Hey folks, Harry here... with photos getting out of Bruce Wayne on set in London (Click Here) getting out on the web, and the continual "Holy Shit, Batman is gonna rule" vibe that's permeating fandom... It's great to just have faith that it is going to happen the right way. Goyer is earning a lot of that faith due to his wonderful script. Here's more from MooVeeBoy about what Goyer is saying...
Ok, MooVeeBoy here, checking in from Vancouver. It's been a while since I sent you anything, but this one is good .
Women In Film, a local organization dedicated to promoting and helping filmmakers (men AND women, oddly enough), held a three-hour workshop with David S. Goyer yesterday (scribe of the BLADE trilogy and BATMAN BEGINS). The theme of the workshop was Adaptation.
I was there, merrily playing 'court reporter'. What follows are my notes as they happen, kinda like what Harry does for the Oscars.... forgive my typos and interceding thoughts on what I hear .
One last word before I get into it. There's geek-info here, but also advice and inspiration for those of us who have dreams to be in a position like David one day. Be cynical if you will, but feel free to also take some enjoyment.
............
Ho-hum.
We are waiting. The tattooed midget is standing in the back, fielding inane questions and small talk from his friends and hangers-on. The thing was supposed to begin about fifteen minutes ago. We are waiting, craning our necks around as we hear his voice (because we all paid $45 to be here).... we want to hear him say something at least. Bitter? Who, me? Naaahhh .
Ok, he's taken the stage. Here we go:
Quick background on the guy .
he wanted to be a cop.... got kicked out of his screenwriting course at USC... begged the dean to get back in.... determined to be a success because of the teachers who told him he sucked..... bugged an agent at ICM just before grad till he got representation....
His script that got him the agent didn't sell... But he did get DEATH WARRANT sold.... he used a number of pseudonyms for projects....BLADE had 26 drafts over three years with three different directors.... He finally cut and pasted most of his first draft, from frustration, and they loved it.... PUPPETMASTERS.... they actually wanted it to be scary..... then said it was too scary when he turned in his draft..... one of the 'head-of-studio' notes he received said, 'NO MUCOUS IN A DISNEY FILM, EVER' ...
A mention of clips(!!!) to be seen... he actually asked the audience if we want to see some.......
Mentioning acquiring the rights for adaptation for projects (for writers)........ MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THEM......
More for we writers.... write a solid outline.... stick with your writing..... FINISH your first draft and then stick it in a drawer... come back to it later with fresh eyes and then make changes.... but keep fucking writing.... Don't get caught in the trap of re-writing the first act before you finish your first draft
Talking about ZIG ZAG now..... what attracted him.... Because it was a smaller project.
I heard the word Batman...!!!..... He and a researcher went through the DC comics archives to glean the feel.... "Let's pretend we were 12 or 14.... What would we want to see and hear him say?" (dialogue between him and Chris Nolan)......... "Think like the audience"....... He went to chatrooms (not as himself) to see what true fans wanted.....
DARK CITY talk...... loved Alex Proyas's outline..... thought it was "crazy" though (indecipherable outline style)..... then THE CROW came out...... was brought down to Oz to meet Proyas..... he already loved Oz..... so said yeah he'd work on it..... We just watched a clip of the interrogation scene with John Murdock and Detective Bumstead
David was the one that brought the question, "Why does the sun never come out? Why is there no light? Shouldn't that be addressed?"......
BLADE talk..... he said about second tier characters, that they were more uniquely suited for movie adaptation...... more able to change and adapt their origins.... We just watched the intro sequence to BLADE..... hahahahahaha.... kick-ass.... he says the "ashings" are so primitive compared to what is gonna be in B3..... ten layers of dissolving..... mmmmmnn..... The blood-rave is about 8 mins of action before Blade even says a word
. David says for B3 that we're gonna be 15 mins in before anyone says anything.... pure cinema action..... more mmmnnn....
More tips for writers
"Ask yourself, what would your character NEVER DO? What's the worst thing you could do to your character? The ABSOLUTE WORST?".... now a clip from B2... he just met the Bloodpack..... that was the first scene he wrote for it..... another B2 clip coming up..... hold up, he says B3 is gonna be really funny in parts.... I'm writing this as it comes, blow me.... says Ryan Reynolds and Snipes HATED each other.... Ryan dissed him a lot...... it was hilarious....
More writer talk..... research your work.... make a microbiologist sound like one.... go out and interview.... videotape stuff..... have fun with creating "The Veneer of Authenticity"
Goyer's a fan of Cameron
ZIG ZAG clip.... Singer (Leguizamo) just explained sperm and pussy and cock and wet dreams..... Hehe
.. mmmmnnn.....
Q AND A time (not writing the q's)
David believes in conveying visual info in as few words as possible..... trim it down, use the red pen.... make it more like poetry... less is more....
BATMAN talk.... he and Chris Nolan played with plasticene, no shit, and made the Batmobile themselves, back and forth.... till they got the hummer-lamborghini look (have fun with that, fuckwitters I mean, talkbackers) ..... a major theme in the film is police corruption.... the vacuum, the need for a Batman.... says he wanted the script to have a classic feel, as if you were reading Dr. Zhivago....
THE DESCENT.... my question.... Said his script came in at about 200+ pages . He had to change the fate of Ike, the main character .. Actually flew out to see Jeff Long to ask him if it was ok to make Ike perform a heroic sacrifice . If you've read the book, then you may agree that the end needed a bit of a change couldn't get him to talk about the state of the project .
Director questions
. Says that Guillermo was a joy to work with
. Proyas is amazingly open to advice and collaboration
. Says that Norrington has one way of dealing with scenarios -- go to DefCon 4. says it actually had to get to the point where he quit BLADE and kicked Norrington out of his office for the guy to respect him
About actors
he didn't name names (Snipes, anyone?), but says that someone was so pissed about his character not having a sex scene in the script that he refused to come out of his trailer. Just a guess, but Wesley has been wanting to get Blade laid for a quite a while now .
And I suppose the last word of the day is again for writers .
Don't give up. Keep writing. You find that transcendent state of the 'high-white noise' only a few times. Listen and learn and remember that you are human. You?ll make mistakes in your writing (I know I made plenty writing this out)
. Just keep doing it and you will get better.
.......
Thanks for reading.
I'll just say this about David Goyer now: I trust him. Hearing him speak and talking with him one on one after . This is a guy with a complete lack of 'ego.' He has no desire to let himself override the work . He gets it people.
Batman, and Blade, and yes, our hopes, are in good hands.
MooVeeBoy out.
