Donald L. Vasicek

Tag: screenplay

  • “Writing Sex, Violence and Hooking Your Audience”

    by
    Donald L. Vasicek
    Olympus Films +, LLC
    Writing/Filmmaking/Consulting
    http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
    dvasicek@earthlink.net

    You need simply to watch the first ten minutes of “The Sixth Sense”
    to learn how to get your readers hooked. A supernatural thriller
    that was one of the box office surprises of 1999 primarily because
    of its appeal to a large demographic that spanned families to adult
    viewers, shows sex and violence in the opening five minutes of the
    movie.

    I use “The Sixth Sense” as an example because it depicts well what
    producers look for in screenplays, and editors look for in novels and
    short stories. M. Night Shyamalan, the writer/director of “The Sixth Sense”, was
    able to begin the movie with sex and violence and still attract kids,
    parents, teens, couples, and marrieds with the storyline of a boy
    who sees dead people. This approach to writing screenplays or
    novels or short stories because of its wide audience appeal, and thus,
    a better opportunity to sell tickets, books, etc.

    If you’re serious about getting produced as a screenwriter, or
    published as a fiction writer, you would serve yourself well if you
    studied movies and books that do well at the box office and book
    stores. Look for what happens in the first ten minutes of the movie,
    or the first few lines of the novel or short story. Look for how sex
    and violence is incorporated into the storyline and theme(s), particularly
    for a wide audience, and how tastefully. Blend sex and violence with
    the theme and you’re on your way to being successful.

    See you next time. Be sure and bring a refreshment. A glass of
    spring water, perhaps, some carrots, and a tuna sandwich. Experience
    what that does for studying and reading how to successfully write.

    Pax.

  • “The Log Line”

    The log line must show what your movie is about. You have about a minimum of five or six words and a maximum of three, five to six word sentences to show it in the log line. The shorter, the better. If you are serious about writing, selling and getting your screenplays produced, then, you must think in terms of writing lean and mean. Lean and mean is the same thing, as the shorter, the better. This attitude will help you write to industry standards and help you hone your craft as a screenwriter.

    A key here, is to use active verbs. Use them in your log lines, use them in your synopses, use them in your treatments and use them in your screenplays. The use of active verbs will help you streamline your writing. It will force you to write that show your descriptions and condense your dialogue. Think in terms of writing it with a beginning, a middle and an ending. Think of it the same way as movie trailers you see on television or in the theater. Think of writing the log line paralleling the same method that you read about them in television and movie guides.

    Start your log line out with the main character. You should follow that with the description of the plot and end it with a hook that seduces people in wanting to read your screenplay.

    An example that has been very successful for me with a screenplay I wrote, CATCHING THE FALL, is as follows: A common Joe races the clock to restore his son back to normal after the boy goes brain dead. Here, you can see who the main character is: A common Joe. The plot is: races (the key active verb) the clock to restore his son back to normal. And the ending hook is: after the boy goes brain dead. So, fix yourself up some potatoes and gravy and get to work on your log line.

    Award-winning, writer/filmmaker, Donald L. Vasicek, dimensionalizes Olympus Films+, LLC’s services. He will bring you 35 years of writing and film making experience. Need to put your project together in a coherent fashion, but are stuck! Your storyline is rocky! What shots are you missing? Does your theme escape you, runs like an Olympic sprinter, away from you?  Whatever else needs repair so that you can move to the next level in your film, you will benefit by contacting Mr. Vasicek.

    dvasicek@earthlink.net, http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress, 303-903-2103.
    Rates/Fees affordable, negotiable and fair to fit your budget.
    Contact him today so that you can move forward tomorrow!

    Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_L._Vasicek

  • “Action, Sex, Violence, Hollywood Zen”

    To write a box office hit screenplay, you
    should do some research first before you
    decide to write a screenplay. Passion for
    your subject matter plays an integral role
    in the writing of your screenplay, but
    common sense dictates that you put certain
    elements in your screenplay if you want to
    sell and get your screenplay produced.
    Otherwise, it will be an exercise in futility
    as far as getting optioned, selling and/or
    getting produced.

    If you research the kinds of genres that
    have been the largest Hollywood box office
    hits, you will see that action,
    violence and sex, however subtle these
    elements may be in these films, dominate
    the box office.

    According to FilmSite.org’s listing, the all-time
    greatest box office hits are:

    1. “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
    2. “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (1977)
    3. “The Sound of Music” (1965)
    4. “E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
    5. “The Ten Commandments” (1956)
    6. “Titanic” (1997)
    7. “Jaws” (1975)
    8. “Doctor Zhivago” (1965)
    9. “The Exorcist” (1973)
    10. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
    11. “101 Dalmatians” (1961)
    12. “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)
    13. “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1959)
    14. “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” (1983)
    15. “The Sting” (1973)
    16. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)
    17. “Jurassic Park” (1993)
    18. “The Graduate” (1967)
    19. “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (1999)
    20. “Fantasia” (1940)
    21. “The Godfather” (1972)
    22. “Forrest Gump” (1994)
    23. “Mary Poppins” (1964)
    24. “The Lion King” (1994)
    25. “Grease” (1978)
    26. “Thunderball” (1965)
    27. “The Jungle Book” (1967)
    28. “Sleeping Beauty” (1959)
    29. “Shrek 2” (2004)
    30. “Ghostbusters” (1984)
    31. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969)
    32. “Love Story” (1970)
    33. “Spider-Man” (2002)
    34. “Independence Day” (1996)
    35. “Home Alone” (1990)
    36. “Pinocchio” (1940)
    37. “Cleopatra” (1963)
    38. “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984)
    39. “Goldfinger” (1964)
    40. “Airport” (1970)
    41. “American Graffiti” (1973)
    42. “The Robe” (1953)
    43. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006)
    44. “Around the World in 80 Days” (1956)
    45. “Bambi” (1942)
    46. “Blazing Saddles” (1974)
    47. “Batman” (1989)
    48. “The Bells of St. Mary’s” (1945)
    49. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003)
    50. “The Towering Inferno” (1974)
    51. “Spider-Man 2” (2004)
    52. “My Fair Lady” (1964)
    53. “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952)
    54. “National Lampoon’s Animal House” (1978)
    55. “The Passion of the Christ” (2004)
    56. “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”(2005)
    57. “Back to the Future” (1985)
    58. “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002)
    59. “The Sixth Sense” (1999)
    60. Superman (1978)
    61. Tootsie (1982)
    62. “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977)
    63. “Finding Nemo” (2003)
    64. “West Side Story” (1961)
    65. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001)
    66. “Lady and the Tramp” (1955)
    67. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977/1980)
    68. “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)
    69. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975)
    70. “Rocky” (1976)
    71. “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946)
    72. “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972)
    73. “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001)
    74. “Twister” (1996)
    75. “Men in Black” (1997)
    76. “The Bridge On The River Kwai” (1957)
    77. “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963)
    78. “Swiss Family Robinson” (1960)
    79. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)
    80. “M*A*S*H” (1970)
    81. “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984)
    82. “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (2002)
    83. “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993)
    84. “Aladdin” (1992)
    85. “Ghost” (1990)
    86. “Duel in the Sun” (1946)
    87. “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003)
    88. “House of Wax” (1953)
    89. “Rear Window” (1954)
    90. “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997)
    91. “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989)
    92. “Spider-Man 3” (2007)
    93. “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991)
    94. “Sergeant York” (1941)
    95. “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (2000)
    96. “Toy Story 2” (1999)
    97. “Top Gun” (1986)
    98. “Shrek” (2001)
    99. “Shrek the Third” (2007)
    100. “The Matrix Reloaded” (2003)

    Examine each one of these films for sex,
    action, and violence. They are present.
    Locate these elements in each film.
    Utilize what you discover for your own
    screenplay and you will enhance your
    chances for success. Otherwise, find
    another job, or write simply for the
    sheer pleasure of writing.

    It’s that basic.

    Donald L. Vasicek
    Olympus Films+, LLC
    http://michaelc.nextmp.net/wordpress
    dvasicek@earthlink.netsbox o