The Transference of Inanimate Objects
Any good writer holds an uncanny amount of useless knowledge to conjure up at given moment. And it really is these little 'details' that so often stay with the audience moments, minutes, days, months or years after even just one viewing of a film. The little things that breath substance into the subtext.
Some writers are unequivocally and inexplicably able to pull these 'beaut' moments seemingly out of their creative asses. But is it really inexplicable?
Probably not...
I've recently taken in 10-20 scripts, some from professionals and some from friends. There is a glaring discrepency throughout some of them (from column A & B mind you)...and it seems to be these details. Or rather, heading to the root of the problem, from the writers research. It's one thing to make something viable for both the audience to understand and for the character not to exceed their backbones for the sake of making the plot flow, but its a completely different story to short change your characters of their natural god-given (you!!!) abilities.
I think it becomes clear that research has not been done on your part, when your "33 year old, smartest mind in the Institute" can't explain anything beyond "don't put metal in the microwave."
You need to know the topic so well, as the writer, that each and every character has those moments, that only they would have. They show their true skins in the way they interact within their world, or when they are taken out of it---
How much research do most of you do? Honestly? And I'm not talking watching movies about the same subject, I mean the subjects themselves....
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Posted by Systemaddict at 2:25 PM
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10 comments:
...always enough research to get by I think, but barely get by - time, or lack thereof, especially for series tv is always a factor...and I suppose some arrogance and laziness will also contribute to low research levels.
It speaks volumes to addage 'write what you know' - but we all don't know everything...not even close.
the old "write what you know" is a valid point...it just seems to me if you're going to write something then you better be writing what you know...or have gone to the extent to know it better than your audience (the majority at least).
I don't write know the tc realm well enough...but I could imagine when time comes into play...that's a biggy...
Usually when I write, I spend about two to three weeks researching the subject first, depending on the scale of the project. For the current script, Ghost Dance, I've reserved about a month of active research and discussions with other authors who've studied the material, plus with the original author of the graphic novel that Ghost Dance is based on. It all really comes down to the subject, but around 2-3 weeks typically. Books, old articles, hours and hours in libraries and interviews. A thorough research can do wonders.
Almost purely internet research for me, but since I do science-fictiony horror the fact that the internet is so unreliable a research source is actually an advantage.
For example, research for one of my scripts turned up the following:
***
Feraliminal Lycanthropizer
The link between periods of insanity and exposure to specific infrasound frequencies forms the basis for the ‘Feraliminal Lycanthropizer’, a device claimed to stimulate atavistic animality, sexual excitement, and a loss of inhibitions in its target. As described in an essay published in Dainty Viscera magazine, the Feraliminal Lycanthropizer creates two infrasound frequencies – 3Hz and 9Hz – which, combined, generate a lower, third
frequency of 0.56Hz. The machine also uses a combination of four subliminal, looped, audio tape recordings – playing both forwards and backwards – outside the normal audible pitch.
The legends about the machine challenge belief; besides being credited with sparking unrestrained orgies, it has – at least according to Dainty Viscera – been blamed for the sex-and-strangulation deaths of six youths. Some, who claim to have used the machine, have felt themselves become mentally stronger and their will more focused. The enigmatic author of the essay claims that “[a] Catalonian national using the machine daily over a period of five or six weeks eventually managed to ingratiate himself to Adolf Hitler, [and] persuade his quarry to adopt the swastika as high totem and emblem of the burgeoning National Socialist Conference”.7 Such stories are, clearly, beyond belief. There is no evidence that the Feraliminal Lycanthropizer exists or could have such effects; information on it is limited and shrouded in secrecy. Any technology or documented process, no matter how rudimentary, that can affect people, both physiologically and psychologically, at a distance is bound to attract military scientists. A search of the available literature and the Internet reveals that many conspiracy theorists, paranoiacs, and some political activists, sincerely believe that the military has developed infrasound weapons… but precisely what these weapons are, how they function, and how they would be deployed remains vague. Unlike bacteriological, chemical, atomic, laser, and even microwave warfare, little information exists on the use of infrasound as a weapon.
For the kung fu wedding comedy I'm writing now, I took a combined 10 weeks of kickboxing. My side kicks are solid.
I think research really makes the difference. I loved Fight Club (novel and book) and Sideways for the esoteric (at least to me) knowledge that they passed on.
The authors weren't just writing stuff they had learnt from other books and films, they knew their stuff.
PS. I think you should win an award for longest blogspot URL.
Because just writing about our lives is boring, I always thought that 'write what you know' means to write emotion and life experiences that you know to make your characters deeper.
It is important to do research on your subject as the little details make the world seem richer and more real.
Sometimes it is difficult to realize what details will seem enlightening, and which will seem like you are putting in facts to let people know that you did research.
But a lot of times, research will uncover information that will lead to new scenes or ideas that you want to convey.
The Devil is in the details.
Did A TON of research on Firestorm, my first feature, and to this day, am complimented on it. Now, I do less and try to stick closer to home...
...the problem w/writing "smart" characters is...
...well, it's hard to make them much smarter than you are, isn't it?
chrisz
I remember a tip from Wordplayer, that for research into areas you don't know much about, get the highschool textbooks, they can normally explain at least the fundamentals in an easy to understand manner. I thought that was great advice, thought I would share.
cheers
Dave
This is an excellent topic, one that's on my list to blog about, really. What I've seen/noticed/was shocked by in recent zoetrope-posted scripts:
1. People write about a subculture they are not a part of b/c they think that subculture is hot ($$wise). Or b/c they are intrigued by it. But they have absolutely no knowledge about it, not even the kind of basic insights you could gain if you visited sites created by those in the know. For example: Bondage or S/M light. They (idiot writers) give you dress-up scenes (think: cheerleader) and slap-your-butt scenes and make the male dom a manipulative, heartless sob and the sub a pushover in- and outside the boudoir.
2. "Research" consists of googling, reading perhaps 5 sites. THat's it. Example: Though a certain topic got looked up, say, lobotomies, the time the script is placed in (60s) did not get researched. How mental institutions worked, what's the hierarchy of authority in there, etc. Not done. Worse, the writer was very young and that showed, too, in a negative way (some stuff you just pick up in life, you know? Seemingly useless information that comes in handy;)
One should know more than the next person to give them at least one aha! moment. Plus, one should know enough so as to not irritate people who are actually in the know/experts. That's my bottom line.
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