Wednesday, September 11, 2019

My Thoughts on Remaking "Christine" and Test Scene

Introduction

In my previous post, I gave my thoughts on "Christine"; the novel by Stephen King vs the film adaption by John Carpenter. Personally, I like both the novel and the film. But, I like the novel more due to the psychological horror aspects that King does so incredibly well, and the deaths are far more gruesome and satisfying than in the film. Not to knock on John Carpenter's vision, the film is well made with a beautifully haunting score courtesy of Carpenter and a wonderful cast who gave amazing performances. 

Remaking Christine?

Does Christine deserve to be remade? Yes and No. I don't know whether King or Carpenter would want to see Christine remade, but personally, I think it's ripe for remaking. Recently, we have seen excellent remakes of "It" and "Pet Sematary" and now we're getting "Doctor Sleep" which is a sequel to "The Shining". Right now, we're in a Stephen King Renaissance and it's a perfect time to remake "Christine". Instead of remaking John Carpenter's vision, the remake should strive to be more faithful to the novel which will help to distance itself from Carpenter's version while being fresh and new.

Ideas for Christine Remake

Here's what I would include in a possible remake of "Christine":
  • Make the deaths more violent and gruesome like the novel. But, don't make them the same deaths as in the novel or the Carpenter film.
  • For the soundtrack, select different songs that appeared, in the film. There's a whole slew of songs that were mentioned in the novel and never appeared in the film.
  • Have Roland D. LeBay sell Arnie Cunningham the car and have George LeBay be his own separate character like in the novel. Unfortunately, in the film, George LeBay sells Arnie the car, since Roland is dead. But, he looks, acts and talks exactly like Roland anyway.
  • Bring back the ghosts from the novel. Have Arnie's transformation be the result of his possession by Roland LeBay's spirit just like in the novel. Christine comes to life due to being possessed by Roland LeBay as well.
  • During the death scenes, Christine's victims should briefly catch a glimpse of Roland LeBay's rotting corpse behind the wheel. They could also possibly see the corpses of Rita and Veronica LeBay. In the novel, Christine acts as a soul jar so her previous victims can be seen in the back seat. 
I think this would be enough to help make the remake become more faithful to the source material while standing out from the Carpenter original. 

Test Scene 

Here is a test scene I wrote for the remake that helps illustrate the points I made above. This is the scene where Christine takes her revenge on Peter "Moochie" Welch, who was one of the bullies who trashed her in a previous part of the story. Just in the film, Moochie finds the Plymouth Fury waiting for him in the parking lot. On the radio, the car plays "Rave On" by Buddy Holly before giving chase. Moochie manages to escape, but the haunted car catches up to him and breaks his legs before running him over repeatedly. Before Moochie is run over, he sees the rotting corpse of Roland D. LeBay behind the wheel taunting him.

Here is the scene from the original film that I based on the test scene on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbHKdn0XScg

The link to the PDF of the test scene is below:

Conclusion

I don't know if "Christine" will ever be remade, but I was glad to give my thoughts on the matter and I had fun writing the test scene. Still, I hope one day to see the revenge-seeking '58 Plymouth Fury back on the big screen. Thank you for reading my blog post, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

"Christine" Novel vs. Film




(Novel is the property of Stephen King and the film is the property of Columbia Pictures. Both pictures taken from Google Pictures and all videos are taken from YouTube)

Introduction

Earlier this summer, I read the novel "Christine" by Stephen King because one night I was channel surfing and happened to watch a bit of the film adaption. I didn't get to finish watching the movie, but I became rather intrigued by the concept. Being a bookworm myself, I always advise to read the book first before watching the movie and that's just what I did. I checked out the book from my local library, read it in 2 weeks, returned it, and watched the full movie later that week. 

In the following sections, I summarize the plot of the novel, talk about the film adaption and it's differences with the novel, and finally discuss which of the 2 I like more and why.

Novel Plot

The novel "Christine" follows Arnie Cunningham a typical down-trodden nerd and his best friend Dennis Guilder in 1978 as Arnie falls in love with Christine - a rust bucket 1958 Plymouth Fury. Dennis advises against it, but Arnie buys Christine from Roland D. LeBay, who's furious at the "shitters" for making his life terrible. Dennis doesn't trust LeBay at all. Over the course of the next few months, Dennis takes notice of Arnie's improving life as Arnie continues restoring Christine to her former glory. His acne disappears, he becomes more confident and self-assured and even begins dating the new girl Leigh Cabot. Dennis also notices that Arnie starts to act much more abrasive and paranoid, even using the word "shitter" just like LeBay did. Christine also comes to life and begins taking revenge on the "shitters" who have wronged Arnie such as Buddy Repperton who was Arnie's former bully. Thus, with the advice of George LeBay (Roland's brother) and the help of Leigh - Dennis decides to destroy Christine after learning that both the car and his best friend have been possessed by Roland LeBay. 

As my first Stephen King novel, I actually quite liked "Christine" and it was a great introduction to King's writing style. I plan on reading "The Shining" and "Pet Semetary" and of course seeing their respective film adaptions. 

Film Adaption and Differences with the Novel

The film adaption was directed by John Carpenter and released in 1983 (the same year as the novel was published) and stars Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham, John Stockwell as Dennis Guilder, and Alexandra Paula as Leigh Cabot. I actually really like the film as it sticks fairly close to the source material while doing its own thing. The acting is great, Keith Gordon sticks out as Arnie and his transformation from a nerdy weakling into automobile-obsessed psychopath was truly chilling. John Carpenter's score for the film is just as fantastic as his other film scores and the track "Christine Attacks" that plays when Christine is out for revenge is amazing. 

But, here are the differences with the film has with the novel:
  • Christine is shown to have always been alive since her birth on a Detroit assembly line in 1957 rather than being possessed by Roland LeBay's spirit like in the book.
  • Dennis and Leigh use a bulldozer to kill Christine in the film, in the novel the use an enormous pink septic tank cleaner named "Petunia"
  • Arnie buys Christine from George LeBay rather than Roland LeBay, as when the movie starts Lebay is already dead. 
  • The deaths of Peter "Moochie" Welch, Buddy Repperton, Rich Trelawney, Don Vandenburg, and Will Darnell are different than in the novel.
There are of course more, but these are the major ones I noticed when watching the film. Below I have included my favourite scenes from the film along with the track "Christine Attacks".

(Show Me)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oezKQEF0deY

(A Fiery Death)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNSDAaeIh7U

(Love Eats Everything)

Novel or Film: Which do I like more?

Now, which do I like more the original novel by Stephen King or the film adaptation by John Carpenter? I like them both, but I'm gonna say the book is better for me personally. But the movie is still great in it's own right. Why is that? Stephen King's novels are known for their amazing blend of supernatural elements and psychological horror. In the book, after Roland LeBay dies his spirit takes possession of Arnie making Arnie act more like him and that transformation was just more terrifying in my eyes. Also, when Arnie is asleep or is out of town - LeBay's spirit takes possession of Christine and that's how the car comes to life and murders those who wronged Arnie. Arnie being possessed added a layer of tension and psychological horror that I really enjoyed. 

Personally, I've always loved the concept of the unstoppable supernatural killer and that's what drew me to Christine. A haunted car that will stop at nothing to finish off those who wronged her lover.  Also, the deaths are much more gruesome and visceral in the novel compared to the film which is a plus for me. 


Now in the movie, Christine is shown to be alive since she came off the assembly line in 1957. But, the movie never explains how she's alive. She's not haunted by the spirit of Roland Lebay, but in my mind, Christine is still a haunted car. How? Perhaps she's possessed by Satan. I like to think the car is haunted by the spirit of a jealous and angry woman. In the film, Christine is shown to be pure evil and since this is a John Carpenter film perhaps Christine is possessed by the same evil that's taken Micheal Myers from "Halloween". Halloween came out in 1978 and Christine takes place in 1978. In fact, both films were shot in similar locations. But, this is all just speculation on my part. 

Spotify Playlist

As with some of my other blog posts, I created a playlist on Spotify. This particular playlist features all the music from the film adaption starting with all the 1950s songs played on Christine's radio, then going on to the more contemporary songs featured in the film, and ends off with John Carpenter's modern mix of the track "Christine Attacks". The link to the playlist is below, enjoy. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PRMxcwNMQUIMngrRlIZum

I've also created a playlist that features all the 1950s that plays on Christine's radio in the novel. The link is below:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1KPAxc9fxXPYTOrhQHgTiH

Conclusion

Thank you for reading my blog post, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. My next blog post will be a discussion of my thoughts for a possible remake of "Christine" and a test scene I wrote. 


Saturday, April 6, 2019

"Turn Back the Hands of Time" Draft 2

Introduction

Last week, I wrote about the 1st draft of an original screenplay I wrote "Turn Back the Hands of Time" and this week I'll write about the 2nd draft in anticipation for writing the 3rd draft once I'm done with my final semester at George Brown College. Since last week I explained where the germ of the idea came from and gave details on the characters I have decided that this week I'll just write about the changes in this draft compared to the first one.  

Changes

There were a lot of changes in this draft some for better and some for worse. I'll start off with better changes.
  • The 2nd draft is longer than the 1st going from around 60 pages to 90. Which is great. It allowed for longer scenes and it also allowed to be flesh out the characters.
  • I think it was a wise choice to make George a beatnik in this draft. I originally wanted to make him a greaser. But, I think being a beatnik is a great fit for his character. 
  • I think giving Herbert, George's father, a bad leg from serving in WW2 was a nice detail that I will expand upon in Draft 3.
  • The "Nuclear Nightmare" scene was a great addition as I decided George's motivation to go 1927 being Cold War paranoia which stems from the opening scene. This will be expanded upon in Draft 3.
  • I really like the Jail Scene between George and the Professor. Allowed for some nice character building.
  • The addition of Victor and Frank having separate bedrooms with the attic having two beds was a nice touch.
  • The addition of Amelia's parents finding out George is a smart move as it allowed for them to help in retrieving the time machine in the climax and it also allowed for George's and Amelia's relationship to flourish. 
  • I think the final scene was better than the final scene from the 1st draft as having George use the time machine to go back to 1927 to visit the Taylor's was a better idea.
Now, I will talk about the changes that I think aren't so good.
  • I think there are a few scenes where the dialogue is a bit clunky, but can be easily ironed out in Draft 3.
  • Now that I look back on it, I think Amelia's parents knowing about her date with George was a bad idea since it took away from Amelia's rebellious character which I found so intriguing. In Draft 3, I'll have Amelia sneak out to go on a date with George just like Draft 1. 
  • I like how I decided to make George more a self-imposed outsider and a loner where his classmates do want to hang out with him and girls are into him, but George is just a loner by heart and is waiting for that right someone. In Draft 3, I would like to combine this with some of the exterior-forced isolation from Draft 1 as I think it would add to George's character and it fits well with his beatnik persona.
  • Adding a scene where Amelia actually explains why she's interested in George was a nice touch, I just find the dialogue to be a bit clunky. But, this will all be ironed out and expanded upon in Draft 3.

Script

Below is a link to the pdf version of Draft 2:

Conclusion

I think Draft 2 is a definite step-up from Draft 1, but I still have a long way to go before I write the final draft that will eventually make it to the big screen. For Draft 3 what I started doing was creating a character info sheet where I go through each character and write down every possible detail about that character. Things like age, how they dress, their back story, positives, flaws, hopes and dream so that I know these characters inside and out and become multi-hued 3-dimensional individuals. I believe this will lead to a better script. I will also write Draft 3 and every other script or teleplay in "Final Draft" as that is the industry standard.

Thank you for reading my blog. If you read my script, I hope you had as fun reading it as I did writing it. 

Saturday, March 30, 2019

"Turn Back the Hands of Time" Draft 1

Introduction

In this blog post, I wanted to talk about the 1st draft of an original screenplay I wrote titled "Turn Back the Hands of Time". My next blog will be about the 2nd draft as I plan to write the 3rd draft and will eventually write a blog post about that. So, how did I come up with a script? Well, when I was starting off as a screenwriter back in high school I actually found the 1st draft of "Back to the Future" online and read it. From there I wrote 3 drafts of "Paradox" which was just a BTTF rip-off. I didn't like them very much. But, in the 4th draft, I started introducing elements that would eventually evolve into "Turn Back the Hands of Time" such as the Mayor being added in, the protagonist being named George rather than Mark, and the 2nd Act having George go around town trying to fix people's lives. I went back to read the 1st draft of "Back to the Future" again and it mentions a song called "Turn Back the Hands of Time" by Eddie Fisher. I gave the song a listen and thus I had a new title and the gears started turning in my head.

Premise

My "Paradox" scripts originally had a teenager from the present day going back 30 years to the 80s. But, since the Eddie Fisher song is from the 50s I instead had a 50s teenager go 30 years back to the 20s. I thought this was a rather novel idea as the 1950s and the 1920s are such similar decades for a few reasons.
  • Followed a World War
  • Period of post-war economic boom
  • These two decades seem to be fondly remembered. 
Since I wanted to write a story about a teen from the 50s going back to the 20s, I had to give him a reason. Since it the 50s, I decided to start the film off with George watching a documentary on the Atomic Bomb testing that was going on at the time. In Drafts 2 and 3, I decided this would become George's primary motivation for going back. In this Draft, George is a bit more selfish and his character does flesh out in later drafts. Since the actual "Turn Back the Hands of Time" song is a love song I decided to give George a love interest for the 2nd Act to flesh out his character and the overall story. I was excited by this decision as I've always to write a romance. Before you read the actual script below, as a writer I like to give my characters meaningful names or base them on real people so I'll give a rundown on the meaning behind the character's names.

  • George Wells - Our protagonist. Named George after Rod Taylor's character in the 1960 adaption of "The Time Machine". Starting in Draft 2, I even remark that George even looks like a teenage Rod Taylor.
  • Herbert Wells - George's father. If you combine his name with that of his son's, their name becomes Herbert George Wells. A reference to Herbert George Wells a.k.a HG Wells who wrote "The Time Machine".
  • Amelia Taylor - George's love interest. The first name comes from Amelia Earhart and her last name means to cut eluding to her rebellious nature as she tries to cut free from her parent's conservative attitudes and assert her independence.
  • Professor Victor Titman The inventor of the time machine. I made him a Professor rather than a Doctor because when I hear Doctor I think of medical doctors and of course "the Doctor" from "Doctor Who". He's named Victor like Victor Frankenstein due to his obsessive nature and regret of building the time machine. The last name Titman means "Man" or "Time" in this Victor built a time machine that literally makes him the Victor of Time. 
  • Mayor Frank Titman - The Professor's bitter brother. I gave him the name Frank as a contrast to Victor and because he is quite frank about his thoughts and emotions so the name fits. 

Script 

Just like with my "Twilight Zone" teleplays I left the link to the script below:

Conclusion 

Just like the 1st draft of many Hollywood scripts including "Back to the Future" there are good ideas here, but they need time and subsequent drafts to grow and be expanded upon to go from good to great. This goes for the characters many of them are only operating at a fraction of their personality that you'll see in later drafts. With that, I thank you for coming and reading my blog post. If you read the script, I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Just be excited that with every new draft everything gets better: story, characters, etc. 

Saturday, March 23, 2019

"All I Want"

Introduction

This is an episode all about vices. You'll notice that I like to name my Twilight Zone episodes after common phrases like "Where Is Everybody?" and "Monster in the Closet". "All I Want" is no exception. We've all said this to ourselves or in conversation with others. "All I Want is a nice car..." or "All I Want is a better job..." We want these things because we believe it will make our lives better if he had these things. If you had that nice car or a better job your life will finally be complete. Don't lie, we've all been there and that includes me. That was the germ of the idea behind this episode.

Premise

The premise behind this episode was talking about the common phrase "All I Want..." and applying that to the most common thing people want... a partner. "All I Want is a girlfriend." then became the premise. I thought to myself if this is going to be a Twilight Zone episode. There needs to be an element of science fiction or the supernatural here. In the news, I had read an article about oddly enough sex robots. These uncanny valley-looking things were no more than just a fleshlight that talks to you. I just laughed it off. This won't catch on. But, then I thought what of it does? I then came across a post on Quora mentioning the state these sex robots were in now and in the future perhaps they may become so advanced that they look so human you wouldn't be able to tell. That got the gears turning in my head.

Thus, I made the twist-ending be that the girlfriend is in reality a sex robot. A machine. An object to be used and thrown away. Being the only female character in the entire episode, I believe this is saying a lot. I got the idea of John's (the protagonist) apartment being described as a cupboard came from "Crime and Punishment" where Fyodor Dostoevsky describes Raskolnikov's apartment as a cupboard. 

Synopsis

John Adam is a down-on-his-luck loser looking for a girlfriend he tells this to a Therapist who proclaims that John knows nothing about women. He's pressured by his Father after his Mother's recent passing to get his life together. Burdened by the guilt, John turns to visit the Life Corporation which specializes in finding mates for losers like John. But, it requires a hefty sum of money. Thus, John works day and night to get the money and upon handing the cash to the Manager is greeted by Joan. The woman of his dreams. Over the next few months, being with Joan improves his life. Better job. Better apartment. But, things don't last for long as Joan falls ill and has to be taken back to Life and eventually dies in John's arms. The illusion is broken when the Manager reveals that Joan was a machine the whole. John finally discards her and searches for something real. 

Teleplay

The link for reading the PDF of my writer's draft is below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c4tj4DXQOIyjSTYdLGnVbvGuLPkmAcpi/view?usp=sharing

The link for reading the PDF of the revision of my writer's draft is below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-kr8W8G4wn8JtukMSZEe39vjhBLzijGT/view?usp=sharing

Playlist

The link for this episode's Spotify playlist is below:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/65zHjTWKOMtKL01Kt10T3d

Conclusion

Thank you for reading my blog post. If you did read my teleplay, I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Sunday, March 17, 2019

"Monster in the Closet"

Introduction

This is another "Twilight Zone" teleplay, this time original. This episode focuses again on loneliness and isolation (a common theme in my writing) but instead on how such things stem from childhood trauma. Much like Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" this episode is semi-autobiographical such as the protagonist's age and character traits bear many similarities to my own. Unfortunately, I had been suffering the effects of childhood trauma for most of my life now and writing this episode was my way to deal with all the pain and sorrow.

Premise

As mentioned before, I wrote this episode as a way to deal with my own childhood trauma, but the beauty of The Twilight Zone is that it deals with universal themes and that is why I believe the original series is still relevant after almost 60 years. Plus, there were grim episodes and sometimes episodes that were rather touching. My favourite episode from the original series is "Walking Distance" where an ad executive from New York named Martin Sloan walks back to his home and inadvertently walks back into time meeting his parents and his 11-year old self. It's a fondly remembered and touching episode with an amazing score by the legendary Bernard Herrmann.

I became fascinated with the idea of inadvertently meeting my younger self. Would we be friends? Since we're the same person, suffering all the pain I would want to help him. Tell him that even though it seems dark ahead, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. I would become almost like an older brother to my younger self. Oddly enough, I am an older brother in real life.

That's what inspired the relationship between Anna and her younger self. Anna grew up without any brothers and sisters and thus through taking care of the 9-year-old Anna, she becomes like the older sister she never had. Going back to how the original Twilight Zone is still relevant for having universal themes, I hope the ending is seen as such. It's about finally getting the help we all need. For Anna, it's about her childhood trauma. A viewer might see it as coming out of the closet and another might see it as seeking help with a mental illness.

Logline

A broken school teacher wants to overcome her childhood trauma after she inexplicably finds her younger self hiding in the closet. 

Synopsis

After twenty years of suppressing her emotions regarding a traumatic childhood experience, Anna Farrows finds her nine-year-old self hiding in the closet. She takes it upon herself to care for her younger self and figure out a way to get the little girl home, all the while coming face-to-face with the true monster in the closet. 

Teleplay

Below is a link to view the PDF of my original Writer's Draft for this episode:

Playlist

I made yet another Spotify playlist for this episode, the link is below:

Conclusion 

Thank you for reading my blog post. If you did read my teleplay, I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

"Where Is Everybody?"

The Twilight Zone

The original Twilight Zone premiered on October 2nd, 1959 with the episode "Where Is Everybody?" It starred Earl Holliman as an amnesiac who wanders into what seems like a deserted town. He begins to feel as he's being watched as he notices things going that suggest that there once were people or people are still around. It's one of my favourite episodes, but it's no classic by any means. I'll include some screenshots of the episode below.


(Property of CBS)

Remake

The teleplay I wrote is a remake of the original episode, but it begs the question: Why did I want to want to remake this episode? As I said before it's one of my favourites, but's it's no classic by any means. I saw it as a good episode that could be remade into something great, that and the themes of isolation and loneliness are universal themes. With all good remakes they changed certain aspects from the original to do 2 things:

  1. Not just do the same thing again
  2. There were certain aspects that could be further expanded upon
Now, I will go through what I changed when I wrote this remake compared to the original.
  • The protagonist no longer has amnesia. He knows he's Mike Ferris, a Pilot in the US Air Force from the beginning of the episode.
  • Mike's Flight Suit now has patches made to resemble an actual Air Force Flight Suit.
  • Mike is coming to his hometown (named Oakwood just like the original) for a family reunion.
  • Mike watches the 1964 Vincent Price film "The Last Man on Earth" rather than finding a book titled "The Last Man on Earth"
  • I changed the twist ending to involve the supernatural as I thought the ending of the original episode was rather dated and didn't have a connection to science fiction or the supernatural like most Twilight Zone endings
I've noticed with the recent trailer that most episodes have references to the original episodes sprinkled throughout such as the same gremlin appearing on the beach in "Nightmare at 30, 000 Feet" and the Mystic Seer appearing in "Replay". Jordan Peele's appearance in that episode is very similar to Rod Serling's in "Nick of Time". 






(Property of CBS)

In keeping with this theme, I'll list off the references I put in my remake that call back to the original "Where Is Everybody?"
  • The Giant Eye in the window of the Optometrist's shop.
  • The opening narration "The place is here, the time is now...."
  • Mike's dialogue during his nervous breakdown is lifted right from the original.
  • I want Mike's Grandfather to be played by Earl Holliman, who through his dialogue is implied to be Mike Ferris from the original episode.
The original episode has the premise of "How would someone react to be isolation and loneliness?" vs the remake has the premise of "How do isolation and loneliness affect somebody?" "What would it does to them?"

Logline

An air force pilot wants to end his loneliness after finding himself in his deserted hometown where his isolation takes it toll.

Synopsis

After coming to his hometown of Oakwood for a family reunion, Mike Ferris finds himself alone despite the signs of humanity that once was or is still there. He then decides to find out whether he is truly alone or not, all the while his isolation takes a toll on him physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Teleplay

I have included a link below to the PDF version of my original writer's draft:

Playlist

I also created a playlist in Spotify. I included songs that tie back to the themes and scenes in the episode and the link is below. I made this playlist so that people could listen to it after reading my teleplay and see how the lyrics tie back to the episode, or they could listen while reading and the playlist enhances the mood of the episode. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1UNo9vj8bOhnjq6Vhwbmgq

Conclusion 

Thank you for reading my blog post. If you did read my teleplay, I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

Reflections on The Twilight Zone

Introduction Last year I wrote three teleplays in the style of a "Twilight Zone" episode when it was announced that Jordan Peele w...