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Lost at Sea

Something must be wrong with the web's surfing mechanisms, because a handful of people get to my personal blog every day by looking for Sacha Gervasi (co-writer of THE TERMINAL, starring Tom Hanks), but none of them end up here. It's very strange.

If you're surfing for Sacha and you end up here, keep reading, because there's info here for you. Scroll down.

Excerpts from Hal's The Writers Channel Chat

Hi folks,

Hal Ackerman's online chat about screenwriting at The Writers Channel last week went really well. Here's a partial and interesting excerpt from that event, on the subject of character desire in the films FARGO and LOST IN TRANSLATION:

flora (Jun 10, 2004 9:48:32 PM)
what do you say are their desires in Lost in Translation?

Nancy (Jun 10, 2004 9:48:46 PM)
sometimes movies don't seem to know when to end

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:48:56 PM)
Nancy, I agree with you

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:49:17 PM)
and the point is to learn from the things that we don't like about movies to make sure we don't do ourselves

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:49:30 PM)
we can learn more about writing from movies that don't work, than those that do

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:49:51 PM)
Flora: Bill Murray's is to get to sleep!

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:50:09 PM)
Kurt Vonegut has a line where he says that even existentialists just need a drink of water

flora (Jun 10, 2004 9:50:17 PM)
that's a strong desire

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:50:23 PM)
And it's important when we think about characters desires that we think about them in 2 ways:

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:50:30 PM)
1, what is the GRAND DESIRE?

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:51:05 PM)
which as in Rabbit Proof Fence and Wizard of Oz, the Grand Desire is to get home

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:51:26 PM)
But also, as we write each scene, as we conceive each scene, we need to think of the immediate objective in that moment. It's important that when we think about desire, it's the character's
desire *in that moment.*

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:52:11 PM)
Another example: in the movie Fargo

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:52:34 PM)
In the opening scene, the Bill Macy character wants to make a deal with the Steve Buscemi character

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:52:45 PM)
and the conflicting objectives in that moment are

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:02 PM)
whether all the money is paid up front, or whether it is paid after the kidnapping of his wife is completed

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:10 PM)
One wants it all now, the other wants to delay it

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:17 PM)
These are the immediate desires in that scene

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:23 PM)
the immediate objectives in that scene

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:53:39 PM)
An important axiom for writing exposition is that the best exposition is a byproduct of conflict

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:54:02 PM)
So if you look at that 3 minute scene in Fargo, which is based solely on those 2 objectives that I just mentioned

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:54:14 PM)
all of the information about the convoluted kidnapping scheme

Hal Ackerman (Jun 10, 2004 9:54:32 PM)
emerges painlessly, interestingly, because it comes out of character

(cont'd)

If you'd like to read more of Hal's writing tips, check out his book, Write Screenplays That Sell. And if you're interested in online chats with screenwriters and professors, visit The Writers Channel.