Luis: Will they like this?
God Father: You will never know if you don't say it.
Stories
I, Mandy, God’s faithful servant,
give you all my love and all my magic that the Lord gave me.
And now go all over the world
and create so much love and happiness for His Holy Glory.
give you all my love and all my magic that the Lord gave me.
And now go all over the world
and create so much love and happiness for His Holy Glory.
The Best Prize is Your Blessed Happiness, Lord
“Of all my children, these are the one that cost me the worst birth-pangs
and brought me the most sorrow;
and for that reason they are the one most dear to me.”
-Beethoven
and brought me the most sorrow;
and for that reason they are the one most dear to me.”
-Beethoven
Many artists win gold trophies and receive lots of applause.
But I have the best prize in the whole universe:
Your Blessed Laughter, Father (Your beautiful Happiness).
Thank you, Lord. I love you with all my heart and with all my soul.
But I have the best prize in the whole universe:
Your Blessed Laughter, Father (Your beautiful Happiness).
Thank you, Lord. I love you with all my heart and with all my soul.
You Are An Artist
Writer's Block
The best remedy for writer's block is to work on many projects at the same time, according to your mood, like Gladys. From a white sheet of paper, your characters will come alive and tell you their own story. Don't always carry them by the hand like little children. Let them fly free and realize their dreams, make mistakes and learn from them and, if they stumble and fall to the ground, get back up and continue on their path. Pretty soon you won’t lack inspiration, but time, to say everything that you need to say.
INT. LUISANGEL'S HOME (LITTLE CORNER OF DREAMS) - NIGHT: "A PECULIAR CASE OF WRITER'S BLOCK"
All the characters speaking indistinctly at the same time.
ELIZABET MCKEENBIRD
... C. WEED ... MAURICIO RÍOS ... TANOK ... MIDNIGHT ... JOSÉ GALLARDO ... MERCEDES MIRAMONTES ... JULIETA ... GÜSSY ... JEALOUSEE ... LUISANGEL (overwhelmed) Raise your hand if you want to speak! All of them raise their hand. Güssy lies on his back, sticks out his tongue and wiggles his belly with excitement. But Mercedes can't stop talking.
MERCEDES MIRAMONTES
(carefree) ~~ ~~ ~~. EVERYBODY (angry) Shhh!!! MERCEDES MIRAMONTES (covers her mouth while laughing) Hehehe. |
But you will be very satisfied with your work.
If that doesn't work, you need to get out and live a little... Invite me a cup of coffee at Café Paris and I will give you my expert's opinion.
* Café Paris: the place where the experts gather to drink coffee, chat, and give their opinion on the seventh art.
My New Scene Heading Format
At the core of every artist is a sacred place
where all the rules are set aside or deliberately forgotten,
and nothing matters but the instinctive choices of
the Heart and Soul of the Artist.
–Christopher Vogler
where all the rules are set aside or deliberately forgotten,
and nothing matters but the instinctive choices of
the Heart and Soul of the Artist.
–Christopher Vogler
It helps to outline the plot and remember everything (It’s something similar to RAM memory: You can see everything in your mind. You just have to fill in the dialogue.)
Format:
“INT.” or “EXT.” Place (modifier optional) – Time of Day: “Title of Scene (optional)”
Examples:
INT. FACTORY (DUNGEON) – NIGHT: “DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL”
INT. UNDERWORLD (COURT) – ETERNAL NIGHT: "(UN)HAPPY BIRTHDAY OF GÜSSY III"
INT. HOURGLASS (SPIDERWEB) – NIGHT: "IN LOVE FOR THE FIRST TIME"
INT. UNDERWORLD (COURT) – ETERNAL NIGHT: "(UN)HAPPY BIRTHDAY OF GÜSSY III"
INT. HOURGLASS (SPIDERWEB) – NIGHT: "IN LOVE FOR THE FIRST TIME"
The Problem of Comedy
The dramatist admires humanity and creates works that say, in essence: under the worst of circumstances the human spirit is magnificent. Comedy points out that in the best of circumstances human beings find some way to screw up.
When we peek behind the grinning mask of comic cynicism, we find a frustrated idealist. The comic sensibility wants the world to be perfect, but when it looks around, it finds greed, corruption, lunacy. The result is an angry and depressed artist.
These angry idealists, however, know that if they lecture the world about what a rotten place it is, no one will listen. But if they trivialize the exalted, pull the trousers down on snobbery, if they expose society for its tyranny, folly, and greed, and get people to laugh, then maybe things will change. Or balance.
The dramatist is fascinated by the inner life, the passions and sins, madness and dreams of the human heart. But not the comedy writer. He fixes on the social life—the idiocy, arrogance, and brutality in society. The comedy writer singles out a particular institution that he feels has become encrusted with hypocrisy and folly, then goes on the attack. Often we can spot the social institution under assault by noting the film’s title.
When a society cannot ridicule and criticize its institutions, it cannot laugh. The shortest book ever written would be the history of German humor, a culture that has suffered spells of paralyzing fear of authority. Comedy is at heart an angry, antisocial art.
Comic Design:
In drama the audience continuously grabs handfuls of the future, pulling themselves through, wanting to know the outcome. But Comedy allows the writer to halt Narrative Drive, the forward projecting mind of the audience, and interpolate into the telling the scene with no story purpose. It’s there just for the yucks.
Comedy tolerated more coincidence than drama, and may even allow a deus ex machina ending … if two things are done: First, the audience is made to feel that the comic protagonist has suffered enormously. Second, that he never despairs, never loses hope. Under these conditions the audience may think: “Oh, hell, give it to him.”
Robert McKee
Story, p. 359
When we peek behind the grinning mask of comic cynicism, we find a frustrated idealist. The comic sensibility wants the world to be perfect, but when it looks around, it finds greed, corruption, lunacy. The result is an angry and depressed artist.
These angry idealists, however, know that if they lecture the world about what a rotten place it is, no one will listen. But if they trivialize the exalted, pull the trousers down on snobbery, if they expose society for its tyranny, folly, and greed, and get people to laugh, then maybe things will change. Or balance.
The dramatist is fascinated by the inner life, the passions and sins, madness and dreams of the human heart. But not the comedy writer. He fixes on the social life—the idiocy, arrogance, and brutality in society. The comedy writer singles out a particular institution that he feels has become encrusted with hypocrisy and folly, then goes on the attack. Often we can spot the social institution under assault by noting the film’s title.
When a society cannot ridicule and criticize its institutions, it cannot laugh. The shortest book ever written would be the history of German humor, a culture that has suffered spells of paralyzing fear of authority. Comedy is at heart an angry, antisocial art.
Comic Design:
In drama the audience continuously grabs handfuls of the future, pulling themselves through, wanting to know the outcome. But Comedy allows the writer to halt Narrative Drive, the forward projecting mind of the audience, and interpolate into the telling the scene with no story purpose. It’s there just for the yucks.
Comedy tolerated more coincidence than drama, and may even allow a deus ex machina ending … if two things are done: First, the audience is made to feel that the comic protagonist has suffered enormously. Second, that he never despairs, never loses hope. Under these conditions the audience may think: “Oh, hell, give it to him.”
Robert McKee
Story, p. 359
A Pure Heart
A comedian is not necessarily an angry and depressed artist. On the contrary, it is healthy to laugh at ourselves sometimes and not take our problems too seriously. We laugh to not cry. “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Mt 6:27, 34) It is a very good coping mechanism when our enemies persecute us, and defame us, and try to murder us. “You will be hated by everyone because of Me.” (Mt 10:22) The heart of a comedian may be so full of love that he has the power to heal the whole world.