Yesterday, I saw the following tweet that I just absolutely loved.
I burst out laughing when I read this and can absolutely confirm it. And so can almost every fellow-screenwriter I know. In fact, I also sent the tweet to the producer on my current film project, and he thought it was a hoot and far too true. The amount of time spent trying to make any sort of break-in believable and, ideally, fresh (even as simple a break-in as a character locking himself out of his house) can bring the writing process to a screeching halt. I once wrote an intricate scene of a character breaking into a patrolled mansion -- not even a structure nearly as protected as a secure government building with video cameras, motion detectors, fingerprint entries, electronic alarms, heat sensors, and army guards -- although I kept it short to save screen time, since the break-in wasn't the point of the sequence, but what happened after she got what she was after and left. However, when the director read it, he thought it was too quick and should be a significantly-more elaborate and convoluted scene, and he wanted me to make it much more believable and fun and fit the meticulous detail of the rest of the script.. Even when I explained that it might had 3-5 minutes to the film, he didn't care. Even though the break-in wasn't important, and yet had a clever plan to get inside and a lot of meticulous sneaking around, it was still too quick for his taste, and he wanted audiences to understand it was as difficult, as near-impossible to get in as possible and believe all the effort it took. So, I went back to the drawing board, made a lot of convoluted notes, set up an overload of hurdles and reversals, and did just that. And in the end, added five adventurous pages to the story. And I think it's a lot of fun. But if I wrote the scene today, I might have just had the character walk in, get what she needed and wander out. And if anyone complained it was too simple, I'd insist on its believability and would fight to keep it as is. The only thing I wouldn't do is have the character stop to take a selfie with a butler. Not because I didn't think it was believable, but when the story takes place, mobile phones hadn't been invented yet. But other than that, yeah, I'd stand by saving myself time and making it simple. Because on Wednesday, they just...walked right in.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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