Observations on 'The Social Network' the dilemma of writing the screenplay

In the interest of keeping to the theme of the 'written word translated to screen' I stumbled across an interesting article written on the tricky business of writing the screenplay for 'The Social Network' (I reviewed it earlier this week - check it here).

I decided to pick a the conclusive extracts but please do read the full article here, written by John Truby and let him know if you agree with his assessment. I kind of do because I believed the character of Zuckerberg was an 'ass' the whole way through and the dynamic of keeping an audience engaged on a story about someone so unlikeable (anti-hero) is fascinating. 

Ultimately the facts of this true story and the unpleasant main character mean that The Social Network has one big flaw: there’s no way to end the story. The hero’s moral decline is indisputable early in the second half of the film. And a series of deposition scenes is a far cry from a big courtroom trial where the fight is decided in one last blaze of glory.

Of course Sorkin knows this. He tries to finesse it with his great skill at dialogue. In an attempt to partly redeem Zuckerberg and put final closure to the moral argument of the story, Sorkin has a female lawyer tell Zuckerberg, “You're not an asshole, Mark. You're just trying so hard to be.” But it’s a false distinction and it fools no one. The Zuckerberg character portrayed in this film really is an asshole. And no matter how much the real Zuckerberg was forced to pay, I couldn’t help leaving the theater thinking it wasn’t nearly enough.

2010 is...[insert a rhyming phrase] ?

READING: 'The Other Side of You' by Salley Vickers

JUST READ: 'L.A. Candy' by Lauren Conrad

MUSIC: Death Cab for a Cutie - Meet me at the Equinox (I still hate Twilight/New Moon)

Ok, so today, what with the plummeting of beautiful snow outside, it's perfect for either a) writing, b) reading c) playing video games (nearly completed Twilight Princess but tried to beat that silly Yeti woman on the sledding game which was a continual bust, gah) or d) watching some DVD movies.

I suppose I should write about what I would like to happen in 2010 but I don't want to indulge in anticipating much of anything because plans made are seldom plans lived. They usually divert off course in the same way an astronomer has to be precise to the degree otherwise even a minute discrepancy may be the difference between now or a million light years away. (I don't know - is that a good analogy?)

There are some things I am aiming to do:

1) start to post some of my work via Twitter (either my long slog of novel - which is finally picking up and looks to be a finished project on the not-so-far horizon, or the beginnings of a screenplay, which would be best posted as a treatment first perhaps?)

2) start a video blog - something I have wanted to do for some time but my fear of being in front of the camera prevents me at times - it seems to be a fashionable thing to be doing right now.

3) if video-ing still daunts me then perhaps a blog where I actually comment on things, like current affairs or random stuff that interests me - OR (and this is fashionable too) where I can write reviews of movies I have made or books I have read.

4) GET A JOB! (a REAL one, hahaha)

So far there's no reason to think 2010 will disappoint, especially after I read an article from Script Magazine talking about writer's block and how if you get yourself to write the worst possible scene, at least it's out of your system and then the only direction you can go in is 'improvement', i.e. if you're at the bottom, the only way is up, right?

I could totally live there

So I spent a nice 'girl' time afternoon with my mum and sis and we were in Epping and strolled around which was pleasant, minus the rain that did start to pour. Mosey-ed through Fat Face because there was a 70 percent sale ^^ did i buy anything even though there was so much on sale? negatory. typical. hehehe. And then of course i got excited by a cute independent stationery shop. bought those note cards, so i can actually lay out scene-by-scene moments in screenplays and play around with structure, development and continuity. Makes me feel more intentional, more pro.

Onwards we went to Belgique. Yummy. Tartes aux fruits est tres bien.

Am reading 'The Wise Woman' by Philippa Gregory which somehow doesn't hold the same mystery and intrigue as the blurb painted (in my mind anyway) but is a good read nevertheless. A little sick though. *bleurgh*

I've been reading alot more on Screenwriting - subscribed to some website/blogs that deal with aspiring screenwriters or script readers in the biz. I read this article about how the movie 'The Covenant' was supposed to be the antithesis to Harry Potter and be about magic but in the dark/black arts kind of way; teenage boys being warlocks and what not. The darkness of the idea of course never reached the screen and was polished down to a PG-13 and no doubt lost the essence of the story but it opened no.1 at the box office and so made money. It does mean one doesn't have to write the most amazing piece of screenwriting ever to make it. But it also does make one wonder when will the general public begin to appreciate great storytelling. Did they ever or was it always a select bunch that amplified well written work out to the rest of the world? Hmmmm. *head hurts*

Watched the mormon episode of South Park and totally related to the family evening time when they play games and sing and there's no TV. that should be mandatory for every family ^^

...yes please

I really want to be a 'reader' for scripts etc. - i don't even mind doing it for other publishable material - anything that involves proofreading and then progressing to something where my value of story and what a sellable story should be.

yes there is a measure of convenience, what with the reading and then the opinions you get to bash out with it, but it would also be taxing, challenging and mainly a HUGE learning experience - reforming your thoughts on what works, what doesn't, how can that enhance your own craft?

I wonder if I should apply 'The Secret' here??? *scoff* Yes, it has hardly worked for me at the minute. So let's renew it, shall I?

To think there was a shred of high faith in you

After all these years I still want to be just like you. And I'm glad my imagination version of you wasn't far off; wasn't wrong. You were exactly how I knew you would be.

Dream dreams of freedom.

I think I sought you out like moth homing in on a flame. All those years ago, even then, I singled you out; picked you out from the crowd, had intentions and saw them through. To think that little girl of four had so much courage then.

Faith isn't so much a lie as what can be reality. Thoughts actually shape the outcome. Sometimes. When everything has meant nothing and all the time in between has been this huge effort of air and waste, a veering off of the path and enmeshing onselves in the overgrown fields, where we tried our hands at gardening and harvesting, only to have the crop shrink and dissipate as Persephone's light left and Demeter's lament sang loud in the chill of winter. We crossed back on the path in the blink of the eye, the comforting of that track we knew comfort in the shared journey and that was enough to restore that tiny gem of possibility that four year old so imposed in you. It was like a wind that carries the scent of yesteryear, the soothing old of the earth.

Thank you. You have remained an image within me and never once faded. So in that you have silently shone for me.


© Kay Verma
MMIX