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blue_lotus13Today I was fortunate enough to listen to a talk given by James L. White, who wrote the script for "Ray." He was a black man with a very candid nature and a wonderful laugh. He originally started out trying to become a novellist, but then became a screenwriter. He has never had any of his own scripts done, but has worked on scripts for other people.
He told a great story about his first major break, which was working on a film for Sidney Poitier. Mr. Poitier's office called him up, and offered to courier the script to him, so he could take a look at it. He was so stunned that he drove 3 hours to pick up the script. Then he stayed up all night going over it, and called back the studio the next day. They were stunned, but agreed to meet with him the day after. When Sidney Poitier came out to meet with him, James L. White got so excited that he hyperventilated and passed out.
Once I'd heard this story, I was absolutely hooked.
Info about Ray-
James L. White read everything he could about Ray Charles, listened to all his records and talked to everyone he could. He was initially asked to write the picture because of Ray Jr, who knew that Mr. White was a black, dramatic screen writer who had had his own heroin problem. After reading all the material and meeting with everyone, Mr. White decided that he wanted the film to be a love story, about a man, his music and his life. He met with Ray Charles to discuss it. Charles was all slumped in his chair and the exchange went like this.
Charles- So you're gonna write a movie about me.
White- Yes, I'd like to make it a love story about you and your music... What do you think?
Charles- Well, you tell me, you're the writer!
After this, White was stumped until Charles asked White where he was from. They realized they were both country boys from the South (White is from Kentucky), and they immediately bonded and became friends.
The initial script for "Ray" was a lot bigger and had to be cut. Liberties were taken with how many times Ray Charles went to jail, and the number of women he screwed around with. He was busted many more times, and screwed around with way more women, and the audience wouldn't have liked him if that was depicted. The screenplay was written with the songs in mind, playing so they could connect to specific scenes. A lot of research was done so that White could write dialogue the way black people spoke in those time periods. He used family members to help him with this research. Ray Charles could see in his dreams, and since White had been a heroin user and knew about the horror of junkie dreams, he decided to use bad dreams and flashbacks to show the importance of Ray Charles' mother in his life.
White didn't like the casting of Jamie Foxx, since he considered Foxx a comedic actor. However, once he saw Foxx act, he was moved to tears, and was pleased with the choice.
White can see scenes in his head as they happen, which is good for screenwriting. When he went to see "Ray" in the theatre, he took a camera phone in, and the security guard tried to take it away from him. White's answer was, "I wrote it, I saw it first."
As you can guess from that story, he had a fantastic, candid sense of humour and was a delight to listen to.
The session was also useful because White talked a lot about screenwriting, and writing in general.
His helful hints included the following-
1. Research a lot and read, read, read.
2. Get one or two people who can read your work and find the mistakes in it. He never shows anything to anyone without showing it to his wife. She's not a writer, but she loves to read and can find the flaws in his work.
3. Listen to the way people talk to create dialogue and use appropriate dialogue for the time period.
4. If you are the writer on the set, you are the problem solver. People will look to you to solve the problems, and you better come up with ways to do it and make their lives either, or they will pick someone else. Take your ego, lock it in the trunk of your car, park the car a few blocks away, and give someone else the keys.
5. Always watch out for stereotyping.
6. Write, write, write, write.
7. If you want to see how a script becomes a movie, watch "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Unforgiven". Then go to the Internet and download the scripts for them and compare the two products.
There was probably more, but I need to sleep.
He told a great story about his first major break, which was working on a film for Sidney Poitier. Mr. Poitier's office called him up, and offered to courier the script to him, so he could take a look at it. He was so stunned that he drove 3 hours to pick up the script. Then he stayed up all night going over it, and called back the studio the next day. They were stunned, but agreed to meet with him the day after. When Sidney Poitier came out to meet with him, James L. White got so excited that he hyperventilated and passed out.
Once I'd heard this story, I was absolutely hooked.
Info about Ray-
James L. White read everything he could about Ray Charles, listened to all his records and talked to everyone he could. He was initially asked to write the picture because of Ray Jr, who knew that Mr. White was a black, dramatic screen writer who had had his own heroin problem. After reading all the material and meeting with everyone, Mr. White decided that he wanted the film to be a love story, about a man, his music and his life. He met with Ray Charles to discuss it. Charles was all slumped in his chair and the exchange went like this.
Charles- So you're gonna write a movie about me.
White- Yes, I'd like to make it a love story about you and your music... What do you think?
Charles- Well, you tell me, you're the writer!
After this, White was stumped until Charles asked White where he was from. They realized they were both country boys from the South (White is from Kentucky), and they immediately bonded and became friends.
The initial script for "Ray" was a lot bigger and had to be cut. Liberties were taken with how many times Ray Charles went to jail, and the number of women he screwed around with. He was busted many more times, and screwed around with way more women, and the audience wouldn't have liked him if that was depicted. The screenplay was written with the songs in mind, playing so they could connect to specific scenes. A lot of research was done so that White could write dialogue the way black people spoke in those time periods. He used family members to help him with this research. Ray Charles could see in his dreams, and since White had been a heroin user and knew about the horror of junkie dreams, he decided to use bad dreams and flashbacks to show the importance of Ray Charles' mother in his life.
White didn't like the casting of Jamie Foxx, since he considered Foxx a comedic actor. However, once he saw Foxx act, he was moved to tears, and was pleased with the choice.
White can see scenes in his head as they happen, which is good for screenwriting. When he went to see "Ray" in the theatre, he took a camera phone in, and the security guard tried to take it away from him. White's answer was, "I wrote it, I saw it first."
As you can guess from that story, he had a fantastic, candid sense of humour and was a delight to listen to.
The session was also useful because White talked a lot about screenwriting, and writing in general.
His helful hints included the following-
1. Research a lot and read, read, read.
2. Get one or two people who can read your work and find the mistakes in it. He never shows anything to anyone without showing it to his wife. She's not a writer, but she loves to read and can find the flaws in his work.
3. Listen to the way people talk to create dialogue and use appropriate dialogue for the time period.
4. If you are the writer on the set, you are the problem solver. People will look to you to solve the problems, and you better come up with ways to do it and make their lives either, or they will pick someone else. Take your ego, lock it in the trunk of your car, park the car a few blocks away, and give someone else the keys.
5. Always watch out for stereotyping.
6. Write, write, write, write.
7. If you want to see how a script becomes a movie, watch "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Unforgiven". Then go to the Internet and download the scripts for them and compare the two products.
There was probably more, but I need to sleep.
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Date: 2005-10-01 05:19 pm (UTC)