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cracking the screenwriters
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katelovespirate
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cracking the screenwriters

Did you guys know that Ted also wrote the mask of zorro series, and ALADDIN!?!?! and Schrek, as a reminder. lol.

Also: Road to Eldorado(in which the brunnette man gets the girl), National Treasure.

I cant believe they wrote the Zorro movies. Its just interesting cause thats definately the vibe i get between Jack and Elizabeth... its like Alejandro and Elena all over again. Elena is always saying things like "we were never meant to be together" and blah blah, right before they start making out or something. hehehehe.

Does anyone else have other info for them? Lts figure out what they are most liekly to do...

Sep 26th, 2006 06:21 PM

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katelovespirate
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on his blog, terry compares Jack to Indiana Jones, James Bond, and, oh s***, rick from casablanca.

Sep 26th, 2006 06:58 PM

katelovespirate
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also:

So now a writing deadline. Chow Yun-Fat needs to have his scenes delivered as early as possible -- his process is to memorize his lines phonetically as well as have them translated. This means we have to have the Singapore sequence (12 pages!) finished -- and locked down, meaning we don't have the luxury of making a final pass the day before, or even last second changes at rehearsal or on set.

this bit means that the scenes with Chow Yun were written during filming of 2... and set in stone. they cant change those, for the most part. meaning what we see is what we get on the draft script with him...

Sep 26th, 2006 07:01 PM

katelovespirate
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more info on 3...

Funny thing about this who-knows-how-many-milllions-of-dollars Singapore set, the sequence is being shot under the myth that 'there is no screenplay for P3.' Of course there is a screenplay for P3, there have been four drafts of the screenplay for P3, not to mention multiple highly-detailed outlines... there just isn't a screenplay that Gore, and Johnny, and Jerry, have approved. Our fault, in a sense, as many key scenes just aren't good yet. So far, the production schedule has been kind to us -- the only P3 scenes that have had to be shot are ones that are finished and correct. Like they asked in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, how can this possibly all work out? "It's a mystery..."

Sep 26th, 2006 07:03 PM

PIRATES=SEX
johnny=sex

Gender: Female
Location: In the caribbean with johnny duh

thats very intresting kate

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Sep 26th, 2006 07:03 PM

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katelovespirate
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apparantly the first scene of the leaked script is the same as well:

File this under 'Great Moments in Life': we arrive today at the Singapore set, and Keira is moving a long boat through the water, lip-syncing a song. Blasting over the sound system is a playback of Keira's recording of "Hoist the Colors"... when the production needed a song, Ted and I wrote the lyrics, Gore Verbinski and Hans Zimmer worked out music and the arrangement, and here it is playing throughout the stage...

Sep 26th, 2006 07:05 PM

PIRATES=SEX
johnny=sex

Gender: Female
Location: In the caribbean with johnny duh

oh yay i love you kate you always find juicy info

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Sep 26th, 2006 07:06 PM

shannstar79
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This is very interesting, Where in teh world do you find all this information? how can I read Terry's blog where is it posted?
Thanks

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Sep 26th, 2006 07:12 PM

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katelovespirate
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EXCUSE ME WHILE I FREAK OUT!!!!!!

Marketing gurus made a presentation for DEAD MAN'S CHEST, our first glimpse at the film's one-sheet. Features Johnny, Keira, and Orlando, much like the first movie, but done in a cool greenish color palette. They demonstrated the break-apart standees, where you could assemble four into a column or spread them out across the lobby. Theater owners can arrange them as they wish. We only got to see the 12" high prototypes and made the requisite SPINAL TAP jokes. Orlando snuck in to see the posters, came out grinning like a kid. "SMOKING!" he yells. His photo was especially cool-looking, very Errol Flynn. "No WAY do I look like that!" he says happily. Orlando is always the most enthusiastic person on the set -- and why not?

Got to talk a little bit about merchandising. There really should be a PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN board game of some type. And I want to see a really high-end chess set. The pawns could be British Navy and look mostly the same, slight variations to suggest Murtogg, Mullroy, Groves, etc. Beckett as King? Or Davy Jones? Put Tia Dalma on that side as Queen. Jack and Elizabeth as King and Queen, or should it be William? Or make William a Bishop? What side does Barbossa go on? Made the suggestion about Jack-the-Monkey puppet, reversible, undead on one side, live on the other. Found out they're doing a "Pirate's Dice" (Perudo style) game! Our plan actually worked!

Jack and Liz as king and queen?!?!?! is that supposed to be some kind of sneaky chess spoiler?!?!?!

Sep 26th, 2006 07:15 PM

katelovespirate
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just thought this bit was funny:

I found this out: If you ask for gum while travelling on Johnny's private jet, the lovely attendant will return and present you with a silver tray, linen napkin, arrayed upon it many different selections, Orbitz, Extra, Trident, Big Red, etc. Whoa, intense.

Gore says, the night before, he woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, laughing at Johnny's delivery, "Where's the thump thump?"

Johnny says, "You know how I knew it was a good take? Trevor was laughing, guy who does pull focus, he's the hardest guy on the set to make laugh. I know if I can get Trevor to even look away, or smile, I'm doing good."

here's a link to the blog im currently reading. search around the site for way more info. lol.
http://www.wordplayer.com/archives/...Plank.Walk.html

Sep 26th, 2006 07:23 PM

katelovespirate
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It felt right to me for Marty to be the crew member to call out and lead the pirate charge. Marty is a strong physical presence on the ship, without the benefit of a lot of lines; he is sort of the Id of the pirate crew, first into the fray, first to be afraid, first to be suspicious, etc. I think it's because he is the shortest pirate, maybe, it feels right that he should be out front, the most bold? Discuss with Gore and he agrees, it works for Marty to lead the charge.

oooo... a pirate charge? sounds exciting!

Sep 26th, 2006 07:30 PM

katelovespirate
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I think the character fans might have to reassess is Elizabeth, for some reason she was let off easy in the first movie, even though she barters herself to Norrington, lying in order to get him to turn around and go save Will, and a lot of good sailors died as a result of that deed -- so what is her essential nature? She has demonstrated, time and again, she is more of a pirate than any of them. I am VERY interested to see how the fans will react to our story -- it is, in fact, the key question, the one that will define the fate of the franchise!

woah thats intense...

Sep 26th, 2006 07:32 PM

katelovespirate
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so with the quote i just posted... does that mean that OUR reaction to what LIZ does to Jack will decide the fate of whether or not they end up togehter!?

Sep 26th, 2006 07:43 PM

katelovespirate
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more quote from tr:

While it's great for characters to have strong inner lives, it's a mistake to organize a plot around the drama of a character deciding to change their thinking. Consider how non-cinematic a change of heart truly is, without the actions taken as a result of the change.
Instead, it's the task of the screenwriter to take that inner journey of the character and give it a playing area. Externalize the issues, either into situations or other characters, and let the protagonist work things out where we all can see and hear it.

Sep 26th, 2006 07:55 PM

katelovespirate
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sorry, more interestings quotes:

This is also known as 'visceral logic.' It's dangerous to play with, but a powerful tool. Beyond strict story logic, there is the emotional logic of the film. For example, if the audience wants something to happen, it's easier to make them believe that it can happen.

IMO, that means if the audience wants Liz and Jack together, they will believe that its likely to work out that way, even if it seems a bit far fetched or something. lol.

Sep 26th, 2006 07:58 PM

katelovespirate
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Okay, here is another REALLY cool bit:

Sometimes your convictions are the greatest stumbling blocks to fixing a story problem. It's that thing that you're certain of, that you don't challenge -- that you just know is right about a scene -- that stops you from finding the inventive solution. It's a good idea to have this general rule: challenge everything. Go through the problem scene step by step and consider the effect of doing the exact opposite of all your story decisions.
The audience will come to 'know' the character through their actions. When characters can make decisions that run counter to expectations, bringing reversals into the story, that's of immediate interest. (Once again, look at RAIDERS. When Indiana Jones ties up Marion instead of rescuing her, it's a marvelous reversal, and we gain huge insight into Indy's character by that one action.)

Could this imply their meaning behind Jack trading Elizabeth in movie 3???

Sep 26th, 2006 07:59 PM

katelovespirate
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I know guys im posting a lot, i just think this stuff is great. here's one more bit:::

GO TO THE EXTREME

Characters, stories, and story beats fail far more often by not going far enough than by going too far. It is almost a rule that if you push a character, an emotion, or a situation to the absolute extreme, it will play on film. Consider the various, and varied, extreme situations in PULP FICTION. (There are limits, of course, and consider the effect on the tone of the movie, especially concerning sex and violence.) But it's almost always worthwhile to re-evaluate a scene or a sequence with an eye toward, "Did we push that far enough?"

And here's a list of sequences or story elements that always seem to work gangbusters on screen:

1. Poker games
2. Seductions
3. Bidding/auction scenes (think Alfred Hitchcock)
4. An execution
5. Sunny, tropical locations (consider setting your film in a location you want to visit)
6. Maps and treasure hunts
7. A race of any type

And to top off this list of arbitrary claims, here's "Wordplay's Iron-Clad Rule of Box Office Success": let your hero smile. Most films, and all bad ones, have the hero striding along wearing dour expressions, looking like their teeth hurt. But think of any movie you love, and I bet you can remember a shot of the hero breaking out in a grin. And hey, if you want a really big hit, let your hero smile in Act I, Act II and Act III. Works every time.

---That quote, to me, indicates that Jack and not Will is their hero (obviously, since Will never smiles) and Jack is the character they are more focused on. right?

Sep 26th, 2006 08:03 PM

katelovespirate
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theres hope for a hott liz/jack scene.... check out this from the blog:::

HOW TO WRITE A SEX SCENE

Okay, enough on sexual politics. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty.
Here's how you write a sex scene:
Two people kiss. Kiss some more. Lock each other in a major clench. They fall back out of frame, and you cut to your choice of:

a. the sunrise
b. a train plunging into a tunnel
c. waves crashing on the beach
d. fireworks
e. a steam whistle blowing

Sep 26th, 2006 08:12 PM

katelovespirate
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one more bit that might be helpful:

The Big Finish
Screenwriting Column 13
by Terry Rossio

Here's my iron-clad rule for how a movie should end. (How's that for taking a stance?) A good ending must be decisive, set-up, and inevitable -- but nonetheless unexpected.
This is, of course, not easy to do. Some writers feel that a good, strong opening, the hook, is the toughest thing to come up with. I disagree. A great opening is perhaps the most important section of the screenplay -- it's the part that's actually going to get read! But it's not the hardest. My writing partner, Ted Elliott, can come up with a great set-up in seconds -- but give him a month or so before asking him what comes next!
Act II is a renowned quagmire of story problems. You could argue that it's the toughest Act to plot. But the subject matter itself at least provides material to shape, and gives some direction how to proceed. Act II problems are more often organization problems, not blank-page problems, and they'll ultimately succumb to proper execution of craft.
No, for myself, Act III -- and coming up with that great ending -- is definitely the toughest plotting on a script. It's an Act where you can't get by on just craftsmanship, you really do need to have something that's inspired. It's the payoff Act.
So let's go back to the rule: 'Decisive, set-up, and inevitable -- but nonetheless unexpected.'

1. Decisive.
The most satisfying endings resolve the issues at hand clearly and decisively, one way or the other. Effective endings that are ambiguous are rare -- and a bit of a contradiction in terms.

2. Set-up.
The ending can't come completely out of left-field. It should be one of several known possibilities, or referenced as a possible solution sometime earlier in the film. The ending must appear to evolve naturally out of the elements that are known. You don't want to change the rules at the end of the game -- that's not fair.

3. Inevitable.
Another word for this might be 'appropriate.' You want an ending that is so 'right,' it seems as if it could have turned out no other way -- but only after it's happened! Because it's also got to be --

4. Unexpected.
This is the real trick. The unexpectedness of the ending is the true payoff, the reward for watching the film. It's the element the audience will weigh most heavily when judging the outcome of the story -- whether or not it was 'worth waiting for.'

Let's look at the most famous, and perhaps the most effective, ending in film history -- the ending of CASABLANCA. It was certainly decisive: Rick and Ilsa do not end up together -- she leaves on the plane with Victor Lazlo. It was certainly set up: Rick helping the young man win at roulette was just one scene that showed Rick's idealism. And the ending could be said to be inevitable. As the story of the filming goes, several endings to the film were considered -- but when the first one was shot, they knew they had it, and that the story could not end any other way.
And finally, the ending was, indeed, unexpected -- a quality that evolved out of its genre and structure. A romance where the hero doesn't get the girl? And it turns out to be the most romantic movie of all time!
I think of endings as the fulfillment of the promise, the covenant the storyteller makes with the audience. Violate that covenant at your peril.

Put simply, if it's an action picture, you've set up the expectation of an action finish. A courtroom scene probably won't do.
Now it's true that often when you enter Act III, it does work to shake the picture up by changing the essential nature of the story (the hunter becomes the hunted; the murderer is brought to trial, etc.). This is good drama. Still, though, the story must be brought back around to an arena that is appropriate for the characters. Too often the characters get thrown aside, in that search for the big finish. But note that 'spectacle' is not one of the requirements for an ending. You don't necessarily need a big finish -- what you need is a satisfying conclusion to the situation.
A film that shows this beautifully is MOONSTRUCK. Who would have thought that you could have a brilliant ending to a movie take place with a bunch of people talking at a family breakfast table? It's unique, it's unexpected, and it's completely satisfying.

Unexpectedness is one of the hardest elements to design into an ending. I find it useful to consider which type of question or questions is truly unknown to the audience. In a whodunit, the element that is not known is, well, WHO, and quite often the motive, or WHY. In an action film, you pretty much know WHAT is going to happen -- the hero is going to win -- but you don't know HOW. The HOW, then, is where you get your surprise. Occasionally, answering the WHERE questions can be a surprise -- remember where Hannibal Lector ended up in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS? WHEN questions are tough for endings, as they usually must be set up making the audience superior, which destroys the surprise.
So if you know which answer you're holding back -- the WHO, WHY, WHAT, HOW, or WHERE -- it can be easier to create that all-important unexpected ending. The best to go for is the WHAT question -- as in, truly not knowing 'what will happen' until it happens.

Ideally, the ending of a film is what the whole film has built to, in some fashion or other, all the way from page one. Ted and I still laugh at a screenplay that was submitted to us, where the writer included 'optional up ending' and 'optional down ending.' If the writer wasn't writing to one or the other of those endings throughout the screenplay, how effective could either of those endings be?
And a final note, on those 'down' endings. Writers just starting out often succumb to the temptation of choosing a tragic ending. After all, tragic endings are rare in films, and therefore unexpected. And unexpected is good, right?
Problem is, tragic endings really not all that rare -- there are lots of unproduced spec scripts around with typical bad-script unhappy endings. The result is, usually, an unhappy ending for the writer.

Sep 26th, 2006 08:37 PM