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Adaptation, advice, concept, design, filmmaker, format, H.P. Lovecraft, ideas, inspire, list, lovecraft, making, movie, necessity, outline, plot, point, preproduction, process, screenwriting, student, teach, The Colour Out of Space
Hello readers and welcome back! Did you miss me? I apologize for the delay in posting. I did have internet access last week, but I have recently started a new job (with a local news station) and I’ve been busy trying to move completely into my new place. But enough with excuses. Let’s get back to work tonight, shall we.
Now, since I realize that recent posts have seemed a bit…repetitive, I thought I would try something a bit new. We’ll still put it under film study though, so it’s not completely new. Here’s the idea in a photograph:
Now, it may be hard to read my handwriting (don’t feel bad, I’ve heard that for years), but this is essentially a plot outline for an adaptation I want to do of “The Colour Out of Space” by H.P. Lovecraft. What I’ve done is taken major points (not necessarily plot points) and jotted them down in a list. Obviously I haven’t finished. I’ll have to put this off a bit later. Anyway, why would I suggest something like this? Since no two people are the same, I won’t say this is a perfect method, but it helps me. By listing out certain points of the story, I can see the order and either move them around or remove them entirely. But at least I know what I had. This is more useful with an adaptation, but it can be applied to original work as well. Especially if you have the foundation set up already (i.e. the characters, setting, etc.). If you write down your ideas for the story, you can put them in any order you like. This can help establish what your major plot points would be as well as help organize thoughts that aren’t quite clear yet.
Now this may not work for some. Notebooks can start to become crowded. However, I will say that some ideas, if they share common elements, can play across different ideas. I can’t tell you how many pages in my notebooks are either just quotes that I can use in any story or how many pages share similar thought trains. Notebooks, in that sense, are essential. Of course, you could keep everything on a computer or tablet, but personally, I find it easier to write it down. Plus, computers and such have a limited life expectancy, even if you back it up. Notebooks can last a while.
So why is this in film study? Easy. I believe that if you try this technique you may find yourself a bit more organized and your ideas a bit more free flowing. And, when it all comes together, you can thank me in your award speech!
So that’s it for my first post back. My schedule is kinda early (I have to wake up at 4.30 every morning), so I don’t want to make any promises about the next post. I will try to keep up still, but I don’t know how well I’ll do yet. So until next time, happy plotting!