I finished the rough draft of one of my short scripts today. It’s called “Judgement Day,” about a priest who meddles in the lives of his confessors. This is one of the two scripts that I’m considering for our project with Matt. It’s 20 pages, which is about right. It’s common to figure about a minute a page, and after 2 or three rewrites I’ll be fleshing it out another 5 pages or so. Right now it’s mostly the bare-bones of the story. The characters need more development and the story overall needs a bit of refinement.

One thing that helps me when I write dialogue is to remember something I read in a book on novel writing. It was an author — I don’t know why I’m thinking it was Steven King, so maybe it was — who said that you should every line so that the reader wants to hear how the other character is going to respond. For example:

*Tom: “Hello.”*

*Bridget: “Hey. How are you?”*

*Tom: “Cool. Nice shirt you have on.”*

*Bridget: “Thanks. I bought it yesterday.”*

*Tom: “I went shopping yesterday too.”*

…is not very interesting dialogue. This might be better:

*Tom: “Bridget, I haven’t seen you since that embarassing incident last year.”*

*Bridget: “I’m surprised you remember, considering the state you were in.”*

*Tom: “I swear, I didn’t even know the cat was there. You wouldn’t believe where he ended up.”*

*Bridget: “Where was that?”*

*Tom: “I can’t say. I promised not to tell you.”*

*Bridget: “How about a trade? I have something I know you’ll want.”*

Well, that’s a _little_ better, anyway. The point is, there’s more tension in the second dialogue. There’s a kind of tug-of-war between the characters. With each line, we want to see how the next one will respond. The challenge is to craft this sort of dialogue into a natural, believable conversation that is true to the characters and the situation. Probably the worst thing you can do is include every little phrase that someone might say just because “it would happen in real life.” That’s where you get dialogue like that first one. Do you know how boring most real-life conversations would be if you had to read them word-for-word? With a script, you have to cut to the core, past all the extraneous dialogue.

I’m not pretending to be an expert scriptwriter. I just like to share these things I’m learning along the way that inspire me.

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As we begin the new year, I’m reviewing what I have on my plate so far.

First, I need to finish up a video slideshow for a wedding I am shooting next weekend. I’ll need to test the DVD on my new portable DVD player to see how it works with the video projector. Then I’m going to

I’m meeting Donna next Tuesday to discuss the business plan for the Artists’ Essentials (working title) DVD series we are producing, so I need to finish fleshing that out. Luckily, Donna has been talking with people and has come up with some great ideas that have focused the project down to a manageable level. Lots of friends and family have volunteered their services to the project, so we should be able to build a crew soon.

I shot a student theater project (mime) for my old high school theater director last November. It’s sitting here on my Mac, shot and edited, but I have to add titles and a menu and burn it to DVDs for the students.

Later in February or March I’ll be setting up a meeting with a small consulting firm about producing a two-hour training video.

I’ve committed to a fall movie project with Matt Eppright. The plan is that we’ll each shoot a short thriller/horror story and combine them into a one-hour movie, ala George Romero/Dario Argento’s “Two Evil Eyes”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100827/combined — it should be Twilight Zone-ish in nature. I’m working on two scripts. Right now I’m not sure which one will make it into the project.

I’m also working on a feature script and reconstructing a treatment that got lost in the move from Japan. Dakota is working on a script titled “Orchid.” I read the first act, and it’s terrific so far. We’re batting a 10-minute short script between us, called “Twosies,” but neither of us are happy with it yet. When it’s done, we’d like to submit it to “triggerstreet”:http://www.triggerstreet.com in the short films category.

I also need to finish “this website”:http://www.richrental.com by February. I’d appreciate any comments on the design, and whether or not it displays correctly in your browser.

I’m finding it tough to balance the paid jobs with the creative ones. I really want to spend my time working on the scripts, but I have an obligation (both to the people who hired me and my wife) to get the paid jobs done first. Sometimes it seems that there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

Returned Christmas cards are beginning to trickle in with undeliverable addresses. If you didn’t get a Christmas card from us and would like one, go to the “about us”:http://www.toddkuhns.com/index.php?=about page, click the link to email me and send me your address!

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*1. I will spend one hour every morning writing.* Right after I wake up is the only time I can commit to with any kind of consistency. I really believe that if I can establish a daily writing routine I will improve quickly.

*2. I will attend at least a few IFC meetings in Kansas City, despite the drive.* Right now, I really need to surround myself with other people who are interested in film who can inspire me. My meeting with Matt reminded me how motivating friends can be when you share the same interests.

*3. I will focus only on short projects this year.* Although features are more marketable, I was especially frustrated by the rush of this last one. It seems like every day the goal was mainly to get the shots done, which means we weren’t able to really fine-tune the lighting, performances, etc. Without such talented, flexible and easy-going actors and crew, Rock Paper Scissors would’ve been a pretty crappy movie — both to make and to watch. I think, with a smaller pie to chew on, we can really _craft_ a film, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.

*4. I will experiment with my own methods of distribution.* I’m thinking about finding a venue and staging some screenings for the public. Hey, I made these movies to be seen, right?

*5. I will raise some money to finish paying for what I have and buy some badly needed sound equipment.* One of my friends suggested selling DVDs of Dumping Jenny and Rock Paper Scissors on the website. To be honest, I had never considered it before. Would anybody else be interested in this?

*6. I will stop wasting time on the internet.* I read a great quote the other day, something along the lines of: “Being a great writer is 10% talent and 90% not getting distracted by the internet.” Man, can I relate there.

*7. I will strengthen and expand my network.* Even with the web — and lots of time at work to be on it — it was harder than I thought to keep in touch with our friends back home while we were living in Japan. On the bright side, I made such great friends in Japan from all over the world that it sort of balanced itself out.

*8. I will experiment with _film_.* Including 35mm black and white still photography. I have an old Super8 camera and I’m thinking about breaking it out for one of those aforementioned short projects. It’ll be a bit more expensive, but the organic quality of it appeals to me. Matt sure got some nice results with it, plus it would be a terrific learning experience.

*9. I will better organize my time.* I have a system. I just need the discipline to stick with it.

*10. I will make a serious effort at self-promotion and fundraising.* I haven’t yet made many serious efforts in this direction. Honestly, I’m living in a small town. It wouldn’t take much to get everyone to stand up and take notice of what I’m doing. As soon as I have a firm project, no matter how small, the newspaper is getting a press release and I’m organizing a screening. Who knows what might happen?

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