A movie in sixty cards...

So there you go.

(evidence of 'work accomplished' today)

Sixty cards.  Each one is roughly equivalent to two minutes of action.  Each one roughly represents 'a scene'.  Sixty X two = 120 minutes or your average two-hour feature film.  In reality I'll probably end up writing from fewer cards 'cause 60 cards will equal out to a 130 page script and 110-115 is much better.

What was fun was how quick it came together.  Part of that has to do with finding a concept that 'resonates', one that has meaning for you and that exists in a story world that you understand intuitively.  That's certainly the case with this story.

The other reason things went quickly is because I was working with a writing partner.  It's the first time I've ever done that and, man, did it ever make things easier.  Just being able to talk things out, work your way through bad ideas or creative blockages (at one point we mixed ourselves a fairly stiff drink just to take the edge off...) was totally refreshing.

So, there you go.  Another step in the right direction.

Next, I'll write what's called a 'beat sheet' where I'll take each card and write a long paragraph expanding on it.  Once I've done that with all 60 cards I should end up with between 40 and 50 pages of what amounts to a 'beat by beat' treatment of the film.

We'll then workshop that beat sheet ourselves until we're happy with it then we'll start 'telling the story' from the beat sheet to various audiences, starting with our wives (typically a VERY tough audience) and expanding out from there.

We'll take notes related to the comments we get as we read the story then will circle back to our cards, change or update 'em as needed, then write a second draft of the 'beat sheet' which we'll, again, take out for scrutiny.  Assuming that second draft requires only a few minor 'tweaks' we'll do those then I'll write the script from the beat sheet, just working my way through it scene by scene.

Movie-magic.  In-process.

T