Posted in preproduction, screenplay on August 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I finished and sent my final (final) draft of “Bleeding Wichita” to Megan (who wants to do make-up) and Alec Walterscheid (who will assist Lonny in a million ways).
I like where the script is.
I have one more day as a zombie and then it’s 100% into my movie.
promise.
-wade.
Posted in screenplay on March 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I don’t want to do any more rewrites. Seriously. The script is done…. enough.
Posted in preproduction, screenplay, tagged David Lynch on January 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I think I have gotten the last of the feedback and it’s time to write the final draft. The feedback has been really positive except for a few small things that everybody thought should go, and they have been omitted (good call on everybody’s part).
My brother Mark, actually liked the script… after he got his head around the campiness of the script. He gave me some good feedback and I have made some nice changes to the script because of it. He kept telling me that it reminded him of a “Rocky Horror” vibe…. but, Adam said it still had a nice David Lynch vibe, also… which is the highest compliment I could ever get. I worship David Lynch.
So, I hope to have the final draft done by next week and then it’s on to real pre-production… weeeee!
-wade
Posted in preproduction, screenplay on January 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I’ve gotten really good feedback on my script… mostly very favorable. But, all good in the long run…
My good friend Rod Pocowatchit, a great filmmaker himself (see Rawd’s Think Spot under the Blog Roll on the left), gave me some really good feedback. He made me really rethink some things and really tighten the script. I’ve attached one page from the script with Rod’s notes (in red). Not, all the pages have this much red, some have none, but they are great notes.
Now, after all the feedback, I made the changes and thought I was done, but I did give the screenplay to my brother Mark to read (cue ominous music)… so, we’ll see what changes he thinks need to be made (oh, he’ll make changes). I can’t wait to hear what he says. I hope it doesn’t piss me off. Love you Mark!
-wade
Posted in preproduction, screenplay, thoughts, tagged Gooding, Stickman Six, Wade Hampton on December 28, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Yes, my therapist has read my script and he tells me that 36 of the pages have “corrections” on them… I think he said that, maybe he means that he has story suggestions? I don’t know, I haven’t picked up the pages yet.
I did speak to my dear friend Noel (Stickman Six), who had just finished reading the script and seemed to really love it… until the ending. He felt that it was a little too “after school special-ish”. He thought I had a particular scene at the end that stopped the “flow” of the film by explaining too much. I argued that it might be needed but I could very well get away with letting the audience “read” what they wanted into the film. I did comment that Noel is a huge Jim Jarmusch fan and that he likes things vague and somewhat abstract… I love Jarmusch, but this film might need a few things explained for the average viewer….
Then on Christmas day, good ol’ Goobie (Gooding) called and told me the script was perfect. So, I told him that I needed to hang up and call Noel, and tell him to go f**k himself (that’s a joke BTW, even though I did say that). Anyway, Goobie thought the ending was very necessary, and that he wasn’t a very big fan of films that leave things very vague. And he totally got what I was trying to do with this film by making it very “in your face” with rock and roll and some slow motion shots, etc. So, that made me feel like maybe my first gut instinct was right?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Noel and TOTALLY respect his opinion… AND he has amazing taste in film and art…. but, I think he is afraid I will take a decent story and “cheesy” it up. But, i think once it’s “shot”, I think he’ll get it. It’ll be fine.
I hope? (cue ominous music)
-wade.
Posted in screenplay on December 22, 2008| Leave a Comment »
I had dinner with Rod last Friday and he gave me his first impressions of my first draft of the script. Rod Pocowatchit will star in and co-produce “Bleeding Wichita”.
He knew that this was a rough first draft and that it definitely needs tightening. He did think that is was a cool story and he commented on liking some of the individual scenes very much (Frank and the city workers, Eddie in the car).
And, he really loved that this film is a love story at it’s heart.
I explained in depth how I saw a lot of the film playing out, so I felt he got a better feel for what I’m trying to do with this thing. It’s a black comedy for sure, but it will have some tender moments… I hope?
He’s going to re-read it with a red pen and let me know all the mistakes… I have names “flip flopped” and a lot of other crap like that….
-wade
Posted in screenplay on December 19, 2008| Leave a Comment »
My friend Tim just emailed this review:
“So now you’ve left me thinking everyone could be a vampire.
I laughed.
I envisioned Blade meets The Office and American Pie….”
That last line might just sum it up… thanks, Tim!!
-wade
Posted in screenplay on December 19, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Okay, I just got this email from Adam Friend, who is acting in the film:
“I read the script, but it’s too late to call (i.e. I’m going to bed). It’s good. I laughed a lot. I have some questions. We’ll discuss soon.”
Still, no hate.
We’ll see…
-wade.
Posted in screenplay on December 18, 2008| Leave a Comment »
I’ve been dying to see what five different people think of my script (the only people I gave it to).
Rod just emailed me this:
“Yes, I read your script. I thought it was cool. I’m swamped and on
deadline to write a review today (I saw “slumdog millionaire” this
morning — very good), so I’ll go into detail later. Just wanted to let
you know.
The Rod has spoken.”
He didn’t hate it. So far so good.
-wade
Posted in preproduction, screenplay on December 15, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Okay, at this point no one has read this script but me. I read it all the way through for the first time yesterday. To be honest, I had to read the beginning a few times over to get to the flow of what I was trying to do. The script definitely changed as I wrote it. The characters start to dictate where the story is going, and their personalities take over… if you know what I mean?
I’m no writer, I know that. I wrote this screenplay, as with my others, with the people in mind that will playing the different parts. And, I know their personalities will bring all these characters to life. No doubt.
I felt like the script went where I wanted it to go, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I did feel like the beginning of the script was a little rough but it gets going and ends strong. Which is what you want in a film… right?
Well, I will post the honest feedback that I get from the few people that are reading the first draft.
I am a little nervous.
-wade
Posted in screenplay on December 12, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Yes, I finished the first draft of “Bleeding Wichita” at 11:00 last night… yay!!! It ended up being 92 pages. But, in my “Final Draft” screenwriting software, you can set the “spacing”, so I changed it from “normal” to “Tighter” or “Tighten” (something like that?)…. Anyway, now it’s 86 pages… and that sounds better to me.
So, now I need to re-read it from beginning to end before I let anyone read this draft.
But…. YAY!!! It feels good.
-wade
Posted in preproduction, screenplay on December 9, 2008| Leave a Comment »
So much for this script being only 80 pages long. It looks like no more than 90… honest.
The end is in sight, bitches… Yay!!
-wade
Posted in screenplay on December 4, 2008| Leave a Comment »
My mission is to have this script done by Christmas *fingers crossed*. I hit page 62 last night. So, that will probably put this script at about 80 pages… perfect, that would make me happy. I wanted this thing to be about 70 pages, so this will be just fine. I know I tend to edit long, so I really wanted a pretty short “feature” screenplay (most screenplays are about 90-120 pages long… 1 page = 1 minute on screen, is the rule).
I just finished a scene that has five people and action in it. I know this doesn’t seem like much, but I’m a dang novice when it comes to directing, and I have had a hard time getting my head around this scene. But, I like what I wrote and I could “see” most of it in my head, so we should be fine.
The trick is to get what’s in me head, on to the screen. Isn’t that always the problem?
-wade
Posted in preproduction, screenplay on November 21, 2008| Leave a Comment »
I like to sketch these out when I’m writing the screenplay. It makes the movie more real.
More coming….
-wade
Posted in screenplay on November 20, 2008| Leave a Comment »
I’m past the halfway point in the script and getting onto the more F’d up part of the story.
Weeeeeeeee!!
-wade
Posted in screenplay on November 18, 2008| Leave a Comment »
I actually have an outline for the Bleeding Wichita script, and I’m at the halfway mark of the screenplay and the outline. That puts me at about 36 pages, this is good! I may have finally pulled off a screenplay that hasn’t gotten too big or out of control….
We’ll see.
-wade
Posted in screenplay, thoughts on November 2, 2008| Leave a Comment »
The name of the new screenplay and my first feature film will be “Bleeding Wichita”.
“Bleeding Wichita” is the story of Lincoln Abraham. A simple man who works quietly in an office and dreams of a better life where he can be himself. Which would be a lot easier if his coworkers wouldn’t keep unexpectedly disappearing.
And yes, there will be blood.
….and Wichita.
-wade
Posted in screenplay, thoughts on November 2, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Yes, making a feature film is freekin’ difficult and I’m starting over again. Because, the problem is that I have to actually write something that “we” can actually make. That’s a difficult task, because we all have full time jobs, families and responsibilities…. “keep it simple stupid”, that’s what I keep telling myself.
I pray that this screenplay I’m writing right now will be the one we make… it better be.
-wade
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