Writers on Screenwriting - Brian Helgeland

Brian Helgeland, Rose McGowan and Robert Rodriguez at the 2006 Austin Film Festival

We know how valuable it can be to hear another writer, especially a successful one, discuss their craft. It can inspire renewed commitment to one's work, give ideas for different ways to approach a story and remind us that we are not alone with our frustrations - and joys - in the writing process.

We've asked some friends of Austin Film Festival to share some of their thoughts on aspects of the writing process with us. Here's Brian Helgeland on Writer's Block. How do you combat feeling stonewalled by creativity?


Writer’s Block is a myth, a chimera. It is a bogeyman spoken of around the fire by deluded writers too afraid to deal with the bitter truth. Writer’s block is not the departure of the muse. Because writing itself is a con, it’s a bait and switch and the muse is a slut who skipped town at dawn the night after you slept with her. Why would she stick with you? There are rock stars out there and writing is just hard goddamn work. Mental ditch digging. Anyone who ever used a shovel and hit a rock along the way knows what I mean. Writer’s block is not an obstacle to writing. Writer’s block is writing. When you stare at the wall, you are looking at the very spot through which the muse exited. She went that-a-way. Through the sheet rock. And she was laughing. Laughing at you for believing the lie. The life of the mind… Ha ha ha. Writing is staring at walls, banging your head into them, feeling stupid and useless and facing a life in which you will always fall short. Fear, anxiety and inadequacy are your cohorts. They are the weight you feel on your shoulder as you sit there staring. The joke of it is: get up from your seat and you have stopped writing. Do you really think you are writing when your hands are flying across the keys, when it feels like a symphony is rising before your eyes? Ha ha ha. Writing is a one man chain gang. Writing happens when you stare at that wall and wonder why you are so useless. Writing is doing the time harder than the time is doing you. So get your game face on, crybabies. Your sorry crooked ditch just uncovered a block.

- Brian Helgeland, screenwriter MAN ON FIRE, THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, PAYBACK, ROBIN HOOD, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, MYSTIC RIVER, A KNIGHT’S TALE

AFF Friends Are Getting a Jump on the New Year!

The 2011 Black List is out! Check it out here: http://www.blcklst.com/

Austin Film Festival has several alums and friends on the list - both writers and their representatives - including Ed Solomon, Tom O'Connor (2003 AFF Screenplay Competition Winner), Christopher Cantwell (2010 AFF Screenplay Competition Semi-Finalist), Mike Jones, Allison Doyle (Oasis Media Group), Rebecca Ewing (UTA), Jeff Gorin (WME), Gayla Nethercott (The Nethercott Agency), Andrew Deane (Industry Entertainment), David Boxerbaum (Paradigm), and Ryan Saul (APA). We wouldn't have this list if not for Franklin Leonard, Black List creator, AFF and writer champion extraordinaire.

Also, no strangers to the Black List,

Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman have just signed a deal with Netflix and Gaumont International Television to adapt McGreevy's book HEMLOCK GROVE into a 13-episode series. This should make their adaptation panel at next year's Conference interesting!

Lindsay Doran's Elements of a First Act

Producer Lindsay Doran recently gave a talk at Sony Pictures Animation on the topic of constructing a first act. As part of her talk she listed ten elements one might expect to find in the first act of a screenplay. She's happy to share the list but would be interested to hear if anyone thinks she left something out.

ELEMENTS OF A FIRST ACT

a. Establish the main character(s)

b. Establish what they want (this might change scene to scene, or even within a scene, so make sure it's clear what they want every second) (My most basic rule is: Nothing can happen till somebody wants something.)

c. Create a rooting interest -Do we want the main character to get what he wants, or are we rooting against it? (Stranger Than Fiction is an example of a character who wants his life to stay exactly the same while the audience wants to see his life shaken up. But once he realizes he's going to die, we're on his side.)

d. Establish the stakes - Why does it matter that the various characters get what they want? What will happen if they don’t? If the stakes aren't life or death, they still have to feel like life and death. (Wall*E isn't going to die if he never gets to hold someone's hand, but I can't bear the idea that he might never get to know that feeling for himself rather than watching it endlessly on an old tape of Hello Dolly. Annie in "Bridesmaids" isn't going to die if she loses Lillian's friendship, but underneath the comedy there are plenty of moments that show me how desperately lonely and unhappy she is, and that her life is spiraling downward, so I believe that it matters that she hangs on to that friendship.)

e. Establish the obstacles – These might also change from scene to scene or in the middle of a scene

f. Set up ticking clock - What creates time pressure for these characters?

g. Set up tone – Sometimes it's not clear that a script is supposed to be a comedy, or a drama mixed with comedy, or even a parody.

h. Set up theme (My talk was to the filmmakers at Sony Pictures Animation, and in animated movies theme is a crucial element. But I think it should be a crucial element in every movie.)

i. Create Suspense (Unless you're making The Tree of Life or Meek's Cutoff, every story should have suspense.)

j. Start the story – In other words, get to the premise. But take enough time with the other elements so that when the rubber band snaps - assuming the first act up until that moment has felt like a rubber band being pulled back - we really care.

Listen to "Ready for My Closeup, Ms. Mills" Mondays, 1:00-1:30pm, on KOOP, 91.7, streaming live at www.koop.org.

Listen to "Ready for My Closeup, Ms. Mills" Mondays, 1:00-1:30pm (CST), on KOOP, 91.7, streaming live at www.koop.org. AFF member Sherry Mills interviews (mostly) women and men in the creative arts and (mostly) film world. Contact her at close@koop.org.


Listen to Sherry on the radio: "Ready for My Closeup, Ms. Mills!"
Mondays, 1:00-1:30pm, on KOOP, 91.7, streaming LIVE at www.koop.org!
Guest 11/14/11: Voice Actor & Coach Lainie Frasier of Voiceworks
Guest 11/7/11: Shelley Eager, Executive Director of the Austin Cinematic Symphony
Guest 11/2/11: Alex Ward, General Manager of I Luv Video
Guest 10/26/11: Author/Filmmaker Kelley Baker, AKA "The Angry Filmmaker"
Guest 10/19/11: Big Event Producer Debra Davis
Guests 10/12/11: Carla Jackson, Kelvin Phillips, Michael Morlan from the film "A Swingin' Trio"
Guest 10/5/11: Stephen Janisse & Kelly Williams, Programmers for the Austin Film Festival
Guest 9/28/11: Rebecca Campbell, Executive Director of the Austin Film Society
Guests 9/21/11: Steve Mims & Joe Bailey, producers of the documentary "Incendiary"
Guest 9/14/11: Actress/Writer/Designer Jolyn Janis
Guest 9/7/11: Jill Chamberlain, Founder/Director of the Screenwriting Workshop
Guest 8/31/11: Dr. Caroline Frick, UT R/T/F Faculty
Guests 8/24/11: Michelle Forbes & Laura Luthy of aGLIFF
Guests 8/17/11: Carolyn Banks & Jean Zurow of Upstart
Guests 8/10/11: Carlyn Hudson & Maggie Lea of East Austin Screenings
Guests 8/3/11: Amparo Garcia-Crow, Timeca Seretti, Carla Jackson, Chithra Jeyaram of the "Women of Color" panel & screening