I am very happy to report that I have just finished the first draft of my script, especially as it only took 3 writing sessions over 3 days! In fairness, I have wanted to make this short film for several years and had already done some research on the project. Even shot a sample of the visual style back in 2007. Still, I conducted a bit more research and was richly rewarded, now utterly convinced of the value of research to the story development and script writing processes.

This new script is one of three films I want to make this year and it was originally going to be the last however the Reallusion War & Peace film contest is a great fit and so the schedule is shifted. My original plan was to make one short film to get back into the flow of things before starting a long production cycle on the 28 episode series (shot all at once). I am going to make two short films before the long one now I think.

I have also done a lot of thinking around my brand new idea. I read a suggestion that you should be able to tell your whole story (as often as possible) before you commit to writing it down and the importance of the hook or tagline as not only a commercial advantage but also a lens to look back at the story from. And so I have been spending time simply thinking through the story and characters in detail and this has been very fruitful (although I don’t have a hook yet).

It is little known that I hold a green belt in the Togakure-ryū, a ninjitsu tradition dating back through a direct linage of 34 grandmasters. Back in the 80’s, I had my ass kicked by Hatsumi sensei, grandmaster of 9 fighting schools and so didn’t need to research the ninja for my latest script but watched an Unsolved History episode about the ninja as it featured my old teacher Stephen Hayes.

There is a good lesson in what makes a good story from the 22 minute mark to 36 minutes of this show.
(click Chinese link to go to movie):

There are 2 stories played out for you in this well-controlled experiment: a team of navy SEALS and then Hayes sensei, a modern ninja master, will attempt to infiltrate a protected safe house, defended by professionals expecting an attack and assassinate the target without getting eliminated. For me, this was extra tense as here is my teacher facing very challenging odds on TV, putting his reputation (and my green belt!) on the line.

The navy SEALS attack in predictable Hollywood fashion, an encounter of massively superior firepower lasting less then 20 seconds. Hayes sensei goes in alone and unarmed using a much different approach. Who is more successful in the mission? Well watch the show and find out! Who creates the real tension, characters, climax and stuff of story? Hayes sensei kicks butt. (I also see Ricky Grove being able to pull this off )

The two different scenarios, each with the same objective, demonstrate how pacing and character interaction are so necessary to bring tension into the story. There is nothing in the first attack to bind the audience to those involved. Conversely, there is excellent character development in Hayes sensei’s approach as well as an increasing sense of tension as the scenario unfolds. There is also a great character defining moment with one of the defenders during Hayes sensei’s mission around trust. Hayes sensei demonstrates that the real art of the ninja is the art of storytelling.

Putting the finishing touches on an epic 28 and a half episode script at the moment but it is effectively done. It has taken years to write, not full time writing, but writing and researching at least 7-8 hours a month consistently. I once met a screenwriter who said you will have to throw away your first script and I have rewritten this script several times, throwing away almost all of the original dialogue, changing much about the characters, cutting/adding scenes, etc.

This script was developed in three phases: the first phase was the story treatment, then watching a lot of movies and the last was research.

I haven’t owned or really watched TV for over 20 years but if you are going to make movies you better see what’s out there. This was an education in itself. I discovered that, while I was making a comic book styled movie, the north american comic book action and adventure movies did not move me and were generally disappointing. I did develop a real appreciation for Japanese animation and asian wuxia-styled films - light years ahead of north america in many regards imo. I will embed my favourites for your enjoyment in a subsequent post.

The last phase was doing research for my script. There was a tremendous amount of research done for the script and I am much more familiar with the history, figures, battles and legends of what is present-day Japan, China, Korea & Mongolia. During this research I came across some historical events that are amazingly powerful stories in themselves, providing great potential for other films. This research also brought my characters to life for me even though sometimes it did not change the script and I was dissatisfied with them before. In fact, I am still researching for my own enjoyment and fishing for new stories.

And now, just as I am really ready to move into pre-production for the series I have this amazing idea for a totally different script. If I put on a producer’s hat and look at the two stories objectively on the table, the new idea easily trumps the finished script in terms of broader appeal and viewer connection. I have bounced the concept of the new script off some friends and they respond to the new concept right away. What to do?

I am going to polish up the current script and put it aside for now. Painful to do after years of work but, from a purely production point-of-view, it is a comic book and has a fight scene in every episode - that is a lot of kung fu to film and motion capture would really help to make this properly possible. This technology is not affordably available yet (hopefully soon).

So I am going to start developing the new script, first with research because it generated so much depth for me in the last script and also write up one of the other historical stories and film it as a short. The beauty of the historical stories is that they are already written and so much of the hard work is already done. Besides, I want to film something dammit!