CREATING STORIES

Developing an ideal for story is a process and what kind of story to tell in the film medium.

Life experience is one aspect to develop a story. An experience in life such as taking a trip, meeting someone or

a relative that has a colorful personality. Gathering thoughts on several life experiences can start the development of the script. Day to day interacting with people can spark and ideal by what someone said or looking for character development when conversing with someone that might have the persona to work with your narrative. 

Another thought is taking a look back at history on how it was played out and the result of the outcome. A topic with a keyword always creates the starting point to spark the ideal. Watching movies from the beginning of cinema to contemporary films. It is a good way to see how the characters live in the story created by the screenwriter and the director giving the visual form to the story.

 

I look at movies and TV programs that have interested me in writing a narrative. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton

silent films always find a way to show physical emotion without sound dialogue. They knew how to use their emotions through gestures and facial expressions and both actors were athletes to show their incredible physical acting.

Those old 1950s science fiction films, "The Day the Earth Stood Still, "Forbidden Planet", "The Thing from Another World", "Them!","It came from Outer Space" were broadcast on TV late at night and I would watch with excitement.

TV programs that left an impression on me as a youngster are The Twilight Zone original series (1959-1964), Star Trek the original series (1966-1969), The Outer Limits (1963-1965), UFO (1970) broadcast in the US in 1972 along with Space: 1999 which came out in 1975. These programs aired on KSTW channel 11 known as 'Good Lookin' 11' (Tacoma) in syndication during the 70s, 80s and 90s. It was part of growing up and seeing these programs run on Saturdays at 4pm in the afternoon always was fun to watch.

 

The impact of seeing "2001: A Space Odyssey" released again in the theaters was an eye opener for a kid fascinated with space. On TV, there was a TV film on ABC. Usually, ABC would come out with movies of the week and the movie was "Duel" directed by a young director named Steven Spielberg and written by Richard Matheson, a Twilight Zone original series writer. As a kid watching the movie on TV was incredible on how minimal dialogue is used in the action. It kept you rooting for David Mann (Dennis Weaver) the traveling businessman to get away from the foreboding mysterious truck driver terrorizing his travel plans to get where he needs to go. Growing up watching these TV series and films during that time made an impact on how to write for this kind of narrative.