"I would say the biggest mistake a screenwriter can make is attempting
to write a screenplay for someone other than him or herself. If you're trying
to write a screenplay in an effort to write what you think other people want,
you'll ultimately fail."
Chris McQuarrie
Screenwriter, "The Usual Suspects," "The Way of the Gun"
Executive Summary:
Chris McQuarrie joined Cyberways and Waterways to share his experiences and advice writing screenplays.
Here are some highlights:
Screenwriting Advice
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Write screenplays. The greatest advice I've ever received from anybody about a
career in film is to make films - as often and as many as you can.
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The advantage (of writing a screenplay) is that it costs nothing to write a screenplay. The disadvantage
is that you have to involve other people when you make it into a movie,
so you come from a place of complete control over your material to no control whatsoever.
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Despite everyone's impression of the screenwriter, he or she is the only person
in the film business that at any point ever has complete control of their work. Anyone
who tells you that a director has complete control over a film has never directed a film.
- Another mistake is to become too attached to any idea or concept or message
that you're trying to convey. Screenwriting is a process of discovery, not
a process of construction. And while it's important to have a goal, the journey
is always more important than the destination.
- It's my personal belief that it's perfectly acceptable to put anything
on film. The responsibility does not come from what to put into a film and
what to leave out of a film, the responsibility comes in how you present it.
And what I always try to do when I'm presenting violence is to always present
the consequences of violence.
"The Usual Suspects"
- How did it feel to win an Oscar...? It's the single worst thing that could
ever happen to your writing - and I desperately hope to win another one! It's
like winning the lottery and being convicted of murder, all at the same time,
because it's extremely exhilarating but extremely terrifying.
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No, I do not touch the dolphins when I swim with them. In fact, I'm probably one of the only people on
the planet who prefers that the dolphins ignore me. The main reason is that I want to observe
dolphin-to-dolphin interaction and communication, and I would like to observe them interacting
with one another, not with people. We try to collect our data non-invasively, which means we try not to alter their behavior if at all possible.
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I didn't fool anyone with the end of "The Usual Suspects," they all fooled themselves. The answer to the riddle is obvious. The riddle itself is what's so confusing because the riddle refused to obey convention,
and everyone's assumption is that movies are, above all else, familiar.
- So many forces are working to change the screenplay, from cowardly executives,
insecure actors, egotistical directors and incompetent writers, not to mention
acts of God and Mother Nature! Or simply the budget. A film is written three
times. Once on paper, once on film, and once in the editing room. In an ideal
environment, such as was the case in "The Usual Suspects," the writer, the
director, and all of the actors understand the material inherently and work
to change it only in an effort to improve the overall product, not just their
work in it.
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