Michael's Musings
Action Scenes
by Michael B. Druxman on 12/12/10
December 13, 2010
I've decided that the hardest thing to write (at least for me) is an action scene.
I'm about 80 pages into this script I've been hired to write and, yesterday, I finished a major action sequence that took me 3-4 days to complete. At times, it was like pulling teeth, yet, on screen, the whole thing will probably run a mere 2-4 minutes.
Despite the fact that I can, in fact, write a pretty good action scene, my problem with these kinds of sequences is that they are more choreography than storytelling. Thanks to CGI, directors have a field day with them and I'm sure that whoever directs this script will enhance what I've written, even to the point of its becoming ridiculous. That's what movies and their makers do today.
Actually, they used to do the same thing "yesterday".
I recall the late producer Henry Blanke telling me that for The Adventures of Robin Hood, which starred Errol Flynn, there was a direction in the script that read, "Robin fights his way out of the castle." Director Michael Curtiz took three days to shoot that sequence, and it is one of the highlights of the picture.
I wish that, in my script, I could simply write a direction like, "The good guys escape the bad guys," but the producers today want these sequences spelled out, blow-by-blow...even if they know the director is going to change everything around to make it his own.
Me, the writer, just wants to tell the story and, as I said, action is more choreography than storytelling.
You have a creative day.
Michael
Quiet Weekend
by Michael B. Druxman on 12/09/10
December 10, 2010
I've posted a review of AND SOON THE DARKNESS on the Best Bets on DVD site, accessible via the link in the Introduction section of this page. It's a pretty good little thriller, filmed in Argentina, so take a look.
Not much going on this weekend, I'm about 2/3 the way through my screenplay, so I'll be working on that while I still can. Next week, in order for my Mac's CD drive to be repaired, I'll have to take it into the shop for a few days.
It's really been very cold here in Austin this past week or so and, I'm told, we're in a bit of a mini-drought. Actually, I don't think we've had rain for about a month and, according to what I've heard, we may not get any until February.
Maybe in time for my birthday?
BTW: Have you been reading about the Ronni Chasen murder?
She's the top Hollywood publicist who was shot to death in her car about a month ago.
The Beverly Hills cops say that they've "solved" the case, but everybody I've talked to thinks they're full of s**t.
Remember, this is the police department that has yet to solve the Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel murder, which took place in 1947.
It will be interesting to see how things develop in Ms. Chasen's case.
You have a creative weekend, and I'll be back with you on Monday.
Michael
KNIGHT AND DAY
by Michael B. Druxman on 12/08/10
December 9, 2010
Last night, wife Sandy and I watched KNIGHT AND DAY.
Frankly, I didn't think I was going to like it, but the truth is that I enjoyed it much more than INCEPTION.
Here's my take on it:
A super spy (Tom Cruise), framed by a fellow agent (Peter Sarsgaard) and thus on the lam from his own people and some major bad guys, encounters an unknowing young lady (Cameron Diaz), who accidentally becomes embroiled in the whole unsavory affair. Love, of course, blossoms, as the pair travels the globe, dodging dozens of assassins, while they try to make matters right.
As a romantic action/comedy, KNIGHT AND DAY is totally unbelievable (even silly) and overlong. It is also very entertaining.
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz make a very charming, likable couple, quite adept at playing this kind of farce.
Though its final half hour seems anti-climatic, the witty, albeit improbable, script by Patrick O'Neill moves along at a lively pace, not giving the audience much time to ponder its illogic.
In fact, O'Neill uses a clever device to partially accomplish this task. At various points in the movie, one character or the other get drugged, waking up in a totally different, sometimes exotic, locale. Since that character's point-of-view is also the audience's, there is really no need to show or even explain how they got there.
Director James Mangold has delivered a handsome movie, filmed in many countries (e.g. Austria, Spain, the USA, etc.), but like many directors who work with action sequences enhanced with CGI, he allows technique to trump storytelling and these scenes run on far too long.
Nevertheless, if you're willing to put your thinking cap aside for a while, KNIGHT AND DAY can provide a very enjoyable two hours.
You have a creative day.
Michael
