For the past week or so I've been in this sort of rut with the script. First it was self-doubt, which I overcame somewhat. I pressed on and continued to write. So far, it's a fantastic script. The problem is that it's too costly. It requires more actors than I anticipated. Usually for a low-low budget the magic number is 8. I had about four more than I should and still counting. I tried to cut it down, but it created some plot holes. I was at a standstill.
However, I was re-reading my Samuel Arkoff bio and the words from the master himself set me free, in a manner of speaking. At one point in the book he says hey it's not Shakespeare, referring to a film that he and Jim Nicholson produced. As cornball of a cliche that was, it made something inside my head click.
The reality is that I have this desire to make a flick. Yet, the budget is low-real low-not even 1000 dollar filmmaker low. Less than the cost of a Playstation 3, if you dig. Real low, daddy-o.
So if the budget is close to zero why stress over making something that competes with something grand? I'm not Shakespeare or David Mamet. I am not even Ed Wood at this point. But I can take the budget I have and make a flick that is pulp. A dime novel come to life. Trash, but the kind you pick up off rack as a guilty pleasure.
What does this all mean? Well as much as I hate to admit to this, I am going back to page one and writing a new script. In a way it is a enormous step backwards, but it can also be the right one to take.
Corman once had a saying about the flicks he made and why people watched them; "People love steak, but every once in awhile they just want a hot-dog."
Stay weird!
2 comments:
Hey ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Make a hot dog and if you have the motivation and time someday, you can get back to the other script. I've got scripts that I get back to from time to time. Will I ever make them myself? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe when I finish them I'll know someone who will want to make it. Who knows. Just write. Good that you have the Arkoff book as a reference and inspiration to keep you on track.
Joe,
Thanks man. I tell ya' that Arkoff book is chock full of wise-stuff. I ordered the Fred Olen Ray NEW POVERTY ROW book as well and hope that will have some new insight as well.
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