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The science of storytelling
involves taking people on a journey that is relatable in their own
lives but is also unique, unlike anything we have seen before. The Lobster is a perfect example of that. We all know what it
is like to be single at some point, but we do not live in a world
where by law newly single adults are grouped together and have 45
days to find a new mate or else you will be turned into an animal of
your choice. That would be crazy right?
This is the imaginative premise of
the Dark Comedy The Lobster. Colin Farrell as David is traded
in for a new man by his wife and is bused out to a luxury resort
full of other singles. This is no ordinary hotel however, it had the
rules and regularity of a prison. They cannot leave, no masturbation
is allowed, you cannot smoke because that will make you less
favorable to kiss and it will keep you in shape for the hunt. Now I
– Oh right, the hunt. Every so often they send the singles out
into the woods armed with tranquilizer guns to hunt people they call
the loners. If they capture a loner the authorities give the hunter
a few extra days to find a mate. Who are these loners? They are a
group of people who escaped from the hotel and are committed to
staying single. This clan has a leader and their own set of rules,
any sexual interaction is brutally punished. For recreation the
loners are allowed to listen to electronic/techno music. We see them
spread out in a field wearing headphones and dancing to the beat of
their own music. The irony here is too brilliant to ignore, these
people are banding together to protect their right to be alone.
As crazy as it seams the rules of
the fictitious culture portrayed in The Lobster makes sense,
due mostly to the realistic world the filmmakers built around this
one of a kind story. The Lobster was Directed by YorgosLanthimos and written by Yorgos and Efthimis Filippou, the same Greek
filmmakers who brought us Dogtooth (2009) which was nominated
for an Academy Award for best foreign language film. This well
drawn story is steeped in metaphor about what it is like to be single
and thrown into the dating pool. I will not spoil it for you with
details but some of the most surprising elements from the film show
the lengths these men go through to start a relationship and what the
women do while they are being courted.
When you stop to think about it,
society does look at single people differently. At ladies' night at
dance clubs, women drink free for a reason. We are put in a
different tax bracket if you are married, and rings are worn as a
symbol to everyone that you are not alone in the world. There are
couples' retreats and singles' retreats, but never both at the same
time. I have noticed that times I been out in public with a
girlfriend or even a woman I am friends with, people often start up
conversations with us. When I am out there alone people rarely
strike up a conversation with me, as if it was contagious. The hook
of The Lobster instantly caught my attention because for years
a question I like to ask when I'm getting to know people is if
reincarnation is real, what animal would you be? I would be a Flying
Squirrel, because I want the ability to fly (I know they don't really
fly but glide, but still) and I have always been fascinated watching
squirrels scurry up a tree.
If I had to pick: I'd be a Flying Squirrel
The final question, is The
Lobster a good movie to watch with your date? I have to say it
depends on how cool your significant other is, because The Lobster
is not romantic, it is a fun, twisted Dark Comedy. If on date night
you have watched movies like Eternal Sunshine of a SpotlessMind, Her, True Romance or The One I Love, then
you're good to go. Whether you see it alone or snuggled up with a loved one, if you like bold, original movies, I highly recommend The Lobster.
9 out of 10, because there was one tiny error of logic in the movie and nobody is perfect.
- Curt Wiser is the Writer/Director of
the Thriller Cam-Girl, now available on DVD from Amazon, BestBuy, and other major retailers.
Hello good people. I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Screenwriter and Director Ashley Scott Meyers for his Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. Leading up to the interview I had prepared a lot of things I wanted to say, this way there were no “Um's” or awkward pauses in the interview (Thank you public speaking college course.) Many of these things were said, but time flew by and when the time came to say our goodbyes, I knew I had plenty more to say.
As writers we get to anguish over every word until we say what exactly is intended. That is one of the most appealing elements of being a writer, you have full control over every word, each action of your constructed reality. The kind of circumstance we wish could be found in everyday life. Well this is my chance to do that with this interview, to elaborate on my thoughts with annotated notes you can read below this video:
Feel free to listen to this interview while you read the notes that go along with the corresponding time code of the video.
[19:30] Before my first feature Cam-Girl was financed, I had much more than a web site, business entity and concept art prepared for it. I also had a business plan, budget, storyboards, a shot list and I even made some of the props that were used in the final movie. If it sounds like a ton of work, I can assure you it is, but it is necessary. You have to stand out from the pack if you want your script produced and the way to do that is to have much more than just a great script. Everyone has a script, so you need all of these sales tools to let potential producers see that there is a movie here and to show that you have the ambition to get it done.
[20:20] The other Executive Producer that Jay Aubrey connected me to is Odorico Mendes. He has over a decade of filmmaking and commercial production experience behind him. Cam-Girl would not have been possible without both of them, I cannot thank them enough for giving me this opportunity.
[13:21] The book How I made 100 Moviesin Hollywood and never lost a Dime By Roger Corman is a must read for low budget filmmakers. The strategies he used as far back as the 50's can still be applied to film production today. Here is a list of links to many other books on writing/filmmaking that I recommend:
[15:40] Besides Erin Nicole Cline, our male lead actor Joe Coffey was also a Florida based actor who has moved on to a promising career. He is widely known as Horace Dodge from the Dodge Brothers series of car commercials.
Joe Coffey as Horace Dodge
[22:32] How I met the other people in the cast and crew of Cam-Girl:
Curtis Norton (Editor) and I met years prior in a screenwriting course at the University of Central Florida.
Joe Coffey (Lead Actor) responded to an open casting call online.
Erin Nicole Cline (Lead Actress) worked in Entertainment at the same theme park I did. Erin was the first person cast and we are grateful for that.
Tara Leia (Actress) is a friend of mine who also worked at the same theme park I did. (See a pattern forming here?)
Aurelia Riley (Actress) was referred to us by our make up artist Sarah Okun. Aurelia brought a tremendous amount of energy to the set and her role.
The rest of the cast came from general casting calls.
[29:20] Here is our official site (www.webcamthefilm.com) which features info about the movie, release info and a store with cool new merchandise including shirts designed for the movie.
[16:00] By taking the time to outline the script, I knew that this structure would create an entertaining story and how all the scenes would relate to each other. That is how you can be sure that the key elements of your script are there, set ups/pay offs, subtext, foreshadowing, call backs, symbolism and metaphor.
Chris Sparling was interviewed twice on the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I found these interviews to be helpful and inspiring, you can listen to them here:
[14:45] Besides the book Candy Girlby Diablo Cody, two movies in particular were a major inspirations for me. They are Hard Candy and Phone Booth. [CLICK THE TITLES FOR TRAILERS]
A screenwriter should also read great scripts to learn what is expected of them if they want to have a chance. I have read the scripts for Hard Candy, Network, The Usual Suspects, Alien, Taxi Driver and Inception. Read a popular script in the genre that you are preparing to write.
[31:27] I really have been listening to the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. An indie filmmaker should take advantage of every valuable resource they can find.
Here are some other great podcast on Writing/Filmmaking:
As a filmmaker and cine-file I am ever
optimistic yet worried about what the future holds. On May of 2016
all of the Movie Stop stores nationwide started their going out of
business sales. By this they mean total liquidation including their
large DVD shelves, I bought two metal folding chairs and the employee
behind the counter said pretty soon we won't have a place to sit. "The remaining two chairs will be sold last", I joked but I was
half serious as I felt bad for these employees and the whole sight of
this place being sold piece by piece was disheartening. The storefront was cluttered with going out of business signs that could no doubt be seen from the far side of the parking lot.
If you have
never been at a Movie Stop, it was a large retail chain where you
could walk in and sell your used DVD's or trade them in for new ones. A variable movie lover's trading post, where you could cycle things
in and out of your prized DVD collection. It was a beacon of hope
long after movie rental stores full of thousands of titles to choose
from were replaced by RedBox vending machines that spit out a DVD like a
used wad of chewing gum. In fact, after reporting declining revenue
in 2014, RedBox unplugged and removed 500 of their rental kiosks (*TheVerge).
I realize times have changed, we are
an on-demand culture now. It is great that we can stream content
from anywhere on our 3 inch cellphone screens, but the dramatic drop
in DVD sales and rentals has taken these valuable options away from
us. U.S. sales of DVD and Blu-Ray disks fell 12 percent in 2015 to
6.1 Billion, after an 11 percent drop in 2014. (*DigitalEntertainment Group) So what is the worst that can happen? If
things continue this way the day may come when the only movies that
are released on physical media are the blockbuster studio films like
Transformers 9. Independent films will be relegated to just the
digital platforms and television, making it even harder for
filmmakers to earn a living. It is safe to say if there is no DVD
release, there will be no special features either. I enjoyed all of
these audio commentaries and behind the scenes documentaries I have
watched over the years. It has been sort of a film school for me and
I would surely miss this bonus content. And the thought of only
major studio films being on DVD really gives me pause.
Okay true believers, if you are also
concerned by any of these recent developments I have bought up and
you want to do something about it, the answer is simple. Buy more
physical media and if it is available on the store shelves, buy it
there. Now is the time to support independent film and remember that
our purchase power can make the difference between formats like
DVD's becoming extinct. This would be a good time to mention that
Cam-Girl, the first feature I wrote and directed is now available on DVD. The story revolves around a single mother who works as a webcam
stripper who is pushed to her limit when held hostage by an unknown
gunman. I am happy to say our DVD is loaded with special features
including Filmmaker Commentary, a 30 Minute look behind the scenes, a
deleted scene and more. Please continue to support physical media if you have been and remind your friends that there was a time when we never thought video rental stores would go away either.
The Invitation is
a contained suspense film about a man and several other house guests
who attend a party hosted by a couple who disappeared from their
lives for two years and may have a sinister hidden agenda in store
for their guests. The story is told through the point of view of
Will played by Logan Marshall-Green. Will is a deeply conflicted
character who is put in a difficult situation from the beginning. He
arrives at his former home that he and his ex-wife Eden used to
share, a home with a history. A tragedy that happened there a few
years ago led to their separation and now, out of the blue, Eden
invites Will over where he meets the new man of the house, David.
From the start Will is suspicious of Eden's motives and in true
Hitchcock fashion these fears escalate the more Will learns about the
situation he and the other house guests are in. We the audience
tense up as Will does when David insists on keeping the doors locked
while everyone is inside, or when two outsiders crash the party,
Pruitt and Sadie. Eden and David are close friends with Sadie and
Pruitt, kindred spirits almost. As these well written character
dynamics are formed we get an us against them feeling between these
two groups of characters.
Sadie is first seen
waiting in the seclusion of a dark bedroom while the others arrive.
She springs out like a coil when she introduces herself and then
never stops. Sadie is an impulsive girl who is happy, a little too
happy. Then there is Pruitt, the perfect heavy who is thrown into
the mix. He is played by the brilliant character actor John Carroll Lynch, who has over 100 acting credits to his name. Whether it is as
a suspected serial killer in the David Fincher film Zodiac, or
his brief but memorable portrayal of Eastman on The Walking Dead,
John Carroll Lynch fully embodies the characters he plays and his
role of Pruitt is no different. The little we find out about Pruitt
is enough to scare anyone and under the surface we get a sense that
Pruitt is afraid of what he himself is capable of.
I will hold off on
saying more about the story as it may bleed into spoilers territory. I will speak to its many strengths instead. The Invitation is
a bold and promising new work from the director Karyn Kusama who
collaborated with her husband Phil Hay, who is one of the
screenwriters of the film. This movie has all the precepts of great
storytelling, metaphor, subtext, tension, well developed characters
and enough room for you the viewer to come to your own conclusions
about what happened once the end credits start to roll. If you are a
fan of carefully crafted, psychological suspense films, then The
Invitation is a must see. If that is not your cup of tea, then
don't drink this one, because The Invitation is exactly what
it sets out to be.
- Curt Wiser is an Author and the Writer/Director of the thriller Cam-Girl, which is due to be released this year on DVD and Video-On-Demand.
Screenplay:
Charlie Kaufman, (based on his Play “Anomalisa”)
Cast:
David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan
Oscar
Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film
When
I approached my car to begin my drive over to the Enzian Theater to
see Anomalisa,
I found that my gold Camry was speckled with the tinge of white bird
poop. But I wasn't going to let this unforeseen act of nature keep
me from seeing this film. And after I saw Anomalisa
and finally had time to scrape the mess off my car, I felt it seamed
to fit the tone of the movie in an odd way. This story dramatizes
the bland routine of everyday life and yet it is engaging and unlike
anything you have seen before. Funny scenes like watching a
character have to field a bunch of questions just to order hotel room
service or having to try his key card several times because the door
is faulty are made more interesting because of the animation
technique used to produce the film. The Starburns Industries team made 3-D printed heads
for each puppet character, then constructed small sets to make up
their world and posed them frame by frame to simulate movement. This
tedious process is called stop-motion animation. It took the
production two years to complete the animation and all of the detail
in the final film is proof of their craft and dedication. The
practical lighting they created for these miniature sets created a
breathtaking sense of depth and realism. Even the fact that these
characters had plastic heads went into telling the story when it
takes a surprising turn.
Anomalisa
is not just eye candy, it tells the story of Michael Stone, a highly
successful customer service guru who is in town for a book tour after
he wrote the definitive book on the subject. Ironically, in his
personal life Michael feels isolated from the rest of humanity, he is
anti-social, that is until he falls for Lisa who is a beautiful yet
shy fan of his writing. Some elements of Anomalisa
are unusual, but that should come as no surprise since it was
Co-Directed and Written by Charlie Kaufman, the creative mind behind
Being John Malkovich
and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Take the cast for example, David Thewlis is the voice of the lead,
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lisa, the love interest who ends up driving
the story forward and of course inspires the film's title. Then
there is actor Tom Noonan who is credited as playing the voice of
“Everyone else.” This is including Michael's Ex-Girlfriend, who
is generous enough to visit him at the hotel bar after he left her
without cause or consultation. Yes,
hearing a male voice for a female character is off putting, but it
must not be misunderstood as laziness. It reminded me of Steven Soderbergh's 1996 film Schizopolis
which featured a character playing a wife in a troubled marriage who
inexplicably starts arguing with her husband in totally different
languages from one scene to another. This unique choice speaks about
the divide between this couple. Having a man voice all the female
characters except Lisa in Anomalisa
supports the theme of the movie in a similar way. This is bold
storytelling to say the least. I also have to mention the sex scene
in this movie that is so natural and honest that it plays as comedy. Even though it is two puppets having sex, it is nothing like the
crude sex scene in Team America: World Police.
It is interesting to know that Anomalisa
was partially crowd funded. The filmmakers launched the project on
Kickstarter with a $200,000 goal, which raised $406,237 from 5,770
backers. This becomes clear when these backers are listed in the end
credits, the columns of names stretched on and on like a four lane
highway. The only thing that keeps this movie from a five star
review is the ending. For me several scenes before the ending had
more of a climactic feel and relevance to the theme than the final
minutes of the movie did. That being said I still highly recommend
Anomalisa
for its originality and this is a movie written by Charlie Kaufman
after all, so I'll have to watch it again to see if I missed
something.
Display at Enzian Theater. Photo by Curt Wiser
Curt
Wiser is a writer who thinks Bio's should be brief.
