Rebel With a Cause

This is Memorial Day weekend, so strains of dog fights and screech bombs, rapid gun fire and explosions float from the family room as my husband enjoys yet another weekend of war movies.

I’ve seen a few, though I must admit, what drew me was more the  actors than the action. With its all-star cast, I remember seeing Midway in the drive-in theater when it first came out. Three hours sitting in the front passenger seat and no destination in sight. But I was riveted. Not because of the carnage in front of me, but because this was the first war movie I remembered seeing where the opposite side had a voice.

I didn’t agree with why the Japanese Imperial Navy felt they needed that tiny island, but I appreciated hearing their point of view. They felt the island of Midway would give them the best advantage to totally defeat the US Pacific fleet and put them in prime position for an all out land attack. Listening to their conviction, I began to feel sympathetic with the admirals in charge, even while rooting for my own team.

Years later, when I began to study the craft of writing, I was told that I must make my villains sympathetic. All I could think of were Disney villains who didn’t have an ounce of redeemable quality in them. Cruella Deville who wanted to kill puppies; Lady Tremaine, the quintessential evil step-mother to the innocent Cinderella; Stromboli, who burned his marionettes for firewood when they could no longer perform. Now these are villains! We never knew, nor cared, why they were so evil. Their only job was to make our skin crawl and our tiny throats clench as we cried out in the theater, “Run away, Pinocchio!”

But the Japanese Navy in Midway had, what they felt, a very good reason for defeating the Americans. They pushed their cause to the bitter end. And that is why studying movies such as these can help to strengthen our own antagonists, giving them layers and a purpose for being in our stories.

I always have the GMC, (Goal, Motivation, and Conflict) clear for my main characters. What do they want? Why do they want it? What gets in their way?

Wonder what the GMC is for the Imperial Navy?

• Goal – Take the island of Midway.
• Motivation – It would put them in prime position to totally defeat the Americans.
• Conflict – But a crippled, yet determined, US Pacific fleet, still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor only six months prior, stand in their way.

I must admit, answering those questions for my villains were rarely on my top to-do list. But, if we could take the time to figure out what makes these bad boys/girls tick, I believe we’d have a much more compelling story.

 

In honor of Memorial Day, I’d like to include a link to a blog post I wrote in 2009 titled “Thank You For Serving”. It’s a small tribute to the men and women in my family who made the brave decision to join the U.S. military.

The Foreshadow Knows

Kudos and a case of Bengay if you know where that title came from!

Foreshadowing. When you talk about the art of writing, foreshadowing is the fine brush strokes that make the painting pop. It’s the subtle waves on the lake that create moving water. It’s the sunshine on a mountain face to depict a sunrise. It’s the trust placed in a child’s eyes.

Without foreshadowing, our stories would lay flat and motionless.

One of my new favorite movies is Water for Elephants starring Robert Pattinson (Jacob), Reese Witherspoon (Marlena), and Christopher Waltz (August.) I watched it again last night and thrilled at all of the foreshadowing that was woven in. Following are some of the spots I saw:

1. Jacob’s roots:

• He’s the son of Polish immigrants.
• He becomes fast friends with a man named Camel, a worker for the circus, because he also is Polish.
• He unlocks Rosie’s abilities by realizing she only knows Polish commands.

2. Jacob is clearly a moral, gentle soul who would never hurt another living being. Here are the brush strokes to make this clear:

• He wants to be veterinarian.
• He shoots a horse to put it out of its misery.
• He is in torment over being forced to prod Rosie, the elephant, with an iron rod.
• After his tyrannical boss, August, beats Rosie with the prod, he grabs it and goes after him to beat him as well. But as angry as he is, he just can’t do it.
• He runs away with Marlena, August’s wife. When she is caught and forced to return, Jacob, bent on protecting her from her husband’s abuse, holds a knife to his neck while he’s sleeping. But even then, he can’t take this man’s life.

3. Jacob is held back physically:

• When Rosie is being beaten by August.
• When Marlena is being strangled by August.

4. Marlena calms August twice by looking in his eyes and saying, “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” :

• However, she leaves him in the end, which makes that foreshadowing even more poignant.

5. Rosie’s cool trick:

• Removes stake from ground so she can walk over to drink from the lemonade bowl.
• Removes stake from ground so she can swing it at August’s head and kill him.

6. And speaking of August, his role as villain was delightfully painted with foreshadowing:

• In the beginning, he is so clearly god of his own domain (a second-rate circus) that he doesn’t even show his face to Jacob when he first meets him.
• He has his goons throw men off of the train to avoid paying them. Most of the time they die.
• Shows potential violence toward his wife, Marlena, when he grabs her chin and hurts her.
• Prods Rosie until she bleeds.
• Beats Rosie with the prod until she can’t stand.
• Is sadistic when he makes Jacob and Marlena act out a “scene” he’s thought of about two people falling in love, simply because he knows now that really have.
• Hits Marlena after what happened above.
• Orders his goons to beat Jacob after he runs off with Marlena.
• Throws Jacobs friends off the train, where they die on rocks, because they supported him.
• Strangles Marlena in an uncontrollable rage, and would have succeeded in killing her had it not been for Rosie and her cool trick with the spike.

Not every story foreshadows . . . but the good ones do. Whenever possible, I watch for those scenes when I view a movie for the second, or third time. As a result, I’ve learned to go back after I’ve written the first draft and layer these opportunities in.

Jesus in Film

As we move into the holy season, let’s explore some of the movies that depict the life of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I’ve included two lists, one from a noted Christian viewpoint and one from a secular. It’s interesting to see the similarities, but the contrasts may help the evangelical author to understand a wider audience. I have bolded the ones that appear on both lists.

According to Christianity Today, here are the top ten of the most popular movies of all time:

1. The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1902-05)
2. The King of Kings (1927)
3. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
4. The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
5. Godspell (1973)
6. The Messiah (1976)
7. Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
8. Jesus (1999)
9. The Miracle Maker (2000)
10. The Passion of the Christ (2004)

TIME Entertainment lists these:

1. The King of Kings (1927)
2. King of Kings (1961)
3. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
4. Godspell ( 1973)
5. Gospel Road (1973)
6. Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
7. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
8. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
9. The Passion of Christ (2004)
10. South Park: Fantastic Easter Special (2007)

It’s interesting to me to see the two most obvious departures of the traditional gospel movie—Monty Python and South Park—included on the secular list.  Amongst these other movies, who at least attempt to tell the true story, (even Godspell,) are these irreverent plot lines.

What does that tell me, as a Christian author? That maybe occasionally we take ourselves too seriously? Yes, it was a horrible thing for Jesus to have to die on the cross for my sins. Very serious stuff when the fate of the whole world is literally in God’s nail-scarred hands. May we never forget what happened on Golgotha that day, and its significance for our eternal salvation.

But is the secular world more apt to receive our Lord if we can show His joy, His humor? Not irreverently, by any means. But in our every day stories. Perhaps a sprinkling of the twinkle in His eyes, a tug of a grin on His lips, even an outright guffaw from His throat. Portray his love as one of a Father’s delighting in his children. Even in the deepest of stories, where a character’s very soul seems to twist in agony, there is room for light (translate that as hope.) A subplot character who always says the right thing to make the hero smile. A puppy who enjoys a squeaky toy. A toddler who has just discovered her shadow. These are small seasonings of sweetness that makes the deeper message more palatable.

Two movies come to mind. They aren’t about Jesus necessarily, but are about God. Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty. Both portray God (played by Morgan Freeman) as a loving father who disciplines, yet dances with His children.

Allow God to dance in your stories. Season with that little bit of sweetness, and your message will be received with grateful, and hopefully, changed hearts.

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Read these lists and the synopsis on each movie at Christianity Today and at TIME Entertainment.

Motive, Backstory, and Foreshadowing – What I Learned After Watching Coyote County Loser

Yesterday, my critique group watched a cute little movie titled Coyote County Loser. Sometimes these smaller works (aka, not backed by a multi-million dollar ad campaign) aren’t worth the plastic it’s burned on. But this one was a pleasant surprise.

I had not heard of the actors who played the main characters before, Nikki Boyer and Beau Clark, but their acting skills, along with the rest of the supporting cast, made this film very watchable.

Here is the synopsis from the movie’s website:

Can losers find love? Southwest desert radio station K-RAP is struggling to pay the bills when radio jock Jack Proctor (Beau Clark) zooms through Coyote County on his way to LA to take the gig of a lifetime. But the deal stalls, so Jack temps on-air work for K-RAP. Dr. Lauren Hartford (Nikki Boyer), local on-air relationship expert, gets under Jack’s skin by questioning his love advice — so Jack initiates a high stakes contest to find Coyote County’s biggest loser and help him woo the county’s most unattainable woman. Before this battle-of-the-sexes is over, Jack and Lauren will learn love is for losers after all.

After the movie, we discussed what worked and what didn’t.

• Dr. Lauren Hartford, (the heroine) had motives that drove her character. There was a reason why she used car analogies for her love advice. There was a reason why she didn’t believe in romance and following your heart. There was a reason she could give advice, yet stay unemotionally detached. These reasons weren’t told in the first fifteen minutes of the movie. The audience simply watched her stick to her convictions until the end of the second act where she revealed why she believed what she believed.
  Authors: The lesson for us here is that we don’t need to reveal every tiny detail of a person’s life in the first chapter. We don’t need to create a prologue so the reader gets where the character is coming from. It was so much fun to watch this movie and wonder what made Dr. Lauren tick. And then, we were not disappointed when she opened up and let her true heart be known. Much like meeting someone in real life, we don’t spill our entire history until we trust them enough with it. Hmm. Could real life be our template for writing?
• Every supporting character had a backstory. And each of these characters comprised the town, a little desert hamlet somewhere near Roswell, New Mexico. The town, because of these quirky and lovable characters, became a character of it’s own. Their stories became its heartbeat.
  Authors: If you have other people in your story, it’s always good to give them a purpose. You don’t have to delve deep into their backstory, sometimes a hint as to who they are often is all the reader needs to care about them. If I may, I’d like to mention my first book, Merely Players. I had a walk-on character, a man who offered helicopter rides to victims of a hurricane so they could see their homes and businesses. At first, I had an entire scene where this man dialogues his history: Why did he own this helicopter? Where did he learn to fly? Etc. But, because of word constraints, I had to pair it down to one simple thing. I put a black ball cap on him that had the words, “POW, Never Forget” stitched in white. Now, we know that he was probably a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, and he had seen his fair share of tragedy. Simple. Direct. Effective.
• The foreshadowing in this movie was subtle for the most part. But an incident kinda stood out. Maggie Hopps, played by veteran actress K Callan, all of a sudden has a weak heart. If this had been introduced somewhere in the first act, it might not have caused my writer instinct to sit up and say, “Oh, something’s going to happen to her.” This was, perhaps, the only flimsy part I had seen in the entire movie. It didn’t ruin the experience, but as an arm-chair director, I think I would have fixed that.
• Authors: Foreshadowing is an art in itself. Read books and watch movies to study the ins and outs, how it should and shouldn’t be done. I love watching familiar movies because I look for the foreshadowing. What plant do they use to let me know something major is coming up? Do they use it effectively? Do they use one at all or simply surprise the audience? How well does that work?

It’s so important for us as authors to study good works and bad. Oh sure, date night is great, but how much greater could it be if you’re snuggled with your honey-bear and learning your craft at the same time? Ah, bliss.

The Bow

I’m baaaaack!

Where have I been, you ask? We moved into a new house, and this process took up all our free time for the latter half of 2011. Including our movie watching time. It was a short sale, which means the bank didn’t care what shape it was in before selling it, so even more movie time has been eaten up as we fix the place up. It’s still not perfect, but much more livable now.

And the best part of the move? I have a Cinema room! And streaming Netflix. sigh If it weren’t for having to keep this new house clean, I could stay in there forever.

I’ve had a few ideas on how I wanted to restart this blog, and I think the most appropriate new beginning is to look at the ending.

Writer workshops often dwell on beginnings. First lines, first paragraphs, first chapters. But how often do we learn how to write good last lines?

Let me throw one out to you:

“As you wish.”

Whether you’re a princess at heart like I am, or a hero in the making, this last line in The Princess Bride should melt you into a puddle of goo. These three little words are the beautiful bow placed on a neatly wrapped package. (And no, this line does not suggest that Grandpa is the octogenarian Wesley.)

What is this whole movie about, anyway? We could throw out a zillion answers: pirates, true love, revenge. But at it’s deepest core, it is about a love so deep, that one would do anything for their beloved. Even becoming “mostly dead.” So, when Peter Falk utters that last line of the movie with a twinkle in his eye, we know this is the bow. This is what we save in our memento drawer after the paper has long since become dust.

Not all movies end with this pretty bow. Some packages have been wrapped in haste, and the bow is nothing special. Or sometimes you wonder why the gift had been placed in a paper bag. There is no bow. There is no ribbon. There is no take-away.

But look at the bows on these movies, and see if you agree.

• "No, sir! Don’t thank me, Warden. We’re all part of the same team. Good night." – This line from Superman (1978)reminds us that this alien is all about truth, justice, and the American way.
• "Out there. That-a-way." –From Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), every Trekkie knows that the whole point is to “boldly go where no man has gone before.”
• "You’ve got to tell them soylent green is people. We’ve got to stop them somehow." –If I’m not mistaken, I think this may be when the audience finally learns the secret of Soylent Green (1973). I don’t really care to watch this movie again to find out, but if so, this was a HUGE bow. One people are still talking about.
• And speaking of human entrees: "I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner." –These words were spoken by Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1991.)
• “It's so beautiful! Let's live here! We'll rent to start." – Bill Murray’s goal throughout the entire movie, Ground Hog Day (1993), was to get out of town. But his last line leaves us with the knowledge that he’s grown as a person and is content.
• "That'll do, pig. That'll do." –Oh, that Babe (1995). That performance-oriented pig who stole our hearts simply wanted some recognition of a job well done.
• "Ernest Hemingway once wrote: 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part." –In the psychological thriller, Se7en (1995), a murderer is on the loose and killing victims using the seven deadly sins as his calling card. Morgan Freeman utters these last lines, and after our eyes were assaulted with horrible images for two hours, we agree. (Even so, if you can take gore, this was a very good movie.)
• "Where's the TV Guide?" –Recognize this one from The Truman Show (1998)? The entire movie shows a world’s obsession with Truman, a man who has grown up in a make-believe television world, but doesn’t realize that everything is fake. When he finally gets a clue and leaves the show, the fickle public also moves on.
• "Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: 'With great power comes great responsibility.' This is my gift. My curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-Man." –Spider Man (2002). From the time his dying uncle utters these words, Peter Parker learns this lesson the hard way.
• “My name's Tom."
  "Nice to meet you. I'm Autumn." –(500) Days of Summer (2009). Poor Tom has been in an up and down, tumultuous relationship with a girl named Summer for 500 days, aka, the entire movie. By the end, the relationship is over, and he meets a girl named Autumn. We can only assume that the sequel will be titled, (500) Days of Autumn.

I encourage you to Google great last lines, which is where I got my list, and learn how to put a bow on your stories.

I leave you with one that still makes my Mommy-eyes weep as I think of my little boys all grown up.

“So Long… Partner.” –Toy Story 3 (2010), spoken by Woody as he says goodbye to his best friend.

Plants. . .They Aren’t Just For Gardens Anymore

Call it what you will. Foreshadowing, or planting information, is crucial to your plot line.

I recently watched two movies that used plants in effective ways. One was True Grit, the new Coen brothers offering with Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld.

I had seen the John Wayne version, in the theater when it first came out in 1969, (and cringed right along with everyone else over Glen Campbell’s performance. . .but I digress.) Shortly afterward I read the book, and was disappointed when I read the scene where young Mattie Ross fell into the pit and was bit on the hand by a snake. I was disappointed because the older version of the movie sugar-coated it. In the book, she lost her arm. In the movie, it was placed in a sling. Not so dramatic.

Because this scene now stood out like a snake-bitten thumb, I was very aware of it in the new movie, and wondered how it would be played out. With that thought fresh in my mind as I

watched the new movie, the little plant mentioned early on about snakes in winter jumped out at me like a disturbed viper. (I’m creeping myself out over these snake metaphors!) Mattie, Rooster Cogburn, and Texas Ranger La Boeuf are getting ready to camp for the night. It is mentioned that a rope surrounding the sleeping camper would keep snakes at bay. Then there’s the conversation about snakes not being active in winter. . .unless they’re disturbed. STRIKE! I knew what was coming, and I dreaded and felt thrilled all at the same time.

Had I not known what was coming, I may not have been so aware of it. An average viewer who had never seen the original version or read the book, would probably have remembered that scene when they talked of hibernating snakes after Mattie’s unfortunate spill into the pit. But knowing about it made it even richer for me, more dreadful, as I anticipated that scene.

I confess, I don’t remember if the camping scene and the talk about snakes is in the original as it has been a few years since I’ve seen it. After all, I was only three when it first came out! (Yeah. That’s hyperbole.) But if it wasn’t, how smart of the writers to include that tidbit for those of us in the know. Kind of their little nod to us, thanking us for giving Bridges/Damon/Steinfeld a chance to redeem that scene.

Or, maybe the adapters of this film had an editor who called them on the fact that snakes don’t bite in winter. Therefore, they needed to inform their audience of how such a horrific thing could happen.

The second movie that had a fun plant was Secretariat with Diane Lane playing the owner of the record-breaking triple crown winner. When Penney Tweedy is researching jockeys to ride the three-year-old hopeful, she learns about Ronnie, a take-no-prisoners kind of person who lives on the edge. Ronnie, it seems, rode a horse so hard once that its heart burst before reaching the finish line.

And there’s your plant. If you didn’t know the history behind Secretariat, you would fear what might come next when, in the third race of the triple trophy, the horse uncharacteristically breaks free and widens the gap between the rival horse and, in fact, all the other horses in the race. He gallops as if that is his sole purpose in life. Above eating and sleeping. Above grazing on sweet meadow grass. Above bonding with his rider. He widens the gap by more than thirty lengths. And the audience holds their breath because they remember that Ronnie once rode a horse so hard its heart burst.

Had it not been for that plant, the stakes would not have been so high and we would have experienced only the normal adrenaline rush when watching a horse race. And we would not have collectively let out the breath we were holding when Secretariat flew past that finish line, healthy as a. . .well. . .a horse.

What I learned from these two movies:

• Plants can serve as a wink and a nod to those who know the storyline.
• Plants can inform so that when the event happens, it will be believable.
• Plants can up the tension and enhance the reader’s experience.

Remember to use them sparingly. In both of the movies, they were only there for the crucial scenes. Overuse of plants can only result in a messy garden. . .with a snake lurking beneath the foliage! (Yikes! I scared myself again!)

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True Grit - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403865/

Secretariat - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1028576/

Soul Surfer – A Review

This isn’t a Christian movie about a surfer who had her arm bit off. It’s a movie about a Christian surfer who rose above her circumstances and became a role-model to the world. I rank Soul Surfer a titch below Blind Side and Secretariat.

I remember when Bethany Hamilton’s story hit my news channel. It struck me on an emotional level because I had named a character in my book, (Merely Players – now in the compilation Florida Weddings,) by the same name before I had even heard of the young surfer. In an odd, parallel universe way, it almost felt as though my created character had gone through the same thing. Much the same way as if this had happened to someone with the same name as my own child. So I became emotionally connected.

This is why I had to see this movie on it’s premier weekend. And I wasn’t disappointed.

There are many reasons to love this movie:

• The acting is believable. Thanks to A-listers Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt, who portrayed struggling parents who love their baby and only want the best for her. AnnaSophia Robb is believable as the teen Bethany, and Carrie Underwood even delivers as she tries out her acting chops portraying a trusted youth group leader.
• The setting. Filmed entirely in Hawaii, the scenery is breathtaking.
• The special effects.
• The wave scenes are heart-stopping as the camera dives under the water, through the water, over the water. It was so realistic, I expected to leave the theater wet!
• The attack itself. Convincing, but not overdone. Yes, there is blood, but it’s not gory.
• AnnaSophia Robb really does have two arms. I saw them when she was plugging the film on the talk circuit. But after the shark attack, it had been effectively erased.
• The Hamilton family. It is so refreshing to see a family so supportive of each other. I saw no dysfunction, a common malady among much of the “entertainment” pushed into our homes and theaters at an alarming rate.
• The message. Yes, it has Christian content…(ooo, run for your lives!) but the inspirational theme comes from the courage of a thirteen-year-old girl who overcomes.

I give Soul Surfer 4.5 out of 5 stars. Again, I can’t pin-point why this movie isn’t quite in the same league as it’s inspirational predecessors mentioned in the beginning of this review. It certainly didn’t ruin my experience. There are some predictable moments, but they are presented in such a way that you’d be disappointed if they weren’t there. And hey, if that’s what happened, that’s what happened. Even though it was a true story, the writers expertly wrote a plot that kept me interested. Take tissues.

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Soul Surfer - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596346/