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Friday, February 02, 2007 |
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Happy Groundhog Day! |
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Billy Mernit writes about one of my favorite romantic comedies: Groundhog Day.
Cheers!
- E.
Yes, it's that time of the year again. Romantic comedy lovers, romantics, lovers comedic or serious -- pretty much all humans with beating hearts know that as soon as February rolls around, there's a major holiday to be reckoned with, one that's come to symbolize the meaning of love and romance for America, if not the world.
I'm speaking, of course, about Groundhog Day.
Granted, there was a time, long, long ago (i.e. before 1993), when this holiday lacked the romantic associations since bestowed on it, due to the efforts of Danny Rubin, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray. But ever since the writer, director and star, respectively of Groundhog Day created what's now generally acknowledged as one of the great American movies of all time, February 2nd has become synonymous with romance and comedy. In fact, when people ask me to name a couple of my favorite romantic comedies, this one invariably comes to mind.
Groundhog_dayWhat's that? You've never thought of this cinematic classic as a romantic comedy? For shame. I have it on good, nay, unassailable authority that the film more than qualifies. For starters, it says so right on the friggin' DVD box's front cover ("A romantic comedy fantasy that is Bill Murray's best screen performance" -- thank you, Gene Shalit). But you can also look up the definition of romantic comedy in the um, definitive text on same, and find (p.12) that "a romantic comedy is a comedy whose central plot is embodied in a romantic relationship" and that (p.13) "the central question posed by a romantic comedy is: 'Will these two individuals become a couple?'"
As you well know, when TV weatherman Phil Connors (Murray) gets inexplicably trapped in the same repeating February 2nd, his sole recourse to getting out of it becomes the object of his affections, producer Rita (Andie MacDowell); his salvation lies in the answer to their coupling question. (Screenwriting theorist sticklers may point out that the story's central question is really, Will Phil ever get out of February 2nd? To this I say, also true, because the movie is a rom-com hybrid -- ibid, pp.21-28 -- a romantic comedy/high concept fantasy, and thus the couple/escape conflicts are intertwined. But let's stop boring our civilian readers, shall we? Thanks.)
Strange but true, there still exist deprived, disadvantaged people who have not seen the movie Groundhog Day. If you are one of those poor souls, what better opportunity to improve the quality of your life, than to view it this Friday, on the official Day itself? And even if you're one of the many enriched individuals who's seen it, Groundhog Day is of course a movie that you can watch over and over, and over, and over and over and over...
Ground_main_1...And if you're a major Groundhog Day fan, you might even consider journeying to the scene of the crime: the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania is having its annual celebration, and it promises to be quite a hoot. Such a trip was actually enjoyed by Day's writer and star before the movie was made, and therein lies a little tale that speaks, I believe, to the true spirit of romance, or as we might say, what love's got to do with it.
Danny Rubin recounts the following in his illuminating interview accompanying an early draft of the screenplay in Scenario (Spring '95 issue, regrettably out of print). He talks of having been hired, fired and re-hired to work on the script, and when he, his wife Louise and kids were preparing to move from Los Angeles to New Mexico, getting a call from Bill Murray:
He says, "Do you realize that the day after tomorrow is Groundhog Day?"--"Yep."--"And do you realize that between the director, the producer, the star and the writer of this film, nobody has been to the festival at Punxsutawney? Doesn't that seem wrong to you?" And I said, "Absolutely. And I think you should go, I think that will be a great thing." And he said, "I think we should go." And I said, "Bill, that's a really nice offer, sounds like fun, but I'm moving, I'm moving my family, we're up to our necks in boxes, I can't just abandon them and go off to Punxsutawney." And he said, "Well, think about it and call me back. Here's my number." When I got off the phone, Louise asked who it was. "Bill Murray," I said. "He wants me to go to Punxsutawney tomorrow." And she said, "Cool." And I said I'd told him I couldn't do it. She said, "Are you nuts?" So I talked to [the studio] and they said, "We'll pay for the move, we'll get someone to help pack, we'll fly out a friend of your wife's to help her move in so you don't have to be there."
Groundhog_day2_1This level of support was very nice, and I embarked on the most surreal adventure of my professional life. All of a sudden I'm flying in a private plane from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night with Bill Murray and we're talking about the script. We landed somewhere near Punxsutawney at 2:00 in the morning. And there were fans out there waiting for him--it was supposed to be a secret...
Rubin goes on to say that he used a lot of what he saw on that trip in the script. He'd originally only spoken to the town's Chamber of Commerce and looked at their literature, but:
After we actually saw it, there was a whole different feel to it than we had imagined. It was delightful, really delightful--a wonderful civic event. We incorporated a lot of that into the movie... Everyone there knew it was a goofy ritual--it was almost sophisticated in its hickyness. What was so much fun about the festival is, it's the middle of the night, zero degrees, they've got bonfires going--and they're playing Beach Boys music.
Groundhog_day
Sometimes I read this excerpt to a screenwriting class when I'm talking about the inestimable value of research, to illustrate how really being there can make all the difference in writing a given project. But I quote it now in this pre-Valentine's Day context to highlight my favorite moment in Rubin's story, which is when Louise says, "Are you nuts?"
I just love that! Gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling every time, because it seems to me that Danny Rubin's wife is the hidden heroine of the Groundhog Day saga. Love doesn't mean never having to say you're sorry. It means having someone be able to say "Are you nuts?!" to you at a crucial moment. Love is sometimes about saving loved ones from themselves -- which come to think of it, is kind of at the core of what the movie ended up being about, don't you think?
Go watch it again, again, and see if you agree.Labels: Billy Mernit, characters, craft, Living The RomCom, screenwriting, Story, structure
Posted by
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1:54 PM |
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Friday, January 26, 2007 |
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I Got A Bridge I Can Sell You. |
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Matt Hader recounts what is unfortunately not an uncommon tale in the land of the wannabe scribe.
Can you feel your skin thickening?
- E.
Luck On/Luck Off
I had lunch today with a screenwriting buddy. He’s fairly new to the game and asked me what it’s like to have a well-known production company read/like/and consider taking on something I’ve written. I’ve been fortunate enough to have this type of scenario play out time and time again. He was all bug-eyed with anticipation as he waited for my reply, probably hoping upon hope that I would wax poetically about the feeling of bliss and accomplishment that one can experience --
-- until that “non-deal” falls into oblivion.
It’s not a deal until the check clears, so simply having a production company show interest, while – yes - exciting, is pretty much a fairly common occurrence worthy of nothing more than a passing, “oh, cool,” followed by my daily chores (my beautiful wife is kind of a stickler for vacuumed carpets and Swiffered floors…we’re seeking counseling).
Unfortunately for me, and I’d guess a good number of other screenwriters who’ve been at this for a while, most “potential deals” are really non-deals. You’re led to believe that someone is hot on your screenplay and then the heat fades as quickly as it flared. I’ve learned to react in the same fashion to that non-deal falling apart as I do to the possibility of making a deal – with a calm disposition. If I didn’t level my head, I’d be punching holes in walls, or worse, blogging all the time…
My buddy then asked me how many times I’ve had non-deals become nothing-at-all-deals. I had to think about that for a minute – “in the past year?”
Yeah…it’s happened a bunch.
Maybe it’s me? Maybe it’s my writing? Or maybe it’s the fact that the executive revolving doors in Hollywood spin at such a ferocious pace that you can’t keep track of all the comings and goings. Perhaps it’s a little of all the above?
My screenwriting Bud was surprised that non-deals fall away so quickly after the one championing your cause at a production company makes his/her exit. He never took into consideration that just because one executive at a company likes your screenplay, that the second they leave the employ of said production company, everything they were working on (in most situations) simply goes “poof” into thin air. At least that’s how it’s panned out for me in those instances. Hopefully for you, you’re cranking out the deals left and right regardless of your circumstances…Jealous? Me? Nah…
“But, why wouldn’t that executive take your project to his/her new company?”
Because a lot of times, when he/she does land at a new company, the new employer is looking for a different type of material – and my stuff may not fit in to their corporate vision. And actually in one case, after I asked my agent if the producer would be willing to look at my screenplay at his new place of employment, the answer was not one I fully expected -- “Well, his new job is with a realtor…”
Oh…
They loved it – and left…
I feel so…used…Labels: industry, Matt Hader, screenwriting, Story
Posted by
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6:27 AM |
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Sunday, January 21, 2007 |
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Creative Thinking = Creative Screenwriting |
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Hi All,
Hope your Sunday is going well. This post from the Mystery Man caught my eye. I like what he's saying, and I agree. It's pretty pointless to dwell on the "nothing is new under the sun" or "there are only 12 stories to be told" memes. They just demoralize you as a screenwriter.
And if you are a screenwriter like me, you don't need demoralization from others. I've got an endless supply I'm trying to ignore sitting right next to me, thanks.
So, here's an excerpt. Thanks, Mystery Man.
- E.
From, "What's A Spec Writer To Do?"
Be great. Be strong. Be of good cheer. You're amongst friends. Study psychology. Study philosophy, religion, and mythology. Study contemporary issues. Study amateur scripts that fail. Study pro scripts that fail. Study legendary screenplays by true mold-breakers like Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Study history. Study cinema. What hasn’t been done before? What’s being done now that’s wrong? What’s missing in today’s movies? How can you manipulate structure and technigue to find originality?
Storytelling will never die. There is an endless number of great stories that haven’t been told yet, but there are few writers today who can tell those stories really well. The possibilities for new and exciting characters are endless. The variety of contradictions that could be built into characters to have depth are innumerable. Why should Hamlet be the character with the most depth? Who the hell says there can’t be a modern Shakespeare? Or another golden age of cinema?
Above everything, master the craft. Make every detail count. Never, ever sell yourself short. You have to have vision, passion, a love of films, and a true devotion to the craft. You have to be willing to try and fail. You have to push yourself and others. You have to give and receive honest feedback. You have to learn to take criticism. You have to engage other writers in a constructive discussion about the craft. You have to be capable of dealing with the absurdities of the business. And if you fail, fail spectacularly, and go down swinging with the most unforgettable stories ever written.Labels: craft, Mystery Man, Story, structure
Posted by
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5:12 PM |
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