My Invisible Screenplay: The solitary driving scene

The majority of my really good song ideas (here meaning songs I can gank for the movie) tend to happen while I'm driving. It's generally the one place where I'm alone, awake and actively engaged in something other than taking notes. So this means that if I happened to burn a decent mixtape (yet another rather lame pursuit of mine), I often realize that a particular song fits in such and such a scene, and I go about formulating how such a scene might happen.

This happened a while back with "Ocean of Noise" by the Arcade Fire. The night was a rather rainy one, and I was driving back from someone's house (for the life of me, I can't remember if it was Matt or Jeff) and the song came on and seemed somber and moody and emotionally intrusive. I recalled a night way back in the day when I was coming home from...relations (no, not those) with a girl I really hadn't wanted to have anything to do with. I remember that almost immediate sense of...not regret, but cetainly a pensive debate (out loud, mind you, the car is also where i talk to myself the most, to the point I almost wanna buy a bluetooth to look like I'm on the phone...almost).

So, that scene began. I'm working on some kind of regret, as I need that first. I'm thinking that this ill-advised romance is a good street to head down, as I've got Simon written down with girl issues (namely, actually talking to them romantically). A get-together purely because he knows she's interested? I've got some nice stuff just by writing this paragraph...

Also, this will take up one of my maximum of two allotted car scenes. Rather pathetically, I've created this rule for myself; otherwise I will use driving scenes as a crutch.

My Invisible Screenplay: Introduction

I figure it might not hurt to post some true original content here, so here goes nothing.

As the title indicates, I'm taking on the "struggling writer" shtick and attempting a screenplay; obviously, the key word there is attempt as I've never written anything of this scope before. I wrote a handful of sorta-screenplays way back in eighth grade, but those weren't all that great, and were eventually confiscated by censors (aka Mrs. VanKirk, my homeroom teacher).

So, the time has come to try again...okay, actually this seed got planted back in my junior year of high school, thanks to Mr. Long, everyone's favorite sub. Rather than actually teaching us stuff, he talked about the reason we all loved him: the fact he was Bill Long. Former Ohio State quarterback, ace substitute, and legitimately published author. He could have forged the one copy he carried around, but we didn't know any better (CONFIRMED on Barnes & Noble!). I decided I'd write a book.

The plot has evolved over the last few years, but I've settled on a theme, one that actually has more than just words to it, though I still haven't exactly fleshed it out. In my mind I've developed a main character who's become bored with the "learning phase" of his life and decides to call school quits. It's got some actual ideas to play with, even if it sounds like hippie shit.

I've managed to also skip light years ahead, pull a Zac Braff, and start scounting the soundtrack. I'll be honest, I may not have set it out, but this feels like a Garden State-style project in my mind, though I'm working on an arsenal of films with great compilation soundtracks to draw from.

I'll post more about the songs later on; part of the reason for this post is to open the project up, to let the three people who will actually read this pretend to see where I'm leading this. (Also, it's easy content). But I have a list that is, at the moment, 61 songs. More are sure to come, but I'm also planning on cutting out a few songs that don't really fit in.

Stay posted, and eventually, this lofty goal make actually become something serious.

BULLSHIT!

All right, you caught me.

Lazy-day (yet seemingly inspired!) blog posts?

That's more like it.