife!” Then Rowena passes out... and wakes up as herself. She is taken to bed. She wants to ask Fell some questions, but he kisses her goodnight and leaves.
Rowena has strange nightmares... the dead fox comes alive and attacks her. The black cat chases her. She runs through the dark and twisted hallways of the estate. Falls into a carpet of red flowers - the same flowers on Ligeia’s grave (the same flowers that Mad Carlotta wore in her hair in VERTIGO?) This is *not* AMERICAN BEAUTY! She leaves the bed of flowers and runs into Fell’s arms and embraces him... and he turns into death - clutching her.
She wakes up - starring into the face of that dead fox! Brought to her bed by the black cat as if it were a mouse. She screams, goes to Fell’s bedroom... which is once again empty. The balcony doors blowing in the wind. She walks slowly to the balcony doors, reaches for them... when they blast open exposing a dark figure! Fell. Oddly, with a tray of food in his hands. Rowena asks where he’s been, why he has the tray of food. What tray of food? Fell is surprised to see it in his hands - he was sleep walking. What?
He asks Kenrick about the tray of food - and gets no answer. But has the butler remove the dead fox from Rowena’s room. Rowena offers to spend the night with Fell, but he brushes her off. I know they went on a honeymoon, but have they not slept together since returning to this house haunted by Ligeia? What’s up with that?
Rowena takes Kenrick back to her room - but the dead fox is gone. Was it part of her nightmare?
Later, Rowena has tea with Christopher and tells him of her frustrations... and asks how she can he Fell’s wife if he is *technically* still married to the not legally dead Ligeia? Rowena believes that Ligeia is still alive, and that Fell goes to her every night. Taking her food, sleeping with her, still married to the woman who is not legally dead. Christopher says he will investigate this...
The black cat watches their discussion.
At the dinner table, Rowena is alone. She grabs a candle and drips wax on her food, then holds her hand over the flame. Kenrick asks if there’s something else he can get her - she answers “My husband.” That’s when Christopher drops in, asks Kenrick where Fell is... and demands and answer. Gives Kenrick the third degree as if they are in a courtroom (Christopher *is* a lawyer) - where is Fell? Where is Ligeia? Kenrick can answer neither question... which is odd, because isn’t Ligeia buried at the base of that headstone? Kenrick begs to leave and bolts out of the room. Christopher tells Rowena to go into her room and bolt the door and do not open it for anyone, especially her husband.
Christopher runs out to Ligeia’s grave, where a pair of laborers are digging up the coffin. He takes off his coat, rolls up his sleeves, grabs a shovel and helps them.
Rowena locks herself in her room... then hears the cat snarling from the other side of the door - banging on the door - hard! Then the banging stops... but the cat is inside the room. It attacks her. She races to the door, unbolts it, runs into the hallway - the black cat chasing her. Locks herself in Fell’s bedroom... but the cat is somehow inside and attacks her again! She races out to the balcony, trying to escape the cat... and spots what looks like a little door behind a plant. Opens it... a secrets passageway. She enters.
Christopher and the two laborers get down to the coffin... a storm on the horizon, thunder and lightning.
Rowena is in a maze of secret passages between rooms. Dusty, covered with spider webs, dark and creepy. The cat chases her. She comes to a doorway, throws it open and dives inside. A strange room filled with Egyptian artifacts. The black cat appears inside the room with her. She spins - and there is someone staring right at her! She screams... then realizes it is a mirror. But her scream has shattered the glass... and beyond the broken mirror she sees a narrow stairway going up. Where?
She breaks away the rest of the mirror and climbs the narrow stairs. Blood drips from her hand from handling the broken mirror. A deep gash.
Christopher brushes away the dirt from the small glass window in the coffin - and sees Ligeia’s face within. He grabs the lantern to take a closer look and drops it onto the window... breaking it... and setting the face within on fire! “Wax!” There isn’t a corpse within, but a wax sculpture. Ligeia is *not* in her coffin, a dummy is! But then, where is Ligeia?
When he looks up from the grave, Kenrick the butler stands over him, shovel in hand. To hit him? He helps Christopher out of the grave. “You must hurry, sir, it’s out of my hands now.”
At the top of the narrow stairs Rowena finds a dark room filled with bizarre sculptures. As she looks through the room a man enters through another secret passage - Fell. Rowena sees him, calls his name... he does not answer. He seems... hypnotized.
Rowena sees a draped area in the back of the room, moves towards it and throws open the black curtains. Exposing Ligeia (also Elizabeth Shepherd) in a black bed. Rowena screams, trips, and falls *onto* Ligeia. Gets tangled in her arms. Tangled in her body. But Ligeia does not move. She seems stiff. DEAD. *Preserved*. Ewww! Rowena untangles herself from the corpse and runs out of the curtained area... right at Fell. He stands there - like a zombie.
A voice from behind her, she spins - Christopher and Kenrick in the doorway. “He’s beyond any of us now. Beyond any shock. Come with us. He’ll come alone, when he can.” It seems that just before Ligeia died, she hypnotized Fell into believing that she would not die, so he should spend the nights with her up here in this room (um, necrophilia), and the days downstairs in his “normal life”. Kenrick says, “He is still held by her word. Only she can release him. And she is dead.”
Rowena has a plan: she attempts to hypnotize Fell the way he hypnotized her - hypnotize him to see her as Ligeia. “Look at me. I am Ligeia. Look at me now. And listen. And remember. Remember everything. Remember all I’ve ever asked of you - and when you do remember you will be free.” Then Rowena slides down to the floor, leaving a huge bloody swath across Fell’s white shirt. “It is too late.” She is dead.
Fell grabs Ligeia’s corpse from the black bed and tosses it into the fireplace (it’s a big one) and the corpse burns in the funeral pyre. Then he takes Rowena’s corpse and puts it on the bed where Dead Ligeia had lain, closes the black curtains and walks away. When he hears a noise - that damned black cat trying to suck the last breath from Rowena. He tosses the cat away. But, did Rowena move? He bends down to her body, looking for signs of life... finds none. Kisses her one last time and leaves her body on the bed, once more closing those black curtains. He walks across the room to the door...
When he hears the curtains open.
He turns, and there is Rowena walking from the bed chamber! Her hair black like Ligeia’s! Fell grabs Ligeia by the throat and strangles her until there is no life left... dropping her to the floor. Christopher runs back into the room, sees Fell standing over the woman’s corpse. Fell says that Ligeia killed Rowena, so he killed Ligeia. Only, it’s Rowena’s corpse at his feet!
Christopher takes Rowena’s body out of the room, down the stairs.
Fell grabs a whip and attacks the black cat - which fights back. Is the cat Ligeia? The cat launches at Fell’s face, tearing out his eyes! Fell staggers around, accidentally sending the curtain into the fireplace and turning the entire estate into a blazing inferno! As the building burns and collapses, Fell finds the black cat and strangles it... both die in the fire.
In Christopher’s carriage. Rowena’s eyes open. She is alive! That loser dude gets the girl after all!
Tomorrow we leave the land of Edgar Allan Poe but stick with Vincent Price for a film that may be a predecessor of SEVEN!
