Michael Stuart Kelly Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Screenwriting Prompt from Real Life If any budding writer can't take the following news story as a prompt and turn it into an industry-grade horror movie screenplay, he's not even a hack. LOL... 76-year-old Tries to Attack Son with Chainsaw, Son Runs Him Over with Lawn Mower I mean, swap out the family feud angle and do a "Monster in the House" story and one act is already done. Hell, you can even keep the family feud as a subplot. ("Monster in the House" is one of ten standard blockbuster premise situations given in a book called Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. I'm not crazy about the rigidity of structure and beat placement in the book, but the identification of dramatic situations that resonate with the wide public is one of the best I've seen anywhere. Several of Ayn Rand's dramatic situations can be pegged to this system.) Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 Here's another real-life case that is on point Objectivism-wise. I just saw a video Leonard Peikoff made for OCON (see here). He said he watches the movie Whiplash every night before he goes to bed and considers it the greatest movie ever made. That's a lot of watching. (LATER NOTE: William is keeping me honest. Thanks, William... He provided an extract from the video and I was not accurate. Peikoff has the poster of the movie in his bedroom and he looks at the poster every night before going to bed. Not watches the entire movie. Oh well, that's the way my memory works sometimes.) So what gives? So let's see... what's Whiplash about? Oh yeah... a kid who's a jazz drummer, driven and highly gifted, and a brilliant but sharp-tongued abusive mentor who keeps rejecting him. After a lot of humiliation and ups and downs (including the mentor favoring a rival of the kid who the kid thinks is inferior to him, and a story where the mentor's nonstop drill-sergeant-like persecution led to the suicide of a student in the past), the kid ends up on the outs with the mentor. But he and the mentor later cross and decide to work things out. The mentor sabotages him one last time, but he, through sheer competence at drumming, triumphs and wins the mentor's approval in the end. Hmmmmm... what would that remind me of if I were Peikoff?... I wonder if the screenwriter was inspired by... Nah... Never mind... Michael 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brant Gaede Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 His brain is in pretty good shape. I suspect he has heart trouble. I wish him well in his retirement. --Brant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9thdoctor Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 9 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said: Screenwriting Prompt from Real Life If any budding writer can't take the following news story as a prompt and turn it into an industry-grade horror movie screenplay, he's not even a hack. LOL... 76-year-old Tries to Attack Son with Chainsaw, Son Runs Him Over with Lawn Mower I mean, swap out the family feud angle and do a "Monster in the House" story and one act is already done. Hell, you can even keep the family feud as a subplot. ("Monster in the House" is one of ten standard blockbuster premise situations given in a book called Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. I'm not crazy about the rigidity of structure and beat placement in the book, but the identification of dramatic situations that resonate with the wide public is one of the best I've seen anywhere. Several of Ayn Rand's dramatic situations can be pegged to this system.) Michael Easy. It's The Straight Story meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What could go wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 22 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said: Here's another real-life case that is on point Objectivism-wise. I just saw a video Leonard Peikoff made for OCON (see here). He said he watches the movie Whiplash every night before he goes to bed and considers it the greatest movie ever made. That's a lot of watching. So what gives? So let's see... what's Whiplash about? Oh yeah... a kid who's a jazz drummer, driven and highly gifted, and a brilliant but sharp-tongued abusive mentor who keeps rejecting him. After a lot of humiliation and ups and downs (including the mentor favoring a rival of the kid who the kid thinks is inferior to him, and a story where the mentor's nonstop drill-sergeant-like persecution led to the suicide of a student in the past), the kid ends up on the outs with the mentor. But he and the mentor later cross and decide to work things out. The mentor sabotages him one last time, but he, through sheer competence at drumming, triumphs and wins the mentor's approval in the end. Hmmmmm... what would that remind me of if I were Peikoff?... I wonder if the screenwriter was inspired by... Nah... Never mind... Michael Wow, that' a disturbing psychological revelation from Lenny. Ick. And even more disturbing is that he's unaware of how fucking disturbing it is. Just letting it fly out there in public. Hey, everyone, check out this film that I'm obsessed with. I [look at the poster] every night. It helps me relive shit, cast myself in certain roles, and feel like I'm a hero. J Edited to correct fake gossip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 7 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said: He said he watches the movie Whiplash every night before he goes to bed [...] 1 hour ago, Jonathan said: Hey, everyone, check out this film that I'm obsessed with. I watch it every night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Very strong film, Whiplash, I also thought - you might say it has that romantic, volitional flair. Right William, it is the poster only which LP reports he sees whenever he beds down... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 As I mentioned above, I stand corrected. Peikoff doesn't watch the entire movie every night. (So Jonathan's comment is based on my incorrect comment. That's on me.) Peikoff likes to look at the poster of the movie before going to sleep each and every night. He can't imagine life without it. This indicates multiple and ongoing viewings. So that doesn't conflict with the rest of my observation. To keep the record straight, though, I made a note in my post above. Peikoff's a fanboy. That works for me. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Letendre Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 3 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said: As I mentioned above, I stand corrected. Peikoff doesn't watch the entire movie every night. (So Jonathan's comment is based on my incorrect comment. That's on me.) Peikoff likes to look at the poster of the movie before going to sleep each and every night. He can't imagine life without it. This indicates multiple and ongoing viewings. So that doesn't conflict with the rest of my observation. To keep the record straight, though, I made a note in my post above. Peikoff's a fanboy. That works for me. Michael While we are being so precise - we don’t know if he does or does not watch the movie every night. Just that he did not say that he does. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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