Lesson 27

[Jan Lloyd]

Jan: Lesson 27: Assignment
What I learned doing this assignment is to start thinking of these things as I write the scene. Sometimes writing fast doesn’t give you the time to flesh out all the problems, but if I keep a list of these in my beat sheet or planning sheet, maybe I can make adjustments sooner.
1. I’ve looked through my script and identified some weaknesses.
• A) Basic Scene Problems
• B) Weak Scenes
• C) Situations Don’t Challenge Characters
• D) Cliché Scenes – I might have some cliché scenes. One would be traveling through the air ventilation system. I have seen this done, but I could think of no other way to do it. So, I am keeping it in.

[Kenneth Johnson]

Kenneth Johnson – Solved Scene Problems

What I learned in this lesson is that I am really uncomfortable with this approach. Having done the high speed 20% quality draft I am struck by how we are now addressing issues that I would have solved near the start of the process as we did in the Mini-Movie approach. I will keep going, but this weird. The key point is that I have a script in hand, needs a hell of a lot of work, but it exists!!!

Look through your script and identify any scenes that have any of these four problems. Once you identify them, apply the strategies to improve that part of the scene.

I did this, but it is turning into a process. I keep finding scenes that need addressing within these criteria. (Except D, I pride myself on original scenes).
A) Basic Scene Problems
B) Weak Scenes
C) Situations Don’t Challenge Characters
D) Cliché Scenes