I see it as also poking fun at the cliche of the opening scene set in childhood that is supposed to inform our understanding of the adult character. Hilarious!

This is a great scene and a great intro, but it only works because of those specific writers.

As a working writer (like you) you know we couldn't write this scene and get past development unless we had an actor or a director (and an 800 pound gorilla of an actor or director) to get around the note that this is on the nose and too expositional. That's the real world. Also, it would never fly in a spec with newbie writers. Agents and managers would use the same excuse.

Anyway, the truth of the matter is that it's a great scene, but not much of an example to newbie writers. Sorry to disagree with you once again.

Anonymous One

Top Ten, the Great Scene series is just that: great scenes. They're meant to inspire and broaden readers' imaginations, as well as tie scripts to visuals, so that people can see the correlation of the printed page to the final version.

I suppose I could run a disclaimer whenever I choose a scene that I think might not work in today's spec marketplace (especially as it relates to non-pros). But then, wouldn't that run counter to trying to engender creative thinking?

And at the end of the day, I suspect script readers and story analysts would rather have writers stretching the norms to be creative than stifling creativity in order to fit to some preconceived notion of screenplay form / 'conventional wisdom.'

Scott,

Thanks for responding personally. Your argument is right. I haven't read your blog enough to understand the concept of those posts.

I agree with you that it inspires creativity. I found it inspiring. Forgive me if I didn't understand that.

I looked at your blog as something that teaches newbies how to write screenplays that might get past those pesky gatekeepers in Hollywood. That's why I responded the way I did.

I have taught, too, (seminars here in LA and given lectures at film festivals) and I tend to filter advice through a very small funnel: How can I teach my students to write something that might advance their careers as screenwriters? When I look at things through that narrow filter, I rule out having them "model" scripts/scenes/styles that will work against them.

Since I'm a writer and not a teacher, I don't have the luxury to do as much as you do with your blog and (I'm sure) with your classes (if this blog is any indication because as I said before you do a great job).

I do disagree that readers (in general) are looking for scripts that stretch the norm in terms of those ingrained prejudices. Like VO. Even though half of the top ten movies of all time use VO, I still don't recommend it to a newbie. It can stop an agent, manager or reader from going past page 10!

Anyway, take it for what it's worth as I did read somewhere that you want to encourage dialogue.

Anonymous One

Thanks for your further comments. I confess that in my teaching and on this blog, I do bump up against dual instincts: To promote creativity and yet provide a reality check as to the pragmatics of writing a script for Hwood.

I guess I look at those instincts as the two sidewalls of my general approach, and sometimes that causes a bit of bouncing back and forth. But I think if you do continue to track what happens here or even check out some of the previous posts, you'll see I definitely do focus a great deal on the pragmatics of writing in the 'real' world of the Hwood marketplace. Hence all the business about spec script sales, box office, interviews with professional / working writers, etc.

As a good example, one of the more popular threads we've had here was a series of posts from D.C. Mar, one of my students, who has been a script reader and story analyst for over a decade. You can go here to see those posts. Again the focus very much on the reality of trying to write and sell a script in Hwood, impressing the point that script readers are the studios' gatekeepers.

So yes, please do feel free to comment and contribute to the dialogue. This blog is a labor of love -- that is love of screenwriting and movies -- and is always evolving. Much of that evolution is a result of reader feedback.

And if you feel inclined, perhaps you'd email me (scottdistillery@gmail.com) to learn more about your writing career. Always looking to do Q&A interviews with working writers as we have done occasionally in the past.

Cheers!

Scott