Writing for films ( … and Icelandic Film Fund consultants)

What makes screenwriting attractive to many is not only the idea of writing but it can also be a matter of great conversation, which I just had with a friend. A conversation that proofed that point, that it’s attractive, and attractive because of the fact that it’s a form where art meets craft, where story and structure go alongside the art of telling a story in one’s own distinct voice.

When I was, say, in the period of my learning process to write for films when the people I was meeting and talking to and exchanging ideas and so on, where all based here in London, we where talking about concept and voices, (... later people moved all over the place and "dialogue" was restricted to emails, a shame it was...). But as far as the craft concerned, we where home reading books and watching films. The craft is something one can learn by reading and practicing, like any other craft, but the concept was more of an interest and made the conversation.

What later happened and I think is shared by many, is to pay more and more attention to how the mix of different kind of genre effects what is being said, or say, our individual voices. This might be because of the changing world around us and not because of new trend in the industry. And more importantly things in writing may just happen, its afterward the analyses start … I quess only when one is enjoying it or making a living out of it.

A lot of things can be said about this craft and also about the individual approach to writing, but what I think is the far most interesting issue is that the craft, and the teaching of the craftsmanship, does not wipe out the writers need to tell his or her own story or individual voice. All stories can be told, or say fixed, with a little bit of time (money) … because all real stories have i.e. characters with personal qualities and motivations that are real but may need to be crafted into a script.

So, what I am saying, a good individual story with a voice and which is well crafted into a screenplay is the best stuff around. And some, maybe many writers and directors in this business, are told stories al the time that “would make a great film”. These stories and likewise some fictional literature, often have a main character that does not fit into the political correctness of how a “film character” should be. But I feel that within “the writing for films scene” the idea of creating a character that works because how the dilemmas in the script are build, is getting more expectable. These dilemmas can be social, physiological, philosophical, whatever … (then this is business remember, and scriptwriting gurus and courses are trying to sell their ideas by appealing to political correctness)

This distinction between art and craft is clearly very important because in order to improve, analyze and discuss a script the understanding of different types of genre is essential to get anywhere. But what makes it fascinating is when an individual writer (and what I am into these days I guess) explores the mix of different, say, pace and visual grammar usually used in one genre, with another genre. It happens all the time that two or more genre are mixed in both Film and Television, but this mix can be as endless and diverse as one wants.

A “Romantic comedy”
A “Romantic thriller”
A “Suspense fantasy”
A “Sci-fi horror”
… you name it.

By adding to this somewhat an experiment with film characters, then a new aspect has come to play and that is structuring the combination. But by looking into scriptwriting this way one can also see and judge how scripts are judged, and moreover set a progressive platform for conversation about this craft.

This being said, I can happily confirm that I have seen number of reports about screenplays by more than one writer, reports made by consultants at the Icelandic Film Fund, and these reports suggest that the consultant are approximately 10 to 15 years “behind” in terms of screenplay writing. “Behind”, meaning not in touch with the general discussion in the industry on script writing, or just can’t be bothered. It seems as thou the consultants i.e. do not know that there is a difference between concepts, contexts, and so forth, just for a start. Having seen script reports from various countries about various types of scripts, these reports from the IFF are quite special. It is not easy to understand why this is, at the time of globalisation and so and so … but the un-professionalism is quite remarkable, a genre on its own. What happens under these circumstances is that the interest in Icelandic script writing scene somewhat fades, and one goes somewhere else, using the time (money) somewhere else, just so the general interest in this great combination of art and craft doesn’t fade away into tediousness. That is why I don’t write about Icelandic reality.

….now, what really does it today is a thrilling documentary on BBC 2, The course of Oil, about efforts to build a pipeline stretching from the Caspian Sea to Turkey. Isn’t that what world peace is about, Pipelines?