Tag: Movies

Categories
Screenwriting

post-production

For almost 2 years now, the pandemic has shaken up Hollywood’s plans. Filming has been sporadic and movie release dates have either been delayed or canceled altogether in theaters. Studios plan and tease new movie releases to maximize on their investments into screenplays. Studios have always used movie trailers to promote films. However, Disney, Marvel, and Fox Studios have created a science to movie promotion. They have learned to maximize the returns on their investments through movie promotion.

  • Build buzz.
  • Stir curiosity.
  • Lay groundwork for an upcoming release.

The ultimate goal of a trailer is to increase a movie’s success. Just because a movie’s trailer has been released doesn’t mean the movie is finished shooting. A studio may release a trailer to get early feedback from film goers before the movie has wrapped shooting.

It is possible that a studio may release images from the set to help stir interest in the upcoming movie. This most often happens when a movie is in post-production. There are no shortcuts in movie making. As I write this post an investigation is underway into a tragic shooting on the set of a new Western movie entitle Rust. Reports claim that producers tried to cut corners possibly to save time in the film’s post-production.

Post-production!

Post-production is the stage many in film making look forward to, this is actually the longest part of making a movie. It takes time to get the raw footage polished, edited and special effects added before the final product is released. Below is a list of what happens in post-production.

  1. Edit: This is when the raw footage is transferred to an editing system (i.e. Avid or Final Cut Pro). An editor begins digitally cutting the movie guided by the vision and direction of the director.
  2. Sound Edit:Audio tracks of the film are edited to remove unwanted sounds and sound effects are created (i.e. explosions, crashes, gunfire).
  3. Music: This is where original scores (music) highlighting the mood of a scene is added. If a director wants to license songs for the soundtrack, a music supervisor secures the recording and publishing rights.
  4. Visual Effects: Artists and engineers design and add special effects to the film. This is done through computer-generated visuals which can be costly and time-consuming.
  5. Sound Mix: After all audio tracks are finished, sound mixers adjust audio levels to ensure music or sound effects don’t drown out actors’ dialogue. This also ensures that the audience can keep up with what is happening in the story.
  6. Color Correction: After the picture is locked (no more edits or changes), a colorist goes through every scene and digitally adjusts and refines the hues and light to create continuity and strike a mood.
  7. Graphics: Title, credits, and other graphics (such as date stamp) are created and added.
  8. Trailer: Another editing team takes over to cut the movie’s trailer, this 2 ½ minute preview is meant to entice a paying audience to go see the movie when it comes out in theaters.

The post-production stage is a crucial way to ensure a screenplay has been followed to create the best possible story. And to ensure that the film is polished and professional before it is presented at a movie’s premiere.

Big Day!

By the time a screenplay makes it to the big screen, it has likely been years since it was originally written. Screenplays can change a lot before a movie is presented to the public. Remember, after the sale, studios own the concept and can do whatever they choose.

Post-production is the next to last step to make a story come alive. Sometimes movies have a bad final product because this process was rushed. When Marvel released a teaser for its film Black Widow, fans didn’t like the mask of the character, Taskmaster, which led to Marvel changing the look of the character before the film’s release. Below are a few movies whose final product wasn’t the best visually regardless of the found success.

Although some of these have become cult classics years later, some of them are better known for their lackluster editing or special effects. No one really knows if a movie will be a hit or a dud, but we do know the importance of its post-production!

Martin Johnson

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJonhson.com  and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Screenwriting

The importance of Pre-Production

While many have romanticized ideas about life as a screenwriter, the hard truth is writing a screenplay is just a small portion of the first step in moviemaking. Writers assume that once their script is sold, a studio immediately began to bring it to life. Nothing can be further from the truth. When studios buy your script, they are actually acquiring the concept of the story, with intentions of making it into what they want. Meaning one of two things.

  • The script is shelved for a time (possibly for years.)
  • The script is greenlighted for production.

Either way, your screenplay doesn’t go straight into production. Once the project is greenlit, there is still a lot of work to do before your story begins to come alive. Scripts that are bought aren’t necessarily what is made into a movie. Your script may be similar to a concept a studio wants, but the script will go through several rewrites as part of the pre-production process.

Pre-production?

Pre-production formally starts once a project is greenlit. It is meant to finalize the preparations before a film goes into production. Its purpose is to ensure a studio’s max return on their investment into your script.

All films go through pre-production. Studios know the type of film they want and use pre-production to get your script to meet their need. Purchased scripts aren’t necessarily what is produced. The nasty truth is that after you sell your script, it is no longer yours and studios can do whatever they want.

This means your script will be rewritten by either in-house writers, contracted writers, and possibly you. The purpose is to ensure the studio gets what it wants, they are investing their money and time into it after all. When a script is in pre-production, settings, characters, and timeline can all be tweaked to get the studio what it wants before production starts. Below is a breakdown of what happens in pre-production:

1. Lock the shooting script.

2. Finalize the budget.

3. Form a new company. (not always applicable)

4. Hire key department heads.

5. Break down the script.

6. Storyboard and shot list the scenes.

7. Scout and secure locations.

8. Cast actors and hire crew.

9. Get permits and insurance.

10. Schedule shoot days.

11. Perform a tech scout.

12. Arrange for equipment rentals.1

Ultimately pre-production helps to ensure the best possible production schedule, including cost. Remember, this is a business and studios want to minimize the losses in production bad wraps. Making a movie isn’t easy and many things can go wrong.

Off Script!

When studios carelessly produce a movie, it shows on the screen and in the bank. Hollywood is full of stories about nightmare productions. Movies that not only didn’t earn a return on their investment, but the production may also have cost them money. The following are a few examples:

Studios have learned to take their time and minimize the risk of losing their investment. Therefore, they utilize the necessary step of pre-production.

Martin Johnson

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJonhson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

1  https://www.masterclass.com/articles/guide-to-preproduction-in-film#quiz-0

Categories
Screenwriting

Teamwork

Recently, a local writer friend and I decided to do a script swap to read each other’s WIP. To be honest, I was a little afraid to let her look at my script and I believe the feeling was mutual since this was her first attempt at screenwriting. I’ve been there.

As writers, we are often protective of our work. Our projects represent our time, beliefs and we put all our heart into the work. Fear of rejection is part of human nature. We don’t want others to trifle with our art, dreams, or hearts.

But if we care about our stories, we need to be open to feedback from others. The temporary discomfort is worth it to help improve our stories and make them better. Be open to honest feedback about your writing

  • Negative feedback can be helpful in the long run.
  • Writing a story is a learning process.
  • Is easier for others to see the holes in our stories.

With that said, writers must know what screenwriting is and isn’t. We are writing a story only; we aren’t acting, directing, or producing the story. Those are other people’s jobs, we are just the writers and need to understand that screenwriting is a team effort.

Writers must learn to just tell the story and get out of the way for others to do their part in our storytelling because screenwriting is all about teamwork! Unfortunately, when writers attempt to write the first screenplay, they often cross the line. They attempt to tell other members of the team how to do their jobs by including directing and acting, and production cues into the narrative. Years ago I had to learn that screenwriting takes teamwork.

Teamwork!

The writer’s job is simply to write a cohesive, well flowing story and then get out of the way for the other team members to do their job. Screenwriting coach and producer David Trotter writes,

“Many writers who are new to the business believe that they must use fancy formatting techniques in order to get noticed by Asians and producers. Therefore they add arty editing directions, clever camera angles, truckloads of caps, and so on… Be judicious and keep your focus on the story and characters.”1

When readers, studios, or producers read a screenplay full of camera angles, artsy transitions, and special effects cues, it makes it harder to read the screenplay. In the end, it takes away from the actual story the screenwriter is trying to tell.

But when you stick to the story and characters, it makes your screenplay easier to read the story easier to follow. When the writer sticks to telling just the story, it enables the director to understand how to direct the story, it allows the actors to use their acting skills to bring our characters to life. And in the end, it will help the producers keep the film within the budget. The key to great storytelling is to tell a great story and then get out of the way. To illustrate the point look at the Marvel Avengers franchise. Each of the movies was written by screenwriters, but directed, and produced by other professionals.

Although they received great fanfare for directing the Infinity Wars saga, the Russo brothers had nothing to do with writing the screenplays, they were only paid to direct the movies.

Avengers Infinity War

Avengers Endgame

Another example is my childhood favorite, the Star Wars Saga. Although he wrote and directed the very first film in the series, George Lucas had nothing else to do with writing or directing any of the other original films.

Disney now has all rights to the Star Wars franchise and can hire their stellar writers and actors to bring the characters George Lucas first created nearly a half-century ago to life. Lucas did his part, and now he has left the story to others in the business who can create new adventures and put everything together for a whole new generation of fans.

Put It All Together!

Although screenwriters write stories, it isn’t our job to bring them to life. As hard as it is to let go, once our script is sold or optioned, our babies have left the nest, and it’s up to other professionals to put it all together for us.

  • Studios
  • Producers
  • Directors
  • Actors
  • Production crew

Hopefully, now, it is easier to see how show business takes teamwork!

1  Trotter, David. Screenwriter’s Bible. 7th edition, Silman-James Press, 2019, Pg. 134.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at MartinThomasJonhson.com and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Screenwriting

Visual Storytelling

One of the best and most common pieces of writing advice screenwriters get is to always use visual storytelling. One of the easiest ways for me to illustrate my narrative’s theme is to look at it and express it visually.

  • What does my character’s world look like?
  • What time of year is my story set?
  • What is the culture like in my character’s world?
  • How does my character’s personality clash or reflect their surroundings?

Movies are an art form that can appeal to human sensory receptors. Our emphasis should always be on showing an entertaining story rather than telling one.

Ideally, all writers need to show more than tell; nothing bores an audience more than endless words and unnecessary exposition. This is why we need visual storytelling in our narratives.

Visual storytelling!

What has always drawn me to screenwriting is my tendency to visualize stories in my head. Even when I go to the movies or watch a movie at home, in the back of my head I am breaking down each scene into its literal components.

I find myself wondering how the writer imagined it originally. Because often what we see on the screen isn’t what the screenwriter originally wrote. It can be kind of fun trying to re-create scenes in our own heads because at its core screenwriting is simply visual storytelling.

Screenwriting coach and mentor Scott Myers advises aspiring screenwriters to read scripts of produced movies and then compare what is written to what they see in the movie. Not only is this free training in screenwriting, but it also shows aspiring writers how to visualize what is actually written on the page. The best writers master the art of visual storytelling. Below are a few benefits of the practice:

  1. Writers get more bang for the buck. Visuals make more impact with fewer words.
  2. Too much dialogue or exposition can slow a story down and bore the audience.
  3. Visuals are more entertaining than dialogue. They allow for subtext and a deeper story.
  4. Visual storytelling is easier to remember. 90% of the information our brain takes in is visual.

Visual storytelling allows writers to entertain the mind’s eye. Movies are all about stirring our audiences’ imagination and allow us to engulf our audience into our make-believe world.

A majority of moviegoers attend movies to escape from reality, perhaps this is why many of us long for a movie night during this extended pandemic. The best writers allow the audience to feel through what they see, hear and sense on screen.

Show Versus Tell!

Regardless of what you write, most writers know the golden rule of show versus tell. Exposition (telling) can make or break a story. When writers lack the creativity to show, they bog the audience down in dialogue and exposition.

Visual storytelling always enhances an audiences’ movie-going experience. How many times have you seen a beautifully shot movie and been transported into the make-believe world? Below are a few movies that always help me escape through stunning visuals:

The best writers are artists who use visuals to tell stories. Recently my favorite artist used visual storytelling to add depth to his latest song. If you watch the video, what you see will help you connect the dots—that is visual storytelling!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Screenwriting

Lights, Camera, Action

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been creative most of your life. For myself, I grew up as an Army brat moving to new bases every few years. I never really made any good friends until after my father retired from military and my family settled down in Georgia.

All of that moving around only fueled my creative nature by forcing me to be creative in my entertainment. Like most boys, I enjoyed creating battle scenes with my toys outside: G.I. Joes, Transformers, Voltron and of course Star Wars.

It wasn’t until middle school that my passion for writing developed and was further encouraged by my high school drama teacher. In the 21st-century there are many ways for us creatives to tell stories.

  • Dancing
  • Art
  • Writing books.
  • Writing songs
  • writing articles
  • writing blogs
  • writing movies

Each medium has a unique way to impact an audience for good. In writing (particularly in screenwriting) this is called the takeaway. Movies are a powerful way to use visuals to share narratives with meaning to our audience.

If you’ve been following me on this website for any time, you’re aware that screenwriting is my favorite outlet for creativity—because movies are visual stories. The irony is I am legally blind.

However, when I write I create the action visually in my mind first. This part of writing excites me because the action fuels my desire to create stories. Movies are powerful because they engage most of our senses simultaneously. Medical studies have proven men are easily stimulated by visuals. Perhaps this is why action movies are our first pick for movies.

Action?

As I predicted, my best friend and I finally got to go see Marvel’s Endgame on another guy’s night out. Not only was the plot satisfying, but the action on screen was also mesmerizing. Action movies rank second at the box office success after its big brother adventure movies, raking in nearly $47 billion since 1995.[i]

The genre of action movies typically pits the protagonist/protagonists into a series of challenges that physically test their strength, mental acumen or faith. They usually involve violence, fight scenes, or acts of heroism.

Robert McKee explains, “Action genres turn on public values such as freedom/slavery or justice/injustice.”[ii] Action movies challenge the protagonist to flip the story’s charge or value from a negative to positive and sometimes vice versa.

If any of this confuses you, consider Marvel studio’s latest blockbuster Endgame: The plot of the movie started out in the negative as the heroes try to figure out how to stop the big bad Thanos. Worse yet, in the beginning of the movie the franchise patriarch protagonist, Tony Stark, is dying as he drifts through space on a doomed starship—this all adds up as a negative/negative story charge and it’s up to our protagonists to flip it to the positive. (Don’t worry; this is a spoiler-free post if you haven’t seen Endgame yet.)

This power shift is the typical M.O. of action movies. The MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has mastered this genre for over a decade and I’m confident it will continue into phase 4 of the cinematic universe. Marvel not only raises the stakes by using better special-effects for their action movies, but they also hire better writers to develop characters and plots that are more relatable for audiences, compared to classic predecessors in the  Action sub-genre of superhero movies. For example:

In the weeks since seeing Endgame I have had countless conversations with friends about their reactions to the film, a few even admitted to crying over the ending. The audience’s reaction is more a result of great storytelling than special effects.

Stories?

At the heart of every great movie is a great story, regardless of the creative genre used to express it. The latter two simply pack more bang for the buck.

  1. Romance
  2. Comedy
  3. Adventure
  4. Action/Superhero

No matter the genre, all films begin with, lights camera and action.

[i] https://www.the-numbers.com/market/genres

[ii] McKee R. (1997).  Story: Substance, Structure, Style, And The Principle of Screenwriting (Kindle edition) pg 36.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Screenwriting

What Matters Most

If you’ve been reading my column for any amount of time, you know it’s no secret that I am a hopeless romantic and enjoy reading and writing romantic plots. This genre of writing (romance), whether in books or films, can be rather difficult for writers.

Because everyone has a different definition of romance, this makes it particularly difficult for me as a guy. Whilst most guys view themselves as romantic, we can often reveal our selfish shallow desires.

I share this because I often hear my guy friends talking about their dreams of love—I mean lust—at first sight. For the women reading this, it’s true most men view love and romance from a physical viewpoint. I certainly did while in college. However, in my 20s I read a book that broadened my view and understanding of love. Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages helped me to see other ways love is expressed:

  1. Words of affirmation
  2. Acts of service
  3. Quality time
  4. Gifts
  5. Physical touch

When I was younger, I only understood the expression of physical touch as love. Back then my favorite genre for a movie was action/adventure. But, as I grew up and started dating, I became more of a hopeless romantic.  Who can’t relate to wanting unconditional love and acceptance?

Perhaps that’s why a good romance movie connects with us deeply and longer than the quick fix thrill of an action movie. If a writer can pluck the emotional strings of the audiences’ heart, they can fulfill an essential need for life—love.

ROMANCE?

Webster’s defines romance as “a love story especially in the form of a novel, or a class of such literature.” Personally, I take the subject of love seriously. I don’t find it as something to make fun of or take lightly.

I’m not trying to romanticize the idea of being loved or giving love, I just believe that many of us overuse the term, applying it to movies that are not truly romances. In Story, Robert McKee shares, “By cleverly delaying the lovers’ meeting to climax, these films avoid the prickly issues of modern love by replacing the difficulty of love with the difficulty of meeting. These aren’t love stories but stories of longing, as talk about and desire for love fills the scenes, leaving genuine acts of love and their often troubling consequences to happen in an off-screen future.”

Again, we all have different beliefs about love; my faith shapes most of my thoughts on the subject. It also influences the type of movies I spend my money to view. Some of my favorite romances are below.

With all the junk Hollywood puts out about love, I believe these four movies actually hold a lot of truth. They each show that love may not be easy, but it’s always worth fighting for.

Fight for it!

Last year during the process of rewriting a screenplay, I wrote a scene where my protagonist asks for relationship advice from his mentor. His answer even made my heart skip a beat. “Sometimes you have to fight for love and sometimes love is a fight. Either way, it’s worth it.”

If it’s true that life imitates art, there is always a moment when you know you’re in love—the same thought applies to romantic movies, they have a moment when we see the love between two characters and our hearts melt.

As you write out your romantic stories, keep in mind how you define love and work that concept into the structure of your story. It can manifest in many different ways:

  1. Tender words.
  2. The ultimate sacrifice.
  3. A long pursuit or service.
  4. A well-chosen gift
  5. An intimate touch.

Think of your favorite movies and how they express romance or love. I believe the best romances are more than just funny friend hook up stories, no, they embody a noble cause—love—because that is what matters most.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Screenwriting

The Plot

A few months ago, I was asked by an agency to do a rewrite of an older screenplay I wrote. Idealistically, this sounds rather simple. However, the process of reworking the narrative while maintaining the plot is proving to be both time-consuming and difficult, to say the least.

Imagine taking a completed puzzle apart adding a few new pieces and then putting it all together in a different order and ending up with the same picture as before. Yes, the process is just as confusing as the analogy sounds.

Since I’ve taken over this column earlier this year, I’ve purposely been going through the main pieces of the puzzle we call screenwriting.

  1. Action (Moving Along, Sound Off)
  2. Characters (Keep It Real)
  3. Genre (Messy)
  4. Conflict (Friction)
  5. Setting

Robert McKee noted, “A beautifully told story is a symphonic unity in which structure, setting, genre and idea meld seamlessly.” Together these elements make up the plot of our story. And that is what I want to focus on in this post before we finish the year up next month.

Plot?

When I talk about plot, I’m referencing the noun form of the word and not the verb form which is an action. A movie’s plot is not the same as its theme; however, it can be the vehicle to express your underlying theme or message.

It is simply the main events of the screenplay that someone creates and arranges in a specific order to tell a story. A strong and clear plot is essential to great screenwriting…and great storytelling.

Great movies are ones where the writer has balanced each of the elements to a degree where they enhance one another. Weak writing places more emphasis on one element over another.

  • There may be lots of action visually, but no depth to any of the characters.
  • Characters may be explicitly described physically but have no depth or personality.
  • The conflict may be so intense, yet the story seems chaotic, without any direction.
  • Perhaps the setting is so defined; there is no room for the story or our imaginations to grow.

How many times have many of us walked out of the theater after forking out our hard-earned money for good entertainment to only be let down by an overrated light show or misleading and hyped up advertising that never satisfies our longing for a narrative?

So far this year the biggest flop has been the much-anticipated screen adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, it has been reported that Disney has lost $100 million from its production.

Last year the film The Promise lost $80 million.

The solution for tipping the scales in the right direction of the balance act we call plot is taking the time to plot–meaning the verb sense of the word, where writers take the time to painstakingly brainstorm and lay out each of the puzzle pieces (characters, events, scenes, turning points, subplots) they plan to use to tell their story.

The end result will be a clearer and more fulfilling plot and our audience will leave the theater having understood not just our story, but its theme, which brings everything together neatly through our plot.

Together?

Once we have our plot, we will see what genre our story fits in. In simple terms, genre in films or literary works categorized by similar subjects, styles, and format. I will discuss this more next year. But for now, the five basic genres screenwriting are

  1. Tragedy – drama that tackles serious or sorrowful events in life.

  1. Comedy – stories that incite humorous narratives about life.

  1. Romances– drama which focuses on a plot about love, between two people or at the least an attempt to find love.

  1. Horror – Plots that offer incite negative responses by our audience, playing off primal fear.

  1. Fantasy/sci-fi – stories that often involve magic or supernatural causes, lots of action sequences as a primary story element or theme.

One of the ironies of screenwriting is the importance of drama. Most of us do not like or tolerate drama in our lives and we go to whatever means we have to avoid it.

However, drama in film helps us to relate to the story, whether it’s a tragedy, comedy or romance. How often do we visualize ourselves into the world of the story?

Each type of drama has its purpose and place: tragedies give us hope in suffering, comedies make us laugh at life, and romances inspire us to love.

Whatever your purpose, it will be a direct result of the plot.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Truamatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap Featuring Movies About Writers and Tom Blubaugh

Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Bethany Jett, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!

“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”

Movies and Books about Writers: Writers Chat Open Mic

The secret is out! Writers like their heroes and heroines to be writers, too! In our latest open mic, we share favorite books and movies featuring writers, including recent releases such as The Man Who Invented Christmas and Goodbye, Christopher Robin, and older faves such as Finding Forrester, The Man of La Mancha, and Midnight in Paris. See if some of your favorites made the list.

Watch the July 31st replay.

Looking for new movies to add to your watch list? Discover more from the Show Notes and Live Chat discussion.

Show Notes and Live Chat Link

Authors Community with Tom Blubaugh

The journey to publication can be difficult without a good network of people behind you. Learn from CEO Tom Blubaugh how Authors Community can point you down the path that will take your writing from hobby to profession.

Check out the August 7th replay.

Tom Blubaugh is married to Barbara Holmes. They have six children and fourteen grandchildren. He spent his childhood in a small town in southeast KS.

Tom began writing poetry at age fourteen. He has written nonfiction most of his adult life.

Tom self-published Behind the Scenes of the Bus Ministry (1974); has written articles for denominational and business magazines (1975 – 1995); co-wrote The Great Adventure under contract for Barbour Publishing Co. (2009); wrote his first fiction Night of the Cossack–published by Bound by Faith Publishers (2011); and is a guest writer in several books. He has been a public speaker for 40 years.

Tom was a self-employed financial planner (1973 – 1995).  He is the past president and a past board of director’s member of Jericho Commission, Inc.; is the past chaplain of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 952, in Springfield, MO; and is the past manager/moderator of the Google+ Christian Authors Community; CEO of Common Sense Marketing Strategies LLC, Tom Blubaugh Literary Strategist LLC, Authors Community, eBookChristian.com and Genesis Project International. He ministers to the homeless and addicts through his life experiences and blog articles.

Learn more from Tom and Authors Community via the Show Notes and Live Chat Links.

Show Notes and Live Chat Link

JOIN US!

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. The permanent Zoom room link is: zoom.us/j/4074198133.

Participants mute their audio and video during the filming, then we open
the room for anyone who wishes to participate with our guests. The “After Party” is fifteen-minutes of off-the-record sharing and conversation.

Additionally, you can grow your network and add to the conversation by joining our Writers Chat Facebook Group.

Categories
Screenwriting

Sound Off!

While brainstorming for this post, I remembered the song that inspired the climax for my first screenplay over a decade ago. For a prodigal son just out of the club scene, the song “Rise Up” was a game changer for me.

But, in retrospect music has been a game changer in our society for centuries. Particularly in the film industry for nearly 100 years, the first 20 or 30 years of film were muted moving pictures.

The silent film era is almost unimaginable to most audiences today. Imagine sitting in a theater for up to 30 minutes watching pictures move across the screen and hearing no words. I doubt if many of us would stay awake all the way through.

Fortunately, filmmakers realized the importance of sound in film after a few decades. Many consider the first “talkie,” The Jazz Singer the film that killed the silent film era. Although many theaters acquired live musicians to play a musical score for a film, The Jazz Singer was the first film to have synchronized recorded sound in the movie.

The presence of sound in pictures gave the film industry another dimension, it literally gave film a voice; engaging another sense of the audience. They could hear the conversations of the characters on the screen and be pulled deeper into their reality. After all, talking is a basic form of communication.

Talking?

Sound has changed both film and communication in good and bad ways. In fact there were many who mourned the death of silent film. Perhaps it was distracting from the essence of moving pictures. Here’s a link to The Jazz Singer, the first film with synchronized sound.

https://youtu.be/-iX2lg4eYwQ

Or maybe it was fear of what was really being said in a film. On second thought, considering some of the language and dialogue in today’s film, the mourners were on to something.

It’s possible we should have just continued with film scores. There is no denying the impact music has played in the success of film. I haven’t met at generation Xer who doesn’t get excited the moment they hear the first few notes of John William’s Star Wars theme.

I can remember growing up watching and listening to classics like White Christmas and Blue Hawaii over and over with my parents. These films may have not been the hits they are without the element of incredible music scores and soundtracks which set the beat of the films. It’s incredible.

Keeping the Beat!

 For nearly a century Hollywood hasn’t missed a beat. They have learned how to cross market and promote films with incredible soundtracks. It must be noted that most songs in films are specifically written for the films, mainly for copyright reasons.

The cost for studios to continuously purchase copyrighted works from record labels would be astronomical. The upside of this though is the wealth of film-inspired music that has shaped the industry. Some of my favorite post-golden age musicals are listed below.

  • 1970s
  1. Grease
  2. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
  3. Saturday Night Fever
  • 1980s
  1. Footloose (my personal favorite)
  2. Flashdance
  3. Dirty Dancing
  • 1990s
  1. Aladdin
  2. The Lion King
  3. Step up

Chances are there are a couple of movies which have motivated you. What films have songs that have inspired you? The impact of sound and music to moving pictures is so obvious most marketing firms have implemented the use of music—a catchy tune—in television commercials. Who can forget that Folgers commercial or the Kit-Kat or Coca-Cola anthems?

More recently the marketing firm for Asics shoes has taken sound in commercials to another level.

While the oft forgotten character of music has almost disappeared from the silver screen, if you’re writing a screenplay don’t leave the sound off!

 

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Truamatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Screenwriting

Moving On

We’ve all seen bad movies before. Films we couldn’t wait to see after watching a brief two or three minutes trailer on TV only to be disappointed and fooled by the hodgepodge, jumbled collections of vaguely related scenes that look like they were put together by an editor with a severe case of ADD or hiccups.

Action-adventure movies are notorious for this poor visual seizure. Like what was meant to be an epic battle scene in Zach Ryder’s Wonder Woman, the Amazonians are defending the island and Ares, the attacker rambles on about the past while the battle rages from one action beat to another.

These stories that have no sense of direction or purpose and just move from one scene to the next; we often find ourselves leaving the theater feeling ripped-off, like victims of some get rich quick Ponzi scheme that promises big payoffs, but never delivers.

We wonder if somehow we missed something, perhaps during a quick bathroom or snack run. Just maybe the problem wasn’t a weak storyline, but poor transitions or lack of them all together—just a smorgasbord of powerful scenes thrown together in an effort to sell a story (1 Cor. 14:33.)

The real problem is poor transitions or lack of them altogether.

Transitions are important tools to help weave scenes and storylines together in a film.

Effective transitions help your writing (story) flow. They help give your audience a sense of direction and purpose. First the writer (creator) must determine the direction their story is going and then they can plant cues or catalysts to guide the audience along.

We can take notes from King Solomon on how God does this (Proverbs 16:9, 19:21). Once we establish the path of our story, then we need to pick what kind of transitions we are going to use to get from point A to point B.  Film uses different types of transitions.

  • Action, movement of one person or object mirrored to movement of another person or object.
  • Specific views or shots which are similar.
  •  Dialogue.

Dialogue is my favorite form of transition. It allows me to mention something in one scene and have it come to pass later in my story. Foreshadowing saves time, whitespace and allows me to build momentum as my story progresses.

Think of it like a mountain stream that flows from a lake or pond at a higher elevation. Throughout the flow of water, the stream picks up sediments and carries it from one place to another, often unseen by the naked eye. But the end result is obvious where the water’s path ends. It’s where the current stops moving.

Moving on?

In the late 1800s the French Lumière brothers became filmmaking pioneers and patented the cinematograph, a motion picture camera. They used it to make their first film, Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory.

It was basically just a series of pictures of workers leaving a factory, no words, just the common action of workers flowing out of a factory at the end of the day.

It wasn’t until the 1920s that audiences were able to hear sound in movies and that took storytelling in film to a whole other level. It gave filmmakers more dimension to their storytelling (Genesis 1:3.) The whole purpose was always to move an audience from one place to another.

Transitions aren’t limited to just film.  Dialogue transition can also be used in fictional books. Christian YA author Tessa Emily Hall uses this technique in her book Unwritten Melody at the end of chapter 4 when Cassie is talking to herself about sharing her lyrics with a guy she is crushing on when she meets with him again, and then Tessa begins the next chapter with Cassie sharing her lyrics with James.

Transitional writing is key in nonfiction writing as well, even in blogging. If you have ever read a post of mine, you’ve noticed there is a hint or preview of my next blog post hidden in the final subtopic of each post. This way I can keep my train of thought smoothly moving on.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Truamatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Categories
Guest post archive

HOW THE LAMBS ROAR-By Martin Johnson. Interview with Brian Bird

 

As an English major in the 90s, I was excited to learn my craft and be creative. However, I was clueless about what to create. Then one day, I bought a book that changed how I viewed my passion for writing.

The late Bob Briner’s classic The Roaring Lambs challenged Christians to use their talents to create positive and redemptive art across the spectrum of entertainment: sports, music, art, television, and film. Briner called Hollywood a “Mission field!”[i]

Recently, I sat down with 30 year Hollywood veteran Brian Bird (The Case for Christ, When Calls The Heart) to talk about how the lambs (the church) can roar in this mission field.

Martin Johnson: I know you are a fan of the Roaring Lambs, how has the film industry changed since it came out in the 90s?

Brian Bird: Oh yes, love the book! Prior to the book, For much of the 20th century, I think Christians working in the arts were few and far between, with the exception of music.  There were a handful of believers working in the film industry, but a lot of that activity was specifically on church films, small-time evangelistic church films. But there was not a real attempt to break into the mainstream audience with Christian films; for the most part, evangelicals were M.I.A.

Martin Johnson: You used an interesting word there, evangelicals. As a filmmaker, what does it mean to be an evangelical filmmaker?

Brian Bird:  There are filmmakers who are Christians who make sermons on film. There are Christian filmmakers who don’t make specifically evangelistic films, and there are filmmakers who are evangelicals who don’t make Christian films. You can even be a non-believer and make a terrific evangelical film. It’s all about telling great stories.

Martin Johnson: Briner expressed how the church needs writers.  What do you hope to accomplish at the end of the day?

Brian Bird:   My personal mission is to tell stories that stir up cravings in people’s souls, make them want to know God—to be effective as I can be at communicating my Christian worldview through good story-telling, to tell stories that don’t beat people over the head, but, stir up soul cravings.  To me those are the best kind of faith films. Sometimes evangelistic films can be neither good evangelism nor good filmmaking; because their intent from the beginning is propaganda. There are good uses for propaganda. Propaganda in the most generous sense of the world can be put to good use as evangelism. The Jesus films have been effective at that.  A good example of that is The Jesus Film—very effective.  Those kinds of films are good and effective, but that is not what I’ve been called to do. I’ve been called to just tell great, true, redemptive stories that are not there just to entertain, but to provoke hearts to greater self-reflection and get people talking about the water cooler.  In my view, the story of Jesus and his work on the cross needs to be shared between two flesh and blood people having a conversation. Not by a picture on a wall.

Martin Johnson: What is the main roadblock keeping Christian film from being successful at the box office?

Brian Bird:   Ourselves. . .the church! If evangelicals are going to make a difference in the giant media conversation going on across the world, we, have to pursue excellence in our crafts of communicating. The church must support the gifts of creative evangelicals when it does the message and the art can soar! During the Renaissance, the church supported all the great artists of that time and people like Michelangelo were able to strive for excellence because of that support. Art in humans is always a reflection of the creativity behind the creation of the universe. The Renaissance artists were trying to bring heaven to earth with their creations, as CS Lewis said… all art from men is an attempt to copy heaven. We are made in the image of our creator; it is in our DNA to create. This was evident in the Renaissance, the Reformation; the church stopped supporting the arts.  The theology of the church began to view all art as worldly and considered it sinful. But that is so counterintuitive to the truth in the Bible. The view of art became worldly, it was considered sinful. God was the first writer … in the beginning was the Word (John 1:1–4). The Bible is full of references to the beauty and art in creation, and yet for several hundred years the church left art behind in favor of the “good enough principal.” We need to get back to pursuing excellence in Hollywood and that to me is the biggest obstacle facing us, the good enough principle. That’s where art has been relegated in the church and it has to stop—this attitude that art doesn’t have to be excellent, all it has to be is useful. We need to strive for excellence, not for our own glory—but for the glory of our creator, God. We can trust Him with our talents.

 

Brian Bird on the set of, “When Calls the Heart”

 

 

Martin Johnson: I’m glad you mentioned trusting God, Briner says that the lambs can trust their Shepherd.

Brian Bird: Throughout history, all art has been passed down from one generation to the next through a process called “Copy the Master.” In an art class, for example, the Master, or the teacher, is at the front of the room painting or sculpting, and the students are at their canvass.  They copy the Master but bring themselves to the canvass in order to learn our art. Well, we are all in the class with the author of the universe—that’s quite a source to copy from. And we can trust our Master with every creative bone in our bodies.

Martin Johnson: Briner says art is a full-time ministry. What do you think?

Brian Bird:   He was absolutely right; it is how we answer our God-given calling. Every person who finds Jesus needs to strive to become a minister out of the skills and talents God has gifted them with, both inside and outside the church.

Martin Johnson: Briner points out that part of our ministry is being the salt of the earth. Thus, for Christians to be roaring lambs in Hollywood we can’t just be just entertaining, we need to be ministers of the gospel.

Brian Bird We should be telling great stories, but they have to stir up soul cravings in people. We need to tell stories that help people realize there is more to life than what this world offers. Great stories have great messages. If they’re not entertaining though, they are not good stories. We have to do both. We have to tell stories that transfix our audiences; you have to keep your audience entertained so they can organically receive the meta-narrative or message, that is at the heart of your story.

Martin Johnson: In closing, what do you see the church doing to become the roaring lambs Briner described in his book?

Brian Bird: I think that is starting to happen. I think there’s a new renaissance beginning. I am witnessing it around me, in younger people that I mentor in filmmaking. I have this film coming out September 14th I executive produced called The Heart of Man and I shepherded a group of incredibly young talented filmmakers. I am so proud of them and proud of what we are making. I think it’s about all of us who are in this business encouraging one another to push for excellence, not to settle for just good enough, to practice the 10,000 -hour rule and to be bold. Some people who are born with a spark of genius need to put in their 10,000 hours in order to get really good at what they do. That’s how genius become experts.  All of us are born with that spark because we are made in the image of the author of all things. But if we sit on our hands and don’t put in the time to become experts, we will never be the roaring lambs Bob Briner was hoping for.

[i] Briner, P (1993).  The Roaring Lambs. Grand Rapids: Zondervan

Brian Bird “When Calls the Heart Devotion” with Michelle Cox

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/When-God-Calls-Heart-Devotions/dp/1424556066

 

Martin is a forty-three-year-old award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book after three years of researching, editing and remembering.

While majoring in English, he walked away from the Christian faith to experience the grandeur and luster of college life. While dating, he delved into different spiritual beliefs—from Hinduism to Catholicism and Judaism.Martin’s journey took him on a journey for answers.

In March of 1997, Martin received his answer. Albeit, not the answer he wanted. Nearly dying in a severe car accident, he survived with a  (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side.

After enduring eleven months of humiliating rehabilitation and therapy, Martin found himself at the foot of the cross with a choice to make. It was then Martin realized to truly live, he had to die. Not physically but in every other area of his life. There could be no compromise.

Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries Martin shares his testimony. Martin explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives.

Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at https://spiritualperspectivesofdasingleguy.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mtjohnson51. He is also a contributing writer at Faith & Fitness Magazine and the Christian Film Database.