MORE ON HIGH CONCEPT Hello, everyone. We spoke last week about generating great movie concepts by taking a compelling idea in one genre and using that same concept for a different genre. This can yield great results. I spoke about Strangers On A Train, and Throw Momma From The Train. Since were onto this topic for now, lets riff on it for awhile longer. I also want to generate other ways to find great concepts - taking a wonderful idea in one time period and using it in a slightly different way for another period of time. Shakespeares plots like Romeo & Juliet, have been borrowed constantly by writers, just as Shakespeare borrowed them himself. How about Shes The Man, a delightful comedy staring Amanda Bynes. She disguises herself as her brother so she can play soccer on the boys team when her girls soccer group is disbanded. The writers of the film, Ewan Leslie and Karen Lutz, even use Shakespeares character names from his comedy, Twelfth Night, as it basically steals the exact same plot. Amanda is Viola, the name of the protagonist in Shakespeares play. But what makes it fresh, is that its set in a completely different world with high school kids. Im sure Shakespeare wouldnt have minded a bit. A great concept is a great concept. And by the way, concepts are not something you can lay claim to. The only things that are protectible under the copyright law are specific plots and characters. So the Romeo and Juliet concept (that a young man falls in love with the enemy of his family or group) is not something you can lay claim to. Anyone can use that concept. But its how you use it -- is what you can protect through registration with The Copyright Office. (And for those who read that excellent post a few weeks ago by a Copyright attorney, you definitely should copyright your material, not register it with The Writers Guild). Great concepts are something we as professional screenwriters value greatly. It gives us an added advantage when we pitch our ideas or try to market them, because the film company or studio can then easily see how to market them. Again, dont misinterpret this and think Im saying that precludes other kinds of stories that do amazingly well at the box office, Juno, Crash, even Knocked Up, which isnt really a high concept idea but was incredibly successful. 40 Year Old Virgin on the other hand was extremely high concept and also performed artistically and commercially. Well take one more example before we sign off for today. A movie came out a few years ago which I had the good fortune to see: Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. Great Writing, great acting, great directing. But what is the premise of this movie? A C.I.A. operative, played by Leonardo, is manipulated by everyone including his handler (Russell Crowe). Everyone in this movie has to deal with deception and manipulation and moral ambiguity in the war on terror. The concept is soft, or weak, hardly unique and despite the direction and excellent writing did not inspire great gobs of people to go see it. Contrast that with the big films of 2013: 12 Years A Slave, Her, and even The Dallas Buyers Club – all films that actually have premises that are clear and enticing and can be promoted easily. What will inspire people to go see a film? The cast of course plays into this and that is what the studio was banking on with “Body of Lies.” Unfortunately a great cast doesn’t always do the job, especially when the premise of a film sounds derivative or vague or hard to articulate. We will return to more talk about creating great characters when we resume next week. Until then - KEEP WRITING!
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 15:44:16 +0000