Words on Film: Little Miss Sunshine

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

"Words on Film" looks at the writing process behind films that have been nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006), is a dramatic comedy about a family willing to go through hell in order to get the youngest child to a beauty pageant. Olive is one of the most unforgettable characters you will ever encounter. She’s absolutely adorable and her dreams of being a pageant queen pull so hard on your heart strings that you feel just as entwined in the family’s adventure as the people on screen.

Even the minor characters in this film have impressive stories. Steve Carrell has a serious role (a nice change from his usual comedy) and the van scene featuring Olive’s brother and his dream of being a pilot makes me feel physically ill with sadness every time I watch the movie.

Michael Arndt wrote the film - Little Miss Sunshine was actually his debut screenplay. The depth of story and brilliant writing of this film is a perfect example of how important it is for people to take a chance on new writers. It may have been his first screenplay, but Arndt’s story is certainly not amateur. Little Miss Sunshine won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2006 and Arndt went on to write the screenplay for Toy Story 3. (He’s also writing the screenplay for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Star Wars: Episode VII.)

The film begins quietly, with no dialogue, and shows off Arndt’s writing ability. The description is little, but it paints the perfect opening scene.

Five young women stand side by side, waiting to be judged  -- breathless, hopeful. A name is announced. Four hearts break.

The camera ZOOMS across the smiles of the losers to find a winner.

She bursts into tears, hugs the nearest runner up.

Begin CREDITS.

MUSIC-- quiet and melancholy -- plays over all the opening scenes, leading to the Title card.

The Contest Winner cries and hugs the Runners-up as she has the tiara pinned on her head. Then -- carrying her bouquet -  she strolls down the runway, waving and blowing kisses.

INT. BASEMENT REC ROOM – DAY

A six-year-old girl sits watching the show intently.

This is OLIVE. She is big for her age and slightly plump.

She has frizzy hair and wears black-rimmed glasses. She studies the show very earnestly.

Then, using a remote, she FREEZES the image.

Absently, she holds up one hand and mimics the waving style of Miss America. She REWINDS the tape and starts all over.

You can read the full Little Miss Sunshine screenplay here.

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Words on Film: Lars and the Real Girl

Monday, 15 April 2013

"Words on Film" looks at the writing process behind films that have been nominated for “Best Original Screenplay” at the Academy Awards.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007) is an unconventional love story. I watched the movie on a whim and I was really impressed with Ryan Gosling's acting. His character is unlike any he has played before and I found it easy to forget about his previous roles while watching the film (something that isn't always easy when an actor has been given many memorable roles).

I loved how sincere Lars was throughout the entire story. His adoration towards Bianca, the Internet doll, is a way for Lars to deal with the issues he has repressed for so long. He doesn't like getting close to people to the point where it feels like his body is burning whenever he encounters skin-on-skin contact. While some may think he's crazy for falling in love with a life-size sex doll, for Lars it makes perfect sense that his companion is something that leaves him free from anxiety. He's completely in control of his feelings and Bianca's.

The film takes an interesting turn when the community accepts Lars' new girlfriend. Soon, Bianca is picked up by friends and family to do things separate from Lars. She becomes a real person in the community, which helps to show Lars how much love and support he has from the people around him.

The film's screenplay writer, Nancy Oliver, describes the film as a "contemporary fairy tale." She says that the core of the film is about Lars' delusion, not about the way others react to him: "When someone has a delusion, it doesn't matter what you say to him. It's not about enabling, because you can scream at somebody and throw things when they have a delusion, and it's not going to change their mind... But in the end, it's not about the people who are cruel to him. It's not about confronting the audience with that reality. It's about exploring the geography of kindness and compassion." [x]

Nancy Oliver has also written for Six Feet Under and True Blood, so she's a true talent when it comes to bringing stories to the screen.

I recommend Lars and the Real Girl if you're a fan of quirky love stories. Ryan Gosling fans should also watch the film to appreciate the range of his acting talent.

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Words On Film: Flight

Sunday, 17 February 2013

"Words on Film" looks at the writing process behind films that have been nominated for “Best Original Screenplay” at the Academy Awards. Over the next five weeks, this feature will be dedicated to the five 2013 nominees.

Flight (2012) is a lot more personal than the other nominees at this year's Academy Awards. Putting aside Denzel Washington's incredible acting, the story behind the film hits close to home for the screenwriter, John Gatins.

In an interview with Vulture, Gatins talks about the most difficult scene he had to write (and fight to keep included in the script):

"There’s a scene in the stairwell at the hospital where this gaunt young man appears — the character’s name is actually Gaunt Young Man — and he kind of takes the movie on a ride you’re not expecting for seven minutes. I had a lot of screenwriter friends who read it and thought it was unnecessary, because the script was always long, but for me it was important. A working screenwriter should adhere to the idea that you can’t just have the Oracle of Delphi show up and give you a seven-minute monologue and exit the movie — it’s not supposed to work that way — but I put all that aside and said, “For some reason, this character is important to me.”

"That scene has so much going on for me because the cancer that he talks about is the cancer that my best friend had — and my friend is a survivor, which is great. But it was a really intense period in his life and tangentially mine, too, so I kind of brought a lot of that to that character. In my everyday life, I’m not thinking about what I really believe and why I’m here and God or Allah or any of that, but I promise you that when tragic things happen, like someone getting gravely ill, you really do have to go through it in your brain to say, 'Why do I think this has happened?'"

Flight has a strange way of reminding us about the most intimate, personal memories that we keep. It's appealing when a screenwriter puts so much of himself into the story. You can't help but feel just a little bit more for that part of the film after reading Gatin's connection to it.

The rest of Flight is also inspired by Gatin's personal life. In particular, his fears. The screenplay goes deep into the two things that terrify him: flying and overdosing on alcohol. Gatin has been sober for many years now, his writing starting to take off once he removed himself from a dangerous lifestyle, but his fear of worse days still remains and shows through in the film.

CHYRON -- ATLANTA 6:12 AM 

EXT. SOMEWHAT SEEDY TWO-STORY HOTEL IN ATLANTA -- PRE-DAWN

It’s still more night than day as we look down on the HOTEL ATLANTA. The lit sign for the HOTEL ATLANTA may be the only source of light as we hear a metallic rattle.

EXT. HOTEL ATLANTA -- SECOND FLOOR -- PRE-DAWN

We follow the metallic rattle to a door. The rattling stops and we watch the knob slowly turn. Tight on a feminine arm with a tattoo that announces “hope.” We pull back to find that both arms are employed in the pulling of what looks like a large suitcase.

The tattoo that announces hope is a great symbol for the film. Hope is something we all carry through the difficult times in life and it is this that makes the film resonate with all viewers even if the plot may be a little out of reach for some.

You can read the full screenplay here.

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Words On Film: Django Unchained

Monday, 11 February 2013

"Words on Film" looks at the writing process behind films that have been nominated for “Best Original Screenplay” at the Academy Awards. Over the next five weeks, this feature will be dedicated to the five 2013 nominees.

Django Unchained (2012) is a welcome addition to the film world, a perfect display of Tarantino's directing and writing - not to mention the ridiculously talented cast. I am a huge fan of Tarantino's style. His use of dialogue is incredible (if you've ever watched one his movies, you'll know that dialogue is extremely important) and his directing is extremely detailed. Every moment of his films is perfected down to the smallest of details.

The Django screenplay is written with beautiful language and more description than is usually necessary. From the opening page alone, I love how it mentions that we "may or may not notice" a physical feature. Tarantino leaves room for the varying experiences of viewers - some will notice things that others do not. Later, on the second page, we're told: His heart fills with poison. This is a line on its own, a descriptor that can't be seen on film, but adds depth to the written screenplay.

EXT - COUNTRYSIDE - BROILING HOT DAY

As the film's OPENING CREDIT SEQUENCE plays, complete with its own SPAGHETTI WESTERN THEME SONG, we see SEVEN shirtless and shoeless BLACK MALE SLAVES connected together with LEG IRONS, being run, by TWO WHITE MALE HILLBILLIES on HORSEBACK.

The location is somewhere in Texas. The Black Men (ROY, BIG SID, BEN~AMIN, DJANGO, PUDGY RALPH, FRANKLYN, and BLUEBERRY) are slaves just recently purchased at The Greenville Slave Auction in Greenville Mississippi. The White Hillbillies are two Slave Traders called, The SPECK BROTHERS (ACE and DICKY).

One of the seven slaves is our hero DJANGO .... he's fourth in the leg iron line. We may or may not notice a tiny small "r" burned into his cheek ("r" for runaway), but we can't help but notice his back which has been SLASHED TO RIBBONS by Bull Whip Beatings.

You can read the full screenplay here. If you're interested in learning the cast's opinions on the screenplay, a featurette has been released specifically about Tarantino's writing. I've embedded the video below.

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Words On Film: Amour

Monday, 4 February 2013

"Words on Film" looks at the writing process behind films that have been nominated for “Best Original Screenplay” at the Academy Awards. Over the next five weeks, this feature will be dedicated to the five 2013 nominees.

Amour (2012) tackles a concept often avoided in Hollywood. The film explores what it's like to age, to have time slipping quickly past you, and how this affects your relationships. The lead characters in Amour are refined in their tastes and their lifestyle, until the world forces them to re-adjust the life they have built for themselves.

After an accident, Georges struggles to take care of his wife, doing his best not to break a promise that he made to her. He doesn't let her out of his sight and the movie shows how both Georges and Anne suffer through making some very difficult decisions.

The setting of the film is incredibly unique. It's set in one single apartment, the two lead characters having closed themselves off from the outside world. The director, Michael Haneke, explains how the lighting in the film helped to shape the confined setting: "In terms of lighting, I was looking for realistic light. This film takes place, more or less, over the period of a year, and it's difficult to express that indirectly. You see it in Jean-Louis's clothes. You see it in the light, whether it's warmer or colder. That was difficult to achieve: we were shooting in a studio, so the view out of the windows was shot separately and added digitally. That required a lot of work in post-production. But we were seeking to make it as realistic as possible." (You can read this interview with Haneke here.)

SCENE 1 - INT. APARTMENT - DAY

The hallway is a mess. A window opening onto a light well is open.
The door to the apartment is suddenly broken open. A plain- clothes detective, two uniformed police officers and several firemen - also in uniform - enter and look around. They all wear gloves and masks that cover their mouths and noses. Behind them, the superintendent and his wife also push their way in. They’re both holding their noses. In his free hand, the superintendent holds a pile of mail and promotional flyers. Behind him, comes a female neighbor.

PLAIN-CLOTHES DETECTIVE (to the superintendent and the neighbor)

Wait outside please.

He signals to a police officer who herds the curious onlookers back out through the door.

POLICE OFFICER (to the superintendent, pointing to a pile of mail)

What’s the date of the last letter?

As suggested by the title, Amour is a French-language film, but that shouldn't scare you away from experiencing the story. Subtitles aren't all that difficult once you're a few minutes in to a movie and the screenplay for the film is available in English (you can read it here). It's a brutal film to watch, but beautiful in its own way - and it is a story worth knowing.

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