Screenwriting (I would shoot the writer but there wasn't one working on this film)

Recently saw an item that said the reason for recent Hollywood summer big budget flops was the LACK of good writing. Does anyone know anyone who's actually seen The Island? Good writing takes time and costs money and the prevaling Hollywood attitude is why hire writers when you can re-make old sucessful franchies that guarantee sales and save manpower, e.g. Dukes of Hazard, Starsky and Hutch, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Oliver Twist. Book adaptations are popular too and allegedly produce superior quality celluloid, Bored of the Rings, Hazz Potter and the convoluted title that gets sad adults trying to reclaim their sad childhoods again by brandishing novels on the tube.

Its important to have new and original films because they will contain new and original ideas that inform and entertain and not be mediocre because mediocrity is mediocre and that is bad which is just plain awful; now this has become as repetitive as a Hollywood comic book character adaptation (it's not a superpower it's a horrible mutation that needs attention).

Enough bitching. I bought some books on screenwriting in order to have a go myself and it is admittedly quite hard. You need a lot of dedication, motivation and concentration and not be in love with the idea of being a writer but rather actually be a writer and write, dammit! There are important elements to consider like structure, setting, characterisation and dialogue and little reward other than you are doing something you believe in and in control of. All achievable with the ability to type slowly and imagine things that may or may not be real.  ¶ Sunday, November 06, 2005