FEATURE: 19 AUGUST 2008

Caroline Grose and Tom Abrams

Our Special August Writer’s Room featured US screenwriter Tom Abrams, who talked to Caroline Grose (writer, producer and script consultant) about the use of mise en scene, the process of co-writing and the dogged determination it takes to be a screenwriter.  Abrams was in New Zealand conducting directors’ workshops on mise en scene for the Screen Directors’ Guild and the New Zealand Film Commission.

Mise en Scene and the Writer

Tom said that the power of mise en scene is undervalued by the film world, especially in America, and that lighting, blocking, props, design and location offer endless opportunities to communicate subtext, ideas and theme. His workshops focus on how directors can use these elements to give a story more depth and thematic weight.

When asked how a writer should think about mise en scene, Tom explained that while his workshops are for directors, and thus focus on completed scripts, mise en scene is also important to the writing process.  Tom called the writer “the first director”, adding that the stylistic elements of film “are not only the realm of the director.”

Tom used The Graduate to demonstrate his point.  The film begins in Benjamin’s bedroom where everything there – such as the hanging airplanes of his childhood – shows the audience parts of who he is.  “And there’s the blinds hanging behind him like bars, representing entrapment and alienation.  The whole film is about freedom versus entrapment.”  The mise en scene is communicating the drama and the more important thematic ideas.

Caroline commented that sometimes writers don’t know what their theme is when they first start writing, but discover it along the way. Tom replied, “Personally I think they should”. He added that even if they don’t, they should be clear about it in a re-write and use the visual world to strengthen and communicate theme.

Caroline asked Tom, as a director, what he would look for in a script. Tom listed some ingredients essential for him and many directors: “Dramatic story, characters worth spending over a year of my life on, theme, and what opportunities it gives to present a style.”

The Choice between Writing and Directing

Caroline asked Tom why he made the decision to write rather than to direct. He replied that it wasn’t so much a decision as, “The path of least resistance.”  Tom rose up through theatre directing and then went to film school.  When first paid to write, Tom attached himself as director to some projects that were never made.  “I realised it’s much easier to get someone to pay you to write features than to direct them because only two of every hundred films written in Hollywood actually get made.”

Tom joked, “I don’t know why people would want to write when you can direct three projects in the time it takes to write one…I hate writing, writing is hard work. For every hour I write I have to give myself an hour off.”

Life as a Screenwriter

Tom said of the fifteen screenplays he has written so far only three have been made into films.  “At first it tore me up, but then I realised if all I cared about was getting a project made I would have shot myself a long time ago. Ultimately it has to be the process of writing that you love.”  Once he finishes a project, “It’s a movie in my mind and I move on. I don’t look back.”

Tom said he usually has more than one project on the go due in part to how few films are made. “The more pies you have your fingers in the more likely one is to come to fruition.”  Tom commented that he often sees writer/directors pushing only one project for years, especially in Europe.  “They hold on and hold on and hold on…I think people can be too precious about their own work.” He explained that there is often only one primary funding body in these countries, a film commission, and people need to branch out because many projects will never be made.

Tom always writes with someone else and has had five or six writing partners.  “I’m not very disciplined!” Co-writing suits him, offering the enjoyment of working with others, the exchange of ideas and the setting of deadlines.

Co-Writing

Tom felt co-writing works differently with different people.  Sometimes the story is constructed jointly to begin, then scenes are divided up and written separately with the writers coming back together to rewrite. But with other partnerships they’re in the same room, one of them typing the screenplay up as they go. Tom joked that his first writing partner was a control freak who always had to sit at the keyboard.

When asked how he finds people to write with, Tom replied he usually writes with friends, has never written with people he doesn’t know and realises quickly if it isn’t going to work out.

Tom said that with every writing partner there has always been an ‘arrogant stage’. “There’s been a point where I think, ‘I don’t need this guy. His stuff is crap’, but the reality is I wouldn’t have got it done without them.”

Writing Tips

Tom said the writer has two selves: the creative self and the editor self.  “The editor self will always be saying, ‘no, that’s no good’ and you have to tell him to go away.”  Tom recommended writing a first draft without ‘editing yourself’ and then ‘pulling out’ to edit.

Caroline asked Tom the extent to which he thinks of the audience while he writes.  Tom answered the question in two parts: first, a writer should not try to second-guess an audience’s taste. “You can’t calculate what will appeal to the market. You have to write what you are passionate about. The people who write action films to sell but don’t believe in them, for example, don’t end up selling any.” The second part is to consider how an audience will experience the film – something a writer must do.  Think about what they should be feeling, from whose point of view the story is being told and what questions are driving the narrative. A writer must also think about who the audience is.

Tom then offered advice that holds true in Hollywood (where there are thousands of writers!) but is also important anywhere. Writers should imagine someone reading their script quickly. Most readers will jump to dialogue so a script must not be too dense with description. “It must be sparse, including only the significant elements…economical but evocative.”  There should be no camera moves unless absolutely crucial because such notations pull the reader out of the drama.

Tom recommended writers always think about their locations and how they are working for the film.  He expressed admiration for Hitchcock’s use of locations. “He was always thinking about the most surprising or unlikely of locations and using them, twisting things around.”

To conclude, Tom offered a last piece of advice to prospective screenwriters:  to write in the film industry, “You have to be optimistic but realistic.”

Written by Esther Cahill-Chiaroni for Script to Screen