Script Feedback

I've just logged in and read Damien's blog from Saturday and the script feedback he got. I have to be honest here, I'm unsurprised. It's true there are a lot of short films out there about clowns and there are a lot of cliched scenarios and, yes, there are assumptions that can be made about how we will make this film and how it might not be any more special than any other clown film out there and that with the money we're going to spend and the support we hope to garner we could put resources into something more original. Those assumptions will be made and this project will be written of by some. I knew all this when I signed up for Clowning Around. So did Damien when he decided to write it. We've talked about it before. However I'm confident that we have something particularly special to offer through this story and that it deserves to be told in film.

Clowning itself is an ancient and somewhat cliched profession, and for good reason. It's changed very little through the centuries. It has a history and a set of traditions that are still widely adhered to by performers and that continue to be appreciated around the world by millions who have never grown tired of what clowns do to entertain and touch human beings. The art of clowning is universally popular and intriguing and that is why the clown is attractive and written about and made into films and continues to be a thriving profession.

There is such a primal element to the art of clowning that fullfills some evolutionary need to laugh at the awkward, stressful, and downright sickening parts of life. Clowning is so powerful a medium for affecting people it is used in medicine as much as it is in entertainment. When dealing with painful subjects such as alcoholism that ruin lives and destroy families, it's important to come at it in an approachable way to deliver a strong message in a way that is very palletable. I feel that element of Damien's script was overlooked in it's most recent evaluation. It shouldn't have been. It's there plain as day.

So I'm not the least bit phased. I'm not dismissive of Damien's writing because the plot and action is clear and the story content is moving, and I know he has taken professional advice and made this script very strong whether or not it's written in tidy, succinct descriptive passages. I read and give detailed analysis of many screenplays myself and have done for many years, and I'd know if this were a duff, it's not. I've seen many worse scripts turned into rather good films, and they haven't had half as many people putting such happiness and heart into a project and working hard to make it work in the very best way possible. I'm actually amazed and a little daunted at how much work there is in producing this film and that's still with Damien taking on the bulk of everything. He's a minor miracle in that way and he's getting a lot done and I believe in his ability. I don't say that out of false positation or defensiveness, I say it because it's true. He can do this. He doesn't doubt himself and neither will I.

Learning to be your own judge is very important in film. Just because someone has screenwriting or script editing credentials that doesn't necessarilly make them the word of God when it comes to making film and what will work. Plenty of really awful shorts have been signed off on by people with credentials, it doesn't mean they are good or bad at judging work, or that their hard earned experience and professional opinion is wrong, it just means that nobody knows everything, from the very bottom of the industry to the very top there are hits and misses and judgement calls and you pays your money and takes your chances.

I think I'm on a safe bet with Clowning Around and I'm smiling and looking foward to our next meeting on Tuesday.