photo by smithco
I like the Muppets. I have always liked the Muppets. I also like the band OK Go.
Therefore, logically, I am the ideal listener for this OK Go cover version of the Muppet Show Theme.
The thing is though, I don't. Like it, that is. It does not work for me. I don't enjoy it. It's not for me.
Obviously, I'm not telling you this because you need to know or have any interest in my Muppet related musical tastes. Of course not. I'm telling you this because if you can understand this one thing, you can understand one of the most pervading problems in the film and TV industries. A problem that tends to curse screenwriters in particular.
At a fundamental level, a lot of the thinking you'll witness in the industry, fails to understand that it is possible to like the Muppets, to like OK Go, but NOT to like OK Go singing the Muppet Show Theme. They fail to understand that because, like most screenwriters and most producers, they are looking for a simple answer to a difficult question. The question being "What film or TV show can we make that will be successful?"
The simple answer to the question, "What can we make that will be a success?" is called reverse engineering. Basically, you look at what already is successful, guess at which element of that is the key to all the success and then attempt to clone that success onto other projects. This is the kind of logic which drives the Hollywood star system. Audiences liked Tom Cruise in "Top Gun" and therefore, logically, that means they'll like him in any other similar project. And, to a certain extent audiences do buy into that. Which is why all these years later Tom Cruise is still working. People do tend to watch projects which contain actors whose movies they've liked. The same has become true of certain name directors. People like Spielberg movies, they like Tarantino movies. It's not a completely bogus idea.
However, (you knew they'd be a however, didn't you?)... however, the fact that people tend to be drawn to the same kind of products over and over again, isn't a guarantee that reverse engineering really works as a tool for concept development. As I proved at the start, the fact that people like X and they also like Y, doesn't meant that they'd like X plus Y. The fact that people like Tom Cruise in one movie, isn't a guarantee that they'll like him in everything he does. And, it certainly works less well the more generic the concept. So, therefore, the fact that people liked "Jurassic Park" is no kind of guarantee that they'll love all movies with Dinosaurs in it.
The problem is, a lot of the people you have to deal with in the industry act as if you can make that assumption. They act as if success with a new project is just a case of figuring out what people are buying right now, and churning out something that seems to fit that slot. So, if Twilight is a successful show about teen vampires and Glee is a successful show about singing teens, then "We Suck" a show about singing, teen vampires, is sure to be a winner. Isn't it? Surely, that's got smash hit written all over it. Nah... I agree with you, it would be a terrible show. (I can guarantee, however, that some idiot is pitching this, right now). And, because I am a writer, and therefore a slut, if approached I would write episodes for that show! If the cheque was big enough.
Which leads me very neatly onto screenwriting. Unfortunately, screenwriting is taught as if reverse engineering was the key to the castle. Pretty much everyone I've ever heard talk about generating ideas to pitch, starts with the idea that a writer should look at what's working at the moment, attempt to predict the trends, and then write to hit the trends. I can't tell you how many online discussions I've seen where writers try to predict what the next, new, hot trend will be. And, I have always found those kinds of discussions both baffling and tedious. I happen to think that teaching writers to write to trends is idiotic.
In my experience, good ideas are rarely related to existing successes. Good ideas tend to stand on their own merits. In fact, I would go further than that, and say that good ideas tend to be fresh and unexpected. The best pitches I have ever heard have been ideas that I never would have come up with myself, that bear no relationship to any existing products... and, which also have a ring of truth about them. When someone pitches me a great idea, it absolutely makes my day. What never makes my day, is someone trying to pitch me two existing shows/film ideas bolted together like Frankenstein's monster.
One thing that is absolutely true, is that most spec screenplays are rejected simply because the original idea for the script wasn't good enough. Everyone worries about the writing, hardly anyone worries about the actual ideas. And, you only have to attend a few pitching sessions, to see how hopeless most screenwriters are at pitching. I can't tell you how many times I've regretted saying "So, what is your script about?" Mainly, because the answer involved half an hour of plot description, which I stopped listening to after the first ten seconds. Most pitches and therefore most script ideas aren't developed or focussed enough to be out in the world.
I honestly believe most screenwriters would become better overnight, if they threw out all of their screenwriting books, and instead woke up in the morning and asked the simple question "What is this script about?"
If when a writer asks the question "what is this script about?" if they can immediately answer "betrayal"... or "lust," then that is probably a good day to start writing.
My thought for this week is pretty simple... think for yourself and be clear about what your idea is. That is what makes for good ideas, good pitches and good movies.
viva la revolution
Posted via email from Filmutopia's Sunday Morning Movie Blog
