Could It Be a Movie

by Christina Hamlett

  Horror stories work because of their power to conjure up our childhood fears of hungry monsters lurking under the bed.

  What about those plots, however, that unfold in a time or setting with which we have a limited frame of reference or emotional connection?

  Colorado in the 1870s, for example. On the surface, is this an era and locale we’d eagerly flock to for entertainment?

  One of the most popular lectures I give in my workshops relates to the 1990s television series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. For those of you unfamiliar with the premise, it starred Jane Seymour as a woman doctor who travels west to Colorado to set up a medical practice. Not only does she encounter distrust and discrimination because of her sex but assumes the unbidden role of motherhood when one of her dying patients leaves her custody of three children. Compounding Micaela Quinn’s problems is her attraction to a brooding loner in buckskin who would raise eyebrows among her blueblood family back East and most assuredly be flummoxed by the correct fork to use at dinner.

  Could this same set-up have worked in 1890s Chicago, 1960s South America, or the Planet Pluto in the 26th century? Absolutely. The physical place and time become immaterial as long as the characters are waging battle with the very same issues that confront and confound contemporary audiences: racism, sexism, oppression, passion, death, self-doubt, parenthood, jealousy, isolation, substance abuse, violence, coming of age, guilt, etc.

  Did any of us care about ancient Rome until Russell Crowe donned a toga in Gladiator? For that matter, did we become obsessed with ancient Rome and start buying mail-order statuary from the Toscano® catalogue after the final credits? Of course not. What lingered, however, was our empathy for the valiant warrior whom Crowe depicted, a man driven to avenge the wrongs he was dealt by his enemy. Whether a hero’s noble acts are carried out in the Coliseum of Rome, in the Highlands of Scotland, or on the shores of Normandy, it is his perseverance and triumph that we universally cheer for and remember, not the backdrop it was played against.

  To illustrate the importance of appealing to audiences on a personal level they can relate to, I had the privilege of interviewing eight screenwriters whose historically based works have garnered award and recognition in such prestigious competitions as the Chesterfield, Nicholl Fellowships, Project Greenlight, CAPE Foundation and Scr(i)pt Magazine’s Open Door, to name a few.

  Each participant was asked the same three questions:

  What inspired you to write this particular story?

  What was the biggest challenge in structuring it for the screen?

  What aspect of it will resonate with today’s movie-goers?

  Their responses reflect a correlation between what the inspired event or persona of the past said to them as authors and how that message was played back in the context of a visual medium targeted to a modern-thinking public.

  As you read their replies, keep in mind that these are all men and women just like you who sat down one day, decided to write scripts based on events that captured their attention, and submitted the finished products to competitions. Will your name be added to the next list of award-winning screenwriters? As they say, you can’t win a contest if you don’t enter it!

  Film Title: Deborah Samson

  Screenwriter: John Walker Bellingham

  Circa: American Revolutionary War

  Premise: The true story of the first American woman combat soldier who enlisted disguised as a man during the Revolutionary War, served three years before being discovered, was wounded twice. She was also the first woman to earn a livelihood as a public speaker and is the official heroine of the state of Massachusetts.

  A friend gave me a book called, “Letters To A Nation,” and I read a letter in there written by Paul Revere around 1810, who was writing to Congress on behalf of his neighbor, Deborah Samson Gannett. She was in need of a military pension as she had served heroically in the military during the Revolution disguised as a man. I found it such a fascinating story that I researched it as much as I could and then wrote the script, adding in some romance, of course.

  The biggest challenge I found in writing this script was keeping the story as true to history as possible, yet, making it commercially palatable. One Hollywood script consultant was adamant that I change the ending to fit a more formulaic Hollywood conclusion. Yet, women who read the script seemed to feel quite the opposite. I stayed with my gut; yet, I suppose it could change, yet since it is currently making the large studio rounds.

  Audience appeal? Historical context in the modern paradigm. The producer who is currently working on the script feels the material is timeless and not limited to its chronology. I agree with her. She feels that the message that girls/women can do as well as men or better in any endeavor has no boundaries. And what was possible then is even more possible now.

  Film Title: Gunfighters’ Surgeon

  Screenwriter: Douglas Raine

  Circa: 1870-1910

  Premise: True story of America’s first trauma surgeon, who pioneered antiseptic, reconstructive, and teaching surgeries while battling established medical beliefs and his own alcoholism.

  My great granduncle (William MacLeod Raine) wrote over 80 western stories in the early 1900s, so, I’ve always loved westerns.

  I was asked to proofread an article about Dr. George Goodfellow, America’s first trauma surgeon, and found the material fascinating. The more research I did, the more I realized that Goodfellow was truly an unsung hero of the West.

  A lot of the material written about Dr. Goodfellow was hearsay and legend. I wanted to stay as true to the story as possible but there were major areas of his life with no documentation (in particular his wife’s illness). All of his journals were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake. There are only a half dozen published papers, his diary from when he was 12 years old and some legal documents. I did a geographic and sociological timeline of his life. With the aid of other diaries from that time period and interviewing specialists in medical history, I was able to fill in most of the gaps. Fortunately, Goodfellow’s life had crossed paths with many other notable figures, so that became an additional referencing point. The first draft was very "episodic" as one reader said. I manipulated a couple facts to create a

  ‘through line" for the screenplay and a stronger story. The story, visuals, and dialogue have received the most praise. The dialogue I fashioned from a mixture of Goodfellow’s writings and dialogue (mostly the cadence and verbiage) from my great uncle’s early westerns. Knowing the background of the characters helped to give each his own voice.

  What struck me most were the parallels that could be drawn to our lifestyle today. Goodfellow battled against his own alcoholism, STDs, and racism. There was rampant gun violence and segregation. Towns erupted so quickly there was very little infrastructure to support them. Views different from those of the "establishment" were stifled. Yet, perseverance can still triumph and the smallest amount of good that you do will get noticed. Goodfellow believed that a doctor should learn something from every patient… if not from the operation itself, then something about the patient, how they live, their beliefs. The message to the audience? Learn all that you can from all that is around you.

  Film Title: Impression

  Screenwriter: Kate Maney

  Circa: 1874

  Premise: IMPRESSION is based on the true story of artist Berthe Morisot, her ill-fated love affair with the renowned painter Eduoard Manet, and her emergence as one of the leaders of the French Impressionist movement.

  In the mid-80s there was a touring exhibit of Impressionist paintings which included works from all nine exhibits in chronological order. In going through the exhibit, and reading the descriptions of the artists by their paintings, I was struck by one that said, "There is a woman in the group, as there is in all celebrated gangs. Her name is Berthe Morisot, and she is interesting to watch. Her feminine grace lives amid the excesses of a frenzied mind." This stuck with me and, while studying screenwriting at UCLA, I decided to r
esearch Morisot and develop a screenplay about her life. So, while it specifically wasn't a time period, but rather a historical personality, that motivated my decision, because Morisot's story is also the story of birth of the Impressionist movement, a lot of the script visuals echo the same visuals the artists of the time were painting, such as the Gare St. Lazare enveloped in smoke by Monet and Renoir's paintings of outdoor dancing.

  Historical accuracy versus dramatic structure/tension was my biggest challenge. This is a biggie. First of all, since nobody really knows all the details, a lot of dramatic license has to be used in simply crafting dialogue and depicting actions. For example, there is no proof that Berthe Morisot had a love affair with Eduoard Manet. This has just been inferred from his intimate portraits of her and the fact her journals covering the time period when they were likely the closest are lost or have been destroyed. Were they really lovers? Who knows? Does it make a better story if they were -- absolutely! In terms of dramatic structure, it works better to have the story take place in shorter time period than the actual events took -- and frequently, it flows better to rearrange the events for a more dramatic arc. Similarly, it is often necessary to cut and/or combine some of the people involved to make the film easier to follow. Again, you have to give up historical accuracy in these instances to make a better film. The main concern for the filmmaker, I think, is to simply stay as close to the essence of the historical figure/historical time, while also making the best film possible in terms of dramatic structure and the emotional ride you take your audience on.

  Impression is set in an occupied wartime France, after the overthrow of the last Napoleon. It is still a time when women had a very restricted role in society. So, while audiences in the U.S. or Western Europe may not see a lot of similarities, Middle Eastern or some Far Eastern audiences may see more of a reflection of their present-day societies, both political and social. That said, no matter the historical context, some things always will continue to resonate in terms of the human condition: The bittersweet emotions of falling in love with the wrong man; The difficult decision of choosing career versus marriage; striving to achieve a personal goal seemingly out of reach; continuing to try against reason, against societal acceptance, and not listening to those naysayers who try to keep you down. In these ways, Impression is a modern story, a very human story and an inspirational story, no matter what the time period.

  Film Title: Last Chance, Wyoming

  Screenwriter: Kristin Kirby

  Circa: 1885

  Premise: A gutsy female journalist in 1885 New York heads out West and runs smack into outlaws and unscrupulous fossil hunters, falls in love with two rivals, and starts running the local newspaper.

  I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of the true events I was writing about, that in the middle of the Wild West in the 1870s and 1880s — with such primitive conditions, outlaws robbing banks and trains, whites and Native Americans still at war — scientists were out in the middle of all this searching for dinosaur fossils and discovering new species. We usually equate that activity with the modern world and yet this was really happening in the West at the time.

  The biggest challenge was picking and choosing from all my research! I wanted to include everything — the colloquialisms of the time, the everyday things people did, as well as the broader historical events. My first few drafts were chock full of historical stuff, which made them a bit clumsy to handle. I had to pick only what served my story and didn’t bog it down. Another part of that challenge was condensing the events, in this case, the real life feud of scientists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh as they scoured the American West in search of dinosaur fossils. This resulted in a shorter more dramatic time frame, condensing it from around 30 years to less than a year. I also chose to fictionalize the historical figures I researched; I felt this gave me more freedom to change things around and make a more cohesive story.

  As for audience identification, the obvious answer is that science was a part of people’s lives in 1885 just like it is today. With exciting discoveries happening all the time and technology and inventions coming so fast, people often worried where it all would lead. Combine this with a rising population of different races all jostled together and trying to get along. Things haven’t changed as much in the modern world as we think they have. We’re still encountering the same issues.

  Film Title: Bitter Lake

  Screenwriter: Devin Wallace

  Circa: 1893

  Premise: When a black detective from New York disappears while working undercover in Alabama (pursuing a black Robin Hood folk hero), his wife sets off on a dangerous quest to learn what happened.

  I had known this marvelous old folk song, "Railroad Bill," about a turn-of-the-century African American outlaw, a Robin Hood-like figure, since I was a kid. In 1992 I got a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to write and direct a new radio play, so I started digging around for historical information about this character. The search led me back to Alabama and Florida in the 1890s . It was a fascinating period of time, particularly in terms of black-white relations in the South. Railroad Bill became a powerful symbol for African Americans, as he eluded some of the biggest manhunts ever conducted and shared his train-robbing spoils with impoverished black sharecroppers. The other thing I stumbled onto in my research that interested me was the fact that a black detective from the North was hired to infiltrate Railroad Bill's gang. He was successful, and was working on setting up a trap with the authorities when he disappeared. There weren't many African Americans employed as professional detectives in those days and I wondered what it would have been like for him to go south, and find that the man he was tracking was not just some criminal, but a powerful symbol of black resistance as well.

  I think the biggest challenge in any historical drama is trying to catch the atmosphere and psychology of the time period and the place. The historical immersion process however, is my favorite part of writing.

  Most people don't know about the convict lease law of the period, which enabled the state to farm out prisoners to labor camps. It was, basically, a crafty substitute for slavery, as many black men were arrested, often on minor or trumped up charges, and literally

  worked to death at camps that were unregulated by the states. Twenty-five years after the Civil War, life was a very tough proposition for African Americans in the South. This time period is rarely covered in film, and I believe people find it interesting in that it adds to their understanding of our nation's history.

  Film Title: The Red Snow

  Screenwriter: Shinho Lee

  Circa: 1911-1945

  Premise: When a Korean-American mother reveals her life as a comfort woman to her son, he learns the tragic story of her love affair with a Japanese officer, the lifelong friend she lost, and the survivor’s guilt she has battled ever since.

  As a Korean artist, I felt a sense of duty to re-explore the experience of the Japanese occupation of my country. This was mainly because this period (1911-1945) has been largely forgotten or consciously swept aside by modern Koreans anxious to move forward. Internationally it has, perhaps, always been overshadowed by the Korean War, which followed shortly thereafter. Yet, the legacies of that occupation still can be seen in Korean society today and I wanted to find a way to examine these difficult times.

  My biggest challenge? Having met with former Korean comfort women and researched their real stories, I wanted to ensure that my screenplay was both a truthful and accurate testament to those who survived, but also that it was very clearly my own personal reflection on these events. Writing in English, I had to work hard to recreate the attitudes, behavior, and sensibility of the period and specific characters. I also had to discover how to dramatize the voices and experiences of my characters accurately but in ways which would be accessible to, and resonate with, modern international audiences.

  My screenplay is written from the perspective of two women. While their stories are told at a specific p
eriod in Korean history, the persecution, abuse, and total disempowerment these two characters suffer at this time are also experiences which many women have endured throughout history, regardless of culture or geography. For me, the struggles of my characters represent the similar plight of many women in the world today.

  Film Title: Semper Fi

  By D. Jay Williams

  Circa: 1969

  Premise: Two young men test their values and lifetime friendship through the crucible of war and change — for the better and worse.

  Semper Fi is based on my tour in Viet Nam as a member of Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Marines. I wasn't an especially effective Marine (which the script bares out and explores), but I did serve with a storied group of guys. Books have been written about this small group of 150 men including one especially well received, "The Proud Bastards” by Mr. Michael Helms. He was also a rifleman of this company. In 1999 I joined a VA council group for troubled Viet Nam vets and Semper Fi originated as a writing assignment as part of that program. It started out as a four-line poem, but somehow over the course of a year it grew into a 117-page script!