I'm writing a movie, does that count as art?

I'm still in the concept phase, collecting interesting bits of dialogue and such.

My goal is to win Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, and then pick up Nicole Kidman at the afterparty. (That's actually the reason that I decided to write a movie)

My inspiration would defintely be:

Charlie Kaufmann (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind), his works is so complex but at the same time so simple. He's probably the most creative screenwriter in modern history.

Richard Linklater (Waking Life, Before Sunset, Before Sunrise, Slacker, A Scanner Darkly), his dialogue is astoundingly intellgent.

Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown), only Quentin can make a guy's head getting blown off hilarious. Also, he never went to film school or any of that b.s. He just watched a lot of movie and them made some, like me.

It's really difficult to summarize the few concepts that I have worked up...so if they sound lame, try to fill in the blanks so that they aren't lame. I think it's best to start with a simple idea and work it into a high concept story. These are just the simple ideas.

1) Based on an aspiring musician trying to find his own sound and his own place in the world of music. But he's frustrated and depressed because everytime he comes up with something new...he's realizes that he's just imitating his inspiration. Sounds pretty normal right? Except the entire script is constructed from bits of song lyrics. Contributing to the theme of his lack of originality. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Britney Spears, you name it, they'll be quoted.

2) "Enjoy the show". The main character basically sees his life as entertainment for everyone but himself. Bad and ironic things happen to him, people are amused. But as the movie goes on, he begins to find new meaning to the phrase. (Not a typical, cliched self-discovery movie...I hate those kinds of movies).

3) If you haven't seen the movie Closer, see it now. It's basical portrays the dark side of a 'happy' concept. In this case, love. The movie skips over the great parts and shows the jealously, loneliness and deciet present in most relationships. I'd like to try something similar. Perhaps the happy side of a dark concept? Like the great things about hate, or insanity, or stupidity...something like that.

Anyways, this post is getting long. People don't like to read long posts. Gotta cater to the audiences tastes.

I'd really appreciate any input that any of you may have.

I'm a writer and a screenplay is something I've always wanted to write, just never have. It definately counts as art! I just wrote a paper on Pulp Fiction for my friend, and it's one of my favorite movies.

Your first movie idea would be fucking great, as long as it's written well. Even though all of the dialogue is quoted there is a ton of other things that make something just ok great.

The way to create art is to burn and destroy
ordinary concepts and to substitute them
with new truths that run down from the top of the head
and out from the heart.

Charles Bukowski- Avant-Garde Writer.

I like the concept of your script bradybaker (it sounds really cool). Especially the points you made about writing the script around song lyrics.

<div class=\'quotetop\'>QUOTE</div><div class=\'quotemain\'> ‘I write movies that I want to see’. (forgot who said that).[/b][/quote]</span>

Using the information collected in my head and altering it slightly is the key to my creativity. Also not forgetting to add your personality into the narrative that is fresh and creative. I like to think about the concepts to explore in a story, write them down on a piece of paper and try and create a world through each concept. Then use characters to explore that idea etc. Simple ideas always work best when they are interwoven with good characterization.

A good idea needs <span style="color:red">“Passion, Power and Personality”

Make sure you keep us updated on the progress of your ideas bradybaker, I really like your viewpoint, especially because we seem to enjoy the same kind of movies.

You have a great sense of creativity and intelligence.

This is an idea i was working on while at college, that i want to make into a script someday, sure Hollywood would put me into a Loony Bin but i love the avant garde. Linklater and Kuffmann have the idea.

Quote:

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The surreal and avant-garde can be expressed through symbols, symbols infused with an inner depth, an inner depth that translates through to the audience on an individual level that relates to their own judgements, their own belief system and their own values and/or philosophy. [/b]

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bradybaker,

I would see any movie you made man. I could see you being as comical yet twisted as Quentin.

I really like ideas 1 and 3. And I like 3 the best. I think you should do the light side of insanity. Because alot of insane people are quite happy and blissful in their own little world. Would be really cool/funny if the audience didn't even know the people were crazy until the end. Or like, these people have this perfect life, full of sunshine and flowers. But they keep "hallucinating" these freaky people in white clothes with syringes...which of course turn out to be the psyche-ward attendants, who are the only true NON-hallucinations. But the audience doesn't know it until the end.

OR instead of hallucinations, they're horrible nightmares (from the audience's perspective).

Well whatever. But I really like where you're going with your ideas so far. I would really like to be posted on how they evolve ok?


ps. I hate long posts, but there are a few members whose epic novelettes are worth the read. ;)

Very good ideas, BB. The entirety of idea #1 is spot on interesting.

#2 is great as well, though I'd like to know more of how your protagonist might find new meaning in that.

#3 I'm less in love with. I feel we've seen the happy side of the dark concept a LOT in recent memory. Perhaps you might go with the passionate side of the banal? That sort of taps into the power of Tarantino's dialogue in his scripts. He allows his characters to enter very seriously into verbal exchanges about mundane shit in life (e.g. foot massages), and the result is humor and a sense of the reality of the characters.

So, what I'm suggesting is a view of the world from your protagonist that is ultimately trivial, but which he takes very seriously. The quotes from songs would attach to him, as he's not really infusing his world with anything original or evocative. And, perhaps the seriousness with which those around him expect HIM to take his art leads to his follies. Their grandiose assumptions about his art -clashing with his own very bland take on things- is what's creating the entertainment for them. He continuously fails to meet expectations in ways they find humorous (and in ways that allow them to condescend.)

Maybe the shift in perspective will be theirs? As he continues to bull forward with his banal view on life and art, their expectations begin to crumble as his art and his way of viewing life first entertain, then provide an object of mockery, then begin to serve as a mirror of their wrong expectations. Then as they all start falling apart around him he blossoms as an artist (while remaining findamentally the same).

I'm a writer, too, and I've written too much.