Senior Thesis- Part Seven

I’ve been writing for a few months now, and it’s not getting any easier. If I was to come up with an image or a phrase that encapsulates the process of writing a screenplay, I’d say that “writing a screenplay is like squeezing an orange”. In the beginning, it couldn’t have been easier. The slightest touch and the juices would immediately start flowing. The first few pages were the easiest. I had written the first 10 pages within the first day I sat down to write.

Then, as the weeks progressed, I had to apply a bit more pressure. The dialog was starting to become a bit stiff and unoriginal. I still had good lines, I just felt like they weren’t coming as easily to me.

Then it came to the point where I was hunting for any spots that still felt moist, any spots that still had color. I was now squeezing the white part. The hardest part wasn’t writing the scenes and lines anymore (which was still hard as hell). It was figuring out how to transition from one scene to the next. I couldn’t figure out how to go from two characters fighting with each other, to having the two of them go their separate ways. I kept writing, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was selling the scene short. It’s like there’s a movie theater in my head, constantly playing this film, and there’s a guy watching it, and he’s like “What the fuck, that’s it? That’s all that happens? That what I came to see?”

On the other hand I’m trying to avoid overwriting certain scenes. Nothing is more annoying in a movie that a scene that goes on even a tiny bit too long. The movie Superbad (2007) which I personally hold to be comedic gold, cant be considered perfect because, despite the 99% of the movie that made me laugh, there was still that tiny, miniscule, one-friggin-percent that managed to have a voice loud enough to annoy me. I would have considered the movie to be the greatest ever if the cop car scenes would have just been trimmed down a bit.

Finally, I’ve reached the point where I’m squeezing the peel. I’m really reaching for any drop I can get. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel. What’s worse, I am not even close to the 120 page quota that’s considered industry standard for movie length. At best, im another 40 pages away. At this point, overwriting isn’t even on my radar. I’m hitting road blocks left and right. If I manage to write one or two pages, its considered a GREAT day.

So as far as achieving what I set out to do in my thesis question (Writing a successful screenplay) I don’t think I’ll even be able to come close to figuring it out on my own and translating it into my work. I do think, however, that I’ll still be able to research existing works and spot the things that work, and the things that don’t.