Writer's Block Un-Blocked

I sometimes feel like I'm not writing material. Sure, I could tell a story, but can I write it well enough?

I currently have two projects on the go:

1) A spec script for Dexter.

2) The first act of an original feature film.

I am pretty confident in my Dexter episode, but then again, it's easy to take characters and relationships that someone else thought up and put them in different situations. Especially in Dexter's case where I have seen almost four seasons of it and am well acquainted with the characters and their habits and behaviors.

Dexter, now a baby daddy, is in his fourth season of television on Showtime.

No, I have no problem writing for Dexter. What gives me that uncomfortable feeling that I am perhaps not good enough for what I want to do is when I settle into something that was born in my own head. An idea. It always starts with an idea. The idea is not the problem, it's the development of that idea that I have trouble with.

So, in an eleventh hour plea for inspiration, I popped in The Devil's Advocate, since my story has to do with the Devil.

Problem: this did not cure my writer's block.

My main issue here is how to draw inspiration from other films but not plagiarize them. I feel that all of the ideas that came after watching The Devil's Advocate were a direct consequence of me watching the film. I felt that even though the ideas were unique to my own premise, they were still too much like the film.

Al Pacino is one terrifying Devil.

And this put questions in my head:

Are the two ideas actually similar or does it just seem like it to me because I just watched the film?

How do I draw inspiration from a film, novel, or television show without using their ideas?

In the end, I decided not to drastically change my story idea therefore making my watching of The Devil's Advocate was rendered useless*.

I found the best cure of writer's block to be talking to someone else about my ideas. Scratch that, not talking to someone, talking at someone. Once I talked through my ideas with a friend, my story practically wrote itself!

How do you handle writer's block? Can you give me advice on better ways to handle it?

*When I say useless, I only mean useless to my own writing. I had never seen the movie and I'm really glad I did because it was a different take on the Devil and how he works. Plus, it was a great film!

United States of Zombieland

Do you ever want to do a thousand things but you never get around to doing them? I find that that problem haunts me more than any other problem I have. I have 4-5 personal project ideas that I really want to develop but for some reason, I just never get around to doing it.

Could it be the heavy work load brought on by my seemingly endless education and time consuming job? Could be, now that I think about it, collectively I've got about one hundred written pages due, a thousand pages in readings, and five major events to run... all in the remaining two weeks of November!

My head in 3...2...1

On top of that, I'm keeping up with my favorite Television shows and trying to stay fresh with what's new out of Hollywood.

Surely, with all of this on my plate, something has to be pushed back.

Unfortunately, that something was my TV shows and Movies. I have a back-up of episodes to watch from V, Fringe, Flashforward, Dexter, and Californication. Also, season 9 of Scrubs starts up on December 1st and a slew of good movies has hit theaters. The one I let slip the most, and I regret this deeply, was Zombieland.

Despite being released on October 2nd, I didn't get to see Zombieland until two nights ago.

What. A. Movie. Not only was it action packed and gory, it was hilarious! Woody Harrelson stole the show with his badass, zombie-killing character Tallahassee. I suddenly have a new found respect for Woody Harrelson and a burning desire to see every movie he's ever made (including all of his episodes on Cheers).

The film follows Columbus, a college student, as he tries to make his way home from his dorm room in Texas in the deserted United States of America--err, scratch that--United States of Zombieland. The lonely Columbus seems to be dying for company which is probably why he so gladly brings the audience along for his adventure, explaining on the way, his seemingly endless list of rules on how to survive the zombie apocalypse. Once he finds friends in Tallahassee and a team of untrustworthy sisters, Wichita and Little Rock, Columbus discovers that his home town is a ghost town, and this unlikely foursome travel the country together.

The team of survivors in Zombieland (from left to right): Columbus, Wichita, Little Rock, and Tallahassee.

This movie had me laughing so hard I was in tears. And each character had their story which was nice and helped the audience connect with each character individually and understand how they came to be where they are.

Seeing this film inspired me. Remember those 4-5 personal projects I mentioned earlier? One of them has to do with zombies. It's just been an idea that's been boiling over in my head for weeks and weeks. After seeing this film, I'm eager to explore this idea more. But first, I need to do research.

Since I was never bit by the zombie craze (get it? bit?), I don't know much about them except that every film or novel has a different interpretation.

Can you suggest any zombie material that you know of to help me with my research?

Alive in Joburg: A Short Film by Neill Blomkamp

Just as a follow up to my District 9 review, I thought I'd post the short film on which it is based. Blomkamp made this in 2005. It is called "Alive in Joburg". Enjoy!

Film Review: District 9

Just when you thought sci-fi has run its course, a film like District 9 hits theaters. Sci-fi thrillers about aliens have been done. And then they were done again. And again. And again. And we've had some real gems through them all (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Independance Day, etc.) but for the most part, and especially recently, alien flicks have become cheesy and repetitive.

Up and coming filmmakers must think to themselves: "How can I break this pattern? What can I do that will set my film apart from the rest?"

Neil Blomkamp has answered those questions and the result is a fantastically written, captivating story called District 9.

In the film, a massive alien ship enters Earths atmosphere and hovers calmly over the city of Johannesburg. It sits there for three months before humans decide that something must be done and they force their way in. Inside, they find rotting extraterrestrials. So the humans set up a ghetto-like camp in the city of Johannesburg where these aliens reside for a little over twenty years. Throughout this time, tension rises in the city as the extraterrestrials and humans clash. Riots break out. People die (alien and human). The human population decides that the aliens must be moved outside of the city. MNU (Multi-National United), a private international company, was contracted with the eviction of the aliens to a location outside of the city.

Wikus Van De Merwe, our protagonist, is put in charge of the operation. He is soon thrust into an incredible situation where (without giving too much away) he has to help the aliens escape as MNU is performing terrible experiments on them.

Blomkamp created an amazing universe here. And the most amazing thing about it is that it's so much like our own. Born in South Africa, his inspiration for the film was drawn from his experience growing up through the end of apartheid and the toll it took on the country.

Newcomer Sharlto Coply played the part of Wikus flawlessly. From the comedy to the dramatic, he didn't miss a beat. The confused Wikus often doesn't know which side he's on or who to relate to. Before, he believed what he was told to believe and you really feel the indecision in the character right to the final battle.

The film was told documentary style and just the right amount of information was given to the audience at just the right times. There's some forshadowing to pick up on and there's also a lot of irony which gave the script a lot of depth.

The aliens themselves are completely CGI but Blomkamp does such a great job personifying them that you don't even notice. Through the documentary footage at the beginning of the film, the aliens are portrayed as wild, evil creatures. The humans called them "prawns", a derogatory term that was picked up because of their shellfish look. However, as the film progresses, we see a race much like our own, just trying to get by on what they can. They are confused as to why they are being moved. We become familiar with a father who is looking after his son. He treats his son much like a human father would: with compassion. He is trying to keep him safe at all costs. I've read some reviews where the reviewer says that it is hard to relate to these aliens because of their tentacles and overall disgusting body. This is not true. They have big eyes that portray a lot of emotion. All you have to do is look in there and you can relate.

You will find yourself rooting for the alien species. The film does not portray the humans in a good light, but a true one. Because of their difference, we isolate these beings and take what we can from them. We steal their powerful weapons (which can only be operated by one with the alien DNA), we experiment on their bodies and their technology, and we cage them off from the rest of the world. Sure, one could call it a defense mechanism but I see it as more taking advantage of a weaker species. Selfish, I suppose, would be the best way to describe it.

I told my friend on the way home that if you took out the aliens and replaced them with humans, the film would make just as much sense. It is about accepting difference no matter colour or race. It's about equality and compassion. This movie is packed full of meaning that there is no way it could be analyzed after one viewing. I look forward to seeing it again. And keep an eye out for that Neil Blomkamp. I guarantee that he will make a huge impact on the film industry.

If you haven't seen this movie, I urge you to go to the theatre and see it! It is a unique experience (one that I'm sure won't be recognised by the Academy) and you won't regret it. By far, the best film this summer.

10 out of 10.