Hello my dear fans and family! I thought I'd go a head and use this as a "blog" to keep everyone updated on our favorite vampire and her Watcher. I will try to update at least once a week with news about the progress I've made with the script.
So far, so good. I've broken ground with the screenplay with the first two scenes already finished. I had to rewrite certain things to make it work for a movie: the first Cardinal Rule of Screenplay Adaptation is "You can't see thought". Trust me, it's trickier than it sounds. That's why, in most cases, the books are better than the movie. Think about the average novel, it's somewhere between 400 and 500 pages, right? In terms of screenplays, that would be about an 8 HOUR MOVIE if taken word-for-word. To help put it in perspective, scripts translate to roughly a minute per page so a two hour film is about 120 pages long. If you do the math, about 70-80% of the book is missing from the script automatically! Everything in the script must be told through either visuals or dialogue, and let's be honest, no one wants to sit through a movie that seems like someone is reading a book. No, we want to experience the story through action - that whole "don't tell, show" rule. Sure, the production team will most likely read the source material to get a better understanding of recreating the author's envisioned world (think Lord Of The Rings, my personal favorite for this example), but they can only come just so close, And even then, our love for the original work keeps us from fully enjoying the work they've put into the film.
I hope that helps everyone better understand some of the behind-the-scenes stuff of film adaptation. On a side note, the next sequel to Embrace The Enemy has just begun, so bear with me on getting it out. Because on top of that and my regular night job (sleep during the day), I've also entered a short film script entitled HEART in the Nashville Film Festival competition this spring. A short, 15-page script based on certain events in my own life several years ago. Wish me luck!
Take care of yourselves! --Nate