FOCUS! (FYI this is not about writing!)

I would introduce myself, but who I am is as unimportant to this column as knowing which on-air personality is at your favorite radio station’s live remote. I’m not saying I’m not important, because my wife would say otherwise. I am saying that the message is more important than the messenger. This column is for the local and national events that hit home for us on a community, state and personal level. It should be about the items that you deem important and most importantly, it should be local. What is a strong community without a strong community column?

My focus today is asking you what our focus should be. Should it be on the man or woman behind the column? Not to sound rude, but there are search engines to find out these things. Email addresses are also great ways to satiate your curiosity.

Our focus can sometimes be blurred by what I like to call the Media Shell Game. With few exceptions like the Baby Briana case where the name of the victim is, and should be remembered, we have a tendency to focus on the person or persons committing whatever heinous act that we see in the media. We should be focusing the victims.

Last Wednesday’s Las Cruces Sun News featured a story on Heather Abbott. Who? Heather Abbott lost part of her leg as a result of the Boston Marathon bombing. 8-old Martin Richard, 29-year old Kyrstle Campbell, graduate student Lu Lingzi, and MIT officer Shawn Collier. All killed. Over 250 injured. Maybe the national media needs to take a few lessons from local media. Sandy Hook. The Boston Marathon bombing. Heck, even 9-11! We see too much about the antagonists and not enough about those left injured or dead by acts of violence. The victims aren’t always just the people lost to us. What about the families and loved ones who have lost the one thing in life that is irreplaceable.

If you have had a loved one taken from you in an act of violence, I know that the last thing you want to see plastered all over the television is the person or persons responsible. A constant reminder that the villain gets to become infamous while we mourn a life that should have never been taken. The antagonist gets to be a star with possible movie deals and a reality show. Remember Nancy Kerrigan? Her one timer attacker now has a cushy job on a TRUTV show about stupid criminals. A constant paycheck is how we reward the wicked, and they know it. Another killer was the subject of a TV movie starring Mark Harmon. Can you name one of his victims? The killer not Harmon. Even fictional serial killers are glorified now with new TV shows featuring characters from Psycho and Silence of the Lambs. Let’s not forget the popular Showtime series that has even sucked me into the world of a likable killer.

When we as a society stop giving in to our dark side, then maybe the villains’ fame will end. If you’ve noticed I haven’t mentioned even one of the names of any of these killers, fictional or otherwise. Not to sound rude, but there are search engines to find out these things.

You can't handle Change!!!!!

Change is one major constant in our lives.  One constant is that most of us don't like.  It's nice and safe with a lot of repetition.  It's familiar, like an old friend.  That kind of familiarity has no place in Screenwriting.  Seriously.

One of the many hats I wear is to turn novels into screenplays.  I take as much pride in my work as the Author takes in his or her novel.  There's nothing like being the proud parent of a 2 pound bouncing baby book.  The Author looks at that book (whether it's their first or their fifteenth) as if nothing could could better.  How about turning that book into a live-action motion picture?  HECK YEAH! 

The Author thinks how wonderful it would be for their baby to grow up and be on the big screen......exactly....the way.....they wrote it.

Good luck with that.  Read any of your favorite fiction books (most in non-fiction too) and then watch the movie that was made from it.  What's the most popular response by people who have read the book?  IT'S NOTHING LIKE THE BOOK!   Some folks may even say that it isn't quite like the book, which tells me that they probably didn't read the entire book.

FACT:  Most books will vary significantly from the novel from which they were adapted to the screenplay.  WHY?

Why can't you keep the exact same ingredients in the exact same order with the exact same everything?  Because even a 240 page book, if adapted "as-is" would end up being a healthy 6-8 hour movie.

As a screenwriter, it is my job to take the best elements of the novel and give them continuity on the big screen.  You have to decide what will be viable in a movie while still being true to the story line.  Sometimes, this isn't as easy as it sounds.

FACT: If you are an Author and are having your novel turned into a screenplay for the very first time, then you must allow your child to grow.

In the book Jumper, the mother was dead. In the movie, she was alive and well and working for bad guys.
In Jurassic Park, the many paged DNA explanation in the book was turned into a short cartoon in the movie. SPOILER ALERT: John Hammond dies in the book, but not the movie. There are more changes that were actually included in some of the movie sequels like the Aviary.

Once you've swallowed your pride and accepted change from the screenwriter, then comes the fun part.  The screenplay will change again with the director.
Unless the screenwriter and director have worked together many times, the director's vision will be different because he/she knows what shots are possible and what shots will have to change.

I have been involved with writing the screenplay and then rewriting to fit the director's vision.  It is a process.

If, as an author, you can't handle even the first step, then you will have a screenplay that will never sell.  Maybe you can get someone with a camcorder to film it.  Sounds harsh?  No.  You have to trust the screenwriter that they will help you to sell your script by giving Hollywood what it wants.  If you can come to a happy middle ground then that's okay as well.  When I write a screenplay, I take it seriously and look at it from a movie goer's perspective, a director's perspective, a producer's prospective, the original writer's perspective, and the character's perspective.  I want to make the author happy, but the best way to do that would be to write a screenplay that people want to pay big bucks for.

It's your dime, but I will suggest what I can to turn it from a cute idea into a money making venture for all concerned.

Let the screenwriter help your children grow....