Yes - a backstory rebuild pass this late in the game - I know.... Script due in Hollywood, Aug 6... What had happened was, your honor.... we decided to make the backstory 4 days ago instead of four weeks ago. This changes every page because 'top of mind' now dictates entirely different dialogue and tone. Every page gets revised. Yes, Stage32... your boy and BIG BOSS are under the gun.
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"Backstory?" Jeez, man....don't get all F. Scott Fitzgeraldspeake on us. Who needs a backstory when you got Rachele Royale? Fricking writers....I swear......heh-heh.
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Chris Nolan laughs at backstory, character arcs, and dialogue! Write and shoot the movie from 3 different Point Of Views, maybe the story was just a bad trip on acid drugs or it did happen. Let the audience walk out with "wtf did I see" ending.
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I am with Dan M. No way would I go through all that work just for a backstory. The audience wouldn't give a rat's rectum if there was no backstory. Also people often worry about "character arc" which is okay but not necessary in every movie and the term came as a result of what a film film critic said in one of his reviews. A teacher saw it and did some studies and talked about a character ark in his book.
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The backstory can be achieved in a few lines of mentioning via dialogue. As long as you're NOT TELLING the audience. No need to change the whole script for that. See "Thelma & Louise" for Louise's backstory of having been a rape victim in Texas which explains her attitude towards men and the state of Texas. I can't quite remember the exact lines anymore, but something along this: Thelma: "Why can't we just go through Texas? Cross the border there to Mexico." Louise: "Thelma! I am not going back to Texas." Thelma looks at Louise, "It happened to you didn't it... back in Texas." Better if you can convey the backstory through the use of other characters. The same technique is used in "The Lord of the Rings" with Aragon's backstory, but via supporting characters.
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I was just kidding, Shawn (but not about Rachele Royale).
I love backstories. My favorite is probably when Quint reveals the U.S.S. Indianapolis tragedy. Or Clarice telling Dr. Lecter about the farm.
Leonard from Memento....Maximus from Gladiator....Danny Parker in The Salton Sea....Inigo from the Princess Bride...Magneto in the X-Men....the main apes in the Planet of the Apes franchise....The Bride in Kill Bill.....the list goes on and on and on......
Good Luck, Shawn - you're doing it, man, you're doing it!
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Owen: aw, you remember...Maximus was a failed comedian who was forced into an early life of crime to support his pregnant wife, fell into a vat of chemicals that turned his skin white and his hair green.....
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Shawn: Good luck brother!
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But Shawn, does it really need to be there? Fundamental rule: every word in the script should either - a) deepen character or b) progress the plot. Even backstories fall under this.
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Shawn. Aren't you the producer? If so who is telling you that you have to have a rewrite done and that it has to be done by Aug 6?
Thank you all for your interest and support! I understand some of you don't comprehend how integral the backstory is to the main story in MMM. You haven't read MMM so you compare it to other movies with backstories - all built differently. In the BIG BOSS ROOM, we call the technique: 'TOP OF MIND'. The MMM backstory is a robbery that changed from 4 weeks ago to 4 days ago. That makes all new TOP OF MIND/TONE. I'm posting first 10p today. See for yourself :) Hopefully you get it on page one posted below. On that note, our coach Danny Manus hasn't seen these pages, so don't include him on the critique just yet! Finally, we are on our self-imposed timeline. We say when, where, and how. And we're not rushing anything with this opportunity of a lifetime. Speake practice what he preach. We''ll get it right in the polish pass, get Danny's approval, and make our decision on when to move with Danny. We're not going to Hollywood with anything other than BULLETPROOF PAGES. That's what's up :)
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Good one Shawn. Slowly slowly catchy Monkey....if you don't have a deadline...don't impose one on yourself. Congratulations on your window of opportunity!
Thank u, Debbie. I'm with you. Time for Speake to practice what he preach! We won't be sending anything anywhere until we get the go on coverage from Danny Manus. The plan is to finish last polish pass by AUG. 4. Shoot to Danny on 11th. (We might actually hit this timeline, but either way, we're good, in the home stretch.) Getting two other pro coverages to match with Danny. He's our main guy, but I'm fond of feedback in threes. Two out of three is more interesting. We're like two months or so past MY deadline. But like I was telling Razo and DeRose at our business meeting today. If we'd sent the story out two months ago - we would have blown it. I'll keep you posted.