Book to Screen

by Frank Catalano

  You do it all in one to three lines not a page and a half. That’s it, you have to create the same impact that you would generate in a page and half description you might have in your novel. And Anthony Hopkins acts it out.

  (Audience laughter)

  Let’s talk about that. Shall we? In your novel you have every detail covered so that you know who the characters are in every detail. Now you’ve got a screenplay and its all got to be in there but at around 120 pages. So you cut, but you don’t want to strip everything out of it. You must capture the essence of your full character description that’s in your book. What I’m saying is that you must keep the soul of your book alive and you get that 50 or 100 word description and you boil it down to five or ten words and that’s the challenge. But, don’t be a good soldier that writes their screenplay in 100 pages but in doing so; the end product has no life in it. You must keep the soul of your book alive and so you struggle to make sure you get in those five or ten lines of description that you don’t lose any calories. It has to have the same fullness. The next element is ACTION.

  Action is how your character moves in the space – the universe you have created for them. You don’t have to be like “He walked slowly put one foot after another.” You don’t have to do that. Instead focus on something interesting about how your character does something. Some sort of interesting action that they do like the way they tie their tie (James Bond) pet a cat (The Godfather) or walk on a sidewalk (Jack Nicholson in AS GOOD AS IT GETS). But you can create action as it happens “on the fly” as your character does it. Do you remember the old television series Columbo (1968)?

  (Audience laughter)

  I can’t believe you guys remember that? Okay, well you would want to put a little bit about that character’s actions in your set up. And Detective Columbo was interesting to us because we always enjoyed the way he seemed to physically fumble through each situation he was in. There was a “fumbling” almost inept quality about the character that made his adversaries not take him very seriously. They though “this guy is a total dork.” But we loved to see Columbo fumble through and solve every crime despite how carefully it was planned. Sherlock Holmes is the flip side, the Victorian side. Holmes is very formal, scientific and he observes using his five sense everything intently. All his fastidious actions come into play, So action is important because it shows something about your character’s way of existing physically in their universe that makes them interesting and worthy of our time. And we can go through all sorts of things to achieve that. It could be that your character in the first ten pages – their relationship with another characters shows….

  (Off stage Voice)

  Ten minutes? Are you sure?

  (Audience laughter)

  In the writing class we did yesterday, we were improvising about the “space between people.” Just the space can change the way your characters react to things within their universe. You know those people in New York City on the subway? The subway car is packed – standing room only – and they are this far away from one another.)

  (Catalano moves very close to a male audience member – almost touches)

  (Audience laughter)

  Don’t worry, I won’t touch you…

  (Audience laughter)

  Unless you want me to?

  (Audience laughter.)

  They are this far away and it’s not a problem. Try that in Los Angeles. Try to move that close to someone and see what happens. I was on line the other day at a store (waiting to check out) and some guy (who was in a hurry) came up right behind me. He very close, I could feel him breathing on me and pressing up against my butt.

  (Audience laughter)

  No nothing like that… he was (I assume) trying to get the line to move faster. I turned to him and said pressing up against me is not going to make the checkout person or the line any faster. He just moved back… no comment. Now the definition of personal space in Los Angeles and now is different let’s say than riding the subway in New York City during the rush hour. This guy pressing up against me in line was a violation of my personal space while it might not have even been noticeable in another situation. Definition of space in Los Angeles is different than in New York City, Tokyo or Paris. You can create visual element for your character before they even say one word. This really goes to my example of Meryl Streep in DOUBT. That kind of visual introduction says something about your character and how they move – that might take you several pages to achieve in a novel.

  I recently attended a screening of the film Chef (2014) that (without giving anything away here) is about a chef. The opening sequence of the film (as music plays) is a series of visual shots our main character preparing food – doing the slicing, dicing – all the things a chef would do. But this action was not casual, he was preparing with a sense of purpose – so you knew right away, even before the first word of dialogue was spoken that the meal he was preparing was an important one. He wasn’t just cooking breakfast for himself… it was more than that – much more. You’ll have to see the film, because you’re not getting anything else out of me on CHEF. Have any of you seen it?

  (Audience laughter)

  Really, we should stop right now and all go to the movies!

  (Audience laughter)

  But we can’t can we? Can we? So you want to open with your characters up front and make them interesting and compelling within that first ten pages or ten minutes of screening. You want the reader/audience to want to know more about them and why they are doing what they are doing. So ACTION is very important tool for you to use to connect your characters to your audience. The other element that is important is of course DIALOGUE.

  DIALOGUE is important because it is one the ways (probably one of the most important) a character communicates with an audience and other characters in your story. Dialogue is one of the primary ways your audience gets to know all the things they need to know to be connected to the story. Also, dialogue can reveal things about the character themselves; do they have a dialect, what do they say about themselves, what do they say about others, are they always telling the truth or do they lie? How do they speak? Do they speak in shortened phrases like?

  (Catalano does Joe Pesci imitation from Good Fellas (1990)

  “You said I was funny? Funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh? I’m here to amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?”

  (Audience laughter)

  That’s one way of doing it. Or does your character speak in long-winded speeches like let’s say Sherlock Holmes. Figure out how what they say and how they say it fits in to what you are trying to accomplish.

  You can ask my brother just one simple question and he will go off for an hour or more on it. So, really, I don’t like asking him anything… you know.

  (Audience laughter)

  “Hey, Bro… “I call him “Bro” which is term of endearment. “How was your day?” Then he looks at me and smiles as if to say I’m so glad you asked. “Well, I got up this morning, brushed my teeth and then after that…” I think to myself… please just the highlights – do you have to tell me everything?

  Is this your character? So, how they speak dialogue is just as important as exposition and content. When you finally finish the introduction of your main character, I am assuming that your main character is going to be there. Right? So your character walks in and I don’t know we were doing THE SOPRANOS yesterday. I kind of dressed for it today. Your character walks in on page two and speaks for the first time with a Jersey dialect: “How ya’doin?”

  (Catalano moves)

  And he moves within the space leading with chin and is hunched over a bit (like he’s going to whisper something important in your ear) or your main character could be an attorney with a physically that is more upright (morally driven)

  (Catalano moves again this time more upright and driven.)

  “How are you today?”

  No chest, no chin. Little details like play strong
ly or should I say visually. You bring over the characteristics of your novel but with less stated. You keep your character’s quality; you don’t lose it with abbreviation. It’s just as detailed but the detail has been compressed into Description, Action and Dialogue. Guess what? All of these elements are visual and auditory. You have moved from an intellectual medium (your novel) where everything is happens and is created in your head (your imagination) to a primarily visual medium based in external stimuli.

  So, you wouldn’t say your character enters leading with his chin and right foot. This type of physicality is too clinical. You might instead describe it using visual metaphors. Something like “Joey G walks in the room like a predator ready to strike with his eyes focused on the prize.” The metaphor compresses it all into one short section and you can come up with a much better metaphor than I just made up on the spot.

  (Audience laughter)

  Then, the cinematographer, actors and directors can see it as you see it (from your words) and use their own creative input to interpret it. You might be thinking, what if they interpret my writing in a way that is different than my interpretation? Interpretation is never going to be exact. You aren’t going to like this, but often the different interpretations make the impact of the work better. As we have said before, as long as the spirit of your original work is intact, you’re okay. And that’s what you want to set up in the first ten pages.

  32

  A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME HAVING THE RIGHT TITLE

  The First Ten Pages

  THERE WAS A project I was trying to get made at Warner Brothers many years ago called Rocket Man. It was one of those crazy projects – no matter what I had in the script – everyone that heard the name wanted to see the script. It was bandied about for several years and there are even two different versions of it – one as a television series and another as a feature film. So, if was such a great title, why didn’t it get put into production? Easy answer, at the same time, the Disney Company was making and released a film called Rocketeer (1991), which had a lot of buzz around it but in the end was kind of a box office dud.

  It’s important to mention here that my Rocket Man in no way resembled the Disney Rocketeer. However, what was at one moment a title that brought interest to a project, in the next the word “rocket” in the title because it sound like “Rocketeer” brought it instant rejection. As Shakespeare said in Romeo and Juliet – “A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”

  (Audience laughter)

  So, your title is important to this whole getting your work read in the first ten pages. Remember, the title is the first then they see and hear. Your title should connect with your reader on one or more of four levels of connection:

  Intellectual:

  The title should say something, which triggers their imagination and gives them an intellectual response such as – 12 Angry Men (1957), Schindler’s List (1993), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Inconvenient Truth (2006) or Gravity (2013) or Gone Girl (2014).

  Emotional:

  This title should evoke emotional response in the reader Jaws (1975), Meet the Parents (2000), Life is Beautiful (1997), The Notebook (2004), the Hangover (2009, 2011, 2013), or Fifty Shades of Grey (2015).

  Physical:

  This title should evoke a sense of immediacy and change in the reader. Want to make them physically react to what they read and perhaps do something different in their life afterward: The Tingler (1959), War of the Worlds (1953, 2005), Jaws (1975), Night of the Living Dead (1968), JFK (1991) or Inconvenient Truth (2006).

  Spiritual

  This title should evoke a sense of questions in the readers mind about life and the world that they live in such as Gandhi (1982), Field of Dreams (1982) or Life of Pi (2012).

  Titles can be long or short but should be clear in their connection to the reader. They should create in the reader a sense of anticipation that will drive them to open the script and begin to read it. A great title should pull them in and make them want to take the journey. Lastly, take a look at the current tile of your work and ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Promise: Does your title make a promise to the reader of something that is to come? Does it fulfill a need, tell a story or explore a character? The Exorcist (1973), Gladiator (2000) or Blue Jasmine (2013).

  2. Meaning: Is your title a literal description - The Day the Earth Stood Still- (1951) or is a metaphor for something else - SnowFalling Cedars – (1999)? Maybe it’s a combination like Shakespeare in Love (1999)?

  3. Audience: Does your title speak to a specific audience? Cinderella (1950) focused upon children or Cinderella Man (2005) focused upon adults. Ask yourself what is the target audience for this idea and make sure your title speaks directly to that group. Thinking in terms of a “general audience” will get you nowhere.

  4. Inevitable: Is your title inevitable? Make your title as something they must read and can’t put down – Gone with the Wind (1939), King Kong (1933, 2005), Jaws (1975) and any of the Godfather films (1972, 1974 and 1990). These are titles they have to read or be left out of the loop.

  5. Simplicity The shorter the better. Use terms that get their attention and call upon them to act. Make the title put them right in the middle of it all – with no other choice – Jaws (1975), Jurassic Park (1993) or Inception (2010).

  So your title is very important because it is the gateway in which a reader or audience will enter your story. I have a lot of friends that are writers that will wake up in the middle of the night and write down what they think at that moment is a great title. They have files in Microsoft Word with just lists of titles. Titles they may never use or may rely upon at some future date when they are writing something.

  (Audience laughter)

  I’m not kidding. Title is very important and should be thought of your first ten pages. So we all should start keeping a list of titles that you can use when you are developing a new story. Sometimes the story may come first and then the title will go on top or at other times you can start with the title and then the story will come out of it. You can also take words out of newspaper articles, storefronts, road signs or if you feel creative graffiti.

  (Audience laughter)

  I was stuck on the Hollywood freeway in bumper-to-bumper traffic about a month ago when there was this piece of graffiti spray painted in red over a tattered billboard. It read: “All you need is the Right Kind of Love.” Now I know the Beatles probably said it shorter and better when they sang “All you need is Love.” But I thought, what an odd message to find spray-painted on a billboard sign on the freeway. So, I wrote it down.

  (Audience laughter)

  I may never use it… but then again you never know. So I have it tucked away in a file, like one of those athletes sitting on the bench waiting to be called into the game.

  (Audience member loud sneeze)

  Bless you. So your title is extremely important.

  33

  BEGIN AT THE END

  The First Ten Pages

  OKAY, WE HAVE come full circle here today with this topic of writing the first ten pages of your screenplay. Now I don’t want you to go after this Annual Writer’s Conference and rip apart your screenplay. I want you to think about just going back to the wall.

  Do you guys know who Marcel Marceau was?

  (Audience member: “He was some sort of pantomime artist.”)

  Right. He was a mime and referred to mime as the “art of silence,” and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. He had a term, which loosely meant going back to the wall. This was an exercise where the mime would be placed in an imaginary box. In order to create the illusion that would have to create what was one of the most elementary mime illusions – a wall. From that point on, once the illusion was achieved the mime could move on to create a room, another person, or a larger situation. Marceau believe that no matter how advanced he had become at his art, he always went back to the wall.

  What he was saying was that he
went back to the most rudimentary technique in order to create his illusions. What does this have to do with your script or book.

  I want you to go back to the wall. Go back to the original idea that you had before you wrote a single word. Once you have established this point, I want you to create a simple linear plot and character outline. It can be chapter-to-chapter, character driven tracking entrances and exits of your character or scene list from a screenplay.

  You can do this on cards, pieces of paper or on your laptop. The important thing is that you go back to the very beginning of your story and break it down all the way to the end. Ask your self these questions:

  What is the true ending of your story? Point of no return?

  What is the most exciting event in your storyline?

  What is the point in your story that your characters reach a point of no return?

  If you can find these specific places in your breakdown you can begin. If you can’t find them, go back to the original idea again, and rework it until these points can be clearly identified. Now here’s the tricky part. Take these three points in your story and identify one point within the three that all three intersect. That is, what point in your screenplay is the true ending, most exciting and point of no return? Once you find this point, this is where your screenplay should begin.

  Does the title of your screenplay reflect this point of no return? It should – it is your promise.

  Set up the kind of story and characters you are sharing with the reader. Is this a comedy, a drama or horror story.

  Let the reader know your major character. Introduce them in an interesting way. Maybe they are hanging from a cliff or falling out of an airplane.

  Set up your story and major conflict. Give your reader an opportunity to invest in the story by raising the stakes. Maybe your main character has only 24 hours to live.

  Lastly, do you have a message to your story and characters – Love will conquer all? Or is this just entertainment – set it up during the first ten pages.