I’ve spent this week working on a pitch for a ‘help wanted with screenplay’ call I saw in one of the Shooting People Screenwriter’s mailings.† They were looking for people to help with structure and character development for a zombie flick called ‘Residue’.

It’s a low-to-no budget effort, but the people involved seem quite keen and the rushes and test footage they’ve shot already, which can be seen on their web site, looks impressive.

Reading back through through the brief they’ve sent, I’m not sure what I’ve done is exactly what they are looking for, but then, I don’t think they entirely know what they are looking for either, further than a character driven, low budget zombie horror flick.

I just sent off my two page synopsis and character development ideas, so it’ll be interesting to see what they come back with.

One thing for sure is that I’ve put a lot of work into the development of it, and even if they decide it isn’t what they want, it’ll be a good thing to develop anyway.† Must finish Architurus first, though.

The thing that really encouraged me was the knowledge that, if needed, I could turn round a detailed character and plot synopsis within a week if asked in the future, which is good to know.† And as what I sent through was extremely cut down to keep within the confines of the brief, they’re missing some of the peachier ideas I’ve had…

Kent Screen held a very useful seminar today on Screenwriting and Structure. The first part of the day was Kent Screen’s very own Chris Knowles covering the basics of screenwriting structure – running through the usual suspects – McKee, Field etc. It was a really useful refresher, and a number of times I kicked myself for forgetting some fundamental bits of information.

Then after lunch came David Russell, who spoke at great length about character and characterization, both from the screenwriting and directing perspectives.

One thing he did say (which he graciously acknowledged he got from David Ball’s ‘Backwards and Forwards’) was the concept that characters don’t change, and the notion that they should change is a ridiculous assertion.

Characters shouldn’t change, but both their perception of themselves and our perception of them should get deeper – mainly through them being forced to make decisions and act under pressure (bringing us back in familiar McKee territory again).

It was one of those glorious epiphany moments where a hundred little ideas that had been seeking accommodation, suddenly all had a perch on which they could to come home to roost. It”ll take me a few days to assimilate it, but it’s certainly got the old mind racing at the moment.

I’m not sure how well it fits into Dramatica theory, but I think ultimately it reinforces the importance of the relationship between the Impact Character and the Main Characater, allowing them to become more complex at the same time. All good stuff.

On the SToA front, I’m hopefully heading up to Darren’s tomorrow lunchtime to hear his efforts thus far. Very exciting.

You never know he might let me post some clips of the music up for your enjoyment.

I’d got a little stuck with the Architurus screenplay during the week and quickly came to the conclusion that I’d lost it in the second act.

As previous attempts to finish a screenplay had failed in a simililar fashion, I didn’t want this to go the same way. So I took a deep breath and went back to read through what I’d already done.

In reading back through, I realised that I’d a) forgotten a couple of really peachy ideas that still needed development, and b) stumbled over some other very good ideas without realising. These ideas were completely left field and I struggled for a day or two to figure out if they would work.

So last night, while I was waiting for a takeaway curry from the Prince of India (highly recommended), I whipped out my trusty Qtec and had a brainstorming session.

12 minutes later, as the waiter appeared with my food, and I had a whole new, improved, ending with a really neat twist spinning round in my head. In fact, I realised that I could end it in about three different ways, whereas before I was convinced that it should have a very specific ending. The best thing of all is that mixed in with the fragrant wafts from the kitchens, the sweet aroma of sequel material was also floating on the air.

It also means that, while I was running dangerously close to becoming the One Screenplay Guy, now the last remaining links (barring a couple of character names) between this story and the original idea I had back in 1996 flutter off with the breeze.