clarkblog

FREAK MAGNETS

Sometimes you gotta look to the freaks for inspiration. I'm talking about the ones out there on the edge, pushing the envelope, letting their innate oddities stretch the creative barriers for the rest of us.

If you wanna be a good writer in Hollywood, you gotta look beyond what's boffo at the box office. You need to see foreign and indy films that don't adhere to the bullshit three-act four-quadrant six-figure screenplay template that's stapled to every telephone and light pole in town. You need to reach back and check out underground cult classics from decades ago. You need to let somebody like David Lynch rescramble your neurons every so often. You might not get it. You might not even like it. But it's fertilizer for your creative soul.

Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet, spent decades writing and playing some of the most bizarre music imaginable, churning up blues and jazz and rock in great gnarly records like Trout Mask Replica and Safe as Milk and Doc at the Radar Station. You've seriously never heard anyone like him. Then he gave it all up to pursue painting and sculpture.

 

Beefheart's epic recordings have influenced musicians in all genres, from country to grunge to electro. I can't pretend to like all of his music. Some of it is truly ... out there ... and I just don't get it. But even his most challenging records are so rich and interesting and layered that I know it's probably my problem and not his. I'll spend the rest of my life listening to Beefheart because I suspect time is only gonna help me process and understand just what the hell he's doing. And somehow, on a sub-molecular level, it's gonna make me a better writer.

Here are Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments for Guitar Playing. These are wild and wonderful and I think there are dozens of ways to apply them to writing or acting or gardening or whatever it is you love doing.

Here's a favorite:

5. If you're guilty of thinking, you're out
If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

BREAKING DOWN BREAKING BAD

If you want to read some terrific writing about the best show currently on TV, I point you to Todd VanDerwerff's weekly analyses of AMC's excellent award-winning drama Breaking Bad.

VanDerWerff also writes about ABC's Lost and HBO's Big Love at the blogsite The House Next Door. His Battlestar Galactica commentaries are so refreshing and instructive they should be published as a book, or at least included on all future DVD sets of the series.

Whether you're an aspiring writer looking to study dramatic stucture or you're just an attentive viewer, this is essential reading.

THE MAGIC OF MAKING

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy on why he writes songs:

It doesn’t hurt anybody. It’s something I love to do, and it doesn’t hurt anybody. And the world probably doesn’t need any more songs, but I need more songs. It’s satisfying and lovely to do. I feel better, and as a band—I think I can speak for everyone—we feel better making something that wasn’t there ten minutes ago. Whatever spirit there is in the universe, I think that puts you closer to it. The act of creation, you know, it’s a very powerful thing, and very gratifying. I wish it on everyone. I wish everyone could enjoy making something that wasn’t there before.

WRITING TO THE END

What's this? A happy obit?

Well, almost. There have been too many sad ones recently, the latest and most heartbreaking being Milan Stitt, one of the best writing teachers I ever had and a guy who should've had many more years ahead of him. There's a wake for Milan in LA this weekend, and if I have more to say about him it'll be there, not here.

There's the news that writer Millard Kaufman died this week. Kaufman penned one of my favorite movies, the 1955 thriller Bad Day at Black Rock directed by John Sturges. In it, Spencer Tracy plays a one-armed man who hops off a train at a tiny desert town. His presence is a mystery but it's nothing compared to what he uncovers among the town's denizens (which include Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine). Startling for its bold depiction of racism in post-war America, Black Rock is simultaneously simple and profoundly mythic.

That such a socially-conscious story attracted Kaufman's talents shouldn't come as a surprise. According to the obit, he was always a solid guy. During the infamous 1950s blacklist, Kaufman let Dalton Trumbo use his name so the banned writer could keep working in Hollywood. Kaufman created Mr. Magoo, one of the funniest TV characters from my childhood. More incredibly, Kaufman just published his first novel at the age of 90, and his second (and presumably last) is slated for shelves this year.

Millard's passing must be immensely sad for his family and friends, no doubt about it. But he lived a full life and kept on writing until the very end. In my book, that's exactly how you wanna go.

FLASHING FORWARD

Canadian sci-fi writer Robert Sawyer visits the set of Flash Forward, an ABC pilot based on his novel.

I've read the script which has a nice solid premise. A mysterious physics experiment causes everyone on the planet to experience a brief vision five months into the future. The show deals with the aftermath of this two-minute warning and how the characters prepare and plan for what's to come.

COAL INTO DIAMONDS

Here's the beautiful Jenny Lumet (above, with director Jonathan Demme) on the beautiful dishwashing competition scene in the beautiful movie she wrote, Rachel Getting Married.

This scene, like the movie itself, won me over with its loose and unexpected honesty. I won't spoil how such a fun and freewheeling scene builds masterfully to a quietly shattering moment. Just watch it and see for yourself.

In the article, Lumet reveals the inspiration for this scene was a childhood dinner that included famed choreographer & director Bob Fosse. Can you imagine a childhood where people like Bob Fosse would just drop by your house? I guess if Lena Horne is your grandmother and your dad is an amazing film director, it's not a big deal.

She reminds me of an obvious point: writers store things for later use. We don't plan it that way. We just can't help it. Every kiss or fight or grilled cheese sandwich we experience might carry with it the key to something we'll write. It may be minutes or months or decades away. But when something sticks, it sticks. That's why writers are always observing, no matter where we are.

Recently a friend read my latest TV spec script. She asked where I got all the ideas, and I took a few moments to tap out a short email that said: here, here and here. To my astonishment, the email wasn't a short one at all. That sucker kept growing and growing as I traced the myriad elements I'd woven into the story. For example, one major plot point was based on a book I read last year. Another one stretched back more than two decades to high school. I apologized to my friend for rambling (she says she found it fascinating, bless her). For me it was an invaluable reminder that I need to stoke the fires whenever I can.

I don't analyze the origins of everything I write but this was a useful process. Writers soak up everything they can with no idea how something may be used in a future project. We store raw experience that we hope will be refined by time so we can mine it for later use. Coal into diamonds.

STATE OF THE ART

Earlier this month, the WGA sponsored a panel on the state of the industry and how it affects writers. John August (or, rather, his assistant Matt) posted some good notes.

As with the current economy, things don't look great right now.

Just remember one thing. Bad times and good times have one thing in common: they never last.

via Todd Alcott

INDY IDEAS

Forget if you can the atrocity that was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls.

That may take a while. Alcohol will help. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Now. Remember if you will the thrilling first installment of that series, Raiders of the Lost Ark. An irresistible piece of pop pulp perfection, Raiders still stands as the best collaborative effort between Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

How did they come up with the story? This great character? The tone? The action set pieces? I just came across an edited transcript of a five-day story conference with writer Lawrence Kasdan where all three brainstormed what they wanted Raiders to be. It's a 6.8 MB PDF:

Download Raiders Story Conference Transcript

And here's an excellent summary and analysis by Mystery Man on Film. Whether you're looking for some great screenwriting tips or you're just an Indiana Jones fan, there's great stuff to be found here.