Audiences don’t care about what, they want to know about who!

I’m doing something a little different for the next few weeks. Last year I presented a workshop at the Copenhagen TV Festival in Denmark. I’ve split up the video recording of this workshop into several sections, relating to crafting better characters and help to bring your story to life.

Here is the second section, which discusses “Who vs What”:

Next week I’ll be sharing some great character examples.

Monday Musings

Homecoming

Last week I flew into Madison, Wisconsin. Although I’ll miss Bristol, it’s nice to be back in the USA. Plenty of favourite places to revisit and people to catch up with!

Last Tuesday, the day after I arrived, was Election Day– Mostly for Judges. It was a triumphant day as a great progressive female judge was elected in a previously solidly Republican position. If you want things to change you have to show up!

A great example of this is the Suffrafettes- take a look at all they achieved, and how they achieved it, in this really interesting video:

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We know it doesn’t feel real, but it has to seem real.

I’m going to be doing something a little different for the next few weeks. Last year I gave my workshop at the Copenhagen TV Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. I’ve split up the video recording of this workshop into several sections, relating to different key components of my methods for crafting better character and help to bring your story to life.

Here is the first section, which discusses the three components of authenticity. I’ll let you check out the video below to discover what those three components are:

Next week I’ll be sharing with you the concept of “Who vs What”.

FROM THE ISLAND

Yesterday was Palm Sunday.  Here are a few interesting historical and story facts.  Remember, every detail in a story should support its overall theme.

Lead Us!

The children in the crowd shouted “Hosanna” as Jesus entered Jerusalem.  This is a Hebrew word, not a New Testament Greek word. The literal translation of “Hosanna” is “lead us!” The Romans were constantly worried about armed Jewish rebellion. Jesus’ entrance and the crowd’s reaction was a politically charged situation. The entrance to the Temple was closely guarded by the Roman garrison. The children were actually the ones in the crowd shouting “lead us!” This was a shrewd move because children could not be arrested under the Roman law.

Jesus riding a young donkey has a historical significance:

It was an Ancient Eastern tradition for a conquering hero to ride into a defeated city on a horse. A returning King riding into his recaptured and rescued city, in peace, rode in on a donkey. By riding a donkey Jesus symbolically enters as a rightful King, returning to reclaim what was His.

Palm Branches have two symbolic significances:

Palms were a Jewish symbol of independence from the time the Maccabees drove out the Greeks. In Jesus’ time palms were used as a nationalistic and anti-Roman sign.  It was not uncommon for a palm leaf to be subversively stamped over the portrait of Caesar on coins from Jerusalem.

The modern name for palm, phoenix dactylifera, refers to the palm as the “phoenix tree” The palm has the ability to grow new foliage even after being burnt. Early Christians continued to use the Phoenix (plant and mythic bird) as a symbol of the resurrection. On the occasion of Jesus’ entry to the city, however, He was the only one who fully realized how significant this symbol was.

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Three million years ago, a 3-year-old child strayed too far away from its tribe. A predator grabbed the 25-pound toddler and, near the opening to an underground cave. feasted on its human snack.  Stray scraps fell into the limestone cavern below.

Other hominids, dragged into caves by big cats or falling into grass-covered hidden holes, make South Africa’s caves the world’s greatest source of early human fossils. About 900 important fossilized bones have been discovered in the 180 square miles of grassland and caves known as the Cradle of Humankind. Scientists have identified at least four human-like species in addition to Homo sapiens—us. These humans and pre-humans lived in the area at various times over 3.5 million years.

The story these fossils tell is that we,  Homo sapiens, of all types, are more alike than we are different and that we all started in Africa. It’s a powerful lesson for today’s divisive times

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Our full field was relatively small to start (as expected in the first year) but we managed to have six amazing finalists.  Over the course of a long weekend (our residential), we worked with the group and worked individually.

Their three-minute pitches vastly improved from their original submissions. After questions and critiques, their five-minute pitches made a further leap forward. Additional feedback took their following twelve-minute pitches to a solidly professional level.

Quite honestly, each pitch would have been a deserving winner.  In the final analysis, and in an astonishing precedent-breaking development we named two winners. The judging panel was enthusiastically unanimous that both pitches MUST win.  It’s never happened in a decade of competition in the UK, and we certainly never expected it would happen here in SA

It was quite literally a magic moment both for the winners and for the competition.  One winning story (The Second) is set in rural Kwazulu Natal in the dying years of apartheid. It is a profound story of hope in the midst of chaos and violence.  It was pitched by our youngest ever winner, Mpumelelo Kheswa (22) and will be our first ever film in a foreign language (Zulu). The other, pitched by Howard James Fyvie, ( Ramsey) is our first animation and comedy. It retells the story of Abraham and Isaac from the perspective of the ram. “Ramsey” believes he is destined for greatness and that this will be as a stand-up comic. (It is a hilarious dark comedy!)

I am so proud to be working on the development of both short films.

Here are our finalists–

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In 2010 while I was in Madrid– sitting in a beautiful plaza– I read the WGA Magazine WRITTEN BY.  There was a wonderful article about Ray Bradbury who was interviewed on his 90th Birthday.  He repeated one of his most famous quotes:  “You’ve got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down.”

Anyone who has heard me speak or who have read the articles on this site know I am always talking about characters taking a Leap of Faith in a story.  But I had been a bit hesitant about making my own.

The cliff I was then contemplating was moving to the United Kingdom to live and work for a year, possibly longer.  Serendipity put several people in my path who had done just that–  They moved to a foreign country without a lot of pre-arranged work and they just made it happen.  They built their wings after taking their big leap.  Each person said, “just do it.”  And that is what I did.

It took awhile to wrangle the most flexible visa– a Tier One Exceptional Talent visa. I had so much wonderful help along the way from previous clients. I have lived and worked in the UK now for about five years. I am living quite happily in Bristol, home of Aardman Animation Studios, and am proud Nick Park helped sponsor my visa.  I am so glad I finally summoned the courage to just pick up and fly!

In this Leap Year what leap of faith are you contemplating?

This is the first year launch in South Africa.  Enter the Pitch has been going strong in the UK for about a decade.

In both locations, the competition is the ultimate adaptation challenge.

Entrants are asked to make a two-minute pitch adapting a Bible story, character or situation as a short film for the big screen.  The film can be set in any era (past, present, or future), in any tone or style (thriller, space odyssey, mystery, love story, etc.).  The artistic choices are endless.  The only caveat is the film must stay true to the emotional heart of the original story.

Lust, violence, betrayal, romance, war, murder, fidelity, greed, forgiveness all figure in the collection of books we call the Bible. Every human situation and conflict is represented. The story possibilities are endless.

Successfully adapting one of these stories will teach you how to how to adapt any kind of material.  I am the development consultant and I help the pitch winner every step of the way. It’s a fascinating process and one I hope you consider being a part of.

The UK Enter the Pitch Competition

The SA Enter the Pitch Competition

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