Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

The Best Christmas Present in the World

Growing up in Chicago in the mid-70s I had my share of moments like this.  

As we get older I think our enjoyment of Christmas lessens.  My childhood memories of Christmas were always fond ones.  My parents always bought me more toys than I needed.  I never went without.  It wasn't until I got older -- probably around 17, that Christmas stopped being about the gifts and learning to...

No matter your station in life, we all must make our peace with Jesus

I think these days it's the MUSIC that appreciate the most about Christmas.  So many great festive songs.  Silent Night will always get me somber and remembering.  Getting older has only made me appreciate the music more.  I actually like Christmastime music more now than I did when I was growing up. 

This year I gave myself the greatest present I've ever received on Christmas.  I completed my 32nd spec. script.  Truth be told I thought I would have had it done a lot earlier than now.  But as of Christmas morning, 2024, I'm ready to show the entire script for Ya Know What Your Problem Is? to people who want to read it. 

There is no better feeling for a screenwriter than completing a script.  For me "completion" comes after I file for WGAw and U.S. Copyright protection.  And did just that a couple days ago on Tuesday the 22nd.  And on the very same day I sent it off to a couple people...

 "I know what you want for Christmas, E.C. Henry"

Funny thing is, honey, this year  I gave that gift to myself!  Ya Know What Your Problem Is? is a raunchy romantic comedy.  No, it's not a "Christmas story", but it definitely is comedy with some romance thrown in for good measure.  AND it has several "hotties" which are always very fun characters for me to dive into and explore.

To say I LOVE sexy women is a gross understatement.  I love them!  They are so fun to speculate on, and toy with.  Sexy women are what keeps me interested in the genre. 

And so I'm a happy camper this holiday season.  Still waiting for my critiques back on the screenplay, but working on this story is fun!  God has blessed me.  I may not have all the things I have in life that I want, but story-wise I am a very rich man.  Richer than Bill Gates.  Richer than Jeff Bezos.  

Not to say there won't be more drafts or toying with the story.  But I now have it to a point that I feel as an author it's ready to show, and that's one of best feelings in the world.

Now, it's on to mastering the new family popcorn machine.  I bought a kettle style popper from Vervor.  It looks a lot like the ones they use in the theaters.  Found out something cool, use Coconut oil and the salt called "Flavacol" when using kettle poppers to achieve an end product similar to the movies.  Should be fun playing with this.  

Gift-wise the Holy Spirit granted me victory yesterday helping me get a really cool, last-minute gift for my mom.  Got her a silver heart charmed necklace from Belk -- and she loved it!

As for the physical gifts I got from my family.  Nothing Earth shattering, some clothes, some money, some candy.  

Of course Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus, I'm not trying to take away from that.  But one of the key tenants of the holiday is the giving of gifts, and this year the best I gave was a gift to myself -- a fresh new spec. script that ready to show to the rest of the world!  E.C. Henry is an entertainer at heart.

Stereotypical or Original Characters? Exploring Issues in Rom-com Movies; Volume 78

It takes some writers a while to figure out what style and flavor of genre they want to write.  Doing so it's inevitable that they fill out their stories with characters. 

So how should writers who write romantic comedies approach the subject of filling out their rom-com material with characters?

Here's an initial way of thinking of character rosters and groupings in romantic comedy stories:

1. Main couple: typically, a man and woman.  (Not to say there aren't same sex pairings out there, but if you write that kind of material you really are aiming for smaller and nitche audience).  Your main couple is the driver of your rom-com story and pits the central question: Will this couples foray into the romance result in romantic satisfaction for them both.
2. Buddy/mentor characters:  When a man a female embark on a romance inevitably they are councilled or lead by others in the circle of influence.  Buddy/mentor characters help the main couple cope with dealing with the prospective romance in question.
3. Comic relief characters:  These can be buddy/mentor characters OR unique characters that exist in other ways as rom-com story unfolds.  Comic relief characters bring zest and relief to rom-com material. 
4. Romantic thwarts/Bellamies/wrong guy or gal:  These are characters that threaten the central romance in rom-com material.  Sometimes these character fuse with comic relief characters or buddy/mentor characters.  Though many rom-coms in the last lexicon of romantic comedies released over the years have used straight-laced thwarts.
5. Setting characters:  These are characters that arise out of the setting from which you've placed your story.  Workers at places that you main couple goes to, coworkers. 

The first four in this five group set I've listed aren't really ideas of my own.  A lot of that thinking/logic came from the great Billy Mernit and his great paperback, Writing the Romantic Comedy which really helped me see how romantic comedy movies and stories worked from a story construction function outline through character placement.  The term "setting character" is an E.C. Henry original designation -- to best of my knowledge as I've heard that said before.   All of this is really useful to WRITERS of rom-com material.  And though we don't have to agree on everything, I think this construct helps unify rom-comers in a way of looking at this from the prism of characters looks back at structure and story to find their proper place in it all.  

Some MAY argue that the power couple trumps all when it comes to writing romantic comedies...

A good "meet meet" is great, but that's now where the story ends!

Me, however, I disagree with the universal application of that axiom across the vast spectrum of this genre.

Over the course of many years writing, I'm finding more and more, I that I prefer a broader look at STORY when it comes to romantic comedies.  I'm more in the Judd Apatow camp when it comes to comedy material.  

So what is the Apatow camp like?  Well, if watch some of his movies and movies that fit comprably to his.  It's a BROADER approach to characters in story.  It's less of focus on the main couple.  Don't know what your feeling about The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) are.  Heck it's been nearly 20 years since that gem was released.  But it's significance in the overall rom-com umbrella should not be minimized.  That cast of characters was AWESOME!  This movie was farrr from a one-note focus on Andy and Trish. Eventually the movie turns to that, but it takes a long time to get there.  In the meantime you have a focus of Andy's coworkers at Smart Tech, and even Trish has comprable issues with her daughter, who is getting serious about being sexually active herself.  

Now throughout this post I've place images from the cast of  Dan in Real Life .  Though this movie stars Steve Carrel, who was the star of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, its supporting cast is equally if not better than that of Judd Apatow's opus -- and that show is know for its lasting impact of launching such stars as Elizabeth Banks, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill.  

Throughout its history, however, I feel confident in saying that the rom-com genre has been dominated by the prevailing thought that the leads must carry the story, and that all other characters and sub-plots needed to fall so the wayside that cliche characters were commonplace and acceptable commodities.  

Great characters in rom-com material -- gotta pin them down!

Now, even in my earlier five groupings of rom-com characters that does lend itself to stereotypes.  I, however am NOT an advocate of that style of storytelling.  I do not like character that just seem to exist in function of the lead couple in question.  

Of course every MEANINGFUL story can't just dive into the inner workings of every character that appears on screen.  But I believe the overall mix of characters: main to bit roles; should be believable entities unto themselves.  So put in the necessary effort for that feat to be achieved!  Yes, rom-coms do have core tenants of romance that is intimate.  But life is dynamic with many things in play.  Romance seldom happens in a two person vacuum with no one else involved.  

Hup, you're in a romance -- and you've been found out!

It's taken me some time to "get" my forte in writing, and the "gifts" I have to offer.  Over time I've come to appreciate BROADER stories -- even in rom-com material.  For my $$ I want lots of characters and conflicting agendas.  I don't favor stories from small minds who put all their eggs in the main couple basket. 

Of course your main couple matters in rom-com material.  My argument is that's not the end-all.  You should have more.  So bend stereotypes into real characters who could exist outside the vacuum of your main characters foray into romance.  Challenge yourself as a writer to know your supporting characters BEYOND the limits of being a product of function in the plot.  You should make every characters so interesting that they COULD BE the main subject of a story of their own.  

So, yes, I do believe in plot.  Big fan there.  But your characters matter too, and if you're a good writer you SHOULD be able to pen characters that trigger the mind and desire of the reader or viewer to want to see more of them: both in primary character function and secondary.

Dan in Real Life (2007) is one of the the best movies ever made -- and it just so happens to be a romantic comedy witha STRONG  Thanksgiving  accent.  So pop it in over the  holiday season , treasure it, and consider my writing advice.  

Till we speak again,

   

Christmas Excuses

So I FINALLY got my Taylor Swift top hat ornament yesterday, December 9, 2023 after ordering it like three weeks ago right after I got a promotional e-mail from Taylor Swift.com announcing available lines of merchandise available for Christmas.  I was expecting an immediate ship-out and get the ornament in a couple days or so.  Took wayyy longer than I expected.  And a week and half ago they sent me an email with UPS tracking information on it that showed it was still at their facility ready for pick-up.  That made me think some started the order, but never fulfilled it and shipped it out.  Why.  Because when you track with UPS they show you station by station where a given package is.  Talking with one of the customer service reps I thought they were blowing me off.  BUT as it turns out, happy ending I finally did get my "top hat" ornament.  Arrived by UPS truck just as I was getting home from work.  That and my first Christmas present bought for one of my brother's kids came it.  Some really clothes from Nautica.

This year I did 90% of my shopping on line.   

Trying to avoid this:

Hit two stores locally, but only bought from one.  Got my mom a really cool folding out, camping style, rocking chair.  Got that from Bass Pro Shops on the Tennessee/Virginia border.  Went to Best Buy in hopes of getting my brother an MP3 player for work, but the store was so run down, that I pulled the plug on that. 

At the end of the month I'm taking my brother and his oldest son, Brycen, to the Tennessee Titans game in Nashville against the Seattle Seahawks.  The tickets cost me a fortune.  This will be my first time at Nissan Stadium, and I'm kind excited to see what it's like watching a game amidst a bunch of Southerners.  The "plan" is to drive to Nashville on a Saturday, spend the night there.  Then watch the game on Sunday, and drive back to Kingsport after the game on Christmas Eve to be home and ready for Christmas morning.  Know what it's like to watch a game in Seattle, but this will be different.  Hopefully special, although this year's Seahawk team really looks a disappointment: had some really bad, blowout losses and are currently (at the time of writing this post) on a three game losing streak.

This the season to be  jolly .  NOT the season to make excuses!

Creatively, I'm working on a creature-horror spec.  It's called, The Otterroid.  It's about a hybrid alien who's brought up on a crab pot, then wrecks havoc on an island where a Japanese research and development company is working on creating a better bred of crabs to survive climate change and a warming ocean.  

Right now, at 3:30 a.m. on a Saturday I SHOULD be working on The Otterroid instead of writing this post.  Talk about your Christmas excuses!  I'm already behind schedule on this project, as earlier I had made a goal for myself to have the 1st draft completed by the start of December.  And have the project re-written 1 to 2 times, and ended by January 1, 2024.  Currently on page 80 of the 1st draft, and snagged over how to handle late ACT II to mid ACT III.  Going back over the outline and looking to beef that up.  I do that a lot: go back-and-forth from outline to draft.  I TRY to use the outline to focus my concerns, chart plot points and hone the logic of a given story.  

Still, it's the holiday season, so maybe a little grace is in order.  Sometimes you push the creative process to hard.  Gotta give it time to grow and expand organically.  A lot of creative writing is trial and error.  One of my goals (and I think strengths) as a writer is that I'm mentally sound and don't freak-out.  I'm really under no pressure to write The Otterroid.  Nor have I really ever been under any real pressure by any one in the industry before.  No one has ever been "waiting" for me to finish a screenplay so they could film a movie off it. 

So relax, E.C.; and just write the best story you can.  

Blogwise, sorry it's been over a month since my last post.  NO, I'm not thinking of ending this blog.  Truth be told between today: December 9, 2023 and October 23 (the date of my last blog post) I got sick.  Real sick.  So sick that I had to take a week of work.  A couple days ago was the first time I felt 100%.  When I was real sick I had red-eyes to the point I could barely see, had an intense migrane, and some congestion in my lungs.  

Did get well enough to go running on Thanksgiving Day.  That used to be a BIG tradition for me.  A very long run, before hanging out for dinner and watching NFL football games.  Glad to get back into this year, as that's actually an E.C. Henry, personal tradition that I like!  :)  In times past I used to collect all my change and cash it in and give the proceeds to a blind guy I knew in Washington, but since I moved to Tennessee I felt it was time to move on from that.  I've since learned that guy is getting remarried!  God is good!  Even in your 50s, God can still surprise you.  The blind guy I used to give money too was a quasi-friend I met through church.  At one point he had a beautiful wife and had two kids with her, but she ended up divorcing him.  Anywho...  Life change and isn't stagnant.

So moving on, I'm so glad I've got most of my Christmas present shopping done.  Over the next week or so they should be arriving, knock on wood.  Work-wise I'm being asked to work five 10-hour shifts, so that cuts into my writing time.  Also hoping to get more connected at church.  Lotta pretty girls there.  

Faith + hotties

"Make a wish, E.C. ..."

Why not?

Sure I'm 54 now, but that doesn't mean I'm dead!  God can do amazing things.  The power of life and death is in our tongues.  So stay positive and breath LIFE into yourself and those around you.  Being filled with God's Holy Spirit is the key to that.  So much of the Christian life was never meant to be handled soley on willpower alone.  So ask God into your heart, and ask Him for His help in making you an adequate servant for His higher purposes.  To God be the glory!

My next post will probably be on that: how we glorify God.  Such an interesting aspect to focus on; how the common man or woman can life their life to glorify their Creator.  Do you have a God conscious?  Or do you think this life on Earth is all there is?  I'm here to tell you, that this life isn't all there is.  Whether you believe Jesus is Lord or not, there is a SPIRITUAL COMPONENT in every man woman and child so NO EXCUSE --

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

When God Chooses a Hottie to Save His People

This is Shannon Bream of Fox News fame.  Of all the women on planet Earth you would be hard pressed to find one as beautiful and nice as she is.  And not only that, but Shannon's an author too -- and it's a godly book no less!  "The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today".  If interested you can buy the book here.  I fell in love with Shannon watching Fox News.  It's like getting your news delivered by Meg Ryan.  Still, I know she's married...

#allthegoodonesaretaken

Snap!  But now that's we've got this kicked off.  Time for my hot take, and it's this:

Hot woman can be used by God.

The bible is an amazing book.  In God's word, many years ago while the nation of Israel was under the rule of the Persians, there came a time where God delivered His people through a beauty pageant winner.  I'm not kidding.  It's in the book of Esther in the Old Testament.   

I read the book three times recently in preparation for this post.  And the gist of the plot is that a Jew in bondage overcame her circumstances by winning a beauty pageant and agreeing to the queen of a Persian king, Ahasuerus or Xerexes who rained as king of Persia from 486 B.C. through 464 B.C.. 

At the start of his reign king Ahasuerus has a beautiful queen named Vashti.  She was so beautiful that Asasuerus wanted to show her off after he and his friends had been drinking, but Vashti refused!  This led to king cutting Vashti off and a nation-wide search for beautiful virgins was made to replace Vashti.  

This led to Esther's rise to preeminence, as she was ultimately chosen to replace Vashti, but while doing so at the insistence of her Jewish caregiver, Mordecai, who took her as his own daughter.  Esther was beautiful in form and face.  Yet once she was queen, Queen Ester faced one whopper of situation.  For one her king's closest confidants was conspiring to wipe-out all the Jewish people in the kingdom of Persia, all because ONE man of Jewish descent refused to bow before him in his presence.  Haman wasn't even king, yet he was so filled with ego and pride that he wanted the whole nation to wiped-out on account of ONE MAN's refusal to bow before.

Thankfully the beautiful Esther didn't turn her back on her people.  But rather she listened to her adopted father and made a proper entreaty before King Ahasuerus that exposed Haman dire treachery.  King Ahasuerus listened to his hottie wife, and the once he knew about Haman's treachery had him hung in gallows that Haman had built to hang Mordecai, Esther 7:10.  

I'm not a fan of torture.  Even of the most vile people.  Still, I'm glad that hotties like --

Exist.  Okay, the hottie I just posted isn't Esther either, BUT she is the first person I thought of when I started thinking what Esther may have looked like in real life.  Aishah Hasnie is her name.  And she, like Shannon Bream works at Fox News!  All the hot, smart and politically savvy women work there. 

Aishah Hasnie is Pakistani beauty follows the Muslim faith -- at least from what I've read.  But I'm not prejudice.  A beauty is a beauty no matter where they come from and all honest I think the real Esther from the bible looked a lot more like Aishah Hasnie than she did did Shannon Bream.

So many thing to appreciate about Esther's CHARACTER.  That's right, not only was Esther beautiful on the outside as is recorded in Esther 2:7; but this lady PROVED she was beautiful on the inside by the choices she made a critical time in Israel's history.

• Esther didn't turn her back on her heritage even when when was living the high life.
• Esther listened to advice and acted on it. 
• The story of Esther proves that adopted parents can have a success story through the children they raise.  Mordecai took on Esther after her parents died and raised her.  Then, even when Esther was a mature woman, she respected her adopted father and did right by him. 
• Esther was willing to use her God given gifts.  What if Esther never competed in the king's competition?  Her's was occupied people, after all, and Vashti was gawked at for her beauty.  Esther had to know this treatment would probably extend to her, but she endered it anyway. 
• Esther learned the proper ways and practices to be of royalty and how to approach the king.  She actively thought and didn't just rely on her outer beauty to carry her.  Esther had a brain -- and she used it the preservation of God's people.

From the story of Esther and Mordecai the Jewish people now celebrate the feast of Purim.  See Esther 9: 21-22.  On the 14th and 15 day of the Jewish month of Adar the Jewish people are to celebrate with feasting and rejoicing when God delivered them from a treacherous scheme to annihilate God's people while they were being disciplined already by another nation. 

This post was born of discussion that me and my mother had about the rapture.  We got to speculating and though MAYBE the rapture of the church could happen THIS Purim season, which in 2023 is being celebrated by the Jewish people March 8th and 9th.  Purim 2023

Nobody knows the day or hour that Jesus will come from his bride, the church.  BUT things down here on Earth keep getting darker, and the government of today is more led by the devil than it is led by the Lord. 

Many years ago God went so far as to state the EXACT borders that He wanted His people Israel to have.   

Genesis 15:18,  Exodus 23: 31. 

The Christian God does distinguish between people groups.  And the ultimate Lordship of all the people and nations is under the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  

Lots is issues to sort through in this corrupted word.  Thank you Jesus we have the word of God to help make sense of it all, and guide us to where we should be on the issues.  Always seek to be one of Jesus's sheep that He calls to be at His right side.  God does differentiate between people...

Matthew 25: 32-33 (Jesus speaking) "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them one another, as the sheperd separates the sheep from the goats' and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left."

In the end, God's word is good and worthy to be studied and praised.  So glad that God uses many different ways to save.  Sometimes even a well-placed hottie gets her name called to do a work in His name.  To God be the glory!

Freezing Florida

I just got back from a two week vacation in the state of Florida over the Christmas and New Year's holiday, and found it for the most part to be FREEZING!  

Most beaches in Pensacola look like this:

White sand beaches.

At my mom's insistence we (me, her, my brother, his wife, two kids and their dog) went on a Florida vacation that had us first housed in Pensacola on the far western extreme of the panhandle, then over at Pacific Coast which is about 35 miles south of Jacksonville. 

The weather started turning the day we left Tennessee.  Day two in Pensacola it was below zero -- even in the middle of the day!  Found out the hard way that the windows in Florida aren't insulated very well.  Felt a cold draft coming from a bedroom window so severe that it made me feel like that window was open.  Yeah, I get it, Florida is a warm weather state, but we saw Pensacola in record low temperatures.  Still, cold or not, my mom and brother found amble time to look for seashells.  Me, I'm not really into that.  I can look for shells for a little while, but it's not my jam. 

Thankfully we left Penacola after six days, and traveled east.  We stayed at "Cinnamon Beach" in Palm Coast. 

That beach had a lot of dead reefs and was dark brown like the color cinnamon, hence the name: Cinnamon Beach.  Lot of hurricane beach access damage there with about half of the pier access damaged and not usable.  Beach access at Cinnamon Beach was supposed to look like this --

But these peers were usually damaged at the stair access to the beach.  We saw some fences pushed over and some palm trees knocked over from hurricane damage earlier in 2022. 

To be completely honest, I wasn't in the vacationing spirit during this trip.  The highlight of Pensacola was seeing a lemon tree -- that still had lemons on it in on at the house we were renting there.  Did try one of the lemons off the tree and found it bland.  Went through the state of Alabama and found the entire experience forgettable. 

I tried to convince my mom NOT to go on this vacation, but she was insistent.  She thinks that the U.S. economy is going to crash, and when it does people aren't be going anywhere!  I tend to believe along those lines, but I'm a little more optimistic about the future than she is; though we're both looking forward to the rapture of the church and being with Jesus.  Mom thinks this may happen at this year's Jewish feast of Purim in early March.  Purim is feast the Jews celebrate when queen Ester helped expose a plot by a man in power who wanted to eliminate the Jews.  This happened about 500 B.C.  Anyway, as things in the world continue to worsten me and Sweet Pea continue to keep our gaze above.  This year the feast of Purim happens in early March.

On our trip I did see three gators in the wild.  All where in northeast Florida.  One was at a golf course pond.  Another was at waste water pond off the highway.  A third was on a log at Silver Springs National Park.  Saw lots of alligators at the St. Augustine Zoological Park.  I thought with the colder weather (low 70s at the time) the gators would be more active, but they weren't.  Most of them just were laying around, or swimming lazily in their water exhibits.  Surprisingly it was the TURTLES that were out and about putting on a show for the tourists. 

Did gets SOME writing in during this trip, but not a lot.  Started the script for Ducky Goes on Holiday on New Years morning.  Before that I did beef up the outline and did some important character work.  Still not expecting Ducky Goes on Holiday to be done until March.  Think I have 11 song and dance numbers planned for this animated script.  Still have some research to do.  And since this is my first kids oriented script, there's that inexperience to consider too.

Did avoid drinking alcohol this trip, but was awfully tempted a couple of times.  Especially at condominium complex in Palm Coast.  They had a bar there that served Pina Coladas and I really wanted one!  But the streak is intact, 5 months since I last had alcohol.  Though I no longer want to abstain, for the family I'm going to--for now!  But sometime soon, I'm going to drink again.  Yeah, I'll always have alcoholic tendencies, but I've proven I to myself I can refrain and stop if I have too.  The AA life simply isn't for me.  Staying sober to be in their favor isn't much of a motivator.  Still, for now I'm playing that game as it makes my mom happy; and also since my brother and sister-in-law have given up drinking.  The other consideration is their 14-year-old son, Brycen; who is seriously immature and at at delicate state in his life.  Still, a beer at Buffalo Wild Wings sounds like Heaven.

Tomorrow it's back to work for me.  Time to crank-up a lot of stuff.  Like maybe a 2nd job...  Get a new cap on a tooth in the back.  Work on the lawnmower.  Pick-up the yard.  Make sure my chainsaw is running and in good order.  Straighten up and maintain our firepit area.  Build a new retention wall.  Re-painting the family table.  Getting a new financial plan.  Getting some service done on my Subaru.  Already three days into 2023, and life keeps chugging along.  Sorry I didn't include pictures from the trip.  I did take a few.  It's just nothing stood out.  This was more of a relaxing tour of the southeast just during a record-setting cold spell. 

Big or Small Canvas Writing

Time to have a little fun as I write my 27 spec. script.  Can't help but think I oscillate a lot between "big canvas" and "small canvas" writing.  

 Big canvas  stories are ones with sweeping premises, and are often times referred to as "high concept" stories. 

 

Some examples of  big canvas  movies:

•  Saving Private Ryan  (1998: Steven Spielberg): D-day in France with the Allies taking the beach.  Big opening battle, then the story gets a little more intimate as you follow the Allies search party deeper into France.

One of the best big canvas movies you'll ever see

•  Promethseus  (2012: Ridley Scott): An alien origin movie that involves the creation of man and a bunch of sophisticates who "engineered man".  High concept then backed by the exploration of a new planet, and an spacious alien ship.
•  Dances with Wolves  (1990: Kevin Costner): Coming out of the civil war movie which involves a punch of different settings and an opening battle scene.
•  The Dark Knight  (2008: Christopher Nolan): Yeah, this is a comic book movie.  But one with elaborate action, set pieces.
•  Jurassic Park  (1993: Steven Spielberg): Big high concept of dinosaurs being re-creaated out of synthesised dna, then that product wrecking havoc on the people on an island.
•  Gamara vs. Guiron  (1969: Japanese movie): Aliens kidnap two children and take them to another planet for the purpose of getting knowledge from their brains, but Gamera follows and tries to rescue them.

A guilty pleasure of mine as boy was watching the "monster fights" in monster movies

•  The Poseidon Adventure  (1972: staring Gene Hackman): Nine people explore a cruise ship at sea in a manner that turns their whole lives upside down.

 

Common elements of  big canvas stories  is that the adventure takes center stage.  It's more about characters interfacing with a greater problem, that a detailed focus on the characters themselves.  The central attraction is a  big event: a war, an exploration of the unknown, monster fights .

 

Conversely here's some examples of small canvas movies:

•  Black Swan  (2010: directed by Darren Aronofsky): A ballet stars desire for the perfect performance becomes the catalyst for her descent into madness.
•  While You Were Sleeping  (1995: staring Sandra Bullock): A lonely woman's life changes when she saves a man from the train tracks in Chicago and gets taken in by that man's family.
•  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri  (2017: staring Frances McDormand): A woman goes to extremes to put the heat on the local police to find the rapist and murderer of her daughter.
•  Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)  (2014: staring Michael Keaton): Self-absorbed man tries to rehabilitate his art as an actor and his relationship with his ex-wife and daughter.  

Character arc of Riggan Thompson was the focus of this movie

•  Halloween  (1978: directed by John Carpenter): A masked man terrorizes a teenage woman on the anniversary of when he killed his sister.

 

Common elements of  small canvas stories : a focus on a single character and the flaw the story sets up that they must overcome, few locations, dialog heavy movies with lots of drama.

 

Some movies blur the lines of small canvas movies movies that really want to be big canvas movies:

•  There Will be Blood  (2007: directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, staring Daniel Day Lewis): A ruthless oil tycoon carves out an empire for himself.
•  Bohemian Rapsody  (2018: directed by Bryan Singer, staring Rami Malek): The story of Freddy Mercury with the rock band, Queen.
•  Arthur  (1981: staring Dudley Moore): A millionaire, alcoholic playboy must choose between real love or an arranged marriage that allows him to continue to be rich.
•  Sense and Sensibility  (1995: staring Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson): Women enjoy and anguish over their romantic prospects in England of the 1800s.

Remember when Kate Winslet was like in a million of these "period piece" movies?  I do.  1995-early 2000s

•  How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days  (2003: staring Matthew McConahuey and Kate Hudson): A pair of career-minded people place wagers on their mastery of manipulating dating.

 

Common elements of  small canvas movies trying to be big canvas movies  are big name actors playing someone famous in biography style movie that jumps all over the place.  Period piece movies.  Romantic comedies that have lots of elaborate set pieces in multiple locations.

As a I writer I like wring stories on both canvasses.  The  spec. script  I'm first drafting up deals with two infantrymen fresh from trench warfare in World War I going to antediluvian times to catch the Greed gods at the apex of their power.  

To date I think I've written a pretty even slate of  big canvass  vs.  small canvass scripts .  Let's see...

 

E.C. Henry's  big canvas scripts  (10):

•  Preytorium : Explorers go to a foreign planet and fight gigantic, monsters.  
•  Indians of the Ancient Plains : Native Americans due battle with the last of the dinosaurs in the Badlands.
•  The Commune I-III : A man weaves his way through the greater story of other people's dabllings in alien bio-engineering.
•  A King for God's People  THEN  The Rival Kings of Israel : Epic story of the David & Saul of the bible.
•  The Beautiful Kingdom  (coming soon): A celestial castle, the ocean, and Heaven; plus with dinosaur affects.

Yeah, you can expect something akin to this in The Beautiful Kingdom

•  The Chosen Redeemer of Thars : This is a lot like Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia. 
•  Beyond the Apes : Sci-fi world, creature affects at actor and blue-screen level.

 

E.C. Henry's  small canvas scripts  (9): 

•  A Heart Built on the Sand : Follows the dissent of a sexually charged woman after she rejects the Lord.
•  The Judas Project : Centers around a Mexican young man who is dissatisfied with his life, then commits a robbery that forever changes his life.
•  An American Princess : A love-starved girl watches as her high school sweetheart moves on into stardom as a writer.
•  Puppies?  Puppies?!  Puppies!!! : A slouch must deal with puppies and an overbearing friend as he works up the courage to ask out a girl at the pound.

Cute, right?  Who wouldn't want to see a script like that?!

•  Cupid's Helpers : A writer's helper accompany's him to his hometown for his high school reunion where he meets the girl who was the inspiration for all the stories he wrote that made him famous.
•  Cupid God Stupid : A construction worker faces a crissis of conscious when his wife learns about his extra-marital affair.
•  After the Glory : An ex-athlete bums around town as he re-interacts with people he grew up with and slowly finds a new focus for his life.
•  Revenge of the Fat Chicks : girls teen comedy mostly filmed at houses and a school.  

 

E.C. Henry's  small canvas scripts that really want to be big canvas movies  (8):

•  Bubblehead Saves the Day : A high school senior pines for a girl, has his life complicated by a robot from outer=space and aliens.
•  Give It Up for Chimpy I and II : A man uses the monkey he can interpret for to woo the girl of his dreams.
•  Gravesite Crows : A Halloween-eque story yet with considerable more special affects.
•  Hometown Professional Football : Athletes in romance, yet will too many football scenes in action to make this low budget.
•  When the Motorcycle Calls : A rural hick uncovers a robbery attempt in a small town made bigger by all the outside actions shots on dirt bikes.  What the main character's dirt bike jam is:

•  Cowboy Alien Diaries : A husband winning back his wife story complicated by alien abductions and differing locations.
•  Kathy Smith Conquers Duboose High School : Mostly low budget teenage rom-com material, but there are some callouts for mixed real-life and animated scenes.

 

Well, it looks like a fairly even 10-9-8 split: big-small-mixed canvas.  Still, overall, I think writing  big canvas stories  more.  They're definitely more challenging to write than a drama heavy,  small canvas script .  

Oh, before I close this post don't forget to visit Antonio Sabato Jr.'s movie fundraiser site for his new movie Trail Blazers.  Its been almost a year since I've heard anything from either he, Kaya Jones or Nicholas Tizekker.  Sounds like Antonio and Nicholas are still trying to make this movie, I THINK Kaya dropped out.  Anyway, I gave 'em $500.  When I get back to work I'll try to give them more, if they're still trying to drum up founds in 2022.  Gotta support our fellow artists!  *Strike-through the campaign for Trail-blazers, got an e-mail, 12-28 that my contribution of $500 had been refunded, then checked on the campaign and saw a $150,000 had reached a little over $4,000, but the crowdfund had been canceled.  :(   I feel bad for Antonio, as this was a script that he had written.

Tried to graft a little  "lit expression"  in this post--and in my script logline page.  Till we talk again, I would like to wish you a  merry Christmas   and a  happy New Year .  Will try to do another post before the end of 2021, but no promises.  Till then, as Kaya Jones would say,  love and light ,

 

 E.C. Henry  from Kingsport, Tennessee