Hey, 2019…hello!
Good Reader, an honest and heartfelt apology for being away so long. Can I just say with bold and italicized force that Script Gods Must Die lives!
Life intercedes. Workload. The stuff that actually pays the bills. To run it back a month, between Columbia College, Second City, Chicago Filmmakers, Screenwriting University, my Saturday writing group, consultancies through Script Magazine and here at Script Gods, I was teaching TWELVE classes! All-time record but hey, Adjunct Teachers can’t say no to work. Why? Because there’s no guarantee of any of your work, so you say yes, yes, yes… sound familiar?
Well, that was then. January finds me with a mere five classes, which will allow me time to write here for Script Gods more often.
I’ve also finished my screenplay on the corporate takeover of weed, call Big Pot, we shall see how the world greets it. Spent a weekend trying to adapt it for the stage. Boiled it down to just 35 characters–hey Grapes Of Wrath had 42!
Meanwhile, I hope you’re still in there pounding away. It’s a noble cause in these non-noble times, fighting the good fight. If there’s any way I can help, just shoot me an email at scriptgodsmustdie@gmail.com.
This week we’ll reprise our look at classic title sequences. If, as Hitchcock instructs, film is the juxtaposition of images for maximum emotional impact, then the title sequence is something the screenwriter should consider. Point Of Entry is critical. Picking up the story at the latest possible moment. But even before that is the imagery of your title sequence. Grabbing the audience by the throat on Image 1 is what these title sequences do. They inform on the key character and the world of that character often times without a single word of dialogue. They give you the tone and look of the director. From the astounding life of a bullet in Lord Of War, to the slimy and long-since-gone Times Square circa 1971 in Shaft, to the iconic running in ocean waves to Vangelis for Chariots Of Fire, on to “where’s that Joe Buck” in Midnight Cowboy, finishing with Bob Dylan and the graphic novel style of Watchmen…here are some of my favs:
- LORD OF WAR
- SHAFT
- CHARIOTS OF FIRE
- MIDNIGHT COWBOY
- WATCHMEN
