New York Nightfall Script now available online

Update:
  
The screenplay: New York Nightfall is viewable as a downloadable pdf at  http://studios.amazon.com/projects/48808

I completed my second screenplay today working with Saba M.  She came up with the original story.  We then worked together on a 27 scene outline. 

It took approximately one year to convert the outline into a proper screenplay format.  After almost 40 script revisions,  the script is now registered at WGAW Registration Number: 1708967

Plot synopsis:

The movie occurs during one night in NY City. It starts at sunset and ends at sunrise the next day.

A Russian crime boss visits NY City on business. He brings his daughter, Anna, with him. Johnny, the protagonist, is sent by his boss to make a trade with Anna’s dad.  The deal goes poorly an Johnny escapes using Anna as a shield.

Johnny and Anna then travel through the city of NY at nightfall chased by a pair of NY detectives, the Russian and Italian Mafia.   Along the way, Anna and Johnny meet a cast of colorful characters as they attempt to survive a night in NY.

Please post a comment if you would like more information about the script.

Save Previous Drafts - fitting the pieces together

Fitting the pieces together

I've been working on a screenplay for about a year with a collaborator.  Fortunately I saved a new version of the script each time we modified it.  In the fall of 2014, one scene in the script was taken out and altered.
Several months later we agreed to put that section back in.  I copied a section from the old script and reincorporated it.

The old versions of the script allowed us to take more risks with the script. 

As always I email myself a copy of the revised script as a way of backing up the revised work.

We hope to have the script completed by the first part of April of 2014. 



 

Script vs. Novel Update

Infrared image of a hand brought in from the cold.

 

I am now working on a novelization of my first screenplay: A Very Convenient Truthiness.  The conversion to a novel has given me more ideas for the screenplay and helped me get out of mental block.  Doing rewrites over 6 years has been more work than I expected.  At the suggestion of my wife, I've now cut the initial scenes set in 2008 and gone straight into 2028.

I'm also working with another writer on a screenplay titled: NY Nightfall.   Working with a partner on a script allows for some back and forth creativity and usually makes the final product better.   I got a bit ahead on some plot details and needed to rewrite a long section.  Instead of being frustrating it allowed me to look at the material with a fresh perspective.

Script vs. Novel format:

The script format places the dialogue directly under the person speaking the lines.

In the novel format, I'm dealing quotation marks and trying to find a clever way to note who is speaking using something other than the standard dialogue listed below.

Trever said, "run away from that pterodactyl.  He looks a bit peckish.  Oh, and while you are running for you life, please avoid trampling the flower bed.  The marigolds don't take the abuse like the hostas." 
 
Also, novels with overly long scene and character descriptions make the reading tiresome.   I'm working on giving just enough for context. 

In movies, fight scenes in movies can also be drawn out and dull like watching someone tenderize meat.  The sword fight from the Princess Bride movie gets it right.

Princess Bride - Sword fight - 3min.