11-29-98

First--I want to say that I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday. If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a good week nonetheless.

Nothing major to report this past week. I just finished the second plot point involving the Manhattan Bridge scene. My index cards have me around page 90 but I'm actually typed 95 pages. This scene would definitely add a few million bucks to ANY budget as lots of pyrotechnics are involved.

Like I said last journal, I'll miss by first draft completion date by a few days. It should be done around Friday, December 3rd. I'll then print it out and go over each scene asking myself:

  • Does each scene have purpose?
  • Does each scene drive the story forward?
This will probably take me the weekend to do and then draft #2 will commence on Monday, December 6th. The second draft will focus solely on each scene and the sequence of events to determine if the story flows or not. I'll probably add "meat" to each scene as the scenes are very raw.

Yes, I did pick up the book GOTHAM. Glad I did. Lots of events even many life-long New Yorkers probably aren't aware of. For example: The Tyger, a ship that burned and sank on the Hudson shore of Manhattan in 1613, was unearthed by workers in 1916 when building the IRT subway tunnel. Most of the ship is still down there near the intersection of Greenwich and Dey Streets. One of my subterranean scenes will no doubt include the rediscovery of this ship. After all, this "world of Kingpin's" is his own private "hell." And nothing in hell is ever as it appears.

Well, almost there--the first draft. IMHO, probably the hardest part of writing any screenplay.


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