Getting through the Open
It’s done. I’ve now successfully (in my opinion) written the opening scene of my new screenplay. As you may have been reading here (and thank you for following!), I am writing a screenplay adaptation of a novel of a new author and through meticulous preparation of how to get this thing started, I’ve now finally started!
This is no small feat. There is a self-imposed torture that comes with me opening any creative project: my edited video reels, an edited news piece for my day gig, an opening paragraph for my articles, screenplays… It’s never fun for me, until my opening characters effectively convey the storyworld and a hint of the proposed dilemma.
How did I do that this time? It took a few drafts. But in referring to my previous post, last night while writing I had the advantage of a) firmly standing behind my decision of which character was going to be the protagonist and, b)casting my actress friend who brings such beautifully complicated character work to her roles. She is my muse. With this knowledge that I am now following a “good girl” with some bite due to my casting choice, I’m excited to have the audience follow her point of view as she journeys into a corporate world riddled with improprieties and insecurities.
Also, I knew that I would have to combine a few of the author’s characters into one. I’ve done that before in another screenplay, but last night I was able to make that happen with an exciting twist. I’ve added an ethnic character (I’ll save the choice of ethnicity so he can make his surprise debut on screen) and this actor will represent — just as a side character — what happens had the role been played as a white male, as written. My new ethnic character (a combination of two white males) has a yearning to deny his heritage and assimilate all too quickly. On the other side of the office is our conflicted Black male who we root for after he meets our confident lead female. But the side character, designed from the combined characters, will just reinforce what could happens when self-hatred goes too far.
I love layers. They’re already happening in the first few pages. I have to thank the author for such rich character profiles to draw from. Life experience and being in the business where I see certain groups of actors maligned in an industry just getting its feet wet in diverse storytelling will carry this project through.
More soon…
